text:
Post 10519 Installation 2013
NEW Flag-Lowering Order – May 15, 2013
The President of the United States and the Governor of Wisconsin have proclaimed May 15, 2013, as Peace Officers Memorial Day and May 12 through May 18, 2013, as Police Week. Continue reading
Tractor Supply Company Offering there Stores to distribute Buddy Poppies!!
Spearheaded by the VFW Foundation, the Tractor Supply Company (TSC), the largest farm and ranch store chain in the United States with over 1,100 retail stores nationwide, is offering the VFW a special opportunity to distribute Buddy Poppies at each location during the Memorial Day weekend. Continue reading
2 Free tickets to every regular season Sunday home game in 2013 Continue reading
Candidates Video Forum Now Online!
Comrades Banks, Borg and Cahill make the race for State Junior Vice Commander a three-way contest; First ever Candidates' Video Forum now running of you WI VFW State Website. Continue reading


text:
What Technology Can and Cannot Do In the Fight Against Corruption
BY David Eaves | Thursday, January 3 2013
The Economist recently had a fantastic article — Squeezing the Sleazy — celebrating the increased focus on fighting corruption. There is a growing amount of work to talk about.
There are a slew of newly organized and emergent efforts to tackle various forms of corruption, particularly by using new technology, from the global — such as the Open Government Partnership, the Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative and Transparency International — to the very local — such as ipaidabribe and its various clones. These efforts have also benefited from a number of traditional players, like state and independent regulators, apparently becoming more aggressive in enforcing laws.
These efforts should be applauded as corruption often disproportionately punishes the most economically and socially marginalized. Low level bribes create barriers to services. High level bribes rob treasuries of revenue or effective infrastructure that can support growth or pay for social programs. It's also great to see mainstream media talk report on corruption as a general issue, rather than just the scandal of the day. The Economist is unfortunately unusual in that it has a very good track record in this space.
There are a few words of caution I would like to add to the conversation.
It is possible that we are experiencing greater success against corruption because new technologies are making it easier to track, bring awareness to, and fight its influence. But the capacity of technology to help citizens find officials and companies who are not corrupt could have an impact. In either case, where the mix of technology, activism and culture come together, traditional forms of corruption, particularly transactional corruption, may become harder to hide and so harder to sustain.
However, if — and this remains an if — technology can help citizens battle corruption, let's recognize that using network driven technology to beat back a pre-network problem is probably not the end game. While information technology may help tackle some forms of corruption, it is virtually (apologies for the pun) guaranteed to give rise to new forms of corruption. The article I'd love to read would not just be about how "ipaidabribe" managed to reduce corruption, but how people are using mobile devices to engage in new forms of corruption — as I suspect that these exist but have not, as yet, penetrated the public consciousness.
Speaking of networks, there remains a significant amount that traditional actors are not doing. The Economist, again, had a truly fantastic and critical article — Ultimate Privilege — on the dangers of making it difficult for the public to access who has been granted the right of limited liability, e.g. the right to set up a corporation. The fact that, in many countries, querying who owns or benefits from a corporation remains either expensive or impossible is likely the biggest contributor to corruption of all forms. Whether it is corruption in Quebec or corruption in Kenya the most consequential bribes and illegal money flow through complex networks of corporation. Making these networks more transparent so that citizens and interested stakeholders can see who is benefiting is not just one of the simplest and most powerful tools available to the state, it is essential step to a society committed to transparency, equity and good governance.
Finally, and most challenging, the very definition of corruption itself will hopefully alter begin to expand if we experience even moderate success. I for one, look forward to a world where we can worry less about a $10 bribe on a street corner in Bangkok and focus more energy on a $1.9B bribe (5 weeks' worth of one company's revenue) of the US attorney's office. This of course, is what HSBC paid the US government to protect its executives from being prosecuted for laundering Mexican drug money despite overwhelming evidence. Essentially the financial sector was just told that the risk to breaking the law and supporting illegal activity is not just acceptable, it is indeed exceedingly profitable. If I told you that a private company had paid a government office of Thailand, Columbia, or Nigeria ten million dollars as penalty to avoid criminal charges you'd almost definitely call that corruption. Sadly, if the numbers are big enough, and the government is in the OECD, it's called, well, something else.
We may be making progress against corruption but this dark hole probably goes a lot deeper than any of us care to recognize. That doesn't mean we shouldn't celebrate success — we should — just don't forget, we have a long, long, long way to go.

subset: commoncrawl


text:
Flying a Plane With a Touch-Screen Tablet
An array of future cockpit designs unveiled at the Paris Air Show allow pilots to control aircraft by tapping or swiping one of many touch-screen pads that fill the cockpit. Andy Pasztor takes a look at what's on offer.
This transcript has been automatically generated and may not be 100% accurate.
I ... knobs and switches dominated is on the airplane cockpits for decades ... but what happens when you love them and replace them with something more akin to this ... future cockpit designs on bail than discuss the Paris Air show ... allow pilots to control nearly all aircraft systems by tapping a striking one of several large ... tabletlike screens ... the controls are exactly seat expects ... you can pinch to zoom in or out our slide with your finger ... I love the color chart to change course across multiple screens ... pulling up the most relevant information when needed ... U S avionics supplier Rockwell Collins has designed a layout for general aircraft ... that looks more like the traditional car ... French aerospace manufacturers columns ... on the other hand the doctor that an approach with the sleek design interface that looks like it's straight from the most cutting its smartphone ... questions still remain about how cost touchscreen technology would fare in severe turbulence or emergencies ... obviously there is always the ... risk of turbulence were dead ball ... situations that need to be made ... at heart hurt by weak by country but also we provide I'd toggle switches as well were piling ... up but neither is a comfort with the trains ... were would be in an environment where you see or above miles and technology would work better if these and other challenges can be overcome than the concept shown here could become reality and years ahead ... though on the process the old fashioned throttles featured him train disaster movies may become relics of the past ... this is Andy Pasztor from the Wall Street Journal there ...


