text
stringlengths 211
22.9k
| id
stringlengths 47
47
| dump
stringclasses 1
value | url
stringlengths 14
371
| file_path
stringlengths 138
138
| language
stringclasses 1
value | language_score
float64 0.93
1
| token_count
int64 54
4.1k
| score
float64 1.5
1.84
| int_score
int64 2
2
|
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Since my post last week when we unplugged the fridge I’ve gotten a lot of questions (mainly on my facebook page) about meat. Are we vegetarian? Are we switching to raw foods? How do we plan to keep meat from going bad? What about lunch meat?
Well, it’s pretty simple. No we’re not vegetarian or switching to a raw food diet. And we don’t store meat in the icebox (or the fridge). Rick is a hunter. The majority of our meat is some kind of game meat, mainly elk right now. And we process his annual fall harvest (meaning we butcher and package the meat) ourselves. That means all our meat is in vacuum-sealed packages, appropriately sized for our family.
When meat is on our menu, roughly three days a week in the summer time, I go out to the chest freezer in the garage, retrieve the prescribed package of protein and let it defrost on a plate on the counter, just in time to get cooked up for dinner. If it’s a hot day in the summer and it defrosts quickly (we don’t have AC, I know you’re shocked), I put the plate in the fridge. This is what I’ve always done in the past. I plan to use the exact same method with the new icebox set up.
We generally don’t buy much in the way of meat from the grocery store. It’s difficult to find humanely raised meat sources that don’t cost an arm and a leg. That chicken we ate last week – regardless of it’s toughness, totally made Henry’s night – he loves chicken and we rarely eat it. Lunch meat/deli meat is generally very processed and full of nitrates and preservatives. Not very good for you in other words, and we basically never buy it. The one meat we find ourselves bringing home periodically is bacon or bratwurst (the nitrite free kind on both counts). But these are specific menu items that get used within a day or two of coming home from the store, and are a treat for us. I don’t foresee a problem making half a pound of bacon last a day or two in the icebox.
When I announced this project, my mom, who really does think I’ve lost it completely, asked about the Thanksgiving turkey. Well, luckily for the experiment, Thanksgiving isn’t in May. But if it were and I were in charge of the turkey, I imagine I’d either buy it fresh a day or two ahead and keep it in the icebox (or a cooler with ice packs?) until T-day, use the cold water method to defrost it, or, as a last resort, ask the bachelor neighbor who runs a nearly empty fridge anyway to use his.
The other question a few people asked me (people who admitted they hadn’t been following along from the beginning) was where would we get the ice, since the fridge was unplugged and we were using the freezer compartment as a cooler? The answer to that one is from the freezer in the garage. We have two freezers in the garage, an upright and a chest freezer. They are both full come September/October. By the spring, we can usually consolidate to one and unplug the other.
Sadly, even the old 1980′s chest freezer is running more efficiently than our refrigerator was, and we would be running the freezer regardless of this experiment. Our freezer contains a whole elk and countless pounds of frozen peaches and plums (around 200 pounds of fruit alone went in last September). There are a handful of ducks from the winter, grouse from the fall, and a few fish from the summer time. It holds all our excess farm and garden veggies that weren’t otherwise canned or dehydrated, though we’ve consumed nearly all of those by now. In years past, when hunting’s been slim, we’ve bought whole pigs or a side of beef from local farmers. Basically, we couldn’t eat sustainably on our budget without a freezer. And, there’s room enough in the freezer for a couple of gallon-jugs of ice to use in our experiment.
So far, the switch hasn’t actually been too drastic. I’ve found myself accidentally opening the refrigerator door to reach for the milk, only to find an empty cavern. And I’ve made a conscience effort to collect and return items from the icebox all at once for recipes (let’s see, I need cheese, yogurt and the cucumber) in order to keep it as cool as possible in there. It’s basically like using a cooler, or as CitySister said in the comments last week, it’s like camping! | <urn:uuid:e704311b-8f41-4b70-8701-e3c7d28a56a5> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://lazyhomesteader.com/2011/05/10/wheres-the-meat/?like=1&source=post_flair&_wpnonce=4e28c04ab9 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368704713110/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516114513-00037-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.95893 | 1,016 | 1.632813 | 2 |
Related to the quest for a ViewPoint like system, it might be interesting to keep in mind the possibility of a wiki in which pages could be forked (or branched) into multiple concurrent versions.
Problems this helps to solve:
See also MergingAutomatically?. See also the Arch revision control system and its fancy merge schemes.
I should note that although I am moderately interested in this for normal wikis as an EditConflict resolution method for high traffic sites (such as a wiki news site on the order of slashdot), I’m also interested in it for CommunityProgrammableWiki.
Note that a CVS based wiki would also allow branches whose origin is past versions of a page. I can’t see what good this does, though (outside of the CommunityProgrammableWiki context); I guess this emergent “feature” wouldn’t be used much.
Also, according to my understanding of CVS, you can’t easily “forget” old VersionHistory, right? So the forgetting part of KeptPages would have to be added as an extra feature (and in the case of CommunityProgrammableWiki, could be subverted). But the WaybackMachine? at InternetArchive allows subversion of ForgiveAndForget anyway if you really care, so that doesn’t bother me.
I had a similar idea, “alternatives”, where you could make an alternative paragraph or section or page. You could use this for language tranlations for instance. Or with different terminology or something. Or just a competing version (useful for something like wikipedia?). This could also let you set up a possible merge or change but not finalize it quite yet. Alternatives would be identified with some attributes that you could select, e.g. in a cookie, so each page request selects the alternatives you want. But there would still be a main or original version. This lets the UI be a bit less confusing perhaps.
See also Wiki:ChangeManagementAppliedToWiki.
See also HighTrafficWiki.
You may want to see also Wiki:VersionControlAppliedToWiki, although I don’t think there’s much on that page that’s needed here.
The point is that branching is easier: less likely to step on someone’s toes, less work, and you are still contributing – so you get the good feeling of doing something for the community. I think that refactoring is the most essential thing in the wiki – the point is to be forced to do it in order to speak. This way you not only have to try and understand the text of others, but you also need to actually think about what is good and bad in it and how to improve it. It’s a different way of thinking than the one needed for conversation or essay writing. Of course, not all wikis are like that and branching may be exactly the thing they need. At the same time at other wikis branching might just provide an easy way out of conflict – way that doesn’t lead to mutual understanding and even agreement.
That does make sense, Radomir. If you make both available, it is probably likely that most people will take the PathOfLeastResistance.
I wonder, though, if there may be applications where branching is preferable? I can think of some examples, such as a psychology experiment, where you might ask people to write conceptualizations. But, then again, I guess you really don’t need wiki in particular for those applications. So, “branching” could be accomplished via an application like Drupal’s “book” module, which lets users create “child” pages off of a main page, for instance, and creates a built in navigable hierarchy. The only process that might come close could be a like a “branch merging” process. But this would be limited, I think. And refactoring in wiki would actually be quicker.
So, I agree with you Radomir, that wiki is better used in a refactoring pattern, than a “branching” pattern. I also agree with you about the way that refactoring forces you to think about the content. | <urn:uuid:bbab0644-8094-43be-ad24-5a35ae7fc69f> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.communitywiki.org/BranchingWiki | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368703682988/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516112802-00028-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.937985 | 896 | 1.5625 | 2 |
Where to stay and
what to do in
The town of Sisters is located in the foothills of the Oregon Cascades in one of the fastest growing regions in the state. Situated approximately 30 miles outside of Bend and surrounded by the Deschutes National Forest, the town has gained a reputation for superb recreational opportunities. Mountain biking is particularly popular in this area.
The Sisters Ranger District maintains more than 50 trails ranging from expert- to novice-level terrain. Birding, horseback riding, fly fishing and river rafting are also ideal in the Deschutes National Forest's high, arid terrain.
Named after three nearby mountains, Faith, Hope and Charity (now referred to simply as "The Three Sisters", the origins of the town date back to the late 1800s and the establishment of a military installment called Camp Polk. The town's name was officially changed to "Sisters" in 1888, yet residential growth remained slow until 1901, when the city was platted. In 1923, fire swept through the city, destroying half its infrastructure. Although many of the town's residents left, a few stayed to see it rebuilt and in 1946, the town of Sisters was officially incorporated.
These days, its old West motif and vintage storefront facades add to its fame. Surrounded by tall, sweeping landscapes of Ponderosa pines and spectacular mountain vistas, Sisters has become one of Oregon's premier small-town destinations. Its vibrant art community is supported by more than 10 different galleries and numerous arts and music festivals. Jazz, folk music, art shows and Native American arts presentations are featured each year.
Accommodations in Sisters include resort-style ranches, inns, hotels and motels. Sisters' varied cuisine and proximity to the city of Bend provide almost unlimited choices for dining, attractions and enjoyable evening entertainment.
Go Northwest! Bookstore
Best selection of books on the Northwest.
Oregon Atlas & Gazetteer by Delorme. Beautiful, detailed, large-format maps of every state. Perfect for home and office reference, and a must for all your vehicles. Gazetteer information may include: campgrounds, attractions, historic sites & museums, recreation areas, trails, freshwater fishing site & boat launches, canoe trips or scenic drives. Order now...
Moon Oregon, 8th Edition by Judy Jewell and W. C. McRae. Created by local writers and photographers this guide provides in-depth history, culture and character of Oregons most spectacular destinations, covering everything there is to see and do plus full-color photographs; topical essays and literary extracts; detailed color maps; and capsule reviews of hotels and restaurants. Order now...
Fodor's Oregon, 5th Edition (Full-Color Gold Guides) by Fodor's. Fodor's helps you unleash the possibilities of travel by providing the insights and tools you need to experience the trips you want. While you're always at the helm, Fodor's offers the assurance of our expertise, the guarantee of selectivity, and the choice details that truly define a destination. Order now...
Oregon: An Explorer's Guide 3d Edition by Denise Fainberg. New color highlights make it easier to find the info you need. Includes: getting there, getting around, what to see, what to do, green space, family activities, where to stay and eat, entertainment, selective shopping, special events, and more. Color highlights throughout, 100 black-and-white photographs. Order now...
Go Northwest!® gonorthwest.com (tm)
gonorthwest.com (tm) and GoNorthwest.com (tm) are trademarks of Go
All original text, maps, photographs, and other images on this web site, as well as the compilation and design thereof, are
Copyright © 1997-2013 Go Northwest, LLC. All rights reserved. | <urn:uuid:3e5c8eb0-b5ac-46ed-b50b-d703e0fc8720> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.gonorthwest.com/Oregon/cascades/Sisters/sisters.htm | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368700958435/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516104238-00041-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.942662 | 788 | 1.53125 | 2 |
I'm dismayed to see that there's any question whatsoever about voting YES on Proposition 37 (label GMOs). Both Conservative and Progressive groups have come out strongly in favor of food transparency to insure a level playing field for our free market economy.
There is a massive disinformation campaign going on from every outlet -- TV, radio, mass mailings -- being funded by the same folks who told us DDT, PCBs and Agent Orange are safe (they're not), and none of what they're saying is true. Stanford University even forced them to take one commercial off the air because they represented the spokesperson as a Stanford professor, which he wasn't. That should tell you all you need to know about the opposition's integrity. And the latest, the opposition is falsely posing as the Democratic Party and making fake endorsements which the Democratic Party does NOT agree with. Here are the real Democractic Party endorsements, including YES on PROP 37! And all the overall Yes on 37 endorsements.
I've been working on Prop. 37 almost since its inception and would like to set the record straight:
Genetically-engineered food products (GMOS) defined: For one example, Bt-corn has the gene of a pesticide artificially inserted into it in a laboratory. When an invading insect eats Bt-corn, its gut walls disintegrate until it dies from its own stomach bacteria. Then they sell it to us as food. The food folks at the FDA don't regulate Bt-corn, but, here's the best part, the Environmental Protection Agency DOES regulate it... as a pesticide. And corn is in everything: corn chips, corn flakes, soda pop, candy, high-fructose corn syrup, and a massive list of additives that goes on and on.
I want the ability, through labeling, to choose not to eat a pesticide.
Health effects of GMOS - The companies who sell GMOs claim patent protection and will not allow long-term health studies to be performed by independent entities. Beside, there is no control group. We are all eating genetically-engineered food products without our knowledge. The FDA and USDA have former GMO corporate execs at the helm, which is a major conflict of interest and why the federal government bureaucracies haven't moved on labeling.
Proposition 37 is a well-written, well-researched proposition, put together by a diligent group of food industry, food policy, farm, science and health experts, several of whom I know and trust implicitly.
Proposition 37 specifically only addresses genetically-engineered crops sold whole or as ingredients in other food items, to make it as easy as possible for stores and companies to comply. These crops include: corn, soybeans, canola, sugar beets, cotton, Hawaiian papaya, some zucchini, and crookneck squash. California law requires that ballot measures only address one state code at a time. Items not included in Proposition 37 – alcohol, meat and restaurants (prepared food) – are covered by different state or federal codes and therefore do not apply.
There is a strong precedent to Proposition 37 in the U.S.: The 2004 Food Allergen Labeling Act protects consumers by requiring labeling of possible allergens like peanuts, soy and dairy. When Congress approved it, the same food companies objected and made the same claims, yet, when the Act went into force, stores and companies complied, prices remained stable, there was no excessive or abusive litigation, and consumers had more information with which to protect themselves (we have all seen the labels, “This product made on equipment which may have once touched peanuts”).
Proposition 37 offers no economic incentives for lawyers to sue. The only new enforcement provision added by Prop. 37 allows a consumer to sue only for an order to force required labeling to take place – not to recover any money at all. Consumers cannot file a class action without first giving notice, and if the defendant fixes the labels, then no class action is permitted. Any penalties from a violation go only to the state, not the plaintiff or lawyer.
Proposition 37 does not include a “bounty hunter” provision like Proposition 65, which lets the plaintiff keep one-quarter of any civil penalty on top of an award of attorney’s fees. The same chemical companies making claims about lawsuits are themselves suing farmers across the country for saving their own seeds.
Enforcement - The California State Department of Health would be responsible for regulating the labeling requirements as a part of their normal operating procedures. The state Consumer Legal Remedies Act would cover individuals who bring suit on genetic engineering labeling violations.
Food prices remained stable when the European Union required the labeling of GMOs ten years ago. Sixty-one countries across the globe either label GMOs or ban them completely, including Australia, Brazil, Japan, Peru, India, China and Russia. Why on Earth do people in Russia and China have more rights to know what’s in their food than we do? That’s not the country I grew up in.
Creates extra paperwork for retailers? As mentioned, there are only 8 GMO crops that retailers will have to label themselves. Otherwise, it's up to the company producing the processed food boxes. Besides, they already label them on the produce they sell with the PLU codes developed by the Produce Marketing Association. So-called "conventionally grown fruit" has a label with 4 numbers. Anything organic or genetically-engineered has an extra number. Organic starts with a "9" and genetically-engineered starts with an "8." Organic bananas are 94011, for example. It's FOOD, they already keep tight paperwork. That's how they track an e-coli outbreak back to a certain corner of a certain field. Anyone who believes farmers who use GMO seeds don't already keep reams of paperwork to address the patent protection situation, aren't paying attention.
The grassroots effort that became Proposition 37 was started by a fearless, feisty grandmother from Chico, Pamm Larry, who couldn’t believe that genetically-engineered foods weren’t already being labeled. She called together some friend to help, those friends became a people’s movement which gathered nearly a million signatures to get her GMO labeling initiative on the ballot this Tuesday.
If you have other questions or concerns, I would be happy to address them. This is one of the most important issues of our time and California has the opportunity to lead the way towards greater transparency and a more level playing field (organic farmers are not federally subsidized; GMO farmers are via the Farm Bill), which is what would make the most healthy free market system.
To summarize: VOTE YES ON PROP. 37!
To learn more:
Farmers support Prop 37
NY Times editorial: http://opinionator.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/09/15/g-m-o-s-lets-label-em/ | <urn:uuid:d02a8079-0cc0-48e5-882a-b77493a22f94> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://arcadia.patch.com/groups/andy-shraders-blog/p/bp--patch-blog-yesonprop37 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368711005985/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516133005-00000-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.953627 | 1,428 | 1.828125 | 2 |
Kashmiri man sets himself on fire to protest ban
SRINAGAR, India (AP) — A Kashmiri Indian man set himself on fire Friday to protest a police ban on religious processions marking the Muslim month of Muharram in Indian-controlled Kashmir’s main city.
Police said that the man suffered minor injuries and was been detained.
During Muharram, Shiite Muslims commemorate the seventh century martyrdom of Imam Hussein, the Prophet Muhammad’s grandson.
Authorities imposed a curfew in at least at three places in Srinagar fearing the religious processions would turn into anti-India protests.
Police said that clashes erupted when troops tried to stop groups of Shiite Muslims from gathering.
Large public gatherings have been banned in Indian Kashmir since the outbreak of an armed insurgency against Indian rule in 1989. | <urn:uuid:028f2ba3-2463-4e93-a8ec-ee6845205de0> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.boston.com/news/world/asia/2012/11/23/kashmiri-man-sets-himself-fire-protest-ban/oKFb81P06u6eIOdNUKwhOM/story.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368696381249/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516092621-00001-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.938333 | 172 | 1.539063 | 2 |
February 17, 2011
Charity at Work
Between a demanding career, a personal life and being a multitasking maven, free time can seem like a luxury. However, making time to volunteer and help others can have a tremendous impact on your leadership skills – and your life.
Despite her high-powered job as Vice President at MetLife in Individual Distribution, Diane Brennan has been a hospice volunteer for the last three years, mostly visiting with individuals in the final stages of their terminal disease and their families.
"While many think volunteering takes time from my career, it actually makes me a better leader," says Brennan. She adds that nights at hospice have brought her respect from coworkers and taught her
the importance of listening, that time is a gift and how everyone needs a support system. “We all get caught up in hectic schedules, multitasking and wondering where the time goes. My volunteer work has taught me to slow down.”
Find your charity:
A recent German study found a definite positive relationship between the amount of time spent volunteering and the participants' satisfaction, work performance and amount of learning experiences.
Experts say volunteering shows the boss you can succeed in different environments. It teaches about motivating others without a monetary incentive, how to keep meetings concise and ways to better prioritize needs at work and at home.
Local directories within the Hands on Network and United Way list volunteer opportunities relevant to your career that fit your schedule.
Bonus PINK Link: Find out the benefits of your core business being linked to a good cause.
By Muriel Vega
"We often take for granted the very things that most
deserve our gratitude." Cynthia Ozick | <urn:uuid:6e02b536-4c5d-4b64-9567-5f5a71c25e3e> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://littlepinkbook.com/little-pink-book/life/charity-at-work | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368710006682/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516131326-00015-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.961395 | 342 | 1.585938 | 2 |
The Pen, The Man, The Moon
His name was Melvin Way, or Melvin “Milky” Way, or as he signed on the form to consent for our interview: Melvin, Whay., Way. I had planned to meet with the artist on a Sunday afternoon in late December—the same day that New York City had one of the worst snowstorms in its history. When I called Melvin in the morning to confirm our appointment, he said something about not being able to make it because he was “in the process of flipping calendars.” I envisioned Melvin Way enraptured in a frenzy of epic art-making that might somehow convey the heaviness of time passing, moments lost. When I asked Melvin if he could tell me more about that process, he simply said: “Sundays are hyper—my natural high.”
My initial reaction was to attempt to convince Melvin to change his mind. I was eager to learn about the man behind the art. Then, despite my best intentions, I decided that it was better to follow the direction of Melvin Way. We planned to get together for the interview several days later.
I had met Melvin Way once before, at his recent exhibit at the Hospital Audiences, Inc. (HAI) Gallery in Soho just a few weeks earlier. Melvin’s work was first discovered by HAI art instructor, Andrew Castrucci, at a homeless shelter on Ward’s Island in New York City almost twenty-five years ago. In my investigation of the artist, I learned a bit about the mystique of Melvin “Milky” Way, as well as his reputation of being difficult to work with.
Yet I found Melvin to be gentle and affable—eager to please, to engage, and to pull one into his world through his art; though, he certainly would not refer to the dozens of tightly condensed ballpoint drawings that adorned the walls of HAI as such a thing. As Melvin put it, proudly pointing to a centipede-like figure in one of his drawings, Key to Life, “I was ingesting this to be myself.” Indeed, much of the works of Melvin Way appeared to possess elements of both searching and self-discovery: a rigorous journey through a complex inner landscape—indefinable, yet with a sense of purpose.
According to most accounts of the artist’s history, Melvin Way has been living with schizophrenia for nearly four decades of his life. It was not clear exactly what Mr. Way understood this to mean. Perhaps the most he was able to intimate about this was that he went through a period of “amnesia” during much of his life. Memories, experiences, and realities at times here, at times gone. The way one might imagine waking from a dream in the middle of the night, bits and pieces pulsating and alive, yet mostly seen through a murky window of consciousness, an unspoken question about what exists in the world outside and what exists within.
After our initial failed attempt to meet, Melvin Way and I had planned to get together at a Chelsea diner in Manhattan. We had a lunch date set for twelve noon on December 31st, early enough to beat the masses heading further up north to the chaos of Times Square. When Melvin called on my cell phone to let me know that he had arrived forty-five minutes early, I suggested that he stop somewhere for a coffee until I could get to the diner.
Upon my arrival, Melvin mentioned that he did not stop for a coffee, and instead, pulled out a fifth of Hennesey tucked in a brown paper bag, offering me a sip before he poured some into his ice water. I politely declined. Though, for a moment, there was a part of me that thought: Hmmm, yes—that would be nice. The notion of getting away with something that one really ought not to be doing was dangerously appealing. I mean, why else do bitty children steal candy, or grown adults drive at 85 mph in a 55 mph zone, or church-going husbands and wives have deliciously wretched affairs? Well, I suppose we could argue that all of these things made us feel good, but—certainly, the element of danger could not be overlooked.
The more I got to know Melvin Way, the more I understood the significance that danger would play as it permeated Melvin’s world and as he, in turn, would make certain it permeated ours. In one particularly striking drawing by Way, the word LOKI appeared prominently in heavy black ink at the top of the drawing and at the very bottom was the phrase:
Evil, Wicked, Cunning,
It could easily be assumed that LOKI was a misspelling of loci, which seemed to make sense considering Way’s penchant for all things scientific. Yet upon further exploration, it was found that in Norse mythology, Loki represented a god who contrives evil and mischief for his fellow gods. It was, perhaps, no coincidence to discover that Loki was also a popular Marvel Comics villain who first appeared on the comic scene just a few years before Melvin Way was born. Loki’s “powers” are described by Marvel Comics:
Loki is immune to most physical injury, and can reattach severed body parts, including his own head. Loki can mystically imbue objects or beings with specific but temporary powers, and enhance the powers of superhumans. Loki can also magically create rifts between dimensions, allowing him or other objects passage from one universe to another.
One might ask what real or imagined dangers interrupted the life of Melvin Way. Were there perceived threats that he sought protection from? During our chat at the diner, Melvin appeared preoccupied with a large plant sitting on the open shelf just beside our table. He would very often glance at the plant in mid-conversation, look at me, and back at the plant again. This pattern repeated itself multiple times. One was left to wonder, were the complex formulas obsessively found in Melvin Way’s artwork some grand scheme for Melvin Way to free himself of such preoccupations? In one of his interpretations of such formulas, Melvin acknowledged that the elaborate schematics were the key to entering the realm of “time travel.” Indeed, a good deal of the works of art conceived by Melvin Way seemed to evoke a yearning for escape.
