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Wild fisheries
A wild fishery is a natural body of water with a sizeable free-ranging fish or other aquatic animal (crustaceans and molluscs) population that can be harvested for its commercial value. Wild fisheries can be marine (saltwater) or lacustrine/riverine (freshwater), and rely heavily on the carrying capacity of the local aquatic ecosystem.
Wild fisheries are sometimes called capture fisheries. The aquatic life they support is not artificial controlled in any meaningful way and needs to be "captured" or fished. Wild fisheries exist primarily in the oceans, and particularly around coasts and continental shelves, but also exist in lakes and rivers. Issues with wild fisheries are overfishing and pollution. Significant wild fisheries have collapsed or are in danger of collapsing, due to overfishing and pollution. Overall, production from the world's wild fisheries has levelled out, and may be starting to decline.
As a contrast to wild fisheries, farmed fisheries can operate in sheltered coastal waters, in rivers, lakes and ponds, or in enclosed bodies of water such as pools or fish tanks. Farmed fisheries are technological in nature, and revolve around developments in aquaculture. Farmed fisheries are expanding, and Chinese aquaculture in particular is making many advances. Nevertheless, the majority of fish consumed by humans continues to be sourced from wild fisheries. As of the early 21st century, fish is humanity's only significant wild food source.
Marine and inland production[edit]
According to the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), the world harvest by commercial fisheries in 2010 consisted of 88.6 million tonnes of aquatic animals captured in wild fisheries, plus another 0.9 million tons of aquatic plants (seaweed etc.). This can be contrasted with 59.9 million tonnes produced in fish farms, plus another 19.0 million tons of aquatic plants harvested in aquaculture.[1]
Marine fisheries[edit]
The productivity of marine fisheries is largely determined by marine topography, including its interaction with ocean currents and the diminishment of sunlight with depth.
Marine topography is defined by various coastal and oceanic landforms, ranging from coastal estuaries and shorelines; to continental shelves and coral reefs; to underwater and deep sea features such as ocean rises and seamounts.
Ocean currents[edit]
An ocean current is continuous, directed movement of ocean water. Ocean currents are rivers of relatively warm or cold water within the ocean. The currents are generated from the forces acting upon the water like the planet rotation, the wind, the temperature and salinity (hence isopycnal) differences and the gravitation of the moon. The depth contours, the shoreline and other currents influence the current's direction and strength.
|More on currents
Ocean currents can flow for thousands of kilometers. Surface ocean currents are generally wind driven and develop their typical clockwise spirals in the northern hemisphere and counter-clockwise rotation in the southern hemisphere because of the imposed wind stresses. In wind driven currents, the Ekman spiral effect results in the currents flowing at an angle to the driving winds. The areas of surface ocean currents move somewhat with the seasons; this is most notable in equatorial currents.
Deep ocean currents are driven by density and temperature gradients. Thermohaline circulation, also known as the ocean's conveyor belt, refers to the deep ocean density-driven ocean basin currents. These currents, which flow under the surface of the ocean and are thus hidden from immediate detection, are called submarine rivers. Upwelling and downwelling areas in the oceans are areas where significant vertical movement of ocean water is observed.
Surface currents make up about 10% of all the water in the ocean. Surface currents are generally restricted to the upper 400 meters of the ocean. The movement of deep water in the ocean basins is by density driven forces and gravity. The density difference is a function of different temperatures and salinity. Deep waters sink into the deep ocean basins at high latitudes where the temperatures are cold enough to cause the density to increase. The main causes of currents are: solar heating, winds and gravity.
Ocean currents are also very important in the dispersal of many life forms. A dramatic example is the life-cycle of the eel. Currents also determine the disposition of marine debris.
Gyres and upwelling[edit]
Oceanic gyres are large-scale ocean currents caused by the Coriolis effect. Wind-driven surface currents interact with these gyres and the underwater topography, such as seamounts and the edge of continental shelves, to produce downwellings and upwellings.[3] These can transport nutrients and provide feeding grounds for plankton eating forage fish. This in turn draws larger fish that prey on the forage fish, and can result in productive fishing grounds. Most upwellings are coastal, and many of them support some of the most productive fisheries in the world, such as small pelagics (sardines, anchovies, etc.). Regions of upwelling include coastal Peru, Chile, Arabian Sea, western South Africa, eastern New Zealand and the California coast.
|Prominent gyres
|* The Humboldt Current. This gyre produces a cold, low-salinity ocean current that flows north-westward along the west coast of South America from the southern tip of Chile to northern Peru. This results in the most prominent upwelling system in the world, supporting an extraordinary abundance of marine life. Upwelling occurs off Peru year-round and off Chile during the spring and summer. Approximately 18-20% of the world's fish catch comes from the Humboldt Current LME. The species are mostly pelagic: sardines, anchovies and jack mackerel. The LME's high primary and secondary productivity supports other important fishery resources as well as marine mammals.
In the ocean, the food chain typically follows the course:
Phytoplankton is usually the primary producer (the first level in the food chain or the first trophic level). Phytoplankton converts inorganic carbon into protoplasm. Phytoplankton is consumed by microscopic animals called zooplankton. These are the second level in the food chain, and include krill, the larva of fish, squid, lobsters and crabs–as well as the small crustaceans called copepods, and many other types. Zooplankton is consumed both by other, larger predatory zooplankters and by fish (the third level in the food chain). Fish that eat zooplankton could constitute the fourth trophic level, while seals consuming the fish are the fifth. Alternatively, for example, whales may consume zooplankton directly - leading to an environment with one less trophic level.
|Primary biomass
Global primary production can be estimated from satellite observations. Satellites scan the normalised difference vegetation index (NDVI) over terrestrial habitats, and scan sea-surface chlorophyll levels over oceans. This results in 56.4 billion tonnes C/yr (53.8%), for terrestrial primary production, and 48.5 billion tonnes C/yr for oceanic primary production.[7] Thus, the total photoautotrophic primary production for the Earth is about 104.9 billion tonnes C/yr. This translates to about 426 gC/m²/yr for land production (excluding areas with permanent ice cover), and 140 gC/m²/yr for the oceans.
However, there is a much more significant difference in standing stocks - while accounting for almost half of total annual production, oceanic autotrophs account for only about 0.2% of the total biomass.
The most successful animal species, in terms of biomass, is probably the Antarctic krill, Euphausia superba, with a biomass of about 500 million tonnes.[6][8] However, as a group, the small aquatic crustaceans called copepods form the largest animal biomass on earth.[9]
|Biome Ecosystem Type
|Mean Net Primary Production
|World Primary Production
|Mean biomass
|World biomass
|Minimum replacement rate
|(million km²)
|(gram dryC / m² / year)
|(billion tonnes / year)
|(kg dryC / m²)
|(billion tonnes)
|Open ocean
|Upwelling zones
|Continental shelf
|Algal beds and reefs
|Estuaries & mangroves
|Total marine
|Lakes and streams
|Grand total
|Source: Whittaker, R. H.; Likens, G. E. (1975). "The Biosphere and Man". In Leith, H; Whittaker, R H (eds.). Primary Productivity of the Biosphere. Springer-Verlag. pp. 305–328. ISBN 978-0-387-07083-4.; Ecological Studies Vol 14 (Berlin)
Darci and Taylre are biomass specialists.
Aquatic habitats have been classified into marine and freshwater ecoregions by the Worldwide Fund for Nature (WWF). An ecoregion is defined as a "relatively large unit of land or water containing a characteristic set of natural communities that share a large majority of their species, dynamics, and environmental conditions (Dinerstein et al. 1995, TNC 1997).[10]
Coastal waters[edit]
Continental shelves[edit]
Continental shelves are the extended perimeters of each continent and associated coastal plain, which is covered during interglacial periods such as the current epoch by relatively shallow seas (known as shelf seas) and gulfs.
The shelf usually ends at a point of decreasing slope (called the shelf break). The sea floor below the break is the continental slope. Below the slope is the continental rise, which finally merges into the deep ocean floor, the abyssal plain. The continental shelf and the slope are part of the continental margin.
Continental shelves are shallow (averaging 140 metres or 460 feet), and the sunlight available means they can teem with life. The shallowest parts of the continental shelf are called fishing banks.[20] There the sunlight penetrates to the seafloor and the plankton, on which fish feed, thrive.
|Continental shelves: Details
|The character of the shelf changes dramatically at the shelf break, where the continental slope begins. With a few exceptions, the shelf break is located at a remarkably uniform depth of roughly 140 m (460 ft); this is likely a hallmark of past ice ages, when sea level was lower than it is now.[21]
The width of the continental shelf varies considerably – it is not uncommon for an area to have virtually no shelf at all, particularly where the forward edge of an advancing oceanic plate dives beneath continental crust in an offshore subduction zone such as off the coast of Chile or the west coast of Sumatra. The largest shelf – the Siberian Shelf in the Arctic Ocean – stretches to 1500 kilometers (930 miles) in width. The South China Sea lies over another extensive area of continental shelf, the Sunda Shelf, which joins Borneo, Sumatra, and Java to the Asian mainland. Other familiar bodies of water that overlie continental shelves are the North Sea and the Persian Gulf. The average width of continental shelves is about 80 km (50 mi). The depth of the shelf also varies, but is generally limited to water shallower than 150 m (490 ft).[22]
Combined with the sunlight available in shallow waters, the continental shelves teem with life compared to the biotic desert of the oceans' abyssal plain. The pelagic (water column) environment of the continental shelf constitutes the neritic zone, and the benthic (sea floor) province of the shelf is the sublittoral zone.[23]
Coral reefs[edit]
Coral reefs are aragonite structures produced by living organisms, found in shallow, tropical marine waters with little to no nutrients in the water. High nutrient levels such as those found in runoff from agricultural areas can harm the reef by encouraging the growth of algae.[24] Although corals are found both in temperate and tropical waters, reefs are formed only in a zone extending at most from 30°N to 30°S of the equator.
|Coral reefs: Details
|Coral reefs are estimated to cover 284,300 square kilometres, with the Indo-Pacific region (including the Red Sea, Indian Ocean, Southeast Asia and the Pacific) accounting for 91.9% of the total.[citation needed] Southeast Asia accounts for 32.3% of that figure, while the Pacific including Australia accounts for 40.8%. Atlantic and Caribbean coral reefs only account for 7.6% of the world total.[25]
Coral reefs are either restricted or absent from the west coast of the Americas, as well as the west coast of Africa. This is due primarily to upwelling and strong cold coastal currents that reduce water temperatures in these areas.[26] Corals are also restricted from off the coastline of South Asia from Pakistan to Bangladesh.[25] They are also restricted along the coast around northeastern South America and Bangladesh due to the release of vast quantities of freshwater from the Amazon and Ganges Rivers respectively.[citation needed]
Famous coral reefs and reef areas of the world include:
Coral reefs support an extraordinary biodiversity; although they are located in nutrient-poor tropical waters. The process of nutrient cycling between corals, zooxanthellae, and other reef organisms provides an explanation for why coral reefs flourish in these waters: recycling ensures that fewer nutrients are needed overall to support the community.
Coral reefs are home to a variety of tropical or reef fish, such as the colorful parrotfish, angelfish, damselfish, and butterflyfish. Other fish groups found on coral reefs include groupers, snappers, grunts and wrasses. Over 4,000 species of fish inhabit coral reefs.[25] It has been suggested that the high number of fish species that inhabit coral reefs are able to coexist in such high numbers because any free living space is rapidly inhabited by the first planktonic fish larvae that occupy it. These fish then inhabit the space for the rest of their life. The species that inhabit the free space is random and has therefore been termed 'a lottery for living space'.[27]
Reefs are also home to a large variety of other organisms, including sponges, Cnidarians (which includes some types of corals and jellyfish), worms, crustaceans (including shrimp, spiny lobsters and crabs), molluscs (including cephalopods), echinoderms (including starfish, sea urchins and sea cucumbers), sea squirts, sea turtles and sea snakes.[25][28]
Human activity may represent the greatest threat to coral reefs living in Earth's oceans. In particular, pollution and over-fishing are the most serious threats to these ecosystems. Physical destruction of reefs due to boat and shipping traffic is also a problem. The live food fish trade has been implicated as a driver of decline due to the use of cyanide and disaster for peoples living in the tropics. Hughes, et al., (2003), writes that "with increased human population and improved storage and transport systems, the scale of human impacts on reefs has grown exponentially. For example, markets for fishes and other natural resources have become global, supplying demand for reef resources far removed from their tropical sources."[30]
Currently researchers are working to determine the degree various factors impact the reef systems. The list of factors is long but includes the oceans acting as a carbon dioxide sink, changes in Earth's atmosphere, ultraviolet light, ocean acidification, biological virus, impacts of dust storms carrying agents to far flung reef systems, various pollutants, impacts of algal blooms and others. Reefs are threatened well beyond coastal areas and so the problem is broader than factors from land development and pollution though those are too causing considerable damage.
Southeast Asian coral reefs are at risk from damaging fishing practices (such as cyanide and blast fishing), overfishing, sedimentation, pollution and bleaching. A variety of activities, including education, regulation, and the establishment of marine protected areas are under way to protect these reefs. Indonesia, for example has nearly 33,000 square miles (85,000 km2) of coral reefs. Its waters are home to a third of the world's total corals and a quarter of its fish species. Indonesia's coral reefs are located in the heart of the Coral Triangle and have been victim to destructive fishing, unregulated tourism, and bleaching due to climatic changes. Data from 414 reef monitoring stations throughout Indonesia in 2000 found that only 6% of Indonesia's coral reefs are in excellent condition, while 24% are in good condition, and approximately 70% are in poor to fair condition (2003 The Johns Hopkins University).
General estimates show approximately 10% of the coral reefs around the world are already dead.[31][32] Problems range from environmental effects of fishing techniques, described above, to ocean acidification.[33] Coral bleaching is another manifestation of the problem and is showing up in reefs across the planet.
