On War: Last American combat brigade leaves Iraq

Posted Aug 18, 2010

Share This Gallery

(AP) As their convoy reached the barbed wire at the border crossing out of Iraq on Wednesday, the soldiers whooped and cheered. Then they scrambled out of their stifling hot armored vehicles, unfurled an American flag and posed for group photos.

For these troops of the 4th Stryker Brigade, 2nd Infantry Division, it was a moment of relief fraught with symbolism. Seven years and five months after the U.S.-led invasion, the last American combat brigade was leaving Iraq, well ahead of President Barack Obama’s Aug. 31 deadline for ending U.S. combat operations there.

That presence is far from over. Scatterings of combat troops still await departure, and some 50,000 will stay another year in what is designated as a noncombat role. They will carry weapons to defend themselves and accompany Iraqi troops on missions. Special forces will continue to help Iraqis hunt for terrorists.

So the U.S. death toll — at least 4,415 by Pentagon count as of Wednesday — may not yet be final.
Suggestions:

• Return to the previous page and pick another result.
• Try another search to find what you're looking for.

Or you can continue to http://futureact.plumzone.com/films10061/?x=entry:entry100825-113611 at your own risk. For detailed information about the problems we found, visit Google's Safe Browsing diagnostic page for this site.

For more information about how to protect yourself from harmful software online, you can visit StopBadware.org.

If you are the owner of this web site, you can request a review of your site using Google's Webmaster Tools. More information about the review process is available in Google's Webmaster Help Center.

Animal testing is required to find ways of saving human life. While it is unfortunate, it is still absolutely necessary. Without testing drugs on animals first we would have no idea what effects they would have on people, meaning you’d either have test subjects dying, being maimed or getting extremely ill – or nobody volunteering to be subjects in the first place. Without tests you would have no new cures.
With animal testing we can find cures for various diseases. In the 50s cancer was a pretty much a death sentence. Without spontaneous remission or an operation (which rarely worked) you would die. Simple as that. Thanks largely to drugs tested on animals many people do NOT die from cancer. Similarly, with diabetes – before the 1920s if you had diabetes you would die very young. There was no treatment at all. Thanks to insulin harvested from animals, and later (again thanks to animal testing) synthetic insulin diabetics can now live long lives. We may (once again, thanks to animal testing) be close to a cure for diabetes.
Animal testing for medical purposes is necessary and vital. It should however be regulated and carefully monitored – the animals should not suffer any more than absolutely necessary and as few animals as are needed should be tested on.
I do not think that you can essentially give people a death sentence – making them die slowly and painfully from a disease which may well be curable just to save animal life.
If you love animals simply because they are lovable and cute then do not become a vet. A lot of a vet’s work is putting animals down. You are still doing what is best for the animal, but it is not a job for someone who cannot see that life is more than cuddly bunnies.

There are a number of logical reasons to improve your skill in judging deer in the woods.  First, is if you are on a management program and putting sweat equity and resources into improving your deer herd by letting younger bucks walk, Second, you are hunting an area that only allows you one deer.  If you are wanting to harvest a mature deer vs. just hunting horns.  These are just a few reasons for the bowhunter to enhance their aging deer skills.

We have all been fooled by a big rack on a 2 1/2  or 3 1/2 year old deer.  Not to say you should not shoot that deer, that is up to you.  The key is not solely focusing on the horns and more on the body and social characteristics of that deer.  Each hunter has a different approach to harvesting deer.  I have harvested my share of less than mature bucks over my hunting career.  With that said over the past five years or so, I have enjoyed letting younger bucks walk and focused on 1-2 deer on the property I am hunting that I know are the mature bucks in the area.

Let’s get into it.  I have asked our Spokes Person Spook Spann to provide some of his insight into how he judges deer on hoof.  Spook has a reputation of being a very accomplished Big Game Hunter and will put in a lot of hours to get a shot on that one Monster in the area.  “The only way to get a chance to shot a true giant / mature buck is to let the young bucks walk.  Once you are disciplined for a few years you will have more and more opportunities to harvest a mature – giant deer. “

Body Characteristics  & Social Behaviors of Whitetail Deer from 1.5 years old to 6.5 years old.  Aspects of this information is referenced from the Quality Deer Management Association Resources on Aging Deer.

