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...a warmth, a Christ-centredness, a deep and obvious concern for people marks every page of the Gospels and Acts, with the possible exception of a chapter like Matthew 23; but in the second century this too often gives way to a rather cold, almost arrogant, battering of the opposition.... To launch a full-scale and at times bitter assault on someone's cherished beliefs is not the best way of inducing him to change them. (EITEC, p351) (EITEC, p351)
That's the kind of apologetics I want to have. Positive, contructive, Christ-centred and evidently loving. Yet, it's all too easy to be negative and just throw dirt. It's easier and feels better short-term. Much like this recent campaign poster against Christians in Exeter, in a campaign accusing them of being fascists, a campaign that comes under the banner of "equal opportunities". This excites the choir, and motivated them to vote down the Christians, but not very likely to make a Christian suddenly imagine that they would be better not having Christian leaders in Christian groups.
The recently accused Evangelical students of Exeter could fight back with accusations that suggest that those who differ from them also believe a "disgraceful pile of bile" (as they themselves are accused of believing). Not very compelling. Not likely to win them over.
The Evangelical Christian students at Exeter are basically arguing that the Pope should be a Catholic... i.e. to have evangelicals leading the Evangelical Christian Union. In the independent republic of Exeter University this is however regarded as deeply offensive, exclusive and unacceptable. Living in 21st Century UK I can see how this perception happens. We're conditioned to think that anything that excludes anyone is evil - for very good reasons. Though it's amusing that this issue arises in the (just a little) exclusive club that is a University which necessarily practices institutional exclusivity based on intellect and finances...
There is a need to create plausibility for what we believe. What seemed like basic common sense (before you even think about the Christian side of the issue). We have a need to shape thinking so that Christian thinking is no longer seen as evil and instead as beneficial... shaping thinking so that what seems like common sense to us might also be so for others. To demonstrate through our warm words and lives that the gospel of Jesus is such good news that people would wish it were true - and then might be persuaded that it is.
How we do that is a question I'm wrestling with, but I'm sold on the idea. | <urn:uuid:44c6fffb-5353-49d2-985c-8ca0e4ce78a1> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://thebluefish.org/2008/11/looking-for-warm-and-persuasive.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368700958435/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516104238-00027-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.967122 | 533 | 1.703125 | 2 |
Today at the Farmer’s Market we were just about to walk out the door when I spotted it…the table selling seeds. (Must be my gardener’s instinct). Lots and lots of different kinds of seeds. When I walked over and spoke to the mom that was with the kids at this table I learned a lot and thought that I would share for a very good cause.
The table belongs to a group of Shrewsbury homeschool kids that are conducting a fundraiser for the Vermont Farmers Food Center (a/k/a The Farmer’s Market) selling Fedco seeds. These kids –Silas Hamilton, Seamus and Avery Martin, Cedelle and Emmett Sirjane, and Manolo Zelkin with the help of parents, Licia Gambino Hamilton and Martha Sirjane are hoping to raise $3,500 to donate to the Center.
Since I’m not writing for the Rutland Express anymore (since they stopped publication) and I miss that ability to connect the cool things and people that I come across with people that might not know about them, I thought that I would post here about this group and their efforts in the hopes that folks in the area who plant their own seeds would take advantage of this fundraiser and help these kids with their goal. These kids are selling a variety of Fedco seeds (over 30 different types) to raise money for the Farmer’s Market to help with the work that remains to be done in and around the building and grounds. The kids have a table at the market and have set up and designed their own website
and Facebook page where they can be found at Seeds Worth Sowing. They’ve even hand stamped (in multi color, mind you) each and every one of their seed packets. Making a very delightful display as you can see.
You can purchase your seeds in person at the Farmer’s Market, or you can order them by mail and you can pick up an order farm locally from Pierce’s Store or Mount Holly Library. You can also download an order form while in your pajamas from the comfort of your own living room from their website (for my very lazy friends). If you mail in your order form, you can pick up your seeds from Pierce’s Store on March 21 from 3-6 p.m. or at the Mount Holly Library on March 24th from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. or at the Rutland Farmer’s Market on March 16th or April 6th from 10 a.m.-2 p.m. For the charge of mailing ($1.95 to $15 = $3.95 shipping fee; $16 & up = $5.95 shipping fee) they will even be happy to mail your seeds to you so you can just walk to the mailbox for your seeds. So, friends of mine that are not in Vermont and want seeds, go to their website, download the form, mail it in with your payment and wait for your seeds to arrive via the postal service from our lovely little state of Vermont.
The group extended its original order deadline to March 31st — so I encourage you to take advantage of getting some good seeds to get that garden started and help out an industrious group of kids with their ambitious (and totally doable) goal of raising $3,500. After all, any of us that shop at the Farmer’s Market will benefit from their hard work in raising these funds.
- What Kind of Seed Are You Sowing? (phenum01.wordpress.com)
- sowing seeds (balconyberlin.wordpress.com)
- What to do in March (digginwivdebb.wordpress.com)
- GARDENING: Winter seed sowing can be started now (cindyhelens.wordpress.com)
- Ladies and Gentlemen, Time to Start Seeds (prweb.com)
- 10 Easiest Vegetables to Grow from Seed this Spring (prweb.com) | <urn:uuid:4fbad49c-265f-4812-a57f-f4c7b7f5a74a> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://tammyheff.wordpress.com/2013/03/02/seeds-worth-sowing/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368709037764/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516125717-00027-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.95656 | 835 | 1.632813 | 2 |
Work began on the first five paragraphs of L.5, the draft decision on financial commitments, flows and arrangements. During the discussion, the G-77 tabled its own draft text for paragraph 1-5. On paragraph 1, which expresses concern that funding falls short of expectations, Austria said that financial flows cannot be disassociated from projects. The US added that the paragraph should be better balanced. The G-77 proposed the word "requirements" to replace "expectations". Paragraph 2, addressing levels of funding, received comments that included: the text should not concentrate on commitments of donor countries and ignore national funding sources (Austria); the lack of financial resources is only one of the major restraints (US, Japan, EC, Russia); the need to acknowledge the high level of assistance from some countries (Norway); the word "reaffirm" should be used in relation to commitments for 0.7% of GNP for ODA (US); and mention that the CSD is "disappointed" that "commitments have not be fulfilled" (G-77).
In paragraph 3 on the international economic climate, the following suggestions were made: include reference to the quality and effectiveness of development assistance (US, Japan); emphasize the role of domestic resources (Japan, Denmark, Russia); recommend changes and more equity in the trading system, resolution of the GATT round and the negative impact of SAPs (G-77). Colombia, India, Cuba and China said the reference to trade was essential. The G-77 proposed paragraph 3 bis that welcomes debt relief. Suggestions to paragraph 4, which urges financial and other institutions to integrate sustainable development in their programmes included: the paragraph should be more precise in its criticism (Austria); UN agencies be included (Norway); and more resources, without conditionality, should be provided to developing countries to implement Agenda 21 (G-77). Russia recalled the Agenda 21 preambular paragraph on economies in transition. Pakistan transmitted NGO suggestions for amendments to L.5.
On Saturday, the group spent the afternoon discussing paragraph 6 of L.5 on the proposed CSD consultative process to review financial resources available for the implementation of Agenda 21. The Chair, Arthur Campeau, prefaced the day's discussion by acknowledging that consensus might not be reached on the important issue of finding the most effective form of a consultative process. He added that the Commission might have to seek guidance from ministers on this. Colombia, on behalf of the G-77 and China, proposed that the CSD establish an "intersessional intergovernmental ad-hoc open-ended working group" of experts to assist the CSD, coordinated by the Bureau, with financial and technical support from the Secretary-General. Austria expressed concern that the CSD should not give away its most important task of reviewing the adequacy of financial resources by decentralizing it into a permanent consultative process. The US, supported by Japan, Australia, Norway and Iceland, argued for flexibility to allow for innovation, effectiveness and a variety of approaches. The G-77 expressed concern that the consultative process should not be delegated to the Secretariat, fearing that they would lose contact with the process and be presented with surprises on the eve of the next session. The EC suggested the possibility of regional consultative processes. India responded that the trend is toward globalization of decision making related to sustainable development and there should not be regional consultations. Austria was concerned that the CSD would become superficial if it met once a year and supported the value of regional inputs.
One question brought up was whether the working group should be intergovernmental and, if so, would it take political decisions or be technically oriented. The US argued for procedural guidelines and timeframes within a non-exclusive intergovernmental process and asked about the need for additional resources for this process. The Secretariat will report back Tuesday on budgetary implications. The Philippines said that instead of amorphous consultations organized by the Secretary-General, an intergovernmental process could be more transparent.
The group took a short recess while governments held informal consultations in the room. After resuming, Campeau explained that there were concerns about the implications of the word "intergovernmental" in the G-77 proposal and that some were concerned that setting up a "second committee" of the CSD would leave little for the CSD to do. Denmark proposed removing "intergovernmental" from the G-77 text. Canada said that the proposed group should include agencies and other bodies that can provide information without circumventing governments. Colombia responded that the G-77 did not want the intergovernmental experts group to be political. He added that this paragraph should contain: 1) the mandate to set up the working group; and 2) the terms of reference and framework for the group.
[Return to start of article] | <urn:uuid:f90e0797-fe4a-4e82-beb1-84f98fc3689e> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.iisd.ca/vol05/0507003e.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368696381249/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516092621-00020-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.940236 | 980 | 1.5 | 2 |
By Kara Alaimo
Thursday, November 8, 2007
A U.N. agency shunned by the Bush administration is one beneficiary of a major fundraising push behind maternal health initiatives. New online tools give citizens a personal handle on the progress and invite them to join the effort.
(WOMENSENEWS)--On the heels of a major maternal mortality conference in London last month and a heightened international focus on women's health issues this year, foreign governments and large foundations are marshalling greater funding commitments for maternal health initiatives.
The U.N. Population Fund, for instance, picked up more than $200 million in new commitments over five years from the United Kingdom at last month's Women Deliver conference, which drew participants from 109 countries to harness support and resources to improve the health of women and infants. Since 2004, the U.K. has allocated more than $40 million per year to the fund.
Contributions to the U.N. Population Fund are voluntarily allocated at the discretion of 180 U.N. member nations. The fund received $269 million in contributions in 2001, $389 million in 2006 and projects contributions of $411 million in 2007.
The money is flowing into an organization that since 2002 has been shunned by the administration of George W. Bush. The White House withholds funding via a policy loophole that had its genesis in 1985 during the presidency of Ronald Reagan. Congress passed an amendment giving the president discretion to withhold funding from any group or agency involved in coercive abortion or sterilization. Since then, GOP administrations and the U.N. Population Fund have battled over whether the U.N. agency matches that description.
The White House has refused to release funding for the agency that was appropriated by Congress. The amount withheld now totals $204 million, according to the U.S. Agency for International Development; $34 million has been authorized in funding each year since 2002.
The withheld U.S. funding since 2002 would have allowed the U.N. Population Fund to prevent 244,000 maternal deaths, help 68 million women delay pregnancy and prevent 2.4 million women from suffering adverse health effects during pregnancy and childbirth, said Anika Rahman, president of New York-based Americans for UNFPA. The group formed in 1998 to generate support for the U.N. agency and help cushion the effects of the U.S. de-funding
At the same time as other nations and foundations are increasing donations, private citizens are being encouraged to support the U.N. Population Fund through a new Web service designed to assist Western women in relating more directly to the agency's mission.
Developed by the advocacy group Americans for UNFPA, the Web service Lifelines allows a user to enter information about her schooling, work, relationships and children with the idea that women around the world can begin to compare their common experiences.
For example, when a 45-year-old married woman in the United States logs on to Lifelines to check on her statistical counterpart in Uganda, she will find some stark contrasts. She marrried at age 39 to someone she chose and had 17 years of education, starting at age 5, as well as paid work starting in high school. Her counterpart has not attended school or ever worked outside her home. She is married and will have been chosen by her husband. She had her first of 10 children at age 18.
"When we see the reality of women's lives around the world, we begin to see the role each of us can take to make a difference," said Rahman of Americans for UNFPA.
Another new online tool to better connect Westerners to the developing world is the MDG Monitor Web site, launched Nov. 1 by the United Nations along with technology giants Google, based in Mountain View, Calif., and Cisco, in San Jose, Calif.
The site uses data to track progress in meeting the U.N. millennium development goals, established by international leaders in 2000 to eradicate global poverty by 2015. Improving women's status is a keystone of the targets. Visitors can quickly check global comparison of data that include maternal mortality rates and girl-boy ratios of school enrollments. A Google Earth map locates ongoing projects to improve women's health, pulling up information with a click on the map.
The Bush administration contends that because the U.N. Population Fund provides financial and technical resources to China's National Population and Family Planning Commission, it supports the Chinese government's program of coercive abortion and involuntary sterilization.
Sarah Craven, chief of the Washington office of the U.N. Population Fund, says the agency's program in China promotes a voluntary approach to family planning and does not fund coercive abortions. Last year, the agency spent $3.69 million in China.
Abortions declined by 18 percent between 2003 and 2005 in the counties in China where the U.N. Population Fund worked, according to a study by the Southampton Statistical Sciences Research Institute at the University of Southampton in England and other groups.
At least 200 million women worldwide lack access to the contraceptives they desire in order to plan their families or space their children, according to the U.N. Population Fund. The agency also says reproductive health conditions are the leading cause of death and illness among women of childbearing age, with one woman dying every minute due to lack of adequate care during pregnancy and childbirth.
The agency works in 154 nations providing maternal and reproductive health services, distributing contraceptives, implementing HIV-AIDS prevention services and advocating for women's rights and gender equality. Demand for family planning services is expected to increase by 40 percent over the next 15 years.
Other major donors who attended the Women Deliver conference and the U.N. General Assembly meeting in September promised to devote more than $1.4 billion to the overall cause of reducing maternal mortality.
The funding push comes amid a growing recognition that progress has been too slow for the world to meet the millennium development goal that calls for reducing maternal deaths.
The Seattle-based Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, which in 2006 received a gift of $31 billion from money manager Warren Buffett and has so far pledged $563 million to maternal health, vowed to take further action. Over $486 million has already been paid out.
The Chicago-based John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation pledged $11 million in new technology to Pathfinder International, a reproductive health organization in Watertown, Mass., to fight blood loss after childbirth in Nigeria and India.
Japan promised to focus prominently on global health when it hosts the Group of Eight economic summit in Hokkaido Toyako in July 2008.
The David and Lucile Packard Foundation, the International Labor Organization, the United Nations Foundation, UNICEF, Exxon/Mobil and GlaxoSmithKline all pledged to take some form of unspecified action as well.
At the U.N. General Assembly meeting in September, Norway pledged $1 billion for the Global Campaign for the Health Millennium Development Goals to improve child and maternal health and reduce disease; the Netherlands pledged $178 million for gender equality and maternal health; and Denmark pledged $21 million for reproductive health and HIV-AIDS.
Kara Alaimo is a New York-based writer.
Women's eNews welcomes your comments. E-mail us at [email protected].
Americans for UNFPA:
Note: Women's eNews is not responsible for the content of external Internet sites and the contents of Web pages we link to may change without notice.
By Norsigian and Stephenson
By Leela Jacinto
By Alison Bowen
By Allison Stevens
By Rachel Corbett
By Allison Stevens | <urn:uuid:65f051ca-dd96-409f-b6f5-944c6db45913> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://womensenews.org/story/reproductive-health/071108/maternal-health-donations-overflow-bush-blockade | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368705953421/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516120553-00040-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.937181 | 1,562 | 1.59375 | 2 |
Revised December 3, 2003
CONGRESSIONAL LEADERSHIP PUSHES FOR EXTENDING EXPIRING TAX BREAKS, BUT IGNORES EXPIRING UNEMPLOYMENT BENEFITS
House extends large corporate tax break first enacted in 2002 stimulus package, while Majority Leader says economic conditions mean unemployment extension is unnecessary
By David Kamin and Isaac Shapiro
PDF of full report If you cannot access the files through the links, right-click on the underlined text, click "Save Link As," download to your directory, and open the document in Adobe Acrobat Reader
When Congress returns from its Thanksgiving break on the week of December 8, it will be under pressure to complete action on legislation that would extend more than a dozen tax breaks scheduled to expire at the end of the year. The House passed a tax-cut "extenders" package before the break, but the Senate did not. Despite efforts to ensure that an extenders package is enacted before the end of the year, Congressional leaders have shown no willingness to consider extending the temporary federal program to help the long-term unemployed, which, starting December 21, will not provide any benefits to those who newly exhaust their regular, state-funded benefits.
In addition, the House version of the tax-cut extension bill would continue a large, supposedly temporary corporate tax break that was enacted as part of the 2002 stimulus legislation. When it comes to the unemployment benefits, however, House Majority Leader Tom DeLay told BNA Daily Labor Report on November 19 that there is no reason for extending those benefits. The House approach implies that corporations need continued support amidst a still-weak economy, but that laid-off workers do not. This is despite the fact that firms might not use the tax breaks to hire new workers and that the unemployed workers who have their benefits run out will be receiving neither paychecks nor unemployment benefits.
Representative DeLays contention that there is no basis for extending unemployment benefits is strongly contradicted by the evidence:
- In key respects, even with the recent upturn in job growth, the labor market is weaker today than when the temporary federal unemployment benefits program was established by the March 2002 stimulus legislation. The current unemployment rate is higher, and there are more unemployed workers, fewer jobs, and much more long-term unemployment. In fact, the number of individuals out of work for at least 26 weeks was more than 50 percent greater in October 2003 than in March 2002.
- If no Congressional action is taken to extend the unemployment benefits program starting December 21, between 80,000 and 90,000 unemployed workers will exhaust their regular unemployment benefits every week without being able to receive any federal unemployment benefits to help them make ends meet as they continue to look for work.
- The number of workers exhausting their regular unemployment benefits and thus in need of temporary federal benefits is much larger today than when the temporary federal program enacted in response to the downturn of the early 1990s was ended.
It should also be noted that Congressional leaders are proposing to extend various tax breaks for six months to a year, thereby maintaining the fiction that these tax breaks are temporary, when virtually all knowledgeable observers agree that these tax breaks will continue being extended each time they are about to expire and likely never will be permitted to terminate. According to the Congressional Research Service, only one temporary tax provision has been allowed to expire in the last 25 years. As a result, the official estimate of the cost of extending these tax breaks for six months to a year substantially understates the true cost of these tax breaks over time, and hides their long-term effects on a federal budget that already faces large deficits for the foreseeable future.
Moreover, if the House corporate tax provision is included as part of the extenders package this year, that will set a precedent for this provision to be automatically considered as part of the package of extenders in future years. Thus, a large, supposedly temporary corporate tax break included in the 2002 stimulus package may become an ongoing feature of tax law. Under the House bill, this provision would reduce corporate taxes by $19 billion in 2004. If this corporate tax provision really is allowed to expire after one year, as the official cost estimate for the House bill assumes, most of the revenue loss in 2004 would be offset by increased revenue collections in subsequent years, and the total revenue loss from the provision would be $5 billion over the ten-year period. But if this provision instead becomes part of the list of tax measures that are routinely extended whenever they are slated to expire a development toward which the House bill takes a large step the provision could cost tens of billions of dollars over the coming decade.
The True Cost of Extending the Expiring Tax Breaks
Congress seems intent on pushing through legislation to extend expiring tax breaks. The House of Representatives passed its tax-cut extenders bill, which extends 14 separate tax breaks, by voice vote with less than one hour of debate on November 20. In the Senate, Finance Committee Chairman Charles Grassley and ranking member Senator Max Baucus introduced an extenders bill. The House bill would reduce revenues by $7 billion over ten years; the Senate bill is advertised as being deficit neutral because it offsets the cost of the tax cuts with revenue-raising provisions.
These official cost estimates are misleading, however, as they understate the likely impact on the budget. The tax cuts in these bills would be extended for short periods typically six months in the Senate bill and one year in the House bill. It is a virtual certainty, however, that these tax breaks will be extended again and again in future years. Once extended, these tax cuts will add billions more to the deficit.
- The Senate tax-extension bill is technically revenue neutral over ten years; it includes $1.2 billion in tax cuts and $1.2 billion in revenue raisers. But its costs are front-loaded, since most of the tax cuts in the bill are extended for only six months. The revenue-raising provisions, on the other hand, would be in effect for up to the full ten years covered by the cost estimate. If all provisions both the tax cuts and offsets remain in effect throughout the ten-year period, as likely would be the case, the cost will be $24 billion over ten years.
- This $24 billion in revenue losses would result in $6 billion in costs in additional interest payments on the federal debt, so the total impact on the deficit would be $30 billion over ten years.
- The bill that the House has approved is more costly. As noted, if the new corporate tax provision it includes really is allowed to expire after one year, as the official cost estimate for the House bill assumes, the total revenue loss from the provision would be $5 billion over the ten-year period. But if this provision is extended in future years, it could cost tens of billions of dollars over the next decade.
Problem of Tax Extenders Will Grow Worse In Future Years
The passage of a package of tax extenders has been a Congressional ritual in recent years. This practice has always been a poor way to carry out tax policy, creating unnecessary uncertainty in the tax code and masking the true long-term cost of the tax-cut provisions. If Congress wishes to extend these provisions, it would be more appropriate to enact permanent tax changes and to offset fully the resulting costs.
It would be wise for Congress to establish such a precedent, since dealing with temporary tax provisions will become a much more substantial problem in future years. With the enactment of the 2001 tax bill, the number and cost of temporary tax provisions has exploded. Policymakers have come to rely on writing large new tax cuts into law for seemingly temporary periods in order to game the system and conceal the true, long-term cost of the measures in question. The Congressional
BudgetOffice now estimates that the ten-year cost of permanently extending all of the tax provisions that are scheduled to expire before 2013 amounts to a whopping $2.1 trillion.
A study by William Gale and Peter Orszag of the Brookings Institution on the costs of extenders underscores how large this issue is about to become. Gale and Orszag, looking at various ten-year periods, estimated the cost of extending tax provisions that were scheduled to expire during each period. They found, for instance, that the cost in January 2001 of extending expiring tax provisions was $22 billion in the tenth year of the period. Now, however, following enactment of recent tax-cut legislation, the cost in the tenth year would be $430 billion.
I see no reason, particularly with a 6.1 percent unemployment rate, to be extending unemployment compensation, [House Majority Leader Tom] DeLay said. Currently, he added, every economic indicator is better than in 1993, when the Democrats ended the [federal] unemployment program.
In March 2002, the Temporary Extended Unemployment Compensation program was established to provide additional federal benefits to those who exhaust their regular, state- funded benefits. The TEUC program is scheduled to phase down sharply at the end of the year. Starting December 21, workers who exhaust their regular unemployment benefits will not be eligible for additional weeks of benefits through the federal TEUC program. The only people who will continue to receive TEUC benefits will be those who exhausted their regular benefits before December 21.
In contrast to the Congressional Leaderships last-minute push to extend expiring tax breaks, the Leadership has shown little interest in extending the federal unemployment benefits. This omission is particularly striking in the House bill, since it includes extension of a corporate tax break enacted as part of the 2002 economic stimulus package, while failing to extend the federal unemployment benefits that were established as part of the same stimulus legislation. In essence, House Leadership has indicated that it believes corporations need continued support as the economy recovers but unemployed workers do not. The facts suggest otherwise.
The labor market is weaker today than when the TEUC program was created in March 2002. As noted earlier, and as the following table indicates, even though there has been some increase in jobs in recent months unemployment indicators and especially long-term unemployment are higher today than in March 2002. And employment is lower.
Contrary to the House Majority Leaders claim, many economic indicators, and especially labor market indicators, are worse today than when the temporary federal benefits program of the early 1990s ended. The temporary federal benefits program of the early 1990s began to phase out sharply in February 1994; key indicators of the need for a temporary benefits program remain worse today than they were in early 1994. The earlier program ended after a sustained period of robust job creation; we have now experienced only a few months of modest job creation. In addition, many more unemployed workers are exhausting their regular unemployment benefits before finding work and thus are in need of assistance from a temporary federal unemployment benefits program than during the early 1990s.
- Before the earlier program was allowed to phase down in early 1994, the number of jobs in the economy had increased for 22 of the previous 23 months. There were 2.6 million more jobs than at the previous employment peak.
By contrast, October 2003 marked just the third straight month of modest job creation, following six consecutive months of job loss. Moreover, in October 2003, there were still 2.4 million fewer jobs than in February 2001, the month that employment peaked before the downturn kicked in.
Situation when TEUC was enacted
Number of Jobs
- The number of people in need of assistance from the TEUC program is much higher than it was than when the temporary federal benefits program of the early 1990s was ended. Over the past three months, despite modest job growth, 1.07 million workers exhausted their regular unemployment benefits. This is 41 percent higher than the 757,000 workers who exhausted their regular unemployment benefits in the equivalent period before the federal program of the early 1990s ended.
Three additional reasons to extend the program
First, the federal unemployment insurance trust fund contains ample funds to cover an extension of federal unemployment benefits. The federal unemployment insurance trust fund currently contains about $20 billion. These funds were paid into the federal unemployment insurance trust fund precisely for the purpose of providing federal unemployment benefits at times when the job market is weak. The cost of a straight extension of the TEUC program is less than $1 billion a month, so there is no risk of depleting the trust fund through another TEUC extension.
Second, it is also of note that unemployment benefits provide more stimulus to the economy than corporate tax cuts. An Economy.com study of the effects of various ways to stimulate a weak economy found that for each dollar of cost to the federal Treasury, federal unemployment insurance benefits were the single most effective policy mechanism examined. Unemployment insurance puts money in the hands of people who need it and generally will spend it quickly. Although the Economy.com study did not examine the specific corporate tax break contained in the current House extenders bill, the study found that similar corporate tax cuts were among the least effective methods of stimulating the economy.
Specifically, the study concluded that each dollar of new federal expenditures for unemployment compensation generated an increase in real gross domestic product (GDP) of $1.73. The study found, by contrast, that for each dollar used for a range of corporate tax breaks, real GDP would rise less than $0.35. In boosting a weak economy, unemployment compensation was found to have much greater bang for the buck. Needless to say, unemployment insurance also is much more effective in targeting help on those who most need it.
Finally, federal unemployment benefits truly are temporary. There is little question that they will expire when the economy and the job market recover sufficiently. In every past economic downturn in recent memory, temporary federal unemployment benefits have been provided when the economy was weak and then terminated when the job market recovered adequately. This contrasts sharply with the various expiring tax provisions that Congress now is extending, which are temporary in name only and generally are never allowed to end.
Jill Barshay, Temporary Tax Breaks Usually A Permanent Reality, CQ Weekly,
November 15, 2003.
This provision would allow corporations to carry back net operating losses for five years and use loss deductions against the corporate Alternative Minimum
Tax. This provision essentially allows corporations to take certain deductions in the current year rather than in future years. Relative to current law, this timing shift results in a revenue losses in 2004 and revenue gains in the subsequent years (as corporations take smaller deductions in those years). If it is extended beyond 2004 and remains in effect over the full ten years, however, its cost will be much higher.
BudgetOffice, The Budgetand Economic Outlook: An Update, August 2003, Table 1-6. This number includes CBOs estimate of a realistic alternative minimum tax (AMT) relief package, amounting to $548 billion, including interaction with other provisions. Current AMT relief expires at the end of 2004.
Fawn H. Johnson, Unemployment Insurance: DeLay Sees No Reason to Extend Federal UI Program Into Next Year, Bureau of National Affairs (BNA) Daily Labor Report,
November 20, 2003.
The one exception is in New York, where workers who exhaust their regular benefits starting on December 22 will not be eligible for TEUC aid.
Even after adjusting for the growth in the size of the labor force, there were 25 percent more individuals exhausting their regular unemployment benefits over the past three months than in the equivalent months before the program of the early 1990s ended.
The Need For Federal Government Aid to State Government, Economy.com, February 2003. For a discussion of the report, see Andrew Lee and Joel Friedman, Reports Finds Most Administration Growth Proposals Would Be Ineffective Economic Stimulus, Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, April 8, 2003. | <urn:uuid:0853426f-e22d-47b1-a262-592f22bdb1db> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.cbpp.org/cms/index.cfm?fa=view&id=1401 | 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 | 0.956747 | 3,214 | 1.804688 | 2 |
Date: December 2010
Creator: Mitzel, Gina Marie
Description: The purpose of this dissertation was to understand how genetics, socioeconomic status (SES), and lifestyle factors influence the development of age-related macular degeneration (AMD), glaucoma, and diabetic retinopathy in an adult population in Dallas County. Two hundred fifty-three older adults participated in this study as the sample. Crosstabulation and binary logistic regression were utilized to analyze the data. Results indicated a disparity among participants' test scores, visual health status, and perceptions of their visual impairment and highlighted the fact that many seniors are not educated about age-related retinal disorders. Furthermore, variables reaching statistical significance were consistent with the literature included race/ethnicity, age, having a family history of both AMD and diabetes, frequency of eye exams, and level of education. The results not consistent with the literature as affecting visual health included health insurance, access to health care, body weight, and smoking status. Recommendations for future study included applied research focusing on determining risk factors, raising awareness, educating, and providing early detection of these diseases among low to middle income Caucasian, African American, and Hispanic older adults.
Contributing Partner: UNT Libraries | <urn:uuid:ac13bdcb-be25-4bea-85d9-4e33571d20bd> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://digital.library.unt.edu/search/?q=%22Retina%20--%20Diseases%20--%20Genetic%20aspects.%22&t=str_subject | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368699273641/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516101433-00042-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.939207 | 252 | 1.84375 | 2 |
"Given our successes, it is the right moment to initiate a sizable and sustained reduction in forces, with the goal of steadily redeploying all regular combat troops. The costs of prolonging the war far outweigh the benefits." - Twenty-seven senators, Democrats as well as Republicans in a letter to President Barack Obama pressing for a shift in Afghanistan strategy and major troop cuts.
"They (NATO) are targeting civilians. ... The logic is intimidation. They want Libyans to give up the fight ... they want to break our spirit." - Libyan government spokesman Moussa Ibrahim saying NATO airstrike west of Tripoli destroyed a large family compound belonging to a close associate of Moammar Gadhafi, killing at least 15 people, including three children.
"It just seems like we have an epidemic of 'blame it all on the illegal aliens, blame it all on the Mexicans.' It's amazing that the public doesn't rebel against this type of scapegoating." - Roberto Reveles, the founding president and a current member of Somos America, an Arizona-based immigration rights group after Sen. John McCain told the media: "There is substantial evidence that some of these fires have been caused by people who have crossed our border illegally. | <urn:uuid:32af31d8-63ae-4bb3-adc9-bcc3c04e428a> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.vcstar.com/news/2011/jun/21/quotations-of-the-day/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368700958435/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516104238-00005-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.951862 | 250 | 1.59375 | 2 |
- November 9 down the years
The spying gameWhat happened on this day in Formula One history
Renault was forced to admit that it had been using data from McLaren, acquired when an engineer moved between the teams bringing sensitive information with him which was then shared within Renault. McLaren, who had been fined $100 million in the notorious Spygate affair, were left incredulous when the FIA in effect let Renault off after accepting none of the information had been used in its designs. "I am absolutely at ease with it.' Renault boss Flavio Briatore said: 'I wish to pay tribute to the team, who have handled the matter with integrity and dignity." The media could not help compare his reaction with his splenetic attacks on McLaren during Spygate … nor of his close relationship with F1 supremo Bernie Ecclestone. "Is it fair?" Ecclestone said. "We are always fair."
On the eve of the title decider, it emerged Damon Hill was locked in a row with Williams over money. Hill's retainer of £300,000 was overshadowed by the £950,000 per race paid to Nigel Mansell on his occasional outings. "I'm pretty disgusted with some of the things that have gone on," he said on his arrival in Adelaide. "I feel they [Williams] have not contributed to making me feel that the team is behind me to win the championship. I have been in negotiation with the team about my contract. I do have a contract: they have taken up their option on my services for next year, but I reckon I am a lot better than my contract says I am. The dispute is about the team recognising what you feel yourself to be worth. I have won nine grands prix. This year I have had to carry the role of No. 1 driver in only my second season in F1. I'm one point off the championship lead with one race to go." Hill lost the championship but did agree a new contract. He eventually won the title in 1996, but did so after Williams had already dumped him for the following season.
Eddie Irvine ruled out a switch to rallying after testing with Colin McRae's Ford team. Irvine, who had been released by the Jaguar at the end of the season, said: "The experience has shown me that I can't just jump in to a rally car and be quick."
The fallout from the Max Mosley libel case continued with Daily Mail editor Paul Dacre claiming the "arrogant and amoral" judgments of Mr Justice Eady were "inexorably and insidiously" imposing a privacy law on the British press. Dacre said in the case brought by Mosley against the News of the World, Eady "effectively ruled that it was perfectly acceptable for the multi-millionaire head of a multi-billion sport that is followed by countless young people to pay five women £2500 to take part in acts of unimaginable sexual depravity with him. The judge found for Mosley because he had not engaged in a 'sick Nazi orgy' as the News of the World contested, though for the life of me that seems an almost surreally pedantic logic as some of the participants were dressed in military-style uniform." | <urn:uuid:701ed63c-7f06-49f7-9a0f-fe5ec274452b> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://en.espnf1.com/f1/motorsport/story/2543.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368702448584/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516110728-00020-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.986608 | 665 | 1.5 | 2 |
Syria: Disturbing reports of summary killings by government and opposition forces
|Publication Date||25 July 2012|
|Cite as||Amnesty International, Syria: Disturbing reports of summary killings by government and opposition forces, 25 July 2012, available at: http://www.refworld.org/docid/5013e2e92.html [accessed 25 May 2013]|
Reports that government forces and armed opposition groups have been deliberately and unlawfully killing captured opponents in Syria bolster the need for all sides to commit to abiding by international humanitarian law, Amnesty International said today.
Earlier this week, the bodies of 19 unarmed men and one child were found in several locations in the Damascus neighbourhood of al-Mezzeh, after according to local activists having been killed by government forces who suspected them of aiding rebels in the area. Activists said that some of the bodies had their hands tied behind their backs and some bore marks indicating they had been tortured before being killed.
Although Amnesty International cannot directly confirm these reports, they mirror a pattern documented by the organization elsewhere in the country.
"Amnesty International has been documenting unlawful killings carried out by state forces and government militias in Syria for months. Our field research in northern Syria found scores of mainly men and boys most of whom who had not been engaged in hostilities being summarily killed by government forces, and shabiha militia members, after prolonged shelling of city districts, towns and villages suspected of harbouring opposition fighters and supporters," said Ann Harrison, Deputy Middle East and North Africa Programme Director at Amnesty International.
"We have also been investigating reports that members of armed opposition groups have been responsible for the killings of captured members of the security forces and other unlawful killings. The leadership of all sides must make it clear that they will not tolerate such abuses by anyone under their command."
The reports of the al-Mezzeh deaths followed statements attributed to Iraq's Deputy Interior Minister who told the AFP news agency that Iraqi soldiers on Thursday 19 July had witnessed members of the Free Syria Army kill 22 captured members of the Syrian armed forces after taking control of a border post between the two countries.
If confirmed, these killings would constitute serious violations of international humanitarian law and war crimes.
There have been hundreds of cases, including those documented by Amnesty International itself, of members of the Syrian government's security forces and pro-government militia deliberately killing captured fighters, suspected opponents, and others.
More recently, Amnesty International has received an increasing number of reports of similar, as well as other, abuses committed by members of the armed opposition groups.
Among other information, the organization has seen video clips purportedly depicting individuals being summarily killed by members of Syrian armed opposition groups.
In a video clip uploaded on 5 July 2012, a man identified as Ahmed Fadhel Ahmed, an Air Force Intelligence official (musa'id awwal), is seen sitting before a hole in a field, identified in a subtitle as in the Aleppo area. He is then shot dead with several bullets to the upper body and head.
Another video clip appears to show the killing of a man named as Abu Wa'el Rashid, who is thrown out of a second- or third-floor window. The narrator who says that the footage was shot in Nabek, in Damascus governorate, on 15 June 2012 says "this is the fate of all traitors, of those who collaborate with security and shabiha".
The description of the clip says the killing was carried out by the al-Nur Battalion, which Amnesty International believes to be a Salafist armed group which is not part of the Free Syria Army.
Information received by Amnesty International, including oral testimony, video clips and media reports indicates that dozens of individuals suspected of working for or aiding the Syrian government's security forces and pro-government militia may have been killed by armed groups after being captured.
Article 3 Common to the four Geneva Conventions, which applies to all parties to non-international armed conflicts such as the one currently taking place in Syria, prohibits "murder of all kinds" and "the passing of sentences and the carrying out of executions without previous judgement pronounced by a regularly constituted court".
"In armed conflict, all parties, including armed opposition groups, are legally bound by the rules of international humanitarian law (IHL). Serious violations of IHL are war crimes, and those responsible can expect to be brought to account in the future," said Ann Harrison. | <urn:uuid:f8637d50-9798-413a-b26d-e9d833f503ab> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.refworld.org/cgi-bin/texis/vtx/rwmain?page=topic&tocid=4565c22538&toid=&publisher=&type=&coi=&docid=5013e2e92&skip=0 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368705195219/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516115315-00035-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.970559 | 912 | 1.539063 | 2 |
Tumblr, Which is a very famous social-networking and blogging platfrom and is widely used by Teenagers and Youngsters around the world, is going to be acquired by by Yahoo! Inc . Yahoo's board of directors has approved the deal to buy Tumblr for $1.1 billion in cash. However Tumblr and Yahoo! haven't released any official statements.
On Thursday, Facebook Introduced its new security feature named "Trusted Contacts". With this, you can select your three friends which help you to recover your account in case if it is hacked or you forgot your password. Facebook created this feature in 2011 and they were testing it uptill now. Initially, they gave it name of Trusted Friends, and later it was renamed as Trusted Contacts. They have also redesigned and improved Trusted Contact. And now, this feature is also available common Facebook users, So that can also take advantage of this feature.
Today, Almost every internet user use download managers, Because they speed up our download, automatically managers and store them in specific folder, differentiate between softwares, videos, audio files etc. Now a days, A download manager is essential need of an internet user. Many of you may have used (or are using) “Shareware” “Freeware” and “Paid” downlaod managers. But this one is best of them. I am using it from many years, and i am completely satisfied with it. So today, I thought to tell you about it. So here are some features of Free Download Manager.
Facebook is king of Social Networks and today people from all around the globe are using it. Some are using it for fun, some are using it for communication, and some are using it for Business Promotions. One popular feature of facebook is that is allows its users to create multiple pages. Four years ago when i joined facebook, Promoting Facebook pages and Getting likes wasn’t a big deal, Sending Links in Chat, Inviting Friends and PnP (Promote and Get promoted) seemed to work fine at that time. and usually, we get about 20-30 likes on a daily basis by using these kind of techniques. But none of them works now. Now-a-days it is a bit tough to get likes on your fanpage. Admin of Popular fanpages aren’t interested PnP. Sending Links in Chat Box is annoying and almost none of your friend whom you invite likes your page. For this reason some people used “Auto-Likers” but, Auto-Likers had ruined their Profile and Fanpage. So, many old friends of mine asked from me that “Is there any trick to get Likes on Facebook Page?” or “Can we get likes on our facebook page without using Auto-Likers?” and my reply was, “Yes! There Is.” So Here is the Trick to Get Hundreds and Thousands of Facebook Likes for FREE!
