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I was taking a look at an excellent blog by Life Coach Tim Brown. I was agreeing a lot with his approach to coaching. I then saw a title of one of his post’s called 7 Reasons To Avoid Meditation, and I thought wait a minute, this might be something we disagree on here, especially as I’ve had real life changing experiences myself with meditation!
Needless to say the title of Tim’s post wasn’t about why one should avoid meditating at all. In fact, it was in response to a general concerns and issues a person might have when contemplating whether to meditate or not. The sign of a good blogger I might add, but I digress…
Tim addressed one issue, which I’ve also had multiple people tell me when I’ve recommended that they meditate, which is that “I fall asleep”!
When people say this, it is with a lack of understanding of what meditation is all about. As Tim says meditation is active and not passive. One is learning to observe the contents of the mind (i.e. thoughts, emotions and sensations) without becoming attached to them. When one gets into this properly, they realise there is no sleeping or relaxing involved.
Of course, the benefit of meditating is that you will feel relaxed and rejuvenated after a meditation sitting.
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| 0.979234 | 281 | 1.71875 | 2 |
Users will be able to click a button in Facebook to call a friend. If the friend does not already have the plugin required for video chat, the friend will see a pop-up to download the plugin. That download should just take 10 or 20 seconds, said Mark Zuckerberg, Facebook's CEO, during a webcast press conference on Wednesday.
"This is possible because the social infrastructure exists," he said. "The system knows we're connected and we have the pipe open between us so new applications can flow between us."
Zuckerberg described Facebook as a platform that allows these kinds of new applications to be easily used. He also sought to set Facebook apart from competitors because Facebook plans to partner with companies like Skype that are focused on specific technologies.
"We want to leave all the applications to independent entrepreneurs and companies that are going to be best in class at building these things," he said. "That's a different strategy than other major Internet companies out there who try to do everything themselves."
That may have been a dig at Google, which recently launched its own social-networking service that includes features primarily built by Google.
In addition to video chat, Facebook also said it plans improvements to its group chat function and will roll out a new design for its text chat interface.
Zuckerberg also confirmed that there are 750 million Facebook users. Future growth, however, won't be measured by number of users but by how much people share on Facebook, he said. Currently, users share 4 billion things every day, he said. Facebook plans to continue to announce new features that will encourage people to share even more in the future, he said.
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Front Page Titles (by Subject) conclusion: Concerning Travelling - Observations upon Liberal Education, in All its Branches
The Online Library of Liberty
A project of Liberty Fund, Inc.
Search this Title:
conclusion: Concerning Travelling - George Turnbull, Observations upon Liberal Education, in All its Branches
Observations upon Liberal Education, in All its Branches, ed. Terrence O. Moore, Jr. (Indianapolis: Liberty Fund, 2003).
About Liberty Fund:
Liberty Fund, Inc. is a private, educational foundation established to encourage the study of the ideal of a society of free and responsible individuals.
The copyright to this edition, in both print and electronic forms, is held by Liberty Fund, Inc.
Fair use statement:
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Every more important question relative to liberal education, hath (I think) been handled in this enquiry at great length; some questions, indeed, too minutely and particularly, were this treatise designed merely for such as only want hints. All therefore that remains to be treated of is travelling: And this indeed is a copious and important subject, that well deserves to be fully considered, and would require a volume by itself: We shall only suggest here a few observations upon it, which are indeed very obvious, but yet very little attended to in practice.
’Tis very plain that youth cannot be qualified for taking any advantageous notices of the state of learning in foreign countries, unless they be already very well acquainted with the chief branches of true learning, or the more useful sciences.
’Tis equally manifest, that without acquaintance with agriculture, manufactures and mechanical arts, they cannot be capable of making any useful observations for the benefit of their country upon these very important matters: And the same is likewise true with regard to commerce or trade.
’Tis no less evident, that they are not prepared for considering with intelligence the governments of foreign countries, their customs, manners, and maxims of policy, and the effects of different civil constitutions upon their respective subjects, till they have been considerably practised in reading history, and making political reflections: Unless they are well instructed in the nature of civil government in general, and the ends which laws and political orders ought to propose, they can no more profit by visiting foreign states than one unacquainted with the principles of mechanism, can by seeing engines and machines.
’Tis fully as conspicuous, that raw unexperienced youth are not qualified for gathering information from the conversation of knowing men, or for seeing into men’s characters and dispositions.
And to conclude, without knowing the state of one’s own country, none can judge how other nations stand related to it, or wherein their interests agree or jar and differ: Now it will readily be owned to be very dangerous to send youth, for the sake whether of languages or exercises, abroad to receive their first tincture, their first impressions and habits.—From these considerations therefore it is obvious, who alone are qualified for travelling to any good purpose, however promiscuously and indiscriminately all our young people of birth and fortune may be sent to travel about seventeen or eighteen years of age:—and what preparation, what qualifications are necessary for travelling? The false, the very pernicious taste our young travellers into France and Italy too often bring back with them, is strongly painted out, and very justly satyrized in a beautiful canto in imitation of Spencer, which travellers into these parts ought indeed to carry along with them, as a preservative against the infection they are there so liable to be tainted with. As to a proper directory for travellers, I know of none: some such thing beginning with reflections upon our own government, and the interest of our own country, and pointing out the ends which travellers ought principally to have in their view, with proper instructions in the different manners, customs and governments of the foreign countries our travellers more generally visit, is greatly wanting. But from Homer’s Odyssey a young man may learn what should chiefly be attended to by those who would learn the knowledge of men; for Homer certainly intended to give us the character of a wise traveller, a sagacious inspector into men and things, escaping many snares and temptations, and guiding himself through various dangers by his prudence and virtue, and improving in true wisdom by every incident in the person of Ulysses, as Horace twice tells us.
Ep. 2. l. 1.1
After one hath well digested Xenophon’s Cyropoedeia, a careful reading of one of the best of modern books, Telemachus’s adventures, will likewise be of great advantage; and to these the travels of Cyrus deserve to be added. But besides these, it will be proper, after acquainting themselves with the history, natural and moral, of the country they design to travel into, to read some books of travels, in which not merely buildings, pictures, or antiquities are described, tho’ these should by no means be totally neglected, but the policy, the commerce, the religion, the manners of these nations or states are laid open: Such as Lord Molesworth’s account of Denmark, Sir William Temple’s account of the Netherlands, Busbequii epistolae, and several other such treatises, wrote by men capable of taking large and just views of men and things, and versed in public affairs. Above all, our travellers ought to begin at home, and be initiated, by the assistance of a qualified guide, in a journey through their own country, into the truly useful way of travelling. And they ought to lay themselves out to get all the information they can about the countries they propose to see, by frequenting the conversation of those who have travelled into them, and made useful observations. In fine, we may safely venture to say, that till one is well acquainted with geography, ancient and modern, hath pleasure in reading history, and can draw solid instructions from it, and hath withal been accustomed to truly manly and useful conversation, he is not at all fitted for improvement by travelling: But if this be the case, then it is very evident what one must do to prepare and qualify himself for travel. On this subject, however, we did not propose to enter; and therefore we shall only add, that the education here delineated, is the proper one to prepare for travelling, and that travelling would indeed render it perfect.
F I N I S.
This book is set in Adobe Garamond, a modern adaptation by Robert Slimbach of the typeface originally cut around 1540 by the French typographer and printer Claude Garamond. The Garamond face, with its small lowercase height and restrained contrast between thick and thin strokes, is a classic “old-style” face and has long been one of the most influential and widely used typefaces.
Printed on paper that is acid free and meets the requirements of the American National Standard for Permanence of Paper for Printed Library Materials, z39.48-1992. ∞
Book design by Louise OFarrell, Gainesville, Florida
Typography by Impressions Book and Journal Services, Inc., Madison, Wisconsin
Printed and bound by Edwards Brothers, Inc., Ann Arbor, Michigan
[10. ]James Barclay, A Treatise on Education (Edinburgh: James Cochran, 1743), 217–18. George Chapman, A Treatise on Education, 4th ed. (London, 1790), appendix.
[11. ]Franklin identified the authors he consulted while writing the Proposals as Milton, Locke, Hutcheson, Obadiah Walker, Rollin, and George Turnbull, in that order. Franklin actually mistook David Fordyce for Francis Hutcheson. See Benjamin Franklin, Writings (New York: Library of America, 1987), 323–44.
[1. ][Horace, Odes, 4.4.33–34: “Yet training increases inborn worth, and righteous ways make strong the heart” (Loeb translation by C. E. Bennett). This is also Locke’s motto for Some Thoughts Concerning Education.]
[2. ][Horace, Ars Poetica, lines 141–42: “Sing, Muse, for me the man who on Troy’s fall / Saw the wide world, its ways and cities all” (the opening of the Odyssey).]
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Alice Mary Smith
1839 - 1884
Also known by her married name of Alice Mary Meadows White, Alice Mary Smith was a pupil of Sterndale Bennett and George MacFarren at the Royal Academy of Music. Her major works include two symphonies, five overtures, an Introduction an Allegro for Piano and Orchestra, works for chorus and orchestra (including an operetta), and a considerable body of chamber music, including four piano quartets and three string quartets. Smith's Clarinet Sonata (HPC #09870) received its first public performance in December 1870; the work entitled Duo Concertante for Pianoforte and Clarinet in A was premiered by Henry Lazarus (1815-1895) with the composer at the piano. Smith was a professor at the Royal Academy of Music and was elected a Female Professional Associate of the Royal Philharmonic Society in November 1867. She received an honorary degree from the Royal Academy of Music in London in 1884. See also #09919 for her String Quartet.
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- About Us
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KANSAS CITY, Kansas - In the heat of the noon hour one resident walked his dog while another pushed her baby in a stroller. Ken Ensley lives near Kansas City, Kansas’ Waterway Park and said the neighborhood is quiet most of the time. Some said it's quite a change from five years ago when Waterway Park was home to frequent drug dealing and prostitution.
That's the view of Damon Broadus who represents LISC (Local Initiatives Support Corporation), an urban developer which infused money into the area. He said the park turned around when the land was leveled and people involved in criminal activity were no longer hidden from view.
LISC also built new homes with front porches as a way to encourage neighbors to keep an eye on the park. Broadus and Ensley agree the park is used a lot these days for exercise and recreation.
According to health and safety expert Leslie Mikkelsen, having usable park space in the urban core is critical to solving America's healthcare problems. Broadus was in attendance as she spoke to a gathering at Kansas City's Kauffman Foundation. Continued[+]...
> Read the full nbcactionnews.com article.
> Fox 4 News Coverage
Copyright © LISC 2013
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Countdown to our 50th anniversary: 1978
21 August 2012
Our 15th Annual Report marked an important year for the ASA, constitutionally speaking. While 1978 saw Anna Ford become the first female newsreader in the UK, and May Day become an official bank holiday, it was a year of flux for the future of self-regulation.
Our report reveals that the ASA took part in discussions with the Secretary of State for Prices and Consumer Protection about the nature of the ASA system, with two key proposals under discussion. One was the potential conversion of the ASA into a statutory body, with the other being the provision of some additional legal powers of enforcement to deal with the small number of advertisers for whom ASA sanctions were not effective.
The ASA Council was unanimously opposed to being turned into a statutory authority – arguing that it would undermine the substantial level of cooperation in enforcing the standards from all sides of the industry over the years.
Our view was that “Codes of practice which are genuinely self-regulatory and do not need all the paraphernalia of Parliamentary procedures to amend them to meet changing conditions and to solve problems as they are found to arise in practice, can serve the public better than statutory regulations and complicated, costly court procedures.”
The OFT review of the system, launched the previous year, came to much the same conclusion, rejecting the idea of interpreting the Code in an “excessively legalistic fashion”. In fact, the OFT liked the idea of a “self-regulatory system which is kept on its toes by its vulnerability to criticism both public and official”. However, it did suggest that improvements to the system were needed.
Thus, a consensus developed that would lead to the OFT Director General being acknowledged as well placed to back up the existing system with new statutory powers, so the Director General could seek an injunction against offending advertisers, acting as the ASA’s legal backstop.
Turning to other news in our 15th Annual Report, there was a focus on advertising to children, with the ASA producing a leaflet entitled “The Code and Children”, available free to the public. The ASA also produced an information film, cannily titled “A Question of Standards”, giving a digestible guide to the ASA. Cutting edge, it was in colour, lasted for 19 minutes, and was available on free loan from the Viscom Audio Visual Library on 16mm and video cassette.
Another big issue of the day was advertising for heating and insulation. High fuel costs in 1977 and the introduction of a Government energy conservation programme gave rise to claims by advertisers about savings to be made on heating costs, and also to complaint numbers from consumers.
In response, the ASA led a series of meetings with advertisers in the sector, and produced guidance to make clear what would be considered acceptable substantiation, and how the basis of comparisons should be presented, in order to ensure that consumers were not misled and could make informed decisions about their heating provisions. Problem solved.
Finally, as part of the ASA’s on-going monitoring work, one particular advertisement is singled out as having failed to comply with both the letter and spirit of the Code. It was “a double page, colour advertisement by a publisher promoting advertising space in his magazines, featured models dressed as provocative and seductive schoolgirls drinking wine and beer and surrounded by cigarettes and other products which had been advertised in the pages of those magazines during 1978.”
We would take a similarly dim view of any such advertisement if it were to appear in 2012, since it would contravene more Code rules than it is possible to list….
View the 1978 Annual Report here
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Many owners gain as much pleasure from a weekend working on their boat as from actually being out on the water. The first thing you'll need to do when you get your new boat is to read the owner's manual. It will give you a list of the maintenance that you'll need to perform and exactly when you'll need to perform it. You'll need to write that maintenance schedule directly into your boat log. It's not only important for the condition of your boat, but it's necessary to keep your boat's warranty in effect. Maintenance isn't difficult, but it's necessary that you perform it in a timely and correct manner. There are many different items on a boat, and many of them require a specific method of cleaning. This maintenance will protect your boat and equipment against the elements of nature. Some boat owners may look on maintenance as a chore, but the alternatives are a boat that becomes ravaged by salt and mildew.
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Australian Bureau of Statistics
2911.0.55.004 - Information Paper: 2011 Census Special Enumeration Strategies, 2011
Latest ISSUE Released at 11:30 AM (CANBERRA TIME) 31/08/2012 First Issue
|Page tools: Print Page Print All RSS Search this Product|
Collection points were identified in remote locations in each state and territory, where travellers would be able to obtain a Census form and eCensus material.
Extensive research of travellers websites, visitors centres, remote national parks, tourism operators, police stations, truck stops, roadhouses and remote camping ground locations was done to obtain a comprehensive list of locations travellers may pass through or bed down for the night. Census Management Units engaged with key organisations and state and territory government departments to build an understanding of the numbers of remote travellers and where their probable locations would be in August 2011. This information was used to design and implement the strategy in each state. It also determined where collection points were going to be most effective.
Suitable collection points included:
Consultation with key state government departments led to offers of assistance in providing information on online booking systems for campers; cooperation from state rangers to assist Census staff; and the provision of information on the number of campers with bookings in national parks the week before Census night. To raise awareness of the Census with people travelling in remote areas around Census night, approval was given by state transport departments to erect directional signs at roadside rest areas to indicate the closest collection point at which travellers could pick up a Census form and eCensus material.
DURING THE CENSUS OPERATION
Each identified collection point was pre-stocked with quantities of travellers packs to be distributed to travellers. Approximately 12,000 packs were issued to around 190 locations.
Each pack contained a pre-numbered paper Census form, an eCensus envelope, a mailback envelope, a Census brochure and instructions for the traveller. The instructions explained to the traveller how to submit an eCensus return or mail back the paper form, as well as how to record their location on Census night, for example, by giving the GPS coordinates of their stopping point.
The collection points were advertised on the Census website from 1st August and were also available through the Census Inquiry Service. The 2011 Census website promoted the collection points and provided clear options for remote travellers, including how to access the eCensus and general information on where people could get help. Travellers could get packs from the collection points from 1st August until 15th August 2011.
Collection point locations varied from visitor information centres throughout Queensland (Winton, Cunnamulla, Charleville, Laura and Cooktown), police stations and roadhouses in Western Australia (Karratha Police station, Kunawarritji community roadhouse) to truck stops, ranger stations, and houseboats along the Murray River, in South Australia.
Census field staff worked closely with the managers and staff at each collection point to ensure they had sufficient forms and to provide support. In some instances staff at collection points were employed by the ABS as Special Collectors.
Communication activities were channelled through national, state and local avenues such as grey nomad associations and websites, tourism magazines, newspapers, tour operators, industry newsletters and email networks to assist with the distribution of brochures, posters and information about the Census. These materials were also displayed anywhere that Census enumeration travellers packs were available.
Key messages included:
Quantities of travellers packs were sent to locations based on estimated numbers obtained from a range of sources. In some remote 'hot spots', the number of packs was underestimated, as there were far more travellers than had been anticipated. The CMUs held reserve supplies of travellers packs and these were sent out to locations where more packs were needed.
Encouraging remote travellers to use the eCensus option was a challenge. Form return data from the Data Processing Centre indicated that less than 2 per cent of remote travellers chose to use eCensus while 33 per cent chose to mail their forms back. As technology continues to change and improve, future Censuses may see far more people in remote areas choosing to complete their Census online.
These documents will be presented in a new window.
This page last updated 30 August 2012
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Fourteen states and the District of Columbia will operate their own health insurance exchanges and start enrolling customers in October 2013, David Morgan reports for Reuters.
Gary Cohen, director of the Center for Consumer Information and Insurance Oversight, told a House panel last week he believes states and the federal government will be ready to accept applications from consumers in 10 months.
The federal government would be required to run exchanges in least 30 states under that Affordable Care Act mandate, Morgan writes, with Friday being the deadline for states to decide whether to set up their own exchanges or rely on a federally-run system.
(click here for our coverage of Virginia’s decision to initially have a federally-run exchange)
Citing the Kaiser Family Foundation, Morgan writes Utah and Florida remained undecided as of Friday.
Enrollees in the exchanges would receive coverage starting Jan. 1, 2014, according to the report.
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I have purchased a shutter speed tester recently as I am trying to make a shutter similar to the one shown in this post:
I have noticed on testing one particular shutter, a Copal 1 SNo. 1561xx, that the top speeds are very slow, 1/400th sec is actually 1/200th sec and 1/200 is 1/172, the rest of the slower shutter speeds are within 5% of the indicated speed. I realise that mechanical shutters will vary and not be too accurate, but I always though that the faster speeds on mechanical shutters were more accurate than the slower. The fastest speed I have used so far on this shutter is around 1/125th second.
Should I worry and have an expensive CLA or just leave things as they are?
Thanks in advance for your input.
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Wasp spray versus Pepper spray
You no longer need to keep your .45 or AK-47 sitting out on the coffee table… A can of wasp spray will do!
A receptionist in a church in a high risk area who was concerned about someone coming into the office on Monday to rob them when they were counting the collection. She asked the local police department about using pepper spray and they recommended she get a can of wasp spray instead. The wasp spray, they told her, can shoot up to twenty feet away and is a lot more accurate, while with the pepper spray they have to get too close to you and could overpower you. The wasp spray temporarily blinds an attacker until they get to the hospital for an antidote. She keeps a can on her desk in the office and it doesn’t attract attention from people like a can of pepper spray would. She also keeps one nearby at home for home protection. You could also keep it in your car and it’s perfectly legal. Thought this was interesting and might be of use.
Val Glinka teaches self-defense to students at Sylvania Southview High School. For decades, he’s suggested putting a can of wasp and hornet spray near your door. Glinka says, “This is better than anything I can teach them.”
Glinka considers it inexpensive, easy to find, and more effective than mace or pepper spray. The cans typically shoot 20 to 30 feet; so if someone tries to break into your home, Glinka says “spray the culprit in the eyes”. It’s a tip he’s given to students for decades. It’s also one he wants everyone to hear.
Two Letters Re: Recommendations on Discreet Self Defense Weapons and TrainingJim,
First, here’s a link to an article on self defense considerations in Britain.
I usually carry my koppo in my weak hand at the ready. This frees up my strong hand to draw my primary weapon and the cord retention system allows the weak hand to perform other tasks such as slide manipulation. Planned use of the stick is for primary weapon retention and to gain enough time/space to draw the primary weapon (if available and warranted).
Here is a page on how to convert a pocket flashlight into a koppo stick.
Here’s the LED flashlight that I converted (available through Sears):
Finally, here’s a YouTube video on the subject.
Enjoy! – Rick H.
Dear Mr. Rawles,
I’ve got something for the guy in suburban London. England is a rainy area – isn’t´t it? So try this unbreakable umbrella.
And here´s something on video about how to use canes for self-defense.
Thank you! – Joe B.
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Kitten goes for 160km ride on car's bumper
- From: AP
- September 06, 2012
A WOMAN says a six-week-old kitten hitched a ride on the outside of her vehicle as she drove about 100 miles over upstate New York roads.
Stacey Pulsifer tells the Press-Republican of Plattsburgh that she recently drove from her home in Plattsburgh to Elizabethtown in the Adirondack Mountains, then back to her apartment. Along the way she stopped for coffee and heard meowing coming from her Jeep.
She asked two friends to help her search the vehicle. They finally found the kitten wedged behind a bumper and had to cut it free.
Ms Pulsifer has since adopted the hitchhiker and named it Pumpkin. She estimates the lucky black cat was lodged in the car for about 22 hours and traveled some 160km. Pumpkin suffered a broken paw during the ride.
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Back in the 1970 and 1980s I read all of Clavell's books. He is a master story teller. The helicopter company in this book is one of the companies of The Noble House. You should read that book as well as Shogun and Tai-Pan. The story takes place in the 1970s in Iran during the fall of the Shah. His book Whirlwind in two volumns covers this story but this is a stand alone book and cover what happened to some of the people indepth. These people were on lightly touched upon in Whirlwind. This book is more about the Finnish pilot who had married the daughter of a Khan who ruled the boarder area of Iran and Azerbaijan. As a princess married to a foreigner, the radical islamic went after then and they had to escape to Turkey. The story briefly covers the escape of all the companies planes and people from Iran. Lots of action and suspense along with detailed account of what the country was like at that time. Clavell is one of those writer who has the ability to make you feel as if you are right in the middle of the action. He is one of the better historical fiction writiers. John Lee did an excellent job narrating the book. I suggest you would enjoy reading all of Clavell's work.
This book was written in 1981 and won the Edgar Award. After listening to it I sure can see why it received the award and how it launched Woods career. I also under stand that in the 1980's CBS made it into a mini-series starring Charles Heston. The book is the first one in a series about Will Lee. The book opens up in 1919 Delano Georgia (near warm Springs --FDR died there) with the appointment of the first police chief of Delano, a farmer Will Henry Lee it covers his years as Chief and his accumulating evidence on two boys who were murdered and his suspicions of Foxy Furderburke as the murder. Lee was shot down in line of duty and the next Chief was Sonny Butts a returning WWI solder he added to the file on Foxy but he had problems, you need to read the story, I do not want to give away the story. Tucker Watts became the third Chief and the first black, he also is a Army veteran. His term was in the 1950-60 and time of Civil Rights in the South. Lots of action, suspense, politics, family interaction, history and life in a small town in the racial divided South. Woods took the time to build the characters and the background in the story as it is the beginning of a series. The Narrator Mark Hammer did a great job. His voice is familiar to me but I can not place it. I shall download the second book in the series, I hope it will be as good as this one.
Unlike some of the other reviewers I found this book interesting and thought provoking. The book went back and forth between what is coming in technology and how it can be used by the individual, corporation, or NGO, for good or bad. What I found most intriguing is their discussions on how government can use the coming technology for good or evil. Jared Cohen worked at the State Department under both Rice and Clinton so I felt he had a good understanding of the various types of government in the world and what they would or would not do with the technology. They went out of their way to point out technology such as, the smart phone, will give more power to all the people of the world. It was interesting how they see the use of communication technology in helping in natural or man made disasters in the world. They used the example of Haiti to show what would have worked better and how various technologies could improve the reconstruction phase post disaster. In listing all the new advancements coming in the future I felt like one day we will pass the wonders of Star Trek. One question they asked was, for each of us to think, at what point do we draw the line of how much privacy will we give up for security. Lots of information along with pros and cons of use and abuse, over all I was fascinated with the information in the book.
Raymond Benson came up with an interesting idea. I remember years and years ago when in training, working with some Alzheimer patient wondering what their life had been like and what secret were also lost to the disease. Benson has Martin Talbot's mother Judy Cooper Talbot in a facility for Alzheimer, he is asked to see his Mother's attorney. The attorney gives him a box and letter and said his Mother had instructed him to give this to Martin when she dies or is incapacitated. He finds a diagram to the house marking a secret room. In it he finds a costume and diaries, weapons. The story goes from Martin reading the diaries learning about his Mother and to the present day with Roberto Renelli a Mafia gangster being released from Sing Sing after 52 years. He is out to find and kill the Black Stiletto, who put him in prison. The story goes from how this happened, with Martin reading the diaries, to the current day, this adds more suspense as Martin learns of his Mother's life as The Black Stiletto. I think this might make a good series, so shall order the next book in line. Lots of action, suspense and some humor along with interesting characters. This is a bit different idea and has so much potential for a good story line. Arielle DeLisle, Chris Patton, Michael ray Davis did a great job with the narration.
I am a fan of military Sci-Fi. I read the other two books in the series (you must read this series in order) and knew this was the last book. I was wondering how Campbell was going to end it, I was thinking up all types of scenarios. The politics was interesting sort of reminds you of what is going on today in Washington. The space and land battles descriptions were fantastic. Campbell is a master of space battles. I will not give away the end but Campbell did an excellent job of tying up all the ends and coming up with a reasonable ending. I have read all the Jag in Space series and the Lost Fleet which I am keeping current on as Campbell writes them. I hope Audible has books under his real name of John Henry as I want to keep reading his books. Eric M. Summerer did a great job with the narration.
I have read a number of Jeffrey Archer books over the years and also knew he was a member of the House of Lords and a politician but was unaware he was sent to prison. Like many of the other readers I looked up to learn about his crimes. This book is book one of a series of four books in the Prison Diary series. I found it interesting and was surprised at his treatment by the other prisoners and staff. The day to day life of prison was enlightening as well as how many were there because of drugs. I could understand Archers point when he would write attention Mr. Home Secretary even though it could be considered self serving. I also noted how many of the prisoners said they would just take their punishment and get on with life. I am impressed that on his release that Archer is busy campaigning for prison reform. Martin Jarvis did a great job reading this book. Enjoyed the book and learned a lot.
This book was written a bit differently than what I was expecting from the blurb about the book. I was expecting a biography type story of the men and their lives, instead it is mainly a chronicle of their more famous executions. The time frame of the book is from 1903 to 1956 when the death penalty was revoked. The opening of the book is what I was originally expected, in that, it tells about Henry's application to be an executioner, the process at the time to be come one, the interviews he went too and the training he took. Once he started working as an executioner the story mostly changed to the person to be executed and their crime. Albeit, I did find it interesting and noted how murder has evolved in society over the years. I found the stories in World War One and World War Two intriguing the execution changed from murder to treason. The part of the story covering post WWII war crimes trials and executions were fascinating, I am well versed in the American Nuremburg trials but was unaware of the British War Crime Trials of the concentration camp commandants and guards. I would like to learn more about the trials by the Allied countries and how they decided which country would try what type of war crimes. The last part of the book covered the controversy of the death penalty and Albert's response to it. Steve Fielding did a lot of research to gather the material for this story. Norman Gilligan did a great job of narrating the story.
Was looking for a new series to follow and came across this one that sounded interesting. I have not read any Mary Logue book before but do like Joyce Bean narration. I was not disappointed in the first book of the series, it sets the scene for the series. Claire Watkins husband is killed in a hit and run in front of her house and the accident was witness by the daughter Meg. Claire resigns her job with the St Paul homicide squad and moves to a small town in Wisconsin to be near her sister and raise her daughter in a safer environment. Needless to say the action begins with the killer coming after Meg and Claire's sister. Claire's neighbor is murdered. Lots of detention work, action, suspense and humor. Time is taken by Logue to build characters which is why I sometime enjoy a series over a stand-alone book. Shall try the next book in the series before I decide to continue the series or not.
Dusty Rhodes is making a name for himself as a western writer who tells a story like the old-fashion stories tellers of the past. This in many ways is a story of a young boy's growth and development into manhood, it also could be called a love story. It is all this wrapped into a fast moving action western with Texas history wrapped into it. I thought the name sounded familiar then remembered J.C. Holderfield was the town marshal in the Littlejohn family series. Was nice to learn about Holderfield and how he ended up the town marshal in the town where the Littlejohn's lived. I listened to this all day while on my walk, doing house chores, gardening and exercise, felt I never wasted a minute of my reading time. Don Ranson did a good job narrating the story, loved his deep baritone voice, it just seem perfect for the story. It is a shame more people no longer read westerns, there is more to a good western than people think. Give the book and genre a try.
