text:
News & Events
For the Media
Community Invited to Participate in Disability Awareness Week at Clarkson University
The community is invited to a series of events beginning Monday, October 17, as Clarkson University observes Disability Awareness Week.
"Students with disabilities are a cross-section of the Clarkson community," says Sheila McCarthy, director of accommodative services. "Most of them have hidden disabilities. But regardless of whether or not their disabilities 'show,' they're leaders in clubs and organizations; they're athletes, workers, and award winners. The same will be true when our students graduate and enter the 'real world.'"
During the weeklong celebration, Clarkson faculty members will also be recognized for exemplifying the Clarkson values when teaching students with disabilities.
"Students who use Accommodative Services have nominated faculty for treating students with disabilities respectfully," says McCarthy. "The sheer number of faculty members who have been nominated, and the heartfelt reasons students have for nominating them, testifies to the caring, respect for diversity and service many of our faculty members provide for their students."
McCarthy says that events like this help create a culture of respect for all people, regardless of whether they have a disability or not. "Within a culture of respect, students with visible disabilities, hidden disabilities, or no disability at all, are comfortable asking for the help they need, making it easier for the kind of growth we strive for at Clarkson to occur."
The following is the Disability Awareness Week schedule:
Respect Pledge
Monday & Tuesday, October 17 &18, 11 a.m.-1.p.m. & 4-8 p.m.
Student Center
Stop by one of our tables and take a "respect" pledge by making a handprint on our Respect banner that will be given to St. Lawrence NYSARC. By doing this, you're making a promise to stop using the words "retard" or "retarded" inappropriately.
Movie & Respect Awards
Wednesday, October 19, 6 p.m.
Student Center Forum
Congratulate professors as they are recognized for exemplifying the Clarkson values when teaching students with disabilities. Then, join us for a screening of the movie, Music Within, which chronicles the formation of the Americans with Disabilities Act.
Halloween Hoop-la
Saturday, October 22, 1 p.m.
Indoor Recreation Center
Get a team together to play in the Halloween Hoops competition. During this event, Clarkson teams will play with people who receive services from St. Lawrence NYSARC. It's great opportunity to interact with community members with disabilities.
Comedian Josh Blue
Saturday, October 22, 9:30 p.m., after the hockey game
Student Center Forum
Share some laughs with comedian Josh Blue, whose comedy often features his personal experiences as a person with a disability. He won NBC's Last Comic Standing, which he participated in to "make people aware of the fact that people with disabilities can make an impact." Blue has appeared on the Ellen DeGeneres Show, Live with Regis and Kelly, Comics Unleashed and Comedy Central's Mind of Mencia.
Clarkson University launches leaders into the global economy. One in five alumni already leads as a CEO, VP or equivalent senior executive of a company. Located just outside the Adirondack Park in Potsdam, N.Y., Clarkson is a nationally recognized research university for undergraduates with select graduate programs in signature areas of academic excellence directed toward the world's pressing issues. Through 50 rigorous programs of study in engineering, business, arts, sciences and health sciences, the entire learning-living community spans boundaries across disciplines, nations and cultures to build powers of observation, challenge the status quo, and connect discovery and engineering innovation with enterprise.


text:
Here's an excerpt from Hardball host Chris Matthews talking about Barack Obama's response to the pantie-bomber:
My idea of a president, my idea of a mayor, a police chief is exactly the same. In fact, the job I've always wanted was police commissioner of Philly, OK? I want to be the guy standing on the curb when there's a big fire. I want to be there when the reporters come by and says, What happened here? Have you got things under control? How many engines you got here? Are you going to put it out in an hour or what? I want to see a president on the job. I love that stuff.
This motherfucker is supposed to be a hard-boiled incisive no-bullshit commentator on the political scene whose motherfucking show is called Hardball!?!?!?!?!? Yeah, right. I bet this juvenile asshole goes to sleep every night in fireman footie fucking pajamas hugging his stuffed firetruck. What a fucking pathetic douchebag.
(h/t Digby.)

subset: commoncrawl


text:
Michael Jordan says there's no way Kobe Bryant and this year's USA Olympic basketball team could've beaten the 1992 Dream Team.
Jordan told The Associated Press Thursday that he laughed, "I absolutely laughed" when hearing Bryant's comments that the squad training in Las Vegas could take Jordan and company.
Jordan says there was "no comparison" which team was better, adding that Byrant comparing the two teams "is not one of the smarter things he ever could have done."
Jordan spoke prior to a celebrity golf tournament in Charlotte.
He says the 1992 team, which included 11 future Hall of Famers and won its six games by an average of more than 43 points en route to capturing the gold medal, may not have been as athletic but was definitely smarter.


text:
JV is the KIA Rookie of the month. Cool
Last edited by rocwell; Fri Apr 5th, 2013 at 07:53 PM.
Wow, did anyone notice that the game stats they sum up for JV are totally wrong? Like I have no clue what they got going here....this is just sad. Bolded all the wrong parts
Almost everything is wrong except the teams and dates. Stuff is wrong even self-contained within the story, like how he averaged a career high in rebounds with a lower number than he had against Charlotte the week before. It's hilarious. What the hell NBA?? Hire an editor. Even the game scores are wrong...March 20 @ Charlotte: Posted 18 points, eight rebounds, six assists and two steals in a 115-110 win over the Bobcats.
March 29 @ Detroit: Recorded 20 points, four assists and tied a career-high with six rebounds in a 96-95 loss to the Pistons.
March 31 @ Washington: Tallied 26 points, three assists and two rebounds in a 109-105 loss to the Wizards.
Of course, they got Lillard's part 100% right...I think this is the kind of thing that irks Toronto fans. It's one thing not to get attention, it's another that when that attention is given, no care is given to how anything is presented, even in terms of double checking facts.
Last edited by white men can't jump; Sat Apr 6th, 2013 at 05:48 PM.
As for the passing, I also agree, and put an example earlier in the thread about that kind of passing, because he made one to Fields a few games ago that I can easily see being a frequently made play.
*Straight from that post....I want to see this play a lot next year.
Found the highlights on youtube for last game...nothign shorter than this...The nice pass to Fields is just after the 3 minute mark.
There are currently 1 users browsing this thread. (0 members and 1 guests)


text:
1. Were you surprised by how spiritual Carlisle is?
not really
2. What did you think about the information revealed about Edward's mother?
i dnt recall what i thought lol
Moderators: December, Bronze Haired Girl
Return to From Forks to Italy and Back
Users browsing this forum: No registered users and 0 guests


text:
±± New Cycle ±±
Thread opened for a new weekly cycle of submissions. It starts today, the 8th of November and ends on the 14th of November. As always, in this cycle, you can submit 3 techniques.
I must remind members of the following:
-Blue Rule is under effect and no tolerance will be given. You can find it in the first post of this thread.
-Name your techniques correctly and abide by the proper template, specially in chakra cost and damage points.
-Don't add useless restrictions just to try and make it seem your technique is more approvable than it is. Be logical.
-Read the first post of this thread to try and remind yourself of the rules of the thread as well as some tips to make your techniques more approvable.
Thank you!


