Fallaci Political Blog

The Coral Reef

2009-08-05T22:06:00.001-07:00

Coral reefs are fragile, living ecosystems increasingly being threatened and damaged by pollution, disease and habitat destruction. EPA has several activities involving the protection of coral reefs. Further education of the coral reef biological indicators is important to bring additional awareness to these very unique ecosystems.

Coral reefs are among the world's richest ecosystems, second only to tropical rain forests in plant and animal diversity. However, they are extremely sensitive environments that have special temperature, salinity, light, oxygen, and nutrient requirements. If environmental conditions fall outside the acceptable range of these requirements, the health and dynamics of a coral reef community can be severely disrupted. That's why coral communities are sensitive indicators of water quality and the ecological health of the coastal watershed.

Corals themselves are tiny animals which belong to the group cnidaria (the "c" is silent). Other cnidarians include hydras, jellyfish, and sea anemones. Corals are sessile animals, meaning they are not mobile but stay fixed in one place. They feed by reaching out with tentacles to catch prey such as small fish and planktonic animals. Coral reefs provide habitats for a large variety of organisms. These organisms rely on corals as a source of food and shelter. Besides the corals themselves and their symbiotic algae, other creatures that call coral reefs home include various sponges; molluscs such as sea slugs, nudibranchs, oysters, and clams; crustaceans like crabs and shrimp; many kinds of sea worms; echinoderms like star fish and sea urchins; other cnidarians such as jellyfish and sea anemones; various types of fungi; sea turtles; and many species of fish.

Pioneer Corps

2009-07-21T23:30:00.000-07:00

The oldest and least glamourous of all services, yet it is omnipresent in all stages of warfare. Pioneer Corps units provide disciplined and well trained manpower, where civilian labor is either not available, or its employment is not desirable for reasons of security. Pioneer units are mostly committed in forward and operational areas. They may also be employed as guards and escorts for headquarters, installations, ammunition trains and convoys.

"Through all major wars the contribution of the Pioneer has been tremendous. He is an important element in all spheres of activities with the engineers he builds bridges, repairs railways, maintains roads; with the service corps he brings up vital supplies and stores; with the ordnance corps he keeps up the flow of guns and ammunition; he works in hospitals or acts as stretcher bearers with frontline troops ".

True to these words, the Pioneers have been there to support the operations of all arms and services, both in war and peace. Their resilience and eagerness to undertake all type of duties is aptly summed up in their motto; SHRAM SARVA VIJAYEE -meaning 'With Labour, everything can be won'. The Pioneer Soldier is always true to his tasks.

IIT student chosen for US Council on Competitiveness

2009-07-13T02:04:00.000-07:00

Pradeep Khosla, an Indian-American globally known as an authority on robotics, has been chosen to join an esteemed council, committed to US competitiveness in the global economy.

Pradeep Khosla, an IIT Kharagpur alumnus has been elected to join the Council on Competitiveness -- a select group of corporate CEOs, university presidents and labor leaders to evaluate economic test and direct American competitiveness in this globalize world.

"An internationally recognized authority on robotics, embedded systems, technology education, innovation and cyber security, Carnegie Mellon's Pradeep Khosla is an outstanding addition to our newly formed Technology Leadership Strategy Initiative," said Deborah Wince-Smith, president of the Washington, DC-based council.

In recent times He was appointed for a second five year term as dean of the Carnegie Institute of technology, in credit of his management in research and education initiatives both inside the university and internationally.

Khosla will join academic researchers and business leaders to serve next three years on the Technology Leadership Strategy Initiative, a joint effort designed to plan the most promised frontiers of technology and competitive advantage for the United States.

Biosolids in America

2009-07-02T22:52:00.000-07:00

Thirty years ago, many American metropolises discarded their raw sewage directly into rivers, lakes, and bays. Today, because of enhanced wastewater treatment, waterways have been cleaned up and made safer for amusement and seafood harvest. And, because of the stern Federal and state standards, the treated residuals from wastewater treatment (biosolids) can be safely recycled. Home governments make the choice whether to reprocess the biosolids as a fertilizer, incinerate it or bury it in a landfill.

Biosolids are the nutrient-rich organic resources resultant from the treatment of sewage sludge (the name for the solid, semisolid or liquid untreated residue generated during the treatment of domestic sewage in a treatment facility). When treated and processed, sewage sludge becomes biosolids which can be safely recycled and applied as fertilizer to sustainably improve and maintain productive soils and stimulate plant growth.

Although cities decide how best to manage their biosolids, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is obligated and continues to provide the public with educational information, based on the best science, about the safe recycling and disposal of biosolids.

The Ozone Layer

2009-06-23T04:44:00.000-07:00

The ozone layer is a region of the ozone molecule (O3) in the Earth's atmosphere. The layer sits at an altitude of about 10-50 kilometers, and is major in the stratosphere at an altitude of 25 kilometers. In recent years, scientists have measured a seasonal reduction of the ozone layer primarily at the South Pole. This phenomenon is being called the ozone hole.

The ozone layer naturally guards Earth's life from the harmful effects of the Sun's ultraviolet (UV) radiation. A rigorous decrease in the concentration of ozone in the ozone layer could lead to the following dangerous effects:
• An increase in the rate of skin cancer (ultraviolet radiation can destroy acids in DNA).
• A large increase in cataracts and Sun burning.
• Suppression of immune systems in organisms.
• Undesirable impact on crops and animals.
• Decrease in the growth of phytoplankton found in the Earth's oceans.
• Huge change in climatic effect.

Ozone is created in nature in the stratosphere by the combining of atomic oxygen (O) with molecular oxygen (O2). This process is done in the presence of sunlight. Ozone is destroyed naturally by the absorption of ultraviolet radiation,
O3 + UV >>> O2 + O
and by the collision of ozone with other atmospheric atoms and molecules.
O3 + O >>> 2O2
O3 + O3 >>> 3O2

Human Impact on living organism

2009-06-17T22:17:00.000-07:00

Loss of habitats due to environment pollution and deforestation is responsible for shifting of many species of animals and plants in the category of threatened species while some of them have become extinct. It is estimated that about 25,000 plants species; about 1000 vertebrate species and many invertebrates’ species are threatened.

Other causes of impact on living organism are:
Poaching of wild life for food, horn, fur, ivory,etc.
According to a report, more than 60 tigers have been poached in different parts of the country during a year, while about 57 elephants have been shot dead for ivory in a single year.
Natural resources are over exploited.

Extinct species:
Dodo bird of Mauritius.
Cheetah of India.
Great Indian Bustard.
Peacock.
Tiger.
Show leopard.
Black rhinoceros.
Red panda.
Asiatic lion.
Kashmiri stag.

Solar cell

2008-02-25T02:20:00.000-08:00

A solar cell or photovoltaic cell is a device that converts solar energy into electricity by the photovoltaic effect. Photovoltaics is the field of technology and research related to the application of solar cells as solar energy. Sometimes the term solar cell is reserved for devices intended specifically to capture energy from sunlight, while the term photovoltaic cell is used when the source is unspecified.

Assemblies of cells are used to make solar modules, which may in turn be linked in photovoltaic arrays.

Earth science

2008-02-18T23:04:00.001-08:00

Earth science (also known as geoscience, the geosciences or the Earth Sciences), is an all-embracing term for the sciences related to the planet Earth, including geology, geophysics, hydrology, meteorology, physical geography, oceanography, and soil science.

Although mining and precious stones have been human interests throughout the history of civilisation, their development into the sciences of economic geology and mineralogy did not occur until the 18th century. The study of the earth, particularly palaeontology, blossomed in the 19th century and the growth of other disciplines like geophysics in the 20th century led to the development of the theory of plate tectonics in the 1960s, which has had a similar impact on the Earth sciences as the theory of evolution had on biology. Earth sciences today are closely linked to climate research and the petroleum and mineral exploration industries.

Different Glass Colors information

2007-11-14T22:58:00.001-08:00

The Metallic additives in the glass mix can make various colors. Here cobalt has been added to produce a bluish colored attractive glass Metals and metal oxides are added to glass during its manufacture to change its color. Manganese can be added in small amounts to take away the green tint lent by iron, or in higher concentrations to provide glass an amethyst color. Similar to manganese, selenium can be used in small concentrations to decolorize the glass, or the higher concentrations to impart a reddish color. Small concentrations of the cobalt (0.025 to 0.1%) will yield blue glass. The Tin oxide with antimony and arsenic oxides make an opaque white glass, first used in Venice to make imitation porcelain. 2 to 3% of the copper oxide produces a turquoise color. Pure metallic copper produces an extremely dark red, opaque glass, which is at times used as a substitute for gold ruby glass. Nickel, depending on the concentration, will produces blue, or violet, or even black glass too. Adding titanium makes the yellowish-brown glass. Metallic gold, in very small concentrations (around 0.001%), will makes a rich ruby-colored glass, while lower concentrations will makes a less intense red, often marketed as "cranberry". Uranium (0.1 to 2%) can be added to give glass a glowing yellow or green color. Uranium glass is normally not radioactive enough to be dangerous, but if ground into a powder, for example by polishing with sandpaper, and inhaled, it can be carcinogenic. Silver compounds (especially silver nitrate) can make a variety of colors from orange-red to yellow. The way the glass is heated and cooled can notably affect the colors shaped by these compounds. The chemistry concerned is complex and not well understood.

Tiger's eye

2007-11-04T23:04:00.000-08:00

Tiger's eye (also Tigers eye, Tiger eye) is a chatoyant gemstone that is generally yellow- to red-brown, with a silky luster. It is a rubbery silicified crocidolite (blue asbestos), a classic model of pseudomorphous replacement. An incompletely silicified blue option is called Hawk's eye. A member of the quartz group, its physical and optical properties are the same or very near to those of single-crystal quartz.

The gems are generally cut en cabochon in order to best display their chatoyancy. Red stones are brought about through calm heat treatment. Honey-coloured stones have been used to try to be like the much higher valued cat's eye chrysoberyl (cymophane), but the overall effect is unconvincing. Artificial fibreoptic glass is a general imitation of tiger's eye, and is produced in a wide range of colours.

