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CA reader Geoff Sherrington, an Australian scientist, sends the following email exchange with Phil Jones in early 2006 (original post here). Geoff observes:
there is a reluctance to answer direct questions with direct answers and a lot of red herrings thrown in. Readers can deduce what they like from the exchange, where Phil says he no longer has the data used in early papers. Contrast this with the statement next from Australia's Bureau of Meteorology (Blair Trewin, April 2006 email to me):
From: Geoff Sherrington
Sent: Fri 3/24/2006 12:09 PM AUS
To: firstname.lastname@example.com
Subject: Early global temperature data
I seek the figures which were used from Australian weather stations at the start of your climate modelling work in the 1980s. I seek to know the first set of Australia weather stations used in modelling, plus the set that was rejected and if possible, the span of data by years (or the data itself) for each of the stations considered and eventually used initially.
Is it possible to obtain this information?
Geoffrey H Sherrington
To: Geoff Sherrington
Cc: Sheppard Sylvia (SCI) ks918
Sent: Saturday, March 25, 2006 4:20 AM UK
Subject: FW: Early global temperature data
Dear Geoffrey, We no longer have the Australian station date we were using in the early 1980s. At that time we had a limited network. In the 1990s, the Australian Bureau of Meteorology began issuing a lot more station data each month. Up to that time it had been about 40 stations internationally. Through contacts with personnel in Melbourne, we got access to the back data from all the new stations, so added these. In order to use temperature data, we need historic series with at least the 1961-90 base period. We now have access to over 100 stations from BoM in real time.
I wish more countries would release more data in real time like Australia. Some have, but not that many – and none release extra data in Africa, South America and southern Asia. We have managed to get extra historic data though in South Africa, Argentina and Brazil. We got the latter, though, on the agreement that we didn't pass the data onto others, but we can use them in our gridded data. This condition also applies to a number of European countries – again only historic data, no real time. Australia is the only country to make additional data (additional to the about 1500 exchanged by Met Services) to us in real time.
I have looked back at a publication where we adjusted station records for homogeneity in the mid-1980s. We didn't omit any Australian series then, but adjusted the following sites: Darwin, Townsville, Thursday Island, Gladstone, Forrest, Adelaide, Sydney and Norfolk Island. We still have these adjustments.
In the mid-1990s, we compared our Australian temperature with a series developed by Neville Nicholls (then of BMRC, he has retired in the last few months and now works at Monash) and a student he had. Over the period from 1901-1992 we had a correlation of our two series of 0.92 and with no difference in trend over these 92 years. This work was done before we got the additional station data (so in effect we had about 40 stations, whereas Neville and the student had almost 200). I can't recall the student's name (Simon ?).
So, I can't send you anything. We don't have the earlier station data now.
Geoff Sherrington to Phil Jones
I was working on early Australian temperature records going back to the 1880s when the first global models were being constructed. I share the general concerns in this Internet quote, but not necessarily the figures: The central contention of these pages is that for over a decade the IPCC has published global temperature trends distorted by purely local warmth from Urban Heat Islands (UHI's). These spurious trends have been promoted as "smoking gun" evidence of greenhouse warming. The data were generated by Dr. P.D. Jones and others (1986, 91 & 94), mainly from the Climatic Research Unit (CRU) of the University of East Anglia at Norwich in the UK. The CRU and the IPCC claim that our atmosphere has warmed by 0.6 to 0.8 degrees Celsius since the late 19th Century, and ascribe most of this to an enhanced greenhouse effect.
For example, most of the early data from the 1880s to the 1950s were rejected because the weather stations were not housed in approved cases or were otherwise deemed unreliable. There were over 100 weather stations available, but in the first model(s) only about 10 were used from Australia, most in large cities.
Today, there is a most unscientific trend to ignore the raw data and to apply statistical algorithms to improve the data. This has the danger of generating artefacts and I have no doubt that it does. In particular, heat island effects continue to cause problems and the maths i have read for their correction are highly suspect.
The early Australia data might not have come from approved weather station cases, but very many of the sites showed a slight temperature reduction from ca 1880 to 1950. The weather station cases would not have been the cause of this uniform decrease. These data are valuable, because, properly used, they extend back in time the trends that are apparent and potentially allow the resetting of a reference starting date for Australian surface temperatures around 1880 instead of 1980 or whatever is the current backwards limit for "acceptable data" now. We thought that the maximum and minimum surface temperatures for Australia had imperceptible to slight downwards change from 1880 to 1985 or so as recorded by the bulk of the stations, especially when sudden discontinuities were removed if they happened at different times at different locations or were documented as instrument changes.
In short, I feel that the early climate models used selective data to stampede the policy makers into belief in global warming, prematurely. What say you to that?
Geoff Sherrington
From: Phil Jones
To: Geoff Sherrington
Sent: Monday, March 27, 2006 8:57 PM
Subject: Re: Early global temperature data
First, I'm attaching a paper. This shows that it is necessary to adjust the marine data (SSTs) for the change from buckets to engine intakes. If models are forced by SSTs (which is one way climate models can be run) then they estimate land temperatures which are too cool if the original bucket temps are used. The estimated land temps are much closer to those measured if the adjusted SSTs are used. This doesn't address in any way your questions, but I thought I'd send it to you.
Back to Australia: there is a serious problem with Australian temperatures before the early 1900s because of the screens used. Unlike NZ, the various Australian states didn't switch over to Stevenson screens very early and when the change occurred it was different in different states. The work undertaken by Neville Nicholls and the student sought to find the 200+ best stations across the country.
We've not rejected any Australian stations. The ones we use from BoM though start around the 1900 period. All of those we had in the early 1980s we still use. In Fig 2 of the other attachment, there is a time series for Australia. We have adjusted some, but these adjustments cancel. Since the paper in 2003, we've added in lots more Australian data, as I mentioned before. The trend of Australian temperatures though has not changed in its overall character. In the mid-1980s the extra data (above the 40 or so) were not available to us.
Climate models don't use observational data. They are longer running versions of weather models. They don't get given any observational data – except in the case of the SSTs in the first paper I've attached. As I said this is one way climate models can be run. Another way is to include the ocean, so they determine their own SSTs.
At 01:11 28/03/2006, Sherrington wrote:
Dear Phil, I continue to assert that there were well over 100 long-term surface weather site records from Australia available to the public in Australa because I have been in touch with a scientist who compiled some of it into a paper. The data frequently extend back to the 1880s.
In Jones et al 1986, I have quickly counted the actual Australian stations used and found 34 or so. Some of these start in the 1880s (especially those in Graph 2 below, where a steady temperature increase is shown on average) but about half or more, by eyeball, start about 1951. I have lived in several of these places before 1951, so they are not new towns.
Two graphs derived from this 1985-1990 period follow. They show the potential for wrong results through selectivity and the potential for artefacts from population use of energy near weather stations (heat islands). The absence of Stevenson screens cannot dismiss the Graph 1 cooling trend from 1882 to 1951. Of the 25 stations in graph 1, only Darwin was in Jones et al 1986. That means that 24 plausible data sets were excluded. (There were ore than that).
What a coincidence that all these averaged data show a slight increase from 1951 onwards, the same cutoff year as applied by Jones at al in many other cases. Surely there is a strong case for the start point for calculations of changes in climate to extend back to the 1880s and not suddenly commence in the 1950s.
There is a whole mathematical branch of statistics named "Geoststistics" which is particularly suitable for discerning if an observation at one place has predictive value for another location. (e.g. for comparing nearby stations for heat island effects). Do you know if this method has been applied to climate modelling?
Regards Geoff Sherrington Scientist, Melbourne
Geraldton, Narrabri, Hay, Albany, Rottnest Island Lighthouse, Walgett,
Deniliquin, Bourke, Cape Naturaliste Lighthouse, Coonabarabran,
Echuca, Cooma, Darwin, Moruya Heads Pilot Station, Omeo, Dubbo, Alice
Springs, Gabo Island Lighthouse, Bathurst, Strathalbyn, Mt. Gambier,
Yamba, Wilsons Promontory Lighthouse, Newcastle Signal Station, Cape
Otway Lighthouse.
Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Perth, Adelaide, Hobart
From: Phil Jones
To: Geoff Sherrington
Sent: Tuesday, March 28, 2006 8:53 PM
Subject: Re: Early global temperature data
The Australian data were not available to us in the mid-1980s. Even if they were we were concentrating on getting data and back data for other parts of the world (particularly the tropics, Africa and South America, where we didn't have anything). Just because data are available in a country doesn't mean we have them. The Australian Weather Bureau now releases lots more data than it did. In the 1980s, it was releasing about 40 stations.
As an aside, your expectation that we had the data isn't unusual. We get requests from a number of scientists in countries (mainly developing ones or from the ex-USSR and eastern Europe) to send them their own national datasets. Their met services haven't got their own national data digitised in many cases, although the situation is improving, but only slowly.
We searched the literature in the 1980s, but more importantly searched a number of data archives (proper archives such as libraries), particularly that at the UK Met Office to digitise additional data. We also managed to get some from national met agencies. We continue to do this and add in new datasets as and when we get the data. For example, Canada has a project to homogenize all their station and precipitation (daily and monthly) series. They sent us all the final adjusted series and we include them in our database – about 250 series. We got the data through scientific contacts at meetings in the late 1990s. All the adjusted data are not in the GHCN archive in Asheville, partly because they (Asheville) have never asked for them. If you ask for Canadian data now you get the adjusted data, but only from Environment Canada. NCDC (Asheville) and GISS still use the unadjusted Canadian data. We do the best we can, but we're not some global archive. I guess NCDC is the official archive as recognized by WMO and GCOS, but they don't have resources to fund anyone chasing countries for improved past data.
Back to the early Australian data: I mentioned the other day that there are problems with the early Australian data. If you look at the pdf I sent earlier (Figure 2, panel f) you'll see that climate models given SSTs can't reproduce Australian land temps (the black line) prior to around 1910. The models can in other continents of the world. Most importantly for Australia, they can over NZ. I would suggest you look at NZ temperatures. The attached paper sort of does this, but only as a part of other regions of the S. Pacific. There are earlier papers by Folland and/or Salinger on NZ temperatures. What is clear over this region is that the SSTs around islands (be they NZ or more of the atoll type) is that the air temps over decadal timescales should agree with SSTs. This agreement between SSTs and air temperatures also works for Britain and Ireland. Australia is larger, but most of the longer records are around the coasts.
So, NZ or Australian air temperatures before about 1910 can't both be right. As the two are quite close, one must be wrong. As NZ used the Stevenson screens from their development about 1870, I would believe NZ. NZ temps agree well with the SSTs and circulation influences.
Finally, geostatistics is being used somewhat in climatology. It isn't being used in climate modelling – which is using GCMs and RCMs. You seem to have a broader definition of climate modelling.
At 07:39 31/03/2006, Sherrington wrote:
Dear Phil,
You wrote
"Back to the early Australian data: I mentioned the other day that there are problems with the early Australian data. If you look at the pdf I sent earlier (Figure 2, panel f) you'll see that climate models given SSTs can't reproduce Australian land temps (the black line) prior to around 1910. The models can in other continents of the world. Most importantly for Australia, they can over NZ. etc."
An important geographical difference between Australia and New Zealand is that Australia has a hot interior and New Zealand has a cold interior. If you consider weather stations near the coastline, the daily shapes of the weather logs (id examined say hour by hour) might well be different, so that an analysis of the maxima and minima might not reflect heat flux comparably in both countries. If the land and the nearby sea have different thermal inertias, this could well explain the differences you are reporting. But this is only a guess as I do not know your present detailed methodology. The same comment applies to all historical analyses based in maxima and minima, be they daily, monthly or yearly. They are merely indicators of flux and in the final analysis might all be inadequate for reconstructions.
Seems to me that there is a need to devise contemporary experiments that look at the hourly patterns, in places that geostatistics has established a probability of connectivity and predictability.
Geoff Sherrington.
Phil Jones to Sherrington
I've found another paper you should look at. I can't get the pdf as it has been back-scanned yet. It is a paper by Neville Nicholls et al. in the International Journal of Climatology, Vol 16, 705-710 (1996). This talks about the exposure of early Australian temperature data in the different states.
One of the most interesting of the comparisons of the screens (old and new) was undertaken at Adelaide for over 60 years. Whether Adelaide has an urban effect is irrelevant to this. The two screens are the same site. There is a plot (Figure 1) of the difference. The figure caption isn't very clear but the text is. The plot is for the difference between the Glaisher/Greenwich stands which were common in most of Australia up to the 1910s and the Stevenson screen. For minimum temperature the difference is relatively small and has little seasonal cycle (Stevenson warmer by about 0.1 deg C). For the maximum though there is a marked seasonal cycle, with the Stevenson screen cooler by about 1 deg C in summer months, reducing to about 0.2 cooler in winter months. I realise this is just Adelaide, but this is the longest set of paired readings anywhere in the world. It clearly indicates the old screens are too warm. Maybe other shorter comparisons were made in other areas.
There are similar problems in Spain before about 1900. Here they just switched to Stevenson type screens between 1900 and 1910 (varying between sites) with no overlap. However, there are pictures of the old stands (based on a French model) with dimensions/instructions etc. So what a group has done is to build two new ones and install them at the sites of two stations (La Corunna and Murcia – opposite sides of Spain to get a little idea of differences in the different climates). The results from 2 years of overlap show remarkable consistencies between the two years and some similarities between the sites. The maximums are much more affected – also about 1deg C warmer in the rebuilt' old screens compared to the conventional ones. Minimum temperature differences are on the opposite sign and much smaller – very similar to Adelaide.
Finally, if you don't think you can compare Australia with NZ, then compare Tasmania with NZ. Many Tasmania records are near to the coast and they should agree with SSTs around the island, when averaged to annual or decadal values.
I'll be away next week at a meeting in Europe. I'll likely have some email but little time, so will only be answering the more urgent emails. I'll be back to the normal the week after.
Finally Geoff sends the following response from Australia's Bureau of Meteorology (Blair Trewin, April 2006 email)
"At last count there were 74 stations which have at least some digital temperature data (mostly monthly) available in 1890 (GS comment – this must be a typo meaning 1980), plus a handful of stations which had opened and closed before then. The data from these stations should be publicly available (and I can't see any reason why any data that was available in the mid 1980's would not be now – in fact the reverse would be true). It is likely that a number of other stations (possibly about 100) took at least some pre-1890 temperatures, but most of these records were probably short and of doubtful quality.
I think Phil Jones may have digitised some monthly data himself for the 1986 data set – I know this is true for Alice Springs as we only digitised the 1879-1924 data from there in the last couple of years."


