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`Mudra Fest 05' showcased some of the best dancers in India.
PHOTOS: S. MAHINSHA AND S. GOPAKUMAR
VIGNETTES: The traditional and the contemporary were an integral part of `Mudra Fest 05.' Lakshmi Gopalaswamy.
The `Mudra Fest 05' in Thiruvananthapuram showcased some of the best talents in dance, both from the North and South of India. The traditional and the contemporary seamlessly blended to make the festival a visual treat.
`Jalam,' staged by the Samudra Center for Contemporary Performing Arts, stood out for its compact and flawless presentation. `Jalam' or water was portrayed as the Mother Goddess and the many facets of her existence - creation, destruction and pollution by man - were depicted through the the navarasas.
The main dancers, Madhu Gopinath and Vakkom Sajeev, who are also choreographers and directors of this institute, have been trained in Bharatanatyam, Kalaripayattu and Yoga. It goes to their credit that they have managed to create a unique dance form that is contemporary and aesthetic. No wonder Samudra is going places, quite literally.
The latter half of the evening saw an Odissi performance by Meena Kumari Sahoo, disciple of Guru Kelu Charan Mahapatra, and her troupe.
The repertoire was regular and predictable except for the abhinaya number, `Krishna Thandava,' a delightful piece set to the composition `Nachanti range Sri Hari.'
What stood out was the choreography for the group items by Utkalika Pahad Singh. In an invocatory piece on Devi, as well as in the Dashavatara, the graceful movements for creating the iconic forms of the Goddess and Lord Vishnu left memorable images in the viewers' minds.
Rajinder Gangani, a scion of the Jaipur Gharana of Kathak, has always been a favourite with the Kerala audience. His 20-member troupe gave an enthralling performance entitled `Kathak Katha.'
It traced the origins of Kathak from its early days in the temple precincts to the Durbar Kaal where it dominated the mehfils of the courts. It was at this time that the attire underwent a change from the `lehenga' to the `angrakha.' The last stage in the process, called `Rangtatva' saw the evolution of Kathak into a form suited for performances on stage.
Story of Kathak
The recital began with a Shiv stuthi in Rag Bagesri with verses from Rudrashtaka. This and a few pieces that followed were representative of the early period in Kathak with its accent on devotion.
A scene from `Jalam.'
In this section, a piece `Kesariya balam,' from `Dhola Maaru,' a legendary folktale of Rajasthan, highlighted the style of the Jaipur gharana. This was a composition by Rajinder's father, Kundan Lal Gangani. A tumri in rag Desh and Sargam were pieces that represented the Durbar kaal. The item called Panchatatva representing the latest stage in the evolution was a grand finale of sorts in which all the 20 dancers came on stage. It was an imaginative yet skilful piece of choreography that sought to depict the five elements of nature. The tatkars won rounds of applause and the chakkars were brilliantly executed by both the male and female dancers.
However, one felt that this number would have looked more spectacular on a bigger stage. Swati Sinha, the lead dancer, showed great promise. The only disappointment came in the form of the taped music that was used as well as the non-participation of Rajinder Gangani who had injured his foot.
The concluding day saw the Bharatanatyam recital of Lakshmi Gopalaswamy.
She began her performance with a Ganapathi sthuti in Raga Gowla, set to Misra chaap taalam, followed by alarippu in raga and tala malika. The main piece, a varnam `Aadi Sivane' in Todi, was a composition of Dandayuthapani Pillai.
Lakshmi is an artiste who maintains the right blend of the nritta and nrithya aspects of dance. For the padam, Lakshmi chose a rare piece from Swati Tirunal's `Kuchelopakhyanam' that begins `Smarathinu maam sadayam' in Behag. Here too, her abhinaya was subtle, yet articulate as she portrayed the hesitant Kuchela on his visit to Sri Krishna.
She concluded her recital with a thillana of Lalgudi Jayaraman in raga Kamas.
`Mudra Fest 05' presented a rare opportunity for lovers of dance.
But the audience, though highly appreciative, was rather sparse.
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AVIGNON, France—"When I go to sleep at night, I dream of ruins!" The complaint, a few days into our visit to southern France, was meant as a joke - I think - but my traveling companion had a point.
During a few days in Provence and Languedoc last fall, we had spent hours tramping over, around and through structures that have stood for centuries and in some cases millennia.
In fact, southern France has so much history that the mere medieval seems hardly remarkable and the Renaissance almost contemporary.
The popes called Avignon home from 1309 to 1376? You don't say. Our hotel is a converted town house built in the 17th century? Ho-hum.
The remnants of history are everywhere, it seems, but were these ancient wonders really the reason we had come to a region revered for its beauty and ambiance?
After all, Van Gogh came here in 1888 for the light and the vivid colors. A century later, writer Peter Mayle came to soak up the rural charm, turning his experiences into best-selling books. And tens of thousands of visitors, many on Mayle pilgrimages, come every year for the wine, the cuisine and the soothing pace of Provencal life.
Who would want to miss out on any of that just to look at a few old monuments? Fortunately, there's no reason to choose between the old and the ... not so old.
They all combine seamlessly, and all are accessible in a region that feels remarkably compact to Americans accustomed to the all-day drives often required to get from one tourist playground to the next.
France, after all, is only about the size of Texas. While still more ground than one could really explore in the 10 days or so that my friend Cathy and I had in France, we decided we could spend a week of that time and get a good sampling of the Provence and Languedoc regions spreading out from the Rhone River in southern France.
And sample is what we had come to do: the food, the drink, the historic cities and the early autumn weather.
We settled on Avignon as a base partly by chance. It was centrally located in the area we would be exploring, and its rich history was appealing. And there were reasonably priced hotels still available.
From Avignon, we found day trips a perfect way to explore. Even when we couldn't at first rent a car - there were plenty of rental companies, but vehicles were in short supply - trains provided a convenient way to visit a few surrounding cities, most notably Arles and Nnmes. And when we at last got our hands on something called a Clio - a diesel-powered Renault that proved dependable, if not exactly sporty - the whole region was within easy reach.
I will take the credit, or blame, for including in our itinerary a lot of visits to those ruins Cathy came to approach with mock dread. But in fairness, we had spent a few days in Paris before we headed south, and we had taken a side trip to the Mediterranean that took us on a lazy afternoon drive through the Camargue, the Rhone delta region known as France's cowboy country with its white horses, black bulls and pink flamingos.
As for the Roman remains and medieval towns, their settings, rural and urban, also provided plenty of opportunities to enjoy the shops, cafes and countryside of France.
Avignon, for example, today is a modern city. But it once was a sanctuary for popes escaping unrest in Rome in the 14th century, and the old town remains, tucked inside a defensive wall built in the 14th century. And many of the old buildings now have first floors given over to stores and restaurants that cater to well-heeled visitors. Most have all the charm of a shopping mall, but there are exceptions, such as the little fruit and cheese shop where we picked up picnic supplies one day.
But if medieval Avignon was touristy, it was just our jumping off point, anyway. And we went looking for the really old stuff, the remains left by Romans who occupied Gaul for hundreds of years and named this region Provincia.
Without doubt, the crown jewel of these Roman artifacts is the Pont du Gard, about 15 miles west of Avignon. Rising 150 feet above the narrow Gardon River gorge, this Roman aqueduct is beautiful for the gracefulness of its architecture and impressive for the precision of its engineering. Its limestone blocks, some weighing as much as 6 tons, were laid in without mortar or cement, using human labor to lift the huge stones into place. Over the centuries it has stood up to flooding and earthquakes. Today the French treat the Pont du Gard like the treasure it is, and of the sites we visited, it felt the most like a national monument in the United States.
It costs 7 euros (about $9.50) to park, but otherwise access is free. A modern visitor center includes a theater, museum and children's space and a reasonably priced food court. | <urn:uuid:68b4c0ff-9e1f-45f7-a0b5-205094f4ed45> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.dailypress.com/travel/dp-trav_sfrancemy8may06,0,7993219.story | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368696382584/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516092622-00028-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.975075 | 1,045 | 1.679688 | 2 |
Sat Aug 18, 2012, 01:56 PM
ms.smiler (426 posts)
Is Your “Safe” Deposit Box REALLY Safe?
If you or someone you know has valuables in a safe deposit box at a bank, please do yourself a great favor. Please ask the bank manager if the bank is responsible for the “personal property” in your safe deposit box. After the bank manager says “no” to you, please consider how you would possibly prove in court what personal property was once present in your safe deposit box.
You may have the false belief that your personal property is secure in a safe deposit box. Neither the bank nor the FDIC insures person property held in deposit boxes, nor does your renter or homeowners insurance provide coverage.
Whatever may be stored in your deposit box is under the control of many of the same banking institutions that crashed our economy. And if any of that property disappeared for whatever reason, there is little hope of recovery.
There are legitimate reasons why a bank may drill and open deposit boxes. The rental fees may not have been paid or perhaps the box had been inactive, meaning unopened for a period of time.
In the world of honest and trusting people like us, we might expect banks to make good faith efforts to contact us via mail and phone to inform us about whatever problem may supposedly exist with our deposit boxes.
Unfortunately for us, there are incompetent, negligent, incautious, even dishonest people in our banking industry. Personal property is removed from deposit boxes on a daily basis for a variety of reasons.
Just as homeowners who were dutifully making their mortgage payments are surprised to learn that their property was foreclosed, there are deposit box renters surprised to discover that either their box is empty or that their box was drilled and the contents removed.
Just as banks claim that a mortgage payment wasn’t made, they sometimes claim a box rental payment wasn’t made. Just as banks “lose” valuable Promissory Notes, they sometimes “lose” deposit box account information.
Banks may open deposit boxes because of no activity or because of frequent activity which the bank may view as suspicious.
Regardless of the legitimacy of the reason, deposit boxes are opened and the banks declare the contents “Abandoned Property.” They temporarily store the property calculating fees associated with the actions taken by the bank. The fees are expected to be paid either by the deposit box customer or by reimbursement from the sale or auction of the property to which the bank is entitled to recover.
Here is an example of a recent bank auction:
Unclaimed Tiffany and Cartier Jewelry To Be Auctioned At Safety Deposit Box Sale
From the article:
Doyle’s press release reads that the safety deposit box objects are being sold “by Order of Bank of America”.
There are 3 primary threats to personal property in deposit boxes:
1. Bank employee – the individual opening the vault and assisting the customer, may pretend to lock the inner box but actually leave it unlocked before locking the exterior door. They may also palm and switch the customer’s keys.
2. Security & Maintenance Contractors – these employees may temporarily disable security systems to enable them access to boxes.
3. Banks – through negligence or intentional action, determines a reason to drill and open deposit boxes and may or may not inform the customer about the action.
Who can routinely access your deposit box?
1. The bank
2. The Federal government - IRS, Homeland Security via Search Warrant
3. The state government
4. Parties with a court order
If such theft hasn’t happened to you or someone you know, you might be inclined to believe that such incidents are rare. All it takes though is for your bank to determine a reason and they can lawfully drill or electronically open your deposit box without your knowledge, presence or consent.
Once a bank has declared deposit box contents “Abandoned Property” and after they’ve sold or auctioned property to be reimbursed for various “fees” the balance of the property is turned over to states.
Let’s take a look at what is acquired by our states. This “Abandoned Property” falls under the designation of “Unclaimed Property” by our states. Some states are quite responsible with the property and do their best to find the rightful owners. Those departments are actually holding millions even billions in property and they are usually understaffed. So only a few people may be working to match vast amounts of property with the owners of that property. Other states have actually sold/auctioned billions of dollars of property and used the money to help balance their budgets.
Common Forms of Unclaimed Property
Funds from checking or savings accounts
Unredeemed Money Orders or Gift Certificates
Insurance Payments or Refunds
Life Insurance Policies
Certificates of Deposit
Utility Security Deposits
Mineral Royalty Payments
Contents of Safe Deposit Boxes
1 in 10 people have Unclaimed Property.
Less than 25% of Unclaimed Property is ever returned to the owner.
Given that 1 in 10 people have Unclaimed Property I ran a few searches.
I quickly found 4 people on one side of my family and 3 people on the other side that have Unclaimed Property. From the descriptions, they most likely forgot a utility deposit or made overpayments on accounts.
What about the property removed from deposit boxes? Our states actually don’t have a means to determine what is discovered in opened deposit boxes. They rely on documentation submitted to them by our banks. Here is a form where banks attest to what they supposedly discovered in opened deposit boxes.
In addition to an inventory there is a place for a signature from a bank official and for a Notary and I couldn’t help but be reminded of the millions of robo-signed documents in our land records.
Americans store billions of dollars of gold, silver, bonds, stocks, jewelry, cash, firearms, collectibles, etc. in their deposit boxes.
Do you suppose that after banks have auctioned property from those boxes they declared “Abandoned” to recover various “fees,” most of the balance of the property is turned over to the states by the banks?
Or do you suppose only a small percentage of the “Abandoned Property” is turned over to the states by the banks?
Did you know that some banks will offer you a free deposit box if you maintain a certain level of funds in a banking account?
Presently our state treasurers are holding 32.8 billion in Unclaimed Property only a percentage of which is the contents of deposit boxes.
Billions of dollars of “Unclaimed Property” is auctioned by our states.
Remember, when you view or attend these auctions, you are only assuming that all or nearly all property is genuinely abandoned.
Here’s an older informative & unsettling report from California:
All 50 states pay contractors to seize accounts for them.
California sold 5.1 billion in property prior to 2008.
Unclaimed Property is the third largest source of revenue for the state of Delaware.
All it takes is some small “glitch” at the bank and your precious heirlooms, your important documents, your silver coins, your saved cash for a down deposit on a house, your valuable collectibles, can all vanish from your deposit box.
If you were paying very close attention to the words and phrases I used in this OP, you noticed that I started out using the phrase “safe deposit box” which I purposely and quickly dropped in favor of the phrase “deposit box.” As a business person I recognize the word “safe” as a marketing concept.
Americans have gathered their most precious and valuable items and conveniently deposited them within easy reach of financially stressed states and banksters.
I recognize the effectiveness of this marketing concept and I’m amazed at the power of a single word.
5 replies, 884 views
Is Your “Safe” Deposit Box REALLY Safe? (Original post)
|Major Nikon||Aug 2012||#3|
Response to ms.smiler (Original post)
Sat Aug 18, 2012, 10:02 PM
ms.smiler (426 posts)
1. Long range planners are on a collision course with Escheatment laws.
Many people set up a variety of accounts with long range plans in mind such as saving for a home, college and retirement. I see a problem in that while people are making long range plans, states across the country are changing their Escheatment laws and shortening the period of time that low activity assets become “Unclaimed Property.”
In California, that time period used to be 16 years, now it’s 3. In my state of Pennsylvania the dormant period used to be 7 years, now it’s 5.
All our states pay contractors commissions to locate supposedly “Abandoned Property.” Some states even use third party auditors to audit a variety of businesses seeking low activity accounts subject to Escheatment laws. Some states spend notable monies in order to locate Escheatable assets. I see a problem in that by comparison some states spend extremely little in their efforts to reunite the owners with their assets.
If hard to find individuals such as Brad Pitt, Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa, Sir Michael Caine & Kate Winslett have Unclaimed Property, how likely is it that my state could find me?
Response to ms.smiler (Original post)
Sat Aug 18, 2012, 11:56 PM
FarCenter (13,555 posts)
4. A hollow tree is much preferred
The Charter Oak was an unusually large white oak tree growing, from around the 12th or 13th century until it fell during a storm in 1856, on what the English colonists named Wyllys Hyll, in Hartford, Connecticut, USA. According to tradition, Connecticut's Royal Charter of 1662 was hidden within the hollow of the tree to thwart its confiscation by the English governor-general. The oak became a symbol of American independence and is commemorated on the Connecticut State Quarter.
Response to ms.smiler (Original post)
Sun Aug 19, 2012, 04:17 PM
ms.smiler (426 posts)
5. Not only do the Escheat periods vary from state to state but they can vary within a state regarding
the type of supposedly “Abandoned Property.”
A person, who even knows the dormancy period in their state, can’t assume that ALL their property is safe from Escheatment during that time period. As an example, a bank account even an online account designated to a minor may sit peacefully growing due to interest for 5 years while stocks in a brokerage account may become escheatable in only 3 years time.
Regardless of the dormancy time period in your state, about half of all U.S. publically traded companies are incorporated in the state of Delaware and stocks in those companies are subject to Delaware’s Escheatment laws. Buy and hold investors may elect to simply set their account to automatically reinvest the dividends. In only 3 short years, those stocks can easily fall subject to Escheatment by the state of Delaware.
Now I think I understand how Unclaimed Property is the third largest source of revenue for Delaware.
Some states have done more than simply shorten the dormancy or inactivity period.
It used to be that by law, a notice was required to be sent by mail to the last known address of a person with presumed Abandoned Property. Now about 1/3 of our states use inactivity alone as the trigger for Escheatment so millions of Americans can’t even expect a letter in the mail notifying them of account inactivity and the looming forfeiture of their property.
I can’t help but think there should be uniformity of these laws across our 50 states. That of course would be in the best interest of citizens.
In researching this though, I can’t help but conclude that some states, rather than increasing taxes, have intentionally used their Escheatment laws to increase their revenue streams. In my state and in others, interest and penalties may be imposed on the holders of Abandoned Property while the property owner is not entitled to any interest. And of course some states auction the property they have collected and the money goes into their General funds.
Considering the financial windfall for those states, I don’t see where they would mind very much, the fee generating instances where banks contrive reasons to open deposit boxes. | <urn:uuid:d288d9a7-65a6-47d9-867a-625232340775> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.democraticunderground.com/10021156374 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368711005985/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516133005-00038-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.936478 | 2,663 | 1.5625 | 2 |
Small tornado damages Hockinson barn
Originally published March 21, 2013 at 5:01 p.m., updated March 21, 2013 at 9:31 p.m.
A small tornado tore through a barn in Hockinson on Thursday afternoon as dark skies, hail and heavy rain swept through Clark County.
Irene Ginter was going to get a glass of water just after 4 p.m. at her home off Northeast 189th Street when she heard a loud crack. Looking out the kitchen window, she saw a rotating funnel touch down on top of the barn. Within 10-15 seconds, the funnel took most of the corrugated metal roof and half of the wooden barn with it.
“I looked out the window and there was this twirl, something rotating … and the roof was just flying all over the place,” she said. “I’m still kind of in shock.”
Mike Ginter was parking a tractor in his barn, south of his parents’ home, when he saw the roof fly up about 50 feet into the air and toss debris across the field to the southeast and northeast.
“I was wondering, ‘Where’s Dorothy?’ ” he said.
Nine black Angus cattle, spooked by the weather, ran south of the barn toward a wooded area.
Preliminary reports from the National Weather Service in Portland classified the tornado’s strength as an EF0 on the Fujita scale, with winds estimated at 60 to 85 mph.
Fire District 3 was dispatched to the home at 4:14 p.m. It assessed the structure and assisted the family in salvaging the contents of the barn spread out over a 10-acre area, said Deputy Chief Scott Sorenson.
Fortunately, no one was hurt and no other property was damaged.
“We’re going to have to clean it up,” said homeowner Don Ginter. “It will take some time.”
Mike Ginter drove through the field with his trailer, picking up splintered wood, sheets of metal and contents from the barn, including a saw and a trouble light fixture. A large section of the roof ended up near the road, while other pieces draped over the fence. The debris gouged the field, taking chunks of earth with it.
A metal sheet was wedged into a neighbor’s backyard, about 700 feet, or two football fields, away.
The Ginters will scrap the metal and burn the plywood, but aren’t so sure about replacing the now-collapsed barn.
“I don’t think it’s worth fixing,” Irene said.
About 10 years ago, their insurance company stopped insuring the barn, built in the early 1940s.
Last year, Mike Ginter worked on fixing up the barn, reinforcing the east side and foundation.
Don and Irene Ginter, both in their 70s, have lived in their home for 47 years and say they’ve never experienced such strong winds.
Heavy rain and hail fell from a menacing black sky before the incident, Irene said.
“I’ve never seen it stay black like that for so long,” she said.
Patty Hastings: 360-735-4513; http://www.twitter.com/col_cops; [email protected]. | <urn:uuid:5a721f92-783e-4530-8ea1-2ea13b9afac8> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.columbian.com/news/2013/mar/21/possible-funnel-cloud-damages-barn-near-hockinson/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368704132298/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516113532-00008-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.96197 | 723 | 1.554688 | 2 |
Hold up, buddy.
Possibly the most important thing when building a character is the Race. There are ten races in Oblivion. Each one specializes in certain Attributes and may even have a special power added on to it. The gender of your character will also play a role when determining Attributes.
Make sure you look closely at the differences between the female and male sexes of each race before picking it. If you definitely want to play a female role, make sure you pick the race that allows her to do everything you want. In general, the females are weaker than the males but have greater Willpower, though not in every race. The males also generally have better Endurance, making them much better for stand and swing melee players than the females. That's not to say that playing as a female doesn't have its advantages. Females are great in the Personality department and, in the case of Argonians and Orcs, are more intelligent. Playing as a male will give you an easier time when first starting out (we guess it is still a man's world in this land), but there won't really be much of a difference towards the end of the game.
View each page to find detailed stats of each race including their attributes, skill bonuses, Specials, and more.
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FRI: 24º/15º SAT: 18º/14º
Opinion | Out of the camps! Waiting for the promise! Waiting for delivery!
It’s May 13 and we are travelling from Sigerslev and Sandholm, from Auderød, Avnstrup and Vipperød. Some of us have walked 16 kilometres from the asylum centre in Kongelunden to Rådhuspladsen. We are not alone; activists and ordinary Danes are here to support us. We number about 1,500 people. This is no ordinary demonstration. With our banners and placards, we have one clear message to the Danish government: let us all out of the camps.
When this government came to power, the hopes of immigrants in general and asylum seekers in particular were revitalised. It was a new dawn after a long night of despair. But soon talk started that not all asylum seekers would be allowed to live and work outside the centres. Asylum seekers and their supporters got worried. They decided to make their voices heard. This was after the government had appointed a taskforce to look into the possibility of changing regulations for asylum seekers. Our concern was that asylum seekers themselves were not consulted by the committee throughout their deliberations. The committee’s composition remained secretive and its discussions kept out of the public eye.
When we gathered at Rådhuspladsen, we made our voices heard. Speaker after speaker expressed the frustration and desperation of life in the camps – the frustration and desperation that comes when your application for asylum is rejected and your fate is left in the hands of the police. The police employ absurd methods to frustrate rejected asylum seekers to make them agree to voluntarily deportations to the countries they fled from.
Current figures show that out of 950 rejected asylum seekers last year, only 150 agreed to be sent out of Denmark in the past. It is hard to agree to be deported to a country where you are sure to face torture or death; many would rather rot in jail here. The living allowance allocated to each asylum seeker is drastically reduced once an asylum seeker’s application is rejected, any kind of permission they had to work is terminated and, finally, the individual can be detained at Ellebæk Detention Centre to await deportation.
By this time, many have had a total mental breakdown. The thought of being sent back to the countries where they witnessed or were victims of torture or persecution, or were even threatened with death, is too great to bear. The many months or even years spent in an isolated asylum camp destabilises the mind forever. For those who end up getting asylum after a long stay in the camp, the integration into their new society is derailed, and those who end up not receiving it end up depressed or more isolated. Ideally an asylum system should help people rebuild their broken lives. It should be a safe haven that allows them to breathe a sigh of relief after witnessing atrocities in the countries they fled.
The scepticism that allowing asylum seekers to live and work outside the camps would lead to an influx of refugees is ill-founded. People do not flee to find work abroad. As is the case in places like the United Kingdom, where the number of asylum seekers is considerably higher and is increasing even though asylum seekers there face worse conditions. This points to the fact that the numbers of asylum seekers are related to things like family ties and language, and not necessarily economic considerations.
So where do we go from here? The government promised that after six months, asylum seekers would be allowed to live outside the centres and work. We call for nothing short of that. Working and living in a normal community is more than just a fundamental freedom, it is also at the core of the human spirit. It gives dignity to a group of individuals when they are most vulnerable.
Wars, political instability and conflicts will be with us as long as humanity exists, but human dignity and the prosperity of any society will be measured not on how well its most privileged members are treated, but on how well its vulnerable minorities are cared for. We live in an increasingly interconnected world village – we have to rise to the occasion and do what we must.
The author the spokesperson for the Out of the Camps movement and a resident of the Auderød asylum centre. | <urn:uuid:0ea4b51e-3fd5-4280-9d06-11711a3001d2> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://cphpost.dk/commentary/opinion/opinion-out-camps-waiting-promise-waiting-delivery | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368710006682/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516131326-00022-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.962688 | 880 | 1.789063 | 2 |
The fallout from May Day can be felt in every sector of Occupy Wall Street. Some people say it was one of the greatest days since the movement began and are excited for what comes next. Others left with a sour taste in their mouths, whether by the lack of aggressive actions, or by the police state erected in Lower Manhattan, or by simply being worn down from overwork. In some cases, relationships with one another have strained and frayed. Having helped see the project through from conception to reality, my own feelings are mixed. I’m burnt out, taking a break to get perspective, and scared for what might come next. But I also saw May Day as a project that fulfilled the main objectives we had for it and meanwhile created a model for how to organize long-term projects in the future.
May Day had a few primary purposes. The first goal, to bring out enough numbers to show that Occupy Wall Street is vibrant and thriving, was more than achieved. Following a winter and early spring that saw the General Assembly and Spokes Council disbanded and attendance at actions topping out at around 500, May Day brought as many as 30,000 protesters into the streets, joining New York’s November 17 actions and Oakland’s ”general strike” on November 2 as among the largest actions in Occupy’s short history. It should be considered a more than adequate kick-off for our summer offensive. And, unlike N17 here in New York, the unions did not drive turnout for May Day. There were many union contingents on the march, but none other than the Transportation Workers Union had more than a few dozen marchers each; even TWU fell well short of the 3,000 people they estimated that they could turn out. Occupy mobilized the overwhelming majority of protesters. Nevertheless, the tens of thousands who took part showed that a model is being created in which Occupy assemblies, labor unions, immigrant worker justice organizations and other groups can collaborate and begin to jumpstart the catatonic left.
In the past, large OWS actions with sizeable labor contingents, like those on October 5 and November 17, have left many Occupy activists feeling disempowered. Union marshals would stand between police and protesters, telling activists where to go and making sure they didn’t get “out of line,” ostensibly doing the job of the police for them. Collaborating with the state is against many core principles of the Occupy movement, however, and for May Day great pains were taken to ensure this would not happen again. All unions and community groups specifically directed their marshals to stay with their union contingent and not to marshal anyone else. I marched under a giant blue tarp which read “No Bosses, No Borders, No Bullshit!” and nary a marshal or “peacekeeper” was to be found.
May Day has set a precedent for working with unions and other groups, helping to ensure that our unique methods and comfort levels with various tactics of resistance are respected. In order to reverse decades of decline, the labor movement must begin to adopt the more aggressive resistance Occupy has made commonplace, and not censoring or policing us is a start. Maybe next time we can have marches splinter into “red” and “green” risk levels, pulling off some rank-and-file with us to the more aggressive actions. As David Graeber wrote, by aligning our movement with May Day’s rich history of radical resistance, we may have finally distanced ourselves from the ineffective habits of so many reformist institutions. It’s time for unions to start doing the same, and helping unlock their own revolutionary potential.
Perhaps the most important lesson from May Day, though, is the organizing effort itself. On this project I worked alongside liberals and radicals, reformists and anarchists, labor organizers and hackers — a broad range of voices that represent the diversity of the Occupy movement. Without the GA and Spokes Council, inclusive and open projects like May Day can build solidarity and bring us together. Unlike a lot of other OWS actions, including many that I have worked on, May Day had buy-in from across the Occupy community. It belonged to all of us, and everyone felt it. People did what they could, whether that was organizing their workplace, making stickers, organizing autonomous actions, wheatpasting posters or talking to their church group.
Future long-term organizing efforts should follow this open, inclusive model. By connecting everyone’s unique skill sets and tactics, while being in solidarity with those who may choose to adopt different approaches, we can begin laying the groundwork for establishing alternative institutions. Over time, people will begin to have more faith in the alternatives than in the old order, which will cease to be relevant and fade away. If Occupy Wall Street is to survive as a radical movement, it must strive to produce tangible results, making life better for people across New York, outside of capitalism. This means focusing on tasks like foreclosure defense, successful home occupations, mutual aid and — finally — establishing a new home base for the movement.
We have now spent six months without a central place for our movement to thrive, for us to work and meet one another, for new people to know where to come to get involved, or for us to provide services to the community. Those long, hard months have taught us that the police state will never tolerate public occupations again, having seen the strength of our alternatives. Like the model for an Oakland Commune emerging out of Occupy Oakland, a New York Commune would be a way for the movement to live, grow and thrive. For this, we need to find a way to acquire space, whether it’s by defending a new indoor occupation, or purchasing one through a fundraising campaign, which OWS is more than capable of mounting.
In a New York Commune, we can practice mutual aid by providing a place for a free school, a really really free market, meeting spaces, food-banking, time-banking — the possibilities are endless. Renovating a large building would give us an ongoing community project to which thousands of people can apply their unique skills and talents. We can offer rent-free workspace to a variety of horizontal worker co-ops emerging from the Occupy movement, like the OccuCopy print shop. Our community center can put on display alternatives to the state and capitalism, and give people a way to envision a world without these forces of oppression, as Liberty Square once did.
Alternative institutions and sources of dual-power cannot just exist in one building, however. We must work actively to promote and support community assemblies, encourage the formation of new worker-owned cooperatives, and proliferate similiar community centers and projects all over the city. When communities begin to see that they, themselves, can create alternatives to the state, we may very well see a wave of resistence and mutual aid that makes last fall look like practice.
It’s time to absorb the lessons in the successes and frustrations of May Day, and move on toward new long-term projects and goals. It’s time to begin building real power that challenges the legitimacy of state and capitalist institutions, putting the very reason of their existence into question. Let’s continue the feeling of solidarity we had with each other during the May Day organizing process and use our combined strength to begin challenging the state head-on. I can think of no better way to start than by securing a new home for Occupy Wall Street and working to keep people all across New York inside of theirs.
This article was originally published by Waging Nonviolence. | <urn:uuid:ddcc6c41-af31-41ff-a5c1-548e12e6c0c4> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://indypendent.org/2012/05/22/taking-occupy-wall-street-may-day-every-day | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368702810651/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516111330-00036-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.970611 | 1,565 | 1.8125 | 2 |
As the first woman U.S. Ambassador to South Africa Jendayi Frazer was the leading architect of U.S.-Africa policy for nearly a decade, serving in senior positions across the U.S. Government at the State Department, National Security Council and Department of Defense. The former top diplomat on Africa, she brings unparalleled access to African leaders and officials, and offers valuable insight on recent and future developments in Africa, and on U.S. foreign policy, international development policy and national security decision-making.
As Assistant Secretary of State for African Affairs and Special Assistant to the President for African Affairs at the National Security Council Frazer was the lead adviser on Africa to the President, National Security Advisor and Secretary of State, and was instrumental in establishing innovative development initiatives including the President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR), African Education Initiative and the Millennium Challenge Account. She also designed the administration’s policies for ending the wars in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Sierra Leone, Liberia and Burundi, and was central in resolving the political dispute following Kenya’s 2007 presidential election.
As Ambassador, Frazer was the chief executive of the largest U.S. embassy in sub-Saharan Africa, and directed $200 million in U.S. assistance to South Africa. She championed American business with South Africa as the primary destination of U.S. private investment in sub-Saharan Africa. Frazer has served both Republican and Democratic Administrations, and prior to government service was Assistant Professor at the University of Denver and at Harvard University. She returned to academia in 2009 as Distinguished Public Service Professor at Carnegie Mellon University. Frazer offers expert insight on African Affairs, international development issues and U.S. foreign and national security policy of interest to business audiences, foundations and international development agencies, educators and citizen groups interested in today’s global challenges.
Moving Africa Forward: Achievements, Challenges and Opportunities
Genocide in Darfur, Somali pirates, chaos in the Congo, and oil bunkering in Nigeria grab today’s headlines but Frazer reveals that Africa’s realities are more complex and promising. Over the last decade economic growth in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) outpaced the west; two-thirds of SSA countries are democracies today compared to only a quarter in 2000; eight major wars ended between 2001-2008; and more than a million lives were saved from the HIV/AIDS pandemic. While U.S. foreign policy helped achieve this recent decade of progress, the Obama Administration faces significant challenges moving Africa forward in the face of the global economic downturn. As the lead designer of U.S.-Africa policy from 2001 to 2009, and based on her thirty years of Africa experience, Dr. Frazer offers candid firsthand insight into the challenges the Obama Administration will face in crafting an effective foreign policy to address today’s global challenges, including:
- Promoting regional stability and resolving conflict in Congo, Liberia, Zimbabwe and Darfur
- Africa’s economic outlook – globalization challenges and investment opportunities
- Combating transnational threats of terrorism, piracy, and pandemic disease
- Consolidating democratic transition and advancing human rights, transparency and accountability
Promoting Human Dignity: International Development Policy and Assistance that Works
Governments, corporations, foundations and private citizens have poured billions of dollars into development in the poorest countries; yet, a billion people still live on less than two dollars per day. Globalization brings with it the reality that persistent poverty in one country or region affects us all through the proliferation of criminal and terrorist networks to the outbreak of diseases pandemics. While the debate rages between private sector and government funded solutions, Frazer’s experience designing innovative and highly acclaimed initiatives like the President’s Emergency Plan for HIV/AIDS Relief and the Millennium Challenge Account, demonstrates it is possible to translate development assistance into global poverty alleviation. Frazer shares her practical policy expertise by outlining a comprehensive development approach to help the poorest countries escape from poverty.
South Africa at the Crossroads
South Africa’s remarkable transition from international isolation to an emerging global power is increasingly strained by labor unrest and persistent economic disparity. South Africa is sub-Saharan Africa’s largest economy and the destination for most private foreign investment to the region. South Africa also provides most foreign direct investment into other African countries; hence, its future holds a key to unlocking the potential of the entire continent. As the country enters its first recession in 17 years, tackling longstanding economic and social challenges, such as addressing high rates of unemployment and HIV/AIDS prevalence are key to maintaining South Africa’s investment attractiveness and global standing. How will South Africa’s new President, Jacob Zuma, and his Administration manage the challenges? Frazer offers insight into the opportunities and risks for doing business in South Africa based on her extensive Africa experience including service as the first woman U.S. Ambassador to South Africa.
JENDAYI FRAZER’S BOOK:
TO PURCHASE ONLINE: | <urn:uuid:61b2f550-6184-47fc-ba22-57ead95888e2> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://cbaspeakersbureau.com/speakers-bureau/business/jendayi-frazer/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368698924319/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516100844-00026-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.931304 | 1,036 | 1.578125 | 2 |
Emil Frankel, BPC’s Director of Transportation Policy recently weighed in on the National Journal expert blog discussion about whether investment in high-speed rail is beneficial for the economic growth of our country. In his latest blog entry, Mr. Frankel acknowledges that high-speed rail has become a contentious, partisan, and ideological issue, and warns that this type of discussion can distract us from a broader, critical consideration of how and where we should invest scarce federal resources.
Emil points out that NTPP’s 2009 Performance Driven report proposed a mode-neutral competitive "connectivity" grant program. Under such a program, intercity passenger rail projects would be eligible for federal support on the basis of projected performance toward a suite of national goals. This type of competitive grant program would help ensure that investments, including investments in high-speed rail, are made only if they are able to demonstrate and deliver greatest returns and benefits to the country compared to investments in other modes.
Check out the debate among transportation experts on this topic, as well as Emil’s full blog post here. | <urn:uuid:555359d1-4fac-4507-a757-9d187b07525f> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://bpctransportation.blogspot.com/2010/12/thoughts-on-investing-in-high-speed.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368704713110/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516114513-00006-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.953277 | 223 | 1.640625 | 2 |
The helicopter gunning of seven members of the Basin Butte Pack near Stanley by federal agents even as hunters were in the field has angered wolf advocates and highlights again the polarized nature of this issue.
You might remember the Basin Butte pack as the one that delighted wolf watchers for several years as it hung around Stanley and offered the kind of opportunity to see wolves in the wild unlike anywhere but Yellowstone National Park. It’s the same pack that wolf advocate Lynne Stone babysat for several years before wolves were delisted so they wouldn’t eat local ranchers calves.
But the pack has, over its four-year existence, eaten a few cattle — most recently this fall on the edge of Stanley. Both ranchers and federal agencies have shot a few of the wolves in response.
Even though the wolves live in the Sawtooth National Recreation Area and even though recreation is the main industry of the area, they have been treated just like wolves anywhere in Idaho. In fact they are included in Idaho Fish and Game’s list of 26 packs listed as chronic depredators.
I have sat in legislative committee meetings and watched rancher-lawmakers grill Idaho Department of Fish and Game officials for not being aggressive enough in killing off these wolves when they eat someone’s livestock.
What makes wolf advocates even more angry is that the cattle were moved out of the area on October since it is too cold to winter them around Stanley. They ask: “What was the hurry to kill the pack now?”
But Idaho Fish and Game officials had enough and saw the need to become more aggressive with a pack that had grown to as many as 14 animals and was routinely killing even adult cattle.
Had hunters legally shot a couple of the wolves I know Stone and many wolf advocates would have been unhappy. I know people who include wolf-watching as a highlight in trips they made to Idaho would be unhappy.
