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Cardiff surfer sculpture to be rescued from shark's jaws
Despite a groundswell of public support for leaving it alone, the "shark" that mysteriously encased the official surfer sculpture at Cardiff-by-the-Sea is set to be removed Tuesday by city workers, officials said.
The shark was put in place under cover of darkness Saturday, appearing to eat the "Magic Carpet Ride" sculpture along South Coast Highway in this seaside community in northern San Diego County.
The sculpture, installed three years ago, has been derided as unsurfer-like by locals who call it the "Cardiff Kook."
A petition soon sprouted on the Jaws-like creation asking Encinitas city officials to let the shark remain.
But Howard Whitlock, assistant superintendent of public works, said it will be removed to avoid any liability for the city. The parts will be hauled to a city facility "in case anyone wants to claim them," Whitlock said.
Removing it will require about four workers at a cost of $300 to $400 in labor and equipment, Whitlock said.
"It will be much easier to remove than it must have been to install," he said.
The surfer sculpture does not appear to have been damaged by the shark, Whitlock said. With its pedestal, the sculpture rises 16 feet.
-- Tony Perry in Encinitas
Photo: Surfer Don Frank, second from left, and others take a look at the "Magic Carpet Ride" sculpture surrounded by a sculpture of a shark, in Cardiff-by-the-Sea. Credit: John Koster / The North County Times | <urn:uuid:8a3858ea-a60c-4665-a7cb-65d42bbcc50e> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/lanow/2010/07/despite-public-support-shark-to-be-removed-from-cardiff-kook-.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368701852492/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516105732-00005-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.959066 | 341 | 1.570313 | 2 |
AMERICA’S GREAT OUTDOORS RIVERS: Secretary Salazar Creates National Blueways System, Designates Connecticut River and Its Watershed as First National Blueway
Contact: Adam Fetcher (Interior) 202-208-6416
Terri Edwards (FWS) 413-253-8325
HARTFORD, CT. – Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar today signed a Secretarial Order establishing a National Blueways System and announced that the 410-mile-long Connecticut River and its 7.2 million-acre watershed will be the first National Blueway— covering areas of Vermont, New Hampshire, Massachusetts and Connecticut.
Joined at Riverside Park in Hartford by U.S. Sen. Richard Blumenthal; U.S. Rep. John Larson;
Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary of the Army Terrence “Rock” Salt; Friends of the Silvio O. Conte Refuge Chairman Patrick Comins and other members of the conservation and business communities, Secretary Salazar said that partnerships along the Connecticut River provide an example for the rest of the nation.
“The Connecticut River Watershed is a model for how communities can integrate their land and water stewardship efforts with an emphasis on ‘source-to-sea’ watershed conservation,” Salazar said. “I am pleased to recognize the Connecticut River and its watershed with the first National Blueway designation as we seek to fulfill President Obama’s vision for healthy and accessible rivers that are the lifeblood of our communities and power our economies.”
The new National Blueways System is part of the America’s Great Outdoors Initiative to establish a community-driven conservation and recreation agenda for the 21st century. The Department of the Interior and the Department of Agriculture both identified the Connecticut River as an important priority under America’s Great Outdoors.
“USDA’s Forest Service and Natural Resources Conservation Service are proud to partner with the Department of the Interior, the Army Corps of Engineers and others in developing a National Blueways System as called for in the America’s Great Outdoors Initiative,” said Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack. “Outdoor recreation is a powerful economic engine for rural America. By working to protect our rivers and streams on National Forests and on our private working lands, USDA is committed to promoting land stewardship and outdoor recreation.”
Running from the Canadian border to Long Island Sound, the Connecticut River and its watershed include 2.4 million residents and 396 communities. The estimated 1.4 million people who enjoy the natural beauty and wildlife of the Connecticut River watershed every year contribute at least a billion dollars to local economies, according to the Trust for Public Land.
The National Blueways System established today recognizes river systems conserved through diverse stakeholder partnerships that use a comprehensive watershed approach to resource stewardship. The program will provide a new national emphasis on the unique value and significance of a ‘headwaters to mouth’ approach to river management.
Establishment of a National Blueways System will help coordinate federal, state, and local partners to promote best practices, share information and resources, and encourage active and collaborative stewardship of rivers and their watersheds across the country.
“Secretary Salazar’s designation of the Connecticut River as the first-in-the-nation ‘Blueway’ is a fitting recognition of the history, beauty and value of this tremendous natural resource,” said Connecticut Governor Dannel P. Malloy. “It also provides an opportunity to utilize the resources and expertise of the Department of the Interior within the heart of New England to support our efforts to protect and enhance the river and to build upon the conservation, recreational, educational and economic benefits it brings.”
“The designation of the Connecticut River Watershed as a National Blueway appropriately recognizes the dedicated and vigilant advocates who fight each day to preserve it,” said Sen. Blumenthal. “We are honored to have the President’s and the Secretary’s support in ensuring that residents and visitors can enjoy the great outdoors in Connecticut for generations to come.”
“America has always had an important connection to our rivers and streams, but unfortunately many of us were cut off from the water during the boom of urban development,” said Sen. Joseph I. Lieberman. “Now, as we continue to reconnect with the rivers that bind us together, we must expand our efforts to protect them and enjoy them. I think it is fitting that the Connecticut River, which provided inspiration to Hartford resident Mark Twain as he wrote about Huck and Jim on the river, be named the first National Blueway. I look forward to working with my colleagues to continue to advance this effort.”
“For hundreds of years the Connecticut river has been an essential part of the economy, recreation and overall wellbeing of our state,” Congressman Larson said. “I am very pleased that with today’s designation as a National Blueways River, future generations will be able to enjoy everything this tremendous body of water has to offer. I want to thank Secretary Salazar and the Obama Administration for recognizing the importance of the Connecticut River Watershed and look forward to working with them on future projects throughout our state.”
Salazar noted that today’s designation of the Connecticut River is a tribute to the collaborative leadership of partner organizations under the umbrella of the Friends of the Silvio O. Conte Refuge and the cumulative successes of the Connecticut River Watershed Council, states, and other partners. Many partners, past and present, were the visionary architects of the legislation that created the Silvio O. Conte National Fish and Wildlife Refuge in 1991, marking the boundaries of the watershed that became the first national blueway today.
“This is an historic step and we applaud Secretary Salazar for recognizing the importance of Connecticut River and the Watershed,” said Patrick Comins, Chairman of the Friends of the Silvio O. Conte Refuge and Director of Bird Conservation for Audubon Connecticut. “The Friends of Conte Refuge and our association of more than 40 organizations are looking forward to continuing and expanding our work with the Federal family to establish new partnerships and bolster existing partnerships and programs that link conservation, education, and outdoor recreation efforts and opportunities throughout the Watershed.”
The Secretarial Order on National Blueways also establishes an intra-agency committee to provide leadership, support, and coordination. For the Connecticut River National Blueway, the collaborating federal agencies include the USDA’s Natural Resources Conservation Service and Forest Service and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.
“The National Blueways program recognizes partnerships in watersheds and river systems that are working towards conservation and other important environmental and economic outcomes,” Salt said. “The success of the stewardship of these rivers is an important complement to the success of the America’s Great Outdoors initiative, and the Army and its Corps of Engineers are pleased to be a part of this partnership."
The National Blueway designation differs from existing federal designations for rivers (e.g., Wild and Scenic), which generally cover only a segment of a river and a narrow band of the riparian corridor. A National Blueway, by contrast, includes the entire river from “source to sea” as well as the river’s watershed. National Blueways designations are intended to recognize and support existing local and regional conservation, recreation, and restoration efforts, and do not establish a new protective status or regulations.
For more information on the Silvio O. Conte National Fish and Wildlife Refuge, please visit: http://www.fws.gov/r5soc/.
For an online media toolkit specific to today's announcement, please see http://www.fws.gov/northeast/news/2012/socmediapacket.html. Video and photos will be posted after the event.
For a copy of the Secretarial Order on the National Blueway System, click here.
For a copy of the Designation of the Connecticut River National Blueway, click here.
Salazar Highlights 11 Projects in Midwestern and Southern States as America’s Great Outdoors Rivers
Salazar Highlights 10 Projects in Northeastern States under America’s Great Outdoors Rivers Initiative | <urn:uuid:f0555ad7-b9ae-4dd3-9b90-cbc2e8d5418d> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.doi.gov/news/pressreleases/AMERICAS-GREAT-OUTDOORS-RIVERS-Secretary-Salazar-Creates-National-Blueways-System-Designates-Connecticut-River-and-Its-Watershed-as-First-National-Blueway.cfm | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368700264179/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516103104-00005-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.932375 | 1,719 | 1.5625 | 2 |
Federal Deficit Continues To Fall
January deficit fell sharply to $27 billion: CBO. [Reuters] - The budget deficit shrank by nearly half in January compared to a year earlier as tax collections from individuals rose and outlays fell, the Congressional Budget Office said on Tuesday. The CBO said it expects the Treasury Department to report a $27 billion deficit for January, versus a $50 billion deficit in January 2011. The January budget gap will bring the total deficit for the first four months of fiscal 2012 to $349 billion, a decrease of about $70 billion from the same period of fiscal 2011. | <urn:uuid:8ecafa1d-59ef-4f6c-a4ad-6c0e8bc25804> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://noebie.net/federal-deficit-continues-fall/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368704132298/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516113532-00039-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.958699 | 122 | 1.5625 | 2 |
I got this idea from MaryAnn Kohl’s Math Arts, although I think the math connection is pretty weak it sounded like fun from a sensory perspective. The version in the book was more involved, but what we did was paint with glue and then sprinkle spices over the glue. Then there was a lot of spice layering, and then we were making ‘mudge’ according to Rebecca. Mudge being a paste of white glue and aromatic spices apparently. Although I was not deemed competent to make mudge, maybe someday if I practiced enough, but I was just making spudge. Which was fine with me. I don’t care what you call an art activity if it lasts for almost two hours, which this did!
So find those five year old spices in the back of your pantry, put them in jars with shaker tops if they aren’t already, and some paint brushes and watered down white glue. It may look like, uh, awful, but it smells really nice. Ours is hanging on the kitchen wall for Rebecca to sniff. I think we’ll do this with our artfriends on Friday. | <urn:uuid:8a95810b-0c93-4bbe-a30f-3c5a0d669a71> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://oneinchworld.com/blog/index.php/2009/11/spice-painting/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368696383156/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516092623-00010-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.983044 | 237 | 1.59375 | 2 |
The Political Chances of Genuine Liberalism
The outlook of many eminent champions of genuine liberalism is rather pessimistic today. As they see it, the vitriolic slogans of the socialists and interventionists call forth a better response from the masses than the cool reasoning of judicious men.
The majority of the voters are just dull and mentally inert people who dislike thinking and are easily deceived by the enticing promises of irresponsible pied pipers. Subconscious inferiority complexes and envy push people toward the parties of the Left. They rejoice in the policies of confiscating the greater part of the income and wealth of successful businessmen without grasping the fact that these policies harm their own material interests. Disregarding all the objections raised by economists, they firmly believe that they can get many good things for nothing.
Even in the United States, people — although enjoying the highest standard of living ever attained in history — are prepared to condemn capitalism as a vile economy of scarcity and to indulge in daydreams about an economy of abundance in which everybody will get everything "according to his needs." The case for freedom and material prosperity is hopeless. The future belongs to the demagogues who know nothing else than to dissipate the capital accumulated by previous generations. Mankind is plunging into a return to the Dark Ages. Western civilization is doomed.
The main error of this widespread pessimism is the belief that the destructionist ideas and policies of our age sprang from the proletarians and are a "revolt of the masses." In fact, the masses — precisely because they are not creative and do not develop philosophies of their own — follow the leaders. The ideologies which produced all the mischief and catastrophes of our century are not an achievement of the mob. They are the feat of pseudoscholars and pseudointellectuals. They were propagated from the chairs of universities and from the pulpit, they were disseminated by the press, by novels and plays and by the movies and the radio. The intellectuals converted the masses to socialism and interventionism. These ideologies owe the power they have today to the fact that all means of communication have been turned over to their supporters and almost all dissenters have been virtually silenced.
What is needed to turn the flood is to change the mentality of the intellectuals. Then the masses will follow suit.
Furthermore, it is not true that the ideas of genuine liberalism are too complicated to appeal to the untutored mind of the average voter. It is not a hopeless task to explain to the wage earners that the only means to raise wage rates for all those eager to find jobs and to earn wages is to increase the per-head quota of capital invested. The pessimists underrate the mental abilities of the "common man" when they assert that he cannot grasp the disastrous consequences of policies resulting in capital decumulation. Why do all "underdeveloped countries" ask for American aid and American capital? Why do they not rather expect aid from socialist Russia?
The acme of the policies of all self-styled progressive parties and governments is to raise artificially the prices of vital commodities above the height they would have attained on the markets of unhampered laissez-faire capitalism. Only an infinitesimal fraction of the American people is interested in the preservation of a high price for sugar. The immense majority of the American voters are buyers and consumers, not producers and sellers, of sugar. Nonetheless the American government is firmly committed to a policy of high sugar prices by rigorously restricting both the importation of sugar from abroad and domestic production.
Similar policies are adopted with regard to the prices of bread, meat, butter, eggs, potatoes, cotton, and many other agricultural products. It is a serious blunder to call this procedure indiscriminately a profarmers policy. Less than one fifth of the United States' total population is dependent upon agriculture for a living. Yet the interests of these people with regard to the prices of various agricultural products are not identical. The dairyman is not interested in a high, but in a low price for wheat, fodder, sugar and cotton. The owners of chicken farms are hurt by high prices of any agricultural product but chickens and eggs. It is obvious that the growers of cotton, grapes, oranges, apples, grapefruit, and cranberries are prejudiced by a system which raises the prices of staple foods. Most of the items of the so-called profarm policy favor only a minority of the total farming population at the expense of the majority, not only of the nonfarming but also of the farming population.
Things are hardly different in other fields. When the railroadmen or the workers of the building trades, supported by laws and administrative practises which are admittedly loaded against their employers, indulge in feather-bedding and other devices allegedly destined to "create more jobs," they are unfairly fleecing the immense majority of their fellow citizens. The unions of the printers enhance the prices of books and periodicals and thus affect all people eager to read and to learn. The so-called prolabor policies bring about a state of affairs under which each group of wage earners is intent upon improving their own conditions at the expense of the consumers, viz., the enormous majority.
Nobody knows today whether he wins more from those policies which are favoring the group to which he himself belongs than he loses on account of the policies which favor all the other groups. But it is certain that all are adversely affected by the general drop in the productivity of industrial effort and output which these allegedly beneficial policies inevitably bring about.
Until a few years ago, the advocates of these unsuitable policies tried to defend them by pointing out that their incidence reduces only the wealth and income of the rich and benefits the masses at the sole expense of useless parasites. There is no need to explode the fallacies of this reasoning. Even if we admit its conclusiveness for the sake of argument, we must realize that, with the exception of a few countries, this "surplus" fund of the rich has already been exhausted. Even Mr. Hugh Gaitskell, Sir Stafford Cripps's successor as the Fuhrer of Great Britain's economy, could not help declaring that "there is not enough money to take away from England's rich to raise standards of living any further."
In the United States the policy of "soaking the rich" has not yet gone so far as that. But if the trend of American politics is not entirely reversed very soon, this richest of all countries will have to face the same situation in a few years.
Conditions being such, the prospects for a genuinely liberal revival may appear propitious. At least fifty percent of the voters are women, most of them housewives or prospective housewives. To the common sense of these women a program of low prices will make a strong appeal. They will certainly cast their ballot for candidates who proclaim, "Do away peremptorily with all policies and measures destined to enhance prices above the height of the unhampered market! Do away with all this dismal stuff of price supports, parity prices, tariffs and quotas, intergovernmental commodity-control agreements, and so on! Abstain from increasing the quantity of money in circulation and from credit expansion, from all illusory attempts to lower the rate of interest and from deficit spending! What we want is low prices."
In the end these judicious householders will even succeed in convincing their husbands.
In the Communist Manifesto, Karl Marx and Frederick Engels asserted, "The cheap prices of its commodities are the heavy artillery with which capitalism batters down all Chinese walls." We may hope that these cheap prices will also batter down the highest of all Chinese walls, viz., those erected by the folly of bad economic policies.
To express such hopes is not merely wishful thinking. | <urn:uuid:522376a3-0b89-4789-8d1f-c2f3c548fae3> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.mises.org/daily/3313/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368702810651/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516111330-00023-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.953696 | 1,584 | 1.640625 | 2 |
Jesus had one. Brigham Young had one. And Joseph F. Smith's [pictured] was particularly fine. So why is it that beards are virtually nonexistent among LDS churchmen?
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints never adopted an official, outright ban on beards. But, during the past several decades, facial hair on men has certainly been considered outre -- if not downright sinful -- among the LDS cognoscenti.
According to Peggy Fletcher Stack's recent Trib story, however, all that might be changing. An ambitious Church cinematographic project requires lots of Mormon actors to grow beards, adopting handsome New Testament grooming standards. Who knows? If the beard trend catches on, the harshly "clean"-shaven missionary image may grow less restrictive. We can only hope. | <urn:uuid:7e844b7d-bd28-4f18-9b3d-cf4dd14865f2> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.cityweekly.net/utah/blog-27-6158-blessed-beards.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368697380733/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516094300-00042-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.959822 | 163 | 1.695313 | 2 |
On this edition of No Holds Barred, host Eddie Goldman speaks with Ryka Aoki and John Amodeo, who were both featured writers at the Rainbow Book Fair in New York on Saturday, April 13. The Rainbow Book Fair describes itself as the "oldest and largest LGBT (lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender) book fair in the US, and America's largest LGBT book event".
One might think, according to stereotypes, that those involved with the combat sports and martial arts would be absent from such an event. Those people, however, do not know people like Ryka Aoki and John Amodeo.
Ryka Aoki is a novelist, a writer, a performer, a teacher, a judoka for almost four decades, and the head instructor of Supernova Martial Arts at the L.A. Gay & Lesbian Center, whose mission is to empower LGBT youth through martial arts and self-defense. She is also a transgender woman.
John Amodeo is an author and an educator who has written several books, including biographies of former world heavyweight boxing champion Ken Norton and journeyman fighter Rayco Saunders. He lives in New York.
Admitting that his books on boxing "might be a tough sell" at this event, John Amodeo nevertheless said, "But people can relate to struggles in life. Especially with Rayco's story: coming out of Pittsburgh, and having his mother die of an overdose, and struggling through and getting incarcerated as a result of drug-dealing, and eventually turning his life around. It's a come-from-behind story."
In her interview, which was the lengthier of the two, Ryka Aoki also struck a theme of universality.
"Human life is messy. I think there are certain things that we can all honor. I'll put compassion up there. Treating each other with respect is up there. Fair play is definitely up there."
She continued, "I think that the constants in life should be justice, fair play, respect. These are things that don't change. These are things that don't change. A trans woman, a queer woman, a queer man, somebody you don't even know, a Martian with three heads -- there's still respect, there's still justice, there's still truth, there's still protecting the weak. There's still training to be your best. There's still improving to make the best use of the gifts that you have. In other words, all that stuff that we learned growing up in the judo dojo or the martial arts dojo or the MMA gym, all these things about perseverance and hard work and all of this stuff, these are the constants that I think we can hold onto. Even when the rest of the world is upside down, a pushup is still a pushup. Closed guard is still closed guard. These things don't change. I just wanted to toss that out. A good technique is always going to be a good technique."
This is the approach she is taking regarding the controversy over transgender female MMA fighter Fallon Fox, and the hateful and hurtful reaction she has received from some in the MMA community.
"Really, we can talk about medicine. We can talk about these things. I'm no doctor. I'm just a judoka. So I don't know what these hormones, or strength is. I can tell you from experience my strength levels are quite a bit reduced from back before I was taking hormones. But these questions really obscure the point that this is just bullying and mean-spiritedness. There are intelligent, logical ways to address these things," she said. "I think it's natural to have questions. However, there are good and bad ways to ask and to seek these questions out."
While she has spend time teaching college, performing in many locales, and speaking at book fairs such as this, her work as a martial arts instructor at the L.A. Gay & Lesbian Center regularly brings her into contact with young people who are not likely to be at such places.
"I spend most of my time teaching youth," she said. "I teach at-risk LGBT youth in Los Angeles. Not competition, just to get by, basic self-defense. And I do see that a lot of 'martial artists' and people like that who have these high ideals written on their dojo walls tend to be very mean-spirited when it comes to gay students, to lesbian students, to transgender students."
She added, "I expect a little bit of that meatheaded-ness, but that doesn't erase the fact that you hurt somebody, you got to live with that, really. And it kind of disgusts me."
Many of the youth to whom she teaches martial arts are homeless, including one who thrown out of his house because he was gay.
"A lot of these children end up in Los Angeles, and they're on the street. And no one's ever really taken them into consideration. They haven't taught them how to do anything, and they get preyed upon. And they see their bodies really only as objects of violence and objects of sex. When I teach them martial arts, they can see their bodies as things that can be strengthened, something to be proud of, not just beautiful but strong and trained."
Our discussions with Ryka Aoki and John Amodeo also touched on many other topics, as they both have much wisdom to share.
The No Holds Barred theme song is called "The Heist", which is also available on iTunes by composer Ian Snow.
No Holds Barred is free to listen to and is sponsored by:
ONE Fighting Championship. ONE FC is Asia's largest and most prestigious mixed martial arts event. ONE FC features the best Asian fighters and has initiated the ONE Asia Partnership Network, which includes most of the major MMA promotions and MMA gyms in Asia. For more information, go to their web site, at ONEFC.com.
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Thanks, Eddie Goldman | <urn:uuid:eb44dd31-fb94-422c-a9ff-cba84e9156f5> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://nhbnews.podomatic.com/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368704132298/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516113532-00004-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.978583 | 1,344 | 1.734375 | 2 |
Keeping you up to date on the latest data releases.
- Existing Home Sales
Existing single-family home sales fell 3.2 percent to a seasonally-adjusted rate of 4.24 million units sold in May. This is a drop from the downwardly revised 4.38 million units sold in April and a 15.4 percent decline from May of 2010. The median price of existing single-family homes rose to the highest level of the year to $166,700 in May, however this is down 4.5 percent from median price of homes this time last year. Throughout the nation, the Midwest experienced the greatest decrease as homes sales and prices fell 23.1 and 8.0 percent, respectively from last year. The National Association of Realtors (NAR) believes that it was temporary factors (such as the rise in gasoline prices and severe weather in April) that held back closings in May. Going forward, the NAR expects the second half of the year to be much stronger than both the first half of this year and the second half of 2010 despite stricter standards within the lending community. | <urn:uuid:1f4610e4-6c62-4419-9466-60c689392a0d> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.clevelandfed.org/research/data/updates/update_detail.cfm?ptid=11595,252 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368711005985/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516133005-00006-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.944423 | 227 | 1.59375 | 2 |
Fri August 19, 2011
Chick Corea reflects on music making
Jazz pianist and composer Chick Corea replaced Herbie Hancock in Miles Davis’ band in the late 1960’s and blossomed as a composer, band leader and improviser through decades of genre-bending traditions, especially those electric jazz-rock fusion years that lead him to form, among other groups, Return To Forever, the fourth edition of which is about to embark on an extensive U.S. tour amidst their 2011 World Tour featuring Frank Gamble on guitar, Jean Luc-Ponty on the violin and Larry White and Stanley Clarke on drums and bass respectfully. St. Louis Public Radio’s Aaron Doerr spoke with him by phone, asking him about learning music, the role of one’s environment, and jazz and the complexity of reaching a wide range of people with a genre so rooted in musicianship and technical skills.
Aaron Doerr: How have you been doing and happy belated birthday! You just turned 70 this past June. Do world tours age you quicker or keep you young?
Chick Corea: Oh yeah no... I definitely love to play and travel so travel's part of the deal, you know... and you get used to it. You get used to the actual physical traveling - you get all those little things together that you have to have together for hotels, and planes and busses and all that, but… definitely playing the music keeps me fresh.
You have one date in Boston MA. Is that near Chelsea, your hometown, and do you think of Chelsea as your hometown or would you associate growing up more with a place like New York, where your career as a jazz musician really started?
Well I have… they're like ‘Phases’ you know? Definitely my home - my birthplace - is Chelsea and that's where all my high school friends are and… I still keep a connection with them so you know, that’s a really nice warm connection. My musical birthplace is more New York than anywhere else although, you know, I had a lot of great experience musically in Boston. But... New York is more what I consider my musical home.
You’re sharing your dates in the U.S. with Dweezel Zappa, son of the great Frank Zappa, whose music may be the perfect blend of jazz, rock and pop. Can we expect a surprise sit-in on “Peaches en Regalia?” Did you ever learn that song? I think it’s in the published and legal version of the Real Book, which is the sort of bible of jazz music and standards as far as songbooks go.
Oh yeah, you know I’m actually not that familiar with the Zappa repertoire although I’m a big fan of Frank’s music, and I’m just getting to know Dweezel so it's all an experiment right now but it should be great.
I have a feeling a lot of my questions might be answered in your book, which is from 2001 and titled, A Work In Progress (2001) ... Is it out of print and only available on your website?
Yeah it was never published by a publishing company, but we print copies of it from home...
It’s advertised as a look into your performing and practicing mind, which I would think would be a universally valuable resource for musicians. Did you always want to get your thought process down on paper? Is it written for musicians?
It's definitely written for musicians or anyone interested in music, but my concept for the book is sort of… you know everyone has to find their own way artistically. It's not a mystery how art works - everyone innately knows that so… I don't believe that setting down a whole lot of rules about how to do this and how to do that is the way to go, although if you're interested in that, there are lots of books written about how to play the piano, how to play the violin, how to compose, how to do this, and how to do that. My book is more or less... giving answers to questions about how I do things. Like, ‘This is what I’ve discovered,’ ‘This is the way I study,’ ‘This is the what I’ve found to be useful,’ ‘This is what I think about… what I don't think about’ and then another person can have a look at that and take from that what might be useful for them and leave the rest.
You studied music education at Juilliard for six months before your career as a musician got underway. Is that right?
… Yeah, I attended Juilliard for a short period of time. It was more an excuse to be in New York - where all my jazz heroes were, as I was, you know, a young man out of high school and my first time away from home and so forth, so going to school was the acceptable way of being away from home but, it quickly turned out that really, really what I wanted to do was work with the musicians, meet musicians and play and work it out, you know?
Going in, did music education seem somewhere where you could advance and maybe shed some light to new musicians? Was that an interest? Did you want to be a teacher?
No, because I really don't think in art... actually in anything that... Teachers are not needed. Inspirations are needed and data is needed and encouragement is needed but… That kind of attitude where one person claims to know what another person doesn't know - I never enjoyed that relationship! So, I’ve found - in my example - that… music and art and the act of creation - creativity - it's innate in everyone. The real help, I think, is the way to encourage that or illicit it or draw it out of another or help another person find his own way - that kind of thing - rather than just give a person streams of data. Because you can go to libraries and read all the books you want.
But surely some people are more talented than others.
Yeah it's a philosophical and spiritual question isn't it?
You know, I'm really curious about the humanity behind the musical mastery we know and love of Chick Corea today. I've always wondered for someone like you: Is there anything hard about what you do onstage? Do you ever “mess up?” You know what I mean? And I know we're probably not talking about wrong notes here… or are we?
Well I mean, I mean that’s the way you learn. You learn by challenge. You set the bar for yourself. That's the way I see it… Every person - it's kind of a private thing - you have to... challenge yourself to do better all the time and then when you… put that kind of stress on yourself, there's always bound to be goof-ups. Because if you're doing something totally comfortably all the time, then you get really comfortable about it and then you get more comfortable about it and then all of the sudden, the adventure’s gone, see? So… I guess each person can set the dial on how he sets his life to the amount of adventure they like - and that would be equal to the amount of mistakes they're making.
And as far as playing the piano, do you have an example of risk-taking nowadays - have you ever wondered ‘Well this seems like a good idea. I’d like to try it,’ regardless of whether it works or not? I'm wondering what kind of risks we might be talking about.
You know, we'd have to sit down with the video or the audio of one performance and listen through to it and I could go ‘See there I was comfortable,’ and ‘There I’m taking risks,’ and ‘There I’m really out of my mind,’ and ‘There nobody understood me,’ and ‘There everyone understands me,’ you know what I mean? It's every night is a new set of challenges.
I think that answers my question of what it means to be successful when you're onstage - you've talked about breaking through to somebody or real communication and involving the audience and the charismatic playfulness that your music has. It must be important to attract as wide and as far-reaching an audience as possible. Is it hard to share that with the enormous amount of musicianship and technical expertise to people who may not pick up on it?
You know I have always found that… once the audience arrives at the club or the venue or wherever we're playing, you know… I have found 98% are pretty open to whatever gets given to them and I think probably myself and the musicians that I associate with have established enough of a precedent that the audience knows they're gonna get improvisation, and they're gonna get… things that are happening at the moment onstage and I think that's one of the things they come for. As a matter of fact, I’ve noticed… a couple of times we've tried this... I’ll give you one example - a cute example:
We did, we recorded a video in Montreux recently. We played the Montreux Jazz Festival - and they had cameras and so we did two sets and we recorded, and then the show was over. We did an encore and the show was over, but there were a couple of tunes that there were enough problems with that we wanted to redo.
So we went out onstage after the second set and I said to the audience, ‘Look thanks for coming’ and, you know ‘It was a pleasure playing for you but... we wanna redo a couple of things because we just were making a video and you're welcome to stay if you want but we're gonna kind of go into editing mode here’ you know? So we took a ten minute break, came back out again - everyone stayed - and we just went over sections of pieces as if we were in the studio and the audience loved it! They liked that more than they liked the show!
We were making mistakes and we were stopping and we were talking to one another and we were like, rehearsing and I noticed that the audience felt like they were let in on something really…you know, private and something great.
Wow, what an awesome perspective…It must've been a very awesome perspective for that audience to see.
Yeah, you know, I’ve tried that a couple of other times if I’m recording live and… I figure… we travel long distances to play for audiences and after you go that far just to be onstage for an hour or an hour and a half, it’s... unfulfilling to me sometimes - I need longer. Remember in the seventies I used to play sometimes three, four-hour concerts… Somehow it doesn't work so much these days. So that third set is an opportunity to stretch out when the venue allows it.
So you're never worried about… I mean, of course the goal is to communicate with the audience and to fulfill the musicianship in your mind and what you're able to do. Do you ever feel like you're risking ‘talking over their heads’ so to speak?
Nah, never. Never - it never enters my mind and as a matter of fact, like I said, my observations lead me to believe that the audience loves to be given the whole thing, and… there's nothing that they can’t understand. And the trick of that is - it's not a trick but the answer to that is... it's just allowing each other in our world of freedom to be. You know? Nobody’s the same. The audience is thousands of people out there but each one's an individual. He's got his own taste, his own background, his own language sometimes, and, his own freedom to even be changing his mind during the concert. So, to try to second guess what someone is gonna like or understand or not understand is fruitless. The only thing I can do is demonstrate my joy of living and creation for people and hope they get pleasure out of it and I don't need to analyze it any further.
You wouldn't say that your playing would be more free or fulfilling within an audience as similarly rooted in the jazz tradition as yourself?
No, not necessarily. Using categories like that is just too “filmy” and non-real cause there's too much crossover of experience so naming categories never helped me get to any truth.
Are you glad the days of defending, the exhausting struggle to define electric jazz and fusion are over?
I was never part of the argument.
Well I’ve read a LOT of interviews –
- I always watched it from a distance and kind of chuckled to myself and let people go at it for one another and I saw it to be a fruitless conversation.
Can you explain something? People talk about, expertise and musicianship and risk - like we said – risk talking over people's heads or getting too involved, yet there are certain staples like Beethoven, Ravel, Duke, Armstrong, or... "Stairway to Heaven," .... and I wonder what goes into making something so universally recognizable and appealing?
It's just the amount of agreement.
What do you mean?
Well, the amount of agreement is the degree of agreement amongst the people who are looking at it makes something more real - more and more real. So, many people like Louis Armstrong and remember him, so more people and then another decade goes by and then more people - it's the amount of agreement. That's what makes popularity. It's built into the definition of the word by... coming from the word “populous” it's like public - the amount of agreement is what causes that. It's got nothing to do with Truth; it's got everything to do with agreement.
Agreement, perspective, things that you can't measure or practice...
Yeah, I guess. I’m not sure what you’re getting at at this point....
Well it seems like, for example, pop music, or soundtracks to Wizard Of Oz, or… it doesn't take any effort for an audience to right away latch on to something like that. Or, to look at a Dali painting - they know exactly what it is and they have an immediate reaction to it.
Oh I see. You know what? I know what's happening in our little discussion at this point is see... I judge… I like to judge things by the viewpoints of individuals - not groups. A group's viewpoint is like a poll. It's like agreement again. It's like how many people agree on what - which agreement could change tomorrow see? Cause people have the freedom to change their minds.
You could do a survey of a hundred people and ask them a hundred questions on Monday, get certain answers, and then survey them again on Tuesday, and get different answers. What I’m driving at is I don't think truth can be found in studying groups so much as it can be found studying the creative potentials of an individual and what he does. That's what I’m interested in. And so I grant that to my “audience” quote-unquote which is… they’re a bunch of individuals constantly changing. So I don't try - like I said, again - I don't try to second guess them. I accept them on face value. They've come to the show - there they are - and here I am - and here we go!
And it works, it works every time... Chick Corea thank you so much and enjoy your first U.S. date tonight and I hope your sound check goes well.
Thanks Aaron, nice talking to you man.
Thank you very much. | <urn:uuid:38580251-888b-4425-bb8f-3e4aa059c5e7> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://news.stlpublicradio.org/post/chick-corea-reflects-music-making | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368701852492/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516105732-00035-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.975864 | 3,326 | 1.695313 | 2 |
Households renting from private landlords rises to 15% - ONS
The proportion of people renting from private landlords in Britain rose from 10% to 15% between 2008 and 2011, the Office for National Statistics says.
The General Lifestyle Survey found in that time the proportion owning a house with a mortgage fell from 40% to 35%.
In 1972 - just after the survey began - 37% of households had central heating. It had risen to 92% by 2000.
Other findings suggest the proportion of one-parent families tripled since 1971 but it has been steady since 1998.
While the number of people renting increased in 2011 to 15%, the proportion of people renting was usually nearer 20% in the 1970s.
The ONS said the housing market in Britain had suffered since the start of the recession in 2008, with a smaller percentage of new households successfully acquiring mortgages.
This is reflected in the decrease in the number of households owning with a mortgage and also in the increase in the number of households renting their accommodation, it said.
The proportion of households renting privately fell by almost two-thirds between 1971 (20%) and 1991 (7%), then remained between 9% and 11% until 2008.'Smaller households'
The ONS said 7,960 households in Great Britain took part in its lifestyle survey for 2011, and it had conducted about 15,000 interviews with adults aged 16 or over.
The survey also found 92% of families with dependent children were headed by a married or cohabiting couple, compared with 78% in 2011.
The proportion of adults living alone almost doubled between 1973 and 2011, from 9% to 16%, while the average household size has become smaller over the 40 years between 1971 and 2011.
The proportion of women who have never married is 43%, up from 18% in 1979.
In 1971, the average household size was 2.91 persons and by 2011 the average size was 2.35 persons. The fall, said the ONS, was most rapid between 1971 and 1991.
It also said the fall in average household size was due to an increase in the proportion of one-person households, which almost doubled between 1971 and 1998 (rising from 17% of households in 1971 to 29% in 1998) and has remained similar since.
Other findings include:
- Cigarette smoking fell from 45% in 1974 to 20% in 2011
- The proportion of men and women drinking on five or more days a week fell from 23% of men in 1998 to 16% in 2011, and from 13% to 9% for women
- In 1971, half of households had access to a car or van, in 2011 this had increased to three quarters
- Since 1984, when the survey first asked about ownership of a home computer, the number of households with one increased from just over one in eight
- The percentage of women working full-time who were members of their current employer's occupational pension scheme rose from 52% in 1987 to 60% in 2002. In 2011, 58% of women working full-time were members of their current employer's occupational pension scheme | <urn:uuid:3a112f3b-4ab7-4d03-b768-1b213cce4b0a> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-21697044 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368710006682/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516131326-00024-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.985861 | 633 | 1.804688 | 2 |
A Treasure Box from New Zealand Today we got a parcel of treasures all the way from New Zealand, sent to us by our blogging buddies in Mrs. Hayes class. The parcel contained some pumice from a real volcano and kina and paua shells. They also sent us some seeds and paua earings. It was sort of like Christmas.
The children had a wonderful time examining the exotic things in the box. Why is the pumice so light? How did the shell get so blue inside? Thank you blogging buddies! Watch our blogs for more about our New Zealand surprises tomorrow. | <urn:uuid:80e77332-4813-439e-9ec8-4f5ba9a8b3c8> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://classblogmeister.com/blog.php?blog_id=109645 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368708766848/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516125246-00007-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.948578 | 123 | 1.640625 | 2 |
Frequently Asked Questions
What is a Clinical Trial?
Clinical trials are research studies in which people help medical professionals find ways to improve health. Each study tries to answer specific scientific questions and is designed to find safe and effective ways to better prevent, diagnose, and/or treat disease. Before they can begin, all clinical trials must go through a rigorous review process conducted by the Wake Forest University Health Sciences Institutional Review Board to insure that the safety, rights and welfare of human subjects are protected.
Why Would I Want to Consider Participating in a Clinical Trial?
As a volunteer in a clinical trial, you have the opportunity to be involved in important research that may bring about advances in science and health care. Volunteers are needed in all areas of research, from trials in healthy volunteers to studies of specific diseases.
Who Sponsors Clinical Trials at WFBH?
Clinical trials in the Department of Dermatology at Wake Forest Baptist Health are sponsored by pharmaceutical companies, the National Institutes of Health and many other organizations.
How do I Participate?
If you are interested in enrolling in one of the many clinical trials taking place in Dermatology at Wake Forest Baptist Health, click on the button in the Quick Reference menu on the right to view a list of current clinical trials.
Sponsors & Pharmaceutical Companies
How do I Contact the Clinical Studies Center to Become a Potential Site?
If you are interested in using the Clinical Studies Center as a site to conduct your clinical trials please contact the director, Adele Clark, at 336-716-7465 or the Clinical Studies Center main number at 336-716-3775.