text:
Republicans in Congress are urging two simple steps they say will help put Americans back to work: Freeze all tax rates at current levels and reduce federal spending.
This is very different from what the Democrats have been pursuing, and in some ways it flies in the face of conventional economic theories. Cut government spending when the private sector is in slow gear? That's not what the textbooks typically offer as a way to rev up growth.
But these things are for sure: An improving job market is Americans' top election-season priority, and they're not happy with the status quo.
So how viable is that "two-point plan," espoused recently by House Republican leader John Boehner? Would it work?
Economists are divided on these questions, but fairly broad agreement exists on a few points. One is that it would be beneficial to provide clarity on tax rates – which the first part of the Republican plan seeks to achieve and critics say President Obama has failed to do. Another is that spending cuts hold less promise than tax-rate policy as a lever for job creation.
Supporters and critics of these GOP proposals concur on one more thing: Voters shouldn't expect a quick fix. Good policies can help the job market heal faster, but the process will still take several years, forecasters predict.
"Is [the GOP plan] a panacea for what ails the economy? Probably not," says Sean Snaith, who heads the Institute for Economic Competitiveness at the University of Central Florida in Orlando. But "in the sense that this provides a little stability, it could be beneficial."
The stability he's referring to is as much psychological as financial.
"There's a real sense that we're without a rudder right now," Mr. Snaith says. "We're seeing program after program put up [by Washington] ... and really little effect as far as job growth is concerned."
In this view, a key merit of the Republican proposals is that they represent a less-is-more approach to policy after two years of emergency intervention in the economy and record stimulus spending by the government.
But Representative Boehner's plan also has plenty of critics. The House leadership is set to elaborate Thursday on its "governing agenda" should it win in the midterm elections, which may include more detail about a jobs-creation plan. In the meantime, here's a closer look at the arguments for and against the Republican two-point plan.
The case for federal spending cuts
The Boehner plan would bring federal spending back to 2008 levels, excluding national-security expenditures and programs for seniors and veterans, such as Social Security. That means some big one-year cuts (about $100 billion worth, according to House Republicans) in an Obama budget proposal that totals $3.8 trillion in spending for 2011.
Potential cuts, according to ideas put forward this year by Republicans within the House Budget Committee, could include canceling stimulus projects for which money hasn't yet been committed, freezing federal salaries temporarily, or hiring only one federal worker for every two who retire.
Supporters of a reduction in federal spending fall into two camps: those who doubt that initial rounds of spending stimulus have helped and those who say the economy is in a different place from where it was 18 months ago, with less need of temporary stimulus today and more need for fiscal discipline.
Spending cuts could help signal that Washington policymakers are starting to get serious about tackling America's long-term fiscal challenge – a persistent gap between federal spending and revenues.
Boosters of this idea also say that spending cuts might free up resources that would be used more efficiently by the private sector. "The economy will recover very nicely," albeit gradually, under Boehner's plan, predicts economist J.D. Foster at the conservative Heritage Foundation in Washington.
The case for spending cuts is partly an expression of doubt about the effectiveness of traditional stimulus via deficit spending. Researchers, including Harvard University's Robert Barro, have published studies suggesting that increased spending serves mainly to shift money around within the economy, while doing relatively little to expand the gross domestic product.
The case against spending cuts
Foes of spending cuts say the move would harm a still-fragile economy that remains at risk of falling back into recession. When the economy is weak, economists in this camp argue, government spending acts to fuel demand for goods and services, rather than "crowding out" private-sector activity.
Even those who put a high priority on repairing federal finances concur.
"We don't want to endanger the recovery," says Diane Lim Rogers, chief economist at the Concord Coalition, a nonpartisan group in Arlington, Va., that promotes fiscal responsibility. She suggests that cuts in federal spending should be avoided for a couple of years, as the economy is finding its footing.
Moreover, budget experts say, short-term cuts can't substitute for providing a credible long-term plan to deal with federal deficits. The best confidence booster for businesses and taxpayers might be to see Washington come up with fixes for long-term challenges that Boehner's plan doesn't address, such as the growing federal tab for Medicare.
Mr. Obama has created a bipartisan fiscal commission to come up with long-term proposals on spending and taxes.
Some critics of the Republican plan go a step further. They say the problem with Obama's roughly $787 billion Recovery Act stimulus wasn't that it failed to work, but that it was too small. Given the magnitude of the jobs problem, with 15 million Americans unemployed, more stimulus spending is needed to put the US economy back into gear, they argue.
Right or wrong, that idea doesn't appear to have much political backing now. Obama has rolled out some additional proposals designed to buoy the economy via tax breaks for business, but with relatively small price tags.
The case for freezing current tax rates
Boehner's proposal for a two-year freeze on tax rates would maintain all the Bush tax cuts. By contrast, Obama wants to keep the tax cuts in place only for households with incomes below $250,000. Based on this difference, the Boehner plan would cost the federal government about $34 billion in revenue during 2011.
The tax freeze, like the Republican proposal to repeal Obama's health-care reform, would serve as a kind of "timeout" from big changes, so the economic recovery can gather momentum.
"America's employers are afraid to invest in an economy stalled by 'stimulus' spending and hamstrung by uncertainty," Boehner said in a recent speech in his native Ohio. "The prospect of higher taxes, stricter rules, and more regulations has employers sitting on their hands."
Although many economists don't share Boehner's view of Obama's 2009 stimulus effort, his view on "uncertainty" resonates. Amid employer worries that the Obama administration isn't creating a positive climate for business, holding tax rates steady could be a first step toward rebuilding private-sector confidence.
Snaith, the Florida economist, supported the general scope of the initial Obama stimulus in 2009 but now says the GOP proposals would help achieve a faster reduction in unemployment.
A majority of private-sector economists favor keeping all the Bush tax cuts in place at least for a time, according to one recent survey by the National Association for Business Economics.
The case against a tax-rate freeze
The opposing view is that allowing the Bush tax cuts to expire for the top-earning 3 percent of Americans won't affect their spending and investing enough to drag down the economy.
Obama, also in Ohio recently, argued that middle-class Americans need a tax break more than the wealthy do. "These families are the ones who saw their wages and incomes flat-line over the last decade. You deserve a break," he said.
Obama maintained that job creation worked fine under President Clinton, with the same top tax rates that the White House wants to return to.
Some opponents of a tax-rate freeze also reason this way: If a core problem for business leaders is uncertainty about future policy, a two-year hiatus from tax changes is at best a partial fix. CEOs making long-term decisions would still be unsure about taxes for Year 3 and beyond.
Ms. Rogers argues that the best confidence boost on the tax front will come from deeper tax-code reforms, rather than a wholesale embrace of the tax cuts. "The Bush tax cuts are far from the best kind of stimulus," she says. "How does that instill confidence for [Obama] to turn around and say, 'That's my tax policy too?' "
Over the course of this decade, allowing the Bush tax cuts to expire for high-income Americans would help reduce federal debt – saving nearly $700 billion by White House estimates.


text:
Date : 2019-01-02 05:42:30
Stay updated on our latest job opportunities!
|Follow @ApproachPeople
Approach People Recruitment was first established in 2000 and has, since then, become a leader in International Recruitment in Western Europe. We work closely with many of the Worlds leading Multinational Companies to find their future talents.
We aim to offer highly professional advice to our candidates, taking into consideration their expectations and career goals. We try to constantly obtain new employment opportunities that match well our candidates skills and offer interesting career opportunities.
Our salary survey is the best way to determine your salary expectations.
Recruitment news, interviews, advice and career opportunities. Register now to receive your copy!
Get your career on track!
Send an unsolicited application.