Many of Way’s drawings—typically the size of a standard postcard—were created with black or blue ink, sometimes red. These bold, heavy marks came in the form of unruly shapes and cryptic symbols, random letters and broken words, repetitive mathematical formulas and wonderfully rebellious diagrams that seemed to take delight in providing no real explanations. The viewer peering in might feel compelled to crane one’s neck, closer, closer, to decipher for oneself the intricate little puzzles that lie within these secret mazes.
For people, like me, with a deep interest in the study of mental illness, it was tempting to view Way’s artistic expressions as analogous to what is known in the psychiatric arena as “word salad,” a form of communication consisting of real and imaginary words often lacking definitive meaning. This phenomenon has been observed among select individuals living with untreated or more advanced forms of schizophrenia. Throughout the course of my ninety minute interview with the artist, Melvin Way’s thoughts would often wander to another place, his stories severed mid-sentence, as if ending with a series of ellipses…. or a question mark…. rather than with the finality of a period. Or the certainty of an exclamation point.
By the end of our meeting, I learned very little about the factual life of Melvin Way. It was as if he was a man of no roots, no real time or place, no rhyme or reason. And that was just the way he liked it. I learned to appreciate the far and away tangential places that Melvin Way would take me to, drop me off, then pick me right back up again, with a bright and eager smile, as if to say: “Hey YOU—where ya been?”
Similarly, Melvin Way’s painstaking artwork seemed to beg the very same question, as if searching for moments lost from the sudden striking of “amnesia,” all the gaping holes of memory that must be filled with something honest and pure…. perhaps, something that could only be created by instinct alone, that could only exist without the burden of order and rules.
Each ballpoint mark that Melvin Way left behind suggested a process of constant searching, sense-making, and self-discovery. Perhaps, quite literally, he was seeking answers to the question: “Hey YOU—where ya been?”
I wanted to tell him: We are all here, we are watching, we are listening, we are excited to be coming along on this ride with you. But just as I had the thought, Melvin says that he is like the Apollo, he is going to the moon.
And I suddenly realized that the rest of us were all left behind in our tiny little worlds, far less remarkable, looking up up up, watching, and waiting.
Marie Sabatino spends her days working in the field of mental health and much of her free time writing about people who oscillate between internal conflict and renewal—herself and loved ones included! Marie’s fiction and non-fiction work have appeared in various online and print magazines, including Word Riot, Mr. Beller’s Neighborhood and Bayou Magazine, among others. Her most recent piece, Melvin Way: The Man, the Pen, and the Moon, features a self-taught and visionary artist living with schizophrenia, which can be found here: http://www.riccomaresca.com/fluence/magazine.htm | <urn:uuid:dff4baa8-e223-436b-8f35-e04ece79ef29> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://freerangenonfiction.com/?page_id=1707 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368700958435/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516104238-00021-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.97736 | 2,037 | 1.671875 | 2 |
Lm Otero / AP
Meredith Havens looks at Volkswagens on Feb. 22, 2013, at a car dealership in Richardson, Texas. The average new car loan in the fourth quarter of 2012 was 65 months.
Auto loans have gotten longer.
Six- and seven-year loans are becoming an increasingly popular choice — and some lenders will even stretch out those payments eight years. These long-term loans allow buyers buy the vehicle they want with the monthly payments they can afford. But it also means they will pay more overall.
The average new car loan in the fourth quarter of 2012 was 65 months, according to Experian Information Solutions. That's a new record.
“It’s gotten ridiculous,” said Anthony Giorgianni, associate finance editor for Consumer Reports Money Adviser. “With a long-term loan you pay more interest because you’re paying off the loan over a longer period of time. And longer-term loans tend to have higher interest rates.”
Consumer Reports Money Lab ran the numbers on the purchase of a new car that cost $30,520, presuming a 10-percent down payment. They used loan rates from CapitalOne.com in mid-October 2012.
With a 48-month loan, the rate would have been 3.39 percent and the monthly payment $659. The longer 72-month loan would be at a higher interest rate – 3.99 percent – but the monthly payment would be significantly lower, just $462.
Consider the total cost: $34,702 for the shorter loan, $36,339 for the longer loan. That’s a difference of $1,637.
Jack Gillis, author of The Car Book 2013, advises buyers to look at the big picture, not just the monthly payment.
“A car is a bad investment, so you want to reduce the cost of ownership as much as possible,” Gillis said. “The best way to do that is to get a loan with as short of a term as you can possibly afford. The way I see it, that means no longer than a 48-month loan.”
Dealers and lenders don’t argue with the math, but they say longer loans let them better serve their customers.
“The more options people have in terms of how to structure their credit transaction, the better it is for them,” said Bill Himpler, executive vice president of the American Financial Services Association, the trade association for the consumer credit industry.
Low down payments can also hurt you
Interest rates on new car loans have been incredibly low for several years now and that’s resulted in lower down payments.
The experts at Edmunds.com believe 20 percent is the sweet spot for a down payment, but most car buyers are nowhere near that. According to their analysis of new and used car purchases, the average down payment in 2011 was about 11 percent.
“The faster you pay off the car, the better it is for you,” said Ronald Montoya with Edmunds.com.
That’s because cars depreciate most quickly when they are new. With a low down payment you’re not getting as much equity in the vehicle. In other words, you may owe more on the car than it’s worth.
“If anything happens to that vehicle in the first year or two – it’s in an accident or is stolen – you may owe some money out of pocket to the lender even after you get the insurance payoff.”
That’s called being upside down. The longer the loan, the longer the upside-down period is likely to be, especially if there’s a low down payment. If you need to sell or trade-in the car for some reason when you’re still upside down, you won’t get enough for it to pay off your existing loan.
The bottom line
The shorter the loan and the bigger the down payment, the less that vehicle will cost you to own. It will also reduce the risk that you will lose money from an early sale or trade-in, accident or theft.
Don’t fixate on the monthly payment; that’s what the dealer wants you to do. Consider the total cost of the deal during the life of that loan.
“Our rule of thumb: Buy a car that you can get with a loan of no more than 48 months and keep that car at least as long as it takes to pay off that loan,” said Giorgianni at Consumer Reports. “If you have to go more than four years to get the payments where you need them, get a used car or get a lower cost car.”
It’s also important to comparison shop around for the loan, just as you shopped for the car.
“Before you go into the dealership, make sure you know what sort of rate you can get from your bank or credit union, so that you know if the rate at the dealership is better,” Gillis advised.
- Consumer Reports Money Adviser: Low Car Payments Can Hurt You
- Edmunds.com: How Much Should a Car Down Payment Be? | <urn:uuid:2ecbf13e-ecf3-42e8-87f1-88b93c5a59b7> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://lifeinc.today.com/autos | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368700958435/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516104238-00008-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.968035 | 1,095 | 1.78125 | 2 |
WILLMAR -- Owners of aging Mooney aircraft are having their leaky fuel tanks repaired with a unique process developed by a local business at Willmar Municipal Airport.
The process removes the old sealant in the fuel tank with a chemical stripper that's sprayed into the tank by a special machine. The chemical strips the old sealant down to bare metal. The tank is then washed, dried and resealed, adding many years of useful life to the aircraft.
The process replaces the task of scraping out the old sealant by hand -- and nicking one's knuckles on rivets and sharp edges. The task is more difficult because Mooney fuel tanks are part of the airplane's structure and cannot be removed. Access to the tanks is gained by removing panels from the underside of the wing.
Paul Beck, 39, has been using the chemical process for more than 10 years. His company is called Weep No More.
A "weep,'' according to Mooney maintenance manuals, is the smallest of four types of leaks that if not repaired can lead to a large leak that renders the plane no longer airworthy. Weep also refers to the thoughts of an owner with a leaking fuel tank.
The combination of the two stuck and it's worked very well. Beck said his company has become well-known on an international basis.
"It's a process we pretty much have the corner of the market on,'' says Beck. "We're pretty much the only ones that do it chemically. There is a company in Florida that does it the old scraping method. It takes forever and you never get all of it out. This way you're down to bare aluminum and can build the tank back up in a 3-step process of sealing to get it back to a state where it will last 30 years again.''
Beck, a 1991 graduate of New London-Spicer High School, started working in 1995 for Bruce Jaeger, who owned Willmar Air Service at the time. Jaeger was a long-time Mooney dealer and is a well-regarded Mooney expert.
Before switching to the chemical process, Beck scraped leaky tanks with handheld pieces of old aircraft windshields honed to an edge and small picks and screwdrivers. He often scuffed and bloodied his knuckles.
"It was a disgusting job,'' he recalls.
From the beginning, Beck wanted to help Mooney owners because leaking fuel tanks and few repair options were compromising the value of the entire Mooney fleet. There are more than 10,000 Mooney airplanes worldwide, including more than 6,000 in the United States -- the majority of which were built from the mid-1960s through the 1970s.
"We knew there was a need for fuel tank work on Mooney aircraft,'' said Beck. "The fleet was being compromised due to leaky fuel tanks.''
Experts say leaky fuel tanks are not unique to Mooneys, but certain conditions such as leaving the plane in a hot environment, leaving tanks empty or dry, and stress from touchdowns cause older sealant to become less flexible and result in leakage.
Beck said he and Jaeger began investigating the chemical process in 2000. They found a chemical that works and developed the equipment to perform the process. After a trial-and-error period, the process took off about seven to eight years ago. Beck switched from being a regular federally-licensed airframe and power plant technician to full-time fuel tank serviceman for Willmar Air Service.
In October 2008, Jaeger sold Willmar Air Service to Brian Negen, who renamed it Maximum Cruise Aviation. In December 2010, Beck bought the fuel tank shop from Negen and became his own boss.
Beck says the chemical process speeds up repairs. He can strip and reseal about five airplanes in the 90 hours that it formerly took to do one plane by hand.
Mooney owners spread the word and Beck's business grew. In 2003-2004, Beck and Jaeger decided to advertise and work really took off. Right now it's a one-man shop working seven days a week, but Beck's looking to expand.
"It gets to be a lot of work but it's fun because we're known around the world. We'll be starting the process in Europe, based out of Amsterdam, The Netherlands. The Netherlands will take care of France, Germany, The Netherlands, doing the same process over there,'' said Beck.
"They have 800 Mooneys and 799 of them leak.''
Mooney aircraft owners need no longer 'Weep' over fuel leaks thanks to unique process developed locally | <urn:uuid:6de45b94-a068-42e4-b05f-35bd8fde2703> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.wctrib.com/content/mooney-aircraft-owners-need-no-longer-weep-over-fuel-leaks-thanks-unique-process-developed?qt-latest_trending_article_page=0 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368696382584/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516092622-00003-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.975942 | 943 | 1.726563 | 2 |
Radio Smart Talk is a daily, live, interactive program featuring conversations with newsmakers and experts in a variety of fields and exploring a wide range of issues and ideas, including the economy, politics, health care, education, culture, and the environment. Radio Smart Talk airs live every week day at 9 a.m. on witf’s 89.5 and 93.3.
Listen to Radio Smart Talk live online from 9-10 a.m. weekdays.
Hosted by: Scott LaMar
TV Smart Talk: From politics to economy, from health care to the environment, WITF's TV Smart Talk covers the issues and ideas that matter to you. It's never been easier to discover and share the news and information of your world and ours.
Hosted by: Nell McCormack Abom
Harrisburg's gaping sinkhole on North Fourth Street is a huge reminder of the peril facing residents in cities and towns across the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania.
Thousands of miles of underground pipes that carry water, gas and sewage throughout our communities are more than 100 years old. On top of that, Pennsylvania’s geology is susceptible to erosion. It is, in short, a multi-billion-dollar and multi-layered problem that's crippling cash-strapped communities. We’ll explore the depths of Pennsylvania’s sinkhole situation and what to do about it on Smart Talk, Thursday night at 8 on witf TV. Join the conversation!
Freshman State House Representative Patty Kim, a Democrat from the city of Harrisburg, will join the panel. She appeared on Radio Smart Talk earlier this week and said Harrisburg's sinkholes are "like a time bomb." Residents of the 2100 block of N. Fourth Street were without water and sewer service for more than a week after a water main broke and a massive pit opened in the middle of the street. More than 40 steel plates cover smaller sinkholes across the city. In Lebanon County, residents of Palmyra have struggled for years with disruption caused by inadequate stormwater pipes and cavernous sinkholes. William Kochanov, a senior geologist at the PA Department of Conservation and Natural Resources, will talk about the geology of Central PA and why limestone is a major contributing factor to the prevalence of these sinkholes.
Pennsylvania American Water Company is the largest regulated water utility in the Commonwealth. It provides water and wastewater services to more than two million Pennsylvanians in 390 communities. Kathy Pape, president of PAWC, will share her insights on the complexity of fixing Pennsylvania’s aging water infrastructure. She gained even more perspective on the issue after serving on former Democratic Gov. Ed Rendell’s Sustainable Water Infrastructure Task Force in 2008. The Task Force found that Pennsylvania had a $36.5 billion shortfall in capital repairs and upgrades needed for water and wastewater systems over the next 20 years.
Pennsylvania Public Utility Commissioner Wayne Gardner also is a member of the Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (Natural) Gas Pipeline Safety Standards Committee. Pennsylvania communities have experienced disastrous gas-leak explosions that have claimed lives and destroyed property. He will share his expertise with us.
At the center of the problem is how to pay for the fixes. Other states like Georgia permit utilities to impose surcharges on customers' utility bills to fund quicker modernizations to their systems. In 1997, Pennsylvania began allowing regulated water companies to enact a distribution system improvement charge. The typical residential customer pays about $2.75 a year for the DSIC which helps fund modernization of water lines. For example, 80 miles of main a year can be replaced instead of just 30 miles. Last February, Gov. Corbett signed into law Act 11 which allows regulated electric, natural gas distribution, and wastewater companies to impose a DSIC on their customers. According to the statute, the DSIC must be designed to provide for, "the timely recovery of the reasonable and prudent costs incurred to repair, improve or replace eligible property in order to ensure and maintain adequate, efficient, safe, reliable and reasonable services."
Here's the problem: These laws do not affect municipal- and authority-owned utility systems. The Harrisburg Authority operates the city's water system. So, how can cities like Harrisburg, already struggling with potential bankruptcy and heavy debt, fix their public water systems? Would their residents be willing and able to pay more for safer gas, sewer and water lines, and if so, how much more? We welcome your comments. Call in live to 1-800-729-7532, email [email protected], post a comment to this article, or to Facebook or Twitter.
(This article has been updated to include Mr. Kochanov's appearance on the panel.)
Published in Smart Talk
Call us weekdays between 9 and 10 a.m. at
Email us at
Post a comment to our Facebook page
Support for witf is provided by: | <urn:uuid:d94ea83a-486a-4bc0-8663-c5901b1f239c> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.witf.org/smart-talk/2013/01/tv-smart-talk---the-sinkhole-solution.php | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368706890813/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516122130-00006-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.937852 | 1,012 | 1.828125 | 2 |
Published in Surgery Litigation and Law Weekly, June 1st, 2007
This trend article about University of Munich, Germany, is an immediate alert from NewsRx to identify developing directions of research.
Study 1: A report, "Antithrombin and hypercoagulability in sepsis: insights from thrombelastography," is newly published data in Critical Care. According to recent research published in the journal Critical Care, "Antithrombin (AT) has been used for over 25 years to successfully treat disseminated intravascular coagulation (DIC). A four-day AT therapy in patients with DIC in the KyberSept trial has been related...
Want to see the full article?
Welcome to NewsRx!
Learn more about a six-week, no-risk free trial of Surgery Litigation and Law Weekly | <urn:uuid:dc02584c-017a-43d9-8797-25d646143ea7> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.newsrx.com/newsletters/Surgery-Litigation-and-Law-Weekly/2007-06-01/46060120071062SLL.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368710006682/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516131326-00018-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.939477 | 177 | 1.757813 | 2 |
LONDON, March 12 Global banking regulators will examine whether their new rules forcing lenders to hold more capital to absorb any future losses should be simplified after criticism that they are too complex to be effective.
Stefan Ingves, chairman of the Basel Committee on Banking Supervision, said a "vigorous debate" has developed over whether its rules, known as Basel III, strike the right balance between the ease of application and being sophisticated enough to make big banks safer.
Bank of England director of financial stability Andrew Haldane and Thomas Hoenig, director at the FDIC, a U.S. regulator, have said Basel III is too complex to work properly, prompting the committee to look again at its rules.
The global roll-out of Basel III began in January and will take six years but the European Union and United States have yet to formally implement the accord.
The committee will discuss a review when it meets on Wednesday. But Ingves warned it should not become an excuse to put off implementing Basel III or other reforms already agreed.
"It is too early to say how we will take this work forward," Ingves said in a speech released on Tuesday.
Some changes could be made to how trading books are supervised or supervision in general, he said. "And others might necessitate a deeper, longer-term review before we can decide on any solution, he said.
The committee will publish a discussion paper in the coming months that discusses some of the complex trade-offs that need to be made, Ingves, who also heads the Swedish central bank, added.
Copyright 2010 by Reuters. All rights reserved.
Copyright 2013 Thomson Reuters. Click For Restrictions | <urn:uuid:2c92d744-3ca2-4936-83bd-b76aecb75e57> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.banktech.com/regulation-compliance/banking-supervisors-may-seek-to-simplify/240150583?cid=SBX_banktech_related_commentary_Executive_insights/interviews_quickview&itc=SBX_banktech_related_commentary_Executive_insights/interviews_quickview | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368701459211/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516105059-00006-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.949194 | 348 | 1.59375 | 2 |
The following are some questions you may want to ask your oncologist.
- What is my lymphoma called?
- Is it B or T lymphoma?
- Does it grow fast or slow?
- What stage is the lymphoma in?
- What do you think will happen with my lymphoma in the future?
- What do my tests show?
- How do my results compare to normal?
- When will I need to take these tests again?
- Will you send copies of your notes and my test results to my family doctor?
- What is the goal of therapy for me?
- What kind of treatment do you think I will need?
- When do you think I will need treatment?
- What side effects should I expect from treatment?
- What can I do to help with side effects?
- Do I need to change my daily routine?
- What types of things should I call you about?
- What types of things should I call my family doctor about?
- How many lymphoma patients do you have?
- Is there a clinical trial that might help me?
- Will my treatment be paid for by my health plan (or Medicare)?
Last updated: 5/26/2010 11:18:15 AM | <urn:uuid:b030adf3-b8e6-405b-8ef0-5961bc6deb3d> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.cancer.ucla.edu/Index.aspx?page=612 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368708766848/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516125246-00008-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.949855 | 266 | 1.828125 | 2 |
One of the most significant moments in a parent's life is finding the perfect school for a child. Not just a good school; not just a school that blends compassion with discipline; not just a school that has a high standard of academics and an extraordinary display of extracurricular activities; not just a school with all the facilities a child's heart could desire and one that a parent feels a sense of satisfaction about every morning the child leaves, but a perfect school.
What is a perfect school?
One that puts the child first, and always. A school that believes that an educational institution is one where an individual is shaped for all time. Bishop Cotton Boys' School not only appreciates that sentiment, but also undertakes the awesome responsibility it represents. You can see that from the school motto itself.
The fact that Bishop Cotton Boys' School has been acknowledged as the No. 1 school among all metro schools in India, the best school in Bangalore and one of the three best schools in India, has come about through design, not by happy accident. It takes vision, hard work, consolidation and the ability to inspire those who teach within these walls and those that come to learn from them. I see the school not so much as a place where a child arrives, struggles through and then leaves happily for home, but a place the child would call another home. Learning here is not a question of textbooks alone. But when it comes to textbooks, we try to inculcate understanding first, and a love for the subjects under study. Of what worth is science without the understanding of what moves the cosmos? Of what worth is Shakespeare without an understanding of human nature? Of what worth is mathematics without an appreciation of the synchronicity of nature? And while our brand of textbook learning is going on, we try to open minds and hearts to the beauty of drama and music, the power of the body skimming through water and the strength of the mind as it works with the one machine that has revolutionised the way the world turns - the computer. Extracurricular activities? We prefer to call these further skeins of Cottons. Any visitor to the campus can get a feel of why Cottons is unusual, with its well-equipped science and computer labs, state-of-the-art auditorium, three playgrounds, swimming pool, canteen, boarding and transport facilities. Indeed, our students, all 5,000 of them (drawn from different backgrounds that represent India's diverse and rich culture), are proud flag-bearers of what Cottons represents.
Prof. John K. Zachariah | <urn:uuid:c85c48d7-bd9a-4fe4-8b69-6f31b2c1670b> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.cottonboys.com/static/general-welcome.php | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368708766848/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516125246-00036-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.959748 | 534 | 1.65625 | 2 |
The benefits and costs of privatisation were discussed at a recent meeting of the LSE Council. The discussion formed part of a wider consideration on the financial strategy on the School’s future, which is taking place at present.
Comparisons have been made between the financial strategy of the LSE remaining as a charity in receipt of government funding, and its financial strategy were it to become a private university.
The details are not yet public, but if the School became a for-profit private university, it could charge unlimited tuition fees and decline to accept government quotas on accepting students from poorer backgrounds. Furthermore, those choosing to study at a private university are not automatically eligible for government loans or bursaries to help cover their fees.
At present, public status protects many of the School’s services, including several operating below market prices and sometimes even below cost: widening participation schemes, the provision of scholarships, residences, and the nursery are four such examples. Public events and the Library are highlighted as being costly services which the School is obliged to provide as part of its remit as a government-funded charity.
It is public information that in its current state none of the surpluses (profits) of the LSE are distributed; instead, they must be reinvested back into the School’s operations. As a private institution the LSE would have more freedom to use its profits as desired and would not be obliged to invest any surpluses back into teaching and other educational services. This would be particularly relevant to the LSE given that it has for many years been running surpluses unlike those of its competitors.
A privatised LSE could also lift current caps on student enrolment numbers and expand its campus at a much faster rate, the review suggests. Currently, the School is at the upper limit of its quota after many years of growth.
A newly privatised LSE would be able to expand its population and this could explain the recent purchases of new buildings around Lincoln’s Inn Fields by the School. The Review notes that the current nature of universities means that takeovers or mergers are difficult, and how in its current state there is not much benefit to growth. In previous years there has been discontent among students about the rapid expansion of the LSE, with some complaining that it has lowered teaching standards. At his appearance at UGM last Michaelmas Term, the Director, Sir Howard Davies, admitted that the School had now reached the limits of its possible expansion, and that this growth had come at the expense of optimum classroom environments.
The main drawback to privatisation would be the loss of direct government funding for UK and EU students, the document adds. Even with the proposals of the Browne Review, many elite UK universities fear that the rise in tuition fees proposed by Lord Browne would not be enough to compensate for the 40% cut in the university teaching budget announced in the coalition government’s Comprehensive Spending Review last Wednesday. As a private university these predicted losses could be averted at the expense of students with higher tuition fees and fewer bursaries.
At present, the University of Buckingham, which is one of the only privately funded universities in the UK, still participates in important ratings such as the QAA, NSS and HESA. Currently home undergraduate fees for the university are around £17,000 for the whole course. In addition, students are eligible for student loans and bursaries from the government.
An arrangement similar to that of the University of Buckingham would remove some of the School’s own fears around privatisation. David Willetts, the Universities Minister, has previously signalled his desire for more private universities in the UK with the recent granting of “University College” status to BPP business and law colleges.
LSE Director Howard Davies has sought to discount the possibility of privatisation, commenting: “I have so far seen no arguments which convince me that the School and its students would be better off as a result of ‘going private’.” The School has separately released a statement, which asserts: “It is sensible to survey the financial landscape in its entirety to understand the position of the sector as a whole. But it would be entirely wrong to isolate any part of that survey and portray what is background information as a preferred course of action”.
