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social network for conservatives
One of Ted Cruz, the Tea Party candiate who won the Texas Republician primary, goals is to abolish the EPA. The following article from the Canadian Free Press is just another reaspn to aboish the EPA, which is Obama's tool to make our energy cost go thru the roof.
Write your Congresspersons and demand they abolish the EPA or start paying thru a bloody nose for electricy.
CANADIAN FREE PRESS
Generating Companies are Shuttering Coal Plants at Record Rates, EIA Reports
- Institute for Energy Research Thursday, August 2, 2012
The Energy Information Administration (EIA) recently announced that coal plant owners and operators expect to retire about 27 gigawatts of coal-fired capacity by 2016—four times the 6.5 gigawatts of capacity retired between 2007 and 2011. In 2012, electric generators are expected to retire 9 gigawatts of coal-fired capacity, the largest amount of retirements in a single year in America’s history.
In 2011, there were 1,387 coal-fired generators in the United States, totaling almost 318 gigawatts. The 27 gigawatts of retiring capacity is 8.5 percent of total coal-fired capacity. The 2012 record retirements are expected to be exceeded in 2015 when nearly 10 gigawatts of coal-fired capacity are expected to retire. [ia]
Most of the units retiring are located in the Mid-Atlantic, Ohio River Valley, and Southeastern United States as shown in the map below.
Source: U.S. Energy Information Administration, eia.gov Note: Data for 2005 through 2011 represent actual retirements. Data for 2012 through 2016 represent planned retirements, as reported to EIA. Data for 2011 through 2016 are early-release data and not fully vetted. Capacity values represent net summer capacity.
The EIA provides several reasons for the retirements, but the largest factor affecting coal-fired generating units are new regulations recently imposed by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). For example, the Mercury and Air Toxics Standards require the addition of costly environmental equipment, which will result in the retirement of the older, smaller units that are not used heavily because it is not cost effective to make the additional investment.
However, the table below shows that the coal-fired generators that are planned for retirement between 2012 and 2015 have an average size of 154 megawatts (MW)—more than twice the average size of the units retired during the 2009 to 2011 period, which had an average size of 59 megawatts. Twelve units of at least 200 megawatts are expected to retire in 2012, including two large 790 megawatt units. Another 13 coal-fired units with generating capacities of 200 megawatts or greater are expected to retire in 2015, which is close to the average size of all coal-fired units existing in 2011 (228 megawatts).
Data for 2009 through 2011 represent actual retirements. Data for 2012 through 2015 represent planned retirements, as reported to EIA. Data for 2011 through 2015 are early-release data and not fully vetted. Capacity values represent net summer capacity.
The plants that are planned for retirement are also more efficient than previously-retired plants. By 2015, the retiring coal-fired units will have average tested heat rates of about 10,700 British thermal units per kilowatt hour, which are about 12 percent more efficient, on average, than those units that retired during 2009 to 2011. But, they are about 5 percent less efficient than the average coal unit.
Other factors that EIA identifies for the record retirements of coal-fired units are the low price of natural gas due to the boom in shale gas production resulting from hydraulic fracturing technology; modest electricity demand growth that has led to less use of smaller, older, and less efficient plants; the availability of natural gas-fired combined cycle units that are not currently fully utilized; and the cost of complying with state laws and regulations that result in other mandatory investments, such as the Renewable Portfolio Standards which many states have that require investments in qualified renewable generating technologies.
Reliability of the Generating Grid
The question, of course, is whether these retirements are a detriment to the reliability and security of our national generating grid? The North American Electric Reliability Corporation’s (NERC) most recent long-term assessment found that existing and proposed environmental regulations affecting fossil fuel plants in the United States may significantly affect bulk power system reliability.
NERC, the nation’s leading authority on electric reliability, evaluated four major regulations now being proposed or implemented by the Environmental Protection Agency and found them to expose the United States to significant energy vulnerabilities. NERC estimates that nearly a quarter of our coal-fired capacity could be off-line by 2018 and that as many as 677 coal-fired units (258 gigawatts) would need to be temporarily shut down to install EPA-mandated equipment.[ii] These EPA regulations must be implemented within a 3-year window and the mandated equipment takes about 18 months to install. Because EPA’s three year timeline is so tight and the regulations affect so many units, utility companies are not sure that they can meet the standards and ensure reliability of the electricity system at the same time.
While we are shuttering our coal-fired power plants, other countries are turning to coal for generating electricity. According to China’s National Bureau of Statistics, China’s coal consumption increased 9.7 percent in 2011 to a record 3.7 billion tons, more than 3.5 times the coal consumption of the United States. China is supplying over 70 percent of its electricity with coal. In India, coal provides 55 percent of its electricity. And, Germany is generating about 25 percent of its electricity from coal, having increased coal consumption by 3.3 percent last year. The power gap in Germany, created by the shutdown of eight nuclear power stations, is largely being filled by lignite coal.[iii]
While other countries are turning to coal as a major source of generation, the United States is shuttering coal-fired plants in record numbers, mainly due to environmental regulations imposed by the federal government. This is curious since the United States has the largest coal reserves in the world. NERC has found that these regulations may cause significant vulnerabilities to the reliability of our generating grid. While natural gas remains abundant and inexpensive, it is making the transition away from coal relatively easy. However, once natural gas prices rise, consumers will be confronted with higher electricity prices and will no longer have an inventory of coal-fired plants to provide inexpensive electricity.
I sure hope Ted wins the general election. I phone banked for him in Dallas last weekend. I drove from California, stopped for the weekend for Restoring Freedom, Under God Indivisible, and Restoring Love. The EPA mandates are scary. Anyone who works at a coal burning electrical power plant and still votes for Barack Obama is not playing with a full deck. | <urn:uuid:7a3381a9-d5b0-4117-92c6-bd7714b3fc35> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.tcunation.com/forum/topics/abolish-the-epa | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368701459211/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516105059-00039-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.949989 | 1,418 | 1.640625 | 2 |
Hickenlooper tosses COIN into economic development pool
The Colorado Statesman
Gov. John Hickenlooper announced on Monday the creation of a statewide initiative designed to bring together inventors and entrepreneurs with an aim of increasing the number of manufacturing jobs in Colorado while boosting the state’s reputation as a hotbed of innovation.
Pointing to areas around the country that combine cutting-edge research with market-shaking entrepreneurial zeal — from California’s Silicon Valley to comparable corridors in Massachusetts and North Carolina — Hickenlooper said it was time for Colorado to do what it can to join those ranks.
The state, he said, has “The Colorado advantage — we are almost perfectly poised to be a center where (there is) that kind of acceleration of taking a new idea and translating it into new jobs.”
Key to Colorado’s edge, Hickenlooper said, is the high concentration of federal research laboratories, including the National Renewal Energy Laboratory in Golden, as well as powerhouses of innovation at the University of Colorado, Colorado State University and the Colorado School of Mines. There’s also a thriving start-up community residing in Colorado, but too often, Hickenlooper said, it’s a chore getting ideas from one side out the door and to market through the other.
Gov. John Hickenlooper announces the formation of the Colorado Innovation Network on Nov. 28 in the State Capitol. Behind him are Ken Lund, executive director of Colorado’s Office of Economic Development; Ajay Menon, who was named Colorado’s first chief innovation officer and will continue his full-time job as dean of Colorado State University’s College of Business; COIN executive director Kelly Quann, on loan from Deloitte Consulting; and Downtown Denver Partnership president Tamara Door.
Photo by Ernest Luning/The Colorado Statesman
“This will be a very focused effort to make sure we are able to build on all the innovations coming out from all of those places,” Hickenlooper said.
The Colorado Innovation Network — dubbed COIN — will be run out of the Colorado Office of Economic Development and International Trade but, aside from some staff time, will be funded entirely by private donations, including seed money from the Allen & Co. investment bank, Colorado National Bank and Arrow Electronics, a firm that is moving its corporate headquarters to Colorado in part because of economic development plans already unveiled by Hickenlooper’s administration.
The initiative builds on two sets of statewide economic development proposals that have taken shape this year. Starting in January, Hickcnlooper toured the state to elicit “bottom-up,” locally generated plans to spur the economy and unveiled a document called “The Colorado Bueprint” in August. Earlier this summer, Hickenlooper teamed with Colorado’s two U.S. senators, Michael Bennet and Mark Udall, to formulate a report suggesting how the state could leverage the state’s high concentration of aerospace, biomedical and alternative energy industries. Creating the COIN initiative checks off boxes on both those to-do lists, Hickenlooper said.
Bennet said the enterprise was exactly the kind of thing government should be doing to attack the disconnect between an efficient economy and American workers who aren’t reaping the benefits of increased productivity.
Calling COIN a “mechanism to organize around,” not just a rhetorical construct, Bennet added, “There’s no reason Colorado can’t be the leader of innovation in the nation, can’t be the place where we can say innovation is rising instead of falling.”
“COIN is designed to connect inventors and entrepreneurs and surround them with the access points needed to build businesses and enterprises,” said Ajay Menon, named on Monday to head COIN as the state’s first Chief Innovation Officer. He’ll spend about 20 hours a week in the new position while continuing his full-time job as dean of the College of Business at Colorado State University.
Menon said his team has been inspired by a similar project undertaken at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. With $3 million direct spending, he said, MIT was able to generate 142 new ventures and bring in roughly $850 million in outside funding.
Menon’s boss, CSU Chancellor Joe Blake, said he has high hopes that COIN is the right approach at the right time.
“I think you will see an improvement because of the very concept of trying to tie together and connect innovation and entrepreneurs,” Blake said. While he noted that Colorado already has good models for research facilities working with the private sector, “The whole issue today is how we can accelerate connectability, and how we can actually show results.”
Blake said Menon’s new role with the state organization perfectly fits his mission at CSU.
“CSU’s model today is, what can we be doing to rebuild Colorado’s economy,” he said and then answered his own question: “Exactly this, the creation of jobs through innovation.”
Other key players in the operation will include COIN’s executive director, Kelly Quann, who will be on loan to the state from Deloitte Consulting’s Strategy and Operations division. Tami Door, president and CEO of the Downtown Denver Partnership, plans to bring together leaders from a diverse set of communities around the state — from Durango to Pueblo — to discuss how innovation drives development in places outside established high-tech corridors.
Hickenlooper emphasized that COIN will operate across the state and not just grease the wheels already in place across the northern Front Range. He said it’s an approach he determined was key while assembling the “bottom-up” economic development plans gathered around the state.
“There’s no one more entrepreneurial than a dry-land farmer, and there’s no better centers of innovation than rural Colorado,” Hickenlooper said. “This approach, though it’s focused on the larger universities to a certain extent, is going to bring the entire state together. I honestly, in my heart of hearts, think that Colorado is, from east to west, north to south, is the most innovative state in the country. We just haven’t brought it all together.”
“We can measure how Colorado is thought of,” Hickenlooper said. “Do people look at Colorado as a center of innovation? It’s very hard to move that needle, but very powerful when you can move it.” | <urn:uuid:a15c6655-e2da-4d01-8b3a-8ca3e9dabf01> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.coloradostatesman.com/content/993175-hickenlooper-tosses-coin-economic-development-pool | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368710006682/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516131326-00038-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.947599 | 1,401 | 1.65625 | 2 |
He was so frustrated with what he saw during recess that he’d lost his appetite for dinner. Shah Amanat could not dispel the face of an orphan boy who had not eaten in two days begging him for food. At that moment, sitting with his family in their middle-class home in Bangladesh, Shah committed to “being the change I want to see in the world.”And he has worked ardently towards fulfilling his promise since he entered LaGuardia Community College as a Business major in 2011. “In the first class I took at LaGuardia– English 101– my professor taught me that whatever I did, I should do with all my heart,” he says about what set the premise for his future successes, “She assured me that for the best results, I have to be comfortable in my own skin.”So, having won a visa lottery and leaving his country as a junior in college, when election time came in LaGuardia’s Student Government, he knew there was no one better than he to be Governor of International Students and Foreign Affairs. He ranfor the position and won, and later ascended to Student Government president for 2012-2013.His work in SGA includes organizing a town hall meeting on Deferred Action where City Council Speaker Christine Quinn and the DREAM Act’s fiercest advocate Congressman Luis Gutierrez responded to students’ concerns. “It’s a big satisfactionfor me as a student leader,” says Shah of his deeds, “Students who we helped to apply have received their document.”Shah also co-organized students in support of the referendum that formalized a varsity sports teams at LaGuardia as of Fall 2013. He was also a key coordinator of SGA’s annual Student Giving Day where compassionate students make donations towards the scholarships of their financially struggling peers.Shah is a member of Phi Theta Kappa Honor Society and an Honors Program student maintaining a 3.7 GPA. He is currently an investment-banking intern on Wall Street and aspires to own his own information technology business. He dreams of reaching a position in the world economy where he can keep children, like the boy he met in his childhood, from starving and instead offer them equal opportunity.After graduation, Shah will apply for transfer to Baruch’s Zicklin School of Business,Harvard Business School and NYU Stern. | <urn:uuid:e3a75943-fbf7-4e65-9275-78a2bc57f94a> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.lagcc.cuny.edu/About/Commencement/Student-Profile-2/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368698207393/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516095647-00009-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.980996 | 497 | 1.507813 | 2 |
Sounds very processed even if they claim otherwise. Many of those things could be healthish but I really doubt they are. I mean seriously, are they hand patting grass fed into whole wheat buns? Breading and baking chicken breast? Use reduced fat cheese with whole pinto beans in whole wheat tortiallas? No, probably not. I think the truck from Sysco drops it off.
(Disclaimer: no experience with daycare whatsoever. Our preschool doesn't serve lunch but nothing on their list would meet the nutrition policy at our school. Our charter k-6 school is more or less the same).
I'd start with the following items being unacceptable for small children: no white bread or white products at all, at a minimum must be partially whole grain like Barilla plus pasta or real whole wheat; nothing processed with HFCS, not because it is evil but because quality products don't contain it and it is an easy criteria to get rid of processed junk; meal always contains a vegetable of some sortl fruit needs to be fresh 4 of 5 days a week and the day that it is not it needs to be a low sugar version, like no sugar added applesauce. No gmo soy. Meal should be vegetarian at least twice a week. Dessert is not served routinely as part of lunch. Low sugar birthday treats only like unfrosted cake or berry muffin. "Bars" are not food.
Some other ideas:
black beans and rice
pasta soup with whole wheat elbows
marinara with "hidden veggies" with whole wheat pasta, parmesan cheese on the side so kids can great it themselves
tofu, broccoli, and brown rice with soy sauce
fried brown rice
tempeh, rice, and green beans with soy sauce butter
all beef hot dog with baked sweet potato fries
beef vegetable noodle soup
breakfast for lunch- whole grain pancakes with veggie sausage
yogurt bar with unsweetened yogurt and various toppings | <urn:uuid:34d53ed7-181f-410e-bcaa-5f3febd2b477> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.mothering.com/community/t/1360895/daycare-asked-for-meal-ideas-help | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368696383156/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516092623-00002-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.935721 | 412 | 1.609375 | 2 |
Santa Geltrude is located at 1,519 m asl and is the highest located village of the valley.
Santa Geltrude is the highest located village in of the municipality and is located at 1,519 m asl, only a stone’s throw from the Stelvio national park. Santa Geltrude boasts a lovely little church, which is enthroned on a hill in the village. From this place you can by the way admire a great view, ranging almost to the city of Merano.
The village is also an ideal place for hiking and promenading. The fascinating mountains of the Val d’Ultimo, the Val Martello, Fontana Bianca and the Val di Rabbi are within easy reach.
One of the sights you do not have to miss in your holidays are the century-old larch trees of the Val d’Ultimo. These trees are more than 28 metres high, their perimeter is 8.20 metres. These huge trees grow at the edge of a protective forest at Santa Geltrude at 1,430 m. So far they were considered to be about 2,000 years old and the oldest conifers of Europe. However, according to a thesis drafted at the University of Innsbruck, the larch trees are considered to be 800 years old. No matter how old they really are, the trees are natural monuments that are worth visiting. | <urn:uuid:489c9af2-34f3-4427-9f88-21a549ac507c> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.burggrafenamt.com/en/country-people/val-dultimo-alta-val-di-non/ultimo/santa-geltrude.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368710006682/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516131326-00006-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.970049 | 297 | 1.664063 | 2 |
Just as Mitt Romney’s challenge last week at the Republican National Convention was to connect on a personal level with voters and make them comfortable with the idea of him sitting in the Oval Office, President Obama’s challenge this week at the Democratic National Convention is to reignite the flame—the passion among young and Latino voters that burned four years ago but is now just a smoldering ember.
Three demographic groups turbocharged Obama’s 7-percentage-point victory over John McCain in 2008: young voters ages 18-29, Latinos, and African-Americans. Their influx changed the composition of the electorate that year, making it look quite different from the makeup of voters in 2000 and 2004. Whether the 2012 electorate looks more like 2008—or 2004, or 2000—is a very big deal for both Obama and Romney.
Among the 9,659 registered voters interviewed by the Gallup Organization’s tracking polls Aug. 6-26, Romney and Obama were tied overall at 46 percent. But Obama beat Romney by 24 points, 58 percent to 34 percent, among voters ages 18-29 and by a whopping 32 points, 61 percent to 29 percent, among Latinos. In each case, the percentage who say they will definitely vote is significantly lower than it is among other demographic groups who view Obama less charitably. | <urn:uuid:82d0eaa6-dbc2-4acf-8cf4-c00e757e9940> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.jammiewf.com/2012/obamas-enthusiasm-deficit-could-soon-haunt-him/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368696383156/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516092623-00011-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.954439 | 270 | 1.5625 | 2 |
18 December 2012 The United Nations and African Union (AU) will seek increased funding early next year for a strategy against the armed group known as the Lord's Resistance Army (LRA) and its impact on communities in Central Africa, a senior United Nations official told the Security Council today.
“The most urgent step revolves around the need to promptly finalize the LRA programmatic document and mobilize sufficient resources for its full implementation,” the Secretary-General’s Special Representative and head of the UN Regional Office for Central Africa (UNOCA), Abou Moussa, told the a Council meeting on the region, which covered UNOCA’s activities and LRA-affected areas.
“Once the programmatic document is finalized, my office, in partnership with the office of the African Union Special Envoy on the LRA, plans to organize a resource mobilization forum early next year with the aim of raising funds for the most critical areas of the strategy,” Mr. Moussa added.
UNOCA is the world body’s regional office charged – along with the African Union (AU) envoy on the issue, Francisco Madeira – with helping coordinate a regional strategy to deal with the armed group, amongst its other tasks.
The LRA was formed in the 1980s in Uganda and for over 15 years its attacks were mainly directed against Ugandan civilians and security forces, which in 2002 dislodged the rebels. They then exported their activities to Uganda’s neighbours, such as the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), the Central African Republic (CAR) and South Sudan.
The group is notorious for carrying out massacres in villages, mutilating its victims and abducting boys for use as child soldiers, while girls are often forced into sexual slavery.
Although current estimates suggest that the LRA comprises less than 500 combatants operating under the leadership of Joseph Kony, its capacity to attack and terrorise and harm local communities remains, according to the UN Department of Peacekeeping Operations (DPKO). This past year has seen the armed group active in areas such as the eastern DRC.
The strategy was endorsed by the UN Security Council in June. It focuses on five key strategic objectives to address the LRA threat: support for the full operationalization and implementation of the AU regional cooperation initiative against the LRA; enhancing efforts to promote the protection of civilians; and expanding current disarmament, demobilization, repatriation, resettlement and reintegration activities to cover all LRA-affected areas.
The other objectives are to promote a coordinated humanitarian and child protection response in these areas, and to support LRA-affected governments in the fields of peacebuilding, human rights, rule of law and development, to enable them to establish State authority across their territories.
In relation to the first objective, in September the United Nations welcomed the handover of 2,500 soldiers – 2,000 from the Uganda People’s Defence Force and 500 from the Sudan People’s Liberation Army – to the AU regional task force established to hunt down LRA members.
In his remarks to the Council meeting today, Mr. Moussa stated that a critical element for the advent of sustainable peace and security in Central Africa is sub-regional integration. He noted that UNOCA has continued to work closely with the Economic Community of Central African States (ECCAS), the Economic and Monetary Community of Central Africa (known by the French acronym CEMAC) and other sub-regional bodies, as well as the high-level political authorities of the sub-region in the pursuit of that goal.
The Special Representative said that while the overall peace and security situation in the region remains stable and significant progress has been registered in curbing the activities of “armed groups and negative forces,” Central Africa continues to experience some challenges in this area.
“Violence perpetrated by armed groups, including in eastern [DR] Congo and countries affected by the Lord’s Resistance Army, and a number of other developments with regional and cross-border consequences greatly challenge our efforts to promote sustainable peace and stability in the sub-region,” he said, noting, however, that, as mentioned in the Secretary-General’s latest report on the topic, there is also good news, particularly on the economic front with countries continuing to register significant growth rates.
The UN envoy noted that there is increasing confidence being placed in the world body’s conflict prevention work – particularly that of UNOCA – by regional actors in Central Africa, including Governments, regional organizations, political leaders and representatives of civil society.
“Our growing interactions with those actors and, above all, their multiple requests for support show that there is a growing appreciation that establishing a regional political office in Central Africa was both useful and timely,” Mr. Moussa said. “They increasingly acknowledge that the creation of UNOCA has filled a preventive-diplomacy gap.”
The requests received by UNOCA have covered areas such as mediation and facilitation of dialogue between opposition political parties and those in government, support for capacity building for regional organizations, mobilization of support and resources from the international community for actors in the sub-region and facilitation of workshops, seminars and training.
“Another example of political commitment at the highest level demonstrated by regional leaders is reflected in the ongoing efforts to organize a regional summit on piracy and armed robbery at sea in the Gulf of Guinea,” Mr. Moussa said, noting the efforts of UNOCA and the UN Office for West Africa (UNOWA) to help prepare a regional summit of heads of state and government of the Gulf of Guinea, as requested in a Council resolution in late February.
In addition to citing other examples of the level of political engagement and commitment among Central Africa’s political leadership on regional issues of peace and security, the Special Representative noted the “critical challenges” impacting upon the effectiveness of combined regional efforts in Central Africa.
“With increasing and competing priorities in the pursuit of its mandate, there is a clear disparity between resources available to UNOCA and tasks that it is required to perform,” Mr. Moussa added. “This is all the more so as expectations from regional actors continue to grow regarding the potential role of UNOCA in addressing some of the peace and security challenges facing the subregion.”
News Tracker: past stories on this issue | <urn:uuid:6a86f2e1-109d-4bb0-8e7d-7ede3cb01af5> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.un.org/apps/news/story.asp?NewsID=43805&Cr=LRA&Cr1= | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368702448584/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516110728-00014-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.954233 | 1,323 | 1.539063 | 2 |
Shortly before Christmas 1933 in Depression-scarred Canton, Ohio, a small newspaper ad offered cash gifts to seventy-five families in distress. Readers were asked to send letters describing their hardships to a benefactor calling himself Mr. B. Virdot. The author’s grandfather, Sam Stone, was inspired to place this ad and help his fellow Cantonians as they prepared for the cruelest Christmas most of them would ever endure.
Moved by the stories of suffering and hope in the letters, which he discovered in a suitcase seventy-five years later, Ted Gup first set out to unveil the lives behind them, searching for records and relatives to flesh out the family sagas hinted at in those letters. From these sources, Gup has re-created the impact that B. Virdot’s gift had on each family.
But as he uncovered the suffering and triumphs of dozens of strangers, Gup also learned that Sam Stone was far more complex than the lovable-retiree persona he’d always shown his grandson. Gup solves a singular family mystery even as he pulls away the veil of eight decades that separate us from the hardships that united America during the Depression.
Ted Gup|Mark Deakins
About Ted Gup
Ted Gup is a legendary investigative reporter who worked under Bob Woodward at the Washington Post, and later at Time. He is a recipient of numerous awards, including the the George Polk Award and the Worth Bingham Prize. The author of The Book of Honor, Gup is a professor of journalism at Case Western Reserve University.
About Mark Deakins
Mark Deakins’ television appearances include Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Star Trek: Voyager. His film credits include The Devil’s Advocate and Star Trek®: Insurrection. He is the writer, director, and producer of the short film The Smith Interviews. | <urn:uuid:f67f886e-256a-4c66-a07b-e932c4117938> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.randomhouse.com/book/196751/a-secret-gift-by-ted-gup/9780307578044 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368703298047/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516112138-00028-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.971059 | 390 | 1.640625 | 2 |
Michael Ordman highlights Israel's latest achievements in the fields of technology, health, business, co-existence and building the Jewish State...
Fri,May 24,2013 15 Sivan 5773
Having just returned home to Israel from a brief visit to a wintry Europe, I can see that it is not just the weather that is brighter here. The latest innovative developments and research from the Jewish State have really boosted Israel’s role as a ‘light’ to the nations.
On my return flight to Tel Aviv was a friend whom I hadn’t seen for some 40 years. He had made Aliya several decades ago and graduated from the Hebrew University and Weizmann. He now works for Israeli bio-tech Kamada who coincidentally had just announced the latest results of its trial of the protein Alpha-1 Antitrypsin (AAT). This active ingredient in Kamada’s Glassia medication has already been proved able to treat emphysema, lung infections and prevent implant rejection. Now the wonder drug shows that it can halt the progression of juvenile diabetes. In another trial, Israel’s Atox Bio announced the success of its AB103 treatment of Necrotizing Soft Tissue Infections (NSTI). NSTIs are life threatening bacterial infections with significant morbidity and high mortality rate.
Whilst I was in the UK, I was pleased to read more media publicity for Technion’s breakthrough technology that uses stem cells from a patient’s own skin to regenerate damaged heart muscle tissue. Meanwhile, Technion’s Dr Sarit Sivan won Europe’s Marie Curie prize in the 'Innovation and Entrepreneurship' category. She has developed an innovative treatment for lower back pain resulting from the degeneration of discs in the spinal column. Hebrew University researchers have been working on the brain and have proved that we are able to solve maths problems and read phrases unconsciously. Over at Bar Ilan University, Professor Michal Ben-Shachar has identified that complex changes occur in brain connections, as children learn how to read.
We hope that at least these eight Gaza children will grow to appreciate the Jewish State that saved their lives. Haifa’s Rambam Medical Center is taking care of a baby girl from Gaza in the nephrology department and two other children in oncology. At Tel Hashomer a Gaza girl is in the same ward as a boy injured from a Hamas rocket. And thanks to the Israeli charity Save a Child’s Heart 11-year-old Mohamed Ashgar, six-year-old Salah and twin babies Remas, and Leen all from Gaza are at Wolfson Medical Centre having heart surgery and follow-up care. I wasn’t surprised that the UK media ignored reporting on the hundreds of Israeli trucks loaded with food and medical supplies that entered Gaza even while terrorists fired similar numbers of rockets at Israeli civilians. Israel provided Gazans with five million cubic meters of water and 125 megawatts of electricity from the power station in Ashkelon to keep the lights on throughout Operation Pillar of Defense.
The light has really been shining at several locations in Israel. Three new thermo-solar energy plants are being built in Israel. Israel Corporation is to build a 60MW solar power station at Kibbutz Mashabei Sadeh in the Negev. It comes hot on the heels of announcements of a 120MW thermo-solar energy project at Kibbutz Zeelim nearby and agreement on a 121MW facility at Ashelim. Israeli researchers have really seen the light with Ben-Gurion University scientists designing a radically new concentrator solar cell that could become the most efficient solar power converter ever manufactured. Whilst over at Israel’s Technion a project team is developing a solution that traps the sun’s rays in solar cells and then uses it to split water molecules into hydrogen and oxygen.
Some of Israel’s futuristic innovations are literally out of this world. Israel is the top country for the development of research satellites. Israel has launched 13 satellites that have collectively accumulated 66 orbiting years and achieved 100 percent orbit mission successes. And the latest deal for the commercial satellite systems of Israel’s Orbit Technologies reinforces its provision of high-speed broadband communications to billions of people. Back on Earth, Israel’s Advanced Mem-Tech has a solution to the shortfall in global water supplies. Using technology from Israel’s Technion, it has developed a “high permeability” polymer membrane filter that requires far less energy than existing membranes.
The lights will continue to shine in Israel for many years, thanks to our new natural gas resources. The latest discovery - the Karish 1 prospect, offshore from Nahariya, has approximately two trillion cubic feet of gas. Then a very strange comment made by senior Turkish official Mithat Rende may signify a thaw in relations with Israel. “Construction of a pipeline to Turkey is the best way to export Israeli gas”. Remarks by the Turkish government during the recent Gaza conflict were also noticeably restrained.
So as the festival of Hanukah approaches, there is definitely light at the end of the tunnel.
Michael Ordman writes a free weekly newsletter containing Good News stories about Israel.
To subscribe, email a request to [email protected] | <urn:uuid:0cc3fda8-4866-4a9a-960d-84ef5ef07d87> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://blogs.jpost.com/content/future-bright | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368704392896/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516113952-00002-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.937319 | 1,106 | 1.570313 | 2 |
Second Team, Catcher, Buddy Rosar
Warren Vincent "Buddy" Rosar (July 3, 1914 in Buffalo, New York March 13, 1994 in Rochester, New York), was an American professional baseball player. He played in Major League Baseball as a catcher from 1939 to 1951 for the New York Yankees, Cleveland Indians, Philadelphia Athletics, and Boston Red Sox. Rosar was regarded as an excellent defensive catcher, setting a record for consecutive games without an error by a catcher.
Rosar was first discovered in 1934 when he was chosen to play in an All-Star game for Buffalo, New York amateur baseball players. The wife of New York Yankees manager, Joe McCarthy, attended the game and was so impressed with Rosar's catching ability that she told her husband about him. McCarthy sent Yankees' scout, Gene McCann to look at Rosar before the team signed him as an amateur free agent. He played for the 1937 Newark Bears team that won the International League pennant by 25½ games to become known as one of the best minor league teams of all time. Rosar hit .387 with the Bears in 1938 to win the International League batting championship.
Rosar made his major league debut with the Yankees on April 29, 1939 at the age of 24. From 1939 to 1942, he served as the Yankees' back up catcher to the future Hall of Fame inductee Bill Dickey. By the middle of the 1940 season, Rosar was out-hitting Dickey with a .343 batting average compared to Dickey's .226 average although, he appeared in only half as many games as, the Yankees were reluctant to relegate Dickey to second string status. On July 19, 1940, he hit for the cycle in a game against the Cleveland Indians. Rosar appeared in 73 games in 1940 and set career-highs with a .298 batting average and a .357 on base percentage. In 1941, he hit well above .300 until the final month of the season before tapering off to end the year with a .287 average in 67 games as, the Yankees won the American League pennant by 17 games over the Boston Red Sox. Rosar made only one appearance in the 1941 World Series as a late-inning defensive replacement for Dickey in Game 2 as, the Yankees went on to defeat the Brooklyn Dodgers in five games.
Despite being a second string catcher, American League managers chose Rosar to be a reserve player in the 1942 All-Star Game over all other starting catchers in the league, with the exception of Birdie Tebbetts of the Detroit Tigers, who was selected to start the game. In July, 1942, Rosar asked Yankees manager, Joe McCarthy, for permission to travel to Buffalo to take examinations to join the Buffalo police force and, to be with his wife who was about to have a baby. McCarthy refused to allow him to leave because Dickey was sidelined with an injury leaving only unseasoned rookie catcher Eddie Kearse available but, Rosar decided to leave without permission. When he returned to the club three days later, he found that McCarthy had replaced him with Rollie Hemsley and sent Kearse to the minor leagues, relegating Rosar to third-string catcher. Rosar had been seen as a successor to the aging Dickey but, after flaunting the authority of the Yankees management, he would be traded to the Cleveland Indians by the end of the season.
Although Indians manager, Lou Boudreau, named Gene Desautels as the Indians starting catcher at the beginning of the 1943 season, by the middle of the year Rosar was among the league leaders in hitting with a .313 average. He was recognised by being named to his second All-Star team as a reserve in the 1943 All-Star Game. He ended the season with a .283 batting average and 41 runs batted in. He also led American League catchers in assists and in baserunners caught stealing. In 1944, Rosar was assigned to a war job in Buffalo, New York before being transferred to another war job in Cleveland, leaving him available part time to the Indians. He was again hitting among the league leaders with a .324 average in June before fading to finish the year with a .263 batting average. After two seasons with the Indians, Rosar refused to play at the beginning of the 1945 season because of a salary dispute. The Indians responded by trading Rosar to the Philadelphia Athletics for catcher Frankie Hayes on May 29, 1945.
Rosar had one of his best seasons in the major leagues with Connie Mack's Philadelphia Athletics in 1946, hitting for a .283 batting average and posted career-highs with 120 hits and 48 runs batted in. He led American League catchers in assists, runners caught stealing, and fielding percentage, setting a record for errorless games by a catcher, posting a 1.000 fielding percentage in 117 games played as a catcher. The next year he extended his perfect play to 147 games and, was selected to be the starting catcher for the American League in the 1947 All-Star Game. The errorless games record has since been broken by several players.
Rosar was hitting for just a .216 batting average by mid-season in 1948 however, his defensive reputation won him the fans' vote as the American League's starting catcher in the 1948 All-Star Game. During a three-season period between 1946 and 1948, Rosar committed only three errors. By 1949, Mike Guerra had taken over as the Athletics starting catcher and, Rosar would be traded to the Boston Red Sox in October 1949. With the Red Sox, he was the third string catcher behind Birdie Tebbetts and Matt Batts in 1950 and then to Les Moss in 1951 before being released in October 1951.
In 13 seasons, Rosar played in 988 games, with 836 hits for a .261 career batting average, along with 18 home runs and 367 runs batted in. Despite his relatively low offensive statistics, Rosar's defensive skills earned him a place on the American League All-Star team five times during his career. Rosar led all American League catchers in fielding percentage four years (1944, 19461948). He also led the league three times in assists, twice in baserunners caught stealing and once in caught stealing percentage. His 54.47% career caught stealing percentage ranks him third all-time behind only Roy Campanella and Gabby Hartnett.
Rosar caught two no hitter games in his career, pitched by Dick Fowler in 1945, and Bill McCahan in 1947. He has the best ratio of double plays to errors of any catcher in major league history. Rosar holds the 20th Century career record for fewest passed balls per games caught (0.0300) with only 28 miscues in 934 games as catcher. Rosar's .992 career fielding percentage was 10 points higher than the league average during his playing career, and at the time of his retirement in 1951, was the highest for a catcher in major league history.
After Rosar's baseball career, he was employed as an engineer at a Ford plant near his hometown of Buffalo.
Batting average .261
Runs batted in 367
New York Yankees (19391942)
Cleveland Indians (19431944)
Philadelphia Athletics (19451949)
Boston Red Sox (19501951)
Career highlights and awards
5Χ All-Star (1942, 1943, 1946, 1947, 1948)
2Χ World Series champion (1939, 1941) | <urn:uuid:23cdedfb-c999-4b5e-9fd5-c760f53b6a7b> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://baseballnation.net/showthread.php?4459-Bill-James-AL-1940-1949-All-Decade-Team/page3 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368703298047/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516112138-00022-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.973285 | 1,546 | 1.726563 | 2 |
How big can a laptop screen get? The Sony PCG-GRX570 PC is the first mainstream portable using a 16.1-inch LCD, with a dazzling 1,600-by-1,200 (UXGA) resolution. That gives it the same screen real estate as a 17-inch desktop CRT monitor. Think of it as a weighty9.6 pounds, including the brick-sized AC adaptermobile graphics workhorse.
For projector-free presentations, the unit is a killer machine. It's all you need to present a high-impact demo before a half-dozen people in a small conference room. Other likely candidates are Web designers, desktop publishing pros, and gamers who want to take their PC with them occasionally.
For everyday Windows tasks, we're a little less sanguine. A UXGA resolution on a 16.1-inch monitor can be hard on the eyes. While it's possible to zoom the size of the system fonts, Windows doesn't manage scaling at all well.
Other performance was top-notch, as you'd expect from a system with a 1.6-GHz Pentium 4 CPU, 512MB of DDR memory, a 40GB hard drive, and an ATI Mobility Radeon 7500 graphics subsystem with 32MB of video DDR SDRAM. The BatteryMark score was 2 hours 14 minutes, and you can double that by replacing the optical drive with a second battery.
We were surprised to see what was missing, starting with wireless Ethernet. The Sony spokesperson said there wasn't enough room in the chassis. Also missing are an internal floppy disk drive, dual pointing devices, and the PS/2 keyboard/mouse ports. Sony did find room for a Memory Stick slot, along with three USB 1.1 ports, an IEEE 1394 (iLINK) port, and a TV-out port.
In an era of little free software, the system is a refreshing contrast, with Microsoft Word 2002 and 13 movie, TV, music, and photo programs, including Adobe Premiere LE for video editing and Photoshop Elements for still-photo editing.
For those who need the biggest screen possible in a portable computer, the Sony PCG-GRX-570 series is the current champion. | <urn:uuid:939498fb-cf59-406a-9acc-52faeb7d7394> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,6069,00.asp | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368702448584/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516110728-00042-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.93224 | 457 | 1.578125 | 2 |
The Americans will discover, as the British learned to their cost in Basra, that they have few permanent allies
A Good Article Which Sheds Light On Why US Casualties Are Way Down; No it is Not the Surge.
By Patrick Cockburn
"As British forces come to the end of their role in Iraq, what sort of country do they leave behind? Has the United States turned the tide in Baghdad? Does the fall in violence mean that the country is stabilising after more than four years of war? Or are we seeing only a temporary pause in the fighting?......
