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Posts Tagged Another Theories Post
The duality of Airi’s personalities is fascinating. She is the manifestation of a sophisticated and intricate artificial intelligence, able to maintain an amiable personality that evolves through her environment and interactions while preserving her features as a perceptive database, able to retrieve and disclose data through simple Q&A. However, these two personas are not simultaneous; though both exist within Airi, only one can be displayed at a time. As a result, Airi begins to seem like two dissimilar characters who switch back-and-forth to serve two distinctive purposes in Robotics;Notes. And seeing how stark the contrast is between these two personalities, not to mention a few other peculiarities, Airi has quickly become one of the most remarkable features of Robotics;Notes.
Though the robots were miniature, the foreshadowing from this fighting tournament is huge considering the implications we can apply to the future of Robotics;Notes. Though Tanegashimachine-3S could fit nicely within the pupil of GunPro1, the giant robot at the heart of this anime, witnessing its controls, kinetics, and performance for the first time gives us an excellent idea of what to expect from GunPro1 when it is complete and ready for action. That is to say, though there may be elements of fantasy and fiction sprinkled throughout, we can expect the robots to behave as realistically or as physically-appropriate as possible.
There is a line that separates good and evil but, depending on your perception and your circumstances, the line may be displaced, blurred or somehow obscure and therefore indiscernible. Within Needless, this line has shifted, slanted, curved and distorted to show that the characters are not accurately bound to the traditional labels of “good guys” or “bad guys”. And because of this ambiguity regarding these ethics, it has allowed the characters to freely switch and flip side given their personality and the situations they find themselves in. In fact, it’s rather difficult to tell who’s what anymore besides the few central characters at the heart of the story. And because of this inability to distinguish good from evil and vice versa, it has accounted for numerous surprises, remarkable character growth, several entrancing fights and, perhaps greatest of all, even more unpredictable fun and amusement. **Warning: spoilers below**
The second season of Dog Days has concluded peacefully without any interruption or harm by any form of plot whatsoever. The season was left to be carefree, directionless, and virtually an entire season of filler and character set-up that was never delivered nor resolved. However, with several hints dropped during the finale, as well as embedded gracefully throughout the season, it appears that yet another sequel of Dog Days is within the minds of the creators and producers. Should that be the case, then one can’t help but wonder what possibly could happen in a sequel to follow this season. It feels like the series has already run out of ideas considering the lack of focus, structure, and planning that occurred in this season. What can Dog Days do to make its next season worthwhile?
What is justice? During the seventh episode of Nisemonogatari, Karen and Koyomi both explained their ideals of justice and what it meant to the situation at hand. The way the story progressed, though, Koyomi’s version of justice disproved Karen’s more simplistic and romantic view of justice and the two came to understand each other in a wonderful scene of forgiveness and familial love. But is Koyomi’s definition of justice really acceptable or was his definition only suitable for the present story? | <urn:uuid:e42a6f8c-6329-4d4f-9647-4f1ac84dbff7> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://avvesione.wordpress.com/tag/another-theories-post/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368696381249/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516092621-00042-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.959541 | 748 | 1.570313 | 2 |
Value is in the eye of the visitor
Beauty lies in the eye of the beholder, and value lies squarely with your visitors. You’ve worked hard to get the visitor to your website, so make sure every page they see is one which increases their knowledge, or experience, and or otherwise leaves them with a positive impression.
It may sound easy, and you may have read it before, but keeping it simple, keeps it fun, interesting and, hopefully, profitable. Try to avoid self-referencing examples, or use overly complex language.
If you use these ten tips as a guide your website will be more popular and more useful for people to read.
1. Knowing your audience
If your Web pages are frequented by people who are just browsing then pushing them into buying may not be the best idea. Just like in a physical store, your website is a great opportunity to browse and sample your products and services before buying. Let people to discover what you have to offer, what you stand for and the benefits you can provide, and you’ll be surprised how many people come back to you down the track.
2. Your pages should only be as long as they are useful
Many people will indicate that a short page is a good page, but sometimes there are diagrams, flowcharts or ideas that just need to be explained. A good rule of thumb is to write what you want to say, and then come back to it the next day and try to cut one third out, without losing the importance of the message.
3. Links to other sections of your website
Linking to other, relevant content is a wonderful way of making life easier for your customers and clients. If you’re referencing another part of your website, like our Web design services, link to it – it is a better user experience.
4. Keep images small – in size
Large images that take up the whole page may not only be frustrating but may be hurting you with Search Engines such as Google, Yahoo! and Bing. Search Engines are unable to see and read images, you may have the best image in the world, explaining what you do, or what you can provide, but the Search Engines can’t see it and therefore won’t deliver it to the people searching for what you’re offering. Images are also significantly heavier than text, and can weigh down a website dramatically. In the time it take to deliver one page which weighs 114kb because of a large image, you could have delivered 10 pages that weight 14kb – search engines recognise speed of page delivery as a major benefit.
5. Colours, and your brand
It is important to think about what colours mean to the broader community. Green for example is increasingly becoming a more environmental colour, whereas blue is a very corporate, trustworthy, established colour. Thinking about how the colours you use may be seen by others can help you convey your point easier and more easily point your brand in the right direction.
6. Wasteful text
Long text can be as good as it is bad. If you’re making a point that needs a lot of explanation then by all means use a lot of text, however we would recommend not trying to say everything about every possible angle on a particular topic on the one page. That’s what external linking, and letting the user discover, is for.
7. Check your spelling and grammar
Nothing looks less professional than incorrect spelling; make sure you check it before publishing.
8. Dead links equal unimpressed robots
Check your links often to make sure they are still valid. Search engine robots want to make sure that if they bring a user to you you’re not going to disappoint. Regularly using a link checker speeds up pages with many links. Once you’ve found a dead link – find an equivalent information source, remove the link, or rephrase what was said.
9. Explain why you’re linking.
If a page is good enough to link to, then it’s good enough to explain why you like it.
10. Make it easy to get in touch
Ever been in a department store and looked around for a sales assistant, only to say ‘forget it’ and leave? It’s the same thing on your website. Make it easy, but not overbearing, to find out how to contact you. | <urn:uuid:7aea7a28-609b-4266-ae97-40b78e32bf16> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.valegro.com.au/2010/10/08/how-to-write-a-great-web-page-10-quick-tips/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368702448584/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516110728-00000-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.944172 | 915 | 1.671875 | 2 |
Summer Olympic Games in 2012 will be held in London, United Kingdom from 27 July to 12 august. After that , from 29 August to 9 September the Paralympic games will follow.
London won the honour to host the olympic games in 2005 against Paris ( its main opponent - 4 votes difference) , Madrid, New York and Moskow.
Olympic events will take place in different venues and Greater london is divided into three main zones: Olympic zone, River zone and Central Zone. The first one will include the Olympic pak in stratford, East London, the second one venues on river Thames such as )2 arena ans ExCel exhibition center, the third one is the Central zone,l which includes the very famous Wembly Stadium.
Most of the games` organisation will be funded by the public, with public money. The estimations are that everything will cost about 9 000 000.Some private companies and organisations will also help funding the Games.
London Organisation Comitee is the main governing bosy for the games. Sebastian Coe is the president of LOC and Paul Deighton is the executive director.
About 100 000 people will work to make these games a real success. These games will be one of the most desired events in 2012 and millions of people wait impatiently for them. | <urn:uuid:9ae1532d-7f53-4dff-a234-53842b447b18> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.londonolympicsmap.co.uk/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368704132298/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516113532-00003-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.947599 | 271 | 1.65625 | 2 |
Who says the top minds of the Department of Defense aren't focused on energy policy?
I give you James L. Jones, retired US Marine Corps general (as in, four stars), former head of US European Command and Supreme Commander Allied Powers Europe, ex-commandant of the Marine Corps and (trivia alert) veteran of the siege at Khe Sanh.
Mr. Jones is now the president and chief executive officer of the Insitute for Energy, of the US Chamber of Commerce. His new job description reads:
"... to increase the variety of the U.S. energy supply and associated infrastructures, to advance international cooperation on energy issues, to protect national energy security, to promote better understanding of changes to the global climate and its effects on the environment, and to expand economic opportunities wherever possible."
Count on Mr. Jones to look into the Fischer-Tropsch production system, which can turn any carbon-based form of energy into synthetic oil. The most attractive energy form in the US is coal shale, which is attractive becasue it is abundant and there's a whole bunch of states that have got nothing else to do with it. The Department of Defense is signed on to generate at least 200 million gallons of Fischer-Tropsch fuel to demonstrate its viability in aircraft engines, including the B-52 and all 707-based aircraft in the air force fleet (KC-135, RC-135, E-3, E-8C, etc). | <urn:uuid:e260101d-f10b-4bae-bf0d-4e16e0c61a26> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://thedewline.typepad.com/stephen_trimble/its_the_gas_stupid/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368706499548/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516121459-00018-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.948222 | 303 | 1.570313 | 2 |
Fighting the Illegal Slaughter of Elephants by Alex Shoumatoff
Vanity Fair, August 2011. ”We are greeted by the nauseating stench of rotting flesh. Fifty yards from the blood trail, the dead, decomposing elephant is kneeling in a poll of its own fluid, which is swarming with flies. The carcass was covered with branches by the poachers so it wouldn’t attract vultures, which would alert the Kenya Wildlife Service’s pilots who make daily flyovers to its presence. Its face is gone, hacked off by machete: no eyes, no trunk, no tusks.”
Such is the gruesome scene nourished by the demand from China’s “suddenly wealthy” who on their way to make riches for themselves have no concern for anything, including other people and the environment, let alone animals. | <urn:uuid:75f953ed-f4ef-42a9-8766-44bab044d123> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://nycnyc.wordpress.com/2011/08/10/fighting-the-illegal-slaughter-of-elephants-by-alex-shoumatoff/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368708766848/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516125246-00017-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.967162 | 183 | 1.679688 | 2 |
A day after President Ram Baran Yadav formally called upon parties to nominate a consensus Prime Minister in a week, Nepal’s Maoist party and the wider ruling alliance has criticised the move as ‘unconstitutional’.
Asserting that they would not participate in the ‘process’ initiated by the President, the Federal Democratic Republican Alliance (FDRA), which includes twenty parties present in the last Constituent Assembly (CA), however emphasised that it would still work towards ‘forging consensus’.
FDRA spokesperson, Prem Bahadur Singh, told reporters, “The President’s move is anti-constitution and anti-law. He has gone beyond the mandate, rights and duties of a ceremonial head of state. We urge him to correct his move.”
The FDRA decision came after a series of internal Maoist meetings. Party spokesperson Agni Sapkota told The Hindu, “The constitutional articles cited by the President are not applicable in the absence of parliament. He has also misinterpreted his duties as rights. Besides an official release, the President has also sent a letter to the chief secretary. All this makes us suspicious that he is seeking to exercise executive power.”
Talks to continue
Mr. Sapkota said that the party had made it clear in an all-party meeting that it would continue dialogue with other forces in the spirit of seeking an agreement, and ‘not due to the president’s directive’.
During the day, Maoist chairman Pushpa Kamal Dahal ‘Prachanda’ met Mr. Yadav, and asked him to clarify the intent behind his move. According to Mr. Sapkota, “Our leader conveyed to him doubts, and asked what he will do if there is no consensus in a week. The President said he will give parties a few more days, and would not do anything without the agreement of the political parties.”
Prime Minister’s role
As reported in The Hindu on Saturday, Prime Minister Dr. Baburam Bhattarai has taken a strong stance against the President’s move. A representative at the PM’s office, while calling alliance partners for the meeting in the evening is understood to have told a minister, “The PM has said he is willing to be a martyr, but will not accept an unconstitutional directive.” But there is speculation that Mr. Prachanda favours a more conciliatory approach.
A close aide of Mr. Prachanda, who wished to remain anonymous, said, “The spirit of P.M. and Mr. Prachanda is the same. But the Chairman has the responsibility of breaking the political deadlock and so cannot be rigid and belligerent.”
A close P.M. aide and Maoist legal advisor, Khimlal Devkota, said reports of differences were not true. “The party institutionally is opposed to the President’s move. The Chairman announced in the alliance meeting there would be protests, and the Newa State Committee will organise a rally in the capital tomorrow.”
Officially, the Madhesi parties too have opposed the President’s move.
Hridayesh Tripathi, a senior minister, told The Hindu, “The main challenge is to get the interim constitution back on track. This can happen only through Constituent Assembly elections. But the President’s move will not help for he has no constitutional basis to take the next step. All issues – unity government, clearing legal hurdles for elections, constitutional amendments – should have happened as a part of a package.”
Another Madhesi minister however said that the President’s move may act as a ‘catalyst’ to break the impasse. “Some intervention was needed to break the impasse. If there is a consensus candidate in the next few weeks, the President’s gamble would have succeeded. But if there is no consensus, the president too will get trapped because he has no constitutional Plan B.” | <urn:uuid:9a363d9a-f77a-45ce-a25e-947497b46b59> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://m.thehindu.com/news/international/ruling-maoistled-alliance-opposed-to-presidents-move-in-nepal/article4130789.ece/?secid=2782 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368703682988/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516112802-00008-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.970069 | 853 | 1.585938 | 2 |
This is one of the easiest trails to still provide a good sample of the alpine experience in the White Mountains.
It begins at the Pinkham Notch Visitor Center and proceeds along a fairly easy grade in a pretty woodland. There are some steeper sections, but all are moderate, and the steepest sections are eased with stone stairs.
The path crosses several streams, the first of which leads back into a grotto beside the trail.
Later the trail rises into a pine wood, which is like a small cathedral. Beyond that, the trail rises to a pair of exposed boulders.
The trail then descends slightly and crosses the Auto Road, skirting the west side of Lowe's Bald Spot. Then it ascends to the summit.
The summit offers superb views of the east flank of the Presidentials and of Imp Face. Despite the low altitude (about half that of Mount Washington), it can have weather and cold just as serious. On a late July day, we experienced temperatures (with wind chill) near freezing.
Above Treeline Warning
People have died above treeline every time of the year. On the summits, the air is thinner (approximately equivalent to Denver, Colorado) and at any exposed altitude weather conditions can vary from sun to rain, sleet or even snow in moments. Winds frequently exceed 30 mph and can generate severe wind chill, even in summer. Check weather reports, but prepare for the worst.
Images and Text From The Trail
(There are 69 items for this trail)
Randomly selected items...
To see all of the images... | <urn:uuid:32676805-33a2-4415-8d57-d07c8071248c> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.newenglandtrailreview.com/trail.asp?TID=167 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368700264179/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516103104-00008-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.944489 | 326 | 1.578125 | 2 |
At Arab League, Oman Urges Action On Libya
Reflecting Gulf view, Oman urges Arab action on Libya; No-fly zone, rebel recognition on agenda, deal unlikely; League in contact with Gaddafi envoys, rebel council
March 12, 2011 6:28 by Reuters
Arab states must intervene in Libya or risk unwanted foreign intervention, Oman’s foreign minister told an Arab League meeting on Saturday.
European states hope the Arab League will take the lead in shaping policy towards the revolt that has divided Libya. The League has suspended Libya for its crackdown on an uprising against Muammar Gaddafi but has not severed all ties to Tripoli.
Gulf states including Oman have voiced strong criticism of Gaddafi and called for a no-fly zone over Libya, but the position of other Arab League states is not clear. Analysts doubt its members will agree unanimously on such action.
Egypt, buoyed by the revolution that swept Hosni Mubarak from power, could prove crucial in swaying opinion. States including Syria have been less critical of Gaddafi.
“What is needed now is Arab intervention using mechanisms of the Arab League and at the same time in accordance with international law,” Omani Foreign Minister Youssef bin Alawi bin Abdullah said in his opening remarks to an Arab League meeting.
“We must look at various options that circumstances in Libya need,” he said, giving brief opening remarks during a televised opening session over which he presided.
“What is happening now to the Libyan people poses a threat to the security and stability of Arab states.
“If the Arab League does not take responsibility to prevent a downward spiral, that could lead to internal fighting or unwanted foreign intervention,” he added.
Gulf Arab ministers said on Thursday Gaddafi’s administration had lost its legitimacy and called for measures including imposing a no-fly zone. Gaddafi has had particularly bad relations with Gulf heavyweight Saudi Arabia for years.
SAIF AL-ISLAM SAYS ARABS ARE “NOTHING”
Arab League Secretary General Amr Moussa, a candidate for the Egyptian presidency, called for a no-fly zone to help the Libyan people “in their struggle for freedom against an increasingly inhuman regime”.
In an interview with Der Spiegel, he said the Arab League could play a role.
Outside the League’s Cairo headquarters, about a hundred people held a protest against the Tripoli government, waving the pre-Gaddafi flag that has become a symbol of the revolt. “The people want to put the murderer on trial,” they chanted.
“Egypt should take a stronger position so that it can restore its weight in the region,” Fayez Gabrail, a Libyan protesting outside the building, said.
At a March 2 meeting, the Arab League said a no-fly zone was an option. NATO has cited firm regional support as one element required for the imposition of a no-fly zone on Libya.
European Union states said on Friday they would examine options to protect civilians but also listed regional support as one necessary element. The United States has said a no-fly zone remains an option to put pressure on Gaddafi.
The Arab League, though appearing tough on Gaddafi, has not cut all ties with his government. It says it needs to be in touch with the people who control the situation in Libya.
Saif al-Islam, one of Gaddafi’s sons, told supporters in Tripoli this week the Arabs were “nothing”. “Screw Arabs and the Arab League,” he said.
The League has established contact with the rebel National Libyan Council, based in the eastern city of Benghazi.
Extending formal recognition to the rebel council is also on the agenda of Saturday’s Arab League meeting.
Germany and the European Union foreign policy chief have both said they would look to the Arab League’s decision to help guide their own policy on the issue.
The 27 EU members on Friday endorsed the Libyan National Council as “a political interlocutor”. (Additional reporting by Brian Rohan in Berlin; Writing by Tom Perry; Editing by Janet Lawrence)
By Yasmine Saleh and Marwa Awad | <urn:uuid:c8f4464b-3f3b-42d9-9a3e-3661f5ab2d23> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.kippreport.com/article/at-arab-league-oman-urges-action-on-libya/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368697380733/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516094300-00010-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.959005 | 870 | 1.539063 | 2 |
LAPD's Parker Center is closed for good
Parker Center, the iconic headquarters of the Los Angeles Police Department for more than five decades, was closed for good Tuesday.
Top police officials, several elected city officials and a few hundred LAPD employees gathered on the lawn beneath the spare, windowless facade of the downtown building for a brief ceremony before LAPD Chief Charlie Beck symbolically padlocked the front doors.
"It is the ghosts and the glory of Parker Center that has made us what we are," Beck said, referring to the mix of scandal and good police work the department embodied while it was housed in the building from 1955 until 2009.
Named in memory of the LAPD's longest-serving and most influential chief, William Parker, the building was featured in numerous television shows and films. For the real-life LAPD, it became a symbol of the department's transformation from a badly corrupt, unprofessional organization to a tightly-run paramilitary operation under Parker.
Some of the city's most notorious criminals, including Sirhan Sirhan and Charles Manson, were held in building's jail. And when the city erupted in riots after officers were acquitted in the beating of Rodney King, enraged protesters set fires at its edges.
As it aged the building became run down and outdated, and concerns about its inability to withstand a major earthquake led the city to move the department into its new facility. Members of the fingerprint analysis unit, polygraph specialists and a few others however were forced to stay behind in the mostly abandoned building as the city fell far behind on plans to build new lab facilities for them.
With those labs now complete, city officials must decide whether destroy the building or try to salvage it for some future use.
- Joel Rubin at Parker Center
Photos: Locked doors of Parker Center on Tuesday; Flag ceremony in the front lawn. Credit: Richard Winton / L.A. Times | <urn:uuid:9240d25b-2d66-457c-8bb7-0768f12f2f3c> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/lanow/2013/01/lapd-shuts-parker-center-for-good-.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+lanowblog+%28L.A.+Now%29 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368704392896/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516113952-00038-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.975061 | 383 | 1.734375 | 2 |
Intel, Ronler Acres facility pipe bracing project
As part of infrastructure improvements for the facility, Miller Consulting Engineers, Inc. provided structural design services for Intel’s Ronler Acres campus. Located in Hillsboro, Oregon, Ronler Acres is Intel's largest high tech manufacturing facility in Oregon. As the largest chip manufacuturer in the world, Intel is reliant on its many facilities to remain an industry leader in chip manufacturing.
Miller Consulting Engineers provided structural engineering services for the contractor on this project to provide value engineering and problem solving to key areas of piping systems vital to Intel’s high tech manufacturing processes. Our role in the construction process has been instrumental in providing safe structural designs for these manufacturing process components.
Innovative, economical bracing systems are key to the success of this continuing project. Our services include field investigation, location and identification of required seismic pipe system bracing. For this project our staff members worked closely with the contractor to provide customized structural details that were practical and reduced difficulties during installation.
Miller Consulting Engineers worked closely with Kinetic Systems, a leading mechanical contractor. | <urn:uuid:8c7a71d5-e892-46ad-8a8c-e7de41619a80> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.millerengrs.com/content/intel-ronler-acres-facility-pipe-bracing-project | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368705559639/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516115919-00002-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.94589 | 228 | 1.609375 | 2 |
November 1st, 2008 Brian Herzog
This question is kind of predictable, but still very important:
Patron: Do you have a copy of Tuesday's ballot?
We don't, and I'm not even sure they let actual ballots out ahead of time. Absentee ballots are available at Town Hall, but I think only for people voting early, and that's not what the patron wanted. He just wanted to see what choices were going to be on his ballot.
We found two websites that offer this - the Elections Division of the MA Secretary of State's Office, and ImagineElection.com. Both allowed us to type in the patron's street address, and in addition to all of the candidates and questions on the ballot, they gave us the precinct number and polling location.
Beyond this, there were pros and cons to each. The State website is of course reliable, but it also provided a lot more information that ImagineElection. The extras the State provides are:
- the party of each candidate
- the running mate for each presidential candidate
- indicating if a candidate is an incumbent
- providing a summary of each ballot question, and what a Yes or No vote would mean
Here's what ImagineElection had going for it:
- it was way more easy to read
The State site is a no-nonsense utilitarian text listing - which is not surprising for a government website. But that is a sharp contrast to ImagineElection's use of colors and indentions to visually organize the ballot. The overall feel of their site was kind of a web 2.0 generic theme vibe (which made me question its reliability), but the ballot itself was leaps and bounds beyond the State site.
The patron, an older man, thought so, too. However, he preferred the additional information provided on the State site. What would have made both ballots better would have been information about each candidate (or links to information), to help people decide and make educated votes. I'm sure that is a can of worms, and the information is available elsewhere. But it's inclusion here would have made for a much better one-stop-shopping information gathering place for a voter.
So while I'm always happy to see content triumph over design, this is a very clear case of why design is important. I'm not sure where ImagineElection gets there data, but I imagine the additional information could also be included. And it doesn't surprise me that a government website is basic and no-nonsense, but a little html/css formatting could go a long way towards better serving the citizens.
Also: at the risk of sounding like the patriotism police, I want to remind all Americans to vote on Tuesday, Nov. 4th. It's important.
Tags: 2008, ballot, ballots, campaign, campaigns, candidate, candidates, election, elections, imagineelection, libraries, Library, political, politics, public, Reference Question, vote, voter, voters, voting
October 23rd, 2008 Brian Herzog
I was at the NELA 2008 conference this week, and spent yesterday and today going over my notes and trying to get caught up. Lots of good stuff, but here are a few of the highlights from the sessions I attended:
If you ever have a chance to see Ethan Zuckerman speak, do it. Not only is he interesting and entertaining, but his work using technology to bridge cultural divides directly relates to what we do in libraries. He also approaches things from a global "big picture" viewpoint, which is a nice change from my generally myopic "what's going on in my community" point of view. I learned a lot from Ethan, both library-related and otherwise - read the complete notes from his "The Internet is NOT Flat" session.
Men in the Library
Being a male, I was curious about Nancy Davis' program called "The Vanishing Male: Guy Stuff That Lures and Hooks." It was a discussion about why men generally use the library less than women, and what libraries can do to attract more male patrons:
- Men are "seekers" and not "browsers" - they want to go in, get their stuff, and leave. Libraries should have signage that caters to this, and be more open, so men don't have to wander around looking or ask for help
- Book groups don't work for a lot of men because men don't like "sharing" - to get men to a book group, have it "led" by a scholar or other authority (male book groups prefer non-fiction books), and that way the men feel they're getting something out of it
- For programming ideas, try anything tool-based, such as "greening" your house, installing solar panels, bike repair & maintenance, etc. Men also like father/son programs, like building a bird house or a "dads and donuts" story time early Saturday morning
- To get guys to come to programs, promote them in places where guys go: the hardware store, the transfer station, etc.
- Also, make sure you have men on your staff and on your board of trustees - it's easier to attract males if they feel comfortable in the building, and book displays are more likely to appeal to them if the books are chosen by other guys
NOTE: Keep in mind that most of these are generalizations
Genealogy Core Collection
Cindy O'Neil, a certified genealogist with the Manchester (NH) City Library, explained the resources she felt were essential for libraries to offer their patrons doing genealogical research. Her handout was a bibliography important genealogy resources, and I tried to include as many of them as possible in my session notes on the NELA conference blog. Definitely worth checking out and comparing to your resources.
Of course I got a lot more out of the conference, but these were the things that stuck with me that I wouldn't have gotten if I didn't go. A lot more information on the other sessions are available on the NELA 2008 conference blog.
Update: I don't know how I could have left this out: For people wanting a real hands-on demo of how to very quickly improve their library's website, Lichen Rancourt's presentation on how she converted the Manchester (NH) City Library's website from static to Library 2.0 is a must see. Even while working within the City's content management package (which means these changes apply to any website management tool), she brought the real spirit, vibrancy and interactivity of the physical library to the website. The improvements include a flickr badge, a WordPress blog feed for up-to-date news and information, and an events feed.
September 30th, 2008 Brian Herzog
This post ended up being much longer than I expected, so I added subheads in bold. I ask librarians to read and comment on the first part, and the rest of the post is background information.
When Does A Library Become Biased?
Last week on my library's blog, I posted information about the three questions on Massachusetts' statewide ballot in November. One of them, Question 1, calls for doing away with personal income tax in Massachusetts.
I feel the duty of libraries is to present unbiased, timely and reliable information. However, Question 1 potentially has a huge impact on Massachusetts libraries, and I'm really torn on where to draw the line on this one.
In the post, I include summaries of each question, and what a Yes or No vote would mean. However, for Question 1, we also decided to include a link to the Massachusetts Board of Library Commissioners' stance. We did this because, since so many library services are funded by the state, if this initiative passes, library services may revert to the way things were in 1889 - yes, 1889 (read the MBLC stance to find out why).
It doesn't feel like biased information, because it is timely and from a reliable source. However, since there is such a self-interest involved, it feels kind of unseemly. Does including the link to MBLC overstep the library's role? Are libraries allowed to present the case for their own existence?
Question 1, and Why I Don't Like It
First, I have to say a few things:
- A similar issue was narrowly defeated in 2002
- New Hampshire doesn't have income tax, or sales tax, and they seem to do fine
- It appears my job could very well be on the line because of this initiative
In a broad sense, I can agree with parts of the initiative - Massachusetts' state government does seemed to be wasteful, and I do feel over-taxed. But this initiative seems, I don't know, kind of myopic and not realistic.
In the Information for Voters booklet [pdf] from the MA Elections Division, Carla Howell, Chair of The Committee For Small Government lists points in support of doing away with income tax:
- Your "Yes" vote will create hundreds of thousands of new Massachusetts jobs
- Your "Yes" vote will NOT raise your property taxes NOR any other taxes
- Your "Yes" vote will NOT cut, NOR require cuts, of any essential government services
I haven't completly researched this issue, but I see no facts or logical basis that support the first point, and the last two seem mutually-exclusive. By taking away a major source of revenue and not replacing it, they are essentially forcing the government to cut services, many of which will be essential services.
The actual text [pdf] of the question itself also seems, I don't know, less-than-professional. The biggest goal seems to be to label Massachusetts state government as "Big Government," and repeat that phrase as many times in the question as possible, as if just by establishing that label they are assured victory.
Question 1's Impact on Patrons and Libraries
And this issue seems especially poorly-timed, too. In times of economic troubles, the idea of not having to pay income tax certainly appeals to a base sense of self-preservation. But it is precisely in times of economic troubles that the use of libraries increases.
It seems to me that, especially in times of trouble, a community is better served by comprehensive services provided by a stable government, rather than by self-interest.
Tags: 2008, income, libraries, Library, ma, mass, massachusetts, Personal, public, question 1, question1, tax, vote, voting
September 18th, 2008 Brian Herzog
In my last post, I mentioned that at this year's NELA annual conference, I will be part of a panel called "Library 2.0 For You." A few people asked me about it, so here's what it is and how it came to be:
The description from the NELA conference program [pdf]:
Flickr isn't just a bird, delicious isn't just your NELA luncheon, and WordPress isn't a new kitchen gadget. Find out what these things are and how these popular Web 2.0 applications (and more!) are being used in real-world libraries. L24U offers a panel of three experienced Massachusetts librarians: Paige Eaton Davis from the Minuteman Library Network, Brian Herzog from the Chelmsford Public Library, and Elizabeth Thomsen of NOBLE. They share their expertise with applying Web 2.0 technologies to help promote your library's resources, programs, and materials. The program sponsor is ITS whose business meeting is included in the program.
Sounds great, huh? This program came about because there seemed to be a need for almost a how-to session for Library 2.0 tools. Lots of programs at past conferences and seminars were either general overviews of this technology, or very rah-rah Library 2.0 cheerleading. Which were great, because they raised awareness and interest, and got people excited about exploring these tools.
However, when people left the conference, they knew they were interested but didn't know where to begin. So in L24U, we're hoping to show a few examples of what can be done with a few Library 2.0 tools (using actual working examples from libraries), and explain what the steps were to implement these tools.
It won't be hands-on training, but attendees will hopefully leave the session with an understanding of how to put these tools to work for them as soon as they get back to their libraries.
That's the plan, at any rate. Even if we just end up answering peoples' questions, it should still be interesting (that is, once I get past my fear of public speaking). So if you're going to NELA 2008, look for this program on Monday at 1pm.
Tags: 2.0, 2008, conference, l2, l24u, libraries, Library, library 2.0, nela, public, web 2.0
July 26th, 2008 Brian Herzog
This reference question is just funny. A coworker and I were sitting at the desk when the phone rang. She answered it, so I only heard her half of the conversation:
My coworker: Reference desk.
[a few seconds of silence]
My coworker: No, I'm not.
[a few seconds of silence]
My coworker: Sorry, no, I don't.
[a long time of silence]
My coworker: Well, I'm not sure. I don't think there is actually a list, that anybody keeps. Maybe you could put an ad in the paper?
[a few seconds, then the patron hangs up]
After the call, my coworker turns to me, smiling, to fill me in. Apparently, the patron first asked if she, my coworker, was going to the Olympics in China later this year. When she said no, the patron asked if she knew of anyone who was going.
With my coworker answering no to that as well, the patron explained her question. Apparently China is issuing special postage stamps for the Olympic summer games. The patron's grandson collects stamps, so the patron was looking for someone who was going to Beijing for the games and could mail him a postcard with one of the special Olympic stamps affixed.
Which is a very nice thing to do, but I'm not sure why she thought the library maintained a list of people going to the Olympics. I thought the suggestion of putting an ad in the newspaper was a pretty good one - you never know who responds to newspaper ads, but it just might work.
In looking for a picture of the stamp in question, I found a few websites that might interest philatelists:
Tags: 2008, beijing, china, games, libraries, Library, olympics, postage, public, Reference Question, stamp, stamps, summer
January 26th, 2008 Brian Herzog
A patron came up to the desk and said:
I keep hearing on the news about other states' primaries and caucuses. I know it's for the President, but what's the big deal? We don't vote until November, right? What's the difference between a caucus and a primary? What happens if you don't win them? Does Massachusetts have one? And I keep hearing good and bad things about all the candidates - who is winning?
I love easy questions like this.
I knew the Massachusetts primary is coming up, so the first thing I wanted to do is search the state's website for information on that. While doing that, I tried to give a brief description of the whole primary/caucus system: candidates win delegates in each state, who then cast votes in the party conventions to decide who actually runs for President...
By this time I had found a few Massachusetts resources:
- MA Elections Division, which listed the primary's date (Feb. 5th), as well as lots of information on both state- and national-level elections
- The Voting Process website, which explained how to register, how to apply for an absentee ballot, what do to and where to go on election day, and more
At this point, the patron confessed that she was far more interested in who was winning than in how the process itself worked. A website I found a few weeks ago is perfect to answer this: CNN Election Center 2008.
I like this website for the same reason I don't like USAToday - it breaks everything down into easy to understand chunks, and does so with lots of colors and graphs. It lists who has won each primary/caucus so far, and how many delegates each candidate has earned.
It also explains the major issues and where each candidate stands, has an easy-to-use calendar for upcoming primaries and caucuses, shows which candidates have dropped out, how much money each candidate has raised and spent, and more.
All in all, it seems like a fairly complete election coverage source. And it satisfied the patron (actually, it outright delighted her to see Ron Paul has won more delegates than Rudy Giuliani even though Giuliani has spent $30.6 million to Paul's $2.8 million). She wrote down the url and promised to read more about the issues before Feb. 5th.
I was curious, though - even though I think CNN is a reliable source, I also wanted to see what other election coverage and resources were available. I spent some time searching, and here's what I came up with, broken down by type:
Election News Coverage:
Political Parties and National Conventions:
I didn't bother linking directly to each candidates' website, because many of the sites above do that. In fact, since they're all reporting on the same thing, most of the information on these sites is duplicated. I guess the point is to pick at least one resource you trust and stay informed.