Attempts at privatisation have met with opposition from the University and College Union (UCU) which found that 96% of professors are against private universities and many believe that they are a threat to academic standards. The head of the UCU, Sally Hunt, said: “In a world where young people are being locked out of the higher education system by slashes to government funding, our legitimate concern is that UK students will fall prey to the kind of mis-selling and profiteering scandals currently rocking the for-profit university sector in the United States.”
The LSE is not the only university thought to be considering privatisation, with reports this month that the University of Cambridge may pursue this course of action. Remarks were made last year by the previous Rector of Imperial College London, Sir Roy Anderson, who advocated that five of the most elite UK universities (LSE, Oxford, Cambridge, Imperial and UCL) go private to compete with the US Ivy League universities. Sheerman’s remarks prompted a backlash against him from many Higher Education stakeholders. | <urn:uuid:a8909157-064d-4e36-963a-9abb937c40df> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://thebeaveronline.co.uk/2010/10/25/3116/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368697974692/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516095254-00039-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.973893 | 1,102 | 1.835938 | 2 |
The newspaper's "Ghost Factories" series – which involved more than 14-months of reporting that was presented in an extensive online interactive website – received the association's Digital Storytelling and Reporting award in the large newspaper category. The award honors journalism that effectively uses the digital medium and its ability to engage users "in compelling new ways." The entire project and follow-up stories can be seen online at ghostfactories.usatoday.com.
The USA TODAY series revealed that federal and state environmental agencies were warned more than a decade ago that soil in hundreds of neighborhoods may be contaminated with dangerous levels of lead from factories that operated in the 1930s to 1960s, but had since closed and been forgotten with the passage of time. Yet officials did little to investigate many of the sites or warn people living nearby of the dangers to their children from playing in the dirt and putting dusty hands or toys in their mouths, the investigation found. Ingesting even tiny amounts of lead can cause lost intelligence, ADHD and other health problems, studies show. Soil testing by the newspaper found dangerous levels of lead in neighborhoods around several of the sites.
USA TODAY journalists created an online interactive site that gives users detailed findings about more than 230 factory sites, including providing historical maps documenting the factories in operation and interactive maps allowing users to examine more than 1,000 soil samples performed by the newspaper in 21 neighborhoods across the country. The interactive included extensive use of videos to further enhance the text stories and graphics. Thousands of pages of government documents about the old factories -- obtained by reporters in response to more than 140 open record requests – are posted in the interactive to empower readers to go deeper about sites of greatest interest to them.
Other winners in the contest included The Seattle Times, which won the Public Service Award for its investigation of the state of Washington's practice of steering people to methadone to reduce its Medicaid costs.
USA TODAY won the debut competition of APME's "Convergence" category 10 years ago for its "Clearing the Skies" package focused on U.S. aviation on the day of the Sept. 11, 2001, terror attacks.
Doug is an unrepentant news junkie who loves breaking news and has been known to watch C-SPAN even on vacation. He has covered a wide range of domestic and international news stories, from prison riots in Oklahoma to the Moscow coup against Mikhail Gorbachev. Doug previously served as foreign editor at USA TODAY. More about Doug
Michael Winter has been a daily contributor to On Deadline since its debut in January 2006. His journalism career began in the prehistoric Ink Era, and he was an early adapter at the dawn of the Digital Age. His varied experience includes editing at the San Jose Mercury News and The Philadelphia Inquirer. | <urn:uuid:1ebd5f0e-cfab-4c4e-8d6d-d2704431d354> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://content.usatoday.com/communities/ondeadline/post/2012/07/usa-todays-ghost-factories-series-wins-apme-top-award/1?csp=34news&utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+usatoday-NewsTopStories+%28News+-+Top+Stories%29 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368696383156/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516092623-00035-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.970116 | 562 | 1.6875 | 2 |
The EEOC’s suit charged that the Days Inn violated federal law when a supervisor subjected a female housekeeper to a sexually hostile work environment, including inappropriate sexual comments, physical assaults, and at least one attempted sexual assault. The EEOC also said that the housekeeper was discharged following her repeated attempts to complain about the harassment.
Such alleged conduct violates Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. The EEOC filed suit after first attempting to reach a voluntary settlement out of court through its conciliation process. The EEOC is seeking compensatory and punitive damages and an injunction enjoining Days Inn from further subjecting its employees to a sexually hostile work environment or retaliating against individuals who complain. | <urn:uuid:42a1c1d7-ed78-4b04-a1ec-369352146344> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://blog.epspros.com/2010/06/ann-arbor-days-inn-sued-by-eeoc-for.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368710006682/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516131326-00022-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.955071 | 141 | 1.507813 | 2 |
Four Years Among the Snow Leopards of Nepal
By Darla Hillard
Published by Smashwords
With sixteen pages of color photographs
Praise for the first edition:
....Hillard gives us a splendid vicarious adventure that ranges from enduring blizzards with only a tent for shelter to the elation of observing a leopard with cubs... Publishers Weekly
....Because she tells us straight away that the project was successful, it isn’t suspense that compels the reader; it is, rather, delight in the author’s ability to capture the monotonous serenity of daily life in the Himalayan wilderness. Booklist
....remarkable tale of extraordinary dedication, perseverance, and accomplishment... encompasses the people and personal adventure – the daunting climbs, ferocious snowstorms, and equally ferocious flies, bedbugs, and thorny plants ... Adventure, ecology, politics, heroes and villains – something for everyone here, even those afraid of heights. Kirkus Reviews
This is the extraordinary account of the first scientific expedition to radio-collar and study the elusive snow leopard in its natural habitat. Conducted between 1981 and 1985, the study remains the seminal work on the species. It is also a story of love and high adventure that provides a fascinating, affecting profile of a people inhabiting one of the most isolated and inhospitable regions in the world – the Kanjiroba Himal of western Nepal.
At thirty-two, Darla Hillard had worked as a secretary. She had no scientific training or obvious qualifications to become a member of the Snow Leopard Project – except for her determination and faith in Rod Jackson, the wildlife biologist with whom she fell in love.
In four field seasons in the dramatic Langu Gorge, Darla, Rod, and their team endured the snows of the worst winter in western Nepal’s living memory, monsoon rains that sent landslides and boulders tumbling through their study area, and the isolation and danger of being a two-week hike away from the nearest airstrip. They overcame the natural obstacles of the Langu Gorge’s precipitous terrain; Rod himself suffered a snow leopard bite that postponed the study for a month.
But out of these hardships and frustrations comes the reader’s shared euphoria of each successive capturing and collaring of five cats, producing a landmark study that has helped unlock many of the secrets to this imperiled creature’s survival in the wild, and a lasting affection for the hardy mountain people with whom the team lived.
This second edition includes an updated bibliography and a new Foreword, updating the reader on Rod’s and Darla’s personal lives and professional activities since Vanishing Tracks was first published in 1989.
The E-book is available from Smashwords in formats compatible with Kindle, Palm, and online reading.
Holiday Special, through December 20, enter the code ZN55L to get a 50% discount off the regualr price of $4.99. | <urn:uuid:fb0104e0-54f4-4bcc-b18b-20018f1ce17b> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.snowleopardconservancy.org/text/help/tracks.htm | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368696383156/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516092623-00035-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.932592 | 620 | 1.59375 | 2 |
General Prosecutor Francisco Dominguez said it was unacceptable that those prisoners received special treatment that regular inmates did not. High-profile inmates also are held apart from other prisoners, but Dominguez did not say if that practice would be ended, too.
It was the first time that Dominican authorities have put a stop to a longtime tradition of allowing inmates who could afford it to equip their cells with extras.
Dominguez noted that most high-profile inmates have been convicted of crimes that "allowed them to amass great financial fortunes with which they bought not only impunity, but certain benefits as well."
The practice first became an issue with the May 2009 killing of inmate Rolando Floria, who was serving a drug trafficking and murder sentence. The public learned that Floria's private cell had wood paneling, an LCD television set, Internet service, a small library and a private kitchen and he was allowed visits from prostitutes. Prison officials claimed not to know about Floria's perks.
None of the Dominican Republic's 21 prisons have general air conditioning despite the country's high temperatures, and the majority of the 22,000 inmates are barred from having laptops and | <urn:uuid:005aa9b1-ace5-4df7-8067-9993270dd6de> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.times-standard.com/ci_21655828/dominican-inmates-stripped-perks-amid-crackdown | 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 | 0.977626 | 234 | 1.617188 | 2 |
When I worked at the radio station we’d get a call now and then from Sam, a faithful caller who was also an American Indian. He began his calls the same way: “Migwich,” he’d say. If I recall correctly, it meant hello, let’s talk. Mostly he called about local absurdities, but if you wanted to talk about Indian culture, he was up for it. A low-key, kind, and fascinating man, perfect for late-night talk radio. He reminded us of the range of Indian cultures, how crude the “F-Troop” childhood stereotypes really were. Me Chief for many moon! Heap big wampum for braves! It’s like reducing all European languages down to Chaucerian English.
Anyway. The Boston Herald reports:
Elizabeth Warren was touting her claim of Cherokee heritage as early as 1984, according to a cookbook titled “Pow Wow Chow” edited by her cousin that includes Warren’s recipes for a savory crab omelet and spicy barbecued beans.
Warren, who has been under fire for claiming Indian lineage despite a lack of documentation, is identified as “Elizabeth Warren, Cherokee” under each of five recipes she contributed.
At this point that’s like a certain cartoon canine proffering a business card that reads “Wile E. Coyote, Genius.”
One Cherokee tribe genealogist said the cookbook was “Silly,” adding:
“Cherokees don’t even traditionally have powwows.”
Didn’t she get a twinge in the cheekbones when she was asked to contribute to the book? Heck no: she was 1/32nd Indian, which meant a deep soulful affinity for powwows and all that Indian stuff. You suspect Warren once fixed someone in the faculty lounge with a baleful stare and said “Don’t make me go on the warpath over this.” And whoever she was talking to nearly bit through his cheek to keep from laughing.
UPDATE: Elizabeth Warren has now clarified her biography, and says she was born in Kenya. | <urn:uuid:d43e9916-b50e-4830-8262-ba4ada86b873> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://ricochet.com/main-feed/Crab-Omelette-and-other-Native-American-dishes/(comment)/364798 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368698207393/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516095647-00023-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.971249 | 465 | 1.664063 | 2 |
Le Tour de France: Motivation to keep your heli-ski legs
by Becca Blay
Switching gears from the heliskiing season to the summer season can often be challenging if you’ve worked hard to keep your skiing legs strong. During
the summer months, the best way to maintain your ski fitness, is by switching gears while riding a bike. Fortunately, watching the Tour de France can not only be entertaining, but it can be extremely motivating as well. Skiing and cycling compliment each other and the benefits of cycling will pay off in face shots during the winter months.
Road biking in the summer helps to strengthen the stabilizer muscles around your knees and ankles. Riding at a base (easy pace) for the first month on the bike, will help to prevent injury in the future. Mountain biking will enhance coordination, agility and core strength. You can cater your rides in order to directly benefit skiing as well. For example, short power efforts on a mountain bike will help build strength that will directly translate to skiing, similar to doing squats. Hill repeats on a road bike, 8-15 min in length, will increase endurance and decrease fatigue throughout the day/week when skiing.
On top of the cardiovascular benefits that you will gain while riding, make sure to tap into a weekly core routine as well. If you have back pain while skiing, the summer months allow you to spend time doing crunches and sit ups, which in turn help relieve back strain. Typically if your back hurts, it is because your core is weak.
It is also important to stay limber in the off season as well. Stretching is key, and while you’re at it, remember that you don’t necessarily have to be at a CMH lodge to enjoy a massage. Treat yourself, you’re body will thank you in the long run. | <urn:uuid:a1295d6f-db35-4d08-86db-5672993c9807> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://blog.canadianmountainholidays.com/heli-ski-blog/bid/46846/Le-Tour-de-France-Motivation-to-keep-your-heli-ski-legs | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368698924319/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516100844-00011-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.942927 | 386 | 1.609375 | 2 |
Global Health Track - Kenya
Since 2008, the GHERT has worked with partners in Kenya focusing on clinical care and medical education as well as HIV policy and health system research. Residents work clinically at Mbagathi District Hospital (MDH) in Nairobi, Kenya. MDH is the public teaching hospital serving Nairobi province and is the infectious disease referral hospital for Kenya. Residents also have the opportunity to work with local Kenyan NGOs and international NGOs to investigate public health questions pertaining to health system development and health workforce. | <urn:uuid:c545d994-8ce8-4b1c-a717-1475d4c8d63b> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.uphs.upenn.edu/internal-medicine-residency/our_program/GH_Kenya.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368708766848/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516125246-00012-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.951439 | 106 | 1.734375 | 2 |
For the many Sunday Schools who begin their new year in September, June is the time to begin enlistment. To enlist needed leaders effectively, enlistment needs to begin at least three months prior to the new year's start. What are the steps needed in order to discover and enlist God-called leaders? Consider the following:
1. begin early enough to enlist personally and well
2. begin with a season of prayer (perhaps the entire first nominating team meeting)
3. consider the organizational needs (who will be returning, vacated positions, and new positions being created)
4. put together a list of all potential people who meet church qualifications for service
5. then prayerfully determine the individual who is needed in each position
6. avoid considering backups in case the first choice declines
7. make enlistment visits (not in church hallway)
8. explain the opportunity, expectations, and resources
9. allow time for discussion and answering questions
10. set a time (usually a week) to allow for prayer and check back on a decision
11. follow up, checking on questions and a decision
12. when individuals decline an opportunity for service, begin the process again
What is the key for enlisting "God-called" leaders? Without a doubt, the answer is prayer. Spend time prior to meeting together and during your process in prayer. Seek God and His leadership. Avoid pursuing people based on popularity. Seek more than one nominating team voice. Don't rush the process. Rushing tends to enlist "warm-bodies" to fill openings. Ask candidates to spend time praying over the opportunity. Investing well can result in big dividends for your Sunday School ministry.
After you have enlisted your leaders (including returning leaders), provide training related to the assigned task and overall Sunday School work. Again, that means you need to begin your enlistment process early enough to have leaders in place prior to your training event. There are many ways to provide training. Check out Creative Ways to Train Sunday School Teachers for 33 ideas about how to train your leaders. Don't be afraid to ask for help. Get everyone involved. Make it fun and relevant. Provide food and childcare. Consider providing training more than once every year. This is because you want to train every leader every year, and some will naturally have conflicts.
Give God your best effort in enlisting and training leaders. Seek and train "God-called" leaders. Make disciples. Be revolutionary!
For more ideas about enlistment and training of leaders, check out these blog posts:
- Essentials for Sunday School Growth and Excellence, Part 1
- Avoid Enlisting ’Warm-Bodies’ as Sunday School Teachers!
- Grow by Enlisting God-called Sunday School Leaders
- Flake’s Formula for Sunday School Growth: Enlist the Leaders
- Could Job Descriptions Help Your Sunday School Grow?
- Sunday School Teacher Qualities
- Sunday School Leader Application Process
- Start Sunday School on Time by Expecting Leaders to Arrive Early
- Top Priorities of a New Sunday School Director
- Qualifications of a Sunday School Teacher, Part 2
- Grow Your Sunday School by Teacher/Worker Training
- What Are You Training Sunday School Classes to Do?
- Twelve Months of Sunday School Teacher Training
- Small Group Leadership Training
- How Often Do You Train Your Sunday School Workers? | <urn:uuid:961bb26d-c1a3-417f-870f-16821d77b1b2> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://web.kybaptist.org/kbc/blogs/ssrb.nsf/dx/enlist-and-train-God-called-ssleaders.htm?opendocument&comments | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368709037764/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516125717-00002-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.932327 | 698 | 1.570313 | 2 |
Hot on HuffPost Parents:
- Dr. Peggy Drexler: The Breadwinner Complex: Are Women Apologizing For…
- Guideposts : Meet The Canine Minister To A Man With Alzheimer's
arts and crafts
Bubber Bucket is like playing with fluffy clouds. Credit: Amazon.com
Now, we are big fans of creative play and encouraging our kids to explore their artistic sides, but let's face it: Arts and crafts are messy.There's paint to ...Super light, fun to mold and it never dries out? Yes, please.
Yep, we're one of those parents. You know, the parents who wait until the very last minute to figure out what the heck we're going to do with our kids once school is out for the summer. And, from the looks of the calendar, we've got about two ...Let your kid get her "Project Runway" on with this touring day camp.
RoseArt Creative Craft Pack Credit: RoseArt For kids, taking a stroll down the craft aisle in the toy store is like entering Willy Wonka's Chocolate Factory. With some markers, glitter, and craft supplies galore, their imaginations run ...To spark your child's inner artist, we are giving three winners a RoseArt Creative Craft Pack.
There are times, parent know, when you'd give just about anything for some paper and crayons. Maybe you're at a restaurant, or on an airplane, or at the soccer field. You could be in the car, at the dentist's office, or in your own kitchen. ...Paper and crayons stay put with this clever product.
Seedling toys plants the idea of imaginative play in a kid's head. Credit: Half Pint Citizens If you've got an aspiring Diane von Furstenberg or Isaac Mizrahi on your hands, the Fashion Designer Kit from Seedling may be just the thing ...Future "Project Runway" contestants will make it work with this fashion kit. | <urn:uuid:d56b5894-2c71-4572-8fa9-cab478635caf> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.parentdish.com/tag/arts+and+crafts/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368696382584/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516092622-00002-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.930018 | 410 | 1.570313 | 2 |
BIRMINGHAM, Alabama -- About 30 percent of the Alabama Power Company customers in the Birmingham-Hoover metro area -- 133,200 -- still are without electricity following the passage Monday of Tropical Storm Lee's remnants.
Crews are working to restore service where they can and also assessing damage, but there is no estimate when power will be fully restored in the area, utility officials said.
"We are out in the daylight assessing damage," said Hallie Bradley, a spokeswoman for Alabama Power. "We will have more details later in the week."
Power has been returned this morning to at least 30,000 customers, and more should be restored throughout the day, Bradley said.
Additional power crews have been called in to assist from other states, she said. Also, Alabama Power workers who had been deployed last week to assist with outages in the Northeast U.S. associated with last week's strike from Hurricane Irene returned on Sunday, she said.
The outages in Alabama came as the result of torrential rains and sustained, strong winds. The intense winds over two hours and steady rain brought down trees and broke some power poles, she said.
Jessica Talley, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service said 7.97 inches of rain fell at the Birmingham-Shuttlesworth International Airport from the onset of the rain on Sunday evening through 7 a.m. today. | <urn:uuid:c6b788ee-b228-42f5-8bc6-92ff9d72dc1f> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://blog.al.com/spotnews/2011/09/nearly_1_in_3_alabama_power_cu.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368703298047/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516112138-00040-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.960429 | 286 | 1.664063 | 2 |
After a couple days of hemming and hawing, I decided to join the protesters of Occupy Wall Street. I was hesitant to go because until very recently, I worked as an administrative assistant at a prominent Wall Street law firm. I didn’t know how, in good conscience, I could rail against The Man when my primary responsibility had once been to keep track of incoming phone calls from Goldman Sachs. But then I heard one of the protest’s organizers on the radio saying that the Occupy movement wasn’t against capitalism, corporations, or even big banking. He was for income equality. And democracy. The reporter pressed him to be more specific, but he refused.
“Why do they have to be more specific?” I yelled at the radio. “Isn’t it obvious why they’re upset?”
I was getting annoyed at the way Occupy Wall Street was being covered — as if it was insane to gather in a public space and protest. As if it had never happened in America before. Wasn’t the whole point of passive resistance to just be there? To not make any demands? As I tried to come up with a good parallel, I found myself thinking of Bartleby, the Scrivener, Herman Melville’s short story about an office worker, Bartleby, who decides out of nowhere that he doesn’t feel like working anymore, but continues to show up at the office every day. Bartleby’s idleness baffles and then infuriates his boss, who begs Bartleby to give some reason for his behavior. But Bartleby refuses to disclose his interests, and over the course of the story, his needs become so few that he dies of starvation. It’s a bleak, mysterious story, and as I returned to my copy to reread it, I was stilled to rediscover its subtitle: “A Story of Wall Street.”
I first read Bartleby the Scrivener last summer, when I was completely burned out on office life. I actually read it at work, during a slow afternoon — “down time”, in office parlance — and was surprised by how funny and contemporary it seemed. The story is narrated by an unnamed, well-to-do-lawyer, who describes himself as “one of those unambitious lawyers who never addresses a jury, or in any way draws down public applause but in the cool tranquility of a snug retreat, do a snug business among rich men’s bonds and mortgages and title deeds.” In the narrator’s employ are two scriveners and one office boy — or, in modern terms, two administrative assistants and one intern. One scrivener is old, and something of a drunk; the other scrivener is young, and from the narrator’s description, something of a hipster: “Nippers, the second on my list, was a whiskered, sallow, and, upon the whole, rather piratical-looking young man of about five and twenty. I always deemed him the victim of two evil powers — ambition and indigestion.”
One day, the narrator decides that he needs to hire a third scrivener. He interviews Bartleby, a “pallidly neat, pitiably respectable, incurably forlorn” man. Bartleby is of “so singularly sedate an aspect” that the narrator can’t help thinking he will be an exceptionally cooperative employee. And so he hires Bartleby, installing him at a desk in front of a window with an airshaft view and behind “a high green folding screen which, might entirely isolate Bartleby from my sight, though not remove him from my voice.” In other words, he sticks Bartleby in a cubicle.
Bartleby’s job is to copy legal documents by hand, like a human Xerox machine. During his first couple days at the office, Bartleby works at a ferocious pace, and is always the first to arrive and the last to leave. But on the third day, when the narrator asks Bartleby to assist with some proofreading, Bartleby utters what will become his trademark phrase: “I would prefer not to.” The reply surprises the narrator, but he doesn’t become annoyed until later in the week, when Bartleby refuses a second time, with the same vague reply: “I would prefer not to.” Upon questioning Bartleby, the narrator learns that Bartleby would prefer not to do many things, including running errands, mailing letters, and talking to his co-workers. All Bartleby wants to do is copy legal documents. The narrator decides he can live with this, and assigns all proofreading to the other scriveners. This arrangement works well, until one Sunday when the narrator happens to stop by his Wall Street office on the way to Trinity Church. He is startled to discover Bartleby there, and even more startled when Bartleby asks him to circle the block a few times, so that he might conclude his affairs. When the narrator returns to his office, Bartleby is gone, but the narrator finds evidence that Bartleby has been living there, all along.
At this point, the plot of Bartleby escalates rapidly and absurdly, like a comedy sketch. Bartleby announces that he has “given up copying” and stops working entirely. The narrator cajoles Bartleby to “be a little reasonable.” Bartleby’s reply: “At present, I would prefer not to be a little reasonable.” The narrator then dismisses Bartleby, giving him his paycheck, plus twenty dollars — a kind of severance package. But Bartleby refuses to be dismissed. The narrator demands: “Will you, or will you not quit me?” Bartleby’s reply: “I would prefer not to quit you.” Eventually, the narrator decides to ignore Bartleby until he leaves of his own accord. But Bartleby never leaves. He stays at his desk, staring out the window, day in and day out. The narrator becomes accustomed to his unmoving presence, but when other lawyers visit, they are suspicious of Bartleby, and in turn, suspicious of the narrator, a man apparently unable to fire his employees. Gossip begins to circulate. And so the narrator decides he must leave Bartleby, if Bartleby is not going to leave him. He finds a new office to rent.
