text:
Prof Michel Chossudovsky
The 2012 Mayan Prophecy has been readily distorted and misunderstood. The End of the Mayan Calendar on December 21, 2012 has nothing to do with the "End of the World".
In fact, the Mayan calendar does not end on December 21st, 2012. Rather December 21 marks the beginning of a new "Long Cycle" in the Mayan calendar system. (See Washington's Blog, End of the World: Hear the 2012 Prophecy … Direct from the Mouths of the Mayan Priests, Global Research, December 13, 2012)
The End of the World concept is a falsehood and misinterpretation of Mayan thought. What is at stake is a renewal, the unfolding of a new era. For the Mayans, December 21, 2012 marks the beginning of a new long cycle (Ibid).
Meanwhile, "End of the World" stories and commentary are plastered on the news tabloids. While the Western media readily refutes the Mayan prophesy, the apocalypse narrative, when repeated ad nauseam, serves as a distraction and distortion.
A Reuters-Ispos poll conducted last May confirms that 10% of the World's population believe that: "The Mayan calendar, which some say 'ends' in 2012, marks the end of the world".
Ironically, in sharp contrast to the Mayan prophesy of "renewal, the real World we live in at the outset of the 21st Century is marked by a formidable economic and social crisis which is impoverishing millions of people, literally destroying people's lives.
In the figurative sense, we are in the midst of an unfolding "doomsday scenario" of a complex political, social and economic nature: it's man made, it's "Made in America"; it is the consequence of the fracture of the judicial system, the evolving Homeland Security apparatus, the fraudulent deregulation of financial markets, the mismanagement of the real economy.
These fundamental shifts in America's institutional and social fabric are coupled with a far-reaching global military agenda and a self-serving US foreign policy. The latter under the helm of Secretary Hillary Clinton points towards potential a breakdown of the channels of international diplomacy.
War and the Economic Crisis are intimately related. While the global economy is in a state of chaos, marked by the collapse of productive systems, the US and its allies –including NATO and Israel– have embarked upon a military adventure, "a long war" under the disguise of a "global war on terrorism".
The Pentagon's global military design is one of world conquest. The military deployment of US-NATO forces is occurring in several regions of the world simultaneously. Pentagon war games routinely focus on simulating World War III scenarios. This "End of the World" military agenda potentially threatens the future of humanity.
Media Disinformation
While World public attention is riveted on the "Mayan apocalypse", the "Real Crisis" which is affecting humanity is not an object of serious debate. The Pentagon's "long war" combined with a murky scenario of global impoverishment and economic breakdown is not front page news.
The corporate media plays a central role in providing legitimacy to a destructive military agenda. The US-NATO weapons arsenal and military deployment in all regions of the World are routinely portrayed as instruments of peace. America's new generation of tactical nuclear weapons are said to be "harmless to the surrounding civilian population". Pre-emptive nuclear war, which constitutes a de facto doomsday scenario, is portrayed as a "humanitarian undertaking".
Central to an understanding of war is the media campaign which grants it legitimacy in the eyes of public opinion.
A good versus evil dichotomy prevails.
The perpetrators of war are presented as the victims.
According to the Western media, America and NATO's "Atlantic area" were attacked by a "foreign power" [Afghanistan] on September 11, 2001: an a absurd proposition.
NATO's doctrine of collective security, based on the concept of "self defense" was invoked by the Atlantic Council on the morning of September 12, 2001 as a justification to bomb and invade Afghanistan, because Afghanistan had allegedly attacked America.
Meanwhile, the media stands mum: no analysis, no debate. Public opinion is misled.
Breaking the "big lie", which upholds war as a humanitarian undertaking, means breaking the propaganda apparatus, which sustains a criminal project of global destruction.
War propaganda not only sustains a profit-driven military agenda, it creates in the inner consciousness of millions of people the acceptance of war as a societal project. It literally stamps out and excludes from the human mindset fundamental human values of peace, compassion and social justice. It transforms people into unconscious zombies.
The corporate media is involved in acts of camouflage. The devastating impacts of a nuclear war are either trivialized or not mentioned. Against this backdrop, people across the land, nationally and internationally, should understand the gravity of the present situation and act forcefully at all levels of society to reverse the tide of war.
Strong "Economic Medicine"
The conduct of global warfare is accompanied by process of Worldwide macroeconomic restructuring. Throughout the World strong "economic medicine" is imposed.
People are led to believe that austerity is the "solution" to crisis when it is in fact the "cause" of economic collapse. In the 1980s and 1990s, the IMF "Structural Adjustment Program" (SAP) was imposed on the Third World, Eastern Europe, the Balkans and the countries of the former Soviet block. In all these countries, the standard of living plummeted, State social programs were phased out or privatised.
In North America and the European Union, the social crisis has been is marked by the weakening or outright disintegration of Medicare, Social Security and public education. The civilian economy is in crisis. Tax revenues are reallocated to building a formidable war economy at the expense of social services. Fiscal collapse is the inevitable outcome. State budgets are dictated by the creditor banks, which increasingly decide on the fate of millions of people.
Across America, millions of households have lost their homes. Small businesses are driven into bankruptcy. What remains of social security and Medicare is slated to be scrapped. The only sectors of the US economy which are booming are the luxury goods sector geared to the "One Percent" and the state of the art weapons industry, largely composed of the defence conglomerates including Lockheed Martin, Raytheon, Northrop Grumman, British Aerospace et al.
Tax Dollars used to Wage Wars and Kill People
The war economy is booming, F35 fighter jets are to be sold at half a billion dollars a piece. Not included in this price is another 300 million dollars of related maintenance and upkeep of these state of of the art fighter jets. Canada and Norway be acquiring a large number of these planes at the expense of their social programs. "The overall cost of the program to the US military is estimated at a staggering $1.51 trillion over the so called life cycle of the program, namely $618 million per plane. (Shalal-Esa, Andrea. Government sees lifetime cost of F-35 fighter at $1.51 trillion., Chicago Tribune, April 2, 2012).
War and Globalization
War and globalization including the imposition of deadly austerity measures are intimately related. Global Warfare is good for business. It feeds billions of dollars into what Dwight D. Eisenhower call the "Military Industrial Complex". The fanciful headlines regarding the upcoming Apocalypse serve to overshadow the grim realities of the US-NATO led wars.
Several new weapons systems have been introduced in the course of the post Cold war era. The emphasis is on unconventional warfare.
- Unmanned warfare, killing from a computer screen,
- environmental modification techniques including climatic warfare,
- a new generation of nuclear weapons made in America, not to mention the use of depleted uranium ammunition which causes cancer.
The backdrop is a culture of violence in Hollywood where war, police brutality, torture and extrajudicial killings are the "new normal";
Meanwhile the Fukushima disaster is a nuclear war without a war, conducive to massive contamination and radiation, the consequences of which are still to be fully assessed.
Who are the main actors behind the US led war?
- The military industrial complex also described as the defence contractors, including the mercenary and security outfits on contract to the US Department of Defense (DoD)
- the Wall Street financial establishment including the institutional speculators and the hedge funds,
- the biotech conglomerates, agribusiness and big Pharma, which produce genetically modified seeds, chemical and biological weapons. This sector overlaps with the military industrial complex,
- the Anglo-American oil conglomerates and energy companies,
- the communications giants overlapping with the military and intelligence apparatus, including surveillance and police state technology,
- The media conglomerates which constitute the cornerstone of the US imperial propaganda.
Wars on the Pentagon Drawing Board
Active war preparations against Syria, Lebanon and Iran have been ongoing for the last eight years.
Since 2005, the US and its allies, including America's NATO partners and Israel, have been involved in the extensive deployment and stockpiling of advanced weapons systems.
Public opinion, swayed by media hype is tacitly supportive, indifferent or ignorant as to the likely impacts of what is upheld as an ad hoc "punitive" operation directed against Iran's nuclear facilities rather than an all out war.
The war on Iran is presented to public opinion as an issue among others. It is not viewed as a threat to humanity, as a doomsday scenario. Quite the opposite: it is viewed as a humanitarian endeavor which contributes to enhancing an illusive concept of global security.
The "End of the World" is an ongoing man made process. What we are witnessing in the 21st Century is the outright destruction of entire countries.
Erasing the Achievements of Post War Economic and Social Development. Dismantling the Welfare State
The European Union –which had reached a high level of economic and social development– is now beset with mass unemployment and the dismantling of the post World War II Welfare State. The governments of sovereign countries are controlled by a shadow financial establishment.
Almost one quarter of Europe's young people are without work, with the highest youth jobless rate (52.1 percent) recorded in Greece and Spain.
In Greece and Spain, the overall unemployment rates now stand at the record levels of 21.9 percent and 24.6 percent, respectively. In both countries unemployment has risen sharply in the past year. In May 2011, unemployment stood at 20.9 percent in Spain and 15.7 percent in Greece. (See Christoph Dreier, Record Unemployment in Euro Zone, Global Research, July 03, 2012 World Socialist Web Site 3 July 2012, http://www.globalresearch.ca/record-unemployment-in-euro-zone/31740)
At the height of the great depression of the 21st century, economic chaos prevails, the possibility of financial breakdown can not be dismissed.
Criminalization of the Banking System
Known and documented, the mega-banks which oversee the economic restructuring of the European and North American economies are routinely involved in money laundering and the drug trade. Pervasive links to organized crime have been established. The banks work hand in glove with the drug cartels.
HSBC was sued for collaborating with the Mexican drug. This is not an isolated event. All major financial institutions are involved in the laundering of drug money.
And lest we forget, the drug economy is part of a long history of international trade. The Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Corporation founded in 1865 in the British colony of Hong Kong was an offshoot of the British East India company (BEIC). Starting in the late 18th century, protected by the British Empire, the BEIC was involved in the lucrative opium trade. Produced in Bengal and then shipped to China, the revenues were used to finance Britain's imperial expansion.
When the Chinese imperial government ordered the opium to be destroyed in 1839, Britain declared war on China, initiating what was called the "first opium war". Britain's casus belli was that China –by destroying the opium– had violated the tenets of 19th Century "free trade".
The HSBV is no exception. Today, corporate capital continues to protect the drug trade and the most respected banking institutions annually launder billions of narco-dollars. It is worth noting that since 2001, Afghanistan's war shattered economy supplies more than 90 percent of the World's heroin. The highly lucrative drug trade out of Afghanistan is protected by the US-NATO occupation forces on behalf of powerful financial interests: a multibillion dollar bonanza for the banks and the criminal syndicates involved in the Golden Crescent drug trade. The resulting flow of narco-dollars is largely laundered in the Western banking system.
SOURCE: Washington's Blog, Are American Troops Protecting Afghan Opium? U.S. Troops Patrolling Poppy Fields In Afghanistan (Photos) Global Research, October 28, 2012
Destroying Civilization: Mesopotamia and the Indus Valley
America's wars in the Middle East and Central Asia have largely been conducive to the destabilization and decline of an entire region, considered by historians to be the cradle of civilization.
The "doomsday" wars on Iraq and more recently Syria are instrumental in the destruction of Mesopotamia, the "Land of two Rivers".