2008, campaign, candidates, election, elections, libraries, library, politics, president, presidential, public, question, reference, reference question
Tags: 2008, campaign, candidates, election, elections, libraries, Library, politics, president, presidential, public, question, reference, Reference Question | <urn:uuid:54f815dd-000d-471f-9217-449a2f7ef80b> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.swissarmylibrarian.net/tag/2008/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368708766848/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516125246-00018-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.972697 | 3,745 | 1.609375 | 2 |
Ehlanda, Queen of Elenia, has been poisoned. A deep enchantment sustains her life, but it will end soon. Then Sparhawk, Knight of the Queen's Champion, learns where to get to cure for the poison. He and his companions set forth on a dangerous quest to find the antidote before the queen should perish and the peace ends....
About David Eddings
David Eddings (1931-2009) published his first novel, High Hunt, in 1973, before turning to the field of fantasy with the Belgariad, soon followed by the Malloreon. Born in Spokane, Washington, and raised in the Puget Sound area north of Seattle, he received his bachelor of arts degree from Reed College in Portland, Oregon, in 1954, and a master of arts degree from the University of Washington in 1961. He served in the US Army, worked as a buyer for the Boeing Company, and was both a grocery clerk and a college English teacher. He lived in Nevada until his death, at the age of 77. | <urn:uuid:9ffa9e3e-9f97-4b03-975c-01e531929f44> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.randomhouse.com/book/44905/ruby-knight-by-david-eddings/9780345373526/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368704392896/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516113952-00042-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.971962 | 215 | 1.539063 | 2 |
Understanding Fixed Annuities
Having enough money for the retirement lifestyle you want is usually best accomplished by using all the financial tools at your disposal. Your retirement plan and IRA can provide the foundation for that nest egg. Another tool you may want to consider is a fixed annuity.
What is a Fixed Annuity?
A fixed annuity is a contract issued by a life insurance company under which you give the insurance company a sum of money and the insurance company guarantees to pay you periodic fixed amounts over time. The earnings within the annuity accumulate on a tax-deferred basis until you begin to receive withdrawals. With a fixed annuity, the insurance company usually guarantees a rate of return for some period with the rate being adjusted after an initial period.
Most people use fixed annuities to accumulate funds on a tax-deferred basis as part of their retirement planning strategy. Depending on the policy, withdrawals of interest, or in some cases up to 15% of the principal can be made without penalty. Withdrawals are subject to regular income tax and the IRS imposes a 10% penalty tax if funds are withdrawn before age 59 ½.
There are also annuities that offer payouts beginning immediately. Variable annuities are somewhat similar but offer no return guarantees.
Review the Details
- Initial rate guarantee. Compare the initial rate guarantee to other investment options such as government bonds and tax-exempt bonds. Be sure to understand how long the initial rate will last. Some policies offer very attractive rates that only last for a short time.
- Subsequent rate re-setting. After the initial rate period, the insurance company will reset the rate. Check to determine what their prior rate setting policy has been. Usually, they adjust the rate based on interest rates at that time.
- Fees or commissions. Most fixed annuities are sold without a commission charged to the buyer. The insurance company pays the salesperson and recoups that cost out of their earnings on managing your funds. Do not be afraid to ask the salesperson what he or she will receive. In most cases, it should be less than 5%. Remember, the commission the salesperson received will ultimately reduce the return on your annuity.
- Surrender charges. Fixed annuities should be thought of as long-term commitments. Even though in most cases the insurance company is paying interest on your whole investment, there are costs associated with the contract that they plan to recover over time. The contract should spell out how long any surrender charge will last for early withdrawals.
- Insurance company. Be sure the insurance company is financially sound and that they have a good customer service history. You want to make sure they will be able to fulfill their guarantees. You should be able to get a ratings report from the salesperson or at the public library.
Fixed annuities can be a valuable part of your total financial strategy, but they are not for everyone. They offer the benefit of tax deferral and come with the guarantee of the insurance company. Be sure to investigate all of the details before signing up. Compare the rates, understand all the charges and make sure the insurance company is financially sound. | <urn:uuid:c6ea4874-93bd-4d99-97d3-7790c506275c> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.empirebank.com/pfc/SBR_template.cfm?DocNumber=PL45_0522.htm | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368700958435/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516104238-00007-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.961219 | 644 | 1.804688 | 2 |
You are currently browsing the tag archive for the ‘unipotent flows’ tag.
In his final lecture, Prof. Margulis talked about some of the ideas around the theory of unipotent flows on homogeneous spaces, culminating in the orbit closure, equidsitribution, and measure classification theorems of Ratner in the subject. Margulis also discussed the application to metric theory of Diophantine approximation which was not covered in the preceding lecture.
While working on my recent paper with Ben Green, I was introduced to the beautiful theorems of Marina Ratner on unipotent flows on homogeneous spaces, and their application to questions in number theory, such as the Oppenheim conjecture (first solved by Margulis, by establishing what can retrospectively be viewed as a special case of Ratner’s theorems). This is a subject that I am still only just beginning to learn, but hope to understand better in the future, especially given that quantitative analogues of Ratner’s theorems should exist, and should have even more applications to number theory (see for instance this recent paper of Einsiedler, Margulis, and Venkatesh). In this post, I will try to describe some of the background for this theorem and its connection with the Oppenheim conjecture; I will not discuss the proof at all, largely because I have not fully understood it myself yet. For a nice introduction to these issues, I recommend Dave Morris’ recent book on the subject (and this post here is drawn in large part from that book).
Ratner’s theorem takes place on a homogeneous space. Informally, a homogeneous space is a space X which looks “the same” when viewed from any point on that space. For instance, a sphere is a homogeneous space, but the surface of a cube is not (the cube looks different when viewed from a corner than from a point on an edge or on a face). More formally, a homogeneous space is a space X equipped with an action of a group G of symmetries which is transitive: given any two points x, y on the space, there is at least one symmetry g that moves x to y, thus y=gx. (For instance the cube has several symmetries, but not enough to be transitive; in contrast, the sphere has the transitive action of the special orthogonal group SO(3) as its symmetry group.) It is not hard to see that a homogeneous space X can always be identified (as a set with an action of G) with a quotient , where is a subgroup of G; indeed, one can take to be the stabiliser of an arbitrarily chosen point x in X, and then identify with . For instance, the sphere has an obvious action of the special orthogonal group SO(3), and the stabiliser of (say) the north pole can be identified with SO(2), so that the sphere can be identified with SO(3)/SO(2). More generally, any Riemannian manifold of constant curvature is a homogeneous space; for instance, an m-dimensional torus can be identified with , while a surface X of constant negative curvature can be identified with for some subgroup of (e.g. the hyperbolic plane is isomorphic to ). Furthermore, the cosphere bundle of X – the space of unit (co)tangent vectors on X – is also a homogeneous space with structure group . (For instance, the cosphere bundle of the hyperbolic plane is isomorphic to .)
For the purposes of Ratner’s theorem, we only consider homogeneous spaces X in which the symmetry group G is a connected finite-dimensional Lie group, and X is finite volume (or more precisely, it has a finite non-trivial G-invariant measure). Every compact homogeneous space is finite volume, but not conversely; for instance the modular curve is finite volume but not compact (it has a cusp). (The modular curve has two real dimensions, but just one complex dimension, hence the term “curve”; rather confusingly, it is also referred to as the “modular surface”. As for the term “modular”, observe that the moduli space of unimodular lattices in has an obvious action of , with the stabiliser of being , and so this moduli space can be identified with the modular curve.) | <urn:uuid:502466ef-36e5-46c0-a93c-48a53d4c04ac> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://terrytao.wordpress.com/tag/unipotent-flows/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368703682988/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516112802-00020-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.94267 | 939 | 1.648438 | 2 |
SA, China strengthen cultural ties
4 August 2011
China plans to set up a cultural centre in South Africa to promote artistic and cultural exchanges between the two countries, visiting Chinese Vice Minister of Culture Zhao Shaohua said this week.
Shaohua made the announcement shortly before signing a programme of cooperation with acting Arts and Culture Minister Tokyo Sexwale in Pretoria on Tuesday.
"The cultural relations between South Africa and China are flourishing," Shaohua said. "Culture knows no boundaries, and I was impressed by the dance of South African cultural groups during our Shanghai World Expo last year.
"To further cement our cultural relations, we will be establishing the Chinese Cultural Centre in South Africa very soon make the public aware of Chinese culture, as well as making greater contributions to China-South Africa cultural relations.
"We both have a very long history and we believe that through this Cultural Centre, we exchange our cultural diversity."
Shaohua, who was speaking via a translator, also pledged 300 000 Chinese Yuan to develop cultural activities in South Africa.
Artistic, cultural exchanges
Sexwale said the agreement also looked at the possibilities of translation of Chinese books into South African languages and South African works into Chinese.
"This agreement will go a long way in extended our cultural relations in arts, film, books, language and culture as well as exhibition of our cultural dancers together," Sexwale said.
"Through my observation, I've learnt that most foreign countries, including Germany and France, have language institutes in South Africa, so I want to propose that you set up your Chinese language institute as well."
The Human Settlements Minister, noting that China was the second-biggest economic powerhouse in the world, said that through the agreement, the two countries would encourage their artists to visit each other.
Trade reaches new highs
Bilateral relations between South Africa and the People's Republic of China reached a new high point in 2009/10.
By the end of 2009, the Department of Trade and Industry announced that China had become South Africa's largest trading partner, with total trade amounting to approximately R120-billion.
During the state visit by President Jacob Zuma to China last year, companies and organisations from China and South Africa signed over a dozen cooperative documents at a business forum, involving projects in areas such as solar power, mining, telecommunications, insurance and finance.
A €240-million (about US$300-million) loan agreement between South African mobile phone operator Cell C and China Development Bank was included in the deals.
The announcements also included the acquisition by South Africa's Discovery Health of a stake in Ping An Health Insurance, a subsidiary of China's second-largest Insurer, the Ping An Insurance Group.
December 2007 marked 10 years since the official establishment of diplomatic relations between South Africa and China. | <urn:uuid:f9faca62-b23f-42b2-9f33-f1671eacac90> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.southafrica.info/news/international/china-040811.htm | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368698924319/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516100844-00004-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.967812 | 583 | 1.5 | 2 |
Formula 1 car technology has come a long way since it first hit the asphalt banks 62 years ago. It's been hard to convey the sheer amount of change in a succinct way, but Rufus Blacklock may have nailed it in exactly one minute. Abstract versions of the cars show us the progression from the bullet-shaped cars of the 1950's through to the low-slung, wing-laden beasts we know today. If the clip is a little too F1-fast, there's also an infographic that details exactly when certain technology changes came into play, starting with the first wings in 1968 through to modern (and at times controversial) introductions like KERS in 2009. Click past the break for the video, and check out the relevant source link for a quite literal big picture. | <urn:uuid:ccea9ede-19da-4a21-94b1-d4eaa9aa3879> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.engadget.com/2012/07/03/visualized-the-history-of-the-formula-1-car/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368708766848/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516125246-00011-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.93345 | 161 | 1.835938 | 2 |
His story of how Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi called the Planning Commission a 'bunch of jokers', following which the then Deputy Chairman of the Commission, Manmohan Singh, almost put in his papers, was widely reported in the media. Here are a few other anecdotes which Somiah narrates with the gift of a raconteur in his engrossing book:
Thinking out of the box
When I was Joint Secretary, Police, there occurred an unusual incident of law and order on the lawns adjoining Rajpath near India Gate.
A prominent leader of Uttar Pradesh, Mahendra Singh Tikait, had made known his intention to march to Delhi when the Parliament was in session to protest against low farm prices. He took the Delhi Police by surprise when one night about four hundred bullock carts loaded with about two thousand farmers entered Delhi unnoticed and parked themselves on either side of Rajpath with the intention of marching towards Parliament to press their demands.
On the fifth night the Police thought of a unique plan to make the farmers retreat without using force. They set up a dozen loudspeakers and played very loud hard rock music.
The farmers were taken by surprise but they stood their ground. Near midnight, the cows and bullocks showed signs of unrest and began breaking their tethers to run away from the music. It was then that the farmers decided to retreat and by dawn they had disappeared from India Gate, heading back home.
It was the most unique method of crowd control practised by the Police; this could have happened only in incredible India!
Excerpted from The Honest Always Stand Alone by CG Somiah with permission from Niyogi Books | <urn:uuid:e8de88af-cfff-4534-9e5a-3375c766f00d> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.sify.com/news/Bureaucrats-have-long-memories-imagegallery-national-kk3mF5hjhai.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368700264179/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516103104-00004-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.982095 | 337 | 1.789063 | 2 |
Mission Concluding Statements
Hungary and the IMF
Free Email Notification
INTERNATIONAL MONETARY FUND
Hungary—2004 Article IV Consultation
1. On the eve of EU accession, Hungary's impressive accomplishments need to be recognized. Its successes were based on the long-lasting effects of significant structural reforms and privatization, which also facilitated Hungary's outward orientation, FDI inflows, strong export performance, and sound banking system. Periods of particular success were rooted in the willingness and ability to institute macroeconomic adjustment measures when needed, and in maintaining an adequate level of international competitiveness. Privatization is in its final stage, and structural reforms continue with the liberalization of the energy sector and adjustment of electricity and natural gas prices to cost recovery levels.
2. However, economic developments and policies in recent years have disappointed in a number of respects. Huge wage increases in the public sector spilled into the private sector and, combined with the forint's appreciation, worsened external competitiveness. While GDP growth stayed positive in 2003 despite the global slowdown, it was largely led by consumption, fueled by fiscal expansion and associated excessive wage increases. The external current account deficit widened significantly, reflecting surging imports, the lagged effects of the decline in competitiveness, and a sharp drop in household saving stemming partly from the unsustainable housing subsidy scheme. The downward trend in inflation was reversed. And, the past jump in wages also made it all the more difficult to contain the deficit of the general government which, according to the preliminary data, was a bit under 6 percent of GDP in 2003 (ESA-95 basis), compared with an original target of 4½ percent.
3. Looking ahead, there is reason for optimism concerning economic growth. Competitiveness has improved and signs of a turnaround are evident in recent data on industrial production, exports, and domestic investment. As a result, the composition of growth can be expected to become more balanced, with export and investment growth taking the lead. With the right policies and a favorable external environment, Hungary is poised for a period of strong economic growth.
4. However, unsustainably large fiscal and current account deficits impair economic prospects—and the concerns they raise are only exacerbated by the loss of policy credibility. The large current account deficit is being financed by debt-creating inflows that can be especially volatile in the face of the loss of confidence in the authorities' willingness to deal with macroeconomic imbalances. Thus, if the twin deficits are not reined in, not only will debt levels rise imprudently, but Hungary will continue to be vulnerable to heavy exchange rate and interest rate risks. The loss of policy credibility makes the financing of these deficits all the more precarious, because markets have become less inclined to give Hungary the benefit of the doubt, and because of the greater risk, in these circumstances, of contagion from an unexpected shock outside of Hungary. This credibility loss reflects several factors: the pursuit of exchange rate targets in the face of inconsistent policies; conflicting statements by policymakers; and the announcement of targets and estimates that went unfulfilled. With household saving expected, at best, to increase only moderately, and the movement in overall private saving expected to be insufficient to finance the rise in private investment, lower fiscal deficits are the only way to ensure that the excessive current account deficit is reduced. Lower fiscal deficits would also support disinflation and competitiveness, particularly when backed by firm wage restraint.
5. Re-establishing policy credibility, and putting in place policies that provide greater assurances that the necessary fiscal adjustment and disinflation will materialize, are essential for establishing a time frame for euro adoption. Shifts in market expectations about progress with nominal convergence will be an ever-present potential source of pressure on exchange and interest rates. At the same time, the advantages of euro adoption are clear, and a credible target date would surely help to anchor expectations and minimize the output costs of bringing about the necessary disinflation. With the heavily polarized political climate constraining economic policy making, the importance of achieving greater national consensus for the policies required for euro adoption is clear.
6. At this fragile juncture, taking decisive and concrete actions in support of fiscal adjustment is the only way to restore policy credibility and improve the monetary-fiscal policy mix. Such actions would allow risk premia and therefore interest rates to come down and limit vulnerability to shifts in market sentiment—all of which would strengthen prospects for sustainable economic growth. But until confidence is re-established, it would be counterproductive to lower policy interest rates. Indeed, doing so prematurely could well lead to higher interest rates at longer maturities by raising inflation expectation. The recent practice of allowing greater exchange rate flexibility makes good sense, not least because it provides a degree of "insurance"—albeit probably at some cost to inflation—against fiscal slippages.
7. Fiscal policy has embarked on an appropriately ambitious course. The revised deficit target for the general government in 2004 is in line with macroeconomic objectives. Moreover, although the deficit target has been raised to 4.6 percent of GDP, the mission agrees, taking into account the slippages in 2003, that the original target became increasingly unrealistic.
8. While achieving a deficit of 4.6 percent still poses serious challenges, important measures have been announced in general terms and specifics are under preparation. These specifics will need to be made public in a timely manner, with a view to enhancing the credibility of, and market response to, the fiscal effort.
• Measures worth HUF 80 billion—equivalent to 0.4 percent of GDP—have been in the public domain. The mission understands that HUF 55 billion in expenditures of ministries and other budgetary institutions have been suspended (including HUF 20 billion at the Ministry of Defense), and another HUF 25 billion will come from reductions in transfers to agencies with unspent appropriations. Also important were changes to the housing subsidy scheme. While the immediate budgetary saving is relatively small, these changes will contribute to substantial fiscal savings in the coming years and slow the growth in household consumption. A further scaling back, if not elimination, of housing subsidies is warranted.
• Further saving of HUF 120 billion (0.6 percent of GDP) has also been announced. This saving is slated, in general terms, to come from reducing ministries' operational spending, from restraining transfers from the ministries to various other institutions, and from a scaling back of some project and investment spending (excluding highways and EU-related spending).
• Assuming the HUF 120 billion in saving is achieved, the mission still sees the potential for falling short of the deficit target by as much as 0.7 percent of GDP, largely due to lower projected tax revenue. After the rapid increases in previous years, nominal wage restraint in the general government would be sensible: a wage freeze could deliver as much as 0.5 percent of GDP in saving.
• In view of the importance of re-establishing credibility, and taking into account the risks posed by the current account deficit and the election cycle, the mission fully supports the authorities' intention of making timely corrections should the fiscal deficit target be threatened (these corrections could also include measures in the areas mentioned below). The mission would urge the authorities to quickly identify contingency spending measures, while also preparing early for permanent structural spending measures for medium-term adjustment.
9. Further fiscal consolidation, centered on expenditure restraint, is needed in the medium term. It would improve the saving-investment balance in the economy and safeguard public debt and external viability. Backed by wage moderation, it would also lessen the degree of monetary restraint needed to meet inflation targets and enhance external competitiveness. Given the high tax incidence, particularly on labor, adjustment should concentrate on the expenditure side. As evidenced by the experience in other countries, expenditure-based adjustment tends to be more durable, friendly to growth, and credible. At the same time, to leave room for spending pressures arising from public investment needs and EU accession, focusing on current expenditure will be key. In this connection, the mission sees scope for saving in the areas of government employment, pensions, social benefits, subsidies, education, and health care. Since substantial savings would materialize only over time, reforms should start quickly. In this regard, steps toward health care reform are encouraging. Increasing the labor force participation rate—including by leaving room for labor tax cuts (and phasing out the lump-sum health care contribution from employers as planned) and reducing disincentive to work stemming from the structure of benefits—would raise potential output and help mitigate pressures on the public finances over the medium term.
10. Policy credibility and performance would be enhanced by a well-defined fiscal strategy, spelled out in a clear statement of policy and backed by expenditure ceilings. The three-year rolling framework under consideration last year, which included a ceiling on overall expenditure and sub ceilings on key components, would be an important step in this direction. Such a framework would need to be submitted to parliament as part of the budgetary process. Moreover, in circumstances in which fiscal adjustment is crucial, assumptions should be realistic but conservative, with a view to erring on the side of fiscal over performance. On the revenue side, casting changes in the tax system within a coherent medium-term strategy would not only enhance the predictability and quality of fiscal policy, but also the business climate. The recent initiatives to increase transparency in the spending of public funds by strengthening interim audits, financial control and management, and information dissemination are encouraging. However, the 2002 amendment to the organic budget law, which allowed the government to undertake additional spending without supplementary appropriations and parliamentary approval, weakens fiscal discipline and the practice should be discontinued.
11. Monetary policy is severely constrained in the short run. While it would be counterproductive to lower policy interest rates until confidence is re-established, raising rates, to safeguard the inflation target, should be guided by the following considerations. First, the lagged effects from the sizable 600 basis point rate hikes since June are still in the pipeline and argue for a "wait-and-see" approach. Second, the current account deficit is a concern. Thus, raising interest rates could appreciate the forint and prevent a narrowing of the current account deficit. In the best of circumstances, a return of confidence backed by fiscal determination would allow interest rate cuts over time, consistent with disinflation, the return to a viable path for the current account as investment picks up, and nominal convergence in a broader sense.
12. Monetary policy, more generally, will need to deal with a number of issues.
• While one-off factors significantly raise the price level in 2004, the inflation target for 2005 seems within reach. Thus, the authorities are rightly focusing their public pronouncements on medium-term inflation objectives, and the supporting policies to achieve them. Moreover, they are communicating clearly that the impact of the one-off factors is not expected to be repeated.
• Disinflation, over the medium term, will increasingly need to take place in circumstances in which the exchange rate variability against the euro will be limited, consistent with the interpretation of the exchange rate stability criterion within ERM2. Thus, in effect, inflation targeting will need to be operated in a qualified way—putting increasing emphasis on exchange rate stability. Such stability has advantages in keeping tradable good inflation in line with inflation for the anchor currency, and can therefore be part of a reasonable disinflation strategy.
• However, the full use of policy tools will also be required, including incomes policy. To moderate wage growth, the public sector will have to take the lead by signaling the importance it attaches to this goal through its public sector wage policy. Drawing on the experience of current members of the euro area, closer cooperation between the social partners to achieve private sector wage agreement to help bring inflation down to the Maastricht criterion appears necessary.
The Financial Sector
13. Available indicators show that Hungary's financial sector is basically sound—but it is important to keep an eye on the vulnerabilities that have surfaced. Banks have remained adequately capitalized and liquid; profitability has been solid; and the quality of banks' loan portfolios has remained broadly stable, with the quality of corporate lending deteriorating only slightly in the wake of the slowdown in economic growth. However, as recognized by the authorities, potential vulnerabilities arise from rapidly growing consumer lending, and the increase in credit risk as a result of exchange rate volatility. Also of concern is the growing share of commercial property loans in overall corporate lending, its high concentration within a few banks, and, in less developed parts of the country, risks from less liquid collateral. These risks, while manageable now, warrant careful monitoring, with a view to taking timely corrective action if needed. Moreover, during the run-up to euro adoption and afterward, a credit boom may be expected due to the convergence of interest rates. This should be closely watched. In any event, there is no substitute for strong supervision of banks and a close monitoring of their internal risk management systems.
14. Important issues have arisen with respect to the Hungarian Financial Supervisory Authority (HFSA). In this context, it is important to maintain the independence of the supervisory authority, while ensuring its accountability. Outside recent legislative concerns, granting the supervisory authority the legal power to issue binding rules and regulations would move Hungary closer to international best practices. The mission also sees room for better cooperation between the HFSA and Finance Ministry in exchanging information.
* * * * * * * * * * *
The mission would like to thank the authorities for the time they made available during this very busy period, for the high quality of the discussions, the gracious hospitality extended to us, and the skillful handling of the administrative aspects of the mission.
IMF EXTERNAL RELATIONS DEPARTMENT | <urn:uuid:005823f7-ce34-46ec-be63-7b454085b9d0> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.imf.org/external/np/ms/2004/013004.htm | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368697380733/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516094300-00029-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.949265 | 2,796 | 1.617188 | 2 |
Originally Posted by Joebenz
There is something i always wanted to know about LOA.
The technique for using LOA is about pretending or convincing yourself that you already got what you want, right?
And when i see all these rappers on TV saying "I got all the money in the world, i got all the ladies in the world etc..." then they have HUGE million dollars mansions.
And when i saw an interview of Justin bieber on TV, the reporter asked "What would you do if you fail in your career?" and he immidietly replied "That won't happen". She then said "yes but what if?" and he said "no no that's not gonna happen". Like if doesn't even think one second about failure and now look where he is now...
But mostly my question is, does egocentrism can make law of attraction work?
It seems that the awnser is YES but what do you think about this?
Being assured is distinct from egocentricism. | <urn:uuid:d995ca2e-d274-4ef3-9542-2d2a84afd24c> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.stevepavlina.com/forums/998112-post52.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368704713110/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516114513-00024-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.969402 | 212 | 1.671875 | 2 |
- Ed Fella Donation
- The Brauer Museum of Art at Valparaiso University in Valparaiso, Indiana recently received, as a donation from the artist, a complete set of 117 flyers created by the legendary and influential graphic designer Edward Fella (b. 1938). Fella, a respected educator teaching at the California Institute for the Arts since 1987, is well known as an artist and designer whose creations comment on typographical traditions, graphic techniques, and the postmodern breakdown of communication while engaging viewers with their considerable whimsy and complexity of composition. Fella’s donation to the Brauer, a museum of American art and international religious art, is truly noteworthy since no other institution has received such a complete donation of the artist’s wonderfully inventive flyers.
Fella’s flyers in this recent gift date mostly from the 1980s and 1990s and were created to celebrate and announce lectures, exhibitions, holiday occasions, and in particular happenings at Detroit’s Focus Gallery. Each flyer is double sided, and each flyer challenges viewer expectations with a wealth of mark-making approaches and lettering styles. At the same time the flyers convey information, they also confound efforts to obtain the content easily and paradoxically become individual works of graphic art, the content of which is greater in concept than the specific information contained therein.
Calarts graduate, former student of Fella’s, and Associate Professor of Art/Art Department Chair at Valparaiso University Robert Sirko corresponded with Fella to arrange the donation of the set of flyers. Sirko is a member of the Brauer Museum’s Collection Committee and a long time supporter of the museum. Sirko has plans to use the flyers to educate students on innovative and historically important developments in graphic design, and he is working with Brauer Museum Director/Curator Gregg Hertzlieb on a future exhibition and accompanying publication for the Fella flyer set. Specific plans for this project are still to be determined.
Hertzlieb wishes to spread news and awareness of this major donation so that scholars know of the presence of these flyers in a museum collection for future study and appreciation. For more information on the collection of Fella flyers at the Brauer Museum of Art or on the museum in general, please contact Gregg Hertzlieb at (219) 464-5761, at [email protected], or through the museum’s website at www.valpo.edu/artmuseum. | <urn:uuid:814ad71e-8f1a-4a48-ab6b-911ace550c5b> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.valpo.edu/artmuseum/news/edfelladonation.php | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368706153698/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516120913-00024-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.932603 | 519 | 1.554688 | 2 |
Continental Flight 1713 Crash Location39.774444 -104.895833
BOISE -- Thursday marks the 25th anniversary of the deadly Continental Flight 1713 crash. The flight was bound from Denver's Stapleton International Airport to Boise.
When the flight crashed on November 15th 1987, it killed 28 of the 82 people on board, including the pilot and co-pilot.
The McDonnell-Douglas DC-9 sat in a snowstorm on the runway at Stapleton for 27 minutes before taking off. In that time, the wings of the plane accumulated ice. National Transportation Safety Board Investigators later concluded that caused the wings to fail as the plane attempted to take off.
The plane skidded out of control for about a quarter of a mile before sliding off the runway, flipping on its back, and breaking into three pieces. The crash left a large crater just off the runway at Stapleton.
'It's a miracle anyone walked away from that plane,'' Salvation Army Major George Church told the AP in 1987. ''And it's a miracle that it didn't catch on fire.''
Rescue crews pumped heat into the plane's fuselage and ran IV lines to survivors still inside the wreckage while they worked to pull them from the plane.
"I remember thinking, 'I'm about to die! This is it!' And then I wondered what's it going to feel like," Dr. Fred Helpenstell of Nampa told the Associated Press.
Helpenstell says he blacked out for a period of time. When he came to he was trapped inside the plane. "I became aware that we made it all right and I had all my arms and legs working, and no back or neck pain," said Helpenstell. "But then it dawned on me, I made it this far but now I am going to burn to death and that was very unappealing."
Helpenstell was eventually pulled from the plane by two firefighters.
A National Transportation Safety Board investigation found that the pilot neglected to de-ice the wings for a second time. The pilot was not authorized to land that type of aircraft in that type of condition. The co-pilot on the flight had never flown that aircraft type in snow, and had less than 26 hours of total experience with a DC-9.
After the crash, Continental Airlines instituted changes in procedure to boost experience levels of pilots.
Many of those killed on the flight were from the greater Boise area, including 35-year-old Nick Ysursa. The football field at Bishop Kelly High School was named in Ysursa's honor after the crash. An infant was also among those killed.
A Melba High School FFA group was also on board. The AP reports FFA member Janine Legerwood, 17, died in the crash along with the wife of the Melba FFA chapter adviser Tami Daniel.
"I just thank God for everything," said Patrick Lovelady who was one of the FFA members on the plane who survived.
Lovelady told reporters after the crash that he and his friends had been joking about the plane crashing before takeoff. "Jeff said well I hope we don't because no one ever lives through those things. But there was some of us that did, luckily I was one of them."
Among the 54 survivors on board, many suffered injuries. Twenty-five passengers had minor injuries, and another 28 suffered major injuries - including paralysis. | <urn:uuid:7b0221a3-e48c-4109-977f-61c32f2a3f82> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.ktvb.com/news/25th-anniversary-crash-of-Boise--179463831.html?ref=next | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368700264179/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516103104-00031-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.981139 | 720 | 1.835938 | 2 |
Unsigned copies also available on Amazon.com and in bookstores.
In this exciting new series of children's books, Suzi Eszterhas follows the lives of baby animals from birth to adulthood as they grow up in the wild.
These beautifully photographed books for young children (ages 4-7) show all aspects of the animal's life in the wild, with close-up pictures of the family group in its natural habitat.
The books also include conservation information and useful websites.
Each book is hardcover, 32 pages, and measures 10 ¼ inches by 9 ¾ inches (260mm by 240mm).
Eye on the Wild is published by Frances Lincoln Publishers. | <urn:uuid:899719e3-5fbc-4ca8-9114-8209c20c9441> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.suzieszterhas.com/shop/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368703682988/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516112802-00025-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.938249 | 140 | 1.796875 | 2 |
Parking Enforcement and Penalties General Information
Parking permit and contract/hourly sales revenue is used to pay for the cost of parking at UST, including lot maintenance, repair, snow removal, construction and administration. Enforcement of parking rules and regulations is done to provide fair and equal parking for those who have purchased a parking permit. The fact that a person parks in violation of any law, policy or regulation and does not receive a citation does not mean that the law, policy, or regulations is no longer in effect. Using emergency flashers does not allow drivers to illegally park their vehicles, particularly in handicapped spaces, fire lanes, at yellow curbs, etc. | <urn:uuid:02d72074-7773-4465-b5d3-a1cffca5ba76> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.stthomas.edu/parking/violations/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368703682988/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516112802-00016-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.957793 | 137 | 1.53125 | 2 |
Get flash to fully experience Pearltrees
Kenneth Earl "Ken" Wilber II (born January 31, 1949, in Oklahoma City , Oklahoma ) is an American writer and public speaker. He has written and lectured about mysticism , philosophy , ecology , and developmental psychology . His work formulates what he calls Integral Theory . [ 1 ] In 1998 he founded the Integral Institute . [ 2 ] [ edit ] Biography Wilber was born in 1949 in Oklahoma City.
Raymond "Ray" Kurzweil ( / ˈ k ɜr z w aɪ l / KURZ -wyl ; born February 12, 1948) is an American author, inventor, futurist , and director of engineering at Google . Aside from futurology, he is involved in fields such as optical character recognition (OCR), text-to-speech synthesis , speech recognition technology, and electronic keyboard instruments. He is the author of several books on health, artificial intelligence (AI), transhumanism , the technological singularity , and futurism . Kurzweil is generally recognized as a public advocate for the futurist and transhumanist movements, due to his stances on life extension technologies, his efforts to forecast future advances in technology, and his interest in the concept of the technological singularity .
Alvin Toffler (born October 4, 1928) is an American writer and futurist , known for his works discussing the digital revolution , communication revolution , corporate revolution and technological singularity . A former associate editor of Fortune magazine, his early work focused on technology and its impact (through effects like information overload ). Then he moved to examining the reaction of and changes in society . His later focus has been on the increasing power of 21st century military hardware, weapons and technology proliferation, and capitalism . | <urn:uuid:b5f2ec8c-57bd-43a4-86ea-8d113fd3ed32> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.pearltrees.com/pythos/big-thinkers/id400978 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368705559639/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516115919-00030-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.964244 | 375 | 1.695313 | 2 |
Sixth-grader Bailly O’Neil, an honors student, of Darby Township, Pa., lies in a hospital bed in a medically induced coma in order to stabilize the damage done after a bullying attack almost 4 weeks ago.
Southeast Delco School District Superintendent Stephen Butz told ABCNews.com the school has turned the investigation over to local police and is cooperating fully with their efforts.
“We take bullying seriously,” he said. ”We are very concerned about the medical condition of the student and our thoughts and prayers are with the family and students.”
The school had surveillance video showing Bailly during lunch recess three or four weeks ago, as schoolmates gathered around them in a circle and watched two bullies beat him, kick him and strike him in the head. It was this blunt force to the head that would cause symptoms over the next few weeks that alarmed parents and doctors.
Family members of 11-year-old Bailey O’Neill blame “two bullies” for his injuries, which grandmother Joy Fecanin said include a broken nose, a concussion and ultimately, uncontrollable seizures, said in an interview with The Daily Times.
The video shows school security running outside to break up the commotion. Afterward, Fecanin said her grandson returned to class and “sat there for the rest of the day with a broken nose. They never even called his mother,” she said.
According to Bailey’s father in an ABC Interview, one of the bullies who struck his son was suspended for two days following the incident, but police have not filed any criminal charges in the case. Darby Township Deputy Police Chief Brian Patterson said their investigation began Jan. 10, the same day as the incident.