This tactic works; Bartleby does not follow the narrator to his new offices. Instead, Bartleby continues to lurk around the old office, even after new tenants move in. At night, he sleeps in the building’s entryway. Eventually, the building’s new tenants visit the narrator, to complain about Bartleby. “You are responsible for the man you left there. He refuses to do any copying; he refuses to do anything; he says he prefers not to and he refuses to quit the premises.” The narrator, who is not without pity for Bartleby, goes to visit him.
“Bartleby,” said I, “are you aware that you are the cause of great tribulation to me, by persisting in occupying the entry after being dismissed from the office?”
“Now, one of two things must take place. Either you must do something, or something must be done to you. Now what sort of business would you like to engage in? Would you like to re-engage in copying for someone?”
“No; I would prefer not to make any change.”
The passage goes on, at length, with the narrator suggesting all sorts of work that Bartleby might do, and with Bartleby dismissing each suggestion. The exchange ends when Bartleby repeats: “No: at present I would prefer not to make any change at all.”
When I first began working at the law firm, I was a temporary employee, but after a few months, I became permanent. Around that time, I had a dream that I got a tattoo of the word CHANGE on my right arm. The meaning was obvious: I was uncertain of my decision to settle down at the firm, and struggling with the feeling that what I was telling myself was a day job was actually one I would be stuck with for a long time. For a while, I considered actually getting a tattoo of the word CHANGE, to remind me of the dream, and of my fears, but then the Obama campaign happened, and the word change began to lose its meaning for me. I’m not saying I was never taken in by Obama’s promises — I was — but just seeing the word, everywhere, on buttons, on billboards, on T-shirts, on TV, turned the idea of change into a kind of golden fantasy, whereas before, I had thought of it as something I could do.
Bartleby is very sad in its final pages. After the narrator leaves him, he is arrested as a vagrant and taken to the Tombs, a prison downtown. The narrator goes to visit him there, but Bartleby refuses to speak to him. Feeling guilty, the narrator arranges for special meals to be brought to Bartleby, but Bartleby refuses to eat them. A few days later, the narrator returns to the Tombs again, to check on Bartleby, but he can’t find him. Another prisoner directs the narrator to the prison yard, where Bartleby was seen lying down to take a nap. The narrator finds him. Bartleby is not asleep; he is dead.
I went to Occupy Wall Street with my friend Maura, who at 57 has already survived one protest era. “People are complaining that it’s just a bunch of spoiled college kids, but that’s what it was like in the 1960s,” she told me. Having lived through the 1970s, when much of Manhattan was dirty and dangerous, Maura doesn’t spend much time wringing her hands over the hipster gentrification of Brooklyn and Queens. To her, the bigger story is the way the middle and working-class families that have traditionally lived in outer-borough New York are slowly leaving the city. She doesn’t think hipster kids are responsible for that particular migration; instead, it’s related to the corporate mentality that is taking over all of New York City.
“Everyone, even people in regular jobs, suddenly feels like they need to make a lot of money to be successful,” she says. “It wasn’t always like that. My father was happy just to own his house and support his family. He thought it was an honor to be able to pay his taxes, because he knew other people were worse off. I’m not saying you have to be a saint, but you should be able to be a normal person and live here.”
As we’re talking, a union organizer with a white beard hands us a flier and invites us to march with him the next day. After he leaves, I tell Maura that I would go, but I have dinner plans at seven, and I would feel bad cancelling. She laughs and says she would go too, but she’s too old to be arrested. “We’re not very radical are we?”
On our way out, we see a twenty-something guy in a suit holding a brown cardboard sign: I’M FOR REGULATING THE BANKS. APPARENTLY THAT MAKES ME A RADICAL.
Melville published Bartleby in 1853, at what was likely a personal low point. Not only had his masterpiece, Moby Dick, received mixed reviews, but his follow-up book, Pierre, was so universally disliked that one paper ran a review titled: HERMAN MELVILLE CRAZY. His career as a writer was beginning a steep decline, and he must have known it. It’s easy to see Bartleby as Melville’s alter ego, the depressed writer who sees no point in going on. Bartleby even says that he has “decided upon doing no more writing.” But the interesting thing about Bartleby the Scrivener is that it isn’t told from Bartleby’s point of view, and so even if Melville intended the story to be an illustration of his own neglected genius, he also ended up telling the story of a Wall Street lawyer’s brief brush with despair.
The most moving passages of Bartleby occur around the story’s midpoint, after the narrator discovers that Bartleby is homeless, and has been living in his office. The narrator is struck, not only by Bartleby’s poverty, but also by his loneliness, which he imagines must be greater on Wall Street than in any other Manhattan neighborhood:
Of a Sunday, Wall Street is deserted as Petra; and every night of every day it is an emptiness. This building too, which of weekdays hums with industry and life, at nightfall echoes with sheer vacancy, and all through Sunday is forlorn. And here Bartleby makes his home; sole spectator of a solitude which he has seen all populous… I remembered the bright silks and sparkling faces I had seen that day, in gala trim, swan-like sailing down the Mississippi of Broadway; and I contrasted them with the pallid copyist, and thought to myself: Ah, happiness courts the light, so we deem the world is gay; but misery hides aloof, so we deem that misery there is none.
The parallels between Bartleby’s peculiar form of rebellion and the protestors of Occupy Wall Street should be obvious. The point of Occupy Wall Street — and the Occupy movements around the country — is to put a face to America’s dwindling middle class. There is no need to be any more specific than that. In fact, it seems that the less specific, less reasonable, and less demanding the protesters are, the more likely they are to unnerve those who actually have the power to make a change. Bartleby is disturbing not because of what he says or doesn’t say, but because he seems to have lost some aspect of his humanity:
Had there been the least uneasiness, anger, impatience or impertinence in his manner; in other words, had there been any thing ordinarily human about him, doubtless I should have violently dismissed him from the premises.
Here’s the narrator again, when he is trying to convince Bartleby to help with the proofreading:
But there was something about Bartleby that not only strangely disarmed me, but in a wonderful manner touched and disconcerted me.
A few pages later:
Nothing so aggravates an earnest person as a passive resistance.
And finally, the story’s famous last line:
Ah Bartleby! Ah humanity!
If Occupy Wall Street has any goal, it should be to have the same effect that great literature has — to unsettle. Let the pundits complain about vagueness, and let the reporters ask their condescending questions. (As an example, here’s one I heard put to a young man standing near me: “Is it true that you want to put all the bankers in jail?”) Let them tease, let them pacify, let them cajole, let them argue. But don’t move, Occupy Wall Street. | <urn:uuid:c71af0db-83ba-4a13-ae9a-1780368bb3b3> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.themillions.com/2011/10/bartleby%E2%80%99s-occupation-of-wall-street.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368697380733/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516094300-00007-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.976406 | 3,321 | 1.53125 | 2 |
A renowned Gambian music producer cum promoter- has said that most Gambian musicians do not have the training they deserve and a culture of musicianship around them and then call for more training of the country's next generation of musicians.
Oko Drammeh who made this remarks during an interview with What's On,believed this and other obstacles many face has lead to lack of impact in their music career. He observed that this is a problem not only in the Gambia but in the entire continent of Africa adding that musicians of today does not have a music library, the source of knowledge and they don't have music based on knowledge.
'Many Gambian musicians caught up with music in their life time because they have nothing to do.Now every youth is trying to become a musician, one thing about music is that music chooses you, you don't choose music,and you either have it in you or you don't have it or don't have it at all".
He maintained that music is an artistic gift of God that why musicians are call creators, adding that a musician is somebody who is spiritually inspired, socially innovated and a middleman between the society,leadership and technology.
'When one become a musician they first thing they must look at the elements that surround a musician. The musician must be surround by a technicians who knows music, artist manager, a dialogue coach, music producer, stage manager, proper performing atitude, and the music will sit on this life.
As a musician, he went on, one should identify their goals when they set out to promote their music, stressing that they should not try to cover too much ground at once.
'Look at the way larger artists are promoted - they have specific campaigns that promote specific things, like a new album or a tour. Once you know what to promote, you will be able to make clear goals for yourself, target the right audience - With your promotional goals in mind, and figure out who the right audience for your campaign is". | <urn:uuid:075ee9bb-6d0a-41d7-8510-ca380f414aed> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://allafrica.com/stories/201301040970.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368696382584/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516092622-00028-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.980703 | 409 | 1.664063 | 2 |
Wednesday, October 24, 2012
Since having a stroke several years ago, Life Care Center of Hixson patient Emmanuel Kennedy, 54, hasn’t been able to communicate with others. In fact, he couldn’t do much of anything.
That is, until recently.
“He [originally] came to [Life Care Center of] Missionary Ridge very sick, not able to eat or move, and could not do much of anything for himself,” said Life Care Center of Hixson speech pathologist Lauren Dorton, who works one-on-one with Kennedy. “Now he walks independently, eats food and takes care of himself. He’s one of our biggest success stories.”
But despite all his progress, Kennedy still could not communicate without using gestures. Several weeks ago he received a new DynaVox communication device preprogrammed with everyday sentences and commands corresponding to the touch of a button.
He now takes the device up to staff members and expresses his thoughts. Kennedy likes to press the button that asks, “How are you doing?” said Dorton. He also likes to press a button requesting a new necklace for Christmas, she said.
“He’s known as trouble around here,” laughed Dorton. “He likes to tap people on the shoulder and then hide. He likes to play jokes and press the button that says, ‘I got you.’”
Kennedy smiled and pressed the button corresponding to “I got you” to demonstrate.
Dorton said before receiving the DynaVox, Kennedy would grow frustrated when he had trouble writing his words on paper or expressing words through gestures. She said he is much happier now because he can be himself again. If what he wants to communicate is not already preprogrammed, he can type it out and the device will say it.
“I like bingo,” said Kennedy. “I like to play cards, go to the grocery store and go to the movies.”
He said he also enjoys watching movies in his room on his VCR. He has a button to press on his DynaVox that says, “I need a new VCR,” in case his ever breaks. A resident of the Hixson assisted living facility since 2011, he said he plans on staying there. | <urn:uuid:602bcf2c-6216-483c-9d13-1e18d0e35f70> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://community.timesfreepress.com/news/2012/oct/24/emmanuel-regains-his-voice-through-dynavox/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368701459211/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516105059-00012-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.980621 | 504 | 1.53125 | 2 |
Given the current market, I get a lot of calls asking about foreclosures. If you listen to the news, you’d think that every other house on the market is in foreclosure or close to it. In fact, according to the Mortgage Banker’s Association, at the end of last year, just over 9 percent of all home loans in the United States were in arrears or already in foreclosure. That means that more than 9 out of 10 homes are NOT in foreclosure. However, if the current trends continue, the percentage of homes in foreclosure could rise to 16 percent by 2012 according to a report by Credit Suisse. Regardless of what the future holds, there are several key differences between a foreclosure sale and a market sale. They are:
- Homes that have been foreclosed on are now in the hands of the bank that made the primary loan. The owner is out of the picture (and hopefully out of the house).
- There may be an asset management company that is now managing the property and sales process. This adds additional layers of bureaucracy and communication to the process.
- The home is most likely listed with an REO or foreclosure broker. This adds another layer to the process but can a good REO broker will help the buyer and their agent make a good offer.
- There are typically no disclosures and the home is sold “as-is” with no repairs.
- The bank will often collect offers or bids and hold them until a time at which they want to respond. It is not uncommon to wait weeks before hearing of your offer is accepted, only to find out it wasn’t but someone else’s was.
- Most banks will choose the “best offer” as they see it and may or may not even give the buyer a chance to revise their offer. The “best” offer can be one with a quick close or less contingencies or stipulations. Of course, the higher the price offered is always a good way to get considered.
- Banks usually require several addenda be signed by the buyer and that the buyer closes at an attorney of the bank’s choosing. The addenda may not be available to review until after your offer is accepted. While there’s usually a period to review these documents before a “formal” acceptance is made, these documents can be lengthy and include key information that may change the affect the buyer. An experienced agent will know what information is critical and relevant to the buyer.
- Foreclosure is an expensive process and banks want to re-coup as much as they can. They are not in a rush to sell and will often refuse to negotiate in the beginning. These are not fire-sales.
So what does all of this mean? It means that when making an offer on a foreclosure, you are not dealing with a motivated owner who is looking to retire or downsize. You are dealing with a bank – a business entity – who is going to scrutinize every aspect of the transaction. If they have gone through the process of foreclosing, you can bet that they are going to want every last dime they can get.
Many buyers mistake a foreclosure as a sign of desperation. It’s not. A seller in pre-foreclosure may be desperate. A foreclosed on home is now an asset and not a home. It’s on the bank’s books. They probably have priced it below the market price of a typical home already but usually at or near the amount they are owed. Buyers often think they can get a foreclosure for 50%-60% of the list price. It’s not gonna happen, at least not usually.
Here are my tips for making a strong offer and increasing your chance to have your offer accepted.
- Be fully pre-approved by a lender and have a letter from them with your offer.
- Review the comps for houses that have sold and compare the subject to these adjusting for condition. Base your offer price on these factors, not what “you” think it is worth.
- Get a quote on all work that needs to be done on the house before you make the offer or be comfortable with the possible work to be done.
- Follow the submission guidelines carefully. Many offers are rejected due to incomplete paperwork or missing signatures.
- Be prepared to compete with other offers. Banks like to collect multiple offers and then have the buyers outbid each other.
- Understand that the bank doesn’t care why you want the house. They are looking at it from a financial perspective.
- CASH offers are usually more attractive. Most foreclosure deals fall apart because the buyer can’t get financing – even if they are fully approved before hand!
- Use a professional and experienced Realtor. All homes listed in the FMLS will include a commission to your agent. They’re paying for you to be represented – be represented!
- Make sure you want the house. Otherwise, this is a lot of effort for nothing.
- Don’t be afraid to make another offer if the house comes back on the market. It’s not personal. Just because they didn’t select your offer before doesn’t mean they won’t this time.
I have successfully closed several foreclosure deals. I worked on many more. Typically, if the buyer is realistic and follows these tips, there is a very good chance in getting the offer accepted. If they decide to “throw an offer out” and see what happens, it usually results in a rejection and a lot of wasted effort.
Please feel free to contact me with any questions you may have about this or any other real estate topic. | <urn:uuid:6277300f-8087-4f03-afab-b30e4500bf2b> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://northatlantarealestatevoice.com/2009/02/18/10-keys-to-making-a-successful-offer-to-buy-a-foreclosure-what-you-need-to-know/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368705559639/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516115919-00040-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.967367 | 1,189 | 1.65625 | 2 |
It has become the new Republican attack on President Obama: He thinks Americans are lazy.
GOP presidential candidate Mitt Romney leveled that charge yesterday while campaigning in South Carolina. "Sometimes, I just don't think that President Obama understands America," he said. "I say that because this week -- or was it last week? -- he said that Americans are lazy. I don't think that describes America."
Today, Rick Perry uses the line of attack in a new TV ad. "Can you believe that?" Perry says to the camera. "That's what our president thinks is wrong with America? That Americans are lazy?"
And even in the contest for New Mexico's open Senate seat, Republican candidate Heather Wilson called on the Democrats running for the race to repudiate Obama's remarks.
“President Obama ... said the reason we’re not creating more jobs in this country is because Americans have been ‘lazy’,” she said. “He's wrong about the American people and he's wrong to have criticized America in front of the world."
But when you examine what Obama said on Saturday -- to business leaders at the APEC summit in Hawaii -- it's pretty clear that his critics are taking him out of context. He wasn't calling Americans lazy; rather, he was calling U.S. business practices to attract foreign investors lazy. In fact, you could interpret his full remarks as a call to arms to improve on that front.
MR. McNERNEY: I think one related question, looking at the world from the Chinese side, is what they would characterize as impediments to investment in the United States. And so that discussion I’m sure will be part of whatever dialogue you have. And so how are you thinking about that?
PRESIDENT OBAMA: Well, this is an issue, generally. I think it’s important to remember that the United States is still the largest recipient of foreign investment in the world. And there are a lot of things that make foreign investors see the U.S. as a great opportunity -- our stability, our openness, our innovative free market culture.
But we’ve been a little bit lazy, I think, over the last couple of decades. We’ve kind of taken for granted -- well, people will want to come here and we aren’t out there hungry, selling America and trying to attract new business into America. And so one of things that my administration has done is set up something called SelectUSA that organizes all the government agencies to work with state and local governments where they’re seeking assistance from us, to go out there and make it easier for foreign investors to build a plant in the United States and put outstanding U.S. workers back to work in the United States of America.
And we think that we can do much better than we’re doing right now. Because of our federalist system, sometimes a foreign investor comes in and they’ve got to navigate not only federal rules, but they’ve also got to navigate state and local governments that may have their own sets of interests. Being able to create if not a one-stop shop, then at least no more than a couple of stops for people to be able to come into the United States and make investments, that’s something that we want to encourage.
This GOP attack -- that Obama thinks Americans are lazy -- is the latest Republican suggestion that the president is somehow un-American or espouses anti-American views.
*** UPDATE *** Obama campaign spokesman Ben LaBolt emails First Read: “Rick Perry and Mitt Romney apparently don’t think the president should encourage CEOs to promote the United States abroad in order to create American jobs and attract investment at home. They have opposed the president’s efforts to create 2 million jobs now and instead of laying out their own plan to do so, they have endorsed a radical budget plan that would wipe out investments necessary to create jobs in programs like education, research and development and clean energy and shift a greater tax burden away from millionaires and billionaires onto the backs of the middle class and seniors.” | <urn:uuid:9f639d43-57d2-45eb-82ca-6b5a24406280> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://firstread.nbcnews.com/_news/2011/11/16/8842658-a-lazy-attack | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368698924319/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516100844-00011-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.964972 | 851 | 1.507813 | 2 |
From the Times of London:
Battered by soaring fertiliser prices and rioting rice farmers, the global food industry may also have to deal with a potentially catastrophic future shortage of phosphorus, scientists say.
Researchers in Australia, Europe and the United States have given warning that the element, which is essential to all living things, is at the heart of modern farming and has no synthetic alternative, is being mined, used and wasted as never before....
...In the past 14 months, the price of the raw material - phosphate rock - has surged by more than 700 per cent to more than $367 (£185) per tonne....MORE
HT: naked capitalism | <urn:uuid:c171b551-e194-4fa9-a9ca-4f5351758b64> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://climateerinvest.blogspot.com/2008/06/peak-phosphorus-scientists-warn-of-lack.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368706499548/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516121459-00017-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.938493 | 134 | 1.609375 | 2 |
AAD Historical Highlights
Through the hard work and leadership of three Deaf Arkansans, Charles Helm, Robert Bevill, and Donald Brannan, the historical highlights of AAD were published, distributed to members, and made available for interested readers on the AAD website (www.ArkAD.org). The AAD Board of Directors expresses its heartfelt appreciation to these three dedicated individuals for their contributions to the organization’s history.
The historical highlights provide snapshots of the people, events, and notable accomplishments of the Arkansas Association of the Deaf (AAD). The publication begins with information on the founding of AAD in 1893 and includes photos of AAD’s original founders. The section on “AAD Interesting Facts and Fascinating Tidbits” is informative and entertaining. Among the facts published in the highlights are the following:
- Race Drake, Sr. was the youngest person ever elected President of AAD (1938) and as of 2008, he has maintained his membership in AAD for over 70 years.
- In its 112 year history, all elected AAD Presidents have been deaf, except for the Rev. Robert Parrish, the only hearing person elected President (1973-75)
- Tommy Walker is the only individual to serve as an officer or Board member of AAD for over 40 straight years (as of 2008 he has served for 43 straight years)
- Holly Ketchum is the first female ASD alumna with a graduate degree (University of Arkansas at Fayetteville) to be elected AAD President.
Putting together a historical document covering a time period of over 100 years is not an easy job. It requires a lot of persistence and “detective work” to locate information, materials, and pictures. Many hand-waves to the three editors Chuck Helm, Robert Bevill, and Donald Brannan for the fantastic job they did compiling a listing of all the past officers of the AAD beginning with the founding of AAD in 1893 and concluding 100 years later with the 2003 AAD Convention.
AAD, like many other state associations of the deaf, was established to provide leadership and advocacy on behalf of the deaf community and members of its association. Readers will feel a sense of pride to know that from the early 1970s to the present time, AAD had many accomplishments working with state legislators to support programs and services for the benefit of deaf and hard of hearing Arkansans.
Finally, readers will enjoy seeing the outstanding collection of photos that are included throughout the historical document. Be sure to check the photos closely because you will recognize many interesting people and you will find yourself smiling and saying, “wow, that’s fantastic!” | <urn:uuid:21cbf2df-4c82-4fd5-aa32-870c862d6520> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.arkad.org/about-us/history | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368706153698/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516120913-00015-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.960614 | 555 | 1.671875 | 2 |
from the up-to-something... dept
It's been nearly a decade since we first started calling out various broadband providers for hyping up their connections speeds using "up to" language, where they say you may get speeds "up to" X Mbps. Up to is the ultimate weasel phrase, because you never have to get anywhere near it, and can actually be well under it, and still be "accurate." Every so often federal regulators jump into the debate -- warning companies about this practice. At least a few broadband providers (especially in the US) have started to move away from using "up to" marketing. But it still is rare to see regulators actually go after anyone for making such misleading claims. Broadband Reports points out that UK telco regulator Ofcom seems to come out with a report every single year at this time promising that it's about to crack down on "up to" marketing, but never actually doing so. At some point, companies realize that the threats about "up to" language are about as accurate as the "up to" claims themselves. | <urn:uuid:78fb9064-ac08-4f00-b642-08b47eeb8485> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.techdirt.com/blog/wireless/?tag=speeds | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368704713110/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516114513-00031-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.973948 | 221 | 1.632813 | 2 |
Former Crew Member Mike Hallahan stands on the Hangar Deck next to the aircraft that bears his name.
By Mike Hallahan, Former Crew Members Association
Now that the kids are back to school, The Intrepid Sea, Air and Space Museum is a great place for them to come, interact and learn about the history of the ship. At the same time they can also hear stories about the many men including myself who started a new journey by serving on the aircraft carrier.
My name is Michael Hallahan, I am a former crew member of the USS Intrepid. I started my journey back in 1958 and served for one year. I was on board along with 3,000 other men who served in service of our country. As a third class petty officer and also part of the helicopter squad my main responsibility was S.E rescue plane guard, also known as the Angel Squad. As part of the Angel Squad I had to be ready to come into action anytime a tragedy occurred. Whenever a plane crashed into the water due to an attack, it was my job to rescue the pilot and anyone who was in the aircraft. In fact my name is actually on an aircraft in the Hangar Deck. It’s the Piasecki HUP/UH-25 Retriever and it’s got my name right there on the side. I am proud to have my name there and hope adults and kids enjoy looking at all the aircraft in general.
We had to make many sacrifices while onboard. One of the most difficult aspects of serving was the scheduling. We were usually told when to sleep, when to get up, when to eat, when to shower, etc. Before serving I was able to choose the times in which I wanted to do my daily activities, however as I came on board I had to adapt to a new way of life. Another difficult task was when we were directed to do Standing Watch. Standing watch meant that I had to make sure that everything was fine in the ship and that there weren’t any fires in any of the decks while the rest of the crew slept. It was a difficult duty because we had specific hours that we were assigned. One of the most exhausting shifts was the Midnight-4am shift. This particular shift was one of the most difficult ones because I found myself walking around for hours and falling asleep as I was standing. I understood the importance of this shift as everyone’s safety was in my hands however it was still very exhausting.