Tiger

2007-11-04T22:37:00.000-08:00

The tiger (Panthera tigris) is a animal of the Felidae family, the largest of four "huge cats" in the Panthera genus. Native to the mainland of Asia, the tiger is an top predator and the largest graceful species in the world, comparable in size to the biggest fossil felids. The Bengal Tiger is the most common subspecies of tiger, constituting something like 80% of the entire tiger population, and is found in India, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Myanmar and Nepal. It has disappeared from much of its previous circulation including the Caucasus, Java and Bali.

The tiger is an endangered variety, with the majority of the world's tigers now living in captivity.Several subspecies are extinct and others critically in danger of extinction. Tigers have featured in ancient mythologies and tradition, and continue to be depicted in modern films and literature, as well as appearing on flags, coats of arms and as mascots for sporting teams. It is the national animal of India, among other countries.

Flower

2007-10-28T21:28:00.000-07:00

A flower is the reproductive structure of those plants classified as angiosperms. The flower structure incorporates the reproductive organs, and its occupation is to create seeds through sexual reproduction. For the higher plants, seeds are the next generation, and serve as the primary means by which persons of a species are dispersed across the landscape. After fertilization, portions of the flower develop into a fruit containing the germ

Butter chicken

2007-10-16T21:14:00.000-07:00

Butter chicken or murgh makhani is an Indian dish accepted in countries all over the world that have a tradition of Indian restaurants. While the dish's general recipe is well known, the actual flavour can differ from restaurant to restaurant even within Delhi. Butter chicken is usually served with naan, roti, parathas or steamed rice.

It is a dish prepared by marinating a chicken overnight in a yoghurt and spice mixture usually together with garam masala, ginger, lemon or lime, pepper, coriander, cumin, turmeric, chilli, methi and garlic. It is in various ways like to chicken tikka masala. The chicken is then roasted or dry as a bone.

China wall

2007-10-08T23:10:00.000-07:00

The Great Wall is the world's longest human-made arrangement, stretching over about 6,400 km (4,000 miles) from Shanhai Pass in the east to Lop Nur in the west, along an arc that roughly delineates the southern edge of Inner Mongolia. It is also the biggest human-made structure ever built in terms of surface area and mass. A number of walls, referred to as the Great Wall of China, were built since the 5th century BC, the most famous being the one built between 220 BC and 200 BC by the first Emperor of China, Qin Shi Huang. That wall was much farther north than the current wall, built through the Ming Dynasty, and little of it remains.

Salad

2007-09-24T01:30:00.000-07:00

Salad is a light meal — or, as part of a larger meal, much more of an taster — consisting of mixed vegetables (usually including at least one leaf vegetable) or fruit, frequently with a dressing or sauce, occasionally nuts and sometimes with the addition of meat, fish or cheese. It is generally seen as a healthy dish, although not always low in calories, salt, sugar, or fat because of the dressing that is often added.The word "salad" comes from the French salade of the same meaning, which in twist is from the Latin salata, "salty", from sal, "salt".

Northern Flicker

2007-09-13T22:44:00.000-07:00

The Northern Flicker, Colaptes auratus, is a average-sized woodpecker.

Adults are brown with black bars on the rear and wings. Their breast and belly are fawn with black spots; they have a black "necklace". The tail is dark on apex. They show a white remnant in flight. There are two variants which were previously considered separate species:

The Yellow-shafted Flicker resides in eastern North America. They are yellow under the tail and under wings and have yellow shafts on their primaries. They have a grey cap, a beige face and a red bar on their neck.
The Red-shafted Flicker resides in western North America. They are red under the tail and under wings and have red shafts on their primaries. They have a beige cap, a grey face and a red body hair.
These two differences interbreed where their ranges overlap.

Their breeding habitat is wooded areas across North America, as far south as Central America. They nest in a hollow space in a tree or post; this bird excavates its own home. Abandoned flicker nests create environment for other cavity nesters. They are sometimes driven from nesting sites by European Starlings.

Northern birds move around to the southern parts of the range; southern birds are often stable residents.

These birds feed on the ground, inquiring with their bill, also sometimes catching insects in flight. They mainly eat insects, mainly ants, also feed on fruits, berries, seeds and nuts.

This bird's call is a continued laugh, ki ki ki ki ..., friendlier than that of the Pileated Woodpecker. It often drums on trees or even metal objects to say publicly country. Insect killer use on lawns may be causal to a decline in their numbers.

Like many woodpeckers, its flight is rolling. The frequent cycle of a quick succession of flaps followed by a pause creates an effect comparable to a rollercoaster.

Mainframes

2007-09-06T00:40:00.000-07:00

Mainframes (often colloquially referred to as big iron) are huge and expensive computers used mainly by government institutions and large companies for mission critical applications, usually bulk data processing such as censuses, industry/consumer statistics, ERP, and financial transaction processing.
The term originated during the early 1970s with the introduction of smaller, fewer complex computers such as the DEC PDP-8 and PDP-11 series, which became known as minicomputers or just minis. The industry/users then coined the term "mainframe" to describe bigger, earlier types (previously known simply as "computers").

Asia

2007-08-21T23:54:00.001-07:00

Asia is the world's biggest and most populous continent. It covers 8.6% of the Earth's total surface area (or 29.4% of its land area) and, with almost 4 billion people, it contains more than 60% of the world's present human population.

Chiefly in the eastern and northern hemispheres, Asia is conventionally defined as part of the landmass of Africa-Eurasia – with the western portion of the latter occupied by Europe – lying east of the Suez Canal, east of the Ural Mountains, and south of the Caucasus Mountains and the Caspian and Black Seas. It is surrounded to the east by the Pacific Ocean, to the south by the Indian Ocean, and to the north by the Arctic Ocean.
Given its size and diversity, Asia – a toponym dating back to classical antiquity – is more a cultural concept incorporating a number of regions and peoples than a homogeneous, physical entity.

Minicomputer

2007-08-13T21:08:00.001-07:00

Minicomputer is a largely outmoded term for a class of multi-user computers which create the middle range of the computing spectrum, in between the largest multi-user systems (traditionally, mainframe computers) and the smallest single-user systems (microcomputers or personal computers). More modern terms for such machines consist of midrange systems (common in IBM parlance), workstations (common in Sun Microsystems and general UNIX/Linux parlance), and servers.

Microcomputer

2007-07-30T01:49:00.001-07:00

A microcomputer is mainly often taken to mean a computer with a microprocessor (µP) as its CPU. Another general characteristic of these computers is that they take up physically small amounts of space.Desktop computers, video game consoles, laptop computers, tablet PCs, and a lot of handheld devices may all be considered examples of microcomputers.Most microcomputers serve only a single user at a time, but some, in the form of PCs and workstations running e.g. a UNIX(-like) operating system, may cater to a number of users concurrently. The µP does the majority of the job of calculating on and manipulating data that all computers do.

CPU Socket

2007-07-23T00:00:00.001-07:00

The term CPU socket (or CPU slot) is commonly used to describe the connector linking the motherboard to the CPU in certain types of desktop and server computers, particularly those compatible with the Intel x86 architecture.

Most CPU sockets and processors in use today are built around the pin grid array (PGA) architecture, in which the pins on the base of the processor are inserted into the socket. To aid installation, zero insertion force (ZIF) sockets are usually used, allowing the processor to be inserted without any confrontation, while gripping the pins firmly once the processor is in place to ensure a reliable contact. In contrast to CPU sockets, slot-based processors and CPUs use a single-edged connection rather than a socket, and slot into the motherboard on their side. Slot architectures are not often used today

Tumor

2007-07-16T01:37:00.000-07:00

Tumor or tumour is an irregular growth or mass of tissue. A tumor can be either malignant or benign. Almost all tumors are examples of neoplasia, although certain developmental malformations or inflammatory masses may occasionally be referred to as tumors.

Neoplastic tumors are caused by mutations in DNA of cells, which interfere with a cell's capability to regulate and limit cell division. An accumulation of mutations is needed for a tumor to emerge. Mutations that activate oncogenes or repress tumor suppressor genes can eventually lead to tumors. Cells have mechanisms that repair DNA and other mechanisms that cause the cell to destroy itself by apoptosis if DNA damage gets too severe. Mutations that repress the genes for these mechanisms can also ultimately guide to cancer. A mutation in one oncogene or one tumor repressor gene is usually not enough for a tumor to occur. A combination of a number of mutations is essential

Local area network

2007-07-09T22:05:00.001-07:00

A local area network (LAN) is a computer network layer a small geographic area, like a home, office, or group of buildings.Current LANs are most probable to be based on switched IEEE 802.3 Ethernet technology, running at 10, 100, 1,000 or 10,000 Mbit/s, or on IEEE 802.11 Wi-Fi technology. Every node or computer in the LAN has its own computing power but it can also access extra devices on the LAN subject to the permissions it has been permitted. These could include data, processing power, and the capability to communicate or chat with other users in the network.

The defining characteristics of LANs, in difference to Wide area networks (WANs), comprise their much higher data transfer rates, lesser geographic range, and lack of a need for leased telecommunication lines.

Deadheading

2007-07-05T22:42:00.001-07:00

Deadheading is the act of removing spent flowers or flowerheads for aesthetics, to prolong bloom for up to several weeks or endorse rebloom, or to put off seeding.
Deadheading is beneficial to most herbaceous ornamental plants. It can get better overall look of a plant, give a fresh new look to an otherwise finished or even distracting item, and can promote vegetative and root increase rather than seed production and help retain the plant's healthy appearance.

Fish food

2007-07-01T22:22:00.000-07:00

Fish food is plant or animal material intended for consumption by pet fish kept in aquariums or ponds. Fish foods usually contain macro nutrients, trace elements and vitamins necessary to keep captive fish in good health. Approximately 80% of fishkeeping hobbyists feed their fish exclusively prepared foods that most commonly are produced in flake, pellet or tablet form.Pelleted forms, some of which sink rapidly, are often used for larger fish or bottom feeding species such as loaches or catfish. Some fish foods also contain additives, such as beta carotene or sex hormones, to artifically enhance the color of ornamental fish.

Motorcycle

2007-06-27T22:13:00.000-07:00

A motorcycle is a two-wheeled , single-track motor vehicle powered by an engine. Styles of motorcycles changes according to the task for which they are designed. Motorcycles are the most widespread the least expensive forms of motorised transport in many parts of the world. Street and off-road motorcycle are the two major type of motorcycle. Within these, there are many different types of motorcycles for many different purposes.Choppers,Cruisers,electric motorcycles,Mini bikes,Mopeds,Scooters etc are street motorcycle.Motocross,Supermotos,Dual-sports,Enduros are the off-road motorcycle.
A motorcycle is broadly defined by law in some countries for the purposes of registration, taxation or licensing riders as a two-wheel motor vehicle "fit to drive." Other countries distinguished between mopeds and other small bikes and the larger, more powerful vehicles.

