text:
Georgia General Assembly: http://legis.ga.gov
ATLANTA (AP) — During their frantic final day Thursday, Georgia lawmakers passed a tough bill cracking down on illegal immigration, clearing the way for Gov. Nathan Deal to sign it.
Dozens of bills cleared the House and Senate as lawmakers before the chambers gaveled the 40-day legislative session to a close at 11:38 p.m. amid a shower of confetti.
The General Assembly had already tackled major legislation on issues including the HOPE college scholarship, Sunday alcohol sales and the 2012 budget. A proposal to overhaul the state's tax code fell apart in the last hours.
Immigration was the only big bill on their agenda the final day. The Senate voted 37 to 19 and the House voted 112-59 to pass the bill that includes parts similar to a contentious law enacted last year in Arizona.
"I think it's a great day for Georgia," said sponsor Rep. Matt Ramsey, R-Peachtree City. "We're real proud of the product. It's been a lot of work but we think we have done our job that our constituents asked us to do to address the costs and the social consequences that have been visited on our state by the federal government's failure to secure our nation's borders."
Deal said during his campaign last year that he would support an Arizona-style bill, but a spokesman declined to comment Thursday night on whether the governor would sign the bill.
A major sticking point in the debate was whether private employers should be required to use a federal database called E-Verify to check the immigration status of new hires before they could get a business license or other papers needed to operate.
Groups representing businesses, agriculture, restaurant owners and others had urged lawmakers to eliminate the E-Verify mandate, saying it would be too burdensome for employers. Ramsey has said repeatedly that E-Verify is important because jobs drive illegal immigrants to Georgia.
The Senate added wording Thursday that retains the E-Verify requirement for private businesses with more than 10 employees but says any company found to have committed a "good faith violation" of the mandate would have a 30-day period to come into compliance. The requirement would be phased in in three steps with all employers with more than 10 employees being required to be in compliance by July 1, 2013.
Democrats argued that immigration is a federal issue and that the bill would harm the state's economy and could lead to civil rights violations.
"You have crafted a bill that insists on demonizing people of brown skin and with Spanish accents," said Sen. Nan Orrock, D-Atlanta.
A group of about 100 people gathered outside the Capitol Thursday evening to protest the bill's passage.
"I think it's a shame that Georgia legislators continue to push our economy over the cliff. This bill will kill jobs in Georgia," said Jerry Gonzalez, executive director of the Georgia Association of Latino Elected Officials. "We think the governor will act in the best interest of our state and veto this bill."
The bill also says agriculture is a "vital pillar" for the state's economy and that a federal guest worker program that allows the industry to bring in seasonal workers is "administratively cumbersome and flawed."
It includes a resolution that directs the state Department of Agriculture to study the issue and recommend actions or legislation. The study should specifically address the federal guest worker program and provide recommendations for federal changes to the law.
The Senate passed a weakened version of the bill Monday, essentially stripping out the E-Verify requirement, only to have the House put it back in with the exemption for employers with 10 or fewer workers.
Before the House gave its final OK, Democrats raised parliamentary concerns saying it was violating its rules. House Speaker David Ralston ruled against them and the vote went forward.
The bill would allow law enforcement officers to verify the immigration status of certain criminal suspects and to detain those found to be in the country illegally and would also penalize people who transport or harbor illegal immigrants, all similar to Arizona's law. It also would make it a felony to "willfully and fraudulently" present false documentation when applying for a job.
The Georgia immigration debate coincides with a federal appeals court decision Monday to uphold a stay blocking major parts of Arizona's tough immigration law. Ramsey has said the language in his bill differs significantly from Arizona's and that he is confident it will stand up to any legal challenges.
With Thursday's passage of the bill, Georgia is one step away from joining Utah this year in passing a tough crackdown on illegal immigration similar to Arizona's.
Arizona passed a law several years ago that requires many private employers to use E-Verify. A lawsuit filed by civil rights and business groups challenging that law is pending before the U.S. Supreme Court.
Also Thursday:
—Lawmakers signed off on a bill that allows Georgia-licensed health insurance to be sold across state lines. Supporters contend it would lower insurance costs by introducing more competition. Opponents say it paves the way for watered-down policies that don't require coverage for crucial procedures that Georgia policies mandate.
—Unemployment benefits will be extended for thousands of Georgians after the House and Senate agreed to a conference committee report bringing Georgia law in line with federal eligibility requirements.
— The House awarded final passage to a bill that extends a hefty tax break for Savannah, Ga.-based Gulfstream Aerospace. That break on the sale of aircraft parts on planes repaired or maintained in Georgia will cost the state $4.2 million in revenue next year.
The state Senate tacked on an amendment providing a tax break for developers of tourist attractions.
The bill squeaked by after Ralston took the unusual step of casting the deciding vote.
— A tax break for another hometown corporate giant, Delta Air Lines, also passed. It could save the company up to $30 million over two years on taxes it would have owed on jet fuel.
— Georgia lawmakers signed off on a bill that allows employees of utilities to make contributions to political campaigns. The legislation also closes an ethics loophole that exempted lobbyists from disclosing what they spend on gifts to staff members of elected officials. The ethics watchdog group Common Cause of Georgia praised lawmakers for moving quickly to close the lobbying loophole but the group doesn't like the provision dealing with utility contributions.
— The GOP-led Legislature also delivered a rebuke to President Barack Obama's federal health law, handing final approval to a bill that would have Georgia enter into a proposed health care compact. The bill would pave the way for Georgia to create alliances with other states on health care.
— The House gave final passage to a bill that removes distance restrictions on South Georgia hunters who use bait to attract deer and feral hog hunters Opponents labeled such hunting unsportsmanlike and unethical. But supporters say it will help thin out booming deer and hog populations.
— Also heading to Gov. Nathan Deal for his signature is a bill requiring antifreeze be made bitter tasting to deter animals from ingesting the sweet-smelling substance. It mandates that the bitter-tasting chemical denatonium benzoate be added to antifreeze sold in Georgia.
— Lawmakers have signed off on a bill that creates an advisory panel to look at an overhaul of the state's tough sentencing laws. The joint committee will make recommendations in time for lawmakers to act next year.
— Lawmakers approved a plan that would give the governor authority to appoint members to the embattled Atlanta Public School board.
Deal has 40 days to sign the bills into law.
Lawmakers are expected to return to the state Capitol Aug. 15 for a special session to deal with redrawing congressional and legislative district lines to conform to new U.S. Census data.
"Now I'm having so much fun doing this that I want to invite you to come back around Aug. 15 and we'll do it all over again," Deal joked in a short speech before the House Thursday night.


text:
From The Blog
You may also like
Baseball Tips for Parents
Before participating in youth baseball, it is essential to determine up front whether or not this is something that your youth wants to do more than you do. Many a parent, with good intentions, has come before you and eagerly signed up their youth on a baseball team.
The Right Baseball Bat
When it comes to choosing the right baseball bat, parents need to keep some important things in mind. It is not simply a matter of going into the store and purchasing the one that has the most appeal. Height, weight, and age needing consideration.
Baseball Rules for Beginners
There are several basic rules of play in baseball. These rules remain constant throughout the game of baseball, although they may differ slightly from one league to another. A baseball game consists of two teams competing against one another.

subset: commoncrawl


text:
Sometimes I forget that for less than $399 you can still snatch up a pretty decent full size laptop or desktop. Thank you, Compaq for reminding me of this with the 15.6-inch CQ61 notebook and Presario 40101f.
For a budget system, the CQ61 is actually a pretty sturdy notebook. It isn't all that slim or light, but inside its got older generation AMD Sempron processor and ATI graphics.
The Presario 4010f desktop PC has an overall nice simple black design for its $309 starting price. It is loaded with an AMD Sempron processor, NVIDIA GeForce graphics and a 250 GB hard drive. It doesn't come with a monitor but you can always pick up Compaq's 17-inch monitor for an extra $119. Both systems will be available on October 22 with Windows 7. [HP]
HP Delivers Affordable, High-quality Computing with New Compaq Consumer and Commercial PCs
PALO ALTO, Calif., Oct. 13, 2009 – HP today unveiled new Compaq PCs that provide families, students and small businesses the computing capabilities they need at price they desire.
Compaq products offer essential features, attractive designs and reliable performance at an affordable price, placing computing freedom and productivity within reach of more customers.
Available globally, Compaq PCs meet the needs of consumers and small business customers especially well in emerging and developing countries where first-time PC purchases are made on limited budgets after great consideration. In the United States, where the economy is more than ever a factor in spending, the Compaq brand provides consumers and small businesses flexibility in PC purchases.
"Everyone deserves access to a high-quality computer, and HP makes that possible with the Compaq brand," said Steven Hoffman, director of worldwide marketing, Personal Systems Group, HP. "The Compaq portfolio delivers great design, strong performance and reliability that customers need for 'just right computing' at 'just the right price.'"
Consumers will appreciate the design of the Compaq Presario CQ61z notebook PC. It features a piano black imprint finish with a silver panel that covers the palmrest and touchpad for a clean contrast. It balances mobility and performance and has a 15.6-inch diagonal high-definition display with 16:9 ratio and six-cell lithium-ion battery. Ideal for families and students looking for a mobile PC, the CQ61z starts at $399 after $100 instant savings available Oct. 18 to Dec.19.
The Compaq Presario 4010f desktop PC delivers all the productivity of a traditional PC in a sleek, streamlined desktop design. It comes fully loaded with essential features, including an AMD Sempron™ processor, NVIDIA GeForce integrated graphics and a 250 gigabyte (GB)(2) hard drive. Capable of storing up to 49,000 songs or 39,000 photos, this desktop PC is great for families and students and starts at $309.
The Compaq 500B Series desktop PCs are designed for budget-conscious small businesses that need PCs that are easy to set up, use and expand. The Compaq 500B and 505B desktop PCs, available with Intel or AMD processors respectively, offer businesses efficient and reliable performance with a Windows® 7 operating system,(3) and configurable hard drives and memory. The series offers an array of bays and ports for business users who need expandability for future growth and with more than 100,000 hours of testing, they are built to last. The Compaq 500B and 505B desktop PCs start at $359 and $409, respectively.
All products are expected to be available Oct. 22.