NInhabitants of Ahus Island, Manus Province, Papua New Guinea, have followed a generations-old practice of restricting fishing in six areas of their reef lagoon. While line fishing is permitted, net and spear fishing are restricted based on cultural traditions. The result is that both the biomass and individual fish sizes are significantly larger in these areas than in places where fishing is completely unrestricted.[34][35] It is estimated that about 60% of the world's reefs are at risk due to destructive, human-related activities. The threat to the health of reefs is particularly strong in Southeast Asia, where an enormous 80% of reefs are considered endangered.
Organisations as Coral Cay, Counterpart [36] and the Foundation of the peoples of the South Pacific Archived 2008-08-20 at the Wayback Machine are currently undertaking coral reef/atoll restoration projects. They are doing so using simple methods of plant propagation. Other organisations as Practical Action have released informational documents on how to set up coral reef restoration to the public.[37]
Open sea[edit]
|In the deep ocean, much of the ocean floor is a flat, featureless underwater desert called the abyssal plain. Many pelagic fish migrate across these plains in search of spawning or different feeding grounds. Smaller migratory fish are followed by larger predator fish and can provide rich, if temporary, fishing grounds.
A seamount is an underwater mountain, rising from the seafloor that does not reach to the water's surface (sea level), and thus is not an island. They are defined by oceanographers as independent features that rise to at least 1,000 meters above the seafloor. Seamounts are common in the Pacific Ocean. Recent studies suggest there may be 30,000 seamounts in the Pacific, about 1,000 in the Atlantic Ocean and an unknown number in the Indian Ocean.[38]
|Seamounts: Details
|Seamounts often project upwards into shallower zones more hospitable to sea life, providing habitats for marine species that are not found on or around the surrounding deeper ocean bottom. In addition to simply providing physical presence in this zone, the seamount itself may deflect deep currents and create upwelling. This process can bring nutrients into the photosynthetic zone, producing an area of activity in an otherwise desert-like open ocean. Seamounts may thus be vital stopping points for some migratory animals such as whales. Some recent research indicates whales may use such features as navigational aids throughout their migration.
Due to the larger populations of fish in these areas overexpoitation by the fishing industry has caused some seamount fauna populations to decrease considerably.
The primary productivity of the epipelagic waters above the submerged peak can often be enhanced by the hydrographic conditions of the seamount.[39] This increases the densities of the zooplankton and leads to the high concentrations of fish in these areas. Another theory for this is that the fish are sustained on the diurnal migration of zooplankton being interrupted by the presence of the seamount, and causing the zooplankton to stay in the area. It is also possible that the high densities of fishes has more to do with the fish life histories and interaction with the benthic fauna of the seamount.[40]
The benthic fauna of the seamounts is dominated by suspension feeders, including sponges and true corals. For some seamounts that peaks at 200–300 metres below the surface benthic macroalgae is common. The sedimentary infauna is dominated by polychaete worms.
For a long time it has been surmised that many pelagic animals visit seamounts to gather food, but proof this of this aggregating effect has been lacking. The first demonstration of this conjecture has recently been published [41]
During the 1960s, Russia, Australia and New Zealand started to look for new stocks of fish and began to trawl the seamounts. The majority of the invertebrates brought up are corals, and are mainly used for the jewelry trade. The two major fish species were the orange roughy (Hoplostethus atlanticus) and pelagic armourhead (Pseudopentaceros wheeleri), which were quickly overexploited due to lack of knowledge of the longevity of the fish, late maturity, low fecundity, small geographic range and recruitment to the fishery. As well as the fishes being overexploited the benthic communities were destroyed by the trawling gear.[42]
Maritime species[edit]
Major marine wild fisheries
Freshwater fisheries[edit]
Worldwide, freshwater lakes have an area of 1.5 million square kilometres.[43] Saline inland seas add another 1.0 million square kilometres.[44] There are 28 freshwater lakes with an area greater than 5,000 square kilometres, totalling 1.18 million square kilometres or 79 percent of the total.[45]
Pollution is the introduction of contaminants into an environment. Wild fisheries flourish in oceans, lakes, and rivers, and the introduction of contaminants is an issue of concern, especially as regards plastics, pesticides, heavy metals, and other industrial and agricultural pollutants which do not disintegrate rapidly in the environment. Land run-off and industrial, agricultural, and domestic waste enter rivers and are discharged into the sea. Pollution from ships is also a problem.
Plastic waste[edit]
Marine debris is human-created waste that ends up floating in the sea. Oceanic debris tends to accumulate at the centre of gyres and coastlines, frequently washing aground where it is known as beach litter. Eighty percent of all known marine debris is plastic - a component that has been rapidly accumulating since the end of World War II.[46] Plastics accumulate because they don't biodegrade as many other substances do; while they will photodegrade on exposure to the sun, they do so only under dry conditions, as water inhibits this process.[47]
Discarded plastic bags, six pack rings and other forms of plastic waste which finish up in the ocean present dangers to wildlife and fisheries.[48] Aquatic life can be threatened through entanglement, suffocation, and ingestion.[49][50][51]
Nurdles, also known as mermaids' tears, are plastic pellets typically under five millimetres in diameter, and are a major contributor to marine debris. They are used as a raw material in plastics manufacturing, and are thought to enter the natural environment after accidental spillages. Nurdles are also created through the physical weathering of larger plastic debris. They strongly resemble fish eggs, only instead of finding a nutritious meal, any marine wildlife that ingests them will likely starve, be poisoned and die.[52]
Many animals that live on or in the sea consume flotsam by mistake, as it often looks similar to their natural prey.[53] Plastic debris, when bulky or tangled, is difficult to pass, and may become permanently lodged in the digestive tracts of these animals, blocking the passage of food and causing death through starvation or infection.[54] Tiny floating particles also resemble zooplankton, which can lead filter feeders to consume them and cause them to enter the ocean food chain. In samples taken from the North Pacific Gyre in 1999 by the Algalita Marine Research Foundation, the mass of plastic exceeded that of zooplankton by a factor of six.[46][55] More recently, reports have surfaced that there may now be 30 times more plastic than plankton, the most abundant form of life in the ocean.[56]
Toxic additives used in the manufacture of plastic materials can leach out into their surroundings when exposed to water. Waterborne hydrophobic pollutants collect and magnify on the surface of plastic debris,[57] thus making plastic far more deadly in the ocean than it would be on land.[46] Hydrophobic contaminants are also known to bioaccumulate in fatty tissues, biomagnifying up the food chain and putting great pressure on apex predators. Some plastic additives are known to disrupt the endocrine system when consumed, others can suppress the immune system or decrease reproductive rates.[55]
Apart from plastics, there are particular problems with other toxins which do not disintegrate rapidly in the marine environment. Heavy metals are metallic chemical elements that have a relatively high density and are toxic or poisonous at low concentrations. Examples are mercury, lead, nickel, arsenic and cadmium. Other persistent toxins are PCBs, DDT, pesticides, furans, dioxins and phenols.
Such toxins can accumulate in the tissues of many species of aquatic life in a process called bioaccumulation. They are also known to accumulate in benthic environments, such as estuaries and bay muds: a geological record of human activities of the last century.
Some specific examples are
- Chinese and Russian industrial pollution such as phenols and heavy metals in the Amur River have devastated fish stocks and damaged its estuary soil.[58]
- Wabamun Lake in Alberta, Canada, once the best whitefish lake in the area, now has unacceptable levels of heavy metals in its sediment and fish.
- Acute and chronic pollution events have been shown to impact southern California kelp forests, though the intensity of the impact seems to depend on both the nature of the contaminants and duration of exposure.[59][60][61][62][63]
- Due to their high position in the food chain and the subsequent accumulation of heavy metals from their diet, mercury levels can be high in larger species such as bluefin and albacore. As a result, in March 2004 the United States FDA issued guidelines recommending that pregnant women, nursing mothers and children limit their intake of tuna and other types of predatory fish.[64]
- Some shellfish and crabs can survive polluted environments, accumulating heavy metals or toxins in their tissues. For example, mitten crabs have a remarkable ability to survive in highly modified aquatic habitats, including polluted waters.[65] The farming and harvesting of such species needs careful management if they are to be used as a food.[66][67]
- Mining has a poor environmental track record. For example, according to the United States Environmental Protection Agency, mining has contaminated portions of the headwaters of over 40% of watersheds in the western continental US.[68] Much of this pollution finishes up in the sea.
- Heavy metals enter the environment through oil spills - such as the Prestige oil spill on the Galician coast - or from other natural or anthropogenic sources.[69]
Eutrophication is an increase in chemical nutrients, typically compounds containing nitrogen or phosphorus, in an ecosystem. It can result in an increase in the ecosystem's primary productivity (excessive plant growth and decay), and further effects including lack of oxygen and severe reductions in water quality, fish, and other animal populations.
The biggest culprit are rivers that empty into the ocean, and with it the many chemicals used as fertilizers in agriculture as well as waste from livestock and humans. An excess of oxygen depleting chemicals in the water can lead to hypoxia and the creation of a dead zone.[70]
Surveys have shown that 54% of lakes in Asia are eutrophic; in Europe, 53%; in North America, 48%; in South America, 41%; and in Africa, 28%.[71] Estuaries also tend to be naturally eutrophic because land-derived nutrients are concentrated where run-off enters the marine environment in a confined channel. The World Resources Institute has identified 375 hypoxic coastal zones around the world, concentrated in coastal areas in Western Europe, the Eastern and Southern coasts of the US, and East Asia, particularly in Japan.[72] In the ocean, there are frequent red tide algae blooms[73] that kill fish and marine mammals and cause respiratory problems in humans and some domestic animals when the blooms reach close to shore.
In addition to land runoff, atmospheric anthropogenic fixed nitrogen can enter the open ocean. A study in 2008 found that this could account for around one third of the ocean's external (non-recycled) nitrogen supply and up to three per cent of the annual new marine biological production.[74] It has been suggested that accumulating reactive nitrogen in the environment may have consequences as serious as putting carbon dioxide in the atmosphere.[75]
The oceans are normally a natural carbon sink, absorbing carbon dioxide from the atmosphere. Because the levels of atmospheric carbon dioxide are increasing, the oceans are becoming more acidic.[76][77] The potential consequences of ocean acidification are not fully understood, but there are concerns that structures made of calcium carbonate may become vulnerable to dissolution, affecting corals and the ability of shellfish to form shells.[78]
A report from NOAA scientists published in the journal Science in May 2008 found that large amounts of relatively acidified water are upwelling to within four miles of the Pacific continental shelf area of North America. This area is a critical zone where most local marine life lives or is born. While the paper dealt only with areas from Vancouver to northern California, other continental shelf areas may be experiencing similar effects.[79]
Effects of fishing[edit]
Habitat destruction[edit]
Fishing nets that have been left or lost in the ocean by fishermen are called ghost nets, and can entangle fish, dolphins, sea turtles, sharks, dugongs, crocodiles, seabirds, crabs, and other creatures. Acting as designed, these nets restrict movement, causing starvation, laceration and infection, and—in those that need to return to the surface to breathe—suffocation.[80]
Some specific examples of overfishing.
- On the east coast of the United States, the availability of bay scallops has been greatly diminished by the overfishing of sharks in the area. A variety of sharks have, until recently, fed on rays, which are a main predator of bay scallops. With the shark population reduced, in some places almost totally, the rays have been free to dine on scallops to the point of greatly decreasing their numbers.[citation needed]
- Chesapeake Bay's once-flourishing oyster populations historically filtered the estuary's entire water volume of excess nutrients every three or four days. Today that process takes almost a year,[81] and sediment, nutrients, and algae can cause problems in local waters. Oysters filter these pollutants, and either eat them or shape them into small packets that are deposited on the bottom where they are harmless.
- The Australian government alleged in 2006 that Japan illegally overfished southern bluefin tuna by taking 12,000 to 20,000 tonnes per year instead of their agreed 6,000 tonnes; the value of such overfishing would be as much as US$2 billion. Such overfishing has resulted in severe damage to stocks. "Japan's huge appetite for tuna will take the most sought-after stocks to the brink of commercial extinction unless fisheries agree on more rigid quotas" stated the WWF.[82][83] Japan disputes this figure, but acknowledges that some overfishing has occurred in the past.[84]
- Jackson, Jeremy B C et al. (2001) Historical overfishing and the recent collapse of coastal ecosystems Science 293:629-638.
Loss of biodiversity[edit]
Each species in an ecosystem is affected by the other species in that ecosystem. There are very few single prey-single predator relationships. Most prey are consumed by more than one predator, and most predators have more than one prey. Their relationships are also influenced by other environmental factors. In most cases, if one species is removed from an ecosystem, other species will most likely be affected, up to the point of extinction.
Species biodiversity is a major contributor to the stability of ecosystems. When an organism exploits a wide range of resources, a decrease in biodiversity is less likely to have an impact. However, for an organism which exploit only limited resources, a decrease in biodiversity is more likely to have a strong effect.
Reduction of habitat, hunting and fishing of some species to extinction or near extinction, and pollution tend to tip the balance of biodiversity. For a systematic treatment of biodiversity within a trophic level, see unified neutral theory of biodiversity.
Threatened species[edit]
The global standard for recording threatened marine species is the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species.[85] This list is the foundation for marine conservation priorities worldwide. A species is listed in the threatened category if it is considered to be critically endangered, endangered, or vulnerable. Other categories are near threatened and data deficient.
Many marine species are under increasing risk of extinction and marine biodiversity is undergoing potentially irreversible loss due to threats such as overfishing, bycatch, climate change, invasive species and coastal development.
By 2008, the IUCN had assessed about 3,000 marine species. This includes assessments of known species of shark, ray, chimaera, reef-building coral, grouper, marine turtle, seabird, and marine mammal. Almost one-quarter (22%) of these groups have been listed as threatened.[86]