text:
I'll be interested to see the response to your question about the alignment of the holes in the fork tubes. I have heard a couple of different answers.
I'll be interested to see the response to your question about the alignment of the holes in the fork tubes. I have heard a couple of different answers.
I don't think it matters a whole heck of a lot, but from an engineering standpoint, they should be pointed at each other or pointed directly to the left of right. The reason is that a hole like that creates a stress riser. As the tube tends to bend forward-aft, the highest bending stresses will be on the forward or aft sides. Putting a hole in that area results in nominally a 3x factor on the stresses. If there's a micro crack in the hole, the higher stresses will lead to, over time, a failure of the tube. If the holes are on the sides, this the is the neutral axis of the tube for bending - zero stress at this point. Torsional stresses could be acting anywhere around the circumference of the tube, but given when way the forks are constrained, torsional stresses are quite low.Is it normal that the holes in the fork tubes are not aligned?
So, if you have the chance to orient the holes, best to do it by facing each other or facing away from each other.
Kurt -- Forum Liaison ---> Resources and Links Thread <---
mine-ineye-deatheah-pielayah-jooa-kalayus. oolah-minane-hay-meeriah-kal-oyus-algay-a-thaykin', buddy!
That makes sense. Thanks for the info. I am going to go ahead and do a full alignment, and while I am at it align the holes. Is standard facing in or out? Sounds like there should be next to no functional difference, but would be good to know if there is a standard.
I think I am going to go ahead and get some progressive springs while I am at it. What are the best option for progressive fork springs? I want to get some Ikon / Konis for the back at some point in the future.
Maybe I will have to hold off on the stainless steal heater boxes for my car.
Also should I replace the rings on the guide support while I am at it? Some definitely seem less compressed then others. Is there something I should check for tolerances?
you can see one of the rings hanging out a bit here in this picture:
Thanks again
Also, should I be concerned with the 1/4" difference in length between the fork springs? Should I rush out and buy some new springs.
I was considering the Race Tech fork springs, these are progressive correct? I know people are a bit divided about their gold valve emulators, but any opinions on their fork springs?
Havent updated in a while, so here is a quick on.
Well I removed the fork tubes all together, and they are are definitely out of spec. not terrible but not great.
I decided while i was going to go through the forks so deeply I may as well just get some new forks, so I placed an order with Forking by Franke yesterday, supposed to be her in a couple weeks.
In the mean time, since I feel like this phase of the R60/5 is nearly done (road worthy) I picked up a new project.
01 F650GS Dakar (been sitting for a couple years with a blown wiring harness...PO reversed the polarity on a new battery install)....quite a different bike from the R60/5
Just got a call that my new fork tubes are on the way from Frank's Forks. Should be here next Tuesday. Of corse all the parts for both the R60/5 and F650GS are expected at the same time, will have some tough decisions to make.
quick question about the wiring on the front turn signals. At some point I believe I removed the ground cables from the front turn signals.....Dont ask me why, I think it may have just been a mistake, but I no longer have grounds going to them. So my question is where do they ground to? In the back of my mind i feel like there were two green cables going to them.
Lookie what finally came this morning:
Really excited to get these on there, last big thing to do. Once I get the front end all happy all that I believe that remains on this phase of the restoration is:
- pull all wheel bearings and grease
- properly shim rear wheel
- figure out connection issue with front turn signals
- re-attach fenders
- re-attach rear turn signals.
That all feels pretty easy compared to the forks.
So I still have a question that was not answered earlier:
Am I crazy not putting progressive (or just new) springs in while I am replacing the front forks and going through the whole alignment process?
I don't think you have a ground wire for the turn signals, unless your turn signals were replaced with a newer kind (plastic ones). My 74 /6 has only one wire (+) going to each housing and the ground is the housing it's self (aluminum housing). It be being mounted to the frame gives it a ground path. Do you by chance have a wiring diagram? The one lead going to the turn signals should be either green or blue, (my memory is fading). If in doubt consult diagram, if no diagram hook up a test lead or multimeter and try each one at a time using the blinker switch.
...driving to work on my airhead
/5 Turn signals:
Right: Blau/Schwarz [blue/Black]
Left: Blau/Rot [blue/red]
Grounded through the metal housing to the triple clamp.
With plastic housing; ground via Brau [brown] wire to the frame or any other "brown" junction.
Just to be compliant.... Grun [green] powers the coils/turn signal relay/bat-neutral-oil press lights/ and brake light switches
/5 Wiring Diagram, from our "Links & Resources" page. > http://bmwmotorcycletech.info/SchemSlash5.htm
"It is what you discover, after you know it all, that counts." _ John Wooden
Lew Morris
1973 R75/5 - original owner
1963 Dnepr
General update: Finished the forks and got it all back together. She was a little hard starting, then I remembered that I had loosened the spark plug cables and back out the plugs a bit. Fired up quite nicely when I finished that. I have to say the forks definitely feel better, but still not quite as responsive as I was hoping for. I would love to see someone else's /5 in SF to compair. Maybe I am just expecting something different. At very least I know the insides are in good shape now, and the tubes are brand new.
It blew smoke out the pipes for a bit, but eventually subsided around the same time it finished burning off any oil on the pipes.
Still need to sync the carbs, but that is pretty straight forward.
I took it on a quick trip up and down my street, I am currently sans helmet and registration, so I made it a very quick trip. The new clutch is AMAZING. The clutch has always been soft on that bike, and after opening it up and seeing all the oil I realize the rear main seal was gone for some time. Its like a new bike, so much power.
I still have to:
- tune carbs
- put the fenders back on
- re-wire the rear turn signals
- trouble shoot the front turn signals
- clean and grease the wheel bearings
Which all feels like small fries. Great to have her running again, and once again, WOW what a difference that new clutch made.
Thanks again for all the help!
Just a quick update, I had to take a little break from both bike projects between work and the holidays, but i am back now. Just placed a big order for parts with A&S and going to send Hans a check tomorrow for all the mounting pieces I need to the rear fender. Once I get that in order I think she will be ready to take back on the road.
I am still trying to decide on what I want to do for the suspension. The springs in the forks are slightly different sizes from ware, and I would like to replace them with something progressive.
The rear shocks are off a /6 and probably equally worn out. I have the original /5, but they are really trash. So I am thinking about putting some KONI / IKON in the back. Wondering if there is any way to preserve some of the /5 look?
I think its a real shame that they did not make those /5 shocks rebuildable. They are such a pretty and distinct look.
I would love to be able to ride this through next fall then start to think about a top end rebuild / speedo rebuilt. Maybe get the frame powder coated and aluminum blasted at the same time.
You can easily take the top "tin can" and the top mounting bolt off and put them on the new shocks. Yes, that aluminum should does make it look good and it is easy to do.
I think, maybe somebody can correct me, but; someone, maybe Paul Glaves wrote about taking them apart. While you do that you can paint the shock and springs...........Basically, you put the bottom of the shock in a vice, Compress the spring from the top away from the bottom flat of the "washer" enough to get, I think a 9mm, wrench onto a flat that is on the very top of the shock shaft. You hold the shaft from turning with the wrench and use a large bar or whatever to turn off the top........SPROING...........be a bit careful cause there is some pressure on the spring to remove it; but it wont fly across the shop........maybe an inch or two of compression..........God bless and good luck.......Dennis
thats great to know. I also saw that Hans has konis (or ikons, i always switch them up) with the aluminum can on top, but they are much more expensive then just the standard set. Would love to keep the original patina from the original shocks.
I received my order in from Hans at Hucky's with some mounting hardware and replacement rear signal bar. I finally got the fenders back on. I forgot what a bitch the rear fender is to mount, but I got it on there.
Really happy with how things are coming out. I feel like she is finally road worthy again (that is, after some DMV paperwork next week). Really excited to get her back on the road. Thank you so much to everyone who has helped.
So far I have:
- rebuilt the carbs
- rebuilt the pet-cocks
- replaced the rear wheel / swapped the tire
- replaced the clutch and all maintenance parts in the back end
- replaced the front fork tubes
- rebuilt all the internals to the front forks
- aligned the front forks
- cleaned the hell out of everything
- rebuilt the rear light assembly
- remounted the fenders
What I want to do over the summer:
- New progressive springs for the fork springs
- New IKON shocks in the back (would love tips on how to remove the large metal covers from the top of the OEM shocks and mount them on the IKON shocks)
And if I want to get really ambitious next winer (which I kind of do if I am not having too much fun riding it):
- Send off speedo for rebuild
- pull engine and send off for bead blasting
- top end rebuild (I am definitely leaking where the tubes meet the engine)
- frame and some small parts sandblasting / powder coating
- tank / headlight / headlight ear / tail light / etc repaint ( would love suggestions to how to keep good patina to this all, I would prefer not to repaint the fenders in order to maintain the original hand pin-striping)
- polish all chrome / etc
Thank again for all the help, really excited to get this back on the road next week.


text:
New Finds and Possible Fraud Discredit 'Chimp Culture'
by Brian Thomas, M.S. *
Do chimpanzees have their own culture? If so, some researchers would connect their behaviors to aspects of human culture, which they believe supports an evolutionary relationship. But current developments shed doubt on that idea.
Perhaps the strongest--and certainly the most prolific--supporter of the chimp culture concept is Harvard evolutionary psychologist Marc Hauser. On average, he has authored or co-authored one technical paper a month for four years. Now, some of his research has been deemed in need of a recall. Harvard completed an investigation in January regarding scientific misconduct by Dr. Hauser, although its full findings have yet to be released.
The inquiry began when three graduate students expressed concern over the way Hauser interpreted certain results they had gathered. Later, some of his experimental results proved irreproducible. As is typical in scientific research, most were never double-checked. So far, eight of Hauser's prior studies have been found to contain "instances of scientific misconduct," according to sources close to the investigation.1 Researchers in the field are unhappy both with Harvard officials' silence on this matter and with the idea that Hauser's published results have been untrustworthy.
The upshot is that nobody is currently sure which of Hauser's results to trust. Thus, doubts grow about his theories that religion, morality, and math (logic) somehow emerged from supposed chimpanzee cultural behaviors.2
A new study appearing in the Proceedings of the Royal Society B examined chimpanzee genes, and the results add to those doubts. Lead author Kevin Langergraber, a molecular ecologist at the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology in Leipzig, Germany, showed evidence that genes, rather than "chimp culture," may still offer better explanations for chimp behaviors.
His results illustrate that science has not determined exactly what causes chimpanzees to act the ways they do. Frans de Waal of Emory University told ScienceNOW that Langergraber's research added "a complication to the picture" that chimp behavior results from some kind of group culture.3
Clearly, evolutionists are anxious to establish a sense of relatedness between chimps and humans. Almost all scientific and popular publications on the issue emphasize only the similarities between the two groups and not the overwhelming differences, testifying to a lopsided perspective. But the only detailed, base-for-base DNA comparison so far compiled of corresponding chimpanzee and human chromosomes revealed that they were totally different.4 Whole classes of DNA were unique to mankind, and unique chromosomal arrangements characterized each separate kind.
From detailed DNA comparisons that demonstrate widespread discrepancies, to a failure to rule out genes as causes for "culturally derived" chimp behaviors, to possibly fraudulent research used to prop up supposed human-chimp similarities, the overall "evidence" that supports the perceived relatedness of humans to chimps is eroding. These observations would be expected, however, if chimps and man don't share common ancestry, but instead represent distinct creations.
- Ledford, H. 2010. Harvard probe kept under wraps. Nature. 466: 908-909.
- Thomas, B. Did Religion 'Emerge' through Evolution? ICR News. Posted on icr.org March 5, 2010, accessed August 19, 2010.
- Cohen, J. Are Some Chimp 'Cultural' Behaviors Actually in the Genes? Science NOW. Posted on news.sciencemag.org August 17, 2010, accessed August 19, 2010, reporting on research published in Langergraber, K. E. et al. Genetic and 'cultural' similarity in wild chimpanzees. Proceedings of the Royal Society B. Published online before print August 18, 2010.
- Tomkins, J. and Thomas, B. 2010. New Chromosome Research Undermines Human-Chimp Similarity Claims. Acts & Facts. 39 (4): 4-5.
* Mr. Thomas is Science Writer at the Institute for Creation Research.
Article posted on August 25, 2010.
Evidence for Creation › Evidence from Science › Evidence from the Life Sciences › Man Was Created by God › Man Was Recently and Miraculously Created in the Image of God
More Related Articles
- Discovery: Spine Signals Ears to Maintain Balance
- Undersea Monolith Reveals Genius Engineering
- Human Fairness: Innate or Evolved?
- Brain Bath: A Clever Design Solution
- Which Came First--the Spear or its Thrower?
- British Pre-Roman Roads Lead to Genesis
- The Oldest American Petroglyphs
- Amazing Design in the Chemistry of Pregnancy
- Modern Y-Chromosome Variation Surpasses Archaic Humans
- Scientists Get Glimpse Into Infant Language Learning
- Eight Spears Found in German Coal Mine
- Do People Have 'Gill Slits' in the Womb?
- Newly Discovered Human Brain Genes Are Bad News for Evolution
- Stone Age Art Holds Hints of Language
- Brain Function Discoveries Support Creation
- Surgeon Says Human Body Did Not Evolve
- Human Jawbone Size Reflects Diet, Not Just Lineage
- Study Shows Humans Are Uniquely Designed for Music
- 'Cavemen' Diet Was Far from Primitive
- Origins Breakthroughs of 2010: Human Genetics
- Five Consequences of Having Been Created
- Ancient Wooden Door Has 'Remarkable' Design
- The 'Animal Connection' Points to Creation, not Evolution
- New Finds and Possible Fraud Discredit 'Chimp Culture'
- Evolution Can't Explain Dancing Babies
- Discoveries Show Early Mankind Was Advanced
- Surprising 'Stone-Age' Surgery Evidence Found in France
- Human Communication: Chance or Design?
- Were Stone Age Britons Trigonometry Experts?
- New Book Debunks Human-Chimp Similarity
- Ancient Stone Knives Made by 'Smart' Humans
- Flat-Faced Fossil Fails to Fit Evolution
- Some Birds Were Created to Boogie
- Stem Cells from Blood Render Embryonic Sources Obsolete
- Chimp Study Reveals Humans Are Uniquely Wired
- Stone Blades Cut Back Evolutionary Dates
- What Makes Us Human?
- Evolution And The Image Of God
- Mankind--The Pinnacle of God's Creation
- Language, Creation and the Inner Man