Does Your Site Have Board Certified Dermatologist and Certified Coordinators on Staff?
The Dermatology Clinical Study Center at WFBH has nine board certified dermatologists, a physician assistant, certified CCRC's, nurses and a research fellow.
Does Your University Require a Local IRB and How Often Does it Meet?
Our University does require the use of our local IRB which meets Monday-Thursday of every week to better serve the needs of sponsors.
Does Your Site Have Experience Obtaining Photographs, Labs, and Electronic Data Capturing?
Our Clinical Studies Center has extensive experience in obtaining research quality photos in a dedicated photography room. We have an on-site laboratory and have wide experience in data capturing.
How Large is Your Population and Recruitment Area?
Our site serves a 13 county area with over 1.3 million potential patients from which to recruit. In-house designed patient recruitment database with over 10,000 subjects identified by medical condition, age, and other criteria.
Does Your Site Have a Dedicated Recruitment Team?
The Clinical Studies Center has advertising and recruitment specialists on-site as well as in-house dedicated recruitment screeners. We are experienced with rapid enrollment. | <urn:uuid:19ec7fbc-38d6-4b53-8094-9a8f7c33d3d2> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.wakehealth.edu/Research/Dermatology/Frequently-Asked-Questions.htm | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368705559639/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516115919-00000-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.94153 | 586 | 1.6875 | 2 |
News for the Campus Community
War correspondents talk to aspiring journalists
Representing visual, television, independent Web-based, and traditional print journalism, the panelists drew on their respective experiences to discuss the war coverage and the daily decisions that shape media coverage. They also answered questions from about their own perceptions of the Iraq war, the media’s treatment of the war, and U.S. foreign policy.
Having recently returned from visiting Iraq, Chatterjee talked about what he saw in the “Red Zone,” the unsecured areas of the country. Gordon, whose recent book (with Gen. Bernard Trainor) Cobra II explores the invasion and occupation of Iraq, spoke about the history of this war and how it relates to the first Gulf War and the first Bush administration in 1991.
Early in the war, during the spring of 2003, Rauch was embedded with the U.S. Marines in Iraq. Because she works for an international news organization, Rauch said she made an effort to photograph and document everything she could; editors at individual papers and organizations then make the choices about what to publish. “Americans tend to filter the most,” she said.
Beydoun said the panel was a great opportunity to deal with misconceptions American audiences tend to have about Al-Jazeera. “We cover the whole world, not just the Middle East,” she said. “We cover America, not only Washington, D.C., but the whole country. Sometimes a foreign person sees things more than a local person would.” | <urn:uuid:726b6a22-ff5f-481d-bf3e-006f22c38a85> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.scu.edu/fyi/050106_war.cfm | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368696383156/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516092623-00000-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.954371 | 325 | 1.84375 | 2 |
Emergency Shelter for Teenagers
An estimated 15,000 young people run away each year in Northern Virginia. We're here for those who don't find their way back home.
Alternative House's Emergency Shelter offers a safe haven to young people in crisis. When a young person has nowhere to turn, Alternative House's door is always open. Teens who have run away, been turned out of their home, are homeless, abused or otherwise in crisis are welcome.
The Shelter is a completely voluntary program for young people 13 to 17 years old. They may stay for up to three weeks and during that time, in addition to safe shelter, food and clothing; each youth receives intensive individual counseling and help keeping up with their education. Family Counseling is provided whenever possible.
"Jenna" found us after she had been on the run for five days.
Each year, an average of 200 young people finds help and hope at Alternative House's Emergency Shelter for Teenagers. Alternative House's goal is to reunite these children with their families whenever possible. When that's not possible, we find a safe longer-term living arrangement for the young person. On average, 90% of the young people who come to Alternative House return to their families.
Interested in volunteering for the Shelter? Here are current open opportunities:
VOLUNTEER NEEDS – as of 5/2/13
Sunday 9-12; 4pm-9:30pm **Priority 9-12
Wednesday 12:30-3:30pm **Priority
Friday 9am-12, 4-10p
Saturday 9am-10:30pm **Priority 6:30-10:30pm | <urn:uuid:f6d1092a-8d16-4db7-9cf4-87e70eefaad6> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.thealternativehouse.org/shelter.htm | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368703298047/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516112138-00003-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.950994 | 344 | 1.664063 | 2 |
We’ve been hearing so much about tomorrow’s end of the world that we figured today is a good time to consider a fresh start–after the world ends tomorrow. Funny, the Mayan’s don’t think the world will end tomorrow. But that hasn’t stopped crazies around the world from fearing 12/21/12. According to this article, the Mayans will “mark the new calendar with prayer and traditional ceremonies.”
So perhaps we should too. After all, it is the winter solstice, a time when people of all traditions look to the return of the light — both physically (days will start getting longer on Saturday) and spiritually. A good time to open Pandora’s box back up and grab the hope that still lies at the bottom.
Here’s a hopeful view of the world as sung by the great Louis Armstrong.
You wouldn’t think of this song as controversial, would you? But it was when it was released in 1967, because of it’s subtle, anti-racist tone, mostly due to this stanza:
The colors of the rainbow
so pretty in the sky
Are also on the faces
of people going by
ABC Records refused to promote it, so it sold fewer than 1000 copies in the U.S., while becoming a huge #1 hit in the U.K. Of course, it’s a standard now and was performed beautifully by Gloucester’s youngest rock star, Snoop Maddie Mad this past June:
So much for the genius of record labels.
No major label artists in town this weekend, but who cares? Check out Gloucester’s major talent (see complete live music schedule here) and get ready to party like it’s the end of the world! | <urn:uuid:64f08126-06b5-4ecb-8bea-220b35174806> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://goodmorninggloucester.wordpress.com/2012/12/20/get-a-fresh-start-on-saturday-after-the-world-ends-tomorrow/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368698924319/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516100844-00019-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.949694 | 380 | 1.78125 | 2 |
Shedding light on small business access to capitalPUBLISHED: 11 Dec 2012 11:29:00 | UPDATED: 11 Dec 2012 12:02:26PRINT EDITION: 11 Dec 2012
Federal Small Business Minister Brendan O’Connor, seen here at Hanna Coffee and Nuts in St Albans, says the banks have to balance responsible lending criteria when assessing applications from small business. Arsineh Houspian
Council of Small Business of Australia and the Australian Bankers Association will produce an annual report into the state of small business borrowing. COSBOA chief executive Peter Strong is seen here at Smith’s Alternative Bookshop in Canerra. Alex Ellinghausen
COSBOA wants APRA to understand its impact on enterprise. The peak body is also set to launch an annual report of the small business sector’s access to capital. Brendan O’Connor MP says the government is aware of the perennial challenge.
A new joint initiative between the Australian Bankers Association and the Council of Small Business of Australia (COSBOA) will produce an annual report of the small business sector’s access to capital.
“What we keep hearing is that it’s hard to get money from the banks, but we need a lot more information to take into policy discussions,” says COSBOA chief executive Peter Strong.
Parameters of the report are still being completed but it is expected to provide data on small businesses lending trends including: how many enterprises got a loan, the average size of those loans, and a breakdown by access to finance across industries. It will also report on how many businesses were rejected for loans and the reasons why.
A group of senior representatives from the Big Four banks plus Bendigo Bank have formed a working group with the peak body and the first report will be presented at COSBOA’s annual summit in July.
Federal Small Business Minister Brendan O’Connor says the government is aware that access to capital is a perennial challenge for small business.
“I have met with most of the banks and major lending institutions to talk about ensuring small businesses get their chance, providing they have their business in good order and have a good track record,” says O’Connor.
But there is a balancing act between access and responsible lending. “The global financial crisis was precipitated by some getting irresponsible access to credit,” says O’Connor.
“After the GFC banks were slow to provide credit to small businesses but that’s on the improve, I believe partly due to the advocacy of this government on the banks to provide better credit,” he says.
The minister argues good economic management has contributed to a better operating environment and says, “a reduction in the cash rate means it is easier to pay off loans.”
“Things are getting better, with 2.5 million or thereabout small businesses and a competitive market banks will want their share and small businesses will see an increased likelihood of getting access to capital,” he says. “But businesses need to make sure they are ready to take those loans.”
“Loss carry back” tax reforms that take effect next June 30 are intended to provide some relief to small business. Strong counts the change as a Labor win. “It means small businesses will be able to access more cash against the previous year’s losses, so they will have more collateral to put against a loan,” he says.
But Strong is concerned that another government initiative might undo the benefits.
A lack of transparency around a private study being undertaken by Treasury has spurred rumours that National Consumer Credit Protection legislation may be extended to small businesses that would restrict the ability of institutions to lend to small business.
“Consumer protection sounds good but you can’t apply the same lending principles to businesses as individuals,” says Commercial Asset Finance Brokers Association Australia spokesman David Gandolfo. “Small businesses don’t have a fixed income and they want to expand.”
COSBOA is also calling for a comprehensive review of the way the Australian Prudential Regulation Authorty impacts on enterprises access to capital.
“I don’t thing APRA has ever given much though to the impact they have on the banks ability to lend money to small business,” says Strong.
He credits the prudential regulator with, “doing a good job at keeping the local banking system healthy,” but believes it needs to be more aware of the needs of smaller borrowers.
“Many of the requirements APRA places on lenders are linked to the Basel banking reforms but it needs to be more mindful of how the way they interpret the international laws impact local small businesses,” says Strong.
Restricting the banks’ ability to make $20,000, or even $5000, small business loans is an unintended consequence of the international banking reforms designed to avert the future need for bailouts of companies that are “too big to fail” argues Strong.
He is in the process of meeting with APRA to begin a dialogue on the issue.
The Australian Financial Review | <urn:uuid:2bd1265d-5f78-44de-9c60-dc2e1b1733ff> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.afr.com/f/free/markets/capital/cfo/shedding_light_on_small_business_ZGvbiRik4jJ0sIwq7OOc5I | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368701852492/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516105732-00016-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.959506 | 1,078 | 1.507813 | 2 |
Tax Credits for Debt Reduction
The incentives for domestic investment in debtor countries are influenced by the terms of their external obligations and by the system of taxation utilized to provide government revenue for debt payments. It is well known that existing debt contracts could be altered to improve the incentives for investment but this has proven difficult to accomplish, perhaps because individual creditors have incentives not to agree to such changes. In this paper we show that a simple tax credit scheme that can be implemented unilaterally by the debtor government can overcome at least some of the inefficiencies caused by existing debt contracts.
Published: Journal of International Economics, Vol. 32, pp. 165-177, (1992). | <urn:uuid:2c7a701d-cccc-4f05-946a-c7b4f53bd669> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.nber.org/papers/w3137 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368696381249/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516092621-00041-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.964673 | 133 | 1.78125 | 2 |
Among the Federal Reserve Board’s (FED’s) responsibilities is implementation of the Bank Holding Company Act (BHCA) (12 U.S.C. 1841 et seq.). The BHCA’s principal purposes are to ensure the safe and sound operation of bank holding companies (BHCs), to promote competition within the banking industry, and to separate banking from commerce.
Under the BHCA, the FED has also been authorized to determine the extent to which BHCs may engage in “non-banking” activities in the parent BHC and in non-bank subsidiaries. Because the banking industry has undergone rapid changes in the face of new technologies, the line between banking and other financial activities has been blurred.
Under section 3 of the BHCA, the FED receives applications for the formation of or acquisition of banks by BHCs. The statutory factors which the Board must apply in acting on section 3 applications include an evaluation of the competitive impact of the transaction, the convenience and needs of the community to be served, and the financial and managerial resources of the applicant.
Under section 4(c)(8) of the Act, the FED receives applications by BHCs to acquire non-banking interests. Such applications are to be approved only when the activities involved are “closely related” to and a “proper incident” to banking. These questions have become of particular significance most recently in applications involving proposed securities and insurance activities of BHCs.
Applications under both sections are generally resolved without the need for an evidentiary hearing, although informal hearings and meetings are sometimes held. Both sections do, however, provide for an overall 91-day time limit on the FED’s action on individual applications “beginning on the date of submission to the Board of the complete record on the application.” The FED routinely processes well over 90 percent of the applications received by the FED within 60 days of “acceptance” of the application by the Reserve Bank (the Bank is permitted to request information, but otherwise must adhere to a short deadline in accepting the application and forwarding it to the FED). The FED’s regulations specifically provide that, in every case in which an application has not been considered by the FED within 60 days of acceptance, the applicant will be notified and provided a written explanation for the delay.
In its regulations, the FED defines when the record on a particular application is complete for purposes of determining when the statutory 91-day period has begun. Under the FED’s regulations, the 91-day period begins on the latest of four dates: (1) The date of acceptance of the application; (2) the last day of the public comment period (which is usually after acceptance of the application, and is the date upon which the 91-day period begins in the majority of cases); (3) the date of receipt of any relevant material information regarding the application; and (4) the date of completion of any hearing or other proceeding regarding the application.
Because the statute provides that the 91-day period does not begin until the complete record has been submitted to the FED, the courts have determined the 91-day period may be tolled or retriggered after the close of the public comment period if new material information is submitted during the processing of the application. Examples of this type of information include comments or protests from interested parties, changes in the financial condition of the applicant, proposed efforts by the applicant to raise additional capital, or proposed divestiture plans to accommodate competitive problems.
Because there is always the possibility that submission of additional material information may toll or retrigger the 91-day period, the 91-day period is rendered rather uncertain in practice. Therefore, the Conference suggests the FED’s regulations on this issue ensure there is a point in the application process at which the FED will declare that the applicant’s file is deemed to be informationally complete, thus triggering the 91-day rule, unless additional information of a highly significant nature relating to the application is received.
The nature of the regulatory process established under the BHCA encourages a participatory approach to decisionmaking on the part of applicants and the FED. Various kinds of conditional order are used by the FED to tailor its regulatory decisions to the specific applicant before it. These regulatory conditions appear or are referenced in the FED’s final order, and such conditions are subject to judicial review. Other decisions, however, reflect voluntary commitments made by the applicant. Such commitments often are the result of a decision by the applicant to expedite processing of a particular application by committing to resolve questions that might otherwise result in denial of the application. These commitments usually do not appear in the FED’s order and, while reviewed by the Board in every case, are not subject to judicial review at the instance of the applicant.
The Conference believes that conditions and commitments are important regulatory tools used by the FED that, for the most part, add flexibility to and encourage efficiency in the consideration of applications to individual cases, providing a wide range of regulatory choices between unconditional approval and complete denial of an application.
The Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System should take the following actions with respect to the FED’s handling of applications under the Bank Holding Company Act.
1. Clarification of the 91-day rule. When acting on such applications, the Federal Reserve Board should by regulation provide that only receipt of information of a highly significant nature pertaining to the application will be deemed to warrant reopening an applicant’s file, thereby deferring the date by which the Fed must act finally on the application.
2. Conditions and Voluntary Commitments. Conditions established by the FED regarding applications and voluntary commitments offered by applicants should be unambiguous and reasonably related to an articulated policy of the Federal Reserve Board. Voluntary commitments, when offered by applicants, should, consistent with the Freedom of Information Act, ordinarily be made part of final orders of the Board. Moreover, the Board should, from time to time, summarize the thrust of these commitments and publish and disseminate these summaries.
53 FR 26028 (July 11, 1988)
__ FR _____ (2011)
1988 ACUS 14 | <urn:uuid:a67e2a88-137e-4703-bd66-2d955566e342> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://acus.gov/recommendation/federal-reserve-boards-handling-applications-under-bank-holding-company-act | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368705953421/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516120553-00017-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.941175 | 1,296 | 1.820313 | 2 |
Presidential Election Campaign in Venezuela Picks up Pace
Mérida, 21st August 2012 (Venezuelanalysis.com) – Venezuela’s presidential election campaign picked up its pace over the weekend, with candidates President Hugo Chavez and Capriles Radonski presenting very different visions of Venezuela’s future development.
Chavez, the United Socialist Party of Venezuela (PSUV) candidate, called on Saturday for the creation of an industrial hub of development by the Orinoco River in the eastern Bolivar state.
This would see the Venezuelan state promoting the industrial development of the country, with Chavez arguing “one day there will be a railway uniting the Caribbean with the Amazon, and it will pass by the Orinoco River and there will be a great country as (independence hero) Simon Bolivar said”.
Speaking to thousands of supporters in a packed campaign rally in the town of San Felix, Bolivar state, Chavez also commented on the nature of the presidential election.
“The Venezuelan bourgeoisie is going crazy trying to recover power in Venezuela. They’re going to be stuck with the desire, because on 7 October we’re going to give them a knockout”.
Chavez criticised the opposition as representing the elite which governed the country before his election in 1998, arguing that “the revolution arrived…to stop capitalism, neoliberalism and the bourgeoisie”.
Meanwhile he described the Bolivarian revolution as delivering “a sequence of new projects, where socialism and revolution are what is new,” and his own candidacy as representing “peace and stability” in Venezuela.
The PSUV candidate repeated his call for 10 million votes to secure an overwhelming victory in the election, in order to “crush” opponent Capriles Radonski. PSUV activists around the country are aiming to each complete a list with 10 voters committed to vote for Chavez, in a “1x10” election strategy. In the 2006 presidential elections Chavez won with 7,309,080 votes, 63% of those cast.
Chavez’s Carabobo Campaign Command (CCC) reports that over 700,000 lists have so far been completed and handed to the CCC, which would be equivalent to 7 million votes committed to the campaign so far.
The mass rally in Bolivar follows a series of huge campaign rallies as Chavez visited each region of Venezuela, including the Andean region recently.
He is now set to intensify his campaign with a “state by state” tour throughout the country.
Capriles, the candidate for the conservative Democratic Unity Rountable (MUD) coalition, outlined his own approach to economic development during a visit to a bread factory in Carabobo state in central Venezuela last Friday.
Speaking of the need to raise national production of foodstuffs, he committed himself to creating a favourable climate for private investment.
“Our commitment is with you, our investors and entrepreneurs, because that allows us to create more jobs. We’ll be a government that generates the confidence investors don’t feel today,” he said.
Capriles also claimed that his campaign had passed through more than 150 towns in Venezuela in his “town by town” tour of the country, of a total aim of 300.
Responding to media questions over polls that give Chavez the electoral advantage, Capriles responded “I don’t believe in rubbish polls, nor those paid for by the government”.
Almost all election polls in Venezuela, both those associated with the opposition and the government, predict a victory for two-time incumbent Chavez of between 15 – 25 percentage points advantage over Capriles.
The Great Patriotic Pole (GPP), the coalition of social movements which supports the re-election of Chavez and the deepening of the Bolivarian revolution, organised its own campaign parade through 20 parish zones of the capital Caracas on Sunday. Over 400 GPP organisations from Caracas and neighbouring Miranda state participated.
Andres Antillo, a spokesperson for the Dwellers’ Movement, explained that the event was to promote Chavez’s re-election by organised social movements.
“We think a street-based electoral campaign is fundamental, of mobilisation, struggle, colourful, with the distinct forms of the grassroots movement,” he said.
The activist added that events such as that promoted a different conception of an election campaign, arguing that by campaigning in streets and neighbourhoods “we can consolidate as a fundamental element the idea of a campaign pushed forward by the people and social organisations”.
Published on Aug 21st 2012 at 1.40pm
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Back in April 2009, I created a video that showed my dream for how citing online sources should be done (see blog post). It would be a partnership between online record repositories and desktop genealogy software. I created a prototype close enough to the real thing to prove that it could be done and to help others visualize how it would work. I even created a survey to get feedback from others.
Over 300 people responded to the survey and at the end of the trial period I sent a copy of the results to all participants that provided an e-mail. I planned on blogging about the results but got discouraged at the time.
Two events have happened this week to get me thinking about this again. The first was a comment on my blog by Bruce. He has a website for his personal family history and wanted to know how to go about setting up the site to do citations like the video demonstrated. It saddened me to tell him that it is not possible to do this yet without cooperation from the desktop genealogy software vendors. The second was a direct message via Twitter from fellow genealogy software innovator, Dean. He contacted me to say that my blog was mentioned in a discussion today at RootsTech on how to handle sources.
Maybe it is time for me to publish the survey results from 2 years ago.
What type of people responded to the survey? People like you and me. The majority are non-professional researches (plain Jane/Joe family historians) many of whom belong to local genealogy societies. Some have visited courthouses, the National Archives, or the Family History Library, but almost all had done research on the internet in the last week. They used sites like Ancestry, Footnote, and FamilySearch and desktop software like RootsMagic, Legacy, Family Tree Maker, and PAF. Over 99% thought citing sources was important but 75% thought it was difficult to do it. Over 90% thought that there should be one standard citation guide and 57% were using “Evidence Explained.” When asked if they were interested in the solution provided in the video, 93% said they were interested.
There are more details and nuggets in the survey results.
Maybe we can explore them more in future posts. | <urn:uuid:7d604d62-1a8d-47e1-a221-73a8f89ec1cb> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.thinkgenealogy.com/tag/family-history/page/2/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368706890813/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516122130-00035-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.969963 | 456 | 1.515625 | 2 |
Posts tagged IT
Positive thinking is a mind frame which expects happiness, joy, health and a successful outcome of every situation. When this belief is so powerful, this expectation is always reached by that individual. With positive thinking many people fear this because they don’t want to ‘build themselves up’ for a big win, only to find that they sink to a greater low, when they lose. This attitude may be influenced by past experience, where a person may have taken many ‘knocks’ in their lifetime i.e. lose of job, More >
In the ever-evolving world of business, companies are often faced with a number of challenges while attempting to keep up with service level agreements (SLA’s) while their budgets continue to shrink. These challenges often translate into large capital (both human and monetary) requirements to simply keep up with these trends. One piece of technology that has risen to this challenge is virtualization. VMware, a leading virtualization technology in the market, tackles these issues in a number of ways.
Efficiency, More >
Editor’s note: Here is a list of about 40 Canadian fiction publishers. This list is a pretty good place to start if you’re interested in publishing your fiction work in the Canadian market place. As I prefer to write fiction over non-fiction work, this list is geared towards fiction publishers.
If you have any personal experiences with any of the companies listed below, please share. Good luck!
Founded in Toronto in 1906, McClelland & Stewart Ltd. is the originating publisher of many distinguished fiction and non-fiction authors, including More >
JOHN: …and the thought goes out, it is ‘self’ intelligent. It looks for it’s own… it attaches itself under various conditions and to me it seems that that thought must at some point have to go back to someplace to be ‘recharged’ or ‘regenerated’ or even ‘modified’ for all I know. I couldn’t get that worked out.
IT service management (ITSM or IT services) is a discipline for managing information technology (IT) systems, philosophically centered on the customer’s perspective of IT’s contribution to the business. ITSM stands in deliberate contrast to technology-centered approaches to IT management and business interaction. The following represents a characteristic statement from the ITSM literature:
The adoption of cloud computing is happening today, or so say a wide variety of analysts, vendors, and even journalists. The surveys show greatly increased interest in cloud computing concepts, and even increased usage of both public and private cloud models by developers of new application systems.
But does your IT organization really understand its cloud journey?
Friend, colleague, and cloud blogger Chris Hoff wrote a really insightful post today that digs into the reality–worldwide–of where most companies are with cloud adoption today…at least in terms of internal “private cloud” More > | <urn:uuid:ad03eef3-a735-46df-bc30-2e4f5351a115> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://robertjrgraham.com/tag/it/page/2/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368696382584/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516092622-00001-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.950534 | 625 | 1.554688 | 2 |
Here's a group of photos from Montreal's "Expo 67", the wildly successful Exposition that took place in some year that I forget. Maybe 1968.
If you went up the long escalator in the U.S. Pavilion to where the spacecraft were, and looked up, you would see these parachutes; this is the sight that would bring joy to any astronaut in his capsule during reentry. Prepare for splashdown!
Here's another shot from within the U.S. Pavilion, looking through the panes of plastic that covered the geodesic sphere. Fun fact: fair organizers had expected around 35 million guests to visit, and they were surprised when that number exceeded 50 million!
Here's an oddball photo near the Polymer exhibit. Who doesn't love polymers! I like them with butter and lemon. Notice the "minirail" in the background.
Beyond the patio dining area, you can see the six jagged-yet-circular towers of the "State of New York" pavilion. All of the towers are joined at the second-floor level by a common roof, and the display areas inside tell the story of New York (only they covered up all the vampire stuff). You can also see the polka-dotted edge of a carousel-shaped building that actually rotated past more exhibits. It rotated at over 1000 rpm!
Japan's pavilion resembles a series of three multi-level parking garages, in my opinion. (Sorry Japan)! Somewhere nearby there was a traditional Japanese restaurant, complete with kimono-clad hostesses. The pavilion was divided into three sections designed to show a blend of modern technology and traditional Japanese style. Japan in Progress, Harmony With Nature, and Harmony With Technological Advance were the themes of these sections.
I have lots more from Expo '67! | <urn:uuid:0a43cc3c-997b-4e99-a23b-6ea11e8917bd> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://gorillasdontblog.blogspot.com/2011/11/more-expo-67.html?showComment=1320888253596 | 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 | 0.972224 | 378 | 1.625 | 2 |
A man who was convicted 48 years ago of the hideous rape and murder of a 12-year-old girl has finally been exonerated, but it took a few hundred flies and the young science of forensic entomology to win his freedom.
Steven Truscott was only 14 years old when he was sentenced to die in Canada by hanging for the murder of a childhood friend, Lynn Harper.
His sentence stimulated debate over the death penalty, primarily because of his youth. Although this debate contributed to the abolition of capital punishment in Canada, Truscott still served 10 years in jail and has spent the rest of his life living in the shadow of an unwarranted conviction.
Attorney James Lockyer of Toronto argued passionately before the Ontario Court of Appeals on behalf of Truscott, who has proclaimed his innocence over all these years, and in the end the court agreed with those claims, at least partly.
Last month the court quashed the conviction, labeling it a "miscarriage of justice."
The ruling wasn't a surprise to entomologist Richard Merritt of Michigan State University -- one of a dozen certified forensic entomologists in the United States -- whose testimony in the trial was "critical," according to Lockyer. The proof, Merritt argued during a rigorous seven hours testifying, was provided by the flies that would have landed on the young girl's body within minutes of her death.
"I was brain dead at the end," said Merritt, who has become somewhat passionate in his defense of Truscott.
"It was a horrific crime," he said in an interview. "I could never imagine how this kid who went to school with this girl and was a friend of hers could have done this."
Truscott was the last person seen with Harper, late in the afternoon of June 9, 1958. She was a passenger on his bike on the outskirts of their Canadian village. Her body was found two days later near the place where the two had been seen. Lynn had been raped and strangled with her own blouse.
Timing became key in the trial and subsequent appeals of the case.
"The time of her death has been the subject of intense controversy from the outset," the court observed in rendering last month's verdict.
Numerous witnesses testified that they saw the two youngsters riding on the bike at around 7 p.m., and Truscott was seen alone at about 8 p.m. So if Truscott did it, the murder had to occur during that narrow window between 7 p.m. and about 8 p.m.
The pathologist who conducted the autopsy put the time of death at precisely between 7:15 and 7:45 p.m.
John Penistan based that conclusion primarily on the examination of the food contents in her stomach, which he testified had been in Harper's body less than two hours at the time of her death. During the appellate court appeal, several experts testified that stomach contents are subject to many variables, including temperature and the nature of the food and many others, and thus could not be a reliable way of determining the precise time of death.
Merritt is more blunt in his assessment. "It was crap," he said.
Sadly, in a handwritten memorandum that Penistan himself called an "agonizing reappraisal," he admitted that he spoke with too much confidence during Truscott's trial, and his own evidence did not rule out the possibility that the murder could have occurred several hours later, when Truscott was at home.
That memo, which only surfaced recently, was written seven years after the conviction, while Truscott was still in prison serving a life sentence. | <urn:uuid:1fcd19ad-c420-4be1-b4eb-9240401fb585> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://abcnews.go.com/Technology/DyeHard/story?id=3769512&page=1 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368696382584/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516092622-00013-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.991561 | 755 | 1.726563 | 2 |
Desal plant closure not waste: NSW govt
- From: AAP
- August 02, 2012
SYDNEY'S desalination plant will be mothballed this weekend even though taxpayers will keep having to pay off its construction costs.
But NSW Finance Minister Greg Pearce says the $2 billion development hasn't been a waste of money.
"The fact that the desal plant will be turned off from the first of July will save Sydney Water customers $50 million a year," he told ABC Radio on Tuesday.
"But we'll still have the security if we ever or when we eventually need to turn the desalination plant back on again."
Mr Pearce said it could be up to three years before the Kurnell plant operated again.
"At the moment of course the dams are full, so it won't go back on until they drop below 70 per cent, and then the desalination plant operates until they're up to 80 per cent again," he said.
Mr Pearce confirmed the government was still paying $16 million a month for the cost of building the plant and pipeline.
Greens MP John Kaye told ABC Radio the plant was expensive and completely unnecessary.
"The problem we have now is that we're paying tens of billions of dollars to keep this plant when we don't even want to operate it," he said.
In May, the NSW government announced a 50-year, $2.3 billion deal to privatise the plant, netting it $300 million to build more roads, rail and other infrastructure. | <urn:uuid:b9c0ea48-14c3-414a-9766-02fcaee71175> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.news.com.au/breaking-news/national/desal-plant-closure-not-waste-nsw-govt/story-e6frfku9-1226408627988 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368708766848/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516125246-00019-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.976403 | 321 | 1.757813 | 2 |
How to Safely Implement Bring Your Own Computer Programs
Bring Your Own Computer programs are becoming more popular in the workplace because today's workers are no longer content to work on locked-down, one-size-fits-all, corporate-issued desktops. Bring Your Own Computer programs give users the flexibility to choose their own devices and applications. Here, Knowledge Center contributor Purnima Padmanabhan offers seven best practices that IT can follow to avoid the pitfalls and reap the benefits of Bring Your Own Computer programs.
The growing popularity of Macs among consumers is beginning to spill into the enterprise and younger workers, in particular, are demanding hardware flexibility in the workplace. Companies with IT policies that are too strict are finding it difficult to hire and retain Millennials. Some image-conscious executives see a laptop as an accessory (similar to a smartphone) and want to be seen carrying the latest sleek device, instead of a clunky, outdated one.
As a result of this shift, more companies are beginning to offer Bring Your Own Computer (BYOC) programs. Employees enjoy the flexibility of choosing the machine best suited to their needs, while companies benefit from happier employees, reduced IT costs and reduced hardware investment. Most companies also see their number of help desk calls drop dramatically because employees are more invested in their machines. They tend to take better care of them and make more effort to troubleshoot before calling IT.
Once a company has decided to pursue BYOC, how should they approach implementation? After working with various customers on BYOC programs, I have learned that there are seven essential best practices to follow. Let's start with delivery model. | <urn:uuid:457b4c84-eead-41d5-8f9e-b1fc9ee826d6> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.eweek.com/c/a/Virtualization/How-to-Safely-Implement-Bring-Your-Own-Computer-Programs/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368707435344/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516123035-00003-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.953004 | 331 | 1.828125 | 2 |
Those who solicit tips know why they do it, but can the same be said of those who tip? The obvious answer is, a tip is a small thank you for services rendered. Thank you to the doorman for getting you a cab, to the cabdriver for not killing us, and to the waitress for … well, for being a waitress. But that’s not really it, is it? All these people would do those things without the tip. We tip because it’s expected, because we don’t want to seem mean, because we want to seem generous, because we want to be like everyone else. Tipping isn’t really about them. It’s about you. You hand over the money so you can feel better. Or at least, not worse. | <urn:uuid:676c12f4-c035-41ba-9a5d-6938621b40c5> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.farnamstreetblog.com/2011/12/tyranny-of-gratuity/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368706153698/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516120913-00003-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.967065 | 165 | 1.539063 | 2 |
By James Jackson
After nearly a year of work, a regional community-building strategy aimed at supporting and developing communities along the proposed light rail transit route was recently presented to Waterloo residents.
Nearly 100 people came out to Knox Presbyterian Church at the end of February to hear more details about the region’s plan. Similar meetins were held in Kitchener and Cambridge.
The Community Building Strategy was created to provide a framework for building what the region calls a “more livable and prosperous community around transit” along the 36-kilometre route from Cambridge to Conestoga Mall.
The meeting also gave the public a chance to offer feedback on the strategy.
“We have a lot of ideas, but where are your priorities?” asked Melanie Hare of Urban Strategies Inc., the design consultant working with the region on the project.
The plan has six components, ranging from identifying community-building opportunities (enhancing mobility, creating high quality urban places, greening the corridor) to specific information about the 23 proposed LRT stations (what the areas are like today and anticipated changes that might occur as part of the transit network).
Many residents attended the meeting just to get more information about the strategy and how it fits with the LRT plan.
“I’m not for it or against it, I’m just in a position to try and get educated,” said Robert Lang, a resident of uptown Waterloo. “I have some skepticism about its viability, but I don’t have enough knowledge to take a position on it.”
Lang is also a member of the citizen group Conserve Our Residential Environment, dedicated to preserving the historic uptown neighbourhoods of Waterloo.
He is pleased by the wording of the Region’s strategy to “protect and enhance existing neighbourhoods” but has concerns about the fate of neighbourhoods once construction gets underway.
CORE, now 215 households strong, was initially formed last summer to fight proposed Waterloo North Hydro power line and hydro pole upgrades in uptown, and he worries similar problems will re-emerge once shovels hit the dirt.
Adam Duhatschek, a fourth-year planning student at the University of Waterloo, called the project a “really important investment” for the Tri-Cities and it will be critical tool for not only attracting future students to the area, but retaining a well-trained and educated work force.
He also said meetings like the ones organized by the Region were critical to the success of the project.
“I definitely think it’s important to keep people informed about what’s happening. It’s been a source of vocal debate,” he said.
The report is online an open for comment at centraltransitcorridor.ca.Public feedback and comments are due by Mar. 19. | <urn:uuid:08896960-6aa5-48b2-80af-db8edd7b1bc2> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.waterloochronicle.ca/news/region-lays-groundwork-for-lrt/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368706153698/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516120913-00014-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.95867 | 591 | 1.578125 | 2 |
In the Name of Allah, The Most Gracious, Ever Merciful.
Love for All, Hatred for None.
NOTE: Alislam Team takes full responsibility for any errors or miscommunication in this Synopsis of the Friday Sermon
Huzur gave a discourse on prayers during ones travels in his Friday Sermon today.
Huzur said Allah has drawn attention to travel in the Holy Qur’an in various ways. Those who reject prophets of God are told to travel the earth and observe the ending of those who rejected prophets of God in ancient times. The Pharaoh’s body in Egypt is a sign of warning. Tourists in their hundreds of thousands, of all religious persuasions and of no religious persuasion, see it. If they have fear of God, it would make them stop and think about the dreadful end of the Pharaoh.
According to the prophecies of the Holy Qur’an the travel arrangements in this day and age are extremely convenient and widely available to witness signs that would deter one. However, only those can take heed who have a spark of goodness in them.
Believers, on the other hand, turn to Allah with greater fervour when they witness the ending of seditious people and seek refuge with Allah from Satan. Travels of a believer are to seek the pleasure of Allah, are a mark of thankfulness of His blessings and indeed believers begin and finish their travels with the specific prayers stated in the Holy Qur’an and those that the blessed model of the Holy Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be on him) set out for us. Like all other acts/deeds of a believer, travelling is also to seek Allah’s pleasure and to establish goodness as well as to maintain goodness.
Citing part of verse 198 of Surah Al Baqarah (2:198) Huzur said here matters relating to Hajj are stated and it is said that when one sets off for Hajj with one’s requirements, if taqwa (righteousness) is among them, only then one’s Hajj will be granted acceptance. Huzur said it is noteworthy that in any case or any situation only that journey/travel will absorb Allah’s blessings in which taqwa is the perspective and implementation of good works is the perspective. With this perspective travel/journeys made for worldly gains will also become a source of attaining Allah’s pleasure. One who keeps taqwa as the ‘provision’ for one’s travels is counted among true believers.
Elucidating verse 112 of Surah Al Taubah (9:112) Huzur defined the qualities of such a ‘believer’. (The translation of the verse reads)
“They are the ones who turn to God in repentance, who worship Him, who praise Him, who go about in the land serving Him, who bow down to God, who prostrate themselves in prayer, who enjoin good and forbid evil, and who watch the limits set by Allah. And give glad tidings to those who believe.”
Citing from the writings of the Promised Messiah (on whom be peace) Huzur said the first condition to step onto the path to taqwa is sincere repentance; it distances a believer from sin. The rectification is brought about when one makes a resolute objective to completely shun all ills, which are then replaced with high morals. This leads one to worship of God and this state transpires into the third state, which is where one praises God under all circumstances. The verse then gives the tidings that travelling for the cause of Allah benefits one spiritually and temporally; a journey that is made in order to spread good is a source of blessings. The verse gives tidings to those who ‘bow down’ to God. Huzur explained that this does not simply signify the physical bowing down, rather the bowing down of one’s very soul before God and when one endeavours to seek Allah’s pleasure with each fibre of one’s being. Then there is tiding for one who prostrates to God. Huzur said indeed this signifies prostration of real sincerity. The Holy Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be on him) had said that man is very close to Allah in the prostration posture. Huzur said the verse then goes on to denote that when one achieves all the aforementioned good then one is not to limit it to oneself, rather one must spread it and must strive against ills. The verse states that there is glad-tiding when God’s servants reach this station and this glad-tiding is continual.
Huzur said may all our journeys and travels be to seek Allah’s pleasure. Huzur said he is about to embark on travels in the next few days. He will be touring the West African countries of Ghana, Benin and Nigeria. Huzur said he is going there to grace the Khilafat Centenary programmes and that the programmes of these countries are the first programmes of the Centenary as other countries have also made programmes where Huzur would be travelling. In this sense Huzur said this was a year of travels. He said prayers should be made that the profusion of blessings on the Community in the past hundred years raise us in our humility and suppress any ills. May each of Huzur’s travel be with Allah’s help and succour. May Allah’s help and succour be with him during his journeys and at the destinations. Huzur said we are humble people who cannot make it without Allah’s help. Our surety to attain Allah’s grace is none other than to turn to Him. May Allah grant success [to these travels].
The Holy Prophet (peace and blessing of Allah be on him) would say the Quranic prayer (43:14) before every journey. Huzur said in the current era of the Promised Messiah (on whom be peace) in accordance with Divine promise means of fast and comfortable transport are available, if one is thankful with this perspective and joins in with spreading of good then one receives Allah’s grace.
