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Nutrition Facts
Ingredients and Preparation
Tip: Save the remaining artichoke hearts for tomorrow's lunch salad, or add to the side salad below.
- Place medium to large skillet over medium-high heat and add walnuts. Toast for 2-3 minutes, or until fragrant. Let cool slightly, and then chop into smaller pieces.
- Mix together artichokes, sun-dried tomatoes, mozzarella, basil, walnuts, vinegar, and 1 teaspoon of olive oil in a small bowl.
- Using a sharp paring knife, slice deep pockets in the sides of the chicken breasts, making as much room for the stuffing as possible. (If you accidentally cut through to the side, seal with a toothpick after adding stuffing.)
- Stuff ½ of artichoke and sun-dried tomatoes mixture into each chicken breast.
- Add 2 teaspoons of olive oil to the skillet and heat over medium-high heat. Add chicken and cook for 5-6 minutes on each side. Season with ¼ teaspoon salt and pepper to taste.


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Welcome to this week's edition of Simply Natural Saturday! Simply Natural Saturday {or SNS for short} is a weekly link-up where bloggers share their natural living, simple life, and real food posts so you can check them out!
Meet the Hosts
TJ | Measuring Flower
TJ is a former chef with a Bachelor of Science degree in Professional Writing turned stay-at-home wife to a handsome engineer and homeschooling mom to three adorable kids. She blogs semi-professionally for her natural living and simple life website MeasuringFlower.com.
Stefani | Crafty Christian
Stefani is a Certified Children and Family Health Coach who's imperfect, sarcastic, and one hot mess of a mama who's married to her best friend. She's the semi-crunchy homeschooling mom to two crazy boys, an autoimmune disease and Lyme disease warrior, an easy Paleo and gluten free recipe crafter, and a lover of all things natural, pretty, and rustic.
Dorothy | The Creative Recycler
Dorothy loves finding creative ways to recycle, be green, and show others how to take baby steps to a greener lifestyle. She has three kids, a red-bearded husband, backyard chickens, and a struggling garden. Find her blogging at The Creative Recycler.
Rebekah | Naturally Blessed Mama
Rebekah Baker and her husband live in Texas with their three amazing kids. Rebekah's passion for natural living kindled as a teenager and grew after discovering that she had hypoglycemia and that her daughter was 99% positive for celiac plus had IBS and a leaky gut. These difficulties sparked her research of alternative medicine.
Susannah | HealthyGreenSavvy
Susannah is passionate about helping people make healthier, greener choices. Mom to two energetic kiddos, she aims to inspire busy families short on time but long on good intentions. Check out her practical, easy tips for no-fuss gardening; simple, healthy food; and natural, non-toxic living on her blog, HealthyGreenSavvy.
Last Week's Featured Post
This week's featured post is for caffeine eye gel pads. Such a unique idea!
Caffeine Eye Gel Pads
From Pistachio Project
Link Up and Discover
READERS–Have fun browsing the posts as linked to below!
BLOGGERS–Before sharing your posts, please look over these rules:
- Link up to FIVE of your posts below. We ask that you only link up each post {and up to 5 different ones per week} with our linky no more than twice per 6 months.
- Please ensure that your post and blog are family friendly.
- Only link up posts that belong to the following general themes:
- natural living
- real food {as in no processed or unhealthful ingredients}
- homesteading
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- frugal tips
- green living
- and so on {must fall under the broad idea of all natural, healthy living}
- By linking up, you give us permission to email you reminders whenever SNS is posted as well as share pictures from your post{s} with our readers {with proper attribution and link to your post, of course}.
- While a link-back is not required, it is greatly appreciated. We work hard to promote this link-up and your posts, so a link-back {whether in the form of a link at the bottom of your post or by sharing the link-up button} would be awesome.

[inlinkz_linkup id=675030 mode=1]

subset: commoncrawl


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PyroMark Q96 MD Accessories and Reagents are intended for molecular biology applications. These products are not intended for the diagnosis, prevention, or treatment of a disease.
PyroMark Q96 MD Accessories and Reagents enable Pyrosequencing analysis with the PyroMark Q96 MD instrument for applications such as:
You are not authorized to download the resource


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For the purposes of this tutorial, my only assumptions are that you have the software installed, and you have some form of Arduino (although you can still go through this tutorial without actually testing anything out).
Arduino uses a special dialect of AVR C (which itself is just stripped down C with some special functions and constants), which doesn't really have an official name, besides "The Arduino Language"
*If you know C or Java, most of this tutorial will be basic for you, and you may want to consider checking out the official reference
The Basics
Every Arduino program has two functions that must be used for the program to compile: setup() and loop().
What they do is pretty self-explanatory, setup() is called once, at the beginning of the program's execution, and initiates variables and sets up external things like LEDs (don't worry, we'll get to this)
The next section, loop() repeats infinitely until the power supply is removed. Here is where you would want to put everything that your Arduino will need to do (detect light, move a motor, read a value, etc.)
I'm just trying to do a crash course in C here, not the entirety of the language, if you have no programming experience whatsoever, I recommend reading a good tutorial before continuing.
I'm going to give you a quick little example of an Arduino program. Don't worry if you don't understand everything just yet.
Let's say you type this into the Arduino editor and hit "Upload to Board":
int led = 13; void setup () { //this sets up pin 13 as an output pinMode (led, OUTPUT); } void loop () { //this continuously turns the LED on digitalWrite (led, HIGH); }
Arduino then takes your code, and translates it into true AVR C, which is put into a temporary file, and then compiled:
#include "WProgram.h" int led = 13; void setup () { pinMode (led, OUTPUT); } void loop () { digitalWrite (led, HIGH); // turn on the LED } int main(void) { init(); //defined in WProgram.h setup(); //call setup() one time for(;;) //infinite loop loop(); return 0; }
Easy stuff, right? Well, if it's not, I'll try and clear it all up now.
Let's dissect this program line by line, starting off with this:
int led = 13;
There are three parts to this statement:
- int led declares the type and name of the variable we want to create
- = this is an assignment operator, it assigns the value of the expression to its right to the variable on its left, in this case, led is set to 13
- ; end of statement marker. With the exception of conditionals, loops, and functions, the semicolon goes at the end of every line (since whitespace is just ignored)
This is a function, Java and lots of other languages call it a method, but either way, it is the same thing.
- void this is the return type. It specifies what the function will return back when it finishes. Since this is just initializing variables, it has no return type (it returns void, the lack of a return)
- setup() this is the name of the function. From here on in the code, anywhere setup() is used, this function will be called
- {/*code*/} everything between the brackets is the body of the function, which is the code to be executed when the function is called. /*code*/ is a comment. Everything within /* and */ will be ignored. You could also do line comments, like so //comment!
If you still aren't grasping this completely (and I don't blame you, I didn't go very deeply in-depth) feel free to leave a comment or PM me, and I'll try to point you in the right direction
Commonly Used Functions
Arduino provides a lot of built in functions to do a wide variety of things. I'll just cover the ones I feel are the most important here. (You can find the full list here)
pinMode(pin, mode)
This function is used to set up a pin for either output or input. 'pin' is the pin number attached, and mode is either OUTPUT or INPUT (both must be uppercase) which, not surprisingly, mean the pin is used for output or input, respectively.
A function which pauses the execution of the program for ms milliseconds. This can be useful if you are blinking a LED, because an LED that has no delay in between blinks just looks like it's turned on.
digitalWrite(pin, value)
Writes to a pin that has been setup for output a value of either HIGH or LOW, which mean, in essence, On or Off.
Reads the pin at 'pin' and returns an integer, either HIGH, or LOW, representing, like with digitalWrite(), On or Off
analogWrite(pin, value)
Writes value (between 0-255) to pin. 0 being off, and 255 being on. Everything in between is like using a dimmer switch compared to a regular light switch. (Not exactly, if you wanted to get technical about it, check out how PWM waves work )
Returns a value from pin in the ranges of 0-1023. Something to think about when using this, if you have a sensor which returns 0-1023, and want to change that to 0-255 (analogWrite, possibly?).
You can solve this by using the map(value, fromLow, fromHigh, toLow, toHigh)
Consider the following snippet.
int val = analogRead(0); val = map(val, 0, 1023, 0, 255);
Okay, so in the next tutorial we'll start building (I promise) but for now, I want to finish this tutorial up.
Feel free to comment and watch out for Part III - coming to a theater near you!


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Remote monitoring and control of an individual UPS by connecting it directly to the network.
APC UPS Network Management Cards allow for secure monitoring and control of an individual APC UPS via web browser, command line interface, or SNMP. The configurable notification features keep you informed of problems as they occur. For protected servers, the included PowerChuteTM Network Shutdown software provides graceful, unattended shutdown in the event of an extended power outage, always keeping business information safe.
|Part Number
|Part Number
|Product UPS Network Management Card 2 w/ Environmental Monitoring, Out of Band Access and Modbus
|Part Number AP9635
How to buy
|Product UPS Network Management Card 2
|Part Number AP9630
How to buy
|Product APC Dry Contact I/O Accessory
|Part Number AP9810
How to buy
|Product UPS Network Management Card 3 with PowerChute Network Shutdown
|Part Number AP9640
How to buy
|Product UPS Network Management Card 3 with PowerChute Network Shutdown & Environmental Monitoring
|Part Number AP9641
How to buy
|Product UPS Network Management Card 2 with Environmental Monitoring
|Part Number AP9631
How to buy
|Reboot equipment remotely
|Saves dispatching technicians to remote locations.
|Total Cost of Ownership
|Browser Accessible
|View the user interface with a browser. Provides quick access from anywhere on a secure network.
|Flash upgradeable firmware
|Install maintenance releases of firmware remotely using FTP.
|Customize shut down and reboot of connected equipment and UPSs.
|Data logging
|Identify problematic trends before they escalate or export the data log for analysis.
|Event logging
|Pinpoint the timing and sequence of events leading up to an incident with the event log.
|Integrates with StruxureWare Data Center Expert
|An IT-ready, scalable access monitoring system that collects, organizes, and distributes critical alerts, surveillance video and key information, providing a unified view of complex physical infrastructure environments from anywhere on the network
|Enterprise management system compatible
|Make device information available to your preferred enterprise management system by forwarding SNMP traps (events) across SNMPv1 and SNMPv3 using the PowerNet MIB
|Be notified of problems to ensure crucial situations are dealt with in a timely manner.
|Multi-tier user access
|Supports up to four access levels - Administrator, Device User, Read-Only User and Network-only User - with user name and password requirements.
|Radius support
|Use an existing radius server to securely authenticate, authorize, and account for your APC device.
|Network Shutdown
|Reliable network-based shutdown of multiple servers
|Password Security
|User-selectable password with strong password rules and reset password mechanism.