text:
February's list of most expensive sales on AbeBooks features a number of remarkable books as usual, but The Double Helix: A Personal Account of the Discovery of the Structure of DNA is worthy of special consideration. A signed first edition of James Watson's book sold for £6,200 last month. Published in 1968, this book is a landmark title in science. However, the book is much more than just a straight account of experiments and laboratories.
The Double Helix is an autobiographical description of the discovery process. It portrays the scientists as people as well as researchers. Watson has been criticised for portraying a key female scientist, Rosalind Franklin, in a sexist way.
The collectability of the book appears to be increasing. AbeBooks has now sold seven copies of The Double Helix priced more than £650. Last year, another signed first edition of The Double Helix sold for £5,600 on AbeBooks.
The discovery of the structure of DNA in 1953 was considered such a fascinating tale that the BBC portrayed the events in a 1987 drama starring Jeff Goldblum and Tim Pigott-Smith. Watson and his colleague Francis Crick were leading a team at the Cambridge University and they were racing against rival scientists from King's College London.
An annotated and illustrated version of The Double Helix was published by Simon & Schuster last year to mark 50 years since Crick, Watson and a third scientist, Maurice Wilkins, were awarded the Nobel Prize for their work. The new edition includes a chapter removed from the original draft of the first edition.
James Watson, born in 1928, is still alive. He has courted controversy several times throughout his long career, usually outspoken comments. He has written a memoir called Avoid Boring People: Lessons from a Life in Science where he is scathing about fellow academics.
2. Thesaurus Sacrarum Historiarum Veteris Testameni by Gerard de Jode - £10,156
This edition of the Old Testament was published in Antwerp circa in the mid-16th century by noted cartographer and printer Gerard de Jode. It was an ambitious undertaking and the book's engravings were extremely detailed for this period.
4. New England's Memorial, or a Brief Relation of the Most Memorable and Remarkable Passages of the Providence of God Manifested to the Planters of New England in America by Nathaniel Morton - £7,257
Published in 1721, this is the second edition of Morton's book. It is considered one of the foundation works of New England history, and the first secular book published in New England.
6.The Double Helix: A Personal Account of the Discovery of the Structure of DNA by James D. Watson - £6,200
A first edition of the author's ground-breaking work regarding the discovery of DNA. The book was signed by Watson and co-discoverer Francis Crick.
8. The Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger - £5,270
Published in 1951 by Little Brown, this is a first edition of Salingers iconic novel.
9= The Two Towers by J.R.R. Tolkien - £4,944
The second in Tolkien's Lord of the Rings series, this first edition was published in 1954. This copy contains an autograph letter signed and dated 29 December 1961 in which the author describes his busy schedule and his doubts about a sequel to The Lord of the Rings. He signs off by saying "forgive this gloomy note."
9= The Moment, for Miriam by Kenneth Patchen -£4,944
Patchen was an American poet (1911-1972) and novelist. This rare poetry book was published in 1955 and limited to 42 hand-bound copies produced at Henry Geiger's printshop. The Moment gathers together two of Patchen's 1955 works of illustrated poems, Glory Never Guesses and A Surprise for the Bagpipe Player. Miriam was Patchen's wife. This copy belonged to the poet-critic Stanley Burnshaw.


text:
Today, Sept. 19, was the day the iOS 6 upgrade became available to owners of the iPhone 4 and the iPhone 4S. At about 10 a.m. PST I checked and there it was, both on my iPhone 4S and in iTunes.
As you'll see in the pages to come, my upgrade did not go completely smoothly. In fact, there is a serious problem that I haven't been able to solve yet having to do with my home Wi-Fi.
I haven't spent a lot of time yet with iOS 6. The only feature I gave more than a cursory glance is the new Maps app, and I'm mostly disturbed by what I see. Apple, you might recall, dropped Google Maps, which it had been using, and in iOS 6 switched to its own maps and app, based on data from TomTom and other sources.
Stupidly, I first tried to update to iOS 6 over the air to my phone. I gave up after watching the download indicator jump around from one hour to two hours to no guess at all. Back home, I checked iTunes on my Mac with a wired network connection and the update took seven minutes to download. There followed another five to 10 minutes of verifications and transferring data to the phone, but it was pretty fast overall.
Eventually my phone restarted and displayed the iOS 6 screen seen here.


text:
Gibson: Goldschmidt's season likely finished
First baseman expected to require eight weeks to recover from left hand fracture
By Adam Lichtenstein / MLB.com
PHOENIX -- D-backs fans have likely seen the last of All-Star Paul Goldschmidt in 2014.
The fractured left hand he suffered after he was struck by a fastball from Pirates reliever Ernesto Frieri on Friday is expected to keep him out six-to-eight weeks, with the latter being more realistic, manager Kirk Gibson said Sunday morning.
"Realistically it's eight weeks," Gibson said. "So he's done."
Although he will avoid surgery, with almost exactly eight weeks left in the season, the chances of last year's National League MVP runner-up returning this season are slim after being placed on the disabled list on Saturday.
"If you rush it, then you end up injuring it and you displace the fracture," Gibson said. "I think you're looking at worse things."
Goldschmidt's injury is the latest and largest blow to the D-backs, who have been racked by injuries all season.
The team currently has 10 players on the DL, including five pitchers who underwent Tommy John surgery. One of those injured players, outfielder A.J. Pollock, is working his way back from a fractured right hand caused by another hit-by-pitch.
Before the injury, Goldschmidt was leading the team in nearly every meaningful offensive category, including doubles, home runs, RBIs and wins above replacement (WAR).
"If you just look at Goldy, he counts for over 30 percent of our run production," Gibson said.
Adam Lichtenstein is an associate reporter for MLB.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Baseball or its clubs.


text:
Revere, Ruiz help Hamels best Bucs, clinch series
PITTSBURGH -- The Phillies, behind lefty Cole Hamels, downed the Pirates, 6-4, on Thursday afternoon in front of a crowd of 35,328 at PNC Park.
The Phillies are now 16-25 against the Pirates in Pittsburgh since PNC Park opened in 2001. It was the first series win for the Phils in Pittsburgh since April 25-27, 2008.Full Game Coverage
PITTSBURGH -- The Phillies, behind lefty Cole Hamels, downed the Pirates, 6-4, on Thursday afternoon in front of a crowd of 35,328 at PNC Park.
The Phillies are now 16-25 against the Pirates in Pittsburgh since PNC Park opened in 2001. It was the first series win for the Phils in Pittsburgh since April 25-27, 2008.Full Game Coverage
"It's good, this ballpark owes me some wins," Phillies manager Charlie Manuel said. "It beat me up when I was in Cleveland. It hasn't been good to me."
The beleaguered Hamels tossed seven innings and gave up two runs (one earned) on five hits. He notched eight strikeouts and got the victory, upping his record to 3-11.
"I thought Hamels pitched real good," Manuel said. "He didn't walk anybody and threw 103 pitches. I'm not saying the umpire missed some, but he was close with everything -- he was around the plate."
Hamels, who won for the first time since June 5, was pleased with his outing.
"Just being able to get back to what I know and establishing the strike zone early," Hamels said. "Throwing all my pitches, I think ultimately staying down in the zone. I think that's where I've gotten hurt in the past.
"I would get guys right where I want them, and then I'm not able to finish them off and leave the balls up in the zone, and the base hits were adding up and obviously the runs were scoring, so just being able to get guys out early and moving the ball around keeping them off balance. Just being able to really do that early and through the middle and obviously the third time up and still being able to mix and match."
Pirates manager Clint Hurdle felt Hamels was on top of his game.
"His command was sharp today compared to what we'd seen in the last few outings," Hurdle said. "His fastball command he mixed with the early changeup, which came into play. The curveball also came into play. The cutter. As far as his pitch efficiency overall, it was a good outing overall."
Pirates rookie right-hander Gerrit Cole pitched 5 1/3 innings and allowed three runs on eight hits. He took the loss, falling to 4-1.
Cole battled to try and keep his team in the game.
"You've just got to keep going," Cole explained. "We thought last start was going to be the same way. But if you just keep going, put your head down, sometimes things turn out in your favor. I gave it all I had, I tried to give it all I could. ... I've got to get ahead of guys going, hitting the spots over the plate."
The Pirates got to Hamels in the bottom of the third inning. With two outs, Starling Marte singled. Jose Tabata had an infield single, followed by an error by second baseman Chase Utley, which put runners at second and third. Andrew McCutchen singled up the middle, driving in Marte and Tabata, giving the Pirates a two-run lead.
The Phillies tallied in the top of the fifth inning. With one out, Carlos Ruiz singled, and Hamels sacrificed him to second. Ben Revere then singled to center, driving in Ruiz. McCutchen airmailed the ball home, and Revere wound up at third. Cole got Utley to ground out, ending the threat.
Philadelphia took the lead in the top of the sixth inning. With one out, Ryan Howard drew a walk. Domonic Brown singled to right, chasing Cole from the game. Delmon Young singled off Pirates reliever Vin Mazzaro, loading the bases. Kevin Frandsen blooped a single to right, scoring Howard. Ruiz singled, knocking in Brown and Young.
Hamels was hit by a pitch, and Mazzaro was removed from the game. Lefty Tony Watson retired Revere on a groundout, scoring Frandsen. Watson got out of the inning without further damage, but when the smoke cleared, the Phillies had scored four times for a 5-2 lead.
"Those runs we got, we had to earn," Manuel said. "We went up, 6-2, and they came crawling right back at us. We did some things right. We hit some balls where they weren't, and things worked out for us."
The Phillies tacked on an insurance run in the eighth inning. Young singled and eventually came around to score on a sacrifice fly by pinch-hitter Michael Young.
The Pirates sliced the lead to 6-4 in the bottom of the eighth against Phils reliever Justin De Fratus. Jordy Mercer, Marte and pinch-hitter Garrett Jones bunched consecutive singles, with Jones picking up an RBI. McCutchen grounded into a double play, scoring Marte.
Phillies right-hander Jonathan Papelbon worked a perfect ninth inning for his 17th save in 21 opportunities.
The Phillies return home for a 10-game homestand, starting with three games against NL East-leading Atlanta.
"We had a .500 road trip, but we were in a lot of these games," Delmon Young stated. "Hopefully we can play well against Atlanta and try to win the series and cut down the deficit before the All-Star break."
George Von Benko is a contributor to MLB.com.


