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Dig into History at the Deserted Village during 'Four Centuries in a Weekend,' Oct. 20-21
Saturday, October 13, 2012 • 12:33pm
Visitors to the Deserted Village of Feltville/Glenside Park in the Watchung Reservation will have an opportunity on Saturday, October 20, and Sunday, October 21, to dig into the history of the Deserted Village, literally. Using an archaeologist’s trowel, visitors can dig through a box of soil in search of an artifact related to Feltville’s past. Children will be allowed to keep what they find during the weekend-long open house of the historic site, as part of Union County’s “Four Centuries in a Weekend” celebration.
From 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Saturday, Oct. 20, and from noon to 5 p.m. on Sunday, Oct. 21, most of the Village’s buildings and grounds can be seen from a hayride, which will run continuously both days. The ghost of David Felt will lead a two-hour guided tour of the site starting at 2 p.m. each day. County staff will provide a 45-minute version of the tour at various times.
A hands-on demonstration of apples being pressed into cider will be ongoing over the weekend of Oct. 20-21. Nearby, children can play old-fashioned games. Elsewhere in the Village, visitors can hear the director of the Feltville Archaeology Project explain how the site of David Felt’s house was discovered. Masker’s Barn will be open throughout the weekend.
All of these activities are offered free of charge. Light refreshments will be available for purchase. Picnic tables are available for families wanting to pack a lunch.
“The Union County Freeholder Board is very appreciative to the New Jersey Historical Commission for funding that helped us to open the Church/Store Building and Masker’s Barn to the public this year,” said Freeholder Chairman Alexander Mirabella. “Since the beginning of June, these historic buildings have been open from noon to 5 p.m. on weekends, and will continue to be so until the Thanksgiving weekend.”
Feltville was a thriving mill town from 1845 to 1860. After being sold by David Felt, the village wasted away and became deserted, but was reborn in 1882 as Glenside Park, a summer resort. This business closed in 1916 and the Village was again briefly deserted until being purchased by the Union County Park Commission during the 1920’s.
Feltville’s general store and church building was restored in 1998 and subsequently opened as a visitor center. In addition to restrooms and other visitor services, this building houses an exhibit of artifacts, photographs and paintings that depict the Village’s history across four centuries. Visitors may pick up a map and narrative at Feltville’s parking lot at any time for a self-guided tour. Restoration of the resort-era carriage house called Masker’s Barn was completed last year. During the restoration, the building was actually levitated and held in mid-air for months as the foundation was replaced.
All activities for the Four Centuries weekend are rain or shine. Enter the Deserted Village via Cataract Hollow Road, off of Glenside Avenue on the Berkeley Heights side of the Watchung Reservation. Wear warm clothes and sturdy walking shoes.
Information about 23 other Four Centuries in a Weekend sites is available from the Union County Office of Cultural and Heritage Affairs, telephone: (908) 558-2550, e-mail: [email protected]; or by visiting the Union County website at www.ucnj.org and clicking on “Fall Activities in Union County.” | <urn:uuid:fd8065d2-6cca-4bca-9e1b-312e56d7c6b9> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://thealternativepress.com/articles/dig-into-history-at-the-deserted-village-during | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368706499548/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516121459-00032-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.957418 | 805 | 1.84375 | 2 |
If an autobiographical note can be permitted, I spent a number of years in Christian ministry before I came to the Reformed faith. I recall one time when I was witnessing to members of a cult, one devoted to works righteousness, and my presentation of grace successfully provoked the same objection that Paul had to answer in the sixth chapter of Romans. "If what you are saying is true, then why can’t we get to sin up a storm?" I was presenting the same gospel Paul preached, and not surprisingly it provoked the same reaction.
But there was one objection that I never provoked. During all that time, no one ever said to me, "Wilson, if what you are saying is true, then why does God still find fault with us? For who can resist His will?" (Rom. 9:19) However, after I came to a Reformed understanding of grace, I discovered why people had never said anything that resembled v. 19 to me. It was because I never said v. 18. As soon as I affirmed v. 18 (and in some cases, as soon as I hinted at it), I couldn’t get people to stop bringing this issue up.
The point here is not to answer this particular objection to election, at least not to anyone’s satisfaction. The central point is to point out the fact of this objection, and its essential identity with the objection that Paul had to handle. Paul anticipated this objection, which meant that no doubt he had been in more than one discussion in the back of more than one synagogue after one of his sermons on the sovereignty of God. Those who want to reject a Reformed understanding of these chapters have an exegetical responsibility which I have never seen them assume. This responsibility is to show how their interpretation of these chapters could possibly provoke this objection. The reason they have difficulty doing this is because their exegesis of the passage is actually driven by the objection, and hence cannot be an adequate response to it. They have more sympathy with Paul’s nameless objector than they do with Paul.
None of this is said with an intent to disparage, because the problem really is a thorny one. If I may continue my testimony, it had me by the throat for years. All of us feel the impulse to raise the objection. It is preeminently reasonable, at least initially. When I finally came to the Reformed faith, one of the first to raise it to me was my oldest daughter who was in sixth grade at the time. In our table talk, we were working through these great issues around the dinner table. And now it is in someone else’s Table Talk.
But the objection, at the heart, is not an objection to "Calvinism." In principle, it is an objection to the Christian faith, not to the Reformed faith, and the ultimate target is not the doctrine of election, but the doctrine of creation. The Bible teaches that God will judge the world. But the world He will judge is in the condition it is in because He created it. He made it. And who can resist His will? Both sides of the debate acknowledge that He created it (irresistably) knowing full well what would happen if He did. For both Calvinists and Arminians, God looked at all of human history, all the pain and suffering, all the unbelief, all the stumbling blocks, and, having seen it all, He still said, "Let there be light." When we have all parties speak into the microphone (which some are admittedly reluctant to do), we see that every form of orthodox Christianity provokes the objection, at least in principle.
Some, in what is called the openness of God movement, have sought to get around this problem of evil and judgment by maintaining that God does not know the future. But this solves no problems at all. The doctrines of creation and providence still mean that God made the world the way it is, and he lets the world be the way it is right now, and He will judge the world for being the way it is. Process theologians (rightly) have charged the openness theists of radical inconsistency at this point. If the charge against God is that He created the world the way it is and hence cannot rightly judge it, it is no solution at all to blindfold him before he creates. Will we insist that he keep the blindfold on at the judgment as well? Given the spirit of this objection, the spirit revealed in v. 19, the only way out is to deny that God created the world. And we should look for this as an upcoming development in "evangelical" theology.
We can find peace, however, if we heed Paul’s response to all this. He is the apostle, and he knows how this whole thing is to be handled. He says to us all -- uppity pots -- to keep our lid on. God made us, and it follows from this, that He knows what He is doing. Shall the pot say to the potter, "Whoa! Who told you that you know how to do this? Let me see your diploma from an accredited pottery academy."? God made us, He created us. We in our pride see this as the problem. But it is the solution. He is the Creator. And we are not. | <urn:uuid:89960476-e1b2-46a7-9b22-16914b6070da> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.dougwils.com/Old-Table-Talk-Articles/Keep-Your-Lid-On.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368697974692/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516095254-00014-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.979699 | 1,103 | 1.546875 | 2 |
Welcome to the Quilting Board!
This is just awesome and an incredibly useful site. Thank you for sharing this link.
Thank you for this link.
I get so many people who tell me they have a queen or king size quilt. Yet I know that while my idea of what a queen or king measures and their idea may be something else.
As in most things in quilting - there are few rules and no quilt police.
Last edited by QuiltnNan; 11-21-2011 at 04:28 AM. Reason: remove business name from post
Good information for me (a beginning quilter). Thanks.
Thanks for finding this and sharing with us.
Thank you very much Craftybear, for that helpful site.
Well, I just spent over 30 minutes on her site and I wonder why I don't get any quilting done. Lot's of very easy/quick quilts. Thanks for sharing, Craftybear. You always find neat things to point us to.
By the way, the math is helpful but I think those who are match challenged will always find those who can "figure it out". I can typically figure something like that out and my friends will call me with those same questions. However, they would much rather I give them the answer rather than show them how to do it so they can calculate it themself for future questions. | <urn:uuid:74e2e387-9876-4970-81b5-ebb0d34d3f13> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.quiltingboard.com/links-resources-f4/how-calculate-quilt-measurements-please-everyone-read-t163741.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368706153698/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516120913-00003-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.963111 | 291 | 1.679688 | 2 |
The Resignation Of His Holiness Pope Benedict XVI
In a world riven through with ideology, it is humbling to witness such humility, the antithesis of ideology, in action; and in days when ideology is expected to hold the answers to all of life's difficulties as well. If only our own partisans, and those who make idols of nations, were so critical of their own capabilities as His Holiness has been of his.
This is not mere leadership, for sometimes the greatest leadership a leader can show is stopping leading. In resigning office in the very simple and gracious manner he has, His Holiness has given good example to every other officeholder in the world; and no earthly teacher, such as he is, could ever provide a wider or better lesson than that.
One can be sure that this decision will not have been taken without great prayer and reflection, and it is disquieting to think how many column inches will be filled with futile theorising in respect of his successor's identity in the weeks ahead, as if a conclave were some sort of demographic beauty contest. The office it will elect is God's to fill, and many journalists would better serve both their readers and themselves by occasionally mentioning that.
This resignation is not a maneouvre. There is no personal angle for His Holiness in this move. There is no triangulation involved in this, nor any attempt to court a demographic. This is the action of a man with the burden of the world on his shoulders who has realised that he cannot bear it any longer; and for the world's sake, and not his own, he is passing it to someone else. If he thought that he could continue, he would; but he can't, so he won't.
I very much doubt whether he will make many appearances in public after he departs from office; it may be unlikely that his health will permit them. In gratitude for his unfailing service, his piety, his prayerfulness, his devotion to study, his gentleness and his simplicity, he will have the prayers of all his flock; may his health improve; may his successor be as devoted to the care of his flock as he has been, and ignore the stinging arrows of the world; and in all things may the most holy, most sublime will of God be done, praised and exalted, now and forever. | <urn:uuid:81af80bf-2f92-434c-8bb1-6b4bd64d097c> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.martinkelly.blogspot.com/2013/02/the-resignation-of-his-holiness-pope.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368696382584/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516092622-00000-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.987242 | 485 | 1.539063 | 2 |
Homeowners trying to reduce basement dampness is not a rare picture. The basement is a typically damp area due to its location in the home. However, with some effective methods and advancements in technology, this doesnt have to be the case. Basements are now being used as entertainment areas and just like any other part of the home. In fact they are now considered an extension of the home that can even raise your homes value.
There are many ways to reduce basement dampness, and you should know that there are now specialized systems that can make the job much easier. If youre experiencing general basement dampness mainly due to high humidity rather than water leakage, simply incorporate a quality dehumidifier in your basement. A humidifier works by eliminating excess moisture in the air caused by condensation. Air-conditioning will also help eliminate some humidity. An air-to-air exchanger works by drawing out humid air from the basement and pulls in fresh air from the outside. Unlike simply opening the windows, this system minimizes the energy losses in air-conditioned or heated air. Properly employing floor heating systems can also help considerably.
All these systems are able to reduce basement dampness. However, you may want to use them together for best results. Moreover, sealing your basement is probably one of the most fundamental and least costly methods in damp-proofing your basement. So with your systems, make sure that you seal the concrete walls and flooring with the appropriate products and caulk all hols, cracks and openings. | <urn:uuid:57a504d3-8f12-4846-b9e6-86c1efbbdcbd> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://articles.org/the-benefits-of-using-specific-solutions-to-reduce-basement-dampness/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368699273641/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516101433-00028-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.962571 | 311 | 1.78125 | 2 |
China will bar Tiananmen Square broadcasts
Published: Saturday, March 22, 2008 at 3:43 a.m.
Last Modified: Saturday, March 22, 2008 at 3:43 a.m.
BEIJING - Don't expect to turn on your TV during the Beijing Olympics and see live shots of Tiananmen Square, where Chinese troops crushed pro-democracy protests nearly two decades ago.
Apparently unnerved by recent unrest among Tibetans and fearful of protests in the heart of the capital, China has told broadcast officials it will bar live television shots from the vast square during the games.
A ban on live broadcasts would wreck the plans of NBC and other major international networks, who have paid hundreds of millions of dollars to broadcast the Aug. 8-24 games and are counting on eye-pleasing live shots from the iconic square.
The rethinking of Beijing's earlier promise to broadcasters comes as the government has poured troops into Tibetan areas wracked by anti-government protests this month and stepped up security in cities, airports and entertainment venues far from the unrest.
In another sign of the government's unease, 400 American Boy Scouts who had been promised they could go onto the field following a March 15 exhibition game between the Los Angeles Dodgers and San Diego Padres were prevented from doing so by police.
The communist government's resorting to heavy-handed measures runs the risk of undermining Beijing's pledge to the International Olympic Committee that the games would promote greater openness in what a generation ago was still an isolated China. If still in place by the games, they could alienate the half-million foreigners expected ato attend.
This story appeared in print on page B3
Reader comments posted to this article may be published in our print edition. All rights reserved. This copyrighted material may not be re-published without permission. Links are encouraged.
Comments are currently unavailable on this article | <urn:uuid:f49de69a-52ad-4944-b075-3c529513e90a> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.theledger.com/article/20080322/NEWSCHIEF/803220435?Title=China-will-bar-Tiananmen-Square-broadcasts | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368708142388/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516124222-00016-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.963361 | 385 | 1.742188 | 2 |
The real cause of economic stagnation
In today's changing economy, it's no longer true that you get out what you put in
(Page 2 of 2)
And guess what else? When it comes to surgery, who do you think comes out ahead — people on Medicaid…or people with no health insurance? The people with no health insurance, of course.Skip to next paragraph
Bill has written two New York Times best-selling books, Financial Reckoning Day and Empire of Debt. With political journalist Lila Rajiva, he wrote his third New York Times best-selling book, Mobs, Messiahs and Markets, which offers concrete advice on how to avoid the public spectacle of modern finance. Since 1999, Bill has been a daily contributor and the driving force behind The Daily Reckoning (dailyreckoning.com).
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These facts and figures come from a delightfully moronic book called The Great Stagnation, by Tyler Cowen.
He points out that the results from educational spending are similar. In 1971, the US spent a little more than $5,000 per student per year. Now, it spends more than $12,000. So guess how much reading scores have increased? Have they more than doubled too? Nope. They haven’t budged.
This is especially interesting because of something known as the “Flynn Effect.” Flynn noticed that kids were getting smarter every year. So, if IQs are going up, you’d naturally expect test scores to go up to. But they’re not. Which suggests that the quality of educational inputs is going down…so that the results end up in the same place.
In other words, the great Truth of the Modern Age — that further inputs produced further outputs — is no longer true.
What’s the connection between education and government debt? Why are we trying to compare stock market gains with gains in health care?
Here’s where The Great Stagnation falls apart. Its author completely misses the point. He thinks the “low hanging fruit” has already been picked. In a way, he’s right. The big gains in output — in education, health care, heavy industry, farming, banking, debt and many other areas — have already been made. Now, it’s hard to make any successful investment in any area…
…if you invest in more health care…it will probably be a waste of money.
…if you spend more on education (not individually, but collectively), that too will probably be money down a rathole…
…if you increase the level of credit (as the government is trying to do)…you might as well save your money.
…no point in investing in the stock market either. The glory days are over…
…and stay away from the bond market. The debtors won’t be able to pay…
Yes, we’ve entered an era of ‘Great Stagnation.’ And yes, it looks as though the low hanging fruit has been picked.
Tyler Cowen thinks this is a problem that we can fix. He thinks we just have to put our thinking caps on.
The silly goose. He doesn’t realize that the era of low-hanging fruit changed the way we look at things too. It made our arms shorter and our brains smaller. We are all dumb optimists now. That’s what 300 years of finding low-hanging fruit does to a people. We think that every downturn — even a Great Stagnation — can be reversed by, among other things, raising “the social status of scientists.”
No kidding. That’s what he recommends. As if the social status of people was determined by an act of intellectual will.
What a disappointment. We began reading The Great Stagnation thinking its author was a closet Dear Reader. Instead, he turns out to be a disciple of Thomas Friedman.
More on the real causes of the Great Stagnation…tomorrow…
The Christian Science Monitor has assembled a diverse group of the best economy-related bloggers out there. Our guest bloggers are not employed or directed by the Monitor and the views expressed are the bloggers' own, as is responsibility for the content of their blogs. To contact us about a blogger, click here. To add or view a comment on a guest blog, please go to the blogger's own site by clicking on dailyreckoning.com. | <urn:uuid:488a88b0-221a-444e-b5e4-d47f429d1ad1> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.csmonitor.com/Business/The-Daily-Reckoning/2011/0921/The-real-cause-of-economic-stagnation/(page)/2 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368704132298/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516113532-00035-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.95745 | 935 | 1.601563 | 2 |
If at First You Don't Succeed - Reapply
IF AT FIRST YOU DON’T SUCCEED – REAPPLY
By Phil Krinkie
There is a lot to be admired in that old phrase: “That if at first you don’t succeed, try, try again.” But in this case it isn’t about the recent graduate seeking employment, or the athlete reaching to improve his or her score, or even a high school student struggling to get a passing grade. In this case I’m not referring to individuals striving to succeed or improve their performance, but rather to Minnesota cities attempting to finance their local building project with state taxpayer dollars. Why would any self-respecting community pay for its local public works projects with local tax dollars if it is possible to get free money from the state or federal government?
In the 2012 legislative session lawmakers provided local government officials the opportunity to get a second, third or even a fourth bite of the apple; in other words another chance to fund their cities construction project with state money. Here is how the game is played: first the city determines what project it wants to build that it doesn’t have the funds to construct. Seldom is there a project too small or too large that a city can’t plead its case for state taxpayer funding. A project could range in cost from a half million dollars for a fire hall to $25 million for a civic center. The list of local projects the cities want the state to fund is virtually endless; from street improvements to sculpture gardens and athletic fields. As President Ronald Reagan said, “The most dangerous place in the world is between the hogs and the trough.” In this case the hogs are the local governments and the trough is the state treasury.
Once the size and scope of the local project has been determined the city submits its request for funding to the state Office of Management and Budget. Each project is reviewed against a standard list of criteria. If the project meets the minimum standards set by OMB, it is placed on a list that is forwarded to the Governor.
At the beginning of each legislative session, the Governor then forwards his bonding recommendations to the legislature. Both the House and the Senate hold hearings to consider the list of projects. If a city’s project doesn’t make the Governor’s list, often the city will seek support from local legislators to include their project in the bonding bill during the legislative process. In addition to state bonding dollars, many times city officials will seek funding through other means, such as municipal state aid or public infrastructure funding. But the state bonding bill offers them a second chance for state dollars.
This year state lawmakers in an effort to avoid picking winners and losers among the multitude of local government projects decided to create the “Business Through Capital Project Grants” program, ( i.e. just another slush fund). This represents one more way to fund local government pork projects without a recorded vote. In addition to the more than one billion dollars in state general obligation bonds, legislators also appropriated $500 million from the “Legacy Fund.” This Fund is constitutionally mandated to fund arts, cultural heritage and natural resource projects from state sales tax dollars. The legislature also doled out over $30 million from the “Environmental Trust Fund” where the proceeds of the state lottery are deposited. Each of these funding pots represents another opportunity for cities to seek money for their special projects.
But, if your community came up empty handed in the state mega millions give away game, they were given the chance to apply for runner-up funding from the “Business Development Through Capital Project Grants” program.
Applications to access this $47.5 million slush fund closed on July 9th. The Department of Employment and Economic Development received 90 project funding requests totaling more than $288 million. After looking at the list a DEED spokesman said “Given the size of the list, we’re looking at two months before awards are announced, probably mid-September or so.” This would appear to be longer than necessary due to the fact the OMB has already evaluated many of these same projects more than once. After DEED has evaluated the 90 projects, they will forward their recommendations to Governor Dayton who will make the final selection of projects to receive state funding.
This new “Minnesota Taxpayer Giveaway Sweepstakes” is very different from the other bonding dollar competitions. This competition has just one judge, the Governor, rather than 201 legislators from across the state. Just one person now gets to pick the winners or losers from this $47.5 million slush fund. Regardless of whether you like or dislike the projects which are chosen by Governor Dayton, this is a bad precedent. The power to appropriate state funds should remain with the legislative branch of government and not be turned over to the Executive branch. Hopefully, this will be a onetime mistake in legislative judgment rather than a permanent new slush fund that allows the spenders to reapply for state funding over and over. | <urn:uuid:81a9461e-79d1-4d36-8221-552b167ef7ed> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.taxpayersleague.org/phils-columns/spending/472-if-at-first-you-don-t-succeed-reapply.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368701459211/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516105059-00022-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.950284 | 1,043 | 1.65625 | 2 |
If you are one of the many people who want to buy a home but just can't close prior to December 1, 2009, then you are in luck. Congress has finally extended the first time home buyer tax credit into 2010. President Obama is signed the bill into law on November 6, 2009.
[AD]The first time home buyer tax credit extension allows a buyer to enter an agreement with a seller by April 30, 2010 and close on the house by June 30, 2010. First time home buyers are defined as anyone who has not owned a home for the past 3 years. First time home buyers will get an $8,000 tax credit, similar to the tax credit for much of 2009. Other home buyers, who have owned their current home for at least five years, are eligible for a $6,500 tax credit.
Income limitations have been increased to $125,000 for single filers and $225,000 for joint filers. The purchase price of the home must be less than $800,000. The estimated loss in tax revenue to the government comes to $10.8 billion.
“The substantial rise in home sales we’ve seen over the past few months proves that the tax credit is working and is being used by buyers who were waiting for the right opportunity to get into the market,” said NAR President Charles McMillan, a broker with Coldwell Banker Residential Real Estate in Dallas-Fort Worth. “This important incentive is helping to stabilize the housing market, stimulate the economy and create new jobs in communities all across our great nation. Extending and expanding the home buyer tax credit will enable even more families to take advantage of current low interest rates and affordable prices to invest in their future through homeownership.”
Increasing the tax credit to so many home buyers, the credit has a greater chance of artificially increasing home prices through the end of the credit. However, even with that risk, there was wide support for the tax credit extension. As a home buyer, be prepared to negotiate as if you are not eligible for the tax credit. Sellers might need to be reminded a tax credit is not a reason to increase their price, but a chance to sell their home at a fair market value.
Will this affect you? Are you a home buyer or seller? Were you wanting to use the 2009 tax credit, but unable to complete a purchase prior to the old deadline?
Considering buying a home before the tax credit expires, again?
Be sure to visit your local credit union for your mortgage loan and estimate your monthly mortgage payments, with our calculators below, before home shopping! | <urn:uuid:fc8ea60e-c54f-48fd-b222-1d30b51661ff> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.creditunionsonline.com/news/2009/First-Time-Home-Buyer-Tax-Credit-Extended-Until-April-2010.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368704713110/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516114513-00019-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.978486 | 541 | 1.742188 | 2 |
When Obama was interviewed by American reporters in Asia, "Not one of them asked me about Asia. Not one of them asked me about the economy."
Barack Obama on Thursday, December 3rd, 2009 in comments at the White House
Obama said reporters didn't ask questions on the issues, but they did
At a jobs summit at the White House on Dec. 3, President Barack Obama closed his remarks with criticism of the media and the political culture in Washington, D.C.
Obama was responding to comments from the chairman and CEO of Ethan Allen, a furniture company, who said that the bad economy has forced companies to reinvent themselves and compete globally.
Obama said the United States needs to rediscover "a sense of seriousness of purpose" when it comes to education, to government managing money properly and to executives having an obligation to workers.
"It is important to understand what's at stake and that we can't keep on playing games," Obama added. "I mentioned that I was in Asia on this trip, thinking about the economy. When I sat down for a round of interviews, not one of them asked me about Asia. Not one of them asked me about the economy. I was asked several times about, had I read Sarah Palin's book? True. But it's an indication of how -- how, you know, our political debate doesn't match up with what we need to do and where we need to go."
Obama's audience laughed when Obama mentioned Palin, the Republican Party's 2008 vice presidential nominee.
We decided to check the transcripts to see what Obama was asked on his trip. We wanted to see if it was true that he hadn't been asked any questions about the economy or Asia.
Obama gave a round of brief interviews while traveling in Asia, with most of his comments airing on American television Nov. 18. The coverage shows that four reporters got roughly 10 minutes each with the president.
We reviewed the transcripts and found several examples to contradict Obama's statement. On Asia, Chuck Todd of NBC News asked Obama about human rights in China, and Major Garrett of Fox News asked Obama about trade agreements with South Korea. Both Todd and Garrett asked about the administration's efforts to create jobs. Todd asked how the announced jobs summit would actually create jobs, and Garrett asked if job creation efforts would add to the deficit. Todd did not ask about Palin, though Garrett did.
The other interviews we found were with Ed Henry of CNN and Chip Reid of CBS News. Both of them also asked about Palin. Henry also asked a viewer question about what Obama was doing to hold banks accountable for lending to startups and refinancing mortgages.
Every interviewer spoke with Obama about making a decision about troop levels in Afghanistan, and most of them also asked about health reform. (ABC News did not join the round of interviews.)
Yes, three of four reporters asked Obama about Sarah Palin. A recent Washington Post poll showed Palin to be the top choice of Republicans and Republican-leaning independents for the 2012 GOP presidential nomination. Palin garnered 17 percent, followed by Mike Huckabee with 10 percent and Mitt Romney with 9 percent. Her memoir was released the day before the interviews aired.
Obama said at the Dec. 3 jobs forum that when he was in Asia and granted interviews to reporters, "not one of them asked me about Asia. Not one of them asked me about the economy." That is clearly an exaggeration. We found that two reporters asked him about Asia, two reporters asked him about job creation, and another reporter asked him about mortgages and lending. He said "not one" did, implying that the interviews lacked substance. We rate his statement False.
Published: Monday, December 7th, 2009 at 6:19 p.m.
Time magazine, Swampland blog,
What Barack Obama Really Thinks of the White House Press
, Dec. 6, 2009
The White House Web site, Remarks by the President and Q&A at the Closing Session of the Forum on Jobs and Economic Growth , Dec. 3, 2009
NBC News, Chuck Todd's Interview with Obama , Dec. 7, 2009
CBS News, Obama: I'd Fire Afghan Decision Leakers , Nov. 18, 2009
CNN.com, Obama: ' We've restored America's standing,' Nov. 18, 2009
Fox News, Major Garrett Interviews President Obama (Transcript), Nov. 18, 2009
PollingReport.com, Washington Post poll on the Republican presidential primar y, Nov. 19-23, 2009.
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- Shop the PolitiFact store for T-shirts, hats and other PolitiFact swag | <urn:uuid:5b006b43-9b47-4d52-8b23-23531c6474f3> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.politifact.com/truth-o-meter/statements/2009/dec/07/barack-obama/obama-said-reporters-didnt-ask-questions-issues-th/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368703682988/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516112802-00009-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.960214 | 1,172 | 1.617188 | 2 |
Ours is a day of crisis—on the international political scene, throughout Canadian and American culture at large and also within the inherited structures of North American Evangelicalism. The latter is currently going through a time of enormous dislocation and alienation from its past. Certain sectors of Evangelicalism think and act as if Evangelicalism came into being yesterday and that therefore only the present and future matter. In so thinking and acting, these sectors are cutting themselves off from the rich resources located within their own history that reaches back to the period of the 16th-century Reformation and beyond to the Ancient Church in the Apostolic and Patristic eras. The result of this willed amnesia is significant disorientation as to where the church must head since there is no idea as to where the church is coming from. This way of dealing with the past also leaves the church completely at the mercy of the winds of the current culture and the long-term result is a situation of drastic compromise where the church is in bondage to the zeitgeist
In response to this conscious—or as it may be in some cases, unconscious—rejection of the past, other sectors of Evangelicalism are all for recovering the past, but not through the medium of their specific heritage. These Evangelicals are rightly tired of the baptized version of 21st-century North American culture that is being passed off as biblical Christianity. They want to be in touch with their roots, but seem to have lost the power to discern which roots with which to reconnect. The long-term result of this second option is a widening of the boundaries of Evangelicalism to the point that whatever might have been distinctive of the Evangelical position is in danger of being lost.
No wonder a recent observer of the scene of worldwide English-speaking Evangelicalism has said that it appears to be in free fall! | <urn:uuid:8227da33-1f9b-4de1-aede-b182dcbb6e51> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://mghhistor.blogspot.com/2006/07/evangelical-free-fall.html?showComment=1153203120001 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368698207393/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516095647-00025-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.975985 | 378 | 1.648438 | 2 |
Joel Skousen sits down with Alex Jones and discusses strategies on how to prepare for and survive major disasters. Joel Skousen is a world renowned expert in designing secure homes, geo-political analysis, and strategic relocation.
Preparing food, water, arms, medical supplies and shelter may not be a good enough plan. Large population centers are the biggest threat to survival after any major disaster. Joel Skousen explains his strategy for survival, which includes acquiring all of the essentials, preparing in a safe location and methods on how to avoid a dangerous hungry population and safely arrive at your secure location.
Get your copy today. | <urn:uuid:006ce148-207d-4c60-b83b-510b7c16718f> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://rinf.com/alt-news/latest-news/new-film-exposes-engineered-collapse/16852/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368697380733/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516094300-00010-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.930363 | 128 | 1.539063 | 2 |
May 5, 2005
Rural Water, City Meet To Set the Record Straight on Recent Split
With city officials pointing the finger at rural water as the reason for a recent rise in the municipal water rates, the Consolidated Public Water Supply District #1 of Scotland County invited the Memphis City Council to an April 26th meeting to try to clear the air.
Mayor Mike Stone and Aldermen Ron Gardner and Lucas Remley met with the rural water board for a meeting, as described by board president Dorsey Swearingen, “to set the record straight.”
The water board presented a number of records dating back to early 2001 when the city and CPWSD#1 began discussing the future of the contract between the two entities which supplied water from the city to rural customers. The agreement, which was entered into back in 1979, was good through 2014. But the growing demand of the rural water district had begun to stress the city’s water plant capacity.
In 2001 the two groups began investigating options to alleviate the problem. One option was the creation of a new city water plant. The other choice was for rural water to find a new source of water.
On March 28, 2001, attorney William Alberty sent a correspondence from rural water to the city’s attorney John Slavin, requesting proposed water rates if the city were to build a new plant or expand the existing water source.
In June of 2001 Allstate Consultants, the city’s engineer, presented a number of projections for a new city water plant. The engineer’s proposal projected a $3.3 million cost to build a new water plant. A variety of funding options, including a lease purchase, USDA Rural Development loans and grants, and a MDNR-SRF rural water loan/grant created a wide range of water cost projections ranging from $3.32 per 1,000 on the low end all the way up to $4.44 per 1,000 gallons. Those production projections called for the equal sharing of debt reduction between the city and the rural water district.
This information was passed on to the rural water board in July of 2001.
Faced with the specter of raising water costs for its customers from the then current rate of $2.56 per 1000 gallons as high as $4.44, the CPWSD#1 informed the council, via correspondence between the two parties attorneys, that the rural water district was going to consider pursuing different avenues for water supply for its customers.
Swearingen told the city representatives that the rural district had been more than willing to continue purchasing water from the city until it became cost prohibitive. This had become apparent to the board back in 2001.
Alderman Gardner questioned why the board members had not returned to the discussion table, as they had pledged to do following the two group’s one face-to-face meeting in the spring of 2002.
CPWSD#1 board member Jamie Triplett told Gardner that several of the board members had attended a meeting that summer in Macon with state officials as well as then Mayor Ron Alexander and former city water superintendent Bob Ellicott.
Triplett and the other rural water reps told Gardner and the city reps that they had been led to believe at this meeting that the plan from Allstate Consultants was the lone option being pursued.
“This is what we had to work with,” Triplett said pointing to the city’s engineer’s plans. “What were we to do?”
Swearingen reiterated the stance.
“The bottom line was we gave Rathbun $2.10 per 1000 gallons and you were charging us $2.52 per thousand back then,” Swearingen said. “Based on Allstate’s proposal, the best we were looking at was $3.96 per thousand.”
Gardner questioned why, if unsatisfied with the figures, didn’t the board come back to the council and ask for a better deal.
Triplett and the rest of the board members that attended the Macon meeting all indicated that they were given the impression then that the city’s offer was final.
“It was presented to us by representatives of the city in a take it or leave it style,” Triplett said. “We assumed you all were aware of this and had agreed to it.”
Gardner, Stone and Remley all indicated they were never in agreement with any proposal that would have chased the rural water customers away from the system and pointed out that they were unaware of the bulk of the negotiations.
“Some of this stuff, I’ve never seen before,” Gardner stated as he reviewed the correspondence between the two parties’ attorneys as well as the engineering designs. “The rest of it I saw for the first time this morning at city hall when I was trying to prepare for this meeting.”
Ultimately both parties agreed that the lack of communication ultimately doomed any joint effort between the two entities and that it is now too late to change the outcome.
“We had to protect our customers,” said Bill Camp. “We were working with the best available information as provided to us by city representatives.”
Alderman Remley questioned if rural water could ever return to the city, pointing out that Rathbun rates ultimately would have to raise and also pointing out quality issues.
But Swearingen indicated that the CPWSD#1 had entered a 40-year contract to purchase water from Rathbun. He noted that at the Macon meeting, the rural board had extended an offer to the city’s reps to allow them to enter the joint effort to connect with Rathbun to help maintain lower rates for the city customers.
“Why would you want to cut your community’s throat?” asked Alderman Remley.
Alderman Gardner also questioned why the city would want to go from water ranked in the highest 10 percent for quality to Lake Rathbun which he indicated was annually rated in the bottom 30 percent for water quality.
Triplett responded, comparing the issue to the city’s power system. “You can generate electricity, but you buy it cheaper from elsewhere. Don’t you owe it to your customers to do the same thing for water?”
Ultimately the rural board indicated it felt obligated to insure water service and also guarantee an affordable rate, both of which it believed it did by connecting to Lake Rathbun. | <urn:uuid:e2dcf51a-e4a9-4f37-b402-73fc17c805b0> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://memphisdemocrat.com/2005/news/050505_water.shtml | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368697380733/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516094300-00036-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.9792 | 1,366 | 1.703125 | 2 |
For gymnastics schools, the summer Olympic Games are more than just entertainment.
Schools nationwide are seeing an uptick in interest for the sport after the U.S. team's success in Beijing.
Some are looking for a hobby. Others are dreaming bigger – to be the next Olympic star.
“We always look forward to every four years when the Olympics comes around,” said Nick Baker, owner of Charlotte Gymnastics Academy.
Annual enrollment usually increases by around 25 percent in the year following the Summer Games, he said. The school, started in 2002, usually has about 300 gymnasts during the academic year. The school's seven coaches expect to see more than 350 enrolled because of Olympics coverage.
In the year after the 2004 Olympics in Athens, USA Gymnastics, the sport's national governing body, saw a 6 percent increase in membership. This was double the growth seen in the two years before the games. In Athens, both the men's and women's U.S. gymnastics teams received silver medals for all-around team.
USA Gymnastics has more than 110,000 members – athletes and instructors.
There are more than 5.2 million gymnasts over 6 years old in the United States, with more than 900,000 frequent gymnasts – those who do the sport for more than 100 days a year, according to USA Gymnastics.
Len Clemmer, co-director of the Clemmer School of Gymnastics in Pineville, has seen boosts in his business in the year following the Summer Games. But he said the increased interest usually trickles off after a year.
Most new athletes recognize the difficulty of becoming an Olympian, Clemmer said, and approach the sport more as a hobby. Neither the men's nor women's U.S. gymnastics teams placed at the 2000 Summer Games in Sydney. USA Gymnastics saw a drop in membership of 1 percent from the previous year following the Olympics.
The drop came partly because the events were not televised during prime time and because of the team's poor performance, said Loree Galimore, director of club services at USA Gymnastics.
But the failure of the U.S. men's team to place in Sydney prompted 2-year-old Bobby Costea to let his parents know he'd do better when he competed in the Olympics, said his mother, Karen. Now 10, Bobby trains five days a week for the Charlotte Gymnastics Academy's competitive team. He still dreams of being an Olympian. From Lincolnton, the pair commutes 45 minutes to the gym – on a good day, Karen said.
As soon as the Olympics schedule came out, Karen programmed her cable box to record all the gymnastics events. Bobby, like other boys on his competitive team, favors U.S gymnast Jonathan Horton.
Galimore expects interest to be even higher this year because of the U.S. teams' standout athletes and NBC's airing of the gymnastics during prime time.
“People are glued to their TV sets,” she said. “You see these new heroes coming up.”
As yawning fans watched early Friday on TV, U.S. gymnast Nastia Liukin,18, won the gold medal in all-around for individual women's gymnastics, while teammate Shawn Johnson, 16, took silver. The U.S. women's team won a silver medal and the men's team received a bronze this week during the team competitions. Horton, 22, placed ninth in the individual men's event on Wednesday.
With gymnasts such as Liukin and Johnson, the country may see a sweetheart as popular as gymnast Mary Lou Retton emerge, Galimore said. Retton became the first female U.S. gymnast to win a gold medal in all-around gymnastics at the 1984 Olympics in Los Angeles.
Baker said he already has many people calling about fall enrollment.
“I always joke with our regular gymnasts that they better sign up early for classes because everybody and their brother wants to be a gymnast by the time the Olympics are over,” he said. | <urn:uuid:39567cfd-365b-46e1-9d67-6fe6dc78212a> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.charlotteobserver.com/2008/08/16/131507/gymnastics-schools-benefit-from.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368699273641/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516101433-00016-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.97571 | 865 | 1.726563 | 2 |
Wireless networks are making it simpler for police to preserve order when large crowds gather at events like Super Bowl XLII and the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series. The Glendale Police Dept. monitored activity at both using a video surveillance system from AgileMesh tied together by a wireless mesh network from Firetide. Officers can control the camera, which offers full pan and tilt and a 23x optical-zoom lens. Two levels of encryption ensure security. The mesh network makes it simple to put cameras where they're needed to monitor crowds and people in out-of-the-way areas.
We looked at a number of sources to determine this year's greenest cars, from KBB to automotive trade magazines to environmental organizations. These 14 cars emerged as being great at either stretching fuel or reducing carbon footprint.
A quick look into the merger of two powerhouse 3D printing OEMs and the new leader in rapid prototyping solutions, Stratasys. The industrial revolution is now led by 3D printing and engineers are given the opportunity to fully maximize their design capabilities, reduce their time-to-market and functionally test prototypes cheaper, faster and easier. Bruce Bradshaw, Director of Marketing in North America, will explore the large product offering and variety of materials that will help CAD designers articulate their product design with actual, physical prototypes. This broadcast will dive deep into technical information including application specific stories from real world customers and their experiences with 3D printing. 3D Printing is | <urn:uuid:e6c09792-0ba0-4cb4-a4dc-bc3c547a570e> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.designnews.com/document.asp?doc_id=227815 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368701852492/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516105732-00011-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.937095 | 295 | 1.679688 | 2 |
Keeping in touch through email may be the most eco-friendly solution for correspondence, but sometimes it is hard to resist an elegant piece of stationery. That’s why Smock, a company that provides stationery for weddings, holidays, social events, and many more occasions, has made a commitment to sustainability.
Smock creates its stationery by letterpress, one of the most ancient forms of printing that presses inked artwork and type down into the paper. This technique produces textured, handmade designs that offer a modern look and add a touch of personalization. The process is also viewed as more eco-friendly compared to other methods, such as engraving, thermography and offset printing, because it uses less ink, fewer chemicals and less paper waste.
The company also uses tree-free and chlorine-free paper, which are 100 percent post-consumer waste; vegetable oil-based and low-VOC inks; and low-VOC and citrus-based solvents. Stationery and envelopes are created from bamboo that is harvested in Thailand, without the use of pesticides or fertilizers, and is extracted from “Panda Safe” varieties of bamboo. “Panda Safe” bamboo are “timber bamboos,” which are a pulpy version of the plant with larger stalks than panda’s like to snack on. In addition, one percent of Smock’s sales go to 1% For The Planet, a company that donates to a number of nonprofits it has researched and approved.
Twelve letterpress designs are featured in the Smock wedding collection and many more additional designs are available for other uses. Wedding stationery pricing begins at $1,320 for 100 invitations, reply cards and corresponding envelopes. The social stationery collection costs around $18 for a set of 8 to 10 cards.
