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- Lord Voldemort: "And here we have Crabbe… you will do better this time, will you not, Crabbe? And you, Goyle? The same goes for you, Nott."
- Nott: "My Lord, I prostrate myself before you, I am your most faithful —"
- Lord Voldemort: "That will do."
- — Lord Voldemort to Nott at Little Hangleton graveyard.[src]
Nott was a pure-blood wizard, most likely a Slytherin student at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, and one of the earliest Death Eaters of Lord Voldemort, having joined in 1955 . He fought in the First Wizarding War, and travelled to Hogsmeade in order to "wish good luck" to Tom Riddle in trying to get a teacher position at Hogwarts. He was the husband of Mrs Nott, who died in the 1980s, and the father of Theodore Nott, a Slytherin student at Hogwarts from 1991 to 1998. Nott didn't search for Voldemort after his downfall, but this was forgiven after Voldemort's return in 1995. Nott fought at several battles of the Second Wizarding War, including the Battle of the Department of Mysteries, in which he was injured. After the Battle of Hogwarts and Voldemort's final defeat, he was presumably killed or imprisoned in Azkaban.
Nott was born into the pure-blood Nott family, which placed much interest in purity of blood. He began attending Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry at the age of eleven and was most likely Sorted into Slytherin House. He might have been a classmate of Tom Riddle, as well as a member of his gang. While part of the student body, he seems to have become a friend of Horace Slughorn, and as such was likely part of the Slug Club, although the professor denied this connection in later years, after Nott was revealed to have become one of the first Death Eaters.
First Wizarding WarEdit
Nott fought in the First Wizarding War, and, along with Mulciber, Rosier and Dolohov, he had travelled to Hogsmeade, to "say good luck to Voldemort, during his attempt to ask for work at Hogwarts." Nott was able to avoid being sent to Azkaban after the downfall of Lord Voldemort in 1981. An elderly widower, Nott raised his son, Theodore, after the death of his wife sometime before 1991. Nott was also one of the Death Eaters who did not search for Voldemort after his downfall.
Second Wizarding WarEdit
Battle of the Department of MysteriesEdit
The following year, Nott participated in the Battle of the Department of Mysteries. He grabbed hold of Harry Potter as he and his friends fled the Hall of Prophecy, but was stunned by Hermione Granger, leaving him incapacitated as shelves filled with prophecies collapsed around him. The group leader, Lucius Malfoy, ordered the other Death Eaters to leave Nott behind, stating that his injuries would be considered nothing by Voldemort compared to the loss of the particular prophecy which Voldemort sought. After the battle, Nott was exposed as a Death Eater and imprisoned in Azkaban.
After this, Nott most likely escaped from Azkaban along with many other Death Eaters in the summer of 1997 and served Voldemort during the height of the Second Wizarding War. He possibly fought in several battles, including the Battle of Hogwarts.
Behind the scenesEdit
- Nott attended Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry along with Tom Marvolo Riddle and attended one of Horace Slughorn, Head of Slytherin House's dinner parties.
- He is played by Paschal Friel in Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire
- Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire
- Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire (film)
- Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire (video game)
- Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix
- Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince (Mentioned only)
Notes and referencesEdit
Alecto Carrow | Amycus Carrow | Antonin Dolohov | Augustus Rookwood | Avery (I) | Avery (II) |
Barty Crouch Jr. | Bellatrix Lestrange | Crabbe | Evan Rosier | Gibbon | Goyle |
Jugson | Lestrange | Mulciber (I) | Mulciber (II) | Nott | Rabastan Lestrange | Rodolphus Lestrange | Rosier | Selwyn | Thorfinn Rowle | Travers | Walden Macnair | Wilkes | Yaxley
|Death Eaters who Defected:|
|Death Eaters' allies:|
Vincent Crabbe | Golgomath | Gregory Goyle | Fenrir Greyback | Narcissa Malfoy (defected) |
Quirinus Quirrell | Scabior | Dolores Umbridge
Dementors | Giants (Golgomath's control) | Muggle-Born Registration Commission | Snatchers | Werewolves | <urn:uuid:1fe5744c-55ae-4c40-bf14-81fca7390aae> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://harrypotter.wikia.com/wiki/Theodore_Nott's_father | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368696382584/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516092622-00000-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.949871 | 1,067 | 1.6875 | 2 |
Taylor Swift thought she was simply having fun, but her actions led to criticism by a government environmental agency.
The 20-year-old Grammy Queen is on tour in Australia and after her sold-out concert she went to a park in Melbourne and fed the possums.
Swift, who is the top-selling digital music artist in history, Tweeted the experience.
“Tonight the band and I played a show, then hopped in the van and headed to the park for some midnight wild possum feeding,” she wrote on Twitter.
Sounds like fun, right? Not so fast. Her move upset Australian wildlife authorities, with the Department of Sustainability and Environment issuing this statement:
“We know people who feed wild animals often have the best intentions and that it is attractive to tourists who want to interact with Australian wildlife,” a spokesperson said.
“However, DSE advises people not to feed wild animals… it can disrupt their natural behavior and it can cause some animals to lose their natural fear of people, making them vulnerable to attack.”
But other than that innocent mistake the trip has been a huge success for Swift and she’s even found time to do some shopping.
Staff at a trendy Melbourne boutique report that Swift bought two ancient Chinese birdcages and a lavish Indian silk cushion, on a shopping expedition.
“She also looked at a very old and very big wedding lantern, but she was a bit concerned about how she would get it home,” a sales assistant said.
“She was absolutely gorgeous and seemed very sweet.” | <urn:uuid:e99d0c62-1ecb-49a1-83d2-2f20d24c839f> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://radaronline.com/exclusives/2010/02/taylor-swift-criticized-environmental-agency/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368710006682/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516131326-00017-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.97702 | 332 | 1.695313 | 2 |
North Shore-LIJ Requires New Nurses to Have BSN
North Shore–LIJ Health System said today that starting Sept. 1 it will require newly hired nurses to either hold a Bachelor of Nursing Science degree or earn one within five years.
Michael Dowling, president/CEO of the Great Neck, NY–based 15–hospital health system, said the new requirement—the first of its kind for any hospital in New York State—is based on research that links higher levels of nursing education to improved quality outcomes, lower mortality, and fewer adverse events.
“As patient care becomes more complex and high–tech, there is growing evidence that developing a more highly educated nursing workforce improves patient safety and leads to higher–quality, more cost–effective patient care,” Dowling said, in a media release.
Nurses who do not have a BSN must enroll in a bachelor’s degree program within two years of their hire date and earn their degree within five years. North Shore–LIJ offers tuition assistance to employees for BSN degrees, and flexible onsite nursing degree programs with several Long Island universities and colleges.
Nurses already on staff who have not earned their BSNs are exempt from the new requirement, but they are encouraged to continue their education and take advantage of the health system’s tuition reimbursement program, says Maureen White, RN, senior vice president/CNO of the North Shore–LIJ.
“Nurses require a broad–based education that prepares them to meet increasingly complex patient health needs in constantly evolving practice environments,” White says. “Nurses must be prepared to work with individuals, families and communities of diverse backgrounds in a range of settings as part of interdisciplinary teams. The bottom line is that our nurses have a deep and direct impact on every single patient who enters our doors, more so than any other medical professional.”
White says about 60% of North Shore–LIJ’s more than 10,000 nurses already have a bachelors, masters or doctoral degree, and 465 nurses are now working on obtaining their bachelor’s degree.
“So it’s clear that many already recognize the importance of advancing their clinical knowledge skills and enhancing patient care in their own environment,” White adds.
In 2009, a bill was introduced in the New York State Legislature to require registered professional nurses to attain a BSN degree within 10 years of their initial licensure. If passed, New York would be the first state in the country to have a BSN as standardized entry into the nursing profession. Attempts by nurses and other advocates to pass similar legislation in the state date back to 1976.
John Commins is a senior editor with HealthLeaders Media.
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- Hospital Pricing Transparency a Marketing Game Changer | <urn:uuid:e524426b-0a62-4cf5-b0d1-86ad8eed0117> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.healthleadersmedia.com/content/NRS-253618/North-ShoreLIJ-Requires-New-Nurses-to-Have-BSN.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368704713110/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516114513-00015-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.953945 | 698 | 1.664063 | 2 |
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If you cannot find the answer to your tax question below, visit the online section about Indiana tax overview, credits or deductions. If you still cannot find the answer to your specific tax question, contact the Department or call our automated information line at (317) 232-2240.
If you were paid to work at anytime during the year, and you made more than $1,000, you must file a tax return. Each time you receive a paycheck from your employer federal, state and, in most cases, county taxes are deducted from your wages. To find out if too much or not enough tax was taken out of your paychecks, you must file a state tax return. After filing the return, you may find you do not owe the state. But the state may owe you a refund.
If you made more than $1,000 in wages you must file a state tax return. It’s the law.
Not only is it your legal duty to file your state tax return, but to get your refund, you must file a completed tax return.
Federal and state tax laws and rates are not the same. It is possible to owe Indiana taxes and get a refund from your federal taxes in the same year.
No, but the first $1,000 that you make is exempt from tax. Everyone in Indiana gets a minimum $1,000 exemption.
Yes, if they claimed you as a dependent on their federal tax return.
Yes. Indiana allows all filers to claim their own exemption on their state return (even if your parents or guardians claimed you, too.)
Pay as much of the bill as you can by April 15 to reduce the amount of penalty and interest that will be added to the bill.
As soon as you receive a bill from the Department, call the number on the bill to see what payment options may be available.
Visit the Department's Individual Frequently Asked Questions for more information. | <urn:uuid:7cced873-7e0c-4137-b7fa-d7ea0d32fc35> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.in.gov/dor/4752.htm | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368706890813/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516122130-00013-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.965156 | 432 | 1.8125 | 2 |
We all are so focused and determined towards our professional goals that we, sometimes, over look the importance of getting a break from our responsibilities. The best way to relieve your tensions is to go visit a foreign country in which you can get a chance to see new, exciting and beautiful places and meet new people at the same time. The best way to explore a country is by going for bus tours because this is the only way by which you get the experience of sight seeing most of the places of a country.
There are various bus tours available for all kinds of tourists so they can get the best out of their experience. However, the buses in which tourists like to travel are Double Decker because they like to travel in bigger groups. The reason why double decker is given this name is because it has two storeys or decks. These buses are specially known for the short sight seeing tours. Double deckers are popular in some cities of Europe and mostly used in former British Colonies such as Honk Kong and Singapore. But with the passage of time, they became popular among all the countries around the world.
Double Decker Buses
A typical Double Decker has the capacity to accommodate 60 to 70 people due to which bus tours become even more fun. Usually the upper compartment of the bus is roofless so that you get the feeling that there is nothing between you and the beautiful places that you see while enjoying the weather. Besides that you can get a clear view of all the buildings and places from the upper deck of the bus. Considering this reason, the buses are manufactured in such a way that they can hold up to 45 people in the upper compartment. The number of seats on the upper and lower deck can vary depending on the size and the structure of the bus. If you are a person who likes to enjoy travelling in a peaceful environment then there is always an option for you to travel in the lover compartment where there is less noise. In most of the double deckers, there are 14 seats available in the lower compartment.
All the double deckers are not roofless. There are also such double deckers that are completely occupied just like an ordinary bus. The choice is solely made by the tourist whether he or she wants to travel in a roofless double decker or one with the roof.
Double Decker Ticket Prices
The prices of tickets are charged according to the distance you travel. Usually tickets for children are available at a cheaper price. A normal double decker ticket would cost an adult about 35 dollars for an entire day. The same ticket can be purchased for 18 dollars for a child. There are different packages for families you can choose from.
Double Deckers suit any tour or purpose
The best thing about double deckers is that these spacious buses are not only used for travel tours. Many people book double deckers for parties, weddings, prom, concerts, and birthdays in short any kind of get together that includes a big crowd. Renting a double decker is a very sensible option since you would not have to pay for the tickets over and over and if you are lucky enough, you can get some really good deals.
It would not be right to say that double deckers are only used for bus tours. Many companies are using double deckers for advertising their products because they are well aware of the fact that many people prefer to travel via double deckers. This way they get the opportunity to market their products to a major portion of their target audience.
Double Deck Tour Bus Australia
Double Deck Tour Bus Scotland
Double Deck Tour Bus England
Double Deck Tour Bus Wales
Double Deck Tour Bus North America
Double Deck Tour Bus Germany
Double Deck Tour Bus Ireland
Double Deck Tour Bus Scandavia
Double Deck Tour Bus Italy
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Last month, Sande Scoredos passed away. I had been out of touch with Sande and didn't even know she was sick.
I met Sande when I helped produce LA SIGGRAPH's Career Boot Camp in 1998. Sande was passionate about training and she donated many, many hours to organizations like SIGGRAPH and the Visual Effects Society. She was chair of the computer animation festival for the SIGGRAPH conference in 2001 and was thrilled to discover new talent.I got a chance to work with her when I joined the Education committee of the VES.
You can get a sense of her enthusiasm for her co-workers when you look at her profile on Linkedin. Under her title as director of education of Rhythm & Hues she wrote: "Awesome company of animation and visual effects -- most wonderful group of smart people." And under Wavefront Technologies where she was worldwide training manager, "Most amazing golden age of computer graphics. Brilliant people."
Sande knew that learning never ended and dedicated her career to teaching and training others so they could do their jobs better. As exec director of technical training and artist development at Sony Pictures Imageworks, she expanded the training of employees at Sony to include faculty from schools across the U.S. with the Imageworks Professional Academic Excellence Program (IPAX). Sande observed, "The top animation, visual effects and computer science programs are successful because they are taught by dedicated and passionate educators who attract exceptional students. These devoted teachers provide the inspiration, guidance, expertise and rigor to their committed students who in turn produce exceptional work."
Sande was an educator of educators. Napoleon Hill, in his book, Think and Grow Rich, writes that "educate" is derived from the Latin word "educo," which means to educe, to draw out, to develop from within. Sande truly knew how to draw out the best in others. Sande enriched the lives of many by nurturing their talents and drawing them out with training. She developed their skills and provided opportunities to grow. Sande was a selfless person who provided inspiration, guidance, and expertise to anyone who sought her help.
Sande helped thousands become successful. I hope we all honor her memory by continuing to learn throughout our lives.
Learn from everyone you work with. If you have a supervisor who is great, observe what he or she does to keep the team motivated. If you have a co-worker with a special gift, learn from your time together. It may be all too brief.
I learned a lot from Sande. She was a champion of developing people -- getting them to be their best. Sande was passionate about education and training. She developed not only Sony employees and employees at the other companies she worked with, but also teachers and others she came into contact with. She enabled people to grow and she cared about making everyone strive to be better than they are. Sande made an impact of the visual effects and animation community and on me. I miss her.
"You live on -- in the hearts of everyone you have touched and nurtured while you were here...Death ends a life, not a relationship" -- Mitch Albom, Tuesdays with Morrie
Pamela Kleibrink Thompson could not attend Sande Scoredos' memorial services in the Los Angeles area, but hopes that Sande's dedication will inspire others to learn every day and to pursue personal development throughout their lives. Pamela Kleibrink Thompson is a career coach, recruiter and hiring strategist. She is available for speaking engagements or personal career coaching sessions. Contact her at [email protected] . Her "Career Coach" column can be read at http://mag.awn.com . Her Linkedin profile can be found at http://www.linkedin.com/in/pamelathompson . | <urn:uuid:d800d15a-3c25-4305-8854-75cf14ecd1e9> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.awn.com/print/articles/advice/career-coach-life-lessons?page=0%2C1 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368705559639/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516115919-00015-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.978197 | 785 | 1.546875 | 2 |
If your credit has taken a dive, you should take steps to improve your credit history and credit score. Often, it's best to first focus on digging yourself out of debt. (For comprehensive information on managing credit card debt, negotiating with creditors, and dealing with debt, visit our Managing Debt topic area.) But once you've gotten a handle on your finances and debt burden, emerged from bankruptcy, or finished with a foreclosure, you can start rebuilding your credit. The sooner you rebuild your credit and improve your credit score, the sooner you'll be able to get new credit at a decent interest rate.
Below we provide details on how to start rebuilding your credit. Although you've probably heard that you need new credit to start building credit -- this is not always true. Often, it's wise to start repairing your credit without getting new credit. We discuss numerous ways to do this. Then, whey you're ready, you can start getting new credit in order to further improve your credit history -- we provide idea on how to do this as well. | <urn:uuid:1944ff61-57a1-4a12-a393-876ff52a6859> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.nolo.com/legal-encyclopedia/rebuilding-improving-credit | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368697380733/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516094300-00040-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.957401 | 212 | 1.585938 | 2 |
Ballot measures asking residents to tax themselves for the benefit of local school districts enjoyed decisive wins this week, not only in the South Bay - where all four such efforts emerged triumphant - but across Los Angeles County, where the success rate was 18 for 19.
The streak of local victories doesn't even factor in the most consequential success, Proposition 30, Gov. Jerry Brown's signature bill that spares California's public schools from taking another $6 billion hit on top of the $20 billion they've already endured in recent years.
"People understand schools have been cut down to the bare bones," said Anita Avrick, Redondo Beach school board president. "If 30 hadn't passed, just about every school district would have been taken over by the state."
The wave of success seems to hint at a reversal of fortunes for public schools and community colleges, which for several years have seen class sizes swell, the length of school years shrink and popular programs disappear.
But local education officials say it's too soon to tell what - if anything - can be quickly restored as a result of the successes, noting that Proposition 30 merely promises flat funding.
"It's like, OK, now we can somewhat relax with the knowledge that, barring some unforeseen event, it's not going to get worse," said Bill Beverly, board president of El Camino College.
Still, local education officials say they look forward to the unfamiliar
In the Centinela Valley district - which consists of Lawndale, Leuzinger and Hawthorne high schools - the success of both Proposition 30 and Measure CL, a regional parcel tax benefiting five South Bay districts, soon could mean the restoration of programs.
These could include adding assistant principals and other staff support to Leuzinger High School, or breathing life back into the district's recently decimated adult-education program, Superintendent Jose Fernandez said.
"I'm feeling really good, not for myself but for the 33,000 kids in this region," he said, referring to students not only in his district, but the other four beneficiaries of Measure CL: the Hawthorne, Lawndale, Lennox and Wiseburn elementary school districts.
In Redondo Beach, where a triumphant Measure Q will bring $63 million to cover technology expenses, Avrick said she'd like to look at restoring smaller class sizes, which in grades K-3 have risen from 20 to 28 in half a decade. But she added such a bring-back must be weighed against other possible restorations, such as the five days lost to furloughs and depleted reserve accounts.
"We're down to 3.01 percent," she said of the district's rainy day fund, which by law cannot dip below 3 percent. "That's not a position you want to be in. You want to have close to 8 percent."
The Los Angeles Unified School District would have had to cut $255 million from this year's budget, and upwards of $650 million next year if the state ballot measure had failed. To cope with the cuts, officials debated shrinking the school calendar by 15 days, canceling student transportation and consolidating or killing programs.
Those contingency plans won't be necessary with voter approval of Proposition 30, which will raise the sales tax a quarter-percent for the next four years and the tax rate on incomes over $250,000 for seven years.
Meanwhile, of the four successful measures in the South Bay, three were strictly for facilities, meaning the money can be spent only on construction or infrastructure - not teacher salaries or educational programs.
Such initiatives tend to play well here.
For instance, Redondo Beach Unified's Measure Q is the third such referendum to pass in that school district since 2000.
And El Camino College's Measure E, which will borrow $350 million to cover facility upgrades, replicates a similar success a decade ago. It will essentially allow the Torrance-area college to complete the half of campus left untouched by the first bond, not to mention guarantee 10 or so more years of steady construction.
In Inglewood Unified, Measure GG will generate $90 million for facility upgrades. It comes just several years after voters in the district passed Measure K, which borrowed $130 million for projects that include a new school, the K-8 La Tijera.
Staff writer Barbara Jones contributed to this story.
Follow Rob Kuznia on Twitter at http://twitter.com/robkuznia | <urn:uuid:567b1c89-e6cb-4d27-b4a4-0ce658a1a4ba> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.dailybreeze.com/latestnews/ci_21952602/voters-support-proposition-30-and-host-other-local | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368704392896/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516113952-00022-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.960905 | 906 | 1.648438 | 2 |
||This is one of the best behind the scenes type Star Trek books that I have ever read. Well, okay, so I've only ever read two of them, but still... This is really a very interesting book, which follows the story of Star Trek: The Motion Picture from early development as a television pilot episode for Star Trek Phase II through to the final product. The book is crammed with official information, from blueprints of props and original episode concepts all the way through to the lost series' writer's bible. Just before you hit the midpoint, you see an earlier (and in my opinion, better) version of the script for TMP. After this are 32 pages of full color art, concept sketches, and frames from test footage. After these mostly very interesting images are twelve episode concepts and one episode script. Two of these episodes made it into TNG in one form or another, and one of those two was made worse by the TNG version of its script. We also get a fascinating glimpse of a Klingon Empire that might have been if Phase II had gone on. | <urn:uuid:b3f52728-cf94-4306-8abc-a97033a3b83d> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.ditl.org/pagotherbooks-page.php?BookID=505&ListID=Timeline | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368706499548/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516121459-00017-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.968446 | 220 | 1.578125 | 2 |
Nairobi, KenyaJune 12, 2012 By: Jena Tesse Fox Travel Agent
|A safari ride in Nairobi comes with views of the city’s high-rise buildings in background.|
Nairobi is unique among African cities: No other capital has a national park so close to its borders, making safari game drives an easy day trip as part of an otherwise urban vacation.
We reached out to several Africa specialists to see what they recommend doing in Nairobi: Jim Holden, president of African Travel; Elizabeth Gordon of Africa-focused tour operator/agency Extraordinary Journeys; and Sandy Salle of Hills of Africa.
And perhaps somewhat surprisingly, all three were largely in agreement on what to see and do in Nairobi. First on the list is The David Sheldrick Wildlife Trust, commonly known as either the Daphne or David Sheldrick Elephant Orphanage. It was founded by Daphne Sheldrick in memory of her husband David, who worked to prevent poaching in Tsavo National Park. In 2006, Queen Elizabeth named Ms. Sheldrick a Dame Commander of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire, the first knighthood to be awarded in Kenya since the country became an independent republic in 1963.
Today, black rhinos and many other local species are also protected at the orphanage. Gordon recommends a private visit in the afternoon. “You donate $50 and you get to put the elephants to bed!” Otherwise, visitors should go between 11 a.m. and noon when the animals get their daily exercise and baths. Holden says that the trust is a “wonderful experience” for children, helping them learn about conservation as they observe the animals up close.
All three also recommend a visit to Giraffe Manor. Originally created as a sanctuary for the endangered Rothschild Giraffes, the manor is now a good spot for families to get up-close-and-personal with the animals from the safety of a two-story structure. “The giraffes won’t attack anybody,” Holden says, although Salle points out that they will sometimes poke their heads in the windows while the guests eat breakfast. People who are not staying at the manor can go to the viewing area, where they can feed the animals and learn about them firsthand.
And then there’s Nairobi National Park, just outside of the city limits. “One of the best things about doing a safari in Nairobi is seeing the high-rise buildings in background,” Holden says. “It’s an odd feeling! There you are in the bush—and it’s an authentic savannah! It’s not a zoo! You can take a game drive in the morning and then retire to a shady restaurant for lunch. You get the best of both worlds.”
Most of these attractions are located in a suburb of Nairobi called Karen, named for Karen Blixen of Out of Africa fame. The author’s house has been converted into a museum, and the surrounding businesses are popular with locals and visitors alike.
|Guest rooms at Fairmont The Norfolk are adorned with plush carpeting and deep velour soft furnishings.|
Gordon also recommends a visit to the Natural History Museum, which was recently renovated and, she says, hosts some very good exhibits. “For example, they have the single most important collection of early human fossils in the world—all discovered in Kenya—including the ‘black skull.’ ” Art fans will want to spend time at Kitengela Glass. “Nani is an artist but also does huge glasswork installations,” she says. “Her property is amazing.”
For shopping, Holden recommends visiting the Nairobi City Market in the downtown area. “It’s the original market with lots of different stalls,” he says, noting that it’s a good place to find authentic African art and artifacts—but only with a guide who can help guests find what they need. “Be prepared to haggle,” he adds. Visitors can also go to the Eastern Village Market, East Africa’s largest shopping and recreation complex with more than 150 retail and service outlets.
Where to Stay
There are plenty of places to stay in Nairobi, from high-end, high-rise hotels to intimate bed-and-breakfasts. Holden calls the historic Norfolk Hotel “iconic”: It opened in 1904 and appeared in the film version of Out of Africa.
Today, the Norfolk is operated by Fairmont Hotels, and is known as Fairmont The Norfolk. Situated in the city center, the hotel is a quick drive to all of the area’s major attractions and the airport. Head Concierge Michelle Onginjo ([email protected], 011-254-20-226-5000) can arrange visits to the elephant orphanage, museums and shopping centers as well as a private session at Kitengela Glass or with the founder of the One Off Gallery for a private tour.
The spa at the Norfolk books up quickly, so make reservations at least two months in advance. (The deep tissue massage is the most popular—ask for Elizabeth Gitau when booking.) Agents can make reservations with Health Club Manager David Omaramba ([email protected], 011-254-72-199-1960).
The best rooms at the hotel are the nine Signature Suites, named for notables like Harry Thuku, (Theodore) Roosevelt, Lord Erroll and Blixen. These suites all have separate sitting rooms and dressing rooms. Families will want to book one of the three suites in the Acacia Wing, which connect to twin rooms. Good to know: All suites and Deluxe Rooms face the courtyard.
Agents can reach out to Sales Manager Catherine Chuani ([email protected], 011-254-20-226-5000) with any questions.
The Tribe Hotel is a more contemporary Nairobi option for those who like boutique properties. The hotel’s spa has six treatment rooms (including a couples’ suite) as well as a hair and nail salon and also offers the rasul treatment. The Kenya Gold treatment is reportedly the most popular pick: It combines a Coffee Detox Body Polish and an hour-long Kaya Massage. (Ask for Kellyn when booking.) Contact Emily Gicheru ([email protected], 011-254-20-720-0656) for reservations.
The Penthouse (#300), Presidential Suite (#232) and Ambassadorial Suite (#238) are the top picks, and families should opt for Superior Rooms (which interconnect) or Junior Suites which can fit two adults and a child. For top views, pick Junior Suites #202 or 302, or Deluxe Rooms ending in 08, 10 or 14. (Good to know: The Presidential Suite and the Penthouse have private butler service.)
Head Concierge Cameline Kiragu ([email protected], 011-254-20-720-0301) can arrange just about anything clients need, like sundowners on the escarpment; picnics in the nearby, secure Karura Forest; a private city tour by helicopter; or an excursion into the Nairobi National Park with a champagne breakfast. Of course, the hotel can also arrange for game drives in the park with guides. The travel agent liaison is Moses Mutahi ([email protected], 011-254-20-720-0107).
Upcoming hotels in the city include a Best Western and a Park Inn. | <urn:uuid:f56d9743-6cce-4571-9c42-780403a2a10f> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.travelagentcentral.com/east-africa/nairobi-kenya | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368708766848/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516125246-00022-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.933922 | 1,651 | 1.601563 | 2 |
Introduced at the end of the 1960′s, the C3 Corvette started out as the ultimate sports car before slowly falling into a pit of malaise engineering. By the mid 1970′s, the C3 Corvette had transformed from a muscle machine to a touring car as horsepower went down, weight went up, and many people started counting down the days until the C4 Corvette was released.
Many people, but not everybody. This next video features a 1974 Corvette that was once a treasured family heirloom. Sure, it came with a fairly pitiful 190 horsepower V8 from the factory, but a new stroker engine helped boost output to 560 horsepower… at the wheels. Just listen to this Corvette purr!
The original 350 engine produced between 190 and 250 horsepower in these year Corvettes, but a well-done 383 stroker helped push the horsepower reading to well over 500. That’s far more appropriate for a car of the Corvette’s caliber, though the modifications also included a custom exhaust and a four-speed manual transmission. This car must have been fun to drive.
Alas, this video comes before an accident in Hollywood left the Corvette totaled. See, despite how much money goes into these classic Corvettes, most 1970’s C3 models just aren’t worth much money. Which is a real shame, because a Corvette is a Corvette, and while the oil embargo era wasn’t the best time for American muscle, there will still some halfway-decent cars built at the time.
The video description ends by saying that this Corvette “…wasn’t anything special”, but we disagree. It doesn’t matter if you drive a Corvette or a Chevette; what makes these cars special are the people that drive them, and this ‘74 Corvette was one special car. | <urn:uuid:e9f811ba-61ab-4511-9556-db4942c07091> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.corvetteonline.com/news/video-1974-corvette-lays-down-big-power-on-the-dyno/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368709037764/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516125717-00023-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.954839 | 384 | 1.742188 | 2 |
An Oklahoma representative is being asked to step down by the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People after comments she made on the Oklahoma House of Representatives floor sparked controversy across the Sooner State.
Sally Kern said she apologizes for her comments she made when speaking on a proposed constitutional amendment that could eliminate affirmative action.
Rep. Sally Kern, R-Oklahoma City, said her words were not her "true spirit."
The amendment that could eliminate affirmative action if approved by voters next year passed the Oklahoma House of Representatives by a vote of 59-14 on Wednesday night.
?We have a high percentage of blacks in prison, and that?s tragic, but are they in prison just because they are black or because they don?t want to study as hard in school? I?ve taught school, and I saw a lot of people of color who didn?t study hard because they said the government would take care of them,? Kern said.
Kern also spoke about women and their work ethic compared to men.
"You see women usually don't want to work as hard as man because women tend to think a little bit more about their families, wanting to be at home more time (and) have a little more leisure time. That's all I (meant)," she said.
By Thursday morning, groups, particularly the NAACP, were already calling for her resignation.
"This is an outrage. We're calling for her to go today. She needs to step down now," NAACP State President Anthony Douglas said.
State representative Mike Shelton said he wants Kern reprimanded. | <urn:uuid:e70400c3-cbfa-42bc-b292-56ba6fe6d99d> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.koco.com/NAACP-Calls-For-Kern-s-Resignation-After-Minority-Comment/-/9844716/10741786/-/ati98/-/index.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368696383156/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516092623-00024-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.985844 | 329 | 1.679688 | 2 |
Suppose for a moment the insanity of the Newtown school shootings had not occurred Friday. Take a guess (this won't be too hard) where an act of perverse gun violence could have captured the nation's attention.
You're right. Florida, the land of guns.
As Hillsborough County Sheriff's Office deputies responded to a domestic violence call and approached a Valrico home Friday afternoon, they were met by an enraged Allen Harmeyer. Deputies say he was armed with a AK-47 assault rifle, and he fired off an entire 30-round extended magazine toward the law enforcement officers.
Harmeyer turned out to be a lousy marksman, and none of the officers were hit. But what if his aim had been better? What if the three deputies had been murdered? A resulting armed standoff might have taken a while. After all, Harmeyer had 1,000 rounds of ammunition and several more weapons in his home. Harmeyer is lucky he has only been charged with attempted murder. He's lucky he's still alive.
What does it take to finally have a coherent conversation about this country's irrational preoccupation with weapons that serve no other purpose but to create memorial services?
How many more first-graders? How many more cops? How many more shopping mall and movie theater customers? How many more school administrators and teachers? How many more?
Fox News psychiatric quack Keith Ablow suggested the Newtown carnage might have been prevented had only school officials been equally armed to the teeth. And biblical opportunist Mike Huckabee has opined the murders were the product of a godless school environment. The National Rifle Association has taken a vow of omerta in the days following the Sandy Hook Elementary School mass murder.
The NRA claims to be in the gun rights business, but its interests lie in maintaining a gross national product of paranoia. And it has plenty of patrons across the country, especially its wholly owned subsidiary in the Florida Legislature and in Congress, to do its bidding for fear of a politician losing his VIP seat at the public trough.
It would be a small tribute to the memory of the slain Newtown victims if their horrific tragedy served to begin to marginalize the NRA.
Reasonable people on both sides of the gun debate ought to be able to find common ground to both ensure the Second Amendment right to possess a weapon and the right to pursue happiness without worrying if your 6-year-old can go to school and be safe.
Reasonable people ought to be able to agree there is no intellectually honest rationale for owning guns like assault rifles, which have become the weapon of choice for many mass shootings. There is a reason why they are called assault rifles.
Reasonable people ought to be able to agree there is no justification to manufacture and sell extended magazines. The Connecticut murderer was equipped with enough ammunition to kill everyone in the school. Harmeyer used an extended magazine to fire at deputies.
Reasonable people ought to be able to agree there is no reason why members of the general public should be permitted to own body armor. What's the point, unless you plan on engaging in behavior that will result in police shooting at you?
Reasonable people ought to agree it is absurd that 40 percent of gun sales in the United States take place between private sellers and buyers without a required federal background check, otherwise known as the gun show loophole.
And reasonable people in Florida — the Legislature probably need not apply — ought to be able to concur that a state with a million concealed carry weapons permits has too many permits.
Perhaps the NRA would argue these suggestions are too onerous, too restrictive.
Perhaps those arguments, even among NRA members, would not carry as much influence this week as they did last week. Just ask the grieving families of Newtown. They deserve better than the all the obstinacy in the face of common sense.
So do the rest of us. | <urn:uuid:17a510f2-7c32-4af2-a587-ba3d129826f0> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.tampabay.com/opinion/columns/nation-cries-out-for-reasonable-gun-laws/1266509 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368707435344/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516123035-00031-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.976276 | 791 | 1.507813 | 2 |
A BULLDOG had to have emergency surgery to remove 500 quills from her face after she was unexpectedly attacked by a porcupine.
The young bulldog, known as Bella Mae, was outside playing near a pond in Oklahoma in the US, when a porcupine approached her and other pets.
Bella Mae, 3, got too close to the animal, which is believed to have instigated the attack, The Daily Mail reports.
She was rushed to the vet, where the quills were painfully removed one by one.
Veterinarians performed emergency surgery on her to take quills out from her face, neck, legs and chest.
The porcupine impaled all three dogs, but Bella took the brunt of the attack.
It took a doctor and two nurses two hours to extract the quills from her face, mouth and feet, the hospital said on its Facebook page.
Her owners Jerry and Allison Noles told KWTV had never seen the porcupine before in their neighbourhood.
"These animals are our kids and when you see them hurt you can't imagine the intense pain she had to be in. It affected our whole family," she said. | <urn:uuid:dd73d9c9-004a-483d-a27a-8f0f637bcc65> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.themercury.com.au/article/2012/08/07/351855_weird-news.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368705195219/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516115315-00038-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.992288 | 245 | 1.734375 | 2 |
For São João (St John's Day) in June, the high school students and other young people performed a quadrilha (square dance) for the citizen's of Glória. It was a fun event. Everyone dressed up like a Brazilian hillbilly. We took weeks to prepare and practice the moves.
São João was celebrated as the beginning of winter ---the rainy growing season.
My students ranged in age from 12 to 44. The high school had been in existence only 3 years when I arrived. The small girl wearing red tights was only 12 and just out of elementary school. The man (to the right of her) with the plaid shirt was a 26-year-old tailor who finally had a chance to attend high school. He ended up working for the department of agriculture and the woman he married several years later (also one of my students) became a teacher.
