Vardaman Virtual Forestry Company
FRIDAY REPORT OF 07/21/06
The Most Direct, Frequent Link to Knowledge Workers in the Eastern Forest Economy
“HIZBULLAH” FACTS RECORDED IN WIKIPEDIA
“Lebanese Shi’i Muslim political group, often involved in military actions.
“Hizbullah, an Arabic word meaning ‘Party of God,’ was formed in 1982, with Hussayn Musawi as leader. Hizbullah is an umbrella organization with groups like Islamic Jihad, Revolutionary Justice organization, Islamic Jihad for a Free Palestine, and Revolutionary Arab Groups as subdivisions.
“Hizbullah has about 5,000 members, and receives much support and training facilities from Iran and Syria…
“Hizbullah demands that Westerners leave Lebanon, and they seek to charge the Christian Lebanese population for crimes against their Muslim compatriots…
“In many cases, Hizbullah’s main enemy has been Israel. Hizbullah’s struggle is regarded as jihad, holy war, and members, dying in action become, shaded, martyrs, who are guaranteed a place in Paradise…
“Hizbullah claimed responsibility for bombing the US embassy and marine headquarters in Beirut in 1983, as well as hijackings, and taking of Western and Israeli hostages. But Hizbullah also carries out peaceful actions, and is in charge of important social welfare for the Lebanese population…”
“RAINY DAYS DRIVEN BY TRAFFIC PATTERNS, STUDY SAYS
by Richard A. Lovett for National Geographic News
“Think it rains only on the weekend? Not if you live in the Southeast United States. Summer rainfall in this region of the country appears to mimic the highs and lows of air pollution from weekday commuters, says Thomas Bell of the NASA Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland…
“Bell limited his study to summer thunderstorms, which, in theory, are most likely affected by changes in air pollution. Meteorologists believe smog contains tiny particles that spur the formation of water droplets, which eventually become raindrops. More smog, therefore, not only means more droplets, but also tinier ones – at least in the initial stages of the storm formation. These smaller droplets are carried higher into the air before falling as rain, which ultimately increases storm intensity…
“Seeking to examine the issue more broadly, Bell analyzed rainfall patterns for nine years of satellite data from the Southeast quadrant of the U.S. The region extends as far north as central Illinois and as far west as mid-Texas. The scientist found that during June, July, and August afternoon thunderstorms were most common on Wednesdays and least common on weekends. The showers exactly mirrored pollution intensity from vehicle traffic…
“Bell and his colleagues say that atmospheric and wind-speed data also indicate that stronger and more frequent storms occur on weekdays. Local weather station measurements backed the team’s findings…
To read the complete article, click on http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2006/07/060713-weather.html
“NEWS FROM THE SCHOOLS”
Excerpt from 07/14/06 posting on www.economist.com
“When Thomas Groome, a professor of theology at Boston College, attended a conference of church and business leaders last year, he says it was as if the two groups were speaking different languages. ‘It was apparent that the business leaders did not fully understand the language of the church, and the church leaders, including the bishops present, did not fully understand the language of business.’ And so it was that Mr. Groome arrived at the idea of creating America’s first graduate programme in church management.
“Starting this autumn, Boston College, one of America’s largest Jesuit universities, will offer a two-year master’s degree in pastoral ministry with a concentration in church management, and a three-year joint MBA/master’s degree in pastoral ministry. The university’s Institute for Religious Education and Pastoral Ministry, headed by Mr. Groome, and the Carroll School of Management will collaborate on the programmes, which are open to both pastors and laypeople.
“They will likely be welcomed by the Boston archdiocese, which is recovering from a sexual-abuse scandal that began in 2002. Poor management was seen as having contributed to the scandal and the financial difficulties that followed. Though much of the church’s operations in Boston are still run by men with little formal management training, there are signs that administrative competence is increasing. Indeed, just last month the diocese was commended for the quality of its financial reports…”
To read the complete article, click on http://www.economist.com/business/globalexecutive/education/displaystory.cfm?story_id=7182536
“SNOOZE OR LOSE: MEMORY RETENTION ENHANCED BY SLEEP” by David Biello
“Sleep aids memory. Whether tested in animals or humans, studies have shown that sense memories – such as learning a certain sequence of dance steps – take root more solidly when paired with adequate rest. Now new research shows that so-called declarative memories – such as a sequence of facts – also benefit from slumber, especially when subjects are challenged with subsequent, competing information.
“Jeffrey Ellenborgen of Harvard Medical School and his colleagues recruited 60 healthy subjects – excluding night owls, the restless and the lethargic – and asked them to memorize 20 pairs of random words, such as blanket and village. The participants were assigned to one of five groups of 12 and had unlimited time to learn the pairings. Two of the groups began learning at 9 A.M. and returned for testing at 9 P.M. that evening – with no naps allowed – and two of the groups began learning at 9 P.M. and returned for testing at 9 A.M. the following morning after a night’s sleep.
“The sleepers barely outperformed their sleepless peers in the first comparison: 94 percent of sleepers accurately recalled the pairings compared to 82 percent of their peers. But when the researchers added a twist – forcing subjects in two of the groups to learn a new set of word pairs in 12 minutes prior to testing – the well-rested radically outperformed the sleepy; 76 percent of sleepers accurately recalled the initial compared to just 32 percent of their peers who had gone without shuteye. “Memories after sleep are resilient to disruption,” the researchers conclude in the paper outlining the finding published yesterday in Current Biology…
“Sleeping on it may just be the best way to remember something.”
To read the complete article, click on http://scientificamerican.com, and then on SCIENCE NEWS 07/11/2006, and then on our title.
Visit our partner Wiley.com to save 15% on How
to Make Money Growing Trees and their entire selection of Forestry and Agricultural titles. Your discount will be applied automatically
upon checkout. If you do you not see the discount being applied, please enter
code aff15 in the Promotion Code field and click the Apply Discount button.
|