More on communicating green
• Send a scented love note on this unique stationary.
• Show your green stripes with Zebra eco-pens.
• Let's be friends! Join Natural Home on MySpace, Facebook and Youtube. | <urn:uuid:53c11648-469b-4564-8a87-ef115d1d0525> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.motherearthliving.com/green-homes/two-eco-friendly-stationery-collections-now-available.aspx | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368704713110/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516114513-00031-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.949547 | 436 | 1.625 | 2 |
Passengers aboard a disabled cruise ship in the Gulf of Mexico are complaining about foul conditions and long lines for food.
More than 4,000 people are aboard the Carnival Cruise Lines' Carnival Triumph ship. The vessel left Galveston, Texas Thursday for a four-day cruise. On Sunday, an engine room fire knocked out its primary power source, crippling its water and plumbing systems and leaving it adrift 240 kilometers off Mexico's Yucatan Peninsula.
Some passengers reported flooded rooms and sewage in hallways. They are sleeping on the ships' decks to avoid hot and smelly cabins.
Carnival CEO Gerry Cahill told reporters on Tuesday that the cruise line is using its full resources to assist passengers and family members in a "very challenging" situation.
The ship is being towed to Mobile, Alabama and is expected to arrive Thursday. Carnival says an earlier plan to tow the ship to Progreso, Mexico changed after the ship drifted north due to strong currents.
The U.S. Coast Guard and National Transportation Safety Board have launched an investigation into the cause of the fire in the engine room. The NTSB says in statement that because the vessel is Bahamian-flagged, the Bahamas Maritime Authority is the primary investigating agency. | <urn:uuid:9de39468-914a-4d58-958b-eb2e979bf6d0> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.voanews.com/content/passengers-stuck-on-foul-disabled-cruise-ship/1602491.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368709037764/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516125717-00015-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.948052 | 255 | 1.601563 | 2 |
If Western Australia's iron ore miners thought they had seen the worst of the price slump which sent shockwaves through their industry two months ago they had better think again because "the mother of all market disconnections" is pointing to a second wave of price falls.
What's happening is that global steel production has fallen sharply, taking the steel price with it.
But, at the same time as the world's steel mills are seeing future years of below-trend demand for their product the price of iron ore has been rising.
In the simplest possible terms this is an equation which does not compute for a very simple reason. Iron ore is used for only one purpose -- to make steel.
When will the penny drop is anybody's guess, but mine is that the second wave of price falls will arrive before Christmas, triggering a fresh round of cost-cutting and project delays.
Deeply entrenched miners with the lowest costs, and that essentially means BHP Billiton and Rio Tinto, will ride out what looks like the arrival of the correction which has been forecast by cautious analysts for the past two years.
Higher-cost miners and those carrying excess debt, such as Fortescue Metals Group, will struggle unless they can get their costs down quickly.
Big new projects with multi-billion dollar price tags will also face additional hurdles, primarily from nervous bankers who will demand to see proof that the project can be built on time and on budget, that it can service its debts for a long period of low iron ore prices, and that its ownership structure is rock solid.
Most closely watched on all of points is Gina Rinehart's proposed Roy Hill project which is fast approaching a period of critical decision-making just as the market turns against it.
Raising doubts about the outlook for the iron ore price might seem unusual after the recent recovery from around $US90 a tonne to $US114/t, a rebound which helped the share prices of miners rise, and Fortescue secure additional funding to undertake its essential cost-lowering expansion program.
But, what no-one has yet been able to explain is the disconnection between the iron ore price and the steel price, or explain how the iron ore price can stay above $US100/t if growth in global steel production has effectively stalled (which it has), and a wall of additional iron ore is hitting the market courtesy of new and expanded projects built in expectation of the price staying "stronger for longer".
Two significant developments in the iron ore industry over the past 48 hours include a report published by the World Steel Association which has cut its global steel consumption forecast for the current year to 2.1 per cent, a significant fall on the 3.6 per cent growth forecast made in April, and a sharp fall on the 6.2 per cent expansion in steel demand enjoyed last year.
In other words, as the global economy slows, demand for steel slows - which leads to that rather obvious question about how can iron ore demand and price rise as its only market moves alarmingly close to stall speed.
The second development occurred in Sydney this morning when the chief executive of Gina Rinehart's Roy Hill project, Barry Fitzgerald, skipped a speaking commitment at the Mines and Money conference.
His place was taken by general manager of external affairs, Darryl Hockey. Conference organisers told the audience that Mr Hockey's boss couldn't attend the event because he was in negotiation with bankers who it was hoped would provide the debt financing component of the project.
What was not made clear by Mr Hockey was how much debt Roy Hill is seeking, despite an opening remark from a conference organiser that Mr Fitzgerald was no show because he was seeking $9 billion from the banks and other financiers.
Mr Hockey's response to that number, the highest debt figure attached to Roy Hill so far, was that it should not be reported because it "might not be correct".
The audience was left hanging as to what the real debt figure might be, but it was also left in no doubt from the tenor of the presentation that Roy Hill is facing the same head winds as all Australian resource developments; rising costs, higher taxes, falling commodity prices and the threat of union militancy.
Despite those problems, Mr Hockey said early work at Roy Hill was continuing, including work at the mine site, on the railway route, and at Port Hedland.
However, in terms of financing it seems that the timetable is being dragged out with finalisation of negotiations with banks not expected until the first half of next year, and a final commitment to the full-scale development of the project possibly delayed until mid-2013.
It would be unfair to say that Roy Hill is encountering serious problems, but it would be equally true to say that the ambitious project is being buffeted by a dangerous combination of high costs, a difficult funding environment, and lower commodity price. | <urn:uuid:d0f3b1fc-aaad-4b4c-a755-44e9b21c0caf> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.businessnews.com.au/print/article/Analysis-winds-of-change-blow-coldly-over-Rinehart-project | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368704392896/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516113952-00025-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.972107 | 1,000 | 1.648438 | 2 |
“Just what does that mean? “and Doctor Harper looked at her curiously.
“Well,” and Aunt Abby spoke very solemnly, “Sanford appeared to me in a vision, just as he died—”
“Oh, Aunt Abby,” Eunice groaned, “don’t begin that sort of talk! Miss Ames is a sort of a spiritualist, doctor, and she has hallucinations.”
“Not hallucinations—visions,” corrected the old, lady. “And it is not an unheard of phenomenon to have a dying person appear to a friend at the moment of death. It was the passing of Sanford, and I did see him!”
Eunice rose and left the table. Her shattered nerves couldn’t stand this, to her mind, foolishness at the moment.
She went from the dining-room into the livingroom, and stood, gazing out of the window, but seeing nothing.
Dr. Harper pushed back his chair from the table.
“Just a word more about that, Miss Ames,” he said. “I’m rather interested in those matters myself. You thought you saw Mr. Embury?”
“I did see him. It was a vague, shadowy form, but I recognized him. He came into my room from Eunice’s room. He paused at my bedside and leaned over me, as if for a farewell. He said nothing—and in a moment he disappeared. But I know it was Sanford’s spirit taking flight.”
“This is interesting, but I can’t discuss it further now. I have heard of such cases, but never so directly. But my duty now is to Mrs, Embury. I fear she will have a nervous breakdown. May I ask you, Miss Ames, not to talk about you—your vision to her? I think it disturbs her.”
“Don’t you tell me, doctor, what to talk to Eunice about, and what not to! I brought up that girl from a baby, and I know her clear through! If it upsets her nerves to hear about my experience last night, of course, I shall not talk about it to her, but trust me, please, to know what is best to do about that!”
“Peppery women—both of them!” was Dr. Harper’s mental comment; but he only nodded his head pleasantly and went to Eunice.
“If you’ve no objections, I’ll call Marsden here at once,” he said, already taking up the telephone.
Eunice listlessly acquiesced, and then the doctor returned to Embury’s bedroom.
He looked carefully about. All the details of the room, the position of clothing, the opened book, face down, on the night table, the half-emptied water-glass, the penciled memorandum on the chiffonier—all seemed to bear witness to the well, strong man, who expected to rise and go about his day as usual.
“Not a chance of suicide,” mused the doctor, hunting about the room and scrutinizing its handsome appointments. He stepped into Embury’s bathroom, and could find nothing that gave him the least hint of anything unusual in the man’s life. A chart near the white, enameled scale showed that Embury had recorded his weight the night before in his regular, methodical way. The written figures were clear and firm, as always. Positively the man had no premonition of his swiftly approaching end. | <urn:uuid:32530fab-63e5-4e2d-a2a4-fc528fcafa23> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.bookrags.com/ebooks/5335/45.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368704713110/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516114513-00015-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.981321 | 788 | 1.570313 | 2 |
Update – this blog post is featured in an article in the Herald newspaper.
I think it is appropriate to post on this blog the invitation that I shared with the congregation last weekend.
We are currently living through a period of social change, as the Scottish Government finalizes its plans to allow same-sex couples to get married.
Now, the churches tend to react in their own distinctive ways. Christians are not of one mind about whether marriage for gay couples is a good thing or not. However, it is clearly coming.
Over the summer, I’ve been contacted a number of times by people who have asked me whether they can come to St Mary’s Cathedral on a one-off basis on Sunday 26 August 2012. The reason for this is that the Roman Catholic Church is declaring this coming Sunday as National Marriage Sunday and has said that it is setting up a special commission – a new body which will be “charged with promoting the true nature of marriage”.
Now, I believe in marriage. I believe in marriage for straight couples. I believe in supporting family life. I also happen to believe that marriage should be open to same-sex couples who wish to publicly declare that they are going to be faithful, stable and loving in the same way that straight people can. I believe in Equal Marriage and hope it comes soon.
The trouble is, the rhetoric that is currently coming from the Roman Catholic Church on this topic can be hugely negative. We saw that on Scotland Tonight on Thursday evening when one of their spokesmen once again asserted that gay people live shorter lives than straight people and seemed to suggest that people needed to be “warned” against being gay. I don’t think that it is unreasonable to describe it as homophobic and that is a word that I almost never use. It is also my view that the attitude of the Scottish Roman Catholic Church’s hierarchy seems to be at odds with the membership of that church whom I generally encounter as gentle, respectful, caring and kind.
Now, the fact is, not everyone at St Mary’s Cathedral has the same views on this topic. The truth is, the people at St Mary’s Cathedral tend not to have the same views about many things, as it happens.
However, we all do tend to agree that everyone is made in the image and likeness of God. My congregation is not a place where people question whether gay people are loved by God. We know it is true that everyone is loved by God.
The people who have contacted me about this upcoming Sunday to ask if they can join us for a week are quite varied. Some are straight people and some are gay. Some are Roman Catholics who simply don’t want to be told what to think about this topic and who reject the current rhetoric coming from the Scottish Roman Catholic Church. Others have no connection with that church but simply want to turn up to a church on that Sunday where the message is of compassion and love. Indeed, I have been contacted by a couple of atheists who said that they would like to come to church on that day to mark a particular anniversary and wondered whether they too would be welcome. The answer, of course, was yes. All are welcome in this place. (And they won’t be the only atheists there either).
It is a worry to me that atheists might think themselves unwelcome in churches. What kind of messages are churches sending out to convey this? There’s not a congregation worth going to that wouldn’t welcome such a person.
I have spoken to my congregation about the invitation that I want to reinforce this weekend and I have asked them to put the word about amongst their friends. If they know anyone in this city who would like to worship with us this week rather than worship in their own church for one Sunday then the message is clear. Everyone is welcome at St Mary’s. We don’t preach hatred. We don’t preach or teach bigotry. We stand up for the simple love of God. If anyone wishes to join us for one week as respite from the message preached in other places then they would be welcome to join us either this week or indeed on any Sunday.
The main service is at 10.30 am on Sunday. Roman Catholics will find the service is very similar to the service they know. Those from other traditions will find elements of the service that resonate with their own experience too. The music ranges from good to fantastic and is led by our wonderful choir and musicians. Those who are unfamiliar with church services will not find the service difficult to follow. The building is warm and welcoming and the congregation is gathered from all over the world and from very many faith traditions.
There is also a meditative, calm evening service at 6.30 pm on a Sunday evening which particularly features glorious choral singing as the choir and clergy sing the psalms and prayers of the day. It is the case that quite a few people come to that service who go to different churches on a Sunday morning. That kind of ministry that you can dip in and out of is part of what Cathedrals offer.
This is a congregation where we try to ensure that everyone is welcome and this is a church where everyone can receive Holy Communion if they wish to do so.
Having asked the congregation to share the news with their contacts that this is a Sunday when those wishing to join us for the first time are particularly welcome, I’m repeating that message here on the blog. If you are reading this and want to come then simply turn up on Sunday. It is a busy church, you won’t be singled out or made to do anything odd or strange, just come and enjoy worshipping in a congregation that is trying to be open, inclusive and welcoming. | <urn:uuid:70b0cb4b-0475-4cac-915a-285f19bcc8f3> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.thurible.net/20120824/an-invitation/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368702810651/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516111330-00015-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.977755 | 1,188 | 1.578125 | 2 |
Center for Teacher Development and Research
According to Dr. Doug Hamman, the newly created Center for Teacher Development and Research in the College of Education has as its goal to provide an organizational structure within the College of Education aimed at enhancing faculty members’ ability to win external funding aimed at research to improve teacher preparation, and provide services to the K-12 education community in the areas of teacher development and research.
It is increasingly obvious that colleges of education are going to have to generate research dollars to operate teacher preparation programs as state dollars for education shrink. As the public calls for closing colleges of education and as alternative teacher programs out-produce traditional college programs, traditional colleges of education are going to have to prove through research that student learning improves when teachers are taught in colleges of education.
The strategies for success of the Center are to:
- Collaborate broadly across departments in the College of Education and the university’s other academic units,
- Partner with local ISDs and other like-purposed agencies to compete for funding and research programs that enhance teacher development,
- Compete for a variety of research and service funding opportunities related to teacher development and student achievement,
- Conduct research in teacher development that reflects a sustained line of inquiry pertaining to current policy issues relevant to local, state and national needs,
- Provide professional development and evaluation services in teacher development initiatives for local and state educational agencies.
- The College of Education looks forward to research from the Center that will serve to improve student outcomes throughout local, state, and national schools. | <urn:uuid:24776459-d213-4e97-815e-9fa7f7d75387> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.educ.ttu.edu/research/center-fo/default | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368709037764/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516125717-00022-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.96523 | 314 | 1.78125 | 2 |
In the African village of Maliwane in Lesotho, a 64-year-old grandmother lay dying of AIDS, her only source of comfort and relief coming from a five-gallon bucket of hygiene and medical supplies shipped from a U.S. church.
The bucket was shipped to Jim and Teresa Flora, partners with Baptist Global Relief, who walked two hours to reach the grandmother’s home and teach them how to use the supplies in side. It’s not much, but it’s what the family has to care and comfort their matriarch.
The Texas Baptists Church2Church Partnerships Office has joined with Baptists Global Response to launch a summer missions opportunity to collect and send these “In-Home Care Kits” for terminally ill persons in Southern Africa. Much like the Buckets of Hope, various health care supplies will be placed in a five-gallon bucket. These supplies will provide a touch of physical and spiritual healing to terminally-ill people in Sub-Saharan Africa.
The kits, which can be put together for $75 or less, are opportunities for churches, Sunday School classes, Vacation Bible Schools, missions groups and people of all ages a way to be a part of a circle of caring and sharing to these terminally-ill people. Items in these kits will make the caregiver’s task much easier, but more importantly, will ease the suffering of the ones affected by terminal illness.
“These kits are a tool that not only provide physical comfort but also are a way for missionaries to share Christ individually with those dying of HIV/AIDS and other illnesses.” said Marla Bearden, Church2Church Partnerships. She believes Texas Baptists can send 1,000 In-Home Care Kits to Africa.
Visit www.inhomecarekit.org to find what items go in the kit, how to pack the items and other promotional items including a seven Day prayer guide that provides information that will help increase understanding and compassion for people suffering with HIV/AIDS around the world. Once your kits are complete please deliver/send them to Texas Baptists at 333 N. Washington Ave., Dallas 75246. Deadline for sending kits is Sept. 1 and they will be distributed by BGR missionaries in winter 2010. For more information contact Marla Bearden at 1-800-244-9400 or email her at [email protected]. | <urn:uuid:f8222ea8-1916-4331-9e98-e945e800ddb0> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://texasbaptists.wordpress.com/tag/christianity/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368705195219/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516115315-00012-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.938402 | 506 | 1.773438 | 2 |
Sara is a young fish who, although happy to play with her friends under the sea, harbors a secret wish to fly with the birds.
Because of her kind nature, a fisherman/wizard grants her wish by giving her a pair of wings, but it is only with hard work and perseverance that Sara can soar up high in the clouds like she dreams.
Malouf named the title character after her young cousin who was diagnosed with brain cancer at the age of two, being inspired by the young girl's positive outlook despite her illness.
Let’s Make Children’s Dreams Come True!
A message from the author:
Let's back up our love with ill children by teaching them how to overcome life's unexpected challenges and help them achieve their dreams. Let's help them by giving them the tools they need so they can live a healthy life.
Through my book I will be participating in book signing events at schools, libraries, book stores and Children's Foundations to help raise funds for organizations such as St. Baldrick's Foundation, St. Jude Children's Research Hospital and Make a Wish Foundation - Through my fund raising events my profit of the sales proceeds will be donated to the Children's Foundations. Besides the fund raising events, I will also be donating for life 5% of my annual royalties from this book's proceeds.
Sara is the main character in Blue Fish, and is inspired by my cousin Sara who was diagnosed with brain cancer at the age of two. Blue Fish represents everyone's hopes and dreams. Sara is now about 11 years old and has suffered through many surgeries and chemotherapy treatments with the hopes that one day she will enjoy life like every other child.
Sara's serious medical condition and positive attitude towards life has given me the inspiration and the motivation for creating my book. I am dedicating this motivating story to her.
Please Contact me at: [email protected] to arrange fund-raising events that supports children's needs in your community.
I read Ranya Malouf's wonderful picture book, Bluefish's Secret Wish and was uplifted by its inspirational message. I had the pleasure of sharing the story with my three year-old granddaughter, who was mesmerized by the story and the beautiful illustrations. Although she may not have understood the message to believe in yourself, as her young mind doesn't know not to, I explained what it meant to her. I would recommend this book to anyone with a pre-school youngster...I am sure it will benefit both adults and young minds! - amazon reader review
Beautiful and Inspiring
Yvonne Capitelli "Author" (New York) July 20, 2012
Bluefish's Secret Wish is a colorful and heartwarming story that will inspire children and adults to have faith, be determined and never give up on your dreams. Bluefish learns to keep hope close, believe in herself and to be positive. Whether you're 5 years old or 50, Bluefish's Secret Wish, by Ranya Malouf will leave a smile on your face.
MLP February 15, 2012
Readers of all ages will love learning about Bluefish's secret and its realization. Before even starting the story, you cannot help but notice that Bob Stuhmer's illustrations are beautifully rendered and well printed. This tale is both wholesome and inspirational without being at all heavy handed. Actually, Bluefish's initial inability to fully master the new skill she is given parallels the frustration and learning curve many of us experience when we finally attain a goal, and this makes the book's straightforward plot more realistic. I just sent a copy to a friend in Japan who admired it while visiting last year. [Amazon Reader Review]
Lovely for preschool
Bonnie Neely August 28, 2011
Bluefish's Secret Wish by Ranya Rafiq Malouf is illlustrated by Bob Stuhmer. This little preschool book is a very simple story about a fish who wants to fly and his wish is granted in a unique way. The illustrations are so beautiful and will be a favorite for the youngsters and the parents who read it aloud. The message is good: Believe in yourself and keep trying and your dreams can come true. | <urn:uuid:48c0c639-f1fe-49a7-8022-70232a641217> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.rimalbooks.com/productinfo.php?id=65 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368709037764/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516125717-00022-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.961637 | 864 | 1.59375 | 2 |
Last month South Korea elected its first female president. Seems progressive enough, but Park Geun-hye is a fiercely conservative daughter of a dictatorial former president. It was a passionate race to the finish, and her two liberal opponents at one point were going to band together to take her down, but they couldn’t agree on who should step down.
Like Japan, the Korean people chose a conservative candidate to guide them through these recent troubled economic times, convinced they are the key to recovery. Unlike Japan, South Korean voters came out in droves on election day.
Now South Koreans are lining up outside Park’s “Center for Proposals for the People’s Happiness”. As she transitions into power, downsizing government, chopping budgets, and hiring and firing, she has established this center (open until February 8th) to hear what the people want. Citizens are lining up (and camping out) to get their submissions in. Five officials will review the suggestions as they come in, and present the cream of the crop to the transition committee. It’s promised that some of the ideas presented will be put into action.
Maybe someone will step up and request a South Korean Death Star, so the Republic can gain some street cred in the space race. That would make North Korea SO mad.
So far the suggestions have been echoes of the requests made during the election, and campaign promises made by Park to make life better for the poor, the elderly and small businesses. There have also been less lofty requests to do things like shake her hand. There was also a request to make sex offenders wear giant, identifying barcodes at all times. Maybe a QR code would be more useful, and just imagine the fabric pattern possibilities! | <urn:uuid:fb0ba220-fae3-4ed5-9e28-f766d3be98c3> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.giantrobot.com/news/suggestion-box/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368702448584/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516110728-00012-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.973766 | 360 | 1.75 | 2 |
Charlottesville's Challenge Course Programs
At Charlottesville’s Challenge Course, we proudly offer organizers the opportunity to choose from one of our established programs, to customize an established program or to work with our team to develop a unique program just for your group.
Our existing programs were developed after working with groups of all ages and learning what achieved the best results. We offer Team Building and Team Development programs for all types of groups including Corporate Groups, Sports Teams, School Students, College Students, and Church Groups. Below are descriptions of existing programs for participants of all ages.
Designed to give 5th graders an opportunity to continue their Character Development within a team, their classmates. Over 6 one-hour sessions, activities will focus on teamwork, respect, self confidence, self efficacy, problem solving and leadership.
Taking the next step in school can be overwhelming. Whether it’s graduating to high school or college or starting a new school or job, we train current students skills and techniques to be peer advisors for new students. Through sharing experiences, lending insight and responding to an array of situations, this program is extremely helpful during the challenging transition period.
Like the keystone in an arch, every individual in a team is valuable. This Team Development experience will help your employees and their teams explore their identity through activities and discussions. Activities will concentrate on communication skills, problem solving and cooperation.
Open to all ages, this Team Building program provides a challenging, exhilarating and uplifting experience for the participant. Individuals will have opportunities on our High Ropes Challenge Course including our Climbing Tower and Zip-Line.
Teams of all ages work together to solve mental and physical challenges. Teams will be challenged in head to head events focusing on communication skills, creativity and the ability to utilize resources found within a team.
UBER (Unusual Boat Engineering Race)
Teams work together to design, build and race boats made from duct tape and cardboard in this fast paced team development program. Designs may impress the judges, but will it float?
This Amazing Race meets Survivor program is a competitive experience centered on working as a team. Solve puzzles, interpret clues and navigate through the course designed for your group.
This program is designed for those looking for a critical review of the leadership, direction, and atmosphere a team operates under. We will diagnose the fundamental issues in your team and facilitate solutions allowing the team to become more effective.
Meetings, Retreats and Picnics
Corporate business meetings and events can be fun. Let us facilitate sessions throughout your group meetings or plan an all-inclusive retreat. Our goals are to produce positive change in people and businesses through our highly engaging and fun experiences.
Fun is Good
Let us turn your everyday meetings into fun, team building experiences. Our meeting ice breakers, energizers and openers are an exciting way to establish a positive atmosphere, foster community openness and encourage participation.
Train the Trainer
Let us teach you the tricks of the trade. With a large variety of activities and skills to share, you will always have up your sleeve a new technique for working with groups. We will practice group sorting techniques, ice breakers and energizers to be used in a variety of settings and situations.
The Next Level
Whether you are an individual athlete or compete with a team, this program will help give you the mental edge. We grow internal confidence, strengthen your focus and increase performance.
Don’t see exactly what you’re looking for? Customizing your program at Charlottesville's Challenge Course is EASY! Our team works with you to tailor make your program to fit your groups’ needs. | <urn:uuid:e2a68237-8964-4e47-a681-151da5255fa1> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://tripleccamp.com/Challenge-Course/Charlottesville-s-Challenge-Course-Programs.aspx | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368706153698/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516120913-00000-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.930225 | 747 | 1.679688 | 2 |
Florida Push to Make Safety Alarms in Day-Care Vehicles Mandatory
ATWEC Technologies' Kiddie Voice™ Patented Alarm System Protects Children
MEMPHIS, Tenn., Jan. 31, 2013 /PRNewswire/ -- ATWEC Technologies, Inc. (OTC Markets: ATWT), a leader in the child safety industry, today announced that a Florida state representative is renewing efforts to make it mandatory for child care centers statewide who transport children to install safety alarms in their vehicles, after legislators failed to pass a similar bill two years in a row.
Rep. Lori Berman, D-Lantana, filed House Bill 111 in Tallahassee last week. Known as the "Haile Brockington Act", in honor of the Delray Beach toddler who died in 2010 after she was forgotten for nearly six hours in the back of a hot day-care van, the bill would require child care facilities to install alarm systems that alert drivers to check the vehicle for children left behind.
"We should not have to wait until innocent children die to realize the urgency; these deaths are preventable," Berman said in a statement. "I continue, as I have the past two years, to implore my colleagues in the legislature to pass this bill. Their inaction has continued to raise the risk that more children may die due to being left behind."
Thirty-one children in the US died in 2012 after being left in cars, three of them in Florida, according to records from San Francisco State University's Department of Geosciences.
If passed, HB 111 takes effect July 1, 2013 and requires day-care center vehicles to be equipped with an alarm system approved by the state Department of Children and Families by January 2014. In addition, DCF must maintain a list of approved alarm manufacturers and systems, which ATWEC Technologies, Inc. is included.
Since Haile's death in August 2010, Berman and state Senator Maria Sachs, D-Delray Beach, have tried unsuccessfully to pass bills making child care van alarms a state law.
Palm Beach County commissioners in 2011 became the first in the state to require alarms in vehicles designed to carry six or more children.
If a center is in violation, the owner will receive a notice and have a 7-10 day period to correct the issue. If the center does not comply, or if there is a combination of issues, it can be told to cease transporting children, said Tim O'Connor, spokesman for the Palm Beach County Health Department, which regulates child care facilities.
The law took effect in January 2012, and of all the facilities that requested license renewals for 2013, only two were not in compliance during an inspection, O'Connor said. The facilities have since installed van alarms. O'Connor added that if the state passes a mandate, the county would likely adopt a regulation that is most stringent.
Shareholders and other investors can find information on the proposed Florida legislation posted on the Company's website home page, www.atwec.com.
Safe Harbor Statement
This release contains "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended, and such forward-looking statements are made pursuant to the safe harbor provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. "Forward-looking statements" describe future expectations, plans, results, or strategies and are generally preceded by words such as "may", "future", "plan" or "planned", "will" or "should", "expected," "anticipates", "draft", "eventually" or "projected".
You are cautioned that such statements are subject to a multitude of risks and uncertainties that could cause future circumstances, events, or results to differ materially from those projected in the forward-looking statements, including the risks that actual results may differ materially from those projected in the forward-looking statements as a result of various factors, and other risks identified in the Company's disclosure information.
All company or product names used are the property of their respective owners and may be the trade marks (TM), service marks (SM), or registered marks (R) of other companies, and are used for information purposes only and to their owners' benefit, without intent to infringe.
About ATWEC Technologies, Inc.:
ATWEC Technologies, Inc. is a child safety and security company, headquartered in Memphis, TN. ATWT has developed unique child safety devices which protect children while they are being transported, both to and from schools, events, and homes. ATWT has been issued patent number 7,646,288,B2 by the US patent office, and its business model is associated with legislation designed to mandate these systems for school and other vehicles, on a state-by-state basis. The Company trades on the Pink-OTC Markets under the symbol "ATWT", and the Company's website is www.atwec.com.
ATWEC Technologies, Inc.
Alex T. Wiley, CEO
SOURCE ATWEC Technologies, Inc.Back to top | <urn:uuid:1d18269a-faf4-42ae-a3ca-ba9e76fb9cc7> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.mlive.com/news/grpress/index.ssf?/prnewswire/prnauto.ssf?/mlive/story/?catSetID=7007&catID=290367&nrid=189180161&page=1 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368703682988/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516112802-00030-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.954545 | 1,057 | 1.625 | 2 |
FORT WAYNE – Employment in the Fort Wayne metro area appears headed in the wrong direction.
The region reported higher joblessness for the third consecutive month in January with 9.1 percent unemployment, up from a revised 8.2 percent in December, preliminary figures from the Indiana Department of Workforce Development showed Monday.
Statewide, seasonally adjusted unemployment rose to 8.6 percent in January, up from 8.3 percent in December.
In October, metro Fort Wayne – which is composed of Allen, Whitley and Wells counties – saw its unemployment drop below 7 percent for the first time since October 2008.
For more on this story, see Tuesday’s print edition of The Journal Gazette or visit www.journalgazette.net after 3 a.m. Tuesday. | <urn:uuid:9f8251f8-d3fb-493a-a8be-a33d495210b2> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://journalgazette.net/article/20130318/BIZ/130319508 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368706890813/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516122130-00010-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.939576 | 161 | 1.609375 | 2 |
DM industry has search tips for Presidential hopefuls
With the presidential primaries in high gear, voters are turning to the Web to learn more about the various candidates. However, recent evaluations of the candidates' Web sites reveal that many presidential hopefuls are falling short when it comes to executing good search tactics.
For the most part, candidates have failed to implement simple, on-site search engine optimization practices, according to Herndon Hasty, an account manager at Range Online Media, an interactive marketing agency.
In particular, Hasty noted that the major candidates are not optimizing for specific key terms that voters are searching for. Just as unclear product descriptions or “market speak” rarely drives traffic toe-commerce sites, candidates need to sell their platforms in the language used by voters. By using vague political language and poor on-page SEO, these candidates are really missing out on the opportunity to own an issue, Hasty said.
And, according to Janel Landis, senior director of search development and strategy at SendTec, many of the major candidates are not using paid search to their best advantage in order to drive traffic to their sites. “A huge portion of Internet users aren't being reached,” she said.
Landis said she found it “shocking” that none of the candidates appeared to be bidding on issues like “war in Iraq” or “healthcare reform.” Search marketers often bid on issues or tasks related to a product or service in order to attract consumers who might not otherwise be looking for them. For example, a recent search for “healthy eating” on Google, yielded a paid search link to WeightWatchers.com.
By applying similar paid search tactics with issues — as opposed to products — candidates could attract more visitors to their sites. Paid search is a great way to communicate to voters, Landis said.
Further, only a few of the candidates had taken advantage of paid search by bidding on their competitors' names. One exception is Rudy Giuliani, who has been running ads for everyone's name, said Michael Jensen, the co-founder of SoloSEO.com.
On the positive side, candidates on both sides of the aisle have a huge number of inbound links coming into their sites, which is a priceless way to drive natural search traffic and search engine results page placement.
“That will pump out the rankings and presence of any terms that they've optimized on the site,” Hasty said.
The good news? All of the candidates have been effectively utilizing social networking sites, according to Landis. | <urn:uuid:7c535a09-03fc-4744-ba01-3ea796feb0e6> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.dmnews.com/dm-industry-has-search-tips-for-presidential-hopefuls/printarticle/103977/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368704132298/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516113532-00038-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.955226 | 538 | 1.5625 | 2 |
Learn how to be more productive in Blender by creating custom hotkeys for your favorite tools.
In this Citizen tutorial I am going to show you several different way you can create custom hotkeys for all of your most used tools in Blender. This can dramatically speed up your workflow, making you more efficient and productive.
You’ll learn how to assign or change hotkeys with just a few clicks for most tools. You’ll also learn how to set custom hotkeys for more difficult tools that are context sensitive or that have more than one mode or setting by finding the Python data path. | <urn:uuid:a6aae5c1-f68b-4962-90ce-5724354f7de1> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://cgcookie.com/blog/2012/11/01/being-more-productive-in-blender-with-custom-hotkeys/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368706153698/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516120913-00019-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.936308 | 123 | 1.625 | 2 |
It has been more than one week since cyclone Sidr devastated Bangladesh's Southern coastal region. The official death toll is still at 3199 but the unofficial death toll crossed 6000. Millions of families are displaced and are homeless now. Economists predict US$ 65 billion will be the loss of the nation.
The UN said in a report:
Cyclone Sidr has affected about 4.7 million people in worst-hit districts and a further 2.6 million people, most of them the "poorest of the poor", are in need of immediate help,. (BDNews24)These people have to be fed up to three months and many still haven't been reached to hand over the aids available. There have been overwhelming response from the local and international community in monetary aid.
However the call of this hour is to reach these aid to the people in remote areas. The armed forces of Bangladesh are so far doing the best they can with their limited resources like helicopters and boats. As I mentioned earlier, Bangladesh needs more helicopters, water purifiers, volunteers, medical helps. I hope the international community keeps these in mind too. One country (name withheld) pledged 5000 Euro for the victims. I don't want to undermine anyone's good wish but really they would do better if they could send a medical teal or lend some helicopters that would be something effective for the aid of the victims.
Two US ships USS Essex and USS Kearsarge are in Bangladesh waters to help in the relief efforts. The US embassy in Dhaka said that each of the ships are carrying 23 helicopters and six small planes which will be used for medical evacuations and surveying the affected areas by approx 1500 US marines. They are also equipped with water purifiers and purified water is of urgent need of many survivors.
While this is happening we see that Hizbut Tahrir Bangladesh, a Branch of Hizbut Tahrir is protesting the arrival of US navy ships in Bangladesh. Hizbut Tahrir is an international, Sunni, pan-Islamist vanguard political party whose goal is to unite all Muslim countries in a unitary Islamic state or caliphate, ruled by Islamic law and headed by an elected head of state.
While the Bangladeshis in the country and abroad are doing their best to help these victims from own resources with innovative ideas like sms aid campaigns and pledging to the international community for more donations you can check the Hizbut Tahrir site that they are silent about the issue. Their priority is to build a caliphate at the expense of all these victims and they don't like the US marine to help save lives. It can be lauded that the police forces have taken action against its spokesman. But it will be befitting to expose their intentions to the common public.
I guess even a dumb person can recognize who is the enemy of the people. Down with political Islam. Hizbut Tahrir should read Abdul Kargbo's post "Compassion Does Not Recognize State Boundaries" for a change:
"At the end of the day, the only thing that matters is that people—regardless of who they are or where they’re from—are capable of feeling compassion for others, even if they are geographically distant. That’s something to celebrate, not question."Kathy has more updates on the post cyclone relief. | <urn:uuid:57915cd6-9cde-4d06-bd91-6bd1063a1601> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://rezwanul.blogspot.com/2007/11/know-your-enemy.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368709037764/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516125717-00025-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.961768 | 679 | 1.835938 | 2 |
Welcome Patients and Caregivers
Celebrate Your Life!
Be Celebrated at Relay. An important part of the American Cancer Society Relay For Life® is the celebration of nearly 11 million cancer survivors who are alive in the United States today.
Anyone who has ever battled cancer is invited to celebrate life by joining your local American Cancer Society Relay For Life. Find a survivor lap near you. Survivors, caregivers, friends and family are our honored guests!
Each step we take together draws us closer to a cure. Relay For Life is an overnight event that raises awareness of cancer in the community and raises funds to fight cancer. Teams of friends, neighbors, families, and co-workers commit to keep at least one member walking on the track...because cancer never sleeps.
The Survivors' Lap symbolizes the courage of survivors and their families display every day. Take this opportunity to have your community support and honor you and in turn support others who are facing this disease.
Meet and talk with other Survivors...some in treatment; others who have been survivors for decades.
Learn about services and programs the American Cancer Society has to offer to cancer survivors and their families.
Experience the healing and strength that comes with being around others who have survived cancer.
Participating as a survivor at Relay For Life is free! You do not need to raise funds to join us in the celebration, just come to the event and register at the survivor tent.
Ready to Help Others?
While every cancer experience is different, there are some common threads that tie survivors together, such as the immeasurable strength it takes to face challenges head on.
Celebrate your personal journey with others who have walked a similar path at the American Cancer Society Relay For Life, and find other ways to fight back and make a difference in the lives of those affected by this disease.
Invite other Survivors
Send ecards to other cancer Survivors, friends and family letting them know about Relay and encouraging them to join you or find an event in their community. Spread the word!
Share your story
Help us give hope to people across the country and around the world by sharing your story. It's stories like yours that provide comfort and courage to others whose lives have been touched by cancer.
Form a Team
Teams are made up of 8-15 people who share a passion and commitment to raise money throughout the year. Teams can be composed of friends, families, co-workers, churches, social clubs, small businesses...and the list goes on. Team Captains and Team Members are the "foot-soldiers" in the battle against cancer- raising funds and awareness to fight back.
We can provide you with the most up-to-date information possible on any type of cancer, treatments and clinical trials. Search our Web site, http://www.cancer.org/, for information on cancer and resources in your area, or call one of our experts at 1-800-ACS (227)-2345, day or night.
Cancer Reference Information
Find information on specific types of cancer, including early detection, prevention, treatment, staging, clinical trials, new research advances, and medical references and resources.
What treatment is best for you? Which methods have proven to be most effective? Here you can find answers to your questions, plus learn about what to ask your physician, what's new in research, and what you can expect after treatment is over.
If someone you love has been diagnosed with cancer, you may find yourself taking on new, unfamiliar responsibilities as you help them through treatment and recovery. Taking care of a person with cancer is an important, and sometimes difficult, job. In this section you'll find information and resources to make it easier.
Patients, Family, and Friends
Here you'll find medical information, treatment decision tools, news updates, and support resources. You can also read about survivors' experiences, find hope, and inspire others.
No one need face cancer alone. We are here to provide support every step of the way, from the time you schedule a cancer test through recovery and beyond. We know what you are going through and we can put you in touch with others who can speak from experience.
ACS Support Programs and Services
Check out these American Cancer Society support groups, services, and events for support, information, and ideas about how you can help fight cancer.
Find local Resources and Support Groups
Find local programs and support services that provide assistance. Tell us what kind of resources you're looking for; transportation, medical equipment, support groups, health care services, and more.
Online cancer education classes
For a quick, easy way to learn important facts and practical tips about cancer and related issues, participate in our interactive online program, I Can Cope—Online.
Children and Cancer
Find information about the types, diagnosis and treatment of childhood cancers as well as resources for parents, siblings, and friends.
Having cancer is hard, finding help shouldn't be. We can answer questions about insurance, rides to treatment, wigs, and much more. We are here to help with day-to-day issues and to ease the burden of patients and caregivers.
Rides to Treatment
Every day thousands of cancer patients need a ride to treatment, but some may not have a way to get there. If finding a ride is a problem for you, we may be able to help.
Health Insurance and Financial Assistance
As a cancer patient, you may have financial resources available to you, including health insurance, government programs, disability benefits, aid from voluntary organizations, and living benefits from life insurance policies. If you have no medical insurance, there are other options.
Reach to Recovery
Reach to Recovery volunteers are breast cancer survivors themselves. Volunteers can meet with you face-to-face or over the phone to give you and your family the support and information you need to cope with a breast cancer diagnosos.
Man to Man
Man to Man volunteers hold free monthly meetings where men facing prostate cancer support eachother and exchange information through treatment and beyond.
Look Good...Feel Better
A program that teach people in active cancer treatment ways to help with the appearance related side effects of treatment.
The American Cancer Society's catalog and magazine for women offering helpful articles and a line of products made for women fighting cancer. | <urn:uuid:80a56365-681f-4901-b5f5-7bc783fa59d0> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://relay.acsevents.org/site/PageServer?pagename=RFL_CA_Home_PatientsandCaregivers | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368702810651/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516111330-00037-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.947058 | 1,304 | 1.65625 | 2 |
There's been a number of topics related to content curation this week, and I thought I'd write this post that summarizes them and looks at the bigger picture.
My monthly column on Neal Schaffer's Windmill Networking blog explained what content curation is, and how it can be used to lead social conversations and boost marketing efforts. Curation does this by opening the floodgates of great content, making it easier to keep your social media channels brimming with timely and relevant info.
