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I spent the end of last week at the Skoll World Forum in Oxford (my other posts here, here and here). You can also see a video of Patrick Meier speaking in the opening plenary. Perhaps one of the most interesting discussions that I had was with Sally Osberg, the CEO of Skoll Foundation, where we talked about scale, sustainability and the accelerating speed of change globally.
We talked briefly about how Ushahidi is working to offset some of our grant-based income with earned revenue, and it was here that Sally really departed from the traditional answer to that. In discussing the sustainability of an organization, especially a non-profit one, that we sometimes put self-sustainability on too high of a pedestal. In other words, sometimes it makes sense and you should do it, other times it doesn’t as the traditional market approach will not support the social goods being provided – even if they are needed.
She said, especially in the social entrepreneur space, “sustainability is a shibboleth”. Having grown up in a missionary background, I vaguely knew this term, but decided to look it up.
“The purpose of a shibboleth is exclusionary as much as inclusionary: A person whose way of speaking violates a shibboleth is identified as an outsider and thereby excluded by the group.”
Like any good word, the history of it is as interesting as how we use it today. The term shibboleth originates from old testament biblical times, where the Ephraimites and the Gileadites had a battle. The Ephraimites lose, and the Gileadites set a verbal trap for all those trying to escape.
“Gilead then cut Ephraim off from the fords of the Jordan, and whenever Ephraimite fugitives said, ‘Let me cross,’ the men of Gilead would ask, ‘Are you an Ephraimite?’ If he said, ‘No,’ they then said, ‘Very well, say “Shibboleth” (שבלת).’ If anyone said, “Sibboleth” (סבלת), because he could not pronounce it, then they would seize him and kill him by the fords of the Jordan. Forty-two thousand Ephraimites fell on this occasion.”
—Judges 12:5-6, NJB
Today, we do the same thing. We have an “in” way of speaking, it’s our way of saying we’re part of a tribe and it helps us communicate internally and identify those who don’t belong externally. Whether it’s the mobile social good crowd, real estate agents, the social entrepreneurs, Silicon Valley blogs, or corporate speak. We all recognize it, especially when we don’t know the right words.
In the social entrepreneur space, the funders and the entrepreneurs, set up the term “sustainability” as an in-group term. For, after all, if someone is willing to pay for the services that an organization offers, no one can doubt that it is viable and valuable.
I agree with this in many ways, as there is nothing like opening up to the market (or community) to get feedback on what really needs to be done to make a product better.
What Sally followed up with was the need to not setup our organizations with the ultimate goal being sustainability, but to always remember that impact comes first, and that sometimes we don’t know if there is a sustainable model to underpin it. Sometimes the formula for an organization is a mixture of self-earned revenue and grants (like Ushahidi), sometimes grants only, and sometimes pure market based income. What matters is the funding formula and the impact, not the revenue generation alone. | <urn:uuid:fb1b00c3-fbf0-4aa6-9833-af249f8a7004> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://blog.ushahidi.com/2012/04/02/sustainability-as-a-shibboleth/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368699273641/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516101433-00028-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.961051 | 826 | 1.742188 | 2 |
The Alabama collection has evolved through gift and purchase until it has become a distinguished collection of Alabamiana in the state. Containing numerous formats of materials it interacts and overlaps with other collecting interests of Special Collection. The policies governing the Alabama Baptist Collection support and complement the Alabama collection interests.
It is a historical collection with an emphasis on resources, documenting social and cultural history. The intent is to acquire and preserve materials that will be used by historians. To meet the needs of the discipline of history as it shifts and changes in its continuous evolution, the collection should be sensitive to state historical resources of both the traditional and vanguard type. | <urn:uuid:2cac7cee-bf68-469c-8a67-40ba02afbb1d> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://library.samford.edu/about/sc/scalabama.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368697380733/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516094300-00000-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.934014 | 129 | 1.75 | 2 |
Americans Are Still Traveling This Thanksgiving
Holiday travel will bring increased traffic to the American highways this Thanksgiving weekend. However, with many families still simply trying to operate day-to-day on shoestring budgets, people are expected to plan shorter trips to carve their turkeys this year as a means to save money on fuel and other expenses.
According to the annual AAA Thanksgiving forecast, the slow economic recovery isn’t strong enough to stimulate much growth when it comes to holiday travel. An estimated 43.6 million travelers will hit the road over Thanksgiving, traveling an average of 50 miles from their home base—up nearly a percentage point from last year.
The good news this year is that gas prices have recently gone down substantially, with the national average decreasing nearly 35 cents per gallon in the past month. AAA says travelers should expect to see gas prices right around last year’s record of $3.32 per gallon on Thanksgiving weekend. | <urn:uuid:e9241725-a14a-4e84-8766-db7f98d2a53b> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://kikn.com/americans-are-still-traveling-this-thanksgiving-just-not-very-far/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368698207393/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516095647-00010-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.948037 | 193 | 1.765625 | 2 |
ObamaCare would use tax money for abortions: AP
posted at 11:36 am on August 6, 2009 by Ed Morrissey
A few days ago, the Associated Press issued a “fact check” on the health-care reform package that included a refutation of the idea that the public plan would pay for abortions. After abortion opponents ripped Charles Babington for poor reporting, the AP turned the story over to Ricardo Alfonso Zaldivar, who fact-checked the fact check. Now the AP acknowledges that the public plan would indeed use taxpayer money to pay for abortions:
Health care legislation before Congress would allow a new government-sponsored insurance plan to cover abortions, a decision that would affect millions of women and recast federal policy on the divisive issue. …
A compromise approved by a House committee last week attempted to balance questions of federal funding, personal choice and the conscience rights of clinicians. It would allow the public plan to cover abortion but without using federal funds, only dollars from beneficiary premiums. Likewise, private plans in the new insurance exchange could opt to cover abortion, but no federal subsidies would be used to pay for the procedure. …
But the health overhaul would create a stream of federal funding not covered by the restrictions.
The new federal funds would take the form of subsidies for low- and middle-income people buying coverage through the health insurance exchange. Subsidies would be available for people to buy the public plan or private coverage. Making things more complicated, the federal subsidies would be mixed in with contributions from individuals and employers. Eventually, most Americans could end up getting their coverage through the exchange.
In other words, the entire exercise is an end run around the Hyde Amendment. The issue first arose when conservatives noted that abortion did not get mentioned in any of the versions of ObamaCare floating around on Capitol Hill. A lack of restriction on abortion funding would essentially repeal the Hyde Amendment, which bars federal funds from being used to pay for abortions. The plan would not have to specifically include abortions, just as plans don’t specifically include any procedures, but would cover any legal medical service and fund it either directly or through subsidies.
Obama and his Congressional allies appear to have found a way to pass the Freedom of Choice Act without having to deal with the political fallout of it, by burying it in ObamaCare. It’s a dishonest approach, especially since the bill’s sponsors won’t openly acknowledge the change. A plurality of Americans think of themselves as pro-choice (majorities in some polls), but many more people believe that their tax dollars should not fund abortions whether they support their legality or not.
Rep. Lois Capps (D-CA) wants to offer a “compromise” that would allow private insurers to qualify plans in the state exchanges that specifically exclude abortion. Capps says, “Our country allows for both sides, and our health plan should reflect that as well,” but that misses the point. The issue is not with private insurers, but with public funding of abortions. It’s not a compromise at all if any taxpayer money gets used to pay for abortions.
Maybe Babington should have looked a little closer the first time on this story.
Breaking on Hot Air | <urn:uuid:19613517-6a6f-4a17-9c04-20d223df7437> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://hotair.com/archives/2009/08/06/obamacare-would-use-tax-money-for-abortions-ap/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368707435344/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516123035-00037-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.964263 | 663 | 1.570313 | 2 |
November 14, 2012
Israeli volunteers head to N.Y. to help in Sandy relief efforts
A delegation of Israeli volunteers is on its way to the New York area to assist the Jewish community in the wake of superstorm Sandy.
The volunteers, young adult Russian speakers, will be in New York for 10 days to assist the Jewish community, with a focus on Russian speakers, according to the Jewish Agency. They will help distribute food and other essential items to the elderly and provide social visits, as well as clean communal buildings and synagogues that suffered heavy damage in the storm.
The delegation includes volunteers from pre-army programs and other programs run by the Israeli Scouts, as well as former camp counselors at Jewish Agency summer camps in the former Soviet Union.
Some 200,000 Russian-speaking Jews reside in the northeastern United States in areas badly damaged by the storm. Many of the elderly Russian-speaking Jews live in multi-story buildings in the New York area, some of which are still without electricity or phone service. The storm also damaged Jewish communal buildings, causing the cancellation of many community and social services. | <urn:uuid:f2f7ed14-daee-4260-86ca-0103c2cb007b> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.jewishjournal.com/israel/article/israeli_volunteers_head_to_n.y._to_help_in_sandy_relief_efforts | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368700958435/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516104238-00025-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.965686 | 227 | 1.773438 | 2 |
This year's program "Keeping the Dream Alive: Continuing the Journey" was especially significant as it coincides with the NAACP's centennial. The Cobb County branch of the NAACP and Cobb County government help to sponsor the yearly celebration.
Deane Bonner, president of Cobb County NAACP, said in planning this year's celebration the focus was to showcase the talent of the youth of Cobb County and Atlanta to continue the legacy of the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.
"That was the significance of having that amount of youthful talent," Bonner said. "Those are people that we see as future leaders, certainly carrying the legacy of the NAACP to the next hundred years."
In the seats of the Jennie T. Anderson Theatre, both young and old were participating in the celebration. The theater was filled to capacity, with overflow seating across the courtyard in Hudgins Hall.
Kicking off the ceremony was a dance performance by the Paisley Academy of Performing Arts, and ballet and tap solo performances by the Ray Hall dancers.
A greeting from Sam Olens, Cobb County Commission Chairman, and Jerine Grimes, first vice president of the NAACP, welcomed the audience to the 24th annual celebration. Also speaking about the significance of the day was Congressman Phil Gingrey.
"Today, and I've heard others say, is a day on and not a day off. We need to treat this day, just as we would treat our Sundays, those of us who are Christians, the Sabbath, those of us of the Jewish faith," said Gingrey during the opening comments.
The Master of Ceremonies, WSB-TV's Fred Blankenship, helped to liven up the crowd, get them laughing, and clapping and singing along with various performers.
Entertainment scattered throughout the ceremony highlighted various genres. From the singing of inspirational anthems like, "Lift Every Voice," to modern dance routines, to the performance of an original composition called, "Freedom is Not Free," by the all-female rock group 2BContinued, helped to liven the celebration.
Stepehen Norwood's rendition of Sam Cooke's "A Change is Gonna Come," brought the crowd to its feet in jubilation.
Norwood, 19, of Dunwoody said he was honored to perform in the event because of King's message and goal of equality.
"Today, it really meant a lot to me, because I really am a strong believer in equality for everyone, regardless of their race, religion, what have you," Norwood said.
Betty McKeever-Gordon, 64, of Austell, saw the auditions to perform at Monday's ceremony as a golden opportunity to carry on King's message. Gordon led the audience in the singing of the National Anthem.
"Dr. King, I believe, he would be very pleased to see all the talent that has been here today, especially the young people ... I really have enjoyed it, it's been fantastic," Gordon said of the celebration.
At the culmination of the ceremony, Bonner and David Hankerson, Cobb County Manager, presented Joeanne Thomas of Marietta with this year's Living the Dream Award.
"She's been one of those unsung heroines that has done what she needed to do to make Cobb County and Marietta a better place to live," Bonner said.
Thomas runs an at-school tutorial and homework assistance program called the Life Skills Center for school children from kindergarten to high school in Marietta.
After winning the award, Thomas said that she was overwhelmed with gratitude and grateful to be honored at an event commemorating Dr. King.
"I have a lot of awards, and I was talking to myself the other night, my goal was to get this award one day. And I was really surprised today when I got it, but I very much appreciate it, because this is the ultimate award. It's like winning the Grammy or the Emmy," Thomas said.
In the planning of the day's event, Bonner said the goal of the NAACP is inspire the community and to encourage them to go out and live Dr. King's message.
"We don't take all the credit for this crowd. We know that these people have a homage to Dr. King and that's why we fill these seat," Bonner said. "... We don't want this just to be a Dr. Martin Luther King Day, we want this to be something that you are going to continue after today." | <urn:uuid:406d16a6-a70c-4b57-9e5a-13b0f37be325> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.mdjonline.com/view/full_story/5593961/article-Realizing-the-dream | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368706153698/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516120913-00023-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.977105 | 928 | 1.640625 | 2 |
New in Shiny red pomegranates from the US have arrived. Local fruit won't be picked until autumn.
At their best The tastiest varieties of blueberries are being picked now. Choose punnets with a white bloom on the berries.
Best buy Strawberries! Fruit won't store well so buy to eat fresh, or cook down with sugar and lemon to swirl through natural yoghurt or softened ice-cream.
In the vegie patch New growth on citrus is vulnerable to aphid attack. Look for little green or black sap-suckers on tips and under leaves. Squash with fingers. The squeamish can spray with PestOil, Eco-Oil or Confidor. | <urn:uuid:26047e7b-8b0b-4731-8376-818122a691f9> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.monashweekly.com.au/story/384928/fresh-now/?cs=24 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368704392896/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516113952-00014-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.948128 | 145 | 1.773438 | 2 |
Does the budget bill passed by Congress this week derail the United States Postal Service (USPS) plan to end Saturday delivery of first class mail?
Depending on how you interpret the situation, the answer is either "yes" or "no." The Government Accountability Office (GAO) says the USPS is bound by law to keep delivering on Saturdays. But that's not how everyone sees it, as Reuters reports:
Republican Senator Tom Coburn of Oklahoma and Representative Darrell Issa of California on Thursday told the USPS Board of Governors to move forward with implementing the five-day delivery plan for mail.
"The Board of Governors has a fiduciary responsibility to utilize its legal authority to implement modified 6-day mail delivery as recently proposed," the lawmakers said in their letter to the USPS board.
The GAO, on the other hand, was unequivocal in its stance on the issue, as reported by Bloomberg on Thursday:
The service is bound by law to deliver mail six days a week, and is incorrect in interpreting that a temporary measure used to fund U.S. government operations released it from that requirement, the GAO said in a letter to Representative Gerald Connolly, a Virginia Democrat, who requested that the watchdog agency look at the matter.
The plan to cut delivery of letter mail while retaining package delivery on Saturdays "rests upon a faulty USPS premise," GAO General Counsel Susan Poling said in the letter.
In a nice summary of this tangled knot, the AJC's Jamie Dupree concludes with these words:
It isn't clear how this will be resolved, as the Postal Service seems intent on making the Saturday mail change.
How did we get to this point? As we reported on this blog in February, the USPS is trying to save money:
"Beginning the week of Aug. 5 this year," Donahoe said, USPS will provide "six days of package delivery and five days of mail delivery. ... We will not deliver or collect mail on Saturdays."
Its decision could, however, run into challenges from Congress and from unions that represent the Postal Service's employees. Donahoe made the case, though, that USPS has no choice. The Postal Service, which lost nearly $16 billion last year, will save about $2 billion a year with this change, Donahoe said.
Eliminating Saturday mail delivery, said Donahoe, is "just one part of a much larger strategy to return the Postal Service to long-term financial security." That strategy has included the closing of many facilities. | <urn:uuid:37e45230-f4e4-4a96-a3ee-1d655fc29b4c> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.opb.org/news/article/npr-saturday-mail-delivery-safe-for-now/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368699273641/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516101433-00036-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.961708 | 518 | 1.539063 | 2 |
292. Bowdoin Snead was born before 1784 in Accomack County, Va.. He died on 1 Jul 1841 in Accomack County, Va..
He was married to Mary Unknown.
Bowdoin Snead and Mary Unknown had the following children:
+465 i. Betsy Snead.
+466 ii. Ann Snead.
Return to Table of Contents | <urn:uuid:d624f2af-ffdd-4cde-aa53-036b38025d95> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://espl-genealogy.org/mearscol/pagendxs/savagej/d10950.htm | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368696381249/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516092621-00000-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.984033 | 81 | 1.796875 | 2 |
Andres Gutierrez, NBC 5 News
The University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center said Monday that the three boys and two girls born to Carrie and Gavin Jones at 27 weeks are in stable condition.
A Dallas hospital has announced the birth of quintuplets.
The University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center said Monday that the three boys and two girls are in stable condition.
Hospital officials say the babies were born premature Thursday to missionaries Carrie and Gavin Jones.
A team of more than 50 specialists and nurses tended to the quintuples in a delivery that lasted less than five minutes.
The quintuplets have been named Will Edward, David Stephen, Marcie Jane, Seth Jared and Grace Elise Jones. Their birth weights ranged from 1 pound, 12 ounces to 2 pounds, 11 ounces. Photos of the children are on the parent's blog.
Dr. Gary Burgess says the babies are doing as expected for quintuplets born at 27 weeks.
"They're doing as expected. We always have little issues in the first week of life with these infants," Burgess said.
The quintuples will be in the neonatal intensive care unit for the next couple of weeks.
The Jones' children are among the first set of quintuplets that have been delivered in this nation so far this year.
The parents also have an 8-year-old son, Isaac. | <urn:uuid:2f698324-f89a-4208-bc14-6634c37e97e1> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.nbcdfw.com/news/health/Quintuplets-Born-in-Dallas-Hospital-165976276.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368697974692/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516095254-00017-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.964775 | 281 | 1.546875 | 2 |
Self Testing Code is the name I used in Refactoring to refer to the practice of writing comprehensive automated tests in conjunction with the functional software. I come across it primarily with tools like the XUnit family of testing frameworks.
TestDrivenDevelopment is my preferred way of writing Self Testing Code, however it isn't the only way. You can get many advantages of tests by writing them just after the functional code rather than before. The important point of Self Testing Code is that you have the tests, not how you got to them. | <urn:uuid:3d7e28c6-99e6-4716-833a-330951cff9fd> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://martinfowler.com/bliki/SelfTestingCode.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368706153698/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516120913-00019-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.959542 | 108 | 1.53125 | 2 |
On March 1, 2008 facilities requiring a SECOND reinspection for non-compliances will be required to pay a $100.00 reinspection fee per reinspection.
About Environmental Services
The Environmental Section of the Jefferson County Health Department performs a variety of services that impact the entire Jefferson County Community. Often called the "invisible profession" the services provided by environmental health professionals in Jefferson County have a positive, significant impact upon the health of our citizens by protecting the environment in which we all live. Unfortunately the work that our environmental professionals do on a daily basis often goes unobserved by most of the people we serve.
The following video was produced and provided by the Georgia Environmental Health Association to help you understand more about the "invisible profession". The services provided by our environmental professionals touch every citizen in every area of the county every day.
These services include:
For more information, please contact us. | <urn:uuid:05e21917-a3d3-4be5-b5f7-9db1d016d953> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.jeffcohealth.org/2012-04-16-14-00-27/environmental-services | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368709037764/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516125717-00001-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.946306 | 184 | 1.679688 | 2 |
Togo police fire tear gas to disperse protestBy AFP | Tuesday, August 21 2012 at 15:50
Togolese authorities fired tear gas Tuesday to disperse a march by several thousand people in the capital, the first of three days of planned protests the government had vowed to block from a main commercial area.
Protesters scattered after the tear gas was fired and it was unclear whether they would regroup.
The government has sought to ban protests in the capital Lome, citing the difficulty of maintaining security.
Togo's security minister Colonel Yark Damehane on Monday vowed that the rally would not take place, as authorities would block access to the area.
A coalition of civil society and opposition groups called Let's Save Togo, which has led a wave of recent protests, had called for rallies between August 21 to 23 in Deckon, a major commercial centre in Lome.
The group insisted the demonstration would go ahead as scheduled, despite the minister's warnings.
While the elections are expected to be held in October in the West African nation, no precise date has been set.
Togo has been run by the same family for more than four decades. Gnassingbe Eyadema ruled the country for 38 years with an iron fist until his death in 2005.
Faure Gnassingbe was installed in the presidency by the army in 2005 shortly after the announcement of the death of his father, who had been a general. He has since won elections in 2005 and 2010.
- AU won’t recognise Madagascar poll win by Rajoelina
- Four Nigerians among 5 shortlisted for African writing prize
- The girl who met Gaddafi 'in hell'
- Zimbabwe lecturer jailed for Mugabe 'donkey' slur
- Liberia media to maintain 'blackout' on president
- Somali PM disowns Jubaland 'presidents'
- Is aid to South Africa drying up?
- Juba and Khartoum strike new peace tune
- Somaliland marks unrecognised independence
Beyond the ballot | <urn:uuid:f20223db-83ca-406c-b483-b156606cb9d5> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.africareview.com/News/Togo+police+fire+tear+gas+to+disperse+protest/-/979180/1484146/-/3n0x62/-/index.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368696383156/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516092623-00024-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.967668 | 420 | 1.632813 | 2 |
Corporations in Southeastern states, including Florida, give the largest percentage of contributions to education of any region in the nation, according to a recent report by the Conference Board in New York City.
Companies based in the Southeast gave more than half, 53 percent, of their contributions to education, leading all other firms in this category.
Education has been the major beneficiary of corporate giving over the past decade and continues to gain favor. Last year, 43 percent of all corporate gifts went to education, particularly colleges and universities. The Conference Board said that is the highest percentage ever in its annual survey of corporate contributions.
Overall, charitable contributions by leading U.S. companies rose by a modest 3 percent last year. Executives surveyed said they expect final 1987 giving to continue the pattern of slower growth that began in 1985.
During the past two years, corporate giving has increased only slightly compared with the 13 percent to 26 percent gains during the past decade.
The Conference Board surveyed 372 major industrial and service companies. The almost $1.7 billion donated in 1986 by companies surveyed represents 37 percent of charitable giving by all U.S. corporations.
Contributions by all American companies is estimated at $4.5 billion for 1986, up 2 percent over the previous year, according to the Council for Aid to Education.
The slowdown in corporate giving has been somewhat offset by non-cash giving, said Linda Cardillo Platzner, a senior research associate at the Conference Board.
``Since 1984, such non-cash contributions as securities, company products, land and equipment have accounted for about one-fifth of all giving,`` Platzner says in her report.
``Among the 25 largest corporate donors, non-cash contributions represented over 30 percent of their total giving last year ... without these kind of gifts, there would have been little growth in overall contributions in recent years.``
Corporate donations of company products are being used to supplement cash donations in the industries of electrical equipment and machinery; printing and publishing; food, beverage and tobacco; pharmaceuticals; chemicals and fabricated metals. | <urn:uuid:3f6764ce-ae34-4e94-a11a-d4494bd1b6be> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://articles.sun-sentinel.com/1987-12-25/business/8702140067_1_largest-corporate-donors-corporate-contributions-conference-board | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368701852492/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516105732-00026-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.96297 | 425 | 1.726563 | 2 |
Natural disasters not only wreak havoc, they concentrate the mind. In an instant, a familiar world is swept away, people are injured, people die, and those who survive face the task of remembering. Be it hurricane or earthquake, snowstorm or volcano or flood, what precipitates a human crisis is also what, ultimately, can bring people together in the long act of healing.
After an icy day on Saskatchewan highways on Thursday, those going home for the holidays are not expected to encounter many more problems in the coming days.
In a perfect world, these days would be filled with nothing but joy for the Schwartz family of Wilcox. | <urn:uuid:1c0495ba-cffc-4e0f-84e0-fdc9c82abcd7> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.leaderpost.com/life/topic.html?t=Misc&q=Boxing+Day | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368696383156/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516092623-00020-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.937726 | 130 | 1.773438 | 2 |
FAIRBANKS - Friends and family are remembering Gerald Mohatt as a great teacher who was passionate about his family and work as director of the Center for Alaska Native Health Research.
The Fairbanks Daily News-Miner reported that the 69-year-old Mohatt died Wednesday at Fairbanks Memorial Hospital after battling leukemia the past four years.
Colleagues say Mohatt, a University of Alaska Fairbanks psychology professor, is nationally known for his work with Alaska Natives and other indigenous people. Besides teaching at UAF, he was instrumental in developing the College of Rural Alaska.
A memorial service is planned Sunday on the UAF campus.
Juneau Empire ©2013. All Rights Reserved. | <urn:uuid:f280f225-9024-4fee-a4b5-b37c554550f6> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://juneauempire.com/stories/021210/reg_562208104.shtml | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368704713110/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516114513-00037-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.974301 | 144 | 1.625 | 2 |
Illustration: Michael Mucci.
I'll be 21 this year and have saved $26,000. I should have $35,000 by Christmas. I've no debt. I also own my car and use a prepaid mobile. I'm in control of my money and interested in buying an investment property. This is something I'd like to continue with in the future and build a portfolio of investment properties. I don't plan on moving out of home until I'm 25. What would you suggest? Keep saving for another year to build a bigger deposit, or invest in shares?
Congratulations on what you have achieved — you are far better organised than most young people. You've given no indication of your income so it's not possible for me to work out how much you could borrow. It would pay to form an association with a lender as soon as possible to canvass your borrowing options. Once you know how much, if any, you could borrow, you could start looking at properties. At this stage, it's highly unlikely you will be able to borrow for both shares and property so you will need to decide which you favour first.
I'm about to start my own business and require initial working capital of $10,000. To fund this I'm planning to set up a line-of-credit with my existing bank. Can I claim the interest on the loan as a tax deduction? Also, if the business incurs losses in the first year can the losses be carried forward in a company structure?
The purpose of the loan is to invest in a business so there should be no problems claiming the interest as a tax deduction — don't forget you can claim any other costs of running the business as well. Companies can carry forward losses in the same way as an individual can. Just make sure you involve your accountant closely in all aspects of your business.
I'm 50 and wondering whether my maximum deductible super for the financial year 2010-11 is still $25,000 a year? Am I still allowed $450,000 in non-deductible contributions over a three-year period?
The maximum concessional or pre-tax contribution cap is $25,000 for 2010-11 for someone who is under 50 on the last day of the financial year but for people 50 or over on the last day of the financial year, the cap will be $50,000 until June 30, 2012. This will be reduced to $25,000 (indexed) in July 2012 but there are proposals that the $50,000 cap be retained for those who have super balances of less than $500,000. The cap for non-concessional contributions remains at $150,000 a year but a person under 65 could utilise the bring-forward provisions and contribute three years' contributions in a lump sum — $450,000.
What are the essential differences between a share trust and a super fund? I've received an inheritance from my mother's estate and can't decide which way to go.
A share trust is a managed fund that invests in shares whereas a super fund is a vehicle that lets you hold assets in a low-tax environment. Therefore it is entirely possible for a super fund to hold share trusts as part of its assets. As a general rule I prefer holding assets inside super to save tax but you need to understand that you cannot access your super until you reach your preservation age, which is at least 55.
Noel Whittaker is a director of Whittaker Macnaught. His advice is general in nature and readers should seek their own professional advice. Contact noel [email protected].
Questions to: Ask Noel, Money, GPO Box 2571, QLD, 4000, or see moneymanager.smh.com.au/sitewide/askanexpert. | <urn:uuid:9bb8a786-91d2-42ba-87da-48b508148bf2> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.watoday.com.au/money/investing/ask-noel-20100825-13ran.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368708142388/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516124222-00008-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.964622 | 792 | 1.710938 | 2 |
|Syntactic Confectionery Delight|
Too complicated? Hmmm. Could be, but how good is your memory?
If I strain, really hard, to remember. Almost every time I encountered something new in my life, whether it was long division, Naper's Bones and logarithms at school, driving a car as a teen or Perl's regexes rather more recently, it always seemed too complex at the start. That usually continues for a period of days, weeks or months, and then one day I realise that I've stopped thinking about how complex it is. Often as not, what makes me realise that I have stopped thinking about the complexity, is when I find myself wishing that I could do something in a cleaner, more concise,more transparent or more efficient way. At some point in between, I made the transition from wishing it was less complex, to wanting to add a complexity to the syntax, in order that I might capture another semantic without having to restructure what I have.
The thing I personally enjoy about using perl 5, is that--more than any other language I have used or seen (with the possible exception of APL)--it allows me to express each step of an algorithm in the same way that I think of it, rather than having to break it down into a series of sub-steps. The reason that recursion is elegant, is that in many situations it allows us to specify the algorithm in a clean, concise manner which makes it easier to get right first-time, easier to understand for those that come along after. The penalty, unless the programmer (or compiler) takes special care, is efficiency.
The benefits I see coming from what I have seen of Perl 6, is that in your first pass, you can write the algorithm in a concise notation without needing to use the addition syntax. Then, when the thing is working, if it proves to be less efficient than required, the new syntatic elements allow you to add a few additional clauses to the existing code, that will allow the compiler to improve the efficiency without requiring you to substantially modify the original algorithm. You'll be able to indicate that this variable is a number and will never be used as a string, so omit all the overhead that allows me to use it as a string and the resultant code will become more efficient. Or this parameter will be used read-only, so the compiler can omit the overhead of creating an alias for it and again the same code becomes more efficient.
Efficiency isn't the only benefit that will be available from the new syntax. As LW indicated, for those S&M types (his phrase, not mine:), for whom strong typing, contract enforcement etc. are either desirable or essential, the new syntax allows (without requiring) much of this to be done by the compiler at compile time, rather than requiring additional statements at runtime. I can see some development shops adopting coding standards that will make some of these things obligatory for their coders. The beauty of it, if I understand what I have read so far correctly, is that Perl 6 will allow such strictures to be applied where they are needed, desired or beneficial, without requiring it where they are not. The proverbial "having your cake and eating it".
LW is walking a fine line. From my interpretation of what I see, he's well on his way to acheiving many of the desires of the many, whilst retaining the spirit of the language. Like many others, I could argue against some of the decisions, but I'm more than willing to keep an open mind and wait until I get the opportunity to use the language before I make any judgements. Perl's track record of adopting and adapting the best of the rest and inventing new where required, as well as backing out experiments that fail, is strong enough to allow me to swallow those fears I might have now, until I get to try things for real.
Examine what is said, not who speaks.
1) When a distinguished but elderly scientist states that something is possible, he is almost certainly right. When he states that something is impossible, he is very probably wrong.
2) The only way of discovering the limits of the possible is to venture a little way past them into the impossible
3) Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic.
Arthur C. Clarke. | <urn:uuid:c2fc6408-4b68-4e66-927a-aa9e37896940> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.perlmonks.org/index.pl?parent=243168;node_id=3333 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368704392896/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516113952-00014-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.950446 | 892 | 1.78125 | 2 |
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Taj Mahal -The 'temple of love,' was constructed to keep a promise that was made by the Mughal emperor Shah Jahan to his wife Mumtaz Mahal who expressed her last dying wish to the distraught Shah Jahan to build her a memorial that would be the ultimate dedication to unparallel love in the entire world.
The construction of this marvelous building began in 1931 that takes 22 years and finally completed in 1653. 20,000 labour works day and night to…
Added by Travel Tips on December 18, 2010 at 5:28am — No Comments
|From NMT Images|
Is Your Baby Safe Flying?
It’s tortured reasoning.
The Federal Aviation Administration’s (FAA) position on mandatory child…
Added by Kaleel Sakakeeny on December 17, 2010 at 4:05pm — No Comments
By Roy Heale
One of the most fascinating and enjoyable day trips from Puerto Madryn, Argentina is the journey south to visit the penguin reserve at Punta Tombo. With stops along the…Continue
Added by Roy Heale on December 17, 2010 at 3:27pm — No Comments
Added by Jean Dabrowski on December 17, 2010 at 1:00pm — No Comments
Goa tourism is organizing different kind of events to motivate tourists to visit Goa India. Goa beaches are one of the major Goa attractions and face huge tourists influx during every season. Starting form Keri beach located at northern end of Goa to Palolim beach of south end, Every Goa beaches will give you immaculate and distinct sense of joy and contentment.
Goa is a fascinating Indian city that is loved by tourists because of the many attractions that can be found here.…Continue
Varkala is a calm and quiet hamlet, seaside tourist resort and spa. It is a small coastal town located 51 kilometers (approx. 32 miles) northwest of Thiruvananthapuram (Trivandrum) and 37 km southwest of Kollam in Kerala that is also an important religious place for the Hindus. Varkala beach is…Continue
Added by Anil Rawat on December 16, 2010 at 11:17pm — No Comments
The 8th Annual Sun WineFest returns to Connecticut’s Mohegan Sun Casino January 28 -30th. This is hands down the largest food and beverage extravaganza in New England and it’s right in my backyard! The hub of activity centers around the…Continue
Added by Steve Mirsky on December 16, 2010 at 10:31pm — No Comments
The first thing that comes in our mind when we talk about Goa is its beaches. Spotted with exotic beaches this coastal city is the most sought after destinations among the beach lovers around the globe.
The beaches of Goa rated among the best through out the world and attract traveler with its vibrant cosmopolitan culture. There are large number of water sports facilities…Continue
Added by allthebest on December 16, 2010 at 7:28am — No Comments
There are many holy places located in India. Among them, this is the sacred land where pilgrims come to find God. It is the ‘Gateway of God’, which will enchant you with its interesting mythology and legends. It stands one among the four places on earth where immortality elixir fell from the pitcher of Gods. If you still haven’t got the city mentioned here, then it is Haridwar-one of the most religious cities in…Continue
Added by Lonely Planet on December 16, 2010 at 5:00am — No Comments
Christmas for me has always been a busy time of year. A time of stressing over gift ideas, baking and fitting in special Holiday events. Exhausting but joyous. It is also the time of year when we receive unbelievable offers from fabulous Las Vegas.
Ask anyone who works in Sin City and they'll tell you the slowest time of the year for them is the period between…
Added by Comphoppers on December 15, 2010 at 4:25pm — No Comments
|From NMT Images|
The Chaos of Travel: Who Can Help?
While it might have been a bit ambitious for PhosCusWright to call…
Added by Kaleel Sakakeeny on December 15, 2010 at 3:00pm — No Comments
Wayanad literally means 'Land of Paddy Fields'. It is unspoilt expanse of virgin rainforests in the Western Ghats that is bordered by the Nagarhole National Park, Bandipur National Park andMudumalai. The misty environs of Wayanad offer a wide range of trekking…Continue
Added by Anil Rawat on December 14, 2010 at 2:38am — No Comments
So while it is difficult to grasp the whole Places To Visit India in a…Continue
Added by Travel Tips on December 13, 2010 at 1:00am — No Comments
I admit it: I'll go see just about any movie set in a great locale, even if I suspect the plot's a stinker. That partly explains why we braved the frigid winds rattling the Kingston-Rhinecliff bridge last night to join a dozen or so Upstate New York locals at the Hudson Valley Mall to watch Venice, Angelina Jolie, and Johnny Depp (in that order) in The Tourist.
We'd been warned: "Pretty people went to Venice and made a pretty movie. Joining them won’t be thoroughly…
Added by Jose Balido on December 12, 2010 at 5:30pm — No Comments
Just one hundred and twenty miles north of Rio de Janeiro lies a small peninsula known as Armação dos Búzios. It is only eight kilometers long and adorned with over twenty magnificent beaches which are bathed in brilliant sunshine…Continue
Added by Roy Heale on December 12, 2010 at 4:00pm — No Comments
So it was Dominican night at La Hispaniola Restaurant, an on site restaurant in Punta Cana's Bavaro Princess Resort. The court yard outside was bustling with artisan craftspeople. A glass artist trained a precision torch on delicate tubes twisting and blowing them to create exquisite ornamental palm trees, and other decorative objects. Wood carvers spread out their inventive wares and classic Dominican cigars…Continue
Added by Steve Mirsky on December 12, 2010 at 2:50pm — No Comments
If you are planning a much needed fun-in-the-sun getaway this winter, you’re in for a treat! Solmar Hotels & Resorts is celebrating its newest luxury property’s grand opening in Los Cabos Mexico at…Continue
Added by Steve Mirsky on December 11, 2010 at 5:00pm — No Comments
Recently renewed the Juan Santamaria International Airport is located in Alajuela Province, about 20 km away from San Jose downtown. The airport which is Costa Rica´s primary Airport serves a great number of tourists from all over the world. At this airport, SANSA Domestic Airline has its own operation center just 1 block away from arrivals gate.