(See also my story about the Festa de São João.) | <urn:uuid:04d005a7-9332-48cf-a8d3-cb06502d56c3> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.thirdgoal.org/photos/view/quadrilha | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368700958435/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516104238-00008-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.990252 | 202 | 1.695313 | 2 |
Pope's Death Spurs Online Religious ActivityThe April 2 death of Pope John Paul II has increased visitor traffic to Web sites of all religious denominations in yet another show of offline events affecting online behavior, according to Internet monitor Hitwise USA Inc.
Catholic sites recorded a 118 percent jump in market share of online visits for the week ending April 9 versus the randomly selected week ending Nov. 6, 2004. But the share of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints sites also rose 40 percent, Judaism sites 22 percent and other Christian sites 5 percent.
The 84-year-old pontiff's death generated more online searches from people seeking additional information on him. For the week ending April 2, searches of the keyword "pope john paul" were up 3,161 percent, "pope" 2,801 percent and "pope john paul ii" 2,307 percent.
From all searches on the word "pope," 11 percent visited the official Vatican site at www.vatican.va and 10 percent each went to www.catholic.net and the Google News page at www.news.google.com.
Hitwise said the market share of U.S. visits to the Vatican site rose 543 percent April 2 versus the previous seven-day, March 25 to April 1 average.
The Latter-day Saints church, better known as the Mormons, held its 175th annual conference April 2-3, supported by an Internet broadcast. The market share of U.S. visits to the site at www.lds.org rose 351 percent April 2 versus the prior seven-day, March 25 to April 1 average.
A Hitwise analysis of the most frequented religion and spiritual Web sites for the week ending April 9 showed that the top 100 accounted for 67 percent of all visits to the category. An estimated 720 sites garnered the rest.
For that week, sites cited as Christian accounted for 62 of the top 100 visited. There were 15 Catholic-identified sites, five Mormon properties, three Muslim and two each of multi-faith. Southern Baptists, Jehovah's Witnesses, Judaism, Lutheran, Methodist and atheist each had one site in the top 100.
Older people with lower incomes tend to visit religion sites, Hitwise said. Online users older than 55 are 24 percent more likely to visit these sites. Those ages 18-24 are 28 percent less inclined.
People with an annual household income of less than $30,000 are 14 percent more likely to visit a religion site. Those with an annual household income over $150,000 are 22 percent less likely.
Men and women are evenly split in their propensity to visit religion sites.
In the United States, the Bible Belt generates a huge chunk of online visitors to religion sites. Visitors based in Utah and Idaho, respectively, were 208 percent and 64 percent more likely to have visited a religion site in the four weeks ending April 2. Mormon sites accounted for the highest percentage of visitors from Utah and Idaho.
Forty-four percent of visitors to the LDS Mission Network at www.mission.net were from those two states. Utah and Idaho visitors accounted for 38 percent of traffic to LDS Library at www.library.lds.org. The same states accounted for 36 percent of traffic at LDS LinkUp's www.ldslinkup.com and 33 percent at the LDS official home page at lds.org.
Mississippi users were 55 percent more likely to visit such sites, West Virginia 46 percent, South Carolina 38 percent and Oklahoma 37 percent. Alabama users were 36 percent likelier, North Carolina and Tennessee both 34 percent and Kentucky 33 percent.
Religion sites with the highest proportion of visitors from Bible Belt states largely were Christian or Baptist affiliations.
The Southern Baptist Convention's site at www.sbc.net got 38 percent of its visits from the Bible Belt, Lifeway at www.lifeway.com 36 percent and the site at www.sermonaudio.com 31 percent. The Bible Belt provided 29 percent of visitors at www.sermoncentral.com and 28 percent at Desiring God Ministries at www.desiringgod.org.
Mickey Alam Khan covers Internet marketing campaigns and e-commerce, agency news as well as circulation for DM News and DMNews.com. To keep up with the latest developments in these areas, subscribe to our daily and weekly e-mail newsletters by visiting www.dmnews.com/newsletters | <urn:uuid:fca44ddf-b601-4926-bd62-2225007afabf> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.dmnews.com/popes-death-spurs-online-religious-activity/article/87311/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368705953421/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516120553-00003-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.944573 | 913 | 1.523438 | 2 |
Earth Explorer Toys in Zionsville recently hit a milestone — 10 years in business in the heart of Zionsville.
“It’s hard to believe we’ve been making children and families happy here in Zionsville and beyond for 10 years,” says store Owner Terri Bracken. “We’re so proud to be a part of the Zionsville and greater Indianapolis community and I’m amazed and how we’ve come from just a bricks and mortar store to now having a vast presence online.”
Bracken said she bought the store 10 years ago from a science teacher that sold all kinds of gifts. When Bracken took over the store, she decided to offer specialty toys and changed the name from Earth Explorers to Earth Explorers Toys.
“There were a few toy store on Main Street throughout the years but they had all closed,” she said. “I am happy to say that I am still here after 10 years of being in business.”
Bracken said she tries to be a destination place that offers unique educational toys, offers classes, has great customer service and is just a fun place to be.
One hot item on the shelves right now is the LockerLookz line, which allows students to decorate their lockers with an array of accessories including magnetic wallpaper, shag rugs, magnetic clocks, pen holders and even chandeliers.
“They are hard to come by,” she said. “As of now, we are only one of two people in the Indianapolis area to carry it.”
The popular line hit the shelves last week and sold out last year.
Other back to school items Bracken has are back packs and lunch boxes.
One popular item that is still being sold is the pumpinator — a water balloon pump that fills up water balloons.
Bracken says she hopes her store will remain a destination location and be a place where people want to come in and have fun.
“We know our neighbors,” she said. “We are local and hope to continue to have a good reputation in the community. Thank you to everyone in the community for shopping with us and helping us remain a vibrant toy store for the past 10 years.”
Earth Explorer Toys is a locally owned toy store located at 27 E. Pine Street in downtown Zionsville. Earth Explorer Toys also offers an online store and ships across the country. Visit www.earthexplorertoys.com, Facebook.com/EarthExplorerToys or call 873-0200 for more information. | <urn:uuid:bf4c3368-3b78-48ec-836a-1d397658ba93> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://timessentinel.com/features/x1146351095/Earth-Explorers-celebrates-10-years-in-business | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368707435344/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516123035-00029-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.958364 | 551 | 1.695313 | 2 |
"Look not to the politicians; look to yourselves." ~ Richard Cobden
Martha Stewart and the Feminists
Where are the Feminists in the Martha Stewart dust-up? Why aren't they standing behind her and glorifying her achievements? Making her their poster girl?
Didn't the Feminists come into existence on the philosophy that women are as good as men? Deserving of equal pay? Equal opportunities? And therefore, would achieve EQUAL RESULTS of they only had the equal opportunities?
Martha Stewart's achievements surpass that of nearly ALL men and women. And she did it by "selling doilies." Her branded merchandise is 5% of KMart's sales'over $1 Billion a year, not to mention the hundreds of millions from her own companies, TV shows, publications, etc. For a while, she was a billionaire (on paper.)
Martha Stewart has lived the American Dream, starting from zero and achieving the highest reaches of Capitalistic success. And she did it by offering the marketplace something it wanted to buy. Not winning a lawsuit in the litigation lottery.
She has committed NO CRIMES. She has violated NOBODY'S rights or property. Her wealth was GIVEN to her by willing customers who CHOSE to buy her products.
She has created literally THOUSANDS of jobs. MILLIONS of satisfied CUSTOMERS. And paid MILLIONS in taxes. She even contributed to Socialist Democratic politicians'the Feminists' favorite.
Yet the Feminists stand mute.
Is it because the Feminists want POLITICAL power, NOT MARKET power? Or are the majority of Feminists just as dumb as the majority of men, who believe that a "crime" is whatever the government says it is!
Speak up, Feminists! Why are you so tongue-tied in the face of a genuine American FEMALE hero!! | <urn:uuid:a26447f8-4c25-4c83-96cd-63eddb42a7bb> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.strike-the-root.com/content/martha-stewart-and-feminists | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368705559639/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516115919-00004-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.971573 | 390 | 1.796875 | 2 |
Liz from ontario
Editor's Note: We have removed Liz' email from this post so that it will not be dredged by spammers. If you would like to contact her directly, click here to let us know and we will give you her email address. If you have any general tips for trying to conceive a child, feel free to post them below.
Yes I am trying to get pregnant know for almost a year. Been on clomid for 5 moths. Went to see a fertility Doctor last month, ovulated and did the baby dance on the times. All so positive, and last night I started to menstruate. )-; So my heart is broken.
Can someone help. Me and my husband have been trying to conceive now for about a couple of months for a second baby. Yet to succeed. But last month my cycle came on Dec. 14 and I have a 31- day cycle. I was told by my OB to have intercourse from Dec. 23-30. We did exactly that and more. Sometimes we had intercourse 2-3 times a day. I felt myself ovulating- through terrible period cramps and back pains along with it. But I was wondering how soon could you tell if you're pregnant? I'm due to go to the dr this Fri-Jan.11. I already took 3 HPT-dollar store tests and they all came back negative. So I was wondering should I wait to go to the dr. or how soon could I take another one?
I have this website that works great. It has a ovulation caculator, just enter the last day of your missed period, and it'll give you the most fertile days. Good luck! It works for me. http://www.pregnancy-symptoms.org/pregnancy-tools/pregnancy-calculator.php
First of all let me say that I have neverr been pregnant, but here is my suggestion. I have endometriosis and as a result for years have had to keep up with my cycles for my GYN. From what I understand you are most likely to be able to get pregnant the 14-16 days of your cycle. Count from the first day of your cycle and then you should be most fertile the 14-16 days. That's just my suggestion.
There is also something about temperature but since I haven't been trying to get pregnant I'm not that familiar with it.
I hope you have a very good and understanding doctor. That couldn't hurt.
(sent by email)
Good luck, we are currently trying for our second. We weren't even trying when we got pregnant with our son, so now after about six months of trying with no luck, I know how discouraging it can be. I haven't asked our doctor about our options, I did talk with him and let him know that we were trying when I had my last pelvic exam. And he said everything looked alright, but I just thought it would be easier. I was able to save some money on early detection pregnancy tests though, so I will pass that on to you, those things can get so expensive, I went to http://thepregnancyteststore.com.
I was able to get 5 tests shipped to me for under 11 dollars.
They also have great values on ovulation test, and you can get a better deal if you buy a kit.
I WENT TO A HERBAL MEDICINE STORE AND BOUGHT A CAPSULE CALLED MACA WHICH BOOSTS OVULATION. YOUR MATE CAN TAKE IT AS WELL. I GOT PREGNANT QUICKLY AFTER TAKING IT.
I have a niece who has tried for 7 years or longer with no luck.She's been to fertility specialits, had different procedures,and really discouraged. The last part of this month ,they will try artificial insemination,as a last resort.The doctor will harvest and implant up to 3 eggs --no more--in an attempt to get at least one that will attach.It is a really costly procedure-$8 thousand-- and would have been an impossibility, but fortunately there are banks who will loan money for the procedure and that's how they are paying for it.We're all hoping and praying for at least ONE but THREE would certainly be a triple blessing!!I am writing to let you know that there are financial options to help childless couples have children.Good luck and God bless you.
Please, please, please check out http://www.fertilethoughts.com and click on the tab for bulletin boards. You can look all over the site to see which specific bulletin boards are most interesting and pertain to you. You will find a huge source of information and experience there.
Try every other day from about 8 or 9 days from the first day of your period (the sperm can live in your system for about 5 days if memory serves me correctly and your partner will need to replenish so trying daily won't do you any good). If that fails, talk to your doctor. He or she can schedule some tests it could be as simple as endometrosis. Most of all relax, it is very frustrating but it can have a happy ending. My husband and I tried for over a year, spent another year and half enduring tests and surgeries but we now are the proud parents of a 20 month old son and his sibling is due in October. Best of luck to you!
I used a basal metabolism thermometer and became pregnant when I wasn't supposed to according to the thermometer.
So don't wait until the temp on the thermometer says it's "ok".
Also, a friend of mine couldn't stay pregnant because she didn't have enough estrogen or other appropriate hormrones.
Something you might want to ask your doc about.
i am single never married. i have also had a hysterectomy. i always wanted to get married and have a baby.
i will be praying for you that you are able to concieve.
the other option i am sure you have heard is adoption. being single i didnt feel it would be fair for me or a child to be a parent. but i would encourage you to consider adoption.
we tried and tried for our second child for about five years...previously I had to have an ovary and fallopian tube removed on my right side due to a cyst...my doctor performed a hysterosalpingogram to be sure that my other tube and ovary weren't affected (blocked) and wouldn't you know it, I was pregnant the next month! This was an outpatient procedure which only gave me mild discomfort. Have you already consulted your doctor about trying with no success? I had the procedure done in May and found out I was pregnant in June. My third child came soon after and unexpectedly! Good luck to you. I hope your doctor can help.
Add your voice to the conversation. Click here to answer this question. | <urn:uuid:58e6e5cb-8fd2-4d07-8500-ff733b1ce58a> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.thriftyfun.com/tf452723.tip.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368705559639/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516115919-00026-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.980864 | 1,443 | 1.539063 | 2 |
Yesterday Paul Bradshaw shared his experience of running a blog entirely through a Facebook Page for four weeks, offering his thoughts on the month-long project in a post back on his Online Journalism Blog.
In the early days of the experiment he had already started noticing the pros and cons of the platform, from the impact of the 400 character limit on what he could write, to the possibilities presented by being able to post from a mobile phone via email.
So a month later here are his main reflections:
- Facebook suits emotive material
The most popular posts during that month were simple links that dealt with controversy.
- It requires more effort than most blogs
With most blogging it’s quite easy to ‘just do it’ and then figure out the bells and whistles later. With a Facebook Page I think a bit of preparation goes a long way – especially to avoid problems later on.
- It isn’t suited to anything you might intend to find later
Although Vadim Lavrusik pointed out that you can find the Facebook Page through Google or Facebook’s own search, individual posts are rather more difficult to track down. The lack of tags and categories also makes it difficult to retrieve updates and notes – and highlights the problems for search engine optimisation.
- It should be part of a network strategy
So, in short, while it’s great for short-term traffic, it’s bad for traffic long term. It’s better for ongoing work and linking than for more finished articles.
And his overall conclusion: Facebook should be used as “one more step in a distributed strategy” not in isolation.
Usefully in his post he offers a list of apps he used to integrate his Facebook content with his other online presences, which might a good reference point for others looking to use Facebook in a similar way:
- RSS Graffiti (for auto-posting RSS feeds from elsewhere)
- SlideShare (adds a new tab for your presentations on that site)
- Cueler YouTube (pulls new updates from your YouTube account)
- Tweets to Pages (pulls from your Twitter account into a new tab)
- There’s also Smart Twitter for Pages which publishes page updates to Twitter; or you can use Facebook’s own Twitter page to link pages to Twitter.
There was also some interesting research published this month which looked at Facebook fan pages and engagement. According to the 10,000 Words blog a study was carried out by Facebook research company PageLever which suggested that as a fan page’s membership grows, engagement and page-views-per-member actually decreases.
From a purely aesthetic perspective, looking at the Fan Page and seeing that 10,000 people like your business on Facebook has its benefits. It makes you feel good.
But when it comes time to talk value, it can be a bit more difficult to find the silver lining. You might have 1,000 Likes on Facebook, but if you’re averaging around five Likes or comments per post, then only 0.005 per cent of your users saw the post and cared enough about it to respond. | <urn:uuid:0d971bc1-1bc7-4bde-b630-2a28602fd3e4> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://blogs.journalism.co.uk/2011/06/28/facebook-lessons-from-paul-bradshaw-and-pagelever/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368706153698/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516120913-00016-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.953613 | 655 | 1.5625 | 2 |
March 18, 2004
When Soviet film schools banned Vladimir Alenikov due to anti-Semitism, he risked arrest to make his own movies in 1973. The director cold-called Soviet stars, who quickly signed on to his innovative projects. He bought leftover film stock, scavenged equipment, faked documents and bribed guards to use editing rooms after hours.
His resulting movies, although illegal, eventually launched his career as a preeminent Russian writer-director.
The 55-year-old artist, who now lives in Woodland Hills, will return to Russia June 19-28 to lead a UCLA Extension study tour of the industry that once excluded him. (The reservation deadline is March 22.) Participants will attend the Moscow and St. Petersburg film festivals; they'll also learn about the recent renaissance of Russian cinema, suggested by movies such as Andrej Zvjagintsev's "The Return," which languished in the chaotic decade following the collapse of communism.
One stop on the tour will be Gorky Studios, where executives invited Alenikov for a meeting back in 1975. They wanted to adapt the popular children's stories he had written to help finance his illegal films; after viewing the movies, they also agreed to let him direct, launching his official career. Although Alenikov soon became a household name, it was only after perestroika began that he was allowed to make his 1990 Jewish musical, "The Drayman and the King," based on the work of Isaac Babel.
When the film earned good reviews in the United States, Alenikov moved to Los Angeles, where, he said, he quickly learned he was "nobody." To survive, he drove taxis and sold belongings to pawn shops, which ultimately inspired his 2003 drama, "The Gun."
"To jumpstart my career, I knew I had to direct something that was inexpensive and original," he said of the thriller, which follows a gun as it passes among desperate people in the Valley. Filmed in real time (90 minutes), the movie consists of just 15 scenes shot without cuts; it's earned kudos on the North American festival circuit and will screen at the Moscow and St. Petersburg festivals this summer.
Although "The Gun" is an American movie, Alenikov -- still a high-profile director back home -- feels it links him to new Russian cinema.
"Directors are no longer trying to emulate Hollywood," he said. "They're returning to the Russian tradition, which is about examining the soul."
For tour reservations, call (310) 825-9064. | <urn:uuid:7187c42b-ca7c-4ff9-aa89-f0ab423789d4> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.jewishjournal.com/articles/print/a_oneman_revolution_20040319 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368703298047/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516112138-00007-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.983889 | 534 | 1.796875 | 2 |
|Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary|
26:9 David, in this psalm, appeals to God touching his integrity. - David here, by the Spirit of prophecy, speaks of himself as a type of Christ, of whom what he here says of his spotless innocence was fully and eminently true, and of Christ only, and to Him we may apply it. We are complete in him. The man that walks in his integrity, yet trusting wholly in the grace of God, is in a state of acceptance, according to the covenant of which Jesus was the Mediator, in virtue of his spotless obedience even unto death. This man desires to have his inmost soul searched and proved by the Lord. He is aware of the deceitfulness of his own heart; he desires to detect and mortify every sin; and he longs to be satisfied of his being a true believer, and to practise the holy commands of God. Great care to avoid bad company, is both a good evidence of our integrity, and a good means to keep us in it. Hypocrites and dissemblers may be found attending on God's ordinances; but it is a good sign of sincerity, if we attend upon them, as the psalmist here tells us he did, in the exercise of repentance and conscientious obedience. He feels his ground firm under him; and, as he delights in blessing the Lord with his congregations on earth, he trusts that shortly he shall join the great assembly in heaven, in singing praises to God and to the Lamb for evermore.
Verse 7. - That I may publish with the voice of thanksgiving; rather, to sound forth the voice of thanksgiving (Kay); or, to make the voice of thanksgiving to be heard (Revised Version). And tell of all thy wondrous works; or, recount them, enumerate them.
Gill's Exposition of the Entire Bible
That I may publish with the voice of thanksgiving,.... Or "cause to hear with the voice of confession" (z): the meaning is, that the view of the psalmist, in compassing the altar of God in the manner he proposed, was not to offer upon it any slain beast; but to offer the sacrifices of praise upon that altar, which sanctifies the gift, and from whence they come with acceptance to God; even for all mercies, both temporal and spiritual, and that with a confession and acknowledgment of sin and unworthiness; all this is agreeable to the will of God; it is well pleasing in his sight, what glorifies him, and is but our reasonable service;
and tell of all thy wondrous works; of creation and providence; and especially of grace and redemption; this is the business of saints in God's house below, and will be their employment in heaven to all eternity. Jarchi on the place says, that this song of praise has in it what relates to future times, to Gog, to the days of the Messiah, and to the world to come.
(z) "voce confessionis", Montanus, Cocceius, Gejerus, Michaelis; so Ainsworth.
Psalm 26:7 Parallel Commentaries
Psalm 26:7 NIV
Psalm 26:7 NLT
Psalm 26:7 ESV
Psalm 26:7 NASB
Psalm 26:7 KJV
Bible Hub: Online Parallel Bible | <urn:uuid:ade43f22-581b-460e-a57c-8f3b55ab5dbf> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://biblehub.com/psalms/26-7.htm | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368708766848/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516125246-00026-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.967873 | 711 | 1.789063 | 2 |
Dogs of War
The genre-busting animated documentary Waltz With Bashir was nominated for the Oscar for Best Foreign Film, but last week it lost to the Japanese film Okuribito (Departures). Who knows? Maybe Yojiro Takita’s drama really is that good, but the impact of this stinging entry from Israel is unique.
The title refers to the 1982 assassination of Bashir Gemayel, the handsome, highly charismatic 34-year-old newly elected president of Lebanon. A Christian, he was counted on to make the country into an ally of Israel in the Middle East, but his death once again plunged the region into bloodshed and chaos. The film’s writer-director, Ari Folman, was an Israeli soldier at the time, and he was stationed in Lebanon three weeks after the assassination, when Gemayel’s vengeful Christian followers – with the tacit approval of Israeli Army officials – stormed the Beirut neighborhood of Sabra and the adjacent refugee camp of Shatila, where many Palestinians were living after fleeing the war. The resulting massacre left hundreds (some say thousands) dead, most of them unarmed civilians. Folman apparently doesn’t remember this as the story begins, but he goes around interviewing the soldiers who served with him in an attempt to recover his memory. Some of them don’t want to appear on camera, so Folman, who after his service turned to filmmaking and TV (creating the original version of the HBO show In Treatment, among others), decides to record their words and render them on celluloid through animation.
The whole concept of an animated documentary raises all sorts of questions that are fascinating to film theorists like me. You don’t have to be a theorist, though, to appreciate the visceral power of the movie’s harrowing opening sequence, depicting a recurring nightmare suffered by one of Ari’s friends, in which he’s chased through the streets by a pack of savage dogs. Different teams of animators worked on different parts of this movie, yet the result feels very much like a single mind’s product. The realism of Beirut’s bustling streets and funky nightclubs gives way effortlessly to surreal interludes like one soldier’s vision of being rescued by clinging to a gigantic naked woman rising up from the sea. Some of the stranger stuff here is played for cheeky humor; when Ari catches up to one of his old army buddies now living in the Netherlands, he shows their conversation taking place on a couch in the middle of a field of tulips. Yet the horrors of war do come through in some unexpected ways – one soldier’s unit starts taking sniper fire in the street, and he can’t help but notice the apartment dwellers indifferently watching the soldiers as they try to take cover.
Waltz With Bashir builds toward a single climax that comes at the very end, when it switches from animation to live-action news footage of the massacre’s aftermath. The change is undeniably jarring, and it has provoked some controversy. I do wish Folman had shown himself trying to come to terms with what he saw, though I understand his reaction that he has no words for his experience. What’s certain is that this original and at times beautiful film has a ferocity and devastating power that few others can match. I wonder if there’s anything like that in Okuribito. | <urn:uuid:3be41412-0c03-45b7-ab6d-cc6e85f7de16> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.fwweekly.com/2009/02/25/dogs-of-war/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368699881956/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516102441-00004-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.96541 | 710 | 1.554688 | 2 |
Reality TV is not all evil. But it certainly has warped our sense of what reality is. Consider Dragon’s Den. We see a 30 second pitch followed by a decision made in a minute or two. Someone watching the show religiously might be tempted to think that a judgment about a business idea can be as quick. It’s easy to ignore and forget the hours spent interviewing the entrepreneur prior to the show and the hours, possibly days or weeks of due diligence after a deal is struck.
There is very little of reality in reality TV. The edited dialogue, the dramatic turns, the quick images only give us the perception of experiencing reality. We feel that we are experiencing the real thing when in fact we are being fed digestible biscuits. There may be nothing wrong with getting the highlights, but seriously, let’s not mistake the news for the whole story or the appetizers for the whole meal.
Then there is the other kind of “reality” TV where every inane pointless detail about people’s lives are documented for the public to see. It’s like Robert McKee says in his book Story,
The weakest possible excuse to include anything in a story is: “But it actually happened.” Everything happens; everything imaginable happens. Indeed, the unimaginable happens. But story is not life in actuality. Mere occurrence brings us nowhere near the truth. What happens is fact, not truth. Truth is what we think about what happens.”
Extending that thought, the quality of the thinking will determine the quality of the truth. Not all truths are equal just as some stories are mediocre and other stories are masterpieces that transcend time and culture.
The illusion of reality TV – reality as highlights or reality in its minutia – arise from the same fundamental challenge: mortals are not omniscient. Consequently we have to choose what is significant to pay attention to. If we don’t choose, we have it chosen for us… by our family, our friends, our society.
Reality TV shows are produced to entertain us. We can gossip about who so and so did or laugh at the dalliances of the rich and famous or go on adventures of ordinary people. Entertainment is fine, but what if it is at the expense of other more significant aspects of reality? What if there are global economic forces at work or growing water shortages or wars resulting indirectly from our lifestyle? These realities have more impact on us than who was kicked out in last night’s show, yet we avoid it and deny it. We barely register its knocking at the door while the TV is on.
We have other things to be worried about of course. We have groceries to buy, dinner to cook, work to be done, friends to socialize with, and fun to be had. Unfortunately not being interesting or not caring doesn’t eliminate our ignorance.
So what to do?
Part of the answer lies in creating our own “Significant Reality TV Show”. Our time is limited. We can’t learn everything. We can, however, tap into our deep caring and curiosity of the world and find more meaningful channels to take in. What if we created our own comprehensive basic cable channel that brought into our lives thoughtful, caring, wise authors, journalists, artists, scientists, politicians? It’d be like TED.com on steroids. Imagine how connected we all would be to reality.
Unfortunately, my brain is not yet trained to feed on healthy stories all the time. I like my action movies and occasional CSI episode. I am comfortable in my denial of reality, and society conspires to help me in my denial. Nevertheless, I know it’s possible to develop a taste for the significant and the meaningful. Bruce Lee once said,
It’s like drinking fine wine, one acquires a taste for it. One does not acquire a taste for watered down wine.
Better Life… Better Business | <urn:uuid:566ae8b9-5835-4245-992c-e94d8cbbd777> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://uventure.net/blog/2010/10/20/reality-tv-killed-my-brain/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368699273641/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516101433-00037-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.947458 | 820 | 1.78125 | 2 |
This is a nice defeat for the GOP:
Senators voted Thursday to reject a Republican effort to shrink taxes on inherited estates during this election year.
GOP leaders had pushed senators to end the tax once and for all. It disappears in 2010, under President Bush's first tax cut, but rears up again a year later.
"This death tax is unfair," said Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist, R-Tenn.
A 57-41 vote fell three votes short of advancing the bill.
Knowing they lacked the votes to eliminate the tax, a small group of senators had hoped to keep the issue alive with an agreement to lift the tax from smaller estates and lessen the hit on larger ones.
Here is what really stinks about the estate tax cut:
According to the most recent statistics available from the Internal Revenue Service, 1.17 percent of people who died in 2002 left a taxable estate.
Again - our Senate has taken time away from worrying about our country as a whole to pander to a very small fraction of the nation. This is dereliction of duty in its purest form and the Republican leadership should be held to that.
(on a side note - next up is the flag burning amendment. Could this lead to a tri-fecta of Republican defeats. One can only hope so) | <urn:uuid:d5452f28-ffb7-4b0a-a48f-318c5ce4b0d2> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://intoxination.net/tag/internal-revenue-service?page=1 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368706153698/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516120913-00034-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.976433 | 269 | 1.585938 | 2 |
A photo of the UFO snapped by a photographer from Binhai Avenue in Xiamen’s Tong’an District on Tuesday evening
Many Xiamen residents reported seeing an unidentified flying object flying through the sky at high speed on Tuesday evening, according to Wednesday’s Xiamen Economic Daily.
A citizen surnamed Wang, who was walking on Dongpu Road at around 19:25 pm, said he saw the rocket-like UFO flying from south to north, blazing changing flames on its tail.
“The object flied above the cumulonimbus clouds at a pretty high speed, but there was no noise. At first, I thought it was fireworks, but then I noticed there were color changes on its tail, and its speed was getting faster and faster,” said Mr. Wang.
Many posts about the UFO turned up on Sina Weibo, the popular microblogging platform in China, that day, and many netizens in nearby Zhangzhou, Quanzhou, Zhejiang Province and Shanghai also reported seeing something similar.
Some netizens speculated that the object might have been a military missile as they saw a blue flame at its tail.
An expert at the Xiamen Meteorological Bureau ruled out the possibility that the phenomenon was caused by unusual meteorological conditions or abnormal changes in the clouds when he was consulted by a reporter, as viewers said it was seen in the sky for only ten seconds. The expert suggested it could have been fireworks or military testing.
A technology website editor suspected that the object could also have been a meteorite based on the description. | <urn:uuid:0e1c70c4-f52f-4d8a-90c8-32e8318ec5a0> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://ufohunter.org/2012/07/27/military-missile-or-meteorite-mysterious-ufo-spotted-in-xiamen-sky/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368709037764/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516125717-00003-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.977534 | 329 | 1.78125 | 2 |
This summer, the pests around my house are dying of more natural causes.
One colony of wasps on my deck got neutralized by shots of mint oil. The cabbageworms shredding my broccoli plants were done in by an ingredient culled from seeds of trees native to India. And I annihilated several fire-ant compounds by enticing them to eat bait packed with a soil-dwelling bacterium that fried their tiny nervous systems.
Surprisingly, none of these products were hard to find. Increasingly, well-known insecticide manufacturers, retailers and even professional pest-control services are rolling out solutions derived from natural materials like animals, plants, bacteria and minerals, many of them considered potentially safer to humans, pets and the environment than their synthetic-chemical counterparts. Fueling the move is increased governmental scrutiny over what pesticides we spray in and around our homes, as well as a bid to satisfy more health-conscious consumers—especially women, who typically dictate household pest-solution purchases.
Targets include everything from carpenter ants and mosquitoes to the slugs, caterpillars and mites that feast on fruit trees and vegetable plants. For instance, Terminix, a large professional pest-control company and division of Memphis, Tenn.-based ServiceMaster Co., is introducing its first consumer product called SafeShield. The $9.99 indoor insecticide spray contains active ingredients thyme oil and “geraniol,” a substance found in geranium, rose, lemon and other plants.
Meantime, St. Louis-based Senoret Chemical Co. is expanding its line of Terro brand ant- and bug-bait products using a mineral containing the element boron, which is generally considered low in toxicity to humans and animals. And Lititz, Pa.-based Woodstream Corp. last year bolstered its Safer product line with an organic mosquito- and tick-control concentrate made in part from chrysanthemum flowers.
The biggest bellwether came earlier this year when lawn and garden giant Scotts Miracle-Gro Co., Marysville, Ohio, introduced a seven-product “EcoSense” line under its home pest-defense Ortho brand sold in major retailers such as Home Depot and Wal-Mart . Included in the EcoSense arsenal: an indoor insect-killer spray made from soybean oil and an insecticidal soap for vegetables and plants. EcoSense is on track to meet or exceed sales expectations, the company says.
“There are consumers who want a more natural product lineup,” says Jeff Garascia, Scotts senior vice president of global research and development. “A few years ago, we decided that even though the performance didn’t meet our traditional products, we would push through anyway. Now we are starting to see efficacy there.”
Efficacy is tantamount to survival. Manufacturers know there’s often disconnect between what consumers say we want (natural products) and what we really want (dead bugs, now!). Plus, pests can transmit illnesses such as West Nile virus and Lyme disease that can be more harmful than some potential side effects from pesticides. S.C. Johnson & Son Inc., for instance, launched a Raid “Earth Options” product in 2006, then discontinued it the next year due to low consumer acceptance. Spectrum Brands Inc. offers a lemon-eucalyptus version of its Cutter mosquito repellent without DEET (a common chemical repellent) but says it doesn’t sell very well.
Still, the category continues to draw investment dollars. Next year, Spectrum plans to launch a natural indoor bug killer to go along with its Hot Shot and Spectricide insecticides. “There’s just a lot of movement out there now to use safer chemicals,” says Jay Matthews, a business director at Spectrum.
Meantime, sales of organic and natural products in the past 18 months have risen 30% to 40% at the Web site DoMyOwnPestControl.com, run by P&M Solutions LLC in Norcross, Ga. Best-selling natural items include “MotherEarth D,” a powder made of diatomaceous earth (ground fossils) that triggers dehydration and death in bugs, as well as an “EcoExempt IC-2” spray made from botanical oils such as spearmint and rosemary. The latter targets a wide range of pests from mosquitoes to bedbugs.
Even the $6.6 billion professional pest-control industry, where efficacy directly affects profit margins, is adopting more natural alternatives. For instance, Mesa, Ariz.-based Bulwark Exterminating LLC, which operates 11 branches in eight states, uses only botanical sprays and boric-acid products (also derived from boron) whenever customers request all-natural solutions and often includes them as part of an overall treatment plan even when they don’t.
“About 35% of people who call now ask us, ‘Will this hurt my kid or dog?’ ” says Bulwark founder Adam Seever. One customer, Carol Kidd, lives in a rural suburb of Phoenix and recently rang Bulwark to cancel her service because she was experiencing hormone imbalances and had read pesticides might be a contributing factor. Bulwark instead switched her to an all-natural service, employing botanical oils and boric-acid bait around her foundation instead of a synthetic solution, and didn’t raise her $44-a-month price.
“I’ve seen no excess insects since switching,” 39-year-old Ms. Kidd says, “and I’ve got bugs in the yard around my chicken coop, but not on my patio or in my house.”
The Environmental Protection Agency registers pesticides—an umbrella term for products that kill insects, fungi and weeds—for use in the U.S. The agency says general health issues from exposure to pesticides may range from simple skin or eye irritation to hormonal and endocrine disruption, cancer and other illnesses.
For instance, a study published in 2000 in the Journal of the American Medical Association with research from Stanford University found that in-home use of insect-killing chemicals was associated with a 70% increased risk of Parkinson’s disease, compared with no use of pesticides. And in April, the EPA said it will intensify evaluation of spot-on pesticide products used in pet flea and tick control due to increases in reported problems ranging from skin irritation to seizures and death of the animals. Some of the active ingredients also are found in household insecticides.
Over the years, the EPA has banned some insecticides considered too risky from use in the home market, such as diazinon and chlorpyrifos. It also now maintains a list of active ingredients used in what it dubs “minimum risk” pesticides. “It’s a pretty good bet it’s a safe product if it’s on that list,” says John Kepner with Beyond Pesticides, a not-for-profit group based in Washington, D.C.
Today, the most commonly used synthetic residential insecticides fall into a broad category called pyrethroids—common names include permethrin, cypermethrin and tetramethrin—which are essentially juiced up, longer-lasting human-made versions of the natural chrysanthemum “pyrethrins” used in some natural products. Both affect an insect’s central nervous system; both can be harmful to aquatic life and honeybees. The EPA will re-evaluate pyrethroids’ and natural pyrethrins’ risks starting next year.
To be sure, natural products can trigger health concerns as well. Citric sprays, for instance, can hurt the eyes, and there have been questions about the safety of inhaling powders made from diatomaceous earth or boric-acid powders, Mr. Kepner of Beyond Pesticides notes. “There are plenty of things from nature that can hurt us—like nicotine.”
