One thing I've learned over the years is that a business should stick to its core competencies. Trying to branch out into other fields, even related fields, fails more often than succeeds. If Lockheed and Boeing stick to defense contracts and Big Iron, it will work for them. Let other companies rise up to do the related space work.
The Coast Guard Academy would be a good model then. Entrance to the Academy is strictly by competition, unlike the Big Three academies, which have politicians who make appointments. Graduates have to serve 5 years' active duty with the Coast Guard or another service after graduation, just as in the Big Three.
The Soviet Union agreed to denounce the 1941 Neutrality Pact with Japan in the Yalta Conference and enter the war as soon as possible. The Soviet Union and Japan had fought a series of border clashes in Siberia in 1939; Marshal Georgi Zhukov commanded the victorious Soviet forces, introducing many of the doctrinal innovations the Soviets adapted as a whole later in the War. The treaty was the result of this Soviet victory.
The Soviets agreed to enter the war with Japan no later than three months after the surrender of Germany. Three months later, on August 8, the Soviets declared war on Japan and began operations the next day.
The Soviet campaign against Japan's Kwantung Army is a masterpiece of Soviet tactics, including attacking in depth, the use of artillery to annihilate overrun units, and speed.
As one who has contributed significantly to the Wikipedia article on the War of 1812, I need to clarify this. It was the British forces, not Canadian militia, who landed in Maryland, defeated the DC militia at Bladensburg, burned the public buildings, and then moved to take Baltimore. At Baltimore the landing force was soundly defeated at North Point, and the ship force could not crack Ft. McHenry, so they withdrew.
The Canadian militia performed very well, but they, like the American militia, faced problems when dealting with regular soldiers. General Winfield Scott and Jacob Brown led a regular US column into Ontario in 1814, mauling both Canadian and British forces at Chippewa. The British victory at Lundy's Lane in July 1814 was due more to Scott and Brown's wounding and the horrific casualty rate on both sides. The American forces actually took the Canadian and British guns, but were too weak to stay. They then mauled the Canadian militia at Fort Erie, Ontario, and moved back over the Niagara, guaranteeing a stalemate in the Northern campaign.
The War of 1812 was one of those rare wars where both sides accomplished much of their war goals. The US did not annex Canada, but the gateway to the Southwest opened up, enabling us to move westward into Spanish/Mexican territory. The British began to give American positions more respect internationally, including a preference to negotiate agreements rather than fight. Canada became a nation, though Quebec and the Red River settlements were both problematic. There are reasons why both nations celebrate it as a victory, though technically it was a draw.
Sadly, millions of believers were killed during the Crusades as well, though according to a recent Vatican studythe Inquisiton wasn't so bad at all. Unfortunately, militant atheists have killed millions in the 20th Century, in the Soviet gulags and Chinese laogais. This does not defend the wars of religion or irrelgiion at all.
It's not the magnitude of the gesture as much as the rudeness of the gesture. Is a Bible offensive to you? Then don't read it. After all, it's the same argument we hear for pornography or indecency on the Internet or TV. It's a book. It doesn't jump up in your face and demand to be read.
What it becomes is a symbol to those offended. They cannot strike at God. Either He does not exist, or if he's the God of the Christians, He cannot be harmed by men. But they can damage a copy of the Bible.
Sigh... well, it's better than taking a person, created by God, whose soul is immortal, for whom Christ died, and damaging them for his or her beliefs.
I've been on another board with a member of the Gideon Society. Their purpose is to provide transients (hotels, military, prisons, and such) with a copy of the Bible. It costs about $5 US for a hardcover Bible and $1.50 US for a New Testament. Each Bible lasts 6 years on the average and is read 400 to 500 times.
The Gideons are funded by contributions from local churches. There is no mandate for a motel to carry a Gideon Bible; the Marriots, for example, put their own Bibles and a copy of the Book of Mormon in every room. Some hotels don't put them in. Many others do. Since hotels are private property, it is their right.
I've gone to hotels and I've seen the Gideon books defaced, torn, and with stickers added by militant atheists. What a fruitless thing to do! In many ways, what a cruel thing to do when someone is in distress, or wishes a quiet moment reflecting on God.
So, if a space traveler wants to read a Gideon Bible in orbit, I'll be glad to pay the freighting fees to get him one. Of course, a downloaded version would be easier to send.
DISCLAIMER: I am an evangelical Christian. I don't see any problem dealing with matters of faith and science. I'm writing articles and books about it for both the evangelical and non-evangelical community.
"Good point. How is this going to be useful to educators who frequently have to follow a specific strict syllabus? And as for teaching English, how are they going to handle the differing requirements of British and American teachers? It'll be an interesting one to watch."
Many years ago I worked for a textbook company. No textbook, save one written by the professor, follows the syllabus exactly, nor does it meet the requirements of every state and local government. For example, a social sciences textbook that would sell in California would be rejected by Texas--and there are the two biggest states!
