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Growing U.S. Violent Extremism – Facts on the Ground: UMD Database

By Guest PostDecember 11, 2011General, Politicsal qaida, anti abortion extremists, aqap, arabian peninsula, attacks, blueprint, community resilience, earth liberation front, elf, environmental extremists, financial schemes, foiled terrorist plots, ft hood, gary lafree, global war on terrorism, homegrown terrorists, islamist extremists, janet napolitano, lone wolf, North America, plots, political spectrum, radicalization, start, statistics, tehrik i taliban pakistan, terrorism database, terrorist attacks, texas, ttp, united states, university of maryland, violent extremism, White House, white supremacists, work of extremists

COLLEGE PARK, Md. – Over the past decade, attacks and plots by homegrown terrorists in the United States have increased, the work of extremists from across the political spectrum – roughly 40 percent of it by so-called ‘lone wolf,’ non-aligned actors – says an analysis by the National Consortium for the Study of Terrorism and Responses to Terrorism (START) based at the University of Maryland.

The statistics underscore the threat addressed in a White House plan released Thursday: Strategic Implementation Plan for Empowering Local Partners to Prevent Violent Extremism in the United States – a blueprint for “building community resilience against violent extremism.” (more…)

Minorities Pay More for Water and Sewer

By Guest PostNovember 29, 2011Culture, Environment, Generalbirmingham, bygone economic era, cleveland, detroit, environmental practice, michigan state university, pittsburgh, poster child, product of racism, rachel butts, racial minorities, sewer infrastructure, shrinking cities, st. louis, stephen gasteyer, structural inequality, wastewater, water and sewer

EAST LANSING, Mich. — Racial minorities pay systemically more for basic water and sewer services than white people, according to a study by Michigan State University researchers.

This “structural inequality” is not necessarily a product of racism, argues sociologist Stephen Gasteyer, but rather the result of whites fleeing urban areas and leaving minority residents to bear the costs of maintaining aging water and sewer infrastructure. (more…)

New Projection Shows Global Food Demand Doubling by 2050

By Guest PostNovember 24, 2011Economy, Generalagricultural land, agricultural practices, agronomic practices, belinda befort, carbon dioxide, christian balzer, david tilman, earth, ecosystems, Environment, environmental effects, extinction of species, global agriculture, global food demand, greenhouse gas emissions, human prosperity, jason hill, nitrogen, nitrogen fertilizers, poorer countries, saran twombly, technology transfer, united states, university of minnesota, yield

*Increasing yield in poorer countries could decrease adverse environmental effects*

Global food demand could double by 2050, according to a new projection reported this week in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS).

The analysis also shows that the world faces major environmental challenges unless agricultural practices change.

Scientists David Tilman and Jason Hill of the University of Minnesota (UMN) and colleagues found that producing the amount of food needed could significantly increase levels of carbon dioxide and nitrogen in the environment, and may cause the extinction of numerous species. (more…)

7 Uses for Glass Whiteboards in the Educational & Corporate World

By Guest PostNovember 20, 20111 commentGeneral, Technologyangela m taylor, brainstorming, central message board, chemical coverings, corporate realm, creative inspiration, eco-friendly, glass dry erase, glass whiteboards, idea generation, marketing, whiteboard counterparts

*Glass dry erase: the Eco-friendly way to make your work life easier*

As a professional in the corporate realm, I’m always amazed at the amount of tools at our disposal that we don’t take advantage of. Take Eco-friendly glass whiteboards for example. These glass dry erase boards are similar to their traditional whiteboard counterparts—just swap the chemical coverings of traditional dry erase with a durable, recyclable surface that wipes clean quickly without ghosting or staining.

Glass dry erase boards will not only last the life of the wall that’s holding it up at your school or corporate office; they also take on many responsibilities when it comes to making your work life easier, for example: (more…)

Being Smart is Already Part of your Mental Toolbox, Psychologist Says

By Guest PostNovember 11, 2011Generalapply knowledge for smarter thinking, art markman, cognitive psychological research, craig wynett, human dimensions of organizations, instantly smarter, intelligence and smart thinking, january 2012, perigee books, psychologist, scholarly work, smart thinking, university of texas at austin

AUSTIN, Texas — Intelligence and smart thinking are not the same, according to University of Texas at Austin psychologist Art Markman, who studies how best to apply knowledge for smarter thinking at work and home.