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DETROIT — Talk about hybrid (no, not that kind). We spotted this cross-branded, half-and-half GM prototype near the company's test site in Michigan, and we're pretty sure we've got it nailed down.
From the front, this car is all Pontiac G8, the rear-drive sedan based on the Australian Holden Commodore (check out the Holden at bottom right for understructure clues). Unlike the twin-scooped G8 GT that Pontiac unveiled at the Chicago auto show in February, however, this prototype has a plain hood. (Pay no attention to the checkerboard paint on the bumper—that's just to hide the shape of the car until it hits Pontiac showrooms late next year.)
But the rear reeks of Chevy Lumina, another GM sedan scheduled for introduction next year. While the trunk lid and rear fascia appear to be identical to the G8 GT, the taped-over Chevy bowtie emblem tells us a different story. Plus, the taillights are different, closely following the shape of Chevy's current Malibu design, while two single tailpipes set this prototype apart from the dual pipes aboard the G8.
More From Popular Mechanics
We certainly hope that, whenever this prototype does get split in two, the Lumina ends up looking a lot more different than the G8. As it stands, these just swap some taillights and Pontiac V for a Chevy bowtie. Feel free to offer your hopes in the comments section below... —Jim Dunne
Classic G8 details up front...
...but all Lumina in back.
Put em together, and what do you get?
Maybe this early Chevy sedan sketch gives some clues...
Either way, the understructure for both the G8 and Lumina is based on this Holden we caught on the track.

subset: commoncrawl


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A guy named John has changed his first generation iPhone for a new Palm Pre. Nothing bad or weird about that. Until he took a steel hammer out of his toolbox:
Then—for some unknown reason—he smashed his iPhone with it.
Click to viewWhy anyone would do this stupidity, instead of selling or giving the old iPhone to someone who may need it, is beyond me. [PreThinking]