It is just like the situation near my home where a hunter may have shot the popular bull elk, Ernie. People know it may be legal but that doesn’t mean they think it is right.
But like my conservative friend Wayne Hoffman says about state and local agencies hiring lobbyists. It is one thing for some private party to do something and another for a taxpayer-funded agency to do it.
Many taxpayers may not agree with the imperative for Wildlife Services to carry out the execution of the pack. Certainly not the dozens who have called or written Fish and Game to protest.
Now again, this is not a simple issue on the other side. In 2002, when Carter Neimeyer, then the head of wolf management for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service in Idaho, made the tough decision to kill off the Whitehawk pack in the east fork of the Salmon River, it brought worldwide protests.
It was tough on Neimeyer, who is one of the people most responsible for the success of the reintroduction of wolves to the Northern Rockies.
Complicating the debate is the fact that the ranchers were paid millions of dollars in conservation easements to preserve the area from development. Those easements were never intended to force them to protect wildlife on their lands or to give wildlife some kind of preference.
But when the wolves were on the federal endangered species list, which could happen again soon, a federal judge said that wolves in the Sawtooth National Recreation Area did indeed have preference over livestock grazing.
Stone actually has been criticized by fellow environmentalists who would like to push all livestock grazing off of federal land for her efforts to keep the wolves and cattle apart. I know too that state officials and the ranchers have considered her pleadings for the pack a pain in their butts.
But she stands up for her wolves no matter what the cost. You might remember several confrontations between wolf hater Ron Gillett and Stone -- one in 2008 where he was charged with assault and later freed after a hung jury.
The Basin Butte Pack’s lives and deaths have reached far beyond the craggy peaks that surround the Stanley and Sawtooth basins.
If the Whitehawk Pack is any guide, then another wolf pack will soon move into the area and take the Basin Butte Pack’s place. Or perhaps the remaining three animals will breed and rebuild their own pack.
The controversy will continue as it does throughout the region. Only when the ranchers, the hunters and the wolf advocates reach some kind of understanding, including having accepted places for each to have preference, and tolerance for each sides' views and interests, will the issue die down. | <urn:uuid:0eb4fad0-92bb-41a3-8a17-7296b3fc1485> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://voices.idahostatesman.com/2009/12/03/rockybarker/basin_butte_pack_killing_raises_same_old_wolf_controversies | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368705953421/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516120553-00019-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.97385 | 944 | 1.507813 | 2 |
By Richard Silberman, Writer/Researcher, IBM Communications
Enda Keane’s honest-to-goodness spark of inspiration came during an ordinary day on the job at his graphics company in 2005 when he happened upon a 3D image of a tree for the first time ever.
Suddenly, before his eyes, lay the solution to a problem he had been pondering for over 15 years.
Prior to starting a graphics firm, Keane had studied forestry at University College Dublin and worked in the industry for a decade. From early on he had been troubled by the inaccurate manual techniques foresters use to measure trees.
“As a forester, I was always thinking, ‘There must be a better way to do this,’” Keane said. “The instant I saw that 3D tree, I realized: This is it!”
Within a year, Keane partnered with Garret Mullooly, an old college friend who shared his forestry vision, to start Treemetrics and provide 3D imagery of forests to meet the industry’s need for better data. Today — after years devoted to research, software development and finding partners and financing — Keane and Mullooly are taking the Treemetrics solution around the world, hoping to modernize how the forestry industry does business.
A better way to measure and manage forests
Typically, growers walk through a forest and manually measure the width of select trees using calipers. They then use tables to predict the inventory of the wider forest and rely on the human eye to determine each tree’s straightness and other variations.
“Sometimes you’ll cut the forest and the measurements for a lot of the trees are wrong,” Keane said. “On average 20 percent of a forest’s potential value is lost at harvest time because bad information leads to unused and wasted timber.”
Treemetrics’ main offering, The Forest Warehouse, takes raw data from the laser scans of a forest and creates precise 3D profiles of each standing tree. It is the first commercially available solution that measures tree straightness and taper — crucial measurements for determining the optimal product mix from any given tree.
“Our cutting simulation software lets foresters cut a forest plot online and evaluate potential yield and value long before they actually harvest a single tree,” Keane said. “By applying sophisticated analytics to the scanner data, we enable smarter decision-making along the entire forestry supply chain and can dramatically reduce waste.”
Man with a mission: Inspiring more environmental entrepreneurs
Today Keane spends nearly a quarter of his time traveling the world, marketing Treemetrics. “I really believe that in five years it will be routine in forestry to bring 3D scanners into the forest,” he said.
But Keane’s drive to change the industry and build a successful business is matched by his passion to help save forests and protect the environment.
“My dad spent 40 years of his life working in wildlife conservation, and I was hugely influenced by that,” Keane said. “The bottom line is that Treemetrics lets us produce more timber products using fewer trees. That can make a real difference to the world’s forests when you realize demand for timber is expected to double over the next 40 years.”
Keane is on a mission to inspire other entrepreneurs to apply their business and tech savvy to address the world’s environmental problems. He is a great believer in IBM’s Smarter Planet vision and encourages entrepreneurs to study it closely for inspiration, motivation and ideas.
“There are so many unbelievable, commercially viable opportunities in the environmental space,” Keane said. “I’ve learned that if you have an environmental proposition to go with your profit proposition, you have a great opportunity to succeed. People will want to help you because they’ll want to be a part of the good work you’re doing.”
Keane is hopeful about the future — but eager to see a new generation of entrepreneurs invent solutions to the planet’s multitude of environmental problems. “We need people with talent and passion to take on this massive challenge,” Keane said.
Treemetrics is an Irish software company that uses 3D laser scanners and innovative analytics to provide the commercial forestry industry with more accurate and cost-effective measurement of trees before harvesting. The Treemetrics solution gives growers and purchasers a precise inventory of the trees in a forest so they can make optimal choices about what to cut — and thereby maximize profit and minimize wasted timber. Treemetrics was a finalist in IBM’s 2010 SmartCamp competition, which identifies and mentors early-stage entrepreneurs aligned with IBM’s Smarter Planet vision. See a demo of the Treemetrics process in this video: | <urn:uuid:e5ec3c7a-7833-4082-adc0-8fa09465b1f5> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://asmarterplanet.com/blog/2011/09/meet-enda-keane.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368698924319/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516100844-00020-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.939599 | 998 | 1.734375 | 2 |
1 Letter to the Corinthians
No gift higher than love
1 If I could speak all the human and angelic ton gues, but had no love, I would only be sounding brass or a clanging cymbal. 2 If I had the gift of prophecy, knowing secret things with all kinds of knowledge, and had faith great enough to remove mountains, but had no love, I would be nothing. 3 If I gave ev erything I had to the poor, and even give up my body to be burned, if I am without love, it would be of no value to me.
4 Love is patient, kind, without envy. It is not boastful or arrogant. It is not ill-mannered nor does it seek its own interest. 5 Love overcomes anger and forgets offenses. 6 It does not take delight in wrong, but rejoices in truth. 7 Love excuses everything, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.
8 Love will never end. Prophecies may cease, tongues be silent and knowledge dis appear. 9 For knowledge grasps something of the truth and prophecy as well. 10 And when what is perfect comes, everything imperfect will pass away. 11 When I was a child I thought and reasoned like a child, but when I grew up, I gave up childish ways. 12 Likewise, at present we see dimly as in a mirror, but then it shall be face to face. Now we know in part, but then I will know as I am known. 13 Now we have faith, hope and love, these three, but the greatest of these is love. | <urn:uuid:b1019fe2-1e81-4ef0-98b7-568e37e7d092> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.sobicain.org/lecturaEng.asp?lib=53&cap=13&vers=13 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368699881956/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516102441-00034-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.970302 | 334 | 1.507813 | 2 |
Time: 7:30 am - 10:00 am
Place: UNF University Center
Setting up a health insurance exchange isn't the only major decision Florida must make in the coming months.
If the state doesn't offer health care benefits for part-time state workers, it could be fined $300 million a year, the St. Augustine Record reports.
Currently the state doesn't offer the benefits because it is against state law. But due to the health care reform, dubbed Obamacare, the state must start covering part-timers or risk the fine.
Just how many part-time employees does the state have? Barbara Crosier, director of the Division of State Group Insurance, said the latest estimates are 2,200 working at state agencies and 4,700 at state public universities.
Part-time employees are defined as working at least 30 hours a week.
It is estimated to cost $23.5 million in 2014 to cover part-time employees and that grows to nearly $49 million in 2015.
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|Jun11-12, 05:57 AM||#1|
Linear Programming question (I think?)
1. The problem statement, all variables and given/known data
This is not a homework question, but it is something I want to work on related to something I volunteer for. Regardless, I did not know where to post this question and this forum was the best place I could think of it. I don't need someone to work it out for me, but what I am looking for is to be pointed in the right direction.
The question is as follows:
I have n people and over the course of about 30 weeks, there are m classes. Sometimes in a week there are 2-3, sometimes in a week there are none. Classes can have between 5-25 people in them depending on their type, but all that matters for the question at hand is that classes have a limit on how many people they can have, and this limit varies from class to class.
For the ENTIRE 30 WEEKS, people have placed preferences for whether they would like to be in a class or doing a completely separate activity, by week.
The best possible solution is where as many people are in these classes and that everyone is in the same number (i.e. you don't have some in 7 classes and others in 2, I'm looking for a nice even spread).
2. Relevant equations
I think this section is explained above...
3. The attempt at a solution
I note this seems to be somewhat like a Linear Programming question, and half of a subject I did at university was on LPs. But it was a year ago now since I did it and this is quite a specific type. Things like Simplex method and Interior Point method race through my mind but I don't know lol.
I searched this on google which was helpful at getting me clearer but the best things I could come across were things like the Assignment problem or the Stable Marriage problem (can't link them as I am under 10 posts)
I am fairly sure it is an LP, what I am looking for is where to go from here. I know this is my first post in this forum so I really hope I posted this in the right place - I read the stickies. To me this seems to be a fairly complex problem, so if someone doesn't know how to help but can still tell me a good place I could re-ask this question, that would be AWESOME.
|Jun12-12, 10:00 AM||#2|
Okay so I have been thinking lots about this and I have been able to well and truly simplify the question I posed in the original post, but I can't see how to edit (maybe I can't) my original post.
The question is as follows:
There are m events of varying capacity
Each person gives a preference of 0 or 1 for each event (1 means they are able to do it)
Some events are mutually exclusive with eachother (i.e. someone cannot do two mutually exclusive events)
That is the whole of it. It could potentially be a linear programming question, but the more I think about it the less I think that is right, I think it is some form of timetabling question. REGARDLESS, I am NOT looking for anyone to solve this for me (purely because I think it is so difficult). ALL I am looking for is someone who can point me in the correct direction (e.g. hey, that expert/expert website over there deals with this sort of thing, maybe go ask some people there!). Anything you can do is extremely helpful.
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First comparison: Samsung Galaxy S4 vs HTC One | Samsung Galaxy S4
Media know the release and size of upcoming ipad 5
In one video, a first prototype developed for the Raspberry Pi camera is shown. You should have a resolution of 5 megapixels and can record video.
A camera that can be connected to the Raspberry Pi, is planned for some time. Now, a first prototype at the trade fair Electronica 2012 in Munich, has been shown. You should have a resolution of 5 megapixels.
The camera sensor is normally built into smartphones. Raspberry Pi on it is connected to the CSI interface. The camera is controlled via the I2C interface, which can be addressed, for example, about the custom Debian operating system. The prototype is still connected via a ribbon cable with the small circuit board.
Videos in H.264 format
The 5-megapixel sensor should be able to record 1080p video at up to 30 frames per second in H.264 format. The codec is built into the hardware of the Raspberry Pi, a paid license key is not required. The demo at the show recorded live images.
The prototype will soon go into production, the Raspberry Pi team writes on his website. First, it should be tested in a test lab. It should be ensured that the flat ribbon cable radiating no unauthorized electromagnetic waves.
Then a display
A sale is planned for next year. The camera will then cost less than $ 25. Then to another display are available for sale, at which the team is working.
In mid-October 2012, the Raspberry Pi Model B had appeared. Previously, there was the small board with only 256 MB of RAM. This, however, for many applications very tight thing that struck a negative in our test of the Raspberry Pi. Whether the doubling of memory are required for operation of the camera is not yet known.
Sony Tablet S: a great gift for the new year | New Technology | <urn:uuid:780e3f23-c6df-464d-915b-bf9ef6abd9dc> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://allfreestuffyolasitecom.tumblr.com/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368696382584/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516092622-00017-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.938636 | 402 | 1.585938 | 2 |
In an earlier post in this thread, I indicated to Giovanni that I had some dough in process using no added sugar and very little yeast (instant dry yeast). The recipe I followed was Tom Lehmann's New York style dough recipe but modified to include a minuscule amount of IDY, about 1/16 teaspoon. I wanted to test the lower limit of yeast in Tom L.'s recipe to see if I could produce an edible pizza using such a small amount of yeast and whether the pizza would have a crust exhibiting any appreciable degree of puffiness. I also wanted to test the thesis that yeast and, secondarily, sugar, are the primary drivers of the degree of dough expansion.
The recipe I ended up with included a half pound of high-gluten flour (about 3 5/8 c., KA Sir Lancelot), 0.32 lbs. water (about 3/4 c., with 64% hydration), about 1/16 t. IDY, 3/4 t. salt and 1/2 t. olive oil (light)--and no added sugar. The processing of the dough was identical to that explained in a post earlier today under the thread http://www.pizzamaking.com/yabbse/index.php?board=5;action=display;threadid=389;start=120
, except that the dough required only 5-6 minutes of final kneading before putting it into the refrigerator. Its weight was 13.20 ounces, which I calculated would allow me to make a roughly 14-inch pizza, the largest size pizza my peel and pizza stone can accommodate.
The dough stayed in the refrigerator for exactly 24 hours, following which I brought it out to room temperature for 2 hours before working it into a dough round. There had been hardly any expansion of the dough the whole time it was in the refrigerator, and it didn't expand a great deal more in the two-hour period before shaping. In shaping the dough, I found it to be extremely extensible and with little remaining elasticity, making it difficult to toss with any degree of confidence. While part of this condition may have been attributable to the high hydration percent (64%), I believe that it was also because of an improper balance between the amounts of yeast and sugar (natural) which, I have observed in the past, can lead to an overly extensible, inelastic and somewhat slack dough. Quite often, the result is a light colored crust because of sugar depletion, that is, there isn't enough sugar left in the dough to caramelize and promote browning beyond that provided by the Maillard reactions (between protein and reducing sugars).
The photo below (and in the following post) confirms my suspicions. The crust was not puffy but it exhibited the classical NY style characteristics of chewiness and leatheriness. The reader will also note that the pizza crust lacks a deep brown color (a sign of sugar depletion). The pizza tasted perfectly fine (it was dressed identically to the earlier pizza), but did not rise to the level of the other pizza with its considerably greater amount of yeast (1 1/2 t. IDY). Since the temperatures of both pizza doughs were controlled to be just about the same throughout the entire process, and since neither dough included any added sugar, I think it is reasonably safe to say that the differentiating factor was the amount of yeast. What I think I proved is that you can make a pizza using very little yeast. It just won't be the best one, at least for a NY style. | <urn:uuid:bbee396a-2948-4ff1-a59d-e42b605f166d> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.pizzamaking.com/forum/index.php?topic=567.msg76220 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368699881956/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516102441-00000-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.96918 | 729 | 1.648438 | 2 |
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This Order brings further provisions of the Housing Act 2004 (“the Act”) into force in England, subject to the transitional provisions and savings made in the Schedule to the Order.
Article 2(1) brings most of the provisions of the following Parts of the Act into force on 6th April 2006 to the extent they are not already in force:
Part 1, which introduces a new system for local housing authorities to assess housing conditions and enforce housing standards. Part 1 replaces Part 6 of the Housing Act 1985 (repair notices) and amends Part 9 of that Act (slum clearance)
Part 2, which provides for the licensing by such authorities of houses in multiple occupation and replaces Part 11 of the Housing Act 1985
Part 3, which provides for the selective licensing by such authorities of other residential accommodation
Part 4, which provides for additional control by such authorities in relation to residential accommodation by the making of management orders and empty dwelling management orders and the service of overcrowding notices
Part 7, which contains supplementary and final provisions for the purposes of the Act.
Article 2(1) also brings into force minor or consequential amendments in Schedule 15, and repeals in Schedule 16, to the Act which are associated with the other provisions brought into force by the Order.
Article 2(2) brings the remaining provisions of Parts 2 to 4 into force on 6th July 2006. The provisions relate to offences in Parts 2 and 3, the making of rent repayment orders in consequence of operating premises required to be licensed under those Parts which are not licensed and the authorisation by a residential property tribunal of the making of an interim empty dwelling management order under Chapter 2 of Part 4.
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Click 'View More' or select 'More Resources' tab for additional information including: | <urn:uuid:54517c15-0042-444c-98c4-567f1e5c50da> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/2006/1060/note/made | 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 | 0.941882 | 554 | 1.570313 | 2 |
The only lights on the Crescent City Connection bridge now are the standard safety bridge lights.
After a judge suspended tolls on the CCC pending an upcoming vote, the state pulled the plug on the iconic lights that have decorated the span for years.
The Young Leadership Council worked into the evening, in an attempt to keep the bridge lit, and says they plan to work through the weekend to find a way to keep the span illuminated.
"We continue to be in discussions with partners at the state and the local level to try and find some funding immediately," says Curry Smith, Executive Director of the YLC. "We're happy to offer up our own funds for a brief period of time. We recognize that that's not a long-term solution, nor should it be."
The YLC, the non-profit that raised money to light the bridge more than 20 years ago, says the state is obligated to keep those lights on, and the YLC tried to save the lights earlier, but instead ran into bureaucratic red tape when trying to donate the funds.
Smith says the DOTD told them the decorative lights would cost about $47 a day. They also said the YLC would need a memorandum of understanding between the DOTD and one of the municipalities: the Regional Planning Commission, Jefferson Parish or the City of New Orleans. That could not be accomplished in time to keep the lights on Friday night.
The Louisiana Department of Transportation and Development says it can only afford to fund essential services and is not responsible for funding decorative lights. According to the DOTD, the task falls to local governments and the RPC.
"I'm cautiously optimistic that we can find a solution," says Smith. "I believe the obstacle that we're running into is a short time frame. We're dealing with multiple entities at the state and local level. And, there are more considerations than just the lighting, which is what the YLC was prepared to fund...such as the maintenance and operations cost...and those are not things that we were prepared to take on, but are things that need to be looked out for in the long-term solution."
"We really do believe that the Crescent City Connection has become a signature symbol on the New Orleans skyline, and we want to see it continue to have that iconic status over the coming months and for many years to come." | <urn:uuid:de5020f2-2314-47f5-9920-62fba8532a85> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.wwl.com/Crescent-City-Connection-goes-dark/15813795 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368709037764/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516125717-00020-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.973914 | 478 | 1.523438 | 2 |
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162 Terrorism Liaison Officers Receive Training
MADISON - The Wisconsin Department of Justice recently completed its second Terrorism Liaison Officer's (TLO) training. 101 new TLO's participated in the initial certification course and 61 existing TLO's received in-service training. TLO's are local fire fighters, EMS, police, county emergency managers and National Guard personnel. The training took place at Volk Field.
"Preparing our public service and law enforcement partners in how to prevent, prepare and respond to criminal and terrorist threats is an important part of our mission at the Department of Justice," said Attorney General J.B. Van Hollen. "Silos of information aren't acceptable in the public safety world and the TLO program is a great program to enhance information sharing and cooperation."
The TLO Program was created to form a regional partnership capable of a coordinated and focused response to acts of crime and terrorism, based on information assessments and detailed planning. The TLO program provides for one or more points of contact with partner agencies to act as conduits for information and intelligence to and form the Wisconsin Statewide Information Center (WSIC). The effective and timely analysis of credible intelligence information depends heavily on the capabilities of each TLO and support from their agencies. Each TLO is trained on current terrorism and crime issues, trend analysis and proper protocols for receiving or forwarding information collected by field personnel.
The basic school is a set of 10 presentations, the core of which is prepared by the Department of Homeland Security. Regional content is added. The inservice training included a briefing on Domestic Terrorism by the Department of Homeland Security and a presentation on the state's new Critical Infrastructure Assessment system.
"We exist to assist is a motto that the Wisconsin Department of Justice lives by," said Wisconsin Attorney General J.B. Van Hollen. "Often, people do not realize the wide range of highly specialized, highly technical training that we provide to the members of Wisconsin's law enforcement and emergency service community. We are honored to partner with members of Wisconsin's law enforcement and emergency services as we work to enhance our state's security."
The Wisconsin Statewide Information Center (WSIC) was formed after the U.S. Department of Homeland Security mandated establishment of intelligence fusion centers in every state. The WSIC serves as the primary intelligence gathering and information sharing entity for the State of Wisconsin, working with state, local, military and federal agencies. The WSIC produces intelligence briefings for the Governor, Attorney General, Adjutant General and all law enforcement officials throughout Wisconsin. WSIC also serves as the Wisconsin liaison for INTERPOL, which promotes mutual assistance among international law enforcement authorities in the prevention of international crimes. | <urn:uuid:c67689ba-c068-4c82-a097-82c43970bd26> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.doj.wi.gov/media-center/2009-news-releases/february-05-2009-3 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368709037764/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516125717-00030-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.941909 | 565 | 1.679688 | 2 |
The platform problem: There are many different digital wallet solutions, and few are interoperable and compatible with one another.
Both MasterCard and Visa unveiled their own mobile payment platforms this week at Mobile World Congress in Barcelona. They vary slightly, but they have a similar aim: both MasterCard's MasterPass and Visa's V.me try to rev up mobile payments by allowing digital wallet apps and customers to store multiple cards from different providers.
Want your American Express, Discover and Starbucks card in the same wallet? You can do that with either MasterPass or V.me.
"Our goal is to replicate the physical wallet in the digital world," said Bill Gajda, Visa's head of mobile.
But, at least for awhile, customers will need to keep their physical wallets on them.
In addition to Visa and MasterCard's platforms, the four major U.S. carriers have banded together to create a mobile wallet system, as have Wal-Mart and a number of retailers. Participating stores might not accept both platforms right off the bat, due to the implementation costs, and various wallet apps such as Google Wallet likely won't be compatible with every platform or payment system.
"All this fragmentation is just replicating the need to carry around a wallet of so many cards," said Hays. "For there to be a great value proposition, all of this will have to come together."
The technology problem: There are many ways to make mobile payments, including bar-code scanning, "near field communication" (NFC) technology, and in-app purchases. Each has its pros and cons, and no clear winner has emerged.
Apple, for instance, hasn't implemented NFC in its iPhones, and popular mobile payments company Square is making some headway with its magnetic stripe and app-based purchase technology.
Do retailers really want to put NFC terminals in place if it turns out to be the Betamax to app-based purchases' VHS? That could end up being a very expensive mistake. | <urn:uuid:d187452c-4eac-47d8-b5ec-9f0d85ab14ca> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.wmtw.com/news/money/Buying-stuff-with-your-phone-Not-coming-soon-to-a-store-near-you/-/8791814/19106900/-/item/1/-/14lp0fuz/-/index.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 | 0.958311 | 413 | 1.601563 | 2 |
Suing The Government: Time is of the Essence.
On occasion people are injured as a result of the negligence of a governmental body such as the State, County, local Municipality or their employees. In New Jersey these negligence claims are subject to a very specific set of laws contained in Title 59 “Claims Against Public Entities” and is known as the “Tort Claims Act” which must be followed and satisfied. These laws cover among other things; the time limitations in which the claim must be filed, the types of negligence that can be claimed, and the type of damage and/or injury required. If this ever happens to you it is imperative to contact an expert attorney experienced in handling these difficult cases immediately.
As discussed above there are very important time limitations which you must be aware of in order to pursue a claim. As most people know there is something called the Statute of Limitations which requires all types of claims to be filed within a certain time period after the incident happens. Generally in New Jersey the statute of limitations for most personal injury or negligence claims is two years. But when the potential negligent or responsible party is a public entity or governmental body as described above there are additional time requirements which must be satisfied.
Pursuant to New Jersey Statute 59:8-8 “A claim relating to a cause of action for death or for injury or damage to a person or to property shall be presented as provided in this chapter not later than the ninetieth day after accrual of the cause of action. The claimant shall be forever barred from recovering against a public entity or public employee if: (a.) He failed to file his claim with the public entity within 90 days of accrual of his claim ...” In essence the law provides that whenever you want to pursue a claim against a public entity you must file what is called a Tort Claim Notice within 90 days or be forever barred from pursuing that claim. There are limited exceptions to this rule but they can rarely be satisfied.
This law makes it imperative when you are injured by the negligence of a public entity to act promptly and without delay in making that claim. That fall in a pothole in the road, trip on the sidewalk, or motor vehicle accident with the town tax assessor may seem innocent enough, but you must notify the public entity involved of even the potential of a claim. Any delay could be the difference between a valid right to pursue a valuable claim and being barred forever from receiving compensation for your injuries caused by their negligence. | <urn:uuid:5ccd00cc-55a5-4a7c-89e1-9aaa443268fb> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.personalinjurylawjournal.com/motor-vehicle-accidents/suing-the-government-time-is-of-the-essence/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368703682988/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516112802-00039-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.958987 | 518 | 1.796875 | 2 |
I've been working on a small touch screen game, written in Processing for Android which is now ready for release.
I intended launching it on the Android Market.
It has original music and a high score table.
Unfortunately the version of Processing I used was in beta and no longer generates an apk.
Can anyone explain how to use Ant or apkbuilder to generate a working apk from the source files?
The application runs on the emulator and HTC Desire and Hero with Android version 2.1 (Update)/2.2.
I have been working on this project for three months now and it is so frustrating that the game was finished but cant be packaged!
After the apk is generated, I still need to deal with making the program Google Market ready e.g. Licensing etc
The program could likely be ported for Java mobiles and iPhone but I liked the openness of the Android OS...
Lately it seems that every project I complete has problems at the final hurdle!
Any help greatly appreciated! | <urn:uuid:1c1d7bba-aded-4986-adf7-db284b56e324> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://38minutes.ning.com/profiles/blogs/help-needed-apk-from-source?xg_source=activity | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368708142388/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516124222-00019-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.959979 | 211 | 1.710938 | 2 |
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SOURCE American Humane Association
American Humane Association Releases Impact Report, Additional $130,000 in Funding and Ongoing Aid Effort for Animals and Communities
WASHINGTON, March 8, 2013 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Two years after one of the most devastating disasters in recent history, more than a thousand cats and dogs continue to languish in shelters unable to go home to their families, and companion animals are still being rescued from many restricted areas hard-hit by the Fukushima catastrophe. In advance of the second anniversary of the March 11, 2011 Tohoku earthquake, tsunami and nuclear disaster, American Humane Association is releasing an Impact Report Update on the ongoing need and the intervention efforts for the animals and families affected by the unprecedented event.
Immediately following the disaster, American Humane Association sent donations and a shipment of supplies to relief agencies on the ground as they worked to shelter and save the lives of animals in jeopardy. With the introduction, facilitation, and help of the Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi UFJ, American Humane Association traveled to Japan last year on an aid visit to Fukushima. AHA President and CEO Dr. Robin Ganzert made site visits, built bridges to local agencies and community leaders as they came to terms with the impact of the events on March 11, and directed her humane intervention team to develop a long-term grant-making strategy, along with a slate of community preparation materials and coping tips to protect children and animals. In addition, American Humane Association has translated their famed disaster sheltering training curriculum into Japanese for broad and continuing dissemination to the people of Japan. The information is based on techniques developed by the charity's renowned Red Star™ Rescue program, which has been involved not only in nearly every major relief in the United States over the past century, including Hurricane Katrina, Superstorm Sandy, and 9/11, but major international relief efforts including rescuing horses on the battlefields of Europe during World War I and the efforts to save and shelter animals following the 2010 earthquake in Haiti.
The Current Need, Future Preparation, and $130,000 in New Grants
"As of January 31 of 2013, the area shelter at Fukushima is housing 994 animals from the disaster scene with a further 325 at the Miharu shelter," said Dr. Robin Ganzert, president and CEO of American Humane Association. "These animals are still waiting to be reunited with their families or find a new forever home, and we must help those who are helping them and other animals who are still being rescued from the nuclear zone. To assist, we are providing an additional $130,000 in grants to agencies working on the ground. In addition, we have provided critical – and we hope lifesaving – information that may help entire communities prepare for, react to, and cope with future similar disasters. In this way we may not only provide comfort and aid to those now in need, but better prepare for and perhaps lessen the impact of such situations going forward."
American Humane Association continues to accept donations for the care of these unfortunate victims of Fukushima. To view recent photos of the animals and the sheltering facilities as well as the new Impact Report, please go online to www.americanhumane.org/fukushima .
About American Humane Association
American Humane Association is the country's first national humane organization and the only one dedicated to protecting both children and animals. Since 1877, American Humane Association has been at the forefront of virtually every major advance in protecting our most vulnerable from cruelty, abuse and neglect. Today we're also leading the way in understanding the human-animal bond and its role in therapy, medicine and society. American Humane Association reaches millions of people every day through groundbreaking research, education, training and services that span a wide network of organizations, agencies and businesses. You can help make a difference, too. Visit American Humane Association at www.americanhumane.org today.
©2012 PR Newswire. All Rights Reserved. | <urn:uuid:f0aeebda-fadf-4569-8dab-4137fc56f5eb> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.wsmv.com/story/21553963/two-years-after-devastating-earthquake-in-japan-displaced-animals-still-need-help-homes | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368702448584/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516110728-00027-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.949228 | 853 | 1.570313 | 2 |
So, you ask, are the tricks performed in those X Games this weekend really dangerous?
Mat "the Condor" Hoffman, a 31-year-old stunt bicyclist, has had 15 operations.
Hoffman ruptured his spleen in 1993 after riding up a 21-foot vertical ramp, clearing 23 feet of air, then crash-landing. He lost lots of blood, flat-lined at one point and spent a long time recovering.
So, yes, the tricks are dangerous.
That, in fact, is a large part of the lure of these "action sports," which have been around awhile -- and greatly appreciated by insiders, most of them teens -- but have just recently begun to get noticed by mainstream sports fans. The X Games, created and promoted by ESPN, are made-for-TV competitions in what many would consider off-beat sports -- skateboarding, bicycle motocross racing, motorcycle trick riding. The idea of the games is to broaden the appeal of extreme sports, thus building a bigger TV audience.
In the way these things develop, the extreme-sport stunts at this year's X Games are more daring and dangerous than ever before as the competitive bar goes higher and higher.
"Either you're going to hit the challenges in front of you or you're going to be taken out on a stretcher," said Hoffman, one of 300 athletes competing. "X Games is the premier contest and a lot of competitors use this stage just to throw down everything they have."
Motorcycle riders at the Coliseum throw themselves 50 feet into the air off a ramp, then do 360-degree flips that are as precarious as they are crowd-pleasing.
Skateboarders at Staples Center stay closer to the ground but face their own hazards as they board-slide down stair rails or grind on picnic tables and concrete ledges in a "skateboard park" competition.
Carey Hart, a "freestyle motocross" veteran whose signature trick is a mid-air handstand on the seat of his motorcycle, has broken nearly 50 bones, by his estimation.
At the 2001 X Games in Philadelphia, Hart fell 35 feet during a mid-air flip, breaking three ribs and his tailbone, and shattering his right foot.
"What we're doing is serious," Hart said. "Probably the most brutal sport out there is football and they'll get the occasional broken bone or they'll tear a ligament here or there. I have friends in wheelchairs. I have friends who have gotten killed."
Two years ago, very few riders could do a flip. Now, there are dozens who can pull it off.
There also is a stunt called "the nothing," during which a rider releases his hands and feet from his motorcycle in mid-flight, grasping the bike again before it lands. At least, that's the goal.
"Those guys can die up there," said Eddie Veliz, 17, a senior at Bell High who attended the X Games' opening festivities Thursday at Staples Center. "It's cool seeing them fly around up there. I wish I could do something like that."
ESPN officials say their X Games are safe. They say the truly horrific accidents happen at unsupervised venues during unsanctioned competitions.
Just the same, ESPN makes X Games athletes sign waiver forms, releasing the cable sports network from financial liability. ESPN also requires participants to provide proof of health insurance. ESPN said it provided supplementary health insurance for athletes but would not comment on its insurance policies for the X Games.
ESPN has 24 athletic trainers and four orthopedic specialists working at the X Games, which began Thursday and end Sunday.
"Does that mean there's the potential for injury? Yes," said Jack Wienert, executive director of the X Games. "That's the same for any sport. I'm assuming you could get hurt playing tennis. Our athletes know the risk, just like a football player knows he can go out and get hurt. What we've tried to do is make sure that doesn't happen."
According to Susan McGowan, X Games' director of sports medicine, there has never been an emergency ambulance transport in the previous eight X Games, but there have been plenty of injuries.
There have been concussions, broken ankles, separated shoulders and skin scrapes in abundance.
"It's very similar to football," said McGowan, who has attended all of the X Games. "In terms of severity of injury, it's not occurring. How many times do you see an ambulance flying off the field in football?"
Still, the possibility of serious injury has increased as athletes have become stronger, faster and more likely to push the envelope.
Freestyle motocross riders wear chest protectors, knee-high plastic boots and full-face helmets, but Hart did not compete for more than two months after his infamous spill. (He went to the hospital in a nonemergency transport 45 minutes after his fall, McGowan said.)
When he returned to competition, Hart broke his right ankle and both arms almost immediately. Last month, he broke his left ankle -- but here he is, competing in the X Games. | <urn:uuid:39ca025d-ce0d-43ef-9246-36f6cc995031> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://articles.latimes.com/2003/aug/16/sports/sp-xgames16 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368699273641/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516101433-00017-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.980196 | 1,065 | 1.507813 | 2 |
INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — Indiana wind energy industry representatives are relieved by Congress' one-year extension of a tax credit but say long-term action is needed.
The legislation averting the fiscal cliff extended a 2.2 cent-per-kilowatt wind energy production tax credit for projects that begin construction this year.
Laura Ann Arnold, president of renewable energy promoter Indiana Distributed Energy Advocates, says the industry was hoping for more. She says a one-year-extension "is really a Band-Aid. You can't tale a major industry and do this stop-start, stop-start thing."
She and others say uncertainty over the future of the tax credit is stalling projects like the Wildcat wind farm about 40 miles north of Indianapolis. It raced to build 125 turbines by the end of 2012 and has plans for 200 more. | <urn:uuid:c446d1f7-0dcf-4bb6-8c5f-d2fb87695d7c> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.wishtv.com/dpp/news/politics/wind-energy-industry-wants-longer-tax-credit?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+WISHTV_News+%28WISHTV.com+%7C+Indianapolis%2C+IN+-+News%29 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368710006682/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516131326-00032-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.941192 | 178 | 1.640625 | 2 |
I am so excited to have Michelle Moran, author of NEFERTITI and THE HERETIC QUEEN, stopping by today to talk about her new book. I absolutely loved THE HERETIC QUEEN (you can read my review here), and I think the guest post she wrote about "history's surprises" is just fantastic. In addition, Ms. Moran sent me a Q&A that I also found very interesting. Without further ado, I'd like to welcome Michelle Moran to Booking Mama!
First of all, thank you very much for having me here! When you first asked me to write a guest post, I knew immediately what I wanted to talk about. History’s surprises. I don’t mean the small surprises an author uncovers during the lengthy process of researching for an historical novel, such as the fact that the Romans liked to eat a fish sauce called garum which was made from fermented fish. Ugh. No, I mean the large surprises which alter the way we think about an ancient civilization and humanity.
The Heretic Queen is the story of Nefertari and her transformation from an orphaned and unwanted princess to one of the most powerful queens of ancient Egypt. She married Ramesses II and possibly lived through the most famous exodus in history. I assumed that when I began my research I would discover that Ramesses was tall, dark and handsome (not unlike the drool-worthy Yule Brenner in The Ten Commandments). And I imagined that he would have been victorious in every battle, given his long reign of more than thirty years and his triumphant-sounding title, Ramesses the Great. But neither of these assumptions turned out to be true.
My first surprise came when I first visited the Hall of Mummies in the Egyptian Museum in Cairo. Contrary to every single media portrayal of Ramesses and every movie ever made, it turns out the Pharaoh was not tall, dark and handsome as I had expected, but tall, light and red-headed (which was just as fine, by me)! When his mummy was recovered in 1881, Egyptologists were able to determine that he had once stood five feet seven inches tall, had flaming red hair, and a distinctive nose that his sons would inherit. There were those who contended that his mummy had red hair because of burial dyes or henna, but French scientists laid these theories to rest after a microscopic analysis of the roots conclusively proved he was a red-head like Set, the Egyptian god of chaos. As I peered through the heavy glass which separated myself from the a man commonly referred to as the greatest Pharaoh of ancient Egypt, my pre-conceived notions of Ramesses II fell away. I knew that the oldest mummy ever discovered in Egypt had had red hair, but to see red hair on a mummy in person was something else entirely.