Pruning

2007-06-24T22:14:00.001-07:00

Pruning in landscaping and farming is the practice of removing diseased, non-productive, or otherwise unwanted portions from a plant. The purpose of pruning is to shape the plant by controlling or directing plant growth, to maintain the health of the plant, or to increase the yield or quality of flowers and fruits. Proper pruning is as much a skill as it is an art, since badly pruned plants can become unhealthy or grow in undesirable ways.

Proponents of pruning, both gardeners and orchardists, often argue that it improves the health of the plant and makes sturdier structure, often referred to as the scaffold; opponents consider that pruning harms plants' "natural" forms.

Mango

2007-06-19T22:23:00.000-07:00

The mango is a tropical fruit of the mango tree. Mangoes belong to the genus Mangifera which consists of about 30 species of tropical fruiting trees in the flowering plant family Anacardiaceae. The exact origins of the mango are unknown, but most believe that it is native to Southern and Southeast Asia including the Philippines, Indonesia, India, Burma, Sri Lanka, Pakistan and Bangladesh owing to the wide range of genetic diversity in the region and fossil records dating back 25 to 30 million years.
Mangos retain a special significance in the culture of South Asia where they have been cultured for millennia. It has been the national symbol of the Philippines. Reference to mangoes as the "food of the gods" can be found in the Hindu Vedas and the leaves are ritually used for floral decorations at Hindu marriages and religious ceremonies.

Oily fish

2007-06-15T22:41:00.000-07:00

Oily fish are those fish which have oils throughout the fillet and in the belly cavity around the gut, rather than only in the liver like white fish. Oily fish fillets may contain up to 30 percent oil, although this figure varies both within and between species. Oily fish generally swim in mid-waters or near the surface Oily fish are a good source of Vitamins A and D as well as being rich in Omega 3 fatty acids. For this reason the consumption of oily fish has been identified as more beneficial to humans than white fish. Amongst other benefits, studies suggest that the Omega 3 fatty acids in oily fish may help sufferers of depression, reduce the likelihood of heart disease and improve inflammatory conditions such as arthritis.

Butterfly Koi

2007-06-11T22:47:00.001-07:00

Butterfly Koi, Longfin Koi, or Dragon Carp are a type of ornamental fish notable for their elongated finnage. The fish are a breed of the common carp, Cyprinus carpio, (which includes numerous wild carp races as well as domesticated koi ("Nishikigoi").

Butterfly Koi originated in the mid 20th century as a result of an effort to increase the hardiness of traditional koi. Japanese breeders interbred wild Indonesian Longfin river carp with traditional koi. The resulting fish had longer fins, long barbells, pompom nostrils, and were hardier than koi. These were known in Japan as “onagaoi” or "hire naga koi", or translated in English “long tail koi”. Randy LeFever, the son of Wyatt LeFever, a noted breeder of koi, is credited with suggesting they looked like butterflies, a trait for which the breed is named. They are also sometimes referred to as Dragon Koi.

Coppicing

2007-06-07T22:48:00.001-07:00

Coppicing is a conventional method of woodland organization in which young tree stems are cut down to a low level. In subsequent growth years, many new shoots will come out and after a number of years the cycle begins again and the coppiced tree, or stool, is ready to be harvested again.
Typically a coppice woodland is harvested in sections, on a rotation. In this way each year a crop is available. This has the side-effect of as long as a rich variety of habitats, as the woodland always has a range of dissimilar aged stools growing in it. This is helpful for biodiversity. The cycle length depends upon the species cut, the local custom, and the use to which the product is put. Birch can be coppiced for faggots on a 3- or 4-year cycle, whereas oak can be coppiced over a 50-year cycle for poles or firewood.

Ras malai

2007-06-01T23:35:00.000-07:00

Ras Malai is a sweet dish found in the Indian subcontinent consisting of sugary, cream to yellow-colored balls or flattened balls of cottage or ricotta cheese soaked in sweetened, thickened, creamy milk.The milk is flavoured with pistachios, saffron, and rosewater.

Rasmalai originated somewhere in the coastal parts of the Indian state of Orissa. Sometimes shown as Rassmalai . or Ras Malai

Cotton

2007-05-28T23:20:00.001-07:00

Cotton is a soft fibre that grows around the seeds of the cotton plant , a shrub native to tropical and subtropical regions around the world, with the Americas, India, and Africa. However, virtually all of the commercial cotton grown today worldwide is grown from varieties of the native American species Gossypium hirsutum and Gossypium barbadense. The fibre is most often spun into thread and used to make a soft, breathable textile, which is the most widely used natural-fibre cloth in clothing today. The English name derives from the Arabic word al qutun, meaning "cotton fiber".
Cotton fibre, once it has been processed to remove seeds and traces of wax, protein, etc., consists of nearly pure cellulose, a natural polymer. Cotton manufacture is very efficient, in the sense that ten percent or less of the weight is lost in following processing to convert the raw cotton bolls into pure fibre. The cellulose is arranged in a way that gives cotton fibres a high degree of strength, durability, and absorbency. Each fibre is made up of twenty to thirty layers of cellulose coiled in a neat series of natural springs. When the cotton boll is opened, the fibres dry into flat, twisted, ribbon-like shapes and become kinked together and interlocked. This interlocked form is ideal for spinning into a fine yarn.

Vegetarianism

2007-05-24T22:33:00.001-07:00

Vegetarianism is the practice of not consuming the flesh of any animal (including sea animals) with or without also eschewing other animal derivatives, such as dairy products or eggs. Some vegetarians choose to also refrain from wearing clothing that has concerned the death of animals, such as leather, silk and fur. Veganism excludes all animal products from diet and attire, whether or not their manufacture has involved the actual death of an animal (dairy, eggs, honey, wool, silk and down feathers). Vegetarians have varied motivations including religious, cultural, ethical, environmental, social, economic, and health concerns.

Business

2007-05-20T22:00:00.001-07:00

In economic business is the social science of managing people to systematize and maintain collective productivity toward accomplishing particular imaginative and productive goals, usually to make profit.The etymology of "business" refers to the state of being busy, in the circumstance of the individual as well as the community or society. In other words, to be busy is to be doing commercially viable and profitable work.

The term "business" has at least three usages, depending on the scope — the general usage (above), the particular usage to refer to a particular company or corporation, and the comprehensive usage to refer to a particular market sector, such as "the record business," "the computer business," or "the business community" -- the community of suppliers of goods and services.

The singular "business" can be a legally-recognized entity within an economically free society, wherein individuals systematize based on expertise and skill bring about social and technological expansion.

However, the exact definition of business is disputable as is business philosophy; for example, most Marxist use "means of production" as a rough synonym for "business." Socialist advocate either government, public, or worker ownership of most sizable businesses.

First stamps

2007-05-15T22:23:00.000-07:00

1847 10c, Scott #2Congress finally provided for the issuance of stamps by passing an act on
March 3, 1847, and the Postmaster-General instantly let a agreement to the New York City firm of Rawdon, Wright, Hatch, and Edson. The first stamp issues of the US were offered for sale on July 1, 1847, in NYC, with Boston receiving stamps the following year and other cities subsequently. They consisted of an engraved 5-cent red brown stamp depicting Benjamin Franklin, and a 10-cent value in black with George Washington. As for all US stamps until 1857, they were imperforate. Although a number of philatelists have studied these stamps for years, much remains unknown about the facts of the original contract, design process, and the printing of these stamps.1 cent, 1851, type IIThe post office had become so well-organized by 1851 that Congress was able to condense the common rate to three cents, necessitating a new issue of stamps. Values integrated a 1c profile of Franklin in blue, a 3c profile of Washington in red brown, a 5c portrait of Thomas Jefferson, and portraits of Washington for 10c green and 12c black values. The 1c stamp achieved disrepute, at least among philatelists, because production problems led to considerable plate modifications, and there are no less than seven major varieties, ranging in price from $100 to $200,000, and sharp-eyed collectors occasionally find the rare types going unrecognized.Civil war The outbreak of the American Civil War threw the postal system into turmoil. On April 13, 1861 John H. Reagan, postmaster-general of the Confederate States of America, ordered local postmasters to return their US stamps to Washington DC, while in May the Union decided to withdraw and invalidate all existing US stamps, and to issue new stamps. Associate post offices were left without genuine stamps for several months, and while many reverted to the old system of cash payment at the post office, over one hundred post offices across the South came up with their own temporary issues. Many of these are quite rare, with only single examples existing of some types. Ultimately the Confederate government issued its own stamps; see stamps and postal history of the Confederate States.

Coffee

2007-05-11T23:16:00.000-07:00

Coffee is a generally consumed beverage prepared from the roasted seeds — usually referred to as beans — of the coffee plant. Though sometimes served cold, it is classically served hot. A typical 7 fluid ounce cup of coffee contains 80–140 milligrams of caffeine, depending on the bean and method of roasting and preparation.Some people drink coffee "black" (plain), others sweeten their coffee or add milk, cream or non-dairy creamer. Coffee represents 71% of all the caffeine consumption in the United States, followed by soft drinks and tea.Coffee, along with tea and water, is one of the the majority popular beverages world-wide, its volume amounting to about a third of that of tap water in North America and Europe.In 2003, coffee was the world's sixth largest agricultural export in value, behind wheat, maize, soybeans, palm oil and sugar.

Sun

2007-05-07T23:27:00.001-07:00

The Sun is the star at the center of the Solar System. The Earth and additional matter (including other planets, asteroids, meteoroids, comets and dust) orbit the Sun, which by itself accounts for about 99.8% of the solar system's mass. power from the Sun—in the form of sunlight—supports almost all life on Earth via photosynthesis, and drives the Earth's climate and weather.

The Sun is composed of hydrogen (about 74% of its mass, or 92% of its volume), helium (about 25% of mass, 7% of volume), and draw quantities of other elements. The Sun has a spectral class of G2V. G2 implies that it has a surface temperature of about 5,500 K (or approximately 9,600 degrees Fahrenheit / 5,315 Celsius), giving it a white color which, because of atmospheric scattering, appears yellow as seen from the surface of the Earth. This is a subtractive effect, as the preferential scattering of blue photons (causing the sky color) removes enough blue light to leave a residual reddishness that is perceived as yellow.

