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More than 1,500 New Yorkers gathered today in Manhattan to mourn the death of a 32 year-old gay man, who was shot down on Friday just blocks away from the historic Stonewall Inn in an apparent act of anti-gay bias.
The GLAAD Daily: Maine Marriage, Deportation Hearing Delayed, Washington Post and More
EqualityMaine on Sunday reported that it collected 5,200 signatures on Saturday in favor of a ballot initiative that would extend marriage protections to same-sex couples in the state. Saturday was the first official day the organization could collect signatures. Advocates need to collect at least 57,277 before Jan. 30 for the question to appear on the ballot. According to data obtained by the New York Post, roughly 1,400 same-sex couples have been married in New York City since New York State's marriage equality law went into effect.
A federal immigration judge on Friday delayed a deportation hearing for Sujey Pando, who married her partner in 2010. The Obama administration announced Thursday that it would exercise “prosecutorial discretion” to focus immigration enforcement efforts on cases involving criminals and people who have flagrantly violated immigration laws. White House officials said the policy could help immigrants with family members in the United States, including partners of lesbian, gay and bisexual people.
Former Sen. Russ Feingold (D-Wisc.) has said he will not run for the U.S. Senate in 2012, and many are saying this places out Rep. Tammy Baldwin as frontrunner for the Democratic nomination. Baldwin is reportedly expected to formally launch her candidacy shortly after Labor Day.
The New York Times examined the financial burden that some transgender women face when transitioning. It also ran two letters, written by Richard Socarides of Equality Matters and Kathleen Paylor of the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force in response to a piece by GLAAD Board Member Jennifer Finney Boylan that appeared in the publication.
The Washington Post ran several LGBT-centric pieces over the weekend. In one piece, the Post examined LGBT people living in Egypt and the hope that they could "emerge as the pioneers of social liberalization" in the region. The Post also published a profile of Bayard Rustin and discussed his place as a leader in the Civil Rights Movement.
In the Post's 'On Faith' section, Becky Garrison wrote about so-called "progressive" Christians who are not entirely open to the idea of equality for LGBT people. Sojourners, a popular progressive Christian magazine and web site designed to focus on social justice issues, recently rejected an LGBT-inclusive ad scheduled to run on Mother's Day. The publication has since worked with GLAAD and the Ali Forney Center to run an ad about homeless LGBT youth.
On Friday, FOX News Channel’s Megyn Kelly interviewed former Sen. Rick Santorum (R-Pa.) and asked him about some of his anti-gay positions. During the interview, Santorum claimed he has gay friends. | <urn:uuid:d72e888d-befb-4d11-8d6b-018180e0f0da> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.glaad.org/2011/08/22/the-glaad-daily-maine-marriage-deportation-hearing-delayed-washington-post-and-more?page=1 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368708766848/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516125246-00032-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.968152 | 613 | 1.664063 | 2 |
It seems that sometimes alcohol can help you see more clearly.
A New Zealand man, blinded by vodka, had his sight regained by whiskey.
Denis Duthie, a chef who has suffered from diabetes for 20 years, celebrated at his parents' 50th anniversary wedding party with a few glasses of Red Square Russian vodka that his students had given to him as a present.
That day, he walked into his bedroom and suddenly everything went black.
"I thought it had got dark and I'd missed out on a bit of time but it was only about half-past-three in the afternoon," Duthie said to the New Zealand Herald. "I was fumbling around the bedroom for the light switch but ... I'd just gone completely blind."
Thinking that a good night's sleep would correct the problem, Duthie went to bed. Unfortunately, the next morning, he still could not see, so he went to the local hospital.
"I don't remember much after I arrived in hospital. They put me onto the trolley and into the theatre straight away," he said. "I know the doctor told my wife to say goodbye because they didn't think I'd be coming out again."
Doctors later told him that a strong smell, like that of nail polish remover, emerged from an incision that they made in his stomach.
Doctors initially suspected that Duthie had formaldehyde poisoning. The poisoning can occur when a person drinks methanol and can be treated with ethanol.
However, that day, the hospital had run out of medical ethanol, so a staff member was sent down to a local liquor store, where he bought a bottle of whiskey.
Doctors sent the Johnnie Walker Black Label through a tube to his stomach, hoping for the best.
Their efforts paid off. Duthie woke up five days later, able to see better than he could before the incident.
The ethanol counteracted the methanol, which prevented the methanol from being metabolized into dangerous formaldehyde.
Tony Smith, an intensive care specialist at Auckland City Hospital in New Zealand, clarified the process, saying, "There are two potential ways of doing it: one is to give intravenous ethanol through a drip, but that is not available in all hospitals. There is also nothing wrong with supplying that alcohol via the gastro-intestinal tract, which is what they've chosen to do in this circumstance, and that's a well established treatment. If the patient's awake they can just drink it."
Denis Duthie said that the doctor informed him that his case was caused by alcohol mixing with his four diabetes medications.
He has not had a drink of alcohol since.
Published by Medicaldaily.com | <urn:uuid:e8e5944d-9d5f-4fd1-a5e5-c84514b46842> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.medicaldaily.com/articles/13363/20121203/man-literally-drinks-himself-blind-vodka-regains.htm | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368703298047/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516112138-00030-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.989831 | 561 | 1.640625 | 2 |
Kim Levin just published an article in ARTnews describing the end of postmodernism and the emergence of metamodernism. She writes:
In the past couple of years, there’s been a new post- Postmodern movement lurking in Europe: Metamodernism. It features an agenda that involves art that is impermanent, incremental, provisional, and idiosyncratic, as well as site-specific and performative, emotive and perceptual, devious and questioning.
Advanced by cultural theorists Timotheus Vermeu- len and Robin van den Akker, who have published Notes on Metamodernism as a webzine, Metamodernism neatly negotiates the built-in confusions and contradictions between Modernism and Postmodernism. Vermeulen and van den Akker propose that “the Postmodern culture of relativism, irony, and pastiche” is finished, having been replaced by a post-ideological condition that stresses engagement, affect, and storytelling. “Meta,” they note, implies an oscillation between Modernism and Postmodernism and therefore must embrace doubt, as well as hope and melancholy, sincerity and irony, affect and apathy, the personal and the political, and technology and techne (which is translated as “knowingness”).
Sense and nonsense play a role, too. So does quir- kiness. In the foreground today are such so-called Metamodernists as Ragnar Kjartansson, Pilvi Takala, and Cyprien Gaillard, all of whom work in Berlin and whose work is characterized by a fluid esthetic that refers to nostalgia, make-believe, and old-fashioned painting as if it were performance. Kjartansson, who performs musically as well, painted one portrait a day of a friend in a Speedo swimsuit for the 2011 Venice Biennale. Takala’s video intervention in an office job, shown in the “Ungovernables” exhibition at the New Museum, followed the artist as she pretended to do nothing for days on end—a bewilderingly sincere performance that questioned the concept of labor. And Gaillard, interested in the concept of failure, combines picturesque romanticism and entropic Land Art, setting off fire extinguishers in the landscape, recording the rubble of demolished modern buildings, and commissioning landscape paintings. In the work of these artists, reality, fiction, old-fashioned representation, and recent relational strategies come to terms with failure, instability, and all the looming “as ifs” of the present moment. | <urn:uuid:9e510d29-ff53-4923-8755-2f4f81a26a61> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.metamodernism.com/2012/10/16/how-pomo-can-you-go/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368710006682/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516131326-00014-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.940361 | 543 | 1.617188 | 2 |
Why Fair Trade? December 15 2011
Standing in the grocery store today, I spent at least five minutes silently debating whether I should buy the conventional light brown sugar or the Fair Trade and organic light brown sugar. The conventional was $1.29. The Fair Trade version was over $5.00. It seemed stupid to spend the extra money. I don't exactly rake in the cash as a writer and though I have enough to support myself, I still have to weigh my purchasing decisions and, quite frankly, spending five times the amount I would normally pay for sugar to make chocolate chip cookies seemed kind of idiotic.
But as I stood there, I couldn't help but ask myself what my decision would be if I were held accountable for every action and decision I make throughout the day? If I could see and interact with the sugar cane workers, would the decision to go with something that provides them with a better quality of life be so difficult?
No, probably not. My conscience wouldn't let me off the hook that easily.
Or what if the tables were turned? What if I were the one harvesting sugar cane, trying to scrape a living in an economically oppressive system? What if the difference between a Fair Trade wage and a conventional wage was the difference between me providing for my family or sending my children to school? Wouldn't I implore someone standing at the grocery store to make a choice that took into account my most basic human needs?
In the end, I bought the Fair Trade sugar. Yes, it was five times more expensive and that can be hard to justify if you don't look beyond what's on the shelf in front of you.
But is it fair and just to say that the best deal is simply the one that includes the lowest price point? What about all of the environmental and social costs? I paid more upfront for the Fair Trade sugar, but the conventional sugar is going to cost more over the long-term when you consider the costs of environmental degradation and the repercussions and inhumanity of social injustice.
Shouldn't business benefit everyone involved from start to finish? Relying on unsustainable production methods and an industry whose success is built and dependent upon the oppression of millions of people seems like the antithesis of good business.
Those industries are relying heavily on consumers who operate on an "out of sight, out of mind" purchasing philosophy. If that 10 year-old who stitched together a sweatshirt was standing next to the rack in the store, most consumers would think twice about buying it. If they could see the gallons of toxic chemicals used to produce their conventional cotton t-shirts, they'd likely feel some degree of hesitation before buying them.
Unfortunately, consumer ignorance is enabling devastating business practices and a consumer's decision to support a company that is taking advantage of loose labor or environmental laws is having a tremendously negative impact on someone else's life. You may be against child labor, human trafficking, or environmental degradation, but if you're not aware of your purchasing decisions, you may be inadvertently enabling all of the above.
On the flip side, that same purchasing power can change the face of business. By supporting ethical production methods, you can make humane business practices the norm rather than the exception.
I know the sugar example is a little extreme, and that many of us simply cannot afford to pay two or three times or heaven forbid five times as much for Fair Trade products. Trust me, I put the Fair Trade sugar back on the shelf multiple times before throwing it in my basket and heading to the checkout line. And I know that it's easy to scoff at the idea that Fair Trade is the end all, be all of social justice. It's not. It's simply somewhere to start. Imagining the person harvesting the sugar I was about to purchase brought it home for me. It wasn't about guilt. It was about awareness. It was the realization that even the smallest of my decisions impact someone else. I'd rather have that impact be a positive one.
I'm not arguing that paying $5 for Fair Trade, organic sugar is going to be a quick fix or an easy solution. It's not going to wipe away all of the social injustice, end poverty, stop human trafficking, or prevent environmental degradation in one, fell swoop. However, by making consumers aware of the many despicable production practices currently in use, we can start to put pressure on industries to be accountable, responsible, and ethical in all of their transactions. I, for one, would rather that companies like Gap and Apple spend less on advertising and more on treating people fairly. | <urn:uuid:4e022e38-bd46-4f91-b0aa-a346c9137ae3> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.greenlightapparel.com/blogs/greenlight-apparel/6098924-why-fair-trade | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368705953421/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516120553-00015-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.975473 | 932 | 1.734375 | 2 |
JERUSALEM — Palestinians complained Tuesday that the Mideast peace process barely got a mention in the final U.S. presidential campaign debate, saying American standing in the Middle East will be doomed without a greater effort to resolve the festering Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
Such sentiments were shared regionwide, as officials and analysts noted that President BarackObama and Republican rival MittRomney expressed few differences on key issues such as Iran’s suspect nuclear program, the war in Afghanistan and the tumultuous changes of the Arab spring.
“It’s true that Obama doesn’t have a coherent policy toward the Arab world but neither does Romney,” said Shadi Hamid, director of research at the Brookings Doha Center. “What we saw last night is depressing lack of new ideas for U.S. policy in the Middle East.”
While neither Obama nor Romney spoke much about the Israel-Palestinian conflict during Monday night’s debate, both men voiced heavy support for Israel‘s security in an apparent gesture to influential Jewish voters.
“But it should be clear to the United States that without solving the Palestinians-Israeli conflict, there will be no success for American policy in the Middle East,” he said.
The Palestinians have grown disillusioned with Obama, who took office promising to make the peace process a top priority and to take a tough stand against Israeli settlements in occupied territories.
Instead, Obama failed to persuade Israel to halt settlement construction, and substantive peace efforts have remained frozen throughout his term. The Palestinians have refused to return to the negotiating table without a settlement freeze, saying continued Israeli construction in occupied territories they claim is a sign of bad faith.
At the same time, the Palestinians are deeply wary of Romney, who declared earlier this year that the Palestinians have “no interest whatsoever” in peace.
Romney’s long friendship with hard-line Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his alliance with Jewish-American casino magnate Sheldon Adelson, a strong Netanyahu supporter, have further raised their suspicions.
During Monday’s debate, the two candidates seemed to be trying to outdo each other in their support for Israel‘s security, mentioning the threats posed to the Jewish state by Iran, the civil war in neighboring Syria and militant groups armed with rockets.
Romney briefly criticized Obama’s failure to advance Israeli-Palestinian peace efforts but gave no clue as to how he would promote peace. It was the only time in the debate that the Palestinians were even mentioned.
“It was a sin of omission, and it was clearly the elephant in the room,” said Hanan Ashrawi, a senior member of the Palestine Liberation Organization.
“They are talking about peace, stability, democracy, freedom and human rights, and they both didn’t touch the Palestinian question, which is the main issue in the region that’s the key to peace and embodies the need for human rights and role of law and justice,” she said.View Entire Story
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Benghazi: The anatomy of a scandal | <urn:uuid:8e838582-2b88-436d-92b3-4705f3f4dd14> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2012/oct/23/palestinians-give-cool-reception-us-debate/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368711005985/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516133005-00008-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.940416 | 715 | 1.515625 | 2 |
Mark Bauerlein has a written another screed against using electronic media in the education sector. Although I prefer the concrete nature of books and spend hours examining traditional paper maps and cartography, it must be understood communications does not stand still. We (humanity) progressed from the oral tradition, through cuneiform to papyrus, then on to parchment and offset printing, finally arriving at today's magnetic and phosphor ink. The funny thing is that on each step, there was a exponential explosion, a massive increase of production from the previous state. When the printing press was introduced to Italy, the output was not just of words, drawings and maps were well represented. In the future we will see more works that appear solely in the electronic, magnetic and optical form. | <urn:uuid:d9cbc677-b0c1-40d6-bb86-7115f873a2c0> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://bobhaho.blogspot.com/2008/09/and-now-for-something-completely.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368696383156/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516092623-00012-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.96286 | 154 | 1.75 | 2 |
SANTA CRUZ -- The literary art of poetry takes place quietly the first Saturday of the month in a back room of the downtown Santa Cruz Public Library.
Instructor Magdalena Montagne guides and inspires her loyal students at each session to write from the heart.
Montagne, 53, has held the monthly poetry circle for nearly two years to help spread the love of composition and encourage aspiring writers to put pen to paper whether the outcome is serious or funny, rhyming or not.
"People write amazing things," said Montagne, a UC Santa Cruz graduate and longtime county resident. "It's phenomenal the poetry that's generated. It's really, really good."
Nine men and women of various ages sat around the large rectangle table on Saturday to take in Montagne's minstrel wisdom. She shared a couple of poems with the group, then asked them to compose their own ballad based around the idea of something lost.
In the half hour the group had to write, some personal and poignant works were created.
Each person read their piece aloud, drawing positive feedback and praise from the group.
The poems were deeply personal, touching on topics such as cancer, divorce and wayward youth.
Alicia Wright, 31, of Bonny Doon, is a regular at Montagne's poetry circle.
Wright, who works in retail, said she loves to write. It's what she does when not working at Marshall's.
She wrote for the newspaper when attending San Jose City College,
"I'm really glad I found this group. It's kind of therapeutic," Wright said. "We feed off each other's creativity. It's very relaxed and everyone supports each other."
One woman wrote about her bout with breast cancer.
"I lost my breast," she read aloud. "I lost my footing in what turned out to be a mirage of solid ground."
Montagne said she's always impressed with what people come up with in such a short time period.
"There's no wrong way to write a poem," Montagne said. "You do learn a lot listening to other people's poetry."
For information, go to www.poetrycircle-magdalena.com.
Follow Sentinel reporter Shanna McCord on Twitter at Twitter.com/scnewsmom | <urn:uuid:b82f72de-b248-454d-b606-e9d7652e108c> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.santacruzsentinel.com/localnews/ci_22319308 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368703682988/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516112802-00037-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.967176 | 478 | 1.554688 | 2 |
Thursday, November 12, 2009
How come People in america so upset about healthcare reform? Claims for example "don't touch my Medicare insurance" or "everybody should get access to condition from the art healthcare regardless of cost" are for me naive and visceral reactions that indicate an undesirable knowledge of our healthcare system's history, its current and future assets and also the funding challenges that America faces moving forward. In the end all question the way the healthcare system has arrived at what some describe as an emergency stage. Let us try to take a few from the emotion from the debate by briefly analyzing how healthcare within this country emerged and just how which has created our thinking and culture about healthcare. With this like a foundation let us consider the benefits and drawbacks from the Federal government healthcare reform plans and let us consider the concepts help with through the Republicans?
Posted by zero at 3:06 AM | <urn:uuid:773287aa-efef-4dac-83c2-f6babb4c9a8c> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://wicak-tempo.blogspot.com/2009_11_01_archive.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368708142388/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516124222-00040-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.961956 | 178 | 1.726563 | 2 |
Story: Christine Steers Photo: Tim Shortland
On Tuesday 13th February 2007, Tim Shortland, Community Forester and the men from Tinsley Tree Project, entered Burngreave Cemetery with big spades and an even bigger Tree. They were here to dig a hole and manoeuvre the root ball of the tree into place ready for the arrival of the Lord Mayor of Sheffield, Jackie Drayton, on Sunday.
Together with local resident Christine Handstock and her grandson, they finally managed it. The tree is a six metre high Cedar of Lebanon provided by Tim and the Sheffield Community Tree Project.
On Sunday 18th February 2007, the Friends of Burngreave Chapel and Cemetery were busy “brewing up” and cutting the cake especially baked by Betty. The weather wasn’t too cold and the sun did shine for the Lord Mayor’s arrival. She chatted to everybody and was interested to hear how the restoration of the Chapels was progressing (slowly), added the first soil and all the Friends and some passers by enjoyed shovelling in the rest.
They all retired to the Chapel to warm up and talk about the Small-leaved Lime avenue that is also being planted in the Cemetery. | <urn:uuid:53eca2ef-6165-49a4-81ae-e6731c42da15> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.burngreavemessenger.org/archives/2007/april-2007-issue-69/big-tree-for-burngreave-cemetery/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368699881956/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516102441-00021-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.970817 | 252 | 1.546875 | 2 |
CHICAGO – February 16, 2013. Governor Pat Quinn today encouraged working families across Illinois to learn about how they can apply for newly-expanded tax relief and highlighted no-cost tax preparation services they should take advantage of. The governor continued his drive to get the word out about Illinois’ newly expanded Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) at Truman College, which serves as a tax assistance center organized by the Center for Economic Progress (CEP).
Governor Quinn fought for and signed legislation in 2012 that doubles the state Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) over the next two years, which is expected to save working families an extra $105 million a year. The same legislation also benefits all taxpayers by improving the value of the personal exemption by indexing it to inflation. Today’s event is part of the governor’s effort to drive economic growth and support working families across Illinois.
“Empowering working families is essential to growing the Illinois economy,” Governor Quinn said. “We want to make sure to get the word out about how eligible people can apply for the tax relief they deserve.”
The EITC is uniquely pro-growth and pro-family. Available only to workers who are earning income, this tax credit provides incentive to work as well as much-needed tax relief to the lowest-income families. The EITC also generates local economic growth by increasing consumer spending. A 2006 Brookings Institution study found that every dollar a family saves through this tax credit translates into $1.58 of activity in local economies and can help businesses avoid layoffs, hire employees and pave the way for future growth.
The law also improves the value of the standard personal exemption for all taxpayers in Illinois and ties its continued growth to the rate of inflation. The personal exemption will increase by $50 (to $2,050) in tax year 2012, and the value of the exemption will be indexed to the cost of living adjustment each tax year thereafter. The personal exemption change benefits all taxpayers, regardless of income.
Governor Quinn launched EITC.illinois.gov last month to help more eligible families receive tax relief and take advantage of tax preparation assistance.
How to Benefit from the Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC)
To benefit from Illinois’ EITC, also known as the Earned Income Credit (EIC), taxpayers must include it on their tax returns. The not-for-profit Center for Economic Progress (CEP) estimates that between 10 and 20 percent of eligible taxpayers did not file for EITC last year.
To help working families achieve the maximum savings on their taxes, the Illinois Department of Human Services (DHS) partners with the Center for Economic Tax Counseling Project to provide free tax preparation assistance at tax assistance centers across the state. The services are provided free of charge to families making less than $50,000 annually and to individuals with yearly incomes under $25,000. More than 25,000 Illinois taxpayers filed returns through the program in the 2011 tax season, with more than $45 million in state and federal tax refunds returned to clients.
DHS also funds the Tax Assistance Program (TAP) which has nearly 20 locations in Chicago and the suburbs. TAP recruits tax professionals to volunteer to assist low-income families. DHS also works with its clients and those who found jobs and have left DHS programs to educate them about tax preparation programs and ways to ensure they receive the maximum refund on their tax returns.
A list of locations across the state that offer free tax assistance to eligible individuals is attached.
For more information on the Tax Counseling Project, contact the Center for Economic Progress in Chicago at 312-630-0273, or call the toll-free statewide number at 888-827-8511. For information on the Tax Assistance Program call 312-409-1555 or 312-409-4318 (Spanish). Details are also available on the DHS website at www.dhs.state.il.us and the Department of Revenue website at www.revenue.state.il.us.
Information about filing federal taxes online can be found at www.irs.gov. | <urn:uuid:162d3f28-2819-4d1b-ac15-0acd5806d0f6> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www3.illinois.gov/PressReleases/ShowPressRelease.cfm?SubjectID=1&RecNum=10930 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368703682988/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516112802-00014-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.950117 | 862 | 1.507813 | 2 |
One of the truly great voices in Southern music, Hazel Dickens, passed peacefully last night following a brief illness at the age of 75.
Born June 1, 1935, in Mercer County, West Virginia, Hazel was an American bluegrass singer, songwriter, bassist and guitarist. The eighth eleven siblings in a mining family, her music is characterized not only by her powerful, high-lonesome singing style, but also by her provocative pro-union, feminist stance.
Hazel had reportedly been in declining health through the winter. Two projects celebrating her life in music are currently in the works with Rounder Records: a tribute project and her first studio recording in at least a decade. She was a great friend to folk music in general, and Sing Out! in particular over the years, volunteering her performances for many a benefit event through the decades. Hazel was the real thing, and her voice will be sadly missed.
Here’s a video from a 2003 appearance at the Smithsonian Folklife Festival: | <urn:uuid:2efe4bb4-47a7-4f71-88a5-5db6f47e5135> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://singout.wordpress.com/2011/04/22/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368703682988/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516112802-00038-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.968216 | 205 | 1.546875 | 2 |
News 12 at 6 o'clock / Wednesday, Aug. 8, 2012
AUGUSTA, Ga. -- You've no doubt seen them on the roads. Tens of thousands of Georgia drivers have a specialty plate in support of their favorite college or university.
The plates cost extra at the tag office and every year when drivers renew them, but you might be surprised to know where that extra money goes ... or more appropriately, where it doesn't go.
You could call Debbie Harrison's car a moving billboard.
"I have a tag in the front, a tag on the back also. That lets everyone know I'm a Bulldog fan," she said.
The tag on the back, however, cost a lot more than the one on the front of Harrison's car. That's because she pays the state of Georgia extra money to have a University of Georgia specialty plate.
Instead of paying $20 for a regular state plate, drivers like Harrison fork over $80. The renewal fee is also higher. It's $55 as opposed to just $20.
Drivers in Georgia have 30 college and university plates to choose from, including Georgia Tech, Georgia Southern, Augusta State and maybe soon Georgia Regents. Right now, the Georgia Department of Revenue says there are more than 88,000 school plates are on the road.
That means millions for the state's general fund.
No, that's not a typo. The millions go to the State Treasurer's Office. Not a dime goes to the college or university.
Across the river, it's a much different story in South Carolina. Drivers who support a college or university with a specialty plate are really supporting their college or university when it comes to money.
According to the South Carolina Department of Motor Vehicles, specialty plates for colleges and universities are $70 on top of the normal registration fee. That's similar to the costs drivers pay in Georgia, but here's the difference: $40 goes to the sponsoring school's scholarship fund. So, a University of South Carolina plate or a Clemson University plate helps students get a college education.
Meanwhile, plates like Harrison's in Georgia do not.
That was news to her.
"Who checks to see? I think I'm supporting my school, so the money's going there. So I was surprised when you told me it wasn't," she said.
Here's something else that's surprising. Money from the Georgia Tech plate in Georgia goes to the Georgia general fund. Money for the Georgia Tech plate in South Carolina goes to benefit a scholarship fund of South Carolina students who attend Georgia Tech.
That's not all we found. Click here for a plate comparison between the two states.
Have information or an opinion about this story? Click here to contact the newsroom.
Copyright WRDW-TV News 12. All rights reserved. This material may not be republished without express written permission. | <urn:uuid:b9f236c5-183a-4745-a64b-1c17b77f8c35> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.wrdw.com/specialcoverage/headlines/News-12-Special-Assignment-Whos-profitting-from-college-plates-165476786.html?site=full | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368706153698/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516120913-00013-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.956883 | 593 | 1.53125 | 2 |
For some time now, Slashdot has been covering the growing concerns over electronic voting systems from vendor Diebold. (Actually, some googling reveals that Scoop has been the one really covering every aspect of the Diebold stories.) Diebold's machines, which are already in use in districts in a number of states, are alleged to have absolutely horrible security, with some holes reportedly persisting in the systems for many years after they were first reported. Furthermore, the systems are closed, proprietary, rely at least partially on security through obscurity, and Diebold refuses to disclose such essential details as how the votes are counted.
Slashdot's latest blurb on the topic is enough to make your hair stand on end. The story links to a Wired piece on Diebold's latest problems, as well as to an even more infuriating article on Democracy Now!. Some excerpts from the latter piece:
A recent article by Julie Carr Smyth in The Cleveland Plain Dealer reported that the head of Diebold is also a top fundraiser for President Bush's re-election. In a recent fund-raising letter Diebold's chief executive Walden O'Dell said he is "committed to helping Ohio deliver its electoral votes to the president next year." "I think the question that this has raised is, has he crossed the line?," said The Plain Dealer?s Smyth on Democracy Now!...
?Basically what we have is a company that is giving money, hand over fist and helping in campaign strategizing for a particular political party at the same time as making the machines that count the votes,? said Bev Harris, author of Black Box Voting: Ballot-Tampering in the 21st Century.
Harris told Democracy Now!: ?We now know that the machines that they're making that count the votes are not secure from tampering. And add to that, we've got a situation where everything inside the machines is secret, we're not allowed the see how they count the votes. So this is not an acceptable situation.?
According to Harris, a study of the campaign contributions made by Diebold and its employees revealed an unusual pattern: Hundreds of thousands of dollars were being funneled to a few Republican candidates with very little to any other party.
Harris says that Diebold?s electronic voting machines are wide open to tampering. ?There?s actually several different methods that we've been looking at. One of the first things you do when you look at any kind of fraud is look what they tell you not to look at,? she said. Harris managed to obtain the source code that is used in Diebold?s electronic voting system simply by searching the Internet. Harris told Democracy Now! that she recently uncovered another file on the Diebold site that she says ?may very well be the smoking gun that brings this thing down.? The file, she claims, proves that Diebold has the ability to keep track of election results as they come in. More concerning she says technology exists that would allow Diebold to alter election results.
Regardless of what you think of the obviously anti-Republican slant of Democracy Now!, the two journalists interviewed for the story raise a number of points that speak to issues of accountability and openness that sit at the very core of our democracy. In fact, the first misguided idiot to dismissively holler "conspiracy theory!" in the news comments section deserves to have his or her patriotism seriously called into question.
And speaking of questions, the number one question on my mind--and this was raised in the Slashdot comments section also--is why this story hasn't absolutely caught fire in the mainstream press. Where are Newsweek, Time, the NYT, and a dozen other publications for which this should be front page news? If a free and independent press is supposed to be the guardian of democracy, then our national press corps is sleeping on the job if they don't pick this up and run with it. We hear about potentially "sexed up" intelligence reports on Iraq every day, but what about potentially sexed up domestic election results? Could we maybe stop fixating on the war for like one week and instead have a big round of "electronic voting: the end of democracy?" stories? As a controversy it might not have quite as much intrinsic commercial appeal as Mel Gibson's Jesus movie, but I have faith that our press corps could spice it up enough to get people at least temporarily riled up over it. | <urn:uuid:df210f40-f428-43aa-8958-5961409bc908> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://arstechnica.com/uncategorized/2003/09/2768-2/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368703682988/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516112802-00018-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.972 | 902 | 1.640625 | 2 |
Come Celebrate With Me: The Work of Lucille Clifton is an exhibition currently on display in the MARBL gallery on the 10th Floor of the Robert W. Woodruff Library curated by Kevin Young, curator of Literary Collections and the Raymond Danowski Poetry Library at MARBL and Amy Hildreth Chen, Emory PhD student in English.
A second exhibit on Lucille Clifton's work specifically as a children's author, She Sang So Sweet: Lucille Clifton's Children's Literature, curated by Amy Hildreth Chen, is now open on the 2nd floor of the Robert W. Woodruff Library.
In August, 2012, Kevin Young and Michael S. Glaser's co-edited Collected Poems of Lucille Clifton 1965-2010 was released for BOA Editions.
Lucille Clifton (1936-2010), African American poet and children's book author. She was born Thelma Lucille Sayles on June 27, 1936 to Samuel L. Sayles, Sr. and Thelma Moore Sayles in Depew, New York. At the age of seven, the Sayles family moved to nearby Buffalo, New York. From 1953-1955, Lucille attended Howard University and Fredonia State Teachers College (now State University of New York College at Fredonia) in 1955. Lucille Sayles married Fred Clifton (1934-1984) on May 10, 1958, and had six children.
Clifton's first volume of poetry, Good Times, was published in 1969 and chosen by The New York Times as one of the ten best books of the year. Other volumes of poetry followed, including Good News About the Earth (1972), and An Ordinary Woman (1974), Next: New Poems (1987), and The Terrible Stories (1996), which was nominated for a National Book Award. She has been nominated for the Pulitzer Prize for Poetry for the years 1980, 1987, 1988, and 1991, and her Blessing the Boats (2000) won the National Book Award for Poetry.
In addition to poetry, Clifton has written many children's books, including eight volumes featuring the character of Everett Anderson. Everett Anderson's Goodbye won the Coretta Scott King Award from the American Library Association in 1984.
Throughout her career as a poet and children's book author, Clifton has also taught poetry and creative writing at several institutions, including Coppin State College in Baltimore, Maryland (1972-1976), University of California, Santa Cruz (1985-1989), and St. Mary's College of Maryland (1989-2006). In 2007, Clifton won the Ruth Lilly Poetry Prize. Clifton died on February 13, 2010.
The collection at MARBL contains the literary and personal papers of Lucille Clifton from circa 1930-2009. The materials document Clifton's work as a poet, children's book author, and teacher, her participation in literary organizations, and the development of her personal and professional relationships. The papers include correspondence, writings by Clifton, writings by others, teaching and workshop files, subject files, personal papers, printed material, photographs, audiovisual material, and digital files. The collection also includes the papers of Fred Clifton, Clifton's husband.
For more information on the Lucille Clifton Collection at MARBL, please visit the EmoryFindingAids Database. | <urn:uuid:b3989b9f-0dcd-4acf-8649-7f3aff306b5f> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://marbl.library.emory.edu/collection-overview/featured-collections/lucille-clifton-collection | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368706890813/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516122130-00000-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.952912 | 709 | 1.5625 | 2 |
|Uploaded:||October 15, 2011|
|Updated:||October 15, 2011|
Let’s take a break for a minute from the typical stuff that I have been putting out there and do something that we haven’t seen on the site for a while, another tutorial on a Pokemon figure in regular form. Here is how to draw Feraligatr, step by step and if you notice this is a water type species which is available after it evolves from Croconaw. Its original form is in fact Totodile and even though there a significant size difference, you can clearly see that this beast came from Totodile. Anyways, this particular species is considered to be big, starky, and they walk on their hind legs which make them bipedal. The can be described as being blue in color with red colored three prong spikes in separate sections. Feraligatr’s also have long sharp claws on their hand and feet, and they sort of look like a blue version of a very old Godzilla creation from back in the day. Anyways their abilities vary from locking jaws, and brute strength and power which make them a very difficult opponent to take on and beat. Don’t get your hopes up if you’re a Pokémon trainer because these bad beasts are hard to find in the wild. In fact, they are considered to be extremely rare. If you wanted to go looking for one, your best bet is to search near water. I guess that’s about all I can say about this Pokémon. It is now your turn to get busy as you draw Feraligatr to add another species to your Pokémon sketch book. I will be back soon so hang in there folks, the day is not through yet. | <urn:uuid:cc861297-225d-4baa-95ee-4ef2f0074709> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.dragoart.com/tuts/9687/2/1/easy-step-by-step-drawing-instructions-for-how-to-draw-feraligatr,-feraligatr.htm | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368700264179/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516103104-00003-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.956785 | 367 | 1.8125 | 2 |
Filed under: Timepieces / Watches
Spaceview watches have electronic movements that were precursors to quartz movements called "tuning fork" movements. Unlike quartz movements, I believe that turning fork movements used a sweeping seconds (as opposed to ticking) hand like mechanical movements. Though the movements are battery powered. Consumers were wowed by the "cool factors" of the Spaceview back in the 1960s, and they became very popular. I first discussed Spaceview watches here. Today, there are many Spaceview watches still available on the collector's market. The pieces are recognizable by their open, mostly green movements that contain those double copper coils. Back then the circuit board style dial was modern as could be. By today's standards it has a retro look that reminds you of that transistor radio you took apart as a kid. The 1000 pieces of this Bulova Accutron Spaceview 214 reissue models are going to be hard to get, and come with a nostalgia premium going for about $4,000 a piece. Available Fall 2010.
Ariel Adams publishes the luxury watch review site aBlogtoRead.com. | <urn:uuid:9f13b85d-41d2-4ad3-8977-e17284adcbc9> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.luxist.com/tag/reissue/ | 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 | 0.974798 | 229 | 1.734375 | 2 |
CONCERNS about job security are prompting central Victorian residents to dial for help.
GriefLine, a telephone service providing support to people experiencing loss and grief, recently extended its funding to country areas, including Bendigo.
GriefLine CEO Catherine Cini said the service had responded to at least 3000 calls from country areas in the past three months.
“That’s including a lot from Bendigo,” she said.
GriefLine workers are on hand to listen to people in times of death, natural disasters, financial concerns, family violence, health concerns, family issues, depression, suicide, relationships, isolation, unemployment and pet bereavement.
“Job losses are hugely prevalent at the moment,” Ms Cini said.
“People are worried, ‘Am I next in line?’
“It’s a concern, particularly for men.
“If women are really struggling and have a family they’ll take on cleaning or something.
“They’ll do anything. But a man’s identity is really tied up to work.
“People are ringing up about losing their house or fear of losing their house.”
Ms Cini said privacy was a big issue for people living in country areas.
“We ask for people to tell us their postcode or the name of their town and people have said, ‘I’ll give you the name of the closest town because everyone knows everyone here’,” she said.
“It’s such a serious issue.
“They talk about the fact that there’s only one doctor in the town and if they don’t like the doctor it’s too bad.
“People will get a diagnosis and ring us up at 2.30 in the morning because they don’t want to tell anyone.
“They can’t sleep because they’re worried so they’ll ring when everyone’s gone to bed... I knew there was a real need for the service in country areas.”
Ms Cini said GriefLine was not a crisis line so volunteers had more time to talk to people in need.
“We can talk to people for half an hour if need be,” she said.
“We don’t have many suicide calls. We get the aftermath – mum, dad, sister, brother, grandma or whoever – wanting to talk about what it’s meant to them.
The service is based in Melbourne, but Ms Cini visited Bendigo recently in an attempt to secure more funding.
“We’ve only really got enough money to last until next June, so we really need to get more money to keep it going,” she said.
“When I was in Bendigo I found there’s not much money anywhere, nothing concrete.
“So even a small business can help out, by giving (say) $500 for the next three years.
“Our biggest cost is the calls themselves.
“Other lines try and get people off in the first 10 minutes.
“So we get all referrals from these lines for us to them talk to people.
“We’re looking at businesses to contribute.
“We have a fundraiser at Christmas at the Melbourne casino, so even if Bendigo businesses could contribute to an auction that would be great.”
If you need help, phone GriefLine on
1300 845 745..
1300 845 745.
1300 845 745.
1300 845 745. | <urn:uuid:8914fc8c-164d-439d-8270-dfb97500e0dd> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.bendigoadvertiser.com.au/story/381666/central-victorian-callers-dial-griefline-for-help/?src=rss | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368704132298/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516113532-00040-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.949639 | 777 | 1.570313 | 2 |
Michigan DOE to use ETS Administrative Assessments for Alternative Route for School Administration Certification
- Jason Baran
- Jason Baran
Princeton, N.J. (November 17, 2011) —
Educational Testing Service will provide its Educational Leadership: Administration and Supervision (ELAS), School Leaders Licensure Assessment (SLLA) and School Superintendent Assessment (SSA) to the Michigan Department of Education as a pathway for candidates seeking entry into their School Administrative Alternative Certification Program.
ETS will offer each assessment as part of their regular Praxis™ test administration. In addition, the ELAS, SLLA and SSA are moving to a computer-based format in 2012, providing candidates with immediate, unofficial score results for all multiple-choice items and official score reports within three weeks of testing. There are not, however, immediate, unofficial scores for tests that have constructed-response (SLLA and SSA). There will be unofficial scores for ELAS when it rolls out on computer.
"The Michigan Department of Education is seeking innovative ways to provide its local school administrators with the necessary tools to become exceptional leaders," said Michigan DOE Education Consultant Rajah Smart. "Realizing this drive to cultivate leaders, ETS has been exceptional in ensuring their assessments meet our needs."
"The opportunity to serve the Michigan Department of Education means a great deal to ETS," said ETS Vice President and Chief Operating Officer for Teacher Licensure and Certification Linda Tyler. "ETS will provide uncommon service and quality assessments to the educators of the State of Michigan for many years to come."
The Praxis Series™ assessments are the national leader in educator assessment, offering unparalleled portability among states. ETS has more than 60 years of expertise in customizing assessments to meet individual state requirements. With more than 140 educator assessments, ETS covers each state's licensure needs and is the only organization that can assess skills for every educator role in a district, including superintendents, principals, teachers and teachers' assistants.
At ETS, we advance quality and equity in education for people worldwide by creating assessments based on rigorous research. ETS serves individuals, educational institutions and government agencies by providing customized solutions for teacher certification, English language learning, and elementary, secondary and post-secondary education, as well as conducting education research, analysis and policy studies. Founded as a nonprofit in 1947, ETS develops, administers and scores more than 50 million tests annually — including the TOEFL® and TOEIC® tests, the GRE® tests and The Praxis Series™ assessments — in more than 180 countries, at over 9,000 locations worldwide. www.ets.org | <urn:uuid:6ca2f0fc-e239-4157-94fa-24e6fa686e24> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.ets.org/newsroom/news_releases/michigan_doe | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368706890813/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516122130-00018-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.942548 | 549 | 1.59375 | 2 |
EarthCam Helps NJDOT Protect 87th PGA Championship
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
New York, May 8, 2006 -- Harold Neil is Executive Assistant of the New Jersey Department of Transportation's Office of Transportation Security. He is tasked with statewide transportation security and counterterrorism efforts to protect infrastructure and vulnerable facilities from attack. An important aspect of Mr. Neil's job is the ongoing evaluation and implementation of new techniques, strategies and technologies to effectively execute his division's security mandate.