My second surprise came as I was attempting to piece together what kind of man Ramesses II had been. I assumed, given his lengthy reign, that he must have been a great warrior who was level-headed in battle and revered as a soldier. Pharaohs who were inept at waging war didn’t tend to have very lengthy reigns. There were always people on the horizon – Hyksos, Hittites, Mitanni – who wanted Egypt for themselves, not to mention internal enemies who would have loved to usurp the throne. But while researching Ramesses’s foreign policy, a very different man began to emerge. One who was young, rash, and sometimes foolish. His most famous battle—the Battle of Kadesh—ended not in victory, but in a humiliating truce after he charged into combat strategically unprepared and very nearly lost the entire kingdom of Egypt. In images from his temple in Abu Simbel, he can be seen racing into this war on his chariot, his horse’s reins tied around his waist as he smites the Hittites in what he depicted as a glorious triumph. Nefertari is believed to have accompanied him into this famous battle, along with one of his other wives. First, I had to ask myself, what sort of man brings his wives to war? Clearly, one who was completely confident of his own success. Secondly, I had to wonder what this battle said about Ramesses’s character.
Rather than being a methodical planner, Ramesses was clearly the type of Pharaoh who was swayed – at least on the battlefield – by his passions. However, his signing of a truce with the Hittites seemed significant to me for two reasons. One, it showed that he could be humble and accept a stalemate (whereas other Pharaohs might have tried to attack the Hittites the next season until a definitive conqueror was declared). And two, it showed that he could think outside the box. Ramesses’s Treaty of Kadesh is the earliest copy of a treaty that has ever been found. When archaeologists discovered the tablet it was written in both Egyptian and Akkadian. It details the terms of peace, extradition policies and mutual-aid clauses between Ramesses’s kingdom of Egypt and the powerful kingdom of Hatti. Today, the original treaty, written in cuneiform and discovered in Hattusas, is displayed in the United Nations building in New York to serve as a reminder of the rewards of diplomacy. For me, it also serves as a reminder that Ramesses was not just a young, rash warrior, but a shrewd politician.
There were other surprises as well; about the personal history of my narrator Nefertari, the Exodus, and even the Babylonian legends which bear a striking resemblance to Moses’s story in the Bible. Researching history always comes with revelations, and it’s one of the greatest rewards of being an historical fiction author. There’s nothing I like better than being surprised and having my preconceptions crumble, because if I’m surprised, it’s likely that the reader will be surprised as well.
Q&A (awesome questions, but not mine!)
Q: When your debut novel, Nefertiti, was released last year, you spoke about how the inspiration to write it came while you were on an archaeological dig. Was there a different inspiration behind The Heretic Queen, or was it a natural progression from where the first book left off?
A: In many ways, The Heretic Queen is a natural progression from my debut novel Nefertiti. The sequel picks up the plot after the brief interceding reign of Tutankhamun. The narrator is orphaned Nefertari, who suffers terribly because of her relationship to the reviled “Heretic Queen”. Despite the Heretic Queen’s death a generation prior, Nefertari is still tainted by her relationship to her aunt, Queen Nefertiti, and when young Ramesses falls in love and wishes to marry her, it is a struggle not just against an angry court, but against the wishes of a rebellious people.
But perhaps I would never have chosen to write on Nefertari at all if I hadn’t taken a trip to Egypt and seen her magnificent tomb. At one time, visiting her tomb was practically free, but today, a trip underground to see one of the most magnificent places on earth can cost upwards of five thousand dollars (yes, you read that right). If you want to share the cost and go with a group, the cost lowers to the bargain-basement price of about three thousand. As a guide told us of the phenomenal price, I looked at my husband, and he looked at me. We had flown more than seven thousand miles, suffered the indignities of having to wear the same clothes for three days because of lost luggage… and really, what were the possibilities of our ever returning to Egypt again? There was only one choice. We paid the outrageous price, and I have never forgotten the experience.
While breathing in some of the most expensive air in the world (I figured it was about $20 a gulp), I saw a tomb that wasn’t just fit for a queen, but a goddess. In fact, Nefertari was only one of two (possibly three) queens ever deified in her lifetime, and as I gazed at the vibrant images on her tomb – jackals and bulls, cobras and gods - I knew that this wasn’t just any woman, but a woman who had been loved fiercely when she was alive. Because I am a sucker for romances, particularly if those romances actually happened, I immediately wanted to know more about Nefertari and Ramesses the Great. So my next stop was the Hall of Mummies at the Egyptian Museum in Cairo. There, resting beneath a heavy arc of glass, was the great Pharaoh himself. For a ninety-something year old man, he didn’t look too bad. His short red hair was combed back neatly and his face seemed strangely peaceful in its three thousand year repose. I tried to imagine him as he’d been when he was young – strong, athletic, frighteningly rash and incredibly romantic. Buildings and poetry remain today as testaments to Ramesses’s softer side, and in one of Ramesses’s more famous poems he calls Nefertari “the one for whom the sun shines.” His poetry to her can be found from Luxor to Abu Simbel, and it was my visit to Abu Simbel (where Ramesses built a temple for Nefertari) where I finally decided that I had to tell their story.
Q: Did you read a lot of historical fiction set in ancient Egypt before writing Nefertiti and The Heretic Queen?
A: Actually, no. I never read Egyptian fiction before publishing Nefertiti and The Heretic Queen partly because it didn’t appeal to me (ironic, I know). A great deal of fiction set in ancient Egypt feels “heavy”. The dialogue seems stilted because the author is attempting to make it sound old (which seems silly, since the dialogue isn’t going to be accurate anyway. Firstly, we don’t know what rhythm or cadence the ancient Egyptians used, and secondly, they didn’t speak English!). Also, a lot of fiction set in places like Rome and Egypt focuses on the lives of men. The books are filled with war or male-dominated politics, and that’s simply not what I’m interested in.
I want to know about women’s lives. That’s not to say there aren’t any politics in my novel. Harem politics could be just as heated and dangerous as politics in the Audience Chamber. And that’s also not to say that there aren’t any battles. After all, Ramesses took his principal wives with him to war. But I want to hear about the experience of everyday life and war from the women. What was it like for them? What did they see, and hear, and do? So that’s one reason I didn’t read Egyptian fiction before writing my own. However, my primary reason had to do with my own writing and research. I didn’t want to be influenced by another author’s take on events or their approach to the ancient world.
But now that I’m finished writing on ancient Egypt and my next book will explore Imperial Rome, I’m eager to start looking for Egyptian fiction with strong female leads. Any suggestions are welcome!
Q: What would you like people to take away from your books after reading them?
A: I’d like readers to feel that if a time machine were to suddenly appear and whisk them away to ancient Egypt, they wouldn’t be totally lost. They would recognize the traditions, the gods and goddesses, and know what to expect in Pharaoh Ramesses’s court. I have tried my best to make the writing accessible to a modern audience. That means not dating the dialogue, or using too many long and unwieldy Egyptian names, or overdoing it with ancient Egyptian terms. Hopefully, by doing this, readers will come away with the sense of not only having been there for a little while, but of relating to the Egyptians. Because for all of the technological, medical and philosophical changes the world has undergone in the past three thousand years, people have remained the same. They had the same desires and fears in ancient Egypt that we have today, and I hope that readers can come away with an understanding of that.
Q: I saw on your website that you travel extensively. Do these travels influence your writing?
A: Yes! Traveling has a huge impact on my writing. I’m currently writing an article for Solander Magazine which addresses the issue of whether or not travel is essential for the historical fiction author. While I don’t think it’s essential, I do think it’s incredibly helpful. Here’s an excerpt from the article, which will come out in November.
“Before I began writing my second novel The Heretic Queen, I took a trip to Egypt to see for myself the magnificent temple of Abu Simbel. One of the many building projects undertaken during the reign of Ramesses the Great, the temple façade is carved with statues of both Ramesses II and his beloved Nefertari. Twice a year a thin beam of sunlight crosses the temple to illuminate three of four statues sitting in a darkened sanctuary. The only statue the sun doesn’t strike is that of Ptah, the god of darkness. I had timed my trip in order to see this bi-annual spectacle, and with hundreds of other visitors I watched as the sun struck the statues of Amun-Re, Ramesses II and Ra-Harakhty in turn. It was an almost mystical moment, made even more poignant by the fact that the narrator of the novel I was preparing to write would have witnessed the same event more than two thousand years ago. When I returned to America, I immediately began work on my second book, outlining the scene where Ramesses II takes Nefertari to his newly built temple in order to watch this special event. Did any of the wonderment I felt standing in Abu Simbel translate to the pages of my book? I hope so.”
Q: Do you have plans for your next book, and will it be set in ancient Egypt?
A: My third novel will be Cleopatra’s Daughter, which will be released September 15, 2009. The book will follow the incredible life of Cleopatra's surviving children with Marc Antony -- twins, named Alexander Helios and Cleopatra Selene, and a younger son named Ptolemy. All three were taken to Rome and paraded through the streets, then sent off to be raised by Octavia (the wife whom Marc Antony left for Cleopatra). Raised in one of the most fascinating courts of all time, Cleopatra's children would have met Ovid, Seneca, Vitruvius (who inspired the Vitruvian man), Agrippa (who built the Pantheon), Herod, his sister Salome, the poets Virgil, Horace, Maecenas and so many others.
Thank you so much for having me here!
I can't express how much I enjoyed THE HERETIC QUEEN! Ms. Moran is definitely on my list of favorite (and must-read) authors now! In keeping with the theme of surprises, I am thrilled to announce that Ms. Moran offered to giveaway two signed copies of THE HERETIC QUEEN! All you have to do is leave a comment (with your e-mail address) saying why you enjoy historical fiction books. If you'd like to double your chances, please blog about this giveaway with a link back to this post. The contest will be open until November 14th at 11:59 p.m. EST. I will announce the two winners on Saturday, November 15th. This contest is open to those of you with United States addresses only. Good luck! | <urn:uuid:479c016b-f022-45e5-a6bf-3b8fb2839c5b> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.bookingmama.net/2008/10/guest-blogger-michelle-moran-q-and.html?showComment=1226446440000 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368700264179/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516103104-00027-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.978557 | 3,349 | 1.507813 | 2 |
Artist Peter Coffin and lighting designers Cinimod Studio collaborated on a lighting display that involved flying a UFO over Gdansk in Poland earlier this month.
The performance was part of the Gdansk Festival of Stars.
The aluminium UFO structure used measured 7 metres across and was covered in 3000 individually controlled LEDs.
Controlled by a solid state computer and powered by an onboard generator, the LEDs displayed a series of changing patterns.
The UFO circled the city centre suspended from a helicopter on 4 July. Watch a video of the performance here.
Images are courtesy of Open Art Projects and Peter Coffin.
The following information is from Cinimod Studio:
"A UFO has been spotted over the historic town of Gdansk, Poland, on July 4 2008. The UFO flew in along the coast from the nearby town of Sopot, and then circled the centre of Gdansk. The UFO made its startling and surprising appearance soon after sunset. It appeared to be covered in lights displaying a series of geometric colour patterns. "
Cinimod Studio already has a reputation for creating innovative lighting and structural designs, but with the UFO project design director Dominic Harris has quite literally pushed the envelope and taken lighting design to new heights. The photos and video links published here are record photograph of the preparation and the flights, and have not been modified beyond basic colour and exposure corrections.
"Untitled (UFO)" is an art project conceived by established New York artist Peter Coffin and created in collaboration with London-based Cinimod Studio. Coffin had been wanting to create a public UFO flight performance for several years, but it was not until he met Harris that he had the confidence to proceed with making his vision a reality. After an intense period of structural and electrical design, and fabrication, the UFO made its inaugural public appearance on 4th July 2008 as a part of the Gdansk Festival of Stars.
To realise the UFO, Cinimod Studio worked closely with a multitude of specialist suppliers, and monitored the progress via regular workshop visits. A "transfer of technologies" saw electronic and mechanical designs developed for a standard application re-appropriated and modified for integration within the UFO project.
The overall UFO structure is 7 metres in diameter and manufactured of aluminium for lightness. 3000 bright and individually controllable Color Kinetics LED nodes have been arrayed across the structure and are controlled via a solid state computer. An onboard 6 kw generator provides the system power, and the overall UFO can be remotely controllable via SMS messaging. It is suspended from 8 points to a single 50m strap line attached to the Mi2 helicopter above.
Artist Peter Coffin has created a truly phenomenal artwork which due to the scale, complexity and sheer audacity of the project, would not have been possible without the support of a number of key sponsors and suppliers. Primary sponsorship came from Warsaw's Open Art Project and New York's Art Production Fund. The LED lighting was sponsored by Color Kinetics / Philips.
The overall physical and lighting design and coordination was by Cinimod Studio, with Mike Harrison of White Wing Logic providing the electrical systems design and on-site electrical engineering. A special thank you is also extended to LiteStructures, Architainment, Pharos Controls, Harrington Generators, the Gdansk Shipyard, the festival organisers, and the incredible mountain-rescue pilots responsible for the safe take-off and landing of the UFO!
Image credits: Untitled (UFO), 2008 ongoing. Appearances: Baltic Sea Region, Gdansk, Sopot; Southeast Region of Brazil and Rio de Janeiro. Courtesy of Open Art Projects and the artist, © Peter Coffin, 2011. | <urn:uuid:f654e05b-fa19-4a9c-8449-947ab77c41d4> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.dezeen.com/2008/07/15/ufo-by-peter-coffin-and-cinimod-studio/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368697380733/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516094300-00002-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.951949 | 752 | 1.59375 | 2 |
Con Edison, the utility that provides electric power to most of New York City and New York's Westchester County, is a company with a lot to say about energy conservation, efficiency, and its employees.
Over the past few years, the company has discovered that video makes saying those things a lot easier.
"We've really embraced video in our communications," Ann Cameron, director of creative services for Con Edison, told an audience at Ragan Communications' PR and Media Relations Best Practices Summit at her company's headquarters. "We use video to have conversations with our customers, we use video as a PR tool for our media relations work, and we use video to tell our corporate story."
Instead of messages coming from a faceless company's press release, they now come from personable, friendly Con Ed employees speaking directly to the viewer. The public, its own employees, and the media have all taken notice.
The right messenger
"Con Edison's brand is its people," Cameron said. "It's not about the pipes and wires; it's about people."
In 1999, Con Ed started showcasing its employees through its "On It" advertising campaign, in which black-and-white photos of employees' faces went up in the New York subway and in other spots around the city. That program evolved into one where the utility put employees' photos on the sides of trucks, where they offered up energy-saving tips via word balloons.
Around 2010, Con Ed's communicators began thinking about ways to give employees another stage: videos on the company's YouTube channel. In those videos, employees stand in front of a white background and offer tips on how to save energy—by buying a more efficient air conditioner, turning off their computer monitors, printing less, etc.—while animated visual aids pop up around them.
The videos aren't heavily scripted; employees speak off the cuff. Con Ed does screen testing with each employee to see how well they'll do on camera.
"They're having a conversation," Cameron said. "When we go into a studio, we do an interview."
To encourage employees to take part in the videos, Con Ed pieced together an internal video of outtakes and testimonials from the first batch of employees who did their own videos.
The videos featuring tips aren't the only ones that include employees. The company also posts videos of staffers doing volunteer work at the local YMCA, local public schools, or a park helping to plant trees. Other videos showcase employees on the job.
Remote videos cost around $3,000 for the company, which has an in-house editing suite, to produce. Studio videos that require more graphics cost a little more.
Getting the word out
Con Edison's communications team posts many of its videos to YouTube, the company website, and Facebook, but Cameron said she knows people aren't exactly hungry to seek out new content from a utility.
"People don't get out of bed saying, 'I wonder what ConEd.com has going on today? Maybe I could check in for a new video program,'" she joked.
So the company sends a lot of links out by email. Con Ed has a list of about 1 million addresses to which it sends regular email blasts. It gets a click-through rate of about 4 percent, Cameron said. For example, one email blast asked, "Want to save on your electric bill this summer?" and included a link to a video about a rebate program.
"I'd say we have virtually no unsubscribe activity," she noted.
Some email blasts get huge responses. About 30 percent of people who received an email about last year's Hurricane Irene, which included links to outage resources and a video explaining how Con Ed deals with outages clicked to see the content.
Appealing to the press
The utility also uses video to reach out to the news media. When Hurricane Irene was coming, Con Ed's video team recorded crews preparing for the storm by tying down equipment. The videos went out to news outlets embedded in a press release.
"We knew that everybody in New York was going to be talking about it," said Alfonso Quiroz, media relations manager for Con Edison.
The company has offered video of employees working to news channels as B-roll—which is especially useful because news camera crews can't go into manholes to capture employees on the job. The communications team has also pitched some amazing stories. For instance, three Con Ed employees foiled a robbery attempt in January.
Con Ed initially interviewed the three employees for an internal video, but later embedded that video in a press release. News channels and newspapers came calling, and the employees were prepared for it because they'd had some practice.
A reporter at the local ABC station said the video in the press release was a huge help, because not all stories that look good in descriptions on paper turn out to be great for TV.
Videos help get bloggers' attention, too. When one blogger posted with questions about why Con Edison has a Facebook page, the company's Facebook managers responded with an explanation. The blogger was amazed.
"What would have been bad was a very corporate response," he said in a follow-up video. "The response I got actually shows that they care."
Matt Wilson is a staff writer for Ragan.com. | <urn:uuid:a11347cc-b9ad-48c6-8985-9ba9c2c135c8> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.prdaily.com/Main/Articles/11848.aspx | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368702448584/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516110728-00021-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.965925 | 1,096 | 1.828125 | 2 |
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A new shortage of skills and talent in IT and business is threatening business growth, according to Gartner, Inc. Traditional technical IT skills will not suit the burgeoning demand for developing IT and business together. Several forces are coming together to create a competition for talent. Companies need to adjust their plans for a new reality of constrained resources.
“What constitutes ‘qualified people’ will change. The intersection of business models and IT requires people with varied experience, professional versatility, multidiscipline knowledge and technology understanding – a hybrid professional, in other words,” said Diane Morello, vice president and Gartner Fellow.
There are simply not enough such people available, according to Andy Kyte, vice president and Gartner Fellow: “This is a massive and devastating skills shortage, and it is coming when there is a surge in the number of projects that are required from IT.”
The supply of people willing and able to understand and respond to business challenges will fall short of the rising demand for business change and growth, Gartner said. This skills shortfall is very different from the shortage experienced during the dot-com squeeze of the late 1990s and early 2000s. Then there were shortages of specific, technical skills and domain-specific expertise. Today, by contrast, there are shortages of people with more general qualifications, experience and business insight. The focus is on understanding and managing business processes and technology –which take time to mature.
Factors driving demand for talent
Several forces are driving the demand for people with talent covering both IT and business. First, Gartner has found in informal surveys that most large companies are in the middle of various transformation programmes and they see IT as key to transformation. Second, they need unprecedented levels of coordination between IT and the business to meet the challenges of globalisation, focus on customers, innovation, extended value chains and brand mastery. Finally, they are being compelled to modernise and consolidate their legacy IT applications, systems and platforms – if only because they cannot find the people with skills to maintain them.
Factors affecting the supply of talent
Past investments have created a tangle of IT complexity which can only be solved by throwing people at the task. This is unsustainable given the weight of IT-driven business change now underway and increasing concern with differentiation through customised applications intensifies the complexity and creates the legacy assets of tomorrow.
Many chief information officers (CIOs) see outsourcing as a way of making up for the lack of talent but that is not a solution. Suppliers are suffering from the same shortages of skills and talent. Many young people in the West see IT as an unattractive career option: it is both hard work and “uncool.” There is no pipeline of local people emerging with degrees in computer science or related disciplines.
Demographics are making matters worse. People who were born before 1964 – the baby boomers – are nearing retirement and are looking forward to part-time work and entrepreneurial activities. College graduates and 20-somethings are heading towards IT-related work in the media and Internet companies. Young students in the United States are not enrolling in science, technology, engineering or mathematics (the STEM disciplines). But these disciplines are attracting students in developing countries. In China, universities graduate about 500,000 IT and high-tech students every year.
Responding to the challenge
“I keep meeting CIOs who say they will be running resource-constrained projects in 2008,” said Mr Kyte. “The constraint is not from the budget but from the lack of the right people.” Companies need to anticipate this constraint in their plans. They must expect to pay more for the same output or reduce the level of output that can be achieved from flat spending. They should explore alternative ways of delivering IT service and keep monitoring markets to spot emerging threats.
Identifying the people, competences and roles that will be required has to be ongoing. Companies are going to need people who offer much more than technical certification or specific skills. They will need people with experience in roles such as project management and business process analysis, preferably with professional expertise in such disciplines as architectures, process modelling and portfolio management. Finally, they will need people with drive, initiative and leadership skills.
Additional information is available in the report “The Quest for Talent – You Ain’t Seen Nothing Yet.” The report is available at Gartner’s Web site at http://www.gartner.com/DisplayDocument?ref=g_search&id=569115&subref=advsearch
Gartner, Inc. (NYSE: IT) is the world's leading information technology research and advisory company. Gartner delivers the technology-related insight necessary for its clients to make the right decisions, every day. From CIOs and senior IT leaders in corporations and government agencies, to business leaders in high-tech and telecom enterprises and professional services firms, to technology investors, Gartner is the valuable partner in over 13,000 distinct organizations. Through the resources of Gartner Research, Gartner Executive Programs, Gartner Consulting and Gartner Events, Gartner works with every client to research, analyze and interpret the business of IT within the context of their individual role. Founded in 1979, Gartner is headquartered in Stamford, Connecticut, U.S.A., and has 5,500 associates, including 1,400 research analysts and consultants, and clients in 85 countries. For more information, visit www.gartner.com.
Comments or opinions expressed on this blog are those of the individual contributors only, and do not necessarily represent the views of Gartner, Inc. or its management. Readers may copy and redistribute blog postings on other blogs, or otherwise for private, non-commercial or journalistic purposes. This content may not be used for any other purposes in any other formats or media. The content on this blog is provided on an "as-is" basis. Gartner shall not be liable for any damages whatsoever arising out of the content or use of this blog. | <urn:uuid:a0d9a733-7fe0-4794-b346-2964b1b727b8> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.gartner.com/newsroom/id/600009 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368697974692/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516095254-00007-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.944664 | 1,267 | 1.609375 | 2 |
If you are a Civil War buff like I am, or even if you aren't, check out the Archives link on the website. I've been to Gettysburg, literally over 50 times, and I can't wait to go back again. The work they are doing to restore the field to it's 1863 appearance for the 150th anniversary is amazing. It's like going to a new battlefield each time I've visited the past five years. The new museum and its' restored 360 degree cyclorama painting are fantastic. Hook up with one of the guides at the visitor center to give you the basic tour or a tour of some specialized aspect of the battle you have an interest in. You'll be in for a real treat.
JFK's visit to Gettysburg...
On March 31, 1963, President John F. Kennedy with some friends and members of his family drove from a church service at Camp David, Maryland, to tour the Gettysburg Battlefield. Their guide was Jacob Melchior Sheads, a longtime Gettysburg High School History Teacher and seasonal historian with the National Park Service. Licensed Battlefield Guide Richard Goedkoop follows what we know of the route that the Kennedy party took around the battlefield. | <urn:uuid:5e2eb620-ac1d-471d-a6c2-3701d62c691d> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://howthehellshouldiknow-wallyworld.blogspot.com/2010/12/this-is-pretty-cool-jfks-visit-to.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368706499548/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516121459-00000-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.957423 | 244 | 1.835938 | 2 |
How to Unite Egypt, Hamas, Israel Against a Common Threat
Hamas’s ambitious demands for a cease-fire make clear that it will continue to sacrifice more Palestinian lives rather than stop fighting with the Israeli military.
Each hour of bloodshed that passes raises the odds that Israel will invade the Hamas-controlled Gaza Strip, greatly increasing the stakes of the hostilities. So far, in an exchange of air and rocket attacks, three Israelis and about 100 Palestinians have died. When Israeli forces last conducted a ground assault on Gaza in 2008-9, 13 Israelis and more than 1,300 Palestinians were killed.
Israel’s effort to limit strikes to Hamas members and facilities is already falling short. Targeting a Hamas communications antenna, Israel also destroyed journalists’ offices over the weekend. Gaza officials say a third of Palestinian fatalities have been women and children. For its part, Hamas makes no effort in its rocket and mortar attacks on Israel to avoid civilian losses.
Egypt offers the best hope for securing a cease-fire, given its ties to both Israel and Hamas. Hamas sprang from the Muslim Brotherhood, whose Freedom and Justice Party rules Egypt.
Why would anyone expect Egyptian President Mohamed Mursi, who has come out solidly on the side of Hamas, to help? For one thing, he faces the same threat that confronts not just Hamas but also Israel: the surge among Salafis, Islamists more extreme even than Hamas.
The current conflict was sparked by the firing of hundreds of rockets into Israel from Gaza, mainly by Salafis. Since the collapse of authority in Egypt’s Sinai Peninsula that accompanied President Hosni Mubarak’s fall, Salafis have created havoc there as well, killing 16 Egyptian border soldiers in August. Hundreds of illegal smuggling tunnels between Gaza and Sinai have enabled Salafis to come and go between the two areas and to easily move arms into Gaza.
Fearful that the Salafis would steal its mantle of resistance, Hamas increasingly disregarded the de facto cease- fire it had observed with Israel since the 2008-9 incursion. Its fighters began to take part in rocket and mortar strikes; its security forces turned a blind eye to attacks by other groups.
Mursi, on the other hand, has opted to get tough, cracking down on Salafi violence in Sinai after the deaths in August. Even if he were prepared to put up with Salafi lawlessness, he would have to contend with an Egyptian military establishment that certainly is not.
What’s more, Mursi knows that to stay in power he and the Freedom and Justice Party must win elections, and they will only do so if Egypt’s economy improves. Inflaming the conflict by encouraging Hamas could put that goal at risk. The country relies on the European Union for $6.3 billion in annual assistance and on the U.S. for $1.5 billion in annual aid, $1 billion in debt forgiveness and support for a $4.8 billion International Monetary Fund loan. Working to end the fighting could earn Mursi considerable goodwill.
So how might Egypt broker a cease-fire? To begin, Mursi and his deputies should explain to Hamas officials what is off the table. Hamas has demanded that Israel end its restrictions on what enters and leaves the Gaza Strip. This is an audacious request, coming days after Hamas for the first time deployed rockets capable of reaching Israel’s major cities, Tel Aviv and Jerusalem. Hamas says it built the rockets and launchers; much more likely, they were imported from Iran.
Second, Hamas wants a guarantee that Israel will no longer target its leaders, such as security chief Ahmed al-Jabari, who was assassinated Nov. 14 by Israel. In any agreement, Israel will surely retain the freedom to choose its response to Hamas aggression. And Israel has no reason to stop the violence before Hamas, especially given that Hamas was the provocateur.
What would Hamas get in a cease-fire? For now, it would avoid an Israeli invasion and the death and destruction that would go with it. The longer play would be to align Egypt, Hamas and Israel against the Salafis and restore the relative stability that existed before the rise of the ultra-extremists.
Egypt would have to get serious about finding and closing the Gaza-Sinai tunnels. Hamas, which taxes tunnel commerce, won’t like that. Yet if weapons and terrorist smuggling can be cleaned up, eventually Israel could be coaxed into regularizing Gaza’s borders, a goal that Hamas supports because it would encourage economic activity.
The Egyptians will also need to counter the Salafi threat in Sinai itself. The Israelis have already allowed Egyptian deployments in Sinai beyond the limits specified in the Egypt- Israel peace treaty. They could help more by temporarily lifting troop restrictions. To stanch Salafi recruitment, Sinai needs economic rehabilitation, too. U.S. and European donors should support job-creation efforts in agriculture and tourism.
Beating back the Salafi threat offers a chance to return to an imperfect but preferable status quo. The choice is up to Hamas, to accept help against its internal foe or face another debacle in Gaza.
Today’s highlights: the editors on how California voting reforms hint at wiser politics; Jeffrey Goldberg on Hamas-Israel fighting; William Pesek on Christine Lagarde’s giving short shrift to Asia; Ramesh Ponnuru on Republicans’ leverage in fiscal-cliff negotiations; Betsey Stevenson and Justin Wolfers on the forecasting prowess of crowds; Cass R. Sunstein on the broken Senate confirmation process; Megan Greene on why the euro is sunk if German intransigence continues.
To contact the Bloomberg View editorial board: [email protected]. | <urn:uuid:fa115d78-df65-4f91-9c93-fd7a7ffb74bf> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://mobile.bloomberg.com/news/2012-11-20/how-to-unite-egypt-hamas-and-israel-against-a-common-sal?category=%2Fview%2Feditorials%2F | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368707435344/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516123035-00011-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.944314 | 1,183 | 1.726563 | 2 |
The key issue keeping the U.S. armed forces from going beyond Don’t Ask Don’t Tell to give gay servicemen equal rights is a blind fear of love relationships forming, not between enlisted soldiers but between officers and soldiers, which would undermine the chain of command. The Lonely War tackles this topic head on. It tells the story of an enlisted sailor who falls in love with his executive officer. When the crew of the USS Pilgrim become POWs in Changi, a notoriously brutal prison camp, this sailor is elevated though hardship and love to discover his inner resources and extraordinary courage, allowing him to sacrifice himself to save the life of his beloved. Like most war novels, The Lonely War envelops all that is unique to war, the horror of battle, overcoming fear, the cruelty of soldiers, the loyalty and camaraderie of men caught in a desperate situation. Yet, it stands alone in two important ways. First, it is a passionate story written about a tender love developing between an officer and an enlisted man, revealing a rare and dignified portrait of a couple struggling to satisfy desire within the confines of the military code of conduct. Even more importantly however, it describes the heart-wrenching measures of how much one man will sacrifice to save the life and reputation of the man he loves.
A collaborative review by Leslie H. Nicoll and Natasha Villion
Let’s start the year with a five star review, shall we? If you are hankering for a well written, historically accurate World War II story that will tug at your heartstrings, The Lonely War by Alan Chin should go straight to the top of your TBR pile.
I read and reviewed this book for jessewave’s site a few weeks ago and promised Erastes I would revise my review for Speak Its Name. Reviews here at the site were put on hold due to the Advent Calendar festivities and that turned out to be a fortuitous turn of events. One of the regular commenters at Wave’s site, “Tish” (Natasha), got in touch with me about The Lonely War. She had recently read and enjoyed another book of military stories, Hidden Conflict (which was reviewed here just a few days ago) and was interested in The Lonely War. But, she also had a personal history with Changi prison and wondered how explicit The Lonely War was. “Chin doesn’t pull any punches,” I said. “He’s pretty clear about what went on in the notorious POW camp.” Even though she had a few trepidations, Tish decided to read The Lonely War—and was glad she did. “This is definitely one of my top reads for the year,” she wrote me. “Maybe even forever—it’s that good.”
I asked Tish if she would write a review for Speak Its Name because I thought her personal experience with the prison (through her family) was an interesting context for reading the book. At first she demurred but then, with some urging from her husband, decided to accept my invitation. The following is her review.
This story both terrified and enthralled me. Maybe I should explain a little bit about who I am. I was born in Singapore to a Malay/Indian mother and a white Royal Navy father in the 1960s. So WW2 was still quite fresh in people’s minds. Singapore had expelled the communists and had moved away from British rule. It was a glorious upbringing but the underlying sadness of those that lived through WW2 was ever present.
Changi had become a full prison but the beaches around it were a popular swimming place for locals and us temporary locals. There were still small Malay villages with houses sitting on stilts with their palm frond roofs. The old men sat in the shade and watched the mad Europeans dash around the beach playing cricket and other English staple sports.
I was raised by a Malay woman who was both our amah (maid) and nanny. She told my sister and me stories of the Japanese invasion of her island and how her father had helped smuggle British and Australian soldiers out of the prison and into Malaysia.
My mother told me stories of her father and grandfather and the torture they suffered at Changi prison during the war. They were accused of aiding and spying for the British, which they most proudly did. My great grandfather died during one of these torture sessions watched by his son, my grandfather.
I have yet to come across any Asian who is bitter about the war. Maybe they know more about forgiveness than I do.
This story, The Lonely War by Alan Chin, is about Andrew Waters, an Asian American seaman with the US Navy. The book is written in three distinct parts. The first is set aboard the US Navy ship, The Pilgrim; the second, at Changi prison; and the third, in Japan, after the war has ended.
Raised in Thailand and forced to leave when it is invaded, Andrew tries to make a life for himself as a Buddhist and pacifist in the US Navy. It was his American father’s wish that Andrew join the Navy and Andrew, being a good Asian son, complies. He is very well educated but not of officer rank. He struggles to maintain a polite distance from all the other men on the ship except one.
The first part of the story, while aboard the USS Pilgrim, has Andrew battling wits with an officer, who is both enthralled and confused by him. This part of the book sets the tone and pace of a love story that lasts a lifetime. It also shows what life was like for non-whites during WW2 and the way they were treated and what was expected of them. It is a good depiction of life aboard a ship of war. Part One ends when the ship is attacked and the men are taken prisoner by the enemy.
Part Two is set during the prisoners’ internment at Changi prison, run by the Japanese. For me, this section of the book was terrifying, as I knew from family accounts how ruthless the Japanese were. Even telling such a horrific tale, the writing was very tastefully done. Some of what is described is completely believable, such as the making protein from insects to trade among prisoners. In this part of the story, Andrew shines, although you might not realize it at first. His love for his officer makes him do something that changed him forever. I liked the way this part of the book unfolded and Andrew’s dilemma was handled. It wasn’t gratuitous or unbelievable. He kept the soul of himself intact and that alone made this section more believable for this reader.
Part Three is Andrew’s journey after the war; it is about promises kept and finding your humanity. His soul is shattered and bleeding. Andrew’s journey in body and spirit is harrowing. His loss and failings are heartbreaking and the writing is so true to his experience that it hurts to read. This kind, gentle, man has nowhere to turn and no one to turn to and it leaves such a bitter taste in your heart you don’t know if you can recover or if he can.
This part sold the story for me. It was so well written that you feel every blade in Andrew’s soul.
I know this story sounds more about war then love, but is it? The author Alan Chin, has written a very good story about WW2 from an Asian American perspective. It is a story of a life-altering experience during internment at one of the most barbaric prisons in Asia and redemption after the war. I found it a truthful telling of one man’s life and a faithful account of the war in Asia. I also found a love story that will stay with me long after the last page has been read. I fell in love with all these brave men and I wish them well wherever they might land.
At my jessewave review, I gave The Lonely War 4.75 stars because I had a few minor quibbles with some of the writing. While I still stand by what I said, I find I can honestly give the book 5 stars here at Speak Its Name. I was influenced by Tish’s strong reaction to the book and she told me in no uncertain terms it was a 5 star read for her. Also, the historical accuracy was outstanding and that, here at SiN, is the gold standard by which I judge a book and in that respect, it definitely earned its stars.
To conclude, let me repeat my closing paragraph from my earlier review:
I sometimes wonder why I like war stories so much, since I certainly don’t like war! Maybe it is because the well-written ones do so much to point out the futility and ultimate uselessness of killing each other; that being brutal and hateful is not the way to solve problems even when we are put up against evil people. But we persist. In The Lonely War, Chin makes us ask those hard questions again, framing them against the background of very real men caught up in extraordinary and terrible circumstances. He puts World War II on a human plane, which is, for the soldiers and sailors—men like Andrew—how it was fought. As I closed the last page, my heart ached for all of them.
I would suggest that a fitting resolution for 2010 is to put this book on your “must read” list—sooner, rather than later. It’s that good and Tish and I recommend it wholeheartedly. | <urn:uuid:fb1240dc-5a7b-4eea-8afe-7e32f8356859> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://speakitsname.com/2010/01/01/review-the-lonely-war-by-alan-chin/ | 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 | 0.982308 | 1,980 | 1.8125 | 2 |
What the Iraq Study Group said about America's 'other war'
The report of the Iraq Study Group (ISG), co-chaired by former Secretary of State James Baker and former Democratic Congressman Lee Hamilton, got short shrift when President Bush announced his "New Way Forward" for Iraq.Skip to next paragraph
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Key recommendations of the 10- member bipartisan panel – from the withdrawal of US combat troops by early 2008 to a diplomatic initiative to talk to Iran and Syria – were either watered down or dismissed outright.
Hopefully, the study group's views on America's "other war" in Afghanistan will fare better. Little noted at the time the study group released its report in December were three observations on the connection between American involvement in Iraq and a successful outcome for the US mission in Afghanistan. The outgoing US commander in Afghanistan, Lt. Gen. Karl Eikenberry, predicts more fighting from a resurgent Taliban this spring and summer. So it is especially important that the Bush administration and Congress pay attention to the ISG's observations.
Observation No. 1: "The huge focus of U.S. political, military and economic support on Iraq has necessarily diverted attention from Afghanistan."
The study group acknowledged what the Bush administration has consistently refused to concede: namely, that efforts to secure and rebuild Afghanistan have been undermanned and underfunded because of the Iraq war. In the words of Sen. Chuck Hagel (R) of Nebraska: "The oxygen has been sucked out of everything because of Iraq."
Today there are nearly seven times more US military personnel serving in Iraq than in Afghanistan – 140,000 compared with just over 20,000. The United States has spent roughly $400 billion on the Iraq war, and costs are running about $8 billion per month. In the past five years, the US has provided a total of just $12.5 billion in economic and military aid to Afghanistan.
Observation No. 2: "Increased deployments to Iraq would also necessarily hamper our ability to provide adequate resources for our efforts in Afghanistan...."
The study group rightly noted that "America's military capacity is stretched thin: we do not have the troops or equipment to make a substantial, sustained increase in our troop presence."
Choices must be made, and, in the opinion of the new chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, Sen. Joseph Biden (D) of Delaware, an increase in troop strength in Iraq is the wrong choice: "If we're surging troops anywhere, it should be in Afghanistan."
Observation No. 3: "[T]he longer that U.S. political and military resources are tied down in Iraq, the more the chances for American failure in Afghanistan increase."