WIndows 8 is one of the most famous and the most Secure version of Microsoft Windows. However, Many tech-experts say that windows 8 will be a big faliure, but still, Microsoft is trying its best to promote Windows 8, Recently Microsoft also Launched two new Windows 8 Video Advertisements, in which they showed a number of WIndows 8 Features such as Picture Password, Integration with Skype and SkyDrive, Support for touch screen devices, Windows Store and much more… Anyways Here are the Two Newly launched Ads of WIndows 8.
Today, On New Year, Million of people around the globe will start creating new resolutions and Internet giant Google wants to know what is your new year resolution? If you want to tell the world about your new year resolution, then you can tell them about your resolution on Google’s New Year Resolution Page on launched on Google Zeitgeist
As we all know 2012 was a year of big moments, from global games to historical elections and everything in between. And to know about thee memorable moments Google has analyzed more then one trillion search queries to tell people that what the world searched for.
Like other websites on the internet, Google also receives DMCA requests from copyright owners and reporting organizations that represent them to remove search results that link to material that infringes copyrights. Each request have a specific URL to be removed. But recently, Google started to publish all the takedown requests online in their Google Transparency Report.
According to Google Transparency Report, Last Month they received takedown request of 13,311,796 URLs, and 3,502,254 requests of them were received in last week, which is 15 times more than the amount received in January. | <urn:uuid:7ac780d7-fc14-42ac-9e43-0e9009203479> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.technostriker.com/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368704713110/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516114513-00011-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.963414 | 960 | 1.53125 | 2 |
LAKE BUENA VISTA
Florida's economic development leaders like to use the now-infamous Wall Street Journal headline "Is Florida Over?" to their own advantage. While the traditional response from a Florida Chamber of Commerce should be "No," Chamber CEO Mark Wilson instead likes to surprise his audience with an emphatic "Yes."
The Florida economy built on agriculture, tourism, sunshine and cheap labor that sustained the state quite well for the past 30 years is, indeed, over, Wilson says. And good riddance, perhaps, because Florida has relied too long on a "cheap" economy of low-wage jobs and second-rate education.
Now Florida must play catch-up to become more competitive. Big time. These folks are in a hurry.
At this Florida Chamber event attended by some 400 state business leaders, Tuesday's "State of the State" theme was all about hard choices. As in, it's time to make some. They ranged in conversation from questioning something as basic as Florida's arguably outmoded structure of 67 counties and 452 cities — inefficient and hard to streamline — to suggesting something as simple as restructuring Florida's Bright Futures scholarship to pay more to engineering than liberal arts students.
"Florida needs to start judging its economic competitiveness not against other states but against other countries," says Wilson, who spreads his sense of urgency with an evangelical intensity in a series of meetings taking place here at the Disney Yacht Club Resort.
To add a more concrete foundation to this mission, the Chamber on Tuesday unveiled a new statewide economic scorecard (check it out at www.TheFloridaScorecard.com). It's the first effort to create a one-stop shop of Florida economic data that will be updated as official economic numbers are released, including this Friday's state unemployment numbers from the Agency for Workforce Innovation.
Tony Carvajal, executive vice president of the Florida Chamber Foundation, for now is the one-man band who will update the state scorecard (though that will change as the Web site matures). The scorecard aims to put anyone looking at the state of Florida's economy on the same page with the same official information. But the scorecard carries the promise of much more.
The chamber, an increasingly aggressive lobbying group in Tallahassee, wants to use the scorecard and dashboard dials as political tools. The group will tell the Florida Legislature and other arms of state government when Florida is slipping behind its 20-year goals. And the chamber may find it useful to bludgeon legislators whose actions hurt economic conditions in the state. Carvajal says the chamber will support those in office who help the economy, and work to unseat those who do not.
The mission, says chamber CEO Wilson, is to expedite Florida's migration to a higher-level economy. "We need high-wage jobs, which does not mean a call center worker who earns $20 instead of $10," Wilson says.
To their credit, the Florida Chamber and other business leaders at this gathering embrace a long-term outlook for Florida, a state rarely known for looking beyond the next tube of sunscreen. Still, trying to transform Florida from a lumbering tourism and retirement mecca into a go-to place for Ph.D. scientists feels like a task that will require much more buy-in, higher intensity and, yes, sacrifice, than exists today.
Better get started.
Robert Trigaux can be reached at [email protected]. | <urn:uuid:fd799749-1be6-49e5-bd9e-26bb163d23f4> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.tampabay.com/news/business/economicdevelopment/florida-chamber-encourages-hard-choices-long-term-thinking/1043762 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368704713110/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516114513-00022-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.950541 | 718 | 1.53125 | 2 |
True volleyball leaders are born when their team is up against a tough opponent and their players are tired, drained and feel like giving up. Battling back to win in situations like this may seem impossible, but with a few tips you can make it happen. (See 3 Ways To Become A Strong Leader.) During a 30-second timeout, not just anyone can step up and find the right words that will turn a team around. But I can, and I do, and that's what I'm here to share with you.
Use the following tips to turn your players around and get their heads back in the game.
Creating passion in your players doesn't take knowing each individual's positions or preferences. But it does take knowing what drives them and their strengths and weaknesses on and off the court. What does it take to get in their heads and make a difference in their aggressiveness on the court? Knowing each player's hot button will help you trigger greater effort across the board. (See also How to Become a Team Leader, Part 1: Win Your Class; How to Become a Team Leader, Part 2: Learning to Listen; and Become a True Athletic Leader.)
When your teammates are down, they will look over at you. If you look scared, worried or unhappy, your feelings with carry over to your players. So it's important to give them perspective like, "Yes we're down by nine points, but we're the better team here and we want it more!"
Recently, my girls played in their first major in-season tournament at a college in Rhode Island. The first match began at 8:45 a.m., and by 1:30 p.m. we were in first place in our pool and second overall out of 16 teams in the tournament. It wasn't an easy feat. Most of the matches were battles, and my girls won by only a few points. As we headed into the quarterfinals, I could see worry on a few faces, especially since the more they won, the better their opponents would be—and they were growing tired.
Before the quarterfinal match began, I took them all aside and asked for 100% focus and attention. I told them to relax and remember the basics, and then I went around the circle reminding players of their strengths, making simple comments like "Abby has a great weak side swing," "Lauren can pass even the hardest of hits," "Lily's hands can put up a set that makes even the worse pass look perfect," "Meg's outside hit is unstoppable," "Liv's middle slide still remains unblocked this season," and so on.
In tournament situation with several teams, each with its own fans, pre-game chant and ace cheer, it can get confusing and intimidating. It's important to isolate each player and give her something to feel confident about. Remind her why she made the team and why she is truly an amazing player. Tell her to focus on this as she goes into competition. Because no matter who you are up against, even the best team in the world makes mistakes; and if your team is smart, they will lead their opponents into making mistakes. Every side-out is a point gained in volleyball.
Focus the team on their opponent's weak link, and give each player the boost she needs. Most important, make your players laugh. Laughter puts subconscious positive energy into their minds, replacing thoughts of doubt or depression. So be funny, be upbeat and show them what it takes to get out there and get things done. | <urn:uuid:36a2a926-2275-4ba1-8521-32825925dc74> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.stack.com/2013/03/14/volleyball-leader/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368703298047/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516112138-00036-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.9851 | 723 | 1.726563 | 2 |
New Sacred Spaces Open House day offers glimpse inside Center City places of worship
Center City Residents' Association and an interfaith group of Rittenhouse Square houses of worship have come together to create a holiday season Sacred Spaces Open House. Twelve participating congregations will open their doors to the public on Sunday, December 16, 2012, from 1 to 4PM.
A tour map and historic/architectural descriptions created by the Preservation Alliance for Greater Philadelphia for this free, self guided tour will be available both electronically at http://preservationalliance.com/tours/sacredsites/rittenhouse/ and by pamphlets at each stop.
Congregants will be present to answer questions about their building's architecture and history and current outreach activities. Some sites will also offer refreshments and music.
For local residents who walk past these buildings daily, this is an opportunity to enjoy historic, world class interiors and learn about the varied activities of the places of faith in our midst. For out of towners, the Sacred Spaces Open House provides an amenity commonly found in Europe where even the most humble houses of worship open their doors daily to tourists. Visiting all 12 sites makes an easy afternoon stroll and can serve as a welcome respite to the holiday season hustle and bustle.
This open house includes an all-star array of architectural magnificence: Temple Beth Zion-Beth Israel (18th and Spruce), a neo-Gothic building with stained glass depicting the five books of the Torah, located just blocks from the soaring byzantine dome of First Baptist (17th and Sansom) housed within a newly cleaned Romanesque exterior, which is a stone's throw from the intimate meditation rooms at the Shambhala Center (20th and Sansom) which are dwarfed by the majestic 1,200 person capacity neo-Classical hall of St. Patrick's (20th and Rittenhouse).
The buildings on the Sacred Spaces Open House tour are:
Arch Street United Methodist Church
Broad and Arch Streets
First Baptist Church
17th and Sansom Streets
First Church of Christ, Scientist
Pine Street, between 19th and 20th Streets
First Presbyterian Church
21st and Walnut Streets
First Unitarian Church of Philadelphia
Chestnut Street, between 21st and 22nd Streets
Lutheran Church of the Holy Communion
Chestnut Street, between 21st and 22nd Streets
St Mark's Episcopal Church
Locust Street, between 16th and 17th Streets
St. Patrick's Roman Catholic Church
20th Street, between Locust and Spruce Streets
The Shambhala Center
2030 Sansom Street
Temple Beth Zion-Beth Israel
18th and Spruce Streets
Tenth Presbyterian Church
17th and Spruce Streets
Trinity Memorial Church
22nd and Spruce Streets
+ Top Story
Last week, Saint-Gobain, the world’s largest building materials company, in partnership with YouthBuild Philadelphia Charter School, kicked off the sustainable renovation of two eyesore properties located at 2006 and 2007 Wingohocking Street in Philadelphia’s Nicetown neighborhood.
“When it comes to death and funerals, African-American people, we have our own way,” Isaiah Owens says in the new documentary “Homegoings.” “It has worked for us throughout the ages; it has kept us balanced, sane. And everybody know[s] that it’s going to be a sad, good time.”
A child of a Holocaust survivor and a US Army officer, Aviva Kempner was born in Berlin after World War II. She was inspired by her heritage to produce and co-write “Partisans of Vilna,” a documentary on Jewish resistance against the Nazis.
The 1960s and early ‘70s, Contemporary Christian Music drew largely from Top 40 pop music, a genre fixated on the awakenings--especially the romantic awakenings--of adolescence. “I think we’re alone now,” “we’ll be together forever,” “I miss you so much” are nearly universal tropes, regardless of decade.
A high school in Beaver, Pennsylvania, recently went into security lockdown over a rap lyric. Actually, rap here is a stretch. It was the theme song of a 20-year-old sitcom starring Will Smith. A school official called a student's voicemail and heard the Fresh Prince of Bel-Air song on the student's phone.
Ducky, an entrepreneur and civil activist, has established a legacy of service by caring for others, with an emphasis on nurturing the growth of our community's most valuable resource - our children.
Universal Companies Co-Founder, Faatimah Gamble and President/CEO, Rahim Islam joined 50 Universal Audenried Charter High School students from its Health Related Technology Academy Scholars (HRT) for a 5 mile Walk-Out for Leukemia & Lymphoma.
Shirley Caesar used to refuse to infuse contemporary styles with her traditional gospel sound, but now the 11-time Grammy winner and pastor has changed her stance. Caesa is singing to a different tune on her new solo album, “Good God,” released last week. | <urn:uuid:7c4cf5f6-0745-4681-b781-7f5e16894e83> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.philasun.com/news/3635/28/The-2012-Moneywise-Empowerment-Tour-visit-the-Tindley-Temple-United-Methodist-Church-in-Philadelphia.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368701852492/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516105732-00009-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.944485 | 1,098 | 1.578125 | 2 |
Alexandra Cain From July 1 SMSF trustees who break super laws will face mandatory education. So exactly what do you need to know to run a super fund?
John Collett The truth is that new tax imposts announced today will not affect most people. They can go on saving for super in the knowledge that for them, nothing has changed.
Madeleine Heffernan Funds showed their muscle this week, and they've pledged to fight tooth and nail if any government makes changes they don't like.
John Kavanagh Australians are moving more than $14 billion a year from their industry or employer superannuation funds into self-managed funds.
Daryl Dixon Super contributions are a perfect example of why it sometimes pays to share the money around.
Barbara Drury It might not feel like it to retirees who are in the trenches battling the ravages of the global financial crisis but Australia's retirement income system is one of the best in the world.
What you'll learn in this step: Compulsory super is 9 per cent of income, but setting aside 15 per cent might be more realistic.
Lesley Parker The GFC hit superannuation hard, prompting experts to look at their investment mix for older members.
David Potts Damage wreaked by the GFC is finally being repaired and super balances are on the rise, writes David Potts. | <urn:uuid:15664aac-496d-4729-b6e2-73205c81685c> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.smh.com.au/money/super-and-funds/education | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368696383156/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516092623-00010-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.943598 | 282 | 1.5625 | 2 |
This report is devoted to problems of social cohesion.
Significant changes took place in the political and social life of Armenia while this report was being written. Not all of those changes have been reflected in the report. It has been the aim of the authors to describe the phenomenon of cohesion and its main trends.
Year: 1997 Type: National Reports Region: Eastern Europe & Central Asia Country: Armenia | <urn:uuid:6b4241c8-0b4d-4444-95f8-e34e5876d9c0> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://hdr.undp.org/en/reports/national/europethecis/armenia/name,2811,en.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368699881956/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516102441-00006-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.953519 | 80 | 1.84375 | 2 |
The Blanche Thebom Collection has three major components. The first is scores, correspondence, publicity, production notes,
and media from her post-Met career as teacher and director. Secondly, there are published and unpublished sound recordings
of Thebom. Lastly, the collection also retains Thebom's extensive archive of printed music.
Operatic mezzo-soprano Blanche Thebom was born in Monessen, Pennsylvania in 1915, and began her formal concert career in 1941.
She was a member of the Metropolitan Opera through 1967, known for her roles in Wagnerian epics. During this period she also
toured extensively, including being the first American to perform at the Bolshoi in Moscow. In 1967 she was appointed head
of The Atlanta Opera Company in Atlanta, Georgia. Following that experience, Thebom taught at the University of Arkansas in
Little Rock. In 1980 she moved to San Francisco and directed an opera workshop at San Francisco State University, and founded
the Opera Arts Training Program in 1988 in conjunction with the San Francisco Girls Chorus. Thebom passed away in March 2010
at the age of 94.
Property rights reside with repository. Publication and reproduction rights reside with the creators or their heirs. To obtain
permission to publish or reproduce, please contact the Head Librarian of the Archive of Recorded Sound. | <urn:uuid:135a5fda-9bad-4068-8375-067fd681d0b9> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://oac.cdlib.org/findaid/ark:/13030/kt9z09s54b/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368696382584/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516092622-00040-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.95898 | 279 | 1.835938 | 2 |
1 definition by TheRiverMan
|1.||Wearing a big hat|
The act of being inebriated to dangerous levels of excess
Possum Jenkins: Hey, what did you do for halloween?
Ollie: We had a party, I was wearing a big hat for most of the night.
by TheRiverMan Nov 2, 2010 add a video | <urn:uuid:aa501011-2731-4501-9706-c03865db340e> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.urbandictionary.com/author.php?author=TheRiverMan | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368705195219/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516115315-00023-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.957859 | 82 | 1.71875 | 2 |
The community of Hoonah was blessed with eggs - of all sorts - on Easter Sunday, April 12, courtesy of Sitka and the F/V Julia Kae and its crew. Families and churches held Easter egg hunts despite the knee-deep snow, but the Julia Kae and its Seattle crew brought the eggs the community longed for most.
The herring spawn, haaw in Tlingit, was rich and thick this year, and the Julia Kay's aft deck was loaded. Townsfolk waited patiently on the transient dock, then worked cooperatively to load the heavily laden hemlock branches into boxes, bags and plastic totes. Within an hour, the last eggs had been divided up and taken home to fill freezers for the coming year.
As all Southeasterners know Sitka supports the largest herring spawn. Other Southeastern communities rely on vessels like the Julia Kae to carry eggs to our docks. Local residents are always willing to pitch in to help pay for the fuel and crew time needed to travel between Sitka and outlying villages, but this year, the Julia Kay's captain and crew refused payment.
Steve Demmert and his crew told the residents who offered donations that they were honored to be part of a long tradition of sharing the ocean's bounty. In true village style, we offered Easter bread, jarred deer meat, and plenty of smiles as thanks. The Julia Kae traveled from Sitka to Hoonah on Sunday, arriving just after noon. They headed out to Angoon that evening with plans to transit on to Kake the next day, distributing eggs along the way.
For Hoonah, in particular, the Julia Kae's visit was particularly poignant as it was formerly owned and fished by our beloved grandfather and Chookaneidi clan leader, John Hinchman, Sr. who passed away this spring.
The community wants to extend a heartfelt gunalcheesh to Sitka Kwaan for sharing their eggs and to Steve Demmert and the crew of the Julia Kae for helping us to welcome in spring.
Frank Wright Jr.
President, Hoonah Indian Association
Juneau Empire ©2013. All Rights Reserved. | <urn:uuid:92b3a620-93b6-44fb-b158-139e670643e7> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://juneauempire.com/stories/041909/nei_430833182.shtml | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368697380733/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516094300-00034-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.964686 | 452 | 1.703125 | 2 |
Juice Your Way To Health
May 28, 2012 by Peggy Layton
It’s time to plant our gardens so we can reap the wonderful benefits of eating fresh, organic fruits and vegetables. Planting a garden is the one way to ensure that there are no chemicals, pesticides, additives or preservatives in our food. Most people do not get enough servings of fruits and vegetables per day; juicing your excess produce is one way to ensure you are getting the vital nutrients you need.
I have a Growing Dome® Greenhouse from a company called Growing Spaces. I grow vegetables year-round, and I juice the excess that would have gone to waste. My chickens are well fed on all the peelings and pulp left over from the juicing.
I decided to get into juicing fruits and vegetables as a way to become healthier. About a month ago, I found out I have type 2 Diabetes. My father died of diabetes when he was 54 years old, and I am 55 now. I believed I could beat the family curse by just eating well. I was in denial most of the time until I had an overload of stressful issues in my life, which resulted in me feeling worse and worse. I went to the doctor and, sure enough, I had developed diabetes.
I was inspired after watching the movie “Fat, Sick & Nearly Dead.” Australian Joe Cross made this amazing movie. Like many Americans and Australians, Cross worked very hard, played hard and ate too much. After years of self-abuse, Cross tipped the scales at more than 300 pounds. The extra weight caused serious health problems for which he took medication. He had no energy, he didn’t feel well and he was at risk for a heart attack.
One day, Cross was inspired to start using fresh organic fruits and leafy vegetables to juice his way to health. He realized he needed to change his routine in order to change his life.
Cross enlisted the help of his doctor and began a 60-day juice fast. He traveled across the country with a juicer in the back of his car to share his newfound love of juicing and talk with people about their lifestyle habits and hopes for the future. The inspirational journey was documented in his film.
Remarkably, Cross lost 82 pounds on his juice fast and helped many others to do the same. His documentary has circulated the Internet, and many people are asking him how he did it.
Cleanse the body with juicing
What I decided to do is every time I get a craving for chocolate, soda, cakes, treats or carbs of any kinds, I make a green juice drink — enough for the whole day. I keep it in the refrigerator and grab a glass four to five times a day. I started doing so, and my blood sugar readings started to improve. I actually feel so much better after drinking a glass of juice. I have a boost of energy and can think much more clearly. I am going to continue this routine as my health improves. I am still eating a healthy meal once a day and drinking juice the rest of the time. Some people go on juice cleanses without food.
One-day cleanses will help you get in the routine of juice fasting for an entire day. Then you can increase to a three-day cleanse, then a five-day cleanse, then a seven-day cleanse. You drink the fresh juice for the entire time. Do not eat any meat or other food. This will cleanse your body of harmful toxins and assist your own body to rebuild healthy cells.
The reason for not eating during a juice cleanse is so that the colon does not use energy to digest new foods entering the body. This gives the body nutrients and removes the built-up foods, fecal matter and toxins that have not previously been absorbed by the body, thus resulting in weight loss. Juices also strengthen the healthy cells, neutralize acidity and alkalize the tissues in the body – all of which boosts the immune system. Juices give you the live enzymes that the body does not get from fast food or nutritionally dead food.
How To Make Green Drink
To make green juice, use 60 percent dark green leafy vegetables and 40 percent other vegetables or fruits. It is best to add only 25 percent fruit. You don’t want too much fruit because it will spike your insulin. The fruit is just to sweeten the greens and make them palatable.
The most common vegetables for juicing are: spinach, wheat grass, green cabbage, parsley, romaine lettuce, celery, chard, beets and beet greens, mustard greens, collards, kale, cilantro, cucumber, green peppers, broccoli, carrots, tomatoes, various herbs and dandelion greens. When taken in juice form, the nutrients of fresh green drinks quickly absorb into the body, giving it a quick energy boost. Green leafy vegetables contain the most vitamins and nutrients, and you’ll feel almost instantly better after drinking a glass of green juice.
You can try variations of any of the green recipes until you find one that suits your needs and tastes. For a juice cleanse, drink about four 16-ounce drinks per day. If you are making a whole day’s worth of juice at one time, keep the extra juice in a tightly sealed container in the fridge.
Hints For Starting A Juice Fast
- If you are on any medications or have any health problems, consult a medical doctor and have him or her monitor your progress.
- Start out with a small goal of one to seven days. This makes the task more manageable mentally, and it makes it easier to chart daily progress. Cross went on a 60-day juice fast and did not eat any other food. He made fresh juice every day and lived on it for two months.
- It is best to prepare mentally and physically for at least a week prior to cleansing.
- Your health comes first, so take it easy. If you have something stressful coming up, wait until it is over. You must be 100 percent prepared for this challenge. Take a few days off work and lighten up on your responsibilities. Your body will be cleansing during this period, so you will need to be home near the bathroom so it can detox and eliminate. Light exercise or walking is all you need to do to assist your cleanse. I love to do stretching exercises like yoga. It makes me feel so much better to do this at least 30 to 60 min per day.
- Drink half your body weight in ounces of water. For example, if you weigh 200 pounds, you need to drink 100 ounces of water per day. Water has an important function of flushing out the toxins and waste. If you cannot drink that much, drink as much as you can and work up to it.
- It is normal to experience diarrhea, light headaches and fatigue in the first few days.
- Purchase organic produce whenever possible.
- Wash all vegetables and fruits before making juice.
- Peel or slice off lemon, orange and grapefruit rind, leaving some of the white pith on the outside.
- When juicing small leaves such as parsley, cilantro and herbs with stems, chop them into smaller pieces or roll them up into a ball to compact the leaves. The stems contain more juice than the leaves so use them all.
- Take all hard pits out of the fruit before juicing.
- It’s good to use different recipes of mixed vegetables and fruit so you get a good variety of nutrients during the fast.
- Spinach and broccoli have protein in them, so they can be used to replace your daily protein intake. If you are concerned about not getting enough protein, you can add a tablespoon of dried wheat or barley green drink powder.
- Juice should be made fresh every day; it will last up to 24 hours in the refrigerator. Keep it in a mason jar with a lid or an airtight container of some kind.
Using A Blender
A blender is different from a juicer. It does not remove the fiber from the juice; therefore, your body is still digesting food. The point of a juice cleanse is to relieve the body from digesting for a few days. I recommend buying a high-quality juicer. If you do not have a juicer, you can use a blender, Ninja® or a Vitamix® to blend your foods, then strain them through a metal strainer or cheesecloth to manually remove the fiber.
Using A Juicer
I have been researching different juicers on the market, and I have decided that I like the HUROM® Slow Juicer. I purchased one and am very satisfied with the results. Here’s what the company has to say about its juicer:
The HUROM® Slow Juicer is a juice extractor that uses the patented Low Speed Technology System (LSTS) to extract juices. It is called a “Slow Juicer” because it operates at only 80 RPM and uses a mere 150 Watts of energy, instead of 1,000-24,000 RPM and up to 1,500 Watts of energy like a typical centrifugal “High Speed” juicer.
But don’t let the name fool you. The Slow Juicer actually juices faster than most typical juicers and expels significantly more juice from the same foods, with much drier pulp. The method of extraction is masticating and pressing, using the screw-like auger as a mortar and pestle. The action crushes and presses the food, releasing its deep-seated nutrients and enzymes. It also breaks up more of the phytonutrients, resulting in a richer colored juice that retains more vitamins and minerals. The slow RPM ensures that the cellular structure of fruits and vegetables is kept intact, eliminating oxidation and separation. Thus, it preserves the precious enzymes and nutrients that are closest to its natural form, as well as your food’s delicious flavor.
To learn more about the HUROM® Slow Juicer click here.
Recipes For Making Healthy Juices
Green Juice No. 1
This is the official recipe used by Cross in “Fat, Sick, and Nearly Dead.”
- 6 kale leaves
- 1 cucumber
- 4 celery stalks
- 2 green apples
- 1/2 lemon
- 1 piece of ginger (1 inch in length)
Green Juice No. 2
- A handful of spinach
- 3 stalks of kale
- 2 golden delicious apples
- a small handful of parsley
- 1 lemon
- 1 cucumber
Green Juice No. 3
- 2 stalks celery
- 1/2 cucumber
- 1/2 apple
- 1/2 lemon
- A small piece of ginger
- 1 stalk green chard with leaf
- A bunch of cilantro
- 5 kale leaves
- A handful of spinach
- 1 cup watermelon and cantaloupe cubes
- 1/2 lemon, peeled
- 6 strawberries
- 1 slice of pineapple
- 1 orange, peeled
- 1 apple
I go through my refrigerator and take out all the fruits and vegetables that have not been eaten. If they are starting to dry up or wilt or go bad, I cut the bad spots off and juice them. You can make your own recipe using what you have. Just remember the rule: 60 percent green, leafy vegetables to 40 percent sweet vegetables and fruits.
Add ION (Stabilized Oxygen) To Juices
I like to add 8 drops of ION stabilized oxygen to my juices because it kills any bacteria that might be on the food. This is especially important if the food comes from foreign countries. It also oxygenates the blood which is very beneficial to boosting the immune system and cleansing the body. Fruits and vegetables can be soaked in ION water to cleanse the produce and to kill pathogens.
To order the HUROM® Slow Juicer, Wheat Grass Live Greens Powder and ION to add to the juices click here. | <urn:uuid:d8628f23-c812-4be3-8205-48af1ac0a07b> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://personalliberty.com/2012/05/28/juice-your-way-to-health/?like=1&source=post_flair&_wpnonce=104f7cb3e5 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368704392896/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516113952-00006-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.954898 | 2,508 | 1.578125 | 2 |
Implications of getting involved
There are many places at Hunter and CUNY where faculty can voice their concerns, but too few of these allow for a systematic, unfiltered, direct opportunity to address the administrators responsible for providing the resources faculty need for research and teaching.
Getting involved in the FDA provides Hunter faculty with a routine opportunity to voice and discuss concerns related to faculty quality-of-life, as well as to provide feedback on Hunter policies and proposed initiatives.
Getting involved in the University Faculty Senate as part of the Hunter delegation provides Hunter faculty with the opportunity to ensure that Hunter's needs are addressed by CUNY Central initiatives. Indeed, CUNY Chancellor Matthew Goldstein recently stated that he viewed the UFS "as a partner in the development of new CUNY initiatives." While the UFS often serves the function of providing faculty feedback on initiatives proposed by CUNY Central, the UFS also works to ensure that college administrations on individual campuses provide opportunities for faculty to participate in the vetting of CUNY initiatives (e.g., ensuring that faculty have a role in determining such matters as CUNY Compact funding allocations, student admissions criteria, and, providing input on the use and allocation of research facilities). | <urn:uuid:b7b67a78-5578-483c-bf88-2503765ff175> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.hunter.cuny.edu/fda/about-us/why-should-faculty-get-involved/implications-2?None&month:int=12&year:int=2012&orig_query=None | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368696382584/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516092622-00006-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.954591 | 248 | 1.695313 | 2 |
Mary T. Meagher
Explaining an athlete's greatness can be tricky. And in the case of Mary T. Meagher, perhaps the greatest butterfly swimmer in history, it's nearly impossible. Her dominance was not borne of physical superiority (she was 5-foot-7, 128 pounds at her peak), but rather a deep-seated desire to perform -- one that no coach or teammate could bottle or define.
Known in the swimming world as "Madame Butterfly," Meagher won three gold medals at the 1984 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles and a bronze at the 1988 Seoul Games. But her defining moment came in August 1981, at the U.S. long course championships, when she set a pair of world records that would stand for nearly two decades. In the 100-meter butterfly, the 16-year-old Meagher knocked an incredible 1.33 seconds off her old world mark. And she was so dominant in the 200 fly, finishing nearly 10 meters in front of her nearest competitor and breaking her own record by nearly half a second, that Sports Illustrated would later recognize her swim as one of the greatest sports performances ever.
Cal-Berkeley coach Karen Moe Humphreys, herself an Olympic butterflyer, was in the stands at that 1981 meet in Brown Deer, Wis., when Meagher shocked the swimming world. "I remember standing up and saying, 'This is incredible; this is amazing,' " recalls Humphreys, who would soon recruit Meagher to Cal, where "T" won NCAA titles in each of her four years. "She nailed her starts, came up ahead, and then every stroke was a thing of beauty. And remember, I wasn't just watching as a swim fan; I was watching as someone who knew how to do what she was doing."
Meagher was born the 10th of 11 children into a strict Catholic family in Louisville, Ky. Discipline and structure reigned, with her parents demanding military-like precision from each child. In a family that large, there was a natural understanding that if you wanted attention, you needed to do something extraordinary. So Meagher did. "When you grow up in that kind of family, you have to do it all yourself," says former Cal teammate Ramey Stevens. "We would always talk about this. It was black and white, win or lose. Mary was either doing good or she was doing bad. So that carried over into the pool. Either she performed or she didn't. It was very simple to her."
And Meagher was maniacal in her preparation, often completing workouts as long as 1,600 meters, an exhausting distance for a butterflyer. She possessed a natural, rhythmic stroke from a young age, but her dominance came from a laser-like concentration that could tune out distractions. She trained obsessively, and could reach a purposeful place of self-absorption. During her Cal years, the rest of the team knew when not to invade Meagher's focused orbit.
"She took it personally, and you have to take it personally," Stevens says. "Because her worth came out of every race. The best swimmers are individuals. They're swimming for themselves, to prove something. And every time Mary swam, it seemed like she was proving something to herself. There was nobody else in her world during those moments."
Just an athlete chasing greatness.
-- Kate Fagan, espnW | <urn:uuid:bca58332-eedd-4ea0-ba8e-24d17e9a3f17> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://w.espn.go.com/espnw/title-ix/top-40-female-athletes/_/num/10 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368696382584/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516092622-00006-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.986341 | 699 | 1.632813 | 2 |
Are you fearing your child’s cry this summer, “There’s nothing fun to do...” or “I don’t want to go to sleep-away camp!”
Or are you looking for something different, fun and challenging for your child(ren) this summer?
Check out Taekwondo and this may be your "best summer ever!”
Martial Arts offer many benefits, especially for children. Taekwondo is a fun way for both boys and girls to get active, achieve fitness, and learn focus. Students learn to punch, kick, and defend themselves...while learning self-discipline, respect, and socialization skills. Even children with special needs, like attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) benefit from learning self-control and concentration.
As a parent we all want our children to be respectful. Taekwondo teaches respect by showing students how to bow and what that means. Students learn to stand still and wait for commands. And research has shown that this carries over into school, helping to improve behavior and maybe...even grades.
The United Martial Arts Centers specialize in children’s Summer Camp. UMAC provides a clean, safe, and positive environment. Your child will be taught by our Professional Martial Artist Instructors and develop invaluable life skills and qualities, such as respect, discipline, and confidence. You can feel at ease knowing your child(ren) are safe, happy, and having fun.
(Note: UMAC Summer Camp is licensed by Westchester County’s Health Department)
Our Summer Camp offers:
- Early drop-off (7:30 - 9:30 AM and Late pickup (4:45 - 6:00 PM)
- Martial arts training
- Field trips including weekly trip to Lake Compounce
- Games, activities, reading time, movies, and more
UMAC Summer Camp Registration is open and the best rates are now.
If you are new to my Patch blog on Living a Black Belt Life, please read last week’s entry, “From Summer Camp...To Budding Martial Artist,” written by a student’s father. My staff is “home grown” to ensure they share the passion to make a positive impact on all UMAC student which is a part of living a Black Belt Life. This is a great example of one of my student’s on our leadership path.
Look for my weekly blog every Monday providing tips and insights from UMAC Briarcliff, "Living a Black Belt Life." | <urn:uuid:a6986dde-9a20-4d12-a174-6795986fd256> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://pleasantville.patch.com/groups/chris-berlows-blog/p/bp--make-this-the-best-summer-everfor-you-and-your-children | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368697380733/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516094300-00003-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.931049 | 537 | 1.828125 | 2 |
(CNN) -- The political turmoil dividing Egypt threatens the nation's future, the defense minister said, as the instability persists in the Arab world's most populous country.
"The ongoing conflict among the various political forces ... may lead to the collapse of the state and threaten the future of our coming generations," Defense Minister Gen. Abdul Fattah al-Sisi said Tuesday.
Anti-government protesters ignored President Mohamed Morsy's curfew order in cities along the Suez Canal and clashed with police and troops, state-run media reported Tuesday.
In Port Said, about 4,000 people joined the protest, which began at Mariam mosque and continued for hours, winding its way through the streets. They chanted anti-government slogans, at times laced with profanities.
The authorities didn't appear to be detaining any of the demonstrators.
On Tuesday night, the Muslim Brotherhood announced on its Facebook and Twitter pages that the president has delegated authority to either limit or cancel the curfew to governors of Port Said, Ismailia and Suez.
The protests are the latest in the seesaw struggle between Egypt's first democratically elected president and dissidents who say his tenure is a throwback to past dictatorships, particularly the reign of President Hosni Mubarak, toppled in a popular revolt two years ago.
The most recent furor stems from Morsy's declaration of a limited state of emergency for violent hot spots. On Sunday, he announced a 30-day nighttime curfew for the provinces of Port Said, Suez and Ismailia.
Those areas have seen a spate of bloodshed in recent days, starting with the second anniversary of the Egyptian revolution on Friday.
Dissidents angry about the slow pace of change fought with Morsy supporters and police. At least seven people were killed in those clashes.
The tumult intensified a day later, when a judge issued death sentences for 21 Port Said residents for their roles in a deadly football riot last year.
Port Said, which has had a difficult relationship with Cairo over the past six decades, erupted in chaos. At least 38 people were killed in the two days following the verdicts.
Egypt's defense minister has denied reports that the army used live ammunition on protesters, state-run media reported.
Interior Minister Mohamed Ibrahim told police forces Sunday that he understands the challenges and demands they've faced, saying "together with your brothers at the armed forces, you constitute the country's shield and fort in face of all dangers."
"You've faced unprecedented and systematic patterns of violence," he said. "Your security during these confrontations is my goal."
Ibrahim huddled with Prime Minister Hisham Qandil on Monday over state of emergency arrangements, including maintaining peaceful expression, but also dealing firmly with saboteurs targeting police.
The Transport Ministry said that despite the tumult in the Suez Canal region, the unrest has not affected shipping operations to or from the eastern and western ports of Port Said or the traffic at the El Arish port.
Black Bloc labeled terrorist group
Egyptian Prosecutor General Talaat Abdullah has listed one anti-government group, the Black Bloc, as a terrorist entity.
Authorities say its members are often seen wearing black ski masks, waving their trademark black flag while taking part in some of the most violent attacks against police and security forces.
The designation raises the specter of the government taking a more aggressive stance against anti-government protesters.
The group says its mission is to fight government corruption and oppression. The government has often used the Black Bloc's aggressive tactics to depict anti-government protesters as part of an insurgency that wants to topple Egypt's leadership.
Morsy calls for talks
In a speech Sunday night, Morsy decried the behavior of "criminals," saying recent violence "does not have anything to do with the Egyptian revolution. ... In fact, it is against the revolution."
But he acknowledged the legitimate dissent in Egypt, saying "dialogue is the only way to bring about stability and security."
To this end, he invited representatives from 11 political parties to a meeting.
But a key opposition leader issued conditions before accepting Morsy's call for talks.
"Without accepting his responsibility as a president for the latest bloody events, promising to form a government of national salvation and commissioning a balanced committee to amend the constitution, any dialogue will be a waste of time," said Mohamed ElBaradei, head of the Constitution Party and a member of the opposition National Salvation Front.
Protests could drag on
The National Salvation Front held the president responsible "for the excessive violence used by security forces against protesters" and called for peaceful demonstrations, according to a statement posted on the state-run Al-Ahram news website.
The group made several demands before it would urge people to stop protesting, including the formation of a new government and making changes to what it called the "distorted constitution" that voters passed in a referendum last month.
Morsy's supporters warned the opposition against such demands.
"We would like for the political forces, especially the National Salvation Front, to realize how important this defining moment is and to put the interest of the nation above all," said Gamal Tag, senior leader of the Freedom and Justice Party, the political wing of the Muslim Brotherhood.
"They need to know that President Morsy's call for dialogue is not out of weakness, but it is out of his responsibility as president. ... Some forces are still putting conditions and obstacles before this national dialogue in order to make it fail. These people do not put forward the national interest. They are looking for personal gains."
U.N. human rights official weighs in
The scores of deaths prompted Navi Pillay, the U.N. high commissioner for human rights, to denounce the violence and call for dialogue among all parties.
"While at least two policemen are among those killed, preliminary unconfirmed reports suggest that most of the casualties have been caused by live fire and excessive use of tear gas by the authorities," a statement from Pillay's office said.
In addition, as many as 25 female protesters reportedly have been sexually assaulted in Cairo's Tahrir Square over the past few days, "in some cases with extraordinary violence," the statement said.
She said the state of emergency should be governed by the rule of law, in line with international standards. She urged Morsy to listen to the demands of demonstrators and take action to deal with problems in the judicial system. She said that all "stakeholders" should be involved in reviewing legislation on demonstrations, associations and access to public information.
"I urge the government to take urgent measures to ensure that law enforcement personnel never again use disproportionate or excessive force against protesters, firstly because it is illegal to do so, and secondly because it is likely to make the situation even more explosive," Pillay said.
CNN's Reza Sayed in Port Said and Amir Ahmed, Salma Abdelaziz and Joe Sterling contributed to this report. | <urn:uuid:0e11c579-ccfb-4e4b-a97c-74f05c7ca763> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://edition.cnn.com/2013/01/29/world/africa/egypt-unrest/index.html?hpt=hp_t3 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368704713110/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516114513-00000-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.961728 | 1,437 | 1.617188 | 2 |
The best state to file your LLC or Corporation may well be the state that you do business in. In most cases, people will generally file in the same state their business is located in. It would make it things easier to file in the same state since all your revenues will be generated in the same state.