text:
This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2012, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.
State Superintendent Larry Shumway plans to retire after three years as Utah's top education official a time marked by debates over academic standards and testing and a recession that strained schools here and nationwide.
Shumway officially announced his retirement Friday. He told The Salt Lake Tribune on Thursday night that it was his decision to leave the post, and he's doing so simply because he felt the time was right.
"There are a lot of reasons, mostly personal," Shumway, 58, said of his decision to retire, effective Jan. 1. "I've just loved working for the state board and serving the state board. Our relationship has been strong, but one just arrives at a decision that it is the right time to go to whatever might be next in one's life."
State school board chairwoman Debra Roberts said Thursday night that Utah schools have come a long way since Shumway took the lead. The state board met for an executive session on Thursday evening in advance of its regular board meeting on Friday.
"This is one of those decisions where we tried to talk him out of it because we very much appreciate what he's done," Roberts said.
She praised Shumway for his vision, humor, willingness to try new approaches and fundamental understanding of the role of public education.
Shumway said he believes his biggest accomplishments over the past few years have included helping the board craft a mission and vision statement for public education called Promises to Keep; rising eighth-grade reading scores and ACT test participation; the State Office of Education's work on teacher evaluations; Utah's adoption of more rigorous Common Core academic standards; the move toward computer-adaptive testing; and the strengthening of relationships between state education leaders and the Legislature.
That's not to say, however, Shumway hasn't also faced a number of challenges during his time leading Utah schools.
In recent months, some conservative groups have lashed out at state education leaders over their adoption of Common Core academic standards, saying they'll lead to a loss of local control a claim leaders and Shumway flatly refute.
And last year, two top education finance officials resigned upon the discovery that a miscalculation at the state education office led to a $25 million anticipated shortfall in the state's education budget. The blunder was essentially the result of a spreadsheet error. Ultimately, lawmakers voted to give schools an additional $25 million to make up for the mistake.
"That was one where, from the very beginning, I recognized that our goal had to be to deal with it in a way that would lead to the appropriation of the $25 million that school children needed, and that meant some very difficult decisions that affected people I cared very deeply about and that I considered not just my colleagues but my dear friends," Shumway said Thursday.
But perhaps the biggest challenge of Shumway's time as superintendent was an economic downturn that cast a financial pall over Utah schools. It was a challenge that led some districts to shorten their school years, raise taxes and/or increase class sizes.
"It has required him to really make hard decisions," said Deon Turley, education commissioner for the Utah PTA.
Shumway noted that despite the economic strain, "great" local school boards, superintendents and charter school directors managed to keep going.
"It's been a challenging time to lead public education in Utah with the board," Shumway said, "but I think we can feel good about those years."
Turley noted that the PTA has had a good relationship with Shumway and has respected that he's always been willing to hear from all groups. She said he will be missed.
Sen. Howard Stephenson, R-Draper, also said Thursday night that Shumway's absence will be felt. Stephenson, who has headed several key education committees over the years, praised Shumway for building a connection between state education leaders and the Legislature. He also cited moves toward computer adaptive testing and digital learning as hallmark's of Shumway's time. He called Shumway a "true educational leader and consensus builder."
"Oftentimes we disagree, but he has been willing to work for the middle ground to find areas where compromise can be achieved with the Legislature," Stephenson said. "Rather than just hunkering down and failing to move anything he found ways of convincing us that there was a middle ground we could agree with."
He also praised Shumway for keeping his cool in the face of backlash over the Common Core.
Shumway said controversy comes and goes, and, "My hope has been that I will have been one who engaged in the conversations around controversy with civility and rationality."
Roberts said the board will begin the process of selecting Shumway's successor immediately. Shumway who has worked as an educator for 33 years as a history teacher, Spanish teacher, coach and administrator said he has no definite plans yet for his retirement.


text:
A proud owner of a DVR box and many cable TV channels for the first time in about 10 years, I have recently entered the world of docu-dramas, reality competition and most recently a show called, "Jessica Simpson's ,The Price of Beauty." J. Simp goes All! Over! The! World! to find out what different cultures consider beautiful. Now, I know what you're thinking, "Why on earth would you watch Jessica Simpson trek around the world pontificating on beauty?" Thing is, I dig the notion, and Jessica is an interesting choice considering how much she has been through, in the spotlight, targeted for her weight loss and weight gain. Hollywood is clearly unforgiving and often cruel. Jessica Simpson knows this firsthand.
Airing on Vh1, the show is described as:
"The new VH1 docu-series, produced by RDF USA (Wife Swap, Secret Millionaire), takes Jessica all over the world to meet every day women. She may also discover some local pop culture icons on their own quests for beauty along the way. Jessica will study the local fashions, dietary fads and beauty regimes and even participate in some of the extreme practices she discovers."
I've seen two of the existing three episodes one set in Mumbai, India and the other in Bangkok, Thailand. India (where I was born) and Thailand are places whose art, music, religious and spiritual practices are incessantly culturally appropriated by people all around the world.They are also places whose women are exoticized, fetishized and caricatured in the "West." So, cautiously I proceeded.
Here's how Jessica describes her project and aims:
"I have always believed that beauty comes from within and confidence will always make a woman beautiful, but I know how much pressure some women put on themselves to look perfect. I am really looking forward to discovering how beauty is perceived in different cultures and participating in some of the crazy things people do to feel beautiful. I know we will all learn a lot on this journey and I am so excited that VH1 is coming along on what I'm sure will be a wild ride."
Now, I like where this is going, and the show's promos and opening song are indeed rather touching. They mention self acceptance and cultural diversity in ideas about beauty. But eventually, we hit a wall.
As I watched the episode set in Mumbai, India, and Jessica arrived with her friends Ken (her hairdresser) and CaCee they could not believe how "overpopulated" the country was, and sprinkled in comments like, "it's so beautiful" and "look at all the colors!" Their first stop is to meet up with Bollywood actress Neha Dhupia on a movie set, and the fearless three ooh and ahh over Dhupia's outfit (a lovely churidaar kurta, I concur) and exotic beauty. Then they proceed to an Auyrvedic Spa, where they giggle and squirm at everything they don't understand and use terms like "freaky" and "weird" while discussing the inevitable beauty benefits they will surely receive from their hair treatment and herbal juice. The juice drinking results in a barrage of belching from the three, who simply cannot believe their fate. See a clip from this episode, here.
Jessica's frequent outbursts of how strange things are in India, and later in Thailand (That full episode is now available online, in which Jessica goes to mediate at with a Buddhist monk and cracks up during the mediation. Watch at your own risk.) demonstrate and un-interrogated cultural relativism and deep "othering" that often happens in an effort to understand different cultures. This desire to understand other cultures can be a great experience if it leads to self-reflection and new tools to understand your OWN cultural experience, like perhaps through a feminist lens. What do feminists do and say about certain Indian beauty practices? What do they think about Hollywood's influence on Bollywood and vice versa? Now THOSE would have been some interesting questions.
"The Price of Beauty" does not go this route. Instead, more often than not, it falls into the familiar trap of voyeurism and cultural imperialism. Another white woman travels to foreign land and appropriating the culture for self-exploration and profit (Eat, Pray, Love anyone?). There can be significant moments of recognition when we travel to witness and experience different cultures- there can be beautiful moments of solidarity. In order to actually bridge the existing divides and figure out the "price of beauty," this approach is not enough. Jessica gushes over the clothes she wears for a bollywood party (for which she doesn't seem to have washed the mehndi off her hands, which is what you do to reveal the tatoo) but she doesn't mention the obvious poverty in the country. In a very interesting scene in the Thailand episode, Jessica is floored by the revelation that women in Thailand bleach their skin to look whiter. She notes how strange that is since people in the US "do just the opposite" by always trying to tan. Not only does that make women of color invisible in the US (as though all US women are trying to be tan) it's also a very superficial assessment of the internalized and cultural racism in non-white cultures. The show doesn't even approach that question, instead it's simply a gloss of a culture and the beauty practices of some women within it. I daresay that the price of beauty is much higher than the show is willing and able to investigate.
Imperialism is not a language that communicates understanding and empathy. Even during a particularly moving moment, when Jessica, though Operation Smile, provides reconstructive surgery to a young Indian girl with a cleft palate, Jessica, Ken and CaCee are outsiders, come to save the day. They have helped one girl, and ignored the fact that there are such dramatic inequities, even within India itself. India, for Jessica and her friends is fascinating, strange and yes, even beautiful. But it is not a place they really understand, and not because it's too complicated to understand, but because they haven't really tried.
Next week, Jessica, Ken and CaCee go to Africa and visit a tribe that considers "fat is beautiful." If I can steel my heart, I might watch it.