text:
Lashanda Armstrong, a mother of four from upstate New York, drove her minivan into the frigid Hudson River on Tuesday, killing herself and three of her four children. There will be no birthday party this week for her daughter, Lainaina Pierre, who would have turned 1 on Wednesday. The children's grandmother "can't see them no more...can't hold them no more," as she cried to a reporter. While many people will judge Lashanda for causing such pain and ending the lives of three innocent children, I don't, because at one point in my life, years ago, I thought of killing myself and my children, too.
In an interview punctuated with tears, I spoke with Armstrong's aunt, Angela Gilliam. Gilliam had an extraordinarily close relationship with her niece. "I loved her like she was my daughter," she said. "I practically raised her. She lived with me and my two daughters. I've lost a daughter and three grandkids." She said she and Armstrong spoke daily, and visited about once a week. "I called her every morning to make sure she was up… to get the kids ready for school."
But even Gilliam couldn't have foreseen what Armstrong would ultimately do. Armstrong didn't call to ask for help—she called to say goodbye. "I'm sorry. I love you," a sobbing Armstrong told her father over and over, according to Gilliam, in a phone call in which he heard screaming children in the background, just minutes before she took that final, fateful drive Tuesday night.
Even though Lashanda was black and I am white, we could be sisters. Like me, Armstrong was a teen mother. Like me, we both bore children to men who weren't father material. Like me, we both suffered from postpartum depression. Being a young mom isn't the cause of such tragedies, but it can be a major contributing factor. I myself was once on the precipice over which Armstrong plunged. I was 21 and seven months pregnant with my fourth child. Their father and I lived in West Virginia, and my three daughters were then 4, 3, and 2 years old.
In my memoir, Sister of Silence, I tell how I survived the same overwhelming forces I believe haunted Armstrong, and that first nearly killed my children and me.
I was going to take my children, get into my car, and drive over a cliff.
My family moved from California to Preston County, West Virginia, a rural and picturesque coal-mining community, when I was 5. I met my future husband two years later when he was 15, and our families became friends. I turned 13 and was an eighth-grader when he had sex with me over my protests. This happened over and over for the next three years, until I was 16 and a senior in high school, planning to graduate and hoping to attend a music conservatory, or become a model or even an actor. Anything but become a mother—which occurred just a few months later. We married one week after I graduated from West Preston High School, which, incidentally, was also featured on 20/20 that year for having the largest number of pregnant teens in the country. The forced sex continued throughout our marriage. He wouldn't let me use birth control, leading to four successive pregnancies.
Learning I was pregnant again for the fourth time was difficult beyond belief. I was angry at him: angry at having to carry, sustain, and give birth to another human life. I knew that life would take precious time and attention away from the three daughters I already had. The fact that it could be a baby boy didn't make it any easier. I believed he would just grow up to be a replica of his father, someone who used and looked down on women. More and more, my three other pregnancies kept returning to my thoughts, and the more I thought about them, and how they came to be, the angrier I became.
For years, I saw a vision of myself dropping my babies from the open window of our three-bedroom home in Newburg. But more and more often, while driving near a steep embankment or over the Cheat River bridge, I had other thoughts—thoughts of just closing my eyes and taking my hands off the steering wheel, so it would all be over. I never could do it, of course. But the pattern persisted, plaguing me for many years. Then one day I found myself swimming in a sea of desperation, not knowing how to tread the water that swirled around me. It didn't make any difference what I did or how I spent my time—I just couldn't stop being sad. That sadness, and the sheer level of pain I was in almost paralyzed me, leaving me unable to take care of my home or my children.
I was like a drunken robot and barely functioning the day I stumbled into the bathroom, turning the lock behind me so my children couldn't come in. Sobs wracked my body, and I heard a guttural cry like a wild animal come from somewhere deep within me. With the raw sound came freedom from days, months and years of silent anguish, as the bottled-up feelings that had waited for so long to explode flowed freely down my cheeks.
That's when I knew what I had to do. I was going to take my children, get into my car, and drive over a cliff. I watched it happen. I knew just where to do it. In my mind's eye, I saw the car speeding up, going faster and faster as it gained momentum, flying down Bird's Creek Road. But instead of making the deadly curve halfway down the mountain, I took my hands off the steering wheel and we sailed over the edge of the bluff, coming to rest several hundred feet below, in the forested valley that would become our tomb.
Visualizing that scenario helped me to see that my children might not die right away—they might suffer terribly in the process. That was the last thing I wanted, so I planned to attach one end of a rubber hose to the exhaust pipe, and wind the other end through my window, allowing the car to fill with fumes. I knew it would be a peaceful, painless death. I knew I simply couldn't leave my children behind, for their life would be a continuation of the hell my own had been. At the hands of their father, who knew what would happen to them? That final thought tore through me, and I looked down at my swollen stomach, external evidence of another impending birth. My hands wrapped around my belly, as if instinctively trying to shelter the unborn baby from the part of my brain that was thinking about harming it, and I prayed to God for help.
I wondered how I could even think of doing something so terrible as I sat there, my arms wrapped tightly around my torso, rocking back and forth and trying to make sense of my life. The scene kept replaying in my mind, as the sight and sound and thought of my children—all dead—threatened to drive me mad. That's when I realized I wanted to live, and give the child within me a chance to live—no matter what. I had found a stronghold to cling to, knowing I had to be there to take care of them, to raise them into responsible adults, because no one else was going to do it. I forced myself to believe God would help me, and suddenly, that hope became so tangible I could almost reach out and touch it.
Unlike me, Armstrong apparently didn't dwell on the consequences of her actions, or think about the pain her children would suffer as they died. Compassion is something that wasn't lacking in Armstrong's extended family. During the last two weeks, Angela Gilliam and others noticed changes in Armstrong that alerted them to a problem. But when they tried to help, she wouldn't let them. Gilliam repeatedly begged Armstrong to tell her what she needed—and, as she and other family members usually did, offered to pay overdue bills, babysit, anything at all. But her niece insisted she didn't need any help, and said she was fine. Clearly, she wasn't.
Police have cited "a history of domestic problems," while other people who knew Armstrong have come forward to say she was abused. But the abuse factor in Armstrong's fatal actions remained a silent one to her family, as is common in cases like this one. We now know that neglect on the part of her children's father was a huge factor. As reported in The New York Post, recent court documents outline the danger in which the father placed their 2-year-old son.
Armstrong may have felt too guilty to accept help. One thing that troubled Gilliam was when Armstrong said at one point that she didn't want her "kids to be a burden." Gilliam said Armstrong often said she was "tired of being a burden on my aunties and uncles." According to Gilliam, that refrain became more frequent during the last two weeks. "I asked her, 'Have we ever turned you down? You're not a burden. You're never a burden. The kids are never a burden,'" Gilliam said she told Armstrong, who just remained silent in response.
I know that I felt like my four children and I encumbered others, and I often felt terrible about it. And I remember such neglect and danger, as when my mother warned me not to leave my little ones with my husband when I went to work as a door-to-door cosmetics saleswoman—not just because of his penchant for taking out his anger on them, but also "for fear the house will burn down around him while he watches TV." I also recall countless times I cried, after returning home to find them sound asleep—dried food on their faces and burned bottoms from the soiled diapers they were still wearing. That's why I felt like I had no choice but to leave them with my mother, herself a single parent trying to rear my three younger siblings, when I left home each evening to go to work. That ritual also involved a lot of work—it meant carting three youngsters in and out of cars and houses, perhaps waking them up and then bundling them back into another vehicle, so I could take them all home and put them to bed a second time.
Poverty and unemployment could have exacerbated any existing problems in Armstrong's life. Both were factors in my life. My coal miner husband was laid off repeatedly, forcing us to stand in line at the Newburg Senior Citizen's Center to collect government commodities. We didn't set foot in a mall for five years. Nor could we pay our bills, and did without basics like toothpaste, cleaning supplies, tissues, and medical treatment. I even went without food. Finally, I went to work part-time, first selling cosmetics, then lingerie, and finally, life insurance—which only seemed to exacerbate my problems because my resentful and angry husband was forced to became the babysitter.
Until recently, Armstrong had been unemployed for at least a year, Gilliam said. It's been reported that Armstrong "lived in an apartment in a gritty part" of Newburgh, New York. Gilliam said Armstrong had just found part-time work at a Polo factory in November 2010.
Still, Gilliam doesn't think money alone led Armstrong to do what she did. "Money is everybody's problem," said Gilliam. The bigger problem for Armstrong, in her mind (and mine), was having to look after so many children. "My niece had so many kids!" said Gilliam. "We need to look at these young women that are stressed out and having all these kids and have no help."
Even though Armstrong was lucky enough to have a family who loved and supported her, Gilliam thinks her niece was simply so overwhelmed that she had a breakdown. The anecdotal evidence seems to support this. Armstrong was only sporadically communicative during the last two weeks of her life. Family members have said she seemed to grow paranoid—she thought people were watching her and that pages from her diary were missing. No doubt, the stress of having filed for a restraining order was weighing on her mind. Perhaps, tired of waiting for the authorities to help her protect her children, she took matters into her own hands. Maybe when she loaded them up and drove into the river, she didn't even know it had been issued—earlier that same day.
That's when, as such hardworking young mothers are apt to do, Armstrong tried to reassure her worried family. "I'm OK. I'll be all right, Auntie," Gilliam said Armstrong told her. She also begged off from finalizing the birthday party plans for her baby. "No, I think I'll just have a cake," Gilliam said Armstrong told her.
Now there will be no party, and Gilliam is worried about how her niece's actions will affect Armstrong's sole surviving child, La'Shaun Armstrong. Just 10 years old, he escaped at the last second by climbing out the van's window as it was sinking into the river.
"They were just babies," Gilliam said, breaking into tears. "Why would she do it? Look what she's done to us!"
Gilliam's anguish reminds me that this is the single most critical factor we must consider when weighing whether we will let the young single mother living next door continue trying to do it all on her own. Because she simply can't—and the cost to us, to families like Gilliam's, to our society, will be equally as great when the next implosion occurs.
Daleen Berry, a writer living in Morgantown, West Virginia, is the recent author of Sister of Silence, a memoir chronicling her life as a survivor of domestic violence, after she became a teen mother who had four children by age 21. Visit her at daleenberry.com.


