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Poverty in Africa can be made history if the region's wealth of natural resources is effectively, fairly and sustainably harnessed, a new report by the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) says.
Poverty in Africa can be made history if the region's wealth of natural resources is effectively, fairly and sustainably harnessed, a new report by the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) says. Outstanding issues like rapid rates of deforestation, high levels of land degradation, wasteful water use in agriculture and climate change remain and need to be urgently addressed.
Other challenges are emerging. These range from genetically modified organisms and the costs of alien invasive species up to a switch of chemical manufacturing from the developed to the developing world, says the Africa Environment Outlook-2.
However, many African countries are now parties to a wide range of international environment treaties and new cooperative agreements are being born covering shared river and ecosystems like the Limpopo up to the management of the Congo basin's globally important forests.
Meanwhile, initiatives like the African Union's New Partnership for Africa's Development (NEPAD) promise to propel the region and its people onto a more prosperous path that balances economic, social and environmental concerns.
Several African countries, like the Gambia and Zambia, are mainstreaming the environment in their Poverty Reduction Strategy Papers and other countries are starting to use tax and other market mechanisms to conserve ecosystems like forests.
Only last week Tanzania announced, in its budget, VAT exemptions for liquefied petroleum gas in order to reduce energy production from charcoal and wood. Kenya has announced that solar panels and related equipment will be zero rated.
Achim Steiner, UNEP's Executive Director, said today: "The report challenges the myth that Africa is poor. Indeed, it points out that its vast natural wealth can, if sensitively, sustainably and creatively managed, be the basis for an African renaissance—a renaissance that meets and goes beyond the internationally agreed Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). But this is not inevitable and, as the AE0-2 points out, African nations face stark choices."
"If policies remain unchanged, political will found wanting and sufficient funding proves to be elusive, then Africa may take a far more unsustainable track that will see an erosion of its nature-based wealth and a slide into ever deeper poverty", he added.
"Such a track will have disturbing consequences not just for many of the 800 million people here but for the rest of the world. Nevertheless, I am convinced that we are fast reaching a watershed in Africa's response and that the pieces of a sustainable jigsaw puzzle are being steadily put into place", said Mr. Steiner.
"Governments are signaling an increased willingness to cooperate and to engage over a wide range of pressing regional and global issues. The economic importance of the environment is increasingly recognized by Africa's leaders as an instrument for development, for livelihoods, for peace and for stability. I sincerely believe we have a real opportunity to take this impetus a long way", he concluded.
Henry Djombo, Ministre de l'Economie Forestiere et de l'Environnement of the Republic of Congo and the new President of the African Ministerial Conference on the Environment (AMCEN), said: "The production of the AEO-2 is a key response to one of the priorities expressed by our Heads of State in the context of the revitalized African Union and its New Partnership for Africa's Development."
"AMCEN is proud to have worked closely with UNEP and other specialized institutions of the African Union, regional organizations, major stakeholders and the UN family to capture the key priorities of the region, while emphasizing policy options and actions for enhanced investment, economic growth, poverty reduction and reduction of human vulnerability which are critical for the sustainable management of our resources", he added.
The AEO-2, compiled on behalf of AMCEN with funding from UNEP and the Governments of Belgium, Luxembourg and Norway, is the work of researchers and scientists from across the region.
Untapped Potential
From freshwaters to forests and from minerals to the marine environment, the region is only realizing a fraction of its nature-based economic potential, says the AEO-2, which is sub-titled "Our Environment, Our Wealth".
The report says, for example, that the potential for tourism based around nature and cultural sites is huge but relatively untapped.
"Africa has numerous tourist attractions, yet it contributes only four per cent annually to the multi-billion dollar global tourism industry", it notes.
Similar arguments are made in terms of food in a region with "sufficient land resources to produce enough to feed its people and yet one in three is presently undernourished".
The report also overturns the popular view that Africa is short of water, rather it underlines how little of it is utilized for irrigation, drinking water and power generation.
Africa's renewable freshwater resource is, at close to 4,000 cubic km per year, about 10 per cent of the global freshwater resource and closely matches Africa's share of the world population.
Yet in 2005 only about five per cent of the development potential is being used for industry, tourism and hydropower, notes the report.
It points out that Africa "is a mining giant" producing nearly 80 per cent of the world's platinum, more than 40 per cent of the globe's diamonds and more than a fifth of its gold and cobalt. Yet its industrial base is insignificant".
The report argues that, in the case of minerals as well as areas like forest products, there is a pressing need to "add value to natural resources".
"There is a need for Africa to move from being a major exporter of primary resources" to being one with a vibrant industrial and manufacturing base.
The AEO-2 assesses the state of the environment and draws plausible scenarios as to the likely impacts of different policies over the coming decades.
The kinds of tough choices facing African leaders, business and civil society are most clear cut in the scenarios on freshwater and land.
If food production in Africa is driven purely by market forces, the level of land degradation is likely to rise to between 25,000 and 35,000 hectares a year under a worst case scenario.
This rapid intensification of farming will hit forests in particular, with forest cover declining "drastically" during the 2005 to 2025 period.
Under a more promising scenario, dubbed "The Great Transition", agricultural land expands by 10 per cent between 2005 and 2025.
Under this scenario much of this comes not from greater exploitation of existing agricultural land but as a result of putting government-held lands into production.
Revised tax systems also promote good land use with a switch towards agriculture tailored to local climatic, geographical, demographic and cultural factors.
Land degradation declines to 0.1 million hectares a year by 2015 with restoration programmes leading, from about the same year, to an increase in forest cover.
Under a worse case scenario, competition for water will rise as industrial expansion grows with the losers likely to be the general public.
Industrial growth in the region is likely to be as a result of developed world companies shifting factories, such as chemical plants, into developing parts of the world such as Africa and, in particular, North and South Africa.
The new industries will generate employment but will take up to 16 per cent of supplies putting increasing pressure on underground water supplies, says the report.
Water prices for domestic consumers could soar in many African cities forcing people to buy cheaper but more polluted sources.
Under this scenario over a third of Africans in future will not have adequate access to water.
Under the more optimistic scenario, industries are required to meet proper pollution control standards and, although industrial use of water climbs to just under a fifth of total water use, discharges do not pollute lakes or rivers.
Increases in industrial demand are balanced by water efficiency gains in agriculture through, for example, the adoption of drip as opposed to spray systems.
Currently agriculture in Africa accounts for up to 90 per cent of water use. Under the "Great Transitions" scenario it declines to under 60 per cent as a result of Governments introducing and encouraging tariffs and modern water saving irrigation systems.
However, the availability of greater quantities of clean and safe drinking water allied to rising living standards and incomes generated by industrial growth will probably result in higher public use if not "over use" in growing urban areas.
Thus, the proportion of Africa's citizens without access to adequate water supplies under this scenario will be 26 per cent by 2050 from a total population then of 1.5 billion.
It indicates that to meet and maintain the internationally agreed development goals will require even greater efforts in areas of consumer awareness and water efficiency in homes and cities.
Emerging Issues
Alien invasive species from toads to trees are among the emerging issues facing Africa, says AE0-2.
Experts have pinpointed large numbers of life forms, deliberately or accidentally introduced into Africa, which are poisoning cattle, damaging water supplies, carrying infections and affecting tourism.
The highest numbers of alien species are estimated to be found in South Africa, followed by Mauritius, Swaziland, Algeria, Madagascar and Kenya.
Their impacts may equate to hundreds of millions of dollars in damage annually and may also be contributing to the undermining of economic progress and the delivery of the MDGs.
Black wattle, a tree introduced into South Africa about 150 years ago to provide bark products, is undermining river banks and harming wildlife in the Cape Floral Kingdom, one of the world's great biodiversity hot spots.
Since 1995, the South African Government has removed and destroyed some five billion black wattle trees. The annual bill for manual and chemical control of all alien species in the Cape Floral Kingdom is around $40 million.
Meanwhile, stockpiles of obsolete and hazardous chemicals, a switch of chemical production from developed to developing countries and gaps in the safe handling of toxic substances are becoming another new area of concern.
The issue is underscored in a study of wetlands in Senegal where agricultural and industrial chemical pollution has more than halved fish catches in some places.
The AEO-2 call for a raft of measures to be put in place to ensure Africa maximizes the benefits of any chemical industrialization.
These include improved risk assessments, monitoring, and effective waste management, labeling of products to enable sound consumer choice and emergency response systems.
The recommendations echo those proposed at the World Summit on Sustainable Development in 2002 and that were agreed by environment ministers under the Strategic Approach to International Chemicals Management (SAICM) at UNEP's Special Session of its Governing Council/Global Ministerial Environment Forum in Dubai earlier in the year.
The third emerging issue focuses on how the region is responding to the promises and potential pitfalls of gene modified plants GMOs).
The report notes that nearly 20 African countries are now growing or field testing GMOs -- from Morocco and Egypt to Kenya, Zimbabwe and South Africa across to Benin, Cameroon and Mali in West Africa.
The report accepts that such high tech crops could help in the war against famine and hunger and thus play a part in meeting internationally agreed development goals.
But there are worries that such crops may be seen as "silver bullets" deflecting attention from more fundamental issues of hunger like poor food distribution systems, the inability of the poor to get access to crop lands and environmental mismanagement.
There is also concern that too few African countries have the scientific, legal, risk assessment and administrative structures in place to deal with this new generation of crops.
A multi-million dollar capacity-building project, being undertaken by UNEP and funded by the Global Environment Facility (GEF), aims to bridge theses gaps so that 100 developing countries, including over 30 African ones, have the necessary skills and laws needed to accept or reject GMOs.
The Africa Environment Outlook-2: Our Environment, Our Wealth is available at http://www.unep.org/.
Fact sheets covering the emerging issues of invasive alien species, chemicals and genetically modified organisms are available at http://www.unep.org/.
The secretariat of the African Ministerial Conference for the Environment (AMCEN) is hosted by UNEP, see www.unep.org/roa/Amcen/default.asp.
Copies of Africa Environment Outlook 2 can be ordered through UNEP's online bookstore at: http://www.earthprint.com/. The price per copy is $60. Purchases from developing countries attract a 50% discount and those from the least developed countries, 75%.
Nick Nuttall, UNEP Spokesperson
Office of the Executive Director
Tel: +254-20-762-3084
Cell: +254-733-632-755
Angele Luh, UNEP Regional Information Officer for Africa
Tel: +254-20-762-4292
Fax: +254-20-762-3928
Cell: +254-2-722-429770
Jim Sniffen
Information Officer
UN Environment Programme
New York
tel: +1-212-963-8094/8210
UNEP is solely responsible for the contents of this press release of 27 June, 2006, from Nairobi, Kenya.