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INTERACTIVE FAST RANDOM ACCESS, RETRIEVAL, AND NAVIGATION OF LARGE DATASETS by Zihong Fan A Dissertation Presented to the FACULTY OF THE USC GRADUATE SCHOOL UNIVERSITY OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY (ELECTRICAL ENGINEERING) August 2011 Copyright 2011 Zihong Fan
Object Description
|Interactive fast random access, retrieval, and navigation of large datasets
|Fan, Zihong
|Author email
|Doctor of Philosophy
|Document type
|Degree program
|Electrical Engineering
|Viterbi School of Engineering
|Date defended/completed
|Date submitted
|Date approved
|Restricted until
|Date published
|Advisor (committee chair)
|Ortega, Antonio
|Advisor (committee member)
Teng, Shang-Hua
Leahy, Richard M.
|This research is motivated by two important trends. First, more than ever before large amounts of data and information are being accessed through mobile devices such as smart phones, tablet computers, book readers, etc. Second, significant amounts of complex and high-volume information (e.g. maps, medical images, scientific datasets, virtual museums, etc.) are now available over networks. In addition to entertainment applications (e.g. video sharing), a significant driver of traffic over networks is likely to come from professional applications. Such applications, like those that might provide doctors with pervasive access to medical information, will demand high quality performance according to a variety of different metrics, such as latency, resolution, interactivity, and perceptual quality. ❧ We have proposed a novel system for interactive, fast, and random access and navigation of large datasets. Of particular interest in our system is the random retrieval of lower dimensional data from high dimensional datasets. The system makes it possible to allow limited memory mobile devices to quickly access complex large datasets over low-bandwidth connections. This approach can reduce the transmission rate dramatically (by factor of 2) and also improve the level of interactive navigation. Both 2D and 3D systems, referring to the dimensionality of the datasets that may be accessed, for fast and random access have been developed and each system is composed of a tiling scheme, linear searching algorithm, compression methodology, mapping algorithm, and reconstruction scheme. The mapping algorithms can also be applied to various other applications and areas. We also have proposed models for parameter selection and system optimization, tools to both analyze and quantify the benefits of our proposed re-mapping algorithm as well as wavelet based approach 3D system. This work offers both theoretical and practical contributions and can be used in a wide-array of exciting future applications.
|fast random access; large datasets; interactive
|Part of collection
|University of Southern California dissertations and theses
|Publisher (of the original version)
|University of Southern California
|Place of publication (of the original version)
|Los Angeles, California
|Publisher (of the digital version)
|University of Southern California. Libraries
|Electronically uploaded by the author
|Legacy record ID
|Contributing entity
|University of Southern California
|Fan, Zihong
|Physical access
|The author retains rights to his/her dissertation, thesis or other graduate work according to U.S. copyright law. Electronic access is being provided by the USC Libraries in agreement with the author, as the original true and official version of the work, but does not grant the reader permission to use the work if the desired use is covered by copyright. It is the author, as rights holder, who must provide use permission if such use is covered by copyright. The original signature page accompanying the original submission of the work to the USC Libraries is retained by the USC Libraries and a copy of it may be obtained by authorized requesters contacting the repository e-mail address given.
|Repository name
|University of Southern California Digital Library
|Repository address
|USC Digital Library, University of Southern California, University Park Campus MC 7002, 106 University Village, Los Angeles, California 90089-7002, USA
|Repository email
|Archival file
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|University of Southern California
|Repository email
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|INTERACTIVE FAST RANDOM ACCESS, RETRIEVAL, AND NAVIGATION OF LARGE DATASETS by Zihong Fan A Dissertation Presented to the FACULTY OF THE USC GRADUATE SCHOOL UNIVERSITY OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY (ELECTRICAL ENGINEERING) August 2011 Copyright 2011 Zihong Fan


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COTTON WHOLESALE is a well known name in the world of COTTON WHOLESALE. It has a reputation of producing best quality at reasonable prices. Latest patterns, beautiful craftsmanship and top designing are fews things that COTTON WHOLESALE never compromises with
COTTON WHOLESALE launches a beautiful collection "HEMA" of COTTON WHOLESALE. Fashioned with intricate designs, latest patterns, easy clothing and soothing colours.
Book HEMA on +91-9033453375
Book HEMA on +91-9033453375


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ST. PAUL - Minnesota legislative leaders say they will limp along to the 2018 legislative session by taking money from a House-Senate commission.
But, they said, they will need to immediately pass a legislative budget once they return to St. Paul Feb. 20.
The comments came Thursday, Nov. 16, just after the Minnesota Supreme Court allowed to stand Gov. Mark Dayton's veto of the Legislature's $130 million two-year budget.
The Legislative Coordinating Commission, made up of legislative leaders of both chambers and both parties, on Thursday approved taking money from the joint legislative organization's carry-over funds and for money appropriated for 2019 so the House and Senate can remain in business through the start of session. Offices under the LCC do things like write bills and audit state programs.
Leaders said they will need to pass a new budget right after they return on Feb. 20.
If Dayton signs the bill, which likely would repay the LCC and fund normal operations, the money would begin to flow in February. If the Democratic governor vetoes funds for the Republican-controlled Legislature, lawmakers from both parties would have to vote to override the veto if funding is to resume.
A majority of justices upheld Dayton's May 30 veto and decided to send the case back to a district court judge to dismiss the case.
Justices said they believe the Legislature has enough money to reach its next session.
But even with $20 million in LCC funds, legislative leaders say they barely have enough money to last through the session's opening day. They said they are not sure just what they will need to curtail during that time, but House Speaker Kurt Daudt, R-Crown, said he expects bans on mileage and other expenses to remain in place.
"The governor has decided to tie the Legislature's hands, and the court supported it," Deputy Senate Majority Leader Michelle Benson, R-Ham Lake, said.
Leaders were surprised with the decision, saying they expected the court to approve funding for their continued operation.
"I am disappointed Gov. Dayton and the Supreme Court forced us to use funds intended for vital non-partisan purposes in order to prevent the governor's elimination of the Legislature," House Majority Leader Joyce Peppin, R-Rogers, said.
"This is a fiasco for Minnesota," added Senate Majority Leader Paul Gazelka, R-Nisswa.
Five high court justices wrote that the Dayton legislative budget veto was constitutional, although Justice G. Barry Anderson disagreed and Justice David Stras did not take part in the decision. Stras has been nominated to serve as a federal judge.
The majority of justices said the state Constitution does not allow them to order the Legislature to be funded, but "the record establishes that the Legislature has funding to sustain it until it reconvenes in regular session."
While the Legislature's lawsuit contends the Dayton veto basically eliminated the Legislature, the justices wrote that a lower court was wrong when it concluded that the Legislature would run out of money before next session.
The Supreme Court's ruling said, however, that the lower court did not know about LCC funding, which the Legislature could use.
"The factual question this case presents is whether the Legislature has the funding needed to exercise its constitutional duties on behalf of Minnesota's citizens while it is in an interim adjournment and until it reconvenes," the justices wrote. "We conclude that it does."
Dayton said his veto of the two-year legislative budget was an attempt to get lawmakers to return to a special session and remove five provisions in bills he already had signed, especially dealing with taxes,
Republicans who control the Legislature refused to resume negotiations on bills Dayton had signed into law and sued the governor, saying he essentially eliminated the Legislature with his veto.
The Supreme Court earlier ordered the two sides into mediation, which failed after a few days of talks.
After Thursday's court ruling, Dayton said he was pleased with the outcome, adding that lawmakers wasted state money by filing the lawsuit.
"So it is time for us all to agree that this dispute has been concluded and resume working together for the best interests of Minnesota," Dayton said.
It did not sound like Daudt was ready to give up on the long-standing dispute.
"I think this governor needs to be held accountable for his actions," the speaker said.
Gazelka said he thinks the court decision will be felt beyond Minnesota. "I think it will ripple across the country."
The fear of many legislators is that the ruling will give governors more power.
Legislative leaders voted Thursday to refuse to let legislative staff members help the Dayton administration prepare bills and do other work leading up to the session. They also decided not to make payments on the new Minnesota Senate Building, blaming Dayton for the Legislature lacking funds to pay.
The building is "owned" by the administration, with the Senate making payments to lease it.