Mr. Neil is a contributing author for the "Homeland Security Handbook" published by McGraw Hill. In his chapter "Transportation Information and Security" he writes, "...transportation information fusion is a significant part of achieving N.J. DOT's planned enhancement of transportation security. A fusion center would provide decision makers with a holistic overview of activity in all modes of transportation. Maps and video images would enable officials to detect, mitigate, and respond to threats and incidents having to do with both homeland security and general emergency management."
Mr. Neil first learned of EarthCam, Inc. at a formal presentation the company gave to the NJDOT's Chief of Staff that demonstrated EarthCam's advanced webcam technologies and managed services. Impressed with EarthCam's network camera expertise, long list of successfully completed projects and Fortune 500 clientele, Mr. Neil was anxious to utilize EarthCam for Homeland Security Applications.
The first test of EarthCam's webcam technology would be a special event that would have "a potentially major impact" on NJ's transportation network. This turned out to be the 87th PGA Championship.
When another vendor was unable to meet a tight deadline to deploy the required security camera systems for the international tournament event, NJDOT needed to hire a replacement vendor at the last minute. The task at hand was a daunting one: multiple cameras delivering real time video from widely dispersed locations all without bandwidth connections in a seemingly impossible timeframe. Mr. Neil called EarthCam for assistance, and the response was instant.
EarthCam deployed secure network IP webcams utilizing high-speed wireless data connections on the Sprint EVDO network with robotic pan/tilt/zoom capability, live streaming video output and provided archiving services for this project. One webcam was positioned at Giants Stadium in Rutherford, NJ to monitor the staging area for shuttle buses that transported spectators to the Baltusrol Golf Club in Springfield, NJ. Wireless security webcams monitoring traffic conditions along the bus routes were positioned on a major interstate highway.
Bruce: Why did NJDOT choose IP cameras?
BHS: Why did you choose EarthCam?
BHS: Regarding the recent PGA Championship: why did NJDOT decide to deploy
NJDOT has been involved in major event planning and operations since the 1994 World Cup Games at Giants Stadium. The use of cameras provided another tool in our toolbox to support the major events. In our experience people remember two items while attending a major special event, one, the event itself and second, how they arrived and departed and what they experienced. Our goal was to provide to all agencies the regional transportation situational awareness picture needed to identify and remove incidents as quickly as possible thus allowing uninterrupted access to the transportation network allowing those waiting to attend the event their access and those needing to avoid the areas the proper identification of potential disruption.
BHS: Was your project a success?
BHS: Do you have any comments or feedback about working with EarthCam?
BHS: How was your experience working with EarthCam's technology and
BHS: In the future, will the NJDOT be using more cameras for their projects,
To quote Mr. Neil's chapter, "The expectation is that better information flow and a holistic view of transportation information and incidents will improve decision making and facilitate joint action." | <urn:uuid:05d01cb5-7caa-4bd4-aaf2-0361ca317482> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.earthcam.com/press/press_details.php?lang=pt_br&id=283 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368700958435/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516104238-00023-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.940545 | 772 | 1.65625 | 2 |
2nd Chronicles 32
Return to Index .
Manasseh was twelve years old when he began to reign; and he reigned fifty and five years in Jerusalem.
And he did that which was evil in the sight of Jehovah, after the abominations of the nations whom Jehovah cast out before the children of Israel.
For he built again the high places which Hezekiah his father had broken down; and he reared up altars for the Baalim, and made Asheroth, and worshipped all the host of heaven, and served them.
And he built altars in the house of Jehovah, whereof Jehovah said, In Jerusalem shall my name be for ever.
And he built altars for all the host of heaven in the two courts of the house of Jehovah.
He also made his children to pass through the fire in the valley of the son of Hinnom; and he practised augury, and used enchantments, and practised sorcery, and dealt with them that had familiar spirits, and with wizards: he wrought much evil in the sight of Jehovah, to provoke him to anger.
And he set the graven image of the idol, which he had made, in the house of God, of which God said to David and to Solomon his son, In this house, and in Jerusalem, which I have chosen out of all the tribes of Israel, will I put my name for ever:
neither will I any more remove the foot of Israel from off the land which I have appointed for your fathers, if only they will observe to do all that I have commanded them, even all the law and the statutes and the ordinances given by Moses.
And Manasseh seduced Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem, so that they did evil more than did the nations whom Jehovah destroyed before the children of Israel.
And Jehovah spake to Manasseh, and to his people; but they gave no heed.
Wherefore Jehovah brought upon them the captains of the host of the king of Assyria, who took Manasseh in chains, and bound him with fetters, and carried him to Babylon.
And when he was in distress, he besought Jehovah his God, and humbled himself greatly before the God of his fathers.
And he prayed unto him; and he was entreated of him, and heard his supplication, and brought him again to Jerusalem into his kingdom. Then Manasseh knew that Jehovah he was God.
Now after this he built an outer wall to the city of David, on the west side of Gihon, in the valley, even to the entrance at the fish gate; and he compassed Ophel about with it, and raised it up to a very great height: and he put valiant captains in all the fortified cities of Judah.
And he took away the foreign gods, and the idol out of the house of Jehovah, and all the altars that he had built in the mount of the house of Jehovah, and in Jerusalem, and cast them out of the city.
And he built up the altar of Jehovah, and offered thereon sacrifices of peace-offerings and of thanksgiving, and commanded Judah to serve Jehovah, the God of Israel.
Nevertheless the people sacrificed still in the high places, but only unto Jehovah their God.
Now the rest of the acts of Manasseh, and his prayer unto his God, and the words of the seers that spake to him in the name of Jehovah, the God of Israel, behold, they are written among the acts of the kings of Israel.
His prayer also, and how God was entreated of him, and all his sin and his trespass, and the places wherein he built high places, and set up the Asherim and the graven images, before he humbled himself: behold, they are written in the history of Hozai.
So Manasseh slept with his fathers, and they buried him in his own house: and Amon his son reigned in his stead.
Amon was twenty and two years old when he began to reign; and he reigned two years in Jerusalem.
And he did that which was evil in the sight of Jehovah, as did Manasseh his father; and Amon sacrificed unto all the graven images which Manasseh his father had made, and served them.
And he humbled not himself before Jehovah, as Manasseh his father had humbled himself; but this same Amon trespassed more and more.
And his servants conspired against him, and put him to death in his own house.
But the people of the land slew all them that had conspired against king Amon; and the people of the land made Josiah his son king in his stead. | <urn:uuid:df5a7625-7dfc-48af-bc48-496a05e05074> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.abuddhistlibrary.com/Buddhism/H%20-%20World%20Religions%20and%20Poetry/World%20Religions/Christianity/Bibles/American%20Standard%20Version/B14C033.htm | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368703298047/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516112138-00022-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.987231 | 982 | 1.601563 | 2 |
This was something I posted about a couple of months ago but had to remove. Loki/R390/R420 - all the same thing; essentially a very, very fast R3x0-generation part with a few hardware additions to support more advanced shaders and optimise for stencil-based rendering. The original R400 project was canned and the tech carried forward into R500.
x-bit are always pretty lame as far as this kind of report goes. They invariably just re-hash things that have been made public already on B3D forums or The Inq.
I think that "2x" estimate might actually be a little conservative in some cases. An 8x1 architecture clocked at ~600MHz is not out of the question, IMHO. It could well be an 8x2/16x1 configuration of some kind, although these reports of 110-150 million transistors doesn't really support that idea. Their mindset when it comes to the design of Loki certainly seems to be extremely performance-oriented.
nVidia are targetting 550-600MHz core for the NV40 (a "true" 8-piper), paired with 700-800MHz (that's 1.4-1.6GHz DDR) memory so expect similar performance leaps from them too.
x-bit are wrong on the process details - it's a 0.13u part, not 0.15u. I believe they're re-using some physical elements from RV350.
It could be 200% but ATI better get better drivers. Maybe they have fixed everything now. If so, then cool. But otherwise performance wouldn't matter if the drivers were not that great. Nvidias drivers are still excellent and installing a nvidia card usually doesn't have hastles after. But on second thought, the radeon 9800 does look more attractive than the Nvidia ONLY because the price is 200 dollars less. But when the 5900 Ultra is down to around 300, then cool .
There are experts in many fields, but one thing is certain. You don't have to be an expert to speculate.. So speculate on!
So what is the 390? Is it a cut-down version of the R350 core?
If they doubled the textures per unit, then they could say 2x as powerfull. This would only be for the fill rate of dual textureed pixels and does not repressent as much in the real world.
I still want a middle of the road card sometime this year to replace my Geforce4 Ti4200. This card is getting pretty old, but it still sells good in the mid-ranged market. The Radeon 9500Pro, 9600 Pro and GeForceFX 5600 are in the pricerange that I am looking at, but the performance is not that much better than my GeForce4. I want a good jump like when I went from my Geforce2GTS to GeForce4 Ti4200.
AMD Phenom II x4 945 3Ghz | ASUS M4A77TD | 2X WD 1TB SATA 2 hard drive | 2x2GB Corsair XMS3 | nVidia GeForce 8800 GTS | ATI TV Wonder Theater Pro 550 | Antec P-160 case | Antec 650w Earth Watts | LG Blu-ray Super Drive | LG DVD RW | Windows 7 Pro | <urn:uuid:ae8793bc-3fbd-4467-866c-c38a16401a77> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.hardwarecentral.com/showthread.php?147318-Somthing-coming-this-fall-or-early-spring-that-is-2X-faster-than-a-9800-PRO&p=809793 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368709037764/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516125717-00025-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.947971 | 692 | 1.515625 | 2 |
Walgreen Co. (WAG). Below are some highlights from the above linked analysis:
Company Description: Walgreen Co. is the largest U.S. retail drug chain in terms of revenues, this company operates more than 8,000 drug stores throughout the U.S. and Puerto Rico.
Fair Value: In calculating fair value, I consider the NPV MMA Differential Fair Value along with these four calculations of fair value, see page 2 of the linked PDF for a detailed description:
1. Avg. High Yield Price
2. 20-Year DCF Price
3. Avg. P/E Price
4. Graham Number
WAG is trading at a discount to 1.) and 3.) above. The stock is trading at a 25.2% discount to its calculated fair value of $46.67. WAG earned a Star in this section since it is trading at a fair value.
Dividend Analytical Data: In this section there are three possible Stars and three key metrics, see page 2 of the linked PDF for a detailed description:
1. Free Cash Flow Payout
2. Debt To Total Capital
3. Key Metrics
4. Dividend Growth Rate
5. Years of Div. Growth
6. Rolling 4-yr Div. > 15%
WAG earned two Stars in this section for 2.) and 3.) above. The stock earned a Star as a result of its most recent Debt to Total Capital being less than 45%. WAG earned a Star for having an acceptable score in at least two of the four Key Metrics measured.
Rolling 4-yr Div. > 15% means that dividends grew on average in excess of 15% for each consecutive 4 year period over the last 10 years (2001-2004, 2002-2005, 2003-2006, etc.) I consider this a key metric since dividends will double every 5 years if they grow by 15%. The company has paid a cash dividend to shareholders every year since 1933 and has increased its dividend payments for 36 consecutive years.
Dividend Income vs. MMA: Why would you assume the equity risk and invest in a dividend stock if you could earn a better return in a much less risky money market account (MMA) or Treasury bond? This section compares the earning ability of this stock with a high yield MMA. Two items are considered in this section, see page 2 of the linked PDF for a detailed description:
1. NPV MMA Diff.
2. Years to > MMA
WAG earned a Star in this section for its NPV MMA Diff. of the $9,017. This amount is in excess of the $500 target I look for in a stock that has increased dividends as long as WAG has. If WAG grows its dividend at 18.8% per year, it will take 5 years to equal a MMA yielding an estimated 20-year average rate of 4.1%.
Memberships and Peers: WAG is a member of the S&P 500, a Dividend Aristocrat and a member of the Broad Dividend Achievers™ Index and a Dividend Champion. The company's peer group includes: CVS Caremark Corporation (CVS) with a 1.4% yield, Rite Aid Corp. (RAD) with a 0.0% yield and Wal-Mart Stores Inc. (WMT) with a 2.9% yield.
Conclusion: WAG earned one Star in the Fair Value section, earned two Stars in the Dividend Analytical Data section and earned one Star in the Dividend Income vs. MMA section for a total of four Stars. This quantitatively ranks WAG as a 4 Star-Strong stock.
Using my D4L-PreScreen.xls model, I determined the share price would need to increase to $92.33 before WAG's NPV MMA Differential decreased to the $500 minimum that I look for in a stock with 36 years of consecutive dividend increases. At that price the stock would yield 0.8%.
Resetting the D4L-PreScreen.xls model and solving for the dividend growth rate needed to generate the target $500 NPV MMA Differential, the calculated rate is 10.1%. This dividend growth rate is well below the 18.8% used in this analysis, thus providing a significant margin of safety. WAG has a risk rating of 1.50 which classifies it as a Low risk stock.
With over 8,000 drugstores, WAG offers unmatched convenience with one of the the most recognized brand names in the retail pharmacy business. The company enjoys a strong market share within the relatively stable U.S. retail drug industry.
However, pressures from non-traditional competitors and potential adverse legislation affecting reimbursements could quickly weaken WAG’s advantages. Although the stock is trading well below my $46.67 fair value price, the 2.1% dividend yield will prevent any near–term purchases.
Disclaimer: Material presented here is for informational purposes only. The above quantitative stock analysis, including the Star rating, is mechanically calculated and is based on historical information. The analysis assumes the stock will perform in the future as it has in the past. This is generally never true. Before buying or selling any stock you should do your own research and reach your own conclusion. See my Disclaimer for more information.
Full Disclosure: At the time of this writing, I held no position in WAG (0.0% of my Dividend Growth Portfolio) and was long in WMT. See a list of all my dividend growth holdings here.
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Tags: [WAG] [CVS] [RAD] [WMT]
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There are income investors and Dividend Growth investors. While the distinction is rather simple, it slips past many casual observers. Inco... | <urn:uuid:cc16d8b4-4251-4198-8c1b-8a393a396c4b> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.dividend-growth-stocks.com/2011/09/walgreen-co-wag-dividend-stock-analysis.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368700958435/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516104238-00009-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.930311 | 1,557 | 1.679688 | 2 |
- Handcrafted in the USA
- 9" Lace-up style
- Golden nubuc / briar oiled waterproof leather uppers
- Leather / genuine lamb shearling gussett lining
- Wool polypropylene felt insulation
- Chip-A-Tex waterproof membrane system
- Solid Goodyear leather welt construction
- Black Vibram® Cascade outsole
The Arctic™ boot was developed to provide greater protection in extreme cold temperatures while giving the wearer lighter weight comfort and support. The patented Kush-N-Kollar® enhances the comfort and continues to be featured in all Arctic stylings. These 9" boots are made with the breathable Chip-A-Tex® waterproof membrane that locks water out while allowing air to pass through from the foot, keeping feet dry and comfortable. The exclusive Vibram® compound provides maximum traction on wet/dry surfaces and various terrain.
In October of 1901, Chippewa Boots was founded in their namesake city of Chippewa Falls, WI. Chippewa Boots was named after the city which was named after the Indian tribe in the region. Their quest was to one day, create the finest boots and shoes in the United States. At the time, Chippewa Boots employed 175 people, mainly women, and produced 1,200 pairs a day. In the beginning, Chippewa Boots mainly produced a high end logging boots for the pulp and paper industry. The Chippewa mainstay, Logger Boot, outfitted thousand of brave lumberjacks. They required sharp saws, honed axes, strong ropes and Chippewa Boots. Chippewa Logger Boots were quickly known as the best boots for the outdoors. With the reputation Chippewa Boots was creating, their quality Logger Boots spread throughout the entire United States and in 1910 their factory increased production to 2,500 pairs a day! Chippewa Boots has played their part in every era. The Chippewa Engineer Boots through the 1930's. The Chippewa Arctic Boots for the cold-weather battles of World War II. Even through the 50's when Chippewa introduced Chippewa Snake Boots for hunters and outdoorsmen. Chippewa Boots have always been know for quality, durability and technology. Chippewa Boots, "The Best. By Far." | <urn:uuid:d9fa7791-b4bd-40a7-a4f3-e8aed7090f6a> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.bootbarn.com/Chippewa-Men's-Waterproof-Arctic-Work-Boots/1009317,default,pd.html?start=12&cgid=Western%20Boots&prefn1=heelType&prefv1=348&srule=Revenue%20and%20Units%2030%20days | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368705195219/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516115315-00016-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.938505 | 487 | 1.59375 | 2 |
Manhattan Research has released their annual study entitled “Taking the Pulse” which is intended to provide statistics and analysis regarding “how physicians in the United Kingdom, France, Italy, Spain and Germany use the Internet, digital media, mobile devices and other technologies for professional purposes, pharma communication and patient interaction.” Based on the data they collected it seems 26% of European doctors own an iPad.
Of the 1,207 doctors surveyed, they indicated that they spend 27% of their professional Internet time using the iPad while 55% of their time was spent on desktop computers and the remaining 18% was allocated to their smartphones. Of those doctors surveyed that did not own iPads, 40% indicated that they were planning a purchase within the next 6 months.
When polled regarding their specific use of the iPad, most indicated that they used it to look up information, browse articles, and watch videos but almost all participants said they would love to extend the use to educating patients.
Records management also topped the list of intended uses and it makes a lot of sense. Where once it was necessary for doctors to chart things with paper and pen, now they can take advantage of electronic health record systems that are being implemented to provide more up to date and accurate patient files –which means better healthcare for everybody.
Developers should take particular note of this survey data because I think it indicates a real potential market for the development of new apps. Certainly there are a number of existing healthcare style apps out there but particular interest should be paid to these vertical markets containing interested professionals (who else might be interested? lawyers? dentists?).
It should also go without saying that the closely tied pharmaceutical industry should be taking note as well. With the competitive landscape out there for their products it would make perfect sense to compliment their offering with apps that help sell their products as well as providing accurate and timely information (including dosages, side-effects, contraindications, etc.). | <urn:uuid:f2817e66-0dae-426b-aac8-01426f5c6161> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.padgadget.com/2012/02/16/european-doctors-rely-more-and-more-on-ipad/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368699273641/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516101433-00003-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.970962 | 397 | 1.84375 | 2 |
Johns Hopkins surgeon Marty Makary is co-developer of the life-saving checklist outlined in Atul Gawande’s bestselling book The Checklist Manifesto.
Dr. Makary’s new book was released September 18th Unaccountable/ What Hospitals Won’t Tell You and How Transparency Can Revolutionize Health Care.
You can get an quick overview of the concepts from his September 21 WSJ article How to Stop Hospitals From Killing Us:
(…) As doctors, we swear to do no harm. But on the job we soon absorb another unspoken rule: to overlook the mistakes of our colleagues. The problem is vast. U.S. surgeons operate on the wrong body part as often as 40 times a week. Roughly a quarter of all hospitalized patients will be harmed by a medical error of some kind. If medical errors were a disease, they would be the sixth leading cause of death in America—just behind accidents and ahead of Alzheimer’s. The human toll aside, medical errors cost the U.S. health-care system tens of billions a year. Some 20% to 30% of all medications, tests and procedures are unnecessary, according to research done by medical specialists, surveying their own fields. What other industry misses the mark this often?
It does not have to be this way. A new generation of doctors and patients is trying to achieve greater transparency in the health-care system, and new technology makes it more achievable than ever before.
I encountered the disturbing closed-door culture of American medicine on my very first day as a student at one of Harvard Medical School’s prestigious affiliated teaching hospitals. Wearing a new white medical coat that was still creased from its packaging, I walked the halls marveling at the portraits of doctors past and present. On rounds that day, members of my resident team repeatedly referred to one well-known surgeon as “Dr. Hodad.” I hadn’t heard of a surgeon by that name. Finally, I inquired. “Hodad,” it turned out, was a nickname. A fellow student whispered: “It stands for Hands of Death and Destruction.”
Stunned, I soon saw just how scary the works of his hands were. His operating skills were hasty and slipshod, and his patients frequently suffered complications. This was a man who simply should not have been allowed to touch patients. But his bedside manner was impeccable (in fact, I try to emulate it to this day). He was charming. Celebrities requested him for operations. His patients worshiped him. When faced with excessive surgery time and extended hospitalizations, they just chalked up their misfortunes to fate. | <urn:uuid:66529aa7-6884-47ac-a785-cf3953ab4cbd> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://seekerblog.com/2012/09/30/how-to-stop-hospitals-from-killing-us/ | 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 | 0.974413 | 565 | 1.804688 | 2 |
Have You Discovered The Power Of Oregano? (Interview)
This year the flu season has packed quite a punch, forty-seven states have reported widespread flu and surely, there are a couple people, if not one, that you know are dealing with the nasty virus. Lately, you are considered to be lucky if you find general symptom relief medicine stocked in stores because everyone is looking for sweet relief.
If you find yourself in-front of an empty shelf and you have the flu, there is still hope! What is being called the “Oil of Oregano Revolution” by Dr. Cass Ingram, author of The Miracle of Wild Oregano, presents a possible alternative which Dr. Ingram takes regularly and claims that he hasn’t been sick for years.
The oil of oregano is being administered to chickens at a Pennsylvania poultry plant as an alternative to antibiotics, Dr. Ingram said in an interview with North Platte Post that the chickens which are taking the oil of oregano, produced at Bell & Evans, are more vital and healthy. The natural supplement has benefits to humans which Dr. Ingram explains in the interview that the oil of oregano is a germicide which makes it ideal for getting over a common cold or the flu. Dr. Ingram explained a study where he injected the flu virus into cells and he found that the oil of oregano which “obliterates the virus.”
Listen to the interview where Dr. Cass Ingram shares the benefits from oil of oregano.
You can purchase oil of oregano at any health mart or vitamin store and online by clicking here.
You can buy Dr. Ingram’s book, The Miracle of Wild Oregano, online by clicking on this link. | <urn:uuid:9054b58d-a5c1-4c9c-b7fc-61c0380e2ade> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.northplattepost.com/2013/01/14/have-you-discovered-the-power-of-oregano-interview/ | 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 | 0.954228 | 365 | 1.585938 | 2 |
The truth of the matter on muscle hypertrophy and growth factors is that no one knows with certainty how muscle grows. No one. Not trainers, not any scientist at Yale University or Harvard, or any bodybuilding expert or guru out there. What is known is that the IGF-1s (protein with a similar structure to insulin) appear to be players in the process of muscle growth. To learn more about muscle growth factors, read How to Harness Your Body's Growth Factors.
Once you understand growth factors, it’s time to discuss training strategies to help you increase their levels so that you can get on with the business of getting huge. Training can elicit a boost in both circulating IGF-1 levels and muscle expression of IGF-1s. But not just any ole workout will send your growth factor levels through the roof. These four strategies are backed by science to get your growth factors surging.
1. NEGATIVE REPS
HOW IT WORKS Muscle damage is important to activating dormant muscle satellite cells. And that instigates an increase in the production of MGF in the muscle. This will get you more muscle nuclei in your muscle fibers, and that equates to more growth that you keep for the long haul. In fact, U.K. researchers reported that men performing an eccentric (negative rep) leg workout experienced significant increases in muscle expression of MGF. Another study, from the University of Alabama-Birmingham, reported that subjects performing 8 sets of 8 eccentric reps using 110% of their 1-rep-max weight increased muscle expression of IGF-1 by more than 60%. Yet when they performed only positive reps, the increase in expression was only 40%.
DO THIS: Every four to six weeks, do a negative- rep training workout for each muscle group. Do 3 sets of 5 to 8 negative reps on 2 to 3 exercises. Use a weight that’s about 110-120% heavier than your one-rep max on that exercise. Have a spotter assist you through the positive part of the rep and then lower the weight on your own through the negative parte of the rep. Each negative rep should last for three to five seconds. Follow the 3 sets of negatives with 2 to 3 sets of regular for 6 to 8 reps.
Train solo? You can still do negatives on a Smith machine. Use both arms to move the weight through the positive portion of the rep and then resist the weight on the negative part of the rep and then resist the weight on the negative part of the rep with just one arm or leg. Switch limbs each rep until you have completed 5 to 8 negative reps on each side. When you come back to the next negative rep-training workout, try to choose different exercises than the previous week’s to ensure that you are damaging muscle fibers in different areas of the target muscle.
2. MODERATE REP RANGE
HOW IT WORKS Training with a weight that allows you to complete about 10-12 reps is best for muscle growth. It’s what decades of experienced bodybuilders have found in gyms, and it’s what decades of experienced bodybuilders have found in gyms, and it’s what strength scientists have confirmed in the lab. This rep range had also been shown in the lab to better boost expression of local IGFs from the muscle, as well as boost circulating GH and IGF-1 levels. Researchers from Finland reported robust increases in both IGF-1Ea and MGF following a leg workout that consisted of 5 sets of leg presses for 10 reps per set and 4 sets of Smith machine squats for 10 reps per set.
DO THIS: Although you should never focus on just one rep range all the time, be sure to frequently hit the 10-12 rep range in your workouts to boost both locally produced IGF-1s in the muscle and circulating IGF-1 levels. This will help to increase both muscle nuclei number and muscle protein synthesis in the target muscles.
4. FORCED REPS
HOW IT WORKS To really boost growth factors, you need to train with balls-to-the-walls intensity. That means taking the last set of each exercise to failure...and beyond. A great way to do this is with the Weider Training Principle known as forced reps--research from Finland shows that they boost GH levels higher than when you end a set at failure.
Although the did not measure IGF-1 levels, the researchers reported that when subjects performed a workout using forced reps, their GH levels were three times higher than when they did a normal workout where each set ended upon reaching failure (higher GH levels typically mean higher IGF-levels in the circulation and/or in the muscles). In a follow-up study, the same research team found that trained men using forced reps recruited more fast-twitch muscle fibers, as well as more total muscle fibers during a workout as compared with when they used normal sets taken just to failure.
The forced reps also led to higher fatigue of both their muscle fibers and their nervous systems. The researchers suggested that this would likely result in greater muscle growth over time due to the increased mechanical stress placed on the muscle fibers and the higher release of anabolic hormones and growth factors induced by greater fatigue.
DO THIS: The key is how much help you get from your spotter. Too little assistance and you will not be able to complete an adequate amount of forced reps to stimulate muscle growth. Too much help will not adequately overload the muscle. The spotter must help just enough to get you past the sticking point but allow you to do the majority of the work.
You can still used forced-rep training even if you’re solo. Do single-arm or single leg exercises, and after reaching failure, assist yourself using your other arm or leg. Tempted to take every set to failure and do forced reps to boost IGF-1 levels higher? Don’t be. Spanish researchers found that men training for 16 weeks and taking every set to failure had lower circulating IGF-1 than those not taking sets to failure. Keep it to one set per exercise. | <urn:uuid:3fff956c-3d0c-4c52-becf-a9afccbe95f1> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://anabolicminds.com/forum/content/ideal-workout-igf-2923/?p=3859301 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368699881956/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516102441-00040-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.953839 | 1,252 | 1.765625 | 2 |
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LANSING, Mich. (AP) — Gov. Rick Snyder says one reason he supports right-to-work legislation in Michigan is the economic boost a similar law has given Indiana, although officials have provided no conclusive evidence that the policy by itself has drawn new businesses to the state next door.
It's an example of the flurry of claims supporters and opponents were making as the Michigan Legislature prepared to reconvene Tuesday for what could be final votes on right-to-work bills that have inspired fierce protests from unions and their Democratic allies, including President Barack Obama. Lansing authorities were bracing for an onslaught of demonstrators, increasing police presence and planning road closings and parking restrictions around the Capitol.
Snyder, a Republican who said repeatedly during his first two years in office that right-to-work wasn't a priority for him, reversed course last week by endorsing bills that would prohibit requiring nonunion employees to pay unions for negotiating contracts and other services. Within hours, bills were rushed through the GOP-dominated House and Senate as Democrats angrily objected and chanting union activists clogged the hallways.
During a news conference explaining his decision, Snyder said he had been impressed by results in Indiana, another Rust Belt state and historical labor stronghold that enacted a right-to-work law earlier this year.
"They've had 90 companies in the pipeline for economic development say this was a factor in deciding to look to come to Indiana," he said. "That's thousands of jobs. We need more and better jobs in Michigan."
Spokeswoman Sara Wurfel said Snyder's comment was based on information provided by the Indiana Economic Development Corporation. She said the agency had reported that 67 of those prospective companies had "progressed to the pipeline stage."
"Of these 67 companies, 31 companies have already accepted the IEDC's offer, accounting for more than 3,700 projected new jobs and more than $431 million in investment," Wurfel said in an email, referring to information provided by the Indiana agency.
It was unclear what was meant by "the pipeline stage" or "the IEDC's offer." Katelyn Hancock, spokeswoman for the Indiana agency, told The Associated Press that "90 companies have communicated to the IEDC that Indiana's enactment of right-to-work will factor into their decision-making process of where to locate current projects."
Hancock added, "Out of respect for companies, all discussions are confidential until we have completed negotiations and have a final acceptance from them."
Indiana has made a number of business relocation and expansion announcements this year in which company executives have identified the right-to-work law as one reason behind decisions. Whayne Supply Co., a distributor of heavy construction and earth moving equipment, said in May it was boosting operations in Evansville, creating up to 50 jobs. President and CEO Monty Boyd mentioned the law along with Indiana's "outstanding infrastructure, talented workforce and recent legislation to lower taxes."
But the president of another business, MBC Group, said the Indiana agency had incorrectly reported that its planned expansion resulted from the right-to-work law.
Meanwhile, opponents of right-to-work laws contend they push wages and benefits lower. Michigan Democrats frequently cite a study by the liberal-leaning Economic Policy Institute reporting that employees in right-to-work states earn $1,500 less annually than their counterparts in states without such laws.
The Economic Policy Institute acknowledged it is "notoriously difficult" to evaluate the effects of a single state policy, but said its wage analysis was controlled for more than 40 different factors such as age, race and education.
The conservative Mackinac Center for Public Policy in Michigan says compensation in right-to-work states can be even higher than elsewhere when costs of living are considered. A study by the Indiana Chamber of Commerce found personal income grew more in right-to-work states than those with no right-to-work laws between 1977 and 2008.
"Very little is actually known about the impact of right-to-work laws," Gary Chaison, a professor of labor relations at Clark University in Massachusetts, said Monday. "There's a lot of assumptions that they create or destroy jobs, but the correlation is not definite."
Democrats contend the disagreement over such questions is one reason why the Legislature should allow further consideration, although Republicans say the issue is longstanding and the viewpoints clear.
"These so-called right-to-work laws, they don't have anything to do with economics, they have everything to do with politics," Obama told cheering workers Monday during a visit to an engine plant in Redford, Mich. "What they're really talking about is giving you the right to work for less money."
U.S. Sen. Carl Levin and members of the state's U.S. House delegation met with Snyder on Monday in Detroit and urged him to veto the legislation or amend it to allow a statewide referendum. Levin said the governor pledged to "seriously consider" the requests.
In Lansing, leaders of the Democratic minority in the state House acknowledged there was little they could do to stop the fast-moving legislation in the waning days of the session. However, they vowed to vote against other legislation as a form of protest, including one that helps to finance a downtown Detroit project featuring a new home for the NHL's Detroit Red Wings.
Ari Adler, spokesman for Michigan House Speaker Jase Bolger, chided those in Washington for "trying to tell Republicans in Michigan to slow down and not do our job in Lansing while they fail to resolve the nation's fiscal cliff crisis or even approve a budget."
Associated Press writers Tom LoBianco in Indianapolis, Ed White in Detroit and Ben Feller in Redford, Mich., contributed to this story. | <urn:uuid:c6c27ecd-4930-4ad3-bd41-9562888a2655> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.businessweek.com/ap/2012-12-10/michigan-democrats-make-final-right-to-work-push | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368701852492/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516105732-00001-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.97381 | 1,200 | 1.59375 | 2 |
Patient Peri to Participate in Team Lifeline Marathon for Children With Life Threatening Illnesses
We first met Peri when she was nine-years-old. Born with a neuromuscular disease, Peri's family contacted Drs. Michael Vitale and David P. Roye Jr. to perform growing rod scoliosis surgery to allow her to breathe easier, sit straighter and increase her stamina.
Soon after her surgery, Peri was enjoying one of her favorite activities — dance. Now 12-years-old, Peri is a camper at Camp Simcha Special, an incredible overnight summer camp designed to meet the unique medical and social needs of children and teens with life-threatening or lifelong illnesses. There, she participates in arts and crafts, baking, candle making and other fun camp activities. It's a special place where the focus is on fun, not on the physical challenges of the campers.
Because of her love of the camp, Peri's family became involved with Team Lifeline, the endurance training and support program for runners in our country's most popular marathons. Team Lifeline raises needed funds for Chai Lifeline, the international children's health support network dedicated to bringing joy and hope to seriously ill children and their families. The funds raised by Team Lifeline are earmarked for Camp Simcha and Camp Simcha Special.
This year, Peri and her family will once again participate in the ING Miami Marathon with Team Lifeline. Peri will yet again be crossing the finish line in her special jogging stroller, strapped with her medical equipment, to the delight of the cheering crowd.
"It is more important now than ever to reach our goal of raising more than $18,000 for Chai Lifeline. Any donation to help the effort to continue to support the children and families of Chai Lifeline is needed," said Peri's mother, Lori Finkelstein.
Peri and Team Finkelstein can use your support! Please click here to become a sponsor! | <urn:uuid:c44d10bc-e04f-4b17-bccf-76314545f428> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.childrensorthopaedics.com/news_peri.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368706499548/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516121459-00028-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.949283 | 418 | 1.664063 | 2 |
DETROIT (WWJ) – The discovery of contaminated soil and groundwater at Detroit’s Riverside Park has forced the city to temporarily close it.
Tests showed a petroleum-like substance in the ground. The 20-acre park is near the Ambassador Bridge.
Detroit Free Press reports recreation officials are reassuring residents that the park closure is not a precursor to giving it to the Detroit International Bridge Company. The company has been trying for years to restrict access to the park for security reasons.
Officials said the park could be closed for months. | <urn:uuid:e7d8f580-0291-4e3b-987f-28f07df24e3f> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://detroit.cbslocal.com/2012/03/22/contamination-forces-closure-of-riverside-park/ | 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 | 0.95324 | 112 | 1.632813 | 2 |
There have been plenty of reports lately about work time wasted on social networking sites like Twitter and Facebook. Now a recent article in Wired magazine backs up what I've been saying for a while, small breaks while working can help boost creativity.
Obviously not everyone would boost their productivity by spending time on Twitter or Facebook during their workday. But for graphic designers or other creatives these short breaks can help keep our minds running and the ideas flowing. Take a look at the article and see what you think. | <urn:uuid:b737c6d6-9e1a-4fd5-bd1f-c01b5db55152> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.adamleedesign.com/blog/2010/4/1/twitter-and-facebook-can-help-boost-creativity.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368706499548/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516121459-00012-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.970621 | 101 | 1.632813 | 2 |
"The first wealth is health." Ralph Waldo Emerson
Over the entire course of 2007, I've heralded the defensive attributes of investing in the Health Care sector with specific emphasis in my "Where To Invest In 2008" series of posts. Health Care ranked only second to Technology in third quarter 2007 year over year corporate earnings and that leadership looks to continue in the short-term, with healthy prospects in the long-term, as well...
Today, I'll fire up my fund screening software and spotlight a health care fund for your knowledge (and potentially, your portfolio)...
First, why would you want to invest in Health Care stocks to begin with? There are a handful of reasons:
- Regardless of the direction of the broader stock market and economy, people still need to go to the Doctor and buy drugs. For this reason, health care has low sensitivity to macro-economic concerns and a low correlation to broader stock market performance; therefore, the sector is considered to be a "defensive" investment with great value as a diversification tool in asset allocation.
- Short-term market conditions are volatile, to say the least, and any downward pressure on stocks makes the defensive use of health care even more pronounced -- and more attractive -- to investors.
- Long-term conditions also favor the sector: The massive baby-boom generation, the oldest of which turns 62 in 2008, demands the best in health care; therefore, over the next 10 years, spending on health care is expected to double, outpacing the growth of wages, inflation, and the economy as a whole.
- Advances in technology has created (and will continue to fuel) an explosion in scientific understanding.
Can any health care fund or Exchange Traded Fund (ETF) accomplish the short-term defensive and long-term performance objectives we are seeking? Not, necessarily... Here's what we need to find:
- Ideally, we will simultaneously harness three critical variables: 1) An aging population, 2) The favorable science and technology environment, and 3) Limited exposure to the sector's primary risks of regulatory pressures and political scrutiny (especially considering the approaching presidential election).
- To achieve this, the fund should be well-diversified among the "sub-sectors" of health care, meaning less exposure to the large pharmaceutical companies ("big pharma") and more exposure to other sub-sectors, most notably bio-technology ("bio-tech"), than the average health care fund.
- The need for lesser exposure to big pharma and for navigation through those political and market forces makes the use of an actively managed mutual fund prudent.
- This is because, alternatively, the vast majority of passively-managed Index funds and ETFs invest heavily in big pharma or are too concentrated in only one sub-sector, such as medical devices; therefore, I completely eliminated Index and ETF funds from my search.
- Some (but not all) of the criteria that I prefer for mutual funds include: Manager tenure greater than five years, below-average expenses, high performance ranks compared to category peers, favorable risk attributes (as measured by Sharpe Ratio, Beta, and Alpha), and low Turnover.
And the winner is...
T. Rowe Price Health Sciences (PRHSX). The fund passes all of my selection criteria with flying colors! Most notably, as of November 9, 2007, PRHSX out-performs nearly 90% of other health care funds year-to-date and has outperformed more than 90% of category peers for 1-year, 3-year, 5-year, and 10-year returns!
For added insight, here's a paragraph directly from the fund's prospectus:
We believe that generating outperformance in the health care sector will be increasingly dependent on effective stock selection, rather than an emphasis on a particular subsector of the health care industry. As always, we seek the strongest companies in each of the four main areas of health care: pharmaceuticals, biotechnology, services, and medical devices. Although each subsector offers attractive growth opportunities, we favor therapeutic companies developing novel products for unmet medical needs.
Of course, it should be noted that, taken alone, sector funds carry more risk than funds diversified across several other sectors of the economy; however, the proper exposure to a sector, such as health care or real estate, that has a low performance correlation to other stocks is prudent. Therefore, I (and most reputable advisors and planners) suggest limiting portfolio exposure to any given sector fund to a range of 5 to 15 percent allocation.
I hope this exercise was helpful. Please let me know if there are investment areas of interest you would like to see covered here at TFP and if this type of information is useful to you... | <urn:uuid:69e1bb79-5482-44c8-93d1-f92815dc72bc> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.thefinancialphilosopher.com/2007/11/getting-defensi.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368704713110/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516114513-00026-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.949031 | 977 | 1.546875 | 2 |
How Palestinians and Israelis view peace
All of us have followed the latest round of negotiations in the U.S. All of us are aspiring for a peace agreement that ends the conflict in the region. All of us affirm the issue of ending the conflict, but we have never asked how and what is the mechanism. As far as we get to the details, obstacles appear. There is a saying that states, "Satan is in the details"
There have only been a few cases when an occupier desired to give up land or peace; in which they know they are getting weaker or they are losing the battles. Obviously, it's not the case with Israel. Israel is still strong, as is demonstrated by its bloody forces. The Palestinian side has not become stronger. It can also be said that with the lack of unity, it has only become weaker. It was weakness that resulted in the Palestinian leadership being dragged into negotiating over that which is left of Palestine. Further complicating the issue is the lack of clarity in the Palestinian leadership’s lack of clarity in its position. Looking at President's Abbas positions and his team, there is great deviation from the main issues and rights of the Palestinian people. Yet, the leadership claims it has never given up Palestinian rights now or in the future.
This is not the case. Since the arrival of Obama, Palestinians and the International Community have continued to witness the failure of Madrid Peace Talks that began in 1990. Obama is no different than Bush, as Bush was no different than past presidents. Obama and his predecessors continue with another failed American policy, and the region continues to be plagued by an American foreign policy that only serves the interest of its one so-called true ally Israel.
Obama promised Palestinians an independent, sovereign and viable Palestinian state. Many thought that he would be the change the world, region and Palestinians were looking for, especially when he called upon Israel to halt the building of its illegal settlements. The language was then changed from calling for a halt to a freeze. The final call was for a delay so that negotiations could restart. Finally, the Obama administration applied pressure on Palestinians for them to enter into direct talks with Israelis. All the while Israel continued with its secret building settlements! Obama, unfortunately, is no different.