Postal Marking

2007-05-02T22:26:00.001-07:00

Less ordinary types include forwarding addresses, routing annotations, warnings, postage due notices and explanations, such as for damaged or delayed mail. A key part of postal history is the recognition of postal markings, their purpose, and period of use.

Service marks give information to the sender, recipient, or another post office. Advice marks notify about forwarding, misspending, and letters received in bad condition, letters received too late for delivery by a certain time, or the reason for a delay in mail delivery. Dead letter offices would use various markings to keep track of their progress in finding the addressee, such as a document that the letter had been advertised in the local newspaper. The tracking procedure for registered mail may entail multiple marks and notations.

Auxiliary marks are functional by an organization other than the postal administration. For instance, 19th century mail delivery often relied on a mix of private ships, steamboats, stagecoaches, railroads, and other transportation organizations to transfer mail. Many of these organizations applied their own markings to each item, occasionally saying simply "STEAMSHIP" or some such, while others had elaborate designs. Similar direction-finding notations were also used in the early days of airmail.

The traditional way to be valid a postal marking is with the use of a rubber or metal hand stamp; handwritten notations are sometimes seen for unusual situations or in very small post offices. In the United States, modern postal markings may appear in the form of yellow paste labels with the text printed on them. Many postal administrations now have the ability to print inkjet observations directly onto a cover, either as a barcode for reading by other equipment, or as text.

Sarus Crane

2007-04-29T21:40:00.001-07:00

The Sarus Crane is a occupant propagation bird in northern India, Nepal, Southeast Asia and Queensland, Australia. It used to be found on accasion in pakistan, but has not been found silence the late 1980's. It is the world's tallest flying bird.

This is a very huge crane, 156cm in length, which is found in freshwater marshes and plains. It nests on the ground laying two to three eggs in a bulky nest. Unlike many cranes that make long migrations the sarus crane does not, meaning it cans expent the energy to raise both chicks. Both the male and female take turns sitting on the nest, and the male is the main guardian.

Adults are grey with a nude red head and white crown and a long dark pointed bill. In flight, the long neck is reserved straight, unlike herons, and the black wing tips can be seen; their long red or pink legs trail at the back them.

Sexes are similar, but young flora and fauna are duller and browner. The Indian, Southeast Asian and Australian species differ mainly in plumage shade. There are some slight size differences, but on average the male is larger then the female, and the birds are six feet tall with an eight foot wingspan.

These extroverted birds forage while walking in thin water or in fields, sometimes probing with their long bills. They are omnivorous, eating insects, marine plants and animals, crustaceans, seeds and berries, small vertebrates, and invertebrates.

Sitka Spruce

2007-04-23T22:30:00.000-07:00

The Sitka Spruce (Picea sitchensis) is a large evergreen tree growing to 50-70 m tall, exceptionally to 96 m tall, and with a trunk diameter of up to 5 m. It is by far the main species of spruce, and the third tallest tree species in the world (after Coast Redwood and Coast Douglas-fir).Young Sitka Spruce in a forestry plantation in Britain The bark is thin and scaly, flaking off in small circular plates 5-20 cm across. The crown is broad conic in young trees, becoming cylindric in older trees; old trees may have no branches in the lowest 30-40 m. The shoots are very pale buff-brown, almost white, and glabrous (hairless) but with prominent pulvini. The leaves are stiff, sharp and needle-like, 15-25 mm long, flattened in cross-section, dark glaucous blue-green above with two or three thin lines of stomata, and blue-white below with two dense bands of stomata.

The cones are pendulous, slender cylindrical, 5-11 cm long and 2 cm broad when closed, opening to 3 cm broad. They have thin, flexible scales 15-20 mm long; the bracts just above the scales are the longest of any spruce, occasionally just exserted and visible on the closed cones. They are green or reddish, maturing pale brown 5-7 months after pollination. The seeds are black, 3 mm long, with a slender, 7-9 mm long pale brown wing.

Airline

2007-04-18T22:09:00.000-07:00

An airline is an association that specializes in provided that designed air transport services to passengers and/or for cargo; although some airlines do offer chartered flight services as well. Airlines lease or own their aircraft with which to supply these services and may form partnerships or alliances with other airlines for reasons of mutual benefit.

Industry overview

An airline is an association that specializes in provided that designed air transport services to passengers and/or for cargo; although some airlines do offer chartered flight services as well. Airlines lease or own their aircraft with which to supply these services and may form partnerships or alliances with other airlines for reasons of mutual benefit.

The headquarters of Air India is Mumbai.The universal replica of rights has gone from government owned or supported to self-determining, for-profit public companies. This occurs as regulators permit greater freedom, in steps that are usually decades not together. This pattern has not been complete for all airlines in all regions.
The command for air travel services is imitative demand. That is, it depends on other things: business needs for cargo shipments, business passenger demand, and leisure passenger demand, all prejudiced by macroeconomic activity in the markets under learn. These patterns are dreadfully serial, and often day-of-week, time-of-day, and even directionally variable.
The business is returning. Four or five years of poor production are followed by five or six years of slowly improving good performance. But efficiency in the good years is normally low, in the range of 2-3% net profit after interest and tax. It is in this time that airlines begin paying for new generations of airplanes and other service upgrades they planned to respond to the increased demand. Since 1980, the industry as a whole has not even earned back the cost of capital during the best of times. Equally, in bad times losses can be radically inferior.

Multitrack recording

2007-04-09T22:04:00.001-07:00

Multitrack recording is a method of sound recording that allows for the recording of multiple sound sources, whether at the same time or at different times. This is probably the most common technique of recording popular music: Musicians or singers can be recorded independently, then these performances can be edited together to create a cohesive result. It is also called 'multitracking' or just 'tracking' for short.Multitrack recording devices are available with varying capacities. When recording a segment of audio, which is also known as a track, audio engineers and musicians may select which track or tracks on the device will be used.

Pace Car

2007-04-05T22:54:00.001-07:00

A pace car has been used to start the Indianapolis 500 since 1911. The first pace car was a Stoddard-Dayton driven by Carl G Fisher. Other car and motorcycle races have also used pace cars.The purpose of a pace car is to help provide an organized running start to the race.The racecars follow the pace car around the track, maintaining their assigned pole positions.The exact details can vary, but characteristically, there is one "parade lap" at a relatively low speed. This is followed by a much faster lap that straight leads to the formal start of the race, as the pace car turns off the track into the pit area.Many years, the driver of the pace car is someone associated to car racing or the automotive industry, such as the dealer that provided the car, an executive of a US automaker, or a retired racecar driver. However, particularly in recent years, the driver may be a celebrity; recently comedian and talk show host Jay Leno , and actor Anthony Edwards have driven the Indy pace car. Colin Powell was selected to drive the pace car for the 2005 event.

Acacia

2007-04-01T22:00:00.000-07:00

Acacia is a kind of shrubs and trees of Gondwanian origin belonging to the subfamily Mimosoideae of the Pea Family Fabaceae, first described from Africa by Linnaeus in 1773.
There are approximately 1300 species worldwide: about 950 of them being native to Australia, while the remainder are increase around the dry tropical to warm-temperate regions of both hemispheres, including Africa, southern Asia, and the Americas. The genus Acacia though is not monophyletic. This has led to the breaking up of this genus in 5 new genera. This has been discussed in List of Acacia species.
The northernmost species is Acacia greggii (Catclaw Acacia), reaching 37°10' N in southern Utah in the United States; the southernmost are Acacia dealbata (Silver Wattle), Acacia longifolia (Coast Wattle or Sydney Golden Wattle), Acacia mearnsii (Black Wattle), and Acacia melanoxylon (Blackwood), reaching 43°30' S in Tasmania, Australia, while Acacia caven (Espinillo Negro) reaches nearly as far south in northeastern Chubut Province, Argentina. Australian species are typically called wattles, while African and American species tend to be known as acacias.

Personal computer

2007-03-27T22:11:00.001-07:00

A personal computer or PC is usually a microcomputer intended to be used by one person at a time, and suitable for general purpose tasks such as word processing, programming, sending messages or digital documents (comprising text, images, audio or video) to other computers on the network (E-mail), multimedia editing or game play, usually used to run software not written by the user. Unlike minicomputers, a personal computer is often owned by the person using it, representing a low cost of purchase and simplicity of operation. The user of a modern personal computer may have significant knowledge of the operating environment and application programs, but is not necessarily interested in programming nor even able to write programs for the computer.
In modern usage PC nearly always refers to an IBM PC compatible and the term may even be used for machines that are in no way personal computers but still use the basic architecture of the IBM PC.

Light Pollution

2007-03-22T22:02:00.000-07:00

In urban areas light pollution can hide the stars and get in the way with astronomy. In settings near astronomical telescopes and observatories, low pressure sodium lamps may be used. These lamps are beneficial over other lamps such as mercury and halogen lamps because low pressure sodium lamps emit lower intensity, monochromatic light. Observatories can filter the sodium wavelength out of their observations and almost eliminate the interference from nearby urban lighting.The light pollution also disrupts the natural increasing cycle of plants.

Dinghy

2007-03-16T22:31:00.003-07:00

A dinghy is a small utility boat attached to a larger boat. Dinghies are rowboats, or have small outboard motors —some use a small sailing rig. Dinghies are needed for any off-ship excursions from larger boats, outside of docking at suitably-sized ports or marinas.
When not in the above reference, a "dinghy" usually refers to a similar boat originally developed from that use, but now used in its own right for dinghy sailing or rowing.