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Nunns & Fischer
One of the most illustrious and historical piano makers in American history were brothers Robert and William Nunns. Robert & Willian Nunns established their firm of R&W Nunns in 1823. The firm built pianos both under their own name and also for the prominent Dubois & Stodart Piano Company of New York City until 1836. William Nunns: In 1836, William Nunns went into a separate partnership with Augustus Brumley to create the Nunns & Brumley Piano Company, a venture that was very short lived. In 1839, William Nunns left the firm entirely to his brother Robert. In 1843, William Nunns went into partnership with John & Charles Fischer to create the Nunns & Fischer Piano Company. Nunns & Fischer built pianos until 1848 when William Nunns withdrew to establish his own firm of William Nunns & Company, which remained in business until 1853 when he retired. Robert Nunns: From 1832-1838, the name of the firm was changed to Nunns, Clark & Company when John Clark joined the firm. After 1838, the firm was known as Nunns & Clark. By the 1840's, Nunns & Clark were so successful that they had warerooms in several major cities in the United States. The Nunns & Clark firm enjoyed a superb reputation and great success until they closed around 1860. Pianos by any of these names are exceedingly rare today and of museum caliber. They deserve the finest restoration and preservation available as they are irreplaceable parts of America's musical history.
Can you find your instrument listed in these antique catalogs?
Mid 19th Century Advertisement For Nunns & Fischer Piano Company


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|Land Matters Discussion Area Discussion Relating to Your Land/Legislative Issues
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chainsaw certification classes (naches)
Hello trail maintenance and project volunteers!! The Naches Ranger District will be hosting four saw training/certification and recertification sessions in the spring and early summer of 2012. If you plan to use a crosscut saw or chain saw on volunteer work projects (from simple clearing trails to helping replace bridges) on the Naches Ranger District this summer you will need to either attend an initial saw training and certification session or attend an annual recertification session (if you have previously been certified to use a saw by the US Forest Service).
The sessions this year will be held April 28th (focus on initial certification for Chain Saw operators), May 9th (focus on recertification for Chain Saw Operators), May 19th (focus on Chain Saw and/or Crosscut Saw recertification), and June 9th (focus on initial certification for Chainsaw and/or Crosscut Saw operators). If you cant make the event that matches the focus to your needs sign up for the session that you can attend that most closely meets your needs. We want to train and certify as many saw operators as needed and as possible. Sign up by sending Jeff Leisy , trails, wilderness, and OHV coordinator on the Naches Ranger District an email with the subject line Saw Training Certification Sign Up with the date you are interested in and your contact and affiliation information. Sign up will be first come first serve. There are still lots of open slots for all dates. My email address is: email@example.com
We will be meeting at 8:00am on the day the each session here at the Ranger Station Office. You will need to make sure that you bring with you leather lugged soled boots, long pants, long sleeved shirt, eye protection, ear protection, hard hat (if you have one otherwise we will provide), saw chaps (if you have one otherwise we will provide), a chainsaw that you plan to use for trail work and associated gas, oil, and tools, rain gear, and lunch. Well spend sometime here at the office reviewing Forest Service Safety procedures and policy and then head out to the cutting site. Returning sawyers who are looking to be recertified from previous years should expect an 8 hour day and new sawyers should expect a 10 hour day.
Please note that these Saw Trainings and Recertifications are designed with the expectation that participants come with the knowledge and experience to use saws, to read basic binds, and to apply appropriate cutting techniques to manage binds as well as other safety concerns. These sessions are designed to certify folks who have experience using either chain saws or crosscut saws, they are not designed to train and certify folks who have little to no previous experience. If a need exists to provide training for inexperienced folks we will schedule sessions later in the summer or early fall. A great reference for reviewing Forest Service sawing terminology, principles, and procedures is the USFS Missoula Technology and Development Center Chain Saw and Crosscut Saw Training Course Student's Guidebook .
This training guide can be found on-line at: http://www.fhwa.dot.gov/environment/..._publications/. Once at this site scroll down to document number 0667-2C01-MTDC titled: Chain Saw and Crosscut Saw Training Course . You dont need to memorize the entire guide, but it will help to review and study those things that look unfamiliar.
Thanks for your interest in helping to better our trail system, and well see at the session that matches your focus and calendar, ready to saw!
Jeff Leisy (firstname.lastname@example.com)
Trails, Wilderness, OHV Coordinator
Naches RD, Wenatchee-Okanagan National Forest
10237 Hwy 12, Naches, WA 98937
(509) 653-1438
Fax (509) 653-2638
Member #40 Hombres jeep club
Region 2 landmatters chairman
Link to the page with the instruction booklet
Member #40 Hombres jeep club
Region 2 landmatters chairman
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0 Members and 1 Lonely Barbarian are spying on this topic.
Greetings and Salutations, Bird! I hope you like your stay here at the Citadel, and if you have any comments or complaints please just write them down and lose them. They'll get to who they need to eventually... Maybe... A parting word of much-repeated advice: If you see the flying monkeys, just turn around and keep walking.
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Upcoming shows and conferences
Lumibird at shows and conferences in 2019
Meet the Lumibird Sales Teams at shows and conferences in countries such as France,
Germany, U.K., Russia, China and the USA.
This calendar is subject to change.
- < December 2019
- January 2020
- February 2020 >
Customer supportSkip navigation
My QuantelGo to my Quantel
Quantel Laser
Founded in 1970, Lumibird is one of the world's leading specialists in laser technology for scientific (laboratories and universities), industrial (material processing, process analytics, marking) and medical (ophthalmology) markets. Lumibird lasers (pulsed Nd:YAG lasers, fiber lasers, laser diodes and tunable laser systems) are used in applications ranging from spectroscopy to atom cooling; LIDAR or DNA sequencing to combustion research. With design and manufacturing facilities in France and the US, and a strong worldwide sales and service network, Lumibird serves a global customer base.
Our productsSkip navigation
- Compact pulsed Nd:YAG lasers
- Double-pulse Nd:YAG systems
- Tunable laser systems
- High energy pulsed lasers
- Laser Diodes
- Custom systems


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The majority of individuals take each of our energy resources for granted. When we turn on a light or make use of the air conditioner, we could care less exactly what power is working them. In the same manner, we don't really realize where the gas comes from that we use to run our automobiles and we don't fully understand exactly how a car operates. Our most significant concern, normally, is why it costs so much, and where can we locate a cheaper source? We don't usually listen to the naysayers who tell us that our supply of fossil fuels is definitely restricted.
The majority of individuals think that only radicals talk about alternative energy. A typical fossil fuel source is coal, natural gas, as well as oil, all of which are exhaustible resources. Renewable energy, on the other hand, includes elements such as wind, solar, and biomass energy. Alternative energy ordinarily does not hurt the environment, can be renewed, and is not really recognized as an energy source. We have a world that is packed with people, who use energy, food, water, minerals, and wood each day. Since we are primarily depending on fossil fuels, with the increased consumption of energy, there is also an increase to pollution, as well as the depletion of regular energy sources.
Future generations will be significantly affected by the harm we're currently inflicting on the environment. Non-renewable energy sources that we have been using, not only produce carbon dioxide, yet they are also running out. Carbon dioxide, generally considered to be a greenhouse gas, causes global warming any time it traps the sun's heat and prevents it from leaving the earth's atmosphere. That is the reason why it is necessary to find additional sources of energy that are renewable, that will regenerate after consumption.
Several countries are more worried about this than the United States, and they are providing incentives to the private sector to use renewable energy. At the moment, energy from renewable solutions only produce about 14% of the energy consumed throughout the world. There is great potential for alternate energy, which could possibly more than cover the amount of energy consumed by the inhabitants of the world. Among the most recognized alternative energy sources are sunlight, wind, rain, and geothermal heat. Wind turbines produce energy through the use of wind power, plus it's non-polluting energy that is low-maintenance, with the exception of high initial costs. The rays of the sun produce solar energy, which can be changed into electricity or heat. Solar energy can be utilized as a way to heat water or even space found in greenhouses, buildings and also homes.
Plant and also animal waste material are utilized to make biomass energy, which is a renewable source. It has several benefits, such as using up methane gas, and using waste materials that are normally thrown away. Biomass fuels, like ethanol, work extremely well as an alternative to gasoline. Hydropower is using the energy made by water precisely as it falls in elevation. Since the early on age of electricity, dams have been constructed to take advantage of hydroelectric power. The complete opportunities of this technological innovation have not yet been explored.
Alternative Energy Projects


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Travel date:
October 1, 2015
Name of Meeting/Event/Activity:
Global Colloquium in Palliative Care
Origin: Rio de Janeiro, Brazil / Destination: Dublin, Ireland
This month we are asking our readers to donate to the International Association for Hospice and Palliative Care (IAHPC). We are a not for profit organization dedicated to the advancement of hospice and palliative care in the world to alleviate serious health related suffering of millions of patients and families around the world.
We have over 30K visitors to our website. If could donate US$ 3, we could keep IAHPC thriving for many more years. Please consider donating to help our work and to keep this website running for you and thousands like you around the world.
Thank you.
Donate US$ 3


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TD Jakes Talks Bishop Eddie Long, Catholic Church
Megachurch pastor Bishop TD Jakes talks to the Wall Street Journal's Lee Hawkins about the controversial sexual allegations about spiritual leader Bishop Eddie Long and years of similar allegations and legal cases against Catholic priests.
This transcript has been automatically generated and may not be 100% accurate.
I ... Ch Ch ... were you able to privately speak with Bishop Eddie long when he went to his challenges and allegations that were made against him and he ever had a chance to speak with him I've tried to ... atone for them and encourage him during that the tragedy ... really really ... hard through one of the bed ... of that with the tragedy that nobody wants ... to know ... everybody suffered a rebound double digits his kids family his church ... both boys ... both allegations ... oh to quell that still remains ... over everyone know that involved him in a public transit ... union said he tried to counsel him were you able to counsel ... you and you can tell full of persimmons much is dependent ... upon for the metal ... of all know whether you've been to really ... but they do what you say are ever to be told what to ... write it out with the challenges that we're seeing in the Catholic Church right now ... in a lot of out of court settlements what is the impact that all of this hands on ... the brand warned ... the perception of the church and ... we're going ... to work with the impact ... of all the victims ... oh what star with a ... little bit ... of a weaker order of competitive on the church ... at the expense of the victim ... of digital imagery that everybody on board for obeying the left ... they have to take the priorities are ... and ultimately we have to find a way to ... be able to move about ... the King's vision if ... up with with color and it is unclear if and when they're in failure ... we have to correct that what priority be ... given to ... know what to do that ... the of the collateral damage you have to do from perform with the Church of Wickham of the charges and ordered the more ... I ...