More than 5000 years of history are erased. In Iraq. At the very outset of the occupation in April 2003, the cultural and archaeological heritage was looted by the invaders.
America's unmanned drone attacks against civilians in Pakistan under the mandate of the "Global War on Terrorism" occur in the upper Indus Valley, another cradle of ancient civilization going back to the Bronze Age (Third Millennium BC) , which is currently being destroyed. The Indus Valley Civilization also known as the Harappan civilization, started in the third millennium BC (3300–1300 BC). Together with the Nile Valley and Mesopotamia, the Indus Valley was one of the first urban river civilizations.
The "collateral casualties" resulting from the drone attacks are "nothing more than a euphemism for state-sponsored mass murder."
The recipients of these profit driven wars are the Anglo-American oil giants and the weapons conglomerates, the so-called "defence contractors" (Lockheed Martin, Raytheon, Northrop Grumman, British Aerospace, etc) which produce the humanitarian missiles and fighter planes for the US-NATO war machine. The latter includes a new generation of nuclear weapons.
The technology and sophistication of this military hardware at the height of the electronic age have expanded beyond bounds. In a bitter irony, these "weapons of peace" are used to ensure that Iran and Syria do not use their alleged WMDs against the Western World.
The Role of Al Qaeda
US led wars are geared towards in fomenting ethnic and factional divisions as well as supporting, through covert operations the formation of "Islamist" terrorist paramilitary organizations. These covert operations are essentially intended to destroy the nation state and install a puppet regime.
Over the past 30 years, US intelligence in partnership with Britain's MI6 and Israel's Mossad, have supported the creation of Al Qaeda as well as a number of "Al Qaeda affiliated" organizations. These terrorist entities are "intelligence assets", namely instruments of Western intelligence.
Today, the jihadists freedom fighters are recruited by NATO. In Libya and in Syria, these Al Qaeda affiliated entities, supported and integrated by French and British special forces, act on behalf of the Western military alliance. They are NATO's foot-soldiers.
The Plight of Genetically Engineered Seeds (GMO)
In India, the Ganges which floods the fertile plains of Uttar Pradesh, Bihar and West Bengal, thousands of bankrupt and impoverished farmers are committing suicide. The figures confirm that 250,000 farmers have committed suicide. Why? Because the organic seeds are being replaced by genetically modified varieties, which once adopted leads not only to the destruction of biodiversity but also to the demise of entire farming communities:
Monsanto offered its GM seeds to the farmers of India with hopes of reaping plentiful crops. Plain and mostly uneducated farmers thought Monsanto had come to provide a "magic" formula that would transform their lives. They had no idea what was coming.
Monsanto's seeds in India did not produce what the company had promised and farmers hoped. The expensive seeds piled up debts and destroyed farming fields. In many instances, the crops simply failed to materialize. The farmers were not aware that the GM seeds required more water than the traditional seeds. And lack of rain in many parts of India exacerbated the crop failure.
With no harvest, the farmers could not pay back the lenders. Burdened with debts and humiliation, the farmers simply took their own lives, some by swallowing poisonous pesticides in front of their families. To date, an estimated 200,000 farmers have committed suicide all over India.
To add to the misery, wives inherited the debts along with the fear of losing their homes and lands. With no money coming in, they also had to pull their kids from the schools. The mass suicide among the Indian farmers is known as the "GM genocide." (KILLER SEEDS: The Devastating Impacts of Monsanto's Genetically Modified Seeds in India By Iqbal Ahmed. January 12, 2012 http://www.globalresearch.ca/killer-seeds-the-devastating-impacts-of-monsanto-s-genetically-modified-seeds-in-india/28629
A similar process is occurring in sub-Saharan Africa. In the highlands of Ethiopia, where the landraces of an ancient agricultural system are being replaced by seeds and farm inputs from Monsanto, Cargill, et al:
The hidden agenda was to eventually displace the traditional varieties and landraces reproduced in village-level nurseries. With the weakening of the system of traditional exchange, village level seed banks were being replenished with commercial hi-bred and genetically modified seeds. Michel Chossudovsky, Sowing the Seeds of Famine in Ethiopia Global Research, September 10, 2001 The Ecologist, 1 September 2000, also published as a chapter in The Globalization of Poverty and the New World Order, Global Research, Montreal 2003
Impoverishment and Famine in sub-Saharan Africa
This destructive pattern – invariably resulting in famine – is replicated throughout Sub-Saharan Africa. From the onslaught of the debt crisis of the early 1980s, the IMF-World Bank had set the stage for the demise of the peasant economy across the region .
This process of planned impoverishment of the African continent under the helm of the IMF and the World Bank has been accompanied by an ongoing process of US led militarization under the mandate of the "Global War on Terrorism.
In the course of the last 30 years, civil wars triggered through covert intelligence ops have been launched. Powerful corporate interests are behind these wars. Control over resources, oil, natural gas, precious and strategic metals is the not so hidden agenda.
In South Sudan, oil was discovered in 1978. Five years later a US sponsored "civil war" supported by the CIA was launched, led by John Garang, who was trained by the US military at Fort Benning, Georgia. The Sudan war resulted in 2 million lives and another 4 million displaced. Estimates of war related deaths in Sudan are in the range of 4 million.
The Rwandan civil war and 1994 genocide resulted in a million deaths out of a total population of approximately 7 million. The resource wars in the Democratic Republic of the Congo resulted in up to five million deaths.
These wars in sub-Saharan Africa are never mentioned by the media. Many people in America do not know they even happened.
More generally, the 2012 Mayan prophesy among other World events serves the useful purpose of distracting people's attention from the most devastating crisis in word history characterised by endless war, environmental degradation and poverty triggered by macroeconomic reform.
Reversing the Tide of War. Restoring Economic and Social Development. Reinstating Civil Liberties
While we are not facing an imminent "End of the World" scenario, the World is nonetheless at the juncture of the most serious economic and social crisis in modern history. The outbreak of a full fledged war against Syria and Iran could potentially lead humanity into a Third World War scenario.
The US possesses an impressive arsenal of weapons which it is being used to threaten the World.
An Orwellian police state has emerged, with spying and eves-dropping implemented at a global level. Big Brother is instated at height of the electronic age, with sophisticated data banks and surveillance techniques, operating Worldwide.
Habeas corpus has been repealed. Extrajudicial assassinations are now legal.
The international community has endorsed preemptive nuclear war in the name of world peace.
"Making the world safer" is the justification for launching a military operation which could potentially result in a nuclear holocaust.
While one can conceptualize the loss of life and destruction resulting from present-day wars including Iraq and Afghanistan, it is impossible to fully comprehend the devastation which might result from a Third World War, using "new technologies" and advanced weapons, including nuclear weapons, until it occurs and becomes a reality.
What we are witnessing at the outset of the 21st Century, however, is not an abrupt shift and fracture, but a gradual process of decay and social decline. What is at stake is the destruction of civilization as we know it, where progress is interrupted and the reproduction of human life is impaired. This process is marked by the implementation of a global military agenda coupled with a Worldwide economic depression.
We are living in a destructive and momentous period in World history
The ideological underpinnings of this inquisitorial New World Order are devastating:
The overriding consensus is that people should support a Wordwide criminal project, involving illegal wars, the police State, the derogation of civil liberties and financial fraud, "in the name of democracy".
The consensus does not allow for dissent or debate. Its the American inquisition. Those opposed to this perverted brand of democracy are categorized as "terrorists". Being opposed to criminality is a criminal offence.
For this Orwellian New World Order to be sustained, realities must be turned upside down: the propaganda apparatus is predicated on instilling falsehoods in the minds of millions of people.
Citizens must accept the premises of a World Order where:
- war is heralded as peace,
- the police state is upheld as democracy,
- austerity means prosperity,
- wealth and luxury is a indicator of progress and development,
- killing and torturing alleged terrorists are required to ensure national security
- the victims of war constitute a threat to Western civilization
Realities are distorted and turned upside down, the Lie becomes the Truth.
The real global crisis affecting the people of this planet is thereby obfuscated by "fake crises" and catastrophes, not to mention warnings of impending "terrorist attacks" by unidentified "outside enemies".
The ultimate purpose of propaganda is to create confusion and obedience to a pre-determined political consensus. The objective is to distract and divert public attention from an understanding of the real crisis which is affecting humanity: The great depression and World War III are not front page news, yet the danger of a world war is real.
Reversing the tide is tantamount to a revolution, it is the reversal of certain embedded tendencies in the capitalist World Order.
The latter is characterized by the criminalization of both the financial system and the political apparatus. Bankers are rightfully involved in fraud and money laundering, Lockheed Martin, Raytheon et al. are vying for more wars, oil companies have their eyes riveted on conquering the Middle East: more than 60 percent of the World's oil lies in Muslim lands.
This downward spiral underlying this crisis is a gradual yet cumulative process. It can be reversed.
The conditions for its reversal imply the dismantling of fundamental structures and institutions, repealing the police state, closing down the military industrial complex, revamping the financial system, scrapping economic austerity measures and restoring the standard of living of working people, putting an end to humanitarian killings, repealing racism and xenophobia.
In essence, what is required at the outset is meaningful "Regime Change" in the USA, a massive overall in the political system as well as the financial architecture.
A revolution involves first and foremost the dismantling of the propaganda apparatus, which means targeting the sources of media disinformation.
Dismantling mainstream media disinformation is is a prerequisite to implementing more fundamental changes in the workings of the economic and social system, implying fundamental shifts in power relations.
The most important instrument at our disposal is the Truth, because the truth overrides the Lie. It is the basis for developing a mass grass-roots movement, nationally and internationally
When the Lie becomes the Truth within an Orwellian police state environment, there is no going back, humanity is precipitated onto the path of self destruction. It is therefore crucial to fully comprehend the criminal nature of the New World Order, of its legal and political underpinnings, and the nature of the elite power structures which sustain it.
To reverse the tide, war criminals in high office, must be targeted as an initial step. The weapons industry must eventually be closed down. The fraudulent financial mechanisms –including derivative trade and speculative instruments, the institutions, the legal apparatus, etc.– underlying the global capitalist economy must eventually also be dismantled.
What is presented here are a few thoughts to initiate a broader debate. The complexities underlying the military agenda and global economic system must be addressed if we are to successfully reverse the tide.
What is required is a mass movement of people which forcefully challenges the legitimacy of war and economic austerity, a global people's movement which criminalizes war.
Martin Luther King once said:
Youngsters will learn words they will not understand,
Children from India will ask: "What is hunger?"
Children from Alabama will ask: "What is racial segregation?"
Children from Hiroshima will ask: "What is the atomic bomb?"
Children at school will ask: "What is war?"
You will answer them, you will tell them: "Those are words not used any more,
Like 'stage-coaches', 'galleys' or 'slavery',
Words no longer meaningful,
That is why they have been removed from dictionaries."
This article first appeared at Global Research.