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Thompson Medical Malpractice Lawyers
Michael Mckell
(801) 798-9000
University of Idaho and Southern Utah University10th Circuit, Utah and ArizonaSalt Lake Chamber of Commerce, Utah Taxpayers Association, Utah Business Coalition, Salt Lake Chamber of Commerce...Utah State Bar, Utah Association for Justice...My view: EPA's impossible ozone standard needs touch of reality, Op-ed: White-collar crime registry gives Utahns powerful tool to fight fraud...
Matt Schmoldt
(385) 243-7550
Brigham Young UniversityUtah State UniversityUtahBrigham Young University J. Reuben Clark Law SchoolUtah State Bar and Utah Association for JusticeStudy Confirms: Injury Victims With A Lawyer Get Settlements 3.5 Times Larger
James Craig Swapp
(800) 404-9000
The University of Utah S.J. Quinney College of LawIdaho, Utah and WashingtonAmerican Trial Lawyers Association and Martindale-HubbellThe American Trial Lawyers Association, Utah State Bar...Utah's Legislature — An Invitation to Help
Tyler T Todd
(435) 688-9558
California Western School of LawUtahNational Trial Lawyers AssociationUtah State BarLegal Technology, let's use it for Justice's sake!
Jared R. Faerber
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Jack Helgesen
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Brigham Young UniversityWeber State UniversityArizona and UtahMartindale-Hubbell, Martindale-Hubbell, Martindale-Hubbell, Martindale-Hubbell...Utah Association for Justice, National Association of Elder Law Attorneys...Utah Elder Law Monthly Column, Utah Elder Law Monthly Column...
Andrew Spainhower
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Sandra Day O'Connor College of Law, Arizona State UniversityUtah and ArizonaNational Academy Of Personal Injury AttorneysUtah State Bar
Todd Bradford
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Ned Siegfried
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Jacquelynn Carmichael
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The University of Utah S.J. Quinney College of LawUniversity of UtahUtah and 10th CircuitBest Lawyer, Utah Trial Journal, Utah Trial Journal and University of UtahUtah State Bar and Utah Trial Lawyers AssociationElder Abuse: Utah's Dirty Little Secret, and From Field to Fork to Fairness: Maximizing Damages in a Food-Borne Illness Case
Vanessa R Walsh
(801) 499-5060
The University of Utah S.J. Quinney College of LawUniversity of Phoenix and University of Utah10th Circuit, Federal Circuit and UtahS.J. Quinney College of Law, S.J. Quinney College of Law, Clinical Legal Education Association, S.J. Quinney College of Law...Utah State Bar and Law and Society AssociationMisbehavior or Misdemeanor? A Report on Utah's School to Prison Pipeline, University of Utah and Disparities in Discipline: A Look at School Disciplinary Actions for Utah's American Indian Students
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Kenneth L. Reich
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Pepperdine UniversityUtahAmerica's Top 100, Best Lawyers, Best Lawyers and Best LawyersUtah State Bar
Aaron K. Bergman
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University of Michigan Law School10th Circuit and UtahUS News Best Lawyers, Super Lawyers, US News Best Lawyer, Salt Lake Magazine...Utah State Bar, National Institue for Trial Advocacy...Myth Math and Money, A Modern Approach to Presenting Damages In Catastrophic Injury Cases
Bryan Larson
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University of Idaho College of LawBrigham Young UniversityIdaho and UtahUtah State Bar and Idaho State Bar
The LII Lawyer Directory contains lawyers who have claimed their profiles and are actively seeking clients. Find more Thompson Medical Malpractice Lawyers in the Justia Legal Services and Lawyers Directory which includes profiles of more than one million lawyers licensed to practice in the United States, in addition to profiles of legal aid, pro bono and legal service organizations.
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Cedar Springs United Methodist Church
140 S. Main St., Cedar Springs
Read Mark 8: 27-38
Mark 8:34-38: Then he called the crowd to him along with his disciples and said: "Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me. For whoever wants to save their life will lose it, but whoever loses their life for me and for the gospel will save it. What good is it for someone to gain the whole world, yet forfeit their soul? Or what can anyone give in exchange for their soul? If anyone is ashamed of me and my words in this adulterous and sinful generation, the Son of Man will be ashamed of them when he comes in his Father's glory with the holy angels."
Have you ever received an invitation that you really wanted to accept, but to do so meant that you had to change your plans, sacrifice your time, or rearrange your schedule?
Jesus' invitation is for anyone who wants to follow him and be a disciple. Three parts: deny yourselves, take up your cross, and follow me. The hardest words of Jesus. He calls for full commitment, a way of life that goes against worldly success, and taking risks in faith.
Mark Trotter tells the story of a woman who started running to keep in shape. She did well, going farther every day. She entered a 10K race and was nervous about her first race, so she got up early and arrived at the start of the race.
To her surprise there were a lot of people milling around, stretching, getting ready. All of a sudden a voice on the microphone said, "Move to the starting line." A gun sounded and they were off, like a huge wave, hundreds of runners, sweeping her up. She was in the race.
After about four miles it occurred to her that they ought to be turning around and heading back to the finish line. She wondered why they didn't turn around. She stopped and asked an official, "How come the course isn't turning around?" He said, "Ma'am, you are running the Cleveland Marathon." Twenty-six miles. Her event, the 10K, was supposed to start half an hour after the start of the marathon.
Some of us would have stopped right there and said, "That's it, I'm going home." But to her credit, she kept right on going, finished the race. She said, "This is not the race I trained for. This is not the race I entered. But for better or worse, this is the race that I am in."
Jesus says, "If you are my disciple, then you will take up your cross and follow me, even to Jerusalem, even to the cross."
In one conversation with a youth group about following Jesus, one of them said that to follow means not to lead. That may sound simple, but that's exactly what we have to remember. We're not in the lead when we accept the invitation that Jesus offers. We follow him.
To follow Jesus, we must remove our "me-first" attitude. To follow Jesus means "It's not about me." To follow Jesus is to claim the power of the cross—the cross that bears our sins. We try to avoid the cross and downplay our sin. But picture even a small stone tossed into a pool of water. The ripple effect is real. And our sin effects others,whether we think so or not.
But the cross isn't just about our personal life. The cross gathers us into a community of love and forgiveness. We're accountable to each another when we follow Christ. To follow Jesus means that we matter to each other.
Even though Jesus' invitation is demanding, Jesus offers his help to carry it through. That's the only way any of us can follow Christ, with God's grace to guide us and brothers and sisters in Christ to encourage us.
One prayer says it this way: "Lord, do in me what you need to do so you can do through me what you desire to do." How can you let Jesus lead you this week? Where is God calling you to follow—fully committed and taking risks in faith?
If you don't have a church home or have been away for a while, consider getting back to church or trying it out for the first time. I invite you to worship with us this Sunday morning at 9:00 a.m. or 11:30 a.m. We share the love and hope of Jesus Christ!