Another one of my responsibilities was the Mail Calls. We often had 15-20 ships with us. Most of them handled their own responsibilities so they wouldn’t be as close to the Intrepid, but once a month they would all come around and wait for the Angel Squad to deliver their mail. This was one of my favorite duties in the ship. It was also a refreshing experience as I got to see all the entire crew eagerly waiting for a letter from their wives, parents, girlfriends, etc. The mail was the closest way of getting to our loved ones.
I hope to see you all here at the Intrepid enjoying yourselves, while learning so many stories of all the struggles as well as good times that people like me and the rest of the crew went through aboard her. | <urn:uuid:7fc84832-cbc7-4162-831d-872c50b52a10> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.intrepidmuseum.com/Former-Crewmembers-Corner/September-2011-(1)/Back-to-School.aspx | 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 | 0.99194 | 671 | 1.59375 | 2 |
A study by BigResearch shows that the biggest users of blogs are the 18-24 age group with 29.6% saying that they regularly or occasionally use blogs. This is in comparison to 21.7% of 25-34 year olds, 15.5% of 35-54 year olds and 11.4% of the 55+ age group.
‘“The 18-24 year olds are digital nomads who have adopted new media more readily than any other age group,” said Joe Pilotta, PhD, BIGresearch’s VP of research. “Not only do they use new media more, they are influenced by it much more than any other age group, when it comes to making purchase decisions. Which says that they have integrated new media in their daily lives,” said Pilotta.’
Sounds like a real opportunity to me! | <urn:uuid:6b7b8a21-9ca6-4641-8992-be5f429a4842> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.problogger.net/archives/2005/07/page/4/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368705195219/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516115315-00020-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.966708 | 179 | 1.625 | 2 |
If this build of DoomIII is from E3 2002, I'm guessing that the GeforceFX is using the NV20 codepath and the 9700 is using the R200 codepath. I.e. vendor-specific extensions for the previous generation of cards.
The reason I think this is because the OpenGL extensions for ARB_vertex_program and ARB_fragment_program weren't even approved until June 18 and September 18 2002 respectively, and they weren't exposed in the drivers for the cards until some time later.
If I'm right, this would mean that neither card is using the power of it's high-precision internal rendering, and both are doing all the extra passes that the previous cards would have needed to do.
So take these numbers with a heaping helping of salt. They may be totally different from the way the cards would stack up with a newer build of the engine that has specialized code paths for the new cards. If the old cards required n passes to draw the scene but the new cards require only 1, that would mean that a specialized codepath for the new cards would be doing 1/n times the geometry and blending work but n times as much pixel shader work on that one pass (and at a higher precision).
Another factor that could shift performance is the possibility that JC will use some of the extra power of the new cards to add new features or better image quality (which I'm hoping for). | <urn:uuid:20beea16-995c-4b33-861f-f67a9f1c1a48> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.nvnews.net/vbulletin/showpost.php?p=79739&postcount=6 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368711005985/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516133005-00015-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.962979 | 302 | 1.84375 | 2 |
Want to know if you've got a killer title for your novel? Now, for the first time in literary history, you can put your title to the scientific test and find out whether it has what it takes for bestseller success.
Are you brave enough to put your title to the test?
New! Pit two titles head-to-head with the new Lulu Titlefight!
Score represents the percentage chance of its being a number one hit. Results are between 9% and 83% chance of bestseller success.
The Lulu Titlescorer has been developed exclusively for Lulu by statisticians who studied the titles of 50 years' worth of top bestsellers and identified which title attributes separated the bestsellers from the rest.
We commissioned a research team to analyse the title of every novel to have topped the hardback fiction section of the New York Times Bestseller List during the half-century from 1955 to 2004 and then compare them with the titles of a control group of less successful novels by the same authors.
The team, lead by British statistician Dr. Atai Winkler, then used the data gathered from a total of some 700 titles to create this "Lulu Titlescorer" a program able to predict the chances that any given title would produce a New York Times No. 1 bestseller.
The fruit of this work is presented here, in the form of the Lulu Titlescorer: a program that you can use to gauge the chances that your own title will deliver you a New York Times No. 1 bestseller.
The Lulu Titlescorer is a useful tool, which, in Lulu's 50-year study of some 700 novels, proved 40% better than random guess-work in guessing whether a particular title had produced a bestseller or not. "It guessed right in nearly 70% of cases," says Dr Atai Winkler. "Given the nature of the data and the way tastes change, this is very good — better than we might have expected."
Even so, this is not an exact science. Far from it. In fact, Dr. Winkler advises that the Lulu Titlescorer should, in practice, always be combined with use of your own low-tech judgement.
This is because, for all the work that went it, the Lulu Titlescorer is capable of giving high scores to titles that most of us would rate as weird, if not terrible. Meanwhile, of course, it also gives low scores to the titles of novels (e.g. The Da Vinci Code) which, in fact, topped the New York Times bestseller list for long periods.
So, as well as using the Titlescorer to test the merits of your own title, you can also play around with it to see what is the worst or downright weirdest title you can come up with that still earns a high score.
Lulu gives you the power to publish and sell books, ebooks, calendars, images, music, video and more at no upfront cost. Founded by Bob Young, who previously co-founded Red Hat, the open source software company, Lulu is now the world's fastest-growing source of print-on-demand books. | <urn:uuid:754503e6-bd24-4a8a-90b6-c23a0189a8ed> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.lulu.com/titlescorer/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368710006682/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516131326-00041-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.955985 | 669 | 1.523438 | 2 |
This light, which marks the entrance to Machias Bay, was one of the best-built lighthouses in the Maine system. It has stood in its present condition for more than 180 years. Philmore Wass, who was raised here when his father was the keeper, wrote a memoir of that time, Lighthouse in My Life. The light is not open to the public and the keeper's house and other outbuildings no longer exist, but charter boat rides and cruises that offer water views of the tower are available.
Libby Island Light Station was built in 1822. | <urn:uuid:2dd56140-a5d8-4b32-8ea9-5bf599d50dcf> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.visitmaine.com/lighthouse/downeast/libby_island/?font-size=10&slidebar=close | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368701852492/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516105732-00028-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.988196 | 119 | 1.757813 | 2 |
Wheelchair rugby: hope and strength for participants
PHILADELPHIA - February 21, 2013 (WPVI) -- As far as sports go, rugby is as nasty as they come. It's a sport that takes guts, strength and all four limbs. Or so you would think.
Check out Philadelphia's wheelchair rugby team. The sport, also known as Murder Ball for its aggressive, full-contact nature, sure is physical. This, despite the fact its athletes all face physical challenges.
"The 'chairs take more of the abuse than we do," said Jim Thompson. "It's loud, it's fast, it's hard."
And people who play rugby are known to be kind of crazy, right?
"Definitely," said Lauren DeBruicker. "And you figure most guys out here were hurt in one kind of accident or another, so they've already cheated death once. So they have no problem sort of hanging it all out again."
The athletes each has his or her own story: One injured in a car accident, another diving into a swimming pool, still another wrestling with his brother
What they have in common is no use of their legs, limited use of their upper body, and a love for this game and what it has done for their lives.
"Programs like this have the ability to change attitudes and show people what they can do as opposed to what they can't," said Magee Rehabilitation Wheelchair Sports Coordinator Keith Newerla.
"It's basically been my life," said Jim Thompson. "It's kept me active, it's kept me in good physical shape so I can push my everyday wheelchair. It's given me things to work toward."
And if you believe in fate, well, there's even something magical about it.
Eric Anderson met his wife playing wheelchair rugby. She was one of the volunteer physical therapists. The result? 11-week-old Miley Love.
"I think my life is better. It's weird to say. But I mean, I have a daughter," said Anderson.
The cost for the program is subsidized by Magee Rehabilitation's Wheelchair Sports Program. Most of the funds are raised by the annual Night of Champions dinner.
And this sport is expensive. The wheelchairs cost thousands of dollars, and the travel thousands more.
For more information:
- Viewer takes photos of bear in back yard 14 min ago
- A Nice Stretch
- WATCH: Action News Online
- Get the new 6abc StormTracker app
- Men's Wearhouse ousts founder, pitchman Zimmer
- 20 people charged in Ocean Co. heroin raids
- 15 charged in NJ unemployment fraud case
- Computer outage delays travelers at Phila. Airport
- Father, son 'pimps' acquitted after prostitutes testify 53 min ago
- Suspect robs Philadelphia Dunkin' Donuts at gunpoint 28 min ago
- Traffic stop turns violent, police shoot suspect
- Friends mourn NJ doctor killed in murder-suicide
- Philly deputy mayor: City not liable for demo sites
- Rollings Stones review: How old is too old? 43 min ago | <urn:uuid:ef751684-71fb-42fe-af56-e82166ccb47e> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://abclocal.go.com/wpvi/story?section=news/sports&id=9001674 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368709037764/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516125717-00005-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.967554 | 652 | 1.734375 | 2 |
I’m a first time dad, and I’m learning as I go with this parenting thing, and one of the countless things my 17-month-old daughter Rosemary has taught me is that kids get bored with their toys. We have a large box in the basement that is overflowing with toys that she has absolutely no interest in. Sound familiar?
Now there is a great way to avoid the same old toys. Little Pnuts is a toy subscription company that delivers age appropriate, all natural toys to your door four times per year.
Rather than plastic toys that repetitively blink and beep until they require new batteries, the toys Little Pnuts includes in each shipment are non-battery operated and made from high quality, all natural, sustainable materials. Each toy is carefully selected to target your child’s specific age and is designed to boost imagination and creativity while helping to engage gross and fine motor skills, hand-eye coordination, problem solving skills, and concentration.
The convenience of not having to go toy shopping is value enough in my opinion, but considering the quality of these toys and the thought that goes into selecting them, Little Pnuts is very reasonably priced. You can make a onetime payment of $240 for a one year subscription or you can pay $25 monthly. Special Deliveries arrive in March, June, September, and December. The toys are brand new and are yours to keep. Each delivery includes a flyer that describes each toy and explains the developmental milestones that the toys are designed to target. There is even a section of the flyer that offers play ideas.
As a sample, Rosemary received the December delivery designed for Age 1 Toddlers. The toys included a counting stacker, a puzzle with wild animals, a horse and cart with stacking pegs, and a racing bug which zips across the floor when rolled back and released. They are all excellent toys and just challenging enough for her developmental stage.
Little Pnuts toy delivery service is a great idea that can really make an impact on a child’s develpment. And it is the perfect gift!
Sure, you could go on YouTube and see the original classic Who’s On First with Abbott and Costello, but it’s a lot more fun to read the new book with your child. They love reading
Who’s On First aloud and discovering the double meanings of common words. If you’re looking for an easy-to-read book for young readers (mine is 8), this is a good choice you’ll read several times. If you’re lucky, maybe you can run the skit with your child playing Costello (or Abbott) and get it on video. YouTube hit anyone?
I was ready to be disappointed when I saw the email heading on yet another statement on a school shooting. I was expecting the usual call to discuss violence in our schools and in our culture. However, the National PTA really stood up this time, making very black and white statements that clearly support what Joe Biden has been suggesting over the past few days after his meetings with civic leaders. In the National PTA press release on the Taft Union High School shooting, the PTA lists their top three priorities:
- Universal background checks for the sale and possession of firearms;
- A ban on non-sporting ammunition in high-capacity magazines; and
- The reenactment and expansion of an effective federal ban on the sale and possession of military-style assault weapons
Thankfully absent were any hollow statements about addressing our culture. The priorities of the National PTA are just common sense steps that all Americans should support, whether gun rights advocates or not. The most recent killings have nothing to do with Second Amendment or sportsman’s freedom. They are however, directly related to a gun industry that feeds on people’s fears while actively denying rules that would save thousands of very innocent lives every year.
The one thing I don’t understand is why they decided to release this statement on a Friday, rather than the start of the news week.
For what it”s worth, take a second to tweet this news and LIKE it on Facebook.
I’m loving the puzzle I got for Christmas. It’s a 1000-piece version of the New Yorker cover Maira Kalman did shortly after 9/11 called “Newyorkistan.” She translates the city of New York and it’s five boroughs into an exotic land filled with exotic names and a camel named Stan. My son and I have been working on it diligently, with the (sometimes) help of my wife and daughter. I love the way puzzles allow for parallel work and idle conversation. My son is 8, so a lot of his questions are just random things he thinks of during the day, or his pronouncements on Star Wars or Skylander Giants lore. He asks me a lot about vocabulary he discovers in Minecraft, but we mostly just marvel at the magic of finding the “right” piece and how it so satisfactorily fits into the open spaces. This is the same feeling we get when we do LEGOs together, recognizing the common memes, finding the right pieces, feeling that wonderful click that LEGO is famous for (and which Megablocks just can’t seem to get).
The puzzle is about a 1/3 finished with a lot of play value left, though I sense I’m the only one using it to avoid work, rather than as a fun activity that brings the family together on a long winter evening when dad has forbade iPad and TV.
This video is making it’s way around the internets with some proclaiming Missouri resident Emio Tomeoni, as the world’s greatest dad, ostensibly since he looks to be having fun with his son during his wife’s 110 minute absence. Don’t get me wrong; it’s a cute video, and hats off to Emio for making video memories he’ll treasure as his boy gets big. But let’s not lionize a man, or woman, beyond reason for spending some time with his kids. Until we get over this dichotomy of man hero versus absent dad, we won’t make any progress on convincing the millions of uninvolved dads that what Emio is doing is what every dad should be doing when he has a few hours with his baby son.
Fun video to watch. It brings back memories. | <urn:uuid:2e46aad5-dec0-434d-93ee-a7405b1aea7e> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.greatdad.com/greatdadblog/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368701852492/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516105732-00005-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.958605 | 1,340 | 1.5 | 2 |
youth sensitisation and
‘peace and communal harmony’
Jointly Organised by:
Centre for Study of Society and Secularism (CSSS) &
Colloquium for Local Awareness and Research (CLEAR),
Koilandy, Calicut, Kerala.
28/04/2012 to 30/04/2012
Sargalaya Craft Village, Iringal, Calicut. .
Students and young activists from various districts of
CSSS in collaboration with CLEAR, Calicut organised a
three day workshop for youth with the objective of
increasing the awareness level of youth activists on
such as secularism, communalism, communal harmony etc.
Topics, resource person, participants, venue etc. were
decided in mutual consultation with both the organisers.
Participants were mobilised from the local colleges as
well as other universities in Kerala. Many local
activists who were interested in the subject also
participated in the programme.
The organisers, resource persons and participants
reached the venue by the 27th evening and 28th
morning. Formal registration for the programme started
at 9.30 am on Saturday 28th April. Total 45
participants registered for the workshop.
The first session of the three day workshop was by Dr.
Asgar Ali Engineer on ‘Secularism and Cultural Symbiosis
in India’. He talk on the cultural diversity existing in
India, and how a secular government is essential in such
a cultural diverse country. With examples from various
parts of India he also made the participants aware about
how cultural symbiosis, which promotes communal harmony,
exists in our culture. Thereafter the discussion further
developed in to topics like religion, values, ethics
etc. He was of the opinion that, religion is
misinterpreted by the clergy and politicians for
material benefits, where as true
stands for the rights of the oppressed section of the
society. The half day session ended with long question
and answer session. Mr. K.K Subair, PRO, CLEAR, presided
the session and Mr. E Dinesan, Convenor, CLEAR, gave
Afternoon session was by Mr. K.P Rajesh, a social
activist and Research Scholar from Hyderabad
University. The title of the session was ‘Ethnic
conflict and civic life: Hindus and Muslims in India’.
He started his presentation with a briefing and finding
of the book by ‘Ashutosh Vashney’ with the same title.
This session was a live discussion on what contributes
to communal harmony and sociological factors which lead
to conflict between two communities. Participants agreed
and disagreed with many of the findings in the book and
Mr. Rajesh’s own conclusion. The comparative study of
Aligarh and Calicut (where the workshop takes place) was
the prime focus of the discussion. Participants also
shared their view in this regard.
After taking a break, participants assembled back by
7.00 pm in the evening for the screening of ‘Ram Ke Naam’
a documentary film by Anand Patwardhan. The film
“on the campaign waged by the militant Vishwa Hindu
Parishad (VHP) to destroy a 16th century mosque in
Ayodhya said to have been built by Babar, the first
Mughal Emperor of India. The VHP claim the mosque was
built at the birth site of the Hindu God Ram after Babar
razed an existing Ram temple. They are determined to
build a new temple to Ram on the same site. This
issue, which successive governments have refused to
resolve, has led to religious riots which have cost
thousands their lives, culminating in the mosque's
destruction by the Fundamentalists in December of 1992.
The resulting religious violence immediately spread
throughout India and Pakistan leaving more than 5,000
dead, and causing thousands of Indian Muslims to flee
their homes.” A discussion was followed by the
The second day of the workshop began at 9.30 am in the
morning. The half-day session was by Dr. Ram Puniyani on
‘Rise of Communalism in India’. Began with the
historical context of origin of communal politics in
India, He discussed with the participants, how communal
forces functions in contemporary India. The session was
developing based on the questions and comments from the
participants on the broad topic ‘communal politics’.
After noon session was by Dr. K.C. Varghese, a social
activist, writer and an advocate of liberation theology
in Christianity, based in Kannur District of Kerala.
Broadly his session was on the exploitation of religion
and religious followers by the established church. The
resource person was comparing the morals and values of
and that of the today’s organised church. The session
generated discussions on topics such as religion,
morals, ethics etc.
This was followed by a visit to nearby ‘Kunjali Marakkar
Museum’. ‘Kunjali Marakkar’ was the title given to
Muslim Naval chief of ‘Samoothiri’ (Zamorin) Raja’s of
Calicut during 16th and 17th
century. Their relationships stand as a symbol of
peaceful co-existence of two communities during that
period. The visit was helpful for the participants to
learn more about ‘Kunjali Markkaars’ and their
relationship with the King ‘Samoothiris’.
After the visit the participants assembled back in the
hall for another session on ‘Emerging rituals and
religiosity in Kerala social life’, By Roopesh O B, sub
editor, State Institute of Encyclopaedic Publications,
Trivandrum. The discussion was on the ‘Attukal ponkala’
festival taking place in Thiruvananthapuram every year.
an annual congregation of women to offer Pongala
offering of boiled rice in earthen pot - during
Compare to earlier days, the participation of women is
increasing heavily in every year. The resource person
analysed the socio-political reasons and motives behind
this mobilisation. Increasing religiosity/public ritual,
in a way help communal forces to develop their network,
and influence the social psyche, the resource person
presentation also generated a live discussion on related
This was followed by screening of the film ‘Nero’s
Guest’ is directed by Deepa Bhatia, a story about
India's farmer suicides and the growing inequality seen
through the work of the Rural Affairs Editor of Hindu
newspaper, P Sainath.
The third day of the workshop began with a talk by Dr. P
Geetha, Feminist writer/Activist, on ‘Communalism and
Women’. The patriarchal structure in all major religion
is against gender justice. Religion is also a product of
patriarchal society and hence it is a view from men’s
perspective. In contemporary Kerala’s social life
fundamentalist religious organisations suppress women’s
life. Their role behind recent incidents of ‘moral
policing’ is evident. Participants also shared their
views on the topic presented. Ms. Divya Divakaran
moderated the session.
The next session was on ‘Local interference for
Secularism’ by Mr. N.V
Director, CLEAR. He began with a critical evaluation of
the discussions, through out the workshop. The actions
one should carry on based on the workshop’s concerns
were the major point discussed in this session.
Participants also put forward their ideas for action to
The valedictory session was inaugurated by Koilandy
M.L.A Shri. K. Dasan. He also stressed on the need for
collective and conscious action to counter communal
politics. Mr. N.V Balakrishnan, Director, CLEAR presided
over the valedictory meeting. Mr. Riyas V.M, Programme
Executive, CSSS gave the welcome speech and Mr.Edathil
Ravi, CLEAR, gave the vote of thanks. With this the
three day long youth workshop came to an end. | <urn:uuid:d92347b0-e53b-45e7-aa17-0f78fd4e1abb> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.csss-isla.com/Report-Youth-wokshop-Calicut-kerala-2012.htm | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368700264179/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516103104-00024-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.930784 | 1,805 | 1.820313 | 2 |
On January 5, radical Shiite leader Muqtada al-Sadr entered Iraq after a three-year self-imposed exile in Iran, but then returned to Iran fifteen days later. According to Saudi-owned media outlets, he fled because of threats from Asaib Ahl al-Haqq (AAH), a militant offshoot of his own Sadrist movement. Whatever the reason for his departure, he remains a significant force in Iraq, where he is viewed by some as a political and military proxy of Iran.
Muqtada's Movement in 2011
For years, personal rivalries and policy differences within the Sadrist movement have prevented Muqtada from establishing firm control over his potential supporters through the Office of the Martyr Sadr (OMS), an organization he formed in 2003. A key point of disagreement has been truces with the U.S. military in Iraq, an issue that has driven a wedge between Muqtada (who authorized a number of such truces before taking shelter in Iran in 2007) and diehard militants such as AAH (who have increasingly turned to Iran for support and shelter). Moreover, the sectarian killings and looting undertaken by the Jaish al-Mahdi (JAM) militia left a lasting stain on the reputation of both Muqtada and his movement, even after he disbanded JAM in 2008.
Today, the OMS shows a mixture of strengths and weaknesses as a political bloc. The Sadrists were able to win 40 seats in the new 325-seat national parliament, partly due to Iranian coaching on electoral strategy. They also played a key role in securing Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki's reappointment. In return, they gained the deputy speakership of parliament and six medium-grade ministerial portfolios, including construction and housing, planning, labor and social affairs, and water and irrigation. They also reportedly gained other less obvious inducements, such as a "right of return" for Muqtada (who previously faced an outstanding arrest warrant for a political slaying committed by his followers in April 2003 -- allegedly at his behest) and the governorship of Maysan, a strategic province on the Iran-Iraq border.
Purpose of the Visit
Many features of Muqtada's January visit reinforced longstanding rumors regarding threats against his life by rival Sadrists. Under normal circumstances, one might have expected him to return in triumph, crossing the land border with pomp and forewarning and gathering crowds as he traveled. Instead, he entered Iraq in secrecy through Najaf airport, the only commercial airport (outside the Kurdistan Regional Government) where he could avoid U.S. forces entirely while minimizing his public exposure. He then remained at his home in Najaf under heavy Sadrist security for almost the entire visit. Although he delivered a major televised address on January 8, he left the country before the commemoration of Arbain, when millions of pilgrims flow through Najaf and other parts of central Iraq to visit the shrines at Karbala.
According to al-Sharq al-Awsat, AAH leader Qais al-Khazali -- Muqtada's former aide and a student of his father -- issued a ruling in Najaf "declaring the killing of Muqtada al-Sadr lawful." Threats from rivals may have played a role in Muqtada's 2007 departure from Iraq as well.
Muqtada may indeed have received threats during his January visit, but fear of assassination was probably not the sole driving force behind the trip's short duration. More likely he faced a combination of pressures that cut the visit short, and these pressures were probably anticipated well before the trip.
For example, some accounts of his 2007 departure from Iraq cite the Shiite religious establishment in Najaf (known as the Hawza) as a key factor, reflecting the traditional clergy's alarm over Sadrist demonstrations and violence in Shiite shrines during that year's religious festivals. According to a number of WikiLeaks cables from 2009, the Hawza is also actively working to limit Iranian influence in Iraq's seminaries. Therefore, it probably did not welcome Muqtada back to Najaf in January, but rather tolerated his brief visit as long as it did not overlap with the sensitive Arbain commemorations.