1 ½  year old Buck

These bucks have a thin neck and slim body.  A 1 ½ year old buck will look similar to a doe with horns.

The majority of the time there is a distinct line of separation between the bucks shoulder and neck.
Legs on this age of deer appear too long for the rest of its body and there is little muscle definition with these bucks.
Little or no tarsal staining

2 ½ year old Buck

These bucks have a thin waist and shoulders

Hindquarters are proportional to the chest and shoulders.  You will typically see minimal neck swelling during the rut with these bucks.

Lightly stained tarsal glands

Another tell tell characteristic with these bucks is the back and belly on is flat

3 1/2 year old Buck

These bucks are being to establish a thickly muscled neck  during the rut.  There is still some separation between the neck and shoulders.

The chest and shoulder area of these bucks  are now beginning to look heavier than the hindquarters.

These bucks are being to have overall good muscle tone but still have some lanky/lean look to them.

The neck on these deer is now wider than their face.

The back and belly are still tight on these bucks.

These bucks are beginning to establish a good set of horns on their head.  Many times these bucks are hard to pass up b/c they may be one of the biggest bucks see on “hoof”.  If a bowhunter let’s this buck walk until he is 4 ½ to 5 ½ there will be a substantial increase in antler

4 1/2 year old Buck

These bucks are becoming fully muscled neck blends into shoulders seamlessly.

No longer lanky or lean. You will see the leg length becomes proportional to body size

Waistline has dropped and is now level with chest-line

Tarsal Glands are large and very dark during the rut

5 1/2 year old Buck

The shoulders and neck appear to be one large mass

Belly is round and may begin to sag.  The exception is during the post rut where these bucks will have a fair amount of weight loss during this period of time.

Legs begin to appear to short for the massive size of the body

Neck is thick and heavy, the skin still appears to be tight

Head appears very deep and heavy from a profile view.  The forehead is darkened by gland secretions and some graying may be visible around the muzzle.

6 1/2 year old Buck

The face of these bucks is beginning to contract between a darker forehead and graying muzzle.

You will notice a very distinctive “potbelly”

Heavy belly- way to big for his body

Skin around the face and neck is rippled and appears loose.  A flap of loose skin is visible at the throat and jaw line.

During the rut, tarsal stains extends down the inside of the legs

Neck and chest appear to be one continuous muscle

Other Considerations regarding Herd Behavior and Antler Basics

During the early season you are able to watch or catch bucks in groups so you can observe some of the behaviors between these bucks.  Those bucks that seem to posture and show dominance are the mature deer.  You may be surprised that some of these more dominant bucks may not have as big of a set up antlers.  Reinforces that point that the antlers do not only determine the age or maturity of the buck.

Also consider the time of year when you are looking at body size.  There can be a extreme swing in body weight from Pre-Rut to Rut to Post-Rut periods.  The QDMA suggests that bucks may lose as much as 30% of their body weight during the breeding season.

“Antlers are the fastest growing true bone in nature.  They start growing in spring and continue through late summer.  While growing, antlers are soft, warm (because of the blood supply) and covered with velvet.  They harden in late summer/early fall and bucks shed their velvet in response to increasing testosterone levels.  Bucks then cast their antlers in late winter/early spring in response to decreasing testosterone levels.  Antlers are often incorrectly referred to as “horns” but they are distinctly different.  Antlers grow from the tip and are shed annually while horns grow from the base and grow for the life of the animal.”-QDMA, Kip Adams.

The three factors influencing antler growth are animal age, nutrition and genetics.  These factors are not uniform throughout the whitetails range but proper deer and habitat management can compensate for some regional shortcomings.  (Kips Corner, Antler Basics-Quality Deer Management Association).  As you think of aging a deer and you look at the antlers of this animal consider the following based on the Quality Deer Management Association.  On Average, the main beam length of a 2 ½ year old buck is typically 16 inches and 18 ½ inches for a 3 ½ year old buck.  Data collected from Missippi State University regarding Average Beam Length by Age Class.

