Readers Write: Labor unions deserve our thanks; Alcohol is deadliest drug

Letters to the Editor for the October 1, 2012 weekly print issue: Only 12 percent of workers are in unions now, but we should remember how unions have improved our lives and thank the many laborers around us today. In driving accidents, alcohol ? not marijuana ? is the deadliest drug.

October 1, 2012

Appreciating labor ? then and now

Congratulations on the benchmark Sept. 3 issue with "The silver-collar economy" cover story. Starting with John Yemma's Upfront column,?"Working to make a difference," this issue looked at labor issues across South Africa, Europe, and Saudi Arabia, and the In Pictures feature, "A world of work," was beautiful. Ending with Danny Heitman's commentary, "When the office is like a second home," and the "Fall books preview," this issue got me to remembering, too.

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Growing up in the 1950s, there was a strong appreciation of "labor," which was mostly recognized at that time as having a union label. Almost 35 percent of American workers belonged to unions, and Labor Day was a big deal. That celebratory day was right up there with Armistice Day (now called Veterans Day) as a time when hundreds of thousands of people we didn't know by name were in our hearts for having built and protected America so that we all could grow up, have families, and grow old with dignity.

Labor and unions are no longer synonymous now that less than 12 percent of workers are in unions. But we should remember just how much the last century's union activities have improved our lives. Acceptable working conditions, decent pay, and benefits are a few examples. Labor is still all around us. We ought to make a point to express our thanks to all the people we see contributing their time and energy every day, unionized or not.

David K. McClurkin

?Beachwood, Ohio

Alcohol is a more deadly drug than pot

In the One Minute Debate in the Sept. 10 commentary section, "Voter choice: Should states legalize marijuana?," David Evans argues the "No" case. He states that "Marijuana is the most prevalent drug found in drivers killed in crashes." Mr. Evans's statement should really read: "Marijuana is the most prevalent illegal drug...."

Though most policymakers don't consider alcohol to be a drug, alcohol is involved in around 31 percent of all US traffic fatalities, while only about 4 to 14 percent of drivers who were injured or died in traffic accidents tested positive for marijuana.

Randall Baker

Roseville, Calif.

Source: http://rss.csmonitor.com/~r/feeds/csm/~3/zta9MEKYHIk/Readers-Write-Labor-unions-deserve-our-thanks-Alcohol-is-deadliest-drug

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David Blaine goes high voltage with latest stunt

FILE - This Oct. 13, 2008 file photo shows David Blaine attending a Cinema Society and Dolce Gabbana hosted special screening of "Filth and Wisdom" in New York. Blain is returning to New York City Oct. 5-8 for a three day, three night stunt called ?Electrified: One Million Volts Always On.? It will be streamed live. Blaine once set a world-record for holding his breath underwater for 17 minutes. He has also been buried alive for a week, encased inside a six-ton block of ice, and stood on top a 100-foot tall pillar for 36 hours without a safety net. (AP Photo/Evan Agostini, file)

FILE - This Oct. 13, 2008 file photo shows David Blaine attending a Cinema Society and Dolce Gabbana hosted special screening of "Filth and Wisdom" in New York. Blain is returning to New York City Oct. 5-8 for a three day, three night stunt called ?Electrified: One Million Volts Always On.? It will be streamed live. Blaine once set a world-record for holding his breath underwater for 17 minutes. He has also been buried alive for a week, encased inside a six-ton block of ice, and stood on top a 100-foot tall pillar for 36 hours without a safety net. (AP Photo/Evan Agostini, file)

FILE - This Oct. 13, 2008 file photo shows David Blaine attending a Cinema Society and Dolce Gabbana hosted special screening of "Filth and Wisdom" in New York. Blain is returning to New York City Oct. 5-8 for a three day, three night stunt called ?Electrified: One Million Volts Always On.? It will be streamed live. Blaine once set a world-record for holding his breath underwater for 17 minutes. He has also been buried alive for a week, encased inside a six-ton block of ice, and stood on top a 100-foot tall pillar for 36 hours without a safety net. (AP Photo/Evan Agostini, file)

NEW YORK (AP) ? David Blaine is spending the days leading up to his next stunt lying low.

"I'll mostly be relaxing, meditating and playing with my daughter ... and trying not to deprive myself of sleep," the illusionist said at a Tuesday press conference after demonstrating the stunt at low voltage.

He will need the rest. Beginning Friday, Blaine will spend three days and three nights standing in the middle of a million volts of electric currents streamed by tesla coils.

The feat is called "Electrified: One Million Volts Always On" and will take place at Pier 54 on New York's West Side. It will be open to the public, and spectators can type messages to Blaine, control the electricity around him and basically help keep him alert.

"Electrified" also will be streamed on YouTube, thanks to computing company Intel. Viewing stations will be located in London, Beijing, Tokyo and Sydney.

Blaine, who said he lives nearby, joked that he hopes to walk home after it is all over.

Safety is a bigger concern now that Blaine is a father. He has a 20-month-old daughter.

