US body lauds Obama for his religious freedom remarks in India

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Washington, Feb 7: A US Congress-established commission on international religious freedom has commended President Barack Obama for deepening relations with India while recognising religious freedom concerns during his trip to the country.

"President Obama's timely comments underscore the importance of India getting religious freedom right," said Katrina Lantos Swett, Chairwoman of the US Commission for International Religious Freedom (USCIRF).

Notably, members of the USCIRF were denied visa by the previous UPA regime to send a fact-finding mission to India to access religious freedom in the country in particular states like Orissa and Gujarat.

In its annual report, USCIRF has been highly critical of the status of religious freedom in India and has often compared it at par with some of the authoritarian regimes. Since 2009, USCIRF designated India as a Tier 2 country.

USCIRF, in a statement, said religious freedom is a challenge that India must and can address, given its diversity and long history of democratic values.

"India's history includes both Article 25 of its Constitution - which provides for freedom of conscience and the free profession, practice, and propagation of religion -- and its international commitments," Swett said.

"India can meet this challenge by protecting religious minorities and holding accountable the perpetrators of religiously-motivated harassment, intimidation and violence," concluded Swett.

USCIRF said it commends Obama for deepening relations with India while also recognising religious freedom concerns during his three-day trip to the country in late January, concerns he reiterated at the February 5 National Prayer Breakfast.

The President highlighted how India's success is dependent on not being "splintered along the lines of religious faith".

At the National Prayer Breakfast, Obama said, "in past years, religious faiths of all types have, on occasion, been targeted by other peoples of faith, simply due to their heritage and their beliefs -- acts of intolerance that would have shocked Gandhiji, the person who helped to liberate that nation."

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US body lauds Obama for his religious freedom remarks in India

Freedom Flight planning making progress

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Fundraising efforts are underway to send Boone County veterans on a flight to Washington DC, to visit the war memorials.

The Boone County Freedom Flight committee has been meeting for the past couple of months to plan Boone Countys first Freedom Flight. The trip would send World War II, Korea and Vietnam veterans to visit the war memorials as a way to say thanks for their service to this country.

The committee is hoping to raise at least $95,000 to send the first group of veterans to Washington DC. This will cover the buses to transport the veterans to the airport, the flight, the meals and the logistics, so the veterans do not have to pay anything. So far, approximately $6,000 has been raised.

A number of fundraisers are being planned to help increase the amount set aside for Boone Countys inaugural flight. The first is a chili/soup supper that will take place Saturday, Feb. 28, at 5 p.m. in the basement of the Boone County Historical Society, 602 Story St. During the meal, veterans who have participated in other counties freedom flights will tell of their experiences and the impact the trips had on them.

Other fundraisers being planned include goldfish races, selling T-shirts and other Freedom Flight merchandise at the upcoming Boone Home & Garden Show, Feb. 20-21, in the community building at the Boone County Fairgrounds, and having a booth at the March 14 ABATE swap meet, also to be held in the community building.

Anyone wishing to donate to the Boone County Freedom Flight may do so by sending a check addressed to Boone County Veterans Freedom Flight to P.O. Box 311, Boone, Iowa 50036. Donations are tax deductible and 100 percent of all proceeds will go toward the Freedom Flight. Questions can be directed to Dick Thul, (515) 298-0109, Don Batt, (515) 298-0375, or email boonecountyfreedomflight@gmail.com.

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Freedom Flight planning making progress

Subterranean Sprinklers Not Saturating The Market, Yet

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SANTA BARBARA, Calif. -

"Gold is the New Green" and "Stay Sandy Santa Barbara" are two catchy slogans that have popped up during the record drought.

But two new phrases are drawing the attention of local landscapers: "Bold Innovation" and "Eco-Mat."

The Eco-Mat system is a way to keep your grass green, year round, from the roots up. Think of it as a waterbed of sorts, with holes in it for the roots of your lawn.

The underground watering system is manufactured and sold worldwide by Hunter Industries.

The poly-propelene felt blanket evenly disperses water laterally, not from above, but beneath grass.

"The roots of the sod actually come in and attach to this mat, and they get a lot of the water," said Kim True, owner of True Nature Design in Goleta. "They can go down below it as well to get deeper water."

The installation process is fairly easy and arguably, less time consuming than installing a traditional sprinkler system. But, it is not a one person job.

The Eco-Mat comes in a roll measuring 295 feet long by 38 inches wide. Pre-drilled emiter tubing, spaced every 14 inches, runs through channels in the fleeze. The mat system is installed three inches below sod, with a layer of amended soil in between.

A growing number of local contracters and landscapers say this type of sprinkler system is quickly becoming a "must-have" in a variety of turf settings, including that strip of grass between the street and sidewalk.