1 ½ year old buck  8.3 inch main beam length

2 ½ year old buck 15.8 inch main beam length

3 ½ year old buck 18.4 inch main beam length

4 ½ year old buck 20.5 inch main beam length

5 ½ year old buck 21.7 inch main beam length

6 ½ year old buck 21.6 inch main beam length

Stickemarchery.com Quick Reference “Tree Stand” Guide

1. What Phase of Season is it (Early season-Pre Rut-Rut-Late Season)?
2. Look at the Body (Belly, Shoulders, Back, Hind Quarters, Scent Glands)
3. Are the Horns outside the ears, mass, trash- Head – Roman nose, color?
4. What is the Behavior of this buck especially if he is with other Bucks?

*  Where are you hunting (Southeast, Northeast, Texas, Midwest, West, Canada)?

Again, the focus of this article is to provide you with some down and dirty tips on differing between a 2.5 year old 4.5 year deer.  It seems very straight forward when you look at these pictures and read the points.  It becomes substantially more difficult when  that Buck has “appeared” out of no where and you have to make a decision within a matter of seconds.   If you are hunting anything with nice set up horns then it is a no brainer.  If you are working hard to let the 2.5 to 3.5 year old bucks walk then it is important that you learn how to field judge using some of these tips.    The Quality Deer Management Association is a great resource that we use to improve our skills in judging deer.  Additionally, there are several articles in our Archery Blog that Kip Adams has written on aging deer on hoof.  Kip Adams also provides feedback to StickemArchery.com on a monthly basis within our “Age this Buck” platform.

References for this articles were from the Quality Deer Management Association.  For more information or resources by QDMA go to www.QDMA.com.

Operating Steamers: I.C. Woodward, Edgard Cherry, Admiral Dewey, Columbia, Rose Hite

To all Points on the Monongahela River between Pittsburgh, Pa., and Morgantown W.Va.

Steamers leave Pittsburgth daily except Sunday, 3:00 p.m. Sunday 8:30 a.m., for McKeesport, Monongahela City, Webster, Lock No. R, Charleroi, Bellevernon, Fayette City, Coal Centre, California, Brownsville, Fredericktown, Millsboro, Rice's Landing, Geneva, Point Marion and Morgantown.

Returning, leaves Morgantown daily, 8:00 am.

Also steamer leaves Pittsburgh at 4:00 p.m. daily, except Sunday, to all points as far as Brownsville, after June 1st.

These steamers are all first class built expressly for the trade, with superior accommodations, rendering a trip on the picturesque Monongahela a delightful one.

Freight received until the hour of departure.

General offices on Wharfboat, Pittsburgh Pa.

Borat goes to Cambridge University
Video Rating: 4 / 5

World’s Largest Admissions Meet and Greet Brings 40,000 College-Bound Teens, Representatives From More Than 200 Colleges Together at CollegeWeekLive SPRING






Home




News Center




Blog

Login

Front Page


Arts


Business


Education


Environment


Government


Industry


Lifestyle


Sports


Tech

OtherAutomotiveComputerEventsHealthHome and FamilyLegal / LawMediaMiscellaneousOpinion / EditorialPodcastingScienceSociety










RSS


E-mail Newsletters


Put PRWeb on your site












World’s Largest Admissions Meet and Greet Brings 40,000 College-Bound Teens, Representatives From More Than 200 Colleges Together at CollegeWeekLive SPRING
Free Online College Fairs at www.CollegeWeekLive.com Brings Ease of the Internet to the College Search






ShareThis



Email



PDF



Print






“. . . the first step 79.7% high school students take when researching higher education is to “go online to college websites and online college fairs”

Boston, MA (PRWEB) March 10, 2010

CollegeWeekLive, the leading web destination which brings high school students and colleges together live online, announced today the largest online admissions event yet: CollegeWeekLive SPRING, Mach 24th and 25th from 10:00 AM to 10:00 PM Eastern. An estimated 40,000 teens will login to CollegeWeekLive over two days with one goal in mind – to connect with thousands of admissions representatives from more than 200 higher education institutions from the convenience of a computer.Spring is historically the season when juniors kick off the college search in earnest.

