Welcome! Our intention is to present materials for discussion and/or exchange of ideas as a mean of a better understanding of the English language. It by no means substitutes the work done in classroom, nor affects your grade, and it is absolutely optional.The idea of the blog emerges from the request of some inquiring mind students whose expectations from the regular course have not been fulfilled for any particular reason as, having a high English level, a strong determination to improve it, simply for further practice, or all of the above.Whatever your reason may be for having read so far I thank you very much and hope you feel wellcome and above all I wish you the greatest success!!!
A.- It is a commercial document issued by a buyer to a seller, indicating types, quantities, and agreed prices for products or services the seller will provide to the buyer.
B.- It is money owed to a business by its clients (customers) and shown on its Balance Sheet as an asset.
C.- It is a file or account sub-ledger that records amounts that a person or company owes to suppliers, but has not paid yet (a form of debt)
D.- It refers to the amount paid to employees for services they provided during a certain period of time
E.- A list of goods and materials, especially those held available in stock by a business
F.- The oldest costs are assigned to inventory items sold, regardless of whether the sold items were actually purchased at that cost
G.- LAST IN First Out
H.- The main accounting record of a business which uses double-entry bookkeeping
I.- It assigns inventory costs by calculating a moving average of all inventory purchase costs.
J.- It is an order issued by a business to a customer. It may be for products and/or services.
K.- Employer's Quarterly Federal Tax Form is the form used by employers to report employment taxes
L.- It is a business document issued any time a sale takes place. perhaps the most common document in the business world. It is an important record for both the seller and the client, and it's an essential element in the management and bookkeeping of any business.
What Peachtree does:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IFm5onYjt_0&feature=related
Issue: The safety of seafood trade is increasingly important
to the United States for several reasons. U.S. per capita
fish consumption has increased over 50 percent since 1980.
More than three-fourths of total U.S. fish consumption
comes from imports. Although there is no evidence that
imported food is necessarily riskier, a number of the countries
exporting seafood to the U.S. have poorer internal
control systems and/or are in tropical areas where toxin and
bacteria hazards are higher. Seafood safety and trade issues
are complex due to the diversity of harvest methods, production
areas, markets, and seafood species involved.
Issues in Diet, Safety, and Health / Agriculture Information Bulletin Number 789-7 February 2004
http://www.ers.usda.gov/publications/aib789/aib789-7/aib789-7.pdf
Expressing Van Gogh's inspiration for the painting. However, one line says : "Look out on a summer's day."
which is a false statement as Van Gogh was in an asylum at Saint-Remy, and was not able to paint picture from an actual view point, it is strictly from his mind.
Starry, starry night.
Paint your palette blue and grey,
Look out on a summer's day,
With eyes that know the darkness in my soul.
Shadows on the hills,
Sketch the trees and the daffodils,
Catch the breeze and the winter chills,
In colors on the snowy linen land.
Starry, starry night.
Flaming flowers that brightly blaze, Swirling clouds in violet haze,
Reflect in Vincent's eyes of china blue.
Colors changing hue, morning field of amber grain,
Weathered faces lined in pain,
Are soothed beneath the artist's loving hand.
This is Van Gogh's tragic Death. Even though he loved painting, his paintings could never love him back.
Van Gogh attempted suicide by shooting himself in the chest, which ultimately led to his death two days later.
For they could not love you,
But still your love was true.
And when no hope was left in sight
On that starry, starry night,
You took your life, as lovers often do.
But I could have told you, Vincent,
This world was never meant for one
As beautiful as you.
Van Gogh's artistic legacy is contained within his paintings, drawings and writings. They are everlasting and will never "forget" the style that created them. They are Van Gogh's eyes that watch the world. This is all metaphorically speaking though.
Starry, starry night.
Portraits hung in empty halls,
Frameless head on nameless walls,
With eyes that watch the world and can't forget.
Like the strangers that you've met,
The ragged men in the ragged clothes,
The silver thorn of bloody rose,
Lie crushed and broken on the virgin snow.
Finally we come to the conclusion of realizing Van Gogh's eternal struggle with insanity.