.....The Sunni war against US occupation had gone surprisingly well for them since it began in 2003. It was a second war, the one against the Shia majority led by al-Qa'ida, which the Sunni were losing, with disastrous results for themselves. "The Sunni people now think they cannot fight two wars – against the occupation and the government – at the same time," a Sunni friend in Baghdad told me last week. "We must be more realistic and accept the occupation for the moment."....
In the wake of this defeat, there was less and less point in the Sunni trying expel the Americans when the Sunni community was itself being evicted by the Shia from large parts of Iraq. The Iraqi Sunni leaders had also miscalculated that an assault on their community by the Shia would provoke Arab Sunni states like Saudi Arabia and Egypt into giving them more support but this never materialised......
.....Many of the Sunni fighters say openly that they see the elimination of al Qai'ida as a preliminary to an attack on the Shia militias, notably the Mehdi Army of Muqtada al-Sadr, which triumphed last year......"
Unfortunately, and because of the shortsightedness of so many Iraqis, what is happening appears to be a spectacular success of the doctrine of divide and conquer. Instead of all Iraqis fighting the occupier (which they did successfully in 1920), they are taking turns in fighting each other, with full support from the occupier.
First Al-Qaida against the Shiites, next the Sunni resistance against Al-Qaida, next the Ba'th splitting into two camps: one favoring negotiations with the occupier and the second refusing, next the Sunni resistance forgetting about the occupier (and that is why US casualties are way down) and going back to fighting the Shiites. All along the Kurds have been working for the occupier and for Mossad.
The picture, in the short term, is discouraging. | <urn:uuid:6807ac63-43a2-4875-8586-420ddd4b9c09> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://palestinianpundit.blogspot.com/2007/12/only-one-thing-unites-iraq-hatred-of-us.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368702810651/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516111330-00009-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.971827 | 514 | 1.625 | 2 |
5 Popular Facebook Scams (and How to Avoid Them)
Just as bearded hipsters migrate from bar to bar in pursuit of young ladies to ogle, so too have scammers and hackers followed their prey from MySpace to Facebook. As a result, the social network once deemed the "safe" option is now plagued by legions of 419 scammers, phishers, and peddlers of malware.
Fortunately, there are a few simple rules Facebookers can follow to stay safe: Never click on suspicious links from friends; use a service like LongURL before following any shortened links; and assume that anyone begging for money is up to no good. And if you do happen to fall victim to a scam, quickly alert your friends (to prevent spreading the damage), then alert Facebook administrators and, if it's serious, law enforcement as well.
Since a reputable source once counseled that knowing is half the battle, here's a rundown of the Facebook scams most demanding of your awareness and good judgment:
1) The friendly 419 scam:
The notorious 419 scams have sadly become ubiquitous on the Internet. While they began as e-mail cons, usually involving promises of a vast fortune from a Nigerian prince, they have morphed into a new and more sophisticated ploy that involves hijacking the Facebook account of a friend in order to fool kind souls into thinking they're helping a pal. Thieves use an account to garner sympathy as they claim to be in desperate need of cash, often because they've been robbed or detained while traveling abroad. One duped Missouri woman wound up handing over $4,000 before she realized she'd been had.
2) Hidden fee apps:
There are plenty of Facebook apps and quizzes with questionable motives and privacy policies, but there are some that are outright scams. Take, for instance, the sad tale of Leanne Saylor, who fell prey to scammers after taking a simple IQ quiz on the service. To receive her results, she was required to submit her cell phone number and wait for a text. When she didn't receive anything, Saylor entered her phone number two more times. When she opened her next cell phone bill, she discovered three charges from the app, totaling a whopping $44. AT&T blocked future fees, but Saylor learned the hard way that she should never give out her cell phone number to strangers, much less strange apps.
3) Fake login pages:
A particularly sneaky method of ensnaring Facebookers lies in the loads of phishing messages that lead to convincing-but-fake versions of the Facebook login page. Typically, these spam e-mails are brief and contain a link, usually ending in ".im" or ".at." (We received one that simply read, "Look at goodmall.be.") Once you enter your e-mail and password to 'log in,' it's game over; a hacker has control of your account and will quickly use it to perpetrate any one of the scams listed here. What's worse, they'll impersonate you to spread phishing e-mails to all of your friends.
4) Malware links:
Once an account is hijacked, it can be used to deluge that account holder's friends with messages containing links to malicious sites. It's rough stuff. These poisonous software packages leave you vulnerable to the theft of even more data, including all the passwords, account numbers and credit card information you may have entered into your PC. Recently, a barrage of spam messages featuring a link to "CoooooL Video" actually led to nothing but a nasty malware infection.
5) Facebook apps that are malware:
Creating Facebook applications has become so easy that hackers have created apps with the sole aim of tricking you into handing over your personal data or Facebook password. Some versions impersonate one of the standard Facebook features, like "Your Photos" and "Friend's Gifts," and send convincing notifications, like "someone has commented on your photo," or so-and-so "has posted on your wall." But clicking on them either leads to a fake login page, or a window asking for permission to access your Facebook account. These scams are particularly tough to spot because they mimic actual Facebook notifications. The only way to protect yourself is to look for tiny inconsistencies in the false apps (e.g., odd or incorrect icons, clunky wording and poor English usage). It seems your teacher wasn't lying after all when she said learning grammar was important. | <urn:uuid:218caba0-e8b2-41ea-ab42-0a9e54fe765b> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.switched.com/2009/09/15/5-popular-facebook-scams-and-how-to-avoid-them/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368705195219/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516115315-00005-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.942964 | 910 | 1.601563 | 2 |
By Lee Boyce, CPT Men's Fitness
When it comes to training the abs, we have to remember that they’re indirectly involved in basically every compound or standing movement we do, to varying degrees. Knowing this, only relying on situps and crunches to train the mid-section properly just isn't going to cut it (no pun intended). Here are the 8 exercises and 4 training methods you should be adding to your ab training routine, immediately.
Method 1 – Plank More
Don’t just hold a plank for 3 minutes. Anyone can do that if they work up to it. Add an element to your plank to make it just as challenging as it was when you started doing them. Make your core stabilize loads under less bases of support.
Overlooked Exercise 1: Plate Transfer Plank
Remember to avoid “twisting” as soon as you move one arm off the ground. Use weights no heavier than 5 lbs each. Keep the stomach tight and focus on getting all the plates back to the starting point (like you see in the video) before taking a break. Rest for 5 seconds between rounds, and perform 3 rounds. That’s one set.
Method 2 – Focus on Trunk Flexion
Exercises like crunches and sit ups promote poor posture that we put ourselves into all day long. It’s important to think of keeping our ribcage in the same place when we do exercises that involve an abdominal “crunching” motion.
Overlooked Exercise 2: Hanging Leg Raises
Hang off a pull up bar with a grip wider than shoulder width. Keep the legs close to one another, and bring the knees up as close to elbow level as possible. This exercise is made more effective if you keep a bent elbow position (like a halfway-chin up) while performing the movement. Return to the starting position in a slow and controlled fashion – this is the part of the rep where the abs really work hard, so keep it slow. Focus on sets of 6-8 reps.
Method 3 – Carry More
Loaded carries (farmers walk, fireman’s carries, etc) are awesome exercises to promote core strength and stability. When we make the load one sided however, the game changes…
Overlooked Exercise 3: Suitcase Deadlift
Align yourself beside the loaded barbell, and assume starting deadlift position. Reach down and apply a firm grip around the centre of the bar. Lift the bar by driving through the heels and maintaining a flat back. Make sure you don’t lean to the side of the barbell and let it “pull you down”. Hold tall at the top for a 2 second count, and work to feel your abs and obliques going nuts to keep you upright. Focus on sets of 8 to 10 reps per side.
Method 4 – Lift Big
As I mentioned earlier, neglecting large, compound movements will, as a by-product, neglect the core. Being confined to a seat or a bench will not challenge the abdominals to pull their own weight. Knowing this, it would be a smart move to ditch the machines and let the large, barbell movements regain their place as pinnacle in your strength training program.
Overlooked Exercises 4, 5, 6, 7, 8: Squat, Deadlift, Overhead Squat, Pull Ups and Standing Press
All of these exercises have some things in common. Firstly, they’re all vertical movements – they involve movement from down low to up high, or vice versa. This means the abs and back have to work hard to deal with stabilizing the spine. Second, these exercises will result in really poor performances if your core isn’t strong as a bull. Do them, and they’ll do wonders for getting your strength up.
Never Forget: It's About Diet
If you’re looking for the cosmetic appeal, you can do all the core strength and isolation training in the world – it won’t affect what your stomach looks like. That’s where your diet comes into play. Eat clean meals that are high in protein, and low in carbs. Keep sugars to a minimum and avoid sweet drinks. Controlling these factors will get rid of the bloat and lower the presence of a “spare tire”. Soon your 6 pack will look as good as it feels. Use all these tricks of the trade to revamp your core training starting today. | <urn:uuid:27680286-bb03-4eff-a323-0914f9d7efe1> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://anabolicminds.com/forum/content/uncommon-ab-exercises-2140/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368699273641/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516101433-00014-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.93648 | 938 | 1.507813 | 2 |
Outreach Ministry of Legacy Builders Church
"MAKING GRAND PRAIRIE A BETTER PLACE TO LIVE"
Enjoy the pictures of Back 2 School Outreach!
Jesus tells us that you are the salt of the earth:
Salt is used as a preserving agent to prevent things from remaining fruitless.
The way to determine if your life is salty is if people get thirsty when they are in your presence.
In the same verse, Jesus tells us that you are the light of the world:
The purpose for light is to shine.
The world needs your light to shine in order to overpower darkness:
Since its inception, Legacy Builders Church has purposed to be the salt of the earth and the light of the world to the residents in Grand Prairie by displaying the unconditional love of Christ through our acts of kindness programs. As a result, kids program have been developed that train students on the importance of making good decisions in life.
Through our community efforts many families have received school supplies, food, clothing, and guidance that has enabled lives to be changed and dreams to come true!
LEGACY BUILDERS CHURCH IS COMMITTED TO MAKE GRAND PRAIRIE A BETTER PLACE TO LIVE! | <urn:uuid:1d56b30b-3779-40cb-9ad5-f8178b232858> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.legacybuilderschurch.com/ministries_view.asp?subministryid=7245 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368703682988/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516112802-00019-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.934748 | 257 | 1.625 | 2 |
Tennessee has a lot going for it. Our state enjoys the built-in advantages of a mild climate and stunning natural beauty. We also have the hard-earned benefits of solid economic development -- despite the recession and the painfully slow recovery nationwide. And we have intangible characteristics such as a strong volunteer spirit and friendly residents.
Tennesseans are proud of those qualities and many more traits that set the state apart.
But it would be neither honest nor productive to pretend that Tennessee has no room for improvement on the troubling issues of violent crime and the use of illegal drugs.
Some high-ranking state law enforcement and other officials recently spelled out a number of the challenges we face:
• Tennessee's rate of violent crime from 2005 to 2010 was much higher than the national average -- about 613 violent crimes per 100,000 people in Tennessee, compared with about 404 per 100,000 people nationwide.
• Tennessee has the fifth-highest rate in the nation of domestic homicides.
• Victims of domestic violence made up slightly more than half of all reported violent crimes in the state in 2010.
• In 1999, 5 percent of the Tennesseans who were getting treatment funded by the state Department of Mental Health were abusing prescription pain relievers. But by 2009, that figure had skyrocketed to 23 percent.
• The abuse and trafficking of prescription drugs and the production, sale and use of methamphetamine are now a greater challenge in Tennessee than marijuana, cocaine and other illegal drugs.
• The recidivism rate for adults in the state is almost 47 percent. That is to say, about 47 percent of adults who are convicted of one crime are then convicted of a new crime within three years of their release from incarceration or supervision.
Behind these statistics are thousands of broken lives, not to mention enormous costs for prosecution, incarceration and treatment -- costs borne largely by taxpayers.
So at Gov. Bill Haslam's behest, a large panel made up of representatives of state agencies ranging from the Department of Children's Services to the Department of Safety and Homeland Security has come up with legislative proposals and an action plan to address these painful issues.
Here are a few facets of the panel's and Haslam's sensible goals:
• A regularly updated Internet database to track prescriptions and make it harder for drug abusers to go from doctor to doctor seeking more drugs.
• Reduced production of methamphetamine through use of a database to block improper sales of a key ingredient in meth.
• Reduced gang crime through tougher penalties for violent crimes that involve at least three defendants.
• A more seamless, streamlined system of moving inmates through the justice system so offenders are less likely to fall through the cracks or game the system.
• Assured jail time for repeat domestic violence offenders.
The legislative proposals and the action plan as a whole "can affect the quality of life" statewide, said Mark Gwyn, director of the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation.
Failing to address crime effectively means greater numbers of victims as well as serious economic development consequences.
"What companies want to relocate to a state where crime is off the charts?" Gwyn asked.
Keeping Tennessee attractive for business investment and, more importantly, protecting the safety of residents are excellent reasons to make this action plan a reality. | <urn:uuid:d39cf77a-7a59-4872-956e-005ccb1a56e6> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.timesfreepress.com/news/2012/feb/24/sensible-plan-to-fight-tennessee-crime-and-drugs/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368703298047/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516112138-00007-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.948955 | 659 | 1.757813 | 2 |
The current situation over in Iran is pretty grim, what with major countries like the United States and Europe imposing new sanctions on the Middle Eastern country. The reason? International concern over the country's nuclear program.
Because of this situation, Toyota has decided to cease exports of its vehicles to Iran. The automaker issued a statement saying that this decision was made after considering "the international environment," and that it would "continue to closely monitor the international situation."
Toyota's sales in Iran have fallen drastically over the past few years – only around 220 vehicles were sold this year, up until the company's decision to remove Iran from its export list. This is indeed quite a change, as Toyota sold nearly 4,000 vehicles in Iran just two years earlier.
Currently, no American automakers have a presence in Iran, and with Toyota moving to stop exports to the country, we'll be interested to see if other manufacturers follow suit. Currently, major European automakers like Mercedes-Benz and BMW continue to export to Iran.
[Source: CNN, BBC News] | <urn:uuid:a727ff39-dd8a-414d-a6ff-bf31b7831409> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.autoblog.com/2010/08/13/iranians-cant-buy-toyotas-anymore/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368705559639/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516115919-00037-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.963142 | 213 | 1.53125 | 2 |
Growing up in a rural area, I also appreciate the diverse nature of India, from the lush backwaters of Kerala and mangrove forests of the Sunderbans, to the barren lands of the Thar Desert. Once people at school began seeing what types of photographs I took, I received many recommendations of more places to visit. Sometimes, it was my visitors who prompted visiting certain locations.
Some top architectural places I have seen in India: Ranakpur —marble carving masterpiece, Thanjavur and Mahabalipuram—marvels in ancient rock carving, the step wells outside Ahmedabad and Patan, the Charminar area of Hyderabad, and the palace in Mysore. Such attention to detail.They reveal the dedication of the craftsmen building the structures, the incredible wealth those societies had to fund them, how advanced many of these societies were, and the strong devotion towards religion.
I visited the Shekhawati region of Rajasthan with two good friends (and former colleagues) from Serbia during the late December 2010-early January 2011 break. We travelled up from Jaipur, to Nawalgarh, Dundlod, Mandawa, Parsurampura, Samode and Fatehpur. It was a privilege to see the beautiful frescoes and havelis of the Shekhawati region—before the frescoes fade away and building crumbles, making way for more modern buildings.
What a history those murals paint! From the depiction of Hindu gods, daily life scenes, to the depiction of modern western introductions creeping in society, such as the trains, gramophones, and airplanes. The doors and windows on some of those places were equally note-worthy. It’s unfortunate that some of these wooden masterworks are being dismantled and sold as table tops, while the buildings are locked up, falling into disrepair.
Leaving the town of Nawalgarh, we made a little side detour to Parsurampura, a little village 20 km southeast of there to see some of the region’s best preserved and oldest frescoes.
The Shamji Sharaf Haveli, dating back to the end of the 18th century, had particularly interesting motifs. Here we saw Hindu gods intermixed with images of Europeans. In one corner, a European-looking lady dressed in black clothes holding a parasol was depicted right above a local woman with a spinning wheel.
The Chhatri of Thakur Sardul Singh. From a distance, the white domed structure looked like nothing special. Looking up at its interior, we were treated to a visual feast. Dating back to the mid-18th century, the well-preserved images were painted with natural pigments – whereas most of the frescoes we had seen on buildings were done with artificial pigments.
The deep reds, rich blacks, and tans provided a harmonious color palette. Following the curved contour of the dome were incredibly detailed battle scenes of the Hindu epic Ramayana, local noblemen, and the love story of Dhola Maru.
Our objective was to visit the 19th century palace, now converted into a rather luxurious hotel. Through an archway, the reflective mirrors of the Diwan-i-Khas room sparkled, begging us to enter. Inside, we admired the mirrorwork covering most of the walls and ceiling, as well as naturalistic and figurative murals near the bottom.
The Bala Quila with its mid-19th century room filled with mirrorwork, large portraits, and painted domed ceiling. Had there not been a sign out in front of the rather plain-looking building, we would have walked past it. The Ganga Mai Temple, dating back to 1868, also has some fine floral motifs on the fluted archways of the courtyard.
Read the full feature in the Discover India segment of Prismma Magazine CLICK HERE
Melissa Enderle has spent the past four years working in India.
She has travelled to various parts of the country—exploring its various nuances and delving into the culture with great enthusiasm.
She chronicles her journeys on her popular travel blog. Here, she shares her travels through the Shekhawati region of Rajasthan with its spectacular havelis. | <urn:uuid:5d728e27-a670-4832-8f72-b6609c59a3fb> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.prismma.in/havelis-of-the-shekhawati-region-heritage-india-melissa-enderle/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368700264179/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516103104-00006-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.957903 | 892 | 1.820313 | 2 |
This weekend, I'm reposting a couple of tutorials. This one is on how to create an altered house. I developed for a blog hop I hosted a while ago. The starting point is a baggie filled with two pieces of mat board or card board (one square, one triangle), a variety of coordinating colored cardstock and patterned paper, a few images and a variety of embellishments. The rest of the tutorial describes what I did with these. Enjoy!Welcome House Party guests and anyone else interested in altered houses! Several people asked for a tutorial on making altered houses, so I thought I would walk you through the creative process I used to make this house, which I call my Beach Shack. I hope you find the tutorial useful. I started with an envelope of supplies, which included the following:
I began by looking at the supplies to decide what kind of house they suggested and whether I wanted to go with it or change it entirely. I thought these supplies suggested a beachy, funpark kind of theme, and I liked that. [If I'm starting from scratch (without a bag of supplies), I usually start with a theme in mind and pull out supplies (images, paper, embellishments) which support that theme. Or, I might start with an image that calls to me and then choose supporting papers and embellishments.] The next thing I did was to think about any of my own supplies that I might want to add - things that had a similar feel and color scheme. I pulled out a few things, including paint, ink, brads and some 1940's pictures of women in swimsuits:
From here, I basically proceeded to follow the three steps that I outlined earlier in my collage tutorial: create a background; add an image; and add embellishments. You can find that tutorial here. It's truly not so different than what your probably do in making cards or scrapbook pages.
Step 1: Background. To create a background for my house, I considered a variety of different ways to use paper and paint to cover my house. I started with these three papers:
I liked this basic approach, but I really wanted my beach shack to have a rustic feel, so I tried out my two paint colors to see if either would work:
The brown seemed too drab. I liked the blue, so painted the bottom half of the house blue. I still wanted it more rustic, so I considered using either crackle paint on top of the blue or spritzing brown ink onto the blue.
Since my crackle paint was a little dried out (and also drab), I decided to spritz the bottom with brown ink. I also used brown ink to ink the edges of all the papers and the edge of the blue. Then I glued the papers in place, and my background was done:
Step 2: Images. I decided to use two images: the elephant from the envelope and a 1940's woman doing a handstand. I double-matted the elephant, single matted the woman, and placed them on the house:
Step 3: Embellishments. When it's time to decide on embellishments, I usually try a few different variations to see what I like before I glue anything down. I used a selection of things from the envelope and from my stash for my first pass:
I thought this looked pretty good, but thought it felt a little plain still. I wanted to add something else, and I realized I hadn't used any of the cool gingham ribbon from the envelope. I tried out the idea of putting some under the roof line or maybe some squares in the lower right corner of the house:
I decided I liked it along the roofline, but not so much on the house. I decided to put some yellow brads in the lower right instead. I adhered everything to end up with this:
I liked it pretty well, but I felt like it still needed one more element in the upper left hand corner of the house. I rooted around on my desk and found a cream-colored star button with orange polka dots. The orange pulled some orange out of the elephant picture. I adhered the star with yellow brads, and my beach shack was complete! [Just to be sure it was complete, I toyed with the idea of adding something else (small shells, a flag on top, flowers), but they all made it feel cluttered.]
A few things about the design that I think work well. The color scheme followed the gallon-quart-pint formula (where you use approximately 70% of your main color - blue; approximately 25% of your supporting color - brown; and approximately 5% of your third color - yellow) which often works for me. The vertical line of the brads reflect and balance the vertical image of the woman doing the handstand (she's a friend of my Aunt's, by the way), the star with the circular brads reflect and balance the picture of the elephant on the round ball. Like many of my collages (or scrapbook pages or cards), there's a background, a title (live simply) and then three embellishments (tickets, star and brads). Everything (color, images, embellies) supports the theme of a Beach Shack. I've never studied design, but I think this is why the house works for me to feel balanced and complete. Usually when I'm creating, I don't think consciously about any of these design principles, but I can look at the completed product and describe them (and I find it an interesting exercise). If I'm struggling with a project, then I usually try to think about design principles to find out what is or is not working.
I didn't use everything that came in the envelope or that I pulled out. Here's what I had left over (it's probably enough for another house - LOL!):
A few additional thoughts. There were other directions to go with the background and embellishments. For instance, I considered painting the roof brown or using a brown paper on the roof piece and then cutting some of the flowers out of the patterned paper to decorate it. I also thought about cutting out some of the compass designs and using those as part of the background on the house or cutting little triangular flags out of the yellow paper. Any of these could have worked. Second, if the theme suggested by the supplies in the envelope doesn't speak to you, feel free to substitute for any or all of the supplies. Third, just play with the embellishments until you find something you like. As Paul Gardner said, "A painting is never finished. It simply stops in interesting places." I love my beach shack. I think it's an interesting place to stop and spend a few moments. It might even be a fun place to have a house party . . .
I hope you found this tutorial useful. If so, I'd love feedback as to what was helpful. If not, polite suggestions as to what to add or delete are always welcome. Party on! | <urn:uuid:fdc4d3ff-fcbe-4438-9ac0-a2393361296e> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://gallorganico.blogspot.jp/2011/11/thanksgiving-tutorial-repost-altered.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368710006682/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516131326-00013-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.971992 | 1,453 | 1.71875 | 2 |
This weekend, one of college football's great rivalry games will actually have a win-or-go-home result of national importance. Savor it, because it's not likely to happen much anymore.
On Saturday, Notre Dame, the last remaining undefeated major college team—it is ranked No. 1 in the nation for the first time since 1993—meets the University of Southern California at the Los Angeles Coliseum. If the Fighting Irish win, their path to the Bowl Championship Series game in Miami in January is virtually assured. USC has underperformed all year and its starting quarterback is injured, but the athletic Trojans still have a shot to play spoiler.
Yet increasingly, today's rivalries are going the way of ancient feuds like last weekend's Harvard-Yale and Lehigh-Lafayette contests, or the Army-Navy game coming up Dec 8. Historic—but more rarely deciding anything definitive. Others are mismatches.
Now the focus of the sport is shifting to next weekend, and the conference championship games, which are about as traditional as Tofurkey at Thanksgiving. All of this is part of a battle for the soul of college football, which each year looks more like every other sport in the U.S. The trend is toward bracketed, moneymaking, attention-grabbing tournaments. Every year a little bit of the traditional tribal passion is pushed to the sidelines.
Revered rivalries, such as Nebraska-Oklahoma and Texas-Arkansas, are gone, victims of the money-fueled game of musical chairs known as conference realignment. Realignment spelled the end last year of Kansas and Missouri's 120-year contest known as the "Border War." The same fate befell Texas-Texas A&M, a battle that dates to the 19th century. Both would have taken place this weekend.
Dan Jenkins, veteran Texas sportswriter, said there are politicians in his state who want the Aggies-Longhorns game back: "But the two schools don't need the money, and they will both tell you that they have enough tough games on their schedules right now—why add another one?"
Indeed, there are classic matchups over this Thanksgiving weekend, including Michigan-Ohio State and Alabama-Auburn, in the "Iron Bowl," a near-religious fixation for residents of that state. Then there's Florida-Florida State, Arizona-Arizona State and Oregon-Oregon State, in the game known as the "Civil War."
But looming larger are next week's games, when Georgia and Alabama likely will play for the right to meet Notre Dame in January. If Oregon were to happen to get into the Pac-12 championship and win decisively, it could put itself back into the picture, too.
Three constituencies have arrayed against the old guard—a new generation of fans, schools with upstart teams now challenging the perennial powers, and TV-oriented executives who dream of a broad national following and the lucrative deals that would result from that.
A new world order is coming: In 2014 the NCAA will institute a four-team playoff, culminating in the crowning of a national champion, which will trump all polls and debates. "We're chipping away at what makes college football unique," said Bill Martin, the former athletic director at the University of Michigan.
Rivalry games won't die. Regional hysteria will abide, marching bands will play and body paint will be applied. In 2010, an Alabama fan distraught over his team's loss to Auburn, poisoned two historic trees on the Auburn campus. But in previous generations, the nation stopped to watch end-of-season No. 1-vs.-No. 2 battles between Texas and Arkansas, or Nebraska and Oklahoma.
The demise of those games, and an increasingly competitive college football landscape, in which schools like Boise State and Kansas State can play with the big boys, shifts the emphasis to winning the conference championship games. Those games are a 1990s creation that take place after the regular season. Because they're played after the rivalry games, they almost always have more impact on who plays for the national championship and the postseason bowl-game lineup than the traditional rivalries that used to end the season.
The shift is clear, creating an existential crisis among the faithful. Few people embody this conflict more than Mike Golic, a sports-radio host and former NFL lineman, who was a captain at Notre Dame in 1984. In a fit of pregame excitement 28 years ago, he smashed a ceramic Trojan horse on the stage during his pep-rally speech before the showdown with USC. A part of Golic's soul dies each time a traditional rivalry ends. But he also can't wait for the new playoff.
"You hate losing the rivalries, and that's the dark side of all this realignment, which we probably haven't seen the end of," Golic said. "But it all happens in the name of the almighty dollar."
For nearly a century, college football clung to an arcane competition structure. Until 1968, the Associated Press almost always named its so-called national champion before the postseason bowl games. In 1984, Brigham Young University went undefeated and was named national champion without playing in a competitive postseason bowl, because it played in the low-profile Western Athletic Conference. Some years ended with different teams atop the rankings in separate polls, allowing for both to claim the mythical title of "national champion." It led to robust barroom arguments, but Americans tend to prefer unambiguous winners.
For the 1992 season, the leaders of several of the major bowls and conferences began to impose order to the system by agreeing to a structure that increased the likelihood of the two top-ranked teams meeting in a championship game. Those efforts have strengthened during the past 20 years, partly at the behest of television executives looking to expand audiences they say demand a definitive and dramatic playoff. Conferences expanded, then separated teams into divisions and birthed the championship games that will be played next week.
It's a structure that every U.S. sport has largely conformed to of late. A regular season is followed by a playoff and a climactic final. For most sports, conforming has meant simply expanding postseason competition, or creating some stakes, however inorganic, where none had previously existed. (Nascar has its "Chase to the Sprint Cup"; golf, the FedEx Cup.)
But for college football, that shift strikes at the heritage and grandeur that are the heart of the institution, much of which was packed into the season's final weekend of traditional rivalries. Jay Coulter, an Alabama-based recruiting manager for a life-insurance company who also runs a blog covering Auburn football, said he knows plenty of people who would rather beat Alabama than win a national championship. "Some people would say we're screwed up in the head," Coulter said of that odd order of priorities. "We're a little different down here."
Coulter is also the sort of fan who for the past 25 years has roped off his tailgating/parking spot behind Samford Hall on the Auburn campus the day before every Saturday home game using stakes and orange tape. He typically arrives by 7 a.m. Saturday, and sets up his tents and grills and television sets, even if the game doesn't begin until nightfall.
For Coulter, Saturday's Iron Bowl is a chance, however remote, for Auburn to salvage an awful 3-8 season by ending Alabama's hopes to make the national championship game. The Crimson Tide is currently ranked No. 2.
Some 600 miles north, Michigan fans suffering through another disappointing season (8-3, which sounds better than it is) are hoping to knock off undefeated Ohio State in a contest known simply as "The Game." The Buckeyes can't play postseason football because of NCAA violations.
Meanwhile in Florida, fans will converge in Tallahassee for the showdown between the Florida Gators and Florida State Seminoles, ranked fourth and 10th respectively. Both teams are likely out of the running for the national championship, and Florida can't make the SEC title game, making the 57th meeting between the two schools the biggest of the year for the teams and their fans. "It's devastation if you lose," said John Morgan, an Orlando trial lawyer and Florida alumnus who sent four children there. His home-game routine is sharing some grilled alligator with his friends in the stadium parking lot. "If you're having a bad season and you win, it tends to make everything right."
Rivalry games are selling tools. Each school has its top recruits in the stadium. Some watch from the sidelines. The great fear is that a loss, or a string of losses, will tilt a top player to the most hated foe. In 2008, the once-heralded quarterback Terrelle Pryor chose Ohio State over Michigan in the middle of Ohio State's six-game winning streak over their archrivals.
Given all that passion, one might think college football would do everything to preserve it. But the theme of big-time sports the past quarter century is that more is better, especially when it comes to television money. The new TV contract for the football playoff is likely to be worth as much as $7 billion during the next decade.
The test of whether that investment is worthwhile will be if the regional passion can continue to evolve into national obsession. The traditional rivalries clearly have their enduring appeal. But the tide appears to be turning. Population growth and the growing popularity of football, especially among young African-American children, have fostered a boom in talent. Now there are enough good players to build quality teams at Florida and Alabama, but also at Boise State and Kansas State, the season's biggest surprise.
In addition, the conference championships have become true crowd-pleasers. The Michigan-Ohio State game has averaged an impressive 7.6 million viewers the past five years, but 7.8 million viewers watched the inaugural Big Ten championship game in 2011 between Michigan State and Wisconsin, according to Nielsen, the media-research firm.
Alabama and Auburn's Iron Bowl has averaged 8.6 million viewers the past four years, another impressive figure considering both teams hail from the country's 23rd largest state. But the Southeastern Conference championship game has averaged about 12.9 million viewers since 2007. In 2008 and 2009 the game brought together the top two teams in the country, Alabama and Florida. Some 15.2 million people watched the 2008 contest, while 18 million watched the rematch in 2009.
As storied as the rivalry between USC and Notre Dame has been, the games have averaged about 4.7 million viewers the past four years. Given Notre Dame's appeal, Saturday's game should be substantially higher. Still, the inaugural Pac-12 Conference championship last year between Oregon and UCLA garnered 4.5 million viewers.
These are the numbers that excite Ben Sutton, president of sports and entertainment conglomerate IMG's college division. According to IMG research there are now 174 million people who say they are fans of college sports. College football is now often the most popular television programming on fall Saturday nights. Increasingly, Sutton said, fans don't just follow their own schools but the pitched battles between the best teams in the game.
In fact, even the new kids on college football's block are capable of drawing eyeballs when they're playing in crucial games. More than 3.3 million people actually watched formerly undefeated and top-ranked Kansas State get pummeled by Baylor Saturday night, compared with 2.4 million for Notre Dame's blowout of Wake Forest. Kansas State has never won a national championship and doesn't even have a rival, since the University of Kansas has spent the past 120 years focused on its "Border War" with Missouri.
"We were the worst university in college football at one time," said Dave Dreiling, a Kansas State booster and local business owner. "It's just a feel-good story."
Of course, college football's ultimate trick is to get lucky enough to have two legendary rivals meet with everything on the line. More than 21 million viewers watched top-ranked Michigan lose to second-ranked Ohio State in 2006. The longtime enemies are in separate divisions of the Big Ten conference. Eventually, they're bound to play their annual rivalry one week, and—in the conference-championship game that will actually mean something—the following one.
Write to Matthew Futterman at [email protected] | <urn:uuid:013b54f5-d5a1-471b-b0dc-16a13fbaec23> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://topics.wsj.com/article/SB10001424127887323353204578128912593833862.html?mod=WSJ_article_MoreIn_Life%26Culture | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368696383156/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516092623-00008-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.970554 | 2,563 | 1.585938 | 2 |
This is just a rough estimate, if you reduce the rates of the top-earners by about 4%, you would need to raise the rates of the bottom-earners by about 22% to make up for it.
I went to grade-school and high-school where I was told what to eat. I lived with my parents until college, and I was told where to live. I lived in dormitories for about five years, I paid to be told where to live and what to eat. It was not a bad thing in my experience.
But really, we already live in this dystopian future of yours, where (not the government, but...) the companies keep all the people's earnings, and decide where the people live, and what they eat. But the companies don't make decisions based on what's good for the people. They make decisions based on what's good for the bottom-line; profit motive.
Right now, we have exactly the problem that you are describing, where the Federal Reserve can act completely without any oversight, spend all our earnings on whatever they want, and we don't have any oversight, knowledge, or say in the decision. Then they hand out allowances in the form of welfare, food-stamps.
My point is, we should be aiming at creating the best possible society that mankind can produce for itself, where people can have dignity, have fun, achieve goals, live without unnecessary fear and poverty, pursue their own core values, and live up to their potential. Instead, our society is aimed at one thing, and one thing only: the accumulation of wealth. | <urn:uuid:262c6203-f2bd-425b-aa40-3bd6ca69c82b> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.physicsforums.com/showpost.php?p=3794866&postcount=78 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368699881956/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516102441-00002-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.978179 | 330 | 1.695313 | 2 |
a different rear wing, different floor and different front wing.
The cascade of the front wing has changed. It now turns outwards sooner, this gives less interference with the second plane of the wing, increasing downforce. There is also a slot in the cascade end plate to bleed air to the outside of the cascade, increasing efficiency.
The end plate of the first cascade element also is slightly longer, creating more efficient flow under the wing.
On the rear of the cascade the wing element(or slotted gurney tab) is modified and bent in different ways, creating stronger outward flow.
There is a new wing for use in the streets of singapore, this wing was built on the Hungary wing although with different wing profiles and end plate change.
The flap bends slightly upwards, this reduces AoA and reduces drag, quite useful on the long straights. The main plane also is bent, on its outer tips the nose up angle is completely gone.
The beam wing is once again split up in multiple sections. The center section has much higher AoA, this boosts downforce in this area, as well as the two pillars is replaced with one central pillar, which increases downforce.
The floor is changed a lot, most noticable in the rear of the floor. The diffuser got more kick at the start, giving bigger pressure difference thus downforce at the leading edge. The gurney increased in size as well as the gurney around the edge has changed, being a slotted gurney at the top as well as the sidewall.
The hole in the diffuser was made smaller, now there is a sidewall again to increase EBD strength a bit further down of the diffuser. The footplate also was majorly revised, now having more area giving the EBD bigger effect. The diffuser itself got an top surface extension, boosting downforce in the region as well as splitting up top flow and EBD flow
In front of the rear wheel there also is an Nose up wing profile, this reduces tire interfeirence, increasing floor efficiency.
The flip up around the barge board area was made smaller too and the splitter edges were made longer, reducing drag in this area. | <urn:uuid:c59a241b-9db9-44cd-8536-32fe7901a727> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.f1technical.net/forum/viewtopic.php?f=6&t=7854&start=135 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368697380733/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516094300-00029-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.965419 | 458 | 1.625 | 2 |
Dallas, Texas (PRWEB) September 28, 2012
Expanding population, improved access to healthcare, and the burgeoning middle class are key growth drivers for Brazil Pharmaceutical Market that is increasingly opting for branded drugs. Consequently, Big Pharma is targeting Brazil to offset slowing sales growth in more developed markets.
Features and benefits:
- Analysis of population demographics, economic wealth, disease burden, level of industrialization, and political structure in Brazil.
- Insight into the healthcare system, drug regulation, drug pricing, drug reimbursement, and intellectual property position in Brazil.
- Assesses the generics and biosimilars landscape in terms of regulatory issues, level of penetration, and key players in Brazil.
- Overview of key market segment sales and top companies, and R&D and manufacturing infrastructure for the leading pharmaceutical companies in Brazil.
Buy your copy of this report @ http://www.reportsnreports.com/reports/194883-brazil-pharmaceutical-market-overview-strong-market-growth-continues-but-regulatory-risks-increase.html
Identifying opportunities in local health market economies requires detailed knowledge of the economic performance and health infrastructure at a city/provincial/regional level. Being able to see that in the context of the neighbouring districts/regions as well as the national picture, brings focus to areas of opportunity and need. This report helps you drill down into local and regional health markets in Brazil, Russia, India and China to better understand the opportunities and challenges and get answers to questions like:
- How is the population and wealth distributed?
- Which states and territories produce the highest levels of GDP?
- What is the primary and secondary health infrastructure in each region?
- How is healthcare delivered?
- What is the role played by private/government health provision at state level?
- Which regions are better provided for and which still need investment?
- At 194.7 million, the population of Brazil is the fifth largest in the world. Average population growth is around 1.1% per annum. Around 21.6% of the population reside in São Paulo state and 8.4% live in the state of Rio de Janeiro. The 2010 census identified 14.1 million people aged 65 or older, equivalent to 7.4% of the population.
- In 2011, Brazil spent R$368.2 billion (US$219.8 billion) on healthcare, equivalent to 8.8% of GDP. Private spending accounted for 52.7% of the total, more than half of which was out of pocket spending. Public health spending amounted to US$115.8 billion. Per capita health spending was around US$1,140.