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Spaces Between Part I Ballet Collective/LA
SPACES BETWEEEN BALLET COLLECTIVE/ LA a collaboration Choreography – John Castagna Music – Mark Mercury Costume Design – Anda Bemovska Director of Photography – David Medill Water - Stephanie Kim Fire - Tian Tan Air - Sadie Black Earth - Damien Diaz In SPACES BETWEEN the dancers represent the four elements of Water, Fire, Air and Earth that make up the material universe. They attract, repel and even shake the very ground that we walk upon. All of them are dependent on the other for the flow of life creating a harmonious balance. Filmed at Dance Film Center, Mimoda Studio Theatre on May 31, 2010 www.balletcollective.org check us on Facebook under Ballet Collective/ LA


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|By Cloud News Desk
Article Rating:
|May 21, 2009 01:15 PM EDT
In the brave new world of cloud computing, what is the secret to building great companies? That was the question answered by Roman Stanek, pioneer of Business Intelligence (BI) in the Cloud, who on Monday keynoted SYS-CON's Cloud Expo Europe 2009. The first major Cloud event in Europe was co-located with Virtualization Conference Europe 2009, and took place May 18-19, 2009, in Prague, Czech Republic, ans was sponsored by Sun Microsystems, VMware, GoodData Corporation, and 3tera.
Stanek delivered his Cloud Expo Europe keynote on May 18, 2009 at Hilton Prague
In his presentation, titled: "Building Great Companies in the Cloud," Stanek - a technology visionary who has spent the past fifteen years building world-class technology companies - talked about what it means to be 'born on the cloud.' Specifically he shared with delegates his thoughts on how to use cloud computing as a technical design center; how to take advantage of the economics of cloud computing in building and operating cloud services; how to dramatically change customer adoption; and how to plan for the technical and operational scale that cloud computing makes possible.
"By now, most technologists are sold on the fundamentals of cloud computing," said Stanek.. "It's a realization of the last 20 years of architecture development. For architects and developers alike."
The economics of the cloud, according to Stanek, mean that "we finally get to do what we've been drawing on whiteboards for years." Companies large and small are taking advantage of the cloud's utility model. What used to cost $20+ million can now be done for $500k on Amazon Web Services.
"This provides unprecedented opportunity - for new and established companies alike," Stanek noted. His keynote took place Monday May 18th in the Prague Hilton.
Speaker Bio:
Roman Stanek is a technology visionary who has spent the past fifteen years building world-class technology companies. Currently Founder & CEO of GoodData, which provides collaborative analytics on demand, he previously co-founded first NetBeans, now a part of Sun Microsystems and one of the leading Java IDEs, and then and Systinet, now owned by Hewlett-Packard and the leading SOA Governance platform on the market.
Cloud Expo New York April 2009 attracted record participation
Click here to submit papers to Cloud Expo 2009 West (Nov 2-4, 2009)
Click here to sponsor or exhibit !
Top Cloud & Virtualization Sessions by a Rock Star Faculty
Speakers and delegates alike came to Prague from every corner of the Cloud ecosystem, and the all-star Faculty of the combined event included:
- Roman Stanek - Co-Founder of NetBeans & Systinet, now CEO of GoodData Corporation
- David Hanacek - CVP & Sr. Systems Engineer, VMware
- Arseniy Kuznetsov - Director of Sun Cloud Computing Core Engineering, Sun Microsystems
- Pavel Georgiev - AppLogic Systems Engineer, EMEA, 3Tera
- Dr Guy Bunker - Chief Scientist & Distinguished Engineer, Symantec
- Doug Tidwell - Cloud Computing Evangelist, IBM
- Uri Budnik - Director of Business Development, RightScale
- Raimund Genes - CTO, Anti-Malware, Trend Micro
- Jérôme Bernard - Director of EMEA Operations, Elastic Grid
- Jakub Nesetril - Senior Director of User Experience, GoodData Corporation
- Stephen Foskett - Director of Consulting, Nirvanix
- Subra Kumaraswamy - Sr. Security Manager, Sun Microsystems
- Alan Williamson - Founder, aw20.co.uk; Editor-in-Chief, Cloud Computing Journal
- Jim Reavis - Executive Director, Cloud Security Alliance
- Zdenek Svoboda - VP Products, GoodData Corporation
- Sam Morcos - VP Global Field Operations, Third Brigade
- Paul Parsons - Founder & CTO, The Server Labs
- Christoph Reich - Head of IT, Hochschule Furtwangen University
- Harald Kornmayer - Senior Researcher, NEC Laboratories Europe
- Lluis Font - CEO, NTRglobal
- Sam Johnston - Founder, Australian Online Solutions
- Pau Garcia-Mila - Founder, eyeOS
- Louis Naugès - Founder & President, Revevol
- Owen Garrett - PM & Technologist, Zeus Technology
- David Snead - US Attorney at Law
- Todd Kuczaj - Manager, Accenture
- Roger Baskerville - VP for EMEA, Vizioncore
- Derek McAuley - CTO, Netronome Systems
- Petri Lillberg - EVP of R&D, SSH Communications Security
- Richard Croucher - Associate Partner, Citihub
- Nuno Duro - CTO, Evolvespace Solutions
- Juergen Frick - Sr. Solutions Architect, Adaptec
- Shahar Raz - Owner, Shahar Raz Consulting
- Richard Cassidy - Manager of Global Systems Engineering, Virtual Computer
More Than 60 Companies Sponsored or Exhibited at Cloud Expo New York April 2009
Cloud Expo West and East (past two events) were sponsored by more than 60 leading global cloud computing technology providers, including: 3Tera, Active Endpoints, AppSense, AppZero, Aria Systems, CA, Inc., Certeon, Cloud.com, Composite Software, Cordys, Corporate Technologies, Cycle Computing, DataDirect Technologies, EMC,, ExactTarget, FreedomOSS, IBM, Intel, Intel SOA Products Group, iTKO, J9 Technologies, Krugle, LynuxWorks, MeettheBoss.com, Metron, Microsoft, mindSHIFT, Moderro Technologies, Mosso, Nastel, Netmagic Solutions, OpenSpan, ParaScale, Platform Computing, QuantumXML, Red Hat, RightScale, Sensedia, Sun Microsystems, Supermicro, Symantec, Tap In Systems, Tranxition, Tripwire, VIRTERA, VMware, Web Age Solutions, and Zeus Technology.
More Than 100 Sponsors and Exhibitors Expected in Silicon Valley
Upcoming Cloud Expo 2009 West event, which will take place November 2-4, 2009, at the Santa Clara Convention Center in Silicon Valley is estimated to have more than 100 sponsors and exhibitors.
For sponsorship and exhibit opportunities please contact Cloud Expo sales department at 201 802-3021 (events at sys-con.com).
Cloud Expo New York April 2009 Sold Out With Record Participation
2nd International Cloud Expo, colocated with 5th International Virtualization Conference & Expo presented the most distinguished faculty of speakers on any technology conference taking place in 2009. Speakers, general session and keynote presenters included such names as: ,Ajay Anand (Yahoo!), Alan Williamson (AW 2.0 Ltd), Anthony Arrott (Trend Micro), Bill McColl (Cloudscale), Bob Quinn (3Leaf Systems), Brian H. Prince (Microsoft), Brian Zanghi (Kadient), Bryan Wade (ExactTarget), Clod Barrera (IBM), Daniel Beveridge (VIRTERA), David Bernstein (Cisco), David Bressler (Progress Software), David Douglas (Sun Microsytems), David Linthicum (Blue Mountain Labs), Doug Tidwell (IBM), Ed Sullivan (Aria Systems), Glenn Brunette (Sun Microsystems), Jeff Bauer (Forbes.com), Jeremy Geelan (SYS-CON Media), Jim Rymarczyk (IBM), Joe Gregorio (Google), Joel York (Xignite), John Barr (Yieldex), John du Pre Gauntt (Media Dojo), John Laferriere (Corporate Technologies), Jon Pyke (Cordys), JP Morgenthal (J.P. Morgenthal Blog), Kenneth Oestreich (Egenera), Kevin L. Jackson (Dataline), Kristof Kloeckner (IBM), Lucian Lipinsky de Orlov (VIRTERA), Martin Ingram (AppSense), Matt Holleran (Emergence Capital), Michael Hill (IBM), Omer Trajman (Vertica), Owen Garrett (Zeus Technology), Patrick Kerpan (CohesiveFT), Pau Garcia-Mila (eyeOS), Peter Coffee Salesforce.com), Peter Nickolov (3Tera), Phil Fritz (IBM), Prasad Rampalli (Intel), Raghavan Srinivas (Intuit), Ranjith Ramakrishnan (Cumulux), Reuven Cohen (Cloud Interoperability Forum), Rich Wolski (University of California), Ronnie Thomson (Quark), Russ Daniels (HP), Sajai Krishnan (ParaScale), Scott Wiener (Cloud9 Analytics), Simon Wardley (Canonical), Stephen Elliot (CA), Steve Milroy (OnTerra Systems), Stuart Charlton (Elastra), Thorsten von Eicken (RightScale), Tien Tzuo (Zuora), Tim Crawford (Stanford University), Vik Chaudhary (Keynote Systems), Warren Wilbee (Microsoft), Werner Vogels (Amazon.com), William Fellows (The 451 Group).
- Virtualization Conference Europe 2009: 18-19 May 2009 in Prague
- SOA World Magazine 6th Annual "Readers' Choice Awards" Nominations Open
- Cloud Expo Europe to Take Place May 18-19 2009 in Prague
- SOA World Conference & Expo 2008 East Call for Papers Deadline Feb 22, 2008
- Zuora Seeks Cloud's Silver Lining
- IBM Named "Platinum Sponsor" of SYS-CON's Virtualization Conference
- AJAX Composite Apps - The Last Mile Between Your Users and Your SOA
- VMware Virtualization News Live Coverage Initiated on Ulitzer
- CA Named "Gold Sponsor" of SOA World Conference & Expo 2009 East
- Europe's Cloud Experts Head to Prague for Cloud Expo Europe 2009


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Republican Dave Pigott doesn't have a "bunch of lobbyist friends" — yet
Dave Pigott had me at hello.
The House candidate's new web video explaining who he is starts out with Pigott saying, "I believe that people are inherently good," which reminds me of Anne Frank's famous saying, "Despite everything, I believe that people are really good at heart."
Pigott goes on to talk about his time at West Point, his tours of duty in Iraq, his efforts to help Peace Corp volunteers in Africa and his service in the Colorado National Guard.
Pigott, a Broomfield Republican, is running for House District 33, which covers West Erie, Superior and Broomfield. He faces former Rep. Dianne Primavera, D-Broomfield, in November.