When I saw this was about a Marine sniper I thought it was going to be a war story but no the hero Sargent Ray Kruz has just retired from the Corp and is in Minnesota to visit his fiancé , Molly Chan's family. They go to the Mall of America for some gifts and get caught in a take over by a group of Somali Terrorists. Now begins a fast past, action and suspense packed story. Ray's sister is a reporter in a news helicopter above the mail and uses the news copter to block a terrorist from escaping in a copter. Both siblings are hero's in the story. As the story ends a truism occurs incompetence gets promoted. Phil Gigante does a great job narrating the book. This book makes an exciting passage of time I almost read it in one session. If you like Hunter books and action packed stories this is the book for you.
Egyptologist Daniel Knox is hired by a marine archeologist friend to dive in a newly discovered catacomb discovered at a hotel building site in Alexandra. This leads to a hunt for Alexander the Great's tomb. Lots of action, bit of history of Ptolemy tossed in and information about Alexander the Great. Suspense, humor, chases and good character build up for possible a series. Will Adams has a writing style similar to Clive Cussler. This is an action historical fiction book. I have always enjoyed listening to David Colacci and he does his usual great job narrating the book.
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A “Toxic Strike Force,” farmers and local and state agencies are scouring an area in Linden, Calif., to find the party or parties responsible for deliberately dumping paint into the area’s waterways.
Local news reports indicate Potter Creek in Linden has been contaminated with dozens of cans filled with paint. Reports suggest the paint dumping has occurred eight times in the past three weeks, with someone dumping as many as 50 cans at a time.
The paint is mostly blue and darker tints; some of the containers appear to be old.
San Joaquin County Director of Emergency Operations Michael R. Cockrell told the local CBS affiliate that the suspects are “going above waterways and slamming buckets down and containers to make sure they break open into the waterway and banks.”
Cockrell told Durability + Design that the investigation of the paint dumping is well under way.
“We did retrieve some evidence at several sites that they are trying to trace to suspects,” Cockrell said.
In addition, Cockrell said ranchers and farmers in the area are aware of the problem.
“Since they are out on a 24-hour period, they may spot these activities,” he said.
All other local and state agencies in the area, including public works, fire, law enforcement, mosquito-vector control, medical, and health, have been advised, Cockrell said.
The cleanup price tag of the dumping has reached the $60,000 mark, and if caught the suspect or suspects will not only face felony charges, but will also be forced to pay for the cleanup, reports said.
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But conspiracy theorists in Egypt who claim that the US is behind the electoral success of the Muslim Brotherhood have cited Bachmann's charges as evidence for their claims. Thus, Bachmann's conspiracy-mongering directly undermines US policy in Egypt.
Although many Americans see Bachmann as a marginal figure in US politics, such distinctions are easily lost in translation. Bachmann was "taken seriously" for a time as a presidential candidate and today she is a member of the House Intelligence Committee. Outside the US, her membership in the Intelligence Committee sounds to many like a real credential. And this is why Bachmann's membership in the Intelligence Committee is a serious concern for US policy in the region.
Former US officials, NGO leaders and academics concerned with US policy in the region are circulating a letter to Speaker Boehner and Leader Pelosi, urging that the anti-Muslim conspiracy theorists on the House Intelligence Committee be replaced. The letter is reproduced below:
To Protect US Interests, Replace Anti-Muslim Conspiracy Theorists on the House Intelligence Committee
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NEW DELHI: Google chairman Eric Schmidt has warned that India is lagging badly behind in harnessing the power of the internet because of its failure to invest in high-speed telecom networks.
"It is well behind in the web services model that the rest of the world is adopting," Schmidt told the CNBC-TV18 television channel late on Wednesday during a trip to India.
"It is crucial for India to invest and enable fast fibre internet connectivity within the country, between the country and the other countries," he added.
When asked to explain why only 150 million out of 1.2 billion Indians had access to the internet, he said that the government had perhaps grown complacent due to the country's success in producing large software and IT companies.
"My guess would be that having been satisfied with the great success of IT, the Indian government and the leadership has made the same mistake that companies do, they rested on their own laurels," he said.
Experts say India has enjoyed a telecom revolution that has brought cheap mobile phones to the majority of the country, but fast internet connections remain limited to a small minority in cities.
As well as being slow in rolling out fibre optic networks, internet entrepreneurs also complain that an uncertain regulatory environment has hampered the development of Internet businesses, experts say.
Schmidt is in New Delhi for the first "Google Big Tent" event to be held in India, a forum that brings together policymakers and internet experts.
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This being my first post i'd like to first introduce myself.My name is Gabriel and I am 16 years old.
I've always had a great hunger for 2d adventure games.By this age I've played more than I could count (metaphorically speaking).
Now that my highschool has introduced me to programming I am baffled by the idea that I could make my own 2d adventure game.
Now with the formalities done I'd like to get to it.
I am quite confortable in the C++ language (doing it in school for 1 year plus my home learning), up to the point of classes and structures (I can implement something using these concepts but it doesn't come as natural as the other features of the language do), but my real experience in developing games comes with the Python programming language along with the SDL spinoff Pygame.
I dived in the Pygame documentation and learned all the functions and methods I deemed necessary for my game and shortly after that I started working on my first game: a Space Invaders clone. It turned out quite nice and it surely was a playable game but my dream is a overhead adventure game.
I know that for this type of game tile engines are the most widespread because of flexibility and memory conservation, so i set out on the stupendous journey of designing my own tile engine but as I advanced with the engine it simply became too overwhelming.Finally i managed to put together a simple,clean (this is a big lie), 1 layer engine that could load, display,and save levels quite nicely.
I now see how childish I was when i made my tile engine.My code seemed now like a zombie with only duct tape holding it in part.
Now I am sorry to have bored you with the stupidly long story but I have one thing to ask:
Can you please point me in the direction of basic multi layered tile engine making (not i am not asking for code snippets)?
Just the logical steps of designing a multi layered tile engine. (links to tutorials, some pseudocode-ish ideas would be a bonus)
PS:Excuse my english please...
Edited by Djfix, 16 August 2012 - 10:09 AM.
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Completed in 1928, Midtown Exchange in south Minneapolis served as a retail and distribution center for Sears, Roebuck and Co. until closing in 1994. A year later, it was added to the National Register of Historic Places. For the next nine years, the building sat vacant, until the city, which acquired the property in 2001, awarded development rights to Ryan Companies US Inc.
In 2006, Midtown Exchange reopened as a mixed-use development consisting of retail and office space, residential units, and a hotel.
Four hundred eighteen thousand of the building's 1.1 million sq ft serves as the headquarters of Allina Hospitals & Clinics, a not-for-profit network of health-care services. The building also includes 219 affordable and market-rate apartments, 88 condominiums, and 57 townhomes and flats. A 136-room, full-service Sheraton Hotel connected by walkways to Abbott Northwestern Hospital primarily serves hospital visitors, patients, and their families, as well as corporate guests.
New Hope, Minn.-based Horwitz/NSI was responsible for retrofitting the building's mechanical system.
“We chose super-efficient water-to-air heat pumps by ClimateMaster because — compared to traditional HVAC equipment — they can be installed for less money,” Bill McKoskey, PE, president of Horwitz/NSI, said. “The heat pumps also offer the flexibility of being easy to zone. And you can add heat pumps to the overall design as needed, so they give you an advantage in scalability.”
With hundreds of heat-pump components to connect, circulator pump stations were a key consideration.
“We installed three large Taco pumping stations,” McKoskey said. “One is a variable-flow heating-water loop which matches flow to the building's loads through the use of variable-speed drives. The other loops serve the heat-pump core water loop and the cooling-tower loop.”
As Tom McCormick, product manager, commercial pumps, for Taco Inc., explained, “When the speed of the pump motor is varied to meet changing climate conditions — both inside and outside the building — the motor uses the least amount of energy.”
Meanwhile, “The pumping stations they chose provide the maximum wire-to-water efficiency, taking into account the combined efficiency of the pump and motor together,” McCormick added.
Chief among environmental considerations was noise.
“Several professionals involved in the project raised concerns about this,” McKoskey said, “so … we built a mock-up vertical heat pump at an older building here in town. And when it was operational, we led a group there to see and hear the system in operation. Everyone was favorably impressed.”
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As an added precaution, the developer chose to install insulated G-panels on all heat-pump enclosures in the residential units, further dampening any operational noise.
Another important consideration stemmed from the building's status as a registered historic structure.
“One of the things about historical buildings is the need not to see anything new,” McKoskey said. “We were able to satisfy that requirement because all of the individual water-source-heat-pump units integrated with the boiler and cooling tower for the exchange of heat, and the only thing visible on the exterior is the cooling tower itself, which, in this case, is in a Level 13 penthouse. That worked out to everyone's satisfaction.
“In contrast,” McKoskey continued, “one of the essentials for a conventional VAV (variable air volume) system would be louvers, and they're an immediate deal-breaker with the folks who guard against visible, exterior signs of modern systems. They're not permitted on historical buildings, or at least to be apparent.
“But with water-sourced heat pumps,” McKoskey concluded, “the only air we're moving is the ‘makeup’ air, so that means you're using a much smaller duct, which, in this case, is a definite advantage for the heat pumps in maintaining the integrity of the historical appearance throughout the building.”
An exception to the use of water-to-air heat pumps was made in the Allina Hospitals & Clinics headquarters, where a traditional VAV heating-and-cooling system was installed.
“But even there we also installed some ClimateMaster heat pumps because Allina has a critical 24/7 temperature requirement for their data facility,” McKoskey said. “So we just tied that to a dry-cooler loop, which is a totally separate system from the rest of the building.”
Further challenges grew out of what some on the project called the building's “bunker construction.” For instance, the building sits atop a 6-ft-thick, 150,000-sq-ft slab.
“Like they say, ‘They don't build ‘em like they used to,’” Scott Rollings, chief executive officer of Blaine, Minn.-based Energy Efficient Resources, said. “It was as though, during construction, the rule of thumb was, ‘When in doubt, add more concrete.’”
Walls were almost as sturdy as the floors, complicating the task of modernizing the building systems.
“As a design/build contractor, I'm always working closely with architects,” McKoskey said. “At this job site, this was important in determining favorable HVAC routes through ceilings, walls, and floors. And on this project, there were a number of architects involved — separate architects for the condos and apartments, for Allina, and for retail. Of course, because of the old construction techniques, there were aesthetic treatments and designs that became extremely challenging to bring about.”
In the residential areas of the building, Horwitz/NSI technicians installed 1- to 3-ton vertical heat pumps with integral risers or piping, stacking as many as they could, linking them as part of the closed water loop.
“Unfortunately, the building didn't ‘stack’ perfectly, so we used a lot of offsets, which solved many problems, but were a key challenge in making it all come together,” McKoskey said.
According to Rollings, many horizontal water-to-air heat pumps, including 10-, 15-, and 20-ton units, were used throughout the project.
“Up at the top of the tower — all the way up 17 floors — is where they used to store fire-protection water,” McKoskey said. “And within that tower today, from floors 13 through 17, there are now many elegant condominiums.”
McKoskey said the building also has a high-rise smoke-control system that includes fire floor exhaust, stairway pressurization, and elevator-shaft relief. If the heat pumps had been permitted to cross many fire barriers with large ducts, as in a VAV system, the installation process would have been more involved, requiring the use of large and costly smoke-control dampers.
“No doubt, we were dealing with a very tough building,” McKoskey said. “It's unusually shaped, and it's extremely well-built …. The mechanical solution we settled on was ideally suited to the challenge and also to the developer's stated need for high-efficiency operation.”
John Vastyan ([email protected]) is a Manheim, Pa.-based communications professional whose work focuses on the plumbing and mechanical, radiant-heat, and geothermal industries.
For Design Solutions author guidelines, call Scott Arnold, executive editor, at 216-931-9980, or write to him at [email protected].
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As Hurricane Sandy batters the east coast, It’s extremely difficult to think about anything else right now. With news outlets reporting that the hurricane that is battering the northeast - is the biggest storm to ever hit the region, with nearly 8 million people without power, and the death toll at 16 and rising, my thoughts and prayers are with my family, and friends, and everyone affected by this natural disaster.
Whenever I hear about these freakish storms, that are occurring more frequently and becoming the norm in our lives, I can’t help but think about global warming and climate change. I’m immediately reminded that the debate moderators in all four debates, neglected to ask the candidates any questions about the environment.
In that context, I hope that our political leaders remember that it’s a moral imperative to rely on facts and not fiction, and science and scientists, to develop public policy that reduces the frequency of these devastating disasters.
The presidential election is exactly a week away, and I hope that both candidates share their views concerning the environment, the causes of global warming, and what policies they will implement to impact climate change.
I know their positions, and think it’s criminal that there has been such little discussion about the environment, and that their views are not known by you.
© 2012 JIVEINTHE415.COM
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Q: Tell me more about the Georgia Gems program.
A: This is a program to showcase the University of Georgia’s (UGA) Plant Selections and Patented Releases.
The plant varieties have been developed by researchers from the University of Georgia’s College of Agriculture and Environmental Sciences. These plants are then licensed to companies worldwide for production and marketing purposes.
Royalties received from sales are returned to the UGA Research Foundation and used in part to support plant cultivar development programs in UGA’s College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences.
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The palooza is a free event scheduled for Feb. 11 from 6 to 9 p.m. in the Learning Commons area on the second floor of the Ralph Brown Draughon Library.
The library is synonymous with studying all night with little sleep and no fun or games.
However, the library is opening after hours for a special night of games, competitions, catwalks, hunts and much more Friday night.
The library will provide snacks and drinks for attendees. Aubie will even make an appearance from 7 to 7:45 p.m. to play games with students.
“Some of the activities we have planned are video games, a variety of board games, a dry erase board art competition, a photo scavenger hunt, a football toss, a trivia contest, even a Project Runway fashion contest and much more” said Leigh Younce, librarian and coordinator for RBDpalooza.
The event is designed to encourage students to explore the library and see the opportunities the library can offer in a relaxed atmosphere.
The fliers remind attendees to “put your game face on!”
“It’s a night of games for students to get comfortable with the library for a mid-semester break,” said Jayson Hill, library communication specialist. “There will even be a scavenger hunt and even prizes.”
Tables usually meant for studying will be littered with board games, food and drinks instead of laptops and books.
“The basic idea behind the event is to have a night where students can come to the library and enjoy a night of fun and games,” Younce said.
The RBDpalooza is an effort to get students acquainted with the library in a less stressful setting.
“The library has a wealth of information that can really be useful when it comes to that 20-page research paper,” said Jacob Guerin, freshman in education. “If people feel comfortable with it, they won’t be afraid to use the library’s resources.”
After RBDpalooza, the library will be back to business as usual.
“The RBDpalooza is a good way for students to get acquainted with the library,” said Micah O’Dell, freshman in psychology. “If I go, I think I will be more comfortable stepping foot in the daunting library and if I am comfortable, then I can focus more on my studying—that’s a good thing.”
As the name suggests, the event will be a memorable night in the library.
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I’m a huge fan of CBS’ The Big Bang Theory (TBBT), mainly because I’m a lifelong geek, but also because it is one of the better written shows on TV (a low standard indeed). The four main male characters are researchers at Cal Tech, although, as the show keeps mentioning, three have Ph.D.’s, and one only has a Masters from MIT. TBBT also amuses me because I was one of those characters, seemingly clueless about the opposite sex, more interested in games and Star Trek than in anything else, and spending hours in a lab doing obscure experiments. And I dressed that poorly too! TBBT just reminds me of my life. And I still love Star Trek (though Enterprise annoyed me).
This morning, I saw that Orac posted an article about my favorite show, and I kind of ignored it since I assumed he was going to give glowing reviews about it. The title of his article, “Say it ain’t so Amy Farrah Fowler”, is a reference to one of the characters who is a Ph.D. level neurobiologist, played by Mayim Bialik, who actually has a Ph.D. in neuroscience from UCLA. It’s kind of cool that one of the geeky scientists on the show is an actual geeky scientist.
Unfortunately, I ended up reading the article (and over 100 comments), and now I’m annoyed. Bialik’s real-world views betray her science background, since she seems to embrace some pseudoscientific garbage.
Unfortunately (in this case at least), actors aren’t their characters, and even more unfortunately Bialik isn’t anything like Amy Farrah Fowler, at least when it comes to science. Whereas Amy Farrah Fowler is scientific to the point of having difficulty functioning in “normal” society, Bialik I just learned from commenter yesterday, is heavily into the woo. How heavily? Well, it should tell you a lot that she’s a celebrity spokesperson for the Holistic Moms Network. What is the Holistic Moms Network? Actually, the name should say it all to you. Picture the sort of organization that would name itself the Holistic Moms Network, turn it up to 11, and then multiply it by another 11, and you have an idea. The Holistic Moms Network is a cesspit of “natural” parenting, where “natural” apparently means embracing every form of “natural” woo known to humans.
And homeopathy. How can someone with a Ph.D. from a world renowned university (and frankly, a world renowned neuroscience program) buy into homeopathy, which is just water!
But that’s not all. If there’s one more thing that should tell you all you need to know about the Holistic Moms Network approach to science-based medicine, then take a look at its sponsors: Boiron (manufacturer of the homeopathic remedy for flu known as Oscillococcinum), the Center for Homeopathic Education (and I bet it is homeopathic too), the National Center for Homeopathy, and a whole bunch of other purveyors of woo and quackery.
And Dr. Bialik, Ph.D. buys into the whole anti-vaccine lunacy.
She’s also a big fan of antivaccine apologist Dr. Jay Gordon and antivaccine pediatrician Dr. Bob Sears. She completely gushes about them on her Facebook page because Dr. Jay apparently wrote the foreword to her book on attachment parenting entitled Beyond the Sling: A Real-Life Guide to Raising Confident, Loving Children the Attachment Parenting Way and Dr. Sears wrote a blurb for her.
OK, I’m willing to concede that just because she has a Ph.D. in neurobiology, that doesn’t mean she actually understands immunology. Except that a well rounded education in biology, generally means that you have a more than simple understanding of immunology.
Or basic chemistry or physics. Except that it takes 2 or 3 years of chemistry and physics just to get accepted into most graduate schools
I generally ignore the backgrounds of most actors and actresses on TV. I avoid anything by Jenny McCarthy because her body of work (pun intended) is not exactly Oscar-winning. But other than that, it would be impossible to keep a list of the various peccadilloes, religious choices, and/or crimes of each actor or actress. I’d stay at home reading blogs all day long instead. But I had a certain standard for a TV show that uses a science fact checker, and had guest appearances from some great scientists like George Smoot and Neil deGrasse Tyson.
I am disappointed by Bialik’s attitudes towards science, not because of the show (I’ll still watch), but because she should have the skills to read journal articles that debunk almost all of her beliefs (and I haven’t dug into the travesty of attachment therapy). I’m also critical of how she got a Ph.D. from UCLA and doesn’t appear to have the scientific thinking skills that is expected of Ph.D.’s.
Thanks Orac for ruining my favorite show.
22 Responses to “Amy Farrah Fowler, I’m so disappointed”
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1. Do all the players in the band know their parts inside out? Is there a part that someone is unsure of?
2. Are all the players performing their parts the same way every time (assuming that you’re not recording some forms of jazz and blues where you want a different performance)? Any variation can lead to a section not gelling or not being tight.
3. Is the band playing dynamically? Does the music breath volume-wise? Does the verse have less intensity than a chorus or bridge?
4. Does the band lose its drive when playing with less intensity? Does it forget about attacks and releases when they play quieter?
5. Is everyone playing the song and section starts and stops the same? If not, ask every player, “How are you playing it?”
6. Does the band sound tight? Are the attacks and releases of phrases being played the same way by everyone? Are the builds, turnarounds and accents being played the same way by everyone? If not, ask every player, “How are you playing it?”
7. Is the band in tune? If not, make sure everyone uses the same tuner and tunes the same way.
8. Does the song have a groove? Is the rhythm section playing in the pocket? Is the drummer or bass player slightly wavering in tempo?
9. Is the tempo right for the song? Try it a bpm or two faster or slower and see if it feels better.
10. Are all vocals in the best range for the singers? Does the singer have trouble hitting all the notes? Does the singer sound comfortable singing and is the vocal sound right for the song?
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A Novel that Echoes a Real Victorian Murder
Lord Charles Danvers, still in mourning for his lost love Charlotte, hopes to find escape from his ghosts at the country estate of his oldest friend Sir John Boileau. The events surrounding the coming of age of Sir John’s son and heir have much of Norfolk astir — until the peace of an autumn evening is shattered by a brutal murder.
The police are quick to point to a quarrelsome farmer but Lord Danvers has his doubts. As the local magistrate, Sir John has an interest in the investigation. But is the real connection much closer to home? And does Danvers owe the greater loyalty to an old friend or to the truth?
Then Danvers is even more unsettled by the entrance of the alluring Lady Antonia Hoover.
The first in the Lord Danvers Mysteries, A Most Inconvenient Death is a Victorian true crime novel. The Stanfield Hall Murders were the sensation they are portrayed to be, the elaborate coming of age celebrations and the ensuing dramatic trial are all recorded history.
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Only on Fox News would unemployment insurance be presented as some kind of “cruelty” to the poor that “deters” them from getting hired at low-paying jobs. That’s right, with a straight face, Fox guest John Tamny said that we should scrap federal unemployment benefits in order to make “existing jobs” more attractive and “help” the unemployed by “luring” them back into the workforce. Naturally, host Tucker Carlson was all ears.
It started with a suggestion by Carlson that unemployment insurance benefits are unnecessary and wasteful. He cited a statistic that, during the past recession, the federal government paid “almost $80 million in jobless benefits to households that made more than $1 million a year.” He added, “Is this proof that the system is broken or should top earners be entitled to federal assistance if they lose their jobs?”
His guest, John Tamny took the concept a few steps further. He thought it would be even worse if millionaires were “forced” to pay into a system “that only non-millionaires could collect from.” But he went on to advocate for getting rid of unemployment insurance altogether - couched in the kind of rhetoric George Orwell would surely have loved - by calling one of our most important social safety nets “anti-poor” because it doesn’t encourage them to work for lower wages.
(The system) makes it that much more expensive for (businesses) to lure workers back from the sidelines. It actually raises their labor cost. If you didn’t have the federal government essentially paying people not to work, their labor demands would naturally fall to the level at which the markets would hire them again and they would get back to work more quickly. I think it’s anti-poor to say only you get a program that’s going to make you unemployed for a longer time.
…If you’re being paid money not to work, it’s going to make it that more expensive for businesses to hire you back into the labor force. So if you wanted to rid that, you’d get rid of unemployment benefits and people would then have to accept the existing jobs that are available. Many of them maybe don’t look attractive now. …Unemployment benefits are a deterrent to getting back into the labor force so I think it would be particularly cruel to say if you’re poor, you get paid to stay on the sidelines.
Predictably, Tamny’s solution is to privatize. He wants “401K-style programs" that both employers and employees would pay into "so that if the unthinkable happens, you have a little cushion that you own for during the time that you’re looking for new job.” What nobody mentioned is that this would do exactly what Carlson was supposedly against in the first place - subsidize higher-paid workers' unemployment longer and better.
But if you're new at a job before getting laid off or working at a low-paying job that would only provide a very small “cushion” or if the stock market should tank again – well, I guess the rest of us could count our “lucky” stars as we flip burgers at McDonald’s.
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When Rudy Giuliani officially announced his withdrawal from the race for the Republican presidential nomination yesterday, a field once crowded with Catholic candidates became nearly bereft of them. Only Republican candidate Alan Keyes remains, but he has not gained enough support — financial or otherwise — to be included in candidate debates or to receive federal campaign funding.
The role of Catholic candidates in the 2008 race is a topic we’ve explored twice before — earlier this month and last February. (As an aside, one reader noticed that we failed to mention Ron Paul among the Republican candidates. For the record, he’s a Baptist.)
As the nation’s primaries continue and the likely nominees emerge, discussion of Catholic candidates might begin at another level. Among those mentioned as Democratic vice-presidential possibilities are an early campaign dropout, Iowa Gov. Tom Vilsack, and a more recent one, New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson.
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PITTSBURGH — PITTSBURGH (AP) - A Philadelphia teenager who drowned trying to save a friend in the tidal currents of the Delaware River was one of 19 people honored with Carnegie medals for heroism on Thursday.
William Wilkinson died on May 25, 2011, after jumping from a pier into the river to help his teenage friend Jennifer Torres, who had fallen into the water and was carried away by the strong currents. Wilkinson, 17, reached Torres but was unable to rescue her before they were separated by the currents.
A nearby man, Justin Reed, jumped in to help Torres before another man jumped in to help Torres and Reed swim to safety. Reed, 29, also was honored with a Carnegie medal for his role in Torres' rescue.
Wilkinson couldn't stay afloat while others struggled to rescue him. His body was recovered from the river the following day.
Wilkinson was one of two people honored Thursday by the Carnegie Hero Fund Commission who died in rescue attempts.
William Walker, of San Jose, Calif., died on July 3, 2010, attempting to save a woman from drowning in the Pacific Ocean. The woman had been knocked down by the surf and pulled into the water while walking along the beach of Carmel Bay. Walker drowned trying to tow the woman to shore, and she, too, died two days later at a hospital.
Other medal winners are from Alabama, California, Illinois, Minnesota, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, Oklahoma, Oregon, Wisconsin and Canada. They were honored for heroic acts including saving a man stricken with a medical condition in an out-of-control vehicle in Georgia and trying to save a woman from being struck by a vehicle after she had crashed on an interstate highway in Kansas.
Carnegie medalists or their heirs receive financial grants approved by the commission. More than $34.6 million has been awarded to 9,558 honorees since the fund's inception in 1904. New recipients are announced four times a year.
Steel baron Andrew Carnegie was inspired to start the fund after hearing rescue stories from a mine disaster that killed 181 people.
The Carnegie Hero Fund Commission, based in Pittsburgh, says its mission is to recognize people who perform heroic acts in civilian life and to provide financial help to those disabled, or to the dependents of those killed, by their heroism.
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Archive for October 2009
I don’t often write about training experiences with clients, particularly if they don’t voluntarily and without any prompting send in a photo with their story, but some stories are so touching that they must be told so they can influence others.
Fido the 9 month old German Shepherd and the 6 year old child were on a collision course.
The family was having difficulty controlling Fido and the child had no impulse control. He just wanted to pet and play with his dog but the dog would jump on him, knock him down, mouth him and scare the child with doggie antics. An untrained German Shepherd can be a difficult animal to live with indeed.
When the child was present, Fido was either tied to a tree on his pinch collar or crated. The child quickly became a huge source of frustration to Fido.
To compound the level of frustration within the family and especially for Fido, the only way the child was able to “enjoy” Fido was to run back and fourth in front of Fido while he was tied to a tree. Fido would lunge and bark and howl and the child would laugh and wave his hands around. Fido’s prey drive and his frustration became increasingly strong as did his physical strength as time went on. This was very dangerous and could have led to a tragedy.
The family knew they needed help.
Huge improvement came in only 3 short weeks. Some of what we did:
1. Threw away the pinch collars
2. No more yelling at either Fido or the child
3. Didn’t allow the child in Fido’s crate OR near Fido while he was tethered
4. Created a positive association for Fido to the child
5. Created a calm association for Fido to the child.
6. Taught some impulse control to both Fido and the child
7. NO RUNNING in the house for either Fido or the child
8. Feed Fido chicken, while in his down/stay and while the child pets Fido
9. The child feeds Fido chicken while he pets, calmly. WOW!
The family learned about the importance of mental stimulation for Fido as well as physical exercise and we developed some games that the child could participate in too. Mental stimulation for Fido and the child while building a bond and improving the relationship.
On the third lesson so much improvement was had that it truly warmed my heart. This family, including Fido, worked very hard to bring peace to their home. As I was leaving the home after the third visit, the client said “watch this new trick”. The child picked up a blanket and RAN toward Fido who was on the couch. I thought “oh crap” – BUT the child covered up Fido with the blanket, gave him a kiss on his muzzle and then walked gently away while Fido took a nap. Fido never moved, looked relaxed and happy.
The client also commented “WOW! That’s ALL it took?” Meaning relationship building and teamwork. It’s not just about the dog’s behaviors, it’s as much about the humans behaviors as well.
With Halloween upon us, remember to have fun with your dog! Dress him up but insure he is safe and comfortable! Always supervise your dog while he is dressed up in costume.
And remember – Halloween Candy is for the humans!
Halloween Costumes 2009
Massachusetts Outdoor Expo was Sunday 9/27 all day and in the pouring rain this year!
Pack of Paws Dog Training along with Dr. Kristine Sklenak and Tasha of Southbridge Veterinary, Pam, George and Bev of Woof & Whiskers Inn hosted another Family Dog Exhibit for children of all ages to educate them in animal care from medical care to training as well as the work and joy of owning a pet dog.
Our sincere thank you’s go out to all of those who braved the weather and came out to the exhibit with their dogs to help educate children. The children had really big smiles and asked about each breed and petted the dogs. I am truly humbled and extremely grateful to all of our clients who volunteered thier time, in the rain, for the benefit and education of our community.
Maggie, Harry, Bev, Cleo, Bert, Amos, Lucy, Rose, Harper, Cooper and Tucker!