For the stunt, the 39-year-old will wear a chainmail bodysuit as a barrier between himself and the electric currents. He will have a wire helmet on, a visor to shield his eyes, and hearing protection for his ears. The air he is breathing will be monitored.

Blaine won't be able to eat but will have a tube for water in and another tube for water out, so to speak. Because he is fasting for days beforehand, he doesn't expect any other bodily waste.

"I don't know how I could ever top this," he said. "This is an overly-ambitious idea, and I'm literally shocked that it came together. This is one of the craziest things that I ever dreamed up, and I don't know how I could go beyond it."

Blaine's last stunt was hanging without a net high over New York's Central Park for 60 hours in 2008. For other stunts, he held his breath underwater for 17 minutes and 4 seconds, was buried alive for a week in a see-through coffin and was encased in a block of ice for 63 hours.

___

Online:

http://www.youtube.com/electrified

http://www.davidblaine.com/

___

Alicia Rancilio covers entertainment for The Associated Press. Follow her online at http://www.twitter.com/aliciar

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/4e67281c3f754d0696fbfdee0f3f1469/Article_2012-10-02-People-David%20Blaine/id-a08eaad2814445d8a53ec8032065ebc2

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A Baby Shower Amidst the CHAOS | Sawdust and Embryos

For some reason, I thought it would be a good idea to plan a baby shower and remodel my living room on the same weekend. It wouldn?t have happened this way if things had gone as planned. But we love entertaining, and I wasn?t about to let an inch of dust and power tools all over my living room prevent my from hosting a parTAY!

I mentioned on yesterday?s post about removing the living room wall that I took the girls to my parents on Saturday and did some baking. My mom and sister (Laura) were a HUGE help with this. And Laura even came back to our house and stayed over that night to help me set up the next day. She was so helpful with the girls. In this photo, she?s reading to Paisley from a Power Tool Catalogue.

AND, instead of frantically cleaning and trying to fit 30 people into a construction zone, we decided to move the living room outside. YEP!

I don?t remember who?s idea it was, but I?ll take credit for it. It was freaking awesome. The girls made themselves right at home in the yard, being surrounded by all the familiar furniture and their toys.

And it made for such a fun baby shower atmosphere. My sister-in-law, Carrie, is one of THE MOST BEAUTIFUL pregnant mamma?s of all time. And I can?t wait to meet their incoming little boy! (But not so impatient that I can?t wait a few more weeks? stay in there little buddy!)

Isn?t my sister-in-law beautiful?

Laura was in charge of games, and we had ?stroller relays? where two people raced in Paisley and Adelyn?s strollers with a HUGE water balloon in it. We set up an obstacle course, and it was SO hilarious. Also, I kicked Laura?s little hiney.

And our pumpkin-themed baked goods were a big success!

After everything wrapped up and people headed home, my immediate family stuck around and helped clean up (THANK YOU!). And I think they would agree that the ?after party? was the best. This is my mom with the girls. I love fall colors!

Nick and Tim (my brother/Carrie?s husband) decided it would be so fun to race each other with the strollers.

What was that? You want to see a video of this? That can be arranged. Please consider forgiving me for my loud obnoxious laughing.

*Photos were taken by Carrie?s sister Colleen, my mom, and myself.*

Source: http://www.sawdustandembryos.com/2012/10/a-baby-shower-amidst-chaos.html

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Clam shells yield clues to Atlantic?s climate history

ScienceDaily (Oct. 1, 2012) ? Two Iowa State University graduate students are just back from the Gulf of Maine with another big catch of clam shells.

Shelly Griffin and Madelyn Mette recently boarded a lobster boat, dropped a scallop dredge into 30 meters of ocean water and pulled up load after load of Arctica islandica.

?These are the clams that end up in clam chowder,? said Alan Wanamaker, an assistant professor of geological and atmospheric sciences in the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences. Wanamaker studies paleoclimatology, the variations and trends of past climates and environments, with the goal of better understanding future climate changes.

The Iowa State researchers only need a few live, meaty clams for their studies. They?re really after the old, dead shells. Off the coast of Maine, clams can live up to 240 years, year after year adding another band to their shells, just like a tree adds another growth ring. In the colder waters of the North Atlantic near Iceland, the clams can live up to 500 years, recording even more information in what scientists call annual shell increments.

Wanamaker and his research team bring those shells back to Iowa State?s Stable Isotope Laboratory where they?re cleaned, sorted, measured, cut, polished, drilled and otherwise prepared for careful microscopic imaging, geochemical testing and radiocarbon analysis.

It turns out those shell increments are a lot like sensors at the bottom of the ocean ? they record long records of information about the ocean, including growing conditions, temperatures and circulation patterns.

A paper published by Nature Communications in June 2012 reported how Wanamaker (the lead author) and an international team of researchers used radiocarbon data from shells to determine when clams collected north of Iceland were living in ?young? or ?old? water. Young water had been at the surface more recently and probably came from the Atlantic. Old water had been removed from the surface much longer and probably came from the Arctic Ocean.