Neal followed up my post with his own, which offered great tips for taking content curation to the next level,
Overcoming Challenges and Concerns
One thing that I did not mention in my post is that there are some concerns and misunderstanding about content curation.
Much of the concern centers around the fact that it necessarily involves the use of third party content to achieve your goals. There are potential legal and copyright issues, and some just think it is wrong to do this regardless of the legalities.
This type of concern was thrust into the limelight recenlty when some pointed out that there are copyright issues related to how people use Pinterest, whiich is essentially a curation platform.. These stories have started to take some of the air out of all the buzz that the service has been getting.
Windmill Networking legal blogger Michelle Sherman posted earlier this week about how to reduce the risk of legal issues related to Pinterest.
While Pinterest is all about images, much of the controversy over curation relates to news articles. E.g. the cleverly titled post Aggregator's Dilemma on Poynter starts off by asking:
When you aggregate content, what obligation do you have to the original source — and to readers?
It goes on to explore the question in detail, and shares best practices and answers from a range of editors of websites that employ aggregation.
Carr wrote, in his Media Equation column:
So where is the line between promoting the good work of others and simply lifting it? Naughty aggregation is analogous to pornography: You know it when you see it.
Some might conclude that curation is the last bastion of the unoriginal and lazy social media striver. As the referenced articles above point out, there are right ways and wrong ways to go about curation; the lines may not always be clear when good curation crosses over and becomes poaching. But standards and best practices are now emerging.
Note: It may seem like I strayed from the original topic in discussing issues related to journalism and aggregation, rather than curation and social media. The topic led me to wonder about the difference between the two: aggregation vs. curation, that is, as they seem to be almost interchangeable. I did a search and found out that there is a difference. Here is the best explanation I could find, via Idealog. | <urn:uuid:0e6f00a3-2b36-43b1-8d96-467b3bcee6c3> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.flacksrevenge.com/2012/03/content-curation-tapping-opportunities-overcoming-challenges.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368698924319/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516100844-00019-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.959267 | 589 | 1.609375 | 2 |
Losing all they owned, suffering in silence, initially denigrated by many others who were in a position to help, and perhaps ultimately set aside by contemporary U.S. culture, most Katrina survivors will never be acknowledged for who they were—American heroes. The evacuees were strong for their neighbors and families not to gain recognition, but because their strength of heart required that they endure. And endure they did—with dignity.
The stories comprising most of this book reveal not just the best of the American character, but the affirmation of the survivors’ perseverant spirits. The light generated from their efforts just needed time to shine through the dark mists of prejudice and negativism through
which they were initially viewed.
Many clinic workers in Houston volunteered their time, energy, and the best of their spirits and attitudes to first stand for and then stand with the evacuees. These tireless workers didn’t just reflect the light from the evacuees; they were their own source of inspiration and
revelation. This book revolves around these twin suns which together shine light on us all.
Gripping as many of these stories are, hard documentation for them is impossible. While I was the treating physician for many of these survivors, only their names, their physical ailments, and the treatment of those conditions are recorded in their medical charts. In accordance with the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA), I am prohibited under federal law from collecting and transporting any personal information (e.g., patient names and personal information) from health facilities for anything other than official business. Several additional conversations with the survivors were not formal patient-physician interactions at all, but conversations in the general evacuation room, of which there is no official record whatsoever. In addition, as in any emergency room, the treatment circumstances were sometimes urgent, and commonly dire, further precluding any documentation.
Thus it was impossible for me to keep or report any evacuee’s real name, characteristics or treatment details in this memoir, and I have no record of the original patient’s name. All I could legally do was record in my personal journal at the end of these long clinic shifts my own recollections of these patients, deliberately changing their names, and, sometimes, the details of the treatment of their condition. I have used the actual name of a fellow first responder, only when permitted and when that responder has reviewed my description of our interaction and agreed. These included the following healthcare providers: Ms. Mindy Cox, Dr. Barry Davis, Dr. George Delclos, and Dr. Kristy Murray.
Finally, no one’s memory is perfect. Any inaccuracies or omissions concerning the dates, treatments, and details of my interactions are mine and mine alone, and I accept full responsibility for them. I freely admit that, if anything, I have left out many compelling examples of compassion, conviction and strength of evacuees that the urgency and fatigue of clinic circumstances precluded me from recording or remembering. Fortunately, these omitted examples of heroism and heart strength, equally visceral, intense, and gripping, rest in the minds and bosoms of the evacuees and the volunteers who aided their recovery.
Furthermore, should any evacuees, despite my attempts to shield them, recognize themselves in these stories; I would only ask that you accept my occasionally imperfect memory as my sole excuse. My only intent is to respect and value your sacrifice, and through this memoir, to reveal your honor and valor to the world.
The text did not arise all at once; it developed slowly, gradually taking shape from my querulous recognition of the great schism between the common media portrayals on the one hand, and my personal experiences with the evacuees and the volunteers who cared for them on the other. Unsure what to do with observations that I couldn’t ignore, I began sending e-mails to several friends and colleagues across the country. Many people responded sympathetically, but one, and only one, suggested that I begin to write and clarify my observations—Ariela Wilcox.
Ariela Wilcox, a literary agent and book producer in San Diego, California, accepted me as an untested nonfiction writer. Knowledgeable, competent, and approachable, she listened patiently and repeatedly as I ached over this book’s early drafts. The perfect counterbalance for my efforts, Ariela kept me in stable writing equilibrium. Sensing the theme of the word-song I wished to create, her deft touch was expert; she knew that if she simply hummed the tune I would write the lyrics. This book would not be in your hands if it weren’t for Ariela’s solid, sensitive guidance and editing during its creation, and its appearance would have been impossible if she had not persistently sought out the right publisher.
If Ariela was the gyroscope, then Richard Koritz, Editor and Publisher for Open Hand Publishing, LLC, was the engin. His consistent enthusiasm for the project, like raw rocket fuel, propelled the book through production and on to market. Richard worked strenuously to settle the book’s theme into place, and then, redoubling his efforts, he tirelessly reviewed the book’s contents, reading draft after draft of the manuscript, all the while sharpening its message.
Our frequent, almost daily contacts, were both professional and cordial, allowing us to focus on our shared, mutual goal—to get the true story of the Katrina survivors out to readers interested in the survivors themselves—not just their plight. Through his labor, Richard demonstrated the insight of the leader who understands the need to not just “sound the charge,” but to “lead the charge.”
Ariela, Richard, and I, of different backgrounds, creeds, and races, recognized the quintessential message of the Katrina survivors—strength of heart triumphs over adversity. I welcome your responses to the evocative themes portrayed in this book. Please email your comments to [email protected].
Finally, my dearest thanks go to Dixie, my wife, on whose personality, character, love, and common sense I have come to rely, and to my daughters Flora and Bella Ardon, whose continued emotional and spiritual growth reveals anew to me each day that, through God, all things are possible.
Lemuel A. Moyé
University of Texas
School of Public Health | <urn:uuid:7b9340eb-c4ad-4e77-80bf-963bb597149e> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.openhand.com/facetoface-preface.php | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368699881956/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516102441-00021-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.963596 | 1,339 | 1.757813 | 2 |
Matt Stroud, Contributor
I follow the billions spent behind bars in U.S. prisons.
Prison spending is a problem.
Among other staggering (but unsurprising) facts to emerge from a recent Congressional Research Service Report (PDF), federal prison spending increased from about $330 million in 1980 to nearly $7 billion last year. Even with historically adjusted rates, that’s nearly a 900 percent increase.
The report offers some practical solutions to the spending problem — sentence reductions, reinstating parole options, assigning increased time off for good behavior, etc. But it leaves one option out: Namely, offering physical abuse as an alternative to sentencing. Apparently CRS left that task to Montana Republican Rep. Jerry O’Neil. From the Billings Gazette:
[O'Neil] is drafting a bill that would allow those convicted of misdemeanors or felonies to negotiate corporal punishment instead of another sentence. The method used to inflict the pain would be decided by a judge. The veteran lawmaker said Wednesday that he thinks long prison sentences are inhumane. “Ten years in prison or you could take 20 lashes, perhaps two lashes a year? What would you choose?” O’Neil said.
The article’s worth reading in full. It’s tough to imagine any U.S. legislature passing such a bill in real life, but O’Neil’s justifications are just sane enough to be worth a thought experiment or two. “Ten years in prison or you could take 20 lashes, perhaps two lashes a year?” O’Neil asked rhetorically. “What would you choose?”
I guess that falls into the “I’ll make the decision when I’m faced with it” category but, regardless, it’s worth thinking about from O’Neil perspective.
“It is actually more moral than we do now,” O’Neil said of the lashings. “I think it’s immoral to put someone in prison for a long time, to take them away from their family, and force that family to go on welfare.”
House Minority Leader Chuck Hunte summed up O’Neil’s bill with one word. | <urn:uuid:fed67495-a1c5-4735-99d1-2ac9e9a2e981> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.forbes.com/sites/mattstroud/2013/01/30/montana-rep-suggests-pain-as-alternative-prison-sentence-it-is-actually-more-moral-than-we-do-now/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368703298047/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516112138-00003-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.950306 | 474 | 1.773438 | 2 |
Piyush Goyal is a member of Rajya Sabha and the national treasurer of Bharatiya Janata Party.
He is a chartered accountant by profession.
Goyal answered our readers’ questions about the Union Budget, and how it will impact them.
Here is the transcript:
Piyush Goyal says, Hi, this is Piyush Goyal. I'm ready to respond to your questions.
RAMAMURTHY asked, ALLOTING CRORES OF RUPEES TOWARDS WELFARE OF SC/ST. WHETHER THESE FUNDS ARE ACTUALLY UTILISING OR FILLING THE POCKETS OF POLITICAL LEADERS
Piyush Goyal answers, at 2013-02-28 17:36:57Affirmative action for the welfare of SC/ST is a welcome step. Unfortunately, the implementation is tardy and rampant corruption found in various schemes. It may be a good idea to review all these schemes and focus on providing skills development and vocational training along with opportunities for education and proper healthcare. Large scale development of the manufacturing sector and infrastructure growth is required to provide jobs.
Balaji asked, Why are we wasting money on defence when we have no war - our deals are full of corruption and we are not able to use military to prevent terrorist strikes? We should cut down defense expenditure
Piyush Goyal answers, Investments to secure to secure the external borders are essential to protect the sovereignty and interegrty of our nation. We have a very hostile neighborhood and have to be constantly prepared to face the challenges of external aggression. We have already fought three wars and several skirmishes. The imperative need is to modernise the defence forces to provide adequate deterrent against incursions on our territory. Obviously, one cannot and should not tollerate corruption in defence purchases and have to bring in transparent processes.
Rangoli asked, Dr. Mr. Piyush, Do You think this budget will make any difference in Economy Growth. There are hardly any revenue generation thru it and neither any rebate in Income Tax slab nor any concrete growth plan. Where d original Mr. PC is missing?
Piyush Goyal answers, The budget does not provide adequate impetus to spur investment lead growth, which is the need of the hour.The revenue projections are over optimistic. I feel, just like the Government did in the current year, they may slash capital expenditure to maintain fiscal balance which will adversely affect growth. Certainly, this is not what was expected from a seasoned Finance Minister.
avijit asked, Good Evening Mr Goyal. Lot of expectation was there from the Budget 2013-14, but it appears lack lustre and nothing for the Aam Addmi.This has just been a cover up and extremely miserable.Pl comment.
Piyush Goyal answers, It is unfortunate that the budget does not offer any relief for the common man, in fact they are not even mentioned in the FM's speech.The performance of the economy in the last few years with jobless growth, high inflation and interest rates & fiscal imbalances will cost the common man dear in the years to come.
snr asked, Is direct tax code in offing which is why no personal tax sops
Piyush Goyal answers, The Standing committee on Finance submitted its report on the Direct Taxes Code (DTC)report one year back. Perhaps, this government is not keen to re-introduce DTC into the Parliament. Thus, exposing the true intentions of the Government against the people. The Standing Committee in its report had recommended no tax upto income of Rs. 3 lacs and number of other measures that would have brought relief to common man. Due to sheer mis management of the economy, the Government has got this nation into crises like situation.
abhay asked, What is there in this budget for health of common people, Senior Citizens, unemployed youth?
Piyush Goyal answers, This budget gives no road-map of employment generation for the unemployed youth. The government accepts the need to create 10 million jobs every year. But, where are the jobs? There is a negative job growth. The budget has only cosmetic changes to offer and was full of verbosity. Only announcing schemes for women and minorities does not work. Also, Senior citizens have been largely left out. There are serious issues with implementation by the government. there are a lot of leakages in delivery of services and benefits by the government. Hence, it is important for the government to focus on delivery and proper implementation of schemes announced. Not merely big announcements.
Piyush Goyal says, Thank you for your questions. I would love to answer all your questions - perhaps, next time when we meet. | <urn:uuid:668e9d27-c11d-4e35-a0ef-b87c21f35c0e> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.rediff.com/business/report/budget-chat-this-budget-gives-no-road-map-for-employment/20130228.htm | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368702810651/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516111330-00027-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.953613 | 978 | 1.617188 | 2 |
He was only a kid, a 15-year-old with braces, when he first dove into the Olympic spotlight.
He didn't win any medal at the Sydney Olympics, but he gave fans a tiny glimpse of what was to come when he swam the last 50 meters of the 200-meter butterfly faster than anyone else in the pool. He moved from eighth to fifth and moved from side note to talking point just like that.
His teammate Tom Malchow told reporters at those 2000 Games, "He's a true competitor, and he's going to be one of the greats."
Malchow likely meant swimming great. But did anyone expect the long, lean teenager from Baltimore to grow up to be possibly the greatest Olympian in history?
On Tuesday, Phelps won his 19th Olympic medal, more than many countries have ever won.
"It's a combination of everything," he told reporters last week on how he became the biggest name in swimming. "You have to have a great work ethic. Have a strong mind, be motivated. There are so many things that come into it.
"I have a decent package so I can't complain."
The United States has been a world power in swimming since the days of Johnny Weissmuller, but Phelps has elevated its status like no other American competitor.
NBC once broadcast the world championships live, a rarity for the sport, because Phelps was so popular. He was the first swimmer to win Sports Illustrated's Sportsman of the Year.
After every Summer Olympics the number of swimmers increases, but when Phelps won eight gold medals in an electrifying eight days in Beijing in 2008, it grew exponentially more than previous post-Olympic years, according to a 2009 article in the Orlando Sentinel.
Fresh off his record-setting Beijing performance, in an offseason where he was more concerned about tricking out his new apartment than training, he told Sports Illustrated he wasn't worried about the future even though he was out of shape and had put on some pounds.
"When I have to turn the switch back on, I know I can. All I have to do is put my mind to something and that's it, it's done," he said. It took a few years, but after some controversy he became motivated again.
He was banned from competition for three months in 2009 after a tabloid newspaper ran a photo of him appearing to inhale from a marijuana pipe. He almost retired, but decided the London Games would be his sendoff from the sport he began as a wispy child in Baltimore.
Phelps, who began swimming to emulate his sisters at age 7, set individual world records 29 times, and still owns records in six events. In the three competitve races he has left he won't be besting those times, now that he's almost a swimming old man (and due to slower swimsuits).
He wraps up a career as the most decorated Olympian ever, perhaps the greatest ever. Some commentators will argue the cases of track and field's Carl Lewis, who missed an Olympics due to a U.S. boycott, or distance runner Paavo Nurmi, who won 12 medals. Some might argue for Bjorn Daehlie, the Norwegian cross-country skier. And there's gymnast Larisa Latynina, whose 18 medals are now second all time.
It's a class for which it doesn't take to call roll.
Copyright 2012 Scripps Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Did You Hear?
More National Sports | <urn:uuid:52c17dcc-d99c-4d67-9827-a0cc8c62a7cf> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.abc15.com/dpp/sports/sports_blogs_national/michael-phelps-cements-legact-as-one-of-all-time-olympic-greats | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368708766848/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516125246-00042-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.984457 | 745 | 1.585938 | 2 |
Belarus has been flying under the radar lately, but reforms are not standing still. Following a secret ballot, the parliament passed a new legislation in the first reading that will give the goverment greater control over media.
Civil society has several issues with the law as its been written up, but primarily it is that the law gives the government the right to shut down a media outlet after the first warning - one mistake and your are out!
Others have complained that the law would also apply to online media – and the Internet is the only place in Belarus where alternative voices are heard. The explanation is simple
However, Liliya Ananich, first deputy information minister, said in May that her ministry favored a registration requirement for online media outlets, as “there is a problem of disinformation flows” from abroad. According to Ananich, such a problem has been successfully tackled by China, “which has cut off access to its territory for such sites.”
The law also gives the government a right to punish those media outlets that distribute false information that causes damage to the public. This is something the government has already addressed in the past (for example by passing a law that includes criminal prosecution of discrediting the country).
The problem of course is that in a weak rule of law climate who is to say what is a false piece of information and how can you dispute accusations?
In many emerging markets, new rules to control the media are sometimes well-reasoned, but the implementation of those laws more often than not has a political context (i.e. punishing the opposition rather than ensuring freedom of information). Figuring out how to beef up voluntary ethical standards within media may be an alternative to restricting laws and regulations. An alternative that I doubt the government of Belarus will consider… | <urn:uuid:f72a1959-6643-4137-ac17-0782766e0ea0> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.cipe.org/blog/2008/06/18/controlling-the-media-tried-it-before/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368708766848/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516125246-00021-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.967132 | 367 | 1.828125 | 2 |
So much for apathy: Teenagers tackle weighty issues
By Roger Li
To many, the word “teenager” is associated with apathy. For members of La Jolla YMCA’s Youth and Government program, however, that assumption couldn’t be further from the truth. At their latest meeting, these civic-minded teens debated everything from illegal immigration to eco-friendly tax breaks.
Youth and Government (Y&G) is a statewide mock legislature and court sponsored by YMCAs all over California. Two training conferences during the fall prepare delegates for their main conference in Sacramento, affectionately dubbed “Sac.” For four days in February, students take over the capitol, using state buildings and fulfilling their chosen roles. These roles vary from lobbyist to assemblyman to journalist to Supreme Court justice.
Ambitious students can run for statewide office. The few who are elected by their peers help run Y&G, leading its various program areas. One of La Jolla’s own, Michael Sacks, was one of the top five finalists in the race for youth governor last year.
“It was an amazing experience,” says Sacks about running. “I learned so much from it and it made me into a better person. I got the chance to meet so many kids from all over California and speak in front of a crowd of 2,500. Plus it was really cool to get recognized by people I didn’t know.”
Chad Matkowski, La Jolla Y&G’s lead adviser, shared his thoughts on the value of Youth and Government.
“The most important things to gain from Youth and Government are social awareness and learning through first hand experience on how democracy really works,” he said. “The program is designed for students that want to make a difference in the communities they live in.”
Marissa Rauthause, senior at La Jolla High and participant for three years, spoke of her experience with Y&G. “It really helped me blossom as a public speaker and as a person,” said Rauthause. “Before, I was really shy, but Y&G forced me to talk to people I didn’t know. Through Y&G, I think that I gained the confidence that I have today.”
For more information about the program, including how to join, contact Chad Matkowski at (858) 453-3483, ext. 141.
Roger Li is a senior at La Jolla High School.
- La Jolla resident donates historic map to UCSD
- Parents help Bird Rock teachers prepare
- Summer internships hold life lessons for students
- La Jolla Interact Club collects 600 pounds of food for SD Food Bank
- Cheerleaders to hold carwash Friday
Short URL: http://www.lajollalight.com/?p=3005 | <urn:uuid:ab74c5ea-fa87-4068-ba8e-a2b04f5ab57c> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.lajollalight.com/2010/10/12/so-much-for-apathy-teenagers-tackle-weighty-issues/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368699273641/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516101433-00029-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.965093 | 617 | 1.765625 | 2 |
We at Howtocleananything.com love the Olympics as much as the rest of you. However, being so obsessed with cleaning as we are, we started to wonder about Olympic achievements of a different sort. Consequently, after exhaustive research (thank you Guinness Book of World Records!), we are proud to present the following H.T.C.A. Gold Medal Winners…..
Car Washing: to the Carol High School students of Yakima WA. who washed 3844 cars in 8 hours on May 7 1983.
Garbage Collecting: to the 50,405 people who cleaned the California Coastline on Oct. 2 1993.
Bed Making: to Wendy Wall (of Sydney Aus.!) who made a standard bed “hospital style” in 28.2 seconds on Nov. 30 1978.
Shoe Shining: to 4 chaps in London England who shined 14,975 shoes “on the hoof” on June 15 1996.
Clothesline: to the citizens of Bavel Netherlands who strung up 17,298 ft. of freshly washed laundry on June 2 1996.
Lawn Mowing: to Jay Frick of Monroe Ohio who built a 60 ft. wide lawn mower which cuts an acre of grass in only 60 seconds.
Garbage Can: to Durban South Africa that constructed a fiberglass trash can 19 ft. 9 in. with a capacity of 11,493 gallons in Sept. 1991.
Carpet: to those high stepping Rockettes who kicked their way down a Red Carpet of 52,225 sq.ft. in N.Y.C. on Feb. 13 1982.
Garbage Dump: to the Sanitation Dept. of New York for their 3000 acre facility on Staten Island which processes 4,368,000 ton of garbage per year.
Sewage Works: to Stickney Ill. for their plant that handles 802 million gallons of waste a day.
Finally, after extensive toxicology testing which revealed illegal levels of many banned substances, we are revoking the Gold Medal from the folks of the Ixtoc 1 oil rig in the Gulf of Mexico. From June 3 1979 to Mar. 24 1980, they spilled 505,600 tons of crude oil creating a slick 400 miles long.
Now you have our 2000 Cleaning Olympics medal results. Like N.B.C., we offer no apologies for our lack of live coverage or for the fact that many of the events ended long before we presented to you. | <urn:uuid:1b1fc4a2-032e-4b70-b505-bf5c6e9bc6f9> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.howtocleananything.com/general-cleaning-tips/htca-olympic-cleaning-records/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368707435344/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516123035-00002-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.938599 | 509 | 1.742188 | 2 |
CNN looks back at the decade-long hunt for Osama bin Laden in the award-winning documentary "In the Footsteps of bin Laden" at 11 ET Friday night.
(CNN) -- Al Qaeda warnings against the United States emerged Friday as the materials taken from Osama bin Laden's compound continued to yield a trove of intelligence, including details about a possible attack on the 10th anniversary of 9/11.
Al Qaeda, the bin Laden terrorist network that carried out the deadly attack in 2001, confirmed its leader's death on Friday in a Web statement and used that opportunity to taunt and threaten the United States.
"Sheikh Osama didn't build an organization that will vanish with his death or fades away with his departure," according to the statement, which CNN could not independently authenticate.
The statement, which congratulates the "Islamic Nation on the martyrdom of their devoted son Osama," repeated themes and threats made over the years in prior al Qaeda statements.
"The blood of the mujahid sheikh, Osama bin Laden, may God have mercy on him, is very dear to us and more precious to us and to every Muslim from being shed in vain," the statement said. A mujahid is defined as a Muslim engaged in what he considers to be jihad.
"This blood will be a curse that will chase the Americans and their agents, a curse that will pursue them inside and outside their country, and soon -- with God's help -- we pray that their happiness turns into sorrow and may their blood mix with their tears and let Sheikh Osama's resonate again."
In its pronouncements, al Qaeda frequently cites the conflict between Israel and the Palestinians, and it did so again, saying Friday that America "will neither enjoy nor live in security until our people in Palestine live it and enjoy it."
"The soldiers of Islam in groups and as individuals will continue to plan and plot without any fatigue, boredom, despair, surrender or indifference until you receive from them a cunning misfortune that will gray the hair of the child even before he gets old," the statement said.
Pakistanis were urged to "rise up" and cleanse the "disgrace that was brought upon them by a handful of traitors and thieves" and "their country from the filth of the Americans who have wreaked havoc in the land."
The statement surfaced as protesters packed the streets of Abbottabad -- where bin Laden was shot and killed -- in a rally organized by Jamaat-e-Islami, Pakistan's largest Islamist party. The demonstrators denounced the U.S. and Pakistani governments.
Also, the statement expressed disdain for the United States, both its efforts and its motives, saying that the Americans managed to kill bin Laden "by disgrace and betrayal." Bin Laden was killed in a U.S. Navy SEAL raid on his compound early Monday in Abbottabad, a military garrison town north of the capital of Islamabad.
"Men and heroes only should be confronted in the battlefields but at the end, that's God's fate. Still we ask, will the Americans be able -- through their media outlets, their agents, their instruments, soldiers, intelligence services and their might -- be able to kill what Sheikh Osama lived for and was killed for? How far! How impossible!"
Bin Laden was buried at sea in what U.S. officials have described as a proper Islamic burial.
But the statement said if Americans treat the bodies of bin Laden or his family members improperly, either dead or alive, or do not hand over the bodies to families, there will be retribution.
"Any offense will open unto your doors of multitudes of evil for which you will only have yourselves to blame."
According to the statement, bin Laden recorded an audio message a week prior to his death regarding the revolutions sweeping the Muslim world and offering advice and guidance. Al Qaeda indicated that the release of this message is forthcoming.
Meanwhile, investigators poring over material seized in the Monday raid found details about a possible attack on the 10th anniversary of 9/11, and the intelligence led Thursday to a nationwide alert regarding rail security.
As early as February 2010, al Qaeda members discussed a plan to derail trains in the United States by placing obstructions on tracks over bridges and valleys, the alert said, according to one law enforcement official.
The plan was to be executed later this year, coinciding with the 10th anniversary of the September 11 attacks, though no specific rail system was identified, the official said.
The Department of Homeland Security confirmed a notice was sent to federal, state, local and tribal authorities.
"We have no information of any imminent terrorist threat to the U.S. rail sector, but wanted to make sure our partners are aware of the alleged plotting. It is unclear if any further planning has been conducted since February of last year," spokesman Matt Chandler said.
Rail agencies across the United States heightened security.
The Chicago Transit Authority reissued security bulletins, "reminding employees of what activities to look for and what steps to take should they encounter any suspicious or criminal activity during the course of their duties," said Wanda Taylor, a CTA spokeswoman.
Amtrak employees also were on a heightened "state of vigilance," spokesman Marc Magliari said.
At Fort Campbell, Kentucky, President Obama thanked the troops for their efforts and vowed to achieve more. "We are going to ultimately defeat al Qaeda," he said to applause. "We have cut off their head and we will ultimately defeat them."
He said the U.S. strategy is working, "and there is no greater evidence of that than justice finally being delivered to Osama bin Laden."
A U.S. official said that "valuable information has been gleaned already" from the information gathered at bin Laden's compound, though no specific plots or terrorist suspects were identified.
But the material suggests that al Qaeda was particularly interested in striking Washington, New York, Los Angeles and Chicago, according to the law enforcement official who spoke on condition of anonymity.
U.S. authorities have found that al Qaeda appeared especially interested in striking on significant dates like July 4, Christmas and the opening day of the United Nations.
The material seized from the compound included audio and video equipment, suggesting bin Laden may have taped messages there, a U.S. official said.
Ten hard drives, five computers and more than 100 storage devices, such as disks and thumb drives, were also found, a senior U.S. official told CNN.
The Washington Post reported on Thursday that the CIA had a safe house in Abbottabad "for a small team of spies" who performed surveillance on the compound.
Citing U.S. officials, the effort "relied on Pakistani informants and other sources to help assemble a 'pattern of life' portrait of the occupants and daily activities at the fortified compound where bin Laden was found."
It was "mobilized after the discovery of the suspicious complex last August that involved virtually every category of collection in the U.S. arsenal, ranging from satellite imagery to eavesdropping efforts aimed at recording voices inside the compound," the Post reported.
Dozens of people in Abbottabad have been arrested because of their suspected connections to the compound where Osama bin Laden was shot and killed, a Pakistani intelligence official said Friday. Investigators want to know whether any of the people are al Qaeda members or sympathizers.
The United States and Pakistan have been allies for years in the anti-terrorism effort, but U.S. concerns that Pakistanis haven't been robust enough in the fight against Islamic militants and suspected U.S. drone attacks that killed innocent civilians have heightened tensions. Another suspected drone strike killed 12 suspected militants on Friday in the Pakistani tribal region.
Questions remain over why and how Pakistani intelligence officials could not have known bin Laden was hiding out in the city, which is home to a military academy and has a strong military presence.
Pakistani armed forces chiefs issued a statement Thursday admitting "shortcomings in developing intelligence" on the terrorist leader's presence in the country.
The army chief of staff, Gen. Ashfaq Parvez Kayani, "made it very clear that any similar action, violating the sovereignty of Pakistan, will warrant a review on the level of military/intelligence cooperation with the United States," the statement said.
Since the raid, Pakistan has ordered U.S. military personnel on its territory drawn down to the "minimum essential" level, the statement said. | <urn:uuid:0efa23ea-07b9-4fb6-aac6-cfaeac7269c6> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://edition.cnn.com/2011/WORLD/asiapcf/05/06/pakistan.bin.laden/index.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368711005985/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516133005-00041-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.969636 | 1,727 | 1.773438 | 2 |
Even before Mitt Romney arrives in Israel, he has friends here.
During a recent series of debates pitting representatives of the Republican and Democratic parties against each other, the audience cheered as heartily for the Republican Party representative as it booed mentions of President Barack Obama.
“The crowd was predominantly Republican, which is natural for Anglos in Israel,” said David Brinn, a moderator at one of the debates and managing editor of the Jerusalem Post, using the Israeli term for English speakers.
While Jewish Americans poll heavily toward the Democratic Party – Obama won 78 percent of the Jewish vote in 2008 – Americans living in Israel skew just as heavily toward the Republican Party.
That base of support is preparing a warm welcome for Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney, who arrives in Israel Saturday night on the second leg of a three-country campaign trip abroad. His first stop was London; his last will be in Warsaw, Poland.
“Everyone here is very excited about his visit,” said Marc Zell, the co-chairman of Republicans Abroad in Israel. “When it comes to protecting American interests and the interests of the Israeli people and of the Jewish people, the Republican Party has been a stalwart and loyal friend to Israel and the Jewish people for the past several administrations. That is something we want to bring home to the Jewish voters of the United States.”
Zell and his fellow co-chairman, Kory Bardash, argued that Americans who will vote from Israel this year overwhelmingly vote Republican because they place Israel near the top of their lists of issues for presidential hopefuls.
“The Republican Party has made it clear that they will safeguard Israel’s interests,” said Zell. “If you look at it just based on that issue it seems clear that the Republican Party will be better for Israel.”
Romney’s campaign hopes his visit will help register some of the 150,000 eligible U.S. citizens in Israel to vote, particularly if they cast absentee ballots in swing states.
His organization also hopes that placing a focus on the Republican support of Israel will pull in crucial votes in swing states with high Jewish populations, such as Florida. During Romney’s visit this weekend, he’ll highlight his close, decades-long friendship with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, as well as his strong support of Israel’s stand against Iran’s nuclear program.
But translating the support of Americans living in Israel to Jewish Americans in the United States has proved elusive for Republican campaigners.
In the United States this week, the Republican Jewish Coalition launched a $6.5 million ad campaign in Florida, Ohio and Pennsylvania titled “My Buyer’s Remorse.” It featured Jewish Americans who voted for Obama in 2008, but who will be voting Republican in the upcoming elections. The campaign, which was largely funded by casino magnate Sheldon Adelson, is being supported by a Website and other outreach efforts.
“I think it will speak to many Jewish American voters because it highlights the doubts we have about Obama,” said John Gallagher, a 27-year-old American student visiting Israel from New York this week. He said that as a regular visitor to Israel and a strong supporter of Israeli causes, he felt his vote would be better placed with Romney then Obama. “Maybe some of my friends who don’t think about Israel as much don’t think the same way.”
According to Democratic pollster Jim Gerstein, few voters place Israel as high on their list of issues as Gallagher. Citing Gallup and Pew polls, Gerstein said that Israel didn’t rank in the top 10 of issues voters considered on Election Day – even among Jewish voters. He argued that all signs pointed to a Jewish American voting base that was strongly entrenched in the Democratic Party.
“Even with the slight lessening of support for Obama, and we are talking about a couple of points, I don’t see it making a real difference,” said Gerstein.
Obama, meanwhile, also has campaigned heavily for the Jewish vote.
On Friday morning, Obama with considerable fanfare was photographed in the Oval Office signing the United States-Israel Enhanced Security Cooperation Act. The law gives Israel $70 million in military support and significantly expands cooperation between the U.S. and Israeli militaries. Just days before Romney’s visit, it successfully stole headlines in Israel away from the Republican’s planned trip and fundraiser.
The White House rejected suggestions that the signing – the day before Romney arrives in Israel – was politically motivated. Press Secretary Jay Carney said Congress passed the bill earlier this month and sent it to Obama for signing last week. His first opportunity to sign the measure was Friday, Carney said, as he’d been out of town all week.
"The timing of the passage and the signing of this legislation was not up to us, but up to Congress," Carney said. "I understand the coincidence. But the fact is our cooperation with Israel on its security is a subject we could discuss every day." Lesley Clark of the Washington Bureau contributed from Washington. | <urn:uuid:5994f0c6-3a2b-4b28-a84e-2f4a119c1f57> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.miamiherald.com/2012/07/27/v-print/2916307/romney-heads-to-friendly-turf.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368705195219/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516115315-00008-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.967778 | 1,065 | 1.5625 | 2 |
The company, which is facing lawsuits from investors after its troubled initial public offering (IPO) last month, yesterday started letting marketers create ads specifically designed for its smartphone and tablet apps.
It is also letting companies buy a type of adverts on mobile known as "sponsored stories", which are promoted status updates that appear direct in users' news feeds.
This represents a significant shift for the newly-listed company, which has faced pressure to lift its restrictions on where advertising can appear across its social network.
Facebook, founded by Mark Zuckerberg while at Harvard eight years ago, became the first American company ever to debut on the stock market at over $100bn (£66bn) on May 18.
But around $32bn has since been wiped off its value due to fears over its ability to truly transform into a mobile player.
Smaller investors are suing Zuckerberg, Facebook and the banks who led the IPO over reports alleging that analyst warnings over Facebook's reduced future revenue potential were kept from them.
A key issue has been whether Facebook would be able to capitalise on the increasing use of its social network by people on mobile devices.
Previously, the company only allowed advertisers to buy "sponsored stories" on its website, but that has now expanded to Facebook's mobile apps, potentially unlocking a major new revenue stream.
However, there have also been concerns over the effectiveness of Facebook advertising, particularly after car maker General Motors pulled its $10m Facebook advertising account last month.
A poll by Reuters/Ipsos Mori on Monday revealed that four out of five Facebook users have never bought a product or service as result of advertising on the site.
Facebook generated $3.7bn in revenue last year, mostly drawn from advertising, but a slowing of revenue growth in the first quarter of 2012 led to fresh fears among the markets.
But the company also faces a delicate balance in offering options to advertisers while not alienating its 900m worldwide users, effectively the lifeblood of the business.
A Facebook spokeswoman said that there would be a limit placed on how many mobile ads can appear in users' mobile feeds, although did not confirm what this was.
She said that the changes were intended to make Facebook's advertising system more accessible to companies.
"We want to make it easier for advertisers to get the distribution they want," she said.
Shares in Facebook yesterday closed down 3.8% at $25.87, after setting their all-time low of $25.75. The shares had hit a peak of $43 after debuting at the IPO price of $38, but have fallen steadily ever since.
Alongside bringing ads to its mobile platform, Facebook has also recently been making more in-roads into mobile services; including the acquisition of photo-sharing app Instagram for more than $1bn, the launch of an Instagram-style mobile service called Facebook Camera and a rumoured Facebook smartphone project, codenamded Buffy. | <urn:uuid:67094dfa-482d-4764-8c67-c75496fc6ed4> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.digitalspy.co.uk/tech/news/a385525/facebook-broadens-advertising-on-mobile-service.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368696383156/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516092623-00006-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.972083 | 599 | 1.515625 | 2 |
Our local sangha wasn’t able to have our four-hour sitting yesterday because of a huge snowstorm, which knocked out power at the Unitarian church where we meet.
I just got back from a writers’ conference in Chicago. While I was there, I ended up having enough free time to spend hours at the Art Institute, something that gives me great pleasure. I stood for long periods in front of the images of the Buddha, Kartikaya (God of War Seated on a Peacock), and Avalokiteśvara.
I was particularly interested in the expressions on the faces of the images of Avalokitesvara, the god who embodies the compassion of all Buddhas. His name in Sanskrit means “Lord who looks down.” According to Mahāyāna doctrine, Avalokiteśvara is the bodhisattva who has made a great vow to assist sentient beings in times of difficulty, and to postpone his own Buddhahood until he has assisted every being on Earth in achieving Nirvāṇa. “He” was also personified as female by the fifth century, and probably earlier also, according to Red Pine in his commentary on the Heart Sutra.
What struck me in the various faces of Avalokitesvara is the playfulness. You might think there would be great seriousness, considering the human condition, but the lips are upturned not in laughter but something like bemusement. It didn’t seem mocking or detached. It was actually comforting—there was freedom enough to smile. Everything is as it should be. It is all okay, no matter what it is.
Goldstein says, in “Liberation Through Nonclinging” the chapter in One Dharma we’ll be picking back up on in our discussion next week: “Anything can happen anytime. Changing conditions are not a mistake. It’s just how things are. . . . .Sometimes people feel that recognizing the truth of suffering conditions a pessimistic outlook on life. . .actually, it’s quite the reverse.” More on that next week. | <urn:uuid:d35c9f88-283b-4fb2-83ae-53db4e9396b7> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://[email protected]/blog/fleda-brown/art-compassion | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368705195219/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516115315-00037-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.966105 | 447 | 1.75 | 2 |
How Close Was It? Iowa Result Was .003 Tighter Than Bush-Gore In Fla.
Originally published on Wed January 4, 2012 12:15 pm
When it comes to close political races, the recent Gold Standard in the U.S. is the 2000 presidential vote in Florida.
So we were wondering how last night's result in the Iowa Republican presidential caucuses compares to that famous hanging-chad contest between George W. Bush and Al Gore.
Let's walk through the math:
-- According to the results posted by the National Archives, 537 votes separated the Bush-Cheney and Gore-Lieberman campaigns in Florida. That equaled 0.00900 percent of the 5,963,070 votes cast in the state.
-- Last night in Iowa, Mitt Romney officially edged Rick Santorum by eight votes. There were 122,255 ballots cast. If our math is right (and feel free to check us), the difference comes to about 0.00654 percent of all votes cast.
So Iowa's outcome was about 0.0025 percentage points squeakier than Florida's (.003 if you want to round a bit).
Of course, some might say Florida was really decided by one vote — thanks to the 5-4 Supreme Court decision that made Bush president. But one vote out of nine is only 11.1 percent. | <urn:uuid:ed2827fa-c9d9-40a2-ac51-bf2c185d9e57> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://kacu.org/post/how-close-was-it-iowa-result-was-003-tighter-bush-gore-fla | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368699881956/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516102441-00010-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.941475 | 278 | 1.804688 | 2 |
MUMBAI: Gone are the days when doctors, nurses, pharmacologists and other professionals in the medical field were found just in hospitals or labs. IT companies are hiring them for their life sciences businesses, which involves research and development in the discovery/pre-clinical and clinical phase of drugs, manufacturing, analytics for sales and marketing and regulatory compliance.
According to IMS Health, a consultancy firm, the global life sciences market will be as large as $830 billion in 2009. These companies typically spend 3-5% of their total revenue on IT which includes both hardware and software. Among the challenges for pharmaceutical companies includes speeding up their drug development cycle on account of existing generic competition and the impending loss of major patents.
As a result, the demand among the pharma companies for a more cost-efficient pipeline has intensified in recent years and outsourcing is helping in battling this. A few large IT firms like Cognizant, Accenture, TCS and Patni provide services in the clinical trial data management as well as analytics space.
The global clinical trials business was estimated to be worth $50 billion in 2008 with an annual growth rate of 10 per cent. This is according to "Global Clinical Trial Business Report & Analysis 2008-2018." For a drug to be accepted in the market, data management of these trials is a complex process. It involves data collection for evaluation from a large global patient population, validating the accuracy of the data, analysing large amounts of data and eventually making some clinical interpretations that relate to the safety and effectiveness of the drug under trial. The data collection, validation, analysis and reporting is generally done with the help of IT systems due to the large amounts of data involved.