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It's crazy to think it's already 2014, right? (Which totally means you should go #14in14 with our 14-Day Slimdown, but we digress.) The beginning of a new year is a prime time to refresh your trusty iTunes playlist. Fortunately, these musicians are starting the year off strong, with albums for all of your winter adventures and moods.
When you're curled up under a blanket and watching the snow fall: Jennifer Nettles's "That Girl" from That Girl, drops January 14
- TheSugarland songstress's solo album brims with rich singing and a fresh sound. She still proudly displays her country roots, but she goes beyond twangy cowboy-boots fare with a tracklist that ranges from passionate, emotional ballads to more upbeat, catchy tunes.
When you're hitting the slopes: Bruce Springsteen's "High Hopes" from High Hopes, drops January 14
- The Boss is back! He's been making music for more than four decades, so he's figured out the secret to a hit album. This release will satisfy both diehard fans and new listeners: It's filled with his distinctive vocals and collaborations with guitar god Tom Morello (from bands like Rage Against The Machine). The fun rock songs are perfect for when you're cruising down the slopes or even dancing in the ski lodge.
When you're sweating at the gym for your New Year's resolution: Sharon Jones & The Dap-Kings' "Stranger To My Happiness" from Give The People What They Want, drops January 14
- Nothing gets us moving like some bumping soul music, so let this album provide the extra motivation you need to throw on your sneaks and head to the gym. It has all the great belting and bold instrumentation of your favorite retro hits, but with a cool modern touch. Channel Sharon's fabulousness as you do that last rep.
When you're hosting friends for hot cocoa: Young The Giant's "Crystallized" from Mind Over Matter, drops January 21
- The indie rockers are fighting against the dreaded sophomore slump following their successful debut, and this album is proof that they're here to stay. Marked by soaring vocals, captivating guitars and stuck-in-your-head melodies, it's the ideal soundtrack for a feel-good afternoon in with friends.
When you're feeling the post-holiday blues: Snowbird's "Porcelain" from Moon, drops January 27
- Something about this time of year, after the Christmas tree is thrown on the curb and the party invites peter out, can make us melancholy. When you just want to wallow, turn on the eerie, enchanting single from Snowbird's debut. The sound is hauntingly beautiful and sweet, like a cloudy midwinter day. In fact, it's so pretty that it might even make you crack a smile.
What are you listening to this month? Share your music picks in the comments below or tweet us @SELFmagazine!
- That Time Beyonce Broke The Internet With Secret Album
- These Over-the-Ear Headphones Are Made For Your Workout
- SELF's December Music Musts
Image Credit: Courtesy of Mercury Nashville


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In a move that should surprise exactly no one, BlackBerry is said to be thinking about spinning off BBM into its own subsidiary company called BBM Inc., says the Wall Street Journal. As BlackBerry faces the prospect of potentially having to part out its more valuable assets for sale, BBM is a natural opportunity that comes to mind, and the recent decision to take the messaging platform to both iOS and Android makes a lot more sense once you consider that a means of fluffing the brand prior to a potential sale.
Giving away the proprietary mojo of BBM made little to no sense if you didn't consider this one of BlackBerry's strategic plans down the road; the company has long-touted BBM as one of the primary reasons that people come to and stay faithful to BlackBerry. If you give them the opportunity to take BBM with them, there's one less barrier to switching.
You can make the argument that BlackBerry has more to gain by encouraging BBM network growth once it starts offering stuff on multiple platforms, including ones that don't have fast-dwindling user bases, and that it stands to gain additional revenue from those users via marketing or potential commercial services made available to BBM in the future. But the real reason to open up BBM is to put some shine on the apple at this stage of the game; accomplishing the kind of growth needed to make BBM a sustainable business would be tough in the face of the WhatsApps, LiNEs, and Kiks of the world, but you can still inject a fair amount of value for a prospective buyer by offering something that is platform agnostic.
BBM currently has around 60 million users, which is nothing to sneeze at even if it trails other messaging platforms. BlackBerry is also experimenting with one-to-many broadcasting via BBM Channels, and the WSJ says it's looking into building desktop apps as well. The report also states that a cross-platform BBM has been tested internally for as long as three years, which means this was definitely held back as a last resort until it was clear BlackBerry-only BBM wasn't going to mount a return to positive growth.


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Forum members who have purchased a Noble or Rossion may request access to the private owner's section:
If you are an owner and want to get access, send a PM to the NobleForumMOD. Include in the PM the following information:
1. Your chassis number (ie. NUS0260)
2. Your vehicle's model (ie. M12 GTO-3R)
3. What you want in your title (choose one of the following three):
If you do not include your choice for what you want in the title in the PM, your chassis number will be the default choice. If you do not include your chassis number and vehicle model, access will be denied.
- Chassis number
- "Owner"
- The default title (member, senior member, etc)
If you sell your vehicle, please let us know so we can change the status on your account.
Thank you.


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From kschroeder.com:
Habitability is the measure of highest value in planet-hunting. But should it be?
Kepler and the other planet-finding missions have begun to bear fruit. We now know that most stars have planets, and that a surprising percentage will have Earth-sized worlds in their habitable zone–the region where things are not too hot and not too cold, where life can develop. Astronomers are justly fascinated by this region and what they can find there. We have the opportunity, in our lifetimes, to learn whether life exists outside our own solar system, and maybe even find out how common it is.
We have another opportunity, too–one less talked-about by astronomers but a common conversation among science fiction writers. For the first time in history, we may be able to identify worlds we could move to and live on.
As we think about this second possibility, it's important to bear in mind that habitability and colonizability are not the same thing. Nobody seems to be doing this; I can't find any term but habitability used to describe the exoplanets we're finding. Whether a planet is habitable according to the current definition of the term has nothing to do with whether humans could settle there. So, the term applies to places that are vitally important for study; but it doesn't necessarily apply to places we might want to go.Whether a planet is habitable according to the current definition of the term has nothing to do with whether humans could settle there.
To see the difference between habitability and colonizability, we can look at two very different planets: Gliese 581g and Alpha Centauri Bb. Neither of these is confirmed to exist, but we have enough data to be able to say a little about what they're like if they do. Gliese 581g is a super-earth orbiting in the middle of its star's habitable zone. This means liquid water could well form on its surface, which makes it a habitable world according to the current definition.
Centauri Bb, on the other hand, orbits very close to its star, and its surface temperature is likely high enough to render one half of it (it's tidally locked to its sun, like our moon is to Earth) a magma sea. Alpha Centauri Bb is most definitely not habitable.
So Gliese 581g is habitable and Centauri Bb is not; but does this mean that 581g is more colonizable than Bb? Actually, no.
Because 581g is a super-earth, the gravity on its surface is going to be greater than Earth's. Estimates vary, but the upper end of the range puts it at 1.7g. If you weigh 150 lbs on Earth, you'd weigh 255 lbs on 581g. This is with your current musculature; convert all your body fat to muscle and you might just be able to get around without having to use leg braces or a wheelchair. However, your cardiovascular system is going to be under a permanent strain on this world–and there's no way to engineer your habitat to comfortably compensate.
On the other hand, Centauri Bb is about the same size as Earth. Its surface gravity is likely to be around the same. Since it's tidally locked, half of its surface is indeed a lava hell–but the other hemisphere will be cooler, and potentially much cooler. I wouldn't bet there's any breathable atmosphere or open water there, but as a place to build sealed domes to live in, it's not off the table.
Also consider that it's easier to get stuff onto and off of the surface of Bb than the surface of a high-gravity super-earth. Add to that the very thick atmosphere that 581g is likely to have, and human subsistence on 581g–even if it's a paradise for local life–is looking more and more awkward.
Doubtless 581g is a better candidate for life; but to me, Centauri Bb looks more colonizable.
A definition of colonizability
We've got a fairly good definition of what makes a planet habitable: stable temperatures suitable for the formation of liquid water. Is it possible to develop an equally satisfying (or more satisfying) definition of colonizability for a planet?
Yes–and here it is. Firstly, a colonizable world has to have an accessible surface. A super-earth with an incredibly thick atmosphere and a surface gravity of 3 or 4 gees just isn't colonizable, however much life there may be on it.
Secondly, and more subtly, the right elements have to be accessible on the planet for it to be colonizable. This seems a bit puzzling at first, but what if Centauri Bb is the only planet in the Centauri system, and it has only trace elements of Nitrogen in its composition? It's not going to matter how abundant everything else is. A planet like this–a star system like this–cannot support a colony of earthly life forms. Nitrogen is a critical component of biological life, at least our flavour of it.
In an article entitled "The Age of Substitutibility", published in Science in 1978, H.E. Goeller and A.M. Weinberg proposed an artificial mineral they called Demandite. It comes in two forms. A molecule of industrial demandite would contain all the elements necessary for industrial manufacturing and construction, in the proportions that you'd get if you took, say, an average city and ground it up into a fine pulp. There're about 20 elements in industrial demandite including carbon, iron, sodium, chlorine etc. Biological demandite, on the other hand, is made up almost entirely of just six elements: hydrogen, oxygen, carbon, nitrogen, phosphorus and sulfur. (If you ground up an entire ecosystem and looked at the proportions of these elements making it up, you could in fact find an existing molecule that has exactly the same proportions. It's called cellulose.)
Thirdly, there must be a manageable flow of energy at the surface. The place can be hot or cold, but it has to be possible for us to move heat around. You can't really do that at the surface of Venus, for instance; it's 800 degrees everywhere on the ground so your air conditioning spends an insane amount of energy just overcoming this thermal inertia. Access to a gradient of temperature or energy is what makes physical work possible.
Obviously things like surface pressure, stellar intensity, distance from Earth etc. play big parts, but these are the main three factors that I can see. It should be instantly obvious that they have almost nothing to do with how far the planet is from its primary. There is no 'colonizable zone' similar to a 'habitable zone' around any given star. The judgment has to be made on a world by world basis.
Note that by this definition, Mars is marginally colonizable. Why? Not because of its temperature or low air pressure, but because it's very low in Nitrogen, at least at the surface. The combination of Mars and Ceres may make a colonizable unit, if Ceres has a good supply of Nitrogen in its makeup–and this idea of combo environments being colonizable complicates the picture. We're unlikely to be able to detect an object the size of Ceres around Alpha Centauri, so long-distance elimination of a system as a candidate for colonizability is going to be difficult. Conversely, if we can detect the presence of all the elements necessary for life and industry on a roughly Earth-sized planet, regardless of whether it's in its star's habitable zone, we may have a candidate for colonizability.
The colonizability of an accessible planet with a good temperature gradient can be rated according to how well its composition matches the compositions of industrial and biological demandite. We can get very precise with this scale, and we probably should. It, and not habitability, is the true measure of which worlds we might wish to visit.
To sum up, I'm proposing that we add a second measure to the existing scale of habitability when studying exoplanets. The habitability of a planet actually says nothing about how attractive it might be for us to visit. Colonizability is the missing metric for judging the value of planets around other stars.
This raises the ethical question of at which point do we as a race change the environment of an alien world's biology in order to suit our needs?
Do we engage in biological genicide to seed a planet with Earth-life, or do we adapt ourselves to suit the exoplanet's environment?
Or do we move on to another planet that is more "colonizable" as Schroeder suggests and totally build a habitat from scratch?
A tale of two worlds: habitable, or colonizable?
Hat tip to Centauri Dreams.