Dinghy

2007-03-16T22:31:00.001-07:00

Niagara Falls

2007-03-12T21:45:00.001-07:00

Niagara Falls is a set of massive waterfalls situated on the Niagara River in eastern North America, on the border among the United States and Canada. Niagara Falls (French: les Chutes du Niagara) comprises three separate waterfalls: the Horseshoe Falls (Canadian Falls), the American Falls, and the smaller, nearby Bridal Veil Falls. The Falls are situated 16 miles (26 km) away from the U.S. city of Buffalo and 43 miles (69 km) from the Canadian city of Toronto. The distance to downtown Toronto is 80 miles (123 km) when using roads.
The Falls formed after the receding of the glaciers of the most recent Ice Age, as water from the newly created Great Lakes carved a path through the Niagara Escarpment enroute to the Atlantic Ocean. While not exceptionally high, Niagara Falls is very wide. With more than 6 million cubic feet (168,000 m³) of water falling over the crestline every minute in high flow, and almost 4 million cubic feet (110,000 m³) on average, it is the most powerful waterfall in North America.
Niagara Falls is not well-known only for its beauty. The Falls are a valuable source of hydroelectric power for both Ontario and New York. Preserving this natural wonder from commercial overdevelopment, while allowing for the needs of the area's people, has been a tough project for environmental preservationists since the nineteenth century. A popular tourist site for over a century, the Falls are shared between the twin cities of Niagara Falls, Ontario and Niagara Falls, New York.

Antarctic flora

2007-03-07T21:37:00.000-08:00

The climate of Antarctica does not permit extensive vegetation. A combination of sub-zero temperatures, poor soil quality, lack of moisture, and lack of sunlight inhibit the flourishing of plants. As a result, plant life is limited to frequently mosses and liverworts. The autotrophic community is ended up of mostly protists. The flora of the continent mainly consists of lichens, bryophytes, algae, and fungi. Growth normally occurs in the summer, and only for a few weeks at most.
There are more than 200 species of lichens and approximately 50 species of bryophytes, such as mosses. Seven hundred types of algae exist, most of which are phytoplankton. Multicolored snow algae and diatoms are particularly abundant in the coastal regions during the summer. There are two species of flowering plants found in the Antarctic Peninsula: Deschampsia antarctica (Antarctic hair grass) and Colobanthus quitensis (Antarctic pearlwort).

Internet vs. Web

2007-03-02T21:42:00.001-08:00

The Internet and the World Wide Web are not synonymous: the Internet is a collection of interconnected computer networks, linked by copper wires, fiber-optic cables, wireless connections, etc.; the Web is a collected works of interconnected documents and other resources, linked by hyperlinks and URLs. The World Wide Web is available via the Internet, as are many other services with e-mail, file sharing, and others described below.
The best way to define and differentiate between these terms is with reference to the Internet protocol suite. This collection of standards and protocols is ordered into layers such that each layer provides the foundation and the services necessary by the layer above. In this conception, the term Internet refers to computers and networks that communicate using IP (Internet protocol) and TCP (transfer control protocol). Once this networking structure is recognized, then other protocols can run “on top.” These other protocols are sometimes called services or applications. Hypertext transfer protocol, or HTTP, is the application layer protocol that relations and provides access to the files, documents and other resources of the World Wide Web.

spear

2007-02-26T21:01:00.000-08:00

A spear is an ancient weapon used for hunting and war, consisting of a shaft, generally of wood, with a sharpened head. The head may be just the sharpened end of the shaft itself, as is the case with bamboo spears, or it may be of one more material fastened to the shaft. The most common design is of a metal spearhead, shaped somewhat like a dagger.
Spears were arguably one of the most general personal weapons from the late Bronze Age until the advent of firearms. They may be seen as the ancestor of such weapons as the lance, the halberd, the naginata and the pike. One of the initial weapons fashioned by human beings and their ancestors, it is still used for hunting and fishing, and its influences can still be seen in contemporary military arsenals as the rifle mounted bayonet.
Spears can be used as both melee and ballistic weapons. Spears used mainly for thrusting tend to have heavier and sturdier designs than those intended exclusively for throwing. Two of the most well-known throwing spears are the javelin thrown by the ancient Greeks and the pilum used by the Romans.

Acid rain

2007-02-21T21:09:00.001-08:00

Acid rain occurs when sulphur dioxide and nitrogen oxides are emitted into the atmosphere, undergo chemical transformations and are absorbed by water droplets in clouds. The droplets then fall to earth as rain, snow, mist, dry dust, hail, or sleet. This can add to the acidity of the soil, and affect the element balance of lakes and streams.The term "acid rain" is sometimes used more usually to include all forms of acid deposition - both wet deposition, where acidic gases and particles are removed by rain or other precipitation, and dry deposition removal of gases and particles to the Earth's surface in the absence of precipitation. Acid rain is defined as any type of precipitation with a pH that is abnormally low. Dissolved carbon dioxide dissociates to form weak carbonic acid giving a pH of approximately 5.6 at typical atmospheric concentrations of CO2. Therefore a pH of less than 5.6 has every so often been used as a definition of acid rain. However, natural sources of acidity mean that in remote areas, rain has a pH which is between 4.5 and 5.6 with an average value of 5.0 and so rain with a pH of less than 5 is a more appropriate definition. The US EPA says, "Acid rain is a serious environmental problem that affects large parts of the US and Canada" Acid rain accelerates weathering in carbonate rocks and accelerates building weathering. It also contributes to acidification of rivers, streams, and forest damage at high elevations. When the acid builds up in rivers and streams it can kill fish.

Ice cream

2007-02-15T21:40:00.001-08:00

Before the growth of modern refrigeration, ice cream was a luxury item kept for special occasions. Making ice cream was quite difficult. Ice was cut commercially from lakes and ponds during the winter and stored in large heaps in holes in the ground or in wood-frame ice houses, insulated by straw. Ice cream was made by hand in a huge bowl enclosed by packed ice and salt. The temperature of the ingredients was reduced by the mix of compressed ice and salt. The salt water was chilled by the ice, and the action of the salt on the ice causes it to (partially) melt, absorbing latent heat bringing the combination below the freezing point of pure water. The wrapped up container can also make better thermal contact with the salty water and ice mixture than it could with ice alone.The hand-cranked churn, which still used ice and salt for cooling, was made-up by an American named Nancy Johnson in 1846, making invention possible on site and avoiding the problem of nonstop chilling between production and consumer. Ice cream became a trendy item for the first time. The world's first business ice cream factory was opened in Baltimore, Maryland in 1851, by Jacob Fussell, a dairy farmer. An unstable demand for his milk led him to mass create ice cream. This allowed the previously expensive invention to be offered in the city at reduced prices.Fussell opened ice cream parlors as far west as Texas. Many were still around well into the twentieth century. Fussell later sold his business to Borden.
The improvement of industrial refrigeration by German engineer Carl von Linde during the 1870s eliminated the need to cut and store natural ice and when the continuous-process freezer was perfected in 1926, allowed commercial mass invention of ice cream and the birth of the modern ice cream industry.The most common method for producing ice cream at home is to use an ice cream maker, in modern times normally an electrical device that churns the ice cream mixture while cooled inside a house freezer, or using ice and salt. A newer method of making home-made ice cream is to add liquid nitrogen to the mixture while moving it using a spoon or spatula.

Software

2007-02-08T22:02:00.001-08:00

basically is the distinct image or representation of physical or material position that constitute configuration to or functional identity of a machine, usually a computer. As a substance of memory, software in principle can be changed without the alteration to the static paradigm of the hardware thus without the remanufacturing thereof. generally software is of an algorithmic form which translates into being to a progression of machine instructions. Some software, however, is of a relational form which translate into being the map of a recognition network.
Software is a program that enables a computer to achieve a specific task, as contrasting to the physical components of the system (hardware). This include application software such as a word processor, which enables a user to achieve a task, and system software such as an operating system, which enables other software to run suitably, by interfacing with hardware and with other software.
The term "software" was first used in this intellect by John W. Tukey in 1957. In computer science and software engineering, computer software is all computer program. The perception of reading different sequences of instructions into the memory of a apparatus to control computations was invented by Charles Babbage as part of his difference engine. The theory that is the source for most modern software was first projected by Alan Turing in his 1935 essay Computable numbers with an application to the Entscheidungs problem.
TypesPractical computer systems partition software into three major classes: system software, programming software and application software, although the division is subjective, and often blurred.
* System software is one of the major class helps run the computer hardware and computer system. It includes working systems, device drivers, analytical tools, servers, windowing systems, utilities and more. The intention of systems software is to protect the applications programmer as much as possible from the details of theexacting computer complex being use, especially memory and other hardware features, and such accessory procedure as communications, printers, readers, displays, keyboards, etc.
* Programming software usually provide tools to support a programmer in writing computer programs and software with different programming languages in a more suitable way.The tools comprise text editors, compilers, interpreters, linkers, debuggers, and so on, An incorporated development environment (IDE) merge those tools into a software bundle, and a programmer may not need to type various command for compiling, interpreter, debugging, tracing, and etc., because the IDE typically has an sophisticated graphical user interface, or GUI.
* Application software allows humans to complete one or more explicit (non-computer related) tasks. typical applications include manufacturingautomation, business software, educational software, medical software, databases and computer games. Businesses are possibly the biggest users of application software, but approximately every field of human action now uses some form of application software. It is used tocomputerizeall sorts of functions.

The Real Miracle

2007-02-04T21:02:00.000-08:00

As far as Miracles is concern, turning salty seawater in to sweet water is quite amazing. Regardless of the scientific clarification being doled out—surplus freshwater flowing from the Mahim River into the sea—the thousand mass to Mahim Creek near the beachfront in Mumbai will pretty see the ‘transubstantiation’ as the deed of the late Haji Maqdoom Baba, whose shrine is in the area. Mass hysteria, of course, is only a term to clarify the hordes of believers filling plastic bottles and drinking the water. But the real miracle would be if those glugging the ‘miraculous’ water manages to flee succumbing to serious gastric illness.
The water of Mahim Creek, sweetened or otherwise, is dirty and would scandalize not only the likes of Sunita Narain of the Centre for Science and Environment. Maharashtra Chief Minister Vilasrao Deshmukh and officials of the Municipal Corporation of Greater Mumbai have already request to people not to drink the water. Industrial waste is not the finest ingredient for a miracle. But telling this to goggle-eyed people facing even more goggle-eyed TV cameras is as worthwhile as persuasive people that a Ganesh idol sipping milk is caused by suction and not godly lactose tolerance.
Fortunately, rumors of the sweetened water turning back to its original brackish form might stop a future surge. Now we only wait for the real miracle of no one complaining of sickness.