The Costa Rican government charges a $26 USD departure fee, which can be paid in cash (U.S. dollars or equivalent…Continue
Added by Erick Hidalgo on December 11, 2010 at 11:32am — No Comments
he amalgamated beauty of sun, sand and sea fringed by coconut trees make beaches a romantic destination where one can get relief from their weary thoughts and life.
Three day weekend holidays provided me an opportunity to spend a memorable India holidays at beachside, as I was in Thiruvananthapuram Capital City of Kerala for my official work. This plan was in my mind so I wrapped up my work by Thursday and…
Added by Travel Tips on December 11, 2010 at 9:58am — No Comments | <urn:uuid:816bea17-b4bf-401a-8c70-e90418f26bb2> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.tripatini.com/profiles/blog/list?promoted=1&page=97 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368707435344/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516123035-00035-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.952003 | 1,661 | 1.53125 | 2 |
St. Louis - February 9, 2011
A push is under way by the world's largest donor registry for bone marrow and umbilical cord blood to get more African-Americans involved in giving.
The National Marrow Donor Program reports that patients with diseases such as sickle cell anemia and leukemia are more likely to find a matching donor from their own race or ethnicity. However, only 7 percent of the 9 million people on the program's registry are African-American. The awareness campaign comes during Black History Month and makes two stops in the St. Louis area.
- Sunday, 1-6 p.m., St. Louis Community College at Forest Park cafeteria, 5600 Oakland Avenue.
- Monday, 10 a.m. to 2 p.m., Southwestern Illinois College main complex building, 2500 Carlyle Avenue, Belleville.
In a promotion with Nordstrom, which is giving up to $75,000 to offset the cost of registering donors, a new website has been launched to learn more about giving: www.nordstrom.com/bhm. | <urn:uuid:120ce252-f735-4901-ada6-54ed0ec19930> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://marrow.org/News/In_the_News/2011/St__Louis_Post-Dispatch_Black_blood_donors_are_needed.aspx | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368705559639/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516115919-00028-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.947492 | 221 | 1.75 | 2 |
The term “criminal banksters” has become an established part of our language to refer to the people who operate the too big to fail (TBTF) multinational Wall Street banks that practice an especially virulent and destructive form of worldwide predatory capitalism in which their profits are privatized to pay multimillion dollar bonuses to their CEOs disbursing the rest to investment managers and bank shareholders while their losses are socialized. That is, covered by the United States taxpayers without their consent.
This relationship basically functions like a super efficient vacuum cleaner sucking all the wealth out of the economy and redistributing it among the wealthiest 1% of the population, and especially the top 0.1%. As such, it imperils the economy and constitutes a clear and present danger to the Rule of Law, particularly the notion of equal justice under law, the Constitution, the Bill of Rights, and democracy itself.
This parasitic relationship came into being during the Reagan Administration when regulatory oversight of the banks relaxed and disappeared as enforcement of the banking laws ended with the exception of an occasional slap on the wrist that amounted to a forgettable mosquito bite-sized chunk of money removed from a massive flow of capital cascading through a fire hose under high pressure.
Coupled with the repeal by the United States of the Glass-Steagall Act that prohibited investment banks from lending money and their development and sale of novel and exotic financial instruments based on real estate mortgage backed securities as a form of insurance with which to hedge bets in the world wide casino, the banks invented and financed a new game to play in which the sky was the limit and the risk of failure all but extinguished. Or so they thought.
This get-rich-quick scheme was founded on the belief that the real estate market in the United States was the most secure investment in the world and the surest way to insure against investment losses in the thrilling world casino was to bundle real estate mortgages together into a package and sell them as insurance. The effort to sell this “insurance” and the demand to purchase it led to a massive systemic practice of inflating real estate appraisals and rounding up and signing up warm bodies to buy real estate financed by so-called “liars loans” in which the information in the loan applications was unverified and in many instances faked by the original lenders. The mortgages securing these loans were rarely, if ever, recorded with the title as required by law. Instead, the banks invented a new recordation system called MERS, which was nothing more than an electronic spreadsheet referencing the original mortgage. Meanwhile, the mortgages, which were basically worthless, were sliced and diced, bundled and rebundled to form worthless securities that were then sold and resold as insurance to institutional and international investors. This was and continues to be the greatest Ponzi scheme in history and sooner or later the music was destined to stop and bring the market crashing down.
Why? Because it created an enormous bubble in the housing market in the form of ever higher divorced-from-reality prices such that investors eventually realized that only hot air supported the value of the real estate.
Millions of homes have been forfeited unlawfully because the banks holding the mortgages had not recorded them properly and could only show that they owned the mortgage by manufacturing fraudulent and perjured loan documents using so called robo-signers to falsely claim to be persons in authority who supposedly signed the original loan documents that no longer existed and were never recorded.
Despite having been exposed for their wrongdoing in many states, and most recently by the Massachusetts Supreme Court, the banks that are saddled with many trillions of dollars of these worthless mortgages persist in seeking the unlawful forfeiture of millions more homes.
President Obama recently said that the banks have not violated any federal laws and cannot be prosecuted.
I am calling bullshit.
The CEOs of the banks can and should be prosecuted for violating the federal RICO statute. See 18 USC 1961, et seq. The banks meet the definition of enterprises and their CEOs engaged in a pattern of racketeering activity within a 10-year period under the federal statute by committing two or more of the crimes listed in the statute, including bribery, extortion, bank fraud, securities fraud, wire fraud, and money laundering.
Each count is punishable by a sentence of up to 25 years in prison and a $250,000 fine. In addition, all proceeds obtained from the pattern of racketeering activity may be seized and forfeited by the government, which can obtain a pretrial order freezing all of the personal assets of the defendants and their banks pending the outcome of the case in order to prevent them from dissipating, transferring, or hiding the assets to prevent their recovery.
Consider the case of Michael Milliken who was indicted for RICO on 98 counts of racketeering and fraud relating to an investigation into insider trading. He was accused of using a wide-ranging network of contacts to manipulate stock and bond prices. He pled guilty to six lesser offenses rather than face spending the rest of his life in prison.
Milken’s employer, Drexel Burnham Lambert, was also threatened with a RICO indictment under the legal doctrine that corporations are responsible for their employees’ crimes. Drexel avoided RICO charges by pleading no contest to lesser felonies. While many sources say that Drexel pleaded guilty, in truth the firm only admitted it was “not in a position to dispute the allegations.” If Drexel had been indicted, it would have had to post a performance bond of up to $1 billion to avoid having its assets frozen. This would have taken precedence over all of the firm’s other obligations—including the loans that provided 96 percent of its capital. If the bond ever had to be paid, its shareholders would have been practically wiped out. Since banks will not extend credit to a firm indicted under RICO, an indictment would have likely put Drexel out of business.
I have represented people indicted in federal court for violating the RICO statute and plaintiffs in civil litigation who sued defendants under the provisions of the civil RICO statute.
I do not see any problem, other than lack of political will or a desire to profit from the illegal scheme by preventing a prosecution, that would prevent President Obama from ordering his Attorney General to commence an investigation and prosecution.
Every American, regardless of political persuasion, has a fundamental and legitimate interest in assuring that the President and his Attorney General enforce the law.
Nothing less than our livelihoods, lives, and democracy are at stake.
Cross Posted at Firedoglake/MyFDL (http://my.firedoglake.com/mason/2011/11/09/racketeer-influenced-and-corrupt-organizations-rico/) and the Smirking Chimp. | <urn:uuid:a3cdeb6d-786b-44ea-9da2-81883d7452dc> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://frederickleatherman.com/2011/11/09/racketeer-influenced-and-corrupt-organizations-rico/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368698924319/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516100844-00005-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.971976 | 1,390 | 1.617188 | 2 |
Posted at 10:07 AM on March 9, 2011
by Julia Schrenkler
School districts can define a community from it's prosperity to it's very future. Is your school district evolving or considering changes?
Many school districts are considering changes ranging from adding or eliminating classes, closing schools, laying off teachers, and moving school boundaries. MPR News wants to hear about the changes that your district is considering. | <urn:uuid:9ae2224a-ed91-4d65-904b-f056e60a4a3a> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://minnesota.publicradio.org/collections/special/columns/objects_in_mirror/archive/2011/03/seeking_your_in.shtml | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368707435344/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516123035-00005-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.965375 | 85 | 1.726563 | 2 |
Violence ends where love begins, love begins when there is peace within, and peace radiates when you meditate
‘Jamaica no Problem’ – is now Dushyant Savadia’s slogan. With the vision of creating waves of peace and happiness across the Caribbean, Dushyant has been teaching meditation to people from different walks of life - from farmers to corporate executives, inner city communities to heads of State and youths to prison inmates, Dushyant is striving to give the people of Jamaica lasting peace and harmony through meditation.
He has recently begun an intensive effort in the Jamaican prisons to transform the lives of the inmates. He strongly believes that meditation can heal the victim inside them and will give them a new ray of hope. In recognition of his contribution to Jamaica, he was recently felicitated as an Honarary Jamaican at the Caribbean Yoga Conference.
In a chat with Divya Sachdev, he shares the experiences of some of prisoners who have experienced meditation and have felt transformed and empowered.
Q-You have taken so many courses in prison and the transformational experiences that they have shared have been intense. So what does meditation do, that prisoners change so much?
Dushyant Savadia- When people are physically sick, they go to the hospital for appropriate treatment. The converse is not true for an offender sent to prison. Once incarcerated, emotional and mental rehabilitation is rarely afforded to them. As a result, they become more frustrated and aggressive
Meditation gives them the opportunity to express and release their emotions. It gives them the strength to take responsibility for their own actions and let go of the negative feelings associated with it. They cannot undo what they have done, but meditation helps them to accept what has happened, allowing their frustration and anger to subside.
When they meditate, they feel empowered, refreshed and renewed.
After Sudarshan Kriya and meditation one of the prisoners said, “You know, I feel I have been baptized with the holy breath”. After the course many strongly felt that they would like to use most of their time constructively during their incarceration
Q-‘Make the most out their time’ - how does that happen? Especially with prisoners who have life sentences, they lose hope like it’s the end of the world, how does meditation give them a new ray of hope?
Dushyant Savadia- When we were conducting courses in the Jamaican prisons, there were inmates serving up to 25 years. We encouraged those inmates who had long remaining sentences to become teachers of the Art of Living, taking the knowledge further inside the prison system.
Meditation allows acceptance of the present moment which then creates a sense of responsibility towards peace and non-violence.
There is a policy of reduction in sentences if inmates demonstrate good behaviour and conduct, showing signs of rehabilitation. In such cases parole maybe granted or they maybe allowed greater access to their family members. And this can be achieved through meditation.
Meditation adds to their personal rehabilitation and state of being. It can improve their state of mind and in turn their conduct. This will be the ray of hope in their quest to rejoin the society as responsible citizens.
Q-Sri Sri Ravi Shankar says that behind every criminal there is a victim crying for help. Do you think meditation can heal this victim?
Dushyant Savadia- Meditation not only heals; it revives the soul. It makes you accept what is and strengthens one to move forward.
Q-Sri Sri also says “violence ends where love begins”. So do you also think that meditation can bring more love in people?
Dushyant Savadia- Violence ends where love begins - Love begins when there is peace within - And peace radiates when you meditate.
Meditation takes you through that journey where you recognize the love that blossoms within you. Once there is peace, balance and harmony in ourselves, there is no longer any space for hate or violence. Love takes over and it radiates our entire being.
Giving Prisoners a New Ray of Hope (Part-2) >> | <urn:uuid:b1ccbc54-e600-4fde-a8a9-82566d2a9d50> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.artofliving.org/np-en/meditation/meditation-experiences/Dushyant-Savadia-1 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368708142388/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516124222-00039-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.962935 | 857 | 1.796875 | 2 |
Welcome to Chicago Public Art Group’s Community Public Art Guide: Making Murals, Mosaics, Sculptures, and Spaces, the most comprehensive manual for making public artworks through collaboration with community that has ever been produced. This site represents the collective experience of dozens of dedicated community public artists, working on hundreds of projects, with thousands of participants.
These pages provide:
For over three decades, Chicago Public Art Group has provided a site in which artists interested in creating significant public artworks with communities can come together to support and challenge each other in their work. With this website, we look forward to expanding this community of discourse to our colleagues in other places around the world.
Thanks to the Chicago Community Trust and the Graham Foundation for their encouragement and support to share the knowledge of Chicago community public art practices through this website.
Olivia Gude, Editor of Chicago Public Art Group’s Community Public Art Guide
These pages are best viewed with Internet Explorer 6. | <urn:uuid:f35fe9d7-63ec-4232-b0e9-1828ebff9613> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://cpag.net/guide/index.htm | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368702810651/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516111330-00022-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.931875 | 201 | 1.59375 | 2 |
what happens to him when he goes on this trip?
The Electric Kool-Aid Acid Test Questions
Join the discussion about The Electric Kool-Aid Acid Test by asking a new question or answering an existing question.
what happens to Kesey on the drug trip?
Hallucinations distort or transform shapes and movements, and they may give rise to a perception that time is moving very slowly or that the user's body is changing shape. On some trips, users experience sensations that are enjoyable and mentally stimulating and that produce a sense of heightened understanding.
The precise mechanism by which LSD alters perceptions is still unclear. Evidence from laboratory studies suggests that LSD, like hallucinogenic plants, acts on certain groups of serotonin receptors designated the 5-HT2 receptors, and that its effects are most prominent in two brain regions: One is the cerebral cortex, an area involved in mood, cognition, and perception; the other is the locus ceruleus, which receives sensory signals from all areas of the body and has been described as the brain's "novelty detector" for important external stimuli.
LSD's effects typically begin within 30 to 90 minutes of ingestion and may last as long as 12 hours. Users refer to LSD and other hallucinogenic experiences as "trips" and to the acute adverse experiences as "bad trips."
Source(s): About.com- http://alcoholism.about.com/cs/lsd/f/lsd_faq04.htm
Join for free to answer this question. | <urn:uuid:cbcdeebc-df37-45d2-b75e-93ddf024cc8e> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.gradesaver.com/the-electric-koolaid-acid-test/q-and-a/what-happens-to-kesey-on-the-drug-trip-41645 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368705559639/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516115919-00007-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.949968 | 315 | 1.625 | 2 |
A West Virginia resident is the third person to have died of the rare hantavirus after staying at Yosemite National Park this summer, officials announced Thursday.
All told, eight people have contracted the mouse-borne disease after spending one night or more at the park since mid-June.
West Virginia health leaders reported the death during a news conference Thursday.
A 37-year-old Alameda County man and a Pennsylvania resident also died.
Yosemite leaders are stepping up their outreach to the public and encouraging anyone who has visited the park and starts to develop symptoms to seek medical attention immediately.
It can take up to six weeks for symptoms to develop. People initially may feel like they are getting the flu with fatigue, fever, chills and muscle aches.
The disease is typically spread through the droppings or urine of infected deer mice.
Seven of the infected people stayed in the "signature" tent cabins in Curry Village. The park service closed all 91 of those cabins last week after finding evidence of mouse activity in spaces between the double walls of the cabins.
Check back later today for the full story. | <urn:uuid:a855c972-27a8-4170-9e73-0548217d367d> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.marinij.com/ci_21483598/third-hantavirus-death-linked-yosemite-national-park | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368711005985/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516133005-00010-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.971388 | 233 | 1.75 | 2 |
I will act as if what I do makes a difference
This Vail Symposium poster hangs in our office and we at the Antlers try to live by those words. They help guide many of our decisions, including our efforts to be good corporate citizens. We are quite proud of our record in that regard, and frankly it just got a little better. A couple months ago, Bob Bandoni introduced us to Students Shoulder to Shoulder. Their tagline is “The International School of Global Citizenship”. Rather than try to explain what that entails, we just urge you to investigate their website. It’s meaningful.
Although the program is five or six years old, Bob explained that they were planning their first Global Solutions Forum here in Vail, in October. The idea was to bring representatives together from the various NGO’s around the world and the schools who now participate with Shoulder to Shoulder. The real purpose is simply to further their success and advance the mission. It took all of about two minutes to recognize the value and importance of this effort. In the context of our day to day preoccupation with our own lives and businesses, the opportunity to play some small part in something so meaningful was irresistible.
Last week, the Antlers was honored to host ten representatives from a number of the different schools that are now part of the Shoulder to Shoulder “alliance”. Like some of the other worthy causes that the Antlers has adopted over the years, this was all done at no charge to the participants or their schools. By helping making it affordable for them to participate in this conference, we like to think that the Antlers is playing a small part in the fulfillment of their mission.
Like all great ideas, Bob Bandoni and the others behind this effort see it as something much bigger. It’s not just personal growth for the students, but rather a significant step on the path to making this a better world. That’s a lofty goal, but one which the Antlers is really proud to be associated with. | <urn:uuid:6df78373-871d-4488-a283-89f085a5b9cb> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.antlersvail.com/tag/shoulder-to-shoulder/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368704713110/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516114513-00036-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.973165 | 427 | 1.5 | 2 |
As the East Coast assesses the damage from Hurricane Sandy, Petfinder wants to help pets who have been lost due to the extreme weather.
In the chaos of evacuations and emergency situations, animals often get loose, as they can sense atmospheric pressure changes and may act erratically. If you live in an area effected by the storm, and you have encountered lost animals or your pet has gone missing, Petfinder has information about the proper next steps to ensure these pets are returned safely to their homes.
Petfinder is helping lost pets find their homes by spreading the word about what to do if your pet goes missing, as well as what action you should take if you find a lost dog and how to tell if a cat is a stray.
Petfinder wants your help in sharing this information, so please visit their Facebook page and share this infographic with your friends and family to get the word out about how to handle this difficult situation. | <urn:uuid:430ccec4-7eea-4583-ac57-e82975a1d257> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://corporate.discovery.com/blog/2012/10/30/keeping-pets-safe-and-accounted-for-through-hurricane-sandy/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368696383156/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516092623-00003-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.96007 | 189 | 1.773438 | 2 |
The Green Burial
How to leave an environmentally friendly corpse.
An option which has become popular in the UK and is beginning to catch on in the USA is 'Green Burial'. This comes in many degrees.
For the purist, there are green cemeteries which do not allow embalming, caskets with non-biodegradable parts, or traditional tombstones/monuments. The body is buried somewhat shallow to accelerate decomposition and return to earth and is marked by GPS or perhaps a natural rock or newly planted tree. Expect to pay $500 to $2500 for burial plot and services.
For the 'somewhat green' among us, many regular cemeteries offer their version of green burial, often at an additional fee to make up for services missed, like embalming. Expect to pay
$2,000 - $5,000 and up, depending on location and local pricing by funeral homes and cemeteries.
(INSERT: Photo of David Model Casket)
A HINT! Many funeral homes are starting to offer 'Eco-Friendly' caskets at a premium price. For a truly biodegradable casket that has no metal of any sort, ask for a KOSHER or Orthodox Jewish casket as these are often available at prices 1/3 to 1/2 what you'd pay for the same thing dubbed 'Eco-Friendly'.
For further information on Green Burials, see www.greenburialcouncil.org
Also check out this article by
Nina Shen Rastogi about Green Burials | <urn:uuid:0d992c82-afdf-4404-99a9-36c552469670> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.funeral-help.com/green.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368706499548/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516121459-00023-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.933648 | 336 | 1.75 | 2 |
For those leaders still trying to make the business case for sustainability, here’s something to tell senior management: CSR will help your company generate more new products than your competitors.
Xueming Luo, from the University of Texas, and Shuili Du from the Simmons School of Management wondered if CSR had any impact on the inventiveness and creativity of a company. If CSR did have a positive influence on inventiveness, those firms pursuing CSR as a business strategy should be benefiting not just from more customers and a better reputation, but also from more new products and sales.
The researchers investigated their idea by measuring the number of new products released each year by 128 firms and comparing that number to each firm’s position on a CSR index.
CSR Spurs New Products
Companies in the top third of the CSR index were four times as inventive as companies in the bottom third – releasing on average 47 new products a year compared to just 12 products. The researchers theorize that CSR gives companies access to a wider body of knowledge through better relations with customers, suppliers and other stakeholders. By keeping up to date on customer preferences and the latest technological advances, socially responsible companies can tailor their products accordingly and keep one step ahead of competitors.
CSR + Competition = More New Products
In highly competitive industries, such as air travel and automotive manufacturing, CSR investments generate even greater returns in terms of new products. The authors speculate that competition energizes organizational learning, allowing firms to use information
from their knowledge base more effectively.
“Companies in the top third of the CSR index were four times as inventive as companies in the bottom third ...”
CSR + R&D = Inventions
The authors also found companies that pursued CSR activities and spent more on research and development (R&D) than industry peers gained further advantage. These socially responsible, innovation-focused firms were more likely to launch first-of-a-kind innovations as opposed to just incremental improvements of existing products.
For example, Boeing’s 787 Dreamliner uses 20 percent less fuel than its predecessors thanks to a novel weight reducing design that uses composite materials instead of traditional aluminum. Another first-of-a-kind invention resulting from simultaneous investments in R&D and CSR is Toyota’s Prius – the world’s first gasoline-electric hybrid car to be mass produced.
- Get Outsiders Generating New Product Ideas for You: Skanska, a Swedish construction and development firm, runs a yearly “Supply Chain Green Solution Award”. Suppliers are asked to submit ideas that reduce costs and the environmental impact of Skanska’s products. This simultaneously improves supply chain relations and the environmental impact of the business while providing new ideas and products.
- Coordinate CSR and R&D with Corporate Goals: In 2007, up-market British retailer Marks & Spencer launched “Plan A”, an initiative to become the world’s most sustainable retailer. To help meet their audacious goal, Marks & Spencer focused their research and development on business activities that had a high environmental impact, such as its haulage operations. The result was a new “teardrop”-shaped trailer able to carry 16 percent more load while using 10 percent less fuel and producing 10 percent fewer carbon emissions. In addition to saving money and reducing the company’s environmental impact, the distinct-looking trailers were highly visible on British roads, helping bolster Marks & Spencer’s reputation.
The researchers examined 128 firms from all major sectors, from 2001 to 2004, investigating the relationship between CSR (using an outside index) and the number of products launched per year. They determined causality with statistical regressions by controlling for factors such as company size, financial leverage and market stability.
Luo, X., and Du, S., (2012) “Good” Companies Launch More New Products. Harvard Business Review, April.
Thomas Long and the NBS team | <urn:uuid:4cae6727-5048-4788-bc3c-41c16c52f032> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://nbs.net/knowledge/good-companies-launch-more-new-products/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368703682988/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516112802-00033-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.946133 | 825 | 1.6875 | 2 |
Re: Struggling with Depression
Best thing to do when your suffering from signs of depression before it gets too critical, is completely make yourself useful. Such usefulness can include being busy, with homework from college, spending extra time completing the work to get a better grade, meeting new friends. Whether it's friends from college your going to make or your work place.
This can be an opportunity to meet new people, start new and fresh with proper encounters that can lead to relationships with females. Don't get into a relationship if your looking for love though, more of companionship. Take it slow, then see where things go before you fall to hard and get hurt and become an alcoholic.
Life gets depressing, we've all experienced it, we all will face it, just adapt to it and learn to let it be a strength rather than a weakness. | <urn:uuid:c1fbee3f-776b-47cf-8409-7a4f1d3647e2> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.insidehoops.com/forum/showpost.php?p=7684736&postcount=26 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368708142388/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516124222-00019-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.956844 | 174 | 1.578125 | 2 |
North Carolina’s DWI Sentencing Laws
Important: North Carolina’s Driving While Impaired law underwent significant changes in 2011, set to go into effect in December, 2011. If you are charged with a DWI that occurred before December, 2011, your DWI will be handled according to the previous law. If you are charged with a DWI that occurred after December, 2011, your DWI will be handled according to the new law. Talk to an attorney – (919) 352-9411 – about your case to find out how what to expect.
North Carolina’s Driving While Impaired (DWI) statute defines the standard DWI as a misdemeanor, but uses its own somewhat complicated system to determine sentencing level. In this way, NC’s DWI statute differs from other misdemeanors which use North Carolina’s Structured Sentencing system. The information below reflects all changes to the law, including changes enacted in 2011 by the North Carolina General Assembly.
North Carolina’s DWI Sentencing Statute is found at N.C.G.S. 20-179. What follows is a plain language translation of the statute.
First, the fact finder (the judge or the jury) will determine whether there are any grossly aggravating factors or aggravating factors. Grossly aggravating factors are really bad factors which cause enhanced punishment.
The following are “grossly aggravating” factors:
- A prior conviction for DWI within the past 7 years (the past 7 years measured from the date of prior conviction to the date of offense).
- A DWI conviction which occurred after the offense date but before or while the current DWI is being sentenced;
- The DWI occurred while the Defendant’s license was revoked under G.S. 20-28, and the revocation was an impaired driving revocation under G.S. 20-28.2(a).
- A child under the age of 18 was in the vehicle at the time of the DWI. (Requires Level 1 Sentence)
- The driving caused an accident involving serious injury to another person.
If the judge finds more than two grossly aggravating factors, a person will be sentenced as an Aggravated Level 1. If the judge or jury finds that two grossly aggravating factors are present, then the person will be sentenced according to Level 1 requirements. If the judge or jury finds just one grossly aggravating factor is present, then the perosn will be sentenced according to Level 2 requirements. Aggravated Level 1 is the harshest sentencing level under the misdemeanor DWI statute.
Note that the law also changes the way a DWI committed (after December 1, 2011) with minors in the car is handled. The 2011 changes to the DWI law say that if a person has a minor (person under the age of 18) in the car, then the person must be sentenced as a Level 1.
If the person is sentenced to Aggravated Level 1, Level 1 or Level 2, the person is not entitled to apply for a Limited Driving Privilege during the period of license revocation. In addition, the license is suspended for four years. For the first two years, no LDP is permitted. Only at the conclusion of two years is a DMV hearing permitted to permit a person to apply for a LDP. In addition, Aggravated Level 1, Level 1 and Level 2 have mandatory jail or prison requirements. In some cases, if the person voluntarily enrolls in an In-Patient Treatment center, that period of treatment will be credited against any potential prison time.
If no grossly aggravating factors are found or alleged, then the judge or jury next considers whether there are any “aggravating” factors.
Aggravating factors include:
- Gross impairment of the defendant’s faculties while driving or an alcohol concentration of 0.15 or more within a relevant time after the driving.
- Especially reckless or dangerous driving.
- Negligent driving that led to a reportable accident.
- Driving by the defendant while his driver’s license was revoked (for a non DWI related offense).
- Two or more prior convictions of a motor vehicle offense not involving impaired driving for which at least three points are assigned under G.S. 20-16 or for which the convicted person’s license is subject to revocation, if the convictions occurred within five years of the date of the offense for which the defendant is being sentenced, or one or more prior convictions of an offense involving impaired driving that occurred more than ten years before the date of the offense for which the defendant is being sentenced.
- Conviction under N.C.G.S. 20-141.5 of speeding by the defendant while fleeing or attempting to elude apprehension.
- Conviction under G.S. 20-141 of speeding by the defendant by at least 30 miles per hour over the legal limit.
- Passing a stopped school bus in violation of G.S. 20-217.
- Any other factor that aggravates the seriousness of the offense.
These aggravating factors are weighed against mitigating factors. Mitigating factors include:
- The Defendant has voluntarily submitted him/herself to an alcohol or drug treatment center for an assessment of potential substance abuse problem and has completed the recommended treatment. Many judges will credit a person with a mitigating factor for at least having begun the treatment even if it’s not completed at the time of conviction.
- A statutorily safe driving record for the previous five years.
- Safe and otherwise lawful driving at the time of the offense.
- A low BAC reading from the Chemical Analysis (.08 or .09 results are considered low).
- Impairment of the defendant’s faculties caused primarily by a lawfully prescribed drug for an existing medical condition, and the amount of the drug taken was within the prescribed dosage.
- Any other factor that mitigates the seriousness of the offense. Many judges will recognize that the person was “polite & cooperative” with the arresting officer as a mitigating factor. In addition, many judges will consider standard N.C.G.S 15A sentencing factors as mitigating factors in a DWI case.
Weighing Aggravating & Mitigating Factors
The judge will weigh the aggravating factors (bad factors) against the mitigating factors (good factors). If aggravating factors “substantially” outweigh mitigating factors, then Level 3 punishment is imposed.
If aggravating and mitigating factors balance each other out, then Level 4 punishment is imposed.
If mitigating factors outweigh aggravating factors, then Level 5, the least harsh punishment, is imposed.
If convicted, your goal will be to stay out of Aggravated Level 1, Level 1 and Level 2, which are the harshest sentencing levels, and to try to get into Level 5, which is the best sentencing level to be in. | <urn:uuid:d1cc03d3-c581-4e44-8fe5-fc7fc834a73a> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.chetson.com/dwi-overview/dwi-sentencing-factors/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368704392896/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516113952-00008-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.942746 | 1,440 | 1.53125 | 2 |
It's so good to see a good old American success story where someone starts with nothing and picks themselves up by the bootstraps and makes themselves a success. All you need is hard work and opportunity-if you are a failure you obviously haven't worked hard enough.
Oh. maybe it's easier to succeed if you start your football offense on the opponent's 1 yard line. Or maybe as the Walton's and Koch Bros can attest to-nothing like being the lucky sperm. And who needs experience or a college degree?
"Drag-racing heiress keeps In-N-Out on course
These are rare glimpses into the life of the elusive, intensely private In-N-Out Burger owner, a 30-year-old heiress who, after a series of family tragedies, inherited the burger empire far sooner than she ever imagined.
Torres always figured her future was with In-N-Out, but she never expected to take over at such a young age. Her grandparents, Harry and Esther Snyder, founded the company in 1948. When Harry Snyder died in 1976, his son Rich Snyder, Torres' uncle, took over and ran the company until he was killed in 1993 in a Santa Ana plane crash. That put the company in the hands of Torres' father, Guy Snyder, but he died in 1999 of a prescription drug overdose. At that point, Esther Snyder took control until her death in 2006, leaving Torres, then 24 and with no college degree, as the only remaining heir.
Torres had a partial ownership stake at the time of her grandmother's death, and through a trust she gained 50 percent control when she turned 30 last year. She will become full owner at age 35.
Having grown up in the company, Torres had worked in a number of departments within In-N-Out, including human resources and merchandising, but she had little experience managing day-to-day operations. Initially, she was hands-off, but she has since taken on a larger role, becoming president in 2010." | <urn:uuid:045404db-b9d3-4640-a1f8-f0ad2256887d> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.thomhartmann.com/forum/2013/02/living-american-dream | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368697380733/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516094300-00027-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.984328 | 418 | 1.554688 | 2 |
Report of Col. E. B. C. Cash, Eighth South Carolina Infantry
O.R.– SERIES I–VOLUME 2 [S# 2] — CHAPTER IX, pp 530-532
HDQRS. EIGHTH REGIMENT SOUTH CAROLINA VOLS.,
Camp Victory, July 31, 1861
In obedience to orders from the general commanding the First Brigade, Army of the Potomac, I beg leave to submit the following report of the operations of the Eighth Regiment South Carolina Volunteers during the 21st instant:
Early on Sunday morning, the 21st instant, heavy canonading and rapid discharges of musketry were heard about two miles to my left, and about 11 o’clock a.m. I received orders through Colonel Kershaw to move forward and engage the enemy. As soon as my regiment was put in motion the batteries of the enemy on the opposite side of the run were turned upon us, the balls striking very near my line, but doing no injury. The two regiments, proceeding rapidly to the scene of action, were formed in order of battle some two or three hundred yards from the ground which afterwards proved to be to us the main point of battle. For a detailed account of this movement I ask to refer to the official report of Colonel Kershaw, the senior colonel in command.
My orders were to form on Colonel Kershaw’s left. The greater portion of my regiment being at this time in a dense wood and not receiving the order immediately, Colonel Kershaw preceded me in the march and arrived a few minutes before upon the field of battle. Here he changed his front, placing his immediate command at right angles to my own. Advancing, I found a considerable force fronting my line and concealed by a rail fence. For a time we supposed them to be our friends. Captain Pawley, of my staff, boldly moved forward with a view to ascertain the real character of those thus concealed. He had advanced some twenty paces when he was fired upon. Escaping uninjured, he immediately returned the fire, killing one of the enemy, as they now proved to be. I at once ordered the firing from my line to commence. After several well-directed volleys had been delivered the enemy (zouaves) were driven back from their position. Falling back in great confusion, they were rallied in a valley some distance in the rear, where the enemy was posted in great numbers. From this point they returned my fire, killing five of my men and wounding several.
Seeing that the enemy were well acquainted with my position, and being unable to return their fire, they using guns of longer range than those in the hands of my men, and it being out of my power to advance without exposing the regiment to a cross-fire from-the enemy and Colonel Kershaw’s regiment, I ordered a flank movement to the left, intending to fall upon the enemy’s right. Unfortunately my order was not heard along the whole line, owing to the noise of battle in our front. Order, however, was soon restored, and the regiment advanced, receiving an occasional shot from the enemy, the mass having retired beyond a hill in rear of the position held by them when my flank movement commenced.
After a short delay I was ordered by Colonel Kershaw to follow his command in the direction of the stone bridge. While executing this order I was met by General Beauregard, who ordered me to dislodge a body of the enemy supposed to be in a wood to my left. I at once proceeded to discharge this duty, but found that the orders of the general had been already executed by a body of cavalry. I continued in pursuit of the enemy towards the stone bridge. At this time the remnant of Hampton’s Legion was attached to my regiment, and placed under my command.
After crossing the stone bridge I found Colonel Kershaw’s command drawn up on the right of the road, and was ordered by that officer to take position on the left, Captain Kemper occupying the road. We continued to advance in this order, I deploying as skirmishers to the front Captain Hoole’s company, who drove the enemy before them. Occasionally the artillery of the enemy would fire upon us, but without effect. After continuing the pursuit for some two and a half or three miles we came in full view of the heavy columns of the retreating enemy. The regiments were halted, and Captain Kemper commenced a rapid and well-directed fire upon them, which caused them to abandon their guns, wagons, &c., and completed the defeat. The enemy now fled in the utmost confusion, throwing away everything which at all impeded his flight. Too much praise cannot be awarded to Captain Kemper for the manner in which he managed his guns on this occasion. Directing the fire, he displayed all the attributes of a brave, gallant, and accomplished officer. It was during this pursuit that my sergeant-major, W. S. Mullins, took as a prisoner Mr. Ely, a member of Congress from New York, who armed with a revolver, had come upon the field to enjoy the pleasure of witnessing our defeat.
The enemy being hopelessly routed, I was ordered by Colonel Kershaw to send forward a detachment from my regiment to take possession of the cannon deserted by the enemy and bring them within our lines, fearing that these might rally and attempt to retake them. Captain W. H. Evans and fifty men promptly volunteered for this service, and well and faithfully discharged their duty. I remained upon the ground with my command until all the pieces which could be moved were carried to the rear, and at 2.30 o clock a.m. on Monday returned to the stone bridge, taking position on Colonel Kershaw’s left. Here we remained until ordered to advance to this place.
My officers and men behaved gallantly during this trying ordeal, displaying that heroism and bravery which have ever characterized Southern troops. Where all behaved so well I would do violence to my own feelings were I to institute any comparisons by individualizing any as particularly distinguished for meritorious conduct. I would mention as a fact worthy to be recorded that every member of the regimental color guard was wounded.