Among the negative consequences foreseen by the ISG of a prolonged American military involvement in Iraq is the possibility of a return to pre-9/11, "square one" conditions in Afghanistan: "If the Taliban were to control more of Afghanistan, it could provide al Qaeda the political space to conduct terrorist operations. This development would ... have national security implications for the United States and other countries around the world."
In response to these concerns, and to underscore the connection between US involvement in the two countries, the Baker-Hamilton report included this recommendation: "It is critical for the United States to provide additional political, economic and military support for Afghanistan, including resources that might become available as combat forces are moved from Iraq."
As an immediate step in this regard, the panel also recommended that the United States respond positively to the recent request of NATO's commanding general for more troops in Afghanistan. Defense Secretary Robert Gates should act on this. That would reinforce the message he took this week on his first visit to NATO headquarters: "Success in Afghanistan is our top priority."
In the first sentence of the ISG report, James Baker and Lee Hamilton remark: "There is no magic formula to solve the problems of Iraq." Nor is there for Afghanistan. But as the co-chairs also point out, "[T]here are actions that can be taken to improve the situation and protect American interests." So it is with Afghanistan.
Working on a bipartisan basis, the Bush administration and the new Democratic majority in Congress should come up with a "New Way Forward" for the war in Afghanistan. This plan would include a long-term security commitment and a doubling of economic and counternarcotics assistance. Afghanistan deserves to receive the attention, priority, and resources it needs to succeed.
• Karl F. Inderfurth served as assistant secretary of State for South Asian affairs from 1997 to 2001 and is a professor at the Elliott School of International Affairs at George Washington University. | <urn:uuid:31f5ff56-cb1e-4488-942e-6c0357727dbe> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.csmonitor.com/2007/0118/p09s02-coop.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368698207393/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516095647-00006-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.956369 | 953 | 1.765625 | 2 |
This post was written by Kasia Grabowska for last semester’s LIS 768: Library 2.0 & Networking Technologies class. Kasia has allowed me to repost it here.
After doing brand monitoring research for the past few weeks, looking closely at Skokie Public Library (and not so closely at several other libraries), I decided to put together a list of “do’s and don’ts” for librarians on successfully utilizing social media.
This is what I learned from doing brand monitoring and what I personally would recommend to libraries that are getting started with social media.
Tip #1: Learn how to monitor your brand
Join the RIGHT conversations at the RIGHT time. In other words, stay on top of what people are saying about you and make sure to respond, to let people know that you are listening and willing to join the conversation.
Tools to utilize for brand monitoring include RSS feeds, Google Alerts, Technorati, and staying on top of your Twitter, Facebook and other social media accounts. This is definitely the number 1 lesson I learned from this assignment.
Tip #2: Learn from your brand community
You’re already engaging in conversations, why not ask people for some feedback? There are plenty of quick and easy ways to get good information that will help you keep learning from what you’re doing and improving the process as you go along. Just make sure not to overdo it; remember to always engage in conversations as a person.
Tip #3: Have a game plan
Set goals, measure and iterate your social media efforts in order to continue to grow and improve your efforts. Make sure everyone who is involved in your social media strategy clearly understands the role and goals of this initiative. There’s nothing worse than joining a social network with no purpose, plan or a way to measure what you’re doing.
By using trackable links (like bit.ly or su.pr) to help track what your users are responding to, you will be able to measure your efforts and make improvements.
Tip #4: Promote, promote, promote
I noticed a lot of libraries who do wonderful things on Facebook, Twitter or Flickr yet they don’t include links to their social networks on their websites. Or libraries that use Twitter often but don’t follow anyone; that’s not a good way to start a conversation.
A library website should be an entry point to social media; you need to create awareness. People should not have to search for you on Facebook, or Twitter, you should reach out to every member of your community first.
Tip #5: Allow open, yet governed access for your employees
This is where a social media policy comes in. By making sure everyone who is involved in your efforts understands what to do (what they’re allowed to say, how they should respond in different situations, etc) you won’t have to monitor what each person does. Instead, you will be able to focus on making improvements.
One tip about your social media policy — make sure it’s succinct and to the point, otherwise no one will want to read it.
Tip #6: Stay relevant and be helpful
Use social media to build trust, credibility and awareness in your community. Instead of broadcasting information, try creating conversations. Remember, speaking doesn’t always result in being heard.
Be helpful, stay relevant and focus on your community’s needs. It’s also important to humanize your efforts; don’t hide behind your library’s logo, allow your users to get to know you as a person.
Tip #7: Give your community room to grow
Focus on small, consistent and ongoing change. Let your members decide how they want to use “their” online community. Listen to what they have to say and change your goals and objectives based on how your community wants to utilize social media.
Tip #8: Remember, you’re not alone
By building relationships with key people within your community who also utilize social media you can leverage your efforts and obtain better reach. People who are influencers, those who are natural communicators or leaders in your community can help your social media efforts immensely. Identify these people and ask for help. Word of mouth can be very powerful.
Tip #9: Go where your users are
Remember, you don’t have to be an early adopter. It is much better to wait for your community to start utilizing the technology before adding it to your social media arsenal. In short, go where your users are. It’s much easier for someone to join you on Facebook or Twitter if the person actually uses the technology.
Tip #10: Lead change
This is important, especially for libraries that can be very resistant to change at times: if you want to lead change, find one thing you said no to in the past and give it a try.
This is actually something I heard at a digital marketing conference I got a chance to attend last month, but I think it applies great to libraries and social media.
Kasia Grabowska is currently working on her MLIS at Dominican University. She is a website manager for Train Signal, Inc and the editor in cheif of www.trainsignaltraining.com a blog focusing on IT training and certification. | <urn:uuid:a8a6c798-5d2f-40e2-a2aa-59fb4bace4d1> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://tametheweb.com/2010/03/18/social-media-best-practices-for-libraries/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368702448584/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516110728-00038-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.949326 | 1,117 | 1.617188 | 2 |
Price River as a tourist draw? Helper looking at possibilities
The Price River has class. Class Five between Emma Park and Castle Gate, and Class Three through Helper, to be exact.
Those are respectable numbers for kayakers and canoeists looking for a challenge. The classes are a measure the degree of difficulty in negotiating a stream.
Now there's serious talk in Helper about taking advantage of all that fast-moving water to spur economic development in town. Research on a possible kayak park is on the mayor and council's to-do list.
"We can legitimately talk of the river as part of our infrastructure," Mayor Dean Armstrong declared to the council last Thursday.
Here's his line of reasoning:
* The city is already planning an extensive overhaul of its overall water system, which includes storm drainage. Since the river is the ultimate conduit for storm water, it is realistically part of that system.
* Meanwhile, the city is also reworking its master plans for zoning and economic development. This is a logical time to include river development into that mix of options for what Helper could look like in five to 10 years.
Armstrong has already been looking into possibilities with River Restoration, an engineering firm based in Glenwood, Colo.
Jason Carey, the firm's principal engineer, showed the council a video presentation of projects in other cities that have transformed their rivers and banks into recreational attractions.
What caught the council's eye was not so much a kayaker doing flips and turns on an engineered standing wave on one river, but the crowd watching.
Carey said the mid-city white water attracts both aquatic athletes and those who watch them. He quipped at one point that the river front (First West) could become a front door instead of a back door for several businesses along the street.
On a motion by councilman Robert Bradley, the council issued a statement of support for Armstrong to conduct more research, and to include the option of river enhancement in the city's overall plans.
"We need more data," Bradley said.
So on Friday, Armstrong traveled to Ogden to talk with his counterpart, Matthew Godfrey, during that city's dedication of its restoration of the Ogden River.
What Armstrong came back with was the impression that Helper has more to work with than Ogden in terms of a river, but that Helper will face some metaphorical Class Five challenges in terms of engineering, design, and funding if it decides to get its feet wet in the project.
As the mayor explained in an interview Monday, there are questions that have to be answered about such things as real estate and rights-of-way with anything that would affect the river's course or layout.
The other crucial consideration is that the river development would have to dovetail with the rest of the city's plans. "This is not a stand-alone," he stated.
There's also the potential for citizen questions about the wisdom of spending money on a kayak park when there aren't that many kayakers in Helper.
"True, there aren't that many," he said. But the point is to get out-of-towners to exit the highway and come into Helper, he added. "Utah County is only an hour away," Armstrong explained, noting that anyone who wants to spend some time watching all the vehicles bypassing Helper on a summer day will observe that many of those cars and trucks are carrying kayaks.
As the city works out the details of its water systems upgrade, it seems reasonable to the mayor that the dollars it is able to secure could do double duty, not only serving to enhance basic public services but to add to its economy - a "force multiplier" in Armstrong's words.
Bo Christensen of Carbon County Recreation, an experienced river guide, was at Thursday's council meeting.
It was Christensen who noted that the Price River has "something for every type of enthusiast over 15 miles," ranging from the highly technical rapids upstream at Emma Park to the intermediate levels at the Helper section. | <urn:uuid:4be4fd36-7214-4eac-b303-2420a498dc74> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.sunadvocate.com/index.php?tier=1&article_id=23147&poll=272&vote=results | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368708142388/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516124222-00026-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.978054 | 829 | 1.726563 | 2 |
Although half of Americans consider retirement a top priority, 58% do not have a formal retirement income and savings plan, according to a report released by Deloitte.
Harris Interactive surveyed nearly 4,500 Americans over 26 on behalf of Deloitte Center for Financial Services and found that although just 30% say they feel “very secure” in their retirement prospects, those with a plan were four times more likely to feel secure. What’s troubling, though, is that many people are convinced that no matter how much they save, it won’t be enough.
“People used to think about retirement as a straight-line plan to a lump sum,” Ed Tracy, one of the authors of the report, told AdvisorOne on Friday. “That’s changed, particularly since the financial crisis; the way people think about retirement is fundamentally changing.”
Investors are facing more short-term challenges, Tracy said. “Life is more turbulent in terms of employment, education—the cost of college isn’t going down—health care, basic short-term expenses. It got to the point where a lot of people are pessimistic.”
To combat that pessimism, “wealth managers have to recognize that viewpoint has changed a bit and pursue short-term, medium-term and long-term strategies.
The influence of an advisor is undeniable. Two-thirds of respondents who work with a professional advisor had a retirement plan compared with 28% of respondents who don’t have an advisor.
Deloitte identified five potential barriers that may be keeping respondents from adequately preparing for retirement.
First, they may be struggling to find a place for it among their other financial priorities. Respondents said the No. 1 reason they didn’t have a financial plan was because they had other, more important priorities.
Furthermore, the retirement industry may be failing these consumers. Sixty percent said that in the past two years, they’ve had no interaction with any financial institutions about their retirement needs. Even when financial institutions do communicate with consumers, according to the report, they often don’t help them integrate their retirement planning needs into their larger financial plan.
A third barrier is consumers’ lack of understanding about financial products. Nearly 40% don’t know about or understand annuities. Many are simply unaware of the number of options available to them.
Another barrier is a holdover from the recession. Respondents had a remarkably low level of trust for financial institutions in general. Just 20% said they had a high degree of trust for financial institutions of any type.
“After the crisis, investors started looking closer at their portfolios and that hasn’t ebbed,” Tracy said. “Folks are leery about proprietary products and assets allocations that don’t tie to their individual goals.” Tracy said that “intertwined with that mistrust” is investors’ disappointment with a lack of tailored advice.
Trust, or a lack of it, was one of the top reasons those DIY investors gave for wanting to take on their financial planning by themselves, Tracy said. While it may seem like investors who are trying to plan on their own are at least a little better off than those who aren’t planning at all, the report found just 17% of respondents are managing their portfolio on their own and also have a retirement plan in place.
Tracy noted, though, that just because there’s a large segment that doesn’t have a plan, that doesn’t mean there isn’t a lot of activity in terms of investments. “Wealth managers need to rethink what they need to be providing,” he said. | <urn:uuid:44403f54-8fef-48e2-ae1d-1b188491c0e8> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.advisorone.com/2013/03/01/investors-prioritize-retirement-but-not-planning?t=marketing-technology | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368704713110/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516114513-00009-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.973793 | 778 | 1.695313 | 2 |
Of course the only question people ever ask about this long forgotten player nowadays is, "How did he get the nickname Peggy?"
I do not know the answer in full certainty, but it appears that "Peggy O'Neill" was a very popular song in the 1920s, especially in New England. Perhaps the name stuck from there.
O'Neill the hockey player (also listed as O'Neil by some sources) did not score very often. In those 156 games he had just 6 goals plus 30 assists. And he was a forward, not a defenseman! | <urn:uuid:eaf8c1c0-82ab-4409-8732-39b9af149cae> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://bruinslegends.blogspot.com/2011/12/jim-peggy-oneill.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368703298047/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516112138-00027-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.989452 | 116 | 1.53125 | 2 |
"Entering the building, we smelled a strong odor of gas," said Christopher Rangel, a paramedic and firefighter.
Outside the building, frantic family members searched for loved ones, and shaken witnesses described the explosion.
Mario Guzman said he was on the 10th floor of the tower when he felt "a very strong blow."
"We felt like the whole building was going to collapse," he told CNNMexico.
Images from the scene showed emergency rescue teams carrying people on stretchers. Authorities said helicopters carried some of the wounded to hospitals.
At least 14 people were hospitalized with injuries, and two of them were in serious condition, the state-run Notimex news agency reported.
Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieto surveyed the damage Thursday night, along with Osorio Chong and Mexico City's mayor.
Pena Nieto cautioned against speculating over what caused the blast, and said authorities would be closely investigating.
Thousands of people work at the Pemex headquarters, which includes a 54-story building that is nearly 700 feet tall.
The explosion occurred in an annex building just to the east of the tower, Foreign Minister Jose Antonio Meade said. | <urn:uuid:35a93ca3-be26-46aa-b40a-bdc705a3b98a> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.kcci.com/news/national/25-killed-in-blast-at-Mexican-oil-company/-/9357144/18361930/-/item/1/-/1oqpjpz/-/index.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368710006682/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516131326-00000-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.978404 | 240 | 1.53125 | 2 |
"The Mix" (Bruce Lacy, Duane Arnold Energy Center, Spokesman)
Will nuclear power continue to be a force in the future? Bruce Lacy speaks for Iowa's only nuclear facility.
Transcript: "The Mix"
Everyone needs energy. Energy is fundamental to life. It's fundamental like food. It's fundamental like water. It's fundamental like air. And we're going to need more of it. As we look around the world, energy is clearly associated with increasing the standard of living around the world. The U.S. is the envy of the world for our standard of living. Other people want the same standard of living we've got, so we're going to need more energy. Sometimes people get sidetracked on a discussion about is it going to be coal? Is it going to be natural gas? Is it going to be windmills? Is it going to be solar? Well no. Is it going to be nuclear? Which one is it going to be? That discussion is offtrack because the needs for the future are going to be so large that we're going to need everything. The question is what is the mix then? How much wind? How much nuclear? How much coal? I don't think we can answer that directly today. | <urn:uuid:1e37f169-19c2-47ad-bd4d-2e2c80a10a36> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.iptv.org/exploremore/energy/story.cfm?id=9378&type=story&video=video | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368699273641/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516101433-00032-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.970914 | 265 | 1.828125 | 2 |
I will never forget the phone ringing on that sunny September morning and my friend Annie telling me to turn on the television because the world was going to hell. My children, then 8 and 11, woke up a few minutes later to see me staring at the images of the planes hitting the towers.
We were in Santa Monica, 3,000 miles away, and two of the planes were headed here. I did that Boston to Los Angeles commute for years and was planning to head east in two days for a book tour. There it was. We were all connected somehow. A friend of a friend. Another friend's son-in-law. The airline crews with whom I traveled for years. Didn't you know so-and-so? There but for the grace of God.
In the days that followed, there were all kinds of television stories and newspaper articles about how to talk to your children about what happened on 9/11. None of them really mattered. The children saw it, too. They got it.
I was their age when President Kennedy was shot. I got it. The images stick. The world is not a safe place. I used to worry that my children, growing up half a century after the Holocaust, would never understand the vulnerability and courage of the relatives we never met, the hate directed at the Jews who weren't lucky enough to get out when our family did. That worry was replaced by one even worse. They would know too well.
Soon after, when we went to the synagogue for the high holidays, there were guards. Schools stepped up security; airports where I used to make it from drop-off to gate in a matter of minutes sprouted long, snaking lines. I took deep breaths when I boarded planes. I made excuses not to travel.
And then time — the tonic of amnesia — passed. We started flying again. People started complaining — foolishly, I think — about being searched at the airport, as if they couldn't remember why the hardworking men and women trying to protect us were patting us down.
The fights began about what the memorial should look like, who would pay for it, and what to do about the mosque being planned in the neighborhood. We read, and tried to ignore, the stories about angry young men from England and Virginia who were volunteering for holy war against us. Feeling powerless, afraid of the world we are leaving our children, the mind turns to the mundane.
We cheered the killing of Osama bin Laden as if that would put an end to fear. It hasn't. We learned new words. IEDs. Soldiers coming home disfigured physically and mentally. My friends in Israel said, "Now you understand." I don't want to understand.
And once a year, we take a deep breath, a moment of silence, a look back at something that still makes most of us quake when we see.
Has it really been 11 years? It seems like yesterday.
Are we better prepared, safer, than we were 11 years ago? I really don't know. The candidates will probably fight about that, come tomorrow. As if changing parties and putting a new man on top is the answer to a world in which people, children, sacrifice their lives for beliefs that most of their own brothers and sisters reject.
Fear and freedom don't go well together. In times of terror, civil liberties always suffer. And the ones who pay the price are the ones who look most like those we fear, even if they are no different from the rest of us. If 99 percent of all Muslims reject terror, or whatever high number is right, is it fair to treat them differently because 100 percent of those who killed on 9/11 came from that other 1 percent?
I raise the question every year with my students. We look warily at the one or two Muslims in the class. What is there to say?
How much are we willing to sacrifice to keep our children safe? Ask me, and I'll say whatever it takes. As if I know what that is.
Two days ago, a teenage suicide bomber in Afghanistan got too close; he looked like all the other kids who hang around, just kids, selling small things, collecting candy, being kids.
We will not be safe, Golda Meir once said, until our enemies love their children more than they hate ours.
I try to write columns with answers. But I have no answers. Only this: Hug your children. Live carefully. Do not take risks. Do not let fear turn into hate.
And most importantly, do not forget.
Susan Estrich is a best-selling author whose writings have appeared in newspapers such as The New York Times, Los Angeles Times, and Washington Post, and she has been a commentator on countless TV news programs. Read more reports from Susan Estrich — Click Here Now.
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Letter From: South Side on Lamar
The old Sears building is quietly incubating a black renaissance in Dallas.
To say South Side on Lamar is the black mecca of Dallas might be a stretch, but not a huge one. Most people have no idea what goes on here. If forced to describe the place, they’d probably call it something like “urban-style loft living.” I tend to think of South Side like the island on Lost minus the black smoke. People from all over have been beckoned by the building, and here they’ve formed an alternate universe.
On the outside, the 10-story brick building looks a lot like it did when it started out as the Sears, Roebuck, and Company’s catalog merchandise center almost 100 years ago. Inside, oversize concrete columns and exposed pipes can be found in most lofts. Hardwood floors date back to 1913 and are scarred from the passage of dollies. Stairwells are guarded by huge metal Saino Fire Doors with rusty handle fasteners that read “Patented January 24, 1911.” An area on the first floor now known as the Artists’ Quarters saw trains travel right through the building, loading and unloading cargo in spots now occupied by shops and galleries. Matthews Southwest bought the building in 1997 and opened it three years later with more than 450 units. If a sort of 21st-century black renaissance were going to happen in Dallas, the setting couldn’t be more perfect.
Of course, I didn’t know all this when I started coming to South Side’s Opening Bell Coffee a few years back. All I knew was that the place in the basement had wi-fi and was a good spot to get some writing done. But then it happened: I saw black people.
On a weekday afternoon, you might find yourself waiting for an elevator next to Commissioner John Wiley Price, State Rep. Eric Johnson, or Dallas NAACP president Juanita Wallace. A few months back, I rode the elevator with actress Liz Mikel, whom I had seen in a stellar production of A Midsummer Night’s Dream at the Wyly Theatre late last year. She moved into the building after losing nearly everything she owned in a house fire. On another occasion, I rode up with Brett Harper. The thin, dreaded fellow I call “The Dog Whisperer” is a model and actor whose daytime gig is taking care of animals in South Side and a few other buildings downtown. That day, Brett got on the elevator with Luka, a husky with eyes like the sky, and Brett’s own dog, Max. Luka was feeling a bit frisky and wanted to check out what was in my bag. Brett looked down, and, in a quiet but stern voice, whispered to the dog, “You know we don’t do that.” The husky bowed his head and sat in the corner of the elevator perfectly still for the remainder of the trip. A couple of Dallas Mavericks live in the building, too. It’s an eclectic mix. Often when friends and associates stop by, I can see them holding something back before the words spew forth: “There sure are a lot of black folks around here.”
Now I’m a tenant, too. Awhile back, I launched a website called Dallassouthblog.com. When I moved our tiny newsroom into the building, I was a little self-conscious about the decision. The guy who supposedly loved Oak Cliff and had a heart for Southern Dallas was practically setting up shop downtown. I told myself that since South Side shares a ZIP code with South Dallas and is a few feet south of I-30, it was all good.
I’ve worked in environments with a high concentration of African-Americans before, but it was nothing like this. In my first job out of college, at an IBM call center, everyone had his head down, grinding away, counting the hours until a Friday night out at the Filling Station or Park Avenue. Even during my days as a legal drug dealer (aka pharmaceutical sales rep), our Dallas team consisted of more African-American associates than entire multistate regions. But it was a pretty homogeneous group. Conversations revolved around what types of furniture to buy with bonus checks or complaining about the free company cars.
South Side is different. The people here—the black ones and those of other races, too—form a real community that looks out for each other. Early on, Marion Marshall helped me know that I’d come to the right place. Marion lives in a basement loft where she runs Absolutely Blooming, a floral shop.
Folks in the building call her the mayor of South Side. After inviting me over for a building orientation, Marion impressed upon me how often people in the building collaborate with each other. She even offered to write a few pieces for our website. We selected South Side’s Design Factory to produce our marketing pieces. The firm owned by Sederrick Raphiel performs the same function for the Dallas Convention & Visitors Bureau and runs their Visit Black Dallas web portal.
If Marion is the mayor, then Jan Gore is South Side’s spiritual adviser. Jan owns Texas Caribbean Food. In a previous life, she worked in the governor’s office with Ann Richards. No one embodies or understands the spirit of South Side like Jan does, and she’s always ready to impart wisdom—solicited or unsolicited. A few days ago, I stopped by to order jerk chicken wings, and Jan wanted to introduce me to Plaxo. “It’s like Facebook for businesses,” she said in her gravely tone.
Then there was the time she helped a local artist who had fallen on hard times. Though the story of Sam Fuller made for gripping television on MTV’s reality series The Buried Life, 30 minutes couldn’t begin to tell the full story. After the four Canadian principals of the show found Sam on the streets of Deep Ellum last summer and asked him what he wanted to do before he died (reconnect with his 19-year-old son whom he hadn’t seen since the boy was 2), they brought him down to Opening Bell. Jan, whose restaurant is next door to the coffee shop, wandered over to see what all the fuss was about. As an art lover, she was moved by Sam’s colorful drawings depicting jazz, blues, and gospel. But she was also moved to action when she learned that Fuller was living at the Austin Street Shelter. Jan called on all the resources at her disposal, and, after talks with the building’s owner, she got Fuller a space in the Artists’ Quarters, where he now has a chance to rebuild his business and his life.
There’s a famous photo that hangs on the wall of Brooklyn Jazz Cafe, down the street from South Side. It’s titled A Great Day in Harlem. Taken in 1958, it depicts some of the greatest jazz musicians in history, all of whom were living in Harlem at the time. The photo makes me think of the scores of talented people sharing this space in 2010. Every time I walk through the doors of Dallas’ red brick landmark, I consider it a great day at South Side.
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In a 61-52 vote on November 30, the Illinois House approved the Religious Freedom Protection and Civil Union Act . The Senate followed suit on December 1 with a 32-24 vote . The bill would make civil unions available to Illinoisans as of July 1 of next year.
Equality Illinois celebrated the victory .
On that date, thousands of same-sex couples in Illinois will have access to protections that were previously denied to them, such as emergency medical decision-making, hospital visitation, inheritance rights, and others. This is a historic moment for our State, and we would not have been able to get here without the extraordinary leadership of the bill's chief sponsors, State Representative Greg Harris and State Senator David Koehler. Many of our partner organizations and community leaders devoted endless energy to helping pass this bill. Clergy all around Illinois educated their congregations and even prayed for elected officials to understand the urgency of the protection that civil unions offers. And our supporters from every corner of the State participated by contacting lawmakers, canvassing, phone banking, writing letters, and making contributions. This is your victory too.
Governor Quinn has pledged to sign it into law.
Quinn has been an outspoken supporter of the bill, which was co-sponsored by state Rep. Greg Harris, D-Chicago, one of two openly gay state legislators. During the recent election, Quinn gambled his political career on the legislation by vowing to pass it and sign it into law. He defeated state Sen. Bill Brady, R-Bloomington, a staunch conservative, by less than 20,000 votes.
"It's always the right time to do the right thing,"; Quinn said paraphrasing Martin Luther King Jr. during a press conference, when asked to address criticism that the state's large debt and high jobless rate should take precedence over social issues.
"My conscience is not kicking me in the shins today," he said. "I believe I did the right thing for the people of Illinois and all those who live in Illinois."
The action in Illinois is an important step forward in the fight for equitable relationship recognition. PFAW welcomes this step but notes that civil unions are no substitute for marriage . Marriage is a state institution recognized in every state, across state lines, and at the federal level. Civil unions are exclusively state-based. Like domestic partnerships, they provide some state benefits, but they are not portable from state-to-state, and they receive no federal recognition. In addition, the separate status of “civil unions” stigmatizes lesbian and gay families as unworthy of perhaps the most basic foundation of our society.
The National Gay and Lesbian Task Force has produced maps that show the successes thus far and the challenges moving forward.
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In 1828 Felix Mendelssohn was asked by his composition teacher
Carl Friedrich Zelter to produce a re-scored version of Handel’s
Acis and Galatea, as well as the Dettingen Te Deum.
Mendelssohn, then 19, was still a student at university in Berlin
and finished the job very early in the New Year of 1829. According
to his sister Fanny, this was work he needed to produce to secure
Zelter’s agreement for Mendelssohn to revive the St. Matthew
The score was returned to Fanny in 1831 and there appears to
be no record of Acis ever having been performed, though
the Te Deum was. The first known performance was in
fact given in England, in London, by conductor Joseph Barnby
in 1869, since when long neglect has shrouded Mendelssohn’s
work. Mozart’s earlier re-clothing was preferred, Mendelssohn’s
generally being forgotten.
Mendelssohn rescored the work for a typical orchestra of his
own time. He also added trumpets and timpani and wrote a part
for the ‘corno inglese di basso’ — a type of serpent, which
in this recording is replaced by a contrabassoon. The stage
is set, then, for a bulked- out, proto-Beechamised, pseudo-Harty
romanticised curio: just my cup of tea.
In fact, this is a perfectly legitimate look at one composer
reshaping the work of a predecessor in the light of prevailing
aesthetic taste. It’s also great fun. It’s respectful of the
original, adding signs of Mendelssohn’s subtle orchestral palette,
and the work comes up both recognisable and yet subtly translated.
The most radical rewrite is reserved for the overture, and thereafter
one notices the apposite coiling wind writing, the expansion
of the string section — especially noticeable and effective
in support of the duet Happy we — and the sturdily
clever use of added brass in Love sounds th’alarm.
Such details illuminate the score throughout, and so too does
the use of solo cello in Galatea’s lament Must I my Acis
still bemoan to which the chorus’s answer is: no.
All these points would be interesting, even illuminating but
if the performance were dull, there would be less point stressing
them. Fortunately this is a crisp, insightful production, sensitively
directed by Stephen Darlington, well played by the Oxford Philomusica
and sung with incision and, where necessary, drama by Christ
Church Cathedral Choir.
Galatea is Jeni Bern, pure of voice and true of intonation.
Rather saucily she pants softly at 4:25 in her first aria, Hush,
ye pretty warbling choir where she is very audibly being
afflicted with ‘fierce desire’. Clearly she wants Acis in more
than just her sight. However, what’s happened to Jeni Bern’s
consonants in the very first statement of that first aria; she
doesn’t sing ‘pretty warbling choir’ she sings a very Scottish
‘pre-warbling choir’. She sings it perfectly straight after.
There are few things more disastrous in this work than to sport
two identikit tenors for the roles of Acis and Damon, the shepherd.
Thankfully they are well differentiated. Benjamin Hulett is
Acis, and his tone is most attractive whilst there’s more of
an Arcadian fragility about Nathan Vale’s shepherd — a question
of characterisation, not technique, let me hasten to add, as
he’s an excellent musician too. It’s a question, too, of how
much of a sap your Acis is going to be. When Hulett sings Love
in her eyes sits playing he does so with wonder, not lust.
Since Galatea’s eyes are shedding delicious death in an Elizabethan
sense that I think we all understand, one can assume that Hulett
thinks Acis more a love-struck pup. Back in the 1930s and 40s
when they recorded this aria, tenors like Heddle Nash and Walter
Widdop were made of more virile stuff. Polyphemus is Brindley
Sherratt: no posturing or pantomimic stuff — just core tone,
and real character, powerfully rolled consonants and real presence.
The chorus is youthfully incisive, and responds to Darlington’s
doubtless clear instructions adeptly. A case in point: listen
out for the brusque staccati mirroring Polyphemus’s massively
striding arrival, each word punched out and detonated with explosive
It’s been a most enjoyable experience to encounter this old
friend newly clothed. The whole enterprise has been carried
out with considerable accomplishment.
see also review
by John Sheppard (November RECORDING
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Google was accused Wednesday of effectively removing from the Internet a Web site that is critical of the Church of Scientology after it deleted links to some of the site's pages from its search engine.
The popular search company said it removed the links after it received a copyright-infringement complaint from the Church of Scientology. Andreas Heldal-Lund, Webmaster of the site Xenu.net, said in a Usenet posting that the complaint demanded that Google take down a large number of references to different parts of Xenu.net.
"The complaint mentions a ridiculous list of addresses, which successfully removes the whole site from their engine," he said.
Search engines routinely remove links to URLs, or Web addresses, upon request to avoid litigation. Under the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA), sites cannot be held liable for copyright infringement provided they promptly take down content flagged by a copyright holder. Much of that activity has targeted links to MP3 files that turn up on search engines.
Digital rights advocates said the Church of Scientology's takedown request is noteworthy because it underscores potential conflicts between the DMCA and free speech.
"The danger is that people will attempt to silence critics under the guise of copyright infringement," said Fred von Lohmann, an attorney with San Francisco's Electronic Frontier Foundation.
In the Xenu.net case, the removed links led to pages that contain material copyrighted by the Church of Scientology. On his site, Heldal-Lund defends this use of copyrighted material, saying that he believes Scientology survives "through the protection afforded it by copyright laws in a way that copyright laws were not designed to address."
A representative for the Church of Scientology could not be immediately reached for comment.
The right to link has been the subject of several high-profile lawsuits, including a dispute between hacker publication 2600.com and the motion picture industry over code known as DeCSS that can theoretically be used to crack DVDs. In that case, a federal judge in New York held that links to the DeCSS code violated the anti-circumvention clause of the DMCA, which bars trafficking in software that can be used to defeat copy protection. That decision was upheld
Another linking case under way in New York involves MP3 search service MP3Board.com, which is challenging
the DMCA's notice and takedown provision. The case, filed in May 2000, is pending. MP3Board had created a delisting feature allowing copyright holders to pull offending links automatically, but the move did not mollify copyright holders, who were upset that the search engine included results from peer-to-peer exchanges such as Gnutella.
The EFF's von Lohmann said search engines are not required to comply with takedown notices, but that most do to avoid the risks of litigation.
"Search engines can't take on every copyright holder," he said. "It's hard to say search engines should pay for this fight themselves."
Google noted that Xenu.net has some recourse. "Google provides Webmasters the ability to have their content reinstated if they submit a counter notification to Google," the company said in a statement.
Xenu.net's Heldal-Lund said this would require the services of a lawyer and would be prohibitively expensive.
Matt Loney reported from London; Evan Hansen reported from San Francisco.
Scientology is obviously a cult. I don't understand how people can not see this. All I know is that it needs to be stopped and I will personally back any operation to, in their own words, "destroy" it's existence.
hold the boycott.. google fight back at the Co$...
While Google complied with the church's request, it also quietly began to defend its freedom to link.
Now, the church's tactics might have backfired, because when the search site receives a request to remove a link, it also forwards a copy of the legal request to a civil liberties site called chillingeffects.org.
Google still links to Operation Clambake's homepage and Google's search results are based in part on links to a site.
Due to the media attention brought by the case more sites now link to Operation Clambake and a search for information on Scientology now brings up the site second only to the church's official homepage.
really, scientology is all a joke. who the hell beieves something like that. i do not 'dislike' other religions because they have an backed up story of how we came to be on the planet earth. scientology is a load of ******** and all that beleive in this crap is so very fortunate i am not in charge of your country because if i was i would start with immediate action towards this...........there would be NONE of u left.
scientology is a load of ****. it doesnt tell us anything even close to believable about how we got to earth. who in thier right, unclouded mind would believe in this? all that believe in scientology are so very fortunate that i am not in charge here, because if i was......................there would be NONE of you left.
I am VERY disappointed by Google's actions regarding the Church of $cientology. Not only did they remove the above-mentioned links but they continually CANCEL the you-tube accounts of those who produce anti-$cientology videos. Do they cancel anything pro-$cientology? Hell, no! It's truly a shame when a company like google, with their vast resources, would run and hide from the Co$ like a bunch of cowards. Shame on you Google! Innocent children are being horribly mistreated DAILY because of the Co$. Since the execs at Google are clearly NOT part of the solution, this only makes them part of the problem. "All that is Required for Evil to Prevail is for Good Men to do Nothing." -Edmund Burke
I believe the definition of a cult are: 1: formal religious veneration : worship 2: a system of religious beliefs and ritual ; also : its body of adherents 3: a religion regarded as unorthodox or spurious ; also : its body of adherent s 4: a system for the cure of disease based on dogma set forth by its promulgator <health cults> 5 a: great devotion to a person, idea, object, movement, or work (as a film or book) ; especially : such devotion regarded as a literary or intellectual fad b: the object of such devotion c: a usually small group of people characterized by such devotion---- as of merriam-webster.... Anyway of these definitions, the 3rd is the one I am assuming you are referring to when you say they are "obviously a cult". By that same definition (including the first to also)... I would say every religion is a cult?they are ALL spurious. I seem to hate scientology as much as everyone else here, and maybe it is the craziest premise for a religion.... but seriously, cannibalizing your god every sunday? koshering your meat by hanging it upside down and slitting its throat? 72 virgins for blowing yourself up? coming back as an ant or a sea urchin because you failed your gods and couldn't attain moksha? Living in the 1600s perpetually? ETC ETC ETC
ALL religions are ******* insane and based on spurious, irrational beliefs and immoral "morality", every religion with an "s" in it should be replaced with that $ sign you guys seem so fond of using for scientology, because they are ALL cons for money, power or manipulation of the masses.
Um no honey I believe you are wrong. I know this article is old but I want to clear something up for other readers who may read your comments and get confused. I believe it's the signs of a cult and not so much the vague definition you provided. Some of the signs are:
# Absolute authoritarianism without meaningful accountability.
# No tolerance for questions or critical inquiry.
# Isolation from society
# Unreasonable fear about the outside world, such as impending catastrophe, evil conspiracies and persecutions.
# There is no legitimate reason to leave, former followers are always wrong in leaving, negative or even evil.
# Former members often relate the same stories of abuse and reflect a similar pattern of grievances.
# There are records, books, news articles, or television programs that document the abuses of the group/leader.
# People in cults speak almost entirely in "loaded language". Language invented by the cult.
# The group/leader is the exclusive means of knowing "truth" or receiving validation, no other process of discovery is really acceptable or credible.
All of these which fit the cult of $cientolgy. Any organization that doesn't allow members to leave on their own free will or instructs members to end all contact with family members not in the cult are dangerous and need to be destroyed.
cons for money? thats just false. Basically all churches, synagogues mosques, what have you, are non-profit organizations. the preacher/minister/rabbi/whoever rarely gets paid enough to be considered rich. they usually get paid a stipend thats enough to get them buy. so who is getting all this money?
"Google was accused Wednesday of effectively removing from the Internet a Web site that is critical of the Church of Scientology after it deleted links to some of the site's pages from its search engine."
Turns out they did but that they were overdoing what was asked from them by the Church of Scientology (that tried to get a page or two down that had copyrighted material on them).
Anyway, it's 2009 now, and Scientology.org has this nice ad campaign running that brought me here(via Computerworld.com).
Only criminals post copyrighted material on the internet. No two ways about it.
I have been a scientologist for 23 years. My life has continuously improved. The above negative posts are, I guess, from religious zealots who prefer to attack an organization that is doing an immense amount of good in the world, than do something about it themselves. Ask yourselves, attackers, What are YOU doing? We are creating literacy programs that teach little kids to read, who would not have otherwise had the chance, bringing legal drug pushers under control, exposing abusive psych hospital practices, exposing human rights atrocities, promoting ethical behavior, freedom to chose in religion, and many other things.