Perhaps most important, many Iraqis still regard the Sadrist movement with suspicion and fear, suggesting the need for a more patient strategy on Muqtada's part. From this perspective, his short trip could be viewed as a calculated move negotiated with Iranian assistance during Iraq's government formation period, allowing him to test the waters regarding his position in Najaf and the country in general. The trip was short, stage-managed to avoid mishaps, and limited to parameters that were likely prearranged with the Iraqi government and the Hawza.
The centerpiece of Muqtada's visit was his thirty-five-minute Saturday sermon on January 8. The short address had two main messages. First, Muqtada played to his traditional support base by signaling defiance to "the occupation" (i.e., U.S. military presence) and affirming the "legal and religious obligation" to resist it "militarily and culturally and by all the means of resistance."
Second, he reflected the OMS's new role as a partner in the Iraqi government, declaring that if Baghdad "serves the Iraqi people, and provides services, we will stand by it, not against it.... If it doesn't, there are political -- only political -- ways to reform the government." He sought to further his rehabilitation in the political mainstream by clarifying that armed resistance would not be expected of all followers, by demonstrating his cross-sectarian goodwill, and by expressing disapproval of unauthorized militia-type gatherings by his supporters. Even more than his words, the quiet and brief nature of his visit signaled his willingness to work within the rules set by the political and religious mainstream -- for now.
The only policy prescription in Muqtada's sermon concerned the prospect of a new U.S.-Iraqi security agreement that might extend the American military presence beyond 2011. Speaking for the Sadrist movement, Muqtada warned the government that "we're watching you," holding al-Maliki to his December 28, 2010, pledge that "the last American soldier will leave Iraq" by the end of 2011. On this issue, Muqtada's interests have always dovetailed with Tehran's. His January 8 characterization of "our joint enemy: America, Israel, and Britain" is not new, but rather reflects the Sadrists' identification with the arc of anti-Western resistance that Tehran seeks to cultivate in Gaza, Lebanon, Syria, Iraq, and elsewhere.
Implications for U.S. Policy
A myopic focus on the loudest and most obvious vectors of Iranian influence (at the expense of more subtle forms) has been a consistent weakness of U.S. policy in Iraq. Recent developments show that the OMS continues to recover from its setbacks in 2007-2009 and that Muqtada remains an important player on the political scene. Yet his short-lived return to Iraq also points to his near-term political weaknesses, the embryonic status of his rehabilitation, and the limited role that his movement may play in driving the current government's policies. Consequently, Washington should keep its eye on the greater near-term influence that Tehran can wield via its well-positioned proxies in the Shiite political mainstream, most notably elements of al-Maliki's Islamic Dawa Party and the Badr Organization, which collectively control the lion's share of Iraq's security forces and many top-tier ministries.
In the longer term, Muqtada may become a more important player: his sights are clearly fixed on eventual dominance of the Iraqi clerical establishment. He also still hopes to establish clerical rule in southern and central Iraq, borrowing from the velayat-e faqih model in Iran but with an Iraqi cleric -- presumably himself -- atop the structure. At some point, Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani's time as Iraq's senior cleric will come to an end, and Muqtada may seek to disrupt the selection of his successor from the traditional "quietist" school (which rejects a velayat-e faqih system for Iraq). In that scenario, Muqtada's nationalist and dynastic interests would potentially come into conflict with Tehran's ambitions to dominate the Hawza and, through it, to control Iraq's Shiites.
Accordingly, Washington should find ways to exploit strains in Muqtada's relationship with the Iranian government, both on the looming al-Sistani succession issue and many others (e.g., Tehran's deliberate splintering of his support base). As the United States seeks to balance Iranian influence in Iraq, continued tracking of the Sadrist movement's internal dynamics will be critical, as will maintenance of U.S. diplomatic outposts in strategic locations such as Hillah, near Najaf. | <urn:uuid:ec5f5cf2-670c-4c8a-af3e-968aa9bda156> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.realclearworld.com/articles/2011/02/09/iran_in_iraq_the_role_of_al-sadr_99386.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368696382584/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516092622-00030-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.974642 | 1,823 | 1.609375 | 2 |
Even in Spring, Flip-Flops Are a Bad Habit For Your Feet, Doc John Whyte Says
Them's formal wear in L.A., where the most under-dressed person in the room is usually the most powerful.
(It says you have gravitas when you show up to a high-power meeting riding a beach cruiser in your jammies).
Spring is upon us, so it's certainly the season for Chinese made foot thongs. But, behold Hollywood creatives, they might not be the healthiest footwear.
A Discovery Channel doctor has the balls to call out this podiatric lingerie as unsuitable for daily hoofing:
... Many of our favorite flip-flops can be sending us feet first into serious injuries to our feet, ankles, knees, hips and even our back. Over time these injuries can lead to serious bone, tendon, and joint damage.
So writes Dr. John Whyte at Huffington Post.
Whyte says there's been plenty of research on flip-flops: Because we tend to grip the lower part of the footwear with our toes, strides are shortened and increased weight and stress is transferred through our feet and legs.
People who aren't flat-footed could become so, he says. And forget about the lack of protection: Cuts, bruises, the like.
Conclusion? " ... Wear your sandals and flip-flops in moderation," the doc writes.
Don't become a flip-flop-aholic. | <urn:uuid:97860332-14db-4ae0-a00f-801164f937c5> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://blogs.laweekly.com/informer/2011/04/flip-flops_bad_for_feet.php | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368706890813/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516122130-00032-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.948506 | 310 | 1.765625 | 2 |
I have a useful information about how to get a six pack which can be found here however, this post is to do with how to correct a slice.
While playing golf can be a relaxing event, more often than not, if we are beginners the game can be very frustrating. We have to deal with a variety of different issues that limit our ability to improve. For one, learning how to correct a slice is quite important as it is a very common shot mistake that a lot of beginners struggle with.
The fundamental aspect behind a slice is that the club face is often open as we strike the ball. This open club face causes the ball to spin and curve out towards the right if you are right handed. Often times the reason the club face is open is due to the golfing grip that we have on the club. If the grip is too weak then the club will move through your hands and open as it strikes the ball. We often then overcompensate on this and try and grip the club very tight which doesn’t allow the proper movement through the hips.
These are just two things that we can learn to improve on if we wish to learn how to correct a slice. If you wish to know more about how to correct a slice then I would advise you follow the link. It will provide a few more reasons and advice that can help set you on your way to play better golf and even learn more golf tips
Please watch the below video that will provide you with a brief video demonstration of how to correct a slice. | <urn:uuid:03cc0857-fd14-40c1-a705-35de7b37f9f7> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://howtocorrectaslice.blogspot.com/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368696381249/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516092621-00035-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.96903 | 313 | 1.742188 | 2 |
“CHOOSING THE RIGHT BUSINESS STRUCTURE”
Check out the video snippet and the takeaways below from Ilya and Tudor for a recap of last weeks class on business entities.
Also don’t miss signing up for this Thursday’s class, Backed! Equity financing techniques and regulations
1. Where should you incorporate?
Because of its heavily pro-business commercial code and well developed commercial case law, Delaware is one of the best States to choose for incorporation.
2. What type of business entity should you choose?
C-Corp: If you anticipate needing/seeking outside funding from a group of investors
- This is the best option if you plan on seeking outside investment from Venture Capital and/or Angel groups in the early stages, expect your company to grow into a large corporation that will one day IPO.
S-Corp or LLC: If you don’t anticipate needing or expect to raise a lot of outside funding
- This might be a good option for Small companies you don’t expect to become very large and are planning to fund yourself or via friends and family.
3. Important points to keep in mind:
Sole Proprietorships & Partnerships do not have limited liability protection for the founders/owners – All other business entities (S, C, LLC) liability for the operations of the business is limited to the assets of the company (founders/owners are generally not personally liable)
S-Corps and LLC’s are single tax entities – profits and losses pass through to the shareholders. C-Corps are double tax entities – profits and losses are retained by the business.
C-Corps have 2 classes of stock (common and preferred) and can have an unlimited number of Shareholders. S-Corps operate like C-Corps except that they only have 1 class of stock (common) and they are limited to a max of 100 investors.
LLC’s are composed of members (not stockholders) and the members rights are flexible (not limited to 2 classes)
You can elect S-Corp status or an LLC and later change to a C-Corp as the business grows – BUT this does involve some additional legal actions, and fees. | <urn:uuid:54f1408e-c995-4e6c-b31d-a0a6a820171d> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://legalstuff.tumblr.com/tagged/incorporation | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368699881956/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516102441-00010-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.939183 | 467 | 1.71875 | 2 |
So there's been a tsunami of controversy about the new Google Search the Book program, which allows the contents of books to be searched for key words much like the Internet is searched for key words.
How does it work? Try it for yourself. Visit http://print.google.com/ and do a search for "Konrath." You'll be able to find Whiskey Sour, completely searchable.
The Author's Guild says this violates copyright, and that allowing access to content without a royalty is the same as stealing.
I feel differently.
People read me for free at the library, sell my advance reading copies on Ebay, buy my used books on Amazon, and I don't make a cent from these transactions.
I'm also all for them.
Steal me. Download me. Search inside me. Google my complete text. Infringe me.
Just read me.
I remember when Metallica shut down Napster. Three major things resulted from that.
1. Many other peer to peer sharing networks showed up.
2. Sony began selling copy-protected CDs, which load spyware onto your computer.
3. People hated Metallica, and they lost sales rather than received compensation for their lost royalties.
On the opposite end of the spectrum is the band Phish, which encourages fans to trade music freely. Phish fans are happy, and enough money flows Phish's way to make them rich.
Here's the thing--I want to be read. The more people that read me, the better off I am. Some of those freebies will translate into sales. Some won't. But they all add to name recognition, to brand awareness, and to more people knowing who I am and what I write.
I wouldn't want anyone to print up editions of my books without compensating me. But I don't mind being Googleable, even if they make some advertising revenue from my books. | <urn:uuid:b7ea01ab-81b2-4628-b1d5-0ee68e1d8fa9> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.jakonrath.blogspot.com/2005_11_19_archive.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368701459211/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516105059-00027-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.95337 | 399 | 1.554688 | 2 |
Is the superhuman (here I purposely do not use Nietzsche term superman). I began using the term superteacher after a decade of teaching showed me that there are two types of education professionals: those who teach because it is who they are and those who teach because they cannot find anything else “better” to do. To me, there is nothing besides teaching (well, I do have a cat, some plants, and an amazing ability to bake). I felt nothing but insecurity as a green teacher–I know now that I can teach anything, as long as I love teaching enough to devote only my best effort to it. I am a superteacher–apathy and ignorance are my sworn enemies, and selfhood, actualization, and pure thought are my allies. I have met superteachers and superstudents, extraordinary people who stand out because they work, accept and tackle challenges, settle for only the absolute best, and never excuse failure.
My crusade against mediocrity, though, is nothing new. My mother taught me this word when I was in elementary school. She taught and teaches my siblings and I that hard work leads to excellence. I learned that Cs were far from “average” or acceptable. You might disagree, reader, that grades matter or that we can measure more than memorization and test taking skills via grades. To me though, each A or B was a testament to hard work, to never giving up even when the subject frustrated me or challenged me beyond what was practical. My mother carries this lesson on. She completely changed my mind about homeschooling. I marvel at my younger siblings, whose talents in academics, arts, and athletics far outshines my more cerebral approach to learning.
I share an idea the first day of class with my students. The idea is that an average presentation sucks and that most of us are painfully average presenters. Andrew Dlugan developed this idea in his Six Minutes post, “Average Speakers Suck. Don’t Be Average.” I really appreciate Dlugan’s rhetoric–he not only uses easily understandable metaphors (i.e. the average chocolate chip cookie and its connection to presenting), but integrates bell curves and concrete examples into his basic conclusion/big idea. Don’t be average–average sucks.
As I take a few months off from the classroom and I tackle new projects, I will remember this idea–be a superhuman. Don’t be average.
I will leave you with the visual resume of one of the most amazing women, students, professionals I have had the privilege to teach, Crysta Timmerman. Top that: | <urn:uuid:0a5e6fc0-d5d0-4ab5-94eb-02614b5356e5> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://tweakyourslides.wordpress.com/tag/crysta-timmerman/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368696383156/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516092623-00008-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.966669 | 550 | 1.796875 | 2 |
Cambridge Center for Adult Education
CSArt is modeled on the community supported agricultural programs which are designed to support local produce (CSAs). However, instead of people buying shares of locally grown food, community members buy locally made artwork. Artists develop limited editions of original artwork and shareholders receive "a harvest of art" at three separate community parties. The artwork include sculpture, photography, mixed media, etchings and paintings, and the program is designed to promote local artists and build community.
Created logo, tagline, color palette, and re-usable bags. The yellow is already part of the client's identity, as it ties to the color of the yellow house where students take classes at the Cambridge Center for Adult Education. | <urn:uuid:e2aedee8-5617-4299-90bb-9cdfa5cb0337> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.behance.net/gallery/CSArt-Branding/5094091 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368706499548/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516121459-00013-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.953963 | 147 | 1.507813 | 2 |
Study Abroad Opportunities
John Brown University offers international practicums in conjunction with its graduate business programs. International practicums include travel to places in Central America and Asia and are open to all graduate business and leadership students.
The International Business Practicum in China was designed to compliment graduate business students by helping them gain a global perspective on the world’s fastest growing economy. Students travel to Hong Kong, Shenzhen, Guangzhou, and Beijing to tour retailing, manufacturing facilities, and meet with major consumer product companies to learn strategies for success in China.
Students also tour the famous Drucker Academy in Beijing, China (http://www.pfda.com.cn/english/about_team.html) where we have a joint partnership relationship. In addition, students will have the opportunity to immerse themselves in the rich culture of China and understand the government’s impact on society. This trip also helps students understand how the local Chinese people live, shop, eat, and worship. Importantly, students will engage in understanding the future impact of over 100 million Christians currently living in China. The practicum consists of pre- and post- trip classes and course work as well as a travel experience. Learn more about the China Practicum.
The International Business Practicum in Brazil was designed to provide graduate business students with an in-depth opportunity to study business in one of the world's emerging hubs of global commerce. Students travel to Sao Paulo, Rio de Janeiro and Curitiba to tour retailing and manufacturing facilities and meet with major consumer product companies to learn strategies for successful operations in Brazil.
Students will also have the opportunity for cultural immersion by understanding how the local Brazilian people live, shop, eat and work.
The practicum consists of pre- and post-trip classes and course work as well as a travel experience. Learn more about the Brazil Practicum.
For information about other international programs offered at JBU, click here: JBU International Programs | <urn:uuid:9c83cedb-6fda-445b-833f-0d693bf568a2> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.jbu.edu/grad/business/study_abroad/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368709037764/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516125717-00028-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.93541 | 405 | 1.578125 | 2 |
Skip Rutherford interviewed Congressional Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi Thursday in Little Rock for a Clinton School current events discussion. Pelosi said she is praying former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton will run for President.
Organizers say a film screening Wednesday on the campus of the University of Arkansas at Little Rock could be the start of an initiative to empower women in the state through educational opportunities.
The National Weather Service in Little Rock says a strong cold front is heading for the state and is expected to bring precipitation and cold temperatures.
The front is expected to move across the region on Thursday, but meteorologists say no severe storms are in the immediate forecast. Temperatures are forecast to drop by as much as 35 degrees behind the front on Friday.
The Arkansas Health Department is reminding residents that tick season is starting and people should be mindful that the insects can carry diseases.
The agency said Wednesday that more than 900 cases of tick-borne diseases were reported in 2012 and that many more went unreported. Five people died as a result.
Officials say four diseases are most commonly spread by ticks - anaplasmosis, ehrlichiosis, Rocky Mountain spotted fever, and tularemia. Some of the infections can spread to joints, the heart and the nervous system if left untreated. | <urn:uuid:5fe15822-3742-453a-a0ac-907a9d2acc77> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://ualrpublicradio.org/news/91091-ark-senator-delays-vote-on-drug-testing-bill.html?page=17 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368706499548/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516121459-00016-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.958838 | 254 | 1.554688 | 2 |
Earlier this year Kevin Marchetti’s, “Fuego” sculpture was unveiled as the inaugural sculpture of the Art for Gulf Breeze project and Kevin’s friend Lou-Mitchell Courtney is the fellow artist who had originally put Kevin together with the Gulf Breeze committee. As this blog has mentioned before, Kevin and the Renaissance Man Crew were also to be an integral part of the Lou-Mitchell Courtney offering, “Starlight”, which was unveiled this past Wednesday.
Kevin and Lou-Mitchell Courtney have been involved with each others careers for many years now going back to their time together as colleagues in a regional artists guild. Lou-Mitchell Courtneys’ classical art training was in painting and sculpting, concentrating on landscape and the human figure. She had spent seven years in the furniture industry, designing and building original sculptural prototypes for the companies Lane, Basset Glass, Thomasville (Four Corners Collection) and Casa Bique, among others, at which point she was a member of the American Society of Furniture Designers.
Courtney’s primary medium is clay, and this collaboration with Kevin and Renaissance Man allowed her to design a sculpture on paper – as she would have in the clay medium – then have a model and final product produced in stainless steel.
Kevin offered design input on the legs and base of the sculpture, and Roger Craft – who had done the engineering work on Fuego – helped with the structural engineering of Starlight.
The sculpture is rendered in stainless steel with a concrete base, and stands twenty-two feet tall. The upper part being marine grade 3/16 steel, and the bottom 1/4″ 304 stainless. Lighting is an LED system that transitions between warm red and cool blue-white hues.
Courtney describes the design as an abstract that allows viewers to find their own personal meaning.
“I am interested in how our perception of those shapes can grab submerged memories and feelings and bring them to the surface for examination and, in the process of turning them over, imbue them with new meaning”.
The cost of the sculpture is being underwritten by Gulf Breeze-based AppRiver. The company was founded in 2002 and maintains multiple, secure data centers in the United States, Europe and Asia.
We are grateful for yet another wonderful opportunity to dedicate our practical and creative energies into beautifying the region. Remember, you can click on any image to view story as slideshow and as always we welcome your questions and comments. | <urn:uuid:65cc0112-3468-4002-9746-6163921fabf8> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.renaissancemaninc.com/blog/gulf-breeze-sculpture-number-two-starlight/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368704392896/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516113952-00040-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.967346 | 521 | 1.515625 | 2 |
This essay from Francis Spufford has been getting flagged quite a bit in my little corner of the Internet. Spufford is an English author who writes mostly non-fiction (his recent book Red Plenty was the subject of a book event at Crooked Timber this summer). Spufford’s essay seems to be a summary of his new book Unapologetic, a defense of Christian faith that carries ths subtitle “Why, despite everything, Christianity can still make surprising emotional sense.”
Since I’ve been deep in Schleiermacher recently, this set off some bells for me, and indeed Spufford’s argument, at least based on the article, does seem like a sort of updating of Schleiermacher’s argument for thinking of religion as an essential aspect of human nature which is rooted in a particular kind of feeling.
The point is that from outside, belief looks like a series of ideas about the nature of the universe for which a truth-claim is being made, a set of propositions that you sign up to; and when actual believers don’t talk about their belief in this way, it looks like slipperiness, like a maddening evasion of the issue. If I say that, from inside, it makes much more sense to talk about belief as a characteristic set of feelings, or even as a habit, you will conclude that I am trying to wriggle out, or just possibly that I am not even interested in whether the crap I talk is true. I do, as a matter of fact, think that it is. I am a fairly orthodox Christian. Every Sunday I say and do my best to mean the whole of the Creed, which is a series of propositions. But it is still a mistake to suppose that it is assent to the propositions that makes you a believer. It is the feelings that are primary. I assent to the ideas because I have the feelings; I don’t have the feelings because I’ve assented to the ideas.
As Scheleirmacher said in his Speeches, religion is a “taste for the infinite,” and in The Christian Faith he defined it as “a feeling of absolute dependence.” Doctrine, for Schleiermacher, is an elaboration of this feeling, but the feeling–piety–comes first and is more basic. Theology takes this as its starting point–it doesn’t try to “prove” God’s existence. (Schleiermacher does allow that philosophy may construct arguments for God’s existence on its own terms, but this has little to do with the life of living faith.) Like Spufford, Schleiermacher didn’t deny that religion makes truth-claims, but its living heart is feeling. | <urn:uuid:3431ef88-ac75-4348-a09f-8c1272b1f05a> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://thinkingreed.wordpress.com/2012/09/07/francis-spuffords-speech-to-religions-cultured-despisers/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368704713110/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516114513-00002-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.96319 | 590 | 1.601563 | 2 |
No Sense of an Ending
Jane Eldridge Miller
- Windows on Modernism: Selected Letters of Dorothy Richardson edited by Gloria Fromm
Georgia, 696 pp, £58.50, February 1995, ISBN 0 8203 1659 8
To read the letters of Dorothy Richardson is to become exhausted, vicariously, by the ‘non-stop housewifery’ which consumed her days. From 1918 until 1939, Richardson and her husband moved three times a year. Every autumn, they settled in a primitive rented cottage in Cornwall, where Richardson was responsible for shopping, cooking and cleaning, as well as for her own and her husband’s sizeable correspondence. In the spring, Richardson would pack up their belongings and they would move to nearby lodgings for a few months, only to pack up again, this time to live in London for the summer, where Richardson’s domestic duties lessened but her social ones increased, as she and her husband met friends and associates they were unable to see the rest of the year. Then in the autumn, Richardson prepared their London rooms for winter tenants, and they returned to Cornwall.
Even after the war brought an end to this routine, Richardson continued to live in austere conditions in various Cornwall cottages, with little domestic help, until 1953, four years before her death. It is amazing that she found time to write the letters collected in this edition, let alone her 13-volume novel Pilgrimage, whose experimental narrative anticipated those of James Joyce and Virginia Woolf. It’s an odd conjunction: on the one hand, Joyce and Woolf; on the other, Dorothy Richardson, Modernist, struggling to light a recalcitrant wood stove or wearing galoshes to cook breakfast in a flooded kitchen.
In the Twenties and Thirties, Richardson’s work was frequently linked with that of Joyce and Woolf. By the time of Joyce’s death, his reputation was firmly established. Woolf finally attained prominence in the Seventies. But even after a feminist revival in the Seventies and Eighties, Richardson seems destined to remain what Ford Maddox Ford once called her – an ‘abominably unknown contemporary writer’. Many factors have contributed to her anomalous position in literary history, but these letters underscore the significance of her rejection of a literary life and her refusal to foster a public image. Although she had acquaintances in the literary world (her correspondents included H.G. Wells, Bryher, H.D. and John Cowper Powys), most of her life was lived in obscurity, and her friendships were mainly epistolary ones. Her aversion to having her picture taken and her reluctance to submit to interviews (she believed that readers should ‘keep their illusions’ about the authors they read) rendered her personally invisible and the intentions behind her work enigmatic. One unfortunate but slightly comic consequence of this self-effacement was that she began to be confused with an American writer also named Dorothy Richardson, whose photograph kept haunting reviews of Pilgrimage. In exasperation, Richardson declared: ‘I think that about finishes me. I shall try advertisement writing.’ The publication of her letters brings Richardson into the public eye as never before, but the letters chronicle a quiet life almost entirely devoid of drama or emotional upheaval. In that respect, and in their detailed recording of the fabric of daily life, they resemble Pilgrimage, in which, as the novelist May Sinclair noted approvingly, ‘nothing happens.’