Whether Obama succumbed to pressure from the Israeli lobby, or because of the upcoming mid-term elections, or some combination thereof, a lack of leadership is evident in the case of the American. America is not entirely to blame for the failure of the current round of so-called peace talks, as the Palestinian leadership or the lack thereof is also to blame. The current Palestinian leadership gave a very cheap gift to Israel and Obama.
The gift was delivered by Abbas speech, with leader of AIPAC and Jewish community in the U.S. Without applying pressure or even blinking an eye, Abbas showed his readiness to recognize Israel as a Jewish state. He stated this indirectly when said Israel is free to name itself whatever it wants, even the empire of the Jewish state of Israel. Such recognition should have never been given. Free positions should not be given, as it will encourage them more and more towards huge concessions from the Palestinians. Israel has got enough concessions from Palestinians since 1948. But in all fairness to Abbas, he merely is representative of and reflects a failed, immoral and bankrupt policy of the past.
Rather than lamenting on the failed policy of the past, a reflection on what Palestinians do want is necessary. Rather than dialogue between failed leaders claiming to represent the people in the international community, maybe direct and public dialogue between Palestinians and international community is necessary for real peace. If the international community, represented by the people, can come together to break the Siege on Gaza and call for holding Israel accountable for its crimes against humanity, then maybe together a real peace can be achieved.
The following are issues of primary importance that need to be included, talked about and solved immediately.
-The Right of Return needs to be implemented. This right was set forth in UN Resolution 194 and guaranteed by many International accords. It gives Palestinian refugees the right plus compensation. Palestinians also seek a formal apology from Israel for the loss and damage experienced as a result of the ethnic cleansing and ongoing one-sided massacres in Gaza and West Bank. Palestinians should be allowed back to their homes and towns. If you ask any refugee, they will clearly state, " We want to go back".
The Israeli position to this is outright refusal. Israel views the right of return as a demographic threat and has only accepted that around 20.000 Palestinian refugees can return to the occupied territories. America backs this position and offered support by hosting more than 100.000 refugees in their land. They also offered $50 Billion for Palestinians if any agreement was made. They also want to settle the current Palestinian refugees living in Syria, Jordan, Lebanon and elsewhere through large amounts of financial and development support.
-Settlements should be dissolved. For a two state solution to work based on 1967 borders, all settlements should be left by the Israeli side. They are built in an occupied land according to UN resolutions and are illegal. They hinder the contiguity and viability of the Palestinian state. It will be unreasonable within the future Palestinian state to move from Nablus to Bethlehem by passing through a number of checkpoints. It's as if you are travelling to the USA from the Middle East, or travelling from Manchester to London through checkpoints manned by soldiers.
Israelis don't want to give up Palestinian land. They always state, “Peace in Return for Security, but not Land.” They want to keep settlements, which is part of their dogma. They view it as the land of the ancients, "Judia and Samira" which was given to Abraham and Moses a long time ago! Leaving this land will be very difficult due to them being occupied by both Jewish settlements and some Jewish terrorist groups. Leaving settlements will not be made by this or any future Israeli government. The government will collapse if even full freeze will be made.
-Jerusalem is the core of the issues. Palestinians view it as our capital. From the religious perspective, it is a sacred place where Prophet Muhammad ascended to heaven. We also believe its our lands as Canaanites, "Our ancestors who lived in Palestine even before the Jews." Jerusalem was always the capital of Palestine. What is left from this city now is the old city and a few other neighborhood. The whole city was divided by Israel into an eastern and western part.
Israelis do not want to share the city or give it to the Palestinians. Israel wants full control of the city, while only granting Palestinians partial rights to pray. It wants the city as a capital for the Jewish state of Israel. Israelis want the demolition of the Dome of the Rock down to build mount temple.
Israel has been engaged in a demographic war against Palestinians since 1967. They are ethnically cleansing Palestinians and replacing them by migrant Jews. Thousands of Palestinian houses where confiscated and given to Israel settlers. Many synagogues were opened. An Apartheid Wall was built to occupy part of the city and to exclude a few quarters. Many tunnels were dug to bring down the Islamic sites in the city. Americans indirectly support the Israeli stance. A few years ago Hillary Clinton announced many times that she agrees to move the American Embassy from Tel-Aviv to Jerusalem. This gives direct recognition and approval of Israeli intentions by the Americans.
-Borders and security mean sovereignty and contiguity for our promised future state. We are seeking full control of our borders with an army to protect us like all other free nations. The borders could be within a one or two state solution but with Palestinians being given their full rights. This also means direct supervision of our borders and crossing points.
Israel does not agree. It does not accept Palestinians having an army or controlling their borders. Israel want control over the borders and crossings so that it can continue to subjugate Palestinians living in a so-called state. Israel claims its control and supervision of the borders and crossings is necessary for security reasons. However, there are only security threats to Israel because it continues denying a Palestinian state and its policies of occupation, repression and subjugation of the Palestinian people.
-Palestinian prisoners detained, and often tortured, in Israeli jails are estimated around 8 to 10 thousand, many of whom were jailed during the First and Second Intifada and have spent more than 25 years in detention. Israel has not released them. Palestinians seek the full release of all the political prisoners; beginning first with the release of all the children, women and sick.
Israel does not want their release. It views them as criminals who threaten the security of Israel and its future. Despite promises and assurances made following Oslo, Israel failed to release many Palestinian prisoners.
-The water issue is a key in to the conflict. The Middle East suffers from shortages in water that might lead to some future wars on the regional level. What is happening now between Egypt and some African countries is a direct indicator. Palestinians seek to have their share of the water as part of any solution.
The Israeli side of course does not agree. Israel does not want Palestinians to have control over their own water supply because it will be a way to continue to oppress and subjugate any Palestinian state. The dispute taking place between Israel and Lebanon continues because of Israeli theft and control of water resources on Lebanese territory. There are similar issues with the Golan Heights and the Jordan River. Israel controls water wells and resources in the West Bank through the settlements, hence it not wanting to dismantle settlements or halt settlement policy. Israel even created barriers to prevent water from flowing into the Gaza Strip.
All of these issues must be addressed at once and not put off for future rounds of talks, as they are interdependent. Their interdependence and failure to address them simultaneously continues to ensure that peace will not be possible and is currently out of reach.
Palestinians will not accept any peace that will not give us our rights. Abbas will not be able to sign a deal without consulting his people. If he attempts to do as Arafat did by signing a peace without the approval of the people, he will be assassinated or deposed. At the same time, the Israeli government will never accept the Palestinian conditions. Peace, unfortunately, continues to remain out of reach.
Sameh habeeb is a Palestinian journalist from Gaza. He is founder of Palestine Telegraph Electronic Newspaper: http://www.paltelegraph.com. He worked for a number of mainstream media outlets in Gaza where reported on siege and last war 2008-2009. | <urn:uuid:272a60b1-18e3-4c86-8436-af072fdd779b> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.nowpublic.com/world/how-palestinians-and-israelis-view-peace | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368708766848/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516125246-00014-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.969172 | 2,157 | 1.820313 | 2 |
11/16/2010 6:11 PM ET|
Why food bills are heading higher
The cost of a wide range of commodities has been soaring and will likely keep rising. You can't fight it, but with some smart investing moves, you can profit from it.
As if the job market weren't bad enough, we're all going to have to cope with higher prices for everything from cereal and coffee to clothing and beer.
The reason: a phenomenal spike in agricultural commodities this year -- from cotton and corn to sugar and wheat -- is making its way to store shelves.
In fact, you may be seeing them already -- and you're going to see more.
A basket of 86 items, mostly food, was up 0.6% in the past two months, according to the research group that conducted the survey, MKM Partners.
That may not seem like much. But it spells significant increases if the price hikes continue -- which seems likely given the global trends driving food prices higher.
The big trends: a rising middle class in emerging economies that wants to eat better; weird weather patterns around the globe; the growing use of ethanol to fuel vehicles; and a shrinking dollar that makes commodities look cheaper. "Agricultural prices are going to go higher, and much higher over the next decade or two," predicts famed investor Jim Rogers, chairman of Singapore-based Rogers Holdings.
Sounds painful, right? But as investors, we have a way to ease the discomfort: Buy the trend and make money from it. Here's how.
A long-term trend
First off, investors who want to buy agricultural commodities now should know that, after such a big run-up, there could be a correction over the next few months. Signs of more farmland coming online or better weather conditions could spark that pullback.
But Rogers is worth listening to about the long-term trends because he's been studying commodities and getting the calls right for years. As he has predicted, the prices of agricultural commodities from sugar and cotton to corn, wheat, soy and coffee all recently hit highs not seen in years, if not decades. "We are still very much in a structural bull market, which will play out for another five or 10 years," agrees James Dailey, the portfolio manager of the Team Asset Strategy Fund (TEAMX).
Investors can jump in by buying exchange-traded fund or exchange traded notes designed to track the price of commodities, like Elements Rogers Intl Commodity Agriculture ETN (RJA, news), right now, then wait for pullbacks in the coming months and buy more.
They can also play this trend with stocks; I'll have names in a minute.
First, let's look deeper into the reasons experts cite to explain why agricultural commodity prices will keep rising (albeit with plenty of volatility along the way).
1. The global middle class wants good eats
The U.S. and Europe have fueled growth in emerging economies for decades by purchasing lots of goods and natural resources. That's created a rising middle class that expects to eat better -- which often means more steak, pork and hot wings. Cows, pigs and chickens consume a lot of grain, so this trend pushes up demand and prices.
"We helped industrialize the emerging markets, and we moved a lot of people out of poverty into the middle class," says Jerry Jordan, the manager of the Jordan Opportunity Fund (JORDX). "Now they are consuming more grains either directly" or as food for livestock.
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[BRIEFING.COM] Stocks entered the weekend on a mixed note as the S&P 500 shed 0.1% while the Dow ended with a gain of 0.1%.
The major averages began the day on a lower note as nine of ten sectors saw losses of more than 0.5%.
The consumer staples sector was the lone exception as the group spent the entire day in positive territory thanks to the relative strength of Dow component Procter & Gamble (PG 81.89, +3.19). The second-largest staple stock advanced ... More
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|There’s a problem getting this information right now. Please try again later.| | <urn:uuid:6c02c440-c117-4a54-88b0-4e3b49904389> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://money.msn.com/investing/why-food-bills-are-heading-higher-brush.aspx | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368706153698/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516120913-00018-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.942637 | 998 | 1.71875 | 2 |
Buying a Spanish property can help to make your dreams come true (but it can also turn them into a nightmare if you're not careful). Many people dream of upping sticks and buying a holiday home or a permanent residence in one of the many sunny cities in Spain, such as Madrid, Barcelona, and Alicante, to name but a few.
However, purchasing the wrong property (for example, one next to noisy neighbours), or a high maintenance building that loses its value and can't be let out, is the one of the worst things that can happen to a foreign buyer. But, if you do your homework, contact a local, reputable lawyer, and look into the Spanish real estate process, you could avoid many of the pitfalls that trap unwary buyers.
Luckily, even though Spanish property is very sought after, there are still some good bargains to be found. Small villages, houses with sea views, and out-of-the-way farms can be bought for less than the cost of a London bedsit. Please use the search box on the right to find your ideal property in Spain.
If you do decide to move to Spain (either to a large city like Madrid or a small town like Cáceres) then you will benefit from great culture, warm and friendly communities, great food, and wonderful weather.
But don't let your dreams run away with you. The last thing you should do is rush into buying a property. It's imperative that you take your time, understand the costs and commitments of your property, and find the right house for you. This may take a lot of searching and hard work, but it will pay dividends in the long run.
Following, are some good tips for successfully buying a Spanish property:
- Use an English-speaking lawyer to check your purchase contract, and to help you decipher the meaning of all those Spanish documents that you're sure to encounter. Even if you're fluent in Spanish, a good lawyer is indispensable, as they know the local laws and customs better than anyone.
- Do your homework before you start shopping around. There's no point trying to buy a house without knowing how the buying system works. You could end up making a terrible (and costly) blunder if you go in with your eyes closed. Things you'll need to know include how much you can borrow, what you have to spend, and how to get a mortgage agreed in principal.
- Whatever you do, don't buy the first property you see! Even if you fall in love with a property right away, make sure you visit other properties, look at your options, and consider every alternative before you buy. It is also important to visit the house at night and in the morning for nightlife and traffic. Also, try to imagine what the house will be like at the height of the summer - is it in direct sunlight? Are there going to be tourists everywhere? Questions like this are very important, as they will affect the living quality of your property.
- Be prepared to buy off plan - even if it means a wait. At least you can secure your buying price at today's exchange rate and prices. Talk to your real estate agent about this, and about other options open to you to.
- Consider buying your property in the spring. At any case, you should certainly look to buy your house before July when the hoards arrive, or just after the summer rush. That way, you won't be caught up in the buying frenzy.
- Be aware that towns in the coastal regions are mainly dominated by German owners (such areas include Denia in Costa Blanca or Neja Coasta del Sol). The good news is that these properties may be a little cheaper than other Spanish residences, as the German property market has not performed strongly in the past decade. That means the prices have not moved forward as quickly as the areas dominated by the Irish or Dutch.
- Look for the new hot spots! Don't just stick to the tried and tested areas. Places like Costa del Sol are expensive, because so many people want to live there. Instead, try looking at places like Costa de la Luz, the coastal towns around Murcia, and the Northern Atlantic coastal areas. You're more likely to find a well-priced property in these regions.
- If you have decided to purchase a home in a traditionally Spanish area (such as Barcelona, Madrid, or Valencia), you may want to consider renting for a while first - as these areas are unlikely to see massive growth and you might as well take your time to get to know the area, in order to see if you like it or not.
- Make sure that you understand the full costs of buying and maintaining your property before you sign anything. Some costs can include communal area maintenance, and might not be apparent from viewing the property, so make sure you look into this.
- Ask lots of questions. There is no such thing as a stupid question; it's much better to know before you put your money down than to buy a property in ignorance. Don't worry about being a pest - it's far better to get everything right than to end up with a bad investment, just because you were too shy to ask something.
Hundreds of people are enjoying the wonderful villages and cities in Spain each year. Buying property is becoming easier and easier. But this means that the costs of buying houses in Spain will continue to rise in the years to come. So now is the time to get on the property ladder if you are thinking of doing so.
At the moment, Spanish property is relatively cheap compared to most north European cities. The euro makes it very easy for other Europeans to see the value of each property, as well as eliminating the currency risk.
Also, communication is at an all time high in Spain, making it the perfect time to buy. It is now easier than ever to work and commute from Spain. You can run a business from home or on the Internet, or even by phone. Working in Spain is no longer the sole preserve of just the Spanish. It is becoming a multi-lingual nation open to everyone.
If, instead of Spain, you are thinking of a holiday home in Portugal, check out
this plot of land for sale in the
perfect location on the Setubal peninsula, near Lisbon. The surrounding land is
already being urbanized and free construction projects are available for the
Please use the
links to the left to find out all you need to know for your visit to Madrid.
For more practical information about Madrid & Spain, subscribe to the TravelSpain discussion list.
This list brings together people with a common interest - Travel in Spain.
Ask the many list members for their own opinion regarding the best hotel, places to see and how to
prepare your trip or simply share your experience in Spain with others.
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http://groups.google.com/group/travelspain. You may also subscribe directly by sending a blank email to | <urn:uuid:a8b00045-d6f7-4638-8323-37d6b1ccc8de> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.gomadrid.com/practic/holiday-home.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368697974692/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516095254-00001-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.963422 | 1,467 | 1.601563 | 2 |
You may have wondered how to tell the difference between natural growing pains in a child or teen and behavior that is a sign of serious trouble.
Pine Rest makes it easy to get professional guidance in making these judgments. Simply call our Contact Center. Our clinicians are experienced in identifying warning signs and assessing a child’s situation. They can make a preliminary assessment over the phone and, if necessary, make referrals to Pine Rest or other agencies.
If, after a personal visit, you and Pine Rest doctors agree that treatment is necessary, we will design a program for each child’s individual needs that least disrupts your regular schedules and routines.
The unit focuses on brief crisis stabilization in an environment that provides safety and therapeutic interventions. Average length of stay is three to seven days. Regular contact is made with families and outside providers to assist in the treatment of your child. Aftercare plans are designed to continue the healing process. You can expect to be partnered with a collaborative multidisciplinary team to develop a treatment plan that meets your individual needs.
We excel at every kind of care and counseling a young person could need. We also emphasize family involvement and make every effort to schedule family counseling sessions conveniently. | <urn:uuid:1e6c8b15-0074-46c3-93c8-12d42bb8dfc4> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.pinerest.org/child-and-adolescent-inpatient-services | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368702810651/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516111330-00002-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.947564 | 245 | 1.648438 | 2 |
BY DAVID KRECHEVSKY REPUBLICAN-AMERICAN
Optiwind, a five-year-old startup company that designs and builds unique wind turbines at a facility in Torrington, laid off 22 of its 30 workers Friday as it prepares to shut down.
David N. Hurwitt, Optiwind's vice president of marketing, said the company's board of directors made the decision recently to close.
"We have not been able to raise as much money as we need to finish commercializing our product," Hurwitt said. "We need to be able to compensate our employees, and as a pre-revenue company we rely on the investments of our investors to do that until we are able to start generating our own revenue.
"We have not been able to secure the rest of the investment we need to keep doing that," he said.
Headquartered at 59 Field St., Optiwind leases 7,000 square feet in a building that once was home to the Torrington Co. Hurwitt said Optiwind was recently leasing the space on a month-to-month basis.
While 22 employees — including Hurwitt — were laid off Friday, eight are being retained to work part-time and help wind down company operations, he said, adding he did not know how long that will take.
"It could take a couple of weeks, it could take a couple of months," he said.
There is no money that can be used for severance pay, Hurwitt said, but the company has tried to "extend health benefits for as long as we can, and we are trying to help them with outplacement. We are working with JoAnn Ryan at the Northwest Connecticut Chamber of Commerce, and we're doing everything we can. We've got tremendous employees, and anybody would be lucky to have them."
Optiwind opened in 2007 with plans to sell its unique wind turbines to customers who use between 150 kilowatts and 1 megawatt of electric power per year. Those customers include schools and colleges, hospitals and nursing homes, office buildings, big-box retailers, small and mid-sized manufacturing facilities and government buildings.
The innovative design of the company's wind turbines makes it possible for them to produce meaningful amounts of electricity even if erected in areas with lower winds speeds, which describes much of Connecticut and the Northeast.
Unlike the familiar propeller design for power-producing windmills that often stand 400 to 500 feet tall, Optiwind's turbines are only about 200 feet tall and have either six or 12 fans that are about 10 percent the size of the normal blades.
The company in 2010 installed a wind-turbine tower on Klug Farm in Torrington to test the technology and provide 150 kilowatts of power to the farm. Farm owner George "Butch" Klug declined to comment Friday on Optiwind's demise, other than to say he did not yet know what would happen to the wind-turbine tower.
Mayor Ryan J. Bingham, who was dealing with preparations for Friday's blizzard, and Economic Development Director Rose Ponte, who was on vacation, were not available to comment.
Hurwitt said Optiwind's demise is disappointing on many levels.
"Big picture, I really believe in what we were trying to accomplish," he said. "The dream of trying to allow companies and schools and governments to produce their own on-site electricity for less than we are paying for power form the grid today, and without any government subsidy, is a great, noble ambition. I'm sad for the death of that, sad for the loss of our investors' money, and sad for the loss of our employees' jobs."
Hurwitt said Torrington and the region also benefited from the good-paying engineering and manufacturing jobs Optiwind created. The company wanted to continue to grow, but was undermined by diminished government support and falling natural gas prices.
"The federal subsidy for wind energy was actually allowed to expire," he said. "They abandoned the wind sector. It's difficult to get investors ... when the federal government doesn't support you over the long term.
"We felt the tide was flowing in our direction when we started," he added, "but it turned against us." | <urn:uuid:0e63f18f-7b97-4698-ac0a-5ecf94e46d9b> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.rep-am.com/articles/2013/02/09/news/local/702986.prt | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368706153698/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516120913-00020-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.978062 | 887 | 1.53125 | 2 |
By Ashley Carson Cottingham
National Field Director
On June 15, World Elder Abuse Awareness Day, we take time to acknowledge that an estimated 2.1 million older Americans fall victim to elder abuse, neglect and financial exploitation each year. At Compassion & Choices we work diligently to protect older adults by upholding their rights at the end of life, sometimes when they are no longer able to speak for themselves. And this year we became proud members of the Elder Justice Coalition in Washington, D.C.
Elder abuse occurs on a regular basis, affecting some of the most vulnerable members of our society. What’s even worse is that for every reported case of elder abuse, neglect and exploitation, experts believe there are five that go unreported. We must put an end to it.
Our work has exposed a form of elder abuse that is rarely discussed. It occurs when an older adult’s expressed wishes at the end of life are ignored, and as a result they are subjected to unwanted and invasive medical treatment. We believe this unwanted treatment absolutely constitutes elder abuse. More | <urn:uuid:7794ffcc-43de-48dc-be7c-e0b262dac4fe> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.compassionandchoices.org/news/healthcare-proxy/ | 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 | 0.964422 | 220 | 1.671875 | 2 |
JOPLIN, MO-- Joplin roads end 2012 with an historic low ... fewer wrecks than the city has seen for decades.
1, 888 accidents were logged last year. That's well below the Joplin Police goal of ending the year with less than 2,000. Joplin Police Chief Lane Roberts says his research shows yearly totals haven't been that low since at least the 1980s. Officers credit driver education, road safety improvements and high visibility enforcement efforts in the drop... and say they'll continue to focus on driver safety in 2013.
Joplin Police Sgt. Rusty Rives said, "1800 is a good number. It's down from 2,000 like we were targeting. But our goal is to get that number even lower. So we're going to continue those efforts to keep those numbers down and even reduce it even farther."
The Automobile Association of American estimates each accident involving an injury carries an economic impact of $126,000 to residents. So officers point out that reducing wrecks benefits not just those involved, but the whole community. | <urn:uuid:f190382e-95a9-4749-b21e-84bc218b4e60> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://fourstateshomepage.com/fulltext-buddy-check-16/?nxd_id=356032 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368696383156/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516092623-00027-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.978137 | 221 | 1.648438 | 2 |
Not only am I going to write about my ancestors but also the places where they are from.
My McCormack’s came from the parish of Tallanstown, Co Louth and in fact my Great Grandfather Bernard McCormack was born in Tallanstown during the famine. (1849)
I must admit I was more than pleasantly surprised when I visited Tallanstown. Not only is it well situated to visit Drogheda and Dundalk it is one of the finest villages/small towns I have visited in Ireland. (tidiest town winner of 2011)
There certainly appears to be a strong community spirit but also the local people are so friendly and helpful.
I was most fortunate to stay at a local B&B run by John and Anne Sheridan. Not only was it an excellent and comfortable stay but it helped me immensely that Anne has more than a passing interest in Genealogy. I highly recommend Louth Hall B&B to anyone visiting Co Louth. Being known as the “Wee County” (Ireland’s smallest county) everything is nearby. www.louthhallbandb.com
I felt great pleasure in knowing my ancestors were from such a fine town and I am sure my ancestors were equally as nice as those that I met on my trip.I'd like to generate more interest in Co. Louth and visitors to the area. Many millions across the world claim Irish ancestry and if we can all do our little bit to create visitors and business Ireland will benefit.This post is drawing attention to not only Tallanstown, Co. Louth but Ireland as a whole.
Rose McCormack bap. 30th July 1845 at Tallanstown, Co Louth of same parents.Thomas McCormack bap. 20th Sept. 1847 at Tallanstown, Co Louth of same parents.
Bernard McCormack bap 16th Jan. 1848 at Tallanstown, Co Louth of same parents
Bernard McCormack bap 20th Jan 1849 at Tallanstown, Co Louth of same parents.
Email me! click here | <urn:uuid:7c38da87-dc83-4796-abe5-807a576a2755> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://kevsirishresearch.blogspot.com/2011/12/visiting-town-of-my-ancestors.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368697380733/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516094300-00028-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.968102 | 436 | 1.53125 | 2 |
Google allows average citizens make corrections to Google’s
maps as they find them.
Wow. Nothing makes you appreciate something like losing it.
Nobody ever raved about Google’s mapping app for phones until they saw how hard it was for Apple to come up with a rival. In my Times column today
, I wrote about the challenges Apple has faced in replacing its iPhone
GPS/mapping app, substituting its own data sources for Google’s. I noted that the new app is beautiful and will be really terrific someday — once it does a better job of incorporating all of its various data sources.
The Times’s technology columnist, David Pogue
, keeps you on top of the industry in his free, weekly e-mail newsletter.
In researching the story, I interviewed representatives from Apple and Google. At Google, I spoke with Manik Gupta
, senior product manager for Google Maps, and Daniel Graf, director of Google Maps for Mobile.
What I realized is that mapping the world is a staggering, gigantic, vast, inconceivably huge and ambitious project. It represents years and years of hand-tuning and manual effort.
I was surprised to learn that, like Apple, Google began its efforts by licensing petabytes of data from outside geodata companies.
They include TomTom
, the same company that Apple’s
using. (The other big map vendor isNavTeq
, which Nokia
bought a few years ago; I guess that explains why Apple and Google aren’t using NavTeq’s data. Too bad — by all accounts, the map app on Nokia’s Windows Phone is pretty great; I’ll be trying it out shortly.)
But that’s just the basic data. “We start with licensed stuff, then expand and enhance it,” Mr. Gupta said. Google has supplemented it with years of additional data gathering, involving its Street View cars, satellite data and human labor.
And it shows. As of 2008, for example, onto those digital maps of the world Google had overlaid 13 million miles of turn-by-turn directions in 22 countries; today, it has 26 million miles of guidance in 187 countries.
“It’s fair to say that in the mapping world, you can’t just throw money at it and then you have it the next day. This takes time,” Mr. Gupta said. “It took a lot of time to get where we’re at.” He said that even now, Google is far from done; error reports still flow in by the thousands.
Many of them come from Google Map Maker
, a Web site that is live in 200 countries (and just started in the United States) that lets average citizens make corrections to Google’s maps as they find them. You can, for example, draw a line to represent a new road.
Like Apple, Google also collects location and movement data (anonymously) from millions of smartphones as they’re driven around; from this information, Apple and Google can determine when, for example, a one-way street has been mislabeled in its data.
You may be familiar with Street View, a Google exclusive that lets you stand at a certain spot on the map and “look around.” You can see a photo of the address you seek, and use your mouse to turn right or left and actually move through the still photos. It’s an amazing way to see what it’s like to be at that spot.
Street View isn’t available for the entire world, but you’d be surprised at how many inhabited areas are covered: Google’s GPS- and camera-equipped Street View cars have, so far, driven five million miles through 3,000 cities in 40 countries.
What you may not realize, however, is that those photos are far more than just helpful references for you, the viewer. Google’s software analyzes what’s in those photos. Its image-recognition software can read the text on street signs, storefront signs, hotel names and so on. It can tell a major road from a minor one, a single-lane road from multilane and one-way streets from two-way streets. Street View, in other words, generates still more useful data for Google’s maps.
I asked Google why its satellite photos don’t seem to display the same jarring seams that are showing up on Apple’s — obvious borders between side-by-side tiles that were taken at different times of the year or in different weather.
“When you look at Google Earth,” I was told, “you can see that the globe is made from a mosaic of aerial and satellite photos, often taken in different lighting and weather. We license these photos from multiple providers, possibly the same ones that Apple uses; but we’ve had the time to come up with a smoothing algorithm. In January, we introduced a new way to render them, smooth them out, make them seamless. But by no means have we perfected this.”
On this call, Google pointed out a new feature that I hadn’t seen before: compass mode. On an Android phone, you can call up a location like Trafalgar Square in London. You hold the phone in front of you to see a Street View-like photo of the scene — and as you look left, right, up, down, or behind you, the view changes, as though you’re looking through a magic window at another place in the world. You can even use Compass mode to look around inside places — I tried Delfina, the San Francisco restaurant — to get a feel of the décor before you go there.
Can you imagine how powerful Compass mode will be once it covers most of the earth’s developed areas? It will give you a sort of instant teleportation, a way to travel without travel, a sense of a place without having to go there.
What I’ve learned from this deep dive into the making of map apps is that you can’t just license a bunch of data, bake at 350 degrees and come up with a useful tool. Gethering the data is only the starting point; from there, it takes years to reconcile it, correct it and make it useful. (This Atlantic article
offers a good look at the kind of hand-tuning that Google’s minions do constantly.)
By the way, let me be clear: I have no doubt that Apple’s Maps app will get there. We’ve seen this movie before — remember MobileMe? It, too, was very rough when it made its debut. Today, its successor, iCloud, is smooth and sensationally useful. Maps will be, too.
But I suspect that Apple has just realized the same thing I have: that we may live on a small blue planet, but digitally representing every road, building and point of interest is a task of almost unimaginable difficulty. Let’s be grateful that another major player has just joined the attempt. | <urn:uuid:c01223a9-414a-4ab0-8375-dc460ee8519d> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://piodalcin.wordpress.com/category/google-self-driven-car/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368704132298/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516113532-00041-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.949539 | 1,499 | 1.625 | 2 |
More than 200 local governments in Texas have joined the H-GAC Energy Purchasing Corporation. Members of the H-GAC Aggregation take advantage of a real-time, competitive head-to-head procurement process to select their Retail Electricity Provider (REP). Competitive purchasing of electricity as a part of the H-GAC Energy Purchasing Corporation means that local governments are taking advantage of pre-negotiated contracts for the supply of electricity. In addition, the Corporation is the official advocate on any electricity-related issues. H-GAC staff works directly with its Energy Consultant, CGP Solutions, and it’s contracted REPs on behalf of every local government wishing to purchase electricity through the Aggregation.
Visit the The HGACBuy Energy Purchasing Web site | <urn:uuid:47777d32-bd68-4ee0-991d-537ed7069b6b> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.h-gac.com/coop/energy/default.aspx | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368709037764/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516125717-00020-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.939274 | 158 | 1.773438 | 2 |
8 November 2001
Under-Secretary-General for Disarmament Affairs, Jayantha Dhanapala, told correspondents today at a Headquarters press briefing that the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty (CTBT), a long-held demand of the disarmament community, was an effective legal barrier against nuclear proliferation and, to that extent, had made it less likely that terrorists would get their hands on nuclear weapons.
Briefing correspondents on the Conference on Facilitating the Entry into Force of the CTBT, to be held in New York from 11 to 13 November, Mr. Dhanapala said that the more nuclear explosions, the more likely it was that there could be a refinement of new generations of nuclear weapons and proliferation.
He was joined by Hannelore Hoppe, Chief, Weapons of Mass Destruction Branch of the Department, who will be Executive Secretary of the Conference, and Daniela Rozgonova, Chief of Public Information of the CTBTO Preparatory Commission. [The CTBTO is the working title of the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty Organization, which will be established when the Treaty comes into force to ensure implementation and provide a forum for consultation among States parties].
Mr. Dhanapala explained that the Conference had been convened by the Secretary-General, in his capacity of depositary of the Treaty, following a request that he received from the majority of ratifying States, in accordance with Article XIV of the Treaty. The Conference will be the second of the so-called "Article XIV" Conferences -- the first had been held in October 1999 in Vienna, Austria -- and the purpose was to examine what measures could be taken to accelerate the ratification process and facilitate the early treaty’s entry into force.
He said the Secretary-General would open the Conference on Sunday at 10 a.m. in the Trusteeship Council Chamber. The election of President would take place while the Secretary-General was there. It was expected that the Minister for Foreign Affairs of Mexico would be the Conference President. After the adoption of rules, the agenda, election of officers, and so forth, the Executive Secretary of the Preparatory Commission for the CTBTO, Wolfgang Hoffman, would describe the Commission's work.
Meetings on Sunday and Monday would be devoted to a general exchange of views of the ratifiers and State signatories, he said. Seventy-nine States had inscribed on the list of speakers, so far; 59 of them would be at the ministerial level. France, the Russian Federation and the United Kingdom were among those States represented at the ministerial level. On Tuesday, the Conference would hear statements by non-signatory States and representatives of the non-governmental organizations (NGOs).
He said that the Conference would conclude its work with a Final Declaration and a report. As of now, the status of the Treaty was, as follows:
161 signatories, with 84 States having ratified it. According to the Treaty, it could only enter into force when 44 States listed in Annex 2 as possessors of nuclear research or nuclear power reactors have signed and ratified it. Of those 44, 41 States had signed and 31 had ratified. Three of those States had neither signed nor ratified -- India, Pakistan and the Democratic People's Republic of Korea. Of the nuclear-weapon-States, it was important to note that France, the Russian Federation, and the United Kingdom had ratified the Treaty, while China and the United States had only signed it.
The Treaty bans all nuclear test explosions for military or civilian purposes, he continued. After its adoption and opening for signature, the Preparatory Commission and its provisional technical secretariat was established to prepare for the Treaty's entry into force. After that, there would be the CTBTO, itself, established in Vienna. A global verification regime was being established to monitor compliance with the Treaty. That consisted of a global monitoring system (IMS), with communications and data management techniques, consultation and clarification process, on-site inspection process, and confidence-building measures. The IMS consisted of a network of 321 monitoring stations and 16 radionuclide laboratories, which monitor the entire world for evidence of nuclear explosions in all environments.
Asked by a correspondent whether Mr. Dhanapala had received confirmation on whether or not the United States would be speaking, he said he had not received any information as to whether the United States would participate in the Conference.
What were the prospects for ratification by the 13 "Annex 2" States? another correspondent asked. “Your guess is as good as mine", Mr. Dhanapala replied. He continued to hope that those 13 States would come on board. In the cases of India and Pakistan, for example, they had made statements in the past here in the General Assembly they those would sign the Treaty, but they still had not.
He replied to another question that two non-signatory States had inscribed on the speaker's list –- Libya and Saudi Arabia –- and Pakistan and the Sudan would also attend as non-signatory states.
Asked whether he had received "any signal" from South Asia that either of the two countries would be signing the CTBT during the Conference, he said he had received no such signal.
The United States twice this past week had said "flat out" that it did not support the CTBT, another correspondent said. Since the United States was needed for the Treaty's entry into force, what could be done to re-engage it on that? he asked. Mr. Dhanapala said that that subject would be discussed by the States parties, and the Final Declaration would presumably contain a general exaltation to those that had neither signed nor ratifified, or signed and not ratified, to help the Treaty's entry into force.
Another correspondent said that, from a political point of view, it looked like the CTBT was going to be "ineffective for a long time". From a practical point of view then, had the international monitoring system already started to work and what could that achieve? he asked.
Mr. Dhanapala replied that a week was sometimes a short time in politics, and so it was difficult to dismiss the CTBT as not going to be effective for a long time. Events changed. It had been thought some time ago that even having a CTBT signed was going to be a long-term prospect; certainly that had been the policy objective of the Reagan Administration. But within a few years, a negotiating process had been launched and completed and the CTBT was opened for signature. So, he would not say that the Treaty's entry into force would be such a long- term process.
Ms. Rozgonova, speaking about implementation, said that about one-third of the system was already functional and providing data from around the world to the international data centre in Vienna, where it was analyzed and processed. Of the 321 verification stations, more than 100 were already in place and functional. The stations were built up almost continuously, every year, and the plan was that in three to five years, depending upon the political climate surrounding the Treaty, the whole system would be in place.
Asked if there were any stations in the South Asia region and whether those were functional, she held up a map of the globe, which she said showed the location of those 321 stations plus 16 laboratories -- altogether, 337 facilities. Those were spread fairly evenly to cover the whole globe, in an equal geographical spread. There might not be an exactly equal spread at any given moment, but the idea was to cover the globe as best as possible and then go from there.
Replying to a series of questions about cooperation from the United States on technical and financial bases, she said that the United States was indeed cooperating "very closely", adding that it had been from the start and was doing so, even now. The United States had provided the prototype of the software for data analysis, had made it accessible and allowed that to be incorporated into the whole system of stations around the globe, most of which were seismological. So, its cooperation on both the technical and financial levels had been excellent. The United States had contributed 25 percent of the budget and was always up to date on its payments.
To what extent would the monitoring system pick up the use of a dirty –- perhaps not a nuclear explosion –- but something radiological? another correspondent asked. Ms. Rozgonova said that it would pick it up, for sure, if nothing else through the radionuclide laboratories. Those were basically the "nose" of the whole system and would definitely monitor radionuclide particles in the air, presenting clear evidence.
With respect to the "reach" of one verification station, that was very hard to tell, she said. Of the 321 stations, most were seismological stations, and for obvious reasons. Those were the best developed, even before the CTBT was ever born, and but also because a nuclear test explosion, in many ways, resembled an earthquake. Radionuclide laboratories measured the quantity of radionuclide particles and various gases released into the atmosphere in the case of a test or explosion. The other technologies were hydroacoustic, which meant measuring underwater, and infrasound, which was a very short spectrum of sound, a frequency sound, that was created by natural and man-made phenomenon in the atmosphere.
That, she said, helped to determine whether that was a test event or a natural one. So, it was really difficult to tell the range of one particular station. In fact, in any event, various stations would contribute to identification of the event, and all four technologies would, too. That would not be one station. There would be 16 hydroacoustical programmes, for example, which covered the globe, since sound spreads underwater in a very effective and efficient way.
Another correspondent noted that, from the appearance of the map (made available as part of a press kit), there was no station in India. Under whose authority had those stations operated?
Ms. Rozgonova said that those stations operated under the authority of the host government or host State. Of course, the stations were certified and had been updated, upgraded or built from scratch by the Preparatory Commission. Once built, those were actually under the authority of the host State, with the understanding that the data went back to Vienna, where it was analyzed. The data was actually the property of all Member States. The raw data did not go directly to the States; it was first analyzed.
So, the correspondent said, the host country could analyze the data before sending it to Vienna, and if they wanted to, "fudge" it…
Ms. Rozgonova said that those countries did have a certain jurisdiction over the station, itself, and she had known one case, in particular, where the station had been switched off, because of a test that was being planned. Normally speaking, however, that did not happen. There was a legal underpinning for that, in the form of a facilatory agreement, which was the legal document that was signed between the Preparatory Commission and the host State and which spelled out the conditions under which those stations were being operated and its data forwarded to the Preparatory Commission. That was a bilateral document between the Preparatory Commission and the host State.
What was the punishment for the State that had turned off the station to conduct the test? A correspondent asked: "Were there any penalties under the CTBT?" She said that she had not thought there were any penalties foreseen in the Treaty for such a case. The consequences would be political. That had occurred in 1998. It was one of those two States.
No, there were no monitoring stations in India, she said to another question.
Had the Indian Government not allowed her to set up one of those stations or had that been a strategic decision on its part? he asked. She said she did not think that had been a "strategic decision".
Mr. Dhanapala added that the correspondent might recall that when the Treaty was negotiated in the Conference on Disarmament, India had not joined consensus and then the negotiated document had been brought to the General Assembly through a resolution and finally adopted there. It had only been more recently that India had expressed an intention to sign the Treaty.
With an already very effective and global monitoring system in place. and given that the nuclear-weapon States had all declared moratoriums and, in some
cases, dismantled their test sites, how much of a concern was it that the Treaty, itself, had not entered into force? a correspondent asked.
Mr. Dhanapala said that was a major concern, because the legally binding effect of the Treaty was "put beyond any doubt" once it entered into force. So, legally speaking, a Treaty was only really fully-fledged once it entered into force. The CTBT Organization had not been established; that could not be established until the Treaty entered into force; and, therefore, all that the provisional technical secretariat could do was only the preliminary work of setting up the verification system. It was of great importance, therefore, in terms of the legal applicability of the Treaty and of the entire infrastructure, that the Treaty enter into force.
Another correspondent asked about the nature of the political sanction against the country that had turned off the station, since no one in the room was identifying it.
Ms. Rozgonova said that, at the time that event had occurred, that information was known. Of course, it was not the role of the provisional secretariat to "point fingers"; that was up to the Member States, among themselves. There were no sanctions, really. First of all, there was a test that was not announced ahead of time, but there was a little sign that something was probably in the offing. But it was the Member States among themselves who discussed those things and took whatever, if any, political measures they wished.