However, there are people who decide to file their LLC or Corporation in a different state other than the state they are located in. The reasoning behind filing in other states are many. The reasons can be due to taxes, privacy, corporate environment, lower regulation and others. Filing in a different state can make things tricky when filing your tax returns. So it is always best to consult with an accountant before you file.
Also, if you file in a different state, you will need to have a resident of that state to be the registered agent and this person must have a physical address. Many people would not be able to provide a friend or relative in the state so they would require the services of a third party registered agent. These entities sole purpose is to provide address in all 50 states to where the Secretary of State can serve process and send legal forms. These registered agent services would then forward these documents to you.
Again, it is wise to get advisement on what state may be best for you. You should be well informed about the pitfalls of forming in a different state.
A registered agent is an individual that is a resident of the state in which the filing of the LLC or Corporation is to take place. This individual will be the person who will be the service of process agent when the state needs to send legal documents in the event of a lawsuit.
The requirement of the registered agent is that the agent must be over 18 and be a resident of the state. The address in which the service of process will occur must be a physical address. The state will not accept a PO box for the registered agent address.
In most cases, the registered agent is usually one of the members of the LLC or an officer of the corporation. The LLC or the Corporation can always designate another individual to serve as the registered agent. This does not mean that the agent is liable in the event of a lawsuit, it just means that the service of process will be served to this individual. If you do choose to have someone other than the owner of the LLC or Corporation, it is wise to choose someone that is reliable because it is their responsibility to send these documents to you.
There are third party providers who can serve as a registered agent for a fee. The fees are usually around $125 to $150 per year. The advantage of using a registered agent fee is that some states sends out tons of junk mail and therefore shield you from this. Also, using a registered agent may shield you from privacy inquiries. On state websites, information about the registered agent is posted. Therefore, people would only see the third party registered agent information instead of yours. One other use for a registered agent and the most common is if you need to file in another state other than the state you reside in. In most cases, you will not have a physical address that you can provide the state for the registered agent address. This is where a third party registered agent would provide this address for you.
When you form a LLC or form a corporation, you will need to decide whether you will serve as your own registered agent or require a service. A registered agent is mandatory in all states. | <urn:uuid:a40218b5-e20d-4cbd-b145-8fd021bc242e> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.incorporatefast.com/blog/?tag=/registered-agent | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368703298047/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516112138-00012-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.967417 | 703 | 1.648438 | 2 |
Created by hundreds, this new project features individual artist performances uploaded in video form and edited to create a unified Virtual Choir. The performers all sing from their homes and bedrooms and upload their videos. These are then edited by video technicians and started all at once to create this audio and visual feast.
The second Virtual Choir (VC2) had been presented at TED. The next in the series, aptly titled VC3, had an amazing 3,746 videos from 73 different countries. The Virtual Choir 4 is now being invited to perform at Coronation Concerts in July at Buckingham Palace. Eric Whitacre, the creator of this project, is funding VC4 on Kickstarter to be able to do so.
The idea behind the project is simple, but an epic demonstration of the lengths people can take when creatively making use of technology.
435 clicks in 16 w
More Stats +/- | <urn:uuid:1af736a1-0b87-4322-8042-ef5d3fbf3af9> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.trendhunter.com/trends/virtual-choir | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368696383156/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516092623-00027-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.957053 | 181 | 1.664063 | 2 |
Here's what we have...
Elite Speed Reading is a 16-week online training program devoted to guiding your reading ability to an expert level. There are three basic steps to getting this done...
- Increase your reading speed.
- Improve your comprehension.
- Develop your memory.
The Elite training takes a 3-pronged approach to tackling those issues: we combine audio training, text exercises, and computer software into a complete training system. Here’s how the training works...
AUDIO TRAINING is the main feature of the course.
The audio in this course will guide you in an active reading experience. You will have a book in hand, and the audio will lead you, step by step, through tips, techniques, and even tests.
This will be difficult, and you will have to put effort into the process. Through this training, you will gain a detailed understanding of how speed reading works, and acquire solid practical experience in how exactly to apply the techniques.
EXERCISES AND WORKSHEETS complement the audio in an important way.
Most of the time, you'll be using your own text -- a non-fiction book of your choice. But at specific points in the training, you'll be given exercises, worksheets, and practice material.
This will help you explore concepts that the audio doesn't fully cover, and practice techniques specific to particular types of text.
FREE AND PAID SOFTWARE will help you accelerate the training.
As a member of Elite Speed Reading, you'll be directed to the best free and paid speed reading software available on the internet.
The content here ranges from countdown timers, to tachistoscope-style "word flashers", to full speed reading trainers that can work alongside the main audio instruction.
With professional software guiding you, you'll be able to practice expert-level techniques more easily, and achieve higher-than-normal rates of speed and comprehension. This will help you accelerate the training in a huge way.
Here's what it looks like...
The first thing you’re going to download is an mp3 titled “The 7 Secrets to Doubling Your Reading Speed”.
This 40-minute-long mp3 will show you how to double or even triple your reading speed with minimal effort, today.
Here’s a sample of what you’ll find on the mp3...
- Learn how to avoid common bad habits that prevent improvement and slow down the reading process. When you get these habits out of the way, it’s going to be like taking off a barrier, and letting your reading speed move forward like it wants to.
- Uncover the “inner voice” in your mind, that caps your reading speed to a maximum of 400 words per minute – and see what it’s like to shift to a more visual method of reading. Your reading speed will reach levels you never even thought were possible.
- Enable yourself to read multiple words at once. When you absorb words in “chunks” and “blocks,” rather than individually, you can increase your reading speed immensely, while keeping comprehension stable.
- Stop getting stuck in hard-to-read text. Use special techniques to get through every hard thing you need to read, no matter how dense or technical it is.
The techniques on this mp3 all work, and they all work together – so you can combine them in any way you choose, and work them into your actual full-comprehension reading. This is going to have a real and positive effect on your day-to-day life.
Once you listen to the “7 Secrets” mp3, you’re probably going to go right into the Elite training.
In Week 1, we’re going to test your reading speed, analyze it, and set personalized goals for you to look toward as you go through the program.
Most people take MONTHS to understand why their reading speed is slower than it should be. In under 15 minutes of training, you’re going to see exactly why your reading speed is where it is now, and you’ll be able to start tackling some of the basic problems that come with your speed bracket.
In Week 1 we’re also going to show you how to build up your focus, so that you can fully engage yourself in a reading experience, and maintain non-stop focus while you read. One of the most important things in achieving top reading comprehension is focusing well. This training will give you the ability to concentrate on hard-to-read text, and absorb more information per second, whether you increase your speed or not. These are abilities you can use any time you want -- whether you’re reading, listening to a presentation, or even engaged in a conversation -- improving your ability to learn under pressure is going to help your life in a huge way.
In Week 2, we're going to give you a basic version of the Elite Speed Reading Technique.
Here, you’ll learn how to read visually, rather than aurally. The issue of “subvocalization” is a HUGE stumbling block for a lot of people, and if you’ve looked at speed reading programs before, you know this is a big issue. Well with this training, you’re going to learn where that effect comes from, and you’ll discover an easy trick skip over subvocalization completely. When you do this, you’re going to improve your reading speed almost instantly, and at the same time, you’re going to make “boring, heavy text” more interesting and more exciting to read.
From there, every week builds on top of the last.
- Learn about the science of speed reading. Discover how it works, what it relies on, and how to alternate from from “regular reading” to “speed reading” to maximize your enjoyment of any text you read.
- Follow along with timed drills, and receive practical tips and expert guidance while you read.
- Learn how to “zoom out” on your reading process, and take advantage of the structure of text, so that you can skim and scan with incredible precision, and get basic comprehension incredibly fast.
- Expand your vocabulary, and learn how to pick up new words as a matter of habit.
- Discover how to read multiple words at once -- and choose from several techniques to get this done, so that you can find a method that you are comfortable with.
Anyone can learn how to speed read,
but not everyone will...
It takes a very special individual to appreciate the value of speed reading. After all, it is reading -- some people don’t like to read at all!
But anyone who reads a lot can understand the tremendous value at stake here. Whether your focus is academic, professional, or personal, stronger reading skills can give you an extraordinary boost.
The average reading speed in North America is approximately 250 words per minute. If you manage to triple your reading speed with this training -- or even just double your reading speed (which you could probably do on Day 1) -- you’ll have a massive advantage over everyone around you.
At 500 words per minute, you can read a 200-page novel in under 2 hours. How many novels have you read this week? How many novels do most people read per week?
But there's no telling for certain that you'll reach 500 words per minute. We certainly think you're capable of it -- you're capable of much higher, in fact. But it takes hard work.
- You're going to have to train.
- You're going to have to practice.
- You're going to have to read -- A LOT.
You're going to receive the best possible training, and the guided reading sessions will give you a lot of good practice, but it's still going to be up to you to succeed.
You're going to have to make a decision: how much is your reading ablity worth to you?
This is valuable training, and it’s not free.
If you were to create a similar training program on your own, it would take hundreds of hours of work, and several months of preparation. Even if your time were only worth $10 per hour, the end result would cost you at least a thousand dollars worth of your time.
If you were to hire an expert to train you personally, it would cost $100 per hour, and the training would be just as long. Here, since we can offer the training to several people at once, the economics are a little different.
If you want to be part of the Elite Speed Reading Program, and gain access to all 16 weeks of training modules, including the audio, text, and software bonuses, full membership is only $37 per month.
Best of all, this is not an “infinite subscription” -- the program is well-organized, with a clear beginning, and a clear end. As a 16-week (4-month) training program, there are 4 payments total. No more, no less.
Your satisfaction is guaranteed.
If at any time, for whatever reason, you decide you don’t want to continue the training, you can cancel your membership online, hassle-free. You can even get a refund for the last payment you made.
Not just that, but the stuff we send you, and the stuff you download from the site, is yours to keep forever. You’ll never have to send anything back, even if you download everything and cancel and get a refund.
Your satisfaction is 100% guaranteed.
Join the Elite Speed Reading Program Today!
For 4 months of training.
You’ll be able to start your training in just a few seconds when you download...
- The 7 Secrets to Doubling Your Reading Speed
- Quick-Start Module 1
- Quick-Start Module 2
- Quick-Start Module 3
- Week 1 Training
From there, the remaining modules will unlock week by week. You'll get email alerts for the download links.
Just follow along with the training, and by the end of the 16 weeks, you’ll have improved your reading speed tremendously.
Unlock everything on Day 1.
Gain instant access to the entire Elite Speed Reading training program.
- The 7 Secrets to Doubling Your Reading Speed
- Quick-Start Module 1
- Quick-Start Module 2
- Quick-Start Module 3
- All 16 Weekly Training Modules
Download everything today, and train at your own pace.
Whether you race through the material, or work through it slowly, this content will drive you to astounding accomplishments.
Frequently Asked Questions
- I am a very slow reader. Is the Elite program right for me?
- The Elite program works best if your reading speed is around "average level", which is around 250 words per minute (WPM). That works out to around 2 minutes per page, for a novel. Really though, anywhere between 100WPM and 600WPM is just fine. There is a common set of problems within that speed bracket, and this training is designed to tackle all of them.
- Can you list some of the topics that will be covered in the weekly training?
- Sure! Here are a few examples pulled from the later weeks...
- The “Run/Walk” method for putting “improvement pressure” on your reading habits. (Week 4)
- Widening your vision span, so that you can read words in “chunks” and “blocks”. (Week 6)
- The 12-Minute Superdrill, for re-adapting your mind to a higher speed. (Week 8)
- Eliminating regression, while simultaneously improving your speed and comprehension. (Week 10)
- Developing a super-learning method, for absorbing the maximum amount of information in the minimum amount of time. (Weeks 12-16)
- Aside from payment models, is there any difference between the Basic membership and the Ultimate membership?
- Nope! You get exactly the same training, no matter which membership you choose. With the Basic membership, you'll get 16 weeks of training, delivered over the course of 4 months, for $37/month. With the Ultimate membership, you'll get 16 weeks of training, delivered today, for $120. The Ultimate membership is a better deal (it saves you $28), but the content is the same.
- What is the refund policy?
- You are free to get a refund within 90 days of your last payment. You can get a refund for yourself through the online system, or you can email support and have them arrange your refund for you.
- Is the training material available for download, or is it just streaming?
- All of the training material on the site, including the audio MP3s, the PDFs, and Word DOCs, are available for download.
- If I download the audio lessons, can I transfer them to a portable device?
- Yes. There is no copy-protection, and all of the MP3s are properly tagged, for easy portable use.
- I have a Mac. Will the training content work for me?
- Yes. You may run into some issues with the streaming content (since the website uses some Flash), but since everything is downloadable, you'll have no problem accessing the material.
- How much time will I have to devote to the training, if I want to devote the minimum amount?
- Each audio lesson is approximately 15 minutes long. If you follow along for those 15 minutes, and later apply the techniques during your regular reading, you should be just fine.
- Where will I access the material, once I get a membership?
- As soon as you login, you'll be directed to your "Dashboard", which has links to all of the training material you have unlocked. As a Basic member, new content will appear there every week, and you'll get weekly emails reminding you to check out the new stuff. As an Ultimate member, everything will be unlocked right away.
- What is ClickBank?
- ClickBank is the retailer of our products. When you order something on our website, Clickbank will process that order. We trust them will all of our money, so you can probably trust them too. :-)
- How do I contact support if I have further questions?
- Check out our "Contact" page here. We'll be happy to answer any questions you have.
We don't guarantee that everyone using the program will find success.
Your success in the Elite Speed Reading program depends on your dedication, effort, and motivation to train.
We've set goals that we think are attainable, but we can't make any guarantees on your results. All we guarantee is satisfaction.
If you decide that you're unsatisfied, just send us an email, and you'll get your money back. We're honest, we're responsive, and we're friendly. Our "Contact" page is here. | <urn:uuid:80799772-9940-4f18-9b55-dba61e7c3ac2> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://elitespeedreading.com/?hop=glencap | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368709037764/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516125717-00006-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.9445 | 3,156 | 1.53125 | 2 |
Wary Croatians say 'no alternative' to EU
(ZAGREB) - Wary Croatians said Friday they were uncertain what EU membership will bring them, but many agreed there was no alternative to joining the bloc despite its current woes.
Six years after beginning accession talks with the European Union, Zagreb on Friday signed the accession treaty in Brussels, paving the way for it to join in July 2013 more than two decades after independence.
"Although I'm very concerned with developments within the European Union and the fact that the whole situation is unpredictable, we have no alternative," Nevenka Maric, a 36-year-old translator, told AFP.
Croatia signed the deal as EU leaders, excepting Britain, banded together to back tighter budget policing after a heated summit considered a last chance to save the debt-laden eurozone.
"This is a big, historic event for Croatia," the head of the Social Democrats and likely new prime minister Zoran Milanovic told journalists.
"Croatia went through a difficult and long path in (accession) talks and this is only a precondition for an important result."
A centre-left coalition, led by his SDP, inflicted a crushing defeat on the ruling conservatives in Sunday's general elections. A new government is expected to take over by the end of the month.
Voters in the Balkan state will have to confirm the treaty in a referendum expected to be held in February and it has to be ratified by all EU member states.
A survey published two weeks ago said 60 percent of Croatians would vote yes in the referendum.
But becoming the union's 28th member looks set to be a marriage of convenience rather than a love match for Croatia, which will be the second of the six former Yugoslav republics to join after Slovenia.
"The EU is falling apart so the question is what are we madly rushing toward? To another disaster?" 41-year-old administrator Tanja Zemljic asked.
Aside from the European debt crisis, Croatian euroscepticism was fuelled by drawn-out accession talks, which opened in 2005, as many demands from Brussels were perceived as being unjust.
In particular, there was anger over EU demands for it to cooperate with the UN war crimes court which was prosecuting several Croatian generals hailed in the country as heroes of the 1991-95 war.
The country of 4.2 million people, whose economy is based mostly on Adriatic tourism, is also facing its own serious crisis. It has been in recession for most of the last three years and unemployment is running above 17 percent.
EU opponents claim Croatia will lose its national identity by entering a "mega-state" and accuse the country's leaders of betraying national interests.
"The EU is imploding and Croatia does not need a new political adventure," said Zeljko Sacic, who organised an anti-EU rally on the eve of the signing ceremony.
"I will say 'no' to the EU. Politicians bombard us with declarations how beautiful it will be once we enter while we can see what is going on in Greece, Spain or Portugal," said Ankica, who did not want to give her last name.
"They underestimate basic human intelligence," the 38-year-old dental technician from the coastal town of Split said.
The signing of the treaty marks a historic chapter for Croatia 20 years after it proclaimed independence, sparking the four-year war with Belgrade-backed rebel Serbs.
Out of the six former Yugoslav republics -- Bosnia, Croatia, Macedonia, Montenegro, Serbia and Slovenia -- only the latter is an EU member, since 2004. On Friday, the EU said it would make a decision in February on whether to grant Serbia candidate status.
Text and Picture Copyright 2011 AFP. All other Copyright 2011 EUbusiness Ltd. All rights reserved. This material is intended solely for personal use. Any other reproduction, publication or redistribution of this material without the written agreement of the copyright owner is strictly forbidden and any breach of copyright will be considered actionable. | <urn:uuid:c7c79fff-34be-4fa6-9a95-26dfb7b4267e> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.eubusiness.com/news-eu/croatia-enlarge.e1g | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368704713110/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516114513-00016-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.96472 | 840 | 1.609375 | 2 |
"Saxony is the most popular destination for culture-loving tourists. Since the year 1999, the Tourism Marketing Company of Saxony aka Saxony Tourism, a private company with shareholders from the tourism business, has promoted Saxony on behalf of the Saxon government.
The key topics are art and culture, city tourism, family holidays, vitality & wellness und active holidays. Correspondingly, holiday offers can be booked through Saxony Tourism’s own reservation and booking system, at various German tour operators and online. Saxony Tourism is a fully qualified inbound tour operator and offers cemprehensive services to tour operators, agents and the media.
Right from the beginning, foreign markets have played a major role for Saxony Tourism. The numbers of tourists from certain key markets have been multiplied. Today, Saxony Tourism shows its presence at about 30 annual trade fairs, workshops and presentations abroad. In the two most important markets, the United States and the Netherlands, Saxony Tourism maintains representative offices.
Art and Culture from past to present
Welcome to the most multifarious state in Germany – Saxony.
Saxony – the State of the Arts-, is famous for it’s centuries of old traditions, great history and modernity. Visitors from all over the world appreciate the exquisite art and culture which they can discover and experience here. The Semper Opera in Dresden, the Gewandhaus in Leipzig and the Opera in Chemnitz are known to everyone, and in addition there is a great number of castles and palaces, museums, festivals and exhibitions.
But in Saxony the crafts are also a form of art, e.g. in the southern corner of Saxony, in the region Vogtland. Since 1677, virtuosos all over the world have been playing on string and wind instruments hand-made to perfection in the so called “music corner” of Saxony.
Every year in the Christmas season, everyone gets into touch with the wooden handicrafts from the Ore Mountains (Erzgebirge). For there is no other place in the world where so many Christmas products are made as in this region.
Plauen is known for a particularly filigree treasure – Plauen lace. And the thousand-year-old town of Meissen had a reputation for the manufacture of “White Gold”, the Meissener porcelain, for almost 300 year. In the show workshop of the Meissen Manufactory you can watch the valuable pieces being made and try your own hand at the art. In addition, the people in this region know how to make delicious wines and sparkling wines. And in the small town of Glashütte in the Ore Mountains they still make the famous branded “Glashütte” and “Lange & Söhne” precision watches.
Traditional spa and vacation resorts like Bad Schandau on the Elbe river, Bad Brambach and Bad Elster in the Vogtland spa triangle, Kurort Oberwiesenthal, the highest city in Germany or Bad Düben in the Saxon Castle and Health Region all provide excellent conditions for a relaxing vacation. In the spa town Bad Elster, visitors can relax in one of the oldest moor spas in Germany, while Bad Brambach is known worldwide as the strongest source of radon.
Saxony offers a wide range of options for biking tourists – whether they prefer city bikes, racing bikes or mountain bikes: There are well established routes throughout the “worldly state”, surrounded by natural landscapes, idyllic sites, attractions and a wide range of leisure activities. For example, the bike route along the river Elbe is Germany’s most popular bike route.
The four quality proven hiking tracks are perfect for every hiker. They are certified by the “Deutscher Wanderverband” (German hiking association): Vogtland-Panorama Weg, Kammweg Erzgebirge-Vogtland, Heide-Biber-Tour und Höhensteig-Rundweg. The Elbe Sandstone Mountains, also known as Saxon Switzerland, are a paradise for hikers, nature lovers and climbing fans – with 14,000 climbing routes and 1,100 free-standing peaks, from simple climbs to extreme degrees of difficulty. Saxony’s rivers the dammed reservoirs, lakes and ponds are ideal venues for water sports. Even winter sports are available in Saxony: The Ore Mountains have been a popular winter sports destination with excellent snow conditions for over 100 years.
Few business tourism destinations can offer visitors such excellent combinations of unique conference locations, fantastic incentive services whatever the weather and season, world class art and culture, magnificent landscapes and well-developed infrastructure. Saxony in South Eastern Germany stands out as a rapidly growing economic and research region, where science and art, tradition and innovation form a unique symbiosis – the ideal environment for a vibrant, unusual and inspiring conference and congress industry.
There are many reasons why you should choose Saxony as an MICE destination.
These are the most important reasons:
Saxony is a very popular destination for group travel. While you stay with your group in Dresden or Leipzig, Saxony’s two large cities, you may want to explore more of Saxony. Thus, we have decided to offer you day trips from Dresden and/or Leipzig for 20 people and above based on clearly defined themes. We can also arrange for your group’s accommodation and meals. By combing our day trips, you will be able to plan your group tour of Saxony according to your schedule and budget. Feel free to approach us if you need any assistance in the planning process already and otherwise just present us with your itinerary and leave it to us to book your trip.
Saxony is one of the leading German states when it comes to holiday offers for handicapped people. At the moment there are over 340 cultural- and recreational facilities and offers for blind-, visually impaired-and hearing- impaired people and wheelchair users in Saxony. The focus is on experiencing art and culture. 98 recommended Hotels, Hostels, holiday apartments and camping sites are available for handicapped people. Six special- tour operators are taking care of your interests, requests and needs. | <urn:uuid:7bf90e60-2cf7-411e-8600-cd19072eb307> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.germany.travel/tr/trade/sales-guide-germany/deep_content_trade-20176.html?url=/tr/news/news_startseite.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368704713110/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516114513-00005-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.934892 | 1,309 | 1.585938 | 2 |
That's 20 percent less than projections from the governor's proposed budget. Much of the shortfall came from personal income tax receipts, which were almost $2 billion below forecasts. And as you might imagine, April is a big month. Also way down were sales tax receipts. The upshot is that California must deal with a significantly larger deficit than what was expected a few months ago. The state controller's office was trying to look at the bright side. From its report:
Relative to last year, personal income tax revenues were actually up in April by $56 million (0.8%). Modest though this may be, it shows that personal incomes in the state are actually growing and this improvement comes in spite of the fact that income tax rates dropped by 0.25 percentage points in the 2011 year. In fact, this means that the underlying income base is growing even faster than the 0.8% year-over-year increase in revenues would suggest. In addition, and perhaps more importantly, with-holding on personal income is actually up on a year-to-date basis according to estimates from the Franchise Tax Board. | <urn:uuid:3242ec3c-7dd5-45ad-a772-b6e1f26af0dd> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.laobserved.com/biz/2012/05/state_coffers_were_s.php | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368708766848/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516125246-00031-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.989473 | 226 | 1.554688 | 2 |
Amtrak to replace high-speed Acela trains
Fleet started service in 1999
Amtrak announced plans Thursday to replace its fleet of high-speed trains on the East Coast.
The railroad said that early next year, it would begin the process of replacing its 20 existing Acela Express train sets, which run on the Northeast Corridor rail line between Boston and Washington, DC.
"Moving directly to new high-speed train sets is the best option to create more seating capacity, permit higher speeds, and maximize customer comfort all while improving equipment reliability and reducing operating costs," Amtrak CEO Joe Boardman said in a statement.
The Acela Express train sets comprise two power cars and six passenger cars each. The current fleet started service between 1999 and 2000.
Amtrak said the plan envisioned an increase in train sets to provide "more frequent high-speed service" on the Northeast Corridor. Amtrak spokesman Steve Kulm said it was too early to say how many trains would be added or what the cost of the project would be, but that the railroad hopes to have the first new trains within five to seven years.
Amtrak, created by Congress in 1970, operates as a for-profit company, with the government as the majority stockholder. It has long struggled financially, losing $1.3 billion in the 2011 fiscal year.
Ridership is on the rise, however, hitting records of 31.2 million nationwide for the year ended September 30 and 11.4 million on the Northeast Corridor.
Amtrak said Thursday that it had scrapped a previous plan to add 40 new passenger cars to the existing fleet, deeming it too expensive and "insufficient to handle new ridership growth projections."
Copyright 2012 by CNN NewSource. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. | <urn:uuid:1115e55e-63ca-4988-b36a-8041e5bd6053> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.kcra.com/news/money/Amtrak-to-replace-high-speed-Acela-trains/-/11797182/17765818/-/format/rsss_2.0/view/print/-/obvuix/-/index.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368706499548/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516121459-00023-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.961377 | 370 | 1.640625 | 2 |
Mon 16 Jan 2012
Yesterday Mike Bennett and I worked on a load tester for my nicad pack in my shop. It loads each cell one at a time with around 40 amps. Which is 1C. The goal is to find bad or failing cells when the pack is discharged down to the first drop in pack voltage. This occurs around the 5 mile mark. So I know many cells are croaking at that point.
We bought a 100 amp, 12v lead acid load tester from Harbor Freight for $25 on sale. We ended up using bailing wire as an additional load element. I’ve used bailing wire before for discharging cells. It works fine. It’s a soft wire that when it turns red, it still soft. So it stays consistent. We did some empirical testing to see how much bailing wire we would need to add to get 40 amps at around .6 volts. We came up with two 11″ pieces in parallel. We crimped on 1/4″ yellow lugs and bolted them to the large copper crimps already in the load tester. That worked great!
The meter ranges from 0-16v. As it turns out it was fairly accurate around the .5-1.5 volt range. But that was too small of a needle swing for me. So at a later date I will recalibrate the meter by 10x. It will then read 0-1.6v. Perfect for nicad testing. It has a 51 ohm 1/8 watt resistor across the meter movement. So that needs to be changed to a 470 ohm pot so it can be calibrated nicely.
We load tested a couple of cells continuously to see if the bailing wire would fail. It got hot, but never glowed. So I think the only weak link is the rocker switch moving 40 amps through it. Since having a rocker switch would require 2 hands to operate the load tester, I may very well bypass the switch. Then the load tester can just be rocked only the 2 cell terminals and that will activate the load tester. There are 250 cells to test. So speed is everything!!
This load tester could be tweaked for use on lithium too. | <urn:uuid:06ef2494-d467-4fc0-b54f-cff425a1f516> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://rotordesign.com/blog/category/tools/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368705195219/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516115315-00029-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.95084 | 461 | 1.835938 | 2 |
Therapy device helps patient recover from shoulder injuries
A new patented therapy device is designed to help patients recovering from shoulder surgeries by providing a new take on traditional shoulder pulleys. The SLINGPROM can provide patients with a more comfortable way to perform the Passive Range of Motion (PROM) shoulder exercises recommended to help them recover from surgery.
Shoulder injuries are a particularly common ailment among adults in the United States. According to the American Academy of Orthopedic Surgeons, approximately 2 million people suffer went to their doctors for rotator cuff and shoulder injuries in 2008, the last year data was available. Additionally, 3 to 5 percent of the overall population suffers from adhesive capsulitis, or frozen shoulder, each year.
According to its website, the SLINGPROM works by decreasing the intensity of the stress on rotator cuff muscles by helping the patient to relax. A less guarded patient will not be as conscious of the injury and therefore, in less pain, allowing him or her to increase the range of motion exercises that will ultimately rehabilitate the ailment.
"The SLINGPROM is a great device to achieve optimal patient relaxation, in order to maximize range of motion improvements," said Rich Klein, a physical therapist in New York. "It is very effective for postoperative treatment after rotator cuff repairs, as well as non-operative conditions such as adhesive capsulitis."
Helping a patient to expand his PROM activities with the SLINGPROM is an essential part of the responsibilities of a traveling physical therapist. Traditionally, receiving PROM treatment at home requires expensive machines. The SLINGPROM eliminates this, allowing the traveling physical therapist to come in and help the patient with simple exercises. According to Livestrong, these exercises can improve a shoulder's mobility and, more importantly, reduce the number of adhesions and the amount of scar tissue that builds up after an injury.
Add your comments : | <urn:uuid:a6cd0012-bc1f-4f3b-9b31-8b1faa6549f9> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.reflectxstaffing.com/news/posts/800823129-therapy-device-helps-patient-recover-from-shoulder-injuries.html | 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 | 0.948691 | 396 | 1.8125 | 2 |
All Articles Tagged "racial"
At the workplace, unbeknownst to their coworkers, many black women are holding down a second job editing themselves. Whether it’s passing up fried chicken for lunch or feigning ignorance when the conversation turns to Love & Hip Hop, we tend to feel the need to adjust our behavior for mixed company. It’s a practice dating back to W.E.B. Du Bois’ concept of “double consciousness,” a “sense of always looking at one’s self through the eyes of others.” As an upwardly-mobile people, we take great care not to reinforce stereotypes others have of us. Maybe it’s time we let them see the real deal.
I’m guilty of feigning a disability or two for the cause. I’ve pretended I was deaf to spare my co-worker the horror her remark mistaking Kelly Rowland for a member of TLC. I’ve improvised a bout of dementia to forget my manager fingering my waist length braids and asking if they were my real hair (I had a bob the day before). The tales of black women on their best behavior are plentiful and, at times, comedic enough to fill a Web series on the topic.
We work hard to play against the stereotype of the “angry black woman,” but to what end? A recent study found that black women are expected to be pushier at work and receive higher approval ratings when they are assertive. This is in stark contrast to the results for white women and black men, who receive backlash when they exhibit aggressive behavior.
The nice girl act isn’t exactly what our employers and co-workers are looking for. So, should we all walk in the office doing our best Oprah does Ms. Sophia impression? Those can’t be the only options for success. It’s about time black women break the cardinal rule of being black in the workplace – be yourself.
If you clicked on this list not knowing what to expect, you’re right. It’s going to be all over the place. This story stemmed from a very haphazard conversation we had in my office one day. Consider this your warning. This list is going to be a very random compilation of some of the more outrageous things we’ve seen in the media in the two decades or so. Whether the examples are somehow racially stereotypical or just a celebrity behaving strangely, it’s liable to show up on this list. So are you ready, cuz I’m ready. Let’s jump in.
1. Scary Spice
It was good to be a girl in the ’90s. It was the age of girl power. And no one embodied the phrase like the Spice Girls did. They were everywhere. As a girl, if you didn’t like the Spice Girls you had to at least pretend. Being that there was only one black girl, when a group of our white friends would “play” Spice Girls, most black girls happily chose to be “Scary” or if there was more than one black girl, a slight argument about who was going to play Scary might ensue. (Usually we just switched off.) We all thought they were the ish until we got older. And when we got older and more wise to the ways of the world perhaps we took issue to the fact that the lone black girl, was named “scary.” Now all of the “girls” were attractive and had cutesy little names except the black girl. Unless they meant “scary” in the sense that she was “uncannily striking or surprising” then it’s a little suspect.
(Wall Street Journal) — Whites are on the verge of becoming a minority among newborn children in the U.S., marking a demographic shift that is already reshaping the nation’s politics and economy. The Census reported Thursday that nonwhite minorities accounted for 48.6% of the children born in the U.S. between July 2008 and July 2009, gaining ground from 46.8% two years earlier. The trajectory suggests that minority births will soon eclipse births of whites of European ancestry.
(bizjournals.com) — The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People has dropped a lawsuit that accused Wells Fargo & Co. of steering African-American homeowners into subprime mortgages.
The NAACP sued Wells Fargo and more than a dozen other banks last year, saying the banks engaged in “systematic, institutionalized racism” when they steered homeowners of color into mortgages with higher interest rates than those of other borrowers who had similar credit histories. | <urn:uuid:72d95a5e-2121-4083-b206-60c2e33a5bd7> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://madamenoire.com/tag/racial/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368699273641/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516101433-00039-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.961295 | 987 | 1.570313 | 2 |
Congress needs to get its priorities in order
According to a Buffalo News article, the Air Force trained 350 drone pilots this past year and by 2015 will need 2,000 of them. Gen. Norton A. Schwartz, the Air Force chief of staff, stated this past summer that it’s “conceivable” that the Air Force one day will have more pilots flying drones than manned aircraft.
At the same time our country is building the F-35 fighter, whose genesis dates back almost two decades and which has become the world’s most expensive weapons program ever. It has cost Americans some $400 billion so far, is running 100 percent over budget and is about a decade behind schedule.
While some members of Congress talk of the need to decrease social programs that serve American citizens, they seem to treat any military investment as critical to America’s future. This F-35 will soon become an outdated killing machine. No matter how irrational and expensive this decision is, those legislators would give a higher priority to the military-industrial complex than to programs that serve the more vulnerable members of our society. Is Congress truly reflecting our priorities? | <urn:uuid:115b21ba-3743-454c-8805-bc0b8946bfd5> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.buffalonews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20130111/OPINION/130119934/1032 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368697380733/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516094300-00026-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.952329 | 234 | 1.804688 | 2 |
The Media Center
Inman E. Page Library's Media Center provides acces to technology, media-based instructional materials and equipment. We provide service, education and access to current and advanced technology in support of the library and Lincoln University.
The Media Center is located on the ground floor of Page Library and is composed of several rooms, including an audiovisual graphics lab, Ageworks, and the Learning Commons. It serves the University as an academic support unit. There are a variety of materials, including hardware and software, which are maintained by the IMC. Patrons may check out some items, depending upon policy and availability, however, some materials in the IMC are not available for circulation. Available audio visual materials include video, DVDs and multimedia kits. These items are searchable via the Online Public Access Catalog. One may narrow the search either by title or by using the keyword option and selecting, in the dropdown menu, the material type preferred, such as video. For more information or assistance one may contact the Media Center at 573.681.5260 during operating hours.
The policy regarding multimedia circulation is as follows:
Videos retrieved from the circulating collection may be checked out by Lincoln University students and personnel. Other university and community patrons may view the collection in the library, but may not check the AV items out. Media checkout follows the circulation policies of the library. There is technically no limit to the number of items which may be checked out, but we recommend a limit of 5 maximum. The general list is as follows:
Videos 2 days
DVDs 2 days
CDs 2 days
Books 30 days
Videos retrieved from the archival collection are considered reserve materials. They may be viewed by anyone in the library, but may not be checked out as a circulating item.
Lincoln University personnel may reserve media, from either collection for viewing within the library for a designated time during the semester. These videos may come from either collection, but may not be circulated until after the reserved time is over. The media may only be viewed within the premises of the library. Reserved materials will be located on the reserve shelf in the IMC or upstairs in the Circulation department's reservation section. If the reserved video is not on the shelf, the patron may check either location. At the end of the reservation period, or semester, the reserve item will be returned to the appropriate collection and become available for circulation accordingly.
The Media Center provides several different kinds of services to the patrons of Page Library. These services include graphic and video production or dubbing, hands-on instruction and workshops in technology, viewing rooms, equipment assistance, search aid, and other options as necessary. The basic services are available for the full operational hours of the library during all semesters. Specialized Services requiring expertise, such as video editing, graphics and publication editing/creation, printing, mounting, and other services may be limited by varying office hours and are usually best available via appointment. Some fees may apply to cover the cost of material and creation.
Included with these services, the IMC sells some consumable products, as necessary, to the patrons. These products are generally sold at cost and include, among other things, useful items such as audio and video cassettes, pens, pencils, poster board and lamination. Some services may be limited by availability. The Media Center does not currently provide printing services at this time. Those who need color prints or other printing services should contact Printing Services at: 573.681.5395.
Group Study Rooms
The Media Center provides the service of group study rooms via signature and ID. Patrons must sign in for a room and provide ID. Any Media Staff person will be happy to assist in the procurement of the group study room. The rooms are available to most patrons, but service can be denied based on room availabilty or the needs of the University. There are computers in some of the group study rooms. There is, however, no printing. It is suggested that patrons who utilize the group study rooms to write their papers or work on projects save their work via flash drive and email. | <urn:uuid:bafa1701-6430-4b35-8a4d-88c08ca5ae9d> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.lincolnu.edu/web/library/media-center | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368699881956/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516102441-00034-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.942171 | 845 | 1.523438 | 2 |
Twitter and customer relationships
How Twitter influences the customer experience
Domino's Pizza staff scandal and YouTube
How to create social media strategies
It seems that Twitter is taking over the world but, as Lior Arussy points out, there's no point tweeting without a strategy behind it.
Here we are again. A new technology is taking over and the world as we know it is coming to an end. The advent of this latest and greatest technology allows individuals to broadcast short messages of up to 140 characters anytime, anywhere. With this newfound ability, some pundits are proclaiming that customer relationships as we know them are over. I should confess that I’m a bit tired of such proclamations and punditry, particularly when it is all too apparent that people are simply glorifying a new means to an end, rather than the end itself.
There is little doubt that web 2.0 is exciting. Companies of all types can communicate and interact with customers and prospects at speeds previously thought to be impossible. However, when a 20 employee outfit known as Twitter is unable to establish a business model and clearly articulate its customer experience capabilities, it is logical to surmise that well established brands will not jump head first into the Twitter and social media deep-end.
This is not to say that effective usage of social media won’t have positive benefits for company-customer relationships. However, given historical trends, what remains unclear is the extent to which the use of such social media will influence the customer experience. Once upon a time when direct marketing exploded, many experts proclaimed an end to or at least the drastic diminishment of the retail channel. With the emergence of email and web chat, many expected the end to call centers. Too many analysts predicted that speech technology would replace traditional interactive voice response (IVR) units. However, as we all know while direct marketing, email, web chat and speech technology have grown in importance, the retail channel, call centers and traditional IVRs remain alive, well and a critical component in the customer experience.
A recent YouTube video of two Domino’s Pizza employees committing dubious actions has been subject to much debate. In the television segment on this episode, a reporter quoted a Web 2.0 expert who clearly stated that the company shares some blame as “it is Domino’s Pizza’s negligence for not having a Twitter strategy.” While I am no doubt aging myself here, I distinctly remember thinking that I had never heard of a Twitter strategy and couldn’t fathom how opening a Twitter account represented a meaningful strategy of any kind.
