Friday, January 16, 2009
American politician Roland Burris of the United States Democratic Party was sworn in Thursday as US president-elect Barack Obama’s replacement in the United States Senate.
Burris was initially not admitted into the Senate, even though Governor of Illinois Rod Blagojevich appointed him to the position, due to allegations that the governor tried to sell the seat. Blagojevich was arrested and has been impeached for the alleged crime. Burris was denied his position on January 6 by other Democratic members of the Congress because his appointment papers were not signed by Jesse White, the Illinois Secretary of State, who had refused to sign his name due to the charges faced by Blagojevich.
Burris was officially sworn in by United States Vice President Dick Cheney with no objections from other members of the Congress. Harry Reid, the senior Democratic senator from Nevada and majority leader, who had led the opposition to Burris being appointed, welcomed him into the Senate.
“On behalf of all senators, Democrats and Republicans, we welcome you as a colleague and a friend,” Reid said.
“No one’s ever had anything against Sen. Burris. Like any other senator, he’ll have to learn the ropes and not get lost getting to committee hearings, like I have. I think he’ll come in with people open to meeting with him and getting to know him. I think it will be just fine,” said Senator Amy Klobuchar of Minnesota on the matter. Most other comments by senators stated that they were not against Burris as a person, but were against his appointment by Rod Blagojevich.
With the appointment, Burris becomes the only African-American member of the United States Senate. This makes the count of Democrats to Republicans in the Senate 58 Democrats and 41 Republicans, with the final seat waiting on a vote recount ordered by Norm Coleman in his loss to Al Franken of Minnesota.
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Diamond is the hardest naturally formed mineral found on earth. It is used not only for making expensive and beautiful jewelry but also for making drilling equipments. Since diamonds are very hard, they are ideal for making cutting and grinding equipments. Diamonds can be used to cut, drill, grind and polish. Thus it is greatly used in various industrial applications. Some of the common equipments used are the diamond tipped drill bit and the saw blades. Diamond powder is used as an abrasive in industries. The diamonds used for these purposes are of lesser quality and are called bort. Thus, there are two grades of diamonds – the gem grade diamond and the industrial grade diamond. The industrial grade diamonds should be hard and have heat conductivity.The demand for diamonds is greater than the supply, so the diamond drill is very expensive. Although, there are a number of types of drills, the diamond drill is a very essential piece of equipment in an industry that needs to do a lot of drilling. The diamond drill is actually a drill with the diamond drill bit attached to the end of hollow drill rods. The diamonds used are fine to micro fine diamonds. To keep the sharpness and hardness of the diamond drill, it is necessary to give it sufficient lubrication and cooling. The holes made are very clean and giving the best results. The drilling has to be done slowly so that the life of the drill bits can be extended for a longer period of time. Drilling is a laborious process. It is also a tiring and demanding task and uses up a lot of physical energy. But, it needs to be done. The diamonds drills can make holes in any type of substance, right from a soft one to a hard one. It includes bricks, metals, concrete and any other material without giving out much noise. The holes can be made quickly without any vibrations and much effort, since the drill is made of hard diamond. The diamond drilling equipments are long lasting and penetrate fast to drill a hole.The diamond drilling equipments are used in all kinds of industrial applications. We are generally not aware of it many uses. They are used by the construction industry for making holes in bricks, concrete and iron. It is used in the mining industry to drill holes at places where there are mines. Wherever holes have to be made for placing cables, where anchoring bolts have to be placed and also where load carrying machines have to be installed, the diamond drilling equipments are used.There are two types of drilling techniques. The dry drilling technique is used when concrete, hard surfaces, pavements, bricks or any hard surface has to be drilled. The wet drilling technique is used when the place that has to be drilled is fully under water. The diamond drilling equipments are of different types. Synthetic diamonds are used in the impregnated bits matrix series. The matrix layer has the diamonds in a powdered metal bond. They have a long life and also penetrate fast. They are used in many forms of drilling. Surface set diamond