In general, though, the EPA says biopesticides are usually “inherently less toxic” than conventional pesticides and decompose more quickly, thereby resulting in lower exposures and largely avoiding pollution problems caused by conventional pesticides. What’s more, the agency says, they often primarily harm only target pests, which can help protect beneficial bugs and other animals. (See sidebar.)
Generally, my own pest issues have disappeared using only natural products. One exception: carpenter ants, likely a byproduct of multiple firewood piles around the property and a recent roof leak (the ants like moisture). To wage war, I carefully applied a tiny bit of a synthetic pyrethroid dust inside crevices around my ceiling beams where no children or pets could reach—and where the bugs had left traces of activity. (At the time, I didn’t have the botanical version on hand.) Elsewhere, I’ve used all natural controls, including a mint and herbal oil spray along the backyard foundation where my dog roams and MotherEarth’s and Terro’s boric-acid bait near woodpiles and the front door where I saw ants marching. So far, it’s working pretty well.
One day, however, my dog Dolly got free from her fence and gobbled up a mouthful of the boric-acid bait. Panicked, I called a pet poison control hotline (800-213-6680) and was told not to worry, that the active ingredient was “very safe” with low concern for toxicity, and Dolly would be fine. That was the most compelling sales pitch for naturals yet.
Write to Gwendolyn Bounds at [email protected] | <urn:uuid:c231e829-83b9-471a-90f0-af9a47493e9b> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052970204563304574318231044370704.html | 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 | 0.935618 | 2,057 | 1.6875 | 2 |
The power of Adsense is that the ads are targeted at the content of your website, and thus, normally, at the interest of the viewer.
However, depending on your website setup, this can give some problems sometimes. For instance, if you have a photoblog, there isn’t much text for Adsense to see what topic your blog is about. Same goes for other sites that do not have alot of text, or where the real content can be overwhelmed by other content, such as comments, navigation, other ads etcetera.
Now, there is a solution to this problem, since you can suggest to Google Adsense which parts of your website you would like to have your ads targeted on. This is called section targeting.
The html code to put an emphasis on a certain part of your website is this:
<!– google_ad_section_start –>
Your content you want targeted goes here!
<!– google_ad_section_end –>
In fact, the code takes a parameter, weight, which you can set to “ignore” (standard it is set not to ignore, but to emphasize):
<!– google_ad_section_start(weight=ignore) –>
You can use this around the html code for your menu, or other advertisers.
The section targeting code can be used in a single page as much as you want. However, it must match the content of your site. If you use it to drive other topic (probably higher paying) ads to your site by targeting false keywords, you are working against the Google policy, and you could get your account closed. | <urn:uuid:3aa9c468-e24e-4ac5-852b-316b1e88ad9e> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://icantinternet.org/2010/04/adsense-section-targeting-target-the-ads-you-get/comment-page-1/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368699273641/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516101433-00009-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.946249 | 343 | 1.820313 | 2 |
What to ask your doctor about treating gallbladder cancer
Some questions you might ask your doctor
- What can you tell me about the stage of my cancer?
- What type of treatment do I need?
- If you are not sure about the stage, when will you know?
- How do you tell the stage of the cancer?
- What written information can you give me about these treatments?
- Is there any choice of treatments?
- Should I have any treatment before surgery?
- Should I have any other treatment after surgery?
- What are the risks and benefits of these treatments?
- What are the side effects?
- How can I help to reduce the side effects?
- How often will I have to come to the hospital for treatment?
- Is there any transport available?
- Is it possible to have any help with the cost of fares to the hospital?
- How long will the treatment last?
- Can I have a second opinion?
- Are there any experimental treatments or trials that might help me?
- Is there a counsellor here I could talk things through with?
- How often will you see me when my treatment is finished?
- What will happen at my follow up appointments?
- What should I do if I am worried between appointments?
- What pain control can you offer me?
- Do I have to have morphine, or are there other ways of controlling pain?
Question about cancer? Contact our information nurse team | <urn:uuid:d22c0dda-73bc-463f-92fe-0fe57816f94b> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.cancerresearchuk.org/cancer-help/type/gallbladder-cancer/treatment/what-to-ask-your-doctor-about-treating-gallbladder-cancer | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368705953421/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516120553-00024-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.958882 | 311 | 1.59375 | 2 |
157:2.1 On Monday, August 8, while Jesus and the twelve
apostles were encamped in Magadan Park, near
more than one hundred believers, the evangelists, the women's corps, and others interested in the establishment of the kingdom, came over from
for a conference. And many of the
learning that Jesus was here, came also. By this time some of the
were united with the Pharisees in their effort to entrap Jesus. Before going into the closed conference with the believers, Jesus held a public meeting at which the Pharisees were present, and they heckled the Master and otherwise sought to disturb the assembly. Said the leader of the disturbers: "Teacher, we would like you to give us a sign of your authority to teach, and then, when the same shall come to pass, all men will know that you have been sent by God." And Jesus answered them:
"When it is evening, you say it will be fair weather, for the heaven is red; in the morning it will be foul weather, for the heaven is red and lowering. When you see a cloud rising in the west, you say showers will come; when the wind blows from the south, you say scorching heat will come. How is it that you so well know how to discern the face of the heavens but are so utterly unable to discern the signs of the times? To those who would know the truth, already has a sign been given; but to an evil-minded and hypocritical generation no sign shall be given."
157:2.2 When Jesus had thus spoken, he withdrew and prepared for the evening conference with his followers. At this conference it was decided to undertake a united mission throughout all the cities and villages of the
as soon as Jesus and the twelve should return from their proposed visit to
The Master participated in planning for the Decapolis mission and, in dismissing the company, said: "I say to you, beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and the Sadducees. Be not deceived by their show of much learning and by their profound loyalty to the forms of religion. Be only concerned with the spirit of living truth and the power of true religion. It is not the fear of a dead religion that will save you but rather your faith in a living experience in the spiritual realities of the kingdom. Do not allow yourselves to become blinded by prejudice and paralyzed by fear. Neither permit reverence for the traditions so to pervert your understanding that your eyes see not and your ears hear not. It is not the purpose of true religion merely to bring peace but rather to insure progress. And there can be no peace in the heart or progress in the mind unless you fall wholeheartedly in love with truth, the ideals of eternal realities. The issues of life and death are being set before you—the sinful pleasures of time against the righteous realities of eternity. Even now you should begin to find deliverance from the bondage of fear and doubt as you enter upon the living of the new life of faith and hope. And when the feelings of service for your fellow men arise within your soul, do not stifle them; when the emotions of love for your neighbor well up within your heart, give expression to such urges of affection in intelligent ministry to the real needs of your fellows."
- Back to Great Jesus Stories - | <urn:uuid:7f92cbeb-3ff1-423c-a765-f3ae9df21e77> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://truthbook.com/index.cfm?linkID=976 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368700958435/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516104238-00022-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.957446 | 688 | 1.679688 | 2 |
[en] 2-18F-fluoro-L-tyrosine ; 18F-FDG ; PET ; cancer ; protein synthesis
[en] 18F-FDG PET imaging is now established as a valuable tool for evaluating cancer patients. However, a limitation of 18F-FDG is its absence of specificity for tumor. Both protein synthesis and amino acid transport are enhanced in most tumor cells, but their metabolism is less affected in inflammation. We therefore decided to evaluate the ability of PET with 2-18F-fluoro-L-tyrosine (18F-TYR) to visualize cancer lesions in patients compared with 18F-FDG PET. Methods: 18F-FDG PET and 18F-TYR PET were performed on 23 patients with histologically proven malignancies (11 non-small cell lung cancers (NSCLCs), 10 lymphomas, and 2 head and neck carcinomas). Fully corrected, whole-body PET studies were obtained on separate days. 18F-FDG studies were performed after routine clinical fashion. 18F-TYR studies were started 36 ± 6 min after tracer injection and a second scan centered over a reference lesion was acquired after completion of the whole-body survey-on average, 87 min after injection. Standardized uptake values (SUVs) were calculated for all abnormal foci and for various normal structures. Results were compared with pathologic or correlative studies. Results: 18F-FDG PET correctly identified 54 malignant lesions, among which 36 were also visualized with 18F-TYR (67%). 18F-TYR did not detect any additional lesion. Tumor SUVs (SUVbw, 5.2 vs. 2.5), tumor-to-muscle (7.4 vs. 2.7), and tumor-to-mediastinum activity ratios (3 vs. 1.4) were higher with 18F-FDG than with 18F-TYR. Two of 11 NSCLCs and 4 of 10 lymphomas were understaged with 18F-TYR compared with 18F-FDG. Although the NSCLC lesions missed by 18F-TYR PET were small, several large lymphoma lesions did not accumulate the tracer. In 4 patients, 18F-TYR-positive lesions coexisted with 18F-TYR-negative lesions. There was a high physiologic 18F-TYR uptake by the pancreas (average SUVbw, 10.3) and the liver (average SUVbw, 6.3). Muscle and bone marrow uptakes were also higher with 18F-TYR than with 18F-FDG: average SUVbw, 1 versus 0.7 and 2.6 versus 1.8, respectively. There was no change over time in the 18F-TYR uptake by the tumors or the normal structures. Conclusion: 18F-TYR PET is not superior to 18F-FDG PET for staging patients with NSCLC and lymphomas. | <urn:uuid:4c46f5c7-3927-4db6-936a-2f4c054ec338> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://orbi.ulg.ac.be/handle/2268/5523 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368703298047/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516112138-00024-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.948358 | 628 | 1.625 | 2 |
The Writers’ Book Club
A writer is a reader moved to emulation
-SAUL BELLOW, attributed, The Hidden Writer
If you don't have the time to read, you don't have the time or the tools to write
--STEPHEN KING, On Writing
How does the Writers’ Book Club differ from other book clubs? For starters, the group doesn’t so much discuss the book as dissect it. Members want to discover what it is about the writing itself that makes the book work or, in some cases, not work. Also, we consider how we can “borrow” the author’s techniques for our own writing. Disagreements abound and are always part of the fun, as is the food. For example, we downed grilled cheese sandwiches during our discussion of In the Deep Midwinter, in which the characters indulge in 1950s comfort food.
Scroll down for more on books we will be reading and write-ups of discussion of books we read last year. Photos by Tom Hoyer
Books We Will Be Reading
January 10 Amor Towles. Rules of Civility. This is a smart gorgeous first novel that can teach us many things--I am intrigued by the first person account in a woman's voice( though the novel is written by a man) but what I find especially beautiful and worth learning is how Towles incorporates research into this story so seamlessly that you are almost unaware of it. Set in New York during Prohibition, this is a book that establishes a specific world and time so vividly that you really feel as if you are there. I think both fiction and memoir writers can benefit from understanding how to do this--how to create realistic by gone world as background and context for the smaller personal story. The story iswonderful too--kind of Great Gatsbyish, and I've recommended it to men and woman alike who absolutely love it. Maribeth Fischer and Ethan Joella.
February Paul Auster. Winter Journal. Interesting memoir technique, use of the second person. Recommended by Ginny Daly.
March Katherine Anne Porter. Pale Horse, Pale Rider. A seventy page novella. The protagonist is a newspaper columnist who deals with the deadly influenza of 1917-18 which sickens her as well and the influence of the war and her lover, who is about to be shipped overseas. Beautifully written descriptions, well-crafted and insightful about the meaning of life and death. Recommended by Kit Zak.
April Penelope Fitzgerald. Offshore. A short sadly comic book written in lean prose about a group of eccentric barge dwellers living along London's Battersea Reach, circa 1961. Fitzgerald quickly offers concrete detail to establish both character and scene in a 180 page novel that leaves the reader contemplating his own life decisions and security. Booker Prize nominee. Recommended by Linda Blumner.
May Flannery O'Connor, A Good Man is Hard to Find. generally acknowledged as one of the greatest American short story collections. short, startling sentences; writing combines tragedy and comedy, or as one Amazon reviewer said, “Ten weird, surprising, tense, comical, and often unforgettable stories” Recommended by Joanne Sinsheimer and Sarah Barnett.
June Michael Ondaatje. The Cat's Table. A coming of age novel with a flamboyant cast of characters; interesting use of flash forward an flashback. “Some events take a lifetime to reveal their damage and influence.” Recommended by Sarah Barnett.
Revolutionary Road by Richard Yates
...All agreed the main characters were not entirely likeable. But, while some of us found the Wheelers whiny and selfish with few redeeming qualities, others felt sympathy for their dreary childhoods and the fact that they seemed trapped in a hopeless situation. ...As writers, we admired Yates’ skill in writing long sections of believable dialogue and his evocative descriptions of characters and settings. We learn a lot about Millie Campbell, for example, from this description of her room: “It was a room that might have been dreamed by a little girl alone with her dolls and obsessed with the notion of making things nice for them…” And who could forget this take on her husband, Shep? “He was halfway across the living room before he realized that he had four sons.”
Every Last One by Anna Quindlen
Despite the slow 200-page beginning, almost everyone (even Paulie D.) gave a nod of approval to the book. Only Ceil Payne and Linda Blumner had reservations, Ceil saying that it didn’t work for her because “there was no emotion, nothing that grabbed me,” Linda observing that, for her, life depicted in the book was just “too perfect.”
Jan Peebly felt that the tone of the book was intimate, giving her the feeling of chatting woman to woman “almost like I was her friend and I was listening.” Tom Hoyer was struck by the fact that the family had problems no one was addressing. Noting that much of the book was about people staying on the surface, he said it was fascinating that “all these well meaning people were trying so hard and getting it wrong.” And Gail Comorat felt that the author did a good job of presenting the different voices of the characters. While some questioned the slow beginning, finding it too long, too much of a slog, for this author, the detail gave life to the characters and made her mourn their deaths.
Asking, “What is it that makes us get attached to fictional characters?” Maribeth Fischer said she was motivated to read the book because “the author broke all the rules. She did everything I’ve been telling my novel class not to do, yet I couldn’t stop turning the pages.”
The Shipping News by E. Annie Proulx
The readers of The Shipping News by E. Annie Proulx (1993) deemed many of the descriptions in the book inspired: “Everything in the house tatted and doilied . . . designs of lace waves and floe ice, whelk shells and sea wrack, the curve of lobster feelers, the round knot of cod-eye, the bristled commas of shrimp and fissured sea caves, white snow on black rock, pinwheeled gulls, the slant of silver rain. . . . On a shelf a 1961 Ontario phone book.”
Some people objected to the heavy concentration of weird names: Billy Pretty, Wavey Prowse, Nutbeem, Diddy Shovel, Adonis Collard. And a few wondered if it was really necessary to have everyone’s face described so roughly: “scowling Beethoven” or “nose wrinkled like a snarling dog.” Hair, too, comes in for rough treatment: “hair the color of sewage foam.” Proulx’s fragments struck several readers as a powerful part of her style. Sometimes, a series of fragments. One after another. Building up suspense. Calling us all to look. Wonder . . . The characters came in for less discussion than the language, although there was (sometimes) grudging admiration for them....Could Petal have been so attractive, yet so vulgar and cruel? How could Quoyle continue to love her even after she sold their daughters? The characters often vilified each other and destroyed their cars or trailers or boats, yet the vibes in the readers’ conversation suggested that at some level they must have found them endearing. A few, though, were put off by the people, insisting that there were never people like that. We did touch on the art of exaggeration in fiction but without coming to any conclusion about its use. A few things we all enjoyed: Quoyle always caring for his daughters. Wavey’s strength to fight for her son’s education and that of others with handicaps. Dennis and Beety always looking out for folks, Alvin Yark insisting on the best craftsmanship he knows. ...We ended almost abruptly, as if the bell had rung (which I think it had) calling out our favorite sentences. Obviously we had followed Maribeth’s direction to bring our favorites. The last one of the book caught our attention: “And it may be that love sometimes occurs without pain or misery.”
The Dive from Clausen’s Pier, by Ann Packer
Reviews were mixed for this novel about Carrie Bell, 23, torn between loyalty to her boyfriend and longing for another kind of life. Her decision is complicated by her boyfriend, Mike’s diving accident, which has left him a paraplegic. The first section of the novel is set in Madison, Wisconsin, and some of us found this section too long, perhaps reflecting the slow pace and boredom that can be part of a living in a small town. Several members praised the author’s writing style and the way she handled movement between past time and present time. Much of the discussion focused on Carrie’s final decision to return to Madison and to Mike after a time in New York, where she starts a new life and discovers a different self. This led us to the most difficult question of all: are we reviewing the book the author wrote, or are we reviewing the book we wanted her to write?
The Best Day the Worst Day: Life with Jane Kenyon by Donald Hall
It was the best book. It was the worst book. Well, not exactly in those superlative terms. But the debate was spirited over poet Donald Hall’s book at February’s gathering. Reactions ranged from eye-rolling boredom to strong emotional connection. The memoir traces the 23-year marriage of Hall and poet Jane Kenyon, their move to Hall’s family farm in rural New Hampshire and their daily routines. It describes in unsparing terms Jane’s leukemia from diagnosis until her death 15 months later at the age of 47. Although the conversation at times strayed from the book review, Maribeth Fischer brought the group back: was the book an effective memoir and what could we learn from it as writers? she asked. Most agreed that Hall’s technique of alternating chapters (interspersing illness with health) was a plus, and diluted a too-intense focus on Kenyon’s illness and pending death. All seemed to agree that Hall wrote the book as catharsis for his debilitating grief. Whether he was able to transcend that grief and create a book of quality and readability remained debatable.
Martin Dressler by Steven Millhauser
Martin Dressler, the book, was almost as controversial as Martin Dressler, the “American dreamer,” who is the subject of Steven Millhauser’s novel. We began by noting that Martin’s process of implementing his “dream” is much the same as the writer’s process of envisioning a story and then building it word by word. But Martin is a dreamer who takes his visions beyond fantasy and into nightmare. We don’t understand what drove him, but we both admire and condemn the results. Martin’s aspiration to build a world you never have to leave is both enchanting and terrifying. Marjorie Weber compares Dressler to Rockefeller; Tom Hoyer compares his fantastic creations to Disney’s Epcot. Carl Thompson says the book is a fable. Linda Blumner finds the writing “tedious” and wonders about Martin’s dysfunctional relationships with women. We all agree that the description of Martin’s ultimate construction, “The Grand Cosmos,” seems interminable, but then Maribeth Fischer points out that Millhauser’s writing mirrors his theme. The description is deliberately overwhelming, so that the reader will feel what the hotel guests feel. And again, we are reminded that the purpose of the Writers’ Book Club is to focus more on what we can learn from the writing than on whether we like or dislike a particular book.
A Short History of Tractors in Ukrainian by Marina Lewycka
Sorry to disappoint any technical writers out there, but RBWG hasn’t decided to analyze farm equipment, not even in Ukrainian. We settled in Sharon Hoover’s cozy living room and discussed the novel, which most of us liked. ...We discussed how Lewycka weaves the family’s tragic past with the frequent humor of the present dilemma. The author is able to entertain by mixing internal and external dialogue and by developing a cast of colorful characters and voices. In contrast to her “louder” characters, Lewycka softly describes a character present in memory only by listing what she kept in her pantry and by listing the vegetables and flowers she grew in her garden. There was discussion of the father: was he sympathetic character? a hypocrite? a doddering old fool who lives in his mind? Ceil Payne found him an endearing character and liked the author’s focus on family relationships. Although his actions are often bizarre, the father does write a scholarly history of tractors in his native Ukrainian. Linda Blumner suggested that the tractor is symbolic of advances in technology. Maribeth Fischer was initially positive about the book and used examples of character, setting, and dialogue as models for her novel class. The stopping point for her was the repetition of conflict. There was agreement that the middle dragged a bit, but most kept reading on. ....”
Sonny’s Blues by James Baldwin
Sonny’s Blues, a short story by James Baldwin published in the late 1950”s, was the June selection, and everyone seemed to appreciate the author’s ability to mingle the themes of the racism and the power of shared music to transform pain. The central conflict pits the narrator/older brother, who believes one can avoid suffering, against younger brother Sonny, who accepts suffering and prefers to live a life he chooses, even if it isn’t safe. We discussed how the imagery highlights various themes. We noted three particular images: the trap (of poverty and racism), the use of ice and the use of darkness. We discussed the flashback scene of childhood with the old people talking in veiled terms about how hard their lives were in the presence of the children.... Though there were long chunks of exposition, several people, especially Marjorie Weber, commented on the beauty of the exposition and Maribeth Fischer noted that she used the story’s dialogue in her classes for training writers because it is poignant and direct. Others commented on the use of repetition, cadences resembling biblical oratory, and the use of a messenger. Tom Hoyer pointed out the ending is reminiscent of Joyce’s use of epiphany as the narrator has an awakening and begins to have empathy for the pain of others. This is a long prose passage but is very evocative.
I’d Know You Anywhere by Laura Lippman
Not everyone disliked this book, just mostly everyone. What we liked: it was an interesting story that kept most of us reading until the end. What we didn’t like: the two-dimensional characters who seemed like stand-ins for real people (e.g. sulky teen-age daughter), and the fact that even though the issues (death penalty, kidnapping, rape) were real and important, it was hard to care about the characters involved. One member, who will be nameless, actually read a different Lippman book by mistake. We were halfway through the discussion before she realized the error. What does that tell you about Lippman’s writing?
Yellow Raft in Blue Water by Michael Dorris
We had gathered to discuss Yellow Raft in Blue Water by Michael Dorris, a three part story told in the voices of three generations of Native American women. The stories overlap in certain places, so we get some scenes from differing points of view. HRH (Maribeth Fischer) made us all promise to re-read these parts so we can be better little writers.
It was probably the liveliest discussion ever, with many different opinions on the storytellers. Ethan Joella, who teaches the book, had so many interesting points that I ventured from my place behind a chair until venomous looks drove me back into hiding. Many in the crowd found the main characters unlikable, but most agreed that the writing was excellent.
A fine conversation fueled by fine wine, food and fresh ocean breezes. I took my leave inspired to learn more of Native American culture. I resolved to start by adopting some native clothing, for I feel I would look rather dashing in a loincloth.
In the Deep Midwinter by Robert Clark
Book club members who lived through the 1950s found this novel an accurate recreation of the time—the before dinner cocktails, the smoking, the pressure to conform to pre-defined roles. Those too young to have lived through this era got an eye-opening view of the constricted lives led by the characters, particularly women, in the days before the birth control pill and legal abortion. Members who gathered at Sarah Barnett’s home for the November meeting found various problems with Clark’s writing. Marjorie Weber didn’t believe in the characters. Carl Thompson found the writing “overblown,” noting awkward similes and overuse of metaphor. Still, Linda Blumner thought the issues raised in the book, particularly the illegal abortion a main character undergoes, should resonate with readers today. Maribeth Fischer summed it up by saying that the book made for a better discussion than a read. | <urn:uuid:d9142f11-cd1d-485e-86b8-694db40bcd94> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://rehobothbeachwritersguild.com/books.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368697974692/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516095254-00005-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.969337 | 3,686 | 1.703125 | 2 |
To study the mechanism of contragestational effect of alcohol extract of Verbena officinalis(VO), we observed both the changes of cell morphology, which is observed under phase-contrast microscope and electron microscope or by histochemical study, and the amount of HCG secreted after treatment with VO in 6-8 weeks cultured normal placental tissues in vitro. Our results showed that VO at 25, 50 mg/ml inhibited not only cell growth but also HCG secretion significantly. The histochemical study showed that the amount of HCG secreted and the activity of succinate dehydrogenase (SDH) of trophoblast cells in the VO treated groups were much weaker than that in the control groups. Pathological changes including decreased microvilli, disintegrated cell membrane, enlarged endoplasmic reticula cisternae, myelinlikely changed mitochondria and condensed chromatins arranged below nuclear membrane were also shown in the trophoblast cell in VO treated groups. Conclusively, these data in present study suggested that VO of certain concentrations directly damaged trophoblast cells and inhibited HCG secretion, so they provided some theoretical evidence for the clinical contragestational application of VO. | <urn:uuid:ee4229ca-0454-4ee6-b8dd-e61166f61448> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.shvoong.com/medicine-and-health/1614546-mechanism-contragestational-effect-verbena-officinalis/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368704132298/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516113532-00033-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.933275 | 245 | 1.539063 | 2 |
"Return fraud" affects about 65% of surveyed firms, according to a new report from the National Retail Federation. / Damian Dovarganes, AP file
This holiday season, merchants are concerned about thieves who steal without even leaving the store.
A retail group puts a price tag of almost $9 billion a year on "return fraud," a crime where people exchange stolen goods for cash, use counterfeit receipts or bring back items that have already been worn or used.
One category of the crime, the return of clothing and other items purchased for special occasions, even has its own name: "wardrobing."
That issue affects about 65 percent of surveyed firms, according to a new report from the National Retail Federation.
In October, Hamilton County, Ohio, prosecutors charged six men in a 31-count indictment alleging money laundering, theft, identity fraud, telecommunications fraud and receiving stolen property stemming from the return of expensive women's clothing to Nordstrom.
The men would return the expensive evening gowns after wearing the items. Authorities say unknowingly, Nordstrom employees helped them steal more than $150,000 from Hamilton County, Ohio, businesses -- money authorities say was used to support their lifestyles and trips to transvestite balls around the country.
"Nordstrom has the quality of clothes that they like to wear to those balls," said Jeff Cutcher, a defense attorney for Christopher Scott, who pleaded guilty and was sent to prison for six years in the scam.
Among other findings, the retail federation said 45 percent of retailers report being victims of criminals who use counterfeit receipts to make returns.
Return fraud can affect honest consumers, according to the trade group.
Companies seeking to curb criminals often impose "shorter return windows and limitations on the types of products that can be returned," said Rich Mellor, the group's vice president of loss prevention.
Also, almost 75 percent of retailers now require customers to show identification when making returns, particularly if they have no receipt, the retail association said.
In Ohio, the six men were accused of making or obtaining counterfeit checks and cashing them in Cincinnati-area Kroger stores. The group used that money as well as stolen credit card numbers that were re-encoded onto other cards, authorities alleged, to buy gift cards. They then were accused of using gift cards to buy other gift cards to ultimately buy Nordstrom merchandise. That's because they could get cash for returning the items to Nordstrom stores across the country.
"What aided them the most is that Nordstrom had this friendly return policy. If the customer asks for cash, Nordstrom gave them cash," Cutcher said.
Nordstrom confirmed that.
"We do our best to accommodate our customers' requests for how they'd like their return handled. If they ask for cash we'll generally provide that for them," said Nordstrom spokeswoman Tara Darrow.
To get the cash refund, though, Nordstrom required identification. The men gave their actual drivers licenses with their real names.
This month, the National Retail Federation estimated return fraud's annual cost at $8.9 billion, according to a survey of 60 retail firms. Of that amount, $2.9 billion will come during the holiday season.
"Overall, retailers estimate 4.6 percent of holiday returns are fraudulent," the group said.
John Holub, president of the New Jersey Retail Merchants Association, acknowledged thefts spike during the holiday season but said merchants face a year-round threat from shoplifting rings.
"You have much more volume in stores during the holiday seasons," he said. "Professional criminals can take advantage of that, and there's just greater opportunity for mischief."
Retailers have made it a focus of their operations.
"Our members work very closely with each other," Holub said. "They are competitors, yet we have monthly intelligence-sharing meetings."
The National Retail Federation surveyed loss-prevention executives at discount and department stores, as well as pharmacies, supermarkets and specialty shops.
The federation previously estimated the retail industry last year lost $34.5 billion to all forms of "shrinkage," including employee theft, shoplifting, supplier fraud and paperwork errors.
That represented 1.41 percent of sales, down from 1.49 percent in 2010.
Contributing: Kimball Perry, The Cincinnati Enquirer
Copyright 2013 USATODAY.com
Read the original story: Retail group: 'Return fraud' costs $9B a year | <urn:uuid:1a618abb-f3f5-469f-8dec-d53ce93fdb03> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.stargazette.com/usatoday/article/1761351?odyssey=mod%7Cnewswell%7Ctext%7CBusiness%7Cs | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368699273641/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516101433-00015-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.959269 | 917 | 1.8125 | 2 |
SEATTLE, Wash. - Backers of the laws that legalized recreational marijuana in Washington and Colorado were cautiously optimistic after President Barack Obama said Uncle Sam would not pursue pot users in those states.
The Justice Department has reiterated that marijuana will remain illegal under federal law, but had been vague about what its specific response would be.
In a Barbara Walters interview airing Friday on ABC, President Barack Obama said: "It does not make sense from a prioritization point of view" to focus on drug use in states where it is now legal.
Marijuana activists were relieved at Obama's comments, but had questions about how regulation will work. They said even if users aren't charged with crimes, marijuana producers and sellers could be subject to prosecution, civil forfeiture and other legal roadblocks. | <urn:uuid:34d54450-ea6d-4a30-9367-1c5b0e3ee7af> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.nbcrightnow.com/story/20348088/obama | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368706499548/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516121459-00003-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.979932 | 157 | 1.640625 | 2 |
Immune to the Underpayment Penalty
If you owe $1,000 or more in tax when you file your 2005 return -- and the amount is more than 10% of your total tax bill for the year -- the IRS will assume that you also owe a penalty for failing to pay enough tax during the year via withholding or quarterly estimated tax payments. The penalty is the IRS's not-so-subtle reminder that taxes are due as income is earned, not in April of the following year.
The penalty works a lot like interest on a loan. The rate is currently 7%.
But before you pay the penalty, see if you can fit into one of the exceptions that protects you from it.
If you paid in at least 90% of your actual tax bill for 2005 (and any required estimated payments were made on time), for example, the penalty doesn't apply.
If your payments during 2005 equaled the amount of your 2004 tax bill, forget the penalty -- no matter how much extra you owe when you file. However, as with so many tax rules, there is an exception to the neat 100%-of-last-year's-tax exception. If your 2005 adjusted gross income was more than $150,000, you had to pay in at least 110% of your 2004 tax liability to avoid the underpayment penalty.
Bottom line: Before you pay an underpayment penalty, check the rules carefully for a way around it.
And, even if you owe the penalty, don't worry about tackling the complicated Form 2210 to figure out how much you owe. The IRS will be happy to crunch the numbers for you -- you can double-check the bill when you get it. Letting the agency do that will allow you to hold on to your money for a bit longer. The interest clock stops running as soon as you pay your tax bill with your return; there's no interest charged on the penalty amount if you pay it by the date set on the bill. | <urn:uuid:736a7391-fa6c-4d5e-b23e-faf8e84a4a36> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://kiplinger.com/article/taxes/T056-C005-S001-immune-to-the-underpayment-penalty.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368700264179/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516103104-00010-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.969832 | 404 | 1.820313 | 2 |
We use several time-frames: 1 minute, 3 minutes, 10 minutes, and--usually after market close--30 minutes, 60 minutes, and daily and weekly. The longer time-frames are used to identify candidates to trade on the following next day. Once the market opens we usually stick to the 3-minute time-frame. In all our years of trading, we had not met -- until very recently-- people who daytrade from a 30-minute chart. Hats off to all you traders who use the 30 min timeframe for day-trading: It is an incredible feat.
We probably would miss out on at least 90% of our selections if we used anything longer than a 5-minute time-frame. Take a look at the following two charts. The first, a 3 minute showing a "base and explode" pattern, is our bread and butter set-up. The second chart, using a 30 min time frame, gives us no information.
It's true that 30-minute frames cut out a lot of noise, but they also delete critical data (for our kind of trading). Let's use an analogy:
3-minute time-frame: Two lovers talking on the phone with, naturally, a lot of phatic communication and meaningless information including sighs, giggles, pauses, baby sounds, more adult signals, and so on. Think of how much information is conveyed when the man asks, "so how is out working out with that new guy at the office," and there is a slight pause, just an instant too long or too short, before the woman responds, in a slightly too hurried voice, "good, good, and how was your day ". So much can be read into that pause, and so much of our understanding of what someone is trying to communicate comes from the "noise" or what is not said in between the words.
30-minute time-frame: Two lovers communicating by telegraph. One writes, "How is new guy at office," and the other responds "Good". The message is received and the noise is filtered out, but along with that, so is a ton of data.
We're not writing this to change anyone's style from longer time-frames to shorter time-frames, not at all: Each style of trading requires its own means and methodology, and judging by what we have seen these last six months in various blogs, there are many traders who day-trade from a 30-minute chart, and do so successfully. We respect these traders very much and are always amazed at how many ways there are to make a living from mother market.
For our style of momentum-trading however, we have yet to come across anybody that has used a 30-minute chart. Ugly is doing something very unique, and so far quite successful, by combining daily charts with 30-minute time-frames. It's something that intrigues us very much. We have faith he will develop his system enough that it will work consistenly over time (and if not, the ATS will take over).
So, to conclude, hats off to you 30-min traders! This is a difficult business and anyone who can come up with a system to consistently pay the bills has our respect. | <urn:uuid:98fdc7c3-c3a2-4187-9019-0aab91d94744> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://highchartpatterns.blogspot.com/2006_12_03_archive.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368696382584/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516092622-00012-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.967572 | 666 | 1.609375 | 2 |
Don`t you find something a little, oh, I don`t know, ham-handed about all this bank robbery?
Guys disguised in funny headgear have been scuttling into our financial institutions in record numbers lately, summoning forth such tedious cliches as, ``This is a stickup. I have a gun. Give me all your money and no one will get hurt`` (actual announcement from a South Elgin caper in June), then dashing off with bags of loot.
Corny, yes, and so primitive and brutish a crime you`d think by now it would have gone the way of skyjacking and railroad heists. But FBI figures show metropolitan-area bank robberies were up 26 percent in 1989 and 23 percent in 1990, and with two more in the northwest suburbs last week, they are on pace to be up 54 percent in 1991.
Nationwide, the American Bankers Association said robberies were up 32 percent, to 5,942, in 1990. Compare this to 1934, in the era of John Dillinger, Pretty Boy Floyd, Baby Face Nelson and Ma Barker and sons, when the FBI counted only 86 bank robberies coast to coast.
Clearly, lots of bad people out there have been watching too many old TV shows.
Bank robbery is a ridiculous crime to commit in the 1990s-even apart from the cartoonish get-up you have to wear to avoid identification from omnipresent video cameras.
In the first place, bank robbers aren`t celebrities anymore, possibly because of the nickname crisis. Even the man with the false-face disguise who is believed responsible for 16 northwest suburban robberies, including the one Thursday in Streamwood, has done no better than ``The Flesh-Masked Bandit,``
hardly a handle to seize the popular imagination.
Secondly, the haul just ain`t what it used to be. Willie Sutton, who robbed banks from the 1920s to the 1950s, did so, he said, ``because that`s where the money is.`` But in this era of computer finance and plastic transactions, banks and tellers simply don`t have much cash on hand anymore.
On Oct. 12, a robber at a Citibank branch in Palatine got only $250 for his troubles, and authorities say the average take is between $2,000 and $3,000.
That`s a skinny payday in light of the risks: When you rob a bank, the FBI automatically takes up the chase in accordance with federal law, and statistics show they catch about two of every three offenders.
And the courts do not find such transgressions nearly as amusingly goofy as I do. Even first offenders who never fire a shot can be sentenced to 5 years in the house of numbers; compare this to the probationary terms often given to perpetrators of often more lucrative white-collar bank fraud.
