Friday, May 21, 2010

English Final: Letter

To whom this may concern,
I am a student at San Francisco State University, in my English class, taught by Sarah Fama, we were given an assignment about students plagiarizing in SFSU. Through our research my classmates and I have discover some really interesting issues. For this assignment we were split into groups, each group had their own sub topic. Those topics are academic culture, demographics, extracurricular activities, and student motivation. With these topics split, we can all go in depth and share the information with each other afterward. We have conducted surveys and interviews to students who attend San Francisco State. Through the research we have found out that many students have plagiarize before and what made them plagiarize which leads me to this letter. Plagiarism is just a word that students hear all the time from their professors and teachers. I’ve known the word ever since I have been in school but I never truly knew the definition of the word, but I do know what will happen if we did plagiarize. Many students like me only know the basic definition of what plagiarism is and the punishment that we will get if we plagiarize but not many know what is consider plagiarism. Plagiarism is a word that we hear throughout a student’s whole school life. No teacher has ever gone in depth of what plagiarism actually is. There are so many gray areas that a lot of students know of. Most students know what will happen if we plagiarize but what is plagiarism? My definition of plagiarism is using someone else’s work without properly citing them. According to Susan Blum, My Word! Plagiarism means “…the nature of texts and authorship, and the nature and motives of the person doing the work turned in for credit.” As you can see the definitions are somewhat different from each other. The reason for that is because not everyone has the same definition of what plagiarism is, some people may not even have a clear idea of what plagiarism is. Many students including me only know that if we plagiarize we will be in a lot of trouble. I would like to recommend some ideas for San Francisco State for dealing with students who plagiarize and also help lessen students that do plagiarize.
San Francisco State teachers should go in depth with students on what is exactly is plagiarism and types of plagiarism are there so students can be careful with their writing or researching. Some types of plagiarisms I don’t even know about until I learned about it in English class. The different types of plagiarisms are patch- writing, copy from web, copy from another person, re-using another paper from another class, having someone else write your paper, you write for others, fail to cite, and etc. There are many more different types of plagiarism out there. I just named a few to show you the basic idea. Without naming the different types of plagiarism to students, how would they know if they plagiarize or not. “Of the forty four, one answered that they had indeed purchased a paper for an assignment, one checked that they had copied text from the from the internet, six had copied the text of another person, ten had reused writing assignments from their past, three had copied from other texts and failed to cite them, seven students had allowed another person to write their assignment for them, six had written assignments for others, and nine had simple failed to cite their sources. Four students answered the question unsure; eighteen revealed that they had never plagiarized (Chang, 2010, p.4). Though students do know that they have plagiarized and which category it lands into. There are at least some students who plagiarize but don’t understand why it is consider plagiarism. In the study that we conducted in class it shows that twenty percent of the students have fail to cite properly. Is it their fault that they fail to cite? If teachers have teach us how to properly cite this problem will not come up. Students who did not properly cite did not intend to not cite properly. These are accident plagiarism. With so many types of plagiarism are in the gray area, teachers should identify which are in the gray areas so students would know and be caution on what they are going to writing or use.
Rather than just punishing students for plagiarizing, San Francisco state should reason with students rather than just kicking them out of school right away. Many students did not plagiarize on purpose. If a student patch-write and got kicked out of school is kind of ridiculous. There should be different types of punishments for students who did different types of plagiarism. For those who intend to plagiarize of course should be kicked out of school, but for those who did not cite properly can have alternative punishment. Maybe take a class or workshop on how to cite properly so they will not make the same mistake again. For those who re-use a paper from another class, the teacher can make the student redo the paper and on top of that write why they plagiarize for their punishment. With these ideas it can help students learn their wrongs rather than just kicking them out of school, without knowing what they did wrong, in the future they will just continue in doing what they did wrong because they did not know what the right way is. Having a workshop or class for students to learn the proper way of citing or what exactly is plagiarism can help a student grow and will not make those mistakes again.
Many students have other issues in life beside just school, having homework on top of homework it can be very stressful for students. According to the research we did, “With 40% of the 44 students working approximately 20 hours a week and 60% participating in a form of an organized student activity, it’s easy to say that students at SFSU have busy schedules. The survey revealed that work, extracurricular activities, and going out have negatively impacted schoolwork.” (Abdon, A. 2010). The result shows that many of us do have a life and have other things to do beside homework. With homework on our mind and having to work at the same time is very stressful. And time flies by when doing other things. With the busy schedule we have, homework will be the last thing on our minds, and the last thing we will do. Like me, I work part time and go to school full time. Jogging school and work is really hard, but that is life. I work nights and have school in the morning. I would get off work around 10 to11 o’ clock at night. By the time I start on homework it will be 12 in the morning already. There are many times when I do feel like re-using a paper or even asking someone do my homework for me. Since I know the consequences, I didn’t there to. It is really tempting during those times to actually plagiarize. Students don’t plagiarize on purpose though there are some that do but for those we don’t intend to do so is because either they don’t know much about plagiarism or because of the time limit they have plagiarizing is the easiest thing to do at the moment.
San Francisco state should have strict enforcement of telling students what plagiarism is. Students know what the different type of plagiarism is the more unlikely they will not plagiarize. Even if they do their SFSU should have different kinds of punishment to punish students rather just kicking students out of school. Enforcing the definition of plagiarism and not just the punishment students will have plagiarism in mind and would maybe think about it before actually plagiarizing. These are just my ideas that maybe can help the school and the students from plagiarizing or just lessen it. Thank you for your time and hope it was helpful!

S. Chang

Work Cite
Blum, S. (2009). My Word! Ithaca, New York: Cornell University Press.

Chang, S. Keil, T. Maldonado,R. Truong,N.Wilson,T. (2010) To Plagiarize or not to Plagiarize,That is the Motivation. English 114.04,Spring 2010, San Francisco State University.

Abdon, A., Miraflor, C., Del Valle Nieva, A., Erfe, R., Yuen, V., Rodriguez, A. (2010) Extracurricular Culture. English 114.04, Spring 2010, San Francisco State University

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Historical context and interpretation: be fair to the Zeitgeist!

2 replies [Last post]

In discussions of interpretation, most often people will tell you the same basic advice:
-read the whole work your cutting is from
-ALWAYS refer to the text when queries arise
-question character relationships
-discover what it is the character wants and the devices they are using or could use to accomplish this goal
-look closer and find the subtext

…and so forth. All of this is splendid advice, and I would spout these pearls of wisdom to anyone who is new to the world of interpretation. However, there is one aspect that I feel is forgotten in the Forensics realm which leaves me perplexed. Why do I rarely hear of people looking into the historical/cultural significance of the piece?

In high school and college the historical and cultural views are generally a focal point of most literature courses. In fact, one of the first questions a majority of my teachers would ask is something like “how is this novel capturing the historical context of this time period?” And then of course there would be a brief historical lesson prior to even reading the piece of literature. I adore that literature can be a method to learn about history and culture from a given time period. If we are so eager to interpret as such in a classroom, why not Forensics?

If you are performing a piece that is steeped in historical and cultural significance, is specific to a particular time period or idea, or uses a past event in juxtaposition to a current event I suggest going to your history textbook and reading. Knowing the events of the past, the reasons why they happened, and the FEELINGS related to these events CAN HELP YOUR CHARACTERIZATION! Have you been stuck pondering why your character feels as they feel? Perhaps your answer is related to the societal zeitgeist surrounding a time period.

It is also useful to ask whether the author wrote the work in question to send a message. If that is true, I would also suggest researching what that message was. You may learn a few interesting pieces of information that could be useful in the interpretation of the piece and for characterization (especially if the author is speaking through the narrator).

Delving into the historical, cultural, and authorial background for your piece may yield some extraordinary fruits. Still skeptical? Imagine reading “A Modest Proposal” by Jonathan Swift without any knowledge of the heated period he wrote. I used that work as a means to teach high school students about satire; provided detailed information about the historical context and most loved it after hearing the context surrounding the piece. Contemplate how they would have reacted if I would have supplied the text PRIOR to any intelligence as to why it was written! This real-life example is precisely why lacking enlightenment to historical, cultural, or an authorial message can be harmful to your interpretation; you may be missing the point.

Remember, the reading of literature creates amateur historians of us all.

Interesting advice! But something that could easily be overlooked. This should be added to the routine bits of advice people give.

I wish I could have been in that classroom after the students had finished reading "A Modest Proposal."

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'Landscapes that Shape Us'

Luther College anthropology department hosts documentary screening Oct. 20

In celebration of Iowa Archaeology Month, the Luther College anthropology department is hosting a screening of "Landscapes that Shape Us" at 6 p.m. Friday, Oct. 20, in Room 102 of the F.W. Olin Building on Luther's campus. A question and answer session with the producers of the documentary will follow the screening.

"Landscapes that Shape Us," a short documentary produced by The Iowa Department of Transportation, tells the story of a cultural resources discovery identified during the planning stages of the U.S. Route 20 expansion project in Woodbury County. It documents how government agencies, Native American tribes, historians and archaeologists worked together to balance transportation needs while protecting cultural resources and the integrity of the land.

The documentary also highlights work done by archaeologists at Bear Creek Archeology, Inc. from Cresco, Iowa, as well as historical finds from the area and unique perspectives on the significance of this location. One of the most remarkable discoveries made during the process was the unearthing of geoglyphs, or large man-made designs etched into the earth.

