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Hearing loss may lead to cognitive decline, study finds
Memory, ability to think shown to worsen faster in analysis of older adults
News WiseFebruary 28th, 2013
Older adults with hearing loss are more likely to develop problems thinking and remembering than older adults whose hearing is normal, according to a new study by hearing experts at Baltimore-based Johns Hopkins University.
In the study, volunteers with hearing loss, undergoing repeated cognition tests during six years, had cognitive abilities that declined some 30 percent to 40 percent faster than in those whose hearing was normal.
Levels of declining brain function were directly related to the amount of hearing loss, the researchers say. On average, older adults with hearing loss developed a significant impairment in their cognitive abilities 3.2 years sooner than those with normal hearing.
The findings, reported in JAMA Internal Medicine online Jan. 21, are among the first to emerge from a larger, ongoing study monitoring the health of older blacks and whites in Memphis, Tenn., and Pittsburgh.
Known as the Health, Aging and Body Composition, or Health ABC study, the latest report on older adults involved a subset of about 2,000 men and women between the ages of 75 and 84, and is believed to be the first to gauge the impact of hearing loss on higher brain functions over the long term.
According to senior study investigator and Johns Hopkins otologist and epidemiologist Dr. Frank Lin, all study participants had normal brain function when the study began in 2001 and were initially tested for hearing loss, which hearing specialists define as recognizing only those sounds louder than 25 decibels.
"Our results show that hearing loss should not be considered an inconsequential part of aging, because it may come with some serious long-term consequences to healthy brain functioning," says Lin, an assistant professor at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine and the university's Bloomberg School of Public Health.
"Our findings emphasize just how important it is for physicians to discuss hearing with their patients and to be proactive in addressing any hearing declines over time," says Lin. He estimates that as many as 27 million Americans over age 50, including two-thirds of men and women aged 70 years and older, suffer from some form of hearing loss.
More worrisome, he says, only 15 percent of those who need a hearing aid get one, leaving much of the problem and its consequences untreated.
Possible explanations for the cognitive slide, Lin says, include the ties between hearing loss and social isolation, with loneliness being well established in previous research as a risk factor for cognitive decline.
Degraded hearing also may force the brain to devote too much of its energy to processing sound, and at the expense of energy spent on memory and thinking.
He adds there also may be some common, underlying damage that leads to both hearing and cognitive problems.
Lin and his team already have plans under way to launch a larger study to determine if use of hearing aids or other devices to treat hearing loss in older adults might forestall or delay cognitive decline.
In the latest study, which began in 1997, all participants were in good general physical health at the time. Hearing tests were given to volunteers in 2001, during which they individually listened to a range of soft and loud sounds, from 0 decibels to 100 decibels, in a soundproof room.
Brain functioning was also assessed in 2001, using two well-recognized tests of memory and thinking ability, known as the modified mini-mental state and digit symbol substitution, respectively.
Included in the former test, study participants were asked to memorize words, given commands or instructional tasks to follow, and asked basic questions as to the correct year, date, and time. In the latter test, study participants were asked to match specific numbers to symbols and timed on how long it took them to complete the task.
Both types of tests were repeated for each study participant three more times until the study ended in 2007, to gauge cognitive decline.
Factors already known to contribute to loss of brain function were accounted for in the researchers' analysis, including age, high blood pressure, diabetes, and stroke.


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Pirates to host NL wild card; 3-team AL tie looms
Now that the NL wild-card matchup is set, the Pittsburgh Pirates are eager to host the first playoff game at PNC Park.
With one day left in the regular season, the AL wild-card picture is way more fuzzy. Still looming, in fact, is the possibility of a three-way tie for two spots.
Saturday's games firmed up a few things:
- Cincinnati will visit Pittsburgh on Tuesday night in the postseason opener to see who advances. Francisco Liriano (16-8) starts for the Pirates against Johnny Cueto (5-2).
- The AL wild-card winner will begin the playoffs at Boston on Friday. Miguel Cabrera and Detroit open at Oakland the same day in the other best-of-five division series.
- Though the NL pairings aren't set yet, St. Louis and Atlanta will open at home, both on Thursday.
Pittsburgh native Neil Walker homered twice and the Pirates won at Cincinnati 8-3 Saturday, beating out the Reds for home field in the one-game NL wild-card playoff.
''The important thing for me is getting the guys home and playing in a park where we won 50 games and giving our fans a taste of postseason baseball,'' Pirates manager Clint Hurdle said.
The AL wild-card chase is much more scrambled as Cleveland leads Tampa Bay and Texas by one game.
Cleveland has won nine in a row and finishes at Minnesota, Texas has won six straight and hosts the Angels, and Tampa Bay is at Toronto.
''I'm excited for tomorrow,'' Rays slugger Evan Longoria said after a 7-2 loss to the Blue Jays. ''We like to make it interesting, that's for sure.''
If the three teams are tied after Sunday, Cleveland would host Tampa Bay on Monday afternoon, with the winner advancing to the postseason. The loser would play at Texas on Tuesday afternoon for the second wild card.
In the event Sunday ends with a tie for the second wild-card berth, Texas would be home against Tampa Bay in a one-game tiebreaker Monday night.
The AL two wild cards are scheduled to Wednesday night to determine which advances to the division series.

subset: commoncrawl


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Started by heater, December 19, 2013, 09:37:40 PM
Total Members Voted: 1937
Quote from: eddie dean on December 19, 2013, 10:00:00 PMWhy? WHY!! Why must you taunt me so, mudginger?
Quote from: BobGrau on December 19, 2013, 10:49:28 PMNot enough Minutiae.(i checked, that is how you spell it)
Quote from: Mind Flayer Monk on December 19, 2013, 11:31:52 PMFalkie's got his own promotion thread? Very cool. My fave has to be the one where someone challenged him on the Snoopy phone and he showed the phone on the video.
Quote from: jazmunda on December 19, 2013, 11:38:44 PMClassic Falkie.I challenge him to face all his box fans around the room and have them face inwards and then turn them all on at once. Bonus points if he stands in the middle.
Quote from: Falkie2013 on December 20, 2013, 12:02:33 AMEven if I did that it wouldn't equal all the hot air you're about to put out on Gabcast on Monday.And I only have TWO, count them 2, box fans. Most of the rest are circulating fans.The big industrial fan puts out more air than any 4 combined but I can't hear anything when its going full blast.And yes, Virginia, I do read the subthreads and am not entirely self promoting.I talk about Bellgab, Noory, Art and topics relating to Bellgab or ones that have been mentioned on here.And there are those on here who like them and await the next episode or whatever one would call it.I force no one to click on the link nor does one have to watch it.I also post them because I think people might want to see them and because I feel it is a courtesy that if I mention someone on here or a podcast I should let the people on here know about it.But to Mud King would be Bellgab censor, that's self promotion ?WTF ?I wouldn't send the link to a quilting website would I ?Nor to one that discusses latchook which I am going to start on a new project to use in the background of a future video.If Mud King had his way, I'd be posting the video links on the USCF discussion site.I leave it to you to figure out what that stands for, if memory serves me. But it deals with a game or a religion depending on whom you are and is played all over the world and is very low tech and old school with no screens, no joysticks, no internet. With the exception of their website, which I've not looked to see if they have one. I've not played in years except against my various computers.But in all fairness, isn't telling about Gabcast, Spec Sheet, Bateman's podcast, also self promotion ?" Sauce for the goose. Mr. Saavik " ?Star Trek Legacy - The Ultimate Universe TWOK BattleI guess that's acceptable to Mud King but my just posting the link isn't.And he also thinks I go off topic too much when of late practically every thread on here has been taken over by fights between posters, off topic posts about private parts, urine and Ghu knows what else.I've read every post in the George Noory Sucks thread, the AB quits DM thread, Paperboy's George's Ipad, and a lot elsewhere.Kindly tell me the percentage of things on those threads that have been on topic since Art quit or since Snoorge stopped posting here, much less Art.I also read every post posted about DM when it was on the air and many others on here as well.
Quote from: Falkie2013 on December 20, 2013, 12:02:33 AMI wouldn't send the link to a quilting website would I ?
Quote from: themudking on December 20, 2013, 12:25:11 AMbefore I forget. would you mind posting the link in this thread? I would love to see what patterns they have available.
Quote from: jazmunda on December 19, 2013, 09:44:47 PMWhere do we send the imaginary checks?
Quote from: themudking on December 20, 2013, 12:40:50 AMDude that is perfect for this thread! And you'll get eyeballs. I promise, you are too prolific of a poster to not. The key is to mention this thread as a teaser when talking about Art or Noory, etc in their threads. I wholeheartedly believe what makes this site great is the lack of admin enforced censorship. I hope you make truck loads of cash off of youtube, and in the process shame all those that deserve it...if that includes me now so be it.I am bummed about the quilting link, I'll google it.
Quote from: area51drone on December 20, 2013, 12:51:25 AMKeep putting out those thimbles Falkie. One day you'll catch enough rain you will fill a swimming pool. Just don't PM me all of them please
Quote from: area51drone on December 20, 2013, 12:55:05 AMFalkie, was this you a year ago?Mad Man Markham
Quote from: Falkie2013 on December 20, 2013, 12:58:30 AMCan't even get any respect in my purportedly own thread ?Sheesh.NO. A year ago I hadn't even figured out how to create a video on my Imac much less post one to youtube.I wish I'd never got a Verizon phone. They suck almost as much as ... ( I love saying it ! ) ... GEORGE NOORY SUCKS.
Quote from: Falkie2013 on December 20, 2013, 12:46:42 AMParaphrasing ... of a sort. And play on my late acquaintance Jimmy Doohan's radio shack commercial and ST film # that I can't recall right now." You got to give me time, Captain. I'm only thought of as being a miracle worker. I've got to have more bandwith. "http://quilting.about.com/od/quiltingglossaryuv/g/ufo.htmhttp://www.google.com/search?client=safari&rls=en&q=quilting+websites&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8http://myquiltplace.com/?gclid=CJTi7t-XvrsCFcFj7AodVh8A1w
Quote from: themudking on December 20, 2013, 01:03:00 AMYou should talk to Michael about Verizon!
Quote from: themudking on December 20, 2013, 01:06:48 AMnow you know what I'll be doing tonight!
Quote from: area51drone on December 20, 2013, 01:12:54 AMI know I'm going to get shit for this, but I would pay good money to see Falkie and George Noory in a shirtless cage match. What do you say Falkie?