Bailly's was moved to another location and his condition and location at this point are being kept private as the family is protecting his privacy.
Credits: ABC News, Rose Quinn at Delco Times, | <urn:uuid:a407ec1f-539d-45b1-a46a-5e79d727c40e> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.examiner.com/article/bullied-victim-now-coma?cid=rss | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368703682988/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516112802-00008-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.981948 | 408 | 1.554688 | 2 |
Just hours after taking office, the new House of Representatives reinstated a team of ethics investigators that had faced what seemed like a certain death due to lawmakers' inaction.
Overshadowed by the recent fiscal cliff hubbub, lawmakers from the last session had neglected to decide whether or not to renew the Office of Congressional Ethics. Last week, CNN reported on the concerns among public interests groups that lawmakers were purposely trying to kill the OCE through their inaction to avoid future ethics investigations.
The House on Thursday night voted in new rules to reauthorize the OCE, and also added language that would allow members -- whose terms were set to expire -- to continue on the board.
The OCE is considered to be one of the most important watchdogs in Washington. It's the only quasi-independent government body that's sole mandate is to formally investigate members of Congress.
It was formed just four years ago when then-Speaker Nancy Pelosi and others declared they wanted to "drain the swamp" of scandals and corruption in Washington. Among the biggest scandals that prompted action was that of Jack Abramoff, a former lobbyist, who admitted in 2006 to illegally showering gifts on officials in exchange for favors.
The probe into those allegations led to convictions or guilty pleas for 20 lobbyists and public officials -- including a member of the House and several aides to congressmen.
Other scandals included those tied to former Reps. Tom DeLay, Mark Foley, William Jefferson and Duke Cunningham.
Since its creation in 2008, the OCE has launched more than 100 investigations of lawmakers, raising serious questions about possible congressional misdeeds.
In about one third of its investigations, the OCE found that House ethics, and sometimes federal laws, were likely violated. Those 37 cases were referred to the House Ethics Committee for further review.
House Speaker John Boehner and House Democratic leader Pelosi had previously said they would reauthorize the OCE and appoint new members. But the issue was recently overshadowed by the down-to-the-wire fiscal cliff negotiations. | <urn:uuid:e469e582-a137-41bb-be25-c78b757b41c0> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.koco.com/news/politics/Congress-OKs-ethics-investigators/-/9843896/18019798/-/item/0/-/txoqa3/-/index.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368706153698/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516120913-00020-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.979961 | 413 | 1.679688 | 2 |
The making of App Space:
- The idea <-you are here
- The prototype
- The Default Space[coming soon]
- The Visual Style [coming soon]
- The Gallery [coming soon]
- Conclusion [coming soon]
So proud to share with you the process of making my first Android app, App Space! A lot of people are developing mobile apps these days, or have plans to; if you’re one of them, I hope this will help you with the process of the making your own app.
First, here’s what you need to know about App Space:
If you have an android phone, go ahead and try App Space now. It’s free!
I did this drawing a few weeks ago, just to express how much fun I was having using my new tablet. Even as I was drawing it, I was already thinking to myself: wouldn’t that make a great app launcher?
I got really excited about the idea, and as soon as I was done with the drawing I contacted an Android programmer I was once introduced to (he wishes to remain behind the scenes, BTW). I showed him the original picture, and the quickly Photoshoped visual concept you see below. He liked the idea, and we agreed to start working on it immediately.
In the next post, I’ll share the next stage of the process: converting the raw idea into an exciting, detailed vision! Stay tuned…
A few notes you might want to keep in mind about the process of making an app (or any personal creative project, for that matter):
- Spend time with stuff that excites you. Don’t neglect doing some free, purposeless creative work. This is key! I know you’re busy, but when something turns you on, make sure you create the time to play with it, explore it, and see where it leads you.
- Act FAST. As soon as I knew for sure that I wanted to go for it, I immediately contacted the programmer. When I say immediately I mean right on the spot! I didn’t even wait till I get to a computer: I texted him on my way to work. Looking back on it, it seems to me that taking this prompt and decisive action was important. It gave the project a sense of practical determination that made the whole thing happen for real.
- Don’t work alone. If you’re anything like me, you crave full control. You want to do everything by yourself. I regret to say that I’ve lost many great ideas to this fallacy. If App Space taught me anything, it’s that working with a partner means more commitment for deadlines, better ideas, more focus, and a lot of extra creative energy.
- Try partnering with a [recommended] stranger. I’ve started several projects with old-time friends over the years, but none of them ever got finished. I think working with someone who wasn’t a friend gave App Space an air of professionalism that made me takes it more seriously. It also allowed me more choice in picking the best partner for the job.
Ready to subscribe?
Don’t miss out on great creativity methods. Subscribe now!
It’s the beginning of a new friendship… | <urn:uuid:d43a9154-ea30-4a19-908c-4b27072b930f> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.mechanics-of-inspiration.com/app-space-idea/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368706153698/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516120913-00015-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.965435 | 691 | 1.804688 | 2 |
You are here: FatWallet Blog > View Blog Entry
I posted on Facebook last week a question, asking our FatWallet friends if they shop organic and why or why not. What I learned is that many of you would shop organic more if it weren't for the cost.
I used to feel the same way, until my mother-in-law and sister-in-law both got cancer and looked into nutrition as part of their treatments. It was quite an education for all of us. We watched movies like Food Matters and read books like Crazy Sexy Diet, plus countless articles in magazines and online.
While I'm sure there are many sides to this story, I learned that eating healthy doesn't look anything like I thought it did. Five fruits and vegetables a day weren't going to cut it!
Most of our food is genetically modified. Animals are injected with growth hormones and antibiotics. Produce is grown in mineral deprived soil and contaminated with pesticides and chemicals to yield bionic food that bugs won't eat. It's shipped for miles as the nutrition decreases and by the time it gets to our stores, our kitchens and eventually cooked and on our plates it barely resembles the "real food" our grandparents ate.
On top of that, so many of products we use each day and the things we come in contact with in our environment affect the endocrine system. What this means is that our hormones are out of whack so our son's have lower sperm counts, and our daughters are entering puberty at a much earlier age. And in general as a society we're plagued with headaches, we're tired, and bloated after meals. We have skin problems, junk food cravings, mood swings, and can't sleep.
So while we can't control many (I should say most) of the toxic we come in contact with, as a family we made the decision to eat organic as much as possible, especially for the kids.
I went on a mission to replace the unhealthy foods in our home with organic. I had so much fun, trying new foods and shopping at new stores. Yes it was more expensive, but I kept telling myself, it was worth it if we were healthier. That we would end up paying a whole lot more if we got sick.
I kept that attitude for a month, until I went to balance the check book and tallied up that we'd spent $1700 on groceries. If we had kept up shopping organic at that rate we would have ended up homeless. So my husband and I started to get creative.
The three big things we did to get control of our organic grocery bill:
The Grand Total of Eating Organic for Our Family:
We are still spending more on our groceries than we used to, but we've compensated for that in the budget by not eating out as much. As a family of 5 with three kids ranging from teenager to toddler our grocery budget is around $850 a month (including all of our household supplies like toilet paper, diapers, and laundry soap.) I'm sure there is room for improvement, but I'm not a big coupon user yet... (I'm sure FatWallet will change me there!)
Eating at home hasn't felt like the sacrifice I thought it would because we've had so many fun family conversations around the kitchen table which has brought us closer as a family and the kids are more open to trying new things.
The challenges for us come into play when we're eating out or on vacation, and we end up relaxing our expectations even more at those times. Not because it's impossible to eat organic, but sometimes it's just not practical. We figure that every meal we eat organic is one less meal with toxins and junk that we're eating.
My advice if you're wanting to switch to organic:
I'm sure some of you with more experience will have value to add! Please share your tips on ways you've been able to save money shopping organic in the comments below and don't forget to like the post and share it in social media! :)
About Us | Blog | Site Map | Mobile Forums | Contact Us | Partnership | Careers | Privacy | User Agreement | D.M.C.A. Notice | Civil Process Policy | <urn:uuid:9e00d174-ced2-4be0-8da4-4332d46c29e6> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.fatwallet.com/blog/cost-conscious-consumers-guide-to-shopping-organic/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368705195219/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516115315-00036-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.980101 | 860 | 1.585938 | 2 |
“Well crap, time to call the plumber” would have been the reaction of the past generation to a clogged toilet. But not for ours.
I was fortunate enough in my youth to have encountered many a toilets to have learned not only to plunge a toilet, but snake one as well. I was with the silent masses who cried against the government regulation to reduce the volume of water per flush in toilets. I had seen my share of rank and foul porcelain fixtures. But not many of my generation has shared my fortune.
Sometime during the cold months of New York when Darkness had majority vote over Light, a friend visited me. During the visit, my guest’s bowel movements had the unfortunate effect of ceasing the water flow in my humble latrine. This being rather soon after I moved into a new apartment, I hadn’t had the chance to procure the essential tools to rectify the situation. Thinking nothing of it, I left for work. As we met later in the day, my friend glowed with pride over having purchased a plunger for me and unclogged the toilet without my aid. I thought the pride was mayhaps exaggerated, but asked nonetheless how the task was accomplished.
“I looked it up on wikiHow first.”
Lo, the story of our generation.
Postscript – After the visit, I had recounted the story to another cohort of mine, however the conversation soon devolved into a comparison of how snaking a toilet might be similar in method to performing an abortion. Verily, the story of our generation. | <urn:uuid:26842cff-1c2c-4a97-b413-f8789648cee9> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.aintaer.com/Musings/?tag=star-trek | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368699273641/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516101433-00008-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.974718 | 328 | 1.742188 | 2 |
Monday, September 17, 2012
A citizen's group will watch out for voter fraud at San Diego polling places this November. Whether the group is good influence or not depends on who you ask.
SAN DIEGO Between now and October 6th the Election Integrity Project has scheduled at least nine training seminars in San Diego County. The national organization is known for examining voter rolls, and they were present at many polling places in San Diego during the June primary.
They say they're watching out for voter fraud. But critics say they're trying to intimidate voters.
Linda Paine, president of the group in California, said poll watchers in California found many polls where things went fine.
"On the other hand," she said, "we saw what appeared to be policies and procedures in existence that opened the door to the potential of voter fraud."
Paine said their group is non-partisan, and it does nothing to interfere with voting. But the group has many connections to the Tea Party. And critics say their tactics border on voter intimidation.
Kathay Feng is executive director of California Common Cause. She said Election Integrity Project volunteers call poll workers on small technicalities, and they do things to make voters uncomfortable.
"Talking very loudly about voter I.D. and voter fraud," she said, "and creating a bit of a hostile environment."
Discouraging inexperienced voters can help conservative causes. California does not require a voter I.D.
The San Diego County's assistant registrar of voters, Michael Vu, said some poll workers did complain in June of aggressive action by the Election Integrity Project. But no voters complained of being intimidated. | <urn:uuid:a3bd29d0-3874-468a-a187-c445966d2988> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.kpbs.org/news/2012/sep/17/does-election-integrity-project-protect-or-intimid/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368701852492/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516105732-00020-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.967327 | 339 | 1.8125 | 2 |
DENVER - The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) announced today that the federal agency, three individual plaintiffs, and Englewood auto dealer Lithia Centennial Chrysler Plymouth Jeep, Inc. have resolved a lawsuit for nearly half a million dollars alleging that the car dealership terminated three African-American salespersons due to their race.
In its complaint in U.S. District Court for the District of Colorado (Case # 01-D-01119 PAC), the EEOC asserted that on January 15, 1999, Martin Luther King Jr.'s birthday, Centennial's General Manager, Michael Janicelli directed manager Thomas Heasty to fire all the black salesmen, using crude racial epithets. On that same day, Heasty fired all three of the African-American salesmen employed at the time.
Such conduct violates Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, as amended, which prohibits employment discrimination based on race, color, religion, sex (including sexual harassment or pregnancy) or national origin and protects employees who complain about such offenses from retaliation. The EEOC filed suit after exhausting its conciliation efforts to reach a voluntary pre-litigation settlement. At the time of these events, the dealership was part of the Moreland Automotive Group and was in the process of being acquired by Lithia.
The dealership has agreed to pay $450,000 in damages to the three terminated employees. The private attorney for the three employees, Charlotte Sweeney of the law firm of LaFond & Sweeney, PC, indicates that the settlement will be split equally among the three. In addition to the monetary settlement, Lithia has agreed to continue providing training to its Colorado managers to ensure compliance with federal laws prohibiting workplace discrimination. Doug Moreland, the previous owner of the dealership which is now Lithia Centennial Chrysler, has also agreed that dealerships in which he has a controlling interest will be under continued monitoring by the EEOC, and that managers will be provided EEO training.
Joseph H. Mitchell, Regional Attorney for the EEOC's Denver District Office, which handled the litigation, said: "The EEOC is pleased with this settlement. In addition to providing the victims with substantial monetary relief, this agreement will make lasting changes at Lithia Centennial Chrysler through training by the employer and monitoring by the EEOC."
In addition to enforcing Title VII, the EEOC enforces the Age Discrimination in Employment Act of 1967, which protects workers age 40 and older from discrimination based on age; the Equal Pay Act of 1963, which prohibits gender-based wage discrimination; the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, which prohibits employment discrimination against people with disabilities in the federal sector; Title I of the Americans with Disabilities Act, which prohibits employment discrimination against people with disabilities in the private sector and state and local governments; and sections of the Civil Rights Act of 1991. Further information about the Commission is available on the agency's web site at www.eeoc.gov.
This page was last modified on October 10, 2002.
Return to Home Page | <urn:uuid:5485876e-8e7b-4569-9be0-4e0cb07e8bec> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://eeoc.gov/eeoc/newsroom/release/archive/10-9-02.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368709037764/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516125717-00018-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.955303 | 621 | 1.742188 | 2 |
CHICAGO, August 8, 2012- 2012 will go down in history as the Summer of Violence, especially in our large cities. The urban violence and recent mass murders in Colorado and Wisconsin have the gun control advocates generating headlines and fund raising missives. It is always about the money.
Anti-gun advocates are demanding responsible common sense gun control, whatever that is. Their real goal is the eventual banning of all firearms. Typical of their political ilk, they blame inanimate objects for violence instead of people.
Their logic is simple. Since society cannot control human nature, the few dangerous people running around, and just plain irresponsible people, inanimate objects that can possibly endanger and kill people should be banned. Everyone must be punished for the actions of a few and for the better good of all.
I am on fully and totally on board with this. The vast majority of the population must be protected from a few evil or irresponsible people. Here is a list of inanimate objects that should be banned for the common good, to save lives, and of course for the safety of the ubiquitous children:
Motor vehicles kill more people, especially children, every year than guns and wars. We should ban all motor vehicles since we cannot guarantee every driver will not kill someone, whether drunk or sober. People can walk or take buses. This will also have a positive effect on personal health and the environment.
Trains, public transportation and railroads, are used by many people to commit suicide. They throw themselves on the tracks in front of moving trains. All trains should be banned. If one person can be saved from suicide by banning all trains the effort will be well worth it. Planes, trucks, and buses can replace trains to transport people, goods, and raw materials.
Knives are used in many homicides, suicides, and crimes. People also suffer major self-inflicted injuries while handling knives. To protect the public and save lives all knives for personal use should be banned. Industries relying on knives should be forced to register each and every knife they purchase.
Drowning in residential swimming pools kills children every year. In order to protect “the children” no residential property should be allowed to have any sized pool, even wading pools. Banning all private swimming pools will save children’s lives.
Every year some poor dope smugglers suffer horrible deaths due to condoms. The smugglers cache drugs in condoms, swallow them, and transport them to dealers. Stomach acid eats away at the condoms causing large amounts of drugs to enter the system at once. Since the government refuses to clamp down on the drug trade and to save people from these horrible deaths condoms should be banned.
Molotov cocktails create horrendous fires and cause death and destruction. They are a favorite weapon of anarchists, terrorists, and some criminals. One of the most effective products used to make Molotov cocktails is the tampon. Tampons should be banned to save people from fiery death and disfigurement. Tampons should be considered a weapon of terrorists and criminals.
Fumes from burning plastic kill innocent victims of fires and first responders. The sale and manufacturing of all plastics should be banned. All products should be manufactured out of one hundred percent natural resources sans petroleum distillates, additives, or products.
Hosiery is used to injure and rob people. Criminals put hard objects such as rocks and batteries in socks and stockings. They approach victims from behind and beat them with this homemade weapon. Then they rob them. Longer hosiery is used to strangle victims. All hosiery should be banned. Better people do without hosiery to save lives and prevent criminal injuries.
Every year people are seriously injured in bar fights. Barstools maim and cripple people when used as a weapon. All barstools and chairs should be banned from establishments that serve alcohol, including dining and fine dining establishments. People should standing to drink, eat saving others from catastrophic injury and death, is just common sense.
Baseball bats are used as weapons and have killed or catastrophically injured many people over the decades. There is only one way to prevent these horrendous deaths and injuries. The sport of baseball should be banned. There are too many bats to just ban and confiscate. Banning baseball would put bat manufacturers out of business. Owing or possessing a baseball bat should be a felony punishable by five years in prison.
Every year thousands of people are killed or suffer catastrophic injuries while riding bicycles. Most are killed due to their own carelessness and irresponsible violations of rules of the road. Many people suffer catastrophic injuries. All bicycles and human powered cycles should be banned to stop these deaths. This would have the added effect of lowering auto insurance rates for the rest of us.
I am sure there are plenty of other dangerous useful everyday items we can control or ban. It is better to punish everyone for the irresponsible follies and evil of a few. If one life can be saved it is well worth the sacrifice. If one catastrophic injury or a serious crime can be prevented why would any one object?
Responsible people can agree that banning and controlling everyday inanimate objects, or vehicles that could possibly be used to harm, maim, or kill people is just plain common sense.
Bans and controls are the only way we, as a society, can protect ourselves from ourselves. The best common sense approach is to simply amputate hands at birth. This would stop people from using them to handle weapons, everyday objects that can be used as weapons, or as weapons themselves.
Peter V. Bella is a retired Chicago Police Officer, freelance journalist and photojournalist, cook, and raconteur. He likes to be the irreverent sharp stick that pokes, prods, and annoys. His opinions are his and his alone. Mr. Bella is a member of the National Press Photographers Association and the Society for Professional Journalists.
This article is the copyrighted property of the writer and Communities @ WashingtonTimes.com. Written permission must be obtained before reprint in online or print media. REPRINTING TWTC CONTENT WITHOUT PERMISSION AND/OR PAYMENT IS THEFT AND PUNISHABLE BY LAW. | <urn:uuid:d3e6efe3-b0dd-4244-a34c-dc6f90029b88> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://communities.washingtontimes.com/neighborhood/middle-class-guy/2012/aug/8/ban-guns-and-other-inanimate-objects/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368707435344/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516123035-00006-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.951199 | 1,275 | 1.632813 | 2 |
Have you been to any part of Italy? If given the opportunity Italy is one of the place that I really want to visit. I would love to experience all the beauties that Italy has to offer. As I was been searching online about Venice, Italy I landed to this beautiful article about the (5) facts of Venice, Italy. Thank’s to the author, Allan for sharing this..
1.) Geographically Unique- Venice captured the impression of a magical floating city by setting wood pilings on the 118 submerged islands in the Northern end of the Adriatic Sea. 400 foot bridges and 170 boat canals connect the city to make it easily accessible to the local populace.
Fun fact: Many famous people in history were born in Venice including the playwright and famous lover Giacomo Casanova, the explorer Marco Polo, and composer Antonio Vivaldi.
2.) Get Lost on a Scenic Maze- Venice can be compared to a one big adventure. Once you are caught in the winding and seemingly endless streets and bridges of confusion, you would have no other choice but to keep on walking— which is actually a good thing! There’s no better way to explore Venice than getting lost and be surprised in what it has to offer at your every turn.
Fun Fact: Breaking away from the sea of tourists flocking at the city center in Piazza San Marco and heading for the narrowest alleyways is the greatest way to discover Venice! Don’t forget to bring a good map though.
3.) Gondola, Gondole! (Gondola, Gondolas!)- Taking a trip to Venice and failing to ride a Gondola is like going to France and ignoring the Eiffel tower. These traditional and symbolic boats have been used as transport around the narrow Venetian waterways for more than 10 centuries. Evolving and perfected through time, Gondolas are designed to be easily operated by a highly-skilled oarsman known as a Gondolier.
Fun fact: Only 3 to 4 Gondolier licenses are issued annually. To qualify, applicants must be able to finish an extensive training after passing a rigorous exam. There are only 400 licensed Gondolas operating in Venice today.
4.) Venice’s Cursed Palace- Ask your tour guide or anyone who knows the city well about the eeriest place in Venice and I’m sure they will point you at Ca’Dario, a Palazzo with an attractive Venetian Renaissance architecture along Grand Canal. The series of unexplainable deaths which seem to affect all of its owners first started way back when the structure was built in 1847.
Trivia: It has been said that the latest victim of the curse is John Entwistle, famed bass guitarist of “The Who.” John was leasing Ca’Dario during his untimely death in 2002.
5.) Rialto Market- The Pescaria (Fish section) and Erbaria (Vegetable and Fruit section) make up the whole of Rialto Market. This is the place to go if you want to see the local lifestyle or buy a newly-caught fish from the Adriatic Sea, garden-fresh vegetables, and colorful flowers in Venice. It is best to walk around Rialto Market early in the morning, when the crowds are thin.
Fun fact: Remember to never ever touch the produce! This does not only apply in Rialto market, but in the whole of Italy. Ask the vendor of what you want and they’d be more than happy to give their best products to you. | <urn:uuid:77f07dcb-5bf3-4820-8400-229df6b19a53> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.sweethomephilippines.com/2012/06/venice-italy-2.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368701852492/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516105732-00035-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.958157 | 751 | 1.796875 | 2 |
Struggling to keep up with the rest of the group, Abby had spent most of her dive fighting with her buoyancy compensator and kicking hard against the steady current. At last, they surfaced. She survived the dive after all! Relieved that the experience was finally over, she spit out her regulator and ripped off her mask only to be smacked in the face by a wave. Startled, she slipped below the surface, choking on seawater. Kicking hard, she fought her way back up and took a gasping breath. Between desperate attempts to keep her head above water, she tried to wave to the boat and call for help, but the other divers seemed so far away.
Abby was a healthy, active woman in her thirties who had recently moved to an area where diving was a popular sport. Shortly after arrival at her new home, she enrolled in an open-water class to become a certified diver. She immediately found that she liked both the sport and the people in it. By the time her classes had begun, she had already made several new friends among the shop's regular customers.
Not long after her first pool sessions at a local dive center, Abby was invited on an offshore outing by friends who were active divers. In spite of the fact that she was not yet certified, someone assisted her in obtaining a full set of equipment and an air fill so she could join the group on a shallow reef dive with a maximum depth of about 30 feet. Diving from a private boat, the group entered the relatively calm seas and found what officials would later deem a "mild current" running in the area. Apparently, there were no specific buddy teams, so Abby was both uncertified and effectively diving alone.
Abby's anxiety levels began to build from the moment she entered the water. The swim against the current was unlike anything she had experienced in the pool. Her accelerated breathing rate caused her to yo-yo in the water column and her attempts to offset this effect with her BC only exacerbated the problem. After a 40-minute dive, the group surfaced and began climbing aboard their boat. Abby surfaced alone, somewhat down current from the boat in seas of about three feet with a slight chop--good conditions for most certified divers, but somewhat challenging for the inexperienced. We do not know exactly what happened to Abby. At one point, she was spotted on the surface and then she simply disappeared. Once all the other divers were aboard, they started the boat and quickly began a search, but found no sign of her on the surface.
Abby's body was never recovered, so there is no definitive information about the cause of her presumed fatality. However, we do know that she surfaced somewhat down current from the boat, that she was not certified for diving, that she had never completed the emergency drills portion of her open-water training, and had never before made an open-water dive. Her lack of training was almost certainly a significant contributing factor to her death. Based on the sighting of her at the surface and the water conditions at the time of the accident, it is likely that she was swept away from the boat by the current. We can also surmise that she failed to achieve positive buoyancy once she surfaced. It seems likely that she was unable to remain afloat and that she inhaled seawater while struggling to remain on the surface, which probably led to panic, and ultimately drowning.
This case demonstrates that situations and water conditions that are mundane inconveniences for the certified diver can become catastrophic, life-threatening events for the untrained. Abby rushed into her first open-water dive ahead of her training and died as a result. Attending a few nights of class does not qualify one to be a diver. Many of the more advanced emergency skills are not covered until later in the course and some of these skills cannot be practiced successfully in the confines of a swimming pool--thus, they are not really learned until the open-water checkout dives are conducted. Even though Abby chose to dive without certification, she could not have done so without the assistance of a certified diver to obtain equipment and air fills. It seems inevitable that every year we lose would-be divers to the actions of well-intentioned friends with ill-conceived dive plans. In many cases, the desire is to introduce a friend to the underwater world and many even claim to do it in order to encourage them to get training. Too many divers feel that an open-water C-card qualifies them to teach, or at a minimum, to conduct orientation dives for their nondiving friends. This is a dangerous misconception. Students should dive only under the guidance of a fully trained instructor. Student divers don't know how to evaluate the risks of a dive and are incapable of making sound decisions about their safety. It is therefore the responsibility of certified divers, like Abby's friends, to understand the risks and prevent these needless accidents.
Lessons for Life
The skills covered at the end of your training will be the most important ones for your survival.
by offering scuba training or an orientation dive unless you are a certified instructor. What you do not know as an open-water diver far exceeds what you have been taught to this point.
by assisting them in obtaining equipment, air fills or access to boats. There is a reason a C-card is required, even when diving in a pool or "safe" environment. | <urn:uuid:ca9700cc-6541-44f6-aada-4b38f8626b35> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.scubadiving.com/training/basic-skills/much-too-soon | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368706499548/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516121459-00004-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.983797 | 1,105 | 1.789063 | 2 |
Medications to be taken regularly
Due to having to adjust to a different time of day, problems can arise in the regular taking of medications. If you must take a medication at regular intervals, we recommend that you consult a doctor before a flight across several time zones.
Since the amount of insulin to be injected is linked with the mealtime rhythm, the time components play an especially important role. So we have complied some important advice for people affected by diabetes mellitus.
Advice for passengers suffering from diabetes mellitus
The contraceptive pill
Certainty in contraception is best achieved by taking an extra pill when you take a Westbound flight and the day lengthens by at least six hours. We recommend you consult your doctor on this point in advance.
Medications in carry-on luggage
Medications packaging should be proof against knocks and shocks and the medications you need should if possible be spread around several carry-on luggage items. It's advisable to take in your carry-on luggage about one-and-a-half to twice the amount you expect to need. In exceptional cases flights can be diverted or their departure is delayed for a long time - even if you are already sitting in the aircraft.
Passing through Customs with medications
If you have medications and injection needles in your carry-on luggage, it's advisable to have a doctor's certificate with you which confirms that it is medical material for personal needs.
Loss of medications
Just in case you lose your medications during your journey or in the destination country, you should ask your doctor to provide you with an overview of your blood group and other important personal health data, as well as the dosage of the medications and their generic names (non-protected under commodity law, internationally free names of medications). You should also have with you the documents you need for treatment or issuing of prescriptions in a foreign country. Obtain information on them from your doctor or your health insurance company. | <urn:uuid:ce0c0635-355c-4e9b-addb-4cce3235af2e> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.lufthansa.com/uk/en/Medications | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368705953421/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516120553-00003-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.94834 | 393 | 1.835938 | 2 |
Thursday, October 1, 2009
Can you decipher this system of symbols? What does this language say or describe? The person who gives the precise answer (a general answer isn’t enough) will receive a signed and remarqued Imaginative Realism poster.
Note: I'm traveling (in Riverside, CA today), so I may not be able to check your comments or confirm your guesses until tonight.
Posted by James Gurney at Thursday, October 01, 2009 | <urn:uuid:1aea23fd-82b8-4441-a292-2ced63c17f0e> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://gurneyjourney.blogspot.com/2009/10/mystery-pictographs.html?showComment=1254500694291 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368698924319/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516100844-00016-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.946594 | 100 | 1.625 | 2 |
February 10, 2012
Memorial of St. Scholastica, Virgin
Ahijah took off his new cloak, tore it into twelve pieces, and said to Jeroboam: “Take ten pieces for yourself; the Lord, the God of Israel, says: ‘I will tear away the kingdom from Solomon’s grasp and will give you ten of the tribes. One tribe shall remain to him for the sake of David my servant, and of Jerusalem, the city I have chosen out of all the tribes of Israel.’” (1 Kings 11:30-32)
“The people heard not my voice, and Israel obeyed me not; so I gave them up to the hardness of their hearts; they walked according to their own counsels.” (Psalms 81:12-13)
(Jesus) put his put his finger into the man’s ears and, spitting, touched his tongue; then he looked up to heaven and groaned, and said to him, “Ephphatha!” (that is, “Be opened!”) And immediately the man’s ears were opened, his speech impediment was removed, and he spoke plainly. (Mark 7:33-35)
Lord, let me be open to your Light.
A good friend and I recently spent a weekend at the Benedictine monastery in Erie, Pennsylvania. We each had a “hermitage” of our own in the nearby woods; hers, pictured here under “Listening Point,” was named for St. Scholastica, whose feast day we celebrate today. The place is known among the Benedictines as “Stilts.”
Our first night there, my friend and I talked at “Stilts” until about 10 p.m., then decided to call it a night. I said goodnight, picked up my flashlight, and went down the stairs. After about fifteen steps, I had no idea where I was. The woods were dark, and the gravel trail didn’t seem as well marked as it had at dusk. I took a few more steps, and became even more disoriented. Fortunately, my friend still had her bedroom light on, so back I went to Stilts. The two of us walked out on her balcony. “There,” she said, pointing, “you can see your place from here. You left the porch light on, remember.” “I know,” I said. “I can see it. I just don’t know how to get there.”
We explored all the options we could think of: I could sleep on the couch at Stilts. But it wasn’t built for someone who’s six feet tall. She could walk back with me. But what good would both of us being lost in the woods do? Finally, after about ten minutes, we remembered the Benedictines had left flashlights in both hermitages. My friend had a larger one. We walked outside together, me carrying the big flashlight, her a smaller one. When we got to the first bend in the trail, about ten steps beyond where I’d gone, the way to my hermitage was clear.
The next morning, I counted the steps between the hermitages: fewer than 150. And yet, without a bright light, I was lost. It made me think just how easy it is for us all to get lost when we choose not to follow God’s light… and how much help a friend can be in getting back on the right path.
Is God’s desire for you unclear in some way? Ask your spiritual director or a trusted friend for help in shining some light on your situation. | <urn:uuid:f736e66a-cd68-4881-807a-e6179c0bb274> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://yourdailytripod.blogspot.com/2012/02/people-heard-not-my-voice.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368705953421/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516120553-00015-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.98287 | 793 | 1.8125 | 2 |
quite a while ago, and talk about what a consent culture would look like.
A consent culture is one in which the prevailing narrative of sex--in fact, of human interaction--is centered around mutual consent. It is a culture with an abhorrence of forcing anyone into anything, a respect for the absolute necessity of bodily autonomy, a culture that believes that a person is always the best judge of their own wants and needs.
I don't want to limit it to sex. A consent culture is one in which mutual consent is part of social life as well. Don't want to talk to someone? You don't have to. Don't want a hug? That's okay, no hug then. Don't want to try the fish? That's fine. (As someone with weird food aversions, I have a special hatred for "just taste a little!") Don't want to be tickled or noogied? Then it's not funny to chase you down and do it anyway.
The good news is, there are things you can do to bring this about. Things beyond just "don't rape people" (although that's an excellent start).
Ways You Can Work Toward The Creation Of a Consent Culture
1. Don't rape people. It does bear saying. And I don't just mean "don't put on a ski mask and jump on strangers in dark alleys" rape, either. Don't have sex with someone who is not unambiguously, enthusiastically, and continually consenting. Don't have sex with someone who says "I guess so" or "okay, fine" (unless they are grinning lasciviously as they say this). Don't convince someone to have sex. If they don't want you, really want you from the bottom of their heart and/or groin, respect that.
2. When someone doesn't want to have sex with you and so you don't, talk about it. Share that you're bummed but also that you take pride in your ability to take it gracefully.
When you didn't want to have sex with someone and so they stopped, talk about it. Share that despite the awkwardness you're glad they took it gracefully.
These are tough things to discuss (in part because they sound kind of Captain Obvious, like, no shit it was nice of you not to rape someone), but they're important narratives to put out there. Others' stories shape our ideas about sex, and hearing stories that fall outside the "have sex or you're a failure" mindset are important in changing those ideas.
3. When someone tells you about pressuring or tricking someone into sex (and you're in a situation where it's safe to do so), call them the hell out on it. "That's not cool. It doesn't sound like he/she wanted it." You don't have to use the R word, you don't have to tell them they should be arrested, you don't have to call them a rapist piece of shit--you just have to make it clear they're not getting any goddamn high fives. When you hear someone bragging about sex like it was a prank they pulled on their partner, bring the mood in the room the hell down.
You can do this with fictional stories, too. You don't even have to be no-fun then. "Wow, you guys, 'Baby It's Cold Outside' is totally a date rape song." Without requiring a rant or a buzzkill, it just quietly plants the idea that no, that is not a "totally legit way to get sex" song.
4. When you see something that looks abusive or nonconsensual going on, don't turn your back. At least be a witness--just the presence of another person can be someone's biggest guarantee of safety. Stepping in and checking if everything's okay is even better.
5. Ask before touching people. Say "do you want a hug?" and if they say no then don't hug them--and also don't give them any shit about not being friendly or affectionate. Don't make a big deal out of it, just make it part of your touching-people procedure. If they say "you don't need to ask!" nod and smile and keep on asking.
6. Negotiate sex! Explicitly negotiate sex play, and BDSM play if you do that. Be eminently clear about the fact that play is not a package deal for you, and your partner is free to change their mind about any part of it at any time--as are you. Err on the side of blunt, and say corny shit like "can I kiss you now?" and "I'd like to touch your chest."