Among other topics discussed in the documentary are the consultation process under the National Historic Preservation Act, various viewpoints about the project and land and human history of the area.

Landscapes That Shape Us


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Entrenched Deflation Threatens Economic Recovery

Economics / Deflation Mar 26, 2013 - 10:30 AM GMT

By: Andrew_McKillop

There are basically only two possible views. One is that entrenched deflation happens when there is persistent falling demand for credit and declining rates of money ciculation in the economy, driving down prices for goods, services and credit. This is confronted and made worse by increasing physical supply (and supply capacity) of goods and services. Due to generalized over-borrowing in the recent "economic cycle", QE Everywhere cannot fill the gap caused by secular deleveraging. All developed economies are "pushing on a string" and the temporary wealth effect of housing price and stock market gains has gone or will evaporate. They will all repeat the Japanese experience in their own way.

A supposedly alternate but in fact related view is that there is no fundamental conflict between inflation and deflation forecasts, there are only different time frames. Current and emerging deflationary forces in the economy are real and they will likely drive down prices, but the astronomic monetary expansion of recent years must sooner or later trickle down to the real economy and explode. To be sure this excludes the increasingly likely "option" of debt repudiation, fiat taxation of bank accounts (as in Cyprus), monetary re-basing or overnight "surprise change" of national moneys. All are deflationary.

Certainly until 2012, the monetary and fiscal stimulus which was operated in the wake of the 2008 crisis generated the expectation that serious inflation, if not hyperinflation must come. Actual and emerging deflation trends were for the least unexpected. Once the possibility is admitted, the length of any "deflationary phase" is also controversial or hard to predict. One major reason is that at least since the early 1980s, each serious economic or geopolitical crisis is followed by inflation. To find a multi-year period of  "chronic or entrenched deflation" we have to go back to the 1930s Great Depression, but with hinsdight it is also possible to consider the "high growth interval" or Trente Glorieuse of about 1948-75 as another long semi-deflationary period. This was shown by real prices tending to decline and inflation rates being very, very low while average earnings and revenues constantly increased.

In other words economic deflation can happen either under economic contraction, or expansion.

The US is in no way a special case. Periods of strong inflation historically occurred during wartime, but through 1948-75 this was the Cold War. Much more important economically, in the same way as for Japan and Europe during the same period, vast government overspending was combined with an ever-growing and strong private sector economy. This situation had already changed well before the end of the Cold War, with the collapse of the USSR in 1989.

Also, it is very easy to contrast the type of state "Keynesian type" stimulus applied to the economy through 1948-75, with the QE Everywhere situation of today, which in fact dates back more than 20 years, where State spending is completely unable to offset private-sector weakness. On balance this drives down private-sector demand.

Staying with the US, the data is very clear and supports the previous "classic paradigm" of inflation/wartime and deflation/peacetime. Since 1776, wartime years recorded average inflation rates above 5% per year. Peacetime years averages were as low as 1% per year, and before the late 1970s and early 1980s, actually showed recurring year-on-year contractions of general prices.

Often ignored or underestimated, the worldwide trend to deleveraging is highly deflationary. This can be called a "flight from credit and debt". The real extent of current and ongoing deleveraging is underestimated, due to the process including both State and private-sector deleveraging. The first is the realm of QE Everywhere, but the second is real economy deleveraging. This is chronic deflation.

Real economy deflation is powerfully intensified by still increasing industrial output capacity in many domains despite saturated or semi-saturated markets, for example cars and cellphones, air transport, marine transport, energy, minerals. Debt reduction and reduced forward borrowing by private financial establishements is also strong, and is highly deflationary. Key effects of this of course include the policy response of the "Japanese experiment", an official attempt to restore inflation by whatever means are needed. In Europe, the UK is in open recession, despite massive and continuing State deficits and borrowing. The Eurozone can for all intents and purposes be considered a large economic region of generalized deflation. China’s GDP growth has slowed considerably, like the GDP growth of Brazil and India. US growth outlooks are "desperately modest".

Despite the massive apparent creation of liquidity, by QE Everywhere, the net effect is very low. This is due to two factors, both of them deflationary. Firstly there is deleveraging which most importantly includes bank recapitalization. Secondly there is rapidly intensifying decline of "monetary velocity" or money circulation in most major economies. In the finance sector, the decline in securitization and the elimination or writedown of so-called "off balance sheet vehicles", such as SIVs, is now in full swing as the banks dump "dubious assets" to raise capital ratios.

Increased savings are in progress in many major economies, despite derisorily low interest payable on deposits. This is at one and the same time a result of deleveraging, and of economic psychology, shown by increasing amounts of ATM cash withdrawals and liquid cash held by individuals "just in case", for contingencies and not spent. This is exactly the reverse-paradigm of the 1980s and 1990s process of increasing consumer indebtedness and constantly falling savings rates, providing both a stimulus to the economy, and to inflation. To be sure, US (and European) private consumption was the largest single driver of Asian and other export-led-growth economies until very recently.

Other deflation factors also operate at the private consumer level, such as equity stocks volatility since 2000 and especially since 2008, which undermine confidence in private equity portfolio holding, as a substitute for savings. At the same time, the previous very inflated real estate sector enabled home equity to finance debt and consumption, but this has significantly weakened. In many developed countries, "home equity" was the financing pillar of both the college education of children, and the retirement of middle class workers.

However, at least as important and of longterm future importance, often confused with regards to its cause and effects by political deciders, and studiously ignored by mainstream media, the developed countries face falling birth rates, slowing rates of population growth, and outright decline of national population. All of these longterm processes can only slow economic growth and favour deflation.

Several countries "afflicted" by outright population decline, as wide ranging as Russia and Singapore treat population decline as a national crisis. Others, due to its longterm nature and difficulty to reverse, such as Japan and Germany, have at least provisionally accepted the new demographic order but the fact that the 1930s Great Depression was also accompanied by, or caused falling birth rates, makes the reality of contracting national populations, or "demographic decline", a sensitive subject. Sensitive it might be, but this does not prevent it being real.

In fact major demographic change is a longterm process relative to the economy: demographic change concerns multi-decade, even centennial variations in the net balance of births against deaths and the average age of citizens. Today's demographic decline in a large number of developed countries, and radical declines in population growth rates in China, the MENA region and South America has taken place over 25 years, in many cases. The process can in no way be attributed to the most recent major economic crisis (post-2008). Also, the potential for this process being rapidly or significantly reversed is very low. Even more important, population ageing or the increase of the average age of any national population group, is a worldwide trend including India and Africa south of the Sahara.

Fertility rates are well below the world average replacement level of around 2.33 children per female (which can attain more than 3.3 in some cases), in most OECD countries today. Combined with ageing populations, this has a significant longterm sustained negative impact both on economic growth and expected, or possible, rates of inflation. Older persons tend to consume less than younger. Apart from the period of about 1980-2008 during which retiring and inactive "Baby Boomers" in the developed countries could expect to receive large pension payments, always corrected for inflation (even if it is declining), this "unreality interval" is now over.

Worldwide, but most intensely in the OECD countries whose combined GDP relative to world total GDP is declining, but is still close to 50% of world total GDP, the phenomenon of declining ratios of economically active-to-retired and inactive populations is intensifying. As a result, the working-age population relative to "dependents" will continue declining.This has many economic impacts, nearly all of them opposing economic growth and favouring deflation. Some are relatively subtle, such as declining or restrained rates of productivity growth and declining utilization of private cars even when they are regularly purchased. More dramatic effects include falling investment in R&D and falling capital investment, due to "flattening" of forward demand trends for goods and services and increasing amounts of surplus output capacity, which further incites companies to deleverage.

Under conditions of economic shock, especially post-2008, the combined impact of all these trends can or may create Deflation Shock.

Certainly since 2008, it is possible to measure the vast and growing gap between actual rates of economic growth, often close to or even less than zero in most European economies, and potential long-term trend growth measured on a basis pre-2008, for example 1985-1995. Where the gauge is 2004-2007 rates of growth against present, the gap is even more extreme giving us some idea of the surplus of output capacities of goods and services, and likely future demand. This is deflationary.

Excess supply and supply-capacity can then be seen for what it is: a stark cause of current and coming deflation. Many other factors, some of them relatively subtle, can only intensify the trend. For example the extreme intensity of income polarization or "the rich get richer but the poor don't have babies" combined with stagnant or declining net incomes of middle class households, creates the well known paradigm of economists as far back as Engels and Keynes, that is income elasticity of spending declines with rising income. National surveys of spending trends back this observation, with these surveys showing widespread trends to both increased savings, and increased income inequality, favouring the already-rich whose spending remains flat, despite often rapidly increasing income.

It is easy to argue that the cause-and-effect of declining birth rates or outright contraction of national populations, and declining economic growth and deflation, is "similar to the Great Depression", but this argument is almost certainly not true. Conversely the trend to increasing protectionism, as growth declines, is almost certain and is easy to compare with what happened during the Great Depression. The 2013 edition of the US General Electric Corp's "Global Innovation Barometer" of course gave high praise to ongoing Chinese corporate innovation - but this survey also showed that 71% of corporate executives in 25 countries want their governments to apply protectionist measures.

Normally, protectionism should favour at least a short-term rise in inflation as lower-cost imported goods are squeezed out, but the GE survey also showed a significant worldwide return to country-to-country or bilateral offset and barter trade, replacing conventional trade. The effects of this can on balance be deflationary, as declining amounts of currency payments and exchange, per transaction, tend to drive down the real economic costs and prices of global trade activity. Certainly this year, 2013, the trend for WTO-style "free trade" to give way to "every-nation-for-itself" is very likely to intensify, preceded by competitive devaluations to spur national exports and to impede imports.

