History Of Ariel Rios Building

The Ariel Rios Federal Building is located in the Federal Triangle in Washington, D.C., across 12th Street from the Old Post Office, which the new building was designed to replace. The New Post Office, as the Rios Building was originally known, housed the headquarters of the Post Office Department until that department was replaced by the United States Postal Service in 1971. The building, which now houses the headquarters of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, was renamed on February 5, 1985, in honor of Ariel Rios, an undercover special agent for the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives who was killed in the line of duty on December 2, 1982.

The Rios Building was constructed in the early 1930s as part of the redevelopment of the Federal Triangle area. At that time one of the city’s most blighted neighborhoods, this area was known as "Murder Bay" and was a center of crime and prostitution. The organization for area's redevelopment was ordered out as part of the 1901 McMillan Plan, the first federally funded urban redevelopment plan, and the redevelopment of Federal Triangle began in earnest in the 1930s under the leadership of Treasury Secretary Andrew W. Mellon. Construction on the Rios Building was completed in 1934.

The Ariel Rios Building was a central feature of the redevelopment. The neoclassical antiquity was designed by architects William Adams Delano and William T. Aldrich, who took as their inspiration the Place Vendome in Paris. The central section of the tri-unit antiquity is comprised of two huge, back to back, semi-circular units with lateral wings. The semi-circle formed by the building's curve on its eastern façade was to be mirrored by a similarly arching façade built across 12th Street on the site of the Old Post Office Building. Secretary Mellon's antiquity authorization actively sought the demolition of the Old Post Office to fulfill that plan, but preservation efforts -- which continued over the course of fifty years -- saved the Old Post Office. The second half of the grand plaza was never ended as designed, save for a curve in the northwest corner of the headquarters of the Internal Revenue Service. The Rios Building has been refurbished with the architectural details of the hallways preserved in the style of the 1920's and 1930's. A seven-story marble spiral staircase is a prominent element of the building's interior.

The Concept of Third Eye

The third eye (also known as the inner eye) is a metaphysical and esoteric concept referring in part to the ajna (brow) chakra in certain Eastern and Western spiritual traditions. It is also spoken of as the gate that leads within to inner realms and spaces of higher consciousness. In New Age spirituality, the third eye may alternately symbolize a state of enlightenment or the evocation of mental images having deeply-personal spiritual or psychological significance. The third eye is often associated with visions, clairvoyance, precognition, and out-of-body experiences, and people who have allegedly developed the capacity to use their third eyes are sometimes known as seers.

Technique
In Taoism and many traditional Chinese religious sects such as "chan", "third eye training" involves focusing attention on the point between the eyebrows with the eyes closed in various qigong postures. The goal of this training is to allow students to have the ability in tuning into right vibration of the universe and gain solid foundation into more advanced meditation levels. Students who undertake such training often report experiencing feelings of pressure, pulsing, tingling and other sensations between the eyebrows and around the forehead area. However, opening third eye can not depend on this focusing only. This only allows one to tune in to the right vision. Generally, opening the third eye requires strong energy to explode all clogged channels and supplies constant energy to maintain it.

In theory, the third eye, also called the mind's eye, is situated right between the two eyes, and expands up to the middle of the forehead when opened. It is one of the main energy centres of the body located at the sixth chakra.

Some claim that the chakras can be opened via chakra related gemstones, and that to open the third eye requires an amethyst that has been cleaned under flowing water before use. During the 60's, psychologists experimented with LSD and strobe lights to gain an effect which seemed to correlate with third eye opening experiences.

Few Amenities Of Apartment Search

When you are going for an apartment search Minneapolis it’s easy to be swayed by the things we all look for during an apartment search such as less rent, spacious rooms etc. These are the common features that everybody looks for. Before signing the lease of any agreements with the landlord you need to look for the amenities that you want with the apartment. The following are some of the tips

Doorways and Hallways:
It is very important to check the shapes and sizes of the doorways and hallways of the apartment before going to that. If you are a student and moving to your first apartment, you may not worry about this feature, but for some one who have accumulated a lot of luggage like heavy furniture, big beds and racks dining table and study table etc, over the years, this feature is the real concern. To avoid problems like this in your next place, take the dimensions of your largest pieces of furniture and a tape measure to apartment visits.

Electrical Outlets:
In some places, there may only be one outlet in the living room, and none in the smaller bedrooms. Problems are also common in apartments where one large bedroom has been converted into two rooms. Be realistic–most of us use a lot of electrical appliance. Check how many electric outlets are there. Avoid this by keeping an eye out for the number of outlets in each room. A real shortage may indicate that other things are lacking too.

Public areas in the apartment:
The appearance of public areas is one of the best predictors of how responsible your landlord or management is with repairs. If the apartment you are viewing has recently been converted from a rent-controlled unit to a market value unit, the landlord probably made repairs and painted. The lobby and stairwell–the apartment building’s no man’s land–should give you a good idea. Your best bet is to speak with other tenants in the building about their experiences.

Windows:
Look for whether the window actually seals out the outside air when the windows are shut. In newer apartments, this won’t be a problem. In older apartments in houston the windows should have been replaced or repaired in recent years. It’s not just about staying warm in the winter. If you are responsible for utilities, a leaky window will make a big difference in your heating bill.

The Neighbors:
The people above, below and to the sides of your apartment will really make or break your experience there. If the man above you is a foot stamper, if an argumentative couple lives next door, or the kids downstairs throw loud parties, it won’t matter how great the place is. The best way to avoid these situations is to speak to residents who live in the building– easier said than done–when the landlord is with you.