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We started out as a small screenprinter in a Brighton basement. Today we've grown to a factory and design studio in Newhaven. Headed by founder Gyr King, we have a simple ethos to bring inspiring, affordable art to everyone.
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Follow. Save. Grow.
Choose experienced traders, follow them, and sit back while they do all the work. Your investment portfolio will grow with every successful trade, while you save your time and effort.
Past performance does not guarantee future results
Watch the latest interviews from our Market Research team, conducted with top tier media outlets.
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Get world-class trading knowledge from FXTM's team of experts
Learn about key forex trading and technical analysis concepts with our bite-sized and super accessible short trading videos. Prepared, organised and managed by renowned FX educator, and our Head of Education, Andreas Thalassinos (BSc, MSc, MSTA, CFTe, MFTA).
Trade Spot Metals and the Currency Market


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WHICH(1) NetBSD General Commands Manual WHICH(1) NAME which -- locate a program file in the users $PATH environment variable SYNOPSIS which [-a] name [...] DESCRIPTION which takes a list of names and looks for the files which would be exe- cuted had these names been given as commands. Each argument is searched for along the user's PATH. If the -a flag is given, which will continue to search the PATH until all instances of a program file are found. HISTORY The which command appeared in 3.0BSD. BUGS This implementation does not expand csh(1) aliases, and is shell agnos- tic. This is really a feature. NetBSD 9.0 April 23, 1991 NetBSD 9.0
You can also request any man page by name and (optionally) by section:


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|Mobile Site
|eMail Author
|Caption Comp
|Monthly Poll
|Sudden Death
|Colour Key
|Cookie Usage
|Series :
|Deep Space Nine
|Rating :
|Disc No :
|Episode :
|First Aired :
|6 May 1998
|Stardate :
|Director :
|Mike Vejar
|Year :
|Writers :
|Ronald D. Moore
|Season :
|Guest Cast :
|So the Federation wants an alliance with the Ferengi... and they send Nog? Ensign Nog? Imagine if the USA wanted an alliance with somebody and they sent a junior officer barely out of training. It would be a huge diplomatic slap in the face. A senior diplomat should be making this kind of overture.
|Great Moment :
|The loss of the Valiant. It's always sad to see a Starship go down in flames, and this was gorgeously staged.
|Body Count :
|Quite a few of the Valiant crew. Probably quite a few on the Dominion ship, as well.
|Factoid :
|The original plan was for Jake and Kira to be the ones who stumbled across the Valiant. This was changes when the writers realised that Kira would never have let the situation on the Valiant play out - she'd have taken command and forced everyone to head back to Federation space no matter what. So they changed it to Nog, who would be more easily pliable in that situation.
|Copyright Graham Kennedy
|Page views : 25,397
|Last updated : 22 Jun 2017


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Microfinance in the Slums of Mumbai
Posted: 06/21/2012 1:54 pm
Nilesh is a Swadhaar loan officer who works primarily with the group loan product, a loan that is specifically designed for groups of three to five working women whose income level falls under the international poverty line of $2 a day. Early in my first week at Swadhaar, I accompanied Nilesh on a typical day as he visited his zones located throughout the northern Mumbai district of Santacruz. He carries with him a roster which lists all the client loans that are due on that particular day. This list includes specific information regarding each group leader, the woman that has been designated as the contact person and who is ultimately responsible for collecting money on behalf of the group and meeting repayment deadlines.
We start the day by knocking on the house of a woman who runs a jewelry making business with several other women in her community. As we are invited into her home, we see the women crowded together on the floor, busily beading several necklaces and bracelets while children of various ages play around them. This group has used their loan to purchase new beads and jewels and they are excited to show me the new products they have created.
A few houses down, we visit a woman who has used her loan to purchase additional textiles for her clothing business, in which she sews saris for women in her community. She is on her second Swadhaar loan, or cycle, and says she has plans to renew for a third in order to continue to grow her business.
The slum communities are densely packed, with winding paths that have no street names, let alone house numbers, and so although Nilesh has spent time in these neighborhoods, he must often rely on the local residents to be pointed in the direction of the next client. We find ourselves lost several times throughout the day, having taken a left when we should have taken a right or walking past a client's home because there were no identifying markers. With little space to spare in the slum communities, homes are often stacked upon one another and in order to reach homes on the second level, we must climb an external metal ladder.
The collection due date is written into the loan contract that the client signs and is given a copy of to keep for their records. Nilesh says that he usually calls a few days beforehand to remind his clients that he will be stopping by. I notice that most women are expecting him and it is clear that he has developed a friendly relationship with many as they invite him into their homes and offer him water or tea while he fills out the necessary paperwork.
The homes in these communities usually consist of a single large room, with one corner designated for the kitchen and cooking area and another corner for the washroom. In order to conserve floor space, shelves cover the walls and are filled with dishware, pots and pans, clothes, bedding, and usually a television, that is turned on more often than not. Without many options to choose from, each woman seems to keep her money in a unique hiding place within her home. One woman opened a large jar of grain and fished out a small wallet while another lifted a photo away from the wall and reached behind it for her stack of rupees.
After nearly fifty home visits, Nilesh had made it through his roster and we returned to the Santa Cruz branch office. While most clients were home when we came by, there were a handful of women that were nowhere to be found. Nilesh places these names on a list that he will return to after the remaining scheduled collections are completed.
Although collections week is incredibly hectic and certainly exhausting, Nilesh says that he enjoys seeing his clients and learning about how they are using the loan. He asks me if I would like to accompany him again next month. He then quickly mentions that navigating the streets of the slums gets easier every time.
For more information, please visit: accionambassadors.wordpress.com


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Finance & Development, December 1995
- Anticipating Capital Flow Reversals
- Foreign Direct Investment in Developing Countries: Progress and Problems
- Privatization and the Development of Financial Markets in Italy
- Progress Report on Commercial Bank Debt Restructuring
- Saving and the Real Interest Rate in Developing Countries
- Can Inflation Targets Help Make Monetary Policy Credible?
- Corruption, Governmental Activities, and Markets
- Policies for Achieving Sustainable Growth in the Industrial Countries
- Commercializing Africa's Roads
- Can Eastern Europe's Old-Age Crisis Be Fixed?
- Quantifying the Outcome of the Uruguay Round
- Setting Investment Priorities in Education
- Why Macroeconomists and Environmentalists Need Each Other
- Comments by Stanley Fischer
- Books
- Letters
- Index 1995
Policies for Achieving Sustainable Growth in the Industrial Countries
- International Monetary Fund. External Relations Dept.
- Published Date:
- January 1995
Show Summary Details
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Dustan Moon wrote:]
Write fresh. Your best story is the one you're about to write, not the one you're about to revise. : )
I half love this idea, Moon. I love writing something new (says the girl with 150+ shorts in her drawer). But it's a double edged sword. Half of what I write as a short story ends up as a seed for novellas or novels. One of the things I promised myself is that any future shorts I write, I write to completion -- revise and submit within a reasonable period of time.
I could write it this weekend. Let it breathe, then take two weekends to revise. Hmmmmm.
I am also highly bendable toward suggestions. Damn it. LOL I might be writing a new story this weekend.


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Top seeds Tomas Berdych and Nicolas Almagro began the Swedish Open by reaching the quarterfinals on Thursday.
Berdych and Almagro received first-round byes, and had contrasting wins.
Almagro, a three-time finalist in Bastad, got off to a rough start against fellow Spaniard Guillermo Garcia-Lopez but rallied to win 3-6, 6-1, 6-1.
His next opponent, Fernando Verdasco, also of Spain, beat Jan-Lennard Struff 6-1, 7-5.
Berdych, the No. 1 seed in the clay-court tournament, easily defeated Argentine Martin Alund 6-3, 6-0. It was the Czech's first match since losing to Novak Djokovic in the Wimbledon quarterfinals.
Next up for Berdych is Thiemo De Bakker, the Dutchman who survived two match points before eliminating Viktor Troicki of Serbia 4-6, 6-4, 7-6 (6).