text:
As many are already aware, the fiduciary issue has become an SEC hot topic relative to the standard to which each financial advisor will be required to adhere. Depending on which side of the debate you're on, whether you are an advisor or broker, each of your opinions is colored by your own biases. As such, I'd like to share my perspective on the fiduciary debate when viewed through the lens of a slightly different, yet meaningful and relevant professional code of standards, as I believe it underscores the need for a distinct difference to be made between a fiduciary advisor and a broker/salesperson.
In the realm of the long-time prestigious designation known as the Certified Public Accountant (CPA), the word "independent" resonates across the entire discipline as one of the three main accepted auditing standards. "The auditor must maintain independence (in fact and appearance) in mental attitude in all matters related to the audit," per the U.S. Generally Accepted Auditing Standards. It's the phrase "in fact and appearance" that resonates with great similarity between the auditing profession of a CPA and the investment advising profession of a financial advisor. I believe it further helps make the case as to why there should be a distinct difference made between a fiduciary advisor and a commission-based broker/salesperson.
The financial advisor profession is a little confusing because, currently, anyone selling insurance, annuities or mutual funds, a stock broker, registered investment advisor, or anyone with the letters CFP, CFA, CIMA or other combination after their names, can all call themselves a "financial advisor." How in the world within one profession can there be such a vast amount of conflicting overlaps for the term 'financial advisor'?
Furthermore, how can we expect the general public to know the difference between an investment advisor and a salesperson, if both can be called financial advisors? Should both types of financial professionals legitimately be able to say they offer financial advisory services if only one is subject to a fiduciary standard? In medicine, this would be akin to allowing physicians in general practice to act as heart specialists anytime they have a patient with a heart issue; or allowing nurses to perform surgery for a doctor. This isn't accepted practice, so why should we tolerate lesser standards in the financial arena?
A CPA is qualified to provide auditing work to any third-party client if they wish to do so. However, there is a standard for each audit engagement to which a CPA must adhere and they have to be independent in fact and appearance in order to provide that audit service. Sowhy is this independence so important?
If an audit report is written on the financials of any publicly traded company, there's an opinion provided with regard to how well that company's financials are presented. Every day, many people make judgment calls on that company's financial assets, liabilities, overall position, and even the company's growth potential, based partly on the audit report opinion provided by a CPA. Consequently, the need for a completely independent in fact and appearance auditor, is necessary to maintain the public credibility on how well a company's financial statements present as a whole.
So what does this have to do with financial advisors? I believe the two are quite similar in nature.
Per Wikipedia, the term fiduciary relates to "a legal or ethical relationship of
No one should be allowed to wear both hats in the financial advising world. Either you provide financial planning, investment advice and/or asset management services comprehensively under a "fiduciary standard in both fact and appearance" all the time, or you sell products only as a broker/sales erson adhering to a suitability standard. Those that choose a business model which adheres only to a suitability standard should be required to fully disclose and advertise that they are not fiduciaries and cannot plan, advise or manage assets under the appearance of a fiduciary capacity.
How is a financial advisor that is both licensed to sell insurance-related products and provide fee-based asset management services able to comprehensively plan a person's financial endeavors, retirement, insurance needs, taxes, etc., objectively in all mental attitudes, and then make recommendations between commission-based products and fee-based asset management? There is no way humanly possible to do that completely in a fiduciary manner.
First, the commission product is usually provided under an upfront commissioned sales arrangement that is immediately more financially beneficial to the advisor, versus the fee-based asset management recommendation. Do we really believe advisors can make those recommendations, independent in all mental attitudes, of the compensation differences? Second, how are we to regulate the financial/retirement planning advice a non-fiduciary sales person provides to a client? Is the commissioned product only subject to the suitability standard, or does it become part of the fiduciary recommendations, such as fee-based asset management, which was also recommended?
Making all true financial advisors adhere to a "fiduciary standard in both fact and appearance" is a critical step forward for our industry. All registered investment advisors that already adhere to the fiduciary standard should gladly be amenable to this small change. However, for those "hybrid" advisors who try to wear both hats, it's time to make a decision. Either adhere to a fiduciary standard in both fact and appearance, or remain a sales person under a suitability standard.
We can't continue to allow hybrid individuals or firms the flexibility to play their fiduciary or suitability standard roles when and where it benefits them with the
I realize this is a very sensitive subject in our industry, but at the end of the day, isn't it the client and their best interests that should be of utmost importance? I believe it's time to clearly delineate the difference between those who adhere to a fiduciary standard "in both fact and appearance" from those that are perceived to be fiduciaries, but legally are not. The need for a company's finances to be presented through an independent and accurate audit report conducted by a CPA, is just as important as an investor's need to know whether their financial advisor is a real fiduciary "in both fact and appearance" or just a salesman.
Andrew D. Rice, CPA, AIF, CTS, WMS, is vice president of Money Management Services, Inc., an independent RIA firm in Birmingham, Ala. He is a Certified Public Accountant, an Accredited Investment Fiduciary, a Certified Tax Specialist and Wealth Management Specialist. He can be reached at email@example.com.


text:
America: It Is Not Time for Christmas Yet
This morning we were greeted with a frightening sight. Duane Reade is already selling Christmas decorations. They're not the only ones. Stores across the U.S. are advertising holiday sales. You all need to shut up with this Christmas crap already!
It's terribly cliche to say Christmas comes earlier every year, but it's really getting ridiculous. On Saturday I was in a store putting the finishing touches on my Halloween costume when I realized that all the music being played was Christmas carols! We hadn't even gotten through Gay Christmas (that's Halloween) and already Regular Christmas was underway. We've barely gotten our winter coats out from the closet!
Christmas is one of my favorite times of the year what with all the parties, decorations, family time, shopping, goodwill toward man, egg nog, candy canes, snowflakes, ornaments, tinsel(!), Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer, The Grinch Who Stole Christmas, chestnuts roasting on open fires, and everything else. All of that is wonderful. But there's also the crowded malls, the packed social schedule, the chilly weather, the endless travel logistics, your annoying sister-in-law who just won't stop talking, gift receipts, wrapping paper that rips too easily, assembling the overly complicated toy your child can't live without, and, most of all, the pressure to spend more money than you have and splurge on the perfect gift for someone. I love Christmas, but all that joy and frustration is emotionally exhausting enough. It needs a definite window.
The Christmas season should be relegated to the weeks between Thanksgiving and New Year's Eve. Yes, we'll give you that residual bleed into the 31st for travel days, gift returning, and entertaining the kids while they're still on vacation, but we're not going any earlier. We should be able to have a normal life these next few weeks to enjoy the fall chill, relax, and plan which warm weather destination we'll be invading in January to recover from Christmas.
All this pressure is from retailers, of course. Just look at the Macy's homepage which is currently festooned with a holiday gift guide. Stores are already advertising "Black Friday" prices, the Friday after Thanksgiving that traditionally marks the beginning of the shopping frenzy. But don't jump the gun on Black Friday. I'm still thinking about how big of a turkey to buy for Thanksgiving, I can't be bothered with the bits and baubles on my Christmas list. I haven't even selected my Secret Santa, so I don't even know whether I'm buying something for my Uncle Orville or my Aunt Bunny. Trying to get me to buy gifts for other people right now is futile. And, unless you're some Midwestern granny who shops all year round, most people won't be deciding on their purchases until a couple of weeks before December 25th.
What all these early sales are really trying to do is just sell you more crap for cheap. (Sears had one of those infernal red-and-green themed "door busters" last weekend to get people to line up at some ungodly hour for discounted power tools and electronics.) That's fine, have a sale. Have a sale every fucking weekend. We love sales! But don't wrap your sale in baby Jesus' swaddling clothes like it's some sort of holiday goodwill. It's just another excuse to get everyone's penny-pinching asses into the store during a rough patch in the economy.
Yes, I can't wait for Christmas to start either, but until the last stuffing-stained napkin has been thrown away on November 25th, I'm ignoring what the Grinch would call all the noise, noise, noise, noise, noise.
[Photos via Getty]


text:
Dear Deborah
Sharon Ann Dror, born deaf, didn't enjoy seders with her hearing family while growing up in a traditional Jewish home in Santa Monica. She could read lips, but she couldn't see peoples' faces as they read from behind their Haggadot. &'009;
"I felt frustrated and bored," recalls the 38-year-old marketing manager, the founder of the Jewish Deaf Community Center. "I couldn't understand anything. I just read the Haggadah by myself, over and over. I wished that I could hear."
Passover wasn't the only time Dror felt shut out of Jewish life. Her parents attempted to enroll her in Hebrew school but couldn't find one willing to take a deaf child. Temple Beth Solomon of the Deaf in Arleta, offered religious school in sign language, but it was far away and Dror didn't know how to sign. She was raised in the oral communication method, which means she communicates by reading lips.
Dror was finally able to attend school at Chabad in Westwood, where "the rabbis had to keep moving their mustaches so I could read their lips," she says. &'009;
Those experiences turned Dror into an activist.
In 1992, Dror, now the mother of three deaf children, founded the Jewish Deaf Community Center to create more opportunities for deaf Jews in L.A. The JDCC provides seders, High Holiday services and other programs with a traditional Jewish bent and kosher food (Temple Beth Solomon is Reform). &'009;
Ultimately, though, Dror became dissatisfied with the center's annual sign-language seders. "The problem was that many deaf Jews did not have a Jewish education, so they didn't understand what was going on," she says.
The result, this year, is a brand-new, multimedia educational seder, developed by Dror and JDCC board member David Rosenbaum with a grant from the Los Angeles Jewish Community Foundation.
On March 31 at Burbank Temple Emanu El, up to 170 deaf Jews and their relatives will gather at small tables, family style, with a leader at each table. They'll gaze at two large TV monitors at each end of the room that will project Haggadah text and pictures describing essentials such as the seder plate. There will be a voice for hearing people to follow as well.
"The seder will be totally accessible for everyone," Dror says. "For deaf people, the key is that the seder is visually oriented, because deaf people are visually oriented. I'm hoping that when our deaf participants go home, they'll say, 'I finally understood the whole Haggadah, for the first time ever.'"