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All students will increase their achievement and attain annual personal growth goals in order to reach their highest potential.
We have a reputation of excellence that helps attract and retain highly qualified staff. We value and appreciate employees who apply their skills and experience to meeting our high expectations and fulfilling our district's vision.
Parents, students, and the community are effectively engaged in the educational process and feel connected and proud to be part of the School District of Black River Falls.
We ensure efficient, innovative, and effective use of district resources to promote collaboration and inspire excellence in teaching and learning.


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Music Festival Band Photos
This gallery contains photos shot of some of the band members performing after the LXM Pro Lacrosse Showcase game at St Stephens Episcopal School in Austin on April 10th 2010. Bands playing at the Music festival included: L.A.X, Carolina Liar (From the hit song "Show Me What I'm Looking For" and The Bright Light Social Hour. Please click "Contact" on the bottom of the page if you have any questions or special requests such as edits. Please see this gallery for examples of what edits I can do to most photos. Please see this page for help with ordering prints & digital downloads. For more photos of the 4-10-10 event, see this gallery of UT VS. A&M Lacrosse Game and this gallery of LXM Pro Tour Showcase Lacrosse Game.Read More


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Nationals 2, Phillies 1
Gio Gonzalez continued to dominate hitters and the Washington Nationals continued to frustrate the Philadelphia Phillies.
Gonzalez allowed three hits over six innings and Ian Desmond homered and drove in both runs to lead the Nationals to a 2-1 victory Monday night.
Gonzalez (6-1), a former Phillies farmhand, struck out seven of the first nine batters and finished with nine strikeouts. That upped his total to 35 over his last four starts, all wins, in 25 innings.
''Even though they have a couple of guys down, they have a great lineup,'' Gonzalez said, referring to injured Philadelphia All-Stars Chase Utley (knee) and Ryan Howard (Achilles). ''You have to pitch them smart. I tried my best to keep the ball down.''
Bryce Harper had two hits for Washington, which had to escape a jam in the ninth to earn the win.
''Getting the outcome wasn't easy,'' Washington manager Davey Johnson said.
Sean Burnett came in with one out in the ninth after Nationals closer Henry Rodriguez allowed runners to reach second and third to earn his second save in as many chances.
Rodriguez began the ninth looking for his 10th save in 13 chances, but was lifted after facing three batters and getting one out. He gave up a leadoff walk to John Mayberry Jr. and a single to Mike Fontenot after getting Freddy Galvis to fly out to right. Johnson lifted Rodriguez after a wild pitch allowed Fontenot to reach second.
''Henry can be exciting sometimes,'' Johnson said. ''Sometimes he tries to do too much.''
Mayberry scored on Ty Wigginton's sacrifice fly off Burnett, snapping an 18 2-3 innings scoreless drought and bringing the Phillies within 2-1. Hector Luna, batting for leadoff hitter Juan Pierre, walked to put runners on first and second for Placido Polanco. Burnett got Polanco to line out to second to preserve the victory.
''We couldn't get it done,'' Philadelphia manager Charlie Manuel said.
Philadelphia's Kyle Kendrick (0-4), making his second start in replace of injured right-hander Vance Worley (elbow), allowed two runs and five hits while striking out four and walking two in six solid innings.
''I just wanted to keep us in the game as long as I can,'' said Kendrick, who retired the final 11 batters.
But Philadelphia managed just six hits off Gonzalez, right-hander Craig Stammen, Rodriguez and Burnett. It was the third straight loss for the Phillies, who have dropped four of five to Washington this season and 12 of the last 15 meetings overall.
The Phillies are 4 for their last 31 with runners in scoring position.
''We need some guys to get hot and start hitting the ball for us,'' Manuel said. ''Guys have to pick one another up.''
Polanco said it's a matter of Philadelphia's hitters relaxing.
''When you relax, you play how you play,'' he said. ''When you have pressure, you try too hard.''
This was the first game between the teams since the Phillies defeated Washington on May 6 when Philadelphia left-hander Cole Hamels intentionally hit Harper in the first inning of a nationally televised game. Hamels was suspended five games for the incident for admitting to reporters afterward of his intent to send a message to the 19-year-old rookie.
The play sparked a firestorm, with Washington general manager Mike Rizzo receiving an undisclosed fine for lashing out at Hamels in a Washington Post story by calling him ''gutless'' and ''classless.''
Harper received a smattering of boos throughout the evening Monday, but there were no incidents.
Desmond belted the first pitch he saw in the second inning over the wall in center to give the Nationals a 1-0 lead.
It was Desmond's sixth homer of the season and third in six games.
''He can hit homers,'' Johnson said. ''He has as much power as anybody on the club.''
Said Desmond, ''I don't know what's happening. I'm blocking it all out.''
Kendrick saved himself a run in the third inning with an acrobatic tag of Jesus Flores at home plate as Flores was attempting to score from third after Kendrick's pitch in the dirt got past catcher Carlos Ruiz.
Washington went ahead 2-0 in the fourth on Desmond's RBI single to left that scored Harper. The Nationals could have broken the game open after loading the bases with one out. But Kendrick struck out Rick Ankiel and got Flores to ground out to third.
The Phillies threatened in the third, loading the bases with two outs after singles by Pierre and Polanco and a walk to Shane Victorino. But Gonzalez got Hunter Pence to ground out sharply to shortstop.
And Philadelphia missed an excellent opportunity to score in the sixth when Victorino followed Polanco's leadoff walk with a double down the left-field line, putting runners on second and third with no outs. But Polanco broke for home on Pence's lineout to center - a stellar diving grab by Ankiel - and was unable to score on a potential sacrifice fly. Polanco then was thrown out at home trying to score on Ruiz's groundout before Mayberry's flyout to right ended the inning.
''That hurt us,'' Manuel said. ''We cannot afford to not score our runs.''
Polanco returned to the lineup for Philadelphia after missing the last four games with an injured left ankle. Polanco did make one appearance during that stretch, pinch-hitting in Saturday's loss to Boston.
Notes: Phillies SS Jimmy Rollins missed Monday's game after his wife, Johari, gave birth to their first child - a girl - on Sunday night. ... Worley visited renowned orthopedist Dr. James Andrews on Monday for a second opinion on his injured right elbow. ... The Phillies' crowd of 43,787 on a rainy night was the 226th consecutive regular-season sellout and 242nd in a row counting postseason play. ... Washington RHP Jordan Zimmerman (2-4, 2.58) is scheduled to face Phillies RHP Roy Halladay (4-3, 3.22) at 7:05 Tuesday. Halladay is 9-0 in his last 10 starts against the Washington franchise.


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PORTLAND, OR -- The acquittal of seven people who occupied a federal wildlife sanctuary in Oregon was a rejection of the prosecution's conspiracy case, not an endorsement of the defendants' actions in the armed protest, a juror said Friday, a day after the stunning verdict that government officials feared could embolden other groups.
Sympathizers who believe such resistance to the government is justified celebrated the decision, which might invite more confrontations in a long-running dispute over Western lands.
Interior Secretary Sally Jewell on Friday urged all government employees to "remain vigilant and report any suspicious activity." In a statement, she said she was "profoundly disappointed" in the verdict.
William C. Fisher, an activist from Boise, Idaho, who once camped by a memorial to occupier LaVoy Finicum at the site where he was shot dead by police, predicted that the decision would encourage others to act.
"I think a lot more people will be revolting, rebelling and standing up against what we see as a tyrannical government," Fisher said in a telephone interview.
The 41-day takeover of the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge last January in remote eastern Oregon was part of a larger debate about the use of federal lands in the West. The militants led by Ammon Bundy, a small business owner from Arizona, wanted to hand the refuge over to local officials, saying the federal government should not have dominion over it.
The U.S. government owns nearly half of all land in the West, compared with only 4 percent in the other states, according to the Congressional Overview of Federal Land Ownership.
One of the jurors in the case asserted Friday that the panel was not endorsing militancy to resolve those issues.
The juror, identified only as Juror No. 4, wrote in an email to The Oregonian/OregonLive that the verdicts were a "statement" about the prosecution's failure to prove a conspiracy charge "and not any form of affirmation of the defense's various beliefs, actions or aspirations."
The acquittal of the white occupiers came on the same day that officers in riot gear evicted protesters from private land in the path of the Dakota Access oil pipeline in rural North Dakota. Officers fired bean bags and pepper spray as they surrounded demonstrators, many of them Native Americans who have spent months fighting over tribal rights and the project's environmental effects. At least 117 people were arrested.
"Are we going to look at these protests the same way?" asked John Freemuth, a public land policy expert at Boise State University. "I certainly think the tribes will have a point if they find themselves arrested and in jail and these Oregon guys get off."
Bundy, his brother Ryan Bundy and five others were charged with conspiring to impede federal workers from their jobs at the refuge.
Chris Rasmussen, a defense lawyer in an armed standoff that happened two years ago at Bundy's father's ranch in Nevada, said it is "obvious" that Oregon prosecutors gambled in seeking convictions on felony conspiracy charges instead of lesser trespassing charges.
But trespassing is only a misdemeanor, and prosecutors had few options for other serious charges because the defendants never attacked anyone, said Laurie Levenson, a professor at Loyola Law School in Los Angeles and a former federal prosecutor.
Rather than attempting to retake the refuge headquarters and risking a gunbattle, authorities took a cautious approach. They closed nearby roads and stayed miles away while urging the occupiers to abandon the land.
"This may be a case of no good deed goes unpunished," Levenson said. "The upside of not confronting them was it was less likely there would be violence. The downside was it was less likely that they could use the assault charge."
The standoff finally ended when the Bundys and other key figures were arrested in a Jan. 26 traffic stop outside the refuge. That's when Finicum was killed. Most occupiers left after his death, but four holdouts remained until Feb. 11, when they surrendered following lengthy negotiations.
Bundy remains in jail because he still faces charges in the standoff at his father Cliven's Nevada ranch.
Joel Hansen, Cliven Bundy's attorney, said Friday that he thinks the jury in Oregon "saw through the lies of a government which is trying to prove these Bundy brothers and their compatriots were some kind of terrorists."
For Hansen and some others in the rural West, ownership of public land is a constitutional question that has not been settled.
"There is a seething anger among those who use the land," he said, citing the feelings of ranchers, loggers, miners and Indians. "It's all part of tyrannical oppression. Their goal is to manage them out of business to get them off the land."
The Oregon occupiers had chosen, perhaps inadvertently, a part of Oregon where locals and the feds had a recent history of working together. Few who live near the sanctuary welcomed the occupiers, most of whom were from out of state.
Not long before the takeover began on Jan. 2, locals and federal officials had determined the fate of large swaths of land, Harney County Judge Steve Grasty, the top local administrative official, said last summer in an interview.
The High Desert Partnership in Harney County, a group that includes the Bureau of Land Management, the Nature Conservancy and timber business owners, had been working quietly to determine land stewardship, which Jewell credited in her statement on Friday.