Special humans who came to the exhibit: Ann and Sara, Tasha, Tara, Janet, Andi, Sara & Jay, Tammy, Paula & Dave, Kathy, Jake & Stephanie and Martha. Hopefully I didn’t miss anyone, if I did please send me an NRM so that I can fix!
So who are these special people? They are clients of Pack of Paws Dog Training with all types of dogs. They are not show dogs, they are not obedience competitors, they are family dogs.
You can see Maggie’s Story on my website under Happy Dogs. Tucker is a pit bull rescue from Second Chance Animal Shelter who achieved his CGC just the weekend prior! He has such wonderful social skills and signals that he has been a huge help to some of the reactive dogs on our weekly walks. Harry WAS a reactive who has nearly achieved his CGC. Harper is a St. Bernard puppy and the kids were overjoyed to pet her!! “HOW BIG will she get?” they answered to many! All of the dogs were wonderful! It was awesome to see the children ask questions and pet the dogs whose breeds get a bad rap. Amos the German Shepherd was a true gentleman all day, Cooper the Rottie/German Shep mix put smiles on all the kids faces, Bert the Norwegian Elkhound endured “is that a husky?” all day with a smile! Rose is a shy mix who is in the beginnings of Therapy Dog training so this was a GREAT opportunity for her!
Some of the demonstration dogs were rescues and some were adopted from breeders as puppies and ALL of them (humans too) had a great time with the children.
Despite the rain, hundreds of children came through our exhibit asking all types of questions. It was a very rewarding day!
What is Massachusetts Outdoor Expo you ask? MOE held at the Hamilton Rod and Gun Club and is a celebration of outdoor activities geared toward education for children of all ages. The exhibits are interactive, safe and educational. It’s totally volunteer and there are tons of exhibitors from camping, fishing and hunting to climbing, fishing and pet dogs. It’s really wonderful.
No pictures this year, you guessed it, due to the RAIN ……………
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I told my wife that I was in a really bad mood, and she asked, “Do you think you’re going to lose it anytime soon?” Indignant, I shot back with, ”I don’t think I’m going to ‘lose it’ at all!” She just quietly said, “The mood; do you think you’re going to ‘lose’ the mood?” Oooooppps! So much for maintaining any semblance of dignity in THAT interaction! So, here are three simple points that you might want to keep in mind about “bad moods”. First, never announce that you’re in one to begin with; it’s plainly obvious anyway. Second, never trust the “interpretations” that come with a “bad mood”. You’ll feel quite right and even righteous in what you think, but you’ll act out in the midst of being very wrong, and wish you hadn't. Third, never defend your “honor” while you’re in a “bad mood”; it probably won’t turn out to be very “honorable” after all. "Bad moods" are real, and "bad moods" are human, but here's what I think. It might take a little bit of time and energy to quietly dismiss “bad moods”, and then, to cultivate “good moods” instead; but the dividends will always be sweet.
Simply Encouraging® Stories & Narratives to Brighten Your Day, and Make Your Relationships Bright™!
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04/11/07 Citizenship Service
Homily notes of
Most Rev. Diarmuid Martin
Archbishop of Dublin, Primate of Ireland
Christchurch Cathedral, 4th November 2007
“The grace of God has appeared”. There are so many signs of the fruits of the grace of God in our city and for these we have come here today to give thanks.
“The grace of God has appeared… in the present age”: we thank God for the particular signs of the presence of his grace in our own time, rendered visible through the fruits of the human genius of our scientists and researchers, through the human endeavour of our economists and business leaders, through the talents of our writers and our artists, through the hand work of our craftsmen, through the daily vigilance of our medical, Gàrda and fire-fighting services, through political vision, through the care of generous parents and great teachers, through ordinary lives lived in goodness and in truth.
“The grace of God has appeared… to redeem us from all iniquity”. We recognise also the presence in our world and in our city of sinfulness and iniquity and of evil. We call evil by its name. We denounce its perpetrators. We repent for the ways we share responsibility in this evil, we pray for conversion. But we do so with a hope and an optimism which is characteristically Christian, knowing that in the end, even in the face of the greatest evil, the grace of God will triumph.
Allow me in the first place to thank God for the particular grace that is represented this afternoon by the invitation of Archbishop John Neil and of Dean Desmond Harmon to me as Roman Catholic Archbishop of Dublin to preach for the first time here in Christchurch Cathedral. My mother and her family who grew up here in The Liberties in different times would certainly be surprised to see me at this pulpit, but I know that they would be proud that we are all her together.
Together with Archbishop Neil I thank God for the warmth of our ecumenical cooperation. Together we thank God for our growing awareness of what we share in common, as preachers and custodians and stewards of the word of God. We recognise our growing awareness of our common responsibility for faith in our city and for the contribution of faith to the good of our city. Christian faith can never be individualist. Christian faith by its very nature inevitably bursts forth into genuine citizenship.
Over the last few years, the concept of citizenship has received a great deal of attention from sociologists and activists, from policy makers and politicians. The term “civil society” has taken on new resonance. Around the world civil society organizations have become real partners of governments and intergovernmental organizations with remarkable achievement.
Here in Ireland the Report of the Taskforce on Active Citizenship, published in March of this year noted that: Active Citizenship is not just for someone else…; it is about how we engage with each other and create together a set of shared values for a better society.
When we speak about the importance of citizenship we often tend to underline the great social benefits that result form the active participation of citizens in community activity. On other occasions we highlight the personal benefits that accrue to those same individuals. We attempt to show that those who engage in different forms of voluntary community activity are often healthier and more fulfilled than those who do not. We often appeal to enlightened self-interest and rationality as a motive for personal engagement.
I believe in something different. I believe that it is in the true nature of humans to be generous and that much of the volunteering we find in our communities is a spontaneous expression of what is best about humans. My convictions in this regard are rooted ultimately in my faith, in my faith in the fact that human beings are created in the image and likeness of God.
The nature of the God in whose image we are created is to be found in self-giving love. The doctrine of the Trinity reminds us that love is at the very heart of God. At the heart of our Christian Gospel is the liberating truth that God loved us first. Jesus, in his teaching and more particularly in his way of living, revealed a God whose love is unconditional and gratuitous. As Saint Paul puts it in our reading this afternoon: He it is who gave himself for us. Yet so often we fail to understand the simple, essential fact that God is love. Deus Caritas Est.
I believe that the most important contribution of Christian churches to the creation of a better society is to be found not simply in the extraordinary range of social services that they provide, notwithstanding the importance of that tradition of active care, but in upholding and insisting on the recognition of the dignity of each human person. The significance of that dignity was beautifully summed up by Pope Benedict XVI in his inaugural homily when he said: We are not some casual and meaningless product of evolution. Each of us is the result of a thought of God. Each of us is willed, each of us is loved, each of us is necessary. Citizenship is the concrete realisation of the fact that each person in our community, without distinction, should be enabled to feel that they are willed, that they are loved and that they are necessary, that they belong.
The desire to be of service, to care for others, to create a better and more just society will never be extinguished in the hearts of humans. It would be naïve, however, not to acknowledge that the ethos of self-giving, volunteerism and good neighbourliness which contributes so much to the well-being of Irish society would be seriously threatened if our growing preoccupation with wealth and consumerism were to lead people to a more calculating concern just for their own individual interests.
Let me be clear, I am not among the merchants of gloom who feel that a little bit of economic downturn might be good for the Irish soul. It is important that we recognise and, indeed, celebrate the great advances that have taken place in Ireland. Economic progress has brought the temptations of affluence, but it has also reduced the extent of the harsh poverty and the limited opportunity which characterised Ireland for so long. For that, we all thank God. But the temptations of affluence and consumerism are there.
Respecting the dignity of each and every human person requires that we must be especially attentive to the needs of those whose dignity is most easily overlooked or obscured. Notwithstanding the great achievements of the Irish economy, there are still today huge inadequacies, for example, in our public health services and there continue to exist communities where poverty and social inequalities are endemic. If we are not able to overcome these difficulties in a time when we still have plenty, we will struggle to ensure that the poor do not pay the highest price in the event of cutbacks in public expenditure. I would have a special concern for the elderly, especially those elderly who do not have private health insurance or adequate pensions or family to support them.
Many old people living on their own tell me that they live in fear. I have on many occasions drawn attention to the unacceptable increase in violence that has become a frightening mark of Irish society and Dublin. In the face of gangland and drug-related violence, just as in the face of the purposeless violence among young people, society as a whole must take a stand. That is what citizenship is about. There is no room to be complacent in the face of wanton disregard for human life. Too many lives have been lost. Violence is a blind alley that in the long term achieves only grief. Vengeance only rebounds on those who practice it.
The drug trade is in its own right violence, a trafficking in death and the ruination of lives, many of them young and vulnerable. Violence and the drug trade belong intrinsically together. Illicit drug consumption cannot be sanitized out of that equation. I find it particularly difficult to understand how in a society which rightly abhors any expression of double-standards in public life, there are those who attempt to make germ-free the bond between the sordid network of drug trafficking and violence and the socially accepted use of certain drugs as “recreational”. Double standards about the drug trade can never be made politically correct. It is certainly not socially correct. It is not correct for society.
The real seedbed of good citizenship is the family. As Christians, we share a challenging vision of marriage and the family. We have to support families. We have to support the family as an institution. We have to invest in enabling parents to realise the dreams, ambitions and hopes they legitimately have for their children. There is no way in which the State or society could ever effectively reimburse parents for the service they provide to society. Parents would not ask that. They are motivated by love and care and dedication. That is the unique gift to society of marriage in which the love of father and mother mirrors the love of God and the love of Christ for his Church. Parents do not ask a complete reimbursement for their service, but in justice they deserve never to be disadvantaged compared to others. Unfortunately, parents are not organized into an effective constituency. They need our advocacy.
In today’s world we must remember that citizenship is worldwide. The image we heard proclaimed in the reading from Isaiah: “nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war any more” still permeates Irish culture. Thank God. We can be proud of the commitment of the Irish people to dedicate an appropriate and increasing share of our wealth to ensuring a more just and equitable world. We can be proud of the professionalism of our aid-workers and diplomats. We can be proud of the high respect that our defence forces enjoy in their work abroad in the service of peace. We have an opportunity to build our increasingly ethnically diverse Ireland into a model of how peoples of different backgrounds can work together and enrich each other. We have the opportunity to get things right. We can learn from the mistakes of others, but we should have the courage to develop our own Irish model.
We have come to pray and to commit ourselves to ensuring that the grace of God may appear authentically “in the present age”.
Since Archbishop Neil and I are almost identical in age, I know that he will not be offended if I say that our generation by now has more or less had its chance. The future of citizenship in Dublin must be taken over by our younger generations and I know Archbishop Neil will agree with me when I express the hope that the future of citizenship in Dublin will be taken up with special energy by a younger generation of Christians, inspired by the values which derive from their faith. Again I am optimistic. There is great goodness and generosity in our young people. Let them hear from us today a word of encouragement and hope and confidence in their capacity to transform society for the good. May they learn from us and our communities just how vital the Christian message of the love of God made visible in Jesus is for the challenge they face.
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Wed February 8, 2012
In Russia, Punk-Rock Riot Girls Rage Against Putin
Anti-government protests in Russia are taking many different forms, from mass rallies and marches to defiant street art and music.
Just recently, members of a feminist punk group were arrested in Moscow's Red Square after they performed a song ridiculing Prime Minister Vladimir Putin. The group, which calls itself Pussy Riot, says it's planning more stunts before March's presidential elections.
The band's latest performance took place on an icy winter's day in mid-January, when even the police who guard Red Square were hunched over from the cold. Eight young women doffed their coats, jumped over an iron fence and climbed atop a snowy stone platform.
They were dressed in summery short dresses and tights, but brightly colored balaclavas masked their faces. Dancing frantically to keep warm, they launched into a song that could be delicately titled "Putin Got Scared," though the lyrics in Russian were ruder than that.
Other members of the collective shot video of the Red Square performance, which promptly went viral on the Internet.
Eventually, they were detained, held for a few hours at a police station, and given small fines for holding an illegal protest. Band members say the "illegal" part is the whole point.
One band member — who goes by the name "Schumacher," an homage to the German car-racing champion — says many people in Russia are ready for more radical action than the leaders of the main opposition movement believe.
The members of the collective have known each another for years, she says, but they came together as a band in August to protest what they say are government policies against women.
Schumacher says feminist groups had campaigned all summer against government legislation that placed restrictions on legal abortions. They were further outraged by the announcement that Putin and current President Dmitry Medvedev planned to change places after the next election.
In December, the band performed a song called "Death To Prison, Freedom To Protest" on the roof of a garage next to a prison where other protesters were being held.
The collective is made up of about 10 performers, and about 15 people who handle the technical work of shooting and editing their videos. Members say all their decisions are collective and anonymous — Schumacher and her friend Kot won't give their real names, and they insist on wearing their balaclavas during the interview.
They didn't start as performers, says Kot, whose nickname means "Tomcat." She says they were politically engaged women who figured punk protest music would energize people through their emotions.
As to the group's name, Kot says band members are well of aware of its vulgar connotations in English. But "pussy" can also be taken as a term of endearment for girls in Russia.
Kot says the group members liked the tension between that word, and the rudeness and aggression of the word "riot." She says they plan to stage more protest exploits in the weeks leading up to the March 4 elections that Putin is expected to win.
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Catching cheaters with Benford's Law FEB 21 2006
Benford's Law describes a curious phenomenon about the counterintuitive distribution of numbers in sets of non-random data:
A phenomenological law also called the first digit law, first digit phenomenon, or leading digit phenomenon. Benford's law states that in listings, tables of statistics, etc., the digit 1 tends to occur with probability ~30%, much greater than the expected 11.1% (i.e., one digit out of 9). Benford's law can be observed, for instance, by examining tables of logarithms and noting that the first pages are much more worn and smudged than later pages (Newcomb 1881). While Benford's law unquestionably applies to many situations in the real world, a satisfactory explanation has been given only recently through the work of Hill (1996).
I first heard of Benford's Law in connection with the IRS using it to detect tax fraud. If you're cheating on your taxes, you might fill in amounts of money somewhat at random, the distribution of which would not match that of actual financial data. So if the digit "1" shows up on Al Capone's tax return about 15% of the time (as opposed to the expected 30%), the IRS can reasonably assume they should take a closer look at Mr. Capone's return.
Since I installed Movable Type 3.15 back in March 2005, I have been using its "post to the future" option pretty regularly to post my remaindered links...and have been using it almost exclusively for the last few months. That means I'm saving the entries in draft, manually changing the dates and times, and then setting the entries to post at some point in the future. For example, an entry with a timestamp like "2006-02-20 22:19:09" when I wrote the draft might get changed to something like "2006-02-21 08:41:09" for future posting at around 8:41 am the next morning. The point is, I'm choosing basically random numbers for the timestamps of my remaindered links, particularly for the hours and minutes digits. I'm "cheating"...committing post timestamp fraud.
That got me thinking...can I use the distribution of numbers in these post timestamps to detect my cheating? Hoping that I could (or this would be a lot of work wasted), I whipped up a MT template that produced two long strings of numbers: 1) one of all the hours and minutes digits from the post timestamps from May 2005 to the present (i.e. the cheating period), 2) and one of all the hours and minutes digits from Dec 2002 - Jan 2005 (i.e. the control group). Then I used a PHP script to count the numbers in each string, dumped the results into Excel, and graphed the two distributions together. And here's what they look like, followed by a table of the values used to produce the chart:
As expected, 1 & 2 show up less than they should during the cheating period, but not overly so. The real fingerprint of the crime lies with the 8s. The number 8 shows up during the cheating period ~64% more than expected. After thinking about it for awhile, I came up with an explanation for the abundance of 8s. I often schedule posts between 8am-9am so that there's stuff on the site for the early-morning browse and I usually finish off the day with something between 6pm-7pm (18:00 - 19:00). Not exactly the glaring evidence I was expecting, but you can still tell.
The obvious next question is, can this technqiue be utilized for anything useful? How about detecting comment, trackback. or ping spam? I imagine IPs and timestamps from these types of spam are forged to at least some extent. The difficulties are getting enough data to be statistically significant (one forged timestamp isn't enough to tell anything) and having "clean" data to compare it against. In my case, I knew when and where to look for the cheating...it's unclear if someone who didn't know about the timestamp tampering would have been able to detect it. I bet companies with services that deal with huge amounts of spam (Gmail, Yahoo Mail, Hotmail, TypePad, Technorati) could use this technique to filter out the unwanted emails, comments, trackbacks, or pings...although there's probably better methods for doing so.
I've been doing this to achieve a more regular publishing schedule for kottke.org. I typically do a lot of work in the evening and at night and instead of posting all the links in a bunch from 10pm to 1am, I space them out over the course of the next day. Not a big deal because increasing few of the links I feature are time-sensitive and it's better for readers who check back several times a day for updates...they've always got a little something new to read.
You'll also notice that the distributions don't quite follow Benford's Law either. Because of the constraints on which digits can appear in timestamps (e.g. you can never have a timestamp of 71:95), some digits appear proportionally more or less than they would in statistical data. Here's the distribution of digits of every possible time from 00:00 to 23:59:
1 - 25.33
2 - 17.49
3 - 12.27
4 - 10.97
5 - 10.97
6 - 5.74
7 - 5.74
8 - 5.74
9 - 5.74
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MOSCOW — Fragments of at least one meteor fell in the Chelyabinsk region some 1,500 kilometers (930 miles) east of Moscow, causing flashes in the morning sky and sharp explosions, Russian officials said Friday.
The office of the governor of the region in the Ural Mountains said in a statement that many calls about injuries and damage to buildings had been received. But there were no immediate confirmed figures or specific reports on damage.
Reports conflicted on the event: A spokeswoman for Russia's Emergency Ministry, Irina Rossius, told The Associated Press that there was a meteor shower, but another ministry spokeswoman, Elena Smirnikh, was quoted by the Interfax news agency as saying it was a single meteorite.
The ministry said some fragments fell near the town of Satka, about 200 kilometers (120 miles) from the regional capital city of Chelyabinsk.
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Even if you work in the Time Warner Center, you've never seen Columbus Circle as New Yorkers will this autumn, thanks to Tatzu Nishi's latest exhibition.
The Japanese artist, known for his elevated 'rooms' that allow visitors to connect face-to-face with historical monuments, has transformed the space around the iconic Columbus statue into a contemporary living room.
Mounted upon an obelisk at a height of 20m, 'Discovering Columbus' is a loft-style lounge with huge windows onto Central Park and the bustle of midtown - views that Columbus would surely boast about if he were still with us. But it's rather the prospect of entrée to the forever inaccessible 120-year-old marble statue that is the highlight. (Columbus has been given a good scrub for the occasion.)
Few artists have managed to marry architecture and interior design with spectacle and guerrilla-style goodwill quite like Nishi, who recently dismantled his successful pop-up Hotel Gent [sic], a guest suite crafted around the 100-year-old clock tower at Ghent's Sint-Pieters train station. Like in Ghent, New Yorkers keen to witness Nishi's 'spatial encounter' have to climb six flights of scaffolding to the floating room, where the artist has installed all the mod cons of the midtown apartment, including his own bespoke 'American pop culture' wallpaper.
The environment he creates in effect contemporises the marble relic, which appears remarkably in synch within a modern context. Alas, like most publicly funded outdoor art exhibitions, it'll close in November, before the harsh winter climate dampens the New Yorkers' enthusiasm for exploration.
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This section details TAC's attempts to overcome the information vaccuum that existed in the camps and community sites. This is our effort to relay information to displaced people about the political, legal and other developments relating to the xenophobic crisis. The newsletters were each designed with content input from civil society stakeholders as well as refugee leadership about what information is needed and wanted within their sites.
Newsletter #10 (17 October 2008)
Newsletter #9 (3 October 2008)
This newsletter recaps the DHA Rapid Status Determination process as well as carefully explaining the appeals process for both unfounded and manifestly unfounded decisions. It explains the rights of IDPs in the appeals process. It further discusses the situation in Gauteng and updates on the conditions in the camps in the Western Cape.
Newsletter #8 (19 September 2008)
This newsletter covers the reports written by civil society released at a press conference on Thursday 18 September 2008, the current role of civil society and TAC in the camps, the Rapid Status Determination planned by the Department of Home Affairs for next week, and some other general updates and information.
Newsletter #7 (8 September 2008)
This newsletter described the damage to the camps as a result of the intense weekend of storming in the Western Cape in which community halls and camps were scheduled to be consolidated. It discusses the ill-preparedness of government for not only the storms but the consolidation process in general. It also discusses the site assessments done in Gauteng (to mirror what has been done in the WC) as well as the need for increased involvement of the UNHCR in the South African situation.
Newsletter #6 (30 August 2008)
This newsletter discusses the most recent information regarding the closure of community halls and selected camps. It gives a list of questions to consider for IDPs during this "consolidation process" as well as a list of useful contact numbers. It also includes a list of contact numbers for various African country embassies in South Africa.
Newsletter #5 (18 August 2008)
This newsletter discusses the closure of the community halls and some camps at the end of August, the information that TAC has regarding options displaced people have and the reasons TAC is not satisfied wih the notice given to displaced people. The murder on 13 August of a displaced person who reintegrated is dealt with as well as TAC's announcement of a victory in its legal case for norms and standards. The newsletter also gives updates from important meetings from the previous week.
Newsletter #4 (8 August 2008)
This newsletter discusses the launching of TAC's court case against the government, what TAC knows about the different closure dates announced by Government, as well as report backs from various meetings that took place.
Newsletter #3 (1 August 2008)
The newsletter details the week of protest that was declared and spearheaded by the joint Refugee Leadership Committee. It included memorandum handovers to the Department of Home Affairs, the Department of Education, a City representative and the new Premier, Lynne Brown. The JRLC met with WC MEC for Education, Cameron Dugmore to discuss their memorandum and the hand over to Premier Brown and the City representative was accompanied by a picket. It announces the release of a comprehensive follow-up assessment report produced by TAC as well as a report from the Human Rights Commission on the five camps. Finally, it announces that TAC is running out of money for the provision of humanitarian aid after spending over 2.7 million Rands on direct aid.
Newsletter #2 (16 July 2008)
This second newletter covers some of the important issues that arose in the previous week. This includes a discussion of the unlawful eviction notice put up in various community halls and camps, forced evictions, the ANC's decision to dismiss Premier Rasool, conditions at the camps update, the need for education for displaced children and the civil society press conference and quotes from that press conference.
Newsletter #1 (9 July 2008)
This newletter decribed the updates in camp conditions, humanitarian aid provision, the Departments of Health (City and Province) letters which explicitly says that no displaced person can be turned away from accessing services, as well as explains what is understood about the Home Affairs temporary permits being issued. It further outline some questions which are useful to ask when a person is deciding whether or not to register for the cards. Lastly it described the legal registration process that was being done by the Legal Resources Centre and TAC volunteers.
This document was created to explain to displaced people exactly who TAC is, what their role in the xenophobia crisis is as well as the principles along which TAC operates. It was produced at a time when there was large amounts of distrust and rumors spreading among displaced people, particularly in the isolate camps, of any organization involved in the crisis. Again, TAC felt it was important to increase the information coming back to the displaced people.
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The book talks specifically about how American exceptional ism and a private sector who is quick to adapt and attempt to create and over-estimate new opportunities has bread a history of bubbles, that inevitably 'pop.' In Gross' book he specifically looks at the telegraph, the American railroad system, the crash of wall street and the financial new deal, the Internet, Real Estate, and the upcoming bubble...Alternative Energy.
Gross' thesis is that after the bubble burst, the infrastructure that is left behind paves the way for long lasting and important businesses the opportunity to truly profit from the waste of the bubble. For example, fiber optic cables of the 90s lead to many unprofitable businesses who spent tons of money on laying cable and competing with prices. As those companies folded, the cables remained and paved the way for our current cable infrastructure.
I will admit that there is nothing new or genius in this book, but for someone who normally doesn't read economic history style books, this is a great one, because it's funny, accessible, and super-easy to read (got to love those journalist!).
I thought I'd share a favorite quote, one where Gross tries to explain why American have an innate tendency towards entrepreneurship as well as referencing West Side Story at the same time:
"Clearly, the way in which American rush headlong into investment bubbles, process their failure, and get started on the next one is exceptional...over the centuries, immigrants constituted a self-selecting group of people with short attention spans, tendencies toward enthusiasm, an inflated sense of their own capabilities, and a high level of resiliency--all crucial character traits for entrepreneurs. Who else would get on a leaky boat to endure the passage across the Atlantic for an unknown future? This argument is what I call the Officer Krupke theory of economic growth: we're not deprived on account of we're depraved." -- Gross' Pop!, page 20.My favorite chapter in the book was the one where Gross analyzed the fall of the real estate market (which is interestingly very accurate, for a 2007 book that hasn't even seen what 2008 has seen so far).
Similarly interesting is that this 2007 book joked about hybrid vehicles becoming more popular when gas got up to the price of $3.50 or $4.00 ("think what will happen when the Chinese and Indians really start to drive?")
I thought it was a good book, with a positive long-term prospect to weaker economics times, and a good and entertaining intro primer on American Economic History.
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Around the Nation
Fri September 21, 2012
In Calif., Some Ex-Inmates Get Help In New Ways
Originally published on Fri September 21, 2012 6:53 pm
Under California's criminal justice realignment program, counties are taking over responsibility from the state for low-level felons. And that has affected how inmates with histories of mental illness move through the system even after they're released.
Since California's realignment began last October, the Los Angeles County jail — the biggest in the United States — has gotten a lot bigger. The county jail population is up almost 25 percent. Inmates with mental health problems end up at the Twin Towers Correctional Facility. Francesca Anello with the L.A. County Mental Health Department oversees inmates serving time there under realignment.
"It used to be that we saw people short term," says Anello, "and so it was difficult to get them hooked up in the community if they're going in and out so quickly. And so we'd miss an opportunity sometimes to work with them long term."
Anello says that under realignment, mental health teams in the jail are better able to ensure a smooth re-entry when prisoners are released.
"We have a team that actually follows people for 30 days in the community to make sure all the supports are in place — so it's kind of like a warm handoff so that they don't get reincarcerated," she says.
Counties Take Over
Inmates released in South Los Angeles have 48 hours to report to the county's probation department hub in Lynwood, Calif. Kimberly Tillman, who oversees the operation, says a large percentage of clients have mental health needs.
"It can be 50 percent. Sometimes on our busy days, it can be 75 percent," she says.
In the past, former prisoners with mental health problems ranging from depression to bipolar disorder or schizophrenia would be seen at clinics run by the state parole department. Under realignment, Tillman says, it's up to counties to oversee each ex-offender.
"My fear is that someone in the community will be hurt because one assessment wasn't complete, and we didn't actually provide them with the wraparound services that they needed," Tillman says.
L.A. County District Attorney Steve Cooley is not a fan of realignment. He says California Gov. Jerry Brown misled the state about the real intent.
"It wasn't about public safety. It was not about rehabilitation, even though they claimed it was," Cooley says. "It was about money, so this is blood money, because there will be blood as a result of individuals who should be in prison not being in prison."
'A Safe Haven'
Many ex-prisoners end up at Project 180, a comprehensive re-entry program in the heart of L.A.'s Skid Row.
Angela Scott had been in prison on a drug possession charge. Before realignment, she would have been on state parole, and violating it might have sent her back to prison.
Now she gets regular counseling and group therapy.
"It's like a safe haven. It just makes me stronger. I never had any help, really, just go to prison. So this time I'm talking, letting it out, letting all the garbage inside out," she says.
Across the room, Warrenton Dean describes his history of gang-related crime. Late last year he was released from prison and, after talking with a county probation officer, realized he needed help.
"With my anger management, my coping skills, my life skills, my values and everything, and they told me, 'Hey, if you need the help, we can help you,' " Dean says.
Project 180 Executive Director Victoria Simon says her program has been inundated since realignment took effect.
"I think all of us are a little concerned about how quickly that is happening and can we make sure that we maintain the quality of care," she says.
Simon adds that so far state funding has been there to cover additional expenses.
Under realignment, agencies like hers are keeping close tabs on ex-felons.
"They're here virtually every day, so it's Project 180 staff, not probation, that knows the clients that are doing well, the clients that aren't doing well, the clients that have relapsed, who's having issues," Simon says.
That's an unexpected benefit of realignment — that social service agencies and law enforcement in California are collaborating in ways they never did before.
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Please join me for an informative walking tour of the damage done to my hometown ofScottsdale,Ariz., from Hurricane Fannie Mae, a hurricane that has caused more damage to housing across the land than hurricanes Katrina and Irene combined. Trust me: You’ll enjoy the tour.
The hurricane is named after Fannie Mae because the government-sponsored enterprise had precipitated much of the damage to the nation’s housing by establishing the practice of securitizing mortgages; that is, bundling them into bonds for sale in worldwide bond markets. The practice severed the personal relationship between mortgagees and mortgagers that had existed previously and had kept borrowers and lenders from becoming greedy imbeciles.