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Subterranean Sprinklers Not Saturating The Market, Yet

Exclusive Interview: Cyborg soldier’s journey from Donetsk militant to Ukrainian patriot – Video

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Exclusive Interview: Cyborg soldier #39;s journey from Donetsk militant to Ukrainian patriot
Check out our website: http://uatoday.tv Facebook: https://facebook.com/uatodaytv Twitter: https://twitter.com/uatodaytv.

By: UKRAINE TODAY

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Exclusive Interview: Cyborg soldier's journey from Donetsk militant to Ukrainian patriot - Video

Injustice Gods Among Us Battle: Batman,Joker,Cyborg vs Deathstroke,Nightwing,Green Lantern – Video

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Injustice Gods Among Us Battle: Batman,Joker,Cyborg vs Deathstroke,Nightwing,Green Lantern
This is the beginning of a series of battles that I will upload on this channel. Sit on your chair and enjoy! The copyrights of the music belong to Christopher Drake-Injustice - Gods Among Us"

By: Me The YouTuber

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Injustice Gods Among Us Battle: Batman,Joker,Cyborg vs Deathstroke,Nightwing,Green Lantern - Video

Random disorganized thoughts on WearComp.org, WearCam.org …

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... Egocentric (First-person) Vision, Steve Mann, Kris M. Kitani, Yong Jae Lee, M. S. Ryoo, Alireza Fathi

Wearable Computing with 3D Augmediated Reality, Digital Eye Glass, Egography (Egocentric/First-Person Photographic/Videographic Gesture Sensing), and Veillance Download the PDF, 4-page paper by Steve Mann, Steve Feiner, Stefano Baldassi, Soren Harner, Jayes Hansen, and Ryan Janzen

Wearables + IoT = Veillance = SMARTWORLDs = Workshop at Stanford 2015 Jan 16: http://wearcam.org/tei2015/ Spaceglasses are the ultimate meta-sensor == a sensor that can sense sensing itself. More generally, Meta can function as the device of devices, by being your plenary form of interaction with the "SMARTWORLD"... more detailed description..... (Visualizing Vision, Seeing Sight, and Sensing Sensing with the Meta Spaceglass)

Meta Digital Eye Glass which has some features of Generation-5 DEG: http://www.meta-view.com

The IEEE Spectrum article on Wearable Computing.

Using Sousveillance to Defend the Commons, by David Bollier, Wed, 06/25/2008 - 23:00

"Through the Glass": IEEE Technology and Society, Vol 32, No. 3

'Sousveillance', In Los Angeles Since The LA Riots

OCAD sur/sousveillance sur/sousvey

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Random disorganized thoughts on WearComp.org, WearCam.org ...

YC Backs Standard Cyborg, A Startup Building Affordable Artificial Limbs

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An artificial limb can cost more than a car.

And there arean estimated 2 million amputees in the United States alone.

So for Jeff Huber, an entrepreneurwho had dabbled in education and advertising who happens toalso an amputee, this market was close to heart.

While an undergraduate at North Carolina State University, he had long thought about how to make prosthetics at a fraction of their current costs in emerging markets. But he wound up dropping out to do anonline education startup called Knowit and then working on data-driven marketing at MightyHive.

After leaving last year, he returned to tinkering on his old ideas around affordable artificial limbs. Now Hubers work has become a startup called Standard Cyborg thats backed by Y Combinator. Hes still the sole founder and employee.

For most of hislife, Huber has used aprosthetic leg. He was born with a congenital birth defect that left him without a fully formed fibula.

As a growing child, Huber would get a new leg every nine months or so. But once he became an adult, insurance would only cover a new leg ever three to five years. His current leg costs $23,000; for patientswho are above-the-leg amputees, it can cost double.

With those kinds of price points, its hard to get special-useprosthetics likeartificial limbs forrunning or other kinds of sports.

Huber started interviewing other amputees to figure what they wanted most.

At thetop of that list? Shower legs.

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YC Backs Standard Cyborg, A Startup Building Affordable Artificial Limbs

Beaches close after fatal NSW shark attack

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Surfers should get out of the water if they see a lot of baitfish around them, shark experts say.

They believe warm water and runoff from rainfall is attracting small fish, which in turn attract sharks.

The warning comes after 41-year-old Tadashi Nakahara was killed by a shark that tore his legs off at Shelly Beach, near Ballina, northern NSW.

It was Australia's fourth fatal shark attack in five months.

Marine ecologist Dr Daniel Bucher says the shark, believed to be a great white, could have been following a food trail that led it close to the shoreline.

Dr Bucher, from Southern Cross University, says recent rainfall meant food for fish was washed out from rivers to the ocean, drawing them in.

"Don't swim if you know there are plenty of baitfish around, especially if they are breaking the surface," he said on Tuesday.

"It usually means something is chasing them from below."

Dr Bucher said dusk and dawn were notorious for shark activity and also warned swimmers to avoid river mouths and stormwater drains after rain.

Shark expert Vic Hislop said heavy fishing was thinning out the ocean, leading sharks to hunt for food close to shore.

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Beaches close after fatal NSW shark attack