Annexed to this report is a list of the killed and wounded of my regiment.
I have the honor to be, general, your obedient servant,
E. B. C. CASH,
Colonel Eighth Regiment South Carolina Volunteers
Brig. Gen. M. L. Bonham | <urn:uuid:f6bb3ebe-a086-4e54-8761-e0bea12ed847> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://bullrunnings.wordpress.com/2008/02/24/91-%E2%80%93-col-e-b-c-cash/?like=1&source=post_flair&_wpnonce=e9ecfe8d49 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368710006682/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516131326-00025-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.980824 | 1,345 | 1.765625 | 2 |
PRK is an outpatient procedure performed
under local anesthesia. The
procedure takes about 30 minutes, most of which is spent
preparing your eye and the laser. The actual treatment time is
very short, with most treatments taking just a few minutes.
To prepare for surgery the area around your eyes will be cleaned
and a sterile drape will be applied. Anesthetic eye drops will
be used to numb your eyes then a small instrument will keep you
from blinking during the procedure.
During the first part of PRK a very thin layer of tissue is
brushed from the surface of the cornea or is removed using the
The second step of PRK is the laser reshaping which takes just
seconds. During this time you will be asked to look directly at
a fixation light in order to accurately center the laser beam.
The Excimer laser will be programmed with the information
gathered in your pre-operative exam. The entire treatment will
be completed in less than a minute or two, depending on the
amount of correction needed. After the laser reshaping is
complete, an extended wear contact lens is placed on the cornea.
in order to speed the healing process and reduce discomfort.
Most people see well enough to drive 5 to 7 days
procedure and can resume their normal
activities at that time.
Following your procedure you will be given
additional eye drops, and your eyes will be shielded with
transparent plastic goggles. Your vision will be a little blurry
so we recommend a driver for the ride home. You should relax for
the rest of the day. Discomfort may last 2 to 5 days, but is
helped with an over-the-counter pain relievers and drops that
will be provided to you. It is normal to experience light
sensitivity and tearing of the eyes for a few days after PRK.
Most people see well enough to drive on the third day after the
procedure and can resume their normal activities at that time.
Vision can fluctuate for up to six months, but most people can
see well enough to pass a driver's license vision exam a week or
two after the procedure. | <urn:uuid:b0efe732-3ff9-437f-8b7f-e2f7da802c7f> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.myurbanaeyecare.com/Content/laservisioncorrection/prk/prkwhattoexpect.aspx | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368703682988/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516112802-00042-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.930923 | 457 | 1.648438 | 2 |
Op/ed: Education and capital will provide the fuel for region’s economy
By John K. Paglia on June 29, 2012
On June 1, the federal government released surprisingly bleak job numbers for the United States. With only 69,000 jobs added in May, the national unemployment rate rose to 8.2 percent. In California, the joblessness rate remains a stubbornly high 10.9 percent.
Closer to home the numbers are better — the Central Coast’s unemployment figures range from 7.7 percent to 8.9 percent. However, those numbers are still roughly double the 4 percent to 5 percent unemployment rate we enjoyed for much of the early part of the last decade. Long-term economic growth for the region is far from certain.
The fact is, small-business hiring is the most direct path to job growth and sustained prosperity for the Tri-Counties. However, one major obstacle remains: access to capital.
In large part, the inability to grow is due to limited access to financing that could allow private businesses to hire more employees, expand their space or expand their product lines.
Seventy-five percent of California businesses that responded to the Pepperdine Private Capital Markets Index survey released in May said it will be difficult to raise both debt and equity financing in the next six months. Of the businesses planning to raise capital, 74 percent said unsuccessful attempts to secure financing will result in slower business growth and 59 percent said they will hire fewer new employees than planned.
This problem is not limited to the Central Coast or California. National data collected revealed that, among the 5,997 survey respondents, 64 percent of businesses with revenues under $5 million said difficulty in securing financing is limiting their growth potential and 55 percent said it is restricting plans to grow their workforce.
The inability to access financing has significantly hindered the state’s businesses to create and add jobs. Without business growth and job creation, California and the Central Coast region will continue to slog through a recessionary environment. The following steps should be taken to improve the flow of capital:
1) Central Coast business owners need to be educated about what types of capital are available, what type of capital is appropriate for their business and where they should go to get it.
The U.S. Small Business Administration and California’s Small Business Development Centers should take a leading role in educating small business owners. With small businesses continuing to expand their search for capital, it is imperative that they understand the expansive private capital markets. From angel investors (conveniently located in nearby Silicon Valley) to regional banks, if small business owners are armed with information about lending criteria, capital requirements and lending process, they can more effectively allocate resources to investigating new capital.
2) Capital providers must increase transparency. Transparency is the key to improving the success of those seeking financing. Currently, many deals are negotiated in a vacuum and there is very little data available for other businesses that are in the market for capital.
If businesses are not able to accurately assess their ability to raise capital, they could needlessly spin their wheels when they could have been focused on improving their balance sheets. Already, regional and community banks like One Pacific Coast Bank have caught on and are emphasizing transparency in how they market business loans.
3) Finally, Congress and the California Legislature should investigate ways to develop public-private partnerships that will incentivize investment. States such as Tennessee are offering future tax credits to invest in companies within the state.
In Tennessee, the state offered $200 million in gross premium tax credits for future years’ use to insurance companies that invest in businesses qualified by the state of Tennessee as a “TNInvestco.” Similar programs that offer incentives to businesses in which the Central Coast already has a solid base — health care, life sciences, technology — would bring higher-paying jobs to the region.
Scarcity of credit for small businesses continues to hinder our local and national economy. When conducting business valuations I meet many business owners that dearly want to expand and hire new employees but cannot find the capital. My research backs up anecdotal evidence showing that businesses are not gaining access to the capital they need to grow.
Through education, transparency and innovative programs, our leaders can propel the Central Coast’s economy forward.
• John K. Paglia is an associate professor of finance at Pepperdine University’s Graziadio School of Business and Management. He also is director of the Pepperdine Private Capital Markets Project. To download the study at no cost, click here. | <urn:uuid:4784d486-210f-4c3a-9446-900e70a7d77a> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.pacbiztimes.com/2012/06/29/oped-education-and-capital-will-provide-the-fuel-for-regions-economy/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368697380733/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516094300-00008-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.954351 | 932 | 1.609375 | 2 |
Fall Open House
Saturday, November 10
Registration begins at 9:30 a.m. Program begins at 10:00 a.m.
Check out our information-packed sessions:
- Tours of campus - In what year did we defeat Penn State in football? Where is the good luck bell located? How do we celebrate Thanksgiving? Find out the answers to these questions and more on your personalized, student-guided tour of campus.
- Meeting College Costs - All students are eligible for financial aid, regardless of income. Learn about the types of assistance you can expect. Important information about deadlines and a short primer on how 95% of all financial aid gets awarded.
- Freshman Year Experience - Are you nervous about your transition from high school to college? Andrew Kilpatrick, Assistant Dean for Freshmen, will discuss the services we provide to help first-year students get the most out of their freshmen year.
- Life Outside the Classroom - Learn how we not only educate, but guide our students toward achieving their goals and encourage them to succeed by getting involved. This presentation outlines Residential Life, Student Clubs & Leadership Development, Intramural Sports, Safety & Security, and Career Development.
- Essential Distinctions - Learn about our admission requirements, important dates, deadlines and other information from academic programs and study abroad, to campus activities and internships.
- The Student 'Buzz' - Current students will share their observations and suggestions on how their college search led them to choose Lycoming, how they manage their time in college, how to get involved, and how to be a successful student.
- Athletics, Academics & the NCAA - Do I have a full schedule during the season? Can I play two sports? How long are practices? These types of questions can be answered in this session. Find out how our athletes balance their commitment to the team and the classroom. | <urn:uuid:aae3a8db-c9cc-42de-989c-1008826bc38f> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.lycoming.edu/admissions/openHouse/fallopenhouse.aspx | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368696381249/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516092621-00042-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.938518 | 383 | 1.570313 | 2 |
There are very few rock stars that could qualify as a tenor and of the few who do, only a portion can hit their highest note while they retain a rock and roll attitude.
Let me just clarify that screaming is not singing. I have nothing against screaming and there are a lot of bands that I like that have “screamers” as their lead vocal. But this list contains the name of those who are, for lack of a better term, academically classified as a tenor.
10. Roger Daltry
Band: The Who
The Who’s singer went under the knife to remove a pre-cancerous growth on one of his vocal chords in December 2009, weeks before his half-time performance in the Super Bowl.
His voice was at its peak when he was younger, obviously. He was a natural tenor and can hit the high notes without going falsetto.
9. Mick Jagger
Band: Rolling Stone
Still one of the few rock stars who can hit the high notes without screaming. Unfortunately, his voice is underrated because it is often overshadowed by his showmanship. He also falls prey into putting to much “kicks” on his songs. It sounded alright in the old times but it quickly grew old.
8. Steven Tyler
Apparently, he has two kinds of voice. The young Steven Tyler wanted to be proper in singing that’s why he sang properly and some think is the better kind.
After fame, drugs and alcohol, Tyler started to not care about what is the proper way to sing so he started singing in “who the hell gives a fuck” kind of way and that’s the one we hear to day.
Either way, he can still sing with power.
7. Alice Cooper
Band: Alice Cooper
He can go from alto to tenor in no time.
I have to admit I’m not a big fun of Alice Cooper but hey, I respect the guy and the fact that he doesn’t belt out unless needed. Maybe that’s why many don’t hear the power in his voice too.
6. Jim Morrison
Band: The Doors
It has been documented that Jim Morrison never liked his own voice. When the band came together, they had to convince Jim to do the singing only because he was already a talented writer and they knew that no one can do the songs better than the writer.
It was in the course of the band’s career that Jim and the band started realizing that he really had a voice that was often referred to as a “crooner.”
If you liked this list you should also check out:
- Top 10 Eeriest Male Voices
- Top 10 Hottest Daughters Of Rockstars
- Top 10 Openly Gay Rockstars
- Top 10 Most Brilliant Rockstar Quotes
- Top 10 Best Song Covers Part 2 | <urn:uuid:3d91999e-fb53-4682-afcd-5962be94a62e> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.dailytop10.net/top-10-rockstars-with-the-most-powerful-voices/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368711005985/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516133005-00022-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.982525 | 609 | 1.625 | 2 |
Ted Simons: According to our next guests, politics should not stand in the way of growing the solar energy industry. Here to tell us why is Arizona Corporation Commissioner Paul Newman a Democrat, and Republican attorney Jordan Rose, managing partner of the Rose Law Group in Phoenix. Good to have you both here. Thanks for joining us.
Jordan Rose: Thank you.
Ted Simons: Solar energy benefits the environment. Agree?
Paul Newman: Absolutely.
Ted Simons: Because?
Paul Newman: Because it's a fuel we don't have to pay for. 15 It's a clean fuel, Arizona has it. It does remarkable things to keep climate change down and bad things that come from burning fossil fuels.
Ted Simons: Okay. Again, bad things have come from burning fossil fuels. If renewable energy, solar energy is good for the environment, those other things bad for the environment?
Jordan Rose: Look, Ted, I'm a conserve advertisement as a conservative I support solar energy because this is not, to me, about the environment. It's about my pocketbook, your pocketbook, it's about businesses. The utility of the future is frankly no utility at all. We're inching towards that right now. What I mean by that is that you and me, commissioner, our businesses, our schools, can all have solar panels on their roofs. And with the technology being developed right now, storage capacity so that when it's dark we can still obtain our energy. And that's real free market competition. Because I have a choice now. I can go to my phone book and find the utility that provides for me, and that's my own rooftop, that's the free market.
Ted Simons: What is government's role in developing the industry to get to that purer free market?
Jordan Rose: Well, look, the energy market, the history of the energy market is not free. In the United States we subsidized railroads. We built Rich railroads to get coal from coal producing states to the rest of the country to produce energy. If the nuclear industry wasn't supported by the federal government they wouldn't be able to ensure their plants. The energy market is not free. Look at the gulf oil spill. I'm a taxpayer, you're a taxpayer, we've paid for that. In this particular case I can see an end in sight. The end is total free market, and the utility as we know it today goes the way of the milkmen.
Ted Simons: Can you see an end in sight being a total free market?
Paul Newman: Well, we will have a debate about free market, whether we will have a free market in Arizona or not. Right now we have a regulated environment with the commission in charge of regulating the monopoly. There will be a debate probably this year on whether we go deregulation again. It happened 10 years ago. I wanted to point out a couple things from a recent study down by the Morrison institute for APS. I was involved in that as a commission to figure out how many Arizonans wanted to do solar energy in Arizona. It was a remarkable poll and it showed that 94% of Arizonans support solar. Not 84% wanted electricity from sources that will never be used up, 90% understand the cost of electricity can only increase. And that 90 Percent support a renewable energy standard. When you ask me what we can do as a commission, we support a renewable energy standard. We can support the people who this poll also shows that 20% of the people would pay 20% -- not 20% -- over 50% of the people would pay over 20% of their bill for a cleaner environment, for renewable energy. This is very, very important to know because as we develop not an unregulated system right now, because it's regulated, but we're trying to do what the people want. These findings are very, very significant from this report, because several years ago when I was running as a candidate for the solar team, we did a poll that showed that Republicans and Democrats agreed 75% of Republicans, 85% of Republicans, Democrats agreed that sorely was the way to go for Arizona. Now we're showing 94%. We're really showing this is the people's will. In the regulated environment as a commissioner, I think we should be doing everything we could to drive that decision.
Ted Simons: But not all republicans think incentives are fair, especially to one particular industry. In this case, solar energy. How do you respond to that?
Jordan Rose: This is Henry Ford meet the horse and buggy. I mean, it's boom. We're floating into a free market. The only way we can race towards that free market is to end the subsidies to all forms of energy, to end the regulation. We as conservatives talk constantly about deregulating the energy market. We put it in the programs of regulated utilities and how that could work. This is the ultimate choice, you and me having absolutely choice of where we go. The question that wasn't asked in that Morrison institute poll I think as a conservative could have been asked -- and I bet conservatives would affirm this for sure -- would you like to continue for the end is not in sight, continue to subsidize a monopoly industry that's been subsidize forever? Or would you like the possibility of a free market to be infused into your electrical providers?
Ted Simons: But can you -- we've had oil executives on the program. They are saying this is all great and there is a future for renewable energy and solar energy and the whole nine yards. But hydrocarbons are here, they are a richer energy mix. In order to get there, you're going to have to keep subsidizing what we're doing right now. Is that -- does that make sense to you?
Jordan Rose: It does for a short period of time. And the quicker we can develop the R&D that will allow solar and the storage capacity to be economical, the quicker all subsidization ends. I'm not suggesting today we drop it all, because that will leave our consumers in a real hurt. From a free market perspective, would I like to see that? Yes. The only way to visualize that in reality is to say every one of us will be our own electric utility.
Ted Simons: Let's visualize it even further. Can the land afford to have thousands of acres of wind tunnel or whatever those things are, those windmills and solar farms, which may take thousands upon thousands of acres? We're already seeing erosion on some of these lands. Are we prepared for that free market?
Paul Newman: Well, that's a good question. A lot of people ask me that question as a commissioner. Yes, I believe that there is -- are a lot of places that we can do solar. We have to limit the amount of water that's used. But usually these big solar plants are located on agricultural lands and actually you end up using less water on those agricultural lands that would have to raise alfalfa or cotton. People ask me, is it in Arizona's interests to grow solar in Arizona and export sole tore other states? I would say yes. Just I wanted to tell you, we spent only $150 million a year on this program that people support, 90% of the people support. We spend $3 billion a year on bringing energy in from other states, coal and natural gas. That's all price support. If we can just change that balance of trade -- I've tried make this point for several years now -- we could increase our investments.
Ted Simons: You've got about 30 seconds.
Jordan Rose: I'm talking about distributed solar generation, rooftop solar. That is the future, absolutely the future. I'll show you a stimulus 20 package, right? Put our real estate trade back to work in this state. People on rooftops, people installing, that's a good thing for Arizona.
Ted Simons: A good way to end the conversation. Good to have both of you here.
Paul Newman: Thank you very much.
Jordan Rose: Thank you very much.
Ted Simons: The latest news from the office of Arizona Attorney General Tom Horne and members of the "Ethel" string quartet tomorrow. That is it for now, I'm Ted Simons. Thank you so much for joining us. You have a great evening. | <urn:uuid:fd07ce1b-c542-4327-99d3-f1377f39cc97> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.azpbs.org/horizon/detailvid.php?id=3063 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368699273641/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516101433-00038-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.970123 | 1,729 | 1.71875 | 2 |
On Dec. 15, Media of Birmingham is volunteering to help the Salvation Army Angel Tree program. Find out more about the program …
Along with the familiar Red Kettles, the Angel Tree program is one of The Salvation Army’s highest profile Christmas efforts. Angel Tree was created by The Salvation Army in 1979 by Majors Charles and Shirley White when they worked with a Lynchburg, Va., shopping mall to provide clothing and toys for children at Christmas time.
The program got its name because the Whites identified the wishes of local children by writing their gift needs on Hallmark greeting cards featuring pictures of angels and placing them on a Christmas tree at the mall. Thanks to the Whites, who were assigned by the Salvation Army to the Lynchburg area at the time, more than 700 children had a brighter Christmas that first year.
Three years later, when the Whites were transferred to Nashville, Angel Tree was launched during the 1982 Christmas season. WSM radio, which airs the Grand Ol’ Opry, came on board that year as the first Angel Tree co-sponsor in the United States.
Because of the on-air promotion on WSM in Nashville, as well as national publicity on CNN and the “Larry King Show,” news of Angel Tree spread across the country like wildfire. Since that time, the program has grown to include Angel Trees in throughout the Birmingham area.
In 2007, The Salvation Army partnered with Fox 6 Gifts for Kids, a program designed to give foster children in the Birmingham metro area Christmas gifts. With this partnership, 7,113 children were helped.
Melissa Fierstine at Hands on Birmingham says that the Salvation Army anticipates helping more than 10,000 Angels in Jefferson and Shelby Counties this year. The Angels register in September and October to receive assistance. | <urn:uuid:deb45c12-7d2c-4beb-a6c0-ca6dc4df2614> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://mediaofbirmingham.com/tag/southside/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368704713110/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516114513-00030-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.967325 | 369 | 1.789063 | 2 |
Our take: Google+ recently surpassed Twitter as the world's second largest social network, behind Facebook. Daniel Lonescu from PC World writes about just how far ahead Facebook is.
"Google+ is now the world's second largest social network, outranking Twitter that comes in at the number four position. But both social networks are still far behind Facbook, which is used by more than 51 percent of the world's online population, according to a new survey.
"Trendstream's Global Web Index for the final quarter of 2012 estimates that Facebook had some 693 million active users, seconded by Google+ with 343 million active users. The firm also tracked YouTube as a social network, which came in at number three in its ranks, followed by Twitter at 288 million active users.
"The study does not count total numbers of users, but active users on a monthly basis. In October, Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg said that the social network had 1 billion active users a month.
"Although Google+ ranks as the world's second largest social network, many would argue the platform is a ghost town, with not many people contributing. Brett Petersen, Consulting Director of GlobalWebIndex explained: 'I think that Google+ is working particularly hard to address this, and Google+ contribution is becoming increasingly important as Google ties search, along with all of their other services, together with Google+ being the glue that binds them all.'"
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- Obama opposes GOP bill on Keystone XL... 11
- IRS official to take the 5th at hearing 8
- Obama threatens veto of Republican... 7
- Utah ranks No. 1 for economic outlook... 7 | <urn:uuid:c165e2c7-4ca4-4f7b-b1f1-8bb1fa0ac7fd> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.deseretnews.com/article/765621242/Google-outranks-Twitter-as-No-2-social-network-after-Facebook.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368706499548/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516121459-00035-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.934117 | 467 | 1.757813 | 2 |
At National Safe Place, we know how important it is for our yellow and black, diamond-shaped Safe Place sign to represent safety and immediate help for kids and teens in need, wherever it is seen. That’s why we deliver standardized training and information to communities and agencies where Safe Place sites exist. Explore the links below to learn more about trainings we offer our sponsors and agencies.
Implementation Training – Typically held in Louisville, KY, these in-person seminars are required for agencies preparing to start a Safe Place and are encouraged for new Safe Place staff members at an existing agency. Read on to learn more about the types of topics discussed at implementation training as well as upcoming dates. For communities interested in training their community about the program, on-site training is available.
Webinar Trainings – Via the iLinc system, National Safe Place partners with experts to provide live discussions and webinars on a variety of topics, all free for our agencies and sponsors. See the Calendar of Events to learn about upcoming sessions.
Networking Calls – These calls present an opportunity for Safe Place coordinators to network and communicate with each other about various topics related to Safe Place.
Additional Resources & Materials – Take control of your own knowledge by downloading PDF presentations from past National Safe Place training sessions. Also, learn about other organizations that can help your non-profit succeed with consulting and training programs. | <urn:uuid:b717b345-bb94-4666-9a23-58149d45dfdf> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://nationalsafeplace.org/trainingtraining-for-sponsors-agencies/training-for-sponsors-agencies/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368704132298/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516113532-00012-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.932411 | 285 | 1.71875 | 2 |
Many of Fellini's later films were less successful commercially and encountered critical resistance. The sumptuous Casanova (1976), praised by some as a visual masterpiece and derided by others as a hollow confection, was a brooding, melancholy meditation on the meaning of sex and death. Such works as La città delle donne (1980; City of Women), E la nave va (1983; And the Ship Sails On), Ginger e Fred (1985; Ginger and Fred), Intervista (1987; Interview), and La voce della luna (1989; The Voice of the Moon), his last feature film, reflect the complex evolution of Fellini's mature cinematic style and treat a variety of postmodern topics: the role of the male in an increasingly feminist society, the effects of television on contemporary life, the nature of artistic creativity, and the growing homogenization of popular culture. During the last years of his life, Fellini produced television commercials for Barilla pasta, Campari Soda, and the Banco di Roma that are regarded as extraordinary lessons in cinematography revealing the director's deep grasp of popular culture. He also exhibited his sketches and cartoons, many of which were taken from his private dream notebooks, thus uncovering the source of much of his artistic creativity, the unconscious. | <urn:uuid:5eb62aec-931b-47dd-9511-1d21d59b79fe> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://britannica.com/oscar/article-2258 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368699881956/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516102441-00019-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.965541 | 267 | 1.757813 | 2 |
When the War Comes Home: Iraq Veteran at Fort Hood Speaks Out About Last Week's Mass Shooting
As families and friends mourn the thirteen individuals who were shot dead at the Fort Hood military base in Texas, questions continue to be raised about what might have motivated Thursday's rampage. The suspected gunman, Major Nidal Malik Hasan, was an Army psychiatrist who had spent most of his career at Walter Reed Hospital before being transferred to Fort Hood earlier this year. He had also recently received orders to deploy to Afghanistan. We speak to Private Michael Kern from Fort Hood and independent journalist and author Dahr Jamail.
Michael Kern, Active-duty veteran of the Iraq war stationed at Fort Hood. He is a member of Iraq Veterans Against the War.
Dahr Jamail, Independent journalist and author. His latest book is The Will to Resist: Soldiers Who Refuse to Fight in Iraq and Afghanistan. His article on the Fort Hood shootings for IPS is titled 'War Comes Home'
AMY GOODMAN: As families and friends mourn the thirteen people who were shot dead at the Fort Hood military base in Texas, and the more than thirty who were wounded, questions continue to be raised about what might have motivated Thursday's rampage. President Obama dedicated his weekly address to the shooting that he described as, quote, 'one of the most devastating ever committed on an American military base.'
PRESIDENT BARACK OBAMA: We cannot fully know what leads a man to do such a thing. But what we do know is that our thoughts are with every single one of the men and women who were injured at Fort Hood. Our thoughts are with all the families who've lost a loved one in this national tragedy. And our thoughts are with all the Americans who wear or have worn the proud uniform of the United States of America'our soldiers, sailors, airmen, Marines and Coast Guardsmen'and the military families who love and support them.
AMY GOODMAN: The suspected gunman, Major Nidal Malik Hasan, who was shot four times by police, is reported to be in critical but stable condition. Investigators have tentatively concluded that Major Hasan acted alone and was not part of a terrorist plot.
But Independent Senator Joe Lieberman of Connecticut told Fox News Sunday that the shooting spree was, quote, 'the most destructive terrorist act to be committed on American soil since 9/11.' He added he would initiate a Senate investigation into whether Major Hasan had, quote, 'become an Islamic extremist' and whether the Army had, quote, 'missed warning signs.'
Army Chief of Staff General George Casey, however, appeared on three Sunday shows, warning against reaching conclusions about the suspected shooter's motives. On CNN's State of the Union, General Casey said such speculation could lead to a backlash against Muslims in the military.
GEN. GEORGE CASEY: We can't jump to conclusions now based on little snippets of information that come out. And, frankly, I am worried'I'm not worried, but I'm concerned that this increased speculation could cause a backlash against some of our Muslim soldiers, and I've asked our Army leaders to be on the lookout for that. It would be a shame'as great a tragedy as this was, it would be a shame if our diversity became a casualty, as well.
AMY GOODMAN: Major Hasan was an Army psychiatrist who had spent most of his career at Walter Reed Hospital before being transferred to Fort Hood earlier this year. He had also recently received orders to deploy to Afghanistan.
He was born in the United States to immigrant Palestinian parents. When reporters reached his cousin in the West Bank for comment, he told them he had suffered harassment as a Muslim in the Army, but the turning point, he said, was the order to deploy.
MOHAMMED HASAN: About a week before the incident, he hired a lawyer in order to leave the Army, get married, and live his life. But they rejected his request and asked him to go to Afghanistan. This was the biggest shock for him. So, there's another reason why he did what he did, not just because of the harassment of the soldiers. There is another reason.
AMY GOODMAN: Well, I'm joined now by two guests. Private Michael Kern joins us on the phone from Fort Hood, Texas, where he's an active-duty veteran of the Iraq war. He's with Iraq Vets Against the War and returned from Iraq earlier this year. He's been diagnosed with PTSD; that's post-traumatic stress disorder.
Also with us via Democracy Now! video stream from California is independent journalist and author Dahr Jamail. His latest book is called The Will to Resist: Soldiers Who Refuse to Fight in Iraq and Afghanistan. His article for IPS, published just after the shootings, is called 'The War Comes Home.' His latest article, at TomDispatch.com, 'Where Will They Get the Troops: Preparing Undeployables for the Afghan Front.'
Michael Kern, let's begin with you at Fort Hood. You were familiar with Major Hasan, the Army psychiatrist?
MICHAEL KERN: Yes, he was not my particular psychiatrist, but he did work in the building that I go to pretty much weekly. And, you know, the only conversation that we had was, you know, basic greeting: 'Good morning, sir. How are you doing, sir?'
AMY GOODMAN: Talk about the unit that he works in, where you were being treated for post-traumatic stress disorder.
MICHAEL KERN: He works in a unit called the Medical Evaluation Board, where he basically sees soldiers, diagnoses soldiers with PTSD and other things like that, before they get out of the military, when they're applying for an evaluation board to be medically retired from the United States Army.
AMY GOODMAN: Can you talk about what you saw in Iraq, what it means to be treated for PTSD? You said he was not your psychiatrist, but you have commented on what he was hearing from his many patients, soldiers who had returned from the front.
MICHAEL KERN: Yeah, I mean, imagine just having a job where, you know, every soldier comes in and tells you the most horrible tragic stories about what happened in Iraq and what they've done in Iraq. And you have to deal with all these things, and then all of a sudden you get orders to deploy? That's going to screw with anyone, mentally.
AMY GOODMAN: Talk about what happened to you in Iraq, Michael Kern.
MICHAEL KERN: Numerous things happened to me in Iraq. I actually engaged and shot and killed a child, believing at the time that it was a legitimate kill. That still troubles me to this day. You know, anything'we got hit with mortars, IEDs, EFPs, small arms fires, RPGs, anything you can think of. I lost a lot of good friends out there for a, you know, immoral and an unjust war.
AMY GOODMAN: What is the conversation that's going on right now at Fort Hood?
MICHAEL KERN: Mostly everyone's, you know, pretty pissed. You know, actually, this weekend's been very dead, off post and on post. I haven't really seen a lot of people. I think people are just trying to stay home and, you know, stay away from everyone right now.
AMY GOODMAN: Dahr Jamail, your latest book, The Will to Resist, your latest article at TomDispatch.com, you're dealing with this issue. Talk about your observations, having dealt with many soldiers who had been to Iraq and Afghanistan, writing about PTSD, as you have, although Major Hasan never did go to Iraq or Afghanistan, though he was going to be deployed.
DAHR JAMAIL: Well, there is a thing called secondary trauma. And groups come back from Iraq and Afghanistan and do get counseling with the military, which started happening nearly as much as it needs to. When they do talk, they are sharing one horrendous story after another. And so, the folks I've been talking with for the book and then during the follow-up articles that I've been working on, you know, these are people coming back with severe trauma from the war, talking about stories of, like Michael said, that they've experienced killing children, killing unarmed Iraqis, killing'seeing their buddies killed and deeply traumatized, not sleeping at night, grinding their teeth, [inaudible] a lot, not knowing what to do with all of this.
And then, of course, this is happening to them within an environment'for example, there's one man that I write about in the recent article, Scott Wildman, who served a fifteen-month deployment in Iraq, came back home, couldn't get treatment at all from the US military, and went AWOL to try to get help and some kind of relief, and then turned himself back in, and then basically found himself sitting in a legal limbo, where he was harassed by his commanders. Sometimes he would be sitting with some other Iraq war veterans who had PTSD, all of them talking amongst one another, and their commander would come in the room and call them a bunch of PTSD sissies, and just getting all kinds of harassment from the higher ranks.
So, obviously this is a rampant problem. I'm seeing this everywhere I look, when I work on this topic and talk with returning veterans. And while the military has talked about doing things to rectify it, clearly it's not enough. And Fort Hood is a great example. I mean, this is the largest military base on the planet. It's the most heavily deployed base. And even before the incident last Friday, this is a base that, as of'by the end of July, which is the last month we have statistics from Fort Hood on suicides there, by the end of July this base was averaging over ten suicides a month, just at Fort Hood alone.
AMY GOODMAN: In talking about how the military deals with PTSD, suicide'what, one every few days now, and the numbers are going up'with people who do not want to go, Michael Kern, with those who are'for example, like what has been reported of Major Hasan, he was trying to figure out every way he could not deploy, discussions he was having. They said he had called a lawyer, wanted to offer back all the money of his training to get him out of the military. What kind of options are there when you're at a place like Fort Hood, the largest military base in the United States, biggest site of deployment to Iraq and Afghanistan?
MICHAEL KERN: No options. I mean, when you have orders to deploy, when you're about to deploy, you can even take a urinalysis and pop pot, you know, six or seven times, and, you know, just because you have orders and you're set to deploy, you know, you're going to be punished for it, but they're not going to kick you out of the military. You know, there's really nothing, in my opinion, that you can do, you know, to get out. I mean, even filing for conscientious objection, I've seen that fail through plenty of times already. There's really nothing. I mean, but as soon as you get back from Iraq, you know, as soon as you take that urinalysis again and you pop pot, they're going to kick you right out of the military, take away all your benefits, take away everything, just, you know, discharge you with a bad conduct discharge.
AMY GOODMAN: Dahr Jamail, what do think is least understood right now about soldiers' options? And what do you see, from your own experience with dealing with PTSD, this issue that people are now talking about of secondary PTSD? I mean, Major Hasan did not go to Iraq or Afghanistan'or what they call compassion fatigue'but he hears the stories of people like patients, like Michael Kern, who return and talk about what they've done, as Michael was talking about killing a child in Iraq, which he now feels, which he now has to live with every day.
DAHR JAMAIL: Well, soldiers are under tremendous pressure to always, quote-unquote, 'suck it up.' You know, to be a good soldier means you're always strong, you're always charging forward. This is how folks are trained in boot camp. So this is, of course, totally antithetical to getting treatment for PTSD. So I think most soldiers, it's safe to say, that do come home from Iraq and Afghanistan have some sort of PTSD, whether it's mild or severe, but they're encouraged, by their own indoctrination and training and peer pressure and pressure from above, to just basically not deal with it.
And even those that do get help and go get treatment, they find themselves being put back into action anyway. As of last year, more than 43,000 soldiers already listed as medically unfit to be deployed were deployed anyway. We have a situation right now in Iraq where 12 percent of combat troops in Iraq, and then over in Afghanistan 17 percent of combat troops in Afghanistan, are already on psychotropic meds to help them sleep at night and because they have PTSD and severe depression. And this is just that we know of. So, they're encouraged not to talk about it, not to get help. And then when they do, they simply don't tend to get the treatment that they need.
And then, as you mentioned, secondary trauma is something we rarely, if ever, hear about, where the people actually treating these veterans, they are traumatized by hearing these stories, just as journalists who report on these stories firsthand are, as well. So this is something we don't hear about. Major Hasan was clearly overloaded. We've heard from his family that he was seeing one caseload of after another, not getting a break. And this is something also not being talked about and, therefore, not being addressed.
AMY GOODMAN: Michael Kern, final comments as an active-duty soldier back from Iraq'you were there for more than a year'of efforts being made at Fort Hood now to deal with soldiers like you who suffer so much when you come back?
MICHAEL KERN: You know, I'm actually getting some very good treatment now from the United States military, but it took me two to three months of fighting with my chain of command and fighting with mental health professionals to actually get into the WTU [Warrior Transition Unit] unit and get the treatment that I'm getting now.
You know, every soldier needs to be treated when they come back from Iraq. You know, this is not the first time something like this has happened. This has happened in Iraq, when the guy snapped and killed seven mental health professionals in Iraq. And this'I can almost guarantee this won't be the last time this military doesn't have anything to'doesn't stop something, if the military doesn't change something. The war is coming home, and we need to stop it right now.
AMY GOODMAN: And finally, Michael Kern, do you feel a rising wave of anti-Muslim sentiment on the base, or are people seeing this as a person who was under tremendous pressure, could have been Christian, could have been Jewish, could have been Muslim; it wasn't'religion wasn't the issue?
MICHAEL KERN: I don't see religion as being an issue with the people I've talked to. You know, I don't see religion being the issue in anyone's mind. I mean, yeah, the media is trying to spin it like that right now, but, I mean, I think most soldiers are, you know, pretty much well informed, that they don't watch the regular news. And I'm pretty sure that they think it's compassionate PTSD.
AMY GOODMAN: I want to thank you both for being with us. Michael Kern, active-duty soldier, veteran of the Iraq war, stationed at Fort Hood, he's a member of Iraq Veterans Against the War. And Dahr Jamail, independent journalist, his latest book, The Will to Resist: Soldiers Who Refuse to Fight in Iraq and Afghanistan. His article on the Fort Hood shootings for IPS is called 'War Comes Home.' | <urn:uuid:3a929f54-ad21-484f-bf5c-03167f950bfc> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.zcommunications.org/when-the-war-comes-home-iraq-veteran-at-fort-hood-speaks-out-about-last-weeks-mass-shooting-by-dahr-jamail | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368701459211/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516105059-00042-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.981555 | 3,356 | 1.664063 | 2 |
Maryland Republicans said Monday they are still reviewing a new state-level redistricting map, but preliminary analysis shows it protects powerful Democrats and appears to lessen some fellow GOP lawmakers’ chances for re-election.
The map, which redraws the state’s 47 senatorial districts to account for population shifts in the past decade, was drafted by a committee appointed by Gov. Martin O'Malley and released Friday, following months of discussion and public hearings over the summer.
Still, House Minority Leader Anthony J. O'Donnell called the process “very cloaked” and “a blatant, partisan abuse of power.”