In response to a further question, she said she was not aware of any plans to build any stations in India.
Had the monitoring system picked up the collapse of the World Trade Towers? a correspondent asked. She said that was not information that, in any way, would be disseminated, but she was sure that, as the seismological stations were very well distributed on this continent, they for sure had picked it up.
Ms. Hoppe told correspondents, in response to a number of questions, that the draft of the Final Declaration would be made available as a document at the start of the Conference, on Sunday morning. That had been circulated in September to all signatory States and, as everyone was aware, that draft had been negotiated in Vienna for some time.
* *** * | <urn:uuid:b90ab9ac-47a0-48fd-afa7-d7e96d25b66a> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.fas.org/nuke/control/ctbt/review01/unsecdisarm.htm | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368710006682/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516131326-00012-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.987773 | 3,020 | 1.828125 | 2 |
Do You Need To Traing To Failure To Build Muscle?
Over the years, we've all be told that if we wanted to build the maximum amount of muscle mass, we need to take our exercises to total muscular failure.
I have to admit that I've been a follower of this kind of training method for a long time.
I'll be the first to tell you that if you know what your doing and know how to use this kind of training, it can be one of the most effective muscle building methods you can do.
However, I do have a big problem with the way that the fundamentals of this technique has been spread.
It doesn't matter where you look, it can be in muscle magazines or published books about building muscle, weight training to muscular failure has been made to be the end all for building muscle mass. You see, a lot of the information sources out there will list training to muscular failure as a necessity to build muscle regardless of your training level. This can be very dangerous to the beginner and intermediate weight trainer.
Training to muscular failure has always been associated with high intensity training. If you ask me, training to muscular failure is but one way to increase the amount of intensity you incorporate into your weight training program.
Can this type of weight training build muscle? Most certainly. However, there are some drawbacks to this type of weight training. First off, this is an advanced technique and should not be attempted by the beginner. This is probably my biggest concern with training to failure. For a beginner to start off with training to muscular failure can be detrimental to a person's training progress and also dangerous in terms of injuries. First off, a beginner has no idea of their bodies capabilities. If a beginner has no idea of their own's body limitations, this technique will be more or less, a waste of time and energy.
Here's what usually happens. A beginner will read somewhere that training to momentary muscular failure is the only way to build muscle mass. So, they will keep adding more weight to the bench press, week after week blasting out 2 maybe 3 reps and finally going to failure on the fourth repetition. After 3, maybe 4 weeks, they get a lot stronger and expect that this kind of training will only help them get stronger.
However, shortly there after, their progress comes to a shocking halt and they can't get past a certain amount of weight. So, they add more weight to the bench press and get assisted repetitions in the hopes of getting past the plateau. In their desperation, they forget proper form and start bending and twisting trying to get the weight up. What ends up happening? That person usually quits. If they do stick it out, they may form bad habits that stay with them until they get injured. However, injuries is the usual case here and it's only a matter of time.
Also, training to momentary muscular failure puts a tremendous amount of pressure on the connective tissues and joints. Now, I speak from experience here. You have to understand the limitations of your own body and only attempt this kind of training once you have an understanding of your own bodies capabilities.
Now, here's something that I think everyone has to understand with training to muscular failure. Although it can be used as a high intensity training technique, it must not be misinterpreted as the only high intensity training technique to build muscle. Here's my honest take on building muscle and strength. In order to build muscle, you have to keep improving from workout to workout, week after week, month after month for each of your weight training cycles. I'd recommend 12 to 14 week weight training cycles followed by 2 weeks of rest.
The key here is to keep improving. That doesn't necessarily mean training to muscular failure. As long as you keep improving from workout to workout, your going improve in terms of conditioning, strength, muscle quality and size. What does it mean to improve from workout to workout?
Basically, what you want to do is use heavier weight using the same repetitions with the same rest periods, or do more repetitions with the same weight and rest periods than the previous exercise session, or use the same weight, do the same amount of repetitions but do it in less time.
As you will notice, nowhere does it say to bring each and every exercise to momentary muscular failure. Why? How do you really know if you are improving by taking 205 pounds to muscular failure on rep 6 in the bench press each and every workout? You don't.
The real key to building quality muscle mass is how you improve from workout to workout. By constantly improving from workout to workout, you know that what your doing is working and your body is constantly getting better. This is the only way the muscle building process works.
I'll admit, for the first part of my weight training days, I'd always take my last set on every exercise to failure. However, because of the weight I used, my body type and the length of my training cycles, I put my body in harms way. That is, my joints today are suffering because of my training methods and weight training cycles. Over the years, I've come to realize that training to muscular failure is part of the overall picture and not the whole picture itself.
I'm not saying training to failure is a bad technique because it's not. It can be very powerful. However, it's how it's used that makes it a bad technique. Just because you take 205 pounds to momentary muscular failure on the 6th repetition of your bench press each and every workout doesn't mean your building muscle. How do you know your improving?
By using the above noted principles, you may or may not take your exercises to momentary muscular failure. The key to muscle growth is improvement. By consistently improving from workout to workout, you will ensure constant muscle growth. Take that same 205 pounds and aim at performing it 12 times instead of 6 times over a 12 week period, and you'll see that you will come in at the weight from a different angle.
Check out the following articles for more information:
All the best,
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Earlier this week the UN Group of Experts on the Democratic Republic of the Congo officially released its report on the conflict renewed by the M23 militia in the eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo in April this year. The report includes documentation that top officials in the Rwandan and Ugandan regimes were involved in arming, supporting, and even providing soldiers to the M23. It implicates Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni's brother and identifies Rwandan Defense Minister James Kabarebe as the commander of the M23 militia in Congo. KPFA's Ann Garrison spoke to Loyola University Professor of International Relations Brian Endless on calls for the use of targeted sanctions, imposed by the UN Security Council to try and end or at least reduce the bloodshed and the numbers of Congolese people struggling to make their way to refugee camps, or fleeing one refugee camp in search of another.
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|The latest UN Government of Experts report on the Democratic Republic of the Congo documents the culpability of top officials in the regimes of Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni and Rwandan President Paul Kagame in the conflict in that country. However, the UN Security Council has thus far imposed targeted sanctions only on officers of the M23 militia in Congo.|
|Over half a million Congolese people had struggled to reach refugee camps before M23's siege of Goma. Now many are fleeing one refugee camp in search of another.| | <urn:uuid:f28eb6cc-50ba-400b-a549-b29838e2870e> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.indybay.org/newsitems/2012/11/24/18726366.php | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368696383156/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516092623-00032-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.945686 | 305 | 1.640625 | 2 |
The Wise Latina Club
By Viviana Hurtado | 01/21/2013 - 11:59 | 0 Comments
I had to get "celebrity-ready" to work my first red carpet at the Latino Inaugural Ball at the Kennedy Center.
Miss Texas hair. Check.
Photographer extraordinaire Tricia O. Ortiz. Check....
By Viviana Hurtado | 10/17/2012 - 15:00 | 0 Comments
This was the debate between the two men vying to be President Americans were waiting for. President Barack Obama and Governor Mitt Romney sparred on domestic and foreign policy, at times interrupting and talking over each other, hurling accusations of their alleged respective failures and even getting in each other’s faces....
By Viviana Hurtado | 10/04/2012 - 13:05 | 0 Comments
The pressure was on Mitt Romney to deliver a strong performance at the first presidential debate before the millions of Americans who tuned in. He showed up with his “A” game. President Obama, some would say, did not.
The Denver debate focused on domestic issues – taxes, the economy, jobs,...
By Viviana Hurtado | 09/20/2012 - 15:00 | 0 Comments
Mitt Romney has somewhat of a reputation for putting his foot in his mouth. But when the liberal magazine Mother Jones posted the video of the 2012 Republican presidential nominee calling 47 percent of...
By Viviana Hurtado | 09/13/2012 - 16:00 | 0 Comments
You could say that Hispanic Heritage Month (which is the only “celebration” that actually straddles two months – from mid-September to mid-October) started earlier this year, with the Democratic and Republican National Conventions. Rolling out San Antonio Mayor Julián Castro as the DNC keynote speaker and Florida...
By Viviana Hurtado | 09/07/2012 - 18:00 | 0 Comments
When Barack Obama took the stage at the 2012 Democratic National Convention (DNC), he accepted his re-nomination for President, making the case for why Americans should re-elect him. The signature Obama rhetoric that reached for the sky gave way to a speech grounded in policy of what has been done and what’s left to put the...
By Viviana Hurtado | 09/07/2012 - 15:00 | 0 Comments
If voters had any doubt about Barack Obama, the 2012 Democratic National Convention (DNC) in Charlotte, North Carolina seeks to cast them away. Speaker after speaker has been tasked with personalizing the President, standing up for his character, and arguing in different ways why he is the best choice in November.
By Viviana Hurtado | 08/13/2012 - 14:00 | 0 Comments
Mitt Romney was so overcome with emotion while introducing Paul Ryan as his running mate to challenge President Barack Obama and Vice President Joe Biden in November, that he bellowed, “the next President of the United States!” Once the snark cleared, this foot-in-your-mouth slip revealed what...
- Benicio Del Toro Returns To Cannes To Tell A Real Story
- NYC Rattled By Cold-Blooded Killing Of A Gay Man, Shot Point-Blank In Face
- Powerball's $590M-Plus Await One Lucky Floridian
- Oxbow Wins Preakness, Dashes Orb's Hope For Triple Crown
- Record $600 Million Powerball Is Enough To Forget Astronomical Odds Of Winning | <urn:uuid:880f25a8-f128-4e58-a8c4-a02aebf2f88b> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.latina.com/wise-latina-club | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368697974692/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516095254-00020-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.936768 | 726 | 1.53125 | 2 |
The Supreme Court ruled unanimously today that colleges must allow military recruiters on campus if they accept federal funds.
Chief Justice Roberts wrote the opinion in the case of Rumsfeld v. FAIR.
The Supreme Court reversed the 2-1 decision of the Third Circuit in FAIR v. Rumsfeld.
Most interestingly, the unanimous court suggests that Congress could have unconditionally required campus military recruiting under Article I Section 8 of the Constitution. Instead, Congress enacted the Solomon Amendment, which ties military recruiter access to a college's receipt of federal funds.
I wonder if Congress will consider additional legislation based on this court's view of Article I Section 8?
Flares commenter CF and University of Wisconsin Law Professor Ann Althouse both commend the Chief Justice on his clearly written opinion. CF recommends: "If you've a high school student at home, you might want to hand it to him/her to read."
ScotusBlog has some preliminary comments on the decision here.
Half empty, half full, or always right full?
38 minutes ago | <urn:uuid:39048487-57f5-4cc4-b4a7-e93a2be17065> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://yargb.blogspot.com/2006/03/unanimous-court-authorizes-campus.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368705559639/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516115919-00038-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.951879 | 215 | 1.757813 | 2 |
In this section
Section highlightHouses into homes This report details findings to emerge from the evaluation during the first six months of delivery (April to September 2012).
Written Statement - Update on tobacco policy »Standardised packaging of tobacco products and Sub Committees on The Smoke-free Premises etc. (Wales) (Amendment) Regulations 2012.Learn more »
National Library base for US Radio Travel programme
On Saturday 25 May, The National Library of Wales, Aberystwyth will be host to US radio star, Peter Greenberg.
- Industry and government plan for a healthy future for farming in Wales
- Historic garden is a breakfast TV star
- National Library base for US Radio Travel programme
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In this section
Section highlightAccess to information
The Welsh Government has followed the principles of openness in government for many years. Find out how you can make a freedom of information request or see requests that have already been made.
Sky lanterns: environmental and risk assessment »To establish an evidence base to help any future policy decisions on sky lanterns and helium balloons.Learn more »
- Future management of private water supply pipes
- Amendments to the Motor Vehicle (Competitions and Trials) Regulations 1969 and the Motor Vehicles (Off Road Events) Regulations 1995
- Higher Education (Wales) Bill: Technical consultation
- The future of agricultural statistical data collection methods in Wales
- Consultation - Local Authorities (Standing Orders) (Wales) Regulations 2006 (Amendment) Regulations 2013
- Draft action plan for pollinators
Featured consultation »Implementing the Domestic Fire Safety (Wales) Measure 2011
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In this section
Section highlightFurther and Higher Education (Governance and Information) (Wales) Bill 2013
Removes a number of technical restrictions and controls on colleges without changing the principal powers of colleges to provide further, higher and secondary education.
Legislative programme 2012 - 2013 »
Addressing the Assembly in the Senedd today, the First Minister, Carwyn Jones, detailed the eight bills in the Welsh Government’s 5-year Legislative Programme that will be brought forward during the second year of the Welsh Assembly.Learn more »
Section highlightCommunity Infrastructure Levy
Local authorities can charge a Community Infrastructure Levy on new developments to support the infrastructure needed.
2nd Supplementary Budget 2012-13 »
Proposes a number of changes to the 1st Supplementary Budget for 2012-13, which was published on 26 June 2012.Learn more »
Written Statement - Progress with Improving Neonatal Services
In September, I gave an undertaking to update you before recess, on the progress that is being made in respect of improving neonatal services in Wales. I am pleased to report that since I welcomed the recommendations of the Health, Well Being and Local Government Committee report, significant progress has been made in driving forward improvements for sick and premature babies and their families using the additional £2 million made available by the Welsh Assembly Government.
I am pleased to report that a Consultant Neonatologist at Cardiff and Vale University Health Board has been appointed as Lead Clinician for the Wales Neonatal Network and the post of Neonatal Network Manager has also been filled.
The establishment of the Neonatal Clinical Network for Wales will facilitate the improvement in quality of care across all units in Wales offering any of the three levels of neonatal care. One of its primary purposes is to support units in achieving compliance with the All Wales Neonatal Standards, developed by the Children and Young People’s Specialised Services Project.
The Wales Neonatal Steering Group is now fully established and is chaired by the Director of Planning and Deputy Chief Executive of Aneurin Bevan Health Board. This acts as an advisory group to the Welsh Health Specialised Services Committee (WHSSC), where Health Boards come together to plan and secure neonatal services on an all Wales basis, and the Network.
Whilst Local Health Boards (LHBs) are responsible for ensuring that neonatal services in their area meet the All Wales Neonatal Standards, the purpose of the Steering Group and the Network is to co-ordinate the approach across Wales and to ensure that the benefits of working collaboratively are realised.
The Steering Group has also established a number of sub groups – each clinically led as follows:
Neonatal Transport – to co-ordinate the development of the new transport services
Clinical Information – to lead and co-ordinate the implementation of the network wide information system
Nursing & Therapies – to lead and co-ordinate neonatal nurse manpower planning and the development of network wide training and development.
LHBs have now completed an assessment of their current levels of compliance with the All Wales Neonatal Standards and submitted these results to the Network. The Network has also carried out a capacity review of current neonatal services across Wales.
Using this baseline information, the Network is drawing out themes to develop a national action plan. This will then be used to inform and drive the ongoing work programme of the Network and LHBs.
In addition to this important work, I am pleased to report progress has been made in the setting up of the 12 hour Neonatal Transport service by the Welsh Ambulance Service NHS Trust. Two neonatal transports services, one in South Wales and one in North Wales, are planned to begin on 3 January 2011. These services will transfer, where clinically appropriate, premature and sick babies between units to ensure they receive care at the right level of intensity. To ensure safe and sustainable services, an additional 6 consultants have been appointed in South Wales, an additional consultant has been appointed in North Wales with the recruitment of a further one well underway. One of the 6 posts in South Wales will be covered through contingency arrangements in the first few months due to maternity leave and completion of training requirements.
As well as the medical staff, 6 neonatal nurses have been appointed in South Wales and 2.75 WTE have been appointed in North Wales. The services will operate 12 hours a day from 3 January 2011, with an evaluation planned for six months later, to consider the viability of moving to a 24 hour service in the future.
Clinical audit must underpin all healthcare. The Neonatal clinical audit system, BadgerNet has now been procured by each Health Board, and the Neonatal Network is seeking agreement from all the Health Boards so that it too can gain access to local data. Each unit will be moving to entering live data during December, and the system will formally go live in January 2011. This audit system will ensure that LHBs have access to high quality clinical data to support the clinical auditing and planning of services across Wales. Whilst the rest of the UK use parts of the BadgerNet system, Wales will be the first country to use the most up to date and extended system.
The Welsh Assembly Government remains committed to ensuring that neonatal services are improved to ensure the best outcomes possible for the most vulnerable babies and their families. My officials will continue to monitor progress closely. | <urn:uuid:4927ce95-a959-4644-bc24-671b544f9bb8> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://wales.gov.uk/about/cabinet/cabinetstatements/2010/101210neo/?lang=en&status=clegioo | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368705195219/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516115315-00026-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.930082 | 1,482 | 1.59375 | 2 |
“The math section had 60 questions. I knew the answers to none of them, but managed to guess ten out of the 60 correctly. On the reading test, I got 62% . In our system, that’s a “D”, and would get me a mandatory assignment to a double block of reading instruction.
He continued, “It seems to me something is seriously wrong. I have a bachelor of science degree, two masters degrees, and 15 credit hours toward a doctorate.
“I help oversee an organization with 22,000 employees and a $3 billion operations and capital budget, and am able to make sense of complex data related to those responsibilities.
“I have a wide circle of friends in various professions. Since taking the test, I’ve detailed its contents as best I can to many of them, particularly the math section, which does more than its share of shoving students in our system out of school and on to the street. Not a single one of them said that the math I described was necessary in their profession.
“It might be argued that I’ve been out of school too long, that if I’d actually been in the 10th grade prior to taking the test, the material would have been fresh. But doesn’t that miss the point? A test that can determine a student’s future life chances should surely relate in some practical way to the requirements of life. I can’t see how that could possibly be true of the test I took.”
Here’s the clincher in what he wrote:
“If I’d been required to take those two tests when I was a 10th grader, my life would almost certainly have been very different. I’d have been told I wasn’t ‘college material,’ would probably have believed it, and looked for work appropriate for the level of ability that the test said I had.
“It makes no sense to me that a test with the potential for shaping a student’s entire future has so little apparent relevance to adult, real-world functioning. Who decided the kind of questions and their level of difficulty? Using what criteria? To whom did they have to defend their decisions? As subject-matter specialists, how qualified were they to make general judgments about the needs of this state’s children in a future they can’t possibly predict? Who set the pass-fail “cut score”? How?”
“I can’t escape the conclusion that decisions about the [state test] in particular and standardized tests in general are being made by individuals who lack perspective and aren’t really accountable.”
What do you think?
Is the test bubble about to burst?
Quote:A test that can determine a student’s future life chances should surely relate in some practical way to the requirements of life. I can’t see how that could possibly be true of the test I took.”
What do you think? Is the test bubble about to burst?
The benefits of testing on long-term retention of lecture material were examined in a simulated classroom setting. Participants viewed a series of three lectures on consecutive days and engaged in a different type of postlecture activity on each day: studying a lecture summary, taking a multiple choice test, or taking a short answer test. Feedback (correct answers) was provided for half of the responses on the multiple choice and short answer tests. A final comprehensive short answer test was given 1 month later. Restudying or taking a multiple choice test soon after learning improved final recall relative to no activity, but taking an initial short answer test improved final recall the most. Feedback did not affect retention, probably due to the high level of performance on the initial tests. This finding is a powerful demonstration of how tests (especially recall tests) can improve retention of material after long retention intervals.
Why retrieval testing helps is still unknown. Perhaps it is because by remembering information we are organizing it and creating cues and connections that our brains later recognize.
“When you’re retrieving something out of a computer’s memory, you don’t change anything — it’s simple playback,” said Robert Bjork, a psychologist at the University of California, Los Angeles, who was not involved with the study.
But “when we use our memories by retrieving things, we change our access” to that information, Dr. Bjork said. “What we recall becomes more recallable in the future. In a sense you are practicing what you are going to need to do later.”
It may also be that the struggle involved in recalling something helps reinforce it in our brains.
Maybe that is also why students who took retrieval practice tests were less confident about how they would perform a week later.
“The struggle helps you learn, but it makes you feel like you’re not learning,” said Nate Kornell, a psychologist at Williams College. “You feel like: ‘I don’t know it that well. This is hard and I’m having trouble coming up with this information.’ ”
By contrast, he said, when rereading texts and possibly even drawing diagrams, “you say: ‘Oh, this is easier. I read this already.’ "
Dr. Kornell said that “even though in the short term it may seem like a waste of time,” retrieval practice appears to “make things stick in a way that may not be used in the classroom.
“It’s going to last for the rest of their schooling, and potentially for the rest of their lives.”
If we only test on items that we think every person will use in their lives, the test will be very short
I've had the opposite experience from many - I've always been a student with poor study habits and attendance, but I excel at standardized tests. | <urn:uuid:1557d683-1bd5-4916-aba6-9d8e2d115fd1> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://able2know.org/topic/181341-1 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368696382584/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516092622-00021-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.967249 | 1,259 | 1.75 | 2 |
Judge Russell Engebretson, always on the lookout for a silver lining, figures the coming Dark Age will spell the end for cell phones and bill collectors.
We're running out, and we don't have a plan.
This documentary about the end of the fossil fuel age gives an ominous and poignant spin to the lyrics of an old gospel song: "Give me oil in my lamp, keep it burning, burning, burning."
The story behind A Crude Awakening—The Oil Crash is simple enough to outline: Modern industrial societies are utterly dependent on a never-ending supply of cheap oil and gas, but fossil fuel is a finite energy source, and we are perilously close to drawing down all known oil and gas reserves to the point that production can no longer meet demand. The directors, Basil Gelpke and Ray McCormack, interview several well-known individuals, most of them from the conservative side of the aisle, who bring dire tidings of the end of the era of cheap oil. A few of the interviewees include Colin Campbell (oil geologist), Roscoe Bartlett (Republican, Maryland U.S. representative), Matthew Simmons (energy investment banker), and David L. Goodstein (professor of physics at the California Institute of Technology). Each of the interviewees elaborates on different aspects of why they believe an oil crash is imminent and how it will play out in the near-term for the global economy and the future of human beings in general. The prognosis is not good.
The documentary examines ideas first formulated by geologist Marion King Hubbert (1903-1989), the father of peak oil theory. In a paper published in 1956 he concluded, after extensive studies of oil field capacities, that oil production would peak somewhere between the late 1960s to the early 1970s. His graph of oil discovery and production manifests itself as a steep rise with an equally steep fall. The peak, simply put, is in the familiar shape of a classical bell curve. Hubbert was initially denounced as a doomsayer and conspiracy theorist, but in 1970, as he predicted, oil production peaked. In 1975 the National Academy of Sciences admitted that their rosy scenario of a much later drop-off was wrong, and that Hubbert was correct after all. Since that time, the peak of oil production has been referred to as Hubbert's peak. The second peak, which overlaps the first, occurs when all the easily tapped fields are running low enough that production can no longer keep up with demand. In the end, the energy cost of pumping oil exceeds the energy value of what is being extracted. Projections for the second peak range from the turn of the 21st century to 2020—most hypothesize sometime between now and 2012.
Petroleum is energy dense, cheap, and transportable. A single gallon of gasoline contains the energy-equivalent of 500 hours of human labor. A single barrel of oil contains the equivalent energy of almost 25,000 hours of human labor. Even if alternate energy sources had not been put on the back burner for the last two decades, they would only provide a small fraction of the industrialized world's energy needs. There is no magic energy bullet that will replace fossil fuel. The documentary holds out little hope for an easy transition from a civilization built on high technology to a post-industrial society. The bad news does not end there.
Besides the ominous implications of Hubbert's peak, according to physicist David Goodstein, there is even worse news. As mentioned earlier, solar, wind power, geothermal, biomass, or any alternative energy source one cares to name is wholly inadequate to replace fossil fuel. Additionally, sea water fusion is still a dream; hydrogen cells are impractical to mass produce; natural gas is disappearing almost as fast as oil; coal, the dirtiest fossil fuel, would rapidly dwindle if burned as a substitute for gas and oil; there are no more big rivers to damn for hydroelectric; and nuclear power plants are fabulously expensive to build, dangerous, and take years to come online. Ironically, all of the alternatives require copious amounts of oil for research, development, and construction—at the very time in history that oil is becoming scarcer and more expensive.
The oil and gas industries tend to dismiss peak oil scenarios, but who really expects an objective view from Big Oil? Firstly, the theory of peak oil is inimical to the capitalist's assertion that endless growth equals progress and the good times will never end. Secondly, from a pure dollars-and-cents perspective, upper-echelon oil executives are rightly frightened by a theory that predicts a rapidly approaching catastrophe due to dried-up oil reserves. That kind of news gives shareholders the jitters, and it's bad for the bottom line. The argument put forward in A Crude Awakening, no matter how unsettling, is a much-needed retort to the standard big business line that oil reserves will easily last another century or longer.
As for the DVD, this is no run-of-the-mill independent documentary, and the transfer is on a par with the film's high production values. The widescreen anamorphic image is excellent. Colors are rich and dense, fairly popping off the screen in places (a good example is the opening scene with its hypnotic, almost abstract cinematography of darkly flowing oil glistening with prismatic light). The surround sound is clear and three-dimensional, and often active in the rear speakers. Phillip Glass had a hand in composing the soundtrack score. It's first class all the way.
Extras include a bonus chapter and four extended interviews. The interviews contain some overlapping material that is already present in the film, probably for the sake of continuity, but provide a more in-depth look into each interviewee's take on Hubbert's peak. I found David Goodstein's talk the most technically informative.
I've been reading about peak oil for around five years, and there are several good books on the possible fossil fuel crash (Richard Heinberg's The Party's Over is a fine place to begin one's education on this disturbing subject). However, there are very few films devoted to oil depletion. One of those films, The End of Suburbia, points an accusing finger at the culprits who encouraged our profligate use of oil and successfully destroyed mass transit and the development of alternate energy options—something I miss in A Crude Awakening, which scrupulously avoids political views that those of a more conservative bent might find contentious. Perhaps that's a good thing, since the documentary's basic theme has little to do with one political view versus another. Regardless of one's political outlook, if we assume we are nearing the end of petroleum-powered civilization, all of us are on a storm-tossed sea in a leaky boat.
Those folks who are already aware of the peak oil debate will find little new here, but this is an excellent introduction for the uninitiated. If nothing else, this film should spur some lively discussion as we blithely careen into the abyss. Not guilty.
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Scales of Justice
• Bonus Chapter: "Petrostates"
Review content copyright © 2007 Russell Engebretson; Site design and review layout copyright © 2013 Verdict Partners LLC. All rights reserved. | <urn:uuid:85d19e18-6d5c-436c-bdf8-88205b244a68> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.dvdverdict.com/reviews/acrudeawakening.php | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368701459211/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516105059-00008-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.948091 | 1,528 | 1.703125 | 2 |
|core concepts | changed teachings | questionable doctrine | scandal | interesting | quotes|
"It is important to understand that in most Bible-based cults, although the member is aggressively taught doctrine, it is not the doctrine that holds him in the group. It is the sense that the group is God's true people, a feeling cultivated by techniques of mind control. Thus, to engage the cult member in a Biblical argument or discussion is often futile." Stephen Hassan Releasing the Bonds p.145
A Witness will commonly claim that they alone have the truth because they alone understand Bible doctrine correctly, and hence only they worship Jehovah. The end product of such reasoning is that they solely are worthy of salvation. However, as the above quote from Steven Hassan identifies, it is not the doctrine that holds the members in the religion, but rather more fundamental underlying concepts. This can be seen from the fact that when key doctrines changed over the decades the majority of members remained part of the group. Furthermore, almost none of Watchtower doctrine or practices are unique. Similar religions can be found that share a majority of doctrine and moral standards preached by the Watchtower Society.
This section covers core concepts that form the basis to why a Witness is a Witness. Arguing doctrine will rarely convince a Jehovah's Witness the religion is wrong whilst they hold to these concepts. There are a number of rhetorical fallacies within these beliefs that must be identified for any discussion with a Witness to be effective. Otherwise, a range of thought stopping responses arise, such as:
For this reason, the articles in this section should be pondered as a starting point prior to reading the rest of the site. This does however present a chicken or egg quandary; a person cannot fully comprehend the core concepts without an understanding of the history and doctrinal errors of the Watchtower Society, but cannot appreciate the full significance of the history and doctrine without identifying the flaws behind the core concepts.
The Watchtower teaches that at Armageddon only Jehovah's Witnesses will survive and billions of people will be eternally destroyed. It is common for a Witness to claim that is not the case, but this article contains numerous Watchtower quotes making such statements. It then goes on to explain why such a teaching it not at all realistic.
The Governing Body claim to under Jehovah's direction by means of his holy spirit. The logical conclusion is that what they teach should be accurate; yet numerous changes show this is not the case. The Governing Body's defence is that they are actively directed by holy spirit - but not inspired. Strange, since in such context the definition of inspired is to be directed by holy spirit. This article brings clarification to the confusion.
Previous errors should indicate that Watchtower doctrine is not being relayed from Jehovah, through the Slave class. However, the Governing Body dispel such a conclusion by saying historical errors in Watchtower doctrine were foretold by a phrase in Proverbs that the "light gets brighter". This is a highly successful concept in preventing a Witness questioning Watchtower teachings. This article shows how this Scripture is misapplied and also that Watchtower doctrine does not get brighter, but changes and flip-flops.
Organization is not a word that appears in the Bible, yet the Watchtower constantly refers to belonging to an organization as essential for a person's salvation; the Watchtower Organization. This article shows that for the majority of Bible history, there was no organization to belong to, and when there was, servants of God regularly operated outside of or against God's Organization.
The defining concept to being a Jehovah's Witness is not worship of Jehovah, but rather following the "faithful and discreet slave". Though defined as Anointed Christians, in practice the Governing Body represents the Slave class. No satisfactory evidence exists to show God actively directs the Watchtower Governing Body, but by drawing on the parable of the Slave, Watchtower leaders demand all-encompassing power over their followers, with tragic consequences.
Directed by Holy Spirit | <urn:uuid:8dcc71ec-cb63-458d-a7a5-1287acc453c5> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.jwfacts.com/watchtower/core-watchtower-concepts.php | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368702448584/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516110728-00029-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.953303 | 813 | 1.640625 | 2 |
Cardiac risk assessment by gated single-photon emission computed tomography in asymptomatic end-stage renal disease patients at the start of dialysis
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| Open choice
This study assessed the impact of cardiac risk assessment using gated single-photon emission computed tomography (SPECT) on cardiac events in end-stage renal disease (ESRD) patients.
We evaluated 215 asymptomatic patients who began dialysis between January 2005 and April 2009. Baseline electrocardiography and echocardiography were performed in all the patients. The subjects were stratified into low- and high-risk groups according to the baseline cardiac status, and gated SPECT was additionally recommended for the high-risk patients.
The study population consisted of 50 low- and 165 high-risk patients undergoing SPECT. Among the high-risk patients, 75 (45.5%) showed perfusion defects on SPECT and their overall cardiac-event rate per person-year of follow-up was 15.0%, significantly higher than 4.5% in high-risk group without perfusion defect and 1.2% in low-risk group. The presence of perfusion defect was a significant independent predictor of adverse cardiac events [hazard ratio (HR) 2.11; 95% confidence interval (CI) 1.05-4.24; P = .035]. When gated SPECT was added to the clinical and the echocardiographic variables, the prognostic stratification significantly improved (P < .001). However, coronary revascularization was not associated with improved cardiac event-free survival (HR 0.62; 95% CI 0.26-1.52; P = .296).
Gated SPECT may provide additional prognostic information for cardiac risk stratification, particularly among high-risk patients starting dialysis.
Go to Issue Contents | <urn:uuid:048b53bf-fe84-417d-aa27-2bab5ed406de> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.onlinejnc.com/journal/12350/0/0/9497_10.1007_s12350-011-9497-2/0/Cardiac_risk_assessment_by_gated_single-photon_emission_computed_tomography_in_asymptomatic_end-sta.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368702448584/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516110728-00033-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.931599 | 396 | 1.507813 | 2 |
ELIZABETHTOWN - A greater number of homeowners in Essex County will get help buttoning up their homes this winter thanks to funds from the federal stimulus package.
More than $5 billion has been set aside as part of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act for use in supplementing weatherization assistance programs across the country.
Adirondack Community Action Programs administers the program in Essex County, which has helped to make nearly 60 homes each year more suited for cold weather.
According to Barb Allen, Weatherization Assistance Program coordinator at ACAP, New York State is among those receiving the largest slice of federal funds with a grant of roughly $395 million.
Meanwhile, state funding for the program has remained steady at $99 million statewide. The funds are divided to each county based on population and number of seasonal heating days.
"So for Essex County, what that means is we're going to be doubling our production schedule," said Allen.
ACAP's Weatherization Assistance Program will now be able to assist roughly 140 homes annually, and to a greater degree.
Those who qualify for the program can receive a diagnostic weatherization assessment to find potential air leaks and other shortfalls in energy efficiency.
Once the problem areas are identified, ACAP arranges for installation of insulation, maintenance for heating systems, weather stripping, repair of windows, and other minor fixes. The program may also provide carbon monoxide detectors and, in some cases, the replacement of old refrigerators with newer, more energy-efficient ones.
A post-weatherization inspection is performed after the work is finished to assure that improvements are effective.
Previously, no more than $4,500 could be allotted to improve each home. With the added stimulus funds, the limit has jumped to $6,500.
"It's all about serving those in need," said ACAP executive director Alan Jones, who noted the program's financial and environmental benefits. "It eases the burden on working families so they can use that money for medicine, food, or whatever else is needed."
Eligibility requirements for the program mirror those of the Home Energy Assistance Program, or HEAP, in regards to income guidelines. Applicants are generally addressed on a first-come-first-serve basis, and at this point, Allen said, there is still a waiting list.
"The sooner they apply, the sooner they can get on that list," said Allen.
Applications for ACAP's Weather Assistance Program are available for download on their website at www.acapinc.org. For more information, contact Barb Allen by calling 873-3207 or e-mail [email protected]. | <urn:uuid:b7342ef3-fc7b-45fc-8aec-0f51fe6fbbc3> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.denpubs.com/news/2009/nov/06/federal-funds-boost-weatherization-program/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368701459211/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516105059-00005-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.946176 | 551 | 1.546875 | 2 |
Irish political parties make promises they can't afford to keep
By: John Spain | Published Wednesday, February 9, 2011, 9:20 AM | Updated Friday, September 9, 2011, 10:04 PM
After the first week of the election campaign here it's hard not to sink into a profound depression at the posturing of our politicians.
This should have been an election that no political party would try to buy. It should have been an election free of promises about tax cuts or extra spending, neither of which we can afford since the country is broke.
But that has not stopped our politicians. Not a bit of it.
We may be on financial life support from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the EU, but our politicians have been busy this past week making costly promises they know we cannot afford, promising to spend money we don't have.
An example is the Fine Gael promise last weekend to give special financial help to mortgage holders who are in negative equity, and to reduce the extra tax put on lower paid workers recently.
Not that there is anything wrong with politicians wanting to help those in trouble (even if they are also doing it to get votes).
Every political party here would like to help people in negative equity, people who have lost their jobs or had their pay cut, people who have been affected by the cutbacks in state spending or the rise in taxes. And in many cases it's the same people who are being hit several ways at once.
Since the start of this year, as the changes in the December budget kicked in, people here have seen their after-tax pay shrink and many people are struggling financially to keep their heads above water.
Plus things like the cost of health insurance has jumped, mortgage interest rates are going up and the cutbacks in state services is making life uncomfortable for many people. So people are hurting and it's natural for politicians to react to that.
But instead of making empty promises, what they should be doing is telling people the truth.
Our politicians should be explaining to people why it's tough and why it's going to stay tough for the next few years at least. They should be explaining to people why there's little or nothing anyone can do about it, and why there is no easy way out.
Instead of that, in the first week of the campaign we have got a plethora of promises from politicians here (they call them policies to make it sound better). It's as though the politicians have not really grasped the desperate situation we are in.
They are trying to give the impression that it's business as usual. They are attempting to carry on as normal despite the fact that the country faces the biggest crisis since the foundation of the state. The country is bankrupt, but they're still promising big amounts of extra state spending.
And it's not just Fine Gael who are at it, unveiling plans for the future which bear no relation to the financial mess we are in. Their potential coalition partners in the next government, the Labor Party, have been even worse.
They want to extend the four year time frame agreed with the EU and the IMF for getting our budget deficit under control so that they can slow down the cutbacks in state spending. And at the same time they want to borrow an extra couple of billion to sink into a national recovery plan to create jobs.
Both of which will completely undermine the agreement the present government made with the EU/IMF to get the bailout fund to stop us going bust.
The leader of the Labor Party, Eamon Gilmore, has been pontificating away on the election trail like a puffed up bishop. It's either Frankfurt's way or the Labor Party way, he said the other day, setting new benchmarks in hubris and hyperbole.
This putdown was aimed at the head of the European Central Bank Jean Claude Trichet, who had said Ireland must stick with the four-year plan and stop talking about renegotiation of the bailout deal.
Gilmore's response was that Trichet was a mere "civil servant" who would do whatever EU politicians decided, and he insisted that Ireland's rescue package could be renegotiated with the other EU countries. But there is absolutely no evidence that other countries in the EU would agree to this.
The more we saw of Kenny and Gilmore last week, the better Brian Cowen and Brian Lenihan looked. Kenny, the taoiseach (prime minister) in waiting and Gilmore, the deputy taoiseach in waiting, had little enough credibility to start with, but their antics over the past week made them look like a pair of buffoons. The thought of this pair sitting down with other EU leaders to discuss our financial future makes one shudder with embarrassment.
All of which has made the new Fianna Fail leader Micheal Martin look better than he should. Fianna Fail, having negotiated the four-year plan and the bailout deal with the EU and the IMF, cannot now start unveiling new plans which undermine that deal. So in a perverse way they are protected from giving in to their own worst instincts (and no one makes empty promises better than Fianna Fail!)
Despite this constraint, however, Fianna Fail have also been making promises, although on a more muted level. They have said their election plans will contain no extra state spending.
But in their election document launched on Monday they are talking about a half billion fund to support small businesses which create jobs -- and you can be sure there will be a lot more where that came from before election day.
So in spite of the reality we face, they are all at it. The reality is that we are completely at the mercy of our EU partners and the IMF because without them what would happen here within a year would make Greece look like a tea party.
The reality is that we are buried in a financial quagmire of our own making which has robbed us of the ability to do anything. So the election promises being made are meaningless.
That is the reality, not the waffle and hot air that is coming from Fine Gael and Labor about our future. Why they are doing it is beyond me, since they already have the election sewn up.
Fianna Fail are going to take a battering and deservedly so, since they created the mess. Fine Gael and Labor will form the next government with a big majority, unless the polls are completely wrong.
The fact that Kenny and Gilmore still feel it necessary to make all these ridiculous promises about the future indicates how insecure they are. They seem to be afraid that although Fianna Fail is virtually dead it might outdo Lazarus and steal the election from them.
But that's not going to happen. So Fine Gael should be confident enough to tell people the truth.
They should stop sugaring the bitter medicine and offering false hope. They should stop making spending promises they won't be able to keep and that will come back to haunt them when the IMF and our EU partners say no. And they will say no.
Let's look at the facts. Of the €85 billion bailout fund, €67.5 billion is coming from the IMF and the EU with the rest coming from our own state resources, including our national pension reserve. To get the foreign money we had to do that -- our money is mainly going into our banks. One third of the €67.5 billion is coming from the IMF, and the interest rate on that is set to a rigid formula which we will not be able to renegotiate.
Two thirds of the €67.5 billion is coming from the two EU funds dealing with the crisis facing the euro zone and the structure and interest rates involved have been agreed by all the EU countries.
So to get any change in that does not mean simply Kenny and Gilmore going over to Brussels and acting like tough guys. It would mean convincing all the other countries -- most of whom are already fed up with Ireland because of all the trouble we are causing -- to give us a special deal.
I'm not saying the deal (with its penal 5.8% average interest rate) is fair. But it would have been the same deal for any other country that got into similar trouble.
It's not meant to be a walk in the park. It's meant to teach us a lesson, while preventing us going down the tubes and dragging the euro down with us.
But let's for a moment suppose that, yes, we can renegotiate the deal. Let's say that we manage to get a full 1% knocked off the interest rate we're paying.