``Don`t use a gun, use a pencil,`` said Francis Keating, chairman of the security management committee of the American Bankers Association. ``If you forge a check and walk out with $10,000, society still thinks you deserve only a slap on the wrist. But people keep robbing banks because there`s still a certain romance to it. They think they can go in and walk out with a million dollars.``
``It`s a dumb crime,`` added Chicago FBI spokesman Bob Long, who, after 83 bank robberies in his region so far this year, is clearly weary of the subject. ``These people are not our most intelligent criminals.``
Some have attributed the steady rise in area bank robberies-there were just 38 in all of 1988-to drugs and to hard economic times, but Long said a look at the trends doesn`t support this correlation. The biggest cause of the increase, he said, appears to be the proliferation of small, lightly guarded branch offices near easy getaway routes.
Ten years ago, the law allowed an Illinois bank to have only two branches. Today, after a series of deregulatory moves, a Chicago-area bank can have up to 30 offices, according to the Illinois Bankers Association.
Keating said the most successful robbery deterrent has proved to be the so-called ``bandit barrier,`` a wall of bulletproof glass separating potential evildoers from tellers and their money.
So the choice is simple: Either we outfit all our banks in the style of urban currency exchanges or resign ourselves to a future of banal crimes and lame legends, flesh-masked criminals stuck in ancient ruts.
This is a stickup? Oh, please. | <urn:uuid:8004fc06-8325-4124-8f5e-a076774ba9ea> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://articles.chicagotribune.com/1991-11-24/news/9104160381_1_bank-robbery-robberies-american-bankers-association | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368702810651/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516111330-00004-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.949328 | 950 | 1.601563 | 2 |
Last October we brought you word that Jeep would begin producing models, and perhaps its entire lineup, in China for the Chinese market. Our article (and others) turned into a political hot potato, as some misinterpreted the story to read that Jeep was moving all of its production to China.
That was never the automaker’s intent, but not everyone took the time to read the fine print. China is a significant and growing market for Jeep, so producing vehicles in-country just makes good financial sense (and higher profits) for the automaker.
Now comes word from The Car Connection that the deal between Chrysler, Fiat and China’s Guangzhou Automobile Group has been signed, and Jeep models will be built under the companies’ joint venture, GAC Fiat Automobiles.
No official production start date was set, but Reuters quotes Fiat head Sergio Marchionne as saying that output could equal 100,000 units in 2014, with an ultimate capacity of 200,000 vehicles per year built in China.
Fiat needs the increased business and profit to counter slumping European sales. In 2012, Jeep more than doubled its previous year sales in China, and most believe that the Chinese market is poised for additional growth in the segment in 2013. In other words, the automaker has no choice but to build Chinese Jeeps in market.
Beginning in 2014, it will build at least one Jeep model in Melfi, Italy, too. Jeep’s upcoming compact offering will be built alongside the Fiat 500X on which its based, with sales planned for both Europe and the United States.
While U.S. Jeep production won’t be moving overseas anytime soon, we still have to wonder if any domestic jobs will be lost when the automaker fires up production in China. The move is clearly for the good of the company, but that won’t be much comfort to workers who lose hours, or even worse, jobs.
This article originally appeared at Motor Authority. | <urn:uuid:f7b3f90d-ebe4-4fb1-9478-6df747a2dcab> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://denver.cbslocal.com/2013/01/22/its-official-jeep-will-build-models-in-china/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368696381249/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516092621-00007-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.956074 | 408 | 1.507813 | 2 |
It’s a great time to be a kid in St. Charles or Lincoln County as the calendar is packed with Easter egg hunts and Easter activities for kids. Dardenne Prairie, Wentzville, Lake St. Louis and Troy are among the many areas that will host fun events for kids in 2013.
Check out these kid-friendly events happening in March:
On Saturday, March 23rd, the city of Wentzville will host an Easter egg hunt in Progress Park. This event is open to children ages 1 through 10, with children in different age groups hunting for eggs at different times. Children who are 1 or 2, 7 or 8 and 9 or 10 will begin their hunts at 9:30 a.m. Children in age groups 3 or 4 and 5 or 6 will race at 10:00 a.m. Children can be registered in advance at the Progress Park office for a fee of $2, or on the day of the event for $3. Prizes will be awarded to children who find eggs with winning prize tickets inside.
The park opens at 8:30 that morning with face painters and clowns on hand to entertain the kids. Visitors should arrive early to make ample time for parking before the egg hunts begin.
On March 30th, 2Rivers Church of Wentzville will host an Eggnormous Hunt at John Weldon Elementary School, 7370 Weldon Springs Road, in Dardenne Prairie. This fun-filled event features several egg hunts for different age groups plus carnival games, face painting, popcorn and door prizes.
The Easter egg hunts take place at the following times:
Ages 2 and under - 1:40 p.m.
Ages 3 and 4 - 2:00 p.m.
Ages 5 and 6 - 2:20 p.m.
Ages 7 and 8 - 2:50 p.m.
Dardenne Presbyterian Church, located at 7400 Hwy N will host a Rock-N-Roll Easter Egg Event on Saturday, March 23 from 10:00 to -11:45 a.m. Kids in 5th grade or younger will hear an Easter message, participate in crafts, enjoy snacks and of course, race to collect Easter eggs. Children must be registered for this event by March 18th, 2013. Please call 636-561-4347 to register.
St. Charles County Parks will host their Easter egg hunt on March 23rd from 10:00 a.m. to noon at the Youth Activity Park. Children 3 and under will begin their egg hunt at 10:00 a.m. Children ages 4 through 6 will race at 10:30 a.m. and kids ages 7 through 12 will hunt last at 11:00 a.m. The cost is $5 per child. Pre-registration is required and can be completed by calling 636-949-7535. There is a limit of 100 participants, so be sure to register early if interested. The Youth Activity Park is located at 7801 Highway N.
Lake St. Louis
Founders Park will be the site of an Easter egg hunt on Saturday, March 23rd from 10:00 a.m. to noon. This is a free event open to children ages 10 and under. Children will enjoy the egg hunt as well as other kid-friendly activities including a visit from the Easter Bunny. Founders Park is located at 7 Freymuth Road.
New Life Church, whose Troy branch meets at Bonfils Auditiorium, is hosting an Easter egg hunt at the Troy Middle School practice field on March 30th at 9:00 a.m. For more information, call 636-240-3567.
The St. Louis Children's Recreation Examiner compiles lists of Easter, 4th of July, Halloween and Christmas activities, as well as many other exciting events for kids throughout the year. To get the latest events delivered to your inbox, please subscribe to the St. Louis Children's Recreation Examiner at the top of this page and join Jae's Jampacked Days on Facebook.
This article may not be copied or reproduced in any form without the express written consent of the author, Jaelyn Jamik, or Clarity Digital Media. Any excerpt reproduced, not to exceed 75 words, must provide a link back to the original article and Examiner.com. | <urn:uuid:4cfd8036-a42c-4988-b6de-b7a95eb07592> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.examiner.com/article/2013-easter-egg-hunts-near-st-louis-wentzville-lake-st-louis-area?cid=rss | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368696383156/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516092623-00006-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.944974 | 894 | 1.59375 | 2 |
Snow and Ice Control
The Public Services Department is responsible for providing snow and ice control for the City’s streets and parking lots. To help provide this service, the City has developed a Snow and Ice Control Plan.
The goal of the Snow and Ice Control Plan is to maintain safe access for services throughout the city. Snow removal operations are critical for safe transportation and the economic health of our city. Winter weather can cause unsafe road conditions and snow removal can reduce, but not totally eliminate those conditions.
Our snow crews are prepared 24 hours per day, 7 days a week. When any amount of snowfall is predicted, Public Services Department crews are prepared to be assigned to snow control. Crews do their best to get snow routes open as quickly as possible. Crews focus first on clearing major arterial and collector streets for emergency responders, schools, motorists and suppliers for businesses throughout the city. | <urn:uuid:2d7deb29-1eb9-44c1-ad8e-a1698ff5b387> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.casperwy.gov/Transportation/Streets/SnowandIceControl/tabid/953/Default.aspx | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368703298047/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516112138-00000-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.952496 | 182 | 1.835938 | 2 |
JACKSONVILLE, Fla.-- All this week, we profiled three people living in very tight financial situations day in, day out.
"When I was unemployed, it was hell," Dwayne Carroll, 43, of Jacksonville said.
Carroll is one of the people we profiled. He is in school, between jobs and survives on food stamps.
"The way the economy is, no jobs, no nothing. It's just been hard," Carroll explained.
First Coast News found a wealth of solutions for Carroll and people living in the same situation.
LEARN MORE ABOUT RISING ABOVE THE WAGE
For example, free food options around the city. First Coast News Consumer Reporter David Williams used real coupons and circulars for a true breakdown of how you can feed your family for a week on $100.
We also profiled Caridad Gato-Klar, who works full time but struggles to support her family.
"I'm going to have to get a part time job just to make ends meet," she told First Coast News.
For people and families like hers, we found more tools. There are free financial education programs and free financial workshops available to anyone seeking help.
We also introduced you to Mary Shell. One morning, she recounted her depths of depression as she waits for work. She told us how she leans on faith.
"I have come here plenty of times and just screamed and cried and just go to sleep," Shell said as she thought back to her lowest moment.
For Shell and families like hers, we found many resources.
For example, we found a wealth of job search and counseling agencies in North Florida and Southeast Georgia. We also found real free or reduced price mental health offerings.
We at First Coast News want you to know there are ways out and help is available to you.
"It does require an incredible commitment, dedication and persistence," United Way's Real Sense initiative Executive Director, Jeff Winkler said. "I think learning and understanding how your spending occurs is very very important as an initial step."
Klar said she can attest: The climb up and out is arduous.
"That it's not easy," she explained. "As I'm learning, sometimes you do have to open your mouth and ask for help."
That is the first step in a climb up during a commitment to change.
"If someone's pulling you up, and you see someone down there, pull them up," Klar said in explaining her journey to change.
Shell echoed the same sentiment, speaking from a place within herself.
"I want to be stronger, I want to be wiser, I want to be better towards people," she said.
Carroll now sees where he wants to go.
"It was like I was at the bottom of the pit, but, I can see myself climbing out now."
First Coast News | <urn:uuid:2ba60912-3a37-4f32-9e77-7944ab905415> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.firstcoastnews.com/topstories/article/299356/483/A-look-back-at-a-week-of-truly-rising-above-the-wage | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368703298047/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516112138-00037-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.975689 | 598 | 1.539063 | 2 |
BY PETER LUKE
Ann Arbor News Bureau
LANSING - Gov. Jennifer Granholm will propose Tuesday a $300 million state fund to provide planning and startup cash for the creation of as many as 100 small high schools in Michigan.
The schools, designed to replace dysfunctional, industrial-model high schools plagued by high dropout rates and low academic achievement, would be:
n Proposed by local school districts and limited to 400 students or less on a general admission basis.
n Governed on site by a principal with increased autonomy to set budgets, establish curriculum, hire teaching staff and establish work rules.
n Possibly partnered with universities, businesses, foundations and nonprofit institutions to establish specialized fields of study.
n Based on an emerging national reform model that stresses rigorous course work, academic relevance to the real world, personal relationships between staff and students and individualized study plans.
Are plans practical?
Refashioning secondary education is the centerpiece of Granholm's sixth State of the State address to the Michigan Legislature on Tuesday. Like her previous five, it will focus heavily on the state's struggle to cope with a decade of economic change and deep annual job loss.
Grand Rapids Public Schools Superintendent Bernard Taylor said the governor's ideas seem noble, but may not be practical.
"You have to look at the broad-range implications of what these reforms mean," he said, suggesting that the low student-to-teacher ratios needed might be financially unachievable.
Taylor said Grand Rapids already is moving toward some of Granholms' goals, particularly with this fall's expected opening of the Grand Rapids University Prep Academy, a middle school public-private partnership aimed at getting students to attend college.
Chuck Wilbur, Granholm's education adviser, said "Granholm believes that to diversify Michigan's economy and create jobs, we have to transform our schools so that every Michigan student can attend a high school that prepares them for success in college and in the workplace."
Education has been an area of general agreement between Granholm and Republican lawmakers.
Sen. Wayne Kuipers, R-Holland, said Sunday the initiative to create smaller high schools should have an "interesting," but relatively easy path through the Legislature.
One key issue will involve ensuring on-site principals have the flexibility they need to run their schools.
"There are clearly some schools that need to be fixed," said Kuipers, chairman of the Senate Education Committee. "If we haven't been able to fix them the old fashioned way, we may need to close them down and reconstitute them under a new model. This might be the new model."
Poor schools targeted
High schools being targeted for reform or outright replacement are among the 291 of 1,149 Michigan high schools that failed to make adequate yearly progress for two straight years under the federal No Child Left Behind Act.
A common denominator in those under-performing schools is poverty. And while some are smaller rural schools, Michael Flanagan, Michigan's superintendent of public instruction, said most are larger, urban schools.
Granholm's goal is to put Michigan on a track to double the number of college graduates. Toward that goal, she and lawmakers in 2006 agreed on the first statewide set of tougher curriculum standards.
The program would be funded through a $300 million bond issue secured with $32 million annually now earmarked for court-ordered special education payments to local school districts. The last scheduled payment is in the current fiscal year.
The money, available Oct. 1, would provide planning grants to school districts seeking to establish new schools and state aid to get the new schools running as early as the 2009-10 school year.
Administration officials view the bond money as a commitment of state resources necessary for attracting philanthropic help from foundations who are taking a bigger role in education reform, among them the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.
Startup grants would be provided through an application process administered by the Michigan Department of Education. Operational funding would come through the standard per-pupil foundation grant. | <urn:uuid:379dc41a-93ee-44c5-9d8f-fb6cef15cbe3> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://blog.mlive.com/study_hall/2008/01/granholm_to_propose_money_for.html | 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 | 0.956885 | 830 | 1.75 | 2 |
One of the drawbacks of Roombas, the robotic floor cleaning devices that automatically scoot around and suck up dirt, is that they are too big to clean what really matters. They fall off of pets, are miserable at dishes and they do very little for tablet and smartphone maintenance.
A Japanese company is attempting to remedy at least one of those wrongs with a teeny, tiny Roomba-like screen cleaner for mobile devices called the AutoMee S.
The wee gadget, spotted by Engadget is a fun and cheap little invention by Japanese company Takara Tomy.
Drop the AutoMee S onto an iPad and it will buff the finger prints away, wandering around the screen in straight lines, ricocheting of the edges until the entire surface is clean. A sensor detects the edges of the phone or tablet so the device spins around to take another pass instead of wandering off onto your desk and accidentally cleaning unsuspecting pencils and mouse pads.
If you're in a rush, a microfiber cloth is going to be much faster. It takes four minutes to clean a phone and eight minutes to fully cover a tablet using the AutoMee.
But where's the fun in that?
The plastic devices run on one AA battery, weighs a little less than 3 ounces, and come in four colors: white, blue, orange and pink. It will retail for 1575 Yen, or nearly $17, when it goes on sale in Japan at the end of March.
Sure, it's a silly product. But it's actually an important task.
Phones and tablets are teeming with bacteria such as E. coli that can cause illnesses. Wiping a screen down with a microfiber cloth will get rid of up to 99 percent of those germs.
Using an alcohol-based cleaner is the best way to get all of the bacteria, but it can strip off the oleophobic (oil resistant) coating found on many touchscreen devices. Check the help section for you particular device before going in for a deep clean. | <urn:uuid:2d0a7d7f-75b0-4afc-bb7b-96874bbc1231> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.krdo.com/news/technology/Tiny-Roomba-cleans-your-phone-tablet/-/417142/18473686/-/q3fqp2z/-/index.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368703682988/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516112802-00003-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.943602 | 419 | 1.828125 | 2 |
I recently created a project called Yii-App on GitHub to kickstart my development of smaller Yii applications. The main goal of the project is to provide a ready-to-use application template that includes my bootstrap extension and many other useful extensions. After reading this article you will be able to use this project as a starting point for all of your Yii projects.
The Portable PHP password hashing framework allows advanced password hashing offering increased security over simple MD5- or SHA1-hashed passwords. phpass is already in use in some larger projects such as WordPress (since v2.5), Drupal 7 and phpBB 3.
CGridView is a one of most flexible widgets in Yii and example its flexibility is CButtonColumn used to build buttons for steering model in each grid row. Here in this how-to we will explain ways user can customize CButtonColumn to flexibly fit it to its needs.
When i had created this functionality then i found some difficulties and not got much idea from wiki and forums. so, i think this will be useful for newbie users and save time of other developers when create related functionality.
I refer Collecting Tabular Input tutorial but not got clear idea for create/update.
We all know how good 'gii' automates the code for us and we normally tend to be happy with what that tool offers at the beginning of our Yii learning curve. But as soon as you start working in larger and larger projects, you realize that its code is too repetitive to maintain and having a small pitfall in general actions means to go over and over through them to fix the issues.
I have had to do this a couple of times now so I figured I would share it with the community. I am going to keep this short because I really hope that you are familiar with jQueryUI's Sortable class before starting this tutorial.
In this cookbook I will attempt to explain how to use the lightweight version of Role-Based Access Control using a php file. This version does not use database but a php file and is controlled by CPhpAuthManager class. | <urn:uuid:48f65dfa-f246-4432-83ff-ce8e0636908c> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.yiiframework.com/wiki/?category=2&sort=comments.desc | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368698207393/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516095647-00040-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.947691 | 434 | 1.546875 | 2 |
Deadline for Entry (postmarked)
Results announced tentatively by May 1 of each school year
Lisa Giles, VHSL Assistant Director, 434-977-8475
DID YOU KNOW -- The Virginia High School League began recognizing excellence in creative writing in 1924 with contests in poetry and short story writing. The winners that year were George Leckie of E.C. Glass High School and Charles Feltner of Berrysville High School, respectively.
Over twenty years later, the contest expanded to include a category in essay writing and the League also began awarding schools for their overall folder submissions of poems, short stories and essays. That first year, schools in four classifications were state champions: Lane (I), John Handley (II), Fincastle (III) and Greenwood (IV).
Today, just 22% of the League's schools participate in creative writing and the League is looking for ways to breathe new life into this valuable program. In 2011-12, Appomattox County High School, Loudoun County High School and Westfield High School took the Group A, AA and AAA state titles.
VHSL Activities Facebook Page - www.facebook.com/vhsl.activities
VHSL Activities Twitter Page - www.twitter.com/vhsl_activities
VHSL YouTube Page - www.youtube.com/thevhsl | <urn:uuid:d995ba43-2ef1-4f1c-8a50-c3948addd8ba> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.vhsl.org/activities.creative-writing | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368698207393/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516095647-00009-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.935085 | 290 | 1.710938 | 2 |
Authorities say they have little hope of finding survivors from the plane belonging to Brazilian low-cost airline Gol in what is feared to be the country's worst ever aviation disaster.
''The Air Force has searched the area without finding any signs of survival,'' Brigadier Jose Carlos Pereira, head of the aviation authority Infraero, said last night.
About 200 soldiers, firemen, and local volunteers were cutting through thick vegetation with the help of native Indian guides. They were due to arrive at the crash site later today, an Infraero spokesman said.
''Nobody has actually been to the site yet,'' he said.
President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva has decreed three days of national mourning for the victims of the disaster, which has overshadowed Sunday's nationwide general elections.
The brand-new Boeing 737-800 probably plunged into the ground nose first after it clipped a smaller executive jet, Pereira said.
Search planes spotted the crash site in Mato Grosso state, about 1,000 km northwest of Brasilia yesterday. Authorities had lost radar contact with the flight on Friday afternoon as it flew from the principal Amazon city of Manaus to the capital Brasilia.
MORE REUTERS PR PM1932 | <urn:uuid:825afc56-ab72-42e9-9792-d96d6e81087a> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://news.oneindia.in/2006/10/01/rescuers-in-brazil-amazon-hack-way-to-jet-wreckage-1159741356.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368711005985/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516133005-00038-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.954533 | 249 | 1.617188 | 2 |
OGJ Senior Writer
Although it’s difficult to assess precisely how much crude and distillate fuel are now held in floating storage around the globe, the associated risk is increasing significantly, said Olivier Jakob at Petromatrix, Zug, Switzerland.
It “used to be that in a period of low demand, refineries would run until the onshore stocks would be filled up, then the contango would pressure the refinery margins, which would then limit refinery production until stocks start to draw. However, the total collapse in trade following the credit crisis at the end of 2008 and the zero interest rate policy of the US Federal Reserve has brought an additional and almost indefinite level of storage tanks through the use of ships as floating stocks. This means that refineries have been producing way over what should have been the balancing economics,” Jakob said.
The International Energy Agency estimated 60 million bbl of oil and 80 million bbl of distillates were in floating storage at the end of October. The Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries put the numbers at 40 million bbl of crude and 90 million bbl of distillates. ICAP Shipping International Ltd. projected 90 million bbl of distillates would be in floating storage by the end of November, growing to 97 million bbl in December—a fivefold increase in floating distillate stocks within 9 months, said Jakob.
“If the current rate of increase in distillate floating stocks continues, we would have at the end of March 2010 more distillate stocks on water then we had in March 2008 in the total onshore US,” he said.
At a 40% processing yield, it took 250 million bbl of crude to produce the 100 million bbl of distillates that went into floating storage this year, said Jakob. Add 50 million bbl of crude in floating storage, “and that makes…300 million bbl of crude oil equivalent that will come back to the market in the short to medium term,” Jakob said. “On an annualized basis, this amounts to about 800,000 b/d.”
Coincidentally, OPEC expects world demand for crude to increase by 800,000 b/d 2010. That could be satisfied by the drawdown of floating inventories, which “would leave onshore stocks basically unchanged from the current record highs, while the supply and demand equation will still have to deal with some increase in non-OPEC and noncore OPEC crude production,” Jakob predicted.
In a move little noticed by most oil market observers, the benchmark US light, sweet crudes contract for delivery in December 2017 briefly traded at $100.24/bbl on Nov. 18 before closing at $99.66/bbl on the New York Mercantile Exchange.
“That is the first time this year that any part of the on-exchange curve has traded above $100/bbl,” said Paul Horsnell, managing director and head of commodities research at Barclays Capital in London. “Indeed, it is the first time since the start of October 2008 that has happened. A small event in itself, but symbolic nonetheless. The ledger will show that oil did trade above $100 in 2009, albeit that it took until November to happen and occurred right at the back end of the exchange-traded curve.”
Moreover, Horsnell said, the December 2017 contract “has been loaded with more symbolism than you could shake a Dan Brown novel at.” Brown is the author of The DaVinci Code and Angels & Demons, mysteries in which the protagonists follow obscure clues involving religious symbols. Example: the crude contract for that month never fell below $70/bbl, not even on Feb. 18 when the front-month March contract dropped to $34.62/bbl on NYMEX.
“The contract has spent the past 4 weeks between $95 and $100/bbl and has averaged just over $86/bbl for the year to date,” Horsnell reported Nov. 18. “In other words, the closest thing the formal oil exchanges have for a proxy for the long-term sustainable price of oil never fell below $70 even when the consensus expected a severe multiyear economic discontinuity. Further, it has averaged $86/bbl in the depths of a recession, and has returned to $100 when the economic weakness proved to be more of a short-term shock than a multiyear trauma.”
Meanwhile, he said, “The front of the curve has remained severely range bound. In our view, $70/bbl is now looking like the minimum sustainable price that would not severely depress long-term investment, and moves below that level would threaten to intensify the expected supply tightness that has kept the back of the curve so well supported.”
(Online Nov. 30, 2009; author’s e-mail: [email protected]) | <urn:uuid:15522a48-336b-4a6a-947b-07c5a55ac9ec> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.ogj.com/articles/2009/11/crude--distillates._saveArticle.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368708142388/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516124222-00001-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.958442 | 1,042 | 1.757813 | 2 |
After several years of failing health and medical leaves of absence, Steve Jobs today announced he would resign as CEO of Apple.
"I have always said if there ever came a day when I could no longer meet my duties and expectations as Apple's CEO, I would be the first to let you know," Jobs, 56, wrote in his letter of resignation "to the Apple board of directors and the Apple community." "Unfortunately, that day has come.
"I would like to serve, if the Board sees fit, as Chairman of the Board, director and Apple employee," Jobs added. "As far as my successor goes, I strongly recommend that we execute our succession plan and name Tim Cook as CEO of Apple."
In a separate release, Apple said that Cook, 50, was, in fact, named CEO, Jobs was elected chairman of the board and Cook was added to the company's board.
"Steve's extraordinary vision and leadership saved Apple and guided it to its position as the world's most innovative and valuable technology company," said Art Levinson, chairman of Genentech, on behalf of Apple's board. "Steve has made countless contributions to Apple's success, and he has attracted and inspired Apple's immensely creative employees and world class executive team. In his new role as chairman of the board, Steve will continue to serve Apple with his unique insights, creativity and inspiration."
Apple declined to comment on the current state of Jobs' health, or make any comment beyond the written statements.
Since 2004, Jobs has battled a rare form of pancreatic cancer, had a liver transplant in 2009, and taken three leaves of absence from Apple, the most recent of which was earlier this year.
Jobs and Apple have faced criticism for releasing so little official information about his medical condition considering his iconic identification with the Apple brand.
But because of his illnesses, Apple has been putting in place contingency plans, an analyst said.
"The board has been preparing for this eventuality," said Michael Gartenberg, research director of Gartner IT analysts. "Mr.. Cook has shown remarkable leadership in the two times that he has taken the reins when Jobs was out on medical leave. And there is no reason to think he simply won't continue that pattern of excellence."
In June, Jobs got a standing ovation at a software developers' conference in San Francisco to introduce Apple's Lion operating system and a wireless service called iCloud. After so much uncertainty about his health, his mere presence at the event dwarfed the announcement itself.
"We love you," shouted someone in the crowd.
"I appreciate it very much," Jobs answered.
People emailing or tweeting from the conference said he looked gaunt, however.
Jobs "looks extremely thin," ABC News correspondent Neal Karlinsky wrote in an email from the audience, but added, "He's walking steadily and seems to have energy."
Macrumorslive.com, a website that covers Apple full-time, commented, "Steve sounds... exasperated. Weirdly quiet and not as energetic."
Jobs didn't stay long, commanding the stage for approximately 3 minutes. | <urn:uuid:78b550fd-9dd9-4376-9a57-8100a1e502f4> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://abcnews.go.com/Technology/steve-jobs-resigns-apple-ceo/story?id=14374908 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368696382584/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516092622-00025-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.983692 | 642 | 1.515625 | 2 |
The Sustainability Café on Monday, December 3rd will feature Kristin Kimball, author of "The Dirty Life", discussing her decision to leave a career as a journalist and begin a new career as the co-owner and operator of a CSA farm. The Sustainability Café will be held in Center for Natural Sciences Room 112 at 4:00PM in conjunction with the Environmental Seminar.
Kristin Kimball grew up in central New York, attended Harvard, then moved to New York City where she worked at a literary agency, taught creative writing, and freelanced for magazines and travel guides. In 2002, she interviewed a "wingnut farmer" named Mark, and took more than a professional interest in both him and his vocation. Together, Mark and Kristin founded Essex Farm in 2004 – the world’s first full-diet CSA providing more than two hundred people with vegetables, dairy and meat – and became "professionally dirty".
This event is free and open to the public.
“Teachable edibles” – local, organic and/or seasonal snacks – for the Fall 2012 Sustainability Café series are being sponsored by Ithaca College Dining Services whose motto is “Sustainability – Healthy – Fresh.” Please bring your reusable mug and fill up at the nearest drinking fountain or provide your own beverage of choice.
Drink in a new way to think in the Sustainability Café.
Individuals with disabilities requiring accommodations should contact Marian Brown at [email protected] or (607) 274-3787. We ask that requests for accommodations be made as soon as possible. | <urn:uuid:95b63945-b1a7-4272-b5e8-21b9197d4a9a> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.ithaca.edu/intercom/article.php/20120830222416919/print | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368705953421/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516120553-00036-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.955954 | 340 | 1.640625 | 2 |
FGCU Theatre Lab Presents Three Events at the Crossroads of
Theater and Civic Engagement
FORT MYERS, FL - Florida Gulf Coast University Theatre Lab presents "Performing Communities: Six Original One Acts," 8 p.m. April 22, April 23 and April 24 in the Arts Complex. Six FGCU theater students wrote original one act plays based on narrative interview transcripts collected over the course of the semester in assistant professor Michelle Hayford's Performing Communities Field Methods class.
The class is a practicum in creating ethno-dramatic work that brings ethnography and the study of community together with the craft of playwriting. The acts interrogate important challenges faced by those in our community such as honoring diversity, understanding American-isms, dealing with loss, homophobia, assimilation and gang violence that emerge in these performances of non-fiction text and personal narrative. The community is encouraged to become a part of the audience during the three nights of the extraordinary theatrical event.
"Singer Stars and Stripes," by Melissa Gallagher, stages the life of a young woman who moved to America from Korea when she was 19 years old. Her dreams to become a "singer star" are met with the realities of becoming a mother and the hardships faced while trying to get a job and learn English. "Lies Beneath," by Adalys Alvarez, seeks to identify sources of prejudice towards the homosexual community. Religion, current events and violence are addressed in an effort to prevent tragedies that are bred by prejudice and hate. Curtain opens 8 p.m., Tuesday, April 22.
"Impact," by Nicole Scarpaci, is a dramatic portrayal of one family's journey through grief, acceptance and recovery from the traumatic death of a family member. "Follow the Leader," by Jennifer Russette, explores the repercussions of the notorious crimes committed by local youth gang the Lords of Chaos. Curtain opens 8 p.m., Wednesday, April 23.
"Pendulum: America through Foreign Eyes," by Miriam Schroetter, showcases six FGCU students from Argentina, Germany, Canada, Netherlands, Great Britain and Macedonia reflecting on their time living and studying in the United States. "No Hablo Espaņol," by Rebecca Ormiston, is a mixed-media bilingual piece that explores issues of racism, xenophobia and identity politics under the guise of language. FGCU students perform personal stories as bilingual speakers in Southwest Florida. Curtain opens 8 p.m., Thursday, April 24.
The performances are free and open to the public. The Arts Complex is located on the main campus. Free parking is available in Lot 7 for Arts Complex visitors. Parking passes are available at the parking kiosk located at the University's entrance.
For more information, contact the FGCU Theatre Lab at (239) 590-7238. | <urn:uuid:1cf67ad0-18f0-4a0e-831a-140ab0d554c4> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.fgcu.edu/crm/pressrelease.asp?id=20258 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368697974692/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516095254-00035-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.952921 | 585 | 1.75 | 2 |
Now, more about the election.
Only American citizens can vote, and all voters are equal, so their ballots should reflect only each individual's wants and needs without the input of parties, unions, and any other groups, such as those which emphasize racial, ethnic, religious or gender differences. I realize that forming one's own opinion can be work, but the best America can only be achieved by citizens who care enough to do so.
We are beginning to see the damage that has been done by those who allowed prejudicially opinionated activist groups to tell them how to vote in the recent election. For instance, the stock market is already tanking, and employers are shedding workers in anticipation of massive tax increases and oppressive regulation, In addition, if something isn't done soon, in just over a year, 2,000-plus pages of Obamacare will descend upon us like the plague, and government control will supplant any semblance of free will in our lives.
If corporations are not people, then neither are all organizations founded to influence elections. "Group think" is from 20th-century fiction which parodied Karl Marx. I have always instinctively known right from wrong, and I'm betting the rest of you, my fellow individual human
— Donald M. Polzin, Orland | <urn:uuid:4e804140-9128-446a-b8c7-5d00e9170b15> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.orovillemr.com/opinion/ci_22062238/letter-voters-should-think-themselves | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368705953421/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516120553-00019-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.967181 | 261 | 1.757813 | 2 |
Eberhart Rechtin, a USC Viterbi School professor emeritus who had academic appointments in three departments and who also received an honorary degree from USC, was a giant in the Aerospace industry and a creative force in the academic realm. Through his leadership the USC Viterbi School established an innovative graduate program in Systems Architecting and Engineering that has emerged as a national model for collaborative engineering education and distance learning.
Professor Rechtin played a key role in the development of U.S. space technology and had a storied career in government and industry even before joining USC. He headed a 1960s JPL group that included several future Viterbi School faculty. Prof. Rechtin and several other team members were elected to the National Academy of Engineering.
In 1987 he joined the USC faculty and created the Systems Architecting and Engineering Program. The program provides graduate engineers and engineering managers with the advanced knowledge and skills necessary for the conception and implementation of complex systems. The program emphasizes the processes by which complex systems are conceived, planned, designed, built, tested and certified.
Systems engineering is changing the very nature of industrial and systems engineering, and Prof. Rechtin’s initiative placed the Epstein Department at the field’s leading edge. In addition to writing much of the literature defining systems architecting, Eberhardt Rechtin was a superb teacher who never failed to inspire students and colleagues. Today, the SAE Program is one of the Epstein ISE Department’s largest degree programs. | <urn:uuid:d18bf854-2e42-4bea-8ed4-2258908d51a8> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.usc.edu/dept/ise/about/rechtin-lecture-archive.htm | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368702448584/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516110728-00000-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.974808 | 310 | 1.84375 | 2 |
Illegal Immigrant Health Coverage Unintentional, Democrats Say
December 8, 2009 by Personal Liberty News Desk
Under the terms of the recently proposed healthcare legislation, hundreds of thousands of illegal immigrants could receive health benefits from their employers, The Washington Times reports.
Although its supporters say that illegal immigrants will not benefit from healthcare reform, the House and Senate bills do not contain any exemptions to screen out illegal workers who obtain jobs using false identities. Hence, Democrats admit that illegal immigrants may be able to obtain coverage if they mislead their employer about their status.
Some Republicans feel that this loophole will allow any illegal immigrant access to health insurance if they choose to cheat the system.
"This is a complete cover-all-the-gaps federal health insurance for illegals, whether it be under Medicaid, the refundable tax credit or whether it be under their employers who would not be able to verify their employees," Iowa Republican Representative Steve King said, quoted by the news source.
However, Nadeam Elshami, spokesman for House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, said that "it’s possible an employee could deceive an employer with a fraudulent document…to gain employment, just as it’s possible for all sorts of criminal activity to occur."
The Federation for American Immigration Reform, which advocates restricted immigration, estimates that taxpayers currently contribute $11 billion a year to healthcare for illegal immigrants and that costs will rise to $30 billion if they are offered the same insurance coverage as citizens, the San Jose Mercury News reports. | <urn:uuid:181a5f5b-f226-4c8e-aef3-394df8526b18> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://personalliberty.com/2009/12/08/illegal-immigrant-health-coverage-unintentional-democrats-say-19487240/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368710006682/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516131326-00021-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.948207 | 308 | 1.609375 | 2 |
by Kim Catcheside
BBC Social Affairs Correspondent
A young child from West Africa was found at Nottingham's bus station
At Nottingham's bus station, one cold night last winter, a young West African girl was found wandering alone.
She said she had come from London, but was too frightened to say anything else and had no means of identification.
She was one of five children to turn up in this way, over a matter of months.
The children were put in the care of Anne Turner at Nottingham's social services department.
As they gained confidence a horrifying story emerged.
They told Ms Turner they had been kidnapped in Africa, by criminals, and sold into sexual slavery.
Traffickers had terrified the children into submission with a mixture of physical violence and rape, and the psychological threat of voodoo.