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So for those of you wondering what this is or haven't seen this kind of post, #BlogFlashDaily is a image prompted post that started as a one month topic image post where you blogged daily for that whole month. Now it's a daily thing, but not only limited to one month. For more details head over to author Terri Giuliao Long's blog.
I'm not sure if I'm actually going to post this every day or when I have inspiration, but it's a post that is supposed to get you writing. The other reason I want to start posting some of these type posts is mainly it's something a bit different on the blog and it's up to you what you write, be it a story or just a few lines about the image.
Rules: (These came straight from the hosting blog)
#BlogFlashDaily posts are visual writing prompts provided by Terri Giuliano Long each weekday. Unlike the full month of flash blogging, this gives you the opportunity to dip in and out, whenever you have time, feel like it, or just if the inspiration happens to hit you. There are no requirements, no word limits, no restrictions. This is all about embracing the main concepts of #Blogflash: creativity and fun.
- When inspiration hits and you decide to write, feel free to tweet the tag #BlogFlashDaily with your post link.
- You can also follow the #BlogFlashDaily board on Pinterest
- Follow #BlogFlashDaily on Tumblr or Terri's Tumblr blog
- Follow Terri on Instagram for #BlogFlashDaily images
So today's prompt is Canisters, at first I wasn't sure what I wanted to say about canisters, of all things for the first prompt to be, but then I got to thinking about my canisters that are currently in my kitchen and what I use them for. Right now I have four canisters sitting on my kitchen counter. Each of them contain something for baking or frying. One is flour, it's the largest of the four and I use it a lot. I on occasion have had to douse a grease fire with it, it's the reason it sits right next to my stove. The other three contain; brown sugar, sugar, and Italian bread crumbs.
I wasn't sure how I would connect this to books or the blog or even if I wanted to connect it. For this post is mainly just to write. In my mind I'm thinking this post should be so I can share other things with you, to chat about my life or the ordinary things in my life like the canisters on my kitchen counter. I never really noticed how much I use those four little canisters in my life.
Honestly, those four canisters are something that I take for granted. They're always there and they always have what I need in them, it's kind of like this blog. It's always there and it's always here when I'm ready to come back and post something. The catch is, will my readers always be around? That's something I've been a bit worried about, I've taken a few weeks off here and there and I'm always worried when I come back that no one will be there to read my posts. Not that it would make me stop posting, but still makes me think. It hasn't happened yet and for that I'm really grateful and happy that you all enjoy what I write about here on Ali's Bookshelf.
Wow, so a picture of canisters just made me confess something that I worry about here on the blog. I knew I was going to like this post.


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That's nearly the extent of what we learned during Sony's press conference last night announcing their new system.
I'm oversimplifying of course. In two hours we did hear a lot of information about the capabilities and the games of the new system, but in the end, it did feel like a lot of talk with little substance to many.
Rather, we emerge from the PS4 event with many of the same questions we had going in. Here's what we still do not know.
1. What's the price?
This is likely the biggest item here, as many assumed when you debut a new console, you would also tell your audience how much it will cost, as that's a rather important detail. But as this event is this far ahead of release (promised to be Holiday 2013), Sony is presumably still working out what the price of PS4 will be.
About an hour and forty five minutes into the event, I asked a question about what Sony would even talk about at E3 given the length of the presentation, but it seems that's when the official price will make its debut, along with many of these other items, hopefully.
Many have estimated it will be $400, but I wouldn't be surprised if it crawls up to $450. This is additionally important because there was much fuss made about how players could use the PS Vita as a way to remotely play the PS4, a direct engagement of the Wii U which has similar functionality on its tablet controller. But if the Wii U costs $300, a PS4 costs $400 and a Vita costs $250, it's not really the same thing at all, is it?
2. What does it look like?
In truth, this is likely the least important detail on this list, but it was one that annoyed both fans and press alike who were watching/at the event. Again, this press conference was planned so far ahead of release, there presumably wasn't time to put the final design touches on the system for a public unveiling.
We got a look at the new Dualshock which is quite similar to the old Dualshock with the addition of a touchscreen, but no look at the central console. True, what a console looks like is not usually a driving force behind sales, but it would be nice for marketing and coverage purposes if the system had an actual body to go along with all these abstract ideas about its functionality.
These first two items, the lack of a physical unit and a release price, made the entire event seem like it wasn't really all that much of a "debut" at all.
3. Will the system still use physical media?
We heard a lengthy presentation from Gaikai, the cloud company that Sony is using to do big things with the PS4. They aim to build the "fastest gaming network" in existence, and showed us a lot of neat little tricks they were planning, like how you can potentially play your friend's game remotely or play a game as you download it.
But that leads to a very important question, one I haven't heard asked all that much in the wake of the announcement. Will the PS4 have actual, physical discs, or will all games be downloaded? There was SO much talk about fast download times of games, that it seemed to be a major focus of the console. And since we couldn't have a look at the physical console, we have no way of knowing if it actually has...you know, a disc drive.
Perhaps it's obvious to some that of course the PS4 will still use physical media, but I don't believe that was ever actually said out loud. There have been rumors about whether the answer to this question is yes or no for a while now, but we heard no direct answer from Sony last night. If somehow this is not the case, then yes, Sony has effectively killed used games for the system, and didn't even bother to mention it. If they are still using physical discs, it seems odd they wouldn't bother to mention that once in two hours.
Update: Speaking to Eurogamer, Shuhei Yoshida seems to indicate that there will be physical discs for games:
"Yes. That's the general expectation by consumers. They purchase physical form, they want to use it everywhere, right? So that's my expectation."
Odd this wasn't made clear, but even this answer still doesn't sound completely concrete.
4. What was a cutscene, what was actual gameplay footage, and what was a carefully sculpted tech demo?
We saw a lot of games last night coming to the PS4. A lot of games, which made up probably over half of the presentation. There was little actual gameplay footage it seemed, and most of the video we did see was meant to show the graphical prowess of the system. Unfortunate for those watching the stream, due to glitching and lag, many were forced to watch on a lower resolution. The glory of the graphics being shown was likely lost on a majority of the audience.
But what was being shown, really? I think many of us are growing increasingly skeptical of demo footage of games because of recent disasters like Aliens: Colonial Marines. But past that, much of what we saw simply looked like cutscenes. But do cutscenes even still exist at this level of power, or is this truly what our games will look like now?
It's hard to say, and the only concrete examples of gameplay appeared to by Killzone: Shadowfall and Watch_Dogs. Quantic Dream didn't show any actual footage from a PS4 title, but did give us an interesting look on the sorts of things the system is capable of using its billions (well, tens of thousands) of polygons. But still, through all of this, it was hard to get a clear picture of what games will in fact look like on the system. We'll need much clearer video or firsthand experience to truly understand it, I imagine.
5. What was the purpose of this event?
In the end, it was a rather strange evening. Sony made a big fuss about debuting their new console, but in the end shielded their hand to the point where we still have major questions about the system. Was this just to make a splash in the news cycle? If so, I suppose it's worked. It's all anyone's been talking about all month, and we'll probably still be discussing it weeks from now. The Wii U seems like a distant memory already, and Sony still gets to make big announcements and reveals at E3.
I suppose it's a win-win for them. Even if people are disappointed they didn't see more last night, the announcement has been made and there was nothing offensive about what was shown. It just wasn't enough for some people.
But it was a rather odd event in general. You had incredibly awkward moments like Square Enix getting up on stage to simply announce that an unnamed Final Fantasy title would in fact someday exist for the PS4. The grand finale was four members of Bungie standing on stage saying what we already knew, Destiny was coming to the PS4. For those waiting two hours for a price and a picture of the console, it was a lackluster finish to say the least.
Now we wait and see what Microsoft will do to answer Sony here. Honestly, I think they would be wise to wait until E3 to reveal anything at all about the next Xbox. Sony will have these above questions to answer, but at least half the cat is out of the bag. Microsoft will hit everyone with all new information, and can have a more comprehensive reveal that can include everything Sony discussed last night, along with the traditional reveal of a price and the physical console.
Well, what other questions do YOU have about the PS4?


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The Marketers' Case for Drupal
I was asked about a week before Drupal Camp Austin if I could fill in for our CMO presenting The Marketers' Case for Drupal. After a moment of excitement for travel to Austin TX I had a moment of panic, I have a week to pull together a presentation and I've never presented in front of a large audience before (outside of college). But, I said yes. I started off by giving a quick background on me and how I found Drupal. Which is a cute story but you could listen to it in my podcast instead of reading it here. Then I moved into my main topics:
Why should marketers love drupal?
- "There's a module for that"
- Freedom
- Great community
- Flexible & Scalable
- Speed of delivery
- Integration
- Open Source
- Cost
What are the things Marketers think about most?
- Better conversion rates
- A/B and Multivariate testing
- Analytics
- Direct Sales
- Lead Capture
- Integration
- Social
- Localization/Translation
- Responsive Design
How do you get there with Drupal?
- Modules
- Themes
- Integration with best of breed tools
Great tools that you should consider using.
- Crazyegg
- Visual Website Optimizer
- Marketo
- Exact Target
- Optimizley
- Google Analytics
- Omniture/Site Catalyst
- Web Trends
- Chart Beat
- Many more...
That was the quick overview of what was in my presentation. The response was great!
Watch the video here:


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Other Dictionaries
- Easton's Bible Dictionary
- Nave's Topical Bible.
- Hitchcock's Bible Names Dictionary
- Smith's Bible Dictionary
|« Sibbecai
|Sichem »
Coolness; fragrance, a town in Reuben, in the territory of Moab, on the east of Jordan (Josh. 13:19); called also Shebam and Shibmah (Num. 32:3, 38). It was famous for its vines (Isa. 16:9; Jer. 48:32). It has been identified with the ruin of Sumieh, where there are rock-cut wine-presses. This fact explains the words of the prophets referred to above. It was about 5 miles east of Heshbon.
|« Sibbecai
|Sichem »


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'Dance Moms' Star -- ARRESTED For Cat-Fighting Abby Lee Miller
'Dance Moms' Star Arrested For Cat-Fighting Abby Lee Miller
One of the stars of "Dance Moms" was arrested in New York for allegedly attacking the show's biggest star ... Abby Lee Miller ... TMZ has learned.
Kelly Hyland was booked in November for assault and harassment. Here's what we're told ... Abby was searching for new talent and Kelly was getting pissed off that her kids were being overlooked. When Abby dared to bring a potential pint-sized star by the studio, our sources say Kelly freaked out.
Eyewitnesses tell us ... Kelly began screaming at Abby and then Kelly allegedly grabbed Abby's hair and it became a full-on cat fight.
So far charges have not been filed, but guess what? Three cameras were rolling during the altercation.
Translation -- win win.