The proposed map also addresses Maryland’s growing minority population by increasing the state’s number of majority-black senatorial districts from 10 to 12. It creates the state’s first-ever majority-Hispanic House sub-district in Prince George’s County.
Officials will hold a public hearing Thursday to take testimony on the map.
Republicans offered few specific complaints about the map Monday, as many analysts are still digesting its overall impact. However, Mr. O'Donnell, Calvert Republican, and other party members complained that the process has been dominated by Democrats and is being rushed to approval by the Democrat-controlled General Assembly.
“The only thing that doesn’t surprise me is, the governor isn’t conducting the hearing on Christmas Eve,” said Senate Minority Leader E.J. Pipkin, Cecil Republican. “We still need to see the detailed maps, but there are questions about the process.”
One notable change in the proposed map would divide House Speaker Michael E. Busch’s 30th District into a two-delegate District 30A and a one-delegate District 30B.
Mr. Busch, Anne Arundel Democrat, would represent 30A, while Delegate Ronald A. George, Anne Arundel Republican, who got more votes than Mr. Busch in last year’s election, would be moved into 33A.
Todd Eberly, the coordinator of public-policy studies at St. Mary’s College of Maryland, said it appears the five-member committee drew the map to keep Democrats safe in competitive districts, particularly in Southern Maryland and Western Maryland.
He also said the district for state Sen. James Brochin, Baltimore County Democrat, was redrawn to include many conservative voters in the northern part of the county — possibly as a message to Mr. Brochin, who has at times bucked leadership to vote with Republicans.
Mr. Eberly said the map does not appear to aggressively attack many GOP lawmakers — possibly because Democrats have already built a virtual three-to-one advantage in the legislature, despite having just a two-to-one advantage in overall registered voters.
“Maryland has been so well-gerrymandered, like most states, that there isn’t much the Democratic Party could’ve done,” he said.
© Copyright 2013 The Washington Times, LLC. Click here for reprint permission.
David Hill joined The Washington Times in February 2011 as a Maryland political reporter. He can be reached at [email protected].
By Andrew P. Napolitano
The president's men trash the Constitution to pursue antagonists
Independent voices from the TWT Communities
Entertainment News and Reviews from Washington, D.C. and beyond.
Columns from Voices around the World talking about the events, people, politics and social issues that concern us wherever, and whoever, we are.
Video reviews of today's hottest trends in Minecraft (servers and mods) along with a look at the latest video games with your host MCairsoft14 (alias Jerad Zad).
Covering the world of soccer, including the World Cup, Major League Soccer, D.C. United and the English Premier League and other interesting sporting events.
Benghazi: The anatomy of a scandal
Vietnam Memorial adds four names
Cinco de Mayo on the Mall
NRA kicks off annual convention | <urn:uuid:3a9d0289-3b19-49a4-8cca-2b6ab4fdcc40> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2011/dec/19/maryland-gop-redistrict-plan-good-for-busch/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368703298047/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516112138-00009-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.934981 | 854 | 1.695313 | 2 |
A rather different collection of the curious and odd items we find around us which includes a number of unexpected twists designed to keep the audience on their toes.
takes us back to the early days of motoring which leads us into the darker days of war. This is followed by a look at heroes, a couple of stories about bread, one or two churches and finishes with a number of fascinating buildings concluding with a real grudge match involving the local vicarís cat ! ! !
This garage has been in a time warp. The only things that have changed are the petrol pumps.
Rumour has it that the balcony was used by the ladies of the night to entice passing motorists ! !
You could be sent down under just for tagging this bridge.
Does the punishment really fit the crime?
Someone was trying to make life difficult for early travellers.
If we must put up milestones, let's make them difficult to understand.
(Distances to London were measured to the church of Bow Bells.)
A charming summer house on the Norfolk Broads.
This used to be a helter skelter ride at Great Yarmouth.
Just a few miles up the road, the City of Coventry was devastated on this date.
Not sure whether we've got a correct sense of perpective in this one ! !
Nothing to add to this very rare sign in Somerset.
Another war curiosity, this time dedicated to Cyclists.
But did the Great War really finish in 1919?
The King's warning sign - a giant bed bug !
Don't stay too long in this town - you could go home with more than you came with.
This is the oldest church clock in Britain dating back to the 1480's.
Those gold boys will catch their death of cold up there dressed like that ! !
Over she goes ! !
It looks worse than it is.
A part of the ruined Castle in the High Town.
A most bizarre story here based on the village bakery. The idea was to show the cost of bread in the village, based on the old measurement of a gallon. What fascinates me is the most recent price installed at the Millenium, still based on gallons.
Must fill up before it goes up again ! ! !
(A gallon of bread mix is supposed to bake eight standard loaves - does that help?)
A Victorian spa bath which, unfortunately, had to close after just 15 years when spring waters dried up.
A true monument to Victorian enterprise ! !
A beautiful thatched cottage with a secret.
The vicar's cat killed the owner's canary.
Don't believe me? Just look at the decoration below the roof ! !
starts with a horror story and moves swiftly on to a study of some amazing epitaphs, real and fictional. Public sundials are next on the menu followed by a quest for the source of the River Thames and we end with a pot pourri of odd and curious items all waiting to tell their story.
The Black Dog of Bungay which killed many parishioners in church during a severe thunderstorm in 1577.
The dog from hell ! !
A fine piece of topiary at the Old Station House.
Pure loco ! !.
"Drink Strong or none at all."
Could this be an early advert for Strong's Ales?
I certainly don't like the sound of "cold small beer" ! !
A pub sign for "The Three Willows".
Very striking - knocks the rest for six ! !
In my opinion, these are the finest epitaphs to be found.
Thomas Scaife's draws similarities between the locomotives he worked on and his own frail body and life. Very, very long and almost pathetic in the continued use of punned words.
Opinion is split as to what was the real reason for the boiler explosion which killed these two - were they drunk and were messing about ? Let me know.
An unlikely combination of skills here.
I suppose building kitchen units and coffins do have their similarities ! !
This is the ideal "Trusty Servant", according to the students of Winchester College who originally devised this very complex combination of skills and attributes.
Just two of several curious house names in the Mermaid Street area. The left hand sign is a result of people going to the wrong house and being re-directed by its aggrieved owner to the Other House ! !
The house on the right is directly opposite the Mermaid Inn. The house name says it all, doesn't it?
You will also find "The House with the Seat" and "The House with Two Front Doors."
"Let Posterity know and, in knowing, be Astonished ......"
Bit full of himself, this old boy.
A totally over the top inscription showing where the first hot air balloon landed.
Ever tried finding the source of the Thames?
This is what you will see.
Not a drop a water to be seen.
Such a disappointment for all that hard work ! ! | <urn:uuid:8800b7cf-4d8e-4e61-a6e0-e14c57173f90> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.curiosities.co.uk/curiosities/unexpected.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368708766848/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516125246-00034-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.948536 | 1,048 | 1.570313 | 2 |
From January to April 2012, three young ladies participated in writing activities at Thunderbolt Elementary. On Monday afternoons, the SSU student team—consisting of Karrina Allen, Yahirassein Heraldez, and Jessica Williams—entered Ms. Small’s 5th grade class. Two of the SSU students had contrasting backgrounds in community service: Jessica Williams had already volunteered at her church and other community events in her home town while Karrina Allen, experienced community service in a public school for the first time.
Splitting the 5th grade class into three groups, Ms. Small assigned an SSU student to each one. For the most part, the college assistants followed the Thunderbolt teacher’s requests, such as brainstorming, writing and revising. However, on a few occasions, an SSU student led the class in a designated writing activity, using ideas such as “This is my Dream House,” or “This is my Ideal Vacation.”
Working with the students individually, the SSU ladies achieved positive rapport as they learned of the younger pupils’ goals and dreams. Ms. Small often commended the ladies on their efforts and noted the 5th graders’ better aptitude toward writing. It is this connection between positive learning experiences and improved writing skills that Savannah State University is promoting in its campus-wide Quality Enhancement Plan, “The Write Attitude.”
After the semester ended at SSU, the dedicated SSU team for Thunderbolt visited one last time in between their final exams, bringing a “memory book” with pictures of each group posed with its college helper.
Blank pages in the back of each booklet allowed the older and younger students to write inspiring and appreciative remarks—and there were a few tears shed by the 5th grade girls. However, the two groups promised to keep in contact over the summer and in the days ahead. | <urn:uuid:2114ea5f-1698-41dc-a941-03a522c3c687> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://savannahnow.com/your-good-news/2012-06-03/bringing-write-attitude-thunderbolt-elementary | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368703298047/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516112138-00024-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.970438 | 398 | 1.640625 | 2 |
Frederick M. Brown/Getty Images
Patrick Stewart spoke this morning at the Television Critics Association press tour.
We've moved into the PBS presentations at the TCA press tour, and this morning, we heard from Patrick Stewart, who's appearing in productions of both Macbeth and Hamlet in upcoming installments of Great Performances.
Since I'm always interested in thoughts about high culture and popular entertainment and why there's persistent tension between them, I figured: Who better to ask than Claudius-slash-Captain-Picard?
Stewart replied that when he came to Hollywood, he assumed it would be a very "democratic" environment. So he was surprised to find that there were such rigid hierarchies — within which being an actor on a syndicated sci-fi series (Star Trek: The Next Generation) made him very, very low in rank.
He said that in the UK, those lines aren't quite so firmly in place. People doing TV, people doing movies, people doing theater, people doing radio plays — it's just a lot of working actors, and there's far less of an established system in which people who do one thing outrank people who do another.
(Note that in the production of Hamlet that's upcoming, the title role will be played by David Tennant, most famous for Doctor Who. Tennant's career, as Stewart noted, has some parallels with his own, in that they were both established actors before they came to popular television.)
With that said, Stewart went on to confess that there are nevertheless elements of popular entertainment that he struggles with, including the volume and quality of reality shows — which we tend to think of as an American phenomenon, but which is also very much a part of the culture in the UK.
He said that he watched about 25 minutes of one particular reality show — which he didn't name — and was so dismayed that he concluded that "This would be a good time to die."
The conversation with Stewart was generally very lively; I'll update with some additional highlights once we get the transcript. But one bit worth paraphrasing now: How pleased he was that there had always been people who came to see him do Shakespeare because they knew him from TV. He made it clear that it's perfectly okay with him if Star Trek fans choose to attend a play because they expect to see Picard: "Get their bums in the seats, and leave the rest to us." | <urn:uuid:63ca0ed2-120c-4dcf-ac32-53d0dcab8247> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.npr.org/blogs/monkeysee/2010/01/patrick_stewart_talks_high_cul.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368706153698/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516120913-00002-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.986819 | 502 | 1.539063 | 2 |
The boy who once loved to play basketball and dreamed of having a girlfriend now does little more than sit inside and watch movies after he was shocked more than two dozen times as a teenager.
“I’m s-s-s-sorry. Help me.”
That's the phone call a mother said she received from her 18-year-old son after he was shocked 31 times in 2002 at a Massachusetts special needs school called Judge Rotenberg Center. The school eventually let her view a tape of her son being shocked.
A representative for the school refused to answer any of New York Magazine's questions. However, the school acknowledges on its website that it uses shock devices it refers to as "aversives."
In an extensive interview with New York Magazine, published Sunday, Cheryl McCollins said her son Andre, who had been diagnosed with mental retardation, was tied face down to a board and shocked repeatedly for six hours.
Her son and other students were forced to wear backpacks containing wires that connected to electrodes strapped to their arms and legs, something McCollins approved until she learned just how many shocks could be administered, according to New York Magazine.
“Why are you shocking him?” McCollins said she asked a school official after watching a tape of the incident. “He’s tied down. He can’t hurt anyone.”
Robert von Heyn, the school's former director of psychology, allegedly told McCollins her son had been shocked for "tensing up" his body, which the school considered an unhealthy behavior.
Following her viewing of the tape, McCollins told New York Magazine she contacted everyone from police officers to family friends about the incident. But the response was always the same — people wanted to see the tape.
McCollins' fight against the school, which sought to keep the tape from being released, wasn't resolved until 2012 and garnered quite a few national headlines.
Here is the video, courtesy of AC360. Warning – it's difficult to watch:
Cooper interviewed Greg Miller, a former teacher's assistant at the center. Miller said students could be considered aggressive if they were out of their seats and could be shocked, no questions asked.
"There's no question about why they're out of their seat," Miller told Cooper. "You just shock them."
McCollins' lawsuit against the center was settled in April, MyFoxBoston.com reported in June.
The New York State Board of Regents banned shocking any new students from New York in 2009, New York Magazine reported. Massachusetts followed suit.
The UN's special rapporteur on torture approached the U.S. government over the use of shock therapy at the Rotenberg Center, with officials saying they were "very concerned" about the treatment, The Guardian reported in June.
Andre is now 27 and lives in Queens. He didn't go to the trial and now the boy who once loved to rollerblade often spends his days inside watching movies. | <urn:uuid:d6b8f865-6259-49e1-9344-e6b4e622d0ce> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.businessinsider.com/cheryl-mccollins-speaks-out-2012-9 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368706499548/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516121459-00035-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.982448 | 619 | 1.515625 | 2 |
Kevin Warsh: “No Firm Should Be Too Big To Fail”
The debate over Ben Bernanke’s reappointment, and his approach to the financial system, may after all have had some impact. In a speech yesterday, Kevin Warsh – the Federal Reserve Board Governor who liaises between Ben Bernanke and financial markets – signaled a major change in Fed thinking regarding “too big to fail”.
Warsh was much blunter than we have heard from the Fed in a long while: “Moral hazard in the financial system is higher than any of us should countenance”; “eradicating the too-big-to-fail problem should be the predominant policy goal”; and “in the new regime, no firm should be too big to fail.”
At some level, Warsh and his colleagues are finally learning the main lesson of 2008-09.
“We need a system in which insolvent firms fail. Market discipline only works if governments can demonstrably and credibly commit to allow firms to fail. This system isn’t just about giving government officials better options on Sunday nights. It is about making sure that market discipline is operative in the prior months and years to avoid altogether the proverbial Sunday night judgments.”
But there is still a major problem in the Fed’s thinking.
Warsh is right that market dynamics could be helpful.
“Market entry and market exit can be a more effective means of developing a stronger, more resilient financial system. The too-big-to-fail problem could be mitigated if smaller, dynamic firms seized market share from less nimble incumbents”
And he is completely on target with the respect to the principle at stake.
“Competition is undermined when a privileged class of financial firms has the implicit support of the government. No firm ought to be entitled to favored consideration by regulators or government policy. No rating agency. No mortgage finance entity. No dealer or underwriter. And no bank. The tempting top-down approach to level the playing field is to bully or co-opt our largest, most interconnected firms. In my view, however, robust competition from the bottom-up is the better way forward.”
But he stops short of calling for a restriction on the size of our largest banks. Without that, it is very hard to see how his competitive mechanisms will work.
The current low relative cost of credit for mega-banks – significantly below what is paid by smaller banks that can fail (i.e., banks that can realistically be taken over through a FDIC intervention) – constitutes a form of unfair subsidy that enables the biggest banks to become even larger.
How exactly does Mr. Warsh plan to back away from this situation? He implies we should promise not to help huge banks when they get into trouble – but surely he knows this would not be credible.
He also makes some vague statement about helping smaller banks, but how does that work when the big banks now dominate the markets at the center of our financial system?
While the US financial system has a long tradition of functioning well with a relatively large number of banks and other intermediaries, in recent years it has become transformed – through years of regulatory and antitrust neglect – into a highly concentrated system for key products. The big four have 1/2 of the market for mortgages and 2/3 of the market for credit cards. Five banks have over 95% of the market for over-the-counter derivatives. Three U.S. banks have over 40% of the global market for stock underwriting. This degree of market power is dangerous in many ways.
As Mr. Warsh now realizes, these large banks are widely perceived – including by their own management, creditors, and government officials – as too big to fail. The executives who run these banks obviously have an obligation to make money for their shareholders. The best way to do this is to take risks that pay off when times are good and that result in bailouts – creating huge costs for taxpayers and all citizens – when times are bad.
This incentive system distorts market outcomes, encourages reckless risk-taking, and will lead to serious trouble. While reducing bank size is not a panacea and should be combined with other key measures that are not yet on the table – including a big increase in capital requirements – finding ways to effectively reduce and then limit the size of our largest banks is a necessary condition for a safer financial system.
The Fed is apparently, at last, moving the right direction on the issue of “too big to fail”. But how long will it take to get there?
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State of the Union Letter to President Obama
January 20, 2012
Dear President Obama:
As you are uniquely aware, our nation is facing one of the most critical junctures in its history.
I, along with the over 3 million members of the National Education Association, look forward to hearing your State of the Union address next week, as it is an important opportunity for you to outline a vision for this country’s future. Policymakers in Washington, DC and in many state capitols across the country are sharply divided, advancing starkly different visions of what path will pave the way to economic recovery, stability, and prosperity. American middle class families, however, are not divided. I believe they want you to outline a bold agenda that offers both hope and help – one that puts people back to work, helps the middle class get back on its feet, promotes educational opportunities for all students, and restores the fundamental fairness in our economic system that all Americans have a right to expect.
As I travel around the country, I hear heartbreaking stories in every community that show the deep pain and anger among the middle class. Our members see first-hand every day the impact of poverty and unemployment on their students. They see it in the growing numbers of students who come to school hungry and worry about how they will eat when school is not in session. They see the increased numbers of children who need support from counselors because their parents have lost their jobs. They see more and more students coming to school from homeless shelters. And, perhaps most sadly, they see the students who have given up hope in a brighter future, who see no way out of the poverty and desperation through the good jobs or higher education opportunities prior generations took for granted.
The heroism of public educators to help students cope with these harsh realities is profoundly moving. The fate of students in the Chester-Upland school district in Pennsylvania is an alarming example that equal opportunity may be a mirage for many. The district has insufficient revenue and state aid to keep schools open. Rather than see students locked out of school with no opportunity to learn, Chester-Upland educators continue to show up for work with no promise of pay because they know that their students deserve an education and that they deserve to be our first priority rather than victims of a dysfunctional political system.
I believe the State of the Union offers an important moment to stand up for middle class families struggling to hold on to what they have while the rich keep getting richer. It is time to state clearly that we cannot continue to cater to Wall Street at the expense of Main Street and we cannot turn our backs on good, hard-working Americans who need a little help when times get tough.
Your recent speech in Osawatomie, Kansas reflects what I know so many educators and middle class families need and want to hear. We hope the State of the Union will lay out such a bold vision, while also promoting specific initiatives designed to help the middle class. For example, the proposals outlined below would make significant progress toward addressing the needs of millions of Americans, their families, and our communities:
- Creating local jobs to address critical needs. A local job creation program such as the Local Jobs for America Act introduced by Representative George Miller would fund critical jobs in education, law enforcement, homeland security and other areas.
- Adopting an automatic FMAP trigger. Establishing an automatic trigger for Medicaid FMAP increases based on unemployment rates is critical to provide states fiscal stability and ensure sufficient funding for education and other priorities in tightening state budgets.
- Rewarding students who work their way through college. We must increase access to federal student aid for working students. This can be accomplished by expanding Pell work-study vouchers for second-year college students. Providing this assistance in a student’s second year could serve as a strong incentive to complete a full load of credits in their first year. And studies show that one year of college credit often serves as a “tipping point” for substantially higher earnings in the future.
- Rebuilding and modernizing critical national infrastructure to promote strong economic activity. We strongly support establishing a fund to modernize schools and other aging public facilities, as in the Fix America’s Schools Today (FAST) Act introduced by Senator Brown and Representative DeLauro. Such investments ensure students the modern learning environments needed to succeed while also creating thousands of jobs at the local level.
- Expanding needs-based funding of vital public services that help working families retain jobs and find quality child care. Medicaid, Head Start, Early Head Start, Child Care and Development Block Grant (CCDBG), and other programs help low-income parents afford the child care they need to hold steady jobs, and provide vulnerable children with quality early learning experiences they need to be successful in school. Noted economists agree that investing in early childhood education is fiscally responsible because it yields a tremendous return on investment, ranging from $3 to $17 for every dollar invested. Research demonstrates that high-quality early education programs help reduce the need for special education services and education remediation, lower juvenile justice rates, improve health outcomes, increase high school graduation and college matriculation rates, and increase self-sufficiency and productivity among families.
- Helping families keep their homes and holding accountable those who caused the housing crisis. Eight million Americans are under water on their mortgages. Providing relief for them will not only help families who are struggling to make ends meet, it will also help school districts that will benefit from a strengthened community tax base. Simply put, the more people who can keep their homes, the better it is for local communities. Forty percent of all education funding is derived from local property taxes, which have taken an enormous hit. Immediate help to homeowners, however, must not foreclose the ongoing efforts of many state Attorneys General to hold fully accountable those whose avarice over the last 10 to 15 years—in the form of predatory lending, arguably fraudulent mortgage transfer practices, and unchecked Wall Street mortgage speculation—caused this crisis and created heavy burdens for local communities and their school systems.
The more than 3 million teachers and other educators of the National Education Association stand ready to work with you to move an agenda of action. I join with them in wishing you well and pledging our support to work with you to place the American Dream within greater reach for every American.
Dennis Van Roekel | <urn:uuid:c8096c9f-5ecb-4644-81ad-806b8135831f> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.nea.org/home/50470.htm | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368705953421/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516120553-00028-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.956404 | 1,307 | 1.703125 | 2 |
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The Classic Novel of Individualism
In a world where all independence and individuality have been wiped out, and every one is allowed to live only for others, the word "I" has been forgotten – replaced with "we." Forgotten too are art, science, invention and achievement. Then in this grey, joyless world, one rebel, risking death, rediscovers the forgotten word – and with it, his own individuality. Anthem has been called "the most lyrical" of Ayn Rand's novels by her biographer Barbara Branden. "It has the beauty and cadence of a prose poem." If you have never discovered Ayn Rand's work, you owe it to yourself to read this astonishing novel.
, or download in | <urn:uuid:2dcea88a-4aa5-4d4c-8d5a-8c7ba603a895> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.ebooks.com/237943/anthem/rand-ayn-stine-jean-marie/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368704392896/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516113952-00017-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.93329 | 179 | 1.515625 | 2 |
San Antonio Film
Mon February 11, 2013
Photos: Bluesman Robert Johnson's Deal With The Devil
Musical styles like rock ‘n’ roll, jazz and R&B trace their roots back to the blues, which partly sprang from one man who recorded his famous "Cross Road Blues" in a San Antonio hotel room.
Blues musician Robert Johnson arrived in San Antonio in 1936 and recorded some of his most famous work, like “I Believe I’ll Dust My Broom” and “Terraplane Blues,” in room 414 of the Gunter Hotel downtown.
The modest itinerant musician would join the legends after this, but it was a fledgling time in America’s recording industry.
This story piqued the interest of Columbia film student writer and director Robert Brink’s, who heard “Hell Hound on my Trail” and couldn’t get it out of his head.
An epic tale
Brink decided to take on the project for his non-thesis -- the film before his final thesis.
The film he’s calling “Devil Deal Blues” details Johnson’s trip to the Alamo City, which he says took a long time to write. A $25,000 grant from the San Antonio Film Commission’s Student Film Project greatly helped production. 40 cast members and about 100 members of the crew spent six days in San Antonio and surrounding areas to film the entire 15 minute project.
Once the film is completed by April, Brink said he’ll enter it into film festivals world-wide, but he really hopes to expand the film.
“Perhaps this short film, if it looks great, somebody’s going to want to finance the feature version of it, which we have a great feature script for this story. It shows off all of San Antonio,” he said.
Playing a legend
New York-based actor Tyler Jacob Rollinson plays Johnson, and said he wants people to learn about the blues legend.
“I studied about him in school,” said Rollinson. “I took a music course my senior year and it really went through the history of the blues. He was kind of the first modern, it’s what we see as modern blues musician is my opinion of what Robert Johnson enveloped and was. And so you can track everything that the Rolling Stones have done, everything that the Beatles have done, back to Robert Johnson. Bob Dylan, you can track back to Robert Johnson.”
Rollinson said the part helped evolve his own musical tastes, joking that he listened to “crap” growing up, like “a lot of bad rap and extremely awful hip-hop."
For Rollinson the most challenging part of shooting the film was handling the musical scenes. Although he said every close-up of his hands on the guitar is him playing, film tricks helped him out.
"Just like Robert Johnson we do some magical things with the film," he said laughing.
He hopes the project will shed light on Johnson, a man whose influence on the world of music didn’t become clear until well after his death.
"I want people who don’t know anything about Robert Johnson to really get into his music now," said Rollinson. "I think if you watch this film, you’ll say, ‘Man, wow. I didn’t know anything about Robert Johnson but now I know and now I hear his influences in today’s music.'"
Setting the scene downtown
To make downtown San Antonio look like it did during the depression, old-time vehicles took the place of modern cars.
Wayen Graefen drove his 1934 Terraplane from Kerrville to be in the movie. Graefen said he bugged his friend to sell him the car for years before his friend finally agreed.
Grafen said he did not get paid for the part, and that he was the one who reached out to the producers.
“I sent an email and said, ‘Hey, you know, the man’s most famous song was the 'Terraplane Blues.' You need a Terraplane.'"
The mystery of Robert Johnson
Actress Charo, who does not go by a last name, said the lack of information on Johnson allows creativity to reign supreme. Only three photographs to date are known to be in existence of Johnson.
Charo plays a maid, and Johnson’s love interest.
“There’s a lot of flexibility in the story of Robert Johnson because a lot of it, there’s some written and documented stuff, but then there’s also a lot of flexibility because there’s not so much documentation," she said.
Johnson had only one other recording session - in Dallas 1937. Months later he mysteriously died at the age of 27, but not before he created the template for future rock stars’ influence from the music he recorded in San Antonio.
- Learn more about the film at: devildealblues.com | <urn:uuid:fad902e4-6c9f-482b-b0a2-c9b33421e011> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://tpr.org/post/photos-bluesman-robert-johnsons-deal-devil | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368708766848/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516125246-00012-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.969884 | 1,062 | 1.515625 | 2 |
"Being a victim of sexual assault is one of the most horrific things a woman can experience" said Glandon.
The 75 year old dedicates three 24 hour shifts a week to answer phones for the Abilene Regional Victims Crisis Center's hotline.
For the past 36 years she's listened to thousands of victims- working to reassure them that it's not their fault.
"It is my purpose and the purpose of all of us to say there is nothing you can do that makes it okay for someone to attack you," she said.
Volunteers at the center help some 1300 victims a year. They're trained to deal with the aftermath of sexual or violent attacks.
But more than anything they're trained to offer a comforting ear.
"I know that when she talks to someone on the phone, shes just there, shes a voice that provides comfort," said Diane Dotson, executive director at the Regional Crime Victim Crisis Center.
Glandon's service doesn't stop at the center. She's received several awards for her community service and has no plans of stopping.
She says every one of the men and women she speaks to are enough motivation to keep going.
"These ladies are just so special to me," she said. "They have been through an awful, awful experience and to see them work through it, with our help, but they have to do a lot for themselves." | <urn:uuid:a3fcf56f-3bf0-46a7-acb3-cf4655425057> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://bigcountryhomepage.com/fulltext?nxd_id=489532&nxd_237113_start=15 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368697974692/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516095254-00006-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.984897 | 290 | 1.734375 | 2 |
Penguin Books have put out a lot of books in their Cooking and Dining range, and this post’s recipe comes from The Pauper’s Cookbook, first published in 1971 (this edition is from 1973). By Jocasta Innes, it’s aimed at those who cannot afford to be extravagant in their cooking and spending, and features various tips on thrifty cuisine, including guidance on kitchen utensils, larder staples and using ovens. Although with the best intentions it sometimes makes frugal living seem like a terrible indignity and embarrassment – this is from the blurb:
“Here’s how to live up in your own squalid tenement without recourse to poaching, rustling, gudding, scrumping or shop-lifting”
I’ve found it interesting to note the changing attitudes to fridge and gas/ electric oven ownership across various cookbooks I have as these items become more common – earlier books treat them as novelties which a few might have, and then by the time of this book ovens appear to be standard but fridges are not yet quite a given for all members of society – “If you have no fridge look out for one of the old-fashioned butter coolers, still to be found in junk shops”, it says in one chapter.
The book is divided into ‘cooking situations’ rather than types of food, so we have ‘Standards’, ‘Padding’ (“stretching small quantities of food a bit further”), ‘Fast Work’ (“when you want a rapid but not skimpy meal after a late show”), ‘Programmed Eating’ (“planning, buying and cooking the next week’s meals at one fell swoop”), ‘Fancy Work’, ‘Dieting on the Cheap’ and ‘Private Enterprise’. I needed a soup recipe for work lunches last week, so chose this recipe from the Standards chapter:
Curried Lentil Soup
Good, strong, warming soup with a slight snap to it. Practically a meal on its own.
2 pints water or stock
2 large onions
2 tsp curry powder
A little chutney juice
A little flour
Fry the sliced onions and turnip in butter till soft. Sprinkle on curry powder and stir a few moments longer. Add the pre-soaked lentils and water or stock – if you are using water a bouillon cube will help, but go easy on the salt in that case. Simmer over a low heat for 1.5 hoursor until the lentils can be squashed against the side of the pan with a spoon. Put the whole lot through a sieve or the Mouli. Return to the saucepan. Add salt and black pepper to taste, and the chutney juice. If the soup seems too thin, you can thicken it by mixing a little with 1tbs flour, adding this to the soup and simmering, stirring from time to time, for another 10 minutes or so. Eat this with slices of dry toast and butter.
- I couldn’t find a turnip so used swede
- I used green lentils
- I used my homemade vegetable stock and topped it up with water
- I didn’t put it through ‘the Mouli’ but through the ‘Kenwood Multi-Pro’
- I doubled the amount of curry powder as I was using mild powder
- The flour was not needed as it as thick anyway.
- It was very very nice – I hadn’t high hopes for it as seasoning something just with curry powder seems too simplistic to work, but I was wrong. It was lovely and thick, and hearty and warming, and I had it three days in a row for lunch, with some pitta bread (not‘dry toast’ as suggested). Definitely a good ‘standard’ to have in one’s repetoire, and one I’ll use again. However, it did stain everything it touched yellow, and also looks uncannily like baby poo.
Cooked by Alix | <urn:uuid:c6448e4a-9a85-4d57-a575-72c97e739be6> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://vintagecookbooktrials.wordpress.com/2008/11/17/curried-lentil-soup/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368700958435/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516104238-00041-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.956367 | 889 | 1.609375 | 2 |
The black church fueled the 20th century civil rights movement with everything from voter registration drives to justice rallies, and this week, the Rev. Al Sharpton and National Action Network will launch a modern day initiative to register and educate black voters and protect their votes.
Thursday at Eatonville, Florida’s Macedonia Missionary Baptist Church, National Action Network will launch its "Voter Engagement Tour," that will travel to key states where voter suppression and disenfranchisement is practiced and voter identification laws are prevalent. The tour is being led by the Rev. Michael A. Walrond Jr., of NAN’s Ministers Division in conjunction with Education for a Better America.
“The black church is that support bastion for voter enfranchisement and raising national awareness,” said Tanya Clay House, public policy director for the Lawyer’s Committee on Civil Rights. “I am pleased to see Rev. Sharpton and the National Action Network launch this effort,” House told BlackAmericaweb.com.
The tour launch in Florida comes just as that state squares off in court with the federal government over the legality of Florida’s efforts to purge its voter rolls.
U.S. District Judge Robert Hinkle is holding a hearing today on whether to block Florida's push to remove voters who may not be U.S. citizens.
Federal authorities sued the state earlier this month, saying the state must halt the voter purge because it is too close to the Aug. 14 election.
State officials asked local election supervisors to check out the citizenship status of more than 2,600 voters. While more than 100 non-U.S. citizens have been removed supervisors have also discovered more than 500 people on the list were U.S. citizens.
Most counties in Florida have stopped removing voters due to differing opinions over whether it is legal.
Speaking recently on Sharpton’s Politics Nation on MSNBC, Ion Sancho, the Leon County, Florida supervisor of elections said a majority of the state’s supervisors “will not conduct any illegal activity. We’re going to ensure our voters are protected.”
Florida Gov. Rick Scott and his administration have a list of some 180,000 voters who they believe are ineligible to cast ballots in the state.
But the DOJ and justice advocates fear the list includes a large number of legitimate voters and that the purge violates the National Voter Registration Act that says voter roll maintenance must stop 90 days before an election.
The key to combatting the assault on voting rights is to educate voters and to register voters, says Melanie Campbell, president and chief executive officer of the National Coalition for Black Civic Participation.
“About 30 percent of the blacks in this country who are eligible to vote are not registered,” Campbell told BlackAmericaWeb.com. When you go into churches with voter education and voter registration efforts, you have a captive audience, she said.
“We respond when the message comes from a trusted voice in communities we trust,” she said. For African-Americans, that place has often been the church.
Already this year, the Empowerment Movement, headed by the Rev. Jamal Bryant in Baltimore, has registered more than 100,000 voters through registration efforts in black churches, organizers said.
From now until election day in November, the National Action Network will go throughout the country, educating voters on how to combat restrictive new voter requirements and ultimately protect voter rights.
Cities and states with a history of issues voter protection issues will be the major focus, Sharpton said.
“NAN's mission is to work to ensure that every vote in every community across the nation is counted,” Sharpton said in a prepared statement. “Voter suppression efforts are threatening the notion of democracy as we know it. When about 5 million Americans may be disenfranchised from the polls this November, according to the Brennan Center for Justice, we understand that complacency is not an option.” | <urn:uuid:38269349-aa67-48cf-8f89-de0603166def> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://blackamericaweb.com/16272/voter-engagement-tour-kicks-off/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368705559639/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516115919-00031-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.945583 | 825 | 1.65625 | 2 |
Nearly a quarter of Poles are keen to go abroad in search of employment, a study published Wednesday reveals.
The 'Social Diagnosis 2005' study revealed 22.5 per cent of Poles already working are nevertheless interested in working abroad.
Some 24 per cent of jobless individuals were also keen to pack-up to find work outside Poland where the jobless rate hovers around 18 per cent - the highest in the 25-member European Union.
The majority, 41 per cent, would prefer to work in neighbouring Germany, followed by 26 per cent in Britain and some seven per cent in Ireland.
The study also shows three-quarters of Poles now feel healthy and happy compared to the 57 per cent that declared such sentiments during the tumultuous early 1990s after the 1989 collapse of communism.
"Poles are also healthier," author of the study Professor Janusz Czaplinski said, quoted by the Polish PAP news agency.
"There has been a decline in the number of smokers and the number of smoked cigarettes," he noted but warned of a dramatic rise in narcotics and alcohol consumption by teenage girls. | <urn:uuid:f6c36319-1ca3-4987-ba41-c38bf1e849e3> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.local-life.com/warsaw/news/869-Transition_Poles | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368698924319/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516100844-00011-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.960193 | 226 | 1.710938 | 2 |
If you're a loner looking for a career that suits your personality, consider one of these options.
Does your idea of a perfect workday include more alone time and less interaction with clients and co-workers?
You aren't alone in preferring a more solo-based career.
In fact, "a significant portion of our working population prefers to work alone," says Pamela Slim, a business coach and author of "Escape From Cubicle Nation: From Corporate Prisoner to Thriving Entrepreneur."
Ready to find the right career fit for your loner personality? Check out these six options that could offer the alone time you desire.
Career #1 - Accountant
Think you'd prefer to spend more quality time with a calculator versus colleagues? Perhaps you should consider pursuing a career as an accountant.
According to the U.S. Department of Labor, accountants are often responsible for computing taxes, preparing tax returns, examining financial records, and improving profits.
Why it's fit for a loner: "Depending on the type of accounting, most of the work in this field is done independently," says Dani Babb, founder of the Babb Group, an online educational consulting firm.
