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By Elaine Lies
TOKYO (Reuters) - The writer Howard Frank Mosher has lived for nearly half a century in such a remote part of the northern U.S. state of Vermont that Internet connections are very slow and even landline phone reception can be terrible at times.
Yet the area known as the "Northeast Kingdom" - the three northeasternmost counties in the state - proved to be such a fertile source of inspiration that Mosher, born in 1942 and with 12 books behind him, has ended up spending most of his life there.
In fact, his one try at leaving after settling there in 1964, to attend graduate school in California, ended rapidly Realizing he was unhappy and taking a drive with his wife to think things out, he was stopped by a red light at a crossing in downtown Los Angeles, which he called "probably the least inspiring place I've ever been."
"I've always figured that if the light had been green, the arc of my career would have been entirely different," the award-winning author said in a telephone interview.
"But it was red, and a telephone truck pulled up beside. The driver must have seen our green Vermont license plate because he rolled his window down and quickly called out to us, 'I'm from Vermont too, go back while you still can.' So we realized that was the voice of the muse, and we turned around and went back."
Born and raised in the Catskill mountains of New York, Mosher relates in his new memoir "The Great Northern Express" how he and his wife came up to interview for teaching jobs in a local high school and fell in the love with the Northeast Kingdom, hooked by natural bounties that included plentiful trout streams and rugged, beautiful scenery.
Even more appealing was the essence of the place itself.
"What we discovered very soon after we moved here that this Northeast Kingdom - what I call Kingdom County in my novels - was just a goldmine of stories that no writer had ever told before," he said.
"That was the sheer luck, finding a place like this that was just loaded with folklore, and semi-mythology and history, and just good, old-fashioned stories. With people who dated back to the Depression era and Prohibition who had lived very hardscrabble lives and often had to get by by making moonshine or running whisky, like people in Kentucky or West Virginia."
After his abortive foray to California, Mosher returned to Vermont, where he took a job with a local logger for a season and began to write. This led over the years to 10 novels and two memoirs as a writer whose rooting in place brings to mind William Faulkner and his fictional Yoknapatawpha County.
"I grew up in this distinctive little woodworking community over in the Catskill mountains. And although that was not a wealthy area, far from it, the people who lived there had a strong sense of the place where they lived," he said.
"A strong sense of themselves being shaped by that place where they fished, they hunted, they trapped, they worked in the mill. So I grew up with that sense of place and it's always deeply fascinated me."
Not all of the stories are happy. One novel, "A Stranger in the Kingdom," is based on how the first black family to move into Mosher's town was driven out within weeks by people who shot at their house and used trumped-up legal charges in ways Mosher says were more reminiscent of Mississippi in the 1920s than Vermont in the 1960s.
Mosher also acknowledges that in many ways, the strongly independent-minded area can be a hard place to live, mainly due to diminishing economic opportunity. When he first moved to the area there were 680 dairy farms in his county, but now there are under 60, meaning that most young people have to leave.
He said that author Wallace Stegner once said of a town in Saskatchewan that it was "a grand place for a boy to grow up but a hard place for a man to live," adding that this was probably true of the Northeast Kingdom as well.
"I think that if I had not been a writer, we would not have continued to stay here," he said.
"But it's not a decision we regret. This place has become home - with all of its imperfections."
(Reporting by Elaine Lies, editing by Paul Casciato) | <urn:uuid:c0dd7226-7d85-4add-b4b7-0b3d96d6bec9> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://mobile.reuters.com/article/peopleNews/idUSBRE83B05J20120412?irpc=932 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368699881956/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516102441-00029-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.991436 | 914 | 1.648438 | 2 |
Odd though it may sound, somewhere in Baghdad a man is working in secrecy to edit new Arabic versions of Liberalism, by the Austrian economist Ludwig von Mises, and In Defense of Global Capitalism, by the Swedish economist Johan Norberg. He is doing this at some risk of kidnap, beating, and death, because he hopes that a new Arabic-language Web site, called LampofLiberty.org—MisbahAlHurriyya.org in Arabic—can change the world by publishing liberal classics.
Odder still, he may be right.
Interviewed by email, he asks to be known by a pseudonym, H. Ali Kamil. A Shiite from Iraq's south, he is an accomplished scholar, but he asks that no other personal details be revealed. Two of his friends have been killed in the postwar insurgency and chaos, one shot and the other "slaughtered." Others of his acquaintance are in hiding, visiting their families in secret. He has been threatened for working with an international agency.
Now he is collaborating not with foreign agencies but with foreign ideas. He has made Arabic translations of all or parts of more than two dozen articles and nine books and booklets. "None," he says, "were previously translated, to my knowledge, for the simple reason that they are all on liberalism and democracy, which unfortunately have little audience and advocators in the Middle East, where almost all publishing houses and press outlets are governmental—i.e., anti-liberal."
Kamil's work is anonymous out of fear, not modesty. Translating Frederic Bastiat's The Law, he says, took 20 days of intense labor. "I am proud of that, especially when I knew that the book has never been translated before. This is one of the works my heart is aching for not having my name in its front page."
Asked how he began this work, he recounts meeting an American who was lecturing in Baghdad on principles of constitutional government. The message struck home. "Yes, you could say I am libertarian," Kamil says. "I believe in liberty for all, equality and human rights, freedom and democracy, free-market ethics, and I hate extremism in everything. I believe in life more than death as being the way to happiness."
The American was Tom G. Palmer, a senior fellow at the Cato Institute in Washington and a man who cares a lot about books. (So much so, that he always walks around with a satchel full of them.) When the Soviet Union fell, he worked on making key liberal texts available in Russian and the languages of the former Soviet Bloc. How can democracy and markets thrive, after all, without the owner's manual?
In 2004, Palmer traveled to Iraq for an education-ministry conference on reforming the schools. Having expunged compulsory Baathist education, the Iraqis were figuring out what came next. "They desperately wanted something different from what they had," Palmer says. Like many Albanians and Romanians he met after the Soviet Union collapsed, Iraqis pulled him aside to tell stories of family members harassed or killed by the fallen regime. The strikingly ubiquitous statues and images of Saddam Hussein testified to how thoroughly the Baathist dictatorship had dominated intellectual life.
Intellectual isolation is a widespread Arab phenomenon, not just an Iraqi one. Some of the statistics are startling. According to the United Nations' 2003 "Arab Human Development Report," five times more books are translated annually into Greek, a language spoken by just 11 million people, than into Arabic. "No more than 10,000 books were translated into Arabic over the entire past millennium," says the U.N., "equivalent to the number translated into Spanish each year." Authors and publishers must cope with the whims of 22 Arab censors. "As a result," writes a contributor to the report, "books do not move easily through their natural markets." Newspapers are a fifth as common as in the non-Arab developed world; computers, a fourth as common. "Most media institutions in Arab countries remain state-owned," the report says.
No wonder the Arab world and Western-style modernity have collided with a shock. They are virtually strangers, 300 years after the Enlightenment and 200 years after the Industrial Revolution. Much as other regions may be cursed with disease or scarcity, in recent decades the Arab world has been singularly cursed with bad ideas. First came Marxism and its offshoots; then the fascistic nationalism of Nasserism and Baathism; now, radical Islamism. Diverse as those ideologies are, they have in common authoritarianism and the suppression of any true private sphere. Instead of withering as they have done in open competition with liberalism, they flourished in the Arab world's relative isolation.
Palmer's first thought was to launch a think tank in Iraq, but that fizzled when the institute's prospective president bailed out at his wife's urging, for fear of his life. Last April, Palmer returned to Iraq to give talks on constitutional and free-market principles. At one such talk he met Kamil. Returning to Washington, Palmer connected with other liberal Arabs and, with their help, began commissioning translations: of Bastiat, Mises, Adam Smith, John Stuart Mill, Voltaire, David Hume, F.A. Hayek, and such influential contemporary writers as Mario Vargas Llosa and Hernando de Soto. Most of this stuff has either been unavailable in Arabic or available spottily, intermittently, and in poor translations.
In January, MisbahAlHurriyya.org made its Internet debut. Today it hosts about 40 texts; Palmer aims for more like 400, including a shelf of books. (It currently offers an abridged edition of Hayek's Road to Serfdom and Bastiat's The Law. The Norberg book is coming soon.) Sponsored by the Cato Institute, it joins a small but growing assortment of Arabic-language blogs and Web sites promulgating liberal ideas.
"The Internet is a historical opportunity for Arab liberalism," Pierre Akel, the Lebanese host of one such site, metransparent.com, said in a recent interview with Reason. "In the Arab world, much more than in the West, we can genuinely talk of a blog revolution." The Internet provides Arab liberals with the platform and anonymity that they need; helpfully, Arabic-language blogware, developed by liberal bloggers, recently came online for free downloading. During the recent controversy over a Danish newspaper's publication of cartoons depicting the Prophet Mohammed, an Egyptian blog, EgyptianSandMonkey.blogspot.com, made a splash by pointing out that no one had protested when the same cartoons had previously been published on the front page of an Egyptian newspaper—and by calling, sardonically, for a Muslim boycott of Egypt. (The site boasts a "Buy Danish" sticker.)
Since the 1950s, the U.S. State Department (and the former U.S. Information Agency, now folded into State) has steadily commissioned and published Arabic translations of American books, including a sprinkling of political classics, such as The Federalist Papers. Its translation programs are run by the embassies in Cairo and Jordan. According to Alberto Fernandez, of the State Department's Near Eastern Affairs Bureau, a third program, managed from Washington and still fledgling, seeks to bring translated books to Iraq.
Those print editions, worthy though they are, are subject to the vagaries of commercial book distribution, which is decidedly spotty in the region. The U.N. report notes that in the Arab world—a region of 284 million—a book that sells 5,000 copies qualifies as a best-seller. | <urn:uuid:24dd0823-616d-4d39-9780-c5f0ed7d5da1> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://reason.com/archives/2006/03/06/in-arabic-internet-means-freed | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368700958435/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516104238-00019-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.964192 | 1,577 | 1.757813 | 2 |
In researching another question, I read a few review articles that were testing behavioral and attentional variables in response to different sleep parameters. I was curious about some of these tests, including, but not limited to, the following:
- Attentional network test
- Visual analog scale
- Digit symbol substitution task
- Psychomotor vigilance test
- Four-choice reaction time test
- Two-choice visual reaction time
- Letter cancellation
Rather than asking for a laundry list of their characteristics, which would rail against my question asking sensibilities, I'd like to know if there is a canonical reference in which I could look up the bases for these tests.
Ideally, it would describe the tests, their objectives, the proper procedures (and any variants), statistical power as a function of participants, and any particular information about different brain areas or deficits that the tests can definitively provide. It may well be that I'll have to go back to their origins in the literature, but it would seem that there would be some sort of handbook available. | <urn:uuid:8fa3ed3a-b076-4014-9161-74b5ee4967cf> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://cogsci.stackexchange.com/questions/1298/is-there-a-canonical-reference-for-behavioral-attentional-and-memory-tests/1301 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368704713110/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516114513-00025-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.959588 | 213 | 1.71875 | 2 |
A recent article in artnews argues that there has been something of a "slippery slope" with respect to the standards of taste in art that has led to a rush of first entrants into works with "bad taste," the assumption being that today's bad taste is tomorrow's good taste. Tracey Emin, whose 1998 My Bed, replete with soiled sheets and other residuals from her sexual and personal life, is offered up as an example of the success such "transgressive" bad taste art has had. As Richard Woodward, author of the article puts it:
Bad taste often passes for avant-garde taste these days—so long as the artist signals “transgressive” intent. And whereas kitsch in art was once to be assiduously disdained, art that traffics in sentimentality and bathos behind a dancing veil of ironic laughter has become highly prized. Jeff Koons, John Currin, Lisa Yuskavage, Richard Prince, and Takashi Murakami are just a few of those who have learned that coy subversion can be popular and lucrative. As long as everyone is in on the joke that the art is satirizing its own historical codes of representation, there is nothing to be upset about.
Later in the article, Woodward diagnoses the demise of "taste" in contemporary art:
“Taste” is a word in bad odor lately, bearing connotations of rank snobbery. Judgments of what is in good or bad taste are often viewed as a masquerade for class privilege. Clement Greenberg may have been the last critic unafraid to wield the notion without trepidation. In the collection of essays Homemade Esthetics: Observations on Art and Taste he found several ways to insert the term into his arguments.
Now perhaps I'm too beholden to Hume's work on taste, and too much a fan of Greenberg as well, but it seems premature to be performing a post mortem on the standards of taste in art. Whereas a Humean approach will accept that there are certain objective features and relationships within an artwork that only a refined sensibility that usually results from years of exposure and experience can make one sensitive to, with the possession of such refined sensibility being characateristic of good taste, for Woodward taste is merely the relic of what has already become sedimented as established artwork. The focus then shifts to the process whereby what has not yet become sedimented - that is, art in bad taste - emerges as the most fertile place to search for that which is the next generation's good taste.
For anyone familiar with Nietzsche, this is a familiar refrain. As Nietzsche puts it in §4 of The Gay Science:
What is new, however, is always evil, being that which wants to conquer and overthrow the old boundary markers and the old pieties; and only what is old is good. The good men are in all ages those who dig the old thoughts, digging deep and getting them to bear fruit - the farmers of the spirit. But eventually all land is depleted, and the ploughshare of evil must come again and again.
So is Nietzsche the first to ring the death knell of "taste"? I would argue no, but open this topic for discussion.
Perhaps fittingly, Woodward ends his article with a brief interview with John Waters, the grandmaster of bad taste, and Waters himself will apparently echo Nietzsche's sentiments when he admits that he wanted to be the hammer to the standards of good taste, he wanted and ultimately became a central figure of the counterculture movement, but ironically, he concludes: “When I was one [counterculture; jb], no one wanted to be one. Counterculture won some things a long time ago. Counterculture’s in control. I’m the insider. I’m the establishment.”
Looking back at the original trailer for Waters' Pink Flamingos, a film I confess shocked me as over the top bad taste when I first saw it, I still wonder whether or not Waters is indeed the new "establishment" standard of taste." Another confession: Waters' film Hairspray (with John Travolta playing the mom and Christopher Walken the father) is one of our family's favorite films, so perhaps Waters is right! Here's the original trailer to Pink Flamingos: | <urn:uuid:5d5e25a9-e5d5-445f-b9ca-f6c44bacd548> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.newappsblog.com/2012/04/when-bad-taste-is-good.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368704132298/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516113532-00027-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.961902 | 895 | 1.515625 | 2 |
I'd mentioned already being leery of Book Reboots, and how I wasn't sure if I could read another version of Jane Eyre. Well, never fear, it's time now for another Austen reboot!
Wait, wait - don't go. There are no zombies. NONE! Instead, this novel treads perilously close to sacred ground - my favorite book of all time of the Jane Austen panoply is PERSUASION, and this is a reboot of that very treasured story.
To be clear, Jane Austen set the gold standard in Romantic era fiction for me. NOTHING will ever be as good as the original PERSUASION. However, this novel is gold in its own postmodern way.
Reader Gut Reaction: This is not a retelling - it's an Austen tribute. If you keep that in mind, the novel works much, much better.
This is straightforward science fiction, a futurist world in which, as a result of The Reduction, a genetic experiment gone horribly wrong, there is an automatic servant-class, and everyone who survived otherwise are Luddites. There is a rigid compliance with what is assumed as "God's will," and natural law to keep them safe from more massive die-offs and retardation - no technology. No new discoveries. Even something as simple as cross-breeding plants for a stronger yield is anathema. Luddites ... and servants. An entire class of people are lifetime servants, as a result of The Reduction; they seem to suffer from mental challenges. Some of their children, however, do not. Post-Reductionists want to live and breathe and be real citizens, not second-class people. But, they can't do it on Eliot's father's land...
Concerning Character: Eliot North could be thought of as a girl who has everything - except she's not. She's the girl who does everything, to keep the servants on her father's land fed and cared for. He - and Eliot's spoiled older sister - wants to live large on the money the estate makes, but has zero interest in doing the work and good stewardship that it takes to make it. Eliot steps in time and again to save things - and her father resents her in a childish fashion. He hurts her through hurting the servants, and tries to control her - when he isn't ignoring her entirely. (In an otherwise nuanced and subtle novel, their relationship is the one false note for me - I found myself asking for more "whys" behind his behavior.)
Malakai Wentforth - a clever, self-educated boy is a Post-Reductionist, a second generation non-Luddite who was Eliot's childhood friend and love. He went away to seek his fortune, for there's nothing left on the North's estate for him. When he asks Eliot to go with him, she refuses. It breaks her heart to stay away from him, to choose to keep cleaning up her father's messes, but to Eliot's mind, to whom much is given, much is required. Her genetics are pure. Her mental acuity is sharp. Her responsibilities, therefore, are much greater. She refuses to live her life solely for herself, as do her father and sister - which is a positive and strong-minded, mature choice. After nearly five years, Eliot is terrified that Kai's dead. She actually mourns him as if he IS dead. But, now, he's back. Brilliant and accomplished and different - and utterly hateful toward Eliot, Malakai's return is the worst and the best day of Eliot's life.
Peterfreund adds a touch of Brontë to this novel's hero that I don't think Austen ever did. Kai is a right butthead at times, prickly and quick to temper, moreso than Frederick Wentworth ever was - and I'm not sure his behavior should have been accepted without a confrontation. Eliot is just as passive as her predecessor, Anne, but for very different reasons, but she makes abrupt decisions, especially at the conclusion of the novel, which came across as impetuous, which some readers object to, but which was, I think, deliberate. There is immense care taken with the narrative, and with the story, showing Peterfreund's love of the original story as well. She subtly twists the new tale into a tribute which doesn't cleave too closely to the original, yet has much of its charm.
Recommended for Fans Of...: Novels of the romantic era, such as Jane Austen's PERSUASION, Star-crossed romances like BEAUTY AND THE BEAST, and novels wherein the lowly hero scores the high-class heroine.
Themes & Thoughts: Because Eliot doesn't fit in with the wealthy Luddites in her society, she finds her home among the servant-class. One of her friends is a Reduced girl who is simple and sweet, and Eliot adores her. The adoration is difficult - though the girl sometimes tells what she shouldn't and sees and mimics what she should not, Eliot kind of has to love her. They were born the same day. She's the last link to her childhood, and Kai. The emotions and drawbacks and rewards of loving a differently-abled person is one of the things I wish the novel had taken more time to explore. We don't often run across a lot of teen differently-abled characters in YA now, especially not in SFF, where everyone in the brave new world is brilliant.
Speaking of brilliant, there are a few ethical questions in this Luddite society I wish could have been covered more thoroughly. I know the point of the novel was romance, but the worldbuilding really intrigued, and I'd love to see another novel in the same universe that digs in deeper to the world, caste systems, class, and the fabulous genetic advances that had been made - and which ruined the world....
This book has so, so much good going on with it, that it's easy to be forgiving of the moments which were not delved into as deeply as I might have liked! It's only one book - I think if I wrote it my way, it would be three...! Which leads to the question, is this a single volume, like PERSUASION? It appears that the answer is yes, which is killing a lot of people, but be of good cheer: there's a bonus novel prequel on Diana Peterfreund's website, at least.
Cover Chatter: At first I wondered if I had imagined that Kai was described as quite fair with specifically arresting eyes, and Eliot was plain and dark, but no -- I reread. Eliot has long dark hair, and brownish tan - or, in the winter - sallow skin. She's kind of a farm girl, and does the farmer tan. What I didn't know is that apparently some people consider this cover to be white-washed. I don't read it that way. I love the stars and galaxies which appear through the character's dress, and I think the cover is gorgeous. I don't recall Eliot really ever wearing that awesome of a dress, but even farm girls have a yen to dress up every once in awhile.
FTC: Review copy courtesy of the publisher, unsolicited review.
A novel both exasperating and endearing, you can find FOR DARKNESS SHOWS THE STARS by Diana Peterfreund at an independent bookstore near you! | <urn:uuid:24eb6e93-035e-4730-967c-b5ceaa61bdb8> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://writingya.blogspot.com/2012/12/cybils-fsf-for-darkness-shows-stars-by.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368696383156/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516092623-00001-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.982818 | 1,550 | 1.789063 | 2 |
New state/federal program means more money for low-income students
Georgia's new needs-based student financial aid program, LEAP - Leveraging Educational Assistance Partnership, has received $525,883 in federal matching funds. This brings the total LEAP funds available to Georgia's low-income college students to $1,539,595.
Gov. Roy Barnes included $1,013,712 for the LEAP program in the state budget for this fiscal year, and it was passed by the General Assembly.
"A good education is a necessity today, and we want every student in Georgia to have access to education beyond high school. Even with help from Georgia's HOPE Scholarship Program and the federal Pell Grant, some students still need assistance. This program will help," Gov. Barnes said.
Students receiving LEAP must be enrolled in one of Georgia's HOPE qualified public or private colleges, universities or technical colleges and must be approved for the federal Pell Grant, which also assists low-income students. The LEAP program will begin this fall term and will provide up to $2,000 in additional funds to those students who still have unmet needs after the Pell Grant is applied. Colleges, where the students are enrolled, will determine who will receive the LEAP Grants, and students should contact the financial aid offices at their colleges to apply or get eligibility requirements.
The LEAP Program will be administered by the Georgia Student Finance Commission (GSFC), which administers Georgia's HOPE Scholarship Program. Each school will be allotted a percentage of the total LEAP funds based on the students enrolled last year who qualified for Pell Grants. For example, a college that had 5 percent of Georgia's Pell Grant students last year will receive 5 percent of the total LEAP funds. Each school and the amount it will receive can be found on the following chart.
More information about programs administered by the Georgia Student Finance Commission is available by calling 770-724-9000 in Metro Atlanta, toll-free 1-800-776-6878, or logging on to www.gsfc.org.
# # # | <urn:uuid:017420cb-5f80-4808-a3a8-cb5a5e61f9e9> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.gsfc.org/main/publishing/templates/comm_template.cfm?doc_id=227 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368698924319/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516100844-00030-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.955351 | 432 | 1.632813 | 2 |
For decades, the private sector and non-profit organizations have teamed up to advance their respective missions. The benefits that accrue to corporations when they strategically link themselves to non-profit organizations are many. While some support is driven purely out of altruism, most comes from a desire and need to grow brand awareness, gain market share, enhance employee engagement, and improve the bottom line. Companies recognize that consumers are more sophisticated than ever and to have an edge over the competition, a well-defined social responsibility platform is critically important. This fact is confirmed by the 2008 Cone Cause Evolution Study that revealed;
26% of consumers expect companies to give more support to causes and nonprofits in an economic downturn, while 52% expect companies to maintain existing programs. Another 79% of consumers said if price and quality were similar, they would switch to a brand associated with a good cause. | <urn:uuid:5b5ed75d-0656-461c-a038-3343c764808e> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.sandsconsulting.net/solutions.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368696383156/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516092623-00022-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.95438 | 176 | 1.78125 | 2 |
When you meet Bill and Fred Engst, it’s hard not to ask questions, especially when you hear them talk. They speak English with a Chinese accent.
Fred and Bill were born in China, the sons of two Americans who moved there in the 1940s to be part of the Communist Revolution.
They grew up on a dairy farm in Xi’an, where they were the only Americans and the only Caucasians. Bill Engst said they got used to curious looks — sometimes they’d even stop traffic.
“People from the bus station have to come get us into their office to hide us so people can move away and get traffic going,” Bill said, laughing.
Now 57, Bill lives in New Jersey and works as an engineer. He’s the younger brother, and at 6’3″, the taller one. Like Fred, he’s got grey, thinning hair, but he used to be a redhead.
“You know, standard American look — red hair, tall and a big-nose. So I feel depressed at the way I looked.”
Bill showed me some old photos from the 1970s, when he and Fred were kids, and they looked like completely normal, even cute, white guys. But in China, Fred said, they struggled to fit in.
“My parents trying to teach us English, but I see no point whatsoever to learn English.”
Fred teaches economics at a university in Beijing – so one brother lives in China and the other in the U.S.
That’s no coincidence. The brothers disagree about a lot of things and they fight, often, about world politics.
Bill’s wife, Jian Kao, can attest to this fact.
“Sometimes when it’s carried too far and they talk too long,” she said, “and then we want to say stop.”
But at least they’re talking.
For many years, the brothers weren’t close. Bill said it’s partly because his big brother Fred was always telling him what to do, like during the Cultural Revolution, when the government sent Bill to work on a tea farm in southern China.
“I didn’t want to go. I was so mad. My brother criticized me for not accepting the offer. He said if government sends you to a place, you have to go. You should not ask questions, should not get to pick where you go. So I accepted,” Bill said.
At the time, Bill added, if you didn’t agree with the Communist party line, you were just wrong.
“Quite often, I’d think to myself, I know I’m wrong, but I don’t know why and I don’t dare to raise it up, because if I did, I’d be criticized by my brother. So I don’t really open up to him.”
Bill said he learned to keep his doubts and opinions to himself, even after the brothers moved to the U.S. as adults.
Then in 1989, Bill said, he went through a personal crisis, watching the Tiananmen Square protests on television. He said he was scared, worrying that people would run and get trampled.
“At the time, I could not imagine that the Chinese government could send troops to start killing people,” Bill said. “That was biggest shock I have against Chinese government and whole belief system.”
Since then, Bill said that he’s had to rethink everything he was taught over the years.
Fred also went through a period of questioning, but his happened when his marriage broke up and he reached out to his younger brother. Fred said it was a turning point in their relationship.
“To be close to anybody, you need to open up yourself,” Fred said. “You don’t open up yourself, you can’t expect other people to open up to you.”
Fred moved back to China in 2007, but the two brothers check in regularly on Skype, and they argue about the U.S. and China. Fred remains skeptical of the American system of democracy.
“So what if you can speak up in the U.S.? If they speak up and being imperialist power, then still imperialism,” Fred said. “My brother probably doesn’t see that. I don’t know. That’s why we need to talk more.”
Bill also wants to chat more.
“The more I talk, the more I think, the more I believe in myself, and the more I dare to challenge the past and challenge him,” Bill said.
He adds that all of their conversations are friendly. “We don’t have any negative feeling towards each other.”
But these debates do sometimes dredge up painful memories. In the interviews, each brother broke down at one point talking about the past. For Bill, the trigger was being sent down to the tea farm during the Cultural Revolution.
“I was very emotional,” Bill said, “when I start thinking back of all the youth that got sent down in China.”
For Fred, it was missing the egalitarian environment of the Chinese wood factory where he was sent to work around the same time.
“I would dream about the people I worked with, and I was missing so much that environment,” Fred said, choking up.
Each brother is trying to understand where the other is coming from, and they both say the fighting has brought them closer together, even though they’re geographically so far apart. | <urn:uuid:a9f1fb75-d387-4c64-a6ec-008493e6c628> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.theworld.org/2012/05/american-chinese-brothers/ | 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 | 0.980049 | 1,210 | 1.554688 | 2 |
Long time readers of my blog might remember me writing about my 4x great grandfather Thomas KINGHORN and the accident he was involved in whilst working as a guard on the mail coaches.
I haven’t given up on the idea of finding out more about Thomas KINGHORN and the accident. Ideally I would like to be able to find out where the accident occurred so that one day I will be able to go and visit the spot where my 4x great-grandfather nearly lost his life.
Having recently joined the Surrey library service I have been able to take advantage of free access to the 19th Century British Library Newspaper Collection. I had previously found a brief mention of the “dreadful accident” in The Times newspaper and it seems the story was widely reported across the country.
The source of the various different articles appears to have been a report from Moffat, Dumfriesshire, Scotland which was possibly first published in the Carlisle Journal, which is not part of the collection, but it does appear to have been reprinted, possibly in full, in the Caledonian Mercury.
The report in the Caledonian Mercury (published in Edinburgh, Scotland) on the 29th October 1808 contains much useful additional information, naming several of the key figures involved in the rescue who are not mentioned in any of the other reports as far I am aware.
MOFFAT, Oct. 26.-We had yesterday a most dreadful storm of wind and rain, and the rivers in the neighbourhood came down in torrents, such as have never been seen by the oldest people here. Among other damage occasioned by it, we are sorry to state that a shocking accident has happened to the mail coach from Glasgow to Carlisle. At the bridge over the river Avon, about nine miles from this, at Howcleuch, betwixt nine and ten o’clock last night, the coach had just got about half way over, when the bridge gave way in the middle of the arch, and the coach, passengers, horses, &c. were instantly precipitated in the river, a fall of about 30 feet. There were four inside and two outside passengers. The two outside passengers, and two of the horses were killed upon the spot, and the other passengers made a miraculous escape with their lives; though we are sorry to say they were all very considerably hurt. The coachman and guard were also much hurt; the former had his arm broken, and was otherwise much bruised, and the guard received a severe contusion on the head.
The other coach from Carlisle to Glasgow, was narrowly prevented from falling into the same precipice. It was coming up just about the time the accident happened, and, from the darkness of the night, and the rate the coach necessarily goes at, must inevitably have gone into the river, at the same breach in the arch, had not one of the passengers who escaped given the alarm.
"By the exertion of the coachman and guard of the other coach, the passengers who survived (a lady and three gentlemen) with the coachman and guard, who had fallen into the precipice, were enabled to extricate themselves from the dreadful situation into which they were thrown, and conducted to a place of safety till other assistance was afforded them.
Much praise is due to Mr Rae, the postmaster here, one of the proprietors of the coach, for his exertions and assistance on the occasion. Immediately, on hearing of the accident, he set out, in the middle of the night, with several of his servants and others, in two post chaises, and gave every possible assistance to the passengers, &c. and, by this means, we are happy to say, the London mail and other valuable articles in the coach have been saved.
Mr Clapperton, surgeon, is also entitled to much praise for his ready assistance upon this occasion; and the exertions of John Giddes, one of Mr Rae’s servants, are particularly deserving of notice, who, at the risk of his life, went down into the river with a rope fastened to his body, and saved the life of the lady (one of the passengers) and some of the mail bags, which must otherwise have been carried down the stream.
The coach and harness are completely destroyed. Mr Rae has loft two valuable horses by the accident, and the other two are severely hurt and bruised.
The bodies of the two passengers who were killed, have been found, and have been brought here this morning; they are Mr William Brand, merchant in Ecclefechan, and Mr Lund, of the house of Lund & Toulmin, of Bond-street, London."
As you can see there is much information contained in this report that I need to follow up. Did Mr Rae (the postmaster) or Mr Clapperton (the surgeon) keep a diary? Were any of the rescuers recognised for their bravery?Where were the two victims buried? Were their deaths reported elsewhere?
Then of course there are further questions, such as what were the names of the four passengers that survived? When was the bridge rebuilt and was it’s re-opening reported? and most importantly where exactly was the bridge? | <urn:uuid:beda4b4d-63eb-4e12-9d2a-26a2e906b907> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://wanderinggenealogist.wordpress.com/2010/09/09/more-about-thomas-kinghorns-dreadful-accident/?like=1&source=post_flair&_wpnonce=fb311db3f8 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368705559639/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516115919-00033-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.989454 | 1,079 | 1.5625 | 2 |
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series: Burt Wolf: Travels & Traditions
air date: 1/30/13 4:00 AM
During the 8th century, Charlemagne united all the Christian communities in northern Europe and centered his kingdom in the town of Aachen. The magnificent church that he built is still standing. Burt takes viewers on a tour of the city. We discover the strange legends of its ancient fountains, the reason the healing powers of its hot springs have been famous for over 2,000 years, and what made it one of the most important pilgrimage sites in Europe. We also find out about Aachen's spice cookies and why the people buy over 45,000 tons of them each year. And, of course, Burt introduces us to the signature foods of the city.
WARNING: Email reminders for this program have already been sent out. Your reminder may not reach the intended address in time for this program's airing.
Back to TV Schedule | <urn:uuid:8af5ad06-5af7-4f54-ab3a-73dd89a0f988> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.klru.org/schedule/email-reminder/?id=150368&airtime=4:00%20AM&airdate=1/30/13&channel=2 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368701459211/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516105059-00039-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.941419 | 231 | 1.585938 | 2 |
Baseball in Central VT
1887 The Northeastern League had a semi-pro Montpelier team. The League disbanded before the season was over, largely due to payroll issues and an extensive travel schedule during a time when trains were the transportation means of choice. The Montpelier team had a 2 - 13 record at the time it pulled out of the League, despite having three future major league players on the roster.
1901 - 1907 The First Northern League featured a Barre-Montpelier team largely made up of Ivy League college players and many professionals who played under assumed names, usually for more money then many minor leaguers. In 1905 the Montpelier team won the championship. Twenty players from these teams went on to play major league baseball.
1923 - 1924 The Green Mountain League had a Barre-Montpelier team among its franchises. During this period of prohibition, the teams were often a front for rum running between "wet" Canada and "dry" Vermont. One of the brightest stars of this League was Lou "Crip" Polli, a native of Barre. Seven players from these teams went on to play major league baseball.
1935 - 1952 The Second Northern League again featured many top collegiate players and many former professionals. The Montpelier Senators played their home games at National Life Field (located on the Barre-Montpelier Road on the site of the current Friendly's Restaurant.) The Depression era had one positive side for the Montpelier area, when the Federal Government supported the WPA to build the Montpelier Recreation Field and Swimming Pool. The Recreation Field featured a 1,200 seat capacity grandstand and bleachers down the firstbase and thirdbase lines. The crowds were overflowing with fans to support the Senators and later the Twin City Trojans. The League did well until 1948, when the Eastern Collegiate Athletic Association banned college players from being paid. The league hung on until 1952 and then folded. Ten players from these teams went on to play major league baseball, but only one, Robin Roberts, was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown. Robin Roberts was the biggest star in the Northern League and played for the Twin City Trojans in 1946 and 1947. (See the page dedicated to Robin Roberts on this website)
MAJOR LEAGUE BASEBALL PLAYERS WHO PLAYED ON THE BARRE - MONTPELIER TEAMS 1887 - 1952
2001 A local group formed "Green Mountain Community Baseball". In September 2002, after months of preparation, the NECBL voted to award a franchise to our group. The NECBL is the largest wooden bat summer league in the United States with 13 teams. The NECBL is led by former MLB Commissioner Fay Vincent, and in the League's ten-year history, 40% of its players have gone on to play professional baseball. The Vermont Mountaineers will open the season on June 7, 2003 and play a 42-game schedule that will conclude the first week of August. The Mountaineers are receiving tremendous support from sponsors, fans, and the local communities. The City of Montpelier has welcomed us and been very supportive from the beginning. This will truly be "Central Vermont's Team". The team plans to raise $500,000 though a Capital Campaign to renovate the facility. Plans include a permanent fence, new lights, new dugouts, press box, bathroom renovations, team room, concession, scoreboard, handicap ramp, field renovations and improvements to the grandstand. We need your help! Please support the capital campaign to renovate this historic facility.
Thank you to Merritt Clifton, Tom Simon, Fred Stone, Dave Morse and SABR for the assistance with the research.