- The Russian Federation is the largest country in the world, with a land area of over 17 million square kilometres, encompassing eleven time zones. After the breakup of the USSR, the Russian Federation retained over 75% of the USSR's total land area and 51% of its population.
- The population of Russia was estimated at 142.9 million in 2010, an increase of 0.71% over 2009. Prior to 2010, the growth rate remained negative, decreasing by an average of 0.4% each year since 1999.
- The country is organised into 8 districts which are further subdivided into 82 regions, autonomous areas and republics.
India’s 1.21 billion population is distributed across 35 states and union territories, and is growing at 1.6% per year. In terms of landmass, India is approximately one third the size of the USA.
India has an established mainly urban middle class but the bulk of the population have little by way of income and resources. This is exacerbated in India where, despite there being over 45 cities with more than 1 million inhabitants, the majority of the population live rurally in over 638,000 villages – many of them remote and difficult to access. The impact on key health indicators, such as infant mortality, can be clearly seen and despite per capita health spending more than doubling in the last 10 years there is some way to go.
22 Provinces, 4 Municipalities and 5 Autonomous Regions each with an average population of nearly 42 million, each with differing health provision and needs.
China has been a focus of interest for international business for such a long time now that it has become easy to assess markets and economic performance in national terms. Even the much discussed and fast developing urban areas such as Beijing, Shanghai and Tianjin are representative of only a fraction of the widely diverse regional markets to be found elsewhere in the country.
Buy your copy of this report @ http://www.reportsnreports.com/reports/194885-understanding-city-and-regional-health-markets-in-brazil-russia-india-and-china.html
Browse more reports on Pharmaceuticals Market and Healthcare Market .
Contact sales(at)reportsandreports(dot)com for further information.
ReportsnReports.com is an online market research reports library of 200,000+ in-depth studies of 5000+ micro markets. We provide 24/7 online and offline support service to our customers. | <urn:uuid:aff20971-e35b-4c77-be95-728a5bddfd54> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.prweb.com/releases/brazil-pharmaceutical-and/bric-health-markets/prweb9950852.htm | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368698924319/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516100844-00007-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.933469 | 1,073 | 1.671875 | 2 |
Both sides of gun debate take their shots in Harrisburg
HARRISBURG - Advocates on opposite sides of the emotional national debate over issues involving guns and violence made their case at separate rallies Wednesday at the state Capitol.
Speakers at rallies sponsored by Pennsylvania Responsible Citizens and CeaseFirePA referred to last month's shooting that killed 20 students and six educators at an elementary school in Newtown, Conn., and discussed state legislation dealing with guns, but the similarities ended there.
Hundreds attended the rallies timed for the first week of the new legislative session when both the House and Senate met to consider bills.
The Senate Judiciary Committee approved a resolution Wednesday to create an advisory committee to study the underlying causes of violent crime, including "mass shootings."
The resolution refers to common themes in many violent events that need to be examined including "mental illness and mental health treatment, keeping firearms out of the hands of criminals and the mentally ill, school security, bullying, gang-related activity, educational issues and cultural influences, including violent video games."
As freezing winds blew off the Susquehanna River, those attending a morning rally on the Capitol steps by Responsible Citizens heard calls to protect the Second Amendment and block efforts by the Obama administration to implement new federal gun measures.
"We need to celebrate our rights," said state Rep. Jeffrey Pyle, R-60, Ford City.
At CeaseFire's indoor noontime rally, several parents who lost children because of gun violence called for a new effort to enact tougher state gun safety laws.
"I'm tired of watching children die," said Mary Beth Hacke of Pittsburgh whose 14-month-old son was killed by a random shooting.
Pennsylvania needs to ban assault weapons, require universal background checks for gun buyers and limit magazine clips, said state Rep. Madeleine Dean, D-153, Abington.
"Let's not let technology and weaponry trump common sense and humanity," she said.
Rep. Daryl Metcalfe, R-12, Cranberry Twp., touted his new bill to prohibit enforcement of any new federal registration, restriction or ban on privately owned firearms, magazines and ammunition in the state.
"Passage of my legislation will send the message there will never be additional gun control, anywhere in Pennsylvania," he said.
Contact the writer: [email protected] | <urn:uuid:cc040ae1-5b4b-4029-b6ff-3193dee2a8a9> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://thetimes-tribune.com/news/both-sides-of-gun-debate-take-their-shots-in-harrisburg-1.1434079 | 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 | 0.951504 | 490 | 1.804688 | 2 |
No matter what you call it or how you try to frame it, internet streaming is internet streaming.
Zediva tried to claim otherwise, setting up a rather elaborate system that attempted to get around the copyright law requirements for licensing movies streamed over the internet. A lot of times this is how the law is figured out, attempts to get around it lead to law suits and court-issued clarifications. (See the Napster/Grokster/Limewire string of cases.) But in this case, the Zediva folks missed an important part of copyright law history, and the District Court for the Central District of California issued an injunction.
How Zediva tried to avoid licensing fees
First, I want to acknowledge that I was not able to locate a copy of the decision so my information is coming from various news sources, all listed at the end of this post.
Zediva set-up the service to mimic a video rental store. Users rented a dvd that Zediva had purchased and the dvd was played in a remote dvd player also purchased by Zediva and shown to the customer via the internet. One article mentions that users would sometimes get messages that movies were out of stock. I’m guessing this occurred when customers had rented out all of the DVDs Zediva had purchased of that film.
Rather than finding this system as a way of remotely renting purchased DVDs, the court found that this was just an annoyance and potential source of confusion for customers learning about video streaming.
Zediva wasn’t paying licensing fees, trying to rely on the first sale doctrine saving their rental model. But, as one law professor pointed out, Zedvia seemed to have missed the case where renting a video to be watched in a booth inside the store was infringement. (That case was Columbia Pictures Indus. v. Redd Horne, Inc. from 1984.) Even if Zediva could persuade the court that it was renting and not streaming movies, the facts are more similar to Redd Horne than to a regular video rental store.
However, the court did not buy the rental concept and instead found that Zediva was transmitting the performance to the public and thus infringing copyright. Wonder if they’ll be another attempt at a work around… | <urn:uuid:2dadeaf7-8469-49fd-a004-0b3b70eea761> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://the1709blog.blogspot.com/2011/08/rose-by-any-other-name.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368700958435/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516104238-00015-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.96694 | 460 | 1.664063 | 2 |
ASIA NEWS NETWORK
WE KNOW ASIA BETTER
Chinese shopping habits changing
Publication Date : 29-10-2012
New customers emerge with higher incomes, says McKinsey
A group of new mainstream customers is emerging in China, rapidly advancing in size and purchasing power, the 2012 annual report of Chinese consumers released by Mckinsey & Co. said.
More than 10,000 respondents, including a large sample of the middle class, in 44 cities took part in the study, the report said.
It defines "new mainstream customers" as those with an annual income above 106,000 yuan (US$16,000), with markedly different spending behaviour than the broader mass shoppers, who still comprise the vast share of Chinese customers. This group mainly lives in first-tier and second-tier coastal cities, is younger and more reliant on the Internet.
The new mainstream customers are willing to trade up, rely on the Internet more to conduct searches, take emotional considerations more into account when making purchases, trust brands and prefer online shopping, said Max Magni, partner and head of McKinsey's Greater China consumer practice.
"Instead of the big, trustworthy brands that many companies have used to good advantage up until now, more diverse portfolios of brands and niche products will be advisable," said Magni.
The report found that if the trend of China's growth unfolds as projected, roughly maintaining a GDP growth rate at about 7 per cent, the new mainstream shoppers will comprise nearly 400 million people by 2020.
According to the report, the structure of Chinese shoppers will largely change. The new mainstream group is expected to occupy 51 per cent of all households by 2020, up from 14 per cent now. Meanwhile, the upper mass group, which makes up 54 per cent now, will shrink to 25 per cent in 2020.
New mainstream customers are defined not only by their income but also by a new way of living and spending, Magni added.
China will gain itself a position among "upper-middle income" economies by World Bank standards by 2020, an economics expert predicted on October 9.
China's annual per capita GDP is likely to top $10,000 by 2020 from last year's $5,530, Cai Zhizhou, an economics professor at Peking University, was quoted as saying in a report in the 21st Century Business Herald.
By then, China will fall into the income range of upper-middle income economies set by the World Bank, he said.
According to a recent report by The Economist, there are more than 1 million Chinese people whose individual assets exceed 10 million yuan ($1.6 million).
However, Chinese people's confidence about their future income is declining.
Although still among the world's most optimistic concerning their economy, the Chinese expressed a dimmer view with regard to rises in their personal income, the McKinsey report found.
At least 56 per cent of respondents agreed that they expect their household income to significantly increase over the next five years, down from 60 per cent a year ago. The percentage of optimists climbed to a peak in 2010 with 62 per cent but declined over the next two years.
Coincidentally, a survey of depositors published by the central bank this month shows that the index of residents' confidence in their future income was 53.2 per cent from April to June, 1.7 percentage points lower than the previous three months and the lowest level since the survey was first conducted in 1999.
The percentage that remains optimistic about their household income in China is still much higher than other countries, including the US (32 per cent), said Magni, partner and head of McKinsey consumer practice in Greater China.
The report also found that the Chinese people are still fond of saving. The average respondent reported saving 22 per cent of his income, a full 8 percentage points higher than his counterparts in the US and Great Britain.
However, Chinese people have to spend more because of inflation, the report said. More than 80 per cent of respondents cited higher prices as the primary reason for spending more on food. At least two-thirds of shoppers reported spending more in real terms.
The report stays positive on Chinese consumer spending, predicting that a new mainstream shopper will emerge, and Chinese people are "fundamentally more optimistic" about the economy. | <urn:uuid:62a4f992-fd5f-4414-a0a2-8f66c06b5070> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.asianewsnet.net/news-38246.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368706153698/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516120913-00020-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.960104 | 881 | 1.828125 | 2 |
New Intel Ultrabooks to spray HOT JUICE into mobes
Svelte laptops to sling charge - fresh rumour
Intel will build wireless charging into its svelte laptops, aka Ultrabooks, and smartphones by the middle of 2013, according to whisperings on Chinese rumour mill Digitimes
Using the chip giant's own in-house technology, the mobes' batteries are topped up over the air by the Ultrabooks. Apparently the phones can be held anywhere near the PC to benefit from the wireless charging.
The feature will only be available in a few devices, sources said. And given that users would have to buy both an enabled Ultrabook and a compatible smartphone, it may take a while to catch on.
The charging-through-the-air tech will be Intel-developed, but other manufacturers are tinkering around with wireless charging too and there are competing standards for the technology. Qualcomm and Samsung back the standards from the Alliance for Wireless Power, while many other companies including Nokia, Sony, HTC and Huawei back the Wireless Power Consortium. Intel is not listed as member by either.
Samsung included wireless charging in the latest spin of its flagship phone, the Galaxy S III, but several months after launch the replacement backplate required to allow charging hasn't been made availabe. ®
How long before Apple calims patent infringement...
I wonder how long after such tech gets into the market place before Apple decides to waive its wad of paper patents in the air claiming infringment - because apple already has drawings showing an iphone positioned a few inches away from a laptop/desktop wirelessly charging and everyone is copying them and damaging their business once again.........
Alliance for Wireless Power, Wireless Power Consortium, what about the Judean People's Wireless Power Alliance Consortium ?
Re: Yet another standards war
I want wireless charging, but everyone should be told that it will cost them more money on their electric bill as anything using induction is always going to be less efficient than using a piece of wire.
Okay, probably not that much more on your electric bill, a few pounds a year. | <urn:uuid:1ba96867-e4f5-4fc1-8645-ba495071e486> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.theregister.co.uk/2012/08/13/intel_ultrabooks_wireless_charging/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368708766848/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516125246-00004-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.943886 | 434 | 1.601563 | 2 |
April Unemployment Falls to 8.1 Percent, 115,000 Jobs Added
(WASHINGTON ) -- Employers added 115,000 jobs in April, fewer than economists expected. Still, the unemployment rate fell to 8.1 percent, the Labor Department reported Friday.
Economists had expected to add about 165,000 jobs, according to a consensus figure from Bloomberg.
"The unemployment rate is not materially changing, which is disappointing since privately held companies have continued to grow their sales and are generally the engine of job growth," said Brian Hamilton, CEO of Sageworks and a leading expert on privately held companies. "This probably reflects continued anxiety about the economy and where it will be 12 months from now. We are 34 months into an expansion and an 8.1 percent unemployment rate is too high at this point."
Employers added 120,000 jobs in March, a disappointing amount, which showed the jobless rate at 8.2 percent. But the Labor Department revised the March figure upward on Friday to 155,000.
Employment increased in professional and business services, retail trade, and health care, but declined in transportation and warehousing, the government said.
On Thursday, the Labor Department reported people filing for unemployment benefits fell last week. After inching higher during the last few weeks, the jobless claims fell to 365,000 for the week ending April 28, down from 392,000 in the prior week.
Hiring among U.S. private employers dropped in April to the lowest level in seven months, payroll company ADP reported on Wednesday.
Among the major worker groups, teenagers have the highest unemployment rate, but the imminent summer hiring season may make a dent in that figure.
In April, teenagers had a 24.9 percent unemployment rate, compared with a 7.5 percent for adult men and 7.4 percent among adult women.
Copyright 2012 ABC News Radio | <urn:uuid:ca655dc4-249c-4690-969a-a15852ac5197> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.eastidahonews.com/2012/05/april-unemployment-falls-to-8-1-percent-115000-jobs-added/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368708766848/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516125246-00028-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.968998 | 384 | 1.632813 | 2 |
Cooper’s Motorola DynaTAC 8000x – Rated Among the Top 100 Greatest and Most Influential Gadgets of All Time
– TIME magazine, Oct, 25, 2010
Martin Cooper is a pioneer in the wireless communications industry, an inventor, entrepreneur and executive. He has been a contributor to the technology of personal wireless communications for over 50 years. He developed the first portable cellular phone in 1973 and is cited in the Guinness Book of World Records for making the first cellular telephone call. Cooper knew then that people needed the freedom that comes from anywhere, anytime telephony in contrast to being tethered to a desk or a car. He has been referred to as the father of portable cellular telephony and is recognized as an innovator in spectrum management.
Cooper is an activist who seeks to shape public policy in the US and globally. He is passionate about the revolution in health care and commerce that wireless technology will engender. Cooper is also an accomplished entrepreneur and futurist.
He is the Chairman and Co-Founder of DYNA, LLC, Co-Founder of ArrayComm, LLC, and GreatCall, Inc, the innovator of the Jitterbug cell phone and service. For 29 years, he led a number of major businesses at Motorola, including high-capacity paging, trunked mobile radio, and cellular radio telephone.
Following Motorola, Cooper co-founded Cellular Business Systems, Inc., a cellular billing system company. Cooper has numerous patents in the communications field and was involved in industry and government efforts to allocate new radio frequency spectrum for the land mobile radio services in the U.S., testifying before the Federal Communications Commission and the United States Senate.
He has received numerous honors and awards including the 2009 Prince of Asturias Award for Technical and Science Research and induction into the National Academy of Engineering in 2010. Most recently Cooper was nominated for Mikhail Gorbachev’s “The Man Who Changed the World” Award and the recipient of The Webby Awards annual Lifetime Achievement Award.
He holds Bachelors and Masters degrees from the Illinois Institute of Technology, was awarded an honorary doctorate by that institution, and serves on its board of trustees. Cooper has also served on the boards of several public and private companies.
At the podium Cooper discusses the inside story on the creation, evolution and future of mobile technology, the emergence of mobile health care, his thoughts on the future of social media, and his favorite part – making the very first cellular telephone call to none other than his direct competitor AT&T back in 1973.
Martin Cooper continues to write and lecture around the world about wireless communications, technological innovation, the Internet, and R&D management. He lives in California with his wife and partner at Dyna, LLC, wireless industry veteran Arlene Harris. | <urn:uuid:bba75969-6313-4b0b-b145-ea5d8b8bcb3d> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.greatertalent.com/MartinCooper/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368696382584/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516092622-00024-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.954701 | 573 | 1.679688 | 2 |
Street Bike Stators
Motorcycles vary widely in shape and style but most have similar electrical systems. They use a stator to provide power, a regulator/rectifier to convert that power to DC and keep the voltage under control, and a battery to store the power. Street bikes typically use three phase power stators which are larger than their off-road counterparts. With substantial power requirements, especially with upgraded lighting and accessories, street bikes benefit from a high performance stator and regulator/rectifier.
As a result of extensive testing and working closely with riders all over the world, we have found the formulas that work to provide optimum power to our street bike stators. Most of our stators are designed to be direct replacements to OEM. They include a full wiring harness with OEM style connectors allowing for easy installation.
We strive to build stators that last and exceed our customers' expectations. We often include upgraded features on our performance stators. Changing winding specifications, wire size, and the number of poles that the magnet wire is wrapped around are only a few of the tricks up our sleeve for bringing the most advanced power generation to motorsports. Almost all of our stators provide a substantial power gain within the engine rpm ranges that it is needed most.
Our stators may look slightly different than the OEM units due to different winding configurations. Directions should be followed when installing any replacement stator. In addition, some of the testing procedures used for OEM stators may not apply to our parts due to optimized windings. For more detailed information about stators and how they work, please check out our stator tech article. | <urn:uuid:26c5cc47-75db-459f-8fb4-a22370e84c2d> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.electrosport.com/street-bikes/stators/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368708766848/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516125246-00030-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.948117 | 329 | 1.757813 | 2 |
The car wash rarely lives up to the enthusiastic disco hit that Rose Royce once dedicated to it. It's time consuming and inconvenient. But now — like groceries, car service and random tasks — it can be sent to you with the click of a smartphone.
"Believe it or not there’s a lot of technology involved," says CEO and Co-Founder Travis VanderZanden, who was the first employee at Yammer.
About 20 cleaners that the company has hired in the San Francisco area have their own version of the iPhone app that they use to update their locations. When a customer requests a cleaning, Cherry.com's software automatically locates a Cherry employee nearby who can make the trip, and gives the customer an estimated arrival time.
The customer also gets text messages when the the washer arrives and leaves.
Cherry.com plays in a similar space as companies such as grocery delivery service Fresh Direct, car service Uber and task-on-demand site Taskrabbit — the space in between digital and real worlds. VanderZanden says that he hopes to expand to similar services that make real-life tasks easier through technology.
For now, he's focused on expanding beyond San Francisco. Not needing to establish brick and mortar stores, along with $750,000 in seed funding from Yammer CEO David Sacks, PayPal founder Max Levchin and Square COO Keith Rabois, should help it do so quickly.
In order to succeed, however, it will need to convince people that it's OK to leave their cars unlocked (the company covers damage or theft) and that a car wash is worth its flat fee of $29.
"As long as you value your time at least $29," VanderZanden says, "it’s pretty much a free car wash at that point." | <urn:uuid:452aec1b-a732-4cb4-affb-c313c4067053> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://mashable.com/2011/11/08/cherry-com/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368698924319/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516100844-00009-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.962258 | 376 | 1.515625 | 2 |
From the Chicago Reader (November 10, 2000). — J.R.
Films by Luis Buñuel
By Jonathan Rosenbaum
It seems to be universally agreed that Luis Buñuel (1900-1983) is the greatest Spanish-language filmmaker we’ve ever had, but getting a clear fix on his peripatetic career isn’t easy. The authorized biography, John Baxter’s 1994 Buñuel, isn’t available in the U.S., and the deplorable English translation of Buñuel’s autobiography, My Last Sigh (1983), is actually an unacknowledged condensation of the original French text. Better are an interview book translated from Spanish, Objects of Desire, and a recently published translation of selected writings by Buñuel in both Spanish and French, An Unspeakable Betrayal, which includes his priceless, poetic early film criticism.
A more general problem is that Buñuel is not only “simple” and direct but full of teasing, unresolvable ambiguities. A master of the put-on, he often impresses one with his earthy sincerity. A political progressive and unsentimental humanist, he was also, I’ve learned from Baxter, an active gay basher in his youth, and those who’ve read the untranslated but reputedly fascinating memoirs of his widow report that he was a very old-fashioned and prudish male chauvinist throughout his life. He was a onetime devout Catholic who lost his faith in his youth and was fond of exclaiming years later, “Thank God I’m still an atheist!” Yet Orson Welles, who never met him, may have had a point when he said, “He is a deeply Christian man who hates God as only a Christian can, and, of course, he’s very Spanish. I see him as the most supremely religious director in the history of the movies.” He added, “A superb kind of person he must be. Everybody loves him.”
Roughly speaking, there are three distinguishable periods in Buñuel’s oeuvre: he was an avant-garde filmmaker in France and, to a lesser extent, Spain from 1928 to 1932; he was a popular and commercial filmmaker in Mexico from 1946 to 1962; and he was an art-house filmmaker in France and, to a lesser extent, Spain from 1963 to 1977. But this relatively neat division omits his mainly uncredited work in the mid-30s on popular Spanish features, his 1939 re-editing of Leni Riefenstahl’s Triumph of the Will at New York’s Museum of Modern Art to be used as anti-Nazi propaganda, his brief work in Hollywood in 1946 on The Beast With Five Fingers, his making of three French commercial features in the mid-50s, and his return to Mexico in 1965 to make Simon of the Desert.
He made 31 films in all, and a dozen of these — ten features and two shorts — are showing over the next couple of weeks, November 17 through 26, at Facets Multimedia Center as part of a series celebrating the centennial of his birth that’s being presented by the International Latino Cultural Center of Chicago, the Mexican Cultural and Educational Institute of Chicago, and the Instituto Cervantes. Also part of the series is Ramon Gieling’s The Prisoners of Buñuel, a Dutch documentary about the village where Buñuel’s only documentary, Las hurdes (Land Without Bread, 1932), was made and how its present inhabitants view the film; a U.S. premiere, Gieling’s film is showing at City North 14 on Thursday, November 16, to launch the series. There will also be personal appearances by Silvia Pinal — the female lead of Viridiana (1961) and a prominent character in The Exterminating Angel (1962) and Simon of the Desert – and a beautiful silent avant-garde feature by Jean Epstein, The Fall of the House of Usher (1928), will conclude the series.
Inexplicably, The Fall of the House of Usher is described in the program as a film codirected by Epstein and Buñuel, which contradicts every credible biographical source I know of. Some references credit Buñuel as assistant director, though according to Buñuel’s memoirs, he was only a second assistant – in charge of the studio interiors — and got fired after he made a derogatory remark to Epstein about filmmaker Abel Gance, whose wife was the film’s costar. I certainly don’t regret the inclusion of Epstein’s masterpiece in the program, since contemporary audiences get so few chances to see it. But it shouldn’t be treated as part of Buñuel’s oeuvre, especially since it was made before he embarked on his own first film, Un chien andalou (which was itself codirected, by Salvador Dali), later the same year.
The dozen Buñuel films that are being screened include several of his major works and three of his lesser Mexican efforts: Susana (1951), A Woman Without Love (1951), and Simon of the Desert, which is probably better than the other two. (I haven’t seen A Woman Without Love – an adaptation of Guy de Maupassant’s Pierre et Jean, showing with – but in the mid-70s Buñuel himself called it “the worst one I made.”) Among the main omissions from the program, I would cite L’age d’or, Mexican Bus Ride, El (This Strange Passion), The Young One (his only film set in the U.S. and one of two he made in English), Diary of a Chambermaid (recently revived in a new print in New York), Belle de jour, Tristana, The Phantom of Liberty, and That Obscure Object of Desire. These are a lot of lacunae. But most of these titles can be seen on video, and I have to acknowledge that it becomes more difficult to find decent prints of older foreign films every year.
More important, the series includes at least seven virtually unassailable masterpieces — Un chien andalou, Land Without Bread, The Young and the Damned (1950), Nazarin (1958), Viridiana, The Exterminating Angel, and The Discreet Charm of the Bourgeoisie (1972) — and two others that are almost as good, El bruto (The Brute, 1952) and The Adventures of Robinson Crusoe (his other film in English and his first in color, 1952). I’ve only just seen El bruto for the first time, and maybe I’m being hasty in assigning it to the second batch; at any rate, it’s easily ten times better than the best work of a good light entertainer like Pedro Almodovar.
In The Prisoners of Buñuel Gieling goes to western Spain to interview villagers about Land Without Bread 60-odd years after it was made there and to show the film in the local square. Many of the residents call it a pack of lies, which isn’t surprising given that Buñuel depicted the place as hell on earth, populated by impoverished, misshapen freaks, tortured animals, and diseased half-wits, and so weighed down with misery and ignorance that solutions to its problems, political or otherwise, were inconceivable. (The only local wealth shown in the film belongs to the churches.) But there are also some people who insist that the film told the truth, and still others who take a middle position, maintaining that Buñuel faked part of what he showed. (”Sometimes you have to help truth a little,” one of them argues.)
In a way, all of these people are correct, because Land Without Bread is above all a metaphysical statement, with all the strengths and limitations that implies. It’s also an intricate unpacking of the documentary form rather than a simple adoption of it, and a mockery of touristic observation in general. (In similar fashion, Un chien andalou, which opens with the title “Once upon a time,” unpacks conventional narrative, and the hour-long L’age d’or, made between Un chien andalou and Land Without Bread, unpacks documentary and narrative; no wonder its first screening in Paris caused a riot.) Buñuel always spoke about Land Without Bread as if it were a simple baring of the facts, just as Alfred Hitchcock made similar claims about his equally bleak 1957 docudrama The Wrong Man. Regardless of what these men said or thought, they both selected and sometimes altered or even manufactured facts to fit their metaphysical scenarios. Hitchcock invented a miracle whereby a wrongly accused man (Henry Fonda) prays for deliverance at the same moment the thief he was mistaken for gets arrested. Buñuel has a narrator report that the goat we see falling from a mountain to its death accidentally stumbled, yet at that moment we see a blast of gunfire in the corner of the frame, which suggests that it was shot. Some villagers accuse him of even worse contrivances, such as torturing a donkey with bees rather than simply recording such an incident.
To some extent, fakery of one sort or another figures in just about every documentary and docudrama ever made. Gieling brings up this paradox himself when he shows us the village mayor glimpsing Gieling’s initial arrival in a van from his office window — a camera angle that obviously necessitated another camera — and then presents the mayor’s welcome in two separate, successive takes. But apart from such bits of playfulness — including his leaving a bust of Buñuel with the villagers before he leaves — he winds up having more to say about the village today than about Buñuel or his film. It’s truly a pity that Land Without Bread isn’t being shown alongside The Prisoners of Buñuel, which offers only excerpts of the 27-minute short as it’s being shown in the village square (with English narration and Spanish subtitles, as it happens). Part of what Buñuel is saying with it is that one can’t count on finding enlightenment or even simple common sense anywhere. That one has to go to Facets on a different day to see the film Prisoners of Buñuel is about seems to bear out this piece of wisdom.
Over the past few years several Latin-American friends and acquaintances have expressed their dawning perception that the greatest of Buñuel’s three periods is the one he spent in Mexico, the one that yielded by far the most films. It’s an intriguing hypothesis, overturning the more common position that Buñuel’s extended stint in the Mexican film industry was basically a holding action, a way of “keeping his hand in” while awaiting the opportunity to make his own pictures with relative freedom again. But since this “commercial” period yielded films as personal and as accomplished as The Young and the Damned, Mexican Bus Ride, El bruto, The Adventures of Robinson Crusoe, El (This Strange Passion), The Criminal Life of Archibaldo de la Cruz, Nazarin, The Young One, and The Exterminating Angel – to come up with only a short list — it surely has to be seen as something more than a period of retrenchment. And there are undoubtedly still other jewels from this period waiting to be rediscovered.
Another way to categorize Buñuel’s work — more thematic than geographical or chronological — would be in terms of its surrealist and Marxist elements. One might describe the three initial avant-garde films as Surrealist (as in the official Surrealist group) and pre-Marxist, and the late art-house films as surrealist and post-Marxist; the Mexican films that were made in between include various combinations of Marxism, Surrealism, and surrealism. Part of the power of El bruto, a melodrama about a slow-witted thug who works for a slum landlord, is the manner in which an acute understanding of power gradually creates a feeling of sympathy for this bully, whose mother was a maid and who turns out to be the landlord’s unacknowledged bastard son. (Though he came from a well-to-do family, Buñuel is one of the few major filmmakers who never shows the slightest trace of condescension toward the poor; it’s one of the central facts about his work that makes it endure.) It’s equally impressive to see how Buñuel injects surrealist dream sequences into The Young and the Damned (my favorite of the Mexican films) and Robinson Crusoe in a way that enhances and even clarifies these films’ social agendas.
Buñuel’s other virtues include an absence of sentimentality, a poetic sense of irony, and a skeptical preoccupation with purity in various forms that can be traced all the way back to his early writing. A 1927 review begins, “Here is Buster Keaton with his latest film, the wonderful College. Asepsis. Disinfection. Freed from tradition, our gaze revels in the juvenile, tempered world of Buster, the great specialist in fighting sentimental infections of all kinds. The film is as beautiful as a bathroom, as vital as a Hispano-Suiza.” There’s also, a Latino friend points out, a preoccupation with ecology long before that word came into common use, often signaled by the recurring significant roles played by insects in his films.
Viridiana, the Spanish feature that launched Bunuel’s art-house career at the time of the French New Wave, came on the heels of The Young One, probably his biggest commercial and critical flop. The Young One, which had an extended run at Facets in 1993, is to my mind the most underrated of his great films — an amazingly perceptive as well as sensual look at the American south, with sly notations on the characters that are worthy of Faulkner. Some credit must surely go to cowriter Hugo Butler, a blacklisted American screenwriter who also collaborated with Buñuel on The Adventures of Robinson Crusoe (pseudonymously in both cases, to ensure that the films got released). It’s too bad The Young One isn’t being shown in the series, but I’d recommend Viridiana – showing with Land Without Bread and A Woman Without Love –as the ideal introduction to Buñuel. It’s a Mexican production that was miraculously shot in Franco’s Spain, thanks to the subterfuge of Spanish friends, one of whom (Pedro Portabella, who later became an interesting underground filmmaker) was deprived of his passport as a result. It premiered in Cannes and caused as big a scandal as L’age d’or had three decades earlier. But Viridiana wasn’t suppressed (except in Spain, where it led to all of Buñuel’s films being banned); instead it rejuvenated Buñuel’s international reputation.
For those who might want to explore the impact vanguard 60s filmmaking had on Buñuel’s work, I’d heartily recommend two companion films, black comedies made a decade apart in Mexico and France: The Exterminating Angel and The Discreet Charm of the Bourgeoisie. The first feature tracks the creepy and uncanny occurrences that transpire when the wealthy guests at a fancy dinner party inexplicably find themselves unable to leave the room; the second, made in color and with slicker production values, follows a similarly wealthy group of individuals as they repeatedly try and fail to have a meal together. Both films are hilarious, corrosive follow-ups to such 60s art-house favorites about the glamorous rich as La dolce vita, Last Year at Marienbad, and La notte, and they exhibit the kind of stylistic freedom found in the contemporary films of Jean-Luc Godard. The Discreet Charm, for instance, resembles a kind of global newspaper, mixing in everything from wry references to The French Connection to mordant asides about “Miranda,” an imaginary South American country that clearly stands for Franco’s Spain. The film also has some of Buñuel’s scariest dream sequences. It’s astonishing to recall that this picture actually won an Oscar for best foreign film of 1972. After it was nominated, a reporter in Mexico asked Buñuel if he thought it would win, and he characteristically replied, without missing a beat, “Of course. I’ve already paid the $25,000 they wanted. Americans may have their weaknesses, but they do keep their promises.” | <urn:uuid:2d404754-05ca-4c2f-93a5-846c8afe7e27> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.jonathanrosenbaum.com/?s=archibaldo | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368710006682/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516131326-00027-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.962058 | 3,557 | 1.726563 | 2 |
Nokia Multimedia Terminals is in the process of developing the 2nd generation of their line of set-top boxes and wants to explore the possibilities of a digital VCR implementation using this platform. Several components must be created to get such a system up and running, two of which are a suitable file system and a graphical user interface.
The thesis work was divided into two parts: 1) To create or optimize a file system for recording digital video. 2) To create a set-top box graphical user interface controlling a digital VCR implementation.
The resulting digital VCR prototype supports all the basic services provided by a conventional VCR. It also supports some special features like simultaneous recording and playback, making it possible to pause a live TV broadcast and later continue watching the program from where it was interrupted or even to fast forward into realtime viewing." | <urn:uuid:6772e936-d4d9-48ca-9f89-e6eac59fff22> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.ida.liu.se/edu/ugrad/thesis/previous/1999/burda.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368711005985/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516133005-00007-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.945831 | 172 | 1.617188 | 2 |
Think Like a Doctor
10/26/10 Filed in: Miscellaneous
Today was our professional event with very special guest speaker Dr. Soldinger, Phi Delta Epsilon’s International President. For anyone who missed it, here is a recap of the questions and answers:
1. What is your occupation?
2. Why are you a doctor?
3. What school did you go to and how many years have you been in the field?
4. What’s your specialty?
5. What’s your favorite memory?
6. How do you balance work and family time?
7. Would you become a doctor all over again knowing what you know now?
8. What’s the most difficult part of being a doctor?
9. What other career ideas did you have other than medicine?
10. What is your dream practice?
1. I am a psychiatrist.
2. I was interested in psychology in college and decided to become a psych major at UCLA. At first I thought I was going to go into ob/gyn or be an internist but didn’t really enjoy those fields so then I looked into neurology. I liked doing PET scans and MRI scans but I wanted something more people oriented so I decided to go with Psychiatry.
3. I graduated from UCLA and UCI medical school, did internship at USC and residency at UCLA. I’ve also been in private practice in Sherman Oaks since 1983 and have written books, consulted celebrities and have taught private practice.
4. My specialty is Psychiatry.
5. My favorite memory as a doctor is when I helped a celebrity because it’s an awesome feeling to help someone that’s in the public eye and knowing that I did that, I helped him.
6. I try to go to family events and to football games for fun but it’s hard to balance everything out. After screwing up so many times and saying lots of “I’m sorrys”, eventually you just find a natural balance between work and family that works for you.
7. I would definitely become a doctor all over again knowing what I know now.
8. The most difficult parts about being a doctor are the patients, doctors, and colleagues that are against you and being a doctor you’re a target and being sued is very common.
9. A couple other career plans I had was becoming a politician or going to Australia to produce tv shows.
10. I’m living it! My practice is perfect because it combines PhiDE, education, fun, people, and so much more.
Aids for AIDS Week *Updated*
10/12/10 Filed in: Philanthropy
This is a reminder that our Aid's week events are coming up soon. Here is a break down, and please make sure to let Yasmin know if you will not be able to attend:
October 13, Wednesday - Aid's Walk
October 15, Friday - Aid's Walk T-Shirt Party at
October 17, Sunday - AIDS Walk in West Hollywood. We have a Phi Delta Epsilon Team of 39 people that will be walking this Sunday at Aids Walk. Two people have already given notice that they will be unable to attend. If your plans change make sure to let Yasmin know no later than tomorrow, Thursday 10/14/2010 via call, text or e-mail. Make sure to wear your Phi Delta Epsilon shirts! Here is the basic information for the walk:
8:30 am Sign-In (look for our table, Phi Delta Epsilon CSUN)
9:15 am Opening Ceremony
10:00 am Walk Begins
Location: West Hollywood Park (647 N. San Vicente Blvd. in West Hollywood)
Length: 6.2 miles
The AIDS Walk will start and end in West Hollywood Park, at the corner of Melrose Avenue and Santa Monica Blvd. More information is available on the AIDS Walk website.
For those of you that signed up to take the bus please do the following:
1. Bring a full tube of toothpaste (per-request of USU, they will be donating it to their fundraiser).
2. Meet at the USU Sol Center @ 7:10am. The bus will be leaving a little before 8am. If you do not make it, please find/carpool there.
3. The bus will bring you back to CSUN around 1-2pm.
4. You should be receiving more detailed instructions per Andrew Collard who is YOUR contact for bus info ([email protected] - e-mail him if you have questions).
Honey Bake 2010
10/07/10 Filed in: Social
Honey Bake is an annual social gathering with our PhiDE family in which we get the chance to eat tons of food, socialize, and learn more about each other. Everyone brings a dish of food that they feel represents their culture, background, or personal self. In the past we have had dishes as diverse as “pupusas” (a Salvadoran dish) all the way to shepherd’s pie (an English meat pie). In essence, it is sort of like a pot-luck but with more love.
Date: Friday, November 19th, 2010
Location: Bianca’s House (for the address see Fall 2010 Roster, available in the database.)
Time: 6:00pm to 9:00pm
Activities: board games, ice-breakers, outside activities, pot-luck, socializing. | <urn:uuid:f32bf820-902a-4aba-af74-e9cf89c59e64> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.csun.edu/phide/files/archive-oct-2010.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368698924319/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516100844-00025-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.960386 | 1,174 | 1.53125 | 2 |
Like Charlie Brown in a Peanuts cartoon standing by the mailbox in hope of receiving a Valentine’s Day card, too many of us small business owners these days find ourselves anxiously waiting for the arrival of that overdue payment.
If the problem gets too serious, it can domino-affect our entire lives – as we stretch our mortgage payment … max out our credit card limits … make minimum payments on bills … ignore an invoice or two (especially if from another, no-clout small business owner) … and wake up at three AM wondering how much cash value we can strip out of our life insurance policy or the kids’ college fund … or just lie there in the dark listening to the financial and emotional infrastructure of our lives as it begins to creak, teeter, snap and slowly topple.
Though all companies are vulnerable to the problem of customers who play the game of slow-pay-no-pay, it is usually the small business owner who feels it first and feels it hardest.