Once in a blue moon (really not as often as some people would have you think), you may run into a partner who refuses to negotiate, or who says "I would have done it before you killed the mood by asking." Do not have sex or play with this person. Their loss. This is you putting the principle of "consent matters" above the principle of "have sex at all costs!", and you can brag about it when you're busy changing narratives.
7. Re-negotiate sex! While I don't think every step of "can I kiss you now?" is necessary in a long-term relationship (although Rowdy and I really do ask every time about intercourse), it's important to keep talking about what you want and don't want. You're not strangers anymore, no, but you're also not merged into the same person. Keep active consent alive in your relationships.
8. Learn to love consent. I worry that I've made getting consent sound like a chore. It's anything but. Asking for consent is a moment of delicious tension, of emotional connection.
A "yes" brings the joy of knowing someone is really hot for you, really wants you. It means that they're going to not just go along with but be into the stuff that comes next. That's not "prerequisite checked off," that's "awesome, this is going to be so much better now."
A "yes, conditionally" helps you be a better lover to them, someone who can give them just what they want and nothing they don't want.
9. Learn to appreciate "no." A "no, not at all" is bittersweet--or okay, sometimes it's fucking crushing--but it brings some finality and certainty with it. If you're not going to have sex anyway (and you're not, unless you were going to rape this person), at least you get to banish the "maybe I could have, why didn't I try" thoughts.
Remember that ultimately asking for consent is not asking someone to make a decision whether they want sex with you or not. That decision's going to get made, one way or another. Asking for consent is simply asking to know about that decision.
10. Talk about consent. Make consent part of the stories you tell about sex. Just a natural part of the process, something that ought to be taken for granted will be part of a sex story.
"So last night I asked Sandra if she wanted to hook up and she totally said yes."
"Ohmygod, Jane asked me to have sex with her, and it was awwwwesome."
"I heard that Rob and Josie--I'll totally kill you if you tell anyone--totally agreed to have sex at Jesse's party!"
"Kirk laid Spock tenderly across the science console and whispered hoarsely in the Vulcan's pointed ear, 'Do you want this? Do you want me inside you?'"
11. Bring consent out of the bedroom. I think part of the reason we have trouble drawing the line "it's not okay to force someone into sexual activity" is that in many ways, forcing people to do things is part of our culture in general. Cut that shit out of your life. If someone doesn't want to go to a party, try a new food, get up and dance, make small talk at the lunchtable--that's their right. Stop the "aww c'mon" and "just this once" and the games where you playfully force someone to play along. Accept that no means no--all the time.
Beyond what's necessary for their health and education (and even that touches iffy territory), I don't believe in doing this to kids, either. The size and social-authority advantages an adult has over kids shouldn't be used to force them to play games or accept hugs or go down the big slide. That sets a bad, scary precedent about the sort of thing it's okay to use your advantages over someone for.
It's good to practice drawing your own boundaries outside of the bedroom, too. It can be shockingly empowering to say something as small as "no, I don't want to sit with you." "No, you can't have my phone number." "I love hugs, but please ask me first." It's good practice for the big stuff. Simply learning to put your mind in the frame of "this person does not want me to say no to them, and they will resist me doing it, but I'm doing it anyway" is a big, important deal.
Consent culture is a tough thing to build. I think it's got a foothold in BDSM--we at least talk big about consent--but it's far from established here. It's barely starting to get tiny little footholds in the mainstream culture. But it grows in little microcultures, tiny bubbles of sex-positivity and circles of friends where consent is the norm, and it has potential to grow so much more. Give it a hand. Make it part of your own life, and it becomes just a little bit bigger part of the world. Start living consent culture. | <urn:uuid:663d5160-dbb6-4f9f-bbce-9be8ae0c004c> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://pervocracy.blogspot.co.uk/2012/01/consent-culture.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368706499548/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516121459-00018-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.977151 | 2,047 | 1.8125 | 2 |
The Shariah-panic crowd is convinced of the far-fetched theory that American Muslims are involved in a sinister, secret plot to infiltrate American political institutions in order to establish Taliban-style Islamic law in the United States. But what if there actually was a religious ideology holding that only people of a certain strain of belief should run the government and were intent on replacing American civil law with their own religious views? What if two presidential candidates running high in the polls had ties to this movement? Surely the Shariah-panic crowd, with their unshakeable commitment to the separation between
mosque church and state would be alarmed right?
Michelle Goldberg explains this Christian influenced political movement, "Dominionism," does in fact exist and that Texas Governor Rick Perry and Minnesota Congresswoman Michele Bachmann are pretty cozy with it:
Now, however, we have the most theocratic Republican field in American history, and suddenly, the concept of Dominionism is reaching mainstream audiences. Writing about Bachmann in The New Yorker this month, Ryan Lizza spent several paragraphs explaining how the premise fit into the Minnesota congresswoman’s intellectual and theological development. And a recent Texas Observer cover story on Rick Perry examined his relationship with the New Apostolic Reformation, a Dominionist variant of Pentecostalism that coalesced about a decade ago. “[W]hat makes the New Apostolic Reformation movement so potent is its growing fascination with infiltrating politics and government,” wrote Forrest Wilder. Its members “believe Christians—certain Christians—are destined to not just take ‘dominion’ over government, but stealthily climb to the commanding heights of what they term the ‘Seven Mountains’ of society, including the media and the arts and entertainment world.”
In many ways, Dominionism is more a political phenomenon than a theological one. It cuts across Christian denominations, from stern, austere sects to the signs-and-wonders culture of modern megachurches. Think of it like political Islamism, which shapes the activism of a number of antagonistic fundamentalist movements, from Sunni Wahabis in the Arab world to Shiite fundamentalists in Iran.
Perry has ties to the Dominionist New Apostolic Reformation, while Bachmann was featured in a documentary produced by Truth in Action Ministries, whose founder Goldberg explains, has written that "it is dominion we are after. Not just equal time ... World conquest.” Don't call it a caliphate.
Association with an Islamic-oriented group with similar political goals would be enough to end some nameless government bureaucrat's career, let alone hamper someone trying to seek a major party nomination. But conservative enmity toward "Shariah" has always been selective, more rooted in religious rivalry and tribalism than any consistent commitment to secular democracy. While institutional barriers that make American democracy resistant to radical change and the unlikliehood that Dominionism could ever really reshape American society in its image, Perry and Bachmann have some serious questions to answer about their own beliefs about the role of religion in American society.
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(If there's one thing we know about comment trolls, it's that they're lazy) | <urn:uuid:d88df474-ceb4-4a6f-b313-946d94998c0b> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://prospect.org/article/dont-call-it-caliphate | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368703298047/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516112138-00009-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.951311 | 662 | 1.78125 | 2 |
Abdo’s case doesn’t mean that every self-described believer in Islam as a “good, peaceful religion” is a murderous liar as he was, but it does illustrate the fact that assurances are not enough from peaceful Muslims. Yet the major Muslim organizations in the U.S. continue to do nothing of significance to aid law enforcement efforts against jihad terrorism, despite their claims to oppose it. Even worse, they continue to protest against law enforcement measures to stop jihad attacks, complaining of “profiling.” The California chapter of the Hamas-linked Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) even once distributed posters telling Muslims not to talk to the FBI.
CAIR and its allied groups would prefer that the FBI simply take their word that no Muslims in mosques in the U.S. are up to anything of concern. But Abdo’s words about Islam’s peacefulness show that it is not unreasonable for the FBI and other law enforcement officials not to be satisfied with fine words, but to look for actions as well. The trial of Major Hasan, however, shows that there also needs to be a comprehensive reappraisal of how jihad attacks are treated by law enforcement officials and in the courts.
But as long as Obama remains president, nothing is much less likely. | <urn:uuid:17cd54d6-0ace-42f4-87a0-dd78df138184> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://pjmedia.com/blog/see-no-jihad-u-s-still-treating-fort-hood-jihadis-as-criminals/2/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368700958435/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516104238-00016-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.973985 | 269 | 1.5625 | 2 |
Anderson, of Midtown, said she asked them why they needed them and they simply responded, “It’s not rocket science.”
Along with her husband Varlon, she was glad their children could talk to them but knew it was a problem. Her concern transformed to the inspiration from God, she said, to start the west Buckhead-based nonprofit Teens, What’s The Rush Inc. in January 2011.
“It’s totally led by God to get these teens and teach them the benefits of avoiding destructive decisions,” Anderson said.
As an artist and an actress, she said she finds visual and performing arts to be the best way to engage children and adolescents to help them open up to others about their problems. Anderson writes plays and film scripts in accordance with issues like sexual violence and pregnancy, she said.
“We teach life skills. We’re not just telling them what to do, but we show them all the reasons why to abstain [from sex],” she said. “We’re evoking change. The way we do that is giving them a different way of learning. They’re finding their real purpose, talents and skills.”
Anderson said several of the children who join the program are suicidal and/or have been raped or molested. “They come with those pains already. We are giving them a nonjudgmental environment,” she said.
Anderson shares her own story of child sexual abuse, which helps teens to talk about issues, whether it is in group sessions, forums or open conversations.
“We developed a curriculum based on life skills and a social surroundings approach,” she said.
After establishing the nonprofit, Anderson started Beyond the System, a Fulton County-administered juvenile justice program for youths of criminal backgrounds. She teaches three times a week at the Fulton County Juvenile Justice Center and the program is now mandatory for youth offenders.
Anderson said the organization also partners with local agencies throughout Atlanta, including Atlanta City Refuge and Bread Life Services, to offer free programs. Children come from all over metro Atlanta, she said, and all are welcome.
As for her sons, now 16 and 17, they are both mentors in the organization.
“They are still virgins,” she said. “They are still very open in talking about it with us.”
And group mentor Bethany Marisa said she wishes she had Teens, What’s the Rush when she was that age.
“I never really had anyone to talk to,” she said. “I was very pressured growing up.”
Marisa said she faced sexual peer pressure for years and was told it was not cool to be a virgin.
“It would have been nice to have someone to tell me, ‘Hey, it’s okay,’” she said. “We have teens and youth from all walks of life. With the youth in the organization, everyone has a story that can help someone. They can talk about their issues and feelings. It starts the healing process.” | <urn:uuid:d93de091-553a-4351-af76-d4d443419785> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://neighbornewspapers.com/view/full_story/21563409/article-Atlanta-nonprofit-provides-outlet-for-pressured-teens?instance=buckhead | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368708142388/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516124222-00027-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.979232 | 658 | 1.59375 | 2 |
About this Création
Our buying policy
An ancient legend tells of how the Tibetan monks would prepare this blend of tea, plants and flowers in the greatest of secrecy. After several days of soaking, the leaves were carefully plucked out and put to one side. By this mysterious alchemy, the monks turned the tea into gold and gave it its exceptional scent.
Black and green tea blend.
Throughout the year, our experts travel in the tea plantations looking for the best pluckings and new, rare, delicious teas.
The fact that we travel so extensively, that we taste and buy on location has many advantages and allows us to find rare crops by looking outside the traditional supplier circuit, to taste and to share with you the harvests of small plantations, which are often hidden away.
Visiting tea estates regularly and thereby establishing long-lasting relations with our suppliers allows us to guarantee regular quality control of the teas we buy, and to continue our mission: to bring you the best quality teas and to share our travels and experience with you, while concerning ourselves with environmental issues, working conditions on the estates and the fair trade practices to which we adhere.
Alex - Just tried this tea yesterday in an Exki cafe. I really liked it: flower and little spice taste. I bought a 20 bags box to enjoy it with family for Christmas. I will return more to these Exki cafe to try more of these teas. Just wondering if we can taste them in the Palais des Thes shops... would be nice as it's pricy...
CA - I love this tea! By far one of my favorites. I just bought it in the traditional clay jar. I am sure my sister will love it! | <urn:uuid:8dbe1364-42ec-40d1-a708-2da233fca4ba> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://us.palaisdesthes.com/en_us/the-des-moines-1728.html?category=156 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368701459211/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516105059-00036-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.952123 | 355 | 1.53125 | 2 |
I met a mom in Houston this past Tuesday whom I’ll call Margaret. “He comes home every three days to shower,” she told me. “Is that a good sign?”
“It’s a good sign that you love him,” I told Margaret and her husband Max. They had come downtown to hear me speak about intervening – they had heard me talk about how we can help change someone we love and were hungry for hope. Their 19-year-old son is addicted. They were at their wits end. “We don’t know what to do, just don’t know what to do. He isn’t the son I raised – I don’t know where that boy went?”
I nodded and as her eyes filled with tears, I stood and hugged her as she cried. I’ll share with you what I shared with her. The conventional wisdom that tells us we have to let someone “hit bottom” is garbage. It’s not true. Throw it out. The idea that someone who is addicted must “want to change” is a myth too. Chuck it. These two myths have guided our collective wisdom on the very notion of change, and they needn’t any longer.
Modern science has expanded our understanding of, and treatment protocols for the disease of addiction. It’s not simply a moral failing, or a bad spirit that makes your loved one do what they do. Our insight into brain chemistry and how cravings are triggered and fed have advanced our ability to treat addiction. But first we have to get someone to say yes to help.
You need not trap then treat your loved one. I encourage you to circle the wagons, make an invitation to change, then champion that change all the while taking care of yourself in a new way. Four steps. Not easy, but simple.
We had invited Jessica to a Family Meeting back in March of 2008. She said NO, but showed up anyway. Six of the most important voices in her life were in that family room. Even so, she said NO time and time again. We hunkered down and worked at it. We shared with her powerful Eyewitness Accounts and after a couple hours of work, she said YES because a voice that really mattered moved her to give change a chance.
Jessica had neither hit bottom (she was on probation from work and binge drank). She told us in no uncertain terms that she was doing this only for her mom. Fair enough. We’ll take any reason.
If we wait for the sick, confused, not-thinking-clearly person to think straight, who is the crazy one?! Yet that’s what conventional wisdom suggests. Jessica accepted our help, and once detoxed and many weeks into this reboot, she shifted and latched on to the Change Plan herself. Who gets the credit? Are we keeping score?
Today she’s back teaching the kids she loves, at a job she adores, in a town not far from yours. She was literally saved by love. Her loved ones didn’t take no for an answer, let love lead them instead of fear, and discarded the worn out myths that had kept them stuck for so long.
Every month or so, I teach an online class on Tuesday nights. It’s 3 weeks long, about 5 hours total. And in it, I teach folks how to help their loved one who is sick and suffering. The next one begins February 2. I hope you’ll join me, and let me show you how to help at www.ChangeInstitute.webex.com. | <urn:uuid:ac5aa4e3-ebe7-4896-969f-1a575d45e967> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.doctoroz.com/blog/brad-lamm-br-i/love-drug | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368702810651/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516111330-00005-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.978645 | 768 | 1.671875 | 2 |
Songs of space, time and lust
Three chords and the truth. Someone said that was the essence of country music. Icelandic artist Ragnar Kjartansson agrees. In is search for artistic truths mr. Kjartansson has used music as his compass. Kjartansson´s art is in many cases based on music. On songs. Ragnar has used lines melodies and chord changes from country, blues, popular and classical music as the structural chord of many of his works. Ragnar will perform the songs that shaped his art in the Augarten.
The creative tools of Icelandic artist / pop star Ragnar Kjartansson, member of rock band Trabant, are drawings, paintings, installations, films, performative acts (often long durational and nonpublic), his media are melancholia and nostalgia. His film "The Man" (2011) is a portrait of the Blues legend and then 96-year old Pinetop Perkins (1913-2011) playing piano under the wide open skies of Texas. Rather than following biographical data, Kjartansson concentrates on grasping the ephemeral moment of the actual performance of Perkins. This week in Vienna, Ragnar will sing songs about space, time and lust under the open sky of the Augarten.
WANDA EVANS COLEMAN
Wanda Coleman was scheduled to perform at the Ephemeropterae˜ XIV/XV+. Unfortunately her journey to Vienna had to be cancelled but of course she remains part of the Ephemeropterae˜ family.
Known as "The L.A. Blueswoman," Wanda Coleman writes jazz-rooted poems and stories about the American "underclass", producing 20 books of poetry and prose. She was born in the community of Watts, raised in South Central Los Angeles, and lived through two race riots (August 1965 and April 1992). She was a seminal figure of post-60s literary L.A., and has shared the stage with such cultural icons as Timothy Leary, Alice Coltrane, Allen Ginsberg, and Los Lobos. An Emmy-winning scriptwriter, she has twice been a finalist for poet laureate of California (2005, 2012), and was awarded the Shelley Memorial Prize by the Poetry Society of America in May 2012.
"Coleman applies a poet's economy of words to her fiction, setting a scene with lightning-quick strokes, letting a detail, a dialogue, or the brisk vernacular speak for itself. Or, alternatively, she will step in and take center stage, an omniscient voice seeing beyond the impending and inevitable tragedy, but powerless to change either narrative or outcome. Powerless, that is, only within the bounds of the story, for Coleman is an author devoted to change, personal and political, writing to affect the balance of power in America."
LOCATION: Thyssen-Bornemisza Art Contemporary,
TBA21–Augarten, Scherzergasse 1A, 1020 Vienna, Austria
Wiener Städtische Versicherungsverein
Find here all performances of JULY, AUGUST and SEPTEMBER 2012
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Watch all the Ephemeropterae˜ performances! | <urn:uuid:c0915dff-6ceb-4fbb-82d0-7b1786bb6369> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.tba21.org/augarten_activities/181?category=augarten | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368709037764/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516125717-00040-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.943141 | 664 | 1.71875 | 2 |
Australian climbers rescued from Mt Cook
- From: AAP
- January 05, 2013
TWO injured Australian climbers have been rescued from Mt Cook in New Zealand.
The pair, aged 36 and 37, were hit by falling ice and fell about 200m about 1am local time on Saturday, police say.
One climber received facial injuries, while the other suffered chest injuries, making it difficult to breathe.
The climbers made it to Plateau Hut, where they raised the alarm.
A rescue team was able to fly in by helicopter at first light.
The climbers have been taken to Timaru Hospital.
Their injuries are not life threatening. | <urn:uuid:92581728-c4d9-409d-bfa1-b858ca325604> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.news.com.au/breaking-news/world/australian-climbers-rescued-from-mt-cook/story-e6frfkui-1226547968830 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368704713110/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516114513-00003-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.982614 | 134 | 1.664063 | 2 |
Professor Horejes holds a Ph.D. in Justice Studies at Arizona State University under the School of Social Transformation-an institution that places social justice at the center of its scholarship and teaching. As a sociologist trained in social justice, Dr. Horejes examines critical justice issues including the analyses of emergent ideologies, paradigms, the impact of identity formations (stigma/deviance/diversity), and everyday social constructions. Dr. Horejes also scrutinizes the larger justice issues of (dis)ability, humanity, diversity, normalcy to recognize institutional/local sites of oppression, differences, diversity, and offer paths to justice.
His dissertation titled "Constructions of Deafness and Deaf Education: Exploring Normalcy and Deviance" examines the configuration of normalcy under different disguises in various historical eras, and how the hegemony of normalcy continues as a paradigm that permeates our sense of progress, ideology, and deviance. He is currently revising his dissertation into a book published Fall 2012 with Gallaudet University Press.
Dr. Horejes is a co-Principal Investigator along with two other collaborators from Arizona State University and Pennsylvania State University on a three-year research project studying kindergartens in schools for the deaf in three countries (USA, Japan, and France). The sociological and cultural anthropological project examines the acculturation of young Deaf children in kindergartens from three countries as well as exploring the culture of Deafness within their larger cultures and socio-political contexts. This will be the first cross-comparative international ethnographic study of kindergartens in schools for the deaf and as such it has the potential to open up new lines of scholarly inquiry. Via video-cued multivocal comparative ethnography, new lines of inquiry include varying pedagogy, curriculum, and goals of early childhood education from nation to nation as well as its national and cultural variation in Deaf education.
Dr. Horejes has published work on sociological issues in peer-reviewed journals such as Review of Disability Studies and presented in numerous local, national, and international conferences including the International Sociological Association, International Congress of Qualitative Inquiry, International Visual Sociology Association, American Educational Research Association, and Western Social Science Association.
Prior to his appointment with Gallaudet, he was a former Faculty Associate teaching Justice Studies at Arizona State from 2005 - 2009. Dr. Horejes also served as president of the student advisory board for Arizona State's Disability Resource for Students (DRC) where his role included the assessment and monitoring of ASU's accommodations towards students with disabilities. He is also a former Supreme Court Justice for the Associated Students of Arizona State University (ASASU).
Professionally, Dr. Horejes was a Project Leader with the City of Phoenix's Inclusion Services Division as a disability policy specialist, where he monitored various ADA policy procedures. Dr. Horejes had the privilege under Congressman Ed Pastor of Phoenix and Mayor Neil Giuliano as a planner, researcher, educator, and advocate in community relations. Several of his main responsibilities consisted of collaborating with various state and federal departments, agencies and divisions in establishing and implementing respective projects, programs, and services in community relations.
Dr. Horejes served on the Governing Board of the National Youth Leadership Network (NYLN) where its mission vigorously advocated the rights and awareness for the Disability community through public policy and community-relations. A key function within the Governing Board was to promote leadership development, education, employment, independent living, and health and wellness among young leaders representing the diversity of race, ethnicity and disability in the United States.
Before entering the Ph.D. program at ASU in 2006, he was a community advocate for the Greater Los Angeles Agency on Deafness (GLAD) serving deaf and hard of hearing individuals in Los Angeles. At GLAD, he provided advocacy and empowerment in the areas of law, education, employment, health, technology, communication, and Social Security to deaf and hard of hearing consumers.
During his college years at Arizona State, he served as the Vice-President of the Collegiate National Association for the Deaf where he represented the deaf students and networked with other disability organizations to ensure that students with disabilities, as a collective, were receiving reasonable accommodations in compliance to federal and state laws.
He is the recipient of the Arizona State University Graduate College Dissertation Fellowship and former recipient of the Andrew Brown Scholarship. In 2001, he received the Distinguished Youth of the Year by Central Institute for the Deaf Alumni Association for his services in the Deaf community. | <urn:uuid:7665c8bd-7de9-40ae-b134-5a5937e54e65> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.gallaudet.edu/Faculty-Staff/History_Philosophy_Religion_and_Sociology/Sociology/Horejes_Thomas.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368705559639/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516115919-00029-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.955304 | 956 | 1.5625 | 2 |
By Christopher Harrity
Originally published on Advocate.com August 27 2011 4:00 AM ET
As LGBT people, we are exceptions to the rule. Artist Scott Waters certainly fits into that category. We happened across his artwork on the Web and felt that it said something important about men, masculinity, and the delicate balance of a macho identity. And it also said something about war, military service, and what happens to men who become soldiers. Waters is straight, but he agrees with us that there is something important here for a gay viewer. He says, “My work certainly has a strong queer underpinning, and many of the issues come from an examination of the homosocial, but I'm straight.”
So it would seem that Scott Waters is also an exception to the rule. Thus, sometimes it is less important that the artist we feature be LGBT than that the work be interesting and illuminating viewing for an LGBT audience.
The Advocate: Why are you an artist?
Scott Waters: To some degree I became an artist through the process of elimination, trying to build a career in more financially viable and stable job options (soldier, teacher, graphic designer). As each one lost its charm, I came to understand that the notion of artist could indeed be financially manageable (if not lucrative).
But as to what art offers me, it is best seen prosaically: using a skill set that I have an aptitude for to address issues that compel me.
At least for me, the visual art object is evidence of an idea — it is the thing which stands for the idea while also being its own idea.
What catches your eye?
So far as art making goes, I am almost always looking for images that support or engage an idea. It’s not so common that the visual is the conceptual instigator. But when I’m looking for an image that supports an idea, it is often contradiction or ambiguity that attracts me. Ambiguity can arise via the image’s narrative as well as its formal elements.
Also, though, as I mostly work on projects (rather than individual pieces), it might be a fairly straightforward image that, when seen in the context of a larger body, takes on an air of the uncanny. In this way, the images I choose need to be considered from various distances.
Tell us about your process or techniques.
I’m a big fan of the grid as a way to help with the initial drawing. Keeping a grid in the finished painting is a way to play with the notion of magic, illusion, talent (or lack thereof) in painting. The grid shows a structure and removes some of the mystery. It says clearly, “These are my limits.” I don’t draw freehand on the large paintings. but neither do I ever use a projector. Maybe I am trying to strike a balance somewhere between practicality and mystery. Given the military subject matter, this tension seems very relevant.
The dialectic between paint’s material qualities and how artists manipulate it is important for any number of reasons. One of these is the 20th-century painting dance between the subject and the object, between honesty and illusion, especially in relation to the previously held belief in photography’s authenticity in relation to painting.
And again, because of the military and documentary elements, these tensions are especially germane.
How do you choose your subjects?
Overall, my images are chosen based on what I am interested in engaging so far as authenticity, memory, and illusion are concerned.
In the Hero Book project all the images were culled from my own collection of photos from my infantry days. The explicitly autobiographical and memoir-based content tended to require my own sources. But I was also interested in the malleability of memory as well as the tension between photographic source and painted response.
The choices made for each image are partially based on the conceptual base for the project, so in the fight paintings, I staged intentionally awkward scenes by recruiting friends (paying them with beer), playing up their specific responses to the task of pretending to fight: melodramatic, awkward, enthusiastic, or totally devoid of emotion. It was their responses, rather than the idea of “fighting,” that was more engaging.
How do you describe your work?
Painterly realism that addresses the aesthetics and draw to violence in Western society.
What artists do you take inspiration from and why?
Leon Golub and Tim O’Brien are two artists — painter and writer respectively — who continue to give me the will to carry on.
There are any number of artists who I look to, respect, and whose work I’m excited by, but Golub and O’Brien stand out for their dogged pursuit of a practice which has/had a singular focus over decades.
One of my anxieties as an artist is of pursuing one main trajectory: that of understanding cultures of violence and fraternal socialization, especially through the military model. Sometimes I worry that I’m working in an art ghetto, but when I read any of O’Brien’s brilliant books on Vietnam and its fallout — an area he focused almost on exclusively for decades — I recognize that working in a niche is not a hindrance if it offers something specific, eloquent, and magical to the world.
Visual art school was my start point, though, and Leon Golub was the first visual artist I came across who looked long and hard at cultures of violence, oppression, and trauma. He was the first case that let me see what I was interested in, what compelled me, might actually be viable for an artistic career.
I am only me, and me has something very specific to say. These things are said for the benefit of the world but also from a necessary drive to understand something inside myself. This drive is, I believe, something many can relate to.
You identify as straight, but your viewpoint of masculinity seems to be informed by someone who is both inside and outside the orientation. Who are these guys?
If we can use the term “lucky,” I’m lucky enough to have had experiences — careers — which sit on the supposed opposite spectrums of male sexuality. Having been an infantry soldier and now a visual artist and writer, my life has had some stark polarities.
Most of the guys in these paintings are soldiers (or were at the time), and I have to admit that about half of them most likely don’t know about these paintings. Of course, the limits of what we might call a broken social contract are a compelling element in the project. The making-public-through-painting of these private photographic moments is what gives the work its greatest impact. Or so I believe.
From your unique viewpoint, what do you think of lifting the ban on gay men serving openly in the military?
There seems to be a bit of danger in using “the military” as a blanket term, simply because different areas and elements are quite disparate. Openly gay men in the combat arms are likely to have a harder time than pay clerks on an Air Force base. Just as gay marriage is accepted with joy in some areas of civil society (and open hostility and paranoia in others), so too will the range of reactions vary in as wide a culture as “the military.”
While homophobia is as much a part of military culture as is homosociality, I do believe that the military should be an extension of society, while also requiring its necessary separation. If soldiers are also citizens, then human rights that exist for civvies should also exist for soldiers. Certainly there will be outrages and harm along the way, but resetting norms always comes with tumult.
Guns, beer bottles being shoved in mouths, and violent clinches. Is your art also addressing repressed man-to-man sexual expression?
I would like to think my paintings exist equally in repressed and celebrated homosociality. There’s the standard line within hypermasculine cultures that says “the gayer you act, the straighter you are.” This, however, is simply a holding architecture for the many variables and personalities that exist within these cultures. For some, repression is part of the acting out, but for others there exists a line that cannot be crossed. Like any insular, separated culture, understanding the social cues — the parlance and innuendo — is what marks you as an insider.
One common thread is the attempt to display affection by males who often are unused to such closeness. So for (personal) example, holding your friend’s penis because he’s too drunk pull it out and pee himself shows a dedication and closeness to fraternity that concurrently sits right on the edge of sexual without crossing over.
Because the military draws principally from young males, their personality is very malleable and vulnerable. At first displaying affection is difficult, but once they learn to say “I love you, man” the world opens up into something where you can make your own rules for your own tribe. Sometimes repression is the inevitable result of trying to understand such deep love within a hyperviolent culture.
It is a strange tribe, one worthy of any ethnographer.
Born in Preston, England, Waters immigrated to Canada with his family. After serving as an infantry soldier in the Canadian Forces he began an academic career, which eventually led to a career as a visual artist and writer. Waters received a bachelor of fine arts degree from the University of Victoria and a master of fine arts degree from York University, and he has lived in Toronto for the past 11 years.
Represented by LE Gallery in Toronto, has had Waters solo exhibitions at venues including Rodman Hall, the Art Gallery of Southwestern Manitoba, and the Alternator Gallery. Notable touring group exhibitions include "A Brush With War: Military Art from Korea to Afghanistan" and "Diabolique."
Twice selected to participate in the Canadian Forces Artist Program, Waters has also undertaken residencies at Open Studio in Toronto and the Klondike Institute for Art and Culture in Dawson, Yukon.
Publications include the illustrated memoir, The Hero Book (Conundrum Press); features in Border Crossings, Public, Legion Magazine, and 100 Artists of the Male Figure; and writings in Drain Magazine, Kiss Machine, Contemporary Verse 2, and the upcoming anthology Embedded on the Homefront. | <urn:uuid:48b42613-1f43-44a9-b2e1-88d0af52f815> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.advocate.com/print/arts-entertainment/art/artist-spotlight/2011/08/27/artist-spotlight-scott-waters | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368700958435/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516104238-00033-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.970177 | 2,165 | 1.664063 | 2 |
Here’s some awesome news — Italian bicycle sales passed up auto sales for the first time in a long time last year.
If more people would chose to ride bicycles to work, it would cut down on CO2 emissions dramatically and cut the demand for oil from countries not all that into us. I understand not everyone can ride bikes, but for the many who can, this is a clear green action you can take in your lives. Let’s follow Italy’s lead!
Here’s more on the news from the BBC:
“Italians bought more bicycles than cars in 2011 for the first time in decades, according to local media reports.
“Last year some 1.75 million bicycles were sold, about 2,000 more than the number of new cars registered, La Repubblica newspaper reported.
“It attributed the change to a slump in car sales during the economic crisis and the rising price of petrol, as well as bikes coming back into fashion.”
The story is a prime example of pedal power taking the lead.
Holds an electronic's engineering degree and is working toward a second degree in IT/web development. Enjoy's renewable energy topic's and has a passion for the environment. Part time writer and web developer, full time husband and father. | <urn:uuid:047aac6a-5745-4373-9724-524b4079af61> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://cleantechnica.com/2012/10/03/italian-bicycle-sales-surpass-those-of-cars/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368706153698/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516120913-00037-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.962243 | 271 | 1.5625 | 2 |
Here’s some good news: most employers are still maintaining their commitment to employee retirement plans. World at Work and the American Benefits Council in their recent survey found that three quarters of employers surveyed have maintained employer matching contributions, and another 15 percent have increased or are considering increasing their match. Only 8 percent decreased or plan to decrease the 401(k) match, and only 3 percent eliminated it entirely. Nine out of 10 US companies offer 401(k) plans as an employee benefit. “These statistics reflect that employers are clearly committed to providing retirement savings opportunities to their workers, even in tough economic times,” stated Cara Welch, public policy director for WorldatWork. However, half of the respondents said employees are taking loans from retirement accounts. The most common employer matching contribution was 3-4 percent of pay, and the most common employee contribution was 5-7 percent per paycheck. | <urn:uuid:16af2c54-b5ef-4d96-bfb9-02cc7a8d1e1f> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.computer.org/portal/web/buildyourcareer/news/-/blogs/972665 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368705559639/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516115919-00033-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.972379 | 181 | 1.585938 | 2 |
The Evil of the Daleks on TV
The Evil of the Daleks was a 1967 Doctor
Who story and is said by most fans to be one of the greatest
adventures on which the time traveler has been.
It has been voted the best Doctor Who story of all
time by readers of DWB and it was voted in at 9th
for Doctor Who Magazine. What makes it such a well-loved
story? The quality of writing, the acting, and the production
are all of a very high standard. But it has much more to it
To appreciate why it is so good, it must be looked at in context.
The previous story had seen the departure of Ben and Polly,
and with them went the last remnants of the William Hartnell
era. The Evil of the Daleks was the TV show's first
blockbuster season finale and it used all the tricks which
would be seen when The Parting of the Ways paid tribute
to it thirty-seven years later.
The story examines the human race, what makes us weak and
strong and most importantly how the most evil beings in the
universe would exploit it. The Daleks book-end Patrick Troughton's
first season. But whilst they were subjugated and initially
impotent in The Power of the Daleks, their return
in The Evil of the Daleks couldn't be more different.
In The Power of the Daleks, the Doctor was only person
who knew the truth of the situation. In the season finale
this situation is brilliantly turned on its head with The
Doctor being the last person to discover the trouble he is
in. The Daleks this time are totally in control, with their
brainwashed human operatives mixing with men who have been
bribed and blackmailed. Ultimately even the Doctor is forced
to work for them. As the story nears its conclusion the Doctor
jumps out of the frying pan and into the fire, as he ends
up on the Dalek homeworld of Skaro.
At this point, Skaro then became a book-end for the whole
of Doctor Who because it became the first and last
alien world visited by the Doctor. Doctor Who in
1967 was not full of back-references and sequels. After three-dozen
adventures, other than the Daleks, only The Meddling Monk
and the Cybermen had made a return. To rob the Doctor of his
TARDIS, pit him against his oldest foes, and send him back
to where he first met them was a thrilling treat for a fan
of the show.