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Gem of a Performance
I was a little frustrated with my boys after that series against the Rockies, but it was nice to have an off-day and then get back out there on the field against the Astros. Last night's game was incredible.
First of all, Mat Latos. This kid is a stud. He's just amazing, and I have a feeling that he's going to do great things for this organization in the future. He's definitely got the makeup to be a number one starter someday soon. Last night, he threw eight innings, only allowing two hits. No runs, no walks, no nothing. He also struck out nine batters. If my memory is correct, I think that outing was the longest any of our starters have gone so far. Absolutely amazing.
And on top of that, he hit two doubles and drove in a run. He was on his game last night. Stunning performance by Mat Latos.
But Mat didn't do everything himself. He had a lot of help from the rest of the lineup. Scott Hairston was in the leadoff spot for the first time, and guess what he did? He hit two home runs!! I love Scotty. He's so valuable to this club, not just this year, but in 2007 and 2008 too.
Chase Headley also hit a big two-run homer. Ryan Webb pitched the ninth, and we won the game 7-0.
We now have our first-place lead back, if only by half a game. But we'll be okay. This team has proved to me over and over again that they are very capable of winning consistently. One bad game is not going to change that.
I'm so excited about these boys. They're good. They're solid. They're winning and they're going to keep doing that. I can't wait to see what else this season holds.


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This article is a reprint of Wise Bread's contribution to OPEN Forum from American Express -- where small business owners can get advice from experts and share tips with each other.
At the last official count, over 14 million out of work Americans were actively seeking employment. While the official unemployment rate is just over 9%, over 16% of the labor force who would like to be working full time, aren't. So why even think about labor shortages? Because in spite of what the numbers say, business owners are already feeling the pinch and all indications point to a full-on talent squeeze by the end of the decade.
According to says Matt Ferguson, CEO of Career Builder, "More than one-third of Human Resource managers we surveyed said they currently have positions for which they can't find qualified candidates."
As we emerge from our economic woes, the hiring and retention problems that were key management concerns just a few years ago will return with a vengeance. The labor force dynamics that created the talent gap haven't changed. While layoffs and business closures have added millions to the available labor pool, they did nothing to improve the quality of the labor force. If anything, the recession has added to the problem. Employees who've survived are burned out. At the depth of the recession, a survey by Right Management showed that 80 percent were either looking for another job or planning to jump ship when the economy improved.
Now is the time to act if you want to keep them on board and attract new talent. Here's how.
You've no doubt heard that the workforce is aging (aren't we all), but did you know that almost all the labor force growth over the next six years will be among those 55 and older?
While experts argue about how severe an impact the retiring Baby Boomers will have on employment, one thing's for sure, there will be a lot more of them in the short run and a lot less of them in the long run. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), they'll account for about 24% of all workers by 2018 (up from just 18% in 2008).
It's time to take an inventory of the wrinklies around your office and think about how you're going to keep them engaged in the years ahead. The promotions and accolades that drove them in the last decade are being replaced by thoughts of retirement and taking it easy.
At the same time, you need to plan for who will fill the Boomers' shoes after they've made their exit and the impact their leaving will have on recruitment, training, management styles, corporate intelligence, and institutional memory.
While the shift toward service industry jobs and away from manufacturing will continue, Career Builder is seeing the biggest talent deficits among cloud developers, registered nurses, manufacturing quality engineers, business analysts, truck drivers, SEO strategists, and healthcare administrators.
Further out on the horizon, the Bureau of Labor Statistics predicts huge growth in the demand for healthcare and social service providers, scientific and technical professionals, and administrative/support workers.
In those industries where talent shortages are likely, employers will be fighting to hire and retain the best and the brightest. Your top talent will be tempted by better offers. If you don't have a plan that sets you apart from other employers, you simply won't be able to compete.
Technology now makes it possible to work anywhere, anytime. For employees of all ages, workplace flexibility is at the top of their wish list – a third say they'd even take a pay cut for the opportunity. Now is the time to make the management and structural changes that support a mobile workforce.
Seemingly counter to a fix for labor shortages, getting rid of dead weight can help retain your best people. Under-performers demoralize their co-workers. Tolerating them sends a message to the rest of your staff that you don't really value their good work.
Issues your older employees paid little attention to a few years ago – healthcare, retirement, caring for aging parents – are now at the front of their minds. Good employers are finding ways to help them make the transition to this new phase of life.
Talent shortages are not global. Ireland, Scotland, India, the Philippines, and many other parts of the world are suffering from underutilization of talent. Even within the U.S., pockets of underutilized talent exist among rural residents, the disabled, military families, and others. Thanks to technology, the world is your labor pool. Dive in!
Disclaimer: The links and mentions on this site may be affiliate links. But they do not affect the actual opinions and recommendations of the authors.
Wise Bread is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to amazon.com.


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Posts Tagged secondhandsongs
Going Undercover
My Music Hack Day Stockholm hack is 'Going Undercover'. This hack uses the extensive cover song data from SecondHandSongs to construct paths between artists by following chains of cover songs. Type in the name of a couple of your favorite artists and Going Undercover will try to find a chain of cover songs that connects the two artists. The resulting playlist will likely contain familiar songs played by artists that you never heard of before. Here's a Going Undercover playlist from Carly Rae Jepsen to Johnny Cash:
For this hack I stole a lot of code from my recent Boil the Frog hack, and good thing I could do that otherwise I would never have finished the hack in time. I spent many hours working to reconcile the Second Hand Songs data with The Echo Nest and Rdio data (Second Hand Songs is not part of Rosetta stone, so I had to write lots of code to align all the IDs up). Even with leveraging the Boil the Frog code, I had a very late night trying to get all the pieces working (and of course, the bug that I spent 2 hours banging my head on at 3AM was 5 minutes of work after a bit of sleep).
I am pretty pleased with the results of the hack. It is fun to build a path between a couple of artists and listen to a really interesting mix of music. Cover songs are great for music discovery, they give you something familiar to hold on to while listening to a new artist.