text:
Last spring, Samsung impressed me by kicking off its high-end luxury Series 9 brand with an incredibly thin and light laptop. It was a fantastic competitor to the Macbook Air that came months before every laptop maker started cranking out Ultrabooks. In some ways, you could even call it the "proto-Ultrabook." So if you're Samsung, and everybody else has a similarly slim laptop on the way, what do you do for an encore?
Apparently, you go even thinner. Thinner, in fact, than any other laptop we've yet seen. The new 2012 version of the Series 9 is so skinny it's practically a tablet; it's only 0.5 inches thick and 2.5 pounds. I've been using a pre-production unit for a few days now, and it's certainly impressive. The matte anti-glare 1600 by 900 display is very bright and crisp, and the overall build quality is top-notch. Pre-production systems usually lack the fit and finish of final production systems, but this one is tight and solid. The aluminum unibody construction is very rigid. The lid is almost impossibly thin, yet it prevents nearly all flex in the display, and the hinge doesn't suffer from even a hint of wobble.
There's not a lot of room for ports in a laptop this slim. You get one full-sized USB 2.0 port on the left and USB 3.0 on the right. An SD card slot hides behind a little pop-down door on the left underside edge. The headset plug on the right is the typica 1/8-inch size. For everything else, you're looking at mini-plugs and dongles: mini-HDMI and an Ethernet dongle port on the left, and a VGA dongle on the right. Most users won't have need of these, but it's worth noting that business travelers will likely need to carry a few extra bits and bobs in their bag.
The full-sized keyboard has very little key travel – a common issue with super-thin laptops – but it's still quite easy to type on. The large touchpad has a great feel, but is currently a little hard to use. I'm told this is a software issue with the preproduction unit, and one of the key areas Samsung is focusing on before release.
Performance is about what you'd expect from a system with a Core i5 processor, 4 GB of RAM, and a 128GB SSD. You won't be blown away by the Series 9's speed, but neither will you feel like you're being held back, sacrificing your usual performance for the sake of the slim form factor.
All this super-slim, super-attractive design and premium materials will cost you, though. With a Core i5 and 128GB SSD, the system will sell for around $1400 at the end of February. That's a considerable price hike over the competition, including the similarly-configured Macbook Air. Interestingly, Samsung plans to produce a 15-inch version that will cost about $100 more.
Samsung is clearly banking on extremely high-end design to justify the very high price of the Series 9. Granted, this line isn't meant for everyday users; it's a "one percent" product meant to have a halo effect on the brand, not to sell millions of systems. Though I'm very impressed by the quality of this early system, it's clear that Samsung will be facing a flood of competition in the Ultrabook market this spring.
[For more blogs, stories, photos, and video from the nation's largest consumer electronics show, check out PCWorld's complete coverage of CES 2012.]


text:
Note from the Saker: normally I don't post articles from the Ziomedia, but this is simply too good, and too important, to pass. So hold your nose, here goes:
Why America Is Exceptional
by Hillary Clinton for Time mag
'America is indispensable—and exceptional—because of our values'
There's always been something special about the United States of America. President Abraham Lincoln called us the "last, best hope of earth." President Ronald Reagan said we are a "shining city on a hill." And Robert Kennedy called us a great, unselfish, compassionate country.
I couldn't agree more.
If there's one core belief that has guided and inspired me every step of my career in public service, it's this: the U.S. is an exceptional nation. And when you add up all our advantages, it's clear we're indispensable too—a nation all others look to for leadership.
America is indispensable in part because we have the greatest military in history, with the best troops, training and technology. And it's essential we do everything we can to support our men and women in uniform, and our veterans.
America is also indispensable because of our network of alliances, built up with decades of diplomacy. Russia and China can't begin to compare. Our allies amplify our power, aid our defense and stand with us in good times and bad, like when NATO declared 9/11 to be an attack against all its members. Walking away from our alliances now would be a dangerous mistake.
America is indispensable because we have the largest, most dynamic economy in the world. Our workers can outinnovate and outcompete anyone in the world. And our entrepreneurs start exciting new businesses every day.
Most of all, America is indispensable—and exceptional—because of our values. As Secretary of State, I was proud to represent our country's commitment to freedom, equality and opportunity. The world looks to us to stand up for human rights, LGBT rights, religious and ethnic minorities, women, people with disabilities and people everywhere who yearn for peace. We challenge ourselves and other nations to do better. It's why so many people from around the world want to become Americans too.
But with all of these advantages comes responsibility—we need to continue leading the world. Because when America fails to lead, we leave a vacuum that lets extremism take root, emboldens our adversaries and discourages our friends.
Of course, this doesn't mean that people from other places don't also feel deep national pride—and other countries also have a responsibility to step up and help solve global problems. But America has an unparalleled ability to be a force for peace, progress and prosperity around the world. And when we do, we make our own country safer and stronger.
So let's never stop doing good and being great. Let's keep America exceptional.
Commentary: word fail me to comment on this messianic logorrhea. I will just say that it reminds me of some of the most delusional speeches by Adolf Hitler or Lev Trotsky. The difference, of course, is that Hitler and Trotsky were men of principle (even if these principles were evil) whereas Clinton is totally devoid of any form or morals or principle.
The Saker