I don’t dispute the fact that companies in virtually every industry have accounts through various social media with thousands of 'friends' and 'fans'. However, what many of these companies are slowly recognising is that social media simply reflects a new (perhaps more personal) communication medium. So now, instead of or in addition to websites, newsletters, direct mail, email and web chat, companies have Facebook, MySpace, YouTube and Twitter. The proliferation of social media doesn’t reflect a strategy as much as it reflects adoption of additional communication tools. Companies still require resources, personnel and actual strategies for managing and incorporating such media into their customer and communication strategies.
Potential over strategy
No doubt some readers are shaking their heads thinking that I am naïve or short sighted because I fail to internalise the “potential” of social media. Yet, I would posit that when companies analyse their core customer experience and relationship challenges, they quickly recognise that the lack of Twitter or YouTube strategies is the least of their problems. The use of this or that communication medium will never be sufficient if the content, format and timeliness of information shared with customers are not customer-centric. Companies across every conceivable industry currently utilise one or another form of social media (e.g. social media sites, blogs, forums, wikis, podcasts etc.) - some to great effect. Zappos.com and Sun Microsystems are but a few of the many organisations utilising social media to achieve their objectives. Zappos has used Twitter to build fanatical customer support, solicit customer testimonials, generate high quality leads and engage in permission marketing. Alternatively, Sun uses Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, and Second Life to carry out technology discussions, collaborative publishing, product development, market research and public relations.
The benefits of effective use of social media are endless. However, companies seeking to develop or enhance a social media strategy should carefully consider social media guidelines and determine if they are truly ready to accept them. As you pursue the social media realm, consider the following questions:
- How will you foster customer collaboration?
- What degree of collaboration are you seeking?
- What will make your approach authentic and real?
- Are you prepared to receive critiques and negative comments from customers?
- What parameters will you establish to ensure that the customer is truly equal?
- What value will you provide to customers through social media that you are not providing with “traditional” communication mediums?
- How will your organisation modify its web presence to facilitate customer personalisation of their experiences?
- To what extent are you ready to share control with customers over content, messages and resolutions?
- What ground rules will guide your social media strategy?
It is indisputable that our customers are embracing Web 2.0 technologies in steadily growing numbers - they view these technologies as a personal tool for their own social needs. It is critical for companies to recognise that entering personal and social domains requires a great deal of sensitivity and adaptation. The objectives for companies employing social media strategies are not surprising – enhance customer loyalty, increase customer insight, reduce customer attrition, and increase customer purchase size and frequency. To meet these objectives, companies would do well to act as they do when entering foreign markets. They need to learn the rules, customs and culture to ensure they are welcome guests.
So rather than asking yourself if you should tweet, determine if you have an underlying reason to tweet and if you are willing to do so under your hosts’ guidelines. If so, prepare to receive citizenship in this foreign land!
Recent articles by Lior Arussy
Customers – without them we are nothing
Customer loyalty to whom?
The lying customers and relationship responsibilities.
Customer experience in challenging economic times: Part one
Customer experience in challenging economic times: Part two
A customer experience emergency
The new vs recycled customer: A customer experience challenge
Lior Arussy is the president of Strativity Group and the author of several books. His new book is Excellence Every Day: Make the Daily Choice-Inspire Your Employees and Amaze Your Customers. | <urn:uuid:c1792f1a-756c-4a20-82d4-49ed77cb53ca> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.mycustomer.com/topic/customer-experience/tweet-or-not-tweet-s-not-question | 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 | 0.9399 | 1,375 | 1.578125 | 2 |
A police officer responding to a domestic violence call knows the name of every family member living inside the house before even knocking on the door.
A Department of Children & Families investigator can check within a matter of seconds to see if parents of an alleged child-abuse victim have had any prior run-ins with Palm Beach County law enforcement.
A prosecutor doesn't even need to make a phone call to make sure a domestic violence defendant attended an anger-management class earlier in the week.
These scenarios could become reality with next month's launch of Palm Beach County's Domestic Violence Information System (DVIS), a computer database touted as a powerful and innovative tool in the fight against domestic violence. The program is the first of its kind in the state. It will open up lines of communications between law enforcement, the courts and social service agencies in an unprecedented way, said Dan Zinn, information resource director for the State Attorney's Office.
In the future, Palm Beach County officials hope the database will track every incident of domestic abuse or suspected abuse, even reports that don't result in an arrest.
"One of the problems today is that the information is there, but not available to practitioners quick enough for them to react ahead of the problem," Zinn said.
DVIS will be accessible over the Internet to only law enforcement and social service agencies, Zinn said. The database is funded by a federal grant of $450,000 from the Violence Against Women Act and a $100,000 grant from the Quantum Foundation.
The program, in its first stage, will track people involved in domestic violence cases that result in criminal charges. The names of the defendants, victims and family members living in the household will be collected and stored in the database, Zinn said.
Next the court system will enter data about what's going on in the case. Then social service agencies will input the types of counseling services that have been provided, and court-ordered treatment programs will give updates on defendants. This will ensure that they will comply with the conditions of their probation, Zinn said.
In the past, a lot of the interaction between social service agencies and the courts has been done through faxes and phone calls, Zinn said.
Michelle Papania, program administrator for FACTS, a batterer's intervention program, said that with the centralized database the days of shuffling paperwork will soon be over.
"Not only will this cut down on work for us, but the folks who need to see the information will get it in real time," Papania said. "This really takes us into the 21st century and upgrades our ability to report."
Papania said DVIS also allows anger-management counselors to go online and read the police reports documenting their clients' arrests.
"By seeing the actual [police report], it can aid in holding the batterer accountable," she said.
Jeannie Hoban, the domestic violence coordinator for Palm Beach County Circuit Court, said the DVIS system helps to ensure that domestic violence defendants don't fall through the cracks.
Jon Burstein can be reached at [email protected] or 561-832-2895. | <urn:uuid:a31c4087-3a31-44cc-8c92-c21403eb1ff3> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://articles.sun-sentinel.com/2003-09-28/community/0309260451_1_violence-cases-domestic-violence-domestic-abuse | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368699273641/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516101433-00017-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.942739 | 652 | 1.84375 | 2 |
UPDATE 2-Facebook tightens privacy to satisfy Irish regulator
* Facebook mostly complies with review - Irish watchdog
* Deadline of 4 weeks given for outstanding issues
* Facebook sees no impact on advertising strategy
By Padraic Halpin
DUBLIN, Sept 21 (Reuters) - Facebook Inc has tightened up its privacy controls sufficiently to satisfy a review by the body that regulates the social networking company outside North America, removing the immediate threat of legal challenges.
The world's biggest social network makes most of its money from advertising, but has to walk a fine line to avoid giving its over 950 million users the impression it is invading their privacy to boost revenue.
It was told by Ireland's Data Protection Commissioner last December to overhaul privacy protection for its users outside the United States and Canada after a probe found its privacy policies were too complex and lacked transparency.
The regulator said it was particularly encouraged by the decision to turn off a piece of facial recognition technology, the so-called "tag suggest" feature, for new users in the European Union and by next month, existing users as well.
The Irish watchdog, which oversees Facebook's activities because the group's non-U.S. business is headquartered in Dublin, said on Friday most of its instructions had been adopted, with progress still to be made on others over the next four weeks.
"We would hope that the progress reported in the review will have dealt with the various complaints we have received in relation to Facebook Ireland," Ireland's Data Protection Commissioner Billy Hawkes told a conference call.
Privacy cases can prove costly for social networking sites like Facebook, which was the first American company to debut with a value of more than $100 billion in its initial public offering in May, before its share price slumped on an uncertain outlook.
It had to settle a case for $9.5 million after its now defunct "Beacon" service violated its members' privacy rights by not requiring their consent to allow the company to broadcast their internet activity.
Ireland's watchdog had said the company risked facing legal action under European privacy laws if it failed to comply and said on Friday the social network would have to continue to engage with it as new features are introduced.
In its report, the regulator said Facebook had made particular progress in providing better transparency for its users, handing them more control over settings and the ability to more readily access their personal data.
Facebook's director of policy for Europe, the Middle East and Africa Richard Allan told Reuters the company was committed to bringing the tag suggest feature back once it had taken steps to put it in line with EU guidance.
Allan said the move should also remove the threat of legal action from Germany's Hamburg Data Commissioner over the facial-recognition feature.
"Clearly the announcement today means we think there are no grounds for them to proceed with that," Allan said, adding that Facebook's privacy changes would have no impact at all on its advertising strategy.
Pivotal Research Group analyst Brian Wieser agreed that Facebook's advertising business and its ability to let marketers aim pitches at different groups of users would not be affected.
"They could probably have a lot less data and it would still dwarf other comparable alternatives," he said. "They'll still be able to target better than others."
The regulator said the outstanding areas of concern included minimising the potential for advertising to target users based on words that could be considered as sensitive personal data, but both it and Facebook said they were confident that these issues would be dealt with speedily.
An Austrian-based group of student activists, europe-v-facebook, which has succeeded in extracting some concessions on privacy from Facebook, said the law had been waived for the tech group.
"The Irish ODPC says that Facebook has not fully implemented the suggestions and that further work has to be done, but there seem to be no consequences or fines for not complying with these suggestions," said the group in a statement.
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UC Davis eye surgeon brings vision to El Salvador
The humanitarian act of cornea donation -- a gift from a donor to recipient -- went worldwide recently, with the help of Mark J. Mannis, ocular director for Sierra Donor Services, and its parent company, DCI Donor Services. Mannis is also professor and chair of ophthalmology and vision science and director of the Eye Center at UC Davis Health System.
Mannis traveled to San Salvador, El Salvador, with two corneas recovered through Sierra Donor Services as well as corneas from other eye banks around the U.S. The visit was part of the Flying Eye Hospital sponsored by ORBIS International and FedEx Corp.
The Flying Eye Hospital is a specially outfitted DC-10 jet aircraft that allows local doctors, nurses and technicians to work alongside an international medical team to conduct sight-restoring surgeries and to exchange knowledge and improve skills. The mobile teaching hospital is a unique tool in the fight against preventable blindness in developing countries.
Mannis participated in a week long comprehensive skills exchange program aimed at strengthening the field of corneal surgery and raising awareness of eye care related conditions in El Salvador. In the four days of surgery on the Flying Eye Hospital, Mannis performed 11 corneal transplants and provided surgical instruction to his El Salvadorian assistants. In addition, he lectured on corneal surgery in the jeliner's 48-seat classroom at the front of the plane.
"Many talented and compassionate people were involved in helping to give the people of Central America the gift of sight," Mannis said. "We are all working to fight treatable and preventable blindness around the globe. Through the Flying Eye Hospital Program, we offered skills-exchange opportunities to a wide range of eye health-care professionals, while focusing on the development of pediatric ophthalmology, an area of great need in El Salvador."
Mannis is a visionary leader and international authority on corneal transplantation and external diseases of the eye whose 30-year commitment to public service has tremendously advanced eye-banking and tissue-donation services and medical education in the United States and throughout the world, especially in Latin America. His efforts to increase the number of high-quality ocular tissues available for transplant, as well as the number of ophthalmologists and technicians trained in the latest corneal transplant and eye-banking methodologies, have enabled thousands of individuals with blinding eye diseases around the globe to receive the gift of sight.
Under Dr. Mannis' leadership, the UC Davis Eye Center has become one of the nation's top academic centers that combines the very highest quality vision health care services with cutting-edge ophthalmic science for the treatment of all forms of medical and surgical eye disease. Dr. Mannis exemplifies UC Davis' institutional commitment to combining academic excellence with social responsibility and leadership to transform health care.
Sierra Donor Services (SDS) is a nonprofit agency dedicated to meeting the needs of the community by providing families the option of organ and tissue donation for transplantation and research. SDS serves northern Nevada and inland Northern California, including Sacramento. As a division of the DCI Donor Services family, SDS is one of four locations that includes DCI Donor Services Tissue Bank, Tennessee Donor Services and New Mexico Donor Services. For more information, visit: sierradonor.org.
UC Davis Health System is improving lives and transforming health care by providing excellent patient care, conducting groundbreaking research, fostering innovative, interprofessional education, and creating dynamic, productive partnerships with the community. The academic health system includes one of the country's best medical schools, a 619-bed acute-care teaching hospital, a 1000-member physician's practice group and the new Betty Irene Moore School of Nursing. It is home to a National Cancer Institute-designated comprehensive cancer center, an international neurodevelopmental institute, a stem cell institute and a comprehensive children's hospital. Other nationally prominent centers focus on advancing telemedicine, improving vascular care, eliminating health disparities and translating research findings into new treatments for patients. Together, they make UC Davis a hub of innovation that is transforming health for all. For more information, visit: healthsystem.ucdavis.edu. | <urn:uuid:b34bf102-f000-46a2-9206-8c70f72895be> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.ucdmc.ucdavis.edu/publish/news/referrals/6913 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368711005985/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516133005-00002-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.93023 | 877 | 1.78125 | 2 |
Noella Coursaris' story is one all her own.
As a fashion model, there is an ever-present temptation to indulge in the high-life of parties, red carpets and other unmentionable acts, but Noella decided to riddle her model story with tales of charity work, motherhood and philanthropy.
As a young child, Noella departed from her native Democratic Republic of the Congo to start a new life in the UK. Over a decade later on a trip back to visit, she realized her calling was to give back to her home country.
Now, amidst a successful career as a print fashion model, Noella is actively involved in running her not-for-profit Georges Malaika Foundation that concentrates on transforming the learning experience of females in the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
GlobalGrind caught up with the humanitarian beauty for an exclusive interview where she shared a little about where she seeks inspiration from, and divulged all the information about her charity work.
Check out the exclusive interview below:
GlobalGrind: Can you discuss your nonprofit, the Georges Malaika Foundation?
Noella: The Georges Malaika Foundation is a non-profit organization dedicated to providing all the tools necessary for young girls in the Democratic Republic of the Congo to unlock their potential through a proper education. The Georges Malaika School for girls was opened in September 2011, enrolling 104 girls between the ages of 5-7, in Katanga province, Eastern DRC.
Besides providing full scholarships, the school also offers two healthy meals a day in its very own canteen, school uniforms, shoes, after school vocational training classes for parents from the community, as well as health benefits - all within the beautifully designed, by Studio MDA, sustainable and eco-friendly campus.
The organization has flourished through the strong dedication and collaborative approach. Through partnership with a wide variety of different donors, corporate and independent, large and small, and a dedicated team of volunteers around the world, GMF has created revolutionary changes in the community and the lives of so many young girls. Specialized local teachers and school staff are committed to an advanced curriculum based on the Belgian and Congolese system that will prepare the girls for a competitive future. Working with the VOSS Foundation, there is access to clean, safe water available for the school through its very own pump, as well as one for the village.
Together we have also championed to combat the dire health concerns in teaming up with CURE Project Foundation to bring five containers of healthcare commodities to various hospitals across the rural Katanga Province where the school is located.
How did you get started with your charity?
I was born in the DRC but moved to Europe when I was very young, after my father passed away. Upon returning to the DRC after 13 years away, I was struck by the incredible disparities that existed in comparison to the opportunities available in the Western world, especially with regards to women and girls. I was inspired to start GMF as a way to bridge that gap and allow for the girls in underserved communities of the DRC to receive a strong education, live a healthy life and pursue their aspirations.
What are your goals within the foundation?
We have already begun the construction process of Phase II, which, in its entirety, will include three more classrooms, and a canteen, which will allow 52 more girls to enroll in September at the start of the 2012 school year, and upon completion of Phase 3 over a course of several years, the school will educate 338 young women from Pre-K to 12th grade. We hope the Georges Malaika Foundation will serve as not only an inspiration, but also a model, for education to reach girls all across the DRC and Africa.
We are very excited to introduce FIFA as our latest partner in the GMF network. Through the Football for Hope program, an initiative of their implementing partner Street Football World, and Architect for Humanity, GMF will incorporate sports facilities near the school grounds and an integrated coed sports program to encourage community participation. We will serve the surrounding population through a variety of services and activities that will provide engaging opportunities for growth, learning and participation. Our center will offer a comfortable, positive and motivating atmosphere where community members can come together to access resources and information that will improve their quality of life and set them on a path towards greater social development.
Aside from modeling, what are you most passionate about?
I love my family; it is such a wonderful experience being a mother. I also love traveling all over the world.
What do you enjoy doing in your spare time?
I enjoy lots of different types of music, especially if I can go to live concerts. In my free time I like to read, and traveling has always been a great love of mine, be it for leisure or for work.
What are your beauty secrets?
The most important beauty secret is getting enough sleep and drinking plenty of water.
Which celebrity’s wardrobe do you envy?
Who has been your favorite photographer to work with and why?
I have worked with so many talented photographers, each with their own unique talents, I couldn’t pick just one!
What is one beauty item you can’t leave home without?
Where has been your favorite place to shoot? | <urn:uuid:09aff55a-2a5d-43e0-bcf6-3498465c7dfc> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://globalgrind.com/style/model-noella-coursaris-georges-malaika-foundation-photos | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368698924319/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516100844-00013-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.961454 | 1,097 | 1.664063 | 2 |
Obama Leads In Nevada Despite State's Poor Economy
MELISSA BLOCK, HOST:
Nevada, like Ohio, has been getting a lot of attention this year. It's a battleground state that the president won easily four years ago. Last week, the state unemployment rate ticked up to 12.1 percent; that's the worst jobless rate in the country. But while Nevada's troubles have opened the door for Mitt Romney, the latest polls suggest he's not yet winning over voters. NPR's Don Gonyea has that story.
DON GONYEA, BYLINE: Since the start of his campaign, Mitt Romney has seen Nevada as a place to spread his economic message: tax cuts, spending cuts and fewer regulations. This is from Las Vegas last September, when he unveiled his 59-point plan for the economy.
MITT ROMNEY: This is an effort to really update our economic strategy for this century, and the next century. This is recognition that the old ways have principles that will work forever; that growth is the foundation of economic prosperity.
GONYEA: It was a speech for a state still reeling from the slump in tourism, the collapse in the construction industry, and the flood of home foreclosures. But if Romney was looking for a boost from all that, it was quickly offset just weeks later; when he told the editorial board of the Las Vegas Review Journal, there should be no federal help in dealing with housing and foreclosure problems.
ROMNEY: And are there - are the things that you can do that - to encourage housing? One is, don't try and stop the foreclosure process. Let it run its course and hit the bottom. Allow investors to buy homes. Put renters...
GONYEA: Again, all of that was last year. Since then, Romney hasn't gained much traction in the state against President Obama, who has led in nearly every poll. Eric Herzik, a political scientist at the University of Nevada at Reno, says the economic numbers create a huge opportunity but that so far, Romney's failed to demonstrate that he's an acceptable alternative.
ERIC HERZIK: And Romney has come into the state and given few details; simply said, well, we'll cut taxes and cut regulations - unspecified - and everything will be better. But Nevadans have seen this story before. We don't have a state income tax, for example. So if it's all about taxes, well, we should be leading the nation in the recovery.
GONYEA: Looking at the map, Las Vegas to the south, with its strong union presence, always goes big for Democrats. Rural Nevada goes Republican. Up north is Reno, in Washoe County, the battleground within the battleground state. Dave Aiazzi is Reno's vice mayor, a lifelong Republican who switched to independent a few years ago. He voted for Mr. Obama in '08. This year, he says he's leaning Obama, but that he's still undecided. He says he needs more than he's heard so far, from Romney.
VICE MAYOR DAVE AIAZZI: What would help us here is, are you going to help build some of the roads and infrastructures, to put people back to work? I haven't seen where he's been in favor of doing some of that. It's always been cutting; not where we're going to do something, to put people back to work. Just cutting doesn't - to me - put people to work.
GONYEA: But Washoe County Republican Party chairman Dave Buell argues that people in this part of the state, just need to see Romney more. The GOP nominee has been to Reno three times recently; including for a fundraiser, and for speeches to the conventions of the VFW and the National Guard. But he's not held a big rally in the northern part of the state, during the general election battle.
DAVE BUELL: I think people here are just dying to see a public event. Ann Romney is going to be here tomorrow; we expect a big crowd for that. And I know Gov. Romney will be here soon; and I think that will help push the numbers up, especially in Washoe County.
GONYEA: The Romney campaign is also hoping the state's large Mormon population will help offset the growing Hispanic vote in November. But both parties agree, the ultimate focus remains the economy. That's why the incumbent hopes to be judged not against the numbers, but against his challenger.
Don Gonyea, NPR News.
NPR transcripts are created on a rush deadline by a contractor for NPR, and accuracy and availability may vary. This text may not be in its final form and may be updated or revised in the future. Please be aware that the authoritative record of NPR's programming is the audio. | <urn:uuid:18659dda-162d-4479-aac5-670ca4966e25> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.npr.org/2012/09/26/161836828/obama-leads-in-nevada-despite-states-poor-economy | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368710006682/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516131326-00010-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.966015 | 996 | 1.53125 | 2 |
I'm starting to hear about people who want to take their children out of their middle school math class and replace it with something else. There are a variety of reasons for their decision, and, I suspect, they are having a variety of success with the process. Perhaps we can share our situations here and share our understanding of the process and its requirements.
Why opt out of middle school math? I've heard a variety of reasons including:
1. The quality of instruction is dreadful. A number of people have reported to me that the teacher just isn't very good and isn't communicating the curriculum. When last I heard, they were going to the principal as a group with their problem in search of a solution. In this particular situation there is also some trouble with the teacher's rude manner.
2. The style of instruction doesn't work for the student. No pedagogy works for all students, so there are, of course, students for whom the inquiry-based style of teaching isn't working. The families of these students want their child to have a chance to learn math in another way.
3. The placement is incorrect. I have heard that 6th grade APP students at Hamilton who placed in the Algebra class on the placement test are being denied access to the class because the school won't have anything to offer them in 8th grade. Concern about access to the third high school class was expressed at the time of the APP split and the District assured families that students would have access to the third year high school class. The District is now breaking that promise. Who is surprised?
You can choose to remove your child from their middle school math class. You can either home school them in math or arrange a math tutor. There are people who have done it. There is a process for it. It begins with contacting the counselor and the principal.
If you have done it, please share your experience. If you are considering it, please share your reasons. | <urn:uuid:7ff735ec-9130-47a1-a458-7c08bc73798b> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://saveseattleschools.blogspot.jp/2009/10/opting-out-of-middle-school-math.html?showComment=1255987516181 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368707435344/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516123035-00000-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.983575 | 401 | 1.609375 | 2 |
“My inspiration for the film came from a couple of things,” said Fendelman after the “David” screening at Congregation Or Haddash at the Weber School in Sandy Springs Jan. 9. “What does being Jewish mean and what does it mean to be a Muslim in New York post 9/11?”
Fendelman found himself questioning the motives of a Middle Eastern man on the subway one day about four years before deciding to write the 2011 movie.
“I couldn’t believe I was thinking that,” he said. “I considered myself to be this liberal Jewish man, and here I was wondering if this guy had a bomb in his bag.”
“David” follows a young Muslim boy named Daud in the Bay Ridge neighborhood of Brooklyn. In a twist of fate, the son of a strictly religious father ends up attending an orthodox school in the neighboring Jewish neighborhood.
Daud befriends the boys in the school and becomes known as David.
A coming-of-age story, “David” draws the viewer in and examines the differences, but also striking similarities between the two cultures.
To gain an understanding of the Muslim culture, Fendelman volunteered for a year and a half at a Muslim community center, which is where he met the young actor who played Daud.
The other main character, Yoav, a Jewish boy, was also a young boy with no previous acting experience who lives in the Jewish neighborhood featured in the film.
The film was well received at the Atlanta Jewish Film Festival last year.
“David” is currently being shown at screenings across the country, but is currently only available for educational purchase.
When asked what the message of the film is, Fendelman responded, “I’d offer the questions I asked myself going into the film. What separates us and what brings us together?”
On the web: www.david-themovie.com | <urn:uuid:1f1770c2-9576-4f5f-990e-e5b92112daf8> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.neighbornewspapers.com/pages/full_story/push?article-%E2%80%98David%E2%80%99+brings+tensions+among+cultures+to+light%20&id=21427033&instance=vinings | 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 | 0.964334 | 416 | 1.679688 | 2 |
- With Mayo Clinic health education outreach coordinator
Angela Lunderead biographyclose window
Angela LundeAngela LundeAngela Lunde is a dementia education specialist in the education core of Mayo Clinic's Alzheimer's Disease Research Center at the Abigail Van Buren Alzheimer's Disease Research Clinic in Rochester, Minn.
The transfer of information about dementias, as well as understanding the need for participation in clinical trials, is an essential component of the education core.
Angela is a member of the Alzheimer's Association board of directors and co-chair of the annual Minnesota Dementia Conference. She is a member of the Dementia Behavior Assessment and Response Team (D-BART), a multidisciplinary outreach service assisting professional and family caregivers in understanding and managing difficult behaviors often present in dementia. She facilitates several support groups, including Memory Club, an early-stage education and support series, and more recently, helped to develop and now deliver Healthy Action to Benefit Independence and Thinking (HABIT), a 10-day cognitive rehab and wellness program for people with mild cognitive impairment.
Angela takes a personal interest in understanding the complex changes that take place within relationships and among families when dementia is present. She is particularly interested in providing innovative and accessible ways for people with dementia and their families to receive information and participate in valuable programs that promote well-being.
"Amid a devastating disease, there are tools, therapies, programs and ways to cope, and it is vital that families are connected to these resources," she says.
- Alzheimer's support group gets lift from humor, sharing
May 14, 2013
- As caregivers, support each other without judgment
May 1, 2013
- Alzheimer's individual living in the moment — in happiness
April 16, 2013
- Take the time to find gratitude: You'll be happier, healthier
April 3, 2013
- Gratitude is the one pill everyone should be prescribed
March 19, 2013
Aug. 9, 2011
Why do some caregivers cope better than others?
By Angela Lunde
I was quite sure my last blog would create a wide and strong range of opinions, and indeed it did. A few of you were somewhat critical that I attempted to make "lemonade out of lemons." In many ways you're right, as that is the approach I choose.
I've been deeply involved with caregivers for over a decade. Most have devastating and heart-wrenching stories related to a loved one with Alzheimer's disease. For each of them, the progressive nature of the disease takes its toll — no one with Alzheimer's disease gets better.
The challenges and difficulties caregivers are met with can be similar. However, what differs vastly among caregivers is their acceptance of the situation, the ways in which they respond and ultimately cope. I believe you can choose acceptance, choose how to respond to a situation and choose how you cope. And it's these choices that can bring more ease to life even in the worst of circumstances.
Let me tell you a bit about Doris. I have known Doris for several years. She and her husband Roger have been involved in our early stage programs and Doris has been coming to support group for over 2 years. Here's a comment Doris made in our support group not long ago (paraphrased):
"When is there going to be a program or a place where trained professionals would meet with my husband Roger to get him to understand why he can't drive? I think there needs to be a place where I can take him where they would get through to him, so I don't have these battles every day. I explain to Roger all day long why he can't drive. I tell him he needs to talk with our daughter about his driving. I show him the results from his cognitive evaluation, and he still thinks he should drive. He doesn't want to listen!"
Clearly, Doris feels cheated that no one will come to her rescue and get her husband to understand. I can see and feel the frustration and anger that spill out of Doris. Getting through to Doris the reality that there's no getting through to her husband with Alzheimer's disease continues to be arduous work.
Doris is not alone. Almost all caregivers deal with issues of acceptance. It's part of the burden of Alzheimer's disease that it changes the brain and consequently the behaviors of the person you love. It's often these changed behaviors that are hardest to accept. Naturally, you want to fight it. You want the person to be as he or she once was.
In the face of the challenging behaviors brought on by Alzheimer's disease, how does one cope? Why is it that some caregivers seem to cope better than others? How can one find ease in such a devastating situation? These are real and honest questions that none of us can easily answer.
However, I've found that when caregivers begin to understand the truth in the following statements, they've taken a pivotal step toward being better able to cope:
- People with dementia experience loss and loss of control. Feeling out of control naturally leads to behaviors of agitation, irritability, anger and depression. The more often caregivers tell the person what he or she can't do, the more the behaviors tend to escalate.
- Dementia symptoms include a decline in the ability to communicate effectively through words, so behaviors such as irritability and aggression fill the void. In other words, there's a message behind the behavior.
- People with dementia are not lying, lazy, aloof or disengaged. Rather they can't remember or process information because of the changes in their brain.
- Lack of insight into one's limitations is a common symptom of Alzheimer's disease. People with Alzheimer's disease often can't admit something is wrong with them. This is due to how the disease affects their brain.
- The physical changes in the brain cause new behaviors that people with Alzheimer's disease aren't able to control. They aren't choosing to be behave this way.
It's common for caregivers to blame or be upset with the person with dementia for not doing what they want or ask. Yet, the truth is you can't force someone with Alzheimer's disease to remember or learn, nor can you expect that logic will change their behavior.
When and if you believe these statements to be true, you begin to relieve yourself of some excess pain. And for most caregivers, a little more ease is a welcome gift.blog index Next page | <urn:uuid:fc9d44c1-ca34-4789-b0b6-7e9faead3737> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/comments/MY01837_comments/POST=1 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368704392896/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516113952-00033-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.966253 | 1,325 | 1.78125 | 2 |
Most of us think of white as a classic color that matches everything and never goes out of style. That’s one of the reasons it’s such a popular choice for home décor. At first glance, it might be hard to tell the difference between the many shades of white. But understanding the range of this powerful hue can change the way you use the classic “white-on-white” in your home—specifically in the bathroom.
Popular at least since the early 20th century, the white-on-white bathroom remains strong today. Barbara Kalis, a Seattle-based interior designer and color consultant, says people are drawn to all-white bathrooms because we associate white with purity, healthy and hygiene. "It looks so clean," she says, "and that's what we do in bathrooms; we get clean."
If you're thinking about using an all-white scheme for your bathroom, consider using a broad palette of whites instead of just one and vary texture for the best effect.
"When you're working with whites, you want to look at honed, brushed and tumbled as well as shiny surfaces," says Kalis. "You can combine those textures relatively easily in an all-white bathroom."
For example, if your toilet, sink and bathtub are glossy white, you could use a matte-finish tile for the tub surround and backsplash, and perhaps a tumbled stone tile for the countertop.
When you're working with whites, you want to look at honed, brushed and tumbled as well as shiny surfaces.
Fixtures are also available in texturally interesting whites, such as Dune, a soft neutral inspired by desert sands, and Honed White, a matte surface inspired by the smooth texture and natural appeal of worn river rock. Other options, like Sea Salt™, offer a three-dimensional pattern on the smooth surface of enameled cast iron sinks and bathtubs. The combined neutral colors and organic materials add extra depth and character to traditional white fixtures.
Decorative glass shower doors can create variety and additional visual interest. By gently obscuring the transparency of the glass with subtle patterns, the play of light, shadow, steam and water, combine to achieve beautiful effects without a hint of color.
If you're thinking about combining colors with white—either using colors as an accent in your primarily white room, or using white as the accent in a color scheme—you'll want to keep warm and cool color families in mind.
"[All] colors are either blue-based or yellow-based, and whites are the same," explains Barbara Kalis, a Seattle-based interior designer and color consultant. "You can see the difference immediately when you look at the whites together and see [that] one is very warm and the other is very cool-looking."
Planning to use blue as an accent in your bathroom? Then choose a cooler—or blue-based—white. These shades work best with cool colors such as blue-greens, blue-reds or purples. On the other hand, yellow-based whites are nice complements for warm colors, such as yellow-reds, oranges and yellow-greens.
If you're starting from scratch and plan to use white as the main color in your bathroom, make it simple and choose the white you like best. Kalis recommends a softer white, rather than a stark one. Once you've selected a white, look for accent colors that coordinate with its yellow or blue base.
Add a blue tile tub surround and countertop or maybe just a few blue decorative tiles in the backsplash.
Or you can keep all of your bathroom surfaces white—walls, tile, fixtures and flooring—and add color with rugs, the shower curtain, towels and art. That way, you have the option of changing accent colors whenever the mood strikes you. | <urn:uuid:9a5b381a-506a-4c8b-a152-0b3774dbdc30> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.us.kohler.com/us/nonprdcontent/articleDetail1.jsp?contentId=CNT300064 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368701852492/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516105732-00012-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.948302 | 805 | 1.59375 | 2 |
This teacher's job is now in the cone of uncertainty.
Physical science teacher Laurie Bailey-Cutkomp, 47, could lose her job for putting a collar — the type used to prevent animals from licking themselves after surgery — on at least eight of her ninth-grader students as a form of discipline, reports the Tampa Bay Times in St.Petersburg.
Zephyrhills High School administrators found out about the incidents after parents pointed out photos on Facebook of the students with the cones.
Bailey-Cutkomp reportedly worked previously in the veterinary field, according to the story.
Now this teacher is in the doghouse.
Get the DUHtails at the Tampa Bay Times in St. Petersburg.
Photo: Malenga's photostream | <urn:uuid:ad70ffce-23c2-45b4-9bd3-2f3ca2de394c> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://weblogs.sun-sentinel.com/news/specials/weirdflorida/blog/2012/05/teacher_accused_of_putting_con.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368704713110/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516114513-00039-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.930091 | 160 | 1.59375 | 2 |
- See & Do
- Dining Out
- Canterbury District
- Plan My Visit
The Eastbridge Hospital was founded in 1180 following the martyrdom of St Thomas Becket on 29th December 1170 in Canterbury Cathedral, as accommodation for poor Pilgrims visiting his tomb.
Today the Hospital has two Chapels, The Sleeping Quarters (undercroft) and Dining Hall (refectory) all restored and can be seen as they once were by the Pilgrims Chaucer so vividly described.
Today the Hospital provides Almhouse accommodation for elderly persons, currently having 8 flats all occupied.
Under 16 £0.50
Students admitted at Concession price.
School Groups - Children/Students charged, Teachers free.
|Season Dates||Opening Hours|
|Notes||Open all year between Monday to Saturday (inclusive) 10am to 5pm and closed on Sundays. Worship takes place in both the Eastbridge Hospital and Greyfriars Chapel throughout the week. Visitors are welcome to join us.|
25 High Street, Canterbury, CT1 2BD
Map reference: TR 147579 Lat: 51.27990 Long: 1.07834
Accessible by Public Transport : 1 mile (1.6 kms) from Canterbury West/East station
Tours available. Partial disabled access. | <urn:uuid:7e005059-bb1e-4dd4-ad33-3238eb5e61fa> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.canterbury.co.uk/Canterbury-Eastbridge-Hospital/details/?dms=13&nearby=1&feature=1&GroupId=2&venue=3030456 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368710006682/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516131326-00016-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.934394 | 275 | 1.71875 | 2 |
The blackout legacy of Sandy affected man, woman and child, plunging all into cold darkness, putting all in harms way. However, for few was this trauma more acute then for cancer patients in the middle of their battle against disease. For hundreds of local patients scheduled to receive chemotherapy this week, suddenly finding themselves without access to critical care was frightening and dangerous. Into this crisis stepped local heroes.
When the saga of the storm is written, there will be a long list of remarkable people who, instead of running away, ran forward to help. The list will include police, fireman, EMS, construction, linemen, National Guard, politicians, municipal workers and a mix of good people who simply reached out a hand. I respect and thank them all. For me, this list includes our oncology staff, who, leaving cold houses, journeying on difficult roads, rushed to give care to vulnerable patients. No one would have blamed them for staying with their families and waiting out the silence, but none of them did.
When two of our three offices lost power and heat, 210 patients due to receive vital treatments this week were left without access to ongoing chemotherapy. Another 185 patients scheduled for vital lab testing were in jeopardy and over 400 office visits canceled. As with sailors suddenly washed overboard, these cancer patients, many frail and vulnerable, had lives suddenly at risk. Our staff of front desk workers, LPNs, RNs, pharmacists, technicians and physicians did not hesitate. They would all say that they were just doing their jobs. If that is true, then how these people do their jobs is an inspiration.
Acting with calm, good humor (actually really awful humor) and intelligence, these professionals organized chaos. Working around downed trees and phone systems, transporting drugs and equipment, jury rigging critical systems to augment struggling electronics, in real time they brought care to cancer patients in critical need. They urged chilled, struggling lab equipment to life, alternative communication systems were rigged, patients contacted and schedules redesigned on the fly. Chemotherapy was given in exam rooms, at desks, in any available cranny. Doctors wearing hiking boots and jeans, instead of white coats and ties, examined patients. Rather then being left in isolation, frightened patients were given comfort and care, vital medicine, a warm touch and hot coffee (with donuts…OK not the best in nutrition, but we will let it slide).
There is an inspiring lesson here, as we climb phoenix-like from the debris of Sandy. Too much we focus on the difficulties of life, too little we respect the wonder and possibility of us all, together. Whatever conflict and confusion may mark the human condition, when challenged with the worst, people care. They care to help, they care to rebuild, they care to hope, they care not only about the ones they love, they care about the family of man.
One of the great honors of my life has been the opportunity to work closely with people who are expert at their jobs, focused in their goals and truly care. Like the beauty of the sunrise, the power of the oceans, the grandeur of mountains, the beauty, power and grandeur that is my fellow man, leave me in awe. The storm has left darkness, fear and suffering in its wake, but have not doubt, together we will rise above.
As published in Sunrise Rounds.
By using this blog, you agree to these terms, which may change. This blog is for personal educational use only. Children under the age of 13 may not use this blog. Blog user agrees not to rely on this blog and releases Blogger from any damages arising from its use. This blog is compliant with the Digital Millennium Copyright Act. Please report infringements to [email protected]. | <urn:uuid:98248aca-4ec4-46be-91df-c2a79716e0f9> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://manchester-nj.patch.com/blog_posts/saving-after-sandy | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368698924319/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516100844-00040-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.965354 | 771 | 1.554688 | 2 |
What the heck??
I know a lot of you guys have run into this before: wordpress now doesn't let you use DIV tags in posts. And why not? What if we do want to throw in a DIV in the content of a post, or say, an object, or something unusual? What is the justification for this? It's not as if DIVs are dangerous; it simply removes an option for people who want to use them.
That's not my main issue though. Yes, I searched and found a solution...however, it worked for wordpress 2.1. Not 2.3...
In the tinyMCE config file:
valid_elements : "<?php echo $valid_elements; ?>",
Er...so, how do I change the value of $valid_elements?
Thanks guys :D This is kind of irksome. What bothers me most is that if you want to resolve it, you have to dig deep down into core files that will just be replaced on your next update, upon which you'll have to do some more changing - just so you can use DIV tags? I mean...this isn't a new issue. Same problems last time, same concerns from users (w.r.t. WP 2.1). I wonder why this isn't fixed?
Thanks - and apologies to everyone if I come off as unreasonable or caustic in this post...kind of rushing ;) I like and enjoy using WP a lot, but this kind of just baffled me. | <urn:uuid:155a67d5-a346-4b9f-8220-9dc5e0f107fa> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://wordpress.org/support/topic/wp-23-automatically-removes-certain-tags-like-div | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368703682988/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516112802-00023-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.952066 | 322 | 1.539063 | 2 |
Call for Papers: In the Wake of ITQs: Fisheries and the New Managerialism
Individual transferable quotas (ITQs) were heralded in the 1980s as a market-based solution to the problem of overfishing and were adopted around the world. These fishing permits parcel out the total allowable catch, apportioning to owners individual responsibility for risk and uncertainty. In combination with the stock assessments compiled under quota management systems (QMS), ITQs were expected to secure stakeholder buy-in and responsibility, streamline fisheries management, stabilize fish populations and prices, and generate cost efficiencies for society at large. As market mechanisms, ITQs exist somewhere in between rights and commodities, and as such they were unleashed to do the work of keeping the fishery within sustainable limits.