Richardson was the third of four daughters of a man who sold the family grocery business in order to live as a ‘gentleman’. But the privileges she enjoyed – summer holidays by the sea, a good education at Southborough House in Putney – were tempered by anxieties over her father’s waning fortune and her mother’s mental illness. In the late 1880s, her father made a series of disastrous investments, which led Richardson, at the age of 17, to accept a teaching position in Germany to ease her family’s financial situation. She later taught at a girls’ school in North London and worked as a governess. But after her father was declared bankrupt in 1893, and her mother committed suicide in 1895, Richardson decided to make a fresh start by moving to London and living on her own. She rented an attic room on the edge of Bloomsbury and began working as a secretary-assistant for a Harley Street dentist. | <urn:uuid:365df324-1641-4e0c-986f-435d1ae708eb> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.lrb.co.uk/v17/n18/jane-eldridge-miller/no-sense-of-an-ending | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368704132298/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516113532-00028-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.972796 | 926 | 1.554688 | 2 |
"For some years I enjoyed myself very much writing stories of unrelieved gloom... Then I thought it would be fun to try and write a detective story."
Educated at home; studied singing and piano in Paris.
Volunteered as a nurse in the first world war (thus gaining a useful knowledge of poisons), which was when she wrote her first novel, published five years later; assisted her second husband on archaeological digs.
Did you know?
She never enlarged upon her mysterious disappearance in 1926 (following the death of her mother and abandonment by her husband), claiming that she had lost her memory.
Christie is the Guinness World Record author: her work has been translated into more languages than Shakespeare, while The Mousetrap, written as a birthday present for Queen Mary, is the world's longest-running play ("People like it, but who can say why?" was her non-verdict on its success).
Christie's own favourites included The Murder of Roger Ackroyd, Death on the Nile and The Body in the Library.
Anna Katherine Green, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, GK Chesterton
Now read on
The Floating Admiral (1931) is a collaboration by 14 detective-story writers, including Christie. Obsessives should search out her six romances (under the pseudonym Mary Westmacott) and her slim volumes of verse (The Road of Dreams, 1924; Poems, 1973). Try Michael Dibdin's The Dying of the Light, a Christie pastiche-cum-modern horror story.
Her film adaptations date back to 1928; the last couple of decades have seen her made for TV, if at all (one would hardly remake a mystery). The 70s, with their cheesy glamour and all-star casts (Death on the Nile, Murder on the Orient Express), were her cinematic highpoint.
Christie wrote An Autobiography, published after her death; see also Gwen Robyn's The Mystery of Agatha Christie.
Agatha Christie A to Z: The Essential Reference to her Life and Writings by Dawn B Sova (1996) | <urn:uuid:9cf64276-2240-40a3-8ccf-4f846afcf74e> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2008/jun/10/agathachristie | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368699273641/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516101433-00011-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.954966 | 432 | 1.625 | 2 |
BY THE MICHIGAN DAILY
Published April 8, 2001
Bulls" Crawford might get chance to return
More like this
INDIANAPOLIS (AP) Jamal Crawford is a rookie with the Chicago Bulls and making a lot of money.
But Crawford still wishes he was playing basketball at Michigan.
"I miss college a lot," he said. "I live in a college area now because I like to be around college kids."
Crawford felt trapped last year when he decided to leave Michigan following his freshman season.
He already had served an eight-game suspension for one mistake sending the NBA a letter that said he intended to enter the 1999 draft before he enrolled in college. He had missed six other games and was ordered to repay $15,000 in benefits to a Seattle businessman, whom he had lived with for three years during high school.
The NCAA later said he could give $11,300 to the charity of his choice. If he didn"t pay, Crawford would lose his eligibility.
Today, the NCAA Management Council will consider a proposal that would give players, like Crawford, an opportunity to continue their college careers without penalty.
"It"s new territory," Charles Harris, chairman of the Management Council, said. "I think it is something we"d like to fix. It"s not whether kids should get paid, but whether the rules should be more flexible and more responsive and that"s always the desire."
The changes would be sweeping and controversial.
If approved, high-school athletes could accept prize money, sign contracts, compete with professionals and earn money following graduation, even enter the draft and keep their eligibility.
It also would allow college athletes to obtain bank loans based on future earnings.
Harris said today"s environment has forced the NCAA into this position.
"The absoluteness has changed," he said. "So we need, to the extent we can, not to be punitive against people who are doing the normal things in their life."
Crawford"s case is one example.
After discovering the letter, the NCAA first ruled Crawford forfeited his college eligibility, even though he wrote a second letter six days later withdrawing his name. Current NCAA rules allow college athletes a one-time exception for players who put their name on the NBA draft list to retain their eligibility if they aren"t drafted. That does not apply to high-school players yet. Michigan appealed, and the NCAA reduced Crawford"s penalty to an eight-game suspension.
But even if the changes are approved, they wouldn"t take effect immediately.
Arizona"s Jefferson to enter NBA draft
TUCSON (AP) Forward Richard Jefferson, a key to Arizona"s drive to the national championship game, decided to skip his senior season and enter the NBA draft.
Jefferson averaged 11.3 points, 5.4 rebounds and 2.7 assists in 35 games as the Wildcats reached the NCAA final before losing 82-72 to Duke. He shot 47.9 percent from the floor and 34.4 percent from three-point range.
Martinez K"s 16 in win over Devil Rays
BOSTON (AP) The Tampa Bay Devil Rays couldn"t do anything to Pedro Martinez, and neither could the weather.
Fighting 42-degree temperatures and intermittent rain, Martinez struck out 16 in eight innings to lead the Boston Red Sox to a 3-0 victory over Tampa Bay for his first win of the season.
"You just have to understand what"s happening to your body," said Martinez (1-0), who his first six outs on strikeouts and brought a no-hitter into the sixth. "It"s different. But the cold weather is affecting the hitters, too." | <urn:uuid:bf1c333e-fefc-4e1a-ab4e-1a17b85fb523> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.michigandaily.com/content/sports-briefs-23 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368702448584/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516110728-00036-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.977813 | 773 | 1.65625 | 2 |
Leonard Bernstein's "Candide," one of the most glorious scores ever written for Broadway, has been, in effect, orphaned for 40 years. Hal Prince's current production At birth, in 1956, the score was swaddled in a book by Lillian Hellman which, though heavyhanded and humorless, served the music well. She at least gave Voltaire's story of an innocent youth surviving countless horrors, a satire on 18th-century optimism, a coherent narrative.
The musical did not find an audience then but built one through its unsurpassed original cast album.
In 1973, Prince had the happy idea of creating a version that would make the work less imposing. At BAM, the actors cavorted all around the audience. This structureless version, with a book by Hugh Wheeler, moved to Broadway a year later. It demonstrated the theatricality of the score but shortchanged its musical values drastically.
When Prince directed "Candide" for the City Opera in 1982, he retained Wheeler's carnival-style book, which is only marginally funnier than Hellman's and a lot longer.
He has used the same version for this production, but cleaned it up a bit. Actors in horse costume galloping onto the stage now mar only the climax of the brilliant overture rather than the whole thing.
The fine soprano Harolyn Blackwell was so preoccupied with the business Prince gave her in "Glitter and Be Gay" that, the night I saw it, she lost the rhythm.
Prince's premise is that Voltaire set out to entertain his readers, and the musical should do likewise. This is true. Forty years on, however, it is clear that whatever of Voltaire's spirit or wit the musical first captured is in Bernstein's music and the original lyrics, which are ill-served by the Wheeler book.
In this revival, even such stalwarts as Andrea Martin and Mal Z. Lawrence cannot get laughs out of the unfunny material. Nor can Jim Dale, who plays a host of comic roles. Jason Danieley is a properly innocent Candide. Blackwell, of course, sings beautifully as Cunegonde.
The sets and costumes match the outwardly merry but ultimately empty style of the production perfectly. When the final chorus arrives and all the music sounds first-rate in conductor Eric Stern's hands it should be exultant. Here it only brings relief. The unending un-hilarity, is, thank heaven, over and we can go home.
It dazzles, it soars, it coruscates – it’s one of the great operettas of our time. It’s Leonard Bernstein’s masterpiece, musically far finer than his soggily melodic “West Side Story,” and it’s back on Broadway.
It, of course, is the Bernstein-Hugh Wheeler-Richard Wilbur-John La Touche (the latter two with a friendly assist from Stephen Sondheim) musical, “Candide,” starring Jim Dale in a new, definitive staging by Harold Prince. It arrived last night at the Gershwin Theater.
This is either the third or fifth time Prince has staged “Candide” – depending on how you count his ways – but not because he didn’t get it right the first time, but because he has kept on getting it better.
As many know, the original Princeless Broadway production of “Candide” in 1956 was a failure, and it was not a success until 1973 when Prince staged his first “environmental” chamber production for the Chelsea Theater Center in Brooklyn, later expanded for Broadway, with a new book by Wheeler replacing the original unwieldy and unfunny Lillian Hellman version.
This Wheeler concept, which stays surprisingly quite close to its source, the 1759 Voltaire novel, has become the standard, with the original Wilbur and La Touche lyrics being touched up here and there by Sondheim, who has actually added a little extra to this present production.
As with his opera-house stagings in both New York and Chicago, Prince has now returned the show to a proscenium setting, but has done so with an exuberance that perhaps eluded him when he mounted it for New York City Opera.
In any event, this new “Candide” is a joyous experience, an operetta to savor musically (although in this regard the orchestra could be better, audiences having grown accustomed to Philharmonic-grade playing of this score) and a Broadway musical to enjoy irrationally.
Here in a picaresque extravagance are all the travails and travels of Candide and his companions as our hero puts to the test the Leibnitz-inspired optimism about “the best of all possible worlds” given him by his teacher, the crusty Dr. Pangloss, until Candide learns to “cultivate his own garden.”
Voltaire’s satiric bite is gone, but Wheeler’s comedy, made broader and mildly bawdy for Broadway, remains a delight, and with Wilbur’s graceful lyrics, Bernstein’s incandescently eclectic and bubbling music and all the skittish characterizations, the show has become, through Prince’s adroit ministrations, foolproof.
The scenery, as, I think, with all of the Prince versions, is by Clarke Dunham, who has outdone himself by envisaging this new “Candide” as a kind of traveling medicine show. The colorful permanent set, spilling over the proscenium arch into the seating areas, is used as backdrop for a visual procession of decorative schemes and wheezes.
Into this magic pop-up picture book, Judith Dolan’s imaginative costumes practically cascade, and, helping Prince keep the whole thing moving like a whirligig, are Patricia Birch’s dances with seem seamlessly incorporated into the total stage image.
The casting sensibly has a genuine operatic coloratura soprano, Harolyn Blackwell as Cunegonde, who is as charming as she is vocally superlative (I doubt whether the role has ever been sung better), and the other young people, Brent Barrett, Stacey Logan and a strong-voiced and brightly presenced Jason Danieley as Candide himself, make up an excellent quartet.
But the stage emphasis this time is equally on comedy as much as music, and Arte Johnson and Mal Z. Lawrence offer a variety of fine-tuned clown turns, while the show’s star spotlight is actually thrown upon Andrea Martin as Voltaire’s mysterious Old Woman (the one with only one buttock), and, of course, Dale as Dr. Pangloss and others.
The amazing Martin, with her smoky voice and piquant manner, brings her own distinctive sorcery to the role – I’d love to see her as Mme. Armfeldt in “A Little Night Music” – but the staging seems to have been particularly set up for Dale, and Dale delivers the kind of Broadway top-banana pizazz the show hasn’t had before.
Although a surprisingly good team player, Dale remains redolent of the old star-encrusted Broadway, and his style, deft elegance, energy and simple command give the show and ongoing center of gravity (very un-grave gravity, one should add) that it perhaps previously lacked.
In any event – “Candide” is back and better than ever. Here is a musical with – guess what? – music. You’d be a tin-eared fool to miss it.
Certain forms of exhibitionism are to be encouraged, and Harolyn Blackwell's strutting her impressive set of vocal cords in the new revival of ''Candide,'' which opened last night at the Gershwin Theater, is definitely one of them.
As Cunegonde, the eternally virginal courtesan in Harold Prince's sour, exhaustingly overstaged production of the Leonard Bernstein musical, Ms. Blackwell of course gets the score's flashiest showpiece: the ridiculously, delightfully ornate ''Glitter and Be Gay,'' a sendup of every show-off coloratura aria ever written.
It's a taxing piece, all right, with sung strings of sobs and laughter flying into the outer space of the musical register. Yet Ms. Blackwell, who has starred at the Metropolitan Opera, gives the impression that this is the sort of thing she tears off in the shower on a daily basis. As she punctuates a particularly elaborate series of ''ha's'' by thrusting her jeweled fan toward the audience, the implicit, charmingly arrogant message is, ''Bet you can't do anything like this.''
Yet if Ms. Blackwell gives the deceptive impression that this sort of vocalizing comes as easily as breathing to her, she seems much less at ease with the physical staging that accompanies the song. She's right to be.
Mr. Prince has the not-so-ingenuous Cunegonde, who is ostensibly lamenting her fall from virtue, plucking assorted jeweled accessories off the resplendently dressed organist who appears to be accompanying her. It's a clever, if strained, bit of business (which Mr. Prince has used before), but not half as clever as the music it is meant to set off, and it starts to get in Ms. Blackwell's way.
The soprano and the score emerge as victors in this particular battle, but it's a close call. Other numbers in the musical, an adaptation of Voltaire's iconoclastic philosophical tale, are more obviously casualties of the director's excesses.
For nearly a quarter of a century, Mr. Prince, a legendary showman of the American theater, has enjoyed a reputation as the white knight who saved ''Candide'' from disaster. In its original Broadway incarnation in 1956, directed by Tyrone Guthrie with a book by Lillian Hellman, the show was widely dismissed as tedious and pretentious and ran for only 73 performances.
Still, Bernstein's shimmering, eclectic score (with lyrics by Richard Wilbur, with some additions by John LaTouche and Dorothy Parker) made an impression, and the cast album, featuring Barbara Cook and Roubert Rounseville, became an essential part of any music lover's library.
In the early 1970's, Mr. Prince oversaw a thorough reworking and condensing of the show, with a new, livelier book by Hugh Wheeler, additional lyrics by Stephen Sondheim and, most crucially, an environmental, fun-house staging that placed the audience in the middle of the action. First seen at the Brooklyn Academy of Music in 1973, moving to Broadway the next year, it was frantic, colorful and irreverent, as hip theatrical experiences were largely meant to be in those days.
Mr. Prince revisited ''Candide'' in 1982, with a popular, musically expanded production for the New York City Opera, which adapted the spirit of his 70's hit for the proscenium stage. In this latest version, a production of Livent (U.S.) Inc. (which brought us Mr. Prince's ''Showboat''), he is sticking to the same sensibility, blanketing the Gershwin's stage with eye-popping scenery (by Clarke Dunham), tricks and gimmicks. And what once seemed an act of resuscitation is now beginning to feel closer to suffocation.
The score of ''Candide'' remains absolutely delectable, and the orchestra performs it beautifully under the direction of Eric Stern. Moreover, it not only has in Ms. Blackwell a Cunegonde who happily scales the dangerous peaks of her songs, but an enchanting, honey-voiced Candide in Jason Danieley, who recently shone in ''Floyd Collins.''
Add to this the inestimable comic charm of Andrea Martin, as the long-winded Old Lady who accompanies Candide and Cunegonde through their cataclysmic journeys around the world, and the versatility of Jim Dale, who stars as the show's narrator (Voltaire, of course) and the fatuous Pangloss, the philosophizing pedant who insists that all's for the best in this best of all possible worlds.
Yet the show, which also features Arte Johnson (of ''Laugh In'' fame) and Mal Z. Lawrence in a giddy assortment of supporting roles, seems desperately busy and overpackaged. Mr. Prince has said he took his idea for the production, which presents Candide's wide-eyed wanderings as though it were part of a traveling freak show, from reading that Voltaire had intended his novella to be an impious prank.
But Voltaire's prank was executed with elegance, not a description that comes to mind here. The style of the show is an overblown mixture of cynicism and cuteness, reflected in Mr. Clarke's lurid storybook sets, Judith Dolan's comic-book costumes and Patricia Birch's acrobatic choreography, which this time around lacks precision and briskness.
A few of the scenes, for example the ocean voyage to South America and Ms. Martin's dance with a chorus of elderly Spaniards, are charmingly realized. But many of the others -- like the auto-da-fe scene of the Spanish Inquisition, Mr. Johnson's labored impersonation of a rabbi and a hootchy-kootchy harem vignette -- have a sophomoric vulgarity.
The worst of all this is that it neglects to acknowledge the profound wit of Bernstein's music. The score is in itself an admirable model of how to integrate far-flung cultural influences, from grand opera to a self-described ''Jewish tango,'' into one finely synthesized whole.
Jokey devices like flying artificial falcons and a guru suspended over the audience in a trapeze swing may add spice to what remains a confusing, episodic book. But they don't begin to match the music's finesse and imagination, which simultaneously embraces parody and celebration of the different forms it quotes. The soaring sentimentality of the climactic ''Make Our Garden Grow,'' for example, is sabotaged by having rows of elephantine, greeting-card-ish sunflowers spring up.
Mr. Dale, whose skills as a quick-change character artist are formidable, is as smooth as ever as the evening's host, though he often seems as though he's gone on automatic pilot. Ms. Martin is terrific, however, in a disarmingly warm, wonderfully timed performance that respects the line between comic exaggeration and grotesqueness. (She really deserves a starring vehicle of her own.)
Mr. Danieley and Ms. Blackwell, both in excellent voice, give lovely interpretations that manage to find real, bewildered hearts beneath their characters' cartoon ingenuousness and their deliberately artificial, satiric love songs. When they sing ''Oh Happy We'' or ''You Were Dead You Know,'' you can briefly imagine that ''Candide'' is truly one of the best of all possible musicals, but only if you close your eyes.
A buoyant pop-up book of a musical, Harold Prince's revival of "Candide" returns one of Broadway's most beloved scores to the theater after worldwide journeys through opera houses and symphony halls. Impeccably sung, lushly designed and staged with a sure hand by Prince --- this is the director's third go-round with Voltaire --- the revival adds some much-needed spirit to Broadway's bedraggled spring lineup.
If the staging occasionally seems to be working too hard, it's most likely the product of the show's legendary weak link --- its book. Confusing at times, a bit lackluster at others, Hugh Wheeler's 1973 book has always done little more than provide eye candy between the remarkable Leonard Bernstein/Richard Wilbur songs (written for the initial 1956 staging). Prince knows to keep things moving at a breathless pace, bouncing from one song to the next on Clarke Dunham's expansive carnival of a set.
Unlike Prince's famed "environmental" production of 1973, which turned an entire theater into the set, the current revival is designed for a proscenium stage (although actors occasionally wander into the front rows of the audience). Whatever circus-like fun is left to '73 is replaced by Dunham's dazzling visual design: elaborately illustrated wooden cut-outs, carnival midway banners, party lights and circus wagons turn the stage into a traveling freak show of 18th-century vintage, with flashes of medieval street fairs, Rousseau's jungles and Renaissance glitter. Judith Dolan's costumes follow a similar, brightly eclectic path.
Bernstein's lovely operetta score --- which kept collaborators coming back after the disastrous 1956 staging (that featured a book, later abandoned, by Lillian Hellman) --- gets a fine treatment here from a cast headed by Jim Dale, with Jason Danieley making a sweet-voiced Candide, opera singer Harolyn Blackwell easily handling the musical's best-known number ("Glitter and Be Gay") and strong support coming from Brent Barrett and Stacey Logan as Candide's sometime companions.
Andrea Martin, although a better singer than might be expected, has a mostly comic role as the unnamed Old Lady who barges into the action, getting much comedic mileage out of an exaggerated Eastern European accent and a lopsided rear end (readers of Voltaire will know immediately why she has only one buttock; others will have to wait until the musical's end). Arte Johnson plays a number of secondary comic roles, usually paired with the more versatile Mal Z. Lawrence.
As with Voltaire's novella, the musical "Candide" has no qualms about gleefully skewering any number of religions, races and nationalities in its depiction of the world's savageries. As Candide and his beloved Cunegonde (Blackwell) make their separate ways through life's cruelties, they hold fast to the epigram of their teacher Dr. Pangloss (Dale) that this is indeed "the best of all possible worlds" --- this despite encounters with war, murder, rape, torture and any number of calamities both natural and man-made. Through it all, they, and the musical, remain uncommonly cheery and mirthful.
If it seems outsized for this musical, the production makes the best of by featuring a large ensemble that gives full-bodied vigor to the rich, melodic score, particularly on such numbers as "Westphalian Chorale" and "Bon Voyage." Danieley and Blackwell meld nicely on their big duets, "Oh Happy We" and "You Were Dead You Know," and the entire company, surrounded by growing sunflowers and bathed (by Ken Billington) in yellow light, ends the show with the optimistic "Make Our Garden Grow." Having traveled its own troubled road since 1956, Bernstein's score has found as good a world as any to make home. | <urn:uuid:91825991-10e0-4aa7-9112-f9379f57fe91> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.ibdb.com/reviews/index.php?id=4751 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368704713110/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516114513-00041-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.950348 | 3,999 | 1.617188 | 2 |
The launch of Sky Television in 1989 and British Satellite Broadcasting the following year opened up a new market for imports. With negligible audiences and minuscule programming budgets, neither side was able to offer up a schedule based around original productions, so repeats and imports would inevitably form a large part of the schedules.
Of the two networks' entertainment channels, BSB's Galaxy had the stronger line-up, and this also extended to imports as well. Acclaimed contemporary series such as ‘China Beach’ or ‘Murphy Brown’ were scheduled alongside classics such as ‘The Outer Limits’. Of course not everything was up to those standards, with the infamous ‘Heil Honey, I'm Home’ also part of the channel's schedule.
Sky One on the other hand was largely reliant on older series, although the launch of the Fox network in the States would eventually reap large dividends for the channel.
Perhaps the turning point for the channel came on 2 September 1990 when ‘The Simpsons’ first aired in the UK. First broadcast in the US in December 1989, the series has become synonymous with Sky and even today forms a major part of Sky One's schedule with over a dozen episodes shown during most weeks.
Whilst regarded as a primetime series in the States, ‘The Simpsons’ is sadly pitched more towards children in the UK. This may be because Sky (and other UK broadcasters) automatically regard an animated series as being primarily for children or simply an unfortunate result of its early evening scheduling.
Of course this scheduling may have been because Sky regarded it as being of more interest to younger viewers or simply because it identified a weak-link in the terrestrial channels' scheduling between 6-7pm on a Sunday. With religious programming still being shown on BBC-1 and ITV, here was an opportunity that Sky One could exploit. Since relatively few of its viewers would be watching Songs of Praise or Highway, why not give them something that they would be interested in watching?
The fact that ‘The Simpsons’ was given a repeat at 8.30pm on Thursdays in the early days perhaps lends support to this argument but, either way, the fact that the series was given an early evening slot has affected the way the series is perceived in the UK. Not only was Bart often promoted as the 'star' of the show instead of Homer, but many episodes are cut when shown in the UK. When the BBC first acquired the series it seemed to believe that this was the show to recapture the Saturday evening audience of both adults and children that had been lost with the decline of Doctor Who, scheduling that saw the series quickly pulled.
Subsequent BBC transmissions have included a short run on Saturday mornings (which the BBC admits was a mistake) before it was given an early evening slot on BBC-2, which of course meant it would still have to be cut. It's unlikely that, having spent a small fortune to acquire the series, Channel 4 will break with this tradition even though the series would probably do at least as well at say 8pm or 8.30pm - as far as UK broadcasters are convinced The Simpsons is a series that is best targeted at younger viewers.