text:
Laird looks forward to watching brother in playoffs
By Brian McTaggart / MLB.com
In fact, Gerald Laird hit a three-run double in the sixth inning that broke open Detroit's 6-3 win.
"I knew last night he was going to be celebrating, so I haven't talked to him, but I saw the highlights and I saw when he got the bases-loaded double," Brandon said. "It's exciting. Unfortunately, when I got home after the season, we usually go on a fishing trip every year, and the last two years he hasn't been able to do that because he has been in the postseason. That's a good reason to miss."
The older Laird, a 10-year Major league veteran, won a championship ring last year with the Cardinals, and Brandon watched the first two games of the World Series at Busch Stadium in St. Louis. Laird plans to watch his brother play again this year.
"When I go home, I'm going to see what's gone on and definitely go out there with my family," he said. "They have a good team, so we'll see what happens."
Minute Maid unlikely to move in center-field wall
CHICAGO -- With the Seattle Mariners announcing Tuesday they were bringing in the fences at Safeco Field, the American League West -- the Astros' new home next year -- has become a little more hitter friendly. But could the Astros follow suit and bring in their fences, too?
As of now, there are no plans to change the Minute Maid Park configuration or remove Tal's Hill, the embankment in center field that leads up to the center-field wall, which is 436 feet away from home plate. Astros owner Jim Crane has said previously the team is considering removing the hill, but it's not clear if the fences would be brought in if the hill is gone.
"With all the rebranding stuff, we have our hands full and that's going to be the focus of what we're doing," said Astros general manager Jeff Luhnow, referring to the changes being made at the ballpark in advance of the unveiling a new logo, color schemes and uniforms on Nov. 2.
Luhnow said so few balls are hit to the hill that it doesn't come into play too much.
"We have a deep center field and to change that we would have to bring in the fences fairly dramatically," he said. "I think our pitchers like being in a ballpark where there's a deep center field. Between [Brandon] Barnes and [Justin] Maxwell, we have some outfielders that can cover some ground out there, and that's really been a strength of ours."
Luhnow comfortable with Lopez in closer's role
CHICAGO -- Astros general manager Jeff Luhnow said Tuesday he would be comfortable with Wilton Lopez handling the team's closing duties next season. Lopez took over as closer after Brett Myers was traded and saved nine games, including seven consecutive successful chances entering Tuesday.
"Lopez said, 'Hey, I can do this. Count on me next year,'" Luhnow said.
Lopez, named the team's Pitcher of the Year by the Houston chapter of the Baseball Writers' Association of America, is 6-3 with a 2.20 ERA. Entering Tuesday, he had posted a 1.59 ERA in his last 27 appearances, with three wins, nine saves, three walks and 25 strikeouts.
"If we have an opportunity to improve our bullpen we're going to take it, but I feel extremely comfortable with Lopez finishing games," Luhnow said. "He's a strike-thrower. I love that."
Lopez has the lowest walks-per-nine innings pitched ratio among all Major League relievers with a 0.96 mark (seven walks in 65 1/3 innings). He has issued just three walks since June 1.
Brian McTaggart is a reporter for MLB.com and writes an MLBlog, Tag's Lines. Follow @brianmctaggart on Twitter. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Baseball or its clubs.


text:
Madeline Zirbes, United States Geological Survey, National Earthquake Information Center
This description of a site outside SERC has not been vetted by SERC staff and may be incomplete or incorrect. If you have information we can use to flesh out or correct this record let us know.
Part of the Earth Exploration Toolbook collection. The Earth Exploration Toolbook provides step-by-step instructions for using Earth science datasets and software tools in educational settings.


text:
Discussion in 'Star Trek Movies I-X' started by Lance, Feb 19, 2013.
I agree that "Nemesis" looks great.
I don't think it was a mistake.
Imagine if it had been a success - they had to try.
I dislike Generations of course because they killed Kirk (lamely).
I thought INS to be cliche ridden with the kid and his pet thing. I can't remember. I mostly like Data but hate it when he goes OTT and thought him most unfunny.
There wasn't that much wrong with FC or NEM IMO. Maybe NEM had too much Romulan politics for the casual viewer but I was able to pick it up.
I think timing has a lot to do with it. If the movies came out now I think they would be better received.
And look at the Transformer and Avenger movies. They're pretty much rubbish, just with great special effects but are massive hits at the box office. Would anyone say either of these movies changed their lives? All of the Star Trek movies are better than these IMO even the worst ones.
Well they had to give it a go because it made sense from a business POV. The salarys of the actors would go through the roof if they renegotiated another 5 or 6 year contract. TNG started with almost 30 million viewers and finished with over 30 million viewers, if they could get 35 million people into the cinema (or 17.5million people see it twice!) they would make nearly $150 million in 1994 money!
In the end 18 million tickets where sold for Generations and 21 million sold for First Contact. (Insurrection 15m, Nemesis.... 7m) so apart from Nemesis it worked out ok for Paramount.
No. Sadly, however, The Next Generation's elevation to the silver screen was, by and large, poorly executed. So, in principle, TNG's promotion was a sound next step, but, in practice, turned out to be more failure than success. C'est la vie.
Samething goes for Enterprise. The premise of a prequel and temporal cold-war in and of themselves weren't bad ways to go. The executions of those ideas, however were not good.
Ultimately the mishandling of The Next Gen's big screen adventures and Enterprise's small screen exploits proved detrimental to the franchise as a whole. I believe They failed because of "attitude." An attitude of laziness and self-conscious disbelief in what they were doing which led to a collapse in the internal structural integrity of what Star Trek is, was and should be - that's were it all went wrong (by my estimation).
Even after saying that though, If I were to go back in time and had the power ... would I greenlight TNG going big and the creation of Enterprise? Yes, I would - because in both cases they were sound moves and could/should have come up aces.
In fact, I would say they beat the odds by failing. No series, either film or television, has ever enjoyed more good will and mass affection then these two projects wherein a lot was expected, too little was ultimately delivered, but much was forgiven ... making 2009's rebirth possible.
So, bigger picture, the journey from there to here hasn't been so bad and, come hell or high water, the company of "Star Trek" devotees has made it all a fan-bloody-tastic experience. No regrets. Salute!
I think TNG movie made sense. TOS cast were aging, and there's a point where action sequences don't work anymore. There's a reason Sean Connery is not playing James Bond anymore. They needed a new movie cast. The problem was execution. Picard was never really that action based character. All of a sudden, Ricker stopped going on away missions, and Picard did that. In all honestly, Riker and Worf should have been the ones doing the action sequence, and Picard as the general planning the mission on the ship.
It was not a mistake to make movies, it was for other reasons they didn't came out very good. One of them it was, after 7 seasons of TNG and some more of DS9, it was impossible for the producers to shake the tv assembly-line, mass-production mindset off.
Moving them to the cinema wasn't the bad idea. Making the films so godawful formulaic was
I absolutely agree. TNG was a great show, but I felt it never worked in movies - I also felt Generations was the best one, despite its flaws, like 'Mr. Tricorder' bit, because it is the only one where the TNG characters still seemed in role from the TV Series - example: in FC and Ins, Picard suddenly became an "action" captain, who bucked orders to do what HE wanted, which is very different from the Picard we knew in the series, and never rung as "authentic" to me ... I tend to ignore these movies, and focus on the televised material...
Absolutely! This was my biggest peeve with these movies, the component that made them feel to me like the people were all out of character - I also never pictured Worf from the TV show threatening to kill Picard where he stands, "if he was any other man"
But there are serveral episodes in which Picards does the Action Jackson. The one with the terrorists on board, during the cleansing of the Enterprise, for example.
On a side note: the first drafts of FC had Riker to be on board the Enterprise and Picard doing the refitting on the planet.
^ Yes. And it would have made a much better film that way. I know Picard had a personal connection with the Borg, and I also know that Patrick Stewart wanted to make sure that he was the center of attention.
But, let's face it. Picard is the history buff and the thinker. The character, as we knew him from TNG, would kill to have the opportunity to actually interact with one of the legendary figures from history and help him with his work. Riker, OTOH, was always the action guy, and him leading the charge on the Enterprise alongside Worf also makes perfect sense. And Riker, too, does have a personal history with the Borg and knows their tactics and their weaknesses.
Flipping the two can be forgiven in this case because of Picard's history with the Borg, but I still think it would have been a more effective film with the roles the way they were originally written.
And while action Picard worked in this film, to do it again in Insurrection and then again in Nemesis was overkill. Yes, we saw Picard do action in TNG. But episodes like "Starship Mine" were the exception, not the rule. We needed to see more of the thoughtful man we knew from the series.
Patrick Stewart not only would have disagreed with you he would have vociferously disagreed with you. Michael Piller and he argued back and forth on this issue all throughout the writing of Insurrection. This was documented in Piller's book, Fade In: The Writing of Star Trek: Insurrection.
That book shows why stars should stay out of the writing process unless they are capable writers.
Sure does.
Actually, I always thought, him stepping out of character/we seeing more of the other side worked very good in FC. Especially because of the Borg Connection.
I agree. Riker being the tactics buff would've made a good show as well. But then you don't have this personal drama with Picard and giving in to the power of the Borg and loosing again something that he needs and likes(Home/Enterprise).
I always loved the Moby Dick Dialogue. Wouldn've been "possible" with Picard on the planet.
I agree, wholeheartedly.
I'm still amazed that Michael Piller wrote something like "Insurrection", especially given the great work he did for the tv series.
One of the most fatal errors that Star Trek has done for the movie series is exactly that (both TOS and TNG).
I agree
...ah, perhaps thats why the movie felt like a tv episode...
I might be bursting some people's bubbles here, but TNG's switch from television to films happened twenty (20, vingt, veinte, venti, dwadzieścia, ZWANZIG!) years ago, and TNG's last outing was ten (10, you get the idea) years ago.
So WHATEVER decision they made back then, TNG would be over by now, replaced by something else. Had they continued the show, it would have ended 5 years later because the entire cast jumped off, and the ratings were already dropping anyways. Had they remade TOS, those remakes would be over by now as well. Had they done a new show, it would be over. 20 years is a very long time.
Separate names with a comma.