Huzur asked that prayers are made that his journeys are made in this spirit. Huzur said if one’s outlook is such Allah’s grace is forthcoming. Huzur prayed that may Allah’s grace and blessings be with step of the travels, may He cover our faults and may no error of ours distance us from Him.
Next Huzur cited a few Ahadith relating the prayers the Holy Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be on him) said when he was travelling. He would also always pray for the journey of his Companions. When the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be on him) encamped during travelling he would not leave without offering two rakah of Salat. He would also give alms at the start and ending of journey. Each time he returned from Hajj, Umrah or an expedition, he would say Allah O Akbar three times while climbing a height (and Subhan Allah while descending) and would pray: ‘There is none worthy of worship expect Allah, He is One and has no partner, His is the Kingdom. All praise also belongs to Him, He has Power over every matter, we are returning repenting, worshiping our Lord and praising Him.’
Huzur said may Allah fulfil all the promises made to the Prophet (peace and blessing of Allah be on him) in our lifetime and may we soon witness his banner waving all over the world.
The Holy Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be on him) said that the prayers of three persons are always accepted; the victim, the traveller and a father’s prayer for his offspring.
When entering a new town the Holy Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be on him) said the following prayer: “Our Lord! Lord of the seven heavens and what their shadow falls on, Lord of the seven earths and all that they carry, O Lord of the sha’yateen (plural of satan) and all who they have led astray, O Lord of the winds and whatever they blow about, we pray to You for the welfare and good of this town, its inhabitants and whatever is in it. We come in Your refuge from the evil of this town, its inhabitants and whatever is in it. Our Lord, bless this town for us, grant us blessing in this town, facilitate blessing for us in this town. Our Lord, grant us sustenance from its fruits and place our love in the hearts of its inhabitants and generate love for the pious-natured people of this town in our hearts.”
The Holy Prophet (peace and blessings be on him) would pray for Allah’s refuge from the difficulties of travelling, from returning in grief and from [suffering] loss after a gain.
Huzur said he also starts his forthcoming travels with these prayers, may Allah bless Huzur’s travels with the wordings of these prayers and may Huzur return safely having gathered Allah’s blessings; blessings that are perpetual and may these blessings be evident wherever the Centenary programmes are taking place. May Allah bring that day soon when the banner of the Unity of God is seen all over the world and when this ‘benefactor of all humanity’ (peace and blessings of Allah be on him) is luminous all over the world.
Next Huzur addressed everyone in general but Lajna Germany in particular. Huzur said this thought came to him in view of his travels. Lajna Germany has been anxious lest they are deprived [of this year’s commemoration]. Last year, due to lack of discipline, Huzur had placed a restriction on Lajna Germany as regards holding national Ijtema and Jalsa Salana. Huzur said he has received countless letters from women and young girls from Germany asking for forgiveness and promising not to repeat their mistake. In fact other Lajnas have also written in sympathetically for Lajna Germany. The first ever communication of this nature came from Pakistan. Huzur said his was a preventative/reformatory step and Alhamdolillah there has been a revolutionary change in Lajna Germany. Their letters signify a specific drawing towards Istaghfar and the expression of sense of allegiance and sincerity is something that can only be witnessed in the Promised Messiah’s Community in this materialistic world. One sister wrote in that her non-Ahmadi Afghan friend commented on the situation saying what terrible people they were [to incur Huzur’s displeasure], they should be thankful that they had someone to guide and reform them. She added that there is no one to help them when they are embroiled in ills.
Huzur said the purpose of stating all this is that this restriction had sent a wave of anxiety all over Lajna Germany, they prayed and they have changed their ways. Huzur said he had told the Ameer sahib and Sadr sahiba Lajna (of Germany) to quietly prepare for the Jalsa but it seemed no one had any inkling of it yet. Huzur said the sincerity expressed by Lajna and girls from Germany cannot be described. He asked them to stay assured, and added that InshaAllah Jalsa will be held. Huzur said this incident had enhanced the value/appreciation of Lajna Germany for him to a great degree, may Allah increase their sincerity and may they continue to make progress.
Huzur said everyone should pray for the Jalsas of their country and also pray for Huzur. May Allah continue to open doors of His grace and His blessings.
The Jumu'ah (Friday) prayer is one form of congregational worship in Islam. It takes place every Friday. Regular attendance at the Jumu'ah prayer is enjoined on the believer. According to a Saying of Muhammadsa this congregational prayer is twenty-five times more blessed than worship performed alone. (Bukhari)
“O ye who believe! When the call is made for Prayer on Friday, hasten to the remembrance of Allah, and leave off all business. That is best for you, if you only knew.” more
“… (He who) offers the Prayers and listens quitely when the Imam stands up for sermon, will have his sins forgiven between that Friday and the next”(Bukhari) | <urn:uuid:f5cdbc79-3fbc-4cb2-b54b-80ee7835ef7b> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.alislam.org/friday-sermon/2008-04-11.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368703682988/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516112802-00032-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.964469 | 2,627 | 1.835938 | 2 |
Mitch Joel’s book, “Six Pixels of Separation” identifies six social needs that entrepreneurs need to appreciate in order to connect with their potential consumers.
The six key points…
The six key points from a Research Brief entitled “Emotional Business Bonding on Social Networks” by Jack Loechner, lists them as follows:
“1. Online social networks provide people with the ultimate tool for defining and redefining themselves, as evidenced in profile pages on Facebook and MySpace.
2. The need for autonomy, recognition, and achievement are essential to our sense of self-worth and are fulfilled in online communities, blogs, and social networks that provide a way to develop and manage a virtual reputation.
3. People have a need to both seek (help from) and provide help to others. Mutual assistance between strangers is a phenomenon that has been uniquely enabled by the Internet.
4. Online communities are becoming the way people find, create and connect with others “just like me” – people who share similar tastes, sensibilities, orientations, or interests.
5. A sense of belonging or affiliation alone is not equivalent to a true sense of community. Achieving a real sense of community requires long-lasting reciprocal relationships and a mutual commitment to the needs of the community as a whole….
6. People want to be reassured of their worth and value, and seek confirmation that what they say and do matters to others and has an impact on the world around them. Meeting all 5 + [1} of these social needs generally requires the level of intimacy and facilitation that are the hallmarks of smaller, invitation only online communities.
These six points do illustrate that we are moving toward a world where online reputation and personal branding are taking hold.
More from Six Pixels of Separation…
The big idea in a world of Six Pixels of Separation is to embrace community as the new currency. Understand and believe that your business and how it is perceived in the marketplace are going to get increasingly complex in the (future). How you are positioned, how people see you, and how you speak back to them are going to be the global validation for your growth.
In a world where we’re all connected, one opinion quickly turns into everyone’s opinion. How you build trust in your brand, your business, and yourself, is going to be an important part of how your business is going to adapt and evolve.”
Social Networks are just fads…
Joel writes that many entrepreneurs consider online channels such as blogs and social networks to be “fads”, and have not paid enough attention to what the net result could mean: more and more people finding and making brand decisions based not on “corporate spin” but on what a mass of individuals have experienced and reported.
Embrace online communities…
Accepting these six key points, it makes sense that entrepreneurs embrace online communities as a platform for consumers to connect emotionally with a given brand, with the ultimate goal of turning such consumers into loyal advocates.
As always, you are invited to comment/contribute to this post to improve this blog.
We all know the saying “it’s a small world”. Well, exactly how small is it? There is a so-called “urban myth” that we are all connected by “six degrees of separation”, which theorizes that:
I know someone, who knows someone, who knows someone, who knows someone, who knows someone, who knows someone, who knows you!
Six of one…half a dozen of another…
Six Pixels of Separation…
Well, there I was at the Winnipeg Airport on Friday, (Oct.15, 2010) searching for a resource book about connecting websites to potential customers and a book by Mitch Joel, entitled “Six Pixels of Separation” literally jumped off the shelf into my hand.
In this book, I was introduced to the original “six degrees of separation” theory and I decided to do more research on Google. What I found was absolutely fascinating!!
Six Degrees of Separation…
My Google research led me to a highly acclaimed BBC documentary video “Six Degrees of Separation” which I highly recommend to anyone who is interested how the emerging science of Networking can, and will, affect all aspects of our future, from personal to business.
I invite you to comment back about whether this is as much of an “Aha” discovery for you as it was for me? | <urn:uuid:6ab1fefb-fb83-403f-9e8b-6bbe2b012560> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.horsescoops.com/blog/?month=10&year=2010 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368705953421/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516120553-00021-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.956451 | 951 | 1.71875 | 2 |
One of the most controversial stories of the economic recovery has been the historically high corporate profit margins.
High and rising profit margins have caused corporate profits to surge even as GDP inched only modestly higher. And these expanding margins are largely attributable to companies freezing hiring or cutting their workforces. This explains why unemployment has remained persistently high.
So, have profit margins topped out?
Analysts don't think so. In fact, analysts expect margins to continue to climb through at least 2014.
Here's some commentary from Goldman Sachs' David Kostin, who expects margins to level off:
Bottom-up consensus currently forecasts net margins will rise to 9.3%. In contrast, our top-down forecast suggests margins will remain in the narrow band of 8.7%-8.9% where they have hovered for the past two years. However, with 51% of the companies in the S&P 500 having reported 4Q 2012 results, margins appear to have slipped on a trailing four-quarter basis to 8.5%.
...earnings are far more sensitive to changes in margins than GDP or sales growth. A 50 bp shift in margins equals $5 per share. Our current EPS forecast of $107 and $114 for 2013 and 2014, respectively, represents annual growth of about 10% and 7% and assumes trailing four- quarter margins creep from 8.5% in 2012 to 8.9% in 2013 and 9.0% in 2014.
Here's a chart of the forecasted margin trajectories. | <urn:uuid:cb3c2bee-6fe6-4489-bc16-519fbb3654fc> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.businessinsider.com/chart-profit-margins-to-rise-thru-2014-2013-2 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368705195219/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516115315-00037-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.946533 | 312 | 1.664063 | 2 |
Community Board 15 overwhelmingly voted down a proposal to place cameras automating speed limit enforcement along the city’s most dangerous roadways, citing Big Brother and revenue manipulation concerns.
A five-year trial program is being pushed by Transportation Alternatives, a non-profit advocacy group for mass transit, bicycle and pedestrian infrastructure. The plan would place a maximum of 40 cameras, similar to the currently installed red-light cameras, throughout the five boroughs in locations where speeding and speed-related crashes, injuries, and fatalities are prevalent. Owners of vehicles found to be driving in excess of the posted speed limit would receive fines, and the violations will be administered under the Parking Violations Bureau. The penalty will not include points against the violator’s insurance.
But the idea of more cameras keeping tabs on residents has some leaders feeling uncomfortable.
“It’s becoming a little too many cameras watching what individuals are doing, and on top of that you’ve already got red light cameras, you’ve got the police with license plate readers,” said Community Board 15 Chairperson Theresa Scavo, “How many more cameras do you need?”
The planned cameras would only photograph license plates and not drivers, but Scavo said her concerns extend beyond the Big Brother atmosphere it might create. She said many on the Board worried the that the state’s priorities would be on revenue, not safety.
“I think this is just going to be revenue generating the way the red light cameras are. They raise a lot of money, and the city’s in the hole right now, it would be a great way to revenue generate,” she said. “They’re really just trying to box people in the City of New York and money people out, a lot of people [on the Board] were thinking enough is enough.”
The Board was asked to vote on the proposal at their Wednesday night meeting. The Board’s recommendations will go to the Brooklyn Borough Board – comprised of leaders from each of the borough’s 18 Community Boards – who will then forward their concerns to members of the State Legislature, who must pass legislation to install the cameras.
But Transportation Alternatives has been fighting against the perception that this is about anything other than safety since at least 2003, when they created a fact sheet addressing many speed camera concerns. According to the group, 25 percent of motorists go at least 10 miles above the speed limit, creating a “deadly” situation. Documents from the group say that it would lower traffic speeds – and casualties – free up police resources, and reduce instances of discrimination and racial profiling.
A revenue generator it is not, according to Transportation Alternatives. They say New York City speed camera legislation would have a provision putting any revenues from a speed camera program back into the program, and a review of existing speed camera programs shows that none are bringing in significant revenues above costs. Nor is it Big Brother, since only the license plate is recorded and not the driver. They say that New Yorkers have become accustomed to red light cameras, which operate under the same principle, so “speed radar is no different.”
Meanwhile, they say, programs in London, Norway, Australia and a handful of smaller American municipalities have successfully reduced fatalities and the rate of speeding.
That’s not swaying the Community Board 15, though, as they seek to protect Southern Brooklyn’s commuters from the latest round of anti-auto initiatives from group’s like Transportation Alternatives.
“I personally think that [Transportation Alternatives' membership] are not what New Yorkers are representative of,” said Scavo. “I don’t believe they’re from Southern Brooklyn. I think they’re Soho or Park Slope people who have no right to dictate how we live down here.” | <urn:uuid:02966744-2a73-4fc1-a133-e02df12cf3d8> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.sheepsheadbites.com/2011/05/board-nixes-speed-camera-enforcement-proposal/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368703682988/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516112802-00029-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.954579 | 806 | 1.71875 | 2 |
Bad NIH, good NIH
Posted Mar 9, 2013 18:45 UTC (Sat) by HelloWorld
In reply to: Bad NIH, good NIH
Parent article: Canonical reveals plans to launch Mir display server (The H)
Nobody needs or wants X servers for Windows, Mac OS or Android. What people want is remote applications, and they'll get those with Wayland via a VNC-like protocol. Which, by the way, works way better than X for today's applications.
It doesn't run everywhere. Android doesn't use it, Firefox OS doesn't, Tizen doesn't, Mac OS X and iOS don't, nobody right in their mind uses it except as a compatibility crutch.
That will come for Wayland as well, it's just a matter of time.
You can run any desktop environment on Wayland too, and you can combine any Wayland compositor with any desktop, provided it offers the needed functionality (which obviously applies on X11 as well)
The toolkits that matter will soon support Wayland (or already do)
The Wayland protocol is stable and X applications are supported via XWayland.
What you don't seem to grok is that Wayland is a long-term infrastructure project to get a future-proof graphics architecture for Linux. And contrary to what you say, X11 is not that. That's why many of the X.org developers themselves (including Keith Packard, Kristian Høgsberg, Daniel Stone) support Wayland. Now please don't try to tell me that you know better than them what a future-proof graphics stack looks like...
to post comments) | <urn:uuid:82ccbe37-694c-47bf-8253-26c1ba135372> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://lwn.net/Articles/542209/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368702448584/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516110728-00027-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.939797 | 344 | 1.757813 | 2 |
Corporate Profits Will Be Up Next Year
Must Stocks Be?
By William Hester, CFA
Corporate earnings and stock prices both fell in 2001 and 2002. This year profits are up, and stock prices are too. Seems like a predictable pattern: profits rise or fall and stock prices follow. But it isn't. In fact, earnings and stock prices seldom move in lockstep.
With many investors making the link between expected earnings growth and higher stock prices, the topic is worth exploring. "The market is fairly valued, and will respond in the future to the level of earnings growth generated by the recovery," a professional investor told Barron's in its recent money manager poll, echoing the voice of many stock market pundits.
Profits are certainly on the upswing. Reported earnings of the S&P 500 companies could jump 61 percent this year, and another 24 percent next year, according to Standard and Poor's.
Lost in the euphoria, though, is that most of the explosive growth is simply a recovery of lost ground. Though the 2001 economic recession was mild, corporate profits were pummeled. Reported earnings for the S&P 500 companies were $53.73 a share in 2000. In 2001 they fell to $28.52 and then to $26.74 in 2002. This was one of the worst drops on record for corporate earnings.
A pop in profits is typical following a recession. Companies benefited similarly once the early 1990's recovery moved into gear. Earnings of the S&P 500 companies rose by 33 percent in 1994 and 28 percent in 1995.
But rising aggregate earnings do not guarantee higher stock markets. In 1973 profits rose 25 percent and by another 21 percent in 1974. As profits boomed, stock prices slid nearly in half.
Equity prices can rally when earnings take a hit, too. The very next year, in 1975, stocks rose 37 percent, one of the highest one-year total returns on record, and earnings fell 18 percent. And in four of the five years from 1982 through 1986 corporate profits fell while stock prices rose strongly.
In fact, since 1950 stock prices and earnings have moved in opposite directions about 40 percent of the time. Looking only at only the years where profits rose, prices fell 25 percent of the time.
The correlation between earnings and stock prices is surprisingly low: 0.01 since 1950. This is largely due to the dramatically different directions earnings and stock returns took in the early 1970's and 1980's. Surprisingly, the low correlations can't be explained by assuming that stock markets look into the following year. Lagging the earnings data, that is, matching the change in stock prices one year with the change in profits the next, doesn't improve the results measurably.
Corporate Earnings and its Co-stars
Earnings growth certainly supports rising stock prices over time. Any long-term graph of profits and prices shows this. But over a period as short as a year, other factors can frequently overpower the direction of earnings. In the early 1980's investors ignored punk profits and focused on the dramatic decline in interest rates. Accelerating inflation and a spike in oil prices helped kick off the 1973-74 bear market, even in the face of strong earnings growth.
These unexpected shocks to the economy can shift investor risk preferences. Good news welcomes more risk taking and higher stock prices. Bad news can sink them. Falling risk tolerances and high valuations make an especially painful pair, as the pricking of the technology bubble in 2000 and the correction of equity markets during the 1998 Asian crises show.
There are plenty of potential hazards currently waiting in the wings - the record current account deficit, a weaker dollar, or potentially higher interest rates. But predicting if and exactly when they'll become a factor in investors' eyes is a forecast few will get right.
So prices might rise with profits next year; they've done so 75 percent of the time*. Just don't rely on the belief that it's in the hand.
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Site design by 1WebsiteDesigners. | <urn:uuid:d6b1c642-7537-4d11-9c7f-9daed4bf878b> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://hussmanfunds.com/rsi/earnprices.htm | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368703298047/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516112138-00042-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.951797 | 936 | 1.59375 | 2 |
Photo: Kim Hong-Ji/Reuters
Most people don't associate the word "satelitte" with "homemade," but that's exactly what South Korean artist Song Hojun did. He made a $500 homemade satellite by rummaging through back alley electronics stores.
Now, all he needs is a rocket to launch it into orbit:
There's a long history of do-it-yourself satellites being launched by universities and scientific groups around the world, as well as amateur radio clubs, but Song said his is the first truly personal satellite designed and financed by an individual. [...]
The bespectacled Song spent nearly six years combing through academic papers, shopping online at sites that specialize in components that can be used for space projects, and rummaging through electronic stores hidden in the back alleys of Seoul.
Eunhye Shin of Reuters has the story: Link | <urn:uuid:da99ddd5-11ce-44b6-aa3a-698404d5be0d> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.neatorama.com/2012/07/29/homemade-satellite/ | 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 | 0.96329 | 184 | 1.65625 | 2 |
Senator discovers asbestos in his legislative office
Workers discovered asbestos at the Virginia General Assembly Building this week, the clerk of the state Senate confirmed Friday.
After a windy night, Sen. William Wampler (R-Bristol) reported finding a chalky white substance on his windowsill. Department of General Services workers were called in, along with an environmental contractor, who ran tests and confirmed the presence of the toxic substance, said Clerk Susan Schaar.
She said they determined that the asbestos had seeped into the office from above the office's ceiling tiles, emerging through a crack between the ceiling and the window.
Wampler's office was sealed from the public and thoroughly scrubbed, as was the office of his legislative aide. Schaar said subsequent testing indicated that the air was safe in and around the office.
"We have been advised through [the environmental contractors] and DGS that the air quality is at permissible levels allowed by the EPA," she said.
Workers have long known about the presence of asbestos on the west half of Virginia's General Assembly Building, where lawmakers have had their offices and legislative committee meeting rooms since 1978. The 400,000-square-foot building previously housed an insurance firm.
The Senate has repeatedly appropriated money in its budget to replace the aging structure, which also has a leaky roof, electrical and ventilation trouble and an outdated fire alarm system
The House of Delegates has always rejected the idea, insisting that the state has more important needs than spending millions to replace a building used primarily by legislators for two months of the year.
The two sides are still arguing about the state budget, including whether to spend money on the GAB. House members have mocked a Senate proposal to set aside money for the project, insisting that senators want to use taxpayer money to build a legislative Taj Mahal.
Rosalind S. Helderman
| February 25, 2011; 3:15 PM ET
Categories: General Assembly 2011, House of Delegates, Rosalind Helderman, State Senate
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Latest Gems, Unearthed for you
The Story of the Silver Pagoda, Phnom Penh
Photo credit by Augapfel
In the south-central region of Cambodia, on the banks of the Tonlé Sap, Bassac and Mekong Rivers, lies Phnom Penh, the country’s permanent capital since 1866. Within the city sits the Cambodian Royal Palace whose complex contains, to the south, the stunning Silver Pagoda.
In a country with a troubled past, the Silver Pagoda... [Read more of this guide]
Head Off to Turkey For Your Romantic Holiday
Many wouldn’t think so but with its sparkling turquoise waters, its stunning natural landscape formations, and its warm nights, Turkey is one of the most romantic places in the world. Grab a cheap car hire Turkey and tour the country’s romantic destinations inland and on its coastlines – here are a few of them:
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Top Attractions of Western Australia
Western Australia is one of the major tourist attraction for travelers looking for wilderness and adventure, and rightfully so. The area is huge but very sparsely populated – just 2.1 million inhabitants with almost three-quarters of them living in Perth. And yet, the area covers more than one-third of the whole Australian land mass. This is the... [Read more of this guide]
Turkey’s Eclectic Mix of Sights
While neighboring Greece has its beautiful beaches, wonderful sunsets, and ancient ruins, the country of Turkey has its awe-inspiring natural landscape formations, a colorful and lively culture, and an eclectic mix of the Greek, Roman, and Ottoman structures. An all inclusive holidays to Turkey vacation boasts diversity when it comes to tourist attractions... [Read more of this guide]
The Most Beautiful Places in Greece
Ah, Greece, the land of one of the greatest and most glorious ancient civilizations of all. With its fascinating history, its scenic coastlines, and its elegant ruins that reminiscent its glorious past, how could anyone not help but be drawn to it like a moth to a mesmerizing dancing flame. There is so much to see within its historical shores but for... [Read more of this guide]
When is the Best time to Visit Certain Places in Asia?
It’s vital when thinking about visiting a continent like Asia that you research properly exactly when you intend to stay in certain countries because the weather conditions can change dramatically from one season to the next.
Read on for a brief rundown on when to visit and when to avoid the most popular countries in Asia. It’s also worth noting... [Read more of this guide]
Golfers do their bit to help Thai flood relief
A host of high-profile golfers have come together to help raise nearly 2.5 million Baht at a charity auction in aid of the flood relief efforts in Thailand.
The Thai public and people throughout Asia in general are still attempting to come to terms with the country’s worst floods for 50 years and the clean-up operation is under way. Considering... [Read more of this guide]
Top Winter Sun Destinations
Although Christmas and the New Year are just around the corner, it’s not too late to escape the chill on a last minute holiday. Just because the UK is being plunged into darkness and battered by cold winds and icy rain doesn’t mean the rest of the world is suffering the same fate. If you want to top up your vitamin D, work on your tan and sip cocktails... [Read more of this guide]
Top Five Asian Attractions and Destinations
Asia is slightly mysterious, incredibly colourful, culturally heterogeneous and completely different to what Britons are used to. From ancient remains to tropical rainforests and a mixture of religions the Asian region is a top priority for many travellers. Of course the Asian continent is vast and there is much to see, but if you could only visit a... [Read more of this guide]
Save Money with Annual Travel Insurance Policies
Annual policies could save regular travellers an average of 15%, says moneysupermarket.com
The latest travel insurance research by travel insurance compare giant, moneysupermarket.com, has found that families who travel regularly are financially far better off taking out annual insurance cover than single trip cover.
With half term here and the Christmas... [Read more of this guide]
The Do’s and Dont’s of Partying Abroad
Photo credit - Simon Lesley Photo
As more young people go on holiday with their friends every year, tourist hotspots are increasingly selling themselves as partying and club scenes – with themed nights, potent fishbowl cocktails, and hundreds of other off-the-leash Brits having a wild time and casual sex. There’s a saying: what goes on tour, stays... [Read more of this guide]
Jadul Village Resort & Spa
Old School Beauty – A Charming Themed Resort with Nostalgic Tints
Inside Lembang’s lush surroundings lies Jadul Village, a unique villa and spa concept offering you luxurious accommodations amidst an atmosphere of rich heritage. Located approximately 30 minutes away from Bandung, Jadul Villa boast 21 tastefully designed villas fully outfitted... [Read more of this guide]
Villa Air – Bandung
A Touch of Zen – Affordable Luxury in Lembang
Deep in the heart of Bandung, the flower city of West Java, lies a natural boutique resort offering guests a peaceful stay at their evergreen area in the valley of Mt Tangkuban Perahu and Mt Burangrang. The Vila Air is an ideal retreat from daily metropolitan life, boasting private chalets with panoramic... [Read more of this guide]
The Amazing Umang Island
Pulau Umang – A Nature Themed Resort Island for All
The international global trend of going “back to nature” is a lifestyle that is fast becoming a passion to city-dwellers. Pulau Umang is proud to showcase a nature-themed resort which is uniquely designed to have each and every aspect of its architecture blend in with the beautiful nature... [Read more of this guide]
Kuningan City : Jewel in the CBD
The urban lifestyle of Jakartans continues to evolve, and now, a mall or a shopping center is no longer just a place to buy your everyday needs. But instead, it is now a center of life and activity, a meeting point to gather and socialize, as well as for young executives in between their busy schedules and a place for family recreation.
This is also... [Read more of this guide] | <urn:uuid:8e1aea34-c631-4ed3-8f08-531ac77cb14c> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://unearthingasia.com/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368698924319/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516100844-00040-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.930031 | 1,391 | 1.5 | 2 |
President Barack Obama holds a clear lead over Mitt Romney in a hypothetical general election match-up, according to a new Washington Post-ABC News poll.
Among all Americans, Obama leads Romney 52 to 43 percent, whereas among registered voters, the president has a narrower edge over Romney, 51 to 45 percent. This is the first time that Obama has more than 50 percent of the votes in a match-up against Romney among all Americans since July, when the president led the GOP candidate, 51 to 44 percent.
But the president has progress to make in instilling economic confidence in Americans — asked which candidate can be trusted to do a better job in handling the economy, 48 percent of the general population picked Romney over 45 percent that picked Obama. The Republican front-runner also fared better job creation, narrowly beating Obama 47 to 45 percent, as well as the handling of the federal budget and deficit, 51 to 41 percent.
It is the first time that the president has topped 50 percent in a match-up against Romney among registered voters.
The survey also showed, however, that people trust Obama will be a better champion of the middle class than Romney, 55 to 37 percent. Also, 56 percent of the general population said they trust that the president would do a better job handling international affairs compared with just 37 percent that picked Romney. Similarly, the majority said the president’s handling of terrorism will be better than Romney’s, 56 to 36 percent.
The president has been making a strong case for the so-called “Buffett Rule,” which would have the wealthy pay a higher rate of taxes – 72 percent indicated in the poll that they support raising taxes on Americans with annual incomes over one million dollars. Unfortunately for Romney, a whopping 66 percent said they believe his federal tax rate of about 14 percent was not fair.
Obama is also seen as having a better understanding of the American people’s economic problems than Romney, 53 to 36 percent.
Hours after the survey surfaced online, the Romney campaign blasted out a memo, challenging the legitimacy of the poll’s findings.
“The writers make the point that the ballot match-up between President Obama and Governor Romney is the first time Obama has ever received more than 50 percent of the vote among registered voters,” Romney campaign pollster Neil Newhouse wrote. “Well, there’s a good reason why. The poll introduced specific negative information about Governor Romney immediately prior to asking the ballot match-up against President Obama.”
Newhouse noted that immediately preceding the Obama vs. Romney match-up, the poll introduced information about the GOP candidate – including the suggestion that he “cuts jobs,” “benefited from opportunities that are not available to other people” and “is not paying his fair share of taxes” – resulting in a “tainted” ballot.
“A pollster can’t ask or suggest specific negatives on a candidate immediately prior to a ballot test and expect to get anything other than a biased result,” Newhouse wrote.
The Washington Post-ABC News poll was conducted Feb. 1-4 among 1,000 adults and has a margin of error of plus or minus 4 percentage points. | <urn:uuid:9565b71d-24ac-4de2-968f-b6a3260392e5> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://dyn.politico.com/printstory.cfm?uuid=C0150932-AF1E-4646-BE46-6BA64BBAE11D | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368706499548/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516121459-00036-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.961727 | 668 | 1.617188 | 2 |
(CNN) -- A friend of mine had a houseguest recently who, while sipping a cup of tea at her kitchen table late at night, broke out into nasty-looking hives all over his back. A quick inspection found that a tick had burrowed its way into his skin. After removing it with a pair of tweezers, she whisked him to the emergency room.
Can name-dropping get you seen faster in a crowded emergency room?
"I was really worried," she told me. "Ticks can cause allergic reactions. I wanted him to be seen by a doctor immediately."
But when they arrived at the ER, they were told there would be a three-hour wait. Thinking fast, my friend remembered reading the name of the hospital's president; we'll call him John Smith. "I lightheartedly said, 'I wonder what would happen if I called John Smith and woke him up? Would that get him seen any faster?' "
Her houseguest was seen by a doctor immediately.
Was my friend being really smart -- or really obnoxious?
Both, said the emergency room doctors I talked to. As waits continue to grow longer in the emergency room, patients need to think about what to do if they feel that they're not getting the attention they need in an already overtaxed ER. Watch more on getting into the ER faster »
According to a report out this week, the average total waiting time in a U.S. emergency room in 2008 was four hours and three minutes, a 27-minute increase in nationwide average wait times since 2002.
The report by Press Ganey Associates analyzed the experiences of nearly 1.4 million patients treated at more than 1,700 emergency departments nationwide.
The recession is one chief reason for the increase, according to the American College of Emergency Physicians. In a survey in January of more than 1,700 emergency doctors, 66 percent said they'd seen an increase in the number of patients in their emergency rooms over the preceding six months. Most of the physicians -- 83 percent -- reported seeing patients who'd lost their jobs and health insurance and delayed medical care.
"Some of these people come to the ER because they've been turned away by their primary care physician, because they've lost their insurance," said Dr. Angela Gardner, incoming president of the physicians group. "Sometimes they've delayed care because they have no insurance and end up with a much more serious condition."
Gardner, who works in the ER at Parkland Hospital in Dallas, Texas, said these newly uninsured people are taxing an overburdened system.
"We're overwhelmed and swamped," she said.
Given this situation, I asked four ER doctors what they would do if their spouse had a life-threatening emergency and they felt as if they weren't getting the attention they needed in the emergency room. Although they all pointed out that emergency rooms do an excellent job of triaging patients, and you might have to wait while others who are sicker than you get seen by the doctor, there are some steps you can take if you truly fear that you or your loved one is not getting the care you need.
Dr. Assaad Sayah, chief of emergency medicine, Cambridge Health Alliance, Massachusetts
"I would start by saying to the triage nurse, 'I know that you are busy, and I need one minute of your time. My wife has been waiting for a long time, and her condition has gotten worse since we arrived.' Describe her worsening condition and say, 'I would really appreciate it if you could take a minute and look at her again.'
"This would work most of the time. If I got a hostile answer, I would ask to speak with the charge nurse or charge physician. If I felt like I was not getting anywhere, I would ask to speak with the administrator on call. The last resort is to call the hospital operator (dial 0 from the emergency department waiting room phone) and ask to page the patient advocate and hospital administrator. ... I would not use inappropriate or threatening language."
Dr. Jesse Pines, assistant professor of emergency medicine, Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania
"You could say, 'She's not acting right. This is not normal for her.' ... As your friend did, you can always try to drop a big name, like say you're friends with the president of the hospital. In general, if they think you're a VIP (even if you're not), you'll definitely get seen more quickly. ... Obnoxious real VIPs get the fastest service, while obnoxious wannabe VIP liars get the slowest service.
"A basic principle of medical care is that 'the squeaky wheel gets the grease.' I would recommend advocating on behalf of your spouse. It's uncomfortable that it has to be this way, but it works the same in any service business. The more you complain, the faster the service. But it's a fine line. Complaining can piss off the staff, so it's important not to go over the top. Family members who are too vocal are sometimes escorted out by security."
Dr. Joseph Guarisco, chief of emergency services at Ochsner Health System, Louisiana
"I would ask to speak with the Emergency Department director. If they weren't there, I would ask to speak with the charge nurse or shift supervisor. ... I would advise them that you think the patient has an 'emergency medical condition that should be evaluated right away.' Most of us in emergency medicine define the urgency in those terms and should be responsive.
"If you don't get a response, advise the individual in charge dispassionately and without confrontation, 'I understand you are busy, but I feel the patient will have a bad outcome if not seen right away.' If the person in charge was a nurse, ask to speak with the physician and repeat the same thing. If there's no response, further advise the individual in charge, 'I feel strongly about this and must call the administrator on call.' If no response, I would call the hospital administrator on call and advise him or her of those same concerns. And yes, name-dropping the administrator's name always helps. It should not. But if you truly feel the patient may suffer harm by not being seen right away, do it."
Dr. David Beiser, assistant professor of medicine, University of Chicago
"If you are concerned that a family member or friend is getting sicker while awaiting treatment in the Emergency Department, it's always reasonable to request that the triage nurse do a quick re-assessment of the patient. As far as invoking the threat of a letter to the CEO, that can trigger the 'VIP Care' response, which may save time, but also may expose the patient to increased risk by changing practice patterns. VIP treatment subverts the normal way we practice medicine and in my experience usually leads to medical errors. I have made my worst mistakes while treating friends, colleagues, and other VIPs. ... Belligerence, histrionics or requests for VIP treatment usually end up working against the doctor-patient relationship."
In case you were wondering, my friend's houseguest was indeed having an allergic reaction to a tick. He received an antihistamine and antibiotics to prevent infection and is fine and very happy with the care he received in the emergency room.
|Most Viewed||Most Emailed| | <urn:uuid:0eec897a-6b62-4b4f-9da4-7c647720997e> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://edition.cnn.com/2009/HEALTH/06/25/emergency.room.care/index.html?iref=nextin | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368709037764/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516125717-00023-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.978734 | 1,523 | 1.65625 | 2 |
TV news provides evidence of my aging
When I was a kid, I never understood how anyone could sit down and watch the news on TV. It was so boring and dull; why would anyone volunteer to suffer though it? The only explanation I could think of for this behavior was that people who watch the news must be grown-ups who are already boring, so the boring news doesn’t bother them. Then, a few years ago, I was flipping through the channels and was actually interested by one of the news stations. From then on, I was hooked. I began to watch the news all the time, resigned to the fact that I was now a little bit closer to being a boring grown-up myself.
For the last several weeks, three stories have all but dominated the news cycle: The presidential election, the General Petraeus “scandal,” and Hurricane Sandy. Thankfully, the election is now over, and the personal lives of military officials do not interest me. However, I do have a particular problem with the way Hurricane Sandy has been covered by TV news.
In the days after the disaster the news coverage was overwhelmingly positive. Despite the terrible effects of the storm, journalists were able to report how people from the federal level down to local neighborhoods were able to band together to endure and make the best of the situation. There didn’t seem to be enough time in the day to broadcast all the inspiring stories. From the life-saving heroism of first responders, to generous acts of charity, to public officials actually doing their jobs and responding to the disaster in what seemed to be an effective manner.
The coverage of Hurricane Sandy was all about hope and endurance at first. Then a couple of weeks went by and I began to notice a different kind of conversation in the news about Hurricane Sandy. Instead of stories of camaraderie and common good, several journalists and contributors have shifted to a tone of judgment and finger pointing.
During their news segments, these people have spoken of grave mishandlings of the unforeseen situation that certain powerful people have to be “held accountable for.” Then, they assure us everything would have been so much better had we followed the inspired plan they thought of a week after the disaster using the data and observations from the storm. These talking heads are so unbelievably wise they could probably provide solutions to any problem, as long as it is a problem that has already happened.
But maybe my expectations are too high. You don’t have to be wise to know that much of TV news is not about presenting an objective viewpoint. It seems that for the news media, bad news is good news. It is more about vindication than veritability. What a sad state we live in, when no one can agree that certain events, like natural disasters, are nobody’s fault.
A few years ago my budding interest in the news was a sign to me that I was getting older. Now I have even more proof of my aging. The first step towards getting old is simply watching the news. The next step is complaining about it. | <urn:uuid:3a5b7c4d-9a63-458a-9bdc-d2523163ee2f> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://cortezjournal.com/article/20121121/DS04/121129946/0/News/TV-news-provides--evidence-of-my-aging | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368700264179/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516103104-00024-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.985177 | 629 | 1.65625 | 2 |
This release patched virtually the same number of vulnerabilities as the last security upgrade seven weeks ago.
Firefox 3.0.4, the fourth update since Mozilla launched the browser in June, fixes six flaws marked 'critical', two 'high', two 'moderate', and one 'low' in Mozilla's four-step scoring system. Most of the critical bugs could be used by hackers to introduce their own malicious code into a vulnerable system.
Mozilla repeatedly patched protocol handler bugs in Firefox starting in July 2007. That vulnerability was judged moderate by Mozilla because of extenuating circumstances.
"It requires an attacker to have malicious code saved locally, then have a user open a chrome: document or privileged about: URI, and then open the malicious file in the same privileged tab," Mozilla said in its advisory.
Mozilla also updated the nearly-retired Firefox to 188.8.131.52, patching all but two of the same vulnerabilities fixed in 3.0.4, and several others for good measure. Of the dozen bugs, six were rated critical. The 184.108.40.206 update will be the next-to-last for the older Firefox 2.0, which will be dropped from support next month.
Before that happens, Mozilla will make one last effort to convince Firefox 2.0 users to upgrade. In two to three weeks users will again be prompted to upgrade in a repeat of an offer first extended in August. Mozilla has been very successful in convincing users to upgrade; as of the end of October, 73 percent of users were running the newer Firefox 3.0, reported web metrics firm Net Applications.