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Author: G. Jefferies
Smithy was duplicitous. On the one hand he worked in a state of the art research facility combating rare viral diseases. In the other he was where he was now. Stuffed up; the equivalent of Frankenstein's monster. The real deal Jekyll or Hyde, take your pick while the world sits on baited breath waiting for the float to sink; buy your front row ticket now while you still can. Shops will be closing and not reopening any time soon.
The lab was a high security, need to know and dealing with virulent flu strains that seemed intent on defeating anything his team threw at them. One in particular was almost showing signs of sentience and mutating before the vaccine even went live. Like it knew, read his mind, the coding sequence necessary to turn things round and undo months of work. Smithy dwelt long on this one. He called it the God Flu. Self adapting sub-strain of a SARS like flu bug, except it dealt in death, not just sometimes, every damn time.
They'd picked it up a month previous after a strain appeared on a plaque that wasn't supposed to be there. Within days it had wiped out the surrounding competition and sat staring back through the isolation booth. A red agar eye studying them studying it. That was when things should have been incinerated. Science is curious, so the moment passed and things got worse.
Animal testing delivered consistently poor prognoses; forty-eight hour incubation then system wide collapse, game over within three days; no variation. The end of days contagion where judgement is passed.
Time and again he shook his head on this one, pushing up his spectacles and rubbing tired eyes that hid a mind full of anxiety. If it ever got out the damn thing was indiscriminate. That it would infect humans he was in no doubt and the result of that….he refused to think about. Sanity was fragile and too much ruminating over morals of his employ would lead to a breakdown.
Up until last Tuesday, and apart from the new virus, all was well in his world. That was when he began reading King's The Stand; when conscience began to eat into what remained of a mind that…maybe Oppenheimer felt the same when the nuclear bomb went off.
I am become death, the destroyer of worlds.
But for a roll of the dice civilisation could already be a dead wasteland and what he was doing now would never have mattered.
He could feel self justification eroding away as he read deeper. A mistake and poof….society goes to hell, everyone panics and almost everyone dies. Either which way the end of days and for those that survived a new Dark Age. Hell, there were already loads of TV series and films showcasing it. Books like the one he was reading. How many warnings did folk like him need for Christ's sake. That was about the time the voice appeared. A deep resonance grating at the back of his mind.
What's it feel like to grow the God Flu?
Smithy looked up from the book and frowned before shaking his head and stared out of the windscreen at a carpark basking in full sun. A lunch time break from the rat race and the unnamed contagion. God Flu.
The voice spoke up, again.
Well, you ready to do this Smithy?
This time he felt the spittle evaporate in his mouth and hairs rising on his neck. He listened fearing his under conscious was tripping on the moral debate that haunted his nightmares. Job versus animal testing; playing with viruses that could cause mayhem if containment failed or someone did something real stupid.
What, like make the God Virus?
This time he spoke up, "Yup, I guess so."
Secure is it? Deep in your bunker of death.
He thought of Oppenheimer. Atoms and viruses, both very small and yet capable of so much.
"Clearly." Conviction was lacking. Wasn't talking to yourself a sign of madness?
You do know you're outside the building right?
The book was open at chapter 23, the magician, man in black, all hail the Crimson King. Coincidence maybe, but that was fiction.
"Yes, and what of it?"
What if you've got forty eight hours left with life as you know it?
Anxiety was threading it's way through his veins.
"Not possible," he said to the empty car, "it's isolated and the lab would lock down."
It's God Flu Smithy. You don't even know how it got there.
"And you do I suppose?"
He took a moment out looking at the greying hairs reflecting back from the vanity mirror. Dark rings under slung his eyes while fingers drummed on the steering wheel. The book now rested on the passenger seat. Who was the runner in there again? Campion. That was it, worked in military germ warfare lab where things went wrong. The similarities struck him as perverse. Safe while it's safe but when it's not safe, people are people; they run and what runs with them….I am become death. Oppenheimer in action.
He shook his head. Who the hell was he talking to anyway? His own conscience drip feeding the worst case scenario. There were safeguards for that though, hermetic seals, positive air pressure, micro-filtration systems and suited and booted with respirators. Any breach and everything closed automatically. If you were in you were in, simple; infected or not infected you weren't going anywhere until the all clear was cleared. He needed air. A quick stroll down the sea front ought to do the trick. Waves were calming. The soft wash as they broke, the sound of gulls and smell of sea spray.
A long haired youth rested on his elbows over the hood of a beat up ford escort. He was eyeing the breakers and sighing.
"No good man, no good at all."
Smithy paused, "You talking to me?"
"Anyone who's listening dude, no rides here." He looked glum as a hand touched the underside of the board resting on a roof rack.
Shall we send him to where the breakers never stop?
Smithy ignored the inner voice. Breakers were in one of Kings books too. The nuance was fitting. Breakers for a breaking world, the destroyer of worlds. He shook his head trying to dislodge the distraction.
"Ever tried Australia?" he said. Although why he said it was something he dwelt on later.
The youth stood up, hair blowing in the wind as a smile crossed his face.
"Idea, I could be in Melbourne tomorrow and riding waves by nightfall."
Smithy noticed a vacancy drift across his face between him standing up and speaking. Must be on something he thought.
Like God Flu interjected the voice.
"You serious?" he asked.
"Why not?" replied the youth, "life's short and the world could end next week."
"What makes you say that?"
"God Flu man; if it hits then everyone dies and I'm going out on a wave."
Smithy just stared as the surfer cast him a nod as he turned, climbed into his car and headed off down the sea front. Mental calculations trickled through his mind. Forty eight hours, two airports and a million other encounters in London alone. He felt hot. How did he know about God Flu and was that sheer coincidence? The odds were staggering.
Not really Smithy. Not from where I sit.
He stared out across the ocean fearing his mind was breaking like the waves pounding the shoreline. "You're not real and I've got to get back to work."
As real as the plaque that watched you staring in disbelief.
He turned and found himself walking to the bus station but not knowing why.
"Do you blame me? It shouldn't be possible. New strains like that can't just appear spontaneously." He lacked conviction because it had. Just like that, the red eye looking at him looking at it.
God Flu man. The voice mimicked the surfer.
Smithy started. "No!"
It takes less than a minute to upload.
"Upload?" He entered the terminal. Twenty or so passengers milled about either waiting for a bus to somewhere, pondering timetables or buying tickets. A few pensioners smiled at him as he walked past. Smithy joined a queue not knowing why. A child, holding her mother's hand looked up at him wide eyed and scared.
Twenty metre radius Smithy. How many you walked past already? How many's the hippy found and how many have the found, themselves, found?
The queue dismantled and he found himself at the kiosk staring vacantly at the woman behind the counter.
"Where to?" she asked.
Smithy didn't know. He didn't even know why he was here in the first place and not back in the lab staring at the circle of red. A red that was imprinted in his mind waiting for the dots to job up.
Frowning he blinked and heard himself say "Sorry, not today, I've changed my mind."
With that he watched the bus station drift away as he walked back into the sunshine. Distant like, as if he was in a cinema watching a film and detached from the actual scene. Pushed to the back, no longer in the moment. His own thoughts felt fuzzy.
His mind spoke up.
Are you saying it can infect people merely by being near them without any physical contact or aerosols. No carrier vectors at all?
This time the answer came from his own mouth.
"You catch on Smithy, smarter than the average bear." There was an underlying sarcasm bleeding from the words.
His own throat felt dry and hot like something had clutched his vocal chords and begun to squeeze.
But that's…
"Impossible," the God Flu spoke back, "yes from your biological viewpoint."
"You still don't know where I came from do you?"
Don't tell me…outer space. He could still feel pain and the headache rearing up was becoming a (red) giant.
"Guess you just answered the big question all by yourself."
Which is? Smithy felt sick, his vision distorted and the outside world was far, far away.
"You're not alone."
The sledgehammer hit home and the headache disappeared. He was left in a dark, silent place. Interred in his own mind unable to reach out. Viruses wrest control of cells and use them to replicate. That was in the basic text books on virology. God Flu took over the body, taking it places with the sole purpose of infecting others, uploading like some computer virus. One purpose, one motive. On and on until there was nothing left to infect.
"We need a new home Smithy, and this house is occupied. Call it an eviction notice and it's just been served."
This his post was written for a bit of fun after a chat with Rachael Ritchey of blog battle infamy. The idea was to use the last five battle prompts in one post;
Duplicitous, voice, float, ticket, indiscriminate.
I added the next one, surfer, just for the hell of it.
Inspiration came from several places, one is mentioned in the text. No prizes for guessing what that is. Three bloggers twisted things. One is linked above and the others two are Sci-Fi officianados, not my writing genre per se, but a twist was needed. Ergo thanks go to
I have ideas to expand this in both directions so may carry the Surfer into the blog battle proper as a sequel, if you like. Or I may leave it as it is…just a bit of fun. Feel free to suggest otherwise 🙃
© G Jefferies and Fictionisfood, 2016. All rights reserved.