text:
Hampton Roads Tunnels and Bridges
Call 511 or 866-My-511-Va for the latest on bridge and tunnel status.
Truck height restrictions (PDF, 537 KB)
Hampton Roads' natural assets have made it one of the busiest ports on the East Coast.
The region is home to the world's largest naval base and is a summertime destination for hundreds of thousands of visitors.
The Virginia Department of Transportation (VDOT) maintains six major bridges and tunnels in Hampton Roads.
Bridge and tunnel emergency closure information
- Tunnels
- Major bridges
- Traffic updates
- Safety Service Patrol
- Managing traffic
- If you're in an accident
- Hazardous materials
- Hauling permits
For up-to-date traffic and travel information for the bridges and tunnels of Hampton Roads, call 511, tune to 1680 AM or visit 511virginia.org to see traffic cameras throughout the region.
The Tunnels
Monitor-Merrimac Memorial Bridge-Tunnel, Interstate 664
The I-664 Monitor-Merrimac Memorial Bridge-Tunnel (MMMBT) opened in 1992.
This four-lane, dual-tunnel system connects the Virginia Peninsula cities of Newport News and Hampton to the South Hampton Roads cities of Suffolk and Chesapeake. The MMMBT typically has about half of the traffic volume of the Hampton Roads Bridge-Tunnel each day and is considered a practical, less-congested alternative.
To travel from Interstate 64 to South Hampton Roads using the MMMBT, take the I-664 South exit (264) and continue to the Interstate 64/264 interchange. The tunnel does not charge a toll.
- Maximum height: 14 feet, 6 inches (with permit)
- Maximum width: 10 feet, 6 inches (with permit)
- Wider vehicles must be escorted by VDOT
Hampton Roads Bridge-Tunnel (HRBT), I-64
The Hampton Roads Bridge-Tunnel is the oldest tunnel on I-64 in Hampton Roads.
It connects Hampton and Newport News to Norfolk and Virginia Beach.
The first two-lane tunnel opened in 1957 and a second opened in 1976.
Nearly three million vehicles use it each month. It carries more than 100,000 vehicles a day during the tourist season.
During heavy traffic, many motorists use the MMMBT on I-664 instead.
The HRBT does not charge a toll.
- I-64 West maximum height: 13 feet, 6 inches (without permit)
- I-64 East maximum height: 14 feet, 6 inches (with permit)
- Maximum width: 10 feet, 6 inches (with permit)
- Wider vehicles must be escorted by VDOT
Downtown Tunnel, I-264
The Downtown Tunnel on I-264 is the oldest of two tunnels that cross the Elizabeth River.
The Downtown Tunnel links Norfolk and Portsmouth. The first of two two-lane tunnels opened in 1952 and the second in 1987.
Along with the Berkley Bridge, which connects I-264 and I-464 on the Norfolk side of the tunnel, the Downtown Tunnel carries more than three million vehicles a month. The tunnel is operated by Elizabeth River Crossings.
Toll rates vary based on travel times and payment method -- either E-ZPass or a Pay by Plate system.
- Maximum height:13 feet, 6 inches
- Maximum width: 8 feet, 6 inches (without permit); 11 feet (with permit)
Midtown Tunnel, Route 58
More than a million vehicles per month use the Midtown Tunnel.
Opened in 1962, the original two-lane tunnel became the second underwater crossing connecting Norfolk and Portsmouth.
This bi-directional tunnel carried traffic in each direction of =Route 58 between the cities.
In 2016, the Midtown Tunnel doubled its capacity by adding another two-lane tunnel.
Operated by Elizabeth River Crossings, toll rates vary based on travel times and payment method, using either E-ZPass or a Pay by Plate system.
Toll rates vary based on travel times and payment method -- either E-ZPass or a Pay by Plate system.
- Maximum height:13 feet, 6 inches
- Maximum width: 8 feet, 6 inches (without permit); 11 feet (with permit)
Chesapeake Bay Bridge-Tunnel, Route 13
The Chesapeake Bay Bridge-Tunnel spans the mouth of the bay, connecting Virginia Beach to Cape Charles in Northampton County on the Eastern Shore.
This is a time-saving shortcut for motorists traveling from Delaware, Maryland, Pennsylvania and New York.
Built in 1964, the 17.6-mile span is the world's largest bridge-tunnel complex.
The bridge-tunnel is owned, operated, and maintained by The Chesapeake Bay Bridge and Tunnel Commission, not VDOT.
The maximum height is 13 feet, 6 inches.
For toll information and weather condition restrictions, visit www.cbbt.com or call (757) 331-2960.
The Bridges
Hampton Roads' drawbridges open for water traffic according to federal regulations issued by the Coast Guard.
Some time-of-day restrictions may apply Monday through Friday, excluding federal holidays.
George P. Coleman Bridge, Route 17
The George P. Coleman Bridge is a double-swing span that connects Gloucester Point and Yorktown.
The bridge was constructed in 1952 as a two-lane bridge, designed to carry up to 15,000 vehicles a day.
In 1995, the bridge was reconstructed with four lanes to handle increased traffic.
Almost a million vehicles cross each month.
Call E-ZPass at 877-762-7824 or visit www.ezpassva.com for additional information.
Tolls (traveling south to north):
- E-ZPass user (transponder required): 85 cents
- Two axles: $2
- Three axles: $3
- Four or more axles: $4
Bridge openings and travel conditions
The Coleman Bridge opens upon vessel demand, according to federal regulations. The bridge remains closed from 5 - 8 a.m. and 3 - 7 p.m., Monday through Friday, except federal holidays. It does open for vessels in an emergency.
James River Bridge, Routes 17/258/32
The 4.5-mile James River Bridge, Virginia's longest state-maintained bridge, opened in 1928 as the first connector between the Peninsula and South Hampton Roads.The bridge carries Routes 17/258/32 between Newport News and Isle of Wight County.
The original two-lane bridge was replaced in 1982 with a wider four-lane lift span bridge designed to handle increased traffic volumes.
With nearly one million vehicles using the JRB each month, this crossing offers a smart travel alternative when the Hampton Roads Bridge-Tunnel and Monitor-Merrimac Bridge-Tunnel are congested.
To travel from I-64 to South Hampton Roads over the James River Bridge, take the Mercury Boulevard, Route 258 ramp (exit 263). Continue on Route 17 to the I-664 interchange in Suffolk. The bridge is free.
Openings and travel conditions
The James River Bridge opens upon vessel demand, according to federal regulations. It does not have any periods where openings are restricted.
Berkley Bridge, I-264
The Berkley Bridge opened in 1952 and is part of the I-264 Downtown Tunnel complex, connecting Portsmouth and Norfolk.
The bridge was rebuilt in 1991 to handle increased traffic. The bridge merges I-464 traffic traveling from Chesapeake with I-264 traffic in Norfolk.
Each of the four leafs on the dual drawbridge weighs 640 tons.
Openings and travel conditions
The I-264 Berkley Bridge will open for maritime vessel signal at 9 a.m., 11 a.m., 1 p.m., and 2:30 p.m., Monday through Friday. The bridge will not open during these scheduled times when vessels have not signaled and are not waiting for passage. The duration of the traffic stops due to the bridge lifts are dependent on maritime traffic volumes. The bridge will remain in the close position during commute periods, from 5 - 9 a.m. and from 3 - 7 p.m., Monday through Friday, except during federal holidays.
The bridge can open upon request during the restricted hours for a vessel with a draft of at least 18 feet if at least six hours of notification has been given.
High Rise Bridge, I-64
Built in 1972, the High Rise Bridge is a concrete and steel drawbridge located on I-64 in Chesapeake. The four-lane, twin bascule span bridge carries more than two million motorists a month. The facility is the only highway-grade toll-free crossing of the Southern Branch of the Elizabeth River and can be used as an alternative to the tolled Downtown and Midtown Tunnel.
Openings and travel conditions
The bridge opens upon vessel demand, according to federal regulations. It remains closed from 6 - 9 a.m. and 3 - 6 p.m., Monday through Friday, except federal holidays.
If a vessel needs it to be opened during peak hours, three days notice is required. It does open for vessels in an emergency. Bridge openings occur only about once a week.
Gilmerton Bridge, Routes 13/460
Located on Military Highway (Route 13), the Gilmerton Bridge is a state-of-the-art vertical lift bridge spanning the Southern Branch of the Elizabeth River. The four-lane bridge is operated by the city of Chesapeake and carries an average monthly traffic volume of approximately one million vehicles. The facility is toll-free.
South Norfolk Jordan Bridge, Route 337
This private toll bridge opened in October 2012 and spans the Southern Branch of the Elizabeth River.
With quick connections to I-464 and I-264, it's an alternative route when neighboring bridges and tunnels are congested.
The fixed, high-rise bridge is one of the tallest in Virginia and not subject to openings for maritime traffic. It also has been designated an official Virginia truck route without height or weight restrictions.
Privately owned and operated, the Jordan Bridge features two undivided lanes plus a pedestrian sidewalk separated from traffic by a concrete barrier.
A fully-electronic video capture system accepts E-ZPass to maximize convenience for drivers, but an E-ZPass is not required for travel. There is no toll plaza and cash is not accepted.
Vehicles traveling without an E-ZPass will be mailed an invoice for their travel fees.
Standard travel fees
Passenger vehicles and motorcycles (two axles) Pay by E-ZPass: $1.75 Pay by plate: $3.25 Pay by mail $4.25
Additional fees of $1 per additional axle apply to multi-axle vehicles.
Call 855-690-7652 or visit snjb.net for toll information and discount programs.
Traffic Updates
- VDOT's road conditions map
- Road conditions, bridge openings and traffic information: Virginia: Dial 511, out of state: 866-MY-511-VA, www.511Virginia.org
- To contact state police in an emergency, dial # 77 on your cell phone.
- Traffic Information Radio: 1680 AM for Hampton Roads.
Safety Service Patrol
The Virginia Department of Transportation Safety Service Patrol provides safe, quick clearance of incidents that affect traffic, including disabled vehicles, and offers roadside assistance to stranded motorists.
Traffic Management
VDOT operates traffic management systems on most of the Hampton Roads crossings.
These state-of-the-art, computerized systems use remote cameras, monitors and road sensors to alert operators to traffic situations..
VDOT is then able to inform motorists of possible delays and alternate routes with overhead message boards, radio broadcasts and the toll-free 511 phone system, thus reducing congestion.
If You're in an Accident
If you're in an accident where there are no injuries or your vehicle breaks down, the law requires you to move your car to the road's shoulder, out of the flow of traffic.
On a bridge or in a tunnel, stay with your vehicle and wait for help. An incident team will be dispatched quickly, as the tunnels and most bridges are monitored.
To call state police from your cell phone, dial # 77.
Hazardous Materials
Before motor homes can go through tunnels, they must stop to have propane tanks checked.
Who do I contact about transporting hazardous materials through a state-owned tunnel?
Contact VDOT at 1-800-FOR-ROAD (1-800-367-7623). The National Response Center at 1-800-424-8802 should be notified of spills of a reportable quantity. They are available 24 hours a day.
What are the six tunnels that are state-owned?
|For information about...
Big Walker Mountain Interstate 77
East River Mountain I-77
Elizabeth River-Downtown Interstate 264
Elizabeth River-Midtown Route 58
Hampton Roads Interstate 64
Monitor-Merrimac Memorial Bridge Interstate 664
Hauling Permits
There are restrictions on the width, height, length and weight of vehicles traveling in Virginia.
Call the Department of Motor Vehicles at 804-786-2787 for general information and to obtain a permit.


text:
The U.S. Health Care system is in serious crisis and everyone seems to have the answers. Unfortunately, just as with any health care problem the issue takes more than guess work to resolve and like any illness or injury it requires a careful diagnosis of the problem to come up with reasonable, viable solutions.
For those interested in information regarding the health care system, there is an excellent website to assist you. It is like a on line think tank, where anyone can gather information before putting together their formulated proposal about revisions they feel is the best solutions.
Health Care Problems is the website that most anyone wanting to participate in the decision process and provide their suggestions to possible solutions for the health care crisis. A couple of ways this can be do is first, tell your story or experience you may have had with in the current state of the health care system. It will be necessary to reveal what state you live in as well as your occupation. Your shared information is information for others to factor in to formulating their own solutions for the current crisis. Even very similar stories are not at all similar because of all the different factors involved, making the solution and outcome different, but necessary to formulate different solutions that could be implemented across a wide spectrum of the system to get some good ideas for solutions and results.
Even if you don't have a health care horror story to share you should still check out this website because it can be helpful to learn the issues that exist in the health care system and to gain better understanding of the things that we can do to create solutions. The more information you can gather the more valid your suggestions for change will be. You can read through this website to gather research information and also to use this site for further writing about the topic, be sure to read the Terms of Use agreement before doing so however.
Overall there is much information and knowledge to be gained about this subject and while it is important to come up with creative solutions doing so based on factual information as opposed to suppositions makes your solutions more valid and relevant. Take the time to check out Health Care Problems dot org and find out what other Americans are saying and experiencing around the country. Doing so will make you not only a more informed consumer but just may help you to come to some realizations about the U.S. Health Care System.
Anyone needs the best health insurance that they can pay for. Decent Family health insurance is incredibly important.


