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It’s hard to pick a favorite, but the spring season has an aura like no other. Any plant, whether it be a tree or summer flowering shrub, a bulb or a perennial, responds to nature’s call to break dormancy, and grow. From the biggest maple to the smallest hepatica, the plants are growing. There is a lot of commotion in the air. The plants are not pacing themselves, as they do in the heat of the summer. They are not slowing down, as in the fall. Or asleep, as in winter. It’s full speed ahead. The atmosphere in the garden is fully charged, electrified by all that energy being brought to bear-all at once- on the landscape. Rob has been taking instagram pictures the past few days. The options for filtering and electrifying color makes this spring container really feel like spring.
Each of these hellebore flowers tells a story about my collection. I have a fair number of plants. I especially appreciate the form of the flowers. But what I love about them the best is that they make a grand show in the spring. The hellebores coming into bloom are like the bells of spring ringing out. They are quite hardy. Old clumps are large; the foliage is evergreen until mid winter for me.
Sanguinaria, or bloodroot, is a native Michigan wildflower. A single leaf rises out of the ground, entirely curled around a single flower bud on its own leafless stalk. What a story this is, yes? The single white flowers are open for a few days at best, before the petals drop. If you do not check the emerging plant often in the spring, it could be you will miss the flower altogether. The small leaves are strikingly shaped and veined. Soon after flowering, the plant will go dormant until the following year. The spring season can be fraught with icy and windy weather. Though it is the same length as all of the other seasons, spring seems to come and go in an instant. The time of the bloodroot- hours.
The crabapple “Donald Wyman” has bright pink buds, and a profusion of white flowers. A crabapple blanketed in flowers is one of spring’s most breathtaking events. In a cool spring season, they are a delight to the eye for a week or better. The teardrop shaped petals-how do they manage to stay attached on a windy spring day? Crabapples in bloom-glorious.
In swampy areas, the skunk cabbage forms massive leafy clumps that look good enough to eat. However, skunk cabbage is poisonous to mammals. The plants will warn you. The leaves when disturbed smell like rotten meat. This spring beauty has luscious looks, but should be admired from afar.
Today’s pansies and violas look much different than their more self effacing ancestors. This particular bicolor pansy, with its distinctive dark whiskers, is saturated with intense color. This is spring blooming at its most robust. Though the pansies and violas do not really pick up steam, and flower heavily until the beginning of June, each individual face announces the coming of spring in the most cheery way imaginable. They are so unlike any other flower in form and color. Fault me if you wish, but a pansy in August would be out of place. They belong to spring.
Rob’s instagram photograph of a dark speckled hellebore proves that spring can also be moody and sultry . Rainy and chilly. It also makes the point loud and clear that the atmosphere of a landscape can be altered by light and color-to spectacular effect. Creating a mood, or an atmosphere in a garden is one of the most difficult aspects of landscape design. It cannot be taught, nor can it be forced. It can be aspired to. Spring is that season that every gardener can turn loose of the past, and start fresh. The sap rises in the plants and the gardeners alike.
The saucer magnolia features very large flowers of great substance. The queen bee/Sarah Bernhardt of the spring flowering trees, this magnolia likes cool spring temperatures, but not too cool. Warm spring temperatures, but not too warm. A good bloom demands next to perfect conditions as if it were a God given right. It seems like every Michigan spring features some weather element or another which causes all of the petals to fall to the ground in a heap. A thick mulch of magnolia petals on the ground-that would be our spring. | <urn:uuid:f551685b-fa70-42f3-b43c-bfdd0bdf99a9> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.deborahsilver.com/blog/category/landscape-design/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368706153698/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516120913-00015-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.953028 | 962 | 1.8125 | 2 |
CMIE pegs FY14 GDP growth at 6.8 per cent
Feb 17 2013 , Mumbai
"The economy is set to grow at 6.8 per cent in 2013-14, after showing a sharp deceleration in the preceding two years," the CMIE said in its February review of the economy.
It said the slowdown is due to supply constraints emanating from mining and agricultural sectors, slow implementation of projects and a slowdown in discretionary spends.
In FY14, "growth will be aided by easing supply constraints, lower inflation, softening of interest rates and fast-tracking of investment projects," it said.
However, it is not very soft on headline inflation numbers which it sees settling at 6.8 per cent in FY14.
As per the advance CSO estimate, the GDP may grow a decadal low of 5 per cent. An upbeat CMIE expects it to touch 5.7 per cent this fiscal, 2 bps above even the Finance Ministry's projection.
In an announcement which spooked a lot of stakeholders, the Central Statistical Organisation last week announced that the economy will grow at 5 per cent this fiscal, a decadal low after the 4.7 per cent growth in FY02.
This would be much lower than the 6.2 per cent clocked in FY11 and the 6.7 per cent achieved in FY10, in the immediate aftermath of the post-Lehman financial crisis. | <urn:uuid:6e36368b-1c8c-4ff8-8c24-864e0b158d62> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.mydigitalfc.com/economy/cmie-pegs-fy14-gdp-growth-68-cent-791 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368700958435/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516104238-00023-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.931633 | 295 | 1.59375 | 2 |
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From Color to Brand
By: Jeff Falk, with contributions from Brian Budzynski and Kim Jednachowski
Posted: December 7, 2009, from the December 2009 issue of GCI Magazine.
- In order to translate a color concept into a successful plastic bottle, color must be defined by characteristics, each separated into chemistry that works with the layers to be built.
- One of the most difficult things we do is interpret an idea of a color.
- The success of a color in packaging comes down to a visual impression that leads to success of the brand.
The rate of very cool looking plastic bottles, with a rainbow of amazing colors and effects, hitting the shelves seems to be on a constant rise. It’s a scenario written about in these pages monthly. There are more and more brands with growing lines competing for less shelf space and less consumer cash. Though it’s easy to appreciate brand and supplier efforts realized in finished bottles, it’s also easy to take the importance of color and effects, and their impact on brand success, for granted. GCI magazine had a chance to spend a day working with Clariant ColorWorks at its McHenry, Illinois facility on a faux project, creating bottle colors (really, brand identity) for an imaginary shampoo and conditioner line.
Len Kulka, director, creative development, consumer packaging, ColorWorks, Clariant Masterbatches, and his team took on the challenge of creating brand impact through color and effect based on a favorite pair of shoes. Sounds weird, right? But these kind of inspirations happen all the time, and have led to some pretty successful brands. So, GCI magazine’s Kim Jednachowski offered up her favorite flats, and Kulka and team got to work.
To take full advantage of the visit, staff members sent Pantone reference color numbers ahead of time. Typically, brand owners and their design teams begin their work with ColorWorks by going through a color library and exploring color trend forecasts. But by the time we arrived on-site, work was underway.
Kulka had created a project name, Twitter Me, for an imaginary hair care brand—Timeless Radiance. The project brief noted that the shampoo and conditioner were for an upscale market, and intended to be a “friendly” option for colored hair. It was important that the color conveyed luxury and communicated an upscale impression on shelf.
The First Iteration | <urn:uuid:cc1bea3c-2d2b-4822-bff8-fa042810b4f9> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.gcimagazine.com/business/manufacturing/packaging/78693707.html?page=1 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368704132298/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516113532-00021-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.957226 | 509 | 1.625 | 2 |
Begin at the beginning and go on till you come to the end; then stop. ~ Lewis Carroll
And so, at long last, we arrive at two-word titles on Measure of Doubt, some three years and four months after we began. One hundred posts. Eighty thousand words. I don’t keep comprehensive tracking statistics, because I’m opposed to writers surveilling their readers, but I do have a counter that indicates that I have had something on the order of 35,000 unique “hits” on this page.
I have more to say, of course. Consider:
- Those digital signs that span the 401: they bug me. The other day, one said, “School is out. Watch for children.” Are children playing on 400-series highways now? And if I intended to drive like a psychopath, gunning for children, would the sign make me reconsider?
- “Natural” is not synonymous with “good”. Polio is natural. Polio vaccine is unnatural. Which would you rather have?
- The organizing principle of homeopathy cannot be true unless the laws of physics and chemistry are false.
- Oprah’s practice of having only herself on the cover of her own magazine is made all the more egotistical by the fact that she very occasionally violates the practice. It wouldn’t be a problem if it were a general policy. It’s not. It’s question of her finding someone worthy to appear with her.
- Television is both worse (reality TV) and better (Mad Men, The Wire, Breaking Bad) than ever.
- My wife makes the best sandwiches in the world. On Saturday, it was avocado and red onion on grilled French bread with a cilantro chipolte mayonnaise.
- The proper way to cook a steak is in a very hot cast-iron fry pan until it’s rare or medium-rare, not on a gas BBQ until it’s a greyish brown colour.
- One advantage of cats over dogs is that you can leave them alone for the weekend. They have this advantage over children, too.
- The phrase, “those who can’t do, teach” doesn’t apply to university professors who are active in scholarship in their field: they teach precisely because they can “do”.
- The guy who first proposed that his company should pour tap water into a plastic bottle, ship it across the country, and sell it at variety and drug stores for three times the price of gasoline deserves a big raise. And to be beaten.
- It’s hard to find good restaurants in London, Ontario.
- The greatest movie ever made is Akira Kurosawa’s Yojimbo.
- Nonacademics have more freedom to express their views on academic matters than academics do, even though academics are supposed to have academic freedom. You wouldn’t believe the blogs I didn’t post.
- The scariest book I’ve read in the past two years is The Shallows by Nicholas Carr. Anyone who spends more than an hour per day on the Internet should read it.
- Technology is not neutral. It changes us even when we’re not using it.
- Educated people built Auschwitz and the atomic bomb. Rationality can sometimes lead to horrible things. But irrationality always does.
- Steinbeck is overrated. That’s irrational, I know.
- Get over the Beatles, everyone. They only recorded something like 9 hours of music. Seriously. 9 hours. Move on.
- The Golden Compass series is better than Harry Potter by a longshot. And Harry Potter was good, although by the last book in the series I was skimming.
- In the 1960s, this actually happened: university administrations decided it would be a great idea to get teenagers who have never taught and never studied pedagogy to be the ones to decide whether or not university professors with PhDs, lengthy publication records, and decades of teaching experience are any good at teaching. That actually happened.
- A recent study in the United States found that between 1961 and 2003, the number of hours per week that university students spent on all aspects of their studies declined from 40 to 27. Assuming the same rate of decline continued through to 2011, the figure would now stand at about 24 hours per week. Average grades, however, have gone up rather dramatically. Draw your own conclusions.
Well, I could go on and on, but things have value precisely because they don’t. And that is why this 100th column of Measure of Doubt will be its last.
I’ve changed. You’ve probably changed, too. I’ve gotten a load off of my chest and have begun to repeat myself. So now it’s time for other things.
Are you out there, readers? Are there more than three or four of you?I have no idea. I have unlocked my message board: there is no need to register. If you have read Measure of Doubt, and it has meant something to you, leave a message. I’d like to know.
Well, that’s enough, I think. One final thought: Bertrand Russell said that the whole problem with the world comes down to the fact that intelligent people are full of doubt while the stupid ones are sure of themselves. So may you always be full of doubt, my friends. | <urn:uuid:862e820b-976b-43a3-a169-adef6edd5b63> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.measureofdoubt.blogspot.com/2011/07/one-hundred.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368705559639/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516115919-00034-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.95521 | 1,155 | 1.617188 | 2 |
Fri March 9, 2012
Greece Takes Critical Step Toward Avoiding Bankruptcy
The important takeaway from this morning's news about Europe's financial mess:
It seems less likely that Greece will go bankrupt and more likely that it will get another international bailout that hopefully will shore up the nation's economy and prevent a domino-like tumble of other ailing European nations and the unsettling repercussions that could have for the U.S. economy.
"Greece took a big step toward staving off an imminent bankruptcy after securing the support of the vast majority of its bondholders in a critical bond swap that should pave the way for its second massive international bailout."
That bailout from other eurozone nations and the International Monetary Fund is expected to total about $172 billion.
The Wall Street Journal sums up the news this way:
"Just over 80 percent of Greece's private-sector creditors had agreed by a Thursday evening deadline to turn in their bonds for new ones with less than half the face value, touching off a massive debt swap that marks a seminal moment in Europe's long-frustrated efforts to rescue its most financially vulnerable nation."
Or, as The Financial Times puts it (with a lede that's a bit dense for us non-economists):
"Greece was due to complete the largest ever sovereign debt restructuring on Friday as it prepared to squeeze out dissenting bondholders in a move likely to trigger a credit event." | <urn:uuid:c58de9f3-cdd7-4157-8155-15e214be40a5> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.wncw.org/post/greece-takes-critical-step-toward-avoiding-bankruptcy | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368700958435/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516104238-00018-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.938056 | 296 | 1.546875 | 2 |
In cities like San Francisco and New York, developers are living large. The latest internet boom has produced a new crop of billion-dollar internet giants and countless startups.
But outside of the hottest markets, the notion that developers are often grumpy and difficult to work with is still common.
Needless to say, most developers are normal people (read: not chemically imbalanced) and the bedside manner of any given developer is probably just as variable as any other professional.
But that doesn't mean that there aren't grumpy developers, and as anyone who has been involved in the development of a complex website knows, software development can be a trying endeavor fraught with sources of potential frustration, particularly on the part of those who are ultimately responsible for doing the building -- developers.
If you're fortunate enough to be working with a skilled developer, but detect a hint of grumpiness from time to time, here are six ways you can turn your frown upside down.
1. Establish scope
Many development projects turn sour because of scope issues. Scope creep, not surprisingly, is a common developer complaint and one of the most frustrating things that developers deal with.
The challenge for many clients, particularly those who aren't technical, is that specifying the functionality that needs to be developed in specific enough terms to be meaningful to a developer can be difficult and/or time-consuming. But not making the effort is more often than not more likely to produce a grumpy developer than a stellar deliverable.
2. Develop a project plan
The old adage "failing to plan is planning to fail" is particularly true when it comes to development projects. What's more: not having a project plan that identifies milestones and delivery dates can eventually lead to unhealthy tensions between you and your developer.
3. Educate yourself
Working with a developer can be an intimating thing for a non-developer, particularly if development is unfamiliar territory, but don't make the mistake of believing that acting hapless will make your developer happier or friendlier. For many developers, clients that don't know what they don't know and don't seem to care about what they know they don't know are a huge pet peeve.
While you don't have to learn the intricacies of object-oriented programming or how to design a relational database, having enough knowledge to engage in a meaningful conversation about the work you're asking your developer to perform can go a long way towards boosting a developer's morale.
4. Set expectations
There are more than a few ways to ruin a developer's day. From expanding the scope a project due to insufficient scoping to last-minute deadline changes, many developer frustrations revolve around expectations, or more appropriately, lack of expectations.
The good news: by making a concerted effort to set expectations before implementation kicks off, your developer will have far fewer reasons to be an unhappy camper.
5. Avoid micromanagement
The stereotype of developers as a largely anti-social group that prefers to be left alone in a basement may be just that -- a stereotype -- but that doesn't mean that it's a good idea to suffocate your developers either.
In many cases, micromanagement is the result of discomfort and uncertainty on the part of managers and clients. Is my developer building what's needed? How are things coming along? When you don't know the answers to these types of questions, you're far more likely to micromanage, which is why establishing scope, developing a project plan, educating yourself and setting expectations are so important.
6. Say thanks
Showing appreciation for a job well done is always a good practice, and while a truly grumpy developer may not say "you're welcome" in return, that doesn't mean that the gesture wasn't recognized. | <urn:uuid:cdebe80d-a41a-49d8-b582-a793ef966169> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://econsultancy.com/us/blog/11012-six-ways-to-make-your-grumpy-developer-less-grumpy | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368707435344/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516123035-00020-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.956337 | 774 | 1.765625 | 2 |
Veterinary practices, like any business, struggle with suppressing office gossip. And while a little chitchat may seem harmless, it’s a force to be reckoned with. Gossip can ruin job satisfaction by causing team members to feel bullied or shut out. It can also hurt client relationships, as clients can sense team members’ negativity. Gossip can even affect the bottom line when morale falls so low that no one is focused on what’s important—the patient. So if gossip exists in your practice, it’s time to eliminate it once and for all. And here’s the resources to help you.
Take a dogged stance against gossip
Establishing a no-gossip policy at your veterinary practice is as easy as one, two, three—steps. Hospital administrator Marie E. McNamara, MBA, CVPM, explains what they are and how you can implement them at your practice today.
Sample: No-gossip policy
Every veterinary practice should include a no-gossip policy as part of its employee manual. And simply listing the phrase “No gossiping” under your personnel policies won’t cut it. To download a sample policy that spells it out, click here.
Sample script: How to shut down a gossip
Team members may understand that they aren’t supposed to gossip, but do they really know what to do when others start opening their mouths? Make sure team members are equipped to handle these situations by role-playing with them.
How to handle backlash from a no-gossip policy
As a veterinary manager, it’s your duty to protect the team members who report policy violations. Find out the best way to protect their anonymity as well as prepare them for co-workers' negative feedback for "tattling." | <urn:uuid:a3b568c3-b150-4e62-bc88-b1f84835f08f> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://veterinaryteam.dvm360.com/firstline/Veterinary+managers/How-to-eliminate-gossip-in-your-veterinary-practic/ArticleStandard/Article/detail/702611?contextCategoryId=46763 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368704132298/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516113532-00004-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.935518 | 372 | 1.53125 | 2 |
It’s by Jonathan Haidt, a cultural anthropologist at UVA, who works on morality and emotion across cultures. His opening salvo also functions as a summary of the article, reminding us that while liberals tend to privilege individual rights, conservatives tend to privilege forces (like authority and hierarchy and rules) which tend to build strong social bounds.
...the second rule of moral psychology is that morality is not just about how we treat each other (as most liberals think); it is also about binding groups together, supporting essential institutions, and living in a sanctified and noble way. When Republicans say that Democrats "just don't get it," this is the "it" to which they refer.
He then goes on to map the moral dimensions that support these two world-views--the Dem’s enlightenment-individualist world view and G.O.P’s interest in social cohesion—across five dimensions: harm/care, fairness/reciprocity, ingroup/loyalty, authority/respect, purity/sanctity.
It’s probably not a huge surprise that liberals tend to be pretty dismissive of the last two dimensions. Purity? More surprising, according to Haidt’s research, who is himself a self-described liberal, is that people who are more likely to vote Republican tend to be interested more well-rounded in their moral concerns, equally invested in all these dimensions. Liberals, on the other hand, care about a more a more narrow definition of morality, one that privileges just the first two dimensions.
He then goes on to suggest some interesting and provocative strategic angles: including questioning the value of “diversity” as a moral virtue (because it tends to weaken social cohesion). The article leaves a lot of unanswered questions, not least how Liberals and Conservations position economic (vs. social) policy in relation to these dimensions, but it’s still an intriguing and useful perspective. Check it out here. | <urn:uuid:33287454-caa4-45c4-941c-328e168ff49b> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://artificialsimplicity.blogspot.com/2008/09/5-ways-of-looking-at-morality.html?showComment=1223010000000 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368706153698/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516120913-00013-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.942344 | 409 | 1.75 | 2 |
Tennessee is asking for measures that would call for raising proficiency levels three to five percent each year, as well as heightened attention to the achievement gap between students of different demographic backgrounds. Additional resources would be aimed at schools where it is demonstrated the most help is needed. Dept. of Education Commissioner Kevin Huffman explains it all in this op-ed piece. An accompanying graphic (PDF here) shows how differently the schools' performances would look using the revised measurements. From the news article:
... schools would be divided into three categories based on their test scores and graduation rates but in some nontraditional areas as well, including how much progress students are making. That puts schools like Booker T. Washington High, long on the state's priority list, at the top of pack, joining the ranks with Robert R. Church Elementary and a handful of high-ranking charter schools in the city.
Also from Jane Roberts -- an Memphis City Schools ceremony honoring some of the district's top teachers at the first My Favorite Educator Golden Apple Awards.
Conversely, Memphis schools such as White Station High and Peabody and Idlewild elementary schools would rank low due to the large size of their achievement gaps between students. "You can't ride the coattails of high-achieving students," Cash said. "You won't be a great school until all children in all subgroups are achieving at high levels."
One hundred and five teachers made the finalist cut from 1,200 nominations; 21 received plaques with golden apples and $100 checks, complements of the Memphis Education Association, while fans on two levels of the performance hall clapped and cheered.In Bartlett, residents gathered to talk about creating municipal schools for the fast-growing suburb. Mayor Keith McDonald captured the energy and enthusiasm for moving in that direction and away from what would be a huge 150,000-student unified county school district saying that, "In politics you have to be careful on which sword you are willing to die on. I'm willing to die on this one." But Clay Bailey reports there was little in the way of new clarifying information.
Meah King from East High took the top honors for high school English teachers and smiled and shook hands most of the way back to her seat. "Teaching is not a profession, it's a ministry," she said. "My work is not in vain."
In some instances, there were details about the proposed city school system, but most specifics were tempered by caveats of the unknown, from the increase in taxes to the cost of acquiring the school buildings in Bartlett. In addition to the lack of firm figures on cost, there also is the question of whether the idea can survive expected legal challenges if outlying Shelby County cities decide to separate from the combined school system.One of the biggest questions, one that may require a judge's interpretation of laws and precedent, involves exisiting school facilities.
All six Shelby County suburbs have hired Southern Educational Strategies, a consulting firm, to study the feasibility of starting their own municipal systems. The reports are expected in mid-January. Bartlett city officials really don't have any new figures on the cost of the idea. In March, the suburb's research showed 11 public schools within Bartlett borders. Of those, six are elementary schools, four are middle schools, along with Bartlett High.
But a major question facing a future municipal system from a facilities and funding standpoint is what happens to those county school buildings in Bartlett that will fall under a unified school system. According to a study done for Bartlett in February, the net book value of those 11 school buildings, plus the equipment and land, is about $65 million.
While there is resistance to proposals that the county give school buildings to suburban municipal school districts, leaders such as McDonald point out that Memphis has taken over schools in annexations without having to pay for them under the reasoning that the newly annexed residents paid county taxes before annexation to cover those costs. | <urn:uuid:03456000-dd73-49ba-ac66-8a0ba3353ef8> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://blogs.commercialappeal.com/cgi-bin/mt/mt-search.cgi?blog_id=14&tag=standards&limit=20&IncludeBlogs=14 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368696383156/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516092623-00001-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.971747 | 808 | 1.726563 | 2 |
‘On Good Friday 1984 I found myself laying a wreath at the Monument to the Unknown Soldier in Baghdad. This was to me extraordinary. I belong to the Church of England and have no wish to take sides in the quarrels of Muslims.’ The writer is D.A.N. Jones, who between 1980 and 1992 wrote 64 pieces for this paper and who died on 23 November.
He had arrived in Baghdad the previous day, in response to ‘an agreeably casual’ Iraqi invitation to a ‘writers’ conference’. His intention, he said, had been ‘to swan around, as an uncommitted journalist, finding out a bit about Baghdad, Arabic literature, the conservation of ancient buildings, internal politics and the conduct of the war against Iran’. At the time that seemed a bit naive to us – and so, you could say, it proved, though it’s hard to see what harm was done.
He only learned that he was expected to lay a wreath on Britain’s behalf as he walked up the steps to the monument. ‘There was no way out,’ he wrote and added: ‘I share the general view about paying respect to Unknown Soldiers.’
David had been a soldier himself, or at any rate done National Service, in Hong Kong, and probably had more sympathy for army life than most LRB contributors. Here he is, in a review of George Spater’s Life of Cobbett, brushing aside Hazlitt’s remarks about Cobbett’s bullying ways:
It is a natural tendency for a sergeant-major to get his way by bullying – both the officers and the men. A sergeant-major bestrides the ranks. He is the guardian of regimental tradition. He is in loco parentis to his men, for he comes from their class and must make sure that they are properly fed, clothed, housed, trained – and not mutinous. He must explain their needs to the officers and and interpret the officers to the rankers, who are to salute the uniform, not the man within . . . He needs an exceptional command of English, written and spoken, so that he understands and is understood by everyone in the regiment: he ought to be a wit, his words memorable.
An ability to find the world interesting, and sometimes even fun (a word he uses surprisingly often) characterises his writing. He laments the fact that Spater doesn’t ‘seem to be conscious of the charm of politics’ and envies Hazlitt his meeting with Cobbett: ‘the most valuable journalist-politician this country has ever produced’. The British used to do the journalist-politician very well. Now we have Alastair Campbell.
David was for a time a Labour councillor but he was more susceptible to the charms of political commentary. He presented himself as a plain man, and on occasion stated his own point of view very plainly, but he was also more interesting and cagier than that. Reviewing Michael Foot’s Debts of Honour he describes an occasion when he was working for Tribune and Foot was in charge. He’d written a piece about race relations that criticised two Labour MPs for their unsatisfactory (‘silly’) arguments in favour of a position he himself supported.
Foot was staring out of the window, disconsolate that he had to urge me to censor my work. Turning his head, almost shyly, he said: ‘We don’t want to attack our friends.’
‘Oh, but I think we do,’ I replied, sitting down comfortably.
The discussion continued with Foot repeatedly asking David what he had ever done for race relations:
The denunciation echoed through the thin-walled Tribune offices . . . and one of the secretaries offered me consolation afterwards, remarking: ‘He’s kept your headline.’ But I needed no consolation, having thoroughly enjoyed the way the man had made his sound points.
Papers like the LRB need writers who have that combination of ease and unease with public life; and David’s trickiness was inseparable from his virtues as a journalist. He liked to spend time in pubs and his Guardian obituarist wrote about his fondness for those he spoke of as ‘real people’ – those apparently who joined football supporters’ clubs and knew their local vicar and lived in South London.
This was always evident to anyone who knew they weren’t quite ‘real’. But it was also a pose. Ten years ago, a series of strokes brought David’s writing to an end. In 1992 the LRB had its office in a building owned by the British Medical Association in Tavistock Square. One lunchtime David came into the office to deliver his copy. Something was odd about him; he seemed to be having trouble speaking and his movements weren’t quite right. I was on my own and though I wondered if he hadn’t been drinking, I asked whether he’d come from the dentist (he did have a habit of rubbing his cheek). ‘I think I might have had a slight stroke,’ he replied. I sped down the corridor to the offices of the Heart, Chest and Stroke Association to ask their advice. ‘Call an ambulance’ was all they could manage. As we waited by the entrance for the ambulance to arrive David got out a notebook and started to write in it. A former classical scholar, he wanted to see how much he could remember of a passage from Homer. | <urn:uuid:8e857b68-bc75-4691-bb8e-f79af6f4c066> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.lrb.co.uk/v25/n01/mary-kay-wilmers/short-cuts | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368696381249/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516092621-00027-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.984344 | 1,178 | 1.710938 | 2 |
Department Awards $4 Million Grant To Help OASAS Treatment Sites Go Tobacco-Free
ALBANY, N.Y. (March 12, 2008) - New York's first-in-the-nation initiative to make all addiction service providers tobacco-free is getting support through a $4 million grant from the Department of Health for training and technical assistance.
Prevention and treatment programs certified or funded by the New York State Office of Alcoholism and Substance Abuse Services will be eligible for free training under the grant. A regulation was proposed last July by OASAS which would require providers to implement tobacco-free policies on their grounds and integrate tobacco dependence treatment in their programs by July 24, 2008, the anniversary of the Indoor Clean Air Act.
DOH has awarded the grant to the Research Foundation of the State of New York's Professional Development Program (PDP) at the Rockefeller College of SUNY Albany. The PDP will provide the training and technical services for OASAS providers in New York State, who serve 110,000 clients daily.
OASAS Commissioner Karen M. Carpenter-Palumbo said, "Research has shown that addressing tobacco dependence actually increases an individual's overall recovery rate and extends life expectancy. We are pleased to collaborate with Department of Health on this groundbreaking public health initiative, and proud to have New York State lead the nation by eliminating tobacco use in the field of chemical dependence."
"Tobacco use causes more deaths each year than does alcohol, heroin, cocaine, HIV, homicides, suicides, fires and accidents combined," Health Commissioner Richard F. Daines, M.D., said. "The leadership shown by OASAS to help their clients quit smoking and implement tobacco-free grounds will save lives and result in both clients and staff living longer, healthier, happier lives."
Treating tobacco addiction in substance abuse treatment settings has been a complicated and controversial subject among substance abuse treatment providers, in spite of research demonstrating better outcomes for patients who quit tobacco use at the same time they are addressing their other addiction. An 11-year study showed that 51 percent of deaths among addiction treatment patients were due to tobacco-related diseases. Sixty to 90 percent of patients in addiction treatment are tobacco-dependent, and about 40 to 50 percent are heavy smokers, defined as smoking more than 25 cigarettes per day.
The PDP will establish a training project to provide and oversee training and technical assistance throughout the state. Since its founding in 1976, the Professional Development Program has been a leader in the development of the public service workforce providing classroom-based training, distance learning and technical assistance on many social service and public health topics. Training will begin in the spring.
"The Professional Development Program is pleased to be part of this ground-breaking initiative," said Eugene Monaco, PDP Executive Director. "The blending of our cutting-edge resources and the creative talents of the PDP staff, with the incredible work of the dedicated chemical dependence service providers across the state, will be a winning partnership that will create healthier workplace environments and improve the health of both staff and those they serve as they work toward recovery."
Preventing and reducing tobacco use are the most important public health actions that can be taken to improve the health of New Yorkers. All New Yorkers can call the New York State Smokers' Quitline at 1-866-NY-QUITS (1-866-697-8487) for help quitting smoking.
OASAS oversees one of the nation's largest addiction services systems, treating 110,000 New Yorkers on any given day for alcohol, drug or gambling problems. For information or help with addiction, 24-hour-a-day help is available at 1-877-8HOPENY (1-877-846-7369). Additional information is available at www.oasas.ny.gov. | <urn:uuid:1e2d2883-c049-490d-ac0f-c34751271b79> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.health.ny.gov/press/releases/2008/2008-03-12_oasas_grant_to_go_tobacco_free.htm | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368705953421/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516120553-00006-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.936534 | 784 | 1.8125 | 2 |
Can you pray? You can go to the temple because that is easy, but you cannot pray. Prayer needs a different quality; that quality you don’t have, so you can only deceive yourself that you are praying. Go and look in the temple at people who are praying: they are simply deceiving themselves, they don’t have that quality of prayerfulness. How can you pray? And if you have the quality of prayerfulness, what need is there to go to the temple or the church? Wherever you are, prayer is: you move, you walk; and it is prayer! You eat, you love; and it is prayer! You look, you breathe; and it is prayer! Because the quality of prayerfulness is always there, it is just like breathing. Then you cannot be in a moment of non-prayer. But then there is no need to go to the temple or to the church. Churches and temples exist for those who want to deceive themselves, for those who have no quality of prayer and still would like to believe that they are praying.
A man was dying, a sinner. He had never been to the temple, never prayed, never listened to what the priests said, but at the moment of death he became afraid. He asked the priest to come, he begged. When the priest came there was a crowd. Many people were around because the sinner was a great, successful man; he was a politician, he had power, he had money. So many people had gathered.
The sinner asked the priest to come near because he wanted to say something in private. The priest came near and the sinner whispered in his ear, “I know that I am a sinner and I know well that I have never gone to church, I am not a churchgoer. I am not a religious man at all, I have never prayed, so I know well that the world is not going to forgive me. But help me, and give me a little confidence and tell me that God will forgive me! The world is not going to forgive me, that I know, and nothing can be done about it now, but tell me one thing: that God is going to forgive me!”
“Well,” said the minister, the priest, “perhaps he will, because he didn’t get to know you the way we have come to know you. Perhaps he will, because he does not know you the way we have come to know you.”
But if you cannot deceive the world, can you deceive God? If you cannot deceive ordinary minds, can you deceive the divine mind? It is just a consolation, a comfortable thing: “Perhaps.” But that perhaps is absolutely wrong; don’t hang on such perhaps!
Prayerfulness is a quality that belongs to the essence and not to the personality. Personality is that which you have been doing, it is a relationship with others. Essence is that which has come to you; it is nothing of your doing, it is a gift of existence. Prayerfulness belongs to the essence: it is a quality, it is nothing you can do.
What is fasting? How can you fast? And why do people fast? Jesus’ saying is very deep, deeper than any assertion of Mahavira about fasting. Jesus is saying a very deep psychological truth, and the truth is that the mind moves to the extreme: a person who is too obsessed with food can fast easily. This will look strange, paradoxical, that a person who eats too much can fast easily, that a person who is too greedy for food can fast easily. But only that type of person can fast easily. A person who has always been balanced in his diet will find it almost impossible to fast. Why? To answer this we have to go into the physiology and psychology of fasting. | <urn:uuid:2d53318c-fce8-474c-b7af-25b42546b910> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.osho.com/library/online-library-quality-sinner-fast-ef6205b0-890.aspx | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368697380733/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516094300-00018-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.989381 | 803 | 1.671875 | 2 |
Tracy Tuten, Ph.D., author of Advertising 2.0: Social Media Marketing , told a seminar with more than 100 retailers and students from across Alabama that social media is not trendy – it is a fact. It is not free – the cost to do it right, and the price you pay for doing it wrong, is substantial. And it is not only Facebook – especially when you realize Lady Gaga, Justin Bieber and Britney Spears’ Twitter followers outnumber the entire population of Australia! Tuten predicts in five years all marketing plans will include social media practices and training. Her message – don’t get left behind.
Richard Pizitz Sr. was the keynote speaker at the event co-hosted by the Alabama Retail Association. Pizitz is the patriarch of the Pizitz family that has been doing retail in Birmingham since 1899. He started with the family business in 1953. His message then and today also focused on trends verses facts.
Pizitz, the past president of Pizitz Management Group, said the failure of department stores across the country was due in part to the fact that people and businesses leaving downtown areas was not a trend. He said the same can be said today for shopping malls. Pizitz said only one shopping mall has been built in the last three years across the country. Shopping malls are dying because of walking malls like The Summit – again, not a trend, a fact. His message – don’t get left behind.
The Retail Day event held at The Club also named the Alabama Retailers of the Year. To see a list of those not being left behind click here.
Find event photos here.
UAB Media Specialist | <urn:uuid:bfa89ac6-5d81-428b-8527-8bbf1693081e> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.uab.edu/business/inthenews/718-retail-yesterday-today-tomorrow-dont-get-left-behind | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368703298047/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516112138-00029-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.94853 | 347 | 1.625 | 2 |
Anyone who owns a smartphone will know that they come in extremely handy for checking prices and reviews when out shopping.
But marketing strategies can't be based on hunches, so I thought it would be useful to pull together some surveys and studies that validate this assumption.
And to add to the debate, here are eight useful studies that reveal how and why consumers use smartphones in-store...
Give customers the information they need
A report from Vibes published in September found that 80% of smartphone owners always or often have their phone with them while shopping.
Of those consumers, a third (33%) have used their device to lookup a product on a competitor’s site while 20% have researched the store’s own website.
The second most popular activity was looking up a product review (31%), followed by scanning a QR code for more information (27%).
Of those who do research other options, 25% left the store and made a purchase from a competitor, representing 6% of smartphone owners overall.