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The R.M.S. Titanic hits an iceberg and the 20th Century will never be the same.
Imagine how different 1997 would have been without this megalith of a movie hitting the screens?We might not even have the same Kate or Leo we have today?! Winter of 1997/98 wouldn't have been consumed by 12 theatre viewings of "TITANIC"!!!
We shudder to think . . .
On a serious note; I'm not sure what it is about this majestic ship that has always captured my imagination. I'm guessing its a mixture of the Edwardian elegance, decadence, and grandeur of the ship – the microcosm of society contained within it – and the hubris of the upper echelon whose powers control the world to this day, and the tragedy that ensued as a result.
There are many many many fascinating details regarding this ship, but perhaps the most stimulating aspect of the Titanic's untimely fate is that it was predicted 14 years earlier by a pulp novella entitled The Wreck of the Titan: Or, Futility which I was lucky to read before the film had even been in production.
Talk about psychic premonitions; author Morgan Robertson (also the self proclaimed inventor of the periscope) chillingly predicts much of the Titanic's destiny with his fictional telling of an enormous "unsinkable" triple screw British luxury ocean liner named the S.S. TITAN which meets its untimely demise on a cold April night in the North Atlantic after it hits an iceberg losing almost everyone on board due to a lack of lifeboats.
{click here to read the rundown of similarities between the TITANIC and TITAN}
CRAZY, RIGHT?! This is 14 years before the infamous disaster! Designs for Titanic's sister ship didn't even go into production until 1908. How was it that Morgan Robertson could right a tale so shockingly similar to the Titanic's actual events. Was he psychic? Was it planned?
The whole thing is absolutely incredible, and definitely worth looking more into.
Life sure is strange, sometimes.
Lest we forget.


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Huron Automotive Services
Reliable automotive repair services
Since 1990, Huron Automotive Services has provided quality automotive service to Windsor residents. Our commitment to efficient, honest and professional service, has been the key to our success.
Our certified technicians perform a wide range of repairs and maintenance services on cars, vans and SUVs as well as light trucks, domestic and foreign. You will always receive accurate estimates, clear explanations about your vehicle's needs, and service that you can rely on.
By providing good, old-fashioned customer service, we've gained a loyal following in the community. Many area residents have come to depend on us and to rely on our technical expertise to keep their family vehicles in peak running condition.
Our business' success is built on client satisfaction. Satisfied clients are the best advertising, and word-of-mouth referrals are still our biggest source of new clients.
No matter if you are visiting our website on the recommendation of a friend, acquaintance, or on your own; one thing is certain: you can trust Huron Automotive Services with all your vehicle's repair and service needs.
Business Name:
Huron Automotive Services
1660 Huron Church RdWindsor Ontario N9C 2L1Canada
(519) 255-7799
About Windsor
Windsor is a city in southwestern Ontario, Canada, on the south bank of the Detroit River directly across from Detroit, Michigan, United States. Geographically located within but administratively independent of Essex County, it is the southernmost city in Canada and marks the southwestern end of the Quebec City–Windsor Corridor. The city's population was 229,660 at the 2021 census, making it the third-most populated city in Southwestern Ontario, after London and Kitchener. The Detroit–Windsor urban area is North America's most populous trans-border conurbation, and the Ambassador Bridge border crossing is the busiest commercial crossing on the Canada–United States border. Windsor is a major contributor to Canada's automotive industry and is culturally diverse.
Neighborhoods in Windsor, Ontario
Boynton, Cass Corridor, Chadsey Condon, Claytown, Conner Creek, Core City, Corktown, Devonwood Conservation Area, East Windsor, Fiskhorn, Forest Glade, Forest Park, Foxtown, Gateway Community, Gratiot Town/Ketterring
Things to do in Windsor, Ontario
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Morning Minutes: Feb. 14
Morning Minutes: Feb. 14
Word of the Day, Website of the Day, Number to Know, This Day in History, Today's Featured Birthday and Daily Quote.
Word of the Day
Infatuation in-fach-oo-EY-shuhn (noun) Foolish or all-absorbing passion or an instance of this - dictionary.com
Website of the Day
Valentine's Day by the Numbers
If you're one of the 62 percent of adults who celebrate Valentine's Day, or if you just enjoy infographics, this is the site for you! Learn how many pounds of chocolate are bought, how many cards are sent and how many conversation hearts are eaten.
Number to Know
102 million: Number of Americans over the age of 18 who are unmarried, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. That's 44.1 percent of the country's population.
This Day in History
Feb. 14, 278: St. Valentine is beheaded by the order of Claudius II, or Claudius the Cruel, emperor of Rome.
Today's Featured Birthday
Quarterback Drew Bledsoe (41)
Daily Quote
"Love conquers all." - Virgil


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- November 19, 2010
MANATEE COUNTY — Elvis stole the show at Freedom Elementary School last week.
The 2-year-old alligator adopted by Karen Ciemniecki's fourth-grade class made his first appearance at the school May 27. His caretaker, Justin Matthews of Matthews Wildlife Rescue, brought the gator and several other rescued animals to the school for a special wildlife presentation and to accept a donation for Elvis' adoption.
"I was surprised he was squishy and scaly," 10-year-old Jayde Boykins said after petting Elvis. "I thought he would be a little bigger, but he was awesome."
Over the last few weeks, children in Ciemniecki's class raised more than the $35 adoption fee for Elvis by collecting pocket change. The project was the culmination of a months-long study of Florida's ecosystems and the book "Oonawassee Summer" by Melissa Forney.
"We decided to look at the native animals Mr. Matthews had (up for adoption through his program at Mixon Fruit Farms)," Ciemniecki said. "Elvis was our first choice."
The 26-inch-long alligator was rescued from a gator farm, where another gator had attacked him.
During last week's wildlife presentation, Matthews also introduced children to Freedom's mascot, a Harris hawk named Freedom, as well as a tortoise and a Burmese python under his care and answered questions about each animal.
Matthews rehabilitates animals from his East County home and also runs the Wildlife Care and Education Center at Mixon Fruit Farms.
Ciemniecki said last week's presentation was a perfect way to end the year and the fourth grade's study on the environment.
"It's good to see (students) so excited about going through with it and helping someone who really helps the
community," she said.
For information about Matthews Wildlife Rescue or adopting an animal at the Wildlife Education Center, call Matthews at 812-1771 or visit www.mixon.com/wildliferefuge.asp.
Contact Pam McTeer at [email protected].