text:
Coco Ho surfing at Honolua Bay 2009
Coco Ho at the 2009 Billabong Pro Maui ASP Women's World Tour at Honolua Bay, Maui, Hawaii. Since some one used some photos without my permission I want Coco to have these, Coco if you want any let me know, I'll get these to you no charge. I'm bummed that Honolua contest is canceled for 2010Read More


text:
Thank you for being here!
As teachers at South High, we invite you to visit our webpages as one way to get to know us and our approach to educating and inspiring students.
We also hope to connect with families at:
See our webpage or directory for contact information.
3131 19th Avenue South Minneapolis, MN 55407
Telephone: 612.668.4300 | Fax: 612.668.4310


text:
Submit a Claim Online
Or to speak to a representative, call:800-999-1030
We have a full line of products tailored to meet your needs coupled with programs specifically designed for teachers.
Find out why Horace Mann is right for you.
SPRINGFIELD, Ill. (May 6, 2020) - Martha Jordan, first grade teacher at Graham Elementary School, has been named the Horace Mann Educator of the Year. Also, Arwah Franklin, supervisor of Community Based Programs, was named Horace Mann Administrator of the Year.
Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the Educator of the Year luncheon could not be held, so Superintendent Jennifer Gill and Horace Mann agent Katie Hageman hand delivered baskets to each of the winners and recognized both on social media.
Martha Jordan has worked for District 186 for 33 years and has taught first grade for all of those years at Graham Elementary. She is recognized for understanding her students' strengths and struggles and pouring her heart into her classroom. In turn, her students work hard to meet her expectations. Jordan is retiring at the conclusion of this school year. Jordan receives a $1,000 cash prize. She will receive a crystal owl at a reception at a later date.
Arwah Franklin has served District 186 for 25 years in a variety of roles but currently serves as Community Based Programs Supervisor. She is noted for inspiring her staff to go the extra mile, selflessly serving all students, and advocating for all students so that they can be successful. She receives a $500 award and will receive a crystal award at a reception in the fall.
"Horace Mann is proud to sponsor District 186's Educator of the Year program. These educators are passionate and dedicated, and are the heart of our communities," said President and CEO Marita Zuraitis. "During this pandemic, there's an even deeper appreciation of what educators do each and every day. We are pleased this award offers another way to say 'thank you.'"
Educator of the Year finalists were Lisa Beebe (Jefferson Middle School), Abby Bretz (Franklin Middle School), Elizabeth Marcy (Dubois Elementary), and Nikki Rawls (Grant Middle School). Each will receive $250.
Administrator of the Year finalists were Tod Davis, principal of Franklin Middle School, and Patricia Nikson, principal of Fairview Elementary School. Each will receive $250.
The Rising Star award was given to three promising teachers who have been with the District four years or less. The Rising Stars are Meredith Anderson (Lanphier High School) Kelsea Hirsch (Matheny-Withrow), and Christine Seaver (Matheny-Withrow). They each receive $250 and will receive a crystal award at a later date.
Horace Mann has sponsored the Educator of the Year program since its inception in 1988. An independent panel of Springfield-area community and education leaders selects the Educator of the Year, Administrator of the Year, and the Rising Stars.
Horace Mann — the largest national multiline insurance company focusing on educators' financial needs — provides auto and homeowners insurance, retirement annuities, life insurance and other financial solutions. Founded by educators for educators® in 1945, the company is headquartered in Springfield, Illinois. For more information visit www.horacemann.com.
For more information about District 186, visit www.sps186.org.
© 2023 Horace Mann Educators Corporation
CUSTOMER SERVICE Call 800-999-1030


text:
There are number of lifestyle changes that can help end your sleepless nights including taking relaxing herbs and minerals. But there's more you can do. You can get a good night's sleep by using the appropriate homeopathic remedy.
There are numerous homeopathic remedies to choose from that can help you get the rest you need. Select the one that most accurately fits your sleep disturbance pattern. You may have all of the listed symptoms, or just one of them.
Aconite: You are extremely anxious, restlessness, have a fear of dying. You experience heart palpitations, are drowsy during the day and awake at night, may have nightmares or disturbing dreams. Fresh air makes you feel good.
: Worry and anxiety keep you awake, especially between midnight and 2:00 a.m. Your insomnia worsens your anxiety. You are restless in bed and may get up to make a cup of tea. You like warm drinks and being warm.
Chamomilla: You're irritable or in pain and can't get to sleep. You like cold water and sour lemonade. You don't like coffee.
Coffea: You have an overactive mind and are often wide-awake at 3:00 a.m. You're particularly sensitive to noise, light, touch, and caffeine from any source.
Ignatia: You sigh and yawn a lot, but can't sleep. You have wide mood swings and are both high-strung and emotional. Grief keeps you awake. Breathing deeply, moving around, and being alone make you feel better.
Nux vomica: You're irritable, impatient, and frequently wake up at 3:00 – 4:00 a.m and have difficulty falling back to sleep. When you finally do, you wake up tired. It's difficult for you to switch off your mind and stop thinking about problems at home or work. Alcohol, caffeine, or eating rich, spicy foods keep you awake.
Pulsatilla: At first you feel too hot and throw your covers off, then you feel too cold and pull them back up. One thought keeps repeating in your mind and keeps you awake. You sleep with your hands above your head and wake up feeling overheated.
Sepia: During the day you're tired, but at night you have difficulty falling asleep. You're depressed, and your inability to get a good night's sleep is depressing. You wake up early, can't get back to sleep, and feel sleep-deprived in the morning. Your fatigue gives you headaches and causes dizziness. Exercise helps, and just sitting around makes this condition worse.
Using homeopathics
Don't be confused by the many dilutions available. The dilution you want for a sleep remedy is 30C — considered to be a medium potency. This means that one part of the original substance was diluted 30 times in 99 parts of water. Nothing remains in the tiny pellets or liquid except the energy from the original substance. There's no trace of any chemicals it once contained. The more times a remedy has been diluted, the stronger the effect. Low potency remedies have been diluted up to 15 times.
Take the remedy once at night for 10 days, an hour before going to bed. Repeat for one more cycle if necessary. You can find the remedies in this article at most health food stores or through http://www.homeopathic.com (800-359-9051).
Homeopathics are compatible with most medications. However, they should not be taken with antibiotics, antifungals, chemotherapy, steroids, or narcotic drugs. Don't use them an hour before or after coffee, mint (toothpaste), garlic, and other strong tastes or odors. These could cancel out the effects of the remedies. Take them first thing in the morning or just before bedtime.
If you don't get relief after using a homeopathic remedy for one or two 10-day cycles, you may need some help finding the specific remedy your body needs. Ask practitioners of integrative medicine (doctors, acupuncturists, naturopaths) or at health food stores to help you find a homeopath. I've seen homeopathy work wonders in my patients and me. It's a safe, inexpensive solution to numerous health problems — including insomnia.
Cummings, S., MD and D. Ullman, MPH. Everybody's Guide to Homeopathic Medicines, Jeremy P. Tarcher, 1997.
Reichenberg-Ullman, J., ND, MSW. Whole Woman Homeopathy, Prima Health, 2000.
Trivieri, L., Jr., and J.W. Anderson. Alternative Medicine: The Definitive Guide, Second Edition, Celestial Arts, 2002.


text:
Press Release
September 5, 2013
Phone: 206.709.3400 or email@example.com
Show Us a Great Idea, We'll Show You $100,000
$100,000 Grants Available for New Ideas to: Encourage The World's Poorest People to Seek Health Care, Develop a New Condom, and Reduce Diarrhea, One of the Biggest Killers of Children on the Planet
SEATTLE–The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation is accepting applications for the latest of its Grand Challenges Explorations initiative, a ground-breaking grant program encouraging bold approaches aimed at improving the lives of the world's poorest people. The simple, online, two-page application is open to creative thinkers from any discipline or any organization.
"We continue to push for a regular stream of fresh ideas to help overcome persistent health and development challenges," said Chris Wilson, Director of Global Health Discovery & Translational Sciences at the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. "Innovative thinking fuels the progress needed to overcome obstacles the world faces to pull people out of poverty."
Grand Challenges Explorations encourages proposals from individuals or groups with anything to offer, from anywhere in the world, and seeks to uncover cross-discipline approaches. Since its launch in 2008, the program has funded more than 850 grants in 50 countries.
To learn more about the topics in this round, visit www.grandchallenges.org. Proposals are being accepted through November 12, 2013.
The Gates Foundation and an independent group of reviewers selects the most promising proposals, and grants will be awarded within approximately four months from the proposal submission deadline. Initial grants are $100,000 each. Projects demonstrating potential will have the opportunity to receive additional funding up to $1 million.
About the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation
Guided by the belief that every life has equal value, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation works to help all people lead healthy, productive lives. In developing countries, it focuses on improving people's health with vaccines and other lifesaving tools and giving them the chance to lift themselves out of hunger and extreme poverty. In the United States, it seeks to significantly improve education so that all young people have the opportunity to reach their full potential. Based in Seattle, Washington, the foundation is led by CEO Jeff Raikes and Co-chair William H. Gates Sr., under the direction of Bill and Melinda Gates and Warren Buffett. To learn more, visit www.gatesfoundation.org. You can also join the conversation on Facebook, Twitter, and our blog www.impatientoptimists.org.


text:
Product Description
Over the years we've become pretty proficient at rigging the boat for Hurricanes. We've been fortunate, knock wood, but we always prep as best we can. One thing we've learned is that you can never have too many storm lines from the boat to the various anchor points. And one issue with the numerous lines is you quickly run out of space on your cleats. Especially with the larger diameter storm lines.
We now use these Cleat Extenders. They are flexible and low profile, they fit on a cleat in several ways and then allow your larger storm lines to be tied on. We use a simple bowline on the storm lines and this gives us more flexibility since we don't need dedicated lines with loops or thimbles. Each Cleat Extender is made in the U.S.A. from high quality Polyester. With a vertical breaking strength of 5,300 pounds, your cleats will most likely part before the Cleat Extender does.
We've found lots of other uses on-board as well. Extension loop for boarding ladders or Tuna Doors, Anchor point for block and tackles on the fighting chair or tower leg. Loop it over a gnarly piling and save your travel lines from chaffing….and more.
Each Cleat Extender features:
- 2 Feet in Length
- Approx 48" Circumference
- High Quality, Made in the USA Construction
- Colorfast


text:
St. John was born about a.d. 550 and was the son of Epiphanius, the noble Christian governor of Cyprus. But as he himself preached, "If you seek nobility, seek it not in blood but in virtue, for in virtue lies true nobility." St. John truly lived such nobility in his life. Pressured by his parents to marry and raise a family, he did so, but they all died young. He then regarded the whole world as his family. He was known to be so compassionate and full of virtues that he was elected the Patriarch of Alexandria under the Emperor Heraclius, and he served as such for eight years, beginning in 611. When the Persians invaded Alexandria in 619, he fled back to Cyprus, where he died in his own country.
St. John regarded charity as the fundamental duty of a Christian and took every opportunity to fulfill this in his life. He also constantly urged and coaxed all Christians that he met to do the same. This is so marked in his life that he was known at that time, and is still known even today, as "the Merciful." This is appropriate and inspiring because of all of the words prayed in the Divine services, "Lord, have mercy" is said the most often.