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Out of gas
A nun who works for a local home health care agency was out making her rounds when she ran out of gas. As luck would have it, there was a service station just down the street. She walked to the station to borrow a can with enough gas to start the car and drive to the station for a fill up.
The attendant regretfully told her that the only can he owned had just been loaned out, but if she would care to wait, he was sure it would be back shortly.
Since the nun was on the way to see a patient, she decided not to wait and walked back to her car.
After looking through her car for something to carry to the station to fill with gas, she spotted a bedpan she was taking to a patient. Always resourceful, she carried it to the station, filled it with gasoline, and carried it back to her car.
As she was pouring the gas into the tank of her car, two men walked by. One of them turned to the other and said, "If that car starts, I'll be a church-goer the rest of my life."


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Celebrity News April 11, 2014
Johnny Depp Is So Romantic He Wakes Up Amber Heard in the Middle of the Night for…
"Extra's" Terri Seymour spoke to Johnny Depp at the Los Angeles premiere of his upcoming film "Transcendence," and got the scoop on his romance with Amber Heard, his kiss with Jimmy Kimmel, and more!
Johnny gushed about how romantic he is in real life, admitting he's "Romantic enough to not be afraid to wake up a loved one in the middle of the night with a silly song, like something really, really bad."
He also reminisced about kissing Kimmel on the funnyman's show Monday night. "I lose control when I'm around him… Jimmy, there's just something about him."
Terri asked Johnny how the kiss compared to some of the gorgeous co-stars he has locked lips with onscreen. Johnny's answer was a testament to his love for fiancée Amber Heard. "Well, you know, I had the great pleasure and honor of kissing a co-star in the 'Rum Diary'… it's been doing alright."
As for how Amber felt about Johnny's kiss with Jimmy, he said, "I had to talk her down, I had to talk her down, she understands Jimmy Kimmel is Jimmy Kimmel."
"Transcendence" opens in theaters April 18th.


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Apply some wax to your fingertips and then pull through the ends of your hair in a downward motion to achieve a sculptured look. Pinch clumps of hair in different directions for a messier result.
Using a small amount of wax, work it through the mid-lengths and ends in a downward, pinching motion. For added texture, apply more pinching and more wax.
Apply some hard wax to your fingertips and then rub it into your roots while lifting your strands for soft volume.
Apply wax to the palms of your hands and then starting at the front hairline, drag your hands back over your head, smoothing down as you go. For a wetter look use a softer wax.


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On-site interpreting
About on-site interpreting
The on-site interpreting service is available for agency clients to book an interpreter to attend an appointment face-to-face.
When using a phone interpreter would not be suitable, TIS National can arrange for an interpreter to visit your location. On-site interpreting services can be arranged for any location in Australia (subject to interpreter availability).
An on-site interpreter may be most appropriate when:
you have a scheduled appointment with a client
the appointment is of a sensitive or serious nature
you anticipate that the appointment will go for an extended period of time.
Booking an on-site interpreter
On-site appointments are usually booked by the organisation that needs to communicate with their non-English speaking client.
You can easily request and manage all of your on-site interpreter bookings through TIS Online. Using TIS Online allows us to secure an interpreter for your request in the shortest possible time frame. To use TIS Online you need to register an account with TIS National. All agencies registered with a TIS National account are automatically registered to use TIS Online. Find out more about TIS Online or visit the TIS Online login page to get started.
TIS National will notify you once an interpreter has been allocated to your request.
On-site interpreter requests can be accepted up to 90 days in advance and we endeavour to allocate an interpreter within three days of receiving the request.
If you need to update the appointment details after you have submitted your request, you can do this easily through your TIS Online account.
If your interpreter does not arrive to the appointment on time, contact the Service Delivery Team by phone and we will contact the interpreter to find out why they have been delayed.
On-site interpreting service charges
Please view our interpreting service charges before submitting a booking request. You can also estimate the cost of your booking using our cost calculator.
Types of on-site interpreting assignments
Standard On-site Assignment
A face to face interpreting assignment which:
Full Day On-site Assignment
A face to face interpreting assignment which:
If the actual duration of a Full Day On-site Assignment realises a higher charge amount (calculated on the basis of the number of 30 minute time blocks and applicable full day rates), then the higher amount applies.
UMA Assignment
A face-to-face interpreting assignment provided to Unauthorised Maritime Arrival (UMA) clients, generally at an Immigration Detention Facility or other Department of Home Affairs location, or a Regional Processing Centre. These assignments attract charges in accordance with full day rates (that is, a minimum daily charge applies unless the actual duration of the assignment realises a higher charge amount, calculated on the basis of the number of 30 minute time blocks and applicable full day rates).


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Kanakadhara Stotram is a popular prayer dedicated to Goddess Lakshmi and was composed by Adi Shankaracharya. It is said that Jagadguru Adi Shankara created this prayer on seeing the financial difficulties of a poor woman.
During the time of Shankaracharya, students used to stay in the home of Guru and study. They also used to go around the houses in the village and used to beg for food for the day. Feeding a Brahmachari was considered highly meritorious.
Once young Shankaracharya went to the home of a poor woman and asked for food. The poor woman had not cooked anything on the day. She did not know what to do and on searching, found a single gooseberry on a corner of her house.
She offered the gooseberry to Shankaracharya and said to him that she did not have money even to buy food for her children. So please be satisfied with the gooseberry.
Moved by her plight, Shankaracharya immediately composed a prayer praising Goddess Lakshmi and prayed to Her to remove the poverty of the poor woman.
It is said that when Shankaracharya completed the prayer, it rained golden gooseberries.
The prayer that Shanakracharya chanted on the day became popularly known as Kanakadhara Stotram.


