Daily Archives: July 15, 2017

Founding fathers’ freedom quotes – Suburbanite

Posted: July 15, 2017 at 11:03 pm

Frank Weaver Jr. TheSuburbanite.com correspondent

The Fourth of July may be history, but perhaps it wont hurt to extend that celebration by taking a look at what some of the founding fathers thought about our rebellion against England.

Starting with Samuel Adams (the patriot, not the beer), known as the "Father of the American Revolution,: he believed "a standing army, however necessary it may be at some times, is always dangerous to the liberties of the people." He said, "Such power should be watched with a jealous eye."

Sams cousin, John Adams, the first vice-president and second president who had one of the highest IQs of all our presidents, was so frustrated at the snails pace in which the Congress moved, said, "In my many years I have come to a conclusion that one useless man is a shame, two are a law firm and three or more are called a congress."

The author of the Declaration of Independence, Thomas Jefferson, who believed so fervently in freedom, he said, "The tree of liberty must be refreshed from time to time with the blood of patriots and tyrants."

Jefferson believed "the only security of all is in a free press. The force of public opinion cannot be resisted when permitted freely to be expressed," he said. "The agitation it produces must be submitted to. It is necessary, to keep the waters pure."

Not just the founding fathers, but over the years others have added their thoughts on freedom. "The whole freedom of man consists either in spiritual or civil liberty," said poet John Milton" And the famous Italian poet, Dante Alighieri wrote, "Mankind is at its best when it is most free."

The president who led us to victory in World War I, Woodrow Wilson, once said, "The history of liberty is the history of the limitation of government power, not the increase of it."

One of Americas greatest Associate Chief Justices, Louis Brandeis, reminded us that "experience should teach us to be most on our guard to protect liberty when the government's purposes are beneficent. Men born to freedom are naturally alert to repel invasion of their liberty by evil-minded rulers. The greatest dangers to liberty lurk in insidious encroachment by men of zeal; well-meaning but without understanding."

A later Associate Supreme Court Justice, Robert H. Jackson, said, "There is no such thing as an achieved liberty: like electricity, there can be no substantial storage and it must be generated as it is enjoyed, or the lights go out."

Referring to the Declaration of Independence, on July 4, 1962, John F. Kennedy is quoted as saying, "To read it today is to hear a trumpet call. For that Declaration unleashed not merely a revolution against the British, but a revolution in human affairs."

Even more recently, our 40th president, Ronald Reagan, said, "Only when the human spirit is allowed to invent and create, only when individuals are given a personal stake in deciding economic policies and benefiting from their success, only then can societies remain economically alive, dynamic, prosperous, progressive and free."

"The true meaning of America, you ask? It's in a Texas rodeo," answered Audie Murphy, a Congressional Medal of Honor recipient and the most decorated soldier of World War II. "Its in a policeman's badge, in the sound of laughing children, in a political rally, in a newspaper. In all these things, and many more, you'll find America. In all these things, you'll find freedom. And freedom is what America means to the world. And to me."

But it John Adams son, the sixth president, John Quincy Adams, who is credited with a short quote, but nevertheless, one of my favorites, "Always stand on principle," he once said,"even if you have to stand alone."

Remember, unlike life, freedom is not a gift. Freedom is a responsibility.

Comments may be emailed to: Frankweaverjr@aol.com

Go here to see the original:

Founding fathers' freedom quotes - Suburbanite

Posted in Freedom | Comments Off

‘Saving Freedom’ painting presented to Roseburg Police Department – NRToday.com

Posted: at 11:03 pm

It must have seemed very familiar to Caryl Jordan Baum when she received a vision about the next American hero who should be honored by her company, Saving Freedom.

Because her mother, Mary Jane Jordan, said she received her inspiration the same way, before painting of a ghostly scene resembling 9/11 10 years before it happened.

I woke up with a vision just like my mother, the Roseburg resident said.

It was clear to her that she should honor members of the Roseburg Police Department, and in a more substantial way than the usual award she has presented to diamonds in the rough for the past 16 years.

Last Thursday, Jordan Baum presented members of the Roseburg Police Department with a museum quality print of the painting a version of the watercolor created by her mother that also rests in the George W. Bush Presidential Archive.

Officers in attendance were very grateful for the gift by Jordan Baum, said Roseburg Police Sgt. Gary Klopfenstein.