At times, the gap between Firefox and Thunderbird patches has been more than a month. This time, however, Thunderbird should be updated soon; version 220.127.116.11 entered beta test this week.
Users can download the update for Windows, Mac OS X and Linux from the Mozilla site, call up their browser's built-in updater or wait for the automatic update notification, which typically appears within 48 hours. | <urn:uuid:98a646bd-2bdd-45cb-b2e6-6a53366a65e5> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.pcadvisor.co.uk/news/security/107098/firefox-30-security-release-patches-11-flaws/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368708142388/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516124222-00010-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.936363 | 424 | 1.734375 | 2 |
The following is an excerpt from an article in International Business Times Australia that discusses Management Professor Tim Judge’s research on how agreeable workers earn significantly lower incomes than less agreeable ones. To read the entire article visit: Researchers Find Out Why Nice Guys Do Finish Last
A new study has proved that nice guys really do finish last.
The famous aphorism from baseball manager Leo Durocher has been used to describe the kind of person who succeeds at life. People who make it to the top need to cut corners and compromise their ethics which is why you'll never see nice guys at the head of Fortune 500 companies.
The saying was an extremely pessimistic view on the nature of humanity and no one wanted to believe the Durocher was right. Surely there are successful people who aren't completely heartless? Well according to a study by researchers Beth A. Livingston of Cornell University, Timothy A. Judge of Notre Dame and Charlice Hurst of University of Western Ontario, nice guys don't win at the game of life. | <urn:uuid:51d011d9-88a9-44c7-888e-16f109130259> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://business.nd.edu/news_and_events/mendoza_in_the_news/article.aspx?id=10442 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368705953421/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516120553-00005-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.966237 | 207 | 1.71875 | 2 |
In many areas of the country a seller’s market is emerging, with lower inventory of desirable homes and rising prices, according to the National Association of Realtors. That means increased competition for buyers, and more sellers giving preference to buyers who approach the bargaining table with their finances in order. Real estate experts and finance pros alike agree: It pays to get pre-approved for a mortgage when you’re in the market to buy a home.
Gone are the days of easy approvals, no-money down mortgages and sub-prime borrowing, thanks to the Great Recession. Borrowers today need to show sound financial management skills and good credit in order to secure the best financing deals. If you’re in the market for a mortgage this spring, here are some steps you can take to impress potential lenders:
* Examine your credit – Your credit status is key to securing a mortgage. The higher your score, the better your chances of securing a mortgage for the amount you need at the terms you want. You should monitor your credit year-round, and take a critical look at things when you know you’re going to be house-shopping. Pay all your bills on time, pay down credit card balances and keep an eye on your ratio of credit available to credit used. Websites like freecreditscore.com can help you understand your credit and make informed financial decisions. You can track your credit score and report over time, and see how your financial behaviors impact your credit.
* Stay at your current job – Long gone are the days when lenders signed off on mortgages without adequate proof of employment and income. Any mortgage company you apply to will want to see that you have a reliable work history and income. If you know you’ll be buying a house this year, now is not the time to switch jobs. If you know you’ll need to change jobs in 2013, consider putting off a house purchase, especially if you may need to relocate for a new job.
* Cap other spending – Excessive spending in the months leading up to your mortgage application may make a lender question your ability to manage debt. When you know you will be applying for a home loan, reduce other spending. Avoid large credit purchases if possible. If you must use credit for a purchase, consider how it will impact your credit. Freecreditscore.com has a patented Score Planner that lets anyone visiting the website see how their financial behaviors can affect their credit score.
* Save up a substantial down payment – It’s harder than ever to get a no-money-down mortgage. Many lenders have stopped offering them at all. To maximize your chances of getting a good mortgage deal, you’ll need about 20 percent of the purchase price for a cash down payment. Beyond helping you secure financing, there are other very good reasons to save for a down payment. First, it will help you get into the habit of saving for a goal. And, when you do buy a house, the down payment helps ensure you have instant equity – and ultimately reduces your monthly payment.
Securing financing before you go home shopping can help you make the most of your opportunities, and helps you move quickly when you find a house you want. By taking a few steps to impress potential lenders, you can make your mortgage application process a successful one – and secure the keys to your dream home. | <urn:uuid:1c63eb1c-ef27-4cda-b407-c47df2aa142d> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://floydcountytimes.com/pages/full_story/push?article-A+borrower-s+guide+to+impressing+a+mortgage+lender%20&id=21887786&instance=all | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368704713110/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516114513-00000-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.944341 | 696 | 1.65625 | 2 |
First lady Michelle Obama has some advice for children on losing weight: Don't think about appearances.
"The first thing that we want to make sure that we do is not make this an issue about looks," Obama said Monday in her first Google+ Hangout.
For the third year in a row, the first lady is pushing her "Let's Move" campaign against childhood obesity. The initiative has taken her on the road in recent days, stopping by for some now-viral "mom dancing" on Jimmy Fallon's late-night comedy show, and holding events in Illinois, Mississippi and Missouri. She also taped two public service announcements with one of Sesame Street's biggest stars, Big Bird.
Speaking to one of the Google participants -- who said he lost 200 pounds down from 400 -- in the session, Obama addressed ways to teach kids how to combat weight loss without thinking about weight.
"We should really talk to kids about how they feel, how they feel inside so that we are not just dealing with the physical manifestations of the challenge but we are really tapping into what is going on inside that head of that child," she said. "And then we want to talk about ways to make it fun."
When her own daughters were going through "some of these similar challenges" when they were little, Obama said she "never talked about weight in the household."
"We just started to make changes. And we made changes in a way that didn't make them feel badly about themselves," she said. "It didn't even make them feel any ownership over it because truly kids that age can't control what they eat."
Participants also quizzed Obama on more personal topics, such as whether she still plays the piano (She "dabbles"), how to keep one's dog from getting fat ("get them out there and throw the ball") and what's her favorite dance move ("It's obviously the Dougie").
Asked about her chance to present Best Picture at the Oscars last week, the first lady said the night was "absolutely nerve wracking."
"It was live and nobody knew we were doing it ... I was a little more nervous than I thought I'd be. I thought I'd drop the envelope. I thought I'd get the name wrong," she said, adding that overall it was an "awesome moment." | <urn:uuid:5aebb0c3-281a-4b9c-9660-ae65116ca580> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.wptz.com/news/politics/Michelle-Obama-gives-weight-loss-advice/-/8869804/19170906/-/wwqu5p/-/index.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368697974692/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516095254-00000-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.987233 | 477 | 1.539063 | 2 |
Aug 31, 2009 05:40 PM | 3
Despite the tradition-steeped pageantry this week when many of the world's tennis stars take the court in Queens, N.Y., the athletes' experiences may be quite distant from their predecessors' polite volleys in the championship first contested more than 125 years ago. U.S. Open fans will see players sporting sophisticated shoes and rackets with high-tech strings—and, perhaps unfittingly, also hear barbaric battle cries. (With some players now grunting at more than 100 decibels, they may very well be heard as far as Brooklyn.) To what extent are these changes putting players at a greater advantage? Is tennis going the way of swimming with technology making the difference between love and match?
One of the first things a fan will notice—after their eyes adjust to the players' flashy attire—is that the tennis shoe is no longer just a generic name for a sports shoe. In fact, that specificity now goes a lot further. Nike, for example, recently created individualized tennis shoes for rivals Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal. A company representative explained in an e-mail to The New York Times: "Roger's playing style consists of nimble footwork that is forefoot intensive, and a style of play that covers the entire court, while Rafa [Nadal] is a more explosive player with a more heel-focused game consisting of primarily lateral movements on the baseline." The unique designs reflect these heel and toe differences.
While their feet may be adorned with different interpretations of the tennis shoe, both stars will swing rackets laced with luxilon, a popular new polyester string. "Luxilon has changed the game so much," Rodney Harmon, a former tour player who now works for the United States Tennis Association told the U.K.'s Guardian. "Guys can move back on returns and take huge swipes. The ball spins like a gyroscope and it's almost too difficult to volley." Rick Macci, a top U.S. Coach, added to the Guardian's report: "Rackets now are like AK-47s. Everybody is hitting the ball harder and heavier." Some observers feel this gives power players like Nadal an extra edge over the finesse play of those like Federer.
The growth of grunting may be an even more apparent change to the sport. "Grunting is a natural outgrowth of this new power game—a kind of advertisement of tennis's beefed-up sport-ness," reports the Boston Globe. "Muscles, velocity, and noise have brought tennis closer to other sports in its celebration of the physical. Grunting demonstrates a kind of effort. It is the sound of work."
Could this also be partially contributing to those increasingly powerful serves and volleys? Just as weight lifters can release loud groans as they raise the bar over their head, a forced exhalation of air may also aid the release of tension in tennis. Dennis O'Connell, a professor of physical therapy at Hardin-Simmons University in Abilene, Texas, found that college tennis players sped up their serves by an average of 4.7 miles per hour when they grunted, according to Canada's National Post. (The players involved in the research grunted at an average of 73 decibels; some professional female tennis players surpass the 100-decibel mark, about as loud as a chainsaw.)
But, to purists, this natural noise may be even more unfair than the advancing of racket technologies. According to the Globe, tennis great Martina Navratilova complained about a number of modern developments, including high-tech rackets, but it was "grunting that really boiled her blood." She told the Globe that certain players' grunts disorient their opponents as they prepare to hit a return. "It is cheating, pure and simple," she said.
So where should tennis draw the line? While Hawkeye technology is now aiding umpires in line calls, there seem to be plenty more court controversies for players to break (or make) a racket over.
Picture of Roger Federer by Perunotas TV via Flickr
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The Zumastor Linux storage project adds enterprise storage features to Linux, primarily improved snapshots and remote replication. Point-in-time, near zero-cost, block level snapshots can be added to any existing filesystem and performance does not degrade with multiple snapshots. Remote replication is achieved by sending minimal block level deltas between snapshots without having to traverse the entire filesystem like rsync does.
Chiron FS is a FUSE based filesystem that implements replication at the filesystem level like RAID 1 does at the device level. The replicated filesystem may be of any kind you want; the only requisite is that you mount it. There is no need for special configuration files; the setup is as simple as one mount command (or one line in fstab).
AnomicFTPD is an RFC959-compliant FTP server with OS- independent user and group management. Active and passive modes, non-root mode, and anonymous and/or read-only modes are supported. A built-in client IP filter acts as a firewall and provides additional access limitation. The server has no online interface; attributes, groups, and user accounts are configured through text files. The protocol/ format-unspecified LIST command produces output that is compatible with most FTP clients, including common Web browsers in FTP mode.
Radiant Data PeerFS is real-time peer-to-peer distributed replicating file system featuring global file and sectional locks. All read operations are performed locally, and only file changes are transmitted across the network. It supports databases such as MySQL, as well as images and documents. All nodes are active/active, allowing for load balancing. Clients can also be hot switched between nodes, eliminating downtime. It also supports AES encryption for use across the Internet. | <urn:uuid:7518b9be-8fc4-47d2-bed8-73e8041ffd2b> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://freecode.com/tags/mirroring?page=1&sort=created_at&with=411&without= | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368700264179/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516103104-00022-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.932045 | 355 | 1.617188 | 2 |
One month after she took ill, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton returned to her busy schedule, and will prepare to testify on the Benghazi terror attack that killed four Americans. NBC's Andrea Mitchell reports.
Secretary of State Hillary Clinton received a standing ovation on her first day back at work since she suffered a concussion and was diagnosed with a blood clot in December.
Her staff presented her with two gifts: A football helmet emblazoned with the State Department logo, paired with a football jersey with the number 112 across the back, for the number of countries the secretary has visited during her four-year tenure.
Her deputy noted that Washington is a contact sport.
A photo released by the State Department showed Clinton hoisting the helmet into the air after pulling it out of a box.
Secretary Clinton holds up a football jersey on her first day back on the job. The jersey, given to her by her staff, has the No. 112 on the back symbolizing the number of countries she's visited as Secretary of State. | <urn:uuid:d4503c19-c746-4d03-ad37-9ec20a797a7a> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://firstread.nbcnews.com/_news/2013/01/07/16396563-back-on-the-job-clinton-presented-with-football-helmet-after-concussion?pc=25&sp=0 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368703682988/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516112802-00040-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.974136 | 208 | 1.53125 | 2 |
The Palestinian Authority (PA) is considering filing a lawsuit laying claim to large tracts of land in the Jordan Valley, senior PA official for religious affairs Mahmoud Al-Habash told the PA’s Wafa news service.
Habash claimed that the land rightfully belongs to the Muslim Waqf, but was confiscated by Israel in 1967. The land has since been designated as Area C under Israel-PA agreements, meaning that Israel is in charge of both military and civilian matters in the region.
The land in question was used to build several Israel towns, including Naaran, Yitav and Netiv Hagdud, he said. Habash emphasized the PA’s determination to restore all lands that were part of the “Islamic trust.”
The threat of a PA suit for the “return” of the land follows PA plaintiffs’ success in convincing the High Court in Israel to order the destruction of homes in Migron and Beit El.
The Jordan Valley is one of the more heavily Israeli areas in Judea and Samaria: outside of Jericho, Israeli farmers outnumber their Arab and Bedouin counterparts in the region. Israeli military leaders have long stressed the region’s strategic importance in thwarting invasions.
Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu said earlier this year that Israel will not leave the Jordan Valley even if a peace deal is reached with the PA. | <urn:uuid:f42d7e3c-9cc5-4010-9de2-b5475b1be043> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.israelforum.com/board/showthread.php?21667-PA-Plans-Wave-of-Lawsuits-Targeting-Jordan-Valley-Towns | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368697974692/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516095254-00041-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.953508 | 288 | 1.773438 | 2 |
Gin rummy is a simple yet interesting card game usually played between two players, although online variations allow multiple players as well. The Rules page explains all aspects of the game, from the deck, values of cards, the shuffle and deal, what the objective of Gin rummy is, how the cards are drawn, what is meant by stock pile and discard pile, what sets, runs and melds are, what the knock is, what is gin and big gin, who is the defender, how the layoff happens, what does undercut mean, how does a hand end, to how a game ends – this page covers the principles of Gin rummy rules. It also covers popular variations in Gin rummy rules, like dealing differences and in starting the first turn, and exceptional situations like wrong deals and illegal knocks. Other house rules of online Gin rummy including Straight Gin, Oklahoma Gin, and Hollywood Gin are discussed too.
Once you know what the rules of Gin rummy are, you should know how to score a Gin rummy game. The Scoring page explains all the points that are awarded in a game of Gin rummy and also all the bonuses in Gin rummy. It explains which points and bonuses are awarded after each round – knock points, undercut bonus, gin bonus, and big gin bonus. The scoring page also explains the bonuses awarded after the game is over – game bonus, box bonus, and shutout bonus. Sample games are demonstrated and how the games are scored explained to help you understand the scoring methods in Gin rummy. The score sheets and how scores are kept in them are discussed along with variations like cumulative scoring methods to help you maintain a score sheet. The Hollywood gin and it’s scoring methods are explained along with cross referenced examples of a sample game.
Confused about the terms and jargons in Gin rummy? Or just want to know what a particular term you heard in Gin rummy means? This page is for you then. Know your blitz from baiting, advertising from ginning, illegal hand from no-brainer hand, and many more such terms. From common terms used in Gin rummy like deck, shuffle, cut, deal, suit, draw, discard, topcard, upcard, knock, set, run, meld, gin, stock, deadwood and undercut to strategic terms like fishing, salesman, unload and speculate, to terms used in partnership Gin rummy play like captain, partnership safe count, this page covers them all. It also lists synonyms for a particular term – for example, blitz, schneider and shutout are one and the same thing, and so is fishing, baiting, salesman and advertising. It will also help you understand the relation between two terms used in Gin rummy online, like box and box bonus, gin and gin off. | <urn:uuid:74f9d2cc-ac39-4c2b-9921-6d1121bb25f9> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://ginrummy.com/index.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368705195219/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516115315-00032-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.951066 | 579 | 1.8125 | 2 |
President Robert Mugabe and Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai met in Harare on Monday to discuss, among other things, a replacement for the chairperson of the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission (ZEC).
Citing health reasons Justice Simpson Mutambanengwe, the former chair of ZEC, resigned last week just months before the country holds crucial harmonized elections. Mutambanengwe, a London-trained lawyer, was appointed as ZEC chairperson on 31st March 2010.
A source close to Mondays talks between Mugabe and Tsvangirai told SW Radio Africa that the other items on the leaders' agenda were political violence, media bias and deferment of the referendum date from March 16th to the end of month.
The leaders are reportedly contemplating pushing the referendum back to the end of the month, because of lack of money to fund the poll.
ZEC announced recently that they need as much as $88 million to bankroll the process but apparently no money has yet been found for the process, despite promises from the United Nations Development Program to help raise the cash.
However, the main item on the agenda involved the two leaders scrutinizing the names of possible candidates to take over from Mutambanengwe. The two names that have been mentioned in political discussions in the past days are that of the former Supreme Court Judge Wilson Sandura and Moses Chinhengo, a former High Court Judge.
Also discussed were the MDC-T's complaints about the state media for its relentless hate speech and partisan nature. It's believed Tsvangirai insisted during the meeting that media reforms are essential to ensure a divergence of views ahead of elections.
United States based political analyst Dr Maxwell Shumba told us the latest crackdown on NGO's was meant stop their work on educating people on elections in Zimbabwe.
'It's all about intimidating these organizations to stop their voter education activities. These organizations stand for the people and without them very little gets to the common man in the rural areas,' Shumba added. | <urn:uuid:505e52a3-5f61-4547-b2be-d9812675d226> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://allafrica.com/stories/201302190431.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368704713110/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516114513-00003-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.969457 | 416 | 1.59375 | 2 |
The objective of this website is to disseminate daily random publications of primarily U.S. government press releases as they appear on e-mails and websites sponsored by the U.S. Government. Editing is kept to a minimum and is related to introductions of the releases and some formatting issues related to compatibility. This website is ideal for those looking for a primary source of information related to issues and functions of the U.S. government.
THE SOURCE OF IMMENSE POWER
Credit: NASA/CXC/SAO/A. Siemiginowska et al
Thursday, April 19, 2012
U.S. GOVERNMENT OFFICIALS URGE CONGRESS TO REMOVE SOME SATELLITE TECH FROM EXPORT CONTROLS
FROM: AMERICAN FORCES PRESS SERVICE
Report Urges Lifting Some Satellite Export Controls
By Cheryl Pellerin American Forces Press Service
WASHINGTON, April 18, 2012 - Officials from the Defense and State departments released a report today that urges Congress to move communications and some remote-sensing satellites off the tightly controlled U.S. Munitions List and into the commercial enterprise.
The report, conducted in accordance with section 1248 of the National Defense Authorization Act for fiscal 2010, was prepared by technical and space policy experts from DOD and State, with support from the intelligence community and NASA.
In a briefing today from the National Space Symposium in Colorado Springs, Colo., Gregory L. Schulte, deputy assistant secretary defense for space policy, said the report "reflects a very thorough review ... that looked item by item, technology by technology, to assess the risk in moving specific items from the U.S. Munitions List to the Commerce Control List."
Schulte was joined by Lou Ann McFadden, chief of the Defense Technology Security Administration's strategic issues division.
The report summarizes a risk assessment of U.S. space export control policy, concluding that most commercial communications and remote sensing satellites and their components can be moved from the USML to the CCL without harming national security. The items include communications satellites that contain no classified components, and remote-sensing satellites with performance parameters below certain thresholds.
The satellites and their associated systems, subsystems, parts and components make up what Schulte described as "hundreds of thousands of items" that already are being sold commercially by companies around the world.
U.S. companies couldn't sell the same satellites and components because of restrictions imposed by the items' listing on the USML or control under the International Traffic in Arms Regulations, called ITAR, administered by the State Department.
"We believe that, if Congress is willing, the approach laid out in this report does two things," Schulte said.
"It can strengthen our national security by energizing the industrial base that is so important to us," he added, "and by allowing our industry to compete on the global market for satellites."
In a March 8 hearing before the House Armed Services Committee, Schulte called the approach one of "higher fences around fewer items," and noted that no such changes could be made without legislation.
According to the report, in the interests of national and economic security, the president, and not Congress, should have the authority to determine the export-control status of satellites and space-related items.
As part of that recommendation, the report said DOD should have the authority to apply appropriate monitoring and other export-control measures to individual cases to most effectively reduce national security risks.
A fact sheet released by the White House today noted that the recommended items are controlled on the [USML] by statute, based on the requirements of the National Defense Authorization Act for fiscal 1999.
This makes them "the sole USML items for which the president does not have the legal authority to appropriately adjust the controls to ensure they meet current and anticipated U.S. national security requirements," the fact sheet said, "and to ensure they do not unintentionally harm the U.S. satellite industry and its supplier base."
Congress and the Obama administration "recognize the importance of this critical sector to the nation's national and economic security," the fact sheet said.
"This in-depth report shows that the United States can safely modify the export controls placed on satellites and related component technology that are widely available, while maintaining firm control on systems and technologies deemed truly critical to national security," Jim Miller, acting undersecretary of defense for policy, said today in a statement.
The report confirmed the need for some space-related items to remain on the list -- those that contain critical components, technologies and implicit expertise that give the nation a military or intelligence advantage in space.
The items include satellites that perform purely military or intelligence missions, high-performance remote-sensing satellites, services in support of foreign launch operations for USML- and CCL-designated satellites, and others.
"Implementing the recommendations in this report will facilitate cooperation with U.S. allies and export-control-regime partners," Miller said. | <urn:uuid:242d2335-b44d-4635-a401-8d6cb9d41da7> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://brandtsrandomgovernmentpressreleases.blogspot.com/2012/04/us-government-officials-urge-congress.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368704713110/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516114513-00024-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.936634 | 1,034 | 1.515625 | 2 |
Socialist leader Francois Hollande was sworn in as president ofFrance on Tuesday at a solemn ceremony overshadowed by the catastrophic debt crisis threatening to unravel the eurozone.
After brief ceremonies in Paris, the 57-year-old career politician was to dash to Berlin to confront Chancellor Angela Merkel over their very different visions as to how to save the single currency bloc.
“Power will be exercised at the summit of the state with dignity and simplicity,” Hollande declared in his inaugural address, promising to find a “new path” to lead Europe out of its current troubles.
Hollande was also to make the much-anticipated announcement of who will lead his government as prime minister, with Jean-Marc Ayrault, the head of the Socialists’ parliamentary bloc, tipped as favourite.
Hollande was welcomed to the Elysee Palace by his predecessorNicolas Sarkozy, who led him to the presidential office for a private head-to-head and to hand over the codes to France’s nuclear arsenal.
Then Hollande ushered Sarkozy to his car for a final farewell, outgoing first lady Carla Bruni exchanging kisses with successor Hollande’s partner Valerie Trierweiler, elegant in a dark dress and vertiginous heels.
Hollande then signed the notice of formal handover of power and headed back in to the palace ballroom, where a crowd of Socialist and trade union leaders, churchmen and military officers were gathered.
No foreign heads of state were invited to what was a low-key ceremony for a post of such importance, leader of the world’s fifth great power.
After the swearing in, Hollande was to ride up the Champs Elysees to the Arc de Triomphe in an open-topped Citroen DS5 hybrid, waving to the crowd.
But the real work was to begin later in the afternoon, when Hollande was to fly to Berlin from an airbase north of Paris, for tense talks with Merkel, the leader of Europe’s biggest economy and France’s key ally.
Merkel was a Sarkozy ally and the architect of the European Union’s fiscal austerity drive. Hollande opposed the speed and depth of the cutbacks demanded by Berlin, and wants to renegotiate the eurozone fiscal pact.
Germany is committed to budgetary discipline, and Merkel has repeatedly insisted since Hollande’s election that the pact, signed by 25 of the 27 EU countries and already ratified in some, is not open to renegotiation.
But observers say there is room for compromise, with Hollande likely to agree to additional stimulus measures without a rewrite of the pact.
And with political paralysis in Greece raising the spectre of the country being forced from the eurozone, the heads of Europe’s two largest economies will be keen to reassure worried markets they can work together.
New figures released Tuesday showed France’s economy still stagnant, with official statistics agency INSEE saying it recorded no growth in the first quarter of 2012.
The agency also revised downward the growth figure for the fourth quarter of 2011, to 0.1% from 0.2%, while maintaining that the economy grew by 1.7 percent overall in 2011.
Before he heads to Berlin, Hollande’s first order of business will be to nominate a prime minister, who will be tasked with forming a government before a first cabinet session likely on Thursday.
Ayrault, a 62-year-old longtime Hollande ally, is considered first in line for the job, but other names are circulating.
Once the cabinet is named, the focus will move to the Socialists’ campaign to win a parliamentary majority in June’s legislative elections — a key test for the party after Hollande’s win.
After the talks with Merkel, Hollande heads to the United States where he is to meet President Barack Obama at the White House on Friday ahead of back-to-back G8 then NATO summits.
These meetings are also expected to be a test for the neophyte leader as he explains his decision to pull French forces from Afghanistan by the end of 2012, a year ahead of schedule. | <urn:uuid:4d0c481b-bc4c-42ff-a4a0-703349157b81> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2012/05/15/hollande-sworn-in-as-french-president/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368700958435/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516104238-00023-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.959019 | 851 | 1.765625 | 2 |
Post By JHOLLAND1
Post By Ries
Post By Joe Michaels
I have been hoping to visit this someday. One amazing thing- its so big, its visible in the Sat photos-
-20.466667,-66.833333 - Google Maps
google, as usual, has the tag off by a mile or two.
There is a similar graveyard right in metro Buenos Aires I went by the last time I was there- more rolling stock, fewer locos, but still mighty impressive.
In the case of the Bolivian yard, its just too remote to be worth scrapping, plus, its become a tourist attraction, and the locals make money off of it.
In Argentina, its just lethargy on the part of the state railroad.
There is a bridge crossing the train yard here. The yard is now just a shadow of what it was. I can remember as a kid seeing, from that bridge, steam locomotives parked in the icehouse yard. They were waiting to go to the scrap yard. None of them were there when I worked for the RR in the '70's. There was another yard full of older rail cars still there when I worked there. I never had the opportunity to look at any of them close up. Even all of that is now gone. The whole yard has been revamped and the only landmark I recognize is a building called the "one Spot" which is a repair shop for 'bad order' rolling stock. All of the round-house and associated track are gone. The diesel pit and coal tipple; gone. The humps have been torn out and replaced. In fact, the RR industry in this town is more like a 'pass through' industry now. It is still a two hump yard, but all is automatic and the 'hand throw' switchs' are few. Even the carmen are gone. I'd be willing to bet there aren't even hobos around here anymore.
Lots of Belpaire fireboxes there.
When I worked in Quito, Ecuador in 1978, the trains were pulled by diesels. However, there was one engine shed with a few steam locomotives in it. The shed was right in the city of Quito. It had walls that did not reach the eaves of the roof. I could see the sand and steam domes and stacks above those walls. I saw it from rides to and from work, and it was not close to either the mill where I worked nor the apartment block where I was billeted. I was on a job and could not divert to find the engine shed. I've always wondered what happened to it.
When I worked in Paraguay in 1980-81, the railroads were still in operation and 100 % steam as far as I could tell. I was working at a sawmill site about 12 hours driving from Asuncion. One day, we needed a 10 ton chainfall, so two of took the mill's Jeep (a good Brazilian copy of a 60's CJ-5, with a Pinto engine in it), and went to Asuncion. Our first stop was the railroad station to ask about a chainfall. I figured if they had steam locomotives they had to have a shop, and maybe we could rent a chainfall from their shop. At the station, there was an engine shed off to a side. It was quiet and lazy around the station, but there were a few steam locomotives in the shed and on a ready track. The engines on the ready track had banked fires. All of the engines were built to "American" design as far as couplers was concerned. The engines I saw were built by North British, and the one date I remember was 1912. I climbed into the cab of one engine that had steam up, just sort of simmering in the morning sun. I remember the water in the level glass looked about like strong tea for color and flecks suspended in it. Those engines were fired on wood. The tenders all had additional height added to the coal bunkers in the form of "stake rack sides" to contain more wood. Each train also had a wooden truss-rod gondola car between the tender and the rest of the train. This car was piled with chunk wood. Not cordwood as we'd know it, but chunks cut any which way, some split, some not. As long as it fit thru the firehole, it was considered good for fuel.
We found a young mechanical engineer from the railroad and asked about the chainfall. He told us to go to "Sapucai", which was where the Paraguayan railroads had their main shops. He also told us we'd have to wait 3 days for the next train to Sapucai. The locomotive simmering on the ready track was to pull passenger run to the Argentine border. We saw the passenger coaches and the coach that the (then) dictator, Stroessner, rode in. All of the coaches were truss-rod framed with wood sides and clerestory roofs. We joked that Butch Cassidy or Jesse James would have felt right at home robbing one of those Paraguayan trains. We never did get to Sapucai, and I regret it. I think some steam tour group does get to Sapucai and the shops are still there, kind of a museum now.
I worked one job on the Island of Antigua, also about 1978 or 79. There was what appeared to have been an abandoned sugar refinery. I've written about it on other threads. As I got to know the caretaker, he let me wander and poke around freely in the old sugar refinery. It was steam powered, with B & W boilers built in Renfrew, Scotland, and a lot of Mirlees, Watson steam driven evaporator pumps and mechanical drive engines. The cane crushing rolls were driven by Corliss engines, and there were Bellis & Morcom high speed steam engines in the power house. I found a shed and yard crammed full of narrow gauge equipment from the days when the cane was moved to the mil by rail. The rails beyond the mil's perimeter had been taken up, yet crossing signs still remained in place on the local roads. In the locomotive shed was a collection of narrow gauge tank engines. Most were made by Hunslet, and there were a couple of gasoline/mechanical locomotives as well. There were the cars used to move the cane, and the locomotives, all put into this shed and yard, all preserved. I think possibly some of the steam locomotives from Antigua wound up on Barbuda as part of a luxury development for wealthy people. I've always wondered if anyone ever got any of those little narrow gauge steam locomotives from Antigua.
When I worked in Marquette, Michigan in the mid 1970's, there was a real boneyard not far from the powerplant jobsite. This was the boneyard for the last steam power used on the Lake Superior and Ishpeming Railroad (LS & I RR). The LS & I was owned by iron mining companies and existed to haul iron ore and coal and some pulpwood. It was steam powered until about 1962. When the LS & I got rid of the last of its steam engines, an accountant named John Zerbel bought the lot. Zerbel had worked for the LS & I and knew something of railroading. He was also cheap beyond all rational belief. Zerbel got something like eight steam locomotives, all runners, and two steam locomotive wrecking cranes as well as some ancient wood passenger coaches. He took two of the running steam engines and some retired railroaders and went in the tourist train business on a branch line (which had been built by Ford Motor Company to handle hardwood auto body parts from Big Bay, for the T's and other Ford cars). Zerbel basically ran things into the ground, and he had enough track and enough engines and rolling stock that it took him a good number of years. As an engine would reach the point of being un-usable, even for Zerbel's operation, it was put in the boneyard. Some of the LS & I engines were so heavy or in tired enough condition that Zerbel just left them in the boneyard and never did anything with them except to have parts pulled off them. Stuff like lubricators, injectors, airbrake pump governors, anything to keep the other engines going was cannabilized. the heaviest of the LS & I engines in the boneyard had boosters on them and mechanical stokers. I fired a few times on the tourist train Zerbel operated, and as it snaked out of town on the old Big Bay branch, it ran thru the boneyard. I was in that boneyard many times, just looking at the old engines and the cranes. The cranes were so old they used chain instead of wire rope.
Zerbel's operation, aside from relying on the boneyard, was one step from it in every other sense. His engineers were all ancient retirees, and his equipment was patched together. By the time I worked on it, there was one engine left in steam, and that was number 23, an Alco 2-8-0. 23 was tired. Her tender leaked water like a sieve and had been patched with concrete. Either Zerbel was too cheap to pay a welder or there was nothing left on the tender tank to weld to. I worked all night with a retired ex-Chicago and Northwestern RR boilermaker foreman to replace a few mudleg staybolts. I was 25, and the boiler maker was 76. I got in the firebox and worked while he watched and coached me. He said afterwards that if the railroads had kept steam, he had no doubt I'd have been a steam shop superintendent. We got a quick hydro on the boiler and our work held good. The old boilermaker and I had breakfast. He went home, I got a fire in 23 to raise steam for the day's tourist runs. It was a nice summer morning, and the regular fireman came aboard, as did the engineer. I decided to dead head, and just enjoy the ride from the engine cab. We rattled out of town with several heavy steel coaches and were meandering up the Big Bay Branch. The Big Bay Branch was not what it once was. Zerbel had sold about half the rails for scrap to keep his tourist train afloat, so the trains only went as far as Harlow Lake, about 10 or 12 miles from Presque Isle station.
I was lounging on the coal pile, out of sight, enjoying the sun. the regular fireman went to get a scoop of coal out of the tender, and the firing hoe or clinker hook came down and nailed him in the head. The firing tools were carried on hooks above the gangway at the back of the cab. The fireman went down, out for the count. Louie, the engineer, put the airbrakes in full emergency and started blowing the emergency signal on the steam whistle. I got the fireman to see what shape he was in. He was semi conscious by that point. We realized the fireman might have a serious injury. The conductor and brakeman came up to the cab to see what was up. On their heels came John Zerbel. he had a party of his people from Wisconsin on the train, and he was irate that we'd stopped. We explained the fireman was injured. Zerbel was cursing the fireman and hollering the accident was the guy's own fault, it was stupidity, and "hard work never killed anyone, just stupidity". I said we ought to cut the engine off the train (no cell phones in those days) and run fast to the nearest grade crossing where there might be houses and phones. I'd fire the engine, the brakeman could keep hold of the fireman, and we'd get him to some help. The engineer agreed. Zerbel flew into a wild rage and told me to get up on the engine and fire (who else was going to ?) and never mind the injured fireman. Zerbel said the fireman was not hurt (was this guy a supernatural healer to make that diagnosis ?). We said if the fireman had a cervical spine injury or concussion or skull fracture, jostling on the engine deck for a whole run might worsen his condition. Zerbel chanted his mantra about "hard work never killed anybody". We said we would not move the locomotive until the fireman was given some kind of care. Zerbel hollered he was not paying for an ambulance call or medical bills. We decided the only thing to do was to move the injured fireman to the dining car's kitchen. We got him down off the engine, and two of us formed a chair and carried him back to the cook car. We rolled up some work shirts and whatever else we could find to stabilize his head and neck, and one of the waitresses said she'd stick with him and keep an eye on him. Zerbel was at a white heat, hollering and cursing. I got back on the engine with Louie and we got the train going. It was a long ride up to Harlow lake and back down. When we reached the station, Zerbel was up at the head end hollering that he did not want the injured fireman moved until the paying passengers and his guests had left the parking lot. The waitress drove the fireman to the ER. He had a cervical spine injury and a concussion, and took some time to heal up.
Zerbel kept his boneyard train going a few more years.
I had left the Upper Peninsula. About 7 years later, I was working for the NY Power Authority on a dredging job. I went into Kingston, NY to drop the site office mail and get lunch. As I drove around Kingston, there was old number 23, sitting in what had been the NY Central's roundhouse area. The roundhouse was gone, the turntable was derelict. 23 was boarded up and stripped and looking worse than ever. I found out she was now owned by the Empire State Railroad Museum. Some sleuthing and I became a part of the Catskill Mountain Railroad. 23 got moved to a yard in Kingston, NY. She mouldered and slowly deteriorated. We realized it was a "now or never" thing if she was to be restored and put back in steam. We began the job of stripping her down. As we stripped the cab piping, we came to a copper steam supply pipe which had supplied steam to the injectors. This pipe was always wrapped with asbestos woven tape type insulation and ran accross the boiler backhead, right qwhere the firemen would have been.
As we stripped off the asbestos tape insulation, it was stuck fast to the copper pipe. We discovered that copper pipe had gotten thin, cracked and leaked. Another of Zerbel's cut rate repairs was done: patching a 200 psi steam line with epoxy resin and copper wire. Whether that patch ever saw steam is unlikely. If it had seen steam, it would have blasted steam off the backhead as soon as the supply valve up on the boilerhead was opened.
We continued to find patching, dime-store galvanized screwed nipples and fittings on steam lines, the engine's driver tires were shimmed back onto the wheel centers with chunks of galvanized sheet metal, and on it went. My buddies all looked at some of thie cob job repairs and wondered that no one was seriously injured as a result. I said it was what happened when an accountant bought a branch line railroad, and hollered: "Hard Work Never Killed Anyone !"
23 is in pieces now. We have her stripped down, and we need funds to start back together again. We've managed pretty well with scrounging and our own resources. She got a new tender, the body of an ex NY Central tender that we modified, and we lengethed her original tender frame. We've got a set of new flues for her boiler, and we've got tools and equipment, including our "boxcar machine shop". Little by little, time permitting and funds permitting, we work on 23. If anyone saw our yard in Kingston, NY, they'd think it was another boneyard. Old boxcars, some with stovepipes poked out the roofs or sides, two Alco RS-1 locomotives, an 0-4-0 Davenport tank engine also partially dismantled, and 23 off her wheels... along with old trucks, diesel gensets, an old Austin-Western crane, maintainenvace of way equipment, and a few juicy iron piles. None of us lets any kind of scrap steel get by us. Angle, Wideflange, plate, pipe.... there are stands and shed frames made from 23's old 2" flues. Nothing goes to waste. Her old smokebox is sitting up-ended, waiting to become maybe a forge hearth. The rivet forges we do use are made from turck wheel rims. It's a boneyard, but I call it our "Field of Dreams".
I've been there, worth the look, but the real feature is the salt flats, huge. We took a three day tour, including the train scrapyard. Really cool high altitude landscape with geothermal activity thrown in, and more flamingoes than I've seen anywhere. The lithium for the batteries in our electric cars of the future will come from here.
Originally Posted by Ries
The old cliche', visible from space does not have the meaning it used.
One amazing thing- its so big, its visible in the Sat photos
Now, I can see the vehicles parked in my back yard! | <urn:uuid:a932614e-5ffc-409c-b5c9-72e42933edc9> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.practicalmachinist.com/vb/antique-machinery-history/train-scrapyard-255940/ | 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 | 0.990166 | 3,689 | 1.703125 | 2 |
Wednesday, January 23, 2002
Mohamed Elmasry of UW's electrical and computer engineering department is featured on the front page of today's Gazette, talking about his new book, Spiritual Fitness for Life: A Social Engineering Approach. As national president of the Canadian Islamic Congress, Elmasry is often asked to speak about his faith to audiences he senses are estranged from spiritual issues. "It's a disease of the times," he says, and his book offers a systematic cure. "You do not have to give up your job and travel to faraway places to achieve spiritual fitness," he writes.