Free Trade

Free trade is a market model in which the trade of goods and services between or within countries flows unhindered by government-imposed restrictions. These restrictions may increase costs to goods and services, producers, businesses, and customers, and may include taxes and tariffs, as well as other non-tariff barriers, such as regulatory legislation and quotas. Trade liberalization entails reductions to these trade barriers in an effort for relatively unimpeded transactions.

One of the strongest arguments for free trade was made by classical economist David Ricardo in his analysis of comparative advantage. Comparative advantage explains how trade will benefit both parties (countries, regions, or individuals) if they have different opportunity costs of production.

Free trade can be contrasted with protectionism, which is the economic policy of restricting trade between nations. Trade may be restricted by high tariffs on imported or exported goods, restrictive quotas, a variety of restrictive government regulations designed to discourage imports, and anti-dumping laws designed to protect domestic industries from foreign take-over or competition.

Free trade is a term in economics and government that includes:

• Trade of goods without taxes (including tariffs) or other trade barriers (e.g., quotas on imports or subsidies for producers)
• Trade in services without taxes or other trade barriers
• The absence of trade-distorting policies (such as taxes, subsidies, regulations or laws) that give some firms, households or factors of production an advantage over others
• Free access to markets
• Free access to market information
• Inability of firms to distort markets through government-imposed monopoly or oligopoly power
• The free movement of labor between and within countries
• For more detailed arguments in favor of and against free trade, see: Free trade debate.

Climatic Features And Therapies Of The Dead Sea

The Dead Sea is a salt lake between Israel (and the West Bank) to the west, and Jordan to the east. It is 420 meters (1,378 ft) below sea level, and its shores are the lowest point on the surface of the Earth on dry land. The Dead Sea is 330 m (1,083 ft) deep, the deepest hyper saline lake in the world. It is also the world's second saltiest body of water, after Lake Asal in Djibouti, with 30 percent salinity. It is 8.6 times saltier than the ocean.

The Dead Sea's climate offers year-round sunny skies and dry air with low pollution. It has less than 100 millimeters (3.94 in) mean annual rainfall and a summer average temperature between 32 and 39 °C (90-102°F). Winter average temperatures range between 20 and 23 °C (68-74°F). The region has weakened ultraviolet radiation, particularly the UVB (erythrogenic rays), and an atmosphere characterized by high oxygen content due to the high barometric pressure. The shore is the lowest dry place in the world. Proximity to the sea affects temperatures nearby because of the moderating effect a large body of water has on climate. During the winter months, sea temperatures tend to be higher than land temperatures, and vice versa during the summer months. This is the outcome of slow penetration of the sun's rays into the sea, which is a huge mass that takes a long time to warm up.

The region's climate and the unique conditions created by its low elevation have made it a popular center for several types of therapies:

• Climatotherapy: Climatotherapy is a treatment which exploits local climatic features such as temperature, humidity, sunshine, barometric pressure and special atmospheric constituents.
• Heliotherapy: Treatment that exploits the biological effects of the sun's radiation.
• Thalassotherapy: Treatment that exploits bathing in Dead Sea water.

Global Warming And Challenges Of Natural Environment

The natural environment, usually referred to just as the environment, is a terminology that comprises all living and non-living things that occur naturally on Earth or some region thereof. Whole ecological units that function as natural systems without huge human intervention, including all vegetation, animals, microorganisms, rocks, ambiance and natural phenomena that occur within their boundaries. It is the common understanding of natural environment that underlies environmentalism a wide political, social, and philosophical movement that advocates a variety of actions and policies in the interest of protecting what nature remains in the natural environment, or restoring or increasing the role of nature in this environment. While true wilderness is gradually rarer, wild nature can be found in many locations previously occupied by humans. Goals commonly expressed by environmental scientists include:

• Reduction and clean up of pollution, with future goals of zero pollution;
• Cleanly converting nonrecyclable materials into energy through direct combustion or after conversion into secondary fuels;
• Reducing societal consumption of non-renewable fuels;
• Development of alternative, green, low-carbon or renewable energy sources;
• Conservation and sustainable use of scarce resources such as water, land, and air;
• Protection of representative or unique or pristine ecosystems;
• Preservation of threatened and endangered species extinction;
• The establishment of nature and biosphere reserves under various types of guard; and, most usually, the protection of biodiversity and ecosystems upon which all human and other life on earth depends.

Very big development projects also called mega projects pose special challenges and risks to the natural environment. Main dams and power plants are cases in point and the challenge to the environment from such projects is rising because more and bigger mega projects are being built, in developed and developing nations alike. Recently, there has been a strong concern about climate change such as global warming caused by anthropogenic releases of greenhouse gases, most notably carbon dioxide, and their connections with humans and the natural environment. Efforts here have alert on the mitigation of hothouse gases that are causing climatic changes, and on developing adaptative strategies to assist species, ecosystems, humans, regions and nations in adjusting to the Effects of global warming.

The Nine ranking system

The Nine rank system, or much less commonly Nine-grade controller system, was a civil service nomination system during the Three Kingdoms and the Southern and Northern Dynasties in China. Chen Qun, a court official of the Kingdom of Wei standardized its details.

Theoretically, local government authorities were given the task of selecting talented candidates, then categorizing them into nine grades depending on their abilities. In practice, however, only the rich and powerful would be selected.

The Nine Rank System was eventually superseded by the Imperial examination system for the civil service in the Sui Dynasty.

Ranking of Officials
During the Tang Dynasty, the Nine-rank system developed into a method of classification for civil officials and military officers serving the court, from local levels to national levels. Those directly under the Emperor heading the top departments were considered First Pin (Grade), and those who are county judicial officers, therefore in theory; the whole classification system actually holds more than eighteen ranks. In reality the subdivisions were customized in specific central and local departments; for instance, one department consisted of twelve ranks whereas another composed of sixteen.