That frightening, almost surreal, story is a familiar one for Juliette Singer, of the national missing person's helpline.
She has helped to expose the trade in teenage girls from Nigeria to brothels in northern Italy, via Gatwick airport and West Sussex.
Lagos is part of the child trafficking route
Girls were turning up at the airport without documents and being put into care by West Sussex social services.
Police were only alerted when the girls started to go missing.
The mystery was solved when one of the girls turned up Italy, having claimed sanctuary in a church.
She told authorities that she and other girls had been picked up from local authority hostels, and taken overland to Italy.
On the way they were gang-raped and forced to sell themselves in lorry parks across Europe.
When they eventually arrived in Europe they were taken to brothels to work.
Disrupting the trade
I went to the campus of a college somewhere in London, to meet a girl who narrowly escaped that fate.
When she was 16, Comfort was lured to the Nigerian commercial capital Lagos by her uncle, and forced to work as a prostitute.
She was forced to have sex with up to six men a night.
Her uncle then decided to move Comfort and three other, older women to Italy.
They travelled via Gatwick, where Comfort was told to destroy her passport and make contact with a man who would take them on to Italy.
But Comfort was lucky - and brave.
She hid in the toilets, refusing to tear up her passport.
Then, when the coast was clear, she presented herself to immigration officials.
The social services departments that serve Gatwick and Heathrow airports have got wise to the tactics of the traffickers and in recent years have been able to disrupt their trade and help children like Comfort.
Comfort escaped by alerting authorities at Gatwick
But now it seems the traffickers have got wise too and they are diverting their victims to other cities.
In Newcastle more than 20 lone African children have turned up in the last six months.
The police are investigating the cases of eight children who have almost certainly been trafficked.
But the city's refugee service says that most are too scared to speak.
And in Nottingham, Anne Turner now believes the city has become an established route for the traffickers.
Now there is a need to raise awareness in other cities.
The traffickers are wily businessmen and have probably already moved on.
They thrive on the fear of their victims and the ignorance of the authorities. | <urn:uuid:2f14d92f-1908-4fd1-9162-04201bf67787> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/3023874.stm | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368699881956/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516102441-00005-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.982813 | 697 | 1.546875 | 2 |
A blast in Mohmand, Pakistan, has killed 40 people and injured 70. The blast occurred in the early hours of Monday in Pakistan's Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province per reports from Express TV. A group of tribal elders had gathered in the Mohmand agency district when the explosion occurred. Officials are investigating the cause of the blast as a a pair of suicide bombers are believed to be behind the explosion. Many police officers, civilians, and government officials were injured as a result of the attacks The victims were transported to the Ghanzai hospital after the explosions.
Maqsood Amin, a senior government official in the Mohmand agency reported that one of the bombers, disguised as a police officer, detonated a bomb from inside of the building while the other detonated a second bomb outside of the building's gate. Militants are believed to be behind the attack.
The Pakistani military has helped battle militants and insurgents in Mohmand along the Afghanistan and Pakistan border. | <urn:uuid:e1c267b2-d833-45d4-bf4d-e1248fc63dce> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://brainz.org/news/blasts-mohmand-pakistan-kills-40-injures-70/4102/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368701852492/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516105732-00023-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.968293 | 197 | 1.5 | 2 |
TE Lawrence correspondence in our records
Exhibitions, Lawrence of Arabia and the Light Horse, Less than six degrees of separation, Lawrence of Arabia and the Light Horse
The following interesting exchange between C. E. W. Bean (Australia's Official Historian for the First World War) and TE Lawrence was found a while ago when we started researching our exhibition.
It was found in an official record series: AWM 43 'Official History, 1914-18 War, biographical and other research files'.
Bean intended to show biographical details (eg. the dates and places of birth and a connection to a town or district to which they belonged) for all those mentioned in the 12 volumes of the history. (These are now fully digitised and available on our website here for anyone interested.) So, on 29 March 1922, Bean sent Lawrence the usual form letter requesting his details. The request was sent to 'Lieut-Colonel T. E. Lawrence, C.B., D.S.O., All Souls College, Oxford, England'.
Lawrence replied with the following note hand-written on the bottom of the form:
I do not think I belong to any special town or district, though I have a house in Essex (England). This entry is no doubt meant specially for Australians, who may be more domiciled than we are. The two decorations which you put after my name were not conferred upon me - except by the Strand Magazine!
On the returned form, Lawrence has also written in 'Wales' for place of birth and just '1888' for the date. For profession or calling he has written 'Historian'. He circled the C.B. and D.S.O. post-nominals and noted after the rank Lieut-Colonel 'in 1918 only'.
In July 1922, Bean wrote to an officer of the Australian War Museum, then located in the Exhibition Buildings in Melbourne, Victoria seeking the London Gazette information for Lawrence's CB and DSO awards. He was informed that the CB was gazetted in the Third Supplement to the London Gazette on 7/8/1917 (p. 8163) and the DSO on 13/5/1918 (p. 5694), along with the citations for these awards. The officer (Mr A. G. Pretty) also informed Bean that in the British Who's Who of 1920 and 1921 the CB and DSO are shown in Lawrence's biography, but in the 1922 issue they are deleted, noting that this was 'probably at Lawrence's own request. By then he was disillusioned.' I have no idea how he came upon that information, other than by reading press reports in Melbourne. | <urn:uuid:3bd26653-ccfa-4e4b-ac09-1867d3dd3dc3> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.awm.gov.au/blog/2006/09/20/te-lawrence-correspondence-in-our-records/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368708142388/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516124222-00018-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.9627 | 555 | 1.625 | 2 |
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A super cell thunderstorm formed several miles out over Lake Michigan, blew across the lake, and smashed into the shoreline near Wind Lake and Caledonia at about 7:30 p.m. Thursday, June 30.
“Normally you wouldn’t see that,” said a spokesperson for NWS. “You might see them form over land and produce a gust like that, but this did do that. While super cell thunderstorms aren’t unheard of, you don’t see them every year.”
At the Racine Airport, wind gusts reached 66 mph, according to officials with the National Weather Service.
A number of trees and power lines were down. Work crews cleared a number of trees along Erie St., and Four Mile Road. A gas leak was reported in the 5700 block of Erie St., and We Energies reported that some residents in Caledonia and Wind Point were without power. Some still were at 7:30 a.m. this morning.
A heat advisory is in affect beginning at noon on Fri., July 1 because temperatures are expected to hit the high 90s with head indexes in triple digits. | <urn:uuid:853e3730-66b8-4bf6-b0f6-68463a0b1be0> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://caledonia.patch.com/articles/super-cell-thunderstorm-caused-wind-gusts-of-66-mph | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368700264179/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516103104-00012-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.973694 | 282 | 1.726563 | 2 |
Middle schools students competed against several schools Thursday in a spelling bee.
The Deanery spelling bee includes St. Francis Cabrini, St. Francis Xavier, St. James, St. Peter the Apostle, Blessed Sacrament and Notre Dame. Students have been preparing for the competition for quite some time. One student said she wouldn't have made it without some helpful support.
Bernadette Ebri, an eighth-grader at St. Frances Xavier, said her parents got her this far and her classmates cheered her on.
"Well, I'm impressed by the courage of all the students. It's hard to get up in front of a group of your peers, along with adults, and have to remember how to spell words. They've all worked very hard in preparing for this, so we're very proud of all of these young people," Mary Anne Butler, principal at St. Peter the Apostle.
The spelling bee is part
of Catholic Schools Week, which runs until Friday.
Copyright 2013 WTOC. All rights reserved. | <urn:uuid:6a863fd4-0a47-4305-a0d0-3d4e3f6cc34a> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.wtoc.com/story/20906620/middle-schools-compete-in-deanery-spelling-bee | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368706890813/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516122130-00009-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.974955 | 211 | 1.8125 | 2 |
Documentary [a short clip] on how Merck hid the fact that Vioxx was dangerous to the public
This video helps explain HOW it is that raw science does not always drive "knowledge" in the medical profession. That drug treatment knowledge is under the strong influence of large money making corporations.
The lesson is clear. Money buys influence - often targeting those in authoritative positions. Subsequently, medical professionals and the public in general, become convinced by what the authority figures tell them. This situation can be true with ANY important institution in which billions of dollars are at stake.
[Posted at the SpookyWeather blog, May 13th, 2012.] | <urn:uuid:0f796340-5c47-4cf3-9bf0-78c5d96a9d4e> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://spookyweather.blogspot.com/2012/05/vioxx-and-merck-pharmaceutical-industry.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368700958435/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516104238-00007-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.954995 | 133 | 1.617188 | 2 |
No education is complete without an international component. Our program is cutting edge, our faculty dynamic and dedicated, and our classes, small: you will learn to communicate in German and to understand the culture.
We use Berliner Platz which is proficiency based and prepares you for measurable and internationally recognized proficiency levels by the end of each year. Our classes are interactive, lively, chaotic, and fun: just like real life. Our program is fair and transparent: you always know what is expected and where you stand.
• If you've had no German, take GL 101 in the fall.
• If you've had German but don’t know what class you need, use the German Placement Test to help you find your entry level. Try the class suggested by the test or check with the German faculty.
• If you had Bs or better in second year high school German classes, take GL 201 in the fall. If your grades were lower than Bs, or it’s been a while since you studied German, take GL 101 in the fall.
• If you’ve had three or more years of high school German, Third Year German (GL 301) or one of the other special topics courses may be what you need. However, talking with the faculty is the surest way of finding the right course.
Remember that you can change courses during the first week of any term. Speak with the professor or try the class for a few days before making your decision.
• AP credit - After completing four or more years of high school German, you pay a fee to take the AP exam at your school. Your test results determine the type and number of credits WOU awards.
• CLEP Exam - Chemeketa Community College administers this test. You receive credit according to your test score. Call CCC at 503-399-5000 for information.
• Credit by Examination - You can challenge a course and earn credit by examination without taking the class. You apply in the Office of the Registrar and after approval, pay the fee, and schedule the test with the appropriate professor. To receive credit, you must score 80% or higher.
• Bachelor of Arts (B.A.): Complete Second Year German (203) and meet the B.A. language requirement. The B.A. can be earned in every major, including math and science.
• B.A. in German Studies - requires 43 credits after Second Year German.
• Minor in German Studies - requires Third Year German and two 300 or 400 level courses (not GL 342, 343, or 344)
• B.A. in Teaching German at the High School Level - requires 41 hours after Second Year.
• B.A. in Teaching at the Early Childhood/Elementary Level - requires 2 or 3 courses after Second Year German.
• B.A. in Teaching at Elementary/Middle Level - requires Third Year German.
• B.A. in International Studies with German focus - requires Third Year German.
• Minor in International Studies with German Focus - needs some 300 level German courses.
For details on the degrees, check the links on the left.
German companies have about 1100 subsidiaries in the USA and about 16 in Oregon, including Adidas, SolarWorld, Freightliner, Wacker Siltronic Corporation, Siemens, TUV America, Dywidag International, FAG Bearing Company, Ferrostaal Metals Corporation, Rendata, Scala Electronics, and SGL Carbon Corporation. Many recruit locally and prefer employees with German skills.
Every major U.S. business (over 750) has branches in Germany, which is also the highest ranking European country for Oregon exports. Working in Germany requires some German language and cultural skills. When you visit and speak only English, you're a guest; when you speak German at any level, you're family.
Recent WOU graduates learned that federal agencies are especially interested in applicants with German skills.
Tentative dates: December 6-20.
This will be a non-credit tour for no more than 10 participants. Travel and lodging will be arranged by Dr. Hoobler and interested students should reserve a spot as soon as possible. Details will be posted as they are confirmed.
Last update: July 5, 2012
German Program (503) 838-8362 | or e-mail: [email protected]
Open the original version of this page. | <urn:uuid:d2e85fd0-b86c-4936-8667-1e8f0c0b9a9b> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://transcoder.usablenet.com/tt/www.wou.edu/las/humanities/german/index.php | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368697974692/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516095254-00005-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.941908 | 915 | 1.734375 | 2 |
Microsoft says it views the Popfly Game Creator as a training tool and gateway to its flagship Visual studio tool set.
Microsoft has built upon its Popfly mashup tool to fashion a new way for
beginners and nonprogrammers to create games.
The software giant on May 2 announced the alpha release of its Popfly Game
Creator, which builds on Popfly's current set of mashup and Web page authoring
tools to add support for easy creation and sharing of casual games.
John Montgomery, group program manager for Popfly and Visual Studio Express,
said Popfly Game Creator is a Silverlight tool for people who have little to no
programming skills but who want to create games and share them with friends.
Silverlight is Microsoft's rich Internet application platform that competes
with Adobe Flash.
Montgomery said Microsoft tested
the software on two disparate sets of users: youngsters aged 14 and under, and
retirees. He said the groups had very different results. "The younger you
were, the more likely you would build a game that was a story," while
older creators built two-dimensional and action games, he said.
Montgomery said in Microsoft's
research about what beginning developers wanted to do most with programming the
company found that creating games was always among the top interests. So the
Popfly team put a group of five developers on the task of creating a game builder.
It took them about two months to come up with the alpha release, Montgomery
Gateway to Visual Studio Tools
Although Microsoft is interested in seeing people use its technology for
entertainment and social value, there are other goals for the Popfly Mashup
Creator as well.
"As a company, the big thing Microsoft is looking to do here is create
a larger base of people who know how to program and are familiar with Microsoft
tools and technologies," Montgomery
said. He noted that Microsoft also has "the expectation that a portion of
those people might become professional developers," which would benefit
Microsoft views the Popfly Game Creator as a training tool that connects to
Microsoft's flagship Visual Studio tool set. "So there's a path up into
Visual Studio as well," Montgomery
For a more detailed look at Microsoft Popfly, click here.
In a demonstration of the technology, Montgomery
showed that the Popfly Game Creator features an intuitive interface that guides
users through the process of selecting the actors, scenes and behaviors that
define a game without needing to write a line of code. With just a few clicks, Popfly
puts casual gamers into the driver's seat and empowers them to express their
creativity, he said.
On the first page of the tool the user can choose from 18 templates that are
"all scaffolded out" for users build upon. Montgomery went on to
build a "Space Invaders"-like game in a matter of minutes by clicking
and choosing from various images and backgrounds.
"You can attach code to all of these events," he said. "All
to create interesting behaviors."
The tool allows users to simply build playable games or to also delve deeper
and actually learn to program by following the steps taken along the way to
build games. "The core premise works well for people with no coding
experience," Montgomery said.
Montgomery said he looked at other tools aimed at teaching youngsters to
program, such as Alice, Logo and KPL (Kids Programming Language), "and the
problem I had with all of them was they felt too hard, and you had to install a
lot of software on the computer" to get them to work. Essentially, they
were meant as teaching tools for teachers to use in classrooms, he said.
"We wanted to make this easy, wanted it to be so simple, so
approachable and easy to get," Montgomery
said. "All you need is a browser and Silverlight."
Montgomery said he did not have
an exact time frame for when Microsoft would deliver a beta and then a "completed"
version of the product. But he said the alpha is solid and usable. The Popfly
team will be unveiling the Game Creator at the Maker Faire event held in San
Mateo, Calif., on May 3-4.
Meanwhile, on the purely mashup front, Microsoft also
revamped the Popfly interface for embedding mashups in other Web pages or
turning them into Vista sidebar gadgets. The company also improved
performance and caching, updated the Twitter block and created a World of
Warcraft mashup that users can add to their Facebook pages. | <urn:uuid:54bebc63-8fa5-4b1c-8476-2ffda8a53af5> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.eweek.com/c/a/Application-Development/Microsoft-Popfly-Meets-Game-Maker/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368698207393/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516095647-00003-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.948724 | 960 | 1.585938 | 2 |
Alamosa - The first train of a new line left here for La Veta on Thursday morning, and along the way it restored something lost to this historic railroad hub for more than 50 years - passenger service.
A crowd of more than 100 seemed genuinely giddy while witnessing the inaugural run of the San Luis Express. Well- wishers waved as the modern diesel locomotive pulled out with a single maroon- and-silver luxury car filled with media and railroad brass.
Alamosa was reliving a little of the glory days, when it was "the narrow-gauge capital of the world" - a hub for passenger trains linking Denver and Santa Fe to La Veta, Alamosa and Durango. That all ended here in 1951 when passenger
|Rancher James Vessels climbs down after taking a look inside the first passenger train to leave Alamosa since 1951. He drove 50 miles from San Pablo to witness the train s departure. (Post / Brian Brainerd)|
But the San Luis & Rio Grande Railroad and its operating partner, the Denver & Rio Grande Historical Foundation, say they will provide daily scenic 63-mile excursions east to La Veta beginning May 24. At the same time, they will launch another new line, the Toltec Gorge Limited, connecting Alamosa to the tiny southern Colorado town of Antonito and the Cumbres & Toltec Scenic Railroad roughly 30 miles to the south.
The C&TSR is a spectacularly situated narrow-gauge railroad that ends at Chama, N.M. Despite its status as the longest and highest scenic railroad in the country, the C&TSR is financially bedeviled by uneven ridership and erratic funding by one of its two owners, the state of Colorado. Since 2003, the other owner, the state of New Mexico, has more than tripled the support given by Colorado ($2.9 million compared with less than $800,000).
In March, the Colorado legislature will look at Gov. Bill Owens' proposal for $500,000 for the Cumbres & Toltec. It falls far short of the more than $1million requested by the train's operator.
"Because of the recession, many critical services were cut to the bone, including transportation, health services and higher education," Owens' press secretary, Dan Hopkins, said. "It was the fiscal reality. You don't make it up in one year."
Railroad officials have estimated that the Cumbres & Toltec provides $42 million a year in economic benefit to southern Colorado and northern New Mexico. And the need for additional state funding is eliminated, railroad officials have said, when ridership is more than 50,000.
Last year ridership was about 30,000, but the 50,000 mark was met or bested in the years 1995 through 2001. Then rail-maintenance problems and extreme fire danger in 2002 shortened the steam-powered locomotive's season, causing passenger figures to plunge drastically and increase only slowly in following seasons.
San Luis & Rio Grande president Ed Ellis said he expects the two new lines will boost ridership on the Cumbres & Toltec by 5,000 to 10,000 by connecting it to people in Alamosa's 300 motel rooms.
"We might not do that the first season. ... But I haven't heard one person say that (the La Veta line) will be competition for the Cumbres & Toltec," Ellis said. "Some 300,000 people go the Great Sand Dunes a year. Now they have something else to do while they're here."
The new interim operator of the Cumbres & Toltec agreed.
"We're going to attract riders to their railroad, and they're going to attract riders to ours," said Frank Turner, head of the Cumbres & Toltec Scenic Railroad Management Corp. The group recently replaced the previous not-for-profit operator. It had announced in October that it was pulling out because it never got the money it was promised to run the railroad.
"We're going to have to have money from Colorado," Turner said. "We're more optimistic about funding this year than we have been for a long time."
The financial uncertainty of launching new service didn't dampen spirits Thursday. Neither did it matter that the beautiful 1909 Denver & Rio Grande Railroad depot that served as backdrop for the train and brass band is now an office building housing the Alamosa County Department of Social Services.
Instead, a small ticket office and waiting room have been added to the railroad's old freight office across the street.The proposed round-trip adult fare from Alamosa to Antonito is $12. The proposed fare to La Veta is $40.
Alamosa's connection to the railroad, and its status as the center of commerce in this mountain valley, dates from 1878, when settlers from Fort Garland arrived via train and founded the town in an area shaded by cottonwood - "Alamosa" in Spanish - trees.
Business leaders here anticipate a tremendous economic boost from the new line.
Tom Bobicki, head of Alamosa Downtown Merchants Inc., said that on a scale of 1 to 10, the new rail's importance to Alamosa is an 11.
His wife, Charlotte, the regional representative for Sen. Ken Salazar, D-Colo., said the entire San Luis Valley is excited.
"Our visitors are thrilled this is happening. There are major hoteliers who think this is the biggest thing that could happen to Alamosa," said Debra Goodman, executive director of the Alamosa Chamber of Commerce.
Rancher James Vessels and his 11-year-old grandson, Colten, drove 50 miles from San Pablo to witness the return of passenger rail to Alamosa.
"I've been thinking for some time that this is something they should do," James Vessels said. "They should keep the rail industry alive in this country."
Staff writer Electa Draper can be reached at 970-385-0917 or [email protected]. | <urn:uuid:23879d87-aba1-4664-80e6-6af7826fc317> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.denverpost.com/news/ci_3493288 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368711005985/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516133005-00032-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.958764 | 1,251 | 1.664063 | 2 |
Millions of Canadians are sharing a bed with more than just their spouse – and 37 per cent of them would sooner eject their spouse than the interloper for snoring.
It’s no wonder a dog’s life is so celebrated.
A new nationwide survey finds 51 per cent of canine owners sleep with their furry friends, while 61 per cent acknowledge their pup’s birthday and 85 per cent regularly include their dog in family photos. In fact, 93 per cent of Canadian dog owners say Fido makes their family feel complete.
“As more couples are retiring and people are continuing not to have kids, dogs are absorbing a lot of the affection we have,” said Jill Priest, a noted Canadian dog trainer.
“But the more people pay attention to their dogs and want what’s best for them, the more they’ll learn that they’re not little people in fur suits. They’re dogs and need to be treated as such.”
Slowly but surely, that message appears to be reaching households with dogs, which represent 35 per cent of the population.
The poll finds, for example, that just two in five dog owners say their pooch shares a last name with their family. And kids are taking more of a leadership role, as opposed to establishing themselves as litter-mates: More than half of Canadian parents said their children keep their dog active through play, while a third said their children feed and walk their dog.
“It’s great for children’s confidence,” said Priest, who lives near Barrie, Ont. “And it teaches them to think outside of themselves and their own immediate needs.”
But pet humanization remains a key industry driver, according to a 2012 report by Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada. The trend is credited with fuelling continued growth in the dog food category, which is projected to climb 11.5 per cent – to $1.1 billion – by 2016.
Quite simply, Canadians love their four-legged companions. Fully 85 per cent of owners credit their dogs for getting the family outside together to enjoy the outdoors, while 97 per cent say having a child look after a puppy fosters cooperation and generosity.
The online survey of 1,000 current or previous dog-owners was conducted by Environics Research Group, on behalf of Purina Dog Chow, between Dec. 14 and 19, 2012. It’s weighted by region to reflect the Canadian population, and no margin of error is stated. | <urn:uuid:9b518500-8799-4016-aa2f-18f69ab0a641> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.ottawacitizen.com/news/national/Spot%20spoon%20Half%20Canadian%20owners%20sleep%20with%20their/7922166/story.html | 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 | 0.973391 | 527 | 1.734375 | 2 |
Yesterday, someone asked what I thought of this post at the Latino Politics Blog calling for the creation of a “Mexico lobby” along the lines of the Israel lobby or the Cuba lobby. My first thought, of course, is that the author of the piece is a raging anti-semite as is everyone who thinks that the US-Israeli relationship is the result of domestic ethnic lobbying efforts rather than an exquisitely rational calculus of American national interests.
Joking aside, I think the issue here is that the Mexican-American population is probably too big to support a cohesive “lobby” pushing a very specific agenda. Beyond that, the US-Mexican relationship is already very close. Our countries are adjacent to one another, have very integrated markets in most goods and services, and obviously there’s a lot of flow of people across the boarder. This means that the main issues on the US-Mexico bilateral agenda—NAFTA and immigration—are both big time issues in American politics writ large. They’re not under-the-radar things that are amenable to narrow lobbying. The result is that Mexican-American participation in these issues, though both quite influential and quite real, has a totally different flavor from efforts to court Cuban or Jewish voters or donors through appeals related to Cuba policy or Israel policy. | <urn:uuid:69b3891f-1c2b-4ee4-a6ad-6d24b71842c2> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://thinkprogress.org/yglesias/2009/04/15/192536/do_we_need_a_mexico_lobby_should_we_fear_one/?mobile=nc | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368710006682/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516131326-00033-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.963766 | 274 | 1.570313 | 2 |
It’s Time To Kill Off Broadcast TV
You may have noticed that there’s a war over wireless airwaves. Electromagnetic spectrum is a finite resource and those that have want to keep, but many who have also want more. The pressure is particularly intense to expand the spectrum available for mobile data.
I’m going to sidestep the arguments about just how quickly the demand for wireless data is growing and whether carriers’ claims of a looming crisis are real or a ploy designed to lock up bandwidth and freeze out competitors. One way or another we’re going to need more spectrum over time and the question is where it is going to come from.
All the usable spectrum that exists is assigned to someone and all of it is jealously guarded. A great deal of it is controlled by government and we don’t know how, or even if, some of it is used. But prying it loose will be very, very difficult.
The richest block of spectrum available is being used for over-the-air television broadcasts. The more than 200 MHz of prime bandwidth assigned to broadcast TV should and be put to a better use.
A half-measure is now underway to recover unused bits of the TV spectrum. Congress last year authorized “incentive auctions,” in which licensees can voluntarily give up unused spectrum and share in the proceeds when the government auctions it off for mobile data use. Even though broadcasters are being allowed to sell something they don’t actually own–channels were originally given to licensees to act as stewards of the “public convenience and necessity”—they have shown no great enthusiasm for the process. It’s far from clear how much spectrum will be freed through the process.
One thing we do know is that it is going to take a very long time. TV channels are assigned in 6 MHz slices and to make the freed spectrum more useful for data, the plan is to “repack” the surviving channels to create bigger contiguous blocks of bandwidth to be sold. But this means that some channels will have to be reassigned to new frequencies, a tedious business. The National Assn. of Broadcasters has never been very enthusiastic about the incentive auctions and is doing its best to delay the process.
Then whole process is too much trouble for too little gain. The better question is why we are dedicating any spectrum to over-the-air TV. The fact is that relatively few people watch it. While there is some dispute over the numbers, it appears that about three-quarters of Americans get their television primarily or exclusively by cable or satellite, whether as traditional scheduled programming or content delivered over-the-top on the internet. Cable or satellite service is available to virtually all of U.S. households, and the relatively few exceptions are most likely out of broadcast range as well. Dedicating so much bandwidth to serve and ever-shrinking audience seems foolish.
Unfortunately, I don’t think we’ll see the end will come for over-the-air TV any time in the foreseeable future. The deck is too heavily stacked against it. Broadcasters, of course, hate the idea and they remain very powerful in Washington, less because of their campaign contributions than because they control the free exposure on local TV that candidates for Congress depend on. The Federal Communications Commission doesn’t like the idea either because without over-the-air broadcasts the commission would effectively lose all power to regulate television, and regulators do like to regulate. Some will object that free television is a basic right that must be preserved. If so, it is a right that fewer and fewer people seem to care about. If we decide as a matter of public policy that free or very low cost TV should be provided for the poor, it would not be hard to devise something like the (increasingly pointless) lifeline basic landline telephone service. The government could easily afford to pay for it out of the many billions of dollars that auctioning TV spectru would yield.
You need not be a very astute observer of th Washington scene to know that the fact that something should happen is no reason whatever to believe that it will. Still reusing all that underused TV spectrum is something worth dreaming about. | <urn:uuid:00bbe9cc-7d14-43f2-b07f-bdde55eea037> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://techpinions.com/its-time-to-kill-off-broadcast-tv/7182 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368700264179/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516103104-00042-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.959549 | 877 | 1.53125 | 2 |
What is social mapping?
How can geolocative info systems and visualization tech be applied to new fields for social change?
On May 12, 2010 from 6:30 – 9:00p (CT) at at the Graham Foundation in Chicago (4 West Burton Place, Chicago, IL 60610), PopTech will bring together three speakers (and a smart audience in this city of news aggregators and social good organizations) for a special salon event on the current and future impact of these tools.
Register here; event is free, and an RSVP is required (hashtag: #socmap).
- Gary Slutkin, Executive Director of CeaseFire,
- Katrin Verclas, Co-Founder of MobileActive,
- Patrick Meier, Director of Crisis Mapping, Ushahidi
and you, in an audience Q&A after the presentations.
Hosted by Andrew Zolli, Curator of PopTech
PopTech would like to thank the Graham Foundation for the Arts for their generous support of this program.
Note: This event will be held in the ballroom on the third floor which is only accessible by stairs. The first floor of the Madlener House is accessible via an outdoor lift. Please call 312.787.4071 to make arrangements.
Questions? Let us know in the comments. We hope you will join us on the 12th!
Today is World Pinhole Photography Day, and you can learn how to make a pinhole camera in the video with Bre Pettis below. A fun way to spend what is, in New York, a rainy Sunday afternoon, projects like these also help us to see the world differently. After all, In the words attributed to Marcel Proust, “The real voyage of discovery lies not in seeking new landscapes, but in seeing with new eyes.”
Who knows what new ideas for social good might emerge?
For more information about pinhole cameras and more ways to make them, see the World Pinhole Photography site and find other pinhole camera pictures in the image-sharing site Flickr’s pinhole photography groups.
What are you up to in the next few months?
Want to join the PopTech Brooklyn team and help accelerate projects and people that are changing the world?
We are looking for an incredible intern to help us support new projects and upcoming events, including the PopTech 2010 conference October 20-3 in Camden, Maine.
We are a small team (there are twelve of us in two offices—Brooklyn, NY and Camden, Maine) committed to making great things happen in social innovation.
This internship is in our open office in the DUMBO neighborhood of Brooklyn, near the park, in a building full of creative people. You should be prepared to harmonize happy birthday with us, understand that we walk around the office juggling and know we do our own dishes.
In return for your hard work for three months, we will give you a ticket to our annual conference (join us and 600 amazing conference attendees—there is usually a long, long waitlist to attend).
We need you to:
- write weekly copy for our e-mail newsletter (where we release new PopTech videos)
- promote our online media content in all the places it goes
- support our current media partnerships and research new partnerships
- manage metrics for online content campaigns and come up with new ways we can reach new audiences
You should be:
- an excellent writer and voracious reader
- active on social websites (we would like to see where you live online)
- happy to work independently
- keen to hone your uncanny ability to recognize patterns of success in our content and network
- know a little bit about web development and design (wireframes are your friends)
- enthused about the power of learning new concepts and radical ideas, especially where fields intersect
- able to work from our Brooklyn office twenty hours a week for three months
If this sounds like you, please send us an e-mail (jobs [at] poptech [dot] org) with the subject line INTERNSHIP and attach your resume and a cover letter.
Make sure you tell us your favorite PopTech talk, why you like social innovation, and a little about why you want to join us for a few months.
And please help us spread the word!
PopTech photographer Kris Krüg documented the World People’s Conference on Climate Change and the Rights of Mother Earth this week in Cochabamba, Bolivia:
(Click the arrow below to play the image slideshow.)
GRITtv interviewed some conference attendees at this event intended to be an alternative to the Copenhagen climate talks in December 2009:
And as part of Earth Week and in support of his travel to Bolivia, Kris auctioned off a photograph donated by PopTech speaker Chris Jordan, who highlights the consequences of consumerism in his work; you can watch Chris’s 2009 PopTech talk on plastics and see the startling photographs he took in the Midway Atoll:
You can also watch Chris’s 2007 PopTech talk on his “Running the Numbers” series here.
Earth Day can bring out the best and worst in many people – and I’ll admit to frowning on occasion at anyone wishing a happy Earth Day. There are debates around the hypocrisy or perhaps ignorance in celebrating such a day with numerous flyers and special offers to consume more green products. But despite these very valid criticisms, Earth Day does matter if only that we all need a day to stop and take stock of our life. It is a time to celebrate our accomplishments because let’s face it change is hard. We need to figure out what comes next and this may require we look at some of our less appetizing behaviors, which we often do such an excellent job of avoiding on a day to day basis.
With that said, Earth day shouldn’t be a giant guilt-fest. We need to use it to recognize our weaknesses and figure out how to move forward constructively. What are for example, the innovations needed to address issues around toxicity, resource scarcity and geographical constraints to name just a few. Or when do we rethink our current norms – like heating our houses to 80º in the winter donning short sleeved shirts and cooling them to 65º in the summer while sporting long pants? How do we find a solution that meets the cloth diaper user’s concerns around limited landfill space and the disposable user’s concerns around energy usage?
This year, I’ve had the pleasure of working on the PopTech Ecomaterials Innovation Lab, whose goal is to foster breakthroughs in next generation ecological materials, industrial processes and critically, beginning to identify the steps, from effecting a change in consumer behavior to governmental policy, necessary to accelerate their adoption. The Lab is kicking off this summer with a three day working session. In my hunt for participants, I’ve had the opportunity to interview an incredible cross section of experts in relevant fields from green chemists and materials experts to industrial ecologists, designers and behavioral scientists to name just a few.
A couple of random yet staggering facts I gleaned from my conversations and research:
- If you were to close Sweden’s borders to any new shipments of clothing, their current stock would clothe the population for approximately15 years.
- The world consumes 67 million tons of natural and synthetic fibers annually.
- 75-80% of your clothing’s lifecycle impact comes from laundering.
And here I thought I was doing so well with my ongoing moratorium on new outfits while I was chucking clothes into the wash that were essentially barely worn.
These discussions have not only taught me a tremendous amount, they have helped me think differently about the challenges at hand such as defining what is truly green, splendidly illustrated by the fact that one industrial ecologist opted for cloth diapers while the other chose disposable. They made me realize I need to reconsider what is deemed acceptable behavior and initiate these conversations with others.
We at PopTech are incredibly excited to embark on this journey and hope you will join us. To be kept informed about the Lab and its progress, please email us at labs [at] poptech [dot] org.
As I reflect on another year gone by, what I am realizing now is that Earth Day is not just about caring for the planet but those who inhabit it. The choices we make have far reaching impacts over space, time and species. As I mentioned earlier, change is one of the hardest things and personally, putting a face to who is and will be impacted is a big help. So here are a few faces worth changing for:
CC image from Flickr user randomwire.
CC image by Flickr user Mishimoto
CC image from Flickr user prolix6x.
Image courtesy of the author.
Beyond the events listed on EarthDay.org, here are a few more ways to research climate change, environmental policy news, greenwashing, and personal energy auditing:
- The new Climate Desk is a collaborative journalistic effort on green reporting from The Atlantic, Center for Investigative Reporting, Grist, Mother Jones, Slate, Wired, and PBS’s new program Need To Know.
In 2008, Saul Griffith presented at PopTech on ways he learned to audit his personal energy usage:
Saul developed WattzOn, a free tool that you can use to track and monitor your own consumption.
What online sources do you use for environmental ideas and updates? Let us know in the comments.
A few days ago a friend emailed me a picture of a sign that read, “Design won’t save the world. (Go volunteer at a soup kitchen, you pretentious **ck.)” I smiled at the snark, but was frustrated with the sentiment.
As designers, we are saddled with many images of the aloof artist: the hip urban designer, beebopping from office to art opening to downtown loft; the starving artist who wastes away, as their art does the same in a mildewy basement; or the desktop publisher, banging out lifeless brochures as they sneak away to the supply closet to pull out their hair. None of these stereotypes suggests design can alter habits or behaviors.
Last Tuesday, as part of the New York SVA Dot Dot Dot lecture series, The Entrepreneurs of social design presented a few possible ways designers might save the world. A few of my favorite moments happened in talks by previous PopTech speakers Robert Fabricant and Dr. Jay Parkinson:
Three of the five designers featured at the event framed their role as designers in the medical field:
Doug Powell – Designer and Brand Strategist, Schwartz Powell
When his seven year-old daughter was diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes, Doug and his family were thrown into the painfully undersigned, over-textual world of pediatric medicine. Once they got their head above water, Doug and his wife created the Health Simple product line, focused on delivering easily-palatable information to get the patients and their families through one event at a time. Doug created a balance with these fun products, taking into consideration the educational and emotional needs of all involved.