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LONDON, England (CNN) -- Heather Mills, the estranged wife of Paul McCartney, was granted nearly £25 million ($50 million) in her divorce proceedings with the former Beatle, she said Monday.
Mills and McCartney, pictured before divorce proceedings, married in 2002 and have a young daughter.
Mills said she will not appeal the award, but she will appeal the publication of the hearing transcript, which she said McCartney has asked for.
In an 11-minute statement to reporters outside the High Court after the verdict, Mills said she was pleased that the bitter divorce hearings had ended.
"I'm so glad it's over and it was an incredible result, in the end, to secure my and my daughter's future, and that of all the charities that I obviously plan on helping," said Mills, dressed in a khaki, green and blue suit with a bright red shirt.
Mills has established a career as a campaigner and charity worker since losing a leg in a road accident in 1993. Watch Mills react to the decision »
Judge Hugh Bennett awarded Mills, who represented herself, £24.3 million ($48.6 million), according to the court's release.
She had sought an award of nearly £125 million ($251 million), the court said. McCartney had proposed £15.8 million ($31.6 million), it said. Read the court's statement
The judgment included £35,000 ($70,000) a year for the couple's 4-year-old daughter, Beatrice. Mills said she was unhappy with that amount because it isn't enough for school tuition, private security, or first-class airfare.
"He likes her to fly five times a year on holiday," Mills said of McCartney. "It's £17,000 for two people return (round-trip) first class, so that's obviously not meant to happen for her anymore. It's very sad."
According to the court's release, the award includes £600,000 ($1.2 million) a year for Mills and £2.5 million ($5 million) for her to purchase property in London.
Mills said she would appeal to stop the publication of the entire judgment because it contains private details about Beatrice and she doesn't want them released. The judge has granted permission for the litigants to speak publicly, she said. Watch how the McCartney/Mills court battle may not be over »
McCartney did not speak to reporters after the verdict.
Mills said that as a "litigant in person," or a litigant representing herself, the system worked against her at every turn.
"These people are in a club," she said. "It's like they want to stay together and they don't want to see a litigant in person doing well."
She said the judge did not agree with her on important details, including how long the couple lived together or even McCartney's personal wealth, which she estimated at £800 million ($1.6 billion). She said the judge estimated it to be half of that.
"I won't go into all the horrific details of what happened because I'm just glad it's over," Mills said. "I really hope now that me and my daughter can have a life and not be followed every single day, and that is why I've come out -- to give it closure."
McCartney and Mills failed to agree on a settlement ending their four-year marriage in divorce hearings last month, leaving the judge to decide the terms.
McCartney and Mills married in 2002 after meeting at a charity event.
At the time of their split in 2006, they described it as amicable, despite widespread reports of a tempestuous relationship between McCartney and the former model.
Mills has since lashed out at news media coverage of the divorce, which she said has been unfair to her and driven her to the brink of suicide.
In a television interview last year, Mills said she had endured "18 months of abuse, worse than a murderer or pedophile."
Monday's divorce settlement fell short of the previous record for a litigated divorce settlement in Britain. An award of £48 million ($96 million) was handed down last year, according to British divorce lawyer Julian Lipson. See a list of expensive celebrity divorces » E-mail to a friend
All About Heather Mills • Paul McCartney • The Beatles


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SFPE NY Metro hosted a Question Writing Session for the PE Exam on January 30, 2018. Participation in these events, throughout the country, help maintain the Fire Protection PE Exam. Four chapter members attended the event hosted at Cosentini Associates. The event was moderated by Victoria Valentine of SFPE National. This event takes place each year on the Last Tuesday of January. Stay tuned for details on next year's event!
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Okay I finally managed to wrangle the Starry Night quilt top enough to get some photos. I must admit there are a few strangling pieces of paper still attached to the back…
but I promised a reveal today so here goes…
As you know, if you have followed this quilts progress, I did not have a plan of how to put this together. I just went with the flow, putting pieces up on the design wall and jigsawing the blocks into a top (a technical maneuver I do not want to attempt again!).
My design wall was too small for it, so I had pieces hanging off the wall and laying on the floor….
My first step was to arrange the star blocks in a rough layout that made sure that they were as evenly distributed and as balanced as I could get them.
I carefully placed the bigger stars around the quilt making sure that the fractured stars were separated as well as the ringed stars. I wanted the eye to move around the top exploring and I felt this was the best way to do it.
I then I placed the smaller stars in the gaps!
Finally I just filled all the spaces with scrappy blue blocks… and voila… you have a finished quilt top. A scrappy, random, crazy quilt top.