To date, many players have made a foray into this area. "There have been contract research organisations (CROs) that have started separate offshore data management units. Some of them are IT/ITES companies that leverage software processes and technology expertise while others like pharmaceutical companies are setting up captive biometrics and data management operations," said Cognizant AVP life sciences practice J Sairamkumar.
It is one of the few IT firms which has 24.4% of its total revenues coming from the healthcare and life sciences segment. The company has doctors, pharmacologists, physicians, biomedical engineers, pharmacists, bio-statisticians and medical writers on its payroll.
Analytics and profiling trends in the drug development, clinical trial and also in the post-marketing stage are a few other areas that IT companies specialise in. This analysis of data helps the pharma companies maximise their profits and chart their marketing course. "A large part of the work done with pharma companies is in the areas of innovation and development of new drugs. Clinical study reports are written for the USFDA for commercial and regulatory purposes. All this is done out of our BPO in India," said Patni BPO head Sanjiv Kapur. | <urn:uuid:d44d5e1a-08f3-4062-a6c7-91b187c71e16> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://articles.economictimes.indiatimes.com/2009-03-30/news/28477821_1_data-management-clinical-trial-life-sciences | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368711005985/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516133005-00040-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.963143 | 601 | 1.734375 | 2 |
Are We Better off Now Than We Were 12 Months Ago?
By David Dierking
Depending on whom you listen to and what you choose to believe (if any of it), the greatest recession of our generation finally came to an end about 12 months ago. March 2009 is when the stock market hit its nadir bottoming out at just below Dow 7000. It’s also the point where some economists have suggested that the economy hit its lowest point before turning the corner.
A lot has happened since then. The stock market has gone on a tear and has given people who’ve opened their brokerage account and 401(k) statements at least the impression that the good times have finally returned.
But have they? Taking a look at three commonly used economic indicators paints a mixed picture.
March 2009: 8.6%
March 2010: 9.7%
Conclusions: The one issue with the economic rebound is that it’s largely been a jobless recovery. U.S. unemployment rates shot up to 8.6% a year ago and continued to only get worse peaking at 10.2%. The rate has begun to come back down a little, suggesting that things might have begun improving and employment numbers so far during 2010 have looked more encouraging. Some economists will tell you that a jobless recovery is an empty recovery and that if the nation’s employment situation doesn’t improve we could see the current rally stalling. Keep an eye on this number going forward.
March 2009: Dow 7,608.92
March 2010: Dow 10,856.63
Conclusions: Here’s where things clearly look the best. The Dow is up in excess of 40% over the 12 month period and even more if you start from the March 2009 lows. Investors who’ve remained committed to stocks have obviously enjoyed the returns over the past year as the stock market has experienced a typical post-recession bounce. The question going forward will be whether or not fundamentals will be able to sustain the rally. So far, corporate profits have shown solid growth and GDP is expected to continue to recover throughout 2010. If those two factors happen as expected, interest rates remain low and unemployment subsides, this rally could have legs.
March 2009: -6.4%
March 2010: +2.5% (estimate)
Conclusions: After several quarters of contraction in the gross domestic product, the economy is finally looking like it may be rebounding. As mentioned above, GDP finally started returning to growth in the second half of 2009 posting a 5.6% gain in the 4th quarter alone. The Fed will want to continue to encourage economic growth but look for them to begin raising interest rates back to more normal levels to keep things in check.
One other thing to keep in mind is that this recovery has had two very big things blowing wind in its sails – interest rates that have remained near record lows for a while now and billions of dollars in government stimulus money. The economy has had every reason to begin expanding with the sheer amount of aid that’s been pumped into it to get it going again. Neither of these factors can continue much longer. The strength of the recovery will be measured by how the economy is able to perform on its own without this support.
All in all, it’s still a mixed bag. GDP has begun expanding once again and the stock market has rallied but we’ve yet to see a meaningful jump in jobs created. The economy as a whole appears to be improving but that will be of little solace to those who are still sitting in the unemployment line. Obstacles still remain such as what effect a $1.4 trillion deficit will have and when financial institutions will truly begin lending normally again to spur small business growth.
The good times may not be back yet but at least they’re closer than they were 12 months ago.
Photo credit: gogoloopie
This article was originally written or modified on . If you enjoyed reading this post, please consider subscribing to my full RSS feed. Or you can also choose to have free daily updates delivered right to your inbox. | <urn:uuid:db4e9fab-d426-417d-aa4c-5a7cab1bedec> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.thesunsfinancialdiary.com/personal-finance/12-months/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368708142388/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516124222-00000-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.964381 | 856 | 1.632813 | 2 |
Everyone says it, and yet few social media marketers seem to take their own advice to heart. “It all starts with listening,” they say. And everyone nods their heads in agreement. But how many follow through?
In a micro-second world where focus and attention is often marginally greater than a cursory study, it seems to make sense that professionals deep inside the world of social media would have even less time to really listen. I think that we have made the mistake of confusing hearing with listening, and buying into the jargon that social media monitoring really is the same thing as social listening.
In 7 Habits of Highly Effective People, Stephen Covey wrote, “Most people do not listen with the intent to understand; they listen with the intent to reply.” As we put greater emphasis on engagement, are we thinking more about the response than the learning?
Listening is about taking the next step from simply hearing what people are saying to internalizing what they are trying to convey. It is about finding context within content and matching feeling with thoughts. Social media monitoring in itself is just data. It is the content and the thoughts, but it does not convey intention. For marketers to take full advantage of social data, they need to look at more than just what people are saying and how often. Graphs that show volume fluctuations are great, but how does that help you figure out what you should do based on what your customers are telling you?
Lee Iacocca, the former CEO of Chrysler, once said, “I only wish I could find an institute that teaches people how to listen. Business people need to listen at least as much as they need to talk. Too many people fail to realize that real communication goes in both directions.”
If you can’t show that you have listened (not just to your customers, but also to yourself and your company), then how can you improve to meet their needs? Some people think that this type of listening is mainly about driving product innovation. But it is much more. Analytical rigor applied to social media data can help improve future marketing campaigns, fix customer service issues and pinpoint better ways to generate interest for products and services.
This cannot be done within the confines of a social media monitoring product. It is, however, a necessary first step. So, monitor. Hear what people are saying. Then, take the data out. Put the data into visualization or business intelligence software. Have a data analyst look for trends that match content with context. I know that this is not easy, but at least you won’t be tricking yourself into thinking that hearing is the same thing as listening. | <urn:uuid:1f598d29-1d5c-404c-a0df-9289e704a50f> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://robingandhi.com/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368706499548/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516121459-00006-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.973305 | 548 | 1.726563 | 2 |
The objective of the board is to provide the best educational services possible within resources available to the district. Federal grants and programs may provide helpful financial resources towards pursuing that objective.
The board agrees to comply with all federal and state requirements that may be a condition to receipt of federal funds including, but not limited to:
- Maintenance of fiscal records which show the receipt and disposition of federal funds,
- Provision for eligible private school students to participate in programs and/or services designed for the educationally disadvantaged as well as other programs which are supported by ECIA funds,
- Provision for testing to identify target students as well as to measure program results,
- Provision for staff and parent involvement, program planning, budget development and program evaluation.
The district agrees to comply with Chapter 1 requirements pertaining to the implementation of internal controls for travel, contracted services, training, and capital outlay purchases and expenditures.
The district further assures that a district-wide salary schedule is in effect and that the staff are assigned equitably among schools. Instructional material shall also be distributed equitably among all schools. The board grants authority to directors and staff to participate in the development of any state and/or federal regulations deemed to be necessary for the implementation of federally-funded programs.
Federal Impact Funds (Indian)
Federal impact funds have been provided to local districts as a supplement to taxes and other revenue sources. State appropriated funds and local taxes contribute to the development and implementation of a basic education program for all students enrolled in the public schools. The district gives assurance that tribes and parents shall be afforded with the opportunity to make recommendations regarding the needs of their children and shall be involved in the planning and development of the basic education program including those educational programs and services to be provided with P.L. 81-874 funds.
Indian students shall have the equal opportunity to participate in the district's program with other students.
Recognizing that the board is the ultimate authority in defining the educational program of the district, the superintendent shall establish procedures to assure the involvement of the tribe and parents of Indian students in the development of the basic education program including the education services to be provided with P.L. 81-874 funds. The superintendent shall provide opportunities for parents and members of the tribal council to suggest if any policy and/or procedure changes as well as program changes are necessary to better serve the needs of the Indian students.
Current practice codified 1988
34 CFR 223 | <urn:uuid:f1204352-41e9-43e7-8998-f43d4806ad23> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.lwsd.org/About/Policies-Regulations/Admin-Policies/Fiscal-Management/Pages/Revenues-from-Federal-Tax-Sources.aspx | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368698207393/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516095647-00028-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.951534 | 497 | 1.835938 | 2 |
Welcome to the IMH Graduate Program
Mark A. Clark, Ph.D.
Graduate Program Director
Graduate Program Coordinator
In 1988, the Medical Humanities Graduate Program of the Institute for the Medical Humanities (IMH) at the University of Texas Medical Branch at Galveston (UTMB) was authorized to offer the nation's first Ph.D. degree in the medical humanities. Twenty-three years later, we are still one of the very few programs in the United States to offer advanced degrees (M.A. and Ph.D.) in the medical humanities. Fifty-eight students have graduated (thirteen M.A., forty-five Ph.D.) and twenty-one degree-seeking students are currently enrolled.
In celebration of the thirty-fifth anniversary of the IMH and the twentieth anniversary of its Medical Humanities Graduate Program, the IMH hosted a conference on Graduate Education in Medical Humanities: Models and Methods, March 6-9, 2008, in Galveston. This conference provided a rare opportunity for faculty, administrators, and students of such programs throughout the world to come together to investigate the questions that characterize this evolving field of graduate education; to discuss their work; and to share models and methods of successful programs.
We have enjoyed the freedom and creativity inherent in developing this innovative, interdisciplinary Medical Humanities Graduate Program. And we continue to struggle with the difficulty of stating precisely what a medical humanities degree signifies, how medical humanists are trained, and what they do after completing their graduate education. What does it mean to become a medical humanist by studying at the IMH? This question cannot be adequately answered abstractly or in advance of the experience itself, but some useful things can be said. Becoming a medical humanist is not simply a matter of taking an array of interdisciplinary courses in the medical humanities or of acquiring the knowledge and skills of a clinical ethicist. Becoming a medical humanist includes more than curricular and professional development. Formal humanities knowledge and clinical competence must be personally integrated so that they become humanistic—a word with so many meanings and (often negative) connotations that it is rarely used today in scholarly discourse.
By humanistic, we refer to knowledge (not necessarily in the humanities), clinical competence, or practice that is informed by the ancient ideal of humanitas. The original meaning of the Latin word humanitas was human feeling; the word gradually became associated with an educational ideal that blended knowledge, humane feeling, and compassionate action. It is this wonderful and elusive mixture of knowledge, feeling, and action—the humanist educational ideal in Lionel Trilling's terms—that we are trying to recapture and refigure in a contemporary health-care setting. Humanistic knowledge is more difficult to achieve than cognitive knowledge alone, because it demands heightened awareness that all knowledge resides in particular individuals who are embodied, embedded in social relationships, and limited. Humanistic knowledge requires attention to the context of knowledge making and to the practical needs and problems of any given situation. It requires a depth of self-understanding, which allows both detached discernment and personal engagement, depending on the human needs of any given situation and the scholarly, clinical, or pedagogical aims of the knower.
The personal integration essential to humanistic knowledge is a fluid, holistic ideal that can occasionally be achieved and exemplified but cannot be taught directly or didactically. It is an ongoing personal and interpersonal process. The IMH faculty therefore conceives the development of a medical humanities graduate student as a kind of "moral career" in itself—one that involves collaborative cultivation of a responsible engaged self who seeks his or her own unique blend of knowledge, feeling, and action.
By and large, humanities scholars in contemporary academic life are cut off from this strenuous holistic ideal and from its ancient and Renaissance humanist origins. Especially since the late nineteenth century, academic humanists have been encouraged to take up permanent residence within the boundaries of a particular humanities discipline and to pursue specialized research and teaching. Without devaluing the necessity of specialized research and teaching, the IMH faculty believes that becoming a medical humanist—and striving for humanistic knowledge and competence—require a strong historical and conceptual grounding in the humanist educational ideal in the West. This effort to connect graduate education in the medical humanities with the humanist tradition is what makes our program unique. | <urn:uuid:136d065b-226f-4ca1-b44a-3e9a5ef7fa7e> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://imh.utmb.edu/education/graduate-program | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368700958435/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516104238-00025-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.946612 | 891 | 1.601563 | 2 |
The survey of Corn and Soybean Initiative retail partners (input suppliers), discussed in the special soybean aphid issue of the ICM Newsletter (January 23, 2006), asked additional questions about management for soybean rust in the 2005 growing season. Twenty of 26 partners who were polled responded. Statewide treatments with foliar fungicides varied from area to area, with more acres sprayed in the western half of Iowa. Among these 20 responses, an estimated 32,000 acres were treated. Areas treated ranged from 1 up to 10 percent of soybean acreage within their service communities, with most reporting 0 to 1 percent. Two respondents specifically stated that most applications were made not from direct fear of Asian soybean rust infection but rather with the phrase "treated for 'plant health' purposes."
The primary product used was Headline®, generally applied at 6 oz. per acre. Other products reported to be used were Quadris® and Stratego®. Some Section 18 product treatments made were likely off-label. Every partner but one said that treatments were all ground applied, the exception being very limited aerial spraying in southwest Iowa coupled with the usual ground applications. There may have been other occasional aerial applications, but they were the exception in Iowa.
We also asked about applying fungicides with either insecticides and/or herbicides. The most common mix was with Roundup® herbicide, but some mixing occurred with all of the midsummer pesticide treatments.
Concerning storage of "stockpiled" or leftover fungicides, most partners reported that they knew of little carryover product on-farm, but one respondent stated: "Yes, and there was more than we know about or want to think about across Iowa. [We discouraged stockpiling, but] brokers really loaded some up."
In summary, although there were some Asian soybean rust treatments made in 2005, the practice was infrequent. As we approach the 2006 growing season, our knowledge base about this disease should grow from local and national experiences.
This article originally appeared on page 49 of the IC-496 (3) -- February 27, 2006 issue. | <urn:uuid:1ce5bf74-2138-49d4-891b-b667b2db50a6> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.ipm.iastate.edu/ipm/icm/2006/2-27/survey.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368703298047/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516112138-00000-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.978585 | 427 | 1.578125 | 2 |
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Re: - "Birdies"
Hi, Maxime. I'm not sure exactly what you are looking for, and I don't
have any references to provide. But if you are looking for a perceptual
description, here's what I know:
"Birdies" are little whistling sounds that are related to the
program material, but are not harmonics of it. They used to
be a serious problem in sigma-delta converters, which compare the
input signal to a reconstruction of the output signal, and generate
a "higher than" or "lower than" response on each sample. That
1-bit stream is then used to create the reconstruction for the
comparison (and the eventual output). Nowadays, this is all
done at very high sample rates and then ultimately converted
down to a nominal rate, and the reconstruction processing is
very sophisticated. But simple early schemes had interactions
between the input signal and the sample frequency that caused
"birdies" at sum and/or difference frequencies. The birdies might
be only 40 dB down, but even if they were much softer than that
they were clearly audible, especially on sparse program material
like simple sine waves, flutes, etc, since they appeared in
non-harmonic locations and were not masked by the program
itself. They also often had the annoying habit of sweeping in the
opposite direction to a sweep in the signal frequency, which made
them really obvious.
Hope that helps!
On 14 Mar 2006 at 20:56, Maxime Leroy wrote:
> Dear list,
> As i am new to the list i'd like to say hello to everyone, and also ask a question.
> First let me quickly introduce my field of research, i'm currently conducting some research about objective evaluation techniques for low bit-rate coded music samples, but in a different way than PEAQ technique
> as i intend not to use the original sample for comparison.
> As i was investigating known coders artifacts i came across one called "birdies effect" and it seems to me
> it is quite important, so i researched a bit for litterature, but most of it deals with "birdies effect" from a
> coding point of view and i was not abble to find a perceptual approach of the phenonmenon.
> So finally i would be gratefull if anyone could point me toward some good references, some that could
> explain the perceptual impact of such a degradation of the spectrum.
> I hope that was clear enough, many thanks in advance, | <urn:uuid:3e1badbd-1c9d-459c-b63a-797a5ef50d14> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.auditory.org/mhonarc/2006/msg00169.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368698924319/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516100844-00040-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.95707 | 563 | 1.625 | 2 |
One of the more common strategies any candidate or campaign seeks to employ is to use the endorsement of high profile individuals who are willing to lend their name and personal support to a candidate with the intention of influencing others to do the same. But the issue gets a bit sticky when those endorsing are connected to a church or a major religious organization.
But perhaps before answering whether they should, the first question to ask is can they legally endorse political candidates?
Under the 501 (c) (3) section of the Internal Revenue Service Code, it states that churches may engage in some "legislative activity" and still qualify for favored tax status, as long as such activity is not more than an "insubstantial" part of its overall activity in terms of time and money (e.g., worship service, Sunday school programs, etc.).
In other words, the amount of permissible legislative activity is somewhat vague. Legislative activity that amounts to 5 percent of all church activity is generally considered "safe." Legislative activity between 5 and 20 percent is less certain and, therefore, less safe. Activity over 20 percent has been found unacceptable by the Internal Revenue Service, although the rule has rarely been enforced.
Under IRS guidelines, legislative activity is defined as any conduct intended to influence legislation, initiatives or referendums. However, the code places no limitations on the legislative activity of church members – including pastors who act as individuals, not as representatives of the church.
David French, an attorney with the American Center for Law and Justice, founded by Jay Sekulow, says pastors have every right to personally endorse candidates.
"Pastors absolutely have the right to endorse candidates, French said in an email response to The Christian Post. "If they do so in their individual capacity, they have no fear of IRS sanction. If, however, they do it 'officially,' as part of their role and duties as pastor, they may endanger their church's tax exemption."
French also outlined his thoughts not only on the legality of pastors endorsing, but the biblical responsibility pastors have to instruct their congregation on issues impacted by the government or political process.
"While the decision to endorse depends on the merits of the competing candidates in any given race, there is a need for pastors to bring their biblical knowledge and training to thorny cultural and social issues," explained French. "I think pastors should feel free to instruct their congregations regarding a biblical world view and its implications on all aspects of life – including politics."
LifeWay Research released the results of a poll earlier this month that showed 90 percent of the 1,000 pastors questioned felt they should not endorse political candidates from the pulpit. However, 44 percent of pastors revealed they had endorsed candidates in a personal role and outside of their church activities.
Still, that hasn't kept pastors and religious leaders from exercising their legal and civic rights in the days leading up to the presidential election.
Jim Garlow, who leads Skyline Church in San Diego, announced from the pulpit that he is voting for Mitt Romney, but stopped short of a blanket endorsement.
"My endorsement will be Jesus," Garlow said. "I'll tell you whom I'm going to vote for, but I don't think that makes it an endorsement. I'm going to vote for Mitt Romney, but I'm not telling you to."
Garlow's announcement came during a campaign known as "Pulpit Freedom Sunday," which was promoted by the Alliance Defending Freedom and held on Oct. 8 of this year. The intent of the campaign was to make pastors and churches aware of the legal rights in addressing political and governmental issues.
"The purpose is to make sure that the pastor – and not the IRS – decides what is said from the pulpit," Erik Stanley, senior legal counsel for the group, told FoxNews.com. "It is a head-on constitutional challenge."
A more recent endorsement by a major religious leader came last Friday when Dr. Richard Land, who leads the Southern Baptist Convention's Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission, endorsed a presidential candidate for the first time in his professional career.
Land, who is also executive editor of The Christian Post, made the endorsement as a private citizen, independent of both organizations.
While Land believes the endorsement should not come from the pulpit, he also supports a pastor's right to support a specific candidate.
"No, I don't think pastors should be endorsing candidates from the pulpit," Land told Baptist Press. "Normally, I would agree with those who think we shouldn't [endorse candidates] even as private citizens."
Land's endorsement, announced on the CP website, asserted that the stakes in this year's presidential election "could not be higher morally, socially, or economically." And referencing the platforms of the Democratic and Republican parties in his op-ed, Land noted the Democrats' embrace of abortion and same-sex marriage versus the Republicans' pro-life and pro-family stances.
"For Christians of traditional religious faith," Land wrote, "there cannot be more fundamental issues than the protection of the sanctity of all human life from conception to natural death and the defense of marriage as a divinely-ordained institution between one man and one woman."
Land told BP "once in a while, an election is important enough that one has to make an exception to the rule [of not endorsing a candidate]. And for me, this is such a time."
Interestingly, many black preachers in the south have for years endorsed from the pulpit and even invited candidates to address their congregations during Sunday services. Former Congressman Harold Ford, Sr., and his son, Harold Ford, Jr., spent many fall Sundays making the rounds to black churches in Memphis, Tenn., handing out Democratic ballots and campaigning from the pulpit, said one retired COGIC minster who asked not to be identified.
"Every election year somebody from Harold's office would call and tell us what day and time he was going to be here," the minster recalled. "We had no choice but to honor his request and give him as much time as he wanted. Of course, all the folks in the pews were Democrats anyway. We never had one single complaint and never heard from an IRS man either."
"Previous research has shown that pastors believe the government has no place in determining what is and is not said from their pulpits regarding candidates," Scott McConnell, director of LifeWay Research, said. "Yet most pastors don't believe endorsement of candidates should be made from the pulpit." | <urn:uuid:6405c024-0e6f-4534-9fc7-d4d504784bfd> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.christianpost.com/news/should-pastors-religious-leaders-endorse-political-candidates-and-is-it-legal-84140/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368705559639/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516115919-00018-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.97654 | 1,334 | 1.625 | 2 |
Let me tell you about a couple of elders I happened to meet recently. Both lived in Washington, D.C., and both were insistent, like so many of their peers, on remaining in their homes even as their health declined.
One was a 95-year-old woman still reigning over the small brick colonial she and her husband had bought more than 40 years ago. Staying at home required a platoon of hired caregivers: a morning aide, an afternoon aide, a Tuesday helper with a van for doctors’ appointments, eventually an overnight aide. Her 74-year-old daughter, coordinating this demanding (and expensive) mission, was fraying under the strain.
But the woman relished her books, her daily newspaper and a stream of visitors: fellow church deaconesses, neighbors, friends and family.
She suffered from heart failure but resisted hospitalization, and in September she died at home, as she’d wished, a day shy of her 96th birthday.
Across town, a broad-shouldered former cab driver lived in a basement rec-room-turned-bedroom in his son’s house. He used a wheelchair and a walker, and he had Alzheimer’s disease, but I found him good-natured, chatty and gregarious. The problem: there was rarely anyone around to chat with.
His son worked long hours; other relatives called but could rarely visit. Aside from his home aide, who came three hours each weekday, he was usually alone. He seemed a good candidate for the activities and communal meals of a well-run assisted living facility, but to his son’s frustration, he was adamant about staying with family, even if that meant long hours of watching televangelists on a large-screen TV.
The contrast in these two elders’ lives raised a tough question. Research repeatedly confirms that most older people want to remain at home, with services brought to them in the places they choose. Government and social policies are moving, belatedly, in that direction. But is living at home always the wisest solution?
Not every senior can have that option. “Sometimes, the family can’t sustain the burden,” said Suzanne Modigliani, a veteran geriatric care manager in Brookline, Mass. Most family members caring for seniors also are trying to keep jobs; while many manage to juggle eldercare and employment in the earlier stages of caregiving, they may be unable to continue when the demands increase.
Hiring home help can present its own difficulties, depending on a senior’s condition and personality. If dementia has made an elderly person aggressive, caregivers will have trouble employing and keeping home care aides.
“A big factor in whether it will work or it won’t is affordability,” added Peter Notarstefano, director of home and community-based services for the American Association of Homes and Services for the Aging. When a parent can’t transfer from bed to chair to toilet, and is too heavy for one caregiver to safely lift and move, or when he needs help around the clock, the cost of multiple aides may surpass the price tag for a nursing home, the only other option that provides that level of care.
But when staying at home does represent a viable option for a senior, can the preference for home be so reflexive that families ignore its drawbacks? Or overlook the benefits that congregant living sometimes provides? The familiarity of home is a comfort, but maybe it shouldn’t be the only consideration.
“People who see nobody from day to day, or see only their caretakers, can become incredibly isolated,” Ms. Modigliani pointed out. “We know that can lead to depression. Seniors’ cognitive skills decline if they have less interaction with people.”
Ms. Modigliani also has found that seniors living at home tend to neglect nutrition; they don’t eat well. “I’ve seen time after time that people who go to assisted living tend to gain weight,” she said.
To move or not to move: it’s a daunting decision that may pit an older person’s preference against his safety and health. It’s not always clear which should prevail, where quality of life really lies.
I was glad that the 95-year-old’s family was able to help her to live and die in the house she loved. But I wished that the cab driver’s son could have persuaded him at least to visit a couple of assisted living facilities. They might not have been as scary as he envisioned. They might have been better than the basement.
Paula Span is the author of “When the Time Comes: Families with Aging Parents Share Their Struggles and Solutions,” to be published on June 10 by Grand Central Publishing. | <urn:uuid:a4eb2ed9-a49a-47e1-92b1-a2ab7eeb4aba> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://newoldage.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/06/04/is-home-always-so-sweet/?apage=2 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368708142388/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516124222-00040-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.978933 | 1,016 | 1.757813 | 2 |
Monitor flickers when it is turned on - problem
by doowopper - 4/20/09 4:41 AM
I am using a Samsung monitor with my Windows XP Professional computer. The monitor is about 4 years old. Typically, I turn the monitor off if I am not going to be using it for awhile. I had no problems with the monitor until last week. Now when I turn it on, the brightness is not what is should be (it is darker)and the screen flickers for a few seconds. After the flickering stops, the brightness of the screen returns to normal. Before last week, when I turned the monitor on, there was no flickering and the brightness was as it should be as soon as I turned on the monitor.
What could be causing this problem and how do I correct it, if it is possible to correct? | <urn:uuid:ac04e476-2ebd-4aa7-b678-813b51a0f9ed> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://forums.cnet.com/7723-7590_102-339742/monitor-flickers-when-it-is-turned-on-problem/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368699273641/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516101433-00014-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.952698 | 175 | 1.8125 | 2 |
Three weeks ago, the technology world was aflutter with buzz of the iPad. But with yesterday's MeeGo announcement from Intel, the Linux Foundation and Nokia, it appears that Apple could have a Linux-based competitor for tablets, netbooks and other categories of devices.
As Linux Foundation Executive Director Jim Zemlin said at the time of the iPad launch: Linux can compete on price, but where’s the magic? Could MeeGo provide the magic Linux-based devices have been missing?
MeeGo’s magic is in its cross-device portability and ability to take advantage of a broad range of devices segments. Unlike the iPad's OS, MeeGo is specifically built for an entirely new generation of devices from the ground up. Its design is the result of an acknowledgement of two critical trends that are shaping the future of computing: the requirement for constant connection and the ability to access that connection from any device, any time and anywhere.
Dell, Sony, HP and other traditional PC makers are building a much larger variety of computing devices - moving into tablets, TVs, infotainment systems and more - in order to compete in today’s rapidly changing environment and address the trends just mentioned. They can’t do this successfully by using a different OS for every device they build.
They also can’t do it with a "workaround." Google knows this, which is why they’re looking to use Chrome and not Android for netbook development. Apple, while innovative in design, took a short cut at the operating system level by sticking the iPhone OS in its new iPad. Despite all the hype - this is unlikely to succeed long term.
MeeGo could very well be the answer to the iPad and to the massive industry shift taking place in the PC business. It uses Linux for building next-generation mobile computing devices the way in which it was intended - - by providing developers with tools they already use and a framework that minimizes development across platforms and across devices. Application portability is critical and is being made possible with the combination of sophisticated technologies and the Qt application and UI framework.
Intel, Nokia and the MeeGo community are thinking much bigger than tablets, phones or netbooks. While MeeGo greets competition with the iPad head on, it will also compete in a variety of device categories not yet fully defined thanks to its approach to open source development and cross-device portability provided by Qt. The "killer app" is not a single device locked down with crippling DRM. The "killer app" is your content and the ability to access the Internet from anywhere: a phone, a car, a kitchen or television regardless of the device or who makes it.
It seems clear that Jobs miss-stepped by not thinking big enough because - despite his brilliance - Apple products are being confined to the limits of his team's imaginations, while the future is about accessing content from anywhere.
Apple certainly has no shortage of its own kind of “magic,” largely in the form of the user experience. But it comes at a price and not just one in dollars, yen or euros. Apple is closed; it is completely locked down, even at the chip level of the iPad where they use the A4 chip acquired from PA Semi. This has a very direct impact on consumers who overpay for components. MeeGo supports various architectures, including Intel competitor ARM. Choice is paramount, giving consumers what they want and developers, OS vendors, equipment manufacturers and operators real market opportunities. It's important to note that operators should not be over-looked in this equation, even though they largely are today.
Apple has a strong following of brand loyalists (for good reason) and will sustain its market share with this group; however, MeeGo is primed to dominate a market looking for more devices at lower costs with more capabilities. With MeeGo, multiple manufacturers can spin out a new device every other month, while Apple ducks its head to bring to market another - no doubt - innovative device that will only appeal to one particular group of consumers around the globe.
Look for the first MeeGo device later this year and share your reactions with us here at Linux.com.
* Disclosure: Linux.com is a Linux Foundation web property. | <urn:uuid:606a14eb-76ea-43de-b708-1f259d111507> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.linux.com/news/embedded-mobile/netbooks/287100-is-meego-linux-answer-to-ipad | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368706499548/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516121459-00024-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.9608 | 883 | 1.507813 | 2 |
Review: 'Stranded: I've Come From a Plane That Crashed on the Mountains'
Documentary revisits the harrowing ordeal of 16 men who survived a plane crash in the Andes by resorting to cannibalism.
In 1972, a 45-passenger plane carrying a Uruguayan rugby team crashed during a thunderstorm in the Andes, ultimately leaving 16 survivors. Their story, complete with revelations of cannibalism, was extensively chronicled in Piers Paul Read's 1974 bestseller "Alive," but there's nothing quite like hearing from the survivors firsthand.Skip to next paragraph
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The documentary "Stranded: I've Come From a Plane That Crashed on the Mountains" – a thinking person's Halloween movie – reunites many of the survivors, some of them accompanied by their children, after 35 years. The men revisit for the first time the Valley of Tears glacier where their plane crash-landed, and their words make palpable the awe and terror they experienced.
The extraordinary intimacy of the revelations owes much to the fact that the film's director, Gonzalo Arijón, was a childhood friend of the men. Arijón doesn't make the mistake of attempting to sensationalize a story that is already shocking. For 72 days the survivors held on to life by eating the flesh of friends and family who died in the crash. In interviews, some of the men, many of whom remain observant Roman Catholics, compare this act to Holy Communion.
No one is remorseful. At first you may think that their almost mystical bond with those they consumed is just a fancy form of survivors' guilt. But that's not the way it comes across. The men owe their lives to these dead, and they seem ineffably respectful of them. Can anyone who was not there truly cast stones?
Arijón takes us on the journey step by step. We learn how a radio in the wreckage, the survivors' only lifeline, broadcast that the air search was being abandoned. We hear how they felt when they realized their only hope was cannibalism. Most eloquent is "Nando" Parrado, whose mother and sister died in the crash. With another survivor, Roberto Canessa, he hiked across 44 miles of mountainous peaks until, three days before Christmas, they were spotted by an old Chilean shepherd, who remembers thinking they "smelled of the grave."
Arijón utilizes the scant recovered photographic record of the event and fills in the narrative with occasional reenactments. Although well staged, they detract from the overpowering reality of the rest of the movie.
Still, Arijón had few options under the circumstances. It's not as if the survivors were bopping about the fuselage for two months with a Panavision camera recording for posterity.
At just over two hours, "Stranded" is nonstop harrowing. It has cumulative power. Since we already know the outcome of the crash, Arijón doesn't inject into the proceedings a false note of suspense. What keeps us hooked is the spectacle of seeing and hearing men who faced death in ways few ever have. We want to know, at the deepest level, how they coped.
Thirty-five years later, in the Valley of Tears, how genuine is the beatific look on the faces of the survivors? Is this simply the way they wish to be remembered or have they indeed achieved true inner peace? There's no way to know, but if these men are acting, they deserve an ensemble Oscar. Grade: A- (Unrated.) | <urn:uuid:c0c585c8-6e82-4106-910f-358b75c4be9a> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.csmonitor.com/The-Culture/Movies/2008/1101/p25s03-almo.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368701459211/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516105059-00032-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.966244 | 734 | 1.632813 | 2 |
This blog contains opinions and arguments that may cause action to be taken. Please be advised.
June 17th was the the 9 month anniversary of the Occupy Wall Street movement. Most of the world outside of occupy is not aware of this, as the Main Stream Media (MSM) keeps pounding it into their heads that "Occupy is dead". But this is not the way it looks to many on the ground, as we see what happens day to day, we follow the writings, the live streams, the blogs, and tweets of other occupiers all over the world. Unfortunately most of the world outside Occupy does not follow, or might not even know these things exist. They don't see us on what MSM calls "News" so out of sight, out of mind. There isn't a great amount of media coming out of the occupations, generally because we are really busy with what we are doing, and we always could use more help.
This is where we get into my two favorite words in the Occupation, both thrown around a lot but not understood by everyone. So lets go over them shall we?
noun, plural au·ton·o·mies.
How do we move forward from the current state we are in? How can we facilitate autonomy? Is it even possible? To me it doesn't seem like we can just sit around and wait for it to happen. But as autonomy builds, how do we work towards accountability as a major objective, so more gets accomplished overall? How do we with a loose structure assist those around us in taking action, that gets followed through on? How do we destroy the notion you have to wait to be told to do something by "someone in charge?" | <urn:uuid:cf4c9bbc-fb49-4641-8381-126367cf7408> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://occupylosangeles.org/node/9858?page=27 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368702448584/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516110728-00021-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.961278 | 349 | 1.835938 | 2 |
“I first got into Yahoo Answers by accident. A friend used it & she said it was really good – one day curiosity got the better of me, and I’m still here.”
- Spellbound: 30,127 points, Level 7, 65% Best Answer
Every so often we like to profile some of the amazing answerers we see on the site like Tunisian Belle and Calimecita. Today we are happy to put the spotlight on Spellbound: our resident history expert. Russia is his real passion but he is able to answer questions on many subjects. But don’t just take our word for it–here are some of his Best Answers:
- Did Joseph Stalin command the army during the Second World War?
- Why did the Art capitol move from Paris post-War?
- What was the significance of the Soviet satellite nations?
Spellbound in his own words…
“I’ve always enjoyed history, probably that comes from being taken round castles in North Wales as a child, but I also think that the past is alive, because the consequences of actions taken hundreds of years ago can have a direct impact on our lives – Magna Carta being an obvious example.
I am, by education, a Russologist, specialising in the late Soviet period. I find the USSR fascinating. It was such a mysterious place, as Churchill said of it “Russia is a riddle wrapped in a mystery inside an enigma”.
Other than the Soviet period, I love the medieval English period. It was such a theatrical period, with larger than life characters, such as Simon De Montefort and Owen Glydwr.
The most misunderstood period of history is probably the Roman period. In school Roman history is taught as though it were a homogenous, unchanging entity, whereas it was a fluid, dynamic ever changing creation, so much so, that the late Roman period bears little relation to the Rome of Julius Caeser and Augustus.
My favourite question is probably “Why did Germany surrender in 1918?”
The reason I like this question is that it is a clear question, the questioner sounds as though they are interested in the topic – it’s not just for homework help, and although the question may be a simple one, to answer the question well requires a detailed, well thought out answer.
Favorite answer? I have so many, but I think Brother Ranulf always provides food for thought, I thought the questions were really interesting and his answers are really well researched and thought out.”
Some Best Answers by Brother Ranulf, chosen by Spellbound:
- What happened to unchivalrous knights?
- How were monk’s animals and possessions protected in a Viking raid?
- After the Norman Conquest in 1066, what buildings were destroyed and what was built?
Know someone who’s “wowed” you on Answers? Think somebody deserves to be celebrated as next Featured User on the Answers Blog? We want to hear from you!
If you enjoyed this post, make sure you subscribe to my RSS feed! | <urn:uuid:fcd2db8b-ec87-47e0-a418-691a1047b52b> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://yanswersblog.com/index.php/archives/2009/02/11/featured-user-spellbound/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368700264179/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516103104-00002-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.976767 | 648 | 1.710938 | 2 |
LAWRENCE J. MASON. - A prominent lawyer and abstract man in Kansas City, Kansas, and a citizen who has ever done much to advance the general welfare of this thriving western city is Lawrence James Mason. He is a native son of this city, where his birth occurred on the 2nd of November, 1869, and his parents, James M. and Anna (Laurence) Mason, were born in New York and in England, respectively. When nine years of age James M. Mason lost his father and thereafter he was reared in the home of an uncle, who lived at Hiram, Ohio. In that place Mr. Mason received his preliminary educational training and there also he attended the Western Reserve College, in which he was graduated, being a college mate of James A. Garfield. After leaving college he taught school for a number of years, in the meantime studying law. He entered upon the practice of the legal profession at Springfield, Illinois, whence he removed to Kansas City, Missouri, in 1868. There he was engaged in divers business enterprises in addition to practicing law. He was noted for his excellent penmanship and oil painting and he put the former accomplishment to good use by opening a business college in that city, the same being now known as the Spaulding Commercial College. He is a stalwart Democrat in his political proclivities. Mrs. Mason, whose maiden name was Anna Laurence, was born in England, whence she came to this country, with her parents at the age of four years. The Laurence family settled in this city, where Mrs. Mason attended high school and where she was a successful and popular teacher prior to her marriage to Mr. Mason. To this union were born fifteen children, four of whom died in infancy. Those living are: Milton A., who is identified with agricultural pursuits; Mrs. Sophia M. Boyce; Lawrence J., who is the immediate subject of this review; William H., an attorney in the employ of the West Publishing Company, at St. Paul, Minnesota; Robert B., who is a dairyman at Independence, Missouri; Mrs. Anna Sargeant, of Independence, Missouri; June G., who resides at home; Bert S., superintendent of the McCormick Distillery, at Waldron, Missouri; Richard O., who is also in the employ of the West Publishing Company, at St. Paul, Minnesota; Edward A., who is now in the United States navy, on the training ship, Pensacola; and Edwin, who is attending school at Kansas City.
Lawrence James Mason was reared to maturity in Kansas City, Kansas, where he attended the public schools until he was graduated in the local high school. Thereafter he attended the University of Kansas, in the law department of which he was graduated as a member of the class of 1893, with the degree of Bachelor of Laws. Immediately after his graduation he entered upon the practice of his profession in this city, where he also became interested in the abstract business. He is widely recognized as a skilled and versatile trial lawyer and as an able and well fortified counselor. In addition to his other interests here he is an extensive property owner, having improved the appearance of Kansas City by the construction of many modern homes, which are now owned and kept up by various representative citizens. Mr. Mason's father made the first set of abstract books in Wyandotte county, in 1874, and these books are now in the possession of him to whom this sketch is dedicated.
Mr. Mason married Miss Anna Rilla Stowe, who was summoned to the life eternal on the 11th of March, 1910. She is survived by three small children: Lawrence, aged eight years, in 1911; Herbert, aged four years; and Gertrude, aged two years.
In politics Mr. Mason is aligned as a stanch supporter of the cause of the Democratic party, and while he has never manifested aught of ambition for the honors or emoluments of public office he is ever on the qui vive to do all in his power to advance the general welfare and to conserve progress and development. In a fraternal way he is affiliated with the Knights of Pythias, the Ancient Order of United Workmen and the Modern Woodmen of America. His religious faith is in harmony with the teachings of the Christian Science church, in which he is a member of the board of trustees. He is a man of fine mental attainments, extraordinary executive ability and broad human sympathy and is held in high esteem by his fellow men.