Then add extra exciting ingredients: It is revealed that the
ruler of the Daleks is a giant Emperor who is hard-wired into
the city. A civil war erupts between two Dalek factions, and
a battle rages the like of which has never been seen before.
The only survivors of the carnage are the Doctor, Jamie and
a new companion, Victoria.
The is one of the few Doctor Who stories which play
out across different times and planets. Shifting the action
from the present day to peaceful Victorian England, and finally
to all-out war in an alien city really does make it epic.
But in addition, the narrative is filled with well-rounded
and interesting characters, all driven by different agendas.
There are some brilliant lines of dialogue and resolution
is both exciting and satisfying.
Aside from a few loose threads left hanging, there isn't a
great deal you could do to make this story any better and
for that reason it really is one of the greatest Doctor
Who adventures. It is perhaps also the greatest tragedy
in the history of the show that this legendary season finale
was wiped by the BBC.
Click here to read
about the TV serial.
The 2006 Stage Show
Evil of the Daleks
stage play was a fantastic stage production orchestrated
by a dedicated band of theatre workers and Doctor Who
Working on a modest budget and performing to packed houses,
this relatively small-scale production created a lasting impression
on the Doctor Who community young and old.
Their desire to bring this story to a new audience was born
out of a love of the old show and the fact that the new series
was revived in 2005, which generated an added impetus to make
a theatre production something which related to the returning
The idea proved to be a stroke of genius because even though
the two earlier plays of The Web of Fear and Fury
from the Deep had been extremely successful and well
received, the appearance of the Daleks following the second
new TV series generated more interest than ever before. Dalek
fans are like no other breed of Doctor Who fan, almost
an entirely separate entity and Dalek websites soon picked
up on the show, leading to tremendous interest and excitement
in the production.
It performed at the New Theatre Royal, Portsmouth in October
of 2006 and featured Nick Scovell as the Doctor, who also
adapted the script.
Set design, sound effects and Dalek voices were provided by
Rob Thrush who also produced the show.
Changes were made where necessary to the original story in
order to make it fit to the theatre but the ethos of David
Whitaker's original plot remained.
Some characters were removed, some tweaked and some new angles
were added. In all, this stage show was a stunning reworking
or the original and this website is proud to document its
to read about the Stage Show.
Print & Audio
With Target having finally negotiated
the rights to produce a novelisation
of The Evil of the Daleks, John Peel produced the 224
page version which fleshed out both the human and indeed the
Peel puts a lot of background information into the theft of
the TARDIS at the start of the story as well as what the Doctor
and Jamie go through to recover it.
The cover for this 1993 publication was provided by veteran
book cover artist Alister Pearson, who also provided art for
The Power of the Daleks published a month earlier.
For those more interested in trying to experience the spoken
word as it was on screen, rather than a writer's interpretation
of it, The Doctor Who Script Project has provided a complete
of The Evil of the Daleks.
For the best visual reference to this missing masterpiece,
the BBC website has a complete set of John Cura's telesnaps,
which are photographs of the episode as it happened.
If the telesnaps are viewed whilst accompanied by the audio
soundtrack available from the BBC, then this is the closest
a person can get to experiencing the episode as it was.
Save for a few location shots at Grim's Dyke, plus photos
leading up to the battle in episode seven, very little visual
material exists aside from the telesnaps, so they give an
Also available is the surviving episode two, which is available
on the Lost
in Time DVD. | <urn:uuid:fa051a73-84f1-4ffe-9c32-0e0a53bcbd6f> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.evilofthedaleks.co.uk/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368708766848/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516125246-00037-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.959173 | 1,462 | 1.515625 | 2 |
A U.S.-based rights group is urging the government of Ethiopia to immediately release 17 Muslim leaders jailed as part of a "brutal crackdown".
Human Rights Watch
says the men were among hundreds who were harassed, assaulted and detained during protests at mosques in the capital, Addis Ababa, last month.
HRW says the crackdown followed months of peaceful demonstrations against government interference in religious affairs, including attempts to control Islamic teachings.
It says although most of those protesters have been released, the 17 Muslim leaders have been held for three weeks without charge or access to lawyers.
Ethiopian police have previously blamed the mosque's committee for instigating the unrest and have warned foreign elements against influence that may be fueling the protests.
Human Rights Watch is calling on the Ethiopian government to address the grievances of the Muslim community through dialogue and not violence.
Muslims are Ethiopia's second-largest religious group, making up one-third of the country's 94 million people.
The Ethiopian government has expressed concern about the influence of Salafist, or Wahabist Muslims, who practice a more conservative form of Islam.
To combat this, the government has actively promoted the al-Ahbash sect of Islam, which is based on the teachings of an Ethiopian scholar who had been living in exile in Lebanon.
Some information for this report was provided by AFP. | <urn:uuid:0ef8dd80-a998-4333-b8ea-ab00926906c6> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.voanews.com/content/right_group_urges_ethiopia_to_release_jailed_muslim_protesters/1488679.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368699881956/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516102441-00001-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.970337 | 278 | 1.78125 | 2 |
“Sword and Brush” became a reality when standing face-to-face with an original Ueshiba calligraphy scroll. Kneeling in seiza made the experience even better! This had to be the highlight of this year’s John Stevens workshop. Professor Stevens brought this scroll so we could experience the spirit of O Sensei during our training. “AiKi O Kami” (Great Spirit of AiKi) was brushed so radiant and distinct that even when viewing from across the room it was crystal clear. For me there was a sense of extreme reverence in the brushwork of “O Kami.” (I even looked for the stains of tear drops!) (There weren’t any.)
The Aikido textbooks, lectures, and workshops of John Stevens are major sources of Aikido information. Much of this information is unavailable from any other source. For over 12 years the annual John Stevens East Coast Workshops have been evolving into a study on the deeper aspects of the fundamentals of Ueshiba’s Aikido. There are two new texts about to be released based on Ueshiba’s workshops/lectures which will most likely be included in next years sessions. I believe one will be a translation of an Ueshiba lecture.
This year, two days of Classical Aikido training were followed by two days of Zen Calligraphy.
The two days of Classical Aikido included kotodama (sound spirit). Primary sounds include A-O-U-E-I and Su. Kotodama sounds were paired with specific movement patterns. This trains the body to move with sound, coordinated by breath and breath rhythms. Sound and breath spirit translate into movement, and subsequently into technique. (The 2nd two days of training focused on Zen brushwork. This style of brushwork is characterized by the essence of the writer being transmitted via breath spirit, brush and ink to become a permanent, observable, living creation of a Zen state now affixed to paper. Thus the “Sword and Brush” connection that was also illustrated by Ueshiba’s scroll.)
Paired and solo weapon katas of Ueshiba, via Shirata Sensei, were also taught. Of note was that the “AiKi” sword of the katas is not the same as the bokken training in many styles of Aikido. In my case, the bokken training is of the very martial, forward focused, and powerful Doshinkan style of Philadelphia’s Kancho Utada. I had to change to an “AiKi’ sword style which made the spiritual connection of the katas work nicely. Plus it broadened my number of sword techniques.
The second two days were held on the grounds of Nakashima Woodworkers in New Hope, PA. The master level architecture and furniture design follow a similar foundational theme of “the forms are fairly easy to duplicate, but the path of creativity is not.”
Mira Nakashima “Nature Form and Spirit”
This setting provided the perfect environment for continuing our study. Forty-one Zen Scrolls were exhibited and offered for sale in the Minguren Museum of the Nakashima Woodworkers. A Zen brush class was also led by Professor Stevens, a master of Japanese Calligraphy who also curated the exhibit.
A scroll by Tesshu had two long lines of calligraphy. Professor Stevens pointed out that these two lines were brushed in a single breath rhythm. Once this was revealed, the impact of the effects of the mastery of a single breath movement became a marvel to experience. Tracing the breath rhythms of the other scrolls subsequently became a part of their experience; and made them more spiritually personal.
A favorite scroll was by one of the Marathon Monks who brushed the character for “courage” in way that resembled a running person.
Our study of Aikido is so vast. We thank John Stevens for helping us along our Aikido journey. | <urn:uuid:e26d7f33-1c6c-4591-aec3-bceb1ab0b772> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://blog.aikidojournal.com/2008/10/29/john-stevens-workshop-features-aikido-sword-and-brush-by-gary-ohama/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368701852492/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516105732-00029-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.968743 | 844 | 1.789063 | 2 |
I'm an engineer - matter of fact, I'm an ELECTRICAL engineer - so one of the FIRST things I'd be looking to do is to TURN IT BACK ON! There has been idle and not-so-idle chatter about what would happen in response to EMP - Electro-Magnetic Pulse, which can damage or destroy some electrical systems. The fact remains that there are electrical systems which would not be severely impacted, and sophisticated electrical circuitry which is more vulnerable can be hardened against EMP.
I note with slightly amused interest that there is a new show this fall on US television about what might happen if the power were somehow turned off permanently. Sorry, no such thing as "permanent" in this instance. The laws of physics remain, and so long as they do, I intend to USE THEM.
Please fix the power Loren - what will I do without the Internet and the Nexus? Or video games?
Maybe have to rely on Solar energy.
Read a book by the light of the candles and oil lamps that I have. Eat the preserved food, cooked over a wood fire, that I have personally canned. And, patiently wait for people like Loren to turn the electricity back on.
My house has neither plumbing nor heat, and the only reason that it has electricity is because I use it to make my living. I suppose I could try re-training my old brain to draw with a pencil again. Once after a hurricane power was out in our neighborhood for three weeks, and I rather enjoyed it. People were visiting neighbors, reading books, making babies, and sitting on porches playing guitars. I'm really not a Luddite, but I prefer to keep dependance on technology in perspective.
Get solar panels which I should do anyway.
Good point, Lillie. A solar panel/battery system connected to low demand electric appliances would do the trick. But I don't see computers, routers, and big screen TV's powered this way. The problem, of course, is that we aren't independent. We depend on power for refrigerated groceries and for medical services, for water treatment and pressure. Even my sump pump, working away at this moment to keep the basement dry, would run out of battery power in a few hours. It's all very scary.
If it were just the electrical grid that is gone,
I would not miss the internet, but I would miss music.
Otherwise, my life . . . . not much change at all.
Like Steph S.-- probably spend some money on photo volt stuff.
And you go, Loren.
It depends how it were to happen. If power lines went down, I'd be looking for people like my late father - who once strung lines for the REA "Rural Electrification Administration" - to put them back up. In case of something like a major storm, this could take days, weeks, or even months. If the grid went down or the like, I'd be looking for people like Loren to fix it - or fix the items that an EMT pulse damaged if they were not sufficiently "hardened" to shield against such things.
In another scenario, it would be possible that there would be fewer power plants online. The first ones to go might be the ones powered by natural gas, if there were to be supply disruptions or if the price got too high. Most of the power comes from coal, which will last at least a few more decades. A good bit of power comes from hydroelectric, and I suppose in the event of a severe and sustained drought, those could stop generating power - although in such an event, we would have much more pressing problems than power - namely drinking water and food. Some of our power comes from such things as wind turbines, which would continue to operate. Nuclear plants will continue running for quite some time with no further fuel. Power generation will not go away quickly.
In any event, there would be some serious problems if the power went out for a sustained period - even locally. For one thing, all of our refrigerated and frozen food would be spoiled in a couple of days. For another, our indoor climate systems - most especially air conditioning and electrical heat - would not keep us cool or warm. Even in the case of gas or oil furnaces, if we use furnace blowers to distribute that heat throughout the house - making said furnace unworkable. In winter, that would lead to other serious problems, such as water or sewer pipes bursting. This wouldn't be as big of a problem as it sounds, since municipal water systems and wells require electricity to operate. Natural gas, as opposed to "bottle gas" or propane, would cease to operate too as there would be no provision to pump it and keep up the pressure. You'd run out of oil or propane, with no provision to get any more. Staying warm would be a problem. If you had a woodstove or fireplace, you might be able to stay warm using local wood or other combustables.
Assuming that the electrical systems in cars still worked, you could drive your car (and listen to the radio or CD player if you wanted) to get to an area with power - at least until the local problem was fixed. If the nearest gasoline station with power were beyond the driving range of your car, you would not be able to purchase gas, because gas pumps work on electricity. You'd need to take enough gas in gas cans (yours, or any others you could obtain from neighbors - some of whom might ride with you).
The backbone of the internet - everything from the wiring coming to your house or business, the router, the ISP, and the other internet hubs and end-users - also run on electricity. The internet would be gone, gone, if the power went out globally and permanently - even as unlikely as that would be to happen in the short term.
Banks primarily work via electronics these days. It would be at the very least cumbersome to do anything from cash a check to deposit a check into the bank. Electronic funds transfers would not work, so if you are being paid via electronic funds transfer - especially from a non-local source, you would not have access to your money. Forget ATMs.
Much of what you would need to buy or sell you would need to do by barter. That would be more workable in some areas than others.
In the mean time, we could read about things that interest us in books. If you run out of them, your local library has quite a few, many of which are on topics that interest you. Or, spend time with local friends or family, including one's significant other. Without television and video games to distract us, we would find we had a lot more time to spend with one another. If the outage were to be everywhere, so going somewhere else would not help, you could work on putting together a better community and to improve what was there.
News would be hard to come by. There would be no internet, TV, or radio news sources if the outage were extensive. Even telegraph would not work, nor would such things as amateur radio. We would have to rely on accounts from people travelling through - on foot or horseback. Diesel trains would have trouble being fuelled, but they probably could be - for awhile anyway.
You're not kidding that "there would be some serious problems if the power went out for a sustained period". Not only do nuclear power plants only have a two week supply of fuel for backup cooling generators, chemical plants also depend on power for keeping hazardous and toxic chemicals in safe storage. We don't even think about chemical storage, we take it's safety for granted. The country would be littered by radioactive meltdowns and chemical disasters within a few weeks. There are seven chemical plants near me
What would happen without people to maintain it is devastating!
The History Channel came up with a series "Life After People", exploring what would happen in lots of ways if humans just somehow vanished. These are available on Youtube.
There are also TONS of buried chemical wastes, buried in containers which will last somewhere between decades and centuries, depending on the specifics of the chemical, which we have produced as a byproduct of making something else, which we do not know how to destroy or dispose of safely, but buried it hoping that someone in the future figures it out.
It's the same with nuclear wastes. As yet, there are no long-term storage sites for spent nuclear fuel rods - that was what the proposed Yucca Mountain site was to do, but there have been too many political and environmental issues with setting it up. So, instead, nuclear plants keep them in pools under at least 20 feet of refrigerated water. The pools were designed to store the used fuel rods for a few months, but as there's no long-term facility, many of them have been there for years, and plants have had to create more such pools. If the refrigerators go out, these rods heat up - at a heat level where they catch fire after rapidly boiling the water out of their pool. This is one reason that Fukushima caught fire. If there are a lot of them together, they may go critical.
If the nuclear power plant could produce power for its own use, the rods would be safe for a few months or a couple of years. When the reactor stopped producing electricity for the plant's own use, there would be a melt down. Multiply that by all of the reactors on earth and the result would be a disaster above any scale we've ever seen.
I would be hysterical if I couldn't refrigerate my son's insulin if I knew electricity would NEVER come back on...
I hope that you have some sort of backup option. About a year and a half ago, while trying to fix up my previous house in Oklahoma before selling it, the town was hit by a tornado, and the power was off for 3 days - which spoiled all of the food in the refrigerator, and thawed everything in the freezer. | <urn:uuid:e69a3488-18e6-48f9-ae46-eb107c2a8c88> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.atheistnexus.org/forum/topics/what-would-you-do-if-electricity-shut-off-forever?commentId=2182797%3AComment%3A2045554 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368705559639/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516115919-00008-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.979028 | 2,064 | 1.59375 | 2 |
It was 30 years ago today when the country was able to watch music videos on a cable channel dedicated soley to rock music. MTV was launched as an initialism of "Music Television" when the clip “Video Killed The Radio Star” by The Buggles aired on August 1, 1981. (The second video to air was Pat Benatar's "You Better Run.")
The channel had a profound effect on pop culture and signaled a new era in how the country consumed music and perceive musicians. The channel's original format was initially like a radio station where on-air hosts known as VJs would introduce video segments.
Although there are many, here is some benchmark moments and trivia:
• The original five MTV VJs in 1981 were Nina Blackwood, Mark Goodman, Alan Hunter, J.J. Jackson (who died in 2004) and Martha Quinn.
• Many black artists had trouble finding an audience on the rock-dominated channel. After pressure from record execs at CBS, MTV began showing Michael Jackson's "Billie Jean" video in regular rotation in 1983. It officially was the start of a lengthy partnership with the King of Pop and opened the doors for other artists like Prince, Rick James, Donna Summer and Eddy Grant.
• In 1984, the network produced its first MTV Video Music Awards show.
• The MTV Movie Awards debuted in 1992.
• The animated cult smash "Beavis and Butt-head" aired from 1993-1998. On July 13, 2010, it was announced that the series would be revived.
• In 1997, "Total Request Live" presented the Top 10 daily videos. With charm and good looks, host Carson Daly brought popularity to the show and it soon developed a cult-type following. Eventually, hundreds of fans would stand in Times Square outside the TRL studios each weekday during the show's taping. But now, like "TRL," VJ's are gone -- replaced with "Twitter Jockeys."
• In 1992, "The Real World" reality show debuted and showcased the lives of seven young adults all living under one roof. In a way, it started the wave of the original programming-oriented MTV we know today. Soon came "Laguna Beach," "The Hills" and "Teen Mom."
• "The Osbournes" reality show premiered on MTV on March 5, 2002 and followed the lives of rocker Ozzy Osbourne and his family. In its first season, the show was cited as the most-viewed series ever on MTV until ...
• In 2009, Snooki killed the video star when the network delivered "Jersey Shore." It meshed what worked in "The Real World" with the fist-pumping antics of guidos and guidettes in Seaside Heights, New Jersey. | <urn:uuid:47d1e7a4-aac2-40fe-92c7-48187eb5fade> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.nj.com/entertainment/tv/index.ssf/2011/08/mtv_30_years_old_birthday.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368705953421/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516120553-00030-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.963405 | 576 | 1.679688 | 2 |
A Swimsuit is a one-piece article of clothing that is designed for participating in different manners of water based events. Worn casually by the more modest.
Swimsuits are usually worn at the beach or when swimming. They are one-piece, skin-tight costumes generally designed to be practical and often fashionable. They are usually less revealing than bikinis while still offering maximum manoeuvrability as the wearer's arms and legs are completely free.
Swimsuits are most often seen during beach episodes/volumes or during swimming class in schools. Many consider the use of more revealing swimsuits in anime and manga as fan service. | <urn:uuid:cd7569ee-100a-4e3c-af43-fd97ac5d0ece> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.animevice.com/swimsuit/21-388/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368708142388/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516124222-00027-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.984904 | 130 | 1.757813 | 2 |
Unplug for an afternoon.
How to do it
Put down the phone and step away from anything with a screen. Set a technology-free time for a few hours this afternoon. Take advantage of this time to catch up with your family and friends, cook dinner or play with the kids.
Why it matters
Some people feel as though they are distracted by technology. They have difficulty completing tasks because their attention is divided between so many different things. Others feel as though they can never completely relax, because with the ubiquitous nature of email and instant message, they can be reached by anyone, at any time. Giving yourself a regular, scheduled break from technology can help ease stress and provide time to focus on other important aspects of your life.
Sign up now to have a challenge like this sent to your email every day. Simple as that.
or See more well-being tips
Copyright ©2013 MeYou Health, LLC. All rights reserved. MeYou Health, LLC is a Healthways, Inc. company. | <urn:uuid:88bea7c5-8407-4e98-9e5e-57a5e38cc812> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.texashealth.org/well-being_template_wellbeing-inner.cfm?id=5424 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368700958435/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516104238-00024-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.971722 | 207 | 1.5625 | 2 |
The measure grants President Barack Obama the power to impose sanctions against any country or company that enters into a joint venture or offers technology to assist Iran's uranium or oil industries.
Both the White House and Congress are committed to preventing Iran from obtaining nuclear weapons capability, said Sen. Robert Menendez, D-N.J., the bill's chief architect, according to Agence-France Presse.
Iran can either come to Baghdad with a real plan...or we'll make our own plan -- through sanctions or other necessary measures -- to ensure that Iran fails to achieve its nuclear ambitions, he added.
The move is aimed at hurting Iran's national oil and tanker firms, and for the first time extends sanctions to punish those who work on a joint venture with Iranian companies anywhere in the world.
The legislation also calls for a travel ban and the freezing of U.S. assets for any individuals or firms who provide Tehran with a range of weapons or surveillance equipment used to repress its people.
The Senate has worked hard to improve our sanctions toward Iran, added Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., according to AFP.
And this effort, combined with the sanctions of the European Union, should strengthen the hand of our own negotiators.
The Senate bill must be reconciled with a similar House-passed measure before going to the president.
The European Union has enacted its own set of sanctions, including banning EU-based ship insurers and re-insurers -- who cover 90 percent of the world's tankers -- from covering vessels carrying Iranian crude.
The EU is also set to ban the import of Iranian oil from July 1.
On Wednesday, diplomats from the P5 + 1 group -- the U.S, Russia, China, Britain, France and Germany -- are to meet with the Iranians in Baghdad for talks about the country's suspected nuclear weapons and uranium enrichment programs.
It is hoped a successful outcome during the Baghdad talks will diffuse growing tensions in the region which has led to stiff economic sanctions on Iran and fears of a new Middle East war. | <urn:uuid:f136475b-c001-4d0d-a047-b254ab6bda83> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.ibtimes.com/senate-backs-tougher-iran-sanctions-ahead-baghdad-talks-699440 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368703682988/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516112802-00000-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.946719 | 419 | 1.835938 | 2 |
When you think of Vietnam, usually robots are the last thing that springs to mind. But, thanks to a little creation called mRobot, robots are exactly what Vietnam is becoming known for this week at the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) currently taking place in Las Vegas.
TOSY – which stands for Technology, Originality, Satisfaction, and Yearning – is the first Vietnamese robotics company, making giant robots, personal robots, industrial robots, and high-tech toys. The company is based in the capital, Hanoi, and it has an impressive record already:
- The TOSY AFO, an illuminated toy boomerang, was featured on David Letterman’s Late Show.
- The same AFO topped the chart as the ‘Top Tech Toy of 2011’ at the Toy Fair in New York
- TOSY’s TOOP holds a Guinness World Record for the world’s longest spinning top (yes, it’s motorized), which spun for a full 24 hours.
The little mRobo has quite a few skills of its own – it was spotted this week at CES dancing Gangnam Style, shaking hands with Justin Bieber, and generally being awesome all over CES.
Basically, mRobo moves its shiny metal butt along with any music. It weighs 1.5kg and transforms from a small speaker that’s just 20cm tall into a dancing robo-man measuring nearly half a metre tall. With 2GB of memory, it can hold up to 500 songs. mRobo’s software analyzes the beats and rhythms of the music and syncs its dance moves accordingly. It can bust moves (see the video below) to any beats that it hears, like music it’s playing or music streamed via Bluetooth. The mRobo costs $200.
Check out mRobo as he dances with the Bieb:
The post Meet mRobo, the Vietnam-Made Gangnam-Dancing Robot That Wowed CES [VIDEO] appeared first on Tech in Asia.
Link to full article | <urn:uuid:c448324d-f77c-45ec-af22-a3835498c4a4> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://web2asia.blognhanh.com/2013/01/meet-mrobo-vietnam-made-gangnam-dancing_11.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368704392896/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516113952-00012-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.939288 | 434 | 1.5 | 2 |
Israel apologizes to New Zealand over spy case, normal relations resume
New Zealand PM Clark says Israel commits itself to preventing recurrence of similar incidents in future.
WELLINGTON - New Zealand Prime Minister Helen Clark announced Sunday that Israel had made a formal apology for sending two agents into the country last year to try to obtain a false passport.
Normal relations between the two countries, suspended last July in retaliation for what New Zealand called an unfriendly act by a friendly country, are being resumed immediately, Clark said.
Israeli spies had fraudulently obtained a "very small number" of New Zealand passports, Clark revealed Sunday.
She said it was learned that passports had been obtained by people working on behalf of Israeli intelligence during investigations into the arrest of two Mossad secret service agents as they tried to get another one last year.
The passports had been cancelled and "it would be futile for attempts to be made to use them," Clark said.
The diplomatic rift flared up in March 2004 when two Israelis, Eli Cara and Uri Kelman, believed to be agents of the Mossad secret service, were arrested for attempting to obtain a New Zealand passport by fraudulently stealing the identify of a quadriplegic man.
They were convicted in July and jailed for six months, but were released and deported in September after making substantial charitable contributions.
The New Zealand government suspended all high level contacts with Israel pending a formal apology and barred President Moshe Katsav and Deputy Chief of Staff Major-General Gabi Ashkenazi from making visits earlier this year.
"The Israeli letter of apology, signed by Foreign Minister Silvan Shalom, states that Israel apologizes for the involvement of its two citizens in the activities which led to their arrest and convictions in New Zealand," Clark said.
"It further states that Israel regrets these activities and commits itself to taking steps to prevent a recurrence of similar incidents in future."
She said New Zealand agreed to resume full ties following the letter of apology after consultations between the two governments carried out through diplomatic channels over recent months.
A new Israeli ambassador to New Zealand, whose accreditation had been held up by the dispute, will now be welcomed and visits and other diplomatic activities can be restored, Clark said.
She said the government had been strengthening the processes used to issue passports for some time.
Commentators said New Zealand passports had been sought by Israeli agents because it was seen as a neutral country and holders of the documents could move easily over international borders. | <urn:uuid:7e18c828-b15f-4200-89a8-5c92a32f8d61> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.haaretz.com/news/israel-apologizes-to-new-zealand-over-spy-case-normal-relations-resume-1.162248 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368710006682/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516131326-00014-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.980757 | 510 | 1.585938 | 2 |
Posted by WReporter
on Jun 25th, 2011 in Economy
| Comments Off
Egypt says will not need help from the World Bank (WB) and International Monetary Fund (IMF), although an agreement has been made on granting a loan to help the country restore its economy, said the Egyptian Minister of Finance Samir Radwan on Saturday.
“So we do not need to go at this stage to the Bank and the Fund,” Radwan said, adding Egypt, which had borrowed from the IMF under ousted president Hosni Mubarak, still had the “best relations” with the two U.S.-based institutions.
Egypt’s cabinet had approved on June 1 a budget for 2011/12 that increased spending by a quarter to create jobs, help the poor and decided to grant a loan of three billion dollars in Cairo.
According to Radwan, the new budget was reviewed, and its deficit will be filled by national efforts and $ 500 million released by Qatar.
“It’s a gift,” said the minister, when asked about the loan terms Qatari.
The Egyptian economy, which depends largely on tourism, was hit hard during and after the popular uprising that overthrew President Hosni Mubarak on February 11. The country’s tourism sector has lost more than two billion dollars in lost profits. Foreign investment has virtually ceased. Plants and factories are not running at full capacity, from 20 to 50% of capacity is incurred.
Useful links: Investments for beginners, advices,ideas | <urn:uuid:608432a4-18f6-4775-a1fa-6d45fde6dc79> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.wreporter.com/world/wb-imf-egypt-refuses-the-loan/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368696382584/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516092622-00007-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.976615 | 318 | 1.679688 | 2 |
The endless tap-tap-tapping of pencil on table was about to send Cathy over the edge. "Kyle. Please. Put the pencil down. Now, who's found Luke 1:37?”
"Oooh, Mrs, Cathy! Me! Can I read?" Emma asked, waving her hand in the air.
“Yep, but wait til everyone’s found it, ok?” She rubbed her temple, trying to still the ache in her head.
Kyle blurted, “Nothing is impossible with God,” and started tap-tap-tapping again
Cathy sighed quietly, but smiled. “That’s right, Kyle, but I called on Emma. Maybe you can help John find the verse,” she said and snatched the pencil from his hand.
“I don’t need help,” John said, “cuz I know where it is.”
“Great! Let me know when you find it.” Cathy scanned the other kids crowded around the table. “Jacob, how ya coming?”
The tow-headed tyke raised his confused eyes from the table of contents in his Bible. “Ok. I’m ok.”
Maddie, growing impatient, flipped her curls over her shoulder and snorted. “Oh, come on. This one’s easy.”
“Maddie, how about if you go show Jacob how to find the book of Luke, and Kyle, would you go sharpen our pencils please?” Cathy grabbed the pencil box off the table and handed it to the boy. “We’re going to need them for our activity.”
“MRS. CATHY! I FOUND IT!” John jumped out of his chair and ran to tug on Cathy’s hand. “Come on, I’ll show you.”
Nothing will be impossible with you, God, including getting through this Sunday School lesson.
The names above have not been changed to protect the innocent children I love with all my heart.
I generally don't use any tags (he said, she said), but let an action "tag" the speaker. I purposely used one in my challenge entry this week.
When I'm reading, I don't see the tags, you are right about that. Sometimes I find myself skipping everything that isn't in quotes when it's an intense read.
I also worked hard on using your lessons to improve my dialog this week, and use it to add characterization and action - to let it show the story.
Thanks Jan! You are helping me so much! | <urn:uuid:9929a962-472b-4be0-a982-66ca4ba6c4e7> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.faithwriters.com/Boards/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?p=416246 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368696382584/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516092622-00000-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.95085 | 572 | 1.765625 | 2 |
Pond Logic Blue Heron Decoy
Keep herons out of your pond with the Blue Heron Decoy. Herons are very territorial, so when the decoy is placed near your pond, other herons will avoid conflict and find a different pond to "feast" on. It makes a great decoration too. Made in the USA.
- Blue heron decoy
- Placed by the pond during March and April can actually draw a male in search of a mate.
- Decoy is a very effective method in June through February because once he picks his mate the heron then defends his territory.
- Herons stay out of other herons' defended territories when not in search of a mate.
- Periodically move it around to keep up the appearance of a live bird.
- Measures 23"L x 7"W x 29"H
- Assembly required
- Weighs 2.2 lbs
- Comes with heron body, stand with legs attached, and post
- Made in USA | <urn:uuid:acd1f93e-8c41-4a84-8e86-a57f3c267f6a> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.meijer.com/s/pond-logic-blue-heron-decoy/_/R-185204 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368705559639/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516115919-00021-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.947154 | 212 | 1.6875 | 2 |
View Full Version : EARLY Morning Bottle
My son is 13 months now. He eats well (2 bottles and 3 meals) and sleeps well. The only problem we have is he gets up at around 4:30-5am for a bottle. Although he goes back to sleep straight after the bottle, we believe this is more a habbit than need. Therefore we want to use the control cry for this situation. But is it possible that he is hungry and needs this bottle? I was told he should not wake up for hunger until 7am. Help!!!!!!!!!
What time does he go to bed at night? And what time does he have dinner? Does he have a bottle before bed? (Sorry, so many questions, lol)
I'm sorry I know I'm knew to this and a new mum but I have an 11wk old, he has been sleeping through the night since five weeks but what I wanted to say was that the times when he wakes up befor 4am (4am is the earlyest I will feed him because 95% of the time he sleeps till 5:30am) at first I would just offer him water this way he does not get dehydrated and then he wuld eventually go back to sleep. But after a while I would just put his dummy back in and he will go back to sleep like that now. Usually he doesn't wake up properly till 5:30am... I know I'm lucky But I did a modified controled crying with him from 1wk.. It is and was modifyed. I don't just leave him cry himself to sleep. and the breaks of when I left him at first never whent higher then 10mins apart. Now he puts himslf to sleep.
Anyway if he wakes up and you know it's not hunger try just giving him a drink of water, he might not like it at first but he will get used to it.
I would try just settling him back off to sleep. He'll soon let you know if he really needs the feed or not!! If he goes back to sleep - great. If he doesn't and continued to cry, you may have your answer.
I was told he should not wake up for hunger until 7am.
Everyone's different, but I reckon your son is the one who knows best whether he's hungry or not! My daughter would wake up for a feed at about that time well past 14 months, I'd give her a bottle and go back to sleep. (Do you really want to be woken up and lie awake in bed listening to the baby cry! :eek: ) She hasn't woken up for an early morning feed since she turned two. (still sometimes likes to sleep in and asks for a "Little tiny little baby bottle little *giggle*" :p )
Hi Pat, Your problem sounds exactly what I had with my daughter when she was the same age as your son, she was using the bottle of milk as a comfort thing and she definately ate enough food and had two bottles during the day as well, she definately wasn't starving!!. To fix this I rang a helpline at a place called Ngala (they are in Perth and help parents with any issues you have regarding kids). What they told me to do was the next time my daughter wakes for that early morning feed is to either try "cold turkey" and give her a bottle of water straight up or (the method I used) is make the bottle with half milk, half water and give it to her. The next night reduce the amount of milk in it, so the formula is more watered down. Continue this each night until the bottle is made up of just the water. When I did it this way on the second night my daughter actually slept right through with out a bottle and I thought this is too good to be true she's sleeping through already!! I was right, the third night was hell!! She woke up at the 4.30-5am time wanting that bottle and I just gave her the water which she didn't take, so she cried for about an hour or so then finally went back to sleep. Ever since that night she never woke up and cried for that bottle again. I was lucky I only had one bad night with her. The lady I spoke to did tell me it would be tiring doing this but if you be strong and stay with it the problem will be fixed. Maybe you could try this way and see how you go, it worked for me. It was great to be able to have a full nights sleep again. If you do try this method let me know how you go as I really hope it works for you too. Bye for now.
I really like that idea! :yelclap:
Powered by vBulletin® Version 4.1.9 Copyright © 2013 vBulletin Solutions, Inc. All rights reserved. | <urn:uuid:d2d3c08f-a7cb-48ef-b623-010fe56a0786> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.bubhub.com.au/community/forums/archive/index.php/t-15055.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368708766848/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516125246-00015-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.987312 | 1,009 | 1.609375 | 2 |
RICHMOND, Va. (AP) - No one in Virginia may have won the Mega Millions jackpot, but lottery officials say the state's public schools were big winners.