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- This event has passed.
November 25, 2022 @ 4:30 pm - 7:00 pmFREE
Bill Sinclair played with The Tonehounds. Bob Courter plays with Prophets of the Abstract Truth and Denny Burke played with The Blue Comets. Together they play a wide range of retro blues.
Inclement Weather Policy
The Arts Alliance of Greater Waynesboro (AAGW) recognizes the fact that inclement weather can affect the organizations's ability to be open for business, hold events, and the employees' and volunteers' abilities to get to and attend events. The safety of the AAGW's employees and volunteers is paramount to the organization. If any of the following events occur, Gallery 50, Music Makers, and all events associated with the AAGW are considered cancelled for that day:
(1) The governor declares a weather emergency and asks people to stay off the roads
(2) Waynesboro Area School District cancels school or after-school activities due to inclement weather
(3) Penn State Mont Alto cancels evening classes.
The AAGW will make every attempt to update social media to reflect the cancellation by 3pm for any evening events and by 8:30am for any morning events, but any notification stating one of the (3) events listed above has occurred should be considered notification of the cancellation.


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This Privacy Policy ("Policy") describes how we collect and treat personally identifiable information ("PII") when you use our website at dealseeka.com ("Website") and Services and Software (as defined in our Terms of Service ("Terms")). In this Policy, "DealSeeka", "we", "us" or the like refers to our Company (Groovy Media, 9a Clifton Road, Hamilton, NZ) and our website: DealSeeka, and "you", "your" and the like refers to the person that is using the Services. If you wish contact us regarding this Policy, or correct, update or delete your information, to please contact us.
Before submitting information to us or using the Services, please read this Privacy Policy. By visiting the Website, submitting information or using any of our products or services, you acknowledge that you accept the practices and policies outlined in this Privacy Policy and consent to having your data obtained, transferred to and/or processed. If you do not agree to this Privacy Policy, please do not use the Website or the Services.
Personally Identifiable Information(PII) that we may collect:
You may contact us in writing to inquire about the specific PII, if any, that we may have for collected from you and to make any changes to such information. If you do not wish for us to retain any of your PII, you may contact us in writing at such email address and we will destroy the PII as soon as practicable.
Pseudonymous Information that we may collect:
Upon viewing our wesbite, accepting our offer, or downloading our product, a generated ID is used to provide a unique experience whilst accessing our Services. We may provide this information to companies that provide services to help us with our business activities such as offering technical support or to customize your experience while viewing our websites. We may use third-party advertising companies to serve ads when you visit our website.
DealSeeka collects data about your activities that does not personally or directly identify you when you visit our website, the website of entities for which we serve advertisements (our "Advertisers"), or the websites and online services where we display advertisements ("Publishers"). This information may include the content you view, the date and time that you view this content, the products you purchase, or your location information associated with your IP address. We use the information we collect to serve you more relevant advertisements (referred to as "Retargeting"). We collect information about where you saw the ads we serve you and what ads you clicked on.
We utilize machine specific information for 2 primary purposes: to ensure that our users are being delivered unique software and that the software we display is as relevant to a user as possible
We do not share your PII with non-affiliated third parties, except as permitted or required by law or legal process (such as a subpoena), as otherwise specified in this Policy or as otherwise authorized by you, including as provided below.
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Politico by Paige Winfield Cunningham and Mackenzie Weinger –
If consumers thought logging on to HealthCare.gov was a headache, sorting through complex forms ahead of tax deadline day 2015 is their next big Obamacare challenge.
The health care law's benefits are rolling out, but its major math problems start next year as the IRS tries to ensure that millions of Americans are correctly calculating their benefits and that those who don't have coverage are penalized unless they qualify for an exemption.
That means much new paper-shuffling between now and April 15, which could be especially confusing for low- and middle-income Americans unaccustomed to lots of reporting to the IRS. The insurance exchanges and employers must send consumers details about their health plan and benefits or exemptions in time for them to file a tax return. If any of that information is delayed or wrong, tax refunds could be delayed.
"We're having some trepidation," said Judy Solomon, vice president for health policy at the liberal Center for Budget and Policy Priorities. "This is going to be another new thing just like the roll out of HealthCare.gov."
Last month, the Obama administration released drafts of the forms employers and individuals will have to fill out. But those leave unanswered many questions about how it'll all work. The details are expected to be included in "practical" instructions the agency plans to release later this month that will detail how to complete the new forms, the IRS said.
At this point, the new forms look "very daunting" for taxpayers, said Mark Ciaramitaro, vice president of health care services at H&R Block. "Overall, we expect the complexity level is just going to go up for a significant group of moderate- to low-income people, whether they got insurance through the marketplace or they didn't."
Before they can file a tax return, individuals will have to get documents from their state- or federal-run exchange about the plan they bought and any subsidies they received. Or, if they're covered through an employer, they'll have to provide proof of that. If they qualify for an exemption from having coverage, they'll have to send that to the IRS, too.
But if they completely ignore the question of having health coverage, now a new line on the standard 1040, it's unclear how the IRS will respond, says George Brandes, vice president of health care programs at Jackson Hewitt. The result, he worries, could be that filers trying to comply with the law are penalized with delays while those ducking it aren't.
"You're at much greater risk for having things gummed up if you've done what you're supposed to do," Brandes said. "We're not name calling here — it's just sort of a recognition of the reality of how this is going to work."
Tax Foundation economist Alan Cole agrees and, like many experts, doesn't expect the IRS to vigorously enforce the law's individual mandate in its first year, using this upcoming filing season more as a trial run.
"Especially given that this is low stakes, that this is the first year of the mandate, and that it's small, I would not expect a serious crackdown of any sorts this coming year," he said.
Applying for an exemption is another point of potential confusion, advocates and experts say. The Congressional Budget Office expects millions of Americans who remain uninsured to qualify. As for the penalty, CBO in June downgraded the number of people it estimates will pay the fine from 6 million to 4 million.
The administration has provided a long list of reasons why someone could be excused from the mandate. Some exemptions — like belonging to a religious organization that opposes insurance or joining a health care sharing ministry — must be applied for through the person's exchange. Tax filers would then receive a certificate of exemption to provide to the IRS.
The application requirements for some of those exemptions are "hopelessly complex," Brandes said, pointing to one that addresses people in states that didn't expand Medicaid. "They created a blanket exemption for those folks, but they also created an impossible application process. It's craziness," he said.
Other exemptions, like one granted to people unable to find a premium costing less than 8 percent of their income, must be applied for directly on a tax return.
And some low-income earners who qualify for an exemption during open enrollment may find themselves ineligible if their earnings increase later in the year — making coverage suddenly affordable.
"That is so complicated," CBPP's Solomon said. "How does anyone understand that? The folks who are helping consumers are reeling. A consumer can't be expected to understand this."
To top it off, applying for an exemption via the federal exchange can be done only via regular mail.
"It's just a paper process, and that's a problem," said Cheryl Fish-Parcham, private insurance program director for Families USA, an advocacy group that supports the Affordable Care Act. She also said she's heard anecdotally that some people haven't heard back about whether they're exempt from the individual mandate.
Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services spokesman Aaron Albright said that each application for an exemption is reviewed on a "case-by-case basis" and that every person will be notified whether the exemption is granted or denied.
Then there's the challenge of making sure people collect the subsidies for which their income qualifies them. Because the monthly subsidies are based on an estimate of what people will earn during the year, some Americans are expected to owe the IRS if they ultimately earned more than expected.
To prevent the possibility of owing Uncle Sam at the end of the year, people are supposed to quickly report to HealthCare.gov or their state-run exchange if their income changes over the course of the year. But not everyone may know that, said Anthony Wright, executive director for Health Access California, a consumer advocacy group.
"I think there's a lot of burden to just educate people so it doesn't become an issue," Wright said.
Experts aren't just worried about the problems taxpayers could have as they try to navigate such complicated requirements. Exchange enrollees won't be able to file their taxes until it sends them a 1095-A form, and there are some concerns that the forms will be late, especially in states with struggling exchanges.
Albright said that won't happen. "People will get their information in time for tax season," he said.
Yet the skeptics fear that some taxpayers could be faced with delayed returns.
"There's just not a good track record out there for us to suggest the 1095-As are going to be delivered on time," said Chris Condeluci, who served as tax counsel for Senate Finance Committee Republicans during drafting of the ACA.
For many of the people Obamacare was targeting, this could be a potential "nightmare," said Ed Haislmaier, senior research fellow at the conservative Heritage Foundation, which staunchly opposes the law. "For people who have fairly simple returns and tend to file early, the simple lack of a necessary piece of paper if it's not generated in time will delay their ability to do that," he said.
And even if the forms aren't late, Brandes is concerned that the information on them could be riddled with inaccuracies. "They're still processing inconsistencies from last time around," he noted. "This is taxmaggedon here."