Volunteers are the heart and soul of the Vermont Mountaineers and the NECBL. If you'd like to help support the team, we have an opportunity for you. | <urn:uuid:ca885d16-fa22-4325-9f25-e3c470b09fe2> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://thevermontmountaineers.com/stadium_and_history/baseball_in_central_vt.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368699273641/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516101433-00042-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.964169 | 805 | 1.578125 | 2 |
Marilynn Larkin, MA
Last Modified: November 1, 2001
Although radical prostatectomy (complete surgical removal of the prostate) is the best way to cure cancer that is confined to the prostate, many men choose not to undergo the procedure to avoid the possibility of side effects--in particular, impotence and/or incontinence. But a new study shows that when the procedure is done by a highly experienced surgeon, "side effects are minimal and the outcome is quite good," says lead author Dr. Patrick Walsh, director of the Brady Urological Institute at Johns Hopkins Medical Institutions in Baltimore. Some centers report that only 50% of their patients are continent and 10-30% are potent after radical prostatectomy, but many centers of excellence report "much higher" potency and continence rates, he asserts.
Why the discrepancies? Until now, they were attributed to differences in data collection, Dr. Walsh explained in an interview. It seemed that patients reported worse side effects on anonymous questionnaires than when they spoke directly to their doctors, and this was said to influence side effect rates.
But when Dr. Walsh and colleagues used anonymous questionnaires to assess side effect rates in 64 of their radical prostatectomy patients, they found that 98% had only minor problems, if any, with urinary control one year after the operation. Potency was assessed a year and a half after the procedure, and the results varied with age; 100% of men 30-39 years of age were potent, as were 88% of men aged 40-49, 90% of men aged 50-59, and 75% of men aged 60-67. The results appear in the January issue of the journal Urology.
"Radical prostatectomy is a difficult, demanding operation," Dr. Walsh observes. "Patients who feel that the procedure is the best treatment for their condition should seek out physicians who do a lot of them."
In a separate study in the same journal, the researchers found that videotaping surgery provides an opportunity for surgeons to improve their outcomes. By comparing videotaped surgery of 10 men who remained continent and potent 3 months later with 10 men who were not potent a year after the procedure, Dr. Walsh identified four small variances in surgical technique that were associated with better outcomes; the small changes in technique were needed because of subtle anatomical differences among patients. Videotapes can be used for review by individual surgeons to compare their technique in patients with different outcomes, and also could be swapped among institutions to improve outcomes overall.
Until the advent of PSA testing in the early 1990s, prostate cancer was rarely diagnosed at a curable stage, so the potential benefits of radical prostatectomy did not outweigh the possible side effects. But today, he says, "we're diagnosing most men in the United States with curable disease. Many are young, potent, and have a sexual partner. So the good news is, men diagnosed with early prostate cancer can be saved from dying of metastatic cancer 10 or 15 years later. Now the side effects of this operation should be reduced to the point where you have both extension of life and quality of life." | <urn:uuid:5f18a1a3-fdf0-45b4-89c9-cfa8aafdefb6> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.oncolink.org/types/article1.cfm?c=508&id=1751 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368702448584/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516110728-00011-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.968245 | 646 | 1.820313 | 2 |
The Washington Post reports today that Chinese hackers have recently targeted computers of the Commerce Department's Bureau of Industry and Security.
Here's how the Post describes the latest break-in:
A source familiar with the security breach said the hackers had penetrated the computers with a "rootkit" program, a stealthy form of software that allows attackers to mask their presence and then gain privileged access to the computer system. The attacks were traced to Web sites registered on Chinese Internet service providers, Commerce officials said. "We determined they were owned by the Chinese," a senior Commerce official said. He did not say who in China was responsible or whether officials had even been able to identify the culprits. Although bureau employees were informed of the problem in July, commerce officials declined to say when the attacks were discovered and how long they had been going on. Only over time did bureau officials realize the extent of the damage from the breach.
According to the Post, the State Department confirmed in July that it had experienced similar break-ins both in Washington and in overseas offices, and "Last year, U.S. officials reported that the Defense Department and other U.S. agencies were under relentless attack from unidentified computers in China."
This fits with something I recently heard from somebody who has long worked in Washington's China policy circles. A number of his contacts in various U.S. government agencies have recently been receiving e-mails that appeared to be sent from his e-mail address, including cleverly-labeled attachments with titles indicating subject matter that he might actually be inclined to share or discuss with these people. Except that they weren't from him - whoever sent them was spoofing his address, and the attachments contained malicious software that would enable somebody to take remote control of the computer of whoever was unfortunate enough to open the attachment....
So if you happen to be one of those people who follow China for a living, watch out for attachments even if they seem to come from people you know well and trust. If you weren't expecting them to send you an attachment, it's best to e-mail the person back and check to make sure they really did send the e-mail, and that the attachment really came from them.
Another good reason to get a Mac... | <urn:uuid:a850c90a-bc59-4a6d-a1c1-1151a5bf9f25> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://rconversation.blogs.com/rconversation/2006/10/public_service_.html | 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 | 0.985624 | 457 | 1.789063 | 2 |
BOOKS AND ARTS JULY 25, 2009
In "Who Lincoln Was" (July 15, 2009), Sean Wilentz accuses me and other scholars of ignorance about Civil War era politics, bemoans the “literary turn” in Lincoln scholarship, and worries that historians now give undue attention to Frederick Douglass and other outsiders rather than the politicians who actually changed society. In defending realpolitik, especially the kind practiced by the Clintons, his political heroes, he distorts the arguments of the books under review.
For Wilentz, scholars today “prefer a fantasy Lincoln who … somehow transcended politics for a realm more pure.” This yearning for political purity is part of a larger trend, reflected in the enthusiasm among intellectuals for Barack Obama, who seems Lincolnian in his ability to transcend “politics as usual.” It’s an intriguing thesis, but it’s wrong. Every book under review emphasizes that Lincoln was always a politician, but a politician who understood the power of ideas.
Wilentz is beholden to his own form of political purity. He is a cultural segregationist, treating politics as a discrete realm, distinct from rhetoric, religion, morality, aesthetics, and other cultural forms. In a sense, he resembles the New Critics of 60 years ago, whose treatment of literature as an autonomous text, independent of context, furthered their nostalgic fantasy of a white, agrarian nation.
For Wilentz, mixing politics with other aspects of culture pollutes one’s understanding of politics. He accuses the writers under review of being “literary determinists,” who overstate the role of words and rhetoric, while he himself focuses on politicians’ ability to stage-manage events for their own ends, and dismisses Lincoln’s own acknowledgment that “events have controlled me.” He thus downplays the larger cultural forces politicians must act within: emotions, ideology, religious values, and pressure groups, among other things. In Wilentz’s vision of society, the lines of influence are one way rather than a dialectic: Lincoln “manipulated” the radicals, not the other way around.
Wilentz’s method is thoroughly undemocratic. He brooks no dissent, tolerates no difference of opinion or perspective. It’s as though he treats scholarship as a zero-sum game of power politics rather than a shared and diverse community in pursuit of knowledge. His smearing of Barack Obama in the 2008 campaign is of a piece with his denigration of Henry Louis Gates, who (unlike Wilentz) refuses to explain away Jefferson’s racism. In a carefully constructed argument, Gates notes that the Founder did not have blacks in mind when he wrote “All men are created equal.”
As a result of his top-down approach, Wilentz cannot fathom Lincoln having been influenced by blacks or religion. He goes to great lengths to dismiss the idea that George Livermore’s book about black soldiers in the Revolution shaped Lincoln’s policies. And he writes off Frederick Douglass, the most famous black man in the world, as a political pawn at best. Douglass’s only “direct contribution of consequence” to emancipation was his attempt to persuade Lincoln not to send a letter qualifying his position on abolition, says Wilentz, adding that Lincoln may have already made up his mind “before he met with Douglass, and was simply trying to make the radical feel important.” Moreover, he disregards Douglass’s immense influence as a speaker and writer. And he says it is “sheer fantasy” that religion shaped Lincoln’s views of emancipation---ignoring the covenant with God Lincoln made a month before issuing the preliminary Emancipation Proclamation, a covenant that explicitly concerned emancipation.
As if to dramatize the dangers of mixing politics with other cultural forms, Wilentz gives me a spanking for being a “professor with an agenda” (and deviating from his views). In the process, he mangles my treatment of Lincoln. Indeed, after reading Wilentz’s review, one would reasonably conclude that much of my book concerns homoeroticism, that Lincoln discarded the constitution for higher law, and that my central focus is not self-making but Douglass’s brilliance at exposing Lincoln’s limitations as a champion of freedom. Nothing could be further from the truth. I devote a total of six (of 400) pages to sexuality, in the context of friendship and self-making; and suggest merely the possibility of carnal relations between Lincoln and Speed---in contrast to Wilentz and others, who flatly deny (without evidence) such intimacy. My main point about the Dred Scott decision is that it created a constitutional crisis, which numerous political and legal scholars have acknowledged. And one would be amazed to find, given Wilentz’s attack, that I summarize Lincoln’s presidency by praising his moderation and pragmatism, emphasizing his extraordinary capacity for growth, and noting that he had “steered the nation through a revolution,” in which blacks became “part of the national family.”
As it turns out, Wilentz is the professor with an agenda. In calling for scholars to accept “ordinary, grimy, unelevating politics,” he ostensibly wants to recover the historical Lincoln. The recent literary turn has produced a mythic past--“a politics constructed out of words, just words.” Revealingly, Wilentz used the same language during the 2008 election to counteract Obama’s eloquence: They were “just words,” as opposed to Clinton’s rich experience. His agenda has little to do with recovering the historical Lincoln; rather, it furthers his presentist defense of Clintonian politics. It’s as though he hasn’t yet recovered from Clinton’s loss. One thing he should have learned from it is that words do matter--quite a lot. In a democracy, they are the primary means by which political leaders inspire, persuade, and respond to their constituents and colleagues. The elections of Lincoln and Obama stemmed in part from their “democratic eloquence.”
Given his presentist perspective, it’s ironic that Wilentz worries so much about scholarly trendiness. He expresses alarm that “many if not most” historians treat Douglass, not Lincoln, as the Civil War era’s “true hero.” Perhaps this is Wilentz’s fear, but it’s a long way from the truth. Virtually every recent synthesis or survey of nineteenth-century American history casts Lincoln as the hero.
In defending realpolitik, Wilentz poses as history’s gatekeeper. Only one of the authors under review has a history department appointment, and Wilentz seems to suggest that one needs to be a “pure” historian to write good history, much as one needs to segregate politics from culture to understand politics. During the campaign, Wilentz attacked Obama’s “misuse of history.” Obama’s crime? He had the audacity to compare his lack of experience with that of Lincoln. For Wilentz, “good” history will preserve “good”--i.e. Clintonian--politics.
John Stauffer is chair of History of American Civilization and professor of English and African and African American Studies at Harvard. | <urn:uuid:1d58df5e-7b40-4b9f-a78a-79ae8115233c> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.newrepublic.com/article/books-and-arts/disputations-the-lost-lincoln-1 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368702810651/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516111330-00007-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.961244 | 1,582 | 1.664063 | 2 |
Two more bodies were found on the stricken Costa Concordia, bringing the death toll to 15.
Divers found the remains of two women near the internet cafe on the semi-submerged liner.
It emerged that one body found was that of Maria D’Introno, a 30-year-old on honeymoon with husband Vincenzo Roselli.
Family friend Carlo Cabrio said the newlyweds had jumped from the ship while holding hands.
‘We now think she climbed back up the rope ladder. She was terrified of the water,’ he added.
Officials said the search for the 17 passengers still unaccounted for can continue because the Costa is unlikely to slip into deeper water.
The liner ran aground with 4,200 passengers aboard on the island of Giglio in west Italy 11 days ago.
It was claimed captain Francesco Schettino had been ‘distracted’ by the number of people on the ship’s bridge.
The ship’s third-in-command Silvia Coronika has told prosecutors: ‘There was such a lot of confusion… from people who were not relevant to sailing the ship.’
Schettino has been placed under house arrest while the investigation into the accident is held.
The operation to remove fuel from the liner is expected to start on Tuesday following fears the 1.9million litres (420million gallons) on board could cause an environmental disaster. It is expected to last 28 days. | <urn:uuid:327abe2c-0132-4f8e-aba7-7b9e634eba2a> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://metro.co.uk/2012/01/23/death-toll-up-as-officer-says-costas-bridge-was-confused-293842/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368702810651/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516111330-00006-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.97358 | 311 | 1.554688 | 2 |
Commonwealth Club Announces Launch of The Real Problem Solvers: Social Entrepreneurs in America
Book Launch and Party at the Commonwealth Club Tuesday, 5:15 p.m. December 11, 2012
(San Francisco, CA.) — Today, "social entrepreneurship" describes a host of new initiatives, and often refers to approaches that are breaking from traditional philanthropic and charitable organizational behavior. A social entrepreneur is an individual who recognizes a social problem and utilizes business principles in a venture to bring about social change and create social capital, rather than merely profit. Social entrepreneurship has become somewhat of a catch-all phrase. Coined by Bill Drayton in the early 1980s, it originally referred to someone with the passion of an entrepreneur tackling a social challenge, such as Nobel Laureate Muhammad Yunus. Now the term is used to convey many types of structures that incorporate business mechanisms including profit making enterprises into the continuum of efforts aimed at social change.
What types of change have these social entrepreneurial efforts brought to the world of civil society and philanthropy? What works in today's environment? And what barriers are these new efforts breaking down as they endeavor to make the world a better place? In a year-long series at The Commonwealth Club, Editor Ruth Shapiro brought together leading entrepreneurs, funders, investors, thinkers, and champions in the field to answer these questions from their first-person perspectives. These programs were edited to comprise the content of The Real Problem Solvers, an ideal accessible and personal introduction to social entrepreneurship. http://www.sup.org/book.cgi?id=20715.
“Ruth put together a truly amazing series featuring many of the leading lights in the important emerging field of social entrepreneurship,” said The Club CEO and President Dr. Gloria C. Duffy. “She then went on to do something unprecedented in Commonwealth Club history, turning a Club series into a stand-alone volume published by the prestigious Stanford University Press.”
"Social entrepreneurship has shaken up the worlds of philanthropy and non-profit management," said Shapiro, “By bringing business rigor and accountability to bear on societal issues, new excitement, energy and experimentation is taking place. It has been a great privilege to partner with the Commonwealth Club to showcase extraordinary leaders tackling difficult but critical challenges.”
A special program and reception will be held Tuesday, December 11, 2012, at The Club offices at 595 Market Street, 2nd floor, San Francisco, to launch the book and to celebrate Dr. Shapiro and the social entrepreneurs who contributed to her book. Investor and funder Matt Bannick of the Omidyar Network, academic Kriss Deiglmeier of Stanford University, and entrepreneur Premal Shah of Kiva will also be on hand to share their perspectives. There will be a 5:15 p.m. reception, 6 p.m. program with brief comments by panelists, and a 6:30 p.m. reception with light hors d’ouevres, book sales and signing. The event is free for members, $20 for nonmembers, and $7 for students. Dr. Shapiro has generously elected to give all proceeds from the book to The Commonwealth Club.
Dr. Ruth Shapiro has built several successful businesses around social missions. Her latest and largest achievement was to create and run the Asia Business Council, a Hong Kong based membership organization of top CEO’s in Asia, committed to sustainable economic development. As its founder, Dr. Shapiro raised the startup capital from private foundations and individuals, recruited key chief executives to develop the initiative, and built the Council into the organization it is today. Through this work, Dr. Shapiro gained expertise on issues such as corporate social responsibility, scenario planning, education, training and innovation, corporate governance, energy efficiency, trade policy, and regional economic growth.
Prior to creating the Asia Business Council, Dr. Shapiro worked in the field of international development. In this capacity, she held various management positions and established new program areas at the Academy for Educational Development, and the Harvard Institute of International Development and Global Outlook. Dr. Shapiro, a Mill Valley resident, holds a doctorate from Stanford University and Masters Degrees from Harvard University and George Washington University. She completed her undergraduate work at the University of Michigan.
Founded in 1903, The Commonwealth Club of California is the nation’s premier public affairs forum, with more than 16,000 members. Based in San Francisco and San Jose, the Club hosts more than 450 speeches, debates and discussions each year on issues of regional, national and international significance. At least half a million people hear The Commonwealth Club’s weekly radio broadcasts on more than 230 stations across the country. The Club also podcasts its programs, with more than 1 million of its podcasts downloaded every year. The Club’s programs are televised on Comcast Premium Digital Cable, Fora.TV and ABC7, and The Club hosts live interactive broadcasts of select programs online. For more information, visit www.commonwealthclub.org.
# # # | <urn:uuid:a827383e-fb19-4172-abc4-fbd7f0374c28> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.commonwealthclub.org/about/press-room/press-release/commonwealth-club-announces-launch-real-problem-solvers-social-entrep | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368699881956/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516102441-00018-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.939698 | 1,027 | 1.679688 | 2 |
MADISON, WI (WTAQ) - Wisconsin’s wolf hunt wrapped up already, but a Madison judge has ruled that hunters can use dogs in future hunts; however they cannot be trained to go after wolves.
A group of humane societies filed a lawsuit before the hunt started; claiming DNR rules about the use of dogs didn’t protect the animals from wolves.
Dane County Circuit Judge Peter Anderson ruled Friday that the Wisconsin DNR had an obligation to modify the existing rule.
The judge issued an injunction on the use of hunting dogs before the hunt started.
Hunters took 117 wolves in the hunt that started in October and wrapped up in December.
It was scheduled to go through February. | <urn:uuid:0a952560-215b-4b46-9ca2-befcc1da201d> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://b93radio.com/news/articles/2013/jan/04/the-wolf-hunt-is-over-but-a-judge-rules-dogs-can-be-used/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368709037764/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516125717-00008-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.961354 | 148 | 1.757813 | 2 |
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The highest numbered US route was US 830, which followed the Columbia River on the Washington side from US 97 to US 101. Parts of it now exist as WA 4 and WA 14.
35.51 miles ; loops west of Jacksonville. FL 9A, which loops around the city to the east, will eventually be part of a full 360-degree I-295, when the last remaining segments are completed in 2006. The I-295 designation will be applied to FL 9A when construction is complete.
The Dame Point Bridge, on the east loop, has a 1300-foot cable-stayed span, which was in 1990 the second longest in the world.
A proposed FL 9B spur leading south from FL 9A to I-95 may become I-795.
I-295 Washington, D. C.; Maryland
8.05 miles ; From I-495 east of the Potomac to I-395. The remaining portion of I-295 in Washington is marked DC 295, the only current District of Columbia numbered highway. You can follow this highway to Baltimore, though it changes identities several times: I-295, DC 295, the Baltimore - Washington Parkway (no number), then MD 295.
It might have been easier to follow had the District's April 1958 proposal been approved: Interstate 63 for I-295, and I-63N for proposed I-695. AASHTO flatly denied this proposal. (And no, Marion Berry was not yet in office.)
AASHTO's counteroffer for I-63 was I-195 (perhaps D. C. officials came up with it). In July 1958, reasoning that the highway was more part of a loop than a spur, D. C. requested I-295, which was granted.
I-295 Massachusetts; Rhode Island
26.58 miles ; Providence beltway, from I-95 near Warwick, R. I. to I-95 near Attleboro, Mass. It was completed in 1969.
Proposed eastern half renumbered to 895; never constructed
Interstate 895 was never constructed, but there is evidence at the I-95/295 half-cloverleaf interchange in Massachusetts that the 295 roadway was intended to continue.
About 52 miles long, I-295 leads from I-95 south of Portland to I-95 at Gardiner. Formerly 11.02 miles long, I-295 was extended as part of a January 2004 changeover where route numbers and exit numbers were changed to make area highways easier to navigate.
Original route: 11-mile Portland loop
Originally, I-295's northern terminus was the Falmouth Spur; I-95 took over from there, leading to Brunswick and then Augusta. The north half of the original I-295 dates back to at least 1965. The entire 11 miles was apparently completed in 1978.
MDOT's effort to unclutter, clarify Turnpike numbers, exits
In 1999, state and turnpike officials began discussing how to clear up motorist and tourist confusion over Maine Turnpike route and exit numbering.
For historical reasons, exit numbers were sequential instead of milepost-based, which is generally regarded as more useful. (There's some discussion at my Exits in Connecticut page.) Even worse, exit numbering along I-95 northbound restarted at York, several miles into Maine, where the Turnpike began.
Route numbers didn't follow physical highways, either. I-95 followed part of the Turnpike north of the Portland I-295 split, but then crossed over the Falmouth Spur to take over the Portland-Brunswick route that I-295 had started. Meanwhile, the Turnpike north of the Spur suddenly became I-495.
The Maine DOT and the Maine Turnpike Authority decided to establish the following in early 2004:
Exit renumbering fallout affects businesses
A number of Maine businesses with location-specific names will probably have to change them: for example, "Exit 3 Safe Storage" will be located at exit 25, and "Exit 32 Automotive" will be at exit 120.
I-295 New York
9.10 miles ; from I-678 in the Bronx, across the Throgs Neck Bridge, to the Grand Central Parkway in Queens. The expressway itself was completed in 1963. Once part of I-78, the Clearview Expressway became I-295 around 1974 .
A 6.3-mile, $194M extension south to the Nassau Parkway was proposed in 1970.
I-295 New Jersey; Delaware
73.77 miles ; from I-95 north of Trenton to I-95 south of Wilmington. The section between US 322 and NJ 73 (Camden) dates back to 1965 or earlier. The Trenton area was finished last, the section between US 130 and I-195 opening in 1995 .
Pennsylvania is planning a connection between the Turnpike (I-276) and I-95, two freeways that currently cross without access ramps. The expected completion date is 2012. An early plan was to extend the I-295 designation into Pennsylvania, to take over from I-95, which would cross into New Jersey using the Pa. Turnpike. However, in a 2005 agreement between the states, I-195 will be extended around Trenton into Pennsylvania instead.
I-295 (proposed) North Carolina
This is the Fayetteville Outer Loop, a planned 40-mile highway serving Fayetteville. It will start at I-95 and US 13 in Eastover and end at I-95 in Robeson County.
The loop was approved by the state DOT in January 2002. A ribbon cutting was held June 16, 2003 on the start of a segment connecting US 401 and River Road. Parts of this highway at US 13 should open in 2005.
A cost estimate for the entire loop is $350 million, and everything might be open by 2020.
In 2003, NCDOT proposed the number I-195 for this loop, described at the time as being 35.18 miles. This was rejected by AASHTO, possibly because the leading odd digit ("1") denotes a spur, not a loop.
52.56 miles ; eastern bypass of Richmond and Petersburg.
Interstate 295 was originally envisioned as part of a beltway around Richmond only, and was included in Virginia's original interstate system. The interstate portion would extend from I-64 west of the city, clockwise to just beyond I-95 to the south. By 1969, a state freeway (VA 288) was planned to complete the loop, from I-95 in the south to I-64 in the west.
The portion of the route between VA 5 and I-95 would have impacted the Richmond National Battlefield parkline, and was eventually abandoned. In 1978, the state received FHWA approval to reroute and extend the south end of I-295 about 20 miles, to provide an eastern bypass of Petersburg as well.
The 25-mile north half of I-295 opened in 1980 and 1981; the southern half opened in stages starting in 1988, and was completed in June 1992. To allay concerns over induced sprawl, three interchanges were removed from the southern section; between US 60 and I-95 to the south, interchanges are about 6 miles apart.
I-295 crosses the James River on the Varina-Enon cable-stayed bridge, a six-lane, 150-foot-high span that opened in 1990.
So far, the highway is primarily surrounded by trees and quite scenic. All interchanges are cloverleaves, except for the higher-capacity interchange at its northern terminus at I-95. | <urn:uuid:744f9ecd-adea-4783-8658-0cbd7a572aa6> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.kurumi.com/roads/3di/i295.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368696383156/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516092623-00038-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.965669 | 1,627 | 1.742188 | 2 |
Republicans face a comparable moment now. The vast majority of party strategists considered President Obama a uniquely vulnerable target, who had provoked a fierce ideological backlash from white conservatives over his stimulus and health care legislation, and who struggled against the headwind of the grudging recovery from the Great Recession. And yet, despite a narrow margin in the popular vote, Obama became the fourth Democratic nominee in the past six elections to capture at least 332 Electoral College votes. No GOP nominee since the elder Bush in 1988 has won more than the 286 that his son carried in 2004.
Like Democrats after Reagan’s 1984 landslide, most Republicans viewed Obama’s resounding 2008 victory (the most decisive for a Democrat since 1964) as a personal, not party, triumph unlikely to be repeated. From the Romney campaign to Fox News, the fundamental miscalculation in Republican ranks was that the 2008 electorate, with its huge participation by minorities and young people, was a onetime anomaly powered by Obama’s charisma and the singular excitement surrounding the first African-American nominee. Senior Romney advisers, echoed by conservative commentators, expected the electorate in 2012 to look more like 2004, when it was older and whiter and thus more evenly balanced between Republicans and Democrats. | <urn:uuid:6b82d06d-6812-401d-9ca2-af46eff57909> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://hotair.com/headlines/archives/2012/11/16/the-gops-1988/ | 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 | 0.961344 | 249 | 1.679688 | 2 |
OverviewWestworld Dome is a complex, granite formation in the West Cochise Stronghold of the Dragoon Mountains of southeastern Arizona. Its most visible feature is the impressive, 800-foot (very rough estimate) west face. This principle face is interrupted roughly midway by a transverse gully – the architecture of the Dome becomes clear when viewed from one of the surrounding formations (see photo from The Whale). The Dome is located along the same wash and directly south of Whale Dome. Several high quality routes, including the classic Warpaint climb the lower half of the west face. The Dome is composed of typical, high quality granite heavily colored by the bright green lichen in places (typical of the Stronghold formations). Two summit routes are listed in Kerry’s guidebook: on the west face there’s a 5.7 A1 line (above Warpaint) and on the east face there’s a 5.9 line. No scramble route to the top is reported in print.
Getting ThereWestworld Dome is located in the western Dragoons in an area referred to as the West Cochise Stronghold (area served as a hideout for the Apache Indians taunting the US Army). Take Interstate highway 10 to exit 303 in town of Benson, AZ. Follow Arizona highway 80 east (through town of Saint David) for approximately 21 miles (just past the border patrol checkpoint and a couple miles before town of Tombstone, AZ) to first left-leading side road after mile marker 315. Turn left onto (signed) Middlemarch Road (dirt and nicely washboarded) and follow it for 9.8 miles till you reach a signed turn off for West Stronghold. The sign informs you that the West Stronghold is 8 miles away. In fact, the Stronghold is about 10 miles from this junction at the road's end. Follow this winding dirt road (rough in places but passable to pretty much all vehicles) with multiple branch off roads to its end at about 10 miles from the junction. It's generally easy enough to stay on the main road. You will pass a ranch with a windmill at about 8 miles from junction. Multiple primitive camping areas can be found along this dirt road (as well as some nicer ones along the many branch off's) and near its end in the West Stronghold. The campsites along the road are primitive and they are free. Not sure about campsites near the road's end? Note that the drive in from Benson to the trailhead will require about an hour.
For east face, Kerry recommends following the right-hand side drainage (instead of left drainage as for west face and/or Whale Dome). See Kerry for details (have not done any east faced routes).
For west face, pick up the climbers trail at the end of the road. Hint: just before the turn around circle at end of the road (and the marked hiking trail which you do NOT take), look for a faint trail heading left from the road – it initially looks like an access trail to a campsite but soon enough you realize it’s heading for the left drainage. The trail reaches the drainage in a few minutes and stays at the bottom of the drainage for most of the way (occasionally, cairns will take you out to the right bank of the drainage to bypass some boulders or brush). You’re looking for an “Arizona cypress” – huh?? It’s a large tree with mostly dry-looking branches pointing downwards. Key however is to stay in the drainage until you see the SECOND tree matching this description (it’s past an obvious 30-foot headwall in the drainage where you have to hike up boulders on left out of the drainage temporarily). When you see the second of these trees, look for a side trail on the right (marked with cairns). Hike up this well-beaten trail for about 10-15 minutes. It’ll bring you to the start of Warpaint (under a huge red madrone tree look for bolts); Coatimundi Corner is a hundred feet uphill and right.
Red TapeThere is no red tape for parking or climbing in the Western Stronghold (not so in the Eastern one). However, note that some formations/routes are subject to seasonal closures due to nesting birds (generally starting after mid February). Dogs are allowed here. Please keep them under control and pack out their waste.
When To ClimbThe Dragoons are far enough south so that pleasant and dry climbing conditions can be had in wintertime. However rain and snow are not out of the question (first hand experience)! Summers are (no doubt) unbearably hot. Late fall and early spring would probably be the ideal times as there is less chance of precipitation than in winter.
CampingFree and primitive car camping is available along sections of the 10-mile road (as well as its many branch off roads) leading to the West Stronghold (see Getting There section above). Please pack out your waste and minimize impact! More campsites are available at the road's end in the West Stronghold but I am not certain if these are less primitive or if they require a fee. I would imagine that flash flooding is a concern in this area so please use caution! East Stronghold offers an established fee campground with latrine facilities (BLM) and much red tape (trailhead parking restrictions and fees).
Mountain ConditionsThe good folks in the Summit Hut outdoor store in Tucson might be your best bet for climbing-specific information. The store is located on E. Speedway Blvd. about 15 minutes from Interstate 10. Their phone number and website are:
For general (non-climbing) area information, try the Douglas Ranger District 520-364-3468.
Guidebooks OverviewWestworld Dome is featured in two climbing guidebooks currently in print: Rock Climbing Arizona by Stuart Green and Backcountry Rockclimbing In Southern Arizona by Bob Kerry. Both Green and Kerry provide descriptions of Warpaint (including decent topos overlayed on photos) and Coatimundi Corner (a 1-pitch 5.11a route next to start of Warpaint). Kerry also lists other routes on the formation (see Routes Overview section).
Routes OverviewWest Face:
(1) Warpaint 5-pitch 5.10c route that is mostly bolted. This is the area classic that draws the crowds. Climbing is indeed very good and very sustained. See either Kerry or Green for descriptions.
(2) The Point 4-pitch 5.10a route – bolts and gear according to Kerry.
(3) Coatimundi Corner 1-pitch 5.11a route. Just right of the start of Warpaint, a nice looking lieback corner. Mix of bolts (3 or so) and gear. See either Kerry or Green for descriptions.
(4) Buckeroo 5.7 A1 offers a line from top of Warpaint to the summit. See Kerry for description.
(5) Dreamscape Buttress 5-pitch 5.9 route (“necky by modern standards” according to Kerry) that climbs the east face of the Dome to the summit.
Web Links(1) Westworld Dome page on rockclimbing.com is here.
(2) Westworld Dome page on mountainproject.com is here. | <urn:uuid:73ccf68d-6f26-4e2d-9be1-b09ffbb1d096> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.summitpost.org/westworld-dome/155263 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368699881956/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516102441-00020-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.936915 | 1,520 | 1.617188 | 2 |
InterSystems, producers of the Caché database, have launched Globals, a fast, proven, simple, flexible and free databases, 2 months ago. But after the initial announcement, I couldn’t find and didn’t hear much about it. This until Rob Tweed and K.S.Bhaskar took the time to explained some of the differences between InterSystems Globals and GT.M, both systems being implemented on top of the MUMPS Global Persistent Variables .
Rob Tweed: I’m not an InterSystems person — simply a long-term user and advocate of Global-storage based technologies of which GT.M, Cache and now InterSystem Globals are members, and someone who has long believed that it’s a significantly under-valued database technology, and unfortunately and sadly not known about or understood sufficiently in the wider database/IT world. However, the rise of NoSQL has provided some renewed chance of rediscovery by a wider community of developers, which I’m keen to encourage.
With respect to a comparison with BigTable etc, I guess all of us in the Global-storage technology user communities have looked at many of the new NoSQL technologies and thought it’s deja vu all over again :-) Perhaps this paper that I co-authored might help to at least provide a comparative positioning against the “mainstream” NoSQL databases.
As we note in the paper, full-blown Cache and GT.M provide many of the mechanisms needed for high-end scalability, though, as you point out, many of these appear to be lacking in InterSystem Globals, at least in its current (and relatively early) incarnation.
Regarding a comparison of InterSystem Globals and GT.M, at the core data storage level, there’s little difference: they both use Globals for data storage, so the use cases will be similar. Both GT.M and Globals are implemented in C (instead of M/Mumps), with some small bits of GT.M glue code in assembler. In terms of licensing, InterSystem Globals is free but proprietary, GT.M is free open source.
I guess the biggest differences are:
InterSystem Globals is essentially the core database engine from Cache, but with many of the features of Cache, in particular its native language (M) turned off. The concept in InterSystem Globals is that it will be accessed via APIs from other mainstream languages, instead of being primarily accessed via the M language as is the norm in, say, GT.M
K.S.Bhaskar: Although the majority of GT.M users do indeed program in M, the fact is that the GT.M database is just as accessible from a C
(KSB) As discussed above, GT.M does not restrict a user to TCP access. The primary restriction (which results from the fact that the database engine is daemonless and processes cooperate to manage the database - so there is a real time database engine linked into each processes’ address space) is that a GT.M process can have only one thread. If you can’t live with this, then you have to use TCP through a client such as Rob’s.
Another option is to use the GT.CM “database service” that GT.M includes (GNP - the GT.M Network Protocol is layered on TCP). A client is coded within GT.M itself, or you can use/adapt other clients for GNP such as Dave H’s PHP gtcmclient.
(RT): I suspect one way things will pan out over coming months will be:
- If you want the ultimate in performance and willing to sacrifice open source and the high-end scalability options, but remain free, then InterSystem Globals will be a good choice
If you want the former but are willing to pay for the extra high-end scalability technologies, then full-blown Cache will be your choice.
(KSB) This is a false choice. GT.M gives you high end scalability with a free / open source license (and support with assured service levels on commercial terms for those who want it).
(RT) The nice thing is that it will be straightforward to engineer applications that can be easily migrated between these three options with a minimum of change being needed at the application level.
Personally, I think InterSystem Globals is a great thing and nice to see InterSystems venturing into a new direction: I think that’s only to be encouraged and can only help the NoSQL community.
The text of this post has been adapted and edited based on this conversation . | <urn:uuid:fb25412f-719e-49dc-b864-124a92b91e32> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://nosql.mypopescu.com/post/5633789299/intersystems-globals-and-gt-m-compared | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368698924319/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516100844-00009-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.936413 | 980 | 1.796875 | 2 |
Daintree Ecolodge and Spa, Australia
One of the most acclaimed ecoresorts in the world, Daintree Ecolodge and Spa in exotic Queensland, Australia has been blending Aboriginal traditions and modern wellness techniques since 1995. Spa treatments favor local and organic plants and are approved by local Kuku Yalanji elders. The lodge started the Karrba (Healing) Foundation, which supports the health, education and well-being of Aboriginal people, many of whom are also employed by the destination.
Daintree's treehouse-like villas are perched in the world's oldest living rainforest, at the point where two World Heritage National Parks meet (the Great Barrier Reef and Daintree). Guests stroll through the thriving canopy on wooden paths, getting an intimate look at the primeval forest. | <urn:uuid:edd3f294-3f64-4c9c-ae8a-ea902e489810> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.thedailygreen.com/living-green/daintree-ecolodge-spa | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368708142388/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516124222-00035-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.94539 | 166 | 1.5625 | 2 |
My philosophy regarding acidification is based on the alkalinity of the sparging water. I feel that the alkalinity should be 25 ppm or less. In the case of RO or distilled water use, its unnecessary to acidify those waters since they already have low alkalinity.