Robert Fabricant – VP of Creative, frog design and Speaker at PopTech 2009
Robert laid out some humbling guidelines for designers, and touched on some of the health and wellness behavioral projects that frog is undertaking. Robert’s work on the PopTech Accelerator’s Project Masilueleke has helped change the face of mobile healthcare for HIV and tuberculosis patients in South Africa.
Jay outlined the need for the redesign of the entire health care process in America, taking into consideration the prevalence of the internet in everyday life, the importance of the patient/doctor/community when administering healthcare, and the changing intersection of the insurance, healthcare and online worlds.
With their teams, these three are part of the growing movement to redesign how individuals receive healthcare—and who would argue that isn’t going to save the world?
Photographer Chris Jordan specializes in large-scale works that depict the magnitude of our consumerism and its impact on our environment. [To get a sense of the magnitude of the trash produced by discarded consumer goods that statistics alone can’t reveal, watch Chris’s PopTech 2007 presentation on his project, Running the Numbers.]
For the past several years, Chris has been photographing the “garden patch,” an estimated several million tons of plastic floating in the remote open ocean. Powerful ocean currents concentrate floating debris into subtropical gyres and, in the process, break it down into tiny pieces that are easily ingested by animals.
At PopTech 2009, Chris shared images from his recent trip to the remote Midway Islands, where he photographed the carcasses of ocean-dwelling birds who live near the Pacific garbage zone.
Relying on the data from thousands of drifter buoy monitoring our oceans as well as oceanic expeditions, researchers affiliated with Five Gyres have been mapping the extent of plastic pollution around the world. They recently discovered what has been long suspected, that more garbage patches exist in other oceans.
Image courtesy of 5 Gyres.org
As with any number of critical environmental issues, addressing these challenges requires a commitment to reduce our consumption but also to visionary innovation. Recently, a group of Dutch architects have envisioned recycling the Pacific’s floating debris into a floating island.
What do you suggest might be done about the millions of tons of marine pollution?
We celebrate thoughtful stewardship of natural resources and new ways to tackle issues of conservation and regrowth throughout the year, but as part of Earth Week, we would like to highlight a few PopTech speakers on these themes:
2007 Speaker Stefano Merlin on renewable bamboo, coconut waste and sawdust to power factories in Brazil.
2009 PopTech Fellow Jason Aramburu’s re:char converts agricultural waste into biochar—sequestering atmospheric carbon and improving soil quality. (Congratulations to Jason for recently appointing Dr. James Lovelock to the re:char Advisory Board.)
2007 Speaker Sarah Otterstrom uses partnerships and employment generation to rebuild Nicaraguan forests.
2009 Fellow Paula Kahumbu builds community through blogs in WildlifeDirect, as Executive Director, aiming to halt the loss of endangered animal populations in Africa (and globally) with awareness and donations (you can select a region and a species to protect on the site).
2008 Speaker Carl Safina shows how simple solutions can help ensure we only catch what we are fishing with long lines.
2007 Speaker Enric Sala talks about perception, the lack of memory (he takes us back to a pristine remote archipelago 500 years ago), explaining why 99.9% of the world’s coral reef research is flawed.
2004 Speaker Ben Saunders was the youngest person to ski to the North Pole at 26; find out why, when the ice wasn’t flat, he “didn’t have a hope in hell.”
2008 Speaker John Priscu and his robots show what’s happening miles below the Antarctic ice, beyond the blue and the green of the planet.
Who are your favorite environmental speakers?
It’s spring here in California, and there is a lot blooming at ISIS:
ISIS made it to the second round of the Social Impact Exchange Business Plan Competition. We were one of 14 organizations out of 42 applicants invited to continue, and we have applied for Mezzanine Stage Growth—for organizations that have successful service adoption, demonstrated positive outcomes, and defined strategies for scaling.
Also, the upcoming mHealth conference Mobile Health 2010 on May 24th and 25th at Stanford University is the third of its kind hosted by BJ Fogg. 2010 has a special emphasis on what’s working to change behavior today in the mHealth field, and in my talk, I am looking forward to highlighting our partnerships in this sphere. In preparation for my talk, I realized that ISIS has over 20 mobile health projects under our belt to date! (Other PopTechers involved with the conference include Robert Fabricant, of frog design, one of the mentors for PopTech Fellows, is speaking, and another 2009 PopTech Social Innovation Fellow, Josh Nesbit of FrontlineSMS: Medic, is on the Program Committee.)
ISIS staff will also be attending the 2010 Ypulse Youth Marketing Mashup. This is an important meeting for sexual health professionals, because as I’m wont to say; “Only those in the field can manage to make an interesting topic (sex) oh, so boring.” I learned quite a bit from the corporate marketers at the last two meetings about how to engage youth in an authentic and meaningful way – all the more important in our case because we’re not selling commercial products, but lifelong sexual health…
I will be moderating a panel at the Mashup pre-conference on May 24th about “Youth, Health and Social Media Marketing.” Jason Rzepka, PopTech Board Member, will be a keynote speaker at the pre-conference. The panel I’m moderating will feature:
Tom Subak, VP for Online Services, Planned Parenthood Federation of America
Jose Villa, Founder and President, Sensis
Whitney Smith, Founder and CEO, Girls For A Change
Chris Youngblood, Director of New Media, To Write Love on Her Arms
(Use the code “SEXTECH” for 10% off the conference registration.)
I’ll keep you posted on ISIS events, and I look forward to hearing what others in the PopTech community are up to this spring. | <urn:uuid:92057389-080e-46c8-91d3-f97c367f61c1> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://poptech.org/blog/page/79?s=ric | 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 | 0.93968 | 3,648 | 1.65625 | 2 |
This project is a great one to do with your kids. One of my students made me one of these when I was a teacher. Don't underestimate the power of a handmade valentine! Start with a piece of cardboard, any size you want. Cut out a heart. I painted mine red... you don't have to do this as you will be covering it with tissue paper.
Start cutting out tissue paper squares. You don't have to use valentine colors. I've done it in rainbow colors and it was adorable.
Use a pencil (eraser end) or a paintbrush end and start adding tissue paper to your heart. You did this back in grade school, right?
You are done... deliver it to someone you LOVE... | <urn:uuid:cfbb0fa9-7fb9-44f2-8ceb-cda683126a99> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://jennicanknit.blogspot.fr/2012/02/great-big-heart.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368703298047/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516112138-00015-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.962287 | 154 | 1.53125 | 2 |
HASTINGS-ON-HUDSON, N.Y. -- Hastings-on-Hudson School Superintendent Roy Montesano has joined 77 other members of the Lower Hudson Council of School Superintendents calling for gun legislation.
"The Lower Hudson Council of School Superintendents is advocating for better gun control access measures and and increase in funds to improve mental, social, and guidance services and resources," Montesano said. "Everyone would agree that the safety and security of our students and staff is a top priority."
The superintendents signed the letter as a reaction to the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting. The letter calls for "adequate funding and access" to mental health services provided at the state and federal level, for the federal assault rifle ban to be reinstated and for the federal "gun show loophole" to be closed.
Dobbs Ferry Superintendent Lisa Brady and Ardsley School Superintendent Lauren Allan also support the effort.
"We, the superintendents of the 78 school districts represented by the (LHCSS), call on our state and federal legislators to immediately enact stricter gun control legislation," the letter reads.
The superintendents' letter also called for anyone convicted of a violent crime, misdemeanor or felony, to be barred from buying a gun. "Even when these were committed when they were juveniles," the letter states.
The Hastings, Dobbs Ferry and Ardsley school districts have all reviewed and improved security standards the last month.
"We have undergone a thorough review of our emergency plans and will continue our practice drills to ensure everyone knows what to do in the case of an emergency," Montesano said. "As part of their normal patrols, police will do a walk through in our buildings on a random basis."
At gun shows in New York, purchasers of firearms, such as pistols, shotguns and rifles, must undergo a "National Instant Criminal Background Check." Under federal law, unlicensed dealers at gun shows are not required to perform background checks.
Violators of New York's "gun show" laws are subject to misdemeanor criminal charges. Gun show operators who violate this law are subject to a fine of up to $10,000. Pistol owners are permitted by New York, but shot guns and long guns are not.
Scott Sommavilla, president of the Westchester County Firearm Owners Association, said legislation should start where there is common ground, instead of immediately tackling gun control measures.
"Every single one of these has been a mental health issue," said Sommavilla, referring to mass shootings such as the massacre at Sandy Hook Elementary School and the Virginia Tech University shootings, the two deadliest in modern U.S. history.
"What can we do now? Mental health," he said. "Those should be done first because it's quickest and promotes the most safety for our children," he said. | <urn:uuid:d2ac38b2-8d30-4b4f-a0c3-5388a43f2aed> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://rivertowns.dailyvoice.com/news/rivertowns-school-superintendents-back-tighter-gun-laws | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368705195219/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516115315-00030-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.961236 | 589 | 1.578125 | 2 |
The Biggest NON-Story of the Decade
Dec 27, 2010
As this is the last week of the month, you can expect to see ubiquitous end-of-the-year roundups, highlighting the biggest stories of the past 12 months. Ever the contrarian (hence the name of this blog!), I’ve decided instead to focus on arguably the biggest non-story of the past decade, certainly where food production meets public health: the emergence – and rapid disappearance – of mad cow disease.
It will be 10 years ago in March that Newsweek magazine ran this cover story about mad cow disease, which had broken out in the United Kingdom about five years prior. Mad cow was a new and scary disorder caused by infected neurological tissues that were being spread through the meat supply. It mimicked an existing brain disorder called Creutzfeld-Jakob Disease, which occurs spontaneously in one out of every one million people, usually in their senior years. But this was not your father’s CJD; the new, variant CJD was aggressive, singling out young people, and just like in a bad zombie movie, it literally was eating through the brains of its victims, all of whom themselves seemed to have eaten infected meat products at some point in the 1990s. [And a technical footnote: vCJD is the name of the disease once humans contract it; the Bossy-borne version is called bovine spongiform encephalopathy).
So Newsweek predicted it was just a matter of time that the same plague could descend upon the U.S. Many other media outlets also began jumping on the bandwagon in early 2001, from 20/20, to 60 Minutes, all proclaiming that the “deadly spread” of mad cow, after it had ravaged merry old England, was about to follow the path of the Spice Girls and cross to our shores, exacting an even more lethal toll.
Except, it didn’t. It hasn’t. And it won’t. Here’s a quick quiz for you: How many people across the world would you estimate to have died from mad cow disease in the past 15 years?:
Anytime there is a new and unknown disease threat, there is a natural human inclination to circle the wagons and fear the worst (do the words “swine flu” sound familiar? How about “bird flu”? What they have in common: neither was worse than the same ol’ garden variety flu we’ve always had to deal with, despite dire initial predictions, including yet another Newsweek magazine cover story).
Back in 2000, it didn’t help that the British government itself was already pushing the panic buttons. Look at this statement from 10 years ago: they were predicting that up to 250,000 British residents could die from mad cow, which is one in every 250 people there. Extrapolate those numbers to the U.S., and the death toll forecast might have been 1 million. That’s twice the number of Americans who have died of HIV/AIDs in the past 30 years.
And yet, and yet…the facts ultimately vanquish the scary things we see, or think we see, lurking in the shadows. This chart from the U.K.’s repository for epidemiological data on all forms of CJD, lists the cumulative total of vCJD cases since the malady was first identified in the mid-1990s. AND HERE IS THE ANSWER TO THE QUIZ: A = 170. It includes “probable” cases of mad cow infection that weren’t, or haven’t, actually been confirmed by pathological tests. So it’s an upward estimate.
That’s how many people have died from mad cow disease. The mortality incidence peaked with the onslaught of news coverage in 2000, with 28 deaths. But rather than escalating into the thousands, or even hundreds of thousands, the death rate rapidly dropped (and yes, everyone who gets infected dies). This year, knock on wood, there will only be three deaths, same as last year, and following the general trend toward less than a handful of deaths annually. All tragic for those families, to be certain, but also vanishingly rare, far rarer than other garden variety foodborne illnesses, or deaths cause by dog bites, or insect stings, or other freakish acts of nature. Rare enough to still sometimes be news, unlike other causes of death.
This has been an all-England scrum: as far as we know, not a single American, that is, nobody who wasn’t a part- or full-time resident of the U.K. during the period that mad cow disease was spread in England in the 1990s, has succumbed. Not one. So much for that deadly spread in America. This is due to preventions our government put in place back in the late 1990s, but it’s also due to the fact that livestock production practices, from the farm to the slaughterhouse, are different here than they were back in Britain. And it appears likely that it’s also due to the fact that vCJD is not all that easy to contract. Otherwise, the death toll in England would probably have been much higher than 170 cases out of about 62 million total residents.
So that’s my candidate for this year-end election: one of the biggest non-events in medical history. Except that mad cow disease, in England and America, was big, big news. And created lots of concern. And generated a significant amount of public policy efforts to go along with those headlines and eyewitness news coverage. All to combat something that by any reasonable measure, has been an absolutely negligible health threat in every country other than Great Britain, where it’s now essentially extinct. Have a great 2011! | <urn:uuid:1de6377c-0e93-4b82-b941-ddfcfdc3bd3e> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.agweb.com/livestock/beef/blog/On_the_Udder_Hand_250/the_biggest_non-story_of_the_decade/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368697380733/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516094300-00017-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.969912 | 1,214 | 1.671875 | 2 |
So what does being stranded in the middle of the high Mexican desert have to do with Chrysler and cocaine? Well, it was a Chrysler that got Anne and me into the mess—a model aptly named Attitude (“all attitude,” as one of my kids would say). But there was no cocaine or other assorted drugs in the tiny town of Bondojito Huichapan Hidalgo, just a hardware store, a minuscule tienda, and, of course, a church.
For most Americans, however, Mexico is all about drugs and violence, and it is hard not to think about our southern neighbor without conjuring up the vocabulary of the Apocalypse: “With deadly Persistence, Mexican Drug Cartels Get Their Way” screams the New York Times; “Mexico’s drug war stirs fear in the U.S.” warns the San Francisco Chronicle; “Obama eyes troops for Mexico drug war,” headlines the Financial Times. Since 2006, according to Aljazeera, 22,743 people have been victims of the conflict, vastly more than the U.S. and its allies have lost in the Iraq and Afghan wars.
So if you are a couple of Gringos dead in the water in the middle of nowhere these things come into your mind, particularly when the tow truck has not arrived and it’s starting to get dark.
But as I said, we didn’t encounter any drugs or gangs, just helpful locals (I think somewhat bemused by our situation), a friendly tow truck driver, a solicitous guy from Hertz, a difficult taxi driver, and a very sympathetic hotel staff. In fact, the whole time we were in Mexico we didn’t see a shoot out or any bodies, although the journalist we were staying with—Martha Mendoza, one of Associated Press’s aces—told us about a recent gunfight in Monterrey.
Martha is currently writing about the status of the “war on drugs” that Richard Nixon declared back in 1971, and that governments all over Latin America are starting to abandon. As wars go, it has been an unmitigated calamity.
“How much misery can a policy cause before it is acknowledged as a failure and reversed? The U.S. ‘war on drugs’ suggests there is no upper limit,” writes Financial Times columnist Clive Crook. “The country’s implacable blend of prohibition and punitive criminal justice is wrong headed in every way: immoral in principle, since it prosecutes victimless crimes, and in practice a disaster of remarkable proportions.”
A recent report by the 17-member Latin American Commission on Drugs and Democracy, lead by three former heads of state, concluded, according to Wall Street Journal columnist Jose de Cordoba, that “US-style anti-drug strategy was putting the region’s fragile democratic institutions at risk and corrupting ‘judicial systems, governments, the political system and especially the police force.”
It has also had virtually no effect on the movement of drugs. According to a Guardian (UK) investigation, more than 750 tons of cocaine is shipped from the Andes, a traffic that “has forced peasants off land, trigged gang wars and perverted state institutions.” As Col. Rene Sanabria, the head of Bolivia’s anti-narcotic police force, told the British newspaper, “The strategy of the U.S. here, in Colombia and Peru was to attack the raw material and it has not worked.”
In the case of Colombia, the U.S. has poured $6 billion in mostly military aid into the country, plus poisoning almost 2.5 million acres of coca plants. Coco production is up by 16 percent.
Member of the commission and former Brazilian President Fernando Henrique Cardoso said, “The available evidence indicates that the war on drugs is a failed war. We have to move from this approach to another,” and urged a rejection of the “U.S. prohibitionist policies.”
A study by the Brookings Institute agrees, as does a study by Harvard economist Jeffrey Miron and endorsed by 500 economists.
The Commission report has received widespread coverage in Latin America. “They’re saying enough is enough,” says John Walsh of the Andes and Drug Policy at the Washington Office on Latin America. “There’s a real drug war weariness in Latin America and its bad enough to feel like a policy had been imposed and its worse when the policy doesn’t work.”
Mexico, for instance, has deployed an estimated 35,000 soldiers in 14 states, only to see drug-related deaths increase, and more and more municipalities fall under the influence of drug cartels.
There is also growing anger that the body count in Mexico is a direct result of U.S. weapons dealers selling everything from automatic weapons and 50-caliber sniper rifles, to grenades and rocket launchers to south of the border gangs. According to a Congressional study, more than 90 percent of the guns used by Mexican drug gangs come from dealers in Arizona, New Mexico and Texas.
In Arizona last year, the state appellate court dismissed a case against a gun dealer who had sold some 700 weapons to intermediaries for Mexican drug gang smugglers. Several of the guns were used to kill eight police officers in Culiacan, the capital of Sinaloa state. It is estimated that this southbound flow of firepower generates about $25 billion a year for U.S. gun dealers.
The “collateral” damage from the “war on drugs” is not just to Mexico and the rest of Latin America. According to Miron’s study, more than 500,000 people are in prison for drug crimes in the U.S.—the overwhelming percentage of them for possession—more than the total number of prisoners for all crimes in Great Britain, Germany, Spain, France and Italy combined.
Changing those laws, however, will require coming up against a powerful coalition of law enforcement agencies and the prison industry that cost taxpayers about $100 billion a year.
A number of Latin American countries have begun pulling away from the U.S. approach. Last summer, Mexico eliminated jail time for small amounts of marijuana, cocaine, heroin, LSD and methamphetamine. Brazil, Colombia and Uruguay have also decriminalized possession of drugs for personal use, and Argentina’s Supreme Court ruled that criminalization of marijuana possession was unconstitutional.
Ecuadorian President Rafael Correa pardoned some 2000 small-time drug couriers last year, telling the parliament, “They are single mothers or unemployed people who are desperate to feed their families.”
The model everyone seems to be looking at these days is Portugal, which eliminated jail time for personal drug possession. A recent study on the decriminalization of drugs in that county found “While many drug addiction, usage, and associated pathologies continue to skyrocket in many European Union states, those problems—in virtually every relevant category—have been either contained or measurable improved with Portugal since 2001.”
The Netherlands and Switzerland have also decriminalized possession.
The Obama administration has taken a few tentative steps in the direction of redirecting the “war on drugs,” including lifting the ban on federal funding of needle exchange programs, and shifting some Latin American aid from the military to civilian law enforcement. But criminalization is still at the heart of the U.S. approach.
A decade ago, the U.S. pressed the United Nations to adopt a “drug-free world” strategy, rather than focusing on addiction and treatment. The results have been a disaster. A European commission on the UN strategy concluded last year that this is “no evidence that the global drug problem was reduced” in the past 10 years, and “while the situation has improved in some of the richer countries…for others it has worsened, and for some it worsened sharply and substantially.”
Kasia Malinowska-Sempruch, director of the global drug policy program at the Open Society Institute in Warsaw told the Guardian, “Thanks to the global ‘war on drugs’ over the past decade, close to two million people living in the former Soviet Union are infected with HIV, half a million U.S. citizens languish in prison for non-violent, drug related crimes, and billions of dollars are spent on destructive military actions in Colombia while the production of cocaine continues to rise.”
There is no question that the war on drugs makes parts of Mexico and Latin America dangerous. But the majority of people in those countries go through their lives having nothing to do with drug gangs or shootouts. Indeed, the thing that strikes one most about Mexicans—besides their politeness and sense of humor—is their common sense. No, you don’t have to take off your shoes to get on an airplane, and when your artificial hip sets off the alarm bells, they don’t take 20 minutes to go over every inch of your body with metal detectors.
So while being marooned in the desert with a badly designed Chrysler is not a lot of fun, it eventually sorts itself out. Our misguided “war on drugs” will be a steeper hill to climb. | <urn:uuid:e3edebf9-77cd-46b3-95dd-74bf19e488fd> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.berkeleydailyplanet.com/issue/2010-04-30/article/35175?headline=Dispatches-From-the-Edge-Mexico-Tales-of-Chrysler-Cocaine---By-Conn-Hallinan | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368700958435/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516104238-00017-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.95911 | 1,941 | 1.78125 | 2 |
Continued strong market hog prices for most of 2005 and lower feed costs will result in another profitable year for hog producers, according to a University of Illinois Extension study.
"Hog prices are expected to average about $50 per hundredweight in 2005," says Dale Lattz, U of I Extension farm management specialist and author of the study. "Relatively large corn and soybean crops in 2005 will result in lower feed costs. Feed costs are expected to average about $20.65 per hundredweight and nonfeed costs at $16.25 in 2005. Total costs of production would be $36.90 per hundredweight, or about $13 below the average price received.
"If these projections materialize, 2005 will be another profitable year for hog producers with profit levels at one of the higher levels in recent years."
The study can be viewed online through the farmdoc site at: www.farmdoc.uiuc.edu/manage/newsletters/fefo05_21/fefo05_21.html .
Lattz notes that 2004 was also a profitable year for Illinois hog producers. Higher total returns due to higher market prices in 2004 resulted in an increase in profits by $14.36 per hundredweight compared to 2003.
"Total returns in 2004 were the highest since 1996," Lattz notes. "Total returns in 2004 averaged $54.50 per hundredweight produced compared to $38.15 in 2003 and the 2000 through 2004 five-year average of $42.02.
"Total returns for the farrow-to-finish hog enterprises exceeded total economic costs by $13.58 per hundredweight produced in 2004. The 2003 return was a negative-78 cents. Three of the past five years show a positive return for farrow-to-finish enterprises."
In 2004, feed costs made up 61% of the total costs faced by hog producers and were at the highest level since 1997. Nonfeed costs accounted for $15.87 in 2004, an increase of 46 cents from 2003. Nonfeed costs included $8.46 per hundredweight of operating costs and $7.41 per hundredweight of other costs.
"Maintenance and power expense and labor expense are the most significant nonfeed costs," Lattz notes. | <urn:uuid:f1c936c6-7fe3-403a-9909-6c65d26731f2> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://farmprogress.com/story-lower-feed-costs-keep-hog-producers-in-the-black-0-7835 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368698924319/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516100844-00019-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.946734 | 470 | 1.695313 | 2 |
[ locale string ]
We are showing you the Taiwanese version of our site: would you prefer a different location?
French Broad River
WORDS: Daniel Wakefield Pasley | PHOTOS: Daniel Wakefield Pasley
From the gas station town of Dillingham, North Carolina, the road to Craggy Gardens is called Stoney Fork. Strewn with gravel, rocks and forest debris, Stoney Fork is seven miles of off camber turns, washboards and dirt
Less than ten feet from the edge where the road returns to pavement, Ben drops his bike and spins around to face the road. This road has covered him in dirt and pain, taunted him for the better part of an hour. He sits - knees bent, elbows out, hands splayed, head down – to wait for the others. First Steve, then Dan and finally Kevin top-out and do the same. Shoulder to shoulder, covered in sweat they sit together and face the road called Stoney Fork.
Eventually, after water, food, ever-relaxing heart rates, and a few somber minutes of shared silence, someone asks the question on everyone’s minds. “Why have we been riding so many horrible, horrible dirt roads?”
From our current perspective, three years and most of the country later, we now know the Pacific Northwest is home to some of America’s greatest dirt roads. The gravel connector roads in Rapha North America’s backyard are special and joyous. So special in fact that many nearly demand, even beg, for higher speeds than their paved counterparts. After all, the Rapha Continental was born here.
That being said; unimproved roads, dirt roads, gravel roads, are not requirements just variations on a theme. And let’s make it clear, not all unpaved roads are created equal.
Outside of Memphis you will wish you had never started.
In Arkansas, between swamps and along the top of levees, they’re uneven and busted.
North Carolina, in thick humid woods, the backroads are rocky and rutted.
In West Virginia they’re just brutal and wild, and long.
The Midwest sees them sink, slip and slide - absorbing speed, momentum and energy instead of water.
They never end in Lincoln, Nebraska
In California they’re often impassible with double-over-head washboards. Southern California shows promise but sand and breaking bumps are a constant. Northern California’s are cruel and will break wheels.
Though typically meaner and definitely steeper than in the Northwest, the Northeast offers hundreds of miles of wonderful dirt and gravel roads.
In the Rockies the dirt is sublime.
The Continental is for the most part about the path less taken. About putting in more than might necessarily be required. Because at the end of a ride riddled and run with dirt; socks ruined, any exposed skin a mess of sweat and mud, knees bleeding, a layer of sticky dust coating every inch of your bike, the sense of satisfaction is stronger and more palpable than after a ride without dirt.
Unpaved roads are difficult and avoidable, but then again, so is cycling. | <urn:uuid:1ce4a141-b737-4fb3-aca8-821fe714c728> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.rapha.cc/french-broad-river?locale=TW | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368697974692/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516095254-00040-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.935035 | 665 | 1.648438 | 2 |
You wrote: [...]
>As you and others are well aware, one does not need to try to fit
>the biblical label of "kinds" into any sort of scientific category,
>although people have tried to do so. However, one chooses to define
>the biblical "kinds", we all recognize that there is just a whole
>range of opinions that nevertheless can fit within an OEC framework.
>Some of them are clearly incompatible with scientific data, but
>conceivably, there could be certain definitions that would be
>entirely consistent with the data. And that is my main argument,
>that certain versions of OEC may be as consistent with the data as
I'll extend that: Versions of OEC can even be _more_ consistent with
the data. That is because there is no easy way of knowing what a
deity _cannot_ do.
>Furthermore, I do not think that an OEC position necessarily requires
>that one draws clear boundaries between ALL kinds of organisms, but
>only that humans are specially created. This is necessary to preserve
>the doctrine of Original Sin and the dignity and inestimable worth of
>humans as made in the image of God. Thus, the doctrine of creation is
>not that God created all living things in exactly the same form as we
>see today (although it could embrace that if the data supports it),
>but that God created all things (it is not about species, but about
>all things) visible and invisible, and that humans are not created
>"after their own kind" but in the "image and likeness" of God.
Perhaps true, but as an explanation of the patterns observed in the
physical world, the concept lacks almost all the detail necessary
to provide any degree of distinguishability. I recognize that super-
natural intervention is always a possible explanation (for anything).
The problem is knowing when and how to apply it as a _likely_
This archive was generated by hypermail 2b29 : Wed Feb 20 2002 - 23:53:39 EST | <urn:uuid:d90c3916-5319-415f-9be7-2f0745fec9c0> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www2.asa3.org/archive/asa/200202/0521.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368710006682/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516131326-00032-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.946196 | 442 | 1.828125 | 2 |
Patrick O'Keeffe served as a private in the 1st battalion Highland Light Infantry (City of Glasgow Regiment).
Honorary Freeman of the Borough of Newham, Sqn Ldr Pujji was an Indian pilot who flew Hawker Hurricanes during the Battle of Britain, he also flew combat missions in Europe, North Africa and the Middle East during the war. He survived several crashes and was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross for services in Burma.
By Robert Rogers
My Dad and Operation Overlord (D-Day) - My father was John Arthur Rogers, born in Forty Acres Lane, Canning Town in May 1924. He went to Rosetta school in Custom House. He left school at 15 and got a job in a Greengrocers and Butchers shop, and two weeks after his 20th birthday, my Dad stormed the beaches of Normandy to free Europe from the Yoke of Nazi rule! He did not do this on his own, a couple of his mates came with him and a few other lads from around the world, plus some friendly Americans he met on the way. Sadly he left some of them forever on the Battlefields of Europe.
As yesterday was the 65th Annivesary of the D-day landings, and today is the 65th Anniveary of my Dad landing on the Beaches of Normandy, I have updated his Story, Canning Town Lad At War and have added these photos taken during World War Two. The coloured photo is that of my Uncle Jack and his Crew graves in the Reichwold War Graves in Germany.
Posted on Sun 7 June by Robert Rogers | <urn:uuid:6acee6f1-6cea-412b-b572-e616147daa26> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://newhamstory.com/taxonomy/term/1430 | 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 | 0.982461 | 333 | 1.617188 | 2 |
According to an Associated Press report, “Harvard then stopped funding the program in 1995 because of the don’t ask, don’t tell policy, but anonymous donors stepped up.” The return of ROTC to Harvard is directly tied to the lifting by Congress three months ago of don't ask, don't tell.
Currently Harvard students enrolled in ROTC must participate in a program at the nearby Massachusetts Institute of Technology. A statement by the university said that Harvard President Drew Faust and U.S. Navy Secretary Ray Mabus would sign an agreement giving “full and formal recognition” to a Navy ROTC program, with the re-instatement to be complete when the ban on homosexuals is officially repealed later this year.
“Our renewed relationship affirms the vital role that the members of our Armed Forces play in serving the nation and securing our freedoms, while also affirming inclusion and opportunity as powerful American ideals,” Faust declared. “It broadens the pathways for students to participate in an honorable and admirable calling and in so doing advances our commitment to both learning and service.”
Mabus said the renewed relationship “is good for the university, good for the military, and good for the country. Together we have made a decision to enrich the experience open to Harvard’s undergraduates, make the military better, and our nation stronger.”
The White House issued a statement applauding the renewed partnership. “With our nation at war,” said the President’s press secretary Jay Carney, “this sends a powerful message that Americans stand united and that our colleges, society, and armed forces are stronger when we honor the contributions of all our citizens.”
Predictably, all of the Harvard community was not on board with the move, as a small group of students referring to themselves as “transgendered” (meaning they dress and act like individuals of the opposite sex) protested that the military still does not allow individuals of their ilk to serve. “There’s no way ROTC should be on the campus,” said Harvard student Jia Hui Lee, who is a member of a campus “transgender” club called Trans Task Force. “It conflicts with Harvard values, or at least the values it claims to have”—referring to Harvard’s non-discrimination policy.
While Harvard is the first elite university to officially lift the longtime ban on the military training program, other ivy-league schools are exploring their options. At Brown University, President Ruth Simmons appointed a committee to evaluate the possibility of lifting that school’s ban of ROTC. But according to the Associated Press, “a coalition of students and professors opposes a return for various reasons, including concerns about the military, which its website calls a ‘notoriously violent and sexist institution.’” English professor William Keach, a member of the school’s Coalition Against Special Privileges for ROTC, said that because the military’s ban on homosexuals still remains officially in place, it would be premature “to automatically assume that homophobia in the U.S. military has disappeared.”
The AP also reported that “Columbia University leaders have been meeting about ROTC and are expected to vote by the end of the academic year.... Columbia students can participate in ROTC programs at nearby Fordham University and Manhattan College, but a school spokesman said few of them do.”
Even America’s most celebrated Vietnam war protestor, Senator John Kerry (D-Mass.), has asked his alma mater, Yale, to re-instate its long-lost ROTC program, saying that “as an alumnus whose life and values were in part shaped both by Yale, and by my service in the United States Navy, I would like to see Yale join Harvard’s lead in welcoming ROTC back to campus in New Haven.”
In Congress, Senator Joe Lieberman (I-Conn.), the lead sponsor of the “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” repeal, applauded Harvard’s decision and encouraged other schools to follow its lead. “Our universities have a major role to play in helping to educate and train our military’s officer corps,” said Lieberman,” adding that “I urge Harvard not to delay implementation of their new policy and other universities that bar ROTC to follow Harvard’s example in bringing this program back to campus. Our precious freedoms are guarded by our men and women in uniform and it is imperative that universities do their part in supporting our military.”
Similarly, Speaker of the House John Boehner (R-Ohio) twittered his praise, saying simply, “I applaud Harvard for allowing ROTC back on campus.”
One military-minded Harvard professor, however, suggested that it might be a little too early for applauding the school. Kit Parker, an engineering professor and Army major who has served three tours in Afghanistan, said that after four decades of snubbing, merely inviting ROTC back to campus is not enough. “We have to sell Harvard to the military,” Parker told the Boston Globe. “There might be some hard feelings in the Department of Defense and frankly, I don’t blame them. We need to put something on the table and say we’re going to make this worth your while, because we can help you build better commissioned officers than other schools.”
Photo: Harvard Square | <urn:uuid:6473a552-ab31-40dd-ab50-57eda16023a6> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.thenewamerican.com/culture/education/item/262-after-four-decades-harvard-welcomes-rotc-back-to-campus | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368703298047/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516112138-00037-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.958817 | 1,169 | 1.789063 | 2 |
Who We Are
ISC's mission is to help communities around the world address environmental, economic, and social challenges to build a better future shaped and shared by all.
We are in the business of unleashing the power of people to transform their communities. Our approach ensures solutions emerge from within the community, rather than being imposed from the outside. By combining technical expertise and leadership training with strategic investments in local organizations, we are sparking creative solutions and lasting change.
Since our founding in 1991 by former Vermont Governor Madeleine M. Kunin, ISC has led transformative community-driven projects across the globe. We garnered early recognition for connecting civic participation with environmental problem solving, and over the years we have developed an approach that accelerates a community's ability to meet challenges head on.
Whether the challenge at hand is halting air and water pollution, catalyzing HIV/AIDS prevention campaigns, or training new civic leaders, our work is making a real difference in millions of lives across the world. We get people involved in shaping their future and cultivate local talent—enabling people to become strong advocates and effective leaders in their communities.
We never come to a country or community and say, "This is how you do it." We always take great pains to engage the local people and to work with local nonprofits. While we can't provide all the answers, we can offer some hope, some technical assistance and education that can help people solve their own problems.
— Madeleine M. Kunin
Board Member and Founder, ISC | <urn:uuid:26e4a825-ea52-415e-a7fb-1399f769f943> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.iscvt.org/who_we_are/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368710006682/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516131326-00009-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.954685 | 310 | 1.523438 | 2 |
Weather in Tanzania
Overview of Weather in Tanzania, highlighting the varying climate in Tanzania, the best weather for Tanzania safaris, essentials items to pack in Tanzania climate, best time to travel to Tanzania for African Safaris.
Weather in Tanzania despite it's regional variations remains favorable tropical climate all year round good for venturing Tanzania safaris.
Tanzania's climate has two rainy seasons; the long rains starts during the months of March to May where heavy tropical rainfalls are often experienced in the afternoons. The onset of short rains in Tanzania weather calendar occurs during the months of November to December. Short rains are much lighter than the main rains and less reliable.
The long hot and dry spells are experienced for four straight months starting from June to October with hardly any rainfall experienced. This is the most ideal time to visit Tanzania for African holiday vacations. It's during this period that the most dramatic wildebeest and zebra start to migrate into Kenya's Masai Mara National park.