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Ocean Temperatures Can Predict Amazon Fire Season Severity
Ocean Temperatures Can Predict Amazon Fire Season Severity
10 November 2011
published by www.prnewswire.com
USA — By analyzing nearly a decade of satellite data, a team of scientists led by researchers from theUniversity of California, Irvine and funded by NASA has created a model that can successfully predict the severity and geographic distribution of fires in the Amazon rain forest and the rest ofSouth America months in advance.
Though previous research has shown that human settlement patterns are the primary factor that drives the distribution of fires in the Amazon, the new research demonstrates that environmental factors specifically small variations in ocean temperatures amplify human impacts and underpin much of the variability in the number of fires the region experiences from one year to the next.
"Higher than normal sea surface temperatures in the Atlantic and the Pacific proved to be red flags that a severe fire season was on its way in four to six months," said Yang Chen, the University of California, Irvine, scientist who led the research. Chen and his colleagues found temperature changes of as little as .25 degrees C (.45 degrees F) in the North Atlantic and 1 degree C (1.8 degrees F) in the Central Pacific can be used to forecast the severity of the fire season across much of the Amazon.
The researchers believe that unusually warm sea surface temperatures cause regional precipitation patterns to shift north in the southern Amazon during the wet season. "The result is that soils don't get fully saturated. Months later, humidity and rainfall levels decline, and the vegetation becomes drier and more flammable," saidJames Randerson, a scientist at University of California, Irvine who co-authored the study.
To establish the connection between fire activity and sea surface temperatures the researchers analyzed nine years of fire activity data collected by Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer instruments (MODIS) on NASA's Terra and Aqua satellites and compared the number of fires to records of sea surface temperatures maintained by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. Years with anomalously cool ocean temperatures had fewer fires, while years that experienced unusually warm ocean temperatures experienced more fires. The team also looked for and found changes in precipitations patterns as measured by the Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission (TRMM), a satellite managed jointly by NASA and the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA).
While a Columbia University-led study published in July of this year showed that sea surface temperatures in the Northern Atlantic could be used to forecast fire severity across a small section of the western Amazon in Peru andBrazil, the new study considers a much broader swath of South America and takes into account how ocean temperatures in both the Pacific and Atlantic Oceans affect the continent's fires.
The University of California, Irvine team also developed and validated an innovative computer model that they used to predict 2010 fire activity and could be used to forecast fire season severity in the future. The team's model successfully predicted that prolonged drought and severe fires would occur during the 2010 fire season, which is exactly what happened.
"Fire activity can vary dramatically. Satellites detected about twice as many fires during 2010 as they did in 2009," said Doug Morton, a scientist based at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center inGreenbelt, Md. who coauthored the new study. The researchers have to wait a few more months before they can determine whether the model's predictions for the 2011 fire season were also accurate.
"For the 2010 season, the model successfully captured not only the severity of wildfire activity, but it also got much of the east-west spatial distribution right," said Randerson. By looking back at a full decade of data, the scientists noticed a distinctive pattern: fires in the southern and southwestern part of the Amazon were most strongly influenced by sea surface temperatures in the North Atlantic, but fires in the eastern part of the Amazon were strongly affected by sea surface temperatures in the central Pacific.
A number of different types of fires occur in the region, including fires for deforestation, agricultural management, and wildfires in savannas and tropical forests. In addition to successfully predicting the overall fire severity, the model also captured the variability in forest and savanna fires from one year to the next when considered separately.
The researchers are optimistic that the findings may help serve as the foundation of an early warning system for fires that would help South American authorities prepare for severe fire seasons. Morton noted an early warning system could play a critical role in helping authorities blunt the negative impacts of heavy fires years such as those the region has experienced in 2005, 2007, and 2010.
Fire activity is a growing concern in the Amazon, a humid region that would experience very few fires in the absence of human activity. "Deforestation rates in the Amazon have declined significantly in recent years due to government regulations, but fire activity has been holding steady and even going up in some areas due to increases in escaped agricultural fires," said Ruth DeFries, a scientist at Columbia University, New York, and a co-author on the paper.
South American fires have a particularly important impact on climate. Fires from deforestation contribute about half of the carbon emissions from deforestation inSouth America and a recent analysis showed that for the continent creates about 15 percent of the worldwide carbon emissions from fires. Climate models predict that the region will receive less rainfall as climate change progresses, which would increase the risk of forest fires and lead to greater carbon emissions.
The study was published in the Nov. 11th edition of Science. Researchers fromDuke University,Columbia University, and theUniversity of Maryland are also coauthors on the study.
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MIAMI -- Sammy Sosa is seriously considering retiring from baseball instead of accepting an offer from the Washington Nationals, a source close to the player told ESPNdeportes.com.
Sosa has not made a decision regarding the contract offer from Washington, which is a non-guaranteed, one-year pact for $500,000.
"Sammy doesn't think of himself as someone who has to beg for a spot on a big league roster," said the source.
Washington's offer is the only one the Dominican slugger and potential Hall of Famer has received this winter.
With 588 career home runs, Sosa is the all-time leader among Latin American players. He had three years of 60 or more home runs between 1998 and 2001 as a Cub, becoming enormously popular in Chicago and throughout baseball.
However, injuries and some bad publicity, including the discovery of a corked bat in 2003, have affected his legacy and market value.
"Sammy wants to get to 600 home runs, but he's not willing to humiliate himself to keep playing. He feels that the lack of interest in his services this winter constitutes a humiliation," added the source.
Although the team has not set a deadline for a decision by Sosa, the Nationals would like to have the situation resolved before pitchers and catchers report to spring training on February 18. Washington originally only offered a minor league contract, with an invitation to spring training.
Sosa is taking his time to mull the decision, consulting with family and friends. Some have encouraged him to continue playing, while others have suggested he leave baseball.
Sosa, 37, was released by the Orioles after a disappointing 2005, when he hit .221 with 14 home runs and 45 RBI in 102 games.
The "Caribbean Bambino" was affected by various injuries last year, when he made $17 millon in the last season of a five-year deal he signed with Chicago in 2002. Baltimore declined a $18 million option for 2006.
The Nationals see Sosa as an insurance policy entering spring training, in case Jose Guillen's shoulder does not heal as quickly as they would like, and also with Alfonso Soriano's apparent refusal to switch from the infield to the outfield.