For neutralizing water with modest alkalinity, lactic acid is fine. You won't have to add enough to notice a flavor impact. I know from experience, that 150 ppm alkalinity is still OK for lactic usage. From studies I've seen, the flavor threshold for lactate ion is on the order of 400 ppm in beer (Malting and Brewing Science). One mole of lactate ion will be delivered to the water for each mole of bicarbonate neutralized. 400 ppm bicarb = 328 ppm alkalinity. So this suggests that there might still be a little room for using lactic acid on higher alkalinity waters, but I wouldn't recommend it. I'd say that moving to phosphoric might be safer from a flavor perspective. Another consideration is that the 400 ppm taste threshold represents the 'average' taster. A super taster might pick it up at lower concentration.
PS: Beersk, it sounds like you still have the 100 ppm alkalinity in the Sparge Acidification page inputs. If you put the alkalinity of RO water in that entry, it will report a much lower acid addition. This was fixed in the supporter version of Bru'n Water. | <urn:uuid:ac4255d4-aaa2-486a-8812-9ae8a0f52f5b> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.homebrewersassociation.org/forum/index.php?topic=14287.msg181676 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368702810651/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516111330-00040-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.943272 | 311 | 1.65625 | 2 |
Tuesday May 21, 2013
Recently a friend was complaining about how his transmission was going out again, for the second time in a year. He was trying to decide if now was the time to buy a new car. It brought back the memories of the last two summers, during which we had a serious of expensive car repairs and eventually, we had to buy a new car. Buying a car and taking a on a payment, if you do not already have one, can be a daunting process.
However, owning reliable transportation is necessary if you work and you do not live in an area with decent public transportation. Before you go car shopping, you need to review your budget and see what you can afford to buy. Ideally, you would have the cash saved up for the purchase, but this may not always be the case. Once you have your budget you should do these things.
- Shop for your car loan before you go shopping for your car. Your bank or credit union can offer you a car loan at a lower interest rate, especially on used cards.
- Dont be afraid of private sells. These can save you money because you are cutting out the middle man. If you do go with a private sell, have your mechanic check out the car before you buy it. This can save you money in the future.
- Get ready to sell your old car. Whether you decide you want to junk it or you can pass it on to someone else, it is important that you be able to sell it. You will usually get more than if you trade it in when you buy a car from the lot.
- Remember that used cars offer the best value. You are not taking the same depreciation hit if you buy a three year old car, and you will still have a reliable car.
Remembering these things will make shopping for a car much easier. Be sure that you stick to your budget, because car payments can affect your quality of life if you take on a loan that is too much for you. Start saving a bit for your new car each month too.
Monday May 20, 2013
There is nothing worse than to realize you need to come up with a large amount of money really quickly. It may be to pay an extra bill or to cover a car repair or to pay for a medical emergency. If you need the mone now, you may be looking for a solution that will give you the money and let you pay it back over a few months. In these situations it is better to use your credit card, rather than a payday loan or installment loan through a loan store. However, they may be your only option. After you deal with this situation you need to work to prevent it from happening again.
First you should set up a budget that allows you to save money each month. Then you should save up an emergency fund to cover these kinds of expenses. If you do not make enough to do this with your budget, you either need to drastically cut your spending or you need to work on ways to bring your income up through a second job or by getting additional training. It is important to plan ahead and prepare for your emergencies.
Sunday May 19, 2013
There are a million different types of emergencies, from health to financial to natural disasters and manmade tragedies. I don't believe that you need to spend your entire life wondering or worrying about the what ifs, or the what could happens. Things will happen, and sometimes they will be entirely out of control. Sometimes they may be the result of a mistake you made. There are few things that everyone can do to prepare for the times in your life when you are in an emergency situation. These steps can help you stop worrying and know that you are prepared to deal with what comes your way.
- Save up an emergency fund. This is a great tool. It can relieve a lot of stress to know that you have the money set aside to cover your current emergency. It can be used to cover hospital bills, car repairs, and job loss. When you are working on getting out of debt, you can save between $1,000 and one month's income. When you are out of debt, aim for a year.
- Put together an emergency kit. I actually think having several small kits can help. It's important to have one in your car in case you break down and you cannot get help right away. This is basic kit with water, a bit food that will not spoil and basic car repair tools. You may want one at your office with food and water to last you a few days. You should have one at home that you can grab if you need to evacuate quickly due to bad weather or a natural disaster.
- A two week food and water supply is also a good idea. This can be helpful if there is a natural disaster, because it can take sometime for things to begin operating normally. this will keep you from starving, and is especially important if you have young children at home. Do not forget food for your pets as well. This can even help if your whole family comes down with the flu or something similar.
- An emergency contact list. This can be in your phone, since you will likely want it to be with you as you leave. However, a paper copy can be helpful as well, in case you can't charge your phone, but you have access to someone else's or a pay phone. Keep a copy in your glove compartment and in your emergency kit.
What have you done to prepare for an emergency?
Saturday May 18, 2013
Your student loans can hang around for a long time, if you do not become proactive. Since borrowing money to pay for college has become so common, many people do not look at student loan debt, the same way they do at other debt. It is often just consider part of life, like rent or a mortgage payment, or even a car payment. But you do not need to hold onto to your student loan debt. You should work on paying it off as quickly as possible, with your debt payment plan.
If your student loans are overwhelming, you can consolidate them to lower the monthly payment, but you need to work out a budget that will give you extra money to pay towards your debt. Most people put their federal student loans at the end of their debt payment plan, because of the tax breaks and lower interest rates. This is okay, but they should be part of your overall plan. It is important to remember that you would have the extra money in you budget to spend on other things, if you were not paying it towards your student loans. the more quickly you can clear up your debt, the sooner you will have additional money to spend. | <urn:uuid:1308a99c-b075-4983-b003-37e92b46ccdc> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://moneyfor20s.about.com/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368700958435/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516104238-00030-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.977442 | 1,369 | 1.6875 | 2 |
June 20, 2013
Bush Ties Iran to Iraqi Bombs
Posted on Mar 13, 2006
The president asserts that many of the roadside bombs in Iraq—which have proved so deadly to U.S. forces—originate in Iran.
President George W. Bush directly linked Tehran to roadside bombings against US forces in Iraq, stepping up his criticisms of Iran amid a tense standoff over its nuclear program.
“Tehran has been responsible for at least some of the increasing lethality of anti-coalition attacks by providing Shia militia with the capability to build improvised explosive devices in Iraq,” Bush said in a speech.
He cited recent congressional testimony from John Negroponte, the US director of national intelligence.
The president’s comments came as he launched a public relations offensive to bolster support for the war in Iraq some three years after he ordered the US-led invasion that ousted Saddam Hussein.
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New and Improved Comments | <urn:uuid:3c4f2d2f-683d-48cd-92b8-b835d2e9a3c3> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.truthdig.com/eartotheground/item/20060313_bush_iran_iraqi_bombs/ | 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 | 0.935442 | 199 | 1.734375 | 2 |
Citizenship. Scholarship. Leadership.
Welcome to Penn State Brandywine's Laboratory for Civic Engagement, where we promote the integration of civic engagement into academic curricula and extracurricular activities. We work to expose students to complex issues and ideas in dynamic ways to encourage them to be more thoughtful and active citizens of the world. We weave these beliefs and activities through the fabric of the campus, connecting the broader Penn State Brandywine community of students, faculty, staff, alumni, and community members to public scholarship and democratic practices.
"IMAGINE A UNIVERSITY that has deliberately and persistently built meaningful relationships with members of its wider community - neighborhood groups, community-based organizations, local citizens, nonprofits, and governmental agencies. Imagine that this university, in their first-year, students begin to see how a variety of disciplinary lenses can be employed to understand important issues facing their institution, the local area, and larger society. In subsequent years of study, students come to understand the various policy levers by which participatory democratic change can be enacted - on campus and off. Students would learn the precepts of democratic deliberation and be invited to witness and later participate in various forums in which local, national, and global issues are debated and discussed."
- "Reimagining the Civic Imperative of Higher Education,"
by Elizabeth Hollander and Matthew Hartley
To view a description of the images contained in the banner above, please see this PDF file. | <urn:uuid:1560cd9c-fe9e-4e44-aef7-a7edf4b93074> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://engage.bw.psu.edu/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368700958435/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516104238-00014-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.95187 | 298 | 1.820313 | 2 |
This isn’t the good news that I want to share.
An article on USAToday says that Chase, the largest credit card issuers in the nation, is adding a $10 monthly fee,or $120 a year, to credit cards with low promotional interest rate. According the the article,
The change affects consumers with low promotional rates who have carried a large balance for more than two years and made little progress paying it off.
Which, I think, essentially describes a situation we call 0% balance transfer. If you are not familiar with the term, then what people like myself do with 0% balance transfer (BT) is that we apply for a credit card that offers 0% introductory APR for a period of time, then either transfer balances from high APR cards to the 0% APR card to save on interests, or simply deposit the money to a high-yield savings account like FNBO Direct to pocket the interests and pay off the remaining balance when the offer is due. The reason why 0% BT works is there’s no fee involved when transferring the balance. However, such offers are getting hard and hard to find as many issuers, such as Citibank, introduced balance transfer fees as high as 3% of the total transferred amount. When most banks only offer sub 3% APY for savings accounts, there isn’t much money you can make from balance transfer. And since there’s no interest for the balance, you only need to pay the monthly minimum while keeping most of the money in bank accounts to keep earning interests until the offer expires. Generally, you can get 0% APR for 12 months, but you can also get a low, but non-zero, APR for much longer time, some time a life time.
As you can see, the key of the 0% BT business is no fee. If you have to pay a fee, let it be a $10 monthly fee or 3% of the total amount, your profit from doing 0% BT will be eroded, or totally vanished, unless there’s a cap on the maximum amount of fees. So what Chase is doing now (BTW, Chase Freedom card is still offering 0% APY for 12 months), charging fees for low, long-term promotional rate, effectively killed the 0% BT, though there’s no word on whether the fee is also applicable to new accounts or only the existing ones.
Either way, it’s a bad news not only to existing card members, but also for potential customers. | <urn:uuid:3ccbc97b-1205-462e-92d0-b639a7a72592> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.personalfinancereviews.com/chase-adds-fees-to-low-interest-rate-credit-cards-no-more-0-balance-transfer-from-chase/ | 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 | 0.956421 | 523 | 1.75 | 2 |
Restatement of Commitment to Preservation and Conservation of Kings River Lands
Supporters of El Río Reyes Conservation Trust’s opposition to development along the Kings River should know that this organization will remain a vocal force in that effort. The Trust has a clear focus on conserving natural resources by encouraging wise land-use planning, and discouraging those activities that produce permanent degradation of environmental quality. The Trust will continue to encourage elected officials to consider biological values, as well as economic and social demands, when deciding whether to allow land conversion to occur.
El Río Reyes Conservation Trust respects the ability of landowners and family farmers to be good stewards of the land, as they practice sustainable agriculture. It recognizes that human and environmental interests are served best when the land is managed for permanent productivity of its many resources, rather than eliminating all future use in order to obtain just one component.
The Trust wishes to thank all of its supporters for their financial donations, guidance and encouragement in recent months. The accomplishments of El Río Reyes Conservation Trust in reducing the impact of projects along the Kings River are due to a collective effort of you and other people who are taking action to help preserve and conserve the Kings River. | <urn:uuid:1fd28d7a-854b-4838-b44f-a2d12765b1a2> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://elrioreyestrust.org/news-commitment.shtml | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368704132298/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516113532-00018-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.941976 | 243 | 1.820313 | 2 |
I tend to be one of those ‘glass-half-full’ kind of people. Maybe it is because of my fundamental sense of identity as a teacher. I see most things, even things that I do not agree with, also as possible ‘teachable moments’ that can be used to obtain a deeper understanding of issues. This is why, even though I think that so-called intelligent design (ID) theory is not science, discussing why this is so can lead to a deeper understanding of the nature of science.
The same is true with the attempts to legislate a so-called “academic bill of rights� for students to supposedly protect them from alleged abuse by college professors and which in Ohio is taking the form of Senate Bill 24, currently pending in committee. While I think this is a really bad idea, articulating why this is so can lead to fruitful discussions on what education should be like.
Last Thursday I was on a panel that met to discuss the implications for universities if such a bill were to be enacted (Thanks to Veronica of the Case ACLU for organizing it.) A mix of faculty and students met over the inevitable pizza to discuss the issue.
As I said in my opening comments to the group, it is my belief that it is in such types of informal gatherings of faculty and students to discuss issues of mutual interest that real learning occurs. We should have a lot more of such gatherings and fewer structured courses in college. But since formal courses and grades are a seemingly unchangeable component on the current educational structure, what we should try to do is to replicate as much as possible this kind of informal atmosphere in our formal courses.
This means that we should, as far as possible, move away from highly detailed syllabi and course requirements, and allow for more flexibility so that the direction each course takes can be driven by the shared interests of students and faculty, while still maintaining the integrity of the overall curriculum. Of course, it is only in small enrollment courses (say with fifteen students or less) that achieving this kind of consensus becomes feasible and in my own small enrollment SAGES course I have been moving in this direction and will keep doing so.
With large enrollment courses, however, many of the course and curricular decisions have to be made even before the course begins, in order to manage the logistical issues. But even there we should try to build in room for as much flexibility as possible.
I have addressed in a previous posting that things like Senate bill 24 will move things in the opposite direction, in effect writing curricula and mandating what should be in syllabi and exams, and the mind boggles as to where this can lead. For example, section A of the bill says that “curricula and reading lists in the humanities and social studies shall respect all human knowledge in these areas and provide students with dissenting sources and viewpoints.� This immediately raises problems of interpretation and enforcement.
For example, when discussing history can the instructor assume that the concentration camps of World War II are an established fact or is he/she obliged to also provide readings of holocaust deniers and use class time to discuss their ideas? If the instructor does not do so, does this mean that a student who does not believe that the holocaust occurred has grounds for complaint?
Also Marxist economics and social theory are not taught much in US universities although they have had a major influence worldwide. Should instructors be forced to have more of it and to analyze each topic in the light of what this theory says? If an economics course ignores Marxist theory, does a student have grounds for complaint? And even the terms “Marxist economics� or “capitalist economics� are open to many interpretations, with diverging schools of thought. Which schools of thought are worthy of inclusion?
If a student does complain in either of the above situations, who should be the judge of whether the instructor acted appropriately or not? Who gets to decide what is worthy and not worthy of inclusion? It is not hard to see that this kind of thing can lead to a bureaucratic nightmare.
What this bill does is infantilize faculty and students. It assumes that faculty cannot be trusted to exercise their trained judgment on what should and should not be allowed in curricula, and that students are not capable of judging when their professors are doing their job well. This bill also underestimates students’ ability to hold on to their beliefs in the face of opposing views, a topic I will discuss further in future postings.
Other panelists addressed the political and legal implications. I learned from Professor Durschlag some very interesting information about how the US Supreme Court has in the past interpreted the first amendment’s application to university education and the precedents that have been set. I will write about that at a future date when I get hold of the actual ruling. It involves a trek to the Law school library.
There is an interesting post and discussion going on at Research in Progress about the Lawrence Summers controversy about the representation of women in academia and the professions, and the connection to Stephen Pinker’s work and talk at Case last week. You really should visit.
Update: There is also now a new post on the topic, also well worth reading. | <urn:uuid:0d81746e-bb4f-4df2-9c35-94d4b51fbbfb> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://freethoughtblogs.com/singham/2005/03/22/what-should-we-teach/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368696381249/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516092621-00026-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.966889 | 1,098 | 1.734375 | 2 |
ANOTHER OPINION From The Washington Post In what amounted to a farewell speech before the Aero Club of Washington, Marion Blakey, head of the Federal Aviation Administration, laid down a challenge to the airlines: Cut back the number of flights at peak times on the East Coast voluntarily before the government steps in and forces the change. This summer in air travel was terrible. The delays were the worst since the federal government started keeping track in 1995. Blakey cited the example of Chicago's O'Hare International Airport, where the FAA in 2004 pushed the airlines to reduce the number of takeoffs and landings between 7 a.m. and 8 p.m. to 88 per hour, down from 130 or more. As a result, delays were reduced by 24.5 percent in 2005. The clampdown is working so well that it has been extended twice. Blakey's focus on the East Coast is right. A third of all flights go through New York airspace. Three of the five worst airports for delays -- Newark Liberty International, John F. Kennedy International and La Guardia -- are in the New York area. Time and again, trouble at those airports means trouble almost everywhere else. But don't expect the airlines to do anything unilaterally. That would put them at risk of breaking antitrust laws. What's needed is a call by the FAA for a "schedule reduction meeting." Change is coming. The airlines had better be ready. | <urn:uuid:cfba4bb5-2606-431c-8550-be27d2ccfd68> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://articles.southbendtribune.com/2007-09-18/news/26830941_1_plane-truth-marion-blakey-la-guardia | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368705559639/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516115919-00001-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.954217 | 290 | 1.539063 | 2 |
fifteen needs your help
All profits from Jamie Oliver's Fifteen are redirected back into the Apprentice Programme. But it wouldn't be wise to rely solely on the restaurant to cover the costs of the Apprentice Programme. The restaurants work at full capacity – staff work seven days a week from breakfast through to dinner; no one can work any harder but there's still a shortfall.
Fifteen has always sought, and continues to seek, funding from many sources. There's too much at stake to do otherwise. Current initiatives to raise money include:
- Fifteen's retail products such as mugs, tea towels and bags
- Events such as Fifteen's annual fundraiser 'A Big Night Out with Jamie'
- Restaurant franchise fees from Fifteen Amsterdam and Fifteen Cornwall
- Book royalties from Jamie's cookbook 'Cook with Jamie'
- Direct donations and memorial funds
Quite simply, Fifteen needs help and support from anyone who believes what's happening here is a good idea. help us with a donation
get in touch support us
here's how it all adds up
It costs £30,000 to train each apprentice. But it’s worth it, not only to the apprentices or the hospitality industry but to society as a whole. Here’s how money is spent on the Apprentice Programme:
Recruitment and selection:
Potential apprentices hear about the programme via open days, word of mouth and newspaper articles. In addition, Fifteen works with a broad range of referral agencies and like-minded organisations to maximise the pool of applicants.
This helps graduates maintain their momentum, pursue their ambitions, find work and succeed. The door is always open to a Fifteen graduate…they’re part of the family.
Tools of the trade:
The necessary tools for any budding chef are provided: uniforms, equipment, textbooks, knives, shoes and learning materials.
Personal Development Programme:
From individual support to residential adventure trips, masterclasses, cooking competitions and fundraising events.
Staffing, premises, administration and IT
All the costs that come with a London-based office: rent, facilities, services and so on.
For any of those unexpected emergencies such as dental work, housing repairs or specialist support. The list is endless.
Apprentices’ training and travel:
Apprentices get an allowance of £120 per week, plus an Oyster card to cover their travel costs.
We like to put ‘field-to-fork’ knowledge into practice. Most of the apprentices learn by getting stuck in. They go to see where the produce is grown, where the animals are reared and where the cheese mature, to name but a few excursions. It’s all about making the food connection.
It is kept to a minimum but is still necessary.
The proof is in the pudding...
In 2011, Fifteen London released an independent ‘Social Return on Investment’ (SROI) report. It’s a way of quantifying, in monetary terms, the amount of social value that is generated by Fifteen’s Apprentice Programme in an average year. The report found that the majority of benefit comes from getting young people into work. Other benefits include:
• Improved social and financial skills
• Reduced risk of homelessness and offending
• Reduced intergenerational poverty and improved social mobility
• Improved diet and long-term health | <urn:uuid:b3c918e2-285c-4b61-8d9e-f04499ee6548> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.jamieoliver.com/the-fifteen-apprentice-programme/fundraising/support_us | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368705953421/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516120553-00033-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.941696 | 700 | 1.515625 | 2 |
Flash modifier/diffuser results and answers - cont'd
Feb 12, 2008
I finally had a chance to take pictures of my diffuser which gave results of number 9 and 10. Few have asked me for how it looks. Here is the original thread of the experiment.
Here was the results from the experiment again:
This is my DIY diffuser that gave 9 and 10. As you do know, most people will need different many flash techniques and methods to cover all your basis. But I find my DIY diffuser very versatile for me in indoors with white walls and ceilings. Outdoors I still like Chuck Gardner's diffuser. Diffusion method will also depend on your personal style which showed during the survey. So I'm posting this for people who like number 9-10 results from the experiment.
Made from tupperware from the dollar store (holds spices), some white and black cardboard.
Mainly used to bounce light off side walls and send also some light forward to rid some of the harsh shadows.
Divider in the middle directs more light forward to subject. However, if you didn't want as much light forward than you don't need to add that divider.
Can bounce slightly upward off side wall (giving results of number 10)
Now by rotating the head backwards and pointing the head straight up, you essentially have a bounce card with a large surface area and a bit of diffuser. Which makes it useful and more versatile. (if you have no walls or the walls are too far)
Here is the lighting pattern of the bounce. Large light source from the side off the wall. Light direct forward from the diffuser from the flash head. Black cardboard prevents light wasted going down to the floor. Light is also directed up and back to light the room.
Now another option if you don't have a white wall but still have white ceiling. This was shared to me by Joe Demb creator of the Flip-It. Thanks Joe for the tip. This still creates a large light source off camera using the white ceiling. The bounce card lights up another part of the ceiling at a weaker intensity giving you a second light source to reduce some harshness in the shadows.
I hope this post it useful. And try making your own diffuser. It actually doesn't take that long.
|Post ()||Posted by||When|
|Feb 12, 2008| | <urn:uuid:32e05456-eec9-4c18-b216-3d66ea4db763> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.dpreview.com/forums/post/26764415 | 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 | 0.958892 | 491 | 1.515625 | 2 |
The closer to the end of his term, the less funny (and more disastrous) Bush seems.
While the New York Times continues to report with a straight face the rhetoric of George W. Bush — the doofus POTUS demands that “the sovereign and territorial integrity of Georgia be respected," as if the rest of the world listens — the real situation is shrewdly analyzed by international outlets such as Der Spiegel.
We're not crazy. It's the world that's acting bipolar. Good luck figuring out why if you rely on just the feeble U.S. press.
Writing today on the German site's opinion page, Gerhard Spörl notes:
The war in the Caucasus is a truly global crisis. Russia's action against the western-looking Georgia testifies to an extreme craving for recognition and is reminiscent of the Cold War. It reveals the reality of the chaotic new world order — a result of the failures of President Bush's foreign policy.
Do you really think that Iraq and a sinking economy are the only messes the Bush-Cheney regime will turn over to either Obama or McCain?
The past eight years have crippled U.S. foreign policy in ways that go far beyond the deserts of Iraq and Afghanistan. The rivalry between Russia and the U.S. would be bad enough without the Bush regime's hamhandedness and bully bluster.
Spörl, the chief editor of Der Spiegel's foreign desk — and the author of a clear-headed, provocative Obama piece ("No. 44 Has Spoken") a short while back — adds some context to this schizoid Caucasoid series of bloody events:
Who would have even bothered to try and pinpoint South Ossetia on the map or to carefully differentiate it from North Ossetia before the conflict? And this is supposed to be a world crisis?
But it is one indeed, because the crisis has given oil and gas producer Russia an alibi for cleaning up along its borders in places like Georgia, where the United States and NATO were beginning to exert their influence. It is a world crisis, because this wounded ex-superpower decided, some time ago, that it was going to put an end to a phase of humiliation and losses, of NATO and American expansion.
And what does this have to do with Bush's "legacy"? Well, who's been more smug about being the planet's supposed lone superpower than the Bush regime? Spörl writes:
Part of the truth is that the United States had rather relished treating Russia and its then president, Vladimir Putin
, as yesterday's superpower and leader. US President George W. Bush withdrew from the Anti-Ballistic Missile (ABM) Treaty and invented a missile shield in the Czech Republic and Poland.
The revolutions in Ukraine and Georgia, reverberations of the revolutionary fall of 1989, were made possible by the gracious assistance and coaching of American foundations and think tanks. There was nothing wrong with this approach, but America, the overwhelmingly superior superpower, was petty enough to gloat over its achievements.
Spörl also notes the Cold War mentality of McCain:
John McCain, who hopes to become the 44th US president, has come up with the spectacular idea of establishing a league of democracies that would address the world's problems whenever the United Nations is gridlocked, in other words, whenever there is an important issue on the table. If this league existed today, would intervention forces already have been deployed to the Caucasus? And now McCain has come up with the no less original idea of excluding Russia from the golden circle of G8 nations. Does anyone have any other bright ideas on how to punish the miscreant?
I can't resist one more interesting passage from Spörl's piece:
It is true that there is a touch of the old Cold War to August 2008. And yet it is also true that the month's events constitute only a subcategory of the larger complexity in which the world finds itself today. The United States is the common denominator. On the one hand, it had no qualms about tormenting Russia, and yet it is incapable of coming to Georgia's aid. It was also apparently unable to dissuade the Georgian president from embarking on his adventure.
CNN is so enamored of Georgian President Mikhail Saakashvili that he is constantly asked to appear on the news network for interviews, so that he can instill his view of things -- of Georgia on the road to democracy, and of Russia succumbing to revanchism -- in Americans, to the delight of the White House.
Damn it, one more slice of Spörl, but this one helps explain why the planet's behavior seems particularly bipolar these days:
The world ceased to be a unipolar place when the Iraq war began. When the neocons used the word unipolarity, they were referring to the idea that the world's sole superpower, thanks to its military superiority, could assume that it was entitled to the role of global cop, and that the world must bend to its will, whether it wanted to or not.
Now a new technical term has come into circulation: multipolarity. It means that a number of powers can do as they please, without punishment, and no one can do much about it. China can do as it pleases with Tibet, the Uyghurs and its dissidents, and it can buy its energy where it pleases. India can sign a nuclear treaty with the United States, and can then vacillate between choosing to ditch the agreement and keep it in place. Iran can decide to become a nuclear power and then wait to see what happens, to see whether Israel and the United States, for example, will issue empty threats of air strikes while Russia and China obstruct the superpower in the UN Security Council whenever it calls for effective resolutions.
But the new multipolarity is lopsided. America is still the power without which nothing works -- whether it be sensible or senseless. | <urn:uuid:64e227e3-e243-44b2-b5d1-909619466dea> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://blogs.villagevoice.com/pressclips/2008/08/bush_and_the_ca.php | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368703298047/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516112138-00008-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.959486 | 1,221 | 1.71875 | 2 |
San Diego Chargers have been fined $20,000 by the National Football League (NFL) for failing "to immediately surrender" towels when directed to do so by an official during game against the Denver Broncos last month.
However, the NFL also said in a statement based on its investigation into the use of grip-improving 'Stickum' towels, the Chargers had not infringed any rule.
"Following a review ... the NFL has determined that the club did not violate a competitive rule by use of the towels," the league said.
"However, NFL game officials are charged with protecting the integrity and competitive fairness of the games and club staff members, like players and coaches, have a clear obligation to cooperate in this effort and comply with the direction of game officials.
"As a result of the failure of club staff to follow the directive of a game official to immediately surrender the towels when directed to do so, and to attempt to conceal the towels, the Chargers have been fined $20,000."
"Our staff member was unaware that the game official was trying to get his attention and he cooperated fully once he became aware" - Chargers statement
The league also said that, after consulting with its competition committee, it had advised all clubs that the use of towels or other products containing any type of adhesive substance was prohibited on game days until further notice.
The Chargers, who lost the game 35-24 after blowing a 24-0 halftime lead, said they would appeal the fine.
"Our staff member was unaware that the game official was trying to get his attention and he cooperated fully once he became aware," the Chargers said in a statement.
Stickum, an adhesive used to help improve grip, is widely available in powder, paste and aerosol forms.
Its use in the NFL was banned in 1981 under the Lester Hayes rule named after the Raiders player known for using it. | <urn:uuid:51c837fc-5073-4531-8c7a-7028ad6b684e> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.rte.ie/sport/other-sport/2012/1108/344737-chargers-fined-20-000-for-towel-use/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368706499548/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516121459-00018-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.98964 | 388 | 1.515625 | 2 |
This post is a spot for our Kiva team to chat/debate (if anyone is up for it).
My initial thoughts; it heavily depends on how religion is defined. I won't venture to define religion.
I think atheists can form a religion, such as, Humanism. Not all atheists are Humanists. Many Buddhists are atheists. Is Buddhism a religion? I think so but it is also a philosophy. The teachings of the Buddha can be useful to people in the cross cultural way that the teachings of the Ancient Greek Philosophers are.
How is atheism different from agnosticism? Is Agnosticism a religion?
Electrical brain stimulation helps people learn math faster
40 minutes ago | <urn:uuid:0383b8e7-7422-4f86-b335-7c5abb4a6361> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://atheist-monkey.blogspot.com/2008_11_01_archive.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368698924319/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516100844-00038-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.934641 | 147 | 1.765625 | 2 |
The font rendering under Windows is killing me. Or making me go blind. Possibly both.
Under Linux, I had 4 methods of font rendering to choose from: "Monochrome", "Best Shape", "Best Contrast", "Subpixel smoothing (LCDs)". I think I used subpixel smoothing, which gave me great-looking fonts that were very readable on my flat-panel display. I had installed Microsoft's core fonts, and usually wrote documents using Times New Roman or Arial.
Now, on the same Dell 1905FP flat-panel display, those same fonts are giving me a headache.
Why is Microsoft so limited with fonts? Under Windows, there are only two methods to smooth fonts: Standard (not smoothed, hard to read) and ClearType (blurry but smooth, and hard to read.)
After writing a Word document, or browsing the web for any amount of time, I get a headache from squinting at the screen. Sure, I've increased my zoom level in Word, and increased the minimum font size in Firefox, but the fonts look out of focus and are just plain hard to work with. | <urn:uuid:12178e28-a47c-4cfa-aebf-fe1e1b4f8466> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://linuxinexile.blogspot.com/2009/01/fonts.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368703298047/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516112138-00004-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.932856 | 236 | 1.648438 | 2 |
WASHINGTON -- Small business owners received two seemingly contradictory messages on Wednesday from Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney, campaigning in Ohio.
The first message, delivered early in the day in Westerville, was that small business owners should "not be expecting a huge cut in taxes." The second message, delivered later in Shaker Heights, was that "small business is crushed by taxes," and that Romney plans to bring "tax rates down for small business."
The discrepancy illustrates a conundrum facing the Romney campaign as it barnstorms through a state many Republicans view as a "must-win:" How to sell an economic plan built upon income tax cuts for wealthy Americans and business owners as a way to spur hiring to voters who are more likely to work for businesses than to own them.
Small business owners are a major component of Romney's campaign message -- examples are present in nearly every stump speech -- where they help illustrate who stands to benefit from his proposed foreign policy, economic plans, and regulatory reforms.
Romney's small business-focused pitch started off fine Wednesday morning, according to The Huffington Post's Sam Stein, who reported that Romney told the crowd, "We have got to reform our tax system. Small businesses most typically pay taxes at the individual tax rate. And so our individual income taxes are the ones I want to reform. Make them simpler. I want to bring the rates down."
But then he switched his message. "By the way, don't be expecting a huge cut in taxes because I'm also going to lower deductions and exemptions," Romney said. "But by bringing rates down we will be able to let small businesses keep more of their money so they can hire more people."
By the afternoon, however, the line about how people shouldn't expect "a huge cut in taxes," was gone, replaced with a story of an unnamed owner of an unidentified small business in St. Louis, who Romney said, "calculated how much of what his business makes goes to taxes every year. Federal income taxes, federal payroll taxes, state income taxes, state sales taxes, highway taxes -- gasoline taxes, that is -- and the like. He added it all up, and it was over half of what he made was going to tax."
Shortly after the event, the Romney campaign issued a press release highlighting this section of his remarks.
Romney argued that President Barack Obama's plan to let the Bush-era tax cuts expire for people with more than $250,000 in annual income would hurt small business owners. The Internal Revenue Service, however, reported that only about 3 percent of small business owners would be adversely affected if the tax cuts expire.
Romney's argument appeared geared toward convincing voters that taxes would increase on small business revenues, leaving them less money to invest in new employees. But that's not what's being proposed. Letting the Bush tax cuts expire would affect only those business owners, and others, who make more than $250,000 in take-home pay.
Nevertheless, Romney's argument is appealing to some Ohio voters, like Cynthia Beitman of Westerville. "People run small businesses," Beitmann said to HuffPost, explaining that she doesn't mind if middle-class Americans like her get fewer deductions and exemptions on their taxes, as long as Romney lowers tax rates for small businesses.
Also on HuffPost:
Romney Staff at Iowa Cafe: "Stuff Got Broke"
A campaign stop by Mitt Romney and his staffers at an Iowa cafe left Dianne Bauer, owner of Main Street Cafe, fuming: She <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/06/14/romney-leaves-mess-at-local-cafe_n_1597257.html" target="_hplink">complained</a> about damaged property, Secret Service blocking bathroom access and Romney not introducing himself to the cafe's staff. "Stuff got broke," Bauer said.
Obama vs. Ohio Deli Owner
While most small businesses like free advertising, Debra Krause-McDonnell, the owner of Krause's grocery store in Cincinnati <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/08/13/debra-krause-mcdonnell_n_1773149.html?utm_hp_ref=small-business" target="_hplink">had a bone to pick with President Obama after his ad featured her storefront without her consent</a>.
Romney Can't Identify a Donut
In <a href="http://www.buzzfeed.com/mckaycoppins/mitt-romney-struggles-to-identify-a-donut" target="_hplink">video obtained by BuzzFeed</a>, Romney attempts to identify a donut but after a few stammers says "Can you see that one of those chocolate, um, uh, chocolate goodies finds its way to our ride?"
Hermain Cain and the Dead Small Business Rabbit
With several <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/10/30/herman-cain-smoking-ad-bob-schieffer_n_1066039.html" target="_hplink">strange advertisements</a> during his campaign, it seems fitting that former Republican presidential hopeful Herman Cain would continue the trend after his campaign's suspension. <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/03/26/herman-cain-new-ad_n_1379583.html" target="_hplink">The "Rabbit" ad</a> for Cain's <a href="http://SickOfStimulus.com" target="_hplink">SickOfStimulus.com</a> features a young girl placing a rabbit into a catapult while saying "This is small business under the current tax code." The rabbit is then launched from the catapult and "killed" in mid-air by a man holding a rifle. Another Cain ad used a <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YYN-Awrq3og&context=C4830a86ADvjVQa1PpcFN1bXIVcqsE-PGGTXrjsiOg2M7br15eYTI=" target="_hplink">flopping, out-of-water goldfish</a> to represent the economy after the stimulus.
John Kerry's Cheesesteak Order
Pat's King Of Steaks in Philadelphia is famous along with rival Geno's Steaks for strict ordering rules, complete with commandments on their window that read "If you make a mistake, don't panic, just go to the back of the line and start over." John Kerry should have paid closer attention. During a July 2009 visit, <a href="http://www.philly.com/philly/restaurants/Photo_oop_Kerry_eats_a_cheesesteak_hoagie__with_Swiss.html" target="_hplink">Kerry ordered Swiss cheese on his cheesesteak</a> which isn't an option at Pat's, where cheez whiz, Provolone and American are offered. Pat's claimed that if Kerry were elected, Swiss would be added to the menu. We know how that worked out.