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Xi Jinping's Challenge
Why China's new president has a much tougher job than Barack Obama.
Now that the U.S. election finally is over, it's time to focus on the other most important leadership transition in the world: China's.
Now that the U.S. election finally is over, it's time to focus on the other most important leadership transition in the world: China's.
Like the United States, China is also at a turning point, and though the specifics differ, the crux of the problem is the same: major structural change is critical to sustained future growth and stability, but the country's current leaders have been unable, or unwilling, to implement the necessary reforms to shift its economy onto a path of sustainable development.
If anything, China's heirs apparent have the harder task.
Unlike Barack Obama, for instance, the incoming leader Xi Jinping won't be able to choose most of his own team. Beginning Nov. 8, when the Communist Party convenes its 18th Party Congress, and continuing in March 2013, Beijing will in two steps replace about 70 percent of the incumbents in its top communist party, government, and military bodies. China watchers expect Xi Jinping and Li Keqiang to ascend to the most powerful two spots on the Politburo Standing Committee, the country's highest decision-making body, but nobody outside a small circle of insiders knows who will fill the other 5-7 spots — let alone what those individuals think about how to run the world's second-biggest economy and one of its major military powers.
Nor is the president of China as powerful as is commonly assumed. Since Hu Jintao, the outgoing leader, ascended to the top job in 2002, collective leadership built around consensus decision making has become the norm. Each Standing Committee member manages a distinct part of the overall Chinese system. The outgoing premier Wen Jiabao runs the cabinet, Zhou Yongkang runs domestic security, and so forth.
This system has its advantages, such as the ability to mobilize enormous resources and act quickly when all Standing Committee members agree on a priority course of action. But it has also produced a willingness to spend more money on top priorities ("you vote for my priority and I'll vote for yours"), coupled with an inability to adopt decisions that seriously disadvantage any member's sector, such as reducing subsidies to major state-owned enterprises or cutting back the scope of the civilian security apparatus. There have thus been no major structural reforms in China for the past five years, and few in the half-decade before then.
The recognition of the need for sectoral reform of the Chinese economy — and related political reforms to make that happen — is so widespread that Xi undoubtedly has this on his agenda. But it is unclear how high a priority he attaches to this or whether he can fairly easily be dissuaded by other considerations.
And even if Xi proves to be an ardent reformist (which is by no means clear), he may prove unable to move the system sufficiently in the directions he knows it must go. Wen has called for such changes for at least the past half decade, even as the system has in fact moved in the opposite direction. Success or even rapid progress here is far from assured.
The hurdles are high for Xi. Because he does not even get to pick most of the members of his own team, virtually no other Standing Committee member will owe his job solely to him — current and former members select the lineup of the new Standing Committee in order to achieve a balance among their interests. It may take an impending or actual major crisis, therefore, for Xi to garner the authority to drive through necessary but painful decisions.
And painful decisions are essential to avoid snowballing structural drags on growth and heightened social tension and instability. With the government already spending more on domestic security than on the military in the face of a reported 180,000 "mass incidents" in 2010, serious reform is necessary.
The outgoing leadership of President Hu and Premier Wen has in recent years chosen to muddle through, handing off the problems to their successors. But China's huge economic gains over the past decade primarily reflect the payoffs from reforms made in the decade before that, including the privatization of housing, drastic downsizing of state-owned enterprises, restructuring of the banking system, joining the WTO, and expanding the political base of the party to include businesspeople. Despite early signs that Hu and Wen would continue to promote reforms meant to improve social equality and rural living standards, these initial initiatives took place years ago, and problems have since multiplied.
Beijing's economic strategy must be drastically overhauled. The Hu/Wen leadership, recognizing the danger, in March 2011 formally adopted a new development strategy that stresses increasing household consumption, reducing reliance on exports, expanding services, and moving to more innovative, less resource-intensive manufacturing. A study released this February by the World Bank in conjunction with the State Council Development Research Center, one of China's top government think tanks, confirmed the importance of this new strategy. But little serious reform has happened to date.
A key obstacle is that the old way of doing business is now built into the DNA of the leaders of the roughly 40,000 political jurisdictions outside of Beijing, from the province to the city to the county to the township level. These officials, rewarded primarily on the basis of producing rapid GDP growth while keeping a lid on social unrest, have used their political power to nurture infrastructure building and other capital-intensive projects. This in turn has generated short-term GDP growth and employment, along with massive flows of bank loans and other funds from which they can skim.
The results have been clear: breakneck growth, huge infrastructure and manufacturing development, enormous corruption, massive environmental devastation, growing inequality of wealth, and rising social tensions. If they wish to change the behavior of these local leaders, Xi and his colleagues must expend enormous political capital to do so.
And local officials are hardly the only impediments to reform. Beijing has fostered "national champions" — state-owned corporate behemoths, many of which are seen as key to the party's grip on power and are closely tied to elite political families. This marriage of wealth and political power presents major obstacles to effective changes in economic strategy.
Corruption at all levels, moreover, makes reforms even more difficult to implement through China's massive bureaucracy. And the fear that reform itself can generate expectations that may get out of hand adds to the hurdles to making necessary changes.
Thus, there are no simple solutions to China's challenges, almost all of which are more difficult than those confronting the United States. In the United States, the core issue is one of gaining a political consensus on federal revenues and expenditures. For China, the challenges require major structural overhaul of the economy and wide-ranging changes in the political system. The complexity of both the problem and the necessary corrective measures are massively more daunting in Beijing than in Washington.
The reforms China knows it should undertake are very much in America's interests — reducing Beijing's need to resort to unfair trade practices, while at the same time further opening its economy, increasing the role of the market, and allowing greater opportunities for U.S. investments in sectors (such as financial services) in which the United States is highly competitive. In addition, putting China on a path of more sustainable, less environmentally damaging growth increases the chances that its government will be more confident, outward-looking, and constructive internationally. China, in turn, has a major interest in U.S. success in getting its deficit under control, given how heavily Beijing has invested in the health of the U.S. dollar and the American economy.
U.S.-China relations, in short, will almost certainly experience less strain if both Beijing and Washington deal more effectively with their need to undertake significant reforms. If each falls short, the opposite is true. Leaders on both sides should keep this fundamental reality in mind over the coming years.
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text:
This article was prepared to provide a summary of the contents of a book written in 1995 which describes an entirely new class of weapons. The weapons and their effects are described in the following pages. The United States Navy and Air Force have joined with the University of Alaska, Fairbanks, to build a prototype for a ground based "Star Wars" weapon system located in the remote bush country of Alaska.
The individuals who are demanding answers about HAARP are scattered around the planet. As well as bush dwellers in Alaska, they include: a physician in Finland; a scientist in Holland; an anti-nuclear protester in Australia; independent physicists in the United States; a grandmother in Canada, and countless others.
Unlike the protests of the 1960s the objections to HAARP have been registered using the tools of the 1990s. From the Internet, fax machines, syndicated talk radio and a number of alternative print mediums the word is getting out and people are waking up to this new intrusion by an over zealous United States government.
The research team put together to gather the materials which eventually found their way into the book never held a formal meeting, never formed a formal organization. Each person acted like a node on a planetary info-spirit-net with one goal held by all -- to keep this controversial new science in the public eye. The result of the team's effort was a book which describes the science and the political ramifications of this technology.
That book, Angels Don't Play this HAARP: Advances in Tesla Technology, has 230 pages. This article will only give the highlights. Despite the amount of research (350 footnoted sources), at its heart it is a story about ordinary people who took on an extraordinary challenge in bringing their research forward.
HAARP Boils the Upper Atmosphere
The military says the HAARP system could:
Two Alaskans put it bluntly. A founder of the NO HAARP movement, Clare Zickuhr, says "The military is going to give the ionosphere a big kick and see what happens."
The military failed to tell the public that they do not know what exactly will happen, but a Penn State science article brags about that uncertainty. Macho science? The HAARP project uses the largest energy levels yet played with by what Begich and Manning call "the big boys with their new toys." HAARP is an experiment in the sky, and experiments are done to find out something not already known. Independent scientists told Begich and Manning that a HAARP-type "skybuster" with its unforeseen effects could be an act of global vandalism.
E-Systems is one of the biggest intelligence contractors in the world -- doing work for the CIA, defense intelligence organizations and others. $1.8 billion of their annual sales are to these organizations, with $800 million for black projects -- projects so secret that even the United States Congress isn't told how the money is being spent. E-Systems was bought out by Raytheon, which is one of the largest defense contractors in the world. In 1994 Raytheon was listed as number forty-two on the Fortune 500 list of companies. Raytheon has thousands of patents, some of which will be valuable in the HAARP project. The twelve patents below are the backbone of the HAARP project, and are now buried among the thousands of others held in the name of Raytheon. Bernard J. Eastlund's U.S. Patent # 4,686,605, "Method and Apparatus for Altering a Region in the Earth's Atmosphere, Ionosphere; and/or Magnetosphere," was sealed for a year under a government Secrecy Order. The Eastlund ionospheric heater was different; the radio frequency (RF) radiation was concentrated and focused to a point in the ionosphere. This difference throws an unprecedented amount of energy into the ionosphere. The Eastlund device would allow a concentration of one watt per cubic centimeter, compared to others only able to deliver about one millionth of one watt.
This huge difference could lift and change the ionosphere in the ways necessary to create futuristic effects described in the patent. According to the patent, the work of Nikola Tesla in the early 1900's formed the basis of the research.
What would this technology be worth to ARCO, the owner of the patents? They could make enormous profits by beaming electrical power from a powerhouse in the gas fields to the consumer without wires. For a time, HAARP researchers could not prove that this was one of the intended uses for HAARP. In April, 1995, however, Begich found other patents, connected with a "key personnel" list for APTI. Some of these new APTI patents were indeed a wireless system for sending electrical power. Eastlund's patent said the technology can confuse or completely disrupt airplanes' and missiles' sophisticated guidance systems. Further, this ability to spray large areas of Earth with electromagnetic waves of varying frequencies, and to control changes in those waves, makes it possible to knock out communications on land or sea as well as in the air.
The patent said:
"Thus, this invention provides the ability to put unprecedented amounts of power in the Earth's atmosphere at strategic locations and to maintain the power injection level particularly if random pulsing is employed, in a manner far more precise and better controlled than heretofore accomplished by the prior art, particularly by detonation of nuclear devices of various yields at various altitudes... "
"...it is possible not only to interfere with third party communications but to take advantage of one or more such beams to carry out a communications network even though the rest of the world's communications are disrupted. Put another way, what is used to disrupt another's communications can be employed by one knowledgeable of this invention as a communication network at the same time."
"... large regions of the atmosphere could be lifted to an unexpectedly high altitude so that missiles encounter unexpected and unplanned drag forces with resultant destruction."
"Weather modification is possible by, for example, altering upper atmosphere wind patterns by constructing one or more plumes of atmospheric particles which will act as a lens or focusing device.
... molecular modifications of the atmosphere can take place so that positive environmental effects can be achieved. Besides actually changing the molecular composition of an atmospheric region, a particular molecule or molecules can be chosen for increased presence. For example, ozone, nitrogen, etc., concentrations in the atmosphere could be artificially increased."
Begich found eleven other APTI Patents. They told how to make "Nuclear-sized Explosions without Radiation," Power-beaming systems, over-the-horizon radar, detection systems for missiles carrying nuclear warheads, electromagnetic pulses previously produced by thermonuclear weapons and other Star-Wars tricks. This cluster of patents underlay the HAARP weapon system.
Related research by Begich and Manning uncovered bizarre schemes. For example, Air Force documents revealed that a system had been developed for manipulating and disturbing human mental processes through pulsed radio-frequency radiation (the stuff of HAARP) over large geographical areas. The most telling material about this technology came from writings of Zbigniew Brzezinski (former National Security Advisory to U.S. President Carter) and J.F. MacDonald (science advisor to U.S. President Johnson and a professor of Geophysics at UCLA), as they wrote about use of power-beaming transmitters for geophysical and environmental warfare. The documents showed how these effects might be caused, and the negative effects on human heath and thinking.
The mental-disruption possibilities for HAARP are the most disturbing. More than 40 pages of the book, with dozens of footnotes, chronicle the work of Harvard professors, military planners and scientists as they plan and test this use of the electromagnetic technology. For example, one of the papers describing this use was from the International Red Cross in Geneva. It even gave the frequency ranges where these effects could occur -- the same ranges which HAARP is capable of broadcasting.
The following statement was made more than twenty-five years ago in a book by Brzezinski which he wrote while a professor at Columbia University: "Political strategists are tempted to exploit research on the brain and human behavior. Geophysicist Gordon J.F. MacDonald, a specialist in problems of warfare, says accurately-timed, artificially-excited electronic strokes could lead to a pattern of oscillations that produce relatively high power levels over certain regions of the earth ... in this way one could develop a system that would seriously impair the brain performance of very large populations in selected regions over an extended period"
" ... no matter how deeply disturbing the thought of using the environment to manipulate behavior for national advantages, to some, the technology permitting such use will very probably develop within the next few decades."
In 1966, MacDonald was a member of the President's Science Advisory Committee and later a member of the President's Council on Environmental Quality. He published papers on the use of environmental control technologies for military purposes. The most profound comment he made as a geophysicist was, "the key to geophysical warfare is the identification of environmental instabilities to which the addition of a small amount of energy would release vastly greater amounts of energy." While yesterday's geophysicists predicted today's advances, are HAARP program managers delivering on the vision?
The geophysicists recognized that adding energy to the environmental soup could have large effects. However, humankind has already added substantial amounts of electromagnetic energy into our environment without understanding what might constitute critical mass. The book by Begich and Manning raises questions:
As early as 1970, Zbigniew Brzezinski predicted a "more controlled and directed society" would gradually appear, linked to technology. This society would be dominated by an elite group which impresses voters by allegedly superior scientific know-how. Angels Don't Play This HAARP further quotes Brzezinski: "Unhindered by the restraints of traditional liberal values, this elite would not hesitate to achieve its political ends by using the latest modern techniques for influencing public behavior and keeping society under close surveillance and control. Technical and scientific momentum would then feed on the situation it exploits," Brzezinski predicted. His forecasts proved accurate. Today, a number of new tools for the "elite" are emerging, and the temptation to use them increases steadily. The policies to permit the tools to be used are already in place. How could the United States be changed, bit by bit, into the predicted highly-controlled technosociety? Among the "steppingstones" Brzezinski expected were persisting social crises and use of the mass media to gain the public's confidence. In another document prepared by the government, the U.S. Air Force claims: "The potential applications of artificial electromagnetic fields are wide-ranging and can be used in many military or quasi-military situations... Some of these potential uses include dealing with terrorist groups, crowd control, controlling breaches of security at military installations, and antipersonnel techniques in tactical warfare. In all of these cases the EM (electromagnetic) systems would be used to produce mild to severe physiological disruption or perceptual distortion or disorientation. In addition, the ability of individuals to function could be degraded to such a point that they would be combat ineffective. Another advantage of electromagnetic systems is that they can provide coverage over large areas with a single system. They are silent and countermeasures to them may be difficult to develop... One last area where electromagnetic radiation may prove of some value is in enhancing abilities of individuals for anomalous phenomena."
Do these comments point to uses already somewhat developed? The author of the government report refers to an earlier Air Force document about the uses of radio frequency radiation in combat situations. (Here Begich and Manning note that HAARP is the most versatile and the largest radio-frequency-radiation transmitter in the world.)
The United States Congressional record deals with the use of HAARP for penetrating the earth with signals bounced off of the ionosphere. These signals are used to look inside the planet to a depth of many kilometers in order to locate underground munitions, minerals and tunnels. The U.S. Senate set aside $15 million dollars in 1996 to develop this ability alone -- earth-penetrating-tomography. The problem is that the frequency needed for earth-penetrating radiation is within the frequency range most cited for disruption of human mental functions. It may also have profound effects on migration patterns of fish and wild animals which rely on an undisturbed energy field to find their routes. As if electromagnetic pulses in the sky and mental disruption were not enough, T. Eastlund bragged that the super-powerful ionospheric heater could control weather.
Begich and Manning brought to light government documents indicating that the military has weather-control technology. When HAARP is eventually built to its full power level, it could create weather effects over entire hemispheres. If one government experiments with the world's weather patterns, what is done in one place will impact everyone else on the planet. Angels Don't Play This HAARP explains a principle behind some of Nikola Tesla's inventions -- resonance -- which affect planetary systems.
David Yarrow of Albany, New York, is a researcher with a background in electronics. He described possible interactions of HAARP radiation with the ionosphere and Earth's magnetic grid: "HAARP will not burn holes in the ionosphere. That is a dangerous understatement of what HAARP's giant gigawatt beam will do. Earth is spinning relative to thin electric shells of the multilayer membrane of ion-o-speres that absorb and shield Earth's surface from intense solar radiation, including charged particle storms in solar winds erupting from the sun. Earth's axial spin means that HAARP -- in a burst lasting more than a few minutes -- will slice through the ionosphere like a microwave knife. This produces not a hole but a long tear -- an incision."
"The image comes to mind of a spider on its web. An insect lands, and the web's vibrations alert the spider to possible prey. HAARP will be a man-made microwave finger poking at the web, sending out confusing signals, if not tearing holes in the threads. "
"Effects of this interference with symphonies of Gaia's geomagnetic harp are unknown, and I suspect barely thought of. Even if thought of, the intent (of HAARP) is to learn to exploit any effects, not to play in tune to global symphonies. "
Among other researchers quoted is Paul Schaefer of Kansas City. His degree is in electrical engineering and he spent four years building nuclear weapons. "But most of the theories that we have been taught by scientists to believe in seem to be falling apart," he says. He talks about imbalances already caused by the industrial and atomic age, especially by radiation of large numbers of tiny, high-velocity particles "like very small spinning tops" into our environment. The unnatural level of motion of highly-energetic particles in the atmosphere and in radiation belts surrounding Earth is the villain in the weather disruptions, according to this model, which describes an Earth discharging its buildup of heat, relieving stress and regaining a balanced condition through earthquakes and volcanic action.
Two Stanford University radio scientists offer evidence of what technology can do to affect the sky by making waves on earth; they showed that very low frequency radio waves can vibrate the magnetosphere and cause high-energy particles to cascade into Earth's atmosphere. By turning the signal on or off, they could stop the flow of energetic particles.
40 Years of Zapping the Sky?
As far back as 1958, the chief White House advisor on weather modification, Captain Howard T. Orville, said the U.S. defense department was studying "ways to manipulate the charges of the earth and sky and so affect the weather" by using an electronic beam to ionize or de-ionize the atmosphere over a given area.
In 1966, Professor Gordon J. F. MacDonald was associate director of the Institute of Geophysics and Planetary Physics at the University of California, Los Angeles, was a member of the President's Science Advisory Committee, and later a member of the President's Council on Environmental Quality.
He published papers on the use of environmental-control technologies for military purposes. MacDonald made a revealing comment: "The key to geophysical warfare is the identification of environmental instabilities to which the addition of a small amount of energy would release vastly greater amounts of energy. " World-recognized scientist MacDonald had a number of ideas for using the environment as a weapon system and he contributed to what was, at the time, the dream of a futurist. When he wrote his chapter, "How To Wreck The Environment," for the book Unless Peace Comes, he was not kidding around. In it he describes the use of weather manipulation, climate modification, polar ice cap melting or destabilization, ozone depletion techniques, earthquake engineering, ocean wave control and brain wave manipulation using the planet's energy fields. He also said that these types of weapons would be developed and, when used, would be virtually undetectable by their victims. Is HAARP that weapon? The military's intention to do environmental engineering is well documented, U.S. Congress' subcommittee hearings on Oceans and International Environment looked into military weather and climate modification conducted in the early 1970's. "What emerged was an awesome picture of far-ranging research and experimentation by the Department of Defense into ways environmental tampering could be used as a weapon," said another author cited in Angles Don't Play This HAARP.
The revealed secrets surprised legislators. Would an inquiry into the state of the art of electromagnetic manipulation surprise lawmakers today? They may find out that technologies developed out of the HAARP experiments in Alaska could deliver on Gordon MacDonald's vision because leading-edge scientists are describing global weather as not only air pressure and thermal systems, but also as an electrical system.
Small Input - Big Effect
Another scientist interviewed said there is a super-powerful electrical connection between the ionosphere and the part of the atmosphere where our weather comes onstage, the lower atmosphere.
One man-made electrical effect -- power line harmonic resonance -- causes fallout of charged particles from the Van Allen (radiation) belts, and the falling ions cause ice crystals (which precipitate rain clouds). What about HAARP? Energy blasted upward from an ionospheric heater is not much compared to the total in the ionosphere, but HAARP documents admit that thousandfold-greater amounts of energy can be released in the ionosphere than injected. As with MacDonald's "key to geophysical warfare," "nonlinear" effects (described in the literature about the ionospheric heater) mean small input and large output. Astrophysicist Adam Trombly told Manning that an acupuncture model is one way to look at the possible effect of multi-gigawatt pulsing of the ionosphere. If HAARP hits certain points, those parts of the ionosphere could react in surprising ways.
Smaller ionospheric heaters such as the one at Arecibo are underneath relatively placid regions of the ionosphere, compared to the dynamic movements nearer Earth's magnetic poles. That adds another uncertainty to HAARP -- the unpredictable and lively upper atmosphere near the North Pole.
HAARP experimenters do not impress commonsense Alaskans such as Barbara Zickuhr, who says "They're like boys playing with a sharp stick, finding a sleeping bear and poking it in the butt to see what's going to happen."
Angels Don't Play This HAARP: Advances in Tesla Technology is about the military's plan to manipulate that which belongs to the world -- the ionosphere. The arrogance of the United States government in this is not without precedent.
Atmospheric nuclear tests had similar goals. More recently, China and France put their people's money to destructive use in underground nuclear tests. It was recently reported that the US government spent $3 trillion dollars on its nuclear program since its beginnings in the 1940's. What new breakthroughs in life science could have been made with all the money spent on death?
Begich, Manning, Roderick and others believe that democracies need to be founded on openness, rather than the secrecy which surrounds so much military science. Knowledge used in developing revolutionary weapons could be used for healing and helping mankind. Because they are used in new weapons, discoveries are classified and suppressed. When they do appear in the work of other independent scientists, the new ideas are often frustrated or ridiculed, while military research laboratories continue to build their new machines for the killing fields.