As we know, again from the Great Depression, when all nations competitively devalue they all lose because foreign trade is both disrupted and declines - economic growth is further depressed. Simply due to its global money role, most devaluations will be against the US dollar, with an immediate negative impact on dollar-prices for almost all traded commodities. In turn, declining commodity prices can be expected to act in reverse mode to how they acted when "the commodity boom" operated: during a period of rising commodity prices, inflation tends to rise. During periods of falling commodity prices, deflation is likely to occur. In both cases, self-reinforcing "positive feedback" mechanisms tend to make the process durable.

By Andrew McKillop

Contact: xtran9@gmail.com

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6 Critical Money Making Rules


Rules to Conflict Resolution

17 01 2015

First of all, let me be abundantly clear.  I am NO PROFESSIONAL AT THIS…  hahaha  I am just sharing what I am using with my lady.  Maybe it can help you too.  Blessings.

  1. If there is a issue, acknowledge it immediately to one another. If the time to discuss is inappropriate, agree to revisit the issue at a later time. All discussions are to take place in private.
  2. No Yelling. If one person is yelling, the second person should not join in. The issue can escalate this way. The calm person should tell the one yelling, “Calm down, so we can work things out.” If the person yelling continues, the calm person should say, “I’m walking away until we both calm down.” It is the responsibility of the person who started yelling to re-engage the conversation, after they have calmed down.
  3. No Cursing. Cursing is inflammatory and not needed at a moment of healing. Choose your words wisely.
  4. No Name Calling. This too is inflammatory and not needed at a moment of healing. Use adjectives to describe someone more than using nouns. (Example: “You were acting arrogant” is vastly different than “You are arrogant.” One is based off observation. The other is a judgment.)
  5. Always start and end the conversation by letting the other person know that you care about them. Use this technique for any pre-meditated conflict conversations. For spur-of-the-moment conflicts, the moment you recognize that you are in the midst of a conflict, make sure to tell the other person that you care about them. This helps soften the environment and mood, thus making the next rule easier to implement.
  6. Do not speak in generalities. Be specific with the issue. Confront the issue at the time of the occurrence so it can be fresh in your mind.
  7. Gain complete clarity of the issue at hand. Acknowledge each part of the issue to show understanding and reflection on the issue. Be open to the idea that you made a mistake, even if you think that you didn’t. Do not engage in a tit-for-tat conversation. If you have an issue that you want to raise, deal with that after the current one is resolved.
  8. Focus on the Resolution. This key element is essential to the success of conflict resolution. “What can we do to fix the problem?” Not, “How can I prove the other person wrong?”
  9. Stay engaged and active in the conversation. Do not shut down. If one person begins to shut down, the other should remind them to focus on staying engaged and working towards a resolution.
  10. Solve the problem through a brain storming session. After gaining an understanding of the issues at hand, collectively think up several possible solutions to the problem.
  11. Once grievances are shared, seek to apologize as quickly as possible. This helps set the tone of a loving environment and softens the situation. This also places emphasis on the importance of the relationship over above the need to be right.
  12. Once the issue is resolved, use humor to clear the air of seriousness. Laughter can bring us back to a place of mirth. Whether its watching a funny video or telling a joke, use some vehicle to clear the air.
  13. Be sure to follow up on any implemented solutions. All solutions can be brought up for revision. Ask one another about the solution and how it is working for them. Remember that any revisions must be mutually agreed upon, just as the initial decision was.

Key Elements:

  1. Both parties should be focusing on resolving the issue. This is more important than being right.
  2. Remember that a conflict isn’t just a disagreement. It is a situation in which one or both people perceives a threat. (Real or not.) Therefore, reinforce the fact that there is no real threat (just differences), and the conflict can dissipate.
  3. Honor the rules. Honor the relationship.


Mexico's view of the US has hit a record low

Travelers leave Mexico for the United States as they use the Cross Border Xpress pedestrian bridge in Tijuana, Mexico on June 8, 2017. Cross Border Xpress (CBX) is an enclosed pedestrian skywalk bridge that spans the U.S./Mexico border, connecting a passenger building in San Diego to the Tijuana International Airport (TIJ) terminal immediately south of the border. It opened on December 2015. (Photo by Bénédicte Desrus) *** Please Use Credit from Credit Field ***(Sipa via AP Images)

(CNN)After a period of goodwill during the Obama years, the views of Mexicans toward the United States are souring.

According to a study released Thursday by the nonpartisan Pew Research Center, more Mexicans view the United States unfavorably than at any other time since 2002, when Pew started keeping track. They don't like President Donald Trump or his border wall proposal, and fewer believe strong economic ties are good for them, compared with two years ago.
But, as in most relationships, it's more complicated than it seems.
US image in Mexico
In a survey of 1,000 Mexicans from March to April, nearly two-thirds expressed an unfavorable opinion of their neighbor to the north. That's more than double the share in 2015, when 29% held a negative view of the US. And it represents a complete reversal of positions from 2015, when 66% of Mexicans held favorable views toward the US and 29% held unfavorable ones.
    Opinions differ depending on age, income and education.
    popular among younger americans
    That may come as little surprise to anyone paying attention to Trump's rhetoric toward Mexico since the early days of his campaign, when he called some Mexicans in the United States "rapists" and pledged to build a "great wall" between the countries and make Mexico pay for it.
    Since then, Trump has not let up on his pledge to build a wall. And he has stuck by threats to pull out of the North American Free Trade Agreement if Mexico and Canada don't meet his demands for a complete overhaul of what he calls "the worst trade deal ever made."
    This erosion of goodwill corresponds with low approval of Trump. Just 5% of respondents said they had confidence in the American President to do the right thing regarding world affairs -- a steep decline from President Barack Obama's lowest rating among Mexicans, 38% in 2011, the report notes.
    image of us president
    That doesn't mean Mexicans have written off the United States. Despite increased anti-American sentiment, 55% of respondents said moving to the United States offers a better life, an increase of 7% since 2015. And an overwhelming 85% of Mexicans said they were dissatisfied with the way things are in their own country.
    Moreover, 33% of respondents said they would move to the United States if they could. This data point has remained relatively stable since 2009, even though more Mexicans left the United States than arrived between 2009 and 2014. What has changed is how young and old people answer the question: From 2015 to 2016, the same share of people ages 18 to 29 said they would move to the US; among people 50 and older, however, the number dropped significantly.
    few older americans
    Something else to consider: Mexicans are less willing to live and work in the United States without authorization, a fact that calls to mind another key Trump administration priority. Only 13% of Mexicans said that they would do that, down from 20% two years ago.


Political turmoil, the global economic downturn and travel jitters have put an estimated 6.6 million people out of work in the tourist industry worldwide, and there is little sign of recovery before 2005, the United Nations labor agency said Tuesday.

The U.N. International Labor Organization said one of every 12 workers in the tourism sector had lost their jobs in 2001-02.

Terrorist targeting of tourists _ such as December's attack on a hotel in the Kenyan resort of Mombasa and the bombings in the Indonesian island of Bali _ and fears about a war in Iraq dampened hopes for a revival, its report said.

"Patterns such as 'sea, sand and sun,' and particularly the desire of many tourists to travel to faraway exotic destinations, are likely going out of fashion," it said, adding that there was a growing tendency to stay closer to home.

North America, along with the Middle East, has suffered the worst losses in the wake of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks.

In the United States international tourist arrivals were down 30 percent compared with the year before the terrorist attacks, the U.N. agency said. Although total travel spending was expected to recover to $555.6 million this year, it would still be below the 2000 level.

Australia and Egypt also suffered a big decline, as did European countries like Switzerland, Germany and Austria, which were traditionally popular with American visitors.

Some countries, including Croatia, Cyprus, Slovenia, Turkey and Vietnam, saw higher numbers of tourists from neighboring countries, while in China there was a big increase in domestic tourism, the report said.

Overall, in 2001, receipts from cross-border tourism fell by 5.1 percent in dollar prices and the number of international tourist arrivals was off 0.6 percent.


Instant knowledge: A case for steam

A better understanding of the properties of steam may be achieved by understanding the general molecular and atomic structure of matter, and applying this knowledge to ice, water and steam.

What is steam?

The specific combination of these atomic elements provides compound substances. One compound is represented by the chemical formula H2O, having molecules made up of two atoms of hydrogen and one atom of oxygen.

The reason water is so plentiful on the earth is because hydrogen and oxygen are among the most abundant elements in the universe. Carbon is another element of significant abundance, and is a key component in all organic matter.

Most mineral substances can exist in the three physical states (solid, liquid and vapor) which are referred to as phases. In the case of H2O, the term ice, water and steam are used to denote the three phases respectively.

The molecular structure of ice, water and steam is still not fully understood, but it is convenient to consider the molecules as bonded together by electrical charges (referred to as the hydrogen bond). The degree of excitation of the molecules determines the physical state (or phase) of the substance.

Triple point

All the three phases of a particular substance can only coexist in equilibrium at a certain temperature and pressure, and this is known as its triple point.

The triple point of H2O, where the three phases of ice, water and steam are in equilibrium, occurs at a temperature of 32 F and an absolute pressure of 0.088 psi. This pressure is very close to a perfect vacuum. If the pressure is reduced further at this temperature, the ice, instead of melting, sublimates directly into steam.