One of the goals is not to replace the textbook model of today, but to provide excellent, low-cost or no-cost books in places where textbooks are mindbogglingly expensive--and I don't mean at the student union bookstore as much as I mean Third World nations, where the average income is much lower.
A factor many posters overlook is that there need not be one textbook for any subject. For example, an English grammar could be published in English dialect or American dialect (or Indian English, or Strine...) Currently, I see there are several different levels of physics textbook in the Wikibooks project.
In addition to textbooks to meet different audiences, textbooks can be aimed at different grade levels, such as middle school (Just ignore this book and concentrate on the boy/girl in the row in front of you...), high school, introductory college course, and up.
I haven't contributed yet to Wikibooks--but I will.
"And other posts, trolls, and crapfloods will make the editing of such a text a continual headache."
The same constant editorial process that has improved Wikipedia will improve Wikibooks.
However, one needs a critical mass after which the editorial process becomes constant and from diversified views. As of now, the other Wikimedia projects haven't hit them. I'm still defining basic entries in the Wiktionary, for example.
It all depends on the level of the math! For those who are struggling to learn a subject, often a great deal of explanitory material helps get the concept down. An encyclopedia doesn't have the problems to solve. For people like me, the only way to learn math is to do math.
I appreciate the Wikipedia compliment, since I am one of the regular contributors. This archive would definitely fill holes in the 19th-century coverage, where other sources are relatively scarce.
Wikipedia is getting better each day, but there are still gaps in many articles I wish we could fill.
However, what I am concerned about is not the programming as much as the quality of the signals. As late as a few years ago, there were "clear channel" stations (not the corporation) that had more or less exclusive rights to broadcast on one frequency at night, as well as regional stations and the "graveyard" channels from 1300 to 1490 kHz. Stations would get off the air at sunset and on at sunrise because of the way medium-wave radio propagates.
The FCC stopped enforcing the technical quality of these stations and now even "clear channels" have smaller stations operating on their frequencies, or even drifting out of channel, which prevents clear reception of any station. This may sound trivial, but in emergencies such as hurricanes, one state-wide station might be able to get a message through, while local FM stations and TV stations are off the air.
Our friends at Clear Channel have not helped, either. A good example of not thinking of the public service value of AM radio is their plan to move WWVA-1170 kHz out of Wheeling, West Virginia, to Ohio, to be a competition for the Cleveland market. Fine. But what about floods in West Virginia?
Or allowing WOWO's 1170 kHz signal in Fort Wayne to drop to 10 kW from 50 kW so that WLIB in New York could marginally penetrate the NYC metro area? (This was done pre-Air America. I think I got better reception of WLIB in the DC area than their purported audiences.)
The band has its unique characteristics that make it valuable. The FCC is ignoring these characteristics. The programming could actually get better if someone made the band worth listening to at night.
I'm in favor of maintaining regulatory standards over programming. However, when is the FCC going to get its act together and clean up the technical mess on the medium-wave band?
"They don't want the Finns or the Norwegians to get any ideas.:)"
Or the Russians: in 1981 there was the infamous "Whiskey on the Rocks" incident, when a Soviet sub on a reconnaissance mission ran aground in Swedish territorial waters near the Karlskrona naval base. NATO subs would also test their stealth capabilities against the Swedish navy, and vice-versa.
Sweden, like Switzerland, believes that having a strong military was a way to ensure its neutrality in war.
Swedish-born John Ericsson developed the first turret-gunned ironclad, the USS Monitor, in 1862. In many ways, the Monitor was superior to the CSS Virginia, which was built on the cut-down hull of the USS Merrimac. Her guns could bear in all directions, which lowered the need for broadside fire and manuvering. She wasn't very seaworthy (she sank in the Atlantic off Cape Hatteras), but she changed the nature of naval warfare for a century.
Domain Archaea is one-celled, but is vastly different from Kingdom Monera (or bacteria). They have different membrane lipids, don't have peptogylcon in the cell wall, and phyla of Archaea can live in the strangest places, such as hot smokers, extremely salt seas, weird chemical environments, and other things that would kill bacteria.
I would say the Orthodox family of churches would strongly dispute that claim; they, in fact, would have a stronger claim to being the parent branch of the church, since the early church was a Greek-speaking church.
Slashdot Mirror
One thing I've learned over the years is that a business should stick to its core competencies. Trying to branch out into other fields, even related fields, fails more often than succeeds. If Lockheed and Boeing stick to defense contracts and Big Iron, it will work for them. Let other companies rise up to do the related space work.
The last reality show that dealt with pilot candidates didn't last a month, IIRC.
The Coast Guard Academy would be a good model then. Entrance to the Academy is strictly by competition, unlike the Big Three academies, which have politicians who make appointments. Graduates have to serve 5 years' active duty with the Coast Guard or another service after graduation, just as in the Big Three.