In fact, "often accountants are left to crunch numbers or generate reports on their own, with independent deliverables that often are not team-based," says Babb.
Education options: Does this career sound like a good match for your solitary personality? Know this: Most accountants are required to have a bachelor's degree in accounting or a related field, according to the Department of Labor. Some employers prefer to hire candidates with a master's in accounting or business administration with an accounting concentration, adds the Department.
Career #2 - Software Developer
If you are a loner who enjoys spending one-on-one time with your computer, a career as a software developer may be a good fit for you.
Software developers are the geniuses designing computer programs and developing applications and systems that run on computers and other types of devices, according to the U.S. Department of Labor. Typical duties include designing and testing software to meet the needs of users and upgrading and performing software maintenance.
Why it's fit for a loner: According to Babb, "once code or development assignments are made, each programmer usually works independently on his or her component."
But developers won't always be alone. In fact, "software developers that work in companies often work with a team of developers," adds Babb.
Education options: Think that this career fits your loner personality? According to the Department of Labor, software developers usually have a bachelor's degree in computer science, software engineering, or a related field. But for some positions, employers may prefer candidates with a master's degree.
Career #3 - Paralegal
Do you have an interest in the law and enjoy doing research on your own? Perhaps you should consider pursuing a career as a paralegal.
According to the U.S. Department of Labor, paralegals generally provide support to lawyers on a variety of tasks, including writing reports to help them prepare for trials, conducting research on laws and regulations, and updating case-related information in computer databases.
Why it's fit for a loner: "Much of what a paralegal does is researching and writing," says Babb. "While they may need to meet with clients or attorneys, documents and other filings paralegals create are usually done on their own."
Education options: Think this career might complement your desire to work independently?According to the Department of Labor, most paralegals have an associate's degree in paralegal studies. Or if you already have a bachelor's degree in another field, you could earn a certificate in paralegal studies.
Career #4 - Graphic Designer
Think you'd prefer spending more time interacting with images on your computer rather than collaborating with co-workers in an office? If so, a career as a graphic designer could be a good choice for you.
By creating visual concepts with computer software or by hand, graphic designers generally communicate ideas that enlighten or inspire consumers, according to the U.S. Department of Labor. With this combination of art and technology, they can develop graphics for logos and websites or create images for a product.
Why it's fit for a loner: According to Babb, "once the creative work begins, this is often a solo job."
But even if most of a graphic designer's work can be done independently from a home or office computer, keep in mind that a designer may face some interaction with clients. "Graphics designers need clients to survive, so they will be working with clients," notes Babb.
Education options: If you want to sharpen your artistic skills and pursue this career, keep in mind that a bachelor's degree in graphic design or a related field is usually required, according to the Department of Labor. Already have a bachelor's? Look into technical training in graphic design to qualify for most job requirements, says the Department.
Want to work in the health field but prefer a more behind-the-scenes position? A career as a medical records and health information technician could complement your desire to work alone.
How? As a medical records and health information technician, you could be responsible for organizing and maintaining data for clinical databases, reviewing patient records, and recording data electronically, according to the U.S. Department of Labor.
Why it's fit for a loner: "In many cases, medical records technicians are sitting in their offices or cubicles helping to organize and manage the vast amounts of information that is sent through health information systems," says Babb.
Just keep in mind that while these technicians will almost always work solo, they still have to be part of a larger team for bigger providers, adds Babb.
Education options: Does this career offer the alone time you desire? According to the Department of Labor, medical records and health information technicians typically need a post-secondary certificate or an associate's degree in health information technology. In addition, most employers like to hire technicians with professional certification, such as Registered Health Information Technician (RHIT).
Career #6 - Computer Programmer
Looking for a tech-related career with plenty of alone time? A career as a computer programmer might be a good choice.
According to the U.S. Department of Labor, as a computer programmer you could write instructions (or code) that a computer can follow to perform specific tasks. Common duties include debugging programs, writing programs in different languages like Java or C++, and updating existing computer programs.
Why it's a good fit for a loner: Since writing code can be done anywhere, chances are a programmer might be able to work from home, notes the Department of Labor.
Just keep in mind that while a majority of a programmer's tasks can be done solo, programmers can't completely shut out the world. "Computer programmers need to be able to work on initiatives with other team members, but are most often free to code solo," says Babb.
Education options: Want to get in on this loner- and tech-friendly career? According to the Department, most programmers earn a degree in computer science or a related field. And while a majority of programmers have a bachelor's degree, an associate's degree could be sufficient for some employers, adds the Department.
Next Article: Degrees That Are Great For Adult Students » | <urn:uuid:9b0c99a4-75f0-43d9-9ad8-49dbf274731b> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://education.yahoo.net/articles/careers_fit_for_loners.htm?wid=1004&svkid=1MN30 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368705559639/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516115919-00021-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.952852 | 1,537 | 1.617188 | 2 |
Buying a yacht is generally a big financial commitment for most people. Ensuring that you sell or buy successfully requires a little effort on your part. Let’s start with the physical yacht itself. There are four really important things that you need to ensure as part of a purchase or sale:
1) Integrity of the hull and deck.
2) The state of the engine(s).
3) The state of the rigging.
4) The state of the sails.
Many buyers abdicate responsibility for these four key points and engage a surveyor to give them a condition report. If you really want to extract value from a survey then it needs to be directed and that means doing a thorough initial inspection yourself before handing over to a professional surveyor.
The hull is what keeps the boat afloat. There seems to be an almost obsessive concern about osmosis on the part of many buyers when a much more likely cause of sinking are inadequately maintained sea cocks. How many buyers lift up the cabin sole and check that all the sea cocks operate correctly and that the hoses are not perished? Too few in my opinion. Ask the vendor to tell you when was the last time the boat was out of the water, what hull maintenance was carried out in the last two years and why. Ask the vendor to tell you if the yacht has ever been grounded or involved in an accident.
You do not need to go out on a sea trial to know that an engine is sound. Run it, look at it, listen to it, look at the exhaust fumes put it into gear against secure berthing lines and let it run up to operating temperature. Ask impertinent questions about the maintenance regime. Look at the rigging is there any sign of corrosion or cracking? Are the chain plates securely anchored? When was the standing rigging last renewed? In the case of the sails make sure you know what’s in the sail wardrobe. Examine the fabric. Is the stitching sound? UV radiation damages sail fabric especially the stitching, use your own eyes. I do not value a boat by the marine electronics installed aboard. This can be changed relatively easily. The inexorable price/performance improvement of marine electronics in recent years and the ability of yachtsmen to buy their kit in tax free locations like Gibraltar lower its importance in any buying decision.
Finally examine the safety gear and make a list of what is in date and what needs to be replaced. Do all of this BEFORE making an offer and before you engage in survey costs. So what do you need a surveyor for? A surveyor needs to be directed to find genuine “material defects”. A surveyor’s report padded out with photographs, telling you what model winches are installed or stating the obvious copied from the broker’s yacht listing is as useful as a chocolate fireguard. If you’ve inspected the boat yourself you’ll know all about the safety equipment and all the other kit installed on the vessel. You don’t need a surveyor to tell you there are four out-of-date fire extinguishers on the boat. A good surveyor will be pleased to receive guidance to delve more deeply in those areas where your own inspection raised concerns. This makes his life more interesting and gets you immersed in what will soon become your own boat. If your chosen surveyor insists on doing things that would not add further insight beyond what your own inspection has revealed, say so, and if he insists remember you are the customer and you have choices.
Then there is documentation to consider. A good broker will ensure that there is clear title to the vessel. If the vessel has been sold within the previous five years you will want the vendor to produce the previous Bill of Sale because the yacht registry will require it. What is the VAT status of the vessel? Can the vendor produce documentary evidence of payment of VAT? Does the vessel meet the EU RCD (Recreational Craft Directive)? Look for a CE certificate or a plaque stating CE compliance somewhere in the cockpit.
If you find this daunting you shouldn’t, it’s all commonsense. Boatshed Gibraltar is there to help guide you through the whole transaction and beyond making sure not only that you acquire a sound yacht but that you have a berth, insurance and a professional skipper (if you need one) to introduce you to handling your new vessel. Find us at www.boatshedgibraltar.com | <urn:uuid:5fb70831-d2aa-4687-923b-ed53e07c94a5> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.marinalive.gi/2012/03/22/commonsense-boat-buying/ | 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 | 0.954736 | 916 | 1.523438 | 2 |
If you follow The Buckets comic strip you know that the youngest member of the household, Eddie, is a Cub Scout, and his father is a Pack leader. A few times a year Greg Cravens, the creator of the strip, uses his comic to share a humorous look at the world of Cub Scouting. Mr. Cravens obvious knows a little about the Scouting program because his comics can hit very close to home. I am sure many Pack Leaders and families can identify with the situations he shares with us. ( I sometimes wonder if Mr. Cravens is not a Cub Scout leader in his community.)
Mr. Cravens recently featured a weeklong series in which the Cub Scout Pack goes on a camping trip. If you have ever taken Scouts on a camping trip I am sure you will find these hitting the mark. Here is a quick rundown of the comic strips and the links:
A trip is announced / A pocket knife is needed: Click HERE.
The first rule of camping: Click HERE.
My last dry clothes: Click HERE.
How to gather the Scouts: Click HERE.
Texting while hiking: Click HERE.
A tick is on me! : Click HERE.
While these comic strips feature Cub Scout age boys, many of them could also apply to Boy Scout age youth. Enjoy. | <urn:uuid:cc63a621-3e20-447b-82ba-222d3462e5de> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.melrosetroop68.org/blog/?tag=comics | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368699273641/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516101433-00013-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.968192 | 272 | 1.695313 | 2 |
Everyone knows about sangría, but I, for one, had never heard of hipocrás, or garrapiñado, until I came across the recipe in La Cocina de Mama: The Great Home Cooking of Spain by Penelope Casas. It is an ancient drink, spiced with cinnamon, cloves, nutmeg, and ginger, but unlike mulled wine, it is served chilled, not warm. According to Casas, King Charles I of Spain and Henry VIII of England liked to have it with their desserts, so we tried it for dessert too, along with some cinnamon and lemon cookies, the base recipe for which I also found in her wonderful book.
There are many ways of making hipocrás. You can use red wine or white. (Penelope Casas prefers the white, so we followed her advice). You can include peaches, nectarines or apples. It is only lightly sweetened, and it does not include strong spirits, the way American recipes for sangrías often do, so it's light and aromatic and refreshing, not at all heavy or overpowering.
You could change the proportions of spice too to suit your tastes or the dessert you're serving.
Here's what I did:
In a pitcher I mixed
one bottle of inexpensive white rioja
two slices of lemon
2 tablespoons of sugar (I bet it would be even better with honey)
1/4 teaspoon of freshly grated nutmeg
1 cinnamon stick
1 Granny Smith apple, cut into wedges
two coin-sized pieces of ginger
I covered the pitcher and let it sit in the fridge for four days. I strained it just before serving.
According to Penelope Casas, hipocrás will last for months in the fridge. (Ours won't be around nearly that long). It is best to let it sit several days before drinking it though, to bring out the flavors of the spices. | <urn:uuid:cef3e12f-ea3f-4c1a-bf83-aefb60322156> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.simplespanishfood.com/2010/10/a-spiced-wine-for-dessert-hipocr%C3%A1s-o-garrapi%C3%B1ado.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368700958435/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516104238-00039-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.951023 | 401 | 1.734375 | 2 |
Growth management hearings board — Consolidation into environmental and land use hearings office.
(1) On July 1, 2011, the growth management hearings board is administratively consolidated into the environmental and land use hearings office created in RCW 43.21B.005.
(2) Not later than July 1, 2012, the growth management hearings board consists of seven members qualified by experience or training in matters pertaining to land use law or land use planning, except that the governor may reduce the board to six members if warranted by the board's caseload. All board members must be appointed by the governor, two each residing respectively in the central Puget Sound, eastern Washington, and western Washington regions and shall continue to meet the qualifications set out in *RCW 36.70A.260. The reduction from seven board members to six board members must be made through attrition, voluntary resignation, or retirement.
[2010 c 210 § 15.]
| *Reviser's note: RCW 36.70A.260 was amended by 2010 c 211 § 5, eliminating the reference to board member qualifications. 2010 c 211 § 4 added board member qualifications to RCW 36.70A.250.|
Intent -- Effective dates -- Application -- Pending cases and rules -- 2010 c 210: See notes following RCW 43.21B.001. | <urn:uuid:aaddc4e4-3641-43a2-a3af-c978b207ad4c> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://apps.leg.wa.gov/rcw/default.aspx?cite=36.70A.252 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368706153698/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516120913-00023-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.940639 | 275 | 1.601563 | 2 |
Purcell’s Dido and Aeneas has always been
popular. First performed in 1689, this chamber opera can be
seen as a distillation of Purcell’s style in miniature. Part
of its popularity may be due to its length; at less than one
hour, it contains no fat, as many longer operas of the time
do. In addition to being short, its individual numbers are also
brief. In this recording, only one aria (Ah! Belinda)
is over four minutes long, and most sections are less than two
minutes. This can be frustrating, as one may want them to go
on longer, their music being so beautiful.
On the other hand this work is short enough that
one can listen to it more often the better to appreciate it.
And here is a version that both deserves and stands up to repeated
listenings. With a warm, lush sound, Emmanuelle Haïm leads Le
Concert d’Astrée through this wonderful performance recorded
in France in 2003. The two lead voices should be enough to attract
you to this particular recording: Susan Graham is splendid as
Dido, and Ian Bostridge excellent as Aeneas. The choir is also
top-notch, and even the supporting cast includes such leading
voices as David Daniels and Paul Agnew. The only exception is
the voice of the “First Witch”, unnamed in the credits, at the
beginning of Act II: she sings in a different style and tone
from what this music needs. Her voice is huge, aggressive, vibrato-laden,
in stark contrast to those of the other soloists.
This recording benefits from fine sound, especially
in the balance between the soloists and the choir, and one hears
the subtler tones, such as the harpsichord and theorbo clearly.
It is no surprise that this recording bears a recommendations
from other leading classical review authorities; in fact, it
is part of a series of such discs, that highlight key recordings
at bargain prices.
If you’re looking for a great recording of Dido
and Aeneas that won’t hit your pocketbook, look no further;
this is the one. | <urn:uuid:ca409034-186a-4f3b-a833-6adc9d80f840> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.musicweb-international.com/classRev/2008/Jan08/Purcell_Dido_5034222.htm | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368706153698/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516120913-00023-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.948447 | 483 | 1.679688 | 2 |
The Holy Bible, written by men with direct guidance from the Holy Spirit, is the source of all standards of morality, ethics and decency. If those who profess atheism, gnosticism, unbelief, skepticism, or whatever else they may claim, have any of the above standards, they got them from the Holy Bible. They try and deny that but it is clearly shown that man does not have those standards unless they are taught them. There is no other source.
With that as an introductory statement, let us consider what is taught in the Holy Bible concerning intoxicants and mind altering drugs. If any responses are forthcoming from this article, it is suggested that you read them all. Some always attempt to circumvent any degree of criticism toward these things and although some are innovative, most show nothing other than the individuals own created justifications.
It is a truth that the Holy Bible does not say "thou shalt not drink intoxicating beverages or use any mind altering drugs". But there are numerous indications which, when taken in the proper context, will cause one who is attempting to live a life as prescribed by Jesus Christ our Lord, to avoid them.
We are not supposed to spend our lives attempting to see just what things we can do and still get by the Lord's prohibitions. We should rather, spend our lives trying to follow Jesus' doctrines and example, just as closely as we possibly can. Read these admonishing remarks by the New Testament writers:
Behold therefore the goodness and severity of God: on them which fell, severity; but toward thee, goodness, if thou continue in his goodness: otherwise thou also shalt be cut off. (Romans 11:22 KJV)
Knowing therefore the terror of the Lord, we persuade men; but we are made manifest unto God; and I trust also are made manifest in your consciences. (2 Corinthians 5:11 KJV)
One comment in response to an article opposing intoxicants quoted the following verse of scripture in defense of drinking intoxicants:
Let no man therefore judge you in meat, or in drink, or in respect of an holyday, or of the new moon, or of the sabbath days: (Colossians 2:16 KJV)
Reading the above scripture, not having studied the scriptures enough to understand, one might obviously be misled by it, especially if the reader is attempting to justify drinking intoxicating beverages. But read it again. The drinking is only one of several items mentioned. So what was the writer explaining? Carefully read the true explanation following.
Much of the writings in the New Testament are striving to guide those who had become persuaded that Jesus was the Messiah and desired to follow him, but were having a difficult time in dropping the requirements of the Mosaical Law. All of the things here that the writer mentions are things which were contained in the Old Testament law of Moses. Some were becoming disturbed because others had dropped all of those things and
were causing confusion. The above mentioned verse is the inspired apostle Paul who was writing to the Christians at Colosse to show that there was no longer a requirement to follow those old requirements under that
law. He is advising them they were free to observe those things or not. Paul describes it another way when writing the church at Rome.
He that regardeth the day, regardeth it unto the Lord; and he that regardeth not the day, to the Lord he doth not regard it. He that eateth, eateth to the Lord, for he giveth God thanks; and he that eateth not, to the Lord he eateth not, and giveth God thanks. (Romans 14:6 KJV)
So it becomes obvious the comment was of no importance when trying to justify drinking of alcoholic beverages. Another matter which is often used to try and show there is nothing against the drinking of intoxicants is that of the use of "wine" in both testaments. A number of places refer to wine when it does seem to appear that fermented wine might have been intended. And truly, there are a few places that do so. But those are usually referred to in a negative manner. Let us look at a few.
In the second chapter of Acts, the first Pentecost after Jesus had risen from the dead, the Holy Spirit here ascended and entered into the twelve apostles and they miraculously began to speak in languages which they had never been taught. They were able to speak in every language of the people who had gathered there and the people were puzzled. And some even ventured that "these men are full of new wine". (Acts 2:13)
The apostle Peter corrected them however. But this one verse does, without doubt, refer to intoxicating fermented wine.
Even the first miracle which Jesus performed was that of turning water into wine at a wedding feast. Many take the approach here that it would have been fermented since the host was commended for saving the best wine until last. But this cannot be shown to be accurate. There is no indication in the Old Testament that devout Jews used intoxicating drinks at their feasts, as we will notice more a little later. It is perhaps worthy of note also to see that Jesus, only a boy and his mother who was a very devoutly religious Jewess, were in attendance there which is highly unlikely if there had been intoxicating wine being served. Read the passage concerning this miracle and you will see that there is no evidence that it was fermented. Click here.
No passage is given in the Bible which indicates that any of the devout Jews, or Christians under the New Testament law, ever drank or indicated that drinking, of fermented wine was acceptable.
Another case where some have indicated that Jesus himself, used fermented wine as the drink to represent his blood when he instituted his Supper to his apostles on the eve of his death. This however, can be shown to be absolutely untrue and is one of the only cases where a distinction can be proven.
Keeping in mind where Jesus and his apostles where when they partook of the feast of the Passover in an upper room where the feast had been prepared for them. The items to eat and to drink were explicit throughout the ages as they were instructed to eat under God's command each year to commemorate the Passover feast. This was to mark the time when God slew the firstborn males in all Egypt, both man and beast, in order to convince Pharaoh to let the people go from being under bondage. And by obedience to his command, the households of the Jews were passed over and those firstborn were not slain.
Now, the reason we can tell that this wine was not fermented, was the fact that each household was required to clean every trace of any thing which would ferment or cause fermentation from their homes and destroy it for this celebration. The Jews kept that custom, and they still do observe it. The only exceptions are those who accepted Jesus as the Messiah and became Christians. Observance of the Passover Feast is not required under the New Testament law.
The last supper the Lord had with the apostles, as stated above, was in observance of the Passover Feast and it was from the bread and wine that was used there that Jesus used to institute the Lord's supper which was to be taken in remembrance of his death, burial and resurrection. It would definitely not have been fermented wine.
There are also some passages of scripture which condemn strong drink. "Wine is a mocker, strong drink is raging: and whosoever is deceived thereby is not wise." (Proverbs 20:1 KJV)
For he shall be great in the sight of the Lord, and shall drink neither wine nor strong drink; and he shall be filled with the Holy Ghost, even from his mother's womb. (Luke1:15 KJV) An angel of the Lord speaking to Zacharias, concerning the coming miraculous birth of his son, John the Baptist.
There are other considerations to be made. There are numerous Christians who would be offended if they learned that some fellow Christian drank intoxicants, and there are many more non-Christians who would point out the drinking of a Christian. Much of a devout Christian's influence will be sacrificed by those who insist upon drinking strong drinks. And the same goes for mind altering drugs.
A knowledgeable person who desires to inherit heaven as their eternal home, certainly would not jeopardize that opportunity in hope that God would over look their drinking. The evidence is far too strong against it. Just settle for a good cup of coffee. | <urn:uuid:9b0fa985-5515-45c1-a02e-4e6814ed5e1a> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.examiner.com/article/a-biblical-view-concerning-intoxicants-and-drugs?cid=rss | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368701459211/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516105059-00024-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.982641 | 1,752 | 1.554688 | 2 |
On the Triduum
"I Invite You to Seek in These Days Recollection and Prayer"
| 4993 hits
VATICAN CITY, APRIL 20, 2011 (Zenit.org).- Here is a translation of the Italian-language catechesis Benedict XVI gave today during the general audience held in St. Peter's Square. The Pope focused his address on the meaning of the Easter Triduum, the culmination of the Lenten journey.
* * *
Dear Brothers and Sisters,
We have already arrived at the heart of Holy Week, the fulfillment of the Lenten journey. Tomorrow we will enter the Easter Triduum, the three holy days in which the Church commemorates the mystery of the passion, death and resurrection of Jesus. After being made man in obedience to the Father, the Son of God, being in everything like us except for sin (cf. Hebrews 4:15), accepted fulfilling his will to the end, to face for love of us his Passion and Cross, to make us sharers in his Resurrection, so that in him and through him we can live forever, in consolation and peace. Hence, I exhort you to receive this mystery of salvation, to take part intensely in the Easter Triduum, the culmination of the whole liturgical year and a moment of particular grace for every Christian. I invite you to seek in these days recollection and prayer, to be able to accede more profoundly to this source of grace. In connection with this, given the imminent festivities, every Christian is invited to celebrate the sacrament of reconciliation, a moment of special adherence to the death and resurrection of Christ, to be able to participate with greater fruitfulness in Holy Easter.
Maundy Thursday is the day in which we recall the institution of the Eucharist and the ministerial priesthood. In the morning, each diocesan community, gathered in the cathedral church around the bishop, will celebrate the Chrism Mass in which the sacred chrism, the oil of the catechumens, and the oil of the sick are blessed. Beginning with the Easter Triduum and during the whole liturgical year, these oils will be used for the sacraments of baptism, confirmation and priestly and episcopal ordination and the anointing of the sick; in this is manifested how salvation, transmitted by the sacramental signs, springs precisely from the paschal mystery of Christ. In fact, we are redeemed by his death and resurrection and, through the sacraments, we go to that same salvific source. During the Chrism Mass tomorrow, the renewal of priestly promises takes place. Throughout the world, every priest renews the commitments he assumed on the day of ordination, to be totally consecrated to Christ in the exercise of the sacred ministry at the service of his brothers. Let us support our priests with our prayer.
On the afternoon of Maundy Thursday the Easter Triduum effectively begins, with the remembrance of the Last Supper, in which Jesus instituted the Memorial of his Pasch, fulfilling the Jewish paschal rite. According to tradition, every Jewish family, gathered at table on the feast of Passover eats the roasted lamb, recalling the Israelites' deliverance from the slavery of Egypt; thus in the Cenacle, conscious of his imminent death, Jesus, the true paschal Lamb, offered himself for our salvation (cf. 1 Corinthians 5:7). Pronouncing the blessing over the bread and wine, he anticipated the sacrifice of the cross and manifested the intention of perpetuating his presence amid the disciples: Under the species of bread and wine he makes himself present in a real way with his body given and his blood shed. During the Last Supper, the apostles were constituted ministers of this sacrament of salvation. Jesus washed their feet (cf. John 13:1-25), inviting them to love one another as he loved them, giving his life for them. Repeating this gesture in the liturgy, we are also called to give witness with the deeds of our Redeemer.
Maundy Thursday, finally, is closed with Eucharistic Adoration, in memory of the Lord's agony in the Garden of Gethsemane. Leaving the Cenacle, he withdrew to pray, alone, in the presence of his Father. At that moment of profound communion, the Gospels recount that Jesus experienced great anguish, such suffering that he sweat blood (cf. Matthew 26:38). Conscious of his imminent death on the cross, he felt great anguish and the closeness of death. In this situation an element is seen that is of great importance also for the whole Church. Jesus said to his own: Stay here and watch; and this call to vigilance refers in a precise way to this moment of anguish, of menace, in which the betrayer arrives, but it concerns the whole history of the Church. It is a permanent message for all times, because the somnolence of the disciples was not only the problem of that moment, but is the problem of the whole of history.
The question is what this somnolence consists of, and what is the vigilance to which the Lord invites us. I would say that the disciples' somnolence in the course of history is a certain insensitivity of soul to the power of evil, an insensitivity to all the evil of the world. We do not want to let ourselves be too disturbed by these things, we want to forget them: We think that perhaps it is not so grave, and we forget. And it is not only insensitivity to evil; instead, we should be watching to do good, to struggle for the force of good. It is insensitivity to God -- this is our real somnolence: this insensitivity to the presence of God that makes us insensitive also to evil. We do not listen to God -- it would bother us -- and so we do not listen, of course, to the force of evil either, and we stay on the path of our comfort.
The nocturnal adoration on Maundy Thursday, our being vigilant with the Lord, should be precisely the moment to make us reflect on the somnolence of the disciples, of Jesus' defenders, of the apostles, of ourselves, who do not see, we do not want to see all the force of evil, and we do not want to enter into his passion for the good, for the presence of God in the world, for the love of neighbor and of God.
Then the Lord began to pray. The three apostles -- Peter, James and John -- slept, but then they woke up and heard the phrase of this prayer of the Lord: "Not my will but thine be done." What is this will of mine, what is this will of yours, of which the Lord speaks? My will is that I "should not die," that he be spared this chalice of suffering: It is the human will, of human nature, and Christ feels, with all the consciousness of his being, life, the abyss of death, the terror of nothingness, this menace of suffering.
And he more than us, who have this natural aversion to death, this natural fear of death, even more than us, he felt the abyss of evil. He also felt, with death, all the suffering of humanity. He felt that all this was the chalice he must drink, that he must make himself drink, accept the evil of the world, everything that is terrible, the aversion to God, the whole of sin. And we can understand that Jesus, with his human soul, was terrified before this reality, which he perceived in all its cruelty: My will would be not to drink the chalice, but my will is subordinated to your will, to the will of God, to the will of the Father, which is also the real will of the Son. And thus Jesus transformed, in this prayer, the natural aversion, the aversion to the chalice, to his mission to die for us. He transformed this natural will of his into the will of God, in a "yes" to the will of God.
On his own man is tempted to oppose the will of God, to have the intention to follow his own will, to feel free only if he is autonomous; he opposes his own autonomy against the heteronomy of following the will of God. This is the whole drama of humanity. But in truth this autonomy is erroneous and this entering into God's will is not an opposition to oneself, it is not a slavery that violates my will, but it is to enter into truth and love, into the good. And Jesus attracts our will, which is opposed to the will of God, which seeks its autonomy. He attracts this will of ours on high, to the will of God. This is the drama of our redemption, that Jesus attracts our will on high, all our aversion to the will of God and our aversion to death and sin, and unites it to the will of the Father: "Not my will but thine be done." In this transformation of the "no" into "yes," in this insertion of the will of the creature in the will of the Father, he transforms humanity and redeems us. And he invites us to enter into this movement of his: To come out of our "no" and enter into the "yes" of the Son. My will exists, but the decisive will is the will of the Father, because the will of the Father is truth and love.
A further element of this prayer seems important to me. The three witnesses have kept -- as it appears in sacred Scripture -- the Hebrew or Aramaic word with which the Lord spoke to the Father, he called him: "Abba," father. But this formula, "Abba," is a familiar form of the term father, a form that is used only in the family, which has never been used toward God. Here we see in the intimacy of Jesus how he speaks in the family, he speaks truly as Son with his Father. We see the Trinitarian mystery: The Son who speaks with the Father and redeems humanity.
One more observation. The Letter to the Hebrews gives us a profound interpretation of this prayer of the Lord, of this drama of Gethsemane. It says: these tears of Jesus, this prayer, these cries of Jesus, this anguish -- is not all this simply a concession to the weakness of the flesh, as could be said. But precisely in this way he realizes the task of High Priest, because the High Priest must lead the human being, with all his problems and sufferings, to the height of God. And the Letter to the Hebrews says: with all these cries, tears, sufferings, prayers, the Lord took our reality to God (cf. Hebrews 5:7ff). And it uses this Greek word "prosferein," which is the technical term for what the High Priest must do to offer, to raise his hand on high. Precisely in this drama of Gethsemane, where it seems that God's strength is no longer present, Jesus realizes the function of High Priest. And it says, moreover, that in this act of obedience, namely, of conformity of the natural human will to the will of God, he is perfected as priest. And it uses again the technical word to ordain a priest. Precisely in this way he becomes the High Priest of humanity and thus opens heaven and the door to resurrection.
If we reflect on this drama of Gethsemane, we can also see the great contrast between Jesus, with his anguish, with his suffering, in comparison with the great philosopher Socrates, who remains peaceful, imperturbable in the face of death. And this seems to be the ideal. We can admire this philosopher, but Jesus' mission is another. His mission was not this total indifference and liberty; his mission was to bear in himself all the suffering, all the human drama. And because of this, precisely this humiliation of Gethsemane is essential for the mission of the Man-God. He bears in himself our suffering, our poverty and transforms them according to the will of God. And thus opens the doors of heaven, he opens heaven: This curtain of the Most Holy, which up to now man closed against God, is opened by his suffering and obedience. These are some observations for Maundy Thursday, for our celebration of the night of Maundy Thursday.
On Good Friday we will recall the passion and death of the Lord; we will adore Christ Crucified, we will share in his sufferings with penance and fasting. Looking "on him whom they have pierced" (cf. John 19:37), we will be able to drink from his broken heart that gushes blood and water as a fountain; of that heart from which springs the love of God for every man, we receive his Spirit. Hence, on Good Friday we will also accompany Jesus as he goes up to Calvary; let us be guided by him to the cross, let us receive the offering of his immaculate body.
Finally, on the night of Holy Saturday, we will celebrate the Easter Vigil, in which the resurrection of Christ will be proclaimed to us, his definitive victory over death which calls us to be, in him, new men. Participating in this holy vigil, the central night of the whole liturgical year, we will recall our baptism, in which we were buried with Christ, to be able to resurrect with him and take part in the banquet of heaven (cf. Revelation 19:7-9).
Dear friends, we have tried to understand the state of spirit with which Jesus lived the moment of extreme trial, to understand what guided his action. The criterion that guided all of Jesus' choices during his whole life was the firm will to love the Father, to be one with the Father, and to be faithful to him. This decision to correspond to his love impelled him to embrace the Father's plan in every circumstance, to make his own the design of love that was entrusted to him to recapitulate everything in him, to lead everything back to him.
On reliving the Holy Triduum, let us dispose ourselves to receive also in our lives the will of God, conscious that in the will of God, though it seems hard, in contrast to our intentions, is found our true good, the path of life.
May the Virgin Mother guide us on this journey and obtain for us from her divine Son the grace to be able to use our life for love of Jesus at the service of brothers. Thank you.
[Translation by ZENIT]
[The Holy Father then greeted pilgrims in several languages. In English, he said:]
Dear Brothers and Sisters,
Tomorrow marks the beginning of the Easter Triduum, the three days in which the Church commemorates the mystery of the Lord's passion, death and resurrection. The liturgies of these days invite us to ponder the loving obedience of Christ who, having become like us in all things but sin, resisted temptation and freely surrendered himself to the Father's will. Tomorrow, at the Chrism Mass, priests renew their ordination promises, the sacred oils are blessed, and we celebrate the grace of the crucified and risen Lord which comes to us through the Church's sacramental life. On the evening of Holy Thursday, the Mass of the Lord's Supper begins the actual Triduum and recalls the institution of the sacraments of the Eucharist and Holy Orders. The Liturgy of Good Friday invites us to share in Christ's sufferings through penance and fasting, and to receive the gift of God's love flowing from the Lord's pierced Heart. The Easter Vigil joyfully proclaims Christ's resurrection from the dead and the new life received in Baptism. By our prayers and our sharing in these liturgies, let us resolve to imitate Christ's loving obedience to the Father's saving plan, which is the source of authentic freedom and the path of eternal life.
I offer a cordial welcome to all the English-speaking pilgrims and visitors present at today's Audience, especially the groups from England, the Netherlands, the Philippines, Canada and the United States. To you and your families I offer prayerful good wishes for a spiritually fruitful celebration of Holy Week and a happy Easter!
Copyright 2011 -- Libreria Editrice Vaticana
[He concluded in Italian:]
I address a cordial welcome to Italian-speaking pilgrims. In particular I greet you, participants in the international meeting of UNIV, promoted by the Prelature of Opus Dei. Dear friends, I hope that these Roman days will be for all of you an occasion to rediscover the person of Christ and of strong ecclesial experience so that you can return home animated by the desire to witness the mercy of the heavenly Father. Thus through your life will be realized what St. Josemaría Escrivá hoped for: "May your behavior and your conversation be such that in seeing you and hearing you everyone will be able to say: here is one who reads the life of Jesus Christ" (Camino, No. 2).
Now I cordially greet young people, the sick and newlyweds. Tomorrow we will enter into the Sacred Triduum which will bring us to relive the central mysteries of our salvation. I invite you, dear young people, especially you youngsters of the "Lega Nazionale Dilettanti" to look at the cross and to draw from it light to walk faithfully in the footsteps of the Redeemer. For you, dear sick, may the passion of the Lord, culminating in the glorious triumph of Easter, constitute always a source of hope and comfort. And you, dear newlyweds, dispose your hearts to celebrate with intense participation the paschal mystery, so that your existence becomes every day a reciprocal gift, open to the fruitful love of goodness.
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Women have the ability to nurture one another in a way that mystifies men. But a desparate need for attention will turn that caring into competition.
Whether you call it connecting or bonding, women do it remarkably well. Certainly, this has been my experience. A recent shopping trip overwhelmingly confirmed my theory.
"Oooh, that looks lovely on you. You should get it!" my admirer told me. It was 7:30 a.m., and my favorite store was having a knock-down, drag-out sale. Take 80 percent off everything!
Oooh, Mama, I was in my glory! And so were my sisters--women I had never seen before in my life.
"Mmm, it's pretty, but you looked slimmer in the other outfit."
"That color is very becoming."
"You really think so?"
"Oh, yes, but then again, everything you've tried on looks good on you."
As I headed back to my dressing room, I thought to myself, If only women could treat one another this way all the time.
In that crowd there were no masks, no pretenses. We were one, all on the same mission--to secure as many bargains as we could.
Every woman's coup was to be celebrated. All of us were giggling and twirling in front of the mirror, nurturing one another, pointing out one another's best assets.
So where does the image we have of catty women come from? From that ole serpent, that's who. Who else knows better the fact that a house divided against itself will not stand?
The word that came to Eve in the garden--that woman would have an overwhelming desire toward man--also gave birth to competition among women. Amazingly early we begin to compare notes. Hmm, let's see, who's got prettier hair, prettier eyes, a better figure?
Instead we should protect ourselves and one another. Collectively, we set the standard for how we are to be treated based on the respect we render to one another.