text:
Welcome and the Chiropractic Lifestyle
Care programs are designed for your unique health problem.
A thorough chiropractic examination will be performed.
Most chiropractic offices invite prospective patients to tour the office and meet the doctor, without cost or obligation.
Everything is explained in advance so you can ask questions, understand what the doctor has found, and what can be done to help you.
There are many ways to adjust the spine, however, the goal remains the samerelief and better health.
Your doctor will review your health history and determine if your problem is likely to be helped with chiropractic care. If it is, a thorough examination usually follows. Your reflexes may be tested, your ability to turn and bend, and other standard orthopedic, neurological, and chiropractic tests will be conducted. If necessary, X-ray views of your spine may be taken.
Your doctor will study the results of these examinations and explain what they mean. Then, the doctor will recommend a care program designed for your unique health problem.
With a complete understanding of your condition, youre ready for your chiropractic adjustment. Adjustments help restore proper spinal and nervous system function, promoting the healing process. Continued visits help retrain the supporting muscles and ligaments of your spine. Periodic examinations will monitor your progress.
Enjoy better health.
More and more people are beginning chiropractic care because they want a natural approach to health, avoiding addictive drugs or irreversible surgery.
After setting an appointment and arriving for your first visit, youll enjoy the friendly staff and vibrant atmosphere. After completing some simple paperwork to help the doctor understand the history of your health, youll meet the doctor.
By following their doctors advice, millions of chiropractic patients have enjoyed relief and better health.
Chiropractors are experts in the care of the bones, nerves, muscles and connective tissues that make up about 60% of your body. All of the joints in your body are part of this musculo-skeletal system and its optimal function is necessary for overall good health. Ask your Doctor of Chiropractic for more information about a care program that may include specific spinal adjustments, exercise recommendations, nutritional advice or other conservative methods of care based on your health history, age, current condition and lifestyle.
Gattermann, M., D.C., Foundation of Chiropractic Subluxation, p. 69-84; Mosby, 1995.
Leach, R., D.C., The Chiropractic Theories; Principles and Clinical Applications, 3rd edition, 373-386, Williams and Wilkins, 1994.
Plaugher, G., D.C., Anrig-Howe, C., D.C., Textbook of Clinical Chiropractic; A Specific Biomechanical Approach, Williams and Wilkins, 1993.
Schafer, R., D.C., Faye, L., D.C., Motion Palpation and Chiropractic Technique, 2nd edition, Motion Palpation Institute, 1990.
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text: Country Profiles Country Profiles Country Profiles // Main Details Canada - Main Details Show map Legend: CBD Party CBD & CPB Party Non Party Selected country Disclaimer: The designations employed and the presentation of material on this map do not imply the expression of any opinion whatsoever on the part of the Secretariat of the Convention on Biological Diversity or the United Nations concerning the legal status of any country, territory, city or area or of its authorities, or concerning the delimitation of its frontiers or boundaries. Biodiversity Facts Status and trends of biodiversity, including benefits from biodiversity and ecosystem servicesThe content of this biodiversity profile is still draft. The text below has been prepared by SCBD and remains subject to final approval by the Party concerned. Canada supports a remarkable diversity of tundra, forest, grassland, freshwater, and ocean ecosystems. The country encompasses a surface area of 9.98 million km², approximately 6.7% of the Earth's total, and is bordered by three oceans with 243,000 km of coastline. About 40% of Canada is forests and woodlands, representing about 10% of the world's total forest cover. It has been estimated that Canada has about 25% of the world's wetlands, occupying roughly 14% of the country's area. Approximately 8,500 rivers and over 2 million freshwater lakes cover almost 9% of Canada's total surface area. Scientists have identified over 70,000 species occurring in Canada's diverse ecosystems, and as many more remain to be properly investigated. Canada has a low percentage of endemic species compared to many countries, but approximately 54 species of vascular plants, mammals and freshwater fish and molluscs are known to be endemic to Canada. Canada's terrestrial protected areas cover 933,930 km2. Since 1992, the number of protected areas has increased steadily and the percentage of land covered by protected areas was 9.4% as of June 2009. Canada's terrestrial protected areas network consists of over 4850 protected areas, including some very old parks (e.g. Banff National Park created in 1885), areas of international significance (e.g. Queen Maud Gulf Bird Sanctuary, a RAMSAR site of Arctic tundra and marshes), and smaller areas representative of unique and endangered ecosystems. Approximately 45,280 km2 (0.64%) of Canada's oceans are protected. Although some terrestrial protected areas on Canada's coasts have marine components, the designation of specific marine protected areas is newer. This includes some marine areas of global significance, such as Gully Marine Protected Area, the largest underwater canyon in eastern North America, situated 200 km off the coast of Nova Scotia. Native prairie grassland ecosystems have undergone the most extensive modification of any of Canada's major ecological units, mostly through conversion to agricultural land, with losses continuing today. Development, mainly dyking and draining for agriculture and urban areas resulted in an estimated loss of up to 65% of Atlantic coastal marshes, up to 68% of southern Ontario wetlands, up to 70% of prairie wetlands, and up to 88% of freshwater wetlands in the Lower Fraser Valley, British Columbia. The quality of sea ice has also changed, with an increase in younger, thinner ice and a decrease in the older, multi-aged and thicker ice. Arctic summer sea ice is now 34% below the long-term average from 1979 to 2000. Loss of sea ice would constitute the loss of an entire biome. The reduction and possible loss of summer and multi-year ice would also lead to loss of tundra, changes in primary productivity and species composition, as well as large-scale changes in ocean circulation, affecting biodiversity well beyond the Arctic. Increasing numbers of species of landbirds, seabirds, freshwater fish, reptiles, and freshwater mussels are imperilled. Most populations of caribou are declining. Some genetic resources and adaptive capacity are eroding, for example the average weight of groundfish on the Scotian Shelf declined by 66% from 1970-1995 owing in part to genetic change induced by selective fishing of large individuals. Ecosystems services provide economic, social and ecological benefits, many of which are irreplaceable by human systems. In Canada, those which could be replaced have been estimated to be worth trillions of dollars globally. Indeed, much of the Canadian economy is built on a natural resource base; recent statistics indicate that a significant portion of Canada's GDP is directly related to the use of natural resources, with approximately 2.7% from forests, 8% from agriculture and agri-foods, 1.5% from the ocean sector, and many billions of dollars from nature-related tourism and recreational activities. Biodiversity also serves as the basis for the emerging "bio-based economy", including the genomics, biotechnology and pharmaceutical industries. Aboriginal peoples have also, over thousands of years, developed an intimate cultural and spiritual relationship with nature. Canada's boreal forest services alone have been valued at approximately $93 billion per year, over 2.5 times greater than the net market value of boreal capital extraction in Canada. In addition to providing valuable goods and services, conserving biodiversity maximizes ecosystem and human adaptability to unforeseen or difficult-to-predict changes in the environment and/or economy. As such, biodiversity provides Canada with ecological resilience, which is increasingly being recognized as essential if ecosystems are to be able to adapt to stresses such as climate change and invasive alien species and reduce the risk of catastrophic change. Main pressures on and drivers of change to biodiversity (direct and indirect)The content of this biodiversity profile is still draft. The text below has been prepared by SCBD and remains subject to final approval by the Party concerned. Degradation, fragmentation, and shifts in the structure and composition of many ecosystems are taking place owing to a number of pressures. Habitat is declining in quantity and becoming fragmented due to combined pressures from urbanization and industrial activity including agriculture, forestry, fisheries, mining and oil, and gas development. Air and water pollution, invasive alien species and wildlife disease, are also putting pressure on ecosystems and species. Climate change is having an impact on ecosystems across the country and raising questions with respect to their vulnerability and adaptive capacity. Not all management practices currently in place in Canada were designed to cope with these increased, cumulative, and complex pressures. Measures to Enhance Implementation of the Convention Implementation of the NBSAPThe content of this biodiversity profile is still draft. The text below has been prepared by SCBD and remains subject to final approval by the Party concerned. The Canadian Biodiversity Strategy, developed jointly by federal, provincial