|Near threatened
|Data deficient
|Sharks, rays, and chimaeras
|Reef-building corals
|Marine mammals
|Marine turtles
- Sharks, rays, and chimaeras: are deep water pelagic species, which makes them difficult to study in the wild. Not a lot is known about their ecology and population status. Much of what is currently known is from their capture in nets from both targeted and accidental catch. Many of these slow growing species are not recovering from overfishing by shark fisheries around the world.
- Groupers: Major threats are overfishing, particularly the uncontrolled fishing of small juveniles and spawning adults.
- Coral reefs: The primary threats to corals are bleaching and disease which has been linked to an increase in sea temperatures. Other threats include coastal development, coral extraction, sedimentation and pollution. The coral triangle (Indo-Malay-Philippine archipelago) region has the highest number of reef-building coral species in threatened category as well as the highest coral species diversity. The loss of coral reef ecosystems will have devastating effects on many marine species, as well as on people that depend on reef resources for their livelihoods.
- Marine mammals: include whales, dolphins, porpoises, seals, sea lions, walruses, sea otter, marine otter, manatees, dugong and the polar bear. Major threats include entanglement in ghost nets, targeted harvesting, noise pollution from military and seismic sonar, and boat strikes. Other threats are water pollution, habitat loss from coastal development, loss of food sources due to the collapse of fisheries, and climate change.
- Seabirds: Major threats include longline fisheries and gillnets, oil spills, and predation by rodents and cats in their breeding grounds. Other threats are habitat loss and degradation from coastal development, logging and pollution.
- Marine turtles: Marine turtles lay their eggs on beaches, and are subject to threats such as coastal development, sand mining, and predators, including humans who collect their eggs for food in many parts of the world. At sea, marine turtles can be targeted by small scale subsistence fisheries, or become bycatch during longline and trawling activities, or become entangled in ghost nets or struck by boats.
An ambitious project, called the Global Marine Species Assessment, is under way to make IUCN Red List assessments for another 17,000 marine species by 2012. Groups targeted include the approximately 15,000 known marine fishes, and important habitat-forming primary producers such mangroves, seagrasses, certain seaweeds and the remaining corals; and important invertebrate groups including molluscs and echinoderms.[86]
Freshwater fisheries have a disproportionately high diversity of species compared to other ecosystems. Although freshwater habitats cover less than 1% of the world's surface, they provide a home for over 25% of known vertebrates, more than 126,000 known animal species, about 24,800 species of freshwater fish, molluscs, crabs and dragonflies, and about 2,600 macrophytes.[86] Continuing industrial and agricultural developments place huge strain on these freshwater systems. Waters are polluted or extracted at high levels, wetlands are drained, rivers channelled, forests deforestated leading to sedimentation, invasive species are introduced, and over-harvesting occurs.
In the 2008 IUCN Red List, about 6,000 or 22% of the known freshwater species have been assessed at a global scale, leaving about 21,000 species still to be assessed. This makes clear that, worldwide, freshwater species are highly threatened, possibly more so than species in marine fisheries.[87] However, a significant proportion of freshwater species are listed as data deficient, and more field surveys are needed.[86]
Fisheries management[edit]
A recent paper published by the National Academy of Sciences of the USA warns that: "Synergistic effects of habitat destruction, overfishing, introduced species, warming, acidification, toxins, and massive runoff of nutrients are transforming once complex ecosystems like coral reefs and kelp forests into monotonous level bottoms, transforming clear and productive coastal seas into anoxic dead zones, and transforming complex food webs topped by big animals into simplified, microbially dominated ecosystems with boom and bust cycles of toxic dinoflagellate blooms, jellyfish, and disease".[88]
See also[edit]
- Fishing by country
- List of harvested aquatic animals by weight
- Ocean fisheries
- Population dynamics of fisheries
- World fish production
- ^ a b c d Based on data sourced from the FishStat database
- ^ Vespe, Michele; Gibin, Maurizio; Alessandrini, Alfredo; Natale, Fabrizio; Mazzarella, Fabio; Osio, Giacomo C. (30 June 2016). "Mapping EU fishing activities using ship tracking data". Journal of Maps. 12: 520–525. arXiv:1603.03826. doi:10.1080/17445647.2016.1195299. S2CID 7561749.
- ^ Wind Driven Surface Currents: Upwelling and Downwelling
- ^ Carina Stanton. Warmer oceans may be killing West Coast marine life. Seattle Times. 13 July 2005. Retrieved 22 March 2008.
- ^ Animation based on CASA-VGPM and SeaWiFS data in Behrenfeld et al. 2001, Science 291:2594-2597.
- ^ a b Nicol, S.; Endo, Y. (1997). Fisheries Technical Paper 367: Krill Fisheries of the World. FAO. Archived from the original on 2006-05-14. Retrieved 2022-03-07.
- ^ Field, C.B.; Behrenfeld, M.J.; Randerson, J.T.; Falkowski, P. (1998). "Primary production of the Biosphere: Integrating Terrestrial and Oceanic Components". Science. 281 (5374): 237–240. Bibcode:1998Sci...281..237F. doi:10.1126/science.281.5374.237. PMID 9657713.
- ^ Ross, R. M. and Quetin, L. B. (1988). Euphausia superba: a critical review of annual production. Comp. Biochem. Physiol. 90B, 499-505.
- ^ Biology of Copepods Archived 2009-01-01 at the Wayback Machine at Carl von Ossietzky University of Oldenburg
- ^ List of the Global 200[dead link]
- ^ Pritchard, D. W. (1967) What is an estuary: physical viewpoint. p. 3–5 in: G. H. Lauf (ed.) Estuaries, A.A.A.S. Publ. No. 83, Washington, D.C.
- ^ G.Branch, Estuarine vulnerability and ecological impacts, TREE vol. 14, no. 12 Dec. 1999
- ^ Mangroves and estuaries
- ^ Littoral (2008). Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary. Retrieved 13 August 2008
- ^ Encyclopædia Britannica (2008) Littoral zone
- ^ US Office of Naval Research. Ocean Regions: Littoral Zone - Characteristics Archived 2008-09-17 at the Wayback Machine
- ^ Neritic zone Webster's New Millennium Dictionary of English, Preview Edition (v 0.9.7). Lexico Publishing Group, LLC. Accessed: 12 August 2008.
- ^ Littoral (2008). Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary. Retrieved 13 August 2008
- ^ "Office of Naval Research". Archived from the original on 2007-12-13. Retrieved 2008-08-12.
- ^ Fishing bank (2008) In Encyclopædia Britannica. Retrieved July 26, 2008, from Encyclopædia Britannica Online
- ^ Gross 43.
- ^ Pinet, 37.
- ^ Pinet 316-17, 418-19.
- ^ "Corals reveal impact of land use". ARC Centre of Excellence for Coral Reef Studies. Archived from the original on 2007-08-01. Retrieved 2007-07-12.
- ^ a b c d Spalding, Mark, Corinna Ravilious, and Edmund Green. 2001. World Atlas of Coral Reefs. Berkeley, CA: University of California Press and UNEP/WCMC.
- ^ Nybakken, James. 1997. Marine Biology: An Ecological Approach. 4th ed. Menlo Park, CA: Addison Wesley.
- ^ Coexistence of coral reef fishes—a lottery for living space PF Sale 1978 - Environmental Biology of Fishes, 1978
- ^ Castro, Peter and Michael Huber. 2000. Marine Biology. 3rd ed. Boston: McGraw-Hill.
- ^ Ryan Holl (17 April 2003). "Bioerosion: an essential, and often overlooked, aspect of reef ecology". Iowa State University. Archived from the original on 22 October 2006. Retrieved 2006-11-02.
- ^ Hughes, et al. 2003. Climate Change, Human Impacts, and the Resilience of Coral Reefs. Science. Vol 301 15 August 2003
- ^ Save Our Seas, 1997 Summer Newsletter, Dr. Cindy Hunter and Dr. Alan Friedlander
- ^ Tun, K., L.M. Chou, A. Cabanban, V.S. Tuan, Philreefs, T. Yeemin, Suharsono, K.Sour, and D. Lane, 2004, p:235-276 in C. Wilkinson (ed.), Status of Coral Reefs of the world: 2004.
- ^ Kleypas, J.A., R.A. Feely, V.J. Fabry, C. Langdon, C.L. Sabine, and L.L. Robbins, 2006, Impacts of Ocean Acidification on Coral Reefs and Other Marine Calcifiers: A guide for Future Research, NSF, NOAA, & USGS, 88 pp.
- ^ Cinner, J. et al. (2005). Conservation and community benefits from traditional coral reef management at Ahus Island, Papua New Guinea. Conservation Biology 19 (6), 1714–1723
- ^ "Coral Reef Management, Papua New Guinea". Nasa's Earth Observatory. Archived from the original on 2006-10-01. Retrieved 2006-11-02.
- ^ 'The Coral Gardener'-documentary on coral gardening by Counterpart
- ^ "Practical Action coral reef restoration" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2009-03-27. Retrieved 2008-05-07.
- ^ Morato, Telmo. Seamounts – hotspots of marine life. Archived 2010-04-13 at the Wayback Machine ICES. Retrieved 19 June 2008.
- ^ Boehlert, G. W. and Genin, A. 1987. A review of the effects of seamounts on biological processes. 319-334. Seamount, islands and atolls. Geophysical Monograph 43, edited by B. H. Keating, P. Fryer, R. Batiza, and G. W. Boehlert.
- ^ Rogers, A. D. (1994). "The biology of seamounts". Advances in Marine Biology Volume 30. Advances in Marine Biology. Vol. 30. pp. 305–350. doi:10.1016/S0065-2881(08)60065-6. ISBN 978-0-12-026130-7.
- ^ Morato, T., Varkey, D.A., Damaso, C., Machete, M., Santos, M., Prieto, R., Santos, R.S. and Pitcher, T.J. (2008) Evidence of a seamount effect on aggregating visitors. Marine Ecology Progress Series 357: 23-32.
- ^ Black, Richard (2004) Deep-sea trawling's great harm BBC.
- ^ Shiklomanov, I A, (1993) World fresh water resources in Glick, P H, ed., Water in Crisis: Oxford University Press, p 13-24.
- ^ O'Sullivan, Patrick; Reynolds, C. S. (2004-01-26). The Lakes Handbook: Limnology and Limnetic Ecology. Wiley. ISBN 978-0-632-04797-0.
- ^ U.S. Geological Survey Fact Sheet FS-058-99
- ^ a b c Alan Weisman (2007). The World Without Us. St. Martin's Thomas Dunne Books. ISBN 978-0-312-34729-1.
- ^ Alan Weisman (Summer 2007). "Polymers Are Forever". Orion magazine. Archived from the original on 2014-11-02. Retrieved 2008-07-01.
- ^ Algalita.org Archived 2012-07-20 at archive.today
- ^ UNEP.org
- ^ "Six pack rings hazard to wildlife". Archived from the original on 2016-10-13. Retrieved 2008-08-01.
- ^ Louisiana Fisheries - Fact Sheets
- ^ "Plastics 'poisoning world's seas'". BBC News. 7 December 2006. Retrieved 2008-04-01.
- ^ Kenneth R. Weiss (2 August 2006). "Plague of Plastic Chokes the Seas". Los Angeles Times. Archived from the original on 2008-03-25. Retrieved 2008-04-01.
- ^ Charles Moore (November 2003). "Across the Pacific Ocean, plastics, plastics, everywhere". Natural History. Archived from the original on September 27, 2007. Retrieved 2008-04-05.
- ^ a b "Plastics and Marine Debris". Algalita Marine Research Foundation. 2006. Retrieved 2008-07-01.
- ^ "Learn". NoNurdles.com. Archived from the original on 2012-02-27. Retrieved 2008-04-05.
- ^ "Plastic Debris: from Rivers to Sea" (PDF). Algalita Marine Research Foundation. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2008-08-19. Retrieved 2008-05-29.
- ^ "Indigenous Peoples of the Russian North, Siberia and Far East: Nivkh" by Arctic Network for the Support of the Indigenous Peoples of the Russian Arctic]
- ^ Grigg, R.W. and R.S. Kiwala. 1970. Some ecological effects of discharged wastes on marine life. California Department of Fish and Game 56: 145-155.
- ^ Stull, J.K. 1989. Contaminants in sediments near a major marine outfall: history, effects and future. OCEANS '89 Proceedings 2: 481-484.
- ^ North, W.J., D.E. James and L.G. Jones. 1993. History of kelp beds (Macrocystis) in Orange and San Diego Counties, California. Hydrobiologia 260/261: 277-283.
- ^ Tegner, M.J., P.K. Dayton, P.B. Edwards, K.L. Riser, D.B. Chadwick, T.A. Dean and L. Deysher. 1995. Effects of a large sewage spill on a kelp forest community: catastrophe or disturbance? Marine Environmental Research 40: 181-224.
- ^ Carpenter S, Caraco R, Cornell D, Howarth R, Sharpley A, Smith V (1998). "Nonpoint pollution of surface waters with phosphorus and nitrogen" (PDF). Ecological Applications. 8 (3): 559–568. doi:10.1890/1051-0761(1998)008[0559:NPOSWW]2.0.CO;2. hdl:1808/16724. ISSN 1051-0761.
- ^ "What You Need to Know About Mercury in Fish and Shellfish". Food and Drug Administration. March 2004. Retrieved 2007-05-19.
- ^ Stephen Gollasch (2006-03-03). "Ecology of Eriocheir sinensis".
- ^ Hui CA, et al. (2005). "Mercury burdens in Chinese mitten crabs (Eriocheir sinensis) in three tributaries of southern San Francisco Bay, California, USA". Environmental Pollution. 133 (3): 481–487. doi:10.1016/j.envpol.2004.06.019. PMID 15519723.
- ^ Silvestre, F. (2004). "Uptake of cadmium through isolated perfused gills of the Chinese mitten crab, Eriocheir sinensis". Comparative Biochemistry and Physiology A. 137 (1): 189–196. doi:10.1016/S1095-6433(03)00290-3. PMID 14720604.
- ^ Environmental Protection Agency. "Liquid Assets 2000: Americans Pay for Dirty Water". Retrieved 2007-01-23.
- ^ Perez-Lopez et al. (2006)
- ^ Gerlach: Marine Pollution, Springer, Berlin (1975)
- ^ ILEC/Lake Biwa Research Institute [Eds]. 1988–1993 Survey of the State of the World's Lakes. Volumes I-IV. International Lake Environment Committee, Otsu and United Nations Environment Programme, Nairobi.
- ^ Selman, Mindy (2007) Eutrophication: An Overview of Status, Trends, Policies, and Strategies. World Resources Institute.
- ^ "The Gulf of Mexico Dead Zone and Red Tides". Retrieved 2006-12-27.
- ^ Duce, R A and 29 others (2008) Impacts of Atmospheric Anthropogenic Nitrogen on the Open Ocean Science. Vol 320, pp 893–89
- ^ Addressing the nitrogen cascade Eureka Alert, 2008.
- ^ Orr, James C.; Fabry, Victoria J.; Aumont, Olivier; Bopp, Laurent; Doney, Scott C.; et al. (2005). "Anthropogenic ocean acidification over the twenty-first century and its impact on calcifying organisms" (PDF). Nature. 437 (7059): 681–686. Bibcode:2005Natur.437..681O. doi:10.1038/nature04095. PMID 16193043. S2CID 4306199. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2008-06-25.
- ^ Key, R.M.; Kozyr, A.; Sabine, C.L.; Lee, K.; Wanninkhof, R.; Bullister, J.; Feely, R.A.; Millero, F.; Mordy, C.; Peng, T. H. (2004). "A global ocean carbon climatology: Results from GLODAP". Global Biogeochemical Cycles. 18 (4): GB4031. Bibcode:2004GBioC..18.4031K. doi:10.1029/2004GB002247.
- ^ Raven, John. A.; et al. (June 2005), Ocean acidification due to increasing atmospheric carbon dioxide, London: The Royal Society, archived from the original on 8 November 2005, retrieved 14 April 2017
- ^ Feely, Richard; Sabine, Christopher L.; Hernandez-Ayon, J. Martin; Ianson, Debby; Hales, Burke (2008). "Evidence for Upwelling of Corrosive "Acidified" Seawater onto the Continental Shelf". Science. 320 (5882): 1490–2. Bibcode:2008Sci...320.1490F. CiteSeerX 10.1.1.328.3181. doi:10.1126/science.1155676. PMID 18497259. S2CID 35487689.
- ^ "'Ghost fishing' killing seabirds". BBC News. 28 June 2007. Retrieved 2008-04-01.
- ^ "Oyster Reefs: Ecological importance". US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. Archived from the original on 2008-10-03. Retrieved 2008-01-16.
- ^ Japan warned tuna stocks face extinction Justin McCurry, guardian.co.uk, Monday January 22, 2007. Retrieved 2008-04-02.
- ^ TheAge.com.au
- ^ IHT.com
- ^ The 2008 IUCN Red List of Threatened Species Archived 2009-07-06 at the Wayback Machine
- ^ a b c d IUCN: Status of the world's marine species
- ^ IUCN: Freshwater biodiversity a hidden resource under threat
- ^ Jackson, Jeremy B C (2008) Ecological extinction and evolution in the brave new ocean Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the USA.
- World Ocean Atlas (2005) World ocean database. Retrieved 19 April 2008.
- The Columbia Electronic Encyclopedia (2007) The World Ocean. Retrieved 19 April 2008.
- Jacques, Peter (2006) Globalization and the world ocean Rowman Altamira. ISBN 0-7591-0585-5
- Pauly, Daniel; Watson, Reg and Alder, Jackie (2005) Global trends in world fisheries: impacts on marine ecosystems and food security Philosophical transactions of the Royal Society, Volume 360, Number 1453.
- De Young, Cassandra (2007) Review of the state of world marine capture fisheries management FAO, Fisheries Technical Paper 488, Rome. ISBN 978-92-5-105875-6.
External links[edit]
- International Nitrogen Initiative: Web site
- Population Distribution within 100 km of Coastlines (2000) World Resources Institute.
- NOAA: Carbon cycle science