Although many observers have noted the unintended, negative social consequences of this private rights regime the marriage of neo-liberal market mechanisms with fisheries science that underlies ITQs has not only endured, but has become naturalized as the new baseline in fisheries management. That ITQs have become good to think with in scientific circles is seen in the growing focus on de-centred, self-organizing responses to what are perceived as crises in natural systems. The movement away from centralized state control, towards diffuse, client-centred managerial interventions and assessments has consequences for how fishing communities and property rights are understood, how fisheries investment functions, how enforcement and conservation are carried out, how fisheries are assessed, and what the characteristics of eco-systems are thought to be.
Appropriately, ITQs have received a great deal of attention from social scientists, and so this conference considers developments in fisheries policy in the wake of ITQs. In many jurisdictions economic and policy attention is being shifted to numerous aspects of fisheries besides allocation of property rights among fishing companies, and particularly to new concerns emerging from the achievements, limitations and failures of ITQ-QMS regimes. Other pressing issues are emerging in fisheries management, so we are interested less in papers that examine how ITQs are performing, and more in papers that ask how fishing places and fishing people have been reconfigured by the unique hybrid of science, capital and managerialism that has been ushered in alongside ITQs. Possible topics may include, but are not limited to:
marine reserves as islands of certainty and as stores of biodiversity;
aquaculture and the domestication of fish;
the professionalization of fishers and the construction of the self-managing stakeholder;
the political logics of ecosystem science and complexity theory;
adaptive management and experimental learning in fisheries;
the de-politicization of fisheries science and assumptions underlying resilience thinking;
the fate of land-based fishing communities and common property institutions in the face of bio-economic reorganization;
wealth transfers whether losses or gains from the restructuring of fishing fleets and industries;
the legal status of property rights under ITQs;
certifying fisheries for sustainability;
indigenous knowledge and the universalizing practice of fisheries co-management;
efforts to realise value throughout the commodity chain;
fish processing, quota leasing and labour relations in biologically-based privatization schemes;
area-based management of diverse coastal and marine resources within and outside the quota system.
We are looking for contributions from the disciplines of geography, history, anthropology, sociology, law and economics that address how fisheries property rights and quota systems have changed the face of fisheries and fisheries management. Papers may be theoretical in nature, and/or may make use of case studies on fisheries.
To answer this call for papers, send a proposal, including title, abstract, and an outline of how the proposed paper might contribute to the themes of the In the Wake of ITQ conference, to the conference convenor by 30 November 2012. We will seek funding for this conference, which will be hosted by the Department of Geography, LMU-Munich, 15-17 July, 2013. We also plan to publish the papers presented at this conference. For further questions, please contact:
Prof. Dr. Gordon Winder, Department of Geography, LMU-Munich, Luisenstrasse 37, 80333 Munich, Germany
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AL-EGILA, Libya — Libyan rebels took back a key oil town and pushed westward Sunday toward the capital, seizing momentum from the international airstrikes that tipped the balance away from Moammar Gadhafi's military.
Brega, a main oil export terminal in eastern Libya, fell after a skirmish late Saturday and rebel forces moved swiftly west, seizing the tiny desert town of Al-Egila — a collection of houses and a gas station — on their way to the massive oil refining complex of Ras Lanouf.
"There was no resistance. Gadhafi's forces just melted away," said Suleiman Ibrahim, a 31-year-old volunteer, sitting in the back of a pickup truck. "This couldn't have happened without NATO. They gave us big support." He said that rebels had already reached Ras Lanouf.
Ras Lanouf and Brega combined would be responsible for a large chunk of Libya's 1.5 million barrels of daily exports, which have all but stopped since the uprising that began Feb. 15 and was inspired by the toppling of governments in Tunisia and Egypt.
"As they move round the coast, of course, the rebels will increasingly control the exit points of Libya's oil," British Defense Secretary Liam Fox told the BBC. "That will produce a very dynamic and a very different equilibrium inside Libya. How that will play out in terms of public opinion and the Gadhafi regime remains to be seen."
The Gadhafi regime on Saturday acknowledged the airstrikes had forced its troops to retreat and accused international forces of choosing sides.
"This is the objective of the coalition now, it is not to protect civilians because now they are directly fighting against the armed forces," Khaled Kaim, the deputy foreign minister, said in the capital, Tripoli. "They are trying to push the country to the brink of a civil war."
Fox denied that the international force hoped to oust Gadhafi: "Losing Gadhafi is an aspiration, it is not part of the U.N. resolution."
The U.N. Security Council authorized the operation to protect Libyan civilians after Gadhafi launched attacks against anti-government protesters who demanded that he step down after 42 years in power. The airstrikes have crippled Gadhafi's forces, but rebel advances have also foundered, and the two sides have been at stalemate in key cities.
The rebel turnaround is a boost for President Barack Obama, who has faced complaints from lawmakers from both parties that he has not sought their input about the U.S. role in the conflict or explained with enough clarity about the American goals and exit strategy. Obama was expected to give a speech to the nation Monday.
"We're succeeding in our mission," Obama said in a radio and Internet address on Saturday. "So make no mistake, because we acted quickly, a humanitarian catastrophe has been avoided and the lives of countless civilians — innocent men, women and children — have been saved."
Pentagon officials say that forces loyal to Gadhafi are a potent threat to civilians. And they are looking at plans to expand the firepower and airborne surveillance systems in the military campaign, including using the Air Force's AC-130 gunship armed with cannons that shoot from the side doors, as well as helicopters and drones.
Fox, the British foreign minister, ruled out supplying arms to the rebels. "We are not arming the rebels, we are not planning to arm the rebels," he said.
NATO's top decision-making body meets Sunday to expand its enforcement of the no-fly zone to include airstrikes against Libyan ground targets. Washington has been eager to hand off responsibility to NATO, which is expected to take command Sunday of the no-fly zone mission. | <urn:uuid:a653bade-54ca-4ce9-a806-4f77b9dfbd5f> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.salemnews.com/worldnews/x1623045612/Libyan-rebels-take-back-oil-town-in-westward-push | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368697380733/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516094300-00008-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.969311 | 766 | 1.625 | 2 |
LifeLine Waives Pet Adoption Fees For Girl Scouts in March
The animal rescue group salutes the Girl Scouts on their 100th anniversary and local Scouts reciprocate by helping homeless pets.
To highlight and express appreciation for the Girl Scouts creed of community service, LifeLine Animal Project, a non-profit located in Avondale Estates, is waiving the standard $80-$120 pet adoption fees for Scouts, their families and alumnae throughout the month of March.
“We are pleased to note that March marks the 100th anniversary of the founding of the Girl Scouts by Georgia native Juliette Gordon Low,” says LifeLine board chair Blythe Randolph, “LifeLine honors the vision and community activism inherent to Scouting by making this offer, and I hope current Girl Scouts, former Girl Scouts, and their families will take advantage of it.”
LifeLine has teamed with local Girl Scout and Brownie troops several times in the last decade and metro area Scouts have held donation drives to help homeless dogs and cats at LifeLine.
Recently, local Junior Troop 28440 in Decatur invited members of LifeLine staff to a meeting to discuss animal rescue and ways to help homeless pets.
The Junior Troop will hold awareness events and will collect items for dogs and cat in need on Sunday, March 18, at dog parks in Oakhurst and Decatur.
The girls in the troop even got a visit from Mitzi, a homeless pit bull who lives in LifeLine's no-kill Dog House.
Mitzi proved very popular with the Scouts and their families and she enjoyed getting a great deal of attention -- and a fair amount of treats- from the girls.
Shelter dogs from LifeLine’s Dog House and cats and kittens from their Kitty Motel are all included in the March offer for Girl Scouts. Potential adopters must meet LifeLine’s standard criteria for adopting a pet, however all adoption fees are waived for Scouts, troop leaders and those with past and present associations with the Girl Scout organization.
LifeLine's Dog House and Kitty Motel staff are happy to work with families to find the perfect pet for their household and are willing to set up "meet and greets" with pets they are interested in or find on LifeLine's adoptable pet database.
All rescued pets are current on their vaccinations and have been spayed or neutered and micro chipped. Many dogs who have been at the shelter for any length of time have received some basic obedience training.
For more information, contact [email protected]. | <urn:uuid:26680423-ea25-4c31-9194-ad5fc7244114> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://tucker.patch.com/articles/lifeline-waives-pet-adoption-fees-for-girl-scouts-in-march | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368706499548/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516121459-00025-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.950816 | 532 | 1.609375 | 2 |
Report & Pictures on Accessible Tourism Promotes National Development (Conference, Exhibition, and Activities to Promote Tourism for All)
This is an event to use Tourism as a tool to achieve barrier-free society that could enhance people with disabilities to live independently in the society.
The Tourism Industry is one of the world's largest and fastest growing industries, especially in South East Asia. In Malaysia various development programmes have placed our country as one of the most successful models of tourism development in the South-East Asia region.
However the Malaysian tourism has yet to tap into the tourism segment for the disabled (PWDs) and the senior citizens. None of the Malaysian travel agencies offer any tour products that cater specifically to these two groups.
As populations age (especially in the West), "grey tourism" (also known as seniors market) has emerged as a major new market segment. This was brought about through the ageing of the generation which has historically led market shifts during the later part of the twentieth century.
Closely linked to the needs of the seniors market are people with disabilities, and this tourism segment is termed Accessible Tourism (AT). AT offers a new opportunity for segmentation that merges the access requirements of the seniors and disability markets. Besides providing information as well as presenting, promoting and marketing easy tourism facilities, Accessible Tourism can also provide tourist destinations with a greater competitive advantage for attracting these growing niche markets.
The event with the theme "Accessible Tourism Promotes National Development" that is jointly organized by Beautiful Gate Foundation For The Disabled, JICA Malaysia, Disabled People International Asia Pacific, and 14 disabilities related organizations, as pro-event for International Conference on Accessible Tourism 2013 (Pro-ICAT 2013), had successfully convoy message on changing perception of providing disabled friendly facilities from "extra cost" to "investment". It also raised the awareness on the importance of Accessible Tourism and is believe will bring about a tremendous impact to Malaysian tourism and disabled friendly facilities in the near future. | <urn:uuid:8be48ee2-9466-40cc-acbe-7dd9c565e626> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.dpiap.org/resources/article.php?id=0000916&genreid=14&genre=Accessible+Tourism | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368708766848/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516125246-00024-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.944347 | 405 | 1.78125 | 2 |
The University Record, March 8, 1999
By Jane R. Elgass
David A. Hollinger, Chancellors Professor of History at the University of California, Berkeley, will deliver the ninth annual Davis, Markert, Nickerson Lecture on Academic and Intellectual Freedom, Universities and Cosmopolitanism, at 4 p.m. March 15 in the Amphitheater, Rackham Building.
The annual free, public lecture is named for three faculty membersChandler Davis, Clement Markert and Mark Nickersonwho in 1954 were called to testify before a Congressional Committee on Un-American Activities. All invoked constitutional rights and refused to answer questions about their political associations.
The three were suspended from the University. Markert was subsequently reinstated and Davis and Nickerson were dismissed.
Hollinger, who was professor of history at the U-M until moving to Berkeley in 1992, will discuss some of the political dilemmas of universities in recent years, and will distinguish these dilemmas from those of the McCarthy Era. He also will address the contemporary cosmopolitan movement for its potential relevance to the defense of universities as distinctive institutions.
One chapter in his most recent book, Science, Jews and Secular Culture: Studies in Mid-Twentieth Century American Intellectual History, is a revised version of a lecture on the history of the U-M spanning the years 193888 that he delivered on the occasion of the 50th anniversary of the Graduate School.
His other books include Postethnic America: Beyond Multiculturalism, In the American Province: Studies in the History and Historigraphy of Ideas and Morris R. Cohen and the Scientific Ideal.
Hollinger is the co-editor with Charles Capper of The American Intellectual Tradition: A Sourcebook. Recent publications include articles in Daedalus, Representations, Journal of American History and Public Historian.
Hollinger was elected to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences in 1997. Other honors include receipt of the U-Ms Distinguished Faculty Achievement Award, a Guggenheim Fellowship, membership in the Institute for Advanced Study and selection as the History of Science Societys Distinguished Lecturer.
He is a trustee of the National Humanities Center, editor of The Dictionary of American History and the American National Biography, and on the editorial boards of The Journal of the History of Ideas and Comparative Studies in Society and History.
Active in faculty governance throughout his academic career, Hollinger served on the Senate Advisory Committee for University Affairs while at the U-M. He is chair of the Budget Committee at Berkeley and a member of the Council of the Berkeley Division of the Academic Senate.
This years lecture is sponsored by the Academic Freedom Lecture Fund, the U-M Chapter of the American Association of University Professors, the Office of the President, the Senate Advisory Committee on University Affairs and the Department of History.
Refreshments will be served immediately following the lecture. | <urn:uuid:39a7761b-9b4a-4a3f-846b-601d2efd293b> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.ur.umich.edu/9899/Mar08_99/lecture.htm | 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 | 0.934922 | 601 | 1.617188 | 2 |
Fire Truck Flag Flap
Chief says removal of flags wasn't political.
American flags will soon be flying on fire trucks in Seminole, Florida.
Furor erupted recently when the Seminole Fire Department told firefighters they could no longer fly miniature flags using small plastic window mounts.
The order outraged many flag supporters, but Fire Chief George Bessler says it was never political.
He says the flags were removed because the manner in which they were being displayed violates the Flag Code.
"Something happened on social media that spread misinformation. This issue was never being sensitive to our community flying a flag. It was all about being respectful and flying the flag according to the U.S. Code," he insists. "One of my concerns with this whole thing is that the American people do not know what's self-contained in the U.S. Code."
According to the Flag Code, flags should be securely mounted on the chassis or on the right front fender, not from the windows.
The department is now working to acquire specially fabricated mounts that comply with the code. | <urn:uuid:1895493d-42e4-4165-8901-7ae9da3dae0c> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.kveo.com/news/fire-truck-flag-flap-0 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368697974692/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516095254-00017-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.970029 | 220 | 1.796875 | 2 |
On Monday, when Columbia University granted tenure to Joseph Massad -- the professor of Modern Arab politics whose alleged intimidation of pro-Israeli students likely doomed his first tenure bid in 2005 -- the University jeopordized its long-standing commitment to cultivating and supporting its Jewish student population.
The University has long managed to balance the often-opposing beliefs of its famously pro-Palestinian Middle Eastern Studies department and its substantial Jewish population. The department is currently home to supporters of Palestine such as Rashid Khalidi, Hamid Dabashi, Nadia abu El-Haj, and George Saliba; Edward Said, one of the most prominent American scholars in support of Palestine, taught English and Comparative at Columbia from 1963 until his death in 2003.
The Middle Eastern Studies department thrives in the midst of a student body that Hillel deemed the sixth most Jewish of all those in American private universities. Located a mere four blocks from The Jewish Theological Seminary (where students can complete a double-degree and cross-register for courses), Columbia's Jewish community boasts a thriving Hillel, a Jewish literary journal, and an active chapter of AEPi, the Jewish fraternity. Cafeterias feature extensive kosher options, and it is not uncommon to see throngs of students donning kippahs migrating across campus.
The Jewish community of alumni and current students has previously exercised its will and sheer manpower to prevent anti-Semitic or anti-Israeli opinions from gaining University support. In 2006, Jewish students successfully prevented Ahmadinejad, the famously anti-Semetic Iranian dictator, from speaking, and in 2007, they again protested his visit. Many believe that alumni efforts to prevent the Palestinian anthropology professor Nadia Abu El-Haj at Columbia affiliate Barnard College from receiving tenure caused the University to deny her bid (in her book, Facts on the Ground: Archaeological Practice and Territorial Self-Fashioning in Israeli Society, Abu El-Haj casts doubt on archaeological evidence used to legitimize Israel as the Jewish homeland).
Some believe that Massad previously failed to receive tenure due to his unflattering portrayal in the student film Columbia Unbecoming (2004), which "gives voice to students who have experienced incidents of academic abuse and intimidation at Columbia University" as a consequence of expressing pro-Israeli sentiment. In the film, Massad calls Israel a "Jewish and a racist state," and a student describes how he once demanded of an Israeli student, "How many Palestinians did you kill?" at a public lecture (the film's website notes that although Massad has publicly stated that he never taught or met the student in question, he also has never denied the claim). The film's fervor can only faintly forecast the outrage the Jewish community could exhibit come fall.
There can be little doubt that many at Columbia, Jewish and otherwise, will be incensed at the newest addition to the tenured faculty. The prospect of lending greater support to a professor who some claim bullied students -- although Massad claimed that he has "been the target of a political campaign by actors inside and outside the university" and successfully proved that "The Ad Hoc Grievance Committee Report suffers from major logical flaws, undefended conclusions, inconsistencies, and clear bias in favor of the witch-hunt that has targeted me for over three years" -- is nonetheless unsavory. Regardless of the legitimacy of the complaints lodged against Massad, the insensitivity exhibited in some of his scholarly work could create an irrevocable rift between him and the many Jews, Zionists, Israel supporters, and students who simply believe that Israelis do not deserve to be called anti-Semites, all of whom he is hired, in part, to educate.
Massad does not just critique Israeli policy in Palestine, or even question the legitimacy of Israel's right to exist. Rather, he attempts to redefine the Israeli-Palestinian conflict by removing terms like anti-Semitic, Nazi, and Jew from their historical context. In his book, The Persistence of the Palestinian Question, and in various articles for publications like The Electronic Intifada and Al-Ahram Weekly Online, Massad argues that the Zionist movement betrays colonialist underpinnings that draw from anti-Semitic rhetoric. He claims that this influence, coupled with the Zionist urge to "transform European (and later other) Jews into European Christians culturally, while continuing to call them Jews", caused a "historical process by which it was to metamorphose Palestinian Arabs into Jews in a displaced geography of anti-Semitism" and to transform "the Jew into the anti-Semite". Massad similarly likens Israelis to their one-time oppressors by comparing Israeli actions in Gaza in 2009 to those of the Nazis during the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising in 1943, and by claiming that former Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon was similar to Nazi Minister of Propaganda Joseph Goebbels.
As a student just entering my second year at Columbia, I have no means to evaluate the academic legitimacy of his argument. Clearly, Massad is a distinguished scholar. However, as a student just entering my second year at Columbia, I can evaluate the effect that his inflammatory claims could have on the student body.
By reassigning the term "Jew" to the very people who tirelessly fight to eradicate the world's only Jewish state -- putting aside questions Israel's right to statehood -- Massad flagrantly disregards the ethnic, cultural, and religious sensibilities embedded in that term. It is entirely possible that, in many instances, Palestinians are the victims of Israeli military action, but no amount of theorizing can make them Jews: .2% of the world's population who, despite Western prominence, have experienced inestimable persecution.
Similarly, by calling an Israeli an anti-Semite or a Nazi, Massad shows disrespect for the years of oppression the Jews suffered under the Nazi regime. Hypothetically, the Israelis could be racist or tyrannical, but to deem them anti-Semitic Nazis is to fail to appreciate the Holocaust's lasting impact both on Israel and on the wider Jewish community. These words cannot be simply re-appropriated, no matter what the cause; they connote long-lasting and painful memories.
Undoubtedly, Massad is well aware of his argument's implications both for Israel and the Jewish people. While his novel terminology may win him points in the academic world, he will not deliver his lectures to an empty room. Students will fill those seats, and students do not come tabula rasa. Most have grown up hearing stories of oppression from parents, grandparents, or great-grandparents, be it in Vietnam, Lebanon, or Nazi Germany. For these students, a professor's disregard for historical memory transcends mere difference of opinion. On a simple, human level, I, and many others, may accept or appreciate Massad's point, but cannot respect the means with which he makes it -- outside, and according to some, inside the classroom. Such polarizing methodology creates an irrevocable divide between the professor and the students he educates.
At Columbia in particular, such disregard for a religious minority's past undermines the institution's longstanding commitment to diversity and tolerance. In sharp contrast to peer institutions like Princeton or Yale, Columbia lies in the heart of a gritty, vibrant, sometimes-violent city, and its student body reflects New York's diversity. One of the first universities to abolish quotas for Jewish students, Columbia currently boasts 50% students of color in its most recent incoming class.
By granting tenure to one professor -- admittedly a talented, accomplished professor -- Columbia will not erase that history. Its students, Jewish and otherwise, will simply have to remember that even in Manhattan, even at Columbia, Jews and liberals do not reign supreme. We must fight, just as Joseph Massad did, to retain our voices. | <urn:uuid:0c957d71-b3af-4bac-8bc6-58842573e486> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.huffingtonpost.com/anna-kelner/joseph-massads-tenure-and_b_223659.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368696382584/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516092622-00031-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.953404 | 1,597 | 1.75 | 2 |
Family is certainly important, but it's not every day a loved one is credited with saving the life of a toddler with a rare condition that nearly ended a young life too soon.
The 3-year-old from Robbinsdale was born with a rare condition called AVM, and it's even more rare for it to surface in a young child. It's estimated 300,000 people across the country have the condition, but most don't realize it until it's too late.
Once AVM progresses, the survival rate is only 50 percent -- but doctors say this Minnesota tot is beating the odds thanks to her grandmother's quick thinking.
Like most kids her age, Kaylee Blankenship loves to color and recite her ABCs, but she wouldn't be alive today without the work of two surgeons at different hospitals.
Though they didn't know it at the time, Blankenship was born with a condition that stops the blood vessels in her brain from connecting like they should. Those vessels began to bleed when she was in the car with her grandmother last November. The little girl complained of a headache and then passed out.
Family members say the little girl was having difficulty breathing, and her grandmother quickly drove her to North Memorial Hospital, where a surgeon was able to relieve the pressure on her brain; however, when she was transferred to Children's Hospital, doctors told the Blankenships the girl may not survive the drive.
After three more surgeries and two months in the hospital, doctors now say Kaylee Blankenship will pull through. They were able to repair the AVM and she has recovered quicker than they could have imagined.
While she still has a few problems with her balance, her families believe their prayers have been answered even though there is a small chance the AVM could return. | <urn:uuid:0a30a51a-5687-4e5f-8a77-b51a208f4b78> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.myfoxtwincities.com/story/21255652/grandmothers-quick-thinking-saves-toddler-suffering-aneurysms | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368704392896/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516113952-00032-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.988225 | 366 | 1.796875 | 2 |
By JOHN L. ALLEN JR.
tThough everyone expected that Benedict XVI, while he was in the neighborhood, would express a preference that Christians not abandon the Middle East, the same point has now been made by one of his opposite numbers on the Muslim side.
tIn a meeting this morning with the pope, Mufti Mohammad Rachid Kabbani, whose title is “Mufti of the Lebanese Republic,” told Benedict that Muslims “absolutely do not want Christians to leave the Middle East,” according to Jesuit Fr. Federico Lombardi, the Vatican spokesperson.
tBenedict’s meeting this morning with leaders of Lebanon’s four main branches of Islam – Sunni, Shi’ite, Druze and Alawit – took place behind closed doors at Beirut’s Presidential Palace, but Lombardi briefed reporters afterwards on its high points.
tAccording to Lombardi, the mufti also expressed appreciation for a recent Vatican statement expressing sympathy for Muslims offended by a recent obscure American film attacking Islam, which has been cited as a pretext for the anti-American violence spreading across the Islamic world.
tThat statement, issued last week, came under fire from critics who saw it as almost excusing the attacks in Libya which led to the death of the U.S. ambassador and other American personnel. A day later the Vatican issued another statement clearly condemning those attacks.
tFinally, according to Lombardi, the mufti also praised a recent comment by Patriarch Béchara Boutros Raï, leader of Lebanon’s Maronite church, that Christians and Muslims need to move beyond “co-existence” toward “genuine communion and unity.” | <urn:uuid:f703b16c-4624-4448-9a06-837c114812da> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://ncronline.org/node/32226 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368696382584/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516092622-00004-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.954183 | 358 | 1.679688 | 2 |
Two-thirds of U.S. adults use at least one mobile media device in their daily lives, according to a survey conducted by the Reynolds Journalism Institute at the University of Missouri.
RJI researchers interviewed more than 1,000 respondents and divided mobile devices into four categories: large tablets, small tablets, e-readers and smartphones. More than 21 percent of respondents said they use large tablets. Results indicate Apple dominates that field with more than 88 percent of users owning an iPad. Amazon reigns over the small tablet and e-reader markets. | <urn:uuid:1cfaeb17-796c-4bf1-8a30-a1a5aa96fc38> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://rjionline.org/in-the-news/survey-shows-two-thirds-adults-use-mobile-devices | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368706153698/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516120913-00028-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.934879 | 112 | 1.609375 | 2 |
|Choosing Your Sexual Preference in the 21st Century
Dan: Hey, whaddya say you, me, Pamela and her sister go on a double date tonight?
Don: C’mon, eh; you know I’m gay.
Dan: Know what? I didn’t know any such thing. How did you decide you were gay?
Don: I wasn’t sure, so I took a survey online.
Dan: Okay… By any chance did the survey have ten questions?
Don: Yeah! How did you know?
Dan: Everybody knows that survey. It asks some dumb questions, and then, no matter what answers you give, it says, ‘You are definitely gay.’
Don: It doesn’t matter?
Dan: Not at all. Actually, they took that site down about a month ago. When did you do the survey?
Don: Over two years ago.
Dan: [long silence] Oh, my.
Don: [longer silence]
In a world where psychologists would have us believe that being gay is a matter of genetic predisposition, in many cases, it’s actually the product of much more random factors.
I’ve developed this idea more fully in things I’ve posted to other blogs, but you can read the original germ of the idea in a chapter of my book, The Pornography Effect. (Click the header when the chapter appears if you want to read the whole thing from beginning to end; it takes only 45 minutes.)
If you’re reading this, and you believe you are same sex attracted, consider the possibility that we all start out somewhat asexual (not bisexual) and that preferences are formed as a result of “who gets to us first.” I’m not trying to undermine what you believe you are, or try to preach to you about what you could be; I’m simply asking you to think back and reconsider what might have been. I’m just wanting to ask the question, “Is it possible that more random factors were at work? That some early sexual fulfillment was used as the basis as for a broader statement as to who you are?” | <urn:uuid:c615c365-cdb5-429e-a36d-9d67fbd86b24> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://paulwilkinson.wordpress.com/2009/07/16/sexual-preferences-in-the-21st-century/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368711005985/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516133005-00036-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.965144 | 469 | 1.75 | 2 |
One of the banes of my existence are new earth creationists. Another wrench has just gotten thrown into one of their arguments, and science, as it always has, proves that an all seeing, all knowing magical being with all power isn’t needed to explain the order of the cosmos. I have had the chance to converse with a multitude of people all of whom believe that the world was created around six thousand years ago. One of their pillar arguments is the existence of life, claiming that a divine spark is needed to give matter….life. In the last few years, scientist have been able to play the role of god and create the building blocks of life in a test tube. They created RNA base pairs by and through chemical processes; these RNA strands were able to replicate and more importantly mutate (key ingredients of life).
Unfortunately, for the replication to occur, scientists had to assist the splitting of the RNA pairs by adding enzymes to their environment. Now scientists have been able to achieve synthetic life that self replicates. They did this through several complex procedures, and they used an already existing cell structure. While not creating life completely from scratch, we are so close we can taste it, and we are doing it without magic or god.
Well this is interesting. Deseret Book has stopped printing Bruce R. McConkie’s Mormon Doctrine, the controversial book that almost single-handedly destroyed my faith in the LDS Church with the following passage about “Negroes”:
Negroes in this life are denied the Priesthood; under no circumstances can they hold this delegation of authority from the Almighty (Book of Abraham 1:20-27). The gospel message of salvation is not carried affirmatively to them…Negroes are not equal with other races where the receipt of certain spiritual blessings are concerned, particularly the priesthood and the temple blessings that flow there from, but this inequality is not of man’s origin. It is the Lord’s doing, is based on his eternal laws of justice, and grows out of the lack of Spiritual valiance of those concerned in their first estate. (Bruce R. McConkie, Mormon Doctrine, 1966, pages 527-528)
This and other unpalatable comments were later removed or softened, but the church continues to be embarrassed by the book’s earlier editions and the lasting impacts they’ve had on Mormon thought.
Deseret Book says that the decision has to do with Mormon Doctrine‘s poor sales, but local bookseller Tony Weller (of Sam Weller’s) maintains that there is a “solid and constant demand for it.”
Their dropping of Mormon Doctrine reflects less on the book’s sales and more on the LDS Church. It signals a positive change—an acknowledgment by the church of the need to outgrow the old Mormonism that McConkie embodied.
Yesterday, I wrote about Paul Kurtz and his objections to “Blasphemy Day.” I assume Kurtz would also balk as the blasphemy being exercised today, “Everybody Draw Muhammad Day.” The event was started on Facebook in response to Comedy Central’s censorship of and Islamic threats against South Park. The event has over 80,000 confirmed participants on Facebook and has received national media coverage. “Everybody Draw Muhammad Day” has become so large in fact that Pakistan found it necessary to temporarily ban Facebook.
My take on the controversy: I enjoy slaughtering sacred cows. Not because I like to needlessly offend people, but rather because I like breaking taboos of all sorts. People just need to take themselves less seriously.
That said, when I do blaspheme, I try to make it constructive. And I rather doubt that “Everybody Draw Muhammad Day” will be constructive. It could be, but it won’t be—not the way that most people will practice it. The event will be used as an excuse by some to trade in malicious stereotypes about Muslims. Consequently, prominent secular humanists and cartoonists—groups otherwise very supportive of free speech—are against “Everybody Draw Muhammad Day.”
This is a tragic loss for CFI and its affiliated groups (like SHAFT). Kurtz, who is 84, has been a prominent figure in the skeptic/atheist community for decades. He has even been called—and I think deservedly—”the father of secular humanism.”
Kurtz’s resignation stems from both managerial and philosophical disagreements with the direction of CFI. In 2008, CFI’s board of directors elected Dr. Ronald A. Lindsay president and CEO of CFI, and demoted Kurtz to “chairman emeritus.” The board expressed concern over Kurtz’s “day-to-day management of the organization” (I suspect due to his age).
As you know (or probably could have guessed), I am an ex-Mormon. I was born into the LDS Church and, during my middle school and high school years, was intensely religious—a “bonafide paragon of piety.” That’s hard even for me to believe at times.
Since graduating from USU, I have been in an existential funk of sorts. With no job or school, I have had a lot of time to think about my past. Going through some old junk (emails, letters, journals, etc.), I was reminded of just how devout a Mormon I was. So for our collective amusement, I thought I’d share what I re-discovered.
One of the first things that I found in a small box buried away in my closet was an envelope entitled “Open when ALONE.” In it was Elder Mark E. Peterson infamous “Steps in Overcoming Masturbation” article. I was planning to give this talk to a friend as a Christmas present (WTF?!), but apparently never did, seeing as that I still possess the envelope. Here are a few of the “guidelines to self-control” that Elder Peterson recommended (several of which I followed):
*If you are associated with other persons having this same problem, you must break off their friendship. Never associate with other people having the same weakness.
*When you bathe, do not admire yourself in a mirror. Never stay in the bath more than five or six minutes—just long enough to bathe and dry and dress.
*In very severe cases it may be necessary to tie a hand to the bed frame with a tie in order that the habit of masturbating in a semi-sleep condition can be broken.
An article in Slate today discusses the Book of Mormon as a work of literature. Here is the bulk of it:
[The Book of Mormon], depending on where one stands on the Mormon question, was either discovered by the 17-year-old Joseph Smith in upstate New York after the Angel Moroni directed him to golden plates written in reformed Egyptian, or it was the product of a budding confidence man who copied and pasted other pieces of scripture into a totally improbable tale in which ancient Israelites found their way to the New World. Whatever one’s views on the authenticity of the text, it has been widely regarded as a rather inferior work of literature, especially when compared to the King James Bible. “Chloroform in print,” is Mark Twain’s famous dismissal of it.
In Understanding the Book of Mormon: A Reader’s Guide, Grant Hardy,who teaches history and religious studies at the University of North Carolina at Asheville, begs to differ. He asks his readers to forgo historical questions in favor of literary ones: Let us bracket the issue of what Joseph Smith actually did, he proposes, and instead engage in a careful reading of the text with which, whether as author or as conveyor, Smith is associated. The “narratological structures” Hardy finds in that text, he is convinced, show that Mark Twain did not know what he was talking about.
It seems that every day brings a new censorship controversy involving Islam. Just a couple of weeks ago, I wrote about Comedy Central’s censorship of South Park for its attempted (and mild) portrayal of Muhammad. I’d be remiss to ignore something that happened earlier this week.
On Tuesday, controversial Swedish artist Lars Vilks was attacked by a Muslim student during a lecture at Uppsala University. Vilks played an offensive film that juxtaposed homoerotic images with Christian and Muslim images. Many in the audience took offense, and less than a minute into the film the room erupts into chaos. | <urn:uuid:805cbe53-477c-4158-b390-cb10da712b12> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://usureason.com/2010/05/page/2/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368699273641/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516101433-00023-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.968923 | 1,803 | 1.664063 | 2 |
Why high-speed lawyering can be hazardous to your health.
Virginia's attorney general, Ken Cuccinelli II, is a man in a big, big hurry. He had promised to challenge the constitutionality of the newly enacted health care legislation "as soon as the ink is dry" on the president's signature. And—true to his word—less than five minutes after the bill was signed this week, Cuccinelli's staff sprinted over to Richmond's federal courthouse with a lawsuit aimed at blocking the measure. While 13 other state attorneys general hoofed it to court to file a joint lawsuit in Florida, Cuccinelli opted to go his own way, filing his own suit tethered to a brand-new Virginia law providing that "no resident of this Commonwealth … shall be required to obtain or maintain" an insurance policy.
In his nine-page complaint, Cuccinelli does acknowledge that the individual insurance mandate to which he objects doesn't even kick in until 2014. (Many legal scholars don't believe challenges can even be filed before that time.) And Cuccinelli, in the manner of Speedy Gonzales, further cops to the fact that his primary objection to the law has not yet been adjudicated. His claim is that a federal statute is stepping all over a new Virginia law. But he knows he can't readily overcome the U.S. Constitution's supremacy clause, which expressly states that federal law shall be the "supreme Law of the Land." Yet Cuccinelli maintains that the Virginia statute doesn't have any problems with the supremacy clause, because the whole health care reform statute is unconstitutional. Isn't that what he's asking a court to determine in the first place?
As the various state challenges to the president's health care law have been filed, legal scholars and court watchers have buzzed across the blogosphere with predictions of their success. The suit filed by the other 13 attorneys general makes a different argument from Cuccinelli's—taking aim at the government's insurance mandate and taxation authority and the expansion of Medicaid. Most legal experts agree that even these arguments are unlikely to prevail, and some of the more candid supporters of the lawsuits concede that courts might just be open to these type of long-shot arguments. Given the relative novelty of the individual mandate, and the fact that the current Supreme Court is as conservative as it's been in nearly a century, the arguments are not completely hopeless. Whether the lack of utter hopelessness is a sound basis for launching a raft of major lawsuits is a matter for the attorneys general to sort out on their own.
Virginia's Cuccinelli's legal claim, however, has come in for some extra-special scorn from legal scholars on both the right and the left. In a conference call with reporters this week, Erwin Chemerinsky—dean of the UC-Irvine School of Law—reiterated that as with the battle over desegregation in the '50s and '60s, "states can't just block the implementation of federal laws." Doug Kendall, founder of the Constitutional Accountability Center, says that of the two suits, "the Virginia law suit is even more problematic because the Virginia statute at the center of their suit is a ham-fisted attempt at nullification." Washington and Lee law professor Tim Jost doesn't even believe the attorneys general have standing to bring suit. Not to mention that conservatives ranging from President Reagan's solicitor general, Charles Fried, to former federal appeals court judge Michael McConnell have blasted state laws that attempt to opt out of the health-reform law as legally "meaningless," "preposterous," and "absurd." As Fried told NPR's Nina Totenberg this week, it was earlier attempts at "so-called nullification" that led to the Civil War.
So what do we make of Ken Cuccinelli, who assumed office just a few short weeks ago and has charmed the cable-news shows with his quick-draw legal papers full of zingy legal references to things like the "failed Clinton administration health care proposal"? Cuccinelli has already enraged some Virginians by filing a lawsuit asking the EPA to reconsider regulating emissions. He also bolstered his image as the lawyer with the itchiest trigger finger in America by writing a letter directing all Virginia universities to remove language related to sexual orientation from their anti-discrimination policies. Following a massive campus backlash, Gov. Bob McDonnell issued a nonbiding "executive directive" to the state workforce reminding them that discriminating based on sexual orientation could get you fired. Cuccinelli either embarrassed his boss into offering a full-throated defense of gay rights in Virginia or is positioning himself as the wacky Tea Party foil to the governor's kinder, gentler conservative.
Cuccinelli's rocketing journey to the heart of the cable-news universe has been achieved with multiple acts of what can only be described as purely aspirational lawyering. Just as he wishes climate science to be untrue, he crosses his fingers and dreams that a state nullification statute will undo a federal law. It's bad enough when TV pundits proclaim that what case law and the Constitution say doesn't matter; the only important thing is what the public wants. But when attorneys general start to offer up such arguments in legal pleadings, it transcends legal activism and starts to look like pure ideological yearning. And that's a particularly cynical enterprise for someone who preaches fidelity to the law and constitution as written.
Ken Cuccinelli was very clearly born to run. But he's probably doomed to be confounded by legal processes that look backward instead of forward—and move glacially even when they're tripping along at high speeds. There is a good reason the legal system rarely rewards the fleetest or the most ambitious. The prospect of Lady Justice blindfolded and on roller skates is simply too terrifying to contemplate.
A version of this article appears in this week's Newsweek.
Dahlia Lithwick writes about the courts and the law for Slate.
Photograph of Ken Cuccinelli by Mark Wilson/Getty Images. | <urn:uuid:3366ef87-1e7f-4640-bb9d-6104635652e8> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.slate.com/articles/news_and_politics/jurisprudence/2010/03/quickdraw_cuccinelli.single.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368706499548/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516121459-00009-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.963254 | 1,238 | 1.609375 | 2 |
Anybody remember Schlomo Raven? This was the first volume of Fiction Illustrated, a graphic novel experiment from 1976. This book and the second in the series, a sci-fi adventure called Starfawn by Byron Preiss and Steve Fabian, were published only in this weird little 5 x 6 1/2" format, and printed on cheap comic book paper. Volume 3, Jim Steranko's Chandler, appeared in both this format and in a larger deluxe edition, while the final book, The Son of Sherlock Holmes by Byron Preiss and Ralph Reese, was only offered in the large format.