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It has taken 20 years for Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas to strip away the political filth that nearly buried him. In 1991 his left-wing critics created a public image of Thomas as a monster. They trashed him as an Uncle Tom, Anita Hill's harasser and the vote on the Supreme Court that would end legal abortion in America.
Today Thomas is one of the two most powerful black men in the U.S. government, second only to President Obama. And at 63, relatively young compared with his brethren on the court, he is established among the elite of American conservative legal thinkers with the possibility of another 20 years on the court ahead of him. He is already the nation's leading black conservative.
Thomas is also the best-known justice on the entire court, according to polls. His autobiography was a national best-seller. A 2006 poll found that nearly half of the nation, 48 percent, now views him favorably, as compared with 36 percent who have an unfavorable opinion.
And he operates in a world where Gallup polling finds that more black Americans self-identify as conservatives, 29 percent, than liberal, 24 percent. Fifty years after the heart of the civil rights movement, the bulk of black America, 43 percent, labels itself as moderate.
But for all those trends shifting his way, Justice Thomas remains a man to be scorned by the nation's liberals. The same left wing that gave license to assaulting a bright but Republican and conservative young black man's reputation 20 years ago still dominates the black political, media and civil rights establishments. And they still hate Clarence Thomas.
I first saw the hatred in the months after Thomas was nominated. Liberal advocacy groups called me repeatedly looking for anything that could stop his confirmation. Did he beat his first wife? Did he pocket money from South Africa's apartheid government? One senate staffer simply asked: "Have you got anything on your tapes we can use to stop Thomas?"
It was the start of a vicious political assault, a smear campaign that still dominates Thomas' public reputation. I came to understand it as a crusade by supporters of abortion rights. They felt justified in doing whatever they could to fight against right-wing zealots intent on denying American women the right to legal abortions. Kate Michelman, a leading abortion rights activist, said Thomas had views that would lead "directly to the loss of a fundamental right for millions of American women and families."
Abortion-rights groups had success in blocking the confirmation of conservative Robert Bork in 1987 by portraying him as a right-wing opponent of abortion. But Michelman said that Thomas' positions on abortion were "far more extreme" than Bork's. Michelman and other supporters of abortion rights feared that Thomas' blackness was a distraction from the danger he posed as a fifth and deciding vote on the Supreme Court against legal abortion.
Abortion rights supporters particularly worried that Senate Democrats might give him a pass on his conservative political background because of political pressure to have a black man on the court.
In addition to calling me in their search for dirt to disqualify Thomas, the liberal establishment called Thomas' former co-workers, including Anita Hill. He had hired her for two government jobs. He recommended her for a later job as a professor. She had never filed any complaint of sexual harassment against him. When the FBI agents and reporters from the Washington Post interviewed her about the nominee, she never mentioned any high-pressure sexual advances that amounted to harassment. The FBI agents did report that Hill "talked about [his] behavior," apparently sexual come-ons and off-color jokes shared among adults.
But Hill eventually came forward to testify about tidbits of conversation with sexual overtones. The Thomas nomination hearings took on a soap opera quality as they stretched into prime-time, nightly television reality shows featuring salacious talk about pubic hair on a Coke can and porn movies.
During the hearings, the reality of Thomas was swallowed up by a media storm of ceaseless rumors and blinding personal attacks on him. The hearings gave Thomas' opponents a huge media canvas to paint him as the evil stand-in for any man who sexually harassed women at work, and a puppet of the far right who was groomed and ultimately controlled by Presidents Reagan and Bush.
It was unfair to Thomas. He was a news source for me when I was the Washington Post White House correspondent, and I knew that he was often branded by conservatives as not really conservative and not a team player. But the image created by his liberal opponents played to a history of racist slander against black men as sexual predators and intellectual weaklings.
Thomas famously called the attack a "high-tech lynching." It was a different kind of lynching. This one included black civil rights groups who felt obligated, as part of the liberal activist community, to join the battle to protect abortion rights.
His "Own Man"
Time, however, is on Clarence Thomas' side. Thomas has taken advantage of the first 20 years of his lifetime appointment to the court to repair his disfigured image. As the hearings fade into history, Thomas' goal has been to shift his public image from the hateful, cartoonish ogre to an independent thinker, free from both liberal and conservative orthodoxy. Twenty years later, Justice Thomas defines himself as being his "own man."
He came to my 50th-birthday party, and afterward, one friend who talked with him called me to say, "They lied on that man." And in his court opinions, his book and his public appearances, Thomas has defined himself on his own terms as a black nationalist in the self-reliant, proudly independent tradition of his hardworking Georgia grandfather, Myers Anderson.
The ice deliveryman raised Thomas to be the living proof that whites are wrong to assume that black people lack intellect, discipline and the capacity for achievement. This up-by-the bootstraps view of the best path for black people is in the tradition of another black nationalist icon, Booker T. Washington, whose bust is featured in Thomas' Supreme Court chamber.
In his first 10 years on the court, Thomas famously told a 1998 meeting of the National Bar Association, an organization of black lawyers, that he has a "right to think for himself." It is a theme he articulated and refined over the last 20 years: "Nobody owns me."
At the bar-association meeting, Thomas put it this way: "It pains me deeply — more deeply than any of you can imagine — to be perceived by so many members of my race as doing them harm … I have come here not in anger or to anger, though my mere presence has been sufficient, obviously, to anger some, nor have I come to defend my views, but rather to assert my right to think for myself, to refuse to have my ideas assigned to me, as though I was an intellectual slave."
Thomas has long been a critic of the Supreme Court's 1954 Brown decision ending legal school segregation because he thinks that while integration may be nice, the real goal for all children should be the best-quality school. He has never been a fan of government set-aside programs or affirmative action because he does not believe that there is a government solution to racial bias. The solution, for Clarence Thomas, is education, economic strength and excellence that command respect.
The black conservative tradition claimed by Thomas shares roots with the black separatism and militancy of Malcolm X. And from his days as a college student, when Thomas mastered and even memorized Malcolm's speeches, he can still quote Malcolm X as an advocate of black self-reliance, self-determination and self-sufficiency.
During one interview with me in the late '80s, he cited Malcolm X's words verbatim: "The American black man should be focusing his every effort toward building his own businesses and decent homes for himself. As other ethnic groups have done, let the black people, wherever possible, however possible, patronize their own kind and start in those ways to build up the black race's ability to do for itself. That's the only way the American black man is ever going to get respect."
Malcolm X on the Supreme Court might look a lot like Justice Thomas: seeking racial equality as a matter of original constitutional protections for all citizens and not on the basis of integration, affirmative action, busing or other race-based remedies.
Original Interpretation of the Constitution
In his 446 opinions, Thomas has defined himself as seeking the original intent of the Constitution. His understanding of race in America boils down to "all men are created equal," and he refuses to allow the Constitution to be interpreted so as to make any racial distinction among Americans.
In cases touching on race, that means he will not back court-imposed schemes intended to remedy past discrimination. For example, in 2007 he opposed a Seattle effort to manage the racial diversity of schools by limiting the transfer of students based on their race as a violation of equal protection in the Constitution. "If history has taught us anything it has taught us to beware of elites bearing racial theories," he wrote. He looked to be taking shots at white liberals when he offered a stinging appraisal of Justice Stephen Breyer's dissent by writing in a footnote: "Justice Breyer's good intentions, which I do not doubt, have the shelf life of Justice Breyer's tenure."
Similarly, in 2009 Thomas opposed extending a provision of the Voting Rights Act requiring jurisdictions with a history of racial discrimination in voting to clear any changes in how they organized elections. Thomas appeared sensitive to the issue in his dissent but opposed the law as a matter of his conservative constitutional principles. He wrote that the federal government has no constitutional power to interfere in local elections without first finding evidence of racial discrimination.
In 2010 Thomas gave a unique racial slant to his opinion repealing a Chicago law banning handguns. The case was brought in the name of a 76-year-old black man who said he wanted a gun to protect himself from black "gangbangers." Thomas made it clear that during the Reconstruction era, blacks often had their guns confiscated by whites. On that basis, Thomas said the black man's right to have a gun was "essential to the preservation of liberty."
His fidelity to an original interpretation of the Constitution extends to a case often cited by his critics as evidence that Thomas is out of touch with racial realities. A Louisiana prisoner was kicked and punched while handcuffed and shackled. His teeth were knocked loose, and he sued under the Eighth Amendment protections against cruel and unusual punishment. Thomas told Senators during his confirmation hearings that he felt compassion for prisoners he saw outside his D.C. Court of Appeals courthouse, and apparently citing the large number of black prisoners, said he whispered daily, "But for the grace of God there go I."
But Thomas sided with the prison guards in the case. He argued in dissent that the Constitution's protection against harsh treatment applied only to sentencing and was not to be taken as a "code of prison regulations." He said that the legal remedy might exist under other laws but was not intended to be the focus of the Eight Amendment. Again, Justice Thomas' approach is to keep the Constitution simple in its protections of individual rights, despite racial differences.
In his concurring opinion to 1995's Adarana Construction v. Peña, a key affirmative action case, Thomas gave us a valuable insight into how he applies his philosophy of racial injustice to the cases he decides:
There is a 'moral and constitutional equivalence' between laws designed to subjugate a race and those that distribute benefits on the basis of race in order to foster some current notion of equality. Government cannot make us equal; it can only recognize, respect and protect us as equal before the law. That affirmative action programs may have been motivated, in part, by good intentions cannot provide refuge from the principle that under our Constitution, the government may not make distinctions on the basis of race.
One interesting exception has been Justice Thomas' interpretation of free speech protections when it comes to the racially charged issue of cross burning. In 2003's Virginia v. Black, he dissented from the majority, who struck down a statute that banned cross burning. The only black man on the court cited the purpose of cross burning to intimidate and terrify black people and defended the state law as a reasonable limitation both in terms of its constitutionality and simple, human decency.
But in general, Justice Thomas insists on eliminating racial distinctions in interpreting the Constitution, on the theory that the law is to be applied without racial distinction. Despite the national history of white-majority discrimination against blacks, Thomas' approach is to pursue the law so as to protect the rights of people of all races.
His race-neutral approach is a sharp contrast to race-conscious programs approved to remedy past discrimination. He stands apart from liberals on the court and the legal strategy that drove the civil rights movement during the 20th century.
He believes, for example, that the Interstate Commerce Clause in Article I of the Constitution has been too broadly applied in cases of racial discrimination. And for 20 years he has tried to narrow its interpretation. He is a Federalist, deferring to the power of state governments more often than the national government, a potentially dangerous tact given the past use of "states' rights" to defend the use of local laws denying equal rights to blacks.
None of this, however, is why he attracted such opposition to his nomination 20 years ago. His foes feared his stand on abortion, and they were right. On the court he takes the position that the Constitution does not deal with the issue of abortion, and it is up to the states to regulate or ban it as they please. With Thomas added to the conservative wing of the court, the nation has seen a turn to more limits on abortion.
But that is not what defines Justice Thomas' first 20 years on the bench. It is his approach to dealing with America's racial divide that is blazing a new path for the 21st century. His jurisprudence has added new racial dimensions to conservative legal thought and forced new strategic thinking among liberals. He has made his imprint on the court, on conservatism and on the black experience in America.
Juan Williams is an author and political analyst for Fox News. This article is being jointly published on The Root and Foxnews.com.
For a different view of Clarence Thomas on this site, read "Doubting Clarence Thomas" by Randall Kennedy.


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Saturday, October 1, 2011
still life standouts
30 comments:
Beautiful flowers! I love the composition!ReplyDelete
I love the leading lines and the sharpness of the flowers is incredible. Great job!ReplyDelete
Absolutely LOVELY Deb!!!!ReplyDelete
- AnonymousOctober 1, 2011 at 8:10 PM
What a fabulous bench, a really lovely shot.ReplyDelete
I love the simple beauty of this shot. Just lovely!ReplyDelete
I'll say it again! I love this!ReplyDelete
- AnonymousOctober 1, 2011 at 9:03 PM
Such a lovely shot! so bright and cheerful.ReplyDelete
beautiful photo. such detail.ReplyDelete
You have a sweet friend. Happy birthday. Daisies are my absolute favorite. Have a good weekend.ReplyDelete
Beautiful, I love the daisies against the wooden bench.ReplyDelete
Beautiful flowers and a beautiful picture. :)ReplyDelete
A wonderful friendly birthday treat which you have captured to last! Having a neighbour like Susan must be delightful, I'm sure she says the same about you.ReplyDelete
They're so pretty, love how they look so delicate on the wooden bench!ReplyDelete
What a beautiful picture!ReplyDelete
Oh my, what a picture Deb!!! You made those daises look better then real life!ReplyDelete
When I grow up I want to take pictures just like you.
Love you and what an honor it is to be called your friend☻
Gorgeous photo! What a sweet friend to give you flowers!ReplyDelete
You sound like a perfect pair. Happy Birthday :)ReplyDelete
Lovely choice. Love the composition.ReplyDelete
Absolutely stunningReplyDelete
- AnonymousOctober 2, 2011 at 9:29 PM
Makes me think of Meg Ryan in You've Got Mail. Daisies are "so friendly"... Gorgeous.ReplyDelete
How awesome that you two are neighbors...such a small little world.ReplyDelete
They're such happy flowers - great shot!ReplyDelete
Such a sweet thing for her to do! You are so blessed to have each other so close. :)ReplyDelete
I love these - the colour of white is just so refreshing. Oh just to say thankyou so much for placing my blog button on your blog - you just made my day :)ReplyDelete
Very pretty, Deb. Daisies are always a welcome sight. :)ReplyDelete
- AnonymousOctober 4, 2011 at 8:48 PM
daises always make me smile, I love the way you composed them!!ReplyDelete
What a sweet shot - I really like it.ReplyDelete
love this! love the flowers against the rustic bench. :)ReplyDelete
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text:
GOJO Industries, Inc., the inventors of PURELL®, is committed to improving the well-being of patients and healthcare workers. Together with infection prevention professionals, we're reducing infection rates and improving patient outcomes. With our leadership brands PURELL® and PROVON®, we are focused on bringing innovative hand hygiene products, smart dispensing solutions and behavior-based compliance-building programs to market that help reduce the spread of infections and improve hand hygiene compliance.
GOJO Industries, Inc.
One GOJO Plaza, Suite 500
Akron, OH 44311
(330) 255-6000
Booth 1744