Now I think I know what you tried to say to me,
How you suffered for your sanity,
How you tried to set them free.
They would not listen, they're not listening still.
Perhaps they never will...
We are . . . designers of thermoelectric generators (TEG); a device that converts heat into electricity. We specialize in unique applications of this technology which offers practical alternative energy solutions for industrial, commercial and consumer applications. Having the ability to convert heat into usable electrical energy opens the door to many untapped energy sources and in a time when energy conservation, environmental issues and economic survival have become paramount concerns for all of us; expanding your energy options with the use of TEGs just makes good sense. We also offer an excellent business opportunity for those wishing to share in the profits of this strong emerging market. Be sure to read the "TEG Power Opportunities" section located at the bottom of our products page.
How it works . . .
TEGs are made from thermoelectric modules which are solid-state integrated circuits that employ three established thermoelectric effects known as the Peltier, Seebeck and Thomson effects. It is the Seebeck effect that is responsible for electrical power generation. Their construction consists of pairs of p-type and n-type semiconductor materials forming a thermocouple. These thermocouples are then connected electrically forming an array of multiple thermocouples (thermopile). They are then sandwiched between two thin ceramic wafers.These thermocouples are then connected electrically in series and/or parallel forming an array of multiple thermocouples (thermopile). When heat and cold are applied this device then generates electricity. Almost any heat source can be used to generate electricity, such as solar heat, ocean heat, geothermal heat, even body heat! In addition the efficiency of any device or machine that generates heat as a by-product can be drastically improved by recovering the energy lost as heat.
Can you really generate that much electricity from waste heat? You may be surprised just how much you can! Here is a small example of how much power you can generate. Below is a pot of hot water with 4-thermoelectric modules attached around the sides. The output from this simple thermoelectric generator (TEG) is about 8 watt and the light is a 12 volt 15 amp auto lamp.Thermoelectric generators have been in use for many years by NASA to power spacecraft and the oil and gas industry to power remote monitoring stations around the globe. Only in recent years has this technology become available to the general public and TEG Power is at the forefront of this thermoelectric energy revolution. We are the first manufacture to provide practical and affordable thermoelectric generators to the energy conscious consumer.
Almost any heat source can be used to generate electricity, such as solar heat, ocean heat, geothermal heat, even body heat!
An expedition into rainforests on Ecuador's coast by Reptile & Amphibian Ecology (RAEI) International have revealed a number of possible new species including a blunt-snouted, slug-eating snake; four stick insects; and up to 30 new 'rain' frogs.
The blunt-snouted snake, which feeds on gastropods like slugs, is especially interesting, as its closest relative is in Peru, 350 miles away. In addition, a fifteen-year-old volunteer with the organization found a snake that specializes on snails. The researchers are unsure of this is a new species: the closest similar snake is 600 miles away in Panama.
So-called 'rain frogs', of which the expedition may have discovered 30 new species, lay their eggs in trees, instead of in water. When they hatch the young frogs are not tadpoles, but actual mini-versions of adults. The frogs require moist forests in order to breed successfully, researchers fear that climate change could make the forests drier.
"There is obviously a great concern that these species will disappear as soon as, or even before, they are formally described by science," said expedition leader Dr. Paul S. Hamilton of RAEI.
Many of the new species were found on a single mountain rising to 800 meters, called Cerro Pata de Pájaro. A few square miles of cloud forest blanket the mountain's peak.
This forest and other lowland rainforests nearby are threatened by deforestation for cattle grazing, logging, and hunting according to RAEI. In addition, rising temperatures could force ecosystems, such as Cerro Pata de Pájaro's tiny cloud forest, higher and higher up the mountain until there is no-where to go. Already researchers in the tropics have found plants moving upslope to keep up with temperatures.
"The good news is, the animals are still there and alive, so there is still time to save them from extinction," said Dr. Kerry Kriger, Executive Director of the nonprofit advocacy organization Save the Frogs. "But we need to take action now to make it happen."
Amphibians are one of the world's most threatened taxa: devastated by disease, climate change, pollution, and habitat loss. But some researchers say that reptiles may be as endangered as amphibians once more research is completed. Currently the IUCN Red List lists 30 percent of the world's amphibians to be threatened with extinction, and 28 percent of the world's reptiles, although many reptiles remain to be evaluated.