text:
Illinois Nano EP Seminar Series Fall 2011: III-Nitride Power Transistor Switches for Next-Generation Electronics
Published on
III-Nitride (III-N) transistors offer tremendous performance advantages when compared to silicon-based power electronic components. These advantages include ultra-high powerdensity handling, high short switching transients. This presentation will discuss recent progress in two key III-N transistor technologies: highvoltage AlGaN/GaN heterojunction field-effect transistors (HFETs) and GaN/InGaN RF heterojunction bipolar transistor (HBTs). While III-N HEFTs are extensively studied for millimeter-wave applications, these transistors also showed great potential to drastically reduce the on-state resistance by at least a factor of 100 when compared to silicon counterparts and to enable power switches built-in an III-N integrated circuit. At Georgia Tech, III-N HFETs built on sapphire substrates achieved a 10-ampere drain current drive with a blocking voltage of 1 kV. Using similar techniques, we also achieved both normally-on and normally-off III-N HFETs using a GaN-on-silicon platform with the blocking voltage greater than 1.4 kV. The reported switching characteristics of III-N FET switches are among the best results reported to date for GaN-on-Si platforms. Another grand challenge in III-N transistor development is the realization of high-performance HBTs. In recent years, III-N HBTs employing GaN/InGaN heterostructures demonstrated significant improvements in the power gain and the microwave performance. In the course of the HBT research, we successfully demonstrated GaN/InGaN HBTs with good current gain (> 100) with low offset voltage (< 0.3 V) and knee voltage (< 2 V). Through these developments, we showed the first microwave operation of III-N HBTs with fT > 5 GHz and a common-emitter breakdown voltage of greater than 100 V. When a native free-standing GaN substrate is used, we also demonstrated higher d.c power handling density with > 7X improvement in the collector current drive when compared to devices on the sapphire substrate platform. The d.c. power handling for InGaN HBTs is rated as high as 3 MW/cm 2 in these devices. At 250 °C, IIIN HBTs also showed good current gain (> 40) and an increase of the breakdown voltage by > 30%, implying the feasibility of these transistors for high-temperature operation. This seminar will discuss the development status, technical issues, and applications of these high-voltage transistors for next-generation power electronics.
Cite this work
Researchers should cite this work as follows:
- Dr. Shen is a recipient of the 2000 Gregory E. Stillman Fellowship in ECE at UIUC, the 2001 Gregory E. Stillman Semiconductor Award (ECE, UIUC), the 2010 Richard M. Bass Outstanding Teacher Award (ECE, Georgia Tech), and the 2011 Outstanding Junior Faculty Award (ECE, Georgia Tech). He is an IEEE senior member and has served as a TPC member and session chair of the CSMANTECH conference since 2006.
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign


text:
North Carolina History
Timeline of North Carolina History
North Carolina County Development Time Map, 1664-1911
Browse by time period
- Precolonial Period (pre-1600)
- Colonial Period (1600-1763)
- American Revolution (1763-1789)
- Early Statehood (1789-1820)
- Antebellum (1820-1861)
- Civil War (1861-1865)
- Reconstruction (1865-1876)
- Gilded Age (1876-1900)
- N.C. Industrial Revolution (1900-1929)
- World War I (1914-1918)
- Great Depression (1929-1941)
- World War II (1941-1945)
- Post WWII 20th Century (1946-2000)
- 21st Century (2001-present)
23 September 2010 | Anonymous
hi im doing a state report
hi im doing a state report and i need help. so im needing history information i was wondering if you can help me
please help me
Hi Sabrina,
Hi Sabrina,
Please let us know what type of information you're looking for and we'll try to help. You can post right back here.
Also -- if you see a box in the upper right hand corner that says "Ask NCknows" that means librarians are online to help. You can type in the box to start a chat and ask your question.
Kelly Agan, NC Government & Heritage Library
My class is doing a state
My class is doing a state report and I was curios about this state so can you help me?
Hi Silena,
Hi Silena,
Thanks for visiting NCpedia.
What type of information are you looking for? If you have specific topics that will help me point you to resources. NCpedia has 6,900 articles on North Carolina biography, history and culture so we can hopefully help.
Please feel free to post back here with more specifics and we'll try to help.
Kelly Agan, NC Government & Heritage Library
I have lived in NC since 1991
I have lived in NC since 1991, and have been curious the entire time about the notch in the NC to SC line, just southwest of Charlotte. This area includes Steele Creek. Way back when the line was drawn, why did it not simply continue northwesterly until it intersected the latitude of the line headed due west until it again turned southwest to find Ellicott's Rock (where NC, SC, & GA meet)? Many thanks!
Hi Tony,
Hi Tony,
Thanks for visiting NCpedia. That's a really great question!
Here is a link to the NCpedia entry on the history of the boundaries -- http://ncpedia.org/boundaries-state. It is a fairly complex story dating from the colonial era to the present day and involving a number of historical surveys. In fact, in 2011 North Carolina and South Carolina joined forces to revisit the old surveys and resurvey the joint line. In the NCpedia entry for the above link, you'll also find references and additional resources (scroll down to the bottom of the entry) that provide additional details.
I hope this helps!
Kelly Agan, NC Government & Heritage Library
Not exactly finding what im
Not exactly finding what im looking for
Hi Tyjaia,
Hi Tyjaia,
I'm sorry you haven't found what you're looking for. Please let me know the specific topic you're interested in and I will try to help. You can post back here to this comment.
Kelly Agan, NC Government & Heritage Library
NCpedia is a very good
NCpedia is a very good website. I'm glad to visit the website
Best Regards
I can't find what I need
I can't find what I need
Add a comment
PLEASE NOTE: NCpedia will not publish personal contact information in comments, questions, or responses. If you would like a reply by email, please note thats some email servers are blocked from accepting messages from outside email servers or domains. These often include student email addresses from public school email accounts. If you prefer not to leave an email address, check back at your NCpedia comment for a reply. Please allow one business day for replies from NCpedia. Complete guidelines are available at http://ncpedia.org/comments.


text:
By Douglas B. Reeves
The challenges of evaluating teachers and administrators are well established. The pursuit of "great teaching and leadership" has been at the core of financial incentives associated with the Race to the Top and subsequent federal grants that specifically link teacher compensation to student performance.
While linking pay to performance seems obvious to many advocates, the devil is in the details. Here are some potential landmines that boards should consider before adopting a performance pay policy.
Would you like to continue reading?
Subscribers please click here to continue reading. If you are not a subscriber, please click here to purchase this article or to obtain a subscription to ASBJ.
Login or Subscribe
Connect with us:
Copyright © 2018, National School Boards Association. American School Board Journal is an editorially independent publication of the National School Boards Association. Opinions expressed by this magazine or any of its authors do not necessarily reflect positions of the National School Boards Association. Within the parameters of fair use, this article may be printed out and photocopied for individual use, provided this copyright notice appears on each copy. This article may not be otherwise, linked, transmitted, or reproduced in print or electronic form without the consent of the Publisher. For more information, call (703) 838-6739.
American School Board Journal. The Source for School Leaders.1680 Duke Street, Alexandria, Virginia 22314, USA (703) 838-6722
© National School Boards Association


text:
Hi, I bought 2013 Skate Canada bundle tickets (2 bundles), but I can not use it now, so I want to sell it.
The bundle ticket is the most expensive zone (zone level 1, I bought it at the price of $ 170 + TAX each), and I hope to sell it $100 each.
It is so reasonalble price I think, and If you want and buy it, I think it can be a win-win game.
Ticket location is: Section T/9 3-4 (12)
Skate Canada sent me tickets via e-mail. They are transferable and the tickets can be sent to you via e-mail.
Please feel free to e-mail me, if you have any question.
e-mail firstname.lastname@example.com
Last edited by dorispulaski; 10-08-2013 at 07:31 AM.


text:
I miss my Pro Angler too much and I actually went at looked at the new ones and really like them now.
So I'm selling a damn near brand new Jackson Big Tuna. It has only been on the water 3 times. some scratches from going in and out of the bed of my truck but still in killer shape. They are 1800 new with a rudder. Only comes with one seat. I have already added dual rear no-drill anchor trolleys, 2 4in YakAttack Geartracs, and some customer STS on the gunwales and standing area.