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The KSGenWeb Project | <urn:uuid:27f569c1-0044-47fc-8762-257b88976fa4> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://skyways.lib.ks.us/genweb/archives/wyandott/history/1911/volume2/m/masonlj.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368709037764/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516125717-00030-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.986573 | 945 | 1.773438 | 2 |
|GRO clerk 1899|
This follows several years of steadily increasing demand for certificates, during which staff were recruited first for evening and then overnight shifts on certificate production. Prices have increased before without a great drop in applications, although admittedly it is some time since the last one, and the increase is bigger. But on its own, this latest price increase may not be the only reason for the drop in applications.
I don't know if the reply that Peter received from the GRO included a breakdown of certificate applications by type, but I strongly suspect that it is the applications for marriage certificates that have dropped the most. Unlike births and deaths, which are only available in the form of certified copies, there has always been an alternative source for marriages, the marriage registers of the Church of England which are mostly deposited in county record offices. The great majority of marriages in England and Wales took place in the Church of England until well into the 20th century, so these registers have always been a very useful source, provided you knew which register to look at.
But now many of the post-1837 marriage registers in record offices have been digitised and published online, and, crucially, they are indexed. When the registers from the London Metropolitan Archives were released on Ancestry.co.uk I wondered what the effect would be on applications to the GRO for marriage certificates. And that was just the beginning; they have now released registers for Liverpool, West Yorkshire, Dorset and Warwickshire. Findmypast.co.uk now has digitised and indexed images of post-1837 marriages from Cheshire and Devon. These are not the only online sources of images and transcripts, but they are the most accessible.
So it may or may not be coincidental that within the last few months a number of record offices have received letters from the GRO, enquiring about their arrangements for access to church registers:
"We are not clear as to the variety and detail of access arrangements in place across the country for those who seek access to register information via record offices. As a result we intend to carry out a short fact-finding exercise over the next two weeks whereby we aim to speak to record / archive offices to seek information on the access arrangements they offer for these records.Some offices were contacted by telephone, and asked a number of questions regarding the number of (post-1837) marriage registers held, access and copying arrangements, and whether any copies or transcripts were published anywhere. I have no inside knowledge regarding the current actions of the GRO (although I know an awful lot about what went on there in the 19th and early 20th centuries!), but as an outsider it looks to me like one way of trying to find out where some of their expected certificate applications have gone. Just a thought.
Once we have more information we will review the position and decide what further action, if any, may be appropriate." | <urn:uuid:6cdd4a1b-cfc3-4f17-a3d8-f88bbc5ce6d8> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://thefamilyrecorder.blogspot.com/2011/12/whats-going-on-at-gro.html?showComment=1325534528971 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368705195219/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516115315-00018-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.971409 | 594 | 1.609375 | 2 |
10. May 2013 08:29
The PhoenixLaw Library recently published a Guide containing very helpful information on the requirements to acquire a license to practice law in Arizona right after law school. Access it by clicking here or going to: http://researchguides.phoenixlaw.edu/AZbarinfo
The Guide has links to the rules that govern Arizona's licensing requirements as well as links to forms, practice questions, and study aids available in the Library to help you prepare for the Uniform Bar Exam.
Further, the Guide explains the Character and Fitness process and the required Multistate Professional Responsibility Exam. There is also a list with links to email addresses for the Academic Success Department and a description of the Department's myBar Program.
It is never to early to look into what lies ahead after law school. The better informed you are, the better equipped you will be to handle what can be a very daunting process.
MBE subjects for the 200 multiple choice question part of the bar exam
2. March 2011 11:45
Congratulations to Nicholas Darus for winning the February 22nd Library Loot puzzle!
Nicholas found the golden ticket in the microfiche cabinet, which is where the bar exams from other states are located!
Will YOU be our next winner? Watch this blog for the puzzle on Tuesdays at 9am!!
22. February 2011 09:00
It's Tuesday people! Are you ready to play?
This scavenger hunt is in honor of our AZ Bar Exam sitters who will take the ultimate test starting today! We salute you!
Instructions: For this scavenger hunt, locate the Golden Ticket that is within or near the answer. You will need to include the library location and call number on the Golden Ticket before taking the ticket to the Circulation Desk to claim your prize.
Here you go...
This puzzle has been solved! See the winner here!
Question: Where in the law library can you find bar exams from other states?
THE FINE PRINT: Library Loot Puzzle Rules
1. Puzzles may be completed by current Phoenix School of Law students only.
2. All library staff members are exempt from participating.
3. One prize will be given to the first person to complete the puzzle with the correct answer. Even if more than one person worked towards getting the correct answer, only one prize will be given for the puzzle completed correctly.
4. Contest rules are subject to change at any time.
8. October 2010 17:00
The results are in...
Congratulations to all Phoenix School of Law Graduates who have passed the July 2010 Arizona Bar Exam! | <urn:uuid:64ef915a-4bac-46ec-86f2-fe6f3945ee85> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.phoenixlaw.org/lawlibrary/blog/?tag=/bar+exam | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368702810651/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516111330-00033-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.937777 | 538 | 1.703125 | 2 |
Friday, August 07, 2009
Why do we play? - Challenge
When looking into the question of what motivates people to play MMORPGs, you could either ask people for their motivations, or observe what they are actually doing in these games and draw your own conclusions. And you will probably find that today's subject, challenge, is the one where the gap between what people say and what people do is the greatest. Everybody says that he is motivated by challenge, but then constantly engages in behavior designed to eliminate it. There is even a good argument to be made that MMORPGs are intrinsically designed for challenge avoidance.
What is so special about MMORPGs and challenge? In most games your chance of success is determined by your skill and random factors. In MMORPGs your chance is determined by skill, random factors, and your character stats, including level and equipment. Recently The Ancient Gaming Noob Wilhelm2451 pondered his daughter's question of Why Does Tetris Get Faster?. Tetris gets faster because that way with every level the challenge rises, so sooner or later every player gets to the point where the challenge is equal to his skill. If you can consistently get to level 10 in Tetris, you are a better Tetris player than somebody who can only get to level 5. Your skill goes up while playing, because you learn, but the challenge goes up quicker, so every single game of Tetris ends with you losing, and the level at which you lose is a measure of your skill. Then you start over, and because your skill goes up, maybe in the next game you get one level further. If you would draw a graph plotting the maximum challenge you can beat over time, you'd see a constantly rising curve, but which is getting flatter, until it levels out at your maximum potential.
Now imagine MMORPGs would work like that. You start with a level 1 character fighting level 1 mobs, and you would *NOT* get stronger by gaining levels and equipment. If your character would always remain at exactly the same strength, and only your skill and random factors like critical hits would determine your success, then the maximum level of monster you were able to kill would say something about your playing skill. Some players would be able to kill level 5 monsters with their level 1 characters, others would maybe be able to kill level 10 monsters. But obviously you'd never see 25 level 1 characters raiding Ulduar. (Note that with patch 3.2 in World of Warcraft you can turn off earning experience, so it should be possible now to try out how far you get in the game without gaining levels or equipping any gear beyond what you start with.)
Instead in a MMORPG your character gets stronger not just from learning how to play the game, but also by acquiring experience points, levels, and gear. If you draw that same graph again, with the maximum level of monster you can beat versus time, you see that it is rising much faster now. It is still totally possible that you learned something in the last hour you played, and got a bit better that way. But even if you didn't, by just killing monsters for that hour you got stronger because you gained a level and found a sword that deals more damage. The curve that plots your power over time doesn't flatten out, at least not until you reach the level cap. Most importantly that means that the game never reaches the Tetris point where it is too challenging for you and you can't improve any further. If during the leveling process you ever get stuck, you always have the option to keep killing the last mob you were still able to kill for some time, until you gain another level or earn gold for some better gear, and then you'll be able to overcome that challenge that blocked you. It is technically impossible to get stuck at, lets say, Hogger, no matter how bad you are at playing World of Warcraft. Beating Hogger with a level 1 character with just the starting equipment is a challenge. Beating Hogger at some point, after having gained both levels and gear, isn't really a challenge, because given sufficient levels and gear anyone can do it.
So while MMORPG players say they enjoy the challenge, what they actually enjoy is the illusion these games offer of beating challenges. It would be perfectly feasible to design MMORPGs that get more challenging with time, where beating a level 40 mob with a level 40 character is much more challenging than beating a level 1 mob with a level 1 character. The original Everquest, for example, worked that way. Add a death penalty, where you lose levels and experience for failing, and you could design a game where people get stuck half way up to the level cap, when the challenge level of the game becomes higher than their skill, and how far you got into the game says something about how skilled you are. But of course getting stuck isn't fun, and would probably lead to players quitting the game, thus losing monthly revenue to the game company. In consequence over the last 10 years death penalties have been reduced to you just losing some time, not levels or gear. And the leveling process has been designed to guarantee that the inherent power of your character regardless of skill grows as fast as the challenge. Nobody "can't get past level X" in World of Warcraft, or any other modern MMORPG. It just takes time, and there is always the possibility of players giving up out of boredom. But if you can beat a level 1 monster at level 1, you will be able to reach the level cap, guaranteed.
At the level cap, especially in World of Warcraft, something curious happens: Your growth of power over time slows down, because you don't earn levels any more, only gear. At the same time the challenge curve gets much steeper. The developers simply don't want you to kill the last boss in the game, because that might be perceived as a "game over" screen, after which you quit. Thus, if we consider vanilla WoW before the expansions, suddenly you could only advance further by raiding, the speed at which your character power can go up by raiding is limited by raid lockouts and loot drop rates, and it became possible to get stuck. Some players got stuck because they simply couldn't pass the hurdle raid organization posed, being available for several continuous hours simultaneously with 39 other raiders several times per week. Other guilds got into raiding, but got stuck at some point where raid difficulty markedly increased, for example at the first boss of BWL, Razorgore.
Since then, the Blizzard developers are trying to tune the end game challenge. The goal, for them, is to keep the maximum number of people playing for the maximum number of months, as their revenue depends on that. Both people getting stuck early and giving up in frustration, and people reaching the final boss and leaving because they have beat the game, diminish Blizzard's revenues. It turned out that initially there were far more of the former than of the latter, so measures were taken to keep people from getting stuck. The organizational hurdle was lowered, with raid sizes reduced from 40 to 25 and 10. For people who still couldn't find the time to raid, alternative content to get similar rewards, like daily reputation quests or PvP epics, were introduced. And raiding was tuned so that the *average* player still could progress quite a bit before getting stuck.
So now we are back to the observation that what players say they want doesn't match what they do in the game. MMORPGs offer a wide degree of freedom in choosing challenge. Nothing stops you from attacking monsters that are higher level than you are. Even in the supposedly so easy World of Warcraft you *could* level up in a much more challenging way, doing only red difficulty quests, fighting only higher level mobs, and so on. You are in complete control of your challenge! But in practice the overwhelming majority of players constantly engages in behavior designed to minimize challenge while maximizing rewards: We constantly try to diminish the challenge of raid encounters by getting better gear or watching strategy videos on Youtube. We overgear for endgame solo and small group content. We twink our alts. In PvP games we organize keep raids at 3 am to make sure there are no enemy players to challenge us. When given the choice between more challenging and less challenging games, we flock to the least challenging ones. Some people even cheat, exploit game bugs, buy virtual gold, or hire powerleveling services, to get stronger and avoid any challenge on the way. In Free2Play games people pay the game company for microtransaction items that decrease the challenge of the game.
In summary, we replaced real challenge by an illusion of having beaten a challenge we in fact carefully avoided. What we had was games like Tetris, where the level you reached was a measure of your skill. What we got now in MMORPGs is a situation where you just care about reaching those levels, faking a higher skill than we actually have by replacing skill with time investment. We keep the outer trappings of success, reaching the level cap, strutting around in epic gear, but avoid the painful process of having to get actually better at playing. We are playing a version of Tetris that *doesn't* get faster, where you get any highscore by just playing long enough, and in some cases even pay somebody else for that highscore. Challenge itself does not appear to be a major reason of why we play. Any attempt to gain customers by designing a game that is *more* challenging is bound to condemn you to a niche market. For the mass market you need to avoid challenging the players, while simultaneously keeping up the appearance that there is a challenge to beat. | <urn:uuid:7a0e81ed-4ed8-42e4-9a6b-3b7e7373d922> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://tobolds.blogspot.com/2009/08/why-do-we-play-challenge.html?showComment=1249638309819 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368696382584/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516092622-00005-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.97281 | 1,987 | 1.742188 | 2 |
06 December 2008
Apple of Your Eyes
Apples are my favorite food. Yes, they are most indeed natures perfect gift. Nothing satisfies my urge for something sweet, crunchy, and filling, like a ripe, juicy apple.
Most of us grew up eating one or two varieties like the Macintosh, Delicious, or the Granny Smith, but there were once over two thousand varieties of apples being grown in North America. Apple seeds were brought over from England by the pilgrims (the only apple that is indigenous to the Americas is the Crabapple), but because apples seeds possess unique genes, thousands of varieties thrived and the apple soon became an ubiquitous part of the American diet. Unfortunately, over the last century, the mass marketing of apples has resulted in growers limiting their varieties and breeding apples to have a longer shelf life and remain unblemished after having withstood long distances of shipping and packing.
Today however, we are starting to see a resurgence of these "antique" or heirloom varieties being sold at orchards and farmers markets. They may not look as shiny and symmetrical as the ones you find in the grocery store, but they are unbelievably delicious - each possessing their own unique flavors and textures.
Look for names like Kandil Sinap, Jonathan, Asmead's Kernal, Newtown Pippin, Smokehouse, Cox Orange Pippin, Golden Russet, York Imperial, and Maiden Blush. Most of these varieties are only available in the fall but the season can extend well into December and January depending on your climate.
These Honey Crisp are so crunchy and dense, they are like a portable meal.
This was the first time I ever tried Keepsake apples. They are both incredibly sweet and tart and taste like raspberries. They are my new favorites. | <urn:uuid:645781f2-ba4c-4740-a734-232b152cc96b> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://youarewhatieat.blogspot.com/2008/12/apple-of-your-eyes.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368701459211/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516105059-00028-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.963989 | 371 | 1.679688 | 2 |
You don’t have to be paranoid or a conspiracy freak to think that re-engineering the technology at the heart of digital communications so that it can be legally wiretapped is a bad idea. Drearily, this is another example of how little the Obama Administration cares about reining in the out-of-control national security shadow state inside the U.S. federal government.
Though I think the roots of their reluctance go deeper than diffident centrism. At this point there’s no government in the world which has any interest in reducing its investment in secret and security institutions. Covert power has increasingly become the only place where the 21st Century state has the luxury to imagine itself as having producing willed and deliberate political and social change.
The official transcript of government power is riddled with audacious high modernist failures. Most politicians and political elites know it once they’re off the stage. Wherever you go in the world, no citizenry really expects its government to do more than tread water or at best tinker incrementally with the major public aspirations of the modern nation-state: education, public health, regulation of the economy, safety and security, support for the arts and sciences. More often, whether in authoritarian or democratic states, many citizens rightfully suspect that much of that agenda is a bunch of hollowed-out humbug.
The shadow state, on the other hand, remains an extravagant domain of fantasized action and has been since the 1950s. The more I read about the culture of Cold War espionage for my current research, the more charmed I am in a way by the brash sociopolitical hallucinations and improvisations of spies, military planners, covert-action diplomats, and dark-arts technologists.
The split between intelligence and covert action is an old mainstay in policy debates and research on espionage. For all of that, most expert analysis underappreciates how “pure” advocacy of intelligence over covert action fits with an old paradigm of rational modernism. Covert action flourishes in our later era of pervasive state incapacity. Intelligence in its purest form presumes that with the most accurate information, state actors and political leaders can make the proportionately wisest and most rational decisions in committing state power.
If there is any sense in which that is true, it is only in the most subtle and slight ways. Domains of overt state action which are drenched in data don’t magically induce better outcomes: not only do you need a political elite which is willing to act on what they know, you also need an issue which is actually tractable to the toolkit and abilities of a technocratic state. Which is not most social or political issues.
Intelligence only just barely produces demonstrably better outcomes in the relatively simple, agency-drenched environment of a single discrete military battlefield, and is subject to the same limitations. You need military leaders willing to act on information, you need the military capabilities to take the action that intelligence recommends, and you need a desired outcome that can be accomplished with the military power available on the battlefield.
So it’s not surprising that the cleanly rational ideal of provisioning intelligence to government leaders about the hidden or unknown intentions of other political or institutional actors was quickly entangled in and then engulfed by covert action. What’s more interesting is that covert action as an idea has been so thoroughly able to exempt itself from the global skepticism that has fallen on high modernist state projects like a ton of bricks, even though there’s even less evidence of its ability to produce deliberate, planned instrumental outcomes that work towards the generalized interests of a given nation-state.
Don’t get me wrong: covert actors can make a lot of things happen, including, apparently, screwing up Siemens-built infrastructure with a targeted virus. They can kill people, subvert governments, mine harbors, ship weapons, torture prisoners, play dirty tricks, mess with computers, destabilize currencies. All of which is quite meaningful if you’re one of the people killed, tortured, blackmailed, poisoned or driven into madness. What it means beyond those immediate outcomes is less clear.
Covert actors can accurately match outcomes to interests in two ways: outcomes which advance their own specific institutional power, and outcomes which narrowly deliver a desired self-interested result to individual clients. If you’re a corrupt political elite and you have a connection to covert instruments, you can divert more cash or resources in your direction. Again, this is not terribly different from overt action. A development agency can advance its own specific influence, and it can deliver to specific clients outcomes that suit their self-interest.
Covert action doesn’t seem any better than overt action in deliberately producing complex, multilayered sociopolitical change. “Get this government to stop doing something that is not in our long-term interests”, “Change the cultural and social nature of this government over there”, “Make this place stable”, “Make this group of bad actors less able to do bad things in the world”.
A covert action plan can, if all the stars align, accomplish these goals for a little while in a little way. Not, as far as I can see, to a degree markedly different than many overt institutions can. But there is something about secrecy that unleashes extravagant dreams and imaginative fantasies about a world where sociopolitical trends have simpler, more intimate, and more knowable levers, where killing heads of state is a hey presto! way to make a new state, or mindfucking insurgents with some leaflets and misinformation is a way to get rid of an insurgency.
It’s not just that coverts and their armchair supporters dream of finding the delicious center of tractability inside of the confusing, multilayered Tootsie Pop of modern life. It’s that they also hope that covert action will somehow rid us of the demon of unpredictable and unintended outcomes who so relentlessly stalks most other policy-making, as if covert action might be a humanint form of a smart missile, delivered only to its target. But if there’s any domain of government action where that demon makes his home, it’s covert action: most of all, he hates sunlight and transparency.
Stuxnet in the infrastructure of its producer? Re-engineering the Internet for wiretappability only to open up a security hole a mile wide for every underemployed Bulgarian hacker in the world to luxuriate in? Arming and training Afghan insurgents to kill superpower militaries? A President asking you to dirty-tricks his political opponents just like you dirty-tricked the country’s foreign enemies?
You can quite like and appreciate spies (who at times strike me as an exotic mutation of anthropology if they’re field intelligence, and of hard social science if they’re data analysts) and yet think that the extravagant dreams that flit and float around the idea of secret action and surveillance are less the harbinger of some perfected Orwellian dystopia and more just the worst and most perversely productive example of how the modern state has clay feet. | <urn:uuid:f7c1450f-6df5-4bfe-a3a3-80618a1247d4> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://blogs.swarthmore.edu/burke/blog/2010/09/28/viruses-assassination-arming-insurgents-how-could-that-go-wrong/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368706499548/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516121459-00004-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.940615 | 1,479 | 1.59375 | 2 |
Wednesday, September 1, 2004
System Design: Forged and Counterfeit Parts (Part II)
My first encounter with forged parts was almost 40 years ago. I discovered that some U.S. surplus dealers would strip the markings from expensive tantalum capacitors and connectors, and then select or remake them. Tantalums would be bridged out to tighter tolerances and then remarked. The connectors would be disassembled, rotated, reinserted and made into different parts. These efforts were somewhat benign, as all the parts remained original, and the dealers were making them into what the customer needed. But the parts were not what the manufacturer had created. Recall the theft (particularly by insiders) of central processing units and memory parts, beginning in the 1980s. That's when crime entered the electronics marketplace and quality risks began to escalate.
Other misdeeds have occurred with regard to processor speed markings in an attempt to make standard parts more valuable or to transform industrial parts into mil-spec or space-rated parts. When you consider that quality assurance (QA) and source validation is no more than a piece of paper to the buyer, it soon becomes clear that anyone gifted in altering documents can transform lead into gold. Not surprisingly, the world is now awash in many suspect items, and telling the authentic parts from the fakes is no longer so easy--especially if the forged parts are made from real, but defective or discarded parts.
Now a new phenomenon is making its way into the marketplace: the forging or counterfeiting of commodity parts that have only modest value but are in high demand. Coupled with an explosion in manufacturing outsourcing to countries where standards may be weak, this is a truly alarming situation. Any type of product can be affected, and the problem may not materialize until it is far too late to detect or control.
A major U.S. manufacturer sent me the forged parts you see in these pictures. I am grateful to get the detailed information and sample parts for study and will honor the manufacturer's request to withhold its identity.
As I explained in my last column (July, page 51), the common path for forgeries is to take rejected parts--such as scrapped capacitors--and tumble off the markings or sand the top surfaces. Original markings are almost always laser-marked on surface mount device (SMD) components; they are shallow and easy to remove. The removal process often makes edges and corners a bit rounded and renders the surface matte rather than smooth. Once the old markings are removed, the parts are then impact-printed with epoxy ink, which is colored to resemble the previous laser-marked appearance, and are sent off as new, premium parts. Parts that have the same appearance but are from second-rate manufacturers also are forged this way, and someday soon could be laser-marked on their production lines--a scary thought.
The pictures on this page show one of the current, most common forgeries: garbage tantalum capacitors that are remarked and sold as premium parts--in this case as AVX, but they could be any U.S. or European premium brand. The AVX comparison document shows fake and real parts side by side. The color picture here shows all fake AVX parts; under high magnification, they are clearly not the original parts and can be seen to be impact-printed.
A quick glance at the parts reveals nothing odd. They appear to have real markings, right down to the date codes and logo. And the parts look real--which they are, but they are rejected parts from an unknown vendor. With accompanying paperwork, such forgeries can travel anywhere in the world via any distribution channel and will pass as authentic. Unfortunately, the parts are flawed and usually will fail within hours, if not immediately. Had they been forged from merely second-rate parts, they probably never would have been detected.
How can you identify the fake parts? Place the part under a magnifying glass or microscope, and simply look for any stamping depressions or lines in solid areas. Real parts are laser-marked and have smooth surfaces, while forgeries have slight depressions by the characters, where they have been stamped. With some simple visual aids you can easily detect a fake. Other chip capacitor makers also have seen their parts forged, and AVX is just another victim in this unhappy story, copied because its parts are known to be of high quality.
The strategy of substituting "rejected parts for good ones," however, is almost appealing, compared with what is happening with fake integrated circuits (ICs) and transistors. In the semiconductor world, some forged parts are just molded plastic leadframes that look real but are either empty inside or contain something completely different. They are remarked to look valuable, but they can derive from scrapped parts or be made from scratch.
Some of the most astonishing forged parts were high-demand, plastic power transistors that contained the incorrect silicon wafer, glued with thermal epoxy to the metal frame. They tested OK but failed almost immediately under load. The parts may even have appeared to be better marked than the originals--which were laser-marked and thus hard to read on black epoxy transistors.
There also are ongoing issues of low-quality Asian-made electrolytics that are marked with higher-performance ratings--a trick especially prevalent with low equivalent series resistance (ESR) and high-temperature parts. These appear to be good parts and command a premium price, but they will fail in as little as 100 to 500 hours. Their recent impact on the computer motherboard industry serves as a reminder of how easily this problem is creeping into all our products.
Any high-value item that can be made from a lower-quality part is a promising target. In addition, any third-tier maker with flexible ethical standards can increase its product's value by forging the logo and markings of a better manufacturer. The free-for-all technology markets in China--which used to make software copies, $10 Rolexes and bootleg CDs--are now finding new activities to explore.
Since their parts have penetrated the incoming QA systems of some major brand name companies with good procedures, you should assume they will come your way, or have already done so. The best defense is to be more visually oriented during incoming inspection and to insist on sample lot testing for all incoming items, regardless of what they are. Purchasing departments must focus on quality and consistency above pricing and on ongoing relationships with known good vendors, rather than ad hoc shopping for the lowest price. To do otherwise will make you a potential target for forgers.
Even if all these illicit practices were stopped today, millions of forged and counterfeited parts will still be in circulation; we will continue to see them for years. We therefore must reinstitute strong incoming quality assurance on all parts (just as in the days of mil qualification) and stop relying on paper as a substitute for testing and visual inspection. The aviation world has always been careful with parts, so we are easily mobilized to stop these parts at the shipping desk. But first we must realize and accept that they are out there.
Electronics Supply and Manufacturing estimates that the current value of forged parts is between $1 billion and $10 billion annually. We cannot safely assume we will escape this problem.
Walter Shawlee 2 may be reached by e-mail at [email protected].
For Further Reading | <urn:uuid:d8cc8bf8-5e9a-40b4-8f0c-71f73bda67e9> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.aviationtoday.com/av/issue/columns/System-Design-Forged-and-Counterfeit-Parts-Part-II_1078.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368704392896/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516113952-00021-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.958254 | 1,519 | 1.742188 | 2 |
Thumbs up to the University of Bridgeport for its role in NASA's CubeSat Launch Initiative. UB engineers are collaborating with the Discovery Museum, the University of Hawaii and UTC Aerospace Systems to develop a small satellite that will fly as an auxiliary payload aboard one of several rockets scheduled to launch in 2014, 2015 and 2016. The Bridgeport satellite is designed to examine tiny pieces of space junk -- particles that are 1 millimeter or less in diameter -- that are in low-earth orbit. The museum will have an exhibit where visitors can see the data being collected from the probe as it comes in. It's another feather in the cap of the university.
Thumbs down to never-ending rancor on the Bridgeport school board. This week, the board took up the status of officials Sandra Kase and Marlene Siegel. Both had been serving as consultants but were hired on as full-time employees. Before the vote, board members questioned Siegel's lack of certification to hold the position -- a perfectly reasonable line of inquiry. Board member Kenneth Moales, though, called it insulting. But the question was not about Siegel's ability to do the job, but whether she is legally certified to hold the position. If such questions can't be raised, then what, exactly, is the point of the school board, and how can it ever be expected to function?
Thumbs up to Bridgeport Mayor Bill Finch for his gracious acceptance of gun locks donated by the pro-gun National Shooting Sports Foundation. The Newtown-based organization is handing out 2,500 free gun locks in Bridgeport, Waterbury, Fairfield and Stratford. Finch, an outspoken supporter of gun control, has taken some heat from those who say his acceptance of the gun locks from the foundation -- which certainly got some favorable public exposure by virtue of Finch's calling a press conference to make the announcement -- is somehow hypocritical. While 2,500 gun locks does not solve the problem, we believe a world with 2,500 more gun locks is a slightly safer one. When questioned the other day, Finch gave an honest and laudable answer: "The message is, I will work with anyone who helps us keep people safer."
Thumbs up to increasing membership and actions of local groups supporting stricter gun control. The Fairfield County chapter of Moms Demand Action for Gun Sense in America had a successful March for Change in Hartford last month, and the group traveled to Washington, D.C., on Wednesday to participate in a rally called "Moms Take the Hill," where they joined with organizations to voice their concerns. Other local groups, including Connecticut Against Gun Violence and Bridgeport-based You Are Not Alone, have also been spreading awareness throughout the community. These groups are fighting to make sure that gun control is addressed in both urban and suburban areas, and are adding pressure on local and national government to act. | <urn:uuid:2082900c-0c29-4244-9ae5-b8cc8ce6970a> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.ctpost.com/news/article/Best-and-the-rest-of-the-past-week-4355799.php | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368697380733/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516094300-00014-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.963703 | 584 | 1.625 | 2 |
by C. Fred Bergsten, Peterson Institute for International Economics
Testimony before the Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs
United States Senate
March 9, 2000
It was a privilege and pleasure to be appointed to the International Financial Institutions Advisory Committee in January to replace Paul Volcker, who had to resign due to heavy commitments elsewhere. I enjoyed working with the group and appreciate this opportunity to spell out the views of the four commissioners who dissented from the recommendations of the majority. (Mr. Richard Huber signed both the report and the dissent, and explained his rationale for doing so in a statement of his additional views.)
I and my fellow dissenters share the view that reform of the international financial institutions (IFIs) is desirable. We agree with a number of the proposals of the majority, in particular the need to clearly delineate the responsibilities of the IMF and the World Bank. But there are four central issues on which we disagree; I will summarize them briefly here and append the full dissenting statement signed by myself, Mr. Huber, Mr. Jerome Levinson and former Congressman Esteban Torres.
First, the report paints a very misleading picture of the impact of the IFIs over the past fifty years. The economic record of that period is a success unparalleled in human history, both for the advanced industrial countries and for most of the developing nations. The severe monetary crises of recent years have been overcome quickly. Hundreds of millions of the poorest people on earth have been lifted out of poverty. The IFIs have contributed substantially to this record. The "bottom line" is unambiguously positive but the majority portrays a negative tone that badly distorts reality.
Second, the recommendations of the majority would totally undermine the ability of the IMF to deal with financial crises and hence would promote global instability. The majority would authorize the Fund, when facing a crisis, to lend only to countries that had prequalified for its assistance by meeting a series of criteria related to the stability of their domestic financial systems. This approach has two fatal flaws:
As Paul Krugman put it in his op-ed on the report in the New York Times on March 8, the majority "suggested restrictions that would in effect make even emergency lending impossible."
Third, the recommendations of the majority might well undercut the fight against global poverty despite their avowed intent to have the opposite effects:
Third, the report makes a series of sweeping and radical proposals without a shred of supporting evidence or analytical support: closure of the International Finance Corporation and the Multilateral Investment Guarantee Agency, shifting all non-concessional lending to Latin America from the World Bank to the Inter-American Development bank and shifting all non-concessional lending to Asia from the World Bank to the Asian Development Bank. Some of these proposals may have some merit but the report fails to make a case for any of them.
Further, the report misses most of the central trade issues in its chapter on the World Trade Organization. This is not surprising since it is a report of the International Financial Institutions Advisory Commission and the members were not chosen for their knowledge of trade. The legislation authorizing the commission did not even ask it to review the statutes relevant to trade and we believe that the Congress should simply ignore this component of the report.
We believe that there are a number of other important errors of both commission and omission in the report but that the four cited are the most critical. At the same time, we reiterate that there are numerous recommendations that merit serious attention. We hope that the Congress will focus on those and ignore the several damaging ideas highlighted in this statement and in the attached joint dissent.
There are numerous constructive proposals in the report. We agree that reform is needed at the international financial institutions (IFIs) and support a number the report's most important recommendations: to clearly delineate the responsibilities of the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank, to promote stronger banking systems in emerging market economies, to publish the IMF's annual appraisals of its member countries, to avoid any use of the IMF as a "political slush fund" by its donor members, to fully write off the debt of the highly indebted poor countries (HIPCs) to the IFIs, to increasingly redirect World Bank support to the poorest countries and to the "production of global public goods," and to provide that assistance on grant rather than loan terms.
But some of the central proposals in the report are fundamentally flawed and/or unsubstantiated. They rest on misinterpretations of history and faulty analysis. They would greatly increase the risk of global instability. They would be inimical to the interests of the United States. We reject them totally and unequivocally.
Most importantly, the report presents a misleading impression of the impact of the IFIs over the past fifty years. A visitor from Mars, reading the report, could be excused for concluding that the world economy must be in sorry shape. But we all know that the postwar period has been an era of unprecedented prosperity and alleviation of poverty throughout the world. The bottom line of the "era of the IFIs," despite obvious shortcomings, has been an unambiguous success of historic proportions in both economic and social terms. The United States has benefited enormously as a result.
Even a somewhat narrower "bottom line" evaluation would be much more favorable to the IFIs than is the report. Almost all of the crisis countries of the past few years, ranging from Mexico through East Asia to Brazil, have experienced rapid "V-shaped" recoveries. All of the East Asians except Indonesia, for example, have already regained output levels higher than they enjoyed before the crisis. Even Indonesia and Russia, the two laggards with deep political problems, are now growing again. The world economy as a whole rebounded quickly and smoothly from what President Clinton called "the greatest financial challenge facing the world in the last half century." Whatever the difficulties along the way, the IMF strategy has clearly produced positive results.
The history of successful development over the postwar period is even more dramatic. Never in human history have so many people advanced so rapidly out of abject poverty. The World Bank and the regional development banks contributed significantly to those outcomes. The report itself notes, at the outset of Chapter 1, that "in more than fifty postwar years, more people in more countries have experienced greater improvements in living standards than at any previous time." It ignores that reality for the remainder of the text, however, and the tone throughout is so critical as to convey the message that very little progress has occurred.
The other great success story of the postwar period is democratization. More than half of the world's population now lives under democratic governments-a dramatic shift over the past decade or so. Yet the report repeatedly argues that the IFIs undermine democracy by somehow precluding local governments from pursuing autonomous economic policies. The report is particularly critical of the Fund's role in Latin America, where virtually every country has become democratic during the very period when the IMF has been most active there. IMF conditionality is obviously not a roadblock to democracy. The allegations of the report simply fail to square with the facts of history.
Promoting Financial Instability
Turning to the specific recommendations, the most damaging relate to the central responsibility of the International Monetary Fund for preventing and responding to international monetary crises. The report would limit the Fund to supporting countries that prequalified for its assistance by meeting a series of criteria related to the stability of their domestic financial systems. This approach has two fatal flaws.
First, the majority would have the IMF totally ignore the macroeconomic policy stance of the crisis country-"the IMF would not be authorized to negotiate policy reform." Hence they would sanction Fund support for countries with runaway budget deficits and profligate monetary policies. This would virtually eliminate any prospect of overcoming the crisis; it would instead enable the country to perpetuate the very policies that likely triggered the crisis in the first place and thus greatly increase the risk of global instability. It would also provide international public resources for countries whose own policies were likely to squander them in short order, without any assurance of their even being able to repay the Fund. No reputable international institution would adopt such an approach.
The proposal for adding an undefined "proper fiscal requirement" to the prequalification list smacks of an international equivalent to the Maastricht criteria, which have been extremely difficult to apply in the relatively homogenous European Union and would be totally unrealistic at the global level. If the "fiscal requirement" were left open as to content, it would require Fund negotiation ("conditionality") of precisely the type that the major rejects-as well as the strong likelihood of periodic dequalifications and requalifications of countries that would be immensely destabilizing. Hence the prequalification list would in practice be limited to financial sector considerations, as clearly intended by the majority in any event, and fiscal as well as monetary policy would be completely ignored.
Second, limiting Fund activity to any set of prequalifying criteria would almost certainly preclude its supporting countries of great systemic importance and thereby substantially increase the risk of global economic disorder. Whatever criteria might be selected, it is totally unrealistic to think that all systemically important countries will fulfill them even after a generous transition period. The Fund would then be barred from helping such countries and financial crises in them would carry a much greater risk of producing a severe adverse impact on the world economy. No reform of the Fund should block it from fulfilling its central responsibility as the defender of global financial stability through providing emergency support for all countries which could generate systemic threats. (The Executive Summary suggests a takeout from these requirements "in unusual circumstances, where the crisis poses a threat to the global economy" but Chapter 2 on the IMF calls only for "extraordinary events" to be handled by "vehicles other than the IMF.")
These proposals apparently derive from five faulty lines of analysis in the report:
Much more desirable proposals for reforming the International Monetary Fund can be found in the recent report Safeguarding Prosperity in a Global Financial System: The Future International Financial Architecture by an Independent Task Force sponsored by the Council on Foreign Relations. That group, unlike the current Commission, reached unanimous agreement. Its members included Paul Volcker, George Soros, several corporate CEOs, former Secretaries of Labor and Defense, former members of Congress Lee Hamilton and Vin Weber, President Reagan's former Chief of Staff Kenneth Duberstein, and top economists including Martin Feldstein and Paul Krugman.
For example, the Independent Task Force suggested that the IMF should offer better terms on its credits to countries that have adopted the Basel Core Principles to strengthen their domestic banking systems in order to provide incentives for such constructive steps; this is far superior to the report's all-or-nothing approach, which would have the deleterious effects outlined above. That group also offers constructive and realistic reform proposals on how to alter the IMF's lending policies so as to reduce moral hazard without jeopardizing global financial stability, through better burden sharing with private creditors, and on how to shift the composition of international capital flows in longer-term and therefore less crisis-prone directions.
Undercutting the Fight Against Poverty
The second major problem with the report is that its recommendations might well undercut the fight against global poverty, despite its stated intention to push the world in the opposite direction. In particular, its proposal to eliminate the nonconcessional lending program of the World Bank represents another reckless idea based on faulty analysis.
First, the report would totally shut down two major sources of funding for the poor-the World Bank's nonconcessional lending program and the IMF's Poverty Reduction and Growth Facility. These programs help hundreds of millions of the world's poorest people, many of whom live in the poorest countries but many of whom also live in countries (e.g., Brazil and Mexico) whose average per capita income now exceeds the global poverty line.
The report would in fact return substantial amounts of World Bank capital and more than $5 billion of IFC capital to the donor countries. This proposal would amount to massive "reverse aid" to the richest people in the world! It would be financed through sizable repayments of prior World Bank loans, draining real resources from some of the poorest people in the world (e.g., in Africa and India). The proposal belies the avowed intent of the report to improve the lot of the poor.
Second, the report would bar World Bank lending even to the poorest countries if those countries had obtained access to the private capital markets. Why penalize countries like China and Thailand for doing precisely what the majority says it wants them to do-qualify for market credits?! This proposal would create negative incentives for a large number of key developing countries.
Third, and most critically, the report would rely wholly on appropriated grant funds from rich-country governments for future assistance to the poor. Callable capital that was no longer needed at the World Bank because of the shutdown in its lending programs could not simply be given to IDA; an entirely new authorization and appropriation process would be required in our own Congress and other legislatures around the world. Indeed, IDA would lose the funds now transferred to it from World Bank profits (and, under another of the report's proposals, the repayments of earlier IDA credits as well). This proposal comes at a time when Official Development Assistance, as measured annually by the OECD, has declined enormously-especially, as a share of total income, in the United States. Even if the report's proposals were to promote dramatic improvements in aid effectiveness, the results would take many years to show up and it takes a great leap of faith to believe that donor governments would provide substantially increased funds even then-let alone in the longish transition period when the changes were being implemented.
Fourth, the report wants the more advanced developing countries to henceforth rely wholly on the private capital markets for external finance. But those markets are enormously volatile as we have seen in the crises of both the 1980s and 1990s; the private money can flow back out, deepening crisis conditions, even faster than it came in. Moreover, the markets do not care if their funds are used for developmental purposes, especially poverty alleviation.
The third major problem with the report is its cavalier recommendations for several sweeping institutional changes without any analytical foundation at all. While there may be legitimate reasons for some of these proposals, the rationale for pursuing them has not been established:
The fourth major problem is the chapter on the World Trade Organization. The global trading system, and US policy toward it, is an enormously complex and important issue at this point in time. The Congress will indeed shortly be considering a vote on whether the United States should maintain its membership in the WTO. The chapter is totally inadequate and indeed full of errors in dealing with the issue, understandably so because the Commission members were not chosen for their expertise on trade topics.
For example, the chapter suggests that "there is considerable risk that WTO rulings will override national legislation" when there is no such risk. It believes that WTO rulings "should not supplant legislative decisions" when there is no risk of their doing so. It recommends that "WTO rulings…should (have) no direct effect on US law" when they neither do so now nor ever could do so. The group's title is the International Financial Institutions Advisory Commission and the report admits that "the Commission had neither the time nor the expertise to evaluate all the changes that have occurred or the many proposals for future changes."
There are numerous other flaws in the report:
The report also fails to address some of the central issues that must be part of any serious reform of the IMF. It should advocate, for example, much more effective "early warning" and "early action" systems to head off future crises. It should offer a formula for "private sector involvement" in crisis support operations, to assure sharing their financial burden between private creditors and official leaders (including the IMF), rather than simply "leaving that issue for participants." It should address the cardinal practical issue of how emerging market economies will manage their floating exchange rates, rather than simply reiterating that these countries should either fix rigidly or float freely-which very few now or ever will do. It should promote more stable exchange-rate arrangements among the major industrial countries, which are crucial for global stability and without which the emerging markets will continue to have severe problems whatever their own policies.