This may seem like a small number, but as smartphones become increasingly prevalent this number is likely to increase unless stores give consumers the information they need to make an informed purchase decision.
Vibes’ data comes from an online survey of 1,006 US mobile phone owners.
Showrooming is on the increase
A consumer survey by JiWire shows that the use of mobile in-store is becoming increasingly common.
Its Q3 Mobile Audience Insights Report found that 85% of smartphone owners use their devices while in-store.
This is a 33% increase from Q4 2011, when less than two-thirds used their device in-store.
Comparison shopping (49%) and searching for reviews (41%) remain the most popular activities, while 19% purchased on their mobile while in-store.
JiWire’s report is also based on mobile usage data, which shows that consumers tend to be most active on their device when in the mall.
This data is based on ad requests on the JiWire network, but it does give a good indication of consumer mobile usage.
Shoppers are 63% and 144% more likely to engage on their mobile devices while at big box retailers (i.e. department stores such as Walmart and Target) than at electronic retailers and clothing retailers, respectively.
JiWire’s Mobile Audience Insights Report is based on data from approximately 315,000 public Wi-Fi locations, as well as surveying nearly 1,400 customers randomly selected across JiWire’s Wi-Fi Media Channel in July to September 2012.
42% of smartphone owners check price online while in-store
A survey of 2,000 European consumers conducted by Tradedoubler found that 42% of smartphone owners use their device to compare prices in-store, while 13% claim to have switched stores after finding a better offer elsewhere.
Location-based offers or vouchers, however, help to secure the interest of a fifth of potential buyers.
Tradedoubler’s survey also highlights the importance of mobile optimised sites.
A quarter (26%) of respondents said they would buy more frequently if websites were optimised, and 50% of UK respondents said they become frustrated with the mobile shopping experience.
Mobile usage is more common among younger age groups
As you might expect, consumers aged 18-34 are far more likely than older age groups to use their smartphone when out shopping.
Data included in our new Multichannel Retail Survey shows that just over half (51%) of UK consumers check prices and reviews on their device while in-store compared to just 16% of those aged 55+.
Overall 43% of UK respondents and 50% of those in the US said they had checked prices and reviews in-store. This has increased sharply from 19% and 20% respectively in 2011.
The report also asked whether respondents had used their smartphone to find more information on a retailer’s nearest store or opening times.
Although those using their mobile to find more information on retailers’ stores are still in the minority, the proportion doing so has increased since the 2011 survey; in the UK from 25% to 32%, and in the US from 27% to 41%.
Behaviour differs depending on the type of store
A survey of US smartphone owners who use their mobile devices while shopping in-store found that behaviour differs depending on the type of retail outlet.
For example, using or requesting a coupon is most popular at grocery stores (41%), department stores (41%), and clothing stores (39%).
In comparison, at electronics stores the vast majority of smartphone shoppers read reviews (73%), compare prices with other retail outlets (71%) and scan QR codes to get more product details (57%).
Nielsen suggests that the more considered the purchase, the more likely it is that consumers will turn to their smartphones to find product information.
Smartphone activity by store type
Mobile influence 5.1% of US retail sales
According to data from Deloitte, 5.1% of all in-store retail sales in the US are currently influenced by mobile.
This is based on a weighted average that reflects the varying sales levels for different types of stores.
The total varies depending on the type of store, with mobile influencing 8.3% of sales in electronic/appliance stores and 3% in convenience stores and gas stations.
Mobile influence by store category
By 2016 Deloitte predicts that mobile will influence around $689bn of US retail sales.
Some of the the evidence for this comes from the fact that 61% of respondents in a Deloitte survey (sample size of 1,041) said they use their smartphone to aid the shopping experience while in-store and 52% said they use it on the way to the store.
Mobile to influence £15bn of in-store sales in the UK in 2012
Almost half (46%) of UK smartphone owners have used their device to research product information before or during a shopping trip, according to a survey of more than 2,000 consumers by Deloitte Digital.
As a result, Deloitte estimates that around 6% of in-store retail sales will be influenced by smartphone use, equivalent to £15.2bn of sales per year.
This is almost double the value of direct purchases made through mobile, which Deloitte puts at £8bn in 2012.
The use of smartphones also appears to increase conversion rates in-store for retailers. According to Deloitte almost three-quarters (74%) of UK shoppers that visited a retailer’s mobile website or app during their most recent shopping trip made a purchase.
The impact of mobile on in-store purchases varies depending on the sector. In electronics it influences 10% of sales compared to just 2.9% for convenience stores and 3.8% for supermarkets.
But while 64% of smartphone owners have used their device to make a bank payment or pay a bill, just 1% have used their phone to make an in-store payment.
More than half of US smartphone owners check prices
An Empathica survey of 6,500 US internet users found that 55% of smartphone owners have used their device to compare prices while in-store.
A further 34% said they've scanned a QR code, and 27% have read online reviews from their devices before making purchase decisions. | <urn:uuid:aebe7137-6c8a-47f0-9f66-cea658c04f06> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://econsultancy.com/pk/blog/11259-eight-studies-that-reveal-how-shoppers-use-smartphones-in-store | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368696383156/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516092623-00007-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.957045 | 1,521 | 1.78125 | 2 |
'I found it rather absurd that I was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame." Mmm.
Now let's see. I am talking to George Martin, the man who gave The Beatles their first recording contract when no one else would have them; the man whose production genius lifted their music; who produced (in Sgt Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band) what is still regarded by many as the finest pop album ever; who changed the way people recorded and even listened to rock music.
No, on balance I'd have to disagree. It wasn't absurd to induct him into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.
But as I sit with the 85-year-old in the lounge of his London apartment and talk about his career, which is the subject of a new BBC Arena documentary tonight, I slowly begin to grasp why he said it.
It wasn't false modesty, because there is nothing false about him. It was an insight into how he sees himself.
When, in the early 1960s, The Beatles were turned down by label after label, they became increasingly desperate. They weren't to know that it was tremendous good fortune.
Because repeated rejection made them turn to their last hope, a tiny label called Parlophone, headed by a young executive called George Martin. And here they found not just someone to take them on but someone who understood them as they, at the time, didn't understand themselves.
And the reason for this was partly that he wasn't a rock'n'roll man. Classically trained (at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama) and a producer of classical records, when Martin listens to music these days it is to the great composers. "Bach, Debussy, Ravel, Fauré. Even Tchaikovsky. Mainly the syrupy stuff," he laughs.
He also hasn't exactly lived a rock'n'roll life. When I arrive at his flat I am greeted by his wife Judy, whom he met at Parlophone in 1950 and married 45 years ago.
He even suggests that he could have ended up in a different career altogether. His family were not musical (his father was a carpenter) and entirely lacked the connections to aid his professional life.
But he was overheard playing on the piano at the end of an army concert by a music professor who helped him get a musical education and then put him up for a job with EMI.
But what first produced the bond between him and the four lads from Liverpool?
"I wasn't music at all. It was comedy." Martin wasn't sure The Beatles were all that good. But they made him laugh. And they were in awe of his work as a comedy producer.
But Martin was looking for something else. Parlophone needed something more reliable to produce an income.
Nowadays the arrival of The Beatles is thought of as a social watershed, a leap across a generational divide. But it didn't seem like that to Martin at the time. "I recognise now, looking back, there was quite a dividing line -- perhaps more a comma -- marking the difference between the 1950s and 1960s.
"But there was no distinction for me. My work was continuous. I was still recording comedy people when I was recording The Beatles. I was still recording the orchestral stuff and Shirley Bassey."
He takes this view at least partly, I think, because of his resolute refusal to take himself too seriously.
When asked about the worship The Beatles still attract, the endless examination and discussion, he says: "You see, I can't be rational about this, because The Beatles aren't The Beatles to me as they are to someone on the street.
"You ask them what they think of The Beatles and they say: 'Oh, they are fantastic.' The Beatles are four people I knew very well, and two of them are still living. So it's not this big icon that everybody talks about.
"I still find it difficult to believe that they are probably the finest rock band we've ever had, or the most famous, or whatever. But I can't look at them like that."
I wonder how he feels about his own iconic status. "Yeah, but I'm not an icon like they are. They are the biggest thing ever. No. I don't want to be any more famous than I am. Would you like to be Paul McCartney? I wouldn't. That's the last thing I would like."
But his ability to remain grounded doesn't lead him to underestimate their achievement altogether. He may regard it as just work, but he knows The Beatles' work was very good.
"I think we recorded well over 200 titles and of those probably 60% were great songs. I mean not just a pass-by thing, but really great. And I would have given my teeth to have written even one of them."
I am unable to resist asking the most clichéd of all Beatles questions. "Do you have a favourite song?" He grimaces slightly: "Not really, no. People ask me this all the time."
But when I promise to tell him mine if he tells me his, the characteristic Martin humour and courtesy triumphs and he relents. I say 'Here, There and Everywhere' and he replies: "Well now, if I ever give an answer, I take it into Paul and John's territory. If it's Paul, I say 'Here, There and Everywhere' and if it's John, 'Strawberry Fields Forever'."
His pride comes out when he tells me about John Lennon's comment that he would like to have rerecorded everything that The Beatles ever did.
"I said to him: 'I can't believe that. Think of all we've done and you want to rerecord everything?' 'Yeah, everything.' And I said: 'What about 'Strawberry Fields'?' And he looked at me and said: 'Especially 'Strawberry Fields'.' Which I was very disappointed with. If he felt that way about it, he should have recorded the bloody thing himself."
Towards the end of The Beatles' recording career, Lennon and George Harrison took the tapes of Let It Be and asked the 'wall of sound' producer Phil Spector to work on them. When Martin heard that, despite working on the originals, he was to be left off the album credit, he suggested the cover read: "Produced by George Martin, overproduced by Phil Spector."
His analysis of Spector -- recently jailed for murder -- turned out to be shrewd. "He's an idiot, really. I thought he was a genius when I first heard 'You've Lost That Loving Feeling' and all the other stuff he did with The Ronettes, and so on. But he's crazy. John worked with him and he came to me, complaining: 'That guy's crazy.'
"Spector would come into the studio like a Mexican bandit, bands of cartridges crisscrossed over his chest, guns in each holster and he would fire guns in the studio."
Even a little of such behaviour is unacceptable to Martin. Perhaps because he is the real deal, he finds ill-mannered high jinks contemptible.
And when I ask about The X Factor, he replies: "I think it's awful. There's so much sort of envious competition, there's so much looking for freaks, and I hate the put-downs by the critics, the people on the panel. Particularly Simon Cowell. So unnecessarily rude to people. I do like manners."
Martin's schedule is still busy. We talk about his visit to Las Vegas for the fifth anniversary of The Beatles' Love show.
He'd spent three years working on the show, remixing The Beatles' music into a single stunning 90-minute piece of music. I suspect a large part of why Martin liked it himself had to do with working on it with his son Giles, which had been a very happy experience.
"We have a similar sense of humour, and we love each other, it's as simple as that. And love is terribly important. Love and laughter are the keys to life."
Arena: Produced by George Martin is on BBC Two tonight at 9pm | <urn:uuid:b699c3eb-17a9-48d7-ad18-01c23ed3b8d2> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.independent.ie/entertainment/music/when-im-85-still-grooving-the-man-who-invented-the-beatles-26726969.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368705559639/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516115919-00012-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.98891 | 1,711 | 1.570313 | 2 |
Links to Information about Barter
- International Barter Alliance
- Claims to be the world's largest barter marketplace.
- IRTA: The International Reciprocal Trade
- IRTA is a non-profit corporation established to foster the interests of
the commercial barter industry in the U.S. and around the world. IRTA's web
site gives statistics on the total value of goods bartered by North American
- Barter Consultants
- Barter Consultants offers barter services, B2B trade & exchange,
barter trading methods, trade exchanges, barter systems for barter clubs
members using trade dollars to swap, trade, and barter online.
- This is a large, international computerised bartering system which
started in Australia.
- The Online Barter Association's website.
- Barter Networking Inc.
- A trading system, based in the mid east coast region of the US, designed
to help small and large businesses alike by bartering goods and services to
- Free2Xchange.com is a community project with the aim of giving people
have an alternative to fiat money systems. As well as exchanging goods people
can use the system to offer services, including their time.
- Ormita acts as a clearinghouse in 5 continents for the trade of excess
capacities, goods and services and works through a combination of manual
clearing, online e-commerce trading, 24 hour telephone brokering and
independent licensees and brokers.
- Global Offset and Countertrade
- The purpose of the Global Offset and Countertrade Association (G.O.C.A.)
is to promote trade and commerce between companies around the world and their
foreign customers through a greater understanding of countertrade and
- Freecycle: changing the world one
gift at a time
- The Freecycle Network is an international grassroots and entirely
nonprofit movement of people who are giving (and getting) stuff for free in
their own towns. It's all about reuse and keeping good stuff out of
- National Association of Trade
- NATE's purpose is to educate, inform and advise on the barter industry.
It has some members outside the US.
- With listings in over 70 countries, U-Exchange.com gives you the option
of bartering local or worldwide irrespective of whether your interest in
bartering is for business or pleasure.
- This service offers three different ways of trading; by cash, barter, or
a combination of the two.
- A free online platform and community where people can barter private services. It works with a virtual currency called *ME and has been in existence since 2005.
- A bartering system based in Berlin that uses a mutual credit currency to
- XO Limited
- XO Limited produces software for the barter, credit union and alternative
currency market world-wide. It offers a "pay anyone" facility, where members
of any barter exchange can send barter dollars to anyone who has a mobile
phone or email, even non-barter exchange members, thus making barter more
- Classified listings of goods and services on offer, with a search
- An Irish Barter Exchange system using a virtual currency
- The ITEX Retail Trade Exchange is the world's largest retail trade and
- Equity trades are among the services offered. The future value of startup
companies can be used as a 'currency' to make necessary purchases for
- Swap Thing
- A site catering for a wide range of users including collectors and
traders, parents, small business owners and nonprofit organizations.
- How to Barter
- A guide offering helpful suggestions and advice on how and why you should
barter. It deals mainly with reciprocal bartering.
The History and Relevance of Barter
Barter is often regarded as an old-fashioned means of exchange that was
superseded because money is far more efficient. After all, in a monetary system
an apple grower who needs shoes simply has to find a cobbler. In a pure barter
system the apple grower would have to find not just any cobbler but one who
happened to want apples at that time. Thus in virtually all civilizations,
except the Incas,
money came to play an important role.
However the inconvenience of barter was just one factor, and in most places
was probably not the most significant one, in the origin of
As Glyn Davies wrote, barter has, undeservedly,
been given a bad name in conventional economic writing, and its alleged
crudities have been much exaggerated. (Quoted from A History of money from
ancient times to the present day, new ed. Cardiff: University of Wales
Press, 2002. Page 10).
Barter and money are not necessarily completely incompatible. One of the
most important improvements over the simplest forms of early barter was first
the tendency to select one or two particular items in preference to others so
that the preferred barter items became partly accepted because of their
qualities in acting as media of exchange although, of course, they still could
be used for their primary purpose of directly satisfying the wants of the
traders concerned. (Quoted from History of Money
Barter still often plays an important role in trade with countries whose
currencies are not readily convertible, e.g. the communist countries during the
cold war. At the retail level barter has become the main means of exchange on
occasions when currencies have collapsed completely as a result of
hyperinflation, e.g. in Germany after the two world wars.
In normal circumstances retail barter is much less important but its
persistence has puzzled some economists. The magazine Exchange and Mart
devoted partly to barter has been published in Britain every Thursday since
1868. Jevons noticed it in its early years and was obviously puzzled that any
such publication, partly dependent on serving such a long obsolete purpose as
barter, should appear to have any use to anyone. We must assume,
concluded Jevons, ... that the printing press can bring about, in some
degree, the double coincidence necessary to an act of barter. (Quoted by
Glyn Davies in A History of Money,
If the printing press could, as Jevons acknowledged, make barter more
feasible then the computer can certainly do so even more effectively as
demonstrated by the links below. It is worth noting however, that some of these
computerised barter schemes do use units of account to facilitate comparison of
the values of the goods and services offered and therefore in such cases the
barter circles are using a form of money, albeit one with very restricted
It is also worth noting that the free exchange of information that the
Internet facilitates could also be regarded as a form of gift-exchange, a
version of barter. See my essay on Should Information Be
Free?, a version of which was published in the inaugural British edition of
For more information about the connection between barter and the invention
of money see the Origins of Money and Banking.
- BarterNews Magazine
- This magazine was founded in 1980 as a voice for the barter and
countertrading industries in the US.
- An article by John Durrant inspired by the work of the anthropolgist
David Graeber criticising the view that the invention of money was a response
to the limitations of barter.
Freecycle helps millions hit by the credit crunch
- The number of British users of Freecycle, a website that allows members
to trade goods and services, has more than doubled to 1.2 million in the past
year. Daily Telegraph, 6 July 2008.
and hopeless on the streets of Buenos Aires
- People resort to barter as they battle outbreak of 'Argentinitis'. The
Guardian, April 25, 2002.
- Karl Polanyi: some
- A critique, by Dr A. J. H. Latham, of Polanyi's writings which emphasise
reciprocity and down-play the role of money.
Barter and Economic Stabilisation
- An International Journal of Community Currency Research article by
- Economic Means
to Freedom - Part 5
- by Frederick Mann. Many so-called barter clubs are not pure barter
systems as they utilize their own forms of barter currency as media of
exchange. Mann says that his article is now largely of historical interest
because his proposals have been overtaken by the development of alternative
currencies such as e-gold.
The new global currency
- by Tim Phillips. Bartering is not only a great way for small businesses
to save cash, it can also generate new trade, especially overseas. The
Guardian, February 27, 2003.
- The Babe
Ruth of Barter
- An article about Chris Sweis who was the CEI of Ibart, a barter banking
firm that by 2006 had gone out of business. 27 May 2003. | <urn:uuid:b74c3b6c-d262-48fb-802c-e8d238459968> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://projects.exeter.ac.uk/RDavies/arian/barter.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368696381249/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516092621-00029-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.93181 | 1,912 | 1.523438 | 2 |
Cyber-crooks have now infiltrated the PC production line, according to a study from Microsoft.
Malware has been installed on machines in Chinese factories, says the software giant, including a virus called Nitol, which steals the bank details and personal information of infected users.
After winning permission from a US court to tackle the problem, Microsoft found four factory-new machines infected with the virus.
"We found malware capable of remotely turning on an infected computer's microphone and video camera, potentially giving a cybercriminal eyes and ears into a victim's home or business," said Microsoft lawyer Richard Boscovich.
Insecure supply chains
In a highly worrying revelation, Microsoft says the criminals "infiltrate insecure supply chains" to get the malware onto the PCs as they're being built.
The viruses were, according to the study, included within counterfeit software being added by some PC makers.
Microsoft is now going after what it believes to be the source of the Nitol malware and has been given control of the 3332.org, which claims to have no knowledge of illegal activity on its domain. | <urn:uuid:ea3c8382-1007-4dab-b108-4c278c9191d9> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.techradar.com/news/computing/pc/malware-added-to-pcs-on-production-line-says-microsoft-1097578 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368708766848/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516125246-00031-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.953849 | 226 | 1.789063 | 2 |
February 22, 2001
Choosing a School for Your Child
An effective school is able to demonstrate that it achieves its goals.
The good news about being a Jewish parent in Los Angeles is the number of choices you have for your child's Jewish education. There are over 150 schools affiliated with the Bureau of Jewish Education of Greater Los Angeles (BJE) representing all the denominations in our community. The bad news is that you have to choose from all those schools. Since each school offers something different, making the right choice can be overwhelming. What's a Jewish parent to do?
It is true that there are many important details to consider in choosing a school. However, there are also some basic principles that can clarify your choices, saving you time and energy. Here are some guidelines to help you think more clearly about choosing your child's school.
Look for the best available school, not the perfect school.
When I was a school principal, a mother came to visit me at my office. "I've visited 15 schools," she said, "and I haven't liked any of them." I told her, "You probably won't like this one either." It is important to remember that the perfect school exists only in our imagination. In reality, every school has areas of strength and weakness, and should always be striving to improve. This doesn't mean settling for second best; a school can be wonderful, terrific and outstanding, even if it is not perfect.
Look for an effective school, not a good school.
Every Jewish school in Los Angeles is "good" in the sense that it has an adequate facility, a competent faculty, a well-organized curriculum and cares about the students. However, it is more important to know whether or not the school is effective. An effective school is one that is able to demonstrate that it achieves its goals. Obviously, you would want to know what the primary goals of the school are and how the school organizes itself to help the students achieve them. One way to learn about the effectiveness of the school is to ask if the school is accredited by any agencies (BJE, the Western Association of Schools and Colleges, or the California Association of Independent Schools). School accreditation tells you that the school does what it says it does. It is a good check on "truth in advertising."
Look for a school that matches your Jewish perspective.
The first question to answer is which question are you asking: "Should I choose a Jewish versus a secular (public or private) school?" or "Which Jewish school is best for my child?" Either way, choosing a school is really a long-term commitment to a community. It is important to feel that you have a place in that community, and that you support the message the school is modeling. You should ask yourself if you can imagine becoming good friends with other families in the school. For example, ritual practice varies widely in our community's schools. If you do not practice any of the rituals that are promoted by the school, you may not feel at home in the school community. You don't want to be the only family that keeps kosher, or is Shabbat observant, or the only family that isn't. Choosing a school successfully means finding one that matches your beliefs, goals and practices. On the other hand, you also have to be honest about your willingness to learn and change. The school you select will have a great impact on your family's life. Are you willing to try new things? Are you willing to explore seriously the Jewish issues that will arise because you've chosen to give your child a Jewish education? Are you willing to be honest with your child (and the school) about some of your questions and uncertainties about the big questions in life?
Remember that a school is effective when the parents, teachers and administration all share a common religious (and educational) vision. The more disagreement there is between these groups, the less effective the school will be.
Look for an administration that will work with you.
We all hope that our children will experience only success. However, it is more realistic to assume that our children will run into some problems at some point in their school careers. Sometimes it is a social situation that becomes oppressive, such as feelings of getting picked on. However, it could also be something more serious, such as a trauma in the family (death or divorce) which affects your child's learning. It might be a motivational issue, such as a teacher who doesn't "click" with your child. It could be the discovery of a learning disability, which influences your child's academic achievement. When choosing a school, you should ask how the administration of the school will work with you, not if, but when there is a problem. What kind of support system is there in the school? What kind of access is there to the key decision makers? How does the school encourage families to communicate? Choose the school that has an administration that gives you the greatest sense of trust.
Look for a school that gives you the things that are most important to you.
In choosing a school, all things are not equal. How do you compare playground space with a computer lab? Is art more important than science? Is the hot-lunch program more important than the after-school electives? Only you know what is important to your family. Make a list of the things you would like to see in your child's school. Include as many details as you can. Once your list is complete, rewrite it. This time, put the items in order of priority to you. Keep in mind that issues like convenience of location and affordability should be included in this list. The school that is right for you is the one that gives you the most high-priority items on your list. This is really another way of recognizing that no school is perfect. If the school offers you the 10 most important things on your list, it won't bother you so much that it can't provide items 19 and 20 at the bottom of your list. Of course, this opens up the possibility of your working to improve the school by finding ways to get those items into the program too.
The three most important things you can do to begin choosing a school are: talk to your friends who have children in school, visit schools yourself and call the BJE at (323) 761-8605) for a copy of its newest publication, "Looking for a Jewish School: Handbook for Parents." | <urn:uuid:f5471d2a-a273-459f-828d-4d8d66482b25> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.jewishjournal.com/education/article/choosing_a_school_for_your_child_20010223 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368704713110/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516114513-00022-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.979002 | 1,320 | 1.796875 | 2 |
VAT On Energy Saving Materials
That this House notes the continued discrepancy between rates of VAT charged on energy conservation (17.5 per cent.) and on energy consumption (5 per cent.); believes that the Government's limited reduction on VAT on energy-saving materials purchased under certain promotional schemes, while welcome, does not address this wider distortion; notes that in September 1999 the French Government cut VAT on energy-saving materials from 20.6 per cent. to 5.5 per cent. and has not been challenged by other EU member states or by the European Commission; notes a similar reduction has been made in Italy from January 2000, again without challenge; believes that this demonstrates that the UK could extend the current limited VAT reduction to all installations of energy saving materials carried out by contractors and remain in line with EU law; and therefore urges the UK Government to do this at the earliest possible opportunity.
This motion has been signed by a total of 77 MPs, 1 of these signatures have been withdrawn.
Download raw data as csv or xml. | <urn:uuid:5344a805-424f-496e-89eb-56f7db11dd0a> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.edms.org.uk/1999-00/343.htm | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368708142388/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516124222-00033-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.95614 | 210 | 1.554688 | 2 |
What is the difference between turf and grass? Specifically the artificial type. And what is the proper word for the artificial type such as the one used on football fields/tennis courts? Are mixes of ...
The majority of the grass in my backyard has turned brown and/or died after what we believe was a chinch bug onslaught that went untreated for way too long. It is St. Augustine grass in South ... | <urn:uuid:d0f5bce1-65e2-4118-a10a-7a22b363c57e> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://gardening.stackexchange.com/questions/tagged/grass+turf | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368707435344/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516123035-00032-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.96911 | 84 | 1.539063 | 2 |
Sen. John Ensign said he supports President Bush's new immigration plan partly because Nevada's service-based economy would collapse without the cheaper, immigrant work force.
"We have somewhere between 9 million and 13 million illegal or undocumented workers - however you want to describe them - in the United States," Ensign, R-Nev., said during one a series of speeches this week at Nevada high schools.
"Without them, our economy collapses, especially the economy of the state of Nevada. We've got to have those people. A lot of them are doing jobs Americans flat out won't do," he said.
On a variety of other topics, Ensign said he:
- Favors ending all limits on campaign contributions as long as the giving is reported and the contributor identified.
- Supports a federal ban on gay marriages, but doubts it will pass Congress this year.
- Opposes legalization of marijuana because it is a "gateway drug" and could ultimately lead to the legalization of heroin.
- Encourages more young people to register to vote partly to help persuade "weak-kneed" politicians to stand up to the senior citizen lobby and change the Social Security system.
- Opposes the energy bill before the Senate because it is "laden with special interests."
Answering more than a dozen questions from about 100 students at Reed High School in Sparks on Monday, Ensign said Bush's proposed "guest worker" program for immigrants would solve many illegal immigration problems and benefit both the U.S. and Mexican economies.
Bush's proposal would allow illegal immigrants now in the country - as well as someone abroad - to apply for the right to work legally in the country for a three-year term that could be renewed. The employer would have to show no Americans wanted the job and the worker must return to his or her home country at the end of the term.
"It recognizes in reality we really can't close our border," Ensign said.
"It's too big. It's too long. We can't keep them out. It is impossible to do. We tried. We put a ton of money into it and we can't do it," he said.
Ensign doesn't expect the president's plan will pass Congress in this, an election year. But he said "eventually something like that will be the answer or will be part of it."
On campaign reform, Ensign said he initially backed stricter limits on contributions.
But "with money and politics, people figure out ways around the law," he said.
"What we should do is take any limits off giving, but make everything reportable. If you want to give $1 million to somebody, you give $1 million and they have to report it," he said.
He takes exception to critics who say "there is too much money in politics."
U.S. beer companies spend more on advertising in a year than all the federal, state and local political races combined, Ensign said.
"What is more important, trying to persuade people on what beer they drink or trying to persuade people on who to elect to office?" he asked students at Reed High.
Ensign said he recognizes the individual civil rights of gays but would support a constitutional amendment to define marriage as only between a man and a woman.
If two men can be married or two women, then "why not two men and one woman?" Ensign asked.
"Or three and one? ... What's the difference if it is between two women and a man if they are all consenting adults? Where do you stop the definition?"
He predicted such a ban won't pass because of divisions over the best way to outlaw the practice.
Legalizing marijuana "would be a huge mistake," Ensign said. He said alcohol abuse may carry a higher cost to society in the form of such things as drunken driving and spousal abuse.
But he said there is a difference because it's "socially acceptable in America to drink."
Also, "there's no question marijuana is a gateway drug" that leads to other drugs, Ensign said.
"With marijuana, if you make it legal, you make heroin legal. Why stop at marijuana? Other countries like Denmark and places like that have gone the experimental route. A few countries in Europe have done that. It has not been successful. It has been really bad," he said.
Ensign said one of the best reasons for young people to vote is to help bring about changes in the Social Security system, which won't survive in its current form to help them by the time they retire.
Without major reforms to turn it into more of a retirement system, the only options are to raise taxes to pay for the growing population of retirees or reduce benefits, he said.
"If you raise taxes, you get thrown out of office... If you cut benefits, senior citizens will definitely throw you out of office," Ensign said.
"Politicians are too weak-kneed. They don't have the backbone to stand up to senior citizens and say we are going to change. ... We need you to vote. It's important for you to get involved." | <urn:uuid:ba4c5a33-3c1b-475d-a8cd-24a75a29634f> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.kolotv.com/home/headlines/579812.html?site=full | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368702448584/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516110728-00032-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.977345 | 1,067 | 1.5625 | 2 |
Dwarves and Elves
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Hewing Naught but Wood: 1. Hewing Naught but Wood
This story/parody is dedicated to Marta, who gets full credit for the inspiration that spawned it (though I wonder if attributing such inanity to her is more insult than compliment). Nevertheless, it was one of her comments on my story "Smiting Ruin" that led me to push the Three Hunters into yet another rhetoric debate. Those of you familiar with online Tolkien forums and news groups may already see where this is headed based on the title alone, but for those of you still in the dark, I'll say this much: the Three Hunters are not alone in their debate of pointless issues. And I am just as culpable as the rest of them. Written in the same spirit as "Smiting Ruin" (which was inspired by Fadagaski, so inadvertant credit is awarded), I give you an extremely unlikely missing scene from the Battle of Helm's Deep, based on a bookverse comment made by Gimli. I hope you enjoy!
The postern-door slammed shut behind him with a resounding crash, and Eomer caught himself against a wall, still feeling the pain of grasping claws around his shoulders. Above the roar of blood pounding in his ears, he heard both Aragorn and Gimli shouting orders to the Westfold men, telling them to pile stones against the door and brace it further with strong timber. Outside, the screams of the Uruk-hai and the wild men of Dunland sounded harshly, their clamor ringing throughout Helm's Deep in a deafening tumult of noise, and listening to the savagery in their cries, Eomer shuddered at the memory of the Uruks who had nearly overcome him before the gates.
Feeling eyes upon him, Eomer looked up and met Aragorn's concerned gaze. The question in the other's face was clear, but Eomer gave him a quick nod of assurance to show that he was uninjured. Shaken, certainly, but he would right his mind soon enough, and as his counsel was not immediately required, he would take these next moments to collect himself. Aragorn nodded back in approval and turned his attention once more to Gimli and the Rohirrim. The dwarf had things well in hand, though, and the door was now secure behind a sturdy wall of rocks and beams. As the men cleared away, Gimli walked forward to make a closer inspection of the barricade, but he soon stepped back, his expression one of satisfaction.
Straightening, Eomer pushed off the wall and moved to join him, wishing to express gratitude to the one who had killed his attackers and made possible his escape. "I thank you, Gimli, son of Glóin," he said, extending his hand. "I did not know you were with us in the sortie. But oft the unbidden guest proves the best company. How came you there?"
Gimli clasped the offered hand with the strong grip of a warrior, yet his eyes twinkled as though with some untold jest. "I followed you to shake off sleep," he confessed with a smile. "But I looked on the hillmen and they seemed overlarge for me, so I sat beside a stone to see your sword-play."
Eomer shook his head and returned the smile. "I shall not find it easy to repay you."
At this, Gimli laughed. "There may be many a chance ere the night is over," he answered, shouldering his axe. Turning, he started for the stairs that would take them back to the Deeping Wall, where the sounds of arrows had ceased for a moment. "But I am content," the dwarf continued as Eomer fell into step beside him. "Till now I have hewn naught but wood since I left Moria."
Aragorn was walking a few yards ahead of them, his gaze intent upon the archers atop the ramparts, but at these words, the Ranger paused and glanced over his shoulder. "Do you forget the battle upon the slopes of Amon Hen?"
Gimli's eyes flashed. "I forget no battle, certainly not one in which a dear friend was lost."
"My apologies if I caused offense," Aragorn said quickly, for the dwarf's hands had tightened upon his axe, "but I thought to remind you that you had fought with foes more recently than Moria."
"So I have, but I stand firm in my claim that I have hewn naught but wood since then," Gimli answered. The anger in his voice faded, but in its place was now a curious note of stubbornness. Intrigued, Eomer decided to explore further.
"How can that be?" he asked as they reached the stairs. "Aragorn has told me briefly of the fight that took Boromir from us. Was your Fellowship so scattered that you and Aragorn both met with no Orcs?"
"I met and killed many Orcs upon Amon Hen," Gimli said, his tone indignant. "But none of them were hewn by my axe."
"Ah." Eomer nodded, feeling as though he understood. "You have another weapon, then?"
"Certainly. I have several small knives, all of which have proven very useful. But I did not use them in killing Orcs."
"If you are saying that you killed them with naught but your own hands, I will ask Legolas to vouch for your claim," Aragorn warned.
"Mahal save me from the foolishness of men," Gimli sighed. "I did not kill them with my hands. I killed them with my axe!"
Eomer exchanged a confused look with Aragorn. "But you said only moments ago that they were not killed by your axe."
"No, I said that they were not hewn by my axe."
Aragorn's face suddenly cleared. "Is this related to your words on the steps of Meduseld just ere we departed?"
"Yes. And in the end, the elf and I both agreed that I have hewn naught but wood since Moria."
"Ai Elbereth," Aragorn murmured, turning away. "Now I understand."
Keenly aware that he had just missed something and also aware that Gimli was being deliberately obstinate, Eomer directed his next question at Aragorn. "How is it that Gimli has killed Orcs on Amon Hen and yet has killed nothing since Moria?"
The Ranger shook his head as he came to the last stair and moved out onto the wall. "He and Legolas entertained a strange conversation yestereve regarding methods of killing. I was not privy to all of it and the little I did hear seemed the stuff of nonsense, but now I believe that I can make sense of their ramblings. They seem to think that Gimli has done more cutting than hewing."
Eomer blinked. "There is a difference?"
"Of course there is a difference," Gimli huffed. "And it is not cutting, Aragorn, but hacking. I have done more hacking than hewing."
Eomer felt his interest in the conversation immediately wane, but Aragorn—who had not spent the last few years playing mental games with Wormtongue—showed no sign of relenting. "Perhaps I am not as well-versed in the ways of the axe as I ought to be, but I see little difference in these words."
"Then I will educate you. Hacking involves severe and often random strikes. Hewing can sometimes include hacking, but hacking does not necessarily include hewing." Gimli's head suddenly turned and he lifted one hand in greeting. "Legolas! I have hewn my first foes since Moria!"
Further down the wall, Legolas looked up from inspecting his bowstring and smiled. "Then your journey was well spent," he called back, coming toward them. "Has this action roused your mind?"
"Indeed it has, but I fear I might be put to sleep again by these two sluggards. They do not seem to understand what it means for something to be hewn."