Academic institutions participating in CollegeWeekLive SPRING range from Ivy League institutions to public and private universities and regional leaders in higher education. A complete list of participating schools is available at CollegeWeekLive and below. In addition, organizations such as the U.S. Department of Education’s Office of Federal Student Aid, HP Academy, Sallie Mae, Knewton, Massachusetts Educational Financing Authority (MEFA), the American Association of Landscape Architects, the Shell Eco-marathon, the Hispanic Association of Colleges and Universities (HACU) and The ACT are supporting partners of the two-day event. These student services organizations provide a variety of resources to CollegeWeekLive participants helping them to achieve their dreams of a college education.

CollegeWeekLive offers high school students and their families the opportunity to browse information on hundreds of colleges conveniently at one website and chat live with admissions representatives from participating colleges. Teens can attend informal Q&A video webcasts featuring current college students on campuses across the U.S. and around the world, garnering a sense for student life at schools of interest. Attendees can also watch leading experts present live on admissions topics such as the college application process, school fit, and uncovering scholarships and financial aid.

Increasingly, CollegeWeekLive online admission events represent the way teens prefer to research colleges and universities. Based on a March 2010 survey of more than two hundred thousand CollegeWeekLive registrants, the first step 79.7% high school students take when researching higher education is to “go online to college websites and online college fairs”. “Reading through brochures” came in a distant second at 10.9% and “visiting individual college campuses” was cited by just 6.3% of respondents as the first step in college research. For budget-conscious families, CollegeWeekLive represents a way to explore colleges before getting in the car or on a plane to visit a school in person.

If you are a student or a parent interested in attending CollegeWeekLive SPRING, visit www.CollegeWeekLive.com to sign-up for free. If you are an admissions representative interested in participating in CollegeWeekLive, contact 617.938.6000 or Exhibit(at)CollegeWeekLive(dot)com.

PARTICIPATING HIGHER EDUCATION INSTITUTIONS

Academy of Art University

Adelphi University

Agnes Scott College

Air Guard

Alabama State University

Alaska Pacific University

Alderson Broaddus College

American Intercontinental University – London

American Society of Landscape Architects

Anna Maria College

Arizona State University at the Tempe Campus

Arkansas Tech University

Art Institute of Boston at Lesley University

ASA Institute

Assumption College

Augsburg College

AustraLearn

Bangor University

Baylor University

Bay Path College

Becker College

Bennett College

Bentley University

Berkeley College

Bethany College-KS

Boise State University

Boston University

Bowling Green State University

Butler University

Clark Atlanta University

College for Creative Studies

Colorado Christian University

Dartmouth College

Department of Education

Dowling College

Drexel University

EDMC – Brown MacKie College

EDMC – South University

EDMC – The Art Institute

Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University

Emerson College

Emory University

Fairmont State University

FIDM

Florida Atlantic University

Florida International University

Florida Southern College

Florida State University

Geneva College

Georgia Institute of Technology

Global College of LIU

Grand Canyon University

Green Mountain College

Guilford College

Harrison College

Hawai’i Pacific University

Hofstra University

Hult International Business School

Iowa State University

Jamestown College

John Cabot University

Johnson C. Smith University

Juniata College

Kendall College

Keuka College

Lake Erie College

Landmark College

Laramie County Community College

Lasell College

Lesley University

Le Tourneau University

Long Island University Brooklyn Campus

Lynn University

Marist College

Marymount University

Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts

Massachusetts College of Pharmacy and Health

Mercy College

Meredith College

Merrimack College

Mesa State College

Miami Dade College

Miami University

Middle Tennessee State University

Mississippi State University

MIT

Mount Ida College

Mount Mercy College

Mount St. Mary’s University

New Mexico Tech

New York Institute of Technology

Northeastern

North Park University

Nova Southeastern

Ohio Northern University

Oklahoma Baptist University

Oklahoma City University

Old Dominion

Oregon Institute of Technology

Ouachita Baptist

Pace University

Palmer College of Chiropractic

Purchase College, SUNY

Purdue University

Quinnipiac University

Regis College

Robert Morris University (IL)

Rollins College

Rowan University

Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama

Rutgers University

Saint Louis University

Saint Thomas University (FL)