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Iconic three-story globe stand will include interactive digital touchscreens
DUBAI, UAE – 2 May 2013 – Emirates, one of the world's fastest growing airlines, returns to the 20th edition of Arabian Travel Market (ATM), which runs from 6th to 9th May 2013. A pivotal partner of ATM since its inception 20 years ago, Emirates reaffirms its commitment to the region's foremost travel and trade show.
As with ATM, Emirates has become a remarkable success over the past 20 years, achieving milestones that have contributed to Dubai's development as an aviation and tourism hub.
"ATM has been a perfect platform to showcase our constant innovation and new initiatives across the Emirates Group, and our partnership in the last 20 years has been a mutually rewarding experience," said Thierry Antinori, Emirates' Executive Vice President, Passenger Sales Worldwide.
"Since our last appearance at ATM, we have made great strides in realising our vision of connecting people and cultures alike, and creating meaningful experiences through our "Hello Tomorrow" brand platform which we rolled out last year. In 2012, we saw another unprecedented growth for Emirates – we introduced 15 new destinations to our network; took delivery of 33 new aircraft including 11 A380s and 22 Boeing 777s; and opened Concourse A at Dubai International, the world's first purpose-built facility for the A380. Just earlier this year, we took another step towards becoming a truly global lifestyle brand with our historic partnership with Qantas – a partnership that will provide the most comprehensive and premium airline experience across one of the best networks in the world."
Emirates returns to ATM with the iconic Emirates globe. The spectacular globe will have a striking visual display of 30 60" large screens embedded in the circumference of the globe panels. It will continuously play the bespoke, three-minute "Hello Tomorrow" film throughout ATM at stand UAE3310 in Hall 3. There will also be interactive digital touchscreens for visitors to experience.
The 529-square metre globe features six 40" digital multi-touch screen displays, replacing traditional brochure stands on the outer edges of the platform. These displays invite visitors to vote for their favourite Emirates destinations on an interactive world map. In addition, Cabin Crew will also be featured on the screens, talking about their recommendations for each destination. The displays will have a direct link to Emirates dedicated social media pages, such as Facebook, its official YouTube channel and Google+.
Visitors to the Emirates globe stand will also be able to find the latest information on the company's businesses and initiatives including Skywards, Emirates' frequent flyer programme; Emirates Holidays, the airline's tour operating arm; Arabian Adventures, the leading destination management company in the Middle East; and Congress Solutions International, which is a full-service professional congress organiser.
Emirates started the year with one of its most significant expansion phases to date. For 2013, Emirates will receive on average, two new aircraft every five weeks, with nearly half being A380s – reinforcing Emirates' position as the world's leading A380 operator. On order are 198 planes worth over US$ 71 billion.. Destinations-wise, Emirates has significantly expanded its global reach – now flying to 133 destinations in 77 countries. Earlier this year, Emirates started services to Warsaw and Algiers, and will soon fly to Haneda in Japan, Clark International in the Philippines and Stockholm, Sweden in early September.
On ATM's opening day, 6th May, His Highness Sheikh Ahmed bin Saeed Al Maktoum, Chairman and Chief Executive, Emirates Airline & Group will give the opening address at the ATM Seminar – "20 Years: Then, Now and the Future" at 13:00pm at the Seminar Theatre, Hall 1.
In addition, on 6th May, ATM presents "The Big Conversation" featuring Emirates Airline's President Tim Clark and Qantas CEO Alan Joyce discussing their vision for the future development of this ground breaking partnership. The event will be held from 14:45 to 16:15pm at the Seminar Theatre, Hall 1.


text:
Macquarie Semiconductor and Technology on behalf of Micron Memory Taiwan Co., Ltd. (F16)
Date of Manufacture:
Currently Configured for: 300mm
Current Equipment Status: Available
Asset HDD not included
Location of Equipment: Taichung City, Taiwan
Available date: Currently AvailableProcess: Inspection
200mm/300 mm wafer inspection and review station
configured for brightfield (VIS and 337nm UV), darkfield, DIC (Nomarski) observation, CSM
Programed settings for light, aperture, zoom, field stop and DIC analyzer
Newport Kensington XY stage with 300mm x 300mm travel and 300mm vacuum wafer chuck
Zeiss Objectives:
Epiplan Neofluar 10x/0.30 HD DIC
Epiplan Apochromat 50x/0.90 HD DIC
Epiplan Apochromat 100x/0.95 HD DIC
Epiplan Apochromat 150x/0.95
Epiplan UV Insp 120x/0.95
TI MP-2000PF-U5 camera
Optronix S97670 camera and DEI-750D controller
MEG system with Hg-Xe lamp source
Zeiss LG-Xe 180w remote xenon illumination source
Zeiss 45 74 92 dual beam laser
autofocus (AF) assembly
Thermo VSL-337ND-S 337nm nitrogen laser
Photonic Instruments Micro-Point 2202/2279 assembly
Halcyonics (Accurian) MOD-2M active vibration isolation controller
MS Windows 2000 Professional operating system
CE Marked
The information referenced on this page is accurate to the best of our knowledge. We do not warrant the completeness or accuracy of the information contained herein. Interested parties are encouraged to request inspection to verify equipment condition, configuration, and completeness. Any offer to purchase equipment shall be subject to our standard terms and conditions of sale.
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text:
Federal Prosecutions of Immigrants Hits High
FRESNO, California -- Federal prosecutions of immigrants soared to new levels this spring, as the Obama administration continued an aggressive enforcement strategy championed under President George W. Bush, according to a new study released Thursday.
The 4,145 cases referred to federal prosecutors in March and April was the largest number for any two-month stretch since the Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency was created five years ago, the Syracuse University-based Transactional Records Access Clearinghouse found. They ranged from misdemeanor illegal entry to prosecutions of immigrants with criminal records.
The government's heavy focus on immigration investigations already is creating a heavy burden for the swamped courts along the U.S.-Mexico border, whose judges handle hundreds more cases than most of their counterparts in the rest of the country.
Federal authorities claim that workload would grow if Arizona's controversial new immigration law were implemented. The new law requires police, while enforcing other laws, to check the immigration status of anyone they have a reasonable suspicion is in the country illegally. It will take effect July 29 unless blocked by a court.
"People already are working 10- or 12-hour days and on weekends to just meet the caseload," said Matt Dykman, a U.S. District Court clerk for the District of New Mexico, where the percentage of cases referred by Customs and Border Patrol increased by 54 percent from February to April this year. "It's not an eight-hour day, because you have to process them and get them in court for that detention hearing."
Some of the increase may be due to seasonal upticks in the flow of migrants, who often tend to cross the border in time for the summer harvest or other temporary work, Dykeman said. Hundreds of acres of fruit and vegetable crops are ripening in California's Central Valley, for instance, where farm laborers flock in the warm months seeking jobs picking and harvesting.
The Department of Homeland Security, which oversees both investigative agencies, did not immediately respond to a request for comment on TRAC's findings.
The nonprofit academic research group obtained the latest figures from the Department of Justice under the Freedom of Information Act. That agency also declined to comment on the findings.
U.S. Attorneys along the southwest border, from Texas to California, handle the bulk of cases referred by the border patrol.
Department of Homeland Security figures show that the number of illegal immigrants in the country has fallen in recent years. As of January 2009, an estimated 10.8 million people were in the country illegally, 1 million less than the 2007 peak, according to DHS.
At the same time, deportations have been increasing, climbing from 185,944 in 2007 to 387,790 last year.