Adding to the force of Hurricane Fannie Mae were the easy money policies of the Federal Reserve, the lowering of mortgage standards by the federal government, the greed of buyers who bought homes they couldn’t afford, the greed of lenders who wrote what were essentially unsecured mortgages, and the mania brought about by the hokum spread by the government, academia, media, and the real estate and financial industries that housing never decreased in price and was a great investment for everyone.
Now for the tour:
A couple of blocks from my small townhouse is a ritzy, leafy neighborhood of one-acre lots and million-dollar-plus homes, some of which are zoned as horse properties. One of the lots is vacant and devoid of any evidence that a large, brick ranch house had once stood there.
The perfectly good house had been torn down in the middle of the housing bubble. Soon after, construction began on a replacement house, a 13,000 sq. ft. McMansion. One day during the housing bust, after framing and plywood sheeting had been completed on the house, construction abruptly stopped. Construction workers suddenly departed, taking their equipment and locking the gate behind them on the temporary cyclone fence that surrounded the property. No doubt, the builder went broke.
The half-finished house sat for two years, slowly deteriorating in the elements and becoming an eyesore in the upper-income neighborhood. A couple of months ago it was sold and razed in preparation for a smaller home to be built in its place. The lot is once again vacant and devoid of any evidence that homes had stood there.
I don’t know the exact amount of money that has evaporated on this one lot, but it has to be a staggering figure, probably in the range of what it would cost to send three kids to Ivy League universities for four years. Capital that could have gone to education or been invested in new businesses is–poof!–gone with the wind, to borrow the title of Margaret Mitchell’s masterpiece. Multiply the evaporated money by a million and you’ll come close to the total cost of Hurricane Fannie Mae.
Next door to the vacant lot is a sprawling ranch home, circa 1975, that is for sale and in the process of being foreclosed–or at least it shows all the signs of being foreclosed. The lawn has turned to dirt, the shrubbery is untrimmed, a broken lantern has fallen on its side, sprinkler heads are broken, a step ladder leans against a tree, and children’s toys litter the yard. But those aren’t the most telling signs of foreclosure. The most telling signs are the expensive SUVs in the driveway. They probably cost $150,000 in total when purchased new, and, as vehicles do, they’ve quickly depreciated in value and are worth about half as much now.
The expensive vehicles indicate that high-fliers bought the house and quickly found themselves over their heads in debt when the housing bubble burst and the economy collapsed. In their case, their heads are probably in their butts, so it wouldn’t have taken a lot of debt to pull them underwater.
More than likely, the buttheads are living rent-free at the house, because once borrowers stop making mortgage payments, it takes months or years to evict them.
A couple of blocks from this house and across a major thoroughfare is the wealthiest town inArizona,ParadiseValley. About a third of the homes on a nearby street in the town had been torn down during the housing bubble to make way for McMansions. Due to the bubble bursting, construction never began on several of the lots, and construction stopped abruptly on two unfinished homes. Only now, years later, has work continued on the unfinished homes. This is a sign that the market is at, or near, the bottom. Prices have fallen nearly 50% and are now where they were in 2003, which is the year that prices had begun climbing 50%.
You didn’t have to be a genius to know that if home prices had increased for no sound economic reason, they would eventually fall after the bubble burst to what they had been. Yet most experts in economics and real estate didn’t know this and still held out the false hope that prices wouldn’t drop that far.
In the meantime, three nearby restaurants have closed, along with scores of high-end retail shops. Vacant space also abounds at nearby Class A office buildings, including one building where, ironically, a remaining tenant is JP Morgan, one of the culprits behind the housing crisis.
Each time I walk down the Paradise Valley street, I wonder if recent home buyers have given any thought to what the air-conditioning bills are going to be for their gargantuan homes if electric rates skyrocket as expected in the coming years. Will these homes become white elephants? And do the residents stop to ponder why so much American capital goes into housing instead of manufacturing plants and other investments necessary for a vibrant economy?
Well, our walk ends here. Did you enjoy it and learn anything about the American culture and economy?
Mencken’s Ghost is the nom de plume of an Arizona writer who can be reached at [email protected].
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>Health and Nutrition>Upping calories with help of an RD
I recently had my metabolic rate measured and went for a consult with a highly respected sports dietician (who seems awesome). I have been looking to drop back down to my racing weight but my metabolism didn't seem to cooperate. Turns out I have a Resting Energy Expenditure of 1550/day, and an intake that was something like 1200 day!!! so I was not meeting my basic calorie needs. Oddly, at first when I upped my calories, my weight dropped...then it suddenly crept back on! Has anyone had experience upping their calories and eventually seen the weight drop off once the body is assured that it is receiving proper nutrition?
13.1: 1:45 | 26.2: 3:56
My doctor keeps pushing this; can you keep up with how it's working?
I gained 4 lbs in a week...am currently very unhappy with this result.
Best Present Ever
Yeah, well, I have been told the same thing by several nutritionists and it's a very popular idea on various internet sites. Upping my calories causes me to gain weight, even though the numbers say I "should" be burning more than I'm eating. Decreasing them causes me to lose weight (and to be hungry and unhappy). I haven't found any actual science to say that increasing calories causes increased weight loss or that eating too few calories causes weight loss to stop, despite the immense popularity of the idea. I gained about 5 pounds a while back by following the advice of a nutritionist and adding about 300 high quality, whole food calories a day to my diet. They were very hard to lose (though very easy to gain).
mamaofthree- In full disclosure, that is exactly what happened to me in 2008. I was at my ultimate racing weight (110 lean, mean pounds on my fairly small frame). She urged me to incorporate more carbs and I gained to 115 within 4 days. I never lost that weight- I continued to gain despite dropping her suggestions, and eventually saw a different RD who got me to 115. I never got to my racing weight again. Ultimately taking the BCP and hypothyroidism knocked me up to 128, and I am currently 122 with a low of 118. Its quite frustrating although I know these numbers are not high. My metabolic rate if it really is 1500, should be able to handle her suggested 1700/day, but it does not seem to be able to.
HobbyJogger & HobbyRacer
What's a race director have to do with the question? Or does RD mean something else in this thread?
It's a 5k. It hurt like hell...then I tried to pick it up. The end.
(RD=) Registered Dietician...
That sounds really frustrating. I just have a question - are you sure that 110 was not some kind of a fluke in the larger scheme of things? It sounds like your brain was happy at that weight but your body, not so much. Do you read Lauren Fleshman's blog? She has had a couple of q&a's and blog entries on this topic. One of the take-home messages was that "calories in calories out" works for men, but for women it's more complicated because of our hormones/reproductive system (=body designed to hold onto fat). She also had this post on losing weight safely: http://asklaurenfleshman.com/questions/2010/03/21/losing-weight-without-risking-injury/
Harriet- thanks for that article. I spoke to the RD and we agreed to keep this going awhile longer. In the grand scheme of things, I was ignoring that my period is 3 days away. I've been running and not having a lot of cramps like usual, so I haven't really been paying close attention to my body...also my weight has been fluctuating up this whole month...god only knows why, I haven't changed my intake...so really, 1600 = 0.6 lbs of weight gain so far...and it might just be my period. I need patience, grasshopper I'm horrible at patience.
110 wasn't a fluke i, I maintained it for like 8 years. I really think 115 is more where my body wants to be though- back tehn I wasn't running as much.
© 2013 RunningAHEAD, LLC. All rights reserved.
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Technology reporter Stanley A. Miller II tracks news and trends, from the coolest new gadgets to the latest stuff on the Web
Obama's ideas portal
Change.gov today launched a new "online ideas portal" to help people connect with President-elect Barack Obama's transition team. For a week, visitors can access the site's "Citizen's Briefing Book" and share ideas on any issue. They can also view and vote on suggestions that have already been submitted and track the transition team's answers. Obama's team will compile the best-rated ideas into a briefing book after the inauguration.
Ironically, today's announcement connects perfectly with my column running in Sunday's paper in which I discuss the ways the Obama administration can use technology to enhance e-government, shape policy and add more transparency. Several of the experts I interviewed for the story discuss the best-of-breed technologies used in this online "Citizen's Briefing Book," and it seems Obama's people are really in tune with what they need to do to move the new administration's technology agenda forward.
In addition to that column, I have a story in Sunday's Inauguration section about several online events and special features surrounding next week's events, so definitely check it out.
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Misleading headlines in research
Eric Schmidt, senior manager-marketing strategy and insights at Coca-Cola, presented research at ARF’s Re:think 2013 conference that seemed to indicate that what the AdAge article is calling “buzz” doesn’t drive short terms sales of Coca-Cola product.
Meanwhile Coca-Cola's Wendy Clark, senior VP-integrated marketing communications and capabilities, countered via another AdAge article that integrated social media – social media programs that are integrated in overall marcom efforts – can be highly effective. The research may, in isolation, be true – that “buzz” cannot be connected to short term sales lift for Coca-Cola products, but that is not what any of us are doing in social media. Wendy does go on to challenge the study pretty directly, “In beta testing with Facebook, we've been able to track closed-loop sales from site exposure to in-store purchase with very promising initial results that are above norms for what we see with other media.”
Even Eric framed up the limits of what his analysis covers, “…he cautioned against reading too much into the research, noting that it covers only buzz, not sharing, video views or other aspects of social media.”
The value of social media to marketers
I hate the term “buzz.” As the former President of the Word of Mouth Marketing Association and a guy who runs a global business applying social media to business with measurable results, I find the term one-dimensional and misleading.
What we are all doing online is expressing some form of word of mouth – and it's not all created equal. When someone authentically recommends or relates something positive about a brand to their friends, family and social connections online and off, that is a powerful and trusted source that affects people’s opinion and their purchase behavior. Still, a customer “gushing” about great service or a great product experience online is not the same as an innocuous statement “blah, blah, blah, Coke.” The blanket term “buzz” does nothing to help our understanding of what is actually happening in social media – a range of consumer advocacy from subtle and implicit to bold and explicit recommendations.
If we simply treat online word of mouth – the very nature of social media – as just “impressions” to be counted and weighed against other impressions, we will never realize the true promise of word of mouth via social media. Word of mouth via social media delivers a scaled approach to building measurably valuable relationships with customers, activating an advocacy base that drives opinion and behavior beyond what traditional marketing alone can do and dramatically improving the efficiency of the complete marcom mix (equal or better result from equal or less investment).
“Buzz” is almost as bad as “chatter” – two words used in the AdAge article to dumb down what is a more complex and powerful phenomena. Both words conjure up an image of clouds of white noise surrounding us like flies. That’s my friends, family and social connections you are talking about.
Integrated social media marketing does drive sales
With respect to Eric Schmidt, there are limits to the research on “buzz” as to its usefulness in guiding our use of integrated social media. It made a splash and good headlines. It heated up debate even within Coke.
Our own research via our Integrated Social Media Sales Impact Study demonstrated the correlation of social media in the mix for quick service restaurants (many of which, by the way, serve Coca-Cola products). Clearly, the value of positive word of mouth is highly affected by the product category and context. Our study showed impressive benefits of social media as part of the overall marcom mix to driving higher levels of consumption (the things you buy at QSR’s like Coke) and greater brand-relevant KPIs. It’s all here.
Much like Wendy Clark at Coca-Cola, I don’t want marketers to mis-read the headlines around this one study. The power of social media is within an integrated approach. That’s what we do here at Social@Ogilvy and what we have spent 8 years strengthening. And we have done it for many multinational marketers across categories – including our wonderful client Coca-Cola.
As we all know, ‘attribution is a bitch.’ In our lives as consumers, I think it a fool’s errand to try and zero-in on the one communication that trumped all others and inordinately drove a sale. What we will continue to do is go deeper and deeper to understand how effective social media marketing and communications integrated in a multi-channel, multi-screen consumer experience drives business results – including sales.
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AUSTIN, Texas (AP) — Texas voters could decide whether to tax themselves to pay for armed guards or other public school safety measures under a plan outlined Tuesday by three Houston-area state lawmakers.
The Texas School District Safety Act is the latest attempt to beef up security at public schools after last month's mass shooting at an elementary school in Newtown, Conn.
Schools typically pay for security measures out of their general budgets. The plan broadly outlined Tuesday by Sens. Tommy Williams and John Whitmire and Rep. Dan Huberty would allow local schools to set up special taxing districts — if approved by local voters — to raise the money. Williams and Huberty are Republicans; Whitmire is a Democrat.
Williams, chairman of the Senate Finance Committee, called the plan "a Texas solution to save lives without sacrificing freedoms" or instituting new gun control measures.
The plan is separate from Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst's call to have the state pay for special weapons and tactical response training for teachers and other school workers.
The Texas PTA called the School District Safety Act a "promising" plan that will "hopefully serve to shift the focus away from arming teachers and principals in our schools, a strategy the Texas PTA does not support."
The three lawmakers said school districts would have a dedicated source of money to pay for school safety measures. But because it may levy new property or sales taxes, the plan may also require an amendment to the state constitution, Williams said.
If approved, Williams and Whitmire said they would encourage school districts to contract with local law enforcement for security rather than try to create new, independent police agencies.
"We're not looking for school districts to have SWAT teams and tanks," Williams said.
The plan was announced on the same day a shooting on a community college campus in Harris County wounded three people and sent students scrambling for cover. Whitmire said that while the original plan was to include only public school districts, lawmakers could consider whether to expand it to include higher education campuses.
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Canada sets priorities for Arctic Council chairmanship
Canada's 2 year chairmanship of the eight-nation Arctic Council set to begin this May will be characterized by a focus on sustainable economic development, shipping pollution regulation and an emphasis on circumpolar communities, all in the service of the well-being and prosperity of the existing northern population, said Leona Aglukkaq.
Prime Minister Stephen Harper appointed Aglukkaq, who is also minister of the Canadian Northern Economic Development Agency and the minister of health, in August to be Canada's lead representative to the council.
Aglukkaq's appointment "reflects the importance Canada attaches to the north, to the Arctic Council," she added. Harper's Conservative Party has been aggressive in its assertion of a prominent Arctic role, with Harper embarking on annual northern tours and promulgating a Northern Strategy in 2007. The country also has under construction a C$720 million heavy icebreaker, the CCGS John G. Diefenbaker, that's expected to enter service in 2017.
"The potential for wealth and job creation in the Arctic is great," Aglukkaq said in Norway. "Canada is determined to see northern communities benefit from the economic boom that is unfolding," she added; Aglukkaq, an Inuk, represents the territory of Nunavut in Parliament.
During the conference, Espen Barthe Eide, the Norwegian minister of foreign affairs, also said that by the time of a May meeting of the council where the rotating chairmanship will transfer to Canada from Sweden, council states should have agreement on the expansion of new observer states.
"My argument for opening up for more observers is that we're happy that people want to join us, because when they join our club, they're not starting another club," Eide said. "That's good, because it gives us some influence on what the topics are when it comes to managing the Arctic," he added.
- go to the 2013 Arctic Frontiers conference webpage
Arctic undergoing widespread and sustained climate changes
Canada makes Northwest Passage sovereignty a priority issue
Interior expedites review of Arctic drilling after rig incident
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February 28, 2013 | 2924 views
Town should seize redistricting opportunity
In so many ways, the Town of Hempstead has set an example of how government ought to operate. It has earned deserved acclaim for its record on the environment, its effectiveness in providing services like snow plowing and sanitation, and its ability to keep town taxes as low as possible while other levels of government too often look to property owners for more funds instead of managing their budgets better.
No one thinks the town is perfect, and we have criticized some of its actions in the past.
But now it has a great opportunity to show how redistricting ought to be done, like it has shown the way on so many other government functions.
Every 10 years, when the federal government conducts the census, the data reveal shifts in population from one area to another. This happens locally, with increases and decreases in population in congressional, State Assembly, State Senate, county legislative and town council districts. Voting district boundaries must be redrawn to reflect these changes and to make sure that each district has roughly the same number of people. The remapping must also assure that communities aren’t unnecessarily split and that minorities have an equal opportunity to elect candidates of their choice.
The Republican majority in the County Legislature has been excoriated by nonpartisan good-government groups, such as the League of Women Voters, as well as by the Herald’s editorial board, for its blatantly political manipulation of the redistricting process. The GOP’s gerrymandering scheme of party-boosting remapping splits several communities and effectively disenfranchises many voters.
The town will hold a hearing on its new map, yet to be released, on March 19. Troublingly, town Republicans hired the same remapping consulting firm that the county Republicans did. Before it’s too late, the Republicans who rule the town must resist the urge to take maximum political advantage, and should instead listen carefully to the League of Women Voters and the rest of the good-governing coalition that tried in vain to save the county’s process from becoming a sham. The GOP should include the coalition’s concepts and input when developing the town’s new districts. It should demonstrate nonpartisanship.
This is another opportunity for the town to shine. It can show how elected leaders who are serious about earning reputations as effective public servants can remap their districts in a fair, voter-equality-oriented way, without regard to party preservation and incumbent protection. We urge town Republicans to seize this chance to show others how redistricting is properly done.
KeywordsTown of Hempstead, government, town taxes, redistricting, census, population, congressional, State Assembly, State Senate, county legislative, town council, districts, district boundaries, redrawn, remapping, Republican majority, County Legislature, nonpartisan, League of Women Voters, gerrymandering
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Jump to:Page Content
Thomas E. Patterson is Bradlee Professor of Government and the Press. His book, The Vanishing Voter, looks at the causes and consequences of electoral participation. His earlier book on the media’s political role, Out of Order, received the American Political Science Association’s Graber Award as the best book of the decade in political communication. His first book, The Unseeing Eye, was named by the American Association for Public Opinion Research as one of the 50 most influential books on public opinion in the past half century. He also is author of Mass Media Election and two general American government texts: The American Democracy and We the People. His articles have appeared in Political Communication, Journal of Communication, and other academic journals, as well as in the popular press. His research has been funded by the Ford, Markle, Smith-Richardson, Pew, Knight, Carnegie, and National Science foundations. Patterson received his PhD from the University of Minnesota in 1971.
Thomas Patterson welcomes media inquiries on the following subjects:
Additional experts may be found by clicking on each subject listed. You may contact faculty directly or if you need assistance contact the Communications Office at 617-495-1115.
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Positioning for Special Situations
Many of the difficulties that you may face on the road to pregnancy can be overcome by using different sexual positions. Knowing your body and your partner's body can help you increase your chances of achieving a pregnancy more quickly.
The primary objective of sexual relations on the road to a baby is that you have semen deposited near your cervix. But you may face certain sexual issues that make this difficult.
If your husband has problems with getting or maintaining an erection, it will be harder for you to get pregnant. Sometimes these issues are resolved by trying different positions. If you need to use a position that is not as optimal for achieving a pregnancy (such as woman-on-top), but is helpful for your partner — by all means use the positions necessary.
The same is true for your partner's ability to ejaculate. If he has problems with ejaculation in certain positions, try alternate positions. This is also true for premature ejaculators. If your partner has trouble with achieving an orgasm, it's also important to talk to his healthcare provider about getting a physical checkup.
Your orgasm is important to the baby-making process as well. When you have an orgasm it actually causes your cervix to contract. This enables it to actually pull more semen into the mouth of the cervix and therefore increases your likelihood of conceiving a baby.
Retroverted or Tilted Uterus
If you have previously been diagnosed with a retroverted or tilted uterus you may need a little postural assistance to help the sperm reach the fallopian tubes. This diagnosis simply means that your uterus is tilted in the opposite direction of most women. This usually doesn't have much bearing on your ability to conceive or carry a pregnancy.
The best position for this circumstance is usually a hands and knees position. This allows for extra deep penetration for your husband and it helps the semen reach the cervix. To make it even more likely to help, try bending your arms rather than keeping them straight. Put a pillow under your chest and bring your chest down low. This is also called the knee-chest position.
Problems with Sperm Counts
If your partner has been tested and was found to have problems with his sperm count, you know you need to try certain sexual positions to give the sperm the best chances of getting through the cervix and to the fallopian tubes where it will meet up with your egg.
Using the hands and knees position often works well in this case. You definitely want to avoid positions that allow the semen to seep out of your body or where the sperm has to work extra hard to find the cervix. This means avoiding positions like standing up during sex.
The hands and knees position also helps in cases where your partner's sperm has poor motility, meaning the sperm doesn't move as well or as quickly as is typical.
If either you or your husband is overweight, some positions may be less comfortable for you. If you find you have weight-related concerns about positions, try alternatives. Often the side lying position works well for couples with weight issues. It allows full body contact and the ability for penetration to occur without one partner bearing the weight of the other.
Back problems in you or your partner may make sex more difficult. Side lying also works for back problems with both partners or for one of you having problems. If your partner is the one with back problems, you might try more woman-dominant positions. Then immediately lie down after your husband has his orgasm to try to help the sperm get where it needs to go.
If you are the one with back problems, man-dominant positions might be helpful. Figure out what works for you and your partner. If the partner who suffers back problems prefers lying down, simply supplement the position you choose to use with lying down after intercourse to encourage gravity to run its course.
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One thing that came up in a couple of sessions of Altnetconf UK was the old saw of classicist vs. mockist approaches to TDD. Martin Fowler has a great, and updated, article on the distinction between the two approaches here. Now I have to confess to being a classicist. I tried being a mockist, but I gave it up because of the dangers of over-specified software. Now I tend to favor test doubles for the areas that are difficult to get under test otherwise as per Michael Feathers. We are also much more inclined to use a stub or fake than a mock.
Now some folks seemed to feel that if you had used concrete dependencies or associations in a test, you were not writing a unit test, and thus not using TDD properly. I see the origin of the unit test mantra, Fowler calls TDD in the classicist model mini-integration tests over unit tests, but I reject the latter accusation that this is not, somehow, TDD. The spirit of TDD in my reading, of Kent Beck, never precluded the use of concrete collaborators.
Maybe its time to stop thinking about unit tests and integration tests, with the implicit zero tolerance for collaborators in unit tests, but simply tests and acceptance tests with the latter being more coarse-grained than the former.
Certainly one advantage for classicists is that we don’t get ‘an interface for everything’ and end up with ICustomer, but interfaces where actually want points of extensibility i.e. where we have role that can have multiple implementations, or at boundaries such as layers. We don’t really have to worry about using solutions such as TypeMock to mock a concrete dependency, and so avoid proliferation of interfaces, because we are often more happy with the concrete object itself.
Usefully, there seems to be a convergence between hard-to-test code for classicists, which is where we tend to deploy mocking frameworks, and the places where we need interfaces, so difficulty seems to help flush out these design points.
I would also suggest that people look to the notion of what Rebecca Wirfs-Brock and Alan McKean call sub-systems or object neighborhoods within the domain. Within a neighborhood I would have few doubts around allowing concrete collaborators in tests, it’s okay to play with the other kids in your neighborhood, but outside of that subsystem, you probably want to use a test double to reduce stranger danger. Of course the class to replace with a test double is the facade which you should pass through to get to that neighborhood anyway, once again reinforcing the notion of TDD driving good design.
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Tis the season when little girls and boys are reminded on a daily basis that Santa Claus is coming to town. Parents use the pending visit as ammunition to remind their children that Santa (or more recently the Elf on a shelf) is watching to see who’s naughty and who’s nice.
This got me to thinking, as we get older do you think people are motivated to do the right thing (in other words be “nice”) because someone might see them and they will receive accolades or do you think people are genuinely nice.
Coming from the northeast which does not have the friendliest of reputations, you may be surprised to read that I think most people if given the opportunity will do the right thing. This doesn’t mean that every one of us have not in the past been a jerk at one time or another, but on the whole I think the “nice list” (if Santa were keeping one) is a lot longer than the “naughty list”. Its just that we remember those irritating moments a lot more than those nice ones.
What do you think?
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So remember our great victory in New Hampshire back in June? After a tumultuous ride the state's marriage equality bill passed and the governor signed it into law. Starting January 1 the law will go into effect and same-sex couples will begin marrying in New Hampshire.
Back in November I reported that those who opposed the bill are not giving up and have introduced a repeal. On Friday the original sponsor of the marriage equality bill, Rep. Jim Splaine, posted on Blue Hampshire that the repeal has been given a number: House Bill 1590, "An Act Repealing Same Sex Marriage."
Rep. Splaine says, "It will be sent to the House Judiciary Committee, where after a public hearing HB 436 [marriage equality bill] had been reported out with 'no recommendation' after a 10-10 tie. Since then, however, we have picked up at least two members of that committee who now support marriage equality."
He goes on to say encouragingly, "We can beat this. We already have had some Legislative meetings to lay out our strategy, and we will be having more."
New Hampshire HB 1590 - An ACT Repealing Same-sex Marriage
You can check on the status of this bill here.
Here's where the irony comes in - two New Hampshire House representatives are introducing a repeal to the 200-year-old state law that makes adultery a crime. Punishments once included standing on the gallows for an hour with a noose around the neck, 39 lashes, a year in jail or a fine of 100 pounds - but these have been reduced to a $1,200 fine.
"We shouldn't be regulating people's sex lives and their love lives," state Rep. Timothy Horrigan and bill sponsor told the AP. "This is one area the state government should stay out of people's bedrooms."
I couldn't agree more. But then his colleagues are at the same time trying to do just that by introducing a repeal to a law that keeps government out of same-sex couples' bedrooms. In other words, his colleagues want government in people's bedrooms. Or at least, in gay and lesbian bedrooms. And they don't get the irony in that their actions threaten existing marriages. Yes, that's right - these people are threatening the institute of marriage!
I agree with the repeal of the law that punishes adultery - it should be left up to the civil courts to enforce divorce laws which protect the rights of married couples to separate. But isn't it rather embarrassing that within this same body of legislators some want to take these rights away from other citizens they represent? Because with the right to marry also comes the right to divorce.
I'm not too concerned about the marriage equality repeal - the sponsors have a reputation of leaning to the right just a tad, and they showed their true colors back in June when the marriage bill passed.
But you would think that this would put marriage equality opponents in a pickle. Kind of like in California, where a satirical divorce ban has been introduced to "protect traditional marriage." But you would be wrong.
Kevin Smith, executive director of the conservative Cornerstone Policy Research, said, "Even though this criminal law probably is not enforced right now and probably has not been enforced for some time, I think it's important to have a public policy statement that says generally or in all situations adultery is not a good thing. And I think, by repealing that statute, you're essentially diminishing the harmful effects of adultery."
Riiight. Because it's kept people from divorcing this whole time, protecting those traditional marriages.
Those who oppose marriage equality must really think New Hampshire is the den of iniquity, ripping to shreds traditional marriage. In one year they have legalized same-sex marriage which degrades what marriage is truly all about, and now they want to give "traiditional" couples an easy way out of those "til death to us part" vows! God forbid, what's next?! Life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness? Makes your skin crawl, doesn't it?
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According to Zyskowicz, Greece’s default, should it take place, would no longer mean an uncontrollable spread of the debt crisis throughout the eurozone. He says that the eurozone and its banking systems are prepared for a possible financial collapse in Greece and the country’s exit from the common currency.
Zyskowicz commented on the situation in Greece in an interview with Yle and gave similar statements to the newspaper Lapin Kansa.
The Financial Times reports that Greece is planning to seek a two-year extension on its austerity programme this week. The country would require an additional 20 billion euros to make it work, but it aims to find the funds without resorting to eurozone aid, according to the FT.
“If Greece cannot or does not want to fulfil the conditions of the second bailout, then the next tranches of this second bailout should not be paid out,” Zyskowicz said.
A lesson to others
The National Coalition MP spoke out against yet another rescue package for Greece—partially, he said, to show other crisis-hit states such as Spain and Italy that they need to do much more to improve their economy than they are currently doing.
“My faith in the entire bailout policy has been shaken by new countries joining the ranks of those who require aid. Today I’m of the opinion that the crisis cannot be stemmed, prevented or stopped by bailouts alone. Rather, it requires greater sacrifices than now from the affected countries,” Zyskowicz said.
“The current situation is a sort of moral hazard. Some countries have muddled their affairs and other countries’ taxpayers have to, naturally in their own interest, take financial responsibility.”
However the MP strongly believes that Finland ought to stay in the euro. According to Zyskowicz, the issue at hand concerns Greece only—and not the collapse of the entire eurozone.
He says these are his own opinions, but the National Coalition parliamentary group will also consider the matter this week.
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When did Urban IV die?
Urban IV died on October 2, 1264 in Perugia, Italy
Pope from 1261 to 1264. Urban was of humble origin. He was first a priest at Lyon and then professor of canon law at Paris before being elevated to the bishopric of Verdun in 1253. Two years later he was...
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IDEA Public Schools is an independently managed charter school system based in the Rio Grande Valley in deep South Texas. The schools have a significant focus on academics and are committed to ensuring that all of its graduating students will attend college. Faculty members in this charter school system adopt the mantra of "No Excuses!" showing their dedication to their students' success.
IDEA was founded in 2000 by Tom Torkelson and JoAnn Gonzales, TFA Corps Members dedicated to making sure all underserved students can go to college.