"Why do something as difficult as this to spread chemicals in a city?"
Sure. I am sure most cities have a perfectly good system to distribute meth and crack!
My facts are hazy, but if I recally correctly:
The Soviet Union agreed to denounce the 1941 Neutrality Pact with Japan in the Yalta Conference and enter the war as soon as possible. The Soviet Union and Japan had fought a series of border clashes in Siberia in 1939; Marshal Georgi Zhukov commanded the victorious Soviet forces, introducing many of the doctrinal innovations the Soviets adapted as a whole later in the War. The treaty was the result of this Soviet victory.
The Soviets agreed to enter the war with Japan no later than three months after the surrender of Germany. Three months later, on August 8, the Soviets declared war on Japan and began operations the next day.
The Soviet campaign against Japan's Kwantung Army is a masterpiece of Soviet tactics, including attacking in depth, the use of artillery to annihilate overrun units, and speed.
As one who has contributed significantly to the Wikipedia article on the War of 1812, I need to clarify this. It was the British forces, not Canadian militia, who landed in Maryland, defeated the DC militia at Bladensburg, burned the public buildings, and then moved to take Baltimore. At Baltimore the landing force was soundly defeated at North Point, and the ship force could not crack Ft. McHenry, so they withdrew.
The Canadian militia performed very well, but they, like the American militia, faced problems when dealting with regular soldiers. General Winfield Scott and Jacob Brown led a regular US column into Ontario in 1814, mauling both Canadian and British forces at Chippewa. The British victory at Lundy's Lane in July 1814 was due more to Scott and Brown's wounding and the horrific casualty rate on both sides. The American forces actually took the Canadian and British guns, but were too weak to stay. They then mauled the Canadian militia at Fort Erie, Ontario, and moved back over the Niagara, guaranteeing a stalemate in the Northern campaign.
The War of 1812 was one of those rare wars where both sides accomplished much of their war goals. The US did not annex Canada, but the gateway to the Southwest opened up, enabling us to move westward into Spanish/Mexican territory. The British began to give American positions more respect internationally, including a preference to negotiate agreements rather than fight. Canada became a nation, though Quebec and the Red River settlements were both problematic. There are reasons why both nations celebrate it as a victory, though technically it was a draw.
The World English Bible is a modern-English public domain translation. The other candidate is the King James Version.
http://www.ebible.org/
Sadly, millions of believers were killed during the Crusades as well, though according to a recent Vatican studythe Inquisiton wasn't so bad at all. Unfortunately, militant atheists have killed millions in the 20th Century, in the Soviet gulags and Chinese laogais. This does not defend the wars of religion or irrelgiion at all.
It's not the magnitude of the gesture as much as the rudeness of the gesture. Is a Bible offensive to you? Then don't read it. After all, it's the same argument we hear for pornography or indecency on the Internet or TV. It's a book. It doesn't jump up in your face and demand to be read.
What it becomes is a symbol to those offended. They cannot strike at God. Either He does not exist, or if he's the God of the Christians, He cannot be harmed by men. But they can damage a copy of the Bible.
Sigh... well, it's better than taking a person, created by God, whose soul is immortal, for whom Christ died, and damaging them for his or her beliefs.
I've been on another board with a member of the Gideon Society. Their purpose is to provide transients (hotels, military, prisons, and such) with a copy of the Bible. It costs about $5 US for a hardcover Bible and $1.50 US for a New Testament. Each Bible lasts 6 years on the average and is read 400 to 500 times.
The Gideons are funded by contributions from local churches. There is no mandate for a motel to carry a Gideon Bible; the Marriots, for example, put their own Bibles and a copy of the Book of Mormon in every room. Some hotels don't put them in. Many others do. Since hotels are private property, it is their right.
I've gone to hotels and I've seen the Gideon books defaced, torn, and with stickers added by militant atheists. What a fruitless thing to do! In many ways, what a cruel thing to do when someone is in distress, or wishes a quiet moment reflecting on God.
So, if a space traveler wants to read a Gideon Bible in orbit, I'll be glad to pay the freighting fees to get him one. Of course, a downloaded version would be easier to send.
DISCLAIMER: I am an evangelical Christian. I don't see any problem dealing with matters of faith and science. I'm writing articles and books about it for both the evangelical and non-evangelical community.
In American English, it's "math."
In British English, it's "maths."
Does this help?
"Good point. How is this going to be useful to educators who frequently have to follow a specific strict syllabus? And as for teaching English, how are they going to handle the differing requirements of British and American teachers? It'll be an interesting one to watch."
Many years ago I worked for a textbook company. No textbook, save one written by the professor, follows the syllabus exactly, nor does it meet the requirements of every state and local government. For example, a social sciences textbook that would sell in California would be rejected by Texas--and there are the two biggest states!