When we exhibit a competitive attitude toward another sister, we are sending powerful messages about ourselves. Rather than giving us any kind of edge, covetousness, envy and jealousy always cause us to lose.
SHUN EVIL COMPARISONS The book of 1 Samuel relates the story of Peninnah and Hannah. They were both married to the same man.
Peninnah had children. Hannah had been barren for quite some time. Peninnah took it upon herself to irritate and provoke Hannah because she was childless.
But Hannah got on her face before God, and she was blessed with a beautiful son, Samuel, whom she dedicated to the Lord. According to Scripture, Hannah's son went on to become a very important person in Israel. But there is no further mention of Peninnah's children.
God honors a heart that is in the right place. It is never wise to celebrate the seeming misfortunes or shortcomings of others.
Envy hardens the heart. Once hardened, it is filled with "every evil thing" (James 3:14-16, NKJV).
These thoughts can lead a woman to seek the emotional or physical harm of anyone who stands between her and what she wants. They are the bridge to sins she once swore she would never commit and things she said she would never do or say.
These things don't occur just in adulterous affairs. They can arise over desire for a particular man's attention or for influence in his life that now seems threatened by someone new.
This was the case with Miriam. She became upset that her brother Moses went and married an Ethiopian woman (see Num. 12:1).
The new wife was an unwelcome influence who had her brother's ear. She was black, different, an outsider.
It seems that Miriam had lost her standing, at least in her mind, and wanted it back badly. Unwilling to give up the reins, she instead began to resent the newcomer. So she talked against Moses and his wife.
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Many Consumers Need Extra Help Putting Holiday Cheer Back Into Computers, Gadgets and other Electronics Gifts That Don't Always Work Right Out of The Box
REDWOOD SHORES, CA. - January 8, 2008 - After the Holidays, many people spend far too many frustrating hours trying to set up and configure their new computers, gadgets, iPods�, iPhones�, printers, and digital cameras they received as gifts. The tech experts at SupportSpace, an online service dedicated to providing a new standard of tech support, refer to the month of January 2008 as the technology hangover days. A couple of aspirin and a good night's sleep took care of the eggnog, but what about all those new gadgets you now have to deal with? Quick start guides and manuals are usually the first place consumers turn to when they can't find the on/off button or figure out how to install the batteries. After installing the measly memory card that comes with the camera and using up the few sheets of glossy paper that came with the printer, many people will be online visiting manufacturers' Web sites or user forums researching the 'how-to' sections for hours on end.
So what is the best cure for the nasty post-holiday technology hangover? With tech support from SupportSpace, consumers can directly access the Web's most robust community of independent, certified tech experts to get their holiday tech toys configured and up and running. SupportSpace's post-holiday pep-up includes a free support session for first-time users and future sessions for $24.95, regardless of session length.
"Technology is designed to be consumer-friendly, but that does not mean it is simple or easy for the average consumer to make gadgets work right out of the box," said Yair Grindlinger, Chief Executive Officer of SupportSpace. "There is a much better alternative to waiting in queue at a manufacturer's tech support call center or spending the time and money to have a technician come to your house. SupportSpace gives everyone instant, direct access to tech support professionals who are experts in the specific areas where they might need technical assistance."
According to recent research, laptops and PC sales surged over the holidays, with the industry estimating that over $22 billion was spent on computer-related gifts this season. In addition to games, digital cameras and media players, PC shipments are expected to increase by 16.7% in the fourth quarter alone, impressive when compared to only a 4.2% rise in general retail sales.
This post holiday season, a majority of consumers face a number of challenges whether they are a first-time iPod owner or are upgrading to a new PC. Getting digital cameras and camcorders to work properly, setting up email, and transferring files from an old computer can be overwhelming. Adding to these challenges is Microsoft's new Vista� operating system, which could leave some users struggling with compatibility and usability issues. SupportSpace offers a wide range of personalized support services, including installing operating systems, configuring security software and deleting pre-packaged spyware or simply setting up peripherals like printers or scanners.
First-Time Users Can Try SupportSpace for Free
New users can get their first support session for free and future sessions for only $24.95 regardless of session length, until the problem is resolved. Simply log on to SupportSpace any time of day, search for an expert of your choice and begin your free session.
SupportSpace is a unique online service dedicated to providing "a new standard of tech support". Giving consumers and small businesses access to the Web's most robust community of independent, certified tech experts capable of solving virtually any tech-related need, SupportSpace puts people in charge of their digital world-enabling them to find their own "personal" expert by sorting across level of expertise, price, availability and user ratings/reviews. Customers also have the option of building an on-going relationship with a particular expert who is familiar with their profile and individualized needs. SupportSpace provides immediate, real-time support offering online, phone and remote control access options (with no waiting in line or on hold). SupportSpace created the first proprietary support platform that allows experts to remotely share knowledge resulting in superior customer satisfaction.
Founded in 2006, SupportSpace is privately held and headquartered in Redwood Shores, CA with experts located across the U.S.
SupportSpace will showcase its online tech support service in the upcoming DEMO08 show from January 28 to January 30, 2008, at Palm Desert, CA.
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"World Domination 101" 101
Joseph S. Barrera III
Mon, 21 Jan 2002 16:43:16 -0800
> > If anyone can find any reference to Linus saying differently, please
> > post it -- I searched quite earnestly when I was lobbying for kernel
> > documentation and could find no such reference. The closest I ever
> > found was a comment by his mother (about how Linux might aid
> > developing nations). I have found no such quote by Linus Torvalds.
> Unfortunately, google doesn't seem to have the original 'world
> domination' newsgroup post archived, but as early as 1997 Linus was
> giving speeches titled 'World Domination 101' at places like Stanford,
> so he wasn't exactly disputing the imagery.
Perceptions of world domination
The origin of the phrase 'world domination by 2003'
Discover the "etymology" of the phrase "world domination by 2003," the life
of the man who coined it, and what Joe Barr learned about the community
while probing the roots of the Linux lexicon. (1,600 words)
By Joe Barr
ne thing that both builds and reflects community is language. The Linux
community is no exception. Even though Linux is global in nature and its
users speak virtually every language on the planet, some words and phrases
that have become a part of Linuxese transcend the mother tongue.
Penguinista is a good example. Coined independently by at least two members
of the Linux community, Xavier Basora and Brent Toderash, it is becoming a
part of Linuxspeak. I used the word in a column last year after Xavier had
used it in an email, and other journalists are using penguinista, too. Kevin
Reichard used the word recently in a LinuxPlanet editorial, perhaps after
seeing it in a tagline.
The image that penguinista calls to mind is so vivid and apropos that its
use is spreading at Internet speed. I registered the penguinista domain name
a few months ago, but to put it to better use than simply squatting on it,
I've since turned it over to Brent and Xavier.
"World domination" is an earlier, better known example that also reflects
the spirit of the Linux community, from Linus Torvalds to the most recent
convert from the Realm of Darkness, and that's the one I want to write about
in this column. As ESR (Eric S. Raymond) wrote recently, "The way Linux
hackers use the phrase 'world domination' is what science-fiction fans call
I actually began this column last year after interviewing Dave Wittinger. He
mentioned that he had attended the 1997 Linux Expo, where he heard Greg
"Doc" Wettstein's keynote. "Dr. Greg Wettstein gave a fantastic talk at that
conference, where he outlined how Linux will succeed," Wittinger said. "His
war cry, 'World Domination by 2003,' instantly became a legend with the
community. I'm still looking forward to 2003."
My curiosity about the origins of such a well-used phrase got the best of
me, and I decided to locate Greg to see if I could learn more about it.
An old hand on the Internet long before the Web was part of it, Greg also
was one of the earliest Linux hackers. Based on his initial experiences, he
was probably the least likely person to attach the phrase "world domination"
to the fledgling kernel. He told me he had downloaded version .12 but never
got it to run because at that stage of its development, the kernel required
Minix to work, and he didn't have it. But he didn't give up on Linux by a
long shot. As a matter of fact, Greg went on to create what may have been
the first commercial Linux implementation.
In 1992 when Linux was at release .95A, Greg tried the OS again. This time
he finally got it to boot. When he saw the $ prompt appear for the first
time, he knew immediately that "this changes everything."
It certainly changed his life. And it is still doing so. Having earned a
doctorate in pharmaceutical sciences, in 1992 Greg worked at the Roger Maris
Cancer Center in Fargo, N.D. He and an M.D. named Paul Etzell implemented a
medical information support system based on freely distributable software.
They called the system Perceptions and, based on Linux .96c, it was the OS's
first major commercial implementation.
Greg describes the implementation as "a network of 32 Linux workstations and
servers that supported Perceptions, which was the open-source-based practice
management system that we developed in combination with the Linux
deployment." He adds that the importance of Perceptions was not so much its
size but rather that "there were significant dollars being managed by the
system ... if the system didn't function, our ability to handle our patient
flow was compromised.... In short, the system was mission critical." (See
the Resources section below for a link to a complete description of the
Greg remembers his keynote at the 1997 Linux Expo, of course, but he isn't
sure if that was the first time he used the phrase "world domination." He
thinks he used it initially at the first Free Software Foundation conference
in 1996. But we'll get back to the roots of the phrase later.
In 1997 Greg's path split from Linux and the march to world domination. A
corporate merger in 1996 had brought in a new CEO at the cancer center's
parent organization. With the new CEO came a new "management and governance
philosophy," Greg said, that "pretty much signaled that our solution
wouldn't be acceptable."
Rather than sit around helplessly watching his Linux creation needlessly
euthanized by new management, Greg left. At about the same time, a patient
with whom he had developed a close friendship passed away. And when members
of the patient's family learned that Greg had left the center, they offered
him a job moving dirt.
For the next year or two Greg could be found working with a construction
crew, moving dirt from where it wasn't wanted to where it was. The
construction work gave him tangible, concrete goals and results, winters off
to pursue his love of cross-country skiing, and the time to do some internal
One day as Greg was driving a dozer, building dikes to combat the massive
1997 flood, a caravan of cars drove onto the job site and wove its way among
the earth-moving equipment. The head of North Dakota State University's ITS
(Information Technology Services) had come to recruit Greg for a job. Greg
wasn't at all sure he wanted to trade places, but the promise of designing a
Linux solution, this time for the state's needs, was more than he could
NDSU ITS supports academic computing for the entire state of North Dakota,
and Greg is responsible for its server operations. According to Greg, he was
given a goal of consolidating and homogenizing the server infrastructure to
increase efficiency and reduce management costs. That was accomplished by
the heavy use of Linux and open source technology. "Our strategy involved
deploying SMP Linux servers wherever possible and integrating these with Sun
servers for supporting software that was not available for Linux," Greg
I had to ask. Forget about downloading release .12 or implementing the first
major commercial Linux solution with release .96c. Forget all the hype that
began to swell in the second half of the '90s and is still a part of the
Linux scene. Even given his on again, off again association with Linux, does
Greg think today that Linux is on the way to world domination by 2003? "I do
for servers," he replied, "provided that the open source community
recognizes the middleware threat posed by Win2000."
In my hunt for the origin of the phrase, I also asked several Linux
luminaries if they remembered when and where they had first heard it used.
Linus Torvalds wasn't sure. He said, "I thought I had used it as a title for
the 'number of users' slide as early as DECUS '94, but I actually went back
and checked, and my slide just said 'sales figures.'"
Alan Cox searched his mail archives and came up with a lead. He found an
email message from Jeff Uphoff dated May 6, 1995, which contained the
X-Quote-I-Like: "World domination. Fast" --Linus Torvalds.
After being given his email address at Transmeta, I queried Jeff about it.
He replied "Earliest reference I can find is from a December 1994 article on
comp.os.linux.announce: it's a write-up of the December 1 Linux conference
at FedUnix in D.C. I remember attending this and seeing Greg Greg give a
Jeff also provided the following snippet from that newsgroup post, Unix Sig
notes by Christopher J. Fearnley:
Finally, just in case you didn't see a copy of the January Linux Journal. I
should quote Linus' answer to Belinda Frazier's question "Do you have any
new hopes for Linux?" Linus responded: "I think my 'plan' says something
like 'World domination. Fast.' But we'll see."
That's as far back down the trail as I could go. Perhaps some readers out
there can provide even more detail or evidence of earlier use. As I've put
this column together, though, I've come to realize that I've learned a
couple of things that are more important than the origin of a phrase anyway.
The road behind us is interesting and informative, but in the Linux
community, when something was first said and by whom doesn't matter nearly
as much as what was done to advance us toward the goal. We're all pioneers,
and we're all surrounded by heroes.
About the author
Joe Barr is a contributing editor at LinuxWorld and a recovering programmer.
In addition to writing for LinuxWorld and The Dweebspeak Primer, he is
currently working with Nicholas Petreley on a Linux documentation project
called The Essential Linux Open Book. Visit Joe's Desktop Linux discussion
in the new Linux Forum, hosted on ITworld.com.
ESR on World Domination:
Kevin Reichard editorial:
Announcement of 1997 Linux Expo:
Description of 1996 FSF Conference:
Linux .95a Release Notes:
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Balochistan: Thousands protest against enforced-disappearances of their loved ones
Date 2012-09-17 | Topic: Quetta
|The families of abducted Baloch took out a protest rally against human rights violations and kill and dump of their loved ones by Pakistani security agencies. They demanded from the UN to take practical steps and play its role for safe release of enforced-disappeared Baloch. |
According to details thousands of people rallied from Quetta Press Club to Assembly Chowk (roundabout) and staged a sit-in protest outside Serena Hotel where the UN Working Group on Enforced or Involuntary Disappearances had arrived to investigate the issue of missing persons in Balochistan. The Baloch Human Rights Organisation had given the call for the protest rally. The peaceful protesters were holding pictures of their disappeared and killed loved ones and placards inscribed against state atrocities in Balochistan.
Relatives of enforced-disappeared Baloch and the leaders of Voice for Baloch Missing Persons addressed the rally. The speakers included Chairman of VBMP Nasrullah Baloch, sister of abducted Zakir Majeed Baloch, sister of Dr Deen Mohammad Baloch, sister of Sami Mengal, sister of Waja Wahid Baloch, sister of Kabeer Baloch, daughter of Munshi Mohammad Bux Baloch and Advocate Munir Mirwani, brother of Hameed Jamal Baloch and several others. The speakers and participants of the rally welcomed the UN WGEID to Balochistan and expressed the concern over the continued abductions and extra-judicially killings of Baloch activists. They charged that a calculated genocide of the Baloch nation was underway as Baloch youth were regularly being abducted, tortured and killed in custody by state security forces.
The speakers further said that most educated and politically conscious youth including students, doctors, teachers, lawyers, university professors and intellectuals were being killed in custody and targeted killed by proxies backed by the state forces. “Over 400 Baloch have been killed under custody and around same number of people have been target killed but nobody bothers to even question the perpetrators.” The speakers further said, The UN mission’s visit was a positive step but the tragedy of enforced-disappearances in Balochistan could not be resolved from a hotel room. The delegation should visit those areas of Balochistan where the military operations are continuing. Hundreds of youth have been abducted from those areas and people’s houses have been destroyed, crops set on fire and livestock looted. Those people do not have approach to cities and media does not bother to report their plight.
The families of enforced-disappeared Baloch said it was disappointing that the Chief Justice has refused to meet the UN team. They said the judiciary in Pakistan was well-aware of the real culprits behind abductions and extra-judicial killings because during the hearings they have several times indicated the involvement of Pakistan’s security agencies but it was beyond understanding that none of the perpetrators have so far been arrested.
The Baloch Human Rights Organisations said they have succeeded to bring the plight to Baloch people to the attention of International Community and UN team’s visit to Balochistan was the result of their struggle and sacrifices made by Baloch youth. They vowed to continue their struggle until the release of all abducted Baloch. They appealed to the UN to take practical steps for securing safe release of enforced-disappeared Baloch activists.
Meanwhile hundreds of Baloch families, on call of BHRO, held a protest demonstration outside Karachi Press Club against disappearances in Balochistan. The protesters strongly criticized the Pakistani civil society and judiciary for avoiding meeting the UN team during their visit to Balochistan. They praised the UN team for its visit and meeting the families of abducted and extra-judicially killed Baloch persons.
They said the visit of UN team was the result of continuous demands of the Baloch nation for International Community to take notice of state atrocities in Balochistan. The BHRO said Pakistani institutions and media have always tried to misrepresent the issue of enforced disappearances and extra judicial killings and tried to mislead the world about state atrocities and violations of international laws. Hence, it was extremely important that UN meet visit Balochistan to find out the ground realities. They said the UN’s visit to Balochistan has created fear and panic among the Pakistani civil societies and media that is why they were taking help of lies and baseless allegation because they knew their real face was going to be exposed to the world.
The BHRO leaders said Baloch nation has high expectation from the UN team that they will fulfill their responsibilities and highlight the Baloch plight. They said Baloch do not expect justice from the Pakistani constituted commissions that is why they pinned their hopes to independent bodies like the UN. They appealed the UN to take practical actions against Pakistan in accordance with International laws to stop the unabated state terrorism in Balochistan from past many decades. “We appeal the UN to take practical steps for release of Baloch missing persons and ongoing human rights violations in Balochistan”, said the BHRO leaders. | <urn:uuid:94f8175b-87b0-48df-b6f6-a1b6cf1f5788> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://balochwarna.com/xnews/print.116/Printer-Friendly-Page.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368699273641/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516101433-00026-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.965136 | 1,058 | 1.609375 | 2 |
- Tech & Gadgets
- BRW. lounge
Published 12 October 2012 14:34, Updated 15 October 2012 11:05
About 70 per cent of SMEs are still processing data manually, resulting in wasted time and errors, new research shows.
A survey by research firm Colmar conducted on behalf of accounting software provider BankLink, shows that SMEs are still uncomfortable providing their bank passwords and logins to third parties to process transactions.
The qualitative survey of more than 300 SMEs with annual business revenue of between $25,000 and $2 million found that 43 per cent were late with supplying information to their accountant and 32 per cent provided inaccurate information.
The research also found that the information businesses supply to accountants was at odds with what accountants expect to receive. Almost 60 per cent of SMEs admitted they had to clarify information for their accountants and 15 per cent said they had to have their accountant fix mistakes they had made.
“This is far from ideal. SMEs would benefit more by receiving business advice ... from their accounting services,” says an accountant with Alan Lewis Accountants, Christie Lewis.
She says SMEs struggle to keep their accounts in order. This is consistent with previous research showing SMEs are failing to pay their bills on time. “Many SMEs simply do not know what’s required of them for the accountant to do their job properly,” she says.
“In some cases, they struggle to find the time to get the information together, or worse yet, by the time they come to supply the information to us, they’ve lost key parts.”
General manager of BankLink Australia John Dunkerley says the risk of error is heightened because 70 per cent of SMEs still use manual data entry and many of them don’t know how to use DIY solutions.
“SMEs are extremely busy running their businesses and often have little time for doing the books,” he says. “Yet many are wasting precious time having to clarify and resolve issues with their accountant, which could be better spent on their core business or improving performance and financial understanding.”
He says the fact that many SMEs are still worried about data security means providers need to ensure secure, bank-approved data feeds rather than alternative “screen scraping” technologies that connect through internet banking. | <urn:uuid:0eb202e2-2b8d-460c-aed2-71f09907528f> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.brw.com.au/p/sections/fyi/smes_held_back_by_manual_and_diy_h7GpBx3VMu52i31KueKJ9J | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368700958435/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516104238-00011-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.96635 | 489 | 1.71875 | 2 |
The Jonathan Daniels Corner in The St. James Episcopal Church
This commemoration of civil rights hero Jonathan Daniels was inspired by St. James' parishioner Melissa Herman. Although Herman held no official church leadership post, she approached The Rev. Norman MacLeod about a more long-lasting tribute than the existing exhibit in the summer of 2008.
My colleague from the "Journey to Freedom" celebration of Daniels' life, Melissa Herman, introduced me to Rev. MacLeod and we three created the concept for this corner. St. James Vestry members took a particular interest in the project, offering suggestions and refinements, and Lorraine Madden merits special recognition for negotiating helpful compromises. Special thanks to Peter Poanessa of Keene Signworx for taking our design and faithfully constructing a three-dimensional experience out of wood, Plexiglas, photography, type and talent.
Since I first learned the story of Jon Daniels, I have welcomed every opportunity to share it. My gratitude to Daniels' documentary filmmaker Lawrence Benaquist, Daniels' beloved friend Carolyn (Pierce) Sturgis, Journey to Freedom Chair Barbara Berry and the entire Journey committee who provided my education.
During that project marking the 40th anniversary of Daniels' sacrifice, a theme surfaced: "May his story never end." I like to think that every time we act in the spirit of Jon Daniels, with courage, goodness and fairness, his story continues. And so, my hat is off to "outside agitator" Melissa Herman who not only piped up with her idea but followed through with fundraising for the cause (and provided the photo at left).
It is my hope that everyone who stands in this corner will see his or her reflection in the panel and sign up to do something good in the world, following the words of Isaiah, "Here am I, Send Me."
Ruth Sterling, designer
STERLING Design & Communications and past Martin Luther King, Jr. / Jonathan Daniels Committee member,
August 13, 2009 | <urn:uuid:f2a6637b-8b67-443c-8d28-dff33e057872> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.ci.keene.nh.us/government/boards-commissions/m-l-king-/-j-daniels/jon-daniels-corner | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368696382584/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516092622-00009-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.931072 | 409 | 1.523438 | 2 |
Interview With Tom Brokaw of NBC
Secretary of State
QUESTION: Madame Secretary, in some ways, is it a more dangerous world now than it was 20 years ago? We had two superpowers talking to each other. They both had nuclear weapons, but they were constantly in touch and Gorbachev was in the Soviet Union. Now, we have rogue states with nuclear weapons; no one in those states wants to talk to us. And we have terrorist organizations that are stateless. In 20 years, have we gone backward rather than forward?
SECRETARY CLINTON: Well, Tom, as we always do with history, we’ve moved into a different era. The threat that the Cold War posed – and I remember it very well, I’m a child of the Cold War and I remember being told to get under my desk and put my head up against the locker, depending upon who the teacher was and how she thought we could be safe from a nuclear catastrophe. So we lived with a great deal of fear.
Looking back, it appears like it was more orderly, that there were these two superpowers in this bipolar world and we were at a kind of standoff when it came to nuclear deterrent. Now, we are in a world where there are more different kinds of dangers, the terrain is more complex, and we’re called upon to navigate it and navigate through it the way that a prior generation did the Cold War.
QUESTION: Is the Middle East the new Berlin, the crossroads of the confrontation?
SECRETARY CLINTON: I think that, unfortunately, there are many Berlins. I think that’s one of the problems that we face. We have the Pakistan-Afghanistan border, we have Iran, we have the Middle East, we have other conflicts that can easily get out of control. We have, as you’ve said, stateless terrorists and networks that are pursuing their own objectives. So when you look at the map, there’s not one place you can put your finger and say this is where it’s possible that we would have another confrontation. You look and you say this could get out of hand here and that could be a problem there.
But I am fundamentally optimistic. I think that despite the challenges we confront, we are focused on them. We understand the threats that are posed and we’re trying to get the world to be not a multi-polar world so much as a multi-partner world.
QUESTION: Last night, you described Germany as our partner in Afghanistan. But almost everyone who’s looked at Germany’s performance there believes that both politically and militarily Germany is a reluctant partner at best. Shouldn’t we expect more from the Germans in Afghanistan?
SECRETARY CLINTON: Well, I think that the Germans have done a lot in Afghanistan. Everyone can look at everyone else and say, well, you weren’t ready for this and you didn’t perform to the utmost here. But I think it’s in part because this is a very different kind of challenge that we’re confronting together, and we’re learning as we go. I think we are resolved to handle the threat posed by terrorism and this syndicate of terror that al-Qaida and their extremist allies are part of.
And certainly on many different levels, the Germans have been resolute. They have put in 4,000 troops. They have been willing to take responsibility for large parts of the territory in the north. They have worked to train and prepare the police and the security forces. But I think it’s fair to say that it’s only been for the last couple of years that the United States has understood how better to confront the challenge that is posed by organized terrorist groups, and we’re working closely with our NATO allies and other allies around the world and we’re getting better at it. But we didn’t start off that well. Right before the first Iraq war, we thought we knew what warfare was, and the first Iraq war turned out to be pretty much in line with what people thought. Well, the second Iraq was a whole different challenge. So I think we’ve evolved our military and our political strategy and understanding, and it’s a learning experience and I think we’re getting better at it.
QUESTION: Given all of that, all the military analysts that I talk to across the board say the Canadians are helping us a lot, the British are helping us a lot, the Poles are doing a great job, but the Germans are kind of sitting on their hands. They don’t want to leave their bases because there is not much will here in Berlin in the political leadership.
SECRETARY CLINTON: But to be fair, Tom, after World War II nobody wanted to see German troops anywhere. Think about it. And the German people themselves wanted to rein in their military capacity and certainly their military ambitions. Having an out-of-territory conflict like what we’re seeing in Afghanistan has really pushed the Germans, and it’s been remarkable that they have responded with as much commitment and sacrifice as they’ve shown.
So I think it’s easy to stand back and say, well, the Germans this, the Germans that. I’m very impressed that the Germans have made a political decision that has put them in harm’s way, that has moved troops out of Europe to a battlefield far from home, because this has been a very difficult political decision for them given their understandable allergy to being looked at as though they were once again a military power.
QUESTION: So as Secretary of State, you think they’re doing as well as can be expected?
SECRETARY CLINTON: I think that they have done very well under the circumstances. I think that, like us, they are learning all the time. And like us, they’ve taken casualties and they’ve put their men and women in harm’s way, and they have been willing to join us. But we’re all in this together.
QUESTION: As Secretary of State, would you rather see a Mikhail Gorbachev back in charge of Russia than Vladimir Putin?
SECRETARY CLINTON: Well, I kind of like President Medvedev myself. (Laughter.) I am very impressed with him and what he’s trying to do. He is clearly speaking out on issues ranging from democracy and human rights and the need to modernize the Russian economy that need to be discussed in Russia. So I don’t pretend to understand how the balance of power actually works inside of Russia, but I think he’s a modern man with a clear and compelling understanding of what he wants to see his country achieve.
QUESTION: I talked to Mikhail Gorbachev here, and he said the United States made a mistake in ignoring Russia for too long, and Russia struck back in its own manner. Are we about to enter a new phase with Russia and a more cooperative arrangement?
SECRETARY CLINTON: I’m very pleased at what we’ve seen thus far. As we have famously said, we wanted to reset the relationship, and we wanted to work with the Russians wherever we could, narrow the areas of disagreement, stand up where we must against some of what we thought were their excessive behavior. But I think that when it comes to nuclear disarmament, we’re in the midst of complex, important negotiations over reduction of our nuclear arsenals. We work together on everything from North Korea to Armenia and Turkey. I think that they fully appreciate that we’re not always going to agree, but that at least the Obama Administration, and certainly the President and myself, are showing them the respect that they deserve to have and are looking for ways that we can work together.
QUESTION: Do you remember where you were 20 years ago tonight?
SECRETARY CLINTON: I was in Arkansas. And it was – I remember being glued to our TV sets, which in those days, as you might recall, were a lot smaller. And they were in boxes. They weren’t hung on walls. And just hanging on all of the coverage. I saw a lot of you that night, and it was extraordinary because you could give us that firsthand feeling. And I heard last night you were just – you just happened to be there. You didn’t have any inside information that tonight was the night, but there was something happening, it was kind of building, and you were there. And you said, I think, the war is over and the wall is down. And it was just one of those extraordinary historical moments. So I saw a lot of you that day – (laughter) – and a day or two later.
QUESTION: You’re a veteran of another kind of war. Do you have any advice for the President on how to get healthcare finally passed?
SECRETARY CLINTON: Well, I was thrilled that it was finally passed in the House. I called him as soon as the vote was over. I called the Speaker. This is an extraordinary accomplishment. Now we turn our attention to the Senate, try to get them to go along with their own version, because having been in the Senate for eight years, I know they won’t take the House version and just pass it. But I’m very optimistic. I think we’re going to get a bill by the end of the year.
QUESTION: How long do you think it’ll be before we see Harry and Louise on television?
SECRETARY CLINTON: You know what, I think Harry and Louise have thought better of what they said 16 years ago. (Laughter.) So I don’t think you’ll see Harry and Louise. You see the tea parties and interrupted town halls, but most Americans over the course of the last 16 years have really understood more about what was at stake in this healthcare debate. It’s not just about those who don’t have insurance. It’s about the quality of your insurance and the cost of your insurance. And for a while, people thought, well, we’ll haggle it through the insurance system itself. But that didn’t work. And so now there’s a readiness that we saw enacted in that close vote in the House, and I think that the senators heard that message.
QUESTION: Madame Secretary, thank you.
SECRETARY CLINTON: Thanks, Tom.
# # # | <urn:uuid:5467c84a-889d-4f58-a8cc-73b257892baa> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://m.state.gov/md131699.htm | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368705195219/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516115315-00041-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.982062 | 2,223 | 1.773438 | 2 |
“I was looking at it in my rear-view mirror,” the 19-year-old Tupelo man recalled Monday about his experience with a massive storm system that barreled across south Mississippi.
The powerful twister tore a path across at least three counties – Forrest, Lamar and Marion – injuring more than 60 people, but residents marveled that no one died.
Officials said circumstances converged to ensure no lives were lost in what should have been a deadly storm: Sirens and TV broadcasts gave people as much as 30 minutes of warning; the University of Southern Mississippi was emptier than usual because of Mardi Gras; and most businesses were either closed or quiet because it was a Sunday.
Forecasters were able to closely track where the storm was headed and had confirmed reports from people on the ground and from radar, making it easier to give warning, said weather service meteorologist Chad Entremont.
Bennett Forrest of Tupelo and his friends took shelter in his apartment bathroom after text warnings from the University of Southern Mississippi.
Moments before, the 20-year-old Tupelo High School graduate said, “The sky was green, it made me think of ‘The Wizard of Oz.’”
Forrest said his immediate neighborhood was spared heavy damage but that much of town looks like a mess with trees and construction debris everywhere.
The USM campus, where he and Rial are theater majors, was off-limits as emergency workers dealt with the storm’s destruction.
“We could hear the rumble, far away,” Forrest said about the few minutes before they took shelter. “Then we could see it over the trees and the debris being blown up.”
Later, as they ventured out to see what had happened, the city was largely in darkness without street or traffic lights.
“It was very eerie,” Forrest said.
Gov. Phil Bryant said the twister carved a path of destruction roughly 75 miles long, although National Weather Service officials have not yet determined the tornado’s exact path or how long it was on the ground. Early indications show it was an EF3 tornado with wind speeds reaching 145 miles per hour in parts of Hattiesburg.
It touched down on Hardy Street, a principal Hattiesburg thoroughfare that runs along the south end of the USM campus.
On the campus, trees were snapped in half around the heavily damaged Alumni House, where part of the roof was ripped away. Windows in a nearby building were blown out, and heavy equipment worked to clear streets nearby in a heavy rain after the worst of the weather had passed.
The university was under a state of emergency and told people to stay away from campus until further notice.
Robert St. John, who writes a Sunday food column for the Daily Journal, posted on his Facebook page that the twister passed about 200 feet behind his restaurant.
“No major damage other than a few windows blown out, holes in the roof, a/c units turned over etc.,” he wrote, showing a photo of a heavily damaged house behind the restaurant. “Our neighbors weren’t so lucky.”
USM students and staff are on Mardi Gras break and aren’t expected back on campus until Wednesday.
Rial credits his friends’ suggestion to play basketball with saving his life.
“I don’t even play basketball,” the THS graduate said. “But it saved me. Otherwise, I would have been home in a neighborhood that’s flat today.”
The son of Cliff and Sherry Rial said he and friends were driving toward campus when they saw the tornado.
When they reached the workout center, the doors were locked, and they headed toward a fraternity house.
That’s when Rial said he saw the storm behind him.
“At first, we just saw electricity going up through it, like it had hit power lines,” Rial said. “It was terrifying.”
The sheer scope of the damage made it difficult to do a full assessment. Some 50 roads were closed at one point because of felled trees, downed power lines and debris.
About 200 homes and mobile homes were damaged or destroyed, with another 100 apartments left uninhabitable. Several thousand remained without power, though the electricity was expected to be restored to most customers later Monday, Bryant said.
Oak Grove High School near Hattiesburg was hit and its athletics facilities severely damaged.
While more tornadoes were not in the forecast, heavy rain was expected into today. And that could make cleanup efforts even more difficult, said National Weather Service meteorologist Brad Bryant in Jackson. | <urn:uuid:b07b4543-ddb3-4e1c-b9f9-bb1bf0a7459e> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://djournal.com/view/news_obituaries_full/21689625/article-%E2%80%98It-was-terrifying%E2%80%99--Hattiesburg-area--USM-begin-tornado-recovery | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368706499548/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516121459-00010-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.984996 | 982 | 1.5625 | 2 |
We are pleased to present National Security Zone: War 2.0, a special report by NSZ Carnegie Fellow Sharon Weinberger, who spent the six months investigating social media and its opportunity to predict and perhaps even influence, future international events.
The Pentagon is now funding efforts to develop models that can predict rising insurgencies, or even identify ways to undermine covert terrorist networks. Military-funded researchers and private companies are looking at how to apply these models to cell phone records, online social networks, and data collected from numerous other online and public sources. This burgeoning field, which we call “War 2.0,” is a fast growing, but little examined phenomenon.
War 2.0 includes extensive original research on the growth of this field and catalogues the research projects run by various parts of the national security community; reports on how they’re being used operationally; and shows the connections between the entities funding and performing work in this burgeoning area.
Whether such efforts are successful or not, they are likely to influence national security strategy in the years ahead. See the complete package. | <urn:uuid:ddd1d5f4-b050-4533-b435-eda45dd96aee> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://nationalsecurityzone.org/site/introducing-war-2-0/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368701852492/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516105732-00030-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.944905 | 222 | 1.828125 | 2 |
Interesting topic indeed
Tim, it would be great if you could remember where you found your infos, I am curious about this article.
Without knowing the content of the article it seems very strange to me that the car should have been in Romania in the 80ies.
Due to the fact that Romania supported Germany in WWII they were treated after the war in the same way the Russians dealed with Germany.
The owner of 412039, King Michael, was from the German Habsburger tribe, that may be an explication why they were connected to the Germans.
The King went into exile to Swizzerland, I think he's still there, but he could just save his life. His Alfas remained in Romania until the Russians took them as reparation.
In the book "Dem Silber auf der Spur" by Nikolai Alexandrow, he names Lew Schugurow as source for the information that 18 cars were brought by train to Russia. Most of them were Auto Union race cars, more interesting were of course two Alfa Romeos: a 8C2900C and a 6C2500CC.
As trophy from war those cars came into ownership of single persons or organisations.
This is why I am sceptic when I read that the 2.9 should have remained in Romania all the years.
And btw, there was no other 2.9 around to bring to Russia
But we know that there were also missed Auto Union cars that survived and even came through the iron curtain, so there is still hope that 039 will turn up | <urn:uuid:f8cb82cc-650d-455a-8f6d-7706850121a7> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.alfabb.com/bb/forums/limited-production-1910-1949/80809-8c-2-9-412039-roumania.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368705195219/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516115315-00027-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.987422 | 325 | 1.578125 | 2 |
Keeping John Lennon in perspective
By Michael M. Bates
It has already started. With the 25th anniversary of John Lennon's death approaching, the adoration of the rocker has begun anew.
I was a Beatles fan like just about everyone else. Bought all their albums and have many of their tunes on CD today. I preferred their earlier stuff and didn't think Sergeant Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band, while an innovative concept album, was as good as what they'd been doing.
The release of the White Album, which included barkers like "Everybody's Got Something To Hide Except Me And My Monkey, "Savoy Truffle" and "Revolution 9," made it evident the magic was fading.