text:
Great game thread Lercher
Great game thread Lercher
that should be called
New York not Knicks but We dont play D and we dont play team we play one on one ISO n we shooting 3s AMAP
MELO was totaly alone in this team
no one can help him
if thing wont be changed Knicks can loose MELO
Pop " Duncan set a pick on Felton and then he will guard you on Defense "
Woody " why is duncan so open ? "
we suck
ye and calendar is pretty huge Rockets Hawks Clipps Pacers Wizards Nets
lot games r on ESPN
i dont wana many games like vs Spurs
Aldrich needs to get more playing time. Plays 8 minutes grabs the second most rebounds on the team...plus 3 assist.
Woodson doesn't understand the logic.
I am telling you if LIN lights it up for the Rockets at MSG this Thursday then Woody will be a goner ( assuming Knicks lose the game and games this week )...........NO way DOLAN's EGO can deal with a NY POST headline of "LINSANITY HURTS THE KNICKS "
So right now its New York Dolan he started to guaranteees that Knicks will win @ Hawks
so what if Knicks loose both game @ hakws and vs Rockets?
What STAT done in Spurs game ?
how many mins played Udrih and Pablo
Felton was invisible totally


text:
Supermarket chain supplier
One supermarket chain that we have continuously worked with for several years is the Swedish chain ICA.
Decreasing energy to specific levels (12-13 W/m²) has always been a central goal at ICA – as well as the business interest that lies in cutting energy cost.
For that reason we have been engaged in several energy efficiency projects where we have managed to create energy savings up to 50 % by doing inventories, measurements, systematic LCCs, replacing old T8 fluorescents to T5 and planning the lighting design thoroughly.
Mostly our lighting installations have a pay-off time of three years and despite of saving energy the shops turn out much more inviting and enhances the groceries in a better way. Generally we manage to decrease energy levels to 12 W/m², which is in line with the central energy requirements.
ICA in Hindås and ICA Maxi in Haninge are two examples where successful lighting installations have been implemented by Fagerhult.
In ICA Hindås a complete lighting upgrade was installed. By using iTrack, iTrack Dupio and accentuating Zone Points the light was not only more commercial and welcoming - the energy bill was decreased by approximately € 460 a month (saving 7000-9000 kWh/month), and this in spite of supplementing the cooling with another compressor enhancing it by 50 %.
Furthermore, the customers described the atmosphere and experience of the shop to be light, fresh and easy to navigate, a fact the shop owner was extremely satisfied with. The combination of spotlights and fluorescents was also much appreciated – as well as the flexibility of the lighting installation where the staff could rearrange the luminaires when moving interior and merchandise. Also iTrack Dupio, with its adjustable reflectors made it possible to aim the general light towards both the groceries and graphic signs.
With its impressive 10, 000 square metres ICA Maxi in Haninge is Sweden's largest ICA shop, a shop where we also had the benefit of being the main lighting supplier. Thanks to Fagerhult O.D.D™ we could provide suitable products for this particular shop and its premises. First we created a suspended arm with fix points where Marathon spotlights could be installed – despite of the high ceiling.
We also created a special bracket that could be mounted directly on our standard product Dupio. This initiative made it possible to fit and attach Dupio on to the function ceiling that was used. Instead of developing a new version of the luminaire we solved the problem with a mounting accessory – by doing so we could provide a solution in a swifter and time efficient way.


text:
Barack Obama's State Department on Monday announced that it will close the office dedicated to shutting down Guantanamo Bay. According to the New York Times, this means that the President "does not currently see the closing of the prison as a realistic priority, despite repeated statements that [the administration] still intends to do so." Yet, all three network newscasts on Monday night and the morning shows on Tuesday skipped the revelation.
Such silence stands in contrast to the adulation Obama received in January of 2009 after the new president announced his intention to close the facility. On January 22, 2009, then-World News anchor Charles Gibson enthused, "The new President says America is taking the moral high ground in making the country safer." On the January 23, 2009 CBS Evening News, Bob Schieffer parroted, "He will close Guantanamo prison and outlaw torture. He has told the world that we will practice what we preach."
Here's what Obama's campaign website pledged in 2008:
Guantanamo has become a recruiting tool for our enemies. The legal framework behind Guantanamo has failed completely...The first step to reclaiming America's standing in the world has to be closing this facility. As president, Barack Obama will close the detention facility at Guantanamo.
Yet, the announcement that Obama has effectively given up on this promise has drawn little interest from the media.
In March of 2011, the President resumed military trials for terrorist suspects being held in Guantanamo Bay. The networks greeted this "stunning reversal" by covering it only in news briefs.
In contrast, When George W. Bush was president, Schieffer sneered that Guantanamo was a "cancer."
On June 9, 2005, comparing America to terrorists, he railed, "We need to think about what separates us from the people who are trying to take our freedom away from us....I don't want my kids to think this is how Americans are."
Is the United States government, currently run by a liberal Democrat, still similar to terrorists? How does Mr. Schieffer feel about Obama continuing such a "cancer?" Americans are waiting to see if he speaks out.


text:
Most Popular Articles
How to Prevent Spam ?
DescriptionSPAM is the use of mailing lists to blanket usenets or private email boxes with...How to create a new account in your Linux Reseller Account ?
DescriptionWebHost Manager enables you to quickly add new accounts. To do this, you simply fill...Best Coding Practices
Optimising Codes Optimising your server side scripts such as ASP and PHP is very important for...Setup Time
How Long Does it Take to Setup My Account? After purchasing hosting, your account begins the...Best Practises Search Engine Optimisation
We have gathered 51 Tips for effective search engine ranking. Please click here to download the...


text:
Diane Williams
Diane Williams is the author of eight books of fiction, including a collection of her selected stories; her latest book, The Collected Stories of Diane Williams, is published by Soho Press. She is also the founder and editor of the distinguished literary annual NOON. She lives in New York City.