Fortunately, it does not have to be that way. While there is no guarantee that all invoices will be paid promptly, there is a lot business owners can do to take charge of the slow-pay-no-pay problem.
The best way to solve a slow-pay-no-pay problem is to avoid it from the start. Here is what the experts recommend:
- Have a credit policy in place. This is the single best way to reduce late payments. Unfortunately, only about 5% of companies have such a policy in writing.
- Discuss your credit policy with customers. The minute you get a new customer, explain the payment process. Still, many businesses hesitate. They have a misconception that that it will scare people away. At the minimum, include a paragraph in the contract. This sets expectations, and it goes a long way to avoiding problems in the future.
- Have a contract. Everything should be in writing. The business should use a contract to outline what service they will provide, how they will get paid and how much, and what will happen if the customer does not pay.
- Take deposits, retainers or credit card payments. If a customer cannot prepay, there is a good chance they cannot pay at all. If the customer does not have the funds to make a down payment now, where will the money come from to pay the bill at the completion of the job?
- For bigger contracts, set up a payment schedule. On a $15,000 job, for example, ask for equal payments of $5,000 initially, $5,000 at the halfway mark, and the final $5,000 upon completion of all work. Also include sign-off on each step, with no work going forward without written approval of what has already been completed.
- Consider credit applications. A small investment up front can safe you thousands of dollars later.
- Tighten up due dates. Mark the due date on all invoices as 15 days.
- Focus on customers who can pay. It may sound obvious, but keep in mind that no business is better than bad business.
There are no guarantees that you will never have collection problems. Still, the above steps should go a long way to reducing the slow-pay-no-pay problem, and maintaining not only your cash flow, but also your peace of mind.
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Types of Photographers
... what kind of photographer are you?
Although you may be a combination the types described below, we have a provided a general guideline to follow depending on what type of photography you predominately shoot. With all the accessories available for digital photography, it is easy to customize your system so it is the most suitable for your individual tastes and needs.
© David Nelson
Entry-level photographers who are familiar with the manual functions of an advanced compact camera may wish to enter the world of DSLRs. There may be a price jump to consider, although today there are several affordable DSLRs. They’re designed for photographers who like the flexibility of a DSLR that is still equipped with plenty of automatic features for fast, fun and easy photography.
This range of camera is designed for those that consider photography a hobby. These entry-level DSLRs are ideal for traveling, capturing family images, and experimenting with macro and telephoto photography, and allow the family photographer to be more creative.
Look for DSLRs that are packaged with a standard zoom lens. The standard zoom lens lets you shoot in almost any situation and is a great versatile lens for general purpose photography. Cameras in this range are approximately $1000 for a full kit and under $800 for just the body.
The sensors in these cameras are larger than point and shoot cameras but are still lightweight and smaller than the professional DSLRs. With 6 to 8 megapixels, you can print up to 10"x14" photographs with excellent quality and 14"x17" with good quality. There are many automatic features available for the times when you don’t want to experiment with the manual options.
Predominately constructed with a plastic body, these cameras are not weather resistant but have a decent burst rate of at least 2 fps. The autofocus will be sufficient for most applications.
A fast shutter speed and burst mode can freeze the action perfectly
Amateur and Semi-Professional Photographer
Entry to mid-level photographers who are highly interested in exploring digital photography, budget conscious and want the ability to explore photography as a professional. Cameras in this range may overlap entry-level suggestions but have the added benefit of more advanced features and better lenses.
Photography is your passion and you may have submitted photos to be published, participated in gallery shows, or shot the occasional wedding or event. Although serious about your work, you’re working towards becoming a full time photographer when you’ve developed your portfolio and established your name in the industry.
In this range, there will be kits that include multiple lenses from either the same manufacturer as the body or coupled with third party lenses. For kits with only a single lens, the lens quality increases including such features as image stabilization and coated glass designed specifically for digital lenses. In this range, expect to pay $1,500 to $4,500 for a kit and $1000 to $3,000 for just the body.
Mid-Range DSLRs are great for close up photography
Although usually bulkier than the entry-level DSLRs, many compact models that are fairly lightweight. With a range of 8 to 10 Megapixels you can print up to 16"x20" with excellent quality and 20"x24" with good quality. This better quality will allow you to submit your images to local newspapers or magazines and permit greater cropping ability.
Your budget should allow for some more advanced features such as a heavy duty body and more rugged lens. Although still perfect for traveling and family portraits, these cameras have even more advanced features. Because you may need the versatility to shoot outdoors, indoors, and many different environments, weather resistant bodies and lenses are essential. The burst rate of these cameras can be up to 6 fps and the cameras should be packaged with raw conversion software and options allowing you to be tethered (connected to a computer while shooting).
The built-in flash could have a longer distance range and more control features for the photographer. More information will be displayed in the viewfinder and menus. Photographers with solid understanding of digital cameras will be able to take advantage of these features. Although the output is not 100% at the professional level, great prints can be made and the image quality is far superior to that of point and shoot cameras.
Semi-professional DSLRs can capture superb detail and show contrast in textures for stunning images
© Simona Balint
Anti-Dust features which help keep dust off the sensor, become available in this range. Often histograms, which provide graphical displays of the tonal variations of the image, are also provided at this level.
Budget is usually not a concern because photography is your livelihood and as a professional you need top of the line equipment to stay competitive in the industry. Whether you are a news and sports photographer or an artist, you require a large sensor in order to capture the best detail possible. The ability to enlarge your images to large banners or prints for gallery shows is very important.
The sky is the limit, because the sensor chips are the largest in the market, it’s no wonder that the camera itself is very large. Because of the wide range of photography types, these professional bodies generally do not come in kits. They range from $3,500 to $8,500 for the body alone and are compatible with many professional lenses. Photographers purchase their lenses separately to suit their individual needs.
Designed for fast photography with super high quality image capturing, professional DSLR cameras offer astounding results and the fastest shutter speeds possible. With between 10 and 16 megapixels, large format prints can be made with excellent sharpness and colour. Larger colour gamuts are available over the other DSLR models and advanced features such as shooting JPEG and RAW simultaneously is available.
More information is displayed in the viewfinder, which provides more information and allows the photographer to capture images quickly instead of toggling around in the menu options. Frame rates are up to 8 fps, ideal for sports and wildlife photographers . The body construction is more durable and usually made out of 100% metal or a hybrid of metal and plastic. In this range, it is most likely that the body is also weather resistant.
For JPEG shooters, white balance controls can be finely tuned and the ability to shoot tethered is standard.
Even a simple scenic scene can produce stunning results with professional DSLRs
Is there a new DSLR in your sights?
Whether you’re just entering the DSLR world or upgrading your existing DSLR equipment, it’s all about creativity and control. And the potential is virtually endless. The professional photographer can deliver spectacular results for publications and high quality fine art prints. Prosumers can use additional lenses and advanced controls to superb effect. The family photographer can achieve a whole new level, producing images he or she will be proud to display. With the right accessories to compliment your DSLR choice, your digital photography system will provide superb performance, whether it’s for recreation or for professional use. Happy shooting!
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Is it fair to bar 14-year-old athlete from high school team?
Most of the school board in Anoka Hennepin needs to be replaced. They talk about 'local control' but really what that means to them is control in the hands of a few people with an agenda. They refuse to listen to the voice of parents on so many issues. If you aren't listening to and representing the communities voice, who's voice are you representing? Hoffman and Wenzel are the only members on that board that are open to hearing and representing the voice of parents in the district. Parents need to remember this next time the rest of the ineffectual board is up for re-election for their seats.
Most of the school board in Anoka Hennepin needs to be replaced. They don't represent the voices of parents AT ALL. They are there for their own agendas, for power and for their $1200 a month stipend for doing minimal work and ignoring parents. Parents need to remember this next time they are up for re-election for their seats. Show them who's voice really counts.
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Research paper topic: West Coast Offense - 3280 words
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West Coast Offense We know that football teams, similar to organizations everywhere, improve by going through an evolutionary progression as they learn, apply, adapt, and learn again. Bill Walsh accomplished all these by establishing and mastering the steps involved in that crucial process. No individual in the history of the game is more qualified to put forth such individual guidance. During his illustrious career, Bill Walsh was more than a football coach. In a very real sense he has been an exceptional visionary. Although he is widely renowned as the architect of the West Coast offense, his innovative approach to the game has extended far beyond his imaginative ideas on offense.
During the time he spent working with the San Francisco 49ers, he transformed San Franciscos game into an art form. To Walsh, football was more than a physical contest, and success is more than a victory on the playing field. Success is the progression of worthy ideas and goals. Such a progression involves at least two key cerebral factors, attention to detail and an absolute commitment to perfection. To Walshs way of reasoning, no detail or situation is too unimportant to be overlooked.
Every possible circumstance that might affect the performance of the team and the productivity of the organization should be addressed. In turn, a contingency plan to handle each situation should be developed. In his more than four decades of involvement with the game as a player, a coach, and a top-level administrator, no individual has had a more worthy or meaningful impact on the players he coached or the coaches with whom he worked. A list of coaches that served with Walsh, and who subsequently went on to achieve remarkable success as head coaches on both the collegiate and professional levels is quite extraordinary. As a result, his influence continues to be felt throughout all levels of the game today.
As you read through my manuscript about the West Coast offense, you will read about a detailed offense that thrives on perfection. Throughout my manuscript Bill Walsh and sometimes LaVell Edwards will continue to be referred to, having being the architects of such an ingenious offense. Before we can know more about the offense, we should know more about the history of the father of the West Coast offense. Bill Walsh was born in to an environment where most children played sports in the streets and on neighborhood lawns . He grew up in a neighborhood where there were no basketball courts, so playing football was the only option. Walsh grew up in area of southwest Los Angeles, better known as south central L.A.
South central L.A. was the home of University of Southern California. Having lived in the atmosphere of USC, only served to heighten Walshs interest in football . In later years, Walsh had the opportunity to hang around USC as a ball boy for the Trojan football team. In the process, Walsh made friends with several USC player that went on to be professional athletes and coaches.
If you think Walsh came from a football background you are wrong. Though his father played a very influential role in his life, ingraining strong work ethics, (evident in most of Walshs football teams). During the week his father was employed at a blue collar job in an auto plant. Walsh and family traveled from place to place for employment reasons. Because of the numerous travels, Walsh had the opportunity to attend three different high schools.
He played on the football team at each high school, sometimes as quarterback, but usually as a running back because it was probably easier to learn the system. Walsh attended San Mateo Community College for two seasons, where he was allowed to play quarterback on a regular basis. After attending San Mateo and gaining a Associates Degree, he attended San Jose State University, where he had the opportunity to play as a split end on the Spartan football team, coached by the legendary Bob Bronzan . Bronzan was a typical hard nosed coach, he demanded high standards of performance at all times from everyone associated with the team. He was a coach that stressed the fact that everyone needed to be willing to make sacrifices if the team was to succeed.
Last but not least Bronzan was very creative offensively. After school Walsh was drafted into the Army. He spent his entire two-year of duty at Ft. Ord in California, where he got to play on the post football team and box. After the Army, Walsh returned to San Jose State to pursue a graduate degree and Bronzan hired him on his staff as a graduate assistant coach.
Bronzan got the credit as being Bill Walshs mentor. I can imagine Bronzan spent countless hours with Walsh working to develop the skills and abilities to be a good football coach. After finishing graduate school, Walsh got a position as a head coach at a high school in Fremont, California. Despite being only 24 years old Walsh felt confident that he had learned enough to be a head coach. After spending three years as a head coach at the high school level, with Bronzans support Marv Levy hired him to be a member of his staff at University of California - Berkley.
Moving right up the coaching ladder Walsh had gained a head coaching position at a high school when he was 24 and three years later he was a full time assistant at a Division I college. Two years under his belt at the Division I level on Levys staff he was appointed Walsh as defensive coordinator. Walsh did not feel completely prepared for this position, but the experience proved to be very important. After three seasons with Marv Levy and the Cal Bears, Walsh began his association with Stanford. John Ralston hired Walsh to be a member of the Cardinals staff.
In his first year working for Ralston, he was appointed the chief recruiter, administrative assistant, and junior varsity coach. Then he was appointed as his defensive backs coach. When you actually sit down and try to summarize how you pursued the major goals in your life, it is relatively difficult to determine from which point you should began. Most people interested in football want to know where did Walsh develop his professional philosophies, and in particular the West Coast offense. All factors considered, the birth of the West Coast offense started with the legendary Paul Brown, from whom Walsh worked for in Cincinnati, and the offensive genius Sid Gillman.
Gillman made his mark in 10 seasons with the San Diego Chargers, leading them to five championship appearances. Walsh learned from Gillman when Gillman hired him with the Oakland Raiders. Walsh gives credit to Gillman as being the biggest influence in his early career. Gillman was just one of the numerous pro coaches whom Walsh studied from. Walsh also credits individuals such as Blanton Collier, Al Davis, Don Coryell and Clark Shaughnessy, the legendary Stanford coach and Chicago Bear assistant to George Halas who brought the T formation into college and professional football . Having the chance to work at the college level at two great schools like Cal and Stanford had to be meaningful for his development as a coach.
What many people dont realize is that Walsh spent his first few years in college football on the defensive side of the ball. Working as Marv Levys defensive coordinator at Cal, then later with John Ralston at Stanford as his defensive backs coach, provided him with experience important to coaching offensive football. The time Walsh spent with Cincinnati Bengals seemingly gave Walsh a chance to develop his own coaching philosophy and to put them into practical application. At the time, Cincinnati was an expansion team that had Virgil Carter as its quarterback. Virgil Carter was a quarterback who had a great collegiate career at Brigham Young.
Virgil Carter was only six feet tall and without a throwing arm, but he was a good runner. Back in those days from film I have seen, the Bengals werent strong enough on the offensive line to be able to run the ball well, Walsh decided that the best chance to win football games was to somehow control the ball. As a result, Walsh devised a ball-control passing game in the hope that if the Bengals could make 25 first downs in a given game and also had good special teams play, football games wouldnt be hard to win . Over the eight year period Walsh was in Cincinnati, he and his staff were able to develop a system known today as the West Coast offense. Walsh couldnt have never known the system as being an all-encompassing system.
If he did know he probably would have patented the name and made a lot of money from it. At age 47, Bill Walsh got his first chance to be a head coach since he coached at the high school level in the late 1950s . He was named head football coach at Stanford University in 1977. Most people would consider coaching at Stanford an opportunity of a lifetime. This position allowed him to take full control of an organization and field test the precepts and philosophies he had worked to develop over the years. What matters most is that he also got a chance to further develop an offensive system, but at a decidedly different level.
Coaching football at the college level probably needs more involvement because of the varying stages of development of football players. Teaching is more comprehensive in college because a dramatic range exists in the abilities of the players. The success Walsh had at Stanford, culminating in a national ranking a win in the Bluebonnet Bowl, gave him the chance to become the head coach of the San Francisco 49ers in 1979. The 49ers had been virtually dismembered in the late 1970s by mismanagement and terrible personnel decisions. The apathy in the Bay area for the 49ers was at an all-time high, as evidence by the fact they couldnt sell many tickets. The 49ers had been through a tumultuous period with differences of head coaches and general managers who constantly were at odds with one another.
As a result, the organization had no single leadership and no meaningful direction. To make things worse the 49ers had few draft choices with which to rebuild due to some poor trades. When Walsh was hired they made him head coach, and he was also in charge of all football operations, similar to what the Seattle Seahawks have done when they hired Mike Holmgreen. The standards that Walsh set coaching the West Coast offense were miraculous. His primary goal was to get players that fit the system.
Therefore, I will give an idea on what type of players by position that Walsh wanted. The wide receiver position is probably the second most important position in this offense only because of the passing. The ideal size of a wide receiver should be at least 6 foot 3 inches, and weigh about 210 pounds. To play effectively, a wide receiver must posses several traits and characteristics. For example, a wide receiver should have a high level of agility.
The agility to change his body position is essential if a wide receiver is to be able to get his hips turned and his hands in position to catch a ball that is not perfectly thrown. Body control is particularly critical for a wide receiver who wants to get to the highest tier of play. Wide receivers in this offense must also be relatively strong. Strength can help wide receivers in several ways. For example, strength plays a role in a wide receiver being able to maintain his balance after a collision with his defenders.
Strength also affects a receivers ability to go up for the ball and his ability to maintain his performance level as the game progresses . All factors considered the stronger a player is, the less likely he is to be injured. Soft hands are also vital. Its a given that to have a legitimate chance to play, a receiver must have outstanding hands. The key is to be able to catch the ball in a crowded situation, while on the move.
Almost all potential receivers can run under the ball and catch it in the open. In reality, however, most catches must be made with the ball and the defender closing at the same instant. In such a situation, the receiver must get his body in position to catch the ball, actually the ball and be hit all at the same moment. Wide receivers must also have the ability to focus. They must be able to find the ball, focus on it, and isolate it from everything else that is happening around them.
When a coach is evaluating videotapes on a particular wide receiver, he looks for and evaluates those plays that demonstrate situations where the player must be focused. Speed also plays a role. While pure (track) speed may be desirable, the ability to increase his foot speed as needed (i.e., explosiveness) and his full stride speed are more important factors for a wide receiver. Acceleration has a number of obvious applications for a wide receiver. Full-stride speed enables a receiver who has the ball in the open field to be able to keep the separation with the closing defenders until he crosses the goal line . He doesn't have to out-run the defenders or gain ground on them just get to the goal line before the defenders do.
This situation requires full-stride speed, rather than track speed. The NFL has also had a few wide receivers with Olympic-level sprinting speed who lacked full-stride speed. As a result, they weren't able to score whenever they got tangled up with a defender and weren't able to get back into full stride quickly enough. Coachability is another factor that is important that wide receivers have (as it is for all players). Coaching can help enhance a receiver's ability to evade a defender at the line of scrimmage, to read the form of coverage, and to change a pattern accordingly. Wide receivers must also be durable.
Durability is a factor because receivers get hit a lot. Often, they're hit when they're in a vulnerable position (i.e., being hit by a much larger opponent after running a hooking pattern against a linebacker). Wide receivers are finely tuned athletes who need to be in top condition to perform well. If they are hurt or injured, it can be very difficult for them to function at a high level. Unlike a few other positions (e.g., offensive lineman), wide receivers must be almost totally injury free to perform well. Walsh has had the luxury to coach a number of great wide receivers, including Chip Myers, Charlie Joiner, James Lofton, Ken Margerum, Isaac Curtis, Dwight Clark, John Taylor and the incomparable Jerry Rice.
At one time or another, all of them were either Pro Bowl players or All-Americans in college. Each, however, was uniquely qualified and different from the others. For example, Chip Myers was 6'5, while Charlie Joiner was only 5'10; Isaac Curtis was an NCAA sprint champion; Dwight Clark ran a 4.6 40-yard dash, etc . The one thing that they had in common, however, was that they were all brilliant performers. Another important position in the West Coast offense is the tight end position. The ideal size for a tight end in this offense is about six foot, four and one half inches, weighing about 245 pounds.
The requirements for playing tight end depend primarily on the system a team deploys. Accordingly, a West Coast offense team must find the athlete who best fits the team's approach to the offense. Some teams want a tight end who has girth, ballast and strength. For these teams, the tight end is one of the primary keys to their offensive system because he has the size and physical tools to secure the point of attack. If the tight end is able to block a defensive lineman who is positioned on the edge of the offense, then a team automatically has an increased likelihood of having a running game with just that single feature. In many of the defensive alignments of the 1990s, defensive linemen are lining up adjacent to or across from the tight end, whereas years ago they probably were not.
If the tight end can block those defensive linemen, then this entire offense has a focal point from which to work. This type of tight end can be a dominating factor. He is bigger and stronger, though less quick and agile, than the other type of tight end. Teams tend to fashion their passing game with him in the vicinity of the linebackers. Accordingly, he must have both the ability to absorb a ball as he is being hit and soft hands. On virtually every pass thrown to him, he is going to be hit almost simultaneously with the catch.
This type of tight end also does not need to possess great speed; a 5.0 time on the 40-yard dash will get the job done. The major shortcoming attendant to his lack of extraordinary speed is the fact that he is not going to be able to clear defenders on certain pass patterns to help other receivers. All in all, that limitation is not that significant compared to all the blocking capabilities he provides. The other extreme would be a Brent Jones type tight end, who can be a major factor all over the field. This type of tight end is a dream come true for the West Coast offense. He should have the ability and the foot speed to go anywhere on the field quickly across the field, to the outside, down the field, etc.
In the process, he will be able to either bring defenders with him or find openings in the defenses. This kind of tight end needs the body control, the great hands and a lot of the skills of wide receiver, although more girth (size) than a wide receiver because many of the passes he catches will be in the vicinity of linebackers and even defensive linemen. The quicker and faster type of tight end will utilize an all-technique (rather than bulk) approach when blocking. It is essential that he learns and develops those blocking techniques that he can use with a reasonable level of effectiveness against defensive linemen and linebackers. Unlike the stranger, bigger type of tight end, he will not be able to use amass-against mass approach to blocking.
Also, this type of tight end is considered the great all-around type. This type of tight end is so gifted (athletically) that he can do all of the things both of the other types of tight ends would normally be expected to do. A multi-talented, all around tight end who is both a great blocker and a great receiver gives his team multiple offensive options. The next tool in the West Coast offense has to be the offensive lineman. Like most offenses offensive linemen make the offenses great.
The offensive tackle should be the tallest on the offensive line, especially in the West Coast offense because so many of the passing plays are across the middle. The ideal size for an offensive tackle has to be at least six foot, six inches, and 310 pounds. The National Football League (NFL) has a number of highly skilled offensive tackles who weigh 330 pounds or so. In reality, these athletes play well in spite of weighing 330 pounds, not because of it. The only apparent benefit of weighing that much is to attract the attention of the television crew. While most of them m ...
Research paper topics, free term papers, essays, sample research papers on West Coast Offense | <urn:uuid:39d05cdf-3c52-4d74-b862-e843ff10b350> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://promptpapers.com/research-paper-topics.php?term_paper=2790918&title=West-Coast-Offense | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368704132298/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516113532-00042-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.98326 | 3,998 | 1.734375 | 2 |
The wildfire that consumed approximately 570 acres was reportedly 95 percent contained as of Wednesday, September 12, 2012.
According to a representative with the Houston County Sheriff’s Office the fire originated on property located on Bo Brown Road in Walker County in a 15-year-old tree plantation and spread to a 10-year-old plantation, then jumped the road early on Tuesday, September 11, 2012. The changes in wind patterns over the past two days has helped the fire to jump the containment lines several times, hindering the fire departments from getting ahead of the blaze.
The fire entered Houston County late in the afternoon on Tuesday and continued to blaze throughout the night and much of Wednesday, September 12, 2012.
Houston and Walker County fire departments have been assisted in this wildfire by the Texas A&M Forest Service.
Although many homes in the area were evacuated, reportedly no houses were lost and no one was injured.
The Texas A&M Forest Service is still working to improve the fire lines at this time. They have eight bulldozers and a road maintainer assisting them in cutting fire breaks. | <urn:uuid:a63abfd5-9925-4847-a156-356cb13765b0> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://countylifeonline.com/2012/09/12/houston-county-wildfire-95-percent-contained/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368697974692/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516095254-00038-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.979359 | 224 | 1.8125 | 2 |
Apple laptops and iMac models are very popular products for computer thieves. If you look on the websites of online sales between private, we see a lot of Apple computers at low prices. There are several OSX applications that combined with online services allow you to locate a stolen Mac.
LoJack (subscription for one year U.S. $ 39.95), Undercover (subscription is $ 49.00 payable only once for an unlimited period), and MacTrak (at $ 24.95 per year) are some of the programs allow you to recover your computer or even an additional chance of to do so.
Many of these programs have a simple operation. An application running in the background transmits the IP address and a picture taken with the camera that comes included with this computer. Recently there was a new application called “hidden” which leaves no trace of the system installation or system preferences. All you have to do is to install the application and restart.
The service search for Mac and when it finds the network will show on Google Maps where the computer is. With this information and pictures are transmitted to the person using the computer, a screen capture, IP address and name of the WiFi network where is connected if is necessary. The information is sent at every 10 minutes as long as your computer is connected to the Internet.
With that information you can go to an ISP or the police and with luck can you recover your computer. Unfortunately this system is not 100% sure. An experienced thief will remove and reinstall the whole system and it will delete the date and the tracking application.
It also recommends using a firmware password but neither this do not provide a minimum security against a less experienced thieve. The firmware password removal process is very simple to do. Now you can not recover your computer but it is good to have your Apple computer series noted somewhere. Thus when it is stolen you can post this series on sites dealing with stolen computer recording. | <urn:uuid:7f8b544f-5f44-43bd-9962-ef7888a99895> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.applerepo.com/how-to-recover-a-stolen-mac/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368705195219/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516115315-00036-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.949982 | 398 | 1.515625 | 2 |
National environmental groups, anticipating an administration announcement finalizing the ozone regulations, were so confident that they had drafted two media statements, both positive. Instead, advocacy groups issued series of separate rebukes Friday while business organizations lavished praise on the president.
Karen Harned, executive director of the National Federation of Independent Business’s Small Business Legal Center, wrote in an e-mail, “It’s encouraging to see the administration finally recognizes that this would have been the worst possible time to implement such a burdensome new rule.”
By contrast John Walke, clean-air director for the Natural Resources Defense Council, said, “It is outrageous that the president has intervened politically to block the EPA administrator from correcting an unprotective smog standard that she recognizes to be scientifically and legally indefensible.”
The proposed rule was particularly contentious because it could halt or delay the permitting of new industrial facilities if local pollution is too severe. Under a 2001 Supreme Court decision, the EPA is not allowed to take costs into account when setting the ozone standards, but the agency estimated the compliance costs for industry could range from $19 billion to $90 billion a year by 2020 depending on what level is set. It would yield health benefits worth $13 billion to $100 billion, the agency said. | <urn:uuid:97cfbcb0-ee53-4671-a124-62b02cd0c4cb> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://articles.washingtonpost.com/2011-09-02/national/35274851_1_ground-level-ozone-burdens-and-regulatory-uncertainty-smog-standards/2 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368707435344/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516123035-00000-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.950915 | 268 | 1.710938 | 2 |
WASHINGTON -- The doctrine of Bain Capital -- as outlined by former managing director Edward Conard -- is that the super rich got that way because they "earned" it.
The logical corollary is that financially battered middle-class Americans deserve what's happening to them, too. And that the poor deserve to be poor.
Peter Edelman, a Georgetown University law professor and longtime anti-poverty advocate, takes the exact opposite view in his new book, "So Rich, So Poor."
At an event for the book Monday hosted by two leading liberal advocacy groups -- the Center for American Progress and the American Constitution Society -- Edelman urged action by, and on behalf of, the broadest possible coalition of the 99 percent, against the 1.
"We need to have the largest 'we' we can get to defend what we have," he said.
The goal, he indicated, should be to raise taxes on the rich and strengthen the social safety net -- even as GOP leaders try to take it away.
"The first task, " Edelman said, is to "stand up and say broadly" that the Republican budget proposals calling for austerity and cutbacks to social service programs "are just destructive. And the rhetoric … is just weird."
Welfare "is basically gone," and now the GOP is going after everything else, he said. According to them, he said, "the whole problem is that we're helping people too much."
Edelman despaired against members of the middle class who vote against their own economic interests -- sometimes because they perceive the poor, rather than the rich, as the bigger economic threat.
"Our concern has to go all the way down to the bottom; all of the 99 percent if you will," he said.
Edelman's book outlines the huge challenges an anti-poverty crusade faces. Indeed, its subhead reads: "Why It's So Hard to End Poverty in America."
Now, "we have six million people in this country whose only income is food stamps," he said. "We need a national conversation about how to get incomes up to a level that people can live on."
Edelman gave President Barack Obama high marks for passing a stimulus that was heavy on anti-poverty measures, for adding 16 million adults to Medicaid, and other actions.
His complaint about Obama is that the president rarely addresses poverty explicitly. "The p-word is not much in evidence," Edelman said. "We really just need to call out the word and put it out there in the discussion."
In his book, Edelman writes that he used to believe that the debate over antipoverty efforts and the debate about taxing the rich should be held separately, so antipoverty advocates wouldn't be accused of favoring "class warfare."
But the rich have seized so much economic and political power that "we literally cannot afford to separate the two issues" anymore, he writes. | <urn:uuid:3ba6a432-9d74-43f6-85ca-ef511b161bb7> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/06/11/peter-edelman-uniting-middle-class-poor_n_1587654.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368709037764/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516125717-00005-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.968116 | 598 | 1.765625 | 2 |
Stratfor is a Texas-based global intelligence company.
"Unnamed Turkish Energy Ministry officials have confirmed Wednesday (11 July) that Ankara is preparing to send a technical delegation to Iraq, supposedly at Baghdad's request, to discuss building an oil pipeline linking southern Iraq and Turkey.
This comes after Turkey has reportedly begun construction on a new oil pipeline connecting Kurdish energy fields to Turkish ports.
Even though Iraq's central government has responded negatively to the Kurdish Regional Government's (KRG's) increased reliance on Turkish support in its ongoing dispute with the government of Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki, Ankara's approach of offering concessions and projects to both Baghdad and Arbil seems to be gaining ground. Wednesday's announcement represents an important leap forward for Turkey’s ambitions in Iraq and, if successful, will make Turkey the premier enabler of foreign investment and development plans for both northern and southern Iraq.
Stratfor has long anticipated Turkey's regional rise, and Wednesday's decision is an important indicator that Ankara is ready to make strategic energy moves to deepen its influence in the region. Any external ambitions required Turkey to first address its internal Kurdish issue.
Ankara has therefore worked to develop a closer relationship with the KRG in hopes of reining in Kurdish separatist militancy. Turkey is making progress in reorienting the Kurdish region's economic and energy focus northward, keeping Arbil critically dependent on Ankara and linking their continued mutual success to the containment of Kurdish militancy.
But Turkey is not stopping at northern Iraq. It appears that Turkey is preparing to extend its influence to Baghdad and oil-rich southern Iraq, bringing Ankara in even closer competition with Iran.
The proposed Kirkuk-Basra pipeline would link the burgeoning crude oil production of Iraq’s southern oil fields with northern export pipelines. The extension would allow Baghdad to transport nearly 80% of current exports north through Turkey, bypassing the Strait of Hormuz.
The central government and its foreign investors have been dissatisfied with the performance of recently built terminals along Iraq's coast, and Baghdad will likely find Turkey's offer difficult to refuse. But Turkey has bigger plans in play than laying pipes south of Kirkuk.
Turkish energy consumption and power generation needs are expected to increase dramatically in coming years, and Iraq is in a particularly good position to meet those needs. By working to solidify its position as an East-West energy transportation hub, Turkey can use stable crude oil and gas deliveries from Iraq to incentivise positive negotiations with Europe by helping Europeans break their dependence on Gulf oil shipped through the Strait of Hormuz.
While still undeveloped and lacking necessary infrastructure, Iraq's proven natural reserves hold more than three trillion cubic metres, much of it in the Kurdish region. The volume of Kurdish natural reserves could replace Turkey's current imports from Russia for the next 50 years.
As Turkey begins to present a more meaningful challenge to Iranian influence, Tehran will have to expend more effort to maintain the gains it has made thus far before trying to extend itself further in the region. Iraq will become Iran's priority.
Keeping Tehran preoccupied closer to home could take some of the pressure off Turkey as it seeks to build stronger relationships with former Ottoman territories in the Levant. Key Arab stakeholders in the region, such as the Gulf Cooperation Council states, are indeed wary of Turkey's expanded influence, but these states are sure to appreciate any move that might curtail Iran's influence in Iraq and beyond.
Decreased energy dependence on Russia will also be crucial as Turkey seeks to reassert its former position in the Balkans and Eastern Europe.
Iran will likely balk at the idea of greater Turkish influence in Iraq, but Tehran lacks the capital and technology to counter Turkey's offers in a meaningful way. Beyond the technical specifics of hydrocarbon redistribution, Ankara is revealing itself to be a more capable partner for Baghdad’s long-term success than Tehran.
Turkey can provide the infrastructure and stable export routes that Iran cannot, a fact international oil companies will not overlook. Greater leverage in southern Iraq, the Shiite-dominated bastion of Iranian influence in Mesopotamia, would be a significant boon for Turkey's regional ambitions.
Iran will staunchly resist any Turkish encroachment, however, and Baghdad is unlikely to abandon Tehran overnight. While Turkey's economic levers are impressive, Iran has several tools at its disposal to challenge Turkish ambitions --namely Shiite militant proxies, intra-Kurdish rivalries and strong sectarian links to southern Iraq.
Unlike its very public and combative statements on Syria, Turkey's stealthy manoeuvring in Iraq via energy channels reveals the country's ongoing transformation into a significant regional power." | <urn:uuid:30da1d97-adbf-47a3-a677-a9e2729f536a> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.euractiv.com/energy/turkeys-pipeline-diplomacy-analysis-513872 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368706499548/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516121459-00021-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.95072 | 943 | 1.75 | 2 |
There is endemic corruption that beggars belief. There is a highly educated, superb English speaking elite and large masses of illiterate poor. There is insurgency and terrorism around the edges. There is organised loot of the country's finances with a few getting extremely rich and the lot remaining dirt poor. Misguided subsidies are ruining the state finances. There is a thriving film industry that churns our the second largest number of movies in the world and provides opium to the masses. No this is not India. Welcome to Nigeria.
Nigeria is an oil producing country. You would expect that to be a huge blessing, right ? Wrong. It has proved to be a curse. Nigeria is suffering from an unsustainable petroleum subsidy burden. So unsustainable that this week it announced abolition of the subsidy. Predictably there will be chaos on the streets as large scale protests have commenced.
The petroleum subsidy case in Nigeria is a textbook case of how pathetic government policies can ruin a country. Nigeria is an oil producing nation. However it has not set up refining capacity. It therefore exports crude and imports refined products. It then massively subsidises petroleum prices. A litre of petrol costs Rs 20 (US$ 0.40). The government spends some $1bn a month in subsidies. This is simply unsustainable.
Subsidies like this distorts every economic activity. There is, of course, large scale smuggling into neighbouring countries where the prices are four times higher. The largest per capita incidence of petrol pumps in the world is in the border towns like Idiroko - organised smuggling designed to fill the coffers of the masters in Lagos.
From the perspective of the poor, the subsidy is the only thing the government does for them. It is otherwise almost a failed state. The government says the money wasted on the subsidy will be used to build infrastructure, schools, hospitals, etc - things that the government ought to be doing. The trouble is that nobody believes them. Given the highly sophisticated levels of organised corruption, few doubt where the money will land up.
Replace petroleum subsidy with colour TVs or colossal statues or free power and you'll look at a country, readers of this blog are more familiar with.
India often likes to compare itself with China. It should instead look up to Nigeria. That is the true role model - of how bad things can become if the deterioration in governance and the state continues in its present trajectory. | <urn:uuid:1a1c614b-ab00-490d-956a-e85b6758dae5> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://indigoite.blogspot.com/2012/01/eyes-left-look-towards-nigeria.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368711005985/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516133005-00013-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.948137 | 487 | 1.570313 | 2 |
In 1953, a paperback book, The Inside Story of Narcotics, was issued by religious publishing house, Zondervan. Released at the height of hysteria about a national epidemic of teen-aged junkies that did not exist, it was written by one Jim Vaus.
“Every trade has a technical language. Even Christians have a language of their own. They speak of being ‘saved,’ of a ‘Christian worker,’ or of ‘putting out fleece.’ The person not used to their jargon doesn’t understand what the Christians are talking about. Addicts, too, have a language of their own, language which must be understood if this book is to be understood. Some of the words most used are: bad go – too small an amount for the money paid; bang – an injection of heroin’ blast party – a get together to smoke marijuana.”
Vaus, it turns out, was one of the most interesting characters to have ever put pen to pulp. He was, until recently, a lost footnote in Los Angeles history, a man who stood at the shadowy nexus of Los Angeles politics, the underworld, and the LAPD. He then took a sharp turn and wound up connecting evangelist Billy Graham to that dark triad.
“Wiretapper Jimmy Vaus couldn’t decide whether he wanted to be a cop or a crook – so he tried to be both. In doing so, he set off on a path that led directly to Mickey Cohen,” the L.A.-born gangster who tried to make it in Chicago and Cleveland before returning to the City of Angels to eventually become Southern California’s foremost fallen one.
A sound engineer and electronics specialist during Army service, in 1946 Vaus was managing an apartment building in Hollywood while pursuing his passion for electronic wizardry. A working girl living in the building was upsetting the other tenants. Vaus called the vice squad. The vice squad officer who responded had no way to catch her in the act; he could hear voices behind the girl’s door but could not make out what was being said. Incredulous that the LAPD did not have electronic surveillance equipment to listen in on her conversations, Vaus volunteered his services. Vaus provided the LAPD with its first wiretapping equipment and operated it. The prostitute was busted. The wiretap was illegal but no matter – this was the LAPD at its darkest noir.
Vaus’s success with the case prompted the LAPD to avail themselves of his ongoing services in their quest to prevent L.A. from becoming an “open” city for organized crime; in 1937, Ben “Bugsy” Siegel, the matinee-idol handsome mobster, had come to town at the behest of his associates in New York and Chicago to organize illegal activity. He brought in Mickey Cohen, a former street thug and featherweight boxer with hair-trigger temper and spastic trigger-finger, a wildly impulsive, near-illiterate punk with a rep for possessing the biggest pair of cajones for a little runt that ever wielded a .38, a shotgun, or whatever necessary to conduct business. He was sorcerer’s apprentice to Siegel, who cleaned, polished (as much as Cohen could be), and wised him up. By the time Siegel was murdered in 1947, Mickey had risen to become L.A.’s top mobster.