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Grand Isle State Park – Saturday June 25, 2011, 10 am- 3 pm
The Coalition to Restore Coastal Louisiana and the National Wildlife Federation invite you to participate in a marsh restoration project on the shoreline of Grand Isle State Park. This area provides essential protection for our inland communities and wetlands and was severely impacted by recent hurricanes and the 2010 oil spill. One thousand mangrove trees will be planted which will assist in stabilizing and capturing sand in the hopes of building dunes. In addition, the project will also create wildlife habitat, increase species diversity and provide a seed source for natural regeneration.
All planting equipment (gloves, shovels, dibbles, etc.), sunscreen and bug spray will be provided. Drinks and lunch will be provided to all volunteers. Minors under the age of 16 must be accompanied by an adult. Old tennis shoes or knee boots are recommended. Volunteers will be planting along the beach and into the marsh behind the island. Please be prepared to get wet and muddy. Comfortable clothes that can get dirty will be needed (a change of clothes and towel for the end of the day is also recommended).
This restoration event is supported by National Wildlife Federation, Nicholls State University, and Grand Isle State Park. Register online at www.crcl.org or call the Coalition to Restore Coastal Louisiana at (888)-LACOAST for more information. For information: email@example.com
Provide input to U.S. National Ocean Policy (Deadline: July 2)
The National Ocean Council announced that the public will have 30 days to comment on the strategic action plan outlines http://www.whitehouse.gov/administration/eop/oceans/sap/ for each of the nine objectives in the National Ocean Policy. Writing teams composed of representatives from the National Ocean Council agencies developed these outlines to provide an initial view as to how federal agencies might address the priority objectives. They are preliminary documents that serve as an early and valuable point in the plan development process for focusing public and stakeholder input. We encourage you to submit comments http://www.whitehouse.gov/administration/eop/oceans/sap/comments and ideas by the deadline--July 2, 2011.
YSI Foundation "Minding the Planet" Grant Request for Proposals (Deadline: July 1)
YSI Foundation is pleased to seek proposals for research projects that focus on data collection to assess changes in the environment. Research on quantifying change from artificial disasters (i.e. pollution), natural disasters (i.e. oil spills, flooding), or climate change (i.e. water acidification), and the use of environmental data to demonstrate the changes is preferred.
This year the YSI Foundation will award two grants $25,000 to the first recipient selected by an Outside Selection Committee and $15,000 to the second recipient. Applications are due by Friday, July 1, 2011 at 5:00 pm Eastern Daylight Time. Only electronic applications will be accepted. All applications must be emailed to email@example.com by no later than this time. Previous individual recipients are not eligible.
Requirements Details and Documents
Contact for information and application submittal: Susan Miller, Foundation President – 937-657-1710 (cell) or firstname.lastname@example.com
NOAA NMFS MARFIN Southeast Region FFO Announcement (Deadline: July 18)
The National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS), Southeast Region, is seeking proposals under the Marine Fisheries Initiative Program (MARFIN), for research and development projects that optimize the use of fisheries in the Gulf of Mexico and off the South Atlantic states of North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, and Florida involving the U.S. fishing industry (recreational and commercial), including fishery biology, resource assessment, socioeconomic assessment, management and conservation, selected harvesting methods, and fish handling and processing. This program addresses NOAA's mission goal to "Protect, Restore, and Manage the Use of Coastal and Ocean Resources Through an Ecosystem Approach to Management." See attachment for more information.
How Are Louisiana Wetlands Changed Over Time?
New Map Shows Losses and Gains Since 1932
Coastal Louisiana has lost a wetland area the size of Delaware, equaling 1,883 square miles, over the past 78 years, according to a new U.S. Geological Survey National Wetlands Research Center study. Twenty-five percent of the wetland area present in 1932 was lost by 2010. The impacts on human populations, the oil and gas infrastructure, fisheries and wildlife will be considerable if coastal wetlands continue to disappear.
The USGS National Wetlands Research Center has developed a new map that illustrates wetland losses and gains on the Louisiana coastline from 1932-2010. This product provides opportunities to better understand the timing and causes of wetland loss, which are critical for forecasting landscape changes in the future. This color-coded map can be found online. USGS provides science for a changing world. Visit USGS.gov, and follow us on Twitter @USGS and our other social media channels. Subscribe to our news releases via e-mail, RSS or Twitter. Links and contacts within this release are valid at the time of publication.
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Information Exchange for Marine Educators – June 2011
The attached document contains information that has been compiled from many different sources, including EE-NEWS@NAAEE, scuttlebutt, EEinGEORGIA, the Scout Report, and others. Contact the editor directly at firstname.lastname@example.com, or by phone at (865) 932-5074, to discuss further enhancements or to contribute information for future issues. For a PDFcopy of the current newsletter and archives of information from past issues of the Information Exchange for Marine Educators, go to http://mpa.gov/resources/education/#exchange. See attachment for more information.
Coastwide Reference Monitoring System (CRMS) - New Products
In 2003 the CWPPRA Task Force granted approval to the Louisiana Office of Coastal Protection and Restoration (OCPR) and the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) for the implementation of the Coastwide Reference Monitoring System (CRMS) in coastal Louisiana. CRMS was designed to assess the effectiveness of individual coastal restoration projects and the cumulative effects of multiple projects at regional and coastwide scales. Wetland monitoring data such as, hourly water level and salinity, plant species composition and cover, and soil elevation and accretion, are collected from 390 monitoring sites which are located in all marsh types and hydrologic basins.
The CRMS Vegetation Analytical Team has developed a Floristic Quality Index for coastal Louisiana to determine the quality of a wetland based on its plant species composition and abundance. Two USGS series reports were recently released that describe the development of the FQI and how this index, along with other indices, can be used to assess wetland condition and evaluate restoration project effectiveness. A USGS factsheet and a USGS open-file report are available for download from the USGS Publications Warehouse (http://pubs.usgs.gov/fs/2011/3044/pdf/FS11-3044.pdf; http://pubs.usgs.gov/of/2011/1097/pdf/OF11-1097.pdf)


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A long-delayed road extension connecting Angel Stadium and Disneyland Resort is opening before the end of the year – a project that officials say will relieve congestion, and a source of concern for nearby residents who believe traffic and smog will increase.
The $66 million project builds a bridge along Gene Autry Way, over the I-5, and is scheduled for completion by the end of November or early December, said Mark Vukojevic, city engineer for Anaheim. It's 98 percent complete.
Construction crews are working on final touches putting up bridge railings and fencing and adding traffic signals on Gene Autry Way and Haster Street, Vukojevic said.
On Tuesday, the smell of tar permeated a mobile home community and apartment complexes bordering the project on Haster Street as construction crews paved the road amid rows of new palm trees. Some 97 homes and four commercial properties were razed years ago to make way for the extension to Haster Street, about a half-mile west of the freeway.
Tracy Robinson, 28, whose mobile home is right against a sound wall separating residents from the road, said her neighbors are not updated on the type of construction work taking place.
"My son has asthma and so in the nighttime I wake up and I open the window. In the morning time when I come in my whole house smells like nothing but tar," said Robinson, who added that construction often makes the homes rattle.
The project has been in the works for years, but was delayed awaiting sufficient funding and the acquisition of properties, including part of the mobile-home park near its path. The extension was supposed to be done this summer, but Vukojevic said construction began three months late last January while crews worked to move gas and water lines.
"This neighborhood used to be very tranquil; now it's not," said Graciela Landeros, a 12-year resident of the mobile-park community. "I have like three days of headaches because of the odor."'
Ruth Ruiz, Anaheim spokeswoman, said the city has continuously worked with residents to inform them of ongoing construction. Since construction began two years ago, outreach efforts have included visitations, newsletters, e-mail blasts, and presentations in both English and Spanish, Ruiz said.
Once the bridge is complete, motorists will have access from car-pool lanes along I-5 to the Convention Center and Disneyland Resort on the west side as well as to Angel Stadium, Honda Center and The Grove of Anaheim on the east.
Gene Autry Way currently runs from Angel Stadium and slopes upward toward the I-5, ending abruptly at a traffic light.
Project officials say the extension not only gives carpools and buses more direct access to major event centers, but will also relieve congestion and improve air quality.
For Robinson, though, the completion will only bring a new set of problems.
"Right now it's the noise. Think about when all the traffic comes and all the cars and all the smog," she said. "And I see all these palm trees. Money can be used elsewhere."
Contact the writer: email@example.com or 714-704-3795


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Lyrics:First verseOh! please dont laugh when I relate To you a story sweet, It's all about a charming girl That I by chance did meet, T'was love at first sight when we met, Those lips so red and cherry, Oh! what a stunning girl it was, That I met on the Ferry. ChorusWalking thro' the Cabin, Passing all the style, Smiling on the fair sex, Hours to beguile, Nothing yet can cheer me For I can't be merry, Since I met that little dear, Crossing on the Ferry. Second verseI scarcely knew which way to look For she a magnet seem'd, Electric sparks I thought I felt, So bright her eyes they beam'd, For ev'ry glance was like a lance, As in my heart they'd bury, Until I felt, I scarce knew how, While crossing on the Ferry.(Chorus)Third VerseOur journey's end at last arrived, My heart beat slow and fast, While passengers ran here and there, My love among them past, She turn'd her head and spoke to me. In a voice so soft and merry, Saying write a note to Station D, Sign, crossing on the Ferry.
Click tabs to swap between content that is broken into logical sections.