text:
It sounds like it was made via Festival...
In which case, technically, it could be made to sing, as Flinger seems to more or less be an expansion on Festival. (Assuming it still exists?)
Keep up to date by following @Jeqofire on twitter!
Ear Ninja?
Discuss audio games!
You are not logged in. Please login or register.
AudioGames.net Forum → Off-topic room → Tts experiments at Blastbay
It sounds like it was made via Festival...
In which case, technically, it could be made to sing, as Flinger seems to more or less be an expansion on Festival. (Assuming it still exists?)
Heh, it sounds just so awesome... Lol! I just like such old-sounding robotic synths...
Hi all,
I have now updated the initial post with a new link to a sample that I uploaded to Dropbox. I'll be interested to hear your opinions on the differences.
Kind regards,
Philip Bennefall
Philip, way to go. It does sound quite a bit better than the last demonstration. As you say it does require some more work, but I like it so far.
hi, nice try for the voice. however, I still wait for the final result...
wow. Nice improvements there. How do you make a voice like this better? I thought you recorded lots and lots of sentences which you might have done, but what next? what can you do to improve the speech quallity?
The second voice sounds less jumpy, but needs a pretty big intonation increase in my opinion. It sounds monotone to me. But the intelligibility has improved.
Yes, the latest version does sound less jumpy, but I must agree with Ray that it does have next to no inflection. I think the pitch should be raised slightly, not lowered, but that is just my personal prefference.
I can't wait to hear the next update! I would also be interested to know how you go about improving the overall quality of the voice.
Hi Philip!
If I listen very close, it sounds pretty much like your voice, I mean the second recording. I couldn't believe that it was your "voice" speaking. How did you make it? I may have missed something, but I heard something of "Festival", is it the developing kid for a sapi voice?
Keep up the good work!!!
Since someone necroed this, I've got to ask. Is this using Phonemes? Diphones? Words?
Also, are you blind, Philip? I'm just curious--everything I found made making a voice like this into a very complex and visual process (open up your audio tools, select this view, and start clipping with the mouse on a sample-perfect basis...).
And for the record,at least the Espeak with NVDA is great. I wouldn't go to anything else, now. So, so fast, and yet clear. Not natural, but clear all the same.
The one on Linux, especially with Orca, sucks: you can't change the prosity/inflection/whatever it's officially called. one of these days, I'm going to track someone down who can help me reconfigure it all to actually work well and get Libsonic support without disabling audio permanently (oopse, and yay for VM).
Hello Camlorn,
Using the Festival and Festvox tools, it doesn't have to be a visual process at all. Sure you have to edit some audio, but the editing is trivial and can be automated for the most part, which suits me as I am completely blind and don't want to mess with visual interfaces either. I really just wanted to see how far I could take the voice, and since I am not particularly happy with the end result I have shelved it for now. I'll take it up again once a new version of Festvox is released that can do better prosodic models, but it's hard to tell when that will be. The method I use is called Clustergen, and creates a statistical model of my voice based on phonemes and diphones when available. So the size and phonetic balance/coverage are vital when you construct your dataset.
As for ESpeak, it's not for me. I only use it when I have absolutely no other option or if I am feeling particularly masochistic. Grins.
Kind regards,
Philip Bennefall
Awww, sorry to hear you've shelved it, I really liked it.
Yeah the second recording was quite well made. Of corse it's not the best ever tts, but it would work.
Well, I love such voices that aren't "the best" as you say. Yeah, I'm weird. Heh.
To be honest, I thought the first recording of them all was the best. I also now dislike Eloquence and think that the Espeak with NVDA is the best synthesis ever, so...take it with a grain of salt.
I need to look into this again. if it's using statistics, it could be possible to get the modle to be more accurate by providing more data from different people, or at least to get it sounding more interesting, and I kinda wonder if you couldn't somehow duplicate Eloquence with it by using recordings.
How are you automating audio? I'm not familiar of any audio analysis and modification scripts, save maybe Nyquist, but that's probably overkill. The rest are all geared towards music, or so it seems.
If I can get or find a good microphone and a quiet place to record, this could be a lot of fun to play with.
Hi guys,
After a few years of silence, I picked up this thread again. There have been some improvements in the voice creation tools, and I regenerated the voice with them using the existing dataset. Here's a new recording for those who may be interested:
I plan to rebuild the voice yet again with the latest snapshot of the tools that came out just a few days ago, but that's a project for the weekend when I'm off work.
Kind regards,
Philip Bennefall
I personally would just wait to see if Lyrebird releases their AI, as in my opinion it sounds a bit better than whatever you're using right now. Still, I definitely see myself downloading it if you made it a sapi voice or if you made it for NVDA. Plus, I don't think Lyrebird will be releasing there AI any time in the near future...
@shotgunshell I definitely agree that Lyrebird sounds better. My goal is really just to experiment with the Festvox system to see what results I can achieve. I will only release it if I get a voice that I personally consider usable, in which case I could easily make it into a Sapi voice or a DLL for NVDA or whatever other format people might want. I'm doing this in my free time, of which I don't have a lot, so I have no idea when/if I'll have something usable. I'm just playing around and wanted to revive this topic to post the current output.
Kind regards,
Philip Bennefall
Would you be willing to make it an Android TTS voice one day? I'd be willing to pay for it!
I myself quite like it!
I'm kind of curious about this app myself, does it have command line parameters?
Your links don't work.
Sounds like a fuzzy bucket. :-)
Decent inflection though, and it actually does sound like you.
No noticeable artifacts in the portion I heard either, but that crazy smoother thing that makes it sound fuzzy probably hides them all anyway...
May be the way you wrote it but, it seems kind of, droning, not enough commas? The sentences don't have defined separators, no real inflection change at the ends.
If it would be as easy as making several concatenative files with different speech samples, and the whole interface was made to be accessible, people could definitely put in the effort to make their own. As for whether or not they want to to sell it...
The main thing I'm wanting to fix is the inflection, and the endless sentences. I have solutions for both, as well as a few other tweaks I want to do. I'll post another sample when I have it.
The old links don't work, but that version sounded awful. For kicks, here they are for comparison.
The very first link, with a tiny dataset of just 500 recordings:
https://www.dropbox.com/s/upe4x3ckssv5m … 0.wav?dl=1
And the second link, with a few more recordings and a slightly different rendering method:
https://www.dropbox.com/s/0w31xv2h2utvr … l.wav?dl=1
Now that, that's fuzzy for sure. I die a little every time I go back and listen to these. They were made with very very old versions of the tools.
When it comes to platforms, as long as I'm happy with the voice itself, I'm game to try building it for whatever I can get my hands on. But again, I have not decided at all what I'm going to do with it.
Kind regards,
Philip Bennefall
hay philop,
could you provide a tutorial on how to make a sapi voice using festvox?
AudioGames.net Forum → Off-topic room → Tts experiments at Blastbay
Generated in 0.033 seconds (72% PHP - 28% DB) with 11 queries


text:
Simple TartanSpearmint
Simple Tartan in Spearmint is part of the new Serenity Collection and is available to order in both standard and custom sizing.
Hand-knotted using the finest hand spun Tibetan wool, renowned for its quality and durability.
Simple Tartan is available to order. Samples can be viewed in our showroom now.
For inquiries please email: [email protected]


text:
Should Bones be renewed for a 10th season, it will likely be its last.
At the Television Critics Association winter press tour on Monday, Fox Entertainment President Kevin Reilly said that he has high hopes that Bones will return for Season 10. "We're negotiating on Bones for Season 10, and I expect it will be back," he said.
Check out our complete Golden Globes coverage
That's the good news. Now the bad news: Reilly told a group of reporters after his panel that it was likely that Bones would end after 10 seasons.
Should Bones earn a 10th season, series creator Hart Hanson will step down as showrunner to focus on new Fox series Backstrom. Executive producer Stephen Nathan would take his place.
Would you miss Bones?