The elf feigned great surprise at this and turned a condescending eye upon both Aragorn and Eomer. Eomer felt his hackles rise in response, but Aragorn folded his arms and assumed a look of cool defiance. "Gimli has yet to sufficiently prove the claim that he has hewn naught but wood since Moria."
"It is quite simple," Legolas said. "Since Moria, Gimli has only been given opportunity to hack his opponents. Hacking is to strike severely and often randomly—"
"Yes, so I was told," Aragorn interrupted. "But I am not convinced that this is different from hewing."
Eomer was beginning to get the impression that neither Gimli nor Legolas would convince Aragorn of anything in this argument, but he was also getting the impression that it would not be for lack of trying. He wondered if the three would remember that there were also other things afoot. Such as a battle.
"Hewing involves cutting a shape of sorts," Gimli was saying. "And down before the gates, I had time enough to shape the Orcs to my liking."
Aragorn stared at him. "And you had time enough to do so in Moria?"
A strange and altogether disturbing light came into the dwarf's eyes, prompting Eomer to take a step back. "In the home of my fathers, my war was one of vengeance. I had as much time as was needed to hew my enemies as I saw fit."
An awkward silence fell during which the entire group seemed to shuffle away from Gimli. The silence was finally broken by Legolas, who was now keeping a watchful eye on his friend. "Be that as it may, it still remains that, since Moria, Gimli has been given little opportunity for calculated swings of the axe. When we hunted Orcs upon Amon Hen, our blows were made with crude efficiency rather than proper form."
Aragorn raised his brow. "You will pardon my ignorance, but I fail to see how lodging an axe blade in an opponent can result in anything other than that opponent being cut into a shape."
Eomer failed to see how prolonging a debate about the semantics of a killing blow could result in anything other than a headache, but he held his tongue. He did not want them turning upon him, and as long as he could remain removed from their debate, he could monitor the enemy that waited in the darkness below the wall.
"The difference lies in how you define the cutting of a shape," Legolas explained.
"We must define yet another aspect of your definition?"
Gimli nodded. "By cutting a shape, I am guiding my axe. The momentum carries it through, but there is direction and form to it."
The Ranger frowned. "'Direction and form'? Gimli, what manner of thoughts are in your mind when you strike a blow?"
Wondering the same thing himself, Eomer turned back to the debate.
"The same manner of thoughts that exist in your mind when Andúril strikes a blow. If you are given time and space enough, Aragorn, then there is strategy and cunning to your attacks. It is the same for me. And during such moments, I hew rather than hack."
Deciding that this was a fair answer, Eomer returned to watching the Uruks.
"But I cannot believe that you lacked strategy and cunning on Amon Hen," Aragorn pressed.
"You misunderstand," Legolas said. "There was indeed great strategy and cunning on Amon Hen, else we would not be here now. But it was hurried and desperate, for the Orcs were many and we were only two. Although…" the elf paused and glanced at Gimli. "The Uruk you slew by the water's edge took greater time than the others, and you were more careful in your blows when you fought with him. Is it possible that he was hewn?"
Gimli shook his head. "Nay, he was cloven rather than hewn."
Eomer blinked. "Cloven?" he asked, speaking ere he could stop himself. "It may be that my knowledge of Westron is insufficient, but is not cloven the word used to describes the hooves of goats and kine?"
"Yes," the dwarf answered, "but it is also the word used to describe something that has been split along the grain."
Legolas frowned and Aragorn pressed his lips together, considering the matter. For his part, Eomer was quite certain that he wished to be elsewhere, but he was hesitant about leaving these three unattended. Should the wild men decide to come over the wall, the attack might go unnoticed.
"Would not splitting something along the grain also be a form of hewing?" Aragorn said at length.
"You clearly do not understand what it means to hew," Gimli said, a hint of exasperation creeping into his voice. "If I cleave something with my axe, I cut it into an already existing shape. The grain has established the pattern and I but follow. If I hew something, I give it a shape that is all my own. Some of this new shape might follow the grain, but taken as a whole, the design is mine."
"I fear I must disagree," Legolas said slowly. "There is nothing in the definition of hewn to indicate that it must be a new shape. It simply must be a shape."
"And even if we accept your interpretation regarding shapes, to cut into an Orc creates a new shape regardless of where the grain lies," Aragorn added. "Living creatures do not run about with open wounds! Such things must needs be new by the very nature of the beast."
"Must they?" Gimli challenged. "Is it not in the nature of Orcs to run about with open wounds? The Uruks that tripped Eomer already bore numerous cuts, and they were not cuts made by our allies."
"That may be so, but it was not the choice of the Uruks to go about so injured."
"Does choice matter? Perhaps it is not my choice that men grow tall, yet tall they are, nonetheless. And thus it is with the Orcs. To employ your own words, it is the very nature of the beast."
"It is not the very nature of the beast! Rather, it is the very nature of other beasts that prompts Orcs to run about with open wounds. Their own nature would dictate otherwise."
"Béma give me strength," Eomer murmured to himself before noisily clearing his throat and peering over the parapet. "There is increased activity toward the outer edges of the Deeping Wall," he said loudly. "Perhaps we should seek to better organize ourselves in those areas and thus repel the attack ere it can begin."
Aragorn, Gimli, and Legolas gave Eomer three very knowing looks, but a modicum of common sense remained to them and Aragorn nodded his agreement. "Then let us go together, you and I, and so divide our resources." He gave the elf and dwarf a warning glance as though promising to return to this argument in the future, and then he started down the wall. Eomer followed quickly.
"So how many foes did you valiantly cut into a new shape?" he heard Legolas ask as he moved away.
"Two," Gimli said triumphantly.
"Two? I have done better, though now I must grope for spent arrows; all mine are gone. Yet I make my tale twenty at the least."
Despairing of ever understanding his strange companions, Eomer thanked whatever Vala might be listening that he moved out of earshot after that.
For the curious, the beginning dialogue and the ending dialogue comes from The Two Towers on page177 of the Ballantine 50th anniversary paperback edition. For the even more curious, I've drawn from the Old English definitions of the words "hew," "hack," and "cleave." And for the insanely curious, I've included specifics down below.
Hew – Old English: Heawan, meaning to cut or strike a specific shape or line.
Hack – Old English: Haccian, meaning to cut with sharp, irregular blows.
Cleave – Old English: Cleofan, meaning to cut along a natural line of separation.
Playlist Navigation Bar | <urn:uuid:775a9ce2-c484-4090-a92a-51ccbf97e7a0> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://henneth-annun.net/playlists/chapter_view.cfm?spordinal=1&sqid=109&sxid=507 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368703682988/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516112802-00011-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.986523 | 3,506 | 1.578125 | 2 |
I am an adult with type 1 diabetes and will be traveling alone by plane at the end of the summer. I have an insulin pump, needles and syringes, and other supplies. Do I have to have a physician’s note with me when I go through airport security? And can I go through the metal detectors with my insulin pump on?
Travel and diabetes—that’s one thing I know a lot about. I am the mother of a 19-year-old girl who has had type 1 diabetes for 14 years. We are big-time travelers and over the years we have been to places near and far, warm and cold. In my experience, the airport is no big deal. As to your first question, it’s a good idea to get a letter from your physician or endocrinologist. That said, my daughter and I have never once been asked to show a letter. The people who work for the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) are pretty in tune with the issues of traveling with diabetes. And your pump will be just fine. You can definitely leave it on, or take it off if you want to. I have found that the chances of getting a “pat-down” are the same for someone wearing a pump as for anyone without diabetes—sometimes you cruise through security, sometimes you get the extra check. If you do get the extra check, just remind the security agent that you’re wearing an insulin pump.
All your other type 1 diabetes supplies should be no problem as well. In fact, the TSA website has a comprehensive list of medical supplies for so-called “hidden disabilities” that are allowed to pass freely through airport security, including a special section for diabetes supplies:
- Insulin and insulin-loaded dispensing products (vials or box of individual vials, jet injectors, biojectors, epipens, infusers, and preloaded syringes)
- Unlimited number of unused syringes when accompanied by insulin or other injectable medication
- Lancets, blood glucose meters, blood glucose meter test strips, alcohol swabs, meter-testing solutions
- Insulin pump and insulin pump supplies (cleaning agents, batteries, plastic tubing, infusion kit, catheter, and needle). Insulin pumps and supplies must be accompanied by insulin.
- Glucagon emergency kit
- Urine ketone test strips
- Unlimited number of used syringes when transported in a sharps disposal container or other similar hard-surface container
- Sharps disposal containers or similar hard-surface disposal containers for storing used syringes and test strips
Like all other medications, insulin must be clearly labeled.
Do be sure to carry on all your supplies, instead of checking them. Bags get lost all the time and flights get postponed (with your luggage in the plane’s cargo hold). You don’t want to get stranded without something. Also, bring on board juice or whatever you use to treat blood sugar lows as well as some other food. Don’t forget, you can get delayed on the runway, too, and you can no longer count on an airline having food or beverages on the plane. I always just bring too much and we never need it, but that’s better than the other way around!
For in-depth information on how to plan for these and many other common contingencies while traveling, read “Traveling with Diabetes,” in the June issue of Countdown. | <urn:uuid:e9c7a132-b692-49cd-ba7d-1dc2f49b1c21> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://jdrf.org/blog/2011/friendly-skies-getting-your-diabetes-supplies-through-airport-security/ | 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 | 0.934685 | 723 | 1.59375 | 2 |
ANNAPOLIS, Md. (CBSDC/AP) — The Maryland House of Delegates is scheduled to take up a measure to repeal the death penalty.
Delegates are scheduled to consider proposed amendments to the bill on Wednesday. A final vote is expected later this week.
The bill cleared a key hurdle earlier this month when the Senate approved the measure, which has the support of Gov. Martin O’Malley.
If passed, Maryland would become the 18th state to ban the death penalty.
Maryland’s death penalty has been on hold since a 2006 court ruling that the state’s lethal injection protocols weren’t properly approved by a legislative committee.
Maryland has five men on death row. The state’s last execution took place in 2005, during the administration of Republican Gov. Robert Ehrlich.
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(TM and Copyright 2013 CBS Radio Inc. and its relevant subsidiaries. CBS RADIO and EYE Logo TM and Copyright 2013 CBS Broadcasting Inc. Used under license. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to this report.) | <urn:uuid:344b3fa9-7d2e-406c-9482-1d480e108ed0> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://washington.cbslocal.com/2013/03/13/final-vote-expected-this-week-on-repeal-of-death-penalty-in-md/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368704713110/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516114513-00020-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.938784 | 242 | 1.554688 | 2 |
House Peters as The Man and Beatriz Michelena as the title character in the California Motion Picture Corporation (CMPC) production of Salomy Jane, 1914. This shot is from the final scene, filmed at Lake Lagunitas in Marin County. The peak of Mount Tamalpais is visible in the distance. Based on a story by Bret Harte and adapted for the screen by Paul Armstrong, Salomy Jane stars Beatriz Michelena as the title character in this California Gold Rush era melodrama. It premiered in 1914 at the St. Francis Hotel in San Francisco and was the first feature-length production by the CMPC. Exterior shots were filmed in Marin County and the Russian River area of Sonoma County. The CMPC was located in the Sun Valley neighborhood of San Rafael, Marin County, between 1914 and 1921. The studio produced 15 films, including Salomy Jane, which survives in its entirety in the Library of Congress archives. | <urn:uuid:05f60e4a-ca24-4d0d-839f-e3556769e03a> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://whataboutbobbed.tumblr.com/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368703298047/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516112138-00038-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.960878 | 192 | 1.835938 | 2 |
A 14-year-old Pakistani girl who had faced life in prison for allegedly burning the Quran will have her case heard in juvenile court, the girl's lawyer told CNN.
A local court ordered the transfer on Monday, Tahir Naveed Choudhry said.
Pakistani police told CNN their investigation concluded Rimsha Masih is innocent and was framed by an imam.
"There was no legal evidence against Rimsha," officer Munir Jafri told CNN.
These developments could mark an end to the Christian teen's nightmare since she was accused of blasphemy in August.
"This is a precursor to the case ending, and that is quite unprecedented in the 25-year history of Pakistan's blasphemy laws," said Ali Dayan Hasan, the Pakistan director of Human Rights Watch.
Police have submitted the findings to the court. Pakistan courts usually go with what police recommend.
There is a lot of evidence implicating imam Khalid Jadoon Chishti for framing the teenager and for himself tearing pages out of the holy book, Jafri told CNN.
This is significant, said Human Rights Watch's Hasan, because "never before has a false accuser been held accountable."
The teen's case sparked international outcry against the Pakistani government, some saying the blasphemy laws are used to settle scores and persecute religious minorities.
Blasphemy laws have been a part of life in Pakistan for 25 years, first instituted primarily to keep peace between religions, Hasan said.
But a military leader in Pakistan in the middle 1980s tightened the laws, introducing amendments that "essentially made blasphemy a capital offense," Hasan said.
"They were vaguely worded ... and became an instrument of coercion and persecution," he said. "The laws were disproportionately used against the weakest and most vulnerable in society -- religious minorities, women, children and the poor."
There have been 1,400 blasphemy cases since 1986, according to Hasan. There are more than 15 cases of people on death row for blasphemy in Pakistan, and 52 have been killed while facing trial for the charge, Hasan said.
Rimsha was arrested on Aug. 16.
She and her family spoke to CNN in early September from an undisclosed location, in hiding after Rimsha was released on bail -- a move that appeared to be in reaction to the global condemnation of her jailing.
The teen said she was happy to be with her family, but feared for her life.
"I'm scared," she said by phone. "I'm afraid of anyone who might kill us."
The teen spoke in short sentences, answering "yes" or "no" in a shy and nervous voice.
In Pakistan, people accused of blasphemy are often attacked and sometimes killed by vigilantes.
During CNN's interview with her, Rimsha said, "No, no," when asked if she burned pages of the Quran.
She wouldn't answer questions about what happened on Aug. 16.
Pakistani investigators said Rimsha's neighbor accused her of burning pages of the Quran to use as cooking fuel. The neighbor began to shout in protest, drawing a crowd that grew angry. Some neighbors said the teenager was beaten. Others said she ran back home and locked herself inside. When police arrived, they arrested her.
Rimsha's lawyers said the neighbor wanted to settle a personal score with the girl because the two didn't get along. They said it's likely that he liked the teen and she didn't feel the same.
While the latest turn in her case this week appears largely positive, her ordeal is far from over. | <urn:uuid:235d89f2-ce9a-4ce1-8f64-bbd423d1cfea> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.kesq.com/news/Police-say-teen-innocent-of-blasphemy/-/233092/16717460/-/15639y8z/-/index.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368708142388/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516124222-00017-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.981356 | 734 | 1.804688 | 2 |
A new Toledo Public Schools program is helping students who fall behind catch up, and eventually graduate.
The program allows students to make up credits during the school year or summer online through a program called Plato Academy. District leaders say it will help students who would not otherwise graduate to get a diploma.
"You're going to have some students who fall behind academically, and we want to provide every opportunity for them to be successful," said TPS Assistant Superintendent Brian Murphy.
The program started last year with 337 students, and has only become more popular since then. More than 400 students enrolled during the summer, and 425 joined this year.
"We knew we were going to have students interested in the program. What was surprising was our summer school program. In previous years, we really struggled with getting students to come to summer school," said Murphy.
Students are happy about the program as well.
"I'm kind of happy because I get to go to college and be the first one in my family actually to graduate high school," said Timothy Nicholson, who participated in the program.
Copyright 2012 Toledo News Now. All rights reserved. | <urn:uuid:23c64d51-c8fd-4353-bee2-04f719ca90f3> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.toledonewsnow.com/story/20199993/www.toledonewsnow.com | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368698207393/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516095647-00039-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.983892 | 231 | 1.75 | 2 |
If you are working on the New York Times crossword in any other publication, you are working on the syndicated puzzle. Here is a link to my answers to today's SYNDICATED New York Times crossword. To find any solution other than today's, enter the crossword number (e.g. 1225, 0107) in the "Search the Blog" box above.
This is my solution to the crossword published in the New York Times today ...
COMPLETION TIME: 6m 01s
THEME: KIND OF BLUE ... The theme answers all start with a shade of blue e.g. POWDER room,SKY diving, .. BABY One More Time etc.
ANSWERS I MISSED: 0
1. Biblical strongman : SAMSON
The name Samson is Arabic for "of the sun", possibly meaning that Samson was radiant and mighty.
10. Anti-D.U.I. org. : MADD
Candice Lightner lost her 13-year-old to a drink driver in 1980. Soon after, she formed the group Mothers Against Drunk Driving.
16. Skin care brand : OLAY
Oil of Olay was developed in South Africa in 1949. When it was introduced internationally, it was given slightly different brand names designed to appeal in the different geographies. In Ireland we know it as Oil of Ulay, for example, and in France it is Oil of Olaz.
19. Rock legend Hendrix : JIMI
Many of his contemporaries regarded Jimi Hendrix as the greatest electrical guitarist in the history of rock music. Hendrix was from Seattle, and had a less than stellar start to his working life. He didn't finish high school, and fell foul of the law by getting caught in stolen cars, twice. The courts gave him the option of the army or two years in prison. Hendrix chose the former, and soon found himself in the famous 101st Airborne. In the army, his less than disciplined ways helped him (as he would have seen it) because his superiors successfully petitioned to get him discharged after serving only one year of his two-year requirement, just to get him out of their hair.
21. French-speaking African nation : GABON
Gabon lies on the west coast of Central Africa. Since it became independent from France in 1960, it has become one of the most prosperous countries on the continent, making use of the abundant natural resources and willing foreign investment.
25. "Unforgettable" duettist Cole : NATALIE
Natalie Cole is of course the daughter of Nat King Cole. Her mother was Maria Cole, a singer with the Duke Ellington Orchestra. The most famous version of the hit song "Unforgettable" was released in 1951 by Nat King Cole. In 1991, Natalie Cole recorded a version that was mixed with an earlier 1961 version sung by her father, creating an "unforgettable" father-daughter duet, 26 years after Nat King Cole had passed away.
31. Caen's river : ORNE
Caen, on the River Orne, lies in the Calvados department of France, in the northwest of the country. Caen is famous for the WWII Battle of Caen that left the town practically destroyed,. Caen is also the burial place of William the Conqueror, who had been William I, King of England, from soon after the Battle of Hastings in 1066, until his death in 1087.
37. Britney Spears's debut hit : ... BABY ONE MORE TIME
The title track of Britney Spears's debut album "... Baby One More Time" reached number one in the US charts in 1999. It took her ten years to get another number one. I really don't care though ...
40. Early Beatle Sutcliffe : STU
Stu Sutcliffe was one of the original four members of the Silver Beatles, along with Lennon, McCartney and Harrison. Sutcliffe apparently came up with name "Beatles" along with John Lennon, as a homage to their hero Buddy Holly who was backed by the "Crickets". By all reports, Sutcliffe wasn't a very talented musician, and was more interested in painting. He went with the group to Hamburg, more than once, but he eventually left the Beatles and went back to art school, actually studying for a while at the Hamburg College of Art. In 1962, in Hamburg, he collapsed with blinding headaches. He died in the ambulance on the way to hospital, his death attributed to cerebral paralysis.
43. Hatcher with a Golden Globe : TERI
Teri Hatcher's most famous role these days is as Susan Meyer in "Desperate Housewives". I've never seen more than a few minutes of that show, so I know Teri Hatcher as a Bond girl, in "Tomorrow Never Dies".
45. Elite military group : NAVY SEALS
SEAL is an acronym, used by the US Navy's SEa, Air and Land teams. The SEALs were born out of the Navy's special warfare groups from WWII, like the Underwater Demolition Teams and the Motor Torpedo Boat Squadrons. The Navy SEAL unit was established soon after President Kennedy's speech in which he announced the plan to put a man on the moon, as in the same speech the president allocated $100m of funding to strengthen special operations forces. The Navy used some of this money to set up guerrilla and counter-guerrilla units, which soon became the SEALs.
50. Treatment with carbon dioxide : AERATION
I think that aeration can in fact mean bubbling carbon dioxide through a liquid, although I would tend to call it carbonation. And normally I would regard aeration as the process of bubbling air through a liquid, or maybe soil.
58. Classic Miles Davis album ... or a hint to the start of 17-, 22-, 37- or 45-Across : KIND OF BLUE
"Kind of Blue" was released by Miles Davis in 1959, destined to become his best selling album, and the best selling jazz album of all time.
60. "___ Almighty" (Steve Carell movie) : EVAN
Steve Carell's "Evan Almighty" was actually a sequel, to Jim Carrey's "Bruce Almighty". "Even Almighty" is a cute enough film, with the lead character mutating into a Noah character, who goes as far as building an ark in his front yard.
1. Nurses, at the bar : SIPS
There's another of my favorite type of clue, with ambiguous use of words ...
3. Whimper like a baby : MEWL
To mewl is to cry weakly, like a baby, with the word being somewhat imitative.
4. One-named Nigerian songstress : SADE
Sade's real name is Helen Folasade Adu. Although she was born in Nigeria, she grew up and lives in the UK. She was the lead vocalist for the English group Sade, and adopted the name of the band.
5. Paul Bunyan's Babe and others : OXEN
The mythological Paul Bunyan had a sidekick called Babe the Blue Ox. Both Bunyan and Babe were gigantic in size.
7. Hybrid utensil : SPORK
Spork is the more common name for the utensil that is a hybrid between a spoon and a fork. It is less commonly referred to as a "foon".
10. Desert with Joshua trees : MOJAVE
The Mojave Desert in the southwest is named after the Native American Mohave tribe. Famous locations within the boundaries of the desert, are Death Valley, Las Vegas, Nevada and the ghost town of Calico, California.
12. Friend of Pythias : DAMON
Damon and Pythias were two loyal friends in Greek mythology. Pythias was sentenced to death, and released to settle his affairs after Damon agreed to take his place and assume the death sentence should his friend not return. After a lot of misadventures, the devoted friendship exhibited between the two convinced the magistrates to commute the sentence.
21. Root used in some energy drinks : GINSENG
The word ginseng comes from a Chinese term meaning "man root". The term is used as the root of ginseng is forked and resembles the legs of a man.
23. Start of a pirate's chant : YO-HO
The fictional sea shanty called "Dead Man's Chest" was introduced in Robert Louis Stevenson's great novel, "Treasure Island". In the book, Stevenson only describes the chorus, which goes:
"Fifteen men on the dead man's chest--
...Yo-ho-ho, and a bottle of rum!
Drink and the devil had done for the rest--
...Yo-ho-ho, and a bottle of rum!"
27. Forbidden-sounding perfume : TABU
Tabu was a whole line of cosmetics and perfumes produced by the House of Dana. The company's brand names were purchased by a Florida company called Dana Classic Fragrances in 1999.
28. Prince ___ Khan : ALY
Aly Khan was the familiar name used by the media when referring to Prince Ali Solomone Aga Khan, the Pakistani ambassador to the UN from 1958 to 1960. He was also the third husband of actress Rita Hayworth.
33. Subj. of a U.N. inspection, maybe : WMD
Last week I saw the new Matt Damon film "Green Zone". It's a fictional tale (I think!) that goes into the whole subject of WMDs (Weapons of Mass Destruction) in Iraq. It's a great, contemporary, action, war movie.
34. In ___ (as placed) : SITU
In situ is a Latin phrase meaning "in the place".
35. "Peter Pan" pirate : SMEE
In J. M. Barrie's play and novel about Peter Pan, Smee is one of Captain Hook's pirates, and his right-hand man. He is described by Barrie as Being "Irish" and "a man who stabbed without offence". Nice guy!
36. Loch ___ monster : NESS
The Loch Ness monster has been talked about for centuries, but modern interest started in 1933 when a spate of sightings that year were reported. They don't seem to have stopped since, with photographs really sparking the imagination.
38. Director Kazan : ELIA
Elia Kazan won Oscars for best director in 1948 for "Gentleman's Agreement" and in 1955 for "On The Waterfront". In 1999, he was given an Academy Lifetime Achievement Award.
44. ___ car dealer : USED
You don't see used car dealerships anymore, just places where you can buy a "pre-owned vehicle".
46. Tylenol alternative : ALEVE
Aleve is a anti-inflammatory drug, Naproxen sodium. Tylenol is pain relieving drug, with the active ingredient acetominophen (which we call paracetamol back in Ireland, and outside of America).
47. Lacking meat, eggs, dairy, etc. : VEGAN
54. Netman Nastase : ILIE
I thought that Ilie Nastase was the most entertaining tennis player of the 70s, the days of Jimmy Connors, Bjorn Borg and John McEnroe.
56. Digs of twigs : NEST
Nicely worded clue ...
58. Spectra automaker : KIA
The Spectra was a top seller compact for Kia from 2000-2008. It was replaced in 2009 by the Kia Forte. | <urn:uuid:065ae83a-4b88-4ca8-8e0c-37f7240d8d70> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.nytcrossword.com/2010/04/0413-10-new-york-times-crossword.html | 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 | 0.96476 | 2,441 | 1.648438 | 2 |
Apropos The Rs 28 Diet Plan (Apr 2), juxtapose the “Statement of Revenue Foregone” with “scarce resources” for a universal pds and rural employment to get an idea of where the government’s sympathies lie.
G. David Milton, Maruthancode
Bringing the poverty line below the people is cheaper than lifting millions above it. And Montek can do the former from his A-C office.
K. Suresh, Bangalore
The Rs 28 poverty line is the equivalent of Marie Antoinette’s ‘let them have cake’.
Tejinder Brar, St Louis, US
It’d be interesting to see how burly Montek Singh Ahluwalia would fare on this diet plan.
Montek's Formula : Bringing poverty line below the people is cheaper than lifting millions above poverty line. The former can be done sitting in an A/C office in Delhi.
Good one. We should find out how the burly Montek Singh Ahluwalia would survive on this diet plan. Being an educated man of so much experience at the highest levels, he should have had some sense to arrive at such figures.
As the French revolution was defined by 'Let them eat cake', the Indian one will be defined by the 'poverty level of Rs 28'
this is MMS Govt's plan to reduce expenditure for obesity. If you consume 677cal/ day you will have an anoerexic figure and you can then beome a professional model. That will make you earn money which will alow you to buy a healthy meal!
This is plain and simple economics of stalwarts like Dr MMS, PC, Montek S A, Pranab da and similar wizards.
Why is the author so upset that poverty levels have come down?
Sort of like the work "A Black Like Me". Could it prick us as to really how inhuman and dehumanizing our poverty is - and look for a solution beyond charity? Honestly, the number should become the focal point - the number simply symbolises how terrible the situation really is and how urgent the need for action beyond charity.
I share many experiences of the author of this article. Apparently, our politicians are more interested in knowing a ‘correct’ definition of poverty rather than implementing economic programmes which would improve the economic status conditions of the poor. It is a bitter fact is that poverty breeds crime, corruption and more poverty. In such a situation implementing programmes which provide (1) a minimum income to BPL families, (2) provide health care at an affordable cost and (3) ensure that every child goes to school are the main challenges before our planners. But unfortunately our politicians do not wish to face these challenges head on, and instead, they are content with having a ‘healthy’ debate on ‘poverty definitions’. It is indeed a very sad scenario.
Solution lies in corruption-free implementation of rural employment generation programmes, revamping our public distribution system, better utilization of the existing strength of trained teachers and health care staff employed in the government run hospitals and the ‘Primary Health Centres, considerably improving public transport facilities and so on. Public private partnership has also been often been advocated in many economic programmes, which we need to try. Citizens must unite to demand implementation of all these measures to save our society from futile debates.
A powerful article! It is a shame that ever after all our so called "development" for 60 years (I am not maoist but simply don't buy our corrupt government's claims anymore) we are talking about issues like hunger, calories and nutrition!!! Why can't the government simply legislate a new "right to food" law for 100% of Indian population and distribute essentials via nation wide public-distribution systems(may be run on a private/public partnership model)? Ofcourse this will not happen since there will be no scope for corruption- I am sure 20 years later we will still be talking about poverty and nutrition.
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The blog saw a lot of interests in our post about green PET bottle in March. Fortunately, we seem to have several recent news connecting to renewable-based PET again so let's analyze some of them here:
The one big news that we have is Virent's announcement that it was able to produce sugar-based paraxylene (PX) at one of its pilot facility in Madison,Wisconsin. For a 100% bio-PET manufacture, here is a crude flowchart that I made (UPDATED VERSION as of 6/17 thanks to Jim Lunt) on potential bio-based chemicals suppliers within the chain. Of course, there are several other companies out there that are probably developing similar technologies but these are the ones in my radar so far.
(Yes...I've been experimenting with some blogging tools lately as you can see, thanks to ICIS colleague Andy Brice...)
VIRENT ENTERS BIO-CHEM MARKET
As previously mentioned, I was able to talk to both CEO Lee Edwards and commercial manager Kieran Furlong (who is a former Solazyme employee, according to him) about their sugar-based PX trademarked BioFormPX. The company started working on mixed xylenes development last year and said that it has now successfully produce drop-in bio-PX in pilot scale at its facility in Madison.
As you see in the chart, paraxylene is a direct precursor to terephthalic acid (PTA) production, which accounts for 70% of polyethylene terephthalate's (PET) monomer component. The other 30% is composed of monoethylene glycol (MEG), where renewable-based alternatives are already available although I am not actually sure who are producers in this area aside from India Glycols and Greencol Taiwan (a new player in this space).
For more information on MEG especially current global supply/demand for petroleum-based MEG, ICIS Chemical Business actually just published an article about it this week (it's free access!).
Back to Virent, the company is now talking to a number of companies across the PET supply chain from petroleum refiners to branded consumer goods companies for possible partnership and collaboration.
"We are currently in negotiations and putting together a development plan to continue optimizing BioFormPX production with partners," said Kieran Furlong, Virent's commercial manager for chemicals. "We will be partner-dependent to produce pilot scale quantities of PX that will ultimately go into demo quantities of PET bottle resin to make the demo bottles. This will most probably be done on our 10,000 gal/year demo plant in Madison."Demo campaigns for 100% bio-PET using their PX could start late this year or early 2012. Demo capacity for their PX, according to Furlong, will depend on how much their partners would want to demonstrate.
Virent intends to have a commercial scale plant commissioned by the end of 2014, location and capacity depending on the partners that they will work with, the amount of PX quantities they will demand, and the feedstock of choice - where location, quantity, availability and economics of their sugar feedstock will greatly determine the scale and location of the commercial plant that they will build.
"If they are just looking to produce sufficient resins to do test runs on PET bottles and show that 100% bio-PET is feasible, that could run in tens of kilograms range, which we can do in our facility. If partners would want to go to pre-commercial launch of products, we're talking tens of thousands to hundreds of thousands of bottles translating to a couple of tons of bio-PX materials. We can also do that in our demo facility plus some additional infrastructure that we would have to put in place." - Furlong.
The company is currently using sugarbeet for their feedstock in Madison mostly because of location and availability although Furlong said they can use any kind of sugar feedstock even cellulosic from wood and corn stover.
Furlong noted that they could be looking at bio-PX capacity at typical range of around 100,000 tonnes/year to as high as 300,000 tonnes/year. Virent is also planning a 20m gal/year (or more) biogasoline commercial production by 2014, where which their bio-PX production will be co-located.
CEO Edwards said they are looking at existing plants and facilities (such as corn wet mill, sugarcane mill or petrochemical plant) where they can integrate their commercial process from a capital efficiency standpoint.
"The fact that we are making the same molecule from renewable feedstock, it means we can use the same logistics, same storage, same pipelines, same distribution without having to keep re-investing in transportation just to get products to market." - Edwards
In terms of other bio-PX developers, the blog only knows Anellotech in this space although we did mention before that bio-PX can also be produced from dehydration of renewable-based isobutanol (producers include Gevo and Global Bioenergies) as well as synthesis from limonenes, and synthesis from muconic acid (producer in this space include Draths). Muconic acid can serve as direct synthetic intermediates for bio-PTA production via inverse electron demand Diels-Alder reaction with acetylene.
GEVO TO START ISOBUTANOL PRODUCTION
Gevo announced in May 31 that it has begun retrofitting its ethanol facility in Luverne, Minnesota, for 18m gal/year bio-based isobutanol production, which is expected to start in the first half of 2012.
Linked-in discussions are pointing out the possibility of Gevo being involved in bio-PX production via its isobutanol. Another blog reader asked who are the current isobutanol producers looking at the chemical space (since a lot of biobutanol companies seem to be more interested in the biofuel arena). I tried to investigate and just came up with France-based Global Bioenergies.
DuPont, through its Butamax joint venture, is also in the verge of commercializing their bio-isobutanol but Butamax seems to be more interested in biofuel applications from what I've heard. I could be wrong on this. In my last interview with Butamax in September last year, the company said it plans to enter commercial scale in the US by early 2013.
Swiss company Butalco is another bio-isobutanol producer but the company is also expected to focus on the biofuels field.
AVANTIUM RAISES EUR30m FOR PILOT PLANT
The Netherlands-based Avantium announced in June 9 that it was able to raise EUR25m from new investors Sofinnova Partners, Aster Capital and De Hoge Dennen as well as from existing investors Aescap Venture, Capricorn Cleantech Fund, ING Corporate Investments and Navitas Capital.
The company also secured EUR5m subsidy and innovation credit from the Dutch Ministry of Economy, Agriculture and Innovation (EL&I).
The funding, according to Avantium, will help construct and operate the company's 40 ton/year second pilot plant in Geleen, the Netherlands, for production of its platform chemical 2,5-furandicarboxylic acid (FDCA) which will be marketed under the brand name YXY (pronounced ~ ixy).
The blog mentioned in the previous bioplastic bottle post that FDCA monomer can be used to produce Avantium's polyester PEF (poly-ethylene-furanoate), which can be an alternative to PTA. Avantium said their PEF has already demonstrated superior properties such as barrier properties and ability to withstand heat.
ICIS colleague Mark Victory recently wrote an article on ICIS News (subscription only) about Coca-Cola predicting the commercial possibility of 100% bio-based PET bottle by 2020. Coca-Cola's director of sustainable packaging Cees Van Dongen presented at the 12th CEE PET and Balkans Markets in Krakow, Poland on May 31.
The blog hopes to hear more updates on bio-PET with the upcoming Bioplastek conference to be held on June 27-29 in New York City. Unfortunately, my travel schedule will not permit me to attend but I am hoping for some reviews -- and maybe a couple of presentations to access ;-) -- from the organizer itself. | <urn:uuid:ac56a323-cfee-42e2-a0fa-5abc37992f02> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.icis.com/blogs/green-chemicals/2011/06/bioplastic-bottle-update-viren.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368703298047/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516112138-00021-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.956839 | 1,776 | 1.570313 | 2 |
The difficulties of tackling the problem with routine patrols is obvious so since 2001 Durham Police motorcycle section has taken a pro-active approach to solving this problem by patrolling on off road motorcycles.
The current fleet are Honda CRF 450’s which have been specifically designed to cater for the demanding conditions they are required to patrol on a regular basis.
In addition they must pass a demanding annual off road assessment, which is designed to ensure they are fully prepared to deal with the off road hazards they will come across whilst out patrolling.
Over the course of close to 6,000 hours of patrols across the force area they have issued 1,250 warning notices which are used as an initial warning to advise riders of the law in relation to the use of off road bikes and quads.
