Supreme Court Term concluded by Erin Miller |
The Court issued its final opinions in argued cases on June 28 and its final orders June 29, concluding the October Term 2009. The Court is now in recess until October. See SCOTUS blog with information on Elena Kagan hearings at: http://www.scotusblog.com/
America's 11 Most Endangered Historic Places
By Sudip Bose | From Preservation | July/August 2010
Black Mountain Lynch and Benham, Ky.
Industrial Arts Building Lincoln, Neb.
Saugatuck Dunes Saugatuck, Mich.
America's State Parks and State-Owned Historic Sites
Threefoot Building Meridian, Miss.
Juana Briones House Palo Alto, Calif.
Metropolitan African Methodist Episcopal Church Washington, D.C.
Merritt Parkway Fairfield County, Conn.
Wilderness Battlefield Orange and Spotsylvania counties, Va.
Hinchliffe Stadium Paterson, N.J.
Pågat Yigo, Guam
See stories and pictures at: http://www.preservationnation.org/magazine/2010/july-august/americas-11-most-2010.html
101 fast recipes for grilling by Mark Bittman
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/06/30/dining/30mini.html
Onion and Parsley Relish
1/2 medium-size red onion, or 1 large shallot, thinly sliced
1/4 cup coarsely chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley
Combine the sliced onion and parsley in a small bowl and refrigerate the relish, covered, until you are ready to serve.
LYNNE'S TIPS
Another time, use the marinade as a table sauce for grilled vegetables or scrambled eggs, as a dipping sauce for grilled bread that you've rubbed with garlic and olive oil, or spooned over sliced, cooked new potatoes. The Splendid Table June 30, 2010
Quotes
. . . we mustn't forget what makes us really free; respecting the rights of others, and them respecting you and me . . .
from Freedom, a song by Doug Nichol of Toledo
We may have all come on different ships, but we're in the same boat now.
Martin Luther King, Jr. (later paraphrased by Spectrum, a singing group of Toledo)
Wednesday, June 30, 2010
Tuesday, June 29, 2010
New on LLRX.com Basic Legal Research on the Internet: This article explores the corner of the Internet landscape that concentrates on legal research. For the most part, these databases and search tools are free, although some might require a library card Essentially, this is a short list of "go to" sites that most researchers will find useful. Before delving in, author Ken Strutin also examines a few time tested research concepts for the Internet age.
New on LLRX.com: Employment Online Resources - This guide for researchers by Marcus P. Zillman is a comprehensive bibliography of resources and sites comprising the latest and most comprehensive, reliable content and value added information currently available on this subject via the Internet.
The Colorado River is the primary river of the American Southwest, draining somewhere in the vicinity of 242,000 square miles of land, from the states of Wyoming, Colorado, Utah, New Mexico, Arizona, Nevada and California. The Green River is the primary tributary of the Colorado River, and until 1921 the Colorado River did not technically begin until the Grand and Green Rivers joined together in Utah. In that year the Grand River was renamed as the Colorado River, at the request of the State of Colorado . The Colorado River was originally named Rio Colorado or "Red River" by the Spanish. A person looking at the river today may not understand how it came to be named in this way, as the present day color of the river is more of a blue-green. The reddish-bro wn color that originally gave the river its name become a rarity upon completion of the Glen Canyon Dam in 1963. The silt and sediments that gave the river its color are now trapped behind the dam in the bottom o f Lake Powell. http://www.bobspixels.com/kaibab.org/misc/gc_coriv.htm
The Colorado River is a river that runs through the U.S. state of Texas; it is not to be confused with the much longer Colorado River which flows from Colorado into the Sea of Cortez.
The Colorado River is the 18th longest river in the United States and the longest river with both its source and mouth within Texas; its drainage basin and some of its usually dry tributaries extend into New Mexico. The 862-mile (1,387 km) long river flows generally southeast from Dawson County through Marble Falls, Austin, Bastrop, Smithville, La Grange, Columbus, Wharton, and Bay City before emptying into the Gulf of Mexico at Matagorda Bay.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Colorado_River_(Texas)
The Red River, or sometimes The Red River of the South, is a major tributary of the Mississippi and Atchafalaya Rivers located in the United States of America. The river gains its name from the red-bed country of its watershed. It is one of several rivers with that name. The Red River is the second largest river basin in the southern Great Plains. It rises in two branches (forks) in the Texas Panhandle and flows east, where it acts as the border between present-day states of Texas and Oklahoma. It is a short border between Texas and Arkansas before entering Arkansas, turning south near Fulton, Arkansas and flowing into Louisiana. The total length of the river is 1,360 miles (2,190 km). http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Red_River_(Mississippi_River)
The Red River (French: Rivière rouge or AmE: Red River of the North) is a North American river. Originating at the confluence of the Bois de Sioux and Otter Tail rivers in the United States, it flows northward through the Red River Valley and forms the border between the U.S. states of Minnesota and North Dakota before continuing into Manitoba, Canada. It empties into Lake Winnipeg, whose waters join the world's oceans in Hudson Bay via the Nelson River. In the United States, the Red River is sometimes called the Red River of the North, to distinguish it from the Red River that is a tributary of the Mississippi River, which forms part of the border between Texas and Oklahoma. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Red_River_of_the_North
Q: A Fourth of July question: Is anything written on the back of the Declaration of Independence?
A: People who saw the 2007 movie "National Treasure" usually ask this. But, sorry, there are no hidden messages there. On the back, at the bottom, upside-down, is simply written: "Original Declaration of Independence / dated 4th July 1776." "While no one knows for certain who wrote it," the National Archives reports, "it is known that early in its life, the large parchment document was rolled up for storage. So, it is likely that the notation was added simply as a label." The declaration is exhibited in the National Achives' Rotunda for the Charters of Freedom in Washington. It has faded badly, largely because of poor preservation techniques during the 19th century . It measures 29.75 inches by 24.5 inches. -- Independence Hall Association, Philadelphia.
http://www.thecourier.com/Opinion/columns/2010/Jun/JU/ar_JU_062810.asp?d=062810,2010,Jun,28&c=c_13
National Cherry Festival Traverse City, Mich. July 3-10 , 2010
History: This corner of Michigan is one of the nation's top cherry-growing regions, and locals began celebrating with an informal "blossom blessing" festival almost 100 years ago. The idea took off -- early promoters even baked a 3-foot-wide cherry pie for President Calvin Coolidge -- and the state of Michigan decreed it a national festival in 1931. Except for a few years around World War II, it has been celebrated annually ever since, attracting up to half-million visitors each year.
Eat this: The signature dish is cherry crumb pie, available by the slice or the pie at the event's pie shop. The Cherries D'Vine culinary event features local restaurateurs dishing up dishes featuring cherries, paired with locally produced wines. There's also a Cherries Grand Buffet, featuring cherry-barbecue pulled pork, cherry chicken croissants, coleslaw with cherry vinaigrette and cherry-infused deli sandwiches.
What else to do: Kids can don an apron and chef's cap and make their own miniature cherry crumb pies at the pie shop. Fresh cherries are for sale every day; you can also buy cherry salsa, cherry jam, cherry butter, cherry vinaigrette ... well, you get the idea. There are also pie-eating contests and pit-spitting contests -- last year's champ hocked one almost 50 feet.
Info: www.cherryfestival.org; 800-968-3380.
Read more: http://www.star-telegram.com/2010/05/28/2225167/check-out-these-festivals-celebrating.html#tvg#ixzz0s4qcA9yn by Patricia Rodriguez Terrell
I will be in Washington, D.C. for a convention July 4-8, and take a holiday a few days before and a few days after.
New on LLRX.com: Employment Online Resources - This guide for researchers by Marcus P. Zillman is a comprehensive bibliography of resources and sites comprising the latest and most comprehensive, reliable content and value added information currently available on this subject via the Internet.
The Colorado River is the primary river of the American Southwest, draining somewhere in the vicinity of 242,000 square miles of land, from the states of Wyoming, Colorado, Utah, New Mexico, Arizona, Nevada and California. The Green River is the primary tributary of the Colorado River, and until 1921 the Colorado River did not technically begin until the Grand and Green Rivers joined together in Utah. In that year the Grand River was renamed as the Colorado River, at the request of the State of Colorado . The Colorado River was originally named Rio Colorado or "Red River" by the Spanish. A person looking at the river today may not understand how it came to be named in this way, as the present day color of the river is more of a blue-green. The reddish-bro wn color that originally gave the river its name become a rarity upon completion of the Glen Canyon Dam in 1963. The silt and sediments that gave the river its color are now trapped behind the dam in the bottom o f Lake Powell. http://www.bobspixels.com/kaibab.org/misc/gc_coriv.htm
The Colorado River is a river that runs through the U.S. state of Texas; it is not to be confused with the much longer Colorado River which flows from Colorado into the Sea of Cortez.