To conclude where we started: reform is needed at the IFIs and there are a number of constructive proposals in the report. But its recommendations on some of the most critical issues would heighten global instability, intensify rather than alleviate poverty throughout the world, and thereby surely undermine the national interests of the United States. These recommendations must be rejected and their presence requires us to dissent from the report in the strongest possible terms.
C. Fred Bergsten, Director, Institute for International Economics
Richard Huber, Former Chairman, President and CEO, Aetna, Inc.
Jerome Levinson, Former General Counsel, Inter-American Development Bank
Esteban Edward Torres, US House of Representatives, 1983-99
1. The final version of the report added a sentence including a "proper fiscal requirement" to the prequalification list. No rationale for that addition is stated, however, and the term is not even defined. If the "fiscal requirement" were intended to be a quantified level of permissible budget deficits, it would represent an international equivalent of the Maastricht criteria that have been extremely difficult to implement in relatively homogenous Europe and would be impossible globally. If it were simply a qualitative notion, the Fund would be back in the business of conditionality which the report rejects-and would face the prospect of dequalifying and requalifying countries as their policy stance shifted, adding an important new element of destabilization to the picture.
2. The report again made a last-minute addition suggesting a takeout from these requirements "in unusual circumstances, where the crisis poses a threat to the global economy." But the concept is never explained or defended so it cannot be taken seriously. | <urn:uuid:ffb9b4db-13dc-4ee9-bea4-bc4cd25e1177> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://iie.com/publications/testimony/testimony.cfm?ResearchID=372 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368706499548/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516121459-00025-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.955376 | 3,678 | 1.53125 | 2 |
Willamette University, Lewis & Clark College, Oregon State University and University of Oregon all have or are constructing gender-neutral dorms, according to the Medford Mail Tribune.
Southern Oregon opened its first gender-neutral dorm this fall, where men, women and those who don't identify wiith their gender could live together. But it has run afoul of Ashland city code, which has delayed opening bathrooms in the dorm.
Here's the story by reporter Paris Achen:
Read the rest of the story here.
The 14 founding residents of Southern Oregon University's first gender-neutral dormitory have been living in their new space on the first floor of Diamond Hall for nearly a week, but they still don't have bathrooms.
The city of Ashland rejected the university's first plan for bathrooms and then turned down a revised plan because it didn't provide enough privacy.
Now contractors are scrambling to complete a third plan that was approved by the city, which must approve building projects within city limits.
Meanwhile, the residents of the new dorm must visit different floors in Diamond Hall to use the showers on floors where the residents are all male or all female.
"The students have been really great," said Jason Ebbeling, SOU's director of resident life and housing. "They are excited about having this option, so they have been very understanding."
The plan for a gender-neutral dorm at SOU was conceived about two years ago. Willamette University, Lewis and Clark College, Oregon State University and the University of Oregon all have or are constructing gender-neutral dorms, Ebbeling said.
The Queer Resource Center and SOU's Associated Students, which is the campus governing body, worked closely with SOU officials to make the idea a reality at SOU, Ebbeling said.
Residents could include people who don't identify with their biological gender, men and women who want to live together or people who are simply more comfortable living in a mixed-gender environment, Ebbeling said. | <urn:uuid:aeb8b64e-318d-473c-8485-d5657e92a726> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://blog.oregonlive.com/nwheadlines/2009/10/southern_oregon_university_ope.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368711005985/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516133005-00008-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.967884 | 410 | 1.820313 | 2 |
Fred Spulecki, director of global voice and call center infrastructure at IBM, noted another driver for VOIP, now in practice at IBM: centralizing the voice switching function of 900 currently managed PBXes in 1400 facilities into IP switching platforms at 11 to 20 data centers. "And I dont want to replace those PBXes with 900 gateways" to give each site local PSTN access, he added. "I want to hook up to a carrier who has those gateways in place." He could name only Level 3 Communications Inc. as a company that could easily provision all those POPs immediately.A recent study found that VOIP phones in the enterprise wont overtake the installed PBX base until 2009. Click here to read the full story.Voice centralization would also "transfer voice from a separate technology tower to another horizontal, interdependent application with the same Tivoli monitoring," Spulecki said. His presentation included a screen shot of a presence-enabled IBM employee workplace communications portal, through which IBM workers can reach each other through text or voice. It featured enterprise IM and click-to-phone buddy lists, and a well-designed graphical representation of an audio conference in progress. It solved a real business problem: distinguishing between speakers in a multisite, audio-only conference. "Audio conferencing is the first killer app for VOIP," Spulecki said. In the audio conferencing part of IBMs enterprise communication portal, all parties were represented by what looked somewhat like marbles in a circle; the central marble represented the speaker, while the marble in a separate wedge of the circle represented someone asking a question. "We can do this today with CTI [computer-telephony integration] programming," said Spulecki, "but if we take the underlying infrastructure and virtualize it using IP, and use common interfaces and open standards such as WSDL [Web Services Description Language], XML, SIP, SIMPLE [SIP for Instant Messaging and Presence Leveraging Extensions] and SOAP [Simple Object Access Protocol], we can deploy these apps far more efficiently and easily." Naturally, he said that IBMs WebSphere Web application server is his platform of choice for the integration of collaboration, workflow and voice applications. Steven Toteda, senior manager of product marketing at Cisco Systems Inc., suggested that the "first chasm" of VOIP had essentially been crossed, with more than 20 percent of enterprises deploying the technology in some form. He suggested such driver applications going forward as video, conferencing and contact center, as well as such specialty apps as Amber Alerts, on-phone paging, and time-and-attendance tracking. Like others, Toteda outlined a range of possible adoption strategies for enterprises, from a purely outsourced, Centrex-style environment, with only handsets on premise; to an off-premise, dedicated server managed by a host; to an on-premise, host-managed IP PBX and gateway; to an on-premise, self-managed switch. He stressed the need for security to overlap all deployments. Neal Shact, CEO of CommuniTech Inc. and panel moderator, had the last word. He showed a slide that illustrated the VOIP landscape as a triangle, with IP endpoints such as SIP phones and softphones on one corner; broadband, WiMax, and cellular network providers on a second corner, and server/PBX platform vendors on the third. "Each guy on the triangle wants to commoditize the other two," he said. Check out eWEEK.coms VOIP & Telephony Center at http://voip.eweek.com for the latest news, views and analysis on voice over IP and telephony. | <urn:uuid:6eb5e854-5511-4e26-9900-9112cf98ff32> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.eweek.com/c/a/VOIP-and-Telephony/VOIP-Steals-Show-at-Supercomm/1/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368701459211/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516105059-00005-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.950244 | 768 | 1.59375 | 2 |
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Mass poisoner’s letters as she awaited execution to go under hammer
LETTERS written by the North-East’s most notorious mass murderer in her prison cell are to be auctioned next week.
The fascinating series shows Mary Ann Cotton’s desperation for help and money in the months and weeks leading up to her trial.
The eight letters also chart her mental disintegration as the enormity of her impending execution sinks in.
Cotton, of West Auckland, County Durham, was hanged on March 24, 1873, at Durham Gaol for the murder of her seven-year-old stepson, Charles.
Three other murder charges and an accusation of bigamy were left on file, and she is generally regarded to have murdered up to 22 of her children, husbands and lovers and even, possibly, her own mother.
Mass poisoner’s letters as she awaited execution to go under hammer Until Harold Shipman, she was Britain’s most prolific mass murderer.
The collection of letters from Mary Ann Cotton from her prison cell to William Lowrey
“It is very unusual to get letters like this, and they show she has no control over events unfolding outside her cell,” said Paul Hughes, of Tennants auctioneers, in Leyburn, North Yorkshire.
“When the letters start in July 1872, she was quite literate and her handwriting is quite strong, but as she becomes more and more desperate, her grammar, spelling and handwriting all start to go, and by February 1873, she was really struggling.”
The letters are on paper stamped “County Gaol, Durham”, and were sent to William Lowrey, in West Auckland. Mr Lowrey, a pitman, was a stranger who lodged with Mrs Cotton in Front Street for a week before she was arrested on July 18, 1872.
His descendants are selling the letters.
Although their acquaintance was brief, Mrs Cotton relied on Mr Lowrey to conduct her affairs while she was incarcerated. In one of her most desperate scribbles, she laments that “Ie have kn no frends of my one” – this may be because no one wanted to be associated with a woman accused of such heinous crimes, or it may be because she had murdered everyone who was close to her.
The eight letters begin with confident, fluent handwriting as she instructs Mr Lowrey to employ a solicitor and to round up named witnesses who “will be able to say how I treated the child”.
By October 1872, things are going wrong. George Smith, her solicitor of Bishop Auckland, has sold her “bed, carpets, knives (and) forks box and some little thing” for £13 to pay her legal costs, but when it becomes clear that she is to be charged with mass murder, he finds himself out of his depth.
Top right, ‘no frends of my one’; below left, an envelope containing one of her letters to Mr Lowrey; and below right, the inscription showing where the bible came from
The trial of Mrs Cotton, who was married four times and had numerous other lovers, was delayed so she could give birth to her 12th child – a daughter, whose descendants still live in County Durham.
On February 11, 1873 – a month after the birth – Mrs Cotton writes to Mr Lowrey for money.
“I want sum to get the child sum close as she has knon,” she scrawls in desperation. Six weeks later, she was executed.
Also in the lot, which will be auctioned on Wednesday and which has an estimate of between £300 and £500, is a bible.
“I see these basic bibles on a regular basis and they’re almost worthless, yet in the front of this one is written ‘Bought of Mrs Cotton, William Lowrey’,” said Mr Hughes.
It appears to have belonged to Mrs Cotton’s fourth husband, Frederick Cotton, whom she married bigamously in Newcastle in September 1870 and who died – of gastric complications, like so many of Mrs Cotton’s victims – in December 1871.
In the bible, Mr Cotton, who moved around the country, has written a morbid verse:
Frederick Cotton is my name England is my nation Wisbeach is my dwelling place and Christ is my salvation. When I am dead and in the grave And all my bones are rotten Take this bible and keep it clean Until I (am) quite forgotten.
A letter written by Mary Ann Cotton whilst awaiting her execution
Comments are closed on this article. | <urn:uuid:356b0185-0f42-4a39-a3bd-d5965a7f7077> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.thenorthernecho.co.uk/news/crime/10245803.Mass_poisoner___s_letters_as_she_awaited_execution_to_go_under_hammer/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368703298047/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516112138-00016-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.982205 | 986 | 1.679688 | 2 |
We are repeatedly told by the news media that there is a deep, almost
palpable, yearning among Americans for unity. And Sen. Barack Obama's repeated
and eloquent claims to being able to unite Americans are a major reason for his
present, and very possibly eventual, success in his quest for his party's
nomination for president of the United States.
I do not doubt Mr. Obama's sincerity. The wish that all people be united
is an elemental human desire. But there are two major problems with it. First,
it is not truly honest. Second, it is childish.
First is its dishonesty. Virtually all calls for unity -- whether
national, international or religious (as in calls for Christian unity) -- do not
tell the whole truth.
If those who call for unity told the whole truth, this is what they would
say: "I want everyone to unite -- behind my values. I want everyone who
disagrees with me to change the way they think so that we can all be united. I
myself have no plans to change my positions on any important issues in order to
achieve this unity. So in order to achieve it, I assume that all of you who
differ with me will change your views and values and embrace
Take any important issue that divides Americans and explain exactly how
unity can be achieved without one of the two sides giving up its values and
embracing the other side's values.
Barack Obama wants American troops out of Iraq now. About half of America
believes that American troops abandoning Iraq will lead to making that country
the world's center of terror and to the greatest victory thus far for the
greatest organized evil in the world today. How, then, will Mr. Obama achieve
unity on Iraq?
Mr. Obama believes in repealing the tax cuts enacted by the Bush
administration. How will he achieve unity on that? Many of us believe that
re-raising taxes will bring on a recession.
And what is the "unity" position on same-sex marriage? Either one
supports it or one supports keeping marriage defined as the legal union of a man
and a woman. The only way to unite Americans on this issue -- and I don't know
what is more seminal to civilization than its definition of marriage -- is to
convince all, or at least most, Americans to embrace one of the two
It is fascinating how little introspection Sen. Obama's "unity"
supporters engage in -- they are usually the very people who most forcefully
advocate multiculturalism, who scoff at the idea of an American melting pot and
who oppose something as basic to American unity as declaring English the
country's national language.
Their advocacy of multiculturalism and opposition to declaring English
the national language are proof that the calls of the left-wing supporters of
Barack Obama for American unity are one or more of three things: 1. A call for
all Americans to agree with them and become fellow leftists. 2. A nice-sounding
cover for their left-wing policies. 3. A way to further their demonizing of the
Bush administration as "divisive."
In case the reader should dismiss these observations about calls for
unity as political partisanship, let me make clear that they are equally
applicable to calls for religious unity. For example, one regularly hears calls
by many Christians for Christian unity. But how exactly will this be achieved?
Will Catholics stop believing in their catechism and embrace Protestant
theology, or will Protestants begin to regard the pope Christ's vicar on
Ironically, one reason America became the freest country in the world was
thanks to its being founded by disunited Christians -- all those Protestant
denominations had to figure out a way to live together and make a
Given what Sen. Obama's calls for unity really mean -- let's all go left
-- it is no wonder he and his calls for unity are enthusiastically embraced by
the liberal media.
For nearly eight years the media and Democrats have labeled President
Bush's policies "divisive" simply because they don't agree with them. They are
not one whit more divisive than Sen. Obama's positions. A question for
Democrats, the media and other Obama supporters: How exactly are Mr. Obama's
left-wing political positions any less "divisive" than President Bush's
Second, the craving for unity is frequently childish. As we mature we
understand that decent people will differ politically and theologically. The
mature yearn for unity only on a handful of fundamental values, such as: "We
hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they
are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these
are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness." Beyond such basics, we yearn
for civil discourse and tolerance, not unity.
The next time Sen. Obama speaks with his usual passion and eloquence
about his desire to unite Americans, someone must ask him two questions: Why are
your left-wing positions any less divisive than President Bush's right-wing
positions? And if you are so committed to uniting Americans, why did you vote
against declaring English our national, i.e., our unifying, language? Without
compelling answers, Sen. Obama's calls for American unity are no more than calls
to unite around his politics and him. | <urn:uuid:c6923d3f-b5b2-40a5-9f37-531db223b6c7> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://archive.frontpagemag.com/readArticle.aspx?ARTID=29450 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368708766848/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516125246-00042-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.950808 | 1,144 | 1.515625 | 2 |
Laws We Need To Pass to Properly Punish Child Abuse
Findlaw.com - Mountain View,CA,USA
... Bargaining pedophiles down to loitering or public nuisance charges is not the answer ... sharing of information regarding abuse in the Roman Catholic Church, it is ...
The Laws We Need To Pass to Properly Punish Child Abuse
By MARCI HAMILTON
Thursday, Jun. 16, 2005
Evidence at Michael Jackson's trial strongly indicated that he is a child molester. There was testimony that he plied children with liquor, showed them pornography, and invited them into his bed - all behaviors typical of a molester.
Yet, the jury did not convict Jackson - apparently largely because they believed the victim's mother was a gold-digger. The problem, however, is that there is every possibility that she was a gold-digger and the boy was abused.
If this boy was indeed a childhood sexual abuse victim, he is just one more example of how the system works against these victims. And while nothing can be done now about the Jackson verdict, much can still be done about child abuse in general.
Revelations of clergy abuse taught us that the law has been inadequate to redress the sexual abuse of children. But that left a question: What would be an effective legal approach?
My view is that both the states and the federal government ought to act to address this heinous crime - in ways I will detail in this column.
The States: Abolishing Criminal Statutes of Limitations for Now and the Future
Tragically, the vast majority of the childhood sexual abuse victims who have come forward in the clergy abuse context have been unable to bring charges against their perpetrators and the institutions that fostered such abuse by hiding it. That is because the statutes of limitations for both criminal prosecution of, and civil suits based on, such abuse are shockingly short, as I have discussed in a previous column .
The solution is simple: All states should abolish the statute of limitations - as the federal government did in 1999, and as Maine and Alaska have done.
A number of states have merely lengthened their statutes of limitations. That is a step in the right direction, but it is not enough - for several reasons.
First, no perpetrator of such a heinous crime should ever be permitted to feel he is safe from prosecution or liability.
Second, by its nature, the crime of child abuse is often reported only years - typically decades - later. It takes time for victims - whose abusers often threaten them in the strongest terms - to come out from the burden of confusion, fear, and shame that they feel. Given this reality, we should not have statutes of limitations that will, in reality, leave many genuine victims out in the cold when they are finally able to come to terms with reporting their abuse. Moreover, these predators typically have a string of victims. If the victim from the past can come forward, it may well aid a victim today. Bringing this information into the public square, regardless of when the abuse occurred, is crucial in stopping serial abuse.
Third, as is the case with murder (which has no statute of limitations), child abuse is a crime such that the perpetrator himself may take measures that allow him to avoid detection for decades. Murderers, of course, silence their victims permanently and literally. But child abusers may use less literal silencing techniques on vulnerable children that are just as effective.
After all, they have the advantage of age, power, and often, a position of authority. They can threaten their victims in a way that makes a terrifying psychological imprint for decades. They can also, at times, call on their superiors to aid in the cover-up - as occurred when religious institutions opted to "handle" the problem internally, instead of reporting the abusers.
The States: Retroactively Abolishing Civil Statutes of Limitations
Under the Supreme Court's decision in Stogner v. California , no government may revive a criminal claim that is time-barred; to do so, the Court held, is unconstitutional under the Ex Post Facto clause, which bans certain retroactive laws.
But the states can - and ought to -- do so with respect to civil claims against the perpetrators and those who assisted them. They can do so by opening a "window," during which civil claims are not subject to the defense of the statute of limitations.
Indeed, California and Illinois have done so already. Moreover, New York is considering such a bill this week, and may well put it on the fast track. As discussed in a previous column, the Ohio Senate recently passed a window bill unanimously; it is now pending in the House.
Finally, the Governor of Wisconsin just announced that he supports a window in his state. And no wonder: There, one of the most deplorable clergy abuse cases we've seen - one in which there was clear evidence of institutional responsibility for the abuse -- was summarily dismissed on statute of limitations grounds.
All fifty states and the District of Columbia - as well as the federal government, with respect to abuse that comes under federal jurisdiction because it occurs on military bases and the like - ought to adopt "window" statutes.
Otherwise, heinous perpetrators not only will continue to walk free, they will continue to suffer no punishment whatsoever. Worse, the truth will remain hidden, and victims will not have the psychologically freeing experience of having their claims vindicated through presentation in a neutral forum. Private settlements are simply inadequate for these victims; they need the legal system to stand behind them as they search for some measure of justice and closure.
The States: Amending Child Abuse Reporting Requirements to Include Clergy
Most states require professionals to report child abuse, though some exempt clergy. Such an exemption is a mistake, however.
The reasons to put a reporting obligation on clergy are plain: They have unique access to family dynamics and may well be in a better position than even a doctor or teacher to save a child from further abuse. Without a legal obligation to report, though, they are simply too tempted to "keep it inside the church," as we have seen in a number of congregations.
And on the other side of the balance, the arguments against such a requirement are makeweight at best. There is no sacrifice at all to religious belief or practice in requiring clergy to speak up when they learn of child abuse; if anything, religious belief and practice ought to be vindicated by doing so. No religion - except aberrant cults - treats child sexual abuse as a religious tenet.
Churches can be free, yet still be good citizens. It is absurd for them to claim that their independence is comprised by the minimal obligation to help children who are being abused, rather than turning a blind eye. Nobody should fail to understand the primary moral, political, and legal lesson arising out of the Roman Catholic Church's clergy abuse experience: self-policing of child abuse, even by religious organizations, simply does not work.
The States and the Federal Government: Organizing Data about Child Abusers
As experts have come to realize that pedophilia is an incurable condition, the United States has moved from a rehabilitative model to a tracking policy to deal with perpetrators.
Accordingly, a number of states have a version of Megan's Law, which requires the registration of convicted sex offenders on a public registry. One problem with such registries, though, is that pedophiles may move across state lines, making it difficult to track their movements outside the state.
To fill the gap, a private company is seeking to capitalize on citizens' fear of pedophile predators in the United States, SCAN USA, a Houston-based company, is providing - for a fee - information about predator movement between states to those in California, Texas, and Florida, with an eye to covering the entire country.
SCAN USA should be complimented for filling a woeful gap. Yet there is something fundamentally wrong with the notion that parents of young children must pay to learn the movements of predators. It is good news, then, that the Department of Justice (DOJ) has announced that it is coordinating the states' sexual offender data into a single database.
Victims, though, are not satisfied that the DOJ's registry will be adequate. They say that there are too many predators who are guilty and are accused, but are not convicted, and therefore evade the sex offender registry.
Why? Sometimes, prosecutors offer a plea bargain to a lesser offense - a practice that does children little good, especially if the offense is a misdemeanor that may not even be reported on a job application. These bargains are made in response to the difficulty of proving a crime committed in private against a child; the same difficulty also doubtless leads to the acquittal of guilty persons.
The one thing no government could do is to publish a list of "possible" pedophiles. Each state, however, could report to the DOJ any public records involving charges against individuals on these claims, and the DOJ could publish on the Web the compilation of the data.
Pedophiles typically have dozens of victims during their lifetimes. Such a federal listing would make it possible for victims to search to see if their perpetrator has been the subject of other allegations.
Another option might be to create a special misdemeanor for pedophiles - one that prosecutors could offer, but that would still go on Megan's List. Bargaining pedophiles down to loitering or public nuisance charges is not the answer.
Yet another option would be to create a "three strikes" law for pedophile misdemeanors - in which the third would be tried as a felony.
All these options have one goal: Get information that will protect children out there, where the public can access it. If there is anything we have learned from the sharing of information regarding abuse in the Roman Catholic Church, it is that victims are empowered when they learn they were not the only child victim, but rather one in a series. Finally, they understand that it really was not their fault, that the adult was a criminal perpetrator, not a figure to be respected.
And Megan's List shows us that victimization can be prevented with knowledge: If a parent finds out there's a pedophile next door, she will watch her children all the more closely. If a would-be babysitter appears on Megan's List, parents can get together to get the word out.
The modus operandi of the pedophile is significantly undermined if the secrecy he or she values so much is breached. Thus, government should work to make evidence of pedophilia easily accessible to the public.
States and Federal Government: Revocation of Institutions' Tax-Exempt Status
It should be painfully apparent by now that the law has been inadequate to deter and punish institutions that know about child abuse. Even before the Catholic Church, we knew about the Boy Scouts and child day care centers.
As I proposed in USA Today last week, nonprofit, charitable institutions that have the benefit of tax-exempt status should lose that privilege - on both the state and federal level -- if they foster or cover up child abuse, or fail to report it to the local authorities. Remember, this status is a privilege, not a right: When it's abused, it should be revoked.
Nonprofits receive the benefit of tax-exempt status in the first place, because they are especially beneficial to society, and because we want to encourage them to continue being beneficial. Those that hide and abet child abuse have crossed the line from beneficial, to horribly destructive: They damage this society incalculably by harming these victims for life.
The Federal Government: Aggressively Apply the RICO Statute
The federal Racketeering-Influenced Corrupt Organizations (RICO) statute - which has both criminal and civil sections - was enacted to address Mafia behavior. But by its language, it can be used to combat patterns of certain federal crimes (including wire and mail fraud) when they involve an institution.
And when it comes to churches and child abuse, such a pattern may well exist. (For instance, when a church sends out mail asking parishioners to welcome a new priest without disclosing his history of abuse in another parish, that may well be mail fraud. And phone calls that involve lies that do damage may well count as wire fraud.)
RICO has been used against corrupt unions; it is not far-fetched to envision that it could be used against corrupt churches as well, as I discuss in a prior column .
Unfortunately, civil RICO has proved inadequate to bring those institutions fostering child abuse to account, because it requires a showing of harm to property, as opposed to harm to the person. (The idea was that it could address crimes such as arson against shopkeepers who refused to pay "protection" money.)
Congress could - and should - amend civil RICO to encompass patterns of federal crimes that cause harm to the person as well. Surely child abuse is as harmful, in its way, as arson; surely a pattern of abetting or covering up abuse is as, or more, insidious as a pattern of committing arson against non-paying shopkeepers.
But criminal RICO is another matter; it is not limited to property damage. Unfortunately, however, it requires a prosecutor to take action, and it is hard to find the prosecutor daring enough to charge the higher-ups in a religious organization, like the Roman Catholic Church, with serious crimes.
Such charges may seem like career suicide, so only those with an extraordinarily strong moral compass will file them. Many, if not most, prosecutors have political ambitions that overcome their moral consciences on matters like these. And this is as true of those who support "family values" as those who are not part of that particular movement.
In the not-too-distant future, though, it will be those who did prosecute known abusers who will be among those revered and then elected. We can make it arrive faster, though, if we make it known that our litmus test, in voting, is the courage to indict, on RICO charges, those churches and institutions whose actions, with respect to child sexual abuse, fit the law's requirements. Someday, those who failed to bring such charges may be as reviled as those who once thought segregation - also supported by some powerful, including religious, institutions - was acceptable.
There is, then, some bad news. But neither the frustrating Michael Jackson verdict, nor the Catholic Church's stalling tactics in litigation across the country or lobbying efforts to defeat child abuse initiatives, nor the loud silence when it comes to RICO indictments, should defeat the hopes of the many who still believe in effectively combating child abuse - wherever it occurs, and whoever is trying to protect the perpetrator.
There is a legal path that can lead to the protection of children, as opposed to the predators and institutions who cover for them. As noted above, various legal initiatives that have been introduced in some states, and on the federal level, are encouraging, and would be helpful. We need to make sure they become law, and make sure they spread across the nation. This is a righteous cause.
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I keep waiting on the invitation:
What: Education Reform Policy Party
Where: Wonk Circles All Over
Why: We want YOU to help envision & shape the next generation of schools.
The paradox, of course, is that as the reformation of education garners greater and greater media attention, teachers — the unrecognized professionals — continue to find ourselves left out despite the fact we have one of the largest stakes in the debate.
While it would be fun to point fingers at others, the truth is that we have a long history of grudgingly accepting whatever comes down the pipe at us, so it may well be of our own doing. Fortunately, that is changing, and none too soon.
However, thanks to the Race to the Top and the unprecedented funding by the federal government, the reform effort has amassed a following of armchair experts who all seem to sing from the same hymnal:
- Market driven solutions will work.
- Increasing competition among teachers will improve their “performance”.
- Firing teachers must be a first priority.
- Threats achieve results, especially if the threats involve closing a school.
- Standardized tests are effective measures of success.
- More standards = more learning.
Yet the most egregious (albeit tacit) tenet of the movement seems to be that reform should happen to teachers rather than with teachers.
While nearly everyone intimately involved in the reform effort would publicly deny this, the fact is that teachers remain the underutilized voice on how to improve our schools. The most recent example of this was in the New York Times Sunday Magazine’s May 23rd piece, “The Teachers’ Unions’ Last Stand“.
The over 8,000 word education reform article did not quote one teacher. Not one!
It’s outrageous! When an editor from one of the world’s most powerful newspapers does not insist that a teacher’s voice be included in such a premiere education piece we learn a lot about the esteem teachers are held in. It’s the The-emperor-has-no-clothes moment of truth. Finally, we see and we should be livid! After all, we have the most profound of roles in our schools — we teach the children.
Imagine for a second a comparable examination of banking reform that does not quote from at least a single banker. It would never happen.
Fortunately, the letters in response to the article raised this concern, perhaps most poignantly by 2nd grade teacher, Emily Miller.
There are many things in Steven Brill’s article that trouble me, but my greatest concern about the education-reform debate is the absence of teachers’ voices. When the country was debating the economic-stimulus plan, policy makers asked economists for advice, and the press frequently provided a forum for them to express their opinions. Yet when discussing education, the experts — those who work with children every day in classrooms — are rarely consulted. Many of those who were interviewed for Brill’s article said that they want what is best for children. It seems to me that if this is a genuine concern, those who best understand the challenges and problems in our schools, namely teachers, should be asked what they think.
The fact is, teachers have little history making or getting our voice heard. We are the unrealized professionals.
Thankfully, change is in the air. Through social networking sites such as Facebook, Twitter, & ASCD Edge educators are building networks that turn up the volume on their ideas, concerns, and potential power of their numbers. This ability to make our voice heard is an important first step toward being substantively included at the table.
It is a start, but we still need to do more. But how?
As with most grassroots efforts, it begins at home: Think Globally, Elect Locally.
Our local officials and state representatives need to know our names, not just the names of the union reps. During the summer, we can make calls to our elected policy makers, write letters to the editor calling out publications for misrepresenting us, and learn how to advocate. We can interact with politicians running for office and insist they answer questions about education. And if their answers seem copy-pasted from the Reform Hymnal, we help educate them, or deny them our vote.
Perhaps Jessica Luallen Horten said it best in her piece, “Calling Teachers to Action Beyond SB 6“:
I implore you to think about your beliefs about how children learn, what have you discovered in your years of experience? Write it down, share it, speak it and continue to examine it every day. If you truly want to advocate for children, you will become active in the process that will shape their tomorrow.
We have an opportunity to capitalize on the press and the widespread focus on education, even if we never get an invitation to the party. It’s time to bust down the doors and demand to be heard. As the experts in the field, we have a civic responsibility to speak truth to power and to armchair experts everywhere.
Change will happen. However, the onus is on us to either be recipients of it or agents in it.
How else can teachers get involved? What other ways can we help shape the debate? | <urn:uuid:aff31aa2-e0a6-491d-98db-358c545bcfec> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://coopcatalyst.wordpress.com/2010/06/11/emerging-trend-teachers-as-advocates/?like=1&source=post_flair&_wpnonce=18b5244a97 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368701852492/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516105732-00005-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.958628 | 1,102 | 1.703125 | 2 |
(MENAFN - Khaleej Times) Blog posts of Indian columnist Shobha De and Russian crime fiction and social activist Boris Akunin have caused a bit of stir, controversy and a certain amount of social change in India and Russia respectively.
However, according to CNN Dubai chief operations director and CNN Arabic digital services director Caroline Faraj, blogging in the Arab world is totally different from how it is in the West.
What do De, Akunin, Faraj and UAE-based author Kathy Shalhoub have in common? Ideologically, they don't agree on several grounds, but they are fervent bloggers. They belong to a league of writers who believe that a blog is a "completely democratic space, where people can express themselves freely". Faraj does not write a blog herself, but is the editor of CNNArabic.com and is responsible for the content and management of the site.
Kathy Shalhoub; Shobhaa De; Alexander McNabb, Spot On PR's group account director; Boris Akunin; and Caroline Faraj at the panel discussion.
The writers got together for a panel discussion to understand why people blog, at the Emirates Airlines Literary Festival (EAFL). As a blogger, who would you write to? Or is it just another reason to be hooked online rather than talk to the people in the room you inhabit with?
One of the more interesting observations that the panelists pointed out was how bloggers from different regions use their respective blogs. While bloggers like De state that "a blog is necessarily a space to disturb and create discomfort in society," bloggers in the Middle East are still dabbling with their new-found freedom of expression.
"The young generation is all over the internet and especially in the Arab world (where) 60 per cent of the population is under the age of 30. All of them carry at least two gadgets with them. The social media in general is totally new to the Arab world. Four years ago we opened the floor to Arab bloggers to send us their thoughts because we were interested to get in touch with them. In less than a year, CNN received over 30 to 40,000 URLs from Arabs who were living in the Arab World. This is huge because it became a platform for them to express themselves freely without any censorship," Faraj said.
De said she liked the idea of a blog being a completely democratic space.
"I like the idea of having no censorship whatsoever. I post all the comments that come in, including the hate mails and threats, because that is what makes a blog exciting to me. The whole idea of being in that space is to encourage people to express themselves freely. Sometimes the comments can be hostile, which also is a learning process."
Akunin said the blogging scene was completely different in Russia. "In Russia, the internet world is quite wild. People are rude and they like to insult each other. In my blog, the rule is that everyone behaves absolutely well. If two people begin to insult each other, if they have a conflict which they cannot resolve through peaceful means, they can call each other to dual. So the conflict is solved by a method which I call the 'Russian Roulette'."
Because the very nature of a blog is a space for personal opinions, it is only natural that it could attract either encouragement or in several cases stark criticism. Lebanese born writer Kathy Shalhoub began blogging when she was a student in the United States. She started to write in a quest for like-minded individuals or people who were in a similar situation as she was, she said. "A lot of the discussions in my first blog were an attempt to reach out to like-minded people. It was an amazing reaction, it was not a place of controversy, but a place of connection, where people could share some of their feelings and find comfort. It doesn't matter if you are Russian or Lebanese or Indian, but you are always going to find some kind of attack against you or blogging. You are going to have to be ready to deal with that if you are a blogger," she said. | <urn:uuid:914ce703-81f2-4a45-8121-ac3969e5a2d6> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.menafn.com/menafn/1093616733/UAE-The-big-issue-with-blogs?src=RSS | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368696383156/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516092623-00008-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.977635 | 838 | 1.75 | 2 |
Most Active Stories
Wed January 25, 2012
Japan Details First Trade Deficit Since 1980
The Japanese government has announced that the country's trade balance has gone negative. It's the first time since 1980 that Japan's export-based economy has recorded a trade deficit. Economists say the strength of the yen and weak global demand have hit Japanese exports hard. | <urn:uuid:d62abd4d-0bae-48ee-ba05-df23b9c42f0d> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://kunm.org/post/japan-details-first-trade-deficit-1980 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368698924319/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516100844-00031-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.959489 | 72 | 1.5625 | 2 |
Without saying a word, Cousin Monica accompanied me to the schoolroom, and on entering she shut the door, not with a spirited clang, but quietly and determinedly.
Well, dear, she said, with the same pale, excited countenance, that certainly is a sensible and charitable arrangement. I could not have believed it possible, had I not heard it with my ears.
About my going to Bartram-Haugh?
Yes, exactly so, under Silas Ruthyn's guardianship, to spend twothreeof the most important years of your education and your life under that roof. Is that, my dear, what was in your mind when you were so alarmed about what you were to be called upon to do, or undergo?
No, no, indeed. I had no notion what it might be. I was afraid of something serious, I answered.
And, my dear Maud, did not your poor father speak to you as if it was something serious? said she. And so it is, I can tell you, something serious, and very serious; and I think it ought to be prevented, and I certainly will prevent it if I possibly can.
I was puzzled utterly by the intensity of Lady Knollys' protest. I looked at her, expecting an explanation of her meaning; but she was silent, looking steadfastly on the jewels on her right-hand fingers, with which she was drumming a staccato march on the table, very pale, with gleaming eyes, evidently thinking
p.175deeply. I began to think she had a prejudice against my uncle Silas.
He is not very rich, I commenced.
Who? said Lady Knollys.
Uncle Silas, I replied.
No, certainly; he's in debt, she answered.
But then, how very highly Doctor Clay spoke of him! I pursued.
Don't talk of Doctor Clay. I do think that man is the greatest goose I ever heard talk. I have no patience with such men, she replied.
I tried to remember what particular nonsense Doctor Clay had uttered, and I could recollect nothing, unless his eulogy upon my uncle were to be classed with that sort of declamation.
Danvers is a very proper man and a good accountant, I dare say; but he is either a very deep person, or a foolI believe a fool. As for your attorney, I suppose he knows his business, and also his interest, and I have no doubt he will consult it. I begin to think the best man among them, the shrewdest and the most reliable, is that vulgar visionary in the black wig. I saw him look at you, Maud, and I liked his face, though it is abominably ugly and vulgar, and cunning, too; but I think he's a just man, and I dare say with right feelingsI'm sure he has.
I was quite at a loss to divine the gist of my cousin's criticism.
I'll have some talk with Dr. Bryerly; I feel convinced he takes my view, and we must really think what had best be done.
Is there anything in the will, Cousin Monica, that does not appear? I asked, for I was growing very uneasy. I wish you would tell me. What view do you mean?
No view in particular; the view that a desolate old park, and the house of a neglected old man, who is very poor, and has been desperately foolish, is not the right place for you, particularly at your years. It is quite shocking, and I will speak to Doctor Bryerly. May I ring the bell, dear?
Certainly; and I rang it.
When does he leave Knowl?
I could not tell. Mrs. Rusk, however, was sent for, and she
p.176could tell us that he had announced his intention of taking the night train from Drackleton, and was to leave Knowl for that station at half-past six o'clock.
May Rusk give or send him a message from me, dear? asked Lady Knollys.
Of course she might.
Then please let him know that I request he will be so good as to allow me a very few minutes, just to say a word before he goes.
You kind cousin! I said, placing my two hands on her shoulders, and looking earnestly in her face; you are anxious about me, more than you say. Won't you tell me why? I am much more unhappy, really, in ignorance, than if I understood the cause.
Well, dear, haven't I told you? The two or three years of your life which are to form you are destined to be passed in utter loneliness, and, I am sure, neglect. You can't estimate the disadvantage of such an arrangement. It is full of disadvantages. How it could have entered the head of poor Austinalthough I should not say that, for I am sure I do understand it,but how he could for any purpose have directed such a measure is quite inconceivable. I never heard of anything so foolish and abominable, and I will prevent it if I can.
At that moment Mrs. Rusk announced that Doctor Bryerly would see Lady Knollys at any time she pleased before his departure.
It shall be this moment, then, said the energetic lady, and up she stood, and made that hasty general adjustment before the glass, which, no matter under what circumstances, and before what sort of creature one's appearance is to be made, is a duty that every woman owes to herself. And I heard her a moment after, at the stair-head, directing Branston to let Dr. Bryerly know that she awaited him in the drawing-room.
And now she was gone, and I began to wonder and speculate. Why should my cousin Monica make all this fuss about, after all, a very natural arrangement? My uncle, whatever he might have been, was now a good mana religious manperhaps a little
p.177severe; and with this thought a dark streak fell across my sky.
A cruel disciplinarian! had I not read of such characters?lock and key, bread and water, and solitude! To sit locked up all night in a dark out-of-the-way room, in a great, ghosty, old-fashioned house, with no one nearer than the other wing. What years of horror in one such night! Would not this explain my poor father's hesitation, and my cousin Monica's apparently disproportioned opposition? When an idea of terror presents itself to a young person's mind, it transfixes and fills the vision, without respect of probabilities or reason.
My uncle was now a terrible old martinet, with long Bible lessons, lectures, pages of catechism, sermons to be conned by rote, and an awful catalogue of punishments for idleness, and what would seem to him impiety. I was going, then to a frightful isolated reformatory, where for the first time in my life I should be subjected to a rigorous and perhaps barbarous discipline.
All this was an exhalation of fancy, but it quite overcame me. I threw myself, in my solitude, on the floor, upon my knees, and prayed for deliveranceprayed that Cousin Monica might prevail with Doctor Bryerly, and both on my behalf with the Lord Chancellor, or the High Sheriff, or whoever else my proper deliverer might be; and when my cousin returned, she found me quite in an agony.
Why, you little fool! what fancy has taken possession of you now? she cried.
And when my new terror came to light, she actually laughed a little to reassure me, and she said:
My dear child, your uncle Silas will never put you through your duty to your neighbor; all the time you are under his roof you'll have idleness and liberty enough, and too much, I fear. It is neglect, my dear, not discipline, that I'm afraid of.
I think, dear Cousin Monica, you are afraid of something more than neglect, I said, relieved, however.
I am afraid of more than neglect, she replied promptly; but I hope my fears may turn out illusory, and that possibly they may be avoided. And now, for a few hours at least, let us think of
p.178something else. I rather like that Doctor Bryerly. I could not get him to say what I wanted. I don't think he's Scotch, but he is very cautious, and I am sure, though he would not say so, that he thinks of the matter exactly as I do. He says that those fine people, who are named as his co-trustees, won't take any trouble, and will leave everything to him, and I am sure he is right. So we must not quarrel with him, Maud, nor call him hard names, although he certainly is intolerably vulgar and ugly, and at times very nearly impertinentI suppose without knowing, or indeed very much caring.
We had a good deal to think of, and talked incessantly. There were bursts and interruptions of grief, and my kind cousin's consolations. I have often since been so lectured for giving way to grief, that I wonder at the patience exercised by her during this irksome visit. Then there was some reading of that book whose claims are always felt in the terrible days of affliction. After that we had a walk in the yew garden, that quaint little cloistered quadranglethe most solemn, sad, and antiquated of gardens.