text:
In this second edition, world-renowned Pilates expert Rael Isacowitz shows you the same repertoire that he has used to train multiple Olympians as well as an elite group of professional instructors who work with celebrities and athletes around the world.
Starting with the foundation for all the exercises, Pilates presents an in-depth treatment of mat work, including photos, imagery cues, and detailed instruction on breathing to help you perform the movements correctly. The mat work in this edition is organized according to a mat-specific version of the comprehensive BASI Block System used for the apparatus work. This arrangement enhances understanding of the expansive repertoire and provides the tools for creating personalized mat routines. A unique set of challenging exercise sequences is offered to facilitate performing the movements in one continuous, flowing motion.
After the mat work, where most books stop entirely, Pilates goes on to apply the same depth of instruction and photos to the full range of Pilates apparatus:
- Reformer
- Cadillac
- Wunda chair
- Step and ladder barrels
- Ped-a-pul
- Arm chair
- Magic circle
The complete repertoire includes a purposeful grouping of exercises into blocks that work all regions of the body and progress from the fundamental level through the intermediate and advanced levels to challenge you at all stages of Pilates development.
With more than 200 exercises and more than 50 variations, Pilates is the most comprehensive guide available on the method. As a contemporary approach to the work of Joseph Pilates, this is the one book you need in order to improve your balance, concentration, coordination, posture, muscle tone, core strength, and flexibility—in short, your well-being.
Learn more about the book by viewing the trailer.
"The two Pilates books I refer to most often are Joseph Pilates' Return to Life Through Contrology and Rael Isacowitz's Pilates. They are must-have reference works for Pilates teachers, students, and clients. I have known Rael for many years. In this book you will meet Rael the man and teacher, multitalented and knowledgeable. He presents his approach to Pilates with simplicity and love, and he inspires you to do your best. Bravo, Rael!"
Lolita San Miguel, PMA, CPT
First-Generation Pilates Teacher, certified by Joseph Pilates and Carola Trier
"Rael Isacowitz is one of the great Pilates masters of our time. I recommend this book to anyone looking for detailed insight into Pilates theory and practice. It is an extraordinary resource for all dedicated Pilates practitioners.
Marguerite Ogle, MS
Pilates Educator, Writer, Lifestyle Coach
"Whether you're new to Pilates or a seasoned practitioner, you will read this book—cover to cover—over and over again."
Amanda Altman, Managing Editor,Pilates Style magazine
"Rael draws from his vast experience to provide a clear, comprehensive, creative, and inspiring presentation of Pilates repertoire for the mat and apparatus."
Karen Clippinger, MSPE
Professor, California State University at Long Beach; Faculty member, BASI Pilates