Many riders believe they are doing nothing wrong and are riding in areas they believed they had permission to be on or they are on land that is locally known as “waste” land.
In reality however there is no such thing as waste land if riders are using land then they need permission form the land owner. Advice is given to the riders about where they can ride and what permission they require from landowners before using it.
Educating riders first and foremost has always been the preferred option of the Motorcycle Section and the majority of riders are receptive and welcome the advice given.
To read about our 'Day Out With The TRF' please - click here
For further off road advice please click here
Despite the advice and warnings however some riders simply won’t take a warning and have to be dealt with more severely; as a consequence there have been 128 seizure notices handed out to riders who have chosen to ignore the advice given.
On these occasions the rider’s bike are seized and a payment must then be made to the recovery operator for the return of their machine. If no payment is received then the bikes are crushed.
If other offences are being committed, such as riding on the road with no insurance or riding otherwise than in accordance with a driving licence then the officers will also deal with them by way of fixed penalty tickets, reporting the riders for the offences.
In addition many of these machines are not maintained and are in a dangerous mechanical condition making them potential death traps whilst others have a dubious past; in which case these are seized as suspect stolen.
WORKING TOGETHER WITH LOCAL COMMUNITIES
By working with our local residents and communities we have been able to target our off road patrols to areas where residents have most concerns regarding illegal off road motorcycles or quads reflected in either the number of calls to the police or through concerns raised at local PACT meetings.
By working in this way and using the information provided we have been able to reassure communities about what we can deliver challenging offending behaviour and making a real difference to the quality of lives of those affected. In particular residents of Evenwood and Thornley recently benefitted from PACT priorities where nuisance / off road motorcycles were becoming a menace in their neighbourhoods.
In partnership with the local Neighbourhood Police Teams we were able to target the areas in question and reassure the communities that their concerns were being dealt with in an appropriate manner.
The graph below shows the total hours patrolled, 1st warnings issued and bikes seized during 2001 and November 2010.
WORKING TOGETHER WITH RIDERS
We understand that teenagers flying around on a housing estate are not in the same category as a rider practising trail or trials riding in local woodland.
The difficulty is however that the law makes no differentiation between the two scenarios both can be interpreted as anti social whether it is the associated noise experienced by residents or the damage to footpaths and local eco systems that the machines cause. Many areas of seemingly innocuous woodland are protected and classed as Sites of Special Scientific Interest whilst many of the beaches which seem to be an ideal venue are also protected. Fells to the west of the county whilst presenting themselves as a wide open space are often either protected or are used to raise game birds.
The fact is that it is a very real source of income for the local communities and gamekeepers and locals alike are keen to report illegal off road riders.
There are however a number of legal routes across the county known as Byways that are open to motorised off road use which can generally be identified on an Ordnance Survey map. In addition the Trail Riders Fellowship (TRF) is an active organisation lobbying for riders rights to ride off road often monitoring routes that should be open and they are keen to promote responsible off road riding for all often organising regular off road trail rides.
Please remember to ride lawfully and always show respect to others by riding in the correct places not causing damage to the wildlife or the environment.
In addition in response to a surge in calls complaining about mini bikes and recognising that youngsters were extremely limited in terms of venues and opportunities to ride we established the BikeWise Mini Bike Club in January 2007.
The club has become a well established and flourishing entity in its own right offering a genuine legal option for youngsters to enjoy their machines using a range of venues across the area.
For further information on the Min Bike Club go to the mini bike section of the website. | <urn:uuid:f1542d46-4967-46b9-a5f3-d45f17823aed> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.bikewise.org.uk/about/offroad.php | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368701852492/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516105732-00025-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.971345 | 1,065 | 1.78125 | 2 |
Writing & Selling the Mystery Series
There are a lot of things that go into writing and selling a mystery series. Choosing the type of mystery you want to write, researching the market, coming up with a great setting, creating a unique cast of characters, and dropping clues in just the right places. Doing your homework before you start will make the whole process easier.
Know the kind of mystery you want to write before you start writing it. Do you want to write a hard boiled mystery or would you rather write a cozy mystery. There's a difference. A hard boiled mystery usually takes place in a big city with a seasoned cop and lots of action. The story is fast paced, has more violence, swearing, and even sex. Whereas a cozy mystery is more often set in a small town with a great cast of secondary characters. The story is a bit slower paced and often involves an amateur sleuth. These stories tend to have less violence, minimal swearing, and while a romance can occur, the door is most always closed on sex scenes.
Once you've determined what type of mystery you want to write, do your homework. Research the market by going to the bookstore and seeing what's on the shelves. Is there a particular publisher who publishes the type of mysteries that really appeal to you? If so, then research that publisher. A great way to do that is to use the Internet. They all have websites listing books they already have out, and even better, books they have coming out soon. Make a list of all the themes you see. What ones sell well? What ones don't? Stay away from themes that don't sell well, and concentrate on ones that do. Under ones that do sell well, try to think of something that hasn't been done. Or at the very least, add a unique hook to ones that have been done so that your book will stand out.
Now that you've determined what type of mystery you are going to write, what theme you are going to use, and what hook makes your premise unique ... you must decide what location you're going to set your story in. You can either use a small town or big city that already exists, or you can make one up. Whatever route you take, just remember your setting is like another character. You must describe it in detail and make it unique. Make your readers see your setting so well that they want to visit it after reading your story. The right setting can open the door to all kinds of items and places to drop and hide clues.
Now you need a great cast of secondary characters. No matter what kind of mystery you're writing, it's the characters that make the story come alive. Make them a part of your setting, the members of the town, etc. And make them unique. We don't all dress, talk or act alike, we all have our own little quirks that make us unique individuals. You want to develop your characters in the same way.
For example, you might have two cops in your story. Don't make them talk, look and act like stereotypical cops. Make them stand out. What your characters wear tells us a lot about their personalities as well. How do they dress: jacket and jeans, dress pants and dress shirt, graphic t-shirt and khakis? The way a character works a case can also reveal character. What do they do when they're stuck: go for a run, play racquetball, listen to old eighties music, toss a hacky sac? And finally how do they talk: swear a lot or not at all, use slang, have a favorite saying or an accent? Do they have tics, scars, bad habits? All of those things reveal character and make them memorable.
Once you have your quirky three dimensional characters, you have a wealth of material for clues. Based on their backgrounds and what they do for a living and relationships they have with other people in town, coming up with clues shouldn't be that difficult. First, come up with a list of clues that will lead to your murderer. Then come up with a list of clues that could "possibly" lead to your murderer, but in fact don't. Those clues are called red herrings. You want to spread your "real" clues throughout your story, and then drop in red herrings along the way to throw the reader off.
Whatever you do, make sure the murder can actually be figured out based on the clues you've dropped. Readers will get very angry if you drop a bunch of possible random clues but never set up the real thing and just reveal the murderer in the end. Yo have to show the real murderer throughout the story without making it obvious he or she is "the one." You can bury the real clues well, they just have to be in there somewhere. Also, don't make the other suspects so obviously guilty, because your readers aren't fools. They are going to know right away the person is innocent because it's just too obvious that they could possibly be guilty.
In the end, make sure you wrap up all those loose ends. You can't throw in red herrings just for the sake of throwing the reader off. They have to actually be true and the detective or sleuth should solve all those mini mysteries along the way and rule out suspect after suspect as he or she is solving the big mystery and finding the real bad guy. Don't make your mystery too easy or impossibly hard, make it interesting and fun and your readers will be hooked for life.
A big tip to remember is that predictability is not your friend. Throw in twists your readers won't see coming. When logic tells you to naturally turn right, you want to throw everyone for a loop by turning left. Do the opposite of what your readers expect. However, that doesn't mean you can simply go off in any direction. You have to have motivation. As long as you have proper motivation for whatever you do, then you can explain why something happened. Just remember to keep your characters in character. Whatever you throw at them, they have to react in a believable way by staying in character. Or give them a great motivation for how they acted out of character at that time, and then get them right back on track.
Writing a mystery isn't that hard so long as you do a little homework and a little planning. As long as your idea is unique, there will be a market for it. If you've done your job well, a series can go on for a very long time. So get writing and good luck. See you on the shelves someday soon :-) | <urn:uuid:30f04ff0-6db5-4047-ba0c-bf48efaa4728> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.mysteriesandmargaritasblogspot.com/2011/03/tuesdays-tidbits-with-kari-featuring.html?showComment=1299009510469 | 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 | 0.970086 | 1,347 | 1.5625 | 2 |
Linguistic assumptions, long (Rolf, also Dave)
kimmo.huovila at helsinki.fi
Mon Jul 3 12:35:35 EDT 2000
Rolf Furuli wrote:
> I think you share my view regaring the following points:
> 1) A dead language can never be fully understood.
Yes. (The same holds to living languages, if one goes deep enough.)
> 2) No description of Hebrew verbs is the final one.
> I agree there are problems with a strict differentiation between pragmatics
> and semantics. However, which theory or model is without its problems?
> Because of this, I try to avoid very theoretic and hingflying theories and
> models, in order not to force upon Hebrew models which are foreign to it.
> Instead I try to use more down-to-the-earth models, whose parts can be
> readily understood.
> The realization that punctuality is not a semantic property is important,
> because many wrong conclusions have been drawn of the basis that it is
> semantic. The realization that durativity, dynamicity, or telicity of verbs
> marked for one of these characteristics is semantic, may also be helpful.
Just to make sure we do not misunderstand each other by using different
terms: I assume that by semantic you mean uncancelable.
> These are simple pospositions which can be falsified. And note, there is no
> problem for the proposition that it sometimes is difficult to see if a
> particular construction is punctual or durative. And further, there is no
> problem that polysemy exists and that it is sometimes difficult to be sure
> whether or not a construction is durative, dynamic, or telic. When *some*
> constructions have these properties and they are cancelable in these
> constructions, the proposition is true.
I do not quite understand you here. When some constructions are
durative, dynamic or telic, and that semantico-pragmatic property is
cancelable in a contruction, the proposition (=durativity etc are
semantic) is true?
Also, I am not sure what kind of methodology you would use to falsify
(in principle) the proposition that punctuality is not semantic
(=uncancelable?), but durativity etc. are semantic.
> I am surpised that you are uncomfortable with the tense model of Broman
> Olsen (see my words below and your comments).
> CH:>>RF Regarding tense, Broman Olsen's scheme of semantic meaning is as
> >> Past tense: Reference time comes before the deictic point.
> >> Present tense: RT coincides with C.
> >> Future tense: RT comes after C.
> >> This relationship is uncancellable, and it can be applied to Hebrew. If we
> >> find one form with a particular morphology, to be a tense, its occurrences
> >> should have a uniform pattern as to the relationship between RT and C. No
> >> such form exists, and therefore Hebrew does not have grammaticalized tenses.
> >CH:I think here we are in danger of making the same mistake Porter made (in
> >my opinion) with his analysis of Greek. Yes, we find that there is no
> >time relation with any Greek 'tense' that could not be canceled (contra
> >Olsen, as argued by Decker). But that does not justify the idea that
> >Greek has no tense. Take English, for example. There are excpetions to
> >the past meaning of the imperfect (If I was to come...). So English does
> >not have tense either (you could find exceptions to any English tense).
> >Or Finnish, even more temporal language (though without an obligatory
> >future tense). The Finnish imperfect does code past tense almost always
> >(including conditionals). But there is a future or present referring,
> >rare use, based on presupposition. If I assume that you know something
> >already, I could, in some contexts, refer to it with the imperfect even
> >if the situation is in the future (the logic being that this WAS how the
> >situation would stand - as you know it from the past information, even
> >though the situation is in the future). If
> >the assumption is not shared, the expression can result in
> >misunderstandings. So the Finnish imperfect is no past tense either? But
> >in almost any context (with some exceptions, like the one I described
> >above) the native intuition is that the form codes exactly past tense,
> >and does not allow for other interpretations.
> The model is extremely simple and is not difficult to grasp for anyone with
> a basic linguistic knowledge, and no highflying theories are necessary. A
> discussion of whether this model fits the English verbal system (or the
> Hebrew for that matter) is also quite simple. So I do not see that your
> objections have much force (if I understand you correctly).
My comments were not meant to critique Olsen's basic tense theory, but
to point out problems that occur if the principle of uniformity is takes
as exceptionlessness (doesn't she push it so far, though? I ask because
I am not sure, but this is the impression I have from other people's
reviews of her work). Also, I take no issue with her suggestion that
Hebrew does not grammaticalize time, if what is meant by this is that
there is no one to one match between tenses and temporal reference (or
even a situation very close to that). However, I do think that it may be
possible (and I would use this as a working hypothesis) that temporal
reference is grammaticalized in Hebrew to a degree, but the expression
of temporal reference relates to aspect and mood as well (as perhaps
Sorry if I was unclear as to what I meant.
> The definition of tense is quite unproblematic, namely, "a
> grammaticalization of location in time." I would go so far as to say that
> if we cannot use Broman Olsen's scheme as one of reference for the study of
> Hebrew, because some languages have some "counterexamples", linguistic
> analysis of a language would be a waste of time, and we would have
> linguistic anarchy, anything would be fine for everything.
I have no problem with this.
> Nobody denies
> that verbs with past tense can be used in situations with non-past
> reference in many languages.
But people like Porter seem to me to be saying that if there are
exceptions to temporal reference of tenses, then they are not tenses. My
point was that this is inadequate. Now, if you disagree with (my
understanding of) Porter here, my comments missed the target.
> But that fact alone does not nullify Broman
> Olsen's scheme or her claim that the relationship between the deictic point
> (C) and reference time (RT) in the different tenses can be viewed as
Now, I am not quite sure what you mean by semantic here. It seems to
have a more narrow meaning than is often used. Uncancelable? If the
claim is that there are linguistic environments in which the temporal
meaning of a verbal form cannot be canceled, then this is exactly my
> Comrie discusses this problem (Tense 1985:19,20) His conclusions regarding
> English examples is as follows: "In order to abandon the characterisation
> of the English past as indicating basically past time reference, it would
> be necessary to show that there is some alternative characterisation of its
> meaning, from which past time reference, as well as politeness (and perhaps
> present counterfactuality) would all fall out automatically as special
> cases. Suggestions that have been made in the literature strike me as
> either incorrect (if interpreted literally) or as too vague to be
> testable." You even tell that your Finnish example is a special case, and
> special cases are not problematic for the scheme.
Yes, I agree with Comrie here, and I assume that I just expressed myself
too vaguely to be understood.
> I therefore think I am on sound linguistic ground when I compare all the
> Hebrew finite verbs regarding the relationship between C and RT, and say
> that because there is no uniform pattern, tense is not grammaticalized.
If what you mean by this is that the verbal forms do not grammaticalize
tense, I agree. However, I think that tense can be grammaticalized some
other, less simple, way. For example (to take an example of Hebrew
aspect rather than tense), in my view the Hebrew verbal forms cannot
grammaticalize aspect for the same reason as what you said for tense.
There is no uniform pattern (I assume you disagree here, which, if so,
goes to prove that we understand aspects differently). That does not
mean to me that aspect is not grammaticalized in Hebrew. I assume (as a
working hypothesis; if someone finds a counter-example, I would be
grateful) that YIQTOL in past contexts grammaticalized imperfective
aspect, but not in future contexts (where it is aspectually neutral).
Thus the pattern is not quite so simple as a one-to-one correspondence.
Something similar might be true for tense. And the above hypothesis
would imply that tense has grammatical reflexes, ie. is grammaticalized
to a degree.
> am open for the view that there may be exceptions in the material, so a
> group with a high score of uniformity (such as WAYYIQTOL) can have a
> uniform relationship after all. But in that case I demand that it must be
> explained why all these forms are exceptions (the way Comrie says).
Well and good, but sometimes a good explanation may be elusive. But in
principle I agree, though I would chance 'must' to 'should'.
> Something which is a half tense is in my view nonsensical; either a verb
> form is a tense ("grammaticalization of location in time") or it is not a
Does this apply to my hypothesis of the Hebrew verb above? If I
understand you correctly, you would rule it out also as nonsensical.
Perhaps I misunderstood you.
> (BTV: Has anyone come up with an example of a non-past use of Greek
Yes. Several. Almost any reference grammar gives counterfactuals and
polite uses where the temporal reference is not past.
> The advantage of the described approach, is that something
> which allways has been assumed to be semantic (the role of WAYYIQTOLs in
> narrative), can be reviwed, and can be analyzed for pragmatic
Yes, I am not quite convinced that WAYYIQTOLs must mean consecution. I
am very open to other explanations.
> Regarding aspect (I differentiate strictly between "asepct" (the
> non-deictic relationship between event time and reference time) and
> Aktionsart (the lexical meaning and nature of verbs- durative, punctual
> etc). I think I am on the same sound linguistic ground when I compare all
> the Hebrew verbs on the basis of the relationship between event time (ET)
> and RT, and I think this gives information about Hebrew aspect.
As a proponent of a view of nested aspects, I am tempted to warn about
missing other possible layers of aspect, if you just concentrate on what
you call Aktionsart and aspect (as just two layers of what I think is
the same phenomenon).
> I welcome the use of any scientific model for the study of Hebrew verbs; we
> can learn something from them all. But we should remember that the results
> are not better than their assumptions.
I agree wholeheartedly.
> One assumption which is fundamental
> for most models, is that Hebrew has four conjugations. If it has just two,
> as I claim, it is easy to see why many of the traditional conclusions are
> wrong. I have never seen a model with so few assumptions as Broman Olsen's
> model; it has a great explanatory force, and it is simple. This is the
> reason why I use it.
For now, I am not convinced about the two conjugation system, but if you
can give enough evidence I may change my mind. However, I assume that
YIQTOLs and WAYYIQTOLs are (at least very often) aspectually opposed in
past contexts. That just makes good sense to me in light of the data.
This view of mine may predispose me to thinking of four conjugations, as
well as the fact that I do not disregard Massoretic vowels as linguistic
evidence (though I am well aware that they are from a different time).
I hope this clarifies some issues where I may have expressed myself too
vaguely. I think that the major difference between us on a general
linguistic level is that we have a different overall theory of aspect.
More information about the b-hebrew | <urn:uuid:03bd0b25-0ef3-4f65-89c2-e704f5bf8d09> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://lists.ibiblio.org/pipermail/b-hebrew/2000-July/007757.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368700264179/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516103104-00029-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.951334 | 2,852 | 1.703125 | 2 |
||Avoiding Trojans and Rootkits|
|Subject:||Dubious advice, scaremongering and oversimplification|
|The criteria for choosing a firewall given in this article are dubious at best. What matters is that you know what's going on and what a firewall-product/setup does, not what feels easy and cozy. Unconditionally recommending running some free personal firewall on a windows box is irresponsible. The implication that any system that ran without _any_ sort of firewall is probably infected and systems that did are probably safe is hair-raising. You don't do anyone a favour by oversimplifying things. Try harder to educate your readers.|
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Dubious advice, scaremongering and oversimplification
2003-12-09 16:56:05 mojogeek [View] | <urn:uuid:6ada2839-6dbd-43de-bef2-191539028f2e> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.oreillynet.com/cs/user/view/cs_msg/15362?page=last&x-maxdepth=0 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368709037764/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516125717-00006-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.930892 | 178 | 1.625 | 2 |
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Yields for spring wheat in North Dakota and parts of South Dakota will top last year on early planting and ample rainfall, according to results from the Wheat Quality Council’s annual tour of the states.
Spring-wheat fields seen by analysts, farmers and brokers will yield 44.9 bushels an acre, said Ben Handcock, the executive vice president of the council. North Dakota growers last year collected 40 bushels an acre, U.S. government data show. Durum-wheat yields will total 42.4 bushels an acre, up from 31 bushels last year, Handcock said.
“They got it in early, and that makes a big difference,” Handcock said by telephone from near Fargo, North Dakota. “It was a great spring. I knew it was going to look good, but I didn’t know it was going to look that good.”
Spring-wheat futures for September delivery on the Minneapolis Grain Exchange lost 2.1 percent to $9.6775 a bushel today.
Spring wheat is a high-quality variety that’s used to make bread and bagels. Durum is high in protein and used to make pasta. The tour had about 71 participants, a record, Handcock said.
To contact the reporter on this story: Tony C. Dreibus in Chicago at [email protected]
To contact the editor responsible for this story: Steve Stroth at [email protected] | <urn:uuid:43c6e6e3-6812-4222-b78a-4b83735f0200> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.businessweek.com/news/2012-07-26/spring-wheat-yields-in-north-dakota-may-top-last-year-after-rain | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368698207393/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516095647-00021-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.942807 | 336 | 1.507813 | 2 |
This post is about cupcakes. I had dinner with a dear friend and his wife this week and I explained the rules of cupcakes, so far. Since I invented the "cupcake game" as it were, I get to make the rules. And they change, to my delight, like Calvinball, the game Calvin played with his stuffed tiger, Hobbes.*
- Cupcakes can only be given to others, not to oneself.
- I can share a single cupcake with someone, or a plate of cupcakes.
- If I share half a cupcake, the other person's cupcake can become a whole cupcake, like a starfish with a new limb. This probably also works with half a plate of cupcakes, but has never been expressed as such, yet.
- Cupcakes become the favorite flavor/color/style of the person receiving the cupcakes.
- Cupcakes have no calories/sugar/other things that adults avoid to be "healthy."
I started giving cupcakes because of my friend, Holly, who was always making them, or looking at pictures of them. It sort of became a thing I gave away on Twitter, when anyone was having a bad day. I figure, not everyone likes to hear "I'm praying for you," and it's not always appropriate. But I haven't met anyone (yet) that doesn't like an imaginary cupcake. Well, actually, I do give Sara Zarr cheese, since she can't eat cupcakes. I generally give her wheels of gouda.
Anita Silvey is known for her hats. If I'm known for my cupcakes, well, that just makes me smile.
Little known facts: I don't eat actual cupcakes very often. I haven't actually made cupcakes in my apartment stove since I started giving them away on Twitter, circa a few years ago. I have sent actual cupcakes to events, (well, at least one event) and I have eaten cupcakes at Magnolia Bakery in New York. Funny story. The next to last day in Florida, I popped into the Gainesville Junior League Thrift Shop. They had an "I heart NY" shirt, but instead of a heart, it was a cupcake. The back said "Magnolia Bakery." I figured, if the shirt fit, I had to buy it. And I did. So I ate cupcakes in New York, but I had to go all the way to Florida to get the shirt.
*of course there is a Calvin and Hobbes Wiki. (The internet is full of people of whimsy.) | <urn:uuid:dd0c74b5-48a1-4e2c-88b1-83363e1c3341> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://manypinksneakers.blogspot.com/ | 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 | 0.985764 | 541 | 1.617188 | 2 |
|Don Justo's Cathedral in Madrid|
When we look back at our life and question ourselves... where we are going, what are we doing and what this life is all about... etc, we don’t really have a clear cut answer. We rationalize, we wonder and sometimes we doubt if we are doing anything at all. Or we are just hollow and empty shell trying to fill our existence with possessions, belongings, ideologies, beliefs etc. Then you come across some people, who go beyond all this, and dedicate their whole life into something as simple as making a full-fledged cathedral, out of junk, working alone for almost 60 years... which stands at 131 Feet (40 Mts) tall in the suburbs of Madrid, Spain.
|My younger brother Animesh with Don Justo, in his|
Recently, my younger brother Animesh was travelling to Spain with his friends, he came across this amazing person and his creation of life time. His experience of meeting with Don Justo left a great impression on him and his thoughts, which I am using to write this story with bits and pieces from a BBC news coverage done by Sarah Rainsford, to fill the gaps... click here to read the full post
This is a story of a man, who was called crazy and insulted for doing an act of faith - all his life.
|Don Justo - Image curtsy BBC News|
60 years ago, Don Justo decided to build cathedral out of junk, with no training and just on absolute faith, all by himself. He had no training whatsoever in building construction or even brick laying but went on his mission of making his dream come true. Every morning, he will start collecting used and broken bricks, waste construction materials, oil drums etc from the nearby factories, neighbourhood and then using them to build his Church, brick by brick, just on absolute faith. He has, since then invested his entire life, all inheritance in the project as well as the land on which this magnificent “act of faith church” stands. Now he is 90 and still going strong as every morning at 6AM he walks into the Church to work as well as giving guided tour to a steady trickle of visitors who are making this DIY church, a little famous around the world.
Don Justo says, ‘"Realising my ideal spurs me on. People today are very passive, they don't value anything. They're slaves to worldly things."
A simple man at heart Don Justo kept on referring Animesh, as brother, all the time and said he loved people from India. He has special memories about Indira Gandhi and remembered to comment on her son Rajiv Gandhi and his wife Sonia Gandhi’s love story.
Talking about his influences for starting the epic journey, he said he just felt like doing it. He had paternal land and nothing else more urgent to do... so he travelled around a lot and read about Cathedrals in Europe. Then went on designing and constructing as and when materials and thoughts came to him! He has never felt like stopping ever since and still comes daily, though his output has slowed down over the period, but never stopped.
‘"Now everybody worships me. Before they said I was crazy. Now I don't know what they say. But now, whoever comes here, since he or she didn't realize why, has the opinion that this is art. It's me the one who has to keep his feet on the ground and to measure everything with the same weight." (Video Transcript - Thanks to Jacob Insua)
So far, the town council has tolerated the illicit structure, which lures a steady trickle of visitors to the nondescript suburb. Some suspect the chaotically-constructed church will not outlast its creator.
"It's very difficult to get a license now," says Pablo Queralto, an architect working for Mejorada council. "For example the bricks don't meet minimum standards, either in themselves or the way they've been laid." But he described the eccentric edifice as an icon of the town now, unlikely to be torn down.
Part of the text Curtsy: BBC News
What are we doing with our life?
Is there any motivating factor in our life as powerful as Don Justo’s, which will keep us going, brick by single brick creating something that will be there forever, long after we have left, as his work will? Are we still passionate about something in our life?
One of the great Indian philosopher J Krishnamurti said, ‘Passion, as state of mind, is a state of being, your inner self, that feels very strongly, highly sensitive – sensitive alike to dirt, squalor, poverty, riches; to the beauty of a tree, a bird, to the flow of water... To feel all this intensely, strongly, passion is necessary. Because without passion life becomes empty, shallow, and without much meaning. If you cannot see the beauty of a tree and love that tree, if you cannot care for it intensely, you are not living.”
So what is the purpose of your life?
Here is another beautiful talk (Shared by my brother Animesh again), which I think you should read too, as that post is complimentary to this one here....
Here I leave you with one of my Haiku on the lines of Don Justo's life
|Mural on the walls of Don Justo Church|
In your passion, intensity
The beauty of ‘now’
Burst’s forth in living.
Shashi @ 2011
ॐ नमः शिवाय
Om Namah Shivaya
How Will You Measure Your Life | <urn:uuid:2215bc14-c04c-43d4-adba-2994b5926e8f> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://shadowdancingwithmind.blogspot.com/2011/10/up-close-personal-purpose-of-life-by.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368706499548/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516121459-00002-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.977248 | 1,197 | 1.578125 | 2 |
LETTER: Do the math
Published: Monday, November 12, 2012 at 7:04 p.m.
Last Modified: Monday, November 12, 2012 at 7:12 p.m.
I wonder if people really believe that “taxing the rich more” will stop at the level President Barack Obama has demanded, and that these rich people who create our jobs will sit by while more and more of their money is taken from them.
Does the term “leave in droves” mean anything? And do people actually believe that the increases will not eventually be passed on to them when the government demands more money?
Roughly half the people pay no federal income taxes now, and that number will only increase because of government policies. That means fewer people paying taxes, but more money will be needed for government programs. Do the math, people!
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. | <urn:uuid:05fd77b2-271f-49d8-96f3-640b22281c7a> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.gadsdentimes.com/article/20121112/NEWS/121119952/1044/realestate | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368706890813/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516122130-00004-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.952261 | 214 | 1.648438 | 2 |
Consolidating dispatchers necessary cost savings
There is never a good time to tell loyal workers they may be losing their jobs or forced to accept similar positions that pay less.
Yet, during this holiday season, that is what is being done to emergency dispatchers in Sterling Heights and Clinton Township.
Both communities have decided to consolidate their 911 call centers with Macomb County, which is in the process of renovating facilities for a huge $11 million emergency communications center.
A month ago, it was Sterling Heights that decided to sign on with the county. This month it is Clinton Township. Weíre sure many more communities will follow.
Itís not that community leaders donít respect the fine work done by 911 operators and others who work at the dispatch departments.
Itís all about economics.
As municipalities faced with declining revenues, mostly from a decrease in property values that lowers incoming taxes, mayors, city managers and councilmembers must watch the bottom line.
The goal, as always, is to provide the best public services possible at the lowest cost possible to taxpayers.
It hurts dispatch workers when they learn that they must apply for county positions almost identical to the jobs they are now performing.
Is it progress? Perhaps.
Is it consolidation? Certainly.
Is it necessary? Yes.
The population of Macomb County continues to increase, albeit mostly north of M-59 (Hall Road).
One of the best ways to conserve tax dollars is to eliminate duplication of services.
Too many hands in the pot donít always improve the stew. And too many tax-supported agencies doing the same things just donít make financial sense.
With a population of 841,000 and 482 square miles, we see the day when Macomb County may have a single dispatch center and fewer police and fire departments.
The administrative cost savings could go to putting more cops on the streets and making more firefighters available when needed.
Consolidation isnít a four-letter word. It is, however, something those working for tax-supported agencies must realize is needed. | <urn:uuid:31cd57c9-61b2-4c83-9844-2fcccdd1ba6c> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.macombdaily.com/article/20121219/OPINION01/121219397&template=printart | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368698924319/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516100844-00000-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.944797 | 430 | 1.539063 | 2 |
Unfortunately, I don't have a magic wand to give you that can transform these dreaded CFHs into pleasant, harmless, or wonderfully collaborative creatures. However, I can offer a few tricks you can keep up your sleeve that should help reduce your conflicts with these people and thereby reduce your stress in the workplace.
Trick #1 - Anticipate and be prepared.
If CFHs are anything, they're fairly predictable. Divas will be divas. Complainers will complain. Suck ups will ... well, you get the picture. Although you may not always be able to predict the exact details of each and every drama they'll create, you can probably predict the "theme." Use this to your advantage by anticipating the next conflict and being prepared with a response.
As Lifescript staff writer Jennifer Gruenemay writes about dealing with CFHs, "When you're unprepared, you're likely to react instinctively to your anger and annoyance with childish behavior that accomplishes nothing. This will only succeed in making a bad situation worse." Instead, Gruenemay suggests that you practice how you will respond before an inevitable encounter. You can do this by playing out the anticipated conflict in your mind, or by role-playing with a trusted friend. In fact, you should try out a few responses to see which one is most likely to effectively resolve the issue in the most efficient and rational manner possible.
Trick #2. Don't reinforce bad behavior.
CFHs are reinforced by the chaos they cause, and they're further fueled when you engage in it. Although it may be tempting to jump into the ring and throw a few of your own punches, resist. Not only will it bring you down to their level, the truth is that unless you're a CFH yourself, you're going to be badly outmatched in their kind of fighting anyway. Most CFHs can rise to heights that you would never dream of going--and shouldn't.
Instead, use psychological jujitsu. Don't react to the emotions CFHs bring to the situation or to the emotions they create in you. Doing so just gives them home court advantage. Instead, keep the interaction as short, as polite, and as rational as possible. If the conflict is over an opinion, don't get into a battle over who is right or wrong. Simply say something to the effect of "I guess we'll just have to agree to disagree," or if a decision must be made and there is a supervisor you can go to, you might want to say something like, "We can't seem to agree, so let's let Susan decide." When you bring a third party in, don't expect the decision to always come out in your favor, but whatever is decided, it will take you out of the line of fire (at least until the next drama arises).
Although it's hard to override the instinct to defend yourself when you're under attack, if you consistently respond succinctly and without emotion, the bad behavior will either get extinguished or the CFH will move on to someone who will play the game the way they like to play it.
Trick #3. Don't take it personally.
Sometimes, CFHs are the way they are because of unresolved personal issues, or because their social skills are underdeveloped, or because they're insecure and use provocation as a shield to protect themselves. This doesn't excuse the bad behavior, but it may explain it. So when CFHs begin to cause chaos, keep in mind that it's probably more about them than it is about you. Try not to take their actions personally, and whenever possible, try to find common ground, something that connects the two of you or helps you understand their motivations better. I'm not saying you should become best friends with your CFH; just try to find something that can help you civilly coexist in the workplace.
Let's say your CFH has a habit of angrily or tearfully accusing you of being overly critical of her. Use this knowledge to practice how you will respond the next time this happens. Resist that immediate defensive reaction that makes you want to snap back with "That's not true!" or "You're crazy. I don't do that." Instead, in a soft, even tone, say something like, "I'm sorry you feel that way. What did I do to make you feel like I was being critical of you?"
What if the CFH responds by bringing up a long laundry list of perceived affronts from the past? Do everything you can to keep the conversation in the present. First, you can't change the past. And second, by letting the CFH go there, it will just prolong your contact without resolving anything. Instead, hold your CFH to the present by saying something like, "I can't change the past. But I'd like to know how you think I was critical just now, so that we can try to work this out and move on." Or "I've noticed that this same theme keeps coming up between us, so I'd like to just focus on the present and see if we can't figure out a way to work this out."
Asking for specific details does not mean you have to accept the claims as true or accurate (although there sometimes is a kernel of truth to a CFH's complaints - see "Before You Do Anything Drastic" on page 2 of this article). It simply puts the ball in her or his court to come up with specific instances rather than making wild and sweeping accusations, which is often their MO. The goal of communicating with a CFH is to get in and get out with as little drama and stress as possible.
What to avoid.
Although there isn't one "right" way to handle CFHs, there are some ways that are likely to make the situation worse rather than better. Here are a few tips to avoid escalation:
- Avoid "you" statements ("You're not making any sense." "You are the one with the problem." "You need to suck it up and stop complaining about everything."). Instead, use "I" or "we" statements ("I don't understand what you're trying to say." "It seems like we have a problem." "How can we work this out?").
- Avoid emotion. Keep your voice soft and your tone even. It's hard to maintain a high level of emotion when the person you're interacting with consistently maintains a calm, unemotional tone (although some of the best can do it - see discussion on page 2 about UCFHs).
- Avoid sarcasm.
- Avoid defensiveness.
- Avoid engagement. If the anger, drama, or whatever craziness is going on doesn't subside, politely disengage. It's hard enough going against your instinct to not defend yourself when the attack first starts. The longer the attack lasts (especially when you're trying your best to diffuse it), the harder it will be to stay calm and unemotional. So if your best efforts don't diffuse the situation, say something like, "I'm having a hard time listening to [or understanding] what you're saying when you're [yelling, sobbing, glaring, etc.]. Maybe we can try to resolve this later when the emotions aren't so high." Then, walk away.
If these strategies aren't effective, try removing yourself from CFH situations as much as possible. For example, if you're involved in a discussion and your CFH walks up, politely excuse yourself. If coworkers are going to lunch and you find out the CFH is going, gracefully bow out. Whenever possible, choose assignments that the CFH is not involved in. And when you do have to interact, make it short and sweet. Remember, don't engage. Get in, get out, and move on. Save that energy for more productive challenges.