It was a wonderful display of patriotism that she displayed, Klopfenstein said.

Jordan Baum created the company Saving Freedom in 2001 with her mother after the events of 9/11 to honor American heroes. The company tries to honors people each year, or as often as she can, on a fixed income.

Jordan Baum said the art print presented to the Roseburg Police Department was created by her mother, Mary Jane Jordan in 1991. The piece depicts several figures running from a man with a knife while carrying a flag on top of what looks like a skyscraper. Smoke and flames appear to be reflected from the skyscraper. The American flag appears smudged with red.

Jordan Baum believes it prophetically depicted the events of 9/11 a decade before they happened.

Around Veterans Day 2001, Jordan Baum sent a print of the painting to then-President George W. Bush. After her mother died at age 87 in 2002, Jordan Baum received a condolence letter from the president.

More than 14 years later, Jordan Baum continues to seek out examples of American heroes to honor a task that can be challenging with her limited income.

No matter what, Klopfenstein said the department is grateful for the display of support.

It doesnt happen very often, Klopfenstein said.`

Mike Henneke is a designer for The News-Review. He can be reached at 541-957-4208 or by email at mhenneke@nrtoday.com. Follow him on Twitter @ihenpecked.

Continue reading here:

'Saving Freedom' painting presented to Roseburg Police Department - NRToday.com

Posted in Freedom | Comments Off

Technology to help robots understand 3D – The Hindu

Posted: at 11:03 pm

Technology to help robots understand 3D
The Hindu
Scientists have developed a new technology that enables machines to make sense of 3D objects in a richer and more human-like way, an advance that will make robots more suitable for daily chores. The new technology has the ability to both recognise ...

Read the original post:

Technology to help robots understand 3D - The Hindu

Posted in Technology | Comments Off

Archaeologists will use ‘CSI’-like technology to study 2500-year-old remains near Athens – PRI

Posted: at 11:03 pm

More than 2,500 years ago, an Athenian nobleman named Cylon the first recorded Olympic champion tried to take over the city of Athens and install himself as its sole ruler.

According to Thucydides and Herodotus, Athenian and Greek historians who wrote about the coup, Cylon enticed an army of followers to enter the city and lay siege to the Acropolis.

They were defeated, but Cylon managed to escape.

Now archaeologists in Athens believe they may have found some of the remains of Cylon's army in a mass grave in Phaleron, four miles south of downtown Athens.

The discovery of the 80 skeletons of men is "unequaled" in Greece, said site project director Stella Chrysoulaki.

The men, young and well-fed, were found lying in the unmarked grave in three rows, some on their backs while others were tossed facedown on their stomachs.

All of the men had their hands in iron chains and at least 52 of them had their hands tied above their heads.

They died from blows to the head, victims of a "political execution" that dates back to between 650-675 BC, according to pieces of pottery found in the grave, Chrysoulaki said.

At the time, Athens was just being formed and the city was transitioning towards a democracy, Eleanna Prevedorou, a bioarchaeological researcher on the project, said.

And it was happening "against a backdrop of political turmoil, tensions between tyrants, aristocrats and the working class," she added.

Bioarchaeological scientists use forensic research, such as DNA profiling, to investigate and ultimately uncover how humans lived and died by examining skeletons.

"We are going to use, roughly speaking, the methods made famous by television series on forensics crime science," joked Panagiotis Karkanas, laboratory director and geoarchaeologist at the Malcolm H. Wiener Laboratory at the American School of Classical Studies in Athens.

Probably the most famous of these TV series, CBS' "CSI: Crime Scene Investigation," which chronicles the cases of an elite team of police forensics investigators, has spawned the shorthand CSI to describe the technology the agents use.

Karkanas' team, though technically not crime scene investigators, will apply similar high-tech methods using some of the same tools.

They will perform a battery of tests particularly gene, radiographic and isotopic analyses to uncover the mysteries hidden inside each skull and skeleton fragment.

Whatever clues they gather will give them an idea of how old the men were, whether they were related, where they came from, how healthy they were, and where they stood on the socioeconomic ladder of the times.

But unlike crime dramas, where investigators reveal exactly how and why the crime took place, this cold case will likely not be resolved for five to seven years.