Newt Gingrich Stiffs Small Businesses
After a debt laden campaign, some <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/04/11/gingrich-campaign-vendors-paid_n_1416084.html" target="_hplink">small businesses are still waiting for payment</a> from former Republican candidate and Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich. These debts include $7,439.62 of printed campaign materials from Las Vegas Color Graphics, $5,000 for signs from Florida's Insite Political and $24,000 for ad productions from Florida's Noiseworks.
Gary Bauer's Botched Pancake Flip
During a campaign stop in New Hampshire in 2000, Republican presidential candidate Gary Bauer participated in the Bisquick Pancake-Flipping Contest. As Bauer tracked his high flying pancake after the flip, he managed to take a tumble off the stage, causing the crowd to gasp.
Palin and the Turkey
(Interview at 2:50) In November 2008 Sarah Palin visited Triple D farm near her hometown of Wasilla, Alaska to <a href="http://voices.washingtonpost.com/44/2008/11/sarah-palin-pardons-a-turkey.html" target="_hplink">grant the traditional Thanksgiving pardon to one turkey</a>. Shortly after the pardon however, Palin took questions from reporters with a farmer in the background clearly slaughtering other turkeys and birds. CORRECTION: An earlier version of this slideshow described the device being used behind Palin as a "grinder" for slaughtering poultry. That was incorrect.
Romney's Lemonade Gaffe
While celebrating July 4 in New Hampshire, Romney took a break to guzzle lemonade. When asked how it tasted <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/07/05/romneys-lemonade-gaffe-what-was-he-thinking_n_1652138.html" target="_hplink">Romney replied</a> "Lemon. Wet. Good."
Romney and "CookieGate"
Business surged for Pennsylvania's Bethel Bakery after Romney joked about its cookies: "I'm not sure about these cookies," Romney told a woman at the table. "They don't look like you made them. No, no. They came from the 7-11 bakery, or whatever." <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/04/24/cookiegate-romney-cookie_n_1449848.html" target="_hplink">"CookieGate"</a> was great publicity for Bethel, in business since 1955. | <urn:uuid:bf68a919-bc05-4828-96f2-51146a57d06c> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/09/26/mitt-romney-small-business-owners-_n_1917556.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368702448584/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516110728-00038-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.947487 | 2,116 | 1.523438 | 2 |
Hosea 13:14 reads in the ESV:
Shall I ransom them from the power of Sheol?
Shall I redeem them from Death?
O Death, where are your plagues?
O Sheol, where is your sting?
Compassion is hidden from my eyes.
To my ears, this is a bewildering switching back and forth between judgment and deliverance all in a few phrases, because I am used to the middle phrases being used of Christ's triumph by Paul:
When the perishable puts on the imperishable, and the mortal puts on immortality, then shall come to pass the saying that is written:
“Death is swallowed up in victory.”
“O death, where is your victory?
O death, where is your sting?” —1 Corinthians 15:54-55 (ESV)
- The implied answer to the first two ("shall") questions is "no," according to the phrasing of the ESV. Is this a good rendering?
- If so, what does this mean about the original sense of the next two questions? Are they a summoning of Death and Sheol rather than a triumphing over them?
- What hermeneutic is Paul applying to arrive at his use of these rhetorical questions? How is his use to be reconciled with the original context? | <urn:uuid:1b40e779-65d0-468e-b214-f0a182e5af83> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://hermeneutics.stackexchange.com/questions/1869/hosea-1314-as-quoted-in-1-corinthians-15 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368704132298/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516113532-00019-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.943948 | 281 | 1.765625 | 2 |
Lee | Dr.
Lee, English and Communication
Charles Lee, arts
critic, commentator, author, poet,
and emeritus professor of English,
died on November 20 at the age
Charles Levy, in Philadelphia, Dr.
Lee took all his degrees at Penn: his
B.A. in 1933, his M.A. in 1936 and
his Ph.D. in 1955, all in English.
was an assistant instructor in English,
1933-36, until he resigned to become
book editor of the Boston Herald-Traveler, 1936-40,
and the Philadelphia Record, 1940-47.
He was a contributing editor to the Philadelphia
Evening Bulletin, 1947-49. In the
early 1960s he wrote a regularly syndicated
book review column for several newspapers.
For 16 years he contributed reviews
regularly to The New York
Times, and occasionally published
verse and poems in national magazines.
1946, he returned to Penn as a part-time
lecturer in journalism and became full-time
in 1949. He was promoted to associate
professor of English in 1956 and subsequently
full professor. He taught creative
writing, writing non-fiction and review
and criticism. In the early 1980s Dr.
Lee taught writing of non-fiction and
review and criticism. Dr. Lee became
emeritus professor in 1983.
Lee was professor of communications
and the first vice dean of the Annenberg
School of Communications, 1959-65,
under Dean Gilbert Seldes.
was also one of Almanac's earliest
editors, serving from December 1955
until May 1959, with Bruce Montgomery
as managing editor. They jointly exhibited
their paintings at the Faculty Club
six times, 1985-1998.
Lee wrote 11 books including Love,
Life & Laughter (1990), The
Hidden Public (1958), Snow,
Ice and Penguins (1950), and Weekend
at the Waldorf (1945). His verse
was described as "wise, witty
and richly imaginative."
Lee appeared on radio beginning in
1938 and had been connected with television
since 1953. In the 1960s he had a radio
show of cultural commentary on WCAU,
and then became the arts and entertainment
critic, reviewing books, movies and
art at WFLN-FM, 1979-97. He was the
cultural arts critic on WCAU-TV 10,
Lee was a member of Phi Beta Kappa,
AAUP, the International Radio and Television
Society, the Association for Professional
Broadcasting Education, and the Association
for Education in Journalism.
Lee (left) as seen
1944, he won Penn's first Annual Award
for Meritorious Achievement in Journalism.
For the Annenberg Center's 25th anniversary
gala on April 29, 1996, he presented A
Reminiscence which was published
in Almanac October
Lee is survived by his wife, Ruth Sarah
Micali Lee; his son, Dr. Myles Lee,
and four grandchildren, Jonathan David
Snyder, Rachael Snyder, Allison Lee
and Evan P. Lee.
memorial service will be held at the
Annenberg Center on December 13, 3-5
p.m. Memorial donations may be made
to the Trustees of the University of
Pennsylvania, Office of the Secretary,
211 College Hall (please designate
that the donation is in his memory).
Billingham, Medical Genetics
Rupert Billingham, former chair of
the Department of Medical Genetics,
died from complications of Parkinson's
disease on November 16, at the age
of 81. He was one of the most
important scientists in the development
of the field of transplantation, according
to Dr. Clyde Barker, professor of surgery.
Billingham was born in England and
educated at Oxford where he was the
first graduate student of Sir Peter
Medawar. He subsequently moved with
Sir Peter Medawar to the University
of Birmingham and then to University
College, London. Medawar's biography Memoirs
of a Thinking Radish reviews Dr.
Billingham's crucial role in the research
for which Medawar was awarded the Nobel
Prize in 1960. Their landmark experiment
was published in Nature in 1953.
The demonstration that a state of "tolerance" could
be induced was the first real suggestion
that transplantation was indeed feasible
as a method of treating diseased organs.
1959 Dr. Billingham moved to Philadelphia
to head a research group at the Wistar
Institute. Many of the over 200 papers
he subsequently published proved to
be seminal ones in other important
facets of his field. Dr. Billingham
was the first to recognize and describe
graft vs. host disease, one of the
most important barriers to successful
marrow transplantation, and the first
to describe effective use of an immunosuppressive
agent to prolong allograft survival
and one of the first to study tissue
Billingham served as chairman of the
Department of Medical Genetics in the
School of Medicine, 1965 to 1971. The
work he did with his graduate students
or encouraged them to do was also crucial
in the development of the fields of
histocompatibility testing, definition
of the mechanisms of transplant rejection,
such as the importance of passenger
leukocytes and the lymphatic circulation
and in elucidation of the immunology
of the maternal fetal relationships.
had the gift of being able to gather
around him trainees who were capable
and stimulated by his infectious enthusiasm
and vigorous approach. At least a dozen
of his graduate students or junior
members of his department have gone
on to head up their own departments
or research units.
Billingham, although a basic scientist
rather than a clinician, was very interested
in the application of transplantation
to human disease. He was a central
figure in the development of a kidney
transplant program at Penn in 1966.
1971 Dr. Billingham moved from Penn
to the chairmanship of cell biology
at Southwestern Medical School in Dallas,
where he served until his retirement
in 1986. He was a member in the Royal
Society, London, the American Academy
of Arts and Sciences, held honorary
degrees from Penn and Trinity College
of Hartford, honorary memberships in Societe
Francaises d'Immunologie and the
British Transplantation Society, the
presidency of the International Society
for Immunology of Reproduction and
of the International Transplantation
Society which dedicated its Congress
to him in 1994.
Billingham is survived by his wife
Jean, three children, John, Peter and
Elizabeth, and three grandchildren. | <urn:uuid:df8eea1b-4cbc-4ff2-b54d-c02cec39e680> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.upenn.edu/almanac/v49/n15/deaths.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368702448584/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516110728-00030-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.951416 | 1,439 | 1.742188 | 2 |
is a sculptor and installation artist working with atypical materials such as tape, glue,
various office and scientific products, and even window blinds. as she builds with
these materials, she deconstructs them or alters them in such a way that they are
not immediately recognizable. the reconstruction is in some way determined by what
the material is capable of doing, but not meant to do. the new physical form is always
more organic, often mimicking the appearance of tumors, magnified cells, or mold.
these materials often perform as a skin – their translucency captures light and plays tricks
on the eye- breathing, swaying, or slowly and quietly growing. fabian uses exclusively
manufactured materials thereby transforming the artificial, throwaway product into
something seemingly natural. this serves as a commentary on the increasingly
modified condition of humans, which pits nature against culture and blurs the line
between organic and manufactured.
...and, a few shots from reckoning, a collaboration with artist jen stract.
this beautiful installation is made of over 3,000 feet of receipt paper...
+ many thanks to mitra for the introduction to her gorgeous work! | <urn:uuid:6720eae7-45bf-4710-a312-38b4a02cb486> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://ofpaperandthings.blogspot.com/2012/11/inbox-mitra-fabian.html | 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 | 0.963919 | 245 | 1.804688 | 2 |
TrendingLondon attack | Tim Bosma | Rob Ford | Mike Duffy | Xbox One | NHL Playoffs | Lotto 6/49 results | Andrew Coyne | Christie Blatchford | Oklahoma | Trudeau | Bieber | Mulcair | Jays | North Korea
Conservative Senators from Atlantic Canada are mounting a renewed push for a Maritime Union, proposing the merger of the three East Coast provinces into a single political entity to rescue the region’s stumbling economy.
Stephen Greene of Nova Scotia, John Wallace of New Brunswick and Mike Duffy of Prince Edward Island have put together a detailed proposal for a union of their three provinces to be unveiled this weekend, including an idea for the name of the new province and the mechanics of power and representation.
Mr. Greene is set to deliver a written proposal and speech in Halifax this weekend.
“We’re hoping to move the ball forward and have the people in the Atlantic region, those who are thoughtful, talk about this. We need the public to demand that the political operatives here, the elected governments, start to co-operate,” said Mr. Duffy in an interview.
He compared it to retail economics — big-box stores can offer lower prices because they buy in large volume.
“In this highly competitive world, if we’re going to make headway, we have to be able to think big and see what we can do together, to ask, how can we put our small differences aside in order to help build a better Maritimes for our kids and their kids.
“For 1.8 million people we are terribly over-governed. But the bigger part of this is working in concert, together, to try to create economic development.
“How do we make our region more competitive, more attractive and more interesting? Stephen Greene is really going to lead this off,” said Mr. Duffy.
Calls to Mr. Greene and Mr. Wallace were not returned before deadline Tuesday.
However, even before their proposal is released, it’s generating criticism. After speaking publicly in favour of union, Mr. Duffy was criticized in the P.E.I. legislature.
“I have grave concerns that one of our government representatives in Ottawa, who should have the best interest of Islanders at the top of his mind, would say such a thing,” said Robert Mitchell in the provincial legislature on Tuesday.
George Webster, deputy premier, agreed, saying such comments “shocked and dismayed” him, adding: “I take great pride, and most Islanders do take great pride, in who we are as Prince Edward Islanders.”
The idea of a Maritime union, however, is not new. It predates Confederation: the Charlottetown Conference in 1864 was supposed to see representatives from the three Maritime colonies discuss a union but it was reworked to accommodate what is now Ontario and Quebec.
It became a grander union — Canada — and the more modest idea of a Maritime union never happened.
For 1.8 million people we are terribly over-governed. But the bigger part of this is working in concert … to create economic development
The idea periodically gets new wind in its sails.
In the 1960s a commission studied it, in the ’70s renewed debate over the Constitution sparked union talk anew. In 1996, at a conference on the idea by the Institute of Island Studies at the University of Prince Edward, it was referred to as the “always-the-bridesmaid of an idea.”
The concept is experiencing a wave of renewal, said Donald Savoie, a professor of government and public administration at the University of Moncton. He has been a proponent of a union for years.
“At times I have felt very lonely out there on this one. Not many were jumping on it,” he said.
“Whenever there is a force that threatens the Maritimes, it sparks new interest in it, and right now it is really generating new interest and attention.”
He attributes it to economic difficulties in the region.
Politically, it isn’t an easy sell, said Mr. Savoie.
“The three premiers are happy with their jobs. The political agenda is going to be very difficult to sell.”
The three premiers are happy with their jobs. The political agenda is going to be very difficult to sell
John Savage, the late former premier of Nova Scotia, once told Mr. Savoie that the biggest challenge he faced in promoting the province to the rest of Canada or abroad was competition from other Maritime provinces, particularly the energetic premier of neighbouring New Brunswick.
“Wherever I go to sell Nova Scotia, I find that Frank McKenna was there the week before,” the then premier told him.
“Can we have three premiers out hustling for three small provinces?” said Mr. Savoie.
Big Data is now being used by advertisers to test the efficacy of traditional and digital media campaigns, but can it be considered a panacea?
Powered by WordPress.com VIP | <urn:uuid:cdd9c2ee-9f26-461b-9fa2-8c03402ab73e> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://news.nationalpost.com/2012/11/27/maritime-union-senators-ask-atlantic-canadians-to-think-big-and-merge-provinces/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368703682988/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516112802-00015-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.962665 | 1,063 | 1.554688 | 2 |
The fast is not a commandment, like "You shall not steal." Breaking it does not damage our soul.
I think those are two different issues.
Indeed, we cannot say that following commandments will prevent us from sinning, but breaking commandments is sinning. Fasting is different, though. It is not a command, but it is good advice. We are free to follow it or not: if we follow the fast--the spirit more than the letter--then we will become more Christ-like. If we do not, we miss that opportunity. But never is the fast given the weight of a commandment; never is breaking the fast called a sin.
Now, if the people cooking Thanksgiving are aware of the fast and want to cook a lobster for you, please let them. If they are unaware and cook a turkey, please eat the turkey. Breaking a fast is preferable by far to breaking a relationship.
I understand what you're saying, and I appreciate it. My concern, however, has nothing at all to do with social events and eating what is provided. My concern is, instead, with lack of clear pastoral guidance.
Well, I'm sorry, but to get the sort of top-down, one-size-fits-all pastoral guidance you want, you're going to have to become a Catholic. | <urn:uuid:7a4230f1-b0ea-4048-8cf1-8af9c9245105> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.orthodoxchristianity.net/forum/index.php?topic=18536.45 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368700264179/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516103104-00023-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.9679 | 274 | 1.75 | 2 |
Julian Bream in Concerto
Mauro GIULIANI (1781-1829) Guitar Concerto No. 1 in A major, Op. 30 [23:10]
Malcolm ARNOLD (1921-20061) Guitar Concerto, Op. 67 (1959) [21:53]
Lennox BERKELEY (1903-1989) Sonatina, Op. 51 (1957) [10:40]
Maurice RAVEL (1875-1937) Pavane pour une infante défunte [6:47]
Albert ROUSSEL (1869-1937) Segovia for guitar, Op. 29 (1924) [2:23]
Domenico CIMAROSA (1749-1801) Sonata in C sharp minor; Sonata in A Major [3:00 + 1:48]
Julian Bream (guitar)
Melos Ensemble/Malcolm Arnold
rec. 1960. ADD
ALTO ALC 1174 [70:02]
Julian Bream remains one of the iconic names of the classical guitar. He, together with John Williams, re-established the instrument in the 1970s after the passing of Segovia. There were others including Narciso Yepes and Alexandre Lagoya but they did not have the same media profile as Bream and Williams. Both players had recording and concert reputations bound up with the fortunes of Rodrigo’s Concierto de Aranjuez. Each recorded the work several times over. Bream stayed this side of populism while Williams not only dipped his toes in popular culture but went for total immersion with his group Sky and with concerts in duo with Pete Townsend of The Who. He was also the solo guitar ‘voice’ in Stanley Myers’ hauntingly cool Cavatina – from The Deerhunter. Bream made several ‘Together’ albums with Williams and each recorded for both CBS and RCA – now united in Sony-BMG. Their zenith came in the 1960s and 1970s after which a flood of new guitarists – many of whom had been taught by these two players – permeated a suddenly vastly variegated classical guitar market.
Bream always seems to me the more serious of the two: a certain intense absorption permeates his playing and his choice of repertoire. This is reflected in the many modern commissions and in his sustained and in-depth interest in music of the renaissance. Among the composers who have written for him are Reginald Smith Brindle, Lennox Berkeley, Britten, Richard Rodney Bennett, Fricker, Rawsthorne, William Walton (Five Bagatelles); Searle, Henze, Peter Maxwell Davies (Hill Runes), Michael Tippett (The Blue Guitar), Takemitsu and Brouwer. Quite a roll-call.
The present collection mixes music of the 18th century with that of the last century. Bream’s phenomenal dexterity, remarkable dynamic range and a gift for the soft and the non-percussive are a benediction. Allowing for some scrawny sound from the string ensemble the Giuliani, rather like the concluding pair of Cimarosa sonatas, celebrates the guitar in slow beauty and Mozartean delight. The sound is very forward and confident. You can hear that in the Malcolm Arnold concerto, which is an unalloyed enchantment – certainly in the outer movements. The central movement recalls the darker Arnold of the Seventh and Ninth symphonies. It’s a blues elegy for the jazz guitarist Django Reinhardt, whose playing Bream idolised as a child. The whole concerto is rife with the play of sunlight off water in a sea cave at low tide: all glittering green, slate grey and aquamarine.
The multi-faceted and mercurial Berkeley Sonatina is in three stimulating movements. It was written for Bream. The final Rondo is especially good and does not shrink from Iberian atmosphere. The Ravel Pavane is better known in its orchestral guise. It thrives, however, in this arrangement. The guitar suits its plangent, melancholic and dignified ways. The characterful little Roussel piece was written during Segovia’s visit to Paris in 1924.
The typically good notes are by Alto regular, James Murray.
The Bream benediction: phenomenal dexterity, remarkable dynamics and a gift for the soft and the non-percussive. | <urn:uuid:1d20d3c8-890b-4c3a-9478-221ef6a5d1a4> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.musicweb-international.com/classrev/2012/Mar12/Bream_ALC1174p.htm | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368711005985/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516133005-00004-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.93778 | 951 | 1.835938 | 2 |
“A phony revolution may nonetheless be a durable one. If the Venezuelans who go to the polls give Chávez what he wants, they are likely to discover a paradox: They can bring about dictatorship through democracy, but not the reverse.”
Steve Chapman, November 2007
It appears that Venezuelan dictator Hugo Chavez will soon slip the mortal coil. Latin America’s history is replete with dictators who promise hope and change and reform, get elected and systematically abuse their power. Peron of Argentina, Pinochet of Chile, Stroessner of Paraguay, Gabriel Garcia Moreno of Ecuador, and Anastasio Somoza Garcia of Nicaragua were corrupt, authoritarian, and brutal with dissidents but their ambitions were contained within their borders.
Fidel Castro is an exception whose armies were proxies for his Soviet sponsors as far afield as Africa and who provoked one of the major confrontations of the Cold War in 1962 by conspiring with the Soviets to place nuclear missiles ninety miles from our shores.
Hugo Chavez avers that his role models are Fidel Castro and his terrorist henchman Che Guevara and views himself as a “socialist revolutionary.” In 2009 he declared himself the leader of “The Bolivarian Alternative for the Americas,” whose other charter members are Bolivia’s President Evo Morales and Ecuador’s President Rafael Correa. As for capitalism, he can be quite blunt: In 2005 he stated on his weekly radio show: “I have said it already, I am convinced that the way to build a new and better world is not capitalism. Capitalism leads us straight to hell.”
Venezuela and Ecuador control huge oil reserves and are on again/off again the only non-Muslem members of OPEC and enthusiastic proponents of energy blackmail and price manipulations. The clown Evo Morales loves hawking cocaine and boasting that Che Guevara the hero of the Bolivarian stooges died in Bolivia. He could be dismissed were it not for the fact that Bolivia has the world’s largest lithium and tin deposits. All three enjoy goading America with effusive praise for Iran’s mullahs, the Kims of North Korea, Robert Mugabe of Zimbabwe and assorted terrorist clones of Al Qaeda.
In spite of an abundance of vital energy resources, Chavez will leave a devastated economy plagued by shortages of all staples including food, a state-controlled media, a judiciary stacked with his cronies, a total absence of civil liberties, and one of the highest violent crime rates in the hemisphere. Venezuela’s citizens, who vested so much hope in the change that he promised, are in a living hell where homes and property have been expropriated and “redistributions” have reduced productivity and incentive. A bottle of water costs more than a gallon of gasoline, but cars are run-down hulks. Dissidence and any parody of his government are punishable by jail.
President Barack Obama and Secretary of State Clinton have assiduously avoided harsh criticism of Chavez. In 2009 both endorsed Chavez’s support for the deposed Honduran dictator Zelaya, ousted by the citizens for his abuse of power and efforts to reverse civil rights and the constitution. Although Chavez did voice support for Obama during the recent election, he has vented his anti-American spleen by mocking Hillary Clinton as a “blonde Condoleeza Rice” who thinks she “owns South America.” Furthermore, he has praised Wikileaks and Julian Assange for their “bravery” in confronting the United States, “a failed state.” He continually praises Ahmadinejad who has made several visits to Venezuela, staunchly defended Muammar Gaddafi and as late as October 12, 2012 he extolled the praises of Bashar Assad and accused the US of fomenting unrest in the Middle East, particularly in Syria.: “This is a crisis that has been planned and provoked … Syria is a sovereign nation. This crisis has a single cause: the world has entered into a new era of imperialism. It’s madness. The US government has been among the most irresponsible. I hope Obama rethinks this.”
Notwithstanding his outrageous abuse and oppression, he maintains a cult in the West. In a list compiled by the magazine New Statesman in 2006, he was voted eleventh in the list of “Heroes of our time” and in 2006 he was Time Magazine’s “Man of the Year.”
Although he is reviled by much of the civilized world, he has a large coterie of Hollywood celebrity fans: Susan Sarandon, Sean Penn, Danny Glover, Courtney Love, Kevin Spacey, Harry Belafonte and the “esteemed historian” Oliver Stone. This is pretty much the same crowd that idolizes Che Guevara.
Who is Hugo Chavez?
Hugo Rafael Chavez was born in 1954 in a town named Sabaneta to Hugo and Elena Frias, schoolteachers. His father was black of African descent and his mother white of Spanish descent. At an early age he was sent to live with his paternal grandmother Rosa Chavez, who ushered him through his elementary education.
After completing high school he enrolled in the Venezuelan Academy of Military Sciences, graduated with a degree in Arts and Science and the rather unimpressive rank of sub-lieutenant. After a brief period in Caracas University he returned to the active military where he served for 17 years with many posts and staff positions including teaching at the Academy of Military Sciences. His academic records and transcripts, including enrollment forms from university, are unavailable — lost, it seems.
He was a fairly gifted athlete who excelled in baseball, but was more well known for long speeches denouncing endemic fraud and corruption in government. He established a leftist, quasi-Marxist, crackpot Bolivarian Revolutionary Movement known as MBR.
In 1992 Chavez and his revolutionary cohorts, planned a military coup d’etat to oust then-President Carlos Perez, admittedly a thief and tyrant. It was a tactical failure which resulted in his arrest and jail sentence of two years.
In 1994 he was officially pardoned and emerged from jail defiant and determined to resume his political ambitions. He named his party the “Fifth Republic Movement” and four years later, after years on the stump and on soapboxes, he began the quest for national election.
The voters’ distrust of the government made his promises of reform, fundamental change, a renewed economy and an end to corruption, tyranny and bribery appealing to a desperate population.
Although he was far behind in the polls in early 1998, by December of that year he won 56% of the vote and became Venezuela’s President. While there were some credible accusations of voter intimidation and fraud, no recount took place. A widely hailed assembly drafted a constitution which stipulated term limits, a right to recall legislators, including the president, who were guilty of malfeasance with a petition from at least 20% of the population, established a merit based judiciary, and a group of “public defenders” to monitor government abuses.
Within half a year he dismissed all judges and public defenders and replaced them with his cronies. Term limits and all restraints, as well as the right to petition, were abolished. He embarked on a system of redistribution which implemented absolute government control on communications, media, industry, energy, utilities, and construction materials.
In 2002 an attempted coup against him was put down within 48 hours and in 2004 a petition against him signed by millions of citizens was dismissed by his highest court.
His “Bolivarian Circles,” a group of community organizers, routinely extort taxes and bribes for spurious neighborhood projects, mass mobilization of voters, and so-called “basic projects” which include spying on citizens.
In 2006 Jimmy Carter certified his re-election in spite of major irregularities, fraud, coercion, and intimidation which targeted all dissidents, particularly the “Tascon List” of all those who had petitioned for his ouster in 2004.
To keep up his love affair with Iran, Chavez indulges in hysterical anti-Israel rants which stop just short of calling for genocide. To prove his fealty to the Mullahs, he torments the Jewish community with vandalism, threats and vicious attacks. Ahmadinejad calls his pal “a champion and leader in the international struggle against imperialism.”
In October 2012 his campaign manifesto, as printed in campaign flyers, had not changed very much and listed his “five great historic objectives”:
One: “Defend, expand and consolidate national independence.”
Two: “Continue building Bolivarian socialism of the 21st century as an alternative to destructive and savage capitalism.”
Three: “Make Venezuela an economic, social and political power within the growing power of Latin America and the Caribbean.”
Four: “Develop a new international geopolitics forming a multicentric and pluripolar world to achieve equilibrium in the universe and guarantee planetary peace.”
Five: “Preserve life on the planet and save the human species.”
He won and it is not likely he will make it to his inauguration.
Who will replace him and can Venezuela be saved? It’s anyone’s guess. Only one thing is sure. The leftist media will extol him and maybe his Hollywood pals will make a movie “The Bolivarian Diaries.”
Freedom Center pamphlets now available on Kindle: Click here. | <urn:uuid:b6c96b67-dd6f-487e-9ab0-9e2d41e44c9d> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://frontpagemag.com/2013/ruth-king/hugo-chavezs-disastrous-legacy/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368699881956/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516102441-00012-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.972905 | 1,983 | 1.632813 | 2 |
Published Thursday, 30 August 2012
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Education shake up
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Plans have been laid out by the Department of Education to streamline the system and deal with 85,000 empty classroom seats, with many schools facing closure or amalgamation.
"This is not being driven by finance," said Education Minister John O'Dowd. "It is being driven by a need for a sustainable estate going into the future.
"If I don't deal with it we will have job losses. Our resources will be spread so thinly across an unsustainable schools estate, young people's educational future will suffer."
Armagh is covered by the Southern Education and Library Board.
Each board has been setting out the proposals for its local area and the Royal School Armagh - a voluntary grammar - took part in the appraisal along with City of Armagh High and Markethill High, two controlled post primaries.
Four proposals have now gone out to public consultation.
It's a golden opportunity to produce and provide a network of high quality, all-ability schools
Irish Nation Teachers' Union
They range from amalgamating the City of Armagh and Markethill High with new buildings on the Markethill site, and refurbishing and extending the Royal building - to amalgamating all three and providing a new 11-19, all-ability school on the Royal site for 1,400 pupils.
The principal at Markethill High told UTV it's an uncertain yet exciting time.
James Maxwell said: "The board of governors here broadly welcomes the publication of the proposals, because we see this as an opportunity for our school in particular to express itself to its capacity and also to meet the very clear needs and interests of the pupils in the area."
There are several post primary schools in Armagh's catholic sector.
St Catherine's girls' school will stay, however it is proposed that one of the two boys' post primary schools will close.
Plans are also being sped up for the possible closure of Drumcree College in Portadown, which has just over 200 students.
St Patrick's High in Keady, which is co-educational, will stay - and principal Fr Kevin Donaghy said schools should be retained were at all possible.
"So many communities regard the school as one of its focal points," he explained.
"We can look at ways of sharing resources sharing teachers, finding centres were we can come together and to be a little more imaginative and strategic in seeing how we can increase the range of subjects and courses on offer and opportunities for all young people."
The Irish Nation Teachers' Union represents thousands of teachers in the post primary sector.
Brendan Harron from INTO agrees that rationalisation is inevitable.
He said: "It's a golden opportunity to produce and provide a network of high quality, all-ability schools, which is the stated policy of John O'Dowd, the catholic school authorities, the boards and the unions.
"We want to see them put their money where their mouth are and work with us to provide that network of high quality schools."
The public consultation will finish at the end of October, after that the difficult decisions which may affect children's education for decades to come will eventually have to be taken. | <urn:uuid:6c9850e7-6dc7-4a49-8974-ff5efc1e72ee> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.u.tv/news/Schools-shake-up-golden-opportunity/226c3c3f-50c7-43d8-956e-b947fd0bd3d6 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368703682988/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516112802-00019-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.964151 | 908 | 1.554688 | 2 |
After the NCAA announced on Monday unprecedented sanctions against Penn State University for inaction among prominent leaders in a child sex abuse scandal that began to unfold last fall, Sports Illustrated magazine was quick to devote its July 30, 2012 cover to the fallout.
By the end of the day, the cover, featuring a lone helmet on a football field against a black background with the words “We Were Penn State” in large, bold letters, was quickly causing fallout of its own, with many Penn State alumni voicing their displeasure on social media and message boards over the (mis)use of the school’s beloved chant.
Much time has been spent—and rightly so—in stressing that the child victims and the lack of protection they were given takes precedence over football, athletics, image or anything else seemingly used as an excuse not to ensure their safety.
But with the NCAA stepping in and assuming an atypical role in legislating matters of morals or ethics—particularly as they don’t relate to its own bylaws—it was a very crushing and costly reminder of the same.
As NCAA President Mark Emmert revealed punishment after punishment, the resounding reminder to big-time college football (or any sport) programs was that some things are greater than themselves.
Who knew what and when and where to cast blame in the Penn State scandal can be debated ad nauseum. But what has been revealed over and over is that there were plenty of adults—ranging from the powerless to the very powerful—who should have done more, but for whatever reason did not.
On Sunday, the statue of former longtime head coach Joe Paterno was removed from its place outside the stadium, and on Monday, school administrators somberly accepted their fate from the NCAA.
Perhaps the intent of Sports Illustrated’s cover was to symbolize that what was Penn State—at least where the scandal is concerned—can be put to rest and now the long road to rebuild its image can begin.
But that only tells part of the story, and that’s why twisting the words of “We Are Penn State” was more salt in the wound. Ironically, Sports Illustrated’s use of this longtime chant of solidarity—some even trace it to the days of segregation in the late 1940s, though it wasn’t a stadium-wide cheer until the late 1970s—is creating more division.
What Sports Illustrated disregarded—at least judging by the cover—was that image goes beyond football, and the rest of the university—while it may suffer as a result of the athletic program’s misdeeds—should not be defined by it alone.
Ultimately, the actions of a few—far-reaching though they were—may have the power to cripple an athletic program for even the foreseeable future. But once again, some things are still more important and bigger than football, and Sports Illustrated’s latest cover missed the opportunity to reinforce that. | <urn:uuid:b846f734-fad9-4090-a7da-cad70a422cf8> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://blog.magazines.com/how-sports-illustrateds-we-were-penn-state-cover-missed-the-point | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368704392896/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516113952-00007-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.970869 | 608 | 1.65625 | 2 |
St. Petersburg, Florida -- Newly-released numbers show that total number of crashes at intersections have actually increased in St. Pete's first year with red light cameras, instead of decreasing as city council members originally thought.
A Tampa Bay Times report reveals the numbers were left off a 122-page report the City Council received in May from the City in order to tout their safety when, in fact, crashes had actually jumped at the intersections from 298 to 328 between November 2011 and October 2012.
The newspaper goes on to say that City staff used deceptive tactics to mislead the City Council and the taxpayers by reporting data on "red light-related" crashes and in comparing crashes to a prior 3-year average instead of compared to the previous year.
City staffers reportedly compiled the latest report with the new numbers after Mayor Bill Foster expressed interest in installing nine more cameras to add to the 10 already installed at various intersections.
Can't watch the video? Click here for photos
FIND: Red light cameras are in your area
More Red light runners: | <urn:uuid:451d922a-8661-4950-bb9a-7cc46365e7a8> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.wtsp.com/news/article/286966/8/Report-Crashes-at-red-light-intersections-hidden-from-City-Council | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368708766848/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516125246-00008-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.963721 | 212 | 1.546875 | 2 |
Bells Toll for Connecticut in Duluth
Posted at: 12/21/2012 10:22 AM
| Updated at: 12/21/2012 10:53 PM
A Connecticut town, where the crackle of gunfire was heard a week ago, has been filled with the sound of bells chiming. And bells tolled across the country, as well.
That includes 26 rings from Duluth's historic Central School at 8:30 a.m. on Friday. Twenty-six times -- once for each of the adults and children killed at Sandy Hook Elementary School last Friday.
Meanwhile, a small group meet at Fond du Lac's Tribal and Community College on Friday night for a prayer and candlelight vigil.
Organizer Bettina Johnson said, as a mother of three, this news has been especially difficult to understand.
"When I [saw] it come on the news, it just brought tears to my eyes because I can't imagine sending your kids to school and not having them come home," Johnson said.
The group lit candles, sang several songs and wrote cards to send to the families. Johnson said it's a way to let them know that Minnesota stands with them. | <urn:uuid:e10fe461-899e-48eb-9120-d671aebcf502> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.wdio.com/article/stories/S2875587.shtml?cat=11813 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368702810651/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516111330-00031-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.965455 | 244 | 1.539063 | 2 |
There is so much in Tom Wright’s Simply Jesus: A New Vision of Who He Was, What He Did, and Why He Matters that is good and right. The perfect storm metaphor that runs through the book is overworked, but it gets across very effectively the idea that Jesus’ ministry, death and resurrection must be understood at the point where the great forces of Jewish hope, Roman imperial power, and the sovereign intention of Israel’s God converged. But the metaphor does not take us effectively beyond that point: the storm subsides, the politically constructed narrative quickly collapses, and we are left with a flattened landscape of theological abstractions. As I see it.