Even with the cutbacks in state spending, our deficit is so big that we're currently borrowing €19 billion a year, which we're now getting from the IMF and the EU since no one else will lend to us. If we get a 1% cut in the interest rate on that, it will save us around €200 million this year.
But we're borrowing €19 billion this year, which is €350 to €400 million a week. So the interest saving is tiny in comparison with the size of the problem we face.
I'm not saying €200 million does not matter. But let's keep it in perspective.
Even if we were to get a full 2% off the 5.8% interest rate we are paying, it would still only amount to two weeks of the vast sums we are borrowing at the moment.
It doesn't solve the overall problem. The only thing that will is drastic cutbacks in spending here, implemented over the agreed four-year time frame.
Let's threaten them with default, some Labor Party people have been hinting. That might make sense if we had another source from where we can borrow money over the next few years.
The fact is we don't. A sudden default would cause chaos here, not just for the state's finances but for the banks as well.
If funds from outside suddenly dried up our banks would collapse and our state would struggle to survive, as the money to pay the army, police, teachers, hospital staff and all the other state workers began to run out.
The problem in our banks is enormous and it's getting worse as funds from elsewhere are withdrawn as confidence falls. Recent figures show that last year Irish banks lost over €70 billion in foreign funds, with 40 billion of that being withdrawn in December. They now depend heavily on the European Central Bank which has lent the Irish banks a staggering €130 billion to keep them going.
In addition to that the Irish Central Bank has given special funding of over €50 billion to the Irish banks, largely by printing money (and you know where that leads).
So without the €85 billion rescue deal, the four-year plan to cut spending and the ECB support for our banks, we would be toast in no time. Defaulting is not a realistic option.
Renegotiation - on which a lot of the Fine Gael and Labor election promises are predicated -- will be very difficult, if not impossible, and won't solve the problem anyway.
All the parties here are promising electoral reform and other things they say won't cost money. And that's okay.
But most of what they are promising will cost extra money, and that's just not on. | <urn:uuid:0440edcf-2dc0-4bc9-afa3-89ba9ba7ffe5> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.irishcentral.com/story/roots/ireland_calling/irish-political-parties-make-promises-they-cant-afford-to-keep-115634754.html?mob-ua=mobile | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368699273641/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516101433-00021-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.977456 | 2,310 | 1.523438 | 2 |
David Wolf - Letters Home
David Wolf arrived on Mir on September 27 to start his four-month stint aboard the Russian Space Station. He got there as a result of serendipity, accident, and anguished deliberations. He was back-up to Wendy Lawrence who was originally scheduled to take this Mir increment; Wolf was scheduled to replace her in January. But when the collision with the Progress resupply vessel occurred, it was decided that the American astronaut onboard Mir should be EVA qualified. Lawrence is too small to fit into the Russian Orlan spacesuit, and so Wolf was called upon to go in her place.
The events on Mir in the last few months, dating back to the fire that Jerry Lingenger had to deal with and continuing with the collision with the Progress, and the depressurization and loss of power, had caused a great deal of concern among the public, elected officials in Washington, and NASA personnel. Right up to the eve of the launch of STS-86 on September 25, it was not certain that Wolf would get to stay on the Mir. But several committees evaluated all the data, and on the morning of the launch, Daniel Goldin, NASA Administrator, announced that it was safe for Wolf to live and work on Mir.
Here are David Wolf's letters home.
October 6, 1997 - Getting settled
in on Mir | <urn:uuid:80a1b40a-92b0-4e97-a0a8-87b4c1758416> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://history.nasa.gov/SP-4225/documentation/wolf-letters/letters.htm | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368698207393/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516095647-00029-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.976903 | 280 | 1.804688 | 2 |
The economy is nothing short of “lousy.” Business is really tough. Customers are canceling events. A local party and event rental company asked its team what they could do to create an adequate amount of revenue to survive the recession.
The group had the benefit of being together for a number of years. They wrote up a marketing and sales plan every year for the last three years. They also recognized planning is the launching pad for success. Without a plan, they would not have any chance to survive. Together, they came up with a strategy to attack new markets and meet new people. The CEO increased his involvement with the sales team and with customers. The results were immediate. After making a three-hour trip to a military base, the CEO closed a big deal because the sergeant in charge of the event was so impressed the owner came to see him.
As your organization braces itself for tough times, how can it can it boost revenue without breaking the budget? Here are some steps to building your own no-money-down marketing plan. Start today.
1. Write a revised marketing plan and execute it. Assuming you have a plan in the first place, go back and review every element to see how it fits into the current environment.
If you don’t have a plan in place, move fast to create one. You can do it.
2. Uncover your opportunities. Do you have certain products that stand out? Do you have particular financial strength so you can help your customers through hard times? Do you have other services can you offer? What other competitive strengths do you have?
The starting point for all business planning is “opportunities.” What opportunities still exist in the market for your company? Check out your key competitors who are weak and whose customers may be feeling uncertainty or doubt. The word gets out during bad times. You don’t want to badmouth anyone, but you can certainly point to the solidity of your company, your long history, your repeat customers, etc. Sowing the seeds of doubt about competition’s ability to deliver, to service, to respond is part of the competitive world.
3. Develop new terms and conditions for doing business. Now is the time to look at ways to exploit your opportunities with new thinking. For example, your customer may not have the money for inventory, but you know they can sell much more if they have goods in their stores.
What can you do? One answer that may work to your advantage is “consignment.” By putting goods in your customer’s stores without asking for payment, you make it possible for them to sell more of your product. You may be able to force the customer to drop competitive merchandise in return for this major support. Work out terms and conditions to protect your investment and make it profitable for you.
4. Don’t accept “No,” “We never did it before” and the big one, “Our systems won’t allow it.” If you let the finance people or the “naysayers” stand in your way, you will not succeed. Just because you have never done it before doesn’t mean it won’t work. Systems are there to serve the company—not prevent progress. There is always someone who can figure out how to make a program work within the confines of IT or other systems. As a leader, you cannot allow “no” or other objections to stand in the way of a program that has great upside potential. These are times when leaders must be bold.
5. Promote your company’s major skills.
Your company does certain things very well. Is your technology particularly good? Are you great promoters? Do your people relate to customers especially well? Look at your company very honestly and figure out the one or two things you do best. Then promote these to your customers and to your own people constantly.
You may not be perfect, but if you are better than competition, promote it! If you have skills that make a difference for customers, promote it! If you are universally loved by customers, promote it!!
6. Go back to lost customers.
When business was good, losing a customer may not have seemed important. Now that the market is significantly smaller, the customers who have survived are much more important.
All it may take is a simple “we are sorry,” but sometimes it may take much more. You must do whatever it takes to see those past customers who are not buying, and find ways to win them back.
Price will be important, but it is not the only thing. There are other valuable tools you can bring to the table. Start by asking every salesperson to name the one potentially significant customer who used to buy, but now isn’t. Then work with the salesperson to figure out a tactical plan to get business back from that customer. If you do get some business from them, be sure your company handles it perfectly. Then go back and get more!
This No Money Down Marketing Plan is the starting point for survival in these difficult times. Get going now so you can put these tactics to work to help your company increase its market share now.
Editor’s note: Don’t forget to stay on top of all the new social media innovations to keep your small business current and fresh. If you haven’t gotten a facebook, myspace and twitter account for your biz, start today. But make sure you carve a specific message you want to convey. Any postings should reinforce the brand you are trying to build. Survey these online watercoolers to see what is happening in the small business arena & how you can use it to grow your company. •
John Haskell, aka Dr. Revenue®, is a professional speaker, seminar leader, marketing and sales consultant, and author of “Profit Rx.” As a former CEO/COO of divisions of Fortune 500 companies and as president of The Professional Marketing Group, Inc., he consistently demonstrates the value of written marketing and sales planning. He helps his clients write and implement marketing and sales plans, and his “Dr. Revenue Marketing and Sales Clinics” result in immediate sales and marketing focus. For more information, visit www.drrevenue.com or e-mail [email protected]. | <urn:uuid:3eb1e4c9-c636-44c1-bd33-740e5a8d4814> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.sbomag.com/2009/12/the-no-money-down-plan/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368701459211/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516105059-00021-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.962426 | 1,322 | 1.554688 | 2 |
am a 26-year-old hetero male, and I recently started hooking
up with a new girl. She’s very cute and smart and I’m really
attracted to her. During a recent make-out session, she informed
me that she has HPV, the STD that causes genital warts. From
what I’ve read, condoms don’t necessarily mean you’re safe.
I’ve been sexually active for a number of years, and I’ve
had unprotected sex with other partners. Could I have HPV
already? Can you please shed some light on this disease for
me? I really want to have sex with this girl, but not at the
risk of screwing up my penis for the rest of my life.
is not a big deal.
Before an angry mob of Planned Parenthood educators gathers
under my window, let me get this on the record: In the STD
galaxy, HPV is a supernova. Twenty million Americans are currently
infected with HPV, and every year 6 million more Americans
contract one of the more than 100 different known strains
of the virus. According to the Centers for Disease Control
and Prevention, 50 percent of sexually active men and women
acquire genital HPV infection at some point during their lives.
By age 50, at least 80 percent of women will have acquired
HPV infection. Some strains of HPV—AKA the human papillomavirus—can
lead to cancer of the cervix, vulva, anus, or penis; other
strains can result in unpleasant and unsightly warts on cocks,
balls, pussy flaps, asslips, etc., and condoms offer only
So where do I get off saying that HPV is no big deal? Because
in the vast and overwhelming majority of cases, WAW, men and
women with HPV show no symptoms, never develop a single genital
wart, and don’t come down with cancer of the stanky stuff.
And while we once thought that HPV was like herpes—i.e., once
a person is infected he’s infected and infectious forever—
we now know, as the wonks at the CDC put it, “ . . . most
people who become infected with HPV [will] clear the infection
on their own.”
So should you have sex with this girl? If you’ve been fucking
other women without protection, well, odds are good that you’ve
been exposed to HPV already. But even if you have sex with
this girl and contract HPV, the odds that you will screw up
your penis forever are slight. Sex always carries some risk,
WAW, and when the risk is slight and the reward is great most
adults go for it.
Finally, when I say that HPV isn’t that big a deal I don’t
mean to imply that people shouldn’t seek treatment if they
have warts or inform their sex partners if they know they’re
infected. Women, in particular, have to be vigilant. If you’re
a sexually active woman, assume you have HPV and get annual
Pap tests. Every year in the United States more than 12,000
women are diagnosed with cervical cancer and 4,100 women die
of the disease, according to the American Cancer Society.
Most of these cancers are caused by “high-risk” strains of
HPV, and early detection through Pap tests of cervical cancer
saves lives. According to the CDC, most women who develop
invasive cervical cancer have not had regular cervical cancer
screenings. Don’t let that happen to you, ladies.
I had a hysterectomy last year as a result of cervical
dysplasia caused by HPV infection. My doctor said that I had
had the virus for years, and that it generally takes that
long to get to this point. I’ve never had the warts or anything.
About two months ago I spent a week knocking boots with a
friend. He knew I had had the hysterectomy, and he knew why.
Some time later he slept with another girl. She discovered
last week that she has cervical dysplasia. She accused me
of spreading diseases. I explained that I didn’t think she
could have gotten to that point in the space of a month, and
that massive numbers of women have HPV without knowing about
it. Did I give it to her? My doctor says no. My conscience
says no. What’s the deal?
another “no” for your collection, E: “It takes months to years
to go from HPV infection to cervical changes,” said Deborah
Oyer, Medical Director of Seattle’s Aurora Medical Services,
which provides full-spectrum women’s health care. “I can’t
imagine a woman getting HPV and in four weeks’ time progressing
to cervical dysplasia,” which is the appearance of funky,
potentially pre-cancerous cells on the cervix. “I would absolve
Elsewhere,” Oyer continued, “but I can’t say she’s not contagious.
If she still has HPV in her system, she could be contagious.”
Oh, and while we’re on the subject of HPV . . . Researchers
have been hard at work on two vaccines for HPV, vaccines that
could save thousands of women’s lives. In clinical trials
the vaccines have prevented 90 percent of new HPV infections.
Good news, huh? Not for the religious right. Bridget Maher
of the Family Research Council told New Scientist magazine
that “giving the HPV vaccine to young women could be potentially
harmful, because they may see it as a license to engage in
While the religious right’s war on gay people gets all the
headlines, their war on straight rights gains ground daily.
They’ve destroyed sex education in this country, undermined
abortion rights, and successfully prevented emergency contraception
from being made available over the counter. Now they’re going
to block the HPV vaccine. Why? Because the American Taliban
would rather see sexually active women dead than vaccinated.
Hello, straight people? If you don’t want to live in a world
where you need a license from the likes of Bridget Maher to
have sex, premarital or otherwise, you had better start speaking
up. Most of you seem content to merely rubberneck while gay
people have the shit kicked out of us, and while that’s maddening,
I suppose it’s understandable. It’s not your fight. But what
explains your passivity when your own rights are being attacked?
I contracted my first STD: gonorrhea. I got treated and
I’m fine. My concern is about the guy who gave it to me. If
he were just a random trick, I’d forget about it. But he’s
actually a nice guy. Should I tell him? If so, any suggestions
on how I go about telling him?
a chance this nice guy may not know he has gonorrhea, GB.
If a guy’s cock is infected, he’ll usually experience a burning
sensation during urination and discharge pus; if his ass is
infected, his asshole will be coated with pus. But a man can
have a gonorrhea infection in his throat without experiencing
any symptoms at all; on rare occasions gonorrhea in the dick
or butt is also asymptomatic. If he has gonorrhea and doesn’t
know it, he needs to seek treatment before he infects anyone
else or before his infection spreads to his bloodstream and
wreaks havoc on his joints, skin, and heart. So tell him.
How do you tell him? Try this: “After we slept together I
came down with gonorrhea and I’m pretty sure I got it from
you. I’m not angry and I swear to God I won’t gossip about
this and I don’t think any less of you as a person. I’m calling
because I care about your health. Please go see a doctor.”
If he really is a nice guy, GB, he’ll thank you. If he reacts
badly, well, then he’s not a nice guy. But you can take comfort
in the fact that you are. | <urn:uuid:d9b29ebf-4088-4acb-ba2f-5dc1d579a7a2> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://metroland.net/back_issues/vol28_no20/savage_love.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368698924319/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516100844-00023-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.947995 | 1,844 | 1.625 | 2 |
Public • Grades 9-12246 students • 14 student/teacher
San Bruno contains 1 primary and secondary schools. One of the best schools is Peninsula High (Continuation) School, which is rated 3. The school has 246 students. The public schools in San Bruno are in San Mateo Union High School District. San Bruno Park Elementary is close by and is rated worse than San Mateo Union High School District. Nearby South San Francisco Unified School District is worse, with a rating of 7. The population of San Bruno is 40,090. San Mateo Union High School District enrolls 21% of the population of San Bruno. | <urn:uuid:1683b8d9-326d-43ef-95a1-1e94af1c6f71> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.zillow.com/san-bruno-ca/schools/public/high/ | 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 | 0.955966 | 131 | 1.773438 | 2 |
about the broader
and really some encouraging news. This was
The Wall Street Journal
headline this week, "Dow Breaks Through 11,000. Stocks
on guidelines." You're out there talking to people; you see so much. What gives you a reason to be optimistic right now?
Well, again, you're seeing in the numbers, and if you talk to businesses across the
in all industries, you see much more confidence today. The
's growing. It's the
that's growing, private investment is increasing, exports are stronger.
are spending a bit more of their income. These are very encouraging signs, and I think they should -- they allow us to be much more
today that we're going to come out of this stronger. But, you know, we have to deal in reality too. And the reality
is that this
caused a huge amount of damage. It's going to take a long
time to heal
facing enormous pressure, enormous
challenge. And we're going to keep working to make sure we're healing what was broken, reinforce this
; and we got some
work to do
So -- and that headline refers to individuals
on the sidelines. You have 8.5
jobs lost in the
of the recession. In
, and something that the, the Fed chairman was concerned about, 44 percent of those unemployed in
have been unemployed for six months or more. Is this a
I think the
's just starting to create jobs again. That's going to continue. Just remember, a year ago the
lost three quarters of a
jobs in one month of
. And last month the
created 160,000 new jobs, and I think we're now on a path where you're going to see sustained
. You're going to see the work week extended, people add hours to their payroll, incomes start to rise again, more people come back to work. And, again, we have more
work to do
, though, to help reinforce that process.
You don't see the
climbing again to, say, over 10?
No, I'm not an economist,
, but if you see that happen it'll be because you have more people come back into the
now because there's hope again. But, again, I think that we're in a much stronger position than -- now today than we were three months ago, six months ago, stronger than we thought, faster
than many people expected because of the actions the president took.
And yet you said recently, you told
on the "Today" show recently that the
will be unacceptably high for a long
period of time
. These are the
's projections -- we'll put them up on the screen -- for unemployment, all the way out to the fourth quarter of
at 7.9 percent, which is
pretty high. I assume you'd think that would be unacceptably high. So what would incentivize companies to build a new factory now or to look
and start adding workers to
and improve upon that outlook?
We're going to work to improve on those numbers.
we're working hard to do. And we're trying to get
to move to put in
a series of new
for hiring, for business investment. We're trying to work to make sure you can --
can keep teachers in the classroom, that we're working to fix schools, fix our roads and bridges, improve infrastructure. There are a range of things we can do like that that'll help make this
stronger. And, as we grow again, we see more
, not less. | <urn:uuid:fec16342-e935-4563-9aca-57726ac6e541> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.nbcnews.com/id/36628038/ns/business-stocks_and_economy/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368696383156/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516092623-00031-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.949064 | 758 | 1.671875 | 2 |
The Wii Fit has been on the market for about a year now, which means people can finally decide whether or not it is truly a meaningful fitness tool, or just a hyped-up game. Forbes took a look at the Wii Fit, which they say is now in 1.5 million homes. They asked the question “is anyone really using it?” and the answer may not surprise you.
Not really, says Brian Crecente, managing editor of the popular gaming blog Kotaku. Despite optimistic predictions that Nintendo had unleashed a new era of videogames, Crecente calls Wii Fit little more than an exercise fad that’s bound to come and go like any other. “I don’t know a single person who has bought the game who uses it routinely after a month,” he claims, stressing that getting results from the game requires dedication and real physical exertion.
Read the rest of this story.
February 3rd, 2009 | <urn:uuid:bb22c24d-12ea-48c5-97f8-3ec12abe2cae> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.dietsinreview.com/diet_column/02/the-reality-of-wii-fit/ | 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 | 0.964709 | 201 | 1.507813 | 2 |
Online Power of Attorney: POA Form
Hundreds of sites offer online power of attorney advice and forms. It's easy to learn more about the different power of attorney types. Moreover, you can find free online power of attorney forms that you paste to a word processor, fill in the information and then print out. You avoid legal fees and have a binding contract for your power of attorney needs.
Types of Power of Attorney
There are six power of attorney options:
· Nondurable (Limited) Power of Attorney: Specified to certain terms and a strict time limit. It is best for long business trips, vacations and hospitalizations.
· General Power of Attorney: Authorizes another to handle all financial decisions for you up until your death or incapacitation. This type provides a lot of decision making power to the agent, so be very careful using it.
· Durable Power of Attorney: Authorizes your power of attorney agent to handle your legal and business transactions, even after you become incapacitated. This power of attorney type only ends when you die.
· Financial Power of Attorney: Authorizes an agent to handle all of your financial dealings following your terms and conditions.
· Medical Power of Attorney: Authorizes an agent to make sure the hospital and physicians follow your medical preferences, usually backed up by a living will.
· Springing Power of Attorney: Takes effect when a particular event occurs. Usually a springing power of attorney goes into effect following a tragic event like an accident resulting in coma, an urgent health problem or mental incapacity.
Things to Consider
When choosing your power of attorney agent, choose very wisely. Make sure the person is financially responsible and able to handle the pressure of making important decisions in your place.
Sadly, abusing a power of attorney is common. One elderly woman discovered this when she named her daughter as her general power of attorney. Unsure she was able to handle her taxes, bill paying and financial accounts by herself when she entered her eighties, the elderly woman completed online power of attorney forms and assigned agent duties to her daughter, a seemingly wealthy business woman. Within months, the daughter took out a reverse mortgage on her mother's home. For the next year, the daughter withdrew the funds and spent the money on herself. The elderly woman was left virtually bankrupt, estranged from her daughter and law enforcement explained they could not do anything.
If you use a power of attorney, make very certain you've filled out online power of attorney forms carefully and listed many terms and conditions to prevent theft of your hard earned money.
Copyright 2004-2013 S&T US LLC | <urn:uuid:8b44cba1-058f-4a8a-9e5c-363087eadce9> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.wise4living.org/lpoa/online.htm | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368699881956/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516102441-00015-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.951853 | 531 | 1.625 | 2 |
Bankruptcies Rise Fastest for Over-55 Group
Friday, April 27, 2007
Personal bankruptcy filings by people 55 and older are growing faster than those by any other age group, in part because of rising mortgage debt and medical expenses among seniors, a study published yesterday concludes.
Although the U.S. population as a whole is getting grayer as the baby boom generation ages, the percent of older people seeking to wipe out debt through bankruptcy is rising even faster, the study by two government researchers at the Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts shows. That office includes the U.S. bankruptcy court system.
"It's frightening," said Dallas Salisbury, president of the Employee Benefit Research Institute, a private nonprofit group that focuses on retirement and economic security issues. "This just underlines that an awful lot of older people not only haven't saved enough, but by going into bankruptcy, they are starting over at a point in life when it's harder than ever to save."
The government researchers compared personal bankruptcy records from 1994 with those in 2002. In that time span, personal filings doubled, to more than 1.5 million. The credit industry used that growth to persuade Congress to pass legislation in 2005 that makes it harder for individuals to wipe out debt through bankruptcy.
The portion of the population aged 55 or older grew from 29.2 percent in 1994 to 30.1 percent by 2002, an increase of 3.1 percent, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. The study found the portion of this age group that filed for bankruptcy protection grew from 9.6 percent in 1994 to 14 percent in 2002 -- a 45.8 percent jump.
The findings come as other studies show older people increasingly rely on home-equity loans and credit cards to pay for medical expenses, and as financial experts worry that Americans don't save enough and are unfit financially for retirement.
"This confirms the notion that issues like health care are an important driver of bankruptcy," said David Certner, director of legislative policy for AARP. He said it supports his view that medical expenses weren't given sufficient consideration when the new bankruptcy law was passed.
Ed Yingling, head of the American Bankers Association, one of the main supporters of the new law, agreed rising medical costs are pushing people to run up credit-card debt. But he said that it is the health-care crisis -- not credit card debt -- that is responsible for pushing people under. He said the new bankruptcy law has the safeguards to give relief to those truly in need because of health or any other difficulty.
Travis Plunkett of the Consumer Federation said the credit card industry has to shoulder some of the responsibility because once the elderly ring up charges to pay for health care, their financial plight is amplified by what he called the unfair fees and interest rates charged to consumers. | <urn:uuid:94daa1bf-26ea-4fa8-9f7c-133af1ce12ca> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/04/26/AR2007042602595.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368704392896/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516113952-00025-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.968281 | 580 | 1.5625 | 2 |
Current State - Current Sports
Most Active Stories
Tue March 13, 2012
With Economy 'Expanding Moderately,' Fed Leaves Interest Rates Unchanged
Citing an economy that is "expanding moderately," an improving labor market and subdued inflation — but a housing sector that "remains depressed" — the Federal Reserve just announced it is holding to its current policy on short-term interest rates.
The central bank's policymakers also said they expect "moderate economic growth over coming quarters" and that the jobless rate will continue to "decline gradually."
The decision on rates was widely anticipated. It means that the Fed's "target range" for the federal funds rate, which in turn influences all sorts of short-term rates, remains "0 to 1/4 percent."
In New York, stocks have been higher all day and remain so after the Fed announcement. The Dow Jones industrial average is up about 110 points (0.85 percent), to around 13,070. | <urn:uuid:85160b81-88ca-46bf-a205-4e08903b1570> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://wkar.org/post/economy-expanding-moderately-fed-leaves-interest-rates-unchanged | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368696382584/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516092622-00002-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.947813 | 199 | 1.625 | 2 |
by Kirby Lindsay, posted 8 May 2013
When the edgy and youthful evo relocated from its digs in West Fremont, at 122 NW 36th St (to Stone Way,) who could imagine a new, edgier start-up business would fill the vacancy…providing space for innovative designers of visionary products.
Makerhaus provides “one-thousand square feet of prototyping and education space,” explained Ellie Kemery, co-founder and Strategy Maker. A public tour (offered daily at 1p & 7p) gives an even clearer understanding of this workshop where dreamers, inventors and designers can create products, solutions and art that may revolutionize the world, or simply make a corner of it a little bit better. Or both.
A Place For ‘Professional Creatives’
Officially opened in late February 2013, the business plan behind Makerhaus is progressive but not original. Kemery, and her husband Mike, came up with the idea, “because we personally needed it.” Both are industrial designers, by inclination, who formerly worked in the corporate world yet still want access to materials and equipment for building prototypes of their, now, independent designs.
“We found it very difficult to prototype nationally,” Kemery explained. They tried out what she called, ‘hacker spaces,’ most commonly used for do-it-yourself electronics, but found that even the organized and clean ones could only provide cobbled-together and/or amateurish equipment. “We need equipment of high-caliber,” for what they wanted to build, she said.
The Kemerys also encountered others seeking the same access. “On weekends and evenings, they explore their own ideas,” Kemery observed of people she described as ‘professional creatives.’
So, the Kemerys dreamt of a place where they and others could access, and share the cost of, expensive equipment – 3D printers, laser cutter, a metal shop, wood shop, computers with design software, etc. “Designers tend to fail forward,” Kemery observed, and with access to materials and equipment they can innovate, fail, learn, and try again, and again, until they find something amazing.
At the same time, the ‘makers movement’ caught on world-wide, with growing communities of people sharing their love of tinkering. As Kemery explained, some call it, ‘the next industrial revolution,’ with technology making it possible for people to innovate from their laptop or Ipod. And around the country workshops have sprung up allowing ‘makers’ to share resources and materials.
The 3rd Ward, out of Brooklyn, New York and soon expanding into Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, offers something similar to what the Kemerys envisioned. Ellie and Mike went to Brooklyn and the management of 3rd Ward, which is now celebrating 7-years in business, mentored them – making the opening of Makerhaus stronger than it might have been.
A Place To Build And A Place To Learn
With a focus on design, Makerhaus provides its members clean, organized and well-appointed spaces in which to share, learn and build. And while different membership levels have different degrees of access to the equipment, all members receive a significant discount on classes.
The classes run a wide gamut, from straightforward textiles, digital media, woodworking and metal working classes (including introductory classes that instruct on use of the Makerhaus equipment,) to ones on a variety of professional opportunities: Build A Company In Six Weeks. Design a Rock-n-Roll Poster. Learn to protect your ideas with an Intellectual Property & Patents Seminar.
The teachers come with impressive backgrounds – a textile class taught by a former Tommy Bahama designer, a professional development class taught by a member of the University of Washington entrepreneur’s program faculty, etc. “Teachers are falling out of the sky,” Kemery reported, “you’d be surprised at how many people have a depth of knowledge,” and a willingness to share what they know. “These are people you would never get to learn from,” she observed, teaching small classes – due to space constraints as well as intention – so students can get specific help on direct applications.
Makerhaus also hosts ‘Make Good Society’ events. Every week, on Wednesdays, they host activities intended to build community and share with the general public. These events include movie screenings, discussions, featured speakers, live music, and jam sessions.
Support For Success
“We hope that this becomes a launch pad,” Kemery acknowledged, with members creating products or solutions that, “become wildly successful. The whole point of the space is to make the inaccessible accessible.” Today, Makerhaus provides workshop space to both a high-end bicycle builder and a guitar manufacturer, plus a professional designer uses the shared office space. Yet, Kemery acknowledges that as they become established – and successful – they will be forced to find space elsewhere, and she’s okay with that.
“We come from that world,” Kemery stated, “so we understand where our members are coming from.” Makerhaus also has staff with their own making/creating experience, able to assist members in realizing their projects, and “to see a product come to fruition.”
Also, while new, the Makerhaus workshop/school/lab/library/office/display area already has equipment installed, but Kemery plans to add more as members give feedback on what they need.
Perhaps most importantly, Makerhaus has partnered with Material ConneXion and Inventables. These partnerships will provide members with information and access to materials that, until now, only huge corporate buyers could access. Companies like Makerhaus, through these partnerships, can help members buy small lots of materials they need – and provide feedback to suppliers about what independent designers/creators want, and potential, never-before-considered applications of the materials they purchase.
As it expands and grows, Makerhaus also welcomes kids. They’ve offered a class in laser cutting that allows the students to see the wooden puzzle pieces created for a dinosaur model they assemble and take home. “We’re talking with schools about enhancing their programs,” Kemery reported, as many schools have to scale back or cut out metal shop, wood shop, and other handcraft/art programs. “We’re all about empowering,” she explained, “and about wanting to grow their skill set.”
The potential for creating among Makerhaus members is unlimited, as is the potential applications for the company itself. To see, in person, what Makerhaus offers (including the incredible selection in the Materials Library,) attend a free, no obligation tour – held at 1p & 7p every day of the week.
Also, consider attending one of the public events and/or classes. Registration for most classes is open to non-members, so consider stopping by to see the potential of the maker movement, and join the next industrial revolution!
- A Night To Ignite, and Enlighten, Fremont
- by Kirby Lindsay, August 17, 2011
- Walk The Art To Brown Paper Ticket’s Treehouse
- by Kirby Lindsay, July 27, 2011
- Beading For The Crafts-Challenged
- by Kirby Lindsay, August 6, 2010
©2013 Kirby Lindsay. This column is protected by intellectual property laws, including U.S. copyright laws. Reproduction, adaptation or distribution without permission is prohibited. | <urn:uuid:4c4d57d4-1937-426c-b2fd-737251f95494> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.fremocentrist.com/commentary/?cat=3 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368703298047/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516112138-00006-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.953454 | 1,595 | 1.65625 | 2 |
Thursday, January 01, 2009
According to a forecast made recently by an executive of China Metal Materials Trade Association, the output of crude stainless steel in China for January to December 2008 period is supposed to come to 7.1 million tonnes with a decline of 6.6% from that for the preceding year of 2007. A scale of crude stainless steel to be produced in China for 2008 was expected at the beginning of the year to reach 8.3 million tons per annum but is now anticipated to decrease considerably.
However, according to the data compiled in spring of this year by China Special Steel Producers Association, the output of crude stainless steel in China for the calendar year of 2007 was estimated at 7.21 million tons, consisting of 300 series products with 4.19 million tonnes, 400 series products with 1.84 million tonnes and 200 series products with 1.18 million tonnes.
The quantities of crude stainless steel produced in China for each quarter of 2008 are supposed to be
1. January to March quarter: 1.97 million tonnes
2. April to June quarter: 1.89 million tonnes
3. July to September quarter: 1.65 million tonnes
However, the production activities of crude stainless steel in China for October to December quarter of 2008 have strengthened a basic tone to decrease further. The production of stainless steel in China had expanded amazingly in the past years and it is thought that China produced 5.3 million tonnes of crude stainless steel in 2006 and 7.50 million tonnes in 2007.
(Sourced from TEX Report) | <urn:uuid:e94b2acb-9bcb-4010-adad-4fcb1e9e1dc7> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://shipchartering.blogspot.com/2009/01/chinese-crude-stainless-steel-output-in.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368700264179/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516103104-00035-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.973028 | 315 | 1.648438 | 2 |
Take The Guesswork Out Of Jewelry Buying Jewelry is a well known fashion accessory across the globe. People use different kinds of jewellery, including necklaces, earrings, rings, bracelets, and more. Sometimes, purchasing jewellery can existing a problem to jewelry wearers, as they are faced with the problem of things to purchase. The suggestions in the content below can assist you when you have to purchase jewellery. diamond engagement rings
As a guy, it is necessary for you realize that all girls love jewelry, but the fact that you have bought an item, or several items of jewelry for her isn’t a ensure or pledge clause that makes her yours, or you the keeper of her heart. Have a powerful connection before purchasing expensive jewelry.Classic and classic jewelry need to become protected from extremes in warmth and chilly and from extreme humidity. If you don’t plan on wearing your jewellery on a normal basis, it’s advisable to purchase a small fireproof safe to store your jewelry in. These safes can be bought for under $ 50 and provide a great storage option to you.Don’t lose your vintage broach from Grandmother, re-purpose it. If a chain is put by you through it, the broach immediately becomes a necklace. Classic jewellery is very popular nowadays and finding a means to create it wearable makes it stylish. Re-using is also a well-known notion in our “green” culture. That broach can last nicely with only a minor alteration to its use.If lovely amber jewelry is already owned by you, never immerse amber in cleaners or in a plating bath since it may absorb materials such as acids, alcohol or gas. diamond wedding rings
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Diamond rings, fancy sapphires and platinum jewelry are all lovely, but are they useful for everyday life? Consider buying jewelry that’s perhaps not completely high finish for daily shopping or work use.Engagement Rings Diamonds have been a favorite addition to jewelry all through the globe. Nevertheless, you don’t have to buy substantial solitaires, such as these in pendants, earrings, and engagement rings. A popular means to get probably the most for the money is to have several smaller stones set together to imitate a bigger one.When soldering a wedding ring and an engagement ring together, make certain the rings are polished by the jeweler. Engagement rings are frequently worn for a while before the wedding ring is and it’ll look like the rings do not match when they are not polished to look new.When buying diamond jewelry including engagement rings, earrings, necklaces and bracelets, understanding the 4 C’s of diamonds are significant. weddings rings
The 4 C’s include: Cut, Clarity, Colour and Carat. Some jewelers also prefer to include a fifth C which is Certification and it’s the report on the standard of the diamonds in your piece of jewellery. Understanding the C’s of diamonds will cause you to a more knowledgeable consumer.Furthermore, jewelry is a well-known world-wide fashion thing. My people are be worn by various types of jewelry. People who wear jewelry may find purchasing it to be a little challenging because they’ve to determine what to buy from the various types making use of the suggestions that were supplied in the preceding post, you should find jewelry to be bought by it easier. | <urn:uuid:f8bfe7ef-7e1f-40dd-bc02-c87ba551f7a3> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://bookpirate213.tumblr.com/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368705953421/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516120553-00031-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.95482 | 848 | 1.53125 | 2 |
I have been a bit busy recently; too busy to give this website the attention it warrants. In fact, I said to myself yesterday, I have been running around like a blue-arsed fly.
I stopped to think: why a blue-arsed fly? Is there such a creature? There are many things called red-headed, red-tailed, red-legged, red-breasted and so on, but none I have heard of named for the colour of their posterior.
In any case, why would one "run around" like a fly of any sort?
Can anyone shed some light on the matter? | <urn:uuid:f6dae8b5-5cb7-4070-b078-ee2171c51dd1> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://english.stackexchange.com/questions/7242/why-does-one-run-around-like-a-blue-arsed-fly?answertab=active | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368704132298/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516113532-00021-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.984709 | 129 | 1.570313 | 2 |
Dáil Éireann - Volume 498 - 09 December, 1998
Written Answers. - Local Authority Housing.
Mr. Gormley Mr. Gormley
220. Mr. Gormley asked the Minister for the Environment and Local Government if he will report on strategies outlined for the introduction of measures to encourage tenant participation in estate management and community based initiatives to encourage participative democracy and community development; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [26999/98]
Minister of State at the Department of the Environment and Local Government (Mr. Molloy) Minister of State at the Department of the Environment and Local Government (Mr. Molloy)
Minister of State at the Department of the Environment and Local Government (Mr. Molloy): The development of effective measures for the management of their housing estates, including arrangements to facilitate tenant participation, is the responsibility of local authorities.
In view of the importance attached to tenant participation in estate management, a number of initiatives have been taken by my Department. Each housing authority is required to have a statement of policy that sets out, inter alia, its policy on involving tenants in the management of their estates. Authorities have been requested to implement a programme of tenant development and information courses in order to secure better cooperation with residents and to promote a good community spirit in housing estates. Best practice guidelines in key areas of housing management, including tenant participation, were prepared by the housing management group. Regional workshops were organised to promote the implementation of the guidelines throughout the country together with a workshop for city and county managers to secure their commitment for early implementation.
The housing management initiatives grants scheme was introduced in 1995 to provide assistance to local authorities and other bodies for practical pilot projects in housing management. To date, many of the projects have focused on tenant or staff training for participation in estate management. The allocation for the scheme this year is £200,000 and a further £200,000 is being provided in 1999.
My Department participates in a number of cross departmental initiatives which impact on the area of estate management and has also co-operated with Area Development Management Ltd., in the development and implementation of a “training for trainers” course in estate management. Financial support has been provided to the voluntary housing body Respond! towards the development of the certificate course in housing and community studies, the major element of which relates to tenant participation in estate management.
The housing unit, funded by my Department and local authorities for a three year period, has been established in the Institute of Public Administration. The purpose of the new unit is to assist local authorities to deliver a more responsive housing service and to develop a more effective approach to housing management with an emphasis on tenant involvement. A broadly based consultative committee is in place to provide advice and guidance and to oversee the implementation of the work programme. Membership of the committee comprises representatives of local authorities, the voluntary sector, tenants and a local authority elected member.
I also refer the Deputy to the reply to Question No. 219 on today's Order Paper.
Dáil Éireann 498 Written Answers. Local Authority Housing. | <urn:uuid:368e8909-4662-4e2a-96cc-73d69a477921> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://historical-debates.oireachtas.ie/D/0498/D.0498.199812090138.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368706153698/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516120913-00026-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.949072 | 639 | 1.53125 | 2 |
Tuesday, April 2, 2013
George Washington Bridge and JFK Airport Control Tower to be
lit blue during the month of April to support autism awareness.
The lights on the George Washington Bridge will be lit blue as the Port Authority joins Autism Speaks in their "Light it Up Blue" campaign. “The Port Authority is proud to show its strong support for a disorder that touches the lives of dozens of our own employees and millions of Americans,” said Port Authority Executive Director Pat Foye. The United Nations has designated April 2 as Autism Awareness Day to support the efforts of those affected by autism as well as those working to find a cure and the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey is supporting those efforts for the fourth straight year. “I’m pleased that the Port Authority is taking part in this global effort to shine a light on organizations supporting the effort to find a …
Monday, December 3, 2012
The latest three incidents occurred Saturday, Sunday and Monday, as the latest round of toll hikes went into effect, bringing the agency’s 2012 total to 105—already more than 20 more than all of last year.
Port Authority police have charged more truck drivers with toll evasion at the George Washington Bridge so far this year than they did all of last year, as the agency continues what officials with the agency have described as a "crackdown," according to authorities. The number of drivers charged reached 104 on Sunday morning, the same day the Port Authority’s latest round of toll hikes went into effect, and climbed yet again Monday, authorities said. “Cracking down on toll evasion has been a top priority for the agency this year, and the number of arrests we have made this year are clear evidence that our efforts have been a success,” said Port Authority spokesman Steve Coleman. The agency made 83 arrests in connection with alleged toll …
Tolls went up a dollar Sunday for commuters who pay cash and 75 cents for E-ZPass users.
Monday marked the first weekday commute for drivers taking the George Washington Bridge and other Hudson River crossings from New Jersey to New York after the Port Authority’s latest round of toll hikes went into effect. At 12:01 a.m. Sunday, cash tolls at the GWB, in addition to the Holland and Lincoln Tunnels, Goethels and Bayonne Bridges and Outerbridge Crossing, went up from $12 to $13, and E-ZPass customers started paying $10.25—up from $9.50—during peak hours and $8.25 instead of $7.50 off-peak. The last time the Port Authority raised tolls was September 2011, when cash tolls jumped from $8 to $12 and E-ZPass tolls went from $8 to $9.50 during peak hours. And the incremental increases are expected to continue through 2015, when cash-…
Wednesday, November 14, 2012
Port Authority officials allege the driver tried to pass through the George Washington Bridge’s main toll plaza Wednesday with no front license plate and an obscured rear plate.