In ice, the molecules are locked together in an orderly lattice type structure and can only vibrate. In the solid phase, the movement of molecules in the lattice is a vibration about a mean bonded position where the molecules are less than one molecular diameter apart.

The continued addition of heat causes the vibration to increase to such an extent that some molecules will eventually break away from their neighbors, and the solid starts to melt to liquid state. At atmospheric pressure, melting occurs at 32 F. Changes in pressure have very little effects on the melting temperature, and for most practical purposes, 32 F can be taken as the melting point. However, it has been shown that the melting point of ice falls by 0.01 F for each additional atmosphere of pressure. For example, a pressure of 200 psig would be needed to reduce the melting temperature by 0.18 F.

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Solar Power Space-Craft Breaks World Record

The progress of solar innovation continues as NASA's Juno probe breaks the world record for most distant functioning solar space-craft at 493 million miles away from the earth. As it soars through space farther and farther away from the sun and towards the gas giant Jupiter, Juno overcomes obstacles and pushes the boundaries of what we can do with technology. Here is an excerpt:

The NASA probe sent to analyze and study the surface of Jupiter broke a record as the most distant solar-powered space craft in human history, according to a press release from the US space agency. The previous record-holder had been Europe's Rosetta spacecraft, launched in 2004, which traveled 492 million miles to land on a passing comet. The Juno probe still has another roughly 30 million more miles to go, which means a big lead any solar powered distance competition.

Previously, only eight spacecraft have navigated as far out into space as where Juno broke the record. All eight utilized nuclear power sources to fuel themselves.

Despite the success, it is unlikely Juno will be the start of a new trend of solar-powered exploration into the depths of space.
"Juno is all about pushing the edge of technology to help us learn about our origins," said Scott Bolton, Juno principal investigator at the Southwest Research Institute in San Antonio, in the NASA press release. "It just seems right that the sun is helping us learn about the origin of Jupiter and the other planets that orbit it."

When Juno launched in 2011, it weighed four-tons. It was equipped with three solar array, each measuring 30 feet in length, and possessing more than 18,000 individual solar cells. The rationale behind the weighty payload was logistics, according to the press release.

At Earth's distance from the sun, the equipment Juno has could have generated 14 kilowatts of electricity. In space, further away from the sun, the amount of power that can be generated from the same equipment declines dramatically. At Jupiter, sunlight will carry 25 times less power, according to NASA.

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Sablayan Tourism, Philippines

Visit Sablayan - Best of Sablayan

Sablayan (Tagalog pronunciation: [sɐblajan])is a first class municipality in the province of Occidental Mindoro, Philippines. According to the 2015 census, it has a population of 83,169 people. It has a total land area of 2,188.80 square kilometers, making it the largest municipality in the Philippines. The Apo Reef, North and South Pandan Islands, and a portion of Mounts Iglit-Baco National Park are part of its jurisdiction.

Planning a vacation to Sablayan in Philippines? This vacation planner will provide you with all the essential information you need. The nearest major city to Sablayan is Tagaytay. Tagaytay, is a worth visiting city owing to its prime attractions like Taal Volcano, Sky Ranch, People's Park In The Sky. Tour packages of Sablayan are of 1 to 2 days duration.

Get, set and plan a journey with this amazing travel planner for Sablayan that shall leave you with plenty of memories at the end of your trip.

Are you looking for a Sablayan travel itinerary? Create an itinerary within minutes, on your own!


prayer, a loving conversation with god (take 5)

Today’s lesson: prayer, a loving conversation with god.

prayer, spiritual nourishment (take 2)

Today’s lesson: prayer, spiritual nourishment.

January 24, 2016: 1.5 hours, 5 children, ages 6–9 years. Started a new lesson today, based on the second lesson in Set 1, Grade 2 of the Ruhi Book 3 curriculum. As we’ve done in the past, we focused on just a few of the activities this week (song, story, and a craft), leaving the rest for the next week. I should note that our team is steadily growing; along with two main teachers, we now have two parents who assist with the class in various ways. Others have expressed interest in helping, too, which is great news. Because of this, we’re spending more time learning how to coordinate with each other as a team. For now, I’m planning the lessons (since I’m more familiar with Grade 2), making sure to divide up the different parts of the lesson such that each helper has something to contribute. When we start doing Grades 1 and 2 simultaneously, we’ll have two sets of teachers doing this concurrently. Hopefully we can build enough capacity right now so that everyone feels comfortable when the time comes to split the classes.

We started off with prayers, after which we set to work presenting the new lesson. I feel like I always talk too much when I do this on my own, so I asked my co-teacher to help with this. She prepared a nice slideshow with pictures to help the children visualize each part of the quote. We continued with the story of Lua Getsinger forgetting to say her prayers in the morning (and getting scolded for it by ‘Abdu’l-Bahá); one of our assistants took care of this part. The children seemed to get the main lesson of the story, which is that prayer is just a form of food for our souls—and, of course, that ‘Abdu’l-Bahá recommended we take our spiritual food before taking material food.

corksWe ended off the class with something we billed as a science experiment with spiritual overtones. (“We’re doing science in Bahá’í classes!?”) To illustrate the idea of being “attracted” to the Kingdom of God, we made our own miniature compasses, by magnetizing needles and sticking them through little roundels of styrofoam and/or cork. The children could easily see that once the needles were magnetized, pushed through the cork and floated in a tub of water, they pointed more or less towards magnetic north. Moreover, when we brought a magnet close to the tub, the needles floated towards the magnet. We dropped several needles into the tub and dragged the magnet around its sides, making the needles follow along like a school of hungry fish. This way, we were able to explain “attraction” in terms of a force that helps us to turn towards something and move towards it—just like prayer helps us to turn towards God and move towards Him.

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back to class!

making a class calendar

If you’re teaching a Bahá’í children’s class, one thing you’ll probably find indispensable is the class calendar. At its simplest, this is a list of lesson topics or themes that will be covered during your school year. More complex calendars can also include lists of activities to be included in each lesson, prayers and quotes to be studied, and so on. Over the years, we’ve put together a calendar template that seems to work well for us. We’ve written about it before, but this time around, we’ve prepared some sample templates for you to download and use. Go ahead and download our pre-filled neighbourhood calendar template for Microsoft Excel (.xlsx) and open it in another window, and we’ll run you through the basics of it here. There’s also a blank template if you just want to dive in without having to look through a bunch of fake data.

Our calendar is actually a combination of two things: a class calendar and a class attendance sheet, all on the same worksheet. This means that you can enter the dates for each of your lessons and fill in all the related activities in one section of the sheet, and scroll to the next section to record attendance for the class after it happens.

neighbourhood calendar

Because we had a children’s class and a junior youth group going at the same time in our neighbourhood, we built space for both into our calendar. The “Type” field can be anything, but I usually use the following abbreviations for different activities: “CC” for children’s class; “JY” for junior youth group; “HV” for home visit; “RM” for reflection meeting; “DM” for devotional meeting; “SC” for study circle; and so on. There are enough columns for all the basic elements of a children’s class—quotes, prayers, songs, stories, drama and games, arts and crafts—and extra space for notes.

The attendance sections (one for a children’s class and one for a junior youth group, but you can always copy and paste in Excel to make more) provide space for quite a few participants, and can always be expanded by inserting new columns. As you can see in the figure above, there’s space for a first name, age, family identifier (usually the first name of a guardian), and comments to give some context and help you remember who’s who (such as where you first met them). You can put “yes” or “no” for attendance in a new row each week, and at the very end of the spreadsheet, there are a few “total” columns that will tally up the number of yeses to give you the final attendance numbers.

There are a lot of benefits to using a calendar like this. First of all, because it includes a section for attendance, keeping accurate statistics is easy. If you import the calendar to a service like Google Drive, it can make collaboration within a teaching team easier, too, since different team members can access it and update information in real time. If you’re not a computer person in the first place, you can always print it out and complete it by hand, too! And, of course, it’s a great tool for organizing and planning classes and other activities in your neighbourhood.

making an activity portfolio


Wind Turbine Shadow Flicker Study Finds No Threat to Health

Research in the UK into shadow flicker has concluded that it poses no risk to people living near wind turbines.

Commissioned by the UK’s Department of Energy and Climate Change (DECC), the peer reviewed study concludes that developers employ no standard methodology when introducing environmental and site specific data into shadow flicker assessments.

The three key computer models used by the industry — WindPro, WindFarm and Windfarmer— use a ‘worst case scenario’ approach and overlook factors such as wind speed and cloud cover that can reduce the duration of the shadow flicker impact.

On health effects and the nuisance of the shadow flicker effect, it found the frequency of the flickering from wind turbine rotation should pose no significant risk to health. Shadow flicker is more likely to affect residential amenity than health. Only dwellings within 130 degrees either side of north relative to a turbine can be affected and the shadow can be experienced only within 10 rotor diameters of the wind farm.

Having considered the report’s findings, the UK government has concluded that existing planning guidance on shadow flicker is fit for purpose, and no changes to it are necessary.

By Editors
June 1, 2011


Airborne wind energy

April 10, 2014--Wind turbines hovering high in the air and tethered to the ground, like kites, have the potential to generate huge amounts of electricity, based on a recent wind availability study led by the University of Delaware.