During the jackpot run that began after the Jan. 24 drawing and continued until Friday, sales of Mega Millions tickets in Virginia generated nearly $22 million in profit. By law, all of that profit goes to K-12 public schools in Virginia.
In addition, officials say that Virginia retailers that sell lottery tickets earned more than $2.4 million in selling commissions.
The Virginia Lottery generates approximately $1.2 million per day for Virginia's K-12 public schools. The lottery raised more than $444 million for Virginia's public schools in fiscal year 2011. That's about 8 percent of state funding for public education in Virginia. | <urn:uuid:14f7af38-eaac-473c-bd1f-c2c45da5e5a2> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.wfls.com/Virginia-Schools-Get-About--22M-from-Mega-Millions-Sales/12543829?archive=1&pid=229924 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368699273641/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516101433-00028-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.96344 | 168 | 1.609375 | 2 |
Fuel Swap Shakes Sanctions Draft, Prods U.S. on New Iran Talks
WASHINGTON, May 29, 2010 (IPS) - Although the Barack Obama administration continued to dismiss the May 17 Iranian fuel swap agreement Friday, there are indications that Iran's move has shaken the agreement among U.N. Security Council members on sanctions, and is bringing Russian diplomatic pressure on the United States to participate in new talks with Iran on the swap arrangement - something the administration clearly wished to avoid.
In a hastily arranged conference call with reporters Friday afternoon, three "senior administration officials" assailed the new swap agreement, brokered by Brazil and Turkey, for failing to address what was described as Iran's decision to continue enrichment of uranium to 20 percent, the increase in Iran's low-enriched uranium (LEU) stocks since last October, or U.N. Security resolutions demanding a suspension of all enrichment.
In a telltale sign that the Iranian move has shaken the previous unity among the permanent Security Council members on sanctions, however, one of the officials sidestepped a question about the present stance of Russia and China on sanctions.
Far from expressing confidence that the agreement still held, the official would only say, "We've been working with the full Council to resolve any outstanding issues."
Secretary of State Hillary Clinton announced an agreement on a draft resolution on sanctions within hours of the May 17 announcement of the Iranian fuel swap agreement in Tehran.
An article published on Xinhua News Agency Saturday by Zhai Dequan, the deputy secretary-general of China's Arms Control and Disarmament Association, appears to signal that China is backing out of the previous agreement on sanctions against Iran.
Citing Iran's agreement to the specifics of the swap deal, the article concluded, "Since the situation has changed, pre-planned punitive actions, too, should be altered accordingly, meaning there is no longer any rationality in imposing further sanctions on Iran."
The views expressed by the association have often reflected the policies of the Chinese foreign ministry, which had already issued a statement welcoming Iran's agreement on the swap proposal.
In remarks to reporters Thursday reported by RTT News, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said Moscow "welcomes" the fuel swap deal. "The arrangement serves the interests of settling the Iranian nuclear problem," Lavrov said, "and, therefore, we believe everything should be done to implement it."
Lavrov said Russia was talking with Brazil and Turkey, as well as with the U.S. and France, on how to implement the swap deal.
The Russian Foreign Ministry issued a statement Friday, also reported by RTT News, confirming that Lavrov had a phone conversation with Iranian Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki on Thursday. Summarising the conversation, it said, "Russia expressed its readiness to actively support the advancement of the process of negotiation aimed at resolving the situation surrounding the Iranian nuclear programme."
Mottaki was meanwhile expressing confidence Friday that the "Vienna Group" (the United States, Russia, France and the International Atomic Energy Agency) would reconvene to work out the details of the swap proposal Iran had communicated to the IAEA.
Speaking to reporters at an economic forum in Bulgaria, Mottaki said he had spoken to Lavrov by phone Thursday about the fuel swap plan. "[T]to my understanding, I think the Vienna Group are considering [it] positively," said Mottaki.
"As soon as their response to [IAEA Director General Yukiya] Amano comes, I think negotiations will start," he added.
A website associated with Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, Raja News, claimed Friday that Obama had ordered Clinton to send a representative to Vienna for another meeting with Iran on the details of the swap proposal within three weeks.
The site said the U.S. aim at the meeting would be to ask Iran to halt the enrichment of uranium to 20 percent that had begun in February.
In the conference call Friday, one official emphasised the U.S. complaint that Iran is enriching uranium to 20 percent to provide fuel for its Tehran Research Reactor, which is used to make medical isotopes. The official alleged that, after the May 17 agreement, "the head of the Atomic Energy Organisation of Iran said that even if the deal... materialises, Iran will continue to enrich at the 20-percent level..."
But that allegation was based on the interpretation of Ali Akbar Salehi's remarks to Reuters in the lead of the May 17 story. A careful reading of the actual statements quoted in the story support a very different interpretation.
What Salehi said was, "There is no relationship between the swap deal and our enrichment activities," by which he appears to have meant that Iran was not obliged under the swap deal to change its enrichment activities in general.
Salehi also said, "We will continue our 20 percent enrichment." He did not specify that the enrichment would continue even after an agreement was reached to provide fuel rods for the Tehran Research Reactor.
In another case of apparent misinterpretation, the Washington Post quoted Ramin Mehmanparast, Iran's Foreign Ministry spokesman, as saying on May 17, "Of course, enrichment of uranium to 20 percent will continue inside Iran."
But the IRNA English language story says, "Talking to reporters, Mehmanparast said that of course, Iran will continue 20 percent enrichment in the duration." The context of the remark was the announcement by Mehmanparast that Iran would "ship fuel to Turkey in a month in case of the Vienna group readiness and conclusion of a deal between Iran and the group". The phrase "in the duration" thus appeared to refer to the period up to such a deal.
In February, when the enrichment to 20 percent began, Salehi and other Iranian officials clearly stated that the enrichment would stop if and when the fuel rods were supplied.
The more ambiguous statements by Salehi and Mehmanparast after Iran's agreement to the original U.S.-IAEA swap proposal suggest a desire to force the Obama administration to negotiate with Iran over the issue of when that enrichment would end.
The State Department's spokesman P. J. Crowley asserted on May 20 that the United States would not negotiate further with Iran unless Iran first agreed to discuss suspension of all enrichment activities.
The diplomatic maneuvering of the past week suggests, however, that the Obama administration may be forced to meet with Iran without any promise to talk about a general suspension of enrichment.
Gareth Porter is an investigative historian and journalist specialising in U.S. national security policy. The paperback edition of his latest book, "Perils of Dominance: Imbalance of Power and the Road to War in Vietnam", was published in 2006. | <urn:uuid:748b0484-1d5a-4f8f-a8b7-558961831646> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.zcommunications.org/fuel-swap-shakes-sanctions-draft-prods-u-s-on-new-iran-talks-by-gareth-porter | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368702810651/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516111330-00025-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.964745 | 1,381 | 1.515625 | 2 |
29 July 2011 The Israeli Government needs to take more steps to lift the blockade of the Gaza Strip, particularly to allow the free import of construction materials into the area, Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said today.
In a meeting with Ehud Barak, Israel’s Deputy Prime Minister and Defence Minister, Mr. Ban discussed the current impasse in the Israeli-Palestinian peace process, the situation in the West Bank and Gaza, as well as the situation in Lebanon and the wider Middle East, according to information released by his spokesperson.
The United Nations chief urged “an early resumption of meaningful Israeli-Palestinian negotiations,” which have been stalled for nearly a year.
On Gaza, Mr. Ban “expressed his appreciation for the approval of UN projects and underlined the need for further steps by the Government of Israel towards the lifting of the closure” in line with an earlier Security Council resolution.
Israel imposed a blockade on Gaza for what it said were security reasons after Hamas, which does not recognize Israel’s right to exist, ousted the Fatah movement in the Strip in 2007.
Last month Israel approved building materials for new homes and schools to be constructed in Gaza by the UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA). In June last year Israel also started allowing more civilian goods into Gaza while restricting access to concrete, iron and other materials.
Mr. Ban’s comments today to Mr. Barak echo the remarks made by the Middle East Quartet – the diplomatic grouping comprising the UN, the European Union, Russia and the United States – in its most recent statement, made earlier this month.
The Quartet said that while the efforts to ease the blockade were welcome, “considerably more” needs to be done.
Today Mr. Ban also voiced concern to Mr. Barak about settlement expansion in the West Bank, including East Jerusalem. He also encouraged efforts aimed at restoring good relations between Israel and Turkey.
News Tracker: past stories on this issue | <urn:uuid:a9b7d755-d351-4454-960e-2a9ddd1dbcc1> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.un.org/apps/news/story.asp?Cr=palestin&Cr1=&NewsID=39198 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368697974692/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516095254-00005-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.959476 | 418 | 1.554688 | 2 |
Microsoft (MSFT) has a surprise hit on its hands: the Microsoft Surface Pro -- A 10.6", 2lb laptop/tablet hybrid retailing from $899. Unusually for the relatively staid laptop marketplace, it quickly sold out upon launch on February 9th, with new orders now forecast to arrive from March 1st onwards. This is an impressive reversal of the Surface RT launch in November. Despite being available on launch day to most developed markets, and despite being around half the price of the Surface Pro ($499 upwards), the Surface RT struggled to make an impact, with estimates suggesting less than a million sold so far. To put this in context, Asus, a relative lightweight in the tablet world, sold three times as many in Q4 2012.
The contrasting successes of the Surface line present an unexpected problem to Microsoft, which will necessitate a strategic shift by the company. If Microsoft fails to recognize what has occurred within the next few months, it will lose the tablet sales war for another software generation. To help the reader gauge for themselves the true scope of this problem, a quick recap of how this came about is in order.
Microsoft's Strategic Choice
In November 2012, Microsoft launched two operating systems: "Windows 8" and "Windows RT". The former is designed to take advantage of the x86 instruction set architecture. This market, traditionally dominated by Intel (INTC), has supplied most of the world's PCs for the last 30 years. Historically, the x86 family's chief strength could be characterized as delivering the raw power required for complex applications. Almost unnoticed at first, however, the ARM (ARMH) instruction set architecture has grown in prominence. Chances are, if you're reading this from a tablet or a smartphone, you're using it right now. Characterized by energy efficiency, this simple instruction set has become the platform of choice for vendors such as Apple (AAPL), Broadcom (BRCM), Nvidia (NVDA) and Qualcomm (QCOM), creating products where space is at a premium, such as the archetypal tablet.
As tablet sales exploded, Microsoft had been left out in the cold. With Windows 7 unable to operate on ARM and not being designed for touch, over 97% of tablets sold in 2012 relied on non-Microsoft solutions. To establish a presence in this market, Microsoft created Windows RT, specifically designed to work in energy efficient situations. This supposedly stripped-down version of Windows 8 nevertheless requires a massive 8 GB, taking up over twice the space of iOS or Android. To show the capabilities of these two sister operating systems, Microsoft created the Surface Pro -- running Windows 8 and the light-weight Surface RT -- running Windows RT.
What Microsoft Envisaged Happening
Microsoft envisaged Windows 8 and Windows RT complementing one another through classic market segmentation. The full-blown W8 OS would run on advanced PCs and laptops. RT would run on tablets and small hybrid machines. This would enable Microsoft to establish a presence on tablets and create a viable 3rd ecosystem alongside Apple's iOS and Google's (GOOG) Android. Then, through having a shared marketplace (known as the Store) for W8 and RT, they would achieve economies of scale and make it a profitable venture for 3rd party app developers. This marketplace would then slowly make the existing "desktop" applications obsolete, with most new apps bought and downloaded from the "Store." Most pertinently, this Store is curated by Microsoft, which for its trouble, takes a rather generous 20-30% cut (see 5b) of any sale made.
The good news for Microsoft is that W8 sales are strongly on track, with 60 million licenses sold to date. Just like its predecessors, one can predict that this will become the world's biggest operating system (though it may be under the different moniker of Windows Blue).
RT sales, on the other hand, have singularly failed to take off. To give an insight into the popularity of the Surface RT, the device supposed to showcase RT's capabilities, the following Google Trends graph is illuminating:
I believe this graph is a direct inverse of what Microsoft had predicted. This mistake is probably based on the very simple supply/demand principle that the lower the price, the higher the demand. One can see how the Surface RT may sell twice as much as the Surface Pro, being half the price, for example. However, this is not happening. Microsoft's poor demand forecasting system made around 1.25 million Surface RTs available at launch, but extrapolating from the small number of Surface Pros distributed to retail outlets throughout the U.S., I estimate only 50,000 units for the Surface Pros. The result was predictable. An overabundance of Surface RTs with a launch possible in many countries simultaneously (expect many of these to be discounted for sale shortly); and not enough Surface Pros for sale, despite being available only in North America. I do believe, however, this number will greatly increase over time as Microsoft's supply chain shifts production to the Surface Pro in preference to the Surface RT to tap the unmet demand.
What Microsoft Needs To Do Next
I believe that Windows RT is an engineering solution to a problem that didn't need solving. Microsoft strategists, in a classic piece of MBA-thinking, evaluated Intel and its low-power capabilities and compared them with the ARM chipset makers and their capabilities. One can very clearly imagine a boardroom wracked with the political intrigue Microsoft is famous for, where strategists far from Microsoft's centers of innovation agreed that this market position was static. They did not foresee that Intel is making giant strides in low-power chips, as it has fully recognized that ARM presents an existential threat and needs to be responded to. Despite hiccups along the way, one can fully expect Intel, which spends $2.5 billion on R&D per quarter, to eventually catch up with ARMH, which spends 50 times less on R&D. Effectively, this means, even with the most pessimistic forecasts, within two years, Intel will be able to fully compete in the tablet marketplace, negating the entire raison d'être for Windows RT.
Just as importantly, Microsoft's strategists did not foresee that a Windows RT tablet, with the core capabilities of Windows removed (i.e., the capability to run desktop programs), is not a very attractive proposition at all. This unattractiveness is increasingly apparent with Samsung (SSNLF.PK) giving up on a global rollout of the Samsung Ativ RT, and Nokia apparently cancelling the launch of its Windows RT tablet entirely. I did voice my doubts in an earlier article about Nokia's (NOK) RT tablet, and I do believe it has made the right choice if it has switched to developing a tablet running the full Windows 8. With other industry leviathans voicing doubts about RT, I believe ultimately this platform must be regarded as stillborn.
Microsoft's next steps are thus crucial for investors and interested observers in the stock. Windows RT was an interesting experiment, which can be considered a failure. If Microsoft persists in trying to bludgeon its way into an incredibly competitive tablet market with Windows RT, it will not succeed. It will lose money, and it will take away valuable developer time from ensuring the success of Windows 8, where Microsoft actually has demonstrated a competitive advantage through the Surface Pro. It needs to continue with spreading the usage of Windows 8 on tablets through optimizations. If Microsoft instead persists with RT development, this will call into question whether Microsoft will ever be able to out-innovate Google and Apple and stop its decade-long oscillation around the $27 stock price mark. Google especially has the brilliant ability to drop products that are not working in its annual "Spring Cleaning". This is perhaps a key reason why, as of today, Google's market capitalization has overtaken Microsoft's, and is likely to stay that way for the medium term. The ideal reaction for Microsoft then would be to quietly shift emphasis away from Windows RT. If this does occur, perhaps we really are seeing a new more determined Microsoft, which seizes opportunities when it sees them and divests itself of failures quickly. If it doesn't, expect continued share-price stagnation.
Disclosure: I am long NOK. | <urn:uuid:15cfd593-fd50-4a57-97f7-d318cac281ea> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://seekingalpha.com/article/1211461-as-the-surface-pro-succeeds-and-the-surface-rt-fails-what-it-means-for-microsoft | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368704392896/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516113952-00021-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.94775 | 1,698 | 1.5 | 2 |
Archive for the 'RC Vehicles' Category
It works! I’ve continued poking away at this circuit to decode an RC airplane servo signal and trigger a camera shutter during flight, and I’m happy to report success!Once I switched to using the CD4013 flip-flop with a positive logic clear input instead of negative logic, it was a piece of cake. I have to say, living just a mile from one of the USA’s largest electronics dealers (Jameco) is pretty sweet. I can hit their web site and place an order for practically any obscure electronic component I can think of, then cruise down to their offices and pick it up from the will-call desk an hour later. Nice!I rebuilt the decoder circuit that I discussed last time, soldering everything together “dead bug” style. This was necessary in order to keep everything as small as possible, so I could fit it inside the camera body. I forgot to take a photo before I closed everything up, but it looks very similar to this example from laureanno.com:When I first connected the servo, decoder, and camera, it didn’t work. Nothing happened when I toggled the switch on my RC transmitter. Setting up the oscilloscope again, I was able to see that the reference pulse width generated by the RC circuit I’d built was about twice as long as it should have been. I’m not sure how that happened, even with 20% tolerance components, but I was able to quickly swap in a different value resistor, and get it working perfectly. Then with a bit of creative packing, I managed to cram it all back inside the camera body.Today during my lunch hour, I was able to try it out for the first time. The shutter trigger worked fabulously! I wish I could say the same for the quality of the pictures, but unfortunately the focus wasn’t set quite right, and the photos are a little blurry. They’re still pretty fun to look at though. I was flying next to the headquarters of Oracle Corporation in Redwood City, California. Those are the clustered cylinder-shaped mirrored buildings you see in the photos. The plane looks like it was a little higher than the tallest building, which I think is 20 stories tall. See if you can find me in some of the photos!Click any of the thumbnails below to see the full-sized version. February 27 Edit: I corrected the focus problem, and tried again. Unfortunately I got the propeller in some of the shots, and this new set wasn’t from as high an altitude. But I did get some great shots of the bay, an aerial self-portrait, and a flock of Canada geese.2 comments
Hey, I’m back. I think my oscilloscope made me do it. For the past six months I’ve been working with RC airplanes, not doing any electronics work. The oscilloscope has been taking up space on my desk while it sits untouched, gathering dust. Last week I finally decided I was never going to use it again, and packed it away in a closet. But that got me to thinking about electronics again, and about what kind of projects I could do related to RC. So after just a few days, the oscilloscope has returned from its closet banishment and is in use once more for a new project.
I recently bought an Aiptek SD 1.3 megapixel camera, with the idea to mount it on the fuselage of one of my planes, and do some aerial photography. The Aiptek weighs just 52 grams (about 2 ounces), and so it won’t weigh down the plane excessively. But the tricky part is finding a way to activate the shutter while the plane is in the air. It turns out that this is mostly a solved problem, and it’s possible to build a circuit to decode the servo signal from an unused receiver channel, creating a 0 or 1 pulse depending on the position of a transmitter switch or stick. Then by hacking into the camera guts and a bit of soldering, that pulse can be used to trigger the shutter.
Here’s one of my planes (a GWS Slow Stick), with three spare wires hooked into the receiver’s “gear” channel (which I don’t normally use), connected to the oscilloscope and a growing circuit on the protoboard. It turns out that these servo signals for the channels are ideal for hacking with digital logic. Of the three wires connected to the receiver, one is ground, one is a regulated +5 volts, and one is a modulated position signal that indicates the desired position for that channel (rudder, elevator, aileron, flaps, gear, whatever). The connectors are even standard 0.1 inch male headers. What could be easier?
I examined the servo signal with the oscilloscope. It’s a regular pulse train with a 22ms period. The width of the pulse varies depending on the desired position for the channel. The width is about 1.2ms at the minimum position, and 2ms at the maximum position. Taking 1.6ms as the midpoint, what’s needed is a circuit that outputs 0 if the pulse width is less than 1.6ms, and 1 if it’s greater than 1.6ms. This could be done many different ways: the first two that come to mind are a small microcontroller, or a low-pass filter that turns the servo signal into a DC voltage, and compares it to a reference voltage.
I’ve decided to follow another example I found, which I thought was especially clever. It uses just two flip-flops and a couple of passive components. You can check out the circuit schematic for the details. The servo signal pulse train is used to clock the first flip-flop. It’s D input is tied high. When it’s clocked, its Q output goes high, which begins to charge an RC circuit. When the capacitor voltage gets high enough, it activates the asynchronous reset, clearing the Q output. The complementary /Q output is used to clock the second flip-flop, whose D input is the servo signal. If the RC time constant is chosen correctly, then the second flip-flop will be clocked 1.6ms after the first one, sampling the servo signal at that time. If the pulse width is less than 1.6ms it will sample a 0, otherwise it will sample a 1. Pretty neat!
My only headache is that I don’t have the 4013 CMOS flip-flop called for in the circuit. I do have lots of 74LS74 flip-flops, which are similar, but are TTL designs with an active low asynchronous reset instead of active high. I’d thought it would be simple to modify the circuit to work with an active low reset, but after a couple of hours of futzing around with it, I concluded that it’s either not possible, or I’m just not smart enough. I started by swapping the positions of the resistor and capacitor, but the circuit initializes in the reset state and never exits it. And even if I found a solution to that, the input current on this LS series chip is so high, that with a 10K resistor to ground, the voltage at the input pin is actually pulled up to 2 volts! Ack! I decided I’ll just buy a 4013 for a few cents, and stop banging my head.4 comments | <urn:uuid:b726d24c-1f91-41a5-adb8-25080da78387> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.bigmessowires.com/category/rc/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368706499548/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516121459-00042-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.954039 | 1,583 | 1.617188 | 2 |
Key points of IFRS 10 “Consolidated Financial Statements” in 40 questions and answers
IFRS 10, which was published in May 2011, introduces a single definition of control and replaces the portion of IAS 27 which related to consolidated financial statements, as well as the SIC 12 interpretation on special purpose entities.
According to the IASB’s schedule, the new standard is effective from 2013 for entities with a reporting date at the end of the calendar year.
It may change the scope of consolidation (i.e. which entities should be consolidated) but the consolidation techniques remain the same (i.e. how to carry out consolidation).In addition to the new definition of control, IFRS 10 includes clarifications on various issues which were not previously addressed by the IFRS framework, including:
- the difference between protective rights and substantive rights; de facto control;
- the difference between an agent and a principal;
- the concept of “silos”.
IFRS leaves a large amount open to professional judgement, particularly as regards potential voting rights (e.g. call options). Given the potential difficulties in applying this standard, it is essential that all stakeholders familiarise themselves with it quickly – particularly preparers of financial statements, auditors and regulators. To help with this, we have prepared the following series of 40 questions and answers.
Download the documents via your MazarsConnect account :
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I love math and I want my students to love math, too. I want to take the anxiety out of math for them. I am very patient and I especially want to build on each student's strengths.
Foundational math is very important. High school math teachers don't have time to reteach fractions or integer operations. Algebra I is the beginning of high level work and I love teaching Algebra! Geometry has a beauty and discipline that I can certainly teach kids. Algebra II and pre-calculus are demanding subjects that I can show students how to tackle one step at a time.
I also help my students by showing them online resources to build their skills between tutoring sessions.
I have a Bachelor's degree in Mathematics from the University of Texas at Austin. I have been successful at helping local students improve their grades significantly. I have passed the Texas teacher tests to teach Math for grades 4-8 and grades 8-12.
Most importantly, I listen to my students to determine how they approach problem solving and I get the students to use their abilities to succeed.
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Buying advice - DSLR
Hello, I hope you can help me.
I know very little about cameras, but want to purchase one for a very specific purpose.
It would be to take digital photographs through a microscope (Brunel SP-200 research compound microscope) of fish scales for aging. Apparently adaptors to attach most digital cameras to a microscope are available, I just need to decide on the camera….
From what I’ve read I need a digital SLR camera. The shutter must continue to work when the lens has been removed as the microscope acts as the lens. It must also have through the lens light metering. The image needs to be high resolution for work with various softwares, but my understanding is that 12 mega pixels is big enough which from what I’ve read is fairly standard for many SLR cameras.
Apart from this I have very few restrictions, but there are so many cameras out there!
I also have no idea of what this sort of camera might cost, though it goes without saying, the less I can spend without compromising on functionality and quality the better.
So my questions are:
Could anyone suggest a few cameras fitting my description that I should look at more closely?
Also, has anyone done this sort of work before? If so, what camera do you use?
TBH I think that you ought to email the microscope makers support team - I assume that they have one. In particular ask them what is the size of the focussed image circle from the lens. I suspect that this will be relaively small and in that case one of the four thirds cameras with 18×13.5 mm sensors would be ideal but it is possible that the circle is too big to fit onto such a sensor without cropping the image and in that case you would need to chose a camera with a larger sensor. Once you know the size of that circle it be possible to calculate how many pixels will be used to take the image and this will be as least as important as the headline resolution of the camera.
Sorry if that is not much help
many thanks Roger.
I will try to find out these details and hopefully I'll be able to narrow down what I need.
I've spoken to the manufacturers of the microscope and the image size through the microscope is 20mm.
So, does this mean I should be buying a camera with a full frame sensor?
thanks for your help
Originally Posted by powangirl
It all depends upon what you need (and are prepared to pay for) If you want to show the whole image circle the I think that you would need a full frame camera, and you would then get a circular image.
If on the other hand you were prepared to accept some clipping even the smallest (four thirds or micro four thirds - they are the same size) sensor would show the full image circle diagonally as it has a diagonal measurement of 21.6mm but obviously the top and sides of that circle would be missing. Here is a link to the dimensions of 4/3 sensors http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Micro_Four_Thirds_system
An APS-C sensor (25.1 × 16.7 mm) would show the complete image horizontally, with curved edges, but not the top and bottom
If your main intention is to ultimately use the images in rectangular format then 4/3 or micro four thirds would be fine but if you need to recover all possible information you will need a larger format camera.
It might be worth while getting a some squared paper and a compass and drawing some diagrams before you make a decision
There are some very good bargains around at the moment in micro four thirds cameras.
Last edited by RogerMac; 18-07-10 at 12:17 PM.
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Barack Obama unveils $3 trillion deficit-cutting plan
“Pitting one group of Americans against another is not leadership,” Boehner said in a statement. “This administration’s insistence on raising taxes on job creators and its reluctance to take the steps necessary to strengthen our entitlement programs are the reasons the president and I were not able to reach an agreement previously, and it is evident today that these barriers remain.”
Responding to pressure from progressives, the president will not seek an increase in the Medicare eligibility age from 65 to 67, stepping back from a controversial idea he endorsed during his talks with Boehner. Obama had already signaled last week that he would not tackle Social Security in his plan, another shift away from his high-wire talks with Boehner.Continue Reading
Administration officials said the plan isn’t meant to be a legislative compromise, but rather the president’s starting offer for the bipartisan Joint Select Committee.
“What we were talking about with the speaker was designed to get majorities in the House and Senate,” one administration official said. “This is the president’s vision.”
Obama’s plan would slice $248 billion from Medicare and $72 billion from Medicaid, hitting both health care providers and beneficiaries. Those cuts, however, must be balanced by new revenues, Obama said.
“I will not support any plan that puts all the burden for closing our deficit on ordinary Americans,” he said.
Obama detailed five principles on tax reform: lower tax rates, trim “wasteful” loopholes and tax breaks, reduce the deficit by $1.5 trillion, boost job creation and growth, and adhere to the new “Buffett Rule” based on the views of billionaire investor Warren Buffett, who has famously said that he is taxed at a lower rate than his secretary.
Obama would pick up $800 billion by allowing Bush-era tax cuts to expire for high-end earners and $400 billion by limiting their charitable contributions. He would collect the balance from closing loopholes that benefit oil and gas companies, private jet owners and investment fund managers.
Another $1 trillion in savings would be achieved by winding down the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, and about $180 billion from other mandatory programs, according to the White House.
The $3 trillion in savings detailed Monday are in addition to the $1 trillion in cuts agreed to as part of the August debt-ceiling agreement.
Congressional Democrats have said that tax increases must be part of any plan to reduce the deficit.
“I am very encouraged by the president’s focus on the need for tax reform that calls on all Americans to contribute their fair share,” House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) said in a statement.
Even before complete details of the president’s proposal emerged Sunday night, the attacks against it as “class warfare” had already begun.
“Class warfare may make for really good politics, but it makes for rotten economics,” House Budget Committee Chairman Paul Ryan (R-Wis.) said on “Fox News Sunday,” adding, “we think this is going in the wrong direction.”
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Carrie Budoff Brown | <urn:uuid:2f8d6064-f468-491c-8bf4-09ddcc1e1ae0> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0911/63806_Page2.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368702448584/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516110728-00021-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.967736 | 677 | 1.546875 | 2 |
Lake Michigan (Waukegan/Winthrop Harbor) * * + Anglers were popping perch on minnows, wax worms. The preferred bait has been lake shiners, but fathead minnows are still taking fish. Keep the rig simple--a split shot about 18 inches in front of a minnow or a crappie rig dress with two minnows. Remember that a minnow, nightcrawlers or spawn sac will take a steelhead, brown trout or small coho set under a bobber.
Lake Michigan (Chicago) * * * It's cold and the wind is blowing but no one told the perch. Crappie rigs dressed with two minnows or a split shot about 18 inches in front of a minnow were the bait and rigs of choice. Montrose has continued to be good for shore anglers. Navy Pier on the north side has been good. A successful bait has been small pieces of squid tentacles on a jig. Fish were larger at Navy Pier.
Illianna * * * Many anglers report perch are still in the area for shoreline anglers with access to the lake. Indiana streams: Water levels have dropped and visibility is good. Stream water temperatures are in the low 40's upper 30's. The Dean Mitchell plant is scheduled to shut down operations.
Cook County Forest Preserves * Many lakes have skim ice but none are open to ice fishing yet. One area that normally produces fish--bass, walleye among others--in cold weather is the warm-water discharge below the main dam at Busse Lake. DuPage County Forest Preserves * Ice fishing is permitted on any preserve lake when the ice is at least four inches thick. Ice conditions are not checked by rangers. Anglers should make their own checks of ice thickness before venturing out onto any frozen waterway. Ice may be safe in one spot, yet very thin only a few feet away. River currents, underwater springs, animal activity (beavers) or runoff from local roads can all create hard-to-detect areas of thin ice. Ice holes should be limited to 10 inches in diameter. Only portable shelters are permitted and should be removed when not in use.
Chain O' Lakes * * + Expect many areas of the Chain to firm up. The T Channel and other main channels have from 2 to 3 inches of ice and more is expected by the weekend. Crappie, bluegills and others have been taken on ice jigs and wax worms or spikes.
Illinois River * * River looks good, but ramps are dangerous with ice forming from boats being pulled out of the water. Have something (sand or salt) to give traction on the ramps until they are frozen shut. Sauger will improve on minnows worked in the deep holes, a stinger hook or a lead head jig with a longer shank has also done well to improve your catch.
Kankakee River * + The river is still above normal, with fairly clear water. Ice is forming along the quiet water areas in the river. There is almost no fishing activity. Creeks in many places are at normal levels, and where open, you can try for a crappie. For those cold-weather anglers looking for open water, best places would be below the Kankakee and Wilmington dams, up to a mile downstream.
Fox River * Very few anglers are working open water downstream from dams. Local ponds just off the river have just enough ice for one person in the wind protected areas. Look to weekend for more fishing pressure to come.
Shabbona Lake * + Fish are there but extremely light fishing pressure continues this week.
Eagle River (Wis.) * * * The back bays are where the ice is 5 to 6 inches thick and getting thicker. On the larger lakes you need to exercise extreme caution because the ice is still very iffy. On those large lakes no one is going out. Walleye in the early morning or at dusk into the evening are the best times. Most anglers are in 4 to 12 feet of water at the first break from the shoreline. A tip up, with a medium golden shiner is good.
St Germain (Wis.) * * + Icemen are picking up walleye and northern pike closer to shore and in wind protected areas. Use a tip up in the morning and evening, for walleye.
Boulder Junction (Wis.) * * Stay with the smaller back bays and near shoreline pockets on small to mid-size lakes. Ice is about 5 to 6 inches in these spots. Walleye are best early morning and at dusk into the evening. Go with a a tip up, and medium golden shiner.
Mississippi River * * The few boaters going out report fair action for sauger, but fish are in the deeper holes. A jig and minnow is all that is required and make bottom contact to entice a bite.
Wisconsin River Dells Dam * * Water temperature is now under 40 degrees and you're working hard for sauger with a jig and minnow. You can take a walleye now, but those are bonus fish. Look for areas out of the current and make bottom contact with your baits.
Lake Barkley (Ky.) * * Light fishing pressure is noted--local anglers are not used to fishing in the cold. Lake Barkley surface pool temperature at the dam is 52 degrees and the same all over the lake. Crappie are in 8-10 feet of water scattered over stumps and brush piles hitting live minnows. Largemouth bass are slow.
Holland (Mich) * * Lake effect snow has made traveling difficult at times but once there anglers are working lures or baits on the pier. Brown trout, perch and small coho were all taken.
Peak fishing times: 9 a.m. to noon and from 10:30 p.m. to 12:30 a.m. this weekend, according to the lunar charts. | <urn:uuid:53d4b24a-5dd0-414e-b860-2163860d1cb5> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://articles.chicagotribune.com/2001-12-27/sports/0112270278_1_ice-fishing-ice-conditions-wax-worms | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368704132298/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516113532-00025-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.951685 | 1,261 | 1.804688 | 2 |
Successful marketers know how to address the fast-paced dynamics of a rapidly changing marketplace with creativity and insight. At Assumption, gain an understanding of a broad range of topics from branding and positioning to promotion and distribution. You’ll also acquire knowledge and skills valued by the business world by rounding out your business education with courses in our strong liberal arts program. In addition to acquiring proficiency in a broad range of technical and professional skills sought by employers, learn how to excel in a global business environment, and study in an environment that values ethical and socially responsible business practice.
The marketing major requires that students take 8 business courses, 6 specific liberal arts courses, and 4 elective business courses as part of the marketing curriculum. The curriculum is an interdisciplinary program that provides students with basic business background in accounting, statistics, and other topics, and in-depth study of marketing topics such as marketing management, advertising, consumer behavior, public relations, sports marketing, and marketing on the Internet.