And, If you find it impossible to live and let live, you have a problem, And it isn't Scientology.
Wow, what a plethera of accomplshments for an alien society. If you've been a member for 23 years, you need to swap to my First Church of Jimmy Buffett. Your religion has really done NOTHING and will continue to do NOTHING! Most religion is hoaky, but COS takes the cake for crap for religion. Think i will write a Bible for my new church called, "Humans are from Earth, Scientologists are from Krypton", or was that Superman? Does he)Superman of course) have a religion? My religion involves tequila and a beach of naked girls....hmmmm No money...no training...and no BS!!! And you guys formed a religion off of copyrighted material. OH yeah, L. Ron signed it over from Krypton right?
First of all Scientology is not a religion. The people of France just proved that in court (BY LAW). People who believe in Scientology are weak minded who are easily manipulated and brainwashed. Try having a mind of your own. Believing in ALIENS is not a religion and being forced to pay for classes so you can "Clear" is not religious. That's called being conned and scammed. You must be simple minded to believe that cult called Scientology helps you in any way. Just look at psycho Tom Cruise being the main person. They choose celebrities to make the weak think they can be like them when all they really do is take people's money and give them fake promises. Try looking at Jason Beghe. He was the favorite of Scientology for so long until he finally saw what was really going on. He took his blinders off and saw the so called "church" was filled with greed and lies. Paul Haggis finally saw the truth behind the cult too. Get a clue! Scientology is a cult. Always has been and always will be. L. Ron Hubbard was a con man. Its in the books (police files, FBI files). A so called religion started by a conman who just wanted to con idiots into giving him money. I feel so sorry for you being fooled for the past 23 going on 24 years Tom 9595. Psychitary is not evil. Scientology is. Some people need mental help (Scientologists especially). WHO ARE YOU TO SAY WHAT TYPE OF HELP THEY NEED OR DON'T NEED? GET A REAL LIFE. What about the abusive Scientologists that lock people up in a room and let them die? SCIENTOLOGISTS ARE THE CRIMINALS. WHAT CRIMES HAVE YOU DONE CRIMINALS? STALKING? MURDER? FRAUD?
Showcasing an exciting collection of exquisite Judaica, where each and every item is a masterpiece produced for you by the leading artists of the world-acclaimed ArtChazin. Relax as you browse�and shop our exclusive gallery of spectacular lithographs and original paintings available on either highest-grade canvas or parchment paper, and in both antique and modern styles.
I am going to start the First Church of Jimmy Buffett. All it requires is flip-flops, margaritas, and some weed. We all read "A Piece of Salty Land" and talk about crazy people and actors who believe we came from a spaceship. Me, I crawled from the ocean, not from Krypton. And my religion will be free, and all services are beachside... we can even move to Clearwater, Fla., they may have some building space for lease soon!
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Click on the account confirmation link within this e-mail to confirm your CNET account. | <urn:uuid:5d928f66-845e-496e-8f81-2cb3007bc466> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://archive.is/20120530/http:/news.com.com/2100-1023-865936.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368704132298/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516113532-00026-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.958995 | 3,055 | 1.507813 | 2 |
I've mentioned it a lot lately - Otis loves to walk. Yes he's still wobbly on his feet but he wants to walk. When I need to pick him up he protests. He's practising so he can master the skill, just like anything else.
I'm usually surrounded by other Montessori parents or friends who think in similar ways so it's no issue to slow down to wait for him and it's by no means out of the ordinary. But how things change when we go somewhere like the post office or the supermarket. When he walks he gets looks, smiles and praise. Out in public he is out of the ordinary. What? A walking toddler?
It wasn't so long ago that I read Maria Montessori's The Child in the Family. At the time I was outraged by the suggestion that our children are oppressed. As I saw it today our children have freedom like never before. But now that I've stepped out of my little bubble and have my own walking toddler I notice all the other toddlers in prams. Honestly I know people are busy as I am too - but this is important.
It's easy to get caught up with doing activities with our children or giving them the right toys. I know for Otis right now walking is by far the most important activity. Forget the puzzles and get out walking. Montessori doesn't get simpler than this. | <urn:uuid:1519818e-bc79-4142-8b71-8ea4dbb60d40> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.howwemontessori.com/how-we-montessori/2012/08/walk-baby.html | 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 | 0.982266 | 287 | 1.789063 | 2 |
Downsizing leads to med school budget shortfallPublished 12:00am Sunday, October 28, 2012
BATON ROUGE (AP) — LSU health care executives have told university officials that downsizing throughout the LSU public hospital system creates an $83 million budget shortage in medical school programs.
LSU System Executive Vice President Dr. Frank Opelka said medical school funding relies on revenue from hospital operations. Opelka told the LSU board Friday that reductions in bed capacity and services at the hospitals mean less revenue.
The shortage surprised members of the LSU board, who recently approved a plan to cut $150 million from operations of seven LSU hospitals in south Louisiana. Other cuts are under way at the three hospitals in north Louisiana.
The Jindal administration handed nearly $330 million in cuts to LSU hospitals after Congress ordered reductions in federal support for the state’s Medicaid program.
The congressional action came after the state budget went into effect July 1.
Opelka told the LSU Board that the problem surfaced as officials worked on plans to move graduate medical education programs currently housed in the LSU hospitals to the private sector.
“When we shift this business out … we will lose cash-flow for a time,” Opelka said.
Later, he said, “It takes three years to catch up. During that time period the cost to the (medical) schools is substantial.”
Opelka said about $53 million will be lost as a result of cutbacks at the seven LSU hospitals in the Health Care Services Division which includes those in Baton Rouge, Lafayette, New Orleans, Houma, Bogalusa, Independence and Lake Charles.
In LSU Health Care Services Division hospitals, about 250 residents — recent medical school graduates completing their training to become fully licensed — out of about 800 residents are scheduled to move to another hospital setting because of reductions in services and more heavy reliance on private hospitals to care for the poor and uninsured.
Dr. Robert Barish, chancellor of LSU Health Sciences Center in Shreveport, said another $30 million would be lost to medical school financing there. Hospitals in Monroe and Pineville are under the LSU Shreveport group.
LSU Health Sciences Center-New Orleans Chancellor Dr. Larry Hollier said medical schools in Shreveport and New Orleans rely heavily on the public hospitals for financial support.
“I do not have the revenues to cover $53 million over the next 18 months,” Hollier told the board. Hollier said efforts are under way to identify a funding source, but “I have some concern about it obviously.”
Hollier said the financial shortfall could present problems with accrediting agencies for both physician training programs and medical schools.
John George, who chairs the LSU Board’s health care-medical education committee, said the finding the revenues to pay for LSU graduate medical education, or GME, programs “is going to fall squarely on this board. It’s an $80 million to $100 million problem and it’s not going to go away.”
LSU Board member Rolfe McCollister said LSU could potentially generate revenues through the lease or sale of some of its facilities to private partners.
Opelka said leasing some of its hospitals to the private sector could be “a step to shrink the hole.”
“We are not able to make that much money to pay for GME. It’s the state’s obligation to pay for GME,” said George. | <urn:uuid:aa560869-71e2-40c2-baac-920ce4722939> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.natchezdemocrat.com/2012/10/28/downsizing-leads-to-med-school-budget-shortfall/ | 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 | 0.963192 | 731 | 1.507813 | 2 |
After the game, the Phillies showed little concern over the impending embarrassing milestone. Philadelphia's 9,999 losses are the most by any team in any sport. Philadelphia played its first game on May 1, 1883, losing 4-3 to the Providence Grays.
"I've learned to shut a lot of things out," manager Charlie Manuel said. "That's not annoying to me. That was something I didn't have nothing to do with."
Edited by Satans Hockey, 08 July 2007 - 01:40 PM. | <urn:uuid:14427c79-4fb7-4ce2-9aec-ad0b78292b4c> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.njdevs.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=32026&page=1 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368697380733/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516094300-00005-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.974267 | 107 | 1.523438 | 2 |
Buying a fresh wifi hub is definitely an intimidating encounter for a lot of and will usually end along with paying far more income than is essential. Using the incomprehensible alphabet broth of modem requirements, quite a few amounts large and small, and also tricky sales agents scratching for funds, purchasing a brand new piece of equipment to get a cellular broadband internet setup can be a scary knowledge. But it doesn’t have to get, with these couple of basic information now you may with certainty head into your electronic devices section and make a obtain which is acceptable.
The need for speed?
Although a faster connection to the internet is definitely a good driven goal and will end up being on top of a person’s list, really growing that velocity includes numerous post connected. Just buying the most high-priced hub won’t guarantee a faster browsing the web knowledge. So place the ?ê100 modem down, leave the particular rack, as well as carry out some preparation.
Several web providers as well as nations have got limitations on what a lot of Megabytes every 2nd (Megabyte per second) you can use, this means that even though you purchase the quickest router ever produced your browsing rates of speed could be no more rapidly when compared with your next front door neighbour’s. Learn how many Megabyte per second you are entitled from your provider and implement that will towards the kind of router you would like.
Determine what you are largely with your high speed broadband with regard to. Do you think you’re basically looking at emails and doing web surfing? Or even are you internet streaming videos as well as downloading it big files? Will anyone in your own home participate in online video games which need a fast interconnection? You don’t have to secure a tremendous high-speed hub for a moment simply be using a small fraction of their capabilities. These are tremendous very fast modems, precisely how could they be classified?
The most general phrase with regard to hubs has developed along with about three diverse words associating every age group (technically there are a number of decades, but you seldom understand the very first era anymore). Coming from most well-known as well as slowest to be able to most recent along with most effective, the actual correspondence you’re going to notice linked to pace with a router are usually t, grams, and also in. These kinds of ages complement with exactly the same brands for modems, so if you have a very device Cell Phone Jammer in the n technology, receiving a router in the g as well as n ages will not likely supercharge your rate in any respect. Even so, using a computer from the d technology and ultizing a grams router will slower your house high speed broadband lower, thus make certain your current computer hardware complements.
The subsequent critical brand you will see may be the Ghz, which is sometimes 2.Several Ghz or perhaps 5GHz. While they have got small distinctions, both normally perform the same way nor can be downright superior to another. A great many other gadgets such as your cell phone, car port entrance opener, and so forth. may well operate on Only two.Several Gigahertz, which may cause disturbance using your A couple of.4GHz hub. Nonetheless, outside of this particular difficulty, both the engineering work this is the exact same, as well as the Two.4GHz hubs are usually a great deal less costly.
Lastly, before going in the keep you happen to be also going to wish to measure the requirements famous your own hardware, together with your cable box and your laptop or computer. Does your mobile computer only have one inside aerial inside it? There’s no need to get any router along with 3 to 4 antennas as it were simply be employing 1 / 2 of these. Nonetheless, getting a hub together with A couple of antennas as soon as your laptop or computer offers 4 can give you using only half the sign abilities.
While it might be formidable to commit yourself to a fresh router for the following couple of years, believe in that you will be making the best selection when you have examined the suggestions above. If you need further help, never worry directly into a good illogical buy, i implore you to give your sales person understand that you’re still from the investigation cycle and simply need a little info. | <urn:uuid:4335567d-8b56-48d6-8b22-bfe986a440d4> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://jammer-cell-phone.com/2012/04/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368701852492/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516105732-00008-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.960843 | 889 | 1.585938 | 2 |
Persistent pains, incessant itching, endless ear-ringing — fix your most relentless ailments today!
• Veterinarian Dr. Bernadine Cruz explains how to keep your pet’s gums and mouth healthy.
Correcting Bloodshot Eyes
James, 34, has suffered from chronic bloodshot eyes for more than five years, and is looking for a fix. “It’s very difficult for me to go about my daily life with these intense bloodshot eyes,” James says. “Visibly, you see the bloodshot eyes, but I’m also experiencing a lot of pain. At times, I feel that people think I may be on drugs, and that’s absolutely not the case.”
James visits eye surgeon Dr. Brian Boxer Wachler, who performs a procedure to remove the membrane that covers the surface of the eye, which has been damaged by the sun, so the membrane can regenerate itself in a healthy manner. The procedure takes about 15 minutes per eye.
Dr. Boxer-Wachler and James join The Doctors to show James’ amazing results and explain how the procedure is performed.
To protect your and your family’s eyes, make sure everyone, including young children and toddler, wears a hat and sunglasses with UV-protection when outside. Avoid using redness-eliminating eye drops constantly, as they are meant to constrict blood vessels and can actually make redness worse.
Tinnitus, or a constant ringing in the ears, can be debilitating over time. Find out potential causes of the condition and see a new, breakthrough device that can help relieve the ringing.
• New tinnitus treatment.
• More ways to silence tinnitus.
A new study found that one in 10 people lie to his or her doctor about smoking. The Doctors explain why honesty with your doctor is always the best policy.
• Do you ever lie to your physician?
Radical Tumor Removal
Clerisa, a 27-year-old mother of three, started experiencing sudden pain on her side, causing her to have difficulty breathing. After undergoing an ultrasound, CT scan and MRI, doctors found Clerisa had a large tumor wrapped around her liver. Transplant surgeon at the University of California, San Diego Dr. Alan Hemming performed Ex-Vivo liver resection surgery, an extensive procedure that involves removing the liver from the body.
While she is still recovering, Clerisa joins The Doctors by phone from her hospital bed in San Diego to share an update, and Dr. Hemming explains how the risky procedure is performed.
“One of the ways we can do [the surgery] without doing this technique is to stop the blood flow to the liver, and then work on it with no blood flow in the body,” Dr. Hemming says. “The problem with that is the liver can only tolerate a certain amount of time with no blood flow; it starts to die.
“The way for us to extend that time period is to cool the liver down,” Dr. Hemming adds. “That allows us to work on the liver for a longer period of time, and also gives us the opportunity, if we’re having trouble with the position of things, to take the liver right out of the body, put it on the back table, and we can spend hours very carefully taking the tumor off of these blood vessels, reconstructing them and then auto-transplanting the liver back in [the body].
“The nice thing for Clerisa is that she’s now had an operation that’s very equivalent to a transplant, but she doesn’t need immunosuppression,” Dr. Hemming explains. “So she’s just like she used to be, except she doesn’t have the tumor.” | <urn:uuid:ac25a65b-722c-4f48-8751-b49e76217984> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://thedoctorstv.com/main/show_synopsis_print/1041?section=synopsis&title=The%20Doctors%20TV%20Show%20-%20Show%20Synopsis%20-%20What%20To%20Do%20When%20It%20Won%E2%80%99t%20Go%20Away! | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368698207393/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516095647-00023-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.941894 | 813 | 1.695313 | 2 |
As covered yesterday by Gulf News (and today it's in the Muscat Daily), the ROP announced it's 2011 total count for accidents on the roads last Saturday (December 31st, 2011). The facts are out, and I'm not even surprised by the stark reality that, even with the bizarre way the ROP calculates its figures, deaths on the roads in 2011 had risen by 22% since 2010 with 1,051 deaths recorded. In 2010 the ROP reported 820 deaths (and 2009 reported 953 dead).
As for injuries, they were up too: 11,322 injuries on the roads last year, compared to 7,571 injuries in 2010, thats an increase of 33%. Now, the population of Oman is 2,773,479 (as found by the Census in 2010) - so, if we pretend that every one of the 2.77 million people are driving (which they obviously are not) you have a 0.04% chance of dying on the roads (4 in 10,000), a 0.41% chance of being injured on the road (41 in 10,000) for a combined total 0.45% chance of something bad happening to you on the roads (before just regular injury-free accidents), or put another way 45 out of 10,000 of us, statistically met with an injury or fatality on the roads in 2011. When you factor in that of the 2.77 million of us living here in the Sultanate, there are obviously a large number of those that are not even drivers, so, in reality the % chance of something happening to the drivers amongst us is higher. And, it gets worse than that; the ROP does not include in their figures, those people that succumb to their injuries in hospital and die later - they are recorded as injuries and not fatalities. Additionally, I understand that children that die in car accidents are not registered either - I'm not 100% sure of that claim but it's certainly one that I've heard said more than a few times before. So even with the figures massaged, the facts are incredibly alarming.
So what is going on? Obviously, Oman is currently going through a population boom, and every day more and more people are born, more are driving, more are having accidents - so as the population increases, the total number of accidents is expected to naturally, but this increase in road deaths is outstanding. It's my opinion that as more adolescent Omani's start driving, more of them are recklessly driving with no care whatsoever what they are doing. Perhaps this is due to a simple case of ignorance, driving fast, overtaking on blind corners, not changing tyres before they burst at high speed etc - perhaps people do not know that they need to think when driving. The annual maintenance check could be made stricter, so those running on bald tyres are made to change them before renewal. It's a daily occurrence I see trucks and even taxi mini-buses running with bald tyres, yet in my entire time here, I've never heard of an ROP officer fining someone for having bald tyres.
I do not have access to the raw data so I'm going to make an assumption here: I'd say the largest cause of accidents is speeding. Let's face it - most of us have had speeding fines here - I've been living here for 4.5 years, and I have had 2 speeding fines - 1 in Qurum on the flyover and 1 up near Shinas at 1am on my way back from the UAE one weekend. If this was a country like Canada or the UK, my insurance premiums would have been jacked up, and I would have had points put on my license - too many points on your license and you lose your privilege to drive. But here, in Oman, I just paid the RO 10 fine both times, and went about my day. I know people that get speeding tickets all the time, they just dont care because it's only a tenner. Speed limits are for those people without wasta. You know I'm telling the truth.
The only way that is going to get people to reign in their need for speed in this country is to use the rule of the big stick - which is used so frequently elsewhere in this part of the world for a number of things. People are inherently lazy, so will cut corners, park on hard shoulders of highways instead of getting off the highway, speed because they're late, and so on. The ROP have been fairly vocal (for them) in the press over the last year asking people to slow down and buckle up, there's been the displays around the country and a number of ad campaigns - people just dont care - because what's going to happen? A 10 rial fine, if that.
The ROP have started deploying portable speed cameras, but everyone knows where they are (18 November Street, Al Mouj Street, Muscat Expressway and the road from the Expressway to Bank Muscat r/a) and so it's not really working. RO 10 for speeding is not a deterrent that is working. But the ROP are presumably issuing more speeding tickets as a result of this. Oman used to have a points license system, back in the day. For some reason unknown to me, this system seems to have been abandoned, yet in the Oman Traffic Law multiple references to a point system are made (see page 137 of 149 on the link for a table of fines).
Take a look at what has happened up in the UAE - there driving has been brought under control by use of a very large stick : drive like an ass and you'll pay for it, ultimately (if you are an expatriate) you could even lose your residence visa for driving like an idiot. The fines are much larger there, and the point system is in effect. I might argue that the fines there, or the penalty of losing your visa is a touch on the extreme side, but it seems to have worked.
So if the ROP are serious about starting to control this situation here, which by all accounts they appear to be serious, then we should expect to see a similar methodology deployed here: an increase to speeding fines, more spot-checks on road-worthiness of peoples vehicles, and more undercover cars with speed measuring devices. An increase in the speeding fine is essential - and for all those who say RO 10 is a lot to some people, for sure - no doubt it's a lot for some people - so surely they should bear that in mind and not drive over the posted speed limits then.
I hear it so regularly from people from all walks of life: I don't know how I got these speeding fines - I wasn't driving that fast. People seem to think it's funny and cool, when in reality I want to remind them that people are dying or getting injured at the rate of 1.4 an hour in 2011.
Here are my top 5 action items that I'd like to see improvements on in 2012 for traffic safety here in Oman:
1. Increase speeding fines
2. Bring back the points system
3. Totally over-haul the driving instructor / licensing system to include a road theory test & qualified instructors who have passed a stringent exam and are qualified to instruct people to learn to drive (currently you just need to have driven for 10 years to qualify). (I'm not even joking).
4. Make the annual maintenance check stricter, including actually inspecting cars less than 3 years old.
5. Carry out spot-checks on road-worthiness
What do you think of my list? Any other suggestions? | <urn:uuid:490b9faa-da68-49fb-864d-5a680941c16f> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.muscatmutterings.com/2012/01/rop-announces-2011-stats-for-road.html?showComment=1325518460011 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368711005985/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516133005-00041-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.977297 | 1,554 | 1.796875 | 2 |
LITTLE ROCK, Ark. (KTHV) -- The drought has brought out the city's hidden neighbors.
Deer, raccoons, foxes and many other critters are showing up in residential areas due to the dry weather.
Bale Collision Center in Little Rock has seen an increase in deer vs. car collisions just in the past few weeks. Resulting in thousands of dollars worth of damage.
Steve "Wildman" Wilson says everything is looking for water and food right now. Wilson says plush, watered lawns are appealing since wooded areas are so dry. | <urn:uuid:9d1b83ce-3c4b-4ddb-a608-7c46b603ee92> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.thv11.com/news/article/221497/2/At-10-Droughts-affect-on-urban-wildlife | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368706499548/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516121459-00020-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.968414 | 122 | 1.523438 | 2 |
"Nationally, more than 40% of eligible voters cast ballots in Tuesday's elections," says USA Today. "That's up modestly from a turnout rate of 39.7% in" 2002. Among the preliminary findings: "The USA's tightest Senate races brought out thousands more voters. The turnout rate in Virginia's Senate race was 52%, compared to 39% in the last midterm election in 2002... Montana's turnout rate increased to 62% from 55%." Conversely, "[t]urnout sagged in less-competitive states." And, "Contentious ballot measures didn't always draw voters. In Colorado - where voters banned gay marriage, raised the minimum wage and turned down legalizing small amounts of marijuana - the turnout rate was about 58%, up from 49%. But turnout in South Dakota, which rejected a strict abortion ban, dropped to 67% from 72% in 2002." | <urn:uuid:309f7316-1fa1-48a9-bb09-caa69e6d2d51> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://firstread.nbcnews.com/_news/2006/11/09/4428668-tuesdays-turnout | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368708142388/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516124222-00007-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.953433 | 179 | 1.640625 | 2 |
NC House Republicans lay out voter ID bill process
Published: Wednesday, March 6, 2013 at 2:00 p.m.
Last Modified: Tuesday, March 5, 2013 at 10:56 p.m.
RALEIGH (AP) — North Carolina's House Republican leaders said public input would be gathered from all sides as they promised a fair and measured process of creating a bill that would require photo identification for citizens to vote.
Kicking off a debate certain to be dipped in partisanship and racial divisions, GOP legislators said they would hold public hearings and other committee meetings — the first scheduled for today — before actual legislation rolls out around the end of the month. The full House is likely to vote on the proposal by mid-April, they said, before it goes to the Senate.
The House leaders said they wanted to hear from people who both support and oppose a photo ID requirement in an attempt to make it better and ensure people that don't currently have an identification card to obtain one for free.
"We're going to go through a very deliberative, responsible and interactive approach ... so that we arrive at a policy that is fair, that takes into account legitimate reasons why voters may not have an ID and to place a solution — a way that those IDs can be issued," House Speaker Thom Tillis, R-Mecklenburg, said at a news conference.
House and Senate Republicans pushed through the General Assembly a photo ID requirement in 2011. But it was vetoed by Democratic Gov. Beverly Perdue and GOP legislators lacked the votes to override the veto.
Current GOP Gov. Pat McCrory supports voter ID, reaffirming Tuesday at a news conference that he prefers one with a photo requirement but could listen to other options. The support in the legislative and executive branches leaves largely the question of how the details will look, and whether it can withstand legal challenges and gain approval from federal attorneys or the courts under the Voting Rights Act.
McCrory and other Republicans contend requiring IDs will discourage fraudulent voting. They likened it to showing licenses to enter government buildings, get on an airplane or purchase certain cold medicine. An Elon University Poll released Monday showed 72 percent of those surveyed support a law to require government-approved photo identification to vote.
"Requiring an ID to vote is a commonsense practice," McCrory said at the Executive Mansion during a news conference following a meeting with big-city mayors. "I'm going to let the legislature debate the details on that."
Rep. David Lewis, R-Harnett, chairman of the House Elections Committee, had few details about what voter ID legislation would look like except that it probably would include an aggressive effort to get photo identifications to people who don't have them free of charge.
It's unclear how many people don't have photo IDs or how much it would cost the state to provide them. An analysis earlier this year by the State Board of Elections matching voter rolls with Division of Motor Vehicles records shows the names of 613,000 registered voters may not match with driver's licenses or photo IDs issued by the DMV. The actual number of people without photo IDs is likely much less.
Lewis said some members and organizations are going to oppose voter ID on principle but he still wants recommendations from opponents to "make this the best bill it can be."
Most Democrats this week remains obstinately opposed to any voter ID measure they said would take back voting rights secured a half-century ago during the civil rights movement. State Democratic Party Chairman Randy Voller referred to voter ID on Monday as "the specter of Jim Crow."
Talk by Republicans of deliberateness is "a sales pitch that they're out there pushing right now that they think making it look fair, it will become fair," Rep. Mickey Michaux, D-Durham, said at a news conference by the Legislative Black Caucus.
The ID requirement would discourage the poor, older adults and minorities from voting because they are more likely to not have an ID card, opponents say. Potential voters already must show identification papers of some kind when they register, and people can face a felony conviction if they vote illegally.
Sen. Floyd McKissick, D-Durham, said the requirement would hurt disproportionately people who aren't registered Republicans. The GOP goal, he added, is "to repress that vote by any means necessary."
Bob Hall, executive director of the election reform group Democracy North Carolina, continues to oppose a photo ID requirement but acknowledged in a prepared statement the political reality at the Legislative Building.
"We also recognize that the ID advocates have the votes to pass a bill," Hall said. "We accept their invitation to be at the table and offer positive suggestions." | <urn:uuid:55b4264c-d5a5-4f0b-ab8f-0c07f517561b> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.blueridgenow.com/article/20130306/ARTICLES/130309910/1016/section?Title=NC-House-Republicans-lay-out-voter-ID-bill-process- | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368702810651/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516111330-00014-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.967039 | 960 | 1.578125 | 2 |
Workshop on "Access to High Quality Pharmacy Services"
The European Commission has organised a workshop on "Access to High Quality Pharmacy Services" that took place on 15 October 2008. Member States and stakeholders have been given an opportunity to exchange their experiences on topics, such as high quality pharmacy services and affordability issues, which are related to the internal market for pharmacies. The workshop also discussed regulation impacting upon the performance of the internal market for pharmacies, such as territorial and ownership restrictions to the establishment of pharmacies. The dialogue focused, in particular, on the extent to which certain public interest objectives can be attained by less restrictive means than those currently in place in some Member States. It was framed around presentations of relevant studies that offer a global point of view. The workshop was a unique opportunity for Member States, stakeholders and the Commission to gain further insights into the fundamental issues with regard to the internal market for pharmacies.
Presentations made by the speakers:
Study on pharmacy
To evaluate how the various rules applicable to pharmacies impact on the productivity, the allocative efficiency and quality of pharmacy services in the different Member States, the Commission asked ECORYS Nederland BV to carry out a study into the sector. This study is the result of close to eighteen months work and interested parties have been invited to provide their input. It provides an analysis on how differing national laws regulating pharmacies impact on the effective functioning of the Internal Market, and therefore on the performance of the European pharmacy services sector as a whole. The study concentrates on community pharmacists in the EU-25.
Infringement proceedings with regard to pharmacies | <urn:uuid:133f634e-2f17-4409-8840-d9a5ef8e9288> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://ec.europa.eu/internal_market/services/pharmacy_en.htm | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368705559639/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516115919-00022-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.96049 | 325 | 1.554688 | 2 |
May 1st, 2003 03:38 PM
What Happened to "Unbreakable"?
Here is a quote from David Lichtfield on this new vulnerability:
That quote may be a tad alarmist though. The mitigating factors are that to perform the attack you must first be authenticated to the database which means having a valid username and password. If security best practices are followed in the first place the potential for exploitation of this attack should be minimized.
Every supported version of Oracle, running on any operating system is vulnerable to this attack, which can be leveraged by even low-privileged users to gain complete control of the database.
Here is the bulletin from Oracle: Security Alert
May 1st, 2003 03:50 PM
at first, i thought you were talking about the movie "unbreakable," as i always thought that it would have a sequel....
anyway, as far as oracle and DB stuff goes in general, any DBA paying attention should be on top of the admin access. It's the end-users with authenticated, yet minimal access to the Database that have to be worried about. Simple passes like "user," "password" or the big four "love sex secret God" as well as kids birthdays and stuff (even initials and birthdays are easy to guess) need to be changed.
one thing most people tend to forget. if you give someone your password, even temporarily, that isn't the admin, make sure you change it afterward. too may passwords are easy to remember, and they may be 'tempted to use yours later on.
i\'m starting to think that i\'m bound to always be the first guy on the second page of the thread.
May 1st, 2003 05:27 PM
Anyone keeping count on oracle9i vulnerabilities since they advertised it as unbreakable?
I guess it's like that "trust microsoft windows to keep your data secure" ad that was ordered off for false adverdisement! [http://www.itweb.co.za/sections/busi...Section&O=FPSH]
Credit travels up, blame travels down -- The Boss | <urn:uuid:e2285cda-39bb-48ab-8a2b-bc1fb775ddac> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.antionline.com/showthread.php?241496-What-Happened-to-quot-Unbreakable-quot&p=624784&viewfull=1 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368697380733/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516094300-00031-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.954879 | 448 | 1.570313 | 2 |
I don't remember doing anything in particular with primary grades.
I like the idea of beginning cursive, learning to manage a binder, etc., kind of a "rite of passage."
We'd usually done a huge rush of "winter" activities before break, which were preceded by a fall festival as well. I believe that, on our school calendar, the 100th day of school usually fell in January, so we would be gearing up for that.
These days, not teaching primary students any more, I give them a chance to turn in any "catching up" they did over break, review the week's schedule and the month's schedule with them, wish them a happy new year, and off we go. | <urn:uuid:87267d43-8ca1-4298-9576-dfe8717edc29> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.teacherfocus.com/elementary-school-teachers/new-years-projects-ideas-6645/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368701459211/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516105059-00042-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.980235 | 148 | 1.796875 | 2 |
WARNING: May contain opinions
The Occupy movement has united hundreds of thousands across the world in protest against economic and social injustice. In this episode, key Occupy activists talk global finance, politics, and direct action.
The former Deutsche Bank building in London plays host to this weeks discussion, which sees Julian discuss the origins, targets, and future of the Occupy movement with five high profile activists. The roots of the movement lie in the growing outrage many felt in the wake of the 2008 global financial crisis. However, according to Alexa O'Brien from Occupy New York and US Day of Rage, they are also responding to a "Global Political Crisis, because our institutions no longer function." Aaron Peters from Occupy London agrees that political failure is a "global phenomenon", with power shifting to unaccountable non-democratic institutions. However, the last word goes to David Graeber from Occupy New York, who jokes "there's nothing that terrifies the American government so much as the threat of democracy breaking out in America."
Add a Comment | <urn:uuid:11f54a95-9b92-4ebe-8f08-63b0471e09f1> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://occupii.org/video/the-world-tomorrow-occupy | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368701459211/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516105059-00008-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.935049 | 206 | 1.523438 | 2 |
The M-Velope by Michael Jantzen is a paneled art structure that is environmentally friendly and can be transformed into different shapes. This eight-foot structure is secured to the ground, and it is made from western red cedar wood, which has been dyed green.
The panels are attached to the main structure, allowing the user to shape it into any figure they want. The structure can fit up to 14 people, as well as appliances and solar panels.
This personal retreat is one of the many innovative creations by the famous Michael Jantzen, and it is a unique place compared to conventional spaces. The art installations by Michael Jantzen have been featured in thousands of books, magazines, newspapers and TV documentaries. His eco-friendly designs merge art, architecture, technology and engineering.
Foldable Green Paneled Abodes
4,352 clicks in 39 w
More Stats +/- | <urn:uuid:f6d55e50-4a2a-461b-9a59-2b3adc3d726f> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.trendhunter.com/trends/the-mvelope-by-michael-jantzen | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368700264179/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516103104-00041-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.961464 | 183 | 1.710938 | 2 |
Condoleezza Rice recently told students at the University of Mobile that asking God for guidance has been the driving force of her career -- and that yielding to a "higher power" in difficult times is always beneficial.
The former secretary of state and Alabama native told the crowd of 400-plus students that her Christian faith and the decisions she makes are inseparable.
She then urged them to follow the Holy Spirit, as she has, to remain optimistic and persevere.
"It's not that you say, 'Well, is this the right thing to do?' It's that you ask for guidance [and] are always aware that you have a higher power to which to appeal," Rice said, answering a question about how her faith impacted her role as secretary of state.
"The best part about being a person of faith is that I could be continually optimistic even in hard times," Rice added.
"I don't know how people who can't appeal to that Holy Spirit get through those hard times," she continued. "I know as [Abraham] Lincoln said, 'There are times when you have times where you have nowhere else to go than your knees.' That is very deeply engrained in me."
After addressing students, Rice spoke at the school's Leadership Banquet, where she applauded the University of Mobile for developing "servant leaders" for the future.
"Because the students here are taught to bring faith and reason together, they have a firm foundation not just of knowledge but of how to use that knowledge in a way that will advance the human condition," Rice said. "That is why the work that is done to make them servant leaders is also so important."
Rice made her appearance at the school Nov. 10. Most of the students' questions were delivered via text, Twitter or Facebook, and ranged from foreign relations to her childhood and the one word she'd like to be remembered for -- "perseverance."
Rice left public office in 2009 and is now a political science professor at Stanford University. | <urn:uuid:b8aeaa4b-fbf4-461d-8ee4-cdfac4425b4b> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.cbn.com/cbnnews/us/2011/November/Condoleezza-Rice-Shares-Faith-with-Alabama-Students/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368706499548/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516121459-00026-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.981632 | 415 | 1.671875 | 2 |
President George W. Bush told Palestinian ministers that God had told him to invade Afghanistan and Iraq - and create a Palestinian State, a new BBC series reveals.
In Elusive Peace: Israel and the Arabs, a major three-part series on BBC TWO (at 9.00pm on Monday 10, Monday 17 and Monday 24 October), Abu Mazen, Palestinian Prime Minister, and Nabil Shaath, his Foreign Minister, describe their first meeting with President Bush in June 2003.
Nabil Shaath says: "President Bush said to all of us: 'I'm driven with a mission from God. God would tell me, "George, go and fight those terrorists in Afghanistan." And I did, and then God would tell me, "George, go and end the tyranny in Iraq …" And I did. And now, again, I feel God's words coming to me, "Go get the Palestinians their state and get the Israelis their security, and get peace in the Middle East." And by God I'm gonna do it.'"
Abu Mazen was at the same meeting and recounts how President Bush told him: "I have a moral and religious obligation. So I will get you a Palestinian state."
The series charts the attempts to bring peace to the Middle East, from Bill Clinton's peace talks in 1999/2000 to Israel's withdrawal from Gaza last August.
Norma Percy, series producer of The 50 Years War (1998) returns, with producers Mark Anderson and Dan Edge, to tell the inside story of another seven years of crisis.
Presidents and Prime Ministers, their generals and ministers tell what happened behind closed doors as peace talks failed and the intifada exploded. Source | <urn:uuid:98f63900-f3b1-4992-b64b-3481c4da12ce> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.undergroundnews.com/forum/ubbthreads.php/topics/12212/Re:%20God%20told%20me%20to%20invade%20Iraq.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368699881956/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516102441-00001-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.962075 | 345 | 1.6875 | 2 |
Advice for teens who are new to Wicca, Witchcraft and Paganism.
Welcome to the tribe...
and may the Triple Goddess of Maiden, Mother and Crone, and the Golden Horned God of the Hunt, bless you and all your family.
You'll find us Wiccans a pretty diverse bunch, rather anarchic and experimental in our practices, but ever growing as we relearn the old and new ways of the Craft of the Wise. If you keep true to your heart, keep your head on straight, treat others as you'd be treated and follow the dictates of your conscience, then the Old Gods will sing you their songs, no matter where you are or who you're with.
As a young person you probably have a lot of issues in your life that you need to work out; the teen years especially can be pretty confusing. As a young Wiccan you have the added challenge of setting out on the strange, new road of Paganism and Witchcraft, passing through a countryside like nothing that you've ever seen before. Sometimes you may feel like you're walking it all alone.
You're not. Every step that you take lands on the footprints of those who have gone before, and that places you in an ancient and noble company. That's what this letter is for, to help you get your bearings and give you some guideposts to make your journey easier and more fruitful. We'll talk about family issues, describe some basic Wiccan ideals and provide a simple Dedication ritual that you can perform yourself.
Your family and friends...
may be experiencing some problems accepting your new-found faith. After all, it isn't every day you tell your loved ones that you want to practice Witchcraft. But your situation isn't unique. Most of us have felt the sense of spiritual isolation that you're going through, so know that even when you feel like nobody understands you, you're never really alone. It's tough being a kid when your heart hears a different song, but remember that even if they don't understand you, they still love and care for you. So keep the lines of communication open; someday you may all be surprised at how close you really are.
My name is Brägi, I've been a Wiccan for over two decades, and believe me, my teen years had some pretty surprising moments of their own. I suddenly left Christianity behind me at the age of 13, in quiet and non-hostile way; every soul has its own path to follow, and I just didn't believe in Jesus anymore. At 18 my mother tossed me out of the house, not because of Wicca or Paganism (I was an agnostic at that time), but because her boyfriend and I didn't get along.
A year later I happened to run across a book about Wicca, and so discovered that there really were people in the Western world who still practiced the Paganism of our ancestors. It felt so right that I immediately "came home" to the Old Gods of nature and magic, and thereafter called myself a Pagan. Another year later I finally met up with some kindred spirits with whom I could study Wicca and worship. The rest, as they say, is history.