Journalism Basics

2007-01-26T22:43:00.000-08:00

Journalism is a concrete, professionally oriented major that involves gathering, interpreting, distilling, and other reporting information to the general audiences through a variety of media means. Journalism majors learn about every possible kind of Journalism (including magazine, newspaper, online journalism, photojournalism, broadcast journalism, and public relations).
That's not all, though. In addition to dedicated training in writing, editing, and reporting, Journalism wants a working knowledge of history, culture, and current events. You'll more than likely be required to take up a broad range of courses that runs the range from statistics to the hard sciences to economics to history. There would also be a lot of haughty talk about professional ethics and civic responsibility too - and you'll be tested on it. To top it all off, you'll perhaps work on the university newspaper or radio station, or possibly complete an internship with a magazine or a mass media conglomerate.

Computer science:-

2006-12-15T05:23:00.000-08:00

Computer science, or computing science, is the study of the theoretical basics of information and calculation and their execution and application in computer systems. Computer science has lot of sub-fields; a few highlight the calculation of exact consequences (such as computer graphics), whereas others (such as computational complexity theory) relate to properties of computational difficulties. Still others focus on the challenges in applying calculations. For instance, programming language theory studies move toward to describe calculations, whereas computer programming applies precise programming languages to answer precise computational difficulties.

Moon

2006-12-06T02:42:00.000-08:00

The Moon is Earth's only natural satellite. It has no formal English name other than "the Moon", although it is occasionally called Luna (Latin: moon), or Selene (Greek: moon), to distinguish it from the generic term "moon" (referring to any of the various natural satellites of other planets). Its symbol is a crescent (☽). The related adjective for the Moon is lunar (again from the Latin root), but this is not found in combination with the forms seleno-/-selene (again from the Greek) and -cynthion (from the Lunar deity Cynthia).

The average distance from the Earth to the Moon is 384,399 kilometres (238,854 mi), which is about 30 times the diameter of the Earth. At this distance, it takes sunlight reflected from the lunar surface approximately 1.3 seconds to reach Earth. The Moon's diameter is 3,474 kilometres (2,159 mi), which is about 3.7 times smaller than the Earth, making it the Solar System's fifth largest moon, both by diameter and mass, ranking behind Ganymede, Titan, Callisto, and Io.

Structure

2006-11-27T23:08:00.000-08:00

With a little exception, most remarkably the sponges, animals have bodies differentiated into split tissues. These comprise muscles, which are talented to contract and control locomotion, and a nervous system, which sends and processes signals. There is also naturally an internal digestive chamber, with one or two openings. Animals with this sort of association are called metazoans when the former is used for animals in common.

All animals have eukaryotic cells, enclosed by a characteristic extra cellular matrix collected of collagen and stretchy. This may be calcified to form structures like shells, bones, and spackles. Throughout development it forms a comparatively flexible framework upon which cells can move about and be rationalized, making complex structures possible. In contrast, other organisms like plants and fungi have cells detained in place by cell walls, and so expand by progressive growth. Also, unique to animal cells are the next intercellular junctions: tight junctions, gap junctions.

Lexicography

2006-11-23T21:42:00.000-08:00

In American English usage, the name can be capitalized or spelled in lowercase interchangeably, either when used completely or prefixed with "the" Many consciously spell the name of the planet with a capital, both as "Earth" or "the Earth". This is to distinguish it as a good noun, distinct from the senses of the term as a count noun or verb. Oxford Spelling recognizes the lowercase form as the most common, with the capitalized form as an alternative of it. Another convention that is very ordinary is to spell the name with a capital when occurring absolutely and lowercase when preceded by "the". The term almost completely exists in lowercase when appearing in common phrases, even without "the" preceding it.

Terms that refer to the Earth can use the Latin origin terr-, as in terraform and terrestrial. Another Latin root is tellur-, which is used in language such as tellurian and tellurium. Such terms derive from Latin terra and tellus, which refer variously to the world, the element earth, the earth goddess and so forth. Scientific terms such as geography, geocentric and geothermal use the Greek prefix geo, from (again meaning "earth"). In many skill fiction books and video games, Earth is referred to as Terra or Gaia. Astronauts refer to the Earth as "Terra Firma".

Leather types

2006-11-20T21:27:00.000-08:00

In general, leather is sold in three forms:
Full-Grain leather, made from the finest raw material, are clean natural hides which have not been sanded to remove imperfections. Only the hair has been removed. The grain remains in its normal state which will allow the best fiber power, resulting in greater strength. The natural grain also has natural breath ability, ensuing in greater comfort. The normal Full-Grain surface will wear recovered than other fur. Rather than wearing out, it will develop a natural "Patina" and grow more beautiful over time. The finest furniture, and footwear, are prepared from Full Grain leather.
Corrected-Grain leather, also known as Top-Grain leather, is wooly on one side and smooth on the other. The smooth side is the side where the hair and normal grain used to be. The hides, which are made from mediocre quality raw materials, have all of the natural grain sanded off, and a simulated grain applied. Top grain leather generally must be heavily painted to cover up the sanding and stamping process.

Hanging Gardens of Babylon

2006-11-15T04:14:00.000-08:00

The Hanging Gardens of Babylon and the walls of Babylon were considered one of the Seven Wonders of the World. They were both evidently built by Nebuchadnezzar II around 600 BC. The green Hanging Gardens are extensively documented by Greek historians such as Strabo and Diodorus Siculus, but otherwise there is little evidence for their existence. In fact, there are no Babylonian records of any such gardens having existed. Some incidental evidence gathered at the excavation of the palace at Babylon has accrued, but does not completely substantiate what look like fantastic descriptions. Through the ages, the location may have been confused with gardens that existed at Nineveh, since tablets from there clearly show gardens. Writings on these tablets describe the possible use of something similar to an Archimedes' screw as a process of raising the water to the required height.

The Hanging Gardens probably did not really "hang" in the sense of being balanced from cables or ropes. The name comes from an inexact conversion of the Greekord kremastos or the Latin word pensilis, which means not just "hanging” but "overhanging," as in the case of a terrace or balcony.

Agriculture - Overview

2006-11-09T21:52:00.000-08:00

Farming refers to a wide range agricultural production work, covering a large variety of operation scales practices, and commercial inclination. At one end of this spectrum, the subsistence farmer farms a small area with limited resource inputs, and produces only enough food to meet the needs of his/her family. At the other end of the field is commercial intensive agriculture, including manufacturing agriculture.
Such farming involves large fields and/or numbers of animals, large reserve inputs and a high level of mechanization. These operations generally attempt to maximize financial income from produce or livestock. Modern agriculture extends well ahead of the traditional production of food for humans and animal feeds. additional agricultural production goods include cut flowers, decorative and nursery plants, timber, fertilizers, animal hides, leather, industrial chemicals fibers fuels and both legal and illegal drugs.

Agriculture

2006-11-09T21:49:00.000-08:00

Agriculture is the process of producing food, feed, fiber and other goods by the methodical raising of plants and animals.Agri is from Latin ager, and culture is from Latin cultura, meaning "cultivation" in the strict sense of tillage of the soil. A literal understanding of the English word yields: tillage of the soil of a field. In modern usage, the word Agriculture covers all activities essential to food/feed/fiber production, counting all techniques for raising and processing livestock.
Agriculture is also short for the study of the practice of agriculture more formally known as agricultural science. The history of agriculture is closely associated to human history, and agricultural developments have been crucual factors in social change, including the specialty of human activity. The world's laborers are working in agriculture, making it by far the most common occupation. However, agricultural production accounts for less than 5% of the Gross World Product.

Tasmanian devil

2006-11-06T22:16:00.000-08:00

Tasmanian devil is a carnivorous marsupial found exclusively on the island of Tasmania. The size of a small dog but stocky and muscular, the Tasmanian devil is characterized by its black fur with white patches. It has a loud and disturbing screech-like growl, possesses a vicious temperament and is predominantly a scavenger. The widespread and common throughout Tasmania until recently.
Like a lot of the wildlife, fast vehicles on the roads are a problem for Tasmanian Devils, which are often killed while feeding on other road-killed animals such as wallabies. Tasmanian devil population has been reduced by up to 80% in parts of Tasmania, which is gradually spreading throughout the island. It is believed the majority have starved when the tumors have spread to their mouths and that the tumors are spread by fighting between devils over carcasses they feed on – typically, fighting devils will bite one another's faces. There is no cure for the disease, and intensive research is underway to determine its cause. There is also a captive breeding program being undertaken by the Tasmanian government to establish a disease-free, population of Tasmanian Devils outside Tasmania.

India and china

2006-11-02T04:07:00.000-08:00

The Classical Indian and Classical China civilizations each created their own diverse idea of what and how things would run in their civilization. So India and China had some similarities and differed in many ways from their religious beliefs, to their political history, to their political institutions, and many more. By these classical civilizations could especially be compared in their social systems and their arts and sciences.

There are many more aspects in which these two civilizations differ. Classical China had a social system where social status could only be passed from one generation to the next through inheritance. However, there were possibilities where one could move up from their social status. And there was the rare and occasional talented peasant that was offered an education and could sometimes better themselves to the upper class. The Reincarnation was also a chance to come back as something better if you led a good life. But this was not the case in India. And the social structure in India was far more rigid and there was no chance of moving up in the social ladder. Each set of civilization had three classes and one group of low people that had no skills.

Whether university student be required to attend classes?

2006-10-16T04:19:00.000-07:00

Some people may think that going to classes should be optional, but I disagree The Personal experience may help people learn about themselves and the world outside the classroom, but when it comes to learning about academic subjects, a student needs to be in class.
Going to class will also teaches students responsibility and discipline. In this position, they learn how to handle working with people different from themselves to achieve a common goal.
By short, by going to class students learn more than just information from the teacher. And by many times students will be given group assignments. This will different from what they did in when they were school student.
By going to class also teaches students how to work with the other members of the class. It may teach students how to learn, how to absorb information and then apply what they’ve learned to other situations. They can’t learn them by reading the textbooks. Their teacher may be the best one to help them with these skills. They might have also learnt how to learn, how to work with others, and how to work responsibly. Being in college on time with an assignment competed prepares them for a career. These will be optional skills in life, so attending classes should not be optional in college.