Schlomo Raven is a hardboiled dick, but played for laughs in the MAD comic style of Harvey Kurtzman and Will Elder. If anything can be said to be more over the top than Kurtzman and Elder, this is it. The first of two stories, called "The Farx Job," lampoons not only the Marx Brothers but Karloff and Lugosi in character as the Monster and Dracula. The other tale, "Rosebug," takes on Orson Wells and Citizen Kane. Sophomoric humor, to be sure, but you're in the mood for it, this delivers.
More amazing Forgotten Books at Patti Abbott's pattinase! | <urn:uuid:4d0363f7-5ffe-44ff-aadb-ac88d2684855> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://davycrockettsalmanack.blogspot.co.uk/2010/11/forgotten-books-schlomo-raven-by-bryon.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368705953421/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516120553-00033-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.953726 | 260 | 1.507813 | 2 |
|:: Issues > Prisoners of Conscience|
Hossam el Hamalawy’s Interview on NPR
Egypt Opposition Leaders Sentenced in Military Court
In Egypt, twenty-five members of the opposition group, the Muslim Brotherhood, were sentenced to jail by a military court on Tuesday. Among those sentenced was the group’s second most senior member.
|Wednesday, April 16,2008 14:03|
In Egypt, twenty-five members of the opposition group, the Muslim Brotherhood, were sentenced to jail by a military court on Tuesday. Among those sentenced was the group’s second most senior member. In the weeks ahead of Egypt’s municipal vote earlier this month, hundreds of members of the group were arrested. The verdicts come on the heels of food riots in Egypt in response to skyrocketing prices for food staples such as bread, rice, pasta. We speak with Hossam el-Hamalawy, an Egyptian journalist, blogger and activist. [includes rush transcript]
Hossam el-Hamalawy, Egyptian journalist, blogger and activist. He is currently a visiting scholar at the UC Berkeley School of Journalism. He blogs at arabawy.org
AMY GOODMAN: In Egypt, twenty-five members of the opposition group, the Muslim Brotherhood, were sentenced to jail by a military court Tuesday. Among those sentenced was the group’s second most senior member. The verdicts concluded a yearlong trial during which Egyptian authorities detained hundreds of Muslim Brotherhood members and supporters all over the country in successive security sweeps. The Brotherhood is the most powerful opposition group in Egypt but is still considered illegal. It controls a fifth of the seats in the Egyptian parliament and would likely control more under free elections.
In the weeks ahead of Egypt’s municipal vote earlier this month, hundreds of members of the group were arrested. Those sentenced Tuesday have been in custody since December 2006. Before the verdict, police set up checkpoints on the road leading to the court. They searched vehicles, chased away reporters and family members of the defendants. More than thirty people were arrested. The verdicts come on the heels of food riots in Egypt in response to skyrocketing prices for food staples like rice, pasta and, most of all, aish, Egyptian Arabic for "bread" and "life."
Hossam el-Hamalawy is an Egyptian journalist, blogger and activist. He blogs at arabawy.org. He is currently a visiting scholar at the UC Berkeley School of journalism. He joins me here in the Stanford University studio. Welcome to Democracy Now!
HOSSAM EL-HAMALAWY: I’m honored. Thank you.
AMY GOODMAN: First of all, talk about the Muslim Brotherhood and what is happening. Talk about the security crackdown.
HOSSAM EL-HAMALAWY: Yeah. The government basically went in by the fall of 2006 and rounded up more than forty of the senior leaders of the Muslim Brotherhood, and they fabricated like bogus charges against them, mainly using the excuse that some of the Muslim Brotherhood student activists staged a demonstration on the campus of Al-Azhar University in Cairo, where they were wearing hooded masks and they performed martial arts, which wasn’t the first time that they would do so. But the government claims that this was an armed wing of the Muslim Brotherhood, which is bogus.
And they went in, rounded up the students from their dormitories and then went after their leaders, accusing them of financing a terror organization and money laundering. And, you know, when you see the students when they were rounded up, and then you look at like the so-called evidence that the police had handed in—these were like kitchen knives, taken, you know, from their kitchens, forks, like metal bars that exist in any dormitory—but the background for this is that Mubarak, who is grooming his son Gamal for succession, wants basically to eliminate any sort of impediments in front of him, and that would include the Muslim Brotherhood, the biggest Islamist organized and moderate group we have.
AMY GOODMAN: And how popular is the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt?
HOSSAM EL-HAMALAWY: The Muslim Brotherhood is mainly popular among the middle-class professionals and the lower middle classes and some members of the elite, but they do not enjoy support among the working class in Egypt and neither the peasantry.
AMY GOODMAN: What is it like to blog in Egypt? How much information can you get out? And how long are you here in the United States?
HOSSAM EL-HAMALAWY: I’m here in the United States ’til this summer, and then I should be flying back home. And as for the blogging scene, I mean, Egypt enjoys one of the strongest blogospheres in the Arab world, basically because most of the bloggers are not your IT nerds that—that’s like the stereotype of bloggers here—but they are street activists. And in a country where there was heavy and still there is heavy censorship from the government on the press, and the so-called independent press is still moving within specific redlines like put by the regime, blogs have become now the main news source, independent news source for journalists and also for the public.
AMY GOODMAN: Can you talk about the bloggers who have been arrested?
HOSSAM EL-HAMALAWY: You had a big number, actually, of bloggers who have been rounded up on the 6th and the 7th of April and also on the 5th, because the opposition had called for a general strike on the 6th of April. And many of the bloggers were rounded up, because they were involved in leafleting and in distributing propaganda like in the streets and calling for the strike. So they were rounded up, because there were activists.
Right now, two of the most prominent like activists we have in Egypt—one is called Kareem el-Beheiri, who is a factory worker from the Nile Delta town of Mahalla, has been rounded up on the 7th of April, and right now we don’t know where is he kept, in which prison. The other blogger, who’s also a good friend of mine, and he’s currently in detention at El-Marg Prison, is called Mohamed Sharqawi. He’s a leftwing blogger, and the same blogger, two years ago, was actually raped by the police in custody, which caused a huge scandal both in Egypt—
AMY GOODMAN: That was—wasn’t there a phone video of that taken?
HOSSAM EL-HAMALAWY: No, that’s another, actually, video of a bus driver in Giza who was sodomized by the police, and the police was actually the ones who took that video and distributed it among his colleagues to shame him, so they said. I mean, you could hear like all sorts of slurs and insults and these quotes like, you know, I mean, in the video. But the other abuse instance was not caught. However, Mohamed Sharqawi had the courage to step forward and talk about what happened, which happened to many other activists, but they didn’t have the courage to speak about.
AMY GOODMAN: And what was the response?
HOSSAM EL-HAMALAWY: The response, of course, there was no interrogation by—there was no investigation by the government. The government denied all claims, because in most, if not virtually all, torture cases, usually police officers are acquitted.
AMY GOODMAN: What was he writing about?
HOSSAM EL-HAMALAWY: Mohamed Sharqawi was—I mean, back then, when he was like, I mean, detained two years ago, he was blogging about the movement Kefaya, which is Arabic for "enough," and it’s like the anti-Mubarak movement, in addition to writing his own personal thoughts, you know, I mean, on the blog.
AMY GOODMAN: How is it that the Muslim Brotherhood is illegal, considered so by the Egyptian government, but it has a fifth of the seats in the parliament?
HOSSAM EL-HAMALAWY: Well, according to Egyptian law—and I think this might have even been something that we inherited from the time of the British occupation in Egypt before 1952—is that any political group based on class or religion are banned, meaning that if you’re a communist and you want to establish a party calling for working class power, you cannot. If you’re an Islamist and you want to establish a group based on religion, you cannot. That’s according to the law. Of course, it’s an unjust law, and it’s against civil liberties. But still, the Muslim Brotherhood, they do run in elections as independents. They don’t necessarily run under the banner of Muslim Brotherhood. That’s why it’s like a legal maneuver, basically.
AMY GOODMAN: And the amount of aid Egypt receives from the United States?
HOSSAM EL-HAMALAWY: We are the second largest recipient of US foreign aid after Israel. We receive something that amounts to $2 billion a year, $1.3 billion out of which goes to the military.
AMY GOODMAN: Hosni Mubarak’s son Gamal, do you think he will take power?
HOSSAM EL-HAMALAWY: Well, that’s, I think, what daddy wants. I think that’s what the Egyptian elite would like to see. I think that’s also what the White House would like to see. But as we say in Egypt, you cannot make a sweet drink out of a rotten fish. And the Mubaraks’ family is a rotten fish. We don’t care if the eighty-year-old Mubarak is ruling or his son, who’s like in the beginning of his forties, is ruling. It’s a corrupt regime, and we do not want anyone from that Mubaraks’ royal family to continue ruling Egypt.
AMY GOODMAN: The protest being planned for Hosni Mubarak’s eightieth birthday in May?
HOSSAM EL-HAMALAWY: Well, some bloggers are now calling for a general strike on the 4th of May. Whether that general strike is going to happen or not, I mean, I have huge doubts about it, but what I can assure you is that there will be protests.
AMY GOODMAN: What about the food prices rising? We’re seeing riots, protests all over the world. What about Egypt?
HOSSAM EL-HAMALAWY: Well, in Egypt, as you were just mentioning earlier, I mean, we call bread "aish," which is Arabic also for "living," because a great percentage of the Egyptian household’s food basket depends on bread. And with rising food prices around the world, especially with macaroni, pasta and rice, people are even shifting more and more towards breads. But that’s causing a huge crisis, because basically, I mean, on the one hand, prices of bread are skyrocketing. Secondly, bread is disappearing. And in two months’ time, we have up to now, Amy, fifteen people who were killed in the so-called bread queues. I mean, we have now bread queues that would trigger some people’s memories here about the Great Depression.
AMY GOODMAN: These are bread lines to get bread.
HOSSAM EL-HAMALAWY: Bread lines, exactly. Fifteen people were killed. And it’s like the French Revolution, basically, where people cannot find bread, so they are like killing one another, or now they are rioting against the state.
AMY GOODMAN: And what’s the state’s reaction?
HOSSAM EL-HAMALAWY: The state’s reaction was killing two young men in the city of Mahalla on the 6th and the 7th of April. Hundreds of people have been rounded up, not only activists, but also ordinary citizens. Many of them were abused in police custody at Mahalla’s so-called first police station, including children as young as eight-year-olds.
AMY GOODMAN: How much power does the US have putting pressure on Egypt? Does it put pressure at all around the treatment of dissidents, given the amount of money it gives, the second highest recipient of US aid, foreign aid?
HOSSAM EL-HAMALAWY: Well, if the—the US government is sending terror suspects to Egypt to get interrogated under torture. I mean, we do not really expect the US government to intervene in order to alleviate, you know, I mean, the plight of the Egyptian detainees. And actually, the Egyptian activist community does not want anything from the White House, because we do not expect anything good coming from the White House. But what we look for is support from the labor unions here in the US, from human rights groups. And on Friday, we’re actually mobilizing for a protest in front of the consulate, the Egyptian consulate in San Francisco. And I hope as many people here in the Bay Area will show up for it.
AMY GOODMAN: Finally, what do you think the future holds for Egypt?
HOSSAM EL-HAMALAWY: I think that the Mubarak’s reign is over. I mean, we’ve seen pictures that—of the Mahalla rioters bringing down Mubarak’s big posters in the public squares of Mahalla that triggered or echoed bells of the toppling of Saddam Hussein’s statue in Baghdad in 2003, except in Mahalla there were no American tanks and the photos were not staged. So I expect the demonstrations, even if they have fizzled down now, to be revived again, because the economic situation has not improved. And hopefully we’ll get another bread uprising, that was similar to what happened in Egypt in 1977, that will overthrow the Mubaraks’ dictatorship.
AMY GOODMAN: Where can your blog be found?
HOSSAM EL-HAMALAWY: My blog—my blog’s address is arabawy.org, which is "Arab" and "awy.org."
AMY GOODMAN: I want to thank you very much for joining us.
HOSSAM EL-HAMALAWY: It’s my pleasure.
AMY GOODMAN: Hossam el-Hamalawy is an Egyptian journalist, blogger and activist, as he said, blogging at arabawy.org, currently a visiting scholar at the University of California, Berkeley’s School of Journalism, joining me here in Stanford.
Posted in Prisoners of Conscience , Reform Issues , Human Rights | <urn:uuid:0b3ca7a0-0ea9-4fec-903a-f9d25a541e8e> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.ikhwanweb.com/article.php?id=16739 | 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 | 0.970753 | 3,109 | 1.53125 | 2 |
WASHINGTON -- It's not January yet, but the January people are flooding area gyms again. Experts say if you're one of them, be sure you know what you're doing before you start working out.
"In January, you'll definitely see an influx in traffic. Probably twice the usage," says Josh Crane, general manager of Sport & Health in Frederick, Md.
He says people starting a new fitness regimen will get the most out of their workouts if they learn to use the equipment properly and if they learn the best way to achieve and measure their fitness goals.
"A lot of people use a scale to check their fitness goals, and it's very possible to lose body fat percentage and maintain weight because you could actually gain 2 pounds of muscle and lose 2 pounds of fat and be the exact same weight," Crane says.
If weight loss is your goal, Crane says many gym-goers have a common misconception.
"People think cardiovascular is the best way to lose weight, when in fact resistance training is actually the best way to lose weight," he says.
He says one of his frustrations is when "someone comes in off the street who has fitness goals and doesn't spend a lot of time using our programs as far as our fitness training and our group fitness exercise."
Crane says 85 percent of Americans don't exercise.
(Copyright 2011 by WTOP. All Rights Reserved.)
"Sulu" weighs in on the actor filling his shoes in the new "Star Trek."
She can sing, but can she act? Jewel takes on a famous role.
The Nickelodeon star's antics continue in New York City.
A fallen police officer's daughter gets a swarm of support. (Photos) | <urn:uuid:e431462b-b456-45c0-b858-b494070c6bf6> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.wtop.com/41/2687310/The-January-gym-people-are-back | 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 | 0.976981 | 352 | 1.625 | 2 |
Successful Photorealistic Architecture Rendering Silicon Valley For City Submittal Process
Last week we were asked by a client to produce an exterior computer visualization that would help them go through the steps of obtaining the city building permits. This particular project was required to be done in a big rush. There was only 2 days to create the 3d model of the property and afterwards add all the material finishes and colours to make this architecture rendering Silicon Valley look photorealistic and vivid. The main focus for this visualization was its building, and more important its colors.
Here is the first render view delivered to client. They were amazed with the realism of the visualization, but they needed some colour adjustments.
The customer provided with the CAD plans and all the additional information to produce the view. Besides this, the developer sent 4 core color-tone specifications for the property. The colors were communicated with the known CYMK standard. This type of color-input is very difficult to manage when companies are new in the 3d architectural renderings field. The difficulty arises because computer displays and 3d rendering software work in another format which is called RGB. So, when the final rendering is delivered to the builder, they see a complete different set of tones in their monitor, and when they printed out they also see something different. So, the trick here is to know about this, and act fast to change the tones and comply with the developers need.
This is the new artistic rendering version with the color adjustments. The customer was impressed with it and told us it was a success after printing.
In our case we had a lot of previous experience on jobs were we were given this type of color information, and we already knew how to work in a rush in the situation were some tones need to be quickly adjusted. Our client in the much known area of the Silicon Valley was able to get 2 color versions of the architecture rendering computer illustration, and one of them matched perfectly well their needs, and they told us that their meeting was very successful. They mentioned several times that they were amazed with the customer service we provided for their emergency render needs. This is the way we work to create the long term relationships we have with our clients. At GoldmanRenderings.com we treat every new architectural visualization project and needs as if they were ours. | <urn:uuid:744ab1dc-31dd-4825-b472-0acccb3f6007> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.goldmanrenderings.com/blog/successful-photorealistic-architecture-rendering-silicon-valley-for-city-submittal-process/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368700958435/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516104238-00031-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.981077 | 468 | 1.703125 | 2 |
The archivist of the United States, David Ferriero, says that one of the core challenges facing today’s librarians, archivists, and museum curators is the need for them to work across disciplines to deliver the integrated, seamless level of service that tech-savvy users are increasingly coming to expect.
“We are all in the same business: protecting, collecting, and allowing the use of information,” he told a packed audience during a “Harvard Library Strategic Conversation” on integrating libraries, archives, and museums (an initiative referred to as “LAM”) held Monday at Longfellow’s Askwith Hall.
Ferriero, previously director of the New York Public Library (he also held the top position at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology Library), spoke of the necessity of understanding exactly how users interact with information as the foundation of LAM integration.
“We need to focus on user behavior. We don’t know enough about how they use resources,” he said, but “users expect to be able to span the scope of knowledge in seconds.”
Ferriero, who grew up in Beverly, described his motivations for pushing LAM integration at the National Archives, where he oversees 44 museums and archives, three of them in Massachusetts. He is working to maintain relevancy with researchers and visitors, and “has a mandate from President Barack Obama” to increase transparency, collaboration, and public participation.
Ferriero, along with other speakers, highlighted the challenges to creating an interdisciplinary LAM structure. For example, he referred to the growing difficulty of collecting and archiving electronic records, mentioning that “only” 8 million of them were archived from President Ronald Reagan’s administration, while 70 million were collected from President Bill Clinton’s, and a jaw-dropping 210 million were collected from President George W. Bush’s tenure.
Following Ferriero’s presentation, Professor Holly Witchey of Johns Hopkins University, interim director of the Marcus Institute for Digital Education in the Arts, offered her perspectives on LAM integration from the museum curator side of the triangle. She emphasized the obstacles to LAM integration, including the lack of interdisciplinary standards for organizing collections, the geographic distance typically separating LAM collections, and interdisciplinary rivalries about which agency should take precedence.
“Our job as curators is LAM integration, but we all do it so idiosyncratically,” she noted. Witchey described a split among museum curators dividing those who prefer the old, idiosyncratic systems of organization and those who recognize the value added by integration. Most of all, Witchey noted, “Our audiences simply expect integration,” and there’s no escaping it.
Ferriero and Witchey were joined in the conversation by Günter Waibel, director of the Smithsonian’s digitization program, and Tom Hickerson, vice provost of libraries and cultural resources at the University of Calgary in Canada. After each panelist had spoken, moderator Waibel initiated a discussion among the panelists and audience about the opportunities and obstacles presented by LAM integration.
Robert Darnton, Carl H. Pforzheimer University Professor and University Librarian, asked about the obstacles to translating “the power of the object” — that is, how artifacts that may have a more visceral appeal (rather than just an informational one) can be portrayed accurately in a digitized format.
Ferriero acknowledged the challenge, one that technology may never be fully able to answer. “Working in Washington,” Ferriero responded, “I watch people lining up to see the Declaration of Independence all the time. Yes, you can find it online, but you can’t replace the emotional experience of standing in front of it.”
What came across clearest during the discussion is that user expectations are driving the movement toward LAM integration, and that professionals in all three disciplines are accelerating their efforts to make it happen. | <urn:uuid:50ef8ca2-8b9b-4b7a-8df3-66282e8be765> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://news.harvard.edu/gazette/story/2012/04/linking-libraries-museums-archives/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368705559639/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516115919-00010-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.948049 | 843 | 1.789063 | 2 |
I was executing a statement:
UPDATE [TableName] SET Col_1 = dbo.FunctionName(Col_2, Col_3)
It was taking long time to execute, so I ran a query to see the activity on the server:
SELECT d1.session_id, d3.[text] FROM sys.dm_exec_sessions d1 JOIN sys.dm_exec_requests d2 ON d1.session_id=d2.session_id CROSS APPLY sys.dm_exec_sql_text(d2.sql_handle) d3
, and saw there CREATE FUNCTION dbo.FinctionName statement, and none other activity. And when I opened the Activity Monitor it was showing a zillion of "U" page locks on the [TableName]. There are several indexes on that table with ALLOW_PAGE_LOCKS = ON. Were they causing the problem? And why the CREATE FUNCTION statement was executing (and never able to finish) during the simple update statement?
asked Jun 21 '11 at 06:30 AM in Default
When you see the
However by having this as a function on your update, you are essentially calling the function as many number of times as there are rows in the table. This is not the best way to do this, and is known as row-by-row processing, rather than set-based.
Try and take the processing that the function is doing and apply it to the table in one go rather than this one-at-a-time approach.
answered Jun 21 '11 at 06:42 AM
Kev Riley ♦♦
One of two things, check the code, someone might have accidently wrapped a CREATE statement inside some other code, usually be misplacing GO statements.
Or, you're see the CREATE statement just as a marker for what is being executed. For example, if you run queries against the DMO objects and join to sys.dm_exec_sql_text and you don't use the offsets to identify the statement being executed, you'll see a CREATE statement for the procedure/view/function. It could just be that.
answered Jun 21 '11 at 06:44 AM
Grant Fritchey ♦♦ | <urn:uuid:b0075846-f519-4318-b716-471d8fcd76a0> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://ask.sqlservercentral.com/questions/42006/create-function-executes-during-the-update-stateme.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368705559639/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516115919-00032-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.931471 | 484 | 1.65625 | 2 |
The aviary at Steckel Park outside Santa Paula along state Route 150, has been stripped down to its frame as volunteers and Ventura County crews refurbish it to make it a safe habitat for the 50 birds housed there.
According to Santa Paula Councilman Ralph Fernandez, volunteers have been working on the structure every weekend since the birds were removed in September.
"We're getting the wood prepared for the roof," Fernandez said as he and other volunteers spent a recent Sunday priming and painting pieces of wood to replace rotted materials on the roof of the structure.
In addition to the volunteers, men performing work-release duties for Ventura County cleaned the area.
Donna Gillesby, interim director of the Ventura County Animal Services Department, said the 50 birds housed temporarily at the Camarillo animal shelter are doing well. The birds are especially sensitive to changes in their environment, and the dust and fumes from the repairs of their aviary would be harmful.
"The birds are doing well. They would feel better if they were at their aviary, but they're doing fine here," Gillesby said. "Actually, we take them out when we're not open, and they screech and holler and carry on."
She said the cockatoos, which have a large vocabulary and enjoy greeting passers-by with "pretty bird," are staff favorites.
Jim Onstot, who is volunteering as the chief contractor on the project, said he is impressed by the work done previously on the aviary, which is making the renovation project easier.
"Whoever did the welding did a great job. It's hard to hold the frame in alignment, but it has held," Onstot said.
Fernandez said that while more work has been needed on the structure than originally thought, he and the Save the Steckel Park Aviary group are refurbishing everything.
The long-term goal is to help create a maintenance program so the facility won't fall into disrepair again, as it has since it was established in the 1950s by then-Steckel Park Supervisor Allen Smith, who lived in a stone house at the park.
"I'm doing this for my grandkids' grandkids," Onstot said. "I was brought up here and used to come out here all the time. There used to be a deer pen and bighorn sheep."
The aviary almost shut down in the 1980s when it had fallen into disrepair. A large community effort to rebuild and refurbish it ended in 1988. But by 2011, the aviary was in such disrepair and the birds so neglected that Ventura County Supervisor Kathy Long led the call to remove the animals and close the aviary.
When the Santa Paula community reacted by offering to help save the aviary, Long changed her mind and has since led county efforts to make sure the facility is rehabilitated and the birds well cared for.
Fernandez said the pens for the birds will be made bigger, allowing them to enjoy "flight cages," which allow the birds to fly briefly. Gary Wilson from the Moorpark College Teaching Zoo will help the aviary supporters work through what types of birds will be best to be returned to the aviary, Fernandez said.
The facility should reopen in mid-November to early December, Fernandez said. Supporters would like to do an annual fundraiser for the aviary.
"It gets people out to see it and remember that it's here," Fernandez said. "We want to keep the motivation and the enthusiasm going for years to come."
Fernandez said people who want to help can send checks to the Santa Paula Community Fund, with "Steckel Park Aviary" written on the memo line. The address is 1354 Mariposa Drive, Santa Paula, CA 93060. | <urn:uuid:d8dc4f18-a9f2-48aa-8e4f-fe591560f51d> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.vcstar.com/news/2012/nov/16/workers-hope-to-make-steckel-park-aviary-a-good/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368705195219/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516115315-00027-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.975926 | 779 | 1.710938 | 2 |
What comes to mind when you think of Friday? Friends. A night off from work. Movies. Fun. Rebecca Black? Yikes. I don’t mean to remind you of such a low point in the history of American pop-culture but there is, in fact, a small amount of useful information to be extracted from the phenomenon that is Rebecca Black. Why did her music spread like an epidemic through the minds of millions of teens and adults worldwide? This event can be loosely related to what the Germans like to call an öhrwurm.
The term öhrwurm literally translates in English to “earworm”, and can be described as that inescapable occurrence of getting a song stuck in your head for an hour, a day, or even months at a time. The term is misleading in that the repetition of music does not occur in the ear but within the brain. For an experience that is so familiar to most people there is still much unknown as to how and why one contracts this stuck song syndrome. More | <urn:uuid:5f6bbe66-6ec6-4282-a107-74773b66c09c> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://sites.bu.edu/ombs/tag/kellaris/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368704713110/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516114513-00018-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.961047 | 216 | 1.828125 | 2 |
Your apt, unexpected gift can reflect the flip side of Kim Kardashian’s present to Kayne West, a $750,000 Lamborghini, which may, in fact, have cost her nothing if the carmaker gave it to her as a product placement opportunity.
In a celebrity obsessed, time-pressed and increasingly transient world where more people are working and living on their own, your thoughtful gift may be one of the most indelibly happy memories for someone.
A loved one, work colleague or even a stranger — all present opportunities for unexpected giving.
Simply put your presents can be acts of collective giving:
1. Fill your life with positive, meaningful memories with others
2. Make you more empathic, sharpening your observations of other’s needs and interests as you picture the present that would most delight them
3. Pull others closer into your life, deepening relationships and sometimes jumpstarting rituals.
4. Reinforce the better side in others so they are more likely to see and support yours
5. Inspire others to imitate your gift giving, after they receive your gifts, observe their being given or hear about the gift.
Here is just one way to make an unexpectedly deep difference in someone’s life by how and where you give:
Honor them in front of some of the people who most matter to them. When Juan was chosen to be the employee of the month at the factory where he worked, Madge, his boss, asked others on his shift, “Is there some group to which he belongs?”
She discovered that he had belonged to a bonsai club for a decade. Madge called the club president to ask if she could present the cash award, at a club meeting, briefly describing his innovative ideas that had caused him to be chosen.
Not only did the president agree, he asked three members to be ready to toast Juan and stationed another member to photograph the lively ceremony. Later he included some of the photos in the club’s blog along with a description of the unusual ceremony.
He decided to sent two of the candid photos of the toasts to the editor of the local paper, who, because of the unexpectedly slant to how an award was given, chose to cover the “good news” story. The canny editor understood that such a story generated bragging rights for all participants, thus giving the story legs, something every editor and reporter craves.
He also sent the photos to Madge who posted them on the factory floor and included two in the employee newsletter.
Imagine if all the participants described the event on their Facebook page and Tweeted about it, then created pages on both Twylah and RebelMouse. Then more people might hear about Juan’s honor – and the people who joined in celebrating it with him.
How can you magnify time impact of an honor or other recognition by involving people from more parts of the recipient’s life?
Give in a ways that multiply the opportunities for joy the recipient – and those who matter to them – to feel honored. Shining a brighter light on someone in these ways often means that others get to feel the warmth of participation.
Yet know that there’s an inherent paradox of gifts, according to Dr. SunWolf: “I know what I have given you. I do not know what you have received.”
A final takeaway: We can give without loving, but we cannot love without giving. | <urn:uuid:916e392a-7462-4097-b877-d8fb97cbe566> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.movingfrommetowe.com/2012/06/16/give-unforgettable-gifts-by-involving-others/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368705559639/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516115919-00012-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.968795 | 715 | 1.546875 | 2 |
||U.S. Department of Justice
Civil Rights Division
|Office of the Assistant Attorney General
||Washington, D.C. 20035
||February 3, 1997
Susan K. Nichols, Esq.
Special Deputy Attorney General
P.O. Box 629
Raleigh, North Carolina 27602-0629
Dear Ms. Nichols:
This refers to Chapter 667 (1996), which creates the Butner Advisory Council for the Camp Butner Reservation, consisting of seven members, elected at large to four-year, staggered terms in nonpartisan elections, and designates the implementation schedule, the candidate filing period, the general election date, and the method of selecting the chair of the council for the reservation located partly in Granville County, North Carolina, submitted to the Attorney General pursuant to Section 5 of the Voting Rights Act of 1965, as amended, 42 U.S.C. 1973c. We received your response to our September 30, 1996, request for additional information on December 3, 1996; supplemental information was received on January 16, 1997.
We have carefully considered the information that you have provided, as well as Census data and information from other interested persons. As a result, the Attorney General does not interpose any objection to the creation of the Camp Butner Reservation, the establishment of the elected Advisory Council, the number of officials, the term of office, the adoption of nonpartisan elections, the candidate filing period, the general election date, and the method of selecting the chair of the council. However, we note that the failure of the Attorney General to object does not bar subsequent litigation to enjoin the enforcement of the changes. See the Procedures for the Administration of Section 5 (28 C.F.R. 51.41).
We cannot reach the same conclusion, however, regarding the proposed at-large method of election and the use of staggered terms in that context. According to 1990 Census data and the submitted map of the area, the population of the Camp Butner Reservation (hereinafter "the reservation") includes approximately 6,472 persons, of whom 2,471 (38.2 percent) are black. As of November 1996, the reservation has 2,063 registered voters, of whom 700 (33.9 percent) are black. Most of the reservation's population is located in Granville County, North Carolina. The reservation's councilmembers will be elected at large to staggered (4-3) terms.
As of 1987 no black candidate had ever been elected to the at-large elected Granville County Commission or School Board, despite the fact that the black percentage of the county's total population had grown to 43 percent and multiple black candidates had run for office. Private plaintiffs sued the county commission alleging vote dilution, McGhee v. Granville County, Civil Action No. 87-29-CIV-5 (E.D.N.C.), and three months later, the United States Department of Justice sued the county school board, United States v. Granville County Board of Education, No. 87-353-CIV-5 (E.D.N.C.). Both lawsuits were filed on the premise that the at-large method of election for the respective governing bodies did not provide black voters with an equal opportunity to elect candidates of choice. In response to each lawsuit, the county entered into consent agreements, with private plaintiffs as to the county commission and with the Department as to the school board, which included stipulations that the at-large method of election violated Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act; ultimately, single-member districts were implemented to cure the violations.
Implicit in these stipulations that the at-large method of election violates Section 2 was an admission that voting in the county was racially polarized. Our analysis of at-large elections for county offices since this time indicates that the pattern of racially polarized voting has not changed. While black-supported candidates have had some limited success in at-large and double-member district elections for state offices, they continue to be plagued by defeat in more local elections conducted on a countywide basis.
Despite this well-documented pattern of racially polarized voting for at-large elected county offices, an election system was selected for the reservation's Advisory Council that has impeded the ability of black voters to elect their candidates of choice. Alternative election systems, such as single-member districts, that would allow black voters an equal opportunity to participate in the electoral process and to elect candidates of their choice do not appear to have been given serious consideration in the decision-making process. Our analysis revealed that it is relatively simple, for example, to create a seven single-member district plan with two naturally occurring, compact districts that have black voting age population majorities.
The election of a single black candidate in an unprecleared election for the Advisory Council conducted in November 1996 in which all seven council positions were elected and the number of candidates was double the number of positions to be filled does not compel a different conclusion regarding the impact of an at-large election system on the opportunity of minority voters to elect their candidates of choice. Nor is this election sufficient to counter the well established pattern of racially polarized voting observed in county elections conducted on a countywide basis or to allow us to conclude that an at-large election system with staggered terms (4-3) will enable black voters to elect candidates of choice in future Advisory Council elections.
Under Section 5 of the Voting Rights Act, the submitting authority has the burden of showing that a submitted change has neither a discriminatory purpose nor a discriminatory effect. See Georgia v. United States, 411 U.S. 526 (1973); see also the Procedures for the Administration of Section 5 (28 C.F.R. 51.52). In addition, an objection must be interposed where there is a clear violation of Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act, 42 U.S.C. 1973; see also 28 C.F.R. 51.55(b)(2). In light of the considerations discussed above, I cannot conclude as I must under the Voting Rights Act, that your burden has been sustained in this instance. Therefore, on behalf of the Attorney General, I must object to the at-large method of election and staggered terms for the Camp Butner Reservation.
We note under Section 5 you have the right to seek a declaratory judgment from the United States District Court for the District of Columbia that the at-large method of election and staggered terms have neither the purpose nor will have the effect of denying or abridging the right to vote on account of race, color or membership in a language minority group. In addition, you may request that the Attorney General reconsider the objection. However, until the objection is withdrawn or a judgment from the District of Columbia Court is obtained, the at-large method of election and staggered terms continue to be legally unenforceable. Clark v. Roemer, 500 U.S. 646 (1991); 28 C.F.R. 51.10 and 51.45.
The Attorney General will make no determination with regard to the implementation schedule as it is directly related to the objected-to staggered terms. See 28 C.F.R. 51.22(b).
To enable this Department to meet its responsibility to enforce the Voting Rights Act, please inform us of the action the State of North Carolina plans to take concerning this matter. If you have any questions, you should call Ms. Colleen Kane-Dabu (213-894-2931), an attorney in the Voting Section.
|Isabelle Katz Pinzler
Acting Assistant Attorney General
Civil Rights Division | <urn:uuid:80b4158f-f290-44d9-8d1b-a92e21ea3c70> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.justice.gov/crt/about/vot/sec_5/ltr/l_020397.php | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368708766848/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516125246-00041-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.957711 | 1,568 | 1.554688 | 2 |
Plumbing Vent Piping Tips
DEAR TIM: I've got a remodeling project coming up and I intend to do the plumbing work. I'm good to go on the water lines, but the drain lines and plumbing vents are my weak spot. Can you give me the executive summary on plumbing vents? Is there a failsafe method of venting so that everything will work fine down the road? What are the biggest things to avoid? Mandy P., Portland, ME
DEAR MANDY: You've asked for the impossible. I've been a master plumber for over 25 years and I don't know if it's possible to do a Vulcan mind meld between you and I, but I'll give it my best shot. Plumbing vent pipes often confuse many, and even apprentice plumbers who are somewhat familiar with the trade often make serious mistakes when it comes to plumbing vent systems.
The first thing I want to mention is to make sure you check to see if you're allowed to install the piping. Some states and towns only allow licensed plumbers to do this work. The reasoning is based on public health. If you make mistakes when you plumb, you can get some people seriously ill or even cause death.
To help you understand the need for plumbing vents, let's talk about what happens in drain piping when water travels down through the system. In a properly designed plumbing drain and vent system, there is air in the pipes before water is poured down a drain or a toilet is flushed.
As soon as you introduce water, and lots of it quickly, into a plumbing drain, the dynamics of the air changes. The water surging into the system displaces the air often pushing it down the drain in front of the rushing water. This air needs to be replaced so a vacuum doesn't form in the system.
Vacuums in plumbing drain lines are bad, very bad. You've possibly heard a vacuum getting satisfied if you've been in a bathroom when a tub or sink drain gurgles when you flush the toilet. At a friend's house, this would happen every time his washing machine would drain.
When the washing machine pump came on, his kitchen sink would gurgle and the water in the trap under the sink would be sucked dry. This allowed sewer gas to enter his house and vermin that are crawling around in the sewer lines. Yuck!!
To prevent traps in downstream fixtures from being sucked dry like my friend's kitchen sink, you install a vent pipe, usually within 3 feet, close to the fixture trap. This vent pipe rises vertically towards the roof where it opens to the atmosphere to get the needed replacement air.
Usually a pipe that's 1.5 inches in diameter is sufficient to vent any residential fixture. But understand that some plumbing codes have very specific sizing requirements. If you start to collect vent pipes from other fixtures as you head to the roof vent, the pipes will have to get bigger, just as plumbing drain lines and building drain pipes get bigger the more water that enters them.
Vent pipes can be tiny and work. I'll never forget visiting a farm owned by another master plumber friend of mine. For fun he vented all of the fixtures in a large bathroom with 1/2-inch copper water lines! But you know what, enough air was able to pass through that tiny pipe to satisfy each of the fixtures. It was just a simple experiment he did as he knew it would never pass an inspection. Lot's of air can pass quickly through a small unobstructed pipe.
To be safe, extend a vent pipe from every fixture. Certain fixtures can be wet-vented, this means two fixtures share a common vent, but since I can't be at your house to mentor you on this complex technique, just install separate vents for each fixture. Be sure any vent line that has to run horizontal actually has a tilt to it so any condensate water that forms in the pipe drains down to the sewer or septic tank.
There are many things to avoid when installing plumbing vent pipes. I'm not a huge fan of the mechanical vents that you might install under an island sink or in some other location where running a traditional atmospheric vent is next to impossible. Every mechanical vent I've installed has failed over time.
Mandy, you live in a coastal area, so it doesn't get bitterly cold for too long. But if you live in an area that gets frigid for long periods of time, you have to make sure the vent pipe both above and below the roof is a large pipe, say 4 inches in diameter, so that it doesn't get choked off with frost buildup. I've seen this happen and it's almost unbelievable to think that ice could form in a vent pipe.
Avoid the temptation to forgo a full-sized vent in your plumbing system. Some new plumbing codes are moving away from full-sized plumbing vents. I'm not a fan of this. A full-sized vent is a primary vent where the drain line transitions at some point and becomes the vent pipe that exits the roof.
In many an older home, this drain pipe is perhaps 4 inches in diameter and stays that size all the way through the roof. Other vent pipes that are smaller may connect to this full-sized vent, and that's perfectly fine. | <urn:uuid:5ee63c89-ef18-4f85-b8ac-50c21c1ea7ef> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.askthebuilder.com/plumbing-vent-piping-tips/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368697974692/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516095254-00021-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.963189 | 1,086 | 1.609375 | 2 |
Netanyahu’s About-Face on Hevron Expulsion
While it appeared that Defense Minister Ehud Barak had defied Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu in expelling Jews from the Machpelah House in Hevron, Netanyahu had in fact agreed to the expulsion. Sources close to the prime minister explained his reasoning Wednesday, speaking to Maariv/nrg.
Between Netanyahu’s declaration Tuesday evening that the eviction would be delayed and the expulsion early Wednesday afternoon, Barak met with Netanyahu and convinced him the expulsion was necessary, they said.
Barak argued that there was an immediate operational need to evict residents. He noted an opinion from Attorney General Yehudah Weinstein, who said the house should be cleared for legal reasons.
As soon as Barak said the eviction was necessary to security, Netanyahu gave his approval.
In the same conversation, the two discussed legalizing several Jewish communities in Binyamin and Samaria: Bruchin, Sansana, Rechalim and the Ulpana neighborhood of Beit El.
The prime minister updated his cabinet following the conversation with Barak. During the Cabinet meeting he emphasized, “I am committed to the growth of Israeli communities in Judea and Samaria in general, and to the Jewish community of Hevron in particular.” | <urn:uuid:e087ea72-fd4d-4fe3-95c1-8dccece61a61> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/154497 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368708142388/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516124222-00017-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.96655 | 269 | 1.59375 | 2 |
Students, parents and community members can get free information about college admissions, financial aid, scholarships and student support programs during Fiesta Day 2009 at 1 p.m. April 23 at the Victoria College Student Center, 2200 E. Red River.