And now, my dear, I must really leave you for two or three hours. I have ever so many letters to write, and my people must think I'm dead by this time.
So till tea-time I had poor Mary Quince, with her gushes of simple prattle and her long fits of vacant silence, for my companion. And such a one, who can con over by rote the old friendly gossip about the dead, talk about their ways, and looks, and likings, without much psychologic refinement, but with a simple admiration and liking that never measured them critically, but always with faith and love, is in general about as comfortable a companion as one can find for the common moods of grief.
It is not easy to recall in calm and happy hours the sensations of an acute sorrow that is past. Nothing, by the merciful ordinance of God, is more difficult to remember than pain. One or two great agonies of that time I do remember, and they remain to testify of the rest, and convince me, though I can see it no more, how terrible all that period was.
Next day was the funeral, that appalling necessity; smuggled away in whispers, by black familiars, unresisting, the beloved one
p.179leaves home, without a farewell, to darken those doors no more; henceforward to lie outside, far away, and forsaken, through the drowsy heats of summer, through days of snow and nights of tempest, without light or warmth, without a voice near. Oh, Death, king of terrors! The body quakes and the spirit faints before thee. It is vain, with hands clasped over our eyes, to scream our reclamation; the horrible image will not be excluded. We have just the word spoken eighteen hundred years ago, and our trembling faith. And through the broken vault the gleam of the Star of Bethlehem.
I was glad in a sort of agony when it was over. So long as it remained to be done, something of the catastrophe was still suspended. Now it was all over.
The house so strangely empty. No ownerno master! I with my strange momentary liberty, bereft of that irreplaceable love, never quite prized until it is lost. Most people have experienced the dismay that underlies sorrow under such circumstances.
The apartment of the poor outcast from life is now dismantled. Beds and curtains taken down, and furniture displaced; carpets removed, windows open and doors locked; the bedroom and anteroom were henceforward, for many a day, uninhabited. Every shocking change smote my heart like a reproach.
I saw that day that Cousin Monica had been crying for the first time, I think, since her arrival at Knowl; and I loved her more for it, and felt consoled. My tears have often been arrested by the sight of another person weeping, and I never could explain why. But I believe that many persons experience the same odd reaction.
The funeral was conducted, in obedience to his brief but peremptory direction, very privately and with little expense. But of course there was an attendance, and the tenants of the Knowl estate also followed the hearse to the mausoleum, as it is called, in the park, where he was laid beside my dear mother. And so the repulsive ceremonial of that dreadful day was over. The grief remained, but there was rest from the fatigue of agitation, and a comparative calm supervened.
It was now the stormy equinoctial weather that sounds the wild dirge of autumn, and marches the winter in. I love, and always
p.180did, that grand undefinable music, threatening and bewailing, with its strange soul of liberty and desolation.
By this night's mail, as we sat listening to the storm, in the drawing-room at Knowl, there reached me a large letter with a great black seal, and a wonderfully deep-black border, like a widow's crape. I did not recognize the handwriting; but on opening the funereal missive, it proved to be from my uncle Silas, and was thus expressed:
My Dearest Niece,
This letter will reach you, probably, on the day which consigns the mortal remains of my beloved brother, Austin, your dear father, to the earth. Sad ceremony, from taking my mournful part in which I am excluded by years, distance, and broken health. It will, I trust, at this season of desolation, be not unwelcome to remember that a substitute, imperfectunworthybut most affectionately zealous, for the honoured parent whom you have just lost, has been appointed, in me, your uncle, by his will. I am aware that you were present during the reading of it, but I think it will be for our mutual satisfaction that our new and more affectionate relations should be forthwith entered upon. My conscience and your safety, and I trust convenience, will thereby be consulted. You will, my dear niece, remain at Knowl, until a few simple arrangements shall have been completed for your reception at this place. I will then settle the details of your little journey to us, which shall be performed as comfortably and easily as possible. I humbly pray that this affliction may be sanctified to us all, and that in our new duties we may be supported, comforted, and directed. I need not remind you that I now stand to you in loco parentis, which means in the relation of father, and you will not forget that you are to remain at Knowl until you hear further from me.I remain, my dear niece, your most affectionate uncle and guardian, Silas Ruthyn.
P.S.Pray present my respects to Lady Knollys, who, I understand, is sojourning at Knowl. I would observe that a lady who cherishes, I have reason to fear, unfriendly feelings against
p.181your uncle, is not the most desirable companion for his ward. But upon the express condition that I am not made the subject of your discussionsa distinction which could not conduce to your forming a just and respectful estimate of meI do not interpose my authority to bring your intercourse to an immediate close.
As I read this postscript, my cheek tingled as if I had received a box on the ear. Uncle Silas was as yet a stranger. The menace of authority was new and sudden, and I felt with a pang of mortification the full force of the position in which my dear father's will had placed me.
I was silent, and handed the letter to my cousin, who read it with a kind of smile until she came, as I supposed, to the postscript, when her countenance, on which my eyes were fixed, changed, and with flushed cheeks she knocked the hand that held the letter on the table before her, and exclaimed:
Did I ever hear! Well, if this isn't impertinence! What an old man that is!
There was a pause, during which Lady Knollys held her head high with a frown, and sniffed a little.
I did not intend to talk about him, but now I will. I'll talk away just whatever I like; and I'll stay here just as long as you let me, Maud, and you need not be one atom afraid of him. Our intercourse to an immediate close, indeed! I only wish he were hear. He should hear something!
And Cousin Monica drank off her entire cup of tea at one draught, and then she said, more in her own way:
I'm better! and drew a long breath, and then she laughed a little in a waggish defiance. I wish we had him here, Maud, and would not we give him a bit of our minds! And this before the poor will is so much proved!
I am almost glad he wrote that postscript; for although I don't think he has any authority in that matter while I am under my own roof, I said, extemporizing a legal opinion, and, therefore, shan't obey him, it has somehow opened my eyes to my real situation.
I sighed, I believe, very desolately, for Lady Knollys came over and kissed me very gently and affectionately.
It really seems, Maud, as if he had a supernatural sense, and heard things through the air over fifty miles of heath and hill. You remember how, just as he was probably writing that very postscript yesterday, I was urging you to come and stay with me, and palling to move Dr. Bryerly in our favour. And so I will, Maud, and to me you shall comemy guest, mindI should be so delighted; and really if Silas is under a cloud, it has been his own doing, and I don't see that it is your business to fight his battle. He can't live very long. The suspicion, whatever it is, dies with him, and what could poor dear Austin prove by his will but what everybody knew quite well beforehis own strong belief in Silas's innocence? What an awful storm! The room trembles. Don't you like the sound? What they used to call wolving in the old organ at Dorminster! | <urn:uuid:4143bafb-a607-40e2-951d-d68070e7219c> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.ucc.ie/celt/published/E860000-001/text026.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368702448584/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516110728-00034-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.981828 | 3,980 | 1.609375 | 2 |
Steaks and Nostalgia
Supper at Bobu’s
It was sometime after World War II when the supper club became middle-class America’s
choice for a night on the town. Supper clubs were neither four-star
restaurants nor diners, but offered good food familiar to American
tastes in a relaxed setting. Inevitably there was bar near the
entrance, where patrons loosened up with a few drinks before sitting
down dinner—“supper” it was usually called back then, at least in this
part of the country.
Nowadays, restaurants capturing the unpretentious feel of the old supper clubs have become scarcer. One contender, Bobu’s Steakhouse and Lounge, has been open for more than two years at the western edge of West Allis. Specifically, Bobu’s seems cut from the tail end of the supper club era, the 1970s. For anyone who grew up in Milwaukee during those days, Bobu’s is a reminder of times past, a world certainty and freedom where drinks were cheap and no one was carded, where phone calls didn’t follow you everywhere and work ended at 5 o’clock sharp.
During those years Bobu’s owner, Bob Radtke,
ran a disco called the Sand Dollar. His chief waitress, Diamond Lil, is
a veteran of most every West Side restaurant from the ’70s onward,
including Balistreri’s and the Red Mill.
With its dark paneling, red bar stools and white tablecloths, Bobu’s recreates the essence of the term “supper club.” Despite the exotic suggestion of the restaurant’s name (“Bobu” is actually Radtke’s nickname), it’s a steak and chop joint whose Italian accent is heard in the menu’s veal Parmesan, chicken piccata, Caesar salad and pasta pomodoro.
The appetizers are filling enough to serve as supper. The potato skins
($6), deep-fried and topped with three cheeses and bacon, spill over
the platter. The eggplant ($7) comes in long and hefty strips, tenderly
fried and lightly battered, served with a bowl of marinara. Unlike
typical bar food, they are not greasy. The straw onion rings ($6) form
a mound tall enough to ski on.
Still hungry? Dinner begins with a warm loaf of white bread (rye on Fridays to go with the four fish fry specials). The entrees, many of them reasonably priced at less than $20, include a choice of homemade soup or a house salad of mixed lettuce and tomatoes with freshly made croutons. Potato options include the usual baked variety and french fries, the less-expected red-skin mashed and, surprisingly, hash browns, almost unheard of in restaurants past breakfast time. Friday adds another choice: potato cakes (not potato pancakes) served with applesauce.
Strict vegetarians are limited to pasta pomodoro ($11). Chicken and fish are readily available, but somehow you just know that red meat, beef in particular, is the house specialty. The largest, most elaborate preparation, the 12-ounce steak pepperanto ($32), is built around peppered tenderloin tips sauteed with bell peppers, red onions, tomatoes and roasted garlic, flamed with a splash of brandy. The steak Bobu ($27) also speaks of Italian American. It’s a 14-ounce New York strip with roma tomatoes, oregano and basil in a roasted garlic sauce. The modest 6-ounce steer filet ($19) comes done to order—in my case, medium pink inside and blackened at the edges, topped with some of those crunchy onion rings and accompanied by mushrooms. Similarly, the Bobu burger ($7) is a half-pound of choice ground beef, cooked to perfection on a toasted kaiser roll, with a choice of three cheeses.
Bobu’s is the kind of place where boisterous locals gather at the bar and everyone knows their servers by name. By the end of the night, everyone at the bar probably knows everyone else’s name as well.
BOBU’S STEAKHOUSE & LOUNGE
11505 W. National Ave. (414) 321-7300 Credit Cards: All major Smoking section
Photo by Tate Bunker | <urn:uuid:d8156182-9ecd-489a-861c-08d6555b5884> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://expressmilwaukee.com/article-2218-steaks-and-nostalgia.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368699273641/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516101433-00029-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.93331 | 949 | 1.5 | 2 |
The Department for Communities and Local Government is the government department responsible for developing housing policy in England*.
The Homes and Communities Agency (HCA) is the single, national housing and regeneration delivery agency for England. The HCA's vision is to create opportunity for people to live in homes they can afford in places they want to live, by enabling local authorities and communities to deliver the ambition they have for their own areas.
The Homes and Communities Agency (HCA) has published a Framework setting out the details of its new Affordable Homes Programme of investment, inviting Registered Providers to put forward proposals for £2.2bn of funding (out of the overall £4.5bn funding pot) for affordable housing during the 2011-15 Spending Review period. The Framework, co-produced with the Department for Communities and Local Government (DCLG), is a step-by-step guide for providers who wish to apply, working alongside their local authority partners. It outlines the changes in affordable housing provision being introduced for 2011-15, and how this new approach will meet the Government’s ambition to deliver up to 150,000 new homes over the next four years.
Key to this new programme is the Affordable Rent product, a more flexible form of social housing that will allow providers to charge up to 80% of market rent on properties, potentially increasing revenues and reducing the level of Government investment in affordable homes. As part of the new funding offer, providers will also have the flexibility to convert a proportion of their social rented homes to Affordable Rent as part of a package agreed by the HCA, with all of the additional capacity generated used to deliver new affordable homes. For further information on this, please see the HCA website.
HCA's activities focus on affordable housing, existing stock, land and regeneration. | <urn:uuid:16112fc8-478a-4491-a8fa-53a703ad365d> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://housing-planning.swo.org.uk/housing/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368706153698/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516120913-00042-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.943087 | 366 | 1.601563 | 2 |
Difference between revisions of "Kalkan"
Revision as of 14:17, 24 June 2010
Kalkan is a town in Mediterranean Turkey. It is an enchanting, historic town and one of the most beautiful locations along Turkey's gorgeous Lycian Coast. There is an absence of mass tourism, and it remains a charming and unspoiled haven with brilliant blue crystal-clear sea, historic architecture, ancient history and warm traditional Turkish hospitality.
Dalaman airport is the closest at about 1hr 30mins by taxi from Kalkan.
Taxi transfers from Dalaman, some flight providers offer a transfer to Fethiye where there;s a bus service to Kalkan
It is a fairly easy 90 minute drive from Dalaman to Kalkan, passing though a toll tunnel near Dalaman and then a straighforward drive, bypassing Fetiye before arriving in a dramatic sweep into Kalkan by a new road.
Daily bus service from Istanbul Otogar leaving at 9pm arriving in Kalkan the next day at 11am.
Buses used to arrive and leave from the centre of the village but now leave from the new bus station at the top of the hill above the Thursday market by the Petrol Ofisi petrol station. It's a long walk from most places in Kalkan.
Lots of traffic to start, thins out after a while. Turn right at the Zorlar roundabout, wide, long inclines but nice coming down on the other side. After Yesilkoy very steep, tight corners and narrow, watch out for traffic in both directions, until junction with Islamlar road, then downhill, steep, very narrow, watch out for traffic in both directions. Watch out for the junction with the Bezirgan road. Will improve when the new road is finished. Some water sources (signposted) and service stations.
Fantastic views of the sea. Best Mediterranean ride in Turkey until you get to Silifke. Narrow in places. Tight corners. Watch out for overtaking traffic. Narrow bridge at Kaputas.
Difficult conditions before April and after September. Several passes (cols) to go through.
Follow signposts to Saklikent. Then back road from Saklikent to Uzumlu. Carry on straight after Saklikent gorge. Now fully tarred. Not much traffic. Level until Uzumlu. No water or service stations. At Uzumlu take Islamlar-Akbel road direction right Akbel, sudden ups and downs, mainly up, at earthquake houses (deprem evleri), big junction, turn left onto Kalkan road.
From Elmali to junction with Kas - Antalya road
Nice road, not much traffic. Long inclines, cold in autumn, spring. Expect snow or rain before April and after September. Fantastic mountain views.
From Elmali via Sutlegen and Bezirgan.
Not much traffic. Fantastic views. Expect snow or rain before April and after September. Road inaccessible to cars sometimes. Long inclines but great downhill ride into Kalkan after the top of Kaputas gorge.
In the village on foot or by taxi. Alternatively rent a moped - probably the most common form of transport. Not necessarily safe but definitely fun! In the centre of Kalkan you can find vendors on the street who rent mopeds for around £30 a day give or take. Petrol is cheap.
Kalkan is reknowned for its scuba diving and water sports.
Kalkan is a place that appeals to the older visitor. There are no large discos so I don't think it is really a place for teenagers. However, if they got together with others they might enjoy themselves and the numerous music bars. During the summer period (july onwards) there is a larger number of young people around. A few bars suit this age group and get busy in the early hours
Lots of small shops in the village. Best buy would be a Turkish rug. There are many shops selling fake goods, especially T shirts.
The thing you will remember most about Kalkan is the restaurants. There are over 200 in this small fishing village. They vary from the very simple providing wholesome Turkish food to the sophisicated located in beautifully restored village homes. Many of them have roof terraces and it is wonderful to eat under the stars and gaze at the lights of the town.
Have lunch at a trout farm in Islamlar. Much cooler than Kalkan in the summer. | <urn:uuid:2627a8c4-0d65-428e-872c-bc45ca1181d7> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://wikitravel.org/wiki/en/index.php?title=Kalkan&diff=1485996&oldid=1485676 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368705195219/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516115315-00009-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.942468 | 945 | 1.507813 | 2 |
The mention of outraged feminists suggests that Simpson stands accused of sexist vulgarity. I have to admit that I was shocked the first time I saw my mother use tit in a Scrabble game, but I was about 12 at the time, and she explained that the word is a perfectly acceptable variation of teat. Webster's New Universal Unabridged Dictionary backs her up, saying tit is deemed "vulgar" only when it refers to a woman's breast. The New Shorter Oxford English Dictionary likewise lists "teat" as the first definition for tit, although it notes that the usage is "now obscure" except in certain dialects (such as Alan Simpson's, evidently). So even by the arbitrary standards that make certain words unacceptable in polite company, in family newspapers, and on broadcast television between 6 a.m. and 10 p.m (though that last rule may be a thing of of the past), Simpson need not apologize for his use of tit.Ha. That reminds me of this part of one of George Carlin's "7 Dirty Words" routines:
Shit, Piss, Fuck, Cunt, Cocksucker, Motherfucker, and Tits, wow. Tits doesn't even belong on the list, you know. It's such a friendly sounding word. It sounds like a nickname. 'Hey, Tits, come here. Tits, meet Toots, Toots, Tits, Tits, Toots.' It sounds like a snack doesn't it? Yes, I know, it is, right. But I don't mean the sexist snack, I mean, New Nabisco Tits. The new Cheese Tits, and Corn Tits and Pizza Tits, Sesame Tits Onion Tits, Tater Tits, Yeah. Betcha can't eat just one. That's true I usually switch off. But I mean that word does not belong on the list.Or this — not about "tits," but conceptually more apt:
[C]ocksucker is a compound word and neither half of that is really dirty. The word - the half suckercock is a half-way dirty word, 50% dirty - dirty half the time, depending on what you mean by it. Uh, remember when you first heard it, like in 6th grade, you used to giggle. And the cock crowed three times, heh, the cock - three times. It's in the Bible, cock in the Bible. ...AND: Could someone digitally alter this scene and replace Woody Allen with Alan Simpson?
Now the word twat is an interesting word. Twat! Yeh, right in the twat. Twat is an interesting word because it's the only one I know of, the only slang word applying to the, a part of the sexual anatomy that doesn't have another meaning to it. Like, ah, snatch, box and pussy all have other meanings, man. Even in a Walt Disney movie, you can say, We're going to snatch that pussy and put him in a box and bring him on the airplane. | <urn:uuid:6bde5520-9d93-493b-92a4-049d113d29a8> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://althouse.blogspot.com/2010/08/lets-take-closer-look-at-those-310.html?showComment=1282928498088 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368696383156/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516092623-00017-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.961253 | 638 | 1.828125 | 2 |
Bill Clinton and Gennifer Flowers 1992
On the verge of an expected victory in New Hampshire, Bill Clinton's presidential campaign faced the biggest frenzy of 1992 when allegations arose of an extramarital affair with Arkansas state employee and cabaret singer Gennifer Flowers.
Revealing claims that no respectable news outlet had been able to substantiate, the Star, a trashy supermarket tabloid, "broke" the Flowers story on Jan. 23, 1992. Armed with ambiguously damning taped phone conversations and well compensated by the Star for her revelations, Flowers claimed a 12-year affair with Clinton.
During the next week, almost every legitimate news source would pick up the story in some form or another and the allegations would nearly torpedo the Clinton campaign. To counter the allegations, Clinton appeared on CBS's "60 Minutes" with his wife immediately following the Super Bowl on Sunday, Jan. 26. With 50 million Americans tuned in, the Clintons tried to shake off the charges. In the end, with the help of a relatively weak Democratic candidate pool and the public's focus on economic issues, Clinton was able to contain the damage caused by the Flowers frenzy and his presidential ship stayed afloat.
Six years later, in his deposition to lawyers representing former Arkansas state employee Paula Jones in her sexual harassment lawsuit against him, Clinton reportedly acknowledged for the first time in any known forum that he did have sexual relations with Flowers, saying it occurred just one time in 1977.
© Copyright 1998 Larry J. Sabato | <urn:uuid:ec417707-e287-41f8-b31e-1587dac13909> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/politics/special/clinton/frenzy/clinton.htm | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368703682988/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516112802-00039-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.960473 | 303 | 1.5 | 2 |
Do all cuts have to be unkind?
The issue of employment is a big one nowadays, with the U.S. jobless rate just under 10%. For small business workers and owners, it is a daily concern. Small businesses cut 12,000 Americans from their rolls in March, according to the ADP Small Business Report.
Yet, while bosses often struggle over cutting staff, particularly for economic reasons like the current recession, eliminating some staff may actually be a long-term good for a business – provided the cuts are done right.
“This can lead to better balance and more judicious spending in other parts of the business, said Harvard Business School’s Nancy Koehne, an entrepreneurial historian. And, she added, it forces the question: “'How can I use the people I have more productively and harness their productivity to the core mission of the company?'”
For one thing, layoffs can cull the heard of poor performers. Carrie Davenport, principal of Carmel, Ind., recruiting firm Century Personnel, was forced into cutting staff because of the recession, and she decided to target those who weren’t pulling their weight. She said she was going along hoping that marginal employees would blossom and grow into major producers.
“No hardworking producer likes to be around slackers,” she said.
Davenport described her now-20-person staff as “the perfect number” for where the economy is right now. She’ll wait for six months of consistent sales before growing staff.
She now also knows she’ll keep new hires on a shorter leash, memorializing performance expectations in writing and establishing shorter timeframes between reviews.
Often, job cuts can lead to a much needed re-evaluation of not just the employees, but the whole business.
“As an owner I may not have been paying enough attention,” said Jim Tormey, a principal of JesseJames Creative, a marketing-communications company in New York City. “The business was chugging along; things were going okay, but there was fat in the budget and we were not working as efficiently as possible.”
So, he cut an eight-person office down to five. Now a streamlined staff makes operations more efficient. Employees do less babysitting for inexperienced coworkers. People can zero in on what they do well, Tormey said.
Workforce reduction has to be done the right way, though. Just slashing and burning staff can leave the surviving employees exhaustively stretched. This can be made even worse when, as Joel Shulman, associate professor of entrepreneurship at Babson College, noted, in some business environments employees live with the underlying fear that they can easily be replaced.
Small business owners can control how they lay off staff. David Neumark, professor of economics at the University of California at Irvine, said that retaining people part-time can offset the over-distribution of workload as well as acquisition cost should a company have to rehire.
For example, JesseJames’s Tormey reduced the full-time hours of one additional employee to an as-needed, first-option project basis. Tormey said that he’ll take care when hiring and address problems quickly. One concern: It’s tougher than he expected to find good people.
But he heralded the fact that because of layoffs “the whole organization gets smarter.” With revitalized direction, his team has now revamped its request for proposal process, a labor-intense task but with a result “absolutely worth it.”
Of course, the biggest pitfall is cutting too much – or in the wrong places. For example, there’s often pressure to lay off employees in sales and marketing. Harvard’s Koehne said this can help the bottom line in the initial quarter, but take several quarters to turn around. According to Koehne, customer metrics show that business owners can see a drop in customer retention and acquisition in about six to 12 weeks. “That’s an expensive calculation,” Koehne said—and one most obviously felt in small businesses.
But Babson’s Shulman is more sanguine. He said that service providers, in particular, have an advantage in that they can continue with modest funds and a modest disruption to their sales cycles. And, Shulman said that in a down market there is always good talent available for full-time, part-time, freelance or consulting work – so you can actually add better talent amid a cycle of layoffs. | <urn:uuid:01aea44a-0a06-4a5e-b180-7258dcbbc637> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://smallbusiness.foxbusiness.com/entrepreneurs/2010/04/30/know-time/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368706153698/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516120913-00035-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.965271 | 961 | 1.835938 | 2 |
Reflections by Comrade Fidel
“THE DISASTER IN JAPAN AND A VISIT FROM A FRIEND”
Today I had the pleasure of greeting Jimmy Carter, who from 1977 to 1981 was the President of the United States, the only one, in my opinion, who had enough serenity and courage to tackle the issue of US-Cuba relations.
Carter did what he could to reduce international tensions and to promote the establishment of Cuban and US Interest offices. His administration was the only one that took a few steps towards easing the criminal blockade imposed against our people.
The circumstances weren’t exactly favorable given the complexities of our world at that time. The existence of a genuinely free and sovereign nation in our hemisphere was incompatible with the ideas of the fascist rightwing in the United States. This faction maneuvered to cause President Carter’s plans to fail; plans that would make him worthy of the Nobel Peace Prize. Nobody gave it to him for free.
The Cuban Revolution always appreciated this brave gesture. In 2002 we gave Jimmy Carter a warm welcome. Now I take this opportunity to reiterate our respect and appreciation.
Will the oligarchy that governs this superpower ever be able to give up its insatiable drive to impose its will on the rest of the world? Can this even occur in a system that increasingly produces presidents such as Nixon, Reagan and Bush W. who have ever more destructive powers and ever less respect for the sovereignty of nations?
The complexity of the world today leaves little margin for relatively recent memories. The farewell we gave to Carter today, Wednesday, coincided with worrisome news on the nuclear accident caused by the earthquake and tsunami in Japan. These reports keep coming in and cannot and should not be ignored, not only for their importance, but also because of the practical and almost immediate repercussion they have on the world economy.
Today AP reported the following from Japan:
“The crisis at the Japanese nuclear plant that was damaged by the tsunami worsened on Wednesday after tests of nearby ocean water showed the highest levels of radiation detected so far.”
“In Fukushima, radiation has penetrated the ground, seeped into the ocean and turned up in vegetables, non-pasteurized milk and even in tap water in Tokyo, 220 kilometers to the south.”
“Meanwhile, Emperor Akihito and Empress Michiko visited for an hour with a group of evacuees in Tokyo.”
From Tokyo, Reuters reported:
“Japan said it would upgrade its safety standards for nuclear power plants on Wednesday, its first acknowledgement that norms were insufficient when an earthquake wrecked one of its facilities, triggering the world's worst atomic disaster since Chernobyl in 1986.
“The announcement came as the government conceded that there was no end in sight to the crisis and a spike in radioactive iodine levels in seawater added to evidence of reactor leakages around the complex and beyond.
“Plutonium finds in soil at the plant this week had already have raised public alarm over the accident, which has overshadowed the humanitarian calamity triggered by an earthquake and tsunami on March 11 that left 27,500 people dead or missing.
“Before the disaster, Japan's 55 nuclear reactors had provided about 30 percent of the nation's electric power. The percentage had been expected to rise to 50 percent by 2030, among the highest in the world.
“New readings showed a spike in radioactive iodine in the sea off the plant to 3,355 times the legal limit, the state nuclear safety agency said, although it played down the impact, saying people had left the area and fishing had stopped.
“Hundreds of engineers have been toiling for nearly three weeks to cool the plant's reactors and avert a catastrophic meltdown of fuel rods, although the situation appears to have moved back from that nightmare scenario.
“Jesper Koll, director of equity research at JPMorgan Securities in Tokyo, said a drawn-out battle to bring the plant under control and manage the radioactivity being released would perpetuate the uncertainty and act as a drag on the economy.
“’The worst-case scenario is that this drags on not one month or two months or six months, but for two years, or indefinitely,’ he said.
“A by-product of atomic reactions and a prime ingredient in nuclear bombs, plutonium is highly carcinogenic and one of the most dangerous substances on the planet, experts say.”
A third news agency, DPA, reported from Tokyo that:
“Japanese technicians continue to try to stop the nuclear crisis three weeks after the accidents took place at the Fukushima plant. Consequently, Tokyo authorities are beginning to consider taking extraordinary measures to stop the radioactive leak from the facilities.
“The idea is to cover the reactors with a sort of tissue. Recent high readings of iodine 131 in seawater indicate increasing radiation. The Greenpeace environmental organization warns of serious danger to the health of local inhabitants following its own assessment.
“Experts say that a process that would definitively rule out a possible fusion of the core may take months. Tepco has promised to improve the work conditions of the technicians, who are increasingly becoming more nervous and exhausted.”
While these events take place in Japan, the president of Venezuela is visiting Argentina, Uruguay and is on his way to Bolivia to promote economic accords and to strengthen relations with the countries of our hemisphere, which are determined to be independent.
At the University of La Plata, where the tyranny promoted by the United States caused the disappearance of many thousands of Argentineans, including 700 students —40 from the Faculty of Journalism--, Chavez was granted the Rodolfo Walsh award, named after one of the heroic and revolutionary journalists who were murdered.
It is no longer Cuba alone; there are now many peoples willing to fight to death for their own homeland.
Fidel Castro Ruz
March 30, 2011
Labels: cuba, nuclear
THE DISASTER IN JAPAN AND A VISIT FROM A FRIEND
Stephen Friday, April 01, 2011
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- THE DISASTER IN JAPAN AND A VISIT FROM A FRIEND
- On the Announced Increase to the Minimum Wage
- INTERVIEW WITH MIGUEL FIGUEROA
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- The big Sid to McGuinty: sacrifice good jobs and p...
- NATO’s FASCIST WAR
- On the attacks against the CPBM
- STOP the war against Libya: NOW!
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- ► 2006 (31) | <urn:uuid:01f66051-ac33-4c7e-a25d-3557ca5dacb3> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://rebelyouth-magazine.blogspot.ca/2011/04/disaster-in-japan-and-visit-from-friend.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368699273641/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516101433-00011-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.941468 | 1,678 | 1.679688 | 2 |
New Fitness Programs at Cincinnati Children's Provided for Local Children and ParentsWednesday, March 15, 2006
CINCINNATI – Three new fitness programs are now being offered to local children and their parents through Preventive Cardiology at Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center.
"I hope these programs will encourage parents and children to be inspired by one another and pass along good habits to others in order reduce the prevalence of obesity in our community," says Renee Jeffreys, MS, RCEP, new exercise program supervisor and co-author of Fit to Deliver. Jeffrey's interests include exercise during pregnancy and parents as healthy role models for their children.
The community classes will include a combined pre- and post-natal fitness class, a class for children ages 2 to 5 with their parents and a personal training class for children ages 5 to 19 with or without their parents. All classes will begin March 20.
The pre- and post-natal fitness class will be on Tuesday's and Thursday's at 5 pm. Fifteen women from conception up to delivery and six weeks after birth can take place in the fitness classes with consent from their obstetric / gynecology doctors. Classes are $15 per class or $120 for 10 classes.
My Kids and Me fitness class for children ages 2 to 5 will take place on Monday, Wednesday and / or Friday. For 4- to 5-year-olds, classes will be from 10 - 11 am or 1 - 2 pm. Children 2 to 3 years old can take the classes from 11 am - noon. Attendance can be all three days or just one day a week. Classes can hold 12 kids and their parents. Parents attending must take a written health screening to be accepted into the program. The hour-long class is $150 for ten weeks or families can try a class for $7. A sample class would include:
- Welcome song and warm up
- Group activities
- Animal count down
- Parent tag
- Circuit training in five stations
- Tummy crunches
- Kangaroo hop
- Good-bye song and cool down
Personal Training is a one-on-one exercise session with a personal trainer to work toward meeting individualized goals to lose weight. Every day during after school hours, children 5 to 19 years old with or without and their parents can take part in this fitness class. Cost per class is $50 per child or $90 per child and adult.
The new fitness classes were made possible, in part, due to a generous Hammer Strength / Life Fitness, Inc., equipment donation and the addition of Cincinnati Children's staff.
All classes will be held at the HealthWorks! building on the Oak Campus of Cincinnati Children's (2850 Winslow Ave). For registration, call 513-636-4305.
Cincinnati Children's is a 423-bed institution devoted to bringing the world the joy of healthier kids. Cincinnati Children's is dedicated to transforming the way health care is delivered by providing care that is timely, efficient, effective, family-centered, equitable and safe. It ranks third nationally among all pediatric centers in research grants from the National Institutes of Health. The Cincinnati Children's vision is to be the leader in improving child health.
Amy Caruso, 513-636-5637, [email protected] | <urn:uuid:9b6a3b99-e74c-46cb-8472-399cf51a2d6a> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.cincinnatichildrens.org/news/release/2006/3-fitness-programs/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368708142388/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516124222-00021-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.94856 | 685 | 1.5 | 2 |
SMS marketing was a super medium for promoting your products, events and services. There were many websites giving SMS marketing services. My mobile was getting daily marketing messages, in short my SMS inbox was like email box. So when I listened about “Do Not Disturb” (DND) service, I requested this service and got a breath of peace for SMS marketers.
I am not against SMS marketing, but I was harassed, it should be in moderate quantity. I have enabled DND in both mobile numbers, I have. If you do not enable DND service for your mobile number, your mobile service provider will send you enough messages and calls that will eat up your peace of mind.
SMS marketing is not dead but it is not like before. SMS marketers were buying SMS for 1 paisa, means 100 SMS for only 1 rupees, and they were selling the same SMS for 2 paisa and getting 100% profit. So people were buying 10 thousand SMS for only 100 rupee and selling the same message package for 200 rupees or more. So SMS marketing was cheap and customers were using SMS marketing to promote their business and it was a profitable business because of good quantity SMS sales.
However, everything has been changed, now there are many rules for SMS marketers, they can send SMS only from 9 am to 9 pm, and they can send only 100 SMS (now 200) in a day from a mobile number. And SMS rates are really high, rate for 1 SMS is still one paisa but government is asking 5 paisa tax on each SMS means 500% tax + tax on total cost of SMS for SMS sellers.
So each SMS costs more than 6 paisa for bulk a SMS provider, so if SMS marketer wants to get 100% profit on SMS he will sell it for 12 paisa. And if operator sells an SMS for 12 paisa then who will buy it?
This all happened because government did it, because rich people were harassed by SMS marketing and promotional calls.
Because of these rules SMS marketing is not effective at this time. | <urn:uuid:f2dc1a30-2d32-4767-84f4-a3f584551cd5> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://techshali.com/why-sms-marketing-is-down-in-india/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368699881956/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516102441-00022-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.971131 | 424 | 1.601563 | 2 |
Tue December 11, 2012
U.S. Adds Syrian Rebel Group To Terror List
Originally published on Tue December 11, 2012 8:55 am
DAVID GREENE, HOST:
An international conference in Morocco this week will focus on the future of Syria's opposition. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton was due to attend but she is ill, so her deputy, William Burns, will be going in her place. Among the items that will be discussed is a notable move by the State Department. It's adding a Syrian rebel group to a terrorism list today. This is part of an effort by the United States to marginalize extremists and boost the secular opposition in Syria. But as NPR's Michele Kelemen reports, this is a tricky task that could come too late.
MICHELE KELEMEN, BYLINE: The State Department is worried that extremists are making more inroads in Syria as the fighting drags on. That's why spokesperson Victoria Nuland says Jabhat al-Nusra is being labeled a foreign terrorist organization, a designation that comes with sanctions.
VICTORIA NULAND: Al-Nusra is little more than a front for al-Qaida in Iraq, who has moved some of its operations into Syria. You know, this, again, goes to the environment that Assad and his regime have created with their violence, that they have, as we've been concerned about for many months, created an environment with this violence that extremists can now try to exploit.
KELEMEN: But while the U.S. puts the blame squarely on Bashar al-Assad's regime, the decision to label a group of Syrian rebels terrorists could play into Assad's hands. That's one possibility raised by Murhaf Jouejati, a Syrian exile who teaches at the National Defense University.
MURHAF JOUEJATI: The Assad regime is going to immediately jump, say, well, we have been saying this all along. These are terrorist gangs that are sowing all sorts of violence in Syria.
KELEMEN: On the other hand, Zuishati says the move might do what the U.S. wants - help the more moderate opposition in Syria.
JOUEJATI: The secular elements of the Free Syrian Army I think would appreciate this because there is an increasing rivalry between them and those Islamist elements in the Syrian opposition.
KELEMEN: Getting rebels to keep their distance from al-Nusra could be a challenge, says Joseph Holliday, a senior research analyst at the Institute for the Study of War. He says al-Nusra is one of the most active and effective rebel groups on the ground in Syria today.
JOSEPH HOLLIDAY: One of the things that is difficult about them is the fact that they not only do conduct the large-scale types of terrorist attacks against - in both the regime and against, you know, civilians in Damascus and Aleppo, they've done this, but they also conduct a lot of, you know, more conventional infantry-type operations.
KELEMEN: And he doesn't think the terrorist designation will be enough to marginalize them. Holliday says the U.S. just doesn't have that kind of leverage with Syrian rebels.
HOLLIDAY: And so it's going to be key for the U.S. to follow this with greater support for the opposition in order to build that leverage.
KELEMEN: That doesn't necessarily mean military aid, he says. He's hopeful that the State Department official attending this week's conference in Morocco will offer diplomatic recognition to the newly created Syrian Opposition Coalition. Holliday says the idea then would be to funnel all aid, whether non-lethal or military, through that coalition and get all countries on the same page.
HOLLIDAY: We really have a chance here for, you know, a really coherent U.S. policy on Syria, something that we've been struggling to build for too long, I think.
KELEMEN: He says the Obama administration made it more difficult for itself by waiting so long to offer meaningful support to the Syria opposition. Its goal now is to try to isolate extremists and prop up those in the opposition it would prefer to see in power in Syria after Assad. Michele Kelemen, NPR News, Washington. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright National Public Radio. | <urn:uuid:968e70d6-7145-496a-aaab-4ee82ce9f4d5> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://utahpublicradio.org/post/us-adds-syrian-rebel-group-terror-list | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368696382584/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516092622-00012-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.964347 | 898 | 1.554688 | 2 |
Copacabana and Leme
Although its glamour days are long gone, Copacabana still manages to live up to its legend as the world’s most famous strip of white sand. Originally a tiny fishing village, it didn’t gain neighborhood status until the 1891 dynamiting of the Túnel Velho through the mountains opened up the deserted beaches of the Zona Sul to the beginnings of urbanization.
With the construction of the Mediterranean-style luxury hotel Copacabana Palace in 1923, the wealthy and fabulous came flocking. A slew of gorgeous deco apartment buildings soon rose up along the beachfront’s Avenida Atlântica. Before long “Copa” was not just the place to live but the place to party. Tycoons, movie stars, royalty, and the international jet set transformed its sweeping carpet of sand into their personal playground.
A Copa address became so coveted that by ’60s and ’70s, the long but narrow neighborhood (hemmed in by mountains) was the most densely populated urban area in the world. To this day, Copa is not unlike a tropical Manhattan: People fork out absurd amounts of money to live in one of the thousands of closet-sized apartments located in the ugly high-rises that have mushroomed in the streets behind the oceanfront. The most populous of them all is the Edifício Richard, located Rua Barata Ribeiro 194, which has 507 apartments (45 per floor).
While many of Rio’s rich and fashionable have since moved on to the more chic neighborhoods of Ipanema and Leblon, Copa has become—for better or for worse—one of Rio’s most eclectic, vibrant, and democratic neighborhoods, a place where street kids and millionaires, models and muscle men, doormen and nannies from the Northeast of Brazil and American tourists from the deepest, darkest Midwest all rub shoulders.
While during the day senior citizens swarm the beaches and the dozens of bakeries along the main drag of Avenida Nossa Senhora de Copacabana, by night the stretch of Avenida Atlântica towards Ipanema is a hot spot for prostitutes and for the (many foreign) johns who travel to Copa in search of more piquant forms of R&R. There is also the complication of four major favelas covering the steep hills behind the middle-class condos. Shoot-outs between drug traffickers and police mean that it’s not uncommon for shots to ring out (and stray bullets to fly).
Although Copa is not the safest place in the world, the oceanfront is well-policed, and if you’re aware and don’t flash your valuables, you will be fine. It’s best to stick to well-populated areas, particularly at night, and it is also advisable to take a taxi unless you’re strolling beneath the well-lit hotel exteriors on Avenida Atlântica. Despite its darker and seedier sides, Copacabana is full of a vibrancy and diversity that is unrivaled by any other Rio neighborhood.
Although its glamor has definitely faded, it’s hard to resist the charm of the local restaurants and traditional bars that coexist alongside the multitude of 24-hour gyms and juice bars. Copa may be a little decadent and tacky in places, but it is also, quite simply, fun. And whatever you may think of the bairro itself, there is no denying the allure of Copacabana Beach, the magnificent crescent-shaped sweep of sand that is a world unto itself.