In chapter 14, which deals with the ascension, enthronement and return of Jesus, Wright makes a half-hearted attempt to preserve the political edge to his commentary. The ascension is interpreted in terms of Daniel 7 “in all its political significance”: “This is the moment at which Israel’s representative is installed as the true world ruler, with all the warring pagan nations made subject to him” (196). It is also the direct counterpart to the notion that after his death the soul of the emperor ascended to heaven to take its place among the gods. Readers in the Roman world would have understood what was going on: “Jesus is radically upstaging Caesar” (197). But this “political” reading is not sustained as Wright proceeds to discuss the return of Jesus.
The assertion that “the Roman world has a new emperor” prompts the sceptic to ask,”If you think Jesus is already installed as king of the world, why is the world still such a mess?” (197) It is necessary to affirm, therefore, that Jesus will return “in power and glory, triumphing over all the forces of death, decay, and destruction, including the structures that have used those horrible forces to enslave and devastate human lives” (198). At this moment the people of God will be “exalted” like the “son of man” figure in Daniel 7:13, “so that after their own suffering and death they will be with the Lord forever” (cf. 1 Thess. 4:14-17). Just as loyal citizens went out of the city to escort Caesar home after a visit to the colonies, believers will go out to meet Jesus at his parousia and return with him in triumph to his capital—that is, not to heaven but to the new world over which he will rule. We may, for various reasons, feel uncomfortable with the notion of Jesus returning in triumph, but the whole point of it is “to insist, over against not only the wider pagan world, but against all self-delusion or pretension within the church, that Jesus remains sovereign and will return at last to put everything right” (201).
I’ve said before that I think Wright abandons his disciplined and detailed historical methodology once he gets past the ascension, which leads to a blurring of the relation between the immediate and the ultimate, between the temporal and the final, between the victory over pagan empire and the renewal of creation. In this section “coming” and “judgment” are not what God does in the midst of “warring nations” but what he will do “for the whole cosmos, in the end”; Jesus is no longer conceived as the one who will judge Israel’s enemies and rule over nations but as the “prototype of the new creation” (202).
Despite the earlier argument that the destruction of the temple would be a sign of Jesus’ vindication (177), this historical event has effectively dropped out of the story of what happens “between resurrection and ascension, on the one hand, and the second coming, on the other” (203). This seems to me seriously to diminish the significance of a critical and climactic moment in the story of Israel towards which so many narrative paths in the Gospels lead. From Jesus’ point of view the destruction of Jerusalem and the temple is the event that makes sense of his whole mission. If we allow that this story spills over into the first part of Acts, I think we can argue further that the ascension is seen, in the first place, as determinative for the restoration of the kingdom to Israel at a time of catastrophic judgment: Jesus ascended in clouds and he will return as “one like a son of man” in clouds to bring about the restoration of the family of Abraham so that all the families of the earth might be blessed (Acts 1:6-11; 3:19-26).
In the rest of the New Testament the motif of Jesus coming again as deliverer and judge is associated not with the final renewal of creation but with the defeat of paganism and with everything that that historical event means for the renewed people of God. Wright highlights the imperial connotations of the parousia idea in 1 Thessalonians, but this passage is part of a larger narrative according to which the persecuted Thessalonians wait to be delivered from the “wrath to come”, when “sudden destruction” will come upon their world, on a society that imagines it has found “peace and security” under Caesar (1 Thess. 1:10; 2:14-16; 5:1-11). The immediate pagan context is even more sharply defined in 2 Thessalonians 1:5-2:12. For more on this see “NT Wright and the confusion of kingdom and new creation”.
In the New Testament story the ascension of Jesus has significance in the light of two decisive future events: the judgment and restoration of the people of God, and the triumph of this people over paganism. On the basis of these two events Jesus will reign with the early suffering church throughout the coming ages (cf. Rev. 20:6). At the end of this period, which corresponds to John’s thousand year interval between judgment on Rome and the final judgment of all the dead, it will no longer be necessary for Jesus to reign as king over his people in the midst of the nations because the last enemy will have been destroyed. The kingdom will then be delivered to God the Father, and “the Son himself will also be subjected to him who put all things in subjection under him, that God may be all in all” (1 Cor. 15:24-28).
This is not to say that the resurrected Jesus was not understood as “prototype of the new creation”. My point is rather that, as far as the New Testament story goes, the new creation event of the resurrection happened for the sake of the political outcomes—the renewal of the people of God and the victory of that people over its pagan enemies. We now live with the consequences of those political outcomes, and our eschatological horizon is much simpler. We look forward to the final remaking of the heavens and the earth, the final reconciliation of all things to God, when he will be all in all, which will coincide not with the coming of the kingdom but with its termination. | <urn:uuid:629901af-3830-4837-83b5-2cf458ed90b3> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.postost.net/2012/02/tom-wright-return-jesus-failure-history | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368699881956/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516102441-00037-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.958618 | 1,507 | 1.734375 | 2 |
Exports by Gulf hydrocarbon producers to Japan swelled by nearly 13.7 per cent in the first 10 months of 2012 as crude prices remained at historically high levels and Japan kept its heavy reliance on crude from the region.
Official data showed the exports by the six-nation Gulf Cooperation Council
(GCC) to the Southeast Asian giant grew to nearly $131.3 billion in the first 10 months of 2012 from around $115.8 billion in the first 10 > months of 2011.
The GCC’s imports from the Asian nation shot up by around 31 per cent to nearly $20.7 billion from around $15.8 billion, Japan External Trade Organization (JETRO) said in its latest monthly report on Japan’s trade and investment worldwide.
The surge in the exports widened the GCC’s trade surplus with their main economic and commercial partner from around $100 billion in the first 10 months of 2011 to nearly $110.7 billion in the first 10 months of 2012. Saudi Arabia, the world’s top oil supplier, emerged as the largest Gulf exporter to Japan with a value of around $45.5 billion in the first 10 months of 2012 compared with nearly $41.2 billion in the same period of 2011.
It was also the second largest importer from Japan, with about $5.8 billion in the 10 months of 2012 compared to $5.3 billion in the same period of 2011.
The UAE’s exports to Japan, mostly crude oil, gas and aluminum, also increased from around $35.1 billion to $36.7 billion in the same period to maintain its position as the Middle East’s second largest exporter to Japan.
The UAE also emerged as the top Middle East market for Japanese products, with its imports from that country rising from around $six billion in the first 10 months of 2011, to $7.5 billion in the first 11 months of 2012.
The report showed Qatar, the world’s third largest gas power, emerged as the third exporter to Japan in the Middle East because of a sharp rise in its LNG sales to that market over the past few years. Its exports soared to nearly $30.2 billion in the first 10 months from $23.7 billion in the same period of 2011.
Kuwait’s exports to Japan, mostly crude oil, grew to around $12.5 billion from $10.4 billion while those of Oman rose to about $six billion from $4.1 billion.
Exports by Bahrain, a small trade partner of Japan with limited
hydrocarbon resources, declined to $411 million from $488 million. But its imports from Japan swelled to $661 million from around $364 million, according to Jetro. | <urn:uuid:c812632e-a4cf-4012-891d-9baea5fe2fa4> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.emirates247.com/business/economy-finance/gcc-exports-to-japan-up-13-7-in-10-months-2013-01-01-1.489399 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368701459211/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516105059-00010-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.957326 | 574 | 1.640625 | 2 |
The former Public Utility Commission commissioner, Department of Environmental Protection secretary and founding president of the PennFuture environmental group outlined the themes of his campaign at a press conference Wednesday afternoon at the Capitol in Harrisburg, sandwiched between an appearance in Philadelphia this morning and another planned for Thursday in Pittsburgh.
As PUC commissioner, Hanger, 55, said he helped open the energy marketplace to competition, leading to a 40-percent reduction in electricity rates. As DEP secretary, he said he more than doubled the number of staffers overseeing natural gas drilling.
“We were enforcing the rules,” he said.
He pledged to reverse Corbett’s $1 billion education cuts and enact a “reasonable” tax on shale gas drilling.
He said Corbett’s cuts led to 19,000 lost jobs in education and are undermining Pennsylvania’s future competitiveness. He said the governor’s fealty to small-government activist Grover Norquist’s no-tax-hike pledge “tied the state into knots” on the natural gas severance tax issue, and called the failure to enact a robust severance tax “an incredible blooper … a disaster.”
The Marcellus Shale has not kept Pennsylvania’s unemployment rate from creeping above the national average, he said. The U.S. unemployment rate was 7.9 percent in October, compared with 8.1 percent in Pennsylvania, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.
Hanger called for improving the state’s electricity grid and creating refueling stations for natural gas and electric vehicles. On social issues, he said he supported marriage equality, medical marijuana and abortion rights.
Hanger’s campaign manager is CEO Doug Neidich of Harrisburg-based GreenWorks Development. Introducing the candidate, Neidich said Hanger’s policies have attracted billions of dollars in business investment to Pennsylvania and are “exactly the types of programs that Pennsylvania business needs.”
Making the environment safer and strengthening the economy are complementary goals, not contrary ones, Neidich said.
Asked why he is announcing his campaign so early, Hanger said, “Time is precious,” and said Corbett already is raising money.
In a statement, Pennsylvania GOP spokeswoman Valerie Caras said the Corbettt administration has helped create more than 100,000 private sector jobs, increased state education spending, developed the energy sector and balanced two on-time budgets without raising taxes.
“The Corbett record of responsibility and success is a stark contrast from the broken, bloated and unsustainable state government that tax-and-spend politicians like Ed Rendell and John Hanger helped to create,” she said. | <urn:uuid:423fb2c0-0fa8-4264-b0ae-6d9f916544c6> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.centralpennbusiness.com/article/20121129/CPBJ01/121129839/0/te/Democrat-John-Hanger-opens-gubernatorial-bid | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368705559639/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516115919-00000-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.942575 | 571 | 1.554688 | 2 |
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« The master craftsman |
| Triana´s charms »
Architectural details of La Giralda Cathedral, Sevilla at dusk
Posted by Tara Bradford on 09 October 2006 at 13:09 | Permalink
I don't suppose you'd like to share a desktop version of that photo with the world... STUNNING.
12 October 2006 at 14:15
12 October 2006 at 00:43
I absolutely love the angle you got in this extraordinary photo! Brava!
10 October 2006 at 17:49
10 October 2006 at 16:03
10 October 2006 at 15:57
Fabulous architectural details - to think of all the man-hours of craftsmanship that went into such a magnificent structure as that. It's mind-boggling! Wonderful photo, Tara xo
10 October 2006 at 07:41
wow. where is it?
10 October 2006 at 06:37
I love the tile story! Beautiful pictures. Thanks for sharing this journey with us all.
Kim G. |
10 October 2006 at 06:10
look at the gorgeous contrast between the sky and the cathedral! breathtaking.
dear tara - I haven't visited in quite a few posts - school hols. here and I am not on the computer as much. hope your time in Spain is getting easier - it will be over before you know it xoxo
10 October 2006 at 06:04
Gorgeous contrast of color and texture.
10 October 2006 at 05:30
I don't think I've ever seen anything more beautiful...enjoy your stay...hugs
mary jane |
10 October 2006 at 05:16
LOVE that towering beauty of a picture.
10 October 2006 at 03:30
I love these architectural marvels.
10 October 2006 at 01:56
Think it's time for me to start saving my $$ for a trip to Seville. I'm completely enamoured.
09 October 2006 at 23:08
Wow, just beautiful...like a postcard
09 October 2006 at 20:53
I haven't been commenting much but I am here every day to get my visual fill and learned commentary on Seville. Thank you!
09 October 2006 at 18:40
I took some amazing photos of "my" cathedral seen through a puddle today. Will blog them tomorrow.
09 October 2006 at 16:48
You take some really lovely pictures Tara. When I do visit spain, everywhere will already seem so familiar thanks to you. :-)
Hundred and one |
09 October 2006 at 16:48
So beautiful pictures Tara! Thank you for all these posts! y Buen dia!
09 October 2006 at 16:16
09 October 2006 at 16:05
What a strange, ethereal image. I love the feel of it.
09 October 2006 at 15:50
Splendid photo! I am always amazed at the details in these ancient buildings, and how far our modern architecture has strayed from these models.
09 October 2006 at 13:42
The comments to this entry are closed. | <urn:uuid:d400ca88-24bc-4354-bc42-f7f20c3c3276> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.tarabradford.com/2006/10/la_giralda_by_n.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368697380733/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516094300-00005-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.952897 | 659 | 1.578125 | 2 |
Invasive airport screenings spark social-media backlash, defense
Naked-body images, invasive pat-downs drawing an angry response
Amid a backlash over body scanners that show what's under clothing, the Transportation Security Administration is using social media to make its case. But even there, it's dealing with fake Twitter accounts and a growing number of videos posted to YouTube that show passengers resisting the invasive searches.
Most objectors cite privacy concerns, while others fear the radiation required to produce the images, particularly for pilots, flight attendants and passengers who fly frequently. TSA offers an extensive pat-down search as an alternative for passengers randomly selected for the screening, which is itself the subject of objections.
TSA has more than 385 imaging technology units at 68 airports, and hopes to expand that to 500 this year and more than 1,000 by the end of next year, said TSA spokesman Greg Soule in an article at CBSNews.com.
TSA Administrator John Pistole refused to soften the policy in testimony he gave to the Senate Commerce Committee during a recent hearing, according to articles in National Journal Daily and elsewhere.
The backlash has quickly gone viral. A video showing passenger John Tyner objecting to the intimacy of the pat-down has become popular on YouTube.
Now Information Week reports that TSA itself is trying to defuse some of the furor with its own social media efforts. The agency posted security video of radio host Meg McClain's experience with TSA agents at Fort Lauderdale Hollywood airport. McClain had talked about the incident on-air, saying she spent 20 minutes handcuffed to a chair.
"The 20 minutes of security footage from Fort Lauderdale Hollywood International Airport shows radio host Meg McClain refusing to go through the X-ray machine, moving to a chair where she engages in a heated discussion with TSA officers, and being escorted to a different location," writes J. Nicholas Hoover in the InfoWeek article. "The episode appears shorter and less severe than McClain described on radio."
But the social media sword has two edges, and at least one Twitter prankster, posting as "Agent Smith" under the @TSAgov account, has been tweeting satirical messages mocking TSA over the controversy. One recent tweet: "TSA Fact: our agents can say 'strip search' in 42 different languages." Another: "A staff goal is to have one of our agents written up in a Penthouse Letter." (TSA's real Twitter feed is @TSABlogTeam.)
TSA is considering implementing measures that would allow pilots to bypass the invasive screening procedures and have their identities confirmed by biometrics instead, National Journal Daily reports. | <urn:uuid:08c0ba4b-20a0-4d95-a2a3-321a871ee86d> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://gcn.com/articles/2010/11/18/tsa-turns-to-social-media-to-address-screening-backlash.aspx | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368696381249/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516092621-00034-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.940283 | 537 | 1.539063 | 2 |
Professor Williams received assistance from her Journalism class who pitched in at the last minute. They provided a historical perspective on the British monarchy, its traditions and history, which she will use in her reports during live coverage of the royal wedding of Prince William and Catherine Middleton.
RNN-TV will draw some of its video feeds from the ABC network. The reporting team will also include the Wedding Channel's Kristin Koch of Knot.com.
When Prince Charles wed Princess Diana in 1981, Professor Williams also reported on that royal wedding from the New York studios of CNN.
Her students will do follow up reports of their own impressions of the events. | <urn:uuid:ab8d857a-7d6c-4da1-b54f-429e91b50b04> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.purchase.edu/AboutPurchase/NewsAndEvents/pressreleasedetails.aspx?newsid=1775 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368699273641/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516101433-00027-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.963194 | 130 | 1.617188 | 2 |
Death of the Republic
by F. Scott Andison
NEW NOVEL QUESTIONS WHETHER A NAZI-LIKE GROUP CAN LEGITIMATELY SEIZE CONTROL OF THE UNITED STATES
--A Chilling Vision of the Near Future Where Politics and Religion Intertwine
An intriguing new novel, Death of the Republic, by F. Scott Andison, presents a compelling case that a Nazi-like takeover of the United States is a realistic possibility.
“I began to write the book because I saw the very real possibility of the military taking over the U.S. under the guise of national security,” said Andison. “My research led me to see the presidency could be snatched by underhanded means if a third party candidate could get enough Electoral College votes to require Congress to decide, as per the 12th Amendment.“
Andison’s novel is set during the background of the 2020 presidential election, where handsome, articulate, independent presidential hopeful Robert Strong is mounting a second bid for the U.S. presidency, and is widely expected to make a strong showing. Meanwhile, Strong's primary backer and brother-in-law, billionaire Sherman Gale, is under investigation by both the FBI and CIA for his activities on his 300,000-acre fundamentalist Christian community in Wyoming.
FBI field agent Derrik Chu is discovered planting bugs at after infiltrating Gale's home. Gale becomes intrigued by Chu's work, and ever the master manipulator, offers him a job protecting Strong and his family. Even though Chu refuses, Gale uses his considerable influence to ensure that Chu is reassigned to Strong's detail anyway. After Chu successfully thwarts an assassination attempt against Strong's wife, CIA agent Audrey Kunitz informs Chu that Gale's reach extends deep into the highest levels of both the FBI and CIA, and that his superiors are not to be trusted.
As the novel unfolds, Chu falls blindly in love and learns the hard way that nothing is what it seems. Indeed, Gale believes God's demand that Strong ascend to the presidency is merely the first step in a larger covert "Plan" which Gale is determined to execute at all costs. According to the Kirkus Review, Gale’s “Plan is frighteningly ingenious and leads to many impressive twists, most saved for the book’s final act.”
A dramatic story filled with shocking and unpredictable plotlines, Death of the Republic explores:
· How our “system” can indeed be manipulated and result in a government and leadership we never imagined
· The frightening plausibility of how a legitimate path to the U.S. presidency is possible without winning a majority of the popular vote, or the majority of the votes from the electoral college
· How the media can manipulate its audiences
· The seductive nature of certain aspects of the conservative political movement
· The ease with which markets can be influenced
· And much more!
“Markets can be bought and rigged,” Andison cautions. “The media can be, and increasingly is, manipulated. The reporting of clever, targeted deceptions could easily influence the outcome of an election.”
With thirty years of professional experience in criminal justice, Andison has held a variety of prestigious positions in the public and private sectors. Andison attended Capilano College in North Vancouver and the University of Victoria in Victoria British Columbia. He holds a master’s degree in sociology, with a specialty in quantitative analysis.
Currently, Andison is a full-time writer and the creator of the Urizen Series. Death of the Republic and the Holy American Empire are the first and second books in the saga. He is currently at work completing the last three novels in the series. | <urn:uuid:a9e27341-5646-4d48-a497-9e699286dda4> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.gilmermirror.com/view/full_story/20280624/article-NEW-NOVEL-QUESTIONS--WHETHER-A-NAZI-LIKE-GROUP-CAN-LEGITIMATELY-SEIZE-CONTROL-OF-THE-UNITED-STATES | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368705195219/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516115315-00036-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.949555 | 766 | 1.59375 | 2 |
April 1 1992 by Chief Executive
CEO PAY: THE ICEBERG EFFECT
To the Editor:
The exchange of viewpoints in the compensation roundtable [" CEOs Can Resolve The Row Over CEO Pay," January/February 1992] was most interesting. However, two very basic points were not even mentioned, namely, calculation of the “real” or “naked” contribution of the CEO to company performance-however measured-and whether money is really the prime motivator.
The CEO is only the top of the iceberg. What’s below, good or bad, largely determines company performance. In most cases, the iceberg is a structure that has been in place for years before the CEO climbed up through it to the top. Once there, sure, he can influence some significant changes in direction, structure, and personnel, but the company performance is still largely the product of the whole. Moreover, the CEO is expected to do such leadership things. That’s what the job is all about. He is not there to be a figurehead or to rest on the laurels garnered from years of battles to get that top job. So why extraordinary salary treatment for this position? To motivate? Nonsense. The reason that competent, hard-working, principled individuals want the job is not money. It is power, prestige, perks, and the deep satisfaction that comes from recognized achievement.
CEO pay should thus be an integral part of a continuum salary structure for the whole iceberg. The bottom is anchored to market rates for entering professionals; the top is capped at 20 times the anchor rate, plus or minus 50 percent depending on the size or nature of the business. Performance over and above what’s expected should be judged excluding outside effects such as political bombs, oil embargoes, and the like. Merited recognition should be in cash bonuses, not stock, and reach down the iceberg as appropriate.
A plausible and simple salary structure based on these principles can be readily generated by drawing a straight line on a semilogarithmic chart, starting with the anchor entering salary at position 1, and terminating at the top, 20 times that salary, at position 10. On this chart, salary is on the logarithmic scale, and the position numbers are on the arithmetic scale.
KATIE’S BEST, CATO’S WORST
To the Editor:
I am writing, somewhat belatedly, in response to your article by Sid Cato, which cited Mesa Limited Partnership’s 1990 annual report as among the nation’s 10 worst ["The 10 Best Annual Reports of 1990 . . . And The 10 Worst," October 1991].
I thought you would be interested in learning that our report recently won top honors in the annual report category of the Dallas Press Club’s “Katie Awards.” Judges in the contest awarded the Katie to Mesa for the clear and concise writing in the report. We’re proud of that award. Our report is written for our shareholders, not self-styled annual report critics.
Frankly, I have long heard of Mr. Cato’s interest in annual reports. That’s why, immediately after the publication of our report last spring, I forwarded a copy to Mr. Cato and, in a personal cover letter, sought his comments. Imagine my surprise when I received his response-in the pages of your magazine. What’s more, in a call to Mr. Cato after the publication of his article, I was offered a subscription to his annual report newsletter. Perhaps Mr. Cato’s future annual report critiques should be classified and promoted as advertorial rather than editorial.
I find fault with Mr. Cato’s evaluation on many points. For example, we’re downgraded for not providing biographical information on our directors. We never have, and never will. We do not 4 view our annual report as an ego-building exercise for our directors or officers.
Mesa Limited Partnerships
Sid Cato replies: Did Mr. Rosser think he engaged our services? Of course not, since our longstanding policy would compel Sid Cato Communications to return a fee on finding a client report among the 10 best or worst. We would not have agreed, under any circumstances, to keep private our observations.
Missing from Mesa’s report: graphs that are captioned; and financial data for even six years, let alone the preferred 11.
Also missing: a grid to provide clarity concerning the company’s composition; a mission statement or a glossary of terms. The Mesa report didn’t present a clearly stated, tautly executed theme. The report’s letter to shareholders, as noted in our October compilation, similarly lacked forthrightness. The report was neither attractive nor compelling reading.
These are all negatives, as was our overwhelming view of the report, the Dallas Press Club in all its wisdom notwithstanding. | <urn:uuid:983b740f-4e4c-4a1e-aec6-890bae95698b> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://chiefexecutive.net/letters-72 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368704392896/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516113952-00011-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.953705 | 1,019 | 1.78125 | 2 |
If you were wondering if cycling is the kind of activity you can maintain long into your retirement, you have to look no further than Robert Marchand, shown here.
Marchand, shown in an Associated Press photo by Laurent Cipriani, is being scrummed after riding 100 kilometres in four hours, 17 minutes and 27 seconds. The big news in this, as reported by the Associated Press today, is that Marchand is 100 years old.
He set off at noon today at a track in Lyon, France, and covered the distance at an average pace of 23.3 km/h, which would be a decent four-hour pace for any recreational rider half his age.
It's not as fast as he can go: last Feburary in Switzerland, he set a pace of 24.251 km/h for the world hour record in his age group.
According to the Associated Press report, David Lappartient, head of the French cycling federation, says there isn't a category for centenarians who ride 100 km, but they're going to create one for Marchand.
Vive le France. Vive Robert Marchand. | <urn:uuid:e8ec321f-94f7-4a4c-9a2f-6caf009cba93> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://therecord.blogs.com/take_the_lane/2012/09/100-years-100-kilometres.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368704392896/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516113952-00006-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.968794 | 237 | 1.539063 | 2 |
The mission of the Boys & Girls Clubs of Northwest Georgia
is to enable all young people, especially those who need us most,
to reach their full potential as productive, caring, responsible citizens.
A Boys & Girls Club Provides:
- A safe place to learn and grow
- Ongoing relationships with caring, adult professionals
- Life-enhancing programs and character development experiences
- Hope and opportunity
- A Safe Place for Kids
Every day more than 250 boys and girls in the Northwest Georgia area flash their membership cards to come into a safe haven where they are accepted for who they are, encouraged to do their best, and leave knowing they are valued and understood. Four key characteristics define the essence of a Boys & Girls Club. All are critical in exerting positive impact on the life of a child.
Dedicated Youth FacilityThe Boys & Girls Club is a place—an actual neighborhood-based building—designed solely for youth programs and activities.
Open DailyThe Club is open five days a week, after school and during school breaks, when kids have free time and need positive, productive outlets.
Professional StaffEvery Club has full-time, trained youth development professionals, providing positive role models and mentors. Volunteers provide key supplementary support.
Available/Affordable to All YouthClubs reach out to kids who cannot afford, or may lack access to, other community programs.
Facts About Membership
- 72.88% are from minority families
- 10.48% are less than 7 years old
- 43.36% are 7–9 years old
- 34.68% are 10–12 years old
- 9.44% are 13–15 years old
- 2.13% are 16–18 years old
- 0.19% are more than 18 years old
- 50.87% are male
- 49.13% are female | <urn:uuid:a6c0b9d1-2962-4feb-9333-7308879410e6> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.bgcnwga.org/who-we-are/our-mission/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368699273641/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516101433-00019-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.94054 | 386 | 1.609375 | 2 |
Title 26: Professions and Occupations
Chapter 20: PROFESSIONAL ENGINEERING
26 V.S.A. § 1171. Board of professional engineering
§ 1171. Board of professional engineering
(a) A board of professional engineering is created, consisting of five members who are residents of this state. The board shall be attached to the office of professional regulation.
(b) One member of the board shall be a member of the public who has no financial interest in engineering other than as a consumer or possible consumer of its services. The member shall have no financial interest personally or through a spouse. Board members shall be appointed by the governor in accordance with 3 V.S.A. §§ 129b and 2004.
(c) Four members of the board shall be licensed professional engineers:
(1) Membership under this subsection shall be rotated to the extent practicable among the professional specialties recognized by the board.
(2) Membership under this subsection shall include at least one engineer in private practice.
(3) Of the four members appointed under this subsection, at the time of appointment three persons shall have been engaged in the practice of professional engineering for at least 12 years, at least five of which have been in responsible charge of important engineering work.
(d) The governor shall request nominations from the various state engineering societies, and may request nominations from other sources, but shall not be bound to select members from among the persons nominated. (Added 1983, No. 188 (Adj. Sess.), § 2; amended 1989, No. 250 (Adj. Sess.), § 4(d); 2005, No. 27, § 37; 2005, No. 148 (Adj. Sess.), § 11; 2007, No. 29, § 22; 2007, No. 163 (Adj. Sess.), § 10.) | <urn:uuid:e4f64918-d328-4ed0-8ea2-29677f8de575> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.leg.state.vt.us/statutes/fullsection.cfm?Title=26&Chapter=020&Section=01171 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368706499548/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516121459-00010-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.960895 | 381 | 1.625 | 2 |
Case 22 Answer 4
Yes. A specimen radiograph is obtained before closing to confirm that the target has been removed. In addition, if the specimen radiograph shows a close margin, the surgeon will be able to excise that margin at the time of lumpectomy. This decreases the chances of re-operation for positive margins. Many sites perform 2 orthogonal views of the specimen to more completely assess margins.
In this case, the calcifications have been completely removed, and are well within the radiographic margins.
Check out related cases below. | <urn:uuid:c9890fd6-ef48-4544-80d9-b16099274f78> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.rad.washington.edu/academics/academic-sections/mbi/education/mammoed/teaching-files/case-22/case-22-answer-4 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368703682988/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516112802-00024-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.941651 | 112 | 1.75 | 2 |
Gay Asians outraged over TV censorship of Oscars
Gay Asians voiced indignation on Wednesday after television broadcasts of the Academy Awards in their region censored the words “gay” and “lesbian” in speeches that called for equal rights for homosexuals.
The speeches by actor Sean Penn and writer Dustin Lance Black—who won Oscars for their work in Milk—were shown in full during live broadcasts of the Oscars that were screened across Asia on Monday morning.
But viewers who caught recorded telecasts in the evening on Star, an Asian satellite TV service that says it reaches more than 300-million viewers in 53 countries, noticed that the sound was removed whenever both men mentioned “gay” or “lesbian”.
“As a gay man, I am truly offended,” Pang Khee Teik, a prominent Malaysian arts commentator, wrote in a letter sent out to several media organisations. “Stop censoring the words that describe who I am.”
Pang said the move “sent a message ... that gays and lesbians are still shameful things to be censored from the public’s ears”.
Users of internet forums in Singapore and India also complained about the censored speeches.
Jannie Poon, Star’s Hong Kong-based spokesperson, stressed that the company had no intention of upsetting any viewers, but said it has “a responsibility to take the sensitivities and guidelines of all our markets into consideration”.
Poon said she was not immediately aware that the speeches had been censored, but noted that Star’s preliminary ratings for the Oscar broadcasts indicated “record-breaking” audiences, especially in India and Taiwan.
Viewers first noticed that the words were silenced when Black offered a tribute to slain American gay-rights pioneer Harvey Milk while accepting the Oscar for best original screenplay for Milk.
“If Harvey had not been taken from us 30 years ago, I think he would want me to say to all the gay and lesbian kids out there tonight ... that you are beautiful, wonderful creatures of value, and that no matter what anyone tells you, God does love you,” Black said.
Penn, who was named best actor for playing Milk, commented in his speech on California’s recent vote to ban gay marriage.
“For those who saw the signs of hatred as our cars drove in tonight, I think it’s a good time for those who voted for the ban against gay marriage to sit and reflect on their great shame and their shame in their grandchildren’s eyes if they continue that support,” Penn said.—Sapa-AP | <urn:uuid:bca77955-e4f7-4f31-9ba4-be18c8c0a1df> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://mg.co.za/article/2009-02-25-gay-asians-outraged-over-tv-censorship-of-oscars | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368705559639/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516115919-00019-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.972415 | 543 | 1.820313 | 2 |
Chain Style: 50 Contemporary Jewelry Designs (Interweave Press $19.95) by Jane Dickerson focuses on the amazing jewelry you can make using chain as the main ingredient. The fifty designs in this book include a combination of bead and wire techniques for the most part and illustrate how to create a variety of jewelry design by adding these to prefabricated chain.
The primary techniques used in this text are mainly wire based, such as forming wire wrapped loops, making hooks with wire, creating jump rings, and wrapping briolettes with wire. For the most part, all of these are very simple to do, but they offer a lot of design possibilities with chain since most can be used as methods for cold connections. Additional techniques include straighten wire, hammering wire, and oxidizing metal.
Along with a basic techniques and tools section, there is also a short section that describes the various types of chains you can purchase to incorporate into jewelry design. Eighteen different types of chains are shown in full-color photographs and include brief descriptions of each chain type.
Along with projects by the author, nine other jewelry designers contributed projects to this book so there various points of view from the minimalistic to the complex. For example, "Just a Bit" (a necklace designed by Jane Dickerson) combines chunky chain links with sections of black rubber tubing. This is a design that even guys might enjoy. Then there is the necklace called "Color Splash" by Karen Keegan that has tons of colorful lampwork glass beads dangling from a large link chain.
Of the 50 designs included, 16 of them are for bracelets and the rest are necklaces. There are no earring projects included.
A large number of the projects incorporate beads, charms, and pendants, and each project has a list of vendors that offer the supplies used. This is handy for locating some of the more unique components. There is also a resources list in the back so you can find the various chain vendors as well.
For anyone who follows the projects I post on this site, it is no surprise how much I like chain. So I have to admit that I'm partial to both making chain and using pre-fabricated chain in my jewelry designs. If you also like chain but haven't always felt comfortable working with it or figuring out ways to use just a little here and there is a jewelry piece, this is a great resource.
All of the projects are very do-able, and the majority of the jewelry pieces also look wearable to me as well. I especially could see this book in the hands of a beginner since so few techniques are really needed to accomplish a good number of the projects provided.
Disclosure: A review copy was provided by the publisher. For more information, please see our Ethics Policy. | <urn:uuid:daa100b2-932f-4e9b-9016-5de1c37f2186> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://jewelrymaking.about.com/od/metalwirebooks/fr/chainstylebook.htm | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368704392896/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516113952-00039-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.959101 | 573 | 1.796875 | 2 |
Bill Walsh became famousfor his football, but he was much more than that.
He was a man who was comfortable talking — and arguing — politics with Jack Kemp or in teaching a law school class at Stanford. He worked with Roger Goodell, before he became NFL commissioner, on many league projects, including NFL Europe.
On his own, he started coaching clinics for black assistant coaches, working with them to help them get head-coaching jobs — a program that was later adopted by the NFL — and was very proud when there were two black head coaches in the last Super Bowl.
Truly, the NFL’s Renaissance Man.
Walsh, who died Monday at age 75, was intensely loyal to anybody who ever played for him or coached with him. He maneuvered to get his top assistant, George Seifert, to replace him when he resigned as the 49ers’ coach and Seifert won two Super Bowls.
In fact, Walsh was a one-man employment agency. After he left coaching, we had many conversations in his office and I don’t think there was one time we weren’t interrupted by a phone call from a coach seeking his help in getting a job. I knew that very soon the caller would have the job he sought.
And then, there was the football. Walsh turned the NFL on its head.
The NFL offensive schemes of the time were very predictable. Teams would run on first and second down, pass on third — and the passes were often deep ones. Walsh often passed on first down and he used short passes to control the ball.
The standard for quarterbacks had been 50 percent completions and as many touchdowns as interceptions. Walsh’s quarterbacks completed nearly two-thirds of their passes — Steve Young once said that any quarterback who couldn’t complete at least 60 percent of his passes in Walsh’s system should quit — and had nearly twice as many touchdowns as interceptions.
He also believed that it was important to "move the chains" and have time-consuming drives because that helped the defense by giving it a chance to rest. The Los Angeles Rams’ John Robinson kidded him, saying Walsh was a great defensive coach.
Walsh’s system worked even against the best coaches of the day. Tom Landry had built a powerhouse in Dallas with a defensive system in which players had specific roles on each play. Walsh devised formations that would get the 49ers in favorable matchups, such as forcing a Dallas linebacker to cover a wide receiver. Preparing for the 1985 Super Bowl, he had noticed that the Miami linebackers turned their backs to the line of scrimmage in pass coverage, so he told Joe Montana to run any time he saw that. On one remarkable play, Roger Craig, a Miami linebacker and Montana were running in tandem down the sideline.
Walsh also preached beating the opponent to the punch, so he drafted smaller but very effective offensive linemen.
As important as his system was his ability to evaluate players. Montana was only a low third-round pick because other clubs didn’t believe in him. There probably wasn’t another general manager who believed Young could be an NFL quarterback when Walsh arranged the trade for him.
He was a true icon, a graceful, charming man who changed the face of football, while always saving time to work on programs for the less fortunate. There will never be another quite like him.
What was Bill Walsh’s biggest impact during his life?
Share your comments below.
View "Remembering Bill Walsh," a photo gallery, in Examiner.com's 'San Francisco in Pictures' blog. | <urn:uuid:638faece-38ab-4f4a-a6df-c4237d23a402> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.sfexaminer.com/sports/dickey-more-just-coach | 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 | 0.993179 | 747 | 1.632813 | 2 |
Jason Merritt/Getty Images
Director/Writer Tyler Perry arrives at the Lionsgate premiere of Madea's Big Happy Family in Hollywood on April 19.