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|Ossuary 2, kokh 2, extracted from The Jesus Discovery Website
|Ossuary 2, kokh 2, with blue arrow showing narrow gap
|Ossuary 3 (back), ossuary 2 (front right), kokh 2, showing large gap
|Ossuary 2, kokh 2, extracted from The Jesus Discovery Website
|Ossuary 2, kokh 2, with blue arrow showing narrow gap
|Ossuary 3 (back), ossuary 2 (front right), kokh 2, showing large gap
if the bottom photo is one of simcha and tabor's photos (and not one of kloner's), then it certainly appears to have been moved.
the question then becomes how did they move it? did they use the inflatable bladder (or the hook attached to the snake cam) that they promised *not* to use on p. 61 of their book?
i'll likewise examine other anomalies on possible movement between ossuaries 5 and 6 soon.
the greater question becomes thus:
at what point do the numerous problems with the images that have been released become so overwhelming that the credibility of *all* of the images become suspect?
likewise, since film making is all about camera angles, tricking the eye, framing, the dramatic reveal, etc., and cannot be trusted as 'scientific evidence' in any scenario (not just simcha, but film making in general), how can the documentary help their case?
dr. tabor has tried his best to release images in a scholarly fashion. but if the initial exploration was overseen by a film maker for the purposes of making a tv film and not an archaeologist from the outset (seriously, if the snake camera can take digital measurements from a distance, how come something as basic as a single simple measurement of the height, width, and length of the ossuaries has been published?), and if they placed multiple cameras in the tomb (how else does one get a camera shot of a camera coming into a tomb?), then can the credibility of the data be salvaged?
and remember, they *did* make a point on page 61 to state, "even though our license allowed us much more, including physical entry into the tomb if need be," giving them an out if it turns out they did enter the tomb and move things around...
I suspect it is consistent. Looking at the three photos of Kokh 2. (2-4) on the summary image.
2. When you light a photo from the same angle as the camera, the shadows tend to confuse our depth perception, since we expect shadows and occluders to be coincident only when the occluder is near the surface, but this isn't the case if the light is coincidental with the camera axis. Which is why you bounce light at a photo rather than using a flash (take a photo with a point-and-click with flash, of someone 10' from a wall, the image will appear as if they're right in front of the wall).
4. I am comfortable that is is taken with the ossuary in the same place as image 2, since the debris on the floor seems to be the same and in the same place. There is a question about the lower part of the kokh entry on the left, but it is not severe enough to be impossible for it to be accounted for by the change in angle. If the ossuary had been moved by, e.g. a bladder, it would have caused *much* more serious disruption of the ground debris, I'd say. On this image you can see that the kokh widens inside, and there is a significant gap on the left hand side of ossuary 2 once you get in beyond the entry. Also you can see that, to the left of Kokh 2's opening the wall of the tomb protrudes, this protrusion is consistent with what appears to be the edge of the kokh entry in image 2 (e.g. the dark diagonal band in image 2 that appears to end at the edge of the Kokh, can be seen ending at the edge of protrusion in image 4).
3. So, I think it entirely consistent that this image was taken by holding the arm over ossuary 2, at the left hand side of the Kokh, in the gap visible in image 4. The arm didn't need to come in from the side of ossuary 2, if you look at the arm holding the camera, it is articulated at the camera end, so the camera could have come over ossuary two, then be lowered into the gap to take this photo as side-on to ossuary 3 as possible.
From that, I don't see any reason to suspect the ossuaries were lying in a different position for image 3 as for images 2 and 4.
i'm afraid i have to disagree with you on this one (with all due respect to you, as you raise some excellent points about camera angles and lighting.
however, when one looks at this image released by the 'thejesusdiscovery.org' team, you quickly see that there simply is not enough room to get a nearly straight-on shot of the 'mara' inscription, when the drawing indicates that the space is to the right of ossuary 2 w/in the kokh, not the left.
it appears that ossuary 2 was moved to the right to take the image of ossuary 3 needed to get a nearly straight-on picture.
i'm also working on a story offers evidence that ossuary 5 was also moved (very slightly) to improve images of ossuary 6.
again, it is possible that either the camera was used to move the ossuaries, or, that someone working on behalf of the team entered the tomb and maneuvered the ossuaries for better images.
and IF someone has entered the tomb, then all bets are off.
Those were the images I referred to by number in my comment.
The drawing doesn't claim to be to scale or anything more than illustrative (as can be seen at a glance, there are no details of any of the rock structures visible in any of the shots in the diagram) - I took the diagram as being intended to show the coarse layout of the tomb, not the precise geometries of the excavated rock.
Do you think the ossuary had been moved between images 2 and 4? If you think they are in the same place, then let's ignore image 2, because its lighting is totally misdirecting (as can be seen from a comparison with image 4). If you think the move occurred between 2 and 4, can you say on what evidence and by what conceivable mechanism that could leave the fine structure of the rubble around its base intact?
So the question reduces to this: can the gap clearly to be seen in image 4 to the left of the ossuary be big enough to admit the camera head to take image 3? I have yet to see any reason why not. Appealing to the hand-drawn sketch of the tomb layout is rather tendentious.
We could do the analysis more thoroughly, doing a proper lens correction on 2 image 4 to determine the amount of overlap between the ossuaries to determine if 3 is consistent. My guess is that it would show that it is, and I'm loathe to spent a couple of hours doing it, when there's no evidence except the dodgy lighting on image 2 to suggest foul play.
I have no horse in this race. I don't find the claims of the fish, etc, convincing, but that's no reason for any of us to entertain allegations merely because they support our pre-existing antagonism to the debacle.
Or? If a very small lens camera, on the end of a probe, was inserted into a crack? That crack might seem huge.
I love your diligence Mark and your sharp eye. You need to be on our "team." Nothing was moved, not even a centimeter, and of course we did not :"enter" the tomb through the eight inch holes. Ian is precisely correct. It is all a matter of the angle. If you are right in front of that kokh looking straight in you can see Mara perfectly to the left. The map shows things just as they are today.
This photo might work that way, but how was fig. 18 in your b&i article taken -- which shows the whole width of the ossuary -- without movement?
You guys are proving you know very little of the "perspective" thing you have posted you videos on all over the internet...no offense here, but these examples are prime #A1. ALL of these photos are untouched, nothing was moved, they were all taken from various angles with the robotic arm...I am not expert here but I was there, or Rami, and I have no secret, unfortunately for shrinking myself into an 8-inch hole or I would be "selling" something else--tell Joe, no need anymore for books and "archaeology." And that kitchen floor, let's see, did you see our maps or diagrams, or read my book, 30 ft above the tomb, yea that would work...just tear out a hole big enough for a little guy like me to knock through three apartment floors below plus the basement and I am sure no one would notice--hey they were sleeping maybe...
Okay, it is 2:28AM in Israel and I have jet lag, sorry, no dedication to Mark's blog implied, but one more point. When you see the film on Thursday I think you will see ALL of these angles and everything will be clear...In other words, these are all stills of the running camera as it moved about...