A Genius

2006-10-12T03:10:00.000-07:00

The Ancient Near-Eastern period of our history marks a very large basic change in the way human culture has evolved. At the same time, growth of its people and cities had definite improvement on urban society, which has continued to prevail through the years as a major influence over our evolvement. The Artwork which was found from that period directly reflects that change and evolvement. But Better soil, water accessibility, and easier means of trade with other civilizations provided the fabric for this new change. The Pieces uncovered by archeologists such as wall relief, vases, coins, statues, and jewelry, really show a sophisticated society unlike any seen before its time. One can only imagine what type of people curled in ancient Mesopotamia, also known as the “Fertile Crescent”. Through out its villages and cities the Ancient Near Eastern people began to colonize and thus spark the first system of hierarchy. The Priests and kings held the rite to the land and the people worshiped it!
The Palaces in this time of government were adorned with great splendor. And also the grandiose statues and intricate wall reliefs gave them life. One piece in one of the particular shows Assyria’s vision of worship and hierarchy. This piece may really pulls its viewer in making them evaluate the difference between life then and life now, as should all ancient artifacts should. The Facial expressions are limited to his profile. This way of representation of the power and wisdom is very interesting considering the attributes given to the genius to achieve this knowledge and strength; Jewelry, a distinguishing beard, and hair; a large headdress with three protruding horns; Broad shoulders with wings attached. The Lost Mesopotamia: the mighty Kings. Towards his enemies, the King was heartless. He was portraying upon himself and his kingdom, artistic representation was viewed with great awe and power due to these over-exaggerated styles.

MBA – overview!

2006-08-31T11:51:00.000-07:00

Every student entering business school to get their MBA degree will require various skills and have basic expertise in particular areas. The level of the mathematical skills will vary depending upon the choice of your program. Many MBA programs need algebra, statistics, and most likely calculus. You may want to revive your skills if they are in query before entering an MBA program, because joining an MBA program without basic skills will be a bit tougher to get through. Most business schools needs the use of private computers throughout your MBA program, in some cases many school will require that you possess your own laptop. Though the degree to which you use a computer will differ, you should be contented with the complete knowledge of word processing, spreadsheets and databases. Every school will provide you their minimum basic necessities for computer skills.
Business schools today try to impersonate the business setting in their academic programs by using student teams. As businesses more and more twisted to teams to work on projects and to solve troubles, MBA programs have converted a huge portion of course work from individual work to teamwork. Many masters of business administration programs now contain teambuilding training as team building workshops, or as a theme in managerial performance courses. Teams are formed mainly for the reason of one project in one course or by remaining together, working on multiple courses for months. In this competitive situation of Business administration programs, the collaboration of students in team building movements is often complicated. Students that take part in team activities find that working with someone else takes up a lot of educational time.
The business fundamentals are taught in every MBA program. Economics, finance, accounting, organizational behavior, marketing, and statistics are in the basic range for master of business administration programs. In business school these subjects are considered a foundation group of courses required for each and every candidate.
These core courses make up the first year of study in a two-year full-time program. In some programs, students who have a prior background in business can by pass some or all of the core courses on the basis of either a special examination or an evaluation of the undergraduate transcript. In some programs, students who have a previous backdrop in business can go around some or all of the foundation courses on the basis of either a special examination or an assessment of the undergraduate record.

Shahjahan

2006-08-25T23:02:00.000-07:00

Shahjahan:

After the ruling power of his father, his son being the prince revolted against his father Jahangir and made him come to Bengal. During this duration the only person who helped him was Mirza Nathan, he was the one who joined with him and helped him out during the war section with all his operations. But when the prince left Bengal and fluid away to Deccan, Mirza Nathan went to a place where no one could find him out, he was hiding there and not heard of anymore. He himself believing to be living a retired life adopted the false name of Ghaibi which meant to the word invisible. Mirza Nathan's eye-witness accounts have provided detailed and lucid accounts of the Mughal conquest of Kamarupa, Kachhar and Assam.

sports doping

2006-08-09T00:55:00.000-07:00

Generally in sports doping refers to the usage of performance-enhancing drugs, like anabolic steroids especially the drugs those that are banned by the organizations that legalize the competitions. However in some cases these doping are permitted in lower dose like alcohol and caffeine. Another type of doping is the blood doping here the cases is the transfusion of blood or the use of the hormone erythropoietin (EPO). Also considered "doping" by many is the use of substances that mask other forms of doping.

Super Computer

2006-08-03T02:11:00.000-07:00

A supercomputer is a computer that leads the world in terms of processing capacity and speed of calculation. New York World newspaper in 1929 refers to a large custom-built tabulators IBM made for Columbia University first used the term “Super Computing”. Super Computers introduced in the year 1960s and were designed by Seymour Cray at Control Data Corporation (CDC), and led the market into the 1970s. The term supercomputer itself is rather fluid, and today's supercomputer tends to become tomorrow's also-ran.

Technologies developed for Supercomputers include:
Vector processing
Liquid cooling
Non-Uniform Memory Access (NUMA)
Striped disks
Parallel file systems

Supercomputers traditionally gained their speed over conventional computers through the use of innovative designs that allow them to perform many tasks in parallel, as well as complex detail engineering. They tend to be specialized for certain types of computation, usually numerical calculations, and perform poorly at more general computing tasks. Their memory hierarchy is very carefully designed to ensure the processor; much of the performance difference between slower computers and supercomputers is due to the memory hierarchy.

Their I/O systems tend to be designed to support high bandwidth, with latency less of an issue, because supercomputers are not used for transaction processing. Supercomputers are used for highly calculation-intensive tasks such as weather forecasting, climate research (including research into global warming), molecular modeling (computing the structures and properties of chemical compounds, biological macromolecules, polymers, and crystals), physical simulations (such as simulation of airplanes in wind tunnels, simulation of the detonation of nuclear weapons, and research into nuclear fusion), cryptanalysis, and the like. Major universities, military agencies and scientific research laboratories are heavy users.

Early Stages of a pregnant woman and her health

2006-07-27T07:02:00.000-07:00

Pregnancy is not an easy job for a woman. Starting from conception to birth, a woman's body carries out the most miraculous process of fertilization, implantation and the maturity and growth of her baby (or babies). Her body is her baby's dwelling place for the next nine months (or around 40 weeks) and the occurrences of pregnancy turn into a journey of many new physical feelings. Whether it is first, second, third (or more) pregnancy, her body will respond in a different way to each individual pregnancy. So health of a pregnant woman is very important to be taken care of.

Throughout the first 12 weeks of pregnancy called the '1st trimester’, a woman's body adjust to present a fostering and protective environment for her baby to grow and develop. Seldom, the early signs of pregnancy can make a woman feel puzzled. This may be for the reason that many of the physical signs of in the early hours of pregnancy such as enlarged tender breasts, sensitivity of tiredness, overstuffed and perhaps experiencing spasms and/or pelvic uneasiness can be considered as normal pre-menstrual signs. In all these stages the health of the woman declines because she is not only feeding herself, also her little developing fetus.

They may also sense disgusted or sick, due to morning sickness. It is not unusual to feel unsure about what is 'normal' during the early stages of pregnancy development, and unfamiliar signs or sensations may trigger concerns about the health, of her and baby. It’s been proved by the Gynecologists that every woman's body will react in a different way to being pregnant. Many women find their early pregnancy symptoms very difficult to cope with, both at work and generally.

Due to continuous vomiting and nourishing the fetus the pregnant woman may be exhausted very easily. She has to constantly keep her energetic by maintaining a healthy diet schedule as prescribed by the physicians. She can have more fresh green vegetables and fruit juices to make her feel fresh and energetic. It’s always significant to make sure that she avoids drinking and smoking because whatever she has will be directly absorbed by the baby. Once the fetus starts developing she has to get primed for all the obstacles she has to experience throughout pregnancy. Many psychologists predict that a healthy pregnancy is not only from taking care of the nutrition for the pregnant women, more than that she has to be taken care from all the hassles in her family. It’s the duty of a loving husband to caress her comfortably and keep her happy always throughout the gestation period. This will not only make the woman feel happy and hopeful it will directly lead to the good development of the fetus.

Decorations

2006-01-17T20:22:00.000-08:00

Making judgments of value requires a basis for criticism: a way to determine whether the impact of the object on the senses meets the criteria to be considered art, whether it is perceived to be ugly or beautiful. Perception is always colored by experience, so a reaction to art as 'ugly' or 'beautiful' is necessarily subjective.

Because of its elusive nature, "good" art is not always, or even regularly, appealing. In other words, it does not have to be "nice-looking", and often depicts terrible images made for social, moral, or thought-provoking reasons.

Countless schools have proposed their own ways to define quality, yet they all seem to agree in at least one point: once their aesthetic choices are accepted, the value of the work of art is determined by its capacity to transcend the limits of its chosen medium in order to strike some universal chord (which, oddly enough, tends to be the most personal one).

debt-settlement-company

2006-01-09T02:32:00.000-08:00

Advantages of debt consolidation
1. Reduction of average interest rate:
Taking multiple credit interest rate (which varies from one credit card to another) in to account will have a high interest when compared to one single credit interest for the whole amount with a low interest rate. So an individual may choose this option to reduce his interest rate.
2. Reduction to one credit payment:
An individual may use many credit cards and pay his bills for all the credit cards. This may need a good management technique depending up on the number of cards in use. If you use more number of credit cards then the planning need to be done more appropriately and executed timely where as if you have one credit card your job is done in a way simple and easily executable. One hence opts to shift from multiple loan payments to one loan payment program replacing all the rest.
3. Reduction of past interest or penalty charges:
One opting for debt consolidation may go for reduction of past interest or penalty charges paid for the borrowed amount under certain options. Options include high interest rate or penalty charges placed for the credited amount, when the total amount paid in the history till date exceeds the borrowed amount, or if it is a very long duration payment program going for 5 yrs or above. Under each case stated one can reduce the past interest and penalty charges or sometimes even eliminate those and pay only the amount borrowed.
4. Obtaining a payment plan:
This payment plan is given to the consumer analyzing the capability of an individual by thoroughly going through the personal needs of an individual, his responsibilities etc after which the debt consolidator restructures the existing plans taken by the consumer.
5. Becoming debt free at a faster rate:
Taking debt consolidation program relieves a person from debts at a faster rate than the usual time, which is required to come out of the debt. Following the plans given by a debt consolidator and proper execution of the plan will surely make an individual debt free and obtain high credit scores.