The ideal time to attempt climbing Mount Kilimanjaro is during August to October and January to March. Wildlife watching safaris are excellent almost all year around except for the April to May rainy season.
The climate on the islands is tropical, but the heat is tempered by sea breezes that are constant throughout the year, except during the rainy seasons. The seasons are well defined. From December to March, when the northeast monsoon blows, it is hot and comparatively dry. The heavy rains fall in April and May.
Essentials items to pack in relation to Tanzania weather conditions and its influence on Tanzania's Safaris.
- Light cotton tops and cotton trousers/shorts in summer, hat/ cap and light shoes
- Long-sleeved blouses/shirts for game drives/ boat cruises, which will protect you from mosquitoes and the sun
- Safari trousers, jeans or casual pants for evenings and cooler days. A fleece or sweater is required for those cool winter evening and mornings
- A hat, sunglasses and sunscreen (a tanning lotion and a high factor sunscreen for your face, neck, feet and hands
- Sandals, open shoes
- Comfortable walking shoes, sandals for when swimming in the Lake Victoria
- Camera film, extra memory cards and batteries. | <urn:uuid:5b6e7286-2fd9-47f4-b76b-5c1129b245da> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.travelbuddyafrica.com/tanzania/tanzania-weather.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368707435344/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516123035-00021-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.953313 | 467 | 1.757813 | 2 |
Posted: Jan 18, 2012 5:50 PM by Matt Stafford
WASHINGTON (AP) - The State Department says the U.S. had nothing to do with the failure of the Mars moon probe that crashed to Earth this week, adding that U.S. officials responded to a Russian request to help recover it.
State Department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland said Wednesday the U.S. helped in efforts to re-establish contact with the spacecraft after it was stranded in Earth orbit.
She said that although the recovery efforts were unsuccessful, the U.S. also helped monitor the final orbits of the Phobos-Ground probe and its uncontrolled entry into the Earth's atmosphere.
Fragments of the probe showered into the South Pacific on Sunday. Russian media reported that investigators will examine whether a U.S. radar station could have inadvertently interfered with the probe. Experts say such claims are far-fetched. | <urn:uuid:9774a158-8c39-4502-832b-bb7f8ae617a0> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.koaa.com/news/us-says-it-not-to-blame-for-failed-russian-probe/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368698924319/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516100844-00039-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.97454 | 184 | 1.601563 | 2 |
Gov. Martin O'Malley is offering local governments a significant sweetener — more money for local road projects — as part of an effort to secure their support for his proposal to apply the state's 6 percent sales tax to gasoline.
The governor's bill, which was introduced Tuesday, would partially restore local transportation aid that was cut significantly during the recession. Specifically, it would roughly triple the current level of aid to counties, Baltimore city and smaller municipalities for local road projects.
O'Malley announced two weeks ago that he wants to raise $613 million a year for transportation by extending the sales tax to gasoline over three years – going to 2 percent in the first increment, then 4 percent and 6 percent. But before Tuesday, most the details of the legislation has not been released.
The bill includes a significantly simpler method of calculating the sales tax than many in the petroleum industry had predicted. As promised, the administration has also included what it calls a "braking mechanism." If gas prices spike, it would delay the phased-in increase.
At current prices, O'Malley's legislation would add 18 cents to the cost of a gallon of gas once fully implemented. The proposal has been considered a tough sell in Annapolis, and it was too early to gauge whether the newly released details would make it any more palatable to lawmakers or county officials.
As part of his sales effort, O'Malley pitched his plan Tuesday to the Greater Washington Board of Trade, a business group that has supported as gas tax increase. "I really need all of you, especially this session, to be in the halls of Annapolis," he said. "We need your vision and we need your voices."
In response to concerns raised by the business community and others, the bill includes provisions designed to make it more difficult to divert transportation revenues to unrelated programs in the future.
Since the beginning of the recession in 2008, Maryland transportation projects have been cut back severely, and much of the work that has continued was paid for with federal stimulus money that is now running out.
According to Maryland Transportation Secretary Beverley Swaim-Staley, spending in recent years has largely been limited to maintenance projects and the replacement or rehabilitation of aging bridges. The state has been able to do little in the way of expansion or congestion-relief, she said.
O'Malley's legislation would give 80 percent of the new revenues from the sales tax to the state and 20 percent to the counties. That isn't as generous as the 70-30 split that was routine before the recession, but it improves on the 90-10 division that the General Assembly recently adopted.
Local aid for transportation has dropped from a high water mark of $530 million in 2008 to $147 million in 2012, with some counties experiencing a drop of more than 90 percent in the funds they use to maintain their local roads.
Officials said the bill would increase the amount of local aid by about $85 million.
Winning support from local governments could be crucial to the bill's prospects. House Speaker Michael E. Busch has warned that unless key county executives weigh in and deliver votes from their delegations, the chances of the bill's passage are slim.
Michael Sanderson, executive director of the Maryland Association of Counties, said he was unsure whether the 80-20 split of new revenues would generate much support from county officials around the state. The counties want a return to the 70-30 formula, he said.
"For counties to be returned to 40 cents on the dollar leaves us somewhat better than the starvation diet we have today," he said.
Besides his gas plan, the governor is also proposing increases to the income taxes paid by about 20 percent of Maryland households and a rise in the so-called "flush tax" that goes toward water and sewer improvements – prompting grumbling among lawmakers that he is seeking too much at one time. | <urn:uuid:18929445-b985-445a-8a67-d3ffd162d8ce> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/breaking/bs-md-gas-tax-bill-20120214,0,2883595.story | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368704132298/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516113532-00010-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.976839 | 790 | 1.578125 | 2 |
Jeff Gundlach's Brilliant Idea Helped The FBI Recover His Stolen Art
Back in September, thieves broke into bond god Jeff Gundlach's home and stole millions of dollars worth of property including priceless artwork.
That property has since been recovered.
Today, we're learning that a brilliant suggestion by Gundlach may have been elemental in the recovery efforts.
The robbers also snatched two works by Gundlach’s late grandmother, Helen Fuchs, who was an amateur painter.
The cerebral Gundlach also gave investigators a tip for solving the crime. He says that while he was at home in his family room, it dawned on him that thieves would do a Google search using his grandmother’s name to find out more about the paintings and how much they might be worth.
Gundlach told the authorities that they should check the Internet to see who might have googled the name Helen Fuchs. He says exactly two such searches were executed: one by him and one by the thieves.
Gundlach says his Internet idea impressed investigators.
"The FBI," he says, "thought it was brilliant."
Read the whole feature at Bloomberg.com.
Get Finance Emails & Alerts | <urn:uuid:a6e3408c-0f94-4c8b-9e0e-e58905be6dc7> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.businessinsider.com/gundlachs-helped-the-fbi-2012-11?pundits_only=0&get_all_comments=1&no_reply_filter=1 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368710006682/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516131326-00009-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.968719 | 254 | 1.828125 | 2 |
This Lanvin evening dress combines the feel of an Eastern European with the fashionable sensibilities of the 1920s. Her couture technique of reversing the embroidery is masterfully executed.Jeanne Lanvin was apprenticed to a milliner and a dressmaker before opening her own millinery shop in 1889. She expanded into dressmaking when her clients began asking for the ensembles in which she adorned her daughter, Marguerite di Pietro (1897-1958). Her style embodied the femininity of youth in a most modern way with meticulous and relatively sparse surface embellishments and robe de style silhouettes, which could be worn by women of all ages. Lanvin's aptitude can be seen through her house's 1920s expansion into fur, lingerie, men's wear, household goods and perfume. She even had the forethought to open her own dye factory which produced the inimitable 'Lanvin blue.' The longevity of the House of Lanvin can be credited to her attentive management and design standards from its inception. | <urn:uuid:ae4e5935-9f03-439a-870f-76785fbea8d0> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.metmuseum.org/Collections/search-the-collections/80095361?rpp=20&pg=6&ao=on&ft=*&who=Jeanne+Lanvin&pos=102 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368708142388/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516124222-00012-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.960418 | 212 | 1.820313 | 2 |
Posts Tagged ‘CFPA’
A fascinating development in the US as a new regulator for peer-to-peer lending appears following vigorous efforts from Prosper to promote an even handed regulatory regime for both borrowers and lenders. Currently the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) is the prime regulator, and a similar situation exists in Canada. The creation of the Consumer Financial Protection Agency (CFPA) is apparently designed to protect consumers in a host of financial services from p2p lending to reverse mortgages. Certainly more to come on that, but interesting for peer-to-peer lending.
“Once again, Representative Jackie Speier and Chairman Barney Frank are doing the right thing by putting consumers’ and investors’ interests first,” said Chris Larsen, Prosper Chief Executive Officer and Founder of the Coalition for New Credit Models. “In terms of how the Bill relates to peer-to-peer lending, we’ve always believed that the industry should be regulated as a bank-like sector by a strong, holistic regulator focused on providing robust protections for both lenders and borrowers. The Obama Administration and other leading policy makers have been calling for the nurturing of alternative, transparent, and durable credit markets that will benefit consumers and small businesses; this landmark Bill heeds that call.” Prosper, together with the Coalition for New Credit Models, has advocated that America’s economic future depends on new and alternative credit models being embraced in the same way green technologies are being nurtured by policy leaders to help solve the energy and environmental crises. | <urn:uuid:4495cf16-c116-457b-9dec-7c082f30ea7f> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://thebankwatch.com/tag/cfpa/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368705559639/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516115919-00025-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.948217 | 314 | 1.773438 | 2 |
The Nuclear Regulatory Commission says New Hampshire's Seabrook nuclear power plant will receive additional oversight following an inspection finding from an emergency exercise.
The commission said during the April exercise, plant personnel did not develop and make proper initial protective action recommendations to states, based on radiological conditions at the time. However, their recommendations did become correct as the exercise went on.
The commission said plant owner NextEra did not contest the finding and provided results of an analysis of the issue.
The commission will do a supplemental inspection at Seabrook to evaluate its evaluation.
All U.S. nuclear plants are required to undergo a graded full-scale emergency exercise once every two years. | <urn:uuid:7d8edc74-bd80-4095-9899-926e97784ff1> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.wcvb.com/news/money/NRC-plans-more-oversight-at-Seabrook-nuclear-plant/-/9848680/16012238/-/fk4a8yz/-/index.html?absolute=true | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368707435344/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516123035-00032-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.971982 | 140 | 1.578125 | 2 |
Iraq Veterans Against The War (updated)
Iraq Veterans Against The War visited our campus today with a display of boots and shoes. Lined up in neat rows like tombstones, decorated with a name and in some cases a photo or a medal, each pair of boots belonged to an Illinois soldier who didn’t make it home. There were also circles of shoes, from Iraqi civilians of all ages. Veterans were on hand to reflect on the war.
What could I say that is not said by a little pair of fuzzy booties that belonged to a child? Or by a pair of boots that belonged to a soldier, decorated with his high school graduation picture? It is bad enough when there is an arguable purpose to it all, but this war is for nothing. It is a personal vendetta of our codpiece-in-chief.
Mark Twain said; “History does not repeat itself. But it rhymes.”
Boots in a row
Overview; boots in foreground, civilian shoes in background | <urn:uuid:2001b57c-2629-458b-8c96-db7c860316f7> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.decrepitoldfool.com/2008/04/ivaw22apr08/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368696383156/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516092623-00006-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.959184 | 209 | 1.601563 | 2 |
Though the war had ended and automobile production resumed, it would be several years before most automakers introduced a new product. Most just made a few changes to their pre-War line and tried to quickly settle the publics demand for vehicles.
For Mercury, post-War production resumed on November 1st of 1945. This was ten days after Lincoln-Mercury had become a separate division. The face-lifted Mercury was given a new 'high-style' grille design which the public approved. A total of 86,608 examples were sold making them the tenth-highest volume for 1946.
The Mercury's cost around $190 more than the Super DeLuxe Ford V8, and came with a four-inch longer wheelbase, upgraded upholstery, interior trimmings, and exterior trim. The 'flathead' V8 engine provided a hefty 100-horsepower which was controlled by four-wheel hydraulic drum brakes.
Both the Fords and Mercury's rode on a unique front-and-rear transverse leaf spring suspension. They made have been not as modern as some other setups on the road, but they worked really well and provided superior handling.
This 1946 Mercury Convertible is one of the few that has avoided a conversion into a hot rod or drag racer. Instead, it has been recently restored and painted in Moonstone Grey with a deep maroon leather interior, and black power convertible top.
In 2008 it was brought to the Automobiles of Amelia presented by RM Auctions where it was estimated to sell for $50,000-$60,000. It was offered without reserve and sold for the sum of $44,000 including buyer's premium. | <urn:uuid:83298dd5-c23c-4bd9-87bb-75e9f7fd145a> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.conceptcarz.com/events/eventVehicle.aspx?carID=9222&eventID=203&catID=1559 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368707435344/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516123035-00035-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.977171 | 342 | 1.75 | 2 |
Did you know that Bill Gullickson pitched 19 games at home, had an ERA of 3.83, pitched 138.2 innings, allowed 126 hits, had 59 earned runs, 61 runs, and 13 home runs, walked 37 batters (3 intentionally), threw 2 wild pitches, hit batters 2 times, and balked 1 times?
On the road, Bill Gullickson pitched 15 games, had an ERA of 3.66, pitched 103.2 innings, allowed 104 hits, had 42 earned runs, 47 runs, and 6 home runs, walked 22 batters (1 intentionally), threw 1 wild pitches, hit batters 2 times, and balked 0 times.
Are you a Bill Gullickson fan? Visit his page for comprehensive
biographical data, year-by-year hitting stats, detailed fielding
stats, pitching stats (where applicable), cumulative career totals
for all stats, uniform numbers worn, salary data and other factual | <urn:uuid:113cd2fd-a060-41f8-a7c0-7b0312f5b221> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.baseball-almanac.com/players/pitchinglogs.php?p=gullibi01&y=1983 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368701459211/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516105059-00030-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.962555 | 191 | 1.578125 | 2 |
Home > Publications and Other Resources > Speeches > Charles I. Plosser, President and Chief Executive Officer > Economic Outlook and Challenges for Monetary Policy
Presented by Charles I. Plosser, President and Chief Executive Officer, Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia
The Philadelphia Chapter of the Risk Management Association, Philadelphia, PA, January 11, 2011
PDF version (92 KB, 11 pages)
Welcome to the Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia, and thank you for inviting me to help launch your new year. As most of you know, the Philadelphia Fed is one of 12 Federal Reserve Banks across our nation. Together with the Board of Governors in Washington, this structure of the Federal Reserve System helps ensure that monetary policy decisions are based on the full breadth of economic conditions across our diverse country.
The goals of monetary policy are set by Congress in the Federal Reserve Act, which states that the Fed should conduct monetary policy to “promote effectively the goals of maximum employment, stable prices, and moderate long-term interest rates.” I have long believed that the most effective way monetary policy can contribute to maximum employment and moderate long-term interest rates is by ensuring price stability over the longer term. Price stability is also critical in promoting financial stability.
The Fed seeks to achieve these objectives by influencing the cost and availability of credit through its decisions about interest rates and the supply of money. These decisions are the primary responsibility of the FOMC — the Federal Open Market Committee — the group within the Fed charged with setting monetary policy.
Since monetary policy affects the economy with a lag, the FOMC must be forward-looking in setting appropriate monetary policy. Therefore, I want to begin my remarks with a review of the nation’s economic recovery and my outlook for growth and inflation. I will then offer some observations on current monetary policy, including the Fed’s current program of large-scale asset purchases.
Before continuing, I should note that my views are my own and not necessarily those of the Federal Reserve Board or my colleagues on the FOMC.
A year ago, when speaking before a group in this very room, I said that in 2010 we would see a moderate, sustainable recovery with real GDP growth between 3 and 3½ percent. Growth in 2010 is likely to come in slightly below that forecast, but we will know more when the data are available later this month.
We started out the year with real GDP growing at a 3¾ percent pace in the first quarter, but the second-quarter growth rate fell to less than 2 percent, due in part to the expected decline in housing sales as homeowner tax credits ended. That, plus the concerns over European sovereign debt caused the economy to lose momentum and led some to worry about a possible double-dip recession. By the third quarter, though, we emerged from the summer doldrums with 2.6 percent growth.
When the final estimates are released, I expect that GDP growth will be between 2½ and 3 percent for 2010 and will pick up to 3 to 3½ percent annually in 2011 and 2012. My forecast for 2011 changed only modestly during the past year, and I remain confident that the economy is on track for continued moderate recovery. As with all forecasts, this projection carries some risks. But for now, I expect moderate growth overall, with strength in some sectors more than offsetting weakness in others.
Housing is one sector that I believe will remain weak into 2011. We entered the recession highly over-invested in residential real estate, and the sector is unlikely to fully recover until inventories decline. Commercial real estate markets also remain weak. Nonresidential construction spending declined in 2010, and I do not see much growth in this industry until we are well into a healthy expansion. That said, I do not believe the weakness in commercial real estate or housing will prevent a recovery of the broader economy.
Business spending on plant and equipment has been a bright spot and appears to be strengthening. While some smaller firms report difficulties in getting access to credit, banks have begun to ease credit terms and loan rates are at historic lows. Larger firms have been able to finance investment out of retained earnings or to issue new debt on very favorable terms. Some investments have been used to replace aging equipment; some have gone toward productivity improvements, which are good for the economy in the long run.
The Philadelphia Fed’s monthly Business Outlook Survey of regional manufacturers has been consistent with an improving economy, showing significant gains in general activity, orders, and shipments in November and December, following some weakness during the summer months.
The survey’s measures of expected future activity indicate that businesses are becoming more optimistic as well. So I expect business to continue to make these fixed investments at a healthy pace over the coming year.
Consumer spending, which makes up about 70 percent of GDP in the U.S., has expanded at a moderate pace. Holiday spending reports in both stores and online have been positive. November’s retail sales were up about 8 percent from last year, with auto sales up 12 percent. December retail sales will be out on Friday. While the snowstorm in the Northeast and rain in California likely weighed somewhat on sales at the end of December, major retailers remain generally optimistic and consumer confidence has improved since the summer.
Stronger consumer spending will occur as households recover more of the net worth destroyed due to falling house prices and the decline in equity portfolios during the recession. Households have been steadily shoring up their balance sheets, and as debt levels fall and savings are rebuilt, consumers will be in a better position to increase spending.
The private sector added over a million jobs in 2010. Unfortunately, the pace of employment growth hasn’t been strong enough to have much of an effect on the unemployment rate. However, recent data have been somewhat more encouraging. New claims for unemployment insurance have been trending down, as have continuing claims. In December, the economy added about 100,000 jobs and payrolls were revised up in both October and November. In addition, the unemployment rate fell from 9.8 to 9.4 percent in December. I expect this number may bounce around in the near term, but the unemployment rate will gradually recover as hiring improves enough to allow the unemployed as well as those people who have left the labor force to find jobs.
I wish I could forecast a faster improvement, but it will take time to resolve the difficult adjustments now under way in the labor markets. Many workers may be forced to find jobs in new and unfamiliar industries. For instance, the contraction in the real estate sector and in sectors closely related to residential construction, such as mortgage brokerage, means that many workers will likely need to find jobs in other industries or fields and that will take time.
The productivity gains occurring in other sectors also suggest that many workers may need updated skills to find their next job. This may be particularly relevant for the long-term unemployed. Monetary policy cannot do much to help these types of adjustments in the labor markets even if we wish it could.
Turning to inflation, the headline consumer price index (CPI) has risen about 1 percent over the last year. Core CPI inflation, excluding food and energy, has been just less than 1 percent this past year. While inflation is currently lower than the 1½ to 2 percent level many monetary policymakers would prefer, it does not follow that sustained deflation is imminent or even likely. While I do expect that inflation will be subdued in the near term, I do not see a significant risk of a sustained deflation.
Respondents to the Philadelphia Fed’s fourth-quarter Survey of Professional Forecasters released in November and the Livingston Survey released in December also saw little chance of deflation in 2011.
It is useful to remember that the U.S. saw average consumer price inflation of just 1.3 percent through most of the 1950s and early 1960s. This period of low inflation did not lead to fears of deflation nor did it lead to economic stagnation. Low inflation is not generally a bad thing.
Moreover, brief periods of lower-than-desired inflation or even temporary deflation are unlikely to materially affect economic outcomes as long as longer-term inflation expectations remain well anchored and the public continues to see the Fed’s promise to maintain price stability as credible. The Fed’s challenges are greater, however, when monetary policy finds it difficult to respond because rates are already near zero. In that case, a loss of credibility resulting in a decline in inflation expectations would lead to an increase in the real interest rate, which would encourage consumers and businesses to save more and spend less.
Given that the Fed’s policy rate is now close to zero, a decline in inflation expectations would be unwelcome and could undermine the recovery. Fortunately, this is not happening. Expectations of medium- to long-term inflation have remained relatively stable because people expect the Fed to take appropriate action to keep inflation low, positive, and stable. As the recovery continues, I anticipate that inflation will accelerate toward 1½ to 2 percent over the course of the next two years. We are already beginning to see acceleration in some commodity prices. Manufacturers responding to our monthly Business Outlook Survey are increasingly reporting rising cost of inputs, including energy and raw materials, and they are projecting that they will be forced to pass on these cost increases to consumers and businesses in 2011.
As we begin the new year, many forecasters are revising their outlooks to incorporate the latest economic data and the anticipated effects of the tax package approved by Congress in December. Although most forecasts assumed that some tax package would be approved, the details are now being factored into many models. My own view is that the tax compromise’s biggest impact derives from the reduction in uncertainty about tax rates for consumers and businesses over the next couple of years. Unfortunately, fiscal challenges still loom large for the new Congress and the economy.
Let me now turn to some observations on monetary policy. The last couple of years have been an extraordinary time for policymakers. We have been forced to react with speed to new challenges that have sometimes been outside the usual frameworks we rely on for policy guidance. That does not mean that economic models are no longer helpful; they most definitely are. But because of the unusual environment, there is less consensus among economists about the right answers to some of the most difficult and challenging questions. As a result, it is not surprising that the debate about what constitutes the most desirable policy is vigorous, with bright and talented people on every side. That is as it should be, in my view. I am fond of quoting the American journalist Walter Lippmann, who said, “Where all men think alike, no one thinks very much.” Healthy debate is necessary for informed decisions and results in better policy decisions.
These debates have gone on inside the Fed, just as they have gone on in the media and in the economics profession. Some have suggested that it is counter-productive for policymakers to express differing opinions, as it confuses markets and creates uncertainty. I find such arguments misdirected.
First, the uncertainty is real. It would be disingenuous and misleading to suggest otherwise. The central bank owes the public clear communication and as much transparency as is feasible. For policymakers to project a false sense of certainty would fail that test and deeply trouble me.
Second, for monetary policy to be successful, policymakers, and the Fed as an institution, must earn the public’s confidence. Confidence is important in preserving the Fed’s credibility, which is something that is hard to earn but easy to lose. One way to undermine confidence and credibility is to fail to communicate the difficult choices we face and the thoroughness of our debates. Unanimity is not the natural state of affairs in life — nor is it inside the halls of the Federal Reserve. For policymakers to feign unanimity only serves to undermine the institution’s transparency.
In November, the FOMC decided to purchase an additional $600 billion of longer-term Treasury securities through the end of the second quarter of 2011. It is no secret that I have expressed doubts about whether the benefits of this policy, commonly referred to as QE2, exceed the costs. These doubts were based on my reading of the economic outlook and the nature of the challenges that the economy faced.
The first round of large-scale asset purchases began nearly two years ago, after the Fed reduced the federal funds rate to near zero. That program, completed in March 2010, added roughly $1.75 trillion in agency mortgage-backed securities, agency debt, and long-term Treasuries to our balance sheets. If the Fed completes the full amount of the second round, the Fed’s balance sheet will have more than tripled since mid-2007.
Proponents of the program to acquire Treasuries expect these purchases to lower longer-term interest rates through a portfolio balance effect. That is, as the supply of longer-term Treasuries available to the public is reduced, prices of Treasuries should rise, which means yields should fall. Yields on similar assets are also expected to fall as the public rebalances portfolios away from Treasuries to other similar assets. Just as in conventional monetary policy, lower interest rates would stimulate business and consumer demand and increase exports, thus lending support to the recovery.
The Fed’s first purchase program worked to lower interest rates, although estimates of the effect vary quite a lot. These purchases were done at a time when financial markets were highly disrupted and asset risk premiums were extremely elevated. But markets are no longer disrupted. Thus, it seems unlikely that we can expect the effects to operate through the same channels as before. Even if we did, it is not clear to me that a modest reduction in long-term interest rates will do much to speed up the reduction in the unemployment rate.
Some commentators thought that even if the benefits were limited, the costs were small and the action was worth taking, given the concerns that many had about the state of the economy. Other commentators argued for the policy because the fiscal authorities were unable to act, even though fiscal policy would have been the more appropriate policy tool to address some of the challenges we faced. I view both of these arguments as flawed.
It is a serious mistake to view monetary policy as a substitute for fiscal policy. Doctors must diagnose the disease correctly in order to prescribe the right medicine. If the wrong drug is administered, the physician might not only fail to cure the patient, but might also make matters worse. To suggest that monetary policymakers must act simply because fiscal policymakers were unable or unwilling to act is not the proper way to conduct policy.
As to the cost-benefit analysis, the costs of this policy are likely to be seen only in the future, but they must be part of the analysis when the policy is undertaken, not dismissed to be dealt with later. History tells us that exiting from an accommodative monetary policy is always a bit tricky. It is easier to cut rates than it is to raise them. As I discussed earlier, monetary policy must be forward-looking because it works with a lag. This means that the Fed will need to begin removing policy accommodation before the unemployment rate has returned to an acceptable level in order to avoid overshooting, which would result in greater instability in the economy.
So how do we exit from this accommodative policy? While the high level of excess reserves on the Fed’s balance sheet is largely benign now, that will change as banks become more willing to lend. As economic conditions improve and those excess reserves begin to flow out into the economy, inflationary pressures will grow. And given the magnitude of those reserves, these pressures could be significant. This is one reason I feel confident that sustained deflation is highly unlikely. To prevent inflation from becoming a serious problem, the Fed must be able to remove or isolate those reserves. The Fed is developing and testing tools to help us prevent such a rapid explosion in money to address this looming challenge. But we won’t know the full effect of these new tools until we use them. Nor will we know how rapidly or how high we may need to raise rates. The larger our balance sheet, the greater our challenges to successfully navigate an exit strategy without disrupting the economy and while keeping inflation under control.
The FOMC statements in November and December indicated that we will regularly review the asset purchase program in light of incoming economic information and adjust it as needed to foster our long-run goals of price stability and maximum sustainable employment. I have taken this intention to regularly review the program seriously.
If the economy begins to grow more quickly and the sustainability of this recovery continues to gain traction, then the purchase program will need to be reconsidered along with other aspects of our very accommodative policy stance. We are a year and a half into a recovery, although a modest one. The aggressiveness of our accommodative policy may soon backfire on us if we don’t begin to gradually reverse course. On the other hand, if serious risks of deflation or deflationary expectations emerge, then we would need to take that into account as we adjust our policy stance.
In conclusion, our nation’s economy is now emerging from the worst financial and economic crisis since the Great Depression. A slow but sustainable economic recovery is under way, and I expect annual growth to be in the 3 to 3½ percent range over the next two years.
As the economy continues to gain strength and optimism grows among businesses, hiring will increase. The unemployment rate, however, will decline to acceptable levels only gradually. The shocks and dislocations we experienced from the financial crisis were significant, and it will take some time for the imbalances in labor markets to be resolved.
The Federal Reserve remains committed to promoting price stability over the intermediate to longer term. This is the most effective way in which monetary policy can contribute to economic conditions that foster maximum sustainable employment and economic growth. Finding the right path for monetary policy in such challenging times will require thoughtful deliberation. We should acknowledge the debate as a healthy process that adds to transparency and enhances credibility.
As we move forward, I will continue to monitor incoming economic developments and update my economic outlook as necessary. Should evidence suggest that monetary policy is not consistent with our longer-term goals, then I will support an appropriate adjustment to policy. | <urn:uuid:66bf5f85-9749-46b9-8b30-597011deadb9> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.philadelphiafed.org/publications/speeches/plosser/2011/01-11-11_risk-management-association.cfm | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368711005985/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516133005-00041-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.96425 | 3,745 | 1.679688 | 2 |
The GaiamTV interview series features in-depth conversations with some of the nation’s top yoga instructors and wellness experts. GaiamTV is a lifestyle media website that features thousands of online videos and yoga classes designed “to nourish your mind, body, and soul.” Our first interview this week is with Andrew Cohen about his video on Evolutionary Enlightenment.
Hi Andrew. Thanks for taking the time to speak with us. We wanted to begin by asking you about this concept of evolutionary enlightenment — What is it, and how does it differ from the traditional concept of enlightenment put forth in many Buddhist and Hindu texts?
Evolutionary Enlightenment is a new spiritual path and practice that brings together the perennial mystical insight that the ultimate nature of reality is Oneness and the scientific discovery that we’re part of an evolutionary process that is going somewhere. In Evolutionary Enlightenment, we win our spiritual liberation through the experiential recognition that who we really are is not separate from the primordial energy and intelligence that created the universe. We experience that energy and intelligence as what I call the evolutionary impulse—the life-positive, perpetually creative inspiration that compels human beings to strive to give rise to new potentials. The realization that “I am the energy and intelligence that created the universe and not merely a psychological ego” is the fundamental insight that liberates the self in the new evolutionary spirituality.
Traditional mysticism, in contrast, is fundamentally about the experience of transcendence. Enlightenment, as the great traditions teach it, is about cultivating the experience of freedom from the body, freedom from the mind and emotions, freedom from the world. In the new evolutionary mysticism, we no longer seek freedom from this incarnate existence. Because the source of spiritual liberation is the realization that “I am the energy and intelligence that created the universe,” we find that we want to be here, as ourselves, in the world so we can consciously create the future as an agent of that impulse itself. When we awaken to the evolutionary impulse, as the urge toward higher creativity, it becomes apparent to us that the energy that is driving the process as a whole is inherently spiritual or divine. Spirit created and is creating the universe. What is this ceaseless creative striving in matter, nature, and culture? And where does it come from? What is it that mysteriously compels the universe to exist, life to emerge, and mind to appear? That which compels this complex and singular process to exist and develop is Spirit as the creative impulse. And now that we, as human beings, have developed the extraordinary capacity to be aware of the entire process and that which gave rise to it, it makes no sense for our mysticism to be one of escape. We need a new spirituality that embraces our new knowledge and all of its implications.
How does the concept of evolutionary enlightenment fit in with modern scientific notions about how the brain works?
Evolutionary Enlightenment is a new culturally relevant expression of what I call the “new mysticism.” It’s culturally relevant because it is very much in alignment with science’s most significant breakthroughs in the fields of cosmology, biology, and also the latest insights into how culture is created and how it evolves. It was only very recently that science discovered that the universe is 14 billion years old and that it burst into being in a flash of light and energy. It’s only recently that we are beginning to understand the relationships between cosmic evolution, biological evolution, and cultural evolution. It is the great breakthrough of the western enlightenment and the liberation of our rational investigation into our origins that has made it possible for us to now have this Big Picture perspective on who we are and how we arrived here and now in the present moment. Science is now observing the neural correlates of consciousness in our biological brain. They will never find the deepest and most fundamental dimension of who we are—consciousness—through the lens of a microscope, but it is consciousness that makes it possible for us to make the profound and significant breakthroughs that science is making in so many arenas, including neuroscience.
What is your intent in sharing the 5 fundamental tenets for evolutionary enlightenment with viewers? What do you hope people will come away with?
The five fundamental tenets of Evolutionary Enlightenment clearly describe how we can live our human experience in this and every moment from the perspective of one who is deeply and profoundly spiritually enlightened. They are a pathway that makes it possible to understand the liberated position that the greatest and most realized mystics throughout history, like Shakyamuni Buddha, Adi Shankara, Jesus Christ, Rumi, Padmasambhava, and Sri Ramana Maharshi, were taking in relationship to their own biological, emotional, and psychological experience. The path and the goal are one. That means the position we take in relationship to our experience through the exertion of will power as spiritual seekers and practitioners is the same position we finally manifest spontaneously and effortlessly when we come to the end of our search.
Andrew Cohen is an internationally respected spiritual teacher, cultural visionary, and founder of the global nonprofit organization EnlightenNext. Through his writings, teachings and ongoing dialogues with leading philosophers, scientists and mystics, he has become known as one of the defining voices of the new evolutionary spirituality.
In addition to his work as a teacher, Cohen is also dedicated to changing the cultural conversation about the purpose and significance of spiritual enlightenment in our time. In a sparkling conversation webcast live on May 30, 2012, he spoke with Lisa Garr about the challenges of modern life and how we might achieve enlightenment in the midst of chaos.
Watch Andrew’s video on Evolutionary Enlightenment for FREE here:
Check out the other interviews in this series: | <urn:uuid:09a6b770-6c84-4b2d-a30f-f86e8d68e529> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://intentblog.com/evolutionary-enlightenment-with-andrew-cohen/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368701459211/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516105059-00031-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.949666 | 1,174 | 1.539063 | 2 |
.- It was still dark, almost an hour before sunrise on Sept. 5, but the freshly decorated white marble tomb of Blessed Teresa gleamed as the feast day of the saintly nun began.
According to UCA News, activities began early in the morning with the arrival of more than 150 women, men and children from slum areas where Blessed Teresa had begun her mission among "the poorest of the poor."
The program of activities that day marked the 10th death anniversary of the world-renowned nun, who lived in this eastern Indian city formerly called Calcutta. Her tomb sits inside the headquarters of the Missionaries of Charity (MC) congregation that she started in 1950.
The tomb, adorned with flowers and the words "Happy Feast, Mother" formed with yellow marigold petals, was lit up by the glow of candles held by people who came for the morning program.
Archbishop Lucas Sirkar of Calcutta led the 6 a.m. Mass in the motherhouse chapel with 12 priests. The chapel was crowded with MC novices, all in white, professed nuns in their blue-bordered white saris, Religious brothers, priests and people of various religions.
The archbishop asked the congregation to meditate on the words Blessed Teresa spoke or wrote. "They were very simple," but revealed a person of great depth, he added.
After the Mass, the MC novices walked down to the courtyard and sang "Happy Feast Day, Mother, and may God make you a saint" before a huge picture of Blessed Teresa. The picture had been displayed at St. Peter's Square when Pope John Paul II beatified the nun on Oct. 19, 2003, at the Vatican.
Sister Nirmala Joshi, Blessed Teresa's successor, told the gathering she was "overwhelmed with joy" and "a great feeling of gratitude for what God has given to each one of us, especially in Kolkata," through Blessed Teresa.
She wanted all to "pray to Mother to instill in us love for God and all his children, especially the neglected, poor and those who have nowhere to go."
In an August interview with UCA News, Sister Nirmala said the Vatican has cleared most formalities for declaring the MC founder a saint. All that is required is "one more miracle" through Blessed Teresa's intercession, she added.
When a reporter asked Sister Nirmala if everyone experiences the "crisis of faith" revealed in a recently published book of Blessed Teresa's private letters, she answered in the negative.
Mother Teresa: Come Be My Light, a collection of some of the nun's letters to confessors, has stirred controversy.
"Only those of an advanced level of spirituality" experience this, Sister Nirmala said, calling it a sign of being close to God. It is like being close "to the sun and so blinded by the brilliance," she explained.