Five years later I returned home to see my mother again. You can imagine the mutual surprise when, in the same conversation, I came out to her as a Witch and she came out to me as Gay! Well, we knew that we both loved each other very much, so we chose to accept each other as we were and had a good laugh over it. After that we got along pretty well.
If your parents are reading this...
they may raise an eyebrow over words like "Witchcraft", "Golden-Horned" and "Gay". Like everybody else, we Pagans have families of our own, and share many of the same hopes and fears that your family does. The above story, for instance, is meant to illustrate how family members should accept each another despite their differences. Among us you will find almost as wide a range of opinions concerning relationship issues as among non-Pagans, but mostly we believe that people should act towards one another responsibly and with respect.
Also, Wicca neither believes in nor worships a "devil"; the Golden Horned God of the Hunt symbolizes life and the glory of nature. His worship comes from the rituals of stone age priests, who wore horned headresses during prayers and ceremonies to improve their tribe's luck in the hunt (by the way, some Wiccans are vegetarians.) This misconception comes from the Middle Ages, when the early Christian fathers sought to portray Paganism in a negative way by describing our Gods as demons, in order to frighten people into joining the Church.
Do other people call us Witches? Yes, and we make no apologies for it; to us it's an honorable word. Do we call ourselves Witches? Yes and no. Some call themselves both Wiccan and Witch, while some prefer to call themselves only Wiccan. There are also Witches who aren't part of Wicca, and their beliefs, traditions and practices are sometimes very different from ours.
The word "Witchcraft" was originally the Middle English pronunciation of the Old English word "Wiccacraft". "Wicca" in Old English literally means "to bend or twist". The early Wiccans were basically old Wise Women and Wise Men, schooled in herbal medicine and folk psychology, familiar with the ways of the local Gods and spirits, and skilled in the arts of spell-casting. You might say that they bent the forces of nature to their will.
Today our Craft is subtle and intuitive, found in forest groves and cyberspace, and guided by new visions and ancient wisdom. Our women and girls live confident and magical lives, for in the Goddess they now have a God made in their image, too. Our men and boys live by the twin horns of brave spirit and gentle heart; from such are born the heroes of legend.
Basically, Wicca is...
a religion, with its own deities, beliefs and practices. It's descended from the first prayers of the first people ever to worship, the stone age hunter-gatherers. That's why we call our deities The Old Gods, and our religion The Old Religion. They lived according to the rhythms of nature and celebrated the life-force that lives in all things.
Modern Wicca is built upon the scattered remains of earth-centered religious practices that somehow survived, often in secret, the medieval European Witchcraft persecutions that we call The Burning Times. As a popular religious movement it dates from the early 1950's, when Parliament repealed Britian's last anti-Witchcraft laws. Although it originated in the British Isles, Wicca now has a more international flavor.
Both men and women in Wicca worship a Goddess, who is our Great Mother and Mistress of Magic. Most of us also worship a male God, described earlier, who is her partner and consort. Together the Lord and Lady, as we often call them, keep the universe - and ourselves - in eternal balance; moon and sun, winter and summer, female and male, birth and death. Some worship the Goddess only; they're usually called Dianic Witches.
Wicca is the largest of the Neo-Pagan religions, a grassroots spiritual movement dedicated to reviving the earth-centered faiths from olden times, which we call Paganism, and giving them meaning for people today. Not all such groups call themselves Neo-Pagan or use the term Paganism, and of course not all Neo-Pagans are Wiccans. If you're not sure who you're talking to, it's OK to just go ahead and ask.
Some basic Wiccan ideals...
may help you define who we are and if this is a path that you'd like to explore. Feel free to share this with your parents or friends if you think it'll help with any misunderstandings.
The Wiccan Rede ~ If You Harm None, Do What You Will
The Rede (which means "creed" or "advice"), is our basic statement of ethics and can be found, with slight grammatical variations, throughout Wicca. Part of a longer traditional poem, it's our Golden Rule.
If You Harm None is why, both in our Craft and our daily lives, we seek to bring healing to the sick, wisdom to the seeker and life to Mother Earth. Wicca frowns upon what some call "black magic", for its only purpose is to mess up other people's lives. We don't generally work even healing magic without the subject's permission. We also don't cast "love spells" that manipulate other people's emotions.
In fact, we receive our magic from the rhythms and balances of nature, which is inherently neither good nor evil. The qualities of our gifts are determined by how well we use them. Wicca takes no official positions - having no official leaders - but some Wiccans are active in such issues as health care, human rights and the environment.
Do What You Will is a call for each soul to discover her or his True Will, to understand who s/he really is, to do what s/he thinks is best to lead a happy, healthy, interesting and fulfilling life. As a result we generally have a much more tolerant attitude than other faiths when it comes to the rights of the individual, and no individual Wiccan need ever ask permission to worship as s/he sees fit.
But with rights always comes personal responsibilities. The Rede isn't a license to do anything for any reason, regardless of the consequences. Instead it's an exciting journey of personal discovery, which we travel all of our days. You might say it's the difference between "what I will" and "what I want".
Perfect Love and Perfect Trust
We believe in this phrase as the ideal kind of relationship. Of course, nobody expects you to love or trust other people completely or perfectly, and you needn't be disappointed when others likewise don't always measure up. The human heart is complex, and over the years you'll experience many different kinds and degrees of love, and they'll often be mixed up with other emotions.
That's OK. It's a normal part of living. That's why we Wiccans believe in Perfect Love and Perfect Trust as an ideal. It's a goal that we strive for yet never completely attain, a star shining like a lighthouse beacon, forever just beyond reach, yet guiding our way along the rocky shores of experience.
The phrase itself used to be a secret password for "Circles" (so named because we traditionally stand or sit in a circle.) You can still use it ritually by asking each person in turn "and how do you enter this Circle?" They then answer "in perfect love and perfect trust", and enter. During the Circle itself we try to set aside our differences to better experience the joy of shared worship, and to keep our magic pure.
The Three-Fold Law
Wiccans generally believe that whatever a person does comes back to them three times. If you do good, then three times that goodness will eventually return to you. If you do harm, then you'll ultimately suffer three times the suffering that you caused.
Don't take this concept too literally, for the subtle paths are marked by subtle signs. Obviously there are folks in the world who get away with too much, while others who live good lives seem to get the bad breaks. The Gods don't promise that if you give a dollar to a hungry child that you'll find three bucks under your pillow later. Unfortunately, the real world just isn't that fair.
Yet They do grant us mortals one magnificent reward (or punishment) for our actions. The person who always treats others selfishly or like a bully never truly learns the joys of love, and winds up a bitter and lonely soul. But the person who lives by love and trust receives back every ounce of that love and trust, and more. Even if someone whom you help out never meets you or knows your name, you still get that warm feeling inside that's worth your weight in gold.
Why three times? Personally, I like to think that it's once for helping another, once for your spiritual growth and once for the glory of the Gods. Basically, though, it's just one of those Ancient Mysteries nobody has ever quite figured out; perhaps one day you can tell me the secret of three.
If you think you're ready...
you can "dedicate" yourself to Wicca in a simple, private Wiccan Circle. By tradition, you can then call yourself a Dedicant. You won't be an Initiate yet; that comes after you've reached a certain level of knowledge and maturity. Don't worry about when; it'll happen when it's time.
Gather about you symbols for Air, Fire, Water and Earth, to represent the balance of nature. Since the elements are already all around us, you can use whatever is handy, such as incense or a feather for air, a candle or an electric light for fire, a water dish or a picture of the ocean for water, salt or some backyard soil for earth. (If safety is an issue, you don't need to use real fire to represent fire.)
Traditionally we place Air in the east, Fire in the south, Water in the west and Earth in the north. You can, however, put them where you want to, so long as it feels balanced. You can also add statues, pictures, flowers, poems or just about anything else that has spiritual meaning for you.
Then either walk or swing your arm around in a deosil (clockwise) circle three times and say or think "thrice I cast this circle 'round, sacred is this holy ground." This is how you close a circle, creating a magical working area, which we call A World Between Worlds. It puts you in a separate place from your surroundings, yet also recognizes that all "places" on Mother Earth are sacred.
Then ask the Gods to listen to your dedication (don't worry, they'll hear you.) Read out a statement in your own words that you wish to study Wicca, why you wish to do so, and that you promise to follow the Rede. When you're finished, thank the Gods for their presence. Then open the circle by going three times widdershins (counterclockwise). This returns both you and your working area back to the "mundane" world.
Now you're a formal student of Wicca, learning in your own way, at your own pace. Some people study Wicca by reading and practicing alone, some by working with teachers, some by having experienced friends and some by combinations of the above. Do what's best for you.
If you have an interest in other religions, you can still attend Christian or other services, explore different faiths or even join other churches and still be a Wiccan. You can also stop studying Wicca anytime you wish. You're always the master of your own soul.
Some teachers have been known to charge a fee for formal classes in Wicca, and I won't pre-judge them, but some of us old-timers believe that the wisdom of the Gods should be shared freely, and that the honor of passing the flame to another seeker is the greatest reward that any Wiccan can receive.
If you're having trouble finding other Wiccans,...
be patient. Because we're often very private about our faith, there are more of us around than it would seem. Some Wiccans practice openly; some practice in small, private circles; some practice alone and are called "Solitaries". We have a saying; if you're meant to become a Wiccan, you'll eventually find Wiccans to teach you.
Some communities still persecute us through ignorance of who we really are, so some Wiccans may be reluctant to take on underage teens as students. But if you really want to find others who feel as you do, you'll likely run into them among your own generation, for your numbers are growing like blackberry vines on a summer day. Be discreet, but keep your eyes and ears open, and you'll probably find companions your own age.
One very important thing - Wiccans don't proselytize (i.e. try to convert someone to a religion or belief.) Pestering somebody to join Wicca, or any religion, is a violation of the Rede, as well as a pretty shabby way of interacting with people. We are who we are.
In fact, we call the experience of discovering and adopting Wicca coming home. Wicca just feels right to us, not because anybody tried to convert us, but because Wicca is where we feel most at home spiritually. Years ago, when I first discovered that there still existed followers of moonlight and magic who kept to the old ways, I realized immediately that this was where my heart belonged. But if my heart had belonged elsewhere, no honorable Wiccan would have tried to tell me otherwise.
I hope that this has been of some help. Like all Wiccans, I must claim this letter only as my personal opinion. You'll find others, and eventually mark your own trail as a free and independent Witch. If you should choose to follow another spiritual or religious path, go with my blessings. If you choose to follow the Craft of the Wise, then... | <urn:uuid:73d080fa-441d-4174-a863-c2dadb7a0db5> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.grailmedia.com/wz2/bragi/youngwic.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368700264179/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516103104-00011-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.966997 | 3,656 | 1.546875 | 2 |
||Linen backed vintage poster by Paul Colin. LE PARTI SOCIALISTE Lithograph in colors, printed by Bedos & Cie., Paris. Too much can be made of an artist’s political affiliations. Suffice it to say that their output provides sufficient insight into their sympathies. Colin’s design for the French Socialist party–the driving force behind the 5th Republic–is a paradigm of restraint and efficiency. With Marianne serving as the figurehead of the French political galleon, its forward progress decisively indicated with three scarlet-on-blue arrows, there can be little doubt that all concerned parties were sure of their cause, both artistic and politic. | <urn:uuid:225d94af-29d7-4dc3-bb2c-1e9fb5d88b0d> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.thevintageposter.com/ArtDetail.asp?Size=med&Inv=12586 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368705195219/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516115315-00013-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.955893 | 142 | 1.648438 | 2 |
The word for using public relations campaigns to make populations more accepting of laws pushed onto the people by governments is “propagandizing.” And the Administration of Barack Obama has been prolific in its use of taxpayer-funded propaganda to push the President’s signature healthcare overhaul.
The United States government has been at war for 11 years. The U.S. military destroyed Iraq, leaving the country and millions of lives in ruins and releasing sectarian blood-letting that had been kept in check by the secular Saddam Hussein government. On any given day in “liberated” Iraq, the death toll is as high as during the height of the U.S. attempted occupation.
If the definition of insanity is indeed repeatedly doing the same thing while constantly expecting different results, then the islamofascist bombing of the Boston Marathon and the aftermath thereof offers lessons aplenty on the cycle of insanity in which our Nation now finds itself.
President Barack Obama’s much awaited budget proposal was released Wednesday; unsurprisingly, it calls for nearly $300 billion in increased Federal spending on government make-work projects, coupled with $800 billion in tax hikes over the next 10 years. To sweeten the deal for Republicans, the budget calls for $1 trillion in cuts throughout government and even […]
There seems to be a reoccurring theme of the Presidential Administration having to remind Americans that President Barack Obama is neither a dictator nor a King. Discussing Obama’s forthcoming budget proposal on Friday, White House Press Secretary Jay Carney told reporters that the budget is not what Barack Obama would do if he were king: […]
The Senate, in a bid to make the American people believe lawmakers were holding themselves accountable for the Nation’s financial troubles, passed a measure last month urging members to forgo 20 percent of their legislative pay during sequestration. But a poll of lawmakers conducted by The Hill, suggests that a majority won’t follow through with the self-imposed pay cuts.
Senator Tom Coburn (R-Okla.) was among the earliest officials to criticize the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) for entering into contracts that obligate it to buy more than a reported 1.6 billion rounds of ammunition — enough for a 20-year war. He demanded an explanation from DHS Secretary Janet Napolitano in a letter he sent last November.
Republican Texas Governor Rick Perry said in a recent interview that he refuses to bow to the Administration of Barack Obama in accepting Medicaid expansions in his State. “Texas will not be held hostage to the Obama administration’s attempt to force us into this fool’s errand,” Perry said Monday. Perry is one of a handful […]
Senators Rand Paul (R-Ky.), Mike Lee (R-Utah) and Ted Cruz (R-Texas) have hinted that another old-school filibuster may be in store if lawmakers attempt to push any new gun-control legislation.
The CEO of iconic American gun maker Colt’s Manufacturing Company, LLC, Dennis Veilleux, threatened to initiate the process of moving the company headquarters from Hartford, Conn., as lawmakers in that State mull tough gun laws that could even include an AR-15 ban. | <urn:uuid:ac884751-cf13-4e21-ac86-724d091d4c72> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://personalliberty.com/category/conservative-politics/government/page/2/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368704392896/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516113952-00000-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.955718 | 661 | 1.507813 | 2 |
An online, open access, peer-reviewed publication, Scientific Reports will publish research covering the natural sciences – biology, chemistry, earth sciences and physics. Scientific Reports is accepting submissions from today, and will publish its first articles in June 2011. More information is available on the Scientific Reports website (www.nature.com/scientificreports).
Well, I’ll be a monkey’s uncle. Is this the same Nature Publishing Group that last year crapped all over PLoS One in an editorial by Declan Butler provocatively entitled ‘PLoS One Stays Afloat with Bulk Publishing’, echoing ugly whispers in the scientific establishment that PLoS One would be a dumping ground for data that couldn’t get published anywhere else for a myriad of reasons. Guess the release of PLoS One’s impact factor (somewhere above 4… 4.4 or 4.3 I think I read) in early 2010 probably made some people re-think their assumption that it was a final resting place that people would pay to deposit their trash data. NPG’s new model appears to be nearly identical to that of PLoS One, publication fee and all. (BTW I now hear grad students going around saying stuff in the vein of ‘we shouldn’t publish in Journal XYZ… ? It’s OPEN ACCESS.’ They picked that drivel up somewhere- and are repeating it without even knowing what open access means or why they think it is bad. )
Anyway- about the Nature “Scientific Reports” thing- I’d say this is not just a good indication that PLoS One is doing something right (a la Martin Fenner)- it is an indication that PLoS, and PLoS One* in particular, have changed the paradigm that was scientific publishing in a rather radical way. I hope the champagne corks are popping in San Fransisco this Friday. Congratulations PLoS One, and welcome NPG to the future of scientific publishing- just follow PLoS One and they will show you the way.
*Disclaimer: I’ve been an out-of-the-closet lover of the PLoS One publishing model for several years, I have papers there, I know some editorial board members, and I’ve been an unabashed groupie of
Pete Binfield since I saw him speak at scio10. | <urn:uuid:3ab0f0d6-78a7-40bf-b23e-309a3a8ed893> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://bluelabcoats.wordpress.com/2011/01/07/i-fell-off-my-horse-say-what-nature-one/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368700958435/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516104238-00029-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.931984 | 488 | 1.710938 | 2 |
There are so many pre-fab books on the market nowadays such as Punky Sprouts, Clear Scraps, Bare Elements by Creative Imaginations, Bascially Bare and don't forget you can always create your own book using Covers and Acrylic Pages from Zutter. Many of these pre-fab mini books feature a 2 hole binder ring style binding but it is easy to convert that to an Owire binding with your Bind-It-All.
Recently I created a Halloween Trick or Treat Book using a Chipboard Purse Album from Clear Scraps where I converted the binding from binder rings to Owires.
The first step in converting the binding from rings to Owires is covering the pages. I prefer to paint the pages rather than cover them completely with paper because it is just alot faster and easier! I always cover my pages before binding, whether it is a pre-fab book or a bunch of chipboard pages, and then decorate after the binding is completed. This is so that my embellies don't get damaged or interfere with the binding. A bonus is that early on the process, I feel like I am getting alot done!
I painted all of these pages in this mini book but the binding holes were still visible. Then I cut rectangles of paper and used them as mats or borders on the pages, placing them so they covered the pre-cut binding holes. Note: If I had completely covered the pages with paper instead of painting, I would not have had to add any extra paper to cover the binding holes.
The next step is to decide where to bind the book. You may decide to choose a completely different binding area than what the book "recommended" with it's pre-punched holes. The key is to find a straight surface of about 4" or more in length. On this mini, I decided to bind the book along the same edge where the binding holes were previously placed.
On a shaped book or any book that does not measure in half inch increments (like a 6.25" wide book) you will want to measure the binding side of the book and locate the center. This can be done by inserting the page into the Bind-It-All and holding a ruler up to it. This book measured 6 3/8" from side to side so I lined up the centering arrow printed on the Bind-It-All with half that measurement (about 3 1/4") and punched 6 binding holes. I then used the peg on the back of the stop guide tab to punch additional holes continuously along the edge of the page.
The inner pages of this book were super tricky because they were just slightly smaller than the covers. I lined up an inner page with a cover and inserted both into the Bind It All. I then inserted the peg on the back of the stop guide tab into one of the holes on the cover and punched 6 holes. The Bind-It-All will re-punch the holes in the cover but punch new holes in the inner page. I then used the tab to punch holes continuously along the edge of each inner page.
After all the pages were punched, I bound the book with Owires and decorated! One of the coolest things about Owires is they also provide a place for "jewelry" to hang from between you pages. Beads, bauble, and other items can be attached to the Owires between the pages using jump rings or ribbon to create extra interest. On this mini book, I used some pages from several mini shaped acrylic books by Clear Scraps (bat, pumpkin, and ghost) as dangling embellishments between my pages by attaching them to the O-Wires.
On the final page in the book I attached a tag with journaling to the Owires with a bit of ribbon.
Any book that has a 4" straight edge or longer can be converted to an Owire based binding. This makes for a stronger book as well as provides a fun place to hang extra embellishments within the book. Try converting your next pre-fab book into a masterpiece with your Bind-It -All!
- Bind-It-All, O-Wire - Zutter
- Acrylic, Chipboard Mini Albums - Clear Scraps
- Ink - Clearsnap, Tsukinenko
- Paint - KaiserCraft, Sharpie (Paint Pen), Making Memories (Black, Purple)
- Chipboard Diecuts - Cosmo Cricket
- Misc Embellies - Pink Paislee, My Mind's Eye, Creative Imaginations
- Pen - Uni-Ball Signo
- Diecuts - Sizziz
- Paper - American Crafts (foil), Bazzill, Bo Bunny Press, Unknown
- Flair - American Crafts
- Rub-Ons - SEI
- Ribbon - May Arts, hydrangeahippo.etsy.com
- Stickers - Cosmo Cricket
- Buttons - hydrangeahippo.etsy.com
- Epoxies - Creative Imaginations | <urn:uuid:83028d2f-b30c-4a45-b354-b35ee6923d90> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://binditall.blogspot.com/2011/09/from-binder-rings-to-zutter-owire-how.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368703298047/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516112138-00002-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.942158 | 1,042 | 1.59375 | 2 |
NetWellness is a global, community service providing quality, unbiased health information from our partner university faculty. NetWellness is commercial-free and does not accept advertising.
Thursday, May 23, 2013
Dental and Oral Health (Seniors)
Osseous Surgery Medically Necessary
My medical insurance said that if I go to an oral surgeon rather than a periodontist, osseous surgery may be covered as medically necessry. My perodontist says it`s not possible because not having the surgery is not a threat to my health. I really can`t go on like this and feel the surgery is medically necessary to my overall health and well being. What do you say?
This is a complex subject. There are two sides - people who believe that gum diseases threatens the health of patients and people who don't. You can find research done from both sides. Regardless, I will say that the insurance will not cover. In my opinion you should take care of the problem if you want to keep your teeth in the long term.
Alfredo Hernandez, DDS, MS
Assistant Professor of Comprehensive Care
School of Dental Medicine
Case Western Reserve University | <urn:uuid:0567bd44-22ef-434b-9e9e-99411be8787f> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.netwellness.org/question.cfm/72842.htm | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368704132298/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516113532-00008-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.944931 | 245 | 1.6875 | 2 |
Read Part I
Telehealth Monitoring Wristwatches
The first reported person to actually wear a watch on the wrist was the French mathematician and philosopher, Blaise Pascal (1623-1662). With a piece of string, he attached his pocket watch to his wrist. In the late 1800s, the wrist watch was officially invented by the Swiss watch maker, Patek Phillippe. The first wristwatch for men was designed by Louis Cartier in the early 1900s. Ranging in price from less than $30 to $400 and more, a variety of real heart rate monitors are available in the market. Suunto, for example, can calculate metrics like oxygen consumption, respiratory rate and training effect. On the lower end, the Omron HR-100C is easy to use and doesn't have a lot of fancy functions to confuse novices, measuring heart rate with a chest strap and… transmitting data to the wrist-mounted display. If you want more features than the basics, reviewers recommend the Polar F11 heart rate monitor. The Garmin 305 (image on the right) has an integrated GPS antenna, so unlike most heart rate monitors, it can tell how far and how fast you're going.
An iPhone Blood Pressure WebApp by Bit&Becker will monitor your blood pressure over several periods of time. It will also show your Max/Min and Average Systolic, Diastolic Bloodpressure, as well as your Pulse. You can export your data in CSV (Excel) Format. Current version of Blood pressure monitoring devices has now support for extreme high and low blood pressure values. And no more google ads, to keep your blood pressure low.
Animas Corporation, which is now a Johnson & Johnson company, is no longer
longer selling the current model GlucoWatch G2 Biographer System, shown on the right. Cygnus Inc. (Redwood City, California) is already working on second and third generation products that will overcome some of limitations of this watch which include skin irritation and calibration, meaning additional finger-stick tests redone about 20% of the time.
TeleMedIS System combining the TeleMed HC Platform developed by Karolinska and Telehealth Monitoring Wristwatch (TMW) developed by Tadiran LifeCare, connected over the Wireless Network (provided by TeliaSonera Sweden), is able to measure user vital signs by using integrated biosensors. This includes 1-lead ECG, Blood oxygen saturation level (SpO2), Pulse (heart rate)
Victorian researchers have developed a wristwatch that continuously monitors the health status of people with Parkinson’s disease to help doctors manage their treatment, Victorian Minister for Innovation Gavin Jennings said in May 19th press release. The wristwatch, which is still at the prototype stage, was introduced onto the world market by Mr Jennings at BIO2009 in Atlanta, USA.
Dreamate Sleep Inducer is a non-invasive sleeping aid wristband. This watch-sized device on a strap uses acupressure techniques to “retune the biological clock and train your body to relax and sleep by massaging key acupoints on your inner wrist". The Taiwanese gadget provides a double-frequency micro-massage (via a vibration motor) to specific pulse points—termed the “Sleeping Golden Triangle” points in traditional Chinese medicine. The company says it helps in relieving stress, inducing sleep and is especially beneficial for people suffering from jet lag.
Health equipment manufacturers such as Omron Healthcare Co Ltd, Nipro Corp, and Matsushita Electric Works Ltd, all of Japan, have been announcing terminals to measure physical activity. These "life recorders" are specifically designed to make it possible to accurately measure the amount of physical activity, pulse, skin temperature and motion. They also measure external factors such as atmospheric pressure.
If you wear the GoWear fit armband during the course of your day, then log onto your personalized GoWear fit online activity manager, you’ll get information about the calories you’ve burned, plus a calorie consumption calculator and tips for how to best reach your fitness and lifestyle goals. GoWear fit also measures sleep duration and efficiency – so that you can begin to understand the influence your bedtime has on your overall health
And if you do not want the world to know what exactly you are measuring, consider design suggested by Hironao Tsuboi for an LED watch. It looks like just a metal band. Push a button, and you get the time or what you'd like to get. Don't push the button: no numbers, no curves, no pie charts. Very simple.
See also Devices To Keep you Healthy
Aurametrix is working on tools to help you evaluate your personal health risks and benefits and make the right choices. | <urn:uuid:33397293-cd17-461e-bf63-3c61d7b7d8fb> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://aurametrix.blogspot.com/2009/05/telemedicine-part-ii.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368706499548/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516121459-00011-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.939721 | 999 | 1.734375 | 2 |
Over the cliff
Sequester threatens to derail programs for the young, old, poor and sick
By André Coleman 03/07/2013
Automatic federal budget cuts — a byproduct of the sequestration of funds resulting from the inability of Democrats and Republicans to negotiate long-term spending reductions in December — could have severe impacts on the Pasadena Unified School District, the Pasadena Police Department, the city’s Health Department and other local, state and federal agencies.
“Sequestration is already damaging our economy as businesses change their hiring plans and the federal government plans its furloughs,” said Congressman Adam Schiff, D-Burbank.
“Left in place, the sequester could cost up to 750,000 jobs nationwide. In our region, everything from Head Start to research grants at local hospitals to [Jet Propulsion Laboratory] may be adversely affected,” Schiff said in an email statement to the Pasadena Weekly.
Originally passed as part of the Budget Control Act of 2011, also known as the debt ceiling compromise, the sequester was meant as an incentive for the Joint Select Committee on Deficit Reduction to cut $1.5 trillion over 10 years, writes Washington Post blogger Dylan Matthews.
If a compromise between the White House and Congress is not reached, Schiff estimates California would lose approximately $87.6 million in funding for primary and secondary education, $12.4 million for environmental protection programs, $2.6 million in direct funding for public health, and another $12 million in public health grant funding.
Nationwide, Schiff said more than $1.6 billion would be cut from medical research grants provided through the National Institutes for Health. Community health centers around the country would have funding cut by $120 million, and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention would provide 540,000 fewer doses of vaccines against diseases like hepatitis, flu, measles and whooping cough for children and adults, the congressman wrote in the email. (Please see related story on page 10)
The $85.4 billion in total cuts would include elimination of the $406 million needed to serve 70,000 students enrolled in Head Start programs around the country, 8,200 of them in California. The local program would serve 1,100 low-income children from Pasadena, Altadena, Sierra Madre and South Pasadena when it’s operating.
At the local level, the Pasadena Unified School District could lose a $10.7 million grant it has applied for in order to open a Head Start program. The former Head Start closed in 2011 after the nonprofit group running 10 centers in Pasadena, Altadena and Glendale abruptly backed out of its contract.
“We don’t have the contract yet to run the program,” PUSD Board of Education President Renatta Cooper explained. “But the cuts definitely put [the grant] in jeopardy, and we know that pre-K education is important in achievement.”
Along with the nearly $88 million Schiff says California will lose for primary and secondary education, the Pasadena school board is already struggling to close an existing $8 million budget gap before a state-mandated May deadline.
“The cuts we have to deal with right now are bad enough. I am already upset,” Cooper told the Weekly. “Any additional cuts will add to the chaos.”
But that’s not the only local education program in jeopardy.
“The [Head Start] grant is the tip of the iceberg as to what we would be in danger of losing,” said PUSD Spokesman Adam Wolfson. “All of the federal funds we receive are in jeopardy.”
Some 16 programs will be affected, with a 5.9 percent total revenue reduction totaling $895,540, according to Wolfson.
“The biggest programs that will be reduced include Title I [funds for disadvantaged students], Title II [money for teacher training and recruitment], and IDEA [Individuals with Disabilities Education ACT] funds,” Wolfson said.
While the district was gearing up for what could be debilitating cuts to programs for young, poor and learning disabled youngsters, officials at City Hall were not yet sure how the reductions would impact the Pasadena Public Health Department and other city-run programs.
Along with everything else, California would also lose about $2.6 million in emergency funds, which would be used during a natural disaster, like the 2011 windstorm, which caused $17 million in damage. California would also lose an additional $12.4 million in grants to help combat substance abuse, resulting in around 9,400 fewer admissions to recovery programs, according to Schiff. In addition, the California Department of Health Services would lose about $2 million, which could mean 50,000 fewer HIV tests, Schiff wrote.
Pasadena Public Health Director Eric Walsh did not return phone calls. According to City Public Information Officer William Boyer, officials are keeping a close eye on the situation. However, Boyer said, “It is too soon to say what impacts, if any, will be felt in Pasadena.”
Police officials said sequester-related cuts could impact the city’s Youth Accountability Board, which operates on a $100,000 grant from the US Department of Justice. The program aims to rehabilitate youthful offenders.
“We use that money to give counseling and support and pluck minors out of the judicial system,” Pasadena Police Chief Philip Sanchez told the Weekly. “If they graduate from the Youth Accountability Board, then we expunge their record. That [funding] might be at risk if the full weight of the sequester comes to fruition.”
Back at the federal level, more than 7,000 officers and agents with the US Customs and Border Protection, as well as airport security officers, could be furloughed. The US Department of Justice would also be forced to lay off approximately 1,000 federal agents and 1,300 Bureau of Prisons correctional officers. The Department of Defense would be forced to furlough 64,000 employees, at a savings of $400 million in gross pay, part of the 7.9 percent, or $42.7 billion in reductions called for in defense spending.
The proposed cuts were part of a deal struck by the two political parties last year when President Obama asked Congress to raise the nation’s debt ceiling. Obama formally enacted the cuts after Democrats and Republicans reached an impasse on budget talks. Republicans said they wanted spending cuts, but no tax increases. Democrats wanted to raise revenue by closing tax loopholes for the rich — covering roughly half the mandated cuts — along with targeted reductions.
“We need to find a permanent fix to these fiscal issues,” Schiff said. “It just shouldn’t be that hard if both parties would come to the table open to a balanced agreement that has a combination of responsible spending cuts, the elimination of special interest tax loopholes and a priority on job growth.” | <urn:uuid:c4a37644-95af-44c4-848f-7d0212c1868f> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.pasadenaweekly.com/cms/story/detail/over_the_cliff/11927/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368706499548/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516121459-00031-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.956772 | 1,444 | 1.820313 | 2 |
Memo to friends, enemies, and anyone who wants to find out about us: You can just ask, really. We haven’t any secrets, and you don’t need to play spy games.
Of all the reporters we’ve spoken to during the past year and a half the IDEA Club has been in existence, none has been quite as interesting as last week’s exchange with Celeste Biever of the New Scientist. An exchange which we didn’t know had happened till it was over.
It began with an innocent-looking email through our contact form.
Hi, I am a student at Cornell and am interested in coming to an IDEA meeting.
When will the next one be? Thanks, Maria"
Here on campus we don’t usually introduce ourselves as "Cornell students"; that is generally considered to be a given. But, well, if she felt the need to clarify that, who were we to object? We emailed her the time, and she replied back in a request for more information, which we also provided.
But there was something odd about that email. It was from the same address that had been submitted with the contact form, and the email was still signed Maria, but the name that went with the address was one we didn’t recognize. Was "the student Maria" using a friend’s email address? Oh well, people do odd things sometimes.
From: Cel Biever <[email protected]> Signed-By: gmail.com
Subject: Re: IDEA Club
Second memo: if you want to play spy games, do it properly. For instance, changing the name your email provider uses before sending out emails pretending to be someone else might be rule one in the book.
Maria didn’t come to a meeting, and we almost forgot about the incident, till Biever’s name was brought up in an unrelated conversation. She was described as a New Scientist reporter interviewing a host of people for a story on ID, and then things fell together in a way strangely reminiscent of the games we used to play in third grade ("Go spy on the enemy, and steal their secret map!")
Now that we’re past third grade, though, surely we save those kind of expedients for crucial, perhaps life-and-death situations? Finding out publicly available information about a little IDEA club on a college campus…well, does it really qualify as a justification for outright lies?
Especially since it so ridiculously unneccessary; there is no secret map.
Our letter to the editor of New Scientist can be found here. And just so no-one makes the same mistake– if you ever want to come to a meeting or find out about what we do you don’t need to pretend to be someone else; we’ll let you in under your own name. There are plenty of Cornellians who can witness the fact that even people who come with the avowed intention of "shutting us down" are made welcome at our discussions and on our private listserves. We’re simply a forum for civil, informed discussion, and we like having various points of view. If you think you’ve got a strong argument supporting either side, we’d love to hear it. And if you just want to come and listen to the arguments you’re welcome too.
We do prefer, though, if you don’t lie to us.
Update 10/6: The New Scientist has responded to our letter, characterizing the event as unique in Biever’s history and unrepresentative of New Scientist reporting.
Update 10/19: The reply from the New Scientist is now posted on our website. | <urn:uuid:36b4ff61-09af-48a9-b704-fcaf9fae0a48> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://designparadigm.blogsome.com/category/disinformation/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368704132298/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516113532-00022-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.955619 | 781 | 1.554688 | 2 |
Allocating funds among hundreds of school districts to ensure all provide the "thorough and efficient" education required by the state constitution is easier said than done, as Gov. John Kasich is learning.
Soon after taking office less than a year ago, Kasich pledged to overhaul the state formula for funding public schools. By January - next week - a plan would be in place, the governor thought.
He was wrong. His advisers say the January deadline was a self-imposed one that won't be met. Better to get it right than to get it on time, they add.
They are right, of course. Public education reform is among the chief concerns of many Ohio residents. But merely finding a way to dole out money more equitably is not enough.
When the state Supreme Court ruled a few years ago the funding system had to be revamped, one of the justices' top priorities was equitability. Too much reliance on property taxes to fund schools left poorer counties behind their richer neighbors, the high court decided.
Such rulings have been made in several states. And school funding formulas have been changed to distribute money more fairly. But improving schools has been another matter.
It may well be that Kasich and his advisers - after emphasizing they wanted to improve public schools, not just change how they are funded - are concerned about how the state could use its power better to reform failing schools. That and the funding issue go hand in hand.
So the governor and his advisers are right to insist on developing a good school reform plan rather than simply churning one out in a hurry. Let's hope they make good progress on that during the coming year. | <urn:uuid:5dfb925c-0302-4704-8b73-9c828d4acb87> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://advertiser-tribune.com/page/content.detail/id/543030/Plan-is-late--but-needs-to-be-right.html?nav=5006 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368708766848/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516125246-00001-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.983807 | 335 | 1.773438 | 2 |
The effect of social networks on the way companies approach their business is undeniable. Some even go a step further, creating their own internal social networks to help enhance communications within their own organizations. However, for it to function best, the proper policies that govern its use should be developed.
With the waves created by social networking in how companies do business nowadays, many have also utilized the same principle to develop internal social networks to enhance their in-house communications as well. However, the use of this new medium of communication also requires that companies develop new policies to cover its use.
One concern that may leave you apprehensive about creating an internal social network might be the fear that it could be abused by employees. However, reports have shown that introducing an in-house social network has produced generally positive results.
As long as company policies regarding the use of internal social networks are developed and implemented properly, employees will view such a network as an extension of the workplace, and will try to put their best foot forward. Such policies must specifically tackle the use of the internal social network, and many experts recommend revising existing company rules that govern the use of email, IT resources, and even external social networks. To be on the safe side, it's a good idea to consult with a lawyer to avoid any legal problems with the policy in the future.
Who's going to be in charge? Your managers, of course. Since the social network will be for company use, it follows that department heads should be given administrative duties and permissions which they will use for moderating communications and discussions in and pertaining do their respective sections.
While an internal social network can do wonders for your in-house communications, good policies and rules pertaining to its use will be what keep it working like a well-oiled machine. | <urn:uuid:9131663d-0d48-4150-853a-d7d4df74bb9e> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.valleytechlogic.com/category/internet-social-networking-and-reputation-management/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368711005985/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516133005-00001-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.960273 | 363 | 1.828125 | 2 |
The University of North Carolina Diagnostic Radiology residency training program at UNC Hospitals is fully accredited by the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education (ACGME). The Residency Program Director is Dr. Robert Dixon. The program is a four-year training experience, leading to board eligibility in Diagnostic Radiology, and is in accordance with the training requirements of the American Board of Radiology.
The program requires an internship prior to entry. BLS and ACLS certification are required. Eight radiology residency positions are available each year. The curriculum is based on rotation blocks. Each rotation consists of a four-week concentration in one of the subspecialty areas of radiology. There are 13 four-week blocks per year. At the end of each rotation, the resident is evaluated by the faculty and obtains feedback on his/her performance in that area.