Researchers pinpointed tracts of the atmosphere ideal for locating airborne wind energy (AWE) devices, which convert kinetic energy from wind into electricity. Findings published in the April issue of Renewable Energy show that there are enough areas usable by airborne turbines to produce several terawatts of electric power annually — more than enough needed to meet worldwide demands.

“These areas, which we call ‘wind speed maxima,’ form much more often and in more regions than we thought,” said study lead author Cristina Archer, associate professor in UD’s College of Earth, Ocean, and Environment. “That was a surprise.”

If airborne wind turbines sound like a high-flying idea, they’re not. More than 20 companies are developing various versions of the technology, with over 100 related patents filed in the United States alone.


Return to citizens of Ukraine snatched off they have constitutional rights

The three-year anniversary of the February coup d ‘ état the year 2014

Last December, Dorogomilovskij District Court of Moscow acknowledged the events of November 2013February 2014, Ukraine coup d ‘ état. In view of the approachingthree-year anniversary of the coup d ‘ état should again recall the importance of theRussian court decision for the citizens of Ukraine.

In 1993 year CIS member countries signed the Convention on legal assistance and legal relations in civil and criminal matters “, under which a decision of the Court the Dorogomilovsky automatically, without the use of special procedures is recognized as signatories to the document. At one time, the Ukrainian Parliament ratified the Convention, and today from a legal point of view, the decision of the Court with the phrase “in the name of the Russian Federation” automatically sounds like Name“.

Dorogomilovskij District Court of Moscow held that “revolution was a violent seizure of power. The Court interviewed witnesses, among whom were deposed by President of Ukraine Viktor Yanukovych and former Prime Minister of Ukraine Mykola Azarov, and many other former Government officials of Ukraine.

Setting the fact the coup d ‘ état, Dorogomilovskij Court, characterized the currentUkrainian authorities as illegitimate. Now it’s legally established fact.

As a result of the coup d ‘ état in Ukraine was split society. Those territories and populations which have to exist in conditions under the coup regime has grasped power illegally held referendums and adopted decisions on self-determination. The regime’s response to these decisions led to civil war, which resulted in several thousand people have been killed, hundreds of thousands lost their homes and were forced toemigrate.

Dorogomilovskij of the Moscow City Court found as a fact that all events in Ukraine in 201314 Gg. clearly traced the interference of United States and European States.On zashumevshem in Kyiv Maydan travelled in those days, us Senator John McCain, the United States Assistant Secretary of State for European and Eurasian Affairs Victoria Nuland, the head of the European Union on Ukraine Jan Tombinski and many others stubbornly call Maidan “peace“. Western politicians openly pressed for President of Ukraine and leaders of law enforcement agencies with the requirement not to use weapons against “peacefuldemonstrators who every day have acted more and more brazen and eventually moved on to direct terror tactics.

Still not investigated the appearance on Maidan unknown snipers, in the heart of the Ukrainian capital killing dozens of people. In those days in Kiev died and ordinary citizens and law enforcement officers. However, February 21, 2014 onwards, the day when signed the “agreement on the settlement of the political crisis in Ukraine, Verkhovna Rada under pressure from militants maidana adopted the law on the prevention, prosecution and punishment of individuals regarding events that took placeduring peaceful gatherings, and repealing some laws of Ukraine“, which was a signal to armed assault official buildings in Kiev. This law (it is also called the amnesty law) exempts from prosecution all those who committed crimes during the events in Independence Square from November 21, 2013 year 2014 year in February. In the list of articles under which are exempt from criminal liability of participants of those eventsrobbery, banditry, creation of a terrorist organization, total 80 articles. Most of them provide for criminal liability for crimes deemed serious and particularly serious.

In this, with indulgence, particularly emphasized law say the need to destroy all traces of crimes, prohibits the collecting and storing of evidence related to the crime. Even trees were sawed down on Maidan with traces of bullets that can be used to determine the location from which fired “unknown snipers.” There is this law and mentioned that the prohibition on the investigation concerns only the participants of maidana, but not those who tried to resist them. They were just attracted to responsibility. The Office of the Prosecutor General of Ukraine to this day continues to institute criminal proceedings against those who, in performing their official duties, tried to prevent unrest and violence.

The Court showed that the law “on non-prosecution and punishment …”, as well as other decisions of the Verkhovna Rada of those days were taken under rude pressure participants maidana. Deputies were beaten, forbidden to leave the Parliament building before the adoption of the “necessarylaws. One of the initiators of the Maidan Alexander turchinov, illegally introduced himself as the Acting President of Ukraine signed these securities in violation of the prevailing order, without examination by the Constitutional Court. Then these “legislative acts” contrary to all norms of law, determined the course of the extraordinary elections of the President and deputies of the Verkhovna Rada. Later were dispersed by dozens of judges, disagreeing with violations of the fundamental law of Ukraine.


Friday, June 12, 2009

Describe the evolutionary process of organisation design.

Describe the evolutionary process of organisation design. Outline the universal perspectives of organisation design by referring to few organisational experiences. Briefly describe the organisation you are referring to.

Organization design-A process for improving the probability that an organization will be successful.
More specifically, Organization Design is a formal, guided process for integrating the people, information and technology of an organization. It is used to match the form of the organization as closely as possible to the purpose(s) the organization seeks to achieve. Through the design process, organizations act to improve the probability that the collective efforts of members will be successful.
Typically, design is approached as an internal change under the guidance of an external facilitator. Managers and members work together to define the needs of the organization then create systems to meet those needs most effectively. The facilitator assures that a systematic process is followed and encourages creative thinking.
Hierarchical Systems
Western organizations have been heavily influenced by the command and control structure of ancient military organizations, and by the turn of the century introduction of Scientific Management. Most organizations today are designed as a bureaucracy in which authority and responsibility are arranged in a hierarchy. Within the hierarchy rules, policies, and procedures are uniformly and impersonally applied to exert control over member behaviors. Activity is organized within sub-units (bureaus, or departments) in which people perform specialized functions such as manufacturing, sales, or accounting. People who perform similar tasks are clustered together.
The same basic organizational form is assumed to be appropriate for any organization, be it a government, school, business, church, or fraternity. It is familiar, predictable, and rational. It is what comes immediately to mind when we discover that ...we really have to get organized!
As familiar and rational as the functional hierarchy may be, there are distinct disadvantages to blindly applying the same form of organization to all purposeful groups. To understand the problem, begin by observing that different groups wish to achieve different outcomes. Second, observe that different groups have different members, and that each group possesses a different culture. These differences in desired outcomes, and in people, should alert us to the danger of assuming there is any single best way of organizing. To be complete, however, also observe that different groups will likely choose different methods through which they will achieve their purpose. Service groups will choose different methods than manufacturing groups, and both will choose different methods than groups whose purpose is primarily social. One structure cannot possibly fit all.
, the form of organization must be matched to the purpose it seeks to achieve.
The Design Process
Organization design begins with the creation of a strategy — a set of decision guidelines by which members will choose appropriate actions. The strategy is derived from clear, concise statements of purpose, and vision, and from the organization’s basic philosophy. Strategy unifies the intent of the organization and focuses members toward actions designed to accomplish desired outcomes. The strategy encourages actions that support the purpose and discourages those that do not.
Creating a strategy is planning, not organizing. To organize we must connect people with each other in meaningful and purposeful ways. Further, we must connect people with the information and technology necessary for them to be successful. Organization structure defines the formal relationships among people and specifies both their roles and their responsibilities. Administrative systems govern the organization through guidelines, procedures and policies. Information and technology define the process(es) through which members achieve outcomes. Each element must support each of the others and together they must support the organization’s purpose.
Exercising Choice
Organizations are an invention of man. They are contrived social systems through which groups seek to exert influence or achieve a stated purpose. People choose to organize when they recognize that by acting alone they are limited in their ability to achieve. We sense that by acting in concert we may overcome our individual limitations.
When we organize we seek to direct, or pattern, the activities of a group of people toward a common outcome. How this pattern is designed and implemented greatly influences effectiveness. Patterns of activity that are complementary and interdependent are more likely to result in the achievement of intended outcomes. In contrast, activity patterns that are unrelated and independent are more likely to produce unpredictable, and often unintended results.
The process of organization design matches people, information, and technology to the purpose, vision, and strategy of the organization. Structure is designed to enhance communication and information flow among people. Systems are designed to encourage individual responsibility and decision making. Technology is used to enhance human capabilities to accomplish meaningful work. The end product is an integrated system of people and resources, tailored to the specific direction of the organization.

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Intelligence: Randomly generated digital intelligence

Quote: Flynn’s Log 1: “When I say I live in this realm, I mean that. I am not physically alive, but I am intelligent. Life means to exist, to function, and to have capacity for growth. I fit this description. I can modify my own data. I can program myself, change and grow. Humans cannot reorganize their data. If they could, they could rearrange DNA and cure all forms of physical ailments. Humans are not as evolved as intelligent data, like me.”

Zana enters Flynn’s digital life at a time when he needs her the most. She gives him help and direction, but she is also very frustrating.

 Zana Summary

In Rescue Island, Zana appears to Flynn. She gives him advice about his destiny, she doesn't return until Thorn's Lair. In it, she brings Khan back to Flynn, in Arcade Village. She helps Enzo, Simon, and Flynn, take down Thorn. However she keeps the egg. In The Ultimate Form of Life it is revealed that she started the digital crisis. In Offline, she takes over Flynn's body, and transfers people into Minecraft.