And then there are the Ultimate Coworkers from Hell ... If you get to a point where you've tried everything under the sun and the problem is not only not getting better, it's getting worse, you may be dealing with what I call the Ultimate Coworker from Hell. UCFHs often are personality disordered, which means they engage in dysfunctional and inflexible patterns of thoughts and behaviors that significantly interfere in their ability to maintain stable relationships both in and out of the workplace. These patterns are difficult to modify even with therapeutic intervention, which, for you, means that you're not likely to see any significant change in their behavior regardless of how you react or respond to it.
What to do in these kinds of extreme situations can be a tough call. The key, however, is to not let their dysfunction affect your quality of life. Ongoing and high levels of workplace stress can lead to a host of unpleasant consequences including burnout, depression, anxiety, and physical illness. So the question you need to ask yourself is if the day to day stress of having to deal with the UCFH is worth the stress and strain on your mind and body.
If the answer is no, consider your alternatives. Can you transfer to another department or location (or get the UCFH transferred)? If not, is there a boss or supervisor you can speak to frankly to let her or him respectfully know that it's either you or the UCFH, but someone has to go. Be prepared, however, if your boss says it's you. Stranger things have happened in workplace dramas. In fact, you may want to explore the job market and have something else lined up before you have this heart to heart with your boss, especially if you need a job to financially survive. You never know what kinds of deals with the devil some bosses get drawn into with these kinds of highly emotional and provocative workers.
But before you do anything drastic ... like quit or give your boss an ultimatum, you should first have a heart to heart with yourself and ask what's likely to be the toughest question of all, and that is, are you a completely innocent victim of a nightmare coworker, or are you contributing to the problem? Could you be presenting your own challenges in the workplace? High-achievers are usually superstar employees, but they can be particularly challenging to work with because of their own patterns and tendencies. For example, high-achievers are often perfectionists. They also tend to be a tad on the obsessive-compulsive side, they're often impatient, and they can be intolerant of mistakes (theirs and others). These aren't necessarily qualities that are easy to work with, so in CFH situations, it's important to ask yourself, "Am I doing anything that is contributing to the problem?"
Thanks to Sherrie Bourg Carter, Psy.D. / Psychology Today / Sussex Publishers, LLC
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The Levi's brand fall campaign suggests getting dressed is an empowering action, continuing its message for the fourth year of “Go Forth,” and adding, “This is a pair of Levi’s.”
The 2012 fall/winter "Go Forth" campaign pitches 18 to 34 year-olds on donning their daily armor to take on the world every day: “This is a pair of Levi’s, buttons and rivets and pockets and cuffs, and the thread that holds it together.”
The language is a call to action: “You follow your heart, follow the leader, you’re the leader. Are you joking, are you breaking, are you shaking? You’re the next living leader of the world. You’re a kid. Holding onto the thread. That holds it together. This is a pair of Levi’s.” Cue Twitter hashtag, “#GoForth.” And Levi's own call to action, tying a thread to its corporate commitment to take a stance on HIV/AIDS.
“From a creative approach, we wanted to be culturally relevant while also making the product more central to the brand narrative,” comments Len Peltier, global VP of creative for Levi’s on the evolution of Go Forth from a local (US) to global platform. “Our intent is to disrupt what people think they know about the Levi’s brand and redefine that with unexpected product stories and a more refined styling point of view.”
The brand is walking its talk and following its heart by expanding its commitment to one of the key pillars of its corporate citizenship platform: leveraging its clout with youths in the battle against HIV/AIDS with cause marketing and local activations.
Levi Strauss’ leadership position in the issue began in 1982 when then-CEO Robert Haas stood shoulder-to-shoulder with employee volunteers at company headquarters in San Francisco to distribute information about HIV/AIDS, courageous when fear and lack of information were rampant. Their first AIDS Memorial Quilt panel was crafted in 1988.
This year, the company asked employees in the US, Canada, Mexico and Brazil what the end of AIDS would mean to them, and their answers now grace the second AIDS Memorial Quilt panel on display at the National Mall in Washington, D.C., revealed during the recent International AIDS Conference. The panel is made from recycled Levi’s jeans and denim.
Both AIDS Memorial Quilt panels will travel to retail stores and offices to honor employees involved in the work, returning to headquarters in San Francisco for World AIDS Day on December 1st.
The iconic blue jeans brand is assisting the U.S. Administration in developing a national HIV/AIDS strategy, a partnership that kicked off in 2006 with a Clinton Global Initiative commitment and resulting in an HIV/AIDS treatment and care model available to other global apparel companies to replicate or adopt.
Levi Strauss joined a partnership with UNAIDS, GBC Health, and others in a CEO-led pledge calling on 46 countries to lift travel restrictions imposed on those with HIV/AIDS and President and CEO, Chip Bergh, was the first CEO to sign. Chief executives from from Aetna, Coca-Cola, Gilead Sciences, H&M, Johnson & Johnson, Kenneth Cole, the NBA, and Virgin Airlines have all joined this “call to action.”
Kamon Uppakaew, education and advocacy director of Thai AIDS Treatment Action Group (TTAG), was recently awarded The Levi Strauss & Co. Pioneer Award for his fight for taking a stand against discrimination by promoting equal rights for those living with HIV/AIDS, a condition he shares first-hand.
During his tenure as chairman of Thailand’s National Network of Positive People, Kamon instituted free HIV treatment in Thailand, pushed for compulsory licensing of life-saving HIV treatment, and elevated Thailand to the first country in Asia to achieve the highest attainable standard of healthcare for people living with HIV/AIDS.
Since 2007, the Levi Strauss Foundation has invested in Alliance Ukraine and soccer stadiums in Kyiv and Kharkiv now sport mobile HIV/AIDS clinics set-up for the Euro 2012 games. Eastern Europe has the most rapidly expanding HIV/AIDS epidemic in the world with over 25,000 new cases annually in the Ukraine alone.
The Alliance also organized a "Street Stars" mini-soccer tournament in Kiev’s Euro 2012 "European Village,” targeting homeless and underserved children, with funding from the Levi Strauss Foundation.
Go Forth, take a stand and make a difference, indeed. | <urn:uuid:0f021f28-ea01-42b0-a10b-ab1162b46ae7> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.brandchannel.com/home/post/2012/07/31/Levis-Go-Forth-AIDS-Battle-073112.aspx | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368702810651/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516111330-00010-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.948712 | 955 | 1.679688 | 2 |
Category ArchiveRube Goldberg
I wanted this to be my first post on my new site because it was my first major project and was what motivated me to start this site. I will eventually be adding more videos about this project (due to popular request) but I will start it off with this video that started it all.
For a higher quality version, click here to download the video in H.264.
This is a video of a Rube Goldberg ballot-casting machine with an entertainment theme. My Jac-Cen-Del High School team made it in 2004. This machine received 4th place in the National High School Rube Goldberg Competition. We were actually graded down for using so much technology, as some of the judges thought it was too technical and not in the true spirit of Rube. | <urn:uuid:ecd98e2a-f8a5-449c-a6af-82a4aa316ee8> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.adamthole.com/?cat=6 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368699273641/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516101433-00039-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.961758 | 164 | 1.664063 | 2 |
On Wednesday 29 April 2009 14:50, Andi Kleen wrote:
> Krzysztof Bâaszkowski <kb@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> writes:
> > Hello,
> > once upon i was asked to think about such facility for notifying
> > userspace when some mount point is nearly full at some level let's say
> > e.g. 90% (threshold should be configurable).
> > here is a solution designed by me and i would like to see comments on
> > this idea and solution.
> It doesn't seem to be very useful to poll in kernel for this. When you're
> in kernel you could just hook into the respective functions that handle
> disk allocation directly.
i reckon yes and no both. "no" because i wanted a solution which will have
almost no impact on performance. if the speed wasn't an important concern
then why would one take care about per cpu counters like fdblocks ?
> Polling can be as well done in user space only,
> so it doesn't make too much sense to put polling code into the kernel.
yes i think too, that's maybe a bit too huge thing looking at benefits it
brings but consider bash instance consuming 1.5M (at least) and other things
do they have more sense ? i don't think so and this is the solution which
voids all hassle with userspace polling because it uses unified notification
system and this can be good starting point for notification system for other
purposes i haven't think of yet but maybe someone has a new idea regarding
are these reasons good to (complete and) merge this stuff ?
I found that the xfs-sysfs-2 requires small rework around event_alloc() and
event_release() because of very rare (but possible) race with timer function
which drops lock (i decided to drop lock because i think kobject_uevent may
be synchronous in the case of deprecated /sbin/hotplug and i'm not sure also
how long it takes for udevd)
i think that there is no point to update patch as long as we will not sort out
if the whole idea is really worth to implement.
Thanks for reply. | <urn:uuid:ea8a384c-e8e4-476c-afad-e4b69185c7e3> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.linux.sgi.com/archives/xfs/2009-04/msg00222.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368701852492/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516105732-00028-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.949455 | 479 | 1.578125 | 2 |
POSTED: 01:30 a.m. HST, Apr 17, 2011
The Farrington High School girls water polo team lost every game this year. They have only the minimum number of team members — seven — on the roster, so if one player gets sick, they have to forfeit. They can't practice on campus because the Farrington pool has been empty and abandoned for years. Some of the girls can barely swim.
But when their season ended this week (in another loss), their coach couldn't have been prouder.
"They never gave up," said Eric Polivka, 32, a Farrington history teacher. "They were always trying their hardest, even if they were 10 strokes behind. You couldn't ask for anything more."
Polivka played water polo for Mid-Pacific Institute in the late '90s. All those lessons in focus, discipline, endurance and teamwork were things he wanted to share on the Farrington campus.
"My best memories of high school were playing water polo," he said. Farrington is such a big school, he was sure he'd be able to put together a team without much trouble. But it was a struggle.
"I held meetings, I put fliers all over the campus, I recruited from the swim team. This was a year and a half in the making," he said.
He started out with 14 girls, few of whom were experienced swimmers.
"They could keep their heads above water, put it that way," he said.
Half the team quit right away. Water polo demanded more of them than they had to give. The rest hung in even though, especially in the beginning, the games were gruesome.
"The first game, two girls were throwing up in the pool. One girl was so tired she was just floating on her back, drifting around the water while the game went on around her," Polivka said.
Because there are only seven girls on the team, there are no substitutes. The girls have to play the entire game. One of their first goals was just being able to swim for that long and not cling on to the side of the pool gasping for air while the other team scored point after point.
The team is also woefully undersized.
"Water polo is a big person's sport," Polivka said. "Players are usually tall and muscular."
A good size for a high school girls water polo player is around 5 feet 9 inches. Most of Farrington's players are barely over 5 feet and one is 4 feet 9.
"She's so little some of the opponents confuse her for the ball," Polivka said.
Most of the Farrington girls can't touch the bottom of the pool.
"It's harder for me to grab the ball from my opponents because I'm much shorter than they are," said senior Marilyn Ganuelas, 18 years old and 5 feet 1. "The tall players easily grab the ball from you."
But something started happening during all those winless hours in the water. Their efforts didn't win games, but the team began to gain a measure of respect.
If one of the girls was sick and they had to forfeit a game, Polivka would ask the other team if they could still play, just for practice. The opponents would oblige, even lending Farrington some players so they could learn from more veteran athletes. After a while, Polivka noticed that the fans on their opponents' teams were cheering for them. It is a wondrous thing to see kids who can't possibly win try their best anyway.
OIA water polo referee Daniel Pollard couldn't help but marvel at the Farrington team. He contacted the Star-Advertiser to suggest a story about them.
"I have refereed high school water polo in Hawaii for the last 10 or 11 years and they are about the worst team I have ever seen," Pollard said. "But that is what is so incredible about them in my estimation … the level of courage it takes to play a sport like water polo, when you barely have enough to fill out the team, all your players are very much smaller than the other team, many can only barely swim, is amazing."
Polivka said, "They never once said, ‘We suck.' They got in the water with smiles on their faces and they said, ‘Let's really try.'"
Every day after school, the girls caught the city bus to downtown Honolulu, where they practiced for two hours at the YWCA pool. The Y gave the team a discount, and Polivka arranged for a sponsor to pay for their membership. Since this is the team's first year, there were a lot of startup costs: suits, caps, balls, T-shirts, goal nets. Polivka hit up his friends and family for donations.
"I tried to do it all myself and not really worry the girls. I wanted to keep them focused on water polo," he said. "They are good kids who work hard and I didn't want them to go out and scrape for a goal or some caps."
The season may have been winless, but it was not scoreless. In their fifth game, on March 17, the Farrington girls scored their first point of the season in a 2-1 loss to Aiea. They still lost the game, but Ganuelas called it "the best moment" of her water polo career.
Farrington played Castle on Wednesday in the last game of the year. Castle won 14-7. It didn't matter that the other team scored twice as many points as they did. For Farrington, it was that they swam the entire time without subs, put seven points on the scoreboard and had a good time doing it.
"I enjoyed every minute of it," 4-foot-11 team captain Ashley Cambe said. "Our team did not win, but to see how much our team has grown is enough to make us feel like winners."
Polivka is hoping to build on this inaugural season. He looks forward to next year thinking it won't be quite so rough. "The team scored a page in the yearbook, which is a huge recruitment tool," he said.
He's treating his players to an end-of-year dinner. "They're bugging me to go to Cheesecake Factory, but really, anything outside of Kalihi and they're really excited." They don't have a winning season to celebrate, but they have other ways of measuring victory.
"I might shed a tear," Coach Polivka said. "Maybe a few tears. They're such good girls. Probably I'll cry so much I could fill up the Farrington pool."
Lee Cataluna can be reached at [email protected]. | <urn:uuid:a0a3dce7-b407-438d-a100-771f1ea3fea9> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.staradvertiser.com/news/20110417__Farrington_water_polo_team_scores_with_perseverance.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368705195219/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516115315-00040-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.991296 | 1,427 | 1.554688 | 2 |
Date created: 15/11/08 3:02 PM Last modified:15/11/08 3:02 PM Maintained by: John Quiggin John Quiggin
25 October 2007
Disruptive marketing is one of those buzzphrases that float around the air of business schools, and, if they take hold, end up on the covers of the kind of book you buy at airports. The idea is that, faced with a strong incumbent firm, an entrant to a market needs to throw out the rulebook and try to make people think differently about the good or service in question.
It’s a bit of a surprise to see an incumbent using disruptive marketing tactics, but having entered the election campaign far behind in the polls, John Howard had little choice. Rather than saving his biggest single election promise for the traditional policy speech, Howard launched his $34 billion tax cut proposal after announcing the election but before the Parliament had even been dissolved, thereby avoiding the restrictions of caretaker mode, and allowing him to bring forward the release of the Mid-Year Economic and Fiscal Outlook, on which the tax cut policy was based.
Howard similarly changed the rules with respect to the debate, making a unilateral declaration of the terms under which it would be conducted, and saying he would go ahead with and without Rudd. The decision to ban the infamous ‘worm’ measuring audience attitudes came back to bite him, but it was certainly a bold stroke.
The standard response of market leaders to disruptive marketing efforts is to ignore them, and this might well have been the correct approach for Rudd, but Howard’s combination of incumbency and disruption made it a high-risk choice. Rudd agreed to the debate, and, consequently, had little choice but to match Howard’s tax cuts, with the variation that the money allocated in the Howard plan to those on incomes over $180 000 a year would instead be used to provide an education rebate.
Tax cuts on this scale raise a number of concerns. The most prominent has been that tax cuts will increase the risk of inflation, and the likelihood that the Reserve Bank will feel it necessary to increase interest rates. With the bad inflation news announced yesterday, an increase in interest rates before the election is virtually inevitable, but prospective tax cuts can scarcely be blamed for that. The real concern is that a preannounced commitment to three years of tax cuts, with ‘aspirations’ for further cuts will generated a permanent bias towards tighter monetary policy.
The government’s defence is that, given the improved position projected in the mid-year outlook, the tax cuts can be delivered while holding to a stable fiscal policy with a surplus of around 1 per cent of GDP. Having used the government’s estimates, Labor can offer the same defence, with the additional twist that its $3 billion education rebate will promote the development of skills and thereby reduce inflationary pressure. This is a nice debating point, its relevance to the medium term economic outlook is limited. Most of the beneficiaries will still be in school for some years to come.
Looking at the mid-year outlook, the improved parameters that are expected to deliver additional revenue to the government depend to a large extent on the minerals boom. Whereas the budget estimates were based on a projection that commodity prices would return to normal levels over the course of 2008-09 and 2009-10, the mid-year outlook incorporates more optimistic forecasts, in which prices continue to rise through 2008-09 and do not return to normal levels until 2010-11.
Given the longevity of the boom, which has defied repeated predictions of a return to more normal conditions, this seems like a plausible estimate. But a commitment, three years in advance, to large-scale tax cuts ought to be based on more than a plausible estimate.
Even more important is the forecast that government expenditure will decline, relative to GDP. The estimates anticipate a decline in welfare expenditure, relative to the Budget projections, due to continued strength in the labour market, a decline in net capital expenditure, and little or no real increase in public expenditure on goods and services.
After taking out the tax cuts, the projections allow little room to meet the unexpected requirements for additional expenditure that arise in the course of any three-year period, let alone to address the backlog of unmet needs in health, education and expenditure that has built up under the current government. Labor’s decision to match the cuts may have been tactically necessary, but it will create big problems in office, particularly if the optimistic projections of mining boom revenue fall short.
John Quiggin is an Australian Research Council Federation Fellow in Economics and Political Science at the University of Queensland.
Read more articles from John Quiggin's home page
Go to John Quiggin's Weblog | <urn:uuid:39b26d72-8db9-4f76-9382-a93307029cb5> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.uq.edu.au/economics/johnquiggin/news/2007-10-25-AFR.htm | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368702810651/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516111330-00042-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.960059 | 979 | 1.53125 | 2 |
Nice Gears on Automatic Transmission Model made with 3D Printer
What can you made with a 3D printer?
3D Printers can make some amazing parts. Our customer James creates a longer shaft for a Emmett’s Automatic Transmission Model and then makes it with his Airwolf 3D printer.
The people at Airwolf have been very helpful with every aspect of my 3d printer, and support after my purchase has been exceptional. I am very impressed with the speed of the machine for fast prints, but equally impressed with it’s precision at lower speeds. I have only had my Airwolf 3d printer for about a month and I am very happy to be able to print items of this quality so quickly. I cannot be happier with the tolerances of the gears in my automatic transmission model, they mesh nicely, but do not bind, and do not slip, in fact there is almost no play in them at all. I am also very happy with the ease of changing filament colors with the Airwolf3d Printer, even multiple color changes during a single print are easy with the filament quick change system they have implemented. Many thanks to the people at Airwolf3d for developing their 3d printer and putting so much thought into the details of it.
All of these amazing and colorful gears and components where made with his Airwolf 3D Printer. You can see more of James’ creations here: James
http://www.thingiverse.com/thing:37683 <— modified sun gear link
http://www.thingiverse.com/thing:34778 <— emmett’s Automatic Transmission Model link | <urn:uuid:f99041b9-025b-48a7-8afb-afd38cd0a1f7> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://airwolf3d.com/blog/2012/12/18/3d-printer-makes-automatic-transmission/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368701852492/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516105732-00031-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.950381 | 340 | 1.703125 | 2 |
It’s called the Doublespeak Award. Started in 1974, it is an award for people who have most notably deceived the public over the year. Or, according to the National Council of Teachers of English, it is an “ironic tribute to public speakers who have perpetuated language that is grossly deceptive, evasive, euphemistic, confusing, or self centered.”
The award is meant to be the opposite of the Orwell Award (which is for those who contribute to honesty and clarity in public language), somewhat like what the Razzie award is to the Oscar. The National Council of Teachers of English has been issuing the award to one or more people (or occasionally statements) for more than 35 years now.
So who is on the list? Well it probably shouldn't surprise you that every US President in the last thirty years has had the distinction of winning the award- except for Barack Obama, who has yet to be honored with any such distinction.
Some other notable names include Glenn Beck, the United States Department of Defense, the tobacco industry, and even the phrase “aspirational goal.” You can read the full list here. Any guess on who will have the prestige of winning the award this year? | <urn:uuid:111743fc-3442-42d8-a0de-d3d05cb03dc5> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.omg-facts.com/Language/There-Is-An-Award-For-Deceptive-Public-S/51993?fromN | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368700264179/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516103104-00036-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.969272 | 254 | 1.5 | 2 |
I am a very emotional person with a lot of different feelings on a lot of different levels. In my old days I used to let them control me. In a not always good way.
Today I realise that my emotions and feelings are my guidelines through life. I follow the good ones and move away from the bad ones. Good feelings are happiness, love, joy, excitement and so on. Bad feelings are sadness, anger, frustration, fear, hate, dislike and so on. These feelings are all fairly clear in which group the belong to, but there are also some feelings that might be a bit confusing as to where they belong.
One of these feelings is nervousness. Most people would say that it belongs to the bad group of feelings. I would like to say the opposite. Nervousness is a feeling caused by you not being sure of how something will be or turn out. But it also tells you that you care about the turn out of that something. And if you care about something so much that you get nervous, it is sure to be something you want to go well. And you wouldn’t care if you didn’t care.
I try always to focus on the positive side of things. Pick the good stuff out. I always put my energy to the good feelings about something. This is how I live my life, and this is the reason why I always love my life.
However, this doesn’t mean that it is good to completely ignore the bad stuff at all times. There are times when you can do that, but there are also times when it is important to notice the bad stuff. To acknowledge them, and accept them.
I always say that if you don’t like something you need to change it, and if you don’t change it learn how to love it and stop complaining. It is always better to change it though.
You should be happy and excited about every single part of your life, and it is your responsibility to make sure that is the case. What you need to remember is that even when you have reached that point there might come a day when you have changed, or you get bored, or you want something different. At this point it is easy to first slip into the easier option of ignoring the bad feelings growing inside of you and only focus on the good stuff and the good feelings about it. Now, this is a good thing, for a while, but there will come a time when you are going to have to say to yourself that you want something else even if you are happy where you are too. There will come a day when you need to realise that you are living in the past and that it is time to move forward again.
What I want to say with this is this: Always keep your focus on the good stuff and the good feelings, but never ignore the bad feelings. The bad feelings are just as important and they will tell you what it is that you want to change about your life to move forward. | <urn:uuid:98c8176a-e886-499f-8b6c-bcef6be957ba> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://qualityinsideandout.com/category/change/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368700264179/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516103104-00033-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.974139 | 617 | 1.632813 | 2 |
The famous Abbot Hut above Lake Louise after along snow storm in July.
The Drei Zinnen hut in the Dolomites of Italy. Behind are the world famous limestone towers, the Drei Zinnen.
The Olive Hut in the Purcell Mountains west of Radium, by the light of a full moon, at midnight, on December 31, 2000 (when all the lights around the world were supposed to go out - remember).
Colin Jones in front of the historic Shangri La cabin near Jasper.
A heavy snow load on the Stanley Mitchell hut in the Little Yoho Valley.
The Abbot Hut during a wild summer blizzard.
A beautiful old chalet in the Swiss village of Leysin.
The ACC's Elizabeth Parker Hut at Lake O'Hara is one of the most beautiful huts in the Canadian Rockies and the setting is superb.
On the Rogers Pass to Bugaboos ski traverse in 1973 we spent five days in this tent while the wind blew and the snow piled up around us. When it began to clear I climbed out of the tent and took this photo.
The snow falls on the ACC Wheeler Hut in Rogers Pass.
When we climbed the east ridge of Mount Logan in 1978, we were pinned down in this little tent for a week by a ferocious windstorm. Eventually it cleared and we made the East Peak. | <urn:uuid:9aebd3e7-4abe-46e3-8f7a-148abdc4a04e> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.chicscott.com/photos_huts.htm | 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 | 0.94747 | 285 | 1.601563 | 2 |
This story has been updated.
Dozens of prominent faith leaders launched a push Tuesday for gun control, using the post-Newtown climate to argue there is a spiritual imperative for action on gun violence.
Jim Wallis, founder of the evangelical movement Sojourners, challenged the NRA Vice President Wayne LaPierre’s argument that “the only thing that stops a bad guy with a gun is a good guy with a gun.”
Wallis, who was among 25 clergy at a Tuesday news conference, called LaPierre’s view “morally mistaken, theologically dangerous and religiously repugnant. The world is not full of good and bad people, that’s not what the scripture teaches. We all have bad and good in us."
Progressive clergy have long preached for tighter gun measures but since the mass shooting at a Newtown, Conn. elementary school, their demands are getting much more specific and the clergy involved are coming from a broader base.
Monday night, a few dozen national clergy who serve now or have as official advisors to President Obama issued a statement calling for “reasonable steps” such as the enforcement of universal background checks for people buying guns and the “collection and publication of relevant” data on gun violence.
The statement is signed by leaders including the Rev. Larry Snyder, the head of the Catholic Church’s social service arm; National Association of Evangelicals Leith Anderson; and mainline leaders from the Episcopal and Lutheran churches, among others.
“[We] call upon our communities and our elected officials to make every effort to save human lives, especially the lives of children, from senseless gun violence that does not represent the responsible citizenship intended by the Second Amendment,” the statement reads.
More specific is the push coming from a group called Faiths United to Prevent Gun Violence, which grew out of a successful clergy effort to limit use of tobacco. The group led the Tuesday news conference with Wallis and 25 others ,who were among 47 heads of major groups who signed a letter calling for: criminal background checks to buy guns, the removal of guns and magazines from public streets and the making of gun trafficking a federal crime.
The signers lead groups made up of tens of millions of Americans.
The efforts are meant to press and support Vice President Biden’s upcoming report on measures to stem gun violence.
The gun control campaign is a visible effort for progressive faith leaders in particular, who many religious progressives feel haven’t been confrontational enough in recent years and have ceded the public debate square to religious conservatives. The question is how effective they can be at a time when Americans are moving away from institutional religion, thus lessening the clout of even major groups like the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops or the Islamic Society of North America or the National Association of Evangelicals.
There are notable absences to this effort, particularly white evangelicals, who make up a fifth of the country’s population. Even young evangelicals leaders who are known for their focus on bridge-building have been quiet or hostile to the new press for gun control. Among them are writer and thought-leader Gabe Lyons, founder of the trend-setting Q Conference, who last week framed the push for gun control as “the current gun restriction debate” and evidence of another “lost liberty.”
That puts Lyons squarely in the mainstream of white evangelicals, who overwhelmingly oppose stricter gun laws (by 68 percent in an August Post poll). Otherwise faith identity and practice aren’t typically good predictors of Americans’ views on gun control. People who attend worship and people who don’t are both essentially much split down the middle on the question of stricter laws. White Protestants, white Catholics and people with no religious affiliation are also divided. Black Protestants, like African Americans in general, favor stricter gun laws.
Clergy involved in this post-Newtown effort have been clear, however, that there is a racial gap, with some African Americans frustrated that it took Newtown to bring focus to an issue that has long afflicted black children in cities. That gap was on display at the Tuesday news conference, with an overwhelmingly white group of clergy at the microphone.
“African American clergy have been saying these things, we just haven’t been with them,” said Washington Episcopal Bishop Mariann Budde. “We live in such economically and racially segregated times, you don't see it until acts cross the color and economics line, and gets people's attention.” | <urn:uuid:11f3323c-ce55-471b-8fcd-130b5346b38f> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/under-god/post/faith-leaders-launch-gun-control-push/2013/01/15/82d78632-5f2c-11e2-9940-6fc488f3fecd_blog.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368704132298/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516113532-00030-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.959218 | 935 | 1.53125 | 2 |
Many of you out there have had their hair dyed if not once, then a million times. Either switching to a darker color, a lighter color, or just putting in some streaks or highlights. For the newbies, it’s really nothing to be afraid of- once you do it, you’ll absolutely love it! But you also have to be careful about dying your hair.
There are many important facts that you need to revise before going ahead with the jump, such as how often you dye your hair, and or who does it. Dying your hair often can have a very damaging effect on your hair due to all the chemicals. Therefore, it dries out your hair, and leaves it weak and brittle. Make sure you don’t go overboard, and try to keep it down to 3-4 dyes a year.
If you dye your hair at the salon, make sure that it’s a good one. It’s not a very good idea to cheap out on this because the health of your hair depends on it!
If you’re one of those people that like to dye their hair at home, like me, I suggest you read the instructions that are inside very carefully, and that you follow each and every step. Every kind is different, so don’t think you can get away without reading the whole page.
For those of you who want to go from a dark to a light color, don’t do it at home. It will most likely turn out very bad, especially if you want to dye your hair blonde and you’re a brunette. Leave it to a professional please. But if you’re dying your hair a darker color, or just putting in some highlights, feel free to experiment, not much can go wrong. | <urn:uuid:c2dd0a7f-992e-43a8-b3b9-ea403b9df0f6> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://styletips101.com/hair-how-tos/dying-your-hair.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368701852492/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516105732-00022-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.974871 | 373 | 1.625 | 2 |
It seems almost presumptuous writing a review of a book that has more than proved its worth, published in in 1948 and never out of print, City and the Pillar is a landmark book. Written by a twenty one year old Gore Vidal who was already making a reputation with what was the first WWII novel, it cause an uproar on its publication.
The story is centred on the young Jim Willard, who as he is about to enter his last year of high school is in love with his best friend Bob, one year his senior. the expectation is that Bob will go onto college, and Jim will join him in a year, but at the last minute Bob reveals that he is going to sea. On the eve of Bob's departure Jim seduces the heterosexual Bob. Jim then lives in the hopes of reuniting with Bob and continuing their lives together, and so one year later he follows Bob to sea and spends the next ten years in his search for his friend.
During that time Jim follows an adventurous life. After a short time at sea he finds himself in Hollywood where is good looks and manly attributes win him favour with the famous. He travels, has various relationships, enlists when the US enters the war, but all the time his infatuation with Bob hangs over him and prevents him forming any lasting attachments.
Jim is to all outward appearances the typical all-American boy, athletic and handsome, there is nothing effeminate about him, and he does not even consider himself initially as homosexual, he is in fact fairly ignorant about such matters (although the subsequent years will educate him). Jim is far from the typical fictional hero, while likeable he is a little naive, not overly bright, he may not understand himself but is often perceptive in his understanding of others, but it is perhaps in his very ordinariness that his appeal lies, and, maybe like some of us, in his hanging onto his childhood dream.
The City and the Pillar is perceptive and informative, providing an insight into the difficulties of the life of the homosexual in the mid-twentieth century, including the difficulty of recognising and accepting ones own inclinations. But is is also and engrossing read, never mawkish or sentimental, one hopes that Jim will achieve his goal, but it seems the odds are against him, and no one can come out a winner.
This 1997 edition includes an interesting preface by the author written in 1993. | <urn:uuid:ac7b266d-511e-4cfb-9dbd-eabb32ef66ff> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.amazon.co.uk/The-City-And-Pillar/dp/0349106576 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368702448584/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516110728-00042-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.988131 | 502 | 1.625 | 2 |
How To Buy A Lacrosse Stick
The lacrosse stick is an essential piece of equipment for the lacrosse player, and the type of stick you buy depends on a number of factors, including your position, skill level, and gender.
Types of sticks
Lacrosse sticks come in a variety of lengths and styles according to position and type of game played, with cost and durability as additional factors.
- Men's sticks generally have an aluminum handle
- All manufacturers now make more technically advanced sticks made of aluminum, graphite or even titanium
- These styles are generally more lightweight and durable than wood sticks, but more expensive
- Men use either a traditional or meshpocket depending on their position and playing style
- Women's sticks have either a wood or aluminum handle
- Wood sticks, like wooden baseball bats, are prone to damage and breaking
- These sticks utilize a traditional pocket
- The head on a women's stick is 1 inch above the center stop
- The head has an overall length of 10-12 inches
- Women's stick pockets are shallower than men's. The pockets must have 4 or 5 leather thongs and no more than 2 shooting strings.
- Plastic sticks are primarily used by younger players just learning the sport
- These are lighter, easier to break in and more durable than the models for more advanced players
- They usually utilize a mesh netting
- The plastic stick's pointed mouth makes it easier for younger players to pick up the ball and throw it accurately
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Anatomy of a lacrosse stick
- The type of handle you buy is very much a matter of preference
- Some players like heavy, thick handles for defensive purposes
- Attacking players generally prefer lighter, rounder handles for better faking and maneuverability
- Some players prefer square shaped handles for a better feel on which way the head is facing
Lacrosse sticks come with either a traditional woven pocket for more experienced players or a mesh pocket for novices. They also can be bought strung or unstrung.
- Traditional pockets
- These consist of nylon laces woven around 4 adjustable strips of leather
- The leather strips can be adjusted to fit any type of shot. They do need to be replaced after repeated use.
- A stiffer pocket is more accurate but gives less control while running and moving
- Mesh pockets
- They are made of a nylon webbing woven into the side of the pocket and require little or no adjustment
- Mesh pockets are looser and give less accuracy on passes and shots, but make it easier to control the ball when running
- These require less maintenance than traditional pockets
- The mesh netting does not control or absorb the ball as well as leather netting
- Goal keepers tend to prefer mesh netting because it reduces rebounds
- Pocket depth
- Pocket depth is mostly a matter of preference and playing style
- Generally, a deeper pocket provides more feel and ball control, while a shallower pocket gives you a quicker release but sacrifices ball control
- Ball-control players who do a lot of short passing should use a fairly deep pocket
- Fast-break players who tend to pass the ball over longer areas should use a shallower pocket
- Overhand shooters should have an average depth pocket (a ball width or less)
- Sidearm and underhand shooters should have depths of a ball or more
- Shooting strings
- Shooting strings, positioned horizontally near the top of the stick's head, affect the ball's balance and direction
- Overhand passers usually put in 3 or 4 shooting strings to make a smooth path for the ball to run out of the pocket. Heavy skate laces are best used for this.
- The shooting strings determine whether your shot will have "whip,"which occurs when the ball is released smoothly and gradually. Experienced players prefer a whippy release.
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Proper stick length according to position
The length of your stick depends almost entirely on the position you play.
Attackers should buy a stick that is close to the minimum length of 30 inches to allow for more control and maneuverability
Midfielders should buy a slightly longer medium-length stick to allow them to play both offense and defense
Defenders should use the longest stick they are comfortable with, usually around 60 inches, for greater reach
Goaltender sticks are generally 42 inches long
- Younger players should make sure they choose a stick that fits them comfortably, regardless of position. It is more important to be able to handle the stick and ball comfortably.
- Women's sticks range only from 36 to 44 inches. The exact length depends on the position--longer (43-44 inches) for defenders, shorter (36 inches) for attackers.
Return To Top | <urn:uuid:39a120ff-7204-4430-983f-acf2738c3a6d> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.sportsauthority.com/info/index.jsp?categoryId=222943&backTo=13321457&infoPath=222987 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368696383156/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516092623-00002-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.94136 | 983 | 1.710938 | 2 |
It's been awhile since I posted a DIY tutorial. I have been so swamped with making cards that I had to force myself to stop for a sort time and tend to some important household duties. My daughter recently redecorated her bedroom. She went from Lily Pulitzer hot pink and lime green to a more mature color scheme of gray and dark purple. The transformation was amazing! The best and most fun part for her was taking all of the loose change that she found while she was cleaning her room and exchanging it for cold, hard cash. She was amazed when two coffee mugs full of coins garnished her nearly $60.00. She used the money to buy new decor for her room. (More on that later.)