text:
Letter from CHARLES ELIOT NORTON to GEORGE PERKINS MARSH, dated August 23, 1870.
Item Description
Title: Letter from CHARLES ELIOT NORTON to GEORGE PERKINS MARSH, dated August 23, 1870.
- Norton, Charles Eliot
- Marsh, George Perkins, 1801-1882
Source Document
Extent: 1 letter
Genre(s): letter
Note [Digital Version]
, Center for Digital Initiatives, University of Vermont Libraries
Type of Resource: text
Parent Collections
Other Formats
Access Conditions
For usage
rights related to this resource please visit: http://cdi.uvm.edu/rights/
More information.
Permanent Link:
Preferred citation
Letter from CHARLES ELIOT NORTON to GEORGE PERKINS MARSH, dated August 23, 1870., Original located at the University of Vermont's Special Collections in the George Perkins Marsh Collection, filed by date., http://cdi.uvm.edu/collections/item/cengpm700823 (accessed January 20, 2018)
Letter from CHARLES ELIOT NORTON to GEORGE PERKINS MARSH, dated August 23, 1870.
Transcribed by :
TEI mark-up by : James P. Tranowski andEllen Thomson
Published by: University of Vermont. All rights reserved.
Villa Spannocchi, Siena. August 23, 1870.
My dear Mr. Marsh
I was greatly pleased to hear a few days ago from Miss Blagden that Mrs. Marsh's health had much improved during the summer. If this be really the case I beg you to accept our sincere congratulations.
Before I left Florence you gave me some hope that we might have the pleasure of seeing you here in the course of this month or the next. I should have written to you before this time to ask you to fix a time for coming to us, had it not been that for some weeks past my Mother has been confined -------------------------------- Page -------------------------------- to her chamber by a pretty sharp, though not alarming, attack of illness. She is slowly recovering, & now sits up every day for a short time. --
But I write today in the hope that you may be willing to oblige me by coming to Siena, even at this time, to render us a personal service. I have received today a conveyance deed, of a somewhat important piece of property, which must be signed by my Mother, before a competent American official, and must be returned to America as speedily as possible. -- Were she in her usual health she would go at once to Florence to sign the deed in your presence there, but -------------------------------- Page -------------------------------- as this is impossible I am compelled to ask the favor of a visit to us from you. I trust that you would be willing to spend at least two or three days with us,--but if this be impracticable for you, you could by taking the early train from Florence (6.20 A.M) reach here in time for a stay of some hours, & return by a train that reaches Florence at nine in the evening. But I should be sorry to have you thus hurried,--and I hope, as I have said, that you can stay longer. We should all be very glad of as long a visit as you can make us.
With our kindest regards to Mrs. Marsh, I am
Faithfully YoursC. E. Norton.
Over.-------------------------------- Page --------------------------------
I ought to express more strongly than I have done my regret at being compelled to ask a favour which may cost you so much inconvenience & trouble in my behalf. If you will have the kindness to telegraph to me in advance of your coming I will meet you at the R.R. station.


text:
Great-Grandfather Takes the Wrong Kid Home From School
In what sounds like the start of either a charming Disney movie or a terrifying psychological horror story, a five-year-old Connecticut boy went on a bit of a detour when someone else's great-grandfather picked him up from school.
The 79-year-old was filling in for his granddaughter when he went to pick the kindergartener at the Sterling Community school in Connecticut. His kid and the five-year-old child he picked up were apparently of similar builds, wearing similar hats, and coincidentally lived on the same street.
"[The great-grandfather] said 'I know you live on Pine Hill Road but your mom is sick so you have to come to my house,'" the boy's father, Derek Stone, 38, told The Post.
When the child refused to get out of the car, the man's wife came out to investigate.
"So the man goes into the house and gets his wife, who took my son's hat off, and said 'Hey you have the wrong kid,' then they called the school."
Stone's parents are furious because the school elected to handle the mixup internally rather than calling police. School officials apparently had the great-grandfather drive Stone back to the school, then transported him to the correct home on an empty school bus.


text:
I Died in a Law & Order: SVU Bus Wreck and Lived to Tell the Tale
Gawker.TV claims Your Work Can Wait. However, if one has no work to put off and is obsessed with entertainment, being an extra is a decent way to make cash. In this economic climate, a TV junkie could do worse.
Granted, it's unglamorous, exhausting, and sometimes boring, but extras are given a glimpse into a world of craft services, TV stars, and backstage antics. At least it's rewarding and they feed you. Unlike working at a restaurant, where they may feed you, but you'll want to kill yourself.
What is an extra? Extras are all those people filling in the background of your favorite TV shows and movies. It's easy to get sucked in when watching a movie like Green Zone and forget that every line-less "Iraqi" blocking Matt Damon from finding WMD is, in fact, a poorly paid actor wearing a beard and a windbreaker.
Every extra experience is unique, but uniformly baffling. In one year of background work, I've played a hobo on Cupid, a club-goer on Fringe, been a body double on Gossip Girl, and a stand in on Celebrity Apprentice (tough break, Leifer).
Most recently, it was a dream come true to be asked to play a bus crash victim on Law and Order: SVU and it is my honor to describe for you all that I witnessed as an extra. I sincerely hope that my deep affection for this show comes across as I detail my observations from set. In my mind, Mariska Hargitay can do no wrong and Christopher Meloni—don't change a thing, baby.
Extras are given the least amount of information necessary. In this case, I was told to meet a bus at 43rd and 9th and to wear neutral, olive, or dark purple, no puffy coats, no white, no red, and no head-to-toe black. At 8pm, I loaded into a silver, 14 passenger van bound for North Bergen, New Jersey.
When my van load of extras arrived in the studio, all the chairs in the holding area were occupied by people dressed as cops, plain clothed detectives with badges on chains, EMTs, nurses, doctors, and orderlies. We were told to wait in the other room which, to my sheer delight, was the set of the morgue, complete with metal slab and autopsy files.
The costumer declared that all bus crash victims would be "getting bloody" so she assigned us each costumes. My costume was oddly combined dress pants and a pastel, striped, long sleeve waffle shirt which I carried toward the restroom to try on. Luckily, I got lost on my way to the restroom and wound up in the cast dressing room area. There, I was met by a little barking dog, clearly unhappy with my presence. Hearing the dog bark, Richard Belzer (Munch) and a bespectacled Coco (Ice T's wife) appeared!
I'm not sure, but this could very well be the dog I'm talking about. Belzer playfully said, "Isn't he scary!" and Coco said, "I've never heard Benny bark before." Stunned, I finally found the restroom, threw on my costume, and headed back to the morgue.
A production assistant rounded up the bus crash victims and took us to the set of Mercy Hospital. Just rooms away from the morgue, the hospital looked as authentic as Lenox Hill. I was assigned a neck brace, wooden back board, and stretcher and posed for a still shot with the episode's guest star. She was blonde, bruised, and pregnant. Her name was Hannahleena or something; I'd never seen her before in my life. I lied on my stretcher and tried to eavesdrop on Mariska, whom I could hear rehearsing in the other room.
I have zero hard and confirmed facts about the plot of this episode. I do, however, have eyes and ears. By piecing together clues from the lines I over heard, such as, "Who rapes a pregnant woman?" I can say with relative certainty that this episode will feature at least one pregnant rape victim.
The production assistant who's job it was to assign us injuries decided that I should have a gaping leg wound. And just like that, a costumer was ripping holes in my pants and drenching me with dyed corn syrup. A second costumer followed to add detail blood to my eyebrow and fingers. This casting called for real life amputees, so there were actors having their actual stumps dressed in bloody gauze. Once every extra was sufficiently beat up, we were released back to holding.
In the hall, Detective Benson herself, Mariska Hargitay stopped me and another bloody extra.
"Is that a gun shot wound?" she asked as she pointed to my leg. I could have died right then. Jayne Mansfield's daughter spoke to me.
"I was in a bus crash," I explained.
"Really? Did they tell you that, or did you two make that up yourselves?" she joked. At which point a costumer blurted, "It's in the script, Mariska," and we were sent back to the morgue where, with my wounds wrapped in cellophane, I ate free cookies and waited to be called back to set.
By the time we went back to the hospital to rehearse, it was already after midnight. There, I caught my first glimpse of Christopher Meloni, the man after whose character I once named my dog, Detective Elliot Stabler. He was reclining at the fake hospital reception desk counting our collective blessings that at least we weren't in a real hospital at this hour. Then he sprung into action massaging Mariska's shoulders. Welcome, I suppose, but when the director called them over, he didn't stop the massage. Mariska complained she had "a perv with a dream" on her back, a reference to one of Meloni's lines in the scene, "For every kink there's a perv with a dream." Meloni then did a touchdown style dance complete with pelvic thrusts and read aloud from a prop pamphlet on Tay-Sachs.
In the scene, a doctor with highlights and an unseasonable tan whirled through the hospital action, signing forms while explaining to Benson and Stabler that a raped, pregnant woman had come to the emergency room. Then, Benson discovered that the victim had escaped!
I was promoted from stretcher to gurney and, with each rehearsal, two relentlessly shticky EMTs strapped me down and wheeled me through the shot As I squirmed in my braces trying to ignore their banter and jokes, it occurred to me that I was the definition of a captive audience. I couldn't move, so when they decided to lift me off the gurney and drop me and my board onto another surface, I had to go along with it.
The shot began with the camera focused on my leg wound then the EMTs rolled me out of frame. I realized that my character of bus crash victim was mere breaths away from the coveted role of Law and Order dead body. So sometimes, as I whizzed past the camera, I would pretend to die.
There were several rehearsals then several takes with Meloni goofing off in between. Everyone seemed a little slaphappy. I couldn't hear specifics, but Mariska definitely told the director, "If you … one more time I'm going to knee you in the balls." It was 1:30am by the time we wrapped.
I put my syrupy clothes back on the hanger, collected my time sheet, and boarded the van back to Manhattan. The next morning, I saw that tan, frosty haired doctor on my street. He had his earbuds in and walked with a purpose. I too walked with a purpose because I was a Law and Order:SVU bus crash victim and I lived to tell the tale.
For some additional fun, here's the Law and Order: SVU theme song ...with lyrics.


text:
The first house my husband and I bought had 7 rooms of dated, hideously ugly wallpaper. Every room was covered in a busy print of flowers, birds, or fruit. It took weeks and weeks of labor (steaming, scoring, scraping) to get it off. I still remember the agony and saying at least a hundred times how I would never, ever, have wallpaper again.
Well……fast forward 17 years….I recently found myself flipping through a few wallpaper books and I didn't see a single Rooster, Cherry or tiny Floral pattern in the book. What I did see was fabulous colors and patterns. It was a far cry from what I stripped off all those years back. Although I am still not ready to pull the trigger and wallpaper an entire room, I must admit, I have had moments of weakness. I continue to see wallpaper showing up in design magazines and I must say I have become a little more open minded.
It got me thinking… maybe I will use a little wallpaper and line a china cabinet.
I love this painted side board lined with this black and turquoise wallpaper.
I'm not a fan of an entire room covered in wallpaper unless the paper is very subtle or textured such as a grass cloth.
I do like the look of bright and colorful wallpaper when used as an accent.
Notice the same paper used as the art on either side of the panel.
This red paper accent wall adds a nice pop of color to brighten up this bed room.
I love this black and white graphic used as an accent wall in this dining room.
Another fun idea is wallpaper on the ceiling. Although I couldn't imagine the labor getting this off when you tire of the look.
I think this blank frame wallpaper by Graham and Brown is genius…your child can color right on the wallpaper. My kids would have LOVED this when they were little.
I absolutely adore the hand painted wallpapers from Black Crow Studios. This one would look so beautiful in my dining room or in my entrance way…just beautiful! Not only do I love the colors but I love the whole watery feel.
Then problem with wallpaper is that just like fabric, it is such a personal choice. What I love, you may not; and since we plan to sell our house and downsize sometime within the next 5-7 years I think of the pain of taking it off. But then again…
So what is your vote on wallpaper? Thumbs Up or Down?
If you would like some help with decorating, staging or color, give me a call.