text:
Imagine this scenario. The year is 2030 or thereabouts. After voyaging six months from Earth, you and several other astronauts are the first humans on Mars. You're standing on an alien world, dusty red dirt beneath your feet, looking around at a bunch of mining equipment deposited by previous robotic landers.
Echoing in your ears are the final words from mission control: "Your mission, should you care to accept it, is to return to Earth--if possible using fuel and oxygen you mine from the sands of Mars. Good luck!"
Right: Astronauts on Mars, an artist's concept. [More]
It sounds simple enough, mining raw materials from a rocky, sandy planet. We do it here on Earth, why not on Mars, too? But it's not as simple as it sounds. Nothing about granular physics ever is.
Granular physics is the science of grains, everything from kernels of corn to grains of sand to grounds of coffee. These are common everyday substances, but they can be vexingly difficult to predict. One moment they behave like solids, the next like liquids. Consider a dump truck full of gravel. When the truck begins to tilt, the gravel remains in a solid pile, until at a certain angle it suddenly becomes a thundering river of rock.
Understanding granular physics is essential for designing industrial machinery to handle vast quantities of small solids--like fine Martian sand.
The problem is, even here on Earth "industrial plants don't work very well because we don't understand equations for granular materials as well as we understand the equations for liquids and gases," says James T. Jenkins, professor of theoretical and applied mechanics at Cornell University in Ithaca, N.Y. "That's why coal-fired power plants operate at low efficiencies and have higher failure rates compared to liquid-fuel or gas-fired power plants."
So "do we understand granular processing well enough to do it on Mars?" he asks.
Above: Mars soil in 3D, photographed by the Spirit rover in 2004. Put on your red-blue glasses and take a look. [Larger image] [More]
Let's start with excavation: "If you dig a trench on Mars, how steep can the sides be and remain stable without caving in?" wonders Stein Sture, professor of civil, environmental, and architectural engineering and associate dean at the University of Colorado in Boulder. There's no definite answer, not yet. The layering of dusty soils and rock on Mars isn't well enough known.
Some information about the mechanical composition of the top meter or so of Martian soils could be gained by ground-penetrating radar or other sounding devices, Sture points out, but much deeper and you "probably need to take core samples." NASA's Phoenix Mars lander (landing 2008) will be able to dig trenches about a half-meter deep; the 2009 Mars Science Laboratory will be able to cut out rock cores. Both missions will provide valuable new data.
To go even deeper, Sture (in connection with the University of Colorado's Center for Space Construction) is developing innovative diggers whose business ends vibrate into soils. Agitation helps break cohesive bonds holding compacted soils together and can also help mitigate the risk of soils collapsing. Machines like these might one day go to Mars, too.
Right: Mars-cranes might use vibrating buckets for excavation. Credit: Stein Sture.
Another problem is "hoppers"--the funnels miners use to guide sand and gravel onto conveyor belts for processing. Knowledge of Martian soils would be vital in designing the most efficient and maintenance-free hoppers. "We don't understand why hoppers jam," Jenkins says. Jams are so frequent, in fact, that "on Earth, every hopper has a hammer close by." Banging on the hopper frees the jam. On Mars, where there would be only a few people around to tend equipment, you'd want hoppers to work better than that. Jenkins and colleagues are researching why granular flows jam.
And then there's transportation: The Mars rovers Spirit and Opportunity have had little trouble driving miles around their landing sites since 2004. But these rovers are only about the size of an average office desk and only about as massive as an adult. They're go-carts compared to the massive vehicles possibly needed for transporting tons of Martian sand and rock. Bigger vehicles are going to have a tougher time getting around.
Left: Mars rover Spirit, an artist's rendition. Spirit and her twin Opportunity have been roaming Mars since January 2004. [More]
Sture explains: As early as the 1960s when scientists were first studying possible solar-powered rovers for negotiating loose sands on the Moon and other planets, they calculated "that the maximum viable continuous pressure for rolling contact pressure over Martian soils is only 0.2 pounds per square inch (psi)," especially when traveling up or down slopes. This low figure has been confirmed by the behavior of Spirit and Opportunity.
A rolling contact pressure of only 0.2 psi "means that a vehicle has to be light-weight or has to have a way of effectively distributing the load to many wheels or tracks. Reducing contact pressure is crucial so the wheels don't dig into soft soil or break through duricrusts [thin sheets of cemented soils, like the thin crust on windblown snow on Earth] and get stuck."
That requirement implies that a vehicle for moving heavier loads--people, habitats, equipment--might be "a huge Fellini-type thing with wheels 4 to 6 meters (12 to 18 feet) in diameter," says Sture, referring to the famous Italian director of surreal films. Or it might have enormous open-mesh metal treads like a cross between highway-construction backhoes on Earth and the lunar rover used during the Apollo program on the Moon. Thus, tracked or belted vehicles seem promising for carrying large payloads.
Above: An experimental Elastic Loop Mobility System that might work on worlds with dusty soil like Mars and the Moon. Photo credit: Stein Sture. [Larger image]
A final challenge facing granular physicists is to figure out how to keep equipment operating through Mars' seasonal dust storms. Martian storms whip fine dust through the air at velocities of 50 m/s (100+ mph), scouring every exposed surface, sifting into every crevice, burying exposed structures both natural and manmade, and reducing visibility to meters or less. Jenkins and other investigators are studying the physics of aeolian [wind] transporting of sand and dust on Earth, both to understand the formation and moving of dunes on Mars, and also to ascertain what sites for eventual habitats might be best protected from prevailing winds (for example, in the lee of large rocks).
Returning to Jenkins's big question, "do we understand granular processing well enough to do it on Mars?" The unsettling answer is: we don't yet know.
Working with imperfect knowledge is okay on Earth because, usually, no one suffers much from that ignorance. But on Mars, ignorance could mean reduced efficiency or worse preventing the astronauts from mining enough oxygen and hydrogen to breathe or use for fuel to return to Earth.
Granular physicists analyzing data from the Mars rovers, building new digging machines, tinkering with equations, are doing their level best to find the answers. It's all part of NASA's strategy to learn how to get to Mars ... and back again.
|More Information
Granular Materials in Lunar and Martian Exploration --
a workshop co-sponsored by NASA and the U.S. Army Research Office, is discussing how astronauts could use in-situ resources on the Moon and Mars for air, fuel, and other purposes.
Confounded by Coffee -- (Science@NASA) Here's something to ponder over your next cup of joe: the physics of a humble bag of coffee grounds still holds surprises for scientists.
City-swallowing Sand Dunes -- (Science@NASA) NASA-supported researchers are studying the complex physics of menacing sand dunes--on Earth and elsewhere.
The Physics of Sandcastles -- (Science@NASA) Space shuttle missions carrying sand into Earth orbit offer valuable lessons for earthquake engineers, farmers and physicists.
Sand Dunes on Mars -- Astronomy Picture of the Day
Flowing Sand in Space -- (Science@NASA) NASA scientists are sending sand into Earth orbit to learn more about how soil behaves during earthquakes. Their results will help engineers build safer structures on Earth and other planets.