and territorial governments and released in 1996, highlights the importance of Canada's natural assets and sets out a range of strategic directions for the conservation and sustainable use of Canada's natural capital. In 2005, federal, provincial and territorial ministers agreed on the need for an outcomes-based framework to provide a more systematic approach to identifying national biodiversity priorities; a framework for evaluating and reporting on progress; a mechanism for continuous learning, improvement and adaptive management; and a basis for communicating with both domestic and international audiences. In 2006, they endorsed a Biodiversity Outcomes Framework for Canada. The centrepiece of the framework is a suite of national outcomes: healthy and diverse ecosystems, viable populations of species, genetic resources and adaptive potential and sustainable use of biological resources. Joint meetings of Ministers, called the Canadian Councils of Resource Ministers have taken place regularly since 2001. Following the adoption of the Biodiversity Outcomes Framework in 2006, the Canadian Councils of Resource Ministers mandated the development of an Ecosystem Status and Trends Report for Canada as a first deliverable in 2007. They also called for a study of knowledge and information needs associated with biodiversity and adaptation to climate change. At present, Canada is developing its own national biodiversity goals and targets that are relevant domestically, using the Strategic Plan for Biodiversity (2011-2020) as a guide. Canada's goals and targets would support and complement the long-term outcomes set in Canada's Biodiversity Outcomes Framework. Actions taken to achieve the 2020 Aichi Biodiversity TargetsThe content of this biodiversity profile is still draft. The text below has been prepared by SCBD and remains subject to final approval by the Party concerned. One of the most significant results achieved regarding the Aichi targets is the additions to Canada's networks of protected areas, with approximately 9.4% of Canada's terrestrial area currently protected. The protection of ecologically sensitive lands through acquisition, conservation covenants, easements and agreements with private landowners has become more effective over the last 25 years as a result of the work of land trust organizations, and a commitment of federal and provincial governments through improved legislation, investment and tax incentives. However, despite the recent increased attention on marine protected areas, only 0.64% of Canada's ocean area is now protected. The commitment to establish Large Ocean Management Areas (LOMAs) for all of Canada's marine regions has arisen as a significant initiative in the protection of Canada's marine ecosystems. LOMAs extend from the coastline to the limits of jurisdiction under international law and will address large-scale ecosystem and economic development issues through the development and implementation of integrated ocean management plans. Comprehensive overview and assessment reports have been developed for each LOMA, and smaller-scale ecologically significant areas and ecologically significant species have also been identified. The conservation of genetic diversity and adaptive potential in Canadian wildlife also involves a variety of initiatives, including captive breeding programs, seed and gene banks, and the designation of species at risk. Governments, ENGOs, museums, botanical gardens, zoos, and aquaria are among the institutions involved in the conservation of genetic diversity in wildlife. Other successful achievements include integrated, ecosystem-based initiatives, restoration of degraded ecosystems, legislation for the protection of species at risk, habitat stewardship programs, invasive alien species programs, sustainable resource management and a variety of ecosystem, species and genetic research and assessment initiatives. For example, the national regime for the protection of species at risk includes a national accord, a ministerial council, federal, provincial and territorial legislation, status assessments and listing processes, and recovery and habitat stewardship programs. Also, in response to the growing threat of invasive alien species, the federal government, working in cooperation with its provincial and territorial counterparts, developed an Invasive Alien Species Strategy for Canada in 2004. The aim of the IAS Strategy is to establish coordinated policy and a management framework (a product has been the Guidelines for the Control of Ballast Water Discharge from Ships in Waters under Canadian Jurisdiction). Initiatives concerning the conservation and use of traditional knowledge include the Northwest Territories' Policy on Traditional Knowledge, the Nunavut Inuit Land Use and Ecological Knowledge Database, and the Inuit Knowledge of Bowhead Study. The establishment of co-management boards as a result of land claims agreements has played a major role in developing and getting recognition for traditional knowledge. Co-management regimes now relate to wildlife, lands, waters, environmental impact assessment and planning. Support mechanisms for national implementation (legislation, funding, capacity-building, coordination, mainstreaming, etc.)The content of this biodiversity profile is still draft. The text below has been prepared by SCBD and remains subject to final approval by the Party concerned. The Federal Sustainable Development Strategy (FSDS) adopted in 2010 includes a number of biodiversity-related goals and targets and will be updated in 2013. The FSDS will be a key mechanism for advancing, as well as tracking and reporting, the federal contribution to Canada's domestic biodiversity goals and targets. In addition, the Government of Canada is currently engaging with partners and stakeholders on the development of a National Conservation Plan (NCP). An NCP could help advance Canada's domestic biodiversity goals and targets by building on existing successes as well as identifying opportunities to encourage innovation and further stewardship on lands in production. All provincial and territorial governments have integrated biodiversity into government initiatives, using a variety of policies, strategies, legislation and voluntary approaches. Canadian initiatives regarding biodiversity issues deal with key sectors such as federal, provincial and territorial government, urban areas, Aboriginal peoples, academic and scientific institutions, environmental non-governmental organizations , industry and business, and stewardship. Economic and legal incentives including environmental impact assessment are also well established. For example, as part of Canada's Species at Risk Act, the federal government established the Habitat Stewardship Program, which allocates up to $13 million per year to projects that conserve and protect species at risk and their habitats, engaging citizens in conservation projects. Another example is Canada's Natural Areas Conservation Program, started in 2007 and targeted for non-profit, non-government organizations, which contributes to the securing of ecologically sensitive lands. Through a federal contribution of $225 million to the program, 336 properties, totalling more than 103,600 hectares, have been acquired resulting in the population of 74 species at risk. At the national level, the Canadian Council of Ministers of the Environment provides a formal mechanism for intergovernmental discussion and coordinated approaches to regional and national environmental issues, including water demand and use management, the regulation of municipal wastewater effluents, and water quality. Regarding public awareness, universities, research institutes, museums, zoos, aquariums, and botanical gardens play an important role in biodiversity education and are some of the best places to explore biodiversity issues. Mechanisms for monitoring and reviewing implementationThe content of this biodiversity profile is still draft. The text below has been prepared by SCBD and remains subject to final approval by the Party concerned. Across the country, Conservation Data Centres provide biodiversity data for management and planning. Reports on the general status of more than 1600 Canadian wild species are now produced every five years, with the first having been released in 2000. NatureServe Canada, a network of eight independent conservation data centres covering all ten provinces and the Yukon Territory, increases the quality, standardization and accessibility of this data. Conservation Data Centres conduct biological inventories to find and document populations of rare species, study and classify vegetation communities, analyze critical conservation issues, provide customized information products and conservation services, and make their data widely available to the public via the Internet. In addition, Parks Canada has a comprehensive science-based monitoring system in place to assess ecological integrity. For each major park ecosystem, a set of monitoring measures is chosen based on an understanding of ecosystem structure, ecological function and the stressors impacting on the ecosystem. Monitoring results are recorded in an information system that provides regular updates of each park's ecological condition. Results are reported to the public in a state of parks report. Canada is also monitoring Arctic biodiversity through its participation in the Circumpolar Biodiversity Monitoring Program (CBMP), an initiative of the Arctic Council's Conservation of Arctic Flora and Fauna Working Group. The CBMP is a mechanism for harmonizing and enhancing long-term biodiversity monitoring efforts across the Arctic in order to improve the detection of, and reporting on, significant trends and pressures. The resulting information will be used to assist policy and decision-aking at the global, national, regional and local levels.