text:
GGG - The ONE team Philly didn't want so soon in the playoffs was Toronto. They are evenly matched up front but Leetch and McCabe give them offense on the back end that might be hard for Philly to contend with.
Esche vs. Belfour, no contest.
One thing's for sure, the Flyers are going to at Belfour hard.


text:
AQHA Gets More Time to Make Cloning Arguments
- Mar 18, 2014
- Topics:
A federal court has given the American Quarter Horse Association (AQHA) more time to answer a request from owners of cloned horses to slate oral arguments in the association's appeal regarding the registration of cloned Quarter Horses.
Some owners have used the cloning process—which was first performed on horses in 2003—to preserve their animals' bloodlines, particularly those of high-performance equines. In response to cloning as a way to preserve bloodlines, some breed associations ruled on whether or not cloned horses can be included in their breed registries. In 2004 the AQHA board of directors approved Rule 227(a), which prohibits cloned horses or their offspring from being included in the organization's breed registry.
In 2012, Jason Abraham and two of his related companies, Abraham & Veneklasen Joint Venture and Abraham Equine Inc., filed suit against the AQHA in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Texas, Amarillo Division. The complaint asks the court to order the AQHA to remove Rule 227(a) on grounds that the ban on registering cloned horses and their offspring violates antitrust laws.
Last year, a federal district court jury determined that the rule preventing cloned Quarter Horses from being registered with the AQHA violated both state and federal antitrust rules. A U.S. District Court judge later signed an order requiring the organization to register cloned animals, and in response, the AQHA filed another federal lawsuit asking that the court's clone registration ruling be overturned. The U.S. District Court in Amarillo, Texas, later allowed the AQHA to delay the registration of clones and their offspring until the breed association's appeal was heard and decided.
On March 17, Sarah Davisson, AQHA manager of publicity and special events, said that the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals had allowed the organization's request for more time in answering Abraham's and other owners' request to set oral arguments in the cloning case.
"Originally, AQHA's reply was due March 13 per court order," Davisson said. "The new deadline is March 24 per court order."
Attorney Nancy Stone, who represents Abraham & Veneklasen Joint Venture, was unavailable for comment on the court's decision.
The case remains pending.
About the Author
Pat Raia
Pat Raia is a veteran journalist who enjoys covering equine welfare, industry, and news. In her spare time, she enjoys riding her Tennessee Walking Horse, Sonny.
Related Content
National Forest Trail Bill Approved by House Committee
The Horse, TheHorse.com Win Media Awards
Diagnosing Equine Ataxia: Go Back to Basics
Heritable Equine Skin Disorders
Assisted Reproduction in Horses: Practical Usage (AAEP 2010)
Neuroaxonal Dystrophy in Quarter Horses: Case Series
Equine Collapse: Once in a Lifetime?
2010: A Year in Review
Merry Christmas from The Horse
New Jersey Beefs Up Horse Health Regulations Enforcement


text:
is it easy to replace?
Would the burning electrical smell be the relay switch?
Other than the ohm meter. Would there be any other way to know if it is the compressor?
It sounds like you want me to replace to switches?
Started by flair
Started by friedegg
Started by Sparkmaster
Started by countrygl78
Started by wfourney
Started by resapp


text:
Excess weight and obesity, fueled in part by our sugar-saturated diet, present serious risk of diseases such as diabetes, hypertension and heart disease, and contribute to rising medical costs.
In Richmond, an estimated 52 percent of children and 58 percent of adults are overweight or obese. Across Contra Costa, according to one study, excess weight and obesity drive up medical costs an estimated $400 million annually.
Thus, Richmond's soda tax on the Nov. 6 ballot might seem appealing. After all, taxes on tobacco products have helped tamp down smoking-related cancers. Taxes on sugary beverages could seem a logical extension as a way to combat weight-related illnesses.
But there's a big difference. Tobacco is often solely responsible for specific cancers. The link is direct. However, sugar is one of many contributors to obesity. And soda is just one form of sugar delivery. Once we start down the path of taxing soda, what else should be included? Butter? Hamburgers? Cheesecake? Snow cones? Donuts? It's a slippery slope.
That's the primary reason we oppose Measure N, the 1-cent-per-ounce tax on sugar-sweetened drinks. As concerned as we are about obesity, especially among our youth, taxing beverages from sodas to energy drinks, from fruit drinks with high-fructose corn syrup to sweet teas, isn't the answer.
Excess weight and obesity cannot be curtailed with a tax — and certainly not in just one city. The government role should be education.
Richmond's measure has another key problem: The city doesn't have the authority from the state to unilaterally impose a sales tax on soda when it's purchased. So, instead, the city has opted to tax the businesses that sell the products.
It's up to the businesses how they choose to pass on the extra cost. Some, fearing that they will drive up the prices of their sodas relative to competitors, might opt to spread the tax over all products, thereby undermining the goal of using prices to discourage soda consumption.
Finally, Richmond officials say they will spend the tax money to reduce obesity. But the state requires two-thirds voter approval for a tax when the revenues will go toward a specific purpose.
To get around that, so that Measure N requires only majority approval, the money will not be restricted. But Measure O, which is only advisory, would allow voters to express their preference that the money be spent on school sports programs and fields, healthier school meals, nutrition and cooking classes, medical care for low-income children with diabetes and prevention and treatment of diabetes and childhood obesity.
We often oppose ballot restrictions on government spending that tie lawmakers' hands. But in this case there would be a direct connection between the tax and the proposed spending. So, while we oppose the tax, we want to encourage spending the money as promised if it does become law.
Vote no on N, yes on O.


text:
Don't let your children play with fireworks of any kind, advises the American Academy of Pediatrics. Thousands are needlessly injured every year. Take them to a professional fireworks display instead.
The AAP, the national association of children's doctors, would like to see every state ban all private use of fireworks.


text:
-- Mary Elizabeth Dallas
THURSDAY, Dec. 6 (HealthDay News) -- The key to a slimmer figure
is not necessarily dieting, but just cutting back on fat intake, a
new British study suggests.
Researchers from the University of East Anglia found that simply
replacing high-fat foods with low-fat alternatives helped people
lose roughly 3.5 pounds. Reducing fat intake also resulted in lower
blood pressure and improved cholesterol levels. The study authors
suggested that the findings may play a critical role in global
dietary recommendations, because being overweight or obese
increases the risk for many cancers, heart disease and stroke.
The study was published Dec. 7 in the journal
The researchers reviewed 33 randomized, controlled trials in
North America, Europe and New Zealand that involved over 73,500
men, women and children with a variety of health histories. A
randomized, controlled study is one in which people are randomly
assigned to different groups: one group receives the treatment and
the other does not receive the treatment (the "control" group).
For at least six months, the investigators compared the weight
and waistline measurements of those who cut back on their fat
intake with the same measurements of those who did not alter their
eating habits.
In addition to losing weight, the study found that eating less
fat reduced the participants' body mass index (BMI, a measurement
of body fat based on height and weight) and waist circumference
slightly. The researchers pointed out that none of the participants
were dieting or trying to lose weight, and they added that the
weight came off quickly and wasn't regained for at least seven
"The weight reduction that we found when people ate less fat was remarkably consistent -- we saw it in almost every trial. Those who cut down more on fat, lost more weight," study leader Dr. Lee Hooper, from the university's Norwich Medical School, said in a journal news release.
"The effect isn't dramatic, like going on a diet. The research specifically looked at people who were cutting down on fat, but didn't aim to lose weight, so they were continuing to consume a normal amount of food. What surprised us was that they did lose weight, their BMI decreased and their waists became slimmer," Hooper added.
One expert explained why fat calories are the worst.
"Fat calories are more dense, and the fat that we add to food is usually palatable, increasing our desire to want to eat more," said Sharon Zarabi, a nutritionist and fitness trainer at Lenox Hill Hospital in New York City. "So, figure you decrease your fat intake, which decreases your total caloric intake and [leaves] you less likely to crave and overeat."
Although the study did not differentiate between types of fat,
Hooper's team pointed out that cutting down on saturated fat is the
healthiest approach since it reduces the risk of heart disease and
"This means having low-fat milk and yogurt, cutting down on butter and cheese and cutting the fat off meat," noted Hooper. "Most importantly, have fruit instead of fatty snacks like biscuits, cake and crisps. And remember, this isn't a diet, so don't take it to extremes, but work out a way of eating that you can stick to permanently."
Commenting in the news release, study co-author Carolyn
Summerbell, from Durham University, said, "A healthy diet is a way
of eating that people can sustain over time. That's the trick, to
find a comfortable way to eat that you can stick to for life, which
helps you maintain your weight. Cutting down on fat will help."
Zarabi put it this way: "You are what you eat. Put the cheap
fuel in, and you're left with low-quality health."
The researchers said more studies are needed to investigate the
effect of reduced fat intake on body weight in developing
countries, as well as in children.
More information
The U.S. National Library of Medicine has more about
weight control.
EBSCO Information Services is fully accredited by URAC. URAC is an independent, nonprofit health care accrediting organization dedicated to promoting health care quality through accreditation, certification and commendation.
Please be aware that this information is provided to supplement the care provided by your physician. It is neither intended nor implied to be a substitute for professional medical advice. CALL YOUR HEALTHCARE PROVIDER IMMEDIATELY IF YOU THINK YOU MAY HAVE A MEDICAL EMERGENCY. Always seek the advice of your physician or other qualified health provider prior to starting any new treatment or with any questions you may have regarding a medical condition.
Copyright © EBSCO Information Services. All rights reserved.