Port Authority police arrested a Palm City, Florida man on toll evasion charges Wednesday at the George Washington Bridge because he allegedly had a missing front license plate, a bent and obscured rear plate and no E-ZPass tag, authorities said. At 11:15 a.m. Wednesday, Officer Jason Malice of the Port Authority Police Department was on patrol at the main toll plaza of the bridge when he spotted a 1999 Volvo tractor-trailer with a missing front license plate, according to authorities. “Upon further inspection, [Malice] found that the rear license plate on the truck was bent so E-ZPass cameras could not capture an image,” said Port Authority spokesman Steve Coleman, adding that the driver didn’t have an E-ZPass tag either. The driver, …
Wednesday, October 24, 2012
Port Authority electrician Chris Bonanno, whose sister has breast cancer, had the idea to light up the New York/New Jersey span with pink necklace lights every night in October.
- BREAST CANCER AWARENESS
- Erik Wander
Wednesday, October 24, 2012
October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month, and drivers who cross the George Washington Bridge and Fort Lee residents with a view of the bridge can’t help but notice. For the third year running, the necklace lights on the GWB are pink for the entire month thanks to the efforts of Chris Bonanno, an electrician with the Port Authority, whose sister has breast cancer and who took the initiative to start the program. “He’s got all the other electricians involved in it,” said Port Authority spokesman Steve Coleman of Bonanno, who cut gels and ran tests at his home to make sure it was a safe thing to do. “They do this as part of the routine maintenance on the bridge so there’s no additional cost, and he donates some of the gels and the supplies on…
Tuesday, October 16, 2012
Port Authority police said two men were caught Monday morning with 400 cartons of cigarettes they were allegedly taking from Virginia to New York City without paying New York taxes.
Port Authority police arrested two men at the George Washington Bridge Monday morning in connection with an alleged attempt to transport untaxed cigarettes to bodegas in Manhattan and the Bronx, officials said Tuesday. Officers Michael Brennan and Ryan Ust were patrolling the “High Occupancy Vehicle” (HOV) lane, which requires three or more occupants in a vehicle between 7 and 9 a.m. and leads to the upper level of the bridge, just after 8 a.m. Monday, when they pulled an SUV over with just two people in it, according to Port Authority spokesman Steve Coleman. After stopping the SUV, the officers noticed two large boxes on the rear passenger seats and asked the two men what was in them, Coleman said. “[They] initially said the boxes …
Friday, August 3, 2012
The alleged incident occurred Thursday morning at a bus stop under Lemoine Avenue in Fort Lee, where carpoolers typically meet up to take advantage of the Port Authority’s Carpool Plan.
Two men were charged with disorderly conduct Thursday morning after an alleged struggle over a carpool ride at the George Washington Bridge, police said. The incident happened at about 9:45 a.m. at a Fort Lee bus stop on I-95 under Lemoine Avenue, where drivers looking to take advantage of the Port Authority’s discount for carpoolers typically pick up passengers, whether they know them or not, according to officials. Malik R. Corbitt, 34, of Englewood, and Yoon S. Kwon, 39, of Little Ferry, where each charged with disorderly conduct after allegedly engaging in a physical struggle while trying to get into the same car, police said. “They had a dispute over who would be able to ride with that individual,” said Port Authority police spokesman…
Friday, July 27, 2012
Gov. Christie’s nominee for the state’s highest court, Philip Kwon, would have become the state’s first Asian-American justice. Instead he will take on the job of deputy general counsel for the Port Authority, report says.
A first assistant state attorney general, whose nomination to the state Supreme Court was narrowly rejected earlier this year by the Senate Judiciary Committee, will become the Port Authority’s new deputy general counsel, replacing former New Jersey Attorney General Paula Dow in the post, NJ.com reported Thursday. Philip Kwon, 47, will take on the job previously held by Dow, who was hired after her own failed nomination to the state Superior Court, according to the report, which also said she left the position, for which she earned a $215,000 salary, after being appointed as a Burlington County judge. Kwon would have been New Jersey’s first Asian-American Supreme Court justice, but the Judiciary Committee denied Gov. Chris Christie’s pick …
Wednesday, July 18, 2012
The United Republican Club of Fort Lee invited a group who successfully fought the Port Authority for the right to carpool near the bridge to tell their stories Tuesday and receive certificates of appreciation.
A small group of George Washington Bridge carpoolers who recently took on the Port Authority over the right to pick up passengers near the tollbooths as they have been doing for years—and apparently won—were honored for their efforts Tuesday by the United Republican Club of Fort Lee at the local GOP group’s monthly meeting. “The Fort Lee GOP is honored to be the first to recognize these citizens and to say ‘Bravo’ to them,” said club president David Cohen. “And I hope that the honors don’t stop here.” He added, “People have described what’s going on down at the bridge as a cat and mouse game between the Port Authority and average citizens.” “To me this is not a cat and mouse story,” Cohen said. “This is a modern day David and Goliath story…
Wednesday, July 11, 2012
State, Port Authority warn of "significant" eastbound delays because of Cross Bronx bridge repairs, urge drivers to use mass transit, and to expect bus delays into the city through Labor Day.
This summer could be remembered as a traffic hell by the millions of people who travel east over the George Washington Bridge thanks to the closure of a lane on the oft-congested Cross Bronx Expressway from this Friday through Labor Day. The lane closure will take place on the Alexander Hamilton Bridge, which spans the Harlem River and connects Manhattan to the Bronx. The bridge is already a chokepoint, as traffic from both levels of the GWB merge onto one roadway. Several other significant roadways feed into and out of the span, including the Harlem River Drive and Major Deegan Expressway. NJDOT officials are urging motorists to take mass transit into New York if possible and consider an “alternate route” or travel during off-peak hours “… | <urn:uuid:5db1bbb0-01ec-422e-8eff-64322f5e7c0b> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://fortlee.patch.com/topics/Port+Authority | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368702448584/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516110728-00022-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.964319 | 2,096 | 1.820313 | 2 |
I've listened to or watched hundreds of TED talks. But I know it's popular right now to give some TED hate. The most common criticism I've seen is that TED is a way for the rich to pat themselves on the back.
But you know what? I've genuinely learned a lot from watching the TED talks. Who cares if it costs folks $6k a pop to attend, when so many talks are posted online for free? In a society where 30 seconds of advertising during the Super Bowl costs $2.6M and American Idol draws 20 million weekly viewers, I'll definitely take some rich folks paying money to gather and talk to each other about interesting topics.
In 2010, I had the honor of giving a talk at TEDxBerkeley about my neuroscience research and my experience growing up watching my grandfather deteriorate from Parkinson's disease. In preparing for that talk, I got a lot of speaking inspiration from some of these talks. Here are my favorites.
There's not a lot I can say about Sacks that hasn't yet been said. His books were a huge inspiration for my career, my research, and my way of thinking about the brain. The profiles he gives of his patients are fascinating insights into how the brain works, and very thoughtful and caring. Seriously, if you haven't yet, go read The Man Who Mistook His Wife for a Hat and An Anthropologist on Mars.
He also just seems like an interesting guy. He did a lot of drugs back in med school, has recently survived cancer (as profiled beautifully by Steve Silberman), and is a regular on RadioLab, my favorite podcast.
In this talk he profiles several patients who have experienced hallucinations caused by damage to the eyes, such as from macular degeneration. This phenomenon is called Charles Bonnet syndrome, and Sacks talks about it in his usual amazing manner.
Jill Bolte Taylor
My first introduction to Jill Bolte Taylor was through her book, My Stroke of Insight. I was given her book by Prof. Marian Diamond, who has become quite well known for her YouTube videos on anatomy. At the time, I was the graduate lab instructor for Marian Diamond's neuroanatomy course. Dr. Diamond knew I working with patients who had stroke, and she gave me Dr. Jill Bolte Taylor's book in the hopes that I gained some empathic insight into what the experience of a stroke was like. She was right. It was amazing.
Now, while I don't agree with all of Jill Bolte Taylor's interpretations of the neuroscience in her talk (e.g., "the right hemisphere 'thinks' in pictures; "the left hemisphere functions like a 'serial processor'"), it's quite amazing never the less.
Okay, okay, so I've given Henry Markram and the Blue Brain Project some shit on this blog before. Hell, I'm quoted in the New York Times as a bit of a naysayer for this kind of stuff (although my full quote was, "...every neuroscientist will agree that the endeavor is important and worthwhile. It's a necessary tool in the neuroscientific repertoire. The backlash is against the hype.")
But Henry Markram gives a great talk about why brain simulation is important for neuroscience, and he gives one version of how we can go about it. My favorite quote from this talk is toward the beginning when he says, "we can't keep doing animal research forever". While I believe there are also potential future issues with brain simulation, there's a great quote from Bill Crum in his correspondence to Nature:
To my mind, there is a moral inconsistency attached to studies of higher brain function in non-human primates: namely, the stronger the evidence that non-human primates provide excellent experimental models of human cognition, the stronger the moral case against using them for invasive medical experiments. From this perspective, 'replacement' should be embraced as a future goal.
Ahhhh VS Ramachandran. He's such a great speaker. Sure, he's on record for equating mirror neurons to the discovery of DNA (sigh...), but like Sacks he has some great insight into the damaged brain and, more importantly, what that means about what it means to be human. The Capgras delusion is so fascinating, and I love his explanation of it. Hell, we use it for our fake-science explanation of why zombies don't attack one another!
Anyway he does go on to talk about his classic (and amazing) phantom limb research. Check out his book, Phantoms in the Brain. (Man, I should be getting kick-backs from Amazon for all these friggin' book links.)
I AM MY CONNECTOME! ::chuckles:: Okay, that awkwardness aside, I love his work, and Seung really manages to explain, in clear language, why this work is so important.
Granted, I'm also biased about this one, too...
Man did Miesenboeck get overshadowed by Karl Deisseroth or what? Nature named optogenetics the Method of the Year in 2010 not because of Miesenboeck, but because Deisseroth had 10 (TEN) Nature* publications in 2010 alone (and he had 4 in Science, too).
Anyway, Miesenboeck's talk explains optogenetics and its applications beautifully. Such a great talk. It also contains one of my favorite TED talk quotes: "So it seems the only trait that survives decapitation is vanity".
And mark my words: the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine in 2020 will be awarded for the optogenetics work of Lima, Miesenboeck, and Deisseroth.
I've got a huge amount of love for Merzenich's research. He's done groundbreaking work showing how important neuroplasticity is for cognition, behavior, and learning. In this talk he manages, in 20 some minutes, to give a very thorough overview of this great work. Again, this is another researcher who greatly influenced my thinking and indirectly lead me down the path to my Neuron paper.
My views on this talk are similar to how I feel about a lot of the neuroscience TED talks: I don't necessarily agree with all of their arguments or scientific points, but Hawkins offers some cool theories and he's working hard on them in an interesting way. He's got a couple of phrases he uses that I don't like (e.g., "old/alligator brain"), but hey, it's a lay lecture. I'll cut some slack.
I wrote a bit about Hawkins, his book On Intelligence, and Numenta before on Quora. Rather than write it all again from scratch, here's the full thing:
When I first started my PhD, Hawkins was still running the Redwood Neuroscience Institute, which at the time was affiliated with UC Berkeley (since the founding of Numenta, it has now been fully absorbed into Berkeley as the Redwood Center for Theoretical Neuroscience). The RNI was founded on the ideas presented in On Intelligence. The energy of the whole endeavor was amazing, and it was hard not to believe in him.
The main idea in the book is that there are nested hierarchies of cortical modules that give rise to a predictive functionality, and that this is a critical, core functionality of the human brain. There's been some cool research out of Berkeley (e.g., Badre et al., 2009) showing that there is a hierarchical organization within the frontal cortex related to cognition. The idea isn't an old one, but Hawkins organizes it and gives it a good foundation.
It's an excellent start (clearly the brain does make predictions), but it's well-known from psychology that another thing we humans are good at is adding a post hoc narrative explanation to something that we did unconsciously, or that has no obvious explanation. Obviously this kind of phenomenon indicates a "broken" prediction mechanism where we make a "prediction" of something after it has already happened, and then we tend to remember the event as though we accurately predicted it beforehand!
So basically, yeah. Brains is hard. Hawkins is smart and he's onto something, but it's not the whole story. But I'm sure he'll get something out of it in terms of working classification and prediction algorithms, even if those algorithms don't have anything to do with what the brain turns out to be actually doing.
So when I first saw this back in 2008, I was thinking, "ugh, so much hype". Well, here we are only about 3 years later and I've seen more of what Christopher deCharms and his company Omneuron have been up to, and I gotta say I'm a bit more impressed now. It's fMRI-based (and if you know me, you know my feeling about fMRI), so there's that. But the potential for real-time fMRI paired with biofeedback for patient treatment is enormous, so I'm gonna hold my breath and hope they pull this off.
Okay, okay, so it's not strictly neuroscience per se, but damn if Dan Gilbert's talk on how context shapes our behavior and psychology isn't great. Just watch it.
This is such a great talk providing good, real evidence to counter a lot of nonsense, reactionary claims about the negative effects of video games on our brains. Check out my full write-up about this talk here. | <urn:uuid:8042a8c0-f153-45d0-8447-551c2806f2d7> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://blog.ketyov.com/2011/01/top-10-neuroscience-ted-talks.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368703298047/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516112138-00014-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.968055 | 1,944 | 1.765625 | 2 |
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Vigilance in the Defense of Liberty and Freedom
Wednesday, April 21, 2010
(New York, New York) – Today, the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund (LDF) released Free the Vote: Unlocking Democracy in the Cells and on the Streets, a report detailing the impact felon disfranchisement laws have on communities of color nationwide.
“Securing the right to vote for the disfranchised—persons who have lost their voting rights as a result of a felony conviction—is widely recognized as the next phase of the voting rights movement,” said John Payton, LDF Director-Counsel.
Nationwide, more than 5.3 million Americans who have been convicted of a felony are denied access to the one fundamental right that is the foundation of all other rights. Nearly 2 million, or 38%, of the disfranchised are African Americans.
The report details that a staggering 13% of all African-American men in this country—and in some states up to one-third of the entire African-American male population—are denied the right to vote. Given current rates of incarceration, an astonishing one in three of the next generation of Black men will be disfranchised at some point during their lifetime.
Nowhere are the effects of felon disfranchisement more prominent than in the Black community, where more than 1.5 million Black males, or 13% of the adult Black population, are disfranchised—a rate seven times the national average.
The impact on Black voting strength at the state level is devastating. In Alabama, for example, one in three Black men have been disqualified from voting as a result of a felony conviction. In Washington State, an incredible 24% of Black men, and 15% of the entire Black population, are denied their voting rights. In New York, though Blacks and Latinos collectively comprise only 30% of the State’s overall population, they represent an astonishing 87% of those denied the right to vote because of a felony conviction.
“Regrettably, more than a century after emancipation, and in the 45th anniversary year of the Voting Rights Act, increasing numbers of Blacks and Latinos nationwide are actually losing their right to vote each day, rather than experiencing greater access to political participation,” said Ryan P. Haygood, Co-Director of LDF’s Political Participation Group.
“Fortunately, new efforts to reform felon disfranchisement policies suggest that many lawmakers are beginning to understand that felon disfranchisement is not only discriminatory in its application, but also undermines the most fundamental aspect of American citizenship: the right to participate in the political process,” continued Haygood. “We must join in these efforts to help empower ourselves, enhance our collective voting strength, and improve the conditions of our communities, by freeing the vote for people with felony convictions.” | <urn:uuid:470c6a01-9e60-431d-abf6-dbdff0c5e838> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.naacpldf.org/news/naacp-ldf-report-highlights-impact-felon-disfranchisement-laws | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368697380733/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516094300-00029-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.936941 | 626 | 1.804688 | 2 |
Social networking has become a remarkable Internet phenomenon. With a rapid recent rise of giants such facebook and MySpace, there are hundreds other that are trying to emulate or build on these successes. Soon, you will see that we are not one of them!
Besides growing faster and greater than their predecessors, these sites still seek a business model that is sustainable. One could draw many parallels between these new sites and those that rose earlier including eCircles, sixdegrees, myfamily, and friendster. In our opinion, the key weakness in all of these sites is a poor "revenue to noise ratio". We have created this term to evaluate our business model. "Revenue to noise ratio" simply means the amount of revenue that you are able to generate for the amount noise that you throw at a user.
In the old days you had an opportunity to put only a couple of displays ads on the page of a polite site. As the CPM for banner ads plummeted, these sites folded rather quickly. There was a time when graceful shutdown of a dot com was natural end to a venture! Even though the noise on these sites was modest, the revenue was minimal. Thus "revenue to noise ratio" was low.
In contemporary days of web 2.0 (higher?), we made good headway with noise by reducing the ads to simpler non intrusive text scattered anywhere and everywhere. We also gained by getting much better and matching meaningful ads with context. Many times ads were as useful as the content on the page! As everyone gravitated towards a model that was working, the model is now starting to show signs of weakness. As the clickthrough rates for ads plummet and cost-per-click goes down, the noise created for every dollar of revenue generated has skyrocketed! Many times, for a click that generates 10 cents in revenue, there are thousands of messages that are displayed! Talk about a poor "revenue to noise ratio"!
So, how does all of this relate to eWoFF.com? Quite simply, reducing noise in your interaction with your friends and family is our primary objective. Over the coming weeks and months, you will learn that it is possible to stay in touch with family and friends quietly and privately and safely! You will see that we can quite effectively offer these services to you where there is very little, if any, noise to generate revenue from your use of our sites.
Stay tuned, help us tune up the spaces in eWoFF.com such that they really work for you! | <urn:uuid:2bdd5eac-1fae-47c1-8df3-8e74f4129bc9> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://blog.ewoff.com/2008/05/social-networking-has-become-remarkable.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368699273641/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516101433-00008-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.972356 | 513 | 1.578125 | 2 |
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Santa Cruz County History - Films
Santa Cruz Evening News. June 6, 1923. p. 3
INSIDE WORKINGS OF MOVIE MAKING TOLD BY TECHNICAL DIRECTOR
by Preston Sawyer
Some very interesting sidelights on the intricacies of movie making--from an angle that is seldom considered by the fan public, were given me by Rudolph, better known as "Rudie," Bylek, technical director with the Famous Players-Lasky Company. We talked on several occasions, while work was going forward on the production of "Salomy Jane" in the Boulder Creek country, recently.
With the story at present in process of completion in the laboratories and cutting rooms of the Company's studio in Hollywood, I am now at liberty to release many interesting facts as divulged to me.
To just what ends technical men must go in their quest for correct atmosphere, natural surroundings and fidelity to detail were graphically told by "Rudie," who is a most interesting speaker. Following is an account of how Madison Clay's (Charles Ogle's) cabin was conceived on the Longley Ranch beyond Boulder Creek on the Big Basin Road. To use his own words:
"From Poverty Flat Mr. Melford (the director) and I drove up about three miles on the Basin Road, crossing several bridges. After much bumping around we arrived outside a broken down fence, thickly overgrown with underbrush, in which we found a hole just big enough to let a man go through. After some struggle crossing a washout about fifty feet wide, full of bottomless mud, with a mountain brook bubbling through, we gained admission to a clearing of most striking beauty. All around were clusters of beautiful redwoods backed up by the bluish gray hills of the canyons. We found three old shacks, left overs of a lumber camp built about thirty years ago but now so shaky that the next good storm would surely have broken them down. This location was picked for Madison Clay's and Salomy Jane's farm.
"The same afternoon, I brought out our company electrician (because much work on this set was to be taken at night), and then the trouble started. He claimed that if he left his power wagons outside on the road, he would lose too much juice or voltage owing to the distance it would have to be carried. So my problem was first of all to provide for a way for the power wagons to come closer to the scene of action where they were needed. Fourteen tons was heaviest and eight tons the lightest truck, besides all the heavy ten-ton trucks for equipment and lights. Here is where my long experience in Switzerland as an assistant engineer came in handy; for all claimed it was impossible to get them inside. However, in two days a bridge was finished, made out of fourteen-inch logs, old planks, and filling in. One team of horses and six men were all I could spare for this job, but we did it.
"Next we had to plough and use the Fresno for another half day to cut down the elevation from the bridge to the road after clearing out the omnipresent underbrush and corduroying the whole road with split saplings so the heavy traffic would not sink into the soft ground.
"During the same time I was building the bridge I staked out the farm location, had the old lumber shacks torn down, and when the first load of logs arrived we set to work using them up as fast as fresh loads were brought in. My little crew of ten studio carpenters was an eager band, in developing the picturesque log cabin.
"In just a week we were shooting scenes on this location, with three heavy power wagons, all the trucks and passengers [...illegible...] on the ground working--and complimenting me on what we had accomplished in so short a time.
"An old-timer in the neighborhood expressed himself, 'By gad, last week I was chasing a cow over that there pasture and today I would swear that this here farm has been here since my grandfather's days!'
"I invited him for a closer inspection, thinking he might give me some valuable suggestions, but all he did was rave about the completeness of the place. He wanted to buy it with all four cows, three calves, two heavy team horses, two saddle horses, two pigs, a black cat and a little yellow dog. Even the old wood pile, and trash pile, the old open barn for hay and horses, built also of redwood logs, a typical ancient heavy farm wagon and old-fashioned buggy, as well as a '49 specimen bull wagon. Then next to the historical grindstone a trusty axe was left nosing in a log beside the sawhorse, as if it had just been used that morning by old man Clay himself.
"A picturesque rail fence of redwood saplings keeping the stock together in the backyard, was connected up with the fence that surrounded the front garden in which were carefully arranged beds of flowers, not to mention vegetables. Rustic benches were on the front porch, cowhides nailed up to dry on the log walls of the cabin. The massive cobblestone chimney expelled clouds of smoke to order--just as if busy hands inside were preparing a tempting meal for hungry farmers. A worn-out road led by the house through the barnyard to another bridge that we built over a small ravine where a mountain stream cascaded down to meet Boulder Creek.
"This is Madison Clay's farm as I visualized it when I read Bret Harte's 'Salomy Jane,' and as I painted it out of real materials, to be reproduced on the silver screen, historically correct, for the edification of audiences all over the country. I can see them sit back in comfort and enjoy and criticise our efforts, little realizing the tremendous task a technical director faces when he is sent out by his company to get IT ready in five days so I can shoot it tomorrow--."
Copyrighted by the Santa Cruz County Sentinel. Reproduced by permission. | <urn:uuid:a3f96fc1-9ab7-41f8-a718-7bf19b815a78> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.santacruzpl.org/history/articles/newspapers/329/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368696382584/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516092622-00019-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.972231 | 1,405 | 1.8125 | 2 |
Most Active Stories
Fri January 11, 2013
Kentucky Chamber Joins Hemp Supporters
Another supporter has come out in favor of industrial hemp in Kentucky. The state’s largest business group, the Kentucky Chamber, announced today that it supports hemp as a crop for oil and fiber.
Agriculture Commissioner James Comer touted the support on Twitter quickly after securing it. Comer has long said hemp could help struggling farmers in Kentucky turn profits. Many of the state’s federal lawmakers support the issue as well, including Congressmen Andy Barr, John Yarmuth and Thomas Massie and Senator Rand Paul. A bill to legalize hemp was filed in the Kentucky Senate today by the agriculture committee chair. Comer does not support legalizing hemp's cousin crop, marijuana. | <urn:uuid:b2114e67-9875-4ab4-ba48-b6bf6173ea76> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://wkms.org/post/kentucky-chamber-joins-hemp-supporters | 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 | 0.9414 | 156 | 1.507813 | 2 |
When was the last time your banker came out to visit you - and on a motorcycle?
The Pakistan Agricultural Development Bank has decided to send ‘mobile credit officers’ on motorcycles to rural areas, where they actively solicit farmers to take loans. These motor-biking bankers are university graduates with training in banking and rural economics. The idea is not to make more money for the bank, but to help farmers improve their crops and encourage national self-sufficiency in food.
From Road Rider motorcycle magazine, USA.
All Norwegian, US and West German entertainment has been banned from Poland’s state-run radio and television, in riposte for the award of the Nobel peace prize to Lech Walesa.
A recent broadcast of music by the Norwegian composer Grieg was cancelled, Because Germans nominated Walesa, a radio recital of Goethe’s poetry was axed. The Americans are unpopular because the Polish regime views President Reagan as the orchestrator of the West’s anti-Polish campaign. So even Gershwin tunes are now taboo for Polish orchestras; and screenings of Kojak have been dropped from TV.
From Index on Censorship, 1/84
Baby health boom
Costa Rican babies are getting healthier. As recently as 1978, six per cent of infants up to six months old suffered from moderate malnutrition. The figure went up to ten per cent for babies between six months and a year old.
But the figures for 1982 show a marked drop: to 1.9 per cent and 2.5 per cent respectively. What has caused the improvement?
In Costa Rica, 95 per cent of babies are born in hospitals, but until the mid-seventies hospitals did not promote breastfeeding.
Health educators emphasised infant formula; newborns were routinely separated from their mothers and artificially fed; new mothers were supplied with 24 cans of formula automatically under the national social security system even if they were breastfeeding, and encouraged to provide solids to babies one month old.
Today, most hospitals allow babies to room-in with their mothers. Health education materials emphasising breast:
feeding blanket the country. There used to be one milk bank:
now there are seventeen. Revised national guidelines on infant feeding call for exclusive breastfeeding until the fourth month and preferably through the sixth month.
By 1982, 91 per cent of all newborns were being breastfed, and the numbers of malnourished babies had fallen.
From Mothers and Children, 3/3.
The most popular contraceptive
Sterilisation is now the world’s most popular form of birth control. This year an estimated 100 million couples relied on sterilisation to limit family size - twice as many as now use birth control pills, and five times as many as were protected by sterilisation in 1970.
From World Development Forum, 1/22.
Some 400 million horses,oxen, cows, water buffaloes, donkeys, camels, mules, yaks, llamas, reindeer and elephants work for people today. They contribute as much as 90 per cent of the agricultural power used in some developing countries.
Professor N.S. Ramaswamy has estimated that in India bullocks and buffaloes haul more freight than the railways do. But he also calculates that India loses about a million animal years of work each year because of ruined necks caused by the traditional yoke - apparently a classic of bad design. The straight wooden beam touches only a small area of the animal’s neck, which therefore bears the entire weight of the load. The wood digs into the
flesh and also adds an extra 40 kg of weight itself. The neck takes the pressure of braking and turning the cart.
Simply replacing the yoke with a modern horse collar increases a water buffalo’s power by half.
From Asian Pocific Environment, 1/3.
London against racism
1984 has seen the start of a major drive by London’s local government authority, the Greater London Council. to make Londoners aware of the damaging effects of racism. Large, eye-catching posters have been on display, with copy that doesn’t mince words. Where would Margaret Thatcher be, demands one,if she had been born black? And responsibility for not allowing racism to continue is put squarely on all Londoners’ shoulders: one million Londoners suffer from racism, says another poster, because six million others allow it. Information packs provide detail. If you want to join the fight against racism in London - or inspire a similar campaign elsewhere - contact:
Ethnic Minorities Unit, Rm 686, County Hall, London SEt. UK.
NI readers will be familiar with US churches taking shareholder action in the babyfoods campaign. The newest area of church activism concerns President Reagan’s decision to develop a multibillion dollar missile defense system based in outer space.
Thirteen religious institutional investors have asked Eastman Kodak, the world’s largest manufacturer of photographic products, and Martin Marietta,one of the ten largest recipient’s of US Department of Defense contracts, to issue reports on their involvement in ‘the militarisation of space’. The churches want to know, among other things, how much the companies’ space weapons contracts are worth and what their policy is on the development of space as a battlefield.
From The Corporate Examiner, 12/11.
The Consumer Affairs Commissioner for South Australia has introduced a new feature that should liven up their annual report: a Gobbledegook Award. The first recipient of this dubious honour is none other - than a fellow commissioner - the Commissioner for Highways - for a clause in a contract. The second sentence in this clause has no less than 247 words. That’s two-thirds of a column of NI text.
From IOCU newsletter No. 128.
Three out of every four US aid dollars are used to purchase university consultative services and capital goods in the US. Who says so? No, noisome anti-US lobby group. It’s the testimany of officials from the US Agency for International Development, at recent Congressional hearings.
From World Development Forum, 1/22.
Indonesia’s Logistica Board has decided to dispense with the term ‘starvation’ (kelaparan) as a stage in critical food conditions. It has opted for ‘more refined’ expressions instead.
The first stage is ‘the possibility of being short of food’ or kenungkioan kurang makan with its abbreviation, KKM. This is to be used for people who eat only once a day. For those uncertain of getting even one meal a day, the official term is to be ‘short of food’ or kurang ,nakan (KM).
From TAPOL Bulletin No. 55.
This first appeared in our award-winning magazine - to read more, subscribe from just £7 | <urn:uuid:7f1dd0c9-e4ae-40cf-9586-99b5d510dbf2> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://newint.org/features/1984/04/05/briefly/ | 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 | 0.942331 | 1,453 | 1.789063 | 2 |
Google skates the edge. Persistently, relentlessly invading our lives. We want Google. We need Google.
Then, they go and do something like Buzz and we feel violated. They cow-tow to the Chinese government and allow censorship to the Chinese people. Or strangely, no matter how you enter “Islam” into Google, you won’t get negative word associations.
Recently, Financial Times asked if Google was an evil monopoly (for what it’s worth, I think the FT.com website forcing me to look at their stupid front page, instead of the exact article I want is evil).
Google has also been dinged for how they choose their news stories.
Now, come questions about their search metrics. While people worry about Net neutrality–the ability of internet providers to block, turn off or shut down the connection to the internet–a bigger concern is the search engines to cut off connectivity within the internet.
Lack of search neutrality is a more insidious and potentially pernicious problem…a person doesn’t know what he’s missing. This is the chief problem with newspapers and TV news, alike. It’s not lying, per se. It’s shading and eliminating important news and facts. Google also has the potential to do this same sort of thing.
Google can also be manipulated and if the aims match their own, politically, little is done to stop it.
He diagnoses the problem as follows:
given the emphasis on secrecy in the search engine business model, no one can verify that such rankings have not been manipulated or that subtler biases in favor of search engines’ partners are not being worked into the search algorithm…
If search engines are to be accountable at all, if their interest is to be balanced against those of the various other claimants involved in search-related disputes, and if social values are to be given any weight, some governmental
agent should be able to peer into the black box of search and determine whether or not illegitimate manipulation has occurred.
But what about editorial discretion? Why should Google be forced to change its PageRank algorithms any more than The New York Times should be forced to change how it decides which stories to run? Moreover, why should Google be forced to disclose how this process works? Assigning a government monitor to sit in on meetings of the Times‘ editorial board “to detect bias” would clearly impinge on their editorial discretion. Similarly, I don’t see why forcing a Yahoo!, Microsoft or any other search engine to disclose their equivalent processes for ranking search results should pass constitutional muster.
To me, the safe thing, is to assume that the rankings are manipulated. The alternative is taking the word of a company who won’t share their data…which is their choice.
A federal judge this week granted Google’s motion to dismiss a suit that alleged the company manipulated search results in its powerful Web index.
U.S. District Court Judge Vicki Miles-LaGrange on Tuesday denied a motion for a preliminary injunction brought by SearchKing, an Oklahoma City-based Web hosting and advertising network that claimed Google unfairly removed links to its site and those of its partners from the index, causing financial losses. The judge dismissed the case on the grounds that Google’s formula for calculating the popularity of a Web page, or “PageRank,” constitutes opinions protected by the First Amendment.
All that means is Google may or may not manipulate it…ala the New York Times.
For me, I’d make sure to search using all search engines. There is no question, though, that Google has the ability to ruin a business, if they desire.
Even more so than Net Neutrality, you’d think that computer users would worry about Search Neutrality. But Google serves leftist masters so the press doesn’t care so much. More than that, though, is that internet users [including this one] despise market interference.
A better browser will be invented and take Google out, if they’re evil enough. The problem, though, is that this is a tough kind of evil to nail down. | <urn:uuid:39c7c771-5d3f-48e7-9e59-0f2aaffcfa8d> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://melissablogs.com/2010/03/05/is-google-evil-part-ii-search-neutrality/ | 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 | 0.938844 | 860 | 1.796875 | 2 |
At a glance, that is what it appears to be.
This is not a huge cause for alarm, however. MSN, Google, and other big names typically create "well behaved" spiders that pay attention to robots.txt files:
http : // blog . eukhost . com /webhosting/how-to-stop-search-engine-spider-from-crawling-specific-part-on-a-site/
Even if they did not, it is usually a trivial matter to identify them, as your screenshot above shows. From that much, Magister Ventrue can easily setup the website to restrict what these spiders can view, and even serve alternative content. My guess is that he already has these well under control.
In the case of misbehaving spiders, it is only slightly more tricky to identify and cut them off. These exhibit telltale signs, too. A host requesting resources that would not typically be directly accessed, such as a host jumping straight to my profile page, rather than navigating to it as a human would naturally do is one. Other signs might appear in the logs, too:
http : // www . jafsoft . com /searchengines / spider_hunting . html | <urn:uuid:e8022a11-9d5c-4d07-9e71-02789aef46e0> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.satannet.com/forum/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showflat&Number=407501 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368711005985/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516133005-00036-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.938576 | 257 | 1.710938 | 2 |
Indiana University and O.P. Jindal Global University of India announce institutional collaboration
Nov. 1, 2010
BLOOMINGTON, Ind. -- Indiana University President Michael A. McRobbie announced today (Nov. 1) the formation of a collaboration with O.P. Jindal Global University (JGU), a private university in Haryana, India, just outside New Delhi.
The collaboration will establish, maintain and enhance interaction between JGU and three of IU's professional schools: the Maurer School of Law, the Kelley School of Business, and the School of Public and Environmental Affairs, along with the IU Center on Philanthropy.
"As the world's largest democracy, India presents enormous opportunities for our professional school students to prepare for leadership roles in today's global economy," McRobbie said. "With its commitment to research excellence, international recruitment of faculty, and rigorous admissions standards, we believe JGU offers an ideal environment for graduate study."
"We are honored to enter into this collaboration," said Professor C. Raj Kumar, vice chancellor of JGU. "It will create knowledge and develop the professional skills of our students by introducing them to a wide variety of graduate-level experiences within the U.S. educational system, while giving American students first-hand interaction with the rapidly growing Indian economy."
"Jindal Global University is in the forefront of new private universities in India. In many ways, it is the best example of the future of private higher education in India," said Patrick O'Meara, IU's vice president for international affairs. "With a clear commitment to academic excellence, Vice Chancellor Raj Kumar has assembled an excellent faculty and is establishing outstanding schools of law, business, public administration and international affairs, all with a global focus. Indiana University will benefit significantly through its partnership with JGU."
Professor Jayanth Krishnan, who heads the Maurer School of Law's India Law Program, added, "To my knowledge, this is the first time that an Indian and a U.S. university have entered into such a wide-ranging collaboration across several professional disciplines. The partnership is especially timely given the Indian government's current attention to educational collaboration with U.S. institutions and President Obama's visit to Delhi in early November."
The collaboration will consist initially of the following activities:
- At the Maurer School of Law, non-degree student exchanges between the Law School and the Jindal Global Law School (JGLS); internships for Maurer School of Law students in India and JGLS students in the U.S.; research, academic collaboration, and conference opportunities; and recruitment into the Maurer School's international LLM program
- At the Kelley School of Business, collaboration with the Jindal Global Business School on its new master's in business and law degree, a joint executive education program and a possible collaborative undergraduate initiative
- At the School of Public and Environmental Affairs, a summer program at IU for master's degree students at the Jindal School of International Affairs and a non-credit executive program for Indian professionals on the Bloomington campus
- At the Center on Philanthropy and the School of Public and Environmental Affairs in Indianapolis and Bloomington, collaboration with JGU on social entrepreneurship, nonprofit management, and research on the comparative experiences of philanthropy in the U.S. and India.
"The Law School is seeking highly qualified Indian law students to join our LLM program," said Lauren Robel, Maurer School of Law dean and Val Nolan Professor of Law. "JGLS will provide us with excellent candidates."
Kumar added that the Indian legal profession is a point of research strength for the Maurer School's Center on the Global Legal Profession. "The rule of law is a matter of serious concern and major reform in India," he said. "The Center on the Global Legal Profession has the greatest critical mass of expertise in the empirical study of the profession, which will be of immense benefit to our students as they work to enact judicial reforms."
"As one of the few schools of public affairs in India, Jindal offers unmatched access to the field in a key area of the globe," said John D. Graham, dean of IU's School of Public and Environmental Affairs. "The Jindal School of International Affairs is a vital addition to our network of international partners."
"We are honored to have the opportunity to work with JGU on emerging issues in philanthropy," said William M. Plater, Chancellor's Professor Emeritus at Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis and director of international community development for the Center on Philanthropy. "As a university that has received one of the largest private philanthropic gifts in modern Indian history, JGU is in a unique position to collaborate on several activities that will benefit both schools."
JGU was established in 2009 to promote global education. Its benefactor, Naveen Jindal, the founding chancellor, provided the groundbreaking resources to launch the university. | <urn:uuid:93f50223-6f56-44fb-844d-523cfadaa62f> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://kelley.iu.edu/News/List/page38118.cfm?itemurl=/cms/include/newsmedia/items/16241.html.xml | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368697974692/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516095254-00024-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.947169 | 1,004 | 1.570313 | 2 |
Swooping from the top of a saguaro down to the desert floor: Howard Bourne swings the crane while Martin Dohrn drives the camera. Tucson Mountain Park.
What was I doing in Arizona last month?
Thanks for asking. I was helping a film crew wrangle harvester ants for an upcoming National Geographic documentary. The crew, an all-star cast of nature cinematographers including Martin Dohrn, Howard Bourne, and Gavin Thurston, is still in the field- you can follow their progress by blog. The program is tentatively titled “Planet of the Ants” and should be on television in 2010.
If there’s one thing I learned from the experience, it is that nature films are strenuous work. A night with more than 5 hours’ sleep was unusual. We’d often film well past midnight, only to be up before dawn to catch the early morning foragers at another site. The equipment occupies 20 heavy cases and is constant need of being loaded, unloaded, or carried about here and there. The hotter the temperature (and we saw temps in Tucson above 108º), it seems the farther and more frequently the gear needed to be ferried about.
But no matter. The shoot was tremendous fun, and I could not imagine a more genial lot than Martin, Howard, and Gavin. Below is a photo essay from the week.
Martin gets a wide shot of a Pogo nest at sunset using the "Megascope".
The heart of Martin's film kit is a machine called Frankencam, or "Frank". Frank is a remotely-piloted system for pointing miniature lenses nearly in any direction while swooping about and encircling the subject. If you've watched BBC's 2005 "Life in the Undergrowth", filmed in part by an earlier incarnation of Frank, you'll be familiar with the sort of shot I'm talking about. Here, Howard tries not to get stung by harvester ants while making some adjustments prior to filming a sunset sequence.
Gavin drives Frank, with Howard assisting.
Frank at work.
Igor! Fetch me some ants!
Martin and Howard carry Frankencam into position. Frank can take more than an hour to set up, so shots have to be planned ahead.
Proximity to the Mexican border meant a near constant presence of the U.S. Border Patrol in the filming area.
Moonrise in Sycamore Canyon
Illuminated only by a small LCD monitor, Howard (at right) remotely pilots an infrared camera around a Pogo nest at Sycamore canyon, with Gavin assisting.
Gavin gets a lesson from Martin on using Frankencam.
Martin films an ant mating flight. In an unbelievable stroke of luck we arrived on site just as the harvester ants were starting their once-a-year reproductive event.
Although we didn't film them, honeypot ants were common at Sycamore Canyon. Here a worker poses at the nest entrance. | <urn:uuid:94fd53c8-12dd-4d6c-828f-8089c52d5285> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://myrmecos.net/2009/08/03/filming-ants-in-arizona/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368704713110/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516114513-00016-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.947302 | 626 | 1.820313 | 2 |
Governor Rick Perry has used campaign contributions from his Texans for Rick Perry committee to fly to Istanbul, Turkey, today to address the secret Bilderberg Conference, “a meeting of about 130 international leaders in business, media and politics.” Read more:
Meanwhile, in Fort Worth, international leaders met at the Worthington Hotel in a NASCO conference hosted by TxDOT, Tarrant County, The City of Fort Worth and NASCO. Several leaders of the NCTCOG RTC are board members of NASCO.
For more than 12 years North America’s SuperCorridor Coalition (NASCO) and its members have stood at the forefront of driving public and private sectors to unite to address strategically critical national and international trade, transportation, security and environmental issues.