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2010 Needs a Fearless Conversation About Vaccination
As the second decade of the 21st century begins, it is clear that the first one saw big changes in the way Americans think about health and vaccination. A good example is the fact that a majority of Americans "just said no" to getting an H1N1 influenza shot last year. 1 2 The truth is, most of us just didn't buy the hype about swine flu. Perhaps it is because we are tired of constantly living in fear.
Fear was the unifying emotion that defined the first decade of the 21st century in America. 3 The Decade of Fear began on September 11, 2001, a day of indescribable loss that marked the ending of so much. Among the losses was the end of a civil and substantive conversation about vaccine safety that had taken shape during the previous two decades 4 but which - after September 11, 2001 - was hijacked by fear.
Within weeks of 9-11, there were frantic warnings by government officials that terrorists had weaponized smallpox and it was necessary to immediately dilute stockpiles of reactive 40-year old smallpox vaccine to make enough to give a smallpox shot to every man, woman and child. 5 6 7 Then the allegation that terrorists had hidden weapons of mass destruction to unleash deadly infectious diseases on all of us 8 - was used to justify forcing soldiers to get multiple doses of reactive experimental anthrax vaccine. 9 10
And within weeks of 9-11, a Congress driven by fear quickly passed The Patriot Act 11 followed by the Homeland Security Act. 12 Unprecedented authority was given to the Executive branch of our government, including creation of the third largest federal agency - the Department of Homeland Security. And then public health officials pushed for passage of new Model State Emergency Health Powers Acts to expand the police powers of state health officials whenever a public health emergency is declared. 13
For three years after 9-11, special interest lobbyists invoked bioterrorism and fear of infectious microorganisms to persuade Congress to pass Bioshield 14 15 16 and Pandemic Influenza legislation shielding vaccine manufacturers, doctors and public health officials from all liability when Americans are injured or killed by experimental vaccines or drugs used during a government declared public health emergencies - like the questionable pandemic influenza emergency declaration America is still operating under today even though there is no true emergency. 17
The attack on America by a rogue band of terrorists on September 11, 2001 created a Decade of Fear that made criticism of government policy, including vaccine policy, not just politically incorrect but a danger to national security and the public health. Fear and its travel companions - prejudice and intolerance - ruled the decade.
Those who criticized the quality and quantity of government regulated vaccine science or questioned the ethics of mandatory vaccination laws were marginalized by those in positions of authority, 18 who defended the status quo. The fear, prejudice and intolerance defining the first decade of the 21st century 19 was eventually turned on parents of vaccine injured children, 20 21 22 who were asking doctors and public health authorities how many vaccines their children were going to be forced to take 23 24 in the name of protecting national security and the public health. September 11, 2001 was a day of indescribable loss. And the losses America suffered that day have been magnified by the losses we have suffered since that day because some have used fear as a political tool to silence criticism of government policy.
Next month is the 25th anniversary of the publishing of the book DPT: A Shot in the Dark, which I co-authored with medical historian Harris Coulter. It was first published by Harcourt Brace Jovanovich and was used by the Institute of Medicine as a reference for the 1991 report on Adverse Effects of Pertussis and Rubella Vaccines. It was the first major book documenting vaccine risks and flaws in vaccine science, regulation, policymaking, and law.
A Shot in the Dark is a book that is perhaps more relevant today, a quarter century after it was published in 1985 because, in the words of the Spanish philosopher George Santayana: "Those who cannot learn from history are doomed to repeat it."
Twenty-five years later, parents of vaccine injured children are still calling for meaningful reform of public health policies and vaccine laws to protect individual and public health. 25 It is time to leave the politics of fear of the last decade behind, and change the way the conversation about vaccine science, policy, ethics and law is conducted so that the real issues about health and vaccination can be addressed responsibly. The people expect and deserve no less from those in positions of authority in government, industry and medicine, who operate the public health system.
We, who are critical of one-size-fits all mandatory vaccination policies because those policies fail to acknowledge biodiversity and do not respect the informed consent ethic, welcome a new, more rational and substantive conversation about vaccination in 2010. As President Franklin Roosevelt said "The truth is found when men are free to pursue it."
Hopefully, 2010 will be the beginning of a fearless and fierce search for the truth about health and vaccination that will enlighten us all.
1 CNN. November 18, 2009. Poll: Majority of Americans Don't Want H1N1 Shot.
2 Harvard School of Public Health. December 22, 2009. Poll Finds Three Quarters of Parents Who Tried to Get H1N1 Vaccine for Their Children Have Gotten It.
3 Giraldi, P. The Huffington Post. November 25, 2007. The Violent Radicalization and Homegrown Terrorism Prevention Act.
4 National Vaccine Information Center. May 3, 1999. New Genetic Study Points Way For Vaccine Research.
5 Pear, R. New York Times. March 20, 2002. A Nation Challenged: The Bioterrorism Threat; Frozen Smallpox Vaccine Is Still Potent.
6 Fisher, BL. National Vaccine Information Center. Winter 2002. Smallpox and Forced Vaccination: What Every American Needs to Know.
7 Scardaville, M. The Heritage Foundation. December 6, 2002. Public Health and National Security Planning: The Case for Voluntary Smallpox Vaccination.
8 Risen J, Miller J. New York Times. November 11, 2001. A Nation Challenged: Chemical Weapons; Al Qaeda Site Points to Tests of Chemicals.
9 PBS. December 4, 2001. The Anthrax Vaccine.
10 Rempfer, TL. The Journal of the Naval Postgraduate School Center for Homeland Defense and Security. May 2009. The Anthrax Vaccine: A Dilemma for Homeland Security.
11 Congressional Research Service. April 15, 2002. The USA Patriot Act: A Legal Analysis.
12 PBS. May 15, 2003. The Homeland Security Act.
13 American Civil Liberties Union. January 1, 2002. Model State Emergency Health Powers Act.
14 McGlinchey D. Government Executive. January 23, 2004. HHS officials anxiously await passage of "Bioshield" bill.
15 Ismal MA. The Center for Public Integrity. April 1, 2007. Spending on Lobbying Thrives. Drug and health policies industries invest $182 million to influence legislation.
16 Fisher BL. National Vaccine Information Center. November 15, 2009. Letter to Col. Robert P. Kadlec, MD, Subcommittee on Bioterrorism and Public Health Preparedness.
17 Department of Health and Human Services. April 26, 2009, July 24, 2009, October 1, 2009, December 30, 2009. Determination that a Public Health Emergency Exists.
18 Hodge JG, Gostin LO. Center for Law and the Public's Health, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. February 15, 2002. School Vaccination Requirements: Historical, Social & Legal Perspectives.
19 Social Research. December 22, 2004. The politics of fear after 9/11.
20 Fisher, BL. National Vaccine Information Center. March 25, 2008. Promoting Vaccination, Fear, Hate & Discrimination.
21 Cicolli A. Yale Journal of Biology & Medicine. September 2008. Mandatory Vaccination: The Role of Tort Law.
22 Thompson C. Washington Post. December 20, 2009. Worst Ideas of the Decade: Vaccine scares.
23 Deardorff, J. Chicago Tribune. November 7, 2007. New study: Americans may be overvaccinated.
24 Wallis C. Time Magazine. March 10, 2008. Case Study: Autism & Vaccines.
25 Fisher BL. April 11, 2008. Vaccine Safety Research Priorities: Engaging the Public.
12 comments:
- Momwoman said...
Why do you insist on spreading this misinformation? In a world where most Americans have limited understanding of science, you twist wording and try to turn coincidence into proof. What is in it for you? How are you benefiting from scaring our parents away from caring for their children's health? Are you getting payoffs from the real source of autism? Are you determined to create an underclass of sick, undereducated slaves? Please, let us know. We'd love to learn what your motives really are.
- ER Doc said...
The "biodiversity" you mention has nothing to do with the unreasoning fear you actively promote. I object to the Patriot Act as much as anyone, but reasonable public health measures require some restrictions on freedom. Preventing someone with known drug-resistant TB from free travel is one. Refusing to allow over-entitled yuppies with no understanding of immunology from actively endangering the community by refusing routine vaccinations is another.
- arbuckle said...
"The truth is found when men are free to pursue it."
Isn't that the purpose of tenure in universities? And don't the vast majority of tenured science professors studying vaccines from all angles support their use?
- Icepick said...
As a parent of two (I state that, since that appears to be the extent of credentials that you respect) I cannot believe that you continue endanger both children and adults with baseless fear-mongering.
In my personal circle of friends I know of a death and three hospitalizations from H1N1. It was neither hype nor alarmist propaganda on the part of healthcare professionals.
People who have studied and commit their careers to caring for the health of Americans. The same people you never miss an opportunity to malign.
I just can't understand what would cause someone to spend so much time and energy creating fear where non is warranted to the detriment of so many people.
It is just sad and frustrating.
- Anonymous said...
What misinformation is she spreading? She quoted all of her sources, and she is speaking for the many, many parents and people that have been injured by vaccines. On the other hand, you are making statements about "an underclass of sick, undereducated slaves." Huh? How is that NOT imflammatory and an outright lie. I guarantee you that many people who choose not to vaccinate are highly educated (especially about vaccines) and are some of the healthiest people around. These people are clamoring for the FREEDOM to choose wheter to vaccinate or not (quite the contrary to the SLAVERY of lining up the masses to receive shots mandated by the goverment and other agencies).
- Anonymous said...
Barbara - thank you for every moment that you have spent increasing vaccine safety awareness among parents and the general public.
Your article is excellent and we can only hope that the American people will no longer be so easily manipulated by fear (Iraq anyone?).
- Anonymous said...
I found the post interesting, and I enjoyed the fact that there were footnotes. My question is actually for "Momwoman" and anyone else who disagrees. This individual seems genuinely concerned with the content of the post, and yet her short comment provides no evidence to the contrary. I'd love a good comment in opposition, but please don't ask us to ignore the content of this post just because you don't like it. And enough with your derogatory comments when you present no alternatives.
- deborah said...
Barbara, thank you for your continued effort, be it very informative and well-thought out. Given the amount of facts; hopefully, parents can decide for themselves how or when to vaccinate.
- Anonymous said...
Barbara and all who work tirelessly and effectively on these issues:
You are sooo appreciated for your courage and strength.
Keep up the good work. Pay no mind to the mass effort to bring harm to your mission.
Thank you.
- baileegrace said...
Momwoman, You obviously know very little about the evidence of vaccine dangers. you should really educate yourself about inflamation after vaccination. My son is lucky he had one vaccine when he was born. My other son has had none. They are so healthy! They don't look sickly like most american kids. Their skin looks healthy and they don't have autism , diabetes, chronic inflamation, diseases, need I go on about the things that vaccines cause in children and adults. So when you know ALL the information for both side of the story let us know until then don't accuse us of being the uneducated ones!!! I just want to be free to choose and I just want others to know both sides and be educated before they start injecting their kids with unknown substaces!
- Alexis said...
Barbara, I want to express my support for your work in this area. Those who go against mainstream thinking are always feared and maligned - until the new truth is finally accepted, and then they are called visionaries. Thank you for working on the cutting edge to bring awareness to this important issue.
And I don't know why those who disagree with you have to be so mean and nasty about it. Fear does interesting things to people.
Cheers and thanks!
- Anonymous said...
There is a fearless conversation, no-one is surpressing the anti-science anti vaccine people.
I do not doubt there are side effects with vaccines, amazing if there were not when millions of doses given out. Just like millions of car journeys and so people get injured.
You have to consider the other alternative. No vaccines and the numbers that would die from that - we have seen in the past, pre vaccine era, how many die from "routine" illnesses