Over the course of the symposium, each group will present its project in seminar format to invited guests from industry, academe and the media. Throughout both days, student groups will also publicly display their design project posters and will be available to discuss their projects during breaks.
Grade 6 through OAC students from schools in the region, along with their parents/guardians, have been invited to an open house from 6 p.m. to 9 p.m. on Wednesday to visit the various displays and to talk with the student designers.
The symposium presentations will cover many leading-edge technology developments in E&CE. Design project topics include wireless and Bluetooth systems, radio frequency and infra-red systems, digital systems, network cards, network encryption systems, anti-piracy systems, large scale World Wide Web base applications, micropayment systems, active map systems, production management systems, voice controlled systems, location tracking systems, plant efficiency systems, and robot control systems. Some projects also have societal impacts, such as vision and hearing aid advances.
Dean of engineering Sujeet Chaudhuri describes the depth and breadth of this year's projects as an "indisputable testimonial to the quality of engineers graduating from the department this year." He also gratefully acknowledges the work of faculty members, technologists and industry partners who have provided essential support to the students.
This year's symposium includes the second set of graduates to complete the intensive fourth-year design project course sequence, which challenges students in their final year of study to work in groups to identify and address a specific design problem. The symposium gives these students the opportunity to showcase their projects in poster and prototype format and to present them as seminars to external audiences.
Students will be graded on their presentations, explains Jim Barby, E&CE's fourth-year design project coordinator. "Being able to present your ideas to an investor or a client or a boss is essential in our field. These seminars and poster presentations -- in front of an external audience -- help our students develop the skills they'll need to do that successfully."
Opening ceremonies, with presentations by the dean and the chair of E&CE, are scheduled at 9:30 a.m. today. A detailed symposium schedule, including abstracts of each student project, is available on the web.
Traffic noteI understand there was a spectacular collision at the University Avenue entrance to campus about 8:30 this morning -- no information at this moment about the details.
The imperfect balances in the Canadian constitution have been a preoccupation in public life in this country since forever, and especially over the past four decades. And today attention will be focused on them in the 21st annual Faculty of Arts Lecture: "Constitutional Reform in Canada: The God That Failed".
The speaker is Alan Cairns, an adjunct professor in UW's department of political science, a Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada and a prominent figure in poli sci in Canada. Last fall he was the guest of honour at a conference at the University of British Columbia, under the title "Rethinking Citizenship in the Canadian Federation", and gave the closing address: "My Academic Career: The Pleasures and Risks of Introspection".
Said the conference announcement: "Over the last thirty years, few scholars have shaped our understanding of the Canadian federation in the manner of Alan Cairns. In a remarkably wide array of fields -- including the regional impact of Canada's electoral system, the historical development of Canadian federalism, the ongoing efforts to constitutionally reshape the federation, the minoritarian effects of the Charter of Rights, and the question of Aboriginal/Non-Aboriginal relations -- Cairns's scholarship has initiated and shaped many of the most pivotal debates amongst scholars and students of Canadian politics.
"Even today, Cairns's scholarship operates at the cutting edge of Canadian social science. This is evidenced by the widespread attention generated by his most recent book, Citizens Plus, which is already stimulating important interdisciplinary dialogue on the future of the Canadian federation. Yet while Cairns has tackled an extraordinary number of topics, and has utilized diverse lenses of enquiry, there is a strong theme -- a basis of cohesion -- that operates throughout his work. This theme is Cairns's overarching and consistent focus on the question of citizenship in a federal society.
"Cairns's impact on the study of the Canadian federation reflects not only the quality and range of his scholarship; it also owes much to the manner in which he discharges his role as an academic. Through his dedicated service to his profession and to generations of his students, Cairns has long demonstrated the ideals of scholarly responsibility and duty. This sense of duty extends beyond the academy as well. For example, Cairns was a lead researcher for both the Hawthorn Inquiry of the late 1960s and the Macdonald Commission of the 1980s. In undertaking these activities -- as both a scholar and citizen -- Cairns has demonstrated a second common thread that has operated throughout his career: his cultivation of a scholarly citizenship."
He was winner of last year's Donner Prize for Citizens Plus, a study of "Aboriginal peoples and the Canadian state".
Cairns will give his lecture starting at 4:00 today in the Theatre of the Arts, Modern Languages building. Admission is free.
It began with a presentation from Bruce Lumsden, director of co-operative education and career services, about the challenges facing co-op -- especially this term, which began with several hundred students jobless. "Four hundred students and their parents are not happy," said Lumsden, noting that although UW has a long, proud history of co-op, and an international reputation, "size and history are not everything. Today we're vulnerable." He said a task force has been set up to look at major issues touching on the co-op programs. Plans are still in the works, he told the senate, for a change to the present batch processing to match large numbers of jobs and students -- the goal is "a much more even flow" so that employers can get students hired faster.
Then came Graham Brown, principal of St. Paul's United College, with several colleagues. He spoke briefly about St. Paul's, describing UW's church colleges as providing "a learning environment that softens specialization". Brown told the senate that St. Paul's recently signed "a memorandum of understanding" with the LT3 learning centre; is planning to add 200 beds to its residence, more than doubling the number of students it can house; and is exploring the possibility of a co-op program in leadership for non-profit organizations.
Later in the meeting, UW president David Johnston mentioned that UW is still making slow progress on the north campus research and technology park, with officials talking with several companies that are "possible early tenants" to get the park occupied.
Provost Amit Chakma reported on the purchase of a building in the old Galt core of Cambridge that's intended as a new home for the UW school of architecture, and said that if things go really well, the school could open there in the fall of 2003. The Cambridge business people who are backing the move still need to find millions of dollars in private sector money for renovating and maintaining the building. Laura Talbot-Allan, the vice-president (university relations), noted that fund-raising for the project is considered part of UW's coming Campaign Waterloo. The senate passed a motion officially recommending to UW's board of governors that the architecture school move to the new site.
The volunteers, all second, third and fourth-year students, will be accompanied by two volunteer optometrists, both UW alumni. They expect to provide treatment for at least 2,500 residents who might otherwise not have access to eye care.
While the trip is organized in part by I Care International, a North American-based charitable organization, students are conducting their own fund raising to pay for their expenses, says Carolyn Fyffe, a third-year optometry student who is participating in the project. "We'll be selling pizza outside Fed Hall on Thursday nights and outside the Bombshelter Saturday nights to help raise funds for our trip."
Anyone wishing to make a donation can send a cheque to I Care International, in care of the school of optometry. A tax receipt will be provided. Children's toys, stickers, colouring books, crayons, candies (no nuts) and Canadian flags or pins are also welcome. Donations can be dropped off or mailed to the school of optometry.
A workshop on "Teaching Large Classes", sponsored by the teaching resource office, starts at 12 noon today in Math and Computer room 5158.
Dominic Covvey of the Education Program for Health Informatics Professionals will speak at 4:00 this afternoon, in a seminar sponsored by that UW unit and the InfraNet Project. His talk, on "How Much IT in a Health System Is Enough?", will be given in the Clarica Auditorium, Lyle Hallman Institute.
The second event in the "civic dialogue" series, sponsored by the civics research group, is scheduled for today from 4:30 to 6:00 at its home in downtown Kitchener, 70 King Street East.
A workshop about UW Innovate Inc. will be offered at 5:30 tonight as part of the career development series. The career resource centre in Needles Hall can provide the details.
Hungry after all that learning? Bon Appetit, the "food fair" in the Davis Centre, has a special on Vietnamese cuisine, today and every Wednesday from 5 to 7 p.m.
Philosophy professor Jan Narveson will speak on "Problems with Pacifists and Terrorists" at 7:00 tonight in the great hall of Conrad Grebel University College. His talk is one in a series of four open lectures on war and peace to be given this term.
The basketball Warriors will host the McMaster Marauders tonight in a pair of games in the PAC gymnasium: the women's teams play at 6:00, the men's at 8:00.
Tomorrow, Wesley Wark of the University of Toronto, an expert on intelligence and security ("spying" to you), will speak at 7:00 in the Humanities Theatre, as part of the student-organized "2020: Building the Future" lecture series.
Friday brings a reception and dinner honouring David Burns, former dean of engineering and long-time mechanical engineering professor, as he leaves UW to become vice-president (academic) at Conestoga College. Ethel Spike in the mech eng department, phone ext. 6740, should have last-minute information.
Sunday is the day for this term's local ACM programming contest, a precursor to the regional and international contests in which UW excels just about every year. | <urn:uuid:3f6197bc-da78-4258-a5d7-78eae9ed4547> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.bulletin.uwaterloo.ca/2002/jan/23we.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368701459211/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516105059-00017-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.962349 | 2,366 | 1.820313 | 2 |
Republicans claim that allowing Richard Cordray to head the CFPB imbues him with too much power, ignoring the immense influence on the other side of the equation.
This week's credit check: The 10 Republicans blocking Richard Cordray's nomination have received over $31 million in campaign cash from the financial sector. The median American family saw yearly earnings fall $5,261 over the past decade.
The least remarkable part of yesterday's Senate Banking Committee hearing on Richard Cordray, President Obama's nominee to head the new Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB), was Cordray's testimony itself. In fact, Republicans made it clear that his credentials are not what's up for debate. Sen. Bob Corker (R-TN) called a recent meeting with him "pleasant" and Sen. Richard Shelby (R-AL) said he has a "good background." Rather, they want to debate whether his post should exist at all. Their reasoning? That having one person in charge of this new watchdog will imbue Cordray with far too much power. As Shelby put it, "No one person should have so much unfettered power over the American people."
But what of the power of the opposition, the banks themselves, who stand to have new oversight and regulation from someone on the side of the average consumer? If we're going to talk about power imbalances, we might want to look at what the financial sector can marshal against the American people. Elizabeth Warren herself, the originator of the idea for the CFPB, estimates that it will police a $3 trillion consumer financial services industry. And Wall Street, along with its other corporate counterparts, is doing pretty well compared to the rest of us. Corporate profits have taken in 88 percent of the raise in national income since the recovery began, while household incomes only took in 1 percent.
It's not just profits banks wield in this fight, however. That money can easily turn into lobbying and campaign contributions. As Ari Berman reported in June, "According to the Center for Responsive Politics, 156 groups -- the vast majority representing corporate interests -- lobbied the government about the CFPB in the second half of 2010 and the first quarter of 2011. The list ranged from JPMorgan Chase to McDonald's." The Chamber of Commerce even has an entire division devoted to fighting Dodd-Frank, and it spent $17 million on federal lobbying in the first quarter of this year with a dozen lobbyists focused on just the CFPB.
Individual Republican Senators are also getting lavish gifts from the financial sector while opposing its newest regulator. The 10 Republican members of the Senate Banking Committee, who signed a letter to Obama in May demanding debilitating changes to the CFPB before any candidate can be confirmed, have received over $31 million in campaign cash from the financial sector during their time in Congress. Meanwhile, Sen. Shelby himself has taken $6.2 million from the financial sector, including about $1 million from commercial banks. His top career donors include JP Morgan ($140,771), Citigroup ($109,199), and Goldman Sachs ($67.600).
Compare all that financial firepower to what's going on for everyday Americans. A new report from the Pew Charitable Trusts shows that nearly one in three Americans who grew up middle-class has fallen out of that group. It's not hard to see why so many people are moving down the ladder when wages have been heading in the same direction. While the financial sector is bringing in $3 trillion, the median American family saw yearly earnings fall $5,261 over the past decade, from $52,388 in 2000 to $47,127 in 2010.
Things are even worse for low-income families. Over the past 10 years, the percentage of children living in poverty has soared, increasing by 18 percent, or 2.4 million more, from 2000-2009. These children and their families are set to fall on even harder times, as states slash vital services to balance their budgets. They face the loss of unemployment benefits, income tax credits, and cash assistance, among other safety net supports.
Those who find themselves in such financial hardship have one place to turn when they can't make ends meet: debt. Credit card companies already employ a variety of tactics to entice middle-class families into debt and keep them there. But those tactics will be under strict scrutiny if the CFPB has its full powers. Low-income families often find themselves prey to unregulated non-banks like payday lenders and check cashers, but those will also come under the supervision of the Bureau.
The CFPB isn't taking on dictatorial powers. It's standing up to the formidable forces preying upon struggling American consumers.
Bryce Covert is Assistant Editor at New Deal 2.0. | <urn:uuid:fcbed569-3336-4441-bbd7-fd52d34fe649> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.nextnewdeal.net/cfpb-stands-banks-overblown-financial-firepower?author=12 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368696381249/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516092621-00017-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.962225 | 972 | 1.507813 | 2 |
SAN FRANCISCO — Google's next frontier in digital mapping will span the world's shopping malls and airports.
An upgrade of Google's mobile mapping service released Tuesday includes directions within stores, malls, airports and transit centers in the U.S. and Japan.
The initial index only covers a small fraction of the great indoors, but Google Inc. is hoping that will change as more owners and operators of shopping and transportation hubs submit their indoor floor plans so they can be mapped.
For now, Google's indoor maps can only be viewed on smartphones and tablet computers that run on the company's Android software. That's still a potentially huge audience because more than 550,000 Android-powered devices are activated each day and the mobile maps will work on versions of Android released as far back as 2009.
The free indoor mapping tool represents Google's latest attempt to deepen people's attachment to their Android phones so the company has more opportunities to sell ads pitching products and services to people on the go. Helping people navigate their way around malls and stores also complements Google's effort to turn the Android phones into digital wallets that replace cash and conventional credit cards.
Google wouldn't say why the feature would work only on Android devices. The company also wouldn't say whether it eventually plans to offer the indoor maps on other products, such as Apple Inc.'s popular iPhone and iPad, or whether the feature will eventually be available on desktop and laptop computers, too.
The company's online maps already provide detailed driving, walking and even biking directions on city streets and highways throughout the world. In some instances, Google has supplemented its digital maps with photographs of the charted area — a feature that has triggered privacy complaints and, in some countries, regulatory crackdowns.
The indoor maps are designed to reduce the disorientation that frequently occurs in sprawling stores and other large complexes.
If the floor plan is included in Google's index, the software pinpoints a user's location with a blue dot. The user can then figure out where the nearest bathroom is in a mall or find an airport's gate for a departing flight. The software is programmed to automatically change to a different floor in a building when the user does.
"It's like we have taken the map that you see on a kiosk at a store or mall and put it on your phone," said Steve Lee, a product management director for Google.
The tracking technology plots a user's location based on cell towers, GPS and publicly broadcast Wi-Fi signals. That's similar to what Google already does to identify where users are when they're viewing street maps. Google's engineers refined the system for the indoor maps so users can be shadowed with even more precision.
The indoor directions include two retailers known for their labyrinth stores — Home Depot and Ikea. Macy's and Bloomingdales also have shared the floor plans of a few of their biggest stores.
The Mall of America in Bloomington, Minn., which is the size of seven Yankee Stadiums, is already in Google's database, as are smaller malls in Illinois, Virginia and southern California. There are also directions for 18 U.S. airports, including those in Chicago, Houston, Atlanta, San Francisco and Las Vegas. | <urn:uuid:58505ad0-317f-454b-ad57-5776c108f721> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.ketknbc.com/print/node/58968 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368698207393/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516095647-00011-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.95234 | 657 | 1.664063 | 2 |
Artist Spotlight: Michael Petry
BY Christopher Harrity
March 17 2012 2:00 AM ET
In 2010. I became the first artist in residence at Sir John Soane’s Museum in London, and installed two shows over the period of a year. The second, "Bad Seed," showed work made in response to the residency and was based on the difficult personal history of Sir John Soane and his innovative use of colored glass and mirror in his home. The new works also referenced the Romantic elements of Soane’s collections (paintings by Henry Fuseli and Maria Cosway) as much as the architecture of rooms like the Monk’s Parlour, but the gothic nature of Soane’s relationships to his children led to the creation of the world’s first museum of architecture. Soane had two sons, John Junior, who married and followed his father’s architectural career, and George, a redheaded tearaway. When John Junior died, George reluctantly joined the family business, but took revenge on his father by anonymously criticizing his work in several newspaper articles. When Soane secretly found out, the news shocked his mother, who thought he might even be a changeling, and she expired, leaving Soane to curse and cut George loose.Without funds, George landed in debtors' prison, but returned to impregnate his sister-in-law as a final revenge. Soane’s legitimate grandson Frederick was also a disappointment as he became involved with a Captain Westwood, whose army career was blighted by a close relationship with another officer (who took his own life). Soane secretly decided to leave all of his estate to the government (by act of Parliament) rather than his male heirs. Upon his father’s death George was called to the family solicitors to receive his inheritance, handed to him in an envelope, which contained only copies of the bad reviews he had written.
The biomorphic glass forms insinuated themselves into odd spaces in the museum, seeping from corners of rooms, or the fireplace, or appeared as if they had dropped from the ceiling or crept in from outside. Some works were placed upon items of furniture where their incongruous presence confronted the viewer. Soane believed that demonic spirits (incubus/succubus) had corrupted his progeny, and the Bad Seeds’ organic shapes ape the vapors said to inhabit haunted sites, the ectoplasm that solidifies into strange artifacts. While they responded to the physical architecture of the rooms they were placed in, they were not site-specific installations but autonomous sculptures. — M.P.
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- Video Meet the Delicious Diet Dr Pepper Dude May 21 2013 8:00 PM | <urn:uuid:5e4944ab-d7a6-4787-911f-44c8b2e32506> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.advocate.com/arts-entertainment/artist-spotlight/2012/03/17/artist-spotlight-michael-petry?page=0,6 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368701459211/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516105059-00011-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.974644 | 796 | 1.773438 | 2 |
Quilts & Coverlets in the Metropolitan Museum of Art
This "coffee-table" book is definitely
worthwhile to add to a quilter's collection, especially one who is fascinated by quilts
that were preserved from the 18th and 19th centuries. The book is filled with beautifully
printed pictures as well as interesting history associated with the quilts when
information is available. It also has a catalogue at the end documenting the techniques
used in the quilts of the Metropolitan Museum of Art. | <urn:uuid:5b28983a-9121-440b-8571-0eb0f128f2f6> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://wendysheppard.net/book.php | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368698924319/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516100844-00020-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.972791 | 105 | 1.640625 | 2 |
21 babies at intensive care unit found to have bug
THERE were 21 cases of a potentially fatal bug in babies at a city centre intensive care unit in nine months, the Post has learned.
The pseudomonas bacteria, which was linked to the death of a baby at Southmead Hospital in August, was found in 21 babies at the St Michael's neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) between January and September this year.
The trust responsible for the city centre hospital said that no babies died as a result of the infection, which can be associated with water supply.
As previously reported in the Post, pseudomonas led to the death of one-week-old premature baby Oliver Hannon at Southmead.
Choose any pizza or pasta from our lunch menu for £6.50 which includes a 125ml glass of house wine or soft drink.
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After the bacteria was discovered in the north Bristol hospital's NICU, all other babies on the unit were screened for pseudomonas.
North Bristol NHS Trust, which runs Southmead, confirmed that 12 other babies were found to have the bacteria on their skin and one of those was treated for a minor infection but was later allowed to go home.
University Hospitals Bristol NHS Foundation Trust (UHBristol), which runs St Michael's, confirmed that there had been 21 cases of babies testing positive for the bacteria but said that over the same period of time 599 babies had been admitted to the unit.
They said they were unable to establish whether cases of the bug at their hospital were linked to patients transferred from Southmead.
A spokeswoman for UHBristol said that babies have been bathed in distilled water at the NICU since new guidance was issued by the Department of Health in August.
She said there was also an ongoing programme of "water sampling and tap maintenance" at the trust and taps are changed if necessary.
North Bristol NHS Trust, which runs Southmead Hospital, has assured expectant mothers due to give birth at its maternity unit that it is safe to do so.
An inquest is due to be held into the death of Oliver Hannon, who was born 24 weeks into his mother's pregnancy.
His parents, Jenna and Andrew Hannon, of Tidworth in Wiltshire, have said that they may take legal action against the trust to seek compensation. | <urn:uuid:e8bb536a-cc53-4977-a9eb-143f5fd60eda> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.thisisbristol.co.uk/21-babies-intensive-care-unit-bug/story-17072014-detail/story.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368698924319/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516100844-00024-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.983194 | 530 | 1.671875 | 2 |
Did you know carrots used to be purple? It’s true — their distinctive fluorescent oranginess was bred into them by Dutch carrot breeders in the 18th century. Likewise, did you know sausages are initially purple? Drive your fist through the loins of a squealing sow, then pull out a steaming spool. See? Gross, but truth is stranger than fiction.
By March 8, 2006 | <urn:uuid:2b4bcb30-5525-49eb-aa46-f7927187a05d> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://consumerist.com/tag/purplos/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368700958435/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516104238-00020-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.968069 | 87 | 1.820313 | 2 |
When the FDA issued a nationwide ban on ephedrine-based products in 2004, many of the nation's largest sellers of dietary supplements were less than pleased. One company, Park City, Utah-based Nutraceutical Corp. decided to fight the ban, claiming the FDA overstepped its authority and failed to follow proper procedures for conducting a risk-benefit analysis when it found the supplement unsafe. A Utah district judge agreed and ruled the company could continue selling its ephedrine products.
Bruce Hough, president of Nutraceutical, stated in an April 2005 press release that the ruling was "about protecting the public's access to safe and effective dietary supplements and clarifying the meaning of the 1994 Dietary Supplement Health and Education Act (DSHEA). The Court's ruling clarifies the steps FDA must take to comply with the law in its regulation of dietary supplements."
That victory was short-lived, however. On Aug. 17, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 10th Circuit in Denver reversed the lower court's ruling, finding that the FDA followed Congress' mandates in accurately determining the drug unsafe.
According to the FDA, the dietary supplement has been linked to more than 150 deaths. | <urn:uuid:ca216880-b19a-4ca3-8c56-b2787baec6b2> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.insidecounsel.com/2006/10/01/court-upholds-ephedra-ban | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368704713110/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516114513-00017-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.96529 | 243 | 1.84375 | 2 |
Winter Hurts. The trick is not minding
By Shaun Roundy
Written for the Utah Valley Monitor in 2006
Way back in junior high, a friend asked me this question: “Is it colder in the mountains, or in winter?
I didn’t know. I thought the question could not be answered, just like “Do you take the bus to school, or your lunch?” I was wrong. It can. I discovered the answer earlier this evening.
“We have to ride,” Jared said on the phone. Jared and I belong to a type of outdoor adventure/service organization that launches nearly a hundred spontaneous outings per year. If someone sends a message to hike Timp at 11 p.m., at least 15 of us will show up within half an hour. If the message directs us to head to Bridal Veil Falls in February, 20 of us hop in our trucks and leave within minutes. If it’s Utah Lake on wave runners and boats, you’re likely to find over 30 of us there, even in November.
The organization is the Utah County Sheriff Search and Rescue team, consisting of over 40 volunteers who are always on call and expected to attend at least one-third of all emergencies the team is called to.
Change of Season
Winter weather officially arrived a few weeks ago and dumped enough white stuff to pave the mountain roads with snow, which meant we had to be ready. We had to make sure the snowmobiles were in proper running order before we needed them, so half a dozen of us headed up Spanish Fork Canyon after work to test them out.
Lucky for us, the temperatures never dipped very far below zero degrees Fahrenheit, as long as you didn’t factor in the 60 mph wind chill. Lucky for me, the electric handlebar warmers kept my hands from going completely numb and maintained a steady state of chill bains – the part where it feels like a hundred needles are poking every nerve ending in your fingertips.
Most lucky of all, a hundred cold days in the mountains have taught me something best explained in the classic 1962 film Lawrence of Arabia. Lawrence lets a match burn all the way down to his finger tips. When another soldier tries to do the same, it burns him and he asks what the trick is. “The trick,” explains Lawrence, “is not minding that it hurts.”
I don’t pretend to be any kind of “Lawrence of Utah,” but I quit noticing cold finger tips years ago. They’re part of the experience and better than warm fingertips kept indoors until March.
Lucky or Not
If we’re lucky, no one will get lost or dangerously cold or hurt or killed in the backcountry this winter. No one will get stuck in deep powder without water or matches or dry layers of clothing or extra layers to survive an overnight stay or a cell phone or radio to call for help. No one will get buried by an avalanche while hiking for fresh powder. No one will crash their plane into the mountainside in thick clouds. No one will break their leg telemarking through heavy powder or their back jumping their snowmobile off cliffs. No one will lose fingers or toes or the tip of their nose to sharp ice crystals forming beneath their skin.
If we’re unlucky and someone does manage to get hurt or cold or lost or stuck, we’ll show up to help out; and this year, we’ll do it better than ever.
Thanks to generous donations from Wing Enterprises and other local companies, SAR was able to purchase a snow ambulance this fall. It’s really nothing more than a glorified snowmobile trailer rigged specifically for transporting accident victims, but it could spell the difference between life and death should weather prevent helicopter access to a serious backcountry accident. It protects the victim from the elements and softens many of the bumps along the trail. It won’t tow through deep powder, but will transport far more comfortably across the miles of trail where it could be put to use.
Winter tends to be a slower season for rescue work, perhaps because it’s cold and most people tend to stay indoors. Perhaps because the cold is expected and people go into it prepared. Perhaps because snow cushions falls and limits how far most people can travel from the car. Perhaps because those who recreate in the snow usually understand concepts like cotton – including jeans – being the “killer cloth” sucking heat away from your body when wet; the utility of dressing in layers – and removing some to avoid sweating and subsequent dangerously wet clothing; and the importance of going prepared – with extra clothing, food, water, fire starters, whistle, cell phones and other essentials.
When a winter rescue is needed, however, it’s often serious – ice climbers falling 60 feet to the rock and ice below, skiers and boarders buried by avalanches, airplanes crashing through the ice of Utah Lake, and lost or injured people far away from help in a harsh environment – like tonight.
The tip of my nose was exposed between my goggles and balaclava for less than half a mile, but I know it will not recover. It will feel raw for days, develop a dark tan, and then the top layer of skin will peel away like a sunburn.
But I don’t really mind. It’s all part of the winter package deal and better than a warm nose kept indoors until March.
“Is it colder in the mountains or in winter?” The correct answer is “Both.” | <urn:uuid:4e6ec512-2aab-4aa9-8311-6638a25560a9> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://ucssar.org/search-and-rescue/2009/02/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368699273641/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516101433-00023-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.950473 | 1,167 | 1.679688 | 2 |
How clueless do you have to be to not realize that Superman and Clark Kent look exactly alike? That’s the question for the ages — something that has haunted every version of Superman since he debuted as a comic book character in 1938. His was one of the original “secret identities” and the concept involved the Man-of-Steel being accepted by everyone as an alien visitor (who looks human) known as Superman. Even so, no problem there. When he put on a pair of glasses and a business suit and acted a little differently in order to pass as Clark Kent, however, it seemed that nobody realized they were the same person. As comic book films have gotten more and more realistic, the cognitive dissonance we experience in enjoying the character has grown greater and greater.
Later this month, President Barack Obama will stand before a crowd in Washington, D.C. and take the oath of office. We already know that this will be historic simply from the point-of-view of Obama’s background and race. The other competition, however, is performance. We know he’s a great orator and people will expect a barn-burner of an inspirational speech. He won’t have any problem eclipsing others that went before him like George W. Bush, Jimmy Carter, Richard Nixon or even Bill Clinton. No, the man Obama has to stand up to by way of historical comparison is President John Kennedy. 48 years ago, the inaugural was similarly a piece of history. Not only was it jeopardized by bad weather, but it brought generational change to the White House. It was at that tiime that newly elected President John Kennedy spoke those words we still remember.
We believe so much in the candidacy of Barack Obama that we’ve written a campaign song and we’d like to share it with you. As a couple of striking screenwriters and a singer-composer, we wanted to to make the case in an unconventional way.
I’ve just spent a couple of hours in my backyard with the “Hollywood Rattlesnake Wrangler” — a great guy, Bo Slypapich. Bo is a one-of-a-kind who has hunted down rattlers for everybody from Arnold Schwarzenegger to Brad Garrett and today he came to my house after working for Sally Field.
Yesterday, my wife and I went with six other couples to an afternoon showing of the new “The Heartbreak Kid” at our local cineplex. Then we went out for a nice Italian dinner, drank a little wine, and got ready for part two. That involved going back to our place and watching the original “The Heartbreak Kid” in our home theater. I’ve been doing this kind of comparison viewing for these Smackdowns for a while now, but never quite so organized and never with so many other voices in the mix. We definitely came up with a consensus winner — more on that at the end.
Most of us are very familiar with the story of O.J. Simpson — the famous athlete a criminal jury said didn’t do it only to have a civil jury say he did just over a year later. Like the Los Angeles riots which preceded the arrest of O.J. by two years, this story said as much about the state of race relations in America as they did about the guilt or innocence of the accused. Before the racial overtone set in, however, coverage in these initial issues had a lot to do with the actual slow-speed chase. Here’s the way Time started in both versions:
The boss was a tough immigrant — a Basque from Spain — named Mariano Bilbao and he was living (or working) the American dream. Work, work, work and, if you did that, life would be easier for your kids. His kid was just a baby, and Mariano was in full pay-the-dues mode to get ahead in time for his kid to have the good life he dreamed of.
The truth is, for decades now, I’ve been paying people in salons with fancy names like Casablanca or Savvy a lot of money to cut my hair. My latest one cost the most ever because the shampoo was done in a dark room with incense and New Age music and felt more like a mini-massage. Going to that place, though, always involved pulling out the schedule, often having to re-schedule because of my stylist’s day or mine changing suddenly, and building yet another appointment in an already busy day into my life.
The Chris Matthews Show did a bit today about a picture of President Bush and Vice-President Cheney as they looked at their watches together. It’s a pretty fun picture, goofy like synchronized swim without the water. Matthews challenged his panel to each come up with a caption and they all did. (I wonder if he showed it to them before-hand? Probably.)
A disciplinary committee disbarred disgraced prosecutor Mike Nifong for his leading role in the disastrous and dishonest prosecution of three Duke University lacrosse players who he falsely accused of rape last year. Even Nifong agreed that his punishment fit his crime.The only thing left in Nifong’s public humiliation will be the books and the movie that may come of all this. I’d love to write the movie of this slow-motion disaster. In fact, I tried as hard as I knew how to do exactly that.
As “Studio 60″ continues its fade-out, my TiVO grabbed last night’s episode which had, as a story-line, the flashback to the days right after 9/11. It dealt with the characters wondering just how to be funny in light of the tragedy and the reality that we would now be living in the shadow of terrorism. | <urn:uuid:36ef67b5-1fe5-4664-a664-f66b93074780> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://politicalmavens.com/index.php/author/brycezabel/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368703298047/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516112138-00003-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.974733 | 1,213 | 1.679688 | 2 |
By Ken Dilanian, USA TODAY
WASHINGTON At a time when Congress has moved to ban most lobbyist-funded travel, executive branch officials are routinely accepting trips from companies and trade associations with a stake in their agencies' decisions, according to a USA TODAY review of public records.
In a recent 12-month period:
• A Department of Transportation aviation analyst went to a conference in Geneva, Switzerland, at a cost of $1,900 courtesy of the National Business Aviation Association, which lobbies the department on private jet rules.
• Two Defense Department homeland defense officials attended a conference in Limerick, Ireland, that was sponsored by Rivada Networks, a defense contractor that picked up the $4,200 tab.
• The Consumer Electronics Association, a lobbying group, paid more than $34,000 to host 24 officials from various agencies at the five-star Wynn hotel at its Las Vegas trade show in January, spokesman Jason Oxman said.
Those trips and more than 100 others taken from April 2006 to March 2007 would be out of bounds for members of Congress under the recently passed ethics bill, because they lasted more than one day and were paid for by companies or groups that employ lobbyists. The travel restrictions in the ethics bill, which awaits President Bush's signature, don't apply to the other branches of government.
QUESTIONS OF CONFLICT: Rules open to interpretation
EXAMPLES: Who travels where and why
For executive branch officials, federal rules say corporate-funded trips are permitted as long as they don't "cause a reasonable person … to question the integrity of agency programs or operations."
Each of the trips examined by USA TODAY was deemed to have met that standard, agency spokesmen said.
"Corporations and trade associations want to pay for these trips for a reason, and that is to have face time with the regulators and government officials," said Bill Hogan, director of investigative projects for the Center for Public Integrity, a non-partisan watchdog group. "That often runs contrary to the public interest."
Some agencies have more stringent policies than others. The Food and Drug Administration, for example, generally does not accept gifts of travel from entities it regulates, such as drug companies, spokeswoman Sandy Walsh said, because doing so could be perceived as compromising the agency's independence.
The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) would not "go anywhere near" accepting trips from companies doing business with the commission, said Eileen Harrington, deputy director bureau of consumer protection.
Several agencies, including the Marine Corps and the Tennessee Valley Authority, have allowed free trips from vendors.
USA TODAY reviewed more than 600 agency reports on file with the U.S. Office of Government Ethics. Most of the trips involved officials invited to speak at or attend conferences, often in warm-weather climes, and most were underwritten by universities, non-profit associations or foreign governments.
More than 200 trips during the 12-month period, however, were paid for by corporations or trade groups that are regulated by, or do business with, the department or agency.
Harrington said annual attendance by FTC officials at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas helps regulators understand the latest technologies, and that it would be too expensive to pay for out of government funds. The Consumer Electronics Association has lobbied the FTC on issues such as how to measure television picture tube resolution, but the agency sees no conflict of interest in accepting the travel, she said.
"The public expects us to get the very most value for every dollar that we spend," she said. "To the extent that we're able to stretch our travel budget by accepting reimbursement from non-federal sources, we're going do that."
In 2002, the inspector general at the National Science Foundation criticized that group's practice of accepting free travel from recipients of foundation grants, saying it was contrary to federal policy and "raises concerns about the appearance of a conflict of interest." The agency disagreed but promised to stop.
The foundation now accepts such travel only in a handful of exceptional cases, spokesman Lisa-Joy Zgorski said. There were nine such trips in the most recent six-month reporting period, records show.
Conversation guidelines: USA TODAY welcomes your thoughts, stories and information related to this article. Please stay on topic and be respectful of others. Keep the conversation appropriate for interested readers across the map. | <urn:uuid:5ee58e01-9cee-4965-8f76-c814465812f2> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://usatoday30.usatoday.com/news/washington/2007-08-22-travel-lobbyists_N.htm | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368705953421/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516120553-00031-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.964473 | 890 | 1.632813 | 2 |
Employers Must Have "Just Cause" For Discipline
Many grievances result from disciplinary actions. Employers have the right to discipline employees for misconduct, but they must do so within limits set by law and legal precedent.
Employers must have “just cause” for their disciplinary actions. And that doesn't mean they can discipline you “just cause” they want to.
Stewards can use these seven questions to establish whether the employer has just cause. A “no” answer to any of them usually indicates the company acted without just cause.
1. Was the employee given advance warning that the behavior would or could result in discipline? The most obvious warning is a direct statement to the employee; for example, “If you continue to use that tool incorrectly, I'm going to have to write you up.” But advance warning may be contract language, information passed along during training, or company rules, whether written or verbal. Ask probing questions to determine whether any warning was ever given.
2. Was the rule or order reasonably related to the efficient and safe operation of the business? Arbitrary rules that offer no advantage to the company, or which make the workplace unsafe, do not provide just cause. For example, a rule banning listening to music while working may be justified as improving efficiency; a rule banning listening to hip-hop but allowing all other types of music is probably arbitrary and not just cause for discipline.
3. Did the employer try to determine whether the employee did, in fact, violate a rule or order of management? For example, if a supervisor merely sees an empty whiskey bottle near someone's work area and makes no attempt to find out who it belongs to or what it is doing there, then he does not have just cause to discipline anyone for drinking on the job.
4. Was the employer's investigation conducted fairly and objectively? Sometimes supervisors accuse workers of misconduct before getting all the facts. They may even ignore statements or evidence that points away from the person they want to accuse. The steward must investigate on his or her own to see if the company is ignoring some evidence or "railroading" the employee.
5. Did the investigation produce substantial evidence that the employee actually broke the rule? Just as with criminal cases in the courts, employers cannot rely entirely on circumstantial evidence or make judgments based on no facts or ambiguous facts. For example, finding contraband near an employee's workstation is not just cause for discipline; the employer must find evidence connecting that worker to the contraband.
6. Has the company applied its rules, orders, and penalties without discrimination? Rules must apply consistently to all employees. We usually hear of discrimination only when it applies to race, religion, gender, or ethnicity, but it more often shows up in less obvious forms. For example, if the workers who play on the company softball team often come in late the day after a night game and are not disciplined according to the rule on tardiness, then the company can't expect to enforce that rule on other workers. Likewise, the night shift shouldn't be allowed to break rules that the day shift is required to follow.
7. Was the degree of discipline given in this particular case related to a) the seriousness of the offense, and b) the employee's record of company service? Even if the worker clearly broke a rule or order, the employee may have a grievance if the discipline seems unfairly harsh for the offense. Likewise, a lifelong employee with a good work record deserves to have his or her many years of trouble-free employment taken into consideration when discipline is given.
Asking these seven questions can help stewards determine whether a worker has a legitimate grievance based on a disciplinary action. | <urn:uuid:ddaf946b-200c-447a-a608-49e4fa279ae9> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.boilermakers.org/resources/stewards_sourcebook/just_cause_required | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368698207393/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516095647-00026-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.954477 | 761 | 1.65625 | 2 |
I am identifying garbage arguments that appear in the claims of morally contemptible anti-warming-deniers that are easily to discredit but still used. Their use indicates that those who use it have little or no concern with the potential destruction of whole cities.
They are reckless individuals who have little regard to the harm that might come to others as a result of their actions. If they were not morally contemptible individuals - if they were morally responsible individuals with a proper concern for the welfare of others - they would not allow these arguments to contaminate their claims in the debate regarding global warming.
So far I have referenced the Three Percent Argument, the Its Not The End of the World argument, and the Ice Age Fears of the 1970s Argument.