“This is a great way to find out everything you ever wanted to know about college but were afraid to ask,” said Denee Thomas, manager of the Letting Education Achieve Dreams (LEAD) program at the University of Houston-Victoria. LEAD is organizing the event with The Victoria College.
Attendees can listen to Houston motivational speaker Willie Pickens talk about what students need to succeed in college and how families can help them. Information about taking classes at UHV and VC also will be available.
The public presentation is part of a larger Fiesta Day event. Some 300 students from five area high schools are invited to attend the daylong event. Students from Yoakum, Nixon-Smiley, Goliad and Victoria Memorial high schools are expected, along with students from the Coastal Bend College.
The students will learn about Hispanic culture from Patricia Sanchez, an assistant professor at the University of Texas at San Antonio.
During lunch, students will be entertained by Ballet Folklorico, a community troupe of traditional Latin American dancers, and mariachi performers. They also will hear about UHV student organizations, which will be providing the meal.
“This is going to be a wonderful celebration of the area’s Hispanic culture and a great way to encourage these students to continue their educations and pursue a bright future,” Thomas said.
The event is made possible by a grant from Alcoa Foundation.
The LEAD program is an outreach effort at UHV to help Hispanic, minority, first-generation and other underrepresented populations gain the advantages offered by higher education. The efforts of the LEAD staff include mentoring new and prospective students through admission, financial aid application and registration; helping employers identify and encourage workers who would benefit from further education; and helping people return to college.
For more information, contact the LEAD office at 361-570-4893 or visit www.uhv.edu/lead | <urn:uuid:5e04cf83-1685-440b-9543-2263fbc6fe65> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.uhv.edu/car/newswire/release.asp?id=554 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368706499548/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516121459-00006-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.953725 | 453 | 1.726563 | 2 |
I've set a trap and baited it with rhubarb.
It's out by my letter box and so far, I've had two catches. I wasn't sure if the rhubarb would be enough to lure them in, so I added some cranberries and plums and spinach beet as well, in case they preferred leafy vegetables to fruits. I hung about behind the young mountain cabbage trees when I heard their furtive approaches, shuffling and scuffling up the road, as they do. Once they'd stopped to investigate my baits, such things are not usually found on the roadside and looked sufficiently out of place to draw their attention, I pounced. Not literally, I didn't want to startle them into flight. I sprang fuguratively, from my leafy cover, looking as unthreatening as I could, and excecuted the next stage of my capture plan. Chat. I'd netted some neighbours and I didn't want them to get away. For reasons unclear, I'm guessing it's something along the 'familiarity breeds' line, some of my neighbours are shy about visiting my garden. Visitors from afar have no such reticence and I'm often leading troupes of non-Rivertonians around the rambling and uneven paths of my forest-garden, showing off this and that. They seem to know what to look for too, having read about it here, or seen it on the telly when Al Brown or Te Radar visited. Some are a little taken-aback by the raw nature of my garden, others want to set up camp and stay. My neighbours however, view my treed, bushed and vined property with caution and need encouragement to step over the threshold. Thus the reason for the trap. I haven't sprinkled fruits and vegetables alongside of the road of course. I've planted them there; unconventional 'front of house' things, like glossy cranberry bushes and thickly stalked rhubarb, even a medlar that's certain to attract comment and give me a chance to say, come in and have a look at some other interesting things!
And it's working. Two of my street-mates have come in lately for a look around and didn't seem too spooked by the experience and it all began at the letterbox. I recommend the method. Instead of the usual street-side plantings (I see bottlebrush and roses), you might like to try some quirky, nibble-able things that could ignite a conversation about good foods or gardening or something remembered from a long ago childhood.
It'll give the postman something to mull over as well.
Over the road from my letterbox, is the source of what I thought was a Big Problem. There are ducks, maybe a dozen of them, living beside and on a pond that drains into the creek that, after passing under the road in a culvert, runs through my native tree garden, plashing over rocks that shelter native fishes and crawies and generally delight me when I sit beside it, watching the goings-on. But it's silting up. The ducks do as ducks have always done, they dabble and as they do it, silt gets disturbed and flushes down into my duck-free creek. When it gets to my side of the road, it settles, clogging up my riverlets and channels and smothering the previously fish-favourable habitat. And it's laced with guano – duck poop that's far too rich for the natural environment of my shaded stream. I've anguished over this. My neighbours love their ducks and I don't want to grizzle. I dug a deep 'sump' where the water first enters my land. It captures the silt very well, but fills up quickly and needs emptying regularly. I became a chore. It's heavy stuff, wet duck-poo and silt and it began to weigh heavy on my mind. Until one morning, when I was trying to think my way through another problem I have – hungry fruit trees, growing in my sandy, nutrient-deficient town orchard-behind-the-fire-station. Those apples and plums struggle due to the lack of substance in the thin ex-sand dune soils. Should I buy some sacks of horse manure and spread those around each of the 60 trees, I pondered. That'd cost money though, and I'm averse to spending on anything I might get for nothing, and of course, at that point I put two and two together and came up with duck-silt. My two problems were solved; I had food for my fruit trees and motivation to keep emptying the muck out of my creek. Elegant, you might say. I know I did!
(This article, or something very much like it, was published some months ago in the NZGardener) | <urn:uuid:7afdea6b-e103-466e-9687-c9256fb84ba0> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://robertguyton.blogspot.com/2013/01/fly-paper.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368708142388/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516124222-00031-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.978603 | 1,011 | 1.523438 | 2 |
Animal Diaries Archive
Primates are currently off display
29 May 2008
This week the Primates Team has some very exciting news! As many of you are probably aware, we have five very lively Ring Tailed Lemurs as well as two extremely gorgeous Black and White Ruffed Lemurs here at the Zoo. They are currently residing in off-display exhibits whilst we plan the building of their HUGE two acre Island exhibit. I am sure by now you are thinking what’s this exciting news?
We are pleased to announce that we are now offering our very own Lemur Encounters! This amazing experience will enable you to come behind the scenes and meet our gorgeous (and not to mention cheeky) Ring Tailed Lemurs on a very special up close and personal level.
The entire Primate Team is absolutely bubbling with excitement as we are now able to share with everyone the very unique personalities and beauty of these fantastic animals. The experiences are designed to be highly educational and full of fun. You will have the opportunity to interact with our handsome Ring Tailed boys. A professional photographer will be present to capture some magical memories for you and one complimentary photo is included in the cost of the encounter.
We are so proud of our boys and just love the opportunity to be able to show them off. I can guarantee once you meet these intriguing little characters you will fall head over heels in love with them, just like we have.
Part of the experience includes a tour of our breeding/holding facilities, where you will have the opportunity to see our two Black and White ruffed Lemurs, which are critically endangered. Our pair of resident love-birds are part of a very important breeding program operating between Australian and international zoological institutions.
If this sounds like the encounter for you, consider booking one of our Leapin’ Lemur Encounters next time you're at the Zoo. We look forward to introducing you to our quirky little boys. Until then,Lemurs Rule!
Our Amazing Ring-tailed Lemurs
These cheeky lemurs can be easily recognised by their long black and white-ringed tails. They are very social and live in troops which are lead by the domina ...more | <urn:uuid:864d3297-696e-4bd7-a8b3-23a4e1c06404> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.australiazoo.com.au/our-animals/animal-diaries/archive.php?month=may&year=2008&department=12 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368702810651/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516111330-00015-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.963314 | 452 | 1.625 | 2 |
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Discussion with Pat Hanrahan, Vladlen Koltun, Byron Reeves, Jeremy Bailenson
Conference web site - [link]
Joseph Gandy, architectural draughtsman to John Soane 1798-1809 - Sparta
Posted at Mar 04/2008 04:31PM:
MS: So many questions at the conference about media, the present, the immediate future ...
What about content? Content matters ...
I realized at the conference that I had a tremendous opportunity to speak up for the humanities as about human engagements with things that matter and to address the key issue of content - that new media need to be considered in relation not just to mediation, but fundamentally as forums for discussing matters of common human concern. The humanities as where we find the store house of human culture.
This is my line on archaeology providing a perspective on long term social and cultural change, on human relations with the environment, on what has happened to us as a species, on understanding the history of the state ... And how we might better forge a public sphere of discussion around such key concerns.
All to help better orient us now ...
Antiquarians and ichnography - Landscape, archaeology, chorography
My topic today is record and memory in virtual worlds. It is about the future of the museum, of memory. I am not going to defend a premise that we do all want to tell of what happened to us in a virtual world; I am going to explore some ideas about archives, memory and storytelling that might inform design and interaction in virtual worlds. An underlying proposition is that memory and archival practices are central to the design and experience of virtual worlds. Corollaries concern the relationship of mixed realities to enriched memory and archival practices that might well be termed Archive 3.0 (more of 1.0 and 2.0 below) - prosthetic futures for museum and memory. My perspective is an archaeological one; it is rooted in the archaeological project that hinges on the relations between artifacts and sites, events and experiences, what they leave behind, and how we document and recover them, all in relation to our sense of historical agency and belonging.
Archaeology has long been fascinated with cutting edge visualization. Eighteenth century antiquarians were pioneers in the illustrated book, documenting collections and places. Piranesi and others created new visual worlds of ruined history. Stuart and Revett used 2 and 3d architectural drawing to bring the ancient Mediterranean north to fuel a Classical cultural revival. Joseph Gandy's architectural visualizations were visions of reconstituted ruined grandeur. Later in the nineteenth century, archaeologists were pioneers in photography. Current projects to model in 3D photographic verisimilitude the Roman Forum or the ancient city of Pompeii, or a bathhouse in Isthmia, as here, come at the end of such a long history of visual experiment. I want to talk about this convergence of archaeology and 3d visualization in terms of archives and memory.
For me, it started with the Presence Project. Lynn Hershman is one of the artists working with the project to research liveness and mediation, presence and absence in new media and the arts. Lynn's work, as part of a distinctive current in contemporary art, has been a consistent address to questions of how our identities and sense of self is so dispersed in our prosthetic world through all sorts of material forms and mediations: clothes, lifestyles, financial and legal information, imagery, medical history, personal memory ...
I found out that Stanford had acquired 90 odd boxes of her archive: papers, photos, videos, reviews. She didn't want them to sit in the Special Collections in the library and molder. She wanted to animate her archive.
This was music to my ears. And so began the project Life Squared, an archaeology of a work of Lynn's — an installation made in 1972 in a room in the Dante Hotel, San Francisco. In 2007 a team from SHL reworked the fragmentary remains of this event, experience, and performance as a facility and encounter in the online world Second Life.
I said Lynn's aspiration to animate her archive was music to my ears. Precisely because I am an archaeologist, fascinated by what's left of the past, its presence with us now, and what we do with it. An aside: you might think that archaeologists discover the past. they don't. They work on what remains. Archaeology is another kind of memory practice, where past is translated into present. We are all archaeologists now.
One site where such work happens is the museum or archive. With Henry Lowood, colleague at Stanford, I see us moving into a new archival era. Because we live in Silicon Valley we thought this should be called Archive 3.0.
Let me explain.
Consider three cognate terms: archive – architecture – archaeology.
The prefix arche (found in archive and architecture and archaeology) is Greek for beginning, origin, foundation, source, first principle, central location and origin of power, authority, sovereignty. It represents a starting point or founding act in both an ontological sense ("this is whence it began") and a nomological sense ("this is whence it derives its authority"). Archives are all about narratives of origin, identity and belonging, and the politics of ownership, organization, access and use.
Archive 1.0 — bureaucracy in the early state – temple and palace archives – inscription as an instrument of management.
Archive 2.0 — mechanization and digitization of archival databases, with an aim of fast, easy and open access based upon efficient dendritic classification and retrieval, associated also with statistical analysis performed upon the data.
Archive 3.0 — new prosthetic architectures for the production and sharing of archival resources – the animated archive.
What is involved in bringing archives alive? What are signs of this shift?
Remix, rich engagement, co-creative regeneration.
They are to be seen in the reterritorialization of information resources associated with a variety of web 1.0 and web 2.0 initiatives like Wikipedia and Flickr, with new institutional efforts of libraries and museums to diversify and reach out to users with vast information resources and intelligent customizable search facilities. Clear in the vast and growing heritage industry is a reemphasis on personal affective engagement with cultural memory. There is a recognition of the importance of developing rich modes of engagement with archival, historical and cultural resources. New interfaces involve processes of recollection, regeneration, reworking, remixing in sophisticated visualizations and customized interactive and participatory experiences.
The Life Squared project, to animate part of the Hershman archive in the online world Second Life, is an address to the question of the future of the library and museum in the context associated with Archive 3.0 — when collections are no longer primarily of books on shelves, paintings on walls, objects in vitrines, but include immaterial forms, intangible experiences, mixed analog and digital forms.
But it is also meant to raise the much broader questions of performance and record, and their relationship to the kind of experiences offered in our contemporary mixed realities.
Rather than static depositories, archives have always been active engagements with the past. Let me illustrate this with some remarks about architecture. Of course virtual worlds are all about peopled spaces — architectures. This was one of the attractions of a 3d online world for our experiment in archival practice 3.0.
Think of the corridor, with doors opening off into rooms of equal size. As in the Dante Hotel. Such an architecture is a technology of arrangement and ordering. As a storage facility or magazine, it was invented by the Near Eastern temple bureaucracies of 5000 years past. To walk the corridors was to inspect the collections and supplies of the state and to mobilize the documentary apparatuses of seals and tallies, impressions in clay. Such an architecture and apparatus is a prosthetic memory device.
The corridor of the Dante Hotel built in Second Life and referencing events and experiences in another Dante Hotel in the San Francisco of 1972 poses a question: What if a building could remember? What if a corridor spoke of traces somehow retained within its fabric?
In a sense the temple magazine does just this. Its form relates to its function. And we are constantly using our archaeological imagination to piece together the past. To pull together the remnants of lives past. Building and rebuilding scenarios, telling and retelling stories of what happened on the basis of what gets left over, as trace or memory. Like in Life Squared.
Such archival practices are intimately about architecture and place, or rather, in Bernard Tschumi's term, place-event. Think of this forensically: at a scene of crime anything could be relevant, as a trace or vestige of the event, the crime that happened there. This suspicious attitude towards site is part of what I see as a broad archaeological sensibility we all now share. An anxiety about the presence, and absence, of the past. We seek sense in chaotic remnants, seeking a signal in the noise, a figure emergent from ground. And it is profoundly about materialities — moldering ruin, and, not least, the decay of the self.
Documentation is at the heart of this archaeological sensibility. How to document what went on, who we are, where we come from. Distinguish document from record. Documentation is as much about performance as it is about media and information. Walking corridors, locking and unlocking doors, marking check lists, reporting lost and found, checking in new arrivals, and so much more. We see all of this in Life Squared.
Archival systems struggle to manage disorder, to build order. In this they are part of the utopia that was, and still is, the cosmopolis, the city, as polis (people and urban fabric), body politic, rooted in the cosmos. This is something to think about in any design of a virtual world. We deliberately avoided a mimetic architecture for Life Squared — trying to make the virtual look like it was. The Dante Hotel of 2007 is a testament to reanimation and decay. It is a kind of reanimated ruin, simulacrum of a ruin — an exact copy of an original that could never have existed. Archives have always been such mixed realities, hybrids of past and present. What we were and what we could be, what they recorded and we remember, realities and hopes, materialities and immaterialities, presences and absences.
A crucial point is that memory and archival practices are as much about managing loss and discard in different kinds of selective fidelity as they are about curating as much of what remains as possible. A living past is as much about what has gone as what remains. We need new tools for managing such relationships of record and selection in virtual worlds, just as they suggest new issues in storytelling and re-collection.
Archive 3.0 is a new landscape of opportunity for designing rich, engaging and co-creative memory practices. Think of the remains of the past as both traces and vestiges. By trace I mean a track or footprint, the past present in its absence, in the void left by its weight. Negative space. Traces require an ichnography — the inscription of footprints, tracing out. By vestige I mean decayed or partial remnant, a bit of the past that is over and done, but present here with us now. Vestiges require archaeology — efforts to pull together, to reassemble and so regenerate what has gone, though it will never be the same. Archive 3.0 is not a zero-sum scenario of replacing the analog media of the Hershman archive, the boxes in Special Collections, with a virtual reconstruction of the Dante Hotel in Second Life. Sometimes the old technologies of fast access to information through carefully structured metadata are what we need and want for an affective engagement. Sometimes it is better to rummage through boxes in the attic. A fabulous photorealistic 3D model of a house in Pompeii may fail to transcend the superficial detail of beautifully rendered surfaces, fail to capture the life of a place. Ichnography and archaeology present us with design decisions and suggest a wealth of possibility beyond the kinds of tools currently offered as means of record in virtual worlds. Ichnography and archaeology — these are knowledge practices, memory practices, matters of design, of arranging materials, of managing the manifold of curation and loss, of choreographing engagement, of supplying archival tools and systems, of building architectures that build upon the entropic loss of everything we hope to be. | <urn:uuid:b8e5ec0c-3d2d-4ec5-b550-83403e53efb0> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://documents.stanford.edu/michaelshanks/302 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368710006682/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516131326-00028-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.943598 | 2,614 | 1.6875 | 2 |
it was alright
After World War II (during which he was involved with the underground), Antonioni began making his own short films while continuing to write, including co-authoring Federico Fellini's debut THE WHITE SHEIK (1952) (which, it is rumored, he was to have directed himself). His first feature, STORY OF A LOVE AFFAIR (1950), won several awards at international film festivals and included early signs of Antonioni's mature style: bleak exteriors, meticulously composed shots and long takes with a moving camera. It also signaled Antonioni's interest in the Italian bourgeoisie which would be his primary focus throughout his Italian features. Subsequent films LE AMICHE (1955) and IL GRIDO (1957) attracted critical attention, but it was L'AVVENTURA (1960) that brought him international fame.
The first in a series of films concerning middle-class alienation and spiritual dislocation, L'AVVENTURA , is a contemplative, austere film virtually without a story. The focus is on the characters and their emotional lives, explored as much through Antonioni's mise-en-scene as through the dialogue. These themes were continued through LA NOTTE (1961) and L'ECLISSE (1962), completing a loose trilogy. He turned to color in RED DESERT (1964) where he pushed the themes of isolation and personal dislocation to the breaking point.
Antonioni made his English language debut with BLOW-UP (1966), set in swinging London, and went stateside for ZABRISKIE POINT (1970) and THE PASSENGER (1975), but returned to Italy for the remainder of his career. In 1985, a heart attack left him partially paralyzed yet he continued making films or preparing film projects until his death in 2007.
– Sean Axmaker
Story of a Love AffairSTORY OF A LOVE AFFAIR is the legendary Michelangelo Antonioni's debut feature, a powerful statement on the delusions and violence sparked by a passionate love. This deeply tragic romance already exhibits the astonishing formal control and penetrating insights into the human condition that would later make...Start your free trial to watch
Il gridoShot in Michelangelo Antonioni's native Po Valley region near Bologna, IL GRIDO focuses on individuals of the common classes rather than the bourgeoisie of his later films. From this humble and unpretentious subject matter, Antonioni fashions a spellbinding motion picture that keenly demonstrates his profound cinematic...Start your free trial to watch
It was about the replacement of old values for materialistic ones, a dark tale of lost love only to be filled by meaningless flings in search of fulfillment. I strongly...
Watch this film and you'll understand why Antonioni is considered a master of cinema. Many of the shots are simply breathtaking, and the narrative has a fascinating symmetry. What seemed...
Antonioni was exploring the malaise of modern life well before L'AVVENTURA made him into an international sensation; personally I prefer this masterpiece more than any of his subsequent films, save... | <urn:uuid:1b6fb842-73a7-4714-b19c-ad2bb7aae478> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.fandor.com/filmmakers/director-michelangelo-antonioni-107 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368704132298/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516113532-00000-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.965093 | 653 | 1.6875 | 2 |
Please click on the above hyperlink to get to my Quia homepage. On this page you will fine a class webpage for Latin I, Latin II, Latin III, and Latin IV.
Powerpoint on how to use Quia (please right click and download as a file):
All assignments that students can do at home came be downloaded and printed off from their class webpage on Quia. You can also find materials for each level of Latin listed by the class webpages under Latin I Materials, Latin II Materials, Latin III Materials, Latin IV materials. All Quia exercises for grammar and vocabulary for the entire semester for each level of Latin can be found at the folders at the bottom of the main page for extra help and practice.
These class webpages have a daily schedule for the current week that includes all assignments for that week listed by day, notes, powerpoints with narration, translation worksheets, and Quia homework exercises. Students that are absent, need extra reinforcement, or miss assignments should get their work from their class homepage.
I am available to answer student questions after school on Tuesdays, Wednesdays, and Thursdays.
My Classroom Mission
Our mission is to understand that the Romans and their language are not figments of the past but they are very much alive in our everyday lives. We will do this by learning about Roman culture, history, language, and mythology.
I grew up in Marietta GA and after I graduated from high school, I attented Lousiana State Univeristy
in Baton Rouge, LA. I graduated in Spring 2007 magna cum laude with my Bacholors of Arts in Latin. After graduating from LSU, I attended the University of North Carolina in Chapel Hill where I recieved my Masters in the Art of Education with a concentration in Latin in the summer of 2008.
I became a Latin teacher due to the profound impact and passion my high school Latin teacher had everyday during class. I love what I do and I hope to share some of my own passion and enthusiam for the Romans and their language with all of you. | <urn:uuid:7f0161d7-14ff-44ad-bb46-a87e914ade0b> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://iss.schoolwires.com/Page/24249 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368700264179/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516103104-00025-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.961729 | 430 | 1.789063 | 2 |
News Summary: IMF chief in Malawi to assess reform
(AP) - FOR REFORM: The chief of the International Monetary Fund visited Malawi on Friday in a show of support for the southern African nation's decision to pursue tough economic reforms despite widespread opposition to the measures.
TAKING FLAK: Malawi's president has been criticized by domestic opponents for sharply devaluing the national currency in line with prescriptions from the Washington-based international lender.
STRUGGLE TO GET BY: Malawi, one of Africa's poorest countries, is struggling with high inflation that has made the costs of goods and services difficult to afford for many citizens.
(Copyright 2013 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.) | <urn:uuid:e3c2d5a0-69fc-47f7-9854-23fcd2fd7da0> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.ktar.com/39/1599396/News-Summary-IMF-chief-in-Malawi-to-assess-reform | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368698207393/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516095647-00022-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.938153 | 156 | 1.789063 | 2 |
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Let Your Customer Be the Road Map
If you want to know how to improve your customer service skills, just ask a loyal customer. Your customers can give you the best view point of your business. Ask them about the experience they had with your company. Were they satisfied? Is there something they would like to see improved? Do they have ideas that can help you improve your product or service. Customers, like a road map, can lead you to greater success.
One of the best ways to keep them coming back and sending others your way is to ask how you can better serve them. It can be a little scary, like putting out the suggestion box, you never know what you are going to get. What you are looking for is the feedback of those customers who already have a history with you. They will be open and honest in telling you what they think is great, and what they want to see improved. Let them know that you appreciate the business and their feedback. The challenge for the business owner who seeks comments from customers is being able evaluate the information and put it to good use. Only ask for feedback if you are ready to make changes. You may not use every suggestion, but you need to show that you are willing to make changes. If you have a retail store with one full time employee who gets behind everytime there's a rush in the store, your customers may ask that you get more help during the busy hours. They may tell you how frustrating it is to wait in line for such a long time. You may not be able to afford another full time person for your store, but if you get someone in to help during the busy times, this will let your customers know that you care about what they care about and are willing to solve their problem.
Your customers can help your business grow in more ways than one. Many companies conduct a customer survey by asking them to call a third party number listed on their invoice on a receipt. Since this is becoming a very popular way to get feedback, your customers may see your request as just one more thing to do. However, you can take a different approach. Consider hosting a customer appreciation event or a special celebration. One Financial Advisor, invites his top clients to a special dinner each year to tell them how much he appreciates them, and asks how he can better serve them. Each year his business grows, each year he retains his loyal customers; they look forward to spending a special evening with him to celebrate his success and build their relationship.
Your customers are a valuable resource; following their lead can take your company to the next level and increase business success.
Content copyright © 2013 by Jordan Mercedes. All rights reserved.
This content was written by Jordan Mercedes. If you wish to use this content in any manner, you need written permission. Contact Jordan Mercedes for details.
Website copyright © 2013 Minerva WebWorks LLC. All rights reserved. | <urn:uuid:d3c27736-6f28-4e6a-a037-b02c5c315430> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.bellaonline.com/articles/art17040.asp | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368697974692/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516095254-00034-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.967926 | 630 | 1.695313 | 2 |
Most Active Stories
Mon December 19, 2011
North Korea Faces Choices In Post-Kim Jong Il World
What's next now that Kim Jong Il is dead?
Kim, whose official age was 69 but who actually was 70, died Saturday of a heart attack, according to North Korean state media.
He leaves behind a pretty much officially designated heir, his son Kim Jong Un, whose age is about 29. The young man has been given exalted titles including full general but has little experience compared with what his father had under his belt when Kim Jong Il's own father and predecessor, Kim Il Sung, died in 1994.
The regime appears to have tried to position Kim Jong Un as a sort of reincarnation of Kim Il Sung, whom the young man greatly resembles physically. Barbers have given him the same haircut his grandfather sported when he took over the country in 1945 with Soviet sponsorship. There are rumors in South Korea that the young man has had plastic surgery to accentuate the resemblance. He wears the same "people's clothing" — Mao suits — that his grandfather wore, not the zippered jumpsuits favored by Kim Jong Il.
This sort of branding effort recognizes that Kim Jong Il was never remotely as popular as Kim Il Sung, and was quite aware of that fact. Kim Jong Il publicly moped around Pyongyang for three years as he enforced a mourning period for his own father. It will be surprising if Kim Jong Il in death rates a similar production.
Assuming that the state news account is correct and Kim Jong Il was not killed but died naturally, the focus will be on his brother-in-law Jang Song Taek, who appears to have acted as his right hand since his illness became serious.
Many South Korean and foreign analysts had predicted that Jang could act as regent while the youthful Kim Jong Un consolidates his rule. Jang has no son of his own, and his wife is Kim Jong Un's aunt.
Important factors to consider regarding Jang are that he has been deeply involved in trade and financial transactions — to the extent Kim Jong Il reportedly punished him by sending him away for "correction by labor" when he was caught in corrupt schemes — and that he has been close to the North Korean military and to the Chinese.
While Jang had a largely civilian career, his brothers were promoted to general officer rank in the North Korean People's Army. That connection on top of his in-law relationship with Kim Jong Il has been a major source of influence for him.
As for China, there was a report a few years ago that Jang wanted to take over the North Korean economy and engage in Chinese-style reforms. That was not Kim Jong Il's policy: The now-dead ruler visited China repeatedly, praised its achievements but never proved willing to risk the threats to his rule that he feared might arise if he freed his people to engage in de facto capitalism.
Most North Korean families that have managed to prosper under the regime have at least one member — usually a woman — engaged in trading in public markets. The Kim Jong Il regime repeatedly sought to stifle those markets, even as it failed to maintain the food-rationing system that had kept the people reasonably loyal through the 1980s.
Whether Kim Jong Un can smoothly become a one-man ruler like his father and grandfather is impossible to say now. If Jang is on his side — that's not certain — and if there is no successful revolt by opponents, he may have a chance despite his serious lack of experience.
Kim Jong Un also has inherited from his father a Karl Rove-like figure who reportedly has been working to prepare the people to accept him as a near-deity in the Kim dynastic tradition. That is Choe Yong Hae, former chairman of the Kim Il Sung League of Socialist Working Youth. Choe had a similar role in preparing Kim Jong Il's succession, but had far more time to put his strategies into effect.
By the time Kim Il Sung died in 1994 and Kim Jong Il became sole ruler, he had been officially heir for at least 14 years and had been deeply involved in day-to-day administration of the regime for longer than that. Kim Jong Un by comparison is just getting started. The regime started mentioning him in news reports just three years ago.
If the state news accounts should turn out to be false and Kim Jong Il actually died of other than natural causes, the possibilities might include a military coup. Security in the self-isolated country is so tight that a coup would be difficult, but there have been attempts in the past.
Some South Korean and other analysts see a takeover by an anti-Kim military dictatorship as the ticket to the North's economic transformation, akin to the changes wrought in the South under President Park Chung Hee, a major general who took power there in 1961.
Whoever rules will have to deal with China, South Korea, the United States and Japan. The Chinese have been impatient with Kim Jong Il's failure to reform and open the economy, but they would have security concerns if developments in Pyongyang seemed to point to reunification of North and South Korea or to a close relationship between North Korea and the United States.
Ironically, Kim Jong Il's death has come just before the opening of 2012, which the regime had been promoting as not only the 100th anniversary of Kim Il Sung's birth but a year in which the country would show significant progress toward becoming a "strong and powerful state."
There seems to be little possibility the country will become strong economically in the coming year, but the regime can still celebrate its elevation in recent years to the status of nuclear power.
Washington and the capitals surrounding Pyongyang have grown deeply pessimistic about persuading North Korea to give up its nuclear weapons capability.
Bradley K. Martin, author of "Under the Loving Care of the Fatherly Leader: North Korea and the Kim Dynasty," teaches at the University of Alaska Fairbanks as the Snedden chair in journalism. | <urn:uuid:51b8f0e4-713b-497e-90b3-03a312229ace> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.kcur.org/post/north-korea-faces-choices-post-kim-jong-il-world | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368705195219/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516115315-00008-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.986837 | 1,221 | 1.71875 | 2 |
WASHINGTON — President Barack Obama will urge Congress to get to work this week on passing pieces of his larger, now-defunct jobs bill during a three-day bus tour through North Carolina and Virginia, two southern states that could be critical to his re-election campaign.
The two-state swing, which kicks off Monday in Asheville, N.C., is Obama’s latest attempt to combine campaigning for his jobs bill with campaigning for his re-election. While he has pledged to travel the country pitching his plans to get Americans back to work, his stops have focused heavily on political swing states, underscoring the degree to which what happens with the economy is tied to Obama’s re-election prospects.
The bus tour comes as the fight over Obama’s jobs proposals enters a new phase. The president’s efforts to get his entire $447 billion bill passed were blocked by Senate Republicans, leaving Obama and his Democratic allies to push for the proposals contained in the bill to be passed piece by piece.
That means the president’s rallying cry this week could go from “Pass this bill” to “Pass these bills.”
“Although Congress is adopting a piece-by-piece approach, the president believes that every single piece should pass, and that at the end of the day we should have all of the components of the American Jobs Act passed through the Congress so the president can sign them, even if that means that he has to sign multiple pieces of legislation,” White House spokesman Josh Earnest said.
Despite Obama’s calls for urgency, it appears the lawmakers may not take up individual components of the president’s bill until November, at the earliest. The Senate is set to debate appropriations bills this week, and lawmakers have a scheduled vacation at the end of the month.
Earnest said Obama wants Congress to first act on a provision calling for $35 billion in assistance to states and local governments to hire or prevent laying off teachers and first responders. He also wants lawmakers to pass $50 billion in new spending on infrastructure.
Obama’s stops on the bus trip are designed to highlight those aspects of his plan, including his first stop at the Ashville Regional Airport, where the White House says government funds could be used to renovate a runway and create construction jobs.
The president will also speak at community colleges, high schools and a firehouse as he travels through North Carolina and Virginia this week.
Both states are traditionally Republican leaning, but changing demographics and a boost in voter turnout among young people and African-Americans helped Obama carry them in 2008.
But nearly three years after his historic election, the president’s approval ratings in both states are sagging, in line with the national trend.
A Quinnipiac University poll out earlier this month put Obama’s approval rating in Virginia at 45 percent, with 52 percent disapproving. The same poll showed 83 percent of Virginians were dissatisfied with the direction of the country. In North Carolina, Obama has a 42 percent approval rating, according to an Elon University poll conducted this month. Most national polls put Obama’s approval rating in the mid- to low-40s.
The president will be ditching Air Force One for much of his trip this week, traveling instead on a $1.1 million bus purchased by the Secret Service. The impenetrable-looking bus is painted all black, with dark tinted windows and flashing red and blue lights. Obama first used the custom-made bus during a similar road trip in August, when he traveled through Minnesota, Iowa and Illinois. | <urn:uuid:e3c9b5b9-aaef-4e63-a4be-c10ddd3e2d09> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://newsone.com/1587175/jobs-bill-bus-tour-obama/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368711005985/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516133005-00041-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.972008 | 743 | 1.609375 | 2 |
The European Parliament's computer network is under attack, and reports suggest it is similar to the cyber attack the EU Commission faced last week.
According to European Voice, an EU parliamentary spokesperson confirmed that the attack was still underway as of this morning. “Information technology services are working day and night to investigate and have put in place some security measures,” the spokesperson said.
This is the third comparable attack, the first hitting France's finance ministry, while last week's had the EU Commission and European External Action Service (EEAS) in its sights.
An official told European Voice that the attacks on the Commission, EEAS and the parliament seemed "coordinated", though this is yet to be confirmed. | <urn:uuid:081a33e4-c3e5-4f34-98db-7dcdda92c972> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://nakedsecurity.sophos.com/2011/03/29/eu-parliament-computer-network-under-attack/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368699881956/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516102441-00029-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.971256 | 144 | 1.625 | 2 |
WASHINGTON -- At a time when federal and state politicians seem happy to cut and reluctant or unable to increase spending on higher education, a long-awaited report from the National Research Council, the policy arm of the National Academies, argues that the country cannot maintain its position as a leader in research without sustained investment in its public and private universities.
The report, “Research Universities and the Future of America: Ten Breakthrough Actions Vital to Our Nation’s Prosperity and Security ,” is the result of a call from a bipartisan group of members of Congress, who asked the Academies in 2009 to come up with 10 actions the federal government, state governments, research universities, and others could take to “maintain the excellence in research and doctoral education needed to help the United States compete, prosper, and achieve national goals for health, energy, the environment, and security in the global community of the 21st century." The report was framed as a follow-up to the Academies’ 2005 report “Rising Above the Gathering Storm ,” which focused on steps the national government could take to ensure that the U.S. remained competitive in science and technology.
The 10 recommendations that compose the committee’s final report, released Thursday, are a mix of policy principles, such as revitalizing and redefining the partnership between the federal government, state governments, research universities, and businesses, as well as a handful of new proposals such as a federal “Strategic Investment Fund” through which states and institutions could receive matching funds from the federal government for new professorships and infrastructure improvements. In general, the report asks for a larger commitment from the state and federal governments in exchange for greater efficiency and more openness to collaboration with businesses on the part of universities.
While the report discusses issues challenging all research universities, it expresses a clear concern for public universities. “Support for public research universities is a national challenge of immense importance, since these institutions produce the majority of advanced-degree recipients and basic research for the United States,” the report states. “Any loss of world-class quality for America’s public research institutions seriously damages national prosperity, security, and quality of life.”
The report states that public universities are vital to the country’s success, since they do a majority of federally funded research and educate a majority of graduate students. But that sector has faced major challenges over the past few years, particularly in terms of decreased state funding, and institutions are desperately looking for answers about how to address those shortfalls. “There is a category-5 on the horizon,” said Charles O. Holliday Jr., chair of the committee that wrote the report and former chairman and chief executive of DuPont.
Those concerns were underscored by the presence of committee member Teresa Sullivan, president of the University of Virginia, at Thursday’s presentation. This past weekend, Sullivan was asked by Virginia’s governing board to resign after less than two years in office, with the board’s chair saying the university needed “bold and proactive leadership.” Before being named president at U.Va., Sullivan held top positions at the University of Texas system and the University of Michigan, institutions that, like U.Va., have come to rely on funds from sources other than the state.
At Thursday's presentation, Sullivan spoke about the competition for state and national funds that universities face from Social Security and health care programs, and how those programs reflect the priorities of different generations and, increasingly, different ethnic groups. She also discussed the need to rethink the teaching of under-represented groups to ensure their continued interest in science and technology fields, as well as the need to continue to attract and retain international students. She did not comment on the issues related to her departure.
Given the current political environment and the economy, it is unclear whether Congress or state legislatures will be willing to spend the billions of dollars necessary to move on any of the council’s recommendations. In fact, many research universities are expecting to see less federal and state support in the years ahead. And because of their own resource constraints, there are also questions about whether universities can even begin to make the types of efficiency reforms in the report’s recommendations.
Rebuilding a Partnership
At the heart of the report’s first four recommendations is a push to get the major stakeholders of the research community to ante up. “There is a sense that we need to rethink the partnership between the federal government, state governments, research universities, and businesses,” said Charles M. Vest, president of the National Academy of Engineering and former president of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, to open Thursday’s presentation.
The major historical sources of support for research universities – the federal government and state governments – have decreased their research spending in recent years. Since 2002, per-student state appropriations have dropped an average of 25 percent across the country and as much as 50 percent at some universities. The decline is the result of a confluence of factors, including increased pension and health care obligations that are taking up a larger portion of state budgets, decreased tax revenue as a result of the economic downturn, and reluctance among lawmakers and the general public to increase taxes to pay for increased spending.
And while overall spending for research and development over the past three decades has hovered between 2.5 and 2.8 percent of GDP, a fairly high level, other nations have begun to surpass that mark. Japan and South Korea now invest close to 3.5 percent of their GDP in research.
As a result of those decreases, an increasing burden is being placed on students to not only cover the cost of education, but also to subsidize research. “No one entity can cover the full burden of costs,” said Francisco G. Cigarroa, chancellor of the University of Texas System and member of the committee.
To address funding shortfalls, the report recommends more stable policies and funding for university-performed research and graduate education. The report says the federal government should provide full funding for the amount authorized in the America COMPETES Act, which would double the level of basic research conducted by the National Science Foundation, the National Institute of Standards and Technology, and the Department of Energy Office of Science. The report also calls for state legislatures to restore per-student appropriations for higher education to the mean level for the 15-year period from 1997-2002, when state higher education appropriations peaked, as adjusted for inflation.
But other than attempting to persuade state lawmakers, the report makes few policy recommendations for institutions in states where lawmakers don’t have room in the budget to increase appropriations or the political appetite for increasing revenues. One idea the report does lay out is for the federal government, which currently seems more likely to support higher education than the states, to leverage its spending to ensure that states don’t replace state funding with federal funding. “Federal programs designed to stimulate innovation and workforce development at the state level … should be accompanied by strong incentives to stimulate and sustain state support for their public universities,” the report states. This kind of maintenance of effort provision was part of the stimulus package.
The report also calls for the creation of a “Strategic Investment Program” that would fund endowed faculty chairs and improvements to cyber-infrastructure. The report calls for the federal government to allocate $7 billion a year over the next decade to such a fund. Universities would be required to provide matching funds, either from states, businesses, philanthropic organizations, or other partners, to secure the funds.
The report also calls for the business community to get more involved in higher education. Holliday said the current model is a “buyer-seller” relationship, where companies can go in, take the intellectual property and students they want, and not have to contribute too much back to the universities. He said he sees future interaction between businesses and universities as more of a partnership.