The Colorado River is the 18th longest river in the United States and the longest river with both its source and mouth within Texas; its drainage basin and some of its usually dry tributaries extend into New Mexico. The 862-mile (1,387 km) long river flows generally southeast from Dawson County through Marble Falls, Austin, Bastrop, Smithville, La Grange, Columbus, Wharton, and Bay City before emptying into the Gulf of Mexico at Matagorda Bay.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Colorado_River_(Texas)
The Red River, or sometimes The Red River of the South, is a major tributary of the Mississippi and Atchafalaya Rivers located in the United States of America. The river gains its name from the red-bed country of its watershed. It is one of several rivers with that name. The Red River is the second largest river basin in the southern Great Plains. It rises in two branches (forks) in the Texas Panhandle and flows east, where it acts as the border between present-day states of Texas and Oklahoma. It is a short border between Texas and Arkansas before entering Arkansas, turning south near Fulton, Arkansas and flowing into Louisiana. The total length of the river is 1,360 miles (2,190 km). http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Red_River_(Mississippi_River)
The Red River (French: Rivière rouge or AmE: Red River of the North) is a North American river. Originating at the confluence of the Bois de Sioux and Otter Tail rivers in the United States, it flows northward through the Red River Valley and forms the border between the U.S. states of Minnesota and North Dakota before continuing into Manitoba, Canada. It empties into Lake Winnipeg, whose waters join the world's oceans in Hudson Bay via the Nelson River. In the United States, the Red River is sometimes called the Red River of the North, to distinguish it from the Red River that is a tributary of the Mississippi River, which forms part of the border between Texas and Oklahoma. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Red_River_of_the_North
Q: A Fourth of July question: Is anything written on the back of the Declaration of Independence?
A: People who saw the 2007 movie "National Treasure" usually ask this. But, sorry, there are no hidden messages there. On the back, at the bottom, upside-down, is simply written: "Original Declaration of Independence / dated 4th July 1776." "While no one knows for certain who wrote it," the National Archives reports, "it is known that early in its life, the large parchment document was rolled up for storage. So, it is likely that the notation was added simply as a label." The declaration is exhibited in the National Achives' Rotunda for the Charters of Freedom in Washington. It has faded badly, largely because of poor preservation techniques during the 19th century . It measures 29.75 inches by 24.5 inches. -- Independence Hall Association, Philadelphia.
http://www.thecourier.com/Opinion/columns/2010/Jun/JU/ar_JU_062810.asp?d=062810,2010,Jun,28&c=c_13
National Cherry Festival Traverse City, Mich. July 3-10 , 2010
History: This corner of Michigan is one of the nation's top cherry-growing regions, and locals began celebrating with an informal "blossom blessing" festival almost 100 years ago. The idea took off -- early promoters even baked a 3-foot-wide cherry pie for President Calvin Coolidge -- and the state of Michigan decreed it a national festival in 1931. Except for a few years around World War II, it has been celebrated annually ever since, attracting up to half-million visitors each year.
Eat this: The signature dish is cherry crumb pie, available by the slice or the pie at the event's pie shop. The Cherries D'Vine culinary event features local restaurateurs dishing up dishes featuring cherries, paired with locally produced wines. There's also a Cherries Grand Buffet, featuring cherry-barbecue pulled pork, cherry chicken croissants, coleslaw with cherry vinaigrette and cherry-infused deli sandwiches.
What else to do: Kids can don an apron and chef's cap and make their own miniature cherry crumb pies at the pie shop. Fresh cherries are for sale every day; you can also buy cherry salsa, cherry jam, cherry butter, cherry vinaigrette ... well, you get the idea. There are also pie-eating contests and pit-spitting contests -- last year's champ hocked one almost 50 feet.
Info: www.cherryfestival.org; 800-968-3380.
Read more: http://www.star-telegram.com/2010/05/28/2225167/check-out-these-festivals-celebrating.html#tvg#ixzz0s4qcA9yn by Patricia Rodriguez Terrell
I will be in Washington, D.C. for a convention July 4-8, and take a holiday a few days before and a few days after.
Monday, June 28, 2010
Oil Spill Lawsuits:
Complaint In Re Transocean Holdings LLC
Transocean, the owner and operator of the offshore oil rig that exploded and is leaking oil into the Gulf of Mexico, asked a federal court in Houston to limit its liability for damages caused by the explosion and spill.
Complaint Abbott v. Salazar
A former BP contractor filed a lawsuit suit alleging that BP never verified that the systems on its Atlantis oil rig were functioning properly. The plaintiff has stated that poor conditions on the rig could lead to an even worse disaster than the Gulf Oil Spill.
Complaint Sierra Club, Inc. v. Salazar
The Sierra Club and other environmental groups filed suit against the Secretary of the Interior alleging that the federal government illegally allowed BP to drill in over 5,000 feet of water without analyzing blow-out and worst-case oil spill analysis. The plaintiffs claim that this exemption contributed to the Gulf Oil Spill.
http://injury.findlaw.com/oil-spill/oil-spill-lawsuits.html
The link above leads to further information, for instance oil spill legal overview, oil spill FAQ and the oil spill law.
Liability Questions Loom for BP and Ex-Partners Anadarko Petroleum, has a 25 percent stake in the project, and its joint operating agreement with BP gives it a 25 percent share of the liability, a potentially ruinous amount. If Anadarko, in court or arbitration, can establish gross negligence or willful misconduct by BP, which owned 65 percent of the well, then BP could end up being responsible for 100 percent of the spill. A spokesman for Mitsui Oil Exploration Company of Japan, which owns the remaining 10 percent of the well, said the company had given up its interest in oil from the well. “All revenues obtained from the sale of that oil should go to assist those affected and help to restore the natural resources across the Gulf Coast,” Mitsui said in a statement. http://dealbook.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/06/25/liability-questions-loom-for-bp-and-ex-partners/
The Week magazine June 18, 2010 contest: Come up with an upbeat slogan for BP
FIRST PRIZE: Gushing with pride
SECOND PLACE: Reducing shark attacks by 100%!
THIRD PLACE: Paving the way for alternative energy legislation!
See honorable mentions at: http://theweek.com/article/index/204191/the-week-contest-bp-slogan---june-18-2010
Chinese media report that up to 90% of the vuvuzelas sold in South Africa during the World Cup were made in China, mainly by factories in the provinces of Zhejiang, where Yiwu is located, and Guangdong to the south. And if you thought the noisemakers’ would just fade away after the World Cup ends next month, Chinese businesswoman Gua Lili is betting you’re wrong. “We believe the market for vuvuzela trumpets will expand after the World Cup as people from more countries began to love them,” she said. Gua, whose factory also makes other plastic noise makers such as whistles, said demand for the trumpets was also rising in China, Europe and the United States, where they’ve most recently shown up at Boston’s Fenway Park, adding decibels to a baseball game between the Red Sox and the Arizona Diamondbacks. http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/news-by-industry/et-cetera/The-Vuvuzela-Uniquely-African-made-in-China/articleshow/6076557.cms
David Dunning, a Cornell professor of social psychology, was perusing the 1996 World Almanac. In a section called Offbeat News Stories he found a tantalizingly brief account of a series of bank robberies committed in Pittsburgh the previous year. From there, it was an easy matter to track the case to the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, specifically to an article by Michael A. Fuoco: ARREST IN BANK ROBBERY, SUSPECT’S TV PICTURE SPURS TIPS
At 5 feet 6 inches and about 270 pounds, bank robbery suspect McArthur Wheeler isn’t the type of person who fades into the woodwork. So it was no surprise that he was recognized by informants, who tipped detectives to his whereabouts after his picture was telecast. When arrested, Wheeler was completely disbelieving. “But I wore the juice,” he said. Apparently, he was under the deeply misguided impression that rubbing one’s face with lemon juice rendered it invisible to video cameras. http://opinionator.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/06/20/the-anosognosics-dilemma-1/
Apricot-Pineapple Pie
Measure Ingredient
1½ cup Dried apricots
1½ cup Water
6 tablespoons Sugar
1 can Crushed pineapple (8 oz)
1½ tablespoon Cornstarch
Salt
3 tablespoons Butter
Pastry for 8" double pie crust
This filling is intense and sweet-tart, like the traditional apricot-pineapple jam. With knife or kitchen shears, cut each apricot into quarters. Put apricots in saucepan, add water, bring to boil, cover and cook over medium heat 10 minutes. Add sugar and cook 5 minutes more. Drain, reserving 3/4 cup juice. Set apricots aside. Drain crushed pineapple, reserving 1/4 cup juice. Set pineapple aside. In mixing bowl, dissolve cornstarch in reserved pineapple juice. Add reserved apricot juice. Put mixed juices in saucepan, add dash salt and cook over medium heat until mixture thickens, stirring continually. Mix drained apricots and pineapple thoroughly. Mix with thickened juices and pour into unbaked pie shell. Dot with butter. Cover with top crust, crimp edges and pierce with fork. Bake at 400'F. 25 minutes. Makes 6-8 servings. Each of 6 servings contains about: 546 calories; 299 milligrams sodium; 16 milligrams cholesterol; 29 grams fat; 70 grams carbohydrates; 5 grams protein; 1.21 grams fiber.
http://www.astray.com/recipes/?show=Apricot-pineapple%20pie
The Web site above links to 20 other recipes using apricots and pineapples.