- IDEA Frontier - Brownsville, TX (launched 2006º
- IDEA Quest - McAllen, TX (launched 2006)
- IDEA Donna - Donna, TX (launched 2000)
- IDEA San Benito - San Benito, TX (launch set for 2008)
- IDEA Mission - Mission, TX (launch set for 2008)
All schools in the IDEA system are composed of two campuses, an Academy and a College Preparatory school. The Academy is the school for primary grades, generally kindergarten to fifth grade. The College Prep is a secondary school, a combination of middle school and high school, with grades six to twelve. Starting with College Preparatory classes, students have different teachers for different subjects, as in a traditional school system.
Selection of students is initially carried out by lottery; thereafter, students are taken from the waiting list, first-come, first-served. There is no tuition to attend the schools; however, some schools have an activity fee to help cover certain events, such as field trips or experiments. This fee may be made in payments and may be waived for families with financial limitations.
Each campus requires uniforms for each student. The standard uniform generally consists of a polo shirt with the IDEA logo and campus name, khaki or navy pants or shorts, a belt, and tennis shoes and socks appropriate for the pants worn. On designated days, a "college uniform" may be worn: a college jersey with jeans.
New schools in the IDEA system are launched with limited grade levels, typically kindergarten and the middle school grades. Each year, as students are promoted, additional grades are added. Within six years, each campus will be fully scaled with grades PK-12.
The IDEA Donna campus was founded in 2000 by Tom Torkelson and JoAnn Gonzales. The school is currently under the direction of Jeremy Beard, principal of the College Preparatory school, and Paula García, principal of the Academy. The school is located at 401 South 1st Street, Donna, TX 78537. IDEA Donna is fully scaled.
The IDEA Quest
campus was founded in 2006 under Dr. Scott Hollinger, principal of the College Preparatory school, and Sharon Chapman, principal of the Academy. The school is located northwest of McAllen
, TX. The address is 14001 North Rooth Road, Edinburg, TX 78541. During its first two years, all classes were held in portable buildings; however, the first permanent buildings are scheduled to be ready for Fall 2008, with grades PK-4 and 6-10. IDEA Quest will be fully scaled in 2010.
The IDEA Frontier
campus was founded in 2006 under Ernesto Cantú, principal of the College Preparatory school, and Roberta Harris, principal of the Academy. Currently, the College Prep principal is Rolando Posada. The school is located at the intersection of Dockberry and Dakota in Brownsville
, TX. During its first two years, all classes were held in portable buildings; however, the first permanent buildings are scheduled to be ready for Fall 2008, with grades PK-4 and 6-10. IDEA Frontier will be fully scaled in 2010.
IDEA San Benito
The IDEA San Benito
campus is slated to launch in 2008 in San Benito, TX, under the leadership of principal Carrie Sauceda, with grades K and 6-8. IDEA San Benito will be fully scaled in 2013.
The IDEA Mission
campus is slated to launch in 2008 in Mission, TX, under the leadership of College Prep principal Natalie Basham and Academy principal Bethany Solís, with grades K and 6-8. IDEA Mission will be fully scaled in 2013.
IDEA Public Schools
plans to launch a total of 10 campuses (20 schools) along the Rio Grande Valley
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This is the conclusion to 65 year old male CC: Fall with injury. You may wish to review the history and clinical presentation.
When we left off the patient was in severe heart failure with the following 12-lead ECG.
As we have mentioned before on several occasions, the most important thing when treating a patient with a tachycardia is to decide whether or not the tachycardia is causing the symptoms or the symptoms are causing the tachycardia.
In other words, you should try to rule out the possibility that it's a compensatory tachycardia. As this case clearly demonstrates, this can be very difficult!
The crew felt that the differential diagnosis for this wide complex tachycardia (from most likely to least likely) was VT, 2:1 atrial flutter with LBBB, sinus tachycardia with LBBB, or some other SVT with aberrancy.
Due to the patient's instability, the treating paramedic felt there was little to lose and much to gain by attempting synchronized cardioversion. If the rhythm was VT or 2:1 flutter the patient's condition might improve dramatically. If it turned out to be sinus tachycardia with LBBB he'd be in the exact same position.
There appeared to be no change in the heart rhythm.
A report was given to online medical control and the patient was transported emergently to the hospital.
On arrival the patient was placed on BiPAP and started on a NTG drip.
Here was the 12-lead ECG on arrival.
The patient was given lopressor 5 mg slow IV push.
The conversion rhythm shows sinus rhythm at 92 bpm with left bundle branch block.
So, we now know that the patient probably had LBBB at baseline. However, without a heart rate histogram it's difficult to say whether or not this was 2:1 flutter that converted sinus rhythm or sinus tachycardia that was slowed down with the lopressor.
This is often overlooked in the emergency setting but in the inhospital setting it's very important to document the onset or termination of an arrhythmia for this very reason.
The patient's SpO2 came up above 90% and the patient became more alert and was attempting to communicate by the time EMS was done writing their report. No further information is available.
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Talking school funding with Oxley principals, teachers and community
- Minister for School Education
- Minister for Early Childhood and Youth
- Parliamentary Secretary to the Treasurer
Minister for School Education Peter Garrett and Member for Oxley Bernie Ripoll today joined local school principals, teachers and parents at Centenary State High School in Jindalee to discuss school funding and the future of Australian schooling.
Mr Garrett said the Gillard Government is holding a grassroots, nation-wide discussion with principals, teachers, parents and the community as part of its response to the recently released school funding report.
“The Gonski review of school funding has made a number of far-reaching recommendations on how we can develop a new, more effective way of funding every school in Australia,” he said.
“We’re working with the education community to test and refine the proposed new model, known as a Schooling Resource Standard (SRS). The new model would include a base amount per student plus additional funding for students and schools who need extra support.
“Under the proposed model every school in the Oxley electorate – government, Catholic and independent – would be funded under the same system. It would be fair, transparent and give all schools long-term certainty about their future funding levels.
“No reform of this size and potential can be implemented without parents, teachers and principals having their say.
“Today’s event at Centenary State High School, arranged by Bernie Ripoll, is one of many the Prime Minister, the Parliamentary Secretary for School Education Senator Jacinta Collins and I will be hosting over the coming months as we speak with school communities about the recommendations of the report.
“It’s also a great opportunity for us to share ideas about the issues and challenges facing Australian schools and provide information about the Government’s school improvement reforms.”
Mr Ripoll said schools in Oxley were already benefiting from the Gillard Government’s record investment in school education.
“So far, we’ve seen 3,694 computers delivered to senior high school students at 14 schools in my electorate, while 15 local schools have benefitted from extra funding under the Smarter Schools National Partnerships to help improve literacy and numeracy and overcome disadvantage,” he said.
“There are 25 schools receiving funding for a school chaplain, and students at three local schools are benefitting from two new Trade Training Centres.
“And in every school I visit I hear from principals, teachers, student and parents about the terrific new facilities they now have, thanks to the Building the Education Revolution program. There have been 116 projects at 36 schools in the electorate, with the Government investing more than $90 million locally.
“We have some great schools in our region but we want to make them even better and ensure that every local student will have access to a world-class education.
“I encourage everyone in the Oxley community to have their say on the future of our schools by visiting the website and taking part in one of the online forums being held in the next few months.”
Schools across Queensland are benefitting from the Gillard Government’s record investment in school education, including new classrooms and facilities under 5,374 BER projects, and 67 new Trade Training Centres. More than 410 schools are receiving extra support under the Smarter Schools National Partnerships.
More information about the school funding review, including future community forums and other events, is available at www.schoolfunding.gov.au.
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My dear brothers and sisters in the Lord,
“I bring you good news of great joy to be shared by the whole people.” (Luke 2:10)
The coming of Christ at Christmas brings joy to our world and peace to our hearts. Born of a woman, Jesus Christ is God’s promise that, united in his divine love, we can live in peace. From a manger in Bethlehem, God’s love reaches out to embrace us. For his birth tells us that in each moment of time God breaks into our lives. In the birth of Christ we experience the birth of divine life in our own life.
Christmas is that new beginning for which we long. The Son of God comes not as a prince to dominate us but as a child to love us. He comes not to condemn us but to forgive us. He comes not to burden us but to teach us the joy that unselfish love offers us.
Bethlehem speaks to us of poverty. Poverty can be an opening to God and a means to deepen our trust in Him Who saves us. Jesus’ own poverty makes us attentive to the cry of the poor and aware that by serving our needy brothers and sisters, we serve the Lord himself. His poverty compels us to speak for the oppressed, to comfort the despairing and to strengthen the weak.
There is no burden Christ cannot lift, no worry he cannot console, no sin he cannot forgive. From the manger, he calls us to leave behind the addiction that grips us, the hatred that imprisons us, the worry that cripples us, the loneliness that gnaws at us, and to welcome into our hearts the abundance of God’s love and saving power.
Come to the manger this Christmas and with God’s grace, make the decision to let go of the sins that have a hold on you, of the burdens that weigh you down and the despair that seeks to overpower you. Leave your prayer at the manger and come away refreshed and renewed, accepting God’s love for you as if for the first time.
May the gift of the Christ Child, born into the world for our salvation, fill your hearts and your homes with abundant blessings! May His peace and joy be with you and your family throughout the New Year!
With every prayerful best wish, I remain
Sincerely yours in Christ,
Most Reverend Robert J. McManus
Bishop of Worcester
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Age-old Lent gets a 21st-century makeover
March 8, 2011
For Janis Galvin, fasting for Lent has long meant saying no to candy for the 40 days before Easter. But when the season begins this year on March 9, it’s apt to mean something more: walking when she’d rather drive, for instance, or turning the thermostat way down.
Galvin, an Episcopalian, will join with about 1,000 others who’ve signed up for the 2011 Ecumenical Lenten Carbon Fast, a daily regimen for reducing energy consumption and fighting global warming.
Lent is getting a makeover, especially in some Protestant traditions where it hasn’t always drawn strong interest. The carbon fast is one of several initiatives aimed at reinvigorating Lent by linking themes of fasting and abstention to wider social causes.
“It’s exciting because it’s not just suffering” for its own sake, said Galvin, who lives in Everett, Mass. “It’s doing good.”
For the first time, the United Methodist Church is urging its 7.8 million U.S. members to refrain from drinking alcohol during Lent.
Teetotaling is familiar turf in United Methodism, and now Lent provides a framework to consider the role alcohol plays in individual lives, families and society, according to Cynthia Abrams of the UMC’s General Board of Church & Society.
“To ask United Methodists to give up alcohol for Lent is provocative because we like to think United Methodists don’t drink,” said Abrams, who works on alcohol and other health issues. “We decided ... to confront the elephant in the room by doing something provocative and engaging in conversation about it throughout Lent.”
In the United Kingdom, the Christian Vegetarian Association is aiming to revive the ancient Christian practice of foregoing meat during Lent. (Many Orthodox Christians still eat a vegan diet in Lent). It’s self-denial for a purpose, organizers say, noting how vegetarian diets improve health, enhance animal welfare and reduce strain on the environment.
Fasting from anything is never an easy sell in a culture that values convenience, according to Jim Antal, who heads the Massachusetts Conference of the United Church of Christ.
But as a spiritual practice, he said, personal sacrifice can be a key driver in advancing larger movements.
“We’re trying to deal with the mingling of individual Lenten disciplines with social change,” said Antal, whose conference is spearheading the carbon fast. “And that is precisely what will save the Earth — if individuals who begin to get it... begin to say, `Gosh, I need to change my life, and I need to become an activist.”‘
Lent has never been a strong tradition among evangelicals, with some worried that it smacks of presumptuous efforts to earn God’s favor. But some are finding that new types of Lenten fasting might serve a useful purpose in a world coarsened by electronic media.
Adam Rick of Beverly, Mass., will be fasting from Facebook and otherwise minimizing time spent online. It’s a bid to temper the perceived vanity that comes with constantly gratifying urges and trying to get noticed.
“So much of the dysfunction in our relationships has to with exactly that — we’re not happy because we didn’t get our way, or we didn’t get recognized,” said Rick, who’s exploring a call to priesthood in the Anglican Church in North America. “Facebook just feeds that fire if it’s not used carefully and intentionally. Sometimes just taking a step back from it is helpful for me.”
Some observers of evolving Lenten practices see them as steps — albeit small ones — in the right direction for a culture that tends to bristle at the idea of voluntary self-denial.
“In a culture as consumer-oriented and materialistic as ours, it is not surprising that churches are seeking in small ways to remind us of those obsessions,” said Robert Wuthnow, a sociologist of religion at Princeton University. “These are welcome developments, even though they may be rather feeble.”
Others who hope for a wider awareness of social problems at Lent nonetheless take a dim view of the initiatives’ staying power.
“The religious conventions that call for giving up this or that ... are shallow reflections of a bourgeois, self-indulgent society culture; they deserve about as much attention as the Easter Bunny,” said Canadian theologian Douglas John Hall.
“Christ’s discipleship today ought to have more to do with our Lord’s concern for the poor of the earth, and for the earth itself, than with our individualistic lifestyles.”
Conventional ways of fasting and abstaining at Lent haven’t disappeared. Sixty percent of American Catholics — even those who seldom attend church — abstain from meat on Fridays during Lent, according to Mark Gray, senior research associate at Georgetown University’s Center for Applied Research in the Apostolate.
In some cases, old traditions are becoming new — at least for those who used to disregard Lent altogether.
Benjamin Keaster, a 27-year-old social worker in Spring Arbor, Mich., never observed Lent while growing up in an evangelical Church of Christ congregation. Five years ago, he converted to Orthodoxy.
For Keaster, Lent now means no meat, no dairy, fasting on certain days and lots of worship services with proscribed Lenten behaviors, such as lying prostrate before one another in a sign of repentance.
“Fasting is always hard,” Keaster said, noting how he dreads going to bed hungry. “We kind of try (in our culture) to keep the feast and the holiday parties, but you realize after you’ve done this for a few years that you can’t really feast without fasting. You gotta have both.”
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Editor's Note: Learn from a panel of experts and entrepreneurs who have successfully financed their own ventures and are helping others do it at the Thought Leaders Live 2013 event May 29, in Long Beach, Calif. Event and ticket information can be found here.
Before pricing your products and services, you need to understand how customers perceive value. I continually find business owners price their products or services based on what they cost, versus what their customers are willing to pay.
Even worse, I find businesses that base prices simply on what their competitors are able to get away with. A bicycle shop will mark up the price of its bikes 20 percentage points because that's what the shop on the other side town does. Same goes for the 30 points on bike parts and the 50 points on bicycling clothes.
In both cases, these businesses are failing to put real thought into their pricing, and I guarantee they are missing out on profits and are putting themselves at risk of losing out on potential customers because they aren't charging what those customers are willing to pay.
Contrast that with Brooks Brothers, where a suit might easily run $150 more than a suit at Men's Wearhouse. But that's because Brooks Brothers officials know that their customers place a higher value on their store chain's label, its panache. The people who aren't willing to spend the extra $150 aren't the type of customers Brooks Brothers wants anyway.
That's what smart pricing is all about: Know who your competitors are and what they charge, measure what makes your products or services better or worse, and then add and subtract accordingly from your competitors' prices to figure out your own.
It's a pretty simple formula, but the devil is in the details. Here are some things to keep in mind as you crunch the numbers:
1. Listen to your customers. You really don't need to hire a marketing research firm to understand how your customers value your products versus competitors. Just take some time to ask customers questions and actually listen, versus just trying to close a sale. This is a good sales technique anyway.
2. Know your competition. This can be an awkward question to ask a customer, but it is worthwhile to ask, "If you weren't doing business with me, who would you go to?" How is the competition different, and how do your customers value what is different? Prepare yourself for surprises when you start finding out your real competitors, and the benefits the competition may have over you. You're learning stuff you didn't know.
3. Be honest and fair in your self-evaluation. Brutal honesty -- it's very hard for people to do. I typically find that business owners and executives will overvalue the positive aspects of their business, and ignore the advantages their competitors have over them. Going back to the bicycle shop example, the owner might highly value that the store carries Continental tires -- simply because one customer a month ago was happy they were in stock. At the same time, the competitor across town has a bike wizard handling repairs, something customers are willing to pay extra for. Simply charging what the competitor charges is going to miss the mark.
4. Recognize that customers are different from others. Some people value a neighborhood bike shop, while others might have no problem taking a bike off the rack at Walmart. What you charge becomes a question of who you really want to compete with and what type of customers you want to attract. The smart move is set your prices for a particular group of potential customers, rather than all of them.
Read more stories about: Pricing
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On strange pairs of purchasesBy Steve Estes
As another year has passed into history, the hustle and bustle of the holiday season is at last finally over, and we enter the wierdness we call season, it gives me time to contemplate some of the more perplexing questions of life.
I often see some slightly strange things that taken individually prove to be of little consequence and spark very little thought, but then there are the other things. They are also of very little consequence in the grand scheme of things, but they are just enough out of the ordinary to make us ask ourselves the hard questions, mostly rhetorical, to which we must find answers.
Take for instance a peculiarly perplexing happenstance just the other day while at Tom Thumb inside the convenience store.
There were about five people in line, and I was somewhere in the middle. The gentleman just in front of me had only two items to put on the counter. He had a large cold bottle of Budweiser beer, and a small cold can of Mountain Dew.
Now by themselves, neither of those purchases would seem to be in the least out of the ordinary. But when made together, they open the door to a host of perplexing questions.
The first question that comes to mind is just what kind of person does it take to choose those two particular items to purchase in a single action?
But that is a question that would require some considerable time to learn the probably sordid details of one’s life that would even make the contempt ation to purchase such a diverse pair of drinks fact for a later time. But as I contemplate the question, I am left with the distinct feeling that I, too, would indeed purchase both of those items, though the beer of choice would be different, and I have had to give up Mt. Dew. But this is not about me.
But leaving the esoteric behind, one comes to the question something akin to the seemingly unanswerable “chicken or egg?’
Should one actually mix a beer and a Mt. Dew and proceed to pour it down one’s gullet, would you receive a high-flying buzz, or perhaps a more swift buzz?
The purpose of Mt. Dew is to give a speedy delivery of caffeine and/or sugar to the body. The purpose of beer is to deliver a mind altering liquid into the body.
So if you mix the two, would it speed up the beer buzz, or would the buzz burn away the beer impacts more quickly? And if the Dew burned up the beer buzz more quickly, would it take more beer to get the same buzz? And since beer is a depressant of sorts, would the two simply counteract one another and you wouldn’t get the desired energy burst, thereby taking more Dew to feel that familiar charge?
But since both of those drinks are well documented to add inches to the waistline, would the mixture push one towards the abyss of obesity in obscenely quick fashion?
So many questions…..and no way to get answers, without actually trying the experience. But my experimenting days are over. Can’t stand the headaches the day after.
But if any enterprising individual out there actually decides to do the research and in the end produce such a mixed drink, remember it was my idea, I want a piece of the action.
The second lady in line placed her package of sugared donuts on the counter along with her one-liter Diet Coke, and topped off the pile with a bag of M&Ms.
Of course, she did have a good handle on all of the major food groups, starch in the donuts, some protein in the donuts and sugar, dairy in the chocolate, and a respectable mix of vitamins counted against the suggested daily intake.
And the Diet Coke kept the calorie count down to something manageable.
But again this begs the question. Does anyone really like the taste of diet products well enough to make them part of a daily regimen by choice?
I would have to answer no to that, but then again, I’m sure not everyone would.
Of course, if anyone had been following my purchases with the same twisted eye that I use on the world, they would have come up with a really interesting set of questions for the purchases I put on the counter before I walked out the door.
My new car developed a coolant leak in the sensor that kicks on the electronic fans. Because it is a special-order rig, it took the parts house a few days to find just the sensor and then it had to come from the supplier, another couple of weeks. Meanwhile the sensor allows coolant to leak out so I have to put some in every few days to keep the replenishment tank in the car full. The sensor arrived right after Christmas, now I just need the time to put it in.
But on that particular day I was in a hurry so I grabbed a gallon of coolant, my new drink of choice Pepsi Max, and a roll of cough drops for the persistent allergy-related cough I’ve had the last couple of weeks.
Now if I were looking at the purchases without knowing the back story, I could probably conclude that I wanted to get someone to ingest the coolant, thereby poisoning them, and may have been attempting to use the Pepsi Max to mask the taste of the coolant for the unsuspecting victim.
The cough drops, why for me, of course, to wash away the taste of the bile that was sure to rise after I did that to someone whom I did or did not know.
Wow, was that a morbid scenario.
Of course, in this case, should someone around the country manage to succumb to poisoning by engine coolant masked by mixture with Pepsi Max, I don’t want a piece of that action.
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Let's take time for a spiritual inventory and ask three simple questions: What do you hate? Where are you hiding? In what do you hope? The best answers to those questions are found in verses 113 and 114.What do you hate? The psalmist hated vain thoughts. Vanity means that which is empty, false and temporary. Thoughts are important, because what you think is what you become."I hate the double-minded, but I love Your law. You are my hiding place and my shield; I hope in Your word."Thinking leads to doing, and doing leads to being. Sow a thought and you reap an action. Sow an action and you reap a habit. Sow a habit and you reap a character. Sow a character and you reap a destiny. If we love God's Law, we will hate the things that are contrary to His will."As he thinks in his heart, so is he" (Prov. 23:7).
Where are you hiding?Are you hiding in the Lord? Is He your Shield? Christians have enemies who want to rob us of the blessing of God. Maybe you are hurting today. Run and hide in Jesus Christ."You are my hiding place and my shield.Ē
In what do you hope?If your hope is anywhere other than in God, your future is hopeless. But if you are hoping in the Word of God, the future is secure, because God is preparing the way for you. What a glory it is to be able to hope in the Word of God."I hope in Your word."
Spiritual inventories force you to see if you are aligning with God's will and Word. Today, ponder the three questions found in these verses. Stay aligned to God's Word.
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If you are looking for a steady stream of safe dividends in today's troubled markets, the list of "Dividend Aristocrats" is a good place to start.
Compiled and tracked by Standard & Poor's, Dividend Aristocrats are companies that have consistently increased their dividend payouts for 25 consecutive years.
Currently, there are 51 of them, including the 10 new Dividend Aristocrats added this year.
That offers yield conscious investors a choice of 51 solid companies with a reliable track record of providing guaranteed payments-even during volatile markets and down economic cycles.
"The problem with going for capital growth is that you very often don't get it, and then you've got nothing - the investment just sits there," said Money Morning
Global Investing Specialist Martin Hutchinson.
"Dividends" Martin says, "are easy."
Not only are they easy, they're also increasing.
Dividends on the Rise in 2012
Standard & Poor's reported that dividend increases for all their indices in 2011 almost doubled the dividends paid in 2010.
Total dividend increases hit $50.2 billion last year - an 89.2% rise over 2010's dividend increases of $26.5 billion - and are expected to climb even higher in 2012.
That's welcome news for investors searching for steady income sources in a zero-growth environment.
Few other assets - especially bonds - are expected to deliver an increased payout this year.
"With 10-year Treasury bond yields below 2%, bonds just don't give you the income they used to," said Hutchinson. "Dividend stocks
can give you a better yield than bonds, and if you pick the right ones, will provide both protection against inflation and a chance to share in global economic growth. While they'll fluctuate with the market, dividend stocks of attractive companies are thus really a three-fer."
Dividend Aristocrats even go a step further than ordinary dividend stocks because of their lengthy payout history.
But before you dive into investing in these Dividend Aristocrats, the list needs some scrutiny.
Even though all 51 Aristocrats are known for increasing dividends, not all of them make for great investments in today's market.
"All you have to do is figure out which companies are run by sharpies - and are paying dividends out of capital - and which companies have genuinely solid business models that aren't going away," said Hutchinson.
In fact, there's only one of the freshly-minted Aristocrats that you should add to your portfolio right now.
To continue reading, please click here...
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Lawmakers are also considering ways to slow the flood of new plates each year and weed out the ones that aren't selling.
Florida State Senator Larcenia Bullard has been trying for four years to create a specialty license plate honoring Martin Luther King. She says the tag would be one small way to send a big message.
There are about a dozen specialty tags under consideration by lawmakers this spring, but legislators are also looking at stemming the tide of new tags. They want to double the required number of motorists pledging to buy one to 30,000. Tags that don't sell at least 1,000 in a year would also be discontinued, which appeals to highway safety director Fred Dickinson.
“We're just hoping that the people understand if they're not big sellers, maybe we ought to revisit what we're doing here,” says Dickson.
Florida now has 88 specialty plates in circulation, but there are actually six other states with more specialty plates than Florida.
The proliferation of plates creates a problem for police who often complain it's hard to tell whether a car is even from Florida. Jeb Bush jokes motorists might want to settle for the standard-issue tag.
“The one with the orange blossom and the orange and the myflorida.com on the bottom which now is going out, that's become the really cool, elite specialty plate that I encourage people to purchase,” says Gov. Bush.
Still, even critics appreciate the $24.5 million specialty plates raised last year for everything from manatee protection to education, so plan on having even more tags to choose from later this year.
You can check out all the specialty tags currently available by going to myflorida.com and going to the Department of Motor Vehicle and Highway Safety home page.
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When talking about Drupal, many people focus on the modules that are available to create new functionality.
However, a focus on modules provides an incomplete picture. Over the years, Drupal has evolved away from a model of "one module delivers one feature" to a model where new functionality is created by using features contained within two or more different modules.
For site builders, this means that the work of building and maintaining Drupal sites is more akin to a chef: delivering new functionality is a recipe that pulls from multiple ingredients (modules).
And, just as there are many ways to make a good chili, there are many ways to build similar functionality in Drupal.
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One Of My Favorite Income Opportunities Just Got Cheaper
April 10, 2012 by Dr. David Eifrig Jr.
Last month, one of the market’s best high-income opportunities got a little cheaper.
If you take action right now, you can earn a safe 5 percent interest, tax-free.
The opportunity is in municipal bonds.
As you may know, municipal bonds are loans made to State and municipal governments. To encourage folks to invest in the government, interest received from “munis” is exempt from Federal income tax and, in many cases, State and local income taxes. These bonds are one of the great friends to the income-seeking retiree. And despite some mindless bearish forecasts over the past few years, “munis” have been a terrific income investment.
They still are. And last month, they went on sale.
In March, the biggest municipal bond fund and the largest exchange-traded fund tracking municipal bonds fell sharply — losing 1.5 percent and 2.5 percent, respectively — in less than three weeks. This may not sound like a big move, but for “boring” bonds, it is.
The decline was the result of a report from Moody’s, a credit-rating agency. Moody’s said the default rate for municipal bonds has doubled in the past two years relative to the average default rate from 1970 to 2009. The ratings agency also said it expects more local governments to default on bond payments.
I don’t pay much attention to what ratings agencies like Moody’s have to say. These are the same agencies that gave pristine ratings to the worthless mortgage bonds that helped cause the 2008 credit collapse.
Remember: The municipal bond market is huge; it’s over $3 trillion. Since 2010, defaults totaled close to $6.4 billion. The average recovery rate is nearly 70 percent. Even now, with higher defaults, only 21 have defaulted (compared to 28 this time last year). But most of the bonds are priced as if they’re expecting 10 percent to 14 percent default rates. To put that into perspective, in 2011, defaults totaled $2.8 billion — less than 1 percent of the total market. So even if defaults doubled (to $5.6 billion), that is still less than 1 percent of the market — and a long way away from 10 percent to 14 percent.
I expect prices to rise as the U.S. economy slowly improves. After falling 1.7 percent in 2009, State personal income rose in 2010 and 2011. And tax revenue has climbed for the past eight quarters. More tax revenue means more secure interest payments and lower default risk. Last month’s muni selloff was a huge overreaction by skittish investors.
Also, keep in mind that we saw a similar overreaction back in April 2011. My Retirement Millionaire subscribers have made a super-safe 23 percent because of it.
That overreaction was due to banking analyst Meredith Whitney. On 60 Minutes, Whitney claimed the municipal bond market was facing “hundreds of billions of dollars” in defaults. At the time, I wrote:
In my investing lifetime, 2008 was the record for muni defaults, but only a tiny $8.5 billion defaulted. And last year, 2010, it was only $2.8 billion.
Remember, the muni bond market is gargantuan: more than $3 trillion in outstanding municipal bond debt. You would think we’d have seen a lot of defaults by now. But we haven’t. It seems things are getting better, not worse.
When Whitney made her prediction, $30 billion exited municipal bond funds in just three months. The biggest muni bond fund is the Vanguard Intermediate-Term Tax-Exempt Fund (VWITX). Shortly after Whitney made her claims about massive defaults, VWITX plunged below $13 a share (from close to $14 a share).
But Whitney couldn’t have been more wrong about munis. In 2011, defaults totaled just $2.6 billion. That’s a hair less than the $2.8 billion defaults in 2010 and hardly the disaster industry “experts” were expecting.
And last year, the Barclays Municipal Bond index returned 10.7 percent, while the S&P 500 returned only 2.1 percent. And one of my Retirement Millionaire picks — the Invesco Insured Municipal Income Trust (IIM) — returned 23 percent. But earlier this month, after the Moody’s report, it fell an absurd 13 percent.
Just like last year’s overreaction, this one is an opportunity.
Right now, IIM is trading at almost a 3 percent discount to its net asset value (NAV). This fund is the equivalent to holding a long-dated (15 years to maturity) municipal bond paying around 5 percent in tax-free interest — which means you’re making safe, steady income for years.