At the tomb, people continued to pray. Harihar Sahu, who was born blind and a Hindu but later became a Protestant, sang his own composition at the tomb. The nuns said he regularly visits on her birthday and feast day.
Also seen around the tomb were people from Motijhil, the slum area where Mother Teresa began her work. One of them, Polly Ghosh Roy, told UCA News she believes the saintly nun is still with them.
The MC nuns prepared for the feast with a special novena, nine days of prayers, and daily Mass at the tomb starting Aug. 27. The archdiocese celebrated Mass in English and in Bengali at Blessed Teresa's Christ the King Parish. | <urn:uuid:a3eb4825-bf1d-404f-9963-471e4ebafa16> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.catholicnewsagency.com/news/blessed_teresas_feast_brings_slum_people_others_to_her_tomb/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368697974692/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516095254-00013-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.973871 | 756 | 1.632813 | 2 |
Audi unveils intelligent ‘swarm’ tail-light concept
German automobile manufacturer, Audi, is known for its sheer innovation. The company recently unveiled an extremely fascinating touch given to a car, on unlike any seen before kicking away traditional tail-lights, Audi had installed on the boot of its car ‘swarm’ lights. These cover the width of the boot and use organic OLED technology. The lights react to the movements of the car, giving drivers following behind a better understanding of what the one maneuvering the car is doing.
The lights move or swarm faster as the car speeds. Also, as the driver turns, the red lights begin to flow towards the director of the car’s turn! As the car begins to slow down, these lights gather in pools. The concept was shown of at the CES 2013 and is indeed a beautiful touch given to an otherwise plain-looking car. However, don’t expect to find these on roads since motor organizations have termed it to be distracting! | <urn:uuid:19419044-4301-468f-8c25-13a44375f944> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://newlaunches.com/archives/audi-unveils-intelligent-swarm-tail-light-concept.php | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368703682988/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516112802-00032-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.958076 | 208 | 1.578125 | 2 |
Horowitz himself was a dentist, who despite the medical training that is required for the field, evidently never absorbed much in the way of standard biological information, nor (for that matter) common sense. He claims, for example, that flu vaccines cause sterility, which I know will come as a great shock to the millions of presumably fertile individuals who get flu shots yearly. Instead of getting a flu shot, Horowitz says, you should merely dose up on vitamin C and D, and purchase from his website (c'mon, you knew he was selling something) "alkalanizing water" and "covalently-bonded silver hydrosols" that will render you invincible.
Two other wonderful Horowitz creations are the "Water Resonator" (a sticker you apply to the water jug in your fridge) that "displays the precise sound frequencies of universal creation to restore nature's resonance energy and electromagnetic purity of water," and the "DNA Enhancer," another sticker that you place on your acupuncture points, which works because "DNA is nature's bioacoustic and electromagnetic (that is, 'spiritual') energy receiver, signal transformer, and quantum sound and light transmitter."
But by far my favorite Horowitz claim is that the standard musical tuning of A = 440 hertz is gradually turning music listeners into mindless zombies. The problem, apparently, is that the "natural" tuning of A = 444 hertz was suppressed by the Rockefellers, who realized that tuning orchestral instruments to 440 would allow them control the minds of anyone exposed to music. The whole thing involves the Illuminati, the Federal Reserve, Lucifer, Muzak, the Manhattan Project, Elvis Presley, Pat Robertson, the Nazis, Pythagoras, Nikola Tesla, and the Beatles. Which, I believe, makes it the single most comprehensive conspiracy theory ever invented, needing only a mention of HAARP to make it a shoo-in for the Gold Medal of Woo-Woo.
To prove to you that I'm not lying, here's a link to Horowitz's paper on the subject, which you really should read in toto, because just the illustrations alone make it one of the most inadvertently hilarious things I've ever read. But in case you don't have the time, inclination, or spare brain cells to kill, here's the abstract (yes, it's set up like a traditional scientific paper, with an abstract, introduction, background, methodology, and so on):
This article details events in musical history that are central to understanding and treating modern psychopathology, social aggression, political corruption, genetic dysfunction, and cross-cultural degeneration of traditional values risking life on earth. This history concerns A=440Hz “standard tuning,” and the Rockefeller Foundation’s military commercialization of music. The monopolization of the music industry features this imposed frequency that is “herding” populations into greater aggression, psychosocial agitation, and emotional distress predisposing people to physical illnesses and financial impositions profiting the agents, agencies, and companies engaged in the monopoly. Alternatively, the most natural, instinctively attractive, A=444Hz (C5=528Hz) frequency that is most vividly displayed botanically has been suppressed. That is, the “good vibrations” that the plant kingdom obviously broadcasts in its greenish-yellow display, remedial to emotional distress, social aggression, and more, has been musically censored. Thus, a musical revolution is needed to advance world health and peace, and has already begun with musicians retuning their instruments to perform optimally, impact audiences beneficially, and restore integrity to the performing arts and sciences. Music makers are thus urged to communicate and debate these facts, condemn the militarization of music that has been secretly administered, and retune instruments and voices to frequencies most sustaining and healing.Myself, I like the "greenish-yellow good vibrations" part the best, and will now immediately re-tune my flute to A = 444 hertz. (I'd also attempt to do the same with my bagpipes, but given that "soothing psychosocial agitation" is really not something most people associate with bagpipe music, I probably shouldn't bother.)
His "About the Author" bit at the end of the paper (in case you didn't get that far) also makes for good reading, and includes a mention of various accolades he's received: "Dr. Horowitz has been honored as a 'World Leading Intellectual' by officials of the World Organization for Natural Medicine for his revelations in the musical mathematics of creationism that are impacting the fields of metaphysics, creative consciousness, sacred geometry, musicology, and natural healing according to his life’s mission―to help fulfill humanity’s Divine destiny to actualize world peace and permacultural sustainability."
Whoooo. Those are some credentials, dude. You had me at the "revelations in the musical mathematics of creationism" part, not to mention the whole "sacred geometry" thing, which always makes me picture people worshiping equilateral triangles and chanting Euclid's Postulates while burning incense.
Anyway. That's our woo-woo of the day, and one of my particular favorites. Whatever else you can say about Dr. Horowitz, he's certainly earnest, and one should never discount the humor value of some of these people. So thanks for the chuckles, Lenny. Keep up the good work. | <urn:uuid:8c319575-f95c-41b5-8191-489fa9c4ba41> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://skeptophilia.blogspot.com/2012/01/music-dna-resonators-and-mind-control.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368697974692/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516095254-00026-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.945987 | 1,119 | 1.5625 | 2 |
University of Wyoming
1000 E. University Ave. Dept. 3124
Laramie, WY 82071
The UWPD offers a variety of bicycle services including registration, theft recovery, as well as safety and regulation enforcement.
There are several reasons to register a bicycle including university regulations and city ordinances; however the most beneficial reason is theft recovery. When you register your bike, the information we gather is the information needed to report a theft. If a theft report is made, the information is then entered into a national database where pawn shops and other law enforcement agencies have access.
Bikes needing to be registered must be brought to the police department (1426 E Flint St). There is a one-time $5 fee* to register bikes. Our staff will gather information from you and from the bike. Once the appropriate information has been gathered, we will place a registration sticker on your bike and input the gathered information into our secure database.
*Currently the UWPD can only accept cash and checks.
In the event that your registered bike is stolen off campus, have the reporting agency call (307) 766-5788 to obtain the information needed to complete a police report.
If your bike (registered or not) is stolen from the University of Wyoming campus, please stop by our department (1426 E Flint St) to complete a police report or call our dispatch center at (307) 766-5179.
For students living in the residential halls bike lockers can be purchased through Vending Services. Throughout campus there are bike racks provided by all major buildings and parking lots. It is advisable that your secure your bike to the rack using a combination or key lock that is not shared with anyone.
Bicycles found not secured to designated bike racks may be either U-locked to that location or have the lock cut and the bike will be impounded by the UWPD and taken to our secure storage facility. During the end of the the school year our officers will also tag and impound all bikes left unattended. All unclaimed bikes will then be sold at our annual auction. All bikes that have been impounded require a $10 impound fee as well as mandatory bicycle registration (if the bike is not registered). For further information please call the UWPD dispatch center at (307) 766-5179.
The University of Wyoming Campus is a walking campus. Therefore major walking paths may be subject to dismount zones prohibiting bike riding. At these areas we ask that you please dismount your bike and walk it through the zone. For designated riding and dismount zones, as well as air pumps and bike racks, please see our campus bike path map. | <urn:uuid:9f99e667-d3dd-4af3-8644-443909657baf> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.uwyo.edu/uwpd/on%2Dcampus%2Dservices/bicycle%2Dinformation/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368704713110/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516114513-00014-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.94652 | 547 | 1.539063 | 2 |
By Linda Scherer
WINSTED, MN School days are over for the old grade school, but the memories will be shared for generations (click here for fond memories).
Holy Trinity Elementary School in Winsted was called a “grand school building, the pride of the town,” by the Lester Prairie News following its dedication in 1908.
For 100 years it served Holy Trinity Parish as its grade school, but for the last four years, the school has stood empty and unused, while the parish has waited for the funding needed to tear it down.
Just recently, through some very generous anonymous donations, enough money has been raised to move forward with the project, according to Holy Trinity Pastor, Father Tony Hesse.
Without any unforeseen complications, the building should be completely removed and the tunnel linked to the high school filled in by June, Hesse said.
The future of the old grade school became final March 2006, when the building process began on the new Holy Trinity Elementary School. It had been decided that upgrades to the older building, to keep it functional and to meet present codes, would be too costly.
Once the new school was completed November 2006, part of the original plan was to tear down the old school building, to allow for additional parking and an area to pick up and drop off students, but the funds have not been available until now.
A number of steps have already been taken to prepare the building for the wrecking crew, including the removal of asbestos. Last week, the school’s cornerstone was removed and will be placed by the entrance of the new elementary school.
Right now the only thing the parish needs to begin is permission from the bishop and the Diocese of New Ulm’s priest council to remove the building, according to Hesse.
The building, which originally cost $30,000 to build, will need more than twice that amount to be taken down, according to Hesse.
Grade school changed with the times
In order to keep up with the times, the old grade school building went through many changes over the years.
Originally, the brick, two-story building with a full basement was not only a school, but built large enough to provide a home for the Franciscan nuns who taught there one side of the building was a convent, the other side classrooms.
On the first floor, on the convent side of the grade school, there was a chapel, living room and entrance way with a small room to entertain guests. On the upper floor there were two bedrooms with bunkbeds, and a small room used as a study room to do school work.
On the lower level or basement, was a kitchen, dining room and bathroom with two tubs.
Until 1953, when the first lay teacher, Melinda Kappel, was hired, nuns and priests were the only teachers at the school.
By 1957 the conditions in both the grade school and the convent had become very crowded and plans were set in motion to build a new convent, separate from the grade school.
When the new convent was completed in the spring of 1958 and the nuns moved out of the grade school building, Jack Littfin of Winsted, a 1957 Holy Trinity graduate; and his father, John L. Littfin (Jack senior), were hired to convert the convent portion of the grade school into classrooms.
The new classrooms were ready when school opened in 1959.
It was about the same time that the school acquired a sprinkler system. For economic reasons, the attic and roof on the grade school were replaced with a flat roof.
“The attic was huge. There was a stage area up there with roll-up scenes that could be dropped down for performances,” Don Guggemos, former Winsted mayor and 1952 Holy Trinity graduate, said. “To add a sprinkler system in the attic and reshingle the roof, which was 35 to 40 feet high, would have been a big expense.”
The Fasching brothers were hired to remove the roof. To pay them for their labor, the Faschings received the lumber from the attic and roof which was enough to build a barn, according to Guggemos.
When the roof was taken off of the old grade school, its appearance changed significantly.
A tunnel connecting the grade school and the high school was built in 1965 and was ready for the fall of the 1966 school year.
One hundred years of sweet memories
There are so many memories people have shared about attending school in the old grade school building.
A number of Holy Trinity families like the Littfin’s have had four generations attend school there in preparation for high school.
The following are some memories of former students who attended Holy Trinity grade school in the old building:
Jack Littfin remembers as a sixth grader, climbing into the attic of the grade school.
“We weren’t supposed to go up there, but if you would go up through the attic, you could climb up a ladder to an observation platform, and look out of the cupola and see the whole town. You could see for miles,” he said.
Helen (Sterner) Guggemos of Winsted, class of 1952, recalls taking music lessons at the school.
“I remember taking piano lessons from Sr. Maureen, OSF, for many years. Up through the mid-1950s, the convent was the front half of the building. The piano lesson room was on the main level of the convent, towards the front of the building, just inside the front entrance door. Sr. Maureen was a kind, knowledgeable teacher,” Guggemos said.
Tom Wiemiller of Winsted, a 1961 graduate, attended school at Holy Trinity when most of the teachers were still nuns.
“I think you have one favorite teacher, and mine was my second grade teacher, Sr. Conrad. She was funny, and a good teacher,” Wiemiller said.
Rosie Hertel of Winsted is not only a 1970 Holy Trinity graduate, but has been teaching at Holy Trinity School for 36 years.
Her school memories go back to 1958 and her first year of school at Holy Trinity.
“I was in the first grade with 62 other students, all sitting in our wooden desks with wooden runners. We were pretty much wall-to-wall desks and students. Sister DeChantal (later known as Sister Catherine Mary) had all of those students in one class,” Hertel recalled.
Cathy Millerbernd of Winsted is a 1982 Holy Trinity graduate and she is the current Holy Trinity Elementary School principal.
Millerbernd recalls her years as a student attending the old grade school.
“I remember using the small storage spaces under the basement steps for study areas. The teachers would send small groups of students to these areas to wok outside of the classroom. I also remember the boiler room being the teachers’ lounge. We always wondered what happened behind that big heavy door in the basement,” Millerbernd said.
Joe Scherer of Howard Lake, a 1997 Holy Trinity graduate, remembers having Mass practice on the main level of the elementary school, with Lavon Kielkucki leading the group in song.
“We knew we had made it to the big time in fifth and sixth grade when we were able to sit on the steps going up to the third floor. The kindergarten through fourth grade had to sit on the floor,” he said.
Sarah (Bisping) Fasching of Winsted, class of 2000, remembers the original architecture the wooden null posts, cloak rooms with hooks for each student to hang their coats and gym bags, the chalk boards with the wooden ledge, and the woodwork, which was beautifully done.
“One of my favorite memories of elementary school was in kindergarten,” Fasching said. “Ms. Hertel was the best storyteller when she read books to us.” | <urn:uuid:3a114871-71bb-42fa-a753-c03734cc0fb0> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.herald-journal.com/archives/2010/stories/ht-1908-grade-school.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368707435344/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516123035-00021-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.982619 | 1,662 | 1.71875 | 2 |
ZURICH Ė Sweden has been the most successful nation at the IIHFís U20 and U18 World Championships of the past two years. IIHF.com takes a look at the prospects of 44 countries based on the success of their national junior programs.
The development of junior players is the only sustainable way to ensure future success. 44 countries have participated in the U20 and U18 World Championship programs in the past two years at various levels under different preconditions and with different success.
But todayís success is not the only conclusion one can draw from the various youth tournaments. The performance of the junior program indicates how successful each nation will be in the future, at the senior level in World Championships and Olympics.
Of course, there may always be other success factors for a menís national team like the quality of goaltending, coaching, injuries or, in some cases, naturalized expat players, but there is no doubt that long-term player development is the only viable way to future success Ė one that national hockey bodies and clubs can influence.
But how can success be measured? For the menís national teams thereís the IIHF World Ranking, which evaluates the performance at World Championships and Olympics in the last four years, while putting more weight on the more recent events.
IIHF.com has now done something similar for the juniors, the unofficial Junior World Ranking, with the objective of showing the performance of young players at the international stage.
For the calculation we took the final placements of all teams in all categories in the U20 and U18 World Championships of the last two years and valued them with a point system similar to the one used for the official Menís and Womenís World Rankings.
That provided us with four tournaments as a statistical base, with players born in 1991, 1992, 1993 and 1994 (plus some underagers). To keep it simple and balanced, all placements were rated without any weighting system. (Scroll down for the ranking.)
It was decided that the 2012 IIHF Ice Hockey U20 World Championship would be used as the tie-breaker for the case two or more teams had the equal number of points.
And the winner is... Sweden! The Scandinavians won the 2012 World Juniors in Canada, they were fourth the year before in Buffalo and they have claimed the U18 silver medals twice in a row. This means the Swedish juniors are three places better than their Menís World Ranking position.
This may implicate that Swedish hockey fans wonít have to worry about the future of their national team.
This outcome is also well in accordance with the fact that Sweden has become the superior number-one producer of fresh NHL talent in Europe.
One gold medal in four tournaments (U20/U18) is by no means a dominating performance, but this also indicates how well-balanced the top of the world is in producing talent. Sweden is followed by Russia, the United States and Canada in this junior ranking.
The Russians won silver this year in Calgary and gold the year before at the World Juniors while their success in the U18 category was limited to a bronze medal in 2011.
The United States follow with an equal amount of points as Russia. The Americansí ranking would certainly have been better if not for the disappointing and uncharacteristic seventh-place finish at the World Juniors in Canada last winter.
But the other youth events were much more encouraging for USA Hockey. The U.S. National Team Development Program with its centralized U18 and U17 teams paid dividends and earned the country U18 gold medals in each of the last two years and a U20 bronze on home ice in Buffalo one year ago. Despite the gaffe in Alberta, American fans can be confident for the future, especially in an Olympics with NHL playersí participation.
The Canadian junior program is a bit undervalued in our ranking due to the fact that the three major Canadian junior leagues have longer seasons than others and, consequently, their U18 teams are comprised of players who did not make the playoffs. Still, Canada earned a U18 bronze this year and a fourth-place finish the season before.
However, the performance of the U20 national team in the last two years with the best players from the Canadian Hockey League on board Ė getting the bronze medals on home ice in Calgary last winter, and silver the year before in Buffalo Ė was not what the fans were hoping for. The result is a fourth place in this junior ranking.
These four nations were close together in points and they were are also the only ones to win gold in the last 11 years with their U20 or U18 national teams.
After a big point gap, Finland follows in fifth place and after another long jump, Switzerland comes in sixth. This might be somewhat disappointing for the former, and encouraging for the latter nation.
The Finns havenít won a medal for the past two years with the U18 teams and for the last six years in the U20 category. But, at the same time, Finland has been more successful with the menís national team; The world title in 2011 and the silver and bronze medals at the last two Olympics. But will the Finns be able to keep up without the same kind of success in the junior categories?
Switzerland has performed better with its juniors than with its menís national team for a long period including bronze and silver medals in 1998 (U20) and 2001 (U18) respectively. The positive development in the junior era brought Switzerland from a second-tier country in the Ď90s to the seventh-ranked hockey nation in the world between 2008 and 2011, before dropping down to ninth this year.
The country is a good example how an improving junior program can slowly, but gradually raise the level of hockey and the sixth place in the junior ranking is a positive sign despite not really being able to reach the success of the Swiss junior teams a decade ago.
The Czech Republic, Germany and Slovakia follow in 7th, 8th and 9th position, which can be seen as a compliment in the case of Germany (two places better than the menís placement) and as a disappointment for the other two countries whose hockey fans have been spoiled with more success in the past.
At the senior level, the Czechs and Slovaks can still shine thanks to outstanding performances of veteran players such as Jaromir Jagr and Miroslav Satan. Both of these Czech and Slovak key players Ė and many other world class performers in their age group Ė made their way up through the domestic system and played at least two years of pro league hockey at home, including one or two World Championships, before going over to North America.
The new generation, however, doesnít follow into the footsteps of their idols and very few new Czech or Slovak prospects have succeeded in making it to the NHL in the last five, six years. Many talented players (more than 500 Czechs/Slovaks between 1997 and 2010) leave their native country at an early age to play junior hockey in North America. Most of them donít reach the NHL and return without fulfilling their potential.
The number of top junior players going overseas prematurely has created a downward spiral resulting in a lower level of play in the domestic junior leagues, fewer incentives for clubs to invest in player development and even more players leaving.
If this spiral isnít stopped Ė along with an upgrade of the entire youth development program Ė the consequences will be felt when the team-carrying veteran players retire.
The Czech junior ranking is four places below the senior national teamís position while the Slovak juniors are three places behind their seniors.
After a new gap, another trio follows with Latvia, Denmark and Norway (10th-12th), countries who regularly earn promotion to the Top Division in junior events, but also get relegated with a similar frequency.
In the case of Latvia and Denmark, the junior placements largely reflects the performance at World Championships and Olympics.
In the case of Norway there is a nice discrepancy. The Norwegians have recently done better with the menís national team than with its juniors Ė most notably with the quarter-final participations in the 2011 and 2012 World Championships.
This was mainly achieved thanks to consistent participation of devoted national players such as Patrick Thoresen, Per-Ňge SkrÝder or Jonas HolÝs, combined with the stability of a decade with the same national team coach, Roy Johansen.
In the junior categories, the Norwegians havenít reached the same consistency and they are ranked four places below the menís national team.
Slovenia follows on a positive note in 13th place. This ranking might surprise as Slovenia hasnít managed to keep itself among the top-16 teams in the menís World Championship, but their junior teams have been performing well, right behind the teams that earned promotion to the top level.
Having the juniors ranked five places better than the men is a promising sign for the future of hockey in the small Balkan country. The landscape of Slovenian hockey has changed in the last few years with the top-two clubs playing in the Austrian league, while hockey in other cities than Ljubljana and Jesenice has tended to go towards amateur hockey.
Several young players improved by playing at a higher level in the Austrian league or going abroad in their late teenage years to countries like Sweden or Germany. But the player pool in Slovenia is still very limited, while Acroni Jesenice is in serious financial trouble. Those issues leave some worrying question marks for the future.
Sloveniaís neighbour Croatia is the only nation which has an even more positive junior ranking in comparison with the official menís.
After two mediocre decades for Croat hockey, with limited possibilities for the sport within the national borders after the break-up of Yugoslavia, the countryís hockey got a boost with Medvescak Zagreb joining the Austrian league and becoming a success story not only on the ice, but even more with large crowds celebrating the comeback of professional hockey.
Croatia is still ranked far behind its neighbours Austria or Slovenia Ė 24th with the juniors, 30th with the menís national team Ė but the direction is the right one.
Next in the junior ranking are Belarus (14), Italy (15), France (16) and Kazakhstan (17). All these countries have their menís and junior rankings similar.
Austria follows in 18th place, three places below compared to the menís World Ranking. Of the nations at the brink between the top tier and Division I in the senior category, only Hungary has a more negative difference (junior: 23, men: 19) than the Austrians.
On the positive note: ambitious junior programs in Hungary have improved the U18 placements significantly. This has been visible in the last few years of the U18 World Championship.
Different conclusions can be drawn for the top Asian nations. All of them performed better in the junior program than with their menís national team with Japan ranked 19th (men: 22nd), Korea 26th (men: 28th) and China 34th (men: 38th).
The numbers show improvement and in the case of Japan even the prospect of making it back to the Top Division one day. But they also show the difficulties in keeping prospects in hockey with opportunities (and salaries) in Asian professional hockey being much more limited compared to Europe or North America. Many players stop playing at the top level and opt for other professional paths or quit after fulfilling military service.
Summarizing; most nations are virtually on the same level with their juniors as with their men, and on average the positions differed by 2.2 places in either direction.
In any case, the junior ranking and the comparison with the menís ranking below, might be a good indicator in which direction nations might move in the future.
Note again that this Junior Ranking is unofficial and calculated only for research purposes and based on the principles of the IIHF World Rankings. The official IIHF World Rankings are only calculated for men's senior and women's senior competitions. | <urn:uuid:a6310db4-9d2b-4b26-b5e9-1691e9c14188> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.iihf.com/sk/home-of-hockey/news/news-singleview/recap/7065.html?tx_ttnews%5BbackPid%5D=204&cHash=2c127dbe04 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368701459211/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516105059-00020-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.946954 | 2,507 | 1.59375 | 2 |
LONDON — In her first video statement since she was nearly killed, a Pakistani schoolgirl shot by the Taliban remained defiant in arguing for girls' education, saying Monday she would keep up the same campaign that led to her attack.
Speaking clearly but with the left side of her face appearing rigid, 15-year-old Malala Yousufzai said she is "getting better, day by day" after undergoing weeks of treatment at a British hospital.
"I want to serve. I want to serve the people. I want every girl, every child, to be educated. For that reason, we have organized the Malala Fund," she said in the video, made available by a public relations firm.
Malala drew the world's attention when she was shot in the head by Taliban militants on Oct. 9 while on her way home from school. The Islamist group said it targeted her because she promoted girls' education and "Western thinking."
"Today you can see that I am alive. I can speak. I can see you," Malala said.
Birmingham's Queen Elizabeth Hospital said it successfully operated to reconstruct her skull. Doctors said Malala also had a cochlear implant to restore the hearing in her left ear, which became deaf as a result of the shooting.
Both of those operations were completed Saturday. The public relations firm Edelman said Malala's video statement was shot earlier, on Jan. 22.
Dr. Anwen White, a neurosurgeon who led the operations, said the teen did not suffer any long-lasting cognitive damage. She does not require any further operations and can hopefully return to school soon, White said.
The Malala Fund is a girls' education charity set up in late 2012 by international nonprofit Vital Voices. | <urn:uuid:14498164-9806-4d83-b9f2-df9b2b4214bc> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.southcoasttoday.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20130205/NEWS/302050337/-1/rss30 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368702810651/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516111330-00025-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.986413 | 361 | 1.820313 | 2 |
Built of laminated corrugated cardboard, the Gruff Collection makes inventive use of material and process. The pieces are assembled using housing joints and stem from designer Arno Mathies school work. As a student at University of Art and Design Laussane, Mathies first began to tinker with cardboard. The result is the Gruff table. Also included in the end collection are bookshelves and benches. A glass top is offered, but all pieces can be fully constructed of corrugated cardboard. Another nice development in sustainable furnishing. (via Dezeen).
More Gruff images follow. | <urn:uuid:9c96e76d-eaa5-436c-b620-d998f317acc4> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.highsnobiety.com/2009/05/19/gruff-by-arno-mathies/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368706890813/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516122130-00006-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.943215 | 123 | 1.773438 | 2 |
The Law of Attraction
When it comes to making a positive life change, the tasks necessary to start achieving your goal can seem daunting. They are like big obstacles standing right in the middle of your road to fulfillment and happiness and you don’t how to even begin getting around them. Don’t despair! You can start small in regards to positive change and still end big. It takes just one step in the right direction to gather enough steam to turn goals into reality. This also attracts other people important to making a successful transition – the law of attraction at work for you, not against you.
Positive versus Negative Energy
Energy of any kind is a very powerful force. It takes energy to move our bodies just as it takes energy to power up your computer. Emotional energy is no less powerful than an electrical outlet or physical energy; it just works in a different way – it attracts or repels other people and what they can provide for us.
Now consider the words and thoughts that constitute negative energy: no, not, can’t, won’t, don’t. If you tell yourself things like, “I simply can’t stand another day at this dead end job” or “I won’t be happy until I find a boyfriend”, you are putting out negative energy. Not only does this repel the things you do want, it is a wasteful use of the power inside your Self.
Turn those thoughts around into positive affirmations and action statements and you’ll begin creating the reality that you want. A statement such as, “I intend to find a new and exciting job that allows me to use my skills” will focus your thoughts and actions on what it takes to create that job. A statement such as “I intend to be the kind of loving person that I enjoy having in my life” will turn you into a magnet, not only for a wonderful man, but for many kinds of wonderful friendships too. That positive energy will come back to you, bringing with it the right people at the right time.
Doing versus Thinking
Of course it not merely as simple as thinking positive thoughts and achieving every one of our life’s goals. Positive energy not turned into action is wasted; we have to use it as a the inspirational force to bring about positive change.
Think about it this way: what are the odds of someone appearing out of the blue to offer you a dream job? Do you think that if you sit at home every night some great man will just show up on your doorstep and want a relationship? Sure, it could happen, but unless you take action and start seeking what you want, the odds are against you. Your thoughts and intentions help you focus on the best specific actions out of all the options available to you, but you must still take that first step, however small, toward your goal in order to continue down the path toward achievement.
One thing to remember is that your actions need to be consistent with your thoughts. Positive thoughts plus positive actions will result in positive change. Do things for the right reasons and you are sure to find that what should happen does. | <urn:uuid:f550963a-eeda-4b28-9bac-d2b260037f59> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://lorithechangeagent.com/2011/08/02/the-law-of-attraction/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368710006682/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516131326-00039-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.947109 | 654 | 1.617188 | 2 |
Pope Benedict the Sixteenth officially resigns Thursday. He’s the first pope to step down in nearly 600 years.
His surprise retirement hits close to home in the Chicago region -- nearly 40 percent of the population of Cook and Lake counties is Catholic. So the question of Benedict’s impact – and the wish list Catholics have for the next pope – are hot topics here.
The annual Parish Leadership Day just happened to fall the weekend before the Roman Catholic church's historic transition: the pope's last day.
More than 1,300 came to Mother McCauley High School on Chicago’s Southwest Side to network, pray and attend workshops on things like teen-age spirituality and parish record keeping.
Picking a new pope wasn't on the agenda, but it was a source of buzz, nonetheless.
"I think there’s some excitement about the new Holy Father. I’m sure of that," said Ruth Krol.
She's one of 2 million Catholics in the Archdiocese of Chicago. Krol attends St. Columba parish on the city’s far Southeast Side.
She said Benedict did a “fine job,” but she’d like the next pope to be more supportive of American nuns. Last year the Vatican reprimanded America’s largest coalition of religious sisters for feminist views and assigned a male bishop to oversee them.
"I think it was really dreadful, you know, to do this to these women who dedicate their lives, their very lives," Krol said. "I think they do much, much more than a lot of the clergy does."
While the pope was a popular topic, much of the talk at Saturday's Parish Leadership Day focused on other matters, like how to get more Catholics to Mass and to connect more deeply with their faith.
These concerns are pressing because more than one in 10 American Catholics has left the church. Like many spots across the nation, The Chicago Archdiocese faces a priest shortage, declining Catholic school enrollment and priest sex abuse scandals. These are issues the cardinals will take on as they select a new pope in the coming days.
Cardinal Francis George is already in Rome to take part in that process. But before he left, he took part in the Leadership Day, where he spoke to more than 1,000 people in the school gym. He gave an insider’s view of how cardinals cast their votes inside the Sistine Chapel. He joked that his own chances were slim. And he asked for the lay leaders' prayers in selecting a new pope.
"He’ll keep us connected to the 1,300,000,000 Catholics around the world," Cardinal George said. "He’s the primary symbol for that, and that’s the big impact, so people don’t make decisions in light of their own needs, or even their parish’s needs or even the archdiocese’s needs."
In the hallway outside, two priests debated where the next pope should come from. A young Polish priest thought he should come from Africa, where the church is growing fast.
But Father Adan Sandoval, who works at a primarily Latino parish in Cicero, notes that 40 percent of the Archdiocese is Latino. He thinks the next pope should come from South America.
"I think it’s time," Father Sandoval said. "I think most people are very open for the church to keep moving. They know that Europe has been such a tremendous impact to the church, but I think the church now is more vibrant and live in countries like South America. The most Catholic country is Brazil, for example."
Over at the Chicago headquarters of SNAP – the Survivors’ Network of Those Abused by Priests – founder Barbara Blaine has different hopes for the next pope. She’d like him to open up Vatican personnel records, crack down on bishops who transfer or shelter sex abusers, and compile names of priests who have sexually abused children and post them on church websites.
"I’m hoping that this will be a new era," Blaine said. "I’m hoping that the new pope takes a completely different line of response to the crisis of sex abuse by priests than Pope Benedict. I think Pope Benedict’s tenure has been dismal."
But Peter Breen disagreed about Pope Benedict's record on priest sex abuse. He heads the Chicago-based Thomas More Society, a law firm that has represented the Catholic Church in opposing birth control, same sex marriage and abortion.
"I know there are some folks that have been trying to criticize him (Pope Benedict) on that front, but he has never tolerated this," said Breen. "He has been very good about ensuring that punishment was swift and the church tried whatever it could to repair with the victims and to move forward."
Breen thinks Benedict will be remembered well, both for his clear teachings and for continuing the legacy of his popular predecessor, Pope John Paul II.
Both popes are widely viewed as moving the church in a more conservative direction, enforcing positions that aren’t always popular with many American Catholics. Studies show that a majority favor birth control, gay marriage and legal abortion.
"There’s a group of people who think of the church as a political organization that can be lobbied, that doctrine, deep points of doctrine, can be changed," Breen said. "And that’s not what a church is. The church is not the U.S. government. You don’t go to Rome like you’re going to Springfield to lobby for a bill."
But Julie Drew, a retired elementary school teacher, said she knows the church can change. She attends St. Nicholas church in Evanston.
Drew lived through the 2nd Vatican Council in the early 1960s. She saw the Latin Mass end and more women take an active role in the church. She thinks it’s time for women to be priests, and she sees a disconnect between the church’s male hierarchy and American Catholics in the pews.
"The reason I’m here has nothing to do with the goo-goo-hat guys in Rome," Drew said. "It has everything to do with this community, and that was kind of a gift of Vatican II, is that we empowered communities and we looked at each other and said: 'Those guys aren’t the church, we’re the church.' "
A fellow St. Nick's parishioner, Haiti native Maria Senecal, is hoping for a pope who focuses on peace, justice and immigrant rights. But her daughter, 14-year-old Vanessa, wonders how much impact a new pope will have.
Vanessa attends Mass regularly with her family. There are local and national campaigns to excite young people like her and others about the Catholic church and keep them from leaving. But to Vanessa, the Vatican and election of the new pope still feels very far away.
"I don’t think it affects me too much," Vanessa said. "I mean, I don’t know that much about it. It doesn’t make that much of a difference to me, because I kind of come to church and what happens, happens. I feel like it’s more for the adults in charge kind of thing."
Even if Vanessa can’t see it now, the next pope will have a direct impact here. He will choose the next archbishop of Chicago.
WBEZ's Diana Buendia contributed to this report. | <urn:uuid:ff1d1d52-009b-4dc5-b922-404e108d6725> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.wbez.org/news/culture/chicago-catholics-abuzz-over-selection-new-pope-105795 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368698924319/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516100844-00014-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.97544 | 1,570 | 1.679688 | 2 |
We all want to live in a home that’s unique. That’s one-of-a-kind. That feels like our personality. That shows the world how we’re different–we’re not like everyone else living in normal, everyday architecture. More and more you’re seeing folks spending that extra dollar, that extra effort, to create a home rich in meaning. It’s not everyday you find a home where they were able to do it so well, or so affordably, as architect Moon Hoon were able to do for the Lollipop House in Giheung-gu, in the Republic of Korea.
“A young couple with a beautiful daughter visited my office one day. They wanted a unique house. Something that they have not seen…We talked about a house that is made of large steps that keeps on rising. We also explored spirals. All these talks stopped suddenly when we realized that the client had a tight budget. The initial idea of house with steps turned into a practical version of skip floor format, with a small atrium in the middle.” | <urn:uuid:a9dc47d4-3da2-4bfb-8dbc-3711991684fb> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://blog.2modern.com/2012/03/live-modern-lollipop-house.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368705195219/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516115315-00012-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.966462 | 231 | 1.523438 | 2 |
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