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This game tricked kids into exercising. What is it?
If you were looking for something more fun than a jump rope, but less fun than a Nintendo, you got yourself a Skip-It ... well, your parent's got it for you, but still. In the 1990s, Skip-Its came with counters, so you could challenge your friends.


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The IBCSO Poster, 2013, is a polar stereographic view of the Southern Ocean displaying bathymetric contours south of 60° S at a scale of 1:7,000,000. The poster size is 39.25 x 47.125 inches.
To cite this chart or the IBCSO grid please use:
Arndt, J.E., H. W. Schenke, M. Jakobsson, F. Nitsche, G. Buys, B. Goleby, M. Rebesco, F. Bohoyo, J.K. Hong, J. Black, R. Greku, G. Udintsev, F. Barrios, W. Reynoso-Peralta, T. Morishita, R. Wigley, "The International Bathymetric Chart of the Southern Ocean (IBCSO) Version 1.0 - A new bathymetric compilation covering circum-Antarctic waters", Geophysical Research Letters, doi: 10.1002/grl.50413
General Information:
The International Bathymetric Chart of the Southern Ocean (IBCSO) program is endorsed by the Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission (IOC) of UNESCO, the International Hydrographic Organization (IHO), and the Scientific Committee on Antarctic Research (SCAR). Since 2004, IBCSO has been an Expert Group within the SCAR Standing Scientific Group on GeoSciences (SSG-GS). In 2006, IBCSO was established as a regional ocean mapping project under the IHO/IOC General Bathymetric Chart of the Oceans (GEBCO) program. The project aim is to generate the first seamless bathymetric grid of the Southern Ocean covering the entire Antarctic Treaty Area south of 60 degrees S by compiling all available data from various international sources. The IBCSO v1.0 grid has a resolution of 500 m x 500 m and is based on a polar stereographic projection at 65 degrees S on the WGS-84 ellipsoid. The grid is available as open source for download. This printed chart represents one product resulting from the IBCSO project.
Bathymetric grid generation:
The IBCSO data base consists of more than 4200 million ocean soundings from various sources worldwide. The data sets are of diverse type and quality. About 98% of the data points are from multibeam surveys. The remaining 2% are from singlebeam surveys, digitized Nautical Charts, or data sets containing various types of data. Approximately 17 % of the bathymetric grid cells are directly constrained by real soundings.
The subglacial bed elevation layer of Bedmap2 was used for the topography of continental Antarctica and for the sub ice-shelf bathymetry. Sonar sounding data were validated, homogenized and stored into a generic data format to generate the IBCSO digital bathymetric model. The data was subsequently cleaned and gridded in an iterative process until a satisfactory result was achieved. The gridding utilized the remove-restore method in conjunction with the newly developed gap-fill method. The gap-fill method is restocking major spatial data gaps with aligned predicted bathymetry. The applied remove-restore method was a two-step gridding algorithm. Firstly, the entire dataset was gridded at low resolution, here 2000 m, using the bi-cubic splines under tension algorithm. The grid was then filtered and resampled at high resolution, here 500 m. Secondly, all high quality data with sufficient areal density, i.e. from multibeam surveys, was gridded at high resolution using the nearest neighbor gridding algorithm. Finally, in locations where high quality data was available, grid cells from the lower resolution grid were removed and restored by the high quality data grid cells. The gap-fill method compared the GEBCO_08 grid, created using predicted bathymetry, to sonar soundings of the IBCSO data base. A blockmedian filter, with 10 km cellsize, was applied to the depth differences of the compared points. Based on these points, a difference grid was created to adjust the GEBCO_08 grid. In a final step, the adjusted bathymetric model replaced the interpolated areas outside a 10 km transition zone next to grid cells, directly constrained by soundings. In the transition zone both grids were bent into each other using the hyperbolic weighting function 1/d, with d being the distance to the next directly constrained cell. For a more detailed description of the grid generation please see the IBCSO release paper (Arndt et al 2013; doi:10.1002/grl.50413).
Chart generation:
Bathymetric and topographic elevations are from the IBCSO v1.0 grid. Ice surface elevations are from the Bedmap2 data set. Coastlines, grounding lines, rock outcrops, and the names and positions of permanent stations in Antarctica are taken from the SCAR Antarctic Digital Database v6.0. Names of undersea features are taken from the GEBCO Sub-Committee on Undersea Feature Names (SCUFN) Gazetteer, Edition 2011. Names of ocean bodies are taken from the 4th edition of IHO Publication S-23, "Limits of Oceans and Seas". Names on continental Antarctica are taken from the SCAR Composite Gazetteer (CGA). The selection of the names has been agreed on by the members of the Editorial Board.
Grid and Chart retrieval:
The IBCSO v1.0 grid can be obtained from the project website (www.ibcso.org) or via doi:10.1594/PANGAEA.805736 in different data formats and projections. A digital copy of this chart in PDF format can be retrieved from the same source.
For additional information and data from IBCSO, please visit the IBCSO web pages.