The mass grave was uncovered in spring last year in one of the largest excavation sites Greece has ever unearthed.

Though the site was found a century ago, large-scale excavation of the complex only began in 2012, when archaeologists discovered a large cemetery containing over 1,500 skeletons dating back to between the eighth and fifth century BC.

More than 100 of them bore the marks of a violent death.

Other small-scale excavations since then have unearthed other treasures, including the group of men believed to be part of Cylon's army.

Many of the skeletons found were bound or shackled, and facedown in unmarked graves, sometimes in sandy holes barely big enough to hold a body.

Other skeletons were buried in open pits, placed on funeral pyres and in jars, the preferred coffins at the time for infants and small children.

According to researchers, the cemetery measures about 372 square feetand all 1,500 skeletons will eventually be taken to the laboratory's facilities for proper study.

At least 10 of the 80 men found are headed to the lab later this year, while the rest will stay as part of an upcoming exposition on the excavation site.

One of the skeletons already at the lab, with his arms twisted behind his back, is a reflection of past Athenian violence.

He could have been a "prisoner of war, a criminal or a runaway slave," Prevedorou said.

Even the nonviolent deaths, or deaths without historical reference notably the hundreds of children's remains found in jars have a story to tell, Karkanas said.

The bones could reveal the children's lifestyles and diseases, shedding more light on ancient Athenian culture and history.

Most of the recorded ancient history on Athens and Greek life describes the "elite and the victors," Karkanas added.

But to rely solely on those testimonies to understand the past would be like "reading newspapers today to find out what's going on in the world right now."

The rest is here:

Archaeologists will use 'CSI'-like technology to study 2500-year-old remains near Athens - PRI

Posted in Technology | Comments Off

Next-Gen MES Technology – Automation World

Posted: at 11:03 pm

Manufacturing execution systems (MESs) can help manufacturers and other industrial organizations reduce costs while improving operations, collaboration, asset management, workflow and safety.

Specific MES functionality can vary significantly, depending upon the supplier and industry focus. Many of the newer MES applications are integrated solutions that include quality management and traceability, regulatory compliance documentation, planning and scheduling, energy management, and manufacturing intelligence and analytics, in addition to workflow enforcement and cloud capabilities.

ARC Advisory Group research indicates that MES technology usage continues to increase at a rate faster than automation in general. This is largely due to the technologys ability to help optimize production for operational excellence. Manufacturers continue to focus on driving waste out of their operations by eliminating silos, simplifying and improving workflows, integrating advanced analytics, adding pervasive visualization, and standardizing technologies and processes. Whether implemented in the cloud or in a more traditional on-premise manner, MES continues to be a critical technology for achieving those objectives.

ARC/Automation World MES survey

Early this year, ARC conducted a survey in conjunction with Automation World to assess the current state of MES adoption. Most qualified respondents (we filtered out suppliers) had more than 10 years of MES experience. We further filtered out those without direct experience with the technology.

Top 10 applications

The 10 most-used MES applications (in descending order), according to the survey, are:

Reporting is the most important function for most companies. For those still operating in silos, getting the right information into the right hands can be time-consuming, and MES can make immense improvements. Overall productivity, cycle times and yield improvements are achieved using MES. One respondent said that MES is their oxygen.

Top 5 MES applications by value

MES continues to grow because users continue to see value from their implementations. Some respondents mentioned that they see a lot of benefits from process quality and traceability.

According to the respondents, the top five applications for MES are:

Next-gen MES applications

Next-gen MES applications involve IT/OT/ET convergence, predictive analytics, cloud and Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT) deployments. About 42 percent of respondents have some cloud deployments. MES cloud deployment adoption varies by industry application and company because some industries see issues such as bandwidth, latency, IP and security as potential challenges. Once these issues are resolved, with newer technologies such as edge devices, ARC believes that cloud usage for MES will grow substantially.

ARC parsed the survey results into all cloud deployments vs. cloud deployment in oil and gas, petrochemical and chemical industries. Not surprisingly, we found that most cloud deployments in the latter industries employ private and hybrid clouds, but not public cloud computing. In other industries, such as the food and automotive industries and others in which its critical to collaborate with external partners, public cloud adoption is more prevalent.