I was excited to get my hands on the hot-pink chalkboard that she had hanging on her wall. It was just begging for some TLC. It somehow gained some gross (hard-to-cover) ink stains over the years, but they didn't stop me.
I had been wanting to use some chalkboard paint for awhile. I just so happened to have gray chalkboard paint on hand from another project that I never got around to making. It was so EASY to use the paint and so fun to up-cycle this nasty-looking pink board. Here are before and after pics:
I used Mod Podge and decorative paper to cover up the ink stains that weren't hidden by the chalkboard paint. The decorative paper also gives the chalkboard a more mature look. The photos below show how easy this project was to create.
1) Start off with the nasty-looking board. It didn't require any prep other than dusting.
2) Use chalkboard paint and a brush large enough to make wide strokes. Make sure the brush doesn't leave behind any bristles.
3) Apply a few coats of paint, waiting about an hour between coats.
4) Allow all of the coats to completely dry.
5) Cut and glue strips of decorative paper using Mod Podge.
Yes, it really was THAT easy.
More room projects coming up next week, including up-cycling a bulletin board and making a hanging decoration for the ceiling fan chain. Stay tuned. | <urn:uuid:56c809fb-5ed8-403f-8044-ee8593a3870f> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://ewillow.com/serendipity/ewillow_blog.php?/categories/3-Gift-Ideas | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368704713110/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516114513-00007-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.981136 | 459 | 1.679688 | 2 |
Corporate world is left behind for online cause
April 5, 2008
Exciting? You bet. Scary? Sometimes, for sure.
But thrills and far-flung adventure are only side bonuses of the new life that Del Mar couple Liz Allen and Mark Fangue are making for themselves. They shucked their successful corporate careers 15 months ago to follow their hearts and launch a Web-based market for Third World artisans and craft makers.
Their goal, they say, is simple: to generate sustainable income for talented but isolated artists in developing countries in Asia, Africa and Latin America. About one-third of the proceeds of the fledgling venture, exoticworldgifts.com, goes back to the artists and their villages. A third goes to the import-export firm the couple has hired, and the remaining third goes back into the business for travel and other expenses.
“We decided there's a different way to do business, a different way to live,” Allen said. “Business doesn't have to be just about capitalism.”
The endeavor is a manifestation of deeper life changes that Allen and Fangue are undertaking together. Both divorced, they met two years ago through an online dating service. They both had high-paying careers but longed to do something more meaningful.
Allen, 47, was a global marketing executive, while Fangue, 56, was an electrical engineer and operations manager.
The seeds of their new business were sown on a 10-day trip to Belize in November 2006. Along the beaches, in riverbank villages and in roadside huts on the way to jungle ruins, the couple met struggling artisans selling handmade baskets, bowls and jewelry. The wares were beautiful but sold only to the tourists who happened along.
A few weeks later, Allen was at a conference table in another pressure-packed corporate meeting when it hit her: This just doesn't feel right anymore.
“I was making great money for my clients. I was doing well,” she said. “But it wasn't my heart's desire.”
Allen sold her four-bedroom house in Orange County and moved into Fangue's one-bedroom Del Mar home. Using the real estate proceeds – and most of their savings – they decided to create an Internet market to help artists like those they had met in Belize sell their crafts in the United States and worldwide.
It took a few months to get the Web site up and running, and the business is still in its adolescence. Through their own travels and with help from other organizations and networks, the couple have contracted a growing list of artists in eight nations on four continents.
They're looking for warehouse space, but for now their home is filled with colorful bowls, scarves, pillows and backpacks from around the world.
“We work 16 hours a day, seven days a week,” Fangue said. “It's nonstop. It's continuous. But we love it.”
Thayer Ridgway, a Solana Beach Internet designer, met the couple through a neighbor and was as impressed with what they offered as he was with them. He bought a Balinese necklace and a Thai silk scarf for his mother.
“It's inspiring what they're doing,” Ridgway said. “I think the business concept is great and their products are awesome, as well.
“I like the fact that people who buy their goods are benefiting an individual artisan. It's a good blend of capitalism and philanthropy.”
Fangue's daughter, 25-year-old Alison Moreno of Portland, Ore., said she and other family members had their doubts when her dad and Allen announced the leap of faith they were taking.
“It was a little bit crazy at first, giving up a solid income – especially in California, which is pretty expensive,” Moreno said. “(But) it's turned out for the best, actually.
“He's just an entirely different person,” Moreno said of her father. “He just used to be very high-strung. This is just a totally different, life-changing thing for him.”
Fangue agreed. He's hoping that within a year, he and Allen will begin cutting into the six-figure debt it took to launch their endeavor. In the meantime, they couldn't be happier or more satisfied, he said.
“We're on the right path,” Fangue said. “We don't know how it's going to end. In fact, we don't even know what it's going to be like next week. But today, we're doing what we're supposed to be doing.” | <urn:uuid:dfc9255b-cc71-483d-a994-205f2911a624> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://legacy.utsandiego.com/news/northcounty/20080405-9999-1mc5import.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368699273641/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516101433-00036-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.980437 | 985 | 1.546875 | 2 |
The immigrant vote has long been an apparently insoluble conundrum for the GOP. We've discussed Latinos, many of whom, despite holding conservative views, voted for Obama over McCain by a margin of more than two-to-one in 2008. We've also talked about how closely Asians are aligned with Republicans on a number of issues, but nevertheless vote Democrat (62% of the Asian vote went to Obama in 2008).
Over the past decade, Canada's Tories have faced a similar challenge in trying to figure out how to appeal to the large and growing immigrant voter bloc in some of the country's most populated (and therefore most crucial for an electoral victory) metropolitan areas. One welcome surprise that emerged from Canada's recent electoral shakeup is the degree of success that Conservatives achieved among immigrant voters. Here's how they did it:
- Conservatives established connections with immigrant voters
In one day during the 2011 election campaign, Citizenship and Immigration Minister Jason Kenney attended 15 different chai parties hosted by Indo-Canadian voters in Brampton West, Ont. That’s just a snapshot of his epic cross-Canada campaigning, but it’s indicative of the stamina and persistence of the Conservative point man for ethnic communities.
He and Prime Minister Stephen Harper have transformed their party from one that was perceived as hostile to new Canadians to one that is now home to a great many immigrant voters and Members of Parliament.
- Conservatives listened to and engaged with the leaders of immigrant communities in order to create a "constituency of askers"
The transformation of the Conservative party began in 2006 when Mr. Kenney embarked on a cross-country listening tour, engaging ethnic community leaders who previously felt repelled by the party. He asked what government could do for them. Then he initiated a series of symbolic gestures designed to build relationships, such as the apology for the Chinese Head Tax and cutting the immigrant landing fee.
A Conservative source said there was a deliberate strategy to deliver on the issues that mattered to these communities, but not instantly. That way they could create a constituency of “askers,” motivated leaders who could be converted to supporters.
- Conservatives communicated their core platform in the native tongues of their target immigrant voters
“People tend to forget that the main appeal isn’t on … community-specific issues. It’s based on the core platform,” Mr. Kenney said. “If you look at the ads we ran in Mandarin, Punjabi and Cantonese, it’s exactly that. Vote your values.”
And the results?
The Conservative majority was won primarily in the suburban ridings of the 905 area code and in the City of Toronto. Of the 18 seats they gained in that region, 14 are more than 45 per cent immigrant, and most would not long ago have been considered un-winnable for the Conservatives.
...The party also swept all four ridings in Brampton, which have large South Asian populations.
Go out and meet constituents from immigrant communities? Listen to their concerns? Produce a few targeted ads in the native languages of immigrant constituencies? It all sounds so simple, so trite, so...corny. But could it work for the GOP? | <urn:uuid:65cd253c-412a-4364-b5ba-3e3edc23b027> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://ricochet.com/main-feed/What-the-GOP-Can-Learn-From-the-Tories-Success/(comment)/135600 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368704713110/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516114513-00033-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.96575 | 663 | 1.75 | 2 |
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Inside an exclusive papal "club" shrouded in mystery and scandal.
ROME, Italy — When in 1994 President Bill Clinton went to pay a visit to Pope John Paul II at the Vatican, he met first with a group of elegantly dressed old men. They greeted the leader of the free world in one of the "anticamere" — ante-chambers — of the Apostolic Palace, wearing black coat-tails and ornate golden collars with a heraldic emblem.
Veteran Vatican correspondents recall that Clinton, unsure of whom he was facing, nevertheless started talking politely with the members of the group. The conversation went on for nearly 10 minutes before his aides were able to intervene and remind him that he had more pressing meetings on schedule.
The men Clinton met were members of one of the most exclusive clubs on the planet, known as the Gentlemen of His Holiness — or the Pope's Gentlemen.
The latest list of their ranks, published in 2009, sets their number worldwide at 147. Most of them (114) are Italians, and they come from Roman families considered to be among the noblest and most ancient — the Torlonia, the Corsini, the Borghese. These families have been serving popes for centuries, previously going under the name Secret Chamberlains of the Sword and Cape. Their task, originally, was to attend the pope's meals together with other select Monsignors and Chapelains, forming the so-called Papal Family.
But such a relic from the centuries when the papacy was a monarchy which actually ruled over most of central Italy seemed anachronistic at the time of the reforms of the Second Vatican Council, in the 1960s. And so Pope Paul VI decided to reform the Papal Family and turned the Secret Chamberlains in the more soberly named Papal Gentlemen.
Their duties today mostly consist of escorting diplomats and dignitaries during audiences with the pope or official ceremonies at the Vatican. Called upon by the prefecture of the Papal Household, they must come to Rome and be ready for service for two weeks every year. They also have to carry the pope's bier at his funeral.
Paul VI's reform also opened the Gentlemen's ranks, stating that beyond nobility, everyone who had distinguished himself “for the good of souls and the glory of the name of the Lord” could be called to join the exclusive club.
In fact, it has been mostly donors and businessmen with close ties to the Holy See or to some key cardinal to receive the honor — bestowed with an hand-written "biglietto" from the Vatican Secretariat of State — together with laymen who served the Catholic Church for decades.
One of them is 79-year-old Mario Agnes, who became a Gentleman in 2007 after editing for 25 years the Osservatore Romano, the Vatican newspaper. “It's a gift, an act of kindness the Holy Father wanted to do toward me,” he said about the appointment, shying away from giving to much importance to it.
Still, some who have received the honor have used it to boast about their special connection to the Vatican and the pope himself — just as they were involved in some less-than-transparent affairs. At a time when the papacy is already shaken by sex-abuse scandal, they have brought some unwanted publicity to the church.
The most recent case is that of Angelo Balducci, Papal Gentleman since 1985. | <urn:uuid:f5ecf743-91f6-41ef-affc-a2f407b99b65> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.globalpost.com/dispatch/italy/100727/all-the-popes-gentlemen | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368710006682/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516131326-00023-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.971592 | 727 | 1.78125 | 2 |
Wallis, Sandra (2004) Developing research-informed practice in child care social work teams. Doctoral thesis, Durham University.
The thesis centres on a two-year project with childcare teams in a local authority social services department encouraging the use of research materials to inform social workers' day-to-day practice. The intervention was intended to encourage research-mindedness in social workers in order to develop research-informed practice, describe its implementation and evaluate its outcomes. The thesis first considers various strategies for the improvement of professional practice found mostly in the health field, whilst also looking at educational aspects of adult learning theory allied to problem solving and peer group learning. The development and evaluation of an intervention project is then described. The project was delivered by organising and setting up practice development groups (PDGs) in each of the teams, which were facilitated for a period of six to nine months. Group meetings were held fortnightly during this time and lasted two hours. Within the PDGs, social workers' live cases were used during group discussions to arrive at a request for research information relating to the case in order to generate "research informed practice". Data for the evaluation were collected by means of participant observation, the administration of standardised measures of team functioning and follow-up interviews. In the course of the intervention some essential features that were found to assist with the project's success were built into the design. These included the introduction of training sessions in critical thinking skills that were needed to enable social workers to evaluate their cases to see what research information might be useful. The project also identified the need for basic IT skills training and updated software packages together with a requirement for access to electronic journals. There was a high level of commitment to the project by the social workers and evidence that they were able to utilise research information in ways that sometimes changed the direction of their cases and often empowered both the social worker and the client. However, learning at the individual level was not reflected at the organisational level of the employing department.
|Item Type:||Thesis (Doctoral)|
|Award:||Doctor of Philosophy|
|Copyright:||Copyright of this thesis is held by the author|
|Deposited On:||09 Sep 2011 09:58| | <urn:uuid:8778f1a3-8e2b-4890-8027-dcabb7b12521> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://etheses.dur.ac.uk/2965/ | 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 | 0.967738 | 455 | 1.515625 | 2 |
A picture is worth a thousand words: So reasoned Interior Secretary Gale Norton when she mailed copies of a videotape of Alaska’s Arctic National Wildlife Refuge to major television stations and encouraged news producers to use the footage in their coverage of the debate over drilling. (In contrast to videos of the Arctic Refuge produced by conservation organizations, which generally feature wildlife and breathtaking views, the video shows a desolate-looking winterscape.) According to Rep. Ed Markey (D-Mass.), Norton committed a major no-no. The video was developed by Arctic Power, a pro-drilling lobbying group, and Markey says Norton illegally used her office — and by extension taxpayer money — to distribute propaganda from a special-interest group. An Interior spokesperson denied any wrongdoing on Norton’s part. Meanwhile, Republicans bought extra time to prepare for the showdown over the Arctic Refuge when the Senate agreed to postpone introduction of the GOP drilling proposal until next Tuesday. | <urn:uuid:13f2defc-eb4e-418a-b026-21b5a8ffc5db> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://grist.org/article/and21/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368704132298/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516113532-00009-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.934407 | 190 | 1.5 | 2 |
About the Photographer
American, b. 1949
In 1972, David Levinthal photographed a package worth of toy Nazi soldiers posed on the floor of his parents' home. Soon thereafter he was collaborating with fellow classmate and future Doonesbury cartoonist Garry Trudeau, as the two staged and documented their recreation of the Germans' 1941 invasion of Russia. This experiment not only turned into a series of exhibitions and the 1977 book Hitler Moves East, but also set the stage for a career creating photographs that use toy figures to explore iconic imagery.
Levinthal also made a small series with cowboy figures in 1972, though it was all but forgotten when he purchased a new set of Britains cowboy figures in 1985. The Wild West series, begun in 1986, does not seek to depict the historic American West but rather takes root in Levinthal's memories of playing cowboys and Indians as a child, staging re-enactments with old west toys, watching TV shows like Gunsmoke, and attending countless B-movie matinees. Using toy figures meticulously re-painted by Levinthal himself, the series reconstructs an iconic West through what he remembers of those childhood representations (which were themselves interpretations of the past). Each of Levinthal's series has a distinctive palette, and The Wild West scenes are done in a warm amber tint. The very shallow depth of field used in this series confuses the blur of limited focus with the blur of motion as horses rear up on their back legs or carry their riders over brush and rocks. The effect also suggests the haze of memory, though the saturation of color maintains an emotional intensity. Shot as 3-by-3 inch SX-70 Polaroids, the final prints are rendered on a much grander scale with acrylic paint on canvas.
David Levinthal was born in San Francisco on March 10, 1949. He holds an AB in studio art from Stanford University (1970), an MFA in photography from Yale University, and an SM in Management Science from MIT (1981). After business school, he worked as a management consultant in Silicon Valley, where he made enough money co-founding a high-tech marketing firm that, selling his share of the business in 1983, he could afford to photograph full-time. His major projects include Hitler Moves East (1975-1977), Modern Romance (1984-86), The Wild West (1987-89), American Beauties (1989-90), Desire (1990-91), Mein Kampf (1993-94), Blackface (1996), Barbie Millicent Roberts (1998-99), XXX (1999), Netsuke (2002-), and Baseball (2003-). He is the recipient of a John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation Fellowship (1995), National Endowment for the Arts Visual Artists Fellowship (1990-91), Polaroid Corporation Artist Support Grants (1987-89), and Prix du Livre de Photographie, Le Prix du Livre-Images, les Rencontres, Arles, France (1997). He has had more than 90 solo exhibitions, and his photographs are included in the collections of numerous institutions. Levinthal lives and works in New York. | <urn:uuid:5c951b62-c4c2-4238-9783-b5cd9398f0fc> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.mocp.org/detail.php?t=objects&type=tag&f=550&s=&record=8&tag=Horse | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368702448584/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516110728-00013-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.945095 | 635 | 1.742188 | 2 |
NPD Group, a leading market research company for the entertainment industry, said that according to its latest consumer tracking study, video games are more popular among American consumers than going out to movies, but still considerably less popular than listening to music.
“Video games account for one-third of the average monthly consumer spending in the U.S. for core entertainment content, including music, video, games. While a portion of that share stems from the premium price of console games, we’re also seeing an overall increase in the number of people participating in gaming year-over-year,” said Anita Frazier, video games industry analyst for NPD.
According to NPD, 63% Americans have played a video game in the past six months. While that level of penetration does not begin to compete with music listening, which is nearly universal – 94%, it exceeds the percentage of U.S. consumers who report going out to the movies – 63% – during that same time period. Gaming is also benefiting from new outlets for playing. Overall 10% of U.S. consumers played video games on a social network. 5% have paid to download a video game from the Web, which is an increase of nearly 2% since last year.
According to NPD’s March 2009 update to the “Entertainment Trends In America” consumer tracking study, which provides an in-depth look at U.S. entertainment consumption, the average gamer spent just over $38 per month on all types of gaming content, based on reported spending in the three months prior to March 2009.
“As with video and music, sales of physical gaming products still account for the bulk of consumer spending on video games, but digital downloads and other delivery and game-play formats are also rising in popularity,” said Russ Crupnick, entertainment industry analyst for NPD.
NPD’s report revealed that 31% of gamers bought a console video game or portable game over the past 12 months – a seven percentage point increase in traditional game purchasers compared with the year prior. Yet traditional gamers are also finding new ways to play: among consumers who play console or portable games, 31% also played a game on a gaming Web site; 12% played on a social networking site; 19% played a game that came with their mobile phones; and 11% purchased and downloaded a game to a mobile phone.
The study was conducted online and is based on more than 11 000 completed responses from U.S. consumers. | <urn:uuid:9a445045-26df-430f-b4d1-9564de4541d1> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.xbitlabs.com/news/multimedia/display/20090527044537_More_Americans_Play_Video_Games_Than_Go_Out_to_the_Movies__Research.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368709037764/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516125717-00029-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.96893 | 515 | 1.796875 | 2 |
Link between Christmas and ghost stories?
December 8, 2009 7:12 PM Subscribe
What’s the link between Christmas and ghost stories?
posted by paulg to society & culture (7 answers total) 14 users marked this as a favorite
M.R. James started writing his ghost stories to read to friends on Christmas Eve. There's Dickens' A Christmas Carol. The frame story in "The Turn of the Screw" has a bunch of friends sitting around the harth on Christmas Eve. The song "It's the Most Wonderful Time of the Year" has the line there'll be scary ghost stories and tales of the glories of Christmases long, long ago. Tim Burton gave us The Nightmare Before Christmas.
Is it as simple as the fact that Christmas, as we celebrate it, was shaped by the Victorians, and the Victorians like ghost stories? Is this some sort of pre-Christian pagan tradition that survived till modern times. Perhaps people just can't get enough Halloween in October. When did the Christmas ghost story originate and why? | <urn:uuid:82a7129c-b148-4ee7-b01e-be50f3cd63f2> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://ask.metafilter.com/140167/Link-between-Christmas-and-ghost-stories | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368707435344/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516123035-00033-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.947918 | 218 | 1.789063 | 2 |
There’s a regular occurrence in politics where elected officials have neared the end of their tenure either by reaching the limit of their allowed term/s or being defeated in re-election bids. Their successors have already been chosen, but before the looming takeover the old guard continues to serve in office. This awkward transition period can lead to a focus on the future that disempowers those operating in the present. George W. Bush experienced this “lame duck” phenomenon acutely before vacating the presidency, “in the days before Thanksgiving, Obama began to move — if not to take charge outright, then at least to preview what things will be like when he does take over in January”
). Despite having the most powerful job on the planet for another month, it did not matter what Bush wanted to accomplish, his agenda was meaningless in the face of what and who was to come.
…the contract with Freedom Academy Foundation, Inc. to operate the school would terminate at the end of the current school year and the school would remain open for existing students until the end of the SY2013/14 under the operation of City Schools – accepting no new 6th and no new 9th graders for the 2013/14 school year and is recommended for closure at the end of SY2013/14.
The leader of the free world could do nothing with just a one month lame duck session. The Baltimore Freedom Academy community, admittedly struggling even prior to the closure decision must now navigate a 4 month lame duck session, followed by an additional full year with the public knowledge that the school has no real future. I bring this up not to argue the justness of the charter renewal process or its ultimate decision in our specific case (though those are juicy topics indeed), but to consider what sort of transition is best for kids when schools are closed.
At BFA, the knowledge of our impending doom has had a tangible impact already on morale. Staff attendance has hit a rough patch and a colleague of mine was recently told by some students that they didn’t care anymore because the school was closing. Tenured teachers who wish to remain in the system will need to take some time typically spent on planning/grading/phone calls home to locate their next placement. Non-tenured teachers have been told that they have a choice between remaining at a school they will no longer have chosen, to be operated by yet unknown people, or they can retire from the system altogether (a not so appealing message to a group of people that includes young talent and commitment which the system should want to maintain and foster). Families are rushed to make unexpected arrangements with inadequate information to secure their next learning community. Current 6th and 9th grade students should they choose to stay are setting themselves up for 3 transitions in 3 years, from their old schools to BFA, from BFA to the City Schools-run version in SY 2013/2014, to wherever they land after the complete closure. The challenges spurred by the charter non-renewal are significant and multifold.
So why not just close the school in June rather than endure an entire lame duck year? To be honest I do not know the answer to this question and was motivated to write in part to discover the rationale behind the decision. I can speculate a few reasons, the first being that transferring hundreds of students by next fall would be a bureaucratic nightmare for North Ave. and a painful influx for the schools who took displaced kids on. Perhaps the view is that staying in the building with at least some of the same staff will provide a measure of continuity during a difficult stretch. Maybe the drive is economic, they need more time to sell off the property which is on the chopping block according to the new 10 year facilities plan. These decisions are enormously complicated and I wouldn’t purport to have a painless alternative ready to go. I would hope that people have put as much thought into what happens after schools are closed as they have put into the school evaluation process itself, and that whatever plan is in place will be communicated clearly, thoroughly, and immediately to those of us tasked with teaching and supporting kids throughout.
In 1933 Congress passed the 20th amendment establishing the beginning and ending terms of federal offices. Prior to that, members of congress could sit a full 13 months after losing an election, thus endangering the country’s ability to respond to emergencies. If lame duck congresses are so ineffective they required constitutional limitations, how can lame duck schools operating for extended periods of time be good for kids? | <urn:uuid:60cd8f94-8561-480e-bcc8-dbb245ea4a09> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://coopcatalyst.wordpress.com/2013/02/23/lame-duck-schools/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368710006682/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516131326-00014-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.975428 | 920 | 1.546875 | 2 |
This is condensed from a 2009 blog post
where I interact online with New Yorker
dance critic Joan Acocella
, criticizing the elasticity of her timeline for postmodernism
. If most everyday users do something, can it be post-?
About Vaslav Najinsky: "The expression and beauty of his body, his featherweight lightness and steel-like strength, his great elevation and incredible gift of rising and seeming to remain in the air, and his extraordinary virtuosity and dramatic acting made him a genius of the ballet."[cit]
Christian Compte's YouTube channel Vaslav Nijinsky
has short clips of the dancer performing. "These aren't films. They are computer-generated artifacts, made by Christian Comte, a French artist who has a studio in Cannes,"[cit]
writes Joan Acocella.
Parody is a key tactic of postmodernism "because it foregrounds quotation and self-referentiality."[cit] | <urn:uuid:e52478b8-b9a3-4877-b610-8f949e52f9f5> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://vectors.usc.edu/projects/learningfromyoutube/texteo.php?composite=3&tag=6 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368697380733/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516094300-00024-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.941249 | 204 | 1.632813 | 2 |
Audiophiles have long been presented with an unending dilemma, pitting the need for sonic perfection against the desire to maintain a comfortable, aesthetic living environment (and happy spouse). This is usually a precarious balance, since the best-sounding speakers are often the largest and, dare we say, ugliest. While many technologies have addressed this dilemma in part, none have laid it to rest.
Flat, Flexible Loudspeakers have a shot, if indeed they perform as advertised. These speakers designed by University of Warwick spinoff company Warwick Audio Technologies are an astounding quarter of a millimeter thick. As the name designates they are also quite pliable and can be molded in or wrapped around virtually any type of surface. They are also printable and capable of being cut into various shapes. Size them, cut them and bend them into whatever space that you are working with and experience high quality audio, without any spacial imposition. Warwick has provided several such examples of just how easy they’d be to conceal in a vehicle, in the ceiling or even right on the wall disguised as a piece of artwork. These speakers could easily be the most seamless audio component ever designed.
Of course, you’re thinking: “How could something that looks like a flimsy piece of plexiglass ever sound as good as my 250-pound KEF Muons?” And you’re correct. These speakers can be micro-thin and flexible until they vanish into thin air, but they won’t be worth the raw materials used, if they don’t sound good.
Until we hear a pair of these loudspeakers or at least see some testimonials outside of those offered by company officials, it will be difficult to tell. The information that has been offered has been very general and polished. However, Warwick has claimed that the audio is both accurate and powerful. The FFL material is a laminate composed of sandwiched insulators and conductors, which with the addition of the electrical audio signal, vibrates and produces a planar wave with high directivity and precise imaging. The wave spreads evenly across a listening room or audience and doesn’t drop off sharply based on distance. Warwick has also expounded upon the fact that FFLs are inexpensive to manufacture, meaning that they could be a viable option for basic home and car audio.
Warwick describes the speakers as efficient and low power, driven by voltage and dissipating little current into heat. Distortion is also said to be minimal. This statement offers a very promising glimpse: “By significantly improving the electrical to audio efficiency, we have broken the conventional link between the power rating and the loudness of a speaker. The loudness of cone speakers is often linked to the electrical power consumption. This is not a relevant relationship for the FFL.” Perhaps, in addition to space, you can save a little money on the amplifier.
While the company’s claim that the speakers will serve well for public PA systems because of the ability of the sound wave to travel further and deteriorate less than conventional speakers is rather uninspiring (who really cares about the sound quality of a supermarket price check), the company has stated some perceived interest amongst manufacturers of car audio applications and others. No word as to exactly where they might show up, but “the company is currently in negotiations with a number of commercial partners and continues to welcome fresh approaches. It expects to launch its first commercial product following the next funding round later this year.” Currently, they are offering evaluation kits to audio engineers to work toward applying FFL technology.
Hopefully, the Flat, Flexible Loudspeaker design will do more than just fizzle into faded memory like so many promising ideas. If FFLs can perform up to the hype (or at least some of it) and are truly inexpensive, they could quickly take over home audio as we know it. | <urn:uuid:fcfb04d0-3054-473d-8843-ce55137e818c> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://metaefficient.com/speakers/incredibly-slim-versatile-loudspeakers-change-face-audio.html/comment-page-1 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368704392896/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516113952-00015-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.966614 | 805 | 1.804688 | 2 |
Dirty Kuffar (2005), jihad rap from Digihad Sheikh Terrah
“Is rap the battleground between Muslims?” asked the American journalist. I watched as her subject, a Casablancan emcee named Soultana, shifted her gaze into the middle distance, her face expressionless. We all went silent.
The journalist, a specialist in Iranian and Lebanese politics, was visiting Casablanca to give a talk. I had arrived a few weeks before to spend a year doing fieldwork for my dissertation on Moroccan hip hop and neoliberalization. I helped the journalist to arrange a day of interviews with Moroccan emcees for a chapter of her next book, on responses to Islamist extremism from the Muslim world. As we sat in the lobby of her downtown hotel that afternoon in 2009, she introduced herself to the four artists interviewed that day with the same message: she was inspired by hip hop in the Arab world after she heard DAM, a pioneering Palestinian-Israeli group, for the first time. DAM was “giving the kids something besides Molotov cocktails and suicide bombs,” she said.Rappers were the only people speaking truth to power in “these closed societies” across the Middle East and North Africa, she said. And their music was the only thing keeping at-risk youth, kids from slums where Islamist mosques provided services and social ties, from joining violent extremists. That’s why she wanted to spend a chapter of the book on the stories of hip hop artists from across the region—to capture the voices of what she called “the jihad against the jihad.” | <urn:uuid:7a694cc9-26f5-48d6-933e-c4b00a18de23> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://eurasianhub.com/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368700958435/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516104238-00002-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.974239 | 333 | 1.835938 | 2 |
How To Clean Satin Shoes
If you know how to clean silk shoes, then you know how to clean satin shoes. Satin is made from silk. It can be woven into acetate, cotton, nylon and polyester. More than likely, if you have satin shoes then the satin fabric is glued onto the shoes. Satin is a very delicate and expensive fabric, so if you have satin shoes then you must clean them using the proper cleaning techniques when you do it at home.
To clean satin shoes, you will need:
- A soft cloth
- Mild soap
- Warm water
- Take your satin shoes to a professional shoe cleaner if you have a stubborn stain. If you don't want to take the chance that you might damage the shoes while cleaning them, a professional cleaner is best. Satin can easily be damaged, so proceed with caution and make sure to clean your satin shoes carefully and properly.
- Wipe the satin shoes off with a damp, soft cloth. This should be done periodically, so the satin fabric will shine and you will get rid of any dust residue on the satin shoes.
- Use a small drop of a mild dishwashing soap on stains. Put the small drop of soap on the soft cloth and then dampen the cloth with warm water. Wipe the stain with the soft cloth.
- Rinse the soft cloth in water and wring out. Gently wipe the satin shoes again with the soft cloth. If the stain is gone then you've managed to clean your satin shoes at home.
- Let the satin shoes air dry before wearing. If the stain did not come out, then you will need to take the satin shoes to a professional to get cleaned. Don't get disappointed; sometimes you can't clean satin shoes at home, and they must be cleaned by a professional. | <urn:uuid:2589d21e-485b-4fd4-b083-2cf38708499b> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.mademan.com/mm/how-clean-satin-shoes.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368707435344/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516123035-00004-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.948974 | 390 | 1.515625 | 2 |
Master Gardener Foundation of Clark County
The Master Gardener Foundation holds monthly educational meetings, the first Tuesday of each month, except January, July and August. These are held at 7:00 p.m. at the CASEE Center, 11104 NE 149th Street, Brush Prairie in Building B, Rm 202/205. A volunteer appreciation picnic is held in July. Meetings are open to the public and are held in an ADA compatible meeting room. Upcoming programs are advertised in The Columbian, The Reflector, and The Oregonian, as well as on this site and on our Facebook page.
June 4th Program:
Vegetation Management for the New Age Gardener
Emelie McKain, the education and outreach coordinator from the Clark County Vegetation Management, a division of Clark County Environmental Services will present a very informative program on noxious weeds and how to identify them.
FREE to the public and members. No registration required.
Clark County Vegetation Management, a division of Clark County Environmental Services is your local source for information on noxious weed identification, control, reporting and management. Emelie McKain is the education and outreach coordinator for Vegetation Management and is spearheading several new programs this year; utilizing technology to put identifying, mapping and reporting noxious weeds at your fingertips. She comes with years of expertise in invasive species research, identification, mapping and management. Enjoy learning more about what Vegetation Management do for the county and several free programs you can be a part of. In this session you will also receive updates on local noxious weeds as well as ways to identify and report noxious weeds when you see them, where you see them. Learn how to take part in their citizen science campaign by letting your garden, backyard, local trail or park also become your reporting field.
Watch for more information on future meetings:
July 9th - Volunteer Appreciation Picnic at 6 PM
August - NO MEETING
September 3rd - Nancy Chennault, The Plant Station, speaking on "The Gardens at Sandy Bend"
October 1st - Samantha Hatch, Eastfork Nursery, speaking on "All Things You Need to Know About Japanese Maples"
November 5th - Heather Havens, Concentrates Inc, speaking on "Natural Fertilization and Soil Management"
December 3rd - Dr Judy Harpel, Bryologist, speaking about "Mosses, Hornworts and Liverworts"
Click on the contact link if you want more information on our monthly educational programs. | <urn:uuid:77acaea7-be74-4673-b167-23ca487cb3c7> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.mgfcc.com/Events.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368703298047/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516112138-00028-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.934311 | 521 | 1.804688 | 2 |
DURHAM -- Oyster River Womenade, a non-profit organization founded in 2006 to provide immediate support to community members in time of hardship, has received a $2,000 grant from the Thomas W. Haas Fund of the New Hampshire Charitable Foundation. This generous grant will be used to provide individuals and families with food and/or fuel assistance.
Oyster River Womenade serves the communities of Durham, Lee, Madbury, and Newmarket. Every dollar raised through small/large fundraising events and donations goes directly to those in need. It is really about using local resources to help local people. The idea is simple, the impact is immeasurable. For more information about Oyster River Womenade, or to make a donation, please visit www.orwomenade.com
The New Hampshire Charitable Foundation manages a growing collection of charitable funds created by individuals, families and corporations. It serves communities throughout New Hampshire, southeastern Maine and eastern Vermont and makes grants and student aid awards annually totaling about $30 million. The foundation is nonpartisan, frequently playing the role of convener and catalyst on a broad spectrum of issues. Based in Concord, the foundation roots itself in the communities through regional advisory boards. More information is available at www.nhcf.org or by calling 603-225-6641. | <urn:uuid:bba413d7-84e0-4747-98ee-2e8313c0f7d2> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://fosters.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20130122/GJBUSINESS_01/130129977/-1/FOSBUSINESS | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368698924319/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516100844-00005-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.93038 | 270 | 1.554688 | 2 |
After a brief World Cup reprieve, South African unions have resumed massive, ongoing strikes for higher wages. Schools closed, trials were postponed and hospitals left nearly empty on Thursday as more than 1 million civil servants across the country stopped working.
In Johannesburg, police fired rubber bullets to scatter protesting teachers who were trying to block a stretch of highway. Scuffles also broke out in several hospitals across the country, where striking workers blocked their non-striking coworkers and patients from entering the buildings. In Natalspruit Hospital in Gauteng, 11 nurses and 2 doctors were left to attend to more than 500 patients, including 23 babies.
"It was a disaster," said MEC [provincial government official] for Health Qedani Mahlangu. She said two underweight babies, weighing 760g and 770g, were found dead on Wednesday night due to lack of care.
Unions are demanding an 8.6 percent pay rise, more than double the inflation rate, and 1,000 rand (160 euros) for housing. Last week the government offered to increase the monthly housing allowance to 700 (74 euros) rand from a previous offer of 630 (67 euros) rand, but refused to increase its wage hike offer of 7 percent.