bits have a single natural diamond layer. They have a hard matrix compound on the face of the bit. They are used while drilling soft to medium hard surfaces.Diamond reaming shell has natural or synthetic diamonds. It is used to attach the drill bit to the core barrel. The main work of the reaming shell to make a hole that is exact in diameter for the core barrel to go through, having enough space for a new drill bit, when the old one has to be changed. Long diamond reaming shells are also available for drilling purposes.Diamond core bits are thing walled core bits that are used in a large number of applications. They are used to drill holes in are concrete, glass, ceramics and also in all kinds of pipes used in electricity, drainage etc. Wet cut drill core bits and dry cut drill core bits are available for various purposes.Synthetic diamond polycrystalline is also used in making drilling equipments. They are used in making drill bits, reaming shells, saw blades etc. Polycrystalline diamond pads or cutters (PDC) are placed in rows of polycrystalline diamonds kept on tungsten carbide substrate on the bit face, to drill holes in areas that are too sticky or soft. You have PDC core bits and PDC drill bits which are cost effective and very useful in drilling and cutting activities. The diamond drilling equipments are no doubt expensive, but they are very effective in making clean holes that are necessary for all construction, mining and power, drainage, gas lines purposes. We should check out the various companies that manufacture these equipments, obtain details about the equipments and the price and then order the equipment that we need. The internet would be the best place to gather all the information.
Friday, October 27, 2006
Approximately seven videos showing school children beating their peers have been put on the Google-owned video service, YouTube.
The videos are recorded using cellphone cameras from students at Auckland Grammar School, Tauranga Boys’ College and Saint Kentigern College and other unidentified schools, according to New Zealand newspaper, The Press.
Auckland Grammar has three videos of bullying and Tauranga Boys College and St Kentigern College both have one video each.
According to The Press one video filmed in Auckland Grammar shows two students, surrounded by a large circle of boys, knock another boy unconscious. The boy appears to have convulsions. The clip was put on YouTube by I0pex a month ago and was titled “Some guy getting KNocked the fuck out.” It had a rating of four and a half stars out of a possible five.
The video was not accessible on YouTube by 27 October, 2006 at 7.36 a.m. UTC, a notice displayed said, “This video has been removed due to terms of use violation.” The Press said an unidentified clip shows two girls fighting, which was also removed for the same reason.
YouTube guidelines state: “Real violence is not allowed. If your video shows someone getting hurt, attacked or humiliated, don’t post it.”
According to NewsRoom the video showing the bullying from Tauranga Boys’ College shows three students, one student holding another while being punched on the ground in the face. When a teacher breaks up the fight, the comments for the video criticise the teacher for doing so.
One other video shows one Asian student bullying another Asian, according to The Press.
Annabel Taylor, Family Help Trust chairwoman, said: “The clips represented the worst aspects of bullying. It is premeditated, organised, intentional, choreographed even, and that’s what distinguishes it from common schoolyard bullying.”
Tauranga Boys’ College deputy principal, Robert Naumann, said: “While appropriate disciplinary action was taken against the boys involved in the incident, and none of those filmed had given their permission for the footage to be posted on the web, the film has remained within the public domain despite attempts by college staff to have it removed,” he said, “Youtube has continued to support its placement”. The video was not accessible on 27 October, 2006 at 7.36 a.m. UTC. Graham Young, principal of Tauranga Boys’ College, said: “A video posted on the Internet showing two of his students fighting is inappropriate and bizarre, but not unusual. Unfortunately technology allows teenagers to put all sorts of material about each other on websites.”
Martin Crocker, Netsafe director, said that while posting the videos did not break any law, the actions filmed in the videos did. “The terrible thing is that the aim of online notoriety is driving people to do quite extreme things,” Crocker said.
Dave Turnbull, principal of Cashmere High School, said that he is unaware of anything like that has happened in Christchurch. “The reality is it could have been any school.”
According to Paul Shamy from Stopping Violence Services Christchurch, “[I am] not surprised that the violence was in well-to-do schools such as Auckland Grammar as violence is spread throughout society.”