Complaint In Re Transocean Holdings LLC
Transocean, the owner and operator of the offshore oil rig that exploded and is leaking oil into the Gulf of Mexico, asked a federal court in Houston to limit its liability for damages caused by the explosion and spill.
Complaint Abbott v. Salazar
A former BP contractor filed a lawsuit suit alleging that BP never verified that the systems on its Atlantis oil rig were functioning properly. The plaintiff has stated that poor conditions on the rig could lead to an even worse disaster than the Gulf Oil Spill.
Complaint Sierra Club, Inc. v. Salazar
The Sierra Club and other environmental groups filed suit against the Secretary of the Interior alleging that the federal government illegally allowed BP to drill in over 5,000 feet of water without analyzing blow-out and worst-case oil spill analysis. The plaintiffs claim that this exemption contributed to the Gulf Oil Spill.
http://injury.findlaw.com/oil-spill/oil-spill-lawsuits.html
The link above leads to further information, for instance oil spill legal overview, oil spill FAQ and the oil spill law.
Liability Questions Loom for BP and Ex-Partners Anadarko Petroleum, has a 25 percent stake in the project, and its joint operating agreement with BP gives it a 25 percent share of the liability, a potentially ruinous amount. If Anadarko, in court or arbitration, can establish gross negligence or willful misconduct by BP, which owned 65 percent of the well, then BP could end up being responsible for 100 percent of the spill. A spokesman for Mitsui Oil Exploration Company of Japan, which owns the remaining 10 percent of the well, said the company had given up its interest in oil from the well. “All revenues obtained from the sale of that oil should go to assist those affected and help to restore the natural resources across the Gulf Coast,” Mitsui said in a statement. http://dealbook.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/06/25/liability-questions-loom-for-bp-and-ex-partners/
The Week magazine June 18, 2010 contest: Come up with an upbeat slogan for BP
FIRST PRIZE: Gushing with pride
SECOND PLACE: Reducing shark attacks by 100%!
THIRD PLACE: Paving the way for alternative energy legislation!
See honorable mentions at: http://theweek.com/article/index/204191/the-week-contest-bp-slogan---june-18-2010
Chinese media report that up to 90% of the vuvuzelas sold in South Africa during the World Cup were made in China, mainly by factories in the provinces of Zhejiang, where Yiwu is located, and Guangdong to the south. And if you thought the noisemakers’ would just fade away after the World Cup ends next month, Chinese businesswoman Gua Lili is betting you’re wrong. “We believe the market for vuvuzela trumpets will expand after the World Cup as people from more countries began to love them,” she said. Gua, whose factory also makes other plastic noise makers such as whistles, said demand for the trumpets was also rising in China, Europe and the United States, where they’ve most recently shown up at Boston’s Fenway Park, adding decibels to a baseball game between the Red Sox and the Arizona Diamondbacks. http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/news-by-industry/et-cetera/The-Vuvuzela-Uniquely-African-made-in-China/articleshow/6076557.cms
David Dunning, a Cornell professor of social psychology, was perusing the 1996 World Almanac. In a section called Offbeat News Stories he found a tantalizingly brief account of a series of bank robberies committed in Pittsburgh the previous year. From there, it was an easy matter to track the case to the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, specifically to an article by Michael A. Fuoco: ARREST IN BANK ROBBERY, SUSPECT’S TV PICTURE SPURS TIPS
At 5 feet 6 inches and about 270 pounds, bank robbery suspect McArthur Wheeler isn’t the type of person who fades into the woodwork. So it was no surprise that he was recognized by informants, who tipped detectives to his whereabouts after his picture was telecast. When arrested, Wheeler was completely disbelieving. “But I wore the juice,” he said. Apparently, he was under the deeply misguided impression that rubbing one’s face with lemon juice rendered it invisible to video cameras. http://opinionator.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/06/20/the-anosognosics-dilemma-1/
Apricot-Pineapple Pie
Measure Ingredient
1½ cup Dried apricots
1½ cup Water
6 tablespoons Sugar
1 can Crushed pineapple (8 oz)
1½ tablespoon Cornstarch
Salt
3 tablespoons Butter
Pastry for 8" double pie crust
This filling is intense and sweet-tart, like the traditional apricot-pineapple jam. With knife or kitchen shears, cut each apricot into quarters. Put apricots in saucepan, add water, bring to boil, cover and cook over medium heat 10 minutes. Add sugar and cook 5 minutes more. Drain, reserving 3/4 cup juice. Set apricots aside. Drain crushed pineapple, reserving 1/4 cup juice. Set pineapple aside. In mixing bowl, dissolve cornstarch in reserved pineapple juice. Add reserved apricot juice. Put mixed juices in saucepan, add dash salt and cook over medium heat until mixture thickens, stirring continually. Mix drained apricots and pineapple thoroughly. Mix with thickened juices and pour into unbaked pie shell. Dot with butter. Cover with top crust, crimp edges and pierce with fork. Bake at 400'F. 25 minutes. Makes 6-8 servings. Each of 6 servings contains about: 546 calories; 299 milligrams sodium; 16 milligrams cholesterol; 29 grams fat; 70 grams carbohydrates; 5 grams protein; 1.21 grams fiber.
http://www.astray.com/recipes/?show=Apricot-pineapple%20pie
The Web site above links to 20 other recipes using apricots and pineapples.
Friday, June 25, 2010
A federal judge has thrown out a lawsuit by a creationism think tank and school that attempted to force the state of Texas to allow it to offer master's degrees in science education. In 2008, the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board rejected the Dallas-based Institute for Creation Research's application to offer master's degrees, which taught science from a biblical perspective. The institute's graduate school sued in 2009, claiming the board violated its constitutional right to free speech and religion. U.S. District Judge Sam Sparks found no merit in the ICR's claims and criticized its legal documents as “overly verbose, disjointed, incoherent, maundering and full of irrelevant information.” In an e-mailed statement, ICR representatives said they were reviewing the decision and may appeal. http://www.mysanantonio.com/news/local_news/court_rules_against_creationism_degree_96926154.html?showFullArticle=y
Judge Sam Sparks Ruling in ICR v. Texas Higher Ed Coordinating Board
http://www.scribd.com/doc/33449642/Judge-Sam-Sparks-Ruling-in-ICR-v-Texas-Higher-Ed-Coordinating-Board
How many countries have names that start with the letter Z?
Two: Zambia and Zimbabwe
ZAMBIA The territory of Northern Rhodesia was administered by the [British] South Africa Company from 1891 until it was taken over by the UK in 1923. During the 1920s and 1930s, advances in mining spurred development and immigration. The name was changed to Zambia upon independence in 1964. In the 1980s and 1990s, declining copper prices and a prolonged drought hurt the economy. https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/za.html
ZIMBABWE The UK annexed Southern Rhodesia from the [British] South Africa Company in 1923. A 1961 constitution was formulated that favored whites in power. In 1965 the government unilaterally declared its independence, but the UK did not recognize the act and demanded more complete voting rights for the black African majority in the country (then called Rhodesia). UN sanctions and a guerrilla uprising finally led to free elections in 1979 and independence (as Zimbabwe) in 1980. https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/zi.html
Astronomers at the University of Sheffield have managed to record for the first time the eerie musical harmonies produced by the magnetic field in the outer atmosphere of the sun. They found that huge magnetic loops that have been observed coiling away from the outer layer of the sun's atmosphere, known as coronal loops, vibrate like strings on a musical instrument. In other cases they behave more like soundwaves as they travel through a wind instrument. Using satellite images of these loops, which can be over 60,000 miles long, the scientists were able to recreate the sound by turning the visible vibrations into noises and speeding up the frequency so it is audible to the human ear. http://www.telegraph.co.uk/science/space/7840201/Music-of-the-sun-recorded-by-scientists.html
Toledo School for the Arts is a public charter school in downtown Toledo, Ohio founded by director Martin Porter. It was first sponsored by the Toledo Board of Education. In 2008 the school was chartered by Bowling Green State University. TSA serves over 500 students from any school district in Ohio in Junior Division (6th, 7th and 8th grades), and Senior Division (9th, 10th, 11th and 12th grades). In addition to core academic subjects, classes are offered in dance, music, theatre and visual arts and include training and career development for students interested in pursuing professions in the arts. TSA students have been accepted to many of the nation's best colleges and universities, and the school has enjoyed a 100% graduation rate for the last four years. The highlight of each year is Kaleidoscope, a performance and art exhibit that features student works from each department as well as student soloists. Students participate in an average of 180 performances and exhibitions each year. In 2004, TSA moved to 333 14th Street, a new building located in uptown Toledo. In 2009 the school opened its own gallery to allow them the ability to hold art shows and sell student art throughout the year. In 2009 TSA was awarded a No School Left Behind Blue Ribbon from the US Department of Education, and in 2008 was the first charter school in the nation to receive the Title 1 School of Distinction award. In 2007 TSA was identified as one of the leading charter schools in the nation, and featured in the US Department of Education publication, Innovations in Education Reform. TSA has twice been designated a Bronze Medal School by US News and World Reports.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Toledo_School_for_the_Arts
TSA's seven-piece jazz group, Urban Jazz Collective, plays at Manhattan's Restaurant, 1516 Adams Street in Toledo, on Tuesday nights.