End users have reduced costs just by using better visualization tools that enable the workface to obtain and understand information better. According to survey respondents, predictive analytics are being integrated into some MES solutions with immense benefits. A few users are adding virtual reality capabilities to be able to simulate process behaviors for new processes or products and prevent potential bottlenecks. Other new capabilities will be integrated into MES applications or provided as part of an MES solution.

ARC recommendations

MES is a valuable operations and production technology that will be integrated into companies digital transformation. ARC recommends the following actions for owner-operators and other technology users:

ARC's latest market research on MES for Process Industries explores these trends and drivers in more detail and includes information on the leading suppliers to this market.

>>Janice Abel, jabel@arcweb.com, is principal consultant at ARC Advisory Group.

Read the rest here:

Next-Gen MES Technology - Automation World

Posted in Technology | Comments Off

Official Timekeeper of Worlds, Omega, Introduces New Technology – Swimming World Magazine

Posted: at 11:03 pm

Photo Courtesy: Qatar Swimming

Editorial Coverage provided by

The17th FINA World Championshipsare now underway in Budapest and the prestigious Swiss watchmaker OMEGA is bringing its long experience in timekeeping and data handling to the competition, ensuring precision that is worthy of the worlds greatest aquatic athletes.

As the Official Timekeeper of the competition, OMEGA will serve around 2,300 athletes in all six disciplines including swimming, water polo, diving, open water swimming, high diving and synchronised swimming.

In the open water swimming this year, which is held at beautiful Lake Balaton, OMEGA is introducing a new technology which will heighten the excitement for spectators back on shore.

The timekeeping team will have two unique buoys at their disposal which they will be able to place at two selected points around the open water course. Each buoy will contain an antenna which can pick up signals from special transponders that each swimmer wears on their wrists.

As the swimmers pass the buoys, their intermediate times will be sent back to the timekeepers who will display the times for spectators on the scoreboards. The system will give viewers a full understanding of the race as it happens and help bring the action to life.

Alain Zobrist, the CEO of OMEGA Timing, has said, The new technology that OMEGA is introducing for the Open Water events in Budapest will make the sport a lot easier to follow. Until now, it has been quite a challenge for spectators to know exactly what is going on. But we have an exciting system in place now that will make a lot of the positioning and athlete motions much clearer during the actual race.

The new technology will work in tandem with OMEGAs Open Water Gate which has been used in competition for the past several years. When the athlete touches the gate at the finish of a race, their transponder registers the impact and their time is stopped for a truly accurate result.

Held between July 14 and 30, the FINA World Championships are the premiere event on the swimming governing body`s calendar. This year in Budapest, the event is set to be the largest sporting showcase that Hungary has ever hosted.

OMEGA is looking forward to playing its part in the event once again. The brand has been at the forefront of international competitive swimming for many years, and in addition to its timekeeping activities, is responsible for the development of some of the key technologies used to determine and record results.

Press release courtesy of FINA.

See the rest here:

Official Timekeeper of Worlds, Omega, Introduces New Technology - Swimming World Magazine

Posted in Technology | Comments Off

The 3D printing revolution: Tim Weber discusses technology in Whiteside talk – Corvallis Gazette Times

Posted: at 11:03 pm

Local boy made good Timothy Weber gave Corvallis a taste of the future Friday night with a 40-minute talk on 3D printing to kick off the summer da Vinci Days program.

Weber, a Corvallis native who received his doctorate in engineering from Oregon State University, called himself head nerd of HP Inc.s 3D printing team.

And it seems the nerds are about to take over the world. Again.

This is fun stuff, Weber said. I havent worked on something this fun in a long time. This is the fourth industrial revolution, and its happening right here in Corvallis.

Weber ran through the first three such revolutions, a steam-driven one led by Great Britain, a mass-production model led by the United States and a production-automation form that fueled the rise of the Chinese economy.

This revolution, Weber said, will be local, because 3D printing removes the need for raw materials to be shipped to factories in China with the finished products being shipped back.

Stuff is going to be built in your town, Weber said. In Corvallis and maybe Eugene well, no, not in Eugene, he added to laughter from the crowd of more than 100 at the Whiteside Theatre.

Weber was upfront about the dislocations this fourth revolution might produce.

There are going to be robot trucks on the road 24/7 who will avoid Portland during rush hour, never stop and wipe out two million jobs, he said. Whoever figures this out will win and others will be left behind.