text:
Four-Wide Jet Cars, Charity Pancake Breakfast, Mobile Gaming and Much More All Part of the Dollar General NHRA Four-Wide Nationals
Fans wait with anticipation all year to experience the 40,000 horsepower assault on the Bellagio of drag strips during the Dollar General NHRA Four-Wide Nationals fueled by Full Throttle, April 19-21. But the racing on the track is just part of a fun-filled week on and off the track at zMAX Dragway.
Four-Wide Jet Car Exhibition to Light Up zMAX Dragway
Four jet engine-powered dragsters, an elite group of exhibition vehicles in the world of drag racing, will unleash a fury of flames and a showcase of speed on zMAX Dragway as they soar down the strip simultaneously Friday and Saturday nights. Each jet car is capable of speeds of more than 270 mph.
Renowned jet dragster veteran Elaine Larsen, who has more than a decade of racing experience, and second year jet dragster driver Marisha Falk, will pilot two of the land rockets down the quarter-mile in a show that's sure to delight.
When they're not on the track, Larsen and Falk will be at their display in the Play Zone, where fans can get autographs and see their powerful jet cars up close.
Speedway Children's Charities, B.R.A.K.E.S. Partner in Fundraising Breakfast
The Hot Rods and Hot Cakes breakfast, held on Saturday, April 20, in the zMAX Dragway pavilion from 8 a.m. to 10 a.m., will give fans the opportunity to eat breakfast alongside NHRA's most notable team owners and drivers.
Tickets for the Hot Rods and Hot Cakes breakfast may be purchased in advance for $10 or the day of the event for $15. Proceeds will help SCC continue to support local children in need as well as help B.R.A.K.E.S. to teach teens the importance of safe driving. To purchase tickets, please call Martha Walker, associate director of B.R.A.K.E.S., at 704-720-3806 or email . Tickets will also be on sale on Friday in the midway at the Dollar General NHRA Four-Wide Nationals.
Fans Can Join the Mello Yello Challenge: Pick Winners, Earn Prizes
Drivers won't be the only ones getting into the spirit of competition when the NHRA's top four categories line up to race at the Dollar General NHRA Four-Wide Nationals. Throughout the weekend, fans will be able to pick which drivers will win each round and earn point as part of the Mello Yello Challenge.
Fans who log on to www.4widedrags.com can select winners in the Top Fuel, Funny Car, Pro Stock and Pro Stock Motorcycle categories, with each correct entry earning points for the fan. The fan who collects the most points at the end of the weekend will win two tickets to the NHRA Nationals at zMAX Dragway in September and be named an honorary pit crew member for the day with Bob Tasca's race team during the event.
Race Fans Come From Around the World to See Unparalleled Showcase of Speed, Power
When the NHRA's best roll up to the starting line for the first round of qualifying, they'll be showing the sport to an international audience.
Fans come from around the world to see the NHRA's best Top Fuel, Funny Car, Pro Stock and Pro Stock Motorcycle in a showcase of speed and power that is unmatched in the world of motorsports. In 2013, fans will come from 44 states and nine foreign countries, including Germany, Finland, Sweden, England, Brazil and Australia, to witness the excitement of a four-wide frenzy.
To purchase tickets to the fourth annual Dollar General NHRA Four-Wide Nationals at zMAX Dragway, April 19-21, visit www.4widedrags.com or call 1-800-455-FANS (3267). Fans who buy three East Grandstand tickets to any day will receive a fourth ticket free, through Sunday. Kids 13 and under get in free with an adult ticket purchase. Every ticket is a pit pass, so fans can walk through the pits and see their favorite drivers and teams as they prepare to take to the track.
Connect with zMAX Dragway and stay up to speed with all the happenings at the Bellagio of drag strips on Facebook at www.facebook.com/zmaxdragway and on Twitter at www.twitter.com/zmaxdragway.


text:
State & Local Government Career Resources
Just like the federal government, state and local government attorneys handle a broad range of legal issues and are housed in the executive, legislative, and judicial branches of government. Think of any area of our everyday lives that is subject to government regulation – government attorneys are at work to craft policy, draft laws and rules, advise elected and appointed officials, and represent the interests of citizens in court.
Because each state and local government organization abide by individual jurisdictions and separate hiring practices, it is best to research each entity for details on different types of organizations, hiring policies, etc. Listed below are resources to assist in finding detailed information on each State and Local government organization:
PSJD's State and Local Government Resources by State is an extensive list of websites for state and local agencies that hire attorneys and/or law students. It is easily searchable by state, and includes lists for several major cities as well.
State and Local Government on the Net is a helpful resource that provides access to thousands of websites for state agencies and city and county governments.
Careers in State and Local Government is an extensive resource prepared by Harvard's Office of Public Interest Advising.
USA.gov provides a great deal of websites for State, Local, and Tribal government organizations.
ABA Section of State and Local Government Law is an association for lawyers involved in urban, state, and local government law and policy. Lawyers representing government agencies nationwide utilize the ABA Section of State and Local Government Law to access information on issues that relate to their practice.
Category: Public Sector Career Paths
Tags: Government Careers, State and Local Government Resources