Feedback to A.Word.A.Day with Anu Garg
From: Marli R Subject: Aeolian Def: Relating to or caused by the wind. What a lovely surprise to see "Aeolian" as the word of the day. The field of Aeolian research is fascinating to me. I thought you might be interested in http://singingsands.weebly.com/ a website I have created on this very topic.
From: Rhiannon Beech Subject: aeolien In France, we have an upsurge of windmills to produce electricity. They are called éolienne.
From: Walt Patterson Subject: aeolian The word "aeolian" is used often in a musical context. A major builder of pipe organs of the 20th century in the US was Aeolian-Skinner. Pipe organs are basically powered by wind. The Aeolian Harp is also powered by wind and is not meant to be played by a person. And Aeolian is one of the modes used in music. Aeolian mode is what would be called today A-minor, all played on white notes on the piano.
From: Anne Lane Subject: virga I used to teach calligraphy classes at Ghost Ranch, one of Georgia O'Keeffe's homes in New Mexico and source of much of the inspiration for her paintings. We would sit on the porch and watch the virga, known to the Native Americans as "walking rain", travel across the desert.
From: John Hench Subject: virga More fun facts about the word virga: The cognate in French is virgule, or comma.
Club Sandwich - History of Club Sandwich © copyright 2004 by Linda Stradley
The most popular theory is that the sandwich first appeared in 1894 at the famous Saratoga Club-House (an exclusive gentlemen only gambling house in upstate Saratoga Springs, New York) where the potato chips was born. Originally called Morrissey's Club House, were neither women nor locals were permitted in the gambling rooms. In 1894, Richard Canfield purchased the club. According to the 1940 New York Writer's Project book called New York: A Guide to the Empire State: In 1894 Richard Canfield (1865-1914), debonair patron of art, purchased the Saratoga Club to make it a casino. Canfield Solitaire was originated in the casino's gambling rooms and the club sandwich in its kitchens. Some historians think that the sandwich was originally only a two-decker and that it originated aboard the double-decker “club cars” of our early trains in America that traveled from New York to Chicago in the 1930's and 1940's. James Beard (1903-1985), American chef and food writer wrote the following about the Club Sandwich in his book, James Beard's American Cookery: . . . it is one of the great sandwiches of all time and has swept its way around the world after an American beginning. Nowadays the sandwich is bastardized because it is usually made as a three-decker, which is not authentic (whoever started that horror should be forced to eat three-deckers three times a day the rest of his life), and nowadays practically everyone uses turkey and there's a vast difference between turkey and chicken where sandwiches are concerned.
http://whatscookingamerica.net/History/Sandwiches/ClubSandwich.htm
Judge Sam Sparks Ruling in ICR v. Texas Higher Ed Coordinating Board
http://www.scribd.com/doc/33449642/Judge-Sam-Sparks-Ruling-in-ICR-v-Texas-Higher-Ed-Coordinating-Board
How many countries have names that start with the letter Z?
Two: Zambia and Zimbabwe
ZAMBIA The territory of Northern Rhodesia was administered by the [British] South Africa Company from 1891 until it was taken over by the UK in 1923. During the 1920s and 1930s, advances in mining spurred development and immigration. The name was changed to Zambia upon independence in 1964. In the 1980s and 1990s, declining copper prices and a prolonged drought hurt the economy. https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/za.html
ZIMBABWE The UK annexed Southern Rhodesia from the [British] South Africa Company in 1923. A 1961 constitution was formulated that favored whites in power. In 1965 the government unilaterally declared its independence, but the UK did not recognize the act and demanded more complete voting rights for the black African majority in the country (then called Rhodesia). UN sanctions and a guerrilla uprising finally led to free elections in 1979 and independence (as Zimbabwe) in 1980. https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/zi.html
Astronomers at the University of Sheffield have managed to record for the first time the eerie musical harmonies produced by the magnetic field in the outer atmosphere of the sun. They found that huge magnetic loops that have been observed coiling away from the outer layer of the sun's atmosphere, known as coronal loops, vibrate like strings on a musical instrument. In other cases they behave more like soundwaves as they travel through a wind instrument. Using satellite images of these loops, which can be over 60,000 miles long, the scientists were able to recreate the sound by turning the visible vibrations into noises and speeding up the frequency so it is audible to the human ear. http://www.telegraph.co.uk/science/space/7840201/Music-of-the-sun-recorded-by-scientists.html
Toledo School for the Arts is a public charter school in downtown Toledo, Ohio founded by director Martin Porter. It was first sponsored by the Toledo Board of Education. In 2008 the school was chartered by Bowling Green State University. TSA serves over 500 students from any school district in Ohio in Junior Division (6th, 7th and 8th grades), and Senior Division (9th, 10th, 11th and 12th grades). In addition to core academic subjects, classes are offered in dance, music, theatre and visual arts and include training and career development for students interested in pursuing professions in the arts. TSA students have been accepted to many of the nation's best colleges and universities, and the school has enjoyed a 100% graduation rate for the last four years. The highlight of each year is Kaleidoscope, a performance and art exhibit that features student works from each department as well as student soloists. Students participate in an average of 180 performances and exhibitions each year. In 2004, TSA moved to 333 14th Street, a new building located in uptown Toledo. In 2009 the school opened its own gallery to allow them the ability to hold art shows and sell student art throughout the year. In 2009 TSA was awarded a No School Left Behind Blue Ribbon from the US Department of Education, and in 2008 was the first charter school in the nation to receive the Title 1 School of Distinction award. In 2007 TSA was identified as one of the leading charter schools in the nation, and featured in the US Department of Education publication, Innovations in Education Reform. TSA has twice been designated a Bronze Medal School by US News and World Reports.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Toledo_School_for_the_Arts
TSA's seven-piece jazz group, Urban Jazz Collective, plays at Manhattan's Restaurant, 1516 Adams Street in Toledo, on Tuesday nights.
Feedback to A.Word.A.Day with Anu Garg
From: Marli R Subject: Aeolian Def: Relating to or caused by the wind. What a lovely surprise to see "Aeolian" as the word of the day. The field of Aeolian research is fascinating to me. I thought you might be interested in http://singingsands.weebly.com/ a website I have created on this very topic.
From: Rhiannon Beech Subject: aeolien In France, we have an upsurge of windmills to produce electricity. They are called éolienne.
From: Walt Patterson Subject: aeolian The word "aeolian" is used often in a musical context. A major builder of pipe organs of the 20th century in the US was Aeolian-Skinner. Pipe organs are basically powered by wind. The Aeolian Harp is also powered by wind and is not meant to be played by a person. And Aeolian is one of the modes used in music. Aeolian mode is what would be called today A-minor, all played on white notes on the piano.
From: Anne Lane Subject: virga I used to teach calligraphy classes at Ghost Ranch, one of Georgia O'Keeffe's homes in New Mexico and source of much of the inspiration for her paintings. We would sit on the porch and watch the virga, known to the Native Americans as "walking rain", travel across the desert.
From: John Hench Subject: virga More fun facts about the word virga: The cognate in French is virgule, or comma.