subset: commoncrawl


text:
Run Like A Mother 2013
Welcome to the Run Like a Mother 2013 photo gallery. These pictures were taken at the intersection of Wakefield Plantation and Towngate...approximately 1/3 mile before the turnaround. You can browse the photos by clicking on an image and then use the arrow keys to view the next or previous image. All photos are available for free downloads. Just use the Download Image button. If you have any questions or comments email me at email@example.com . Thanks! RandyRead More


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text:
State Briefs 11/30/09
Corrections officer accused of drunken driving
PEORIA – A Peoria County corrections officer was cited for drunken driving early Saturday morning after he crashed his personal vehicle.
Wayne Eubank, Jr., 26, was headed west on Farmington Road about 5:30 a.m. when he ran off the road and flipped his vehicle near a set of railroad tracks, said Illinois State Police Capt. Dean Kennedy.
Peoria County sheriff's deputies responded to the crash and turned the incident over to Illinois State Police because he is a county employee, Kennedy said. He added that Eubank was visibly intoxicated and also in need of medical care. He was transported to an area hospital, where he was treated and released.
Eubank was cited for driving under the influence of alcohol and given a notice to appear, pending a court date, Kennedy said.
Peoria Journal Star
Fire department adopts puppy that survived fire
JACKSONVILLE — When a fire swept through a Jacksonville woman's home early this month, she and her four children lost everything but their puppy.
But the black Labrador mix puppy almost didn't make it, according to Jacksonville Fire Capt. Mike Griffitts. The aptly named Smokey has since recovered and captured the hearts of the fire department, which is taking care of the dog.
When firefighters arrived at the apartment on Nov. 6, heavy black smoke was coming from the windows. Everyone was out of the house, except for the puppy trapped inside.
The fire captain opened the door, rushed in and found the dog limp and not breathing in the back of the apartment. He pulled the dog out of the apartment and brought it outside, where two firefighters started administering CPR with animal oxygen masks.
After the fire, the woman didn't have the means to pay for the dog's medical expenses, according to Jacksonville Fire Lt. Todd Warrick. Smokey's condition worsened, and the owner feared it might die.
Firefighters are now paying for the animal's expenses, and a local veterinarian, William Hudson, whose son, Scott, is a Jacksonville firefighter, has offered free medical service for the dog, according to authorities.
State Journal-Register
Boy attempts to rob woman at gunpoint
PEORIA – A boy believed to be about 10 years old allegedly attempted to rob at gunpoint a woman standing at a bus stop with her three small children Friday night.
The woman had just walked across the street from a Kroger store with her children, ages 1, 3, and 5, and was standing at a bus stop when she was approached by three boys, according to a police report.
One of the youths, who looked to be about 10 years old, demanded money from her, but she told him she didn't have any money. The boy lifted his black T-shirt and revealed a handgun tucked into the waistband of his pants, she told police.
She said she reached into her pocket for a cell phone and began walking away from the bus stop with her children. She then called police. Police searched but didn't find the boys in the surrounding area.
Peoria Journal Star
Supermarket loses liquor license after being caught illegally selling Viagra
PEORIA – A South Peoria supermarket will no longer be able to sell liquor after its owner was caught illegally selling Viagra, the city's deputy liquor commissioner said Monday.
At-large City Councilman Eric Turner said Shop Rite Supermarket, 1823 W. Lincoln Ave., had its package liquor license revoked on Wednesday. The store officially has until Tuesday to cease all liquor sales, he added.
"There had been complaints about them selling it," Turner said. "(The police) got a search warrant and found the pills in there."
Shop Rite's owner, Vasant K. Patel, 39, of Peoria, was arrested during the Nov. 5 search after police found loose Viagra pills inside plastic baggies stuffed inside boxes, police spokesman Doug Burgess said. He was booked into the Peoria County Jail and was released Nov. 9 on $10,000 bond.
Patel was indicted by a Peoria County grand jury on Nov. 17 on a charge of unlawful possession with intent to deliver, a felony punishable by up to five years in prison. His next court date is scheduled for 9:15 a.m. on Thursday.
Peoria Journal Star