This upset the LAPD no end. Soon, Vaus was tapping – illegally, ‘natch – Cohen’s phones and bugging his house.
Not long afterward, Vaus was involuntarily summoned to meet the Jewish Napoleon in sharkskin, who had learned of the taps and of the whiz behind them. Jim assumed the meeting would be his last on earth. To the contrary, Cohen asked him to tap and bug on his behalf.
“Confronted with such opulence [Cohen's home], Vaus’s moral faculties, which were clearly weak to begin with, failed him entirely. ‘It would have been very hard to persuade a man that it was wrong to have the money sufficient to buy these creature comforts,’ Vaus concluded.”
The beginning of the Mickey/Vaus relationship (gangsters elsewhere in the U.S. considered Cohen’s operation “the Mickey Mouse Mafia”) was celebrated by Cohen backing Jim in an electronics shop, conveniently located in the same building on Sunset Boulevard as Michael’s Haberdashery, Cohen’s ersatz-class men’s shop. Cohen’s given name was Meyer. He’d come a long way since Boyle Heights, he fantasized.
Cohen employed Vaus to collect evidence of police corruption, specifically blackmail attempts against him by LAPD officers. There was a lot of evidence. He also had Vaus de-bug his home. This presented a problem.
Vaus was now working both sides of the street. But “even the covetous wiretapper understood that working for both the LAPD and the city’s top organized crime boss would be a dicey proposition.”
In Time magazine’s review of Wiretapper (1955) – “The true-life drama of the man who kept the Gangsters, the Gamblers and the Bookies always one step ahead of the law – until the moment when he tapped in on a direct line to God” – a movie adapted from Vaus’s autobiography, Why I Quit Syndicated Crime (Wheaton, Illinois: Van Kampen Press, 1954), it is noted that “the highlight of Jim’s criminal career was a slick trick for improving his judgment of race horses. He would cut into the direct Teletype wire between a bookie and the race track, take the race results on his own Teletype, and signal a confederate to place last-minute bets with the unsuspecting bookie before feeding the delayed tape back into the bookie’s wire again. He was about to leave for St. Louis to make a new installation of this type when he stepped into a Billy Graham rally.”
Vaus, whose father, James Vaus, was a Bible-thumping preacher, was ripe for conversion; the needle of his moral compass was spinning out of control and the omens for a long life ending by natural causes were not auspicious.
“The year 1949 had been a disastrous one for Jimmy Vaus. [The scandalous trial of a LAPD officer caught on one of Vaus's wiretaps] and the revelations that followed had exposed him as a double agent and placed him in considerable peril.”
Billy Graham came to town in October of 1949 to begin a series of old-fashioned tent-meetings. Graham was a nobody until William Randolph Hearst took a shine to the charismatic religious figure and made sure his Los Angeles newspapers, the Examiner and Herald-Express, provided extensive and effusive coverage of the minister and his “Crusade for Christ.” This campaign by Graham would be his first. It made him a star, and launched his career as America’s Minister.
Vaus attended one of Graham’s meetings. Graham made a call for sinners, his famous “This is your moment of decision!”
“Suddenly, Vaus found himself gliding up the isle toward the platform at the front of the ten where Graham was standing. Then he was down on his knees. He left in a daze. As he was exiting the tent, a photographer’s lightbulb flashed. The next day, newspaper readers awakened to the headline WIRE-TAPPER VAUS HITS SAWDUST TRAIL.
“Jimmy Vaus had been born again.”
Through Vaus, Graham met Mickey Cohen, who the evangelist had set his sights on as a flashy potential convert; Cohen was going through one of his periodic and disingenuous “I’m goin’ straight” phases – a recent incarceration was so frightful that he never wanted to see the inside of a prison again. He played Graham as earnestly as Graham worked him. In the end, Cohen, despite his “sincere” desire. used Graham for cover, gave Graham the air, and left his salvation to the dice tables. But not before both had reaped the P.R. benefits.
Vaus, in the interim, wrote The Inside Story of Narcotics. Though he had virtually no experience with the drug trade in Los Angeles or anywhere else, his contacts in the LAPD’s vice squad provided him with all he needed to know. As Billy Graham’s star convert, the book was an exercise in redemption and sold well, going through at least four printings that I am aware of.
The unattributed quotes above are from a book released earlier this year that I’ve just now gotten around to reading, the exhaustively and painstakingly researched L.A. Noir: The Struggle for the Soul of America’s Most Seductive City
by John Buntin
. I cannot recommend this book highly enough.
Within, Buntin follows the trail of politics, the underworld and the LAPD from the turn of the 20th century through the mid-1960s, using the ascents of legendary LAPD Chief William H. Parker and gangster Mickey Cohen as opposites in parallel to relate this fascinating aspect of Los Angeles history.
“These two men — one morally unflinching, the other unflinchingly immoral — would soon come head to head in a struggle to control the city — a struggle that echoes unforgettably through the fiction of Raymond Chandler and movies like The Big Sleep, Chinatown, and L.A. Confidential. For more than three decades, from Prohibition through the Watts riots, their struggle convulsed the city, intersecting in the process with the agendas and ambitions of J. Edgar Hoover and Robert F. Kennedy Jr., Mike Wallace and Billy Graham, Lana Turner and Malcolm X and inspiring writers from Raymond Chandler to James Ellroy. Its outcome shaped American policing — for better and for worse — and helped to create the Los Angeles we know today” (From Buntin’s website).
“Packed with Hollywood personalities, Beltway types and felons, Buntin’s riveting tale of two ambitious souls on hell-bent opposing missions in the land of sun and make-believe is an entertaining and surprising diversion” (Publishers Weekly).
“LA Noir is a fascinating look at the likes of Mickey Cohen and Bill Parker, the two kingpins of Los Angeles crime and police lore. John Buntin’s work here is detailed and intuitive. Most of all, it’s flat out entertaining” (Michael Connelly).
I briefly discuss The Inside Story of Narcotics in my book, Dope Menace. Consider this post an extended end note to that volume. | <urn:uuid:a4acf603-1f8b-4c9e-9cb1-19c39eeb6b15> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://blog.seattlepi.com/bookpatrol/2009/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368702810651/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516111330-00008-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.972713 | 2,300 | 1.539063 | 2 |
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Date of Award
Boris B. Baltes
Research has recently begun to consider what role motives may play in explaining how citizenship behavior is evaluated. Individuals who engage in OCB may have different motives for the same behavior, and the question of whether different motives can lead to different organizational outcomes has gone largely unstudied as of yet. The focus of this study is to investigate the effect of motive attributions on organizational outcomes. Participants were presented with four short vignettes of either organization-focused or individual-focused citizenship behavior, with each behavior motivated by one of five motives. No evidence was found to support the notion that theoretically positive motives were rated more favorably in overall evaluations than theoretically negative motives, however findings for reward ratings suggest that the motive of guilt is rated the lower than positive and negative motives. No differences were found between ratings provided for behaviors directed at the organization (OCBO) versus individuals (OCBI).
Bal, Anne C., "When "why" matters: the effects of motive attributions for OCB on employee outcomes" (2011). Wayne State University Theses. Paper 103. | <urn:uuid:8f906b50-7b8d-4c14-8cf0-e5a6067f69e4> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://digitalcommons.wayne.edu/oa_theses/103/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368696382584/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516092622-00011-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.955082 | 280 | 1.585938 | 2 |
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I find it interesting to follow the ongoing concerns about the Pennsylvania voter-ID law. It would be helpful to review some past events related to the current situation.
I spent all day at the polls in East Fallowfield Township on Election Day 2008. Although the lines were long at times, most voters waited about an hour to cast their ballots. It was somewhat different in Lower Oxford Township East. I heard from poll watchers there that voters waited as long as seven or eight hours in the rain to cast their ballots. Some apparently gave up and went home without exercising their constitutional right to vote in a presidential election. Consequently, the voter turnout in Lower Oxford Township East was the lowest in Chester County.
Carol Aichele was a Chester County commissioner in 2008, and was one of two Republican commissioners who denied a petition to move the polling place in Lower Oxford Township East to a more accessible location. This resulted in a lawsuit against the Chester County board, asserting that many voters, including students from Lincoln University, were denied their right to vote. This suit was settled before any trial.
Now we have Carol Aichele, in her role as Secretary of the Commonwealth, attempting to implement the Pennsylvania voter-ID law which appears to suppress the vote in the state, not just in Chester County. It is clear that this law was poorly conceived since there have been numerous modifications: it seems that no one considered its effect on thousands of Pennsylvania students who do not have a student-ID with an expiration date.
Solution -- have the colleges and universities attach a sticker with an expiration date. Then we have registered voters who do not have a driver’s license or any other photo ID, not to mention those who are unable to obtain a birth certificate to prove their identity. When this legislation was being considered in 2011, Secretary Aichele assured state legislators that 99 percent of Pennsylvania voters already possessed the required identification. Now, on July 3, it was reported by Secretary Aichele’s department that, “758,000 voters statewide -- about 9.2 percent -- did lack PennDOT-issued identification, either a driver’s license or a nondriver photo ID.” On July 6, several civic-minded organizations have requested the state to delay this requirement.
Finally, we read the report that House Majority Leader Mike Turzai (R., Allegheny) declared at a meeting of the state Republican Party in June, “Voter ID, which is going to allow Gov. Romney to win the state of Pennsylvania -- done.” In response, state Sen. Daylin Leach (D - Montgomery) reportedly stated at a news conference, “This was not about stopping voter fraud. This was part of a national effort by the Republican Party to pass laws disenfranchising large numbers of voters who tend to vote Democratic.”
Some people in Harrisburg should contemplate the inscription on the finance building, “All public service is a trust, given in faith and accepted in honor.”
ROGER J. BROWN
Personal view of one director
The public has now seen the West Chester Area School Board’s contract proposal to the teachers’ union. Two issues have since been fed back to me by several of my constituents that I believe the school board should now look at. First is the school district’s practice of forcing all nonunion teachers to pay union dues to keep their jobs (in legal speak this is called ‘fair share fees’). In my opinion there is nothing fair about this violation of individual liberty.
I contend that teachers should be free to choose whether or not they wish to financially support the union. Compulsory dues should not be forced upon any public employee by contractual agreement between elected officials and union officials. I am bound by my oath of office to uphold and defend the First Amendment to the Constitution. I believe it is un-American to approve a collective bargaining agreement that compels dues payments out of any current or prospective nonunion teacher’s paycheck.
Second, the school district’s practice of using public resources (payroll deduction) to collect and remit several hundred thousand dollars each year in union dues has come under scrutiny. This money gets used by the state (PSEA) and national (NEA) teacher unions for various political lobbying activities, and under a recent U.S. Supreme Court decision in the Citizens United case it can also be used for independent campaign expenditures.
The school board has the legal right under law to try and eliminate this contract provision via negotiated agreement. I contend that it does not serve our students, taxpayers, or teachers’ interests to have our publicly-funded school district involved in processing political money for the teachers’ union.
PSEA union lobbyists who talk to state Sen. Andy Dinninan about keeping the current school strike law that hurts our children, are paid big salaries that originate from teachers’ union dues. I agree with public feedback suggesting we should not keep collecting these dues via payroll deduction.
I support the job that our professional educators perform for our students. I do not support the continued practice of compulsory union dues payments for nonunion teachers, and I do not support using governmental resources to process any political money for any private organization. As one individual on the West Chester Area School Board, this is my position.
Vice president of West Chester
Area School Board
Too many are misinformed
Once again there is someone criticizing the recent ruling by the Supreme Court of the Affordable Care Act without knowing all the facts in a letter on Tuesday, July 2. These people are basing their information on political misinformation being aired on television. I would suggest your read the whole paper. In it is an excellent article by Janet Colliton in the “Biz” section explaining exactly what was passed. It is not a tax as you assert, but a penalty fee paid to the IRS for not getting insurance, but “is specifically excluded from any criminal penalties.”
We are required to get car insurance to protect ourselves. With the rising costs of health care, why shouldn’t everyone be required to have health insurance so those of us who do have insurance can stop paying for those who don’t. You BETCHA!
East branch still flowing
In the Daily Local News of Thursday, June 21, there was a supplment called “Good Neighbor Day Celebration” with many fine articles about the day’s activities. Your statement, “The approximately seven mile (canoe) race goes along the west branch of the Brandywine River” is in error. The Northbrook Canoe Co. is on the west branch. Georgia Farm Bridge is on the east branch of the Brandywine Creek.
On the same day you published a beautiful glossy “Guide to Chester County” with full page map. The east branch of the Brandywine Creek has been completely omitted from the map. I would like to say that the east branch still exists, in all its glory. | <urn:uuid:de49a6d1-a9fc-4366-b020-163a25a11249> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.dailylocal.com/article/20120710/NEWS/120719960/reviewing-past-events-concerning-the-state-s-voter-id-law | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368706890813/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516122130-00013-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.964722 | 1,448 | 1.703125 | 2 |
In each issue of Pretty Nostalgic Magazine, we’ll be showing you four ways to upcycle one single object – turning vintage tea cups into candles, filling them with spring bulbs and constructing quite possibly the most exciting table lamp you’ve ever seen (more to come), but it got us thinking – what should we upcycle next?
One item that I’ve always had a fondest for is vintage lampshades. Without a thought for how I was going to use them, I collected second hand lampshades of various sizes for eight months in the run up to my wedding, only to stare at them with a day to go and ponder what to do with them.
In the end, with the help of a most wonderful bridesmaid, I created this chandelier using old wooden picture frames (given away for free at a work sale) and twine. We even wired in battery-powered tea lights, which flickered like wax candles. I’ll show you how to make this in issue two.
The inspiration probably came from some wonderful examples of lampshade bunting I’d seen last year. The first was in the Lost Wood at the Larmer Tree Festival - someone had strung assorted shades through the branches of a tree. Each one was wired up and below hung books you could borrow, to create a magical woodland book corner. Beautiful.
The second was in my local vintage store, Cox and Baloney in Bristol, who had made bunting out of tiny lampshades, dolled up with ribbons, beads and bling. Then there was this awesome upcycled lampshade I saw down one of the Lanes in Brighton, which inspired me to create something similar. I’ll show you exactly how this was done in issue two.
So, I guess what we want to know is – have you ever tried to upcycle a lampshade? Or perhaps recovered a lamp with vintage fabrics, or customised an original shade to turn it into something truly special? If you have – drop us a line, we’d love to hear from you! | <urn:uuid:9a82d915-2c43-485c-9de9-3d83ac667246> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://prettynostalgic.co.uk/blog/upcycled-lampshades/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368697974692/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516095254-00022-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.960498 | 440 | 1.609375 | 2 |
Cardinal Obando, once the fiercest critic of the Sandinista government, celebrated a mass for “reconciliation and peace,” as well as “ for the eternal rest” of the some 30,000 Nicaraguans that lost their lives during the revolution and the ensuing uprising of the U.S.-backed “Contra” rebels..- Nicaragua's former Marxist President Daniel Ortega and Cardinal Miguel Obando y Bravo prayed together for reconciliation on Monday evening, on the occasion of the 25th anniversary of the Sandinista revolution.
“It takes courage to ask for forgiveness,” said Cardinal Obando at the Mass celebrated at Managua’s new Cathedral, in reference to Ortega’s recent request to Catholic leaders to forgive his government’s errors and “mistakes against the Church.”
During the homily, Cardinal Obando also prayed that “this episode of violence may never happen again in our nation.”
Ortega, who lost power in the 1990 elections and has failed to be elected president three consecutive times, attended the Mass with his family and did one of the readings. “This has been one of the most beautiful, profound messages we have heard,” he said later of Obando's homily. | <urn:uuid:f2a6a28a-a528-43e7-8cc5-a92dd31c76e4> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.catholicnewsagency.com/news/catholic_leaders_and_sandinistas_pray_together_after_25_years_in_nicaragua/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368704132298/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516113532-00018-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.966037 | 277 | 1.84375 | 2 |
Updated: Clarified that only parts of the network are involved.
The FCC is threatening to shut down major parts of Sprint's iDEN network as portions of the 800 MHz spectrum it operates in interferes with public safety channels. The conflict between the iDEN network and public safety agencies was addressed years ago as Sprint was given new spectrum to move its iDEN network onto. Though the carrier has already spent $1 billion to move the network, the FCC says that progress is not moving according to schedule. The carrier estimates the relevant parts of the network serve nearly 20 million subscribers. Sprint has asked the Court of Appeals to help protect it against threats of a shutdown. | <urn:uuid:4141cdd7-4fe8-4611-9626-b534fbcee821> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.phonescoop.com/articles/article.php?a=2546 | 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 | 0.969126 | 134 | 1.71875 | 2 |
Mr Henry Aglionby1790 - 1854
- Cockermouth December 10, 1832 - July 31, 1854
First recorded, on February 21, 1833 PUBLICATION OF THE VOTES OF MEMBERS. Commons
Last recorded, on July 20, 1854 BRIBERY, &c., BILL. Commons
Information presented on this page was prepared from the XML source files, together with information from the History of Parliament Trust, the work of Leigh Rayment and public sources. The means by which names are recognised means that errors may remain in the data presented. | <urn:uuid:b4e4fca1-e363-4761-869f-84ab424ed323> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://hansard.millbanksystems.com/people/mr-henry-aglionby/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368703682988/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516112802-00035-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.947985 | 123 | 1.53125 | 2 |
NAC forces govt to act on manual scavenging
As a consequence of a stinging reminder from the National Advisory Council headed by Congress president Sonia Gandhi on still prevalent manual scavenging, an interministerial group headed by Social Justice and Empowerment Minister Mukul Wasnik on Friday decided to set a fresh self-imposed deadline to end the shameful practice identified with only specific communities in society.
The meeting also decided to set a timetable to end the system of constructing dry latrines in the states besides setting up an official level committee to look into modalities on conducting a fresh survey to identify the exact number of manual scavengers in the country.
The meeting was attended by representatives of the Housing and Urban Poverty Alleviation Ministry, Urban Development Ministry and the Railway Ministry.
Three months ago, the NAC passed a resolution observing that the inhuman practice of "manual scavenging still persists in India despite being outlawed" and underlined that "governments have been weak" in implementing the Manual Scavengers and Construction of Dry Latrines (Prohibition) Act, 1993 besides pointing out that no one had been punished under the law in the last 17 years.
According to officials, a status report sought by Wasnik in the meeting acknowledged that barring one, not a single case had been registered in any of the 20 odd states as well as UTs which had themselves adopted the central law through resolutions in the state assemblies. Uttar Pradesh was the only state to have registered 20,000 cases so far under the Act, yet there was not a single case of prosecution, the status report said.
Those found guilty of constructing a dry latrine or employing another person to carry human waste are to be punished with imprisonment for upto a year along with a fine up to Rs 2000.
What has posed more problems for the Social Justice and Empowerment Ministry is that it has been spending hundreds of crores on a rehabilitation programme to end manual scavenging, without success. The ministry claims numbers have come down though complete eradication is yet to take place. From 7.70 lakh manual scavengers reported by the states in 1992, the figure came down to less than half when 4.2 lakh beneficiaries were rehabilitated in 2005, officials contend. The figure further dropped to 1.18 lakh in 18 states out of which 78,941 beneficiaries were rehabilitated by March 31, last year.
Vidya Bhushan Rawat
Visit my blog atwww.manukhsi.blogspot.com
For information on the issues, movements and priorities of Scavenger community in India please log on to www.swachchakar.blogspot.com
For information on civil society initiatives on Muslims in UP please log on to www.rehnumaa.blogspot.com
Follow me on twitter at freetohumanity
Skype at vbrawat
For Social action, land rights, right to food and hunger issues support Social Development Foundation at www.thesdf.org | <urn:uuid:8f88be9b-c27a-4375-9d6b-ecdb6708aae6> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.swachchakar.blogspot.com/2011/02/when-will-manual-scavenging-be.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368704392896/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516113952-00001-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.949461 | 613 | 1.78125 | 2 |
The phone rang. "How's New York?" Wally asked. "I love it," Eugene said. "Have you found a job?" Wally asked. "Of course I haven't found a job," Eugene said. "I only got here a month ago." "You'd better hurry up," said Wally. "Your savings will run out before you know it." "I'm looking," said Eugene. "But it's tough. Thousands of people are looking for work. But there aren't thousands of jobs." "You should try Craigslist," said Wally. "Many people in New York want to improve their English. They will pay you good money. Look on Craigslist. See what other English teachers are charging. Charge a few dollars less." "That's a good idea," said Eugene. "But should I charge less or more? If I charge less, they might think I'm not so good. If I charge more, they might think I'm very good." "Put TWO ads on Craigslist," said Wally.
Copyright © 2013. All rights reserved. | <urn:uuid:54aae521-b98f-49dc-a7d0-885b1d7a4dbc> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.rong-chang.com/nse/se/nse158.htm | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368709037764/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516125717-00007-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.983364 | 215 | 1.710938 | 2 |
The drama of La del Soto del Parral is markedly unsensational to the point of self-denial - how many writers would have kept the shady Angelina, mainspring of the plot, offstage throughout? The central characters are a well-matched husband and wife, and the nearest approach to bad behaviour is the curiosity of the local poetaster, old Tío Prudencio, desperate for some real-life romance to inspire his latest doggerel epic.
The two composers produced a score consistently strong on melody, colour and atmosphere. The choral and orchestral numbers paint an attractive picture of the Segovian countryside and its people, and Aurora's duets with her husband and Miguel bring unusual operatic situations to vivid life. Best-known of all is Germán's romanza "Ya mis horas felices", made justifiably popular by Plácido Domingo in concerts round the world. This is that operatic rarity, a love song from a husband to his faithful wife, and Soutullo and Vert made the most of the opportunity with a powerful display of passionate lyricism and formal subtlety.
Act 1 - Sunday morning in September, on the edge of a village in the countryside near Segovia, mid-19th Century. The scene is dominated by a handsome farmhouse shaded by impressive trees, El Soto del Parral ("The Arbour in the Parral"). Past events are crucial to the events of the zarzuela. The tenant farmer Germán once saved the life of Miguel, son and heir of the old squire, and the two young men became fast friends. Miguel has now inherited the property, and has respected a clause in the old man's will enabling Germán and his wife Aurora to work towards buying their farm and house outright. Miguel has now fallen in love with Angelita, a mysterious girl who lives locally, whilst a mysterious unease has clouded the happiness of Germán and his wife.
After a brief orchestral Preludio evoking the bright morning sunshine, the curtain rises on a group of farm workers, praising the beauty of the Segovian land as they walk to a hermitage to pay their respects on Fiesta day. (Coro: "Voz de la Campana".) Offstage, we hear the voice of Germán blessing his luck in having such a farm, and such a wife as Aurora (Solo: "No hay en tierras de Segovia".) A group of local lads make fun of Bruno, the village idiot, and beat him with a stick (Coro: "No hay un tonto" - often cut in performance) before Germán concludes his morning song of praise.
Damián, a lazy young farmhand, is intent on having a snooze under the trees, but the village elder and local quack Tío Sabino ("wise uncle") berates him for his illness - idleness - and sends him about his business. Catalina, young housemaid at the farm and Damián's intended bride, directs a volley of insulting banter at her departing lover, and Sabino tells her that this "illness" may make Damián unwise to marry. A rustic would-be poet, old Tío Prudencio ("prudent uncle"), tries to read some doggerel entitled "Of Love and Of Jealousy", but his recital is cut short by the mistress of the house, Aurora, who enters in no good temper, and orders all of them back to work to prepare for the Fiesta celebrations.
Prudencio sits under a tree to compose his romance, and when Germán comes in singing he punctures the farmer's good mood, warning that his happiness will not last. When Aurora comes out of the house to speak to her husband she interprets his preoccupied air as a loss of affection, and though he tries to laugh it off, he is silent when she accuses him of keeping some secret from her. Left alone, Germán hears the sound of singing from across the fields, and in a famous romanza he contrasts his troubled situation with the carefree happiness of the farmhands - how he yearns for a return to the blissful earlier times with his beloved wife (Romanza: "Ya mis horas felices".)
Miguel comes to the farmhouse, looking for his darling Angelita. Germán and Aurora greet him warmly but the farmer becomes uneasy when talk turns to the saintly nature of Miguel's late father, welcoming the distraction when Prudencio offers to read his latest poetic effusion, a poem about beauty. Prudencio congratulates Miguel on his coming marriage, Germán pointedly sends him about his business, and the three friends enter the house. Damián sneaks in for a doze under the trees, but Catalina spies him and the pair hurl high-spirited banter at one another before launching into an affectionate, sparring duet (Dúo comico: "Que soy la más linda".) After discussing their mutual lack of qualifications for marriage - Damián's attitude to work is matched by Catalina's dubious talents as a cook - they happily go about their business.
Germán uneasily brooches the subject of Angelita to Miguel, warning his friend not to contemplate marriage with the girl, as she is unworthy. Miguel, offended by his friend's lack of support, demands proof of such assertions and leaves to question Angelita. As Germán sadly goes back into the house, the workers return from the fields, to be greeted by Catalina and Damián, already dressed up for the fiesta. The farm lads court the girls in the graceful and expansive chorus (Coro: "Al fin de la faena") known as "The Lovers' Round" (Rondo de enamorados.) Prudencio is arguing with Sabino, claiming that Angelita has a long-standing liaison with Germán, who married Aurora out of convenience, an accusation Sabino dismisses as idle gossip. Prudencio remains determined to use the affair as the basis for a tragic love epic. Aurora had overheard, and eventually dismisses Prudencio angrily. Sabino assures her the rumours are nonsense, and she tells him that, true or not, the pride of la del Soto del Parral ("the lady of the house") will not be mocked. Left alone, she breaks down, unable to rid her mind of her husband's infidelity (Solo: "Mintió su cariño".) When the furious Miguel storms in, having come to the same conclusions and determined to fight Germán, the broken-hearted Aurora loyally bars the door (Dúo: "Quiero la infamia".) Sabino drags Miguel away, and the act ends as Aurora tells her husband that she knows all about his affair. Angrily he orders her back into the house, and sets off to talk to Angelita himself.
Act 2, scene 1 - A hall inside the farmhouse, afternoon three days later. Catalina is embroidering her trousseau and keeping Damián at bay, as they are to be married the very next day - though Sabino frightens the young man by taking his pulse and telling him he has a terrible illness, the only cure for which is work. A group of eager young girls approach the quack for advice on how to make themselves more attractive to the men, and Sabino treats them with a flirtatious laying on of hands (Coro de la consulta: "¿A la consulta se puede entrar?".) Aurora is out of her mind, as Germán has been away for three days, but Sabino again assures her of her husband's good faith. She calms down, though her composure is severely tested when Miguel informs her that Germán has been seen sneaking out of Angelita's house. If this turns out to be true, Aurora vows that she will leave her beloved farmhouse, never to return. [In a scene cut before the premiere, Miguel sings of his love for the Segovian landscape, contrasted with his desperation - Romanza: "Fuerza que me vence"¶.] Damián tries to hint to the squire about wedding presents, but Miguel is too distracted to pay him much attention, and leaves. Prudencio passes the latest gossip to Damián, delighted with all this new material for his tragic love poem, but when Catalina comes in, the couple mock him mercilessly, until he is goaded into paying them back with a flight of verbal rodomontade.
All is quiet when Germán finally returns to the farmhouse. He tells Sabino what has happened, and at last we learn the truth. Germán and Sabino alone know Angelita's secret. For years she was the mistress of the old landowner, who confessed the truth on his deathbed and made them vow never to reveal the truth. Germán's loyally is clear, and so he has tried - so far without success - to persuade Angelita to leave the district without revealing her past to Miguel. Sabino praises his honourable behaviour, and leaves the husband and wife together. Germán's passionate avowal of love, however much the evidence might seem to conspire against him, renews Aurora's faith, and in a warm duet she agrees to believe and trust him fully once again (Dúo: "Ten pena de mis dolores".)
The interfering Prudencio has come to give Germán a message - Angelita wants to meet him next day at a cabin in the glen. At first Germán indignantly refuses, but then has an idea - he will meet Angelita, and asks Prudencio to spy on them to gain material for his romantic poem. As the finale begins, Miguel comes back to pick a fight, still believing he has been shamefully betrayed. Aurora and Sabino intervene, but Germán responds to Miguel's taunts, and the scene ends with the two men agreeing to meet one another to fight it out (Final: "¿Qué buscas?".)
Scene 2 - The road through the glen near the farmhouse, next day. Sabino and Prudencio are still arguing about the affair, and even Sabino is shaken when Prudencio tells him about the assignation at the cabin, which he has naturally let slip to Miguel. Sabino spies the happy bridal party coming down the road after the ceremony at the hermitage, and orders Prudencio to keep quiet. Damián and Catalina, together with Aurora, the village people and some musicians, burst onto the scene in all their wedding finery. Damián encourages everyone to dance, and Aurora leads them all in a lively song (Canto: "En la cumbre nace al agua".)
"As a matter of conscience", Prudencio tells Aurora about Germán's assignation. It seems Aurora's faith in her husband is to be shattered once and for all, until the broken-hearted Miguel appears and assures her that Germán is as honourable, loving and true to his wife as any man living. He knows all, having overheard Germán's heated conversation with Angelita in the cabin, at the end of which she has agreed to leave the district for her honour's sake, and for the peace of the whole village. When Germán reappears, he is swiftly reconciled to both wife and friend. Even Prudencio is included in the general reconciliation. As the curtain falls, harmony is fully restored, and the dance begins again for the folk of the Soto del Parral.
¶ later appearing with new text, as "Bella enamorada" in El último romántico | <urn:uuid:8a4d3246-510f-48fe-91dd-0191fdaf9135> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.zarzuela.net/syn/soto.htm | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368698924319/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516100844-00001-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.958287 | 2,486 | 1.726563 | 2 |
Jonathan Wyner, Associate Professor
"I try to get students to remember what excites them about music and to tap into it. If they can connect with that, it provokes interesting questions and inspires interesting thoughts. They'll understand all these little bits of technical minutiae that we teach them, since then it's in the context of this thing that they really do care about. It's hard to always be mindful of what is meaningful in your world. If you can meditate every day for half an hour—ten minutes even!—about what you're grateful for, it changes your perspective on everything that you do in the course of the day."
"I'd love for students to come away with a sense that their role as shepherds and caretakers of music has expanded. I want them to understand how to take better care of the music and how to improve on the communication that is supposed to be taking place. I'd like them to tap into their enthusiasm, I'd like their skill level to increase, and I'd like them to come away with a feeling of satisfaction, so that even if they're not continuing in the discipline of mastering per se, they've got something they could use in some other aspect of production work or simply as well-informed artists/performers, if that's the context in which they find themselves thinking about mastering."
"Our students are encouraged to explore something as abstract, slippery, and hard to define as art and approach it from the standpoint of the aesthetic and the technical. They go fairly deep in both directions and that is unusual. Berklee's not just an art school and it's not just a trade school."
- A.B., Vassar College
- Plays French horn, trumpet, tuba
- Performances/appearances with the Buffalo Philharmonic, Deborah Henson-Conant, and Marvin Hamlisch
- Recordings with Aerosmith, David Bowie, the Cream, Kiri Te Kanawa, Rahsaan Roland Kirk, the London Symphony Orchestra, Aimee Mann, Pink Floyd, Pete Seeger, Bruce Springsteen, Tiny Tim, and the Weavers
- Publications include Mix Magazine, Studio Sound, and REP
- Live recording and mix of WGBH inaugural webcast
- Grammy nominee for Invention and Alchemy
- Audio for interactive CD-ROM game Play It by Ear
- Surround mix/master for Disney, Weather Report | <urn:uuid:707fa2c2-76e7-4baf-9256-6352d0fc19df> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.berklee.edu/faculty/detail/jonathan-wyner | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368709037764/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516125717-00021-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.958514 | 501 | 1.78125 | 2 |
While onscreen keys might be the rage and pretty much the standard these days when it comes to smartphones and tablets, we’re sure that there is still a demand for physical keyboards out there which might explain keyboard cases and smartphones with slideout QWERTY keyboards and Blackberry devices. Unfortunately slideout keyboards do add a bit of bulk to the smartphone and the good news is that if you wanted to lose the bulk but keep a physical keyboard, then Tactus Technology might have something for you up their sleeves.
Using technology that relies on “microfluidics”, Tactus Technology demonstrated at SID Display Week 2012 a prototype Android tablet that while looking like your regular touchscreen device, will be able to “transform” its onscreen keyboard to a physical one. According to The Verge who were there for the demonstration, this is achieved by having channels underneath the device that can be arranged in any pattern that the manufacturer requires, and in this case it has been shaped in the form of a QWERTY keyboard. A special type of oil is then pumped through those channels which will ultimately form the shape of keys, or whatever the manufacturer decided to shape it in.
This would provide users with the slimness of a full touchscreen device while offering them “physical” and haptic feedback when typing out messages. However according to The Verge, there are several limitations to this technology and one of them being that due to its design, the keys will only appear in one orientation which has been set by the manufacturer. They have also noted that the pressing of a key did not provide much feedback. However we guess since this technology is in its alpha stages, there are some kinks that Tactus Technology will have to work out before rolling this technology out to the masses.
No word on when we will see this technology make its way into our mobile devices just yet, but what do you guys think? Is this a feature you wouldn’t mind having in your smartphones or tablets?
Verizon HTC One Release Rumored
Google Maps For Android And iOS Get New Navigation UI
Panasonic Eluga P Is A Waterproof Full HD Smartphone
Google Unlocked Galaxy S4 Features Stock Android Jelly Bean | <urn:uuid:e3ba867a-4e8c-4433-9175-ec595f3f8f23> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.ubergizmo.com/2012/06/tactus-technology-debuts-touchscreen-display-with-appearing-and-disappearing-physical-keys/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368701852492/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516105732-00004-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.957101 | 450 | 1.539063 | 2 |
Study: Amateur User-Generated Video Held Attention Faster and Stronger Than Professional Video
It’s common sense — use the strengths of the medium to tell your story. The ability to demonstrate the benefits of a product give video an advantage over text and image. Yet, this obvious piece of advice can often get lost in the heat of the creative process. Fine-tuning the words in the script can often overtake the hard task of selecting the right action shots to maximize the impact of your product video.
In a head-to-head test where panelists viewed an amateur consumer review and a professional “how to” video for a beauty product, the user-generated video was able to grab and hold consumer attention faster and stronger. In drilling down on why this was true, viewers pointed out their strong interest in watching someone actively trying the product. Viewers’ qualitative comments included: ”Interested to see how she applies the product evenly”, and “Easy to use, amazing.” Viewers then stayed to see if the consumer was happy with her results. Each time the reviewer in the user-generated video went into a demonstration, interest peaked.
By contrast, the professional “how to” video spent the opening time on product and packaging, bringing demonstration into the video much later. You can see on the graph above how viewer interest was not peaked until the demonstration began later in the video. In our test, consumers were required to watch the entire length of the video. It’s possible that an unrestricted viewer never would have stayed for the demonstration later in the video. In fact, a quote from a viewer included: ”It was just taking a little long to tell me something that I thought was self-explanatory.”
Did having a ‘real consumer’ tell the product story also add to the higher interest in the user-generated video? There is a mountain of evidence that word of mouth is more trusted than other forms of advertising. We think that the user-generated product review we tested delivered on two of the reasons word of mouth is so persuasive:
The amateur consumer in the video naturally knew what would be of interest to another consumer. It’s how she talks about products everyday to her friends. She wanted to show what *she* found interesting and beneficial about the product. That natural instinct is often right on the money and leads her to hit important points quickly for other consumers.
The credibility of the reviewer as a ‘regular person’ also plays a role in keeping interest high. Our test found that interest spiked when the reviewer was critical of one aspect of the product. Viewers commented that this statement added to the credibility of her story, and strengthened their belief in the benefits she covered overall.
When you’re trying to keep the attention of a consumer through video, worry less about getting the words right, and focus more on getting the actions right. Remember to use the strengths of the compelling, demonstrative video medium to your advantage!
Source: Survey conducted by comScore of 675 female category purchasers 25-55, March 2012. Study commissioned by EXPO Communications, Inc.
About EXPO: EXPO (www.expotv.com) is the first consumer network focused on creating and distributing high impact product video to drive engagement and conversion. The company’s end-to-end solution captures, manages and publishes persuasive consumer video for leading manufacturers and retailers. Through EXPO’s platform, clients can harness their own brand enthusiasts and fans or rely on EXPO’s community of consumers to produce authentic video content, such as product reviews, how- to’s, demonstrations, recipes and other topics relevant to a client’s brand. Please contact Jessica to learn more about our platform, our retailer distribution network and our quality guarantee. | <urn:uuid:a25760ad-12c4-48d7-a420-9e3707624e19> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.commpro.biz/social-video/visionaries/video-best-practice-demo-demo-demo/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368705195219/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516115315-00005-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.957076 | 793 | 1.617188 | 2 |
Yesterday’s school shooting left me, like the rest of the nation, shaken and saddened. This tragedy, more than most, affected me deeply, partly because it involved children – kindergartners – in an elementary school. I have a child – a kindergartner – in an elementary school. I speak very carefully about my kids on the Internet. I don’t use their names. I don’t post their pictures. I don’t say where we live or what schools they attend. I do this because I want to keep them safe. And yes, I know that 99.97% of you would never dream of doing anything untoward with any of that information, should I choose to give it. The thing is, it’s worth it to me to withhold that stuff from all of you, because it protects my kids from that .03% of you. You don’t really need that information. You and I can get along without it.
I feel much the same way about guns.