The payout is all from real income and is tax-free at 5.82 percent. That equates to a taxable dividend of almost 9 percent for those in the top 35 percent tax bracket. Many other muni funds are offering similar deals.
In summary, many people are scared of the sector, but the numbers and facts just don’t support such a stance. And just like last year’s muni selloff, this one presents a great buying opportunity for folks seeking retirement income.
Here’s to our health, wealth and a great retirement,
–Dr. David Eifrig
Editor, Retirement Millionaire
P.S. In addition to muni bonds, I’ve recently recommended a handful of very safe investments you can make right now — all of which pay a high yield. Instead of depending on government programs and conventional Wall Street investments, many retirees are using these investments to get all the income they need for the rest of their lives. I think you’ll be surprised at what these investments are and how simple they are to use. You can learn about them right here.
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is preparing to elect its sixth leader in five years to replace unpopular Prime Minister Naoto Kan
, under fire for his handling of the response to a March tsunami and subsequent radiation crisis at a crippled nuclear power plant.
The downgrade, while not out of the blue, served as another reminder of the debt burdens that nearly all of the world's major advanced economies shoulder. The United States lost its top-tier AAA rating from Standard & Poor's earlier this month, and Moody's
warned in June that it may downgrade Italy as Europe's sovereign debt crisis festers.
"Over the past five years, frequent changes in (Japan's) administrations have prevented the government from implementing long-term economic and fiscal strategies into effective and durable policies," Moody's said.
Moody's had warned in May that it might downgrade Japan's Aa2 rating due to heightened concerns about faltering growth prospects and a weak policy response to rein in bulging public debt, already twice the size of its $5 trillion economy.
Finance Minister Yoshihiko Noda, a fiscal conservative who has joined the race to succeed Kan, said he wanted to refrain from direct comment on Moody's downgrade.
But he added: "Recent JGB auctions have met favourable demand and I don't see any change in market confidence in JGBs."
Analysts said the downgrade was hardly a surprise and the bond market reaction should be muted.
"I had expected that the rating cut would have taken place after the election for the leadership of the (ruling) Democratic Party of Japan. But looking at the candidates, there seems to be nobody among them who would seriously tackle financial reform, so that's why Moody's went ahead and cut the rating," said Yuuki Sakurai, CEO and president of Fukoku Capital Management Inc.
"Moody's probably took the view that Japan's finances will continue worsening."
Japan's next leader has a mountain of challenges ahead, from battling a soaring yen and forging a post-nuclear crisis energy policy to rebuilding from the tsunami and reining in public debt, while paying for reconstruction and the bulging costs of an ageing society.
The government on Thursday unveiled steps to help firms cope with the yen's recent rise to record highs, including a $100 billion emergency credit facility aimed at making it easier for Japanese companies to buy foreign firms.
It also said it would ask major financial firms to report on dealers' currency positions for the period to the end of September, an apparent attempt to curb speculation.
"We are watching more carefully than before whether there is any speculative activity in the market. We won't exclude any options and will take decisive action when necessary," Noda told a news conference to announce the government measures. Noda's chances of winning an Aug. 29 ruling party leadership race to pick Kan's successor dimmed this week after former Foreign Minister Seiji Maehara, who says beating deflation should be the top priority, reversed course and decided to run.
TAX HIKES AND TIMING
Most of the seven DPJ candidates eyeing the top job agree Japan must eventually raise its 5 percent sales tax to help fund the ballooning social welfare costs of its fast-ageing society. Only Noda, however, favours raising other taxes soon to fund reconstruction of Japan's tsunami-devastated northeast region, and even he has been toning down that stance lately.
"We have major developments on the political front, and while most people in the market believe Maehara is very likely to win the election, a swift policy response on debt problems is unlikely to come out soon," said Norihiro Fujito, senior investment strategist at Mitsubishi UFJ Morgan Stanley Securities in Tokyo.
"Several factors make it difficult for Japan to slow the growth of debt-to-GDP and thus drive this rating action," Moody's said in a statement, adding that the March 11 earthquake and nuclear crisis had exacerbated Japan's problems.
The yen barely moved on the downgrade news, trading at around 76.7 to the dollar, while 10-year JGB futures 2JGBv1 were up 0.08 point at 142.63 at the end of the morning session after initially dipping into negative territory. Japanese stocks eased.
Moody's said the outlook for Japan's credit rating was now stable given the "undiminished home bias of Japanese investors and their preference for government bonds, which allows the government's fiscal deficits to be funded at the lowest nominal rates globally".
The downgrade brings Moody's rating for Japan into line with rival agency Standard & Poor's, which cut Japan's rating in January to AA minus, the fourth-highest on its scale.
Moody's downgrade of Japan was its first since 2002, when it reduced the rating to A2, six notches from the top. It had upgraded Japan three times since then, with the last upgrade as recent as May 2009.
Persistent deflation and slow growth has shackled Japan's economy for years, reducing tax revenues available to the government, which has grown to rely on debt issuance to finance a large part of its budget.
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The Mount Airy Library’s Young Actors Workshops opened earlier this week to once again offer aspiring performers a chance to express themselves onstage. According to workshop director Angela Lewellyn of the Mount Airy Library, these workshops have traditionally been conducted in addition to a young actor’s camp held each summer before school starts.
This winter participants will not only learn the craft through acting in scenes but will perform an entire play titled “And the Moral of the Story is” written by Brack Lewellyn. Angela Lewellyn said the play is a retelling of Aesop’s Fables. She is staging this show during the library’s winter carnival on Jan. 26 at the library. The effort is also in connection with the Bright Star Theatre visiting the library on Jan. 29.
Bright Star Theatre’s production of Aesop’s Fables is set to start at 4 p.m. and will include fast-paced, high energy takes on classic tales including The Fox and the Grapes, The Tortoise and the Hare and The Boy Who Cried Wolf.
“I wanted the kids to be familiar with the stories Bright Star will present so they could later talk with them about the stories in a workshop … following the performances,” said Lewellyn.
During the workshop on Tuesday, 9-year-old Jordan Hearl sat in a metal chair facing Lewellyn, waiting for instructions. She said she became interested in acting by participating in church Christmas plays. The young actor’s workshop was her first audition.
“This is just something I wanted to try,” said Hearl. She added that she had been involved in a church drama team for two years. She said she knew about Aesop’s Fables and also loves to draw so if she can’t act she hopes to help with the stage.
Veteran actor Olivia Jessup appeared relaxed as she waited for scripts to be passed out. In a field where performers are characterized as loners, Jessup values the strength of an ensemble.
“I like bettering myself,” said Jessup. “I get to help people out who are new and that will give Angela actors for shows later on. I like playing different characters. Friends of mine are involved with shows at the (Andy Griffith) playhouse but it’s such a big audience there. I like a smaller crowd and whatever I get to do I want to play it to the best of my abilities.”
Another fresh face at the workshop opener was William Wharton, who played Ralphie in the Surry Arts Council production of “A Christmas Story.” Wharton said he also played Ben Gunn in a production of “Treasure Island” and can list off theatre camps, directors and instructors he has worked with like a professional. His gaze was direct, eyes taking in details. His tightly buttoned pea-coat seemed a symbolic barrier to the energy the young actor has at his command.
“There are lots of animals in these stories so you’ll have to do a lot with body language and your voice,” explained Lewellyn. “There are lots of activities other than acting and they’re all guaranteed to be fun.” She said some of the animal characters in the play would include a fox, crow, tortoise, farmer (and his wife), a hunter and a woodsman.
The workshops will continue Tuesday afternoons for the rest of this month. Another activity slated by the library is a Creative Writing Workshop for middle school students through adults on Jan. 28 at 6 p.m. at the library.
Reach David Broyles at [email protected] or 719-1952.
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A policy directive sent by the U.S. Department of State to universities that sponsor Confucius Institutes suggests that the language and cultural centers that are a key piece of the Chinese government's diplomatic outreach will have to change how they operate or fall afoul of American visa laws.
The memorandum, dated May 17, states that any academics at university-based institutes who are teaching at the elementary- and secondary-school levels are violating the terms of their visas and must leave at the end of this academic year, in June. And it says that, after a "preliminary review," the State Department has determined that the institutes must obtain American accreditation in order to continue to accept foreign scholars and professors as teachers.
It's unclear what prompted the State Department to issue such a policy statement, which is signed by Robin J. Lerner, deputy assistant secretary for private-sector exchange. After all, Confucius Institutes have been on American campuses for nearly a decade.
About 60 universities in the United States now host the centers, which are also in more than 60 other countries. (One state, Washington, and one American city, Chicago, also host Confucius Institutes.) The Chinese government typically pays to start the centers and for a portion of their continuing costs, as a diplomacy effort.
If the teaching activities of the university-based Confucius Institutes were to be curtailed, that could have implications for U.S.-China relations. At the very least, it appears the institutes would have to significantly change how they operate.
In addition to teaching Mandarin, many of the institutes offer classes and conduct research in specific areas, like traditional Chinese medicine or Chinese art and design. Often, they also provide language instruction and Chinese cultural programs for the public in school settings.
Critics of the centers have called them propaganda vehicles for the Chinese government. But it's far from certain what led to the current policy directive by the State Department, particularly as the two countries have recently emphasized the importance of academic and cultural exchange, through efforts like the 100,000 Strong Initiative, an Obama-administration pledge to double the number of Americans studying in China.
For its part, the Chinese government has touted the Confucius Institutes as a sign of China's commitment to improving cultural relations with other countries.
The policy memo focuses on rules related to J-1 visas, which are given to people participating in work- and study-based exchange programs. It notes that while visitors can come as "teachers" or "professors/research scholars," foreign professors, academics, and students at the university level are prohibited from teaching in public or private schools at the precollege level.
Many of the Confucius Institutes currently do just that, through their language and cultural programs for students and the public. The instructors typically come from partner universities in China, and, in many school districts, have become the bedrock of Chinese-language programs.
According to the State Department letter, any current visa holders on the college level who are schoolteachers will be allowed to complete the academic year, but no extensions will be granted. They will have to return to China, where they can apply for another visa under the appropriate category. Visiting scholars who do not have instructional duties would not be affected by the directive.
Officials at universities with Confucius Institutes called the policy statement "surprising" and "unusual" and said they were still sifting through how to respond. One solution might be to refocus the work of the centers, while another might be to shift administrative responsibility for the institutes away from colleges. If they were hosted by school districts or state governments, the visa prohibitions would not apply.
There is a tradition of stand-alone language and cultural centers abroad, such as the German Goethe Institutes or the Alliance Française, although they are not financed and managed by a foreign government to the same degree as Confucius Institutes.
"We are still considering our options," said Jeffrey M. Riedinger, dean of international studies and programs at Michigan State University.
Less clear is the path that the institutes will take to accreditation. The memorandum notes that Chinese courses must be part of the curriculum at an accredited postsecondary institution in order for a professor on a J-1 visa to teach. The letter suggests that the State Department does not believe Confucius Institutes are covered by the institutional accreditation of their sponsoring university.
"Confucius Institutes, therefore, must apply for U.S. accreditation in order to offer teaching opportunities at the Institute or other colleges/universities in which a J-1 professor could participate," it concludes.
The memo, however, does not spell out how the centers would be accredited or offer a time frame for accreditation. Stand-alone and university-based language programs can be accredited through the Accrediting Council for Continuing Education and Training or the Commission on English Language Program Accreditation, but the process of earning such approval can take a year or more.
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By Anthony Reuben
Business reporter, BBC News
It cannot be easy to be the company that set out with the motto: "don't be evil".
Especially not now.
Google - whose shares currently trade at almost $600 (£300), more than $100 above its level a year ago - is facing two shareholder motions at its annual general meeting on Thursday.
Both insist the company needs to do more to fight censorship and support human rights.
The top three executives at Google control about two-thirds of the voting shares, so neither motion will get a majority.
But that is not the point of the exercise, according to Amnesty International, which will be proposing the first motion at the meeting.
"A lot of shareholders vote and don't attend the meeting but they may pay attention to what happens," says Amy O'Meara, director of business and human rights at Amnesty International USA.
"We're really looking at it as an opportunity to have an audience to hear what we think about these issues right now and to impress on Google that they really need to move much faster on these issues."
The internet censorship motion originally came from the New York City Comptroller, which looks after the pensions of city employees.
It calls on Google to "use all legal means to resist censorship" and to make it clearer to users if it has "acceded to legally binding government requests to filter or otherwise censor content that the user is trying to access".
Google in China
Most of the criticism relates to Google's Chinese language service Google.cn, which was launched in April 2006.
The company argued that it was better to agree to the Chinese government's censorship rules than to refuse to service Chinese customers altogether.
Google believes the motion ignores what it has done for online freedom
Since then, companies such as Google, Microsoft and Yahoo! have got together with Amnesty and other organisations and experts to form a multi stakeholder initiative on internet and human rights.
But Amnesty says that much more needs to be done.
"There are often national laws or opportunities within the law in China to stand up against requests by officials to do this kind of censorship and the companies like Google have just complied very easily," Ms O'Meara says.
"They haven't even tried from what we can tell."
Google is opposing the motion, on the grounds that its operations in China are already improving transparency and helping Chinese people access information.
It argues that adopting the proposal would hurt its users and business because it would have to close down Google.cn.
In the past year, it has also been trying to persuade US trade officials to treat censorship like any other barrier to trade.
A similar resolution at last year's shareholders' meeting received 3.8% of shareholder votes.
The second motion calls for the board of directors to form a human rights committee.
It was proposed by Harrington Investments, a California-based investment manager, which has proposed a similar motion at several other big technology companies.
The idea is to stress that human rights are an issue for the board of directors, not just the management.
"Management is relatively transient in nature. Executives, 'sustainability officers' etc. can be hired and fired on a dime," says Jack Ucciferri, research and advocacy director at Harrington.
"If the directors don't formally engage issues, then any other program, policy, or procedure is essentially meaningless in terms of assuring shareholders that these issues are being taken seriously."
Taking the lead
Google believes that its directors are already spending lots of time thinking about human rights and that this motion would not encourage them to pay greater attention to it.
It argues that its directors are engaging with governments to raise awareness about the negative effects of limiting online freedom.
Harrington is actually very enthusiastic about the company and sees its motion as a good opportunity for Google to take the lead on a big issue and create even more value for shareholders.
But the proposals are clearly also a warning to directors about what will happen if human rights issues become problematic.
"We see technology companies continue to have very vague policies around human rights and frequent violations of their own policies," Mr Ucciferri says.
"If boards of directors truly understood the repercussions to the brand and the corporation then they would not tolerate it, they should not tolerate it and if they did tolerate it they should be held accountable."
Google declined to be interviewed about the shareholder motions.
It is a company whose public image has undergone a transformation in recent months.
It used to be the popular little search engine company battling against the big boys such as Microsoft.
The ultimately unsuccessful attempt by Microsoft to buy Yahoo! has changed all that.
Google has now been characterised as the giant of online advertising that other players have to manoeuvre to compete with.
The company may find that, as a result, its efforts to "do no evil" will come under even greater scrutiny in coming years.
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WASHINGTON -- For decades, Air Force Chief Master Sgt. Richard L. "Dick" Etchberger's courage under fire was kept as secret as the mission that placed him on a remote Laotian mountain, high above the clouds, in March 1968.
Now, his bravery that day can be written in stone.
President Barack Obama on Tuesday posthumously recognized Etchberger for service "beyond the call of duty" by giving him the nation's highest military award, the Medal of Honor. Obama said those three words can now be etched into a granite monument to Etchberger's memory at Barksdale Air Force base in Louisiana.
"Even though it's been 42 years," Obama said at a ceremony with Etchberger's three sons, "it's never too late to do the right thing and it's never too late to pay tribute to our Vietnam veterans and their families."
Etchberger was part of a radar team that came under attack by North Vietnamese soldiers who had improbably scaled the heights to Lima Site 85, a radar installation helping to direct U.S. bombing of Hanoi. The mission was secret because the U.S. was not supposed to have troops in officially neutral Laos.
The 35-year-old radar technician from Hamburg, Pa., with no formal training in combat, acted on instinct. Using an M-16 and a radio to call in air strikes, he single-handedly held off the attackers until helicopters arrived at dawn.
He then braved enemy fire to help three wounded comrades into rescue slings.
After climbing into the chopper behind the others, Etchberger was fatally wounded when enemy fire struck the aircraft. The others in the helicopter made it to safety.
"Today," Obama told Etchberger's sons in the East Room ceremony, "your nation finally acknowledges and fully honors your father's bravery."
"We knew that he was that kind of person," Richard Etchberger, who shares his father's first name, said afterward. "He would be here just saying 'I was doing my job up there.' I think he'd be really humbled but proud of his achievement."
Etchberger, of Vernal, is a professor at Utah State University Uintah Basin. He accepted the award along with his brother, Corey Etchberger, and stepbrother, Stephen Wilson.
Etchberger was secretly honored by the Air Force months after his death and his wife, Catherine, knew the truth. But his children, and others, at first did not.
Two decades later, the government declassified Etchberger's mission and "that's when they learned the truth, that their father had given his life not in Vietnam but in neighboring Laos," Obama said. "That's when they began to learn the true measure of their father's heroism."
Obama said Etchberger lived the airman's creed -- "to never leave an airman behind, to never falter, to never fail."
According to an Air Force account, the men at Lima Site 85 were temporarily discharged from military service and nominally hired by a defense contractor for the duration of the mission, to help conceal the U.S. military presence in Laos.
Nineteen Americans were on the mountain, several thousand North Vietnamese were below, and they launched a massive artillery assault on the U.S. installation the night of March 10.
After their shift at the station, Etchberger and the four men with him moved down to a small rocky ledge on a safer side of the mountain. But more than 30 North Vietnamese somehow made it to the summit during the night, despite nearly vertical rock walls on three sides and a heavily mined and fortified fourth side.
"The enemy lobbed down grenade after grenade, hour after hour," Obama said. "Dick and his men would grab those grenades and throw them back or kick them into the valley below, but the grenades kept coming.
"When the enemy started moving down the rocks, Dick fought them off. When it looked like the ledge would be overrun, he called for airstrikes within yards of his own position, shaking the mountain and clearing the way for a rescue. And in the morning light, an American helicopter came into view."
As the rescue helicopter hovered and lowered its sling, Etchberger loaded the surviving but wounded men one at a time, exposing himself to the enemy each time. He loaded another airman who had rushed forward after hiding from the enemy all night, then finally got in.
But as the helicopter began to peel away, gunfire erupted below and Etchberger was wounded. He was dead by the time the helicopter landed at the nearest base.
Of those 19 Americans on the mountain that night, only seven made it out alive, Obama said. Three were saved by Etchberger.
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Published in Blood Weekly, February 19th, 2009
"Several studies have implicated that APC may be protective in ALI. Twenty-one rabbits were operatively prepared and randomly divided into sham, control, or APC groups (n=7 in each group). After a tracheotomy had been performed, ALI was produced in the control and APC groups by infusion of Escherichia coli endotoxin 100 mu g/kg per hour intravenously for 1 hour. The sham group received only the...
Want to see the full article?
Welcome to NewsRx!
Learn more about a six-week, no-risk free trial of Blood Weekly
NewsRx also is available at LexisNexis, Gale, ProQuest, Factiva, Dialog, Thomson Reuters, NewsEdge, and Dow Jones.
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About Katherine Gold (Cook)
- Name: Mrs Katherine Gold (née Cook)
- Age: 42 years
- Marital Status: Married.
- Last Residence: in Southampton Hampshire England
- Occupation: Stewardess Victualling crew
- First Embarked: Southampton
- Disembarked Carpathia: New York City on Thursday 18th April 1912
(Chris Dohany, USA)
Mrs Katherine "Kate" Gold, 40, was born in Woolwich.
She was on board the White Star Line vessel Suevic when it ran aground in 1907 (the ship later broke in two and a new bow was attached to the surviving stern section).
When she signed-on to the Titanic on 6 April 1912 she gave her address as Glenthorne Bassett. SHis last ship had been the Olympic. As a stewardess she received monthly wages of £3 10s.
She was rescued on lifeboat 11.
References and Sources Agreement and Account of Crew (PRO London, BT100/259)
Related Articles and Documents
Western Daily Mercury (1912) STEWARDESSES INTERVIEWED
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Iranian Outlaws: Satire vs. Censorship
Saman Arbabi will use his signature wit to relate how the satirical TV program challenges the oppressive Iranian regime all the while influencing the direction of the country’s political landscape. The program, “Parazit,” has become a runaway hit in Iran despite the gov’s strict censorship practices. The program uses alternate channels of distribution to reach their audience which has driven the program further underground and contributed to its outlaw status and popularity. The show has so completely seeped into the Iranian psyche that the president and his supporters have launched a counter-Parazit program. Saman will give insight into their innovative methods of growing an audience that was previously all but unreachable. At SXSW, he will unveil his latest: "Weapons of Mouse Destruction," the largest global art project against government Internet censorship. Raina Kumra BBG Director of Innovation will open the session with an overview of closed media environments around the world.
Raina Kumra and Robert Bole are Co-Directors of Innovation at the BBG. The new leadership team will help advance the BBG’s mission to reach global audiences, collaborating with BBG Networks: the Voice of America, Radio Free Europe, Radio and TV Marti, Radio Free Asia, and the Middle East Broadcasting Networks. The new team will focus on public-private partnerships, and innovate across content, access and distribution for the BBG.
She is the founder and CEO of The Agency for Holistic Branding, a strategic design firm who's mission is to create work that improves people's lives by creating cross-cultural impact. She serves on the Advisory Boards for MedicMobile, (open source mobile health), SMS:Credit (open source micro-finance tools), EpidemIQ (open data for health) and Sanjhi (media literacy for Indian youth). Previously, Raina led the conversion of Wieden+Kennedy New York to a full-service digital agency in her role as Director of Digital Strategies.
Raina holds a B.S. in Film and Television production from Boston University, an M.A. in Interactive Telecommunications from NYU’s ITP program and an M.Des.S. in Design Studies for Digital Applications in Urban Planning and Architecture from Harvard University. Her work has been published in several journals and is part of the MoMA permanent collection.
Saman Arbabi, co-host, co- creator and Executive Producer of Parazit (the ‘Daily Show of Iran’) will talk about evading censorship, challenging the oppressive Iranian regime and reaching the pulse of millions of young Iranians. Parazit, which is illegal in Iran, has quickly gained recognition- becoming an international phenomenon. Saman Arbabi uses his signature wit, street art style and anti-establishment attitude to reach his audience through Web steaming, bootleg DVD distribution, blogs and Facebook, all of which have driven the program further underground and contribute to its outlaw status and popularity.
On January 20, 2011, Saman Arbabi and co-host Kambiz Hosseini made an unforgettable appearance on The Daily Show. At the end of the segment, Jon Stewart proclaimed, "I just want to tell you, you are like our show, but with real guts and I’m proud to be considered in the same fraternity of humor that you guys are in." This appearance was the catalyst for their international popularity and for significantly growing their Facebook fans to over 830,000. At SWSW, he will give insight into their innovative methods of growing an audience that was previously all but unreachable.
Saman will also unveil his latest project: Weapons of Mouse Destruction (WMD), the largest global art project against government Internet censorship that has ever been launched. The official global launch of WMD is at SXSW so join Saman on March 9th to become a Weapon of Mouse Destruction against internet censorship around the world. In the meantime, follow @WMouseD for more information.
Saman Arbabi is also an award winning international journalist, who was born in Tehran, Iran in 1973 and then moved to the United States in 1986. He has a background in political cartoons and satire. Saman started his career at ABC Radio, as an intern then moved up to become the Executive Producer for the popular DC-based radio show the Jack Diamond Morning Show. In 2003, he was hired at Voice of America (VOA) as the first Iranian video journalist. As a video journalist and war correspondent, he covered Afghanistan, Iraq, Lebanon, Israel, Syria, Egypt, Bahrain, UAE and the 2006 IAEA talks in Vienna, Austria. He has produced and reported over 100 stories from the Middle East and North Africa.
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Rebuilding Your Credit
Probably the most important work you will face post-foreclosure is rebuilding your credit.
While foreclosure has a very serious negative impact on your credit score, you can regain control of your finances with time and diligence.
Work to Improve Your Credit
Improving your credit will take several years, however the good news is that you can improve it over time. Following are several important tips that will help improve your credit:
- Always pay your bills on time and with at least the agreed upon amount
- Keep balances low on credit cards and other revolving accounts
- Pay off debt instead of moving it around
- Don't apply for credit you don't need
- Do your rate shopping for a given loan within a short period of time
- Request a free copy of your credit report annually. By knowing what is on your credit report, you will be able to find the areas that you need to improve
- Check for errors on your credit report, and work with the credit-reporting agency to fix them
- Beware of fraudulent "credit repair" companies and report any suspicious activity immediately! There is no magic way to improve your credit, so be suspicious of any person or agency that says they can "fix" your credit – especially for a fee.
Build a Spending and Savings Plan
As you're working to rebuild your credit, you'll want to take a close look at your financial situation and assess how much money you need to live and how much debt you need to repay.
Following are some helpful tips from Freddie Mac's CreditSmart® Curriculum on creating a spending and savings plan:
- Determine your monthly net income, which is the income remaining after taxes and payroll deductions.
- List the fixed expenses you pay each month, including rent, utilities and car payment.
- List the variable expenses that could fluctuate a bit each month (e.g. groceries, gas, etc.).
- Set aside money each month for purchases you know you will need to make in the future, like haircuts, school supplies or clothing.
- Compare your income with your expenses. Look for ways to increase your income and decrease your spending.
- Establish short- and long-term goals for yourself. For example, in six months you may want to eliminate $100 in monthly expenses so you can put it into savings.
- Set a savings plan and stick to it. Work toward saving at least three months of expenses as your safety net.
- Always keep an emergency fund. Just like savings, you want to ensure you have the ability to pull from an emergency account without jeopardizing your monthly expenses.
- Plan ahead for major expenses, and avoid impulse buying.
Reach Out for Help
Did you know that housing counselors help millions of people regain control of their finances each year? These counselors often work for nonprofit organizations and are trained to help you determine your goals, rebuild your credit and get back on track if you've lost your home to foreclosure. There is no charge to work with HUD-approved counseling agencies.
Reach out now and don't be ashamed or embarrassed – they are here to help.
- Call the Homeowner's HOPETM Hotline at (888) 995-HOPE
- Call the U.S. Department of Housing & Urban Development (HUD) at (800) 569-4287 or visit their web site for a list of approved housing counselors in your area
Foreclosure can be devastating, but it's important to know that you can recover. Establish short- and long-term goals, and stay focused on working toward them. In time you can get back on track.
Tools and Resources
Get Smart About Credit
Take our online, interactive training courses to learn about credit, money management, and responsible homeownership.
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People who live in the Duncannon Lane area depend on fire station 5 for quick help in an emergency, but they'll soon have to wait longer for help as the city shuts station 5 down.
"It has been a comfort knowing the fire station is that close," said Brian Moseley.
Moseley lives in the neighborhood right next to station 5, but the comfort that station provides will soon be gone. Due to budget concerns, Richmond Mayor Jim Barnes says the city has decided to shut that station down in early August. The firefighters who work there will be transferred to other city stations.
"It's an economic decision. Where the city's going to be in five years. What we're trying to do is be more efficient. It's just a numbers game," said Mayor Barnes.
After the station closes, crews from the nearest city and county stations will respond to emergencies in the area, but that response will be a bit slower.
"You're looking at probably a two minute at the most different response time," said Mayor Barnes.
But Moseley says those two minutes could mean all the difference in the world.
"Two minute delay can mean a big difference depending on what the fire is. I know a Christmas tree can spontaneously combust and take out a whole living room in 10-15 seconds," said Moseley.
But he says he understands that the city government doesn't have much choice.
"If I don't have the money, I don't spend it, so yeah, I think it's the right thing," Moseley said.
Mayor Barnes said the station could reopen if the local economy improves.
|Report problems like potholes, broken street lights, or vandalism in Richmond.|
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Having come from book editing, Stumpf had never been a reporter himself, so he interviewed Vanity Fair writers like David Margolick and Ned Zeman. Nearly every character is named after a real person in Stumpf's life — Fred Turner, for example, was his assistant. The shoeshiner has a real-life counterpart who worked near the old Condé Nast offices on 350 Madison. "Everyone at Vanity Fair knew him," said Stumpf. "We all kind of took him under our wing." Running into the shoeshiner later and hearing about his new gig shining at a Wall Street investment firm inspired Stumpf to write the book.
There are some unmistakable parallels between Glossy and Vanity Fair.
Owned by a non-interfering man by the name of "Al Lieberman" (clearly based on Condé Nast Publications chairman S. I. Newhouse Jr., and only coincidentally evoking his longtime editorial director Alexander Liberman), Glossy has writers described as "a phalanx of big guns who had been around since the Stone Age…Any hope of the Big Guns just ignoring me evaporated when my new salary was leaked to a gossip column, and it turned out I was making as much or more than some of them."