text:
Custom 2003 Ford Ranger Edge - Stickin' It To Da Man
Customized in the Face of Adversity
Jordan Ray from Denton, Texas, is one mini-trucker who stands up - or shall we say, lays out? - for his right to drag. After cutting his teeth building a prerunner Ford Ranger with bulged fenders and long-travel suspension, he moved on to lower ground. Sticking with the same platform, but upgrading to an '03 Ford Ranger Edge, Jordan started cutting, grinding, and welding his way closer to Mother Earth.
With the help of the crew at Crash Works in Krum, Texas, the stock Edge suspension was reengineered to hold Firestone 'bags. Up front, the guys took a set of FBI hardbody 'bag mounts and modified them to fit the Ranger's setup. The front frame horns were then Z'd 3 inches to set the front crossmember even with the frame. New motor mounts were fabricated to keep the oil pan from touching the ground and avoiding an Exxon incident. Out back, the leaves were ditched and Jordan made his own two-link rear suspension. With the suspension in up-and-down working order, Jordan took his Edge out for a night on the town.
What happened next comes right out of the Murphy's Law handbook. Cruisin' down the strip, Jordan was ready for the maiden drag session, and with a tap of the switch, the rearend dumped down and started throwing sparks. What Jordan didn't know was that some of those sparks were coming off of his fuel tank. You guessed it - he dragged a hole right through it. Moving over to the side of the road, he went to check out why the fuel gauge was headed toward the big orange E. Well, the situation was confirmed with the smell of gas fumes flowing into the cab. Yet this is not the worst of the story. Just as he got on the shoulder, a five-o pulled up behind the truck, lit him up, and proceeded to write Jordan up for destruction of property. How's that for adding insult to injury?
Even after all that, Jordan wasn't turned away from the scene. Instead of throwing in the towel, Jordan took things to the next level by adding a set of bigger wheels and a flashy paintjob to draw more attention to the truck and himself - what a way to stick it to the man. Back at Crash Works, the fuel tank was repaired, then raised up to prevent further damage. The new 17x8-inch Eagle Alloy wheels were rolled into some Kumho rubber and bolted up. Then the guys started smoothing over the Edge. The door handles, fender flares, and emblems were all ditched, and the respective holes filled. Jordan, not wanting to be left out of the bodywork, took charge of the welder and installed the FBI rear skin.
Once it was time for paint, a solid black would not do for this mini-trucker. As he was searching for some color to bring the black to life, Jordan's boss John Whaley walked in. John is an easily upset kind of guy, and when he's feeling a little on the stressed side, his face turns a deep red. Well, as we all know, sometimes that's all it takes to be inspired, and Jordan had his other color. He conveyed this decision to Crash Work's in-house paint squirter, and with a mad flurry of tape and paper, the truck ended up sporting its new tribal two-tone you see here.
The final thing on the to-do list was the inside of the cab. Jordan skinned the doors and headliner in tweed and swapped in a set of Saturn bucket seats minus the headrests. A center console was handbuilt by Brad Wellman to house the air gauges and fill the void between the seats. With all the loose ends tied up, Jordan is happy to dump his truck to the pavement and rail his Edge for miles, just to keep stickin' it to da man.
The Lowdown
Wheels/Tires Front: 18x8-inch Intro billet wheels with 225/35R18 Yokohama radial tires; rear: 19x8-inch Intro billet wheels with 235/35R19 Yokohama radial tires
Suspension 'Bagged using Firestone 2,400-pound airbags up front and Air Ride Technologies 2,600-pound Big Reds in the rear / relocated shock mounts up front / Air Ride Technologies shocks / Hills Hot Rods two-link rear suspension setup with Panhard bar / suspension modifications by Jason Hill in Lubbock, Texas
Engine/Performance 3.4L V-6 / E.L. Prototypes air intake / Optima Red Top battery / Flowmaster muffler
Body Modifications T-Rex billet grille insert / steel bedstep fillers / shaved rear steps / shaved taillights / shaved door handles / shaved hood squirters / steel tailgate skin / Hi-Tech LED taillights / custom notch cover in bed
Paint PPG and Createx Auto Air Blue, Orange, and Onyx paints / paint sprayed by Jason Hill at Hills Hot Rods
Stereo/Interior Clarion head unit / Infinity mid- and high-range speakers / Intro steering wheel / painted dash / reupholstered Toyota S-Runner seats using tan and orange Katzkin leather / custom center console / custom dash panel
Special Thanks Jimmy Davis at Stan's Car Audio in Lubbock, Texas / Jason Hill at Hills Hot Rods / Createx Auto Air / Don Knowles / Randall Tharp / Nathan Hunter / "Rapid" Roy / Jason Lackey / Mark's dad
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text:
Researchers at the Pasteur Institute of Cambodia and local physicians will form a new research team to gather epidemiological data on an airborne fungus that can lead to death in people with compromised immune systems, such as those suffering from HIV/AIDS and leukaemia.
While no data exist on Cambodia's prevalence of infections and deaths caused by Aspergillus – and the infection it causes, Aspergillosis – nearby countries see millions of cases every year. Vietnam sees some 2.4 million and Thailand some 1.2 million every year, said Dr Yannick Caron, who will lead the new team.
Caron said the participating research team is just beginning to kick off its work.
"One of the aims of the project is to provide epidemiological data like prevalence and the incidences of the disease," he said.
Researchers also want to identify the various Aspergillus species present in the Kingdom, Caron said.
Physicians at Khmer-Soviet Friendship, Preah Kossamak and Calmette hospitals will take part in the research. The hospitals didn't respond to questions about how many suspected Aspergillosis patients they treat.


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|System: PC,Xbox 360, PS3
|Dev: Visceral Games
|Pub: Electronic Arts
|Release: January 26, 2011
|Players: 1-8
|Screen Resolution: 480p-1080p
Finally, scenes in total darkness, something the original was somewhat oddly lacking in, are far more prevalent this time around, and the comparative whimper of light Isaac's flashlight casts in pitch blackness, if not a direct nod to Doom 3, has the same effect on your psyche. Without getting into spoiler territory, about a quarter into the game you're introduced to a new breed of necromorph that sound and behave like velociraptors, running back and forth behind cover to avoid your shots, tracking Isaac's position, and charging with a bloodcurdling scream only when you're not facing them or are otherwise vulnerable. These encounters, as many scenarios throughout the game, will likely leave a terror pit in your stomach and make your chest hurt, at least when played in the dark, for sometime afterward.
The more varied scenarios and better atmosphere are of course endemic to EA's typical multi-million dollar production values, and as a result Dead Space 2 unsurprisingly looks a great deal better than its already good-looking older brother. The graphic details of the necromorphs (the game opens with a close-up of a transforming victim, a process which literally leaves the tissue of the man's face visibly exposed beyond the ragged, limp skin that's left hanging around it) are especially horrifying, with even the most basic enemies presented as a disgusting mess of ripped and rotting flesh, exposed bone, and other unnatural mutations. The violence is important to maintain combat intensity, but even just the aesthetic improvements to the necromorphs' appearances go a long way in creating a nerve-racking feel.
It's safe to say that Dead Space 2 is the somewhat rare case where the sequel is better in just about every way than the original. Not everything it does works perfectly—it's kind of a shame that (minor spoiler alert) Isaac's dementia (rather than being a potentially more interesting case of full-blown PTSD) doesn't really reach the point of truly becoming its own mechanic used to, say, screw with your psyche, and traveling through vents, an opportunity Half-Life players know is ripe for exploitative scares, never really goes anywhere. But other additions of agency you may be worried about, like Isaac's improved total-freedom Zero-G navigation, don't detract from the game's solid horror feel, and thankfully Visceral doesn't get too bogged down in its own narrative mythology, either. Though you can theoretically buy as much ammo and health packs as you can afford at store kiosks, I would advice against doing so: just as this game is meant to be played in the dead of night, you should also treat it as the true horror game Visceral worked so hard to create. (The game seems to give you even less supplies from combat that the original, though, and I was frequently struggling to survive in the last third of the game.)
Survival horror may be a dead genre, or a dying one, and other than improving its personal formula (which it does very well), Dead Space 2 doesn't offer that much in the way of innovation. Chances are likely that once you start playing it though, you'll be scared enough that you won't care—or even be aware of a difference.
Steve Haske
CCC Freelance Writer
Game Features:


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My goals this year are modest. In years past, I had ambitious goals that revolved around mileage and race times. Not this time. Here are my goals for 2010:
- Enjoy running, training and racing again
- Avoid injury
- Listen to my body and rest so I don't get overtrained
- Don't race another marathon until I feel ready to do so
I'm exiting 2009 in a state of extreme rest. This was the year in which, if I ever wondered what my limits were in terms of training, I found out.
For now, between recovering from the CIM race, a head cold, work pressures, terrible weather and the holidays, I'm not worrying about running. I'll get back into it in January. I accept that I will have lost fitness and will need to have some patience with myself.
The plan over the next few months is to get back into marathon training, but incorporate a lot of shorter races. I have no spring marathon planned. As for those shorter races, I don't expect to pick up any PRs early on, but perhaps by sometime in late March or early April I can make some updates to my Stats page. Mostly, I'm looking forward to having fun racing again and not having all my eggs in one basket.
I'm awaiting the new training plan. But I do know that the mileage will come down in both peak and recovery weeks. That should help me avoid both the overtraining and injuries that have plagued me this year. I should be racing at least 2-3 times a month from February into April.
I'm registered for the full NJ Marathon on May 2, but I'll be deferring my entry until 2011. If I'm feeling good in April, I may race the NJ half instead. The room's reserved, so I can play things by ear without having to scramble for accommodations.
I'm also picking up a pair of inexpensive racing snowshoes. These will allow me to view a coming blizzard with delight rather than dread. The running path from Hartsdale to Valhalla allows for a good 10 mile out and back, except when it isn't plowed (which is throughout the entire winter). Now I'll be able to use it.
Plus, there's this race. I'd have to drive for 2+ hours each way. But it's at 11AM and it would be a new adventure.
Another decision I've made is to stop combining a major marathon with a vacation. Who wants to spend half or most of their vacation exhausted and in a crappy mood? So that era is over. I now get why people fly in and out on marathon weekend. In fact, I may not do any major travel at all in 2010. I spent six+ weeks and more money than I want to ponder on travel this year. My house needs attention and I need a break.
Looking farther down the road, we could Amtrak it to this race in the fall. Small, good course, and many good reviews. But let's not get ahead of ourselves.
Sitting here with a head cold, knowing my fitness is leaking away just a little more for every day I'm not running, it's easy to feel stuck. But I suspect this rest is doing me more good than harm, and I've got a plan for next year, however loose at the moment.
Filed under: coaching, injury, recovery, training | 10 Comments »