text:
Antonio Felix da Costa became only the second Portuguese driver {note 1} to claim the Macau Grand Prix on Sunday morning, winning out ahead of Felix Rosenqvist and Alex Lynn.
Like the previous day's qualifying race, da Costa was dominant, only losing the lead to Rosenqvist for the opening few hundred metres.
Determined, the Carlin racer drew to the rear of Rosenqvist's Mücke Motorsport machine through the Mandarin Bend, before feeding through to the head of the pack on the approach to Lisboa.
Rosenqvist also briefly lost out to Lynn, with the Englishman also seizing advantage prior to Lisboa by gliding down the inside line; however a wobble toward the end of the opening tour allowed the Swede Rosenqvist back into 2nd.
The Mercedes-powered man had a second bite dive for the lead thanks to an early safety car period to clear Lucas Wolf's stranded URD-Mercedes.
Restarting on lap six, Rosenqvist found a powerful slipstream exiting the opening band, quickly plying the Portuguese racer in Lisboa, but a confident da Costa held firm, making sure Rosenqvist was hung out on the outside line.
Lynn may have taken advantage of Rosenqvist's situation had he not been under pressure himself.
Pascal Wehrlein, who had bolted from the fourth row into 4th place at the race start, got another solid getaway when the race returned to green conditions. Tucked under Lynn's rear wing, the 18-year-old attempted a move on the Lisboa approach, only for the wily Lynn to detect the threat and close Wehrlein off.
It also ensured Lynn was in no position to attack Rosenqvist.
From there, the top three clung together, covered by less than two seconds with Wehrlein and Felipe Nasr in the shadows, yet for their closeness, opportunities to make decisive moves were rare.
Out front, da Costa compacted the leading group as he cut a way through the infield, yet was able to jump clear out of Melco and pull far enough ahead through Mandarin to make a challenge for the lead virtually impossible.
Each time by, the gap to Rosenqvist was just enough to safeguard the lead into Lisboa – first it was six-tenths, then seven-tenths, before peaking at just over a second after the halfway mark.
As the race aged, da Costa nailed several fastest laps in a row, while Rosenqvist – keen to get in one final attack – ran wide through Fishermen's on lap twelve, bringing Lynn back into the picture.
The Swede's error gave the race leader breathing room and the victory and although Rosenqvist got back on the pace, it was too late to displace da Costa.
Da Costa's position was protected further in the final two laps when a big crash at the exit of R Bend brought out double waved yellow flags as the bend gave way to the start / finish straight.
For a moment, it was thought a safety car might be needed as Ryo Hirakawa lost control of his RSS-run Dallara Toyota, ploughing into the Armco. Hirakawa's troubles were still not over – Euro Series regular Lucas Auer could not see the wreckage coming out of the final corner, leading the Austrian to ram the rear of the Japanese F3 Champion.
Auer's destroyed van Amersfoort and much of the debris would be cleared by the time the leaders would start lap fourteen; however Hirakawa's stricken machine would ensure drivers would be forced to lift off, or take a penalty, effectively nullifying any advantage / disadvantage coefficient on the Macau's high speed section.
In the end, it was also too little too late for Lynn. Rosenqvist's late error may have given Lynn some late impetus, but the Englishman simply ran out of time to take the Swede, while he was also affected by the double-waved yellows in the R Bend.
Irrespective, it was an impressive podium for the 19-year-old on his Macau debut.
Wehrlein fell a further second behind Lynn taking a solid 4th, well ahead of Nasr who faded as the race aged.
Pipo Derani impressed with a drive from 13th to 6th. The Brazilian had already risen to 8th by the end of the second tour – helped somewhat by retirements from Prema Powerteam duo Daniel Juncadella and Hannes van Asseldonk; both of who suffered damage after brushing the barriers.
Moves on Raffaele Marciello (lap 6) and Harry Tincknell (lap 7) took the Fortec man to the rear of Nasr, but from there his race stalled.
Carlos Sainz Jr took 7th thanks to late passes on Marciello and Tincknell; however there was an element of what might have been for the Spaniard. The Carlin racer lined up on the second row, only to drop to 10th following a bad start.
Sweeping past Will Buller on lap 11 gave Sainz Jr access to the Marciello / Tincknell pairing, who spent the race fighting amongst themselves while being passed by others.
It was a battle eventually won by Marciello. Having chased Tincknell throughout, the Italian seized an opportunity to take the Englishman on the final tour. Buller rounded out the top ten, a solid result considering he started 14th; however the Northern Ireland man was probably expecting more from the weekend.
Luis Sa Silva and Dennis van der Laar proved their credentials when they managed to take each other out on the straight towards Lisboa on the final lap.
Alas, many will remember da Costa's driver mainly – a stellar performance in a good, but not great race.
If nothing else, the post-race celebrations became memorable in their own right when the organisers could not find the correct national anthem for several minutes, leading an emotional crowd to sing A Portuguesa for the tearful victor.
Only in Macau…
{note 1}
Technically three drivers have won the Macau Grand Prix in the "single-seater" category. Other than da Costa, Eduardo de Carvalho took the inaugural race in 1954, while André Coute won the race in 2000; however Coute, who was born in Lisbon, has claimed Macanese nationality after having moved there at the age of four.
2012 Formula 3 Grand Prix of Macau (15 laps) Pos Driver Team/Car Time/Gap 1. Antonio Felix da Costa Carlin Dallara-VW 38m02.845s 2. Felix Rosenqvist Mucke Dallara-Mercedes + 1.573s 3. Alex Lynn Fortec Dallara-Mercedes + 2.468s 4. Pascal Wehrlein Mucke Dallara-Mercedes + 3.471s 5. Felipe Nasr Carlin Dallara-VW + 9.127s 6. Pipo Derani Fortec Dallara-Mercedes + 11.043s 7. Carlos Sainz Jr Carlin Dallara-VW + 11.417s 8. Raffaele Marciello Prema Dallara-Mercedes + 14.376s 9. Harry Tincknell Fortec Dallara-Mercedes + 16.944s 10. Will Buller Carlin Dallara-VW + 21.650s 11. Jimmy Eriksson Double R Dallara-Mercedes + 22.955s 12. Daniel Abt Carlin Dallara-VW + 24.025s 13. Kevin Korjus Double R Dallara-Mercedes + 24.632s 14. Hideki Yamauchi B-Max Dallara-Toyota + 26.502s 15. Alexander Sims T-Sport Dallara-Nissan + 26.757s 16. Jazeman Jaafar TOM'S Dallara-Toyota + 27.834s 17. Tom Blomqvist Euro International Dallara-VW + 28.565s 18. Mitchell Gilbert Mucke Dallara-Mercedes + 31.899s 19. Sven Muller Prema Dallara-Mercedes + 32.744s 20. Felix Serralles Fortec Dallara-Mercedes + 33.276s 21. Yuichi Nakayama TOM'S Dallara-Toyota + 47.525s 22. Andrea Roda Jo Zeller Dallara-Mercedes + 59.222s 23. Luis Sa Silva Angola Dallara-Mercedes + 1 lap 25. Dennis van de Laar Van Amersfoort Dallara-VW + 1 lap Retirements: Ryo Hirakawa RSS Dallara-Toyota 12 laps Lucas Auer Van Amersfoort Dallara-VW 12 laps Jack Harvey Carlin Dallara-VW 12 laps Daniel Juncadella Prema Dallara-Mercedes 2 laps Hannes van Asseldonk Prema Dallara-Mercedes 2 laps Lucas Wolf URD Dallara-Mercedes 0 laps


text:
I often rotate items in and out of my show space when items sell, or I want to freshen up the theme with newer pieces. Items found here have been previously hung in my gallery, or overflow stock from client projects, etc. All items are no additional charge for local pickup, or $20 Flat for U.S. Shipping.
- Sort by Default Order


text:
Home Page Chess Life Online 2008 July Polgar Invitational Kicks Off at Texas Tech
|Polgar Invitational Kicks Off at Texas Tech
|By Randy Wheeless
|July 28, 2008
LUBBOCK, Texas – A new location greeted 52 players as the 5th Annual GM Susan Polgar National Invitational for Girls kicked off Sunday.
After being held in conjunction with the U.S. Open in previous years, the tournament moved to Texas Tech – where it expects to be for the next 10 years. The event brings together the best scholastic female players in the nation. The goal is to have representatives from every state.
"I've been pleased by the record participation and the support from the university and local community," said Polgar. "This is turning into something special for the girls."
Polgar added that having the tournament at Texas Tech has given the event a unique quality – versus being one of many side events at the U.S. Open.
There were no upsets at the top boards as play began Sunday. The tournament will have one round a day for six days. It wraps up Friday with the winner receiving a scholarship to Texas Tech.
Courtney Jamison, 16, from Texas is the tourney's highest rated player (2046) . She won a bronze medal at this month's Pan-American Youth Championships in Argentina.
"I was seeded 11th in Argentina, so I hope the confidence I gained there will give me a boost here," she said.
To win, she'll have to fend off fellow Pan-Am teammate and Texas player Sylvia Yang – the tourney's second highest-rated player.
Jamison tied for third at last year's Polgar Invitational. Three other players who tied with her at third are back: Rita Mirchandani from Florida, Amelia Wheeless from North Carolina and Ashley Carter from Michigan.
For Carter, 18, she's played in all five Polgar Invitationals. She'll attend college this fall – most likely at Texas Tech.
"I've always enjoyed playing the top girls from all over the country," she said.
Despite the lack of upsets at the top boards, the underdogs were not shut out on the first day. Minnesota's Morgan Mahowald overcame a more than 600-point difference to take the Upset Special. Check out further results on Polgar's Chess Blog.
The girls are staying at Texas Tech's Gordon Hall, a nicer-than-most college dorm with an on-site cafeteria. Participants can stay with their parents – although many have opted to room with other players, renewing friendships from past tournaments.
Randy Wheeless is president of the North Carolina Chess Association and will be reporting throughout the Susan Polgar National Invitational for Girls.