Goals & Programs by Year
The primary goal of the UNC Department of Radiology is to deliver quality patient care. We strive to provide compassionate, appropriate, and effective care, and we demand professionalism from residents, faculty, and ancillary staff alike. With this in mind, the Department of Radiology provides services to a diverse patient population at an 800-bed hospital 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. Over 400,000 imaging studies are performed annually.
As patient care is one of the best settings for learning, UNC residents have a significant amount of interaction with the patient population as well as supervised review of radiographic studies by attending staff. In addition to the core radiology attending staff, there is a full-time staff of medical physicists, epidemiologists and computer technologists who provide resident teaching throughout their tenure at UNC. Resident teaching and resident conferences are a high priority.
Radiology residents participate in teaching by giving lectures to medical students beginning in the second year of residency. Each radiologist must be a team player, and the UNC program strives to develop these personal qualities within its residents.
Aside from clinical responsibilities and teaching, research is an important aspect of the UNC curriculum. A variety of opportunities are available to the residents throughout the Department. Research opportunities can be found in every major area with supervision from attending physicians and support staff.
It is the hope of the Department that at the conclusion of four years of training, the resident will be a well-rounded radiologist who is well versed in all aspects of radiology, from plain-film interpretation to performance of cutting-edge interventional procedures.
The first-year resident spends most of his or her time learning the basic disciplines of radiology across the majority of the sub-specialties, including chest, GI/GU, vascular/interventional, pediatrics, musculoskeletal, mammography, nuclear medicine, neuroradiology, ultrasound and abdominal-pelvic CT. In addition to the rotation schedule, the first-year resident gains experience initially by observing other residents perform during case-oriented noon conferences, and later by participating in and preparing conferences.
The second year of residency expands on the fundamentals learned during the first year with reinforcement of the fundamentals and expansion into additional areas including abdominal-pelvic, MRI, emergency radiology and cardiovascular imaging. Added responsibility is also given in the area of medical student lectures, faculty/staff presentations and resident conferences. A protected, two-week research block intended for involvement in scholarly activity starts in Year 2 and extends to another two-week block in Year 3.
In the third year, residents are given the opportunity to work with other departments by rotating through obstetrical and peripheral vascular ultrasound. They also receive additional training in cardiovascular imaging. During the third year, residents attend the American College of Radiology (ACR) - facilitated by the American Institute for Radiologic Pathology (formerly held at the Armed Forces Institute of Pathology) for a unique four-week experience which covers the "radiologic presentation of a broad range of disease and their pathological basis from all organ systems and imaging modalities."
With the ABR's new "Core Exam" held during the end of the third year, the focus of the fourth year will be directed toward refining clinical knowledge. The curriculum has been reconstructed to allow for "mini-fellowships," allowing residents to focus their education on one (or two) disciplines for up to 6 months. At the conclusion of the fourth year, the resident will have met all of the requirements necessary to become board eligible in the field of radiology.
Below is a summary of our new curriculum.
A Word About Call
Prior to beginning call, each first-year resident participates in a series of "training" call nights where they work with a second-year resident to learn what call entails and to gain some experience in the on-call environment. In addition, there is a formal pre-call lecture series designed to further hone and review important skills before beginning call. Once call officially starts, the second-year residents cover the in-house junior call in two-week rotations. During this two-week period, they function as a "night float," and are released from their daytime clinical duties.
The resident call responsibilities are divided into two call pools, lower level and upper level. The lower level call resident has responsibilities limited to emergency studies generated from inpatients and the emergency room. These studies include conventional radiographs, CT, and basic ultrasound. An upper-level call resident is in-house for backup consultation.
The upper-level call resident begins taking call at the beginning of the third year. The call is taken in-house on a nightly rotating basis among the third- and fourth-year residents. Call responsibilities include all emergent interventional studies, nuclear medicine, fluoroscopy, inpatient body CT until 1:00 a.m, ultrasound, MRI, and backup for the lower level call resident. After morning signout (~8AM), the upper level call resident is off duty for the remainder of the day.
Residency Benefits 2012 - 2013
PGY1: -- $46,984PGY2 (R1) -- $48,622
PGY3 (R2) -- $50,203
PGY4 (R3) -- $51,306
PGY5 (R4) -- $53,427
|MEETINGS:||Residents are excused from clinical services to attend approved educational meetings. Travel expenses for residents who present at approved conferences are reimbursed by the department. Designated residents will also be given days off to represent the department at the annual Association of University Radiologists (AUR) and Radiological Society of North America (RSNA) meetings. Select residents attend the North Carolina American College of Radiology (ACR) meeting at departmental expense. The allocation for meeting days is as follows: PGY-2: 0 days; PGY-3: 3 days; PGY-4: 5 days; PGY-5: 5 days.|
|SICK DAYS:||5 sick days per year|
MATERNITY AND PATERNITY LEAVE:
|Read all GME policies here.|
|FOREIGN GRADUATES:||Effective January 1, 2004, UNC Hospitals will accept residents who have been issued a J1 visa and who hold a current ECFMG Certificate. H1B visas are not sponsored at UNC Hospitals after December 31, 2003. | <urn:uuid:1f77d8b9-052d-4e0f-80cb-cf815364af7e> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.med.unc.edu/radiology/education-1/residency/diagnostic-residency-training-program | 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 | 0.945064 | 1,518 | 1.515625 | 2 |
WiiMote for Android
If you have followed the progress of Android phones and how they can be used for games, then you may already know a few emulators that are offered on the Android market now.
By using emulators to enjoy gaming systems such as NES, SNES, Game Boy, and Mega Advance games on your Android phone, it is like having constant access to an archive full of retro games. You can easily shift back to the past if you want to.
But those with an Android phone and do not have a physical keyboard, as what happens to Nexus One owners, it may be harder to play games using the phone. Even if multi-touch displays can still be used during intuitive navigation and game interaction, they do not help at all in improving your accuracy while you are playing the game.
However, coder Ryan Frawley can resolve this issue. Wii Controller IME can
connect your phone to a Nintendo Wii Remote via Bluetooth, which you can use
while playing the game. This can give you superior control then.
Nintendo Wii Remotes and Wii Keyboard.
Here are some steps involved in this action:
Step 1: Find a Wii Remote.
This is the main requirement for you to access the Wii Controller IME for your Android games, but it wouldn’t be hard for you to find since Wii is quite popular these days. Just borrow some from your home or from friends to try it out.
Step 2: Download the application.
Look for “Wii Controller IME” on Android Market. The application Ryan made only costs $3.99 or £2.70, which is not that expensive.
However, the application does not work on phones that use sense UI from HTC.
Step 3: Do the setup.
After installing the application, you still need to configure something before the app would work. First, go to your Language & Keyboard settings menu to start using the app. This is quite easy to do though because of the link to Wii Controller IME, which leads you right to the said menu. Check the right box as pictured above and then return to app.
Step 4: Activate the Wii Remote Control.
Ask the phone to switch to using the Wii controller as your source of input. Tap on “Select Input Method” menu and you will see two options, as seen above, being Android keyboard or the Wii controller. Just tick on Wii Controller.
After playing the games, remember to do the same thing to go back to your normal Android keyboard to allow you to type using your phone.
Step 5: Connect now.
To make the connection, press 1 and 2 on your Wii remote. This allows the device to go into “Search” mode and establish connections with devices around it having their Bluetooth on. However, stay away from your Wii console to avoid connecting to that device instead.
After the “search” mode, press “Connect Controllers” option that you find in the Wii Controller IME menu. Wait until the dialogue box saying that it is still currently searching, until a connection between the remote and Android phone will be connected.
Step 6: Start playing the game now.
Exit the application and start on your emulator. In this example, we decided to use Gensoid from Yongzh, but there are many other emulators that are also compatible with Bluetooth input.
Step 7: Activate input support on Android.
Yongzh’s are not always readily compatible with Bluetooth support. You still need to check the “Use input method” option that you can find in the Settings menu.
Step 8: Let the Wii remote buttons map out on your Android phone.
Go to the Key mappings menu to check if no major problem has happened. For instance, your directional commands do not get all connected to the Wii Remote’s D-pad.
Step 9: Continue playing Android with Wii Remote.
Load the game and play as much as you want on your Android phone.
Now, the application can be used on devices with only three buttons max, because the Wii Remote is also very limited when it comes to buttons or keys. These difficulties may mean just how hard it is to use the SNESoid emulator. However, Ryan already developed Classic Controller.
Given that this application is available and you can use it with your Wii Classic Controller, which has a good D-pad and more buttons. This type of remote would allow you to enjoy more games from Android emulation. | <urn:uuid:ab3dc459-9aa8-4599-815b-dba6fc023ec6> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.androidemulator.com/WiiMote-for-Android-How-To.htm | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368708142388/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516124222-00024-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.935113 | 933 | 1.507813 | 2 |
Collaboration, customer service, and mobile communications top the list of trends important to state and local governments in 2013, according to results of a GovDelivery survey of more than 400 individuals in U.S. state, county and city government organizations.
Improvements to the three trends can help state and local governments fulfill their core missions more efficiently:
- Better collaboration increases efficiency.
- Better customer service through increased engagement with citizens and stakeholders results in organizations fulfilling their missions.
- Expanded use of mobile devices helps government organizations reduce their costs while enhancing productivity, collaboration, and customer service.
There is overlap in these trends. An initiative to better interact with citizens through text messaging, mobile-optimized websites with self-service options, and integrated digital communications can address all three objectives of improving customer service, supporting mobility and improving collaboration.
Survey respondents identified the top priorities from a list of potential trends including today’s hot topics, such as big data, cloud computing and cybersecurity. Respondents were asked to look at these trends through three filters:
- Trends taking center stage in 2013 (affecting their agencies and others)
- Trends directly affecting their own work
- Trends that their organizations were already addressing
While there are differences between state, county and city government responses, all levels of government shared the top three trends overall:
- Collaboration with other agencies and with citizens
- Citizen/customer service
- Mobility and bring your own device (BYOD)
Following is a brief summary of each top trend presented in a white paper about the survey that is available for download.
Collaboration is Critical
Collaboration tops the list in the trends taking center stage for most state and local agencies in 2013. The question was framed to include collaboration with other government organizations as well as citizens.
Social media use is increasing within the private sector so it comes as no surprise that citizens want to collaborate with their local governments on social media and other channels such as interacting with government organizations using their own devices.
Most of the surveyed individuals said that collaboration affected their jobs directly and that their agencies are already addressing this trend. Nevertheless, there is room for improvement, as reported in the white paper.
When asked if they use social media to find information that affects their own jobs and organizations, just over half of respondents said yes. Particularly in county governments, many respondents are not yet making use of social media for collaborative purposes.
In 2013, expect state and local government organizations to expand their use of digital technologies in support of collaboration:
- Supporting collaboration with other agencies and citizens through pervasive social media channels
- Cross-promoting programs and communications with other agencies through websites and digital technologies
- Using dedicated communities and channels for inter-agency collaboration.
Customer Service is a Top Priority
For state and city government respondents, the top trend identified as affecting their own jobs and as being addressed by government was citizen/customer service. For county governments, citizen/customer service ranked second behind collaboration.
City governments have made the greatest strides in using social media to share news and information from their organizations. This is positive, as communication with customers is the first critical stage of customer service for many organizations.
Email and text messaging are other important channels for improving service through communications. Letting citizens subscribe to the information they need helps government agencies communicate more effectively and thus, serve the public more effectively.
In 2013, expect broader adoption of both social media and other digital channels in support of customer service initiatives across all branches of government.
Embracing Mobile Government
Expanding the use of mobile devices and phones is a major concern for government organizations at all levels. Internally, many employees want to use their own devices to access applications and data. Externally, citizens and constituents are embracing mobile technologies and mobile applications at a rapid pace creating new opportunities for government agencies to engage with citizens.
Enabling mobile access to government systems provides an opportunity to engage citizens and improves productivity while reducing government coststo provision devices to employees and contractors.
The rapid growth in mobile adoption may be outpacing some government efforts. While about half of the survey respondents listed mobile/BYOD as a top trend, fewer said that their agencies are actually addressing the issue.
Getting a handle on mobile and personal devices is a top priority for state and local government organizations:
- Externally, government organizations need to find ways to engage with citizens and constituents on their mobile devices, whether on dedicated government mobile applications and mobile-optimized websites or through email and text messaging.
- Internally, government organizations need to develop policies around using personal devices and security protections for their most vital systems. Mobile devices and applications can help employees be more responsive and collaborative with their colleagues and others. As the demand for higher customer satisfaction grows in the public sector, so will the need for mobile devices.
Download the white paper for more details about the survey results. | <urn:uuid:7b018669-1a01-401c-8fe4-b8329052a785> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.govdelivery.com/blog/page/2/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368704132298/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516113532-00002-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.951195 | 1,003 | 1.804688 | 2 |
Yellowstone Club Community Foundation turns three
By Casey Schwartz, YCCF Executive Director
The Yellowstone Club Community Foundation was established three years ago with the goal of giving back to community, education and conservation. Today, the nonprofit is growing and evolving these goals, and is finding a niche in southwest Montana.
The foundation not only gives away hundreds of thousands of dollars, but also creates and leverages partnerships among the recipients to extend its financial reach and results.
At a set of meetings last fall, program directors spoke about their highest priority needs in the areas of children, family services and conservation. There, the foundation learned more about the organizations it serves and they learned more about each other.
As a result, our regional nonprofit community is growing. The Gallatin Valley Food Bank now provides food for Big Sky Youth Empowerment programs, and Thrive and Women In Action will launch a cooperative parent education program in the Big Sky School District next year. In fact, the assembled nonprofit directors requested YCCF host similar meetings twice a year.
The foundation now realizes that to make a difference with these nonprofits, we need to establish giving plans that guarantee income for two or three years in a row. This is long enough for the organizations to gain something significant and put in place programs like the Gallatin weekend food backpack program.
The meetings also underscored the need for increased understanding. For donors, it’s important to understand and see real outcomes, which is why the foundation has also supported MSU research studying hunger and the impact of the food bank.
With the foundation’s trajectory more focused than ever, we’re fielding requests and ideas from our active board and working with and growing our nonprofit network. Yellowstone Club staff members have been some of the best resources for knowing what needs to happen in the community, and we’ve increasingly heard ideas and requests from this group.“The foundation is truly living the ‘community’ in its name,” said YCCF Board President Sam Byrne. “This organization is supported by the community, to serve the community."[/dcs_p]
This story was originally published in the Summer 2012 edition of Mountain Outlaw magazine. Read more here. | <urn:uuid:699534fa-57df-45f5-ac56-76931f5fffd5> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.explorebigsky.com/newspost/yellowstone-club-community-foundation-turns-three | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368703682988/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516112802-00020-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.957102 | 454 | 1.5 | 2 |
The USNS oil, Henry J. Kaiser, set sail from Puget Sound recently with 900,000 gallons of biofuel blended with standard petroleum in its bunkers. So, what’s the difference between the new “green” fuel and the standard stuff? $2,016,000. That’s right. The standard fuel that has been used by our Navy to fuel its ships for the past 100 years currently costs about $3.60 per gallon as opposed to the new biofuels that cost $26 per gallon. This is madness and our country is being run by environmental fanatics. The Pentagon is now on a crusade to save the planet from the Global Warming Hoax ™ . President Romney must put an end to this lunacy as soon as possible after taking office. Green Fleet indeed! Our greenbacks being wasted on greeniac pipe dreams.
(Reuters) – A U.S. Navy oiler slipped away from a fuel depot on the Puget Sound in Washington state one recent day, headed toward the central Pacific and into the storm over the Pentagon’s controversial green fuels initiative.
In its tanks, the USNS Henry J. Kaiser carried nearly 900,000 gallons of biofuel blended with petroleum to power the cruisers, destroyers and fighter jets of what the Navy has taken to calling the “Great Green Fleet,” the first carrier strike group to be powered largely by alternative fuels.
Some Republican lawmakers have seized on the fuel’s $26-a-gallon price, compared to $3.60 for conventional fuel. They paint the program as a waste of precious funds at a time when the U.S. government’s budget remains severely strained, the Pentagon is facing cuts and energy companies are finding big quantities of oil and gas in the United States.
Navy Secretary Ray Mabus, the program’s biggest public booster, calls it vital for the military’s energy security.
But the initial small-batch cost of some biofuels has raised eyebrows on Capitol Hill, even among lawmakers used to dealing with billion-dollar defense cost overruns.
The Pentagon paid Solazyme Inc $8.5 million in 2009 for 20,055 gallons of biofuel based on algae oil, or $424 a gallon.
Solazyme’s strategic advisers, according to its website, include T.J. Glauthier, who served on Obama’s White House Transition team and dealt with energy issues, but also former CIA director R. James Woolsey, a conservative national security official.
For the Great Green Fleet demonstration, the Pentagon paid $12 million for 450,000 gallons of biofuel, nearly $27 a gallon. There were eight bidders for that contract, it said.
Read the entire article here: “Green Fleet” Sails, Meets Stiff Headwinds in Congress | <urn:uuid:d44ac08d-ee6f-41a5-899d-fb78123c41f1> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.theblogmocracy.com/2012/07/03/the-green-navy-sets-sail/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368696382584/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516092622-00020-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.94078 | 599 | 1.757813 | 2 |
I love our recent family vacation trip to Bohol and Cebu. Not only was it our family’s first vacation away from Luzon but it was my kid’s first time to ride on an airplane too! Overall, it was a good experience for all of us. Here is what we did in preparation for our first airplane ride.
I prepared my kids by telling them that there are a lot of waiting in the airports and inside the airplane.
We brought several books and things they could play with to avoid becoming bored and frustrated.
I brought some candies for my son to chew on to avoid ear problems while the airplane is ascending and descending.
Bring paper and pencils and ask your kids to draw what they see.
Don’t bring too much hand carry when you have kids with you.
Do you have any other airplane travel tips? Share them with us. | <urn:uuid:f149b714-5232-407d-bf26-1eb4e0805df0> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.familyandhomeliving.com/2012/02/airplane-travel-tips/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368704713110/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516114513-00009-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.975357 | 185 | 1.71875 | 2 |
Newly-minted $100 bills stolen but thieves can't spend them until 2013
- From: AP
- October 15, 2012
THE FBI is reporting an unusual heist of some newly designed $100 bills that aren't going into circulation until next year.
Agent Frank Burton Jr. says the cash was stolen from a plane that arrived at Philadelphia International Airport from Dallas late last week.
Investigators said these Benjamins (as in Benjamin Franklin, who appears on the $100 bill) are easy to spot.
The new bills have sophisticated elements to thwart counterfeiters, such as a disappearing Liberty Bell in an orange inkwell and a bright blue security ribbon.
The FBI said a "large amount" of bills were stolen, but agents aren't giving specifics.
The theft was reported by a courier service transporting the C-notes when the shipment arrived last Thursday afternoon at the Federal Reserve Building in East Rutherford, New Jersey.
Officials then discovered some of the money was missing.
FOLLOW LIVE: ESSENDON star Nathan Lovett-Murray is in hospital after being stabbed at his girlfriend's house in Reservoir last night.
FIRST child victim of Oklahoma's deadly tornado identified as rescuers say they are unlikely to find any more survivors.
AN ELDERLY woman whose home was flattened by the Oklahoma tornado was reunited with her dog as she was being interviewed live on television.
MICROSOFT redefines the games console war with launch of the Xbox One as a single device designed to control all your entertainment. | <urn:uuid:8844f0d8-af77-4f56-b905-89dba93fa308> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.adelaidenow.com.au/news/world/newly-minted-100-bills-stolen-but-thieves-cant-spend-them-until-2013/story-fnd11ay0-1226496194672?from=public_rss | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368700958435/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516104238-00003-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.972384 | 315 | 1.820313 | 2 |
The Supreme Court has ended years of legal uncertainty by ruling on what constitutes a house in the contest of leasehold enfranchisement.
The two joined appeals raised the question of whether a property used wholly for commercial purposes qualified as a ‘house’ under legislation governing the right to leasehold enfranchisement - the right of a lessee in certain circumstances to acquire the freehold of the building from the landlord.
The judicial panel of seven was unanimous in overturning a Court of Appeal (CoA) decision stating that the 2010 decision has unintended consequences.
“Lord Neuberger of Abbotsbury MR regretted this result,” Lord Carnwath said in the substantive ruling. “He saw it as the probably unintended consequence of amendments made by the Commonhold and Leasehold Reform Act 2002, removing the previous residence requirements.”
The ruling concluded: “A building wholly used for offices, whatever its original design or current appearance, is not a house reasonably so called. The fact that it was designed as a house, and is still described as a house for many purposes, including in architectural histories, is beside the point.”
The Howard de Walden Estates (HdeW) appeal was lead by Falcon Chanbers’ Jonathan Gaunt QC and Landmark Chambers’ Katharine Holland QC, instructed by Speechly Bircham partner Jeremy Hudson.
Instructed for the respondent in that appeal for Lexgorge was Falcon Chambers’ Anthony Radevsky, instructed by Wallace partner Simon Serota.
The joined appeal was led by Maitland Chambers’ Edwin Johnson QC, instructed by Pemberton Greenish partner Damien Greenish, for Day.
Responding to the joined appeal was Falcon Chambers’ Stephen Jourdan QC, instructed by Bircham Dyson Bell legal executive Bernard D’Monte, for Hosebay.
Hudson at Speechly Bircham said the ruling was of paramount importance.
“Had the appeal failed, HdeW were fearful that over time very many more of its freeholds would be lost through enfranchisement, threatening the very integrity of their estate,” he said. “This was a concern evidently shared by the other major estate landlords in central London as well as landowners further afield.
“However, it’s disappointing that the Supreme Court has passed up the opportunity to lay down a definitive test as to what is or is not a house within the scope of the 1967 act, so that there will inevitably be borderline cases troubling the courts in future years.”
The Day appeal related to three properties in Kensington that were originally built as houses but that at the relevant time had been converted into a self-catering hotel.
In both cases the County Court and the CoA had concluded that these were houses within the meaning of the 1967 act. The Supreme Court disagreed.
In its view, the primary meaning of ‘house’ is a single residence, adding that the act “is about houses as places to live in, not about houses as pieces of architecture, or features in a street scene, or names in an address book”. Therefore, in the court’s view none of the buildings involved in these two appeals could reasonably be called a house. | <urn:uuid:aacd27f7-cdfa-48aa-9d8f-ed5760d86fbd> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.thelawyer.com/supreme-court-reverses-coa-ruling-on-the-legal-definition-of-a-house/1014848.article | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368702810651/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516111330-00002-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.976379 | 687 | 1.671875 | 2 |
As Iraq votes, U.S. content to keep its distance
Sunday, March 7, 2010
As Obama administration officials tried in recent weeks to anticipate what could go wrong in Sunday's elections in Iraq, they realized with some relief that they are largely powerless to control what happens.
In twice-daily meetings leading up to the vote and in a final preelection videoconference Thursday with the U.S. ambassador and military commander on the ground, officials contemplated the possibilities. Violence, intimidation or fraud might limit turnout or mar the legitimacy of the vote. Post-election political jockeying could delay the formation of a government for months and leave a dangerous power vacuum. Iran could create mischief, or worse.
But beneath the last-minute activity in Washington, officials have recognized that the electoral contest and its aftermath are in the hands of the Iraqis. Nearly seven years after U.S.-led troops took over Iraq, the administration appears content with its changing role there.
Committed to halving the contingent of nearly 100,000 U.S. troops in Iraq by summer's end as he escalates a red-hot war in Afghanistan, President Obama has set a high bar for intervening -- or even acknowledging serious concern about the future.
In a briefing at the White House last week, senior advisers who spoke on the condition of anonymity hammered home two messages: "We can't and we will not tell them how to conduct their affairs," an official said of the Iraqis. "That's up to them." In addition, he said, "we see nothing that would divert us from the track we're on . . . to end the combat mission in August," even in the face of sectarian violence.
Iraq's last national elections, in December 2005, took place under U.S. occupation; political discord and a five-month delay in forming a government led to an explosion of sectarian violence and a surge in American troop levels that then-Sens. Barack Obama and Joseph R. Biden Jr. opposed. Two years later, the George W. Bush administration began negotiations with the government of Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki on agreements to gradually withdraw all U.S. forces and establish a long-term strategic relationship.
The pullout agreements -- including a July 2009 deadline for turning urban security over to the Iraqi military and the departure of all U.S. military forces by December 2011 -- were signed two months before Obama's inauguration. In one of his first major foreign policy decisions, Obama inserted an interim withdrawal date, pledging to remove all designated U.S. "combat" forces by August this year, with 50,000 troops remaining to carry out training, diplomatic security and select counterinsurgency missions with Iraqi counterparts for 16 months.
Democrats and Republicans alike have a vested interest in declaring today's Iraq a democratic success unprecedented in the region and claiming credit for it. "This could be one of the great achievements of this administration," Vice President Biden, Obama's designated point man in Iraq, said last month. "You're going to see a stable government in Iraq that is actually moving toward a representative government."
Former vice president Richard B. Cheney took issue with Biden's assertion, calling it "a little strange" because both Biden and Obama had opposed the troop surge. Any credit to Obama, Cheney said, "ought to go with a healthy dose of 'Thank you, George Bush.' "
Biden, who had the last word against Cheney in dueling, mid-February talk-show appearances, accused the Bush administration of leaving a "mess" in Iraq. The U.S. military may have succeeded in "settling things down," he said, but it was the Obama administration that developed a plan to guide the Iraqis toward true democracy.
In four trips there as vice president, Biden said, "I have met with every single solitary one of the players in Iraq -- Sunni, Shiite, Kurd, Christian. And we have been able to be a catalyst for them, moving . . . from the battlefield to the political arena" to settle their differences.
Although some U.S. officials, including Gen. Ray Odierno, the military commander in Iraq, have voiced concern about what they call Iranian dirty tricks and politically motivated violence, the dominant attitude has been laid-back: "That's just Iraq." | <urn:uuid:83d2ea96-b4fb-44dc-8d83-943c9f32b934> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/03/06/AR2010030602538.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368696381249/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516092621-00002-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.966598 | 884 | 1.734375 | 2 |
March - May
Phoenix basks in sunshine more often than any other major metropolitan area in the U.S.—during 85 percent of its daylight hours—and the weather in spring is consistently perfect. Daytime temperatures flirt with 80 degrees (sometimes 90), while evenings are comfortably cool. April sometimes passes without a drop of rain. The weather attracts spring vacationers in search of poolside bliss or tee-box nirvana, and baseball fans flock to stadiums across the metro area for spring training. This is when hotel and resort rates are highest, and occupancy is at its peak. To get the accommodations you want, book at least a month ahead.
June - August
It’s a "dry heat.” That’s the well-worn cliché about Phoenix’s summer weather, and it’s not untrue. A 100-degree day in the desert actually feels more tolerable than a humid 85-degree day in, say, Memphis. Still, when the mercury creeps past 110 degrees, there's no rationalizing the intensity of a Phoenix summer. Innocuous things like car steering wheels and metal door handles suddenly become instruments of torture. The upside: Prices at resorts, hotels and golf courses plunge as much as 30 percent. Some resorts offer rooms as low as $89. Just be wary of add-ons such as “resort fees” and parking charges, which can quickly transform such a steal into a $140-a-night surprise.
September - February
Early autumn in Phoenix can be quite warm, and high temperatures have been known to eclipse 80 degrees on Christmas Day. But, for the most part, fall and winter are sunny and exceedingly pleasant. It’s a great time for outdoor pursuits, off-season sunbathing and serious shopping. Seasonal visitors from Canada and the Midwest—“snowbirds”—flock into Phoenix throughout the winter, but they mostly nest in houses or condos and don’t take up too many hotel rooms. Rates don’t drop much during the shoulder season, especially during January and February, when big events such as college football’s Fiesta Bowl, the Rock ’n’ Roll Marathon, the Phoenix Open PGA tournament and the Scottsdale Arabian Horse Show take place. If you plan to visit during this time, book accommodations at least a month ahead. | <urn:uuid:25cb6e93-0601-44e4-bf22-202184eedab1> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://travel.aol.com/travel-guide/united-states/arizona/phoenix-best-time-to-visit/ | 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 | 0.937791 | 488 | 1.554688 | 2 |
Fighting an "Invisible Force"
January 31, 2009
"Who and what is in a position to overthrow an invisible force? And this is precisely what our force is." (Protocols of Zion, IV)
Roger, an "angry American," "patriot" and "fighter," writes that he is in touch with many men who want to do something but don't know what. Do I have any ideas?
Roger is like the man who asked how much does the yacht cost and was told, "If you have to ask, you can't afford it."
Individuals must take the initiative. That's what the enemy is most afraid of.
"There is nothing more dangerous than personal initiative if it has genius behind it. We must so direct the education of communities of the goyim that whenever they come upon a matter requiring personal initiative they may drop their hands in despair." (Protocols of Zion V.)
We must learn to think and act as individuals again. People only do what they "own" i.e. conceive themselves (unless they are paid or propagandized by paid agents.)
"THE ENEMY IS US"
In any conflict, it is necessary to understand who the enemy is. As Pogo said, "The enemy is us."
The enemy has so permeated the social fabric that society is complicit in its own destruction. Let me explain:
Every day we hear about governments "borrowing" billions in order to stimulate the economy. Do we ever hear who is lending us this money, and where it is coming from? You'd think that would be pertinent.
This "money" is created out of nothing by the Rothschilds and their henchmen in the central banking cartel. This is something our governments could do themselves. Then we would not become debt slaves of the Rothschilds and they would not need a totalitarian New World Order to collect this "debt."
The Protocols of Zion marveled at how stupid gentiles are: "How clear is the undeveloped power of thought of the purely brute brains of the goyim in the fact that they have been borrowing from us...without ever thinking that these moneys [plus interest] must be got by them from their own state pockets in order to settle up with us. What could have been more simple than to take the money they wanted from their own people?" (XX)
You won't hear about this in the mass media but occasionally something will pop up in the Comment sections. This observation by a "Nick Rothschild" appeared recently on Marketwatch.com
"Hate to tell you guys, but all these "currencies" are the smoke screen. We get you to focus on the money while the real "currency" is the debt and the fact that we have enslaved all generations in the future to the servicing thereof... Those who control the debt, we Rothschilds, will never have to work AS LONG AS YOU CONTINUE TO BELIEVE IN THE MONEY. IT IS NOT THE MONEY THAT YOU SHOULD FOCUS ON .... IT'S THE DEBT, STUPID!"
"LEADERS" = ACCOMPLICES IN THE SYSTEM
We don't hear about this because everyone in a position of influence has a stake in the Rothschild's fraud. Organized Jewry and Freemasonry are the most prominent stakeholders but it includes every government, religion, corporation or organization of significance. Take universities for example. People find the money like ants find jam.
In an infamous letter to New York agents in 1863, Rothschild banker John Sherman wrote: "The few who can understand the system will be either so interested in its profits, or so dependent on its favors, that there will be no opposition from that class, while, on the other hand, that great body of people, mentally incapable of comprehending the tremendous advantage that Capital derives from the system, will bear its burden without complaint and, perhaps, without even suspecting that the system is inimical to their interests."
In other words, our civilization is leaderless and committed to its own destruction. This is portrayed as "progress" (which it is for the Illuminati.)
If anyone speaks out, he is accused of "anti-Semitism" and ostracized. This is a devious but effective strategy to dismiss a mortal threat as mere racial prejudice. Proof of the "brute brains of the goyim" is that they fall for this ruse. They won't even read the Illuminati Jewish blueprint, the Protocols of Zion, because it is "anti-Semitic."
In fact, it is a hate-filled anti-human blueprint for world government tyranny inspired by the Talmud. The USSR was a direct outcome of this document. Although it is the secret plan of a tiny cabal, it has put all Jews in jeopardy.
Society is being led like lemmings over a cliff. We only believe what the banking cartel and its minions tell us. Again, it's in "The Protocols": The masses are "accustomed to listen to us only who pay it for obedience and attention. In this way, we shall create a blind mighty force which will never be in a position to move in any direction without the guidance of our agents...The people will submit to this regime because it will know that upon these leaders will depend its earnings, gratification and the receipt of all kinds of benefits." ("Protocols of Zion" X)
In the movie "The Matrix," Morpheus says the same thing:
"The Matrix is a system, Neo, and that system is our enemy. When you are inside, you look around, what do you see? Businessmen, teachers, lawyers, carpenters, the very minds of the people we are trying to save. But until we do, these people are part of that system and that makes them our enemies. You have to understand most of these people are not ready to be unplugged. And many are so...hopelessly dependent on the system that they will fight to protect it."
END THE FRAUD
Thus, our problem is systemic and can't be solved while our political and cultural leaders are creatures of the system. Our focus must be on changing the system, i.e. nationalizing the Fed and renouncing that portion of the debt created out of thin air. Any person, politician or pundit who disagrees is part of the system.
The system provided widespread prosperity in order to consolidate its power. Now, it's moving to the next stage: absorbing all wealth and enslaving the masses (under the pretext of the credit crisis and war on terror.) It may look like the State owns all the banks and all the property, but the State today is merely a surrogate for the central bankers (i.e. Rothschilds etc.)
As I have said, the arc of Western Civilization has been from worship of God (rise) to worship of Satan (decline.) It's been downhill since the Luciferian "Enlightenment," the beginning of which corresponds roughly with the English Revolution (1650) and the formation of the Bank of England in 1694. The Rothschilds and their cabalistic lackeys are Luciferians or Satanists. They recognize the existence of God but rebel against His natural and spiritual order by reversing Good and Evil. They wish to be God and redefine human reality in terms of their own perverse agenda. They are using their credit monopoly to enslave mankind to Satan.
The Achilles's heel of the system is its dependence on unwitting agents and dupes. Our role now is to educate these dupes and detach them from Illuminati ranks. As things get worse, more of them will become disillusioned and look for explanations.
Any mass organization we set up up will be infiltrated and subverted. Thus, we must form myriad informal groups to spread the message and resist in many different ways. We should support each other and eschew internecine feuds by focusing on what we have in common.
One 78-year-old pensioner has bought 50 copies of my book, Illuminati, at cost and has given them away to friends and influential people. This is a small example of personal initiative and self-sacrifice.
Thanks for quotations suggested by Philip Jones, Lynda and Ivan.
Related: Dennis Kucinich Discusses Taking Over the Fed
Comments for "Fighting an "Invisible Force""
Henry Makow received his Ph.D. in English Literature from the University of Toronto in 1982. He welcomes your comments at | <urn:uuid:285f6932-acef-4104-8e0e-57848af70b7d> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.henrymakow.com/fighting_an_invisible_force.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368707435344/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516123035-00038-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.964508 | 1,751 | 1.71875 | 2 |
updated 03:00 am EDT, Wed April 18, 2012
Now under 100,000 units, falling fast
The Java-exploiting malware OSX.Flashback.K variant has ceased to be a meaningful threat to Mac owners, and the number of infected Macs has dropped to one-sixth its high point in just over a week, reports utility vendor Symantec. The malware, which was the most successful attack thus far in the Mac world due to a slow updating of Java, was never much of an actual security threat but did manage to reach around one percent of installed base, a record for malware penetration.
A number of factors have played a role in reversing the malware's course, primarily some quick action from Apple once the Trojan's infection rate began to rapidly increase. In part, however, Apple's lethargy in pushing out an update to Java (Oracle had corrected the flaw about six weeks earlier) is at least partially why the malware was so successful in the first place.
Still, the company was finally roused to become aggressive about the problem, and quickly posted three slightly-revised updates to Java as well as its own detection and removal tool, including a version for Lion users who hadn't installed Java. It also went after servers that the malware was attempting to reach, asking authorities for help in shutting down suspect servers.
Symantec says that the number of still-infected Macs is estimated to be under 100,000, which it measures through attempts to contact the disabled command-and-control servers that had hoped to employ exploited Macs in a "botnet" to search for identity information and send it to external sources. The servers were very quickly identified and disabled thanks to early efforts by authorities and anti-virus companies who have experience dealing with previous Flashback variants.
The vulnerabilities that were exploited by Flashback have now also been seen in Microsoft Word documents and a new variation of the Flashback exploit called Sabpab, but these are considered to be extremely minor and diminishing threats. The primary danger is from older Macs still in service that cannot update to the latest versions of Java. Users of those OS X versions are recommended to disable Java entirely. | <urn:uuid:d6a5f2d8-fd52-4de1-b30b-eb898c43b34b> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.macnn.com/articles/12/04/18/now.under.100000.units.falling.fast/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368704392896/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516113952-00030-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.974528 | 449 | 1.742188 | 2 |
The Muslim Brotherhood
declared early Monday that its candidate, Mohammed Morsi,
won Egypt's presidential election,
which would be the first victory of an Islamist as head of state in the stunning wave of protests demanding democracy that swept the Middle East the past year.
But the military handed itself the lion's share power over the new president, sharpening the possibility of confrontation.
With parliament dissolved and martial law effectively in force, the generals made themselves Egypt's
lawmakers, gave themselves control over the budget and will determine who writes the permanent constitution that will define the country's future.
But as they claimed victory over Hosni Mubarak's
last Prime Minister Ahmed Shafiq after a deeply polarizing election, the Brotherhood challenged the military's power grab. The group insisted on Sunday that it did not recognize the dissolution of parliament or the military's interim constitution – or its right to oversee the drafting of a new one.
That pointed to a potential struggle over spheres of authority between Egypt's two strongest forces. The Brotherhood has campaigned on a platform of bringing Egypt closer to a form of Islamic rule, but the military's grip puts it in a position to block that. Instead any conflict would likely center on more basic questions of power.