Club Sandwich - History of Club Sandwich © copyright 2004 by Linda Stradley
The most popular theory is that the sandwich first appeared in 1894 at the famous Saratoga Club-House (an exclusive gentlemen only gambling house in upstate Saratoga Springs, New York) where the potato chips was born. Originally called Morrissey's Club House, were neither women nor locals were permitted in the gambling rooms. In 1894, Richard Canfield purchased the club. According to the 1940 New York Writer's Project book called New York: A Guide to the Empire State: In 1894 Richard Canfield (1865-1914), debonair patron of art, purchased the Saratoga Club to make it a casino. Canfield Solitaire was originated in the casino's gambling rooms and the club sandwich in its kitchens. Some historians think that the sandwich was originally only a two-decker and that it originated aboard the double-decker “club cars” of our early trains in America that traveled from New York to Chicago in the 1930's and 1940's. James Beard (1903-1985), American chef and food writer wrote the following about the Club Sandwich in his book, James Beard's American Cookery: . . . it is one of the great sandwiches of all time and has swept its way around the world after an American beginning. Nowadays the sandwich is bastardized because it is usually made as a three-decker, which is not authentic (whoever started that horror should be forced to eat three-deckers three times a day the rest of his life), and nowadays practically everyone uses turkey and there's a vast difference between turkey and chicken where sandwiches are concerned.
http://whatscookingamerica.net/History/Sandwiches/ClubSandwich.htm
Thursday, June 24, 2010
The renovations at the University of Toledo’s Carlson Library have caused some in the UT community to be concerned with the process by which the university is disposing of books, periodicals and journals in order to make room for the planned “ultra quiet study space” being built on the library’s fifth floor. According to Marcia Suter, Director of Library Services on UT Main Campus, not all the physical copies will be shelved on the fourth floor. Suter said the library is disposing volumes of books that have not been checked out in eight or more years so as long as those books are available on OhioLink, an online library to which Ohio universities have access. According to Vice President of Student Government Jordan Maddocks, the library is disposing of the unused books by sending them to be shredded at Lott Industries, a local service sector company that specializes in recycling. “From going to the meetings and finding out what they’re doing with the reading materials, I was under the impression that almost all that was going to go to the depository. But I later found out that massive amounts were being basically [destroyed],” Maddocks said. Maddocks said he attended two of the committee meetings that planned the library renovations and suggested that the library donate the books as opposed to shredding them. Maddocks said one of the administrators responded to his donation idea by saying the process would be “too tedious and tough to organize.”
http://www.independentcollegian.com/news/carlson-library-renovation-woes-1.2274479
The headmaster at a New England prep school, Cushing Academy (Welcome to the Library. Say Goodbye to the Books, http://tinyurl.com/mnn986). stated that books were an outdated technology, similar to scrolls before the advent of the printing press. So what have they decided to do? Discard their 20,000 book collection of classics, novels, poetry, biographies, and tomes on every subject from the humanities to the sciences. Their plan is to spend nearly $500,000 to create a “learning center‟‟ that consists of three large flat-screen TVs that will project data from the Internet, special laptop-friendly study carrels, and to replace the reference desk with a $50,000 coffee shop that will include a $12,000 cappuccino machine. Administrators state that they do not want to discourage reading, so to that end they will spend $10,000 to buy 18 electronic readers made by Amazon.com and Sony. The readers will be distributed to some students, and will be stocked with digital material. Those who don't have access to the electronic readers will be expected to do their research and peruse many assigned texts on their computers. http://orall.org/newsletters/2010-06.pdf
Bloomberg owns Business Week, having bought it from McGraw-Hill, and in late 2009 was laying off about 100 staff people. One casualty was the library. And, according to Stephen Baker, who wrote one of the seminal articles on the importance of blogging in the corporate world, published in Business Week, reporters are being advised to take their research needs to Google. http://www.onlineinsider.net/2009/11/25/bloomberg-closes-business-week-library/
Wall Street is a street in Lower Manhattan, New York City, New York, USA. It runs east from Broadway to South Street on the East River, through the historical center of the Financial District. It is the first permanent home of the New York Stock Exchange; over time Wall Street became the name of the surrounding geographic neighborhood. Wall Street is also shorthand (or a metonym) for the "influential financial interests" of the American financial industry, which is centered in the New York City area. The name of the street derives from the 17th century when Wall Street formed the northern boundary of the New Amsterdam settlement. It was constructed to protect against English colonial encroachement. In the 1640s basic picket and plank fences denoted plots and residences in the colony. Later, on behalf of the Dutch West India Company, Peter Stuyvesant, in part using African slaves, led the Dutch in the construction of a stronger stockade. A strengthened 12-foot (4 m) wall against attack from various Native American tribes. In 1685 surveyors laid out Wall Street along the lines of the original stockade. The wall started at Pearl Street, which was the shoreline back then, crossing the Indian path Broadway and ending at the other shoreline (today's Trinity Place), where it took a turn south and ran along the shore until it ended at the old fort. The wall was dismantled by the British colonial government in 1699. In the late 18th century, there was a buttonwood tree at the foot of Wall Street under which traders and speculators would gather to trade informally. In 1792, the traders formalized their association with the Buttonwood Agreement. This was the origin of the New York Stock Exchange. In 1789, Federal Hall and Wall Street was the scene of the United States' first presidential inauguration. George Washington took the oath of office on the balcony of Federal Hall overlooking Wall Street on April 30, 1789. This was also the location of the passing of the Bill Of Rights. In 1889, the original stock report, Customers' Afternoon Letter, became The Wall Street Journal. Named in reference to the actual street, it is now an influential international daily business newspaper published in New York City. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wall_Street
Bartleby, the Scrivener: a Story of Wall Street is a long short story, more commonly known as a novella, by the American novelist Herman Melville (1819–1891). It first appeared anonymously in two parts in the November and December 1853 editions of Putnam's Magazine. It was reprinted with minor textual alterations in his The Piazza Tales in 1856. Though no great success at the time of publication, Bartleby the Scrivener is now among the most notable of American short stories. It has been considered a precursor of absurdist literature, touching on several of Kafka's themes in such works as A Hunger Artist and The Trial. There is nothing to indicate that the Bohemian writer was at all acquainted with the work of Melville, who remained largely forgotten until some time after Kafka's death. Albert Camus, in a personal letter to Liselotte Dieckmann published in The French Review in 1998, cites Melville as a key influence. The Spanish writer Enrique Vila-Matas wrote an award-winning novel Bartleby & Co. that creates a catalogue of the many "bartlebys" in literature: writers who gave up writing—the Literature of No—writers who sought denial. The story has been adapted for film three times: in 1970, starring Paul Scofield; in France, in 1976, by Maurice Ronet, starring Michel Lonsdale; and in 2001, Bartleby starring Crispin Glover. In 2003, a loosely adapted version of the story, called "Partanen", was filmed for Finnish TV by Juha Koiranen. In 2007, Organic Theater Company of Chicago presented its adaptation of Bartleby at the Ruth Page Theatre. This production was repeated a year later at the LaCosta Theatre. In 2009, Mary-Arrchie Theatre Company of Chicago presented an adaptation by R.L. Lane at the Angel Island Theater, directed by Richard Cotovsky. In 2009, La pépinière théâtre of Paris presented as public reading by the famous French author Daniel Pennac, directed by François Duval. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bartleby,_the_Scrivener
The hogan is a sacred home for the Diné (Navajo) people who practice traditional religion. Every family -- even if they live most of the time in a newer home -- must have the traditional hogan for ceremonies, and to keep themselves in balance. The Navajos used to make their houses, called hogans, of wooden poles, tree bark and mud. The doorway of each hogan opened to the east so they could get the morning sun as well as good blessings. Today, many Navajo families still live in hogans, although trailers or more modern houses are tending to replace them. The older form of hogan is round and cone-shaped. By the end of the 19th century they would be replaced by the roomier, hexagonal or octagonal, cribwork hogans http://navajopeople.org/navajo-hogans.htm
http://www.independentcollegian.com/news/carlson-library-renovation-woes-1.2274479
The headmaster at a New England prep school, Cushing Academy (Welcome to the Library. Say Goodbye to the Books, http://tinyurl.com/mnn986). stated that books were an outdated technology, similar to scrolls before the advent of the printing press. So what have they decided to do? Discard their 20,000 book collection of classics, novels, poetry, biographies, and tomes on every subject from the humanities to the sciences. Their plan is to spend nearly $500,000 to create a “learning center‟‟ that consists of three large flat-screen TVs that will project data from the Internet, special laptop-friendly study carrels, and to replace the reference desk with a $50,000 coffee shop that will include a $12,000 cappuccino machine. Administrators state that they do not want to discourage reading, so to that end they will spend $10,000 to buy 18 electronic readers made by Amazon.com and Sony. The readers will be distributed to some students, and will be stocked with digital material. Those who don't have access to the electronic readers will be expected to do their research and peruse many assigned texts on their computers. http://orall.org/newsletters/2010-06.pdf
Bloomberg owns Business Week, having bought it from McGraw-Hill, and in late 2009 was laying off about 100 staff people. One casualty was the library. And, according to Stephen Baker, who wrote one of the seminal articles on the importance of blogging in the corporate world, published in Business Week, reporters are being advised to take their research needs to Google. http://www.onlineinsider.net/2009/11/25/bloomberg-closes-business-week-library/