The editor in chief of Glossy, Ed, is described as a "New England WASP," who "tends to dress like he's about to go trout fishing," and who favors "dogwood-pink corduroys." (Stumpf said he's not sure if Vanity Fair editor in chief Graydon Carter, whose little-used first name is Edward, has read the drafts he gave him.)
But though Warner Bros. picked up film rights two years ago, this is far from "The Devil Wears Prada," mostly because the movie script has already edited out the journalism gig and replaced it with, in Stumpf's words, an "Eliot Spitzer character." But there's also that sentence in Stumpf's acknowledgments, which offers "gratitude without end to my mom and dad and Graydon Carter." — Irin Carmon
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Made in America: Firearms
Robert is a member of The Motley Fool Blog Network -- entries represent the personal opinion of the blogger and are not formally edited.
Guns have always played an important role in our society, ever since a few patriots took up their rifles and stood against an empire. They have also been a big part of the supporting cast in Hollywood, featuring prominently in the Dirty Harry, James Bond, and Lethal Weapon franchises. Those movies sold a few tickets and launched some big careers. The founders of this country thought the right to bear arms was important enough to include in the Bill of Rights to the Constitution. While firearms have an obvious downside, it is comforting to know that law enforcement officers have quality, American-made tools to preserve and protect the peace in towns and cities across the land.
Tightly Regulated, For Good Reason
The industry has had its share of ups and downs over the years and is highly regulated, but there will likely always be a demand for its products. Sales of firearms in the U.S. are federally regulated by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms (ATF), which licenses dealers and performs background checks on all purchasers. The Brady Act, passed by Congress in 1993, led to the creation of the National Instant Criminal Background Check System (NICS) and is maintained by the FBI. Currently, the firearms sector is enjoying a surge in sales, due to both rising interest in the commercial sporting segment and concerns about tighter government regulations in the future. While there are a number of manufacturers, the investable universe is limited to two big U.S. manufacturers, Sturm Ruger (NYSE: RGR) and Smith & Wesson (NASDAQ: SWHC).
Sturm Ruger is a manufacturer of a diverse product line of firearms, including rifles, pistols, and revolvers. It sells its products to both individuals and law enforcement agencies through a network of independent, federally licensed distributors. Over the past four fiscal years, sales grew 124.8%, as prices remained stable and order rates jumped significantly. In its latest fiscal year, Sturm Ruger reported sales and operating income of $328.8 million and $63.5 million, with increases of 28.8% and 19.3%, respectively, over the prior year period. Both gross and operating margins reached the highest level of the past five years, as operating efficiencies were realized and new products caught on with customers. While the ATF reported that total background checks in the U.S. rose roughly 18% in 2011, Sturm Ruger outperformed the industry with unit shipment growth of 24%. Through the first nine months of 2012, the company has continued to perform well, with increases in revenues and operating income of 48.6% and 72.3%, respectively, over the prior year period.
Meanwhile, Smith & Wesson has also benefited from the industry’s growth, reporting a somewhat less spectacular 39.2% growth in revenues over the past four fiscal years. In addition to manufacturing firearms, the company is one of the largest manufacturers of handcuffs and is the owner of the Smith & Wesson Academy, the oldest, private law enforcement training academy. In its latest fiscal year, Smith & Wesson reported sales and adjusted operating income of $412.0 million and $44.9 million, with increases of 20.4% and 152.5%, respectively, over the prior year period. The company’s profit margins improved due to operating efficiencies gained from its recent facility consolidations, as well as from a sales rebound in the rifles segment. Results in FY2012 are also looking strong for Smith & Wesson, as management recently updated their sales guidance for the year to $530-540 million, roughly 30% growth over the prior year period.
How should investors participate in this somewhat maligned, often interesting, growth industry? They should look at the outdoor specialty retailers, who are gaining market share in the firearms business and offer a wide variety of other products. The best positioned company in the segment is Cabela’s (NYSE: CAB). Founded by the Cabela family at their kitchen table in 1961, the company has become the world’s largest direct marketer of hunting, fishing, camping, and related merchandise. Cabela’s revenues grew 19.6% over the past four fiscal years, as it expanded its retail space by 15.8% and created an entertaining shopping experience for customers.
In its most recent fiscal year, the company reported revenues and operating income of $2.8 billion and $231.5 million, increases of 5.6% and 24.1%, respectively, over the prior year period. Cabela’s operating margins reached their highest level of the past five years, as it improved inventory management and reduced in-store promotions. In addition, the company has done a great job of creating loyalty through its Visa credit card reward program. As of December 2011, Cabela’s had 1.4 million active cards outstanding that were used by customers to make 29% of their merchandise purchases for the year, leading to $291.7 million in additional revenue for the company. In 2012, the company has continued to perform well, with increases in revenues and operating income of 9.0% and 41.0%, respectively, over the prior year period. Adding this stock to your portfolio will definitely “make your day”.
rghanley owns shares of Cabela's. The Motley Fool has no positions in the stocks mentioned above. Try any of our Foolish newsletter services free for 30 days. We Fools may not all hold the same opinions, but we all believe that considering a diverse range of insights makes us better investors. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. Is this post wrong? Click here. Think you can do better? Join us and write your own!
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| 0.965957 | 1,212 | 1.554688 | 2 |
Current films are reviewed each week to provide parents a guide to decide what may be appropriate to younger viewers.
Rating: PG-13 for zombie violence and some language
What it's about: A self-aware young zombie feels a stirring of humanity when he spies a gorgeous blonde.
The kid attractor factor: It's a zombie "Twilight," with a few more laughs.
Good lessons, bad lessons: Love is what makes us human.
Violence: Lots and lots zombie shootings, brain-munching, etc.
Language: A scattering of teen-appropriate profanity.
Sex: None, but there is flirtation.
Parents advisory: It has zombie movie gore, but in light doses OK for ages 10-and-up.
BULLET TO THE HEAD
Rating: R for strong violence, bloody images, language, some nudity and brief drug use
What it's about: The kid attractor factor: Stallone, Jason Momoa, and a guy your parents once thought was cool Christian Slater.
Good lessons, bad lessons: "Never trust anyone who doesn't care enough about money."
Violence: Explicit and plentiful. Language: Profane, comically so.
Sex: Gratuitous nudity.
Drugs: Cocaine and bourbon.
Parents advisory: An old-school buddy picture that's heavy on the violence, suitable for 15-and-up.
© Copyright The Sacramento Bee. All rights reserved.
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My Deep Rybka 4 SSE42 x64 just drew a game against a much weaker engine. This can happen once in a while and it is not what I am complaining about. This version was up a (doubled!) pawn, in a Rook and Pawn endgame, however, the rook was in front of the pawn, making the position a dead draw. In spite of this, Rybka gave a winning score for a long time. In the diagrammed position, Rybka shows +2.43.
C'mon Vas, how hard is it to fix this eval bug that you are aware of?!
It's not like, a piece of cake fixing bugs. I don't think Vas wants to add exceptions to every single complaint he gets on the forum. Rather, you want to discover a pattern in the position to address the entire issue, instead of just fixing up a specific bug. So I don't know, maybe Vas will add doubled-pawn-in-endgame-and-bad-rook-placing when he finds a good way to do it.
Oops Stockfish is based on Glaurung, so, it have some of the code from it, right? so, some of the code is cloned.
The term clone is derived from κλῶνος, the Greek word for "trunk, branch" <- I just cloned the line from wikipedia.
Stockfish scores the position as +2.x.
If you want to know the back story, the open-source Glaurung engine developed by Tord was kind of "put on hold" when Tord went to pursue other interests. Marco came along and made various improvements to Glaurung and named it Stockfish, also released under GPL. In that sense it isn't really a "clone," which is a word with negative connotations, but rather a "fork," or divulgence from the path.
>C'mon Vas, how hard is it to fix this eval bug that you are aware of?!
Generally, very hard. Quite often, fixing these kind of things makes the ELO go down, because there are about 10 non-obvious extra conditions that have to be true before it should be activated, and you don't think of them.
It's easy to point to a single position where an engine goes wrong, but to "fix" a position and actually improve the engine you have to cover all other possible positions too.
> You can thank the Beta testers for this one, they wouldn't let me sleep until I added it. :-)
I hope the next beta testers won't let you sleep until you include bishop under-promotion. Without it, Rybka does not fully understand chess :)
> I agree. BU irrelevant.
I once played a game which needed BU to avoid stalemate (Queen or Rook we stalemating) and it was delivering a quick mate. I was very excited to see that. My opponent resigned immediately when he saw me under promote to a bishop :)
> You actually played a game where BU was important??? :-)
Bingo! You'll never know when you gonna need it :)
I also got one remarkable game: my computer announced a mate in 91 - it ended in a won knnkp position :)
Rybka happily underpromots to a knight it seems when necessary, it should be able to do the same with a bishop.
>> Rybka happily underpromots to a knight it seems when necessary, it should be able to do the same with a bishop.
There's a huge difference! The knight can do things the queen cannot which makes it uniquely suitable for promotion in certain types of positions. Positions where a queen promotion leads to a worse position than a bishop promotion are exceedingly rare.
I remember him because in this offhand game, I was White, and, incredibly, and without any irony, the game went 1 e4 g5 2 d4 f6 and you may be able to guess the next move without using Rybka.
Never thought it would ever happen, but it did.
A propos of I'm not sure what...
or a UCI switch, and be done with it!
For analysis what do you think the best setting for Rook Endgame Scaling is?
I have the complete 3 and 4 man tablebases on my computer.
The more I have seen R4 games the more I have toned down my criticism of its endgame play, and I think I now understand why Vas has left it as it is. R4 wins some pretty amazing games by simply outplaying its opponent in rook endgames. The overly high evaluation makes R4 be quite aggressive and dynamic, and in many cases it will squeeze out a win. It is most likely the best compromise for R4 at the moment. Of course it is hugely frustrating when R4 avoids a winning endgame to simplify into an obvious rook endgame, but if you look at an endgame book you will see that 3/4 of it is only about rook endgames. That is not unusual since 10% to 15% of games end up in rook endgames, so it is significant. I am not sure how much 3/4 of a book of heuristics is in chess code, but most likely it is a major project.
By the way, rook endgame play by R4 can be greatly enhanced by having the relevant 6 man EGTB's. I am sure you can find info on that if you do a search. Am not sure how many GB the relevant rook EGTB's are, but they should be reasonably manageable.
I definitely won't mess with Rook Scaling for game play. (that is a small part of how I use Rybka anyway)
But I will definitely use your setting of 60 for Rook Scaling when doing analysis (which is the biggest use I have for Rybka)
I have also been thinking of using Rybka 4 as my engine for practicing endgames (pgns etc.). I have been using Zappa Mexico II but every once in awhile I have noticed that Rybka might play harder for the draw in a losing situation so that would be a better test for me!! Thanks again for the help!
> I hope the next beta testers won't let you sleep until you include bishop under-promotion. Without it, Rybka does not fully understand chess
With it too. :)
> With it too. :-)
Yeah sure :-D
Powered by mwForum 2.27.4 © 1999-2012 Markus Wichitill
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Canadian Northern Dogs: More about the wonderful and less about the scary
As part of the International Fund for Animal Welfare’s Northern Dogs Project, a team of veterinarians, vet technicians and humane educators head north each spring to provide much needed veterinary services and information on everything ‘dog’ to communities that are between 15 and 25 hours away.
The visits to the communities are, of course, the highest profile part of the Northern Dogs Project and are part of the comprehensive approach to developing humane and sustainable dog management in remote communities.
For some of the communities, this is the tenth year that we have been visiting and this means that we are seeing some of our community and dog ‘friends’ each time we return.
April was the month to head to the inland communities.
A team of five left my house bright and early in three vans, taking a day and half to arrive at our destination. At this point in the trip, the team is made up of myself, two intake volunteers and two humane educators, all of whom (except one) have been with the project before.
The plan was to have Stef and Heidi get to know the dogs and the community members.
That means walking every street, talking to people about their dogs, getting to know the dogs (lots of pats)… essentially, getting the heartbeat of the community and its dogs by listening and keeping track of not just the number of dogs but their lifestyle (tied, free roaming, dog house, collar/tags) and features (male/female, pup/young/adult, good/fair/poor condition).
Stef and Heidi are amazing people ‘persons’ and they are also warm, kind dog people -- which makes them perfect for the job. While they walked, they talked… a lot! They were able to answer any questions about dogs, find out about the individual dog and owner, and remind people that the Northern Dogs vet clinic was just around the corner.
While they were hoofing it on the snowy streets, the two educators were in the schools from start of day to end of day. IFAW has been presenting to school kids for a number of years and each year we build on what we have done previously. We wanted to provide the kids (and this goes for adults that we talked to as well) with tools that are actually helpful to them in their everyday lives as they interact with dogs.
This meant focusing on why dogs do what they do and what they mean when they are doing it. Once you understand some of that, you can make a distinction between a playful dog and a scared dog and a mum who is guarding her puppies. And from there, you can then respond in a way that makes you feel more comfortable or safe.
What we don’t think about is that most of us choose to interact with dogs and we choose which dogs we want to interact with. We choose how we want to interact with them and when… in other words, we have a lot of control over our relations with dogs.
We learn to ask the owner if we can pet his dog and we certainly don’t put our hands in a car with a dog inside. But in communities with free roaming dogs, interacting with a dog is not always your choice.
Dogs are also choosing how and when to interact with you. That can be a wonderful experience, annoying or even downright scary.
The Northern Dogs Project is working to make it more about the wonderful and less about the scary.
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Seminole is a city in Seminole County, Oklahoma, United States. The population was 6,899 at the 2000 census. Seminole experienced a large population growth in the 1920s due to an oil boom. Throughout that time many people came to Seminole in hopes of finding wealth in oil. After the oil boom however, the population once again decreased. Seminole is the home of Seminole State College.
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In 2012, Apple will roll out Near Field Communications technology (NFC) to their devices, allowing the iPhone 5 to finally function as an e-wallet. Big whup. Everyone’s already had that idea, even Google.
Here’s what will turn the mind-numbing technology into something that will blow your mind: NFC in the iPhone 5 will finally allow Apple to go live with their ambitious NFC-backed remote computing strategy which will totally blur the line between iOS devices and Macs.
Taiwan-based industry publication DigiTimes is reporting this morning that Apple plans to support NFC next year, probably as part of a new iPhone and updated iOS. While this could boost the number of handsets offering the technology from 10 percent to more than 50 percent over the next two or three years, what’s potentially more exciting is the potential for swapping data between your iOS device and your Mac with just the wave of your hand.
As we exclusively reported a year ago, e-wallets on the iPhone would only be the start for the short-range wireless connection technique. Apple is also laying the groundwork for an ambitious remote computing strategy started under Steve Jobs before his death.
Here’s how it would work, thanks to the enormous storage now available through iCloud. You’re getting ready to leave work. Wave your iPhone in front of your cubicle’s Mac, and your desktop’s applications, settings and data are transferred to the phone. As you walk out the door, the work computer’s settings return to normal. Arrive at home, wave your iPhone in front of your MacBook, and you have an instant copy of your work PC to finish that project.
In essence, you can carry your PC in your pocket and the line between devices blurs to the point of vanishing. Yep. E-wallets are coming to your iPhone next year – but that’s just the start. Pretty soon, the iPhone in your pocket won’t be just a smartphone, it’ll be your Mac and your credit card, too.
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Iran Will Announce Advancements In Nuclear Program
The president gave his speech via state television on the 33rd anniversary of the revolution that overthrew the U.S.-backed Shah, according to Reuters.
Ahmadinejad called the advancements "very important and very major" but gave no details of the country's work. State officials have said the progress is with "peaceful purposes."
Israel and the U.S. have both imposed sanctions on Iran, and have said they may resort to military action if those measures fail. Iran didn't take kindly to the threats.
Iran has warned of a "painful" answer, saying it would hit Israel and U.S. bases in the Gulf as well as block the vital Gulf oil shipping route through the Strait of Hormuz.
"If attacked by the Zionist regime (Israel), we will turn it to dust," said a Revolutionary Guards commander, Mohammad Shirdel, semi-official Fars news agency reported Saturday.
"Thousands of our missiles will target Israel and the 40 bases of America in the region," he added.
The nuclear dispute has fuelled tension as the West tightens sanctions. The European Union has agreed to ban Iranian oil imports by July and to freeze the assets of Iran's central bank.
Its measures reinforce those imposed by the United States as the West tries to force Tehran to return to talks before it produces enough nuclear material for an atomic bomb.
Neither side has shown much appetite for compromise. Iran says it will fight EU sanctions with counter-measures and its parliament plans legislation to ban oil exports to the EU.
Iranian officials brush off the impact of sanctions, while also proclaiming that Iranians will endure any hardship in support of their country's right to nuclear technology.
"I am saying openly that if you (the West) continue to use the language of force and threat, our nation will never succumb to your pressure," Ahmadinejad said.
Ahmadinejad has said he's willing to reopen nuclear talks, which fell apart last year when Iran refused to stop working on uranium enrichment. But Western powers are unwilling to negotiate until Iran agrees to discuss specifically its uranium enrichment efforts.
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Skip to content
The comprehensive Overview of Australian Indigenous health status has been updated. The April 2010 version is now freely accessible at no cost from our website, where it can also be printed direct from the PDF. The Overview draws on statistics and other published and unpublished materials to provide up-to-date, detailed information about the health of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples.
The Overview is now also possible to purchase as a four colour hard copy. The printed edition is an ideal resource for students, teaching staff, or just to have on hand in the office to refer to. The price for the publication has been determined on a cost recovery basis, and is $20 inc. GST each. The only additional cost will be freight, which will be based on the destination and number of copies (weight) required.
Australian Indigenous HealthInfoNet
Contact the Australian Indigenous HealthInfoNet
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Oxfam: To fully observe law, Obama's fight against LRA must focus on civilian protection
Administration officials testified today on President Obama's LRA strategy
The widely lauded bipartisan May 2010 law that made way for President Obama’s recent decision to send troops to fight the Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA) must be fully enacted to include the promised full range of non-military strategies to demobilize the LRA, protect civilians and develop the region the humanitarian organization Oxfam said on Tuesday.
“The law makes it the policy of the US to work with regional governments towards lasting solutions to the conflict which are comprehensive and include non-military strategies not just to defeat senior leadership of the LRA but also to peacefully demobilize low-level fighters, often unwillingly conscripted as children,” Noah Gottschalk, Oxfam America’s Senior Humanitarian Policy Advisor, said.
Gottschalk said Oxfam welcomed US attention to the issue but said it is crucial that lessons are learned from past mistakes such as the disastrous December 2008 Operation Lightening Thunder, a joint military campaign by the Congolese, Ugandan, and South Sudanese armies, supported by the US.
“Not only did Operation Lightning Thunder fail to capture or kill LRA leaders, but it led to devastating reprisal attacks by the LRA. Approximately 865 women, men and children were killed and thousands were displaced from their homes. Earlier military attempts before US engagement also caused widespread human suffering but barely dented the LRA itself.”
Today, isolated and vulnerable communities lack proper protection through Congolese police, military or international peacekeepers in the area and are attractive targets for the LRA because of this. In keeping with the spirit of “The Lord’s Resistance Army Disarmament and Northern Uganda Recovery Act of 2009” the US should be reducing these vulnerabilities by improving roads and communication networks, and helping to make Congolese security forces more accountable to the people they serve.
The US should prioritize security sector reforms like supporting the Congolese government to ensure soldiers’ pay and welfare, assisting in the establishment of army garrisons and helping to train soldiers in human rights.
Oxfam is one of only a handful of groups providing humanitarian aid in LRA-affected areas of DRC where 335,000 people remain displaced because of the armed group. Even more are caught in a cycle of fleeing and returning, an instable situation that contributes to the area’s poverty. The situation continues to worsen: a 2011 survey by Oxfam in LRA-affected communities found that 62 percent of 322 interviewees said they felt less safe this year than last.
Oxfam survey on security in DRC: ‘We are entirely exploitable’: The lack of protection for civilians in eastern DRC (July 2011)
Skye Wheeler, Humanitarian Press Officer, + 1 617 840 0039, [email protected]
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- Championship points
Full points charts and interactive graphs for the drivers and constructors championships.
- Season records
Results table and wins, podiums, pole positions and fastest laps by driver and team.
- Race results
Laps per position, how many races each driver has finished, and how many places they gained or lost at the start.
Gaps between team mates, Q1/Q2/Q3 breakdown and grid penalties.
- Retirements and penalties
Reasons for retirement and penalties during and after races.
- Strategy and pit stops
How many pit stops each driver has made, what tyres they used, and which team had the quickest pit stops.
- Driver form guides
Compare each driver’s performance against his team mate in races and qualifying throughout 2011.
- Race information charts
Lap charts, gaps between drivers on every lap, pit stop strategies, driver lap times in full and more data from every race.
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The California Department of Toxic Substances Control analyzed 25 nail products purchased in the San Francisco area. They tested for the so-called "toxic trio:" Toluene, Formaldehyde and dibutyl phthalate. 12 polishes were labeled as free of at least one of the three, but of those, 10 of contained toluene, and four contained dibutyl phthalate. The compounds have been linked with birth defects and asthma. Karl Palmer is with the Department of Toxic Substances Control:
Palmer: "It's not illegal to put them in these nail products. What we're concerned about is that they're being marketed as something they're not."
Palmer says the nail polish tested was the type used in professional salons. The Department's study was only a snapshot, but he says it raises the question about how widespread the problem is.
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| 0.976042 | 180 | 1.734375 | 2 |
- Unlimited entry
- Kids register for FREE
- Help fight extinction
Ganyeka and the keeper
In this month’s animal profile we speak to keeper Kathy Scanlon about Werribee Open Range Zoo’s 12 year old gorilla Ganyeka. Born in 2000 as part of Melbourne Zoo’s breeding program, Ganyeka has settled in nicely to his spectacular new home at Werribee with brother Yakini and father Motaba.
Like all good, energetic males, Ganyeka starts his day with an intensive exercise and training regime. This provides Ganyeka with an opportunity to show off his intelligence as well as perform colour and shape recognition challenges.
Ganyeka enjoys a challenge and often will use sticks as tools to help him solve problems such as how to reach his breakfast bucket. He eats almost three kilograms of fruit and vegetables a day and gets very excited if any dried fruits are on the menu.
Despite his regular morning trainings, Ganyeka is not what you would class a ‘morning gorilla’ and has been known to get a bit cranky with keepers during his exercises. On these mornings it is best that his primary keeper Kelly is on hand to settle him down as he has been known to use his love of sticks to poke his ‘keeper’ problem away.
Although Ganyeka has a wading pool on his doorstep, he rarely likes to get wet and instead he chooses to munch down on iceblocks and frozen mangoes to escape the recent hot weather.
He has also enjoyed the opportunity to show off his artistic side and uses a ‘gorilla artist’ technique known as fingerprinting to create his masterpieces. Some of his works are even on display at Werribee Open Range Zoo for art critics to marvel.
With his birthday fast approaching, keepers are busy organising Ganyeka’s 13th birthday party and have invited everyone along to help celebrate this April. Plus, you now have the opportunity to meet Ganyeka, Motaba and Yakini in an exclusive 'behind the scenes' tour of their new home. Bookings are essential so make sure you get in fast.
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From the Los Angeles Times
A new, dangerous illicit drug may be gaining in popularity in several countries, according to a report issued Wednesday in the British Medical Journal.
The drug, phenazepam
, is a benzodiazepine used for the treatment of epilepsy. It is no longer prescribed in the United States and several other countries. But it's available in some Eastern European nations and may be distributed via the Internet.
Doctors in Scotland reported nine cases of overdose deaths in which phenazepam was found in blood samples. Two deaths have been linked to the drug in the United States within the last year.
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Ask us a Question!
Links to this forum have been placed on every page of our web site.
Every page at http://www.usingenglish.com/ contains a link to the post message page in the Ask a Teacher folder.
The aim is to get surfers from the web site to ask questions about the English language and have them answered by the members here.
Surfers do not need to register in order to start a thread in the Ask a Teacher folder. They will, however, need to register in order to make a reply to posts there.
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Area police are coming together to make sure that a special group of children get Christmas.
Members of the Fraternal Order of Police Lodge No. 79 have identified a number of families in the Guilford, Davidson and Randolph County area who may have had a difficult time providing Christmas for their children. Instead, they will take the children shopping to make sure they will get a gift for the holidays.
“We take underprivileged children out Christmas shopping and spend about $25 per kid,” said lodge President Hodgist E. Stephens. “We usually contact social services departments who give us the names of the families.“
The Cops and Kids program provides less-fortunate children an opportunity to experience the Christmas spirit and is designed to build relationships between the lodge and the community. It also provides the law enforcement officers, residents and businesses an opportunity to give back to their communities and share in the spirit of giving.
Officers accompanying underprivileged kids shopping for presents helps to show the children and their families that law enforcement officers in their area are friends and are there to help. They are not allowed to get weapon items or makeup, but anything else is fair game.
“This is something we have been doing since before I became a member in 1997,” Stephens said. “This is a chance to show the children that police are not out there to get them, but are out there to help. We are trying to tell them, ‘Do not be afraid to come to the police when you need help,’ instead of running someplace else.”
[email protected] | 888-3657
The Fraternal Order of Police Lodge No. 79 will meet Saturday at the Walmart, 121 W. Elmsley St., Greensboro, at 10 a.m. They will meet again at 2 p.m. to shop at the Kmart in Thomasville, 1122 Randolph St.
For more information on the lodge, visit: www.ncfoplodge79.org
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This week, in another section of this website [i.e., “The Conversation”], I discussed with my colleagues Brad Pareso and Jaclyn Gallucci the concept of “The Song of the Summer”—and we considered some candidates we believed might be considered the song of this summer.
Of course, those types of titles are taken seriously mostly by people who work in media. Unless you’re especially obsessive, you probably don’t worry about these things; you probably just listen to music, and try to find new music to enjoy, rather than debating whether or not the summer of 2010 will best be defined by Katy Perry’s “California Gurls,” Ke$ha’s “Lovedrug” or Lady Gaga’s “Alejandro.”
What’s more, for you, maybe none of those songs will sound like anything more than background noise. Maybe your summer will be defined by something else entirely; maybe you will spend your summer finally digging through the catalogues of Leonard Cohen or Led Zeppelin or The Jam. Maybe you will return to your New Order records or your Jawbreaker records or your Guided By Voices records. Maybe you will buy the new Big Boi CD and listen to nothing else for two months. Maybe you will download five albums a day, and find among all that chaos your new favorite song. And for you, that will define the summer.
My own listening habits tend to drift with the seasons. In fall, I listen to melancholic, pastoral folk and deep-blue jazz, music that echoes my own autumnal nostalgia; in winter, I listen to black metal that howls like the stinging and bitter winds, and ambient that is as quiet and dark as the long nights; in spring, I listen to punk and pop and indie rock, anything that sounds like waking up, like being alive. I mean, I listen to everything, all of it, all year round, but the sounds always echo the seasons, and over time, they come to represent the seasons, they come to be part of each other, they grow so deeply intertwined that I cannot distinguish one from the other.
For me, summertime is hazy and slow and sort of hallucinatory. It is baseball and cold beer and air conditioning and nights spent awake, sweating, thinking. It is music as heavy as the air, and bright as the sun, and wild as the thunderstorms, and lazy as the long weekends spent immobile, exhausted. It is hip-hop and stoner metal and chill-out and chillwave and bossa nova and Britpop and Southern rock and house and sludge and doom. For me, “The Song of the Summer” is not the same as what it might be for you, but like yours, my summer will be filled with music. What follows are some of the songs that have entered my life only recently, but will be with me through this hot season, and will in the future remain as landmarks, signposts, memories of 2010, of this summer.
Delays’ debut LP, 2004’s Faded Seaside Glamour, is one of my all-time favorite summer records—along with, like, Ryan Adams’ Heartbreaker and The Smiths’ Louder Than Bombs (for a universe of reasons, all especially particular to me and those summers)—and I’m truly and sincerely overjoyed to have a new one from the British band for summer 2010. Star Tiger Star Ariel is Delays’ best since that debut, and “Unsung” is its most brilliant, exuberant moment. Bursting with strings and melody and soaring vocals, the song feels like a hard rush of salt air through a sunroof on an empty Ocean Parkway doing 85, cruising to the beach, or cruising to nowhere, cruising just to feel that rush, that breeze.
There are all these great indie bands making music that seems crafted specifically for summer 2010—like we will never hear it again after this summer, like it will go on to be this lost relic as soon as September rolls around. I’m thinking of bands like Beach Fossils and Brothertiger and Viernes and Wild Nothing, all of whom have recently released works of blissed-out pop that will never sound better than they do right now, today. Dom is another one of those bands, and their Sun Bronzed Greek Gods EP is full of such glorious music. “Hunny” is especially wonderful—a shimmering, spacey, buoyant little sing-along that feels like it was air-recorded on an old boom box to be played during weekend barbecues and psilocybin jaunts.