Surveys by scientists have found over 140 species of reptiles and amphibians in the area alone. In contrast, all of Europe contains only 236 amphibians and reptiles.
"There are countless gaps in our knowledge about the status and distribution of tropical animals; this study just scratches the surface of what we know about this region alone, much less what is happening to global patterns of extinction," said Dr. Hamilton, adding that "to stem the pattern of current extinction rates, we all need to do our part, whether that be driving less, eating less meat, or simply educating ourselves and spreading the word."
Parental leave: fathers to get months of paid leave in paternity rights shakeup
• Plan to offer more pay and time off in first five years
• Law must reflect shift in attitudes - equalities body
Daniel and Noah Soar. Photograph: Sarah Lee
Radical reforms to maternity leave legislation, which would allow fathers to take more paid time off, will be proposed today by the Equalities and Human Rights Commission.
Concerned that the extension of maternity leave from six to nine and soon to 12 months has "entrenched the assumption that women do the caring and pay the career penalty", the EHRC will set out a series of measures to redress the gender imbalance by encouraging fathers to become more involved in caring for their children.
"New parental rights introduced over the past decade are well intentioned but entrench the current unequal division of labour and caring between the sexes and work against gender equality," the EHRC's Working Better report says.
Research conducted by the commission suggests that families no longer have firm preconceptions about men as breadwinners and women as carers, but notes that legislation is lagging behind this shift.
"Britain now stands out internationally for having a very long period of leave reserved for mothers, most of it at a low rate of pay, and for having a relatively weak parental leave," the report says.
"Together long, low-paid maternity leave and short, low-paid paternity leave convey the message that it is primarily women who are responsible for the care of young children."
Research shows that the gender pay gap (which on average sees men being paid 17 pence in every pound more than women) more than trebles when women reach their 30s as a result of the career compromises which come with motherhood.
Concluding that it was time that "policy-making enabled men to play an equal part in parenting", the EHRC proposes that the first 26 weeks of a baby's life would remain dedicated maternity leave for mothers, but with higher rates of pay, so that they would receive 90% of pay for the entirety of their maternity leave. Fathers would still get two weeks of paternity leave at the birth of their child, but this would also go up to 90% of their pay.
Beyond the first six months of maternity leave, the commission proposes three blocks of "parental leave", which could be taken any time before the child's fifth birthday, each of about four months, one block dedicated to mothers, one to fathers and one either could take.
The first eight weeks of each of these blocks of leave would be paid at 90%.
Under the scheme, parents would not usually be able to take leave simultaneously. "To encourage more fathers to take responsibility for caring for children we are keen that some part of the leave entitlement for fathers is taken alone, without the mother on leave," the report says.
Their research showed that families with an annual income of less than £15,000 were much less likely to take leave than families with a higher income. Similarly, single mothers were far more likely to take a very short maternity leave. The proposed increase in paid leave would help low-income parents to take longer time off after the birth, the EHRC said.
Alarm about the unintended negative consequences of enhanced maternity leave arrangements intensified last year when the entrepreneur Sir Alan Sugar said he would be less likely to hire a woman of child-bearing age. Explaining that the law was "counterproductive", he said: "If someone comes into an interview and you think to yourself 'there is a possibility that this woman might have a child and therefore take time off' it is a bit of a psychological negative thought."
The changes suggested by the EHRC would redress the balance in this area.
The report calls for more attention to be paid to the desires of "frustrated" fathers keen but unable to spend more time caring for their children.
The EHRC has calculated that the scheme would cost £5.3bn, and proposes it be introduced gradually over 10 years.
A Department for Business spokesman said: "These are difficult times for businesses and families and the EHRC's proposals look to have considerable costs attached to them. We will need to take time to more fully assess the implications."
The management of the EHRC was under pressure this weekend after a number of resignations, but senior figures will gather in London today to launch the report. "We are proposing one of the most radical changes in our approach to parental leave in a decade," chief executive, Nicola Brewer, will say.