text:
Leucoraja ocellata
Winter Skate
Share this species with family and friends:
The winter skate is a fascinating species known to deter predators and stun prey with a quick jolt of electricity. Most are found in the northwest Atlantic Ocean, from the Gulf of St. Lawrence in Canada to North Carolina in the United States. Once thought to be a "trash fish," the winter skate is now harvested and processed into fishmeal and lobster bait, and is even marketed for human consumption. Increased trawling for the species has resulted in the accidental capture of juveniles, which are easily mistaken for smaller, more abundant species. This has led to a staggering population decline among winter skate, which are slow to reach sexual maturity and have few offspring.
Winter Skate has a narrow latitudinal ranges and high degree of endemicity. It is endemic to the shelf waters of the northwest Atlantic, from the Grand Banks, Gulf of St. Lawrence and occasionally to the Northeast Newfoundland Shelf in Canada (Compagno et al. 1989) and to Cape Hatteras, North Carolina, in the USA (Robins and Ray 1986, Collette and Klein-MacPhee 2002, COSEWIC 2005). The population(s) (structure unknown) appear to be concentrated in four geographic locations: 1) southern Gulf of St. Lawrence; 2) Scotian Shelf; 3) Southern Gulf of Maine/Georges Bank; and 4) the Mid Atlantic Bight.
Winter Skate is a benthic species. Habitat ranges from shoreline to 317 m, but they are most abundant at depths <150 m (Bigelow and Schroeder 1953, McEachran 2002). The temperature range for this species is -1.2?19°C (Bigelow and Schroeder 1953, McEachran 2002). This species prefers sandy and gravel substrate (Bigelow and Schroeder 1953, Scott 1982). Substrate type rather than depth appears more important in determining distribution (Scott 1982).
Size, reproduction and age data in life history table below. Winter Skates are slow-growing, produce few eggs each year. Size at maturity increases with latitude (McEachran and Martin 1977). On Georges Bank and Gulf of Maine, individuals mature between 70 and 109 cm total length (TL). The Gulf of St Lawrence population however matures at a smaller size and does not reach as large a size as other populations (McEachran and Martin 1977). Length at 50% maturity for female winter skate on the eastern Scotian Shelf is thought to be around 75 cm (Simon and Frank 2000).
Eggs of Winter Skate are deposited throughout the year off southern New England and from summer to autumn off Nova Scotia (Vladykov 1936, Collette and Klein-MacPhee 2002). However, a peak in the reproductive season was observed during the summer months in the Gulf of Maine (Sulikowski et al. 2004). Industry has previously noted females extruding complete purses only in the late summer/early autumn west of Sable Island and suggestions were made that this may be a spawning area (Simon and Frank 2000). Frisk et al. (2002), suggest winter skate fecundity to be between 18?35 eggs per year.
Winter Skate migrate to deeper colder waters during summer months in some areas and the species is sometimes termed a winter periodic (Scott and Scott 1988). Research vessel survey data for the Scotian Shelf, however, show that winter skate appear to be concentrated in deeper warmer waters in the winter and move into shallower waters during spring and summer.
Most important prey items appear to be fish, decapods, amphipods and molluscs. Primary food sources shift from invertebrates to fish as skates increase in size. Moreover, the prey size also increases as the skates become larger and older. Studies of food habits of winter skate and little skate by McEachran et al. (1976) have shown that although the two species occur together over most of their range they avoid serious competition by eating different proportions of the same food resources. Winter Skate tended to eat infauna and Little Skate eat epifauna.
Little is known about predation on Winter Skate, but they are eaten by many predators including sharks, other rays (such as L. erinacea), and Grey Seals (Scott and Scott 1988). Winter Skate are also prone to several parasites, including protozoans, myxosporidian, haematazoa, trematodes and nematodes (Scott and Scott 1988).
The Winter Skate (Leucoraja ocellata) is a common shelf-water species, found in the northwest Atlantic from Labrador to the Carolinas. The Winter Skate has a narrow latitudinal range and a high degree of endemicity. Like many other elasmobranchs, it possesses life history characteristics (including delayed age at maturity, long generation time, low fecundity, and consequently slow population growth) that may increase its vulnerability to exploitation, reduce its rate of recovery, and increase its risk of extinction. Presently there is no directed fishery for the species. Population trends vary in different areas of the Winter Skate's range, as described below.
Northern Gulf-Newfoundland population, Canada: At the northern extent of its distribution, the Winter Skate exists in low concentrations in the northern Gulf of St. Lawrence, in the coastal waters off the southern coast of Newfoundland, and on the southern portion of the Grand Bank. A quantitative analysis of spatial and temporal variation in population size is not possible because of the infrequency with which the species is caught. It is subject to bycatch.
Southern Gulf of St Lawrence, Canada: Here the species appears to have a restricted distribution and individuals mature at a significantly smaller size than those found elsewhere. Abundance of mature individuals is estimated to have declined by 98% since the early 1970s, and is now at a historically low level. The probable cause is an unsustainable rate at which they were captured as bycatch in fisheries directed at other demersal species.
Eastern Scotian Shelf, Canada: Individuals here mature at a significantly larger size than those in the Southern Gulf and mature at a significantly different age than those inhabiting waters further south. Abundance of mature individuals is estimated to have declined by more than 90% since the early 1970s and is now at a historically low level. The area occupied by the population appears to have declined significantly since the mid 1980s. Larger, older individuals have been severely depleted from this population. The probable cause of the decline is an unsustainable rate at which they were captured as bycatch in fisheries directed at other groundfish species, although current reported catches are low.
Western Scotian Shelf-Bay of Fundy, Georges Bank, Canada: The area of occupancy of Winter Skate here has been stable. Estimates of population status show no discernible trend over time. There is a high probability that the population receives immigrants from the population inhabiting the USA portion of Georges Bank. The population is subjected to bycatch in fisheries for other groundfish and shellfish species.
Georges Bank to Carolinas, USA: Abundance currently is slightly above the low levels recorded in the early 1970s. Presently, it is about 25% of the peak observed in the mid-1980s which followed the establishment of the 200 mile EEZ. The trajectory declined in the late 1980s?early 1990s to a level similar to the 1970s then increased slightly and has been relatively stable since. Here it continues to be taken as bycatch but is no longer commercially targeted, It has declined by almost 50% since the inception of a fisheries management plan (FMP) in 2003 (NEFMC 2007). However, since the 2004?2006 survey index was only 9% lower than the 2003?2005 NEFSC survey index, overfishing is not occurring for this species, but is in an overfished state (NEFMC 2007). Since abundance is low in all areas (particularly in the southern Gulf and the eastern Scotian Shelf), despite a reduction in groundfish effort and management measures (no directed fishing) in place, a regional Vulnerable listing is recommended for the USA.
Substantial declines (>90%) have occurred in two of the major areas of this species? range and declines have also occurred off the USA. Although the causes of these declines are mixed and uncertain, given the level of the declines and that these are ongoing in some areas, a precautionary assessment of Endangered globally is warranted. The situation should continue to be monitored.
Major Threats
Like many other elasmobranchs, the winter skate possesses life history characteristics that may increase vulnerability to exploitation, reduce rate of recovery and increase the risk of extinction: including delayed age at maturity, long generation time, low fecundity, and consequently slow population growth.
Otter trawling is the principal commercial fishing method used to target skates in the USA but are also taken as bycatch in gillnets and longlines off Canada. They are also taken as bycatch (and often discarded) in groundfish and shrimp trawls and scallop dredges. Eastern European factory trawlers fished west Atlantic shelf waters during the 1960s (at the beginning of the current three generation period) and into the early 1970s, causing population depletion. The stock possibly rebounded in parts of its range with the adoption of 200 mile EEZs and a reduction in fishing effort, with catch rates of juveniles increasing. The directed fishery in the USA began in the early 1960s, and the targeted Canadian fishery began in 1994.
The status of Winter Skate appears to differ throughout its Canadian range. Skate in the southern Gulf (where there is no directed fishery for Winter Skate) and on the eastern Scotian Shelf (where it is targeted) have shown a 98% and 90% reduction in abundance respectively since the early 1970s when surveys began. The probable cause is an unsustainable rate at which they were captured as bycatch in fisheries directed at other demersal species. In contrast, skate in the most southerly part of its Canadian range (western Scotian Shelf-Bay of Fundy, Georges Bank) appear to have been relatively stable in abundance over the time period for which data are available (COSEWIC 2005). The COSEWIC Assessment and Status Report (COSEWIC 2005) and DFO Recovery Potential Assessments for Winter Skate (DFO 2005 a&b) provide detailed accounts of decline trends in the different population units for this species, which are only outlined in summary here.
DFO (2005a) reports that catch rates of adult winter skates on the eastern Scotian Shelf have declined 90% since 1970. The decline appears to be ongoing and is projected to continue in future at recent fishery removal levels. The area occupied by the population appears to have declined significantly since the mid 1980s. Larger, older individuals have been severely depleted from this population. Juvenile abundance, which was low in 1970s, increased during the 1970s, was fairly stable in the 1980s, but has been declining since the 1990s. At the current high rate of adult natural mortality, no recovery is expected even if target and by catches are held to zero. Recovery of this population is uncertain.
The quota for the directed fishery on the Scotian Shelf was reduced to 200 t in 2003 from 2,000 t at the start of the fishery in 1994, in response to the population decline identified by DFO surveys and is estimated as less than 300 t annually over the past decade, with a low bycatch.
For the Southern Gulf, where there has been no target fishery, DFO (2005b) reports a 98% decline in abundance of mature individuals in surveys since 1971 to the lowest level on record. Catch rates of juveniles increased in surveys from the early 1970s to the mid 1980s, but have since also declined to low levels. Catch rates in the DFO Northumberland Strait survey (conducted since 2000) declined by over 50% between 2001 and 2004. Bycatch is now very low in groundfish and shrimp trawls but is unknown in the scallop fishery. Adult mortality appeared to increase during the 1980s and 1990s. Abundance is projected to decline even with no bycatch.
Elsewhere in Canada, winter skate are also taken in low numbers incidentally in fisheries targeting other species. The area of occupancy in the Georges Bank-Western Scotian Shelf-Bay of Fundy, in the centre of this species? range, has been stable and there has been no discernable trend over time (this population is shared with the US area of the Georges Bank).
In USA waters skate landings are not reported by species, with over 99% of the landings reported as ?unclassified skates?. ?Skate? landings in the USA reached 9,500 mt in 1969, but declined quickly during the 1970s, falling to 800 mt in 1981. Landings for all skates increased to 12,900 mt in 1993 and then declined somewhat to 7,200 mt in 1995. Landings have increased again since 1995, and the 1998 reported commercial landings of 17,000 mt were the highest on record. Winter Skate abundance is currently about the same as in the early 1970s (within the three generation period for this species), but is about 25% of the peak observed in the mid-1980s (from Packer et al. 2003). The U.S. population of winter skate has also declined by almost 50% since the inception of a fisheries management plan (FMP) in 2003 (NEFMC 2007) and a reduction in groundfish effort. However, since the 2004-2006 NEFSC survey index was only 9% lower than the 2003?2005 NEFSC survey index, overfishing is not occurring for this species, but it is in an overfished state (NEFMC 2007). Recreational and foreign landings are currently insignificant, at <1% of the total USA fishery landings (Packer et al. 2003).
Friend a Species
- Sean Moe
- Anonymous
- Anonymous
- Anonymous
- Anonymous
© WoRMS for SMEBD