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Hard anodised pans are up and coming PFOA Free non-stick cookware. The hard anodised surface is superior to Teflon non stick cookware in the following ways. It heats up quickly and evenly avoiding any thermal hotspots. Hard anodised pans are sturdier like stainless steel pans and as such it is better tasked to handle high temperatures common in a professional kitchen. Hard anodised pans are non porous so they resist absorbing food smells and tastes meaning you can cook fish and chicken on the same pan at different intervals and neither will flavour the other. Finally hard anodised non stick frying pans are better tasked to handle metal utensils without scratching, cracking or chipping so if you purchase frying pans in this range you won't have to replace your kitchen utensils. See our range of hard anodised fry pans below.
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He likes girls. He has a girlfriend. If you're an NFL team and that's what's important to you, Denard Robinson says it's "yes to both questions."
But that shouldn't matter. Neither should split times or bench presses. Once in a while, you have to throw data to the wind and go with that something special.
Robinson has it. He has it all over.
Here is a kid who blew up the record books at Michigan as a running quarterback, yet is willing to play receiver. Or cornerback. Or punt and kick returner. He assures the scouts that wherever you want to use him, he will go.
"I think everything happens for a reason," he said this past week, after finishing the NFL combine. "Toward the end of the season I hurt my elbow. I couldn't even throw the ball. ... It was like, 'OK, Denard, you're a football player, but you gotta know what position you're gonna play.' ... I talked to Coach (Al) Borges and I said, 'What do you want me to do? I gotta get back on the football field.'"
Remember, this is the starting quarterback talking -- a position that all but demands an ego. Yet Robinson played those final games as a decoy, a flanker, a running back -- while someone else had his beloved spot.
When I asked whether he felt disappointed or envious, he said, "Oh, no. It opened my eyes."
The college experience
At the combine, Robinson performed as a receiver and ran an impressive 4.34 hand-timed 40-yard dash. Gil Brandt, the legendary Cowboys executive, touted him as a defensive star.
"It was crazy," Robinson said. "First thing he said was, 'Here goes my cornerback right here! Denard Robinson, I want you to be my cornerback!' "
Would you do it?
"Yeah," he said, laughing. "I wouldn't mind."
Make a list of what you want in an NFL player. Skill? He outran nearly every college defense he faced. Toughness? Did you see how many hits he took in and out of the pocket? Leadership? His teammates loved him. Attitude? How much better could his attitude be?
Not once in all the herky jerky of his Michigan career did he complain, make a snide comment or even wonder aloud what was going on -- even as his first coach, Rich Rodriguez, kept moving things on the board and his second coach, Brady Hoke, was trying to decide whether he wanted more passing and less running.
Robinson was the ultimate cheerleader. He was never down, not even after bad games. You see him now in the student section of basketball games, cheering, singing. He admits, if it were possible, he'd like to be an NFL player and still live at college.
"I think anybody who went to college, they know, there's nothing like that experience," he said. "And, to be honest with you, there's no place like Michigan. We got the best fans, best people, best students, best professors."
No one prompted him to say that.
Playing catch-up
Robinson admitted that, during the Senior Bowl, he was humbled by the challenge.
"I hadn't played receiver. And you go down there, you're playing with the best. These guys are shining, and I'm just one of the faces in the crowd. I started picking up toward the end of the week but at the beginning, I was struggling coming out of routes. ...I was like, 'Man, I gotta wake up, I gotta turn this switch on.' "
Imagine going essentially to an All-Star Game and playing a position you've never played. Imagine going from calling the shots to being told where to run. Most players couldn't do it. Most wouldn't try.
The fact that Robinson did is all the more reason for teams take a chance on him. Some guys are simply football players. From Kurt Warner to Wes Welker, the NFL has a history of men who weren't supposed to be stars.
Intangibles count. Robinson would be a brilliant Wildcat option. He might be great at flanker. He's happy to try to return kicks. "I think I can be an exciting player with the ball in my hands."
That's already proven. He's college football's all-time leader in rushing yards for a quarterback. He's the No. 2 rusher -- including all running backs -- in Michigan history. And he's fourth in career passing at U-M, ahead of Tom Brady, Jim Harbaugh and Brian Griese.
Oh, yeah. He actually can throw the ball.
How can that not be attractive to an NFL team? Robinson said he'd love to play for the Lions and stay in Michigan. But "anywhere is OK. Any round is OK. I don't care. It's an honor just to get drafted. ...
"Hopefully, somebody will call my phone and say, 'Denard Robinson, we would love for you to be here.' "
It will be a smart team that does. And in a few years, a lot of other teams are going to feel silly.


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Before you begin
A messaging bridge instance communicates with the configured source and target bridge destinations. For each mapping of a source destination to a target destination, whether it is another WebLogic JMS implementation or a third-party JMS provider, you must configure a messaging bridge instance. Each instance defines the source and target destination for the mapping, a message filtering selector, a quality of service (QOS), transaction semantics, and reconnection parameters.
If the table is empty, refer to Create messaging bridge instances.
For more information on general configuration attributes, see Configuration Options.


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Both politicians and intellectuals have tended to have simple answers to that question, even if these simple answers have been different in different eras.
A hundred years ago, the prevailing answer was that some people are innately and genetically inferior. Not only was this answer thundered from political platforms in redneck dialect by politicians in the Jim Crow South, the same message was delivered in cultured and lofty tones from academic podiums in the most prestigious colleges and universities across the country.
Nor was this unique to the United States. In Britain, a study of high-achieving families by Francis Galton, a cousin of Charles Darwin, concluded that the reason for their achievements was genetic superiority. From there it was a short step to seeing various races as genetically superior and inferior.
More ominously, Galton saw those who were inferior as a drag on society who should be eliminated. As often happens when a big idea seizes the imagination of the intelligentsia, their strongest argument is that there is no argument -- that "science" has already proved what they believe.
As Sir Francis Galton put it: "there exists a sentiment, for the most part quite unreasonable, against the gradual extinction of an inferior race."
The idea that those with different views had only "sentiment" on their side, while he had science, was common among intellectuals on both sides of the Atlantic.
Eugenics -- a term Galton coined -- became a crusading creed, and eugenics societies were set up by such stellar intellectuals as John Maynard Keynes, H.G. Wells and George Bernard Shaw in England. In the United States there were 376 college courses devoted to eugenics in American colleges and universities in 1928.
By the end of the 20th century, the pendulum had swung to the opposite end of the spectrum. Now differences in achievements among classes, races or the sexes were seen as being a result of discriminatory treatment. And, again, as with the intelligentsia of the Progressive era, those with different views were dismissed with a word -- often "racist" now, as compared to "sentimental" in the earlier period. But in neither era were views different from the crusading creed of the day seriously engaged.
In our supposedly more enlightened time, it became dangerous even to express differing views on the subject on leading college and university campuses.
A very fundamental question was seldom asked, in either the earlier or the later period: Was there ever any realistic reason to expect the same achievements among races, classes or other subdivisions of the human species?
Could we really have expected Eskimos to have the same ability to grow pineapples as the people of Hawaii had? Could the Bedouins of the Sahara really know as much about fishing as the Polynesians of the Pacific? Could the people of the Himalayas have the same seafaring skills as people living in ports around the Mediterranean?
On a more general level, could people living in isolated mountain valleys realistically be expected to develop their own intellectual potential as fully as people living in cities that were international crossroads of commerce, cultures and ideas from around the world?
When the Spaniards discovered the Canary Islands in the 15th century, they found people of a Caucasian race living at a stone age level. Isolation and backwardness have gone together in many parts of the world, regardless of the race of the people involved.
Historical happenstances -- the fact that the Romans invaded Western Europe but not Eastern Europe, for example -- left a legacy of written languages in Western Europe that people in Eastern Europe did not have until centuries later.
But the innumerable factors affecting human achievements are not only complex and hard to untangle, they offer neither politicians nor intellectuals the opportunity to simply be on the side of the angels against the forces of evil. Factors which present no opportunity to star in a moral melodrama have often been ignored in favor of factors that do.


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ST. LOUIS, March 6 (UPI) -- Jaroslav Halak allowed only a third-period goal Tuesday and received plenty of support in a 5-1 win for St. Louis over Chicago.
The Blues moved two points in front of Detroit at the top of the Central Division. The Blackhawks had won three in a row in their bid to secure a playoff spot. Chicago was in sixth place in the Western Conference going into Tuesday's game, but there were five teams within nine points of the Blackhawks.
St. Louis built a 3-0 lead through two periods, the key goal being the third one -- a shorthanded tally by Vladimir Sobotka early in the second.
Andrew Brunette ruined Halak's bid for a shutout 1:58 into the third, but Andy McDonald scored his second of the game and Jason Arnott produced a goal with just 15 seconds left in regulation.
Halak made 19 saves. Ray Emery gave up the five goals on 31 shots.


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The app store has found another craze almost as popular as Flappy Bird. Developers everywhere have been releasing their own versions of the hit app Threes, a tile-based game that has players swipe to add numbers. 2048 is an application that features this same addicting gameplay with its own twists and no cost. Can you reach the score of 2,048 or even higher?
Take a look at 2048 and find out what you think.
This is a Cult Of Mac video review of the multi-platform application 2048, brought to you by Joshua Smith of TechBytes W/ Jsmith.