Changing times: What the father says
Eleven days after his son Noah was born, Daniel Soar cannot imagine tearing himself away to go back to work. The editor considers himself lucky: his employer is giving him four weeks' paternity leave on full pay, compared with the fortnight on £117.18 a week that is the statutory allowance. But the thought of returning to the office for good once his month is up still troubles him.
"I think it will be quite traumatic. We're still settling. Noah's had to go back to hospital for a couple of days and these kind of complications are very ordinary. If you spend your first two weeks in and out of hospital it's a bit depressing."
He welcomes the idea of being able to take parental leave after six months, allowing his wife, Eleanor, a publisher, to go back to work. "It would be great - if we had that choice I imagine it would be very likely that we'd do that. I can imagine wanting to spend time with him and I think from Ellie's point of view it would make sense for her not to have too long out of the office."
She is getting full pay for the first three months, half pay for the second three and then statutory pay. "We're prepared to be very belt-tightening in the second three months, so any improvement in maternity pay could only be a good thing." Seeing male friends who work on a more flexible freelance basis has shown Daniel the benefits of being able to share a baby's first months. "You want your child to have as much time with both parents as possible," he says. "But at this stage it's a selfish thing. I'd just like to spend all the time I can with him."
An agonized figure wails against a blood red Oslofjord skyline in Edvard Munch's The Scream (1893), National Gallery, Oslo.The Scream (Skrik, 1893) is a seminal expressionist painting by Norwegian artist Edvard Munch. Regarded by many as his most important work, it is said by some to symbolize modern man taken by an attack of existential angst. The landscape in the background is Oslofjord, viewed from the hill of Ekeberg. The Norwegian word skrik is usually translated as "scream", but is cognate with the English shriek. Occasionally, the painting has been called The Cry.
Munch executed four versions of the painting, of which the most famous are a tempera on cardboard version (measuring 83.5 x 66 cm) formerly in the Munch Museum, Oslo, Norway (shown below), and an oil, tempera, and pastel on cardboard (measuring 91 x 73.5 cm) in the National Gallery (shown to right), also in Oslo. A third version is also owned by the Munch Museum, and a fourth is owned by Petter Olsen. Munch later also translated the picture into a lithograph (shown below), so the image could be reproduced in reviews all over the world. However, one version is currently missing from the Munch Museum, having been stolen by art thieves in August 2004.
Sources of inspiration Munch wrote, concerning the image:
"I was walking along a path with two friends - the sun was setting - suddenly the sky turned blood red - I paused, feeling exhausted, and leaned on the fence - there was blood and tongues of fire above the blue-black fjord and the city - my friends walked on, and I stood there trembling with anxiety - and I sensed an infinite scream passing through nature."
This has led some commentators to propose that the person in the painting is not screaming, but reacting with despair to the scream passing through nature.
The scene is from a road overlooking Oslo, the Oslofjord and Hovedøya, from the hill of Ekeberg. At the time of painting the work Munch's manic depressive sister Laura Cathrine was interned in the mental hospital at the foot of Ekeberg.
In 2003, astronomers claimed to have identified the time that the painting depicted. The eruption of Krakatoa in 1883 caused unusually intense sunsets throughout Europe in the winter of 1883-4, which Munch captured in his picture.
In 1978, the renowned Munch scholar Robert Rosenblum suggested that the strange, sexless creature in the foreground of the painting was probably inspired by a Peruvian mummy which Munch could have seen at the 1889 Exposition Universelle in Paris. This mummy, which was crouching in fetal position with its hands alongside its face, also struck the imagination of Munch's friend Paul Gauguin: it stood model for the central figure in his painting Human misery (Grape harvest at Arles) and for the old woman at the left in his painting Where Do We Come From? What Are We? Where Are We Going?. More recently, an Italian anthropologist speculated that Munch might have seen a mummy in Florence's Museum of Natural History which bears an even more striking resemblance to the painting.
Role in popular culture
Robert Fishbone's inflatable ScreamIn the late 20th century, The Scream acquired iconic status in popular culture. In 1983-1984, pop artist Andy Warhol made a series of silk prints of works by Munch, including The Scream. The idea was to desacralize the painting by devaluating its originality and making it into a mass-reproducible object. However, as remarked above, Munch had already begun that process himself, by making a lithograph of the work for reproduction.