4 Oct

A Quick Overlook of Resources – Your Cheatsheet

Tips for an Effective Fitness Regime

Many people the world over engage in fitness exercises in their day to day lives. The main aim of these exercises if fitness and good health. For this reason, they will always strive to make their fitness routine as effective as possible. This is however not easy to do and achieve desired end results. However, there are ways in which effectiveness in fitness regime can be achieved and with relative comfort.

The first thing you need to do to make your fitness regime effective is to set goals. There is nothing you can achieve in life without clearly set goals. Well set goals have specific characteristics. The first thing is the realization that a good goal should be clear. The import of this is being able to tell if you achieved the goals or not eventually. Secondly, a good goal should be measurable. For example, you can set a goal that after working out for some time you should fit in a dress that previously you would not fit in.

Good goals should also have timelines. It is advisable to work within a given time frame. This creates focus in the training regime. Finally, goals must be realistic. This means that goals that you set must actually be achievable. However, good goals should also be challenging to achieve. This would make you work hard enough so as to reach them. Creation of the balance between realistic goals and achievable goals is difficulty but can still be done.

Understanding how your body functions scientifically is the second step to achieving an effecting work out regime. This knowledge leads to easier achievements of effective fitness regime. Case in point is when you use IBM calculators to monitor weight loss as advised by science of fiction. Having knowledge of the relationship of breathing during work out and how the diaphragm responds is also good for exercising.

Finding someone to train with is the third thing that can lead to effectiveness of a fitness regime. Research has it that people who work out with partners achieve better results from training. Competition and motivation between partners leads to better results. In aspects of diet, it is also advisable to have a partner since there will be someone to monitor and guide you if you forget. For this reason, select a partner that you feel comfortable around.

Finally, create a way of rewarding yourself during your fitness regime. Providing time for resting once in a while is the main meaning of rewarding in this context. If you don’t give yourself time to rest, you could find yourself getting back to old habits that brought the problem in the first place. You should also consider keeping a journal of your progress since you started. The journal is a source of motivation because when you look at it you get to know how much you have achieved until a certain time.


Ngorongoro Conservation Area

Located in the Crater Highlands area, west of Arusha, the Ngorongoro Conservation Area (809,440ha) is a UNESCO World Heritage Site. It was established in 1959 as a multiple land-use area for both wildlife and semi-nomadic Maasai pastoralists.

It is best known for its centre piece, the spectacular 265 km2 Ngorogoro Crater. This is the world’s largest intact caldera and is considered by one private organisation to be one of the seven natural wonders of Africa. The crater is home to between 20 and 30,000 wild animals, including the highly endangered black rhino.

The conservation area is also famous for its ‘endless plains’ of the Serengeti. It is also home to Olduvai Gorge, where fossil remains of the one of the earliest known specimens of the human genus, Homo Habilis, and 3.5-million year old human footprints have been discovered. The Ngorongoro Conservation Area is an extraordinary volcanic landscape. It is rich and fertile, with lush forests, stunning craters and beautiful lakes, including Lake Makat, a central soda lake filled by the Munge river.

The Ngorongoro Conservation Area is also situated at a high altitude. As a result, the high altitude creates a malaria-free micro climate ideal for travelling in.


London Seminar - Understanding Brain Injuries

Title: “Understanding Brain Injuries”

Speaker: Professor Narinder Kapur, Visiting Professor of Neuropsychology, University College London.

Topics to be covered:

1.         What are the key early predictors of outcome after brain injury?

2.         Can a mild head injury cause major brain damage?

3.         How real is the Post Concussion Syndrome?

4.         When do symptoms and cognitive deficits not reflect brain damage?

5.         What are the key issues in assessing capacity?

6.         Does psychological rehabilitation or case management make a difference in brain injury?

7.         Do symptoms improve after a claim is settled?

You should determine how this fits into your individual CPD plan, but the following is a suggestion from PIBA:

Learning objective for CPD plans: to gain an understanding of brain injury, the diagnosis, classification and symptoms, rehabilitation and recovery. Critically examining some of the controversial areas.

Learning rationale for CPD plans: to enable attendees to improve their understanding of brain injury medicine and litigation. To add to their knowledge of controversial diagnoses and theories so as better to understand medical reports and the more complex issues in litigation in this area.

The seminar will be followed by light refreshments.

39 Essex Chambers
81 Chancery Ln
London WC2A 1DD
United Kingdom
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Albuquerque Journal (Albuquerque, NM)

Fact, fiction intertwine easily in 'Gates'.(Final)

Byline: Review by Harry Moskos

"Emperor: The Gates of Rome" by Conn Iggulden

Delacorte Press, $24.95, 358 pp.

In his debut novel "Emperor: The Gates of Rome," Conn Iggulden takes historical fact and weaves it into fiction.

The story is about the lives of two stalwart and lively teenagers growing up in the backdrop of the Roman Empire.

Iggulden develops the characters of the two youths, Gaius, the son of a Roman senator, and Marcus, an abandoned boy taken in by the senator's family.

The novel traces their lives growing up together as children and going their own ways as they reach young adulthood.

As kids, they become blood brothers and pledge their loyalty to each other. …


User Guide: 1 Introduction"

I have developed a set of packages to facilitate the calculation of many different quantities that can be derived from spectral irradiance data. The core package in this suite is called 'photobiology', and is the package described here. Other specialized packages for quantification of ultraviolet radiation and visible radiation ('photobiologyWavebands'), plant photoreceptors and other plant photobiology related calculations ('photobiologyPlants'), example spectral data for filters ('photobiologyFilters'), lamps ('photobiologyLamps'), LEDs ('photobiologyLEDs'), sunlight ('photobiologySun'), light sensors ('photobiologySensors') and for exchange of data in foreign formats ('photobiologyInOut') are part of the suite. One additional package, ('ggspectra'), implements facilities for plotting spectral data by extending package 'ggplot2', providing both ggplot statistics in addition to specializations of plot(). All packages that can comply with the repository rules have been submitted or will in coming months be submitted to CRAN (Comprehensive R archive network). The packages not yet in CRAN, and development versions of those already in CRAN, are available through a CRAN-like repository at while the Web site at provides news about the development of the suite and some additional information. Each package has its own public Git repository at my Bitbucket account ( from where the source code of the current and previous versions can be cloned or forked.

Package 'photobiology' provides two sets of functions for many operations: low-level functions programmed following a functional paradigm, and higher-level functions using an object-oriented paradigm. The former functions take as arguments numeric vectors and are sometimes faster. The later ones take spectra objects as arguments, are easier to use, and at least at the moment, to some extent slower. For everyday use spectra objects are recommended, but when maximum performance or flexibility in scripts is desired, the use of the functions taking numeric vectors as arguments may allow optimizations that are not possible with the object-oriented functions. The differences in performance becomes relevant only in extreme cases such as processing in a single script tenths of thousands of spectra. In the vignettes we emphasize the use of the object-oriented classes and methods.

Example data

Data for several spectra are included in this package for use in examples and vignettes, and in testing (Tables 12 and 13). Other packages in the 'r4photobiology suite' provide many additional data sets.

Table 12. Data sets included in the package: spectra. The CIE standard illuminant data in this package are normalized to one at $\lambda = 560\,$nm, while in the CIE standard they are normalized to 100 at the same wavelength.

| Object | class | units | data description | |:--------|:-------|:----------|:---------------------------| | sun.spct | source_spct | $W\,m^{-2}\,nm^{-1}$ | solar spectral irradiance | | sun.daily.spct | source_spct | $J\,m^{-2}\,d^{-1}\,nm^{-1}$ | solar spectral exposure | | | data.frame | $W\,m^{-2}\,nm^{-1}$ | solar spectral irradiance | | | data.frame | $J\,m^{-2}\,d^{-1}\,nm^{-1}$ | solar spectral exposure| | D65.illuminant.spct | source_spct | (norm. 560 nm) | CIE standard | | A.illuminant.spct | source_spct | (norm. 560 nm) | CIE standard | | clear.spct | filter_spct | fraction | ideal transparent filter | | opaque.spct | filter_spct | fraction | ideal opaque filter | | polyester.spct | filter_spct | fraction | plastic film | | yellow_gel.spct | filter_spct | fraction | theatrical gel filter | | clear_body.spct | object_spct | fraction | ideal transparent body | | black_body.spct | object_spct | fraction | ideal black body | | white_body.spct | object_spct | fraction | ideal white body | | photodiode.spct | response_spct | A / W | typical Si photodiode | | ccd.spct | response_spct | A / W | typical CCD array | | filter_cps.mspct | cps_spct | counts / s | example detector counts data |

Table 13. Data sets included in the package: chromaticity data.

| Object | class | data description | |:--------|:-------|:-------------------------------| | ciexyzCC2.spct | chroma_spct | human chromaticity coordinates $2^\circ$ | | ciexyzCC10.spct | chroma_spct | human chromaticity coordinates $10^\circ$ | | ciexyzCMF2.spct | chroma_spct | human colour matching function $2^\circ$ | | ciexyzCMF10.spct | chroma_spct | human colour matching function $10^\circ$ | | ciev2.spct | chroma_spct | human luminous efficiency $2^\circ$ | | beesxyzCMF.spct | chroma_spct | bee colour matching function |

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Emma One Sock

Shibori bamboo/spandex jersey - navy tie dye

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fabric #53424
contents: 95bamboo/5span
width: 60"
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This bamboo/spandex 4-way stretch jersey is a luxuriously soft, opaque, lightweight jersey, very drapey, with a matte finish and 80% stretch widthwise, 20% lengthwise. The print is a tie dye in various shades of navy blue and off white (PANTONE 19-4019 is the darkest shade). Perfect for tees, tunics, tops, twin sets, loungewear, activewear, yogawear, casual dresses and skirts, etc. Hand or machine wash, hang to dry.