"As government, as the employer, we have indicated and demonstrated for all to see that our capacity to afford is actually exhausted," Public Services Minister Richard Baloyi told a news conference in Cape Town.
Video posted by Amandla! on Youtube on August 11, 2010.
Sipho January is a community liaison officer from Cape Town.
It's true that South African civil servants are poorly paid, in comparison to countries with similar GDPs. A municipal worker's starting salary of 8,000 rand (857 euros) doesn't even qualify for loans. The average state worker with 7 years experience and a bachelor's degree makes 14,000 rand (1,499 euros) - that's barely enough to live by in Johannesburg.However, the protester's latest moves to block hospitals are not acceptable. They put human lives at risk, and will only erode public support for the protest."
Patrick Craven is the national spokesperson for The Congress of South African Trade Unions (COSATU), whose member unions have called for an indefinite strike.
The unemployment rate is extremely high in South Africa [25.3%], and many jobless people look to their relatives with a job for support. The fact that those who do work barely have enough to live by, let alone support others, makes things even worse. The government needs to look for a compromise that will allow workers to contribute to societ. | <urn:uuid:c6c909fb-cb6e-4a18-82ea-aeddd94d57b7> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://observers.france24.com/content/20100819-south-africa-strikes-unions-block-hospitals | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368696381249/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516092621-00034-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.96846 | 546 | 1.554688 | 2 |
It was indeed a day that will in infamy, but it's not the one you're thinking.
CBS apologized to World War II veterans who were offended by a Hawaii Five-0 shoot at a Honolulu cemetery last week at the same time they were commemorating Pearl Harbor and the victims who died in the attack.
Here's what happened.
Per the Hawaii Reporter, 23 survivors attended a ceremony at the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific paying tribute to their fallen comrades when they were taken aback by the sight of the police procedural filming a scene nearby featuring Lt. Steve McGarrett (Alex O'Loughlin) visiting his fictional father's grave—apparently with little heed to the actual heroes buried at the sacred site.
The controversy was stoked by Steffan Tubbs, a morning news cohost in Denver and a board member with the Greatest Generations Foundation, who wrote a piece Monday in The Reporter claiming the crew not only walked all over the graves of the victims, but didn't halt their work and show the appropriate respect during the ceremony when the vets held a moment of silence and taps and the national anthem were played.
Adding insult to injury, he noted that a Five-0 production assistant asked the group to move, noting producers had rented that part of the public cemetery for the day, and camera and lighting equipment was placed on some graves or close by.
"It gets worse," added Tubbs. "The TGGF program had brought 24 red roses to place at the gravesites on the opposite side of the Punchbowl. The program crew actually had one of their men wearing a backpack and earplug walk through—infiltrate—our rose-laying ceremony hushing everyone."
He called the crew's behavior "a disgrace," and after they boarded the bus, he said that at his urging, many of the Greatest Generation in his group gave the CBS crew "a one-fingered military salute."
Needless to say, word quickly spread of the controversy through social media, prompting Hawaii Five-0's executive producer Peter Lenkov to offer up an official mea culpa to the "veterans and members of the Greatest Generation Foundation whom we unintentionally offended when our events coincided."
"Any rudeness by our staff can only be attributed to haste to finish our work, not a lack of respect for men and women who have served and sacrificed for their country. And for that, too, we sincerely apologize to any that were offended," he said in a statement to E! News.
The producer added that the production did have a permit.
"We recognize the privilege of filming in Hawaii and we are acutely aware of the deserved respect for its culture, history and the reverence that should be afforded to all of our veterans, particularly those who served so nobly in Hawaii and at Pearl Harbor," he said. "Furthermore, the series we produce carries a demonstrative pro-military message."
Lenkov also noted that contrary to some reports, his crew did in fact stop work "during the playing of the national anthem and taps and for the remainder of the ceremony." | <urn:uuid:6633a888-e111-4b81-9faf-0de4a2a97c64> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.eonline.com/news/280638/oops-hawaii-five-0-shoot-at-cemetery-angers-pearl-harbor-survivors | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368697974692/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516095254-00031-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.982775 | 631 | 1.640625 | 2 |
NTSB Identification: ERA12FA008
14 CFR Part 91: General Aviation
Accident occurred Wednesday, October 05, 2011 in Moyock, NC
Probable Cause Approval Date: 01/22/2013
Aircraft: AVIAT INC A-1, registration: N11HU
Injuries: 1 Fatal.
NTSB investigators either traveled in support of this investigation or conducted a significant amount of investigative work without any travel, and used data obtained from various sources to prepare this aircraft accident report.
The non-certificated pilot was maneuvering his airplane over his farm fields at a low altitude; a witness observed the wings become perpendicular to the ground and the airplane's nose, which was low when the turn began, lowered further. The airplane maintained the nose-low turn until it impacted the ground, consistent with an aerodynamic stall. A witness, who had previously seen and heard the airplane flying overhead on many occasions, stated that the engine sounded "normal," with no sputtering or backfires. Onscene examination of the airplane revealed no preexisting mechanical anomalies that would have precluded normal operation. The airplane's logbooks could not be located; however, duplicate entries provided by a maintenance facility confirmed that an annual inspection was completed about 4 months earlier.
Pilot logbooks also were not located; however, other records indicated that the pilot previously held a student pilot certificate that expired in 2003. Any subsequent training could not be ascertained. The pilot acquired the airplane in 2002, and associates indicated that he flew it regularly, as often as several times a week. Autopsy results indicated that the pilot died of blunt trauma; however, the autopsy also indicated an enlarged heart, at least two and possibly three coronary bypasses, and severe coronary artery disease which could have resulted in a sudden loss of consciousness. Toxicological testing revealed the presence of a sedating antihistamine, but the quantity could not be determined. It also revealed inactive cocaine metabolites that indicated previous usage, but which likely did not contribute to the outcome. The extent to which the pilot's medical issues may have contributed to the accident (if they did at all) could not be determined.
The National Transportation Safety Board determines the probable cause(s) of this accident to be: The operation of the airplane by a non-certificated pilot, and his failure to maintain adequate airspeed while maneuvering, which resulted in an aerodynamic stall. Full narrative available
Index for Oct2011 | Index of months | <urn:uuid:518098eb-2494-4d41-a941-cb90d94408a1> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.ntsb.gov/aviationquery/brief.aspx?ev_id=20111005X13935&key=1 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368699273641/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516101433-00019-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.968595 | 509 | 1.585938 | 2 |
On Tuesday, July 10th, LIJSL Director of College Bound Programs, Pat Grecco conducted a college recruiting workshop for over 100 members of the LIJSL Select PDP Program at Peter C. Collins Soccer Park. The seminar focused on the tools needed to conduct a college search with a view to playing soccer at the collegiate level.
“There is a program for everyone to play in at the collegiate level,” says Grecco. “The hard part is finding the right one for you, and understanding the process in finding the place where you can be happy and successful, both as a student and as an athlete. That’s the piece that I try to help with.”
With help from Ronan Weisman, Select/PDP Head Coach, and Mario Maltese, LIJSL Board of Directors, the workshop was presented to high school players and parents of the Select Program. The session covered a number of topics, including networking with college coachs, first steps in the college recruitment process, what to look for when choosing colleges, how to obtain athletic scholarships, and recruiting video production. In addition, a comprehensive info packet was given to each student-athlete which included 2012 NCAA Eligibility Center's Guide for the College Bound Athlete.
A recurring theme throughout the evening was that the recruiting process is driven by the athlete, not the coach or the college. All the players and parents left the workshop with that understanding, which was driven home with Pat’s final message.
"Don’t sit home and wait for your phone to ring,” she said. “Be proactive for yourself. Network, network and network!”
For more information on Pat Grecco and the College Bound Program click here.
If you have questions about the recruiting process or wish to set up a meeting, Pat can be reached at [email protected]. | <urn:uuid:e247feab-383a-408a-8cbb-e6356d409455> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://lijsoccer.com/lijs-news/LIJSL-Holds-College-Workshop-for-Select-PDP-Players.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368702810651/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516111330-00001-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.96637 | 397 | 1.601563 | 2 |
NEW YORK Augmented reality is the latest tech trick brands are deploying on their sites. Until now, however, it has been employed mostly in the service of creating cool 3-D brand experiences.
Enter the U.S. Postal Service. The USPS is using the technology not to immerse consumers in a brand experience, but for a more prosaic purpose: to help them determine if objects will fit in shipping boxes.
The USPS has deployed augmented reality on its PriorityMail.com site. With the Virtual Box Simulator, users hold objects in front of their Web cams. They are then shown on-screen holding those objects -- along with a 3-D box. The technology allows customers to turn and manipulate the boxes to see all angles and figure out if the items they wish to mail will fit inside.
"When any new technology comes along like this a lot of people gravitate towards it," said Garry Pessia, senior account director at AKQA. "There's definitely a buzz factor. At the end of the day, it all boils down to is it useful to consumers and can they get use of it. We've seen that going way back with the first uses of Flash. That stuff goes away if there's not an actual utility."
The experience does not come without some effort. It requires visitors to print out a USPS icon, then set up a Web camera before activating the box simulator.
The tool is the latest in a series of examples of brands jazzing up their Web sites through augmented reality. General Electric launched a well-received Smart Grid site that lets visitors get up close to its solar and wind technology. Verizon and Nokia teamed up to bring Star Trek fans a 3-D trailer experience via augmented reality.
AKQA developed the box simulator as part of USPS's "A simpler way" campaign to promote its new flat-rate shipping boxes. It created "Al," a mailman character that greets site visitors when they arrive and directs them to fill out the priority mail form. He reappears depending on where visitors are in the process. For example, if a visitor is idle for too long, Al will prompt them to continue. If a user answers that he ships a large amount, Al has a quip.
"We wanted to have a little personality there and engagement rather than fill out a random form," Pessia said. | <urn:uuid:8cfd8655-d3cb-464a-b5a3-18bacc742489> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.adweek.com/news/technology/postal-service-brings-augmented-reality-down-earth-99524 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368701459211/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516105059-00037-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.944972 | 484 | 1.828125 | 2 |
Categories | Getting Things Done | Implementation | Inspiration
If you’re being asked to do more work than before, with less time for your personal life, you’ll relate to this excerpt from Todd Brown’s blog post for Next Action Associates.
Want your people to be more productive in the office? Help them get more of their personal things done.
Published on January 22, 2013 by Todd Brown
Why do people have so many personal things on their minds? In my experience it’s because they are better set up to handle things at the office, because that’s where “work” happens, and productivity is expected. Personal things are allowed to take a back seat. But here’s the rub: If the personal open loops aren’t handled appropriately, they are just as likely to generate stress, relationship problems, and mental distraction, both at home and at the office.
The problem is exacerbated by the current economic reality. One of my clients, the head of HR for a firm here in London, told me last week that while staffing levels are down on last year, work levels definitely aren’t. We’re hearing similar thing from many of our clients these days.
With even more to do at the office, the pressure on home life is becoming even more intense. There are just as many open loops at home, and they’re probably getting less attention.
So if your goal is to enable your people to deal with increased demands at work, with a clear head and without distraction, support them in developing a “whole life” approach to managing their open loops that helps them get their personal life under better control.
This doesn’t mean they’ll spend a lot of time at the office doing personal things. It does mean that when open loops present themselves in their personal lives, that they’ll have the confidence that they can handle them appropriately. And at work they’ll be able to focus better, undistracted by the open loops at home.
That’s what I call a “win-win.”
You can read other blog posts and find out more about Next Action Associates, the only Certified International Partner for GTD in the UK, here. | <urn:uuid:4b418228-bb95-4f31-9085-c828037310c2> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.gtdtimes.com/category/inspiration/page/4/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368705953421/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516120553-00038-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.965648 | 474 | 1.53125 | 2 |
Deadbolts Not Secure From ‘Bump keys’
Remember the good old days when you could leave home, flip the deadbolt and think “my home is (relatively) secure”? Well those days are gone – the trusty deadbolt has met it’s match in the ‘bump key’.
It used to be you had to be an expert to pick most locks – it took practice and technique. No longer. With the right tools and access to the internet, a 12 year old can learn to get through most locks in as little as 15 minutes.
Although bump keys are not new (a long time locksmith “trade secret”), they’ve only recently been gaining attention in North America – through “how-to” videos posted on YouTube.
Holy **** Batman, guess it’s time to get new locks. So what kind of locks can be bumped? And what kinds of locks are “bump-proof”? What will take you back to “relatively secure”, at least from roving 12 year olds?
For starters, don’t get anything with a “conventional pin tumbler lock”. This is what most of us already have on our front doors, the type of lock that can typically be bumped. Not every last one, but most of them, statistically speaking.
Primus vs. Medeco – what do the experts think?
The design of the key is one of the critical differences between Primus and Medeco. Whereas Primus separates the functions of the sidebar from its traditional pin tumbler mechanism, Medeco does not and integrates the two. In my view, Primus offers a higher level of security against bumping, but Medeco is more secure against picking.
– Marc Weber Tobias on Engadget
As my goals are modest (safe from the roving 12 year old as opposed to the determined professional thief), either one will do .
This entry was posted on Tuesday, February 20th, 2007 at 11:59 am and is filed under Home Improvement, Security. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed. | <urn:uuid:7d21d9a3-948d-49a7-b0df-c8661c865e96> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://renocheck.com/renowire/security/deadbolts-not-secure-from-bump-keys/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368704132298/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516113532-00016-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.951459 | 468 | 1.578125 | 2 |
A federal appeals court Wednesday issued an order blocking the U.S. military from enforcing its "don't ask, don't tell" policy on gays and lesbians serving in the military. U.S. officials have been moving ahead with dismantling the policy but had objected to having the courts force the government to officially repeal it at this time.
The federal government on Wednesday asked the U.S. Supreme Court to back an appellate panel's ruling that would allow the military to temporarily continue enforcing its "don't ask, don't tell" policy that bans openly gay and lesbian soldiers.
Lawyers for the gay group seeking a repeal of the military ban on openly gay troops serving in the military asked the Supreme Court Friday to step in and temporarily block enforcement of the controversial policy.
A federal appeals court sided with the government Monday, allowing the military to maintain its "don't ask, don't tell" policy during an appeal of a lower court ruling that the law barring openly gay and lesbian soldiers is unconstitutional.
The Pentagon has advised recruiting commands that they can accept openly gay and lesbian recruit candidates, given the recent federal court decision that bars the military from expelling openly gay service members, according to a Pentagon spokeswoman.
The Obama administration is objecting to a request for an immediate halt to the military's "don't ask, don't tell" policy after a federal court ruled that the policy barring gays from serving openly is unconstitutional.
A group of gay and lesbian Republicans has traveled to the site of the GOP convention this week to help convince its party that it is time to stop being on the "wrong side" of the same-sex marriage issue.
Calling language in the Republican Party's platform "vicious and mean-spirited," a group of gay and lesbian Republicans launched a television ad Monday aimed at challenging national convention delegates to change the party's direction.
Gay Republicans in North Carolina said state party officials told them their group isn't welcome at a convention this weekend because "homosexuality is not normal" and their agenda is "counterproductive to the Republican agenda." | <urn:uuid:76b9061d-c722-40c4-a83f-a8c8b141d0c7> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://topics.edition.cnn.com/topics/log_cabin_republicans | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368709037764/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516125717-00012-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.9654 | 420 | 1.601563 | 2 |
Even in the aftermath of the superstorm that devastated the East Coast this week, neither President Obama nor Mitt Romney discussed the pressing issue of climate change in a pair of CNN op-eds the presidential candidates wrote, making one of their final pleas to voters before next week’s election.
Republican Romney laid out his economic vision for the umpteenth time, which he argues will add jobs and speed up the economic recovery. He also stressed the need for North American energy independence (which we will achieve by 2020 under his leadership, he wrote), and said he will “roll back” the deep spending cuts to the military enacted by Obama.
Mitt Romney via CNN:
We will restore fiscal sanity to Washington by bringing an end to the federal spending and borrowing binge that in just four years has added more debt held by the public than almost all previous administrations combined. We will put America on track to a balanced budget by eliminating unnecessary programs, by sending programs back to states where they can be managed with less abuse and less cost, and by shrinking the bureaucracy of Washington.
Finally, we will champion small business, the great engine of job creation in our country, by reforming the tax code and updating and reshaping regulations that have suffocated economic growth.
Romney concluded his editorial by saying that he is “offering real change and a real choice.”
Obama, who campaigned as the candidate of “hope” and “change” in 2008, appears to have dropped the hope part for now, but is adamant that he is still the candidate who will provide “real change” in Washington. He outlined some of the accomplishments of his first four years in office—ending the war in Iraq, the auto industry recovery and the creation of 5 million jobs in the past two and a half years—while reiterating his vision for a second term.
Barack Obama via CNN:
Change is an America that turns the page on a decade of war to do some nation-building here at home. So long as I’m commander-in-chief, we’ll pursue our enemies with the strongest military in the world. But it’s time to use the savings from ending the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan to pay down our debt and rebuild America—our roads and bridges and schools.
Change is an America where we reduce our deficit by cutting spending where we can, and asking the wealthiest Americans to go back to the income tax rates they paid when Bill Clinton was president. I’ve worked with Republicans to cut a trillion dollars of spending, and I’ll do more. I’ll work with anyone of any party to move this country forward. But I won’t agree to eliminate health insurance for millions of poor, elderly, or disabled on Medicaid, or turn Medicare into a voucher just to pay for another millionaire’s tax cut.
Overall, these two op-eds offer voters nothing new or different from the standard campaign rhetoric Americans have heard time and time again on the campaign trail and in the debates.
And neither candidate addressed an important issue that has been virtually ignored throughout the presidential race—climate science—even as it’s been brought to the forefront by the news media following Hurricane Sandy.
There are some, including Jonathan Foley, director of the University of Minnesota’s Institute on the Environment, and Michael Mann, a climate researcher at Pennsylvania State University, who believe the issue will continue to stay on the back burner because of the differences in attitude between the two major parties.
Many have noted the near-absence of a climate discussion in the 2012 presidential race. Foley said that’s not surprising because it’s a no-win proposition for both candidates. President Barack Obama already is seen having the support of most voters who are concerned about climate change, and the matter doesn’t seem to be a major concern for Mitt Romney’s supporters.
“When one political party has the official position that climate change is a hoax, when we’re politically divided as to whether we should even accept the science, it’s difficult to have a meaningful discussion,” Mann said.
Foley, for one, hopes that the Hurricane Sandy experience will at least spur a long-term discussion about climate change and other weather-related issues once the campaign is over.
“This is an opportunity to have a conversation about how vulnerable we are to natural disasters,” Foley said. “We need a good, balanced discussion, but with a sense of urgency.”
—Posted by Tracy Bloom.
Obama for America/Scout Tufankjian | <urn:uuid:4106a933-4c41-4e30-a474-4b9bcd1f9c79> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.truthdig.com/eartotheground/print/obama_and_romney_make_final_case_continue_to_ignore_climate_change_20121102/ | 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 | 0.958813 | 960 | 1.742188 | 2 |
At night, before going to bed, I write a TO-DO list to remember what I want to do tomorrow. It includes everything I wish to do, like what I wished to do when I was a child!
When I get up in the morning, I'm just too lazy to even look at the list because I know there are lots of things waiting for me! I do whatever I'm in the mood for. If I start to do what's written in the list, I'll fail to do more than one task. I'm not motivated enough to learn how I want or to finish the first one and start the next one. Therefore, I spend another day without being satisfied with what I've done.
Do you have any ideas for how I could increase my personal productivity? | <urn:uuid:75dc09f7-82cc-4f0a-9c72-1ab278007d9a> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://productivity.stackexchange.com/questions/1037/good-at-writing-todo-lists-but-awful-at-doing-them/1042 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368698924319/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516100844-00008-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.977137 | 160 | 1.53125 | 2 |
You probably assume that every architectural product you specify, from glass to lighting to metal, is produced in China or India. After all, that’s where all products are made nowadays, right? Wrong. In fact Southern California, which has a long history of industrial clout, is holding its own as a center for architectural production. There’s even growth in some areas as manufacturers recognize what Southern California has to offer: higher-skilled labor, lower shipping costs, and quicker turnarounds.
“The tide has shifted and people who build domestically may win in the long run,” said Steve Nadell, president at Troy-CSL Lighting, which opened a new factory in the City of Industry about a year ago. The 200,000-square-foot facility, which is leaps and bounds cleaner than what you might imagine, produces recessed lighting, LED fixtures, and landscape lighting, among other things. The factory uses cutting-edge equipment like CNC lathes and robotic welders to help offset the higher price of labor. “We just banged out a custom job of 1,100 pieces and it took two hours. It would have been days upon days doing it manually,” explained Nadell.
Courtesy C.R. Laurence and Enclos
The facility has numerous advantages over the company’s other factory in the Philippines: it allows the outfit to produce large products that just can’t fit in shipping crates; it produces custom fixtures that the company can’t engineer effectively overseas; it allows for production and delivery in a matter of days, not weeks or months; and it creates the highest-quality components of all of its operations.
“We think that great product basically always wins. We’re very focused on design and engineering,” said Nadell.
While other companies, said Nadell, are “100 percent at the mercy of vendors and of countries with volatile currency rates, laws, and politics, we’re taking control of our own destiny.”
Troy is not the only one. A 2011 study by Boston Consultant Group shows that investment in U.S. manufacturing is beginning to accelerate as the country becomes one of the cheapest locations for manufacturing in the developed world.
And while there has been a steep drop-off in manufacturing in the past two decades, the U.S. is still the largest manufacturing economy in the world, making up 21 percent of all globally manufactured products.
While traditional manufacturing is still in decline, recent growth, points out Kim Ritter-Martinez, an economist with the Los Angeles Economic Development Corporation (LAEDC), comes from higher-skilled jobs and more sophisticated products. “We have to be that much more productive and concentrate on more high-tech innovative industries,” she said. That’s the case in recession-battered California, which nonetheless is still the number one state in the U.S. for manufacturing employment, providing over 1.2 million jobs, or more than 10 percent of the jobs in the country, according to the LAEDC.
Architectural products are following the national trend, especially because architecture and other building trades often depend on customized products that can be produced on order and changed equally quickly. Near LA, product makers gravitate to places where land prices, zoning, location, and tax structures favor production. Plus they like the company of their own.
“I think most people don’t think anything gets made in Los Angeles. But Vernon, Industry, and Commerce are all very vibrant manufacturing centers,” said Lloyd Talbert, president and COO of C.R. Laurence, a hardware specialist that has been located in LA since the 1960s and started to focus on custom architectural products—like handrail systems, perforated panels, and aluminum storefront systems—in the past few years. Their new 310,000-square-foot facility, which opened last July, is among five the company owns in Vernon.
Courtesy Troy/CSL and C.R. Laurence
The size of the new plant—which fits plant workers, engineers, drafters, and even sales staff in the same facility—allows for ease of interaction among all players. “Communication should be frictionless,” said Talbert, who points out that building sites constantly have questions and problems and can now talk to the “brainpower,” aka the engineers, on the plant floor nearby, not in another country. His company is able to get its products to building and architectural firms almost instantly and deliver fixes just as fast.
Technology in the company’s new facility includes CNC lathes, brake presses and routers, laser cutters, water-jet cutters, and robotic welders, most of which are preprogrammed by on-site engineers, meaning that workers basically have to just set things up and press a button.
The company still produces about 20 percent of its products overseas. But none of that work can be shipped or distributed as quickly in the U.S. Indeed, location is everything in the highly customized world of architecture and construction, especially when the products are a lot bigger than a trinket from Target.
Enclos, a curtain wall manufacturer that still outsources much of its materials, assembles all of its West Coast curtain wall units at its factory in Pomona, including the entire curtain wall for Gensler’s Ritz-Carlton JW Marriott tower at LA Live. They only had to ship it a few miles.
“It’s not uncommon for people to ship parts to China, where they’re assembled and then shipped all the way back. It’s crazy,” said Mic Patterson, director of strategic development for Enclos.
Patterson dreams of the day when manufacturing will be carried out on-site through a group of trailers that contain their own factories inside. The trailers would be assembled using “auto-assemble robotic technology” to produce units faster.
Of course, that vision is still a ways off. Closer to home, some dreams of manufacturing have come true. “You have to find that niche that works,” said C.R. Laurence’s Talbert. “For us it was the rapid customization and last mile of distribution. It’s a tremendous investment. We look at it as a big competitive advantage that’s hard to match.” | <urn:uuid:a67c557e-662b-46d7-9cea-0c6ffdf0e1f3> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://archpaper.com/news/articles.asp?id=5908 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368701459211/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516105059-00041-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.958015 | 1,344 | 1.796875 | 2 |
A major airline like KLM, which transports passengers and freight to every corner of the globe, is directly affected by everything that happens in the world. Weather conditions, natural disasters, political unrest – if something goes wrong, it has an immediate impact on the schedule, and therefore on passengers and customers.
Where necessary, we adapt our processes to the world situation. If it’s sensible to do so, we carry on flying as normal and provide our customers with the product they have bought. If it’s not wise to do so – and we decide that in close consultation with parties such as the Dutch government, the World Health Organisation and the local authorities – we offer our customers extra flexibility for a limited period. We might, for example, allow them to cancel or change their tickets irrespective of their original ticket conditions.
Of course our customers themselves also have a choice. That starts when they book a ticket. The passenger decides at the start how much flexibility he or she wants. Naturally this is always a question of balancing cost and benefits – if you want to be able to change your ticket at the last moment, you will have to pay more. You can find all the information about this at klm.com
But this is what applies in an ordinary situation. Unfortunately we are regularly faced with extraordinary situations, such as the eruption of the Icelandic volcano Eyjafjallajökull in March of last year and, more recently, the political upheavals in parts of the Middle East and North Africa and the earthquake in Japan. In all of these cases, we assess the current situation on a day-to-day basis in close consultation with the authorities to find the best way of serving our customers. We also assess when we will be able to resume normal operations.
For example, in the case of the earthquake and tsunami in Japan, and the subsequent problems with the Fukushima nuclear power station, we continued to fly to Tokyo and Osaka in order to fulfil our obligations to outbound and incoming passengers. But we also provided extra flexibility in the period up to 8 May, allowing passengers to cancel or change their tickets free of charge. Since the situation in Japan has stabilised, we have returned to the normal ticket conditions. We still have to field questions about this from time to time, which is understandable. To help to clarify situations like these, we refer to government advice – in this case from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs – which states that it is possible to travel to Japan with the exception of certain areas. If this advice changes, for Japan or other destinations, we reassess whether our schedules should be readjusted. | <urn:uuid:a515227f-a3f3-46b3-b453-ad8b4340d02e> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://blog.klm.com/changing-flights/1508/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368701459211/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516105059-00034-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.949695 | 535 | 1.546875 | 2 |
Though New York state’s passage of marriage equality for same-sex couples has been hailed across the country and around the world, there’s at least one person who is in a decidedly non-celebratory mood: Barbara MacEwen, town clerk of the rural upstate Volney, NY.
MacEwen has said that she will refuse to sign the marriage licenses of same-sex couples’ wedding licenses, Politico reported. The town clerk’s signature is required, but MacEwen said she’s morally opposed to same-sex couples marrying.
“If there’s any possible way to not do it legally, then yes, I would not want to put my name on any of those certificates or papers,” MacEwen she told Politico. “That’s their life, they can do it, but I don’t feel I should be forced into something that’s against my morals and my God.”
Since same-sex marriage is now legal, a refusal to sign could be considered illegal discrimination, much like a case a central New York, a limo driver is facing after he refused a reservation for a gay couple’s wedding.
“It’s not my right to say, ‘Oh, are you gay? Or homosexual?’ I don’t believe it’s fair for me to say that. But when he asked me, I felt I had the right to say what I believed and that is that I’m not going to compromise my beliefs for money,” Eric Lewis, the owner of A-1 Limousine Company, told YNN. He is now looking into his legal options.
In Huntington, New York and elsewhere in the state, however, clerks’ offices are preparing for the influx of new wedding applications they expect July 24, when the new law takes effect.
“We are training our staff to be prepared for a very large number of people on the first day,” Michael McSweeney, the New York City clerk, who oversees the marriage bureau told the New York Times. “We are going to be part of history.”
Raw Story is a progressive news site that focuses on stories often ignored in the mainstream media. While giving coverage to the big stories of the day, we also bring our readers' attention to policy, politics, legal and human rights stories that get ignored in an infotainment culture driven solely by pageviews.
Founded in 2004, Raw Story reaches 5 million unique readers per month and serves more than 19 million pageviews. | <urn:uuid:1b5fe8df-5669-4a65-98de-e1f6df4f7bd6> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2011/06/29/upstate-ny-town-clerk-says-she-wont-sign-same-sex-marriage-licenses/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368703682988/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516112802-00026-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.953881 | 545 | 1.679688 | 2 |
Moulded pulp packaging is environment friendly. Not only is it made of waste paper, but can also be recycled. It is also biodegradable, making it the most environment friendly packaging material.
Moulded pulp packaging is universally appealing. In todays environmentally conscious world, you add value to your on-package advertising and to your company by highlighting the 100% biodegradable nature of your packaging. | <urn:uuid:221d4cc1-40be-4cde-b96e-2f92f359e4b6> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.tradeindia.com/fp434416/Radio-Tray.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368701852492/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516105732-00001-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.942986 | 85 | 1.796875 | 2 |
Thursday, November 1, 2012
About 40 percent of new voters registered in San Diego County since February have been Latino, according registrar statistics.
SAN DIEGO The San Diego County Registrar of Voters Office said registration by Latinos has surged in the lead-up to next week’s general election.
Since February, an average of about 12,600 new voters registered each month, according to registrar data. Almost 5,000 of those each month, or about 40 percent, were Latinos.
Considering that Latinos are only about a third of the county’s population and an even smaller percentage of the its eligible voters, the number impresses Carmen Lopez, who manages Latino outreach for the registrar's office.
She said voter drives and the debut of online registration this election season helped those numbers along. Also, U.S.-born children of immigrants are coming of age.
“There are a lot of Latinos that are turning 18 that did register to vote. There are a lot of propositions on education, and that really impacts the Latino population," she said.
Since February more than 40,000 new Latinos have registered in San Diego County, meaning a total of 290,000 Latinos are registered to vote this Tuesday. In the last year, Latino went from being 17 percent of the San Diego County electorate to 18.5 percent. | <urn:uuid:c1f69c98-c7c5-40b3-8567-d8abc54dd1c1> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.kpbs.org/news/2012/nov/01/latino-voter-registration-surges-election/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368705559639/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516115919-00024-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.960018 | 275 | 1.578125 | 2 |
Independent board takes over shuttle investigation
By PAUL RECER
AP Science WriterPublished:
SPACE CENTER, Houston An independent board named by NASA took the lead of the Columbia investigation, while officials at the space agency stressed that they were keeping an open mind about what might have caused the shuttle to break apart over Texas. We have not ruled out any possible cause, shuttle program manager Ron Dittemore said Thursday, hours after an. | <urn:uuid:b99b6d02-e8d7-4b33-8c28-df167308fec2> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://the-review.com/local%20news/2003/02/06/independent-board-takes-over-shuttle-investigation | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368701459211/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516105059-00009-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.949314 | 90 | 1.578125 | 2 |
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As a child growing up Wisconsin, I had perpetually chapped lips in the winter. My whole mouth would crust over. Like an animal, I would salve them with saliva, only to worsen the problem. Some of my grade school photos are pretty funny as I look like I'm wearing overly applied lipstick.But it wasn't funny and it hurt like hell. Chapstick hadn't been invented yet. There was only vasoline but that was in too big of a jar to carry around.
I was surprised to see Wiki ascribe the use of the term "bubbler" so specifically to Wisconsin, because I had always heard the term used since I was a kid. Then I read...It is also commonly used in New England, especially in the state of Rhode Island and in the cities of Worcester, MA and Lowell, MA. [Huh? Now that's being way too specific.]Despite its widespread usage in the aforementioned areas, the term "water fountain" is much more commonly used than "bubbler" throughout the remainder of North America.Perhaps, as it should be...Genericide! The improper use of trade mark. Cease and desist letters and SOPA shut-downs imminent.ChapStick is a trade mark owned by Pfizer. Lip balm is the non-offending, non-diluting term."Bubbler is a trademarked name that refers to what some may call a drinking fountain. Bubbler' was developed in 1889 by the then-small Kohler Water Works (now Kohler Company) in Kohler, Wisconsin."
Sounds like somebody wants to bring back the community dipper.
I haven't lived in WI for 20 years, and I still call 'em bubblers (cuz that's what they are). Annoys the bejeezus out of my kids.
@Patrick: Pop or soda?Of course, a real Wisconsin man will say "beer"
Chapstick must be an acquired taste. The really cold air seldom reaches us down here in Georgia, but the northern immigrants here still paste it on their mouths like an addiction.
@scottsimpson drinking fountains: ur doin it rong
I'll second the "ick" on the communal chapstick. I think there's a place for sharing chapstick and property -- I'm happy to share both with my wife -- but a definite limit. The family seems like the right level for both kinds of communism to start and end.Also, I had thought "bubbler" was Connecticutese. I spent a bunch of years in central Iowa and then a bunch of years a stone's throw from Boston and only heard "bubbler" rarely, and only in New England. I'm not sure where I got "Connecticut" from. I wonder how it got to New England from Wisconsin.Also, I could see http://popvssoda.com/ taking over this thread. When I was near Boston (having grown up in Iowa) I once upped a waitress's tip for her having offered to refill my "pop". Now I live three counties west of my in-laws, but I am in "pop" territory (allegedly - I hear a good mix) and her family is solidly "soda".Also, I don't think "bortabla" is a word, at least not in English. "Word verification" is a misnomer unless it's speaking European, like Sarah Palin is (in a nearby Althouse thread).
When you're done with a drinking fountain *(bubbler)*, the water that touched your lips, but that you did not drink, falls down the drain. I don't see that happening with communal chapstick.
OK. Now you're just being silly.Go to bed.
(The Uncredentialed, Crypto Jew)In Wisconsin, we call drinking fountains "bubblers," so I guess that would be a rubblerI believe the “rubbler” is the B-61 Thermonuclear weapon or a 3 plane cell of B-52D’s…Trooper York would have made an slightly risqué reference to the Flintstones, involving Barney and Betty…..
Yawn. Lemme know when there's a public Sybian.
I grew up in Nebraska, as dry and cold as Wisconsin most of the winter, and I never really needed chapstik, although my sister used it constantly. Boy/girl thing?We called it "pop", never heard of a bubbler before, though.
"In Wisconsin, we call drinking fountains "bubblers," so I guess that would be a rubbler."And if you had public baths, you could call those "tubblers".Yukka yukka yukka...