In a victory speech at his campaign headquarters, Morsi clearly sought to assuage the fears of the large sector of Egyptians that the Brotherhood will try to impose stricter provisions of Islamic law. He said he seeks "stability, love and brotherhood for the Egyptian civil, national, democratic, constitutional and modern state" and made no mention of Islamic law.
"Thank God who led successfully us to this blessed revolution. Thank God who guided the people of Egypt to this correct path, the road of freedom, democracy," the bearded, 60-year-old US-educated engineer declared.
He vowed to all Egyptians, "men, women, mothers, sisters, laborers, students ... all its political factions, the Muslims, the Christians" to be "a servant for all of them."
"We are not about taking revenge or settling scores. We are all brothers of this nation, we own it together, and we are equal in rights and duties."
Final official results are not expected until Thursday. The Brotherhood's declaration was based on results announced by election officials at individual counting centers, where each campaign has representatives who compile the numbers and make them public before the formal announcement.
The Brotherhood's early, partial counts proved generally accurate in last month's first round vote.
The group said Morsi took 51.8% of the vote to Shafiq's 48% out of 24.6 million votes cast, with 98% of the more than 13,000 poll centers counted. | <urn:uuid:655a8a7c-7aff-453f-8fec-7f66e1860188> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4243715,00.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368703682988/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516112802-00003-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.953045 | 551 | 1.617188 | 2 |
The announcement that Rem Koolhaas would be the keynote speaker for the “Ecological Urbanism” conference at the Harvard Graduate School of Design (GSD), which took place over three days last weekend, raised eyebrows, especially among sustainability-minded architects, landscape architects, and planners. Koolhaas had never shown any particular interest in the subject, and the fire at his TVCC Tower in Beijing was interpreted by many as a symbol of an era that had come to an end, ushering in more sustainable and responsible practices.
Those of us who admire and respect his projects, but also believe that our profession needs to go green to adapt to the 21st century, were hoping his speech would redeem his formerly blasé attitude toward sustainability and provide some clarification of why this seemingly odd choice for a keynote was made. No such luck. Despite the disappointing keynote speech, charged with needless attacks against talented colleagues, including Renzo Piano and Norman Foster, and no definitive resolution as to what Ecological Urbanism is or should be, the conference added provocative ideas to the discourse on sustainable architecture and planning. Along with the usual urban farms, solar panels, wind farms, and bioswales, there were innovative proposals that advocated for changes in technological and programmatic aspects of the profession, from Mitchell Joachim’s radical houses made of meat and compact electric transportation systems presented by MIT’s William Mitchell to proposals for highrise cemeteries and prisons in the middle of Manhattan by Spanish architect Inaki Abalos.
Probably one of the most enlightening talks, stripped from the glamour of sci-fi technologies or sexy images, was the breakout session on informal cities in Latin America led by Christian Werthmann, Associate Professor and Program Director at the Department of Landscape Architecture at the GSD. He conducts what he calls “dirty work,” a research initiative on upgrading informal cities. Despite the region’s slowing growth rate, lessons can be learned from the formation of favelas, barrios, or shantytowns. “The world has entered the urban millennium. Half the world’s people now live in cities and towns. That in itself marks a historic transition,” said then UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan, according to a 2005 UN-Habitat report. “But what will happen over the next 30 years is just as significant. According to United Nations projections, virtually all of the world’s population growth will occur in the urban areas of low- and middle-income countries. How we manage that growth will go a long way toward influencing the world’s future peace and prosperity.”
Werthmann told AN: “There are two fields of operation regarding informal settlements. One is to retrofit existing informal cities, and the other is how do you control or guide the future of informal cities.” In Latin America, there are examples like Brazil, where the government provides informal cities with communal infrastructure: water, electricity, health, sewage, and roads. But there are no comprehensive strategies. Other approaches involve community endeavors and grassroots movements. But how can cities prepare for this to create healthier communities? “That is a harder task. Nobody wants to give away their own land so people can build on it,” he said.
Favelas and slums have received a lot of attention in movies like City of God and Slumdog Millionaire, in which they are depicted as unsanitary and dangerous places. But there is more to them than violence and disease. Interestingly enough slums have many of the qualities that make thriving cities frequently promoted by urban planners: They are pedestrian-friendly, high-density, mixed-use, and made of recycled materials, usually debris from adjacent formal cities. “American and European cities could learn from these informal settlements as an example for low-rise, high-density development. They have an intensive street life, the public space is not much but well used, as opposed to the suburban model, which is completely inefficient,” Werthmann said. “There is a need for an in-between model, that is not the highrise of Manhattan or Sao Paulo.”
The overall sentiment of the conference was that urban living is the most sustainable way to live, so it was interesting that the counterpart of retrofitting shantytowns—fixing suburbia—didn’t come up. It would have been nice to see more ideas like that and less of distant, zero-carbon cities for a privileged few, like Foster’s Masdar project in Abu Dhabi.
8 Responses to “Koolhaas Flames Out, Shantytowns Inform”
Post new comment | <urn:uuid:1403c41e-2061-4c93-8828-e1fbf8abdfcf> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://blog.archpaper.com/wordpress/archives/2100/comment-page-1 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368703682988/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516112802-00018-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.962391 | 974 | 1.835938 | 2 |
CommunityWe're proud to be Chattanooga's University! Our city's renaissance has received international attention, and we're just getting started.
The University is located only a few blocks from the urban area of Chattanooga, a city that is both highly industrial and rich in natural beauty. Claiming more than 600 industries, Chattanooga lies at the foot of Lookout and Signal Mountains where the Tennessee River forms Moccasin Bend. These sites possess historical significance as well as beauty in a city steeped in the heritage of the Civil War.
The cultural environment of Chattanooga is enhanced by contributions from the University and the many civic organizations that support the arts through dramatic productions, concerts, and art exhibits. Ten city parks, seven public golf courses, and a 35,400 acre lake provide a variety of recreational activities.
With a population of about 162,170 in a metropolitan statistical area of over 466,647, Chattanooga is easily accessible from all parts of the nation by air and bus.
Other local business can be found via Campus Area Yellow Pages.
- Our City | <urn:uuid:36b805cb-bd71-4b3c-a378-92f761307753> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.utc.edu/chattanooga.php | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368705559639/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516115919-00042-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.940533 | 213 | 1.796875 | 2 |
For the dough:
Combine the yeast, sugar, and milk in the bowl of a heavy-duty mixer
fitted with a dough hook. Add 1/2 cup of the flour. Stir well, cover with a towel, and let rest in a warm place for 25 minutes.
Mix in the olive oil, salt, and 1 cup of flour, until well incorporated. Add the remaining flour, 1/4 cup at a time, until the dough adheres to the hook. It should remain soft and slightly sticky. Continue mixing for about 6 minutes, or until the dough is smooth and elastic.
Remove from the bowl, shape the dough into a ball, flatten slightly, and put into an oiled bowl. Turn to coat. Cover the bowl with a towel and put in a warm place for about 1 hour, to let the dough rise until doubled.
For the topping:
Heat the olive oil in a skillet over medium heat. Add the pancetta and cook slowly until very crisp
. Remove to paper towels to drain
. Reserve the pancetta and fat separately.
Put the potatoes in cold salted water, cover, and bring to a boil. Cook about 8 minutes, or until tender. Drain well and place in a bowl.
Pour the pancetta fat over the warm potatoes, add the crisped pancetta, 1 teaspoon of the rosemary, salt and pepper to taste, and the lemon zest. Toss well and set aside.
Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F. Oil a baking sheet.
Lightly flour the dough
it down. Turn it out onto a lightly floured surface and knead
lightly until smooth. Roll out the dough into a rectangle about 12 by 10 inches. Brush off any excess flour and transfer to the oiled baking sheet. Brush the dough with olive oil and leave to rise for 30 minutes.
Sprinkle the potato mixture onto the dough and press it in with the flat of your hand. Press your fingers into the dough to make evenly spaced indentations all over the surface, being careful not to puncture or tear the dough. Scatter the remaining rosemary over the dough.
Bake for about 25 minutes, until the potatoes are golden brown and the bread is crisp on the bottom. Let cool in the pan to room temperature. Cut into squares, "fingers," or triangles to serve. | <urn:uuid:ea26aff1-ba1d-457a-97e1-b818b9ef414d> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.cookingchanneltv.com/recipes/michael-chiarello/potato-focaccia.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368704713110/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516114513-00029-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.930275 | 488 | 1.507813 | 2 |
Patriots and Politics
The Hiller Instinct: Patriots and Politics
After watching the playoffs this weekend, I wish politicians had to play by the same rules as the Patriots...
The biggest difference between the Pats and the pols is that--in the NFL--the game ends.
But, in Washington , the game never ends: one fiscal cliff only leads to another. And if it even looks like politicians are getting ready to make a tough call, there's always a filibuster that can delay the game.
Another big difference: in the NFL, you always know who won the game; but, in Washington, you can't be sure.
Washington's two political teams--the Democrats and the Republicans--claim victory no matter what legislation is passed, and each calls the other "losers."
Since neither side ever admits a loss, no one really knows who's winning or losing.
In football, referees make sure the teams play by the rules.
But, in Washington, there are no referees to keep the political game honest.
Instead there are advocates, lobbyists and strategists all working to get laws and rules changed in their favor.
So it's no mistake the New England Patriots have our respect... While our patriots in Washington usually don't. Patriot games have more integrity than political games. | <urn:uuid:b4735602-23ba-4899-9913-f3dd7d6ec2fd> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www1.whdh.com/features/articles/hiller/BO149536/patriots-and-politics/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368709037764/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516125717-00010-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.957633 | 268 | 1.773438 | 2 |
George Bush decided not to change the number of troops holding down our occupation of Iraq for the remainder of his time in office. Like the courageous visionary he is, he’s leaving the decision to the next President.
The Colorado Oil and Gas Conservation Commission staff recommended the elimination of the proposed 90-days drilling restriction in some wildlife areas. Imagine if instead of spending millions on lobbying, fuel corporations spent that money on developing new technologies. Imagine if their actions were responsible and moral.
Why won’t John McCain sign the GI Bill? Must be that mavericky thing the corporate media crows so much about.
Sarah Palin billed taxpayers to stay in her own home. $16,951 by herself; $43,490 for her husband (the secessionist) and daughters. Fiscal conservatism in action.
Sarah Palin’s Alaska is a welfare state. In 2005 (the most recent figures), according to the Tax Foundation, Alaska ranked 18th in federal taxes paid per resident ($5,434) but first in federal spending received per resident ($13,950). Where does all that money come from to spend on each resident? The rest of the country’s taxpayers. Leeches! The last paragraph sums up the situation very nicely (emphasis in bold is mine):
Why is a windfall-profits tax good for Alaska but not for the U.S.? Well, it’s obvious, isn’t it? People in Alaska are better than people in the rest of the U.S. They’re more American. Although there are small towns and farms and high school hockey teams in the lower 48, there are fewer down here, per capita, than in Alaska. And there are many more journalists and pollsters and city dwellers [and community organizers] and other undesirables who might benefit if every American had the same right to leech off the government as do the good citizens of Sarah Palin’s Alaska. | <urn:uuid:5292a831-214c-4979-a48d-7c148830de9f> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://weatherdem.wordpress.com/tag/bravenewfilms/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368699273641/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516101433-00033-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.950262 | 400 | 1.554688 | 2 |
Hyper-local Community News Site n0tice Launches
n0tice.com, which recently launched following a beta testing period, is a hyper-local community noticeboard which started as a project incubated by the Guardian Media Group. The service allows its members to record events, post offers, and share news and images with fellow members relating to their local area.
Members of the service can operate their own noticeboard, which includes analytics (with revenue generation) and a unique URL. Custom noticeboards can be themed and configured to include name, tagline, Facebook and Twitter links.
One a noticeboard is setup members can post offers, reports, and events, relating to a specific area. For example, to post an offers if you have something you want to sell or give away for free you need to specify a location (the use of a home address is not advised), enter a title and description of the item, post up to five tags, and an image of up 2 MB in size. You can also specify the price or indicate that you wish to give the item away for free. Posting of a news report is similar which asks you to enter a location, write a headline, describe in more detail exactly what is happening, add up to five tags, link to a relevant website source, and upload a photograph up to 2 MB in size.
It is important to ensure you have permission to use the information, such as photographs, prior to sharing on n0tice.com as by doing so, according to the n0tice.com terms and conditions, you grant certain rights to the site however the site does state the copyright remains with the copyright owener.
n0tice.com is an interesting service but one that is going to need mass take up before it can prove itself as an effective service and it will also need the ability to upload video (although you can embed video from an existing source such as YouTube), and do it all using a mobile device to be truly useful. The n0tice.com service (spelled with a zero instead of an O) is now generally open and available to all. To learn more head over to n0tice.com. | <urn:uuid:67617efc-1a55-4dfa-8dee-e5f3c97b0a82> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.jasonslater.co.uk/2012/03/29/hyper-local-community-news-site-n0tice-launches/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368699273641/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516101433-00000-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.955567 | 453 | 1.59375 | 2 |
It’s all too easy to predict the effects of Pierce Transit’s service cutbacks scheduled to go into effect later this summer: Many low-income workers, senior citizens and students will feel the pain of fewer routes and hours.
The agency’s board decided Monday to implement 34 percent service reductions in late September rather than 36 percent by waiting until February 2014. A series of public meetings will take place first, which could convince the board to delay the cuts to the later date.
There’s not much difference between 34 percent and 36 percent, and the agency argues that so many low-seniority drivers are resigning that it will likely be short of bus operators by September anyway. So the timing probably works out better for the earlier implementation.
Either service-reduction figure is a considerably brighter scenario than the one Pierce Transit outlined for voters back in August, when it estimated that failure of the proposed sales tax increase on the Nov. 6 ballot would mean a catastrophic 53 percent cutback in service.
Even though the ballot measure failed, the agency now says it doesn’t need to make such a drastic cut because its revenues and expenditure picture have improved since that projection. Its taking in more from its existing sales tax revenue stream as the general economy improves, and its major employees union voted in late August to approve a new three-year contract with no cost-of-living increases. Union members also agreed to pay more of their medical costs.
Even so, a 34 percent service reduction will affect many. Weekend and holiday service will be eliminated, and there will be reductions in service for weekday evenings, at midday and peak hours. Low-income workers who have no other way to get to their job sites on weekends will be hurt the most.
It shouldn’t have come to this. After Pierce Transit’s first ballot failure in 2011, it cut back its service area, excluding areas that overwhelmingly voted against it. But it didn’t adjust the amount of the tax increase – 3 cents per $10 – or react to the concern of many voters that it would be a permanent tax. Local merchants feared that the stigma of being the highest-taxed area in the region would hurt business.
Instead of a permanent sales tax increase of three-tenths of one percent, the agency should have gone for a lower, time-limited tax. That would have had an excellent chance of passing – the Nov. 6 tally was very close – and would have led to much more humane service reductions.
The agency should continue economizing and come back with a more modest ballot measure. Public transit is too important to too many people to do otherwise. | <urn:uuid:3e9eac36-c2bf-40b0-a005-9efb758237ec> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.thenewstribune.com/2013/01/17/2438616/less-than-feared-transit-cuts.html?storylink=rss_xml | 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 | 0.971785 | 548 | 1.5 | 2 |
There’s a very good reason why Malcolm Gladwell’s previous books are in high demand (with long waiting lists) at most public libraries. As demonstrated in his earlier literary contributions, Blink, The Tipping Point, and Outliers, he has a gift for conveying profound humanscale insight into subjects that are often abstract or over-simplified by contemporary media. As an awardwinning New Yorker Magazine staff writer for fourteen years, Gladwell also regularly produces thoughtprovoking essays and What the Dog Saw is a carefully chosen collection of his best.
The subjects of these essays are varied but interesting: From an expose on the kings of infomercials to the history of marketing hair color, from dog whispering to ketchup, and investment strategies to birth control pills, Gladwell does not fail in engaging the reader with interesting stories. Just as with his best-selling books, the author is an artist at weaving previously unrelated variables and making complex stories accessible by connecting ideas with people and subjects with their history in a way that is relatable to everyone.
What the Dog Saw’s nineteen essays are comprehensive enough for an entertaining read and short enough for a single evening’s pleasure. And one of the most compelling aspects to Gladwell’s writing is that his presentation allows thoughtful contemplation, a respite from the sensations of the day.
Do you want to learn more about this topic? | <urn:uuid:b1b0baf3-7c9f-40e8-9c23-fa14e19d9df7> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.superconsciousness.com/topics/reviews/uncommon-investigations | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368702448584/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516110728-00021-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.954958 | 289 | 1.835938 | 2 |
New Orleans leads one of country's biggest migration turnarounds
Don Ames Reporting
It appears New Orleans can legitimately stake a claim to being the country's "Comeback King."
In a recent Forbes article, "Where Americans are Moving," author Joel Kotkin writes that a "huge turnaround can be seen in New Orleans, which ranked a dismal 43rd (of 51) for 2000-09 as residents fled not only Katrina but a stagnant, low-wage, corruption-plagued economy. But in our 2010-11 ranking, the Crescent City surged to a respectable 16th, one of the biggest migration turnarounds in the country."
"We've actually had the greatest population increase in the whole country," says Michael Hecht, President & CEO of Greater New Orleans, Inc.
Hecht says the turnaround from the first half of the decade has been remarkable, for both the city and the state.
"We're the fastest growing city in the whole country. And, at the state level, we'll have five years of net in-migration."
He says it's part of the rise of the "Third Coast," as the east and west coasts become more congested and folks find it harder to have a decent quality of life on a living wage in those places.
While the other two coasts struggle with economic stagnation and dysfunctional politics, the urbanized, broadly coastal region spanning the Gulf from Brownsville, Texas, to greater Tampa is emerging as a center of industry, innovation, and economic growth.
"Folks are recognizing more opportunities in the south, and this is consistent with what we're seeing here in New Orleans. You can do better for less and have a better time here in Greater New Orleans than almost anywhere else."
What's more, the "Third Coast" is winning the battle of the brains. Between 2007 and 2009, New Orleans, which had hemorrhaged educated people for the previous few decades, enjoyed the largest percentage gain of educated people of any metropolitan area with a population of over 1 million, according to the Census Bureau.
"It's a more diverse population. It's a more educated population, and I think it's an indication that people now think that New Orleans has some of the best opportunity, at a personal level, of anywhere in the country," says Hecht.
He points to an objective survey of 100 metros in the country done by Parenting Magazine last year.
"New Orleans came in #16 in the whole country as the best place to raise a family. Atlanta came in 45th and Houston came in 54th. When you objectively look at New Orleans and Louisiana, it's actually a pretty authentic place to live right now."
But, is the area's growth sustainable?
"Over the next two or three years, the hundred and fifty billion dollars from Katrina will be spent down. Naturally, the energy that has sustained us, post-Katrina, will begin to attenuate. The rest of the country is going to begin to catch up as they come out of this business cycle and move out of the great recession which, quite frankly, we really benefited from on a relative basis. While the rest of the country lost over three percentage point in terms of employment, we actually gained two-tenths of a percent during the great recession," says Hecht.
"So, the real game for us is, over the next two or three years, can we develop enough critical mass of companies to provide the right types of jobs so that when we get back to 'the new normal' our population increase and improvement is going to be sustainable? And that's really our job, in economic development, over the next couple of years."
"The bad news is that our existing infrastructure for transporting oil and gas is being strained," Hecht says. "The good news is that's because America is entering an age of potential energy independence and the sources of that energy independence are actually located in the Gulf of Mexico, with Louisiana smack in the middle of it. So, yes, we are going to have to see some infrastructure needs addressed, going forward. But, it's simply because we are blessed to be in the middle of a massive growth market in energy."
"I think that what we've seen in the last week...the biggest project ever in Louisiana...a 16 to 21 billion dollar project from South African company Sasol in Lake Charles, being driven by natural gas...is the kind of project that we're going to see, also, in our region going forward. We have massive projects along the river, driven by natural gas."
"We also are going to continue to see great opportunities in digital and software. And, of course, the cranes are in the sky and the medical corridor is going up. If you consider that Birmingham, a region two-thirds of our size, gained fifty-three thousand jobs off their medical corridor, then we have an opportunity for tens of thousands of jobs here, as well. So, both of those argue well for the future, too." | <urn:uuid:59d28ad6-9b7b-4e85-84a9-c8c56908f7f6> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.wwl.com/pages/14991206.php?poll118993ViewResults=1 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368697974692/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516095254-00003-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.969075 | 1,031 | 1.84375 | 2 |
Kathleen SebeliusState Governor
Born: 15 May 1948
Birthplace: Cincinnati, Ohio
Best known as: Barack Obama's 2009 choice for Secretary of Health and Human Services
Name at birth: Kathleen Gilligan
Kansas governor Kathleen Sebelius was chosen by Barack Obama in 2009 to become head of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. She has been governor of Kansas since 2003. Sebelius comes from a political family: her father, John Gilligan, was the governor of Ohio from 1971-1975. She grew up in Cincinnati and attended Trinity College in Washington, D.C., where she got a bachelor's degree in 1970. She married K. Gary Sebelius in 1974 and moved to his native Kansas, where she earned a master's in public administration from the University of Kansas (1978). After several years as director of the Kansas Trial Lawyers Association, she served in the Kansas House of Representatives from 1987-94. Sebelius was the state's insurance commissioner from 1995-2003 before her election as governor in 2002. A Democrat, she was reelected to a second four-year term in 2006. She must be confirmed by the U.S. Senate before she takes office as Secretary of HHS.
Extra credit: Sebelius was nominated to run HHS by Obama after his first nominee, Tom Daschle, withdrew his name after tax problems were made public... Sebelius is the 44th governor of Kansas.... She and her father are the first father-and-daughter combination ever to be state governors... Her husband, K. Gary Sebelius, in 1974. They have two sons: Ned (born circa 1982) and John (born circa 1985).
Copyright © 1998-2013 by Who2?, LLC. All rights reserved.
More on Kathleen Sebelius from Infoplease:
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News: plans for an apartment block of stackable modules have won a design competition for "micro-units" to help solve the shortage of small homes in Manhattan (+ slideshow).
New York mayor Michael Bloomberg named American studio nARCHITECTS as the winner of the adAPT NYC competition, which called for designs made up of only one- and two-person homes for a pilot project on a site in Kips Bay.
Zoning regulations will be waived to allow construction of the apartment block. "The growth rate for one- and two-person households greatly exceeds that of households with three or more people, and addressing that housing challenge requires us to think creatively and beyond our current regulations," said Bloomberg.
nARCHITECTS teamed up with Monadnock Development LLC and the Actors Fund Housing Development Corporation to design My Micro NY, a building of 55 apartments with 40 percent at affordable rents.
Modules will be hoisted into place over a period of just two weeks and the exterior of the building will be clad in graduated shades of brickwork.
Each residence will feature a compact kitchen with a cooker, fridge, pull-out pantry and space for microwave, plus a combined living and sleeping area and a bathroom. Storage areas are also included and comprise a loft and closet.
As well as apartments, the building will contain a laundry room, bicycle storage, a gym and a series of communal lounge and multi-purpose areas. A roof terrace on the eighth floor will provide space for outdoor events and activities.
"We're thrilled at the chance of designing a housing prototype that will give New Yorkers in small spaces a sense of living in a larger social fabric" said nARCHITECTS' principal Eric Bunge.
Construction is expected to begin at the end of 2013 and more schemes will be initiated in the future, as part of the mayor's bid to provide 165,000 new homes for New Yorkers by 2014.
Above: apartment concept - click above for larger image
Kent Larson, director of the Changing Places Group at MIT Media Lab, doesn't think that micro-apartments are the answer to the housing crisis in US cities. "The problem is young people don't really like these tiny little apartments with a pull-out sofa," he told Dezeen last month.
Above: site plan - click above for larger image
Here's a project description from the architects:
nARCHITECTS' design for My Micro NY, in collaboration with Monadnock Development and the Actors Fund Housing Development Corporation, is the winning proposal in the adAPT NYC competition sponsored by the NYC Department of Housing Preservation & Development (HPD). Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg and HPD Commissioner Mathew M. Wambua announced today that the My Micro NY development team has been chosen through a competitive Request for Proposals, which received the largest response to date for an HPD housing project.
The adAPT NYC competition was created as part of Mayor Bloomberg's New Housing Marketplace Plan to introduce additional choices within New York City's housing market to accommodate the city's growing population of one- and two-person households. The City's housing codes have not kept up with its changing population, and currently do not allow an entire building of micro-units. Mayor Bloomberg will waive certain zoning regulations at the Kips Bay site to allow the My Micro NY pilot project to be developed.
nARCHITECTS’ ambitious proposal creates 55 new micro-units utilizing modular building construction that could be replicable in future developments. The project focuses on quality and livability through features that highlight the use of space, light, and air, such as 9'-10" floor-to-ceiling heights and juliet balconies. By incorporating setbacks as a governing design logic, My Micro NY could in principle be adapted to many sites, at a range of heights and floor area ratios, and at nearly any location in a block. The 250 to 370 square-foot micro-units achieve affordability for low- and middle-income households without any direct City subsidy or financing, in part through its use of modular design to significantly shorten project schedule and save on financing and conventional construction costs. It is expected that the project will complete the Uniform Land Use Review Procedure in the fall with construction beginning at the end of 2013. | <urn:uuid:cf3bfb4f-5d67-4707-8c36-49e9d401756e> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.dezeen.com/2013/01/23/winners-announced-in-new-yorks-micro-units-housing-competition/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368699881956/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516102441-00014-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.951488 | 882 | 1.609375 | 2 |
Sir Richard Branson signs renewables letter to PM
A high-profile coalition of renewable energy campaigners has written a letter to David Cameron, asking for clarity over the Government’s stance on land-based clean power.
The alliance, which includes Sir Richard Branson, Juliet Davenport and Ben Goldsmith, along with a plethora of prominent investors, economists, scientists and MPs, says that the UK needs to make more use of its massive renewables potential.
It responds to another letter to the prime minister written by 101 MPs in disagreement with wind power.
“In wind alone, the UK has more than 40% of Europe’s renewable energy resources – enough to power up our economy 3 to 4 times over, generate exports, and provide the tools for communities and entrepreneurs to do their job”, reads the letter, which has been republished in The Guardian.
The group claims that coming to a consensus on renewables benefits both the planet and the economy.
“Bringing energy supply and demand together, a decentralised energy market can make real efficiencies in costs associated with our antiquated infrastructure and transmission loss, deliver savings for tax payers and provide frustrated investors with new opportunities.
“In the on-going review of renewable energy support, we ask that the Government recognises the importance of simple and accessible Feed-in Tariff policies, to guarantee the broadest possible ownership of the UK’s next generation of energy infrastructure.”
Branson et al. also noted the success of the German feed-in tariff scheme, which has helped propel the country to the top of the world leader board in renewable energy.
Localised or community-owned clean energy production was highlighted as a necessary step towards harnessing the country’s natural resources.
The group’s letter finishes, “We urge you to ensure that planning inspectors know that the future of the low carbon economy is at stake and our collective needs, both local and national, must be taken into account.”
The prime minister has publicly backed wind power before, particularly in response to the letter he received from the coalition of backbenchers who noted their opposition.
We at BG&T certainly hope that he maintains his strong stance and goes one step further by responding to the new letter’s recommendations. In the meantime, if you feel as passionate about a renewable future as Sir Richard Branson, you could do far worse than switching to 100% renewable energy for your home or business. Good Energy is currently the only power company in the UK who can help you achieve that goal.
Its founder and chief executive, Juliet Davenport issued a compelling instruction to the government, ahead of Wednesday’s annual Budget statement.
“David Cameron and George Osborne have to use this year’s budget to stand up and speak out in support of renewables in the UK”, she said.
“It’s essential they back DECC’s (Department of Energy and Climate Change) efforts to attract the huge amount of investment we need today to deliver the secure, stable and sustainable energy market of tomorrow.”
Picture source: D@LY3D
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India largely approves of Bush visiting
Unlike most of Europe, Indians mostly supportive
Knight Ridder Newspapers
NEW DELHI - If President Bush finds the reception too frosty on his visit to Europe this week, he might look to India for his next overseas jaunt.
In a recent 21-nation poll, the land of Gandhi and the Taj Mahal was one of only two countries in which a clear majority felt Bush's re-election made the world a safer place. Germany, France and Britain, among others, thought otherwise - by a wide margin.
Bush, who begins his Europe trip today, has told Indian leaders several times that he wants to visit India this year, but no date has been set.
"There's a lot of people who would warm to a Bush visit," said Radha Kumar, a trustee of the Delhi Policy Group, a domestic and foreign policy research insbreastute in the Indian capital.
Indians aren't blindly in love with Bush. Most opposed the Iraq war, and India hasn't sent any troops, not even for reconstruction.
"It's high time they withdrew from there," said Rajneet Bhatia, 28, whose family business helps Canadian and European universities recruit students from India. "Don't forget about the loss of life. Terrorism is one thing, but war means loss of life, too."
But Indians don't hold the disdain and animosity for Bush heard in much of the rest of the world.
In the poll, 62 percent of 1,005 Indians described Bush's re-election as positive for peace and security. Only 27 percent said it was negative.
In France, 75 percent viewed Bush's re-election as negative for peace and security, as did 77 percent in Germany. The poll was conducted for the British Broadcasting Corp. by a public opinion program at the University of Maryland and Globe Scan Inc., a Toronto-based polling firm. The poll had a margin of error of 2.5 to 4 percentage points, depending on the country.
The Philippines joined India in support of Bush. Sixty-three percent of the people polled there said Bush's re-election was positive for peace.
Chief among the reasons Indians cite for liking Bush is his stance against terrorism. Indians, who've long faced person attacks from separatists in Kashmir and other regions, welcome Bush's pressure on India's longtime nemesis, Pakistan, to crack down on Islamic militants trying to cross to the Indian side of Kashmir.
"We are sufferers of terrorism," said Dr. Pankaj Dhawan, a dental surgeon and enthusiastic Bush backer. "What has France experienced? Nothing. What has Germany experienced? Nothing. Let them come to the ground level and experience it."
The booming outsourcing industry also appreciates Bush's pro-business, hands-off policy toward the shift of U.S. software, back office and call center jobs to India.
Ajay Lavakare, co-founder and head of a company that provides computerized mapping services, is a self-described liberal who abhors Bush's stance on end, gun control and the rest penalty.
Outsourcing phone love from call centers in India
January 29, 2005 Some Call Centers in Bangalore and Mumbai have received some bizarre requests from the Western...
Yet from his perch in Noida, a corporate center outside Delhi, he worried last fall about Democratic presidential candidate John Kerry's rhetoric against the offshoring of U.S. jobs. | <urn:uuid:be124de9-77fd-465b-b533-71b2ce2a3282> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.plex86.org/computer_2/India-largely-approves-of-Bush-visiting.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368700264179/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516103104-00020-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.968587 | 710 | 1.632813 | 2 |
September 20, 2007 | 2:19 am
Posted by Brad A. Greenberg
That blank is often filled with Wicca, Mormonism, some even claim atheism (seriously). These numbers are notoriously difficult to verify, but earlier this month the Delaware News Journal ran a big Sunday piece headlined “More Americans converting to Islam.”
Drew Marshall could have been any of the dozen or so university students studying and sipping coffee at a Newark cafe.
About 6 feet tall, with a close beard and a light blue shirt, not much about him stands out.
Until he offers an Arabic greeting.
Marshall, or Ahmad, as the 23-year-old white American from Hockessin now calls himself, converted to Islam two years ago.
Wearing a dress shirt and slacks, carrying his school bag like a briefcase, Marshall looks more like a member of the faculty than a college senior.
But is Ahmad part of a movement or simply a novelty (which is how the lede treats him)? Certainly, Islam is drawing converts in Europe. But what about here in the States? What kind of numbers are there to support the article’s headline?
Despite or perhaps because of Sept. 11, conversions to Islam have increased, making it the fastest-growing religion in the world, said Muqtedar Khan, associate professor of political science and international relations at the University of Delaware. About 23 percent of American Muslims are converts, about half of which turned to Islam before age 21, according to a May report from the Pew Research Center, a nonpartisan think tank.
“There’s a curiosity about Islam today,” Khan said. “Islam has become the major thing everyone in the world is talking about.”
According to the Pew report, there are an estimated 2.35 million American Muslims, about 35 percent of whom were born in the United States. About 850,000 are under age 18.
Well, I like that turn of phrase—“despite or perhaps because of”—but unfortunately this article doesn’t support the headline’s premise with facts, simply anecdotes. Is 23 percent a larger portion of American Islam than it was five years ago? Have the numbers of all American Muslims increased or decreased during that time? Demographers and Muslims organizations can’t even agree on how many Muslims are in the United States (Pew says its about 2.35 million while CAIR says six million plus).
What to believe?
* Updated: No matter how many Muslims there exactly are, Rep. Peter King from New York thinks it’s too many.
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Real life 'vampire' in Turkey addicted to drinking blood
In an unusual diagnosis, doctors have described a 23-year-old man in Turkey as suffering from "vampirism" after he was caught several times trying to stab people and drink their blood, according to a report.
The man became addicted to drinking human blood after he started slicing his own arms, chest and stomach with razor blades, and gathering the blood in a cup so he could drink it, doctors say.
He soon became addicted and started turning to other sources to feed his habit which he described as being "as urgent as breathing", the 'Daily Mail' reported.
He apparently even got his father to get him bags of the bodily fluid from blood banks, according to the report published in the Journal of Psychotherapy and Psychosomatics.
The man, whose name was not revealed, was arrested several times after stabbing and biting others to collect and drink their blood.
He also developed multiple personalities and suffered from amnesia.
"Possibly due to 'switching' to another personality state, he was losing track during the 'bloody' events, did not care who the victim was anymore and remained amnesic to this part of his act," the report said.
"Medical professionals believed his behaviour was a reaction to horrific events in his life, such as witnessing a killing where one of his friends cut off the victim's head and penis," the researchers said.
He had also been traumatised by the death of his four-month-old daughter, and by the murder of his uncle.
Doctors, led by Direnc Sakarya, of Denizli Military Hospital in southwestern Turkey, diagnosed the man with dissociative identity disorder (DID), post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), and chronic depression and alcohol abuse.
To their knowledge, the man is the first patient with 'vampirism' and DID.
Researchers note that DID is often linked to childhood abuse and neglect. The blood addict's mother was described as having attacked him in 'freak out' episodes during his teenage years, but the man said he had no memory of his childhood between the ages of five and 11.
The man felt tortured by an 'imaginary companion' who forced him to carry out violent acts and attempt suicide.
In a follow-up six weeks after he was treated, the doctors said the man's blood-drinking habits were in remission, but his dissociative symptoms persisted.
The man did not experience any negative physical effects from his gruesome habit, but the human body is not well adapted for digesting blood.
While small quantities may be harmless, anyone who consumes blood often runs a risk of haemochromatosis --an iron overdose - or contracting blood-borne diseases such as HIV if blood is sourced from other people. | <urn:uuid:44d4b5e1-2c90-44c8-9e76-117a639322d9> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.deccanherald.com/content/311157/real-life-vampire-turkey-addicted.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368704132298/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516113532-00002-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.989375 | 584 | 1.539063 | 2 |
Chief executive Jim Goodnight, one this nation’s billionaire software magnates, though, was having a bit of a chuckle Monday at his company’s annual executive and user conference, its Global Forum.
Seems he just regards “cloud computing” as a marketing hook. And that there’s nothing really new about drawing on computing power in “the cloud,” where you can’t see where it’s coming from.
In fact, the marketing mavens at SAS originally wrote up the release about the new facility in Cary, N.C., as a building with a lot of servers inside.
“It’s really a server farm. They wrote it up as a “server farm,’ ‘’ Goodnight said Monday at the forum. “ I said, Eh, no let’s not use that. That’s old-fashioned. Use “cloud computing.”
That led to national and international coverage of what amounts to a fairly small capital expenditure for a company that generates $2.6 billion a year in software revenue.
“Wow, my God, we came up with that and all the papers went crazy,’’ he said. “They’re calling it ‘cloud computing.’ The cloud is nothing more than a damn big server farm.’’
In effect, SAS is making fun of the use of terminology to solve an age-old problem: How to make use of excess capacity in your data infrastructure. If Amazon or Google wants to make hay with the term “cloud computing,’’ SAS will just pitch in with its fork, as well.
“Google, Amazon had these huge server farms that they had to have to store all the data and they got all these CPUs that aren’t that terribly busy. Why not try to sell them off? Sell some of the time,’’ he said.
“What we’re talking about here is a concept called time sharing. That’s all it is. We’ll sell you a piece of our hardware if you give us X number of dollars. In this case, it’s real cheap. But that’s all it is, time-sharing,’’ he said.
Their goal, he contends, is simply to sell the excess hardware they have got sitting around, without having a lot more people to service it. This is not “ anything hugely different’’ from how time-sharing began in the early days of corporate computing.
“It’s funny we’ve gotten to where everybody wants everything delivered on the Web. So we’re back to like (IBM) 3270 mainframe days,’’ he said. “All the interactivity we used to have on the desktop is being sacrificed to go back a very simple static screen like we had on the mainframe. It all comes around. I don’t know when we’ll see punched cards again, but you never know.” | <urn:uuid:3c7e3811-b8ea-45c7-98d4-1dbec5c5ef76> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.zdnet.com/blog/btl/memo-to-google-and-amazon-cloud-computing-really-is-time-sharing-next-will-punch-cards-make-a-comeback/15096 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368700264179/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516103104-00010-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.9613 | 657 | 1.546875 | 2 |
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