Director/Writer Tyler Perry arrives at the Lionsgate premiere of Madea's Big Happy Family in Hollywood on April 19. Jason Merritt/Getty Images
Jimi Izrael is the author of The Denzel Principle: Why Black Women Can't Find Good Black Men and a regular contributor to Tell Me More.
The battle between Spike Lee and Tyler Perry is less a battle about film than class and the popular black aesthetic.
Spike Lee imagines himself the keeper of a flame that, in many ways, he extinguished some years ago. During the 1990s, his films, while important, had become too preachy and pedantic to entertain, culminating in "Bamboozled," a remarkable film so heavy-handed it remains difficult to sit through. His films became his personal pulpit instead of stories well-told.
Perry's movies don't pretend to be high-art or heavily message-oriented. The irony may be that Perry and Lee tell basically the same stories, about the importance of spirituality, black pride and self-reliance. The key distinction is that Perry's films speak to a different audience than do Lee's, and less artfully so.
Perry's films have gained a reputation, fairly or not, as low-class. Lee's work is usually described as high-brow—somewhere, but not actually in theaters lately.
That said, this fact is clear: Tyler Perry does broker in coons and buffoonery. His stories rely heavily on popular caricatures of black people behaving badly.
But so what? Could we name a dramatic film that doesn't feature one negative ethnic, racial or social stereotype? Nope. Woody Allen's work is packed with yukels and yentas; Martin Scorcese's canon was built largely on plots about gangsters and gumbas, and John Hughes made a career of pitting 1980s' working-class whites against drug-addicted yuppie puppies and their dim parents.
Stereotypes feed drama, and drama makes good cinema. So, Perry's use of stereotypes is not a valid criticism.
The big knock against Perry is that he seems compelled to tell exactly the same stories over and over again, while a good number of blacks want to see more diverse fare. Notably, when Perry tried to step out of that bag, he was castigated.
Lee's work has evolved. Perry's detractors should allow for his films to undergo the same process.
Moviegoers shouldn't depend on just a handful of artists to tell the wide variety of stories that need telling. Spike Lee and the dreadlocked, open-mic, finger snappers should spend less time taking Perry to task and more time supporting independent black film.
Some black people think Perry's work reinforces some white people's negative perceptions of blacks and generally paints a negative portrait of an entire race of people, as if any single film or filmmaker is capable of that.
The bottom line is black people want more choices in the mainstream, and not just art-house films that are difficult to find. | <urn:uuid:2fa46112-d3e1-406f-8914-556ba5f30df5> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.npr.org/blogs/tellmemore/2011/04/22/135630682/tyler-perry-vs-spike-lee-a-debate-over-class-and-coonery?ft=1&f=125942440 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368697380733/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516094300-00000-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.96086 | 659 | 1.515625 | 2 |
About two weeks ago, I had the extraordinary opportunity of seeing the Shroud of Turin. During the summer I spent in Jerusalem, I learned a great deal about the Shroud. At the Notre Dame Center in Jerusalem, there is an exposition on the various scientific investigations of the Shroud. Without fail, a tour through that well-designed display deepens the experience pilgrims have of their encounter with God. In learning to give tours of the exhibition, I developed a keen interest and devotion to the Shroud.
When the opportunity arose to actually see it, I was willing to do anything I could to get there! And it almost didn’t happen.
The men in my year of studies at the North American College decided to make it a class trip. We were going to take the train to Turin, stay the night, see the Shroud, and return to Rome. As we approached the date, a nationwide railway strike was announced for precisely the time we intended to go. We immediately shifted plans, intending to travel by plane. Unfortunately, the volcano in Iceland (with the completely unpronounceable name) disagreed with our plans. Suddenly with travelers stranded all over Europe, the airports north of Milan closed, and all of the rental cars on the entire continent sucked up by business travelers trying to reach Spain and open skies, we found ourselves at a loss as to how to make it to see this most precious relic of the Passion.
But, divine providence was merely preparing us for the powerful experience in store. Rather suddenly, the Italian train strike melted away because of the increased traffic the volcano caused. The winds also shifted and airports opened all the way to the British Isles. Our seemingly insurmountable travel difficulties vanished, and we found ourselves in Turin.
I stayed with three other men near the train station. We arose painfully early on Saturday morning, intending to arrive an hour before the 7 a.m. Mass at the cathedral and pray in front of the Shroud. The Church was late in opening so we stood outside in the spitting rain with a group of Italian religious sisters. As I waited in the dark, anticipating the moment when I would see the image of the man on the SHroud, I could not help but feel grateful to the priest who introduced me to the intriguing science of the Shroud in Jerusalem. I was about to see the cloth that touched the broken and bloodied body of Jesus Christ, the cloth that bears a miraculous image made not by water, paint, sweat, or dirt, an image that sits on the surface of the cloth, an image that has remarkable photographic properties, an image that baffles scientists to this day and can be explained only with the most fantastic of scientific theories—or by simple faith in the Resurrection.
Finally the doors opened. Directly in front of me was a dramatic display with the Shroud of Turin. Even from fifty or sixty yards away, the image of the man was clearly visible. We prepared for Mass. As the priest elevated the sacred host and the people proclaimed the Agnus Dei, I was struck by the fact that the sacramental blood of Christ was being shown just in front of the corporeal blood of Christ, that the icon of the sacrifice of the Cross was the backdrop to the drama of the sacrifice of the Mass. Mass is an unbloody re-presentation of the one sacrifice of Christ on the Cross, truly placing us in the presence of the salvific events of history. This unbloody sacrifice that places each of us at the foot of the cross was occurring in the presence of the bloodied evidence of the Passion, Death, and Resurrection of Jesus Christ found on that most pure linen. It was a profoundly moving moment.
Later, when we had filed through the long line of somber and recollected pilgrims for a chance to see the Shroud up close, once we had finally made it to the point where we could glimpse the cloth that bears Christ’s image, it was impossible to remain unmoved. I watched my classmates—these men who would stand at the altar of sacrifice and echo Mary’s fiat in their own lives, men who would be Christ’s instruments of mercy on earth. I watched the expressions on their faces, the evidence in their own person of the love they had for this God-made-man who came to suffer and die for them, for us. I watched them as they showed their worthiness to be ministers of Christ, staring at the relic of Christ’s Resurrection and experiencing the power of his love, desiring to share that same love with others.
And then it was my turn. Hardly able to breathe from anticipation and joy, I found myself directly in front of the image’s head. When people see the Shroud, some are mesmerized by the wounds of Christ’s hands, some are pierced by meditating on his side which flowed blood and water, some are chastened by the scourge mark, and some consider the cruelty of the mocking crown weaved of thorns and disdain.
But I looked upon the face of God and lived. It was not the blood, the evidence of torture, or the indications of unbearable pain that moved me, but the peace I found in his face. There is surely evidence of hatred in the Shroud; there is no evidence of hatred in the man. There is evidence of scorn in the Shroud; there is no evidence of scorn in the man. There is cruelty and masochism on the cloth; there is nothing but love in the face.
Here was evidence not of pain, but of love: the depths of love. Love so great it cannot be understood. I saw the face of Jesus Christ. I saw the face of immeasurable love. I saw it in the sacred host of Mass. I saw it in the ministry of the priest-celebrant. I saw it in my brother seminarians who proved the depth of their own devoted encounter with Jesus. I saw it in the emotional pilgrims. And I saw it in the face of Jesus in the Shroud.
I looked upon the face of God and lived. He looked upon me and loved. | <urn:uuid:15513c2b-0456-4d89-92d7-fc51a6e7c583> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.catholicnewsagency.com/column.php?n=1221 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368703682988/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516112802-00035-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.973805 | 1,255 | 1.507813 | 2 |
China Threatens to Legalize Repression
By Stanley Lubman, The Wall Street Journal, China Real Time Report
China is in the process of completing a landmark revision of its Criminal Procedure Law. Among the proposed changes are several that will, at least in theory, accord accused criminals the sorts of protections they deserve.
But Beijing’s lawmakers have also proposed a change to the law that has the potential to send a chill through the Chinese legal and activist communities.
A draft of the revised law, posted (in Chinese) Tuesday on the website of the National People’s Congress, confirms what many rights advocates had previously feared: That China plans to legalize the secret and illegal detentions that have previously been carried out in violation of existing law.
The most famous example of a Chinese citizen who was subjected to such a secret detention is artist Ai Weiwei, who was held for 81 days on suspicion of “economic crimes,” kept for much of that time in a windowless cell on the outskirts of Beijing, without his family being notified of his whereabouts. “There’s no way to even question it. You’re not protected by anything,” Mr. Ai, wrote of his detention in a recent essay for Newsweek. “Why am I here? Your mind is very uncertain of time. You become like mad.”
In a perverse gesture of governmental transparency, the revised law would legalize such treatment without providing any legal means to challenge it. At the same time, the proposal illustrates a profound dilemma faced by the Chinese leadership.
Chinese law currently permits “residential surveillance” – i.e., house arrest of suspects in their homes — and provides that when a criminal suspect is detained or formally arrested, his family or work unit must be notified within 24 hours. According to an interpretation from the official Legal Daily cited in an AFP report, the proposed amendments to “residential surveillance” laws would allow police to hold suspects in secret locations in cases involving “state security,” terrorism or major corruption.
Police would need permission from a prosecutor or public security agency to detain people in a “specified location” in cases when they believe holding them at home could “obstruct the investigation,” the report said. However, there is no provision requiring police to contact family members of suspects involved in these types of cases if it could hinder their inquiries. Joshua Rozenzweig, a civil rights activist with the Dui Hua Foundation, has said that the proposal “would essentially legitimize the enforced disappearances that we have been seeing more and more of over the past year or so.”
The Chinese leadership has been determined to stifle dissent, as shown by the recent “disappearances” of Ai and numerous other high-profile critics of the regime. Since the outbreak of the “Jasmine Revolution” in the Middle East, the number of dissidents, rights activists and lawyers who have been held in secret locations has increased.
China’s Criminal Procedure Law has not been amended since it came into effect in 1997. Even while considering the “legalization” of secret detentions, the drafters of the proposed revisions of the code seem to be moving in another direction at the same time. Other proposals, if adopted, would at least formally bring aspects of China’s criminal procedure more into line with protections for persons accused of crime that are common in the West. For example, according to Xinhua, the Code would be amended to outlaw the use of forced confessions as evidence and would also enlarge the rights of suspects to meet with their defense attorneys. Other proposed revisions have been reported to include “no longer compelling defendants’ family members to testify against them, and granting mental health patients who are forcibly detained the right to judicial review.”
The coexistence of moves toward increased procedural legality with formalization of authoritarian police measures to quell dissent vividly illustrates some of the contradictions in society and governance that trouble China today. Dissent is viewed as a threat to “social stability,” but other currents in Chinese society are strengthening a pluralism of values. Those include not only dedication to economic development and nationalism, which support the co-opting of the population, but also free expression and legality.
With a little less than a month left for the public to comment on the draft revisions to the Criminal Procedure Law, it remains to be seen how China’s legal community will react to the proposed changes. 9/1/2011 | <urn:uuid:f269e628-f55e-4487-8799-0e63afeba9eb> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.law.berkeley.edu/11626.htm | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368700264179/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516103104-00021-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.966745 | 934 | 1.65625 | 2 |
(Sorry for the horrible lighting. This is English winter after all!)
I won't go into a full fledged tutorial but here's what I did in a nutshell:
- 6 x 5" squares of fabric/charm squares
- coordinating bias tape or ribbon
- rotary cutter with a pinking blade (ideal) or pinking shears
- quilting ruler or regular ruler
Here's what I did:
- I used my ruler and rotary cutter (w/ pinking blade) to cut my 5" squares of fabric into equilateral triangles. I think a diagram will be easier to follow...
- Once you have all your triangles cut, arrange them across your bias tape and pin with a 1" space between each triangle. I then used a zig zag stitch to sew them together. Leave approximately 8"-10" of extra bias tape on either end for tying up your bunting.
And that's it! Just hang and enjoy :) | <urn:uuid:867aeee7-a628-4736-ab52-54d6de721851> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://modernolivia.blogspot.co.uk/2012/11/easy-christmas-bunting-mini-tutorial.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368704132298/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516113532-00015-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.93228 | 202 | 1.75 | 2 |
Recreating fireplace "frieze"
Hi! First time here and just learned what a "thread" is.
I have a plaster fireplace (ornamental only)... I can move it like a piece of furniture.
It used to have a raised carving in the middle of the face(?) of what looks to be leaves, flowers and ribbons. The outline of this design is still there and slightly raised. I'd like to build it up again but am unsure of what material is best, and how I would make sure that it adhered to the surface of the fireplace.
I thought of using modeling clay....but would it be too heavy and how would I attach it? (and then there's the problem of learning to carve...hmmm)
Also, thought of using plaster (redi-crete) and building it up layer by layer. (again with the problem of carving).
Any suggestions would be most welcomed.
I would look around for a wood carving in antique stores, at cabinet shops, reclaimed building materials stores or the internet. A good construction adhesive should hold it in place.
Mighty Putty. Billy Mays could do anything with it. Was it an insert? Is there a model name? Picture maybe?
|All times are GMT -6. The time now is 08:40 AM.| | <urn:uuid:3fd2ffa2-a2d5-4c85-8580-a36a442043e0> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.houserepairtalk.com/f45/recreating-fireplace-frieze-7526-print/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368701852492/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516105732-00041-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.955069 | 275 | 1.539063 | 2 |
A couple of days ago, I saw a headline on Yahoo: “Rebecca Black Under Police Protection After Death Threats.” Believe me, I find “Friday” as annoying as the next person, and I’m not about to put on black eyeliner and cry “leave Rebecca alone,” but come on. Maybe lyrics like “yesterday was Thursday, today it is Friday” are far from a work of genius, but Rebecca didn’t write the song. She was merely a thirteen-year-old girl going after a dream. What did she ever do to deserve something as extreme as death threats?
The two death threats she received, one over the phone and one over email, don’t include the numerous hateful YouTube comments she’s gotten. The Internet can be great—after all, it has allowed Rebecca to earn her fame and a whole lot of money—but cyberbullying continues to be an issue in this society. How can it stop when technology continues to evolve? And what possesses some people to be cruel enough to send death threats to a thirteen year old girl when she did absolutely nothing wrong?
By Andrea Trierweiler | <urn:uuid:fe262877-17e5-45ae-a01b-4ea013c87319> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://service.columbia.k12.mo.us/purpleandgold/2011/04/22/drastic-measures-taken-for-rebecca-black/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368711005985/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516133005-00009-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.964742 | 248 | 1.757813 | 2 |
If you’ve just tuned in: I changed my usual start page to the main Wikipedia page for a few weeks to see if a very minor technological change would have an impact on my life.
READY FOR THE STARTLING CONCLUSION?
The answer is: yes.
A start page has two functions:
1. It’s the first thing you see when you fire up a new Firefox session
2. It’s basically the easiest page to return to, so it behooves you to make it something useful (Google,
Each of these two functions is completely different and so has different success metrics.
Wikipedia performed well for the first function. I became very well-informed on issues like the Mohammed cartoons controversy, and I learned about a bunch of cool stuff like the trial of David Irving, the whackjob Holocaust denying British historian. Considering my two daily must-reads are BoingBoing and Pink is the New Blog (gossip), this was a good way to get a fairly well-rounded account. The main Wikipedia page is especially cool because it has random featured articles as well as news, so you can pick up some history/factoids while skimming the headlines. So the success metric for “first thing you see on a new session”, for me, would be “Does this page help me become better informed?”
(I suspect that something like the New York Times or Salon would work just as well, though).
Wikipedia was a TERRIBLE substitute for the second. If you look at my start page, I have it all set up with everything I use on a daily basis. (The one on my server is actually a few months out of date; I’ll have to add updating it on tiara to my endless, joyless to-do list.)
Typically, I hit HOME at least a few hundred times per browsing session. I wiki direct from my mozilla address bar, so I don’t need the whole wikipedia page as a reference tool, and the zillions of links on my regular start page are WHAT I NEED TO LIVE MY LIFE ONLINE, dammit. No single solution is going to replace it.
So my metric for the second use would be “Is this the most useful online tool I could put in this space?” And by that metric, Wikipedia fails spectacularly.
So the best thing would be to integrate some sort of news feed to my start page that would pull from Wikinews, Salon and the New York Times but be unobtrusive enough not to interfere with the main function of that page, which is to provide a zillion links to everything I like.
(My real world, lazy unprogrammer workaround was to add a bookmarklet to Firefox that reads HOME and is directly below the address bar. So now I hit that 100,000 times a day.)
So what did I learn? Well, first I learned that I will absorb information somewhat osmotically if I force myself to stare at it every day, even if it’s just for the 15 seconds it takes me to hit my home made HOME button. Second, I learned that what’s more USEFUL for me is a higher priority than what I think is GOOD for me. And third, I learned that it’s interesting doing usability experiments on yourself.
(It’s also at that point when I stare into the mirror and think “Oh my god, do I need to get a life, FOR REAL.”) | <urn:uuid:fff0960c-1b20-46aa-a3b1-1f03c83a7844> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.tiara.org/blog/the-dramatic-followup-to-the-wikipedia-experiment/ | 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 | 0.942403 | 736 | 1.585938 | 2 |
Dr. Richard Grossman is the longest serving physician with privileges at Mercy Regional Medical Center, a Catholic hospital in Durango, run by Englewood, CO’s Catholic Health Initiatives.
Dr. Grossman is at his hospital office one day per week. When he’s not there, he spends 1-2 days per week working at the local Planned Parenthood as their abortionist. If that isn’t enough, the Planned Parenthood in Durango is the only one providing surgical abortions within a 200 mile radius.
Worse still, Live Action did a telephone sting of Grossman’s office in the hospital and actually solicited an abortion referral from within Mercy with absolute ease. See the video:
“Personally, I believe in the strength, intellect and fortitude of women. When a woman says a fetus is a person, I think it is one. I believe the woman empowers the fetus,” Grossman is quoted as saying in a Durango Herald article on last year’s protest.
Also from the article:
Grossman, 67, was approved by the hospital’s board of directors to practice medicine at the hospital in 1976. Today, he is the hospital’s longest-serving physician.
He was at work in the hospital during the protest.
In a statement, Mercy spokesman Nathan Schmidt said abortions are not performed at the hospital and that it neither employs nor compensates Grossman.
“Dr. Richard Grossman is a member of the medical staff at Mercy Regional Medical Center. Being a member of the hospital’s staff does not constitute employment,” Schmidt said.
Mercy’s physician-credentialing and privileging practices are consistent with the Ethical and Religious Directives for Catholic Health Care Services, Schmidt said.
Mercy is part of Catholic Health Initiatives, the nation’s third-largest Roman Catholic health-care system, headquartered in Denver. It was founded by the Sisters of Mercy in 1882.
There is a reason why physicians gain “privileges” to practice medicine at a given hospital, and not mere “permission.” Having an MD, or DO does not constitute an automatic prerogative. The character of the physician, as written in the history of how they practice medicine, factors into whether or not a physician is deemed worthy of practicing at the hospital in question.
In that light, it is rather disingenuous of the hospital to assert that Grossman is not an employee. The fact of the matter is that the man who spends as much, if not more time aborting babies at Planned Parenthood as he does delivering babies at Mercy (by his secretary’s own admission in the above video), has been granted the PRIVILEGE of practicing medicine at a Catholic Hospital. Moreover, he is being given a level of social/professional recognition by elements within the Church that he does not deserve, and which no official arm of the institutional Church has a right to give-especially when abortion referrals are coming from his office within the hospital.
Simply put, his privileges at Mercy are tantamount to approving his murder of children at Planned Parenthood, as they are not seen as a moral or ethical impediment to gaining privileges at Mercy.
Next Thursday there will be another protest at the Hospital. It must be made perfectly clear to the officials at Mercy and the Diocese of Pueblo that Grossman’s continued presence is intolerable. He must be confronted and forced to choose. We do him no service in charity by allowing him to live in both worlds.
Folks should contact protest organizer, Daniel Anguis, President of LifeGuard at 970-385-8451.
We should also call the following folks and demand some positive action:
Mercy Regional Medical Center 970-247-4311
Catholic Health Initiatives 303-298-9100
Catholic Diocese of Pueblo 719-544-9861
Catholic Archdiocese of Denver 303-715-3129
More to come on this… | <urn:uuid:242f6f6a-8b60-481d-8a5a-b222fda96e87> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://gerardnadal.com/2011/07/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368696382584/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516092622-00039-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.959163 | 842 | 1.585938 | 2 |
Nobody could push the boundaries of what was possible like Senna.
For Ayrton Senna, racing in Formula One was just another metaphor for life. “On a given day, a given circumstance, you think you have a limit. You then go for this limit and you touch it, and you think ‘OK, this is the limit’. But when you touch this limit, something happens and you can suddenly go a little bit further. With your mind power, your determination, your instinct and the experience as well, you can fly very high,” he once said.
And nobody could push the boundaries of what was possible like Senna. He brought to F1 a level of skill and focus never seen before. Instead of falling in line behind well-known and established drivers on the circuit, he challenged and infuriated them by constantly winning. Even when he had an inferior car – like the 1984 Toleman or the 1987 Lotus – he outmaneuvered, out-strategized and out-drove the competition. And when it rained, he was unstoppable. Senna had an instinctive ability to read the track and conditions like nobody else, knowing exactly how much grip the car and the corner offered, and would often outlap faster cars during wet races – like he did in Donnington Park in 1993.
His matchless passion and fury on the track was only surpassed by his magnanimity off it. A devout Christian, he gave away millions from his earnings to the underprivileged in his native Brazil. His humility and modesty gave his impoverished countrymen hope and inspiration. He was respected, applauded, admired and loved by everyone he came into contact with, even bitter rival Alain Prost.
Most unforgettable was the image of him staring quietly into the distance, trying to find inner tranquillity before every race – a wild-eyed boy from São Paulo who took on the world. And won.
To mark the London Olympics, GQ's July issue features the 25 coolest athletes of all time. Get your copy at a local newsstand or subscribe here.
More F1 stories:
- Karan Jain
04 Jul, 2012 | <urn:uuid:9fca624e-5a4b-4226-bf98-d376d1bf4361> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.gqindia.com/content/25-coolest-athletes-ayrton-senna | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368696381249/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516092621-00027-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.979115 | 449 | 1.8125 | 2 |
Skip to comments.Sir Bob Geldof declares rock and roll age dead and doesn't exist anymore
Posted on 03/19/2013 11:30:45 PM PDT by Berlin_Freeper
SIR Bob Geldof says the rock and roll age is dead.
The Boomtown Rats star and Live Aid icon said: "The central problem is, for us, rock and roll was a social medium.
"That period has passed because now there are many alternative social mediums. Rock and roll needs a context in which to exist.
"It doesn't exist anymore. It's ceased to be culturally relevant.
"The rock and roll age is dead, in my view.
He added: "I'm amazed it died. No-one expected that, but I'm lucky I jumped in halfway through it.''
(Excerpt) Read more at news.com.au ...
could they be more self absorbed? Every art form has a period. If it’s classic, it will be relevant, though not contemporary. So what? Anyone in such a capacity should have put aside education, training and savings for future endeavors.
Rock is dead they say....Long Live Rock!
Look who's calling something "dead."
He must be deaf.
It cannot die. It lives inside me.
Just had the unpleasant experience of informing a business associate what the song Lola was all about. He had no clue after listening to it for decades.
At the same time the industrial revolution industrialized production. Production was not done by the local blacksmith anymore, it was done by the gigantic factory spitting out identical parts.
And alongside the factory, music was industrialized , by the radio. Suddenly everyone in the country could listen to the same music. And just as suddenly, music was something you didn't participate in, but observed.
Music went through a seventy year phase of industrial oligopoly control, where few could join, but those who did made money in a tightly controlled distribution network.
And then, the new phase of music began, with the IPod. Suddenly technology could go around the distribution network, and could connect an artist with an audience without going through the music industry selecting what an audience would hear. Does this mean music is dying, or dead? Probably not, but it does mean the music industry is largely irrelevant. The 2020s may be musically more like the 1890s than Led Zepplin's time, fragmented, but innovative to its own audience.
We had a great thread the other day where a lot of shared YouTube videos of songs back from the 60s, mostly obscure that most of us had never heard before, but were hidden gems....it’s like they say, it’s new, if you’ve never heard it before.
"Lock & Loll no die yet!"
Yeah, and the blues is dead too. Shut up Bob. You self-absorbed, liberal pansy.
Brilliant essay, Vince. I can see the truth in what you stated there.
It died when Buddy Holly’s plane went down.
I wish it were true for rap and hip-hop and digitized remixes..ugh. I hear very few original tunes anymore....and with very few exceptions, a good cover.
I’m in my late 50’s now, so maybe I’ve missed something.
One of the few innovators recently (to me anyway) are the Black Keys. And I love Jack Black’s remake of “shakin”. And I’m still a blues fan. So, am I washed up or is there other new stuff out there that actually has merit?
Heavy decibels are playing on my guitar
We got vibrations coming up from the floor
We’re just listening to the rock that’s giving too much noise
Are you deaf, you wanna hear some more
We’re just talkin’ about the future
Forget about the past
It’ll always be with us
It’s never gonna die, never gonna die
Rock ‘n’ roll ain’t noise pollution
Rock ‘n’ roll ain’t gonna die
Rock ‘n’ roll ain’t no pollution
Rock ‘n’ roll it will survive
My, how things have changed.
Well, I hope we're returning to that. Every time I see someone walking down the street with a real musical instrument (saxophone, guitar, flute, violin, etc.) I want to shake his (her) hand. Every time I see someone so absorbed in their iPod that they can't share the sidewalk or make eye contact, I feel like screaming in frustration.
I saw the Bootown Rats booed off the stage back in the day. Lots of fun.
I would say it died sometime back in the early 90s...maybe even late 80s. I listen to everything from Bill Haley & the Comets to AC/DC and Van Halen and all others in between, with the Surfer genre both vocals and also instrumentals only being my favorite. Beach Boys all time favorite group for me followed closely by Jan & Dean. Speaking of which, anyone remember the evening a few summers ago Dean Torrence called the Michael Savage show one summer Friday evening?
Dead? Excuse me, but a gang of us just got back from dancing for 4 hours to a great, live band. Music will never die. The man is old and maudlin. Too much chooming.
Poor feller was bullied for having a second middle name like “Zenon”. Back on RTE TV, he tried to play up the stereotypical “controversial” punk rock image by going after anything Catholic. Just an attention-seeker.
I remember the Boomtown Rats’ last Irish gig in Leixlip Castle, although I didn’t go (didn’t have to; it was loud enough and you could hear it on Main Street). Lots of bloodied-up faces walking up and down the town. The U2 and Police concerts at the same venue were much more dignified.
Get ready to boo again. The remainder of the article is all about how Geldof is in the midst of a Rats reunion. Exciting, eh . . . ?
Leixlip? West of Dublin? I visited my grandmother’s cousin there in 1983 while on my first trip to Ireland. :)
That’s the town. Lived there as a kid in the 70s and very early 80s, before they thought of building a highway through there. Not sure if I know your relatives, though . . .
We’re even further along than that. Everyone is an “artist” now. The participation isn’t limited to musical ability, distribution channels or anything and despite that we have in many cases better quality.
I’ve heard “fans” or audience members cover tunes better and more creatively than the original artist. The 20th century was a control freaks dream century of confluence. My hope is that the 21st century is one of liberty, real liberty.
Have you taken a look at the “virtual school” phenomenon that is taking root in K-12? Here in Louisiana, the teacher’s union has broken out in slobbering fits over the prospect of government schools becoming obsolete.
It will be a paradigm shift in the history of education.
Her name was Mary McGushin. She was about 80-85 when I saw her.
One would wish it had died, however the noise still “Rolls” out. The man is right in statinng it was a cultural thing-Western Culture is moribund. That is its meaning.
I love Imagine Dragons. Rock isn’t dead. Just different.
Very perceptive. I'm shocked that rap lasted longer than a few years, and that rap and dance have displaced rock. They're very monotonous.
There was so much variety and great music in Rock's hey-day, which I would peg from '67-'79.
If they ever come for my music they may as well take my amplifier and speakers too. Then they can have fun with it at their after-work parties.
I've always liked rock, but the more I learn about politics, and the politics of most musicians, the less I can stand to listen to it because of the insane liberal ideologies they promote (listen to Neil Young's "Rockin In The Free World", especially the last verse. Eff him and his opinion of America).
Suddenly technology could go around the distribution network, and could connect an artist with an audience without going through the music industry selecting what an audience would hear.
I hear ads on the radio that implore people not to download tunes for free (steal the music) and while I agree totally with property rights, I note that the music industry is mostly protecting itself, not the artists. My understanding is that the artists make their money off of touring, which of course you have to pay to see. Since they've promoted socialism and the destruction of private property for so long, it's hard to have any sympathy for them.
SIR Bob Geldof says the rock and roll age is dead.
Funny? But Rock n Roll says Bob Geldof is dead.
He did that song “I don’t like Mondays” about the girl who shot up a classroom full of school mates.
Maybe he’s just frustrated that, because R & R is based on truthful commentary, and they can’t do truthful commentary as long as their masters won’t let them, it’s done.
Can you imagine anyone singing about the truth behind Newtown?
Rap is honest.
Kids, the audience, seek truth. They’re on to rap, leaving the BS behind in the dust.
And LONG overdue. The idea that all kids have the same learning style is just ludicrous. They need to be exposed to the same idea from different perspectives to fully grasp it. Some (like me) can garner it easily from the printed page. Others need to see it (video) or hear it (audio).
I think what you'll see is course content online, and teachers functioning more as tutors for those who need help grasping certain ideas.
Kahn Academy is just the barest beginning.
Its dead in the sense that I hear almost nothing new now that I like or resembles Rock and Roll in it heyday. I’m in my mid 50s and used to listen to the radio constantly as a teenager. It was all new stuff—you rarely heard “oldies”. Now when I listen, all the songs are decades old.
If that’s not a sign of death, I don’t know what is.
He was just a friggen Canadian busy-body who sounded like a squealing rat when he 'sang'. And I loved it when Lynyrd Skynyrd responded his rotten 'Southern Man' cr@p-song with 'Sweet Home Alabama' (YouTube live concert).
One of my fave Lynyrd Skynyrd songs Call Me The Breeze 1976 Live Concert, playing it now ;-)
LOL, I have done the same many times. They always get the same look of disbelief when they really pay attention to the words for the first time. I'm sure I looked the same way 25 years ago when someone first informed me.
LOL we own an Internet station and I play Classic Rock and Blues 3 hrs five nights a week!
You would be surprised at the younger Generation that considers it better than Top 40!
It’s out there and still has a great listner base!
Dead? Not by a long shot! Long Live Rock and Roll!
***It died when Buddy Hollys plane went down.****
To me, it died when the BEATLES hit this shore. Music then went to trash.
For excellent surf (instrumental) music, may I recommend a Pittsburgh band called The Turbosonics. You can find their page on facebook and they have just released their first CD. They are influenced by Dick Dale and Link Wray. If I can find the site where you can hear clips of their music, I’ll reply again. Right now they all are at work at their day time jobs.
But it's cheap to produce. Disposable "flavor of the month" acts.
I blame Grunge. Especially Curt Cobain.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works. | <urn:uuid:8a066863-ce07-4026-810c-1f0d3bca4e28> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2998709/posts | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368704713110/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516114513-00019-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.961067 | 2,693 | 1.5625 | 2 |
We strongly disagree with the Banner-Herald's characterization of multi-use paths like the Oconee Rivers Greenway Network as "frivolous" (Editorial, "Not the right time for A-C to seek trails," Sunday).
Also, to the best of our knowledge, in the 20-year history of the greenway we have never used condemnation, and have only put in trails when all involved property owners agreed to provide an easement or sell their property for a fair market value.
Across the country, wherever they have been built, multi-use paths have become an important option for commuters, have increased rates of activity and exercise, and actually have increased the value of adjacent properties. The route in question passes the apartments of many hundreds of University of Georgia students and would provide a safe, level route to connect with existing or already-funded multi-use paths along and across the North Oconee River and into campus.
At a time when nearly 30 percent of our citizens are obese, when gasoline costs more than ever, and when our roads are increasingly clogged, creating safe and healthy options for commuters and for family-oriented recreation is hardly frivolous. Selective use of existing sewer easements, which typically are relatively level and require access by county employees for maintenance anyway, is just the smart thing to do.
Mark H. Ebell, M.D.
Oconee Rivers Greenway Commission
Athens Banner-Herald ©2013. All Rights Reserved. | <urn:uuid:744ad9cc-e8d6-476d-bbb5-1ce9d22d6dbd> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://onlineathens.com/stories/050608/letters_2008050600456.shtml | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368702810651/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516111330-00033-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.954284 | 305 | 1.59375 | 2 |
Lewis Packford, the great Shakespearean scholar, was thought to have discovered a book annotated by the Bard - but there is no trace of this valuable object when Packford apparently commits suicide. Sir John Appleby finds a mixed bag of suspects at the dead man's house, who might all have a good motive for murder. The scholars and bibliophiles who were present might have been tempted by the precious document in Packford's possession. And Appleby discovers that Packford had two secret marriages, and that both of these women were at the house at the time of his death.
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If you’ve been keeping up on Xcacel-Xcacelito through the blog or elsewhere, you know that Grupo Posadas has been intent on building a resort on one of the most important turtle nesting sites in the world. These creatures are the loggerhead (Caretta caretta) and green (Chelonian mydas) sea turtles.
Due to shady business between the federal and state governments and third parties, Xcacel-Xcacelito went from being a protected site to a patch of land up for grabs to the highest freakin’ bidder.
Even though this area used to be protected, as it belonged to a region declared protected back in 1998, it is no longer under jurisdiction of the state government. Being now in the federal government’s control, it was commercialized.
Grupo Posadas took advantage of the perilous situation the sanctuary found itself in and recently purchased the area free of legal repercussions regarding nature conservation and so on.
What we can do is email people in power in the Mexican Government, tell them how wrong we think this is, and do our best to influence them to turn things around. To take this land out of corporate hands and back into nature and the people’s.
I’ve found information on who to email; these are people influential in making decisions regarding whether to keep Xcacel-Xcacelito as an unviolated nesting site or turn it into a corporate wasteland.
The Mangrove Action Project has a sample letter you can email Mexican President Calderón and other folk in the Mexican Government. | <urn:uuid:3223ecbf-49c6-46a6-87df-072dbc75d3dc> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://saveecodestinations.com/tag/hotel-development/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368701852492/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516105732-00026-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.934694 | 335 | 1.648438 | 2 |
Eighteen-year-old Amanda Downs knows what it takes to be a winning athlete.
The 2011 Novi-High-School-graduate-turned-Michigan-State-University cheerleader overcame two major injuries to help her team win national recognition at one of the largest competitions in the country.
“On two separate occasions I thought I would never cheer again, so nationals this year felt so amazing,” Downs said.
Downs just finished her freshman year at Michigan State and cheers on the All-Girl Competitive Cheerleading team. She and her fellow teammates recently won fifth place at the National Cheerleaders Association National Championships held in mid-April in Daytona, Florida.