The paper reports warmer, younger water from the Gulf Stream during the warmer Medieval Climate Anomaly from about A.D. 950 to 1250. The paper also reports that shell data showed older, colder water during Europe?s Little Ice Age from about A.D. 1550 to 1850.

The researchers? interpretation of the data says the Gulf Stream carrying warm water from the subtropical Atlantic was strong in the medieval era, weakened during the Little Ice Age and strengthened again after A.D. 1940. Those fluctuations amplified the relative warmth and coolness of the times.

Wanamaker said a better understanding of the ocean?s past can help researchers understand today?s climate trends and changes.

?Is the natural variability only that, or is it influenced by burning fossil fuels?? he said. ?Maybe we can understand what will happen in the next 100 years if we understand oceans over the past 1,000 years.?

And so Wanamaker ? a former high school science teacher in Maine whose fascination with climate change sent him back to graduate school ? works with students to carefully collect, process and study clam shells.

The research is painstaking ? the shell increments are measured in millionths of a meter and microscopes are required at the most important steps. And the tools are sophisticated ? two mass spectrometers measure shell fragments for different isotopes of carbon and oxygen. (Isotopes are elements with varying numbers of neutrons. Heavier isotopes of oxygen in the shell material generally correspond to colder ocean temperatures.)

?Isotopes are just wonderful tracers in nature,? Wanamaker said, noting he also takes isotope measurements for research projects across campus and beyond.

When it comes to Wanamaker?s own work with clam shells, ?In the broadest sense, we?re trying to add to our understanding of oceans over the last several thousand years,? he said. ?We have a terrestrial record ? we can get an excellent chronology from tree rings and there is a climate signal there. But that?s missing 70 percent of the planet.?

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Story Source:

The above story is reprinted from materials provided by Iowa State University.

Note: Materials may be edited for content and length. For further information, please contact the source cited above.

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Journal Reference:

1. Alan D. Wanamaker, Paul G. Butler, James D. Scourse, Jan Heinemeier, J?n Eir?ksson, Karen Luise Knudsen, Christopher A. Richardson. Surface changes in the North Atlantic meridional overturning circulation during the last millennium. Nature Communications, 2012; 3: 899 DOI: 10.1038/ncomms1901

Note: If no author is given, the source is cited instead.

Disclaimer: Views expressed in this article do not necessarily reflect those of ScienceDaily or its staff.

Source: http://feeds.sciencedaily.com/~r/sciencedaily/top_news/top_environment/~3/44kEnTFv2SQ/121001161236.htm

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Car Title Loan for Quick Start of Your Business - Finance Plan ...

Home mortgage loan is more familiar to the laymen as compared to the car title loan. Those who are quite aware of and interested in financial lingo may not find it a Hebrew phrase. However, even for these informed persons, title loan is only a way to be out of financial chaos with some quick cash. They can hardly think about using it as quick take-off for their business effort. But the reality is that with what accrues to you through vehicle title loan is adequate enough to water your wilting business.

Unlike the bank car title loan is highly expensive but can be availed within a few hours. The banks ask for a prolix list of documents to judge the authenticity of your statement in the loan application form. You need to prepare your personal as well as professional details including but not limited to income status, credit background, the purpose of loan taking etc. Furthermore, the bank authority will arrange a meeting with the short-listed borrowers after primary scanning of the applications.

Sacrifice of time and effort yet you don?t know whether loan will be granted or not! Official red tapes extend the time of loan processing and your frustration is quite understandable when you are denied monetary help after weeks? of waiting. From the nature of bank loans as presented in the above paragraphs, you can easily assume that it can never make a choice for immediate money requirement purpose. Search for an alternative ends at the doorstep of cash for title loan industry.

Title loan brings you a fairly good amount. You can invest it for a variety of business needs like buying new equipments, doing some expansion works, procuring raw materials etc. The amount of money you avail through this lending choice depends on the worth of your car?s title. However, the entire sum of a car?s value is not offered rather a part of it is extended to you as cash for your title. A host of factors play crucial role in determining how much you can access against your car title mortgage. Among these factors, the most important are the car model, the date of its manufacture and how much it is worth at the current market price.

The most challenging part of title loan is that you are obliged to make pay-off within 30 days. Collection of a huge sum for payback and that too within such a shorter time limit is nearly impossible. However, playing the wise card is the mantra to make a good use of the loan for your business purpose and make a timely payoff to swat the troubles far away.

Source: http://www.financeplan.info/car-title-loan-for-quick-start-of-your-business/

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Concept Aquatic Rover May Explore a Lake On Titan

Maybe one day, but a boat is much easier to build and send to another planet than a submersible is. All a boat requires is a film and lighter-than-hydrocarbon gas, while a submersible requires pressure/liquid proofing, some ability to maintain neutral buoyancy, and some way to transmit information back through a medium thicker than the atmosphere.

Source: http://rss.slashdot.org/~r/Slashdot/slashdotScience/~3/nsGo9R2hvzI/concept-aquatic-rover-may-explore-a-lake-on-titan

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Court won't stop Des Moines franchise fee refunds (The Arizona Republic)

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