To earn a minor in marketing, students must take 21 credits in business including 1 management course, 1 marketing course, 1 accounting course and 4 electives. A marketing minor gives students a solid understanding of the risks, rewards and challenges inherent in marketing and the ability to analyze and respond appropriately. | <urn:uuid:84362c83-8d1d-4156-9cf5-5b262707efc5> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.assumption.edu/academics/programs/marketing/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368702810651/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516111330-00042-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.939323 | 258 | 1.765625 | 2 |
“It seems that you have the imposter syndrome” told me a good friend of mine when I was talking about my new job, which I didn’t think I would get. I had never heard about it before, and it was until Grace Hopper 2008 that I heard about it again.
I was very surprised to see the room full, even with people standing for the Imposter Panel. My initial thought was: Do all of these women share my feelings? And it was confirmed when the moderator started the panel with the question: “Who has felt as an impostor in her life?” And everyone raised their hands. I was even more surprised to hear that these feelings were very common in WISE women.
The panellist were successful, recognized women in industry and academia. One by one, the panellists completed the sentence: “I feel an imposter when...”
These are some of their answers:
- I am in new situations (new school, new job, etc.).
- I don’t understand what people are talking about.
- I get asked to do things I don’t feel qualified for.
- I do something that successful people do.
- I do something that women don’t often do.
One of the panellists shared that she used to feel an impostor attending a math conference (1975), giving a talk (1980) or meeting Nobel laureates (2000) but she does not feel like that anymore in those circumstances. However, has attended lots of conferences and given many talks without that feeling. However, she still feels and impostor meeting philanthropists and asking for large amounts of funding for her University.
If you have ever felt as an imposter, you know by now that you’re not the only one. Is there a “cure” for this syndrome? In the next post I will tell you what the panellists have done to deal with it.
Keep tuned and share your “imposter” stories! | <urn:uuid:afede4ec-1bfc-45b5-9a02-e3c86c740a75> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://cuwise.blogspot.com/2009_06_01_archive.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368696383156/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516092623-00023-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.988172 | 429 | 1.648438 | 2 |
Welcome to the Dubiski Career High School Library. Students are welcome to check out books, read, work on projects, use the computers or printers, or just relax in our beautiful two-story library. The downstairs library area contains our fiction collection, arranged by genre much like a book store. The areas include Science Fiction Fantasy, Mystery, Romance, Contemporary, and miscellaneous Fiction. Downstairs also holds enough tables and chairs for a full class, several soft seating areas, and four computers with a printer.
The Dubiski Career High School Library upstairs area contains our nonfiction collection. Instead of the traditional Dewey Decimal system, the nonfiction collection is arranged by Career Pathways offered at Dubiski, with each area clearly marked to make it easier to find books of interest. Two classroom areas, two seminar rooms, one lecture hall, one small conference room, two computers with a printer and soft seating areas complete the upstairs area.
The library offers a variety of print, audio, and electronic resources to students. Links to these are located on the right in the Databases for Online Research page. Bookmarks containing needed passwords for the databases are available in the library, and teachers also post the passwords in Edmodo, or email [email protected] for the passwords. Mrs. Stanley is available to help students working in the library. You may search the library collection through the link on the right, but please feel free ask for help in finding anything you need or want.
Requests are taken all year for desired titles. Send book requests to Mrs. Stanley at [email protected] or just drop by the library and visit. | <urn:uuid:12886653-2646-4165-bcc8-11321592a361> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.gpisd.org/domain/1156 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368711005985/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516133005-00028-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.934425 | 346 | 1.726563 | 2 |
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WASHINGTON — Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke left open the possibility Wednesday of further Fed action to stimulate the economy.
Speaking at a news conference, Bernanke walked a fine rhetorical line: He signaled that the Fed would act more aggressively to reduce unemployment if needed — but not at the cost of high inflation.
Bernanke spoke after Fed policymakers ended a two-day meeting by reiterating their plan to keep interest rates near zero through at least late 2014. The officials said the economy is growing moderately and that the pace will likely pick up.
But they also cautioned that unemployment won’t fall sharply anytime soon and that risks from Europe’s debt crisis remain.
In a statement, they noted that inflation has risen, mainly because of higher gasoline prices, but said they expect the spike to be temporary.
Since the financial crisis struck, the Fed has pursued two rounds of purchases of Treasury bonds and mortgage-backed securities to try to push down long-term interest rates. The goal has been to encourage borrowing and spending.
Bernanke told reporters that more bond purchases, or other steps by the Fed, are still an option if the economy weakens.
“Those tools remain very much on the table,” Bernanke said.
Its decision to leave its policy unchanged had been widely expected, and reaction in financial markets was muted. The yield on the 10-year Treasury note edged higher, and the dollar rose slightly against other currencies. Stock indexes didn’t move much.
David Jones, chief economist at DMJ Advisors, said he thinks the Fed will keep another round of bond buying as an option through the rest of this year. But with the economy slowly improving, Jones said, the Fed is unlikely to implement such a program this year.
Critics have expressed concerns that the central bank has raised the risk of higher inflation with its campaign to push rates down as long as it has.
In a recent opinion piece in Fortune magazine, Shelia Bair, former chairman of the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp., argued that the central bank might be creating a bond market bubble similar to the housing bubble.
The “Fed should declare victory and not intervene” by making further purchases of bonds, Bair said.
Asked about this criticism, Bernanke countered it’s “a little premature to declare victory” in the Fed’s drive to stimulate the economy and lower unemployment. Bernanke has frequently pointed to the chronically weak housing market and the more than 5 million Americans who have been unemployed for more than six months.
At the same time, Bernanke sought to show that he is mindful of the risks of high inflation. He said the Fed would shape its policy to keep inflation no higher than its target of 2 percent over the long term.
The Fed’s decision to keep its current easy-credit stance was approved on a 9-1 vote of the central bank’s policy committee, composed of Fed board members in Washington and five regional bank presidents.
As he has at the past two meetings, Jeffrey Lacker, president of the Richmond Fed, opposed the late-2014 target date. The statement said Lacker didn’t think economic conditions warrant a record low rate late for that long.
After their policy meeting in January, Bernanke and his colleagues had hinted that they were edging closer to a third round of bond buying. But since then, signs have suggested that the U.S. economy has strengthened.
The Fed first set its late 2014 target at the January meeting. That target date represented a move from last August when it announced a mid-2013 target for the first Fed rate move.
The Fed’s benchmark funds rate has been kept near zero since December 2008. That means consumer and business loans tied to that rate have also remained at super-low levels. The lower those loan rates, the more likely people and companies are to borrow and spend and invigorate the economy.
After its bond-buying programs expired, the Fed in September began a $400 billion program dubbed Operation Twist. Under this program, the Fed is not expanding its portfolio but instead selling shorter-term securities it owns and buying longer-term bonds to keep their rates down. That program is scheduled to end in June.
On Friday, the government will issue its first estimate of economic growth for the January-March quarter. Many economists are predicting an annual growth rate of 2.5 percent — better than they had expected when the year began.
But analysts are concerned that growth could weaken in the current quarter, reflecting payback from an unusually warm winter that boosted economic activity in the first quarter. | <urn:uuid:26d9c57d-a861-48dd-824d-81e317477dab> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.dailytribune.com/article/20120425/FINANCE09/120429751/'.$a.' | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368705953421/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516120553-00001-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.969917 | 957 | 1.6875 | 2 |
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The working titles of this film were Barnum, P. T. Barnum and The Great Barnum. The Twentieth Century-Fox Produced Scripts Collection at the UCLA Theater Arts Library contains a full treatment by John Huston, dated August 9, 1933. In his autobiography, Huston states that after his contract with Universal expired, Darryl Zanuck, 20th Century Pictures' Vice-President in charge of production, gave him two volumes of a current biography of Barnum to read and hired him to write a script based on Barnum's life. Huston writes that he saw in Barnum's "wild energy, boundless vulgarity and casual assumption that he was the shrewdest man alive, an exemplification of the nineteenth-century American dream of conquest and Manifest Destiny." Zanuck, according to Huston, did not care for his approach to the subject, and "wanted to make changes that were out of keeping with my original idea." Huston then suggested that it would be better to start with another script, and Zanuck took him off the project. Huston considered his script to be far better than the one used for the film. Although Huston states that apparently his script no longer exists, the Produced Scripts Collection contains a 115-page treatment by Huston. In addition, the Collection contains a synopsis by Huston dated October 17, 1933, which followed a conference with Zanuck. The synopsis contains many sequences that are in the final film.
Zanuck subsequently put Associate Producer Raymond Griffith to work on the screenplay, and in a document dated February 7, 1934, following a treatment by Griffith, Zanuck states his intentions concerning the proposed film's style: "First, last and always our Barnum should be a comedy, a boisterous, loud-mouthed comedy with a tear. It should be the kind of a picture The Bowery was, full of laughs, full of punch and excitement, yet having a couple of sentimental, pathetic notes. It should not be the kind of picture Silver Dollar was. Silver Dollar made the artistic and box office mistake of taking itself too seriously. It was the Great Drama, the great baloney picture of the rise of a great American character. Audiences don't want to see history or costumes or learn anything about great men unless they can laugh while they are learning....[Barnum] is not a historical, stretched out, ponderous narrative like Silver Dollar that tried to take itself so seriously that audiences think they are being lectured to instead of being hysterically entertained. Do not worry about historical facts or times or dates or truth. We should write a picture for fiction and entertainment...." [The Bowery, 20th Century Pictures' first production, told the fictionalized story of legendary New York characters at the turn of the century, while Silver Dollar (see below), a 1932 First National production, made while Zanuck was production chief at that studio, was based on the life of Colorado silver magnate Horace A. W. Tabor.]
Zanuck subsequently assigned Gene Fowler to write a treatment and then a continuity before appointing Bess Meredyth to collaborate with Fowler on the screenplay. In a modern source, Fowler states that he learned more about screenwriting from Meredyth than from anyone else in the studios. Fowler and Meredyth's screenplay was published in book form in 1934. New York Times commented that the film "is almost sober by comparison with the published edition of the Fowler-Meredyth screen play, with its hilarious marginalia." The pressbook in the copyright descriptions states that the screenplay was the first to be published in book form for the general public.
Virginia Bruce's songs were dubbed by Frances White. New York Times commented, "The dubbing process by which Miss Bruce appears to be singing a lyric soprano is the most convincing that this reporter has ever seen." According to a Hollywood Reporter news item, Edna May Oliver declined Zanuck's offer of the role of "Mrs. Barnum" because she would have had to play alternate days with her role in M-G-M's David Copperfield. According to the pressbook, R. E. "Tex" Madsen, who played the Cardiff Giant, was eight-feet four-inches tall, and George and Olive Brasno, who played Tom and Lavinia Thumb, were brother and sister. The running time in Motion Picture Herald for the preview in Hollywood was 105 minutes. Subsequent listings for running times vary considerably. | <urn:uuid:65a8a30d-fb35-47df-bbbd-186711b9831c> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.tcm.com/tcmdb/title/83467/The-Mighty-Barnum/notes.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368699273641/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516101433-00006-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.970772 | 929 | 1.8125 | 2 |
Last autumn, the founder of Cold Spring Arts, Barbara Galazzo, was thinking of ways the work of local artists might be displayed so that first time buyers might be able to better imagine how the original works of others might fit into their own homes.
Looking to move away from the stark white walls and empty open spaces seen in many galleries, Galazzo came up with the idea of the ArtFull Living art and design show house located in the Glassbury Court housing development off of Route 9 in Cold Spring.
“Most design show houses happen in mansions,” she said of setting up the ArtFull Living showcase in the senior community of newly-constructed, eco-friendly homes. “I didn’t want to do that.”
Another move away from tradition showcase homes was creating the design around the art, Galazzo said.
“Art is usually the third element that is brought in. Here it was the whole design basis of the house,” she said.
Artists from Cold Spring and Garrison, along with others from throughout the Hudson Valley, were paired up with seven designers and together the visual artists created rooms inspired by a celebrity personality or a famous character.
One example of the collaboration between artist and designer can be seen in the master bedroom. Large -scale black and white paintings hang on the wall. The designer asked the artist who created them to have her work jump from the frame and continue on to the walls.
Large scale sculpture sit atop the bureau at the front of the room; a placement that even came as as surprise to the artist who made them.
“It was an interesting experience for the artists,” she said. “A lot of their artwork was used in a way that it wasn’t originally intended.”
Galazzo, who is a fused glass artist, was asked to make light sconces for the recessed lighting elements in the upstairs loft.
“Maryann didn’t want people to walk up the stairs and get hit in the eyes by the lights,” she said of the designer Maryann Syrek’s creative employ of the colorful glassware.
Every room in the two-story, four bedroom home has a unique design and a mixture of art mediums, including hand-crafted furniture. The attached garage was turned into a more traditional gallery type setting, with the requisite white walls, and showcases photographs, paintings and collage created by local artists. And outside are large-scale sculpture in the side and back yards.
Going room-by-room, Gallazzo easily explained the design of the rooms and the pieces of artwork found in each; from inspiration to composite.
Members of the community are invited to view the home and be treated to the same kind of tour from now until Oct. 14.
The ArtFull Living Show House is open from noon to 4 p.m., Fridays through Tuesdays and a $10 donation is suggested. Children under the age of 10 years old are not permitted in the show house.
The house also will be open for the 2nd annual Cold Spring Arts Open Studio event to be held from noon to 6 p.m. on Saturday, Oct. 13 and on Sunday, Oct. 14, when artists in Cold Spring and Garrison will open their studio doors to the public.
If visitors spot something they might envision hanging on the wall in their home, all of the artwork in the Artfull Living Show House is for sale, but everyone is invited to just come and enjoy.
“Maybe some of the pieces are not their taste, but people can see how they can live with art,” Gallazo said.
More information on the ArtFull Living show house and tour maps for the Open Studio event can be found by visiting www.coldspringarts.com. | <urn:uuid:8fc81f6b-c3ae-4e0e-9c47-88e873538287> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.theexaminernews.com/artfull-living-on-display-in-cold-spring/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368704713110/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516114513-00026-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.970945 | 793 | 1.523438 | 2 |
The Challenges and Risks of Creating Independent Regulatory Agencies: A Cautionary Tale from Brazil
PDF · Mariana Mota Prado · Jul-23-2012 · 41 VAND. J. TRANSNAT'L L. 435 (2008)
Between 1996 and 2002, the Brazilian government established independent regulatory agencies (IRAs) for electricity, telecommunications, oil, gas, and other infrastructure sectors as part of a very ambitious privatization program. Following the formulas advocated internationally, Brazilian IRAs have institutional guarantees of independence, such as fixed and staggered terms of office for commissioners, congressional approval of presidential nominations, and alternative sources of funds to ensure their financial autonomy. This Article analyzes the design of IRAs in Brazil and asks whether their institutional guarantees of independence were effective in insulating them from the political sphere. The Author’s general conclusion is that these guarantees—typical of developed countries, especially the United States—failed to insulate Brazilian agencies. The Article indicates a number of episodes of political influence over agencies, and it applies detailed institutional analysis to explain what went wrong. The Brazilian experience illuminates the difficulties that many developing countries face in trying to realize the ideal of regulatory independence and the benefits that would supposedly flow from this. Thus, it might serve as a cautionary tale for policymakers and for developing countries contemplating similar reforms. | <urn:uuid:27dc59ab-9b68-4a12-8dcf-c9a6c669be58> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.vanderbilt.edu/jotl/2012/07/the-challenges-and-risks-of-creating-independent-regulatory-agencies-a-cautionary-tale-from-brazil/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368705195219/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516115315-00013-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.942905 | 270 | 1.632813 | 2 |
If you are getting a java web start splash: recv failed error message box when trying to run any java scripts / programs, the issue is related to your Comodo Firewall not allowing the javaws.exe program to run.
In Comodo Firewall, click on "Define a New Trusted Application"
With that window on screen, now RUN the Java program or script that keeps giving you the java web start splash: recv failed error ...
With the error message on screen (or with the Java Loading / Splash Screen) still on screen, quickly click on Comodo's Select Button > Running Processes ...
In the Running Processes list that comes up, quickly look for the javaws.exe program and select it
Click Select, then Apply
If you did it correctly, you're all set and should now be able to run your java programs and scripts without issue. I say "if you did it correctly" because when I did it, I found I had to do it a couple of times before it "took". There's a certain timing required to get it right, and if you try to do it without either the Java Splash Screen or the error dialog up, the javaws.exe will close entirely, not even showing up in the Comodo Processes list, so you'll just have to repeat the process until you get it. Also, sometimes it'll show multiple javaws.exe's in the process list, so you just need to keep trying until it works. Nothing bad will happen if you don't get it "right", so just keep trying.
Alternately, if you're 100% sure where your javaws.exe that your system uses is, you could always just add it to Comodo's Trusted Applications list by browsing to it. | <urn:uuid:7c8df4be-5a25-4319-9d4a-1b350e5e2fcf> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://173-254-34-58.bluehost.com/content/java-web-start-splash-recv-failed-fix | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368698207393/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516095647-00025-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.934011 | 372 | 1.648438 | 2 |
It goes without saying that most parents do not want to cause irrevocable harm to their children, either physically or emotionally. Unfortunately, however, sometimes the line between discipline and abuse becomes blurred. If you are facing a domestic violence charge because of corporal punishment in Louisiana that you deemed appropriate for your child, you need the services of skilled Lafayette criminal defense lawyer.
Courts rarely question the methods parents use to guide their children toward correct behavior. In fact, the state of Louisiana recognizes the right of parents to enforce discipline in a reasonable manner, including the use of corporal punishment. This right is called parental privilege. It is a right often invoked when criminal charges are brought against parents who correct the behavior of their children with spankings and other similar actions.
The issue becomes problematic when such a degree of force is used that the courts have trouble determining if domestic violence, child abuse, assault, or battery has taken place. If you are being prosecuted under criminal laws for any of these offenses, you not only face criminal penalties, but the potential loss of your parental rights.
When you face criminal charges of domestic violence
Because the state does not expressly outlaw corporal punishment, the question of whether or not it was committed is determined on an individual, case-by-case basis. Even if you are not the biological parent of the child, you may still be able to invoke parental privilege. For instance, a legal guardian may be granted the authority to discipline a child the same way a parent would. This is known as acting in loco parentis, or in place of the parent. Lafayette criminal defense attorneys have the ability and the legal knowledge to advocate on your behalf concerning these types of issues, thereby enabling you to stay out of jail and to continue parentingâas only you know how. | <urn:uuid:01a8c1a3-e6cb-4fc2-a8a7-38d1c47418e3> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.settlementboard.com/corporal-punishment-and-domestic-violence-in-louisiana/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368697974692/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516095254-00035-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.950184 | 364 | 1.515625 | 2 |
Buying Dried Herbs
This is the time of year that buying dried herbs is the most common way of obtaining them. Before buying the first packet of overpriced Thyme powder that you find, take a moment to review what a fresh but dried herb should be.
A fresh, dried herb should be bright in color. Never buy an herb that is a washed out color. Many herbs start out as crisp green plants that over time, fade-not unlike your aunt Mildred's 25 year old couch. Color is a good indication of an herb's age.
A fresh, dried herb should smell fresh, clean and full of flavor. Never buy an herb that is dried, without an obvious smell. If possible, crush a small bit of the herb between your fingers and you should clearly smell the herb.
A fresh, dried herb should be purchased in its fullest form. If you need a powdered herb, buy it whole and grind it yourself(use a common coffee grinder that you use just for herbs). The more of the herb that is exposed to air, the faster it deteriorates.
A fresh, dried herb should NOT be powdered if at all possible. There is no way of knowing when it was ground and mass produced packages of herbs may not have seen the care of a smaller herb dealer's product would.
A fresh, dried herb should be certified organic if purchased from a dealer that you do not actually know. Many of the larger warehouse herbal dealers buy their product from unknown sellers that may or may not grwo the herbs in conditions that are healthy. Some countries use pestisides that are not even legal in the US. This is not to say that you must buy certified organic only. If you know the grower and his or her gardening practices, they may not use any chemicals needlessly and take utmost care with their product. It is always best to buy locally and KNOW your supplier.
To recap, herbs should look, smell and appear to be as close to their living state as possible. Know your supplier and know how they practice their gardening and harvesting of the herbs. If you must buy from a dealer, buy certified organic only.
Change your unused herbs every year and keep a record of what you use and what you wish you bought so you can streamline your purchases and spend money on the best quality herbs you can. | <urn:uuid:a818ec24-3322-4945-97ea-ddf4adde58d9> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.bellaonline.com/ArticlesP/art54118.asp | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368699273641/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516101433-00001-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.967179 | 479 | 1.695313 | 2 |
UPDATE 2-EU charges Samsung with abusing vital telecoms patent
* Apple, Samsung locked in disputes in at least 10 nations
* Samsung says confident Commission will find in its favour
BRUSSELS, Dec 21 (Reuters) - The European Commission charged Samsung Electronics on Friday with abusing its dominant position in seeking to bar rival Apple from using a patent deemed essential to mobile phone use.
The Commission sent a "statement of objections" to the South Korean group, with its preliminary view that Samsung was not acting fairly.
"Intellectual property rights are an important cornerstone of the single market. However, such rights should not be misused when they are essential to implement industry standards, which bring huge benefits to businesses and consumers alike," Competition Commissioner Joaquin Almunia said in statement.
Apple and Samsung, the world's top two smartphone makers, are locked in patent disputes in at least 10 countries as they vie to dominate the lucrative mobile market and win over customers with their latest gadgets.
The filing of competition objections is the latest step in the Commission's investigation. After notifying Samsung in writing, the company will have a chance to reply and request a hearing before regulators.
If the Commission then concludes that the firm has violated the rules, it could impose a fine of up to 10 percent of the electronics firm's total annual turnover.
Technology companies are increasingly turning to the European Commission as the European Union's competition authority, to resolve their disputes. The Commission is also investigating Google and Microsoft.
In the case of Samsung, its standard-essential patents (SEPs) relate to the EU's 3G UMTS standard. When this was adopted in Europe, Samsung committed to license the patents fairly to competitors, the Commission said.
However, it began seeking an injunction in 2011 in various EU member states against Apple's use of these patents. The Commission opened its investigation in January 2012.
Samsung said it was studying the Commission's statement. It said it would cooperate fully and "firmly defend ourselves against any misconceived allegations".
"Samsung is confident that, in due course, the Commission will conclude that we have acted in compliance with European Union competition laws." | <urn:uuid:cbedd321-aca4-4926-9b9d-49e458c5aabb> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.cnbc.com/id/100335273 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368696382584/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516092622-00034-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.959493 | 440 | 1.507813 | 2 |
The success of Michael O'Brien's book Father Elijah: An Apocalypse hasn't changed the Canadian author's perspective about his work. “I tend not to dwell on the accolades of the present,” he says. Register correspondent Tracy Moran recently spoke with O'Brien about his writing, his painting, and his struggles as a Christian artist in a secular world:
Moran: Why did you begin painting?
O'Brien: It wasn't a conscious decision. I had never been an artist. I reconverted to Catholicism at age 21, following a period of unbelief during adolescence. I was walking in the woods, praying, wondering what my life was all about. I came upon a heap of stones, and growing out of it was a little sapling. It moved me very much but I didn't know why. Suddenly it struck me that it was a metaphor for my life.
Although I was used to writing down my thoughts about aspects of the faith, I felt unable to express this scene in words. I decided to draw the sapling and the rocks in order to remember it better. I was shocked by how strong the drawing was, and that day and in the ensuing weeks I began to draw many things. The drawing was like a little tap that gradually opened and I began to understand that art could be a language to express the inexpressible.
Is your artistic ability a charism?
I believe it is a gift. I believe God pours out a multitude of talents in human nature. But I believe that when we give our assent to grace and consecrate the talent, it becomes a charism. Equally important, it becomes a vocation.
How does one give that assent?
By living fully the life of the Church. By accepting everything that God desires to give to us. By obedience-a very difficult word in these times.
How would describe that idea of obedience in reference to your calling to be a painter?
In 1976, I was a young newly married husband and father-to-be. We were expecting our first child within two weeks. It suddenly struck me that I was not developing the talent that the Lord had given me. Although I'd had some success in secular art galleries in the years following my conversion, my art at that time was not overtly religious, even though I was a Christian. My wife and I decided to offer my work as a Christian artist to the service of God and his Church.
Does an artist have to paint or write overtly spiritual works to have it imbued with spirituality?
Not necessarily. I believe strongly that a Christian artist, if he is pursuing beauty and truth, is doing a work of the Holy Spirit. That work can be implicitly religious or explicitly religious.
However, I must say that I believe the greatest, the most urgent need right now is for Christian artists to respond to the call to paint explicitly religious work. This is by far the more difficult task. This also applies to writing. The same dynamic is at work there.
It's closer to being an implicitly religious work. There certainly are Catholic themes and Catholic characters. It's about the conversion of the soul, but it examines the interior workings of a woman struggling with alienation and unbelief. It's the story of a life more than the story of theology.
Are you comfortable going back and forth between implicit and explicit books?
Yes. All my books have an explicitly Catholic dimension. Sometimes the emphasis is stronger. I feel a great urgency to help in the rebirth of a genuinely, explicitly Catholic literature.
Do you see that rebirth occurring?
I see a ground swell of gifted writers producing works of fiction in a spirit of great faith. They know full well how difficult it will be to find a response in a culture dominated by materialism and pragmatism. The Lord is inspiring it, but everything waits upon the response of our Catholic people.
How would people support this type of work?
Seek out good Catholic literature at bookstores.
But it's not that simple for painters.
It's a far more difficult thing. Logistically speaking, its more cumbersome. A book may cost $10, but a single picture may take weeks to paint and therefore be more expensive. It's far more difficult to exhibit it and transport it. People of strong faith in these times rarely have the money to pay the laborer his hire. But perhaps people of means could see the sponsoring of religious art as a much-needed apostolate in the restoration of Christian culture.
Are people willing to offerthat kind of help?
For 20 years now, I've jotted down on paper every time someone has given a gift of $5, $10, and it has added up to a considerable sum over the years. Without it we could not have continued. We pray for them. We live very poorly. We rent an old, broken down house in a rural area about two hours west of Ottawa, we drive an old, second-hand car. It has been survival at a simple level.
We have embraced the spirit of poverty, and the Lord has been able to work with us. He has always provided our basic, simplest needs, but we've never had what North Americans think of as the good life. What we have had is great joy and peace in Christ-treasures of a much higher order. My work is bearing fruit, my family is happy. In learning to be content with little we have become wealthy in the things that last.
With the publication of
We work hard at preserving the privacy of our family life. Strangely enough, I feel rather detached from the whole mystique of “success.” The real success is to love the Lord and to do his will.
Because I am deeply involved in completing several more novels and also some painting projects, my mind is always directed toward the future. I tend not to dwell on the accolades of the present. Public images are always false.
In John Saward's book
That was part of the larger phenomenon. The modern world is becoming anti-incarnational. We strip our churches bare and kill our children in the womb. The mystery and majesty of the hierarchical cosmos are reduced to a spiritual flatland. Even Christians reduce the work of God to the lowest level of the meaning of word.
The problem is that we are reading the Scriptures as a dead letter. We need to understand it is living, it is fire, it is life, and that it's also connected to all the other ways in which God speaks to us. We are a word-oriented, image-bombarded culture. However, we rarely see deeper or look up into infinity.
The Word of God made flesh is a multi-dimensional work. It's not just letters on a page. Our God is an incarnational God. For that reason, every aspect of our humanity is to be transfigured in Christ. This is crucial of an understanding of the crisis. John Saward spends a whole book on the problem.
We've reduced the work of God to something linear, sociological. As a result we-Western cultures-have cut off all kinds of avenues of grace. Tragically, the cultures of Western materialism has invaded the particular churches in many places. These are hard words, but I believe this is the crux of the problem.
Do you ever struggle with writer's block?
No, I think writer's block may be a symptom of mental exhaustion. Trying to produce works of art fully from your own resources breeds exhaustion. That exhaustion produces writer's block. When the Christian artist submits himself to grace, many of these problems evaporate.
Is it the same with painting?
Painting is a much more difficult process. I have to pray more when I paint. Art in any form is hard work, but if the artist is living the full sacramental life of the Church and is praying, the work takes wings.
Who are the artists and saints who have influenced your work?
I'm very inspired by Blessed Fra Angelico, the patron saint of artists, as a model of the vocation of artist. Also the great French Catholic painter Georges Rouault and the Canadian Catholic painter William Kurelek. As far as writers, Flannery O'Connor, the American Catholic, and also a wonderful American writer, a devout Christian, the novelist Wendell Berry.
The saints? St. Francis de Sales, the patron of writers, St. Maximilian Kolbe, and St. Joseph. The first day of my consecrating my work to the Lord was May 1, 1976, the feast of St. Joseph the Worker. Over the years, many blessings have come on his feast day. I've entrusted my work to his care and intercession. He's very quiet; he's hidden as he was in Nazareth, but he's very powerful.
Do you have any particular themes that you feel called to paint?
Although some of my work focuses on resurrection themes and themes that evoke joy, I'm personally called to paint the cross. Christ Jesus' suffering and redemption of man is absolutely essential to our understanding of the whole work of God in salvation history. It's precisely the cross that is in danger of being misunderstood and displaced in a particular Church that has fallen prey to materialism.
Sometimes that displacement is physical as well as spiritual.
When the spirituality of the cross, which is at the heart of the Church's mission, is rejected or neutralized, there are grave consequences. Man soon no longer knows how to deal with his human condition. At the same time, he no longer is able to see the face of God properly or to hear what he is saying to us. This works itself out in bad liturgy. Disobedient liturgy and man-centered liturgy is a symptom of profound spiritual sickness.
How do you hope your books and paintings affect people?
I hope to draw people back to an awareness of the awesome mystery of God's beauty and love. I also want to remind them that until the end of time, we are involved in the spiritual battle between the powers of darkness and the kingdom of God.
Do you ever feel weighed down by that battle?
There are times when I've been discouraged by the conflicts and the spreading sickness in the churches of the affluent West. We're no longer thinking with the mind of Christ. All too often, we are thinking of budgets, programs, public relations, instead of evangelical principles.
Pope John Paul II has addressed that danger.
The Holy Father has said this and many of the great spiritual teachers of our time have said the same thing: The materialistic culture is very, very dangerous. In Centesimus Annus, the Holy Father warns us that, despite the collapse of the Marxist tyranny, materialism takes many faces- and the materialism in the West may, in the long run, bring about a more extensive destruction of souls. I'm paraphrasing here, but he says to us, beware of your great danger. If you stop thinking with the mind of Christ, you will be imbued with the spiritus mundi, the spirit of the world.
How do you deal with your discouragement?
When I see these things happening, I recall the Gospel of Luke, chapter 21, verse 28. In this passage, Jesus has just given the most horrendous description of what will happen at the end of times and he says, “When you see all these things happening, stand erect and lift up your heads, because your redemption is near at hand.”
Things may be dark, they may even get darker. This is an invitation for Christians to grow more deeply in the virtue of evangelical hope. Christ has already conquered the world. We must keep this in mind always.
Do you have any upcoming exhibits?
I've been writing so much, I don't have many paintings. I'm presently completing a series of six novels. Ignatius Press is publishing the next two novels of the series next year: Eclipse of the Sun and Plague Journal. Also next year, they're republishing my Landscape with Dragons: The Battle for Your Child's Mind in a revised, expanded edition.
What's it about?
It's an analysis of the pagan invasion of children's culture. It will also include a long list of book titles recommended for children. The book critiques the hideous paganization of novels and videos for young people, which is really a major battlefront in the culture war. So many of our Catholic families are being indoctrinated into the pagan worldview through the entertainment industry and do not realize it.
— Tracy Moran | <urn:uuid:738c2bf8-484e-4717-a85f-418f5d231a8c> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.ncregister.com/site/article/we_no_longerthink_with_the_mind_of_christ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368704132298/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516113532-00011-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.973799 | 2,594 | 1.625 | 2 |
The inventory of factory seconds is constantly changing. If you place an order for a rug that is not available, we will notify you once the manufacturer provides us with an update.
Important Notice: This rug is a factory second
Because you are purchasing a "factory second", the rug cannot be returned for any reason unless damaged during shipping. All factory second rugs are sold AS IS without a warranty.
The Reading by the Book
area rug was designed specifically for library and schoolroom reading or circle time areas. Each letter of the alphabet is displayed on its own book with a cute image helping children connect the sound of each letter. The vibrant colors and beautiful graphics make this an instant draw to children.
Sizes and prices:
About Factory Second Classroom Rugs
- 6'9" x 9'5" Oval $219.95
- 8'3" x 11'8" Oval $299.95
We have been given access to a small inventory of irregular classroom rugs that do not meet the rigid first quality standards of the Carpets for Kids team. We realize that schools on smaller budgets are looking for a special deal and these rugs are the answer.
Although called irregular, this rug is considered a Class A second that may include a few small dye spots or other minor optical defect like a slight a backing flaw or a seam that hasn't been sewn perfectly straight.
IMPORTANT CLEANING INSTRUCTIONS
This rug is treated with "Carpet Guard" chemistry which provides excellent soil and stain protection.
There are a couple of cleaning methods that can be used on the Printed Collection:Whole rug & Spot Cleaning:
Over the counter "dry cleaners" will do the job. They are good because they can be vacuumed out of the rug and not leave any residue.
The main thing to avoid is any cleaner with bleach or strong chemicals that would cause the dye to run. It is always good to try an area for colorfastness before using something across a large area of the rug.
Fire Code Information
- DO use approved powdered dry cleaning products
- DO spot test with cleaner, for color fastness before using over larger areas
- When cleaning, always blot, NEVER scrub abrasively. This may create a fuzzy area
- When vacuuming, DO NOT vacuum over serge (which is not covered under warranty). This can cause serge yarn to become frayed, and torn
- DO NOT use Bonnet System cleaning method
- DO NOT saturate carpet with wet solution | <urn:uuid:a2a20738-b4b8-47ba-aafd-c9ae3058a4f1> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.sensoryedge.com/reading-by-the-book-oval-factory-seconds.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368706890813/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516122130-00009-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.93761 | 523 | 1.539063 | 2 |
Women in SET
Inova represents WiTEC (European Association for Women in Science, Engineering and Technology) in the UK. WiTEC was originally set up in Sheffield in 1997 within the University of Sheffield and Inova has represented WiTEC since 2001. WiTEC is based in 10 countries across Europe and works to promote the recruitment, retention and progression of women in SET via European collaborative projects, predominantly working with the European Commission’s Lifelong Learning programme.