The finish is the best in the school’s history and places them among the nation’s most elite collegiate cheer programs.
However, it was not an accomplishment that came easy for Downs, who suffered a major back injury at practice while she was in high school.
She missed more than a year of cheering and was lucky to return to the sport at all.
Then, in November 2011, Downs suffered a severe break to her hand that almost ruined her cheer career again.
“We were doing an (advanced) stunt and the way I caught the flyer coming down just wasn’t right. I tried to shake it off, but my hand was totally stuck in an awkward position. I had to try so hard to fight the tears back,” Downs said.
She had a severe fracture to the middle three bones on the back of her hand. The bones were so badly broken, she said, that she was unable to move her hand at all. Continued...
“It was kind of like when you break a tree branch, and it splits right down the middle and then won’t really line back up again,” she said.
The hand injury required surgery that placed three screws into Downs’ hand. She was then forced to wait to know whether she would ever cheer again.
“I didn’t think I would be back on the team ever again, that’s what I was worried about. I had no idea how tumbling on a hand that has three screws in it was going to feel,” Downs said.
The doctors informed Downs that she had to be able to make a full fist in order to get her cast removed and return to cheering.
“I had to be able to make a fist in four weeks (after surgery) in order to get the cast off, so I had to work very hard. It became my own form of physical therapy, and it was so hard,” she said.
Downs finally got the OK to return back to cheering and was quickly put back into the team’s routine. Only months later, she returned to her school with a trophy from the collegiate national championships.
Downs credits her love for the sport for getting her through her injuries. According to her, injuries are just a part of the game and are quickly forgotten when she’s on stage competing.
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Stephen Frye has covered the police beat and courts for The Oakland Press and now serves as online editor for www.theoaklandpress.com.
Informs on and discusses current matters of legal interest to readers of The Oakland Press and to consumers of legal services in the community.
Caren Gittleman likes talking cats. She'll discuss everything about them. Share your stories and ask her questions about your favorite feline.
Roger Beukema shares news from Lansing that impacts sportsmen (this means ladies as well) and talks about things he finds when he goes overseas to visit his children, and adding your comments into the mix.
Join Jonathan Schechter as he shares thoughts on our natural world in Oakland County and beyond. | <urn:uuid:410473e9-82c7-41e1-81e3-4f8b2e1880f1> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.theoaklandpress.com/articles/2012/05/13/news/local_news/doc4fb052123bac8883258047.txt | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368704713110/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516114513-00037-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.969328 | 1,115 | 1.578125 | 2 |
The College of Idaho for years has strived to increase awareness and interest in Jewish culture and history throughout Idaho and the West. Those efforts continue this winter as the College hosts From Haven to Home: 350 Years of Jewish Life in America, a traveling exhibition made possible by the American Jewish Historical Society and Jewish American History Month. The exhibition will run from Jan. 9 through March 19 inside the Langroise Center for Performing and Fine Arts on the C of I campus in Caldwell. It will be open to the public, free of charge, daily between the hours of 8 a.m. and 5 p.m.
“The College of Idaho strives to welcome and celebrate many different cultures and beliefs,” C of I President Marv Henberg said. “We invite the entire Treasure Valley community to join our students and faculty in learning about and commemorating through this magnificent exhibition the successful integration of Jewish culture into the American fabric.”
Sid Lapidus, co-chairman of the American Jewish Historical Society, will deliver a free public lecture as part of the Jan. 23 official opening ceremony for the exhibition, co-sponsored by KeyBank and Boise State Public Radio. Opening remarks for the event begin at 3:30 p.m. in Langroise Center, followed by the lecture from 4 to 5 p.m. and a reception ending at 6 p.m. Those planning to attend the opening event are asked to RSVP to [email protected] or 208-459-5071.
From Haven to Home is a newly-designed version of the original Library of Congress exhibition by the same title, exhibited at the Library’s Jefferson building in 2004 in conjunction with the commission to commemorate 350 years of American Jewish history. The exhibition consists of large, portable display panels which show art, photography, literature, news articles and other artifacts that showcase how America, from its origins as a safe haven for Jews, blossomed into a home where Jewish culture, religion, business and tradition thrive.
The College of Idaho is working to establish an endowed chair in Judaic Studies, the first of its kind in the Intermountain West. Longtime C of I history professor Dr. Howard Berger has been the driving force behind Jewish studies at the College, hosting an annual Passover Seder, leading student trips to Jerusalem, teaching courses in Jewish history and bringing Jewish dignitaries to campus as guest speakers through the Howard Berger Lecture Series. From Haven to Home is part of that series.
“Judaic studies encompass so much more than religious beliefs or actually being Jewish,” Berger said. “Jewish culture and tradition have contributed so much to the American way of life, and vice versa. I am so pleased that our students and the community will have the opportunity to view and learn from this wonderful exhibit here at the College.”
Tours or after-hours accessibility for schools and other groups may be arranged by contacting C of I student Savannah Ottmar at [email protected].
Founded in 1891, The College of Idaho is the state’s oldest private liberal arts college. It has a century-old tradition of educating some of the most accomplished graduates in Idaho, including six Rhodes Scholars, three Marshall Scholars, and another ten Truman and Goldwater Scholars. The College is located on a beautiful campus in Caldwell, Idaho. Its distinctive PEAK curriculum challenges students to attain competencies in the four knowledge peaks of the humanities, natural sciences, social sciences and a professional field, enabling them to graduate with an academic major and three minors in four years. For more information on The College of Idaho, visit www.collegeofidaho.edu. | <urn:uuid:d08a6163-f473-4345-8ebc-afc548680ee0> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.collegeofidaho.edu/blog/news/2011/12/16/c-i-host-national-jewish-history-exhibit | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368705559639/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516115919-00011-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.947125 | 766 | 1.828125 | 2 |
The pantries say they always see more need in summer, when children on free or reduced-price school breakfasts and lunches aren't getting those meals. As this summer approaches, the slow economy and rising costs means these nonprofit groups are struggling to keep up with increased demand. Joanna Richards has the story.
The group aims to spotlight the work of regional artists, and it hopes to draw more community...
The Community Action Planning Council and the Watertown Urban Mission each asked the city for $10,000 in extra funding this week to help keep their food pantries stocked for the busy summer months.
Erica Flint, executive director of the Urban Mission, said, "Some summers in the past we've had to go from our traditional
five-day supply down to a three-day supply, and this funding has enabled
us to ensure we can do that five-day supply that is just so critical at
a time like this." Urban Mission lets families use its pantry once each month.
Incomes are just not keeping up with costs in this economy, Flint said, and that means people are having to make tough choices. As one example, a woman needed to fix her car to keep her job but that brought her into the food pantry to feed herself.
Flint said regular lulls in the need for pantries have evaporated: "The thing that we're seeing is not only that summer's tougher but we're seeing just throughout the traditional year more need now than ever."
More of the underemployed or working poor are seeking aid and that means lots of people are arriving at food pantries for the first time, some embarrassed or uncomfortable, according to Tammy Kitto, who is emergency services manager for the Community Action Planning Council. "We have people break down and cry and tell us how embarassed and apologize for using the services," Kitto said.
How are those sitations handled? "Well, we have trained staff here and very professional staff and you know we deal with the situations and explain to them that's why we're here," Kitto said. "That's why our jobs exist."
Both groups are also seeing more seniors. Flint says many military families and friends are seeking assistance when first arriving in the area, often to help a spouse with children during deployment.
Making matters worse is a delay in regular funding from the Federal Emergency Management Agency this year, which is putting the squeeze on the pantries right when aid is most needed.
Both organizations said they're grateful to the city for the funding boost that will help make up for the missing funds as summer gets under way.
Kitto stresses that groups like hers are there to help – no one should be ashamed seeking assistance. | <urn:uuid:6891aaff-6d2c-4652-ae1b-7df329bca1f4> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.northcountrypublicradio.org/news/story/17807/20110609/food-pantries-gear-up-for-a-tough-summer | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368697380733/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516094300-00005-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.972348 | 561 | 1.710938 | 2 |
Life is hectic. Nothing’s new about that. As a result, families find it increasingly hard, if not outright impossible, to make time for an old-fashioned sit-down meal at any time of the week, even on weekends. Food manufacturers know this all too well and are eager to provide time-strapped parents with ever more options to feed hungry mouths in an instant and without much effort.
When It Comes to Food Choices
Convenience Is Too Often a Priority
Take, for example, the growing popularity of food pouches that have hit the market not too long ago and are quickly becoming a must-have staple in the snack arsenal of moms all over the country. These pouches, equipped with little plastic spouts at the top, allow young children to suck on mixes of fruit-, vegetable- and grain purees whenever they feel like it. No chopping or blenderizing needed. And no spoon-feeding either! Fighting over every bite when the picky eater refuses to cooperate? Thing of the past.
One producer of these pouches is Plum Organics from Emeryville, California. Its C.E.O., Neil Grimmer, sees his products as a tool that frees parents from the burden of having to observe structured mealtimes. “Regular mealtimes just add one more item to the schedule,” he said in an interview with the New York Times (6/21/2012). Mobile food technology for the modern family, as he calls it, can change all that. “It’s on-the-go snacking, on-the go nourishment. It moves with kids and puts control in their hands.”
Critics have questioned whether the ubiquitous availability of food in lieu of regular sit-down meals is a desirable move. Dr. Brian Wansink, a professor at Cornell University and best-selling author of “Mindless Eating – Why We Eat More Than We Think,” cautioned that innovations like the pouch move us “away from a generation of a certain kind of discipline and of a clean-your-plate attitude.” (New York Times ibid.) His concern is that eliminating structure around eating may also have negative consequences beyond issues of nutrition. “It’s going to create a lot of self-absorbed kids,” he said.
Scheduled meals, by their very nature, set boundaries that are otherwise missing. Kids learn to wait for their turn to be served and to eat, they acquire important social skills such as table manners, and they get a sense of the value their food has.
All-day snacking, on the other hand, offers none of that. It can also easily lead to weight gain, even from relatively healthy foods, due to loss of control over one’s calorie intake. Kids who grow up nibbling all day will likely continue to be grazers as adults.
Once these habits are formed, parents will find it hard to make positive changes. “While I recognize that kids get hungry and a well-timed snack can head off a world of problems, I often lament the fact that my kids have learned to expect a snack every time we go away from home for longer than an hour,” wrote Betsy Shaw, a mother and writer for BabyCenter.com. The expectation is that food is available at all times and without delay. Its existence is never questioned. And because it is there, it gets consumed, often mindlessly, as Dr. Wansink would say.
Giving kids more control over their eating patterns with the help of food pouches and the likes may be convenient and time-saving. But it also has the potential of making bad things worse in the fight against childhood obesity. Parents who use these items should be advised to do so with caution, just as they must limit snack foods and sodas. Their children’s nutritional health deserves absolute priority. | <urn:uuid:6cc4509c-1d0a-4d04-8ee4-f8ef460f792c> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.timigustafson.com/2012/eating-on-the-run-starts-early/ | 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 | 0.9582 | 814 | 1.546875 | 2 |
President Barack Obama Says “US Is Not Deadbeat Nation” …Misses Deadline for Sending Budget to Congress after Continued $1 Trillion Deficit Spending
LION LYING KING: President Barack Obama is once again playing divisive, misrepresentative, fear, blame games … says “US is not a Deadbeat Nation”.
No, we are not a deadbeat nation, we have a deadbeat President in office. Barack Obama is claiming that the US will default on their debt if the debt ceiling is not raised. YOU LIE. We will not default, all that will occur is that new spending will be halted. Something that needs to happen. What a joke this president is. Just after he says that the US is not a deadbeat nation, Obama missed the deadline to sending a budget to Congress. Who is the deadbeat, Mr. President? To date, Obama has yet to have any budget passed by Congress. When Obama was Senator Obama in 2006. he stated that raising the debt limit was “a sign that the U.S. Government can’t pay its own bills”. So what’s the difference now, oh, he is now president. Sorry America, but Barack Obama’s presidential spending spree is the definition of a deadbeat. Obama is not saying that by extending the debt limit, he is paying for current debt. He is doing this to tack more wasteful spending on to a credit card that he never intends to pay back. That my friend is the definition of a deadbeat.
The “Deadbeat” President
The Frontpage Magazine reported the following:
1. In 2006, Obama said that raising the debt limit was “a sign that the U.S. Government can’t pay its own bills. It is a sign that we now depend on ongoing financial assistance from foreign countries to finance our Government’s reckless fiscal policies”.
Now failing to raise the debt limit and not pay the bills using financial assistance from foreign governments to finance his reckless fiscal policies is a sign that America can’t pay its own bills. By which he means his bills.
2. When you run up this high a debt, then you are a deadbeat. Turning the national numbers into a family income, Obama’s spending spree is the equivalent of a family with a $21,700 annual income running up $16,500 in new debt to be added to $142,710 in existing credit card debt.
If that’s not the definition of a deadbeat, I don’t know what is.
3. It’s not America’s debt. It’s America’s debt the way that it’s your debt when the bellboy runs up illegal charges on your credit card. And here the bellboy is accusing the hotel of being deadbeats unless they let him run up a lot more charges on the country’s credit card.
4. Obama isn’t proposing that America pay the bills, but that it borrow even more money that he doesn’t intend to pay back either.
Remember when Obama said that adding $4 trillion in debt was unpatriotic … Why is it different for Obama’s nearly $6 trillion?
Why is it different for Obama and why is the MSM not holding his feat to the fire and pointing out the obvious double talk? Obama is the most divisive and misrepresentative president we have ever had and when you call him on it, one is branded a racists. Some one best call him out and stop his destruction of the United States before its too late and we do not have a country to save. Seriously America, how simple is this for you to understand? If all a credit card company did was increase your limit whenever you went over, you would never get serious and pay down your debt, you would just keep spending until the next increase. Until eventually you have such an insurmountable debt that could never be paid. | <urn:uuid:31f4256c-d8c2-43e0-80fc-92565d8a11cf> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://scaredmonkeys.com/2013/01/15/president-barack-obama-says-us-is-not-deadbeat-nation-misses-deadline-for-sending-budget-to-congress-after-continued-1-trillion-deficit-spending/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368705953421/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516120553-00011-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.957219 | 828 | 1.765625 | 2 |
Microsoft Research is opening a new lab in New York City, seeding it with a group of former Yahoo researchers who have made their mark in social networks, computational economics and data-intensive machine learning — hot areas of computer science that Microsoft hopes will ultimately help make its products more competitive.
Fifteen researchers will be brought on board to start the lab. The move follows recent layoffs at Yahoo.
Microsoft announced the news tonight, saying that the new office will be run by Jennifer Chayes, giving her oversight of the New York City lab and the New England lab, which she had previously been running.
One of the Yahoo veterans, computer scientist David Pennock, an economics specialist, will serve as the New York lab’s assistant managing director.
Joining him will be former Yahoo scientists including Duncan Watts, a sociologist who has written books including “Six Degrees: The Science of a Connected Age” and “Everything Is Obvious*: Once You Know the Answer”; and John Langford, an expert in machine learning.
Yahoo, which partners with Microsoft in web search and advertising, last month laid off 2,000 employees, or 14 percent of its workforce, the first in a series of cutbacks expected under new CEO Scott Thompson.
Microsoft Research now has 13 labs around the world and more than 850 Ph.D. researchers total. | <urn:uuid:14e7de87-a592-4092-be10-3f0e0adc9e39> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.geekwire.com/2012/microsoft-takes-manhattan-recruits-yahoo-researchers-nyc-lab/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368702810651/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516111330-00012-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.950133 | 282 | 1.570313 | 2 |
Indian College Students Face Bleak Prospects
The New York Times has written an article on the state of collages in India. From the article…
“In the 2001 census, [Indian] college graduates had higher unemployment — 17 percent — than middle or high school graduates… [At a middle-tier college] dozens of students swarmed around a reporter to complain about their education. ‘What the market wants and what the school provides are totally different,’ a commerce student said…. [A] final-year student who expects next year to make $2 to $4 a day hawking credit cards, was dejected. ‘The opportunities we get at this stage are sad,’ she said. ‘We might as well not have studied.’”
“We might as well not have studied”
Almost all the advantages I have today is because I did not go to collage when I had the opportunity. I decided to take the ‘less trodden’ path. I taught myself programming instead of being taught programming by people who could not get a job as a programmer. Don’t get me wrong – there are good teachers out there. But chances are that you won’t get one as your teacher.
I did some time as a IGNOU student – but I quit before I completed the course. The books were full of…
- Unbelievably outdated content
- Blatant inaccuracies
- Useless stuff
There was a little bit of useful content – but you have to search real hard to find it.
What about you? How much of the stuff you learned in collage are you using in your job? | <urn:uuid:636352c1-6e6d-4387-a152-725fd013add9> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://blog.binnyva.com/2006/12/indian-college-students-face-bleak-prospects/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368705559639/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516115919-00038-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.98299 | 350 | 1.8125 | 2 |
There are some reasons behind any small and midsize company to integrate the business operations. These are:
1. Competitive pressures
2. To improve the decision making capabilities
3. To increase the productivity of the working environment
Because of these three reasons, small and mid size companies are in ERP implementation spree these days. They have been exploring the market to get the right and suitable application for their business environment.
SAP Business One is a robust application in the market and effectively fits into the small and mid size business environment. In olden days, SAP used to be more costly and largely meant for the big companies. SAP has come up with a robust application called Business One to fulfill the small and mid size company needs. It is true that SAP Business One is designed keeping the requirements of the small and mid size market in the mind.
Small and mid size companies consider mainly three features of software before taking the final decision.
2. Scalability and flexibility of the application software
3. Efficiency of the application
Small and mid size companies can not afford to pay huge amounts on ERP implementations. So, they will try to get the best and suitable software that matches their budget. SAP has segmented the market into two types and serving both the markets with different types of applications. SAP Business One is a cost effective application and it is designed to cater the business needs of the small and mid size market. You can get this application software within your expected price range only.
All small and mid size companies have been growing rapidly. Today's business environment is so dynamic and companies have been changing their strategies to expand themselves in the market. They are looking for various applications which can assist them in future. All small and mid size business owners are exploring for ERP applications keeping the future vision in the mind. Hence, the applications have to be so flexible and scalable to cater the business needs of the customer in later years.
SAP Business One is the perfect solution for these types of customers because there are many additional features built in the application that most of the business environments will not use presently. All these features will be useful for the companies in future years. There is no other software application in the market which has got the additional features that can serve the customer needs in the future.
The ERP application has to be catered all the company needs effectively. It has to take care of the integration of all the functional departments, effective work scheduling, order tracking and the availability of the critical data to help the decision makers to take the right decisions. Small and mid size companies will concentrate on the effective utilization of the resources to ensure the ROI ameliorated.
As far as features are concerned, SAP is the best software application in the market. There are almost all the features which are there in other SAP products are built in SAP Business One also. SAP Business One's core strength lies in the manufacturing modules that provide multiple benefits for small and midsize organizations. SAP Business One helps the organization on their daily business activities. More over, once the ERP is implemented, it will be the backbone of your business and caters all the business needs. | <urn:uuid:b6e8a91a-fd17-4b03-b9d6-e5bff31e3d22> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.nickmutt.com/sap-business-one-for-small-mid-size-company.htm | 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 | 0.959224 | 640 | 1.59375 | 2 |
Spotted in China: Buick New Century
Published on June 13, 2012 by Tycho de Feyter
Here we have a very fine Buick New Century, parked straight in the middle of a sidewalk in south-western Beijing. The Buick New Century was the first car from the Shanghai-GM joint venture, it was made in China from late 1998 until early 2000 when it was replaced by the Buick Regal. The New Century was based on the American sixth-gen Buick Century. ‘New’ was added to the name to prevent any confusion with the Asia-only Toyota Century.
Since the Century and Regal were basically the same car it can be hard to see the difference, especially in China. There was no Century-badge, the New Century only had a ‘Shanghai GM’ badge on the back, and a small ’3.0′ badge for the engine. The Shanghai GM badge disappeared on the Regal and was replaced by a ‘Regal’ badge, later on again that was replaced by a ‘上海通用’ badge (Shanghai-GM in Chinese).
Not many New Century’s were made in its short production run, it is therefore a rather rare car to see on the streets today. The Regal however became a huge success and continued all the way until 2008 when it was replaced by the current Buick Regal based on the Opel Insignia. | <urn:uuid:1e019b05-9678-417c-8365-2c683014fe8b> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.carnewschina.com/2012/06/13/spotted-in-china-buick-new-century/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368700264179/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516103104-00041-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.985614 | 306 | 1.820313 | 2 |
October 1. 1785 London
[salute] My dear sister
I told you in my last, that I was going to dine with my Friend Mrs. Rogers. You must know that yesterday the whole Diplomatick Choir dinned here, that is his Lordship the Marquiss of Carmarthan and all the Foreign Ministers 15 in all,1
and to day the Newspapers proclaim it. I believe they have as many Spies here as the Police of France. Upon these occasions no Ladies are admitted, so I wrote a card and beg'd a dinner for myself and Daughter of Mrs. Rogers where I know I am always welcome.
It is customary to send out cards of invitation ten days before hand. Our cards were gone out, and as good luck would have it, Captain Hay returnd from the West Indies and presented us with a noble Turtle weighing a hundred and 14 pounds which was drest upon this occasion. Tho it gave us a good deal of pain to receive so valuable a present from them; yet we could not refuse it without affronting them, and it certainly happend at a most fortunate time. On tuesday they and a Number of our American Friends and some of our English Friends, for I assure you we have a chosen few of that number, are to dine with us.
This afternoon I have had a visit from Madam Pinto, the Lady of the Portugal Minister. They have all visited now, and I have returnd their visits, but this is the only Lady that I have seen. She speaks english tolerabely and appears an agreeable woman. She has lately returnd to this Country from whence she has been 5 years absent. The Chevelier de Pinto has been Minister here for many years.2
Some years hence it may be a pleasure to reside here in the Character of American Minister, but with the present sallery and the present
temper of the English no one need to envy the embassy. There would soon be fine work if any notice was taken of their Bilingsgate and abuse, but all their arrows rebound and fall Harmless to the ground. Amidst all their falshoods, they have never insinuated a Lisp against the private Character of the American Minister, nor in his publick Line charged him with either want of abilities honour or integrity. The whole venom has been leveld against poor America, and every effort to make her appear ridiculous in the Eyes of the Nation. How would they exult if they could lay hold of any circumstance in Either of our Characters to make us appear ridiculous.
I received a Letter to day from Mr. Jefferson who writes me; that he had just received a parcel of English Newspapers. They “teem says he with every horrour of which nature is capable; assassination Suicide thefts robberies, and what is worse than thefts Murder and robbery, the blackest Slanders! Indeed the Man must be of rock who can stand all this. To Mr. Adams it will be but one victory the more. It would [have]
illy suited me. I do not love difficulties, I am fond of quiet, willing to do my duty, but irritable by slander and apt to be forced by it to abandon my post. I fancy says he it must be the quantity of Animal food eaten by the English which renders their Character unsusceptible of civilisation. I suspect that it is in their kitchens and not in their Churches, that their reformation must be worked, and that missionaries from hence would avail more than those who should Endevour to tame them by precepts of Religion or Philosophy.”3
But he adds, what do the foolish Printers of America mean by retailing all this Stuff in our Papers, as if it was not enough to be slandered by ones Enemies without circulating the Slanders amongst ones Friends too?
I could tell Mr. Jefferson that I doubt not that there are persons in America equally gratified with them as the english, and that from a spirit of envy. But these open attacks are nothing to the secret and subtle Enemies Mr. A. has had heretofore to encounter. In Mr. Jefferson he has a firm and faithfull Friend, with whom he can consult and advise, and as each of them have no object but the good of their Country in view, they have an unlimited confidence in each other, and they have only to lament that the Channel divides their more frequent intercourse.
You ask me whether I must tarry out three years?4
Heaven only knows what may be the result of one if any probabity appears of accomplishing any thing. Tis likely we may tarry. I am sure that it
will be a Labour if not of Love yet of much perplexity, and difficulty. The immense debt due from the Mercantile part of America to this Country, sours this people beyond measure and greatly distresses thousands who never were or ever will be Polititians. The Manufactures who supplied the Merchants, and depend upon them for remittances, indeed I pitty their situation. At the same time I think our Countrymen greatly to blame for getting a credit, that many of them have taken no Pains to preserve, but who have thoughtlessly rioted upon the Property of others.
And this amongst other things makes our Situation dissagreeable and the Path very difficult for negotiation.5
You make an other inquiry too, how your Neice will like to tarry. I can assure you, and all those whom it ever
concernd that I have not seen her half so happy and contented since she left America, as she has been for six weeks past,6
and I am persuaded she has no particular attachment there more than we all have in common. The last vessels brought her no Letters but from a female Friend or two. A few lines only have found their way across the vast ocean since last December, and them through the utmost hazard of Barbarians Algerines &c. Who would dare to trust a Letter? But enough I will say nothing, as she wishes every delicacy may be used with respect to a Person whom once we thought better of. But you cannot wonder that she rather wishes to remain some time in Europe than for a speedy return.
Your Nephew you have had with you before now. As he did not arrive soon enough for commencment, he wished to see many Person in New York to whom he had Letters, and as he received much civility there, he did not leave it so suddenly as his Nothern Friends expected. He had permission to remain there a fortnight or more as he found it proper and convenient. I believe he is fully sensible of the necessity of oconomy. I never saw any inclination in him to unnecessary expence. He was my Book keeper all the time I resided at Auteuil and perfectly knows what our expences were; he will be very sensible they are not lessned by our residence in London, where we are more exposed to Company, and obliged to an attendance at Court. It mortifies me that I have it not in my Power to send amongst my Friends many things which I should rejoice to, as there are now so many articles restricted. If any particular thing is wanted by you or yours which I can put into the private trunk of a Captain, let me know it, and you shall have it.
I would have you write me by way of New York during the winter. Cover your Letters either to Mr. King or Gerry; which address will
Frank them to New York and they will forward them to me. I shall take the same method; as it is not likely any other opportunitys but by the Pacquet will offer. My Paper calls upon me to subscribe your affectionate Sister | <urn:uuid:276a6fde-1e7f-49fa-a0b7-fbadd7635980> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.masshist.org/publications/apde/portia.php?id=AFC06d125 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368699273641/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516101433-00020-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.979659 | 1,595 | 1.59375 | 2 |
Because of some political malice we have some hilarious never ending issues which are deeply affecting the people all over the world.
1. Kashmir Issues: This Kasmir issue is the most sensual, religious, fundamental and sensational subject ever made in the world. Since Independence India and Pakistan does not know how to solve this issue. Even the people who are living in the territory are very much frustrated about their life and also are living in terror in thinking of the future.
2. Africa's Forever Wars: Why the Africa’s bloodiest and most brutal wars are looking like it is in a continuous process. It is estimated that total 5 million people have already died since 1998. Even the most user friendly country like Kenya blew up in 2008.
3.Unending Revolution in Afghanistan: Afghanistan is now a converted into a war zone place from a romantic place. From 1960 to 1970 this place is the heaven for the drug users, especially Americans. After the massacre (9/11) which master planned by Mujahedin group, the scenario has been changed all of a sudden. The deployment of the US military force has not been stopped yet. The situation has been deteriorated day by day.
4. Never Ending Poverty in Africa: Africa is the poorest counties in the world. The situation there is horrible. People are dying because of malnutrition. As per statistics one in 7 African children dies at the age of five. Nearly one third of children in Sub Sahara Africa are under weight. Some experts claim that the poverty could be eradicated if and only if their politicians are replaced.
5. Islam - West Conflict: It is really very much horrible and pathetic that innocent people are being slaughtered because of never ending political conflicts in between Islam and West. Due to the incident 9/11 we have lost our relatives, brothers, sons, fathers, mothers and many more innocent people we have. Even the deployment of US soldiers in Islamic country could not be able to stop killing innocent children, women and many people. Day by day the situation is going to be out of control. In the past the militants (specially Al-Qaeda, Mujahideen etc.) had been misused politically so the aggression among the militants were erupted like Vesuvius and they showed their aggression.
6. No jobs for Americans: It is really most gruesome to explain for an American for the terrific life they live. Millions of Americans are jobless. Even Government has not even found any solution to manage it. It is not that has been created ‘all of a sudden’. Since collapse of Soviet Russia the World Trade centre has been devastated and gradually the American market for the job seekers has been worsen. People are looking it seriously, they even risen question that if China can proficient economically then why not US. | <urn:uuid:0838b293-1794-4d03-8881-d19205a0ea69> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://expertscolumn.com/content/6-most-never-ending-political-conflicts | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368706499548/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516121459-00019-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.970153 | 566 | 1.609375 | 2 |
Several years later, Leo T. Buggy, working at his AXA Equitable office in Rock Springs, convinced a number of clients to cash out of investments – incurring early withdrawal penalties and other fees – to put that money in investments that he told them were safer and produced higher yields. He produced statements that purported to be from AXA detailing the fake accounts.
In reality, he had transferred up to $1.2 million in client funds to his personal bank accounts.
In one case, Buggy emptied a client’s account – insurance money the victim received after her husband’s death in a motorcycle accident; she’d relied on that to supplement her Social Security income.
In August 2007, Novotny was sentenced to 38 months in federal prison after pleading guilty to mail fraud and money laundering charges. He was also ordered to pay his victim $330,500.
In October 2009, Buggy was sentenced to 46 months in federal prison after pleading guilty to mail fraud, wire fraud and money laundering charges. He also was ordered to reimburse $1.2 million to AXA; the company had reimbursed his clients.
The Wyoming Secretary of State, among other duties, serves as Wyoming’s securities commissioner. The Compliance Division oversees the state’s securities industry and is responsible for registering investments offered or sold in Wyoming as well as registering and overseeing the firms and brokers working for those firms.
An estimated 83,000 securities agents are registered in Wyoming, giving the Secretary of State’s Office access to background information on all of them, including criminal history, customer complaints, regulatory actions taken as well as any other disclosures.
The Secretary of State has the authority to investigate violations of the state Securities Act and has jurisdiction over fraudulent activities in these areas. The division can file administrative actions – to revoke licenses, for example – and to refer criminal matters to local, state or federal authorities.
Fraud investigators often find that victims are embarrassed or feel stupid and as a result they don’t report crimes. Karen Wheeler, director of the Secretary of State’s Compliance Division said people should never feel that way. While recovering lost money isn’t always possible, that will never happen if fraud isn’t reported.
If you suspect something is fishy about a broker’s promise or an investment opportunity, all it takes is a quick phone call to verify that the product is registered to be sold in Wyoming and that the broker is in good standing. Contact the Wyoming Secretary of State’s Compliance Division at 307-777-7370.
Find more information, including tips to avoid risky investments.
Join for Just $16 A Year
- Discounts on travel and everyday savings
- Subscription to AARP The Magazine
- Free membership for your spouse or partner | <urn:uuid:b1d7a4b0-2c83-4163-99f5-45d7cf02c4ad> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.aarp.org/money/investing/info-05-2012/trust-your-gut-wy1890.2.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368702448584/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516110728-00032-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.966318 | 578 | 1.523438 | 2 |
Laptop connects to wireless network but not internet?
by lowen92 - 9/11/11 5:44 AM
My laptop does not connect to the internet on the wireless networks in my flat. It will connect to the network, but will not have internet access. There are several unsecured wireless networks available run by the flat and I can't connect to the internet on any of them, whereas other members of the flats and my flatmates are able to. This suggests there is not a problem as such with the router, turning it off and on again has already been attempted. When I moved in, the man in charge of maintaining/organising etc the flats took my MAC address and allowed my laptop access. Yet I cannot connect to the internet. I went to my uni's library and connected to the internet no problem. I have tried turning off my internet security, looking at the properties of the wireless connection and attempting to edit settings (changing them back again afterwards), and nothing seems to be working. I have taken a printscreen of my network status here <a href="http://i53.tinypic.com/o6hgs7.jpg" target="_blank"><font color="#0044dc">http://i53.tinypic.com/o6hgs7.jpg</font></a> in case it sheds some light on the problem. Thanks in advance for your help! | <urn:uuid:d0e8dd48-6957-44c9-a293-a298bdf4dd0c> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://forums.cnet.com/7723-19411_102-541032/laptop-connects-to-wireless-network-but-not-internet/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368705953421/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516120553-00015-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.938378 | 291 | 1.765625 | 2 |
Sun December 30, 2012
A Swell Of Elections In Post-Arab Spring Middle East
Originally published on Sun January 6, 2013 6:50 am
JACKI LYDEN, HOST:
Yesterday, we spoke with NPR's Cairo bureau chief, Leila Fadel, about the news she's covered in Egypt in 2012. Now, we're going to look forward. Robin Wright has written extensively about the Middle East as a former correspondent for The Washington Post. She's a joint fellow at the U.S. Institute of Peace and the Woodrow Wilson International Center and an author. And she joins me now in our studio. Robin Wright, thank you very much for coming in.
ROBIN WRIGHT: Thank you.
LYDEN: And happy New Year.
WRIGHT: Same to you.
LYDEN: So from your longtime analyst perspective, I know you have been back to Tunis this year, back to North Africa, back to the region, what can we expect from the Middle East in 2013?
WRIGHT: Well, 2013 is probably going to be more difficult than the first two years of the Arab uprisings. In the past two years, we've seen a deepening of the political divide, a worsening of the economic challenges and real security problems. But 2013 is really interesting because of all the elections across the region. You have Israel's election in January. Bibi Netanyahu is likely to win, but he's facing an increasing challenge from the right.
And, in fact, the most interesting trend in the region is the rise of the right or the religious right everywhere. Jordan faces elections in January, Egypt probably in February. And that will decide whether the Muslim Brotherhood really has a hold on power or whether there's a challenge from the religious right, the Salafis. And then you have Tunisia and Libya facing new constitutions and elections for permanent governments: Iraq local elections, Palestinians' long-delayed elections. It will be a pivotal year on many fronts.
LYDEN: I want to talk about phase two of the Arab Spring, because we're talking about the rise of the religious right. Not much U.S. influence to be seen, really, is there, in terms of U.S. ability to have anything to do with what goes on internally in Egypt.
WRIGHT: Well, when you remove dictators, you find that democracies have lots of constituents that they have to be accountable to and lots of different opinions. And so it's harder for the United States to have influence. This is also a period where throughout the region, there's a sense that they have captured control of their future, that this isn't in some ways, an end of 200 years of colonial Western presence. And so the United States is going to have less influence, both because of the challenges inside and because of the new political realities.
LYDEN: We can't leave Syria completely off the table, obviously, a stark outlook, just rejected Russia's latest overture to broker peace talks.
WRIGHT: Syria is likely to face some kind of transition this year, whether it is a peaceful transition or whether it is the ouster of President Assad. The reality is that he can't survive politically anymore. The second question is, is the Syrian coalition that has been endorsed by the United States strong enough to be the alternative? They're very divided. And what happens in Syria will determine a lot about what happens during phase two in other parts of the region that have not witnessed transitions.
LYDEN: Phase two of the Arab Spring, you mean.
WRIGHT: Phase two.
LYDEN: Yeah. Robin, we probably can't leave this conversation without talking about one of the greatest powers in the Middle East, and that's Iran.