I thought it was interesting that John, who was often viewed as the "smart Beatle" and the musical driving force behind the group, had a rather mediocre solo career. Maybe it was changes in his personal life or drugs or boredom or something, but the quality of most of John's work after the Beatles' breakup was unexceptional.
Lennon became active in the antiwar movement. His liberal views conferred on him an intellectual patina as well as a widespread sense that he spoke for most, if not all, young people. Even after all these years, that assumption remains. A recent NBC Dateline episode centered on Mark Chapman, who killed Lennon. The program's web site referred to "that fateful day when a generation's voice was silenced."
I can't speak for all Baby Boomers obviously, but Lennon certainly wasn't my voice. As an example, he's quoted: "Get out there and get peace, think peace, live peace, and breathe peace, and you'll get it as soon as you like." That's naïve as long as there are people – and there will always be people – who want to control almost every aspect of other people's lives.
Lennon and the antiwar movement's emphasis on peace at any price meant, to many of us, acquiescence and surrender to Communism. I'm not alone in believing the antiwar crowd gave aid and comfort to enemies while they killed our soldiers. People displaying peace signs encouraged Communist North Vietnam to hang in there until it prevailed. So, no, I don't see how Dateline can accurately characterize Lennon as a generation's voice.
Nor can I fathom how John's death was "one of the most heinous crimes of the century." That's how Dateline's Hoda Kotb characterized it. John Lennon's murder, like most murders, was tragic. Classifying it as "one of the most heinous crimes of the century," though, is over the top.
Millions of people were killed were killed by Mao. Millions of people were killed by Stalin. Millions of people were killed by Hitler. More than a million people died in Pol Pot's Cambodian killing fields. Hundreds of thousands died at the hands of Ugandan dictator Idi Amin. Hundreds of thousands died in the Rwanda civil war. Saddam Hussein is responsible for murdering hundreds of thousands.
And what of the more than 900 who died in 1978 at the hands of Leftist "Reverend" Jim Jones in Guyana? In this century there were Leopold and Loeb, Susan Smith, Charles Manson, Andrew Cunanan, Timothy McVeigh, Dennis Rader, Charles Whitman, Richard Speck, John Wayne Gacy, Jeffrey Dahmer and Charles Starkweather. There were Columbine, Heaven's Gate, the Zebra Killers, the Tylenol murders, the Birmingham church bombing and the Atlanta youth murders. The list could go on and on.
So how in the world can John Lennon's murder possibly be considered one of the most heinous crimes of the century? It can't.
John Lennon, contrary to what we'll be hearing and reading for the next couple of weeks, isn't worthy of idolatry. Like the rest of us, he was a struggling mortal trying to make sense of this world. He was a man of contradictions. What else could a guy who wrote of imagining a world with no possessions while being chauffeured in a Rolls Royce limousine be?
He died too young and I wish he were alive. I think he was intellectually honest enough that he'd have recognized some of his own mistakes. Let's appreciate him for what he was: A talented guy who, with the other Beatles, gave us a lot of enjoyable music that we're still listening to. But I wish the mainstream media would put away the incense.
John himself would be the first to keep his life and times in perspective.
Mike Bates is the author of Right Angles and Other Obstinate Truths. This essay originally appeared in the November 24, 2005 Oak Lawn (IL) Reporter.
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© 1996-2013, Enter Stage Right and/or its creators. All rights reserved. | <urn:uuid:c80ec909-6fac-4e5b-884a-9908ce6e7b6e> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://enterstageright.com/archive/articles/1205/1205lennon.htm | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368705195219/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516115315-00004-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.981242 | 1,010 | 1.804688 | 2 |
Stop Snoring Tips
© Ed Miliband - Credit: Getty Images
Ed Miliband recently had an operation to help cure his sleep apnoea -- a condition which causes restless nights and excessive snoring. Whilst snoring may seem like a minor complaint to many, the health implications for sufferers can be huge including high cholesterol, raised blood pressure and even an increased chance of stroke, and not to mention the social implications which can include marital disharmony and irritability.
There are a number of practical steps that snorers can take to try to alleviate snoring. Here, Dr Myles Black, ENT surgeon at The Private Clinic of Harley Street and an expert in the causes and treatments for snoring, shares his practical advice to help you finally put snoring to bed.
Mr. Myles Black as the ENT surgeon at The Private Clinic of Harley Street www.theprivateclinic.co.uk | <urn:uuid:063f57b9-4cde-44c1-b936-5c949ab9159d> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://uk.askmen.com/top_10/fitness/stop-snoring-tips.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368702448584/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516110728-00042-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.953073 | 184 | 1.664063 | 2 |
So by overkill proofs I mean simple results, for which there are simple proofs are available, but which can be proven using much more advance tools (possibly in a silly way). As a for instance, there's proof that there are infinity many primes using topology, Euclid had a proof 300.b.C which anyone with high school math could understand. However this guy came up this, quite clever.
By simple proof I mean a result simple or not, for which the only known proof was either too long or difficult, but that in the recent years someone had managed to prove with a shorter or wittier argument. As a for instance Cauchy’s theorem (in Groups):
Although I couldn’t find the original proof, I remember that my professor told us that it was a bit long and quite dark. However, McKay came out in 1959 with one of the most elegant proofs I’ve seen in my life.
Can think of any like the above? I’ll contribute if I recall any. | <urn:uuid:f386410d-ceb4-46da-99c2-d030e66ea50b> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.reddit.com/r/math/comments/141wwr/overkill_proofs_simple_proofs/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368699273641/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516101433-00026-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.951006 | 215 | 1.796875 | 2 |
Published January 31, 2013
UB Athletics will celebrate National Girls and Women in Sports Day (NGWSD) on Feb. 7 with a Women in Sports Symposium designed to educate, empower and inspire women in sports and sport-related fields.
The symposium, geared toward coaches of all levels, administrators, athletic staff and graduate students interested in a career in athletics, will begin at 3 p.m. in the Ramada Inn and Conference Center, 2402 North Forest Road, Getzville, adjacent to the North Campus.
Keynote speaker will be Jolene Nagel, head women’s volleyball coach at Duke University. Nagel, who has been at Duke for 14 seasons, owns the university’s all-time wins record and ranks fourth all-time in the Atlantic Coast Conference in career wins at a conference school.
Workshops topics include “Recruiting Champions,” “Building a Game Plan for Success,” “A Balancing Act: Coaching, Leading and Living Successfully” and “How to Get to the Next Level Successfully.”
The cost of the event is $30, which includes the workshops, a networking reception dinner and a ticket to the 7 p.m. UB women’s basketball game versus Bowling Green in Alumni Arena.
In addition to the symposium, UB’s celebration of NGWSD included a multi-sport clinic for girls in grades 4-8 held on Jan. 26 and visits by UB student-athletes to local elementary schools. The topic of the school visits is Title IX: the importance of the law that ensures gender equity in college sports programs, the opportunities it has provided for girls and the impact it has had on girls and women in sports.
This year’s theme for UB’s NGWSD celebration is “Girls in Sport, An investment in the Future.” | <urn:uuid:e9f4f8e2-6b4e-42a6-ac17-34f822ba1114> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.buffalo.edu/ubreporter/campus.host.html/content/shared/university/news/ub-reporter-articles/briefs/2013/sports_symposium.detail.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368698924319/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516100844-00012-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.953761 | 402 | 1.554688 | 2 |
An Atlanta Editorial Voice May Move to the Right
In the 1950s and ’60s, under Ralph McGill, The Atlanta Constitution infuriated conservative white readers with its liberal views, especially on segregation.
[Last week The Atlanta Journal-Constitution announced that] most of the editorial board will be replaced in May, a move that could create a different — and perhaps less liberal — voice for one of the country’s leading regional papers.
Ms. [Cynthia] Tucker and three others will leave the board, but will continue to write their columns. The paper’s editor, Julia Wallace; the senior managing editor, James Mallory; and the publisher, Doug Franklin, will join the editorial board, a role they did not play before. Andre Jackson, who joined the board last year, will become the editorial editor. In addition, the paper recently hired two conservative columnists.
To some longtime readers inside and outside the paper, the changes add up to a stance that will be more conservative over all, and more averse to controversy.
“I think they’re trying not to offend,” said Kenneth Edelstein, a blogger and former editor of Creative Loafing, an Atlanta alternative weekly. “It’s definitely a move to the right, and it’s a real change for a paper that was the most important progressive voice in the South for a long time.”
Atlanta had two papers, the more liberal Constitution and the more conservative Journal, until their parent company, Cox Enterprises, merged them in 2002. | <urn:uuid:eb892e5a-c70e-4e4b-aed1-886507e72a2e> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://crackersquire.blogspot.jp/2009/04/atlanta-editorial-voice-may-move-to.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368708766848/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516125246-00026-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.941901 | 325 | 1.617188 | 2 |
POSTED: Friday, July 27, 2012 - 2:00pm
UPDATED: Friday, July 27, 2012 - 2:04pm
NBC NATIONAL NEWS — Federal authorities seized more than $20 million worth of statues and other Indian cultural artifacts from Manhattan storage units Thursday.
Among the artifacts seized were sandstone and bronze statues, some of which are believed to have been stolen directly from temples in India, officials said.
Homeland Security Investigations agents executed search warrants issued for the storage units, allegedly owned by Subhash Kapoor, the owner of Art of the Past Gallery.
The Manhattan District Attorney's Office also issued an arrest warrant for Kapoor for possessing the stolen property.
The artifacts were seized as part of a Homeland Security Cultural Property, Art and Antiques Program investigation.
Authorities say Kapoor created false provenances to disguise the origins of the stolen antiquities.
"The statues and sculptures recovered today are worth millions in the antiquities business, but they are priceless to the nations that they were robbed from," said James T. Hayes Jr., special agent in charge of Homeland Security Investigations in New York. "These seizures send a clear message to looters, smugglers and dealers to think twice before trying to profit from illicit cultural property in the United States."
Since 2007, Homeland Security Investigations has repatriated over 2,500 items to more than 23 countries, officials said. | <urn:uuid:bb9911ab-68a2-4382-960d-08dcc2425d2f> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.nbc33tv.com/print/node/31013 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368699273641/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516101433-00012-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.955344 | 283 | 1.546875 | 2 |
Despite a spate of recent setbacks, plug-in hybrids are here to stay, and consumers and automakers need to be patient as the technology struggles toward competitiveness.
That's what experts are saying in the wake of three difficult months in which the reputation of electrified vehicles was marred by a fire and a temporary manufacturing shutdown for the Chevy Volt, as well as high-profile problems for startup manufacturers Tesla Motors and Fisker Automotive.
"Every major car company in the world is developing plug-in technology right now because it has great promise," David Cole, chairman emeritus of the Center for Automotive Research, told Design News. "The fundamental concept is a solid one. It's just not ready for prime time yet."
The Prius PHV looks like a conventional Prius, except for the charge port near the left front wheel.
Cole and other experts interviewed by Design News over the past two months have blamed the recent unfavorable impressions on an overzealous consumer market that wants electric vehicles to succeed today. As a result, low sales of Chevy Volts and Nissan Leafs have clashed with high expectations, as have other public problems, such as the Volt's fire, Tesla's $40,000 replacement battery, and Fisker's fiasco at the Consumer Reports facility.
"For any new technology, there will be occasions where you have to learn from mistakes," noted Hrishikesh Sathawane, an analyst of EVs and energy storage for Lux Research. "This happens all the time."
Cole argues that the auto industry knew that EVs and plug-in hybrids would have a slow uptake, but says that many executives were swept up in an electric vehicle euphoria that wasn't grounded in reality. "Any way you look at it, the technology was really too expensive," Cole told us. "The people involved knew this. But when the $7,500 federal tax credit arrived, everything started to change." | <urn:uuid:24c9fdb5-5727-47aa-a5c5-b4a5c6144865> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.designnews.com/author.asp?section_id=1366&doc_id=241552&piddl_msgpage=8 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368696382584/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516092622-00006-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.974898 | 392 | 1.640625 | 2 |
List of Comics
From Battlestar Wiki, the free, open content Battlestar Galactica encyclopedia and episode guide
(Redirected from List of comics)
Battlestar Galactica has been adapted into comic book form since its inception, by a number of different publishers including Marvel Comics, Whitman Comics, Maximum Press, Realm Press, and Dynamite Entertainment. This article provides an overview of the publishing history and links out to individual articles for each series and issue.
Marvel Comics began its adaptation of Galactica with Super Special 8. Super Special was a magazine format comic book that featured different characters or adaptations each month. Issue 8 was produced just in time for the launch of the TV series in September 1978.
The Super Special adaptation was derived from an interim script of "Saga of a Star World", and some of the differences in the story are evident. This adaptation was also released in a tabloid format by both Marvel Comics and Whitman Comics.
Spurred on by the success of this adaptation, Marvel began a monthly comic series that ran from 1978 through 1980, and lasted a total of 23 issues. The first three issues, titled Battlestar Galactica, Exodus! and Deathtrap! respectively, consisted of a longer adaptation of Saga of a Star World, taking much of the art from the Super Special adaptation and expanding it by several pages.
Beginning with The Memory Machine, Marvel began publishing all new stories based on the characters in the series. From this point, the story began to depart from what was depicted in the series. According to letters pages within the publication, Marvel's contract with Universal Studios specifically did not allow them to use anything from the television series that followed "Lost Planet Of The Gods".
In the storyline that unfolded, a good deal of the comic took place in the magnetic void which the fleet first encountered in the TV episode "Lost Planet of the Gods". In the end of the TV episode, the fleet moves back into normal space, leaving the void behind, but in the comics the rag tag fleet remains in the void beginning in issue #4, with the fleet finally returning to regular space in issue #14. (This makes placing the episodes within the span of the TV series difficult, since much of the action could be surmised to have taken place between "Lost Planet of the Gods" and "Lost Warrior".)
In terms of tone, many of the Marvel comics had horror elements, a theme that was visited sparingly in the TV series. An incomplete list of monsters from the comic series would include a space vampire (issue #9), a carnivorous planet (issue #10), alien vermin (issue #15), a crewmember who transforms into a red ape (issues #17 and #18) and a monstrous shapeshifter (issue #21). Even the menacing and relentless Cylon Mark III in issue #16 owes as much of his origin to horror elements as he does to science fiction. Taken as a whole, Marvel’s Galactica is somewhat darker in tone than the series, but this not-so-subtle paranoia is arguable truer to the initial premise of the series than were some of the latter episodes of the television program.
Notably, the writers of the Galactica comic were quite willing to remove key characters from the dramatic mix for periods of time. From issues #6 to #12, Commander Adama is placed within a machine to help him remember the ancient writings he briefly saw on Kobol and, although we do spend some time in his dreams, he is effectively removed from commanding the Galactica for several issues, which of course sets up its own dramatic tension.
Another character who leaves the series for awhile is Starbuck, as part of perhaps the most effective story arc in the series. In this plotline the fleet stumbles upon Scavenger World, the dominion of the female space pirate Eurayle, who makes a deal to spare the Colonials if she can keep Starbuck at her side. The interactions between Starbuck and Eurayle are memorable, and the conclusion of the storyline, with a tremendous battle in issue #13, is a satisfying conclusion. At the end of the tale, Starbuck remains with Eurayle, and the fleet moves on without him, which of course sets us up for his triumphant return in issues #19 and #20.
Unlike both television series, the Galactica comic actually had a planned ending, with a series of plot devices being wound up in the final two part story of issues #22 and #23. In the course of solving a mystery, Lieutenant Jolly finds adventure and romance and helps in figuring out the long sought coordinates for Earth. A tongue in cheek adventure ably drawn and scripted by Walt Simonson this plotline provided a strong end for a memorable series.
Marvel Comics Monthly Comic Book
While not a great adaptation, what makes this comic interesting is that it is based on an early script of the pilot, and thus there are several distinct differences.
Titan Books Marvel reprints - trade paperbacks
Look-In Magazine, a UK based publication for children, published a serialized comic strip featuring Galactica from October 20, 1979 through October 11, 1980. The four untitled storylines spanned 52 issues, and contained 13 two page chapters per storyline. A very solid composition throughout, this incarnation of the rag tag fleet has been largely overlooked.
The UK company Grandreams came out with two Battlestar Galactica hardcover annuals, which contained short text and comic book stories. Far inferior to the Look-In strips, these comics were aimed primarily at children.
Battlestar Galactica Annual
Mission Galactica Annual: The Cylon Attack
For a very long time, Battlestar Galactica did not appear in comics. Finally, in July of 1995, Maximum Press (a Rob Liefeld imprint) published a miniseries that continued the Galactica mythos, and ignored the storyline from Galactica 1980. This miniseries is also known as the War of Eden.
This series was popular enough that it encouraged Maximum to keep going, and soon more miniseries appeared. Apollo’s Journey, The Enemy Within, and Starbuck all published as three issue series in 1995 through early 1996. Journey’s End, the final four issue series, broke many Galactica conventions. For example, there is a depiction of Galactica traveling back through time back to the destruction of the Colonies. This was not to last, however, and after the publishing of a compendium volume in early 1997, Maximum announced it would cease publishing comics based on Battlestar Galactica.
Maximum Press Image Gallery
War of Eden
The Enemy Within
Asylum (monthly anthology series)
NOTE: "Athena's Quest" was originally titled "Apollo's Quest"
Battlestar Galactica: The Compendium
Battlestar Galactica: Special Edition
In 1998, Realm Press brought Battlestar Galactica back to comics again beginning with their Battlestar Galactica Search for Sanctuary single issue special. Other one shots were subsequently published. Later, Realm introduced a monthly comic titled Battlestar Galactica Season 3. This series only ran for three issues before it was canceled, and shortly thereafter Realm abandoned the project altogether.
The Realm series was notable for its use of airbrushed art and its attempts to remain faithful to the look and feel of the Original Series.
Battlestar Galactica, Season II
Battlestar Galactica, Season III
The New Millennium
Eve of Destruction
Search For Sanctuary
Battlestar Galactica Special Edition
Cancelled one-shots and Season III comics
In May 2006, Dynamite began releasing a comic series based on the Re-imagined Series. The comics are set within the framework of the show and, at at first were set between the episodes "Home, Part II" and "Pegasus".
In October 2006, a miniseries focusing on the Re-imagined Series character Tom Zarek was released, focusing on Zarek's past.
The first series of issues based on the Re-imagined Series written by Greg Pak and pencilled by Nigel Raynor. The storyline appears after the events of "Home, Part II" and before "Pegasus" and significantly diverge from the Re-imagined Series' timeline of Season 2.
All thirteen issues have been collected in the following trade paperbacks:
Battlestar Galactica: Zarek
This miniseries explores the history of Tom Zarek.
Battlestar Galactica: Season Zero
Written by Brandon Jerwa and penciled mainly by Jackson Herbert, this series chronicles the first mission of Galactica under the command of Commander William Adama, dealing with terrorism in the Twelve Colonies.
Battlestar Galactica: Pegasus
Battlestar Galactica: Origins
Origins is a comic book series that explores the beginnings of various important Re-imagined Series characters, including Gaius Baltar, William Adama, Kara "Starbuck" Thrace and Karl "Helo" Agathon. Issues #1 through #4 deal with the life of Gaius Baltar, while issues #5 through #8 reveal the history William Adama and issues #9 through 11 focus on Kara Thrace and Karl Agathon.
All the issues in this series have been collected in trade paperbacks:
Battlestar Galactica: Ghosts
Written by Brandon Jerwa, this four issue mini-series consists of new characters outside of the Battlestar Galactica "mainstream" who are part of the Ghost Squadron, a black-ops team struggling to survive after the wake of the Fall of the Twelve Colonies.
Battlestar Galactica: Cylon War
Battlestar Galactica: The Final Five
Classic Battlestar Galactica
Dynamite produced a short-lived comic book run based on the Original Series. Beyond both this and the Cylon Apocalypse series, Dynamite has been focusing on comics based on the Re-imagined Series.
Battlestar Galactica: Cylon Apocalypse
A four-part mini-series written by Javier Grillo-Marxuach that details the story of the Colonials' discovery of a virus that can destroy their Cylon foes and how they try to weaponize it.
All four installments of the series have been collected in the Battlestar Galactica: Cylon Apocalypse trade paperback.
A "re-imagined" Galactica 1980 written by Marc Guggenheim was released September 2009.
A sequel to the Galactica 1980 comics, taking place a year after the end of that series, was scheduled to be released in late 2010, but never came about.
In April 2009, Tokyopop released a manga edition entitled Battlestar Galactica: The Manga -- Echoes of New Caprica, with stories by Emily Salzfass, Richard Hatch and Mike Wellman, and art by Chrissy Delk, Christopher Schons and Anthony Wu. This first volume contained three stories: | <urn:uuid:ffec1179-6fc7-4e7d-8ac7-0db74042f779> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://en.battlestarwiki.org/wiki/List_of_comics | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368701459211/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516105059-00003-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.951059 | 2,331 | 1.585938 | 2 |
Strictly speaking, a "psychopundit" is William Saletan's term for a scholar who uses psychology to explain what's wrong with people who don't vote for Democrats or recycle or otherwise agree with the pundit's left-wing views. But why limit the coinage to liberal malcontents? "Psychopundit" could nicely denote anybody whose work relates psychological research to policy and politics. In that light, Saletan himself is a psychopundit (one of the best). So are David Brooks and Malcolm Gladwell and, I suppose, yours truly. And, among researchers themselves, so are David Sloan Wilson and Jonathan Haidt and Dan Ariely. What is the public supposed to make of all these guys?
One thing it could do is take the advice of Andrew Ferguson in The Weekly Standard, whose cover story rehearses the frequent right-wing complaint that plenty of liberal "social science" is just name-calling with bar charts. Ferguson says the thing to do with psychopundits is simple: Ignore them. The "science" on which they base their sweeping statements about human nature is feeble and rife with unexamined assumptions.
The familiarity of this accusation of left-wing bias doesn't make it wrong. It is, in fact, often correct, as Haidt outlines quite well in his new book, The Righteous Mind. It's also true that plenty of social-science studies use small samples of weird people to test hypotheses, and declare those hypotheses proven without considering alternative explanations (the prosecutor's fallacy). And they often leap to very broad general statements about human nature from very narrow foundations. You can fairly say that Ferguson cherry-picks some particularly absurd-sounding combinations of procedure and conclusion to ridicule. But you can also fairly say finding such studies is not a tough job.
However, what Ferguson wants to conclude from this state of affairs is that psychology and the other mind sciences have nothing to bring to the table when it's time to discuss politics and society. Even excellent, rigorous work that has been replicated (of which there is also plenty in social psychology) will not satisfy him.
Why not? Psychology seeks to find causes of behavior that are not apparent; by definition, it seeks explanations that are different from what people would say about themselves. To Ferguson that means "moral impoverishment." Politics is only meaningful, he writes, if it is discussed in terms that the participants themselves would recognize: "as a clash of interests and well-developed ideas." Otherwise, he writes, "if the appeal of one idea versus another is explained by a man’s biology (interacting with a few environmental factors) rather than its content, there’s really not much to argue about. Politics is drained of the meaning that human beings have always sought from it."
This is an old and familiar argument against any scientific investigation—those researchers will replace the beauty and nobility of yore with ugly, ignoble clockwork, "we murder to dissect," yadda yadda yadda. When science is strong, this sentiment cannot endure. The findings keep coming, building on one another. Eventually, practical people make use of the new insights, and more airy types like me find beauty in the new worlds that swim into our ken.
For example, the beauty of science—a sense of shrugging confusion replaced by lucid clarity—is in this paper by Shai Danziger, Jonathan Levav and Liora Avnaim-Pessoa: It plotted judges' parole decisions against the time of day, to show that mercy was most probable right after a meal, and then declined to nearly zero until the next food break. Maybe that result dents the ideal of impartiality, but surely the loss of judicial dignity is a fair price to pay for a better parole system.
Ferguson's hostility to the whole project muffles an better point that's implicit in his piece: Attempting to explain why conservatives are conservative isn't enough. That's not because psychologists ought to leave politics to the politicians, though. It's because the engine of politics is not the fact that conservatives are conservative and liberals are liberal. It is, rather, that conservatives can and do become liberals. And liberals become conservatives. How and why do people change their minds, often enough and in numbers large enough that a country that elected Reagan in 1980 could also elect Obama in 2008? That's a question that demands more psychological research, not less. | <urn:uuid:f3b3e18a-e92f-4d3d-8368-4670ce93651d> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://bigthink.com/Mind-Matters/should-psychologists-just-butt-out-of-politics | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368708142388/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516124222-00028-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.964157 | 920 | 1.578125 | 2 |
Israeli soldiers pray at dawn at an artillery emplacement on Nov. 22 near the northern Gaza Strip border with Israel. / Christopher Furlong, Getty Images
JERUSALEM -- Human casualties and missiles aside, the eight-day flare-up in violence between Israelis and Palestinians in Gaza could not have come at a worse time for Israeli farmer Ido Tamir.
"It's just when our olives need harvesting and our flowers need packing up to be sent to Europe in time for Christmas," Tamir said Thursday, less than 24 hours after the two sides agreed to an Egypt-U.S.-brokered cease-fire.
The manager of his family's farm, which produces olive oil, wine, honey and flowers for export, Tamir said the conflict, which saw thousands of people in Israel's southern communities running for bomb shelters and the Israeli military pounding hundreds of targets in Gaza, reduced his production by more than 50%.
"We are located in an area that did not have rockets before this war, and to suddenly have rockets falling on us was a big change in lifestyle and work," said the farmer, describing how many of his employees, including agricultural workers from Thailand and Palestinians from the West Bank, were too scared to come to work. His business was essentially paralyzed.
According to estimates published Thursday by the Hebrew economic newspaper The Marker, the cost to Israel for "Operation Pillars of Defense" could top more than $800 million for military expenses and $260 million in compensation for citizens, including damage to property from direct rocket hits.
For businesses large and small, the loss could reach more than $52 million, the Manufacturers Association of Israel announced Thursday.
During the eight-day conflict, factories, businesses, shops and offices located within 25 miles of the border with Gaza were ordered closed by Israel's Home Front Command for safety reasons. However, the Hollandia bedding factory in Sderot defied orders and opened its doors on the third day of the conflict.
"I deliver to 15 countries, and I could not really tell clients waiting for their orders in Thailand or Holland that we are in a war and they will not get their goods on time," said CEO and owner Avi Barssessat. He said 70% of his 150-member staff, bored at home, showed up for work.
Despite the show of support from his staff, Barssessat said that through the eight-day conflict, he saw a loss of nearly $400,000 in revenue.
"What can I do?" he asked. "You have to understand that for an employee to work under such a great stress is very, very difficult. It's almost impossible for them to work properly."
Barssessat described how countless "code red" alerts left employees running for cover in bomb shelters. Even though sirens in Sderot and southern Israel stayed relatively quiet Thursday, Barssessat said he was dubious that the cease-fire would be long-lasting.
"We've put up with this situation for more than 12 years. and I doubt it will really change anytime soon, but we can't give in to terror. Business must go on," he said.
Meanwhile, in an attempt to help those hurt financially, a well-known Tel Aviv events venue announced that it had invited southern vendors to sell their wares at a specially organized fair on Friday.
"We want to give businesses that have been hampered or closed down over the past eight days the chance to regain some of their lost income," said Hanger 11 owner Ze'ev Eizik. "It will give them the chance to get out of the south and make them feel that the rest of the country is supporting them."
Farmer Tamir, who will be one of those selling at the fair, said he was thankful for the opportunity to recoup some of his losses.
"It's been an extremely hard week for us in southern Israel," he said, "but this will be a chance for us to refocus and, who knows, hopefully the outlook after the weekend will be much better."
Copyright 2013 USATODAY.com
Read the original story: After cease-fire, Israel eyes war's economic cost | <urn:uuid:13597ef3-cae9-4ca8-9cf3-958e091d0231> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.news-press.com/usatoday/article/1721159?odyssey=mod%257Cmostview | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368696383156/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516092623-00005-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.982092 | 866 | 1.78125 | 2 |
Many of your customers are likely to be morning grab-and-goers. This means they may select a bottled beverage for breakfast, rather than eating a meal. You can easily wean them off their morning bottle and offer healthy options for a liquid breakfast.
Breakfast in a mug can be part of a meal, sipped leisurely during an early morning class or meeting. It can be paired with fresh fruit, an omelet or hot or cold cereal. Or it can be a “gulp-able” meal unto itself, taken on the dash to wherever the customer wants.
One way to ease labor requirements in the morning meal period is to build a meal-in-a-cup the night before service: Load a blender or food processor canister with fresh or frozen fruit, tofu or plain or fruited yogurt, applesauce, fruit juice, etc. Leave it in the refrigerator over night, then just blend away in the morning. Your staff doesn’t have to measure in the morning and your customers can sip their breakfast.
Smooth out: You can also pre-make and cup up breakfast smoothies or offer a made-to-order smoothie bar at your location. Either way, you can make a nutritious meal in a cup.
Have one of your more vivacious servers serve as a breakfast bartender and make smoothies to order. You can make smoothies or breakfast drinks with a minimum of ingredients and equipment, or you can go all out.
Horchata is a milky-sweet agua fresca made from cooked rice, flavored with cinnamon. Cebeda, a full-flavored agua fresca, is made from barley. These two frescas are a mild counterpoint to spicy foods and make a good brunch beverage. Offer licuados or aguas frescas later in the day as a dessert item, paired with sliced seasonal fruit and cookies.
Licuados and aguas frescas can be frozen and used for meal intermezzos or refreshing desserts. Freeze them in scooped-out lemon, orange or apple shells for a dramatic presentation. Garnish with the same fruit used to make them.
That’s hot: Mexican hot chocolate is a meal in itself, made by dissolving disks of Mexican chocolate in hot milk with brown sugar and cinnamon. If Mexican chocolate is not available, use unsweetened cocoa.You can find the few special ingredients you need for these concoctions in local markets, in the “Import” section of many grocery stores, or even on the Web. Mexican chocolate is becoming more available as it gains popularity.
Pink, Blue or Yellow?
According to the USDA, sugar consumption of the average American was 146 pounds in 2004. Many consumers are looking to other “sweeteners” to reduce the amount of sugars consumed.
According to AC Nielsen, the sugar substitute market topped $310 million for the calendar year 2004. According to Landor Mills Commodities, the equivalent amount of sweeteners (food and beverage use) translates into 16.2 lbs per person per year.
As we look down our order sheets, there are sugars and at least four FDA-approved artificial sweeteners from which to choose. It is also important to note that FDA regulations allow the amount of calories to be rounded down to the nearest five-calorie value.
Artificial sweeteners, due to their intensity, contain bulking agents (such as dextrose, sorbitol and maltodextrin) that add on average four calories per teaspoon, although the sweetener itself may not contain any calories, nor will the package list the calories. Your customers probably have a preference when it comes to artificial sweeteners, so be certain to stock a rainbow of packets at the condiments bar.
Here is a rundown of some of the more commonly used sweeteners:
Sugar is a carbohydrate that occurs naturally in every fruit and vegetable, but occurs in greatest quantities in sugar cane and sugar beets. The chemical composition of both of these plants is identical, and separating the natural sugar from the plant material produces sugar. There is no whitening or bleaching in the production. Refined white sugar is pure (99.9%) sucrose, and does not contain any additives or preservatives. The term “refined” is defined as “making pure,” as the refining removes the yellow or brown pigments. A teaspoonful of sugar contains 16 calories, but due to the FDA regulation may be rounded down to 15 calories.
Saccharin (Sweet N Low) was discovered in 1879 and has been used commercially for about a century (the first artificial sweetener). Saccharin starts with methyl anthranilate, a synthesized organic molecule derived from petroleum. Methyl anthranilate is also found in many fruits, especially grapes. It is 300 times as sweet as sucrose and produces no glycemic response; its sweetness is not reduced by heating. Saccharin dissolves well in hot and cold beverages.
Acesulfame-K (Sunette or Sweet One) was approved by the FDA as table-top sweetener and as an additive in a variety of desserts, confections and alcoholic beverages. It is 200 times sweeter than sucrose, is non-carcinogenic and produces no glycemic response. Its sweetening power is not reduced by heating and can synergize the sweetening power of other nutritive and non-nutritive sweeteners. It does not provide any energy, as it is not metabolized in the body and is excreted unchanged. Acesulfame-K has a slightly powdery texture and may need to be well-stirred to dissolve adequately in cold beverages.
Sucralose (Splenda) is 600 times sweeter than sucrose and is not perceived by the body as a carbohydrate. It has no calories and the body does not recognize it as a carbohydrate. It produces no glycemic response. Approximately 15% of sucralose is passively absorbed in the body, and the majority is excreted unchanged. The small amount that is passively absorbed is not metabolized and is eliminated within 24 hours. Heating or baking does not reduce its sweetening power. Sucralose is available in both “white” and “brown” versions and can be used in baking, beverages and dessert preparation.
Aspartame (Nutrasweet and Equal) provides the same energy as any protein (four calories per gram) because it is a combination of phenylalanine and aspartic acid, which are two amino acids, which is then combined with methanol. It is 180 to 200 times sweeter than sucrose, so the small amount needed to sweeten products does not contribute a significant number of calories. The FDA has set acceptable daily intake at 50 mg per kilogram of body weight (equivalent to about 17 cans of aspartame-sweetened soft drinks). Aspartame dissolves well in hot and cold beverages, but may lose its sweetener power if hot beverages are allowed to stand.
Stevia rebaudiana (stevia) is a plant of the daisy family and a South American shrub. The plant material between the veins of the leaf contains the sweet compounds, which is 250-300 times as sweet as sugar; but stevia, or stevioside, has not been approved by the FDA as GRAS (generally regarded as safe). The Dietary Supplement Act of 1994 allows stevia to be sold in the U.S. as a dietary supplement. It has been used in South America for centuries and Japan for over 30 years as a sweetener. The FDA position is that stevia’s safety has not been adequately demonstrated.
Neotame is the newest FDA approved artificial sweetener that is the most intense sweetener to date, with a sweetness of between 7,000 and 13,000 times that of sucrose. It is a derivative of dipeptide, and made of amino acids, aspartic acid and phenylalanine. It is quickly metabolized and fully eliminated through normal biological processes. There are no products currently on the market that use Neotame.
Source: California Milk Processor Board | <urn:uuid:5934d611-0ce7-4ad7-92ed-43a33abdb510> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.foodservicedirector.com/menu/menu-strategies/articles/drinkable-meals?quicktabs_most_viewed_tabby=0 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368704132298/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516113532-00027-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.938407 | 1,704 | 1.523438 | 2 |
How to protect your data and get it back when you lose a phone.
Where would we be without our mobile devices? More than likely, we’d be lost. Who hasn’t gotten used to being able to check their emails from anywhere, find directions or look things up on the Web? There’s also that little thing about being able to make or receive phone calls whenever we need to. If anything ever happened to our handhelds, we’d have a world of problems to deal with, from data replacement to possibly buying a new phone. Here are some quick tips on how to keep your phone secure, and what to do if the unthinkable happens. | <urn:uuid:c09649a2-d85f-48ba-9cb9-be780c1e325e> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.zuludiginista.com/index.php | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368696383156/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516092623-00022-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.95462 | 139 | 1.820313 | 2 |
How do you set the closing price of a stock? You'd think it would be simple: the last trade of the day. But in a decentralized electronic market like NASDAQ there's no single auction, no single price. Today's NYT has a clear article explaining the problems that arise. The S&P 500 is experimenting with switching away from NASDAQ to the American Stock Exchange to set closing prices. AMEX is a traditional centralized human-mediated market; a single specialist making book means you have a single price.
a series of minimally sized orders, e.g., 100 shares, immediately prior to the open or close that, based on the amount of displayed size, outstrips short-term liquidity and creates excessive price movement on a temporary basisBy jamming in a bunch of orders at the last second you can force a price swing. Why would you do that? Because a lot of compound securities are pegged to the closing price of individual stocks on NASDAQ. Crazy!