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I've got an old iRobot Roomba "3100 Pro Elite" whose battery has died. A new Roomba is EUR 300 and upward, so I would prefer to revive the one I have.
It's difficult (impossible?) to find replacement batteries in Austria (Europe), and they are so expensive that I haven't yet convinced myself the cost is worth it. But it would be nice to revive the Roomba as it is in decent working condition, mechanically, except for the cheap rubber treads that I have glued back on.
Do you have suggestions for where to get a replacement battery for this specific Roomba?
Would it make sense to try this DIY approach, considering I've never tried soldering on batteries? I'd hate to have this thing explode in my living room. Where would I get batteries from? The page's discussion thread refers to a U.S. website.


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(CNN) -- New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson signed a bill Wednesday repealing the death penalty in his state, his office confirmed.
New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson signed legislation repealing the state's death penalty.
"Regardless of my personal opinion about the death penalty, I do not have confidence in the criminal justice system as it currently operates to be the final arbiter when it comes to who lives and who dies for their crime," Richardson said in a statement Wednesday.
He noted that more than 130 death row inmates have been exonerated in the past 10 years, including four in New Mexico.
"Faced with the reality that our system for imposing the death penalty can never be perfect, my conscience compels me to replace the death penalty with a solution that keeps society safe," he said.
With the governor's decision, New Mexico joins 14 other states that don't impose the death penalty. Several other states, including Colorado, Kansas, Maryland and Montana, are considering changes to their capital punishment laws. See which states have bills to do away with capital punishment »
The bill replaces the death penalty with life without the possibility of parole.
New Mexico currently has two men on death row and has executed one person -- convicted child killer Terry Clark, in 2001 -- since the United States reinstated the death penalty in 1976. As the legislation is written, it will not affect current death row inmates.
"Throughout my adult life, I have been a firm believer in the death penalty as a just punishment -- in very rare instances, and only for the most heinous crimes. I still believe that," Richardson, a Democrat, said.
"The issue became more real to me because I knew the day would come when one of two things might happen: I would either have to take action on legislation to repeal the death penalty, or more daunting, I might have to sign someone's death warrant."
Rep. Gail Chasey, who first introduced House Bill 285 in 1999, said the bill would relieve families of the burden of a lengthy death penalty trial and appellate phase and restore the focus to crime victims.
"Every time there is a court hearing, a conviction, an appeal, the focus is on the defendant, but the family still has to go through it all again and again. It's very, very hard for the families. It reopens the wounds each time," she said.
The legislation will also spare the state cost of mounting a death penalty trial, which Casey said typically costs more than a non-death penalty trial.
"We can put that money toward enhancing law enforcement, public works, you name it," she said.
Richardson also said he was troubled by the fact that minorities are "over-represented in the prison population and on death row."
Minorities make up more than half of the death row population nationwide, according to the Washington-based Death Penalty Information Center, a nonprofit group that opposes the death penalty.
The American Civil Liberties Union said Richardson's decision should "send a powerful message to other states" about the need to reevaluate "our error-prone, discriminatory and bankrupting system of capital punishment."
Local and state law enforcement associations opposed the bill. Richardson agreed the death penalty is a tool to deter crime, but said it was not the only tool.
"For some would-be criminals, the death penalty may be a deterrent," he said. "But it's not, and never will be, for many, many others."
The state legislature approved the measure last Friday. Prior to signing the legislation, Richardson received thousands of e-mails and phone calls weighing in on the matter.
As of noon Wednesday, the governor's office said it had received 10,847 phone calls, e-mails and walk-in comments from people who wanted to voice their opinions on the legislation.
Of those, 8,102 were for a repeal of the death penalty and 2,745 were against it, according to Richardson's office.
In addition, Richardson met Monday with more than 100 New Mexicans to discuss the issue, his office said.
Other states also have considered repealing their capital punishment laws this year. In Kansas, state senators voted Monday to send such a bill back to committee, The Kansas City Star reported.
CNN's Emanuella Grinberg contributed to this report.
All About Capital Punishment • Bill Richardson


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The Elephants Terrace - Cambodia
The 350m-long Terrace of Elephants was used as a giant reviewing stand for public ceremonies and served as a base for the king\'s grand audience hall.
The Terrace of the Elephants is part of the walled city of Angkor Thom, a ruined temple complex in Cambodia. The terrace was used by Angkor's king Jayavarman VII as a platform from which to view his victorious returning army. It was attached to the palace of Phimeanakas of which only a few ruins remain. Most of the original structure was made of organic material and has long since disappeared. Most of what remains are the foundation platforms of the complex. The terrace is named for the carvings of elephants on its eastern face.
The 350m-long Terrace of Elephants was used as a giant reviewing stand for public ceremonies and served as a base for the king's grand audience hall. It has five outworks extending towards the Central Square-three in the centre and one at each end. The middle section of the retaining wall is decorated with life size garuda and lions; towards either end are the two parts of the famous parade of elephants complete with their Khmer mahouts.
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Our story opens in 1980 with Godai, a struggling would-be college student whose current struggle is to get out of his one-room apartment. His fellow apartment dwellers at the Ikkoku apartments aren't quite what you'd call ideal. His next door neighbor, a peeping tom of unknown employment, has claimed a giant hole in the wall, through which he slithers in to steal food, watch Godai, and get drunk. Another neighbor, a local waitress, likes to hang out in Godai's futon, wearing see-through nighties and getting drunk. Another neighbor is a plump mother of a young boy; she loves to dance around and sing in Godai's room while getting drunk. (Do you see a trend?) Only one thing keeps Godai from leaving --- the arrival of a beautiful young landlady, Otonashi ("No Sound") Kyoko (Kyoko being the first name that means something vaguely approximating "noise child" or "ring" (as in sound)). Godai naturally falls instantly in love with her.
Godai's confidence is significantly dampened when he starts suspecting Kyoko is in love with her dog, Souichiro ("So-ichi-roe") --- and then discovers that the dog is actually named after her deceased husband. Kyoko, it turns out, is a young widow who fears deeply that to love another would be to forget her love for her husband.
Of course things don't stay even that simple....
Kyoko takes up tennis lessons, in the process meeting a handsome, wealthy tennis coach (with sparkling teeth) named Mitaka, who promptly falls in love with her. Our hero Godai himself gains a girlfriend (Kozue) he goes out with, though he's not (very) interested in her romantically. (Kyoko, of course, doesn't see his relationship that way....)
Godai also develops a bad habit of fantasizing about Kyoko and walking into telephone poles.
Kyoko first finds out that Godai loves her when he shouts it out to the world while plastered one night, and is secretly touched. Godai unfortunately can't remember what he did while drunk. The drunkard mother unhelpfully and untruthfully tells him he danced around naked while insisting Kyoko look at him. Later, when Kyoko asks Godai if he was serious, he denies it and insists it was a joke. Of course, Godai is then confused by Kyoko's hurt rage. However, Godai later corrects himself in a challenge to the tennis coach Mitaka, and a many-year long rivalry is born.
Unfortunately for Godai and Kyoko, Godai is a man with no spine and no money. He barely makes it into college, he barely finds employment, he can barely pay rent, he walks into telephone poles, he can never kick unruly fellow-tenants out of his room, he's nearly seduced by other women several times, and, of course, he can't break up with Kozue. Kozue even takes Godai to her parent's house for dinner (many times), and still Godai can't quite ever say no.
Unfortunately, Kyoko frequently lacks spine, too, and can never quite say no or be true to her own feelings, and so the tennis coach Mitaka feels free to wine and dine her persistently.
Several years pass (the manga seems to have kept pace with real world time). Various adventures and mis-adventures befall the characters. Godai, while a teaching assistant at Kyoko's old high school, becomes the love interest of a girl there -- a funny coincidence, given that Kyoko herself had fallen in love with a teacher at that high school, and had later married him. Godai at the same time is trying and failing to find a corporate job -- and the high school girl's father just happens to be a corporate VIP. Various events later, Godai finally realizes that he's much better off becoming a daycare worker.
Did we mention that the tennis coach had a strong phobia of dogs? (Kyoko could never figure out why he would always seem a little ill while her dog Souichiro was arond.) In one scene, Mitaka is very close to kissing Kyoko. They're standing beside his car by a windy shore, a romantic view of the ocean spread before them, the radio playing music.... Just as he leans over to kiss her, the radio DJ brings up an "unusual song" ... a song made up of dog barks. Needless to say, the kiss never happens.
For years, then, life remains pretty stable: Godai and Kyoko get along so well that Kyoko makes his lunches for him, then misunderstandings arise between them (classic Takahashi "situations"), and then Kyoko snubs Godai in long, cold fits of jealous rage until he can prove his steadfast loyalty. And, of course, the wild drunken parties continue to happen in Godai's room, because he just doesn't have the power to tell them to go away. Godai still manages to occasionally walk into telephone poles, but he gradually grows a spine.
Anyway, all good things must come to an end; all comic-book heroes must eventually find their spine, and all (well, most) romance heroines must eventually get married. (Mitaka the tennis coach, by the way, drops out of the running when he accidentally becomes engaged to someone else over a misunderstanding involving a pregnant dog (... use your imagination ...).) Overall, I enjoyed this great series. It's classic good (romance) manga, with Takahashi showing off her more serious side while proving her prowess on the field of romance.
Here's the link to an excellent site about Maison Ikkoku (thanks to a reader for the URL update!). Here's a subpage of that site that has information about the meaning of the characters' names - many of the main characters' names contain numbers that correspond to their apartment unit numbers.
Copyright Eri Izawa, 1995, 2002.
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Apple made a historic and much-needed step forward today; it's finally putting its old, terrible headphones to rest. The new ones, dubbed "EarPods" mark a bit of a shift, but still retain their iconic, white, hey-look-at-me-I've-got-an-iPhone-in-my-pocket color. Unlike the previous 'phones, these guys are the in-ear type, and will hopefully sound and fit a little better than the
good old-fashioned kind. They'll be coming bundled with iPhone 5, the iPod Touch, and the iPod nano, and are also available separately starting now, and cost $29.
It might not be the biggest iPhone 5 update, or the one you're the most excited for, but it's probably the one that was the longest time coming. Hopefully they'll justify their weird look by being better than their predecessors; that seems like it should be an easily achievable goal.
Image courtesy of Ars Technica