Characteristic of post-modern art is Erró's ironic and irreverent treatment of Munch's masterpiece in his acrylic paintings The Second Scream (1967) and Ding Dong (1979).
Munch translated The Scream into lithograph in 1895 so that it could be reproduced all over the world.The work's reproduction on all kinds of items, from tee shirts to coffee mugs, bears witness to its iconic status as well as to its complete desacralization in the eyes of today's public. In that respect, it is comparable to other iconic works of art, such as Leonardo da Vinci's Mona Lisa. The Scream is an emotionally very potent work, and the banalization of the image in popular culture can be interpreted as an attempt to defuse the feeling of unease it inevitabily provokes in the viewer, though some would say that this interpretation is overcomplication, and that the makers of merchandise are simply trying to make money off a well known image.
An American muralist, Robert Fishbone, discovered a gap in the market when in 1991 he started selling inflatable dolls of the central figure in the painting. His St. Louis-based company, On The Wall Productions, has sold hundreds of thousands of them. Critics have observed that by taking the figure out of its context (the landscape), Fishbone has destroyed the unity of Munch's work, thereby neutralizing its expressive force.
As one of very few works of modern art that are instantly recognizable even to people who know very little about art, The Scream has been used in advertising, in cartoons and on television. In one of her talk shows, Dame Edna Everage appeared in a Scream-patterned dress. The work has also fascinated film makers. Ghostface, the psychotic murderer in Wes Craven's Scream horror movies, wears a Halloween mask inspired by the central figure in the painting. Child actor Macaulay Culkin's pose in front of the mirror, in Home Alone by Chris Columbus, also refers ironically to Munch's work.
At the end of each article you will find comments, questions, or clues to for an approach to analise and discuss. These hints are meant to be just an starting point from many one can take to start the conversation about the subject. All points of views are welcome and encourage. That is what we are here for!
Salamander
Salamander
Salamanders of the genus Bolitoglossa lack lungs, and instead breathe entirely through their skin. This one was encountered in a recent expedition to western Ecuador. Caption and photo by: Paul S. Hamilton.
FrogEggsPic
FroEggsText
Rain frogs are dependent on moist habitats to lay their eggs in trees. Warming and drying trends from human-caused climate change may interfere with these frogs' ability to reproduce. Caption and photo by: Paul S. Hamilton.
DeforestationPic
DeforText
Deforestation seen in the forground of this image form Cerro Pata de Pájaro has occured mainly for cattle grazing. Remnant forests still containing rich biodiversity are seen on the mountaintops in the region, but are under threat from continued deforestation as well as global warming. Caption and photo by: Paul S. Hamilton.
LachesisPic
Vocabulary
-"paid time off": time getting paid without working -"maternity leave ": time given to mothers free from work before and after giving birth
Comments on Parental Leave
ØDavster/ And allowing people more time off is going to help us pull out of this depression in what way?
ØGdog2/ Ill advised tinkering by Nanny. Who's paying??just what families need both parents off work at that time. would it not just be better to reduce the financial burden by lowering the tax on childrens items nappies are expensive as hell.
ØAlickboots/ What man in his right mind would want to spend that long at home?
ØStevemarson/ Meanwhile, the rest of us will do your work for you and pay for your personal choices. Small businesses will face further financial problems having to recruit even more temporary staff to cover for all this paid leave. Yet it is not an option to choose not to employ someone on the basis of the future disruption and cost they will cause you.
Makes you wonder how our parents brought us up so much better without being given all this paid time off, having to wash our nappies, not having parking spaces reserved everywhere for them (even if they'd had a car) and without having benefits thrown at them.
It's your choice to have them. Manage or don't have them.
ØBubblehead/ I agree with stevemarson. Why does having children qualify the parents for so many perks? Are we in danger of becoming extinct or something?
ØStokeyMark/ My word there are some angry, wealth-obsessed people around these days. I'm of working age, and don't currently have any plans to have children yet I think this is a terrific idea. Do you know why? Because I think people are more important than money.