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NASHVILLE, Tenn. -- The Tennessee Tech softball team kept themselves in the hunt Sunday, sweeping Tennessee State in a doubleheader at Tiger Field. The Golden Eagles scored 14 runs in the twinbill, marking the most runs scored in one day this season. Final scores were 7-5 and 7-3.
Tech's bats appeared to have found lost momentum just in time for a final push toward the conference tournament. The Golden Eagles connected for 19 hits on the day, 12 in the second game.
Chanelle Spalding led the attack with four hits and four RBI; while Melody Christian extended her hitting streak to 13 games, as the senior recorded three hits on the day. Christian hit a triple in the first game, her second of the season, the team's first conference triple, sixth overall. Brittney Spalding had a stellar second game going 3-for-4 at the plate with two doubles, scoring one run and collecting one RBI.
Kendall Hooper bounced back from a tough first game, grabbing two hits, one RBI and a stolen base in the second game. Angi Sakamoto also gave Tech a great showing scoring four runs, with three hits and two RBI.
The Golden Eagles raced around the bases, picking up six free bases in the second game, the most stolen bases in one game this season.
Claudia Harke (6-9) got her first win in two weeks, striking out three Tigers. The lefty pitched five complete innings before Erica Tuck relieved the senior, notching the first save of her career. Taylor Ketchum (14-10) took the circle in the second outing, pitching seven innings, her first win since shutting out Austin Peay 7-0, April 16.
The Golden Eagles return to action at Morehead State Tuesday. Tech will attempt to take on the Eagles for the third time this season. Both teams need two-wins to all but seal a spot in the OVC Tournament. Action is set to begin at 1 p.m. CDT.


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So I'm working on a project, and it requires me to split up an integer into each of it's numbers so I can create a base 10 polynomial representation of the number. The problem is, I'm not sure quite how to do it. I figure I can convert the int into a string, and then I want to split the string with the split method, but I run into two problems. First, I feel there must be an easier way to do this. Second, if there isn't, then I'm not sure how to split it up. I tried string.split("/d"), but I'm getting an error message.
I guess my question is, what's the most efficient way to approach this.


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Smyly earns first save vs. favorite foe
DETROIT -- Maybe it's something about a left-hander from Arkansas. But like Cliff Lee, Drew Smyly seems to have something going against the Yankees.
Smyly earned his first Major League win against them last April in the Bronx. He picked up a postseason victory against the Bronx Bombers to open the American League Championship Series after they had seemingly grabbed the momentum with a game-tying home run off Jose Valverde.
Now, Smyly can claim the Yankees as the victim of his first Major League save. And it took him four innings to get it.
It isn't an addendum to the Tigers' closer-by-committee approach, but it was a reaction to Detroit's add-on runs thanks to Prince Fielder's second home run of the day. Smyly replaced starter Doug Fister to open the sixth inning, then kept retiring the Yankees in order, one inning after another.
By the time the ninth inning came around, the Tigers had a five-run lead, and Smyly had more pitches left in him. He had spent Spring Training as a starter, after all.
"After the first couple innings, I was feeling good, trying to throw strikes," Smyly said. "And the lineup's filled with lefties, so it was a good opportunity to stretch out, still get some of my innings in. I was taking it inning by inning, but when [manager Jim Leyland] left me out there for the ninth, I was pretty excited. I didn't know if he would or not, but I'm glad he had faith in me."
Down went the Yankees in order again. With that, Smyly qualified for the save, regardless of the margin of victory, because he pitched the final three innings and held the lead.
In so doing, Smyly became the first Tiger with a four-inning save since Esteban Yan did it against the Rangers on May 14, 2004.
Like Phil Coke in save situations during the ALCS, the lefty-lefty matchups favor a pitcher like Smyly against the Yankees. Still, with 12 1/3 innings of three-hit, one-run ball against them for his career, Smyly is taking these matchups a long way.
"I think Smyly made some good pitches," Yankees manager Joe Girardi said. "He pitched down in the zone very well, located very well. I didn't have a problem with what our guys did."


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CHAMONIX-MONT-BLANC, France — With the sun rising around 5 a.m. on Thursday, about 30 climbers reached a delicate passage high in the French Alps and slowed, closing ranks. It was then, without warning, that Mont Maudit — the Cursed Mountain, in French — lived up to its name.
"Suddenly the snow came," Daniel Rossetto, a veteran Chamonix mountain guide, said in a telephone interview from his hospital bed. "It kept coming. We couldn't see anything. It was like being in a washing machine."
Mr. Rossetto was lucky. He escaped with broken ribs and an injured shoulder, and his two clients, both from Denmark, survived. The avalanche that carried them away claimed the lives of nine other climbers, from Britain, Germany, Spain and Switzerland. Fourteen were injured, one of them seriously, in the deadliest mountaineering accident in France in more than a decade. Four mountaineers who had been declared missing turned up late Thursday in Chamonix, safe and sound.
Exactly what happened on the flanks of Mont Maudit, including the direct trigger for the slide, is still being pieced together as the witnesses recover from injuries and shock. Pierre-Yves Michau, a public prosecutor in the nearby city of Bonneville, said he had appointed an expert to investigate.
Still, French officials found themselves facing uncomfortable questions about how such a disaster could have happened and about why, in an average season, three dozen or more people perish in the French Alps, which include the 15,780-foot dome of Mont Blanc, the highest point in the Alps.Continue reading the main story
One answer is just the sheer number of people scaling the peaks, which are made highly accessible by cable cars that lift mountaineers to nosebleed heights. Every summer, about 20,000 people reach the summit of Mont Blanc. Mostly the accidents are of smaller scale than the recent tragedy — one or two people at a time, falling to their deaths from dizzying cliffs, swallowed up in glacial crevasses or buried in avalanches. The last accident on a similar scale occurred in 2008, when eight mountaineers were swept away by a slide caused by a falling serac, a towering, unstable glacial ice formation. A serac fall also killed nine climbers on Mont Blanc in 1994.
The High Mountain Gendarmerie, which handles Alpine rescues in Chamonix, officials of the mayor's office and Mr. Michau all say the latest avalanche resulted from an unstable buildup of windblown snow, one of the most dangerous conditions that mountaineers can face. Though common in winter, wind slabs are generally seen as less of a hazard in summer, when snow melts during the day and freezes into place overnight.
In the summer, the French weather service does not publish official avalanche bulletins, leaving it up to guides to assess the safety of their planned routes. Officials and climbers agreed Friday that conditions did not appear unusually dangerous, despite fresh snowfall in recent days, and winds of up to 60 miles an hour on Wednesday.
The group had set out from Refuge des Cosmiques, a shelter perched at 11,853 feet amid the glacial ice that glints down on the valley below. The mountaineers were equipped with headlamps, crampons, ice axes and a determination to reach the summit of Mont Blanc.
Victor Saunders, a British guide who was with a later group to leave, said he arrived on a high shoulder near the accident scene around 5:45 a.m. From there, he could see climbers moving around on a slope below — the first indication that something had gone wrong; they should have been higher up.
Mr. Saunders, who is based in the nearby village of Les Houches, said an Italian guide with his group was insistent that the avalanche had been set off by falling ice from above. Mr. Saunders said he was not so sure. Even though there was broken ice strewed about on the slope, it was not clear whether all of it was fresh or the result of previous falls, he said.
Mr. Saunders said a French guide raised the first alarm. Then he and others helped with the rescue, as gendarmes arrived by helicopter. The injured victims, he said, "could barely talk; they were getting hypothermia."
Unlike the Italian guide, Mr. Rossetto, who was in the first group, said he thought the slide had been set off by one of the 15 or so climbers ahead of him. But he, too, said it was impossible to be certain because he had not actually seen the avalanche break loose.
On Friday, families of the victims arrived in town. A makeshift chapel was set up at the local clinic, and a memorial service is set for Saturday. The British ambassador to France, Sir Peter Ricketts, traveled to Chamonix, declaring at a news conference that he had "full confidence in the handling of this incident by the French authorities."
"Unfortunately, despite professional analysis, the mountains will always present some element of risk," said Eric Fournier, the mayor of Chamonix, at a news conference.
The groups that set out from the Refuge des Cosmiques included highly experienced mountaineers. In addition to Mr. Rossetto and Mr. Saunders, the leaders included Roger Payne, an avalanche instructor, Himalayan climber and former president of British Mountain Guides. On Thursday, Mr. Payne was one of the nine who were killed.
Though the casualties were probably multiplied by the fact that so many mountaineers were bunched together, officials said that spacing out the groups would have presented other dangers; one reason Mont Blanc summit parties set off in the middle of the night is to be down and out of harm's way when the afternoon sun beats down on the glaciers, raising the risk of serac falls and wet-snow slides.
Officials note that they already provide ample warning of the dangers of the high mountains; mountain "ambassadors" at a booth at the base station of the cable car to the Aiguille-du-Midi, a 12,500-foot peak that is the jumping off point for many Mont Blanc expeditions, spell them out to anyone who asks.
"You would have to make it like the roads, with yellow lines painted everywhere and gendarmes hiding behind the rocks," Mr. Verdier said. "The mountains have to remain a place of freedom."Continue reading the main story