Also, Weber said, those robot trucks will be made of parts that will inform you when other parts need to be replaced.

Weber emphasized that HP is not a materials company, and that it is working with high-wattage international partners such as BMW, Nike, BASF and Siemens on an open-platform basis that all but assuredly will accelerate the pace of innovation and change.

About two-thirds of the way into the lecture Weber lost this reporter, when he launched into a discussion of HPs multijet fusion technology. It didnt get any better when he moved on to fabrication of functional polymer nanocomposites.

Then he reeled it back in when he started talking about the things 3D printers will be able to do with color, elasticity and texture. His example was an automobile tire whose tread would be color-coordinated. When you see red peeking through the tires, you know it's time to head to the tire store. No more pulling quarters out of your pocket to measure tread depth!

During the 20-minute question-and-answer session which followed the talk, Weber dealt with some of the challenges of the technology, including sustainability, recycling of parts, medical applications, semiconductors and zero-gravity possibilities.

Weber noted that there is a 3D printer on the international space station.

It cant really repair the space station. Yet, Weber said.

View original post here:

The 3D printing revolution: Tim Weber discusses technology in Whiteside talk - Corvallis Gazette Times

Posted in Technology | Comments Off

Education key for 40-plus workers as technology divides staff – Stuff.co.nz

Posted: at 11:03 pm

MADISON REIDY

Last updated05:00, July 16 2017

123RF.COM

Employees over the age of 40 were raised to believe that showing loyalty to a company would keep you in a job until retirement, but technology has flipped that expectation on its head.

When computers had nomemory, punch girls did the job.

In the 1960s Margaret Douglas started her career in ITpunching computer code onto magnetic strips at the Whangarei City Council.

The computer she used to work with now sits on show at Motat.She can still read binary code.

DAVID WHITE/STUFF

Computer administrator Margaret Douglas has kept up to speed with technology for almost 50 years.

Decades later, mobile phones, emailand Google exist and Douglas still works in the industry she loves.

READ MORE: *How to keep a baby boomer happy in the workplace *The changing face of New Zealand's workforce: More women and over-65s *More people keep working after 'retirement' age *Fiona Kingsford: How to bridge the intergenerational skills gap

But she said it was not easy to stay on top of technology as it evolved in front of her eyes.

SUPPLIED

United States Future of Talent Institute chairman Kevin Wheeler visited New Zealand to tell human resources executives they had a duty to make older employees aware of the changes happening to workplaces.

The key was to never stop learning, she said.

"I have done a fair amount of upskilling on the way and I am still doing education now.

"A lot of it you have to do yourself. You cannot expect your employer to cover it all off, you have got to keep working at it."

United States Future of Talent Institute chairman Kevin Wheelerraised the alarm toNew Zealand corporates about the importance of upskilling and retraining staff as technology and automation would inevitably take over jobs.

Wheeler told human resources executives here that they needed to encourage staff above 40-years-old to increase their technology capabilities so they could adapt to new types of work.

He saidMillennials were better off because they were raised in the digital eraand could foresee and adapt to evolving trends.

Wheeler said the understanding of technologyhad forced an age divide in workplaces.

"Your dealing witha generational difference here. When you are dealing with people in their 40s, 50s, 60s, this stuff [automation and technology] is devastating."

He said human resources played a significant role in minimising the fear of automation and technology among the older work force.

Notifying staff of changes the future would inevitably bringwas not scare mongering, it was necessary to prevent them from becoming useless and unemployed, he said.

Wheeler said human resources departments had a duty tohold the hand of workers over 40 in a rapidly changing and downsizing workforce.

-Sunday Star Times

Link:

Education key for 40-plus workers as technology divides staff - Stuff.co.nz

Posted in Technology | Comments Off

150000 projected in Decatur for Farm Progress – Herald & Review

Posted: at 11:03 pm

DECATUR The Super Bowl of agriculture is coming back to Central Illinois.

Crews are readying nearly 90 acres and more than 2.9 million square feet north of Richland Community College for the three-day Farm Progress showwhich starts Aug. 29. More than 600 exhibitors are expected, along with as many as 150,000 visitors from around the globe.

The event billed as the Nation's Largest Outdoor Farm Event combines elements of an international trade show, technology conference and demonstration site. In a maze of tents and buildings known as Progress City USA, vendors show every agricultural and livestock product imaginable, from weed control to gleaming $400,000 combines, often with eye-catching 3-D displays.