Sam Houston State University

San Diego State University

Schreiner University

Semester at Sea

Seton Hall University

Southern Polytechnic State University

St. Leo University

Stanford University

Stetson University

St. Johns University – New York

Stonehill College

Stony Brook Southampton

Stony Brook University

Suffolk University

SUNY College at Oneonta

SUNY – Cortland

SUNY Institute of Technology at Utica-Rome

Susquehanna University

Syracuse University

Texas Chiropractic College

Texas Christian University

Texas Tech University

The College of St. Scholastica

Thomas College

Transylvania University

Trinity College

United States Air Force Academy

United States Coast Guard Academy

United States Merchant Marine Academy

University of Aberdeen

University of Advancing Technology

University of Alabama at Birmingham

University of Alabama Huntsville

University of Alaska Anchorage

University of Alaska Fairbanks

University of Alaska Southeast

University of Bridgeport

University of California, Davis

University of California, San Diego

University of California, Santa Cruz

University of California-Berkeley

University of California – Irvine

University of California – Los Angeles ( UCLA )

University of California – Riverside

University of California – Santa Barbara

University of Canterbury

University of Colorado at Boulder

University of Colorado at Denver

University of Connecticut

University of Dayton

University of Florida

University of Glamorgan

University of Houston-University Park

University of Houston – Victoria

University of Illinois at Springfield

University of Iowa

University of Kentucky

University of Maine

University of Mary

University of Melbourne

University of Miami

University of Minnesota Morris

University of Mobile

University of Nevada – Reno

University of New England

University of New Haven

University of New Mexico

University of Northern Iowa

University of North Texas

University of Oklahoma

University of Otago

University of Pittsburgh – Johnstown

University of Science and Arts of Oklahoma

University of South Florida

University of Tampa

University of Tennessee

University of Texas

University of Utah

University of Vermont

University of Wisconsin – Stout

Utah Valley University

Vaughn College of Aeronautics & Technology

Villanova University

Virginia Military Institute (VMI)

Wartburg College

Washington State University

Webster University Vienna

Wentworth Institute of Technology

Western Kentucky University

Western New England College

Western State College of Colorado

West Point

West Point

West Virginia University

Wilkes University

Winthrop University

Wittenberg University

Worcester Polytechnic Institute

Wright State University

Yale University

About CollegeWeekLive

CollegeWeekLive is the premier online college fair and admissions event destination. With hundreds of colleges and universities exhibiting and more than 200,000 registrants, CollegeWeekLive revolutionizes college admissions, making the process easier and more cost-effective by bringing students, parents, counselors and colleges together online, transcending time and distance. If you are interested in attending CollegeWeekLive, visit www.CollegeWeekLive.com to sign-up for free.

###

Share:


























Contact



Martha Collins

PlatformQ, LLC.
617.938.6008
Email





Past News Releases

Subscribe

















PRWeb Home


News Center

We’re here to help.

Call 1-866-640-6397

Twitter


LinkedIn


Facebook





Why PRWeb


How It Works


Who Uses It


Pricing


Learning


Blog


About Vocus


Contact Us


Partners


Subscribe to News


Terms of Service


Privacy Policy


Copyright


Site Map

©Copyright 1997-2009, Vocus PRW Holdings, LLC.
Vocus, PRWeb and Publicity Wire are trademarks or registered trademarks of Vocus, Inc. or Vocus PRW Holdings, LLC.

Sharjah University City in the morning – “Uni-Stadt” in Sharjah am Morgen

Image by Mathias M
This is the entrance to Sharjah University City. I felt I had to stop and take this photography, when seeing this.
I made this picture when driving back from Dubai airport to University of Sharjah after bringing 2 fellows there to catch their plane home to Germany. I think it was between 06:30h and 07:00h in the morning., late September or early October.

[Deutsch]
Das ist die Einfahrt in die "Hochschulstadt" in Sharjah.
Das Bild habe ich gemacht, als ich vom Flughafen in Dubai zurückkam zur Uni Sharjah, nachdem ich zwei Kollegen dorthin gefahren habe, weil sie nach Hause nach Deutschland flogen. Es müßte zwischen 06:30 und 07:00 Uhr morgens gewesen sein, im späten September oder frühen Oktober.

Tags: Chiang, Contest, Online, Scholarship, Tefl, University

This entry was posted on Wednesday, August 11th, 2010 at 7:19 pm and is filed under University. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.