My understanding is that only people in the Madison area use the term "bubbler." When I was about 13, I had a neighbor girl move in from Madison, and she asked me (at school) where the bubbler was. I had no idea what she meant. I said "bubbler?" She said, "Yes, you know, you turn the handle and drink from it?" I said "Ohhhh, the water fountain! Over there." This was highly traumatic since a) I had a huge crush on the girl, and b) I was a young boy whose first conversation with her started with not understanding her. Alas, my crush was forever unfulfilled.However, I do use it as a test to see if someone is *really* from Wisconsin, or is an alien or spy pretending to be from Wisconsin. "What do you call the thing you drink water from in public?"But, as I never got Heather, all i can say is "Damn you, bubbler-people!"
chapstick must be an acquired taste. The really cold air seldom reaches us down here in Georgia, but the northern immigrants here still paste it on their mouths like an addiction.I rub it behind my ears, which get kind of peely and crusty in the winter time. Works like freekin' magic. Miracle cure of the century, Chapstick and Blistex, un-medicated, un-scented bog-standard variety.
It's gotta be in the stick form, though. The stuff they sell in little squeeze bottles is a lie.A DAMN LIE!
You know this idea has a huge- OOoo-icky- factor, right?
I'm with traditional guy. Must be a yankee thang. My mom, not from the south, called chicks "peeps". Took me thirty years to figger out what the hell she was saying. I had the epiphany when I bought some traditional "Peeps" for Halloween.Regardless, chapstick is nasty, and public chapstick sounds nastier. Whats next, the public toothbrush?Ps. How do you know the toothbrush was invented in Tennessee? Because if it were invented anywhere else, it would be called a teethbrush.
I grew up in Rhode Island and we called drinking fountains bubblers too. Of course we pronounced it "bubbla."
Post a Comment | <urn:uuid:74e3956f-f8c8-4ad8-b708-4437cf23d7df> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://althouse.blogspot.com/2012/01/if-we-can-do-public-water-fountains.html?showComment=1327065121741 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368697380733/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516094300-00020-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.971561 | 1,510 | 1.671875 | 2 |
CASE STUDY 3/99
Vehicle Registration Unit - disclosure of names and addresses to a motor distributor - disclosure required by law
The complainant owned a particular make of car. He received a letter from the motor distributor advising him of a technical fault and offering to repair the fault for him. The letter indicated that the distributor was able to contact him directly through the co-operation of the Vehicle Registration Unit (VRU) of the Department of the Environment and Local Government. The complainant raised the matter with me, and expressed his concern that the VRU should pass his personal details to third parties. He had thought that only the Gardaí and certain Government Departments could access car registration data.
I raised the matter with the Department of the Environment and Local Government, and asked for their observations on the matter in the light of section 2(1)(c)(i)-(ii) of the Data Protection Act, which provides that personal data "shall be kept only for one or more specified and lawful purposes", and "shall not be used or disclosed in any manner incompatible with that purpose or those purposes".
In its response, the Department cited section 60(3) of the Finance Act, 1993, which provides as follows—
An officer of a Minister of the Government, a licensing authority or the competent authority for licensing vehicles and drivers of vehicles in another Member State of the European Communities, an officer of the Revenue Commissioners, a member of the Garda Síochána or such (if any) other persons as may be prescribed shall have access to and may inspect and examine records established under this section.
The Finance Act, 1993 (section 60) Regulations, 1996 2(S.I. Number 338 of 1996) include "motor vehicle manufacturers and distributors" among the persons prescribed for the purposes of section 60.
Section 8(e) of the Data Protection Act provides that —
Any restrictions in this Act on the disclosure of personal data do not apply if the disclosure is... required by or under any enactment or by a rule of law or order of a court ...
In my opinion, section 60, taken together with the regulations cited above, gives motor vehicle manufacturers and distributors access to vehicle registration and driver licensing records. It appears to me that a disclosure of personal data in compliance with section 60 comes within the scope of section 8(e) of the Data Protection Act, and therefore any such disclosure is not restricted by the Data Protection Act.
The Department of the Environment and Local Government pointed out to me that it is always conscious of maintaining the confidentiality of individual vehicle owners as recorded on the National Vehicle and Driver File (NVDF). Apart from specified Government Departments and Offices who require access to the vehicle records to carry out their functions, the Department assured me that the disclosure of details from the NVDF to any other third parties was strictly precluded. The Department indicated that a single exception to this principle is applied where the Department is satisfied that, in the interests of the safety of vehicle owners and other road users, data from the computer file should be provided to assist motor companies with recall campaigns where defects had been detected in particular models. I welcome this statement of policy which seems to me to strike a reasonable balance between protecting the privacy interests of data subjects whose data is kept on the NVDF, and the public interest in ensuring that defective vehicles are recalled as swiftly as possible. It was such a consideration that led the VRU to disclose details to the motor distributor in this case.
However, I have a residual concern that the inclusion of "motor vehicle manufacturers and distributors" in the regulations, coupled with the unqualified words "shall have access to" in section 60 referenced above, may have more far reaching consequences than are at first apparent and I suggest that this be reviewed when a suitable opportunity arises.
» Permanent Link | <urn:uuid:a7e35da7-4efe-42d2-bd61-1277e126f25a> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.dataprotection.ie/viewtxt.asp?DocID=138&CatID=42&StartDate=01+January+2012&m= | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368709037764/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516125717-00007-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.960975 | 779 | 1.5625 | 2 |
FR. RON ROLHEISER, omi
November 19, 2012
We are all powerfully, incurably and wonderfully sexed. This is part of a conspiracy between God and nature. Sexuality lies right next to our instinct for breathing, and it is ever-present in our lives.
Spiritual literature tends to be naïve and in denial about the power of sexuality, as if it could be dismissed as some insignificant factor in the spiritual journey, and as if it could be dismissed at all. It cannot be. It will always make itself felt, consciously or unconsciously.
Nature is almost cruel in this regard, particularly to the young. It fills youthful bodies with powerful hormones before those persons have the emotional and intellectual maturity to properly understand and creatively channel that energy.
Nature's cruelty, or anomaly, is that it gives someone an adult body before that person is adult in his or her emotions and intellect. There are a lot of physical and moral dangers in a still-developing child walking around in a fully-adult body.
Further, today this is being exacerbated by the fact that we are reaching puberty at an ever-younger age and are marrying at an ever-later one. This makes for a situation, almost the norm in many cultures, where a young girl or boy reaches puberty at age 11 or 12 and will get married about 20 years later.
This begs the obvious question: How is his or her sexuality to be emotionally and morally contained during all those years? Where does that leave him or her in the struggle to remain faithful to the commandments?
Admittedly, nature seems almost cruel here, but it has its own angle. Its dominant concern is to get each of us into the gene pool and all those powerful hormones it begins pouring into our bodies at adolescence and all those myriad ways in which it heats up our emotions have the same intent; it wants us to be fruitful and multiply, to perpetuate ourselves and our own species.
Nature is uncompromising here: At every level of our being (physical, emotional, psychological and spiritual) there is a pressure, a sexual one, to get us into the gene pool. So when you next see a young man or woman strutting his or her sexuality, be both sympathetic and understanding: you were once there and nature is just trying to get him or her into the gene pool. Such are its ways and such are its propensities, and God is in on the conspiracy.
Of course, getting into the gene pool means much more than physically having children, though that is a deep, deep imperative written everywhere inside us that may be ignored only in the face of some major psychological and moral risks. There are other ways of having children, though nature all on its own does not easily accept that. It wants children in the flesh.
But the full bloom of sexuality, generative living, takes on other life-giving forms. We have all heard the slogan: Have a child. Plant a tree. Write a book.
There are different ways to get into the gene pool and all of us know persons who, while not having children of their own and neither writing a book nor planting a tree, are wonderfully generative women and men. Indeed the religious vow of celibacy is predicated on that truth. Sexuality also has a powerful spiritual dimension.
But, with that being admitted, we may never be naïve to its sheer, blind power. Dealing with the brute and unrelenting power of our sexuality lies at the root of many of our deepest psychological and moral struggles.
This takes on many guises, but the pressure always has the same intent: Nature and God keep an unrelenting pressure on us to get into the gene pool, that is, to always open our lives to something bigger than ourselves and to always remain cognizant of the fact that intimacy with others, the cosmos and God is our real goal. It is no great surprise that our sexuality is so grandiose that it would have us want to make love to the whole world.
Isn't that our real goal?
As well, sexuality wreaks havoc with many people's church lives. It is no secret that today one of the major reasons why many young people, and indeed people of all ages, are no longer going regularly to their churches has to do, in one way or the other, with their struggles with sexuality and their perception of how their churches view their situation.
My point here is not that we and the churches should change the commandments regarding sex, but that we should do a couple of things: First, we should more realistically acknowledge its brute power in our lives and integrate sexual complexity more honestly into our spiritualities. Second, we should be far more empathic and pastorally sensitive to the issues that beset people because of their sexuality.
Sexuality is a sacred fire. It takes its origins in God and is everywhere, powerfully present inside creation.
Denial is not our friend here.
Currently rated by 2 people | <urn:uuid:f9cc19dc-cdda-4d9f-90f7-357fb0ae784b> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://wcr.ab.ca/Columns/OpinionsStories/tabid/70/entryid/3254/Default.aspx | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368702448584/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516110728-00019-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.96989 | 1,018 | 1.804688 | 2 |
So we were just talking about the oddities of the Clinton clot story. We noted that no sooner was it said that Hillary Clinton would testify, as Secretary of State, on the Benghazi attack, than there came an announcement that Hillary Clinton had entered the hospital with a blood clot. The coincidence raised suspicions of an effort to engineer an evasion of this testimony.
And we weren't told where the clot was, which is a crucial bit of information when assessing how serious this health scare is. Clinton had recently suffered a head injury, which makes one think the new problem would also be located in the head, but she'd also had a blood clot in her leg years ago, which makes that alternative seem plausible. If the clot were in the leg, withholding that information suggests a strategic choice to incline the public to view the problem as more serious than it really was.
Later, Clinton's doctors released a statement saying that the clot was in a vein inside her skull, and that she's "making excellent progress" and likely to "make a full recovery." The Washington Post repeats the information that she's being treated with anticoagulants. You may remember that the analysis I discussed at that first link contained the assertion that "anticoagulation is never given to persons with clots around the brain." But that WaPo story says: "The conventional treatment is an anticoagulant drug for at least six months."
I know some of my readers are doctors. Can you help us out with that inconsistency about the anticoagulants? [ADDED: Here's what Dr. Pogo says. And here's some useful detail. I think the crucial distinction is whether the clot is in the brain or in the space between the brain and the skull.]
And, by the way, I've gotten some pushback in email and on the web, saying that it was "shameful" and "appalling" for me to tie Clinton's health problems to a possible intent to avoid testifying about Benghazi. Let me tell you that a core motivation to my blogging — and I've been going at this for 9 years now — is to stand tough against people who try to cut off debate with this kind of shaming. So I'm glad that this performance of outrage was directed at me. I know it when I see it, and it fires me up. You want silence? You want backing down? You want me not to dare say a thing like that? That's how you want to control political debate in the United States? Thanks for reminding me once again how deeply I hate that and for giving me an (easy) opportunity to model courage for the more timid people out there who are cowed by the fear of shaming.
ADDED: Here's something I would dearly love to do with this blog: I want to make it so that emotive, intimidating outrage like that backfires. I want people to learn that they can't get away with empty assertions like "I am aghast" or "You are despicable." You have to give reasons for what you think. Even if you really feel those feelings. And, of course, many of these hack writers don't actually feel the feelings they scribble about. They just don't want to have to talk about the actual issue. They want to make it something that everyone feels they'd better not talk about. But that should be a loud signal: We need to talk about it!
And let's get back to basics: What we need to talk about is Benghazi. | <urn:uuid:25d6aa3f-9889-4b79-a50d-a4e07341d733> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://althouse.blogspot.com/2013/01/the-clinton-clot-plot-thickens-or-thins.html?showComment=1357077888730 | 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 | 0.98464 | 720 | 1.664063 | 2 |
By ANICK JESDANUN, Associated Press
NEW YORK (AP) — Google's shareholders gave their support Thursday to the company's plan to issue a new class of stock. Google's co-founders, Larry Page and Sergey Brin, and Executive Chairman Eric Schmidt had pushed the move to ensure that they maintain long-term control of the company.
The new class will effectively split shares 2 to 1. It's an unusual approach that reflects a desire by Google's founders to preserve the company's long-term interests.
The new shares won't have any voting power. Employees given Google stock in the future will get the non-voting stock, allowing voting power to remain with existing shareholders. The same will hold true for companies that Google buys using its stock.
Here's further explanation of the plan:
Q. Why is Google doing this?
A. Google's current stock structure concentrates voting power with Page, Brin and Schmidt. Google is afraid of diluting that power as it issues new shares to employees and to companies that it acquires through stock purchases. Google says there's no immediate danger of that happening, but it sees no need to wait.
"It's important to bear in mind that this proposal will only have an effect on governance over the very long term," Page and Brin wrote in an April letter to investors. "It's just that since we know what we want to do, there's no reason to delay the decision."
Q. What does this mean for existing shareholders?
A. Investors typically have Class A stock now. They will be given an equal number of Class C shares, which won't have any voting power. The value of the Class A stock will be split between the two, so if the stock is trading at $600 when it happens, a Class A share will be worth $300 and a Class C share will be worth $300.
Investors will have twice the number of shares they held before, but the total voting power and stock value won't change. So if Bob owns 100 shares worth $600 each, he will own 200 shares worth $300 each. Bob will still have 100 votes, and the value of all his shares will still be $60,000.
Investors will be free to buy and sell shares in either class independently, and the new class will get its own ticker. If Bob sells his 100 Class C shares, he will have 100 votes through the Class A stock, and the shares will be worth $30,000. But if Bob sells his 100 Class A shares, he will have no vote on the Class C stock worth $30,000.
Q. Is this a new strategy for Google?
A. No. Since it went public in 2004, Google's founders have emphasized the need for long-term governance. They believe they need to retain the voting power to do that. The stock structure had been designed from the start to leave power with Page, Brin and Schmidt.
Page and Brin argue that Google will be more successful if it concentrates on the long term, even if that means short-term stumbles in meeting Wall Street's targets for earnings and revenue.
The founders note that it took three years for the first phones based on Google's Android operating system to come out and another three years for the system to reach critical mass. They don't want investors voting with short-term interests in mind.
"These kinds of investments are not for the faint-hearted," the founders said.
Q. So is this a split or a dividend?
A. It's neither in the traditional sense. The stock is effectively being split, as the value of each share will be cut in half. Stock splits allow smaller investors to buy shares, but in this case, the move is driven more by a desire to retain control and less by shareholder pressure. It can be considered a dividend, but instead of getting cash, investors will get stock.
Q. When will this happen?
A. Google will announce details later. Google doesn't expect the split to occur until late this year because of a shareholder lawsuit seeking to block the move.
Copyright 2012 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. | <urn:uuid:d0ea9746-1a43-4510-a424-3e963b2cc2b8> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.usnews.com/news/technology/articles/2012/06/21/whats-up-with-googles-plan-to-split-its-stock-2 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368696381249/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516092621-00028-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.95648 | 876 | 1.664063 | 2 |
The Skaneateles Library will be hosting a presentation by Mad House: The Hidden History of Insane Asylums in 19th-Century New York author and documentary filmmaker, Michael Keene.
Saturday, May 4
Mr. Keene’s book explores the how those will mental illness were treated in the region during that time. He drew his research from hospital archives, private patient letters and newspapers.
Read more about the event HERE.
Please register for the event by calling 685-5135. | <urn:uuid:6229dd43-50e6-49e5-bde9-9c601856280d> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://clrc.org/2013/04/skaneateles-library-hosts-event-on-insane-asylums/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368704713110/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516114513-00016-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.948512 | 107 | 1.835938 | 2 |
Saturday, April 7, 2012
Newspaper Planters ~ How Cool Are These?
Here is the post on how to make newspaper planters that I promised everyone. I heard of these & knew I wanted to try to make them. After a quick search on Google I found several article & a few YouTube videos. I am one that needs to see it being done in order to get it. I didn't make a video but did take pics for you to see the step by step process I used. Ready?
First get one, full page of newspaper. You want to open it as if you were going to read it. Then fold it in half. If you fold it the other direction it doesn't work as well. Trial & error speaking.
Now take a glass and place it halfway down the folded paper. A tall 8oz. glass works best.
Roll the glass in the paper. You need to do it tightly but not so tightly that you can't remove the glass once it is all rolled.
You'll get the feel of it after making a planter or two.
Keep rolling it until you have completely rolled the entire paper around the glass.
Once you are finished rolling it should look like this.
Remember how you placed the glass only halfway on the paper? Stuff that paper that is not directly wrapped around the glass into the mouth of your glass. That paper will make the bottom of your planter.
This is what it looks like after removing the glass.
To form the bottom of your planter put your glass back in the planter. Use the bottom of your glass for this.
Push the bottom of the glass down. This will squash the paper you crumpled inside and make a firm bottom for your planter.
Take your glass back out again. I usually help make sure the bottom is in place.
A view of the bottom. Now it will hold dirt nicely.
A homemade strawberry smoothie to help me work. It isn't a must to make a good newspaper planter but it does help. Lol!
Once I got the hang of it they went pretty fast.
It must have looked fun because Sweet Pea kept asking to try.
I recommend putting them in flats or pans. You need something underneath for when you water them. We got free flats at our local Aldi.
Cucumbers, zucchini, Butternut squash & Acorn squash.
One article I read said you can put the planters straight in the ground when you are ready to plant your big garden. Another said the newspaper takes quite awhile to break down enough so the roots can get through. I have decided to take mine out of the planters when I plant. Because of this I went ahead and used masking tape to label most of my plants. Either way it's a great way to reuse your newspaper & keep those plastic planters out of landfills! Oh, and to save some money too! I don't know about you but I love making something new from something old! =0) | <urn:uuid:e7cec80a-e2b1-4118-9190-1f02996aa6f3> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://heartsandhandsforhim.blogspot.com/2012/04/newspaper-planters-how-cool-are-these.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368706153698/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516120913-00027-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.959278 | 629 | 1.84375 | 2 |
Everyone tries to network, but few people do it well, often making the same basic mistakes.
Here’s what not to do when you’re trying to expand or leverage your network:
1. Try to take before you give. The goal of networking is to connect with people who can help you make a sale, get a referral, establish a contact, etc. When we network, we want something.
But at first, never ask for what you want. In fact you may never ask for what you want. Forget about what you can get and focus on what you can provide. Giving is the only way to establish a real connection and relationship. Focus solely on what you can get out of the connection and you will never make meaningful, mutually beneficial connections.
When you network, it’s all about them, not you.
2. Assume others should care about your needs. Maybe you’re desperate. Maybe partnering with a major player in your industry could instantly transform red ink into black. No one cares. No one should care. Those are your problems and your needs.
Never expect others to respond to your needs. People may sympathize but helping you is not their responsibility. The only way to make connections is to care about the needs of others first. Ask how they’re doing. Ask what could help them.
Care about others first; then, and only then, will they truly care back.
3. Take the shotgun approach. Some people network with anyone, tossing out business cards like confetti. Networking isn’t a numbers game. Find someone you can help, determine whether they might (someday) be able to help you, and then approach them on your own terms.
Always select the people you want to network with. And keep your list relatively small, because there is no way to build meaningful connections with dozens or hundreds of people.
4. Assume tools create connections. Twitter followers, Facebook friends, and LinkedIn connections are great—if you do something with those connections. In all likelihood your Twitter followers aren’t reading your tweets. Your Facebook friends rarely visit your page. Your LinkedIn connections aren’t checking your updates.
Tools provide a convenient way to establish connections, but to maintain those connections you still have to put in the work. Any tool that is easy or automated won’t establish the connections you really need.
5. Reach too high. If your company provides financial services, establishing a connection with Warren Buffett would be great. Or say you need seed capital; hooking up with Mark Cuban would be awesome. Awesome and almost impossible.
The best connections are mutually beneficial. What can you offer Buffett or Cuban? Not much. You may desperately want to connect with the top people in your industry, but the right to connect is not based on want or need. You must earn the right to connect. Find people who can benefit from your knowledge and insight or your connections.
The “status” level of your connections is irrelevant. All that matters is whether you can help each other reach your goals. | <urn:uuid:16efbd1b-db39-472b-afe1-b1fb3f889381> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.businessinsider.com/dont-make-these-5-networking-mistakes-2011-12 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368704713110/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516114513-00030-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.946067 | 639 | 1.710938 | 2 |
Teaching Intelligent Design is the perfect recipe for mass producing suicide bombers!
This is apparently what Harry Kroto (an otherwise intelligent fellow) seriously believes!
The Education Guardian included this extract from Sir Harry Kroto’s (Francis Eppes professor in the department of chemistry and biochemistry at
Do I think there is any hope for
It is a scandal that the present system is enabling a car salesman to divert significant government funds to propagate dogma such as "intelligent design" in our schools. State funds are also being used to support some schools that abuse impressionable young people by brainwashing them into believing that non-believers will burn for all eternity in the fires of hell. This policy is a perfect recipe for the creation of the next generation of homegrown and state-educated suicide bombers.
I think there is every likelihood that the lack of scientifically educated and aware young people in the
Harry Kroto is a brilliant scientist. However as an example of what he describes as “the enquiring mindset” he leaves a great deal to be desired with regards to the influence of his own materialist mindset on his convictions about those who disagree with his philosophy.
It is scarcely credible that a well educated scientist feels that he can write such patently ridiculous, offensive, ill informed, vitriolic gibberish.
If he feels as strongly about this as he appears to from this extract then at the very least he ought to get his facts straight! Being passionate about something is one thing. Being passionate about and publishing your passionate rhetoric without checking your facts is the quickest way to make yourself and your cause appear ridiculous.
- What evidence is there that a traditional Christian education produces a higher proportion of suicide bombers than an atheistic, materialistic, relativistic one or any other sort of education? Presumably Kroto lumps all religious education together as being equally destructive. If you are religious then you are a secret member of the Taleban. So much for a carefully nuanced and a meticulously researched piece of prose!
- What evidence does he have that a particular car salesman is in favour of teaching any intelligent design or creationism in science lessons let alone that he is diverting government funds for this purpose?
- What right has he got to claim all the improvements in the modern world as the natural children of “secular, enlightened philosophy” (which presumably means materialism)?
- What evidence does he have that there is “brainwashing” taking place in any
state school? UK
- Since when did the
become a secular materialist state? UK | <urn:uuid:70c74549-d430-4645-81f1-127ef07463c9> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://idintheuk.blogspot.com/2007_05_01_archive.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368709037764/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516125717-00033-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.965877 | 528 | 1.617188 | 2 |
thing is, i've asked stupid questions before that one, and i will probably carry on doing, gotta learn somehow.
I didn't say, and I don't think anyone else said that it was a stupid question. I said that it was a surprising question. It stunned me to think that you have probably been doing a number of exercises that fall into these two categories, probably doing them for some time, and are only now asking about their value.
I'm sorry that I commented on this rather than just giving a direct answer to your question.
Carrying is a basic human activity. Everything from hauling your suitcases to check-in at the airport, to bringing in the groceries to moving small children around, we all carry. Most carrying involves a higher proportion of stabilization to primary movement. The two weight-room lifts that come immediately to mind in this category are the farmer's walk (walking with load in the hand(s) at the side(s), and the waiter's carry (walking with a weight overhead, almost always one-handed), but many lifts have elements of the carry (grip, load stabilization, movement with the weight). Deadlift, RDL, lunges all come to mind.
Hinging is the basic movement of the hip. When you allow your knees to break first when descending from standing, they tend to move forward, and the quads tend to assume the lion's share of the work. Think squats. People try to hinge to begin their squats in order to get the posterior chain to take more of the work and create a more balanced exercise, but face it, squats are for quads. When the hip hinges before anything else gets involved, the posterior chain (hams, glutes, back) tends to stay more involved. So hip hinge exercises (I listed them before) strengthen the posterior chain. The PC is critical for all heavy lifting--helping your neighbor move her piano, lifting your bride over the threshold, removing boulders from your garden, etc. Like jlmoss said.
I can't remember if you have ever clearly stated your exercise goals, but mine center around making my life better. My simple, and somewhat tongue-in-cheek statement of my goals is "so that I can tie my own shoes when I'm 92"; that is to stay functional as long as possible. That was really what jlmoss was trying to say. He's in my general age category. He and I don't care any more about impressing the girls (well, maybe a little, but not much). Though the word "functional" has been overused and misused a lot in the strength training world, I can't think of a better word to use in this case. | <urn:uuid:e3cfc946-d0c8-426f-a907-370f4c15d4f6> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://exrx.net/forum/viewtopic.php?p=93443 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368708766848/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516125246-00029-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.972812 | 563 | 1.601563 | 2 |
Spring Expansion Help
So I have been thinking about what I want to do in the spring. Here are my goals for hive count in the fall: three to four warre hives, six langs, and three to four nucs. At this point in the year I have two healthy langs and one warre. The langs are in eight frame equipment and with two deeps and one med. My warre had four boxes and I have two drawn boxes in the garage. I don't really have any extra Lang combs right now, but my tbhs have all sucked in the two years I have had them. They are both dead right now. I fully plan on cutting the comb off of the top bar and strapping them to empty Lang frames. This should give them a head start.
Part of my plan includes buying packages in the spring. I have enough cash saved up for four packages. I will put three packages into langs and the other in the two drawn warre boxes. So that brings me to five langs and two warres. At this point I need one full Lang, all of my nucs, and one or two warres.
So I will need to get the rest out of splits. Once my packages have fully filled out a deep I plan on starting to split and correct me if my timing is off. I plan on taking three brood combs out of one of my langs and placing it above an excluder in my other (both of these are my overwintered hives) Lang in order to populate it.
Question- Do I ensure that all bees are off the combs or just tap them so that flyers come off?
The next day remove brood combs and place in deep with a pollen/honey comb. I would also like to rear queens, but I suspect this split won't be strong enough. So my plan is to remove the queen from a package and place it in the new split.
Next question- How do you get attendants into the queen cage for intro?
Then graft with the queenless hive. Come back later to pinch off any unwanted queen cells.
Now I don't want to ruin the honey production of my overwintered hives. So I don't plan on really splitting them really hard, but I don't know what is a reasonable number. I don't know if I should just leave it at one split from these hives until after the main flow or split twice.
After the queen cells are ready to harvest I plan on splitting my warres until I get my goal. I will also try to make my nucs. I guess I will have to see how my packages and wintered gives look. Maybe I just take onw brood comb from each to make three nucs or some other variation.
That should get me close to my goal if all goes well. What does everybody think of that? Anything that could be done differently that would improve my plan?
Not Michael Bush. My name is Dan. Sorry for the confusion. | <urn:uuid:1603c9e1-ea1c-4c8d-aec9-45f7a9cad286> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.beesource.com/forums/showthread.php?277370-How-many-times-do-you-think-I-can-split-my-hives-safely&goto=nextnewest | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368696383156/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516092623-00004-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.967124 | 630 | 1.507813 | 2 |
Last week, the attention of the technology press turned — as it always does in January — to Las Vegas. As usual, the Consumer Electronics Show filled the town to the bursting point with new gizmos of all kinds. But the news with the greatest long-term potential to shake up tech as we know it emanated from Mountain View, California, and it didn’t have anything to do with gadgets. It was Google’s announcement that it’s begun to add a new social dimension to its eponymous, market-dominating search engine — a twist that it calls “Search, Plus Your World.”
For now, at least, what Google is doing with SPYW is stirring information from its Google+ social network into the gumbo of links that makes up its search results. For some searches, results will now be preceded by a link to updates and photos from your Google+ friends (assuming you have any) relating to your query; these items may also be woven into the results themselves. For some, a list on the right-hand side of the screen will recommend Google+ users who relate to the query you entered. And when you start to type into the search box, Google may suggest that you visit the profile of Google+ friends or high-profile users whose names match the characters you’ve entered.
The fact that these features have arrived isn’t the least bit startling. Melding Google+ with the world’s most popular search engine is Google’s most potent weapon in its ongoing battle for web supremacy with the world’s most popular social network, Facebook. And the very name “Google+” indicates that Google sees the service not as something distinct from Google search, but rather as its future.
I was, however, surprised by the intensity of the instant backlash against Google’s decision to turn its search engine into a billboard for Google+. One Google+ competitor, Twitter, is openly agitated about Google’s favoritism for its own social network. Google gurus Steven Levy and Danny Sullivan both appear to be wary of the change. (Levy says that a search engine, like Caesar’s wife, must appear to be above reproach, and that SPYW is an apparent conflict of interest that takes Google “into dangerous territory.”)
Many pundits have raised the most infamous example of a big tech company tying a fledgling product to a market-dominating one. That would be Microsoft’s decision in the mid-1990s to give away its Internet Explorer browser with Windows. The move brutalized browser pioneer Netscape, but it also led to the epic legal tussle known as The United States v. Microsoft. Google could face similar scrutiny: The FTC, which was already investigating the search giant on antitrust grounds, now says it’s looking into SPYW.
So what hath Google wrought?
If you ask the company, it’ll say it’s just trying to make search more personal. “Search is still limited to a universe of webpages created publicly, mostly by people you’ve never met,” says Google Fellow Amit Singhal in the blog post introducing SPYW. “Today, we’re changing that by bringing your world, rich with people and information, into search.”
article continues on next page… | <urn:uuid:bd366d8d-e45d-44c8-a12c-d8eecb4b9814> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://techland.time.com/2012/01/19/search-plus-your-world-googles-risky-gambit/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368699273641/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516101433-00038-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.940948 | 701 | 1.523438 | 2 |
British Airways Going to Extremes to Let Flight Attendants Find Your Personal Information — Is It Fair?
How would you feel if you found out that an airline was using the Internet to track down photographs and personal information about you before you even boarded the flight?
Surprise — it’s happening.
Over the course of the last year, British Airways has implemented such practices, equipping airline employees with iPad devices used to search private records that include passenger food preferences and previous travel plans, as well as Google images to help airline staff get up close and personal with a traveler before they ever step foot on the plane.
While the London-based airline says its “Know Me” program is simply designed to provide a more personalized service to its VIP passengers, privacy advocates are not at all impressed with the airlines attempt to stick its nose where it doesn’t belong.
“Since when has buying a flight ticket meant giving your airline permission to start hunting for information about you on the Internet?” asked Nick Pickles, director of the London-based privacy campaign group Big Brother Watch.
However, British Airlines suggests that there is no reason to be concerned with their VIP program, and that they are only attempting to reproduce the ambience one experiences when they are recognized and welcomed into their favorite restaurant.
There is no word yet if this type of “Know Me” program is coming to the United States. | <urn:uuid:8d13717c-65a6-4ad7-b775-72a025a867db> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://newstalk1290.com/british-airways-personal-information/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368704132298/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516113532-00003-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.949385 | 292 | 1.570313 | 2 |
Pathways of History Tour comes to Jefferson Township museum
On Oct. 20 and 21, the Jefferson Township Museum joined the prestigious Pathways of History Museum Tour, a special event now in its third year. The tour encompasses 13 historic locations throughout Morris County, and was created in 2010 to expand residents' knowledge of the cultural and historic legacies in communities throughout the area.
"We are thrilled to be able to bring history to life for Jefferson residents," said Jefferson Township Historical Society President Christine Williams, "and now we can share that experience with others, too."
The Jefferson Township Museum in the George Chamberlain House on Dover-Milton Road is itself is an historic landmark and on national and state registries. Costumed volunteers dressed in late 19th century regalia greeted visitors and gave tours of the museum which is fully decorated and furnished in the Victorian time period.
Historical societies that sponsor the event provided maps and information on the many sites. The tour is held over two days as to give everyone a chance to see everything and not have to cut their visits short. According to Jefferson Museum publicist Pearlann McManus, each site was doing something special for visitors.
"Each participant in the tour has planned something extra special for this extraordinary event honoring history, community and friendship," McManus said.
The Jefferson Museum had free home-baked goods for visitors, fresh-made mulled apple cider and plenty of authentic gifts for sale in the museum's Miss Elizabeth's Shoppe. The docents who ran the tours had an intimate knowledge of its many artifacts and detailed history. They were able to answer questions and make history come to life for the visitors.
The full name of the tour is "Following the Pathways of History – Links to Each Other and to the Past." The first tour took place in five museums in Boonton, Township of Boonton, Butler, Kinnelon and Montville Township. This year's tour added sites in Denville, Dover, Lake Hopatcong, Pequannock and Riverdale along with Jefferson.
The tour was publicized by the many historical societies involved, as well as the county. McManus said she placed press releases in as many publications, both print and online, as possible. It attracted attention from as far south as Monmouth County, as evidenced by Randall Gabrielan's visit to Jefferson on Oct. 20.
"I heard of the tour via the internet as the League of Historical Societies posted information," he said. "I am involved in Monmouth County's 'Old Monmouth Weekend' in May, and I thought I would see what our neighbors to the north were doing."
Gabrielan works part time for his county, which runs the Monmouth tour. He invited Jefferson residents to come visit their event, too, and to look for information closer to May. His county's sponsorship of their event makes it different from the Pathways of History Tour.
"Our tour is unique in that we are doing it as a group of historical societies and not sponsored by a local government," said Donna West, the treasurer of Jefferson's historical society. "I know we put a lot of dedication into it, and we love doing it."
The purpose behind the tour and many of the events the museum hosts is to create awareness of the resource among residents and surrounding communities.
"We really want to give more exposure to the museum," said Jana-Lee Bair, who wears the multiple hats of Assistant Curator, Archivist and Genealogist for the museum. "Sometimes residents don't realize what real treasures they have in their own community."
The Jefferson part of the tour extended across the street to the old sanctuary of the Milton United Methodist Church. There, the Piece Partner Quilters of Milton had an enormous display of their original, hand-made quilts that took over the entire church. There were beautiful quilts over all the pews, hanging on the walls and draped over the vestibule and altar. Members Mary Parr, Lynda MacDonald and others were on hand to answer questions. | <urn:uuid:ea1d27d4-42f8-4582-a421-247f9b6839b7> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.northjersey.com/news/175911951_Pathways_of_History_Tour_comes_to_Jefferson_Township_museum.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368702810651/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516111330-00030-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.973269 | 834 | 1.664063 | 2 |
a Wood-Composite Landing Gear for a Model Aircraft
This is a complete rewrite of an article posted several years ago.
When I began building the landing gear featured in that article I didn't believe it would
actually work so documentation of the procedures involved were more of a
very brief overview than a how-to article. I called it an "all-wood"
landing gear but it's actually a wood/fiberglass composite
That landing gear is still going after withstanding unreasonably hard
landings, really rough fields and life under water. It fell from the model in flight one day, landed in a swamped area and
lived there until the ground dried enough to retrieve the gear.
Several weeks later the gear delaminated in one of the upper bends. I repaired it using thin CA. It's held up since then
but has a slight gimp.
I don't believe a durability test for any part of a flying model aircraft should
include being submerged in a swamp unless, perhaps, the model is built to
operate from them. As far as I'm concerned the
gear is proven.
My current model wants a wood landing gear and I want my new model to be
happy so I made her one. This time I took a lot of new photos
to more realistically show what goes into making one of these. | <urn:uuid:edcc1338-f24e-42fc-9140-e7ade858f917> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.airfieldmodels.com/information_source/how_to_articles_for_model_builders/construction/wood_landing_gear/index.htm | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368697380733/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516094300-00012-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.97103 | 283 | 1.6875 | 2 |
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