© Michael Sommers from Moon Brazil, 2nd Edition | <urn:uuid:f0428324-e8aa-4b48-bac3-7021a04517f5> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://moon.com/destinations/brazil/rio-de-janeiro/rio-de-janeiro-city/sights/copacabana-and-leme | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368704392896/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516113952-00009-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.94663 | 790 | 1.617188 | 2 |
Peter Jackson Returns to Tolkien (With Old and New Faces)
Peter Jackson likes to do things in threes. Of course, his adaptation of J.R.R. Tolkien’s "The Lord of the Rings" was pretty straight-forward: three books, three movies (including the Oscar-winning conclusion "The Return of the King.") But what to do with Tolkien’s earlier novel, "The Hobbit," which acted as an introduction to the world of wizards, elves, dwarves, dragons and hobbits that make up the most influential fantasy of the 20th century?
At first Jackson thought two movies would suffice; but somewhere along the line, it was expanded to three, the first of which, The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey, comes to theaters this week.
Written in 1937, "The Hobbit" was considered more of a children’s book, a light appetizer to the darker, more novels that make up the "Ring" trilogy. Many pre-teens read it as part of their school reading assignments, and there was an animated film of "The Hobbit" made in 198X.
Not a children’s story
Jackson has designed his "Hobbit" films to lead right into the "Ring" trilogy. "To be quite honest I want to make a series of movies that run together so if any crazy lunatic wants to watch them all in a row, there will be a consistency of tone," Jackson explained.
"I don’t want to make a purely children’s story followed by ’The Lord of the Rings,’ so we are providing a balance. A lot of the comedy and the charm and the fairy tale quality of ’The Hobbit’ comes from the characters. You are dealing with Bilbo Baggins, who is a little more reluctant possibly to go on the adventure than Frodo was. You’re dealing with dwarves who have a personality and camaraderie all on their own, so there’s a lot of humor and a light touch to be gained from those characters but there’s still some serious things involved. Hopefully the ’Hobbit ’films will comfortably straddle both worlds."
The 7000-year old wizard
In ’The Hobbit, ’Gandalf (Ian McKellan) the wizard chooses Bilbo Baggins (Martin Freeman) to join a company of dwarves in a quest to defeat the dragon Smaug. Much like Gandalf chose Frodo (Elijah Wood) to be the safe keeper of The One Ring in ’Lord of the Rings,’ he likes to send Hobbits on perilous missions with large fellowships. McKellan reprises his role from the ’Lord of the Rings’ films.
"People shouldn’t expect to see a different sort of Gandalf," McKellan said. "As for being 60 years younger because the story takes place 60 years before, when you’re 7000 years old, 60 years doesn’t make much difference. When you go back and do this movie, it’s not just the people [in the cast.] It’s all the people behind the camera and they were the same. I think every head of department was as we’d left them on ’Lord of the Rings’ so it was back with old friends. In fact The new side of it was the actors, all the dwarves for example and this particular Bilbo. Everyone fit in very well."
A better 3D
The ’Ring’ films were technological marvels that pioneered visual effects, creature creation and performance capture arts. In the ’Hobbit’ films, Jackson is adding 3D, and a new filming and viewing format called 48 frames per second. For about 100 years, films have been recorded and shown with 24 images moving through the lens per second. Doubling the frame rate has been controversial, as an early footage screening at CinemaCon in Las Vegas this year was poorly received.
"48 frames a second is way better for 3D, I’ll tell you now now," Jackson said. "One of the things with 3D is it does accentuate that strobing. Because your’e getting it in two eyes, your’e getting two cameras that are filming. Once you go to 48 it’s much smoother, there’s no eye strain. I find you get used to it pretty quickly when you sit and watch. We’re used to strobing, we’re used to seeing a panning shot which is like a series of still frames that shudders its way along. You don’t get that at 48 frames. Yet it doesn’t impede our ability to color time, to put a creative grade on the movie. Everything is the same as it normally is. The fact that you don’t have so much motion blur makes also makes it feel quite sharp."
Kids will be thrilled
McKellan supports Jackson in his technical endeavors. "It’s astonishing to think that most people [going to see ’The Hobbit’] have never seen ’Lord of the Rings’ in the cinema. We’ve all got 8, 9, 10-year-olds who watch ’Lord of the Rings’ nonstop, but they watch it at home on a screen that size.
"What is going to happen to their heads when they take their parents in to see a 3D movie maybe for the first time, certainly this story and 48 frames per second. It’s going to be much, much, much bigger and more astonishing than we think because we’re used to it all. I think people who say : ’Oh, we don’t need 3D, we’re used to 2D.’ Bollocks. 3D is life. We’re in 3D now. The brilliance about Peter’s 3D is it doesn’t come out at you. You go into it. You enter the globe. You look around a corner. Your’e even deeper in until you find a way out. That’s the effect of 3D. Those little kids are going to be so thrilled."
Gollum makes an appearance in ’The Hobbit’ when Bilbo falls into his cave. You’ll recognize the face and Andy Serkis’ voice, but the way Serkis performed the character is new. In ’The Two Towers,’ Serkis wore a motion capture suit in a studio and his performance was animated into the movie. Not anymore.
"What is amazing now with performance capture now, we were able to shoot the ’Riddles in the Dark’ scene in entirety on a live set with Martin’s performance being captured and mine on digital camera," Serkis said. "Then Gollum’s performance (is shot) using performance capture cameras (that capture) it in exactly the same moment in time. What that does is there’s no disconnect. The fidelity to the moment, to the choices, to the beats that you create between the director and the actors therefore is absolutely nailed in one. That makes a significant difference to the believability and therefore the changes to augment and chance and change the iteration and change performance on the fly makes a huge difference."
A different experience
Ian Holm played Bilbo Baggins in "The Lord of the Rings," and he appears in "The Hobbit" briefly. However, when he flashes back to the adventure of "An Unexpected Journey," Freeman takes over.
"The experience of this is genuinely unlike anything I’ve ever done and unlike anything I’m likely to do again," Freeman said. "Just the breadth and scale and time, just being in a completely different part of the hemisphere [New Zealand] than I’m used to. It’s a whole different experience. It’s like a huge chunk of your life. So that alone makes it different than anything else. The budget makes it different. You’re constantly walking onto sets and sound stages where what you’re acting on would take up the entire budget of any other film I’ve done. So just the scale of its quite phenomenal. For me they’re incomparable."
A new way of filmmaking
As a Hobbit, traveling in the company of dwarves with a giant wizard in tow, Bilbo appears smaller than Freeman actually is. Various special effects achieve this, as they did with the various heights of the Fellowship in the first trilogy.
"Personally I’ve been surprised how quickly I’ve gotten used to these ways of filming that I haven’t used before," Freeman said.
"The first time that we ever we shot a scene with Gandalf where Ian had to be in a completely different room I thought, ’This is ridiculous, this’ll never work. Who are these people? Why are they doing this to us?’ Then an hour later you go, ’Oh, that scene looks brilliant.’ You rehearse it and rehearse it and it becomes normal. Your whole frame of reference for how you normally work on a film shifts. What one minute is completely unworkable and ridiculous the next week is just going to work. It becomes very easy actually."
The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey opens December 14, 2012.
Watch the trailer to The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey: | <urn:uuid:728207e3-e582-4f86-a857-a7d6607182f8> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.edgewashington.com/index.php?ch=entertainment&sc=movies&sc2=news&sc3=&id=139801 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368696383156/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516092623-00006-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.960952 | 1,990 | 1.71875 | 2 |
This CCTV clip shows a woman dressed in a mauve head scarf walking alone through a room with garments piled neatly on a table. She briefly disappears from view beneath the table before reappearing and walking away out of range of the camera.
Smoke soon begins billowing from the place where the woman had been crouching out of view.
As workers run in to douse the flames, the woman returns and joins other workers in efforts to put out the fire.
The footage, which was aired on a local news channel, comes just days after Bangladesh's worst-ever industrial blaze that killed more than 100 and injured more than 150 last weekend. The government is blaming the disaster on saboteurs.
Two other incidents in the outskirts of Dhaka - a fire at a factory on Monday morning and an explosion and fire at a facility on Tuesday evening, have raised concern among manufacturing leaders that the industry is under attack.
Bangladesh has about 4,500 garment factories and is the world's biggest exporter of clothing after China, with garments making up 80 percent of its £15 billion annual exports. | <urn:uuid:14656ec8-700b-4f76-b90c-20f48488e60b> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/asia/bangladesh/9708684/CCTV-snares-arsonist-trying-to-burn-factory-in-Bangladesh.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368705953421/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516120553-00002-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.953432 | 225 | 1.53125 | 2 |
Summary of Statement No. 12
Accounting for Certain Marketable Securities (Issued 12/75)
This Statement requires most businesses to carry marketable equities at lower of portfolio cost or market value. A company has two portfolio classifications for this purpose, current and noncurrent. For the noncurrent asset portfolio, writedowns for market-value declines (and writeups for recoveries) not yet realized by sale are made to a separate component of equity and not to net income. For a current portfolio, writedowns and recoveries are included in net income. Realized gains and losses on both current and noncurrent portfolios are included in net income. Mutual funds, broker-dealers, insurance companies, and banks retain their special accounting methods, with some improvements. Results of different methods used by subsidiaries in those industries are retained in consolidation. | <urn:uuid:b7babd48-dd0a-456d-ac72-047598fc9c32> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.fasb.org/summary/stsum12.shtml | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368708142388/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516124222-00031-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.93894 | 174 | 1.578125 | 2 |
Sioux 'em! North Dakota gives up on its mascot
With unemployment around 9.7 percent, competition is fierce in the job market, and people want to know where the jobs are. If you’re a graphic designer looking for work, Grand Forks, ND, might have some opportunities.
Earlier this month, the North Dakota Legislative Council received a cost estimate from University of North Dakota President Robert Kelley showing that retiring the school teams' Fighting Sioux nickname and logo to comply with the NCAA’s Native American mascot policy (and a court-imposed settlement) will cost approximately $750,000. About $575,000 of that will go to developing a new moniker and logo for the school.
Total costs of changing UND’s mascot from the Fighting Sioux to the Brute Buffalos or the Running Nokotas (not bad— it’s North Dakota’s state horse) could tally $20 million if the school is forced to make physical changes to the Ralph Engelstad Arena. State representative Mike Schatz, who requested the cost estimate, ardently opposes that move. In an open letter, Schatz wrote, “Does an organization funded by public money have the right to tell a state what it can call its athletic teams? If it does, then we no longer live in a free society.”
Schatz’s constituents and colleagues agree. In March, the legislature approved a bill ordering UND to retain its controversial nickname and logo, even though the University was already in the process of retiring them. Approximately 1,700 of the 1,800 emails one legislator received supported a bill that compelled the ND Attorney General to consider filing a lawsuit against the NCAA if it threatened sanctions.
Perhaps it was the NCAA’s firm stance or repeated Supreme Court rulings (as late as January 2011) that “Even though the NCAA deals with, accepts dues from, and imposes rules on public universities, it remains a private— not public— organization” (The Plains Daily) or that schools threatened to keep UND off their schedules, and the Big Sky Conference told North Dakota that its future conference affiliation could be jeopardized. Whatever: in August, Governor Jack Dalrymple said he would introduce legislation November 7 authorizing UND to change the nickname, repealing the March law.
Schatz says he won’t vote for the repeal. Why should he? According to the 2000 Census, only 169 of Schatz’s constituents are Native American.
North Dakota is home to five reservations and the country’s 12th largest Native population, yet at the same session they passed the Fighting Sioux bill, lawmakers voted down and eliminated Native language revitalization programs, the state Indian education director position, and state consultation with tribes (SB2239, SB2130 and SB2353). These moves were made despite the facts that the per capita income of American Indians on reservations is half the American average, that more than 46 percent of North Dakota’s Native children live in poverty, and that the current graduation rate at reservation schools is around 50 percent (The Children’s Defense Fund).
October 7 was First Nations Day in North Dakota, and the state issued a proclamation: “62nd North Dakota Legislative Assembly affirmed the work of the North Dakota Tribal and State Relations Committee … and North Dakotans are encouraged to commemorate the long-standing, cooperative relationships formed among tribal nations and the State of North Dakota.”
Given the recent legislation, the First Nations Day proclamation may no more than empty words. However, UND appears ready to retire the mascot the NCAA deemed “hostile and abusive.” And when that happens, $20 million will be up for grabs in Grand Forks. If you apply for a job, pack a heavy coat.
Juanita lives on a farm in Charlotte County with her husband, son, and many dogs.Read more on: Native Americans | <urn:uuid:546db1a5-30aa-406a-8a1e-86e5391079b1> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.readthehook.com/101625/sioux-me?quicktabs_1=2 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368703682988/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516112802-00010-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.946433 | 807 | 1.828125 | 2 |
10 November 2008
22 February 2010
13 October 2008
8 November 2010
3 April 2011
Since the launch of its global business sector 15 years ago, Mauritius has become the destination of choice for structuring investments in emerging markets.
The entities that can be set up in Mauritius include category one and two global business companies (GBCs). A GBC2, which is ideally suited for asset or investment holding, is similar in various aspects to the British Virgin Islands international business company or the Bermuda or Cayman Islands exempted company.
A GBC2 is not subject to any tax in Mauritius but, unlike the GBC1, it cannot benefit from the numerous Mauritian tax treaties. A GBC1 is resident in Mauritius for tax purposes and is liable to taxes at a rate of 15 per cent. However, such companies benefit from a foreign tax credit which results in an effective tax rate of only 3 per cent. Underlying foreign tax credits may also be available. Investment funds and other entities engaging in certain financial business activities must be set up as GBC1s.
Mauritius combines the traditional advantages of an offshore jurisdiction – no capital gains tax, no withholding tax, no capital duty on issued capital, confidentiality and free repatriation of profits and capital – with other comparative advantages.
Unlike most offshore centres, Mauritius is a treaty-based jurisdiction. In addition to the famous India-Mauritius treaty, the country has entered into advantageous treaties with fast-developing countries such as China, the United Arab Emirates and several African countries including South Africa and Uganda.
The Mauritius tax treaties provide for capital gains to be taxed in the country of residence of the seller of the assets. Because Mauritius does not impose tax on capital gains derived by a Mauritius GBC1 or levy any withholding tax on any gains, dividends or interest derived by an investor from the investment entity, entities that are tax resident in Mauritius will not be subject to any capital gains tax.
This is a definite advantage compared with the traditional offshore jurisdictions that cannot mitigate any tax implications in the ultimate country of investments. Moreover, most tax treaties provide for reduced withholding taxes in respect of dividends, interests and royalties.
These factors have contributed to the positioning of Mauritius as a world-class international financial centre. Mauritius is now well-known for being the world’s largest investor into India due to the unique incentives provided by the tax treaty and also due to other factors such as the close cultural links with India as more than 60 per cent of the population is of Indian origin.
Projects in the energy and information and communication technologies sectors, offshore debt funds and investment in real estate are the principal investments made in India from Mauritius. Outbound investment from India is being liberalised and offers new opportunities for the use of Mauritius, notably for investment in African countries.
Following the implementation by China of the Unified Corporate Income Tax Law, which became effective on 1 January 2008, investment into China through a treaty-based country like Mauritius will be the preferred approach due to, among other things, the Corporate Income Tax Law eliminating the exemption on dividend withholding taxes.
Major US and European institutional investors and fund managers have regularly been using Mauritius to structure their investments in emerging markets. According to the latest figures, the number of funds set up in Mauritius reached 597 in August compared with 491 back in January, confirming a significant growth.
Recent trends have shown that several private equity/venture capital funds, rather than portfolio funds, are being set up. The funds are being structured as one-tier or protected cell companies. Other frequently used structures include master-feeder structures, side-by-side feeders with master funds in Mauritius, main funds, and parallel funds with underlying special purpose vehicles.
In addition to investment in Asia, investors are increasingly looking at Mauritius for investment destined for South America and Africa. The potential for highly profitable foreign investment in Africa is huge and Mauritius has a vital role to play since the country has concluded tax treaties in a number of African states.
For investors wary about investing in Africa, Mauritius can point to the various investment promotion and protection agreements (IPPAs) that it has signed with African countries. These IPPAs provide for free repatriation of investment capital and returns, guarantee against expropriation, include a most-favoured nation rule with respect to treatment of investment, and provide for compensation for losses in case of armed conflict.
The maturity and innovative legal framework together with a long-lasting political stability makes Mauritius the perfect place to hold investments destined for Asian and African countries.
Anthony Whaley is a partner and Nicolas Richard and Sameer Tegally are consultants at Conyers Dill & Pearman | <urn:uuid:b3b6b29f-ec20-48da-934c-f875c0568619> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.thelawyer.com/into-africa/135562.article | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368709037764/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516125717-00025-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.947964 | 973 | 1.765625 | 2 |
|Forgiveness after Abuse-Case Study|
Marianne (name changed to preserve confidentiality) was married for 6 years to an emotionally abusive husband. The emotional abuse included criticizing, ridiculing, jealous control, purposeful ignoring, and threats of harm. The problems with jealous control were particularly demoralizing with strict demands about clothing, make-up, telephone use, time with friends, any contact with the opposite sex, and travel outside the home.
After Marianne had been divorced from her abusive husband for ten years, she was still experiencing anxiety, depression, low self-esteem, frequent intrusive memories of the abuse, and symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder. Marianne decided to try forgiveness recovery therapy and courageously took on the challenging work involved. She was particularly enthusiastic about giving up resentment toward her former abusive husband. After the forgiveness therapy, Marianne no longer had difficulty with depression, anxiety, and post-traumatic stress. She also discovered a remarkable increase in self-esteem, energy, and joy. Marianne found release from the burden of "the lost years of the abuse" and optimism for the future. She changed from a depressed, anxious victim of domestic emotional abuse to a joyful survivor.
What is Emotional Abuse?
Forgiveness after Abuse
What is a Forgiveness
Who Might Benefit?
|Contact: [email protected], 608-575-6844| | <urn:uuid:03499c2f-a2e2-471c-94a3-e459f0a9d442> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.gaylelreed.com/html/forgive_casestudy.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368699273641/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516101433-00015-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.945704 | 290 | 1.546875 | 2 |
Mark Gibbs, Contributor
I cover infotech, the science of tech, tech news and tech innovation
Many years ago, over lunch with a friend, I theorized that there was a business to be created out of maintaining limited duration virtual property (that is, stuff that needs renewing) such as domain names and SSL certificates held by organizations. My friend disagreed arguing that the demand for such a service would be low as corporations usually had that sort of thing under control.
I forgot about the idea and then, a month or so later, someone came out with exactly that service for domain names. Meh.
I think my original intuition about organizations and periodic virtual properties (PVPs) was more relevant than I thought and, as if more proof were needed, it appears even Microsoft can’t keep on top of such things.
Consider the company’s recent snafu of allowing an SSL certificate to expire which, in turn, effectively disabled secure access to their Azure cloud platform from 12:44 PM PST on Friday, February 22, for over 12 hours.
The problem for organizations is that PVPs, unless they are a routine concern of a department or business unit become side issues; things that exist on someone’s calendar rather than a group’s calendar.
Just consider how often you forget things that aren’t apparently critical; you meant to call your mother to see how her cat is doing after the surgery or you forgot to get your car serviced.
At an organizational level something as technically-oriented and infrequent as renewing a digital security certificate can be much like your mother’s cat or your car service … they all seem unimportant until you discover that your mother is really upset because Fluffy didn’t make it and you obviously just don’t care, your engine seizes because it ran out of oil and it turns out your warning light wasn’t working, or your multi-million dollar Web service stops working because someone just forgot to renew a certificate.
There are three reasons why PVPs get overlooked:
In every case the problem is a failure to plan strategically which, in turn, requires asking what could go wrong and when it does,
There are three steps in avoiding PVP failures:
This is really part of disaster planning which is both an art and a discipline. It’s about examining a plan and finding the PVPs then identifying risks, consequences, and maintenance requirements … essentially it’s about bringing relevancy and responsibility to seemingly tiny details. Tiny details that can ruin a career.
So, who’s getting fired at Microsoft? | <urn:uuid:d4371825-1694-45a0-9b5a-ed8c1434fe32> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.forbes.com/sites/markgibbs/2013/02/23/microsofts-azure-outage-three-reasons-why-such-things-happen-and-three-steps-to-avoid-them/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368702810651/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516111330-00020-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.961221 | 546 | 1.648438 | 2 |
Liberian President's Victory Is Marred by Low Turnout and Violence
| November 11, 2011
Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf won by a landslide, according to early results. But will she be able to unite a badly divided nation?
It looks like Liberia’s President Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf won a second term in a run-off election this week, but only time will tell if the divisions that became apparent during the election will continue to haunt the country.
On Friday early results show Sirleaf won 90.8 percent of the votes returned, a landslide victory against her opponent, Congress for Democratic Change (CDC) leader and opposition candidate Winston Tubman. On October 11 Sirleaf won nearly 44 percent of the first round vote and Tubman took around 33 percent, but Sirleaf didn’t pass the 50 percent threshold needed for outright victory—leading to a run-off election this past Tuesday. Tubman had said he would only participate in a second round vote if it were delayed by two to four weeks and if counting procedures were amended.
On Monday violent clashes erupted between Liberian police and protestors from the CDC, leaving at least two dead, according to the UN. Tubman, Liberia’s former justice minister, claimed that eight people died and that he and his running mate, soccer superstar George Weah, were targeted for assassination.
Photos seen around the world showed at least one dead body and many wounded, images reminiscent of those seen during Liberia's 14-year civil war. Protestors fled into CDC headquarters as tear gas and bullets were fired on the building and tanks surrounded the compound.
The protests started after Tubman announced the party would boycott the run-off election, claiming voter fraud and ballot box stuffing in the first round of elections.
Speaking to reporters Thursday at Monrovia's Foreign Ministry, Sirleaf said that if she wanted to steal the election, she would have won outright in the first round instead of having to go to a run-off. “
It's so common for somebody to call fraud when you don't win,” she said.
Victoria Nuland, a spokesperson for the U.S. State Department, said the United States was “deeply disappointed” by the decision of the CDC to boycott the run-off election. “The CDC’s charge that the first-round election was fraudulent is unsubstantiated,” said Nuland. “As evidenced by international and domestic observers, Liberia’s October 11 first-round presidential and legislative elections were fair, free and transparent.”
The U.S. State Department, the African Union, and the United Nations have criticized Tubman's decision to boycott the vote. The Carter Center, the United Nations, and the Economic Community of West African States said the election was mostly fair.
On Tuesday Sirleaf said in a press release that she expresses “deep sorrow and regret over the violence which resulted in the death, Monday, at CDC headquarters.” She said an investigation is currently being conducted, promising that perpetrators will be brought to justice.
Election observers say the streets and polling stations were quiet on Tuesday as voters stayed away either out of fear of renewed violence or apathy after Tubman pulled out of the race. Turnout in Tuesday's poll was 37.4 percent, a dismally low number compared to the 71 percent who voted in the first round a month ago.
The question now is whether low voter turnout will undermine Sirleaf’s presidency.
The election last month was the first democratically run elections in Liberia since the end of the civil war. The UN peacekeeping mission in Liberia ran the election in 2005 that ushered in Sirleaf’s first term as president. Tuesday’s election was supposed to show the world how far Liberia had come since the war ended in 2003 and that it was ready for foreign investment in such natural resources as iron ore and oil. Instead it proved how deep the divisions in the country remain.
Tubman told Reuters that he would not accept the result and may seek to have it annulled.
Nat Bayjay, a Liberian journalist from Frontpage Africa, believes Sirleaf's second term will be extremely difficult following "one of the worst elections in the history of the country." Bayjay, who is currently visiting the United States said, "This is haunting her. Sirleaf will have a serious challenge and a divided nation. She has a serious reconciliatory issue at hand.”
On Thursday at Monrovia's Foreign Ministry, the president emphasized that she is not worried that her mandate has been weakened by the lack of voters.
“The numbers themselves will give us a mandate,” Sirleaf said. “And I think what we do to bring the Liberian people together will strengthen that mandate.”
The views expressed in this commentary are those of the author alone and do not represent WMC. WMC is a 501(c)(3) organization and does not endorse candidates.
To receive WMC Features by email, click here. | <urn:uuid:544957db-de62-4065-a601-fbc5c61d0e1b> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.womensmediacenter.com/feature/entry/liberian-presidents-victory-is-marred-by-low-turnout-and-violence | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368701459211/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516105059-00023-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.979125 | 1,047 | 1.515625 | 2 |
Slowly but surely, communities have been able to fill vacant retail space in the area.
Crystal Lake added about 50 new businesses and 500 new jobs over the past two years, filling nearly 1 million square feet of empty retail space Michelle Rentzsch, the city’s director of planning and economic development, told the Northwest Herald.
The Northwest Herald reports the following vacancy rates for area communities: Algonquin, 7.5 percent; Lake in the Hills, 6 percent; Crystal Lake, 8, percent; Cary, 9 percent; and McHenry County, 9 percent. When the economy was booming, vacancy rates were between 5 to 7 percent.
Crystal Lake offers a variety of incentives to attract new businesses, including grant programs that "provide financial assistance to new Crystal Lake retailers who occupy vacant retail spacea," according to the city's website.
The village of Lake in the Hills also has an economic incentive policy
The plan specifies that the village may approve incentive requests for "grants, local sales tax revenue sharing, fee waiver, infrastructure improvements, property tax rebates, industrial revenue bonds and loans on a case by case basis," according to the incentive plan.
Although it was during stronger economic times, an incentive agreement played a huge part in drawing Costco, the village's number one sales tax generator, to Lake in the Hills.
Since the land where Costco ended up building required a lot of grading work and the addition of a retaining wall, the village agreed to a sales tax sharing agreement.
As a part of the agreement, 50 percent of the sales tax revenues Costco generated went back to the business until a total of $1.6 million was reimbursed, according to a case study in the Lake in the Hills incentive plan.
Costco reached that amount in 4.5 years while the store remains a "huge component" of the village's commercial base, according to the case study.
Tell us in the comments' section: Which empty retail space(s) in Huntley would you most like to see filled? What business would you like to see come to the your community? | <urn:uuid:924bb918-f63b-46b0-9e54-ba18bc0e7a80> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://huntley.patch.com/groups/business-news/p/vacant-retail-space-slow-to-fill-in-area-communities | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368707435344/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516123035-00005-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.963571 | 429 | 1.523438 | 2 |
Local police officer Bill Devine needs your help to raise money for Special Olympics Illinois.
Come February, Tinley Park police Officer Bill Devine will go for a dip in icy Lake Michigan - 24 times.
Devine is participating in the fifth annual Super Polar Plunge to raise money for Special Olympics Illinois.
Devine and other participants will dive into the lake Feb. 26 as part of the Law Enforcement Torch Run.
That's the law-enforcement arm of the charity that raises money for the disabled athletes throughout the year.
Some 30 participants will plunge into the water once an hour for 24 hours, said Jeff Henson, director of special events for Special Olympics Illinois.
Last year the 27 plungers raised $58,000, he said.
This year Devine hopes to raise a big chunk of money for the program
So on the banks of Lake Michigan, you'll find Devine wearing just his swim trunks in the dead of winter.
The plunge goes through the night and ends the next day in the afternoon.
"My intention is to go under the water and run out (each time)," Devine said.
Devine knows it'll be cold but he's got a pretty good reason to stay motivated: A rambunctious bespectacled blond boy.
Devine's 3-year-old son C.J. has Down syndrome.
"My son will keep me going," Devine said.
Last year the adorable little boy participated in the Special Olympics young athletes program, which is designed to introduce young kids to sports.
"When C.J was running, that was the inspiration," Devine said.
So Devine decided to plunge into the arctic water.
"It's freaky," Devine's daughter, Madison, 7, said of plunging into ice-cold water.
Although Madison doesn't plan to dive into Lake Michigan, she does help with Special Olympics.
The McAuliffe Elementary School second-grader volunteers as an assistant with the youth athletes program, helping the kids complete their activities.
"They're best friends," Devine said of his kids.
The Special Olympics have touched the Devine family because of the athletes.
"They don't know what a bad day is," Devine said.
And C.J., who loves Goldfish crackers, the "Handy Manny" TV show and travelling, is a prime example.
"To C.J., he's not different than any other kid," Devine said.
Meanwhile, there isn't much preparation for Devine in the months leading up to the plunge.
He's working out to make sure his heart can withstand the cold, Devine said.
Plus, Devine has had a taste of the chilly water.
He participated in a one-time polar plunge about six years ago and he's fairly stoic about the experience.
"It's cold," Devine said. | <urn:uuid:2be9f4e9-ac0c-49a7-a6ee-fb78b026cb45> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://blogs.southtownstar.com/tinleypark/2010/01/polar_plunging_officer.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368696382584/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516092622-00040-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.964265 | 606 | 1.578125 | 2 |
“Try to avoid foreach/for loops”–Over my Dead Body!
Before I get into this a little bit, know that my comments are a direct response to this post: http://www.codekicks.com/2011/01/try-to-avoid-foreachfor-loops.html. The reason I’m writing this post is because the author is making invalid comparisons through his use of each of the looping mechanisms in C# to QUICKLY come to the conclusion that do-while and while are faster than for/foreach. I’ve done my own tests modeled after the author’s tests, but with significantly different results. As a computer scientist, I want to make sure I actually analyze the data before coming to a conclusion about the runtime behavior.
What He Got Wrong
The first test he’s running is a foreach loop. This all fine and good… this is something we probably do on a daily basis.
What is the foreach loop actually doing? The compiler translates this into a local variable for the enumerator and a boolean. In IL, one of my runs produced a binary with the IEnumerator being named CS$5$0000. Then the compiler translates the body and the behavior of the foreach into a bunch of labels in IL. First MoveNext is called and the body of the forloop (now a label) is jumped to and executed. Then the MoveNext is called again and the loop starts over.
The next thing the author moves to is the for loop. Here’s his code:
What this is actually doing is COMPLETELY different from the semantics of the forloop. What he’s doing is just running a for loop on a separate integer. He’s not running through the iterator. This is the thing that invalidates his tests. He has WAY too many experimental variables, leading to invalid comparisons. The same fallacy occurs in his while test and the do-while tests:
He’s not actually iterating through the list of numbers. This is a huge issue. You can’t possibly make valid comparisons when you completely change your test scheme. This is just bad test design.
The Right Idea
The idea of testing the different looping mechanisms isn’t a bad one. However, his test design doesn’t really take a few things into account that is really significant to the outcome of the time.
First of all, GC is a huge issue. He’s running all 4 tests in succession on the same thread. The GC in .NET, unlike the looping, can kick in whenever it damn well pleases to cleanup garbage. When you’re dealing with 10 million items, there’s bound to be at least 1 GC run in there somewhere, which can significantly mess with the times of the stopwatch. The stopwatch is a really dumb object… it just keeps track of CPU clicks. It has NO idea what the GC is up to.
A better design would be to simply run 1 trial at a time. That way, the order of the tests doesn’t influence the GC.
Wrong Data Structure
The author probably doesn’t know how lists are implemented (as I suspect most .NET devs don’t). If you’ve ever taken a class in C++ or C, you know that you have to manually resize arrays yourself if you’re going to have expandable array (“list”) behavior. The author chose to use a list to add 10 million items in it. The list, when setup, doesn’t know how many items you’ll be adding to the data structure. It choses an arbitrary size, allocates an array of that size, and expands if you add more items than the size it picked. But when it expands, it has to do a complete copy of the array EVERY SINGLE TIME an item is added (see the iternals of Insert on list). Since you already know the size of the data, just use an array to begin with!
Let’s Test This For Real
I’m done ranting about a poorly design perf test. It’s time to run my own. The proof is in the pudding.
First I’m going to run identical tests in succession and let GC do whatever it wants. As you can see from my code, I’m using iterators EVERY TIME for consistency.
Surprising results: they’re all about the same.
All except for that do-while… anyone wanna tell me why? My guess is that GC took over at some point inside the stopwatch execution. Let’s run it again.
Hmmmmmmmmmm interesting! While and do-while are actually SIGNIFICANTLY SLOWER than for and foreach…. what an interesting turn of events. Let’s run them individually now.
All are around the same time, interestingly. Honestly, I think this is a testament to the great work the C# compiler guys do. Here’s the deal. At the end of the day, the body of any looping construct is a label generated by the compiler and then interpreted by the CLR. These guys shouldn’t have completely different running times.
This post started off as a complete rant about an incorrect test and ended with a proof that there’s a lot more going on in the test design than the original author was fooled into thinking. Let me just say that this post isn’t personal. I don’t even know the original author. I just happened on his post and about flew out of my chair. Just think about how this sounds: different looping constructs have different runtime behavior. This seems completely rediculous to me. If this were true, the C# compiler writers would certainly have converted all loops to the one that performed better… it wouldn’t be hard to do at all. However, this isn’t the case since all loops are turned into labels in IL.
So the moral of the story is that you can keep writing your for loops and foreach loops, there’s no performance gain either way.
UPDATE: The author changed the title from "Try to Avoid Foreach/For loops" to "An observation on .NET loops". I copied and pasted the original title for my blog post... so that's where the title comes from :) | <urn:uuid:39a2b585-401f-4c8e-81d9-0104b5ed89cc> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://weblogs.asp.net/zowens/archive/2011/01/24/try-to-avoid-foreach-for-loops-over-my-dead-body.aspx | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368706499548/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516121459-00040-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.940039 | 1,348 | 1.648438 | 2 |
Fri November 18, 2011
'Flickers Of Progress' Prompt Plan For Clinton To Visit Myanmar
When he announced early today that Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton will visit Myanmar next month, President Obama cited "flickers of progress" on respect for human rights in the country also known as Burma as grounds for the first visit by an American secretary of state in 50 years.
Among those signs: the release of some political prisoners new President Thein Sein's government and relaxing of some restrictions on the media.
"Of course, there's far more to be done," Obama added. "We remain concerned about Burma's closed political system, its treatment of minorities and holding of political prisoners, and its relationship with North Korea. But we want to seize what could be an historic opportunity for progress, and make it clear that if Burma continues to travel down the road of democratic reform, it can forge a new relationship with the United States of America."
And, the president said, democracy activist and Nobel Peace Prize laureate Aung San Suu Kyi had assured him that "she supports American engagement to move this process forward." As The Associated Press says, "she spent 15 years on house arrest by the nation's former military dictators but is now in talks with the new civilian government about reforming the country."
A "senior administration official" later told reporters traveling with the president in Asia that Obama and Suu Kyi spoke by telephone for 20 minutes on Thursday.
What has changed in Myanmar?
Earlier this month on Talk of the Nation, host Neal Conan spoke with a longtime NPR journalist who had "just returned from one of several trips to Myanmar." The journalist was not identified "to protect his ability to report." Here's some of what the journalist reported about recent developments in the country:
"I've made two trips there in the past six months," he said. "The first was shortly after the November elections, and the second was just a few weeks ago. And during the first trip, everyone I met was completely dismissive of the elections and the new government. They called it old wine in a new bottle, meaning the military was simply putting a civilian face on its authority. This time around, though, the atmosphere was very different. And a great deal of that, I think, had to do with the president's decision last month to suspend a major dam project on the Irrawaddy River - much to the chagrin of neighboring China, which was building and paying for the dam, and which stood to reap the electricity generated by it.
"The new president, Thein Sein, he's a former general, reportedly tight with the military's longtime leader. And his abrupt decision to halt construction delighted many of his countrymen and environmentalists and opposition activists, all of whom were bitterly opposed to this project, which they said threatened the health and the economic viability of the river. He said that he's suspended construction because the dam went against the will of the people. And that's not something you hear too often in Myanmar - not in the last couple of decades, anyway.
"So it was a brilliant PR move. I'm not sure if he meant it, or whether he was just trying to send a message to the Chinese that they don't get their way all the time, but it won an extraordinary amount of goodwill on the part of the people."
As for the release of political prisoners, the journalist was cautious:
"You have to be careful here. I mean, there's an estimated 2,000 political prisoners being held in Myanmar's jails. So the release last month of a few hundred was welcomed cautiously by many in the opposition and in the international community, but they want to see more action on that.
"But here's an interesting thing: The new government has appointed a human rights commission, a new human rights commission. It's never happened before. And they have called for the release of prisoners of conscience. Now, before, Myanmar didn't even admit that it had political prisoners. So that's another sign of progress." | <urn:uuid:64b31a4a-8919-4da0-8c01-873406949a15> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://kios.org/post/flickers-progress-prompt-plan-clinton-visit-myanmar | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368702810651/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516111330-00021-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.983586 | 826 | 1.78125 | 2 |
ASA May 2011 AN Column
Paul L. Doughty, Contributing Editor and Secretary
“Breaking News” for Anthropology
What fun! Springtime flowers, trees, birds and baseball arrived in Florida as I write in early March. It is hard to believe that another academic year slipped by. Beyond academe, stunning events occur on a daily, seemingly hourly basis. We are deluged with information, appropriately described as “breaking news” that often glues us to the TV screen. A small sample came via email from a colleague, Alice Kehoe, about a voracious Milwaukee sinkhole that was “eating a car!” At first I thought that her Wisconsin state governor did more than break the unions or be embarrassed by a prankster’s phone call.
Nevertheless, the car’s disappearance was simply a sideshow: many thousands had been angrily demonstrating in Madison, state senators were in hiding, and representatives of the “middle class” were occupying the state Capitol as nasty debates ensued.
That was a minor event compared to Egypt and Tunisia as dictators were pushed out of power, or forces in Libya were using mercenaries to retain power. The Afghan and Iraq wars had to compete with yet other events. My local newspaper featured grass fires consuming Oklahoma, bus passengers killed in a New York City accident, a coal mine blast in China killed 19 miners. Several deaths, rapes and robberies, and Charlie Sheen’s misadventures, were also reported in some detail. And then the “record breaking” Japanese earthquake and tsunami tumbled buildings and washed cars, houses and cities away, killing thousands and causing nuclear power plants to create their own headlines. The tsunami even pushed the Somali pirates and the Australian floods out of print.
This spring was a feast for bad news fans, whose preferred genre dominates the media. By actual count over four days, 62% of the all headlined items in my local newspaper consisted of bad happenings and of the remaining 38%, most referred to sports (“good stuff”) at 25% of the total news content. US readers are not alone in this proclivity as popular media elsewhere seems to have the same preoccupations. A journalism colleague reminded me, “bad news sells.”
Or is it that our civilization has a specialized “bad news culture” that functions to buoy the spirits of those depressed by the distasteful affairs and actions far away? People can feel and sympathize with the plight of victims, while being thankful it wasn’t them. Such sentiments induce some to make donations of assistance: by putting one’s left-over change in a relief fund box next to the restaurant or gas station cash register, any sense of “good fortune guilt” goes away.
A glance through our journals, like American Anthropologist, reveals a gradual increase through time in articles and books that analyze topics that might classify as bad news in contemporary society. The sea change discussed by Melissa Cheeker, David Vine and Alaka Wali (American Anthropologist 112) in their introduction to the new AA Public Anthropology section recognizes the trend to “regain, reinvigorate and institutionalize political and social engagement” of the discipline. Indeed, the first piece to appear there was David Price’s commentary “Blogging Anthropology” (American Anthropologist 112) discussing the fast breaking independent internet publishing world that is causing a sea change in print media everywhere. He notes that this popular domain has its quality problems in presentation, content and reliability as bloggers rapidly spin off in many topical directions.
All of these breaks with past tradition, topics and formalities clearly raise questions about the current nature of the discipline. The topics of societal change and the myriad of grievous problems produced must be addressed by us. See it as the second look at this issue, the first having been when we took up acculturation as a legitimate anthropological topic in 1936. That was followed by a proliferation of new topics, journals and associations that are reviewed in the forthcoming ASA publication, Expanding American Anthropology 1945-1980: A Generation Reflects (Kehoe and Doughty 2011). We continue to expand and may burst apart along the old four-field fault lines, with each having an applied and critical dimension with our numerous sections developing further variation to encompass the cultures and lives of seven billion people.
Think about it and have a productive anthropological summer. This column returns in October. Until then, look at our website for the ASA/AAA meetings details, and communicate with us at will via the internet: President, Herb Lewis ([email protected]), past-President Tony Paredes ([email protected]), new President-elect, Paula Rubel ([email protected]), Program Chair, Alice Kehoe, ([email protected]), Treasurer Margo Smith (mlsriplow@ msn.com) or Secretary/Contributing Editor Paul Doughty ([email protected]). | <urn:uuid:17443dcf-79e4-4c8a-ae9e-74f97484d4d2> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.aaanet.org/sections/asa/index.php/asa-may-2011-an-column/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368704392896/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516113952-00019-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.946419 | 1,048 | 1.726563 | 2 |
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