text:
: 7
: 7
: 0
: Zoltan Szabo5618 25 Apr 2012
My new idea is to make a service which publishes the users availability (calendar freetime info only) informations outside the company. This can save lot of time to organize intercompany meetings. The users outside can connect to this server and query for invities freetime info.
Eg: now, you can syncronize your Notes calendar to Google Calendar the other user can view your Google Cal is his Outlook.
I know this is not only a Domino problem as this should be a general solutions for all mailing systems.


text:
Thursday, February 19, 2009
Happy 1st Birthday Luke!!!
Posted by Christensenfamily at 3:52 PM 7 comments
Tuesday, February 10, 2009
Partners in Crime
Well, it's been awhile since my last blog, so I thought I'd hurry and post one. We haven't been up to anything too exciting, it's been so stinkin' cold that we've had to make our own fun for the past little while. I let the kids get dressed up about everyday, because they love it so much. Plus I think it's a blast when Seth walks around all day referring to himself as "batman" or "buzz lightyear". Here's the boys as batman and the flash. They keep pretty busy by messing up as they go. They've started being partners in crime when it comes to making messes. Once I get one room cleaned, they run in to it and pull things off the shelves, and toys from the toy box. Seth thinks it is his job to destroy every bed that's been made. He loves to pull off all the pillows and throw them onto the floor. Luke loves the cupboards. He will pull anything he can out of them. The other day I was doing the dishes while he was messing in the cupboard, and when I looked back, I couldn't see him. I looked around and saw that he had climbed into the cupboard and was sitting in the back of it. Here's a picture of the little crazy man. Luke is also pretty much walking now. He can move pretty far without using anything to hold onto now. They are maniacs, but we love them!
Posted by Christensenfamily at 5:23 PM 2 comments


text:
Wedding photo guides – Info
August 19, 2019 | Business | No Comments
With the Internet providing the most rapid and comprehensive access to information, there's no wonder, couples can find wedding planning guides online as a support for the preparation for the big day. Wedding planning guides online are either completely free or fee-based; but if you decide to pay for one, make sure it is worth the money. Great recommendations for wedding planning guides online can find found at amazing wedding planning where you can also enjoy tips and professional advice. In fact such information makes the primary matter of a wedding planning guide online.Do you want to learn more? Visit the full article
The big advantage of wedding planning guides online is that they cover all the minute details you may not even have thought of. Hence, you will learn the steps to the preparation of a dream wedding by taking one thing at a time. Most of the wedding planning guides online include checklists of various kinds, that can be downloaded in a matter of minutes. Some of them may require your paying a fee, but it's a very small one. Such checklists included in wedding planning guides online cover every category of items and issues necessary for a wedding. You'll be safe from ceremony location to the bridesmaids gowns.
For instance, though it may sound far-fetched the tips you find in the wedding planning guides online about hiring a photographer are extremely useful. Of course you want the pictures to be perfect and you cannot rely on anyone; first you need to have a look at a portfolio. So, according to any wedding planning guide online, you should contact several photographers and studios, see previous work and find out if you feel comfortable with the person. No wedding planning guide online, nor any other book in the world can point out the right person for you; in books you only find suggestions, then, it's up to you.
Don't think cheap when it comes to photos, this is all that remains when the day is over. Memories are part of a shared family life; therefore, wedding planning guides online advise that at least 15% of the wedding budget should be allotted to photography. Another great part of the wedding planning guides you find online is the possibility to look through the electronic directories and find sites, caterers and even DJs by a simple click of the mouse. Since the Internet is such an information treasure chest, let's not forget to open it from time to time.


text:
PRE Drinks are called "Probiotic Enhancers" because they contain a proprietary prebiotic blend along with Inulin, FOS (FructoOligoSaccharides) and organic juices to help keep your digestive tract healthy. Unlike other nutritional drinks, PRE promotes healthy levels of good bacteria, which in turn helps reduce the bad bacteria in your digestive system.
- Posted in New Product Spotlight
- No Comments


text:
Wholecloth quilts are a stitched symphony of fabric, motifs, texture and embellishments. Showcase your quilting as you design and create your own wholecloth treasure.
Create your own exquisite, one-of-a-kind wholecloth quilts with award-winning instructor Cindy Needham. From choosing and preparing a decorative vintage linen or conventional cotton, to auditioning threads, basting and beyond, Cindy will be your expert guide. Learn to mark and stitch both striking medallion designs and flowing all-over designs. Find out how prints from your backing fabric can inspire the motifs you quilt on top. Create beautiful wholecloth quilting with fillers like cathedral windows, special feathers and more. Then, learn to lay out borders, block your quilt and square it up. Cindy will also provide tips for using cutwork, bridgework, lace edgings and beading to make your quilt even more elegant.
If you're not delighted with your Bluprint experience, we'll make it right or give you a full refund.


text:
Roughing It by Laurie Wisbrun
I just love designer Laurie Wisbrun's fabrics. I remember drooling over her Etsy shop a few years ago, and then being so excited when she announced she was going to be designing fabric for Robert Kaufman, starting with Tufted Tweets. When she asked me if I wanted to play around with her upcoming line Roughing It, I immediately jumped on the opportunity!
This adorable line is all about the outdoors - trees, campers (LOVE!), woodpeckers, tents, and a great stash-building dot print. I've decided to work with the fabric in 2 sets.
And have pulled some fabric from my stash. I can't wait to cut into it!
Roughing It will be available this December, but keep an eye out on my blog next month. I just may be giving away a Fat Quarter Set!