Wall Street is a street in Lower Manhattan, New York City, New York, USA. It runs east from Broadway to South Street on the East River, through the historical center of the Financial District. It is the first permanent home of the New York Stock Exchange; over time Wall Street became the name of the surrounding geographic neighborhood. Wall Street is also shorthand (or a metonym) for the "influential financial interests" of the American financial industry, which is centered in the New York City area. The name of the street derives from the 17th century when Wall Street formed the northern boundary of the New Amsterdam settlement. It was constructed to protect against English colonial encroachement. In the 1640s basic picket and plank fences denoted plots and residences in the colony. Later, on behalf of the Dutch West India Company, Peter Stuyvesant, in part using African slaves, led the Dutch in the construction of a stronger stockade. A strengthened 12-foot (4 m) wall against attack from various Native American tribes. In 1685 surveyors laid out Wall Street along the lines of the original stockade. The wall started at Pearl Street, which was the shoreline back then, crossing the Indian path Broadway and ending at the other shoreline (today's Trinity Place), where it took a turn south and ran along the shore until it ended at the old fort. The wall was dismantled by the British colonial government in 1699. In the late 18th century, there was a buttonwood tree at the foot of Wall Street under which traders and speculators would gather to trade informally. In 1792, the traders formalized their association with the Buttonwood Agreement. This was the origin of the New York Stock Exchange. In 1789, Federal Hall and Wall Street was the scene of the United States' first presidential inauguration. George Washington took the oath of office on the balcony of Federal Hall overlooking Wall Street on April 30, 1789. This was also the location of the passing of the Bill Of Rights. In 1889, the original stock report, Customers' Afternoon Letter, became The Wall Street Journal. Named in reference to the actual street, it is now an influential international daily business newspaper published in New York City. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wall_Street
Bartleby, the Scrivener: a Story of Wall Street is a long short story, more commonly known as a novella, by the American novelist Herman Melville (1819–1891). It first appeared anonymously in two parts in the November and December 1853 editions of Putnam's Magazine. It was reprinted with minor textual alterations in his The Piazza Tales in 1856. Though no great success at the time of publication, Bartleby the Scrivener is now among the most notable of American short stories. It has been considered a precursor of absurdist literature, touching on several of Kafka's themes in such works as A Hunger Artist and The Trial. There is nothing to indicate that the Bohemian writer was at all acquainted with the work of Melville, who remained largely forgotten until some time after Kafka's death. Albert Camus, in a personal letter to Liselotte Dieckmann published in The French Review in 1998, cites Melville as a key influence. The Spanish writer Enrique Vila-Matas wrote an award-winning novel Bartleby & Co. that creates a catalogue of the many "bartlebys" in literature: writers who gave up writing—the Literature of No—writers who sought denial. The story has been adapted for film three times: in 1970, starring Paul Scofield; in France, in 1976, by Maurice Ronet, starring Michel Lonsdale; and in 2001, Bartleby starring Crispin Glover. In 2003, a loosely adapted version of the story, called "Partanen", was filmed for Finnish TV by Juha Koiranen. In 2007, Organic Theater Company of Chicago presented its adaptation of Bartleby at the Ruth Page Theatre. This production was repeated a year later at the LaCosta Theatre. In 2009, Mary-Arrchie Theatre Company of Chicago presented an adaptation by R.L. Lane at the Angel Island Theater, directed by Richard Cotovsky. In 2009, La pépinière théâtre of Paris presented as public reading by the famous French author Daniel Pennac, directed by François Duval. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bartleby,_the_Scrivener
The hogan is a sacred home for the Diné (Navajo) people who practice traditional religion. Every family -- even if they live most of the time in a newer home -- must have the traditional hogan for ceremonies, and to keep themselves in balance. The Navajos used to make their houses, called hogans, of wooden poles, tree bark and mud. The doorway of each hogan opened to the east so they could get the morning sun as well as good blessings. Today, many Navajo families still live in hogans, although trailers or more modern houses are tending to replace them. The older form of hogan is round and cone-shaped. By the end of the 19th century they would be replaced by the roomier, hexagonal or octagonal, cribwork hogans http://navajopeople.org/navajo-hogans.htm
Tuesday, June 22, 2010
DISH, Tex.—A satellite broadcasting company bought the rights to rename this town a few years ago in exchange for a decade of free television, but it is another industry that dominates the 200 or so residents: natural gas. Five facilities perched on the north Texas town's outskirts compress the gas newly flowing to the surface from the cracked Barnett Shale more than two kilometers beneath the surface, collectively contributing a brew of toxic chemicals to the air. It is because of places like DISH (formerly known as Clark) and similar sites from Colorado to Wyoming, that the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has launched a new review of the practice known as hydraulic fracturing, or "fracking". From compressor stations emitting known human carcinogens such as benzene to the poor lining of wells after drilling that has led some water taps to literally spout flames, the full set of activities needed to produce natural gas gives rise to a panoply of potential problems. The EPA study may examine everything from site selection to the ultimate disposal of the fluids used in fracking. http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=shale-gas-and-hydraulic-fracturing
Iguazu Falls, Iguassu Falls, or Iguaçu Falls are waterfalls of the Iguazu River located on the border of the Brazilian state of Paraná and the Argentine province of Misiones. The falls divide the river into the upper and lower Iguazu. Iguazu Falls is often compared with Southern Africa's Victoria Falls which separates Zambia and Zimbabwe. Iguazu is wider, but because it is split into about 270 discrete falls and large islands, Victoria is the largest curtain of water in the world, at over 1,600 m (5,249 ft) wide and over 100 m (328 ft) in height (in low flow Victoria is split into five by islands; in high flow it can be uninterrupted). The only wider falls are extremely large rapid-like falls such as the Boyoma Falls). With the flooding of the Guaíra Falls in 1982, Iguazu currently has the second greatest average annual flow of any waterfall in the world, after Niagara, with an average rate of 1746 m³/s. The water falling over Iguazu in peak flow has a surface area of about 40 Ha (1.3 million ft²) whilst Victoria in peak flow has a surface area of over 55 ha (1.8 million ft²). By comparison, Niagara has a surface area of under 18.3 ha (600,000 ft²). Victoria's annual peak flow very similar maximum water discharge (well in excess of 12,000 m³/s). Niagara's average flow is about 2,400 m³/s, although an all-time peak of 8,269 has been recorded. Iguazu and Victoria fluctuate more greatly in their flow rate. Mist rises between 30 metres (98 ft) and 150 m (492 ft) from Iguazu's Devil's Throat, and over 300 m (984 ft) above Victoria. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iguazu_Falls
On June 12 at the 16th annual West Chester University Poetry Conference, poets, scholars and other enthusiasts reveling in rhyme, meter and narrative in verse were lined up like smitten rock fans waiting for Natalie Merchant to sign copies of her new, deluxe-edition, double-disc recording, "Leave Your Sleep." (An abridged single CD has also been released.) Inside the student union building here, several people also clutched her previous solo albums, and one fervid fan gripped vinyl recordings of the pop-rock-folk band 10,000 Maniacs, which Ms. Merchant joined as a 17-year-old lead singer in 1981. The conference was founded in 1995 by Michael Peich, a WCU professor of English and the director of Aralia Press, and Dana Gioia, a poet and critic who served as chairman of the National Endowment for the Arts from 2003 to 2009. "This conference has grown from 85 to 300 people," Prof. Peich said, "and in 1999 we added a concert of art song to the program. Natalie's new album, where she sets music to verse, makes her a natural choice for this year's conference." Mr. Gioia, currently director of the Aspen Institute's Harman-Eisner Program in the Arts, believes Ms. Merchant "has done something important and innovative. Other pop singers have set a poem or two in the past to music, but I don't think anyone else has ever done it on the scale of Merchant. She has created something akin to pop art song and re-created the link between song and poetry." In "Leave Your Sleep," Ms. Merchant composed music for 26 poems by writers well known (E.E. Cummings, Ogden Nash, Christina Rossetti), less known (Charles Causley, Eleanor Farjeon, Rachel Field), and anonymous. The album features more than 130 guest performers whose styles include Cajun, reggae, blues, gospel, Native American, Chinese, orchestral and pop music. Those eclectic choices grew out of Ms. Merchant's desire to introduce her daughter, Lucia, now age 7, to music and verse that would engage her imagination and hone her language skills. http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704009804575309183533157688.html?mod=WSJ_LifeStyle_Lifestyle_5
The Oriental Institute of the University of Chicago's 'Pioneers of the Past' exhibition, on through Aug. 29, asks: Who owns the past? The display of artifacts, letters and photographs commemorates founder James Henry Breasted's first expedition to Egypt and what are now Iraq, Syria, Lebanon and Israel. Ownership is just one of the contentious issues raised in the exhibition, which, having set the mind spinning, then ends on a subdued note with an overview of the sites Breasted recommended the Institute should excavate. This acts as an invitation to walk through the rest of the museum—where the show's final insight comes clear. In one gallery, colossal stone reliefs feature courtiers with flowing robes and a winged creature with the body of a bull and the head of a man. These once decorated palace walls in Khorsabad, one of five power centers on Breasted's list. Elsewhere, cases brim with more humble objects—tools, amulets, seals, terracotta figurines—valued by later scholars because they shed light on village life, agriculture and animal domestication. http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703561604575282343365922152.html?mod=WSJ_LifeStyle_Lifestyle_5
Word unit palindromes occur when the words rather than the letters form the same sentence backward and forward, such as the sentence "I did, did I?" This example is a character-by-character palindrome and also a sentence palindrome, as the individual letters are the same backward and forward as well as the words
A line-unit palindrome is one in which the lines read the same from the top down as they do from the bottom up. Click this link to read an example of a line-unit palindrome poem, Doppelganger, by James A. Lindon.