There is something so expansive in the sound of Band of Horses, like their music is a bottomless well of heartache and happiness and awe—just undiluted, intense feeling. It comes from singer Ben Bridwell’s magical voice, one of the most remarkable instruments in popular music today. “For Annabelle” is a perfect showcase for that voice and its miraculous power. The song is massive and heartbreaking, but also delicate and aching and soothing. It moves like a river, rippling and reflecting, cool and beautiful. You stand beside it, staring in wonder, in the hard heat of day, but dip your toe and it feels amazing.
Man’s Gin is the side project of Erik Wunder, the instrumental visionary behind the American black metal band Cobalt, whose last album, 2009’s Gin, may be one of the very best ever produced by the genre. Man’s Gin is not a black metal band. It sounds like Alice in Chains circa Jar of Flies, or Mark Lanegan’s minimalist solo material, or Dax Riggs’ bluesy work with Deadboy & the Elephantmen. (Tonally, there is one comparable cut on Gin—the album’s suffocating and grim “Dry Body,” one of its few non-metal moments.) Still, though it may not be metal, Man’s Gin is heavy—heavy in concept, heavy in feel. Like a brutal, endless night spent drenched in sweat and agony, it’s murky and bleak and desolate: humid as August, dark as 3 a.m., fueled with alcohol and sadness, like the dog days themselves.
The Roots’ excellent new album is a perfect summer soundtrack, front to back, but its title cut still stands out as a highlight. It has a deep groove, powered by organ, a driving ?uestlove beat and a Philly soul chorus. Its lyrics—about the dangers of growing hardened by a life on the Philadelphia corners—are delivered with joy and bounce, a briskness that cannot help recalling being outdoors, on the sidewalk, in the backyard or the park, on the deck or the roof, “out on the streets.” And while there will be many candidates and many opinions, many songs and sounds for many stereos and sets of headphones, this one may in fact be, for me, for 2010, the song of the summer.
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In fact, everyone needs peace. Everyone needs to feel free.
Real peace of mind comes when you learn to meditate. Meditation gives you clarity of mind and helps you to concentrate. It also gives you real freedom—the freedom from useless and negative thoughts, feelings and harmful habits. Thus meditation helps to create harmony in the home and workplace.
We offer a variety of courses to suit your needs: The "Meditation Course" will teach you how to meditate and is open to all. However if you feel that you need "Positive Response Training", or "Stress-Free Living", or "Self-Esteem", you are most welcome to experience the deep, inner training that these courses provide. All of our courses are free of charge. Over the years, our courses and lectures in Self Management have been enthusiastically received in many businesses and industries. Our Values Education programs are appreciated in many schools and universities. Positive Thinking and Stress Management programs have been welcomed by government agencies. Our conferences, seminars, radio and TV appearances have also helped to make the public aware of the wisdom of understanding the self and achieving self-mastery.
"I experienced the kind of peace and happiness that is beyond explanation. I felt like a free bird that has been set free from its cage. My vision and attitude about life automatically changes in a positive way. I can now understand the true nature of God and myself." Michael Chuks Nwachukwu
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Hot on HuffPost Parents:
- Linda Bloom LCSW and Charlie Bloom MSW: Overwhelmed Parents: A…
- Allison Tate: What I Would Like to Tell My Son's 5th Grade Teacher Now
Mike Mulligan smokes and other bad habits kids learn from books
"Mommy, Mike Mulligan smokes a pipe," my three year old son told me the other day while we were digging in the garden.
I knew right away what he was talking about: we'd been out for pizza the night before, and on the way to the car he was gleefully jumping off picnic table benches when we encountered not one, but many cigarette butts.
Of course he wanted to know what they were, and I explained that some people smoke them even though it's really bad for them, and it makes it unhealthy for their lungs. And they often don't clean up after themselves and leave part of the cigarette behind.He nodded earnestly, and that was, I thought, the last of it ...until he brought it up in the garden the next day.
"You're right, Mike Mulligan does smoke a pipe" I said, hoping we could just leave it at that.
"Is he a-posed to though mommy?" he asked me, earnestly, scanning my face for the way I would respond.
"Well, no. It will make his lungs hurt," I replied.
"But then why does he do it?"
Oy. How on earth do you answer that? Mike Mulligan drives a STEAM SHOVEL for crying out loud. He is what every little digger-obsessed boy wants to be.
Granted, Mike Mulligan and His Steam Shovel is old school. A classic. Outdated, maybe, but it's a favorite around our house.
And there are so other classic kid's books that endorse bad behaviors: Ella the Elephant which is a delightful tale about overcoming selfishness and learning to help others, exept for the fact that a mean old farmer tries to shoot Ella in the rump. In fact, many Bill Peet books feature both guns and pipes.
It's even more of a slippery slope once one begins to delve into the realm of 'chapter books'. Pipi Longstocking who wields guns, drinks coffee, curses, and generally runs amok, while also setting a fierce and delightful example for girls to be anything they wish to be. And The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, well, the book was, and still is, banned from various schools by various groups of concerned individuals.
So. What should you do as a parent with these books from from an era gone by, that are at onece (arguably) a bad influence, AND great stories of character, plot, and sheer delight? Do you skip them, or read them and attempt to give your kiddo a literary and social context with which to interpret them?
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I found a link to this list through a series of links back to a friend’s LiveJournal. But OSX has almost no ‘standard’ security features
These features are simple things like stack and heap protections. Anyone want to volunteer good code to OS X?
Funny quote :
“The copies available for download are not final code and users should avoid unauthorized copies which could be incomplete or tampered. This unauthorized download relies on the use of pre-RTM [release-to-manufacture] activation keys that will be blocked using Microsoft’s Software Protection Platform. Consequently, these downloads will be of limited value,” the statement said.
Are they suggesting that users wait for the complete version before downloading illegal copies?
Probably not, but a small chuckle nonetheless.
“Microsoft is happy that customers are eager to begin using Windows Vista,” the company said.
Trying looking online to find some good security news, come on…I dare you.
That’s what I did today – as it is a somewhat slow news day.
You know the old saying, “lead by example,” well that’s hard to do for the public if there aren’t many good examples.
Oh well, I suppose,
Man Doesn’t Have Identity Stolen because he Patched Windows
doesn’t make for interesting reading…
Bruce Schneier has a blog post about attacking bank-card PINs.
Basically, the paper describes an inherent flaw with the way ATM PINs are encrypted and transmitted on the international financial networks, making them vulnerable to attack from malicious insiders in a bank.
Just the fact that there are standalone ATMs in places like bus stations, seedy bars, and convenience stores worries me. Any bank in the whole ATM network could be the weak link.
To make up for the slow progress on SecurityMusings recently, here’s one mega-post with bunches of links.
First off, PGP is 15 years old. The technology that started to put security and crypto into the average user’s hands has reached a pretty significant milestone, and deserves some recognition.
Next is not specifically security related — it is how much of an IT disaster the electronic health records management system at Kaiser is. Aside from the problems of downtime and amazingly high ($4B) cost, it seems that it’s beginning to affect patient care, which is a Very Bad Thing. Although we don’t work with Kaiser (yet), we have dabbled in EHR for other customers. The EHR groups and vendors suffer from an unfocused and unorganized approach to security — there are enough security-related standards in that space so that everyone can have their own.
Joel on Software put up a posting called What’s a SQL Injection Bug? which is a great description of exactly how serious — and easy to overlook — this kind of error is. Written by a programmer, for programmers, this kind of advice is always welcome.
Do you ever wonder what the heck is wrong with top management? Why don’t they see risks associated with IT security breaches? Why don’t they help you do something about it?
The results (highlighted in the article) are unsurprising, but the more this message gets out, hopefully the less people will be satisfied with the status quo.
Lastly, here’s a cute comic for your viewing pleasure. If you understand the comic, you officially get crypto.
Even the Starship Enterprise’s computers were broken into by countless aliens. (Quite easily I might add, complete compromise of a starship? Must be running Windows 98).
So I won’t blow this comment out of proportion, I think that it was a bit taken out of context:
During a telephone conference with reporters yesterday, outgoing Microsoft co-president Jim Allchin, while touting the new security features of Windows Vista, which was released to manufacturing yesterday, told a reporter that the system’s new lockdown features are so capable and thorough that he was comfortable with his own seven-year-old son using Vista without antivirus software installed.
Just because you’ve added some new security features (which aren’t out in the public quite yet – give those high schoolers some time – doesn’t mean that you can forgo other precautionary measures.
I’ll give you an example: It’s my favorite feature within Windows Vista, it’s called ASLR (Address Space [Layout] Randomization). What it does is, each Windows Vista machine is slightly different than every other Windows Vista machine. So even if there is a remote exploit on one machine, and a worm tries to jump from one machine to another, the probability of that actually succeeding is very small.
We’ll see what happens after this upcoming summer vacation.
On Tuesday night, Google accidentally sent out three posts on the official mailing list that contained copies of the Kapser.A worm, also known as the mass-mailing computer Kama Sutra. The video team pulled the posts from the archive on Wednesday, but not before 50,000 subscribers received the message, according to a PC World report.
Come on, Google. What about your corporate motto, “Don’t be evil“? Oh well, a little joke at Google’s expense. That said, isn’t it about time that 100% of news and mailing list servers scan 100% of messages posted?
I’m surprised this doesn’t happen more often on sites like Wikipedia, or if it does we don’t hear about it.
The page hijacked by the virus creators was about a new variant of the Windows Blaster worm.
Included on the page was a link to a supposed patch that, once downloaded and installed, would protect against this new version. However, anyone installing this on a Windows machine would infect themselves with a virus.
The malicious hackers behind the fake article then sent out a German-language spam e-mail with a message crafted to look like it came from Wikipedia. The message directed people to the booby-trapped page and the fake fix.
By piggy-backing on the good name of Wikipedia the message got past e-mail filters that would otherwise have cleaned it up.
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Since spokespersons of different political parties spend a lot of time in the studios of noisy TV channels, they have all mastered the art of talking rubbish. On Monday, Congress spokesman Manish Tiwari, who is sometimes on two TV channels at the same time (God knows how he does it!), decided to play Digvijay Singh's sidekick as he took on civil society activists at his media briefing. Obviously, Tiwari had left his brains at home (probably he thought he was going to a TV studio). Spitting fire at Anna Hazare without naming him (an art that can be learnt only in the stables of Congress party), Tiwari slammed the 76-year-old social activist as an "unelected dictator".
Unelected dictator? What on earth is an unelected dictator? A term like "Unelected dictator" could have come only from a member of Congress party which is quite comfortable with "elected dictators". In recent history there hasn't been an instance of a dictator coming to power through elections. That happened only before the second world war, when people like Hitler and Mussolini grabbed power through manipulation -- blackmailing and violent threats -- in post-election scenarios.
Let me just refresh the memory of the pompous spokerperson of Congress party. Since 1945, there has been only one instance when an elected leader became a dictator. That happened in India in 1975, when Indira Gandhi, then Prime Minister of the country, became a tyrant by imposing emergency on the country. She took this drastic step after a brilliant and brave judge of Allahabad High Court, Justice Jagmohanlal Sinha, declared her election from Rae-Bareli null and void. Instead of respecting the order and stepping down, Indira Gandhi decided to throttle democracy.
For 23 months, India went through hell as all fundamental rights of citizens were suspended, political leaders were thrown into jail, the press was muzzled, poor people were forcibly sterilized, human rights activists were tortured in jail, students were arrested and fired upon by the police. Yes, during that dark period, trains ran on time and telephones worked and government employees reached office on time, but the Emergency was a big blow to Indian democracy as it shook the basic foundations of the institutions that make India a democratic republic.
While Indira Gandhi was busy hounding her political opponents as she saw a "threat to the nation", her son and political heir Sanjay Gandhi went berserk. Slums and shanty towns were razed to the ground and poor men and women were caught and sterilized like dogs. The Congress tyrants played god, deciding who could procreate or not. As the poor of India bore the brunt of "elected dictators", Congress revealed its class character – its true character – of talking for the poor but ruling for the rich, preaching socialism but practicing capitalism, and swearing by secularism and indulging in subtle communalism of the worst kind. During the Emergency days, Sanjay Gandhi wanted to suspend the Constitution and make his mother the ruler of India for life. What better way of becoming a dictator? Even Zulfikar Ali Bhutto couldn't achieve this dubious distinction as he was tripped by another dictator, Gen Zia ul Huq.
Having tasted defeat in elections a number of times since 1977, when both Indira and Sanjay lost their seats, the party might have kept its dictatorial ambitiions in check but it hasn't give up is basic instinct – total rule and unchecked power. So, when Manish Tiwari was mocking the "unelected tyrants", he was actually expressing his love for "elected tyrants". Tiwari also made fun of civil society activists for being "unelected" and "unelectable". For this kind of political class, democracy begins and ends with elections because that is their route to power. In a true democracy, elections are very small part of the process. The dialogue between the citizens and government is a constant and continuous process. In a real democracy, the corrupt people have to be caught and punished irrespective of how many elections they have won. "Going to the people's court" sounds very democratic but it is against the idea of justice and democracy. How democratic the Congress is evident from the fact that the party hasn't had its organizational elections for years. All leaders at the top are still nominated.
Congress has mastered the art of manipulating democracy. Everybody knows the connection between black money, corruption, election and power. Yes, people still vote in elections. But do they have an option? Congress still wins elections because it's the better bet in a bad bargain. We know how the system works. Tiwari might think we are all morons who can be dazzled by a smart use of an oxymoron, but people now know that this government is capable of firing at people sleeping at an anti-corruption rally. We can now see the difference between "unelected tyrants" and "elected tyrants".
Networkingitimes | Dating & Chat | Email
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How does one go about deciding where to study? The following is a suggested process.
Please note: Number III should be a part of the entire process and not delayed to the end.
I. Catalogs and Information
A. Learn about our campuses and programs. Request catalogs from all the institutions in which you are interested.
B. Compare their curriculum. Lay the catalogs with degree requirements side-by-side for a visual "feel" of the emphasis. This will give you some idea of what the institution believes to be most important for ministry and theological training.
C. Call the Director of Admissions and clear up any ambiguous information or confusing issues in the catalog. Also, ask pertinent questions regarding fundamental commitments, philosophy of education, and who "runs" the seminary. All of these questions will help you narrow your choices.
A. Once you have narrowed down your choices, make appointments to visit each seminary at least once.
B. Based on your catalog review, pick a time of the year when the classes that appealed to you most will be meeting.
C. Ask to meet with faculty members, members of the administration such as the Director of Admissions, the Dean of Students, Director of Financial Aid and others so that you may have their perspective of the institution.
This is a good time to ask specific questions regarding the spiritual emphasis of the seminary, the history of the institution, financial aid options and the commitments the seminary holds.
D. Ask to meet with students who are in the degree program in which you are interested.
Do not hesitate to ask them the "hard" questions. This is an opportunity to get a perspective from someone who is going before you. Take advantage of it.
A. This whole process should be done with much prayer. You have been responsible and have gathered much pertinent information. God will honor your decision. Choose the seminary that you believe will train you best for the ministry God has for you.
B. Seek godly counsel. Talk to alumni, pastors, and friends.
Request more information
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The declaration that “a rose is a rose is a rose” is one of Gertrude Stein’s best-known lines. Now, with an upcoming body of work called Ill Form & Void Full, photographer Laura Letinsky—who is a fan of Stein’s—has her own take on the idea: “What’s the difference between having a picture of an apple and having an apple and having a picture of a picture of an apple?” she asks. “If you take a picture of a picture of an apple or if you take a picture of an apple, it ends up being the same thing. It’s still a photograph and it’s always distant.”
The work, which will be exhibited at Yancey Richardson Gallery in New York City from Sept. 6 – Oct. 20, is a series of still-life photographs in which the tableaux are constructed from objects as well as pictures of objects. The title of the series is itself a reference to Stein, says Letinsky, who was inspired by the writer’s ability to make a word carry more than one meaning.
Letinsky, who has been making still-life photography since 1994, is familiar with double-meanings and illusions. She says that her interest in the genre came partially from the way objects speak to material desire, the way that the realm of the home is staged—in much the same way that a photograph of a piece of fruit can be placed on a real table. “We still want to think of [domestic life] as some sort of natural or organic presence,” she says. “It isn’t; it’s a constantly fluctuating and manufactured idea.”
In addition, the line between still-life art and advertising has blurred, she says, causing levels of meaning to expand. Whereas Letinsky can point to the four clearly delineated areas of art that would have existed hundreds of years ago—historical narrative, landscape, portrait, still life—today a still life’s common, commercial use has also made the genre a form of portraiture. “It’s very revelatory of identity in the general sense of being about a portrait of a culture, how culture values things, what things are deemed important,” says Letinsky. “The photograph figures on the one hand as making us feel like we have something, and yet we don’t have it, so it sets up a desire for the thing.”
And, for Letinsky, that ambiguity, the question of whether we have something in a photograph or we just want to have it (and, in turn, whether the object is an object or an image), is central to Ill Form & Void Full. The work—which she says is not meant to be pessimistic—questions whether photography ever shows us anything real, or if we just see what we want to see. So, in the end, when it comes to this work, it turns out that there’s a common phrase even more appropriate than the one about the rose: “It ends up becoming a kind of chicken-egg problem,” says Letinsky. “We produce the culture that we consume that we produce that we consume.”
Laura Letinsky is a Canada-born photographer. She was awarded a Guggenheim Fellowship in 2000. More of her work can be seen here. Ill Form & Void Full will be on view at Yancey Richardson Gallery in New York City, Sept. 6 – Oct. 20.
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Corporate boardrooms and most upper-level executive positions have long been a boys club, and in large part they still are. Women have made up only a few percentage points worth of CEOs in the nation's largest companies and, although that is still true, the trend appears to be going the way of the woman.
A new report highlights the fact that of all the Fortune 500 companies, there are now 20 female CEOs heading up these companies. That's an "impressive" 4%. Seem a little low? Maybe, but Forbes points out that not only is it a record number of women heading up these companies, 11 of the 20 were appointed in 2011 and 2012. Is this a trend that is likely to continue?
IBM, broke its 100-year tradition of male CEOs when it hired Ginni Rometty as its CEO. Rometty started at IBM in 1981, and was appointed to a series of leadership positions while working her way up through the ranks of IBM. In 2012, she was named Chairman, President and Chief Executive Officer.
In 2012, Yahoo! chose Marissa Mayer for its top spot. Mayer came to Yahoo! from Google where she was employee #20 and the company's most prominent female executive. Since her hiring, investors have supported Mayer's vision for Yahoo!. The stock has seen a solid uptrend since her hiring.
Hewlett Packard hired Meg Whitman just over a year ago. Whitman was named HP's CEO in September 2011. Prior to that she served as the CEO of eBay from 1998 to 2008, and held executive level positions with Hasbro Inc., FTD Inc. and The Walt Disney Company.
Ask board members (most of them male, by the way) and they will tell you that they hired the best person for the job regardless of gender. JPMorgan Chase CEO, James Dimon, when asked about the hiring of newlyappointed female chief financial officer Marianne Lake, said that gender "wasn't a consideration at all - we were simply looking for the best person for the job."
One study found that female executives were good for business. A study by Dow Jones found that startups with five or more females in executive positions only failed 39% of the time, as opposed to an average of 75% for the typical startup. The report also found that the fewer females that were represented, the more likely the startup was to fail.
In another study, Catalyst, a nonprofit advocating for more women in business, found that from 2004 to 2008, Fortune 500 companies with the largest percentage of female board directors outperformed those with the least by 16% when measured by return on sales and 26% when measured by return on invested capital.
Will the Trend Continue?
This year, the EU proposed a law aiming for the goal that 40% of non-executive directors on corporate boards at public European companies be female.
Although in the United States this issue has taken a back seat to other matters, such as the fiscal cliff, it will most likely be revisited once the economy rebounds. In the wake of a report showing women make only 78 cents for every one dollar made by a man, it's likely that women's equality in the workplace will be a top issue in years to come, especially when considering the attention it received on the presidential campaign trail.
The Bottom Line
2012 was a giant leap forward for women in the workplace, as large companies hired a record number of female CEOs. While those championing gender equality have cause for celebration, many argue that the work is far from over. Women are still underrepresented in boardrooms and underpaid in most sectors of the workforce. That, according to activists, must change.
More From Investopedia
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Undocumented aliens may find the U visa as a path to permanent residence if they have credible proof that they have been victims of criminal activity and that they have knowledge of the identity of the person(s) who were the perpetrators and that they have been of help in the investigation and prosecution of the criminal activity that took place in the U.S.
There is no exact definition of the crimes that fit in this category but would normally include such crimes as domestic violence, extortion, felonious assault, involuntary servitude, kidnapping, murder and manslaughter, torture and conspiracy.
VICTIMS WHO QUALIFY
A person who has suffered as a result of a qualifying crime including spouse and children, would be eligible and if the victim was under 21, siblings under age 18, and parents would be included.
PHYSICAL OR MENTAL ABUSE MUST BE SUBSTANTIAL
The injury to the victim must be substantial physical or mental, emotional or psychological, that has impaired the victim. Details of the severe physical or emotional injury and the future impairment of the victim must be demonstrated. Proofs include reports of the police, medical records, social worker reports, and protective orders and photos of the injuries and affidavits of persons who have personal knowledge of what happened.
FILING THE U CLAIM
The victim may file a U claim in removal proceedings as well as outside any proceedings. If there is an Order of Removal, a stay of removal may be applied for.
When the U status is obtained, Immigration will issue an employment authorization document. Even before the U visa is granted, any alien with a bonafide visa petition pending may file for work authorization as well. The U visa normally is approved for 4 years. Family members who are included such as spouses and children under 21, parents and unmarried under 18 siblings may be included as well.
CHANGE OF STATUS TO PERMANENT RESIDENTS
To apply for adjustment to permanent residence, 3 years physical presence in the U.S.
after the U Visa is obtained is required. Physical presence would be broken if the U holder goes out of the U.S. for a single time for more than 90 days or in the aggregate for more than 180 days over this 3 year period.
Even if a family member, spouse, child or parent of the victim has not received permanent residence through the U visa victim, as for example, if the U victim has died, the family member may receive U status by proving extreme hardship to him/her self provided the relationship existed prior to the U visa holder’s obtention of the U visa. Proof would be required that would establish that the removal of the family member would result in a degree of hardship beyond that typically associated with removal.
Our assistance is only a phone call, or e-mail communication away!
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Syrian rebels have seized control of a third border crossing with Turkey after fierce battles with government troops, as fighting raged in the key cities of Aleppo and Damascus.
VOA correspondent Elizabeth Arrott reported from the Syrian capital Wednesday that thick, black smoke was rising from contested suburbs there - and that residents are getting nervous.
"In large part, I think people are just a little more pessimistic," said Arrott. "One gentleman today just said, 'This situation isn't bad. It's awful.'"
At the Tal Abyad crossing near Turkey, rebels tore down the Syrian flag as Turkish authorities quickly closed the area and prevented a crowd of people from attempting to storm the border and cross into Syria.
This is the first time forces fighting to overthrow Syrian President Bashar al-Assad have overrun a border zone in al-Raqqa province, most of which has remained solidly pro-government.
The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said rebels withdrew from three southern districts of Damascus after weeks of heavy combat and shelling. In the northern city of Aleppo, the army said rebels attacked several military positions in the east overnight and that helicopter gunships eventually drove them off.
The Observatory said 32 people have been killed nationwide so far on Wednesday, including 27 civilians, after 173 died the previous day.
VOA's Elizabeth Arrott says the fighting is starting to weigh on those living in the capital, although life goes on as people head to work and maintain a sense of normalcy.
"I think [for] people in the street, it's just not clear how you get - what the solution would be," she said. "How does this end? And, in fact, one analyst, a professor I was talking to today, gave the example of Lebanon, which is kind of frightening. That went on for 15 years."
Arrott says many in Damascus also are worried about the bigger picture.
"No matter whose side they're [Syrians] on, I think there is a great sense this is a proxy war. There are varying interests from varying countries and super powers and neighbors. And it makes people feel a little bit, perhaps, these are issues far beyond their control," said VOA's Elizabeth Arrott.
Free Syrian Army fighters walk down stairs in a damaged building in Aleppo, Syria, Sept. 26, 2012.
Twin blasts targeting Syria's army command headquarters rocked the capital on Sept. 26, setting off hours of sporadic gunbattles and a raging fire inside the heavily guarded compound, state-run media and witnesses said.
The Syrian official news agency SANA photo shows the remains of a vehicle and other debris where they landed after a car exploded at Syria's army command headquarters in Damascus, Syria, Sept. 26, 2012.
A Free Syrian Army fighter kisses the the head of his comrade, killed by a tank blast, in Aleppo, Syria, Sept. 26, 2012.
A Free Syrian Army soldier, right, looks through a mirror which helps him see Syrian troops from the other side, as he takes his position with his comrade during fighting, in Aleppo, Syria, Sept. 24, 2012.
In this photo released by the Syrian official news agency SANA, Syrian government forces patrol the damaged area of the al-Arqoub district in Aleppo, Syria, Sept. 24, 2012.
In this photo released by the Syrian official news agency SANA, Syrian government forces storm a building in the al-Arqoub district of Aleppo, Syria, Sept. 24, 2012.
A Free Syrian Army soldier, right, shows his comrade how to use an RPG at a Turkish bath or Turkish Hamam which the rebels took as a base and rest position, in Aleppo, Syria, Sept. 24, 2012.
A Free Syrian Army fighter fires an anti-aircraft machine gun against a Syrian Army jet in the Saif Al Dula district in Aleppo, September 19, 2012.
Civilians and members of the Free Syrian Army try to pull out a body from under the rubble of a building destroyed by a jet air strike in al-Kalaseh, Aleppo, Syria, September 19, 2012.
Also Wednesday, Iranian Foreign Minister Ali Akbar Salehi met President Assad and other officials in Damascus, to discuss proposals by regional powers to end the 18-month conflict. Iran, Syria's main Middle East ally, has denied accusations it is providing military aid to the Syrian government.
Following their meeting, Assad said the war engulfing Syria is targeting not only it but the "axis of resistance" - a term Syria, Iran and Lebanon's Shi'ite Hezbollah movement use to refer to their common opposition to Israel.
Meanwhile, Amnesty International said the Syrian government has been increasingly carrying out "relentless, indiscriminate" attacks against residential areas that appear to be aimed solely at punishing civilians seen as sympathetic to rebel forces.
The rights watchdog issued a report Wednesday based on its investigation earlier this month in Idlib, Jabal al-Zawiya and Hama provinces.
Amnesty's Donatella Rovera told VOA the situation in northern Syria has significantly deteriorated since the end of July when government forces were pushed out of most of the area.
"Since then they've been essentially striking from afar, both air bombardments and artillery and mortar shelling, which are of very little use for hitting military targets because they are aerial weapons," said Rovera.
Rovera said such "battlefield weapons" have a wide impact radius and fall randomly over residential areas "with disastrous consequences for the civilian population."
Amnesty reiterated calls made by human rights groups for the United Nations Security Council to refer the situation in Syria to the International Criminal Court for probes into possible war crimes.
It also warned that opposition fighters may turn to indiscriminate attacks, and it urged rebel groups to communicate to fighters that such violations will not be tolerated.
Earlier this week, a United Nations panel presented a finding blaming both sides in Syria for increasing the number of attacks against civilians.
The U.N. commission of inquiry said that although both government and anti-government forces have committed war crimes, the abuses by opposition forces has not reached the "gravity, frequency and scale" of those carried out by pro-government fighters.
Some information for this report was provided by AP, AFP and Reuters.
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4000bce - 399
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WASHINGTON, December 27, 1941.
MEMORANDUM FOR THE PRESIDENT:
I think the wording in "1" on page 2 is a very difficult one for the U.S.S.R. to subscribe to. Paragraph 1 might read
"Each government pledges itself to employ its full resources against those Axis forces of conquest with which it is at war. Each government pledges itself to continue such employment until these forces have been finally defeated."
As long as this list in paragraph 1 must include a great many names, I think we should include them all, including the South American Republics. I think there are distinct advantages having a long list of little countries joining with us.
I would lift the countries like China and the U.S.S.R. out of their alphabetical listing and place them with our own and the U.K., the distinction being those actively engaged in war in their own countries and those that hare been overrun by the Axis.
I think this listing is extremely important and should be gone over with great care by the State Department.
I think it is up to the British to decide whether or not India should be Included, although for the life of me I don't understand why they don't include it.
My own feeling is that at the moment the Free French should not be Included.
At the end of the second paragraph of the Joint Declaration, another sentence should be added including a restatement of our aims for human freedom, justice, security, not only for the people in our own lands but for all people in the world. I think a good deal of care should be given to the exact words of this and I do not think the reference to the Atlantic Charter is adequate.(3)
HARRY L. HOPKINS
(3) A small memorandum of December 27 by Hopkins attached to this file reads:
"I showed this memorandum to the President this morning and he agreed with these ideas.
"I drafted the attached letter for him to sign to Hull to get this ready off the ground."
The memorandum to Hull is printed infra. Back
Foreign Relations of the United States
The Conferences at Washington, 1941-1942 and Casablanca, 1943
Washington, DC : Government Printing Office, 1968
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| 0.957593 | 510 | 1.59375 | 2 |
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