Now, before anyone starts shouting about HOW DARE YOU TALK ABOUT GUN CONTROL WHILE WE ARE MOURNING THIS TERRIBLE TRAGEDY (which I have already seen plenty of on Facebook and Twitter,) let me say this: Discussing our gun laws in no way diminishes the deaths of the innocent people – the children, for God’s sake – in Connecticut. Quite the contrary. Pointing out that their deaths were not only tragic, but also preventable, is only to mourn them more deeply. To grieve silently does not give the victims deaths any more dignity. To think that these children might be the face of what Never Happens Again, to think that, finally, these lives have not been ended in vain, is to honor them even more highly.
That said, let’s talk about our gun laws. When they were written, they were necessary. THE BRITISH WERE COMING! The world was different. We were different. Our government was young and uncertain, and only our ability to rise up in the face of oppression kept us safe. The right to bear arms was relevant and logical. Imperative, even. In the late 1770′s, our gun laws made perfect sense. Of course, one might do well to note that, when the Second Amendment was drafted, the men who wrote it also believed that it was absolutely fine to enslave other people, and the idea that women should have a say in the nations laws was laughable.
Things have changed. The British are not coming. Or, rather, they are coming, but armed with credit cards and tickets to The Book of Mormon, rather than muskets and red coats. The British, incidentally, have changed their laws about weapons in the years since we gained our independence. So have the Japanese. Yes, there are still crimes committed with guns in nations with stricter weapons laws, but it is at an entirely different rate than here in the United States, where this year alone there have been multiple massacres committed with high-calibur guns.
Indeed, yesterday, while CNN was reporting that twenty children had been killed by a lone gunman in Connecticut, they were also running a story about a school attack in China. Which was carried out with a knife. In which twenty-two children were wounded. The parents of a wounded child would still be preparing to spend the holidays as a family. I am sure that any one of the families in Connecticut who lost a child yesterday would gladly trade places with them.
Our gun laws were written in a different time, in a different society, with different purposes in mind. When we, as a culture, declare that clinging to an outdated tenent is more important than acknowledging that our needs have changed, we belittle our own progress. We become self-limiting in our evolution. Just as we recognized that slavery was an abomination and that women could and should vote and hold office, we must now recognize that the time has come to alter a system that does not keep us safe from an armed colonial force, but that rather perpetrates a culture of violence and fear. We are capable of living to a higher standard. No one ever became greater by staying exactly the same.
In the same way that the tragic deaths of four young girls in Birmingham sparked the Civil Rights movement to a fever pitch, so should the children in Connecticut become the face of change for our shamefully outdated gun laws. We mourn the victims of this violence best by working to ensure that they are the last to be slaughtered in such a horrific way. It is time to face forward. In the midst of our sadness, it is time to do better. To be better.
So I say, with a heart weighted by both grief and conviction: Change these laws now, in the names of the lost children of Connecticut, but for the sake of all our kids, everywhere. | <urn:uuid:48e1fb20-d55e-4fa8-ae2d-d4a21e67c79c> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.christinejohnsonbooks.com/blog/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368697380733/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516094300-00011-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.982355 | 1,006 | 1.601563 | 2 |
Grisanti's repair program for pesticide containers signed into law by Cuomoby jmaloni
State Sen. Mark Grisanti, R-60th District, today announced that Gov. Andrew Cuomo has signed into law Grisanti's legislation, which extends for two years the provision of the environmental conservation law that allows merchants in New York to implement a "minor repair program" for damaged pesticide containers and lawn fertilizers containing pesticides.
This act will bring New York in line with the national program implemented by the EPA in 2009 to address concerns of the unnecessary disposal of consumer pesticide products such as lawn fertilizers The EPA noted that approximately five million pounds of consumer pesticide products may become waste each year due to damage to the containers before being sold by retailers. With this provision allowing for minor repairs, retailers will minimize waste and prevent additional pollution.
"I am thrilled that this bill has become law," Grisanti said. "With spring comes a renewed attention to lawn care and utilization of fertilizers that could be disposed of unnecessarily just for having a damaged container. By allowing retailers to repair damaged pesticide containers and lawn fertilizers containing pesticides in an approved manor that does not affect the integrity of the product, New York state will be protecting the environment from additional waste and pollution."
Companies will be asked to submit a proposal to demonstrate that their "minor repair program" maintains the product's integrity, that there is no appreciable loss of contents or change in the net contents as indicated on the label, and the physical characteristics of the product have remained unchanged with no dampening or hardening as a result of contact with water or other liquids. Further, the patch used must be made of sufficient material to remain affixed, prevent leakage during the life of the container, and must not comprise the strength of the container. The people tasked with making the repair also need to be trained appropriately.
The repair of damaged pesticide containers law (S6401A-2011) goes into effect immediately and extends the provision until March 2014. | <urn:uuid:3c296387-f584-4381-9623-71ac24a265df> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.wnypapers.com/news/article/current/2012/04/11/106075/grisantis-repair-program-for-pesticide-containers-signed-into-law-by-cuomo | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368700958435/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516104238-00000-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.952707 | 409 | 1.6875 | 2 |
Sex Crimes and the Vatican
Sex Crimes and the Vatican is a documentary film by Colm O’Gorman, who was raped by a Catholic priest in the diocese of Ferns in County Wexford in Ireland when he was 14 years old. Father Sean Fortune was charged with 66 counts of sexual, indecent assault and another serious sexual offence relating to eight boys but he committed suicide on the eve of his trial. Colm started an investigation with the BBC in March 2002 which led to the resignation of Dr Brendan Comiskey, the bishop leading the Ferns Diocese. Colm then pushed for a government inquiry which led to the Ferns Report. | <urn:uuid:ca8dfed3-bdbe-4bec-8ae1-f27059e58bb6> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://milkboys.org/sex-crimes-and-the-vatican/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368711005985/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516133005-00004-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.976051 | 133 | 1.570313 | 2 |
Bag-based? Sack-based? Balloon-based? Balloon-boy-based? There's no shortage of ways to describe Microsoft Research's new tactile interface concept, which lets people interact with prods, pokes, massages and squeezes instead of clicks or taps.
The bag you see above isn't actually the core component of interface device—that'd be the sensor tile at its base, which generates and monitors a magnetic field. Any disturbances in the field—that's where the bag, filled with some kind of magnetic substance, like iron filings, comes in—can be translated into movement, whether it be simple X/Y gestures around a flat plane, or more complex gestures that take into account prod pressure. Technically interesting, but I feel like this concept needs a little something extra:
[A researcher said] making a device that could switch between an input and output device would be challenging. While moving ball bearings using magnetic fields shouldn't be too hard, "[moving] ferrous fluid bladders would be trickier," he says.
WHO SAID ANYTHING ABOUT OUTPUT? Consider this, mouse jockies: a few years from now, your Intellipoint might be an actively pulsating pouch of magnetic fluid. John C Dvorak, 1984:
The nature of the personal computer is simply not fully understood by companies like Apple (or anyone else for that matter). Apple makes the arrogant assumption of thinking that it knows what you want and need. It, unfortunately, leaves the "why" out of the equation - as in "why would I want this?" The Macintosh uses an experimental pointing device called a ‘mouse'. There is no evidence that people want to use these things. I dont want one of these new fangled devices.
Just replace "mouse" with "undulating sack of ferrofluid" and then tell me I'm crazy. Anyone? [Technology Review] | <urn:uuid:80e67231-d816-41ea-b73f-5570b42a10f7> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://gizmodo.com/5407454/microsofts-bag+based-computer-interface-for-poking?tag=interfaces | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368702448584/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516110728-00011-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.945488 | 393 | 1.789063 | 2 |
Hertha performed consistently well on the field, including a win in the first Berlin championship final in 1905. However, their on-field success was not matched financially and in 1920 Hertha merged with the well-heeled club Berliner Sport-Club to form Hertha Berliner Sport Club. The new team continued to enjoy considerable success, while also enduring a substantial measure of frustration. The team played its way to the German championship final in six consecutive seasons from 1926 to 1931, but were only able to come away with the title in 1930 and 1931 with BSC leaving to become an independent club again after the combined side's first championship. Even so, Hertha emerged as the Germany's second most successful team during the inter-war years.
Tensions between the western Allies and the Russians occupying various sectors of the city, and the developing Cold War, led to chaotic conditions for football in the capital. Hertha was banned from play against East German teams in the 1949-50 season after taking on several players and a coach who had fled the Dresden club SG Friedrichstadt for West Berlin. A number of sides from the eastern half of the city were forced from the Oberliga Berlin to the newly established DDR-Liga beginning with the 1950-51 season.
Through the 50's an intense rivalry developed with Tennis Borussia Berlin. A proposal for a merger between the two clubs in 1958 was resoundingly rejected.
However, Hertha was again soon touched by scandal through its involvement with several other clubs in the Bundesliga match fixing scandal of 1971. In the course of an investigation of Hertha's role, it was also revealed that the club was 6 million DM in debt. Financial disaster was averted through the sale of the team's former home ground.
In spite of this, the team continued to enjoy a fair measure of success on the field through the 70's with a second place Bundesliga finish behind Borussia Moenchengladbach in 1974-75, a semi-final appearance in the 1979 UEFA Cup, and two appearances in the final of the German Cup (1977 and 1979). The following season saw the fortunes of the team take a turn for the worse as they were relegated to 2.Bundesliga where they would spend thirteen of the next seventeen seasons.
Plans in 1982 for a merger with Tennis Borussia, Blau Weiss 90 and SC Charlottenburg to form a side derisively referred to as FC Utopia never came to fruition. Hertha slipped as low as the third tier Amateur Oberliga Berlin where they spent two seasons (1986-87 and 1987-88). Two turns in the Bundesliga (1982-83 and 1990-91) saw the team immediately relegated after poor performances. Hertha's amateur side enjoyed a greater measure of success, advancing all the way to the final of the German Cup in 1993 where their run ended in a close 0:1 defeat at the hands of Bundesliga side Bayer Leverkusen.
Financial woes once more burdened the club in 1994 as it found itself 10 million DM in debt. The crisis was again resolved through the sale of real estate holdings in addition to the signing of a new sponsor and management team. By 1997 Hertha found its way back to the Bundesliga where they have generally managed to finish in the upper third of the slate. When Hertha was promoted in 1997, it ended Berlin's six-year-long drought without a Bundesliga side which made the Bundesliga the only top league in Europe without representation from the country's biggest city and capital.
Most recently, bright spots for the side have been a continuous string of appearances in international play in the UEFA Cup and the UEFA Champions League beginning in the 1999 season, and the signing of players such as Sebastian Deisler and Brazilian international Marcelinho, named the Bundesliga's player of the year in May of 2005. Hertha has also invested heavily in its own youth football academy, which has produced several players with Bundesliga potential.
The team was almost relegated in the 2003-04 season, but rebounded and finished 4th the following season, but missed out on the Champions League after they were held to a draw on the final day by Hannover 96, which saw Werder Bremen over take them for the spot on the final day. As a thank-you gesture, Werder sent the Hannover squad ninety-six bottles of champagne. In 2005-06 the Herthaner finished 6th, and qualified for the UEFA Cup by defeating FK Moskva in the Intertoto Cup but stopped at the first round of the UEFA Cup by Odense BK. In 2006-07 Hertha finished 10th after sacking manager Falko Götz at April 11th. Hertha starts saison 2007-08 with a new manager, Lucien Favre from the Swiss Champion of 2006 and 2007, FC Zürich. They finished 10th again, but starting in the first qualification round of the UEFA Cup via Fair Play Ranking with Danish club FC Nordsjælland, and Premier League side Manchester City.
The stadium hosts the annual German Cup final and was also the site for six matches of the 2006 FIFA World Cup as well as the tournament final.
From 1904, Hertha's home ground was the Plumpe in the city's Wedding (Gesundbrunnen) district. A stadium was built there in 1923 with a capacity of 35,000 (3,600 seats). The club left the stadium when it joined the Bundesliga in 1963. The sale of the site in 1974 helped the club avoid bankruptcy
For recent transfers, see List of German football transfers summer 2008.
Football: Chelsea Eclipsed by Light of Daei Hertha Berlin 2 Chelsea 1: CHAMPIONS' LEAGUE Vialli Dejected as Defensive Lapses and Missed Chances Leave His Side at the Foot of Group H
Sep 22, 1999; BERLIN WAS a city united in joy last night after Chelsea crashed to a damaging defeat, their second in four days, in the German...
Football: Sava Own Goal Dents Fulham's Chances ; Hertha Berlin 2 Fulham 1; UEFA CUP Premiership Side's Unbeaten Record in Europe Ends as Argentinian Striker's Miscued Clearance Gives Hertha Berlin First-Leg Lead
Nov 27, 2002; FULHAM FACE an uphill battle to reach the fourth round of the Uefa Cup after spectacularly shooting themselves in the foot...
FOOTBALL: Fulham's Adventure Ended by Berlin ; Fulham 0 Hertha Berlin 0 Hertha Berlin Win 2-1 on Agg Tigana's Side Go out of Uefa Cup after Run of 14 Games Is Ended at Loftus Road by Determined Germans
Dec 13, 2002; HERTHA BERLIN had suggested some Christmas shopping at Harrods to those fans heading to London for last night's second leg of...
Football: TIGANA IS UNDER A 5 O'CLOCK SHADOW; UEFA CUP THIRD ROUND, SECOND LEG: FULHAM 0 HERTHA BERLIN 0 Hertha Berlin Win 2-1 on Aggregate
Dec 13, 2002; Byline: Martin ROGERS FULHAM saw their European adventure end with little more than a whimper last night. Jean Tigana's team...
FOOTBALL: BERLIN BRAWL - Tempers Flare as Dons Let Hertha off Hook; ABERDEEN................0 HERTHA BERLIN........0
Sep 18, 2002; Byline: ALAN McCABE HERTHA BERLIN0 ABERDEEN0 DISTRAUGHT Darren Young last night admitted Aberdeen let Hertha Berlin off the hook... | <urn:uuid:ee672330-53b9-42b0-b76b-c3812b57cf31> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.reference.com/browse/Hertha+Berlin | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368708766848/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516125246-00005-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.948923 | 1,575 | 1.679688 | 2 |
As a teenager, Wilmer Espinoza carried two handguns and belonged to a gang of hired killers. For as little as $700, they would stalk and slay people their clients wanted eliminated.
Today, the 30-year-old carries only a worn Bible in his jacket pocket, and he has traded his band of assassins for another group: Christian rappers who preach for peace in some of Latin America's most violent slums.
Espinoza and his rapper friends grew up in a country where thousands of young people die in gun violence each year, and in a city where dozens of bodies regularly fill the morgue in a single weekend. Government officials say Venezuela suffered 48 homicides per 100,000 residents last year, making the country among Latin America's most violent.
Surviving that carnage meant a radical personal change, Espinoza said, starting with the day seven years ago when he destroyed his guns - a pistol, two revolvers and a shotgun - by cutting them into pieces with a grindstone. He did it to leave the past behind completely, at the urging of his mother and a rapper friend.
At first he was afraid to be defenseless, but he has survived while most of the others in his gang have died.
He now uses the stage name "Kaminante," or Walker, because he sees himself as "someone who walks on, who advances, who doesn't look back." He credits divine intervention in his recovery from gunshot wounds that nearly left him paralyzed a decade ago.
"There are people in the barrios who need a message," said Espinoza, a soft-spoken and bespectacled man with close-cropped hair. "We offer them hope."
The rap group to which he belongs, Los Mas Fuertes Records, or The Strongest Ones Records, was founded three years ago and is one of several distinct grass-roots efforts by Caracas hip-hop artists who use music to reach out to troubled teenagers and give them an outlet to express themselves.
Polls show Venezuelans consider violent crime the country's top problem, and the issue has become fodder for political debate. President Hugo Chavez's government has only sporadically released murder statistics in recent years, and his opponents call the crime rate one of his greatest failures.
While two other Caracas rap groups include musicians who express support for Chavez, those in Los Mas Fuertes Records say they're not taking a political stand and that their message is universal. Everyone has the power to change their communities, they tell their audiences.
The rappers spread that message performing at schools, churches and outdoor concerts in some of the city's roughest neighborhoods.
One evening last month, they began their show in the orange glow of a streetlight on a dirt road, among bare brick homes with barred windows and shacks made of corrugated zinc.
"We invite you to come over!" one of the rappers, Joe D'Cristo, shouted into a microphone. "We're going to start a special event for the community right now!"
At first, less than a dozen people stood waiting, along with children seated in rows of plastic chairs. Several men swilled beer outside a bodega down the road, taking little notice. | <urn:uuid:ba681660-5844-4837-8a70-9ab209c08067> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.utsandiego.com/news/2011/may/17/rappers-raise-voices-against-violence-in-venezuela/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368700264179/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516103104-00036-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.974132 | 667 | 1.679688 | 2 |
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When Mary Ann Mayne's van comes bumping down the road in rural Casar, North Carolina, certain senior citizens get a little out of hand. "They see me coming and hurry out onto their porches and wave and holler at me until I make it down the block," Mayne says. You would think she was there to hand out cash prizes. In fact, her visits give the seniors something much more precious: the chance to keep caring for their beloved pets.
Mayne, 47, and her family operate Gretta's Wish, an organization that provides free food, veterinary care, and pet essentials like blankets, chew bones, toys, and treats to seniors who need help providing for their animals. Most of their clients have fallen on hard times or can no longer drive to a store to get pet food and supplies.
The organization is named for Gretta, the Maynes' beloved Doberman who died in 2008. They rescued the dog at age 2 after her former owners, an elderly couple living in a rural area, set her loose to fend for herself when they couldn't afford to feed her. Gretta was eventually brought to an SPCA shelter; she arrived emaciated, with heartworms and hookworms. Mayne and her husband, John, 50, a retired maintenance worker, were running a small sanctuary for elderly and injured dogs from their home near the shelter. Mayne had a reputation for loving Dobermans, so shelter workers called to see if she could take on the young stray.
Gretta was a shocking sight, even for a veteran like Mayne. "She was a walking skeleton with brownish red fur," she says. "I don't know how she was alive." Mayne welcomed the needy dog to her motley crew of rescued and rehabbing animals, and Gretta soon became a pet. "She appreciated everything you did for her," Mayne says. "She was just the sweetest girl."
Several years later Mayne got a phone call from an elderly woman who had heard of the family's rescue organization. She needed help for her two dogs because she couldn't afford to take care of them but hated the thought of losing them. "She was just desperate and broke down crying," says Mayne. "I said, 'It's okay, we'll help you.'"
When she set out for the woman's home with food in tow, Gretta jumped in the front seat of the car. As they waited at a red light, Gretta placed a paw on her arm and, Mayne remembers, looked straight into her eyes. "I felt it was her way of thanking me," Mayne says, "and not letting another animal feel the pains of abandonment and hunger as she had."
Moved by the woman's plight and Gretta's rough start, Mayne founded Gretta's Wish in 2008. She was convinced that seniors just needed a little help to keep their pets, so she reached out to the community; many people donated funds and food, and veterinarians offered free services. A local Girl Scout troop pitched in by building doghouses and hosting food drives.
"I believe older people should be able to benefit from the unconditional love of their animals," Mayne says. "When seniors find out about the program, they say, 'You're helping me keep my best friend.'"
Mayne often ends up caring for the owners in addition to their pets; she helps them find free firewood to keep warm in the winter or freezes bottles of sports drinks to hand out in the summer heat. She also recycles sweatshirts by making them into mittens and hats and cobbles together dog beds for outdoor pets. "Sometimes I'll go on a grocery run for the owners, and for Valentine's Day, I'll bring them candy," she says. "A lot of them don't have much family left."
Mayne's mother, Lois Conner, 80, also gets in on the act, driving around with Mayne as she makes deliveries, helping haul dog food and connecting with her fellow seniors. John keeps things running smoothly at the sanctuary so Mayne can focus on Gretta's Wish full-time. She says they distribute an average of 380 pounds of pet food each week; recently an anonymous donor came up with a much-needed 10-foot-by-10-foot shed that Mayne keeps in the backyard to house food and supplies. She spends about $300 of her own money every month on gas and more on related expenses like car maintenance, but she buys all the pet supplies with donations.
Mayne has grown close to the seniors she affectionately calls grandparents. "They love to talk, and they'll talk about anything at all, so I stay a little longer," she says. "They're my family now. We've given up our lives to do this, and I couldn't be happier."
Originally published in Ladies' Home Journal, April 2011. | <urn:uuid:3e94fba7-8066-4e41-b60a-d8a5be7f8127> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.lhj.com/lhj/printableStory.jsp?storyid=/templatedata/lhj/story/data/1299777174715.xml&catref=cat1590006 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368704132298/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516113532-00007-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.985448 | 1,048 | 1.65625 | 2 |
Fri July 20, 2012
From Our Readers: Colorado Massacre Stir Emotions
Two-Way readers were immediately struck by a sense that the victims of the Aurora, Colo., shooting could have been anyone, as well as shock that something as simple and fun as going to a movie could turn violent without warning:
"As a self-proclaimed nerd, I usually go to movies like this on the opening weekend," says "Miss M," who adds that "I just keep imagining this theater full of people having a good time when this horror breaks out."
The emotions stirred by reports about the rampage moved many to express their condolences, and others to speculate about the political ramifications.
"Hey, Boo" asks: "Will this finally insert gun control into the two presidential candidates' campaigns?" And multiple commenters suggested mandatory training for those purchasing guns.
"... the best chance of weeding out people with violent tendencies would be to make all gun purchasers spend a certain amount of time with a personal safety trainer who could tell if the person is unable/unwilling to operate a gun safely," says "c g," who concludes by adding: "We require people to spend hours and hours training for basic a driver's license — why not require some training for gun use?"
There is also a consistent thread in the comments that better, more accessible mental health care would prevent the use of guns for irrational violence. Says "Alan Roberts:"
"The real tragedy here isn't just a gun issue, it's the way we deal with the mentally ill in this country ... It's a shame, because we blame it on guns, or laws, or liberals, but really it's primarily a lack of mental health treatment. Very sad for all the victims, my heart goes out to them."
Along with the assumption that the gunman was mentally ill, are questions about the definition of terrorism. The FBI has said that there are no indications the attack was a terrorist attack — readers like "chisti da" want to know if that means the shooter had no motivating ideology:
"Just what is the definition of 'terror?' That this happened and is being brushed aside as 'just some regular white dude' is disturbing."
And as happens whenever guns are involved in a major crime, the meaning of the Second Amendment is being vigorously debated.
(Marissa Alioto is an intern on NPR's Social Media Desk.) | <urn:uuid:e4d7b0b5-f1af-40fc-a575-8fe5132779de> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.kazu.org/post/our-readers-colorado-massacre-stir-emotions | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368698924319/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516100844-00010-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.973242 | 487 | 1.71875 | 2 |
ENCINITAS — The daily inspirational messages scrolled on the sandwich board in front of Encinitas Pannikin Coffee & Tea have gained a following of readers, an art show, and possibly a book deal.
The daily “musings” pop up around 3 p.m. every day and give a jolt of inspiration to coffee drinkers. Messages may read, “Open your heart maybe someone is trying to get in,” or “Life is a surprise party.”
“I love its simplicity,” Tara Myers of Torrey Highlands said.
Signboard writer Eliza Rhodes gets her ideas from a variety of sources. “They come to me in different ways,” Rhodes said. “Sometimes one comes into my head fully formed.” Other times Rhodes needs to think back on daily events or a conversation for inspiration.
The routine of posting daily writings began a
bit serendipitously when Pannikin Coffee & Tea owner Carol Holder bought a sandwich board sign and put it on the sidewalk in front of the coffee shop. Rhodes asked Holder what was going to be written on the board and it was not long before Holder gave the job of writing daily sayings to Rhodes in exchange for chai tea.
“Chai tea, it’s such a Leucadia deal,” Rhodes said. “How can I pass that up?”
Two years and more than 400 sayings later, the in-kind trade continues. In that time the daily writings have gained a following of people who stop by the Encinitas Pannikin Coffee & Tea to read the “musings.”
“Most of the reaction happens when I’m not here,” Rhodes said. And that is the way Rhodes wants to keep it. She feels readers can experience a more personal meaning if they do not know who writes the sayings.
The popularity of the daily words prompted Holder to display 15 writings as the art exhibit “Sign Language” at the Del Mar Pannikin Coffee & Tea.
While art is regularly on display at the Del Mar Pannikin Coffee & Tea, “Sign Language” has gotten a big reaction. “I’ve never had so many people stop me and tell me they’re lovely,” Holder said.
Word has gotten back to Rhodes that people like the sayings. “People ask what book it came from,” Rhodes said. “It amazes me that people will be able to repeat them months later verbatim.”
Positive responses and a nudge from Patti Judd, of Judd Designs, have pushed Rhodes to publish a book of that will combine the sayings and her line drawings. Rhodes hopes to have the book published by December.
“Sign Language” will be on display at the Del Mar Pannikin Coffee & Tea through Aug. 2 and at the Encinitas Pannikin Coffee & Tea in December. | <urn:uuid:fa105e5a-36f8-4ab3-90e3-c9b95bdb052a> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://thecoastnews.com/2009/07/cafes-sandwich-board-sayings-spawn-art-show-and-book-deal/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368705195219/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516115315-00005-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.955291 | 636 | 1.507813 | 2 |
Brief opinions about events of the past week: Merit: For the steep decline in troop deaths in Afghanistan. The Pentagon says three U.S. soldiers died there in January, including one who succumbed to wounds received in December. It was the lowest monthly death toll in five years.
This is a trend with a definite cause - the winding down of the American fighting role in Afghanistan, as combat responsibility is being handed over to Afghan troops - more than 1,200 of whom died in combat in 2012. The American role there is mostly limited to safer pursuits, primarily training Afghan soldiers. Sometime next year, most U.S. troops are expected to withdraw from the country, which has been the scene of the longest war in American history.
Demerit: For state lawmakers who are trying again to allow restaurant patrons to carry concealed handguns. A bill filed on the General Assembly's opening day this week would allow concealed-carry permit holders to possess handguns in restaurants unless the restaurant prohibited it.
And worse, it would make permit records secret. So if you see your neighbor walking around carrying a handgun, you'll be denied the right to check to see whether he has a permit and has taken the requisite training.
These measures are unlikely to make public places any safer. Having more restaurant patrons carrying handguns could instead make them more dangerous.
Merit: For the Cumberland County schools, the Fayetteville Regional Chamber and Community in Schools of Cumberland County, which are collaborating on a program that will link schools and local businesses for career and technical education.
Members of the business community will work with the schools and with students, to help develop the schools' curriculum in career and technical education, and will also give the students exposure to the workplace.
Chip Lucas, executive director of the school system's career and technical education programs, said, "Lifelong learning is key to a successful career, and having both business and education at the same table is an excellent start to a powerful, game-changing impact. The mutual influences will be overwhelming." We hope they are. We have some catching-up to do.
Demerit: For the state's confusing regulations about parking with disabled-veteran license plates. Gulf War veteran Ed Donovan was repeatedly ticketed in downtown Fayetteville in 2008 when he parked in a handicapped space with "Partially Disabled Veteran" tags on his vehicle. Donovan fought those tickets, but it turns out that partially disabled veterans also need to display a handicapped-driver placard, as well.
It took four years for Donovan's case to be resolved, after he filed suit against the city. The city has dismissed all the tickets and the case was settled this week. And Donovan now has plates that allow him to use handicapped parking spaces.
Demerit: For the unemployment rates in most of this region, which rose in December. In the Fayetteville metro area, which includes Cumberland and Hoke counties, the jobless rate is 10.2 percent, above the state's 9.5 percent and much, much higher than the December national rate of 7.8 percent (which rose to 7.9 percent in January). We keep looking for rays of sunshine in our economic news but only see storm clouds. | <urn:uuid:a0b51d87-dd21-4713-a6e9-d13e4a304d89> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://fayobserver.com/articles/2013/02/02/1234577?sac=fo.columns | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368705195219/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516115315-00030-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.970481 | 665 | 1.679688 | 2 |
The NCAA has spoken. And in an unprecedented set of sanctions, the NCAA’s President Mark Emmert, executive committee and Division I board of directors have punished Pennsylvania State University with far-ranging and crippling penalties.
The school will be fined $60 million over a period of five years—the equivalent of one year’s gross revenue from the football programs. Postseason bowl play, one of the most lucrative aspects of college football, will be banned for four years. Penn State will have to lose 40 scholarships over the next four years, serve a five-year probationary period, allow current and incoming players to transfer to other schools at any time, and (perhaps most devastating for a school with so much pride about its winning record under Coach Joe Paterno) “vacate” all of its wins going back to 1998.
Much of the focus from Monday’s news will be on Mark Emmert, the NCAA president, and the debate over the decision he and his executive committee have made. Was the so-called “death penalty” warranted, in which Penn State would have to end its football program for a period of time? Did the NCAA sanctions go far enough? Or has Emmert overstepped his bounds?
But the leader who will face the most extraordinary challenge as a result of the sanctions is first-year Penn State coach Bill O’Brien. O’Brien was already up against nearly insurmountable odds, stepping into the shoes of a bona fide football legend and one-time saint in Happy Valley. Following Paterno is a job no one would have found easy. On top of that, he was charged with leading players who had already faced emotional turmoil over the past year, watched their team’s name get dragged through the mud and wrestled with questions about which leaders they could trust.
Now, he faces the almost impossible job of coaching a football program that could end up being irrelevant for the coming years. Recruiting will be a nightmare: Imagine trying to talk young players into joining a team that will not get to play in a bowl game or attempt to compete for a national championship for possibly their entire college career. On top of that, he will have significantly fewer scholarships to dole out to attract young and talented players.
Making matters worse, it’s quite possible he will lose many of his current players, too. As a result of the sanctions, current Penn State football athletes can remain on scholarship even if they elect not to play football, while any current or incoming players can also choose to transfer to other schools at any time and be immediately eligible to play. Those sanctions could undermine Penn State’s reputation on the field to the point that “it may potentially never get back to its [current] level,” ESPN analyst Chris Fowler said Monday.
O’Brien, who released a statement Monday saying “I knew when I accepted the position that there would be tough times ahead,” won’t be able to wait for training camp to begin August 6. Over the next two weeks, he will have to reach out personally to every recruit and every player to try to persuade them why they should remain Nittany Lions. It won’t be about winning championship glory or team fame on the national stage. It will have to be about playing for individual achievement, loyalty to a team that has gone through so much, and the chance to be part of a rebuilding effort unlike any other in college football history. He will have to find a way to carefully tap into players’ frustration, embarrassment and personal responses to the unspeakable events that took place years ago and turn them into a force for good.
No matter what he does, some players, especially stars headed for NFL greatness, are likely to defect. The penalties are just that severe. But when the dust settles, O’Brien may be left with a group of student-athletes who care about teamwork, loyalty to a school, and the highs and lows of playing the game, rather than the system. And that, of course, is exactly what the sanctions hope to deliver: A place where football is a sport, a pastime and a tradition that, in the words of the NCAA’s Emmert, “will never again be placed ahead of educating, nurturing and protecting young people.”
Like On Leadership? Follow us on Facebook and Twitter: | <urn:uuid:deff5e18-7581-455b-9f40-da17cf902979> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/post-leadership/post/bill-obriens-tough-road-ahead-after-penn-states-ncaa-sanctions/2012/07/23/gJQAPZzd4W_blog.html | 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 | 0.973615 | 913 | 1.59375 | 2 |
Wednesday, July 11, 2012
The Wooden Hanger Theory of Productivity and Satisfaction
That's all it took to totally change the look and feel of my closet, and how I feel every day when I look at my clothing options.
Putting everything on the same kind of hanger is a common designer trick as it provides order to what once looked chaotic. Designers also like to organize books on shelves by color which seems totally wrong to me, but I get their intention.
After hanging everything on the same kind of hanger, the clothes seemed to ask me to then group them by type and color ... which took all of about 20 minutes. Hmm. Guess I need to shut up about that designer book organizing.
50 bucks and about 60 minutes of work has totally changed how I experience the daily mundane act of getting dressed.
Our personal and professional lives are filled with clutter. That visual mayhem gradually takes its toll on our productivity and satisfaction.
Order begets order. Once you've created a place for everything you want to keep putting everything in its place. The order we need to create is the order that works for us. What one finds orderly, another finds messy. Universal order is a fool's pursuit.
So do follow Covey's Seven Habits of Highly Effective People, and by all means, learn about Getting Things Done from David Allen. But maybe ... just maybe ... the first change you want to make to enhance your personal and productivity may be a much simpler one. | <urn:uuid:c56564c0-f358-4100-af8e-c6f5c81a12fd> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.ideaarchitects.org/2012/07/wooden-hangar-theory-of-productivity.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368701459211/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516105059-00030-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.968993 | 304 | 1.617188 | 2 |
|XP: Real-world experiment with Hours instead of points
||11 Apr 07
Manuel Klimek posted his insights to the XP-list.
we're currently implementing some the XP concepts when we can see the
reason for using a concept. Mostly this is due to some problems we
identify. I'm not a consultant, but integrated into a development
team, perhaps that allows me to see things from a different
I found that people dislike "guessing" effort in time, because they
feel bad if estimated ideal time is small compared to actual time.
This can lead to the following problems:
- overcommitment (but this time I'll do it in 2 days! really!)
- undercommitment (if I guess a lot too much, I feel better if I'm wrong)
- artificial pressure (I guessed 2 days, so I need to do it in 2 days,
let's not do refactoring now)
- demotivation (being wrong makes me feel bad)
- problems with communication to product management ("but you said
you'll do it in 2 days, now it took already 5!" - "but I said it's
ideal time!" - "than tell us the actual time it will take the next
time!" - "but I can't do that" etc)
Using points solved this. Perhaps explaining to the developers that
they have to accept that ideal time has nothing to do with actual time
and that they should not worry too much about correctness of single
guesses and explaining to product management that there are different
time estimations (some in ideal time and some in actual time) would
have solved the issue, too, but simply using points is clearer, since
you make the distinction explicit if you communicate about effort.
If I tell to product management that this item has size 3 and they ask
me how long it'll take, then I tell them that if they include it in
the current iteration they'll have it at the time the current
All this is less communication effort for me and thus increases ROI
because I can work on code instead of nitpicking on the concept of
Skiing in Garmisch :-). | <urn:uuid:34f097a5-66c0-4a71-83f8-66d0098d94d5> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.approximity.com/cgi-bin/blogtariAgile/index.rb/+Interesting/GotAPI.rdoc | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368698924319/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516100844-00006-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.951946 | 461 | 1.570313 | 2 |
Some fascinating insights were revealed at the Sibos session “Placing your bets on mobile payments”. The panel included Dan Schatt from PayPal, Kelly Bayer Rosmarin from Commonwealth Bank Australia and Kiyoyuki Tsujimura from DoCoMo Engineering. Emmanuel
Daniel from the Asian Banker prompted lively sparring between the panelists with some well-chosen questions, and a few real gems emerged from the debate.
Dan Schatt went out of his way to present PayPal as a friend of the banks, highlighting that in the low value international payments business, the banks currently only have 3% market share and that PayPal is “enabling banks to take back this market”. In
an entertaining coincidence the share price of Western Union (which has about 20% of the remittances market) fell 29% on the same day on the back of a slashed earning forecast, citing a soft market and increased competition.
Moving back to the topic of the debate, he went on to say that the lines between internet transactions and in-store transactions are blurring. This is certainly true – I use the PayPal Pizza Express app regularly: once I’ve got the bill and the waitress
disappears into thin air, I can pay using the app that is linked to the debit card sitting in my pocket. Hence it is a “Cardholder Not Present But He Is Really” transaction.
The advent of PayPal use at Point of Sale is another example of this blurring. Interestingly he said that 80% of consumers using PayPal at POS are choosing to enter their mobile number and PIN to pay, rather than using the plastic card option (which is
effectively just a token containing the account details). However he was coy about the absolute number of users so it is probably relatively low, but nevertheless it is an interesting insight into emerging consumer behaviour.
Dan also explained that they have bought six companies, including RedLaser and Milo, to provide a comprehensive suite of capabilities, stating that to change consumer behaviour you need to be able to do things in “two clicks”. This is absolutely spot on
– if a service is noticeably harder to use than an existing option such as cash or cards, then large-scale consumer adoption won’t happen.
We also heard from Kelly Bayer Rosmarin of CBA, the largest Australian Bank, about their experience with the Kaching app (presumably in the UK this would be called ‘Kerching’). She pointed out that over 50% of their customers who access the bank online
do so from a mobile device, up from only 10% two years ago. Hence the ground is fertile for their mobile banking and payments app, and this has been reflected in the enthusiastic take-up from consumers and also micro businesses such as plumbers and personal
The service offers person-to-person payments capability, and the most popular way of paying someone is to their mobile phone number. The next most popular is to ‘bump’ phones, with payments to a Facebook ID coming in as the third most popular option.
Paying to an email address is a “very distant” fourth place. There is great potential here for behavioural research: if two users are in the same place, would they prefer to bump rather than use mobile numbers? Why do so few people want to use their email
address? Based on the PayPal experience, would consumers prefer to use their mobile number at Point of Sale rather than bumping a device?
It’s clear that consumers need a range of easy-to-use options, and that although behaviour changes slowly, people will adopt new methods and we will see a form of ‘natural selection’ emerging as payment methods evolve. | <urn:uuid:c0635981-0c47-4590-85a4-b38a74b13336> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.finextra.com/community/fullblog.aspx?blogid=7106 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368704392896/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516113952-00031-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.961185 | 772 | 1.507813 | 2 |
Ending one of the most suspenseful court-watching seasons in recent history, the Supreme Court on Thursday issued a 5-4 ruling to uphold the entire Affordable Care Act, the Obama administration’s sweeping healthcare law.
2115 total votes.
The ruling declares the individual insurance mandate, which will require almost all Americans to have insurance in 2014, is constitutional.
The court also ruled to uphold the act’s massive expansion in 2014 of Medicaid, the public health insurance program for low-income people, with a significant limitation. A challenge was brought by 26 states that the expansion was coercive to states because they could lose all Medicaid funding if they didn’t participate in the expanded portion. The court ruled that the U.S. government cannot withhold a state's entire Medicaid allotment if it opts not to participate in the expansion.