Beyond primary display grounds, entire fields are dedicated to seeing equipment in action, showing off tillage techniques and the latest in global-positioning systems.

Plumbers Matt Peters, left, and Ben Forgas perform manhole castings adjustment work at Progress City Monday. Crews are getting nearly 90 acres ready for Farm Progress, a showcase of agricultural and livestock wares.

Companies, from giants like Archer Daniels Midland Co. and Monsanto to smaller agribusinesses, exhibit the latest wares and hint at the future of agriculture.

The show, which alternates between locations in Decatur and Boone, Iowa, started in Armstrong, Illinois, in 1953 as a way for farmers to see firsthand the progress being made in farming equipment, seed varieties and agricultural chemicals.

Since 2005, the parcels near Richland have housed the show and the site improved to includes permanent structures and paved roads. The show is produced by London-based Informa Global Events.

With just over 40 days left until opening day, Greg Florian said work is on schedule to have the grounds ready for exhibitors and visitors.

Its gotten easier to prepare as the site has evolved, said Florian, vice president of finance and administration at Richland, which oversees the Progress City site.

The last show had visitors from 50 countries.

Brazilians come to see what they can expect in the near future, said Bruno Correa, an agronomist from Brazil, who attended the 2015 event.

Plumber Ben Forgas marks measurements before a pipe is cut for manhole castings adjustment work at Progress City. Farm Progress isbilled as the Nation's Largest Outdoor Farm Event."

It generates an estimated $10 million for the local economy, according to Florian.

Decatur Area Convention & Visitors Bureau Executive Director Teri Hammel said the show has the largest economic impact in the community in the years Decatur is the host.

A big economic driver is in the hospitality field, with full hotel rooms across Central Illinois. According to a report put together by the bureau for the 2015 show, Decatur/Forsyth-area hotels had 5,468 room nights for Farm Progress, making $1.3 million on the three-day event. Springfield had a total of 5,800 room nights, also bringing in $1.3 million.

That number does not count those that Hammel said come to Decatur more than a month in advance to start setting up their exhibits and weeks after the show to help tear down.

Were talking several extra million there for the local economy, she said.

The bureaus work starts in January, and ranges from setting up hotel rooms for vendors and attendees, which Hammel says can mean sold-out rooms as far as Springfield or Champaign-Urbana. They also work with embassies to help international farmers attend and educate them on the locations of goods and services in the region, such as hardware stores and restaurants.

Its chaos for us, but theres also a lot of excitement, she said. This (show) fills our community.

Nearly $500,000 also was spent this year hiring Decatur-based Dunn Co. to improve roadways, fix drainage and shoulders and patch potholes. It was funded by grant dollars, Informa, money in the county highway fund left over from the sites original construction and Brush College LLC, created by the college to help operate the site.

Theyll have the roads all fixed up by the time exhibitors start to set up, said Macon County Highway Engineer Bruce Bird.

In 2015, crews expanded the site, added three streets and built 100 more exhibit spots on the southwest side of the venue.

Herald & Review, Jim Bowling A group from Chihuahua, Mexico, including from left, John Peters, Peter Peters, Abraham Nelson, Daniel Loewan and Franz Peters record the corn combining field demonstrations during the first day of the Farm Progress Show Tuesday September 1, 2015.

Herald & Review, Jim Bowling A view from the Brock grain bin service platform provides a view of the flurry of activity down Eleventh Progress Street during the first day of the Farm Progress Show Tuesday September 1, 2015.

Herald & Review, Jim Bowling Troy Tracey eats ice cream while helping with the transport of ice back to the Dow AgroSciences tent during the first day of the Farm Progress Show Tuesday September 1, 2015.

Herald & Review, Jim Bowling Ticket holders wait along the Avenue of Flags for the gates to open during the first day of the Farm Progress Show Tuesday September 1, 2015.

Herald & Review, Jim Bowling Visitors look at a map of Progress City at the John Deere exhibit area during the first day of the Farm Progress Show Tuesday August 1, 2015.

Herald & Review, Jim Bowling Hunter Rademaker,4, helps demonstrate a grain bin lifeline at the Grain Handling Safety Coalition site next to the Health and Safety Tent during the first day of the Farm Progress Show Tuesday.