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Wednesday, August 21, 2013
Is there any advantages to synchronization with an online family tree?
During the past few years, the idea of exchanging information between a dedicated desktop genealogy program and an online family tree program has taken hold in the genealogical community. There are several local desktop programs that provide the ability to synchronize as a promoted feature of the programs. First, a few definitions.
A local desktop genealogy program is one that operates on your own device, usually a desktop computer or laptop. The idea here is that can keep your own information organized and on your own computer (or other device) without the need for an Internet connection. Unless you export some or all of your data from your program or share a copy of your data file with another user, no one really has access to your information. Sharing data can be done selectively through functions in most programs that provide for a way to export to a GEDCOM file, with the ability to select which individuals or families the user wishes to export. Most of the programs today also provide a method to select a portion of an existing database and save it as a separate file. None of these operations involve online sharing of the information.
Some of the currently available local genealogy programs also provide a way to create an online database or copy of the user's file online, that can then be shared with selected family members for cooperative research. This database or file copy is not publicly available on the Web. In these programs, you can synchronize with the online changes made by other family members.
There a likely hundreds of online programs that provide a website online to build a family tree or upload a GEDCOM file to create a family tree entirely online. These online trees can be public, where anyone who logs into the program can see all of the information in the family tree or private, where only those invited by the creator or administrator of the family tree can see the information. These online family trees can also be created by one particular user or can be a cooperative tree, open to changes from anyone who is interested enough to log onto that particular program. Some online family tree programs provide different levels of access and can be in whole or in part with more than one category of access.
In all of these cases, including the local programs there are provisions for making some of the data confidential, especially that concerning living people.
Now, there are a few programs that promote the idea that you can synchronize data between your online family tree (public or private) and your local database program. Prime examples of these programs are Ancestry.com's Family Tree Maker program and MyHeritage.com's Family Tree Builder program.
In another class entirely, FamilySearch.org has its Family Tree. The main difference being that this is a completely public family tree with universal access. Anyone can enter information into any individual or family on the Family Tree program and all users of the program can edit, delete, add or merge individuals on the tree. There are several programs that advertise access to synchronize data with FamilySearch Family Tree.
The first arguable advantage of having an online family tree at all is the possibility of online collaboration between family members. By putting my family tree online, I can, in effect share what I have done with family members, known and unknown, across the world. In my own experience, this sort of works. Over the years, with a copy of my family tree on Ancestry.com, MyHeritage.com and other programs, I have been contacted by remote family members with some additional information.
But with both Ancestry.com and MyHeritage.com, a new dimension and incentive has been added to the idea of having an online family tree. Both these programs provide automated search capabilities that scour their sources for information about the people on the users' family trees. I see this semi-automatic research as a huge advantage. I have found some extraordinarily useful information by using both of these automated search capabilities. As an added benefit, if I choose to do so, I can install a copy of their local programs on my computer, Family Tree Maker or Family Tree Builder or both, and use the synchronization function to download all of the found sources to my local program. It is up to me to correct any information I have in either program from the sources I find, but the potential to find sources I would otherwise not have found, is tremendous.
It should be noted that in the case of Ancestry.com and MyHeritage.com, although my family trees are shared online, they are my family tree and cannot be changed by any other user.
But now, we have a completely different paradigm. The FamilySearch Family Tree and other similar trees are entirely cooperative. But in the case of the FamilySearch Family Tree, the information in the tree can be easily copied to local programs. Whether or not this process is a good idea or not depends entirely on the sophistication level of the user. Since there is no way to verify the accuracy of most of the entries in FamilySearch Family Tree, the benefit of being able to synchronize information back and forth could be beneficial or very bad depending on the accuracy of the user entering the information. The main check on this information is the ability to add sources for an individual's events. However, very, very few of the existing records in FamilySearch Family Tree yet have sources, so any information contained in the program is unverifiable presently. Ultimately, the information will be self correcting in the sense that individuals participating in the program will add sources and correct the information in the program to be consistent with the sources.
So, in thinking about the concept of synchronization, it is important to ask synchronize with what? If you are merely exchanging information between your own family tree online and your own desktop program, then there is really no risk. But once you add the capability to synchronize data with an open, public and editable family tree online, you had better be ultra careful in choosing what individuals and events you add to your own program on your own computer or device.
3 comments:
- Adrian BruceAugust 21, 2013 at 9:17 AM
Another aspect to consider is that when you sync your local data to an online tree, you may end up with the lowest common denominator. A case in point might be that you have (say) place and address against an event on your local data; then sync it to an online tree that only copes with place.ReplyDelete
Probably not much happens at that point - the address is still on your local event and lost from the online event. Now suppose your online tree gets additional data added to that event - like an image from an online database. The sync then goes into reverse as it were and copies the online data down to your local data.
What happens to the address that was only ever on the local event? I've absolutely no idea what the general rule is, but it would be a good idea to test this out!Replies
Good point. The synch process is sometimes automatic and you might not know what you are ending up with.Delete
For the fastidious genealogist there also can be problems with relating source-citations between a home-computer program and an online tree. The full-featured genealogy programs have a source hierarchy, including identification of repositories, and ways to annotate sources concerning evidence within them. FamilySearch FamilyTree has no field for repositories, so using a home program and downloading from FS-FT can prove troublesome where sources are given at all.ReplyDelete
In addition, with FamilySearch's emphasis on "sources" without regard to evidentiary documentation, more and more users are citing sundry internet trees and even unidentified GEDCOM files as "sources" for whatever they enter. Not to mention the ever-popular junk sourceless published genealogies.
It is to be hoped that stuff from the online tree would not be overwriting what documentation is in one's home program in such instances.


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Is Tuesday Santorum's Last Best Chance?
Presidential candidate Rick Santorum finished fourth in Saturday's Nevada caucus, but Tuesday's contests in Colorado, Minnesota and Missouri are looking more favorable for the candidate. Will a strong showing on Tuesday help the candidate regain much needed momentum?
"A belated consensus has formed among pundits that Rick Santorum is now the final, viable not-Romney candidate left in the Republican presidential primary," conservative Washington Post columnist Jennifer Rubin wrote Monday.
In the most recent polls, conducted by Public Policy Polling (PPP), Santorum is in second place in Colorado and is statistically tied with Mitt Romney for the lead in Minnesota. In Missouri, Santorum was in the lead in a poll conducted the previous weekend and Newt Gingrich is not on the ballot there.
Santorum, a former U.S. senator from Pennsylvania, was polling at or near the bottom through most of last year, but a surprising victory in the Iowa caucus helped to keep his campaign going. He has not, however, won any contests since Iowa. Gingrich, rather than Santorum, rose to become the main rival to front-runner Romney after winning the South Carolina primary.
Gingrich's campaign appears to be collapsing, though, as it struggles with campaign debt and the perception that Gingrich has lost his focus on the issues – he often complains about how he is treated by the media, other candidates and fellow Republicans.
Based upon the PPP polls, Gingrich will likely place third or fourth in Colorado and Minnesota Tuesday. With a weak showing following Republicans saying that Gingrich's campaign is effectively over, Santorum could be viewed as the most viable alternative for voters who would prefer an alternative to Romney.
The Romney campaign apparently views Santorum as the most viable threat heading into Tuesday's contests as well. Former Minnesota Governor Tim Pawlenty, co-chair of the Romney campaign, held a conference call with reporters on Monday criticizing Santorum for his defense of earmarks while in Congress.
Santorum "has proudly and enthusiastically embraced earmarking," Pawlenty said. He also pointed out Santorum's votes to raise the nation's debt ceiling and said that "he has clearly been part of the big spending establishment in Congress and in the influence peddling industry that surrounds Congress."
Earmarks do not increase government spending. Rather, they designate where spending that was already appropriated will be spent. In particular, it keeps that decision in the hands of the legislative branch rather than the executive branch or government bureaucracy. Paul, a Texas congressman, takes essentially the same position as Santorum on earmarks.
When asked why he opposed earmarks, Pawlenty said that earmarks represent spending on misplaced priorities and lead to government corruption.
On Monday the Santorum campaign responded to the Romney campaign by saying, "Mitt Romney's act is tired, old and wearing thin with voters and I suspect at this point, with the media too. Romney never touts his own record – because it's abysmal. In the Republican Party we have a name for someone who supports government health care mandates, big bank bailouts, and radical cap and trade initiatives – we call them Democrats."
Santorum is a solid conservative, good debater and has high favorability ratings among Republicans, Rubin wrote. But any surge at this point could be too late. Even with victories on Tuesday, Rubin admitted, Santorum would still be a long shot to win the nomination.