text:
Aphrodisias (sometimes Afrodisias) is located inland in the Southern Aegean region of Turkey, in Aydin province, about 30 km west of Denizli (but with no direct road connection). As an archaeological site listed on the UNESCO World Heritage List, it contains some of the most impressive Roman ruins in Turkey, and has perhaps offers a greater value than Ephesus. The nearby village is named Geyre, less than 10 km south of Karacasu.
Understand Edit
Aphrodisias (Greek: Ἀφροδισιάς, Aphrodisiás) was a small city in Caria, near the southwest coast of Asia Minor. Its site is located near the modern village of Geyre, Turkey, about 230 km from İzmir. Aphrodisias was named after Aphrodite, the Greek goddess of love, who had here her unique cult image, the Aphrodite of Aphrodisias.
The city was built near a marble quarry that was extensively exploited in the Hellenistic and Roman periods, and sculpture in marble from Aphrodisias became famous in the Roman world. Many examples of statuary have been unearthed in Aphrodisias, and some representations of the Aphrodite of Aphrodisias also survive from other parts of the Roman world.
As many pieces of monumental quarried stone were reused in the Late Antique city walls, many inscriptions could and can be easily read without any excavation; the city has therefore been visited and its inscriptions recorded repeatedly in modern times, starting from the early 18th century.
The first formal excavations were undertaken in 1904-5, by a French railroad engineer, Paul Augustin Gaudin. Ongoing excavations are being done under the aegis of New York University. The findings reveal that the lavish building programme in the city's civic center was initiated and largely funded by one Gaius Julius Zoilus, a local who was a slave of Gaius Julius Caesar, set free by Octavian. When Zoilus returned as a freedman to his native city, endowed with prestige and rich rewards for his service, he directed it to align with Octavian in his power struggle against Mark Antony. This ensured Octavian Augustus's lasting favor in the form of financial privileges that allowed the city to prosper.
The site is in an earthquake zone and has suffered a great deal of damage at various times, especially in severe temblors of the 4th and 7th centuries. An added complication was that one of the 4th century earthquakes altered the water table, making parts of the town prone to flooding. Evidence can be seen of emergency plumbing installed to combat this problem. Aphrodisias never fully recovered from the 7th century earthquake, and fell into disrepair. Part of the town was covered by the modern village of Geyre; some of the cottages were removed in the 20th century to reveal the older city. A new Geyre has been built a short distance away.
Get in Edit
By bus tour Edit
The easiest option is to join a bus tour from one of the travel agencies in Pamukkale for 55 TL pp (usually a minimum of 4 people is required). They depart at 09:30 and come back to Pamukkale at 15:30, so you have about 3 hr to spend at a site.
In the off-season or if you prefer a private excursion, your hotel in Pamukkale may be able arrange a driver to take you for 350 TL. You can get the price down to 300 TL. (As of Oct. 2018.) Metro Turizm on the main street of Pamukkale offers a private tour to Laodikeia and Aphrodias for 450 TL. (Prices as of Nov 2017 and do not include admission fees.)
There are no travel operators in Denizli organizing tours to Aphrodisias. However, you can contact the ones from Pamukkale, for instance, you can try the following: Hermosa tours: +90 258 272 2666, Pamukkale tours +90 258 272 3434, or others you'll be able to find online. And they will pick you up from your Denizli hotel.
By bus Edit
From Denizli you can patch together minibuses to Nazilli and on to Aphrodisias (buses going from Nazilli to Geyre or Tavas will pass by Aphrodisias).
Alternatively, take Denizli-Tavas minibus and then hitchhike remaining 30 km to Aphrodisias.
Hitchhiking Edit
Hitchhiking into Aphrodisias is not difficult. Starting early, it is entirely possible to start from Fethiye and hitch to Aphrodisias via Muğla and Tavas and have a few hours to see Aphrodisias before it closes. Aphrodisias is just off of the road, and you can leave your bags with the security in the museum. If you chat with the security guards for a bit, they will make sure you have a place to pitch your tent.
By car Edit
To drive, you will first have to arrive at the city of Nazilli to the northwest or Tavas to the southeast. From these cities, take road D585 and you will see signs showing the way to arrive. From Denizli, it is fastest to arrive from Tavas.
Fees and permits Edit
It costs 15 TL (May 2017) for entrance to Aphrodisias, including museum entry. The hours of the park are from 08:30 - 19:00 during the high season, with the museum closing at 18:30 (a security guard stays in the museum all night).
Get around Edit
There is a free parking lot 200 m outside the entrance, on the other side of the main road. There is also another carpark in the village of Geyre, but they charge 7 TL, which includes the parking fee and the fare for a ride to Aphrodisias. The attendant there might try convincing you that the ride offered is the only easy way to get to the ancient city, but this is obviously not true — Aphrodisias is just a short walk from there. Alternatively you can just park in one of the close by side streets for free.
The area can only be explored on foot, but it is mostly flat and wearing sandals would not be a problem. You can see the whole area in 2 hours, but it is best to go slow and take 3 or more hours.
See Edit
You will want to leave at least 3 hours to see the site. All locations are easily walkable and within a square kilometer of area. Many tour groups pass through, so an independent visitor would best either see the area earlier in the morning and visit the museum afterward, or start with the museum later in the afternoon (15:00-16:00) and wander around the ruins until the park closes at 19:00 (loosely enforced) to avoid crowds. The area is lovely around sunset.
Aphrodite of Aphrodisias
The cult image that is particular to Aphrodisias, the Aphrodite of Aphrodisias, doubtless was once housed in the Temple of Aphrodite. She was a distinctive local goddess who became, by interpretatio graeca, identified with the Greek Aphrodite. The surviving images are in a naturalistic style common to the culture, which gave the local goddess more universal appeal. She wears a thick, form-disguising tunic. In the museum, you can see the bands of decoration on the tunic which evoke the Goddess's cosmic powers: the Three Graces that are the closest attendants of Aphrodite; heads of a married pair, identified as Gaia and Uranos, Earth and the Heavens; Helios and Selene separated by a pillar; and the marine Aphrodite, riding a sea-goat, and at the base a group of Erotes performing cult rituals.
Aphrodisias Museum Edit
On site, entrance free with entrance to park. Showcasing an incredibly wide range of sculptures, reliefs, and other artifacts recovered from the area. You can easily spend an hour in here admiring the sculptures from the renowned Aphrodisias school.
Temple of Aphrodite Edit
The Temple of Aphrodite was a focal point of the town, but the character of the building was altered when it became a Christian basilica.
Sarcophagi Edit
Sarcophagi were recovered in various locations, most frequently decorated with designs consisting of garland and columns.
Bouleuterion Edit
The Bouleuterion (Council House) is centered on the north side of the North Agora. As it stands today, it consists of a semicircular auditorium fronted by a shallow stage structure about 46 m wide. The lower part of the auditorium survives intact, with nine rows of marble seats divided into five wedges by radial stairways. The seating of the upper part, amounting to an additional twelve rows, has collapsed together with its supporting vaults. The plan is an extremely open one, with numerous entrances at ground level and several stairways giving access to the upper rows of seats. A system of massive parallel buttresses shows that the building was originally vaulted. The auditorium would have been lighted by a series of tall, arched windows in the curved outer wall. Seating capacity is estimated at about 1750.
Sebasteion Edit
The Sebasteion, or Augusteum, is being restored and replicated by New York University. It is located close to the museum, and was jointly dedicated, according to a 1st-century inscription on its propylon, "To Aphrodite, the Divine Augusti and the People". A relief found in the ruins of the south portico represented a personification of the polis making sacrifice to the cult image of Aphrodite of Aphrodisias, venerated as promētōr, "foremother" or "ancestral mother". This connection between the goddess and the imperial house was also a particularly politic one at the time, as the Gens Julia - the family of Julius Caesar, Octavian Augustus, and their immediate successors - claimed divine descent from Venus/Aphrodite.
Stadium Edit
Probably the best preserved of its kind in the Mediterranean except, perhaps, for the Sanctuary of Apollo at Delphi. It measured 262 m by 59 m and was used for athletic events until the theatre was badly damaged by a 7th-century earthquake, requiring part of the stadium to be converted for events previously staged in the theatre.
Agora Edit
There are two agora. The South Agora is impressively preserved and holding around 7,000 people.
Bathhouse Edit
A nicely preserved building showing different room for changing and bathing. An important civic center and place of leisure for the denizens of the city.
Inscriptions Edit
The quality of the marble in Aphrodisias has also resulted in an unusually large number of inscribed items surviving in the city. More than 2000 inscriptions have been recorded by the New York excavators, many of them re-used in the city walls. Most inscriptions are from the Imperial period, with funerary and honorary texts being particularly well-represented, but there are a handful of texts from all periods from the Hellenistic to Byzantine.
For more information, good links to visit are:
- Aphrodisias in Turkey. History and the archeological sites in Aphrodisias Turkey.
Buy Edit
There is a museum shop on site. You can also buy maps of the area, not included in the entrance fee, for about 5 TL.
Eat Edit
There is a cafe on site. Besides that, there are a few restaurants outside the park across the road from the entrance, and up to a few kilometres northwest on the road outside Aphrodisias.
Sleep Edit
There are a few options for sleeping around Aphrodisias.
- Aphrodisias Hotel/Restaurant/Camping (Leaving the park to the left (northwest), about 1 km down the road.). Inexpensive place to stay.
- Anatolia Restaurant/Bar/Camping (Leaving the park to the left (northwest), about 2 km down the road.), ☏ +90 256 - 448 81 38, firstname.lastname@example.com.
- Altinuç Restaurant/Camping (Leaving the park to the left (northwest), about 8 km down the road.), ☏ +90 256 441 2829.
Camping Edit
If you are looking to camp in a tent for minimal or no cost, you can do so outside the entrance to the park by the cemetery. Closer to the road near the intersection of the main (only) road into Geyre, there is a source of spring water for hand, foot and face washing. Water is good to drink. You can likely ask permission from either the security in the museum around the time it closes (about 18:30) or at the military (jandarma) post just outside the entrance. They will show you to an area. Another option would be to walk out to one of the many fields around the park and pitch your tent under one of the many olive trees, or ask permission from a family in the area.
Go next Edit
If you do not have your own transport, you will likely return with the tour you came with. To get to Denizli, look for minibuses toward Tavas and transfer there at the bus station (otogar). Otherwise, minibuses run along the road to the larger towns north and south of the area, perhaps 1-2 per hour. Park staff will likely be able to help you.
Hitchhiking from Aphrodisias should not present much challenge.


text:
Tag Archives: whining
Who said you had to be on Facebook in the first place? And what business is it of yours what the hell they do with their own services? What, you want your money back? You thought all this time they were like some "everything should be free!" zombies using Linux on home-built computers made of weed and Slurpee cups? Continue reading
Posted in Daily Doldrums Tagged douche bag, Mark Zuckerberg, privacy, Slurpees, stupidity, weed, whining 1 Comment


text:
"I sometimes think that general and popular Treatises are almost as important for the progress of science as original work." - Charles Darwin, in a letter to T. H. Huxley, January 1865
Corallosphere.org is a web application developed with the aim of
exploring new approaches to compiling taxonomic information on extant and extinct scleractinian
corals. Main areas covered in Corallosphere.org include text descriptions for diagnoses of valid
genera, as well as tools for managing taxonomic synonymies, image databases, a bibliography, and
an illustrated atlas of morphological terms. A flexible work-flow allows users of the system
to be assigned roles with differing levels of access and functionality. Contributors may compile,
edit, and review generic diagnoses directly from the internet, whereas all other users may post
comments as part of an informal review process. The ultimate aim is to produce a system that will
facilitate the rapid publication of the next version of the Treatise of Invertebrate Paleontology
based on community-wide consensus, and help remove the taxonomic impediment that slows progress
towards an increased understanding of the biology, ecology, and evolutionary history of the
Please note that this site is a work in progress, please contact Ken Johnson at the Natural History Museum, London if you see any mistakes or
would like to suggest improvements.
Home | Acknowledgments
This website is hosted by the Natural History Museum. Please read their


text:
Vision and Mandate
We are a national organization promoting socially responsible livestock production in Canada. We help communities that are dealing with problems caused by factory farms and factory farm proposals. As an alternative to industrial livestock operations, we promote livestock production that is safe, fair and healthy for the environment, farmers, workers, animals, neighbours, communities and consumers. Establishing socially responsible livestock production is a means to reach the overarching goal of food sovereignty—democratic citizen control of our food and agriculture system.