Herald & Review, Jim Bowling Tuscola F.F.A. advisor Brittany Eubank, left, and member Jordan Ochs help set up the organizations booth during the first morning of the Farm Progress Show Tuesday. The group is selling raffle tickets at the show for a 1955 John Deere tractor that they helped restore. Proceeds from the raffle will benefit Tuscola F.F.A.

Herald & Review, Jim Bowling Dr. Joe Jeffrey emcees a cattle chute demonstration at the Livestock Industries Tent during the first day of the Farm Progress Show Tuesday. Jeffrey says he wanted to focus on how safe the shoots on display are for cows.

Rodney Crim of Golconda watches a corn combining demonstration with his grandson, Josaiah Crim, 4, on Tuesday at theFarm Progress Show in Decatur. Josaiah is attempting to block the dustwith his hat while his grandpa takes a picture of the combine with his cellphone.

Herald & Review, Jim Bowling Farm Progress host farmer Jeff Zinn has his blood pressure checked by E.M.T. Kristy Gorden at the Liberty Village table in the Health and Safety tent during the first day of the Farm Progress Show Tuesday.

Herald & Review, Jim Bowling Eric Burgett performs country music on the Opening Ceremonies Bayer CropScience stage for ticket holders walking in the main entrance during the first morning of the Farm Progress Show Tuesday.

Herald & Review, Jim Bowling Visitors peruse the Case IH Agriculture exhibit during the first day of the Farm Progress Show Tuesday.

Herald & Review, Jim Bowling Several hundred people observe a corn combining demonstration during the first day of the Farm Progress Show Tuesday.

Herald & Review, Jim Bowling Rodney Crim of Golconda, Ill., watches a corn combining demonstration with his grandson Josaiah Crim,4, as Josaiah attempts to block dust with his hat during the first day of the Farm Progress Show Tuesday.

Herald & Review, Jim Bowling Several new models of farm equipment are parked in between field demonstrations during the first day of the Farm Progress Show Tuesday.

Herald & Review, Jim Bowling Day 1 of the Farm Progress Show at Progress City in Decatur, Ill., Tuesday September 1, 2015

Herald & Review, Jim Bowling Ticket holders wait along the Avenue of Flags for the gates to open during the first day of the Farm Progress Show Tuesday September 1, 2015.

Herald & Review, Jim Bowling Visitors look at a map of Progress City at the John Deere exhibit area during the first day of the Farm Progress Show Tuesday August 1, 2015.

Herald & Review, Jim Bowling Visitors peruse the Case IH Agriculture exhibit during the first day of the Farm Progress Show Tuesday.

Herald & Review, Jim Bowling Several hundred people observe a corn combining demonstration during the first day of the Farm Progress Show Tuesday.

Herald & Review, Jim Bowling Several new models of farm equipment are parked in between field demonstrations during the first day of the Farm Progress Show Tuesday.

Herald & Review, Jim Bowling Day 1 of the Farm Progress Show at Progress City in Decatur, Ill., Tuesday September 1, 2015

Florian said roadwork has not gotten a lot of attention since the first show on the grounds, in 2005.

After 12 years of being out there, the vehicles are getting bigger and the exhibits are getting bigger, he said. The roads were really starting to show their age.

Some exhibitors have started preparations on plots. As of Thursday afternoon, 554 exhibitors were expected to attend. With more than a month before the show, that is par the course, said Jeff Smith, regional sales manager for Informa.

One change this year is that there will be no headliner country act performing and evening concert. Where past shows have seen national country singers like Craig Morgan and Chris Cagle take the stage to thousands of fans, the only musical acts at this years show will be ones brought by exhibitors.

I think with the farm economy the way it is right now, none of the sponsors stepped up, Florian said. It just wasnt in the cards.

Latest stats show progress made against ISIS – ABC News

Posted: at 11:02 pm

While Iraq has declared victory in Mosul and the battle for Raqqa heats up, the U.S. held a three-day summit of the Global Coalition to Defeat ISIS that ended Thursday, celebrating some key milestones and taking stock of the long road ahead.