Medicaid now provides health benefits to about 60 million women and children, the disabled, and some seniors. The expansion would add about 17 million people, including single adults for the first time.
The majority opinion was held by Chief Justice John Roberts and the traditionally liberal wing of the court, justices Elena Kagan, Sonia Sotomayor, Ruth Bader Ginsburg and Stephen Breyer.
With a political battle raging around the law, Roberts wrote, "We do not consider whether the Act embodies sound policies. That judgment is entrusted to the Nation’s elected leaders. We ask only whether Congress has the power under the Constitution to enact the challenged provisions."
The ruling represents a huge victory for the Obama administration and its signature piece of legislation. For Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney and GOP members of Congress, the decision promises to ignite a party that has vowed to repeal the Affordable Care Act if the court didn’t overturn all of it.
And for both Obama and Romney, the long-awaited decision gives both candidates what they need to sharpen their campaign messages surrounding the most ambitious and controversial national health care reform legislation ever attempted.
Twenty-six states — California was not one of them — and the National Federation of Independent Business challenged the constitutionality of the Affordable Care Act. Four federal appeals courts heard challenges to parts of the law with different rulings, before it headed to the Supreme Court.
The act was signed into law in March 2010. While millions of dollars have been spent and parts of the law have taken effect, the most dramatic change will launch in 2014, when most Americans are required to get health insurance if they didn’t already have it through their job, Medicare, Medi-Cal or other sources.
Those with incomes below 133 percent of the federal poverty level — $14,856 for an individual and $30,656 for a family of four — would qualify for Medicaid, or Medi-Cal in California. The law also requires states to set up insurance exchanges where individuals and businesses could comparison shop for health insurance and buy it at group rates, with federal subsidies for many middle-income purchasers. Officials with California’s Health Benefits Exchange scheduled a news conference for midday to talk about the ruling’s potential effects. | <urn:uuid:5426763a-2a12-434d-add1-1ab4fef246af> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.utsandiego.com/news/2012/jun/28/supreme-court/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368696383156/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516092623-00020-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.948267 | 635 | 1.640625 | 2 |
In the East, people are sex-against. They look only into the valley. They don’t look at the peak; they say the peak is just illusory. Because they look into the valley, they have become more and more death-prone, ready to die. In fact, waiting to die; in fact, hoping to die, desiring to die, dreaming to die. In the East the greatest ideal is how to die so utterly that you are never born again. That is the ultimate death.
In the West the idea is how to create a situation where you don’t die at all; you go on living – on and on and on. Both attitudes are lop-sided. Both attitudes create a kind of imbalance in you, and that imbalance is the misery of man.
A real man, an authentic man, will face all; he will not choose. He will not say, “I will see only the valley and I will be oblivious of the peak,” or “I will only see the peak and I will remain oblivious of the valley.” He will see both as they are. He will not choose.
Not to choose is Zen. To be choiceless is Zen: to see things as they are in their totality – good and bad, heaven and hell, life and death, day and night, summer and winter – to see them as they are. Zen is not an either/or philosophy. It does not give you a choice because it says, “If you choose, you will always be afraid of the one that you have not chosen.”
See into it: if you choose something, you will remain constantly trapped with that which you have not chosen, because the not-chosen is the rejected, the not-chosen is the repressed. The not-chosen is a hankering to take revenge. The not-chosen is getting ready – some day, in a weaker moment, it will explode with a vengeance.
So the man who is sex-against is always afraid of the vengeance of sex – it can explode any moment. And the man who is afraid of death, death-against, is naturally always trembling death is coming. He knows, there is a tacit understanding. Whether you see it or not, it makes no difference. Just not seeing it will not make it disappear. It is there. You know it is there and it is coming. And it is coming closer every moment.
The man who is sex-against will be afraid of sexuality erupting any moment in his consciousness. And the man who is death-against will be afraid of death coming any day and possessing him and destroying him.
Both kinds of people remain fear-oriented; and both kinds of people remain in a fighting state, continuously conflicting. They never come to a calm tranquillity, an equilibrium. Equilibrium is when you don’t choose, when you see the fact as it is. Life is not an either/or question, there is nothing to choose. It is all together. By your choice, nothing is changed. By your choice, only you get into a kind of ignorance. That which you choose is part, and that which you are not choosing is also part of reality. The unchosen part of reality will remain hanging around you, waiting to be accepted. It cannot disappear, there is no way for it to disappear. If you love life too much and you don’t want to see the fact of death…death is there hanging around like a shadow. | <urn:uuid:bb55b2c0-a729-4761-bdda-7e4cb729760c> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.osho.com/library/online-library-oblivious-choose-death-1a7e50d7-ea4.aspx | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368706153698/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516120913-00012-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.969175 | 735 | 1.773438 | 2 |
Drawing Crazy Patterns – Joker Falls “to his Death”
In this feature, I spotlight five scenes/moments from within comic book stories that fit under a specific theme (basically, stuff that happens frequently in comics).
Today we look at five times in early Batman comics where the Joker supposedly fell to his death.
As you might already know, Bill Finger, Bob Kane and Jerry Robinson planned on killing off the Joker in his second appearance in Batman #1. Editor Whitney Ellsworth “saved” the Joker’s life by adding a bit where an EMT remarks that the Joker somehow survived his seemingly fatal knife wound. Thus began a remarkable string of comic appearances where the Joker would show up, fight Batman and Robin and then seemingly plummet to his death at the end of the comic, only to show up the next time around.
It begins with Detective Comics #45…
Then it goes into the pages of Batman, where it gets really weird.
First, Batman #4…
Next, Batman #5 opens with a funny panel:
“Well, I’ll be damned. He actually DID die.”
But, of course, he did not. But at the end of the issue, does he die?!
Nope, as he returns in Batman #7….
I love how Batman is even starting to think, “Eh, whatever, dead…not dead…who cares?”
Things take a turn with the following issue as Joker is ARRESTED instead of killed! This leads to a string of arrests for Joker rather than “deaths,” which is why, I suppose, Batman is so willing to believe that this next death in #12 is for real…
If you have a suggestion for a future Drawing Crazy Patterns installment, e-mail me at [email protected] | <urn:uuid:c02f417a-3207-451b-80e5-ea9734820a96> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://goodcomics.comicbookresources.com/2011/07/13/drawing-crazy-patterns-joker-falls-to-his-death/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368697974692/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516095254-00001-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.950841 | 391 | 1.570313 | 2 |
Some residents in the city's outer boroughs and northern suburbs may not have electricity until mid-November, though most of Manhattan is expected to be lit back up by the weekend, utility officials said Thursday.
Some 575,000 homes, businesses and buildings in the city and Westchester County remained without electricity as utility Consolidated Edison pumped water out of flooded underground vaults in Manhattan and grappled elsewhere with wind-downed overhead power lines.
While Con Ed has restored power to 335,000 customers since the storm, officials warned that it would be until Nov. 10 or 11 before most of the damage to overhead lines was repaired and a week longer before all of it was fixed. The utility initially said it would take at least a week to fix the damage from the monster storm, which struck Monday night.
The timeframe grew longer after Con Ed got a look at the damage, operations Vice President John Miksad said.
"We don't want to blow smoke on this," he said. "We want to make sure that folks can plan their lives accordingly. We're doing our damnedest ... but it is what it is, and it's a long, hard slog to get this restoration done."
Still, residents and local officials grew increasingly frustrated.
In stricken parts of Brooklyn, "it's unimaginable that these communities may have to wait more than two weeks to have power back," Borough President Marty Markowitz said.
His counterpart in Queens, Helen Marshall, said residents of devastated areas there "want to make certain that we are getting our fair share of resources."
While prospects were brighter in Manhattan, politicians and residents alike worried for disabled and elderly people stuck in tall buildings where the power outage means elevators, heat and often running water aren't working.
In Stephen Weisbrot's still-dark lower Manhattan neighborhood, "a lot of people are living in high-rises who haven't been able to come down because they're so high up," the 21-year-old said. "I feel like it's slowly turning into a humanitarian crisis."
The diverging timelines for getting power back in Manhattan and elsewhere reflect the different ways power is supplied in the city, Con Ed says.
The Manhattan outages involve flooded underground lines and a transformer fire at a substation during the storm. The outages are numerous — about 220,000 customers are without power — but they're more concentrated and faster to fix than are the 100,000 downed overhead power lines around the city and Westchester County, some in areas where trees are down and roads are blocked, Miksad said.
While Con Ed aims to turn the power back on throughout Manhattan by Saturday, that doesn't mean the lights will go on in every blacked-out building. About 130 buildings, many of them in the financial district, suffered so much flooding that their own electrical equipment is damaged or still underwater, Miksad said.
And some large buildings and apartment complexes will still be waiting for heat, hot water and other services that come from Con Ed's underground steam system. The system was shut down south of midtown during the storm and will probably take about another week to put back into service in some places, Miksad said.
Con Ed doesn't have a detailed estimate of the costs of fixing the outages but expects the bill to run hundreds of millions of dollars, he said. | <urn:uuid:f9075a4d-8925-4783-b571-1b0ebf00224e> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.brooklyneagle.com/articles/some-nyc-outages-could-linger-mid-november | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368709037764/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516125717-00004-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.973483 | 689 | 1.5 | 2 |
Does architectural education need an overhaul?
Architectural education must adapt to the needs of a rapidly changing profession, writes Christine Murray
Does the Part 1/2/3 structure of architectural education need an overhaul?
The shape and duration of qualification is an oft recurring debate, from how it affects women in architecture to whether it accurately prepares students for practice. But action has become more urgent, with tuition fees of £9,000 per year, the difficult job market, and the RIBA salary bands stalled at £17-21,000 for a Part 1, £23-27,000 for Part 2s, and £30-34,000 for Part 3 graduates.
There is also the question of whether architecture students are being adequately prepared for life in modern practice. I asked associate director Susie Le Good for her opinion on students applying for work at AHMM and was surprised to hear that some of them can’t draw well enough on computer to be seriously considered for a job. ‘They come in with beautifully hand-drawn portfolios,’ said Le Good. ‘But they can’t draw in 3D or design on computer.’ Surely this is negligence on the part of the schools, for misleading students into thinking that practices value penmanship over creative minds with computer skills.
The other concern - heard most recently on a visit to the University of Sheffield last week - is that schools don’t encourage enough collaboration among students, and churn out too many iconoclastic sole practitioners. The call is for more team-based working, but also to encourage collaboration with other disciplines.
Paul Finch’s recent column (AJ 25.10.12) on the late Ted Happold’s combined architecture and engineering programme at the University of Bath - whose alumni include Patrick Bellew of Atelier Ten and Peter Clegg of Feilden Clegg Bradley - discussed the merits of this combined course, concluding that perhaps Happold’s approach failed because the programme was neither one thing, nor another.
What is clear is that architectural education must adapt, and quickly, to the needs of a vastly changing and increasingly disparate profession, divided between small businesses and large collaborative teams, between specialist practices and generalists, and increasingly, between design architects and delivery architects.
The AJ has agreed to act as a forum for this debate for the Built Environment Education (BEE) taskforce, which is collecting views on the future of architectural education with a view to proposing radical change. BEE’s pan-industry thinktank is spearheaded by Ryder Architecture with representatives from Arup, The What Now? Collaborative, the Bartlett, Strathclyde University, KPMG, Laing O’Rourke and the University of Bath. I urge students, academics and especially practicing architects to get involved by visiting TheAJ.co.uk/students and joining the AJ’s LinkedIn group to add their voice to the debate.
Does architectural education need to change, and if so, how? Please share your view. | <urn:uuid:6ac9503e-f07d-46cf-8392-08f610218b02> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.architectsjournal.co.uk/news/opinion/does-architectural-education-need-an-overhaul/8638620.article?blocktitle=Most-popular&contentID=-1 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368708766848/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516125246-00010-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.956447 | 630 | 1.5625 | 2 |
Less than one week before Russia's presidential election, voters are digesting an announcement that police uncovered a plot to kill the main candidate, Prime Minister Vladimir Putin.
Prime Minister Vladimir Putin has brushed off a reported assassination plot, telling reporters: “People in my position have to live with it. It would be impossible to carry on if you fear that. Let them fear us.”
A Kremlin-controlled network, Russia’s Channel One, reported Monday three men from Russia’s violence plagued Chechnya region met two months ago in Odessa, Ukraine and plotted to attack a Putin motorcade in Moscow.
The plot unraveled January 4 when a bomb they were making accidentally exploded in Odessa, killing one man and wounding another. Channel One televised taped confessions made by the wounded man and the third man.
The report also announced details of two other previously unknown plots on Putin’s life, both in Russia’s violence plagued Caucasus southern border region.
In Moscow, analysts and opposition politicians questioned the timing of the announcement - eight weeks after the Odessa bomb explosion and one week before Russia’s Presidential election.
“Few people are taking this seriously. Rather than condemning a crass attempt to boost Putin’s popularity, people are making fun of it,” noted Masha Lipman, Moscow Carnegie Center.
In a candidates' debate, Gennady Zyuganov, of the Communist Party, called the announcement “a cheap trick that stinks.”
Vladimir Zhironovsky, a nationalist, who is running for president for the fifth time since 1991, called the plot a “hoax” cooked up “to stir sympathy among less-educated people.” The veteran campaigner added: “Grandmothers, old women, will say, ‘Oh dear, they wanted to murder him, so let us vote for him.”
Political commentator Oleg Kashin asked on Kommersant FM radio whether it is possible such a sensational story can appear on a Kremlin-controlled channel without the approval of Putin’s PR people.
In response, the prime minister’s spokesman, Dmitry Peskov, said linking the plot announcement to the elections is “blasphemous.”
Masha Lipman says she sees the assassination plot announcement as part of a larger campaign to turn around Putin’s slumping popularity. She said this effort has been effective. “Quite effective, because Putin’s popularity seems to be rising in the last weeks leading to his election.”
In a nationwide poll taken last weekend, 60 percent of respondents said they would vote for the prime minister. If Putin wins more than 50 percent of votes cast on Sunday, he will not have to go through a second, runoff round. | <urn:uuid:1d3e42ba-2a83-4610-aa84-f16638dc60de> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.voanews.com/content/critics-say-putin-assassination-plot-tied-to-sunday-vote-140731463/152613.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368705195219/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516115315-00015-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.953011 | 585 | 1.671875 | 2 |
FOUL, FAIR OR FAKE?
Several million people watching TV last Saturday night saw Welterweight Champion Emile Griffith knock down Jorge Fernandez with what seemed to be a low blow—a foul—and were startled a few minutes later when Griffith's hand was raised in victory after Fernandez said he was unable to continue. Referee Harry Krause told the TV audience that he had given the fight to Griffith because Emile was ahead on points, but this was an error, as Krause himself admitted later. The fight went to Griffith because Nevada's boxing rules (the fight was held in Las Vegas) state that "no contestant may be awarded a contest on a claim of a low foul blow." When Fernandez refused—or was unable—to go on, Krause had no choice but to award the fight to Griffith.
The "no foul" rule is a good one, if imperfect. It came into being three decades ago because too many fights were ending with one man dramatically clutching himself and claiming victory because he had been fouled. Too often, invalid claims were allowed. With the introduction of the protective cup came the "no foul" rule; in the majority of states if a boxer refuses to continue, it is a technical knockout.
It is ironic that Griffith, a decent kid who gained almost intolerable attention last winter after his fatal knockout of Benny Paret, should again win a fight under lamentable circumstances. But there should be no question that the punch, if it was, in fact, low, was accidental, unintentional and, possibly, not disabling. It is, indeed, a curious coincidence that Fernandez claimed a similar foul in a bout with Isaac Logart.
J.G. TAYLOR SPINK
In the issue of The Sporting News that was on the newsstands there was a two-column headline which read: SCRIBES SALUTE "BIBLE" PUBLISHER. Within the memory of its oldest reader, no issue of the famous baseball weekly had failed to carry some similar tribute to J. G. Taylor Spink, its owner, who died at his home in Clayton, Mo. last week at the age of 74.
He seemed to people who knew him only through his paper to be an inordinately vain man. But he seemed to be many things that he was not. He seemed to be harsh and cruel, but he was secretly softhearted and kind and thoughtful of people in trouble. He seemed to be niggardly, but he was generous when generosity was sorely needed.
His apparent vanity was hardest to explain. The President of the United States could not fully satisfy him with a personal letter, nor could any plaque or scroll and standing ovation at a testimonial dinner. And yet, met face to face, he was a humble man. Perhaps what he really feared was that if people did not appreciate Taylor Spink, they would not fully appreciate The Sporting News. And if people did not appreciate baseball's own bible, how could they fully appreciate the game it covered from the major leagues down to the lowliest of the minors?
The Baseball Writers' Association of America has petitioned the officers of the Hall of Fame at Cooperstown, N.Y., for a place to put a plaque on which the names of the great baseball journalists would be listed. Hopefully, it would hang within a pepper-game toss of the plaques honoring immortals like Ruth and Cobb. Nothing is definite about the project as yet. But there has been one unanimous decision: in the listing of the names, that of John George Taylor Spink will lead all the rest—a final tribute and perhaps one this man was seeking through the years for a paper and a game he loved and served so well.
THE KENNEDY GAME | <urn:uuid:bfb5b58b-91ed-4778-9673-bb736519f86e> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/vault/article/magazine/MAG1135070/index.htm | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368704392896/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516113952-00003-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.983039 | 772 | 1.734375 | 2 |
When Leah Drew started a mater's degree in French in 2005, she was 22. But that summer, she, along with her younger sister and father, received dreaded news: her mother was diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease and would eventually need round-the-clock care.
Drew finished out her studies, which took her to Europe for two years, but when it was time to look for a job, she set her sights on Chicago, her hometown, and moved in with her family in order to help care for her mom.
"My sister and dad were facing a lot of frustrations," she said. "Meanwhile, I was in Paris, feeling kind of guilty. I was determined to move to my parents' place to help out."
Young adults are not often thought of as caregivers for an aging parent or the elderly. On average, people who provide this type of assistance are 50 years old, according to a 2009 study by the National Alliance for Caregiving and AARP, the most recent national data available.
Still, 18 percent of caregivers who provide assistance to someone 50 and older are 18 to 34 years old. These adults can often feel isolated from peers, many of whom won't go through the same experience until they are much older. There can also be a financial and personal toll for young people who are trying to get their lives going.
In a 2008 survey by AgingCare.com, 62 percent of all caregivers, regardless of age, said the cost of caring for a parent affected their ability to plan for their own financial well-being. If you're a young caregiver, taking care of a sick parent can have a steep learning curve, but resources exist to help.
Find help at work
"No one wants to bring baggage (to a job), especially when you're just starting," said Richard Nix, executive vice president at AgingCare. Your employer may offer resources to help juggle work responsibilities and caregiving.
According to a 2012 National Study of Employers, put out by the Families and Work Institute, 41 percent of companies provide workers with information about services for aging family members. Many also offer Dependent Care Assistance Programs, which allow you to set aside caregiving dollars pretax.
And because of the Family and Medical Leave Act, if you work at a company with 50 or more employees within a 75-mile radius, you're eligible for up to 12 weeks of unpaid leave within 12 months to care for a spouse, child or parent with a serious health condition. New hires have to wait: The benefit doesn't kick in until you've clocked at least 1,250 hours on the job and have been with the company for 12 months.
If you're ineligible, whether because you're new or you work for a small firm, consider other options. According to the 2012 study of employers, 77 percent of companies offer flexible work hours. You may be able to negotiate a schedule that better accommodates your needs.
Look for help outside work. Reach out to other family. Be specific.
"Don't say, 'Gee, it would be great if you could help,'" said Gail Hunt, president and CEO of the National Alliance for Caregiving. "Think of tasks that need to be done."
Look for organizations that are related to your parent's illness.
"If it's a head injury, there's a brain injury association," Hunt said. Connect with the organization online and begin to explore which services are available in your area, for the care recipient and for you.
Drew helped start the Greater Illinois Chapter Junior Board of the Alzheimer's Association. "It has helped me by providing a social and emotional outlet," she said.
The board hopes to launch a peer-to-peer mentoring program for 20- and 30-somethings who are in some way affected by Alzheimer's. "It will, hopefully, match you up with someone who has been through a similar experience," Drew said. "And who is your age."
E-mail Carolyn Bigda at [email protected] | <urn:uuid:04126527-5938-4c29-a98e-654c09d0cce2> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://articles.chicagotribune.com/2013-01-25/business/sc-cons-0124-started-20130125_1_young-caregivers-gail-hunt-young-adults | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368698207393/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516095647-00028-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.979391 | 830 | 1.78125 | 2 |
Modern and Contemporary Art
Nude Descending a Staircase (No. 2)
Marcel Duchamp, American (born France), 1887 - 1968
Oil on canvas
Currently not on view
1950-134-59The Louise and Walter Arensberg Collection, 1950
LabelOn March 18, 1912, Marcel Duchamp received an unexpected visit from his two brothers, Jacques Villon and Raymond Duchamp-Villon, at his studio in Neuilly-sur-Seine. They informed their younger brother that the hanging committee of the Salon des Indépendants exhibition in Paris, which included themselves, Albert Gleizes, Jean Metzinger, and others, had rejected his Nude Descending a Staircase, No. 2. These Cubist painters had refused to display the painting on the grounds that "A nude never descends the stairs--a nude reclines." Although the work was shown in the Salon de la Section d'Or in October 1912, Duchamp never forgave his brothers and former colleagues for censoring his work.
Social Tags [?]1913 armory show [x] alter [x] avant-garde [x] carlo carra [x] cubism [x] cubo-futurism [x] descent [x] eadweard muybridge [x] etienne jules marey [x] fluid motion [x] fragmentation [x] futurism [x] giacomo balla [x] male nude [x] movement [x] peter saul [x] phallic [x] special relativity [x] subliminal imagery [x] time [x] [Add Your Own Tags] | <urn:uuid:be1dea70-5548-45ed-8522-c93a2dc5d3c9> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://philamuseum.org/collections/permanent/51449.html?mulR=20766%7C1 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368705195219/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516115315-00000-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.940792 | 359 | 1.835938 | 2 |
In those quiet, but magnificent moments of life – where we are suddenly given a glimpse of something so meaningful, tireless, beautiful, or otherwise majestic that it quiets the mind – we know we stand in the presence of something that represents a part of ourselves.
We stand as a silent witness to a yet unrealized possibility that we somehow know belongs to a new and higher order of ourselves. What we’ve yet to understand about these timeless and vital forces is that our fleeting experience of them is actually an invitation to become fully conscious of them as a living part of who and what we are in reality.
In such moments we know, without having to think about it, as beautiful as may be the world around us, it pales in comparison to the world that awaits within us. Let’s illustrate this last idea.
If you’ve ever taken a walk through the woods on a sunlit day and stood in the silent shafts of light streaming down and through the trees, then you know, even though these bright beams seem to appear separately, each ray of light comes from a common source: the sun. The same holds true with these beautiful timeless qualities that sometimes streak into and through our hearts and minds.
These celestial characteristics are the too-fleeting expression of our own yet to be realized True Self. But if this is true, which it is, what is it that keeps us from permanently entering into this extraordinary life? As you’ll see, the answer is surprising!
We don’t really know where to look! Or perhaps, more clearly stated, we tend to be looking in the wrong places because, at present, we see our life through a part of us, our senses that “tell” us that we live apart from all that we see. The sorry result of this incomplete perception is undeniable: instead of an undivided relationship with the extraordinary life within us, we are reduced to a frantic search outside of ourselves, at best finding only temporary fragments of the freedom for which we so long.
How do we realize our relationship with the innermost truth of ourselves? What must we do to enter into a conscious relationship with the extraordinary life within us. Use the following three simple exercises to reveal what stands between you and the higher freedom you seek.
1. Open Up To Real Life
Dare to see and experience yourself as you are without giving names to any of the myriad states of self that present themselves before your inner eyes. Resist the temptation to interrupt whatever thoughts and feelings are rushing through you by trying to explain to yourself why you’re having the experiences that you are. Why open yourself up to life in this way?
Because it’s the only way to see that the true extraordinary can no more be defined by a single thought or feeling than can the sun be known through a solitary beam of light.
2. Do What You Fear Doing
Every time you will take the leap into what you are psychologically afraid of doing, the extraordinary life within you will prove that its unshakable ground is everywhere beneath you at all times. To know that you can’t fail as long as you’re willing to learn what the moment reveals to you about yourself is the same as understanding there’s nowhere for you to go but up!
3. Take Time Once A Day For Yourself
What we must remember is that the extraordinary life is timeless, and if we would share its life, we must enter into its world. Here’s a good place to start: whenever you can remember to do so, choose to consciously step out of that gilded, but self-confining, cage called “thinking about yourself.”
At least once a day sit quietly with the intention of observing the movement of your own mind. Learning to watch your thoughts in this impersonal way gradually teaches you what can be discovered in no other way: just as the hands of a clock can only go around and around, so it holds true for the level of mind always frantically searching for its highest possibilities in passing time. Who you really are is timeless, and only this realization can grant you the extraordinary peace of being who you really are.
Do you have any techniques to help release your thoughts and open your mind to the infinite possibilities available to you? Tell us what works for you below. | <urn:uuid:137d75c2-dd4b-40ea-8c53-621f7d73071c> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.finerminds.com/consciousness-awareness/extraordinary-life/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368702810651/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516111330-00031-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.957742 | 892 | 1.5 | 2 |
Everybody panic: Our latest youth crisis has teens texting in their sleep. On CNET, Chris Matyszczyk calls it "like sleepwalking, but potentially more amusing." As an expert explains to CBS Philadelphia, “The phone will beep, they’ll answer the text. They’ll either respond in words or gibberish. [It] can even be inappropriate." What the professor describes sounds a lot like texting while awake (example: "Ex-girlfriends contacting ex-boyfriends, saying 'I miss you. I want to see you'"), with one difference. "When they wake up, there's no memory." So ... kind of like drunk-texting, then?
But, the professor insists, this is a real problem. "This interrupts what could be a good night’s sleep, because they're an hour-and-a-half or two hours into their sleep cycle, and they're answering texts or the machines are beeping at them." How to combat this new woe? As Matyszczyk quips, "Clearly, the highly complex, radical remedy is to turn off the phone." Or at least keep it on the other side of the room. | <urn:uuid:356ff39f-4cab-4e90-b4cd-22678e0d39e5> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.newser.com/story/162732/teens-now-sleep-texting.html | 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 | 0.945016 | 252 | 1.835938 | 2 |
Have you heard this song? Oh…my goodness. Listen to it before you read my post. Please.
Our Fearless Leader sprang this song on us at choir rehearsal last night. I regret to tell you that the experience sent me into a fit of laughter. I thought I would never make it through the song. How embarrassing! It’s also distracting, I know. The last thing the choir needs is someone who can’t stay focused when we’re learning a new piece. But seriously–this piece is ridiculous. Maybe it was just a crazy end to a crazy Monday (after all, I did field several insane phone calls at work yesterday [seriously, I'm going to start keeping tabs to see which question gets the most phone calls--the cheese or the sinus infection]). I digress. I felt terrible, but the song just struck me with the ridiculous stick, and I feel my only recompense is to list the ridiculousness here on my blog. These are the things that kept me in stitches.
- Ybounden is a ridiculous word. Seriously. Ybounden? Okay. 15th century English, I get it. Still. Ridiculous.
- Adam lay ybounden, bounden in a bond. Really? Bounden in a bond? Is that how one is bound–with a bond? Brilliant!
- Four thousand winter thought he not too long. What? That doesn’t even make sense to me. And of course, as our Resident Linguist explained, it makes perfect sense because it’s a reference to the span of time between the Fall in Genesis and the Crucifixion. Okay, but…it doesn’t make sense to my speaking (and singing) parts. At all.
- As clerkes finden written in their-e book.I know the “e” belongs to “their,” but I have to tell you, my first thought was: “It was written in an e-book?!”
- Pulsing Light. Fearless Leader said the drone of this piece should feel like a pulsing light. I won’t tell you what Liesl said it sounded like; as for me, I thought it felt like a death march.
- F. F. F. F. E. D.; D. D. C. C. C.; F. F. F. E. D.; D. D. C. C. E.; etc ad nauseum. Wow. I love being an alto, but I do grow weary of the F’s and E’s. There are a whole lot of them in an alto line.
All of this being stated, I have to confess to you that the most difficult pieces are those I end up falling in love with. I already love it more than I did last night. This song is not at all ill-written; quite the contrary, it is an astounding piece. Its difficulty is what will leave the audience with goosebumps, if we do it well. I hope we will do it justice! Skempton’s work is impeccable.
I must close, but I need to add that, upon further reflection, I think the death march feeling is effective. We are, after all (I think) talking about the Fall of Man, the Curse, Death. The unsettling nature of the piece (lyrically and musically) suddenly makes sense to me in light of the beautiful resolution (again, lyrically and musically): Deo gratias!
It’s quite theological (aside from the e-book, of course).
Yes, folks…I may just learn to like this one. | <urn:uuid:e68ee29c-6efd-4fd3-a45d-a73daca03e04> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://semmie.wordpress.com/2012/10/02/adam-lay-ybounden/?like=1&source=post_flair&_wpnonce=d22f799ecb | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368696383156/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516092623-00029-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.961049 | 777 | 1.578125 | 2 |
The Spiritual Leader's Vitality
Even spiritual exercises and disciplines can be terribly hollow. The real center is hearing God's voice and obeying his Word.
As we are involved in unceasing thinking, so we are called to unceasing prayer.
The crying need of the spiritual leader, someone once pointed out, is "a sense of the spiritual center." But how does a leader develop that sense? What roads lead to increased spiritual vitality?
Discussing those questions are two men who have ventured on the inner journey and written eloquently of their travels.
Richard Foster has been a Quaker pastor in California and Oregon. He taught at George Fox College and now teaches at Friends University in Wichita, Kansas. He has written Celebration of Discipline; Freedom of Simplicity; and Money, Sex & Power (all Harper & Row), books that call for increased commitment to live the Christian life. Yet it's obvious from Foster's quick laugh and soft eyes that for him Christian commitment doesn't mean something hard and austere, but something warm and loving.
Henri J. M. Nouwen is a Catholic priest and psychologist who has taught at Notre Dame and Yale Divinity School. He is now priest-in-residence at the L'Arche Community near Toronto. Among Nouwen's many books are The Genesee Diary and The Wounded Healer (Doubleday), which take a look at what it means to be a Christian and a minister in modern society. But Nouwen's prophetic words are tempered by an intense, electric concern for those around him. He's easy to love, and his quick, reasoned thinking invites acceptance.
In reading their books, one realizes Foster and Nouwen are saying many of the same things. Yet they are from widely divergent traditions and use different language to express their thoughts. In this dialogue of a few years ago, they talk freely about getting to know God.
Since the spiritual life is such a personal matter, perhaps we could start with where each of you find yourself now in your spiritual journey. What's happening in your spiritual life?
Henri Nouwen: Spiritually, I'm in one of the most difficult periods of my life. At times I've felt my spiritual direction to be clear-cut; right now, however, everything is uncertain.
When I came from Holland to the United States, I became a diocesan priest, a psychologist, and a fellow at the Menninger Clinic. I joined the faculty at Notre Dame, taught in Holland, and came back to teach at Yale Divinity School. People started to respond more and more to what I had to say, and that led to an increasing sense of "Yes, I must have something to say." I earned an additional doctorate in theology, so I have all the credentials affirmed by the church and academia. I should be happy.
But these past months I've come face to face with my own spiritual abyss. None of this success has made me a more saintly or holy person. Let me try to describe what I mean. Last semester I traveled all over the world. I spoke to large audiences. I've never been so praised by such varied groups, from Southern ... | <urn:uuid:0a73f3bb-4519-4139-8ccc-5ccc3c8f27f2> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.christianitytoday.com/le/topics/soul/disciplines/ldlib12-3.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368710006682/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516131326-00040-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.973888 | 653 | 1.53125 | 2 |
June 15, 2009
If you were staying on top of your Twitter feed over the weekend, you probably noticed one common theme: Lots of outrage over a perceived failure by cable news outlets to dedicate sufficient time to the tense situation in Iran.
For most of Saturday, CNN.com had no stories about the massive protests on behalf of Mir Hossein Mousavi, who was reported by the Iranian government to have lost to the sitting president, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. The widespread street clashes--nearly unheard of in the tightly controlled Iran--reflected popular belief that the election had been rigged, a sentiment that was even echoed, to some extent, by the U.S. government Saturday. ...
Yet even as word of the urban strife, seemingly led by those posting to Twitter, spread next around the world on news networks like the BBC, NPR, and the Times, CNN remained mostly mute. Even when the network's Internet site finally posted a story late Saturday, the network's first "story highlight" was, "Ahmadinejad plans rally after winning second presidential term."
You can get a good sense of CNN's comparatively weak story placement for Iran online here.
From NYTimes' Brian Stelter:
CNN had reports from Tehran throughout Saturday, including some from Christiane Amanpour, its chief international correspondent. But it did not provide the kind of wall-to-wall coverage that some had expected.
It was a departure for CNN, known for its breaking-news coverage, including its celebrated reporting during the Tiananmen Square crackdown 20 years ago. But the Tehran protests were not covered with rolling live coverage for hours at a time.
CNN told Stelter that "We share people’s expectations of CNN and have delivered far more coverage of the Iranian election and aftermath than any other network.”
One could argue that it's unfair for some to single out CNN (as compared to MSNBC and Fox), but the criticisms go to the heart of CNN's self-proclaimed boast: That when there's breaking news out there, CNN leads the way. And, while CNN International did a good job covering the Iran protests, CNN didn't provide the kind of coverage that many had come to expect of the network.
But not everyone saw it that way, including media critic Howard Kurtz (who gets a paycheck from CNN for his "Reliable Sources" show), who, via Twitter, put out a fierce defense of his network:
For many, the Iran incident was yet another example of Twitter's ability to provide real-time reporting from the scene and of cable news' occasional preference for chatter over coverage (one media inside told POLITICO that it was akin to the realization years ago that MTV no longer actually showed music videos. "Cable news doesn't really seem to be about news anymore").
So was this a temporary blip for CNN and others? Or simply the new reality of cable news? To be continued... | <urn:uuid:152ea1c2-17dd-4a90-b076-0f5ed54b1041> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.politico.com/blogs/michaelcalderone/0609/Iran_Protests_Highlight_Cable_News_Shortcomings.html?showall | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368704392896/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516113952-00017-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.975534 | 599 | 1.648438 | 2 |
Monday, February 18, 2013
Mrs. Callan joins Mr. P. for the second episode of a new miniseries on key emotions.
Hayes Elementary School Principal John Piotraschke and Counselor Leena Callan tackle forgiveness in the second installment of a 10-part video series. Watch it here or on the Fridley School District's YouTube channel. Related:
Thursday, January 17, 2013
Students at Hayes and Stevenson elementary schools get dance lessons from pros.
Two local businesses are helping bring dance to Fridley's Hayes and Stevenson elementary schools, according to a recent news release: The nMotion Dance Center received a $2,000 grant from Financial [One] Credit Union to fund dance classes for children. nMotion chose to implement a dance program through the City of Fridley, called Let’s Dance. Let’s Dance gives many children who would otherwise not be able to afford it, the opportunity to take dance classes from accredited professionals. It is open to all children attending Hayes or Stevenson elementary. Sarah Barnett, director of the nMotion Dance Center, will teach weekly classes for a full school year. “My goal is to give children a solid introduction to the art of dance that promotes …
Saturday, February 11, 2012
You have to see the video of the Hayes Elementary School staff flash mob too.
Friday, February 10, 2012
A Fridley school assembly for quiet reading suddenly turned very groovy.
It was billed as quiet time when all the students at Hayes Elementary School in Fridley would sit in the gym, each with a book, and read. And for five minutes on Friday, that's what it was. Then music started, and teachers who had been mingling among the students moved to an open space in the mass the seated readers. Suddenly Principal John Piotraschke bounded out, decked in purple hat and feather boa, and led a staff dance performance that lasted three minutes in front of a gym full of ecstatic children. At the end Piotraschke wished everyone a good weekend, and teachers who had moments before been boogie-ing led students back to classrooms. The excitement came only two days after cafeteria staff performed a rap number for kids during …
Wednesday, February 8, 2012
Regular Hayes Elementary School cafeteria staff members Diane Zustiak, Nancy Anderson and Michele Traczyk along with sub Deb Panning performed an I Love to Read Month rap during lunch Wednesday. | <urn:uuid:bd3aa407-4bae-4014-9b7b-a08ee1ca8504> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://fridley.patch.com/topics/Hayes+Elementary+School | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368696383156/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516092623-00041-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.955032 | 509 | 1.5 | 2 |
Hanauma Bay, Oahu, 24 April 2006. Football in this setting might seem like a needless distraction or an aesthetic overdose.
Haleiwa, Hawai‘i | He spent part of one summer planting birds of paradise while working 8½-hour shifts on one of Oahu’s “plantations,” surfed, and played soccer at Kamehameha High School. Brian Ching, a forward for the U.S. national team that enters its fifth straight World Cup finals, recalls watching the 1994 event when he was 16. He remembers being excited when the U.S. defeated Colombia—the first U.S. victory in a finals since 1950—yet feels compelled to add, “Overall, though, I think at the time I was more concerned with how the waves were.”
While U.S. defender Frankie Hejduk goes by the moniker “surfer dude,” Ching seems to have stronger credentials. To the Boston Globe in 2004, Ching described his childhood as “amphibious.” The first native Hawaiian to play internationally for the United States—and, to our knowledge, the first Hawaiian on a World Cup roster—Ching represents the spread of soccer beyond the U.S. mainland. We spent part of our formative years in Oahu rambling around a U.S. Army installation, Schofield Barracks, but at the same time as Pelé and Carlos Alberto helped guide Brazilian football to new heights in Mexico City, one was more likely to spot a snow goose than a soccer ball.