Marina Larios (Inova Director) has been the President of WiTEC since 2005 and speaks at a variety of events and conferences on issues relating to gender and SET, including recent presentations at the United Nations New York and OECD in Geneva.read conference proceedings (PDF, 41.1Kb)
WiTEC's aims are:
- To increase the number of girls and women studying SET subjects and to help them progress to related careers.
- To develop women's technical and entrepreneurial skills through training initiatives and projects.
- To create information exchanges and networking opportunities for women in SET.
- To promote and support research into areas relating to women in non- traditional fields.
"Inova helped me in numerous ways with advice and support."
Dr Claire Marjorie Wilkins-Hamilton
women in SET
The page you are on is about our work with women in Science, Engineering and Technology. | <urn:uuid:8b6cdebb-46b0-4820-9c7e-030f19e6bc8e> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.inovaconsult.com/womenSET.shtml | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368701459211/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516105059-00013-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.943329 | 284 | 1.523438 | 2 |
She is an attractive woman in her late twenties. Her accent is East-European but her command of English is fair to middling. She knows very little about technology, only that her laptop isn’t working. It’s soon evident that this is a motherboard issue, and we start by explaining that given the age of her laptop a repair wouldn’t be economical. We’re surprised by her claim that the laptop is only two years old, so we look up the specifications to confirm that manufacture of her particular model had stopped over four years previously.
It turns out that one of our local competitors had sold her the laptop a month earlier. She’d already been back to them but they had refused to look at the laptop without payment, so she’d come to us, as we do this for free. We advise her to return the laptop and insist upon a refund, but first we want to recover her data from the hard drive which is still working. And there’s surprise number two. The drive cover is removed to reveal a drive encased not in a drive housing but wrapped in corrugated cardboard and wedged into place. It’s amazing it’s still working as hard drives get hot, and wrapping them up in an insulating layer is a perfect way to kill a drive in very short order.
The absence of the drive housing is in itself telling – the original owner would have removed the drive for privacy reasons (always essential when you’re disposing of an old computer). If you are scrapping a laptop there’s no point in unscrewing the drive from the housing before getting rid of the laptop, which tells us that this laptop had been consigned to the scrap heap once already.
I return to my desk and return with a letter on headed notepaper for her to give to the other computer repair shop. In it I explain the concept of merchantable quality and warn them that if they don’t give her a full and immediate refund I, not the customer, would take up the matter with the local trading standards officer.
Sadly this is not an isolated incident – some of our local competitors even make national news. At present there's no recognised national trade body to represent consumer interests in our field. A few years ago - we joined the Technology Channel Association only to discover that it did little to regulate its members; I remember smiling when I heard a critic describe it as a glorified golf club for the trade. After a year I wrote them a long letter explaining why I was leaving. I didn't get a reply.
So what does a consumer do if they want a trustworthy service? That's a question I can answer - over 70% of our business comes through referrals. A marketing consultant once took exception to this fact and insisted that it meant we were getting our marketing strategy completely wrong. I disagree. It turns out that all you have to do is ask a friend. | <urn:uuid:c513d738-4f77-4eef-ade9-e08fbf90a879> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://computerangelsblog.blogspot.com/2011/12/she-is-attractive-woman-in-her-late.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368700264179/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516103104-00001-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.974906 | 608 | 1.695313 | 2 |
Wednesday, June 8, 2011
The Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh wants to know if city residents are willing to raise their property taxes to help keep the system in the black. The library and its volunteers have launched a petition drive to place a referendum on the November ballot that would ask voters to raise their property taxes by .25 mills.
“That would be used exclusively, only, for the operation and maintenance of this system, which thousands upon thousands upon thousands of us across this entire city, and really this region, value as a corner stone,” said Library Board Member and Pittsburgh City Councilman Patrick Dowd.
The tax amounts to $25 dollars for every $100,000 of assessed value on residential and commercial property. The millage rate increase would raise between $3.25 and $3.5 million dollars a year. The library system is facing a projected deficit of $5 million in 2014.
Board Member and Allegheny County Judge Frank Lucchino says the library is looking at other income generating options. Also being pursued is a campaign to increase the library’s endowment, asking the Regional Asset District for more money, doubling individual giving, increasing corporate and foundation giving and working with state and local governments to find ways to boost revenues. Lucchino tired to fend off arguments that a tax increase would make the city less competitive in the fight for economic development. “The library is the future of the city and the library makes it more competitive.”
“115 years this library has been here and now the people will have a voice on deciding do they want this library to continue,” said Lucchino, “It will be up to them.”
To get on the ballot, supporters need to collect about 2,800 signatures. Lucchino has set a goal of collecting 9,000 signatures to avoid any problems if names are disqualified. | <urn:uuid:4a8f0762-0461-4e35-bcf8-2c6ec1a4ce81> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://wduqnews.blogspot.com/2011/06/library-wants-tax-vote.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368701852492/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516105732-00006-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.959742 | 386 | 1.640625 | 2 |
Review to be emailed:
Audience: 5th Grade - 7th Grade
When Nate's leg is crushed under a wagon he can no longer help his father on their farm. He feels even worse when his father brings Worth, an orphan boy, home to help with the chores while Nate has to go to school. Nate's frustrations with book learning and Worth's clumsiness at farm chores make them resent each other more and more as time passes. There is, however, a battle brewing between ranchers and farmers for land, and Nate and Worth are forced to put their differences aside. Can a cripple and a city boy do anything against the fence cutters? You'll have to read to find out!
Date read: 4/28/2009
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Copyright © 2004-2013 St. Charles Public Library. All rights reserved. | <urn:uuid:1deb46bd-596e-4561-a029-eb9b19f8ec7b> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://stcharleslibrary.org/ygtrt/email.asp?BookID=468&returnURL=%2Fygtrt%2Fdefault.asp%3FCategory%3D24%26grs%3D0%26gre%3D9%26Page%3D256 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368698924319/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516100844-00010-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.950355 | 214 | 1.632813 | 2 |
Last week, on the 19th and 20th of March, the first Academic Publishing in the Mediterranean Region (APM) conference was held, an offshoot of the APE (Academic Publishing in Europe) conference, which was held for the fourth time last January in Berlin. Both conferences want to transgress the traditional sectoral boundaries that exist in scholarly communication, where the scholars, publishers, policy makers, middlemen and librarians all have their separate gatherings and meetings. APE and APM are independent and international conferences about all aspects of academic publishing, to foster knowledge exchange and dialogue between the different stakeholders in scholarly communication. The APM, held in Florence, specifically focused on the diversities and particularities of the Mediterranean region with its many languages and its focus on the Humanities and Social Sciences (HSS) and monographs. Culture, tradition, books and manuscripts are still very important in the Mediterranean region, as the opening speaker Augusto Marinelli (the rector of the University of Florence) remarks. However, electronic experiments and digitization projects are also inceasingly undertaken. These innovations are however taking place in the context of the current financial crisis, which is hitting hard on the Italian publishing and library industry, says Mauro Guerrini, from the Italian Library Association (AIB – Associazione Italiana Biblioteche). He states that where in a knowledge economy knowledge is the key to innovation and development, decreasing (library) resources and cutbacks in science and scholarly communication might be detrimental to the overall economic development.
One of the possible solutions to this impasse might lie in what Maria Cristina Pedicchio (President of the Technology District in Molecular Medicine and Professor of Algebra at the University of Trieste) calls private-public partnerships in research. Referring to the knowledge triangle from the Lisbon Strategy; research, education and innovation should lead to growth and jobs, as was the expected scenario. Public private partnerships could be a powerful tool for innovation in this respect. When knowledge and research are the key issues for economic and social development and governements do not invest in them, they will fall even further. We need to invest in research and human capital in order to stay competitive says Pedicchio. Part of the EU strategy is focused on clusterpolicies to develop innovative clusters. But there is no single model, we need different clusters operating in different models. The specific local aspects also play a large role. Pedicchio says that in order to obtain open innovation, we need open clusters. Innovation can only be created in visible dynamic environments, not in isolated organisations. For this to come about we need the support of the triple helix: academic research, private sectors and public administrations. Innovation depends on the interaction between strong academic research (universities), dynamic entrepreneurship and the availability of risk capital (private sector) as well as public administration.
Pedicchio goes on to discuss different kinds of cluster experiments in various European countries. From these experiments she concludes we need a multidisciplinary cultural approach. Pedicchio shows that these kind of collaborations can lead to the development of cultural open spaces which can foster and enhance research and innovation and can attract human resources, companies and financing.
The prerequisites for these kind of open collaborations, says Pedicchio, are the possibility of international and intersectional mobility, the availabilty of knowledge by means of open access policies for the dissemination of science and frontier knowledge, the investment in young people, and the dissemination of knowledge to society at large. We need to make national clusters but at the same time we need to try to integrate them. National policies need to be involved in this process, as locality is a physical request for clusters; they need to be local, physically based adhering to regional policies. This means a constant changing and adaption between European policies and national policies.
The second keynote, delivered by Andrea Bozzi (Director of the Institute for Computational Linguistics) focused on the scholarly editing of old manuscripts in digital library collections by means of computational tools. Bozzi explained the connection between computer science and the tradition of text transmission, focussing especially on texts that are transmitted by manuscripts. As Bozzi explained, we can now make a model for digital philology, developing integrated tools for scholarly editing. This can lead to a new kind of historical publication which can be enriched and which adds new value to the publication which hitherto has been static. Bozzi asked what the dimension of these integrated tools can be for a new kind of library and its users. He mentioned several digital tools for scholarly editing, such as an integrated open source environment for images and/or texts, image enhancement (within this environment), text indexing and concordance (by means of free web services), collaborative textual criticism, stemmatology and NLP tools (lemmatization, morphological analysis, treebank construction, comparison, meaning extraction, etc.). These are all new tools for studying manuscript archives in a collaborative way. They need to be combined with scholarly editing criteria. An example of a digital annotation tool is the Pinakes Text-architecture, which is a web based relational database application (Pinakes was the first library catalogue system, developed in the Library of Alexandria by the Greek poet Callimachus of Cyrene). From the website:
“Pinakes is a non-commercial tool the aim of which is to offer a renewed historiographic approach to the classification of the scientific heritage. Thanks to the integration of different types of objects, such as instruments, manuscripts, texts, iconography a.o., Pinakes aims at transforming the traditional approach to the primary sources of the history of science into a sort of archeology of scientific knowledge.”
As Bozzi stated, it is a highly flexible system and can find its application in for example Greek papyrology, egyptology, Roman philology and general philology. It can also be applied to different languages and documents. As an example of what Pinakes can do as a tool for the textual criticism of Medieval manuscripts, Bozzi showed how it can for example link to collated sources. In this way one can make an analysis of the variants in the collated source. Differences and variants can be retrieved in the critical apparatus, which is a very important aspect of historical linguistics. Framing tools can remember the encoding and record the variants in the critical apparatus: in this way you have enriched the text by using these specific tools. This technique could also be applied to old print books says Bozzi, where one could find different editions and detect the differences between them.
In the future Bozzi wants to focus on the integration with other NLP tools and on the application of the system to cuneiform texts on tablets. Most importantly he wants to develop a way to export the edited texts, critical apparatuses, annotations and indexes, to a print publication under agreement with publising houses via POD.
Pinakles can become a specialized scholarly editing tool and an integrated web-based platform within the electronic publishing roadmap of Interedition (an interoperable, supranational infrastructure for digital editions). Bozzi reflected on what the role of libraries can be in building this infrastructure and which role publishers could play. For one, libraries also need to receive tools to offer them to their users. In this respect Bozzi argued that it is very important that we have standards for these kind of research infrastrucutres, also for primary sources.
The ultimate goal should be a digital infrastructure for the Humanities: we need to enrich the European research by cooperation and in this respect the setting of standards is fundamental, as Bozzi concludes.
From the afternoon session on the Mediterranean region and its diversities I would like to focus on Andrea Angiolini’s (Società editrice il Mulino, Italy) lecture on The Darwin Project, a publishing infrastructure and working space for monographs & textbooks. As Angiolini argues, the differences between HSS and STM are fading out. This means new challenges for the publisher and new needs for our scholars and students. Angiolini clarifies that Mulino is a very traditional publisher, who believes that physical books are still the best thing to publish especially when it comes to reading them. In this respect Mulino is quite slow in the whole digital process. As Angiolini says, they would like to stay in between scholars, librarians and the market. However, something is gradually changing in Italy, both in the university and in the market. HSS research is increasingly moving from monographs to both monographs and journals and from a generalist approach to a more specialized one. There is also a visible shift from Italian to mixed language communication and from a less formal career and texts evaluation process to a more formalized one.
As the bookstores are buying less and acquisition budgets for libraries are decreasing, the break-even point for publishers is moving further away. This, combined with a research style that is increasingly being conducted online, has led Mulino, in order to stay effective (to reach a public, to service the scholar and the market) to move to the online domain and develop the Darwin (Digital Archive for Web Integrated Networks) project. Darwin is an integrated system for the online publication of digital editions. It can be seen as an infrastructure aimed at adding value to printed books. In this resepect Angiolini says it wants to meet the needs and demands of the users, based on standards.
Within the Darwin project, monographs will be published both in print and in digital editions. Abstracts and DOI will be added at the chapter level and all the books will be fully quotable. New is that texts are based on docbook and not on PDF, where docbook is a better format for searchability etc. It is a richer format that can do anything the paper can. Some more functions include opening and collapsing comments within the text. You can also interact with the text and annotate it and make the note public or private. You can search different parts of the publication and highlight certain parts (semantic search). In this respect Angiolini argues that Darwin is not only designed for reading and searching but also for studying and collaborating while doing research.You can make it into a workspace, with public or private note taking and public or private bookmarks. The project will be online in autumn 2009.
It will be an open project claims Angiolini, adoptable to different texts and formats, and different access models (though it will be based on and start off as a subscription model). As Angiolini states, if we want to publish research and be effective at the same time, we must take a mixed way, otherwise soon monographs will no longer exist. We are moving from contents to contents plus editorial services. This produces a new publishers profile.This change is almost mandatory if publishers want to be part of the solution and not of the problem in the digital age.
After Angiolini’s lecture a remark was made from the public, whether Angiolini thinks people would annotate (on) a propriatory platform? How to combine Darwin with other platforms and will Darwin be compatible with other publishers websites and will it let scholars mix their notes? Wouldn’t users rather use Zotero, or other browser based environments? Angiolini replied by stating that Darwin is still an experiment and that he does not know how scholars will exactly go about and use it.
Highlights from day 2 of APM will follow soon. | <urn:uuid:2de10b4b-89ea-4831-a0a8-bfa3731d9ca6> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://openreflections.wordpress.com/2009/03/24/highlights-from-apm-%E2%80%93-day-1/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368701459211/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516105059-00033-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.945179 | 2,354 | 1.5625 | 2 |
Sterling and Francine Clark Art Institute Archives 225 South St. Williamstown, MA 01267
March 31, 2009
Finding aid encoded by Anne JustApril 23, 2007
Finding aid written in English.
A Guide to the Images
Sterling and Francine Clark Art Institute Archives 225 South St. Williamstown, MA 01267
Clark, Robert Sterling, (1877-1956)
7.5 linear feet
The Images series consists primarily of images derived from stereodrome (Taxiphote) negatives: the negatives themselves; black-and-white glass slides; and prints in various sizes. Other materials include a film; miscellaneous snapshots and studio portraits; and four photograph albums. The principal subjects are horses and RSC's silver and porcelain collections.
CAI ARC 2006.01.05
Scope and Contents of the Collection
The materials in the Images series include 273 photographic negatives, 275 photographic prints, 250 black-and-white glass slides for the stereodrome, four photo albums documenting collections, and a movie of Never Say Die winning the Epsom Derby.
A stereodrome viewer is included in the Realia series.
The stereographic materials consist of 250 negatives, 250 slides made from them, and 204 single-view prints in various sizes made from the negatives. Slides measure 4 3/16 x 1 11/16 inches or 45mm x 107 mm. These slides are stereo transparencies in the French Taxiphote format, rarely found outside Europe. Almost all of these images show horses owned or considered for ownership by RSC. Some identified as taken at Saratoga include such famous stallions as Man O'War and War Admiral; others are identified as taken in Canada. Most locations are unknown, but because many of the horses are identified by name and are known to have belonged to RSC, they were probably taken in Kentucky and Virginia. Most of these pictures show full-body profiles of a single horse with a groom; some show mares and their foals. A few of these pictures show unidentified people.
Four photograph albums document the Clarks' collection of silver and porcelain. One album (10½ x 12 x 1¼ inches) documenting a silver collection is missing a large proportion of its photographs, which might have been moved to a second album (12½ x 12½ x 4½ inches), also documenting silver. A third album (13 x 12 x 4 inches) documenting silver is identified on the spine as "Plate." The fourth album (12½ x 12½ x 3 inches) is filled with photographs of the Clarks' collection of porcelain.
Of the approximately 100 remaining items, 30 are passport or carte d'identite photos of RSC and Francine; ten are of the interior of RSC's mother’s apartment on 89th St. in Manhattan; four are of Williams College; three are of RSC and an unidentified woman on horseback in Arizona; five were taken in the Cooperstown area; seven are removed from a letter from Robert H. Lewis and seem to document a picnic; and 14 others, also removed from correspondence, document racetracks, houses, and horses. There are six large, matted prints of two portraits of the horse Galatea. Five items are x-rays either of RSC's cranium or of Francine’s teeth. The remaining items consist of snapshots and studio portraits, mostly unidentified.
Born in 1877, Robert Sterling Clark, along with his three brothers, was heir to the Singer sewing machine fortune. Their father, Alfred Corning Clark, was the son of Edward Corning Clark, Isaac Singer's business partner. RSC attended Yale University and graduated in 1899 with a degree in engineering. He joined the army and his service during the Boxer Rebellion earned him the commission of first lieutenant. In 1908, RSC undertook an expedition to the Shaanxi and Gansu provinces in a remote area of northern China. He intended to carry out ethnographic and zoological research, as well as conduct surveys and create maps. His partner in this undertaking was Arthur de Carle Sowerby. Sowerby, in addition to being a naturalist, explorer, artist and editor, collected specimens for the British Museum and other museums of natural history in the United States and China. The expedition came to an abrupt end when Hazrat Ali, their translator and surveyor, was murdered.
Shortly thereafter, RSC moved to Paris. In 1909 he inherited various pieces of art from his family and these pieces became the foundation of the collection he was to build over the ensuing decades. He made his first purchases in 1912 and was initially attracted primarily to Dutch, Flemish and Italian old masters. Soon, his interests expanded to include silver, prints and drawings, rare books, and more contemporary artists such as Renoir, Degas, Sargent and Homer.
During this time RSC met Francine Clary. Formerly an actress with the Comedie Francaise, Francine was the mother of a daughter, Viviane Modzelewska. Francine and RSC began seeing one another in 1910, but didn’t marry until 1919. Their relationship was a source of tension with RSC’s family and eventually led to a rift between him and his brother, Stephen. Stephen, the youngest of the Clark brothers, had shouldered the daily administration of the family's fortunes. RSC felt that he was at a disadvantage because of the way the Singer trusts were constructed. Should something befall RSC, the money would pass back into the Clark family rather than to Francine and her daughter. When he was unable to resolve the issue within the family, he and Stephen had a falling out that would never be mended and RSC sued unsuccessfully in court to break up the trusts.
RSC and Francine were partners in assembling the collections that would eventually be housed at the Sterling and Francine Clark Art Institute, visiting galleries and dealers together. Another keen interest was horse breeding. RSC owned large operations that bred, raised and trained racehorses, first in Belgium and then in Virginia. In 1951, his horse, Never Say Die, won the Epsom Derby, the first American-bred horse ever to do so.
After considering various options for the eventual disposition of their artworks and objects, including donation to the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts and founding a museum in New York City, RSC and Francine decided to locate their collections in Williamstown, Massachusetts. Beginning in 1950 and continuing through RSC’s death late in 1956, their lives were focused on building the Institute, both physically and administratively.
Clark, Francine, d. 1960
Clark, Robert Sterling, 1877-1956
British Bloodstock Agency
Architecture, Domestic -- New York (State)
Horses -- Breeding
Porcelain Collectors and collecting
Silver plated ware
Silver sugar bowls
Virginia -- History
Motion pictures (Visual works)
Restrictions on Access
This material is currently restricted.
[Cite the item (as appropriate)], Images Series, Sterling and Francine Clark Papers, Sterling and Francine Clark Art Institute, Williamstown, Massachusetts.
The glass slides and many of the photographs were accessioned from the Director’s vault. Photos found among the correspondence were removed, cross-referenced, and placed in the Images series. Other black-and-white photographs and negatives were found among materials in the former office of David Brooke.
Items in the Images series were rehoused and arranged between December 2006 and April 2007 by Anne Just and Alex Grimley, archives interns. Items are stored in archival boxes and are primarily grouped by size, as original order is unclear due to extensive handling before they were accessioned into the archives. Black-and-white stereographic glass slides are arranged in archival boxes in the order in which they were found. Each slide is housed in a wrapper made of archival paper. Three of four photograph albums have been disbound and are stored in archival boxes, with leaves separated by buffered tissue. Their bindings, which were already in deteriorating condition, were too tight to allow for insertion of buffered tissue in place. The fourth album was in good condition with room for buffered tissue insertions between photographs and so was left undisturbed
Personal - Medical
Personal - Horses
Correspondence - Miscellaneous
On the occasion of the Clark Art Institute's 50th anniversary, the Clark published: The Clark brothers collect: impressionist and early modern paintings / Michael Conforti ... [et al.]; with additional contributions by Daniel Cohen-McFall ... [et al.], Williamstown, Mass., Sterling and Francine Clark Art Institute, 2006.
In addition, the Clark has published a catalog documenting the silver collection:
Sterling and Francine Clark Art Institute. English, Irish, & Scottish Silver at the Sterling and Francine Clark Art Institute. Beth Carver Wees, ed. New York: Hudson Hills Press, 1997.
Related or similar material can be found in the following series in the Sterling and Francine Clark Art Institute Archives, Williamstown, Massachusetts: Diaries Series, Sterling and Francine Clark Papers;
Correspondence Series, Sterling and Francine Clark Papers;
Financial Series, Sterling and Francine Clark Papers;
Personal Series, Sterling and Francine Clark Papers; and
Realia Series, Sterling and Francine Clark Papers; Records and Papers of David Brooke; Institutional Oral Histories. | <urn:uuid:0ea71558-a135-47c2-9ae5-6c65cf79a3c8> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://cdm16245.contentdm.oclc.org/cdm/ref/collection/p15001coll3/id/32 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368705953421/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516120553-00027-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.946754 | 1,967 | 1.703125 | 2 |
The 15 Most Eco-Friendly RockersHow Radiohead, Drake, Phish, the Roots and others are going green by recycling, using biodiesel and planting trees
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"Plastic anything is like contraband," the band Liars wrote about touring with Radiohead. "Every bus and truck runs on biofuel. There is no idling, rather some new-fangled way to deliver electricity cleanly. They don't do airfreight, either. The list goes on. Everything is supremely managed to reduce the 'footprint.'" Instead of flying their gear, singer Thom Yorke insisted on buying two sets of equipment and at one point even threatened to quit touring altogether, citing environmental concerns. But instead of hanging it up, the band worked to green their tours and support climate change awareness campaigns like Friends of the Earth. Though Yorke refused to meet with former British Prime Minister Tony Blair to discuss the environment, citing his lack of "environmental credentials," he's similarly critical of himself. "I haven't done enough," he told an Australian newspaper in 2006. "The job I'm in is a job that wastes energy left, right and centre. It's madness."
Photo: Thom Yorke attends the COP15 UN Climate Change Conference in Copenhagen, Denmark, December 18, 2009. | <urn:uuid:ae4ea557-af8d-40b8-ba19-dae9e4434b5b> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.rollingstone.com/music/pictures/the-15-most-eco-friendly-rockers-20101216/thom-yorke-0493100 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368705953421/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516120553-00008-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.967178 | 271 | 1.8125 | 2 |
WASHINGTON (WUSA9) -- It was four years ago now, that the then newly-inaugurated President Obama called us a town of weather wimps after his daughters school was shut down for a little ice out on the road.
Remember that? And the funniest thing was that people who live here actually had the nerve to get mad about it.
"The President's not being a good neighbor," they cried. Hey, sometimes the truth hurts.
We are total wimps when it comes to snow and ice and everybody knows it. In 2011 the Old Farmers Almanac named us the number one city in the country where weather shuts down everyday life and we all know about D.C. motorists legendary driving skills when the roads get slick.
Look Washingtonians, why are you fighting it? Of course we'd be more accustomed to snow and ice if we lived in Syracuse where 100 inches of snow is average winter.
But isn't that a bit like saying we'd all be more accustomed to sore, achy feet if we just wore our shoes a bit tighter? In other words, we're weather wimps because most of the time the weather around here just isn't that bad.
And Lets Be Real, why would anyone want it to be any different? | <urn:uuid:6ac433d0-b5e0-48dc-9c59-bd3edb841728> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.wusa9.com/(X(1)A(4C27-hC5zAEkAAAAYzA5YjQ2YzktOTk1Zi00MzVhLTgwMmMtMWUyMTdlZDlkNWY0Q9A_ppj6SQLTPxGfD-rRYaxNP5k1))/news/article/246895/386/Lets-Be-Real-We-Are-Weather-Wimps-And-Loving-It | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368700958435/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516104238-00040-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.975626 | 263 | 1.5 | 2 |
Amongst other things, I enjoy photography and astronomy; so rather than the normal gaming, this blog post is heading off topic. Sorry.
Just before heading to Canada last year, I picked up a Panasonic G2 Digital 3/4 format SLR camera. This is a little smaller and lighter than a classic SLR and has a digital viewfinder; but apart from that it is pretty similar. Since then, I’ve being meaning to grab a tripod and play around doing some night time photography.
In the absence of a telescope and camera mount, I put on the 200mm telepohoto lens and started playing tonight, and here’s the results…
And finally, Orion’s belt and sword. The blurry object in the centre of Orion’s sword (towards the bottom centre of the picture) is M42, the Orion nebula.
If you are interested in stargazing and photography, I can heartily recommend pointing your camera up at the stars. You will need something which has a manual mode plus a tripod to keep it steady, however the CCDs on digital cameras are more sensitive to light than the human eye so you can get some good results without expensive equipment.
In this case, all of these photos were taken from our back garden on a cloudy night, with a half moon, and lots of light pollution from three nearby street lights. Not ideal conditions.
Rather tempted to find a dark spot in the countryside the next clear night and have another go… | <urn:uuid:5776b358-144f-44d3-ae78-37b9a2e0613a> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://anythingworthdoing.wordpress.com/2011/01/14/on-orions-belt/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368710006682/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516131326-00009-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.941724 | 312 | 1.546875 | 2 |
Parents have always sought out wise counsel about the challenges they face in raising their children. In past generations, this information came from grandparents or other family members. Today, families are more sophisticated and want advice informed by the latest and best scientific evidence. With Ask Dr. Pat they receive step-by-step specific advice rather than general advice on their query.
Patrick J. McGrath OC, PhD, FRSC is a clinical psychologist and a researcher. He is Professor of Psychology, Pediatrics, and Psychiatry at Dalhousie University, Vice President – Research at IWK Health Centre in Halifax, and a parent. | <urn:uuid:00e04cc2-caa5-4659-afe5-dedb7f4e474c> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.iwk.nshealth.ca/index.cfm?objectid=F7734931-E60C-92CF-ABECD4E5B576F483 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368696383156/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516092623-00042-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.947943 | 125 | 1.53125 | 2 |
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Full Name at Birth
Ben Shalom Bernanke
Date of Birth
Claim to Fame
United States Federal Reserve
Ben Shalom Bernanke was born December 13, 1953. He is the Chairman of the Board of Governors of the United States Federal Reserve. Bernanke succeeded Alan Greenspan on February 1, 2006. He was ranked the 4th most powerful person in the world in an annual ranking by Newsweek in 2008. Born in Augusta, Georgia, Bernanke was raised in a ranch house on East Jefferson Street in Dillon, South Carolina. His father Philip was a pharmacist and part-time theater manager, and his mother Edna was originally a schoolteacher. He is the eldest of three children, having a brother and sister. His younger brother, Seth, is a lawyer in Charlotte, North Carolina, and his younger sister, Sharon, is a longtime administrator at Berklee College of Music in Boston.
Bernanke’s future as Federal Reserve chairman became uncertain on November 21, 2008, when it was announced that President-elect Barack Obama would name Tim Geithner as Treasury Secretary over Larry Summers, leading to speculation that Obama was positioning Summers as Bernanke`s successor. Summers was picked to run the National Economic Council. Two Obama advisers said that Summers would be the leading candidate to become the next Federal Reserve chairman should President Obama choose not to reappoint Bernanke when his term ends January 31, 2010.
List of links to Ben Bernanke fansites:
Ben Bernanke Links » | <urn:uuid:ea164619-eb08-494e-a8a4-bba299db4473> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.whosdatedwho.com/tpx_355018/ben-bernanke/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368699881956/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516102441-00030-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.958452 | 341 | 1.515625 | 2 |
The Limitations of EC State Aids Control
The European Union is one of the few jurisdictions in the world that has introduced specific provisions for the control of State aid. As a result European firms, constrained in their ability to receive State aid, may be at a competitive disadvantage with respect to outside competitors. A case can be made to extend to all jurisdictions a similar discipline, contributing to the creation of a level playing field in the world economy. While existing WTO provisions against State aid can be applied when subsidies affect exports only, a very rare event, European type provisions are much more general. However, the effectiveness of legal provisions depends very much on the way they are enforced. To this end the role of economic analysis as an interpretative tool is very important. And indeed the objective of the 2005 State Aid Action Plan was to enhance the role of economic analysis in State aid policy. Unfortunately the Commission did not go as far as suggesting that distortions of competition be noticeable before a State measure is declared incompatible. As a result, EU policy continues to be over extensive in addressing cases where the distortions of competition are minimal. This is particularly the case for restructuring aid, where the restoration of the healthiness of the firm is the final objective of the aid. However, in these cases, and recent decisions taken as a result of the financial crisis confirm it, the Commission uses competition type considerations only to overcome moral hazard by attaching a number of intrusive conditions to its authorisation decisions (prohibition of reducing prices before a competitor does, introduction of capacity or sales caps, merger prohibitions, managers salaries caps, etc). Very often these conditions reduce, not increase, the possibility of these companies to successfully restructure. Moral hazard can only be eliminated by not allowing the aid, by limiting the aid to what is strictly necessary or by making sure that it is a once and for all option, not by constraining the company from competing.
Date Published: 17 Apr 2012
Type: GTA Analytical Paper
Download E-Book: GTA-AP9 Heimler.pdf (1,836 KB) | <urn:uuid:ce9d95e7-769e-444a-9cd8-ee75fdf8d167> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.globaltradealert.org/gta-analysis/limitations-ec-state-aids-control | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368705953421/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516120553-00018-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.946569 | 418 | 1.726563 | 2 |
A week ago, I wrote about Paul Volcker’s call for money market funds to stop using the $1 NAV. In conditioning investors to believe their principal isn’t at risk, money funds can be very dangerous, systemically-speaking. When the buck gets broken …
- Investors panic: Their money was supposed to be safe.
- Since the fund has promised to redeem them at $1 per share, instead of at the day’s market value, investors have an incentive to get out as quickly as possible. The quicker they redeem, the more likely they are to get all their money back. It’s a bank run.
Unlike conventional money-market funds, the proposed DWS Variable NAV Money Fund will allow its net asset value, or NAV, to fluctuate rather than trying to maintain a stable $1 share price. The fund will require a $1 million minimum investment, a regulatory filing said.
The idea of floating money-market NAVs has been hotly debated. In the wake of the Reserve Management Co.’s Reserve Primary Fund falling below $1 last fall, regulators have searched for ways to make the $3.6 trillion money-fund industry more stable ….
Many in the fund industry are opposed to the idea of floating money-market NAVs, saying the move would essentially destroy the money-fund business.
They think it could destroy the business because if the NAV floats, then it’s not possible to market the funds as “cash equivalents.” Suddenly they’re just another bond fund, albeit an ultra-short/relatively safe one.
If you want the nitty gritty on why the $1 NAV is so crucial to the marketing of money funds, take a look at the March report of the Investment Company Institute’s working group on money funds, in particular section 8, pages 107-111. In a nutshell, allowing money funds to use amortized cost accounting, i.e. NOT marking their assets to market, provides for many tax, operational, legal and liquidity conveniences that an ultra-short bond fund doesn’t.*
More money market funds should follow this example. Hopefully the Obama administration pushes them in that direction when it releases its report on money market fund reforms September 15th.
*also check out footnote 25 on page 27 (ht Felix) | <urn:uuid:208a2124-5bc3-4ce1-87a4-a78c6885c81e> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://seekingalpha.com/article/159857-deutsche-bank-breaks-the-buck | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368698924319/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516100844-00031-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.933687 | 487 | 1.578125 | 2 |
1. computer time
Im at school Mrs j called the register fas ,Katie , Anna, true. Yasmin which is me.
Mrs j set us to work we had to go on the computer and research about something so i sat on the computer next to the classroom door .Some people had to go on next door computers like Anna, Ellen and Rouka.
Mrs how much do we have to finish this I asked. You have 30 minutes left Yasmin.
5 minutes later Ellen came up to me and said by the way Anna said she don`t want to be your friend any-more .Whaa what did i do ,do you know just forget don`t say anything to her. BRING BRING went the bell. Break time finally was over then Anna started laughing at me what was her problem".What have you ever done to her"said true. | <urn:uuid:8a382570-59de-4833-aebd-48ab21c10904> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.movellas.com/book/read/201207281810524902 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368702810651/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516111330-00042-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.98174 | 181 | 1.8125 | 2 |
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