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HomeWord - Jan. 12, 2010
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- 2010 Jan 12
Home Sweet Home
This devotional was written by Kelly McFadden In my Father's house are many rooms; if it were not so, I would have told you. I am going there to prepare a place for you. —John 14:2
When I was in college, my psychology professor had our class participate in a test. The test was that each student in his or her mind envisioned a journey along a path. Each student was told to create his or her own details of the journey. At the last part of the path was a wall, where we were told to write down what that wall looked like and how we got to the other side of it. Then, we shared some of our own differing details out loud. At the end, the professor explained what each detail about the wall and getting to the other side of it represented in our life.
When it came to the wall, some classmates saw a large concrete wall with barbed wire or a brick wall that they had to scale and struggle to get over. The professor called on me and asked me what my wall looked like. My answer seemed very different from the others in the class. My wall was the wall of a home and to get to the other side, I simply opened the door and walked in. My professor looked at me for a moment, and said, "Interesting." For, according to the professor, the wall represented our view on death and how you get to the other side represented the amount of fear one has in facing death.
My professor may not have understood my answer that day, but I did. For a Christian, death from this life means going home to heaven. I don't need to be afraid of the afterlife or dying or what comes next, for I have the promises of Jesus in my life. I have been given the mercy and grace of a Savior who died for us all so that we may have eternal life.
The Bible gives us glimpses of heaven, but not an ultimate picture of what is waiting for us. What we do know about heaven is this: It will be home. Jesus has gone ahead to prepare a place for each person who believes. We may know little about what is on the other side of this life, but we know this als God is there. We will spend eternity somewhere greater than we can even imagine, simply because Jesus is there. And that is enough. There is no reason to be afraid.
- What fears do you have about death? Give those fears to the Lord and trust that you are safe in His hands.
- Who can you share the good news of Jesus with today? There is a room in heaven for all who believe.
Psalm 90:1-2; Ephesians 2:4-7; Hebrews 9:24-26
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Free Massachusetts DMV Practice Test Five 2023 | MA
The knowledge exam for a permit and license in Massachusetts is a timed exam offered primarily on an automated testing system. Test takers are given 25 minutes to answer 25 multiple-choice questions based on information from the 2023 Massachusetts Driver's Manual. Tests are offered without an appointment on a computer in English and Spanish, or non-computerized in over 20 languages, including Farsi, Italian, and many more. If you're not able to read questions, you may take an audio version of the exam in English or Spanish and will just be required to bring your own headphones. The RMV also offers a person-to-person oral exam if a written or audio version of the exam is not a valid option. Person-to-person exams are only offered in English and must be scheduled in advance, with written documentation of a disability that requires this assistance. The permit test will cost $30, and at that time of testing, you'll have the option to prepay $30 for your driving test. Don't forget to bring proof of identity, residence, and signature, as well as a parental signature on your application if you're a minor. Use this RMV practice test to help you study and pass your Massachusetts knowledge test.


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Neil Armstrong — the first man to set foot on the Moon, who shunned fame and was notoriously protective of his privacy — died Saturday. His passing has, of course, triggering an avalanche of media attention. The irony of this situation has been lost on precisely no one.
But in covering Armstrong's death, journalists and news outlets have encountered a problem: there are surprisingly few photographs of Neil Armstrong on the Moon, and all but one of them are of his hind-quarters. We like to think that Armstrong would have found this situation amusing.
The best description of the situation (and the first, that we know of) came from visual journalist Charles Apple over at the American Copy Editors Society. You'll want to head there for the complete — and highly informative — run-down, but here's what he had to say about the images you see up top.
Let's start with the image shown here. Apple calls this "arguably the most famous picture taken in the history of mankind"; which is too bad in the context of Armstrong-coverage, because not only is it not a photo of Armstrong (this is Aldrin, though Armstrong can be seen in the reflection off Buzz's visor), it's also been doctored to look better than the original:
NASA retouchers added black sky to the top of the picture [the original is on the left, the retouched version on the right]. That might not seem like a big deal to you - especially when you're on deadline tonight - but, believe me, it is. Many newspapers have ethical guidelines in place that specifically warn against using handout pictures that were manipulated by the source.
Seeing as you can't exactly run a photo of Buzz Aldrin in an obit for Neil Armstrong, and simply direct your reader's attention to the tiny reflection on a helmet visor, that leaves journalists with pretty much two options if they want to show Armstrong on the Moon:
Option one: choose from any number of photos that happen to show Armstrong's butt. Here, we've included two such shots (labeled i. and ii.) but seriously, as Apple points out, there are several of them.
Option two: use a frame from the time-lapse video of Neil and Buzz erecting the American flag on the Moon. According to Apple, the frame featured here, labeled iii., is "the only picture we know about in which you can see Neil Armstrong's face while he's on the moon." The caveat, says Apple, is that the quality sucks.
According to Apple, the reason for the lack of photos of Armstrong-with-Moon is simple:
Armstrong and Aldrin only walked on the moon for about two-and-a-half hours that night in 1969. Most of the time, Armstrong carried the primary camera. Aldrin carried a camera but was assigned to shoot specific, technical things. The result: Lots of pictures of Aldrin. But hardly any of Neil.
Of course, Armstrong's habit of shunning the camera — both on the Moon and here on Earth — only makes him more alluring as an icon. The humble hero, after all, is an exceedingly rare breed.
Check out the rest of Apple's analysis (including some creative photographic workarounds to the Armstrong+Moon situation) over at The American Copy Editor's Society.


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Find a professional representative
Natural or legal persons having either their residence or their principal place of business in a contracting state to the EPC can undertake all procedural steps before the EPO themselves and are not obliged to appoint a representative. Other applicants are, however, required to be represented by a professional representative (Article 134(1) EPC) or a legal practitioner (Article 134(8) EPC) (except when filing an application or paying fees). An association of professional representatives can also be authorised according to Rule 152(11) EPC.
Even if you are not obliged to appoint a professional representative, it may still be helpful to consult one. To make it easier to find what you need, the EPO maintains an up-to-date database of professional representatives (updated twice a month).
All you have to do is enter a search term or terms in one or more of the search fields and click the "Go" button (see below). This will generate a list of professional representatives who match your query. Click on a name to find the representative's contact details.
Forms relating to the list of professional representatives before the EPO and to associations of professional representatives as well as important notes regarding the list of professional representatives can be downloaded from the links below.


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I'm currently studying how to program in java and looking for an online tutor willing to assist me in developing my skills. Willing to pay money for assistance via paypal only. Payment will be made after sessions depending on outcome of session being productive.
(Payment pricing will be determined accordingly)
Required skills Needed:
Strong Experience Java programming. (Beginner , Intermediate and application development.)
Spoken language English.
Comment Below if interested.
(Please do not Spam this email account)
(I hope I haven't posted this in the wrong thread of the forum if so sorry and apologies to admin if broken any rules. )


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On November 27, 2006, the Legal History Blog was launched. The next day, Eric Muller kindly informed this new and clueless blogger about site meters. Since then, readers have visited over 50,000 times.
You are from all continents except Antarctica and from over 100 countries (my country counter tops out at 99). Early and steady readers were from Bosnia and Herzegovina, various parts of the U.K., Japan, China, Taiwan, Brazil, the Netherlands and of course Canada. Soon, readers from Russia, Poland, France, Germany, Norway, Turkey, South Africa, Kenya, Zimbabwe, Indonesia, Argentina, Mexico, Israel, Iraq, Iran, India, and many other countries joined in. The greatest number of readers come from all over the United States.
I began this blog because I thought the field of legal history needed something like this. (Another reason, which only some of you will truly understand, is that it is a very good idea for every parent of a teenager to have a hobby.) I wondered whether anyone would be interested in reading it. 50,000 visits in half a year seems more than enough of a reason to keep going.
Thank you for visiting!


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I'm NewThis page is designed to help you feel welcomed and up to speed on all that is going on at Fellowship.
This Is Who We Are
So many have misconceptions about church, some based on past experience, some on impressions from a far. This video uses faces from our congregation to tell the story of who we are here at Fellowship, and encourage those who may have written off attending a church to give it a try.


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"Nigerian youths are intellectually aggressive, economically ambitious people" – President Buhari
President Buhari has described Nigerian youths as "intellectually aggressive and economically ambitious'' people that always seeks self-improvement and self-actualization in any part of the world.
President Buhari said this on Monday, 11th June, 2018, during one of his meetings with the Prime Minister of the Kingdom of Morocco, Saadeddine Othmani, at the Royal Guest Palace in Rabat, Morocco.
According to President Buhari, Nigeria's "visionary and resilient population'' works hard to always position the country for more growth, fuelled by a largely youthful group that continually wants to contribute to development.
He said ;
"Nigerians are intellectually aggressive and economically ambitious. I received some of our students here yesterday and I am really impressed with the zeal and fearlessness they exuded. In Nigeria we have a very young and aggressive population and we are working very hard to create the enabling and inclusive environment for their contributions to be better appreciated.''
President Buhari said his government is harnessing the human and material resources available in the country, especially in the educational and agricultural sectors, while seeking partnerships with countries that can explore the huge potentials in Nigeria.
The President noted that Nigeria was already on the verge of an agricultural revolution as the importation of rice had been cut down by 90 per cent in 18 months.
"We need to do more to improve our statistics on food production and graciously, the weather has been auspicious in the last couple of years for agricultural growth. We are happy that through partnership with you and hard work the price of fertilizer is already down by 50 per cent,'' he said.
On the three agreements signed during his visit, namely, Nigeria-Morocco Gas Pipeline project, vocational training in agriculture and building of a chemical plant in Nigeria, the President assured the Prime Minister that they will receive appropriate attention.
"We have a huge gas reserve in Nigeria, and we should be known more for gas exploration than for crude oil. So, we are happy with the new partnership with Morocco,'' he added.
In his remarks, the Prime Minister said his country had always been impressed by Nigeria's intellectual zeal and strength, noting that "many Moroccans appreciate the intellectual contribution of Nigerians, especially in literary works.''
"Your visit to our country is historic and we are looking forward to more partnerships, especially among our universities, which would further consolidate our relationship,''Othman said.
President Buhari also met with the head of the Moroccan legislature, Habib El Malki and the President of the Advisers on Commerce, Ben Chemmas.
The Nigerian leader ended his two-day visit to the Kingdom of Morocco with a visit to the mausoleum where he laid wreaths on the tombs of past kings.