Drawing on his work at a top multinational corporation and his scholarly work, Markman says science confirms that smart thinking is not an innate quality but rather a skill to be cultivated. Humans are not born with a particular capacity to do smart things. “Each of the components of being smart is already part of your mental toolbox,” he says. (more…)

Dr. Livingstone’s Lost 1871 ‘Massacre’ Diary Recovered; Discovery Rewrites History

By Guest PostNovember 3, 2011Culture, General1874, account of a massacre, adrian wisnicki, africa, arab slavers, birkbeck, british academy, british government, central africa, congolese village, david livingstone, doug emery, east african slave trade, eastern democratic republic of congo, evening standard, expedition, henry m stanley, horace waller, imperialist in africa, indiana university of pennsylvania, ink from berry seeds, keith knox, livingstone 1871 field diary, london standard, mike toth, national hero, new york herald, nyangwe, original diary, roger l easton jr, slave trade, spectral imaging, the last journals of david livingstone, the unspeakable horror, ucla, united states, university of london, victorian explorer

In Africa 140 years ago, David Livingstone, the Victorian explorer, met Henry M. Stanley of the New York Herald and gave him a harrowing account of a massacre he witnessed, in which slave traders slaughtered 400 innocent people. Stanley’s press reports prompted the British government to close the East African slave trade, secured Livingstone’s place in history and launched Stanley’s own career as an imperialist in Africa.

Today, an international team of scholars and scientists led by Dr. Adrian Wisnicki of Indiana University of Pennsylvania, publishes the results of an 18-month project to recover Livingstone’s original account of the massacre. The story, found in a diary that was illegible until it was restored with advanced digital imaging, offers a unique insight into Livingstone’s mind during the greatest crisis of his last expedition, on which he would die in 1873. (more…)

Online Housing Discrimination Primarily Done by Roommate-Seekers, Based on Familial Status, MU Study Finds

By Guest PostOctober 5, 2011Culture, Generaladvertise apartment vacancies, awareness of familial status, craigslist, federal housing act, fha, find roommates, housing discrimination law, indiana law review, online housing ads, people seeking roommates, private parties, public attitudes, rigel oliveri, us cities, websites

COLUMBIA, Mo. – As more and more people use websites like Craigslist to find roommates and advertise apartment vacancies, the opportunities increase for housing discrimination law violations. Rigel Oliveri, an associate dean for faculty research and development and associate professor of law at the University of Missouri School of Law, found that discriminatory online housing ads are almost always posted by people seeking roommates, and are primarily based on familial status.

In a study published in the Indiana Law Review, Oliveri reviewed 10,000 housing advertisements from 10 major U.S. cities. Despite a huge number of housing ads placed daily on Craigslist in cities across the country, Oliveri found relatively few instances of illegal housing discrimination. Of the 10,000 ads she reviewed, she found that only five percent were potentially problematic or illegal. (more…)

Study of HIV Increase in Pakistan Could Benefit Other Research

By Guest PostAugust 26, 2011General, Healthafghanistan, aga khan university, behavioral data, blood samples, disease, dna sequences, dow university of health sciences, genetic evidence, hiv, hiv epidemic in pakistan, hiv positive groups, hiv strains, karachi, marco salemi, middle east, north africa, Pakistan, virus, willi mcfarland

GAINESVILLE, Fla. — Rates of HIV have increased in Pakistan’s general population, as the virus has spread beyond at-risk groups to women and their children, according to an international team of researchers, including a University of Florida scientist.

The researchers raise concern that the transmission across subgroups into Pakistan’s general population may serve as indication that the virus may be spreading into populations within neighboring Afghanistan. The team’s epidemiological findings were published in July in the journal PLoS One. (more…)

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