Another garbage argument found in the political arena holds that it is clearly the case that carbon dioxide levels (and global temperatures) have changed in the past. Yet, clearly, humans had nothing to do with those changes. Therefore, the argument goes, we may dismiss any claims that humans are responsible for the changes we see in the climate today.
Imagine a trial in which an individual is being accused of murder. In any murder trial, a conviction or acquittal must be based on the evidence presented in this case. However, the defense attorney makes the following argument:
"I have records here of a billion people who died, none of whom were murdered by my client. Here is a case of an individual who fell down a mine shaft to his death thirty years before my client was even born. And here I have an account of a general who was shot and killed at the Battle of Gettysburg. My client obviously did not murder him. I have the parish of a town in France that lists scores of people who were killed when black death swept through the town. My client did not murder them. With all of these deaths that were not caused by my client, clearly you must return a verdict of 'not guilty' in accusing my client of this particular murder."
This might be a great argument for befuddling the jury and confusing them into giving a bad verdict. However, it is a garbage argument. Yes, we know that there are a lot of different ways in which people can die other than by being murdered by this particular defendant. Yet, the question before the court is whether this death was brought about by the defendant in a way that constitutes murder. The video and the forensic evidence are sufficient to show that, in this case, the defendant is guilty in spite of the fact that billions of people have died of other causes.
Of course, in proving one's case one has to examine and rule out other potential causes. However, the mere fact that other potential causes exists - the mere fact that people have died that the client did not murder - the mere fact that CO2 levels have changed independent of human activity - is not proof of innocence.
The question the responsible person asks is, "Have these options been investigated and reason given to dismiss them?" The morally reckless individual asserts over and over again that humans are not the only things that cause these changes as if that is sufficient to prove that humans cannot be blamed.
Similarly, we know for a fact that there are things other than human activity that affect the global climate. However, it is morally irresponsible to claim that this fact alone is enough to prove that humans are not responsible for activities that affect the climate today and in the future. That argument depends on the evidence presented in this case.
If ever you see the Natural Climate Change argument in the claims made by a global-warming denier, think of this defense attorney using the "My Client Could Not Have Killed Everybody" argument to argue that his client should be declared innocent of murder. Where this argument appears, you have sufficient evidence to conclude that the person making it morally contemptible individual who has no qualms against contaminating public discussion with garbage arguments.
You are dealing with somebody who does not care about the possibility that he could be misleading people into behaving in ways that could lead to the destruction of whole cities. He is, quite content to spew garbage and, if it leads to the deaths of whole populations, so be it, That is not his concern.
A morally responsible person, on the other hand, will take the pains to figure out whether the arguments he is thinking of putting into his works are sound or not - whether they provide good evidence in support of his conclusion or are garbage arguments. He is as interested in avoiding garbage arguments as he is in providing good arguments. He refuses to argue recklessly when there is so much potentially at stake, just as he would refuse to drive while drunk or to point a found gun at a random stranger and pull the trigger. Concern over who might unjustly suffer as a result of his actions prevents this type of recklessness.
Accordingly, a person who commits this type of recklessness lacks the concerns that a morally responsible person would have. He is reckless, and is as contemptible and worthy of condemnation as the drunk driver or the shootist. He is, in fact, orders of magnitude worse than the drunk driver or the shootist because his intellectual recklessness shows that he is indifferent to potential harms that are orders of magnitude worse than those that the drunk driver or the shootist might inflict on others. | <urn:uuid:03fd6f25-025a-42ea-84b0-c68b19f93811> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://atheistethicist.blogspot.com/2009/12/climate-change-mere-fact-of-natural.html?showComment=1260903500529 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368706499548/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516121459-00036-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.973697 | 1,078 | 1.710938 | 2 |
The ultimate goal of "The Diabetic Angels," is to help cure diabetes, while educating young people everywhere about this disease that affects millions of Americans to avoid and eliminate discrimination that too many diabetics experience. To accomplish this objective, my twin sister, Mollie, and I, focus on four primary areas: Awareness, Advocacy, Fundraising and Mentoring. Additionally, we are able to draw on our musical talent with which we have been blessed to reach larger audiences and communicate our positive message.
We started our involvement with Diabetes when Mollie was diagnosed with type 1 juvenile diabetes at 4, and at 6 we donated our time and effort to the local chapter and eventually nationally at the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation, (JDRF, www.jdrf.org). But we, along with some of the Diabetic Angels, didn't stop there, we went on to speak at public forums, support groups, and schools, to students, teachers, and administrators in an attempt to educate them as to the needs of a diabetic in the educational and work environment. Moreover, for two years, we filmed an ongoing Video-Diary for ABC’s Good Morning America, about living with diabetes and overcoming the struggles and fears of a child wearing an insulin pump. We also participated in multiple educational documentaries for newly diagnosed children and teen diabetics and their families that are designed to replace the fear a newly diagnosed diabetic experiences, with a sense of hope that a cure will be found in their lifetime and the belief that they are not alone and that regardless of being diagnosed with Diabetes, they still have a bright future to look forward to. Furthermore, we have filmed several PSA’s, readily given interviews with the Diabetic Angels to educate the news media about diabetes related topics, and Mollie and I wrote a booklet entitled, “The Road To The Cure,” which explains to children everywhere, no matter their age, that like us they too can make a difference and gave them a few tips on how to do so. Mollie and I also met with President Bush on three separate occasions and successfully lobbied many of the members of The U.S. House and Senate. We went on to testify twice before Congress, asking them to increase funding for diabetes research. In so doing, we helped to obtain congressional support on a variety of medical and technology related bills that have and will continue to benefit diabetics everywhere. | <urn:uuid:bd8b9e9b-c999-47f8-92d4-17e3fa2c7ae2> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.dosomething.org/project/the-singer-twins-making-a-difference | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368709037764/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516125717-00032-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.969235 | 497 | 1.585938 | 2 |
(KVOA) A humanitarian group that provides aid and supplies to illegal migrants crossing the desert claims they caught a Border Patrol agent stealing blankets and food from one of their drop sites in southern Arizona via a hidden camera.
The group "No More Deaths" regularly puts out water, food and blankets for migrants crossing the border. They posted a video taken January 8 from a hidden camera near Arivaca, about 12 miles north of the international border.
"We decided to set up these hidden cameras in an attempt to reveal the identity to reveal it was Border Patrol," said Hannah Hafter, a volunteer with the group.
Hafter said they used a wildlife camera that was tripped twice when the agent moved in and out of view. The group claims the agent pictured in the video walked off with the food and blankets meant for traveling migrants.
"Which is no small thing because all of us have been experiencing how terrible the night temperatures are, and the hypothermia that can be caused by the cold is just as dangerous as the heat in the summer," Hafter said.
For more on this KVOA story click here! | <urn:uuid:ae3a98f5-1090-4ff4-9f94-5655b69bf18e> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.ksee24.com/video/Caught-on-Cam-Border-Blankets-Stolen-187558681.html | 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 | 0.954726 | 231 | 1.601563 | 2 |
A memorial home
Hall of Honor immortalizes Aggie heroes
Published: Friday, April 20, 2012
Updated: Wednesday, July 25, 2012 20:07
In a reverent, secluded hall of the Memorial Student Center, sunlight illuminates the names of Aggie heroes who made the ultimate sacrifice in defense of their country.
The identities — dating from World War I to the War on Terror — are etched in glass punctuating the East end of the Hall of Honor. Mere steps from the standing glass, seven elaborate ornament cases house the Medals of Honor earned by seven former students for valor in combat during World War II.
Luke Altendorf, director of the Memorial Student Center, said this is a change from the original Hall of Honor that only had names of casualties from World Wars I and II.
“What we’re doing is working with the Sanders Corps Center to assure that we’re going to recognize all the Aggies that have died in combat,” Altendorf said.
There are also areas on the glass without inscription, reserved for Aggies who will die in combat in future years.
The improved Hall of Honor is home to the memorial nature of the Memorial Student Center. When designing the building, Altendorf said those involved had to decide what kind of approach to take.
“Do you take the whole building and make it all reverential? And will that damper the celebratory things that happen in this building?” Altendorf said. “Or do you zone so that parts of the building are more somber and reverential versus celebratory.”
Altendorf said the designers accomplished the goal of combining reverence with celebration.
“I think they did a good job trying to make it so that you don’t come in all excited and then take your hat off and be quiet and somber,” Altendorf said.
Ultimately, designers decided to improve the way the MSC houses the seven who received the nation’s highest award for valor.
“Not very many people in the U.S. have ever received the Medal of Honor,” Altendorf said. “These individuals are being recognized in a way that is probably more just to what they did.”
With new memorials, it seemed fitting that the medals themselves added a novel touch. Although the medals are replicas — the authentic medals in possession of the University are housed at the Sanders Corps Center — the ribbons holding the medals are brand new. According to Altendorf, the replicas could not be replaced because the sole provider is the Department of Defense, which meant replacing old ribbons that were damaged while stored in shadow boxes.
Elizabeth Andrasi, MSC president and Class of 2011, said students and visitors may not have known the significance of the old Hall of Honor, but the new one is special.
“Before, people could walk right by and not even notice,” Andrasi said. “[The new hall] catches you off guard. It’s such an incredible honor to receive those honors, and to be able to see their faces and read their stories, students will see that it truly is a part of our Aggie heritage.”
Altendorf said the hall is a reflection of the Bible verse inscribed in front of MSC, which also appears in glass next to the names of the Aggie heroes.
“Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends,” John 15:13. | <urn:uuid:f9040f85-02d1-49c1-b172-15e4710dc8df> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.thebatt.com/a-memorial-home-1.2853437?cache=03D163D03D163D%3AFhe3n0.cnm%2FFrerostc3n_9.11t45iesed-%2F.M1S6EjFccchin3D0.Dtmp | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368704713110/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516114513-00006-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.967579 | 748 | 1.570313 | 2 |
Building the PIFA time machine in Philadelphia's Kimmel Center [video]
February 22, 2013By Charlie Kaier
Time is a continuum and it is stretching out into the future at the Kimmel Center. In preparation for the Philadelphia International Festival of the Arts, a team of artists and engineers are putting together a time machine.
"It's a pretty massive undertaking," said Robery Pyzocha, PIFA's production designer.
In the video above, Pyzocha runs through the industrial and electronic components of the enormous device.
"We do want it to kind of pierce through the space of the Kimmel Center," he said, "and really, essentially, drag an audience in from the street."
The interactive sculpture will take personal data input and readings such as your heartbeat and feed it back to you surprising ways. In this way, he said, "everyone's personal data and material becomes part of the time continuum.
We humans are only around for a limited time, said Pyzocha. "But with computers, there's no end." | <urn:uuid:47ea060e-21cb-4746-9c3a-4daf0bd9503f> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.newsworks.org/index.php/homepage-feature/item/51412-building-the-pifa-time-machine-in-philadelphias-kimmel-center?Itemid=1&linktype=hp_featured | 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 | 0.937143 | 218 | 1.625 | 2 |
The couple from St. Petersburg got married on Friday.
They stood in line for a license, and then for a mayor's deputy to officiate at city hall.
"I'm sorry you had to wait so long," the woman told them.
"Oh, it was only about 40 minutes," Nadine said.
"No, I mean I'm sorry you had to wait so long for this day."
This was in San Francisco, and it was a second ceremony for Nadine Smith and Karen Ingram.
Their first wedding was on March 25, 1995, in Tampa, a big celebration with family and friends on hand and a minister officiating.
The couple promised to love and cherish, in sickness and in health.
But without the law recognizing their marriage, it hasn't always been easy.
There was the time Karen was rushed to the hospital with appendicitis.
Nadine urgently tried to tell the doctors about Karen's history and medications, but authorities wouldn't let her see the woman in her life.
"This nurse told me, `Sorry, but legally you're no different than if you were a taxi driver dropping her off.'"
It was to end such hurts that the two women got married again, this time under civil authority.
They joined the wave that began last month when San Francisco's straight, married, Irish-Catholic mayor -- moved by principles of equality -- defied state law and directed the county clerk to make marriage forms "gender-neutral."
Since then, 3,400 homosexual couples have said, "I do" in San Francisco.
Each day come reports of similar, smaller outbreaks of matrimony in New Mexico, Oregon and at least three cities in New York, including the college town of New Paltz, where the mayor is undeterred by misdemeanor charges and possible jail time.
The stage is being set for a rash of legal battles on the meaning of marriage and the status of gays under the law.
The civil rights movement had the lunch counter. Gay rights has the altar.
Smith, 38, is executive director of Equality Florida, a statewide group pushing for gay and lesbian rights. She and her mate, a 46-year-old businesswoman, were surrounded Friday by fellow activists.
But the mood wasn't political, she said.
"We were standing in line with straight couples, gay couples, all together, and there was no rancor, no politics," Smith said. "It was all, `How did you meet?' `How long have you been together?'"
In other words, the usual things couples talk about.
It's absurd to think that Nadine and Karen's union is a threat to the Union.
Yet that's how opponents tend to cast this issue.
America may be increasingly comfortable in the company of Will and Grace and Queer Eye for the Straight Guy, but President Bush still can score points with scary claims that gay marriages threaten "the most fundamental institution of civilization."
As his re-election campaign kicks off, Bush has endorsed a constitutional amendment to ban gay marriage, pleasing his religious-right base as he hopes to distract voters from issues of war and the economy.
It's deeply irresponsible for the president and his supporters to be talking about protecting the "sanctity" of marriage. Sanctity means sacredness. That's the realm of religion, not government.
At the same time, this president seems ready to undermine the one document he is expressly sworn to uphold.
The Constitution isn't supposed to regulate private behavior. We tried that once, with prohibition. And we know how that turned out.
Most amendments are concerned with protecting the individual from potential government abuses. Or with broadening freedoms to excluded groups, such as former slaves or women.
But this amendment on marriage would deny rights to a class of people.
These past few weeks, we've been seeing the eruption of a new movement for equality.
Again, we're seeing marches.
This time, down the aisle.
Howard Goodman's column is published Tuesday, Thursday and Sunday. He can be reached at [email protected] or 561-243-6638. | <urn:uuid:7e4bfd36-3e10-49fc-a403-a56235f0fe2a> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://articles.sun-sentinel.com/2004-03-04/news/0403040389_1_gay-couples-gay-rights-straight-couples | 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 | 0.97964 | 859 | 1.609375 | 2 |
The scheme, valued at $7 billion at its zenith, has only $300 million in various accounts. Another jury has just ruled these accounts may be seized for potential customer restitution.
The Ponzi scheme was elegantly simple. Stanford’s offshore bank in the British overseas territory of Montserrat was closed down for “irregularities” in the mid-1980s so he moved it to Antiqua where he ingratiated himself, using investors’ money, with the local government by lending it millions of dollars and building government administration offices and a hospital. Meanwhile his investors were fooled into thinking they were buying ultra-safe Certificates of Deposit paying above-market rates of interest. His influence went way beyond the local government, however, with regular, sometimes daily, flights of U.S. Senators and Congressmen coming to Antigua to partake of Stanford’s generosity and enjoy his lavish parties. As Mikeda Mikel, the owner of a private jet company in Antigua explained: “They were partying on yachts in an exclusive resort, and when you have US politicians supporting a man like Mr. Stanford on an island as small as Antigua … if you had any doubts before [about his honesty] they go out the window. America has sanctioned him [therefore] he’s good to go.”
By investing in regulatory “protection,” Stanford was able to live for years on his investors’ capital without being disturbed by annoying questions into how he could pay such generous dividends to his clients. As Gaston Browne, chairman of the Antigua Labour Party (ALP), which was in power during Sanford’s heyday, said:
I can’t see how anyone would want to blame the Antiguan government…. The US government couldn’t prove he was running a Ponzi scheme, then how would they expect our regulators with less experience, less resources be in a position to do something?
At least four separate times the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) was warned that something was fishy in Antigua, and four times the nascent investigation was shelved. Various reasons were given: lack of experience, the case was too complex and was going to take too long, other cases were given higher priority, and assurances from Stanford’s top people were believed rather than proven.
One of the key reasons for the SEC’s reticence to mess with Stanford was Spencer Barasch, enforcement director for the SEC’s Fort Worth office. Each time the Stanford case was brought to his attention, he either discouraged or outright terminated it. At one point Barasch asked a Stanford spokesman if there was anything to be concerned about and was told “there wasn’t anything” to the charges. Julie Preuitt who worked for Barasch at the time said, “He was satisfied with that and decided not to pursue it further.”
Even after Stanford was arrested in February 2009, Barasch offered to represent Stanford before the commission. When he was reminded by the commission that it was unethical for him to do so, Barasch explained: “Every lawyer in Texas and beyond is going to get rich over this case, OK? And I hated to be on the sidelines.”
Barasch now denies all of this according to one of his law partners at the firm Barasch joined after leaving the SEC. Bob Jewell, the managing partner at Andrews Kurth LLP, defended Barasch:
Spencer Barasch served the SEC with honor, integrity and distinction. We believe he acted properly during his contacts with the Stanford Financial Group and the Securities and Exchange Commission. He did not violate conflicts of interest.
That statement failed to mention that on January 15, 2012, the U.S. Justice Department settled civil charges that Barasch did in fact block or close “at least three investigations into the activities of disgraced … financier Allen Stanford” with Barasch paying a $50,000 fine — the maximum fine for a violation of U.S. federal conflict-of-interest rules. The settlement let Barasch off easy with the Justice Department deciding, as part of the agreement, not to pursue criminal charges against him.
In a study of “regulatory capture” — which is when regulators get subsumed and employed by the entities that they are supposed to monitor for fraud — by Frank Perri and Richard Brody prepared for the journal Financial Regulation and Compliance, the authors analyzed the SEC’s lack of diligence concerning the Ponzi schemes of both Bernard Madoff and Allen Stanford. Entitling it “The Sleeping Watch Dog,” they concluded,
The SEC’s failures are symptomatic of a myriad of inter-related problems, such as a culture that discourages examining frauds that appear [too] complex, [staff] attorneys who do not have … understand[ing of] how the frauds they are charged to prevent actually occur….
The SEC’s staff appears to be “captive” to private organizations on Wall Street because the people they intend to regulate are viewed as their future employers once they leave their public service employment.
Authors Perri and Brody added that when a regulatory agency is taken over by the very parties it is supposed to regulate, the people the agency is designed to protect are the ones hurt the most. The façade of safety, integrity, and honesty lowers an investor’s guard, which then allows schemers like Stanford to take advantage of them. As Mikeda Mikel said, “America … sanctioned him, [therefore] he’s good to go.”
Photo of Allen Stanford: AP Images | <urn:uuid:1c046a04-ed7b-4955-9887-7bd9f3b4d40c> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.thenewamerican.com/usnews/crime/item/7595-allen-stanford%E2%80%99s-ponzi-scheme-a-study-on-regulatory-capture | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368705195219/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516115315-00033-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.976562 | 1,201 | 1.578125 | 2 |
US 4290212 A
The disclosure relates to a shoe having a bottom of wood or other rigid material, the bottom being divided by means of a transverse section in the region between the sole and the shank of the shoe. The partition section makes an acute angle with the plane of the sole, and a slot is provided in each section surface for accommodating a hinge of flexible material. The edge of the shank is beveled adjacent to the partition section approximately at right angles thereto, a material piece being secured in the thus-formed V-shaped groove by gluing.
1. A shoe having an articulated connection in a bottom portion to which is attached an upper foot-receiving portion, said bottom portion comprising
a heel portion;
a sole portion;
a shank portion having a front part and a rear part, said rear part connected to said heel portion and said front part connected to said sole portion;
said front part connection formed as two abutting planar surfaces, one of said planar surfaces formed on said sole portion and extending upwardly at a constant acute angle throughout said sole portion, the other planar surface formed on said front part of said shank portion and extending upwardly at an angle corresponding to said acute angle and terminating at an intermediate location along said one planar surface;
said front part of said shank portion having a beveled surface formed at right angles to said one planar surface to provide a groove extending upwardly from said terminating location;
a yieldable material fixedly mounted in said groove;
a first slot formed in said sole portion, said slot originating in said one planar surface immediately adjacent and below said terminating location and extending longitudinally into said sole portion;
a second slot aligned with said first slot, said second slot originating in said other planar surface and extending longitudinally into said shank portion; and
a hinge member mounted in said first and second slots to extend therebetween and provide the articulated connection.
2. A shoe according to claim 1 wherein said hinge member is formed of flexible material.
3. A shoe according to claim 2 wherein said hinge member is fixedly mounted in said slots.
The present invention relates to a shoe with a bottom of wood or similar rigid material, the bottom forming a sole, shank and heel, and a leather upper or the like fixedly secured to the upper edge of the bottom, the bottom being divided along a section transversely of the shoe in the region between the sole and the shank, the two bottom portions produced thereby being interconnected by means of a hinge fixedly disposed in each section surface.
It is previously known to produce wooden shoes or clogs having an articulated bottom. The articulation is preferably placed in the region between the shank and the sole, since a location of the articulation ahead of this region would entail abnormal wear of the sole portion connected to the shank. The hinge consists of a normal metal hinge, which has proved to be disadvantageous as a result of rapid wear and of an undesirable increase in the weight of the clog. Another problem in this context is the gap above the hinge which opens and closes when the clog is in use.
The object of the present invention is to realize a clog provided with an articulated bottom, the clog obviating the above-outlined problems and being, moreover, considerably more comfortable to use while possessing long working life and being relatively economical in production. The object is attained in that the partition section between the shank and the sole makes an acute angle with the sole plane adjacent the section, that the upper side of the shank, adjacent the partition section and above the hinge slot is beveled approximately at right angles to the section for forming a groove in the inner surface of the bottom, and that the groove is filled with a yieldable material, for example foamed rubber or foamed plastics which adheres to the section surfaces. Preferably, the hinge consists of a piece of flexible material, suitably reinforced rubber or plastic material, which is secured in the hinge slots by gluing and/or nailing from the inside of the bottom.
The invention will be described in greater detail below with reference to the accompanying drawing which, in side elevation and partial section, illustrates one embodiment of the shoe according to the invention.
The clog shown on the drawing has a bottom 10 of wood and an upper 11 of leather or plastic connected in the normal manner to the bottom 10. Naturally, the bottom 10 may be manufactured of a material other than wood, and, similarly, the upper 11 may be of another design, for example, may consist of a number of straps secured in the upper edge of the bottom 10. The bottom 10 consists of a sole 12, a shank 13 connected thereto, and a heel 14 connected to the shank. The sole 12 and the heel 14 are provided, on their underside, with a wear resistant layer 15 of rubber or plastics.
As is apparent from the drawing, the bottom 10 is divided by means of a section 16 in the region between the sole 12 and the shank 13. The partition section 16 is planar and makes an acute angle with the plane of the sole. A slot 17 is milled in the section surface of the sole, and a corresponding slot 18 is milled in the section surface of the shank, this slot 18 being in register with the slot 17. The edge of the shank adjacent the section is beveled approximately at right angles to the section to form a groove 20 whose sides make substantially a right angle with each other.
The parts of the bottom 10 consisting of the sole 12, the shank 13 and the heel 14 are interconnected by means of a hinge 19 comprising a piece of flexible material, suitably reinforced rubber or plastic material, this material piece being inserted in the registering slots 17 and 18 and secured in place by gluing and/or nailing from the inside of the bottom 10. The groove 20 is filled with a resilient material, for example foamed rubber or foamed plastic. In practice, this is effected in that a material piece 21 of the same cross-sectional configuration and size as the groove 20 is connected, when the sole 12 and shank 13 assume the positions of rest illustrated on the drawing, to the walls of the groove 20 by means of gluing, preferably with an expanding glue. The material piece 21 is of the same length, or slightly longer than, the groove 20 and is shaped, after being secured in the groove, on the upper side and ends in accordance with the inner side and edge sides of the bottom 10.
It will be apparent from the above that the invention makes possible the production of a wooden clog with an articulated bottom in a very simple and, thereby, economical manner. A thus produced wooden clog is, moreover, highly wear-resistant and more comfortable to use than prior art wooden clogs with an articulated bottom, primarily thanks to the provision of the material piece 21 in the groove 20. | <urn:uuid:bb889c5d-dcb1-4ef8-979b-25b958b10e9e> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.google.co.uk/patents/US4290212 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368700958435/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516104238-00040-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.939839 | 1,436 | 1.804688 | 2 |
LONDON (Reuters) - The U.S. Federal Reserve is studying the idea of borrowing from money market mutual funds as part of eventual steps to withdraw stimulus, the Financial Times reported on Thursday.
The Fed would borrow from the funds via reverse repurchase agreements involving some of the huge portfolio of mortgage-backed securities and U.S. Treasuries that it acquired as it fought the financial crisis, the newspaper reported, without citing any sources.
This would drain liquidity from the financial system, helping to avoid a burst of inflation as the economy recovered.
The FT said Fed officials had in recent days held discussions with market participants on how it might implement such a scheme.
The Fed is considering whether to conduct a pilot scheme, but worries such a test might be seen as a signal that the central bank was about to drain liquidity on a large scale, the newspaper said. In the near term, a big drain remains unlikely, it added.
The central bank held interest rates at close to zero on Wednesday and upgraded its assessment of the U.S. economy, saying growth had returned after a deep recession.
The Fed also said it would slow its purchases of mortgage debt to extend that program's life until the end of March, in a move toward withdrawing the central bank's extraordinary support for the economy and markets during the contraction.
The idea of the Fed using reverse repos to help unwind policy is not new; Fed chairman Ben Bernanke identified them as a potential means of soaking up liquidity in July. But the market had previously expected the repos to be done with primary dealers, including former Wall Street investment banks.
The central bank is now considering dealing with money market funds because it does not think the primary dealers have the balance sheet capacity to provide more than about $100 billion, the Financial Times said.
Money market mutual funds have about $2.5 trillion under management so they could plausibly provide between $400 billion and $500 billion, it said.
The newspaper added that the Fed did not think it would need to drain liquidity all the way to where it was before the crisis, because it was confident it could raise interest rates even with a much larger amount of reserves in the system than existed before the crisis.
(Reporting by Andrew Torchia, editing by Mike Peacock) | <urn:uuid:56ae04ea-8078-46a2-a1e7-f3031e27f324> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://wsau.com/news/articles/2009/sep/24/feds-exit-strategy-may-use-money-market-funds-repo/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368706890813/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516122130-00029-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.976772 | 470 | 1.710938 | 2 |
"Are you trying to get a position from the accelerometers ?
Well, there a google conference about that and it doesn't work at all. The problem is that to get the position out of the acceleration, you need to double integrate the…"
"Oh, kuddos to Microchip!
Not sure I understand this paragraph, but I don't know this device so I guess it is normal.
When on the field, I guess no-one will ever have a public IP or be able to do source-nat (port fowarding).…"
"Tom: Awesome! Good luck for implementing a full network stack, this isn't something one can develop in a matter of days. TCP will be a pain in the ass if you want to deal with the window and all the ack system. Are you sure there is enough…"
"That's cool. I'm waiting for something more realistic like being able to send new waypoints to the ardupilot from the internet and have telemetry accessible through the internet!
That would allow virtually any cellphone to control and get…"
"Well, using smartphones as GUI interfaces, data storage, long-range communication (3G, texts) and computation power (image recognition) for robots is cool. But I doubt the built-in IMU and the accelerometers are accurate-enough for robot…"
"No way this hexa went underwater at the beginning.
Other than that, it is highly impressive how confident the pilot is! It would be interesting to know if he pilots at the first person, that would explain why he is able to be that perfect!"
"robert: That's exactly my point :) LGPL is an irrevocable licence change.
Mono may be libre (it is GPLed), it still isn't a good idea (IMO) because the language itself is patented. The Community Promise patent license may change in the…" | <urn:uuid:a15f941a-f21a-4829-921f-8cdd131cac9a> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://diydrones.com/profile/MartinPeres | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368710006682/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516131326-00004-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.943672 | 394 | 1.648438 | 2 |
The music here is drawn from six scores written by Bernard Herrmann for CBS radio and television shows between 1944-58, all of which ended-up as library music tracked into many later shows between the latter part of the 1950's and early 1960's. This disc follows Volume 1, also reviewed this month, which is devoted to music Herrmann wrote, rather atypically, for the Western genre.
The work on this second volume is rather better, largely because Herrmann was as a composer profoundly unsuited to the bright open spaces of the traditional western, and is here back in much more familiar territory. The programme opens with the furious military snare driven opening and closing titles for and unsold pilot called Landmark (1956), which is fine if far from essential. However, it is rapidly followed by the major highlight of the album, a 14 movement suite from a 1944 radio broadcast devoted to the poet Walt Whitman. Herrmann's score is lovely, lyrical, romantic and melancholy, clearly an antecedent of his marvellous The Ghost and Mrs. Muir (1947), yet also offering hints of The Snows of Kilimanjiro (1952) and the masterly Vertigo (1958) still over a decade in the future. The sound quality leaves much to be desired, but the music fills in a significant gap in the composer's musical history for serious collectors. What would be most appreciated now is a first-rate new performance with excellent modern sound.
The audio is better for the 10 minute single movement suite from Ethan Allen, music composed for a proposed 1957 pilot about the leader of the Green Mountain Boys band of rebels during the American War of Independence. Scored for 10 brass players and timpani, Jon Burlingame suggests in his booklet notes that the work might be considered a companion to Have Gun, Will Travel from the same period. Its good Herrmann not too far removed from the style of adventure music he was writing for Ray Harryhausen movies at the time, but is nevertheless nothing particularly memorable.
"The Desert Suite" really belongs to Vol.1 of this series, but is included here simply because it wouldn't fit on the previous disc. In 1957 Herrmann recorded 4 suites of generic Western music. Three are on Vol.1, and the fourth appears here. The sound is very thin and skirts the edge of distortion much of the time, the seven tracks really adding nothing to our knowledge or enjoyment of the composer's music. Routine generic fare designed to be tracked into any number of episodes of routine Western shows, available here for completists.
Collector's Item was a 1958 pilot for a crime drama set in the art world starring Vincent Price and Peter Lorre. Scored for an ensemble of 15 – seven brass, five woodwinds, vibes, harp and timpani – there is a quality of dark brooding suspense and menacing action to the eight minute suite having much in common with Herrmann's work on the classic Harryhausen adventures and Hitchcock thrillers he was working on at the same period. Highly enjoyable, and the sound is reasonable too.
The Moat Farm Murders is music from another 1944 radio show, accurately described by Herrmann biographer Steven C. Smith as "…icy as a corpse's fingertips". The sound is bold and dynamic given its vintage and the music delivers a considerable chilling intensity with its highly inventive scoring. The suite runs for just under 8 minutes in a single movement, leading to the album finale, another suite of equal length from a 1956 radio production of Brave New World, which had narration by Aldous Huxley himself. Scored for timpani, electric organ, harp and an array of unspecified tuned percussion, this slow motion bad dream of a score sits somewhere between Herrmann's The Day The Earth Stood Still (1951) and Fahrenheit 451 (1966) as music which evokes a science fiction world through coldly beautiful percussion and elegant formality. The sound is free from significant distortion and is detailed and clear.
A mixed bag, but the best is very good. Far superior to Vol.1 and well worth adding to any Herrmann collection. | <urn:uuid:c78d8f37-1b77-43e5-956b-5bd6c7080c36> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.musicweb-international.com/film/2003/Dec03/herrmann_cbs_years_gothic.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368701852492/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516105732-00014-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.957049 | 862 | 1.632813 | 2 |
the day he was born: a piece from John Coplans
Body Parts: A Self Portrait.
the Mind’s Eye
Parts: A Self Portrait by John Coplans
Teaching Museum and Gallery, through April 11
Is John Coplans the author of the photographs now on view
at the Tang Museum? Or is he more of a performance artist,
collaborating with a photographer to produce these images
of his elderly, naked self?
The final part of an extended photographic project begun in
1984, Body Parts, A Self Portrait presents 26 equal-sized
diptychs, each a pair of semi-abstracted close-ups of the
83-year-old Coplans’ nude body in all its worn glory. Completed
shortly before he died in 2003, the work continues the exploration
of form, perception and self-image begun in the earlier work,
but with the added twist of creating curious, often bizarre
combinations through pairing.
In all the photographs, the question of authorship is valid,
because Coplans was always in front of—not behind—the lens,
directing the activity and imagery by means of a video monitor.
In this latest group, it becomes even more significant in
light of the fact that Coplans had become functionally blind.
Unable to see, he abandoned the video hookup altogether and
directed entirely from his imagination.
The resulting sequences of images range from the delicate
to the grotesque, drawing in equal measure from the natural
state of Coplans’ deteriorated physique and the unnatural
shapes he discovers both within the pictures and through their
juxtaposition. It is a worthy pursuit with the happy end of
playing with our perceptions of both physical appearance and
Apart from the appealingly subtle tones of black and white
achieved with the use of 4-by-5-inch Polaroid positive-negative
material and the subsequent expertly made 17-by-22-inch silver
prints, there is the somewhat unpleasant fact of time’s signature
on the old man’s body. Wrinkles, spider veins, blackened toenails
and shiny, depilated skin are all rendered in sweet shades
of gray. Then, the pictures are joined to make surrealistic,
beastly figures—many-limbed, double torsoed, creeping low,
rising up, motoring along or merely grappling.
Many of the combined forms are pachyderm-like, weighty and
plodding; some appear truly freakish, while others are more
dreamily envisioned. All reveal an openness that is strikingly
childlike, and a welcome sense of humor. But there is a dark
side, too, to this work—Coplans began this series shortly
after the 9/11 attacks on the World Trade Center, in the vicinity
of the fires, with the awareness that burned and dismembered
bodies were being found in the rubble there.
It is only coincidence that Coplans died, too, after completing
these pictures. They are not elegiac in feeling; rather, they
look unblinkingly at old age, and in a very fresh way—then
they start anew with the wacky pairings to go well beyond
that artistic tradition and link with others. It feels more
like a beginning than an ending, more optimistic than sad.
A hardcover book was published in conjuction with the exhibition,
a joint venture of the Tang and the List Visual Arts Center
at MIT. In a prologue to the book (which reproduces all 26
pairs in very fine duotone offset), Coplans gives a cogent
and concise history lesson on the art of the grotesque. His
writing completes our understanding of his work without preaching
or condescending—such excellent writing comes as no surprise,
considering that he was once the editor of Artforum,
and is the author of several important monographs on artists
such as Cezanne and Warhol.
And, yes, I believe he is also the author of the wonderful
and wondrous pictures in this exhibition—even if he himself
couldn’t see them except in his mind’s eye.
A dialogue on the art of John Coplans will be at the Tang
Teaching Museum, Skidmore College, at 7 PM tonight (Thursday, | <urn:uuid:2dbf8704-5d56-4368-b57a-543c20b0a937> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://metroland.net/back_issues/vol_27_no13/art.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368710006682/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516131326-00022-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.939832 | 932 | 1.75 | 2 |
It’s been a while since I’ve written about a long-standing NGO—the kind of organization that has roots overseas, and in US politics. Global Volunteers has been working on grassroots international aid projects since 1984. They work with the United Nations, UNICEF, and the Food and Agriculture Organization. They are known as the “grandfather of volunteer vacations.” Indeed, they are pioneers. They “engage short-term volunteers in long-term projects,” a model that hundreds (even thousands?) of volunteer organizations use today.
To write about Global Volunteers is to get at the source—the place where all of this began—and not just the source of volunteer vacations, the source of best practices. Global Volunteers have always had a dedication to sustainable projects; to communicating openly, freely, and often with local people to cater projects to their needs and to respect their opinions about what projects are needed most; and to preparing volunteers for the unexpected risks and wonders of volunteering abroad. Their mission is the same mission many of our best organizations share: to “wage peace and promote justice worldwide through comprehensive community development partnerships.”
Being a pioneer does not automatically make an organization great, or business savvy, but Global Volunteers is both. Their website caters to the volunteer looking for information. They also include testimonials from experienced volunteers. The first testimonial on their site is from a volunteer who has participated in 19 different projects! They also have a YouTube channel with videos of volunteers working at a variety of locations. Their site is well designed and intuitive with all the bells and whistles: easy navigation, social network links, tons of information on getting involved, and a live-chat function.
Their videos all seem to have a particular focus: families. Their minimum age requirement (to work at a women’s COOP in Monteverde, Costa Rica) is five. This is significantly younger than the age requirements I’ve seen elsewhere and may make Global Volunteers particularly attractive to volunteering families with small children. In addition to families, Global Volunteers offers trips for a wide variety of travelers, from students to elderly adults. They also encourage groups to travel together.
Any new (or established) volunteer organization can learn from the Global Volunteers example. A volunteer organization that thrives for nearly 30 years in such a dynamic world is worthy of our admiration and our attention. If the goal is to enact real, sustained long-term change, Global Volunteers has succeeded. | <urn:uuid:7f76d017-ca9e-430b-a4c1-c9fe529b7574> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://journeys4good.com/blog/aid-organizations/global-volunteers-leave-your-mark-on-the-world/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368708142388/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516124222-00023-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.960225 | 509 | 1.8125 | 2 |
The last couple of days have demonstrated that with winter around the corner, just how destructive the weather can be. Drivers in parts of the UK are taking 40 mile detours, simply to get to work.
Driving in adverse weather demands undivided concentration on the road ahead – and your last worry should be whether you are heading in the right direction.
If a road is blocked by a landslip or there simply isn’t a bridge where there was one the previous day, CoPilot Live is ready and on hand to recommend an alternative route.
Simply click on the main menu button and press ‘Detour’. CoPilot Live will then provide an alternative route to your destination, taking into account any preferences you may have selected.
Alternatively, you might like to check out the live Weather feature in CoPilot. You can use this to check the conditions on route and at your destination. Consult this before you travel and you could discover the best course of action is to leave the car where it is and work from home instead. | <urn:uuid:998afb09-afde-4f84-9fcc-faee8df3ae1e> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://blog.copilotlive.com/uk/2009/11/23/always-take-the-weather-with-you/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368711005985/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516133005-00009-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.935606 | 216 | 1.734375 | 2 |
ATHENS, Ala. (RNS) Black and white. Heaven and hell. Right and wrong.
Blur or question those lines, and, well, all hell can break out.
At least it did for Edward Fudge in the early 1980s in in this small northern Alabama hamlet.
Fudge was a young preacher who also worked in his father's publishing company. When he began to teach a doctrine of hell that contradicted the traditional view of a place of eternal fiery torment for the damned, a quick succession of events cost him his job and his pulpit.