WRIGHT: Iran either has to step up and compromise with the world's major powers or on its controversial nuclear program or face the real danger of a military strike by whether it's Israel or the United States or some kind of international coalition. I think the Iranians are aware, particularly because of the increasing sanctions, that the international community is not going to compromise. The question is whether the supreme leader, Ali Khamenei, is willing to bite the bullet, literally, and compromise in ways that could potentially have political fallout inside Iran as well.
LYDEN: Robin Wright is the joint fellow at the U.S. Institute of Peace and the Woodrow Wilson International Center, also the author of "Rock the Casbah: Rage and Rebellion Across the Islamic World." Thank you so much, Robin.
WRIGHT: Thank you. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright National Public Radio. | <urn:uuid:71ca5f97-daed-408a-856f-f98edcb1a8b6> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://ktep.org/post/swell-elections-post-arab-spring-middle-east | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368705559639/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516115919-00017-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.953907 | 952 | 1.773438 | 2 |
The California legislative season ended on September 30, with Governor Jerry Brown signing several new bills into law. While some of these new California employment laws break new ground, most of them extend or expand existing legislation. They go into effect on January 1, 2013. We will be highlighting these laws in greater detail in future posts. Below is a brief summary of eight new bills signed into law by the Governor:
- AB 1844 - Social Media Password Restrictions. Prohibits an employer from requiring or requesting an employee or applicant for employment to disclose a username or password for the purpose of accessing personal social media, to access personal social media in the presence of the employer, or to divulge any personal social media.
- AB 2103 - Wage and Hour Overtime Laws. Prohibits paying a salary to non-exempt employees that includes compensation for overtime hours (this law was designed to overturn a 2011 court decision).
- AB 1964 - Protection of Religious Dress and Behavior. An extension of the Fair Employment and Housing Act (FEHA), this bill includes religious dress or religious grooming practices as a belief or observance covered by the protections against religious discrimination. It specifies an accommodation of an individual’s religious dress or grooming practice that would require that person to be segregated from other employees is not considered a reasonable accommodation.
- AB 2386 – Breastfeeding in the Workplace. This new law expands the definition of ‘sex’ under FEHA, which currently prohibits discriminatory practices relating to gender, pregnancy, childbirth, and medical conditions related to pregnancy or childbirth as protected under ‘Sex’. The new law includes breastfeeding or medical conditions related to breastfeeding.
- AB 2396 - Employment of infants in the entertainment industry. This bill extends the current law which restricts the employment of infants in the entertainment industry, by requiring the completion and submission of a medical certification and approval before a temporary permit for the employment of the infant may be issued.
- AB 2674 – Inspection of Employee Files. Under this expansion of the existing law, both current and former employees must be granted access to their employee files, employers must develop and provide written request forms upon the verbal request of an employee to view their files, and employers must provide copies to the employee within 30 days of the request, or face a penalty.
- SB 1193 – Human Trafficking. This bill will require specified employers to post a notice that contains information related to slavery and human trafficking in a conspicuous area, readily visible to employees and the public.
- SB 1255 – Itemized Wage Statements. In addition to the information that is already required to be included on pay stubs, this new law requires that itemized wage statements issued by temporary staffing firms must include the rate of pay and total hours worked for each temp assignment.
For a glimmer of hope for employers, there were two employment-related bills that the Governor vetoed:
- AB 889, which would have extended wage-and-hour protections to baby sitters, caregivers to the elderly and disabled, and other domestic workers.
- AB 1450, which would have forbidden discrimination against the unemployed.
These are only a few of the changing rules for employers taking effect in 2013. Stay tuned as more details of these California labor laws are clarified in future posts. | <urn:uuid:4e95f7b2-8ab5-47ab-9b70-8fb6b568a162> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.cpehr.com/blog/new-california-employment-laws-to-go-into-effect-in-2013.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368710006682/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516131326-00035-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.942763 | 669 | 1.804688 | 2 |
Everyone likes to get free stuff, even when it's junk -- like brochures and keychains at a trade show, or a reusable bag from your local market. Retailers and businesses give out free things as a marketing ploy, to build rapport and disseminate information. Another form of free comes in the newspaper ads, with the buy one get one free coupon, or the holiday giveaways (think Black Friday.) These giveaways are designed to attract patrons to a certain retail location in hopes that they will spend more moeny, come back more often, and essentially support the business. It seems to work as my mailbox is inundated with these coupons nearly everyday.
So, with my tabletop covered in coupons and freebie offers, I began to think, how can Rustbelt cities and cities with declining populations use the idea of free to attract new residents. The goals seem similar, stores need people to come in and buy their assorted goods while cities need to attract people to come and start businesses, raise families, and pay city taxes. Perhaps these cities could create marketing campaigns targeting young creative entrepreneurs by offering buildings, land, space, tax breaks. After all, the Rustbelt is, if nothing else, is rich in land and space, just look at Flint.
There exists a whole class of creatives out there who would love to start their own businesses but can't due to the burden of large overhead costs especially in business hubs like NYC or Chicago. Rustbelt cities in conjunction with the internet's world wide marketplace offer very low overhead costs. However, in order to make these individuals pack their bags and move to a new city that they know little about and attempt to form some type of business, they need incentive. Businesses take time to start, and by offering entrepreneurs free rent, you are granting them time to learn the city, be inspired by the city, and establish their own business' in the city.
The real power of a program like this comes in the formation of a community. Once the idea catches on and creatives begin to take to he plunge into the Rustbelt, stronger and stronger creative communities will form attracting more and more people to the city. This can be seen in the reformation of the DUMBO neighborhood in NYC from a burnt out, unattractive block, into a vibrant community of artists and professionals. David Walentas, a NY developer bought up a huge portion of the Dumbo neighborhood in the late 90's then enticed an array of artists to take up residence by offering free rent for an extended period of time. The artists attracted the professionals and soon the neighborhood was bustling with a diverse group of New Yorkers. So the question is, can this work on a national if not global scale with the Rustbelt and other declining cities?
(Photo from icanhascheezburger, Corine Vermeulen-Smith, and NYT The original full-sized color version can be viewed by clicking the photo.)
The High Line is an elevated park that runs along a portion of Manhattan's west side. It was once a railway, in use from 1934 until 1980. As vegetation took over, it became an informal and (not completely) inaccessible greenway above the streets. Neighborhood residents Joshua David and Robert Hammond started Friends of the High Line in 1999, hoping to save the structure from demolition and build support for the park idea. The city approved funding in 2004, and the lower section (from Gansevoort to 20th Street) opened in June.
The park was designed by James Corner Field Operations, Piet Oudolf, and Diller Scofidio + Renfro. It is made up of pathways that weave through the original train tracks, as well as diverse plants inspired by those that grew in the absence of maintenance. The city plans to continue the park along the Hudson Yards to the Javits Convention Center. According to Mayor Bloomberg, the first section has sparked considerable neighborhood development, with more than 30 new plans now in the works. The Whitney Museum is building an extension by Renzo Piano at the Gansevoort entrance.
On a recent visit, I was impressed by the High Line's varied landscape and playful atmosphere. It offers a different perspective on the city, where things come into view that are usually hidden from street level. The path moves along and through buildings, creating excitement in the discovery of new environments.
The architecture is kind of slick, but it also has a relaxed, inventive feel that plays well against the seasoned ruggedness of its surroundings. I really like the idea of including the original train tracks. This might be even better if their continuity could somehow be maintained. They currently seem like set pieces rather than historically integrated parts of the neighborhood. I loved the rolling chairs on tracks, and the vegetation is tough and beautiful. The spectator windows onto the street (or into the park) are an interesting concept, framing everyday life as entertainment. However, I'm not sure the frames and stepped seating add much to the view, and they seem to draw energy away from the path. These opinions, however, are especially inconsequential in light of the overall greatness of the park.
The High Line is a wonderful part of the city's changing ecology, one that builds upon the old in shaping the new. I recommend starting with the exhibition Mannahatta/Manhattan: A Natural History of New York City at the Museum of the City of New York. It includes detailed reconstructions of the island before modern development, giving a sense of how our current moment fits within the area's unfolding story.
(Photos by Peter Sigrist)
This trend has reversed itself in the past couple of decades, of course, and most cities have benefited from the newly widespread appeal of urban living. As Mark Twain reminds us, though, history tends to rhyme rather than repeat itself, and the rebirth of cities is no exception.
A few months ago, Marc described a phenomenon he called Earbud Urbanism. Contemporary technology as epitomized by the iPod, he wrote, now allows us to replace our actual surroundings with personalized content, one sense at a time. Kazys Varnelis made a similar point last week, just before the 30th anniversary of the Sony Walkman. The Walkman, he wrote, symbolizes the recolonization of US cities just as boomboxes (perceived as “sonic assault devices”) symbolized the height of urban tension and decay.
Why, then, did cities become more appealing in the 1980s and 1990s? Perhaps Earbud Urbanism contributed by making it easy to ignore the unsavory elements of urban environments. In the 19th and early 20th centuries, cities teemed due to lack of choice: If you wanted to do certain things you needed to be in the city. Now, our choices have increased exponentially, and comparatively few people truly need to be located at any one place in order to do something. Everyone’s loved ones are just a virtual arm’s reach away, consumer products can be delivered to some of the most remote places on earth, and one can practically run a business without rolling out of bed. The physical locations of jobs seem to follow people to where they’ve decided to live, instead of the opposite.
Perhaps the suburban fortess mentality of the postwar era gave way to a subtler kind of fortress mentality. The affluent who have chosen to return to the city have come back on their own terms, not the city’s. Many inhabit condos that are sealed off from the surrounding urban environment, with plenty of parking infrastructure to facilitate driving everywhere else. The same high-end chain stores, also with ample parking, have even filled in the formerly industrial spaces of many cities (Chicago’s Clybourn Corridor, for example). And when we do have to venture outside of our comfort zones on foot, of course, we have our iPods to keep us company.
(Photo from Flickr user fensterbme.)
To survive long-term, the suburbs will likely have to become more community oriented and organized. This century thus far has proved to be about social and sustainable movements. Two movements the suburbs can embrace to improve their chances of retaining and attracting citizens are intense car sharing programs, and intense community farm programs.
Typically, neighborhoods center around some type of public space, whether that be a park, an elementary school, or another type of community-oriented structure. These centers could act as transport hubs, where car share programs are initiated. Programs like carpoolconnect.com can help people find rides and coordinate with neighbors to accomplish errands and daily tasks. Perhaps it seems extreme, but if the suburbs want to kick their negative wrap, they are going to have to show they can compete with cities on transportation and social interaction.
Suburban farming has become a big thing as well. Though urban farming has attracted much of the attention because of its extreme conditions, many suburbanites have been converting their yards into mini-farms and, in some cases, turning a profit. Many organizations have popped up to promote the transformation of turf lawns to lush homestead farms, most famously Fritz Haeg's Edible Estates. His organization has inspired a new breed of farm and a new brand of agriculture. Companies are beginning to form around the country with the intention to lease and cultivate neighborhood lawns. Weekly neighborhood farmers markets could be held at the community center with the majority of produce and added value products coming from within the neighborhood.
When it comes down to it, the suburbs need to bolster their sense of community interaction in all areas of their citizens daily life from transportation methods to food choices to live/work arrangements. The suburbs aren't going to just disappear, so hopefully in the next few years we as a society will develop some new suburban living models worth promoting.
(Photo from The Shift Home and the author. The original full-sized color version can be viewed by clicking the photo.)
Why is it that so many of the people out there studying/analyzing/writing about new urban trends, new technologies, new social configurations, etc. are either well past or fast approaching midlife?
Watching academics (or worse: bureaucrats and business gurus) try to keep up with the frenetic pace of our present-day spatial, cultural, social, etc. milieus can be a sad sight. Pro Thinkers struggle like parents or marketeers or morning TV hosts to stay current and swank and therefore (allegedly) relevant.
They are quick to embrace buzz working concepts, and just as quick to dump them.
To make matters worse, even regular people like you or me have a hard time upholding concepts, just like we do keeping relationships, tastes, personal aims, political allegiances and attention spans. We consume our concepts like we consume our everydayness.
The problem is that a number of these concepts could actually be useful and significant. They are unfairly — even irresponsibly – deemed tired, passé, fizzle; superficially exhausted and then dumped.
One of the poor bastards in this bunch is the notion of "informality". After a brief, guilt-driven stint of Western academic and media focus on the subject, at the moment informality sounds as old and worn as French Theory. Something to roll your eyes over.
I don't want to redeem anything or anyone here. I just don't think ideas should be treated as disposable objects. Ideas always linger and creep back up when you least expect it.
It's only fair that we're tired of hearing the same stuff from the same people, over and over again. OK. But that doesn't mean that everything that needs to be said has been said.
Right now, more than anything else, I have some basic, intuitive, poorly-shaped questions. I guess they're mostly questions for myself (given my comment track record on this blog):
- Can anyone actually pin-point "informality"? Or is the notion simply elusive and any attempt at this futile?
- Is the concept itself inadequate? Particularly considering there isn't an actual divide between formal and informal, that they are both the same thing: reductive categories that try to organize and make sense of functional and active by-products of our (Modern, global) development schemes and efforts.
- Do we really have to keep opposing the "informal" to the Western-developed-organized-etc.-etc. or can we maybe start understanding it as a mirror modernization, as the crooked limb of Modernity or its bad twin?
- Instead of considering it an absence of logic, can we accept informality as a logic in itself, with controls and hierarchies and orders and struggles and changes and growths?
- If we want to emphasize the historical breach and inequality of modernizing processes, why not simply try to analyze and describe how unequal types of development are crashing up against each other and invading each other as a result of globalization, instead of making it an Us vs. Them thing? There is no Us vs. Them. We've all been smeared.
- Beyond aesthetics, isn't informality ugly (scary even) because it reveals too much about our dirty, insecure, two-faced Modern selves?
- How about picturing an enhanced version of the informal? One that isn't primitive or picturesque or exotic, or at least not in its entirety. One that is inextricably related to whatever happens elsewhere: interconnected, active (sometimes aggressive), efficient and significant in its own right. One that we need not pity or fix, but understand.
Would anyone like to take a shot?
(Photo by Pablo León de la Barra. José Rojas at House of Gaga in Mexico City. From the Centre for the Aesthetic Revoluction).
Saul offers concentrations in Food Science, Floriculture and Greenhouse Management, Landscape Design, Animal Science, and Natural Resource Management. In addition to the agricultural program, students take a full range of high-school, advanced-placement, and college-level courses. The results are impressive. Saul's average graduation rate is 95 percent, with 80 percent going on to college. Other students start their own businesses or are hired into skilled agricultural jobs right after graduation.
Amanda Forstater, a 2009 graduate, recently gave me a thorough and enthusiastic introduction to Saul. Students begin with an intensive summer program, which provides training and experience with the different areas of concentration. This helps incoming freshman select a major and understand the kind of work that will be expected of them. They usually have a particular agricultural career in mind -- from local farming to designing parks, managing athletic fields, and caring for animals.
During the school year, students work on the farm each day. Freshman and sophomores spend one and a half hours, while juniors and seniors spend two and a half. The jobs increase in complexity as the students acquire more training. There is a farmer who lives on-site and manages daily operations.
Students are encouraged to take on leadership responsibilities in school activities, internships, and the National FFA Organization (formerly Future Farmers of America, but renamed in 1988 to include all agricultural careers). Internships and job-training programs have been set up with the U.S. Department of Agriculture, the Schuylkill Center for Environmental Education, the Philadelphia Eagles, Somerton Tanks Farm, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, J. Franklin Styer Nurseries, the University of Pennsylvania School of Veterinary Medicine, and many other local and national organizations.
Saul has established a Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) partnership with Weaver's Way Cooperative. This provides the neighborhood with local produce as well as education and employment opportunities. Students are closely involved in the process. They can also work for the school farm over the summer. It is common to see them operating tractors, milking cows, and growing produce year-round.
Saul students come from urban homes with little if any farming experience. The program is helping to reestablish links with agriculture that have been lost through years of migration to cities. Along with the Chicago High School for Agricultural Sciences, Saul is among the few urban agricultural schools in the country. Visits are encouraged, and based on Amanda’s glowing account, it's very much worth the trip.
(The first two photos were provided by Amanda Forstater. The photo of students pruning trees is from the W.B. Saul website.) | <urn:uuid:e8936dc9-9b3a-4069-9d4e-5f576bed2971> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://thewhereblog.blogspot.com/2009_07_01_archive.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368705953421/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516120553-00030-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.960012 | 3,371 | 1.757813 | 2 |
Unseen Eye Keeps Watch Over Soldiers in Afghanistan
By Army Pfc. Andrya Hill
Special to American Forces Press Service
FORWARD OPERATING BASE SHARANA, Afghanistan, June 5, 2009 An unseen 14-foot guardian patrols eastern Afghanistan day and night, searching for enemies who would wreak havoc on the country.
Army Chief Warrant Officer 2 Nicholas Jones, Sgt. Mitchell Godwin and Staff Sgt. Joseph Pospesel inspect an unmanned aerial vehicle in Afghanistan’s Paktika province, June 3, 2009. U.S. Army photo by Pfc. Andrya Hill
(Click photo for screen-resolution image);high-resolution image available.
The Shadow unmanned aerial vehicle, or UAV, has cameras that function as aerial eyes for the 25th Infantry Division’s 4th Brigade Combat Team.
The UAVs are controlled from the ground by a small group of paratroopers from the 425th Brigade Special Troops Battalion.
“We do everything from battle-damage assessment to convoy route clearance, but our main mission over here is to provide situational awareness for battlefield commanders,” said Army Chief Warrant Officer Nicholas Jones, a UAV technician who also serves as the platoon leader. In the three months the UAV platoon has been operating, Jones said, the Shadow has provided the necessary advantage for mission accomplishment on several occasions.
“The Baki Kheyl District Center called and said they were receiving fire,” he said. “We immediately scanned over to them, found the guys firing at them, and followed them all the way back to their safe house.”
Army Sgt. 1st Class Sean Bolin, a UAV operator, told a similar success story.
“A couple weeks ago, [Forward Operating Base Sharana] came under a mortar attack,” he said. “We spotted some guys to the north, and used the UAV to positively identify them and stay on them, so the commanders [could] pick them up or put fire on them.”
Regardless of the challenges, the UAV platoon works around the clock to assure that the soldiers of 4-25th are protected. From the operators who fly the aircraft and observe the footage to the maintainers who keep them up and running, the brigade can rest assured that a Shadow will provide security and support from above.
(Army Pfc. Andrya Hill serves with the 25th Infantry Division’s 4th Brigade Combat Team public affairs office.) | <urn:uuid:9ebdeac4-a505-4db2-9e3a-330975aa970d> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.defense.gov/News/NewsArticle.aspx?ID=54664 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368696382584/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516092622-00032-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.943509 | 519 | 1.679688 | 2 |
I once heard that 75 percent of all in-flight fights break out after one passenger reclines his seat into the tiny personal space of another. OK, I've also heard that 90 percent of all "statistics" are fabricated, but I tend to believe this one.
Here's how it usually happens.
A grumpy passenger, who happens to be over 6 feet tall and happens to have spent too much money on vacation, boards his return flight front to aft. He notices the first class seats, then the smaller business class seats, and sighs as he struggles into his pint-sized economy seat. He skews his long legs sideways, trying to suppress his irritation, and prays for an uneventful flight home. But shortly after take-off, the passenger in front of him reclines his seat practically into his lap. It's the last straw. After a couple of bumps on the invading seat back — some inadvertent, some deliberate — words get exchanged, and pretty soon there's an all-out brawl.
Who is right and who is wrong here?
Nobody knows. Certainly, the airlines are to blame for the ridiculous seat size, but when you ask what the rules are, you won't get a straight answer. Instead, what you get is the presumptive right to recline. After all, the airlines have provided the means to recline; indeed, they encourage it with the chipper announcement we have all come to dread: "We invite you to sit back and enjoy the rest of the flight."
One clever frequent flier has invented a solution to the passenger-in-your-lap problem. It's called the "Knee Defender," and it consists of two plastic clips that attach to your tray table, preventing the seat in front of you from reclining. The Knee Defender protects not only your knees, but also your drink and your laptop — common victims of a passenger's sudden decision to thrust his seat backward. It has several settings, so you can do a partial block, too — which is handy. After all, if the person in front of you can't recline his seat at all, he will probably get suspicious, but if he can only recline partway, you will probably get away with it.
Unfortunately, some airlines have forbidden the use of the Knee Defender on their airplanes. Here, then, are some other tips to keep some stranger from reclining into your lap.
Just say no. If you fly often enough you will eventually notice that some seats don't recline. On most airplanes, these include the seats in front of the emergency exit and those in the very last row. When making your reservation or when you arrive at the gate, inquire if your assigned seat is at one of those locations. If it is, don't accept it. Otherwise, everybody will be reclining except you.
Make friends with the ticket and gate agents. The ticket and gate agents know everything about the configuration of your airplane and the seat assignments for your flight. If you approach them in a courteous manner, they will often help you get a seat with little "squeeze factor."
Sit elsewhere. Many times passengers who get into fisticuffs over the right to recline could have avoided the fight altogether by simply moving to another seat. You're not required to sit in your assigned seat, you know.
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Straighten up. While I am not letting the airlines off the hook on the tiny-seat issue, it is possible that your lack of legroom is due to bad posture. Sit up straight and notice how many inches you create for your legs.
Be reasonable. Before going ballistic at the passenger in front of you, take a look around. Most likely, the person in front of him has also reclined, and the inevitable chain reaction then took place. There is usually a happy medium in these matters; lean back a little yourself, and see if that's enough breathing room.
Bump not. If you decide to retaliate by bumping, kicking or tapping the seat in front of you, all chance of reasoning will be lost and a scene will be that much closer.
Plead hunger. Most people understand that in order to eat your food, you need to be able to see it (sometimes it's better not to see the food, but that's a different topic). If the person in front of you refuses to return to an upright position, he risks getting chicken or beef dropped on his forehead. Not that you would do that intentionally, of course.
Push that call button. There may be fewer flight attendants in the cabin these days, but most of the time we are sympathetic to your plight and will try to assist in any way we can.
Spend a penny. Some airlines are now charging extra for economy seats with a few extra inches of legroom. If you have long legs, spend the money. Your comfort is worth it.
I have a friend who, when all else fails, just starts to sneeze. That usually gets the offending recliner upright in a hurry. But this unsanitary tactic could well set off an all-out conflict, so I don't endorse it. The same goes for pointing your overhead fan directly on the recliner's forehead, but I have to admit that I have done that a couple of times and it worked.
In the end, you have to put the shoe on the other foot. We live in a world in which tensions are already exacerbated by the volume of traffic, overpopulated neighborhoods and obscenely long lines. We just have to learn to get along with one another in life — and that goes double on an airplane.
How else can the tourist species be identified? E-mail me and let me know.
James Wysong has worked as a flight attendant with two major international carriers during the past fifteen years. He is the author of the "The Plane Truth: Shift Happens at 35,000 Feet" and "The Air Traveler's Survival Guide." For more information about James or his books, please visit his Web site or e-mail him. | <urn:uuid:323421e8-4bb8-4332-bee9-bf9a6bf2559e> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.nbcnews.com/id/18156676/target=_blank | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368699273641/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516101433-00006-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.963452 | 1,392 | 1.5625 | 2 |
Egypt Unrest Was Sparked by Food Inflation
CNBC "On-Air Stocks" Editor
Egypt's problems have been simmering for years, but food inflation has brought it to a boil. Remember: food inflation is behind much of the unrest, not just in Egypt but all over the world. Commodity prices have been rising for months, and many countries have already seen unrest over higher food prices.
In November, overall inflation in Egypt topped 8.58 percent for the year, its highest level in 19 months. But food inflation has been much more pronounced.
Fitch, in downgrading Egypt's outlook to negative today, specifically cited the high food inflation, which it said was running at about 17 percent a year. The main drivers of food inflation are meat and sugar.
Outside of inflation, contagion is the main issue. Egypt has the Suez Canal; Yemen is seeing protests. So what is the new geopolitical risk premium for oil? $10? $20?
One side effect: volume heavier than usual. At 3:00pm ET, volume in the NYSE consolidated tape (all trading in all NYSE stocks) passed 4.3 billion shares. About 5 billion shares or so is normal.
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Questions? Comments? [email protected] | <urn:uuid:a7983799-c3ea-40dd-8981-dd8bd58ba00a> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.cnbc.com/id/41317235 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368696381249/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516092621-00024-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.931692 | 297 | 1.578125 | 2 |
Defense Secretary Robert Gates in recent speeches has covered the waterfront of the financial challenges facing the defense establishment as well as the nation. He flatly stated that the United States is on a self-destructive path if it seeks to remain “militarily strong” while becoming “economically stagnant.”
With a budget of about $700 billion, the Defense Department is adding to our national economic problems with wasteful practices, overly large bureaucracies, and generous healthcare spending, Gates said, citing President Eisenhower as the conservative paradigm of fiscal and military restraint against which current practices should be measured.
Deputy Secretary William Lynn is now spearheading efforts to cut non-essential programs, reduce overhead accounts and improve efficiencies in the force structure and modernization accounts. The savings — in excess of $100 billion over the next five years — would be retained by the services and transferred to modernization and force structure accounts.
Within this budget discussion is Gates’ criticism of the services’ requirements process. The secretary has raised questions about the justification for the current number of carriers, large amphibious vessels, tactical fighters, C-17 cargo planes, the top-heavy military bureaucracy, burgeoning healthcare costs and an alternative fighter engine for the F-35.
He took the services, particularly the Navy, to task for a requirements process that asks for more than they need to do their jobs.
The subtext of these observations is that the services should re-examine current processes for determining their requirements for weapons systems.
But how does that really work? Are the services in fact guilty of padding their requirements?
The process works as follows: The services rely on the “national military strategy,” buoyed by war games, exercises and analyses, to determine the size of the force that is needed to meet the threats that the strategy laid out. This approach is designed to give U.S. forces a decided advantage. Some have said our objective is to win 100 to nothing. While this is an exaggeration, we still do not want a “fair fight.” That would result in lots of casualties on our side — an unacceptable outcome even if we eventually won. The service preference is for a low- to moderate-risk force.
In the Cold War, this planning process led to a requirement for 95 Air Force tactical fighter wings, 25 aircraft carriers, and a 600 ship Navy. We got to about 585 ships, but never came close to the planning force for fighters and carriers. What was kept secret at the time was that in war games against the Soviet Union, U.S. forces usually came up short. The U.S. Army was equal to the first wave of Soviet forces, but follow-on echelons began to wear heavily on our ground forces, which, while tactically and technologically superior, didn’t have the numbers. So U.S. forces did not meet the demands of the strategy. The United States had a high-risk force.
And this last point is important. The United States has had demanding military strategies. The services are responsible for equipping to that strategy. If the requirements and forces are too high or unaffordable, the strategy can always be adjusted downwards. What is unacceptable is to maintain a taxing strategy and to under-resource it. The recent Quadrennial Defense Review is an example of demanding strategic requirements. It did an excellent job in assessing and laying out the threats that had to be addressed, but it failed to prioritize how U.S. forces would deal with threats.
Finally, one must consider the geographic challenges of U.S. strategy. Most of our allies focus on defending their homelands. Few have a significant, sustained power projection requirement or capability. The United States, by contrast, aims to penetrate the enemy’s battle space, to dominate and to win. This philosophy drives requirements consideration well out of proportion to the size of the potential enemy’s force structure. The United States has worldwide force projection and presence requirements unlike any other nation. But if the price is too high, then we must adjust our interests abroad, our strategic concept for fighting and the strategy itself.
Secretary Gates makes one point that is unassailable: We must link budget expectations to the financial health of the nation. It is becoming clear that the present financial course of the United States is unsustainable, so the secretary is right to focus on overhead efficiencies so that we might get the real growth in force structure and modernization that our force planning demands. And it is inevitable that we might see reduced forces and structure in order to maintain force structure capabilities in the most critical areas.
But rather than say that we don’t need particular programs or capabilities, it would be better to say we must balance our forces in an optimal manner. And while that may require giving up some things we might like to have, we are prepared to accept the increased risk in order to make the overall best use of the financial resources available. This also means we will be willing to adjust the strategy to recognize the resource constraints.
Finally, one might quibble with one of the secretary’s statements in the speech he gave in May to the Navy League. He said that success “depends less on the quality of the hardware than on the quality of their leaders.” In fact the American dominance on the battlefield has always depended on three things: Quality of the recruits and leaders; technical superiority of equipment; and the superior training regimen of its forces. You need all three. Leadership is important, but it can’t make up for inferior capability or inferior numbers lacking superior equipment.
If we have decided to accept increased risk, we might as well say so and have the discussion and debate in those terms. | <urn:uuid:0a8c9f77-f576-4bda-8a05-0b2be9dfe0f4> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.ndia.org/Resources/PresidentsPerspective/Pages/July2010.aspx?PF=1&PF=1&PF=1 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368708766848/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516125246-00020-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.958609 | 1,174 | 1.75 | 2 |
Phillipsburg High School this year scored slightly higher in language arts and slightly lower in mathematics in standardized tests compared with 2003.
"Right now, we're status quo," George Chando, Phillipsburg School District's director of secondary education, said Friday. "And for us, status quo is not good enough."
School officials on Friday released the scores from the High School Proficiency Assessment taken by all juniors and some seniors in March. The district received the scores in July and delayed their release until they could be analyzed, Superintendent Gordon Pethick said.
Chando said district administrators met with teachers after receiving the results and have made adjustments in curriculum to improve the scores.
Students now will receive a test preparation packet at the beginning of the school year.
In addition, the district is overhauling its mathematics curriculum in the high school, with help from advisers from LaSalle University in Philadelphia.
The test classifies students into three categories -- partially proficient, proficient and advanced proficient. Students who rank proficient and advanced pass the test. Students must pass the test to graduate.
In language arts, 79 percent of the 394 students, including those in special education classes, scored at the proficient or advanced proficient levels. That is an increase of about 2 percentage points over last year.
Excluding special education students, 87.9 percent of the general student population scored in the top two levels, an increase of 3.6 percentage points. Special education students dropped from 48 percent proficient or better to 39.4 percent.
Overall, the district registered its third straight year of growth in language arts.
In mathematics, 60.3 percent of the total students scored proficient or better, down from last year's mark of 62.1 percent. The general population scored almost the same as last year, with 68.3 percent scoring proficient or above, a drop of half a percentage point.
Special education was where the district still suffered, although scores went up. This year, 29.2 percent of special education students scored proficient or better, about 4 percentage points better than last year.
Pethick and Chando said information on state averages has not been released.
Pethick said it is hard to draw conclusions about the test scores because there are a number of variables, particularly the levels of students in the class. He said the district is implementing programs, especially at the elementary and intermediary schools, that should bring up the district's standardized test scores.
Harley Payette is a freelance reporter. | <urn:uuid:081559c6-25eb-46a3-b133-a7b502ba7334> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://articles.mcall.com/2004-08-23/news/3555014_1_test-scores-proficient-district-s-standardized-test | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368704392896/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516113952-00003-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.944068 | 510 | 1.695313 | 2 |
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Cash is under threat across our planet.
Card schemes hate cash, as they can only wring profit from their debt-creating plastic products.
Visa and MasterCard have both made clear that cash is their enemy. Since 90% of all purchases on our planet are made using cash, this enemy of the card schemes must be the trusty friend of humanity.
Cash-is-Cool is working tirelessly to defend cash from predatory card schemes.
The following 2 item(s) matched to this tag phrase.
With the London 2012 Olympics fast approaching, businesses and retailers throughout the UK are busy preparing …
Are you being charged a fotune to use your credit card abroad? New research suggests that … | <urn:uuid:1cb313d8-881f-46c6-93f3-76cf4fc93da3> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.cash-is-cool.com/tag/tourism | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368697380733/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516094300-00008-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.944328 | 175 | 1.679688 | 2 |
World renowned speed coach Bill Begg shares his vast knowledge of skating every week in his "Ask Bill Begg!" column on the Inline Planet.
Why Do I Get So Tired?
Hi, Bill:Thanks for all the great articles on Inline Planet. I've learned so much from them. Lately, I've been pushing myself to sprint six, four and two laps with short breaks in between each on a 200-meter outdoor banked cement rink. I clock a 200-meter lap in 26 seconds, skating on 80mm recreational skates. Immediately after finishing all sprints, I find myself breathing heavily and feel like throwing up. Is my high heart rate and discomfort due to low cardiovascular stamina? Wish you and Nicole a wonderful New Year! - Swarup Rajsekar from Bangalore, India.
Hi, Swarup: I don’t know enough about you to be able to say whether you lack stamina. But I can tell you that stamina can be developed through a proper training program.
However, one thing is clear: as long as you are on 80mm rec skates, you will go slow and feel dead after a series of sprints.
Rec skates are designed for comfort and stability and their wheels are usually made with low quality (slow) urethane. So it's hard to compare your lap speed to that of speed skaters.
Top world class men post sub-15 second lap times on a 200 meter track with a flying start while top women notch times of about 16 seconds. For a standing start, add about 1.5 seconds.
A reasonably proficient speed skater — wearing speed skates! — should be able to skate a flying 200 meters in 20 seconds.
As far as speed skating is concerned, 80mm wheels went out with Noah’s Ark. These days, even 100mm wheels are getting left in the dust by the 110s.
Here’s hoping that in the New Year you can get yourself a good pair of modern speed skates!
Copyright © 2011 by Inline Planet | <urn:uuid:a04a95a8-0d54-45ee-a4e1-3739fa93bd1c> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.inlineplanet.com/11/01/begg-stamina.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368708142388/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516124222-00022-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.948106 | 426 | 1.664063 | 2 |
Tax season is about to begin and your mailbox will soon be filled with reporting documents. You need to report all your income, but the goal is to end up paying the smallest amount of tax. The best way to reach this goal is to take all the deductions allowed. Here are a few of the most common deductions taxpayers miss:
Your paycheck stub: Some people contribute to charities through payroll deduction. This amount can be found on your final check stub. The amount you contribute towards your medical premiums are also listed here. Health insurance premiums are a medical deduction when you itemize.
Housekeeping: Home services needed for a qualifying dependent during your work hours.
Donated clothing: Clothing and other goods donated to a charity are deductible, provided you have a receipt and estimate the value of the articles. There are inexpensive software programs to help value donated items. www.CharityDeductions.com is one place to start.
Mileage: Keep track of your mileage while working for a charity, going to the doctor, or running errands for work. The IRS allows mileage deductions for these circumstances, provided you keep a log. The following rates apply to personal cars, minivans, trucks, SUVs, and panel trucks for 2012:
- 14.0 cents per mile driven in service of charitable organizations
- 23.0 cents per mile driven for medical or moving purposes
- 55.5 cents per mile for business miles driven
Carryover items: Net capital losses are limited to $3,000 in any one year. Net losses in excess of this amount can be carried forward to be used in future years. Don’t forget to carry the unused losses over to your 2012 income tax return. Charitable contributions are also limited in any one year, but any excess can be carried forward to the next tax year. Don’t let such carryovers get lost from one year to the next. | <urn:uuid:01925aa3-fb54-4367-a02a-47285251a63c> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://rodgers-associates.com/blog/dont-miss-these-deductions-when-you-file-your-taxes/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368700958435/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516104238-00030-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.948485 | 391 | 1.59375 | 2 |
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