Sterlingrealtors

2006-01-09T02:31:00.000-08:00

The credit score is calculated using a formula provided by the Fair Isaac Corporation under the act of FCRA (Fair Credit Reporting Act ). The three national bureaucrats dealing with credit reports are Equifax, Experian and Trans Union. The credit report can vary between these three credit bureaus since the credit reporters do not submit the reports in all three bureaus. Basically it is the procedure that one‘s credit report is the average taken from the values of these three bureaus. There may be a small difference existing between these bureaucracies credit reports which doesn’t seem to harm any of the customers credit score hence no issue has arisen till now in regards to the above.

Reverse Osmosis

2005-11-30T10:32:00.000-08:00

Common use for Reverse osmosis is in purifying water where it produces water, which is in demand at all, places. One of the finest filtration under Reverse Osmosis is Hyper Filtration, where the removals of particles are as small as ions. In this Process, water gets purified and the various salts and other impurities are removed to improve the Properties of fluid, its taste as well as color. Reverse osmosis occurs when the water is moved across the membrane against the concentration gradient, from lower concentration to higher concentration. It thus purifies water by ejecting out fluids, inorganic chemicals such as nitrates, calcium, and magnesium, other ions and contaminants. It uses a semi-permeable membrane, allowing the fluid that is being purified to pass through it. Most of the reverse osmosis technology procedures are described in http://www.discountreverseosmosis.com/ undergoes a cross flow Process to allow the membrane to clean itself periodically. As some of the fluid gets rested in downstream, continuous cross-flow process helps or sweeps out the rejected species away from the membrane.

Grisaille Paintings

2005-11-27T21:10:00.000-08:00

Grisaille is not a paintings type by its own but an initial step in oil painting. It is the step representing lighter shades of the image to be painted. This type grisaille grey is basically a painting in lighter grey shade (followed as per the rules of oil painting the darker painting section follows the lighter colors to be implemented in oil painting) before the whole painting is all done. This painting is executed entirely on monochrome in various shades of grey which can also be used for decorative purposes such as representing an object in relief.

Distiller Water Filters

2005-11-16T07:19:00.000-08:00

Water distillers use electricity to heat tap water to boiling point. Generally the Impurities are left in the container and the purified contents go back to a clean container. They need a higher level of efficiency and cannot give immediate supply, because the boiling process must be over before water is present. There are a number of reports in http://www.water-filters-purifiers-softeners.com/ that distilled water is not fit for health because it takes away nutrients from the body, being the most 'unnatural' of water.

Ionized Water Filters
These are generally filtered using an acid and an alkaline. They run between the positive and the negative ends of the electrodes and get the charged and acidic water. They are formed using 70% alkaline water and 30% Acid water. Alkaline and Acidic waters have unusual properties and benefits, but anyway their respective uses could not be more different.

Back flush Water Filters
They are costlier compared to charcoal filter units, but justify this by their claims of longevity. They are highly durable and efficient.

LAN

2005-09-20T08:41:00.000-07:00

A local area network (LAN) is a computer network covering a local area, like a home, office or small group of buildings such as a college.
When using ethernet the computers are usually wired to a hub or to a switch. This constitutes the physical layer.
A layout known as a spanning tree protocol is often used to maintain a loop free network topology within a LAN, particularly with ethernet.
A number of network protocols may use the basic physical layer including TCP/IP. In this case DHCP is a convenient way to obtain an IP address rather than using fixed addressing. LANs can be interlinked by connections to form a Wide area network. A router is used to make the connection between LANs.
LANs are distinguished from other kinds of networks by three characteristics: (1) their size, (2) their transmission technology, and (3) their topology.

Blogging's rise to influence

2005-08-19T12:18:00.000-07:00

Among the first established political blogs with national audiences were Andrew Sullivan's AndrewSullivan.com, Ron Gunzburger's Politics1.com, Jerome Armstrong's MyDD.com, and Markos Moulitsas Zúniga's DailyKos.com -- all of which launched widely read blogs in 2001-02. The first blog-driven political controversy was probably the fall of U.S. Senate Majority Leader Trent Lott, who had remarked, at a party honoring U.S. Senator Strom Thurmond, that Thurmond's leadership abilities may have made him a good President. Since Thurmond had spent much of his early political career sympathetic to white supremacists, Lott's statements were conveyed in the media to be racist. In the aftermath, bloggers such as Josh Marshall strove to demonstrate that his remarks were not an isolated misstatement, by finding evidence including quotes from other previous speeches of Lott's which were taken to be racist. Their efforts kept the story "alive" in the press until a critical mass of disapproval forced Lott to resign his position as Senate Majority Leader.
By this point blogging was enough of a phenomenon that how-to manuals had begun to appear, primarily focusing on using the tools, or creating content. But the importance of a blog as a way of building an electronic community had also been written on, as had the potential for blogs as a means of publicizing other projects. Established schools of journalism began researching the blogging phenomenon, and noting the differences between current practice of journalism and blogging.
Since 2003, weblogs have gained increasing notice and coverage for their role in breaking, shaping, or spinning news stories. One of the most significant events was the sudden emergence of an interest in the Iraq war, which saw both left-wing and right-wing bloggers taking measured and passionate points of view that did not reflect the traditional left-right divide. The blogs which gathered news on Iraq, both left and right, exploded in popularity, and Forbes magazine covered the phenomenon. The use of blogs by established politicians and political candidates—particularly Howard Dean and Wesley Clark—to express opinions on the war and other issues of the day, cemented their role as a news source. Meanwhile, the increasing number of experts who blogged, such as Daniel Drezner and J. Bradford DeLong, gave blogs a built-in source of in-depth analysis.
The Iraq war was the first "blog war" in another way: bloggers in Baghdad gained wider readership, and one (Salam Pax) published a book of his blog. Blogs also arose amongst soldiers serving in the Iraq war. Such "milblogs" have given readers a new perspective on the realities of war. Reading the thoughts of people who were "on the spot" provided a supplement and perhaps a differing viewpoint to official news sources. Blogs were often used to draw attention to obscure news sources, for example posting links to the traffic cameras in Madrid as a huge anti-terrorism demonstration filled the streets in the wake of the M11 attacks. Bloggers would often provide nearly instant commentary on televised events, which became a secondary meaning of the word "blogging", such as "I am blogging Rice's testimony," i.e., "I am posting my reactions to Rice's testimony to my blog as I watch it."
By the end of 2003 top rated blogs Instapundit, Daily Kos, and Atrios were receiving over 75,000 unique visitors per day

1945: Yalta Conference, push into Germany, Berlin falls, occupation

2005-02-25T02:24:00.000-08:00

Berlin fell to the Red Army on 2 May. Here, the Hammer and Sickle is flown over the Reichstag.Arrangements for post-war Europe were made between Churchill, Stalin, and Roosevelt at the Yalta Conference in February 1945. It resulted in an April meeting to form the United Nations, nation-states were created in Eastern Europe, it was agreed Poland would have free elections, Soviet nationals were to be repatriated, and the Soviet Union was to attack Japan within three months of Germany's surrender.
The Red Army alone began its final assault on Berlin on 16 April. Hitler and his staff moved into a bunker beneath the Chancellery, where on 30 April 1945 he committed suicide. The Soviets took a massive toll of 100,000 men killed. Admiral Karl Dönitz had been appointed President of Germany by Hitler, and unconditionally surrendered on 8 May, marking the end of the European war. "V-E Day" was celebrated by the Western Allies on 8 May and "Victory Day" by the Soviet Union on 9 May

Little Green Footballs

2004-11-23T03:20:00.000-08:00

Little Green Footballs is known for its irreverent spin on hot-button issues, featuring Photoshopped treatments of Rachel Corrie as "Saint Pancake," Yasser Arafat as "Arafish" and jailed Palestinian miltants as Elvis. A vocal admirer of controversial pundits Daniel Pipes and Oriana Fallaci, Johnson is also responsible for coining the word "idiotarian."
Fans see the website as an alternative media outlet which provides a counterweight to the alleged anti-American, anti-Zionist, anti-Conservative bias of mainstream media outlets like Reuters (or "al-Reuters" in LGF slang). LGF also features extensive coverage of under-reported news stories, particularly those featuring examples of European anti-Semitism or Islamist terrorism.
Critics point to the hyperbolic language and dehumanizing slurs employed by some posters (e.g., "Palesimians," "oil ticks," "koranimals") and charge the webmaster with encouraging groupthink, jingoism, and Islamophobic hate speech.
LGF regulars (the self-proclaimed "Lizardoids") counter negative evaluations of the website by appealing to the clash of civilizations metanarrative. In their view, the war between the Western world and global Islamism is so revolutionary in scope and significance that the neutral point of view can only be understood as a defeatist anachronism.

saints

2004-10-29T21:43:00.000-07:00

Temples have a different purpose from ordinary meetinghouses. In early Latter Day Saint history, temples were used for sacred ceremonies not performed in meetinghouses. In thetemple at Kirtland, Ohio, the Saints performed feet washing, and the Mormon sealing ordinance. Later, in the temple at Nauvoo, Illinois, the Saints performed the Endowment ceremony and the SecondAnointing.
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mother teresa

2004-10-08T02:05:00.001-07:00

In 1971 Paul VI awarded her the first Pope John XXIII Peace Prize. Other awards bestowed upon her included a Kennedy Prize (1971), the Albert Schweitzer International Prize (1975, the United States Presidential Medal of Freedom (1985 and Congressional Medal of Honor (1994, honorary citizenship of the United States (1996), and honorary degrees from a number of universities. In 1972 Mother Teresa was awarded the Nehru Prize for her promotion of international peace and understanding.
In 1979 Teresa was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize "for work undertaken in the struggle to overcome poverty and distress, which also constitute a threat to peace." Mother Teresa's acceptance speech. In the same year, she was also awarded the Balzan Prize for promoting peace and brotherhood among the nations.
In 1982, Mother Teresa persuaded Israelis and Palestinians, who were in the midst of a skirmish, to cease fire long enough to rescue 37 mentally handicapped patients from a besieged hospital in Beirut.
In 1983 Teresa suffered a heart attack in Rome, while visiting Pope John Paul II. After a second attack in 1989 she received a pacemaker. In 1991, after a bout of pneumonia while in Mexico[ Espaniol portal / Mexico Travel Guide ] , she had further heart problems.
She offered to resign her position as head of the order. A secret ballot vote was carried out, and all the nuns, except herself, voted for Mother Teresa to stay. Mother Teresa agreed to continue her work as head of the Missionaries of Charity.
Mother Teresa became an honorary citizen of the United States on November 16, 1996.

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