Sentence palindromes occur when the words in a sentence read the same backward and forward. These are also called reversible sentences. Punctuation and word spacing is ignored when creating a sentence palindrome
http://research-writing-techniques.suite101.com/article.cfm/palindrome-examples-lists-and-facts-in-poetry-and-prose
Palindromes from a muse reader: Borrow or rob? Air an aria. A Toyota! Race fast, safe car! solos, rotor, radar, put up, refer, pull up, race car
Iguazu Falls, Iguassu Falls, or Iguaçu Falls are waterfalls of the Iguazu River located on the border of the Brazilian state of Paraná and the Argentine province of Misiones. The falls divide the river into the upper and lower Iguazu. Iguazu Falls is often compared with Southern Africa's Victoria Falls which separates Zambia and Zimbabwe. Iguazu is wider, but because it is split into about 270 discrete falls and large islands, Victoria is the largest curtain of water in the world, at over 1,600 m (5,249 ft) wide and over 100 m (328 ft) in height (in low flow Victoria is split into five by islands; in high flow it can be uninterrupted). The only wider falls are extremely large rapid-like falls such as the Boyoma Falls). With the flooding of the Guaíra Falls in 1982, Iguazu currently has the second greatest average annual flow of any waterfall in the world, after Niagara, with an average rate of 1746 m³/s. The water falling over Iguazu in peak flow has a surface area of about 40 Ha (1.3 million ft²) whilst Victoria in peak flow has a surface area of over 55 ha (1.8 million ft²). By comparison, Niagara has a surface area of under 18.3 ha (600,000 ft²). Victoria's annual peak flow very similar maximum water discharge (well in excess of 12,000 m³/s). Niagara's average flow is about 2,400 m³/s, although an all-time peak of 8,269 has been recorded. Iguazu and Victoria fluctuate more greatly in their flow rate. Mist rises between 30 metres (98 ft) and 150 m (492 ft) from Iguazu's Devil's Throat, and over 300 m (984 ft) above Victoria. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iguazu_Falls
On June 12 at the 16th annual West Chester University Poetry Conference, poets, scholars and other enthusiasts reveling in rhyme, meter and narrative in verse were lined up like smitten rock fans waiting for Natalie Merchant to sign copies of her new, deluxe-edition, double-disc recording, "Leave Your Sleep." (An abridged single CD has also been released.) Inside the student union building here, several people also clutched her previous solo albums, and one fervid fan gripped vinyl recordings of the pop-rock-folk band 10,000 Maniacs, which Ms. Merchant joined as a 17-year-old lead singer in 1981. The conference was founded in 1995 by Michael Peich, a WCU professor of English and the director of Aralia Press, and Dana Gioia, a poet and critic who served as chairman of the National Endowment for the Arts from 2003 to 2009. "This conference has grown from 85 to 300 people," Prof. Peich said, "and in 1999 we added a concert of art song to the program. Natalie's new album, where she sets music to verse, makes her a natural choice for this year's conference." Mr. Gioia, currently director of the Aspen Institute's Harman-Eisner Program in the Arts, believes Ms. Merchant "has done something important and innovative. Other pop singers have set a poem or two in the past to music, but I don't think anyone else has ever done it on the scale of Merchant. She has created something akin to pop art song and re-created the link between song and poetry." In "Leave Your Sleep," Ms. Merchant composed music for 26 poems by writers well known (E.E. Cummings, Ogden Nash, Christina Rossetti), less known (Charles Causley, Eleanor Farjeon, Rachel Field), and anonymous. The album features more than 130 guest performers whose styles include Cajun, reggae, blues, gospel, Native American, Chinese, orchestral and pop music. Those eclectic choices grew out of Ms. Merchant's desire to introduce her daughter, Lucia, now age 7, to music and verse that would engage her imagination and hone her language skills. http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704009804575309183533157688.html?mod=WSJ_LifeStyle_Lifestyle_5
The Oriental Institute of the University of Chicago's 'Pioneers of the Past' exhibition, on through Aug. 29, asks: Who owns the past? The display of artifacts, letters and photographs commemorates founder James Henry Breasted's first expedition to Egypt and what are now Iraq, Syria, Lebanon and Israel. Ownership is just one of the contentious issues raised in the exhibition, which, having set the mind spinning, then ends on a subdued note with an overview of the sites Breasted recommended the Institute should excavate. This acts as an invitation to walk through the rest of the museum—where the show's final insight comes clear. In one gallery, colossal stone reliefs feature courtiers with flowing robes and a winged creature with the body of a bull and the head of a man. These once decorated palace walls in Khorsabad, one of five power centers on Breasted's list. Elsewhere, cases brim with more humble objects—tools, amulets, seals, terracotta figurines—valued by later scholars because they shed light on village life, agriculture and animal domestication. http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703561604575282343365922152.html?mod=WSJ_LifeStyle_Lifestyle_5
Word unit palindromes occur when the words rather than the letters form the same sentence backward and forward, such as the sentence "I did, did I?" This example is a character-by-character palindrome and also a sentence palindrome, as the individual letters are the same backward and forward as well as the words
A line-unit palindrome is one in which the lines read the same from the top down as they do from the bottom up. Click this link to read an example of a line-unit palindrome poem, Doppelganger, by James A. Lindon.
Sentence palindromes occur when the words in a sentence read the same backward and forward. These are also called reversible sentences. Punctuation and word spacing is ignored when creating a sentence palindrome
http://research-writing-techniques.suite101.com/article.cfm/palindrome-examples-lists-and-facts-in-poetry-and-prose
Palindromes from a muse reader: Borrow or rob? Air an aria. A Toyota! Race fast, safe car! solos, rotor, radar, put up, refer, pull up, race car
Monday, June 21, 2010
The United States embargo against Cuba (described in Cuba as el bloqueo, Spanish for "the blockade") is a commercial, economic, and financial embargo partially imposed on Cuba in October 1960. It was enacted after Cuba nationalized the properties of United States citizens and corporations and it was strengthened to a near-total embargo since February 7, 1962. Entitled the Cuban Democracy Act, the embargo was codified into law in 1992 with the stated purpose of maintaining sanctions on Cuba so long as the Cuban government continues to refuse to move toward "democratization and greater respect for human rights". In 1996, Congress passed the Helms-Burton Act, which further restricted United States citizens from doing business in or with Cuba, and mandated restrictions on giving public or private assistance to any successor government in Havana unless and until certain claims against the Cuban government are met. In 1999, U.S. President Bill Clinton expanded the trade embargo even further by ending the practice of foreign subsidiaries of U.S. companies trading with Cuba. In 2000, Clinton authorized the sale of certain "humanitarian" US products to Cuba. At present, the embargo, which limits American businesses from conducting business with Cuban interests, is still in effect and is the most enduring trade embargo in modern history. Despite the existence of the embargo, the United States is the fifth largest exporter to Cuba (6.6% of Cuba's imports are from the US). However, Cuba must pay cash for all imports, as credit is not allowed.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_embargo_against_Cuba
Twitter's Entire Archive Headed to the Library of Congress
When the Library of Congress was founded in the year 1800, publishing was very expensive and relatively few people did it. Today, thanks to blogs, YouTube, Facebook and certainly Twitter it's a new world. Publishing is far faster, easier and more accessible today than at any point in human history. Will the archive include friend/follower connection data? Will it be usable for commercial purposes? Will there be a Web interface for searching it, and will that change the face of Twitter search for good? Is there any way that the much larger archive of Facebook data could be submitted to the same body for analysis of the same kind? These kinds of large data sets are poised to become one of the most important resources the Internet creates. As Kenneth Cukier wrote in The Economist's recent Special Report on Big Data, "Data are becoming the new raw material of business: an economic input almost on a par with capital and labour."