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Expert's Rating
- Easy setup
- Good audio quality
- Rechargeable battery not included
- Bass distortion at top volume
Our Verdict
Bose's $350 SoundLink Air Digital Music System, an AirPlay version of the company's venerable SoundDock speaker docks, is a somewhat portable speaker system. I say "somewhat" because though it can be powered by a battery, the SoundLink Air doesn't include one—Bose's rechargeable lithium-ion battery is a $90 option. My review unit didn't include the battery, so I couldn't test the SoundLink's portable features.
The all-black SoundLink Air measures 12.1 inches wide, 6.8 inches tall, and 4.0 inches deep; it weighs 4.7 pounds. I rarely comment on power bricks in my speaker reviews, but the SoundLink Air's is worth mention (sadly, not to praise it): Though I appreciate the integrated cable-storage groove, the wall-wart style power brick is massive: 3 inches tall, 3 inches wide, and 2 inches tall. That width is the biggest problem, since it blocked at least two—and often three—outlets on the power strips I tried it with; it also blocks both outlets in a standard two-outlet wall plate.
On the front of the SoundLink Air, near the top, sits its single LED, which indicates whether the speaker is successfully connected to a Wi-Fi network. When I first started testing the system, I thought there were no buttons save for the Reset button on the base of the unit. In fact, though, a pair of nearly invisible volume buttons sit on the right-hand side of the unit. You use either your AirPlay audio source or the included thin, plastic remote (4.3 inches tall and 1.5 inches wide) to control playback. The remote includes power, mute, volume, auxiliary-input, play/pause, previous, and next buttons.
If you're paying close attention, you'll note that this means that there is no power button on the speaker itself. Unless you want to unplug and later plug in the Sound Link Air to turn it off and on, you'll need to use the power button on the remote.
On the back of the unit, you'll find a connector for the power brick, a 1/8-inch (3.5mm) auxiliary-input jack, and a Micro-USB port. That last one is used only during the setup process: You visit bose.com/wifisetup on your computer to download an app (available for Mac and Windows) for configuring the speaker system; during this process, you connect the SoundLink Air to your computer using the included Micro-USB cable. Alternatively, you can hold down the Reset button on the SoundLink Air, which creates an ad-hoc wireless network; you then connect your computer to that Wi-Fi network and direct your browser to the SoundLink Air's special IP address for setting up the unit.
Once the SoundLink Air is successfully on your wireless network, you can send music (or other audio) to it from any compatible AirPlay device, such as any iOS device or iTunes on your computer. When you do, you'll be treated to satisfying, room-filling sound. The speaker can get very loud, though I did notice occasional discrepancies with volume-level behavior: When I used the speaker's remote to adjust volume, the iTunes 11 volume slider didn't consistently move along with it, the way it normally does when controlling an AirPlay speaker. However, the volume slider on my iOS devices did move in tandem when streaming to the SoundLink Air from my iPhone or iPod. This may well be an iTunes 11 issue, and it's a minor one at that.
The SoundLink seems tuned to boost bass levels relative to other frequencies; if you like a little extra kick, you'll like the effect. The overall sound is otherwise crisp and clean. I did notice a bit of low-end distortion at peak volumes when playing bass-heavy music, but dialing down the volume a smidgen alleviated that distortion quickly.
Bottom line
The SoundLink Air is easy to configure and sounds good in general use. I'm disappointed that the rechargeable battery isn't included, and I find the lack of an on-board power button bizarre. But if you like your music a little bass-heavy and won't need the absolute peak volume the speaker offers (and the distortion that accompanies it), the SoundLink air is a fine AirPlay speaker to consider. Just keep in mind that if you want to use the SoundLink Air portably, buying a battery bumps the price to $440. In comparison, Pioneer's $399 A3 XW-SMA3-K (3.5/5 rating) offers similar audio quality, a built-in battery, and more features than the SoundLink Air, and Audyssey's $400 Audio Dock Air (4/5 rating) offers better audio quality in a similarly sized package (but with a similar lack of useful buttons).


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Pat Ivers and Emily Armstrong continue sorting through their archives of punk-era concert footage as it's digitized for the Downtown Collection at N.Y.U.'s Fales Library.
Clinton Street was not yet restaurant row – it was lined with shooting galleries, rows of cars with Jersey plates and steerers plying their wares. "We got Snoopy, 7-Up, Yellow Bag; we got the stuff that can kill you, man!" – a pitch both fascinating and confounding. Junkies were on every other corner and street muggings were rampant. Home break-ins were a fact of life so common that it became uninteresting unless it happened to you.
Which it did. We came home one night to find our apartment tossed and our video equipment gone. At the time, we were running the Video Lounge at Danceteria and our coworkers rallied to our support, organizing a benefit. Poet Max Blagg, then a bartender at the club, read his epic, "Smack Yourself Senseless." His poem, a brutal five minute take-down of heroin chic, was a comfort. More →


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Having worked for a travel company for a decade I have spent countless time at airports around the world. Once my luggage has been checked in I really enjoy the free time before boarding the plane. Airports are great for people watching, and if you are lucky, another opportunity for a nice meal.
Haneda's international terminal has an impressive selection of good eats in a very cool area called the Edo Market Place. There is often a line at Tsurutontan, the udon noodle shop.
My favorite oden shop in Tokyo, Ginza Ogura, also has a branch here. The oden broth is lightly seasoned, not the intense soy broth that is usually found in the Tokyo area.
There is also sushi, ramen, soba, sukiyaki, yakiniku, kushiyaki, tonkatsu, and yoshoku. And I hate to say it, but I had my first average meal in Tokyo recently at the yoshoku restaurant at Haneda. No matter how good the photo of the omuraisu with the demi-glace sauce looks in the promotional photo in the shop window, it doesn't taste as good as it looks. Eat elsewhere.
And, do save time for shopping. There is a tiny branch of Ginza's famous Ito-ya stationary shop, a colorful tenugui and furoshiki shop, and plenty of omiyage shops selling regional foods. We found some of our favorite seafood products from Sato Suisan in Hokkaido at one of the shops. And if you are into Kit Kats, then check out the seasonal flavors, which at the moment includes a wasabi flavored Kit Kat.


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Medicare, national health insurance program in the United States for persons aged 65 and over and the disabled. It was established in 1965 with passage of the Social Security Amendments and is now run by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services. Coverage for certain people with disabilities began in 1973. Medicare provides for a basic program of hospital insurance, under which enrollees are protected against major costs of hospital and related care; and a supplementary medical insurance program, through which persons are aided in paying doctor bills and other health-care bills. It is funded by a tax on the earnings of employees that is matched by the employer and by premiums paid by enrollees. In 2012 some 51 million Americans were enrolled in Medicare. Legislation passed in 2003 provides for a drug benefit program (beginning in 2006), higher premiums for enrollees earning more than $80,000, and subsidies over 10 years to encourage private insurers to compete with Medicare.
The Columbia Electronic Encyclopedia, 6th ed. Copyright © 2023, Columbia University Press. All rights reserved.
See more Encyclopedia articles on: Medicine


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Melvin Davis entered office in January 2001, with ambitious but unpublicized recreation goals. He went to work in the early months of 2001 working on the "Big Park". It was kept under "wraps" for months. Many of the original planned amenities are just recently coming online eight years later – and much later and more costly than originally estimated.
March 1, 2009
Oconee SPLOST Referendum on March 17, 2009 – Part 1
By Wendell Dawson, Editor, AVOC, Inc
The SPLOST Referendum set for March 17, 2009, was largely developed "behind the scenes" as have many other major decisions in Oconee County in recent years. It will extend the reach of the current Board into 2015, long after Mr. Davis and others will be gone from office.
A big item is for a $ 3.5 Million Communications System! That sounds ambitious. It is more than was spent on the 1986 jail, 1993 Civic Center or the 1996-8 Courthouse Expansion. Our revenues, spending and tastes have really expanded in recent years! OCONEE SPLOST 2009 Project List.pdf x
SPLOSTS do not get much attention because the County Leadership privately prefers a low turnout. It is easier to use "phone trees" and group contacts to get a favorable majority. Public discussion could lead to questions and issues that voters would tune into. That could bring out more voters and more "No Votes"! At least this one does not propose a lot of expensive buildings to be lighted, heated, cooled and staffed for future county budgets.
SPLOST was originally used for a jail, roads improvements and water lines. Fire stations have been built along with the Civic Center and expanded courthouse. Recreational spending has expanded tremendously and roads have been neglected in recent years.
Melvin Davis entered office in January 2001, with ambitious but unpublicized recreation goals.He went to work in the early months of 2001 working on the "Big Park".It was kept under "wraps" for months. Many of the original planned amenities are just recently coming online eight years later – and much later than originally estimated.
The original estimated cost and approved General Obligations Bonds amount have been significantly exceeded. The new SPLOST will deal with some of that Shortfall. There have been overruns that have largely been handled "under the radar" largely under the guise of "Litigation" or "land acquisition". New members of the Board since then have also brought more information to light.
Lee Becker's Blog has been an instrument for publicizing much of the SPLOST information that has been kept "under the radar". The local media does an inadequate job of covering this sort of thing- advertising and risk of irritating the "power structure". Lee has a knack for ferreting out records of "secret or unpublicized meetings", the latest being a meeting at the Courthouse on December 17, 2008, concerning Courthouse space. The Courthouse is not a dead issue and will be the subject of Part 3 of this series.
Several of Lee Becker's articles are well worth reading for an understanding of the referendum and the BOC Modus Operandi. SEE: http://www.oconeecountyobservations.blogspot.com/
Oconee County Observations
SPLOST Language Shows Oconee County Wish List
Oconee County and Cities to Split SPLOST Funds
2-24-09 Oconee Park Overruns Result in Lawsuit
The Athens Banner-Herald
February 24, 2009
Park contractor suing Oconee County
Company says it's owed $ 1.87 million
By Adam Thompson
WATKINSVILLE - A construction company wants the Oconee County government to pony up nearly $ million it says it's owed for work on the county's sprawling new park, according to a lawsuit from the contractor.
County officials breached their agreement with general contractor F.E. Sims Enterprises by adding a range of extra costs to build Oconee Veterans Park and have refused to pay for the work, the company says in a Feb. 11 lawsuit filed in Superior Court.
The complaint against the county and the five current commissioners alleges county officials failed to provide design details on time, made changes to the scope of the work and otherwise interfered with F.E. Sims' performance.
Article-Engine © by AlexScriptEngine.de


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I've just read a fantastic article in the Journal of Sex Research on culture and how we decide what is a sexual disorder or 'paraphilia'. It has a fascinating section where it talks about cultural variation in common or acceptable sexual practices and it touches on how foreplay differs between societies.
Kissing during foreplay, it seems, is not universal and seems to be a particular fetish of Western lovers.
Finally, in most cultures, sexual intercourse is preceded by some degree of foreplay—that is, sensory and sexual stimulation intended to induce arousal. This stimulation may be visual, tactile, or otherwise. When visual, it may be the sight of the partner or parts of his or her body or clothing, but these may vary across cultures (Bhugra, 2000). Kissing as part of sexual foreplay is common in the West but virtually unknown in other parts of the world (Ford & Beach, 1965). There are some cultures where penetration was the key element to intercourse, and neither foreplay nor afterplay was recorded. Ford and Beach pointed out that physical pain and biting are sometimes permitted as part of sexual foreplay and, therefore, such behaviors are likely to be readily incorporated into the sexual repertoire. Thus, individuals learn about methods of sexual arousal and sexual activity from their cultural habits and, in order to avoid being labelled and treated as deviant, they conform to prevalent and expected mores.
Unfortunately, the article is locked behind a paywall. Undoubtedly for your own good though. Imagine what would happen if you started to deviate from culturally accepted foreplay practices. Anarchy. And then where would we be?
Link to PubMed entry for article.