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Enhancer Software 1.4
|The Enhancer Software is a collection of utilities, commodities, classes, datatypes and libraries with the aim of enhancing the AmigaOS experience.
It is distibuted both as a digital download from AMIStore App Store and as a boxed CD.
Version 1.4 released on 9th September 2018 for OS4 platform.
It was succeeded by Version 1.5 of the Enhancer Software when released on 30th June 2019.
These components which are installed across the system as follows:
Classes and Gadgets:
Please read these important notes before installing the Enhancer Software on your hard disk drive.
To install the Enhancer Software to your system, please double click the Install_Enhancer_Software icon as shown below:
The End-User Licence Agreement will be displayed which needs to be reviewed. If you agree to the terms, then click the Agree button to continue to the main Installation of the software.
The Installation will then ask you if you wish to backup any files that could be overwritten by the Enhancer Software Installation process. It is recommended that you select Yes. If you do this, once you press Proceed button, you will then be asked the location to store on your hard disk where the files will be backed up to.
There are two icon drawer sets available to install for selected Utilities and Commodities. The standard blue icon set mimics the default look of OS4.1 drawers. Alternatively the black icon set introduces the new icon style that the Enhancer Software uses. The installation process will prompt you to choose the icon set you want to use.
The components of the Enhancer Software sections are installed in this order:
1. Datatypes:
Info Datatype LogFile Datatype MPEGA Datatype MOD Datatype SimpleHTML Datatype Sound Datatype WAV Datatype
2. Gadgets and Classes:
Anim Gadget Class Clock Gadget Class DateSheet Gadget Class InfoWindow Class ListViewer Gadget Class MediaDeck Gadget Class OptionButton Gadget Class PieChart Gadget Class ProgressBar Gadget Class Select Gadget Class SliderBar Gadget Class Shared Image Class Thumblist Gadget Class TickBox Gadget Class Time Gadget
3. System:
AmiSphereServer Format NotificationServer Updater
4. Utilities:
AmiDVD AmiPDF Calendar CANDI and CANDI Preferences ¹ Clock InfoWindow MultiEdit ¹ MultiViewer ¹ PartitionWizard TuneNet X-Dock
5. Commodities:
ClipViewer ¹ Exchanger ¹
6. Libraries
Codesets Expat EXIF Filesysbox Geocode OpenGL ES 2.0 Warp3D Nova Zip Z
7. Kickstart:
Diskcache Library RadeonHD v2 SmartFileSystem 2
8. CLI Commands and Tools:
RequestChooser SystemReboot
9. Preferences
Notifications Preferences Sound Preferences Time Preferences
A1222 Ethernet Driver HDAudio Sound Driver PTP USB Driver SSH2-Handler USBADM8511 Ethernet Driver X5000 Ethernet Driver
¹ Some components from the Enhancer Software will install the image data they require for their User Interface in the Prefs/Presets drawer of your system partition. it is recommended not to change this, however, some more experienced users may want to install this data in an alternative location on their hard disks. If this is the case, you can change the default location from Presets to another bespoke location on your hard disk drive.
|Gadgets and Classes
The majority of content in the Enhancer Software requires the gadgets and classes that are supplied and will not operate correctly without these being installed.
By default, all documentation for the components of the Enhancer Software are stored in the Documentation drawer of your system partition. There are options to install the documentation to an alternative location of your choice.
|Software Development Kit (SDK)
If you are a developer and have the SDK installed on your system, then any components with SDK files available can be optionally installed.
|Catalog Language Files
A lot of the Enhancer Software components have support for various languages. These Catalog files can be optionally installed wherever available.
For both the SDK and Catalog language files, there is an option to skip the prompt and let the installer automatically remember your choices. The first time the SDK or Catalog Language files prompt appears, a requester window will ask if you wish to apply the installation choice to every supported component in the Enhancer Software. Click the Apply To All button to do this. Alternatively if you wish to continue to receive prompts, then click the Always Prompt button.
At the end of the installation, a message will report how many installed components need a "soft" or "hard" reboot of your system. The installed components that require a "soft" reboot either start from the WBStartUp or require an assign in your system's s/user-startup file. The components that require a "hard" reboot may need adding to the system's Kickstart/Kicklayout file and are activated during the initialisation of the Kickstart.
Register and download updates
In between Enhancer Software releases, individual updated files are available to download through the Updater tool. In order to access these files, users will need to open an AmiSphere account and register the Enhancer Software product key code against this AmiSphere account.
AmiSphere account registration
Enhancer Software product registration
An official discussion and support forum is available for end users. Please refer to the following link:


text:
Google is adding badges that certify the identity of users of its Google+ social networking site, starting with public figures and with people who have been added by many as contacts.
Later on, the verification badges will be available to a bigger scope of users who aren't famous or broadly popular on the site, Google official Wen-Ai Yu said in a Google+ post.
For now the main goal is to inform users which is the official profile of a singer, actor, politician, public figure or popular Google+ account holder they may want to add to their Google+ Circles to follow their public posts.
"When you visit the profile of a celebrity or public figure, you'll see a verification badge next to their profile name. This will help you easily determine which profiles are owned by real, verified people," she wrote.
Verified Google+ accounts will feature a gray checkmark inside a lighter-gray circle next to the person's profile name. It's not clear from Yu's post how many "followers" a Google+ user needs to have to qualify as someone whose account merits having a verification badge.
Other social media sites feature verified accounts, including Twitter, which is used by many public figures to communicate with their fans.
Google is pushing a policy for its users to identify themselves with their real names on Google+, a principle that has worked well for Facebook, helping it create and foster a more trustworthy environment than exists on other social sites where people use pseudonyms.
Facebook's real-name environment is credited as one of the main reasons why it dethroned MySpace as the world's most popular social networking site.
However, Google faced criticism a few weeks ago when it started aggressively enforcing the real-names policy by deleting many accounts it determined to be in non-compliance.
In response to the complaints, Google said it would modify its notification process to potentially non-compliant users by giving them a chance to fix the violations and appeal instead of deleting their profiles first.
Still, some people argue that Google should reconsider the real-names policy, saying that in some cases it's justified for people to use pseudonyms to protect their privacy and security, as in the case of political dissidents and victims of spousal abuse.
Google+, launched in late June, has an estimated 25 million account holders, but it is still in limited beta. To join Google+, people have to receive an invitation from Google or from an existing member.


text:
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|Top of Notices (137) December 31, 2013
|Print This Notice 1397 CNOG 453
|General Information
|Referenced Items (113, 114, 115, 116, 117, 118, 119, 120, 121, 122, 123, 124, 125, 126, 127, 128, 129, 130, 131, 132, 133, 134, 135, 136, 137)
(137) Animals - Patentability A decision by the Board of Patent Appeals and Interferences in Ex parte Allen, USPQ (Bd. App. & Int. April 3, 1987), held that claimed polyploid oysters are nonnaturally occurring manufactures or compositions of matter within the meaning of 35 U.S.C. 101. The Board relied upon the opinion of the Supreme Court in Diamond v. Chakrabarty, 447 U.S. 303, 206 USPQ 193 (1980) as it had done in Ex parte Hibberd, 227 USPQ 443 (Bd. App. & Int., 1985), as controlling authority that Congress intended statutory subject matter to "include anything under the sun that is made by man." The Patent and Trademark Office now considers nonnaturally occurring non-human multicellular living organisms, including animals, to be patentable subject matter within the scope of 35 U.S.C. 101. The Board's decision does not affect the principle and practice that products found in nature will not be considered to be patentable subject matter under 35 U.S.C. 101 and/or 102. An article of manufacture or composition of matter occurring in nature will not be considered patentable unless given a new form, quality, properties or combination not present in the original article existing in nature in accordance with existing law. See e.g. Funk Bros. Seed Co. v. Kalo Inoculant Co., 333 U.S. 127, 76 USPQ 280 (1948); American Fruit Growers v. Brogdex, 283 U.S. 1, 8 USPQ 131 (1931); Ex parte Grayson, 51 USPQ 413 (Bd. App. 1941). A claim directed to or including within its scope a human being will not be considered to be patentable subject matter under 35 U.S.C. 101. The grant of a limited, but exclusive property right in a human being is prohibited by the Constitution. Acordingly, it is suggested that any claim directed to a non-plant multicellular organism which would include a human being within its scope include the limitation "non-human" to avoid this ground of rejection. The use of a negative limitation to define the metes and bounds of the claimed subject matter is a permissable form of expression. In re Wakefield, 422 F.2d 897, 164 USPQ 636 (CCPA 1970). Accordingly, the Patent and Trademark Office is now examining claims directed to multicellular living organisms, including animals. To the extent that the claimed subject matter is directed to a non-human "nonnaturally occurring manufacture or composition of matter - a product of human ingenuity" (Diamond v. Chakrabarty), such claims will not be rejected under 35 U.S.C. 101 as being directed to nonstatutory subject matter. April 7, 1987 DONALD J. QUIGG Assistant Secretary and Commissioner of Patents and Trademarks [1077 OG 24]


text:
As long as I've been here (nearly two decades), we've never had a contest to name a ride.
Until now.
The cute (and colorful!) ride we're adding to Rudolph's Reindeer Ranch seemed like the right time to try one out.
Alrighty then. Please take a look and then read on for a few rules plus the deadline.
To begin with … our working name is Santa's Sleigh Ride. It's sort of grown on us, so you've got your work cut out for you to be exceptionally clever! (And yes, we reserve the right to use our name, so please don't get mad if that's how this ends up. And please don't suggest it, either…)
- All entries must be sent to this email address no later than 10 am CDT on Friday, October 15, 2010.
- More than one entry is allowed, but please don't go overboard.
- To enter, you must be 18 years or older. (A parent may enter on behalf of a child.)
- The winner will be announced next week. The prize is four one-day tickets for the 2011 season. Judges' decision is final. Only one winner will be chosen, since we only need one name.
- Employees of Holiday World & Splashin' Safari and their immediate family members are not eligible to win, so please don't enter.
- If we receive more than one entry suggesting the same name (and choose that name), the entry received first (as time-stamped on the entry email) will win.
- Need more info about the ride? There's a webpage for that.
Good luck!


text:
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County Departments F-M
Facility Services
Report Missing or Damaged Signs
Report Missing or Damaged Signs
Road Sign Vandalism & Theft
The Iredell County Facility Services Division is responsible for the upkeep and maintenance of all Road Name Signs in Iredell County, excluding those in the city limits. Each year, hundreds of road signs must be repaired or replaced due to vandalism and theft. This is a crime that should be taken seriously.
What may seem like harmless fun is actually a destruction that costs tax payers thousands of dollars each year. For each road sign that is stolen or vandalized, taxpayers will pay an estimated $200 to replace that sign. This includes the signage, brackets, posts, labor, and other materials used to secure the blades. In the year 2010, 218 signs were either repaired or replaced.
Report Theft & Vandalism
Road sign theft and vandalism can be prevented. If you see anyone vandalizing or removing a road sign, please call the Iredell County Sheriff's Office at 704-878-3180. You can submit an
online form
to report missing or damaged signs. If you have any questions and would like more information, call the Facility Services office at 704-878-3102.
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text:
Reclusive North Korea is to cut the last channel of communications with the South because war could break out at "any moment", it said on Wednesday, days after warning the United States and South Korea of nuclear attack.
The move is the latest in a series of bellicose threats from North Korea in response to new UN sanctions imposed after its third nuclear test in February and to "hostile" military drills under way joining the United States and South Korea.
Related stories:
- North Korea defies international sanctions
- UN approves new sanctions against North Korea
- US to bolster missile defenses to counter N.Korea threat
The North has already stopped responding to calls on the hotline to the US military that supervises the heavily armed Demilitarized Zone (DMZ) and the Red Cross line that has been used by the governments of both sides.
"Under the situation where a war may break out at any moment, there is no need to keep north-south military communications which were laid between the militaries of both sides," the North's KCNA news agency quoted a military spokesman as saying.
"There do not exist any dialogue channel and communications means between the DPRK and the US and between the north and the south."
Despite the shrill rhetoric, few believe North Korea, formally known as the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK), will risk starting a full-out war.
North and South Korea are still technically at war anyway after their 1950-53 civil conflict ended with an armistice, not a treaty, which the North says it has since torn to pieces.
The "dialogue channel" is used on a daily basis to process South Koreans who work in the Kaesong industrial project where 123 South Korean firms employ more than 50,000 North Koreans to make household goods.
About 120 South Koreans are stationed at Kaesong at any one time on average.
It is the last remaining joint project in operation between the two Koreas after South Korea cut off most aid and trade in response to Pyongyang's shooting of a South Korean tourist and the sinking of a South Korean naval vessel blamed on the North.
Kaesong is one of North Korea's few hard currency earners, producing $2 billion a year in trade with the South, and Pyongyang is unlikely to close it except as a last resort.
The North's military spokesman representing its "supreme command" did not mention Kaesong, which has suffered temporary shutdowns before.
The South's government said it would take steps to ensure the safety of the workers at Kaesong. It did not elaborate.
- Receive Ynetnews updates
directly to your desktop