Our focus is on maximizing the efficiency of our existing transportation infrastructure to support international trade. We recognize the extraordinary implications for our nation’s long-term economic prosperity of our transport system’s ability to sustain that growth.
NASCO, a non-profit group initially founded in 1994 as the I-35 Corridor Coalition, represents member cities, counties, states, provinces and private sector members devoted to maximizing the efficiency and operations of the existing U.S. Interstate Highways 35/29/94 (the NASCO SuperCorridor) and the intermodal inland ports NASCO has inspired to sprout along them. Never
have our efforts been more needed or been more urgent.
They site projected growth as justification:
As U.S. Federal Highway Administrators and state road association leaders clearly understand, the U.S., in general, and our Corridor through its heartland in particular, face daunting challenges in adapting to absorb the coming tsunami of burgeoning cargo freight tonnage. U.S. studies forecast national freight tonnage to increase nearly 70 percent by 2020. General cargo tonnage is projected to more than double, with some key freight gateways expected to see a tripling in freight volumes between 1998 and 2020.
Despite evidence that America now exports more raw material than finished goods and imports most finished goods, they write:
As the demand for freight transportation grows, so will its overall contribution to the nation’s economy and its challenges to highway capacity, congestion and the local environments. In 1970, international trade represented just 12 percent of the U.S. Gross Domestic Product (GDP). By 2000, trade surged to 25% of U.S. GDP. U.S. economists, however, expect trade to leap to 35% or more of U.S. GDP by 2020.
They acknowledge their role:
From almost immediately after the Jan. 1, 1994 entry into effect of the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), NASCO has sought out and backed Corridor-related initiatives to enhance border security, safety and the operational efficiency of the existing transportation infrastructure.
This is something that they nailed!
NAFTA’s reduction of import tariffs and trade barriers in North America powerfully stimulated trade that strengthened the economies of its partner nations.
However, this statement is rather controversial:
Rather than the great fears of NAFTA job losses of 1994, today, in the U.S. and in NASCO Corridor states, net job creation and net employment have grown to and stayed at or near historical highs. Since NAFTA took effect, total U.S. employment grew to 136 million, up from 112 million then, with U.S. unemployment dropping to today’s 4.5 percent of the work force (a five-year low), from 6.6 percent then out of work, according to U.S. Department of Labor statistics for the period.
They fail to mention that the growth is in low paying jobs and the loss is in skilled high paying jobs!
NASCO uses the term "SuperCorridor" to demonstrate we are more than just a highway
coalition. NASCO works to develop key relationships along the EXISTING corridors we
represent to maximize economic development opportunities for all affected by the flows.
NASCO’s reach helps coordinate the development of technology integration projects, inland ports, environmental initiatives, university research, and the sharing of "best practices" across North America. NASCO’s forte is in spurring coordination of efforts by local, state and federal agencies and the private sector to integrate and secure a multimodal transportation system along the existing NASCO Corridor.As of late, there have been many media references to a "new, proposed NAFTA Superhighway.”
They have been really skilled at identifying "stakeholders", "change agents" and "opinion leaders" among local city and county elected officials and incorporating them into their organization. They also have encourged cities and universities to join and share in the financing of their lobby efforts.
Little consideration is given to the direct conflict of interest of the elected official serving on the NASCO board. Although he can no longer render "fair and impartial consideration to issues coming before the body he is county commission or city councils he /she is elected to, because as an officer or board member in NASCO, he has a stake in forwarding the goals and objectives of NASCO, he usually squeeks through because he is serving on the board of an organization which is supported financially by his city or county government!
While NASCO and the cities, counties, states and provinces along our existing Interstate Highways 35/29/94 (the NASCO Corridor) have referred for years to I-35 and key branches as 'the NAFTA Superhighway,' the reference solely acknowledged and recognized I-35’s major role in carrying a remarkable portion of international trade with Mexico, the United States and Canada. In actual fact, there are no plans to build “a new NAFTA Superhighway.” It already exists today as I-35 and branches.
They aren't referring to the citizen-taxpayer when they refer to "our people":
A decade ago, NAFTA captured the headlines of international trade. But today international trade is global trade. It requires even bolder and more aggressive efforts by our organization and our leaders to meet the challenges and to extract maximum economic benefit for our people from exploding global trade.
Here they list the players who are lined up to benefit from these massive infastructure private public partnerships:
For more than a decade, NASCO has encouraged the boldest thinking on adoption of trade processing systems, logistics systems and information technology. Eighty percent of NASCO members have 10 years of active service.
To me, this is the classic statement in their entire website:
The subject of trade and transportation is much too important to leave to the uninformed.
Seems like they are saying that taxpayers and citizens who object to their schemes are just too dumb to understand their big picture!
Here are the REAL facts:
In the 21st century, the U.S economy increasingly runs on trade and our trade runs on
transportation. Trade and the transportation facilities that sustain it are tied together. Future economic growth and job creation in the U.S. require a constant effort to enhance our business climate, environment and transportation infrastructure to sustain our world-class leadership in world trade. NASCO’s aim is to continuously, diligently upgrade the efficiency and security of our transportation systems to sharply increase the efficiency of our transportation infrastructure on the Corridor to drive down the cost of doing business and enhance our ability to do international trade in the central U.S. Our future quality of life and prosperity depend upon ever-greater efficiencies and competitiveness enhancements in the heartland of North America.
In reality, greater moves toward oversight, inspection, regulation and enforcement of each of the three countries' national laws are leading to a strengthening of national sovereignty in each of the three countries.
Talk about stuff that could come out of the tail end of a far from constipated elephant! Do they really expect people to buy that???
They are clear about some of their objectives:
* NASCO advocates for balancing increased border security and trade and
* NASCO exists to facilitate solutions to trade and transportation challenges and to
stimulate economic development, job creation and prosperity.
* NASCO is a nonprofit advocacy group, not a government agency. NASCO does not
set transportation policy, build highways or set up customs facilities.
* NASCO is not building or encouraging the creation of ‘a NAFTA Superhighway.’
I-35 and key crossing interstates already exist and have been described as ‘a
NAFTA Superhighway’ due to the loads they bear since the 1994 passage of
NAFTA. They require attention to support future growth and trade.
* NASCO does not encourage the elimination of international borders.
* NASCO does not focus on or have any intent to effect Federal immigration policy
Federal Legislation Overview:
For over ten years, NASCO has been developing a strong coalition of cities, counties, states, Canadian provinces, and private sector companies to lobby for federal funding and promote a "SuperCorridor" to address the transportation, trade and security needs of the three NAFTA nations.
We have succeeded in bringing hundreds of millions of dollars to the NASCO I-35 Corridor, resulting in High Priority Corridor status for I-35 in 1995 under the Intermodal Surface Transportation Efficiency Act (ISTEA). In addition, we successfully lobbied for the creation of two new categories under the Transportation Act of the 21st Century (TEA-21) – the National Corridor Planning & Development Program and the Coordinated Border Infrastructure Program.
The NASCO "SuperCorridor Caucus" was formed on Capitol Hill to promote corridor development and to help secure NASCO legislative initiatives in both the authorization and appropriation processes.
We continue to be recognized as the strongest International Trade Corridor Coalition on Capitol Hill, and we are the only Corridor Coalition with true international representation from the three NAFTA nations.
Support for Multi-state International Corridor Development Program
North America's SuperCorridor Coalition, Inc. supports the Multi-state International Corridor Development Program in S. 1072
NASCO supports Sec. 1825, the Multi-state International Corridor Development Program, new language initiated by NASCO, authorized in 2004’s Senate passed version of S. 1072, the “Safe, Accountable, Flexible, and Efficient Transportation Equity Act of 2004” and asks the House to consider supporting this language in their bill or to accept the language in conference.
This program would develop international trade corridors to facilitate the movement of freight from international ports of entry and inland ports through and to the interior of the United States. NASCO supports the Senate language regarding selection criteria for corridors including:
Must have Significant levels or increases in truck and traffic volume relating to international freight movement [NASCO truck traffic has increased 42.6 percent from 1996 to 2001 ]
Connection to at least 1 International Terminus or inland port [NASCO has an international terminus in Laredo/Nuevo Laredo; Manitoba; and Windsor, Ontario and serves 3 inland ports including Detroit; Laredo and Pembina, N.D.]
Corridor must traverse at least three states;[NASCO traverses 11 states including Texas, Oklahoma, Kansas, Missouri, Iowa, South Dakota, North Dakota, Minnesota, Michigan, Indiana and Illinois ] and
Identified by Section 115 (c) of the Intermodal Transportation Efficiency Act of 1991 (Public Law 102-240; 105 Stat. 2032) [NASCO is High Priority Corridor #23]
NASCO supports the Senate proposed program because it would provide a solution to the over subscribed “Cor Bor” program by creating a separate, dedicated program for a small number of true international trade corridors that meet the proposed criteria. It would provide the opportunity for significant and targeted infrastructure improvements along these most important trade corridors resulting in tremendous economic benefits for communities along these corridors and for the nation as a whole.
However, the Senate passed language did not authorize funding for this program and without it this program cannot realize its potential. Therefore, NASCO respectfully requests that the provision be granted sufficient funding. In a 1996 study done for NASCO, it was estimated that the corridor needed $2 billion per year in infrastructure improvements over an 18-year period. NASCO supports as high a funding level as possible for the Multi-state International Corridor Development Program to operate as intended.
Conference in Fort Worth May 30-June 1, 2007 Hosted by NASCO, Tarrant County, City of Fort Worth and TxDot.
Board members of NASCO include NCTCOG RTC Chairwoman, Cynthia White of Denton County, City of Denton Mayor Pro Tem PETE KAMP, Tarrant County Judge Glen Whitley, (NCTCOG Executive Board Member and leading member of the RTC), TxDOT Deputy Director Steven E. Simmons (who implements and manages TxDOT policies and programs), Dallas attorney Rider Scott, (who has also served as co-counsel to the Texas Attorney General on certain local highway condemnation projects under special arrangement), Blake Hastings (Executive Director for Free Trade Alliance San Antonio, a non-profit organization dedicated to making San Antonio a center of trade in the Americas), Alliance developer Russell Laughlin, Bell County Commissioner Tim Brown, and Coby Chase, Director, Government and Business Enterprises Division
Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT). Coby's career highlights include steering TxDOT TxDOT’s participation in the 103rd through 109th sessions of the United States Congress and through the 74th through 79th sessions of the Texas Legislature (sessions where more of the Texas Transportation code was changed than had been enacted in 4 decades!). Coby Chase's resume continues: Succeeded in bringing new flexibility, better financing options, and strengthened funding formulas to the Texas transportation system in the federal Safe, Accountable, Flexible, Efficient Transportation Equity Act: A Legacy for Users (SAFETEA-LU). Represented the state’s interests in the Transportation Equity Act for the 21st Century (TEA 21), ensuring highway-user fees would be spent for transportation, and securing increased annual federal funding for Texas, and Worked during the 78th and 79th Session of the Texas Legislature to help deliver HB 3588 and HB 2702, which completely altered the methods used to deliver infrastructure in Texas and are national legislative models for the next generation of transportation development.
(House Bill 2588 and HB 2702 are referred to at the CDA/TTC enabling legislation).
Several other board members had ties with the Kansas City Smart Port and Kansas City de Mexico (NAFTA) Railroad.
For the complete list of board members and their resumes click here.
Are they effective? Definitely.
They have succeeded in getting state and federal transportation code changed to allow exercise of eminent domain for private development and profit. They have succeeded in getting "valuation" language inserted into key legislative initiatives. They have succeeded in infiltrating local and county governmental bodies who oversee RTCs with their board members. They have succeed in getting legislation passed in the Texas Legislature which transfers control of state highway funds from Legislative appropriations oversight to RTCs in the form of "surplus toll revenue" and toll road concession fees.
They have succeeded in eliminating many of the advantages to the public of toll projects.
They discuss passenger rail and traffic congestion but their focus is totally on moving freight. They work to achieve their object by siphoning off funding from commuter transportation projects and prioritizing freight moving corridors. They work to insure that private citizens pay the cost for developing improved transportation corridors for moving freight.
In the DFW area, many of the transportation projects are PILOT PROGRAMS breaking ground with public private partnerships, valuation, and utilization of special federal governmental tax free bond programs for private business entities (such as Cintra) who bid on and secure state highway toll contracts. | <urn:uuid:86b4ab18-e13a-44c3-a92e-1dfadbf9ba17> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://dfwregionalconcernedcitizens.blogspot.com/2007_05_27_archive.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368701852492/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516105732-00000-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.939804 | 3,282 | 1.695313 | 2 |
By Yara Bayoumy
GAROWE, Puntland (Reuters) - Somalia's al Qaeda-linked militants are moving north into the semi-autonomous region of Puntland, long regarded as a relatively peaceful area, after having been squeezed out of their strongholds further south, the president of Puntland said.
Until now, Puntland has largely escaped the worst of the upheaval in Somalia, which has been deprived of an effective central government for the past two decades.
The region is rich in energy resources and oil exploration companies are sizing it up. If the militants were able to establish a permanent presence in the area, it might discourage such exploration efforts.
Although militant numbers are still limited, the authorities fear al Shabaab could gain better access to weapons coming across the Gulf of Aden if it successfully regrouped in the area.
"Their presence has intensified since international forces pushed them in the south. The fighters are coming from the south," Puntland President Abdirahman Mohamud Farole told Reuters at the weekend.
"We believe that there are ... more than 400 (fighters) in those areas," he said in Garowe, Puntland's administrative capital, on the sidelines of a visit by the European Union ambassador to Somalia during which a $200 million aid package was announced.
Under pressure from African Union (AMISOM) peacekeeping troops and Somali government forces, al Shabaab has lost many of its major urban strongholds in south-central Somalia since it launched a rebellion against the Western-backed government in 2007.
The rebels, who want to impose their strict interpretation of sharia Islamic law across the Horn of Africa state, withdrew from the capital Mogadishu in August last year and lost their last major bastion of Kismayu six weeks ago.
Farole said most of the fighters have taken up positions in the mountains west of Bossaso, an area that is hard to reach because of its difficult terrain.
Farole said the authorities had captured two shipments of explosives from Yemen in the past few months. In the most recent seizure, the boat had been laden with rocket-propelled grenades, anti-tank mines and other munitions.
The incident raised concern about possible cooperation between Yemen-based al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) and al Shabaab, which formally merged with al Qaeda earlier this year.
"It was enough to destroy Puntland," Farole told Reuters in the courtyard of the main government house where Somalia and Puntland's flags were displayed.
"It is easy to ship arms and ammunition and explosives (from) that area," said Farole, who believes AQAP and al Shabaab share links.
Farole said he needed international help to train and equip his security forces, lamenting how such support was focused solely on the Mogadishu government to help it fight al Shabaab.
The EU's special envoy to Somalia, Michele Cervone d'Urso, said he was worried about the security situation in Puntland.
"While AMISOM is advancing in the south, al Shabaab has not been defeated ... they have been moving to other areas, including the mountainous areas of Puntland," he said.
"There are significant areas of Puntland which are difficult to control for these security forces, that's the main challenge there and hence they're able to find specific areas (that are) potential safe havens," he said.
Since withdrawing from most of the territory they used to control, al Shabaab has resorted to asymmetrical warfare tactics, and has launched deadly suicide and car bomb attacks across Somalia.
(Writing by Yara Bayoumy; Editing by James Macharia and Andrew Osborn) | <urn:uuid:b3359144-a87a-4405-bbe3-dd3775d2dbbb> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://townhall.com/news/world/2012/11/09/somalias_al_shabaab_squeezed_in_south_move_to_puntland/print | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368702448584/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516110728-00030-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.972211 | 777 | 1.625 | 2 |
- 'A saturation point had been reached'
May 18, 2013
TOI-Crest tries to find out what makes this giggly and chatty 22-year-old special.
- Power puff ballads
May 11, 2013
The female voice in Hindi film songs now has more muscle than ever before.
- They're daddies of dubstep - and laddies too
May 4, 2013
Skream and Benga are showing up in India. You've been warned.
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From the Times Of India
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Rough and tough music
The latest Punjabi hit song, Gaddi moudan ge, by Mika, poster boy of Punjabi cool, celebrates hooliganism, while the explicit titles of some of the latest chartbusters - Gippy Grewal's Gangster and Hathiyaar, KS Makhan's Badmashi, Preet Brar's Desi gun - point to a trend that packages violence as a fast moving consumer good.
In a radical departure from a tradition rooted in folk, Punjabi songs that earlier extolled golden mustard fields, pretty girls and brave men, are today littered with words like 'bandookan' 'dunali' (guns), 'daru' 'bootlan' (liquor), and gangsta rap phrases such as 'signal todah ge' (we'll break all rules) and 'chak laan ge' (we'll kidnap the girl).
High on testosterone and low on taste, such songs revel in being youth anthems and are meant for those who think it's cool to break rules and cuss crudely. Sociologists attribute this trend to the love of notoriety and risk-taking that is so deeply embedded in the Punjabi psyche. "This region of North India faced the maximum onslaught, whether of foreign invaders or the Partition, " says Dr Archana Sachdeva, a retired sociology professor from Chandigarh. "Land and women became a prized possession. Hence, just like all music reflects the state of its people, Punjabi music too acquired characters of violence that eventually came to embody heroism. "
Critics have been quick to blame the source of this brash new sound of Punjabi pop: Afro-American rap.
"Punjabis were always greatly influenced by the West, in this case the influence comes from American rappers, " says Satinder Satti, the popular, brown-eyed Punjabi singer. "Black rappers were aggressive because of the repression they suffered and vented their pain through their rap songs. Since our Punjabi youth, who are now singers, grew up with rap and hip-hop, they've imbibed the rapping style into their own songs, thus making up such aggressive lyrics. "
If America has Busta Rhymes, we have Baba Sehgal. The first-ever rap star that India saw, Sehgal sees these lyrics as just another marketing gimmick. "Everyone here is trying to outdo the other since there is so much competition, " he says. "And what is the best way to grab attention? Go abusive. Isn't that what Bollywood is also doing these days with numbers like 'Bhaag DK Bose' ?" Sehgal, whose hits include Thanda Thanda Pani and Main Bhi Madonna, says that swearing makes you cool. "In Punjab, the only thing that is considered cool is a Jatt, unfortunately. Hence, if the Jatt calls himself a rule breaker, he becomes the trendsetter. So you have a whole breed of singers who emulate this and glorify this in an effort to be 'cool'. " It wasn't long before the song, Banda Maarna by Balli Riar featuring Honey Singh, was blaring out of car stereos on the streets of Chandigarh and Ludhiana. The young and charming Riar sees the lyrics as a reflection of Punjabi society. "Any Punjabi would know that the expression Aaj banda marne nu jee karda hai (Today I feel like killing someone) is popular in colloquial Punjabi. We just picked it up and converted it into a song. " Though Riar agrees that the aggressive lyrics are a money-making trend, the music video tends to tone down things. "Aggressive lyrics are attracting younger audiences, " says Balli, whose fans include eightyear-olds.
"My track has been accepted all over the world wherever there are young Punjabis. While most Punjabi songs show alcohol, guns and violence, our video only shows a guy fighting for his girlfriend who has been teased. The underlying message is, the guy says if you tease my girlfriend, I can even kill you. "
"I think as time progresses, people's choices also evolve, and arts and music are the first industry to be influenced by this change. The crudeness of the lyrics makes them relatable, " says Navsangeet Singh, a 17-year-old student at St Xavier's, Chandigarh, who loves the new music.
"Songs like, Lakh 27 kuri da and Vich pajero de rakh le desi gun are a symbol of defiance against Western culture, and amusingly, make more entertaining music than the classical, or even soft-pop Punjabi numbers by the likes of Gurdas Mann or Harbhajan Mann. "
The dashing Canadian Punjabi singer, Mann, who performed at the 2010 Winter Olympics, is heavily critical of this trend. "What kind of lyrics are these? They all portray the Jatt (upper caste, landed Sikh) in a negative light since all of them are extolling the vices of this community. Young minds feed on these violent lyrics and are thus corrupted, " he complains. Songs in the past have praised the bravery of folk heroes like Jagga dakku and Dulla Bhatti, but this new genre of Punjabi music, says Hans, "only talks about themselves and their aggression".
Mann is joined by singer Hans Raj Hans, who rues, "Such lyrics talk of a world where love is fading away, dying away in life and poetry... the light is going, giving way to darkness. It is the misfortune of this generation that it has to listen to such music. "
Manu Rishi Chadha, who wrote the dialogue both for Oye Lucky! Lucky Oye and the gritty and realistic Yeh Saali Zindagi, grew up in Old Delhi on a lush diet of Punjabi swear words but can't come to terms with the songs that are storming the charts.
"Waahiyat lagta hai (sounds vulgar), " he says. "It lends unnecessary toughness to what is a sweet language. Gaaliyan do par becho mat (Abuse by all means but don't use the words to sell yourself). Sadly, the more shocking the songs, the more they sell. These singers look as if they are from the mafia so it isn't surprising that their songs also talk about killing people. Songs which are meant to calm you are now provoking you to fight. There's this image that people have of Punjabi music, alcohol and dancing, and these singers and their songs just feed on that stereotype. "
Singer Jasbir Jassi hopes that like any other fad, this too will fade. "It's like forcing pizzas and burgers down our throats everyday, " he points out. "You will grow tired of the foreign diet after a while. "
NEW JATT ANTHEMS
Gaddi moudan de
Saade apne rule, saade apne asool Saanu jehda rokey tokey, rakhdange ohnu dho ke Assi jithe jaavan ge gaddi moudan ge, Phir saare de saare signal todan ge (We will make and follow our own rules/ Whoever stops us will be thrashed/ We will do as we please and break all the rules)
Gehri maarde nu lehna ajj chak ni Velleyan di akh ajj laal aye Koi banda bunda maarna taan das ni Mitran di akh ajj laal aye (I have blood in my eyes today/ I have to kill someone)
Register for Full Access to the Crest Edition
Don't have a Facebook Account? Sign up for Times Crest here. | <urn:uuid:093950ef-a936-4c61-b70b-882f2e0de5ee> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.timescrest.com/culture/rough-and-tough-music-6312 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368709037764/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516125717-00010-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.951438 | 1,793 | 1.601563 | 2 |
Agrowplow's research and development division develops world leading technology and has earned an industry wide reputation for turning market 'ideas' into reality.
Development is undertaken with the professional guidance of fully qualified design engineers with the use of 3D CAD/CAM that supports the complete design to manufacture process. All designs are manufactured to the highest standards of quality control.
Agrowplow has large factory area (3500 square metres) with extensive fabrication equipment. Experienced and qualified personnel form an extensive resource in all areas.
Agrowplow is a member of the Nepean Group, a diverse engineering group established in 1972. The Nepean Group services a number of industries including mining, aviation, transport, plastics, defence, construction, automotive, nuclear and medical.
Agrowplow - building soil care products for improved, sustainable agriculture. | <urn:uuid:bcf538e2-fdd9-44c8-8a71-75f0d7232301> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://agrowplow.com/index.php/selectedContent/1146582649?currentDriven=2147259961¤tContent=1862176972 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368699881956/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516102441-00006-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.94982 | 175 | 1.5625 | 2 |
The people in the Czech Republic (photo above from a recent protest in Prague) are overwhelmingly opposed to the coming U.S. deployment of a Star Wars radar in their country. Similarly the people of Poland oppose the U.S. plan to put ten "missile defense" interceptors in their country. Both countries now have right-wing governments who have crawled into the U.S. "orbit" and are ignoring their own people's demands.
On September 13 Central European Social Democrat parties (Germany, Austria, Poland, the Czech Republic, Slovakia and Slovenia) met and rejected the U.S. deployment plan saying it threatened to bring about a new arms race.
But of course there was a fly in the ointment. A visiting senior U.S. Democrat said her party was behind the project.
"We wanted to come today to make very clear that we are very supportive... of missile defense," Ellen Tauscher
, chairwoman of the House Armed Services Strategic Forces Subcommittee, said after meeting Czech Deputy Prime Minister Alexandr Vondra
She added that she hoped negotiations [that would seal the deployment deal] with the Czechs and the Poles would be concluded soon.
(from Walnut Creek, California) is a tool of the military industrial complex. Just a few months ago she led an effort to reject the recommendations of a House of Representatives sub-committee that had suggested serious cuts in the "Missile Defense Agency" research and development budget for fiscal year 2008.
She, and Rep. Rick Larsen (D-WA), restored $150 million to Pentagon boost-phase missile defense programs, $48 million for future missile defense systems - including space sensors, $12 million more for sea-based sensors, and language to allow $160 million for the highly controversial European missile defense plan.
Her job in attending the meeting of Central European Social Democrats last week was a preemptive strike. The Democrats, who are likely to take the White House back in 2008, are letting the world know that they are committed partners to the Bush program of expanded U.S. global military empire and development of U.S. preemptive first-strike technology. The Democratic Party, under the control of the military industrial complex, are out trying to damper down any opposition to "missile defense". They have essentially become the agents, or sales people, for the weapons industry.
Russia knows that the U.S. is out to militarily surround them with these deployments in Poland and the Czech Republic in addition to the present campaign of NATO expansion into Central and Eastern Europe.
Vladimir Putin's recent comments should be heard by everyone paying attention to this new powder keg issue: "Once the missile defense system is put in place it will work automatically with the entire nuclear capability of the U.S. It will be an integral part of the U.S. nuclear capability....An arms race is unfolding. Was it we who withdrew from the Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty? We already told [Bush] two years ago, don't do this; you don't need to do this. What are you doing? You are destroying the system of international security....Of course we have to respond to it."
I can tell you what the U.S. is doing. It is creating a new arms race that will benefit the aerospace industry. The goal is to bring on-line new high-tech space weapons technology that will ultimately give the Pentagon the ability to "control and dominate" space and the Earth below. And the Democrats? Their job is to help keep the program funded and alive. They continue to show who their real masters are. They do not work for you and me.
The Democrats are working for the interests of corporate globalization. The New World Order has fully taken control of both political parties in the U.S.
If we want to stop a new and deadly arms race the peace movement in the U.S. must abandon any illusion
that the Democrats will save us in 2008. | <urn:uuid:090f4ad7-b416-4d8e-811e-472bd30161d8> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://space4peace.blogspot.com/2007_09_16_archive.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368706499548/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516121459-00012-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.963089 | 818 | 1.6875 | 2 |
BALTIMORE (AP)- State health officials say the first death due to hypothermia has been reported in Frederick County.
The Department of Health and Mental Hygiene said Thursday that a man age 65 or older had died. The death was confirmed between Dec. 18 and Dec. 24.
Officials say no other information will be released on the victim.
Fifteen hypothermia-related deaths occurred in Maryland during the 2011-2012 winter weather season. | <urn:uuid:8309adfb-0c8a-4b30-bb0b-474769cd02a8> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.wboc.com/story/20434887/md-reports-1st-hypothermia-death-this-winter | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368710006682/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516131326-00031-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.978115 | 94 | 1.570313 | 2 |
“Life isn’t fair!” We are born with a strong inner sense of fairness and a strong desire to fight for our rights when we have been treated unfairly.
Although we know that life isn’t fair, we’re prone to fight back when we’re the victims of unfair treatment. Let’s assume that you are a conscientious worker on your job. You get to work early, you’re careful not to extend your lunch breaks, and sometimes you stay late on your own time to finish a job. You’re careful not to waste company time with excessive chit-chat. You work hard and produce for the company and yet when opportunities come available you are passed over and wrongfully treated. Life isn’t fair!
The important question is, “How do you respond when you’re treated unfairly?” How should you respond? Is it wrong to defend yourself or to stand up for your rights? How should a “do-liever” (doer of Gods word) respond when treated unfairly, especially on the job? That is the question Peter addresses in 1 Peter 2:18-23. Because we are natural fighters and have the need to defend, you’re not going to like his answer. (I can guess thats because I don’t like his answer either!) His answer is, When treated unfairly by a superior, we should submissively endure by entrusting ourselves to God, the righteous Judge.
Applying the word of God can be soooooo hard in practical terms but like a muscle that we want to get stronger we have to keep exercising it. Submitting to what we know is wrong can be difficult but if it is the authority that has wronged you then that person has a greater judgement awaiting them because God admonishes people in authority to be gentle and loving with those in their submission. Here are 5 quick points to help you the next time you have been wronged by your authority not only in the workplace but in any situation that you have an authority:
1. Remember that you are not the boss and in all situations we have to show Christ examples. When you are labeled a believer you are now walking on Gods character and credibility…DONT MESS IT UP!
2. The motives for submission are to please God and bear witness to the lost. No matter what, WE WIN by the blood of the Lamb and WORD of our testimony. Submitting to unjust treatment allows God to get the glory and to move us through the test. When we submit our will of anger pride and retaliation, WE GET THE VICTORY and we prove Gods word is true! | <urn:uuid:cc7ad61e-0316-46d1-be1f-cc4bf0781bfd> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://praisedc.com/1283293/how-do-you-handle-being-treated-unfairly-in-the-workplace/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368696383156/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516092623-00025-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.954713 | 555 | 1.632813 | 2 |
Remembering that Sassy Style Explosion in a Chic Chapeau, Anna Piaggi
During her many decades of making the fashion world a much more interesting place, Piaggi - who passed away at the age of 81 in her home in Milano - led a life as colorful as her beloved clashing-but-kinda-not print combinations, "exuberant" (to put it mildly) maquillage & of course, her signature hats.
...inspired shoe designs by her pal Manolo Blahnik, who deemed her "The world's last great authority on frocks".
...was frequently sketched by her amigo & co-author, Kaiser Karl.
...was muse to British milliner Stephen Jones.
...owned almost 3,000 frocks and 265 pairs of shoes according to a 2006 exhibition, Fashion-ology, at London's Victoria and Albert Museum.
... created flamboyant, creative double-page spreads for Italian Vogue.
... used a bright red Olivetti Valentine typewriter, manual of course, to pen her many fashion articles.
As a "walking fashion museum" who was so above the trends, she had clothing over 200 years old in her extravagant wardrobe, she was considered by many in the industry to be one of the most intelligent editors and to some, "the" expert on fashion. "Piaggi has had a significant influence on the fashion world and was the clear trendsetter of the eye-catching fashion model that we see plenty of today," says Sam Sisakhti of online indie-marketplace UsTrendy. "Piaggi demonstrated to the world that emotion and influence are vital components of a successful fashion design. We are seeing a trend in this industry where more celebrities are taking to her type of fashion including Lady Gaga and even Madonna."
And her influence will no doubt be felt for a good long time to come, especially where the more risk-taking, creative designers are concerned. "Piaggi’s life serves as inspiration for designers we work with," continues Sisakhti, "and empowers independent designers to come forward with their work, regardless of design."
- Lesley Scott
(IMAGES: collage at top - top left/Union Jack hat via allure; in the "newspaper" print - ganzomag.com; bottom left in "military" outfit - The Sartorialist; rainbow-fur collar coat - ganzomag.com; fuschia fur & pink hat - Fashionologie.com; Manolo Blahnik striped shoes above right - Style Bubble; some of Piaggi's vast wardrobe at a 2006 exhibition at the V&A - Washington Post; with milliner Stephen Jones at the V&A exhibition - Washington Post) | <urn:uuid:b667c0b7-f03e-4510-b27c-a192960dc4e4> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://fashiontribes.typepad.com/fashion/2012/08/remember-that-sassy-style-explosion-in-a-chic-chapeau-anna-piaggi-.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368707435344/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516123035-00041-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.940004 | 580 | 1.742188 | 2 |
MIAMI BEACH, Fla. – In a generally well-written autobiography being released Tuesday, Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., proclaims his love for his wife and family, his belief that God directs all aspects of his life and his passion for the Miami Dolphins.
But if the arguments presented in dozens of legal cases challenging Barack Obama’s eligibility are correct, “An American Son: A Memoir” also provides the information needed to determine the Florida senator is not a natural-born citizen, a constitutional requirement for the presidency.
On page 24, Rubio writes:
“I was born on May 28, 1971. My sister, Veronica, was born the following year. My mother and father were starting over again as parents in the country they now called home (the U.S.).”
The next paragraph makes clear that Rubio’s parents were both Cuban citizens, not United States citizens, when he was born:
“My parents had lived in America for nearly two decades. It was clear that Cuba had become a thoroughly totalitarian state, and would likely remain so for some time. They had endured many disappointments, and their lives would never be easy. But slowly and surely they made a better life for our family than they had had as children, or could have ever been possible for them in Cuba. Three of their children were born Americans. Mario [the Senator’s older brother, born in Cuba] had naturalized after returning from the army. And in 1975, they, too, became citizens of the United States.”
As WND reported, attorney Larry Klayman argued today before Florida Circuit Court Judge Terry Lewis in the presidential eligibility case brought by Democrat voter Michael Voeltz that Article 2, Section 1 of the Constitution requires a person eligible to be president to be born to parents who are each U.S. citizens at the time of the birth.
That definition of natural-born citizen would clearly disqualify Rubio from running either for president or vice president.
Born in the USA
Rubio’s “An American Son” appears geared to arguing his birth in Miami makes him 100-percent American, even though his parents were Cuban when he was born.
The senator’s constitutional qualification for a presidential ticket has received little attention, given the common determination by courts hearing Obama eligibility cases that “native born,” or “born in the USA,” is equivalent to “natural born.”
While he does not openly proclaim aspirations to be Gov. Mitt Romney’s running mate, Rubio writes on page 283 eloquently of his success in politics:
Why had my dreams come true? Because God had blessed me with a strong and stable family and parents who cherished my dreams more than their own, and with a wise and loving wife who supported me. And he blessed me with America, the only country in the world where dreams like mine would stand a chance of coming true.
Because of the possibility that the vice president could ascend to the presidency on the death or disability of the president, it is logical to argue that a candidate for vice president must also meet the natural-born citizen requirement of Article 2, Section 1.
As WND reported, another emerging Republican leader whose eligibility for the White House has been questioned is Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal, whose parents were born in India.
Questions also have been raised about Romney’s eligibility, because his father was born in Mexico. But the late Gov. George Romney, who ran for president in 1968, was born an American citizen, because he was born to two parents who were U.S. citizens at the time.
When the U.S. Senate resolved in 2008 that Republican presidential nominee John McCain, R-Ariz., was a natural born citizen, it significantly specified that his parents were American citizens.
Vattel and the Law of Nations
Klayman argued in Florida court today that natural-born citizen is a term of natural law political philosophy that America’s Founders almost certainly derived from their analysis of Emerich de Vattel’s book published in 1758, “The Law of Nations: or, Principles of the Natural Law Applicable to the Conduct and Affairs of Nations and Sovereigns.”
In Chapter 19, Section 212, Vattel defined natural-born citizen:
The citizens are members of the civil society; bound to this society by certain duties, and subject to its authority, they equally participate in its advantages. The natives or natural-born citizens, are those born in the country of parents who are citizens.
As the society cannot exist and perpetuate itself otherwise than by the children of the citizens, those children naturally follow the condition of their fathers, and succeed to all their rights. The society is supposed to desire this, in consequence of what it owes to its own preservation; and it is presumed, as matter of course, that each citizen, on entering into society, reserves to his children the right of becoming members of it.
In the next two sentences, Vattel emphasized the concept that natural-born citizens are those born in the nation to parents who are citizens of the nation:
The country of the fathers is therefore that of the children; and these become true citizens merely by their tacit consent. We shall soon see whether, on their coming to the years of discretion, they may renounce their right, and what they owe to the society in which they were born.
I say, that, in order to be of the country, it is necessary that a person be born of a father who is a citizen; for, if he is born there of a foreigner, it will only be the place of his birth, and not his country.
Klayman has argued that the point of applying the term natural-born citizen as a requirement to be president as specified in Article 2, Section 1, was to prevent foreigners, or those whose allegiance could be attributed to the jurisdiction of foreign sovereigns, from ever being chief executive with the powers of commander-in-chief.
The concern that the commander-in-chief not have dual loyalties was demonstrated in a 1787 letter from John Jay to George Washington.
Jay, who later became president of the Continental Congress and the first Supreme Court chief justice, wrote: “Permit me to hint, whether it would be wise and seasonable to provide a strong check to the admission of Foreigners into the administration of our national Government; and to declare expressly that the Command in Chief of the American army shall not be given to nor devolve on, any but a natural born Citizen.”
Native-born is natural-born?
Jake Walker, who writes for the popular conservative blog RedState, affirms that the Founders were “fond” of Vattel’s “Law of Nations,” but he points to certain writings of the Founders to argue anyone born on U.S. soil is a natural-born citizen.
Walker cites a draft of the constitution by one of its important contributors, Alexander Hamilton.
If Hamilton’s draft would have been accepted, Walker argues, the Constitution would have stated:
No person shall be eligible to the office of President of the United States unless he be now a citizen of one of the States or hereafter be born a citizen of the United States.
Walker concedes there “is no real explanation that I can find as to why the Committee of Eleven changed the phrase to its present form, but it was.”
“Making it even worse, the Constitution itself does not define the term “natural born citizen,” he notes.
He also quotes James Madison, popularly acknowledged as the “author” of the Constitution, who seemed to indicate in a paper dated May 22, 1789, that birthplace is a more important determinant of allegiance than parentage:
It is an established maxim that birth is a criterion of allegiance. Birth however derives its force sometimes from place and sometimes from parentage, but in general place is the most certain criterion; it is what applies in the United States; it will therefore be unnecessary to investigate any other.
However, when the first U.S. Congress had the opportunity to weigh in on the term natural-born citizen – in the Naturalization Act of 1790 – the lawmakers regarded it as a child born of two American parents. The act also specified that a natural-born citizen need not be born on U.S. soil.
The law stated:
The children of citizens of the United States, that may be born beyond sea, or out of the limits of the United States shall be considered as natural born citizens: Provided, that the right of citizenship shall not descend to persons whose fathers have never been resident in the United States.
The first U.S. Congress, which approved the Naturalization Act of 1790, included 20 delegates to the Constitutional Convention. Among the 20 were eight members of the Committee of Eleven that drafted the Constitution’s natural-born citizen clause.
While the act was repealed five years later, it, nevertheless, represented the will of the Congress that the U.S. not be led by someone whose loyalty could be divided because of parentage.
Rep. John Bingham of Ohio, a principal framer of the Fourteenth Amendment, affirmed in a discussion in the House on March 9, 1866, that a natural-born citizen is “born within the jurisdiction of the United States of parents not owing allegiance to any foreign sovereignty.” | <urn:uuid:700ca8c0-ecda-4b90-9936-2241c31a257f> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.wnd.com/2012/06/rubio-autobiography-proves-hes-not-eligible-for-vp/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368699273641/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516101433-00041-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.979832 | 1,973 | 1.679688 | 2 |
Tech entrepreneurs have already changed the world, transforming how we work, how we communicate, how we shop. Imagine if these entrepreneurs focused their talents on big social challenges, using tech to devise radically new solutions to social care, child welfare, poverty, education and climate change.
Imagine the power of technology applied for social good.
I believe social media and Twitter have transformed communication in the same way television has transformed entertainment. The efficiency and speed at which we can exchange ideas and share content compared to ten years ago is extraordinary.
Possibly...well I hope not, but there are some exciting possibilities being offered by digital technology to help researchers identify patterns and valuable insights in their evaluation data that might otherwise go undiscovered.
Thanks to funding from the Nominet Trust, we've been able to offer a number of fully funded one-to-one sessions (known as Virtual Wishes) to care homes in need. One-to-one sessions are provided for residents who are not able to leave their rooms or join in with group activities. This could be people with advanced dementia, learning disabilities or mobility problems.
In a one-to-one session, an Alive! presenter uses an iPad with the resident to help them engage in activities which they most enjoy.
Ryan Bevan, our Get IT Together Project Co-ordinator is training 35 young volunteers to help deliver digital inclusion in RCT. Working with volunteers presents a variety of challenges, and the additional element of introducing younger volunteers introduces another range of issues including recruitment, training and management. Ryan has built in additional training and support for these young volunteers and encourages shadowing and mentoring to enable them to become confident enough to deliver sessions.