After two days of coalition-wide meetings, U.S. Special Envoy to the Coalition Brett McGurk addressed the smaller core coalition group assembled Thursday to report that the fight against ISIS had accelerated over the last four months at President Donald Trump's request. He praised the heroism of Iraqi and Kurdish forces and the significant progress on the battlefield, with 25,000 square miles cleared of ISIS and 4.82 million people liberated from its rule -- over 3 million of them in Iraq alone.

That means ISIS holds just 2.2 percent of territory in Iraq now and 8.3 percent across the border in Syria. That also means 350,000 children who were living under ISIS are now back in school, after years of brainwashing.

In particular, McGurk shared some of the more horrific details of ISIS's brutality in Mosul's old city, where the last of its foreign fighters were holed up -- using civilians as human shields, forcing children to guard weapons depots, locking civilians in basements to prevent airstrikes, and fighting to the death with every last weapon they have, including their own bodies, strapped with explosives.

"This is one of the most brutal, vicious enemies we've seen in decades," McGurk said, adding that "the battle in Iraq is far from over," with more territory to retake, extensive stabilization efforts, and political reconciliation. In Syria, there is even more work to do -- and a greater challenge, without a government partner to work with, he said.

But people are also beginning to return home, too. Two million Iraqis who fled ISIS's rule have since returned home, including over 220,000 who have already returned to east Mosul -- even as the city is still being cleared.

One of the greatest challenges now is creating the circumstances for more to return. To that end, the U.S. announced $150 million for stabilization efforts last week -- like removing unexploded bombs and hidden IEDs and returning basic services like water, electricity and medical care.

At the conference Thursday, McGurk also announced $119 million in additional humanitarian aid to Iraq, bringing the U.S.'s total humanitarian aid since fiscal year 2014 to $1.4 billion. But that's just a drop in the bucket compared to the amount of need that remains -- $1.3 billion for post-ISIS humanitarian and stabilization programs, according to a United Nations estimate.

Since ISIS first declared its so-called caliphate, 40,000 foreign fighters journeyed from their homes -- more than 120 countries in all -- to join the terror group. As it suffers sustained losses in Iraq and Syria, the threat of many of them returning and exporting the terror and military techniques they learned on the battlefield has security officials around the world on edge. Interpol, which joined the coalition this year, has stepped up, creating a database that verifies, registers and helps track these foreign fighters, with 18,000 on record now.

The coalition is also doing what it can to stop ISIS or any alternative from reemerging in Iraq. The focus is still on the battlefield, not yet on politics, but to that end, they have trained over 100,000 members of the Iraqi Security Forces, who have yet to lose a battle to ISIS. In fact, McGurk said, nearly 300,000 Iraqis applied for just 3,000 spots in Iraq's elite counterterrorism force when postings went up just last week -- "a remarkable trend and a total transformation," he said.

McGurk also announced that while as a military coalition the 73 members are focused on Syria and Iraq, they are also looking to counter ISIS elsewhere. They held a special session on ISIS in the Lake Chad region in West Africa on Thursday, as Chad and Niger joined the coalition; Djibouti and Ethiopia in east Africa also joined this week, a sign of the growing threat in Africa. In addition, McGurk noted the "hockey stick-like growth of ISIS in Libya that we have helped root out," promising continued support for Libya.

Read this article:

Latest stats show progress made against ISIS - ABC News

Posted in Progress | Comments Off

Daily Archives: July 15, 2017

Founding fathers’ freedom quotes – Suburbanite

‘Saving Freedom’ painting presented to Roseburg Police Department – NRToday.com

Technology to help robots understand 3D – The Hindu

Archaeologists will use ‘CSI’-like technology to study 2500-year-old remains near Athens – PRI

Next-Gen MES Technology – Automation World

Official Timekeeper of Worlds, Omega, Introduces New Technology – Swimming World Magazine

The 3D printing revolution: Tim Weber discusses technology in Whiteside talk – Corvallis Gazette Times

Education key for 40-plus workers as technology divides staff – Stuff.co.nz

150000 projected in Decatur for Farm Progress – Herald & Review

Latest stats show progress made against ISIS – ABC News

The Prometheus League

Breaking News and Updates

Prometheism

Forbidden Fruit

The Evolutionary Perspective

Transtopia Menu

Library Updates

Library Books

Future Euvolution

Lucid Dreams from Childhood

Genetic Revolution

Speciation + Self-Directed Evolution