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A considerable proportion of the pesticides still being used in the world can be considered highly hazardous, because they have a high acute toxicity, have known chronic toxic effects even at very low exposure levels, or are very persistent in the environment or in organisms, for example.
In particular in developing countries, Highly Hazardous Pesticides (HHPs) may pose significant risks to human health or the environment, because risk reduction measures such as the use of personal protective equipment or maintenance and calibration of pesticide application equipment are not easily implemented or are not effective.
In this respect, the Code of Conduct, in Article 7.5, stipulates that: Prohibition of the importation, distribution, sale and purchase of highly hazardous pesticides may be considered if, based on risk assessment, risk mitigation measures or good marketing practices are insufficient to ensure that the product can be handled without unacceptable risk to humans and the environment.
Pesticide risk reduction is therefore one of the priority areas in FAO's pesticide management programme. This was confirmed by the FAO Council, at its 131st session in 2006, which suggested that priority activities for FAO within SAICM "could include risk reduction, including the progressive ban on highly hazardous pesticides".
Subsequently, a New Initiative for Pesticide Risk Reduction was presented to the FAO Committee on Agriculture (COAG), the guiding governing body for the Agriculture Department, during its 20th Session in 2007.
During the COAG session, a Side Event was held on Highly Hazardous Pesticides, in order to give FAO Members and stakeholders, such as NGOs, the pesticide industry and public interest groups, the opportunity to exchange experiences and approaches on how to reduce the risks associated with the use of HHPs and how to implement the recommendations made by the FAO Council. Presentations and statements delivered during the Side Event on Highly Hazardous Pesticides are available upon request from [email protected].
As a first step in the development of a risk reduction programme, the FAO/WHO Joint Meeting on Pesticide Management (JMPM) was requested to provide a working definition for highly hazardous pesticides. The JMPM, in their 2nd session in October 2008, recommended that highly hazardous pesticides should be defined as having one or more of the following characteristics:
The Joint Meeting on Pesticide Management also discussed which activities FAO and WHO should develop as a priority, with the aim to reduce the risks from highly hazardous pesticides. They recommended that:
The JMPM explicitly noted that risk reduction from HHPs could include a progressive ban of these compounds.
Effective risk reduction from HHPs is mainly carried out at the national level, and national governments thus have the prime responsibility in this respect. Therefore, the JMPM recommended that FAO, in collaboration with WHO, invite national governments to ensure that at least the following risk reduction measures for HHPs are taken into account:
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| Bug Information from
The Bug Society
The Scarabs are most grateful to tardigrade.net for this space in which to educate the public about bugs. See the link above for more info on the organization. At present, the following resources are available:
Bugs of the Month
Illustrated articles about cool and common Pacific Northwest bugs!
Melville Harrison Hatch
The life and works of the founder of Scarabs: beetle man and philosopher!
Spider Collector's Journal
The fun and not-so-fun events of a spider collector's life!
Pacific NW Moths, by Scarabs Peterson and Crabo NEW!
Scarab Schimming's BugGuide, best arthropod photo site there is!
Don Ehlen's Insect Safari Home Page
Scarab Sugden's Insect Exhibits at the University of Washington (some of which no longer exist!)
Scarab Sugden's essay on Managing Yellowjackets
Scarab Pehling's Gardening in Washington
Scarab Robert Michael Pyle: biography and links to essays
Scarab Pyle's Butterfly Big Year Blog NEW!
Home page of Scarab Ciscoe Morris
Home page of Scarab David George Gordon
A page about Scarab Bob Gara
Scarab Trish Hanson's Vermont Entomological Society site
Scarab Tom Noland's Adopt-a-Stream Foundation site
The Xerces Society (Invertebrate conservation; institutional member of Scarabs)
Leaf Litter Arthropods of Meso-America (Scarabs Feb. 2009 program!) NEW!
Washington Butterfly Association (a sister group of Scarabs) NEW INDEPENDENT WEB SITE!
Washington Butterfly Association Meeting Notices NEW!


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What I'm Thinking About Tonight...
As a creative person who enjoys eating out, I have to make choices.
Time or money. Time or money. The question haunts me.
In the end, I try to choose time as much as I can, but I do have to choose money sometimes (especially after terrible decisions that involve coffee and a laptop).
I'm working on my third manuscript tonight and trying to remain hopeful that everything will work out.
This is my creative life-- put it all in a bag and shake. Hope nothing gets forgotten. Try for the best, accept good enough. Then work harder.
I am a working writer, a practicing human.
|I wish I knew who drew this. I see "Ryan" in the skulls...
Either way, when you sit down to write know that I've been writing too.
Either way, promise me this will all work out.


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A cheerful upbeat song, which promise to bring up your advertisement, movie or any other project to a higher level of happiness! Featuring finger snaps, ukulele, piano, glockenspiel, bass, percussion and drum background line. Enjoy!
Zip File contain full song MP3, WAV and 3 loop files.
1: Bells loop 0:13
2: Piano loop 0:26
3: Piano loop part two 0:26


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|Llewellyn's 2019 Daily Planetary Guide
|Yoga for the Creative Soul
|The Pure Heart of Yoga
Over the last thousand years there have been several distinct streams of Western magical practice. Running parallel are the Grimoires, which focus on preparation and complex procedures to produce effective communication and interaction with spiritual beings, and the Books of Secrets, full of simple techniques using easily available ingredients. Both of these traditions have influenced many of the more recent magical traditions and practices that have developed in recent centuries, from Wicca and the Golden Dawn to Voodoo and Hoodoo. However, until recently the importance of the early Book of Secrets tradition has been largely ignored.
In some respects the Books of Secrets can be seen as being more important than the Grimoires. The Grimoires were hand-copied manuscripts, sold and traded amongst the wealthy, literate classes, whereas Books of Secrets were cheaply printed and widely distributed. The most famous Book of Secrets, an Italian work by Alessio Piemontese (called Secreti) was published in 104 editions in nine European languages between 1555 and 1699. These books were amongst the early best-sellers, and contained not only magical charms and spells but also a diverse spectrum of useful remedies and tips, from medical and gardening hints to cosmetics and metalwork. Such books sold not only to the middle classes, but also at village fairs and wherever an audience could be found.
From the mid-seventeenth century scientists would start to repudiate Books of Secrets as propagating fake secrets and vulgarities with no basis in fact, and as purveying dubious folklore and esoterica that were challenged by the ongoing Scientific Revolution. Nevertheless, in societies where a university education remained an expensive privilege, the Books of Secrets remained popular well into the eighteenth century.
Grimoire manuscripts often contain Book of Secrets material bound in the back, providing the simple remedies for the day-to-day problems that did not require the long and involved conjuration process, which had been successfully used or picked up in the course of reading. These snippets are often drawn from books like Agrippa's De Occulta Philosophia, and the works ascribed to Albertus Magnus. A good example of this is A Collection of Magical Secrets (Rankine & Barron, Avalonia, 2009), which contains numerous simple folk and Psalm charms and other practices, and was bound at the back of a Key of Solomon (published as The Veritable Key of Solomon, Skinner & Rankine, Llewellyn, 2009). manuscript. Indeed, the seventeenth through nineteenth century French pseudo-grimoires of black magic, such as the Grimoire of Pope Honorius III, the Red Dragon, and Grimorium Verum are often full of such procedures.
The Book of Secrets material was ideal for cunning-folk, who drew on such works, as well as books like Thomas Heydon's Theomagia, Francis Barrett's The Magus, the works of Agrippa, and others for material to use in their written charms. Such charms, which often used biblical quotes and Psalms, were the stock-in-trade of the cunning-folk, and were a large component of their power in a largely illiterate rural environment. In this they were continuing the Church tradition of providing written amulets for money (which only started to move into secrecy in the fifteenth century).
I recently worked on a unique document called The Grimoire of Arthur Gauntlet, a seventeenth century London Cunning-man's Book of Practice, which combines material from Grimoires and Books of Secrets. This text exemplifies the cunning art, drawing together material that includes conjurations of angels, demons, fairies, and the dead, as well as a diverse range of charms. The charms include earlier medical charms written by famous surgeons from the fourteenth and fifteenth century, herbal remedies, wax images, and charms using the Psalms, many of which are also seen in The Book of Gold (a collection of charms using the Psalms).
Thus these books contain scripture-based remedies, such as: "Write Psalm 38 on a piece of paper and put it under the right side of your pillow to prevent nightmares" or, "Say Psalm 66 seven times to alleviate food poisoning." And conversely, they also had simple folk charms, such as "Write in an apple your names and these three names Gosmer Synady Heupide, And give it to eat to any man that thou wouldst have after thy will and he shall do as thou wilt."
The eclectic nature of the Book of Secrets tradition has flowered over the centuries, resulting in much we now take for granted. The use of rhyming couplets in spells; herbal charms for love, protection, and health; incense recipes; simple magic circles; working the phases of the moon—all of these modern Pagan magical practices and many more were drawn together and propagated through this simple and practical tradition of folk magic.
Of course, the use of grimoires and Books of Secrets was not exclusively a British preserve, and the French and Italian influences are especially important. In the detailed records of the numerous trials of the seventeenth century Venetian witch Laura Malapiero, there are some extremely significant details about the documents in her possession. These sound like both Books of Secrets (crudely written spells) and also the Key of Solomon:
"When Laura's house was searched by the Capitano of the Sant'Ufficio in 1654, a number of manuscripts were found. Some were rather crudely written scongiuri [spells]; others were sophisticated herbals and copies of the Clavicle of Solomon."1
The Italian connection is key, as it was the entry point into Europe, through which the material preserved in Byzantium passed. Such material included the Hygromantia (the proto-Key of Solomon, written in Greek), as well as works from the Arabic world (which had preserved much of the Greek magic that would have otherwise have been lost). When this is combined with the explosion of material from Italy during the Renaissance on Kabbalah, Hermeticism, and Neo-Platonism, Italy's role as the midwife of both the grimoire tradition and the Books of Secrets cannot be overstated. This transmission of material from diverse cultures emphasizes the eclectic and syncretic nature of modern magic, and reminds us that when it comes to esoteric traditions, secrets, and mysteries, there are no borders or boundaries.
1Scully, Sally. "Marriage or a Career?: Witchcraft as an Alternative in Seventeenth-Century Venice." Journal of Social History; Vol. 28, 1995.
David Rankine is a magician, author and esoteric researcher based in Glastonbury, England. He has written over 30 books and thousands of articles in his 40+ years of practice, focusing especially on the grimoires, qabalah, ...