At Action in rural Sussex (AirS) we are fortunate enough to have developed a great partnership with the University of Brighton, as we embark on a new and innovative project, supported by the Nominet Trust. | <urn:uuid:b804d25f-0087-42f5-8b95-327147fe3464> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.nominettrust.org.uk/blog/?filters=tid:88 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368707435344/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516123035-00024-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.945829 | 386 | 1.835938 | 2 |
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Editorial Archives The Altamont Enterprise, May 10, 2007
Shared services could help lost dogs
Illustration by Forest Byrd
All winter long, local dog wardens get some rest. In the spring, a young dogs fancy lightly turns to thoughts of love.
"They just fall in love again," said Jack Norray, Knox’s veteran animal-control officer. "They have a lot of energy....In January, February, and March, people keep their animals in."
In the last week alone, Norray took in three lost dogs; he keeps them overnight in his barn. He found the three owners, too, each within 24 hours.
Kevin Schenmeyer, New Scotland’s animal-control officer, said the reason for more loose dogs in the spring is "people get careless...and animals get more curious."
Cheryl Baitsholts, the dog warden for both Rensselaerville and Berne, said she had found four dogs within 24 hours this month, and all of them were returned to their homes.
Dogs get disoriented when low-pressure systems move through and that’s when lots of them get lost, said Baitsholts. "You can feel everything hovering. It does something to a dog’s inner compass," she said. "Our weather has been so screwed up this past year."
Norray says that, statewide, fewer than half and probably closer to a third of all dogs are licensed.
Those dog owners who dont license their pets are breaking the law. They may also one day break their hearts.
The cost to license a dog is nominal and the effort is minimal. For many, a dog has become part of the family. A long-time local vet told us that, in his several decades of practice, he had seen dogs move from the barn to the house to the bedroom.
The Classic Theatre Guild is putting on a play in Voorheesville, Sylvia, about a dog who is literally one of the family. Why, then, can’t more people manage to license their dogs and be sure they wear the tag"
Lots of times, local dog wardens have told us, a lost dogs tag is in the cars glove box or back at the house.
"Licenses are so important," said Norray. When he picks up a lost dog with a license, he said, "I don’t have to hold them. I know who they belong to."
New York State Agriculture and Markets Law requires a stray dog be held for five days before it can be adopted or euthanized. If the dog has a license, the owners must be notified by telephone or mail and the dog is to be kept nine days.
Three years ago, Baitsholts told us she tried to keep stray dogs at her place as long as she could rather than take them to the Mohawk and Hudson River Humane Society in Menands, which most Albany County municipalities use, because, legally, "They can be euthanized from the second I walk out the door."
Baitsholts remembered more than one occasion when a dogs owner came to her only a short while before the dog was to be euthanized, or worse, after it already had been.
She said many people don’t realize there are dog-control officers in each town who can help find a lost dog. She said owners should not wait for their dogs to come back since they "can get so far, so fast."
"If your dog’s been missing for 15 minutes and you’re concerned, pick up the phone," Baitsholts said this week. "Just like with a lost child, the first 15 minutes are the most critical."
Baitsholts took the post of Rensselaervilles animal-control officer because she wanted to help people after losing her own beloved dog. She tracked her white Samoyed for four weeks to the Catskills as he followed the water and his instincts; she never found him. She is now Bernes dog-control officer as well.
This year, Berne, like other local towns, was distressed the rates for the shelter in Menands were going up. "They wanted $3,300 a year, just to be available," said Baitsholts, "and then they would charge almost $300 a dog."
Baitsholts has an arrangement with Berne now, where she keeps loose dogs for up to two weeks at $15 a day. Between the two towns, she picks up about 30 dogs in a year, and about a quarter of them are reclaimed by their owners. "Many people out here, when their dogs take off, assume the coyotes got them," she said. Also, unwanted dogs are often dumped in rural areas.
Baitsholts took just a handful of the dogs to Menands this year, most before the $275 fee, and the rest, she said, "I’ve adopted out." She gets the word out through e-mails and notices in The Enterprise. The adoption fee is $35 to cover costs.
Westerlo is following a similar system," Baitsholts said. "It works for us."
The trip to Menands is a long one. Norray said, from Knox, it’s more than 60 miles out and back. "Once you turn a dog over to Menands, they own the dog," he said. "We’re all done with it. They either put it up for adoption or euthanize it."
Knox talked with the town of Guilderland, which has its own animal shelter, relatively close to Knox but, said Norray, "They didn’t want to be responsible."
Neighboring New Scotland was also hit hard this past year with the jump in price at the Menands facility, said Schenmeyer. A contract that is usually $2,000 or $3,000 jumped up to $9,000 or $10,000, he said.
We support shared municipal services, which can save money while providing better service, and asked Guilderlands supervisor, Kenneth Runion, if his town would consider renting part of its recently renovated and expanded animal shelter to neighboring towns. Runion said Guilderland could consider it if the time frame were limited. In other words, if New Scotland, for example, wanted to arrange to rent space for 10 days at the Guilderland shelter, but then would assume responsibility for the dog after the 10 days, it could be workable.
Guilderland, Runion explained, "basically has a no-kill policy" so it would become expensive for the town and its taxpayers to keep dogs from other towns for an unlimited number of days. Guilderland will keep a dog for 90 days and, if it hasn’t been claimed or adopted by then, a trainer will evaluate the dog.
Right now, New Scotland keeps its stray dogs at the Menands shelter for 10 days and then, said Schenmeyer, "They do what they see fit. If it’s an animal they don’t foresee adopting out," the dog may be euthanized.
"We’re not going to get in the business of euthanizing," said Runion. "I don’t want to sound callous, but we have a different philosophy."
We commend Guilderland for its no-kill approach but we understand many towns arent willing or able to afford that. We believe, though, that intermunicipal agreements could be beneficial.
As long as New Scotland stuck to its 10-day limit a wise idea since it gives the dogs owner more of a chance to find the dog than the laws five days the town could save the 40-minute drive to Menands, both for the dog warden and the owners of the lost dogs, and could probably save some money as well. And Guilderland could benefit from some income for its already-staffed and built shelter.
In the meantime, we urge all dog owners to license their pets and to rivet the tag to the dogs collar right away, before its too late.
Melissa Hale-Spencer, editor
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The purpose of Wooddale Church is to honor God by making more disciples for Jesus Christ.
Generosity! is an initiative to encourage Wooddalers to live and give generously. We will be encouraged to learn how to be generous with our lifestyles. We will be invited to share our time, talents and finances through Generosity!
The challenge: Learn to live and give generously to propel Wooddale Church into strong and effective ministry for the future.
Generosity! is a twofold initiative at Wooddale Church.
First, Generosity! is about encouraging people to be generous in their lifestyles. We will explore the biblical basis of generosity, ways Wooddalers are currently generous, and practical ways we can learn to be generous with our lifestyles. Generosity! is about learning to live and give generously – from the way we treat people, to how we tip servers, how we use our abilities, what we do with our time and what we do with the finances God has given us. Throughout the next three years we will explore together various ideas for Wooddalers to engage in generosity as a lifestyle.
Second, the ministry campaign portion of Generosity! is an invitation to Wooddalers to give to Wooddale’s Ministry Fund in such a way as to fulfill our current ministry commitments and also to seize new opportunities that God has and will bring our way. Wooddalers generously provided more than $5 million to the prior ministry campaign, Expanding the Vision. We will be encouraged to be generous in our giving through Generosity! to make it possible to underwrite all God is calling Wooddale to do in the coming years.
How have you observed Wooddalers being generous? How do you and your family engage in generosity? What would our lives, Wooddale Church and our community look like if we gave of ourselves and our possessions selflessly? Are you ready and willing to begin the journey of discovering a lifestyle of generosity? There will be many opportunities in the coming months to hear about Generosity! and to practically engage in some form of generosity.
What is Generosity!?
Generosity! is an initiative to encourage Wooddalers to live and give generously. We will be encouraged to learn how to be generous with our lifestyles. We will be invited to share our time, talents and finances through Generosity! The challenge: Learn to live and give generously to propel Wooddale Church into strong and effective ministry for the future.
Why is Generosity! taking place now?
We have new challenges and new opportunities from God. Expanding the Vision (ETV) was a church-wide adventure to enhance and expand the vision and ministry of Wooddale Church during 2007-2010. Approximately 50 projects were initiated! ETV has now come to a conclusion.
What is the difference between Generosity! and Expanding the Vision?
ETV enabled us to both begin and expand some ministry areas. Generosity! will allow us to implement new ideas through volunteerism, meet our current financial needs, continue special new ministries that began through ETV (for example, apprentice program to develop future ministry leaders) and expand our finances to help people in need.
Who does Generosity! impact?
All Wooddalers and those to whom we minister. As we are challenged to examine our lifestyles, we will be inspired to live out our daily lives generously with our families, friends, coworkers and neighbors. Imagine a community where all needs are met because we responded generously.
What has happened so far with Generosity!?
A group of Wooddalers representing Wooddale’s different ministry areas has been brainstorming throughout the summer on ways to help people learn to make generosity part of their lifestyles. Six other groups of Wooddalers have been exploring innovative ideas to enhance and expand ministry in the areas of campus welcome and impact, missions, developing future ministry leaders, Edina campus, young adults and technology. The Generosity! Fair on September 26, 2010 highlighted opportunities to engage in generosity.
What is still to come with Generosity!?
In the upcoming months Wooddalers will participate in Generosity! in the worship services, Big Groups, Small Groups, student ministries, men’s and women’s ministries, and elsewhere throughout Wooddale.
Is Generosity! about money?
Yes and no. We can be generous in various ways. Generous in serving others. Generous in ministry participation. Generous in funding ongoing ministry. Generous in prayer. Generous in outreach. Generous in lifestyle.
We will also be invited to share financially in Generosity! The plan is to combine the exciting success of our 2007-2010 Expanding the Vision ministry campaign with our Wooddale Church Ministry Fund to underwrite God’s call for our church family for 2010-2013.
Our prayer is that you will join with other Wooddalers in a commitment to generous giving over the coming 36 months so that we can avoid further cuts, meet financial needs, continue special new ministries and expand our finances to help people in need.
What will your involvement be in Generosity!?
E-mail us at [email protected] with additional questions. | <urn:uuid:7f6b4172-e100-4330-956d-8dd99a6856b2> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://wooddale.org/ministry/generosity | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368704713110/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516114513-00008-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.931271 | 1,053 | 1.546875 | 2 |
In the past two years, the social safety net has helped more Americans than any time in a generation. So why are so many people trying to tear it to shreds?
The recession brought on by Wall Street's casino speculation has pounded Main Street hard; unemployment has hovered near double digits for two years. Ordinary people are searching for jobs day after day, week after week. At a national hiring day in April, McDonald’s got more than a million job applicants, and rejected more than nine-tenths of them.
The House of Representatives' budget, which would cut Medicare, Medicaid, food stamps, foreign food aid, health-care reform, and unemployment benefits -- while sparing military spending and giving tax breaks to wealthy corporations and individuals -- would be a moral disaster for every American. It's clear (even to rampaging liberals such as the economists at Goldman Sachs) that the proposed federal budget cuts would be a drag on the economy as it digs out of the hole caused by the recession.
During the Bush years, Congress handed out big tax breaks to the rich -- cuts that originally had an expiration date so legislators could avoid talking about their long-range budget folly. Congress and the Bush administration also green-lighted a $1.2 trillion bender of unneeded wars, a splurge that will keep on spending, due to our responsibilities to veterans.
Now Congress is shocked -- shocked! -- to discover that deficit spending has been going on, and is pointing fingers at the scapegoats that seem least likely to fight back. Introducing his slash-and-burn budget, Rep. Paul Ryan predicted that without such gutting, America's safety net was in danger of becoming "a hammock." A hammock? News flash: This is mass unemployment, not a siesta. Food stamps, for example, are a safety net that people use for a limited period -- nine months, on average -- to feed their families while they get through what is often the worst economic time of their lives.
It's worth mentioning that, when the U.S. is not in a recession, the Federal Reserve intentionally aims to keep unemployment above a certain level, in order to fend off excessive inflation. You read that right: The government makes sure that at least 3 to 5 percent of Americans seeking work at any given time are unemployed. It's not necessarily crazy for it to do this, but it is crazy to scapegoat the poor afterward.
This is particularly true because, for three decades in the U.S., the rich have been getting richer and the poor poorer. This is no accident; it's from years of trade agreements that ship working-class jobs overseas, government policies that let union-busting employers break the law with only a slap on the wrist, and tax and contracting giveaways to big business. Redistribution? You're soaking in it -- the kind of redistribution that shifts still more wealth to the wealthiest. The House's proposed budget is just the latest and most shameless installment.
Last year, Manhattan hedge fund manager John Paulson took home $4.9 billion in pay. Before the crash, Paulson helped inflate the housing bubble by designing junk mortgage-backed securities for Goldman Sachs -- and then profited from the pop by betting that those very securities would fail. Yet instead of being run out of business, last year he made about a billion and a half more than the federal food stamp program spent in all of New York City.
The economic evidence is clear: Inequality this stark kills jobs. When people in the middle and working class make a decent income, their purchases fuel the real economy. When all the wealth is pumped to the top few percent, they pour money into dangerously volatile speculation.
The moral evidence is clear: It's wrong to make false implications that people are poor and unemployed because they are shiftless, and that the level of national shiftlessness inexplicably doubled about the time the housing bubble popped. And it's wrong to intentionally target the most vulnerable in society. None of us knows when we might need that social safety net -- and all of us are lessened when we yank it out from beneath our fellow human beings.
Elizabeth Palmberg is an associate editor of Sojourners. | <urn:uuid:9e4f52c3-81df-42ba-9be9-a6054f02f265> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://sojo.net/magazine/2011/07/safety-net-frays?quicktabs_top_magazine_articles=2&quicktabs_web_extras=2 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368700264179/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516103104-00025-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.958439 | 867 | 1.757813 | 2 |
In June 2010, Shetland hosted a 'Hamefarin' (homecoming), welcoming Shetlanders from all around the world back to their home islands. The ceremonial return of those of Shetland extraction offered an opportunity for Hamefarers to reforge lost connections, enjoy the culture and heritage of Shetland and to enjoy a very special holiday. Hamefarers came from as far afield as Austrialisia and North America and for many, the visit to the land of their forebears was for the first time.
Shetland Hamefarin 2010 was the third such event to be staged, following official Hamefarins in 1960 and 1985. The 2010 event saw the largest number of visitors yet, with 683 Hamefarers registered for the event and evidence to suggest that many more Hamefarers attended the event without registering their attendance.
Now that the event has been and gone the website now gives a review of Shetland Hamefarin 2010. You can also find out how to research your family history, browse through the area guide pages and explore how to get to Shetland and where to stay once you get here. There are also many links to other Shetland websites that can assist you to plan your trip to Shetland.
There are no firm plans (yet) to hold another Hamefarin event in the near future. A 25 year rule has been established however many folk are calling for it to be held much sooner, perhaps in 5 or 10 years time. If you would like to receive updates on plans for the next Hamefarin and other events in Shetland then please subscribe to our mailing list.
If you have any comments on the site or would like further information then please contact us.
After several years of planning, and a summer of reminiscences, reacquaintances, music and activities, Shetland Hamefarin 2010 has been hailed a resounding success by the organisers, visiting hamefarers and the local communityREAD MORE
- 15th June 2010
- 10th June 2010
- 7th June 2010
- 22nd May 2010 | <urn:uuid:c0a0fa2a-673e-4c11-9772-2c8250abc299> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.shetlandhamefarin.com/index.php | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368703682988/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516112802-00004-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.965937 | 447 | 1.632813 | 2 |
(CNN) -- Confusion, fear, frustration -- emotions are running high among Greece's people as they face the prospect of new elections next month and massive uncertainty over the country's economic future.
No party was able to form a coalition government after the vote earlier this month, and there is no guarantee that the elections set for June 17 will result in political stability either.
Meanwhile, the idea that Greece might leave the euro, the single currency used by 17 nations, is gaining traction despite the latest vows of support from European leaders, and the Greek people continue to suffer under painful austerity measures.
Alex Tsompanidis, a 20-year-old medical student from Athens, told CNN that the current crisis is affecting every aspect of life, even people's friendships.
"I can honestly say that the fragile political situation in Greece has scared almost everyone I know," he said.
"People have been considering withdrawing their bank deposits, if they haven't done this already. Most importantly, however, this recent political turmoil -- and the elections to follow -- has put a burden on everyone's interactions and everyday life," he said.
"People in Greece are now divided. I keep arguing with my friends concerning our voting preferences. Misinformation is rampant, and everyone is critical of everybody else."
Greek President Karolos Papoulias raised the specter of a run on banks Tuesday after the central bank reported that Greeks pulled about 800 million euros out of the banking system on Monday.
"There is, of course, no panic, but there is fear that could develop into panic," Papoulias said, describing what the central bank governor told him.
English language newspaper Athens News said its reporters had been out to banks in the past two days and seen no signs that a "rush" was on.
Journalist Thanasis Trompoukis, based in Athens, also rejected the idea that his fellow citizens are panicking, but he said many fear for the future.
Part of the problem is confusion over whether Greece really risks being kicked out of the euro zone if it does not abide by stringent European bailout terms because every politician gives a different answer, he said.
"We hear so many things and we don't know where the truth lies," Trompoukis said. "Now we wait for new elections and, for sure, people think that neither PASOK nor New Democracy, the two major parties, can help the country. And we are sure that the measures that Europe asks us to take will not solve the problems for Greece (either)."
Those austerity measures include the tax increases and painful cuts to wages, services and pensions that have angered many voters and sent them flocking to back parties such as the leftist Syriza coalition, rather than the more moderate PASOK and New Democracy.
The ensuing political deadlock is leading to fears that Greece will not have a government in place when it needs to make critical debt payments, which could in turn jeopardize its place in the euro zone.
At the same time, its people ask how much hardship they can be expected to take.
"Here in Greece many people are really poor right now," said Trompoukis, pointing out that for many workers salaries have dropped by more than a third over the past year, but costs have not.
"They don't have the money to cover their basic needs, such as to buy food or pay for their utilities or their phones, and every day more and more (people) get in that situation. So if you don't have money to buy food, you're not worried about the European future of the country -- you are worried about your survival."
Greek media reports reflect the pain many people are feeling, as well as the sense that they are being unfairly asked to pay for a crisis not of their making.
"The country will once again test its endurance limits, as going back to the polls is unavoidable," the daily Kathimerini newspaper said Wednesday, as the date for a new election was announced.
I Avgi, a daily left-leaning newspaper published in Athens, suggested the international community is trying to shock the Greek people into electing a government that will stick to the bailout deal despite the painful austerity measures attached.
"The bailout forces and troika create hell for 30 days in order 'to correct' the vote of the people," are the opening words of one its main stories.
Turnout was much lower than usual in the May 6 election, said Marios Efthymiopoulos, president of the Thessaloniki-based think tank Strategy International, likely reflecting people's disillusionment with the system.
He says his country is in urgent need of a stable, credible government to restore confidence and let investors know that Greece is "open for business."
Greeks will consider themselves European whether they are in the euro zone or not, said Efthymiopoulos, a former visiting scholar at the School of Advanced International Studies at Johns Hopkins University.
But most people do not want Greece to leave the euro zone, despite the huge debt it must carry to stay in the club. "The problem is, how will you repay that debt? How will you emerge as a winner from that debt? That's not easy to do," Efthymiopoulos said.
He also warns that if Greece were to quit the euro and return to a national currency, such as the drachma, the move would result in years of turmoil and cost money the nation does not have.
Efthymiopoulos wants to see more young people in politics, bringing fresh ideas and a more outward-looking perspective. Reform of the country's laws and electoral system is also needed, he said, if long-term stability is to be achieved.
In the meantime, no one will listen to the interim prime minister sworn in Wednesday, he warns, and Greece will continue to flounder until a government is convincingly elected that can win the trust of its own people and build alliances abroad.
"We have no allies whatsoever," he said. "We are not credible and nobody trusts us -- and that is unfortunate because some of us are trustworthy, and now we need to prove that."
Melina Grigoriadou, whose job with an export firm means she often travels outside Greece, said she is frustrated by the unflattering views of her country she hears elsewhere.
"We are not a nation of lazy people or thieves or crooks," she said. "As in all the countries around the world, there are people who work hard (for low wages), or people who beg for a job to feed their family, or people that fear about the unknown future."
The fault lies with the corrupt system presided over by PASOK and New Democracy for decades, Grigoriadou said, not the ordinary people who are suffering as a result of politicians' self-interest.
"Greeks didn't vote thinking of their EU future, but it was a vote of anger against our political system, our politicians who behaved to us all these years like we are their 'clients,'" she said.
Looking ahead to the elections on June 17, the mother of two says Greeks need to keep their country set on a European course.
"I can't say that I am optimistic for what is going to happen, but I know that to the extent that I can, I will try to influence those of my friends who voted angrily the previous time now to give (it) a second thought," she said.
"I am a European; I want to continue being in the EU. I want the euro currency, and I will vote now in new elections."
Tsompanidis, studying medicine at the University of Athens, says many people struggle to know what to make of German Chancellor Angela Merkel's comments on Greece, or the speeches of their own politicians.
But, he said, "two things are certain: Nobody wants Greece to exit the euro, and everyone can see that the financial situation in Greece has deteriorated rapidly with no light at the end of the tunnel."
Tsompanidis said he has taken part in some of the many anti-austerity protests that have filled the capital's streets in recent years.
Many people's anger is fueled by the fact that the country's huge debt is a result of government overspending and corruption rather than private debt, he said. Meanwhile, those who do pay taxes, in a country where tax evasion is a big problem, have to shoulder even more of the burden.
Like many students of his generation, Tsompanidis anticipates that after graduation he will have to leave Greece -- where more than half of those under age 25 were unemployed as of January, according to European Commission figures -- to seek work elsewhere.
Journalist Trompoukis, 32, said four of his friends have left Greece to find work in recent months.
"If you asked me two years ago, I would never believe that so many young people would leave Greece and go to London or Germany or other European countries," he said. "It's very sad."
Tsompanidis believes that while the tough austerity measures imposed on his country may have kept the banks and lenders afloat, it has not help restore investor confidence in Greece, "instead plunging the country in internal bankruptcy and misery."
And he is also upset by the increasingly negative view of Greece that many overseas seem to hold.
"I am very distraught that the world believes Greeks are lazy and useless. I am very disappointed to watch everyone lose faith in Greece and mistake our inadequate political establishment with everyone else in this country," he said.
"We want our European 'partners' to help us restore growth and the prospects of the economy, but nobody is willing anymore, and that is a disheartening realization."
CNN's Michael Saba contributed to this report. | <urn:uuid:6805a052-efd3-4649-8ed3-9e0d6b0e0efc> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.cnn.com/2012/05/16/world/europe/greece-crisis-scene/index.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368705953421/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516120553-00021-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.978825 | 2,029 | 1.828125 | 2 |
Here at Little Angels we are committed to keeping you updated with changes and improvements, upcoming events and promotions we have at the Nursery. Please use the following links to read a previous and our most recent newsletters. We welcome any comments or feedback you may have in line with any of these or the topics they include. Additionally should you have any ideas or suggestions on any aspect of childcare or being a parent then please speak to the Nursery Manager or Deputy who will try and include these in the next edition.
Click to download the corresponding newsletters.
May 2012 Newsletter
Sing and sign
Little Angels Nursery is affiliated with the National programme of Sing and Sign and trained staff implement the programme throughout your child’s day
What is baby signing?
“…ENCOURAGING THE DEVELOPMENT OF A CHILD’S SPEECH…”
Babies use all kinds of signs and gestures as a natural part of learning to talk. Encouraging your baby with extra signs like milk, more, change nappy or tired will help your baby communicate! This programme is widely recognised by speech and language experts as beneficial in encouraging the development of a child's speech.
Your baby will recognise important words sooner and can use the signs to “talk” to you before speech. | <urn:uuid:195e822f-1f3b-46d9-abf1-a847990e53a5> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.littleangelscardiff.co.uk/Newsletters | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368704392896/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516113952-00002-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.935851 | 266 | 1.734375 | 2 |
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How to engage, connect with and inspire audiences and readers… a fabulous resource for anyone who wants to have greater impact in their writing.. entertaining, practical, easy to read and there are oodles of tools and checklists to practise with and put the lessons into action.
Barb’s book stands out for its simplicity, directness, humor and down-to-earth manner. .. Barb’s book shows the writer how to drain the swamp and come up onto dry land. In all, a gem of a handbook!
A fudge brownie of a book – sweet and easy to read, but rich and satisfying too. I recommend re-reading it every year. Partly as a quick review of the essentials of good writing, and partly to let her style rub off on you, so that you too will create documents that people will actually read. | <urn:uuid:7bb37382-3384-4c4b-b659-c3fdcfc7bd46> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.stickycommunication.ca/book/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368707435344/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516123035-00026-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.940253 | 693 | 1.578125 | 2 |
Wednesday, April 21, 2010
The Thoughtful, the Interesting, the Mundane and the Mysterious
This little fellow, a juvenile woodcock... OK, laugh, get it out of the way, and get serious, people, because this is the thoughtful portion of the entry... so anyhow, this little fellow had quite a day today, as his nest and life were disturbed by a great number of students. It made me ponder one of the hardest questions in my field. You see, I am where I am because of nature. I work in a school, but I am an EE person first, last and foremost. I care deeply about the preservation of the natural world and I do what I do because I think it is important for tomorrow's citizens to understand and care about nature. To want to preserve it themselves.
Unfortunately, there are times when teaching kids to love nature actually harms nature. And then you have to weigh the costs and benefits. On the one hand, some wildlife -- plants, insects, birds, whatever it is on a given day -- is harmed. Maybe even killed. Maybe it's even something really rare and special. Obviously, this is, to use a terribly non-descriptive word, bad. But if you don't let the kids into the nature, the result might be even worse. A generation -- which will eventually come into power -- that has never been in nature. Doesn't respect it, doesn't love it, doesn't feel connected to it, isn't willing to pay more taxes to preserve it or do any of the other numerous things that people can do to help it.
Now, I am not a person who believes nature is for people. I believe in the intrinsic value of nature, that it has its own worth apart from how people enjoy it or even depend on it. I understand the importance of biodiversity to the ecosystem. But I want other people to think these things, too, and it's hard to learn about something without experiencing it. And it's impossible to learn to love something without experiencing it.
It reminds me of the memorable passage in Richard Louv's book Last Child in the Woods, where he interviews conservation professionals. He asks them, what got you to where you are today -- in other words, why did you become a conservation professional. They all told some version of a story in which, as youth, they explored wild spaces and built forts, played hide-and-seek, or did whatever kids do. They he asked them if they would allow kids to do those things in the wilderness areas they worked at... and the answer was a resounding NO. Ironic...
Our wilderness and our world has changed. When those professionals were running through the woods, a lot of them probably weren't running through forest preserves, but rather more like undeveloped areas that nobody managed. There aren't a lot of those left in this area. The open spaces are managed, and someone takes them personally. They don't want people to go off the trail. This might be OK if the trails I was talking about were paths... small, for foot traffic... paths where you can feel close to nature. Around here, they make an entirely different brand of multi-use trail. They're about 8-10 feet of gravel, with 3-4 feet of mower turf grass on either side. We're talking a highway 14-18 feet in width. You could drive a car on these trails. In fact, I've seen that happen many a time. These trails make you feel removed, as separate from nature as if you were on a road. They're fitness trails, not commune with nature trails. Kids (and adults) need to commune with nature.
It's all a matter of numbers, really. If one kid explores in the woods, it's not a big deal. Something might get stepped on but most things come back from that. If a hundred kids do the same thing, it causes a lot more damage. It's more of a trampling by a herd than a little step. So yeah, as population, and population density, increase around here, there's more stresses on the wildlife. But the real problem is that in today's world, at least around here, one kid doesn't go into the wilderness anyway. For one thing, a lot of kids don't have access anyhow. But for another, we're constantly worried about their safety. Kidnappers and ... I actually heard a group of moms worrying about coyotes the other day. Really. At any rate... Kids don't roam free as they used to. And so, we (well, there's a small movement at least) are trying to do it in school, safely and with supervision. But this means volume. One class of kids makes a big impact. A whole school makes an even bigger impact. So you see...
It's a conundrum. But I'm tired, it's been a long day. I'm finished with thoughtful.
So... on to the interesting.
This Cooper's was in my yard when I got home. I didn't want to disturb it so I took the photo on the left through the window. Later, when it flew off, I went outside. On the right is what was left of the robin that has lived its last moments in my yard.
And finally, the typical mundane phenology updates of the day.
We saw 3-6 (depending on they were repeats) sandhill cranes today, and coots and maybe some other non-mallard ducks but I had neither binoculars or a bird book, so we'll never know if we saw the shovelers that had reportedly been in the area.
Finally...Mystery of the day:
Can anyone ID this plant (shown from above and a closer view of the stalk). The whole thing was maybe 6 inches (tall and across). | <urn:uuid:ce965fc3-c460-4aea-a5f9-bdf66fc6382a> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://naomi-the-naturenerd.blogspot.com/2010/04/thoughtful-interesting-mundane-and.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368698207393/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516095647-00038-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.98162 | 1,209 | 1.523438 | 2 |
Mayoral Race In Border Town Parallels A Woman's Historic Bid For Mexican Presidency
AGUA PRIETA, MEXICO -- By now, with summer on its way, Mexico's political season is hot.
In border cities like Agua Prieta, just south of Douglas, Ariz., pedestrians can hear music playing from a dusty sedan. As it drives through town, the car sounds a peppy anthem for the National Action Party -- the PAN – and rallies support for candidates like Lolita Montaño.
The July 1, 2012, election is the first time a woman will appear on a ballot for mayor of Agua Prieta as a PAN candidate. But Montaño is no political neophyte. On an afternoon in May, she could be found in full campaign mode: witnessing a wedding, and touring the offices of City Hall. Montaño has already done stints in the state legislature and the city council.
“I'm a woman who wears skirts,” she said, taking a break from shaking hands with city workers. “But I can wear the pants comfortably, too.”
Like many other border cities in Northern Mexico, Agua Prieta is suffering from an image problem. Montaño' said her priority is restoring the town's reputation as a safe place for Americans to visit. Her husband is a doctor who caters to patients who drive south from the United States.
But even as she campaigns, Montaño is paying attention to another race. Josefina Vásquez Mota -- also a PAN-ista -- is trying to become Mexico's first female president.
“It's not so much that men didn't want women in politics. It's that women up until now have never stood up and said, ‘I am here,’ Montaño said. “Well, I am here.”
Her campaign manager, Arturo Romero, puts it this way, “In Mexico, it’s time for the woman -- to lead us here in Agua Prieta and to lead us here in Mexico.”
But that woman may not be Romero’s boss.
Irma Villalobos de Terán is a political heavyweight in Agua Prieta. Terán is a member of the Institutional Revolutionary Party, or the PRI. It’s the same party that ruled Mexico for 71 years before Vicente Fox and the PAN took control in 2000.
Terán has already served once as Agua Prieta’s mayor. Her husband, a power figure in his own right, is the mayor now. At a recent rally, Terán could be seen energizing a crowd and invoking the name of the presidential frontrunner, fellow PRI candidate Enrique Peña Nieto.
“No more massacres in our Mexico,” she announced to the crowd. "We don't want more death. We want -- we need -- Enrique Peña Nieto!”
Multiple attempts to interview Terán for this story were unsuccessful.
Women Taking Charge
Women In Mexican Politics
The Mexican border town of Agua Prieta is electing a new mayor. Two women are running for the job for the first time in the town’s history. On a national stage, another woman is making a historic bid in Mexican politics. (Photos by Michel Marizco)
People familiar with Agua Prieta’s mayoral race -- and Mexican politics in general -- say the political climate is changing.
“Women in Mexico are making really, really significant strides,” said Erik Lee, Associate Director of the North American Center for Transborder Studies at Arizona State University
Lee pointed to a handful of women who have already landed powerful positions in the country’s unions and government.
“The Mexican public has become accustomed to this very quickly,” Lee said.
In a way, Mexico has had to get accustomed to this. For the past decade, the country has had a quota system that requires 40 percent of a party’s candidates for federal office to be women. But the parties have struggled to comply, and Mexico is lagging behind other Latin American countries that have already elected female presidents. Still, Mexico’s doing better than at least one of its neighbors, Lee said.
“I have a running bet with some colleagues about whether the U.S. or Mexico will have a woman president first. My money is on Mexico,” he said.
The Perception Problem
Despite these strides, and with security concerns front and center, there’s still a perception that a woman might not be ready for Mexico’s highest office.
More from the Fronteras Desk journalists who reported along the border about impact the Mexican elections will have on the U.S.
In Agua Prieta's main plaza, shoe shiner Uriel Castillo, 59, takes a break from watching TV to talk politics.
“A woman can't fight against drug traffickers and all that rebelliousness,” Castillo said. “She could be threatened, and fearful, because she's a woman.”
This view isn’t hard to find in border towns in Northern Mexico. Some even say Mexico’s fight against drugs and cartel violence is a “male problem.” That’s why Castillo won’t vote for a female president.
But he’s fine with a woman running Agua Prieta because this town is a relative oasis of calm along a turbulent and violent border. | <urn:uuid:d0098a82-1c28-4e6e-96bb-8679a03eab96> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.fronterasdesk.org/news/2012/jun/20/mayoral-race-mexican-border-town-parallels-womans-/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368705559639/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516115919-00041-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.948749 | 1,151 | 1.523438 | 2 |
This week, President Barack Obama will arrive at the annual conference of the National Association of Latino Elected and Appointed Officials (NALEO) in Orlando, Florida, with more in hand than a broken promise to pass comprehensive immigration reform. He'll arrive on the heels of his announcement of temporary relief from deportation for certain DREAMers-a decision that will undoubtedly spike enthusiasm among some Latino voters who have been disenchanted with the lack of immigration reform and his administration's record deportation rates.
In fact, new polling from Latino Decisions and America's Voice shows that 49% of Latino voters in key states (including Colorado, New Mexico, Arizona, Florida, Nevada and Virginia) are more enthusiastic about Obama and his administration.
Last year, Obama did not attend the NALEO conference. He did speak before the National Council on La Raza (NCLR), where he was confronted by questions from DREAMers who knew he had the authority to offer some form of administrative relief that would protect them from deportation.
Almost one year later, many DREAMers are celebrating the temporary relief. While it has come five months before the presidential election and is widely being interpreted as a politically-motivated move, it is also-as Obama said when announcing the relief-the right thing to do to ensure that these young people don't pay for the actions of their parents or the inaction of politicians.
Besides, it's laughable when politicians accuse each other of being "politically motivated" in their actions, when every action - especially in an election year - is a carefully calculated one. The only question is whether the result of political calculation will affect citizens adversely, or whether it will be a positive change.
Does anyone really think that Republican senator Marco Rubio of Florida, who has long promised to introduce a conservative version of the DREAM Act-also months before the elections-isn't motivated by politics? That he's not trying to present a friendlier side of the Republican party to Latino voters, and improve its abysmally low approval ratings among them?
That said, it's now being reported that Rubio may not even introduce his bill, since the conservative wing of his party in the House has already voiced its disapproval.
Obama's action preempts Rubio's proposal and puts pressure on Republicans to respond and take a stand. The most radical right-wingers are saying what they always say: this is amnesty and an abuse of presidential power.
Others, like Rubio himself and presumptive Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney, are choosing their words very carefully. They're trying to thread the needle by attacking the President on the process of his action, without looking like they're attacking DREAMers or Latinos directly. Might this, perchance, be due to political considerations?
The argument they're using is that giving relief to DREAMers through a DHS directive is a short-term solution that "makes it harder" to find a long-term, legislative solution like the DREAM Act itself.
How this makes legislation harder is entirely unclear. What is clear is that the Republicans who originally supported and even wrote versions of the DREAM Act in years past have now turned their backs on it; that when the House passed DREAM in 2010, some Republicans compared the DREAMers to criminals; and that in the Senate, the Republican caucus was near unanimous, with 36 Republican senators voting to stop the advance of the long-term solution that Rubio and Romney are talking about now.
Furthermore, Romney himself has said that if he is elected president, he will veto the DREAM Act in its current form if it comes across his desk.
The DHS directive, like the long-term solution that Rubio has talked about so much but still not introduced, doesn't create a path to permanent legal status, but allows DREAMers a two-year, renewable deferred action along with work permits. Rubio's plan also offers work permits as well as the opportunity, according to the senator, to become a citizen through existing pathways.
On Friday, Romney said "I believe the status of young people who come here through no fault of their own is an important matter to be considered and should be solved on a long-term basis so they know what their future would be in this country."
Before Friday, the only future these DREAMers knew was the possibility that they could be deported by ICE at any moment, or that they could self-deport a la Romney to countries they didn't remember. To be sure, the DHS memo is no panacea, and won't resolve all their problems. But if it's implemented correctly, it will provide needed relief until Congress actually passes the DREAM Act or comprehensive immigration reform.
Compared to that, Romney's objection to Obama's announcement on procedural grounds looks like so many empty words: "I think the action that the president took today makes it more difficult to reach that long-term solution because an executive order of course is just a short-term matter. It can be reversed by subsequent presidents." Never mind that this was a DHS directive, not an executive order, but was Romney's response a veiled threat?
We don't know what Romney will bring to NALEO this week, when, like Obama, he'll address the conference of Hispanic officials of both parties, except his record of promising to veto the DREAM Act and promoting "self-deportation" during the primaries, and his avoidance of the question, as he did yesterday on Face The Nation, of whether he would uphold or reverse the Obama administration's directive if elected
Would he reverse it? If so, we certainly won't hear about it at NALEO.
And that will, of course, be due to political considerations.
Maribel Hastings is a senior adviser at America's Voice. | <urn:uuid:1940632a-5b37-4661-9f73-930b100af4fa> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://losgatos.patch.com/groups/maribel-hastingss-blog/p/bp--obama-takes-bold-action-republicans-put-on-defensive | 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 | 0.977181 | 1,178 | 1.765625 | 2 |
Luckily, 2013 looks as though it’ll be a year full of innovations for gadget jugglers – and particularly music fans. And after the gift-giving rush of the holidays, people will be looking for new ways to make their devices interact, so that they can streamline their digital lives.
One of the best places to get started is with your music collection. For most people, it’s not uncommon to have hundreds or thousands of music files. While that variety is enjoyable, those high numbers have some underlying consequences. First, the sheer cost of paying for those songs and albums, and second, the amount of space they take up. And if your music isn’t shareable across platforms, there’s a serious frustration factor.
How can you declutter your life in the new year? A digital music subscription is one of the best places to get started, offering a variety of benefits:
1. Cost cutting. Digital music subscriptions offer millions of licensed songs and albums, typically for around $10 per month. Weighing that price against what you’d pay for individual tracks, the savings can add up quickly. For example, a premium subscription to Sony Entertainment Network’s Music Unlimited service gives users access to more than 18 million songs from all of the major labels and many independents and costs under $120 for the whole year.
2. Access anywhere. Digital subscriptions make it easy to access music across devices like personal computers, iPhone and Android smartphones, tablets, smart TVs, gaming consoles and more. So there’s no need to buy yet another gadget to have all the music you want at your fingertips, wherever you are. There is even offline playback for Android devices so you do not need to be connected to the internet to enjoy your favorite music. You can also skip the time commitment of syncing and downloading – your catalog automatically syncs with every compatible device you connect to your account.
3. Keep it secure. If you’ve ever gotten a “no files found” message or lost a device, you know the panic that the thought of losing your music collection will induce. A digital subscription keeps your library safe in the cloud, so that you don’t need to fear losing it all – and having to replace it.
4. Find new music. A defining part of being a music lover is always looking for great new music. An added benefit of a digital subscription is that it allows you to explore bands you haven’t heard of before; some services also provide features to help you navigate the choices available based on your preferences. Aside from delivering all of the latest album releases, Sony’s Music Unlimited service hosts dozens and dozens of pre-programmed channels and additional channels created by user preference through My Channels.
As you ring in 2013, start the new year by cutting down the clutter and optimizing your digital life. Take the first step by trying the Music Unlimited service – there is a free 14 day trial to get you started. Learn more at music.sonyentertainmentnetwork.com. | <urn:uuid:9a05942d-cbc7-4a29-ab89-2bc8eb6efd41> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://durantdemocrat.com/pages/full_story/push?article-Simple+tips+to+declutter+your+digital+life%20&id=21530126&instance=all | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368696382584/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516092622-00001-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.930484 | 630 | 1.601563 | 2 |
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