Bipolar disorder and marijuana

Bipolar disorder is a mental health condition that can cause extreme changes in mood. This includes low, depressive episodes and high, manic episodes. These mood swings can be both extreme and unpredictable.

Someone living with bipolar disorder can also have symptoms of psychosis including:

Going through the emotional highs and lows of bipolar disorder can greatly affect a person’s ability to function in day-to-day life. There’s no cure for bipolar disorder, but treatments can help.

Standard treatments, such as prescription medications and therapy, can help a person manage their mood changes and other symptoms. Researchers continue to look into other treatment options as well, including medical marijuana. But is it safe? Here’s what we currently know about the pros and cons of marijuana use in people with bipolar disorder.

Marijuana as treatment for other health conditions

Marijuana is from the cannabis plant whose dried leaves, stems, and seeds are smoked, eaten, or “vaped.” Marijuana contains compounds called cannabinoids. These compounds include a chemical called delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol, or THC. This is the ingredient in marijuana that can make a person feel “high.”

While marijuana and medical marijuana aren’t currently legal in all states, doctors are discovering how the compounds could help relieve certain symptoms in people with chronic conditions. According to the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA), compounds in marijuana can help treat symptoms such as:

  • appetite loss
  • inflammation
  • muscle control issues
  • nausea
  • pain

Today, there are medications available that contain compounds similar to cannabinoids, but don’t make a person feel high. An example is dronabinol (Marinol), which doctors prescribe for people with cancer to stimulate their appetite.

Smoking or consuming marijuana on its own can be helpful in reducing the side effects of some conditions, such as certain types of cancer. However, the research isn’t as conclusive when it comes to bipolar disorder.

Research supporting marijuana use in bipolar disorder treatment

Because marijuana can have anxiety-relieving effects, some people think it can help people with bipolar disorder to improve their moods. Some research has found no harmful effects from marijuana use, while other research has found actual benefits. Examples include the following:

Low mental impairment and better moods

A study published in 2016 found that people with bipolar disorder didn’t experience significant mental impairment when using marijuana compared to people with bipolar disorder who didn’t use marijuana. Critics of marijuana use for bipolar disorder say that it affects a person’s thinking and memory. This study didn’t find that to be true. The study also found that after using marijuana, the patients with bipolar disorder reported better moods.

Mood enhancing and a positive outlook

Research with negative findings regarding marijuana use in bipolar treatment

Some researchers have actually found that marijuana use can make bipolar symptoms worse in some people. Examples of their studies include the following:

Triggering manic episodes and worsening symptoms

A review published in early 2015 found that using marijuana could make manic symptoms worse in a person with bipolar disorder. They also found that marijuana use could trigger a manic episode. In addition, the 2015 study above touting benefits to marijuana use, also found that it worsened manic or depressive symptoms in some people.

Higher rates of attempted suicide and early onset

Marijuana, bipolar disorder, and genetics

Research has also shown that the use of marijuana can affect people differently based on their genetics.

According to the NIDA, people who carry certain gene types are more likely to experience psychosis. For instance, people who have an unusual variation of the AKT1 gene are more likely to have psychosis, and the risk is higher if they use marijuana. Also, psychosis risks from adolescent use of marijuana have been linked with a genetic variation in the gene that controls an enzyme called catechol-O-methyltransferase (COMT).

If you have bipolar disorder and are considering using marijuana as a treatment, talk to your doctor about possibly testing for these or other genetic variations.

The takeaway

Right now, there isn’t enough research to say whether marijuana use for treating bipolar disorder is a good thing or a bad thing. Some people have reported positive effects, such as improved mood. But others have reported negative effects, such as worsened mania or suicidal thoughts. Further research is needed on marijuana’s effects on bipolar disorder, as well as the long-term effects of prolonged use.

What doctors do know is that marijuana isn’t as effective as prescription medication and therapy can be in managing the symptoms of bipolar disorder. So if you have this condition, be sure to stick to the treatment plan prescribed by your doctor. And if you’re considering using medical marijuana, talk to your doctor about the pros and cons first. Then, if you decide to try it, keep your doctor posted about how it affects you.

Together, you and your doctor can determine if it’s a good addition to your treatment plan.


Plastic Seedling Tray /Plastic Flower Tray, Seeding Tray

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Structure of the seed tray:

·         Top quality and competitive price.

·         Variety design and good appearance.

·         Easy to use, and remove.

·         Durable and reusable.

·         Eco-Friendly.

·      Top quality and competitive price.

·      Variety design and good appearance.

·      Easy to use, and remove.

·      Durable and reusable.

·      Eco-Friendly.

·      Ideal for Starting seeds and Transplanting Seedling.

·      Suitable for both manual and automatic planting.

·      Suitable for Propagating Vegetables, Flowers and other plant from seed ·      in green-house or indoors.

Description Main Features of the seed tray:

·         Ideal for Starting seeds and Transplanting Seedling.

·         Suitable for both manual and automatic planting.

 Using time:

·         thickness of 0.5mm can be used 1 to 2 times.

·         thickness of 0.6mm can be used 3 to 4 times.

·         thickness of 0.7mm can be used 5 to 6 times.

·         thickness of 0.8mm can be used 7 to 8 times.

·         thickness of 0.9mm can be used 8 to 9 times.

·         thickness of 1.0mm can be used 8 to 10 times.

Thickness vs. Weight:

·         Thickness of trays are from 0.5mm to 1.0mm.

·         1.0mm: 155g±5g;  100pcs/ctn.

·         0.9mm: 140g±5g;  120pcs/ctn.

·         0.7mm: 110g±5g;  150pcs/ctn.

·         0.6mm: 95g±5g;  180pcs/ctn.

·         0.5mm: 80g±5g;  200pcs/ctn.

 Seed Tray Specification:

Materialps/pvcThickness0.5mm-1.5mm, standard:1mmWeight80g(±5)g-230g(±5)g, Standard weight:155g(±5)gSizelength:490mm-540mm, width:190mm-345mm,depth:25mm-150mm Standard:54mmX28mmCell count18-512Packagein cartonUsing time8-10 times

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Q:how to become a plastic surgeon?
becoming a plastic surgeon is a great idea. However, when you are in High School, only thing you can do to help yourself become a plastic surgeon is focus on your sciences. i.e Biology, physics, chemistry. You would definately have to goto university to become a plastic surgeon. you would have to do an undergrad degree in science which could take as little as 3 years, then you got to apply yourself into plastic surgeon feild which I believe is another 2-4 years. All together, after highschool, you got yourself another 7 years ahead of you (which is really not that long, times flies.) You will end up a plastic surgeon if you work really hard by the time you are 25.
Q:SURVEY: Questions on plastic surgery?
1)Plastic surgery: Wrong, Its totally changing what god gave you. 2)Would you ever consider plastic surgery? Never. 3)Would you get plastic surgery if it was free and completely safe? Nope 4)If you could get plastic surgery, what would you change and why? Nothing :) I love who I am
Q:The first plastic?
Heat coloring
Q:is plastic reactive with anything?
What kind of plastic? Plastics are polymers. Polymers are typically long strands of hydrocarbons (obviously there are various formulations). Polypropylene (yougurt containers, milk jugs) are common types... as are polystyrenes (cheap plastic glasses). Polymers are not typically reactive as there are not reactive sites like metals have. But there are definitely polymer reactions that can occur as well as incompatibilities with some materials. Draw out the structure and think about how it could react, look for those pesky valence electrons like metals have when they disassociate in water.
Q:I need a quick way glue plastic together...?
Q:Elastic and plastic collision?
tricky problem. query at yahoo or google. that will will help!
Q:Biodegradable Plastic Bags?
Most plastics are biodegradable under UV light. Poly Vinyl Chloride or PVC takes a year or two here in Phoenix Arizona then starts breaking down from the outside in. Most plastics will do so, the result is a fertilizer. It takes a special plastic to stand up under UV radiation, containers have to be specifically ordered to meet UV specifications for out door storage.
Q:Plastic or Polycarbonate Lenses?
If you ask which is better, then plastic is better. When optical professionals look at visual acuity through a lens material, we use what is called an Abby Value. The lower the Abby value, the more chromatic aberration there is to the lens which is a rainbow effect on the edges but which presents itself as blurriness. Polycarbonate has the lowest Abby value of any material - 29. Glass has the highest (but I would never recommend glass). Plastic is just below that, followed by a material called Trivex. Many opticians call polycarbonate polycrap. That's what it really is. However, if you need a thinner, lighter lens as determined by your actual prescription, which you did not give us, then, Trivex or a 1.60 Hi Index material are available. Besides lens materials, the shape, size and width of the frame influences the thickness of the lens. That is why it is imperative to have an Eye Care Professional like an optician help you pick out the frame that is best suited to your prescription. Individuals outside the industry have no idea what to get because they are not versed in the science of optics. Hope this helped.
Q:What will happen if you don't recycle plastics?
Plastic bottles are made from oil - a fossil fuel that will one day run out. It is important to make use of materials like plastics that can be recycled and re-used, rather than continually exploiting the fossil fuels used to make them in the first place. In Britain we throw away about 455,000 tonnes of plastic bottles every year - that's around 9.1 billion bottles! Many of these end up in landfill where, because plastic bottles are very light but very bulky, they take up lots of space. Plastic is believed to take around 500 years to decompose. Plastic bottle recycling helps to stop all these bottles being dumped into landfill sites and means the plastic they are made from can be used to make new products. All sorts of amazing products can be made from recycled plastic bottles, including fleece jackets! It takes just 25 x 2 litre pop bottles to make one adult size fleece jacket. Recycling just one plastic bottle saves enough energy to power a 60W lightbulb for six hours! Recycling plastic helps to reduce emissions of CO2 and nitrogen oxide. Plastic recycling, saves energy, resources and helps protect the environment.
Q:why is it called plastic surgery?
Obviously the medical name isn't going to be a joke, like it makes you look like plastic. One definition of plastic is capable of being molded or of receiving form, or formative, so it likely has to do with the nature of the surgery--reforming/restoring poorly formed or injured parts. Let's not forget that plastic surgery isn't just about getting your skin pulled back/making your boobs bigger. It's not always about making people stare at you. Sometimes, for people with birth defects or injuries, it's about having people NOT stare at you because of your burns, cleft lip, birthmark, etc.