A new film, "Hell and Mr. Fudge," compresses the events of the years when Fudge, now a Houston-based lawyer and internationally known Bible teacher and author, began an intensive study of the Bible and the doctrine of hell. What he found made him question one of the bedrock doctrines of Christianity.
The feature movie, which was filmed in Athens last year by the nonprofit religious education organization LLT Productions, won a Platinum Award during its premiere at Worldfest, the Houston Film Festival. Producers are shopping the film to find national distribution.
Fudge's conclusion that hell is a place of destruction, not torture, got him fired from his pulpit. The fact that he asked a black preacher to pray at a revival didn't help.
"My life went in a direction I didn't anticipate -- or particularly want," Fudge said in an interview. "But at every step, God's been there to make happen what he wants to happen. I've just kind of been along for the ride."
To outsiders and even some Christians, the debate over the nature of hell may seem like splitting theological hairs. But for Christians who orient their lives around a literal understanding of biblical teaching, the belief in eternal hell is seen as an essential truth.
Hell can be the third rail of Christian teaching -- step on it and you're bound to get jolted. Last year, Michigan evangelical megachurch pastor Rob Bell found himself on the cover of Time magazine when his book, "Love Wins," questioned traditional notions of hell. Many conservative leaders swiftly denounced him.
Fudge's independence of mind and determination to dig deep into the Bible -- and then to stand for what he believes despite vehement opposition -- is what makes the film transcend narrow questions of theology, said Pat Arrabito, director of the Angwin, Calif.-based LLT Productions, which made the movie.
"Even though this is a specific story about a specific train of events, this has wide appeal," Arrabito said. "This is the story of someone who had to change their mind -- and it wasn't easy. And then he had to stand up for what he believes."
"Those kind of themes echo in a lot of hearts," Arrabito said.
Fudge never expected to change his mind on the topic of hell, he said. But then the renegade former Seventh-day Adventist minister Robert Brinsmead saw some of Fudge's articles and paid Fudge to research the topic of hell in the Bible and historic Christian writings.
For dramatic effect, the movie has Fudge's character (played by Mackenzie Astin) already agonizing over the doctrine after a young friend dies in an accident. In reality, Fudge said, he may have wondered about it, but he hadn't given it much study or much anguish.
An eternally burning hell for the "lost" was one of the accepted assumptions of everyone he knew. In his research, Fudge expected to merely assemble information that would verify what he had always taught and been taught on the topic.
"I thought I knew what was in the Bible," said Fudge, who already had a master's degree in biblical studies when he started his research.
But, he found out, he didn't know what was in the Bible, not when he took passages on the topic of the fate of the wicked at face value, in their own linguistic and historic contexts.
Fudge's research became the basis for his 500-page text on the topic, "The Fire that Consumes: A Biblical and Historical Study of the Doctrine of Final Punishment," which was released in 1982 and is now in its third edition. In it, he argues that hell is a place of annihilation, not endless torment, while heaven is a place where God grants the gift of immortality for those who are saved.
The doctrine outlined in the book is now fairly widely accepted by leading evangelical preachers and Christian scholars. But historical ways of reading selected Bible texts to come to the conclusion of hell as a place of eternal torment also still flourish.
"I remember this (Fudge's heretical teachings) being talked about when I was in junior high and high school," said David Cox, who is pulpit preacher at Market Street Church of Christ in Athens, and who grew up the son of another preacher. "And I guarantee, if I got up Sunday and preached what Ed teaches, I would be asked to leave."
And for good reason, Cox said.
"Truth is not what people want it to be; it's what God says it is," Cox said. "God is not going to say, as he does in Matthew 25, that there is going to be everlasting punishment and there not be everlasting punishment."
And the most grave sin a Bible teacher can commit is teaching falsehoods or a way of applying the Bible that causes another person to miss salvation, he said.
Getting truth right according to the Bible is something Fudge agrees with, too, he said.
“When you say you’re speaking for God, you had better be sure you’re saying what God wants said,” Fudge said. “To me, the traditional teaching of eternal torment is slander against God and against his character.”
(Kay Campbell writes for The Huntsville Times.)
KRE/AMB END CAMPBELL | <urn:uuid:7cb42290-5e3c-4f72-a1aa-ebb51cc4386b> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://archives.religionnews.com/culture/entertainment-and-pop-culture/Film-traces-Southern-preachers-trip-to-hell-and-back | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368704132298/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516113532-00035-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.982351 | 1,226 | 1.539063 | 2 |
As I mentioned in a recent post, hubless wheel concept bikes have been appearing on the web in droves lately. Fast Company recently featured a few of those recent concept bikes (and one really old one) in their “Almost Genius” category, reserved for designs that don’t quite work. On the Core77 discussion boards, slippyfish recently started, “The Official Hubless Wheel Hater Thread”. One of the posts on that thread even points a pretty entertaining gallery of late 19th century hubless monocycles. Of course, BSNYC’s “save the hubs” campaign gets a mention too. All in all, it seems that everyone is kind of tired of seeing new hubless wheel concepts on the web every week.
What better time to revisit a couple of old posts about a hubless wheel, which (I believe) actually went into production for a short time in the mid 90s. The picture you see above is an early prototype of the Black Hole hubless wheel system from “Wear and Tear”. According to the company, this assembly weighed about a pound less than a conventional fork and wheel. Sounds great…why didn’t it catch on?
To the left, you can see a later prototype of the Black Hole. Obviously, the designers were a little too optimistic with that large opening in the previous prototype. I am not sure what happened to Wear and Tear, but I have my doubts that this later prototype was lighter than the average conventional fork and wheel that was available at the time.
On an unrelated note, the Taipei International Cycle Show opens tomorrow. As he did last year, Eric Stoddard will be writing a guest post or two from the show. I’m looking forward to reading what he has to say. | <urn:uuid:de94c407-745f-48e6-b630-12364270f425> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://bicycledesign.net/2010/03/a-hubless-wheel-from-the-past-the-black-hole/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368710006682/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516131326-00022-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.966675 | 377 | 1.648438 | 2 |
Here is a question for SNP politicians, members and supporters, I have asked this in various ways over the past months since in fact this deed was done and I can't get a single nationalist to comment.
Some time ago I heard the SNP leader wee Alex (the spiv) Salmond say; no that's not quite right as we have subsequently found out he "declared" "Affirmed" "Stated" choose your own description, that if Scotland became independent the Present Queen Elizabeth 11 or to give her her proper name, "the full bhuna" as it were. Elizabeth the Second, by the Grace of God, of Great Britain, Ireland and the British Dominions beyond the Seas Queen, Defender of the Faith, would be Queen of Scotland and subsequently 'Head of State' She has literally hundreds more titles and can appear wearing more bling than Idi Amin Dada that other famous democrat, but I just want to give you a flavour of her power.
I want to ask Scottish nationalists everywhere what they think of this decision by wee Eck (the spiv) and also ask the following 1/ were any of you consulted about this in any way? 2/ if you were would one or more of you describe how that consultation took place? 3/ what do you feel about wee Eck (the spiv's) actions? 4/ are any of the tooth and claw nationalists that I grew up fighting with still out there, do any of you remember those shibboleths which were sacred to you? I remember them, I heard you sing about them often enough "Scotland hisnae got a King and hisnae got a Queen" remember?
I will print your answers if any of you have the courage to write, I will print them in Technicolour if you dare to give your names. | <urn:uuid:1c3b4a15-1091-4bcd-8fb0-d1e2128073f7> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://councillorterrykelly.blogspot.com/2012/03/come-on-you-nats-all-together-now.html?showComment=1333813226320 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368702448584/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516110728-00023-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.983245 | 372 | 1.734375 | 2 |
Here's the proof of Bigfoot that skeptics have been waiting for. This is the famous Erickson Project footage of Matilda, a female Bigfoot. This was just release by Dr. Melba Ketchum's group. "There is a nice short clip of Matilda breathing in the supplemental part of the paper. When and how the rest comes out is up to Adrian," Ketchum wrote on Facebook.
The man in the video appears to be Dennis Phol, a project manager and chief videographer for Erickson. Matilda is laying down for a nap, and you can definitely see her breathing.
[Update] It appears Ketchum's web person made a boo boo and inadvertently left the video up for public viewing. The video is now set to private. Ketchum explains why the video is in her paper: "The video was not intended to prove the existence of Sasquatch, the science did that. It was requested though so we put it in. It is just like there are pictures in the Lesula paper. If pictures or video would do it, proof would have been out a long time ago what with the PG film. Nobody will ever believe video or pictures conclusively. They are just nice entertainment to add."
[Update #2] ParaBreakdown has a breakdown of the video:
[Update #3] Ketchum just made the decision to repost the video: "After discussing it with the others, we are allowing the video to go public with the following requirements:
This is a very short clip of a female Sasquatch sleeping that we licensed from the Erickson Project for use with the paper. Her respiration was timed at 6 breaths per minute, which is an indication that the video shows something unusual. This clip is now copyrighted to the Sasquatch Genome Project and any use or reposting MUST give proper attribution." | <urn:uuid:73b5ac02-4fb7-406d-9858-c010d3e8fecd> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://bigfootevidence.blogspot.com.au/2013/02/breaking-heres-footage-of-matilda.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368711005985/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516133005-00035-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.960912 | 385 | 1.78125 | 2 |
b. 1954 in Bochum
lives and works in Cleveland, OH, USA
Christian Wulffen’s follows a neoconceptual, neo-Constructivist approach. Assembled from industrially produced construction materials such as wood slats, MDF molding, drafting film, aluminum, or tape, Wulffen’s works put the perception of space to the test. To do so he employs an aesthetic coordinate system he has developed, which enters into a dialogue with existing ordering systems.
As ordinary as the materials of Christian Wulffen’s works may be, their arrangement is just as precise and planned. By emphasizing constructional elements, by concentrating on horizontals and verticals, the artist achieves a condensation of spatial dimensions. Using ever new approaches, but always following the same ordering principle, the artist explores the makeup of these dimensions: structure and space, object and surroundings, inside and outside, and last but not least the relationship of construction and ordering function.
Recently, Thomas Wulffen has increasingly been integrating photographs into his systematic installations. The choice of landscapes and architecture is not based on qualities of these motifs such as attractiveness or suggestions of meaning but is motivated rather entirely by structural or spatial considerations. In this way, the photographs support one of the central insights one repeatedly encounters in Christian Wulffen’s works: the construction of reality begins with the things we encounter but also very crucially with the constructed nature of our perception itself. That might be the most general response when asked what Christian Wulffen’s works mean. | <urn:uuid:c3110806-e054-46fb-af7a-db0ea0e08680> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.galerie-sturm.de/en/artists/artists-of-the-gallery/christian-wulffen.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368701852492/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516105732-00000-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.932418 | 325 | 1.539063 | 2 |
Instead of Sloppy Joes, fries and canned pears, imagine kids eating a school lunch of barbeque pulled chicken and black bean quesadilla, colorful bell peppers served with low-fat ranch dip and fresh cantaloupe slices.
That sort of transformation is the goal of the Chefs Move to Schools program – and the Lunch Break for Schools fundraiser, sponsored by the makers of Hidden Valley® Salad Dressings, is aiming to make that dream a reality.
Chef Ford Fry from JCT. Kitchen & Bar will be hosting a Lunch Break for Schools fundraiser during lunch on Wednesday, February 29 to raise money to support the American Culinary Federation’s efforts toward the Chefs Move to Schools program’s goal of encouraging healthier eating by kids – including eating more vegetables. Whether dining in or taking lunch to-go, the public is invited to visit JCT. Kitchen during lunchtime on February, 29 to purchase Chef Fry’s specialty lunch item to do their part to support nutrition education. Fry will be serving a special menu featuring a crudité of fresh vegetable served with Hidden Valley Ranch Lite, Maine Lobster chopped salad with Meyer lemon “ranch” vinaigrette and a brown bag “afternoon snack” of Hidden Valley Ranch oyster crackers. The cost is $26 per person.
“I’m really excited about participating in the Lunch Break for Schools fundraiser,” says Chef Fry. “This is a great cause to support, and as a father, I know how important it is for kids to eat a healthy lunch. I also think this is a chance to educate adults about healthy eating options.”
The Lunch Break for Schools national fundraiser is organized by the makers of Hidden Valley Salad Dressings and the ACF to support the ACF’s Chef & Child Foundation (CCF) and its chefs’ efforts toward the Chefs Move to Schools program. With support from celebrity chef Cat Cora as the national spokesperson, chefs across the country will create and sell delicious, healthy lunches one day during the week of Feb. 27 – March 2, 2012. All net proceeds from lunch items sold will be donated to CCF and funds will be used to create nutrition-based educational resources for chefs involved in the Chefs Move to Schools program.
The chefs’ lunches will follow the framework of a recommended one-week school lunch menu released by First Lady Michelle Obama and the White House to show the changes that could be made after the passing of the Healthy, Hungry-Free Kids Act 2010. The menu includes vegetables and low-fat ranch dressing on four of five days.
Champions for Nutrition Education
The makers of Hidden Valley Salad Dressings donated $150,000 to ACF’s Chef & Child Foundation to underwrite the fundraiser and help create curriculum, tools and other resources needed to help chefs working in schools.
The commitment is part of the brand’s Love Your Veggies™ nutrition education campaign. Since launching the campaign in 2006, the makers of Hidden Valley Salad Dressings have donated more than $1 million to nutrition education programs.
For more information on the Lunch Break for Schools program, including details about the chefs involved and recipes featured in the lunches, visit www.acfchefs.org/lunchbreakforschools.
Join the Lunch Break for Schools discussion on Twitter at #LunchBreakForSchools. | <urn:uuid:d466a438-44c5-4941-b7a4-6ef31be0e9c9> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://atlantamoms.com/blog/2012/02/chef-fry-to-host-local-lunch-break-for-schools-fundraiser-at-jct-kitchen-bar-on-february-29/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368707435344/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516123035-00023-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.931484 | 709 | 1.742188 | 2 |
Men who want to know if they’d make it as day traders on Wall Street just have to look down at the fingers, according to a new study. The longer their ring fingers are in relation to their pointer fingers, the more likely they are to have what it takes to make millions on the trading floor. Previous research has found that the digit ratio reflects how much testosterone an unborn baby was exposed to in the womb. Those exposed to high levels of the hormone are more sensitive as adults to testosterone that creates feelings of confidence and encourages risk-taking, said study author John Coates [Bloomberg].
Coates has previously shown that traders who register the highest levels of testosterone in the morning make the most money through the course of the day, and this new study adds to the earlier work by suggesting that their advantage may have been innate, not learned. Although it may come as no surprise that testosterone could be a big player in the mano-a-mano world of Wall Street, the research offers the best evidence yet of the hormone’s role in determining which would-be Masters of the Universe will thrive. It also supports the growing recognition that biology plays a role in complex human behaviors, and that financial choices in particular are often less rational than economists appreciated [Washington Post].
Coates had heard of research indicating that men with longer ring fingers had more aptitude for sports. So “for a lark,” Coates says, he decided to take handprints of 44 of the young male traders he studied, all of whom worked on a fast-paced London trading floor. Coates’s hunch paid off. In the new study … his team found that traders with the lowest index-to-ring-finger ratios (i.e., those exposed to more testosterone before birth) made the most money over a 20-month period, even when the researchers controlled for years of experience. They averaged the equivalent of $1,232,590, nearly six times more than that of men with high ratios. “I almost fell off my chair,” says Coates [ScienceNOW Daily News].
The findings, reported in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences [subscription required], shouldn’t cause Wall Street recruiters to scrutinize the hands of applicants, Coates says. “Population statistics such as ours give average effects over a population but can be tricky when applied to individuals,” he said. The next stage in the Cambridge research will be to look at other types of financial trading. “When it comes to long-run investments, we may well find that successful individuals have higher, more feminine digit ratios,” he said [Financial Times].
80beats: Men With High Testosterone Levels Make Riskier Financial Decisions
DISCOVER: Testosterone Rules has more on what the hormone does to the human male | <urn:uuid:6dfea0d6-6ec1-483c-923d-4012efc8dac1> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/80beats/2009/01/13/wall-streets-winners-may-be-determined-while-theyre-still-in-the-womb/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368710006682/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516131326-00026-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.961879 | 588 | 1.625 | 2 |
By Edith Honan
HARTFORD, Connecticut (Reuters) - The Connecticut police investigation into the shooting last month at a Newtown elementary school will continue through June and no criminal prosecution is expected, a state prosecutor said on Thursday.
Danbury State's Attorney Stephen Sedensky III's comments came during testimony before the opening meeting of the Sandy Hook Advisory Commission, an expert panel formed by Governor Dannel Malloy that is named for the school where the massacre occurred.
Sedensky said privacy rules make it unlikely that investigators will be able to provide the panel with a mental health history of the shooter, Adam Lanza.
Malloy has tasked the panel with finding ways to improve the safety of schools and the public in the aftermath of the December 14 massacre, which left 20 first graders and six adults dead.
The panel will review current policy and make specific recommendations on public safety, with a particular focus on school safety, mental health, and prevention of gun violence.
The panel's first public hearing included testimony from experts called upon after the 1999 massacre at Columbine High School in Colorado and the 2007 massacre at Virginia Tech.
The Connecticut shooting reignited the debate over gun rights in the United States and prompted President Barack Obama to introduce proposals to reduce gun violence and tighten gun control laws. Some states have also called for stricter local rules on guns and ammunition.
The National Rifle Association, the nation's largest gun lobby, fiercely opposes tighter gun controls and has called for armed guards in public schools.
A separate legislative task force on gun violence prevention is due to begin meeting on Friday and to hold a public meeting at Newtown High School on January 30.
(Reporting By Edith Honan; Editing by Paul Thomasch and David Gregorio) | <urn:uuid:e8793d1a-a331-4635-a4cf-2f7d31e98581> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://b93radio.com/news/articles/2013/jan/24/connecticut-commission-to-meet-on-school-safety-after-newtown-massacre/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368696381249/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516092621-00026-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.951951 | 358 | 1.515625 | 2 |
Can Land Trusts Lobby?
Yes, your land trust can lobby, and there are many good reasons to do so! Your land trust (and any 501(c)(3) nonprofit) can lobby the city council, the state government, and even the Congress, if you follow some relatively simple rules.
The IRS says you can! You can read their letter on lobbying by 501(c)(3) charities.
If your organization has a stake in increasing tax incentives or funding for conservation, you should lobby! Hundreds of land trusts, from The Nature Conservancy to all-volunteer organizations operating in a single township, have lobbied their state and federal legislators to help them conserve more land.
What do you have to do?
- Decide what is in your land trust's best interest! You may decide, like many land trusts, to lobby only where there is a clear benefit to your organizational goals, and to do so in a pro-active, non-confrontational way. Asking your legislators for help is in many ways no different from asking any other donor for help. Other organizations have told us that taking controversial stances helps to raise their profile and drives donations, but that path isn't for everyone. Our Advocacy Seminar Workbook has advice and templates for developing an advocacy policy and a policy committee.
- Not all work you do with government is lobbying! The IRS doesn’t regulate work done by volunteers (including your board, except to the degree your budget covers their expenses). Communication about legislation to your members does not count, unless you urge them to lobby. Work with agencies on a grant proposal or on regulations they are considering is not considered lobbying by the IRS. Broad discussion of social issues (i.e., sprawl, or protection of open space) that does not address specific legislation is not lobbying.
- Land trusts that make lobbying a substantial portion of their budget should elect to come under the rules the Congress passed in 1976 for lobbying by public charities. By filling out IRS Form 5768, you come under these rules, which allow you to spend as much as 20 percent of your budget on lobbying so long as you keep track of and report those expenditures (lobbying expenses and staff time) to the IRS.
- 501(c)(3)'s are never allowed to endorse political candidates! But land trusts can advocate in non-partisan elections, such as ballot referenda. Many land trusts have played a key role in campaigning for referenda to create new sources of conservation funding at the local and state level.
- There is a special limit on funds used to persuade the general public on legislative issues. Any type of communication used to reach out to the public rather than just to your members, such as newspaper ads, is considered grass-roots lobbying. You can only spend one quarter of your lobbying limit on grass-roots lobbying. Communications to your members, and advocacy on referenda, however, do not count as grassroots lobbying, and are not subject to the 25 percent limit.
- Keep informed – join Land Trust Alliance Advocates, our e-mail alert network that lets you know what the federal government is doing that may affect your conservation work, and how you can affect it. Also, please don't hesitate to call and ask for advice! We're eager to help you! Reach us at 202-638-4725 or [email protected]. | <urn:uuid:18109618-8084-46b8-a1fa-6256101e400f> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.landtrustalliance.org/policy/advocacy-tips/land-trusts-lobby | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368706153698/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516120913-00008-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.959871 | 696 | 1.5 | 2 |
St John Chrysostom writes:
For since they heard that God made man, taking the dust of the earth, for this reason in like manner He also fashioned (clay). Indeed, for Him to have said, "I am the One Who took dust from the earth and fashioned the man" would have been arduous to bear and repugnant to His hearers. But when this was shown in actual deed, it no longer stood in the way. Wherefore by taking earth and mixing it with spittle, thus His hidden glory was made manifest. For it was no small glory that He should be believed to be the Maker of creation. | <urn:uuid:f9e13c94-c528-48b0-bff6-5d62e6f5d83b> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://ishmaelite.blogspot.com/2010/05/blind-man-and-creation.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368700958435/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516104238-00005-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.988452 | 132 | 1.789063 | 2 |
Forbes estimates Zuckerberg was worth $4 billion in 2010 and is worth $13.5 billion today. Also, according to Forbes, the 2011 Billionaires List breaks two records: total number of listees (1,210) and combined wealth ($4.5 trillion). Read the full story here, and you can read a bio of all 1,210 people on the 2011 Billionaires List here.
Kimberly White / Reuters
Mark Zuckerberg, founder and CEO of Facebook, delivers a keynote address at the company's annual conference in San Francisco, in this file photo taken July 23, 2008. Facebook co-founder and Chief Executive Zuckerberg clocked in at No. 52 with an estimated worth of $13.5 billion, up from 212 and $4 billion in 2010. Six of the founders and investors behind the hot Internet startup made the annual list of world's top billionaires compiled by Forbes and published on Wednesday -- and four of them are new to the roster. | <urn:uuid:db4fc0b1-34bf-4b7b-b0bf-ec1180346de7> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://photoblog.nbcnews.com/billionaire | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368705953421/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516120553-00023-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.942261 | 196 | 1.53125 | 2 |
3:44 pm Jul. 30, 20121
The renowned French filmmaker Chris Marker died on Monday, just one day after his 91st birthday, according to a statement released by the French Cultural Ministry. Tributes to Marker have already begun appearing online.
French president Francois Hollande said in a statement that Marker's most famous film, La Jetée, “will be remembered by history," while the Greek filmmaker Costa-Gavras told the French newspaper Le Monde Monday that Marker “was a profoundly honest man, both politically and cinematographically.”
In an email, Karen Cooper, the director of Film Forum, where many of Marker’s films have been screened throughout his career, called Marker a "genius."
“He was one of the first documentary-essayists who could make seemingly casual personal musings the subject of his movies," she wrote. "But what musings! Sans Soleil is but one example of his brilliance, originality, humor, and humanity. A great light has gone out.”
One of the most siginificant experimental filmmakers of the postwar era, Marker is perhaps best known for his classic 1962 film La Jetée—a 28-minute science-fiction film composed almost entirely of black-and-white stills, with the exception of a single moving image sequence. Still, it took many years for his work to reach American shores.
Legendary New York experimental filmmaker Jonas Mekas, writing in an email, praised Marker's achievements while lamenting the unavailability of his films in the United States. "[T]he sad reality," Mekas wrote, "is that due to the unavailablity of Marker's (and [Jean-Marie] Straub's) films outside of France, very few of us [...] had a chance to see their work in the Sixties, Seventies and even Eighties. I had many arguments with them about why they had made [it] so difficult/expensive to show their work outside of France, all to no avail. So [...] Chris Marker's work had no affect of any kind on the American avant-garde/independents. But this fact doesn't diminish his importance as a filmmaker, working in the poetic, persenal, formal documentary genre."
Yet, particularly in the past few decades, Marker's films ultimately did influence scores of Hollywood and independent film directors, including Terry Gilliam, who used La Jetée as the inspiration for his 1995 movie Twelve Monkeys.
Marker, who was born Christian François Bouche-Villeneuve but is said to have changed his name to Marker out of admiration for Magic Markers, was friendly with the filmmakers of the French New Wave like Jean-Luc Goddard, Francois Truffaut and Alain Resnais. He made narrative as well as documentary films (he's credited by many with inventing the genre of the essay film), which were often socially and politically charged. He was also known as a recluse, rarely making public appearances or giving interviews (and in some cases doing so in disguise). Others of his celebrated films include A Grin without a Cat (1977) (which Seth Colter Walls wrote about for Capital here), the art-house favorite Sans Soleil (1983), and AK (1985), an essayistic meditation on the Japanese filmmaker Akira Kurosawa.
A prolific artist, Marker remained active as a filmmaker into his 80s. One of his most recent works, Immemory, a multimedia memoir in the form of a C.D.-Rom, was re-released for Mac OS X in 2008, and deals with the state of memory in the digital age.
Marker's influence extends to artists and writers as well. Geoff Dyer, the British author whose most recent book is an essayistic meditation on the Russian director Andrei Tarkovsky's film Stalker, remarked in an email on Marker's singular vision.
"The essay is a strangely underdeveloped genre or possibility within film history," he wrote. "I say 'strangely' precisely because its potential is so enormous. Chris Marker's Sans Soleil remains a high water mark after almost thirty years, setting the standard by which later attempts are judged. Yesterday was a sunless day indeed."
Many of Marker's films are available in their entirety online, as well as through the Criterion Collection, viewable via Hulu Plus.
More by this author:
- John Holmstrom talks about founding and editing 'Punk,' the chronicle of late-'70s New York
- Ups and downs of the Great New York City Chicken Frenzy | <urn:uuid:b0bc5222-7bfd-4bb8-a6c4-69658cc1d4cb> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.capitalnewyork.com/article/culture/2012/07/6322722/remembering-chris-marker-famed-french-filmmaker-updated | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368705953421/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516120553-00016-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.979876 | 961 | 1.820313 | 2 |
Pearls to the pigs and communion to dogs
Man and animals reaching for transformation in Christ
"Do not give what is holy to the dogs; nor cast your pearls before swine" (Mat 7:6)
When I was a kid I had a pet, a cat, and loved it dearly. It slept with me every night and in my teenage years felt at times as my only true friend. But there was no moment during the time we had together, that I confused my pet pal with a true human friend; it remained a cat the entire time. There seems to be however a lot of confusion nowadays about animals and their role in our lives. People treat their animals as family, take them to beauty salons and spas, leave them fortunes in their wills and expect to be joined by them in heaven.
Just when I thought I heard it all I just stumbled on a recent news story where an Anglican minister went as far as giving communion to a dog. "It was a simple church act of reaching out to a new congregation member and his pet" , the "she" minister swiftly responded to the harsh criticism surrounding her acts.
Some may be asking what is the big fuss? The evolutionists might say: as the dogs, after all, we all come from animals; we are all products of the same evolutionary process. Why denying Communion to the dogs, aren't they also called to be saved? What is so distinctive about humans that they get all the benefits? Man is no more unique than the other animals, it is just the refined product of a distillation process that started by chance and eventually led where we are today.
As shocking as this recent story may be, the problem of equating people with animals is not new. Even St. Gregory of Nazianz was facing some of the same controversy in the 4th century: "Men say: man is a microcosmos - and they say this thinking they elevate human nature with this grandiose title, but they did not realize that actually they have honored man with the characteristics of the mosquito and the mouse"
In the quest to prove that man comes from animals, man is actually diminished to the level of a marginally more advanced living creature and nothing else, having very little to distinguish him from his "close relatives" that still dangle from one tree branch to the other. By reducing man to his animal body, man is actually abridged to matter and any spark of spirituality is completely denied to him. Man becomes an animal with the illusion of grandeur.
But, according to Vladimir Lossky "Human perfection does not consist in what makes him resemble with all creation, but in what sets him apart from the created order and makes him resemble his Creator"
Man was created differently than the other forms of life. God created the world by a simple "let there be..." but for man He decided to fashion him in a distinctive manner. "Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness; let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air, and over the cattle, over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth." (Gen 1:26).
The resemblance with God that makes man different than animals is the rational origin of his soul. "Animals act on impulse (they have urges) but in man there is also "logic"; it is the Grace of God which comes and establishes itself "logically" upon the soul", says Saint Maximus the Confessor. Animals do not possess rationality and have no free will. They possess however, through their instincts and the spirit of life planted in them, a certain basic understanding of the world, enough for them to never fail in recognizing God and serving His will.
This is why Christ did not specifically minister to animals, not because they were unworthy, or because He didn't care about them, but because the creation already knew Him and obeyed him as God. "The ox knows its owner and the donkey its master's crib; But Israel does not know." (Isaiah 1:3). The icon of Nativity shows this clearly by depicting the animals as the first witnesses of the Incarnation.
On the other hand man, misusing his God given rationality and betraying his freedom of choice, in his disobedience, has forgotten Who the Master is and has fallen into sin. Because of man and his sin the entire creation has been turned upside down and exists in the corrupted state we see today.
Man used to be at peace with all creation; Adam named all the animals and the animals recognized him and did not harm him. (Gen 2:20) But when through sin division was brought in the world animals ceased to recognize man and the entire nature turned against man and against each other. (Gen 3:12-19, Gen 6:12)
The current condition of the world is different that what it was in paradise and different than how it will be in the Kingdom of heavens. The cosmos can and will be redeemed and man is its intercessor: "the creation itself [...] will be delivered from the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the children of God." (Rom 8:18-22).
We see glimpses of this new order and of the renewed relationship between man and animals in the lives of the saints were we encounter a raven feeding the prophet Elias in the wilderness, lions living with the desert dwellers like St. Paul of Thebes or St. Mary of Egypt, a bear befriending St. Seraphim and so many other examples. This was foretold in the prophecy of Isaiah "The wolf also shall dwell with the lamb, the leopard shall lie down with the young goat, the calf and the young lion and the fatling together; and a little child shall lead them." (Isaiah 11:6) These saints have reached again in Christ the state that Adam had in paradise, when man was in harmony with the entire creation giving us all a pre-taste of the kingdom to come.
But this harmony does not mean that we can reduce man to the level of an animal nor we can elevate an animal to the level of man. Each have their distinct role in God's providence and they cannot be confused. "All flesh is not the same flesh, but there is one kind of flesh of men, another flesh of animals, another of fish, and another of birds. There are also celestial bodies and terrestrial bodies; but the glory of the celestial is one, and the glory of the terrestrial is another." (1Cor 15:39-40).
Clearly man was given a distinctive role in creation. Man is the only created being that resembles both the heavens and the earth. Man is lifted to the image of God by his rational soul while his animal body caries the weight of the clay. Thus, by the will of God man is, without overextending his already bloated hubris, the central piece of the created world and by fulfilling his divine purpose he redeems the entire cosmos with him. "All things", argues St. Maximos the Confessor, " which have been created by God, in their diverse natures, are brought together in man as in a melting-pot, and form in him one unique perfection- a harmony composed of many different notes.'"
Christ came to redeem man so man can be united with God and through man the whole creation to be made part of this union. Man is called to unite creation with the Creator and the entire nature supports him in His endeavor. This is the proper order of things that man cannot change but can freely choose to respect and use for the accomplishment of his divine potential. | <urn:uuid:34c4c786-8658-4e26-ad8d-f886aaf82cac> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.stjohndfw.info/pearls-to-the-pigs-and-communion-to-dogs.html | 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 | 0.977893 | 1,570 | 1.8125 | 2 |
Details about organization
Tijuana Economic Development Corporation (DEITAC)
Mission: Promote foreign investment in Tijuana’s industrial sector and encourage cross-border economic collaboration
Operating budget: $700,000 last year
Staff: Eight permanent workers and four floaters
Primary funding: Membership fees, money from state and municipal governments (for promotions)
On a clear day, David Mayagoitia can spot Point Loma from the roof of the Tijuana Economic Development Corporation, or DEITAC.
Mayagoitia, chairman of the organization, points in different directions from that roof, indicating where several of Tijuana’s more than 570 industrial manufacturing facilities are spread. He also looks across the U.S.-Mexico border, which he sees as more of an opportunity than a barrier.
Mayagoitia doesn’t look at Southern California and Baja California as two disparate regions. He prefers to imagine them in the context of a larger “mega region” that includes the six uppermost states of Mexico and California, Arizona, New Mexico and Texas. The corridor stretching from Los Angeles to Tijuana marks the industrial center of this zone, he said.
“Tijuana owes its industrial development to California,” said Mayagoitia, who lives in Chula Vista.
Cross-border economic investment has long been the focus of his work: Mayagoitia has been with DEITAC since its founding in 1989. The group works to attract foreign investment to Tijuana’s large industrial sector — whether from companies in San Diego County or from countries as far away as Japan and Korea.
Mayagoitia recently spoke with U-T San Diego about DEITAC and the dynamics of the “mega region.” Here is the edited conversation.
Q: Can you break down the main functions of DEITAC?
A: First is the continued attraction of industry to the region. Our primary focus on those types of industries has been in medical devices, electronics, aerospace and renewable energy — new types of industries.
The second focus is to bring together a closer working relationship with San Diego. While we have said it many times, the truth of the matter is that in the past, nobody in San Diego has really paid attention to Tijuana. The third function is being able to innovate and produce our own products for export.
Q: How would you describe the relationship between Tijuana and San Diego County, and more broadly, California?
A: Over the years, (Tijuana’s) biggest partners have been California companies. That doesn’t mean that we’re limited to California companies, however. We have a very good presence of Japanese and Korean companies and, of course, companies from other states of the United States. About 70 percent of all companies in Tijuana are U.S. firms or related to U.S. firms.
Q: How does DEITAC attract and retain foreign companies’ investments?
A: When you come to a foreign country, there are two ways to arrive: Either without knowing anything and not having anybody to help you, or having a group of experts that can help you sort out all the issues from taxes and accounting to legal — the types of problems you face when you set up a business in a foreign location. | <urn:uuid:cc5de942-53c9-456c-91a3-aebccdb79f6c> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.utsandiego.com/news/2012/jul/09/tp-border-is-opportunity-not-a-barrier-to-leader/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368704392896/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516113952-00018-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.949277 | 682 | 1.65625 | 2 |
The following animation shows the Arctic sea ices from September 21, 2005 and September 14, 2007. On those two dates the minimum sea ice for the respective year has been recorder.
The images I used to make this animation are courtesy of NASA
There’s no doubt global warming is happening but is it natural or "man-made". One thing’s for sure: I’m not going to wait and see what happens. Prevention is the cure.
This data has been recorded by the Aqua satellite with the AMSR-E module. More information along with a neat January 1, 2007 – September 14th time lapse movie of the same region can be found on NASA’s website. | <urn:uuid:3369bc67-66d7-48a6-b962-14ed72ea33ba> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://pufone.org/blog/arctic-sea-ices-2005-vs-2007/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368708142388/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516124222-00036-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.938035 | 145 | 1.804688 | 2 |
Walking to the Shoebox Gallery, located just on the edge of the Goat Farm property puts one in the mood of discovery. Similar to the rest of the Goat Farm campus, there is a sense of wonder coupled with the feeling you are somewhere you don’t belong. In this space, the Shoebox Gallery fits right in. The sense of adventure required to find the gallery mirrors the conceptual themes prevalent in the recent exhibition, The Fraternal Order of Light Hunters, on view from December 8, 2012-January 8, 2013. In the makeshift gallery, organized by Sarah Flinn and Mimi Hart Silver, artists John Paul Floyd, Chris McClure, and Justin Weaver lure us with a revolutionized definition of the South with their striking silver gelatin photographs.
The Fraternal Order of Light Hunters is the second exhibition at the Shoebox Gallery and deliberately features an all male cast. (The premiere exhibition, Passage, was a selection of all female artists who currently occupy studios at the Goat Farm.) The gallery was created out of an abandoned shipping container that is situated on a grassy knoll overlooking the CSX train tracks. And through a seemingly simple transformation with sheet rock and track lighting, a gallery was born. Though the space is small, it has potential to fill a gap in the diminishing gallery landscape in light of the recent mass exodus of exhibition spaces in town.
Exhibited thematically, each photographers’ voice carries along an adventure tale that explores the south through fresh and intrigued lenses. Though all three artists live in Atlanta, there is a lack of the urban landscape or commercial activity in the photographs. The artists instead focus on remote and wooded areas or unidentifiable underground venues. Often, there is a feeling of innocent voyeurism, as the subjects don’t usually confront the lens—as in the mural sized photograph, Lighthunter 11, by Justin Weaver, where a young man stands shirtless, bearing arms, with a bandana covering his face. Slightly militant while maintaining a strong sense of fantasy, we have stepped inside this young man’s head where dreams of a revolution march. Lighthunter 11 comes across more humorous while dodging the overtly controversial topic of gun control.
In John Paul Floyd’s Kentucky Fern, a small silver gelatin print of drooping fern leaves, we experience a sentimental side of this adventurous show. One can’t help but feel like the Order is trying to inform us that a definition of the South is not easy. Kentucky Fern reveals an unexpected tenderness in light of the masculine toys, guns, and feats of strength in neighboring photographs. Throughout the exhibition, the South is revealed as a personal narrative from these three artists. It’s a story that is assertively redefining what Southern art is—something discoverable, alive, young, and raw.
The photographic prints show the mastery of the silver gelatin process these artists posses. Also just as striking is the array of shooting styles exhibited—from a snapshot to a carefully composed landscape. The remarkable photograph NC2072 by Chris McClure extends 36 x 72 inches, and shows the frontal perspective of a small airplane against a background of silent trees and a crisp afternoon sky. The large print encompasses your whole field of vision, allowing us to become enveloped in the scenery; the inclusive nature of all three photographer’s work is strong. Justin Weaver’s Lighthunter 10 is a dark print illuminated by a fire that the subject seems to be conjuring with his hands. A rawness of the moment bares itself to us.
Unabashedly Southern, The Fraternal Order of the Light Hunters delivers a long awaited definition of Southern photography. And it’s not one that comes through the lens of a visitor, nor as one too insular; instead it’s a redefining of adventure as something to continually be sought after, not already known to us.
The Shoebox Gallery plans to reopen with new exhibition programming this Spring.