According to NASDAQ Head Trader Alert #2003-093 they have some quantitative process to detect spraying; when they find it, they take an average price from the last 15-30 seconds. Another interesting nugget is AMEX's memo to the SEC in November 2003. It's in response to NASDAQ trying to block the S&P change, basically explaining that this is a good change and AMEX has no say in it anyway.
The real problem is the notion of a 'closing price' at all. Why not trade 24 hours a day? It will happen soon enough. The world gets faster. | <urn:uuid:7f3421bc-b880-4eb1-9ca8-00c6eef6510c> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.somebits.com/weblog/life/nasdaqClosing.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368705559639/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516115919-00010-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.952699 | 326 | 1.625 | 2 |
Longmont City Government
The City of Longmont operates under a Council-Manager form
of government that provides the political leadership of a City Council with
the administrative oversight of a City Manager. There is a seven-person City
Council including a Mayor. The Mayor serves a two-year term and the Council
members serve four-year terms. The Council appoints both the City Manager and the City Attorney.
The City's infrastructure includes eight departments:
Each department is headed by a director and
features various divisions such as Youth
Services, Water Treatment, Community & Neighborhood Resources, Enterprise Technology Services, Fleet, City Clerk, Human
Resources, the Library and much more.
For more information, please click on the appropriate link.
The City of Longmont is governed by a seven-member City Council. The City
Manager provides day-to-day administrative management and oversight. The City
Attorney serves as general counsel to the City Council and city departments
and divisions. The main administration of the City government is located in
the Civic Center Plaza, located at 350 Kimbark Street. Other municipal offices
include Public Works Operations, Youth
Center, Senior Center, Longmont
Recreation Center, Roosevelt Memorial Building, Service Center and the Development Services Center.
There are many ways that residents can become involved with their local
government. The City of Longmont encourages interaction and participation
through many levels and hopes that more people take part in the early stages
of the Public Involvement process.
How can you become more involved?
Visit some of these links to find out
how you can participate.
- View the Community Involvement Resource
Manual, learn how the city is using this process with different city
- Talking with City Council
- letting Council hear your ideas and suggestions.
- Volunteer for one of the many City Boards,
Committees and Commissions
- Shaping our future through the Planning Commission and
various Task forces | <urn:uuid:813ae7d5-6bb6-4e2e-9171-a738b514d9bc> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.ci.longmont.co.us/city_gov/index.htm | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368702810651/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516111330-00029-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.939645 | 406 | 1.773438 | 2 |
After being on the receiving end of a truly awful hacking attack, Wired writer Mat Honan explained how it happened in detail. And he was very clear about two of the parties responsible for leaving open major loopholes that let hackers into his digital life: Amazon and Apple’s security policies, in tandem, were used against him. Now, unsurprisingly, both Amazon and Apple have quickly and quietly moved to close those loopholes: for Amazon, it means no longer letting users change or update account info over the phone. For Apple, it means they’ve temporarily instructed customer service representatives to stop helping customer reset passwords via the phone.
Reports the New York Times on Wednesday:
“We’ve temporarily suspended the ability to reset AppleID passwords over the phone,” said Natalie Kerris, an Apple spokeswoman, in a statement. “We’re asking customers who need to reset their password to continue to use our online iForgot system (iforgot.apple.com). This system can reset a password in one of two ways – either have a password reset sent to an alternate e-mail address already on record or challenge the customer to answer security questions they had previously set up. When we resume over the phone password resets, customers will be required to provide even stronger identify verification to reset their password.”
That’s great — for now. But Honan’s experience has rightfully freaked a lot of people out, especially Apple users. Apple is going to have to make long-term changes, both practical and symbolic, that communicate to users that they can trust iCloud and Apple’s security measures. But what those will be isn’t clear. And it’s not even clear Apple knows yet.
What’s most dismaying for users about this situation is the lack of agreement among companies on what kind of information is to be considered private and secure. Amazon, as Wired pointed out, doesn’t (or didn’t) think the last four digits of a credit card was sensitive information. But Apple deemed it secure enough to use it as a key to unlock the door to your AppleID via a password reset, together with your name and billing address.
Apple’s iCloud is the very center of the company’s vision and strategy now. It makes phones, tablets, computers and set-top boxes that all hook into each other in different ways via iCloud. It’s very convenient for users to open up Safari on a MacBook and see the website he or she was reading or the document they were working on on the iPhone earlier today, just as it’s helpful that you can access your iPhone photos on your MacBook or your iPad without having to do any manual transferring of files.
But that convenience comes with a price. As my colleague Derrick Harris wrote earlier, the most important thing for consumers who’ve bought into the cloud is to remember that “if we want to be part of it, we just have to keep on trusting our providers to keep us safe.”
That’s why Apple has its work cut out for it now. Obviously it needs a more secure procedure for Apple ID account access than information any retailer you happen to do business with would have. The statement from Apple today shows that it understands the severity of the problem. But it will need to communicate the eventual fix clearly to future and current customers so users feel safe using its cloud.
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Simson L. Garfinkel is an Associate Professor at the Naval Postgraduate School in Monterey, California, and an associate of the School of Engineering and Applied Sciences at Harvard University. His research interests include computer forensics, the emerging field of usability and security, personal information management, privacy, information policy and terrorism. He holds six US patents for his computer-related research and has published dozens of journal and conference papers in security and computer forensics.
Garfinkel is the author or co-author of fourteen books on computing. He is perhaps best known for his book Database Nation: The Death of Privacy in the 21st Century. Garfinkel's most successful book, Practical UNIX and Internet Security (co-authored with Gene Spafford), has sold more than 250,000 copies and been translated into more than a dozen languages since the first edition was published in 1991.
Garfinkel is also a journalist and has written more than a thousand articles about science, technology, and technology policy in the popular press since 1983. He started writing about identity theft in 1988. He has won numerous national journalism awards, including the Jesse H. Neal National Business Journalism Award two years in a row for his "Machine shop" series in CSO magazine. Today he mostly writes for Technology Review Magazine and the technologyreview.com website.
As an entrepreneur, Garfinkel founded five companies between 1989 and 2000. Two of the most successful were Vineyard.NET, which provided Internet service on Martha's Vineyard to more than a thousand customers from 1995 through 2005, and Sandstorm Enterprises, an early developer of commercial computer forensic tools. | <urn:uuid:66f14859-c616-435b-aa79-3ac0a1395f4d> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.linuxdevcenter.com/pub/au/355 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368702810651/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516111330-00004-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.965523 | 333 | 1.539063 | 2 |
A well kept garden – even an organic one - will need intervention from time to time, feeding plants, keeping pests and diseases at bay, and tackling those big or difficult weeding jobs. Here at Cleeve Nursery we carry everything you need, in either conventional, or if you prefer, environmentally friendly and organic products from well tried and trusted, top-named companies.
Both the problems you need to solve and the range of products available on the market can be overwhelming but we will help you make the right choice.
Whether you need advice on plant food, insecticide, fungicide or weed killer members of our team are qualified to advise you on the product that’s right for you and your plants.
If you want to boost your crop of fruit and veg, increase the size and abundance of flowers or make a foliage plant greener and leafier, you will need to feed your plants.
We stock both liquid and dry plant foods.
We have general and specialised plant foods so, if you want to feed your orchid or citrus, we have special feeds for these. But if you just want to give a general feed then perhaps fish, blood and bonemeal, growmore, Vitax Q4 or even farmyard manure is what you are looking for.
We have tomato feed, Phostrogen, Baby Bio and a range of Miracle Gro feeds too.
Pest Control, Insecticides and Fungicides
Regardless of how well you manage your garden there are times when certain insects get out of control or your plants become infected by airborne fungal diseases.
Our policy is to select the best products on the market [after we have tested them ourselves] and offer only those. These may be garden sprays or biological natural product remedies. Some are organic, others preventative and we are always looking for the safest most effective way of growing pest free plants.
Remedies are fast changing from year to year so it really is best to come and see one of our trained team of experts for diagnosis and a recommendation of how to put things right!
We have won National awards for our plant care department!
Unwanted plants growing in the wrong place are the bane of a gardener’s life, and weeding by hand takes a lot of time and energy. Herbicides are by far the simplest form of weed control, but they can also be the most aggressive, so we are happy to stock environmentally-friendly and organic alternatives.
We carry a complete range of lawn weedkillers, path and drive weedkillers and weedkilelrs that can be carefully and selectively used to keep your plants weed free. Our policy is to select the best products on the market [after we have tested them ourselves] and offer only those.
Just like plant care remedies, changes occur frequently with old well known products disappearing and new ones coming on the market. A chat to our expert team will help you get the right solution to the problem! We have won National awards for our plant care department!
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Guru Alan's gardening blog with some great news, tips and articles.
Guru Alan's gardening column from regional press.
Take a look at whats on offer at Cleeve Nursery | <urn:uuid:0352a5fc-74a6-4831-aece-fa89a85771b8> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.cleevenursery.co.uk/plant_care_fertilizers_weed_killer_pest_killer_plant_food.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368705559639/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516115919-00031-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.941515 | 701 | 1.6875 | 2 |
A new children's book called Vegan Is Love: Having Heart and Taking Action came out today, and it has some pretty gruesome drawings illustrating animal testing and consumption.
I'm a meat eater (eating organic/free-range as often as possible) and an animal lover (dog owner for life!). I think many people are both, and we shouldn't ignore where our food comes from. There's definitely room for improvement in our food production standards and ethics. But... as child psychologists point out, that's not necessarily for a child who's already a picky eater to worry about.
Vegan Is Love is targeted to 7-year-old+ audience. Images of cowering, wounded animals should not enter our kids' minds when parents are trying to feed them a reasonable, balanced diet.
I can tell you that after reading Charlotte's Web as a child, I asked my parents if I could become a vegetarian, and they said no. I'm glad they did. I had my very own chicken legs and needed plenty of fat and protein to beef them up during my growing years. I'm not saying children can't thrive on a balanced vegan and vegetarian diet, but spreading a message of violence and guilt to draw our youngest eaters to a meat-free diet seems like a flawed approach.
The author, Ruby Roth, became a vegan in 2003, presumably as an adult. What do you think about veganism and Roth's book? Do you or would you let your child be a vegetarian? | <urn:uuid:0cb881fe-8f27-4748-8793-251b97616515> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://blogs.familyeducation.com/blogs/erin-d/graphic-new-childrens-book-promotes-veganism | 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 | 0.982734 | 306 | 1.75 | 2 |
File under strange but true. It would appear that Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth the Second has been presented with a specially commissioned gold-plated Nintendo Wii games console by THQ as part of a marketing campaign for some new game. The rather loose connection between British royalty and the game in question is that it is called 'Big Family Games' and you don't get much bigger than the British Royal Family.
THQ product manager Danielle Robinson says "The Royal Family is arguably the most important family in the country so we felt that they had to have a copy of the new game. But we thought that Her Majesty the Queen wouldn't want to play on any old console, so an extra-special gold one was commissioned. We hope that she and the rest of the Royal Family enjoy the game!"
The idea of the Queen playing any games console might seem a little far-fetched, but there have been stories circulating that suggest second in line to the throne Prince William has a Wii already. I understand that his girlfriend bought it as a gift and some newspapers over here reported that the Queen herself enjoyed a game of bowling once it was set up.
With the Wii being applauded as a miracle cure console perhaps it could do the impossible and repair the most dysfunctional family in Great Britain?
Related Article:Red Hat Does 180, Returns Gold Star
is a Linux and Unix news story by khess that has 2 replies, was last updated 4 years ago and has been tagged with the keywords: kvm, linux, microsoft, qumranet, redhat, virtualization, apache. | <urn:uuid:0d0e97a1-88ba-4287-a0c8-9172f3c68d34> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.daniweb.com/hardware-and-software/news/220553/the-queen-of-england-owns-a-gold-plated-wii | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368708142388/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516124222-00039-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.980706 | 320 | 1.695313 | 2 |
If Christ was an "apocalyptic prophet with a message of division, exclusion" and the spirit of his message must always be "put into context", then the claim that his message is a universal one is patently false.
The experts disagree on this, not to mention the rest of us.
He was just a middle eastern Jewish guy who lived a long time ago.
There is pretty good evidence for that'
Advertisers use things people think are nice and good as powerful associative tools. Associate sex and youth with some product - sell that product. Associate Jesus with some religion - sell that religion (let alone associating some religion with some modern nation state). But Jesus and Christianity don't mix so easily. The whole spirit and direction of his message is completely against the grain of the tradition he was a part of. Of course he utilized many aspects of the cultural narrative of the time. That's how you gain a voice.
Even that is uncertain. There is no evidence that he broke with Judaism. Much of what he taught, if not all is consistent with the teachings of the leading Pharisees of his time.
Was Jesus's death the blood sacrifice that would put an end to the need for any other blood sacrifices?
How would we know that? It would require metaphysics or revelation. That is the meme we were born into in western society. It is a way of explaining Jesus' death and making it meaningful to his followers. But it is fraught with problems when you analyze it. Who required it? How does one death substitute for another? Why would God want a blood sacrifice in the first place? Why must something die so that others can live in nature anyway? Is the crucifixion part of some deeper reality? Or was it just a Roman execution of a guy we really know very little about with any certainty?
Did Jesus himself actually believe, in any way, shape or form, that blood sacrifice has anything at all to do with spirituality? Could we trust his words if he said he did?
How can we know for sure that the words attributed to him on the subject really his or were his followers telling stories and creating myths to justify their belief that he was the messiah--the fulfillment of all the prophesies?
It's a clever narrative invention, and it was apparently a powerful one. But a narrative invention isn't enough - the spiritual practitioner must free himself or herself from the bonds of external tradition, and not resist the Holy Spirit. The point is to not cling to the past, to not cling to "context". "Heaven", of course could refer to the realm of purity; of open universality, as opposed to "division", "exclusion", "context". Christ presented an open, universal message. That message can be dragged through the mud, but it remains pure and inviolable. Yes, Christ presented a nearly impossible challenge to the world. We can live pure and fearless lives, or we can narrow our world according to our fears. Failure to read between the lines and grasp the essence of Christ's message is a reflection of our fears. We don't think we can do what he said we should do, so we pretend he didn't really say what, deep down, we know he said. We know the spirit of Christ's message, but we're afraid of that message so we bog it down in "context" and academic interpretation.
I guess this is a slam on my use of the word context. I was suggesting that we use de-demonize Paul by taking a fresh look at his teaching in as a product of his times and culture. That seems compatible with following the spirit of Christ's message to me.
Christ didn't come to bring peace, as Omar points out. But what is the nature of this "sword" he wields? Did he claim that people "deserve to die"? No, he claimed that family and friends would reject his followers for their beliefs.
He may have thought that he was the messiah who was going to bring back God to free Israel from Roman oppression. That would explain the reference to the sword.
Was Christ's message truly universal? The entire world can be converted to Christianity, but that doesn't mean the message is universal. I do think Christ's message is universal, but to make such a claim I think you have to discern what his message "really is", as opposed to finding historically and politically situated quotes and working like hell to coordinate it with all other statements and have it all magically mesh in the end into a single cohesive story. But it never does - religious narrative always relies on constant invention and reinvention. Is the essence of Christ's message about blood sacrifice? Is it about heterosexuality? Is it about "fulfilling the old testament"? Is it about fig trees and doves? Or is it about love and fearlessness?
Inquiring minds would like to know. There's no consensus. Jesus refuses to be put in a box. He is too big to be contained even in the Church.
Mark 2 wrote:The sabbath was made for man, and not man for the sabbath.
Which quote suggests Jesus was some kind of humanist. | <urn:uuid:9859eaeb-599e-4229-a3e7-95b6ad2a8576> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.ilovephilosophy.com/viewtopic.php?p=2287382 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368699881956/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516102441-00002-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.978322 | 1,063 | 1.773438 | 2 |
“As with all art, the photographers objective is not the duplication of visual reality.”
Roch Hart born and raised in Santa Fe moved to Albuquerque in 1983 to become a police officer. Twenty years later, retired and an avid outdoorsmen Hart decided to share his love for New Mexico’s unique scenery with visitors to our state. He started New Mexico Jeep Tours, which has become a very successful second career for him. To his surprise this new career also brought him a new creative obsession-- photography.
Hart started taking photographs to help market his new business. At first, he used a simple point and shoot camera. Then one day he took a picture of lightning and he was hooked. Hart started putting his photographs on Flickr—an online album. Observing other people’s pictures on Flickr he studied elements that caught his eye. He noticed how a photograph’s composition, shadows and light could create a mood that has an emotional impact.
Hart now understood what he wanted to capture in his own photographs. Using a Pentax K5, a camera he chose for its HDR (High Dynamic Range) capability and sturdiness he set out to photograph some of his favorite subjects. Sunsets, cloudy days, and lightning, became just three of many scenes he photographed. Hart found that he didn't always need to use a tripod. He instead uses a skill set he learned as a police officer---how to point and shoot a gun. This dexterity comes in handy for his photographs are rarely out of focus.
Hart wanting his pictures to express the mood, the emotions he felt and the rich colors that he saw in nature researched more flickr albums. He was attracted to photographs that were enhanced with computer software. He learned that this technique is not new, for example Ansel Adams often while developing his photographs in a darkroom would darker the sky in his pictures to give them a more dramatic mood. Hart then began to use a technique where he places his camera on a tripod in order to photograph the same scene several times using a different exposure for each picture. He then uses a software program where he layers or places these photographs one on top of the other.
This software allows Hart to bring out the richness of the colors and provide deeper contrasts in his pictures. It allows him to convey the quietness, loneliness and spiritual feeling of New Mexico’s natural beauty. Hart also uses a process called the Orton Effect. This method was first used in the darkroom as well. It involves taking one blurred photograph and one clear photograph of the same scene with both overexposed. These two photographs are then merged together using software. The result is what Hart calls an “otherworldly” effect. When he uses these enhancements he does not put in elements that were not captured in the original photograph.
A night photograph of lightning Hart took on the roof of his home caught the attention of HuffPost. He used the layer technique described above with several different exposures to create this picture. HuffPost at first thought he had added lightning bolts to his picture until they did further research and realized that New Mexico has some of the most spectacular lightning storms in the country. They then published his photograph both in America and the United Kingdom. To photograph an image like this at night, Hart explains is a frantic race to capture images, using a tripod and a remote—each exposure timed meticulously. Hart enhanced this picture by highlighting the home across the street thereby changing the perspective, which draws the eye to the immense size of the bolts.
When purists in the field of photography challenge Hart’s use of computer software he points out that “todays software is the darkroom”. He states, "You create art for yourself, you hope others appreciate it, but like with any artistic endeavor you have to be true to yourself—then your art becomes distinctive and reflects you.” | <urn:uuid:28e9969a-0c52-40cb-8b61-e02bfd0d7657> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.dukecityfix.com/profiles/blogs/finding-roch-hart?xg_source=activity | 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 | 0.97578 | 791 | 1.617188 | 2 |
WHILE a bid for Fiji to resort to local meat produce will greatly benefit the economy, the country will still need to import quality prime meat cuts for hotel demand, says Leyland's Limited general manager Christopher Yee.
Mr Yee said the devaluation of the Fiji dollar added pressure to the local meat industry in regards to high overseas meat prices, but meat imports would continue –– especially beef and lamb.
He said butchers had to meet the demand of hotels, which required quality meat cuts from either Australia or New Zealand.
Mr Yee said the devaluation forced butchers to buy local meat produce.
"However, when we compare the quality in terms of prime beef or pork cuts for hotel quality, Fiji cannot cater for the demand," he said.
Mr Yee said Fiji had fairly good quality meat, but a long-term plan was needed so the country and industry could meet market demand.
"Fiji has fairly good quality pork meat, but the only time pork is imported is when special cuts are required for hotel demand," he said.
"We don't want to sensationalise the shortage as a disadvantage, but it is beneficial for the country."
A Government statement said beef production has declined in recent years despite a huge local demand.
The Fiji Islands Trade and Investment Bureau is exploring building up breeding stock gene pool numbers; developing the beef industry in Fiji by addressing problems of meat quality, increasing volumes of production of individual farm holdings and increasing marketing opportunities.
Source: newsroom - meattradenewsdaily.co.uk
Back to News Headlines | <urn:uuid:a7110552-e7e5-474b-95d2-6c2c854c702d> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.meattradenewsdaily.co.uk/news/201009/fiji___meat_imports.aspx | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368697974692/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516095254-00034-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.953875 | 324 | 1.601563 | 2 |
Wild Boy was Kenneth MacMillan’s first commission from American Ballet Theatre since Journeyin 1957. MacMillan based his concept on Gordon Crosse’s score Wildboy, a concertante piece for clarinet with cimbalom and seven players. Cross had been inspired by François Truffaut’s film L’enfant sauvage. This in turn was based on Jacques Itard’s early nineteenth century account of how he tried to educate a boy found in a forest, and who had been brought up by animals. On the face of it, Wildboy offered intriguing possibilities as a dance score; MacMillan was encouraged by his previous experience of having choreographed another Crosse score Play Ground for Sadler’s Wells Royal Ballet. Crucially for MacMillan, so drawn to the outsider motif, a child of nature might be portrayed as the ultimate outsider.
In MacMillan’s new ballet, the Wild Boy was danced by Mikhail Baryshnikov, by then the artistic director of ABT. The choreographic focus was equally on the captors, two loutish men and a woman whom they possess sexually. The contrast between The Boy’s pure state in nature and the men’s violence is overwhelming. The woman has sex with The Boy. He in his turn is appalled by a homoerotic kiss between the two men. Finally The Boy is left alone, contaminated by contact with humankind and rebuffed both by humans and by the animals who had nurtured him.
Arlene Croce of The New Yorker struggled with the scenario. “Is it the Woman’s or the Wild Boy’s story that is being told? Our sympathies are attached to him, but she is an innocent too. How then does it happen that sex with the Wild Boy doesn’t revive her, but drains him? The moment of truth is reached when the two brutes are made to kiss each other accidentally and he falls back in horror at this revelation of homosexuality. It drives the Wild Boy to drink after which the animals of the forest sniff him disdainfully.”
Watching the animals, Clive Barnes, writing for The Times, was reminded of the clowns in MacMillan’s early ballet Laiderette (1954), who had similarly stood and watched a betrayal, disillusionment and the failure of an outsider to come in from the cold. There was no doubt, according to Barnes, that MacMillan could still “choreograph like a genius” but that from the outset he was hamstrung by the score’s “relentless mediocrity”. A Washington Post critic Alan Kriegsman complained that MacMillan “seem(ed) to expect the public to swallow the grossest forms of erotic exhibitionism and cynical bombast on the ballet stage as if they were the height of aesthetic daring. Anna Kisselgoff of The New York Times thought The Wild Boy more sketch than finished work, “but its very rawness is what makes it stimulating”. | <urn:uuid:132bc596-2e1a-499b-825e-f00791fd4fe2> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://kennethmacmillan.com/ballets/all-works/1977-1992/wild-boy.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368705195219/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516115315-00006-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.970429 | 644 | 1.78125 | 2 |
The City Of Oakland admits what many have known for months, and almost cost Oakland Mayor Jean Quan her job, a successful recall effort would have given her one of the shortest executive careers in public sector history. It caused a full-scale war pitting the Oakland Police against Occupy Oakland protestors and OPD or law enforcement nearly killed Iraq War Veteran Scott Olsen. Eventually, the event caught the attention of The World, and Keith Olbermann famously called for Quan to resign:
And the late Sanjiv Handa gave this unforgettable account of the City’s actions:
Oakland made this admission in an email sent moments ago; here it is:
Oakland—An independent report commissioned by the City Administration has confirmed that the Oakland Police Department’s response to the Occupy Oakland protest on October 25 last year was flawed by inadequate staffing, insufficient planning, lack of understanding of modern crowd management techniques, and outdated policies and protocols. At the same time, the report credited the current administration for recognizing these deficiencies and making improvements.
A series of 68 findings and recommendations were made to improve the Police Department’s response to future protests by the independent team hired by the City to investigate concerns about the policing of Occupy Oakland protests. Of the 68 recommendations made, 74% are currently completed or underway.
“We commissioned this investigation as part of our ongoing efforts to achieve significant, lasting reforms of the Oakland Police Department,” said Mayor Quan.
“Since this review began in December, we have cooperated and worked closely with the independent team and have already implemented a number of the recommendations that are contained in this report,” Police Chief Howard Jordan said.
Mayor Jean Quan and City Administrator Deanna J. Santana said the 10/25 Report attributed problems with the police response to a number of issues: incomplete procedures, inadequate investment in training, inadequate staffing and failure to consistently follow Department policies. These shortcomings have taken a serious toll on the Oakland Police Department’s ability to function properly.
“This is not an easy report to release, but we are committed to confronting the truth and implementing meaningful reforms,” continued Mayor Quan. “The 10/25 Report confirms that we have the right leadership in Chief Jordan, and we have now begun to implement new policies, procedures and training to create a new Oakland Police Department.”
Mayor Quan and City Administrator Santana noted that following the events of October 25, Chief Jordan swiftly began implementing changes to address shortcomings in training and policies, even as the independent investigation was underway.
“Over the past seven months, the Oakland Police Department has made real progress as demonstrated in a significantly improved police response to the May 1 demonstrations—and there is clearly much more work ahead,” said Mayor Quan.
“This is an administration that is committed to transparency and accountability, no matter how uncomfortable it may be,” said City Administrator Santana. “We sought this investigation to shed light on areas requiring improvement, and we are seizing this opportunity to make long-overdue reforms to the police department’s staffing, training, and practices.”
Recognizing the urgency of this effort, in the Midcycle Budget proposal now under consideration by the City Council, the Mayor and City Administrator have proposed several critical, strategic investments to fund structural changes required immediately:
Conduct organizational assessment and systemic review of OPD, including development of a training portfolio
Civilianize the Office of Inspector General and change its reporting from OPD to City Administration; OIG to conduct performance audits and spot audits
Fund second police academy to maintain police staffing levels
Stabilize funding for the Citizens Police Review Board
Secure outside investigative services to assist with police investigations
10/25 Report Findings
The independent investigative group combed through police video, conducted interviews, and listened to audio to evaluate the police department’s response to the October 25 Occupy Oakland protest to make its findings and recommendations to the City of Oakland.
The 10/25 Report concludes that the Oakland Police Department’s response to the October 25 protest “was caused by a series of cascading events, not a singular problem” and that “years of diminishing resources, increasing workload and failure to keep pace with national current standards and preferred practices led to the cascading elements resulting in the flawed responses noted during the events of October 25, 2011.”
The report cited the three most important of these factors impacting police policies, procedures, and challenges to be:
1. Command Turnover: The Department’s executive leadership team has been unstable for years. Oakland has had four different police chiefs in the past nine years.
2. Bench Strength: Past OPD senior leadership has not placed a high value on succession planning, career development, formal training, and post-incident reviews designed to provide departmental members the opportunity to learn from, and to improve from, recent experiences. The report does credit the current administration for recognizing these training deficiencies and making improvements.
3. Staffing Cuts: Substantial and cumulative budget cuts and personnel losses have seriously weakened OPD. In 2009, OPD had 830 sworn officers. In 2012, this number had dropped 23 percent to 642 officers.
The report concludes staffing cuts have “caused significant morale issues within the Department. Given the operational challenges of high crime, repeated civil disorder events, and community distrust, the Department is struggling to handle a workload demand that far outstrips its current staffing level. OPD is so busy trying to keep pace with the operational requirements of daily events that they have little time or resources for strategic long-term improvement.”
Despite calling the police department issues “systemic” and citing “daunting problems” at OPD, the report’s conclusion “noted many positive elements within the organization” and praised Police Chief Jordan for setting “the tone for his organization, making Departmental improvement his highest strategic priority. His cadre of bright young leaders bodes well for the future as they mature in their professional careers.”
Highlights of Reforms Made Since October 25
Prior to receiving the 10/25 Report, Chief Jordan took swift action to begin implementing systemic reforms of the department’s policies, training, and crowd management strategies. Evidence of these changes was seen in department’s approach to the May 1 protests. These reforms include:
Revising OPD’s crowd management policy to be consistent with new state guidelines
Training every officer in improved crowd management approach
Enhanced ability to work with Mutual Aid units—clarifying roles
Enhanced planning and staffing for future protest events
Revised use of force reporting
Improved munitions inventory controls
“We did not wait for the completion of the 10/25 Report to start making changes and we have already implemented 50 of the 68 recommendations,” Chief Jordan said. “Reform is not the absence of error—it’s the prevailing ability to hold oneself accountable, recognize when improvement is needed, and cause the necessary and needed change.”
The following excerpts are from the 10/25 Report.
Oct. 25 Protest and Occupy Oakland Background Summary
The first Occupy protest—Occupy Wall Street in New York City’s Zuccotti Park—began on September 17, 2011. By October 9, Occupy protests had taken place or were ongoing in over 95 cities across 82 countries, and over 600 communities in the U.S. On Oct. 10, a group identifying itself as Occupy Oakland set up an encampment in front of Oakland City Hall in Frank Ogawa Plaza Park. The group erected about 147 tents, kitchen and restroom facilities, childcare areas, posted banners, and claimed the park as its own.
At that time, the City of Oakland sought to accommodate the group in the exercise of their First Amendment rights of expression. However, as time progressed, there were legitimate concerns about the health, safety, and welfare of people in the Ogawa Park, city employees, and community members.
On October 25, at approximately 5 a.m., 392 OPD and 202 mutual aid personnel responded to 14th and Broadway streets. Their purpose was execution of the OPD plan to evict the Occupy movement from both Ogawa and Snow parks. By 10 a.m. most of the tents in Ogawa Park had been dismantled.
Later that day many Occupy supporters reassembled and held a “General Assembly” and voted to march for “reoccupation of the park.” In the early evening, Occupy Oakland clashed with OPD resulting in controversial use of force, including an incident involving a protestor who was critically injured by a police officer after he was allegedly struck in the head by a specialty impact munition and/or a tear gas canister. Since that time Occupy Oakland protests, as well as Occupy groups in other cities, have continued to engage in violent protests. Beginning October 25 and continuing through the present, Occupy Oakland has been joined by other direct action and anarchy-oriented groups.
Bay Area citizens have criticized Occupy tactics of vandalism and destruction. In a survey of 500 people, 26% said they once supported the Occupy movement and now do not. When added to 31% who said they always opposed the movement, the poll suggests a majority of the public opposes the group.
The Aftermath of October 25th
In the wake of these events, concerns were raised by City officials and the community about the use of unreasonable force, police performance, and OPD’s ability to manage future events in an acceptable manner as well as its ability to effectively and impartially investigate allegations of police use of force and other misconduct. In response to this need for an impartial review of the events of October 25, the City of Oakland contracted Frazier Group, LLC on December 19, 2011.
Segments of the Frazier Report are written at an organizational level, i.e., an overview of the event and the departmental response. It is not an investigation of any individual event or complaint.
This is done intentionally. The initial task from the City of Oakland was to focus on the events of October 25, 2011. However, as the review and analysis of OPD’s performance prior to, during, and subsequent to the October 25 Occupy Oakland event progressed, systemic shortcomings became clear. Policy and practice deficiencies surrounding leadership, accountability, communication and collaboration, technical expertise, and organizational development were not unique to October 25, or to subsequent Occupy Oakland events. They are systemic within the department and often historical and legacy influenced. | <urn:uuid:dd05e468-5add-4b7a-8050-81ff8643c369> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.zennie62blog.com/2012/06/14/city-oakland-oakland-police-flawed-response-occupy-oakland-oct-25th-protest-99311/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368697380733/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516094300-00021-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.960705 | 2,161 | 1.515625 | 2 |
There are some columns one is destined to regret. This may be an example, for I wish to write on the characteristics of the female of the species. Gender is in the air at the moment, whether it is the Pope’s Christmas message emphasising the God-given nature of gender, or the societal issues around gay marriage or the question of women soldiers taking part in close combat.
Of course, I am aware of the dangers of such a project. This was illustrated for me by two gender stereotypes which caught me out in the past. The first was that men are not good at handling or explaining emotion. This was scotched when I worked as a marriage counsellor. Typically, after meeting a couple, I would have a separate interview with each party. I found that when husbands realised that they were allowed to explain their feelings, not only did the long pent-up dam collapse but the fluency of their emotional language was impressive.
My instinct is to provide solutions. Give me a problem and, in a minute or two, I will produce my plan of action. I was surprised when my little attempts to help did not impress. I asked my wife and she patiently explained to me that, for women, problems are not there for solving, they are there for presentation. My contribution would remove the problem, or at least defuse its satisfying difficulty by implying that it could be solved rather than merely bewailed. I now confine myself to an “Ain’t it awful?” expression, and sympathise.
A variation on this is the superfluous explanation. I have, with grotesque unfairness, had said of me: “If you ask him the time, he’ll tell you first how to make a clock.” I put this down to a Jesuit education where every statement was riposted by the word “why?” Old habits die hard. There is some evidence that the very use of the word “because” relieves the listener from the need to listen to the actual explanation.
Another problem I have encountered is the assumption that when women ask for approval (do I look good in these trousers? Does this lipstick suit me?) they actually want me to make a judgment. They don’t. What they want is approval, tout court. And this is especially so if they have emphasised that I must not spare their feelings. The more the emphasis, the more unconditional is the required approval. But there is a price to pay if at some later point you let slip that you did not entirely approve. You will have committed the serious offence of not being frank, compounded by the shame caused by allowing the wearing of the wrong hat. A subtle variation on this is the “heads I lose, tails you win” question: “Which do you prefer, my green hat or my blue hat?”
“Er, er, I think the green.”
“So, what’s wrong with the blue hat?”
The claim is made that, in measuring achievement and skills, men provide the best and worst examples, while women cluster between. This seems to be verified by general experience – the Catherines of Siena and the Hildas of Whitby tend to be rare. I have no doubt that more will appear in the future as opportunities and acceptance increase. But I do not think that a woman will head a Vatican congregation in my lifetime – though there is no earthly (or heavenly) reason why not.
Much scientific work is done by scientists on gender differences. The old idea that the embryo is gender-neutral, and converted to male by the pumping out of testosterone, is giving way to the concept of a delicate interplay between genes and hormones. And this is by no means fixed, since the action of genes can be modified through experience. The result is that men and women do have differences in their brains which would seem to lead to different psychological characteristics. But there is plenty of room for uncertainty, and it would be surprising if homosexual and transgender outcomes did not occur from time to time.
Differences in brain architecture point to women’s greater tendency to depression, and to the different ways we remember emotional experiences. Different attitudes toward faces and mechanical objects have been measured in girl and boy babies on their first day after birth.
But beyond the obvious contrast between the sexes in matters related to the mating game, many of these differences turn out to be less than we might think. Characteristics which are more marked in girls rather than boys may be listed (in descending order of variation) as preference for girl’s toys, empathy, fine motor skills and verbal fluency. Characteristics more marked in boys are: preference for boy’s toys, physical aggression, assertiveness, elementary maths. But the variation in even the greatest of these differences is no more than the variation in height between the sexes. There will be many exceptions.
Yet in honesty I must confess to a prejudice. My wife attributes my devotion to Our Lady to my firm belief that, if you really want something in any sphere of activity, you are wise to ask the help of a woman first. I do not disagree – and I marvel at how our faith offers such a variety of ways to approach God that everyone’s temperament is suited.
Come and tell us about gender differences on Secondsightblog.net. You can always use a pseudonym for safety! | <urn:uuid:4d0af03d-3c8a-413f-8684-92c136276ebb> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://secondsightblog.net/2013/02/28/gender-bender/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368700264179/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516103104-00014-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.967764 | 1,122 | 1.65625 | 2 |
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