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Rosetta to sleep through loneliest leg of comet mission
On 8 June, mission controllers will have the first opportunity to switch ESA's Rosetta comet-hunter into deep-space hibernation for 31 months. During this loneliest leg of its decade-long mission, Rosetta will loop ever closer toward comet 67-P, soaring to almost 1000 million km from Earth.
Marking one of the most dramatic and distant stages of the probe's 10-year journey to rendezvous with Comet 67-P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko, ground controllers at ESOC, ESA's European Space Operations Centre, plan to issue the final command next week to switch Rosetta into hibernation mode.
This will trigger the last steps in the shut-down of the spacecraft, turning off almost all flight control systems including telecommunications and attitude control. Rosetta's scientific instruments were already individually powered down during the first four months of this year.
"Rosetta is getting farther from the Sun, and soon there simply isn't going to be enough sunlight to power its systems," says Paolo Ferri, Head of ESOC's Solar and Planetary Mission Operations Division.
"We already achieved a record in July 2010 when we reached 400 million km from the Sun and became the most distant spacecraft ever to operate on solar power alone. Rosetta will double the record distance during the hibernation period."
Virtual shutdown of the entire spacecraft
Prior to entering hibernation, Rosetta will be oriented so that its solar wings face the Sun and be placed into a slow spin, which will stabilise the satellite.
The window for issuing the hibernation command opens on 8 June, once the spacecraft status is confirmed. After the command is sent, there will be no signal sent to or from ground until 2014. A single computer timer will tick down the 136-week hibernation period.
Deep-space wake up call
At precisely 10:00 GMT on 20 January 2014, the timer will wake the spacecraft, which, seven hours later, will transmit a check signal to let mission controllers know that the spacecraft has woken.
"We've planned for hibernation for some time, and it's a complex phase of the mission," says Andrea Accomazzo, Spacecraft Operations Manager at ESOC.
"Still, for the flight control team, it's an emotional moment. We're essentially turning the spacecraft off. We're already looking forward to January 2014 when it wakes up and we get our spacecraft back."
Provided by European Space Agency


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A jury says Courtney Love did not defame one of her former lawyers in a 2010 Twitter post.
Friday's verdict comes after an eight-day trial that centered on Love's statements against San Diego-based lawyer Rhonda Holmes.
Love hired Holmes to pursue a case against the estate of her late husband, Nirvana frontman Kurt Cobain. The case was never filed and Holmes said Love fired her.
The singer's tweet suggested that Holmes had been "bought off."
Attorneys for Love maintained that the Hole singer meant for the post to be a private message and few people saw it.
Holmes' lawyers sought $8 million in damages.
Love attended and testified at the trial but was not present when the verdict was read.


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Intro Part 1 Part 2 Part 3 Comments 34
Feb 13, 2006, 9:22 PM by Rich Brome and Eric Lin
On-the-scene report from Barcelona. Hands-on with the Samsung i320, i-mate Smartflip, Nokia 6136, Sony Ericsson W950, and more.
Another month, another trade show. It's that season, and this month it's the 3GSM World Congress. 3GSM is the big mobile phone industry show for the EMEA region (Europe, Middle East, and Africa). Most of the news generally focuses on that region, but it's enough of global show that there's usually a good amount of news relevant to North America as well.
This year, the show moved to Barcelona, Spain, after outgrowing its previous venue, Cannes.
An in-depth review of Nokia's new flagship feature phone. Find out how this stylish GSM clamshell stacks up.
On-the-scene coverage of CTIA Wireless 2006. Exclusive photos and hot info from Las Vegas.
Our report from CES in Las Vegas. Hands-on with Cingular 3G phones, Moto ROKR E2, Sony Ericsson W810, new Samsung sliders, Pantech's new lineup, and more!
A video tour of the Pantech Hero for Helio, and side-by-side comparison with the VK Kickflip.
Jan 14, 2021
Samsung today officially unveiled its Galaxy S21 series of flagship phones for 2021. All three models sport a distinctive new "Contour Cut Camera" design where the metal frame extends around one corner to surround the rear cameras.
Stereo BT on the nokia 6131?
"Although Nokia considers it mid-range, the 6131 is fairly feature-packed, including quad-band GSM, EDGE, stereo Bluetooth, a megapixel camera, and a microSD card slot."
but that is the only place i see that says it has stereo bluetooth. can anyone confirm that it does?
How's the W950's keypad?
thanx in advance rich
But I hated the keypad. Thought it was terrible.
Eric liked it, though, so it's all subjective.
Anyone have any thoughts on why MS and VM would attach themselves to a platform that plans to use DAB, rather than DVB-H? From what I've heard, DVB is much more likely to become the eventual standard... or, if not, then something other than DAB (FLO, TDtv, etc).
Is it just that they want to get to market first, screw the eventual problems?
Samsung i320 vs. Motorola Q Plastics/Build Quality
Thank you! As you can see, I am very concerned about exterior build quality in my handsets. Motorola historically hasn't delivered that, for me.
But of course the Q will be EVDO for Verizon. The i320 will be GSM for Europe... so in real life most people won't be able to choose between the two. ☹
anything more from Nokia?
i'll bet they wanted to show off the N80, but we know that story.
8300? Helio?
Pantech is exhibiting their global portfolio here, including their GSM lineup and best CDMA phones. The 8300 is part of that, and it just happens to...
Pantech Exterior Build Quality?
It's not a small or light phone, so the A800 is probably a good comparison.
Danger and Sidekick 3?
A new Sidekick 3 is definitely coming, but no official details yet, and the Danger folks wouldn't talk about it.
They'd love to ge...
It's a tough job.......
yeah, right. I bet you love what you do, Rich. Barcelona. Cannes. All because you can code internet languages and got into phones. Life is sweet, eh?
Good job with the updates. This is always the most interesting part of the site. I'm eager to see what else will come out of 3GSM, and I'm sure you have some good stuff in store.


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It's a bug-eat-bug world out there and victory tastes like… dead insect carcasses.
This iOS game is an energetic combination of strategy defense and resource management. Unlike many mobile games that have been released recently, it will keep you entertained and addicted for a while, making the most out of your dollar.
Anthill: Tactical Trail Defense (iPhone [Reviewed], iPod Touch, iPad — universal app)
Developer: Image & Form
Publisher: Image & Form
Released: November 16, 2011
Anthill: Tactical Trail Defense is a simplistic strategy game that builds upon the concept of line drawing — think of games like Flight Control (the line-drawing airport one). You get four different types of little ants to serve and protect the Anthill: Workers, Soldiers, Spitters, and Bombers. The Soldiers are sent out along a line to fight off any attacking insects by biting their faces off. The workers can then come along and clean up the mess. Food that they bring home can then be used to spawn more troops, which is vital for when things get a bit mental. Extra support is provided by Bombers that work by touch-targeting as well as by Spitters that move along the given line, firing ant goo.
The levels consist of waves of attacks with increasing difficulty. Enemies include standard Enemy Ants, Shooterbugs, Shield Bugs, and bosses like the massive Superbeetles. At the end of each level, points are turned into stars that can then be used to purchase upgrades for each of the four ant types. It's worth mentioning that there's an option to purchase more stars and upgrade your troops faster, but this is not really needed and seems quite unnecessary.
The new and improved 2.0 version offers the "Infinity" mode. You start with all four types of ants and just keep going until your Anthill is crushed by invading insects, or you can possibly go on forever depending on your will and determination. This additional mode helps to extend the replay value of the game, as the three sets of campaigns can be completed in a couple of hours or less. The developers at Image & Form have also said that more levels are yet to be released. Hopefully they will involve something different like more challenging enemies or different types of ants to change up the repetitive nature of the campaign system.
The game looks really great and the music is a nice calming mix of jungle sounds and marimba chords. However, when things really get going and you have a full-on battle to deal with, the mix of different insects and ant trails can become quite confusing. There is always the option of sending your Bombers out to clear the way, though, as your own troops are immune to their goo. Convenient, right?
Anthill: Tactical Trail Defense provides strategic challenges through a variety of different levels. Looking past minor problems in the difficulty — the levels don't provide as much of a challenge as they probably could — it's impressive how addictive this game can become. The additional Infinity mode pushes the limits of challenge, and it's here where this game shines.