Disclosure: Chris McClure is president of BURNAWAY ‘s Board of Directors. In pursuit of featuring work that significantly contributes to cultural discourse, as well as our commitment to transparency, our policy is to disclose instead of exclude. | <urn:uuid:4987cb8e-4692-4981-9ad3-dc2b4e58532a> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://burnaway.org/2013/02/review-the-fraternal-order-of-light-hunters-worth-the-adventure-at-shoebox-gallery/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368709037764/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516125717-00024-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.941104 | 868 | 1.53125 | 2 |
August 15, 2002
How the West Was Won
Rabbi Boruch Shlomo Cunin has garnered kudos and critics while building Chabad's West Coast Empire.
Last Aug. 26, on a soundstage off Sunset Boulevard, Chabad of the West Coast's 21st annual telethon was about to begin.
The stage lights dimmed to blue, Camera One wheeled in, and a spotlight trained on a young boy wearing payes (sidecurls) and knickers -- Anatevka, circa 1905. The boy raised a fiddle to his chin and began a klezmer tune. A second young man, also in stylized Chasidic garb, emerged from the wings and began a slow-motion dance. The music got louder, the pace quickened, the dancer's pirouettes followed closer upon each other and then the stage exploded in a shower of lights and electric guitars as a dozen Lubavitch yeshiva students leapt forward, twisting, turning, doing handstands and cartwheels in a frenzied circle. Cymbals clashed and a booming voice rang out: "To Life! L'Chaim!"
The seven-hour, celebrity-studded, annual extravaganza is West Coast Chabad's largest fundraiser of the year. In 2001, the telethon netted $5 million for Chabad's National Drug Rehabilitation Center and other social service operations; this year, they're hoping for more. It is a truly bizarre cultural phenomenon -- a televised fundraiser for a Chasidic organization whose adherents don't watch television. A charity event that draws Hollywood celebrities from Jon Voight to Anthony Hopkins to Whoopi Goldberg, Jews and non-Jews, all of whom take the stage to extol the virtues of "doing mitzvahs" and "helping to bring Moshiach," raising money for a Jewish group whose religious lifestyle has little in common with their own. It's weird. But it brings in the dough.
At the center of the show, dancing the hora with wild abandon every time the big board flashes a new fundraising total, is 62-year-old Rabbi Boruch Shlomo Cunin, the charismatic and controversial director of Chabad of the West Coast. In 1965, Cunin was sent by the Lubavitcher Rebbe, Rabbi Menachem Mendel Schneerson, from New York to California with instructions, as Cunin tells it, to "take the West Coast." Los Angeles' big, largely unaffiliated, wealthy Jewish community was laid out before the young rabbi like a glittering jewel, if he had the moxie to grab hold of it.
And he did. Today, Cunin is one of Chabad's most successful fundraisers in the world -- in 2001 he raised his own $10 million operating budget plus another $5 million for capital expenses -- and he oversees more than 100 Chabad outreach centers and 28 other schools and institutions throughout California and Nevada.
In Chabad circles, they call it "Cunin's Empire" -- and they don't always mean it kindly. Cunin's six sons and three eldest daughters are all shlichim (Chabad emissaries), all of whom are working in California. When Cunin sent his eldest daughter, Channa, and her new husband to Brentwood in 1985 to establish Chabad operations there, some Chabadniks muttered about nepotism. They complained to the Rebbe, who -- according to the story -- reminded them that he, too, went to work for his father-in-law, the previous Rebbe. Today, all of Cunin's children have linked their work to their father's. They treat him with a kind of awe, almost a formal deference mixed with unabashed adoration, as if, although they've known him all their lives, they still can't quite believe he exists.
Cunin is a huge whirlwind of a man; a brash, blustery guy who hugs men he's just met, laughs loudly, speaks in a raspy half-shout and isn't ashamed of tears. He loves to bring up his boyhood in the Bronx, where, he says, he learned to defend his Jewish identity with his fists. "I'm an American boy, and I can hit a baseball," he boasts. Son and grandson of Lubavitchers, he is proud of his street smarts. Like other Chabadniks, he hasn't been to college -- the Rebbe discouraged it -- but unlike some, Cunin relishes his lack of formal education. "What's a Ph.D. mean?" he asks rhetorically. "Papa Has Dough."
When it comes to soliciting potential donors, or confronting politicians, Cunin is fearless. He marches into their offices, states his needs and waits out the opposition. He's weathered lawsuits, badgered recalcitrant city councils, and has been rumored to tear up checks in a donor's face if he thinks the amount is too small. He expands Chabad's West Coast operations at a startling rate. In June 2001, Cunin announced he was opening seven new Chabad centers in one week. Five had no office space. Two had no personnel. But that didn't faze him.
"He's unstoppable," remarks Los Angeles County Supervisor Zev Yaroslavsky, who has known Cunin since the late '60s. "If you're in a war, you want him in your bunker."
You can love him, or you can not love him, but you can't dismiss him.
"He's had an enormous effect on Jewish life [in this city]," says Gerald Bubis, founding director of the School of Jewish Communal Services at Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion, where he now serves as professor emeritus. "He's one of the greatest fundraisers in the country."
Bubis first met Cunin in 1965 or 1966, when Bubis was serving as director of the JCC in Long Beach. Cunin walked into his office one day and asked whether he thought Long Beach could support a day school. "After I'd pontificated for about three minutes, I paused and said, 'You're not asking me. You've come to announce that you're doing it, aren't you?'"
Cunin said yes.
"I told him, if you do, and it's successful, I' ll eat my hat," Bubis says.
Cunin opened the day school, which flourished, and every time since then when the two men meet, the rabbi asks Bubis how his hat tastes.
"I have great admiration for what he's accomplished, along with great concern as to whether there's proper accountability and oversight," Bubis says. "There's no board of directors. I'm very ambivalent."
>From the beginning, Cunin has had a checkered relationship with Los Angeles' Jewish establishment. Soon after he arrived, he tried to organize Jewish classes for "religious release hour," a program that took children out of the public schools for one hour a week for religious instruction. Los Angeles' municipal religious liaison committee told him he needed approval from The Jewish Federation, but when Cunin went to meet with the local machers, they shot down the idea. No mixing of religion and public school education, they told him.
Cunin, barely 25 at the time, stared them down. "I told them, 'Let's get the record straight. You may be big guys here, but on me, you got nothing. My boss is God. Moses, who tells me what to do, is the Rebbe. I'm a train coming down the track, and you can either get on board, step out of the way or be run over.'"
Over the years, Cunin has clashed repeatedly with Jewish and other organizations in his way. He has fought rabbis, federations and the American Civil Liberties Union over public menorah lightings throughout California. In virtually every case, he won. In 1989, he became embroiled in a messy lawsuit over ownership of The Bayit, a Jewish student cooperative at UCLA he was using for Chabad activities. A settlement was reached in 1995 and The Bayit returned to student hands, but rancor remained.
"I can't go into the terms of the agreement, but Chabad came out nicely," says columnist Avi Davis, president of The Bayit's board of directors.
Cunin's latest battle erupted this January, when he fired Rabbi Shmulik Naperstak as director of Chabad of the Marina. Naperstak refuses to vacate the synagogue building for which he claims to have raised most of the funding; Cunin claims that the building belongs to Chabad of the West Coast, Naperstak's titular employer. In the fluid, semicorporate world of Lubavitch, where straying followers are urged back into the fold rather than kicked out, and where an individual Chabad emissary who raises his own funding can take headquarters' directives with a grain of salt, Cunin -- like other emissaries -- is usually left alone to run his own affairs.
This time, Naperstak's donors raised a stink, Lubavitch headquarters in Brooklyn stepped in and both parties agreed to go to the central Lubavitch rabbinical court for adjudication. The case is still pending.
Cunin's boundless energy and his refusal to take "no" for an answer are fueled by his overwhelming dedication to the late Lubavitcher Rebbe. Cunin repeats endlessly that he is a soldier in his Rebbe's army, spurred on even today by Schneerson's spirit and holiness. His love for Schneerson is palpable -- when he talks about the Rebbe, his face shines and tears come to his eyes.
That love has motivated the many "firsts" Cunin has chalked up over the years: the first Chabad House (UCLA, in 1969); the first mitzvah tank (a refurbished mobile home he used to house an after-school Jewish children's program); the first sukkah-mobile.
Now that's a story, he says: "I saw a trailer going by on Fairfax Boulevard ... advertising something, and I said, what a great idea! So I followed the trailer to a parking lot where I see a half-dozen of these dilapidated vehicles. I go inside and there's a little yiddel [Jewish man] behind the counter. I say, 'Are these trailers for rent?' He said, 'For a price, anything's for rent.' But he wouldn't pay for the liability insurance, so I said, 'OK, sell me the trailer.' He said, 'It's not for sale.' I said, 'That's good, because I have no money, so give it to me.' And he gave me the trailer."
Cunin used the trailer that year as the first sukkah-on-wheels. After the holiday, he hooked it up to the back of his Chevy Nova, set up two large bullhorns in front, and drove the contraption to Federation headquarters where he drove around the parking lot, shouting, "Give your child a free Jewish education! Call Chabad!" through the bullhorns. "It was beautiful," he recalls.
Today Cunin controls more than $35 million in assets and broke ground in June on a $10 million girls' school on Pico Boulevard. His latest project, Chabad Garden Preschool, a collaboration with Childrens Hospital Los Angeles, will service the education, emotional and health needs of low-income families and their children, and is presented as a model of integrated academic and medical programs.
But by the mid-1980s, his "act first and finance later" style of conducting business had landed him $18 million in debt and on the verge of collapse. At the 11th hour, he was saved by a fortuitous $21 million estate left to him by Hermine Weinberg, an elderly woman whom Cunin had listened to when no one else would. (Her family took Chabad to court to contest the will, and Cunin ended up with $21 million. It wasn't her entire estate.)
Since that windfall, combined with two other $10 million donations, Cunin has never come close to collapse again. But on the inside of a door in his office are tacked up dozens of yellowing index cards, each one documenting what he owed to a particular bank, organization or individual in the 1980s. Whenever he's feeling cocky, he takes a look at the cards.
Over the years, Cunin has also amassed quite a collection of Hollywood supporters. One of the biggest is film producer and philanthropist Jerry Weintraub, whose producing credits include "Ocean's 11," "Diner" and the "Karate Kid" series. Weintraub first met Cunin 20 years ago, when he arrived at his office one morning to see a black-hatted rabbi sitting in his waiting room. Weintraub walked past Cunin into his inner office, buzzed his secretary, told her to hand the rabbi a check for $10,000 and get rid of him.
"That's the sum I usually give," Weintraub says. "I'm involved with a lot of philanthropy, and rabbis are always coming to me for money." This rabbi was different. He refused the check and demanded to see Weintraub in person. Stunned by the audacity, Weintraub agreed; "A rabbi who turns down $10,000, I had to let him in."
Weintraub became a major feather in Cunin's cap, helping him restructure his crippling debt and eventually becoming co-chair for the telethon. A fellow Bronx native, Weinberg says he likes Cunin's style.
"Most of the Jews out here, the Beverly Hills crowd, they don't like Chasidic Jews. They're afraid of them, or embarrassed by them. I think they're great."
It's 8 a.m., the morning after last year's telethon, and Cunin is already in his office. He should be exhausted, after dancing past midnight the previous evening, but he's ready to rock 'n' roll. He has a lot of follow-up calls to make, to remind donors to send in their pledges. "This is our major presence for the year," he notes. "All our major gifts tie back to the telethon. You know that $21 million gift? She was a telethon watcher."
The phone rings. It's a woman whose actor son has a drug problem. They were at the telethon last night and are now staying in a nearby hotel while she tries to convince her son to enter Chabad's rehab center. "We need to get him into treatment as soon as possible," Cunin tells her. "I hate to be so frank, but we have to take a tough stance." Cunin says he'll send over "a couple guys" to help move the mother into an apartment.
"Don't worry, we'll take care of the rent until you're on your feet," he tells her. "Put the boy on the phone." Cunin listens to the young man for a while, then begins rolling his eyes and humming "Home on the Range."
"Listen, my friend, I wrote all the songs in the book," he says sternly. "You're a successful actor, but if you're not willing to make an appointment at the center and get off the range, I can't do more for you. Here, talk to Meir." Cunin hands the phone to Meir Cohen, a gray-bearded Israeli rabbi who flies in once a month to do counseling at the rehab center. Cohen listens to the young man for a minute, then puts his hand over the receiver and whispers to Cunin, "He says he doesn't want to go in. He sees his psychiatrist every day, and he says that's enough."
"Bubbe meises [old wives' tales], the psychiatrist," Cunin grumbles. "His mother says he won't eat. Get him into the program or he'll be deader than a doornail."
Hanging up, Cunin sighs and looks at the picture of Schneerson hanging on the wall behind his desk. "When the Rebbe left us, he gave us a phenomenal yearning that doesn't let us stop for a second," he says. "Another building, another human being, another good deed. The Rebbe said, 'Do what you can to bring Moshiach,' so you do more and more. A girls' school in the morning. A drug facility. Poor people. Do what you can to bring Moshiach. Not think what you can. Not verbiage of what you can. Do what you can."
Cunin then picks up the phone, and dials another number noting, "It's just a question of jumping over the obstacles. Of seizing the moment."
Sue Fishkoff is a freelance writer living in Pacific Grove and the author of "The Rebbe's Army: Inside the World of Chabad-Lubavitch," scheduled for publication by Schocken Books in March 2003. | <urn:uuid:9917eb84-53fe-4c80-bb7d-9e9fac973bbb> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.jewishjournal.com/articles/print/how_the_west_was_won_20020816 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368705953421/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516120553-00038-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.977583 | 3,595 | 1.609375 | 2 |
Today HuffPost Live asked me to join an on-air panel discussion about food safety and food-borne illness. They wanted me to talk about my son Weston's 2004 bout with salmonella, an experience that forever changed the way I look at the food my family eats.
The discussion covered the FDA's role in keeping our food supply safe; how to encourage food companies to adhere to best practices in food safety; and what we as consumers can do to protect ourselves and our families.
I encourage you all to watch the segment. Food-borne illness causes about 3,000 deaths a year in the U.S., and that number is not going down. Salmonella infections are actually on the rise. Something must be done. | <urn:uuid:8cce7d97-0fa8-4471-b3ef-2e511e2324cd> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.inerikaskitchen.com/2012/12/huffpost-live-discussion-food-safety.html?showComment=1354750443341 | 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 | 0.954842 | 149 | 1.710938 | 2 |
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Edward Cullen is a fictional character from Stephenie Meyer's Twilight series. He features in the books Twilight, New Moon, Eclipse and Breaking Dawn, as well as the Twilight film, and the as yet unfinished novel Midnight Sun - a re-telling of the events of Twilight from Edward's perspective. Edward is a vampire who, over the course of the Twilight series, falls in love with, marries, and has a child with Bella Swan, a human teenager who later chooses to become a vampire also. In the 2008 Twilight film, Edward is played by actor Robert Pattinson.
| Character information for |
More pictures of Edward Cullen
|Portrayed by||Robert Pattinson|
| Species ||Vampire|
| Special talents ||Mind Reading|
| Interests ||Likes reading and listening to music. Likes to play piano spend time with Bella.|
| Friends and Family ||The cullens and Bella|
Edward Cullen (né Edward Anthony Masen) is a fictional character from Stephenie Meyer's Twilight series. He features in the books Twilight, New Moon, Eclipse and Breaking Dawn, as well as the Twilight film, and the as yet unfinished novel Midnight Sun - a re-telling of the events of Twilight from Edward's perspective. Edward is a vampire who, over the course of the Twilight series, falls in love with, marries, and has a child with Bella Swan, a human teenager who later chooses to become a vampire also. In the Twilight film series, Edward is played by actor Robert Pattinson.
TwilightIn Twilight, Edward meets Bella Swan, a human girl whose thoughts he is unable to read, and whose blood smells overwhelmingly sweet to him. He fights a growing attraction to her, but after saving her life on several occasions, he succumbs and eventually falls in love with her. Edward admits to Bella that he is a vampire, and that although he retains the physical body of a seventeen-year-old, he was actually born on June 20, 1901. His adoptive father, Carlisle Cullen, transformed him into a vampire in 1918 to prevent him from dying in the Spanish influenza epidemic in Chicago, Illinois. Carlisle instilled in him a sense of morality uncommon in most vampires, and central to his way of life is the refusal to consider humans as food. However, Edward constantly warns Bella against being with him, perceiving her life to be at risk if she continues to associate with him. Bella's love and confidence in Edward's restraint cause her to ignore his warnings, even after she becomes the vampire James' target. Unlike the Cullen family, who are "vegetarian" vampires (committed to only feeding on animals), James regularly feeds on humans and will not stop until he drinks Bella's blood. With his family's help, Edward is able to save Bella from James' predations, but how to assure Bella's continued safety remains an open question.
New MoonIn New Moon, Edward's fears for Bella's safety intensify when she cuts her finger and is almost attacked by his brother Jasper. In an attempt to protect her, he convinces her that he no longer loves her, and moves away with his family, leaving Bella heartbroken. Edward finds it difficult to live without Bella, and becomes severely depressed at the prospect of an infinitely long and meaningless life. After he mistakenly learns from his sister Rosalie that Bella has committed suicide, Edward attempts to convince a group of Italian vampires, the Volturi, to kill him. Together with his sister Alice, Bella rushes to Italy and stops Edward before the Volturi can destroy him. Edward explains why he left, and apologizes to Bella. She eventually forgives him entirely, and they continue with their relationship as though Edward had never left, with the exception that Bella has ties that cannot be broken with a werewolf named Jacob Black. Bella successfully seeks the support of Edward's family on turning her into a vampire. While Edward is furious at the prospect, he later agrees to change her himself if she agrees to marry him first.
EclipseIn Eclipse, Bella agrees to marry Edward on the condition he will make love to her while she is still human. Edward eventually relents and agrees, on the stipulation it will only occur after they are married. The plot is driven by the machinations of the vampire Victoria, who, seeking revenge for the death of her mate James, is hunting Bella and creating new vampires to build an army. A grudging truce is made between the Cullens and the Native-American werewolf pack led by Sam Uley and Jacob Black, a friend of Bella's who was there for her when Edward broke her heart. However, the truce is endangered when Bella realizes Jacob means more to her than she thought. Ultimately, Edward accepts that Bella cares for Jacob and successfully destroys Victoria, and Bella acknowledges that Edward is the most important person in her life. Edward tells Bella that they may attempt making love before they get married, as he realizes that she spends too much of her life trying to please other people. However, she refuses his offer and agrees to doing things the way Edward initially wanted: marriage, making love, and then becoming a vampire.
Breaking DawnBreaking Dawn sees Edward and Bella marry. Bella becomes pregnant on their honeymoon, and the rapid growth of the half-human, half-vampire fetus swiftly impacts on Bella’s health. Edward tries to coerce her into having an abortion in order to save her own life. However, Bella feels a bond with her unborn child and insists on giving birth. Edward comes to feel love for the baby as well, after he hears its thoughts and learns that the baby loves Bella in return. Bella nearly dies giving birth in an emergency c-section, but Edward successfully delivers his daughter and then injects Bella's heart with his venom, healing her wounds by turning her into an immortal vampire. During Bella's painful transformation, Jacob imprints on their baby daughter, Renesmee. After a vampire named Irina mistakes Renesmee for an immortal vampire child—a creation forbidden in the vampire world—the Volturi arrive to destroy the Cullens. Edward stands with Bella and their allies to convince the Volturi that Renesmee is not an immortal child and poses no threat to their existence. Once the Volturi leave, Edward and Bella feel free to live their lives in peace with their daughter.
CharacterizationEdward is described in the book and by Bella as being charming, polite, determined, and very stubborn. He is very protective over Bella and puts her safety, humanity and welfare before anything else. He often over-analyzes situations and has a tendency to overreact, especially in situations where Bella's safety is at risk. He retains some outdated speech from his human life in the early 20th century. Edward sees himself as a monster, and after falling in love with Bella, he desperately wishes that he were human instead of a vampire.
Physical appearanceLike all the vampires in the Twilight series, Edward is described by Bella as being impossibly beautiful. At various points in the series, she compares him to the mythical Greek god Adonis. His skin is "like marble"—very pale, ice cold, and sparkles in the sunlight. She describes his facial features as being perfect and angular—high cheekbones, strong jawline, a straight nose, and full lips. His hair, which is always messy, retains the unusual bronze shade that he inherited in his human life from his biological mother. His eyes, once green, are now described as topaz. His appearance changes if he goes long without feeding: his eyes darken, becoming almost black, and purple bruises appear beneath his eyes. Edward is 6'2", and has a slender but muscular body.
Vampiric traits, abilities and interestsEdward, like all vampires in the Twilight series, possesses superhuman strength, speed, endurance, and agility, and is described as being inhumanly beautiful. His scent and voice are enormously seductive to Bella, so much so that he occasionally sends her into a pliant daze entirely by accident. In Twilight, Edward explains that like other vampires, he does not need to breathe, though he chooses to do so out of habit and because it is helpful to smell his environment. He cannot digest regular food, and compares its attractiveness for him to the prospect of eating dirt for a regular person. As well, like other vampires, Edward is not able to sleep. In addition to the traits he shares with his fellow vampires, Edward has certain abilities that are his alone. He is the fastest of the Cullens, able to outrun any of them. Perhaps as a result of a talent for empathy in his human life, Edward can also read the mind of anyone within a few miles of himself; Bella is the sole exception to this rule, which Meyer has stated is due to Bella having a very private mind. Edward also retains some of the traditional mindset and dated patterns of speech from his early-20th century human life. Edward is musical, able to play the piano like a virtuoso. He enjoys a wide range of music, including classical, jazz, progressive metal, alternative rock, and punk rock, but dislikes country. He prefers indie rock to mainstream, and appreciates rock and classical music equally. He mentions in Twilight that he likes music from the fifties better than the sixties, dislikes the seventies, and says the eighties were "bearable". A hobby of Edward's is collecting cars. He owns a Volvo S60 R and an Aston Martin V12 Vanquish as a "special occasion" car. He also gave his sister Alice a Porsche 911 Turbo as a gift in Eclipse. He bought a motorcycle to ride alongside Bella, but gave it to Jasper after he realized that riding motorcycles was a hobby she enjoyed sharing with Jacob.
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|hopebella||how are you and bella||0||Jul 15 2011, 11:29 AM EDT by hopebella|
Thread started: Jul 15 2011, 11:29 AM EDT Watch
hi how are you and bella i am the biggest fan i have all your twilight series of the movie and books edward you look really cool in the movie and bella you play your role really awseme
3 out of 7 found this valuable. Do you?
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|NatalieRobards||hey!||0||Jun 7 2011, 7:48 AM EDT by NatalieRobards|
|molmo||maria olmos||0||Apr 2 2011, 5:12 PM EDT by molmo|
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Photography has never been easier than it is right now. Once upon a time we needed to buy film, take carefully planned photos, get them printed and then see how we faired with our photo-taking skills. Now we don’t even have to lug around a big camera with us, most of us have one right in our own phones.
Here are seven ways you can make the most of photos that you take with your smartphone:
Shoot something more than once
I mentioned above about using film. When we used to shoot with film we had to have a pretty good success rate, otherwise we were wasting film and money. Now we can shoot as many photos as we like without any fallout. So when you’re taking a photo of something be sure to take around five photos so that you can choose the best from the lot.
When I started shooting on my phone I’d take up to 15 photos of the same scene/object and pick the best. Now I’m down to two-three photos and it’s usually the first one I go with. Taking a few photos will help you capture the perfect photo, allow you to try different composition and better your photography skills.
Use your feet
Your phone has a zoom feature on it, doesn’t it? Forget about using it. It’ll just compromise the quality of your picture. Instead let your feet do the walking and get in closer to your object. Moving in a few metres, or even just one step can make a huge difference to your picture, and you won’t get the graininess in your picture that you would if you used the zoom.
Have fun with apps
There are loads of photography apps available to play with. They give your photos a range of different filters and fun processes. My favourite and most used apps are Camera+ and Snapseed. Camera+ has a whole host of filters that you can run over your photo for different effects (I’ve used a cross processing filter across the photo above to make the sky pop a bit more). It can also crop, add frames and more. Snapseed is best for making your photo more crisp, tweaking the lighting and allows you more control over the effects. Apps let you make an ordinary photo a little bit extraordinary.
Light is your new best friend
For the best photos possible, try to avoid using your flash where possible. Take photos using the best light source around, the sun! The light for photography is most beautiful in the early morning and late afternoon (it’s soft, gentle and doesn’t cast as many shadows as the harsh midday light).
The photo above was taken in Cairns at the end of a busy day. The scene would look completely different if the photo was taken in the middle of the day, or even in the early morning.
Remember your rule of thirds
One easy way to make your photos interesting is to play with the rule of thirds. On most phone cameras you’ll see a grid with nine boxes made from four lines (you can go to your settings on your iPhone and make the grid visible if it isn’t already). When you’re taking a photo you want the focus of your photo to sit on one of those four lines.
For example, take a look at the photo of the sugar cane field above. The top of the sugar cane sits on the bottom third of the image, and the sky fills the other two-thirds. If I’d cut the photo in half by placing the field in the middle and having the sky fill the other half, it just wouldn’t have worked as well.
Capture the moment!
Sometimes it’s all about taking a beautiful photo, and other times it’s just about capturing something to share. Photo taking should be a social experience, especially if you’re uploading your photos to a social media platform like Facebook, Instagram or Twitter.
I uploaded this photo above, while on a Tourism Queensland trip, with the caption: “They have strict rules in Tropical Queensland. Wear budgie smugglers & the octopus will get you.” It had a huge response with over 4000 likes and 225 comments. It’s not a brilliant photo, by any means – but people found it interesting and funny.
Clean the lens
This may seem really obvious, but when was the last time you did it? Don’t forget to clean the lens on your phone to get the clearest, crispest photo possible.
What techniques do you use to take awesome photos with your mobile phone? Share with us in the comments! | <urn:uuid:8427ba7b-0758-4f54-ae3f-99c228106a69> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://blog.queensland.com/2012/10/02/7-ways-take-better-photos-with-phone/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368698207393/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516095647-00022-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.952884 | 961 | 1.671875 | 2 |
on February 12, 2013 - 12:01 AM
, updated February 12, 2013 at 6:14 AM
On a bright, crisp winter morning, the main entrance of Roswell Park Cancer Institute is busy with people of all description, walking in briskly, making their way slowly, or being pushed in wheelchairs. A few visitors line up at the information desk; others pause in the sun-splashed atrium to get their bearings; more head right for the elevators, on their way to appointments.
Some people look worried, some resolved, some just stoic. But faces soften and smiles appear as people catch sight of a small beagle with immaculate white feet, tan ears and a glossy black body trotting in the door.
Sierra, a certified therapy dog whose official Roswell Park ID card is clipped to the pink leash held by David Marowski, is in the building. Marowski and his wife, Dorothy “Dobie,” who live in Olean, have driven nearly two hours for one of the beagle’s twice-monthly visits to Roswell Park.
Sierra, who is adorable from her mobile black nose to the bright white tip of her elevated tail, threads her way through the people. In front of the information desk, she picks out Wil Greenfield, who has driven four hours from Theresa, N.Y., near Watertown. She sniffs his pant leg, then lifts her face to him. He reaches down to stroke her velvety ears.
“I love dogs,” says Greenfield, who owns a black Lab named Good Girl and four cats. “The last time I was here I saw a goldendoodle.”
Two years ago, Dobie Marowski was at Roswell Park, but not as part of a therapy dog team brightening people’s day. Her breast cancer was treated with surgery and chemotherapy at Roswell Park, then with radiation in Olean. Today, she is not just well, she says, “I am awesome,” and she looks it.
Sierra and David Marowski are one of about a dozen therapy dog teams volunteering at Roswell Park, where the program started in 2006.
While Sierra is good at the standard therapy dog activities, approaching people with a soft look and sitting quietly to be petted, David also taught her several tricks.
Like many dogs, she shakes hands, touches an upheld hand with a paw in a high-five, and obeys hand signals to sit and lie down. But Sierra also stands up on her hind legs, and will roll over on command. Most interesting, she has somehow modified the well-known beagle yodel into a two- or three-syllable “Wooo-ooo” that can sound like “Hello” or even “I love you.”
Marowski can’t take all the credit for Sierra’s vocabulary. He started visiting senior homes with her after he retired nearly three years ago from his job as a mechanic for the City of Olean. He had taught Sierra to woo-woo “Hello,” then at one home, a woman named Marie expanded Sierra’s vocabulary.
“Some people just have the right voice for Sierra,” says David. “When she’s with Marie, she says something that sounds like ‘I love you,’ and ‘Mama.’ ”
“David will ask her to say, 'I love you,’ and she’ll go ‘Woo-woo,’ and David will say, ‘No, three syllables,’ so then she goes, ‘Wooo-woo-wooo,’” says Dobie Marowski.
Sierra is particularly attracted to children, and is permitted to join an ill child in bed if invited, “You should see her with the children,” she says. “It’s precious.”
David Marowski grew up with beagles, and the couple got their first dog, a beagle-terrier mix, as a wedding gift. Reverend, given that name by David’s father because he joined the family on a Sunday, was the first in a long line of dogs that were just pets.
When their previous dog died more than five years ago, at first Dobie said, “no more dogs.” That stance lasted two weeks. When spring of 2008 rolled around, they drove to Corry, Pa., to buy a beagle pup from a man who owned Sierra’s parents.
“We wanted a female, and there were two that really caught my eye, and David said, ‘You pick out the one you want,’ ” says Dobie. “The rest of the puppies were picking on her, she wasn’t the runt or anything but they were picking on her. So I wanted her.”
Dobie also named the pup. “She got to name the dogs and I got to name the kids,” says David, referring to son David and daughter Laura, both adults.
At first, Sierra was just a pet. But after David retired, he began to take her to a local senior home that allowed visits from friendly dogs. Soon, he met a woman there with a certified therapy dog who encouraged him to seek certification for Sierra, which would open many more doors for the person-canine team.
David was attending the training classes with Sierra while Dobie was having her chemo treatments. The training “took my mind off things a bit,” says David. First the beagle earned her Canine Good Citizenship certification, which requires a dog to accept strangers without a fuss, obey simple commands, ignore distractions and walk nicely on a loose leash. The therapy dog test also requires dogs to stay calm around people using canes, crutches and wheelchairs, limping, coughing or speaking loudly, and to allow a stranger to handle and pet them. When Sierra took her qualifying test, administered for Therapy Dogs International, she “passed with flying colors,” says David. “Some dogs are good with kids, some with older people, but Sierra is good in all venues.”
In October 2011, they started volunteering at Roswell Park.
David and Sierra keep a busy schedule, making at least one therapy dog visit each weekday. In addition to two trips a month to Roswell Park, they make visits at several senior residences, a local hospital, a radiation center and the Bolivar Free Library, where children read to Sierra every Thursday. “This is David’s new job, working with Sierra,” says Dobie.
“We get the weekends off,” says David. “It’s only two hours a day, most of the time. The long one is the ride up to Buffalo and the ride back.”
They have the trip to and from Roswell Park – which takes between 90 minutes and two hours each way, depending on traffic and the weather – planned out, stopping about halfway for a break for Sierra. Although the trip takes twice as long as the shift they are allowed to volunteer in the hospital, they are big fans of Roswell Park and have made a commitment to continue.
“I remember the first time we walked in there, I was just so overwhelmed,” says Dobie.
“Everybody at Roswell is just awesome, from the doctors to the janitorial people, everybody is so up,” says Dobie. “I’m glad we’re part of that, to give back. ... When David has Sierra say hello, people just beam, and so many people have thanked us even if they spend just two or three minutes with her.”
Amy Simeister of Buffalo, sitting in a waiting area at Roswell Park with a family member, appreciated seeing the adorable beagle and watching her do some tricks in return for tiny treats.
“We love all animals and this just helps pass the time when you have to be here all day,” she said.
As for Sierra, she makes her wishes known too. At Roswell Park and the other places they visit, “She usually pulls at the leash to go in,” says David.
To volunteer at Roswell Park Cancer Institute, dogs must be certified by either Pet Partners or Therapy Dogs International, and the teams must be accepted through Roswell’s Volunteer Services program. To apply, complete the online form at roswellpark.org/volunteer, or call 845-5708 to apply or request more information.
On the Web: To see video of Sierra at Roswell Park, go to buffalonews.com/video | <urn:uuid:a395377b-1856-476d-9533-2e7f215fe7df> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.buffalonews.com/20130212/Pet_Tales_Sierra_the_beagle_spreads_cheer_at_Roswell_Park.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368711005985/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516133005-00033-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.970065 | 1,861 | 1.601563 | 2 |
1992′s “Pushing Hands” is the debut film of director Ang Lee, who co-wrote the script with his familiar partner-in-crime, James Schamus. As with all of Lee’s movies, regardless of genre trappings, the film concerns itself with family and duty, and how the two co-exists, for better or worst. The film stars Sihung Lung, a Lee regular who has been in some of the director’s most critically acclaimed films, including “The Wedding Banquet”, “Eat Drink Man Woman”, and the fantasy martial arts epic “Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon”. The rest of the cast, with the exception of the veteran Lai Wang, would never have made it into the movie had this not been Ang Lee’s first foray into filmmaking. And that, alas, is the movie’s weakest point.
As the “Pushing Hands” opens, it’s already been a few months since retired Tai Chi Master Mr. Chu (Sihung Lung) moved to America to live with his son Alex (Bo Z. Wang). Alex is married to the neurotic Martha (Deb Snyder), a writer currently suffering through terrible writer’s block. As it so happens, Martha’s writer’s block started about the same time Mr. Chu moved in, and no one is more aware of this fact than she. For its first 20 minutes, the film explores the unspoken conflict between Martha and Mr. Chu as they fumble about the house, sharing space in the kitchen and living room, and yet refusing to co-exist. The relationship between the two isn’t cold, it’s non-existent, and neither cares enough to really try to change it.
The film spends much of its time dealing with Mr. Chu’s attempts to come to terms with his new surroundings, which includes teaching Tai Chi at the local Chinese school where Alex’s son also goes to learn Chinese. At the school, Mr. Chu runs into Mrs. Chen (Lai Wang), a widower from Taiwan who teaches a cooking class. The two immediately catches each other’s eye, but realizing there’s an attraction and making it happen are two different animals. Nevertheless, a hesitant relationship develops, but is threatened by Mr. Chu’s lack of aggression and Mrs. Chen’s belief that she’s just passing time until her inevitable demise. One can’t help but notice, especially in stark contrast to Mrs. Chen, that Mr. Chu is still very much alive and kicking, which makes the suffocation of his new environment even more untenable.
Without a doubt, the one thing that makes “Pushing Hands” work, even when the movie fumbles to find itself, is Sihung Lung, giving a heartbreaking and winning performance, helped in no small part by a wonderfully written character. Mr. Chu is infused with wisdom about the metaphysical world, but is clueless when it comes to romance or picking up on the small inflections of those around him. When Mr. Chu wants to catch Mrs. Chen’s attention, he throws one of his students (during a kung fu demonstration) into her cooking table, thus giving him the excuse to later visit her house with a “I’m sorry” gift. Later, at a picnic, Mr. Chu realizes that Alex has been manipulating him, and he never noticed until Mrs. Chen points it out. To paraphrase Mrs. Chen, for a man with such powerful kung fu, it’s incredible how dense Mr. Chu is about reading people.
There are things about “Pushing Hands” that doesn’t quite work, and most of it, I believe, are owed to the fact that this is Lee’s first movie, and he probably didn’t have as much control or creative leeway as he would have in future projects. With the exception of Sihung Lung and Lai Wang, the cast of “Pushing Hands” is hit and miss. Bo Z. Wang does okay as the son, but his performance is oftentimes uneven and affecting. The same for Deb Snyder, who is unnaturally stiff, and lacks polish as an actor. No surprise that the two wouldn’t go on to become well-known names, as they seem lost and out of their element for much of the movie.
Of course it probably doesn’t help Snyder’s performance any that Schamus and Lee’s script really doesn’t present a sympathetic portrait of Martha. If anything, one is hardpressed to believe that someone of Martha’s disposition and personality could ever marry, much less fall in love, with a man like Alex, who is prone to bouts of drunken nights and violent outbursts. Not surprisingly, it’s when the movie focuses on its Chinese characters that things click. Mr. Chu’s burgeoning relationship with Mrs. Chen is sweet and effective, as well as Mr. Chu’s interactions with his grandson. The Third Act comes as a surprise, as it leaves the relatively safe home environment for the dangers of the city’s Chinatown district.
Although much of “Pushing Hands” is surprisingly lighthearted and sometimes quite funny in the early going ons (Martha’s real estate friend, we learn, was a Maoist who converted to Capitalist), it does get a bit deep and melodramatic toward the end (Mr. Chu ends up in jail!). The sequence where Mr. Chu finds himself working as a dishwasher in a Chinatown restaurant is both heartbreaking and satisfying. In it, Mr. Chu refuses to leave the restaurant after he’s been fired for being a slow worker, and what follows is one man’s titanic struggle to reclaim his self-respect against the world. It’s probably the movie’s best sequence, followed by a tearjerker inside a city jail between father and son.
“Pushing Hands” doesn’t have the polish one is used to in an Ang Lee film, but it is nevertheless a very good movie, with outstanding performances from Sihung Lung and Lai Wang. The script needs work, but to its credit there is no force-fed Hollywood happy ending, and in fact Mr. Chu and Martha never have a meeting of minds, an outcome that seems perfectly fine for both of them. Ang Lee would go on to direct better actors in better movies, but he has nothing to be ashamed of here. “Pushing Hands” marks a fantastic debut for a great director.
Ang Lee (director) / Ang Lee, James Schamus (screenplay)
CAST: Emily Yi-Ming Liu …. Yi Ci
James Lou …. Mr. Chao
Sihung Lung …. Mr. Chu
Deb Snyder …. Martha Chu
Hung Chang Wang …. Boss Huang
Bo Z. Wang …. Alex Chu
Lai Wang …. Mrs. Chen | <urn:uuid:a8356213-ec49-456f-b9fa-6856ed5e4b06> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.beyondhollywood.com/pushing-hands-1992-movie-review/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368706499548/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516121459-00016-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.968885 | 1,480 | 1.5625 | 2 |
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