But if national and state lawmakers are going to chip in more funds for research universities, the report says, universities themselves are going to have to become more efficient to improve the return on investment.
The report highlights a number of cost-reduction strategies that universities have adopted in recent years, often creating controversy on campus, such as the consolidation of administrative services such as payroll, information technology, and human resources into one universitywide service center to eliminate duplication; the use of voluntary separation programs for staff and faculty to rehire selectively; increasing the number of reports per administrator; the use of tuition policies to improve four-year graduation rates; the elimination of low-priority programs; and the use of technology to improve in-class productivity.
The report recognizes that “a basic problem is that universities generally do not have the information and tools to identify significant reductions that are consistent with their agreed-upon outcomes,” and stressed the need for better cost-accounting and for outcome measurements to be agreed upon. That latter point was the subject of a separate book-length report by the Academies released last month.
Federal and state governments also have a role to play in improving university efficiency and cost-effectiveness, the report states, particularly by relaxing burdensome and sometimes unnecessary regulations and reporting requirements. According to the report, the federal government should also change its funding formula so that research grants cover the full cost of whatever program they are funding.
Universities also need to do a better job educating graduate students, and the report calls on them to improve time-to-degree and better prepare students for careers both inside and outside of the academy. And universities also need to get better at educating under-represented groups, particularly in science and technology fields, and developing the pipeline for young academics, the report states. The federal government should also make it easier for international students studying in the United States to obtain citizenship and residency.
Will Anything Change?
Many of the report’s recommendations have been seen before. The calls for increased research funding and restored state funding have been ringing continuously for the past few years, as have calls for more business involvement in higher education and for universities to do a better job training under-represented minorities and giving opportunities to young faculty members.
What’s different this time, the committee members said, is that the pressure is finally being felt by all stakeholders. “The sense of urgency is there today,” said William Frist, former U.S. Senate majority leader, medical doctor, and member of the committee.
M. Peter McPherson, president of the Association of Public and Land-grant Universities, who was not part of the committee, echoed Frist’s point. “The situation has become sufficiently serious that it cannot be ignored any longer,” McPherson said.
Like the “Gathering Storm” report, much of the new report’s success likely hinges on the committee’s ability to sell its ideas to state and federal policymakers, business leaders, and research university administrators. Holliday said the committee will hold a series of workshops across the country to try and get the message out. | <urn:uuid:541bd66b-3c32-4d31-ad78-905ddf0bfa28> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.insidehighered.com/print/news/2012/06/15/nrc-report-calls-greater-investment-and-improved-efficiency-research-universities?width=775&height=500&iframe=true | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368703682988/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516112802-00032-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.958915 | 2,283 | 1.65625 | 2 |
(CNN) -- Ricardo Benejam is a born-and-bred New Yorker. He grew up with a view of the World Trade Center from the window of his childhood apartment in lower Manhattan.
On September 11, 2001, he was a freshman in high school when the twin towers fell.
"I had actually blurted out, 'We'll be going to war,'" he recalls. "You knew it wasn't an accident. That was my first thought at 14 [years old]."
He witnessed the devastation firsthand as he walked home that day.
"I saw cars that were littered with dust," he said. "I saw people in business suits that were littered in dust."
Before the attack, Benejam was considering a career in law enforcement or the military. His father, who died of a heart attack in 2002, worked briefly for the New York City Police Department, and his uncle served in the Navy during the Vietnam War.
In 2006, the day before his 19th birthday, Benejam was sworn into the U.S. Army.
"One of the main reasons was a promise that I kept to my father that I would enlist," Benejam said, "and the second reason was the 9/11 attacks. I definitely wanted to serve as a result of that."
Benejam was stationed in Ft. Drum, New York, where he trained as a human resources specialist. He first deployed to Afghanistan for three months in 2007. He went back in 2009, this time staying a full year.
"I did my job," said Benejam. "I did what I was sent to do and I supported those guys in my unit."
In 2011, his service ended. He set his sights on continuing his education and working, but coming home wasn't easy.
"The first week or so, I'd be waking up and I'm like, 'I'm going to be late for formation,'" remembers Benejam. "And I'm like, 'There's no more formation.'"
Benejam credits the work ethic he learned in the Army with his success at home, saying, "I think what actually helped me transition a little bit better is that I started school right after I got out."
He is just two semesters away from getting his bachelor's degree in criminal justice from Monroe College in the Bronx.
Benejam visits ground zero several times a week now, not just to pay respect to his fellow veterans or to reflect on the events that inspired him to serve his country. He works at the 9/11 Memorial.
"Working down there, it's like you're continuing to serve because you're telling the story of what happened and what was there before," he said.
Part of what makes his job so special is the bond he shares with other veterans visiting the site.
"You meet a veteran, and it's almost like seeing a brother or sister," Benejam said. "A lot of us have deployed (as a result of) what happened on 9/11."
On the day CNN visited Benejam at the 9/11 Memorial, he was answering visitors' questions about the "Survivor Tree."
"It's the only tree that actually survived the initial attacks," he explains. "It actually survived not only the attacks itself but already two nor'easters and two hurricanes."
Benejam, too, is a survivor. He's thriving in his post-military life.
When CNN asked what advice he would offer to other veterans coming home, his reply was reflective and hopeful, much like memorial where he works.
"It may start off rocky, but, you know, there's light at the end of the tunnel. Just stay positive, and good things will happen." | <urn:uuid:c54cce4f-2379-4506-baab-0360d588bba3> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.cnn.com/2013/01/01/us/iyw-welcome-home-benejam/index.html?iref=mpstoryview | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368700264179/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516103104-00007-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.99169 | 767 | 1.570313 | 2 |
iPhone and iPad Use
The idea of recording studio quality audio straight your phone is great, simply because it makes the recording process so easy. With the iPhone a number of devices are available that provide a line-input for connecting our preamp to. Numerous apps are available for recording audio or video (with sound) and more advanced applications like GarageBand make it feasible to even consider editing an entire album on an iPad!
Options for the iPad
Note that many sound cards will work with an iPad so long as you use them with a powered hub. The iPad will only provide 100mA to an external device via its dock connector, but many cards require more power. Connect the hub to your iPad and the sound card to the hub.
Summary of the interfaces available for iPod and iPhone (pre iPhone 4)
iPhone 4 & 4S
The iPhone 4/4S does not interface with standard iPod accessories with a line level input as the line level input pins on the dock connector have been reallocated for use as a USB input. As the iPhone 4 doesn't work with the iPad camera connection kit either, there are currently very few options for two-channel audio input. Recently Fostex has released the AR-4i which looks promising. Click here to visit their product page. Test results will be available soon.
Recommended Recording Apps
There are many sound recording applications out there, but we currently recommend using GarageBand and Multitrack DAW:
Multitrack DAW has the advantage of allowing two channel recording to two mono tracks. This means that if you are using your Mic Kit to pickup two separate sound sources then the two channels will appear on separate tracks and panned to centre. If you record to a stereo track then one mic will be on the left channel and the other on the right which is fine for spaced omni recording, but not if you're a singer who plays an instrument when it is preferable to have each mic (instrument) on its own track. One disadvantage of Multitrack DAW is that there is no reverb facility.
GarageBand is great for composing songs because it provides a rich set of instruments to choose from and quantising facilities. Unfortunately it only provides mono or stereo input recording and no facilty to split the stereo track; on the other hand it does allow reverb to be added.
The solution is to use both of these apps together and copy and paste between them. If you're a singer and acoutic guitarist for example record your vocals and guitar using Multitrack DAW and then copy and paste the tracks into GarageBand. Add a little reverb, and a bit of percussion and strings and you can produce some very impressive results!
Recording Video with an iPad with Sound from the MiniSonic Mic Kit
With the MiniSonic Mic Kit connected to your iPad via the iMic the camera app on the iPad will automatically switch to recording sound through the iMic. This has many applications including filming Youtube videos, weddings with live bands, live gigs and promotional videos. Because the sound is recorded to a stereo track it may be necessary to use editing software on your computer to split the stereo track if you're recording separate intruments with each mic. Currently there is no app available for this purpose, which means you can't get the audio out of the video for processing in Multitrack DAW or GarageBand without first extracting the sound using software on a computer.
If you have another phone, DSLR or Camcorder available you can always use the iPad to record the audio and then import the video from the other device via the camera connection kit onto your iPad. iMovie provides basic editing functions and is perfectly usable for editing a simple video. Edit the video and lay down the audio from Multitrack DAW or GarageBand by exporting your mix as a song to your music collection and then importing the song into iMovie. Using this technique it is even possible to create multi camera music videos; with fantastic sound and without using a computer! | <urn:uuid:b7480459-b632-4603-a8d5-1b78839720d9> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.lindos.co.uk/microphones/phone | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368711005985/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516133005-00010-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.937269 | 820 | 1.515625 | 2 |
Father Paul Turner was in Beaumont April 28 to speak to clergy and lay leaders on the upcoming changes to the Roman Missal, commonly called the sacramentary. While in town, ETC editor Karen Gilman talked to him about the changes.
Q. What is the Roman Missal?
A. The Roman Missal is the official prayer book we use for Mass in the Catholic Church. Most people know it today by the name sacramentary. They see it at every Mass they go to. The priest reads from it at the altar and whenever a server holds it for him.
Q. How is the Roman Missal different than the missalette that the people use at church?
A. The missalette is an abbreviated version of the contents of the Roman Missal. The Roman Missal has no hymns in it which you might find in a missalette. But all texts of the Mass that the people say are all found within the Roman Missal. So the missalette has taken its words from the Missal.
Q. Why is the Roman Missal changing now?
A. There are two reasons why. One is that it is upgraded might be a way to say it. Like you would upgrade an app on your phone. The Missal is being updated with some new prayers and instructions. The other reason is that the Vatican has changed its philosophy for how prayers should be translated from Latin into English. Almost everything we say at Mass is originally a Latin text. The Vatican is looking a little more carefully now on how those words get translated into other languages.
Q. What are some of the major changes?
A. Some things that most everybody is going to experience would be the greeting. When the priest says “The Lord be with you,” their response will now be “And with your spirit.” They’re also going to see some changes to the Creed. For example, instead of saying “We believe,” they’ll start with “I believe.” There are a number of changes within the Gloria. Just enough to make people need to look at paper again. Parts of the Mass that they’ve got memorized they will now have to examine one more time and relearn.
Q. Why is going back to the Latin text going to be better?
A. A couple of things. First of all, those Latin texts were worked on for hundreds of years. A lot of people don’t realize this but, like when the priest says at the beginning of Mass Let us pray, and then starts in on a prayer, you are hearing an English translation of a prayer that might date to the sixth century. That prayer was worked on very hard in Latin to get it up into the shape that it is in. One reason that it’s important to go back to the Latin is to study again what it has to say and make sure that what we’re saying fits it. The other reason it’s important to go back to the Latin is that we are a universal church, and even thought Mass is celebrated in different languages around the world, we all use Latin as our common text, the text out of which all of these other translations were made. So, understandably, the Vatican would like that all of the different vernacular translations around the world would pretty much say the same thing. The way that you safeguard that is to have people keep looking back at the Latin and not copying from one another in the modern languages.
Q. Is this just turning back the clock to what we had before?
A. Not at all. All of the work that is being done pertains to the work that followed the Second Vatican Council. A lot of the prayers we say at Mass date to the early years of the Church, but the particular arrangement of them in the Mass that we know now has all been given to us since Vatican II. The retranslation is a look at that work. The post Vatican II Mass and the Latin that was in there is a retranslation of that. For example, Eucharistic Prayer III is a Eucharistic prayer that people would hear on a typical Sunday. That entire prayer was written after Vatican II but it was written in Latin so that all of the vernacular languages could translate. They knew from the beginning that it was going to be done in the vernacular languages, but it was composed in Latin. So that’s what this whole project is. It’s going back to that time period after the Council to look at those texts and translate them once again.
Q. What are some concerns people are voicing about the new Missal?
A. I think part of it is that we are so accustomed to doing it for 40 years that it’s hard to think about having to relearn things. That’s one concern. Another concern is that some prayers we are going to hear are more dense and the sentences are longer. It’s going to be more of a challenge for the priests to say them and for the people to understand them upon first hearing. There’s some concern about that that people won’t be able to grasp the meaning of what is being said. I would say that people can understand it. The longer sentences have been in use in other languages outside of English, and people have been able to follow them along just fine. It will cause an adjustment for us but I really think in time people will grasp how to listen to the prayers that are being said and be able to pray right along.
Q. Is the Mass itself changing?
A. No. No. There will be almost no change to the Mass itself. When you talk about say the gestures that are used, the postures, when we stand and sit, the processions, the vestments, the scripture readings, even most of the music that people sing, none of that is changing. That much is all staying the same. This is all about words. It’s a different translation of the words that we say and hear at every Mass from day to day.
Q. Do the upcoming changes only affect the Mass?
A. At the present time, yes. They only affect the Mass. But they will eventually affect the other sacraments and prayers that we say as a Church. The Mass is the most important one so the work has begun there. But once these changes are implemented I think you can expect to see similar changes coming in all of the other ceremonies that we use in the Catholic Church.
Q. When are they thinking these changes will go into effect?
A. No one knows for sure when we are going to see these but we are guessing it will be Advent of 2011. But that’s just a guess. We know that as of today, the committee that has been advising the congregation on this translation has completed its work. But now the congregation has to make its final decisions and then it will take a year for publishers to have the books ready. So we’re thinking it would be about a year and a half from now.
Q. If these changes are going to go into effect maybe Advent of next year, why are we talking about the changes now?
A. Because the changes that pertain to the order of Mass, that’s the part of the Mass that everyone deals with from day to day, those changes have been published about a year and a half ago. At that time the Congregation (Vatican Congregation for Divine Worship and Sacraments) asked us to begin catechesis on them so that we could understand what is changing and why. Right now we need some time to explain to people so that people can think about these things before we have to actually put them into practice.
Q. What kind of catechesis will be necessary for the people sitting in the pews?
A. I think people naturally have some very practical questions. Why did this one change? Why did that one change? We need to be ready with good answers for them. Sometimes we have to learn those. We need to learn more about the evolution of the Mass how it got to the place where it is today. So people will need a little time to figure all that out and put some words on to it.
I would encourage people to start to become familiar with the parts of the Mass that will change so that they all will be prepared for them and won’t be surprised when the day comes. If they have questions about why things are changing this would be a good time to ask those questions and to read up on some answers on what is coming and why. | <urn:uuid:e1f00783-3349-493a-8eee-8830b2b96b41> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://easttexascatholic.com/2010/04/29/changes-coming-for-some-of-the-words-we-hear-and-say-at-mass/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368700958435/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516104238-00029-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.978569 | 1,797 | 1.796875 | 2 |
I came across an interesting article/rant this morning. At first I thought it was the usual “I hate the password policy”, but the post brought up an interesting point.
Here’s the problem as Billy puts it:
“… you are unable to use the same complexity for your passwords to various sites. Hence the reason why sites always have the “I forgot my password…” option prominently available on their log in page. It’s because people, myself included, can’t remember all of these damn usernames and passwords.”
And here’s his solution:
“I recommend that there be a strict, yet reasonable, username and password standard that all sites support and recommend.”
Hm, that’s a pretty good idea: a standardized password policy.
Yes, we all know using a password manager (like Passpack – shameless plug!) will take the burden off remembering all those passwords. But abiding by an openly defined standard would certainly help raise the security bar on many sites which now have lackadaisical password rules.
Just something to think about while you await the new Beta 4 release of Passpack – 2 days left! The Beta 4 release is online. Sign up for Passpack here. | <urn:uuid:9d27e956-1f11-41a4-9116-a5675a23d952> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://blog.passpack.com/2007/02/standardized-password-policy/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368706153698/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516120913-00005-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.93859 | 267 | 1.75 | 2 |
was one of the most popular of the confessional singer/songwriters who emerged in the early '70s. The youngest child in an upper-class New York family (her father, Richard Simon, co-founded the Simon & Schuster publishing company),
(who later wrote the music for the Broadway show The Secret Garden).
had a chart single with "Winkin' Blinkin' and Nod" in April 1964. But
's solo debut did not come until the release of her self-titled first album in February 1971. It contained her first solo hit, "That's the Way I've Always Heard It Should Be," an anti-marriage song co-written with
that reached the Top Ten.
(November 1971) (which went gold in two years), contained a Top 40 follow-up in the title song, and she won the 1971 Grammy Award for Best New Artist. Her third album, the gold number one
and contained the gold number one hit "You're So Vain," which aroused speculation about its subject.
, one of those suggested, sang backup on the recording. "The Right Thing to Do," a second single from the album, made the Top 40.
married fellow singer/songwriter James Taylor
in November 1972. (They divorced in 1983.) Her fourth album, the Top Ten Hotcakes
(January 1974), contained a gold Top Ten remake of the Inez & Charlie Foxx
hit "Mockingbird" sung with Taylor
and the Top Ten hit "Haven't Got Time for the Pain"; it became her third consecutive gold LP. Playing Possum
(April 1975), containing the Top 40 hit "Attitude Dancing," was another Top Ten LP. Simon
's sixth album, Another Passenger
(June 1976), was a relative commercial disappointment. But in 1977, she sang "Nobody Does It Better," the theme song for the James Bond film The Spy Who Loved Me, resulting in a gold Top Ten hit. Her seventh album, Boys in the Trees
(April 1978), was a million-selling success, buoyed by the Top Ten hit "You Belong to Me" and a Top 40 duet cover of "Devoted to You" with Taylor
's eighth and ninth albums, Spy
(June 1979) and Come Upstairs
(June 1980), were less successful, though the latter contained the gold Top 40 hit "Jesse."
In October 1980, Simon
collapsed of exhaustion on-stage, after which her concert appearances became rare. Her next album, Torch
(September 1981), was given over to pre- and non-rock covers. In 1982, Simon
scored a Top Ten U.K. hit with "Why," a song produced by the disco group Chic
from the movie Soup for One. In 1983, she returned to the U.K. Top 40 as the uncredited singer on the Will Powers
) satire "Kissing with Confidence." Simon
's career in the U.S. was in decline, however, as the albums Hello Big Man
(September 1983) and Spoiled Girl
(July 1985) were poor sellers. She returned to the Top 40 in 1986 with another movie theme, "Coming Around Again," from Heartburn (the 1987 Coming Around Again
LP went platinum) and had yet another movie-related hit with the Grammy- and Oscar-winning "Let the River Run" from the film Working Girl in 1988. In 1990, Simon
released both My Romance
(March), another album of pop covers, and Have You Seen Me Lately?
(September), an album of original songs. She scored the film This Is My Life in 1992.
In 1993, Simon
's "family opera," Romulus Hunt, premiered and was released on record, and 1994 brought the release of a new album, Letters Never Sent
(November). A three-CD/cassette box set retrospective, Clouds in My Coffee 1965-1995
, appeared in November 1995. Film Noir
followed two years later, and in the spring of 2000 Simon
returned with her first record of original material in six years, The Bedroom Tapes
. In 2002 she released Christmas Is Almost Here
, a collection of holiday-themed material, followed by another collection of new material, Moonlight Serenade
, in 2005. Into White
, which featured mostly versions of standards, was released in 2006. After signing with Hear Music, Simon
released This Kind of Love
in 2008. Never Been Gone
appeared in 2009. | <urn:uuid:58f73fd0-143c-4fae-bdf6-c60d13f37245> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://edmonton.virginradio.ca/Music/Artist.aspx?id=5430 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368699881956/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516102441-00028-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.965202 | 938 | 1.796875 | 2 |
Oberthur Licenses Mifare from NXP Semiconductors
Despite its membership in a competing transit vendor group, France-based Oberthur Technologies has agreed to license Mifare technology from NXP Semiconductors for use in SIM cards that could support Mifare transit applications in NFC phones.
Oberthur follows rival smart card maker Gemalto in licensing Mifare for its SIMs. As with Gemalto, the license would enable Oberthur to use any of its semiconductor suppliers' chips for high-end Mifare applications. Besides transport, those applications in NFC phones could include event ticketing, customer loyalty and access control.
But unlike Gemalto, Oberthur is also a member of the Open Standard for Public Transport, or OSPT, announced last year as an "open-standard" alternative to Mifare. The first OSPT chips are not yet available, and Oberthur’s decision to license the high-end Mifare technology, Mifare DESFire and Mifare Plus, could be recognition that OSPT rollouts by transit operators might be years off.
At the same time, some important transit authorities are beginning to move to the high-end Mifare ticketing, including those in London, Madrid, Toronto and Sydney, which have adopted DESFire. Some, such as Transport for London, are moving to the more-secure DESFire from already-hacked Mifare Classic.
NXP restricts the licenses for its valuable Mifare franchise. Besides Gemalto and Oberthur, only chip makers STMicroelectronics and Renesas Electronics have licenses to produce chips supporting Mifare DESFire or Plus on SIM cards and dual-interface chips for bank cards. NXP, which is not a SIM chip provider, would produce chips for standalone Mifare DESFire and Plus cards along with dual-interface chips. That’s in addition to earning royalties on the Mifare licenses.
Among chip makers that are apparently locked out by NXP from licenses to the more secure Mifare technology are France-based Inside Secure and Infineon Technologies of Germany. Those two companies are the co-founding chip makers in the OSPT, using technology Infineon has developed. The group has agreed to license the technology freely.
Infineon has a grandfathered license to produce chips compatible with Mifare Classic, still used by many transit operators.
Germany-based card vendor Gieseke and Devrient was also a co-founding member of OSPT, along with Oberthur, Infineon and Inside. Watchdata Technologies and the Open Ticketing Institute of the Netherlands have since joined.
While more secure Mifare applications are expected to be rolled out on NFC phones, chip and card vendors will have to make the technology faster, especially for transit authorities or operators that run busy metro stations.
Transport for London, which has been experimenting with Mifare DESFire applications on SIM cards, told NFC Times that internal tests showed transactions were taking around 1 second, compared with less than 300 milliseconds for cards. The authority said it would accept transaction times from NFC phones no slower than 500 milliseconds. | <urn:uuid:b8906158-9cdf-43d8-b7d2-873972ea755b> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://nfctimes.com/news/oberthur-licenses-mifare-nxp | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368706499548/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516121459-00026-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.940809 | 665 | 1.523438 | 2 |
THE ENGLISH CONCERT
Sponsored by Princeton University Concerts.
Baroque Chamber Orchestra Works by HANDEL, TELEMANN and PURCELL conducted by Harry Bicket.
When the Father of our country was born in 1732, Henry Purcell, alas, was long dead—but Georg Philipp Telemann was writing music in Hamburg, and George Frideric Handel was composing in London. The music of these three composers will be performed here by one of the world’s finest chamber orchestras, the English Concert. The ensemble is acclaimed for its Handel interpretations, and its appearance on our series anchors the biennial American Handel Society Conference in Princeton in 2013. In the 1970s, this chamber orchestra, according to London’s Daily Telegraph, blazed the trail of “historically informed” performances of Handel and his baroque brethren. “Audiences were amazed to hear this music played on instruments appropriate to the period, and with a dancing kind of expressivity rather than a heavy, romantic one,” said the newspaper, a revolutionary approach that George Washington surely would have related to.
Pre-concert talk by Professor Steven Zohn, Temple University, at 7:00 p.m. free to ticketholders.
For ticket information call University Ticketing at 609-258-9220.
Location: Richardson Auditorium
Date/Time: 02/21/13 at 8:00 pm - 02/21/13 at 10:00 pm | <urn:uuid:2f7512fb-9473-4236-91df-3f33e62d219d> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.princeton.edu/music/events/viewevent.xml?id=600 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368699273641/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516101433-00040-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.931384 | 316 | 1.679688 | 2 |
As far as I know, the only possibility to use global variables is to define them as static (const in C#). Is there any way to access and change a variable from another script, while both scripts access the same variable?
It depends on the situation and your requirements. In most cases there are several ways to go.
If both scripts are derived from
This does work only if you rely on that objects both objects are active within the same scene or have its life cycle extended by calling DontDestroyOnLoad.
If you have plain objects,
Have a look at In Unity, how can I pass values from one script to another? for coding examples and Unity3D singleton manager classes for some in depth thoughts about singletons for
If the values are supported types, are not accessed to often and would benefit from persistance between application runs, PlayerPrefs is sometimes a good place to keep some globals :) | <urn:uuid:71ddb61b-a36d-4a04-a1da-28f4419af735> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://stackoverflow.com/questions/14219314/unity3d-editable-global-variables | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368705195219/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516115315-00040-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.950391 | 191 | 1.625 | 2 |
The U.S. Postal Service is one of the largest real estate owners in the United States with more than 8,600 facilities and 950 million square feet of land. (The Postal Service leases another 24,600 facilities.) It also has about 357 unused land parcels with no structures on them, which have a book value of $128 million. The lands’ assessed values are likely to be significantly higher.
The Postal Service has contracted with real estate company C.B. Richard Ellis to sell its surplus real estate, which includes both buildings and land. You can find the properties on the following website, http://www.uspspropertiesforsale.com/. The sale of properties would generate cash flow for the financially strapped organization. It would also contribute to streamlining its physical footprint as the Postal Service aligns itself to be a leaner, faster, and more market-responsive organization. However, the sale of real estate assets would not produce recurring revenues.Read More
As the Postal Service struggles to survive, it needs to take a good look at the financial health of its products. However, ascertaining the financial health of a product line requires an accurate estimate of the cost of providing that product. The Postal Service is moving into an increasingly data-driven future; thus, the timeliness and accuracy of cost measurement will continue to grow in importance. The Postal Service has not changed its cost system fundamentally in many years, though it updates significant inputs annually. There have been calls for an examination of the accuracy and relevance of the system and implementation of specific changes. In order to inform the dialogue and debate, the OIG published A Primer on Postal Costing Issues, a discussion of postal costing, including the most salient of the concerns the Postal Service and its customers have raised.Read More
Much emphasis has been placed on reducing the Postal Service’s costs in response to its financial crisis. Yet financial viability could come in the form of a balanced approach that both reduces costs and increases revenue. How would a smart business respond to declines in its major products? Would it raise prices where possible in stagnant areas and invest the proceeds into existing or new growth areas? Would it selectively discount products to grow volume in price sensitive segments? Disruptive innovation, such as that underway in the communications sphere, requires change to ensure the Postal Service has what it needs to move beyond the critical crossroad it faces today.Read More
When you buy your groceries, how do you pay for them? What about when you go to the gas station or neighborhood restaurant? How do you buy items online?
Cash may still be king, but in everyday life, it is being eclipsed by newer digital payment methods such as credit cards, debit cards, and electronic transfers.
These payment methods are often more convenient than carrying around lots of cash, but they are not equally available to everyone. People who don’t have bank accounts or credit cards cannot access the full-range of digital currency products.Read More
In a time when the Postal Service has suffered declines in volume and revenue across many categories, it has turned to the international market. For example, it has seized opportunities, including with China, to increase its overall market share in package and express business. But the Postal Service has to maintain an “international” infrastructure in order to efficiently receive and dispatch this mail flow.
International Service Centers (ISCs) in Chicago, Los Angeles, Miami, New York, and San Francisco distribute and dispatch international mail. International Airmail Records Units are located within the ISCs which are part of the International Network Operation. These units validate mail records before transmitting information to the International Accounting Branch in St. Louis for billing foreign postal administrations.Read More
Let’s take a simplistic view of the Postal Service by dividing it into two groups: Operations and Finance. Operations’ main concern is to make sure mail is delivered and other services are rendered to satisfy customers’ needs. On the other hand, Finance’s responsibility is to ensure that all the information stemming from the Operations side is captured for billing/payment and financial statement reporting purposes. After all, the Postal Service needs to be paid for their good work, doesn’t it?Read More | <urn:uuid:6e98eb11-4671-457f-b9a9-d546c6268315> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://blog.uspsoig.gov/index.php/category/finances-cost-revenue/page/2/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368707435344/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516123035-00002-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.951603 | 861 | 1.835938 | 2 |
"I’ve always been interested in children with cerebral palsy, since I grew up with one. I want to start a charity, but I have no idea how to go about it. Any thoughts?" —Nicole
Charities are wonderful businesses to start! You're already on the right track by choosing something that you're passionate about. But charities are also a little more complicated than other businesses, since you’ll be taking money from people and there needs to be lots of documentation to prove that the money is really going to the cause.
I would first contact a lawyer and an accountant to discuss your idea. It may be a little tricky getting a hold of them because you're underage, so try asking your parents or teachers to help you contact them. If you're lucky, they may give you free help and advice because you're young and want to help! After that, get the word out on YouTube, Facebook, Twitter, and other social media sites. Good luck! | <urn:uuid:e6b6dc01-3b24-4340-8998-2f61de375d1a> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.seventeen.com/college/advice/zoe-damacela-money-advice-charity | 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 | 0.971681 | 202 | 1.53125 | 2 |
Greenville, SC (PRWEB) August 31, 2012
With the latest release of the commute iPhone app, “Daily Commute”, users now have new features and functionality to assist them in their travels. One key feature in this update is a new “Tips” feed. This feed is regularly updated with commute related tips and tricks from the original creators of the app.
Providing users with helpful information, co-creator Dr. Benton Cofer posted, “Few situations invoke panic and anxiety quite so quickly as oversleeping! I was reminded of this just this morning. A minor malfunction in my snooze function resulted in my over sleeping by about 30 minutes. What a way to start the day! What to do? After springing from my bed, I immediately opened Daily Commute on my iPhone, and pulled up my countdown timer. To my immediate relief, I found that I had ~ 50 minutes before I needed to leave the house. Whew! No problem.”
Giving commuters the tools and tips needed to be more productive, the user gets more out of life. The average American spends 25 minutes on their daily commute to work (one way), and there is an epidemic of stress related illness. “If you are commuting, you are not spending quality time with your loved ones. You are not exercising, doing challenging work, having sex, petting your dog, or playing with your kids (or your Wii). You are not doing any of the things that make human beings happy. Instead, you are getting nauseous on a bus, jostled on a train, or cut off in traffic,” says Annie Lowrey writing in Slate.com.
The commute iPhone app, “Daily Commute” has an easy to use interface allowing the technology to work for you. The app starts by prompting the user to input a name for the commute destination and desired arrival time. The user then starts the app upon leaving for work and stops it upon arrival. The app logs this data and the following day, uses this travel time to calculate a target time to leave for work. The touch of a button will bring up a full screen countdown timer. The background of the timer changes from green to orange and then from orange to red as the target time approaches.The user then repeats the process daily. As the app compiles data, it will then average this data to give a more accurate prediction. The app bases the user's predicted commute time on the best available data, so the more it is used the more accurate it becomes.The end result is a more consistent arrival time at work.
The commute iPhone app, “Daily Commute” also allows the user to input notes for each individual commute for later review. Trends in commute time can be analyzed in graphical readout as well as in tabulated form. Never before has the average commuter had the ability to easily generate usable data regarding commute time. Never before has there been an app that will use such data to make commuting more predictable and less stressful.
The app is currently available to download from the apple app store. The free version contains ads and limits the number of unique commute destinations to one. The commute iPhone app, Daily Commute may be upgraded by the user to the Pro version for 99 cents. The Pro version of the Commute eliminates ads and allows unlimited entry of unique commute destinations.
Valley Rocket was founded in 2011 as a tech startup in Greenville, SC. The company’s focus is on mobile application development for the iPhone, iPad and Android Platforms. ValleyRocket.com provides a custom app idea portal for individuals or businesses to submit ideas they have dreamed up.
Other applications in the portfolio consists of:
Alpha Calc iPhone / iPad App - The Alpha Calc iPhone and iPad Calculator App offers a new user interface for calculators that have been around for decades.
Bob Levy Radio iPhone / Android App - The Bob Levy Radio App provides access to a beautifully designed interface featuring “The After Breakfast Show” audio feed, links, stories and comments being discussed on air. | <urn:uuid:9c0205ea-0016-425f-8fe9-f3915fb2916f> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.prweb.com/releases/dailycommute/iphoneappupdate/prweb9859424.htm | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368702448584/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516110728-00039-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.932379 | 843 | 1.53125 | 2 |
Montessori Foundation staff and members of the International Montessori Council participate actively on the montessori_online Yahoo group, providing support and guidance to parents, Montessori guides and school leaders on a daily basis.
Click to join montessori_online
Discussion groups work by allowing members to send and receive emails to and from the other members of a group on any issue connected to the topic around which that discussion group is organized.
Yahoo Groups, the organization that manages the email broadcasting service, offers free membership, which allows users to read past messages or set their email delivery from individual emails to a daily summary of the topics that were discussed. In this case, members can participate in those discussions that interest them, without wading through those that do not.
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Last Updated (Thursday, 12 July 2012 14:03) | <urn:uuid:1a6a3285-f8e1-412c-b089-3143e8215292> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://montessori.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=285:online-forums&catid=43:about-the-foundation | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368698924319/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516100844-00022-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.946391 | 178 | 1.601563 | 2 |
More than 1,500 New Yorkers gathered today in Manhattan to mourn the death of a 32 year-old gay man, who was shot down on Friday just blocks away from the historic Stonewall Inn in an apparent act of anti-gay bias.
Black Enterprise Interviews 'Pariah' Writer/Director Dee Rees
Black Enterprise, the leading business, investing, and wealth-building resource for African Americans, profiled out filmmaker Dee Rees for National Coming Out Day. The writer and director of the feature film Pariah talked about the “coming out” process, the film’s main character, and how spirituality helped with her own journey.
Pariah is a coming-of-age story about an African-American teen named Alike, who is embracing her identity as a lesbian. It is a feature-length expansion of Rees’ award-winning short film that was screened at the 2008 Sundance Film Festival. The film opens in select movie theaters in New York, Los Angeles, and San Francisco on December 28 and nationwide in January 2012.
When Rees began writing the script six years ago, she was going through her own “coming out” experience.
“I started to become comfortable with who I was. But I didn’t know how to express that,” the 34-year-old tells Black Enterprise.
Rees has found self-acceptance and peace of mind in her faith. “If anything, it’s my spirituality that got me through the past six years. My spirituality and spiritual practice have actually gotten stronger than they were before going through this.”
Read more at BlackEnterprise.com.
This month the United States Supreme Court will issue decisions on two cases critical to marriage equality. GLAAD is working with media outlets and couples around the country to push for marriage. Follow GLAAD for up to date news about the Supreme Court's decision at www.glaad.org/marriage | <urn:uuid:1e95414b-6ccb-44f7-8c9d-be80455ee119> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.glaad.org/blog/black-enterprise-interviews-pariah-writerdirector-dee-rees | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368707435344/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516123035-00018-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.959122 | 410 | 1.828125 | 2 |
Exorbitant Privilege: The Rise and Fall of the Dollar and the Future of the International Monetary System. Barry Eichengreen. Oxford University Press 2011, pp. 215, $27.95 The Great Recession, precipitated in part by excessively low interest rates in the early 2000s, has caused more Americans to pay attention to monetary policy than they have in [...]
Exorbitant Privilege: The Rise and Fall of the Dollar and the Future of the International Monetary System. Barry Eichengreen. Oxford University Press 2011, pp. 215, $27.95
The Great Recession, precipitated in part by excessively low interest rates in the early 2000s, has caused more Americans to pay attention to monetary policy than they have in the past. Governor Rick Perry, former Speaker Newt Gingrich, and Congressman Ron Paul, to various degrees and in different ways, all made criticism of the Federal Reserve components of their presidential campaigns. Academics and policymakers have debated the necessity and wisdom of the Fed’s two quantitative easing initiatives. Unquestionably, the fiscal and monetary outlook of the United States is not nearly as rosy as it looked when President George W. Bush took office, a time when the United States was running a budget surplus.
Is the current situation in the United States so perilous, however, that we should worry about an imminent dollar crash? And if so, who would be to blame for an occurrence that would have far-reaching financial and geopolitical implications? In Exorbitant Privilege, a nuanced study of how the dollar became the international reserve currency and what the future might hold for the dollar, Barry Eichengreen concludes with his assessment, “that the only plausible scenario for a dollar crash is one in which we bring upon ourselves.” In contrast to those who contend that China can, or will, cause the dollar to crash, Eichengreen contends that the dollar’s fate is in our hands, making it “within our grasp to avoid the worst.” The United States, it would seem, is not a passive actor, merely biding its time before it is swept away by a rising China. Not yet anyway.
In this comprehensive and clearly written academic monograph, Eichengreen argues that, while the dollar is now by far “the most important currency for invoicing and settling international transactions,” this may not necessarily be the case in the future. According to Eichengreen, the dollar’s status as a reserve currency does not make as much sense now as it did fifty years ago when the United States was more economically dominant.
For much of the period since the Second World War, the United States benefitted from what former French finance minister Valery Giscard d’Estaing critically termed America’s ‘exorbitant privilege.’ The noted statesman was referring to Washington’s ability, due to the dollar’s sole status as the international currency, to run an external deficit amounting to the difference between what it must pay on its liabilities and the rate of return on the country’s foreign investments. In other words, cheap money from abroad allowed Americans to live beyond their means.
As specific examples of exorbitant privilege in action, the author cites how, in 2008, when the financial markets were in turmoil, Washington was able to borrow at low interest rates because foreign investors flocked to the dollar, believing it to be the safest currency at the time. Likewise, in 2010, when market volatility spiked, investors went for treasury bonds, lowering the cost of borrowing for the federal government and, subsequently, mortgage interest rates.
Eichengreen criticizes what he perceives to be the conventional wisdom regarding the dollar’s current status and its likely future. He contrasts the view that widespread use of a country’s currency internationally gives it geopolitical power with his belief that “it is a country’s position as a great power that results in the international status of its currency.” He also criticizes the notion that incumbency is exceedingly advantageous in the global competition for reserve currency status, citing how the dollar began to rival sterling by the mid-1920s shortly after the Federal Reserve system was established in the United States.
Most significantly, Eichengreen argues that, “the idea that the dollar is doomed to lose its international currency status is equally wrong.” Both the euro and the renminbi, he suggests, have their problems, arguing that, “the fundamental fallacy behind the notion that the dollar is in a death face with its rivals is the belief that there is room for only one international currency.” It is the author’s belief that the late twentieth-century, when the dollar reigned supreme as the world’s reserve currency, was unique by historical standards.
Eichengreen foresees the possibility of a global economy wherein countries bordering China may use the renminbi, countries close to the Eurozone utilize the euro, and countries transacting with the United States will make use of the dollar. Reserve currency status, therefore, may not be a zero-sum game. “The world for which we need to prepare,” contends Eichengreen, “is thus one in which several international currencies coexist.” The dollar may have future international competition, he suggests, but it won’t decline just yet because of external pressure from China.
In conclusion, the dollar is not about to crash tomorrow. Eichengreen is most likely correct in his contention that, “the plausible scenario for a dollar crash is not one in which confidence collapses on the whims of investors or as the result of a geopolitical dispute but rather because of problems with America’s own economic policies. The danger here is budget deficits out of control.” Sobering words indeed.
Jon Lewis (c) 2012 | <urn:uuid:af48429f-d10e-42c2-8d7f-03ca3f11ab91> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://financialreviewofbooks.com/2012/01/the-dollar-abides/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368711005985/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516133005-00035-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.949341 | 1,218 | 1.734375 | 2 |
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