All this has changed.
Ching’s hometown, Haleiwa, exists far from the urban centers on the archipelago’s most populated island, yet by the time he was 7 he could join a youth team, with his mother coaching. In high school, he graduated to the elite Honolulu youth club, Bulls ’85, which in 2004 became the first Hawai‘i team to win a national title in the U.S. Youth Soccer Association. The team makes its home at the Waipi’o Peninsula Soccer Complex, one of the best in the country. The facility makes the Islands a mecca for traveling teams, and Hawai‘i sometimes attracts up to a dozen summer tournaments.
Hawaiian soccer has developed to the point of having its own style, a “rich mix,” according to Frank Dell’Apa of the Boston Globe, “with a strong Asian influence.” Natasha Kai of Kahuku, Oahu, a North Shore village of corn fields and shrimp farms, duplicated Ching’s feat earlier this year by joining the U.S. women’s senior national team. A striker, she has scored three times in five international fixtures, including the lone goal in the side’s most recent match, in Japan, on May 9.
She says in an interview on ussoccer.com that, as a Hawaiian, she has found it hard fitting in to the national-team structures due to her accent and the cultural separation that exists between Islanders and those on the mainland. She sometimes communicates in Pidgin, referred to as Hawai‘i’s Creole English. (A Pidgin New Testament, Da Jesus Book, is available.) Of her first appearance with a U.S. team, Kai, who has starred for the University of Hawai‘i, says, “I was really nervous. … I was not comfortable around anyone. I was kind of left by myself and I was kind of the runt in camp being from Hawai‘i.”
A runt’s reputation attached itself to soccer in its beginnings on the Islands. Jack Sullivan, called “Mr. Soccer” for his involvement reaching back more than 30 years, says he and others in 1974 started training with 225 boys on a field outside a jail. “We aren’t a traditional sport,” says Sullivan, referring to the games in which Hawaiians have excelled over time, including swimming (Duke Kahanamoku, Buster Crabbe), weightlifting (Tommy Kono), canoeing (Toots Minvielle) and golf (Jackie Pung, Michelle Wie). And how could we forget surfing? Hawai’i also has produced a gaggle of players, especially linemen, for the National Football League.
Kai after the goal against Japan on May 9. “I am representing Hawai‘i and the United States,” she says, “and, of course, that means a lot.” (Copyright © Brad Smith, ussoccer.com)
Sullivan, a mainland transplant like much of the Islands’ population, settled here in 1957, two years before Hawai‘i achieved statehood. He switched to soccer from coaching baseball because, according to Leila Wai of the Honolulu Advertiser, “he didn’t like the children being scared of making a mistake such as striking out or dropping a ball.”
Here is a sport [soccer] where you eliminate those things. You don’t have these negative things for timid kids. It creates responsible people with self-worth and the confidence to play other sports.
The Hawaiian soccer apparatus, as of 2004, incorporated more than 27,000 boys and girls as well as adults as active players. Registered leagues exist not only on Oahu, but on the Big Island of Hawai‘i, Maui and Kaua’i. Naturally, development of players is facilitated by the climate, but also by a preexisting sporting pipeline that emphasizes high school athletics. A long list of Hawaiian baseball players have used their high school years to gain attention from farm teams in Major League Baseball, eventually advancing to the top level. “When you ask someone from the Islands where they went to school,” writes magazine Island Scene, “they will usually answer with the name of their high school, even if they went to college.”
Sullivan, 70 years old when this picture was taken in 2004, grew up playing ice hockey in Boston. “Anything that has to do with soccer, he’s right in the middle of it,” said friend and sports broadcaster Les Keiter. (Deborah Booker | Honolulu Advertiser)
Hawai‘i High School Athletic Association executive director Keith Amemiya reaches back into island history to help explain the competitive mentality:
Hawai‘i student athletes are prized by colleges because they’re known for their toughness, hard work, and team-oriented outlook. Hawai‘i athletes are known for a warrior-type mentality of never giving up. People from Hawai‘i are known for having big hearts in that they are very generous, but also in the way of being very proud. I think because we are an island state in the middle of the ocean, we always feel we have to prove ourselves. Nobody wants to embarrass everyone back home.
Wrapped up in the popularizing of soccer, naturally, is the continuing sensitivity toward the native Hawaiian culture. Overrun by missionaries in the 1820s and then subsumed by a tide of imperialism in Washington (Queen Lili’uokalani was deposed by U.S. interests in 1893), the Islands have long struggled to integrate the kanaka maoli (indigenous) and haole (Anglo) populations (note 1). In soccer’s case, the sport’s acceptance among native Hawaiians likely has been smoothed in that Ching, although his mother is from California, and Kai have ties to local ways.
Sports appear to run through the veins of Hawaiians. Dan Cisco, who compiled a 651-page history of Hawaiian sports, counted 59 that have been practiced on the Islands since the 1850s. And he does not include native sporting ways, reprised in the annual Makahiki Games. In reading descriptions of these contests, we did not find mention of anything resembling the ball games of Mayans or Native Americans, but many references to water sports and boxing (note 2).
Attempts are being made to bring back lava sledding (he’e holua), a 2,000-year-old practice of riding a sled head-first, at speeds of up to 50 mph, down hillside lava floes. Missionaries ended the sport, according to sled builder Tom Stone. “They wanted us to work, stop being happy,” he says.
The subtext for soccer, and for Ching’s anticipated appearance for the U.S. team in Germany, goes deeper than we have time to pursue fully. “I didn’t take the ordinary path the majority of guys on this team took to get where we are at,” says Ching, referring to his multiple surgeries and minor-league toils with the Seattle Sounders and Spokane (Wash.) Shadow. Ching’s path has been longer, and no doubt more scenic.
The U.S. Senate on 8 Jun 06 blocked legislation, originally introduced in 2000 by Senator Daniel Akaka (D-Hawai‘i), that would extend federal recognition to Native Hawaiians as indigenous people. The bill aims to create for Hawaiians, about 20 percent of the state’s population, a status comparable to Native American governments on the mainland. “The central issue of federal recognition for Hawaii’s indigenous people has yet to be given its fair examination,” Akaka said.
1. While missionaries provided loving service, such as Father Damien of Belgium in his ministry at the leprosy colony on Moloka’i, their influence typically is viewed as devastating to native practice and sensibilities. In addition, they, along with others, transmitted disease and brought lack of sophistication regarding the animist style of worship on the Islands. Writes Rev. Brian J. Grieves, an Episcopalian: “Hawai’i is often referred to as a paradise, but this didn’t prevent the missionaries from finding sin present among the ‘heathens.’ How sad they didn’t know God already was present in the islands when they arrived, not only as creator, but also in the spirituality of the kanaka maoli.”
Author Stephen Kinzer in Overthrow: America’s Century of Regime Change From Hawaii to Iraq (Holt, 2006) suggests that the monarchy’s ouster in 1893 represents one of the early cases of U.S.-backed regime change.
America’s long “regime change” century dawned in 1893 with the overthrow of the Hawaiian monarchy. This was a tentative, awkward piece of work, a cultural tragedy staged as comic opera. It was not a military operation, but without the landing of American troops, it probably would not have succeeded. The president of the United States [Benjamin Harrison] approved of it, but soon after it happened, a new president [Grover Cleveland] took office and denounced it. | back to text
2. Mark Twain made a five-month excursion to Hawai‘i, then called the Sandwich Islands, in 1866 (see Lawrence Downes, “Mark Twain’s Hawaii,” New York Times, 14 May 06). Twain does not write directly about sport but takes frequent outings on horseback and sails between the Islands, accompanied by rats and peach-leaf-sized cockroaches. His dispatches for the Sacramento Union, compiled in Roughing It, reflect mainland and anti-native bias, yet passages about the declining monarchy and reports on ritual and historic sites demonstrate what Downes calls Hawai‘i’s “complicated soul.” Twain describes coming to what is said to be an ancient battleground above Honolulu:
All around everywhere, not three feet apart, the bleached bones of men gleamed white in the moonlight. We picked up a lot of them for mementoes. I got quite a number of arm bones and leg bones—of great chiefs, may be, who had fought savagely in that fearful battle in the old days, when blood flowed like wine where we now stood—and wore the choicest of them out on Oahu [his horse] afterward, trying to make him go. | back to text | <urn:uuid:e40a6831-c04d-4d85-aa4e-ea40f819cc27> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.theglobalgame.com/blog/2006/06/footballs-island-charm-brian-ching-oahu-and-how-hawaii-gained-a-world-cup-spot/?wpmp_switcher=desktop | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368702448584/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516110728-00022-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.96604 | 2,577 | 1.539063 | 2 |
Note: I work with high school students, directing a ~15-20 minute story adaptation every spring. For the last few years, I’ve been trying to find a good LGBT story to work with them, but nothing felt exactly right. I had the support of the both artistic director and my fellow teachers, but the theatre isn’t LGBT-focused; I needed something that would work well on its own merits. A co-teacher pointed me to The Blue Rose, the original of which is available online. There are other versions out there, if you Google them. As you can see, it didn’t need many tweaks to function really beautifully.
Sharing this with my students was an incredible experience, one I wasn’t anticipating. First, I’ve worked with many of them for years. They knew I’d been looking for an LGBT story. When I said I’d found one, the entire class buzzed with excitement – they were excited about an LGBT story, too. When they actually read through it – particularly the song near the end – it sent chills down my spine. I am so eager to work with them on this, and wanted to share the draft version with you. I know how hard it was for me to find a good LGBT fairy tale, so hopefully this will be of use to someone else. So here it is!
The Blue Rose
By Maurice Baring
Adapted by Rebecca Kling
Once upon a time there lived a wise and kindly Emperor, whose daughter was remarkable for her perfect beauty. Her smile was the most captivating in all the world; her eyes were as bright as brown onyxes; and when you heard her laugh it was like listening to a tinkling stream, or to the chimes of a silver bell. Moreover, the Emperor’s daughter was as wise as she was beautiful, and she recited the verse of the great poets better than anyone in the land. The Emperor was old in years; his son was married and had begotten a son; he was, therefore, quite happy about the succession to the throne, but he wished before he died to see his daughter wedded to someone who should be worthy of her.
Many suitors presented themselves at the palace, as soon as it became known that the Emperor desired a son-in-law, but when they reached the palace, they were met by the Lord Chamberlain, who told them the Emperor’s daughter had placed a condition upon her suitors: Only the one who found and brought back the Blue Rose should marry his daughter. The suitors were much puzzled by this order. What was the Blue Rose, and where was it to be found? In all, a hundred and fifty suitors had presented themselves, and out of these, fifty at once put away from them all thought of winning the hand of the Emperor’s daughter, since they considered the condition imposed to be absurd. Continue reading 'The Blue Rose – a queer fairy tale'» | <urn:uuid:1b0dd0bc-2a81-4862-b58d-abc651f5e85d> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://fridaythang.com/blog/2012/page/2/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368705195219/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516115315-00028-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.991356 | 621 | 1.648438 | 2 |
The Staff Room
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You will be able to access our full database of over 8,000 resources, searchable by age, level, language focus and topic; the database is added to every week, so you're always sure to find something new. From articles and tips on a range of teaching aspects and approaches, to ready-to-use worksheets and lesson plans, and from interactive games to authentic listening materials, you'll have thousands of fantastic resources at your fingertips.
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Prices for Institutional Subscriptions can be found here. | <urn:uuid:139186f8-530f-44cb-982f-1a2cd5e37ed4> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.onestopenglish.com/the-staff-room/153789.article | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368697380733/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516094300-00012-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.937071 | 855 | 1.664063 | 2 |
On Wednesday, Nov. 7th, 2012, Charles Axel Poëkel Sr. of Essex Fells passed away peacefully surrounded by his family and in the presence of his loyal assistant Phil Catague at his home in Essex Fells, where he had resided for the past 48 years. He recently celebrated his 97th birthday
In 1943, while working at the Propeller Division of Curtiss-Wright Aeronautics, Mr. Poëkel invented an anti-icing means for Aircraft Propellers, for which he received a patent. The invention became the industry standard means for de-icing aircraft propellers.
Mr. Poëkel, the son of Irving Brown and Anna Poekel, was born in Dorchester, Mass., on Nov. 2, 1915. At the age of 11, following his mother’s death, he was raised by his maternal grandparents, Anna Poekel and Thorvald S. (T.S.) Poekel, the Danish boat designer.
Mr. Poëkel was a graduate of Gainesville High School in Florida. He graduated magna cum laude with a bachelor of science degree in 1937 and a master’s degree in 1938 from the College of Engineering at the University of Florida.
For his master’s thesis Mr. Poëkel designed a lighting system which led to the first lighting of Florida Field, home of The Gators.
In 2010, Mr. Poëkel was honored as the Alumni of the Year by the College of Engineering, and was present at “The Swamp,” where all of the lights were illuminated in tribute to him.
Besides working at Curtiss-Wright, Mr. Poëkel pursued his engineering at Gould and Eberhardt in Hoboken and designed equipment that was used in the development of the first hydrogen bomb.
On July 3, 1941, Mr. Poëkel married Mary Alice Lester from Jacksonville, Fla., who he had met at a dance at the University of Florida. The couple were married for 63 years until his wife’s passing in 2006.
For over 60 years, he was president of C.A. Poëkel & Company, a real estate brokerage and holding firm in Verona, as well as the owner of Poëkel Electric and Poëkel Travel Bureau.
Mr. Poëkel was a family man, an avid world traveler, and renowned joke-teller. His work ethic and determination were second to none.
Mr. Poëkel is survived by a daughter, Anne Lester Poekel McCauley of Chatham, and a son, Charles Axel Poekel Jr., Esq. also of Essex Fells.
He is also survived by five grandchildren: Elizabeth Collard of Plandome, N.Y.; Susan McCauley of San Francisco, Calif.; Charles Poekel III of Brooklyn, N.Y.; William Poekel of Chicago, Ill.; and Patricia Poekel of New York, N.Y.; three great-grandchildren: Katie, Thomas and Julianne Collard; and a brother, Carl Poekel, of Revere, Massachusetts,
Mr. Poëkel was a Distinguished Service Award recipient and member of Kane Lodge No. 454 in New York City, the Salaam Temple in Livingston, New Jersey and the Essex Fells Country Club.
A memorial service has been scheduled for 10 a.m., Saturday, Nov. 24, 2012 at St. Peter’s Episcopal Church, 271 Roseland Ave., Essex Fells.
The family requests that in lieu of flowers, donations can be made to the “U.F. Foundation” to support the Charles A. Poekel Sr. Endowed Scholarship Fund, c/o College of Engineering Development Office, P.O. Box 116575, Gainesville, Fla. 32611. | <urn:uuid:13ac3036-0320-40a1-b4c2-d92f39c17811> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.eng.ufl.edu/news/remembering-charles-poekel-sr/ | 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 | 0.968391 | 790 | 1.601563 | 2 |
I have thought for a long time that there is a profound relationship between the personal qualities, even spiritual qualities, of leaders and the management practices of the organization. When we implement lean management we tend to be focused on value stream maps, leader standard work, problem-solving skills, etc., all of which are important, but all of which produce little if they are not accompanied by one essential personal characteristic.
Rupert Murdoch: Humble or Hubris?
Watching bits of the testimony of Rupert Murdoch and son before the British Parliament I was struck by his planned and deliberate comment that this was the most humble moment of his life. I have no doubt that was true. Rupert Murdoch is a man well known for bullying his way through business dealings and using his media empire to manipulate and bully political figures toward his own ideological view of the world. Humble is not a word likely to be used to describe Murdoch. Nor was humble a word that would have been used to describe the former leaders of Enron, General Motors, Tyco and many of the Wall Street investment banks that led us into an economic tsunami. Rather than humility, it is hubris that better describes these leaders and the entire culture of their senior management.
On the other hand, my involvement with Honda and some other truly great companies has convinced me that the one single most important quality essential to creating lean culture is the quality of humility. Jim Collins in Good To Great documents leaders who possess this quality of humility. He describes what he calls Level 5 Leadership: “We were surprised, shocked really, to discover the type of leadership required for turning a good company into a great one. Compared to high-profile leaders with big personalities who make head-lines and become celebrities, the good-to-great leaders seem to have come from Mars. Self-effacing, quiet, reserved, even shy – these leaders are a paradoxical blend of personal humility and professional will. They are more like Lincoln and Socrates than Patton or Caesar.”
Typifying this at Honda, the former President, Iri Irimajiri, sat at his desk in the open office area with all other managers, walked the floor every day to learn, not to speak, and wore the same clothes as every hourly employee. And, at senior management meetings when solving problems, a vice president would offer a suggestion and someone else would ask “Yes, but have you been on-the-spot to talk to the experts” those doing the actual work.
Humility is the Antecedent to Learning
Arrogance and hubris are the destruction of learning and learning is no where more important than at the top of the management process. It is the most important leadership quality.
Why is humility so important? It is all about learning, listening and inspiring.
First, lean culture is the result of attitudes of science, not ideological points of view. The leaders that built the Toyota Production System did not begin with a religious like belief that they then sold and pushed through the company, an approach common in our corporate culture. It was the opposite. It was the process of scientific inquiry. Don’t “get religion” – get science!
TPS or “lean” is the result of a thousand experiments. The lean leader watches the data and let’s the data speak. The subject of an experiment, or the dependent variable, is never wrong. B. F. Skinner used to say to his students “The pigeon is never wrong!” Pigeons respond to stimuli (independent variables) the way pigeons respond. It is YOU who must adjust your methods. Watch, listen and learn from the data. Learn to read the graph! The pigeon is teaching you more than you are teaching the pigeon. Every classroom teacher understands this same principle of interactivity between teacher and student, manager and employee, customer and supplier.
The customer is never wrong, as Dr. Deming would say. Listen to them. It is you who must change your methods to meet their needs. Too many times I have seen companies develop a new way of doing something, a significant change in their work processes, and then be personally invested in this new way. The manager’s ego is determined to make this new way work! To the degree that this is true, they do not watch the data and let the data speak. Experiment! Try a new method on a limited basis and watch the data. See the results and learn from those results. Do not pile on mistake after mistake when something is not working. Invest enough to learn, and then invest more based on what the data is telling you. Do not get “invested” from an emotional standpoint and then feel the need to make something work when customers and the data is saying something else. This is one of the forms of “waste” most often created by leaders.
The idea of a “learning organization,” as promoted by Peter Senge in his book Fifth Discipline, is not something different from lean management. Rather, it is embedded within lean management. A learning organization is an organization in which individuals and teams watch and learn, make changes, experiment, and then learn from those experiments. This should be going on every day within every team at every level.
- What are you learning today?
- What experiment are you conducting today?
- What is the data telling you today?
These are the questions that should be asked of every team, including every management team.
One of the best articles on lean management, in my opinion, was an article published in the May 2004 issue of the Harvard Business Review by Steven J. Spear, titled “Learning to Lead at Toyota.” It describes how a new, but relatively senior manager is integrated into the Toyota culture. Bob Dallis, the new manager is assigned a coach, Takahashi, who leads him through his learning process.His integration will involve 12 intensive weeks in the U.S. engine plant and ten days working and making observations in a Toyota plant in Japan.
Listen to his first experience: “Bob Dallis’s first assignment at the U.S. engine plant was to help a small group of 19 engine-assembly workers improve labor productivity, operational availability of machines and equipment and ergonomic safety. For the first six weeks, Takahashi engaged Dallis in a cycle of observing and changing individual’s work processes, thereby focusing on productivity and safety. Working with the group’s leaders, team leaders, and team members, Dallis would document, for instance, how different tasks were carried out, who did what tasks under what circumstances, and how information, material, and services were communicated. He would make changes to try to solve the problems he had observed and then evaluate those changes.”
In other words, this manager’s first fourteen weeks at Toyota were spent “on-the-spot” learning to observe, conduct experiments and evaluate those experiments. Put another way, he was learning to engage in continuous improvement. This is the essence of lean management.What Bob Dallis was learning at Toyota was, more than any skill, the attitude of humility which is the antecedent to learning and improvement.
Now compare this to what happens when you hire a new manager or give a new assignment to a manager. How many times have you hired managers who entered their new jobs, not with humility, but with an attitude of demonstrating their superior knowledge and ability? How many times have you implemented new programs or practices with an attitude of determination to make it work, rather than with an attitude of continuous improvement and learning – an attitude of science?
Lean cultures are able to engage in rapid improvement because they make changes with an eye on the data. They experiment and like any good scientist, they are willing to toss aside changes that don’t work. They can then quickly move on to another more productive experiment.
This humility, I believe, is the one most important personal quality of lean leadership.
President Lincoln and the Victory of Humility over Hubris
The reference to President Lincoln in Jim Collins’ quote is worth a moments meditation. Lincoln was a man who suffered chronic depression, at the time called “melancholy” so severe that he cried frequently and feared that if he carried a knife he would use it on himself. But one author, Joshua Shenk, argues that this suffering purposefully prepared him for the role he assumed. His opponents in the great Civil War, Lee and even more so Stonewall Jackson, fervently believed they were doing God’s will and prayed for his assistance against their enemy. They rode into battle believing they were God’s warrior and that God would surely assist them in their efforts. And it was this hubris in battle, particularly at Gettysburg, that led to Lee’s defeat.
On the contrary, Lincoln said “I shall be most happy indeed if I shall be an humble instrument in the hands of the Almighty, and of this, his almost chosen people, for perpetuating the object of that great struggle.” Lincoln prayed that he might be a humble instrument of God’s will, rather than praying for God’s help in doing his own will. This is not a small distinction and is part of his moral leadership.
It was also not coincidental that Lincoln was required to, and willing to, make change after change until he found the two generals, Grant and Sherman, who would lead his armies to victory.
Hubris lost, as it inevitably does, and humility won. | <urn:uuid:bd767330-a7f4-4e96-9f40-f24599bb1003> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.lmmiller.com/blog/2011/07/20/corporate-culture/lean-leadership-the-one-quality-that-matters-most/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368705559639/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516115919-00021-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.974048 | 1,977 | 1.695313 | 2 |
Manchester is a cool English city with a large number of interesting sights. It is also home to Manchester United, one of Europe’s greatest football clubs.
Manchester is one of England’s biggest cities, with a large stock of housing that was preserved from the Victorian era. Tourist attractions include the Lowry Centre, the Cathedral from 1847 and the neo-Gothic town hall with a tower of about 90 metres high. It provides a magnificent view of the city.
Culture lovers should also visit the Manchester Museum and the Art Gallery, which has one of England’s most prestigious collections of art. The Jewish Museum is also a major attraction. The building was originally a synagogue, constructed in the Moorish style. Football fans will certainly enjoy themselves in Manchester if they include a visit to Old Trafford, the football stadium of Manchester United, in their itinerary. | <urn:uuid:9fef023a-74be-46e3-bf7f-c3b3468c78f5> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.brusselsairlines.com/en_nl/look-for/destinations/united-kingdom/manchester.aspx | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368704392896/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516113952-00027-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.96949 | 179 | 1.5 | 2 |
The island country of Haiti holds a special place in the heart of Kathleen McDonnell, RN, a master’s degree student in Upstate’s College of Nursing.
Her first trip was with a medical mission group when she was just 15. Kathleen has made seven additional trips to Haiti, sometimes staying for months to help in pharmacies, clinics and hospitals.
“It’s been a year since I’ve been back, and it’s killing me,” Kathleen said.
It’s just a matter of time before she returns, possibly to settle.
“I want to go back long-term and do whatever can be done,” she said. “When I went to the government hospitals, it just broke my heart. I want to get involved there and raise the level of care.”
Her connection to Haiti includes two adopted siblings from the island and fluency in Creole. After the January 2010 earthquake, she spent a week in Port-au-Prince, translating for medical personnel.
Kathleen said it can be overwhelming serving on medical missions in Haiti. “I had to learn that I can’t solve everybody’s problems, that I can’t do everything,” she said. “But I can do what I can to make it better.”
Rampant poverty and disease in Haiti are chronicled in “Mountains Beyond Mountains,” Tracy Kidder’s account of the efforts of Paul Farmer, MD, to improve health care there, as well as in Peru and Russia.
Despite its problems, Haiti is “the most beautiful place with the greatest people,” Kathleen said.
After Hurricane Irene struck the Northeast this summer, Kathleen received a worried phone call — a friend who lives in Haiti, where natural disasters have taken so many lives and caused so much devastation, wanted to make sure she was OK.
“That was pretty amazing,” Kathleen said. “There’s a deeper level of relationships there, nothing superficial. They lead very purposeful lives.” | <urn:uuid:5f7b80a3-5f16-491f-aea3-b742abeb9912> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://blogs.upstate.edu/withdistinction/2011/10/24/nursing-student-devoted-to-helping-in-haiti/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368696382584/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516092622-00003-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.971163 | 442 | 1.625 | 2 |
The story is set in the latter days of World War 2, against the backdrop of fierce combat on the eastern front. Brother's War is based on real events. The western Allies push into Germany and the Red Army fights its way towards Berlin. Churchill is worried about Russia's post-war plans for Europe but must not endanger the increasingly threatened alliance between the west and Russia. A British military officer attached to the Red Army discovers a Russian war crime against the Polish government in exile and is seized by Stalin's feared intelligence service. He finds unexpected help from an enemy and fellow prisoner, a German Captain. They discover a common bond in Freemasonry and are bound by honor, oath and secrets. They are joined by Anna, a beautiful Polish nurse cast adrift on the tides of war. The three are pursued by A ruthless Russian commander through Germany carrying a secret that can change the outcome of the world and the fate of millions. Brother's War was produced with ... Written by
Enemy At The Gates Meets The Man Who Would Be King. During the Final days
Did You Know?
After changing into a Russian uniform to make his escape, Major Pearman (Hugh Daly),can be seen(in various shots), wearing a tan Russian side cap. The hat disappears and reappears throughout the escape. (These scenes were shot in three different locations over four months.) See more | <urn:uuid:8ad90caf-3893-45c2-885b-30464f65a767> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0932661/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368706499548/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516121459-00039-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.956381 | 278 | 1.59375 | 2 |
As per a vote Monday night, the City of Glen Cove will change its charter, setting up a separate department specifically targeting code infractions, with its own paid director and private investigator listed already among the new costs to taxpayers. Some question if this is the right time to spend additional money. Others argue that illegal housing hurts everyone and is a fight worth having.
Vocal opponents of illegal housing would argue that regardless of the economy, it is worth putting what the mayor calls a more "robust effort" into this fight. There seems some merit to their argument that illegal housing hurts all involved except for a few greedy landlords and a few specific businesses that are then able to hire from a base of unprotected people, who live in poor, unsupervised conditions and then work in low-paying, unregulated situations as well. They say the face of Long Island's suburbs is being drastically changed by a rash of illegal residency. It changes neighborhoods, strains resources, drives down wages and fosters off-the-books employment.
Many people feel that to not enforce code sends a message that not all laws matter; that it is OK to make extra money by illegal means; that not all people are worthy of living in safe conditions.
Time will prove whether this new department is successful, but the argument behind its creation seems to have merit. | <urn:uuid:4846a17a-f636-4e4a-a459-e84a1ce4cda6> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.antonnews.com/glencoverecordpilot/2009/04/17/opinion/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368708142388/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516124222-00039-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.97249 | 269 | 1.578125 | 2 |
Throughout the year, I find myself sitting with business owners and sales folks, forming relationships, making introductions, giving and receiving qualified and unqualified referrals and sharing new ideas. All of these activities are typical of your run of the mill business networking groups that we find ourselves in around our local market areas. Having said that, let’s address one activity I mentioned above; the giving and receiving of referrals. Assuming you sit in on a networking group, have you ever really thought about why a fellow member would refer you or your business to a friend? Or why you would refer your colleague to someone in your network? I have narrowed it down to two things:
1) How often do you "give" refferals to others?
2) What level of trust do your colleagues have in you, and you in them?
Let's first start by addressing the word “give” in the context it’s used in business networking groups. Think about it - if each of us networked to “get” something, then more than likely, none of us would “get” anything. Therefore, it makes sense to approach your networking group and meetings with the idea of “giving” as many referrals as possible, increasing the likelihood that you will be “given” referrals in kind. When you show you care about others enough to help them grow their business, you will find that others consider the same holds true for you. Albert Einstein once said, “The value of a man resides in what he gives and not in what he is capable of receiving.”
So, now that we’ve covered giving and receiving referrals, let’s discuss the word “trust” and how it applies to the world of networking. As in our own personal relationships, trust in the workplace is the main building block for creating ongoing and long-lasting relationships. Trust is built over time and is almost always earned - not given. Trust is built simply through acceptance, integrity and reliability. It’s with this behavior that people will trust you, and therefore, refer you to others. Other qualities require that you be genuinely interested in others, listen properly, and follow up accordingly. In the end, building trust is ESSENTIAL for growing and maintaining a strong business network.
In closing, as you continue to build your relationships and your network, remind yourself that “what goes around comes around.” In order to get, you MUST give. Also, your reputation is everything. It’s always much easier for people to lose trust in you than it is to earn it. Happy networking!
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I do, I do, I do...believe in my business
One Size Fits for Life: Is Your Business in the Right Checking Account?
The Wonder That Is ACH | <urn:uuid:559d8c91-3822-4806-98c8-780d3a50c230> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.1stmarinerbank.com/blog/post/2012/12/20/How-to-Successfully-Navigate-the-Networking-World.aspx | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368704392896/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516113952-00027-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.969173 | 601 | 1.554688 | 2 |
This is the graphic You Tube video in Hebrew with English subtitles of 12 year old Tamar Fogel, the only surviving child of the Fogel family massacred last erev Shabbat, March 11th in their home in Itamar, a Jewish settlement in Samaria. You will see a shiva or condolence call by Israel PM Netanyahu to the bereaved surviving child and extended Fogel Family. The actual title translated from the Hebrew into English is “They shoot, we build” a reference to a comment made by PM Netanyahu.
In the Jewish religion the bereaved say mourner’s prayers or kaddish for the departed daily for eleven months following their passing. It is not uncommon in catastrophes like the Itamar massacre of the Fogel family that Rabbis might suggest that all members of a congregation stand and say kaddish. A fitting acknowledgement of the disaster that befell the Fogel family survivors and all Jews would be to say kaddish in solidarity for the mourning period- thirty days from their interment.
Tomorrow at Noon EDST in the US, the New York Jewish Federation is sponsoring a community-wide Memorial Service for the Fogels to be held at Congregation Kehilath Jeshurun located at 125 E. 85th Street in Manhattan. The Memorial Service will be broadcast via live streaming WebTV and can be seen at this link.
Glorified and sanctified be God's great name throughout the world which He has created according to His will. May He establish His kingdom in your lifetime and during your days, and within the life of the entire House of Israel, speedily and soon; and say, Amen. May His great name be blessed forever and to all eternity. Blessed and praised, glorified and exalted, extolled and honored, adored and lauded be the name of the Holy One, blessed be He, beyond all the blessings and hymns, praises and consolations that are ever spoken in the world; and say, Amen. May there be abundant peace from heaven, and life, for us and for all Israel; and say, Amen. He who creates peace in His celestial heights, may He create peace for us and for all Israel; and say, Amen.
THE MEANING OF KADDISH
Having read the translation of the Kaddish Prayer, one should realize that, although Jewish Law requires that the Kaddish be recited during the first eleven months following the death of a loved one by prescribed mourners, and on each anniversary of the death (the "Yahrtzeit"), and by custom in the State of Israel by all Jews on the Tenth of Tevet ("Yom HaKaddish HaKlali'), there is no reference, no word even, about death in the prayer! The theme of Kaddish is, rather, the Greatness of G-d, Who conducts the entire universe, and especially his most favored creature, each individual human being, with careful supervision. In this prayer, we also pray for peace - from apparently the only One Who can guarantee it - peace between nations, peace between individuals, and peace of mind. Paradoxically, this is, in fact, the only true comfort in the case of the loss of a loved one. That is, to be able to view the passing of the beloved individual from the perspective that that person's soul was gathered in, so to speak, by the One Who had provided it in the first place. As Beruriah, the great wife of Rabbi Meir, consoled her husband, upon the death of their two sons, with words to this effect, "A soul is comparable to an object which was given to us - to each individual, to his or her parents and loved ones, to guard and watch over for a limited time. When the time comes for the object to be returned to its rightful owner, should we not be willing to return it? With regard to our sons, let us therefore consider the matter as 'The L-rd gave, and the L-rd took back, may the Name of the L-rd be Blessed!' " | <urn:uuid:ab31b35a-d89d-462e-8feb-a5ac09946b9f> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.newenglishreview.org/blog_print_link.cfm/blog_id/33186 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368697380733/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516094300-00041-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.956402 | 849 | 1.78125 | 2 |
"In 2007, residents bought 80,000 licenses online. In 2009, they bought 107,000. In 2011, they bought 126,000," Taylor said.
With online and computer-based point-of-sale now occupying huge chunks of the agency's annual license-sales volume, DNR officials believe it's time to jump to a system that does away with paper licenses altogether.
"We actually wanted to do this 12 years ago, but the price tag at the time came in multiple millions [of dollars]," Taylor said. "There weren't many companies [that set them up] then, and those that were in the game were doing it only as a sideline. Now there are time-tested companies that specialize in these systems, and the price has come down."
The system DNR officials hope to set up would not only include license sales, but also would allow hunters to electronically check deer, turkeys and bears they kill.
Currently the law requires that those animals be checked within 24 hours of the kill at an official state game checking station located in the county of the kill or a county directly adjacent.
Taylor said sportsmen often complain that they can't find an open station, or that open stations are located inconveniently.
"We get comments - they can't find a checking station, or a station is too far away, or is closed when they get there," he said.
"Imagine how convenient it would be to check your deer, or whatever, over a computer or a cellphone. The hunter would get a number generated by the DNR's computer, write that number down, attach it to the animal and everything would be perfectly legal."
Checking would still be mandatory; hunters caught with animals that didn't have computer-generated numbers would be fined. Taylor believes the electronic system might even increase hunters' willingness to check their kills.
"In some states that have gone to electronic checking, the reporting rate has gone up," he said.
Taylor said it was too early to estimate how much the new system would cost to install because companies haven't yet made estimates based on the DNR's requirements. He indicated, though, that it should eventually pay for itself by eliminating the ongoing costs of printing paper licenses and handling the applications.
"Right now, we spend between $500,000 and $1 million a year administering the old paper system," he explained.
Past attempts to go to a paperless system have drawn complaints from existing small-volume license agents and from business owners that operate game-checking stations. Taylor said those businesses could easily continue to sell licenses and check hunters' kills, simply by making a computer available.
"We have businesses right now that sell licenses without being 'official' license agents because they let their customers access the Go Wild! system through the business' computer," he added.
Taylor estimated that it would take at least a year to purchase, tweak and implement the proposed new electronic system.
"We've listened to sportsmen's concerns, and we know they're frustrated at how slow the current system can be," he said. "But we can't rush the new system; we have to get it right. We can't afford to waste sportsmen's money."
Reach John McCoy at 304-348-1231 or [email protected]. | <urn:uuid:430033b2-2216-4093-a588-0bd17a5d44ea> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.wvgazette.com/Outdoors/HuntingFishing/201212150200?page=2&build=cache | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368711005985/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516133005-00015-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.977935 | 684 | 1.75 | 2 |
Whose statesmanship will be missed after he retires in January 2009, con¬cluding 30 years in the Senate. Nonetheless, Warner’s decision to retire was correct and his reasoning graciously expressed, “to yield the right to others to advance.” At 80 years old, and having served his country in World War II and the Korean War, this Republican and Virginian has more than earned his retirement. A former Navy secretary and chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee, he has followed his conscience and demonstrated bipartisanship. And in the Senate hearings on Iraq progress in September, Warner showed why the high regard widely accorded him is deserved, and why there will be no diminishing of duty through his final year. His firm question to Gen. David Petraeus was the one that went to the heart of the Iraq issue: Will the current strategy in Iraq make America safer? | <urn:uuid:f6999e20-d2d6-4158-ae6d-522df1353957> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.armedforcesjournal.com/2007/10/3087232/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368696382584/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516092622-00000-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.985151 | 181 | 1.671875 | 2 |
Despite the advent of Internet education and air safety concerns after 9/11, physicians still obtain more hours of continuing medical education—37.4 percent—by attending out-of-town meetings than by any other means, according to' 10th Annual Physician Preferences in CME Survey.
While that's good news for medical meeting planners, it also needs to be put into perspective. The results are a far cry from 1997, when physicians earned 45 percent of their CME hours by traveling to meetings. Part of the reason for that steady decline is the increase in female and under-45 physicians, each of whom is less likely to travel to obtain CME. For the first time since we began measuring gender differences, women as a group obtained more CME by attending local meetings than they did by attending out-of-town meetings. Physicians under the age of 45—regardless of gender—still obtained a higher percentage of CME hours by attending out-of-town meetings (32.2 percent) than by attending local meetings (30.9 percent), but just barely. Other survey highlights: • Location remains the No. 1 factor determining a physician’s decision to attend an out-of-town meeting. • 62.8 percent of respondents said they made no changes in their conference travel plans as a result of 9/11. • After years of following behind resorts and hotels, conference centers have become the top choice of respondents—in large part because so many under-45 physicians (57.9 percent) prefer them.
More survey results will appear in the January/February issue of Medical Meetings. | <urn:uuid:a170df17-63f6-47ce-8dd6-083d4aec3ba2> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://meetingsnet.com/print/news/meetings_physicians_survey_conferences_2 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368706499548/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516121459-00034-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.971587 | 329 | 1.8125 | 2 |
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