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Antilipoxygenase activity of amyrin triterpenes.

Triterpenes--alpha-amyrin acetate, beta-amyrin acetate and beta-amyrin were tested for their effects on the synthesis of 5-lipoxygenase products in human neutrophils. All the triterpenes reduced 5-HETE synthesis without effect on LTB4 synthesis. The relative effects suggest that 5-HETE inhibition can explain the antiarthritic activity possessed by these… (More)

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AbsoDry 1350

The dehumidifier that fits snugly into one hand.

Suitable for large spaces or where you want to have longer duration of action.The crystals absorb excess moisture. At 45% humidity (safe for health and property) the absorption process stops and is only reactivated if the level increases again - all automatically and without electricity! When the crystals have been used up, the container is emptied into the sink or toilet and the bag is deposited with the rest of the household waste. The container is then replenished with an original AbsoDry Refill.

Three Refills á 450g lasts up to 9 months depending on the level of humidity and is perfect for a space of 35 - 100 m³. If the liquid comes into contact with metal, leather or wood it can be cleaned with lukewarm water.

Content: 1 absorber + 3 refills á 450g

Dimensions: 255 x 130 x H240 mm.

Art. no.: 204


How I approached the VR film medium.

…Left, Right, Left, Right… I am sitting alone on this remote island, closing and opening one eye after the other while trying to concentrate on the horizon. It is an ancient practice which pirates have mastered during their early travels across the Indian Ocean. The purpose of this technique their teacher had put like this: “to train the eye in a manner that enables it to see behind itself”. Funny, it reminds me of the opening lines of Johan van der Keuken’s film Face Value. Only that in his case he refers to the video camera.

…Left, Right… Pirates never really understood the precise meaning of the teacher’s words. For some of them it was about trying to see the way they used to. For me it is about learning over and over again. I see it as an invitation. A stimulus to “let go” and to forget everything I know. I claim it is, on the one hand, about regaining the ability to question everything I see, and on the other hand a way to come up with a different perspective. Strangely enough it makes me think of immersive cinema.

…Left, Right, Left… Flint used to lead these visual exercises but after he disappeared, the parrot of Long John Silver, who had memorized many of the captain’s phrases, was repeating it all the time. It was as if we had a new “ignorant master”.

…Left… I liked that. It made me think that such a master doesn’t force knowledge but rather helps you to find your path, your own way to it. What if this is applied in film?

…Right… If a film technique questions our very own cognition that would be a way to go.

…Left, Right, Left… A different use of the eye means a new condition of spectatorship and a profoundly different way to communicate and discuss knowledge. But every communication starts with an agreement and agreement is based on trust.

…Follow me and I will lead you to victory!… one of the parrot’s favorite quotes from Flint.

The old Captain used to say also one other thing: …Trust is like a building and a building is as strong as its foundations…

Thank you, Flint and thank you ignorant master. But what are the foundations? While asking this, both my eyes are open and focus on an approaching cruise ship that just appeared as a dot on the horizon. I wonder if the people on it will be interested in my interpretation of this old exercise.

Prewriting for dimensional film

Paintings such as L’Absinthe by Degas inspired me on the notion of exploring the canvas as space.

I firstly looked at the glass of Absinthe. Then at the absent look of the woman. Then I realised the tables she and the man are sitting on didn’t have legs., Suddenly the tables surfaces were floating.

In the process of working on scripts and stories for dimensional storytelling I enjoyed developing ambients and constructing places and spaces through text.

Dry wind

In a granite city far away live friendly people, passionate to sing and think and look for answers. A chain of mountains covers their horizon. They have as closest friends the city statues.
The statues are of human size and form, except the one atop the central fountain which has the shape of big and silent fish. The white stone figures decorate the city but also populate it. They often come to life and walk the streets to meet with young and old, to share ideas, laugh and talk.
The only wind that swirls the streets is dry and fast. Statues don’t like it and are always frozen while it lasts. That is also the reason this wind is left without a name. People believe it carries songs from city to city.
The bond between people and statues is of a particular importance to both. The first consider the second as their guides in understanding and loving existence and as protectors from the unknown. The second do not see, hear or feel one another and cannot communicate if not with the help of the first who transmit their messages. This is how ancient stories are never forgotten in this place.
One day a giant volcano in the mountain erupts and its lava splashes down through the streets and houses covering every corner of the stone city. People are caught by surprise and cannot escape. Fast dry wind bursts for two weeks.
When statues wake up and search for their fellow man all they find is frozen figures and silent faces.
Since then they wander the streets and on a windy day one can hear them sing.

Imagine being a spectator in the middle of this square.

Exploring Space

What I like about images in space is the fact that our brain needs more time to explore and understand them. There is literally a little cubic part in the backside of our brain that reconstructs through approximation the dimensions of the space we are in. This is an evolutionary function related to survival, i.e. defining what is the distance between me and a dangerous animal. It involves our peripheral vision in the exploration of the landscape, therefore it takes more time to understand than a flat 2D image. That is why if 3D image editing is fast, i.e. scenes change too rapidly, it will become incomprehensible. I connect this to the speed of learning and exploring, and the type and quality of knowledge that can be transmitted through film. I enjoy editing in the frame, revealing a mis en scene and building up notions through space, therefore the aesthetics of 3D mediums is very suited for people like me, who are also interested in theatre and performances.

An Introduction to Stereo 3D Cinema


Essential Opinion: The Imitation Game

The tragic story of a World War II hero who falls from grace, The Imitation Game is a provocative and thrilling drama based on the life of world-renowned mathematician, Professor Alan Turing.  Starring Benedict Cumberbatch (Sherlock, The Hobbit, Star Trek Into Darkness), the film opens during 1952, as Turing’s apartment has been vandalized.  Though nothing was stolen, the inspectors find the situation odd and choose to investigate further, unaware that they are investigating one of the greatest pioneers of modern computing.  This is height of the Cold War paranoia, and some believe Turing to be a spy.

At the outset of World War II, Professor Turing was selected to serve his country in a special capacity.  Turing was invited to be a part of a secret mission to crack Nazi Germany’s “unbreakable” Enigma code machine.  As one of the most brilliant mathematicians of his day, Turing was assigned to work alongside fellow mathematicians, code breakers, cryptanalysts, and chess champions, such as Hugh Alexander (Matthew William Goode), Joan Clarke (Keira Knightley) and John Cairncross (Allen Leech).  Socially awkward and not overall fond of his team members, Turing realizes the Enigma code machine cannot be solved by a group of men alone, so he begins work on his own code breaking machine by seeking funding from his superiors in MI6.  Dubbed, “Christopher,” Turing’s machine would go on to be the basis for modern computers.

The Imitation Game

As the film unfolds we see Turing as an odd and secretive man.  At the risk of cliché, Turing is, himself, the Engima.  Turing expresses an odd love for “Christopher,” which at first seems fairly normal for an awkward scientist on the brink of an incredible discovery.  However, the audience soon discovers an even deeper connection to the machine.  During flashback scenes, Turing is shown as a young boy in boarding school (played by Alex Lawther).  A loner who is often bullied for being different, Turing is doing his best to fade into the background.  It is here where his closeted homosexuality comes to light.  The object of his secretive affections: an older boy named Christopher.

When the real life Christopher dies during a holiday break, the young Alan Turing is left alone, and forces himself to bottle up his emotions.  Years later, while building “Christopher” for MI6, Turing is finally able to recreate the love he’s had to keep hidden for so many years.  “Christopher” lets Turing be himself again yet still woefully closeted to the rest of the world, with the exception of Joan Clarke (Knightley), who offers to marry and serve as Turing’s beard after the war.

Turing’s story grows more complicated in the years following the war.  As part of MI6, Turing’s war records are top secret.  Therefore, as inspectors are investigating the break-in at Turing’s home, they grow suspicious of the sketchy details available on the man.  Fearing he may be a Soviet spy, Turing is arrested as a case is built against him.  Turing is vindicated and proven to be a war hero, rather than a spy.  However, another secret; his greatest secret has come to light. Turing is a homosexual.

Convicted of “gross indecency,” Professor Alan Turing dies at the age of 41, alone and shamed by the government he worked so hard to save less than a decade prior.

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Dave Croyle

Dave Croyle