text:
Nutritionist and metabolism whisperer Haylie Pomroy goes mobile and adds another tool to her successful program that streamlines weight loss and kick starts metabolisms. The Fast Metabolism Diet App 1.0 coordinates with the 28-day weight loss program championed by Pomroy, a celebrity nutritionist revolutionizing the way people think about the word "diet." Pomroy's strategic system encourages a dramatic weight loss without counting calories, carbohydrates or fat grams.
New York City, New York – Today, Random House Digital and Harmony Books released "The Fast Metabolism Diet App," a companion iOS app for the book, "The Fast Metabolism Diet" by Haylie Pomroy. The Fast Metabolism Diet App coordinates with the 28-day weight loss program championed by Pomroy, a celebrity nutritionist revolutionizing the way people think about the word "diet."
Pomroy's strategic system encourages a dramatic weight loss without counting calories, carbohydrates or fat grams. She says this about her program: "On the 28-day diet, we use specific whole, delicious foods eaten on strategic days to repair the metabolism. By rotating the types of nutrients you're getting,
we can get your body burning fat like never before."
The app gives dieters the tools they need to put the book's plan into action. The Meal Planner helps users plan their day and customize the diet to their tastes and busy schedules. A dashboard offers a day-at-a-glance view so users can check off what they ate and track their water intake throughout the day. Push notifications help keep users on track by pinging reminders for an upcoming meal or snack. A master food list makes it easy to stick to the diet while dining out or grocery shopping.
Other features include:
* Complete lists for all the foods and ingredients allowed in each phase of the diet
* "My Day" tracker with upcoming meals and activities
* Interactive water tracker
* Email grocery lists to print or share
* Export your meal data for your records or for future use
* Daily tips and advice from Haylie
Device Requirements:
* iPhone 3GS, 4, 4S, iPhone 5, iPod touch and iPad
* Requires iOS 5.0 or later
Pricing and Availability:
The Fast Metabolism Diet App 1.0 is $1.99 USD (or equivalent amount in other currencies) and available exclusively through the US and Canadian App Store in the Health & Fitness category.
The Fast Metabolism Diet App 1.0
Purchase and Download
App Icon
About Haylie Pomroy
With clinics in Beverly Hills, Burbank, Irvine and Fort Collins, nutritionist Haylie Pomroy is highly regarded in Hollywood and in the medical community for her ability to effect rapid, healthy weight loss. Her impressive client list includes celebrities such as Jennifer Lopez, Raquel Welch, Reese Witherspoon, Robert Downey Jr. and Cher.
About Harmony Books
Harmony Books is dedicated to helping readers achieve personal transformation and well-being in all facets of their lives. Publishing books that offer unique approaches to health, relationships, self-improvement, and spirituality, Harmony guides readers to become their best selves both inside and out. Harmony Books is an imprint of the Crown Publishing Group at Random House, Inc. Copyright (C) 2013 Random House, Inc. All Rights Reserved. Apple, the Apple logo, iPhone, iPod and iPad are registered trademarks of Apple Inc. in the U.S. and/or other countries. Other trademarks and registered trademarks may be the property of their respective owners.
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text:
Nenagh Library Scrabble Club
December 8 @ 10:30 am - 12:30 pm
|Recurring Event (See all)
An event every week that begins at 10:30 am on Friday, repeating indefinitely
Scrabble Club is back on in #Nenagh Library every Friday from10.30am to 12.30pm.
Learn how to play scrabble, have fun, tea and chat. All are welcome.


text:
Press release from UNC Asheville, shared Feb. 3:
ASHEVILLE — UNC Asheville's board of trustees began the process Monday of searching for the university's seventh chancellor by appointing a search committee composed of representatives of the university's board of trustees, faculty, students, staff, alumni, and members of the community.
The search follows the announcement last month by Anne Ponder, UNC Asheville's sixth chancellor, that she plans to retire effective July 31, 2014. Ponder has served since Oct. 1, 2005.
UNC Asheville's board of trustees, led by Chair N. King Prather, held a special meeting Monday and approved the slate of people nominated to the search committee.
"This is a diverse, very well-qualified committee," Prather said. "There is so much interest in the ongoing success of UNC Asheville, not just on campus, but in Asheville and beyond. We are honored that the mayor of Asheville, Esther Manheimer, and Rick Lutovsky, who headed the Asheville Area Chamber of Commerce, will serve on the committee. We'll also have town hall meetings to get everyone's thoughts on the qualities we should be looking for. We'll have an inclusive, and I believe successful, search."
The members of the search committee are:
- N. King Prather (search committee co-chair), chair, UNC Asheville board of trustees
- Douglas Orr (search committee co-chair), vice chair, UNC Asheville board of trustees
- Michael Andry, chair, UNC Asheville Foundation board of directors
- Tiffany Armstrong, chair, National Alumni Council
- Robert Bowen, associate professor of drama
- Kennon Briggs, UNC Asheville board of trustees
- Suzanne Bryson, associate vice chancellor for finance
- Brian Butler, Thomas Howerton Distinguished Professor of Humanities and professor of philosophy
- Erin Hill, president, Black Student Association
- Melissa Himelein, professor of psychology and director of the Center for Teaching and Learning
- Herman Holt, chair of chemistry, associate professor
- Rick Lutovsky, retired president, Asheville Area Chamber of Commerce
- Esther Manheimer, mayor of Asheville
- Mary Lynn Manns, professor of management
- John Noor, National Alumni Council
- Pat Smith, UNC Asheville board of trustees
- Virgil Smith, UNC Asheville board of trustees
- Cissie Stevens, UNC Asheville board of trustees
- Robert Straub, chair, Chancellor's Staff Advisory Committee
- Leigh Whittaker, president, Student Government Association
The search committee's role is to recommend final candidates for chancellor to the UNC Asheville board of trustees, who will in turn recommend at least two candidates to UNC system President Tom Ross, who will forward his nomination to the UNC system board of governors. The committee will hold its first meeting on Feb. 14, when President Ross will officially charge the committee with their task and also hear presentations from executive search consulting firms so it can choose one to assist throughout the search process.
For more information on the process of selecting UNC Asheville's seventh chancellor, with updates about opportunities for public involvement in that process, visit http://unca.edu/chancellorsearch.


text: Most of the dolphins I see are very animated, Sea World type flips like CBSCREBY mentioned. The ones that hang around the inlet I frequent do surf the waves, actually got "cut off" by one for the first time a couple months ago. It was a smaller juvenile, which means it probably learned it's bad manners from hanging out with too many WB groms.


text:
Oh dear: Benedict Cumberbatch, surrounded by redshirts. This certainly won't end well. Entertainment Weekly has released a new batch of Star Trek: Into Darkness photos from their Trek-centric issue. So far, it looks like more of the same shiny screens and copious lens flare. But one thing that does look different is Zoë Saldana's new suit. Could this be the protective gear we saw Lt. Uhura and Spock donning in the 9 minute preview? Perhaps, but either way we can't wait to see Cumberbatch covered in the blood of a thousand red shirts.
Meet Microsoft's New Surface Laptops
Star Trek Into Darkness will premiere on May 17th.
[via EW]


text: Len and Fernando Len Rieser and Fernando Chang-Muy, both attorneys, have been together for 33 years. Their daughter Isabel came to them in 1992, at the tender age of 10 months. Joint adoptions were not available in Pennsylvania at that time, so Len adopted her first. A year later, laws had changed and Fernando was able to adopt her as well, coincidentally, with the same judge and on the same date, February 17th, as their first adoption. Isa, as she is called, is African-American and is from Texas. Fernando is Chinese-Cuban, born in Cuba. Len is from Vermont and the whole family now resides in Philadelphia. "We are, as a family, a real mix," said Len. "That, among many other things, has made it an interesting and wonderful, if sometimes complicated, experience." Isa, I has been very accepting of her two-dad family, even though it has not always been easy for her. She has also helped many of her friends work through questions of sexual orientation. She understands their struggles. "Isa is a terrific singer with an affinity for Broadway musicals and much more," said Len. He continued to boast, "She hears a song for the first time and somehow, by the end of it, knows all of the words and most of the tune. We have spent a lot of time at the piano." I have had the good fortune to photograph this family three times. I first noticed them at an Equality Forum rally in 2004 and took some photos as they spoke from the stage in support of LGBTQ rights. When the Human Rights Campaign asked me to do a photo shoot of diverse LGBTQ families, I gave them a call. Isa was about 12 years old. At the time of our most recent shoot, she had just turned 18 and had just graduated from high school. She had grown into quite a beautiful young woman and was, once again, by the sides of her Dads, showing the world that a loving family is not formed from a single, stereotypical mold.


text: The Dalai Lama serves as a living symbol of holiness and selfless triumph over tribulation for people of all religious traditions-as well as those with no religious affiliation at all. This collection of daily quotations drawn from His Holiness's own writings, teachings, and interviews offers words of guidance, compassion, and peace that are as down to earth as they are rich in spirit. Suffused with endearing informality, warmth, and practicality, they cover almost every aspect of human life, secular and religious--from loneliness, suffering, anger, and everyday insecurities to happiness, intimacy, and responsibility to others. With a special foreword by His Holiness on the power of meditation and personal responsibility, The Path to Tranquility is a fresh and accessible spiritual treasure to return to day after day, year after year.


text:
COM Archival Materials
Date of this Version
Document Type
Health and Medical Administration | Higher Education Administration | Other History
Recommended Citation
Martini, Carlos, "Bachelor in Sciences / Bachelor in Medicine Program draft" (2003). COM Archival Materials. 754.
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