http://www.readwriteweb.com/archives/twitters_entire_archive_headed_to_the_library_of_c.php
A company called Audioanamix has devised a solution to a gripe dogging the World Cup matches by silencing the buzzing drone of the vuvuzela horns commonly played by fans at African soccer matches. Audionamix is providing the drone relief to French pay television broadcaster Current+, and says it will do the same for any other broadcaster who wants it over the next month or so of the tournament. Like many innovations, Audionamix Vuvuzela Remover was invented to solve a problem for its inventor. Olivier Attia, the CEO of the Paris-based Audionamix, said his crew didn’t like the way the vuvuzela overwhelmed other crowd noise — the oohs, aahs and coordinated songs that usually permeate soccer matches. Lucky for them, the company makes software for separating source audio into distinct elements to help integrate music into film scores (somewhat similarly to the Melodyne Direct Note Access ).
“We were watching the World Cup with the rest of the world, and found our enjoyment of the experience hindered by the loud drone created by the blowing of thousands of the vuvuzelas,” said Attia in a statement. “Our Audionamix engineers immediately went into to the lab and emerged 48 hours later with a solution that removes the higher frequencies created by the festive instrument.” Vuvuzela Remover can strip just about every auditory trace of the controversial plastic horns, which produce a low B-flat tone at about 230 KHz with minor variations that occasionally make one stand out from the others.
http://www.wired.com/epicenter/2010/06/world-cup-broadcasters-vuvuzela-horns/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+wired%2Findex+%28Wired%3A+Index+3+%28Top+Stories+2%29%29
During the Yankees game against the Phillies June 15, Anthony Zachariadis tooted on his vuvuzela, only to have it confiscated by security, the New York Post reported. When security came to seize the excruciatingly loud plastic horn (the sound of which has been ear-splittingly ubiquitous during World Cup matches), fans in the bleachers responded with boos, according to the Post. Zachariadis eventually agreed to leave in exchange for the horn. “I blew on it only five or six times - for big plays,” he told the Post. Regardless of his restraint, “blow horns and all other distracting noisemakers” are prohibited, according to stadium rules, listed on the team’s website. No word on whether Citi Field, which allows iPads, also has an open-door policy for vuvuzelas.) http://blogs.wsj.com/metropolis/2010/06/17/yankees-ban-vuvuzelas/
Q: I've read that Bellefontaine, Ohio has the shortest street in the world.
A: That's what folks claim about McKinley Street, only 30 feet long, named after Ohio-born President William McKinley. Although Elgin Street in Bacup, Lancs, Great Britain, runs only 17 feet, Bellefontainers point out it is not open to motorized traffic. But you can drive on McKinley Street all the way from Columbus Avenue to Garfield Avenue, and back. -- Ohio Historical Society. http://www.thecourier.com/Opinion/columns/2010/Jun/JU/ar_JU_062110.asp?d=062110,2010,Jun,21&c=c_13
A solstice is an astronomical event that happens twice each year, when the tilt of the Earth's axis is most inclined toward or away from the Sun, causing the Sun's apparent position in the sky to reach its northernmost or southernmost extreme. The name is derived from the Latin sol (sun) and sistere (to stand still), because at the solstices, the Sun stands still in declination; that is, the apparent movement of the Sun's path north or south comes to a stop before reversing direction. The term solstice can also be used in a broader sense, as the date (day) when this occurs. The solstices, together with the equinoxes, are connected with the seasons. In some cultures they are considered to start or separate the seasons, while in others they fall nearer the middle. See table of UTC date and time of solstices and equinoxes, 2004-2017 at: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Solstice
In pictures: Stonehenge Summer Solstice 2010 http://news.bbc.co.uk/local/wiltshire/hi/front_page/newsid_8750000/8750983.stm
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_embargo_against_Cuba
Twitter's Entire Archive Headed to the Library of Congress
When the Library of Congress was founded in the year 1800, publishing was very expensive and relatively few people did it. Today, thanks to blogs, YouTube, Facebook and certainly Twitter it's a new world. Publishing is far faster, easier and more accessible today than at any point in human history. Will the archive include friend/follower connection data? Will it be usable for commercial purposes? Will there be a Web interface for searching it, and will that change the face of Twitter search for good? Is there any way that the much larger archive of Facebook data could be submitted to the same body for analysis of the same kind? These kinds of large data sets are poised to become one of the most important resources the Internet creates. As Kenneth Cukier wrote in The Economist's recent Special Report on Big Data, "Data are becoming the new raw material of business: an economic input almost on a par with capital and labour."
http://www.readwriteweb.com/archives/twitters_entire_archive_headed_to_the_library_of_c.php
A company called Audioanamix has devised a solution to a gripe dogging the World Cup matches by silencing the buzzing drone of the vuvuzela horns commonly played by fans at African soccer matches. Audionamix is providing the drone relief to French pay television broadcaster Current+, and says it will do the same for any other broadcaster who wants it over the next month or so of the tournament. Like many innovations, Audionamix Vuvuzela Remover was invented to solve a problem for its inventor. Olivier Attia, the CEO of the Paris-based Audionamix, said his crew didn’t like the way the vuvuzela overwhelmed other crowd noise — the oohs, aahs and coordinated songs that usually permeate soccer matches. Lucky for them, the company makes software for separating source audio into distinct elements to help integrate music into film scores (somewhat similarly to the Melodyne Direct Note Access ).
“We were watching the World Cup with the rest of the world, and found our enjoyment of the experience hindered by the loud drone created by the blowing of thousands of the vuvuzelas,” said Attia in a statement. “Our Audionamix engineers immediately went into to the lab and emerged 48 hours later with a solution that removes the higher frequencies created by the festive instrument.” Vuvuzela Remover can strip just about every auditory trace of the controversial plastic horns, which produce a low B-flat tone at about 230 KHz with minor variations that occasionally make one stand out from the others.
http://www.wired.com/epicenter/2010/06/world-cup-broadcasters-vuvuzela-horns/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+wired%2Findex+%28Wired%3A+Index+3+%28Top+Stories+2%29%29
During the Yankees game against the Phillies June 15, Anthony Zachariadis tooted on his vuvuzela, only to have it confiscated by security, the New York Post reported. When security came to seize the excruciatingly loud plastic horn (the sound of which has been ear-splittingly ubiquitous during World Cup matches), fans in the bleachers responded with boos, according to the Post. Zachariadis eventually agreed to leave in exchange for the horn. “I blew on it only five or six times - for big plays,” he told the Post. Regardless of his restraint, “blow horns and all other distracting noisemakers” are prohibited, according to stadium rules, listed on the team’s website. No word on whether Citi Field, which allows iPads, also has an open-door policy for vuvuzelas.) http://blogs.wsj.com/metropolis/2010/06/17/yankees-ban-vuvuzelas/
Q: I've read that Bellefontaine, Ohio has the shortest street in the world.
A: That's what folks claim about McKinley Street, only 30 feet long, named after Ohio-born President William McKinley. Although Elgin Street in Bacup, Lancs, Great Britain, runs only 17 feet, Bellefontainers point out it is not open to motorized traffic. But you can drive on McKinley Street all the way from Columbus Avenue to Garfield Avenue, and back. -- Ohio Historical Society. http://www.thecourier.com/Opinion/columns/2010/Jun/JU/ar_JU_062110.asp?d=062110,2010,Jun,21&c=c_13
A solstice is an astronomical event that happens twice each year, when the tilt of the Earth's axis is most inclined toward or away from the Sun, causing the Sun's apparent position in the sky to reach its northernmost or southernmost extreme. The name is derived from the Latin sol (sun) and sistere (to stand still), because at the solstices, the Sun stands still in declination; that is, the apparent movement of the Sun's path north or south comes to a stop before reversing direction. The term solstice can also be used in a broader sense, as the date (day) when this occurs. The solstices, together with the equinoxes, are connected with the seasons. In some cultures they are considered to start or separate the seasons, while in others they fall nearer the middle. See table of UTC date and time of solstices and equinoxes, 2004-2017 at: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Solstice
In pictures: Stonehenge Summer Solstice 2010 http://news.bbc.co.uk/local/wiltshire/hi/front_page/newsid_8750000/8750983.stm
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