One of the goals is not to replace the textbook model of today, but to provide excellent, low-cost or no-cost books in places where textbooks are mindbogglingly expensive--and I don't mean at the student union bookstore as much as I mean Third World nations, where the average income is much lower.
A factor many posters overlook is that there need not be one textbook for any subject. For example, an English grammar could be published in English dialect or American dialect (or Indian English, or Strine...) Currently, I see there are several different levels of physics textbook in the Wikibooks project.
In addition to textbooks to meet different audiences, textbooks can be aimed at different grade levels, such as middle school (Just ignore this book and concentrate on the boy/girl in the row in front of you...), high school, introductory college course, and up.
I haven't contributed yet to Wikibooks--but I will.
"And other posts, trolls, and crapfloods will make the editing of such a text a continual headache."
The same constant editorial process that has improved Wikipedia will improve Wikibooks.
However, one needs a critical mass after which the editorial process becomes constant and from diversified views. As of now, the other Wikimedia projects haven't hit them. I'm still defining basic entries in the Wiktionary, for example.
It all depends on the level of the math! For those who are struggling to learn a subject, often a great deal of explanitory material helps get the concept down. An encyclopedia doesn't have the problems to solve. For people like me, the only way to learn math is to do math.
"Where is my Eagle lander damnit?!! Where is my General Enterprises Hull? Where is my Millenium Falcon? Where is my Beaver-1?"
Be thankful it doesn't come with a Sirius Cybernetics Corporation product!
It is not a balloon--it is a Zeppelin!
(throws German government out of cabin)
I appreciate the Wikipedia compliment, since I am one of the regular contributors. This archive would definitely fill holes in the 19th-century coverage, where other sources are relatively scarce.
Wikipedia is getting better each day, but there are still gaps in many articles I wish we could fill.
However, what I am concerned about is not the programming as much as the quality of the signals. As late as a few years ago, there were "clear channel" stations (not the corporation) that had more or less exclusive rights to broadcast on one frequency at night, as well as regional stations and the "graveyard" channels from 1300 to 1490 kHz. Stations would get off the air at sunset and on at sunrise because of the way medium-wave radio propagates.
The FCC stopped enforcing the technical quality of these stations and now even "clear channels" have smaller stations operating on their frequencies, or even drifting out of channel, which prevents clear reception of any station. This may sound trivial, but in emergencies such as hurricanes, one state-wide station might be able to get a message through, while local FM stations and TV stations are off the air.
Our friends at Clear Channel have not helped, either. A good example of not thinking of the public service value of AM radio is their plan to move WWVA-1170 kHz out of Wheeling, West Virginia, to Ohio, to be a competition for the Cleveland market. Fine. But what about floods in West Virginia?
Or allowing WOWO's 1170 kHz signal in Fort Wayne to drop to 10 kW from 50 kW so that WLIB in New York could marginally penetrate the NYC metro area? (This was done pre-Air America. I think I got better reception of WLIB in the DC area than their purported audiences.)
The band has its unique characteristics that make it valuable. The FCC is ignoring these characteristics. The programming could actually get better if someone made the band worth listening to at night.
I'm in favor of maintaining regulatory standards over programming. However, when is the FCC going to get its act together and clean up the technical mess on the medium-wave band?
I can hear the damage control officer: "Now all spackling parties lay to the bulkhead."
"They don't want the Finns or the Norwegians to get any ideas. :)"
Or the Russians: in 1981 there was the infamous "Whiskey on the Rocks" incident, when a Soviet sub on a reconnaissance mission ran aground in Swedish territorial waters near the Karlskrona naval base. NATO subs would also test their stealth capabilities against the Swedish navy, and vice-versa.
Sweden, like Switzerland, believes that having a strong military was a way to ensure its neutrality in war.
Swedish-born John Ericsson developed the first turret-gunned ironclad, the USS Monitor, in 1862. In many ways, the Monitor was superior to the CSS Virginia, which was built on the cut-down hull of the USS Merrimac. Her guns could bear in all directions, which lowered the need for broadside fire and manuvering. She wasn't very seaworthy (she sank in the Atlantic off Cape Hatteras), but she changed the nature of naval warfare for a century.
In the States, most of the projectionists are either union members, getting paid pretty well, or management.
Domain Archaea is one-celled, but is vastly different from Kingdom Monera (or bacteria). They have different membrane lipids, don't have peptogylcon in the cell wall, and phyla of Archaea can live in the strangest places, such as hot smokers, extremely salt seas, weird chemical environments, and other things that would kill bacteria.
I would say the Orthodox family of churches would strongly dispute that claim; they, in fact, would have a stronger claim to being the parent branch of the church, since the early church was a Greek-speaking church.
You assume I would jump off a tall building TWICE. Unfortunately, I'm not Kryptonian.