The Sky/BSB "merger" in November 1990 saw Galaxy and Sky One supposedly teaming up to give viewers the "best of both worlds." In reality this meant that Galaxy's BBC repeats were pulled with immediate effect, so that viewers left wondering what happened in the last three episodes of ‘Doctor Who: The Daleks’ would have to buy the BBC video and anyone watching ‘Jupiter Moon’ would have to wait until the series reran on the Sci-Fi Channel to those episodes which Galaxy never got round to showing.
Imports would therefore form the bulk of Sky One's schedule, but at least the merger meant a general rise in quality. ‘The Simpsons’ were still there, of course, but they were now joined by other series, many of which came from Galaxy such as the Ferris Bueller clone ‘Parker Lewis Can't Lose’ and ‘Designing Women’, as well as the aforementioned ‘China Beach’ and ‘Murphy Brown’. The Fox network provided ‘Cops’, which was a Sky One Saturday night staple for years, while Sunday and Monday nights would usually be given over to imported mini-series such as ‘Fatal Vision’ that had already been seen on one of the terrestrial channels. These might have been ancient, but at least they filled up the primetime schedule for at least two nights every week.
Perhaps the two next important imports were ‘Star Trek: The Next Generation’ and ‘The X Files’. The original ‘Star Trek’ had first aired on BBC-1 in the summer of 1969 and was a regular in the schedules for years, cropping up every year until 1981 and then from 1984 to 1986. ‘The Next Generation’, which had debuted in the US as a syndicated series in September 1987 had finally arrived on BBC-2 three years later.
However, after three seasons Sky One acquired first run rights and set the trend for all subsequent Star Trek series, which would all appear first on Sky One (although some two-part Next Generation would be shown on Sky Movies instead) before crossing over to terrestrial television. Subsequently Sky One would repeat the trick of acquiring later seasons of programmes already established by other broadcasters with ‘Lois & Clark’ and most successfully of all, ‘Friends’.
A market for Trekkers
Video releases of ‘Star Trek’ had already demonstrated that there was a market prepared to watch the series and now sci-fi fans joined sports and movie fans as part of Sky's core audience. Additionally, the sheer number of ‘Star Trek’ episodes also allowed Sky to strip the series' repeat runs across the weekday schedules - usually at 5pm with an 11pm repeat - for weeks at a time.
But if ‘The Next Generation’ was a successful series - albeit one pigeon-holed as being for sci-fi anoraks – ‘The X Files’ was a phenomenon, both in terms of audience size and press coverage.
First shown by Fox on 10 September 1993, the series arrived on Sky One four months later, an early example of Sky One picking up series from the current US television season (which runs from September/October through to May) and running them from the following January.
‘The X Files’ was a massive success for both Fox and Sky, generating a huge amount of column inches and making stars out of leads David Duchovny and Gillian Anderson, which the FHM edition featuring Anderson rapidly becoming a collectors' item as the series popularity soared.
When the series transferred to terrestrial television it was on BBC-2, and like Sky One, the channel showed episodes in the correct order. However, as the series' ratings rose, BBC-1 wanted this audience for itself and towards the end of its second season, the programme swapped channels, and the main channel showed that it was more than happy to start shuffling the episode order.
X marks the mistake
The first BBC-1 episode should have been episode 18 of the season, but this was swapped with episode 20. This may have simply been because the BBC believed it was a more suitable introductory episode for BBC-1 audience but it was still an early indication that BBC-1 was more interested in the size of the audience that the programme itself.
This trend would reach a sorry conclusion a couple of seasons later when the BBC appeared to select which episodes it could show with either no or minimal cuts and these were duly shown. The BBC then appeared to go back to the start of the season, select those episodes that required slightly more cuts and show these in a later slot.
By the time all the episodes were shown, the BBC had looped back to the start at least four times and the order in which the episodes were shown in couldn't have been any more random if the BBC had taken all the cans of film and simply thrown them up in the air. Even viewers who weren't aware of the original episode order would have known something was amiss when Scully's dog returned from the dead - even ‘The X Files’ wasn't into reincarnated pets.
Subsequent seasons never seemed to continue the audience momentum that the series had in its early BBC-2 days. Of course, the increased audience on Sky One would have pulled some viewers away, but this shouldn't have accounted for more than, say, half a million viewers. Arguably some viewers may have watched it because it was 'trendy' and coupled with the drop in quality in later seasons it's unsurprisingly that many of these drifted away. However, it's quite possible that BBC-1's poor treatment of the show (episodes shown out of order and a timeslot later than the 9pm or 9.45pm that it enjoyed on BBC-2) helped accelerate this decline. Many of those still watching the series were probably relieved when the declining audience meant that the series was moved back to BBC Two for the last couple of seasons because at least the series would probably get improved treatment from the minority channel.
The Fox network in the States has always provided Sky One with a large proportion of its imports, many of which were short-lived (unsurprising given the casualty rate on US television) but the likes of ‘Cops’, ‘The Simpsons’ and ‘The X Files’ lasted for years. However, by the end of the 1990s, Sky One had another source of programming as UPN and The WB launched networks deliberately targeted at younger audiences than the main US networks.
Many series on these channels, particularly those on The WB, would eventually find homes in the Sky One schedule. One of these would go onto to become one of Sky One's highest rated programmes, as well as spawning a successful spin-off. Yet when it was first shown on Sky One it was a ratings failure that was pulled because its audience was too low even for Sky. Yet whilst ‘The Simpsons’ and ‘The X Files’ had built up a decent satellite audience before transferring to terrestrial television, it took a terrestrial channel to turn ‘Buffy the Vampire Slayer’ into a success on Sky One. | <urn:uuid:17c1a580-4bbe-44d9-b195-d52450d4c5bf> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.transdiffusion.org/tv/behindthescreens/horizons | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368708142388/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516124222-00006-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.983779 | 2,150 | 1.640625 | 2 |
========[ Invite a Friend - http://www.ganoksin.com/invite.htm ]========
Hi Janet, Good to hear from you again.
First, use a water dampened cloth to wipe down the outside of the
sonic. The tank isn't a problem.
What happens is the soaps used in the sonic will not evaporate like
the water. In fact not all the moisture will evaporate from the soap.
Over time if the soap is allowed to build-up on the outside and
bottom of the sonic it will work it's way inside the machine where it
will start to creep up to the circuit and short the circuit board.
Also, once inside the machine the circuit is made to run hot and this
heat will 'steam' some of the moisture out of the soap and it can
condense on the circuit board or tank/transducers. Any moisture can
cause a short and a short will destroy several electrical components.
Which can include the transducer(s).
Second, when I refer to the caustic nature of the soap and eating
away the parts I am talking about the cabinet. Most cabinets are made
of aluminium or painted steel. If the cabinet is made of stainless
steel the bottom is usually aluminium. The soap will attack and eat
the aluminium and painted steel if left on for a period of time.
By wiping the sonic down with a water moistened cloth you will remove
the soap that will attack the cabinet and eventually creep inside
Soaps with ammonia will attack stainless steel after a period of
Other harsh chemicals will attack the metals as well and if anyone
wants to or needs to use harsh chemicals including ammonia in the
sonic be sure you buy one specially made for the chemical or use
Even your dishwashing soap is caustic. Get an MSDS for it and look at
the chemicals in it. Almost every cleaner you buy in the store for
home use is considered hazardous when used everyday and/or in large
quantities and/or for extended periods of time.
To get an MSDS look for the manufacturers' phone number on the
package. Here in the US it's law that the phone number be put on the
package. I don't know if the same holds true for other countries.
Next, Your question about using a piece of equipment rated for 110V
60Hz on 220V 50 Hz. There is no problem as long as you have the
proper transformer to change the voltage to 110V. As for the 50/60
Hz, most quality equipment is made so it can handle either frequency.
This really isn't a big difference. However there are always those
companies making equipment as cheap as they possibly can and even if
the equipment is run at the rated power the cheap equipment will not
last very long.
Here in the US power companies are horrible about regulating the
power they put out. If you were to take a chart recorder to an outlet
you would find it varies so much it would be hard to call the rated
power what they call it. For instance, do your 110 or 115 or 120 or
125V light bulbs burn out quickly? It's because the power is not
regulated as it should be. Try light bulbs rated for 130V. More
expensive and harder to find but will outlast all the others by at
least 3 times. This same power fluctuation can be a problem for some
So you may want to get a line conditioner on your incoming power so
your power is steady. Or just buy quality equipment made for the
power that is supplied to you. Line conditioners are not inexpensive.
I am not familiar with power in foreign countries but here in the US
220 can be broken down to 110 in the breaker box. You would need to
talk to an electrician in your country to know if this is possible
I also don't recommend buying equipment based on the lowest price.
Most times it is easy to tell if what you are looking at is a quality
piece of equipment. Sometimes it is not. Always ask as many people as
you can about their experiences with whatever brand and model you are
For instance if you buy a sonic for $50 and it lasts a year or two
you may think you got a good deal but if you had bought a sonic for
$150 and it lasts 10 years which is really the best deal?
Hope this helps. | <urn:uuid:b54c0c6f-f5a6-49dc-9592-d055eafb1bc4> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.ganoksin.com/orchid/archive/200306/msg00092.htm | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368706890813/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516122130-00022-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.956492 | 929 | 1.6875 | 2 |
U.S. health care costs are growing at an uncontrolled pace, posing a grave danger to the nation’s economy. Meanwhile, for too many Americans, quality of chronic-illness care is substandard and difficult to access—leading to unacceptable health outcomes. The nation has reached a crisis.
What can be done? The MacColl Center for Health Care Innovation seeks to answer this question through our commitment to transforming chronic-illness care. We aim to help health systems scale up to meet all peoples’ needs for quality chronic illness care, at the same time systems scale back on cost.
To make this happen, the MacColl Center is helping health systems nationwide to change in innovative ways. Our focus is mostly in ambulatory (outpatient) settings—usually in primary care—because investment here can prevent avoidable suffering and more expensive treatment later on.
Our evidence-based innovations are changing the delivery of clinical care, while our real-world clinical experiences are shaping our research. We disseminate our work in the pubic domain, where it can be shared to improve health care for all.We work with health care, policy, and philanthropic leaders locally, nationally, and around the world who believe as we do: Providing chronic illness care that’s high quality, reliable, and affordable is the right thing to do for every patient. It’s the right way to provide for millions of people who need care. We all have an ethical imperative to act, and the time to act is now. | <urn:uuid:4169f8b3-aa6a-47a9-a175-1f59727fa503> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.grouphealthresearch.org/maccoll/maccoll_commitment.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368708766848/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516125246-00013-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.940979 | 311 | 1.765625 | 2 |
The Ball Maker
Remember the tale of the little girl selling matches on the street who ended up dying of cold? Unfortunately, her story is not uncommon; many children around the world are being crushed by the curse of child labor. Because they are often too young or too weak to be heard, it is our responsibility as adults to speak up for them and shed the light on this problem.
My eyes followed the ball closely, waiting for it to tear into the net. I didn't really care who scored, as long as the ball settled in. Everyone was cheering loudly, but I wasn't listening. All my senses were focused on that white ball getting kicked back and forth between the two ends of the playing field. Seeing it smeared with dirt and treated so savagely made me think of how many hours it took to stitch it together. I wondered if it was one of mine.
The small coffee shop where the village men gathered to watch football matches was a tiny room with yellow walls that smelled of sweat and cheap cigarettes. I called it the Den, although I don't know how or when I came up with that name. I used to sneak there after work because my mother didn't let me go, always telling me I was too young. That was a year or so ago, when I used to attend school. My mother would brag about me to her neighbors, saying I would be a famous doctor one day and that we will move out of this "desolate nondescript village," as she called it.
Many nights while my sick father lay in his bed in the next room, we would sit in silence; my mother sewing in her chair and me leaning over my notebook, earnestly doing my homework. She would raise her eyes to look at me, but I never felt like she was really seeing me - her smile and the sudden glitter in her eyes made her seem as if she was looking out to the ocean while daydreaming of something more beautiful than I could ever imagine. Once after a long pause she said to me, "You know what, Maniram? You'll go to school, learn your lessons, and then you'll go to the best collage in India, where you'll study to be the best doctor in the country. You'll make lots of money, and once you do, we'll move out of this rotten cell and go live in Mumbai."
My mother always had very high expectations of me. I was afraid to let her down. Each time I remembered my mother's dreamy gaze, I would become keener to rise up to her expectations. For as long as I can remember, my mother has wanted me to be a doctor more than anything in the world; that's why I found it hard to understand how she ended up asking me to leave school.
"Maniram," my mother said hesitantly, her eyes drooping. "You know how much I want you to go to school and be a doctor." There was a long pause before she continued, "But, as you know, your father has grown very sick, and I can't afford the medicine any more. My work is not paying even for the half of it. I need your help."
The very next morning, my mother took me to see a man she called the contractor. Located in an old building, his office was a small, gloomy room that reminded me of the coffee shop in some way. There, behind the desk, sat a man about my father's age, but much bulkier than he was, clinching a cigarette between his lips under a heavy mustache. He took a look at me, studied my hands for a while, and then asked my mother a few questions that I don't remember and didn't understand. After, he opened a notebook that lay in front of him, took a pen in one hand and the cigarette in the other, then let out a curt sigh and wrote something in the notebook.
"Okay," he said after a brief pause. "Bring him in tomorrow. I hope he's a fast learner; I'm having a lot of trouble with dense kids these days. They work half as fast and cost us twice the effort to teach them!"
"Don't worry, sir, my son is a very clever boy," my mom said, and then pressed her lips together as if to keep herself from saying any more. I imagine she had a pressing urge to tell him I was going to be a doctor someday, and that we'd move out of here forever and I wouldn't have to work with him any more.
The next day, my mother took me to the factory in Meerut to start work. I was very nervous at first, but my tension eased a great deal when I saw that there was many children my age. My mother got to her knees so her eyes were level with mine, looked me square in the face, and told me in an assuring tone that I would be all right. I suspected from her tone that she herself wasn't feeling that way, and the trembling of her lips when she kissed me confirmed my suspicion.
In the factory, a man showed me what I was supposed to do. He handed me pieces of rubber, leather, and bundles of threads and needles. "The more balls you stitch together, the more money you make," he said as he bent down. "If you need to know anything, you can ask the other kids, but try not to bother them with too many questions; they also have work to do."
I settled in my place on the floor. It was dirty and nowhere near comfortable. I began stitching, while stealing glances at the boy next to me. I was trying to pour all my concentration into the work, having my sick father in mind and holding my mother's dreamy gaze in front of my eyes. For a moment, I even thought she was observing me from her chair. Hours went by and I still didn't finish my first ball. My vision began to blur and my back ached from bending over, trying to work as fast as I could. When I couldn't bear the haziness and pain anymore, I let go of the needle and leaned my back against the wall. My eyes welled up with tears as I thought of how slow I was. It was at that moment when the boy next to me decided to start a conversation that soothed me a little. "Tired already?" He said half-jokingly. "Don't worry; it's always hard at first. But you seem to be doing well so far. You know, none of us can finish more than two balls a day."
His words were comforting; for I knew I wasn't a slow worker. But for three rupees per football, I thought I should make five or six balls a day to make the job worth it.
I continued going to the factory and stitching balls day in, day out, and within one week I was able to produce two balls a day. Often when I finished a ball, I would hold it up to the bars of light coming through the small window at the top of the wall, feeling a great temptation to take it out on the street and kick it with all my might. I've always been fond of football; the neighborhood kids and I used to play with balls made of worn-out socks. However, there was no longer time for me to play with that ball, even though I had made it. I often consoled myself by thinking that when I became a doctor I would buy one of these balls. I heard they were sold for 100 rupees each.
At that thought I found myself starting to pick up speed, causing me to prick my thumb with the needle. Not making a big deal of it, I put the needle aside and sucked the blood from the small wound. Eventually I grew used to those kinds of accidents; they were bound to happen as I worked as fast as I could. The first time I pricked a finger I panicked, fearing it would get infected. But by then my hands were studded with punctures. Some of those punctures did become infected, making my hands look like a rusty sifter.
The World Cup tournament began a few months after I started working in the factory. One evening after I was done for the day, I decided to sneak to the Den. There had been much talk about this particular game. It seemed to be a very important one. To tell the truth, I didn't care who was playing, I just wanted to see the ball rolling on the field. I could hardly believe that the balls I was making would be juggled by the feet of world-renowned players! All eyes and cameras would be following one, waiting for it to rest in one of the nets. What I found most mind-boggling was that after being kicked around and smeared with dirt, the ball became many times more valuable than it was when I first stitched it together and held it to the bars of light with pride. For some reason, this made me remember the needle pricks in my hands and I felt them starting to ache.
I stayed in the Den for an hour or so, watching closely as people around me fanatically ranted and called names. I didn't know what all the passion was about and I didn't even try to find out, for I was too busy counting the balls thrown onto the field. I couldn't believe the number of balls used in one match; if one ball flew out of the field, they threw in another one immediately like it was nothing. I thought about how many people and children my age were making footballs out there. I tried to do the math in my head all the way home, but I still couldn't figure it out.
Lost in my thoughts, I didn't realize when the match had ended and fans of the two teams were celebrating and engaging in fights in the streets. When I reached home, I opened the door as quietly as I could. Everything was as when I left that morning. My mother was sewing in her chair, my father was groaning in the next room, and the same heavy silence filled the place. Who said silence has no sound? Maybe we've just grown too familiar with it that it becomes very hard to hear.
My mom didn't ask me anything, and just responded to my good night with a curt nod. I figured she didn't want to shatter the silence around her, or she had just lost the desire to speak. I headed to my room with my thoughts still spinning in my head. As I lay in my bed, I tried hard to shut them out. In the past, I would stare at the ceiling and indulge in daydreams before finally giving in to sleep, but this stopped when I started working in the factory. I was usually too tired to think. Even when I had some energy left in me, I would force myself to sleep because of all that lay ahead of me the next day. But that night, I couldn't block out the burning questions in my mind: what would become of me in the future? how would my life turn out?
I can't remember when or how I fell asleep that night, maybe when my brain was too exhausted at last from all those thoughts. All I can remember is that when I closed my eyes, I wished with all my heart I would never wake up. | <urn:uuid:8e6f315c-3271-47a6-b09b-d32ee76dc78b> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.imow.org/community/stories/viewStory?language=ar&storyId=2721 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368703298047/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516112138-00031-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.992839 | 2,341 | 1.734375 | 2 |
Posted by Dale Buss on June 19, 2012 01:02 PM
Cracker Barrel isn't the first roadside brand you think of when you think about cutting-edge technology. After all, the most prominent feature outside these restaurants that dot America's heartland are the rocking chairs that are for sale on the "front porch" of the Cracker Barrel entrance area before customers mosey in for chicken 'n' dumplings or other downhome hearty fare.
But that hasn't kept the Lebanon, Tenn.-based chain from trying to leapfrog not only the existing perception of its brand but automotive technology to attempt to round out its positioning. So Cracker Barrel is extending its 2010 commitment to providing electric-vehicle charging stations in the parking lots outside some of its restaurants.
The chain has just added the rapid-charging sites at four of its locations in the Dallas-Ft. Worth, Texas, area. The sites are using technology called eVgo Freedom Stations, one of many startups aiming to blanket the U.S. with infrastructure that would, theoretically, boost Americans' wan demand for electric vehicles.
While it may seem like a departure from its core brand promise, the initiative is "part of Cracker Barrel's commitment to providing travelers with a place to relax and recharge while on the road," the company said in a statement. There was no word on how quickly Cracker Barrel might continue to roll out charging stations to more of its 615 restaurants in 42 states.
And neither did Cracker Barrel address another question that surely must be on the minds of executives there: Even if they put charging stations at every one of those restaurants, how are pure EVs possibly going to traverse the many miles between Cracker Barrels in most parts of the country, when the top range of EVs isn't much more than 100 miles?
Maybe a partnership with McDonald's will be in order. In any event, the company will be watching closely to see how customers respond, and what kind of halo the green initiative creates for the brand and its bottom line.
Below, Cracker Barrel's first EV charging station was installed in Tennessee last November: | <urn:uuid:174a9789-e9f7-4a06-b6bd-2a4028f6205d> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://brandchannel.com/home/post/2012/06/19/Cracker-Barrel-EV-Charging-061912.aspx | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368699273641/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516101433-00032-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.958033 | 439 | 1.539063 | 2 |
On August 21, 1999, at 1015 central daylight time, a Piper PA-18-150, N90904, sustained substantial damage during a forced landing following a partial loss of engine power, near Granite City, Illinois. The pilot said the landing area was rough and uneven. The pilot and one passenger reported no injuries. The personal 14 CFR Part 91 flight was operating in visual meteorological conditions. No flight plan was on file. The local flight departed Creve Coeur, Missouri, time unknown. Use your browsers 'back' function to return to synopsisReturn to Query Page
The pilot told officials that he did not know the nature or origin of the loss of engine power. Subsequent to the accident, but after the airplane was moved to a location away from the accident site, an inspection of the engine and airframe failed to reveal any mechanical anomalies. The top spark plugs were removed and had brown deposits on them. The wings had been removed and no fuel remained in the fuel tanks; however, what fuel was present in the lines appeared blue in color, and was free of contamination. | <urn:uuid:12e5ac07-a34e-4228-a3fe-7eb65eee5462> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.ntsb.gov/aviationquery/brief2.aspx?ev_id=20001212X19458&ntsbno=CHI99LA308&akey=1 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368706153698/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516120913-00009-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.972566 | 222 | 1.8125 | 2 |
- Bargaineering - http://www.bargaineering.com/articles -
Could You Live in a Tiny House?
Posted By Miranda On 07/25/2012 @ 12:10 pm In The Home | 31 Comments
One of the movements that has been gaining some traction since the financial crisis of 2008 is the tiny house movement. Many consumers are becoming disenchanted with the idea of living in large homes filled with stuff. Instead, the idea is to turn to tiny houses.
Most of these tiny houses have between 65 and 874 square feet. Tiny houses take “small” to a whole new level. I know that some people would say that my home, at 1760 square feet, is small, but even the largest tiny house is half the size of my home. I’m trying to imagine living in a space that is half the size of my current home, which I am fairly comfortable in, and I’m not sure I could do it — although the idea of a tiny house, and the simplicity that comes with it, is intriguing.
One of the biggest draws of living in a tiny house is that it’s possible to save money. Some of the savings that can come with living in such a small house include:
Living in a tiny house has it’s challenges, though. Most of us are used to privacy, and the ability to spread out a bit. Tiny house living often comes with a specific lifestyle, including frugal living and often growing your own food . It’s possible to have computers in a tiny house, and you can find many other modern comforts. But you do need to be prepared to share your space, and that can be challenging — especially if you have children.
In truth, the larger tiny houses are similar in size to apartments. Many people also see the charm in them in terms of vacation homes, rather than full-time living arrangements. What do you think of tiny houses? Could you live in one?
(Photo: Earthworm )
Article printed from Bargaineering: http://www.bargaineering.com/articles
URL to article: http://www.bargaineering.com/articles/live-tiny-house.html
URLs in this post:
Tweet: http://twitter.com/share
Email: mailto:?subject=http://www.bargaineering.com/articles/live-tiny-house.html
live completely off the grid: http://www.bargaineering.com/articles/live-grid.html
growing your own food: http://www.bargaineering.com/articles/tips-starting-garden.html
Earthworm: http://www.flickr.com/photos/earthworm/4524084357/
Thank you for reading! | <urn:uuid:d2c9184e-0797-4051-a402-b053b29f5a74> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.bargaineering.com/articles/live-tiny-house.html/print/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368696383156/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516092623-00016-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.940388 | 594 | 1.796875 | 2 |
(aka how I got my sons to be active participants in the way our household runs)
First off, let me just state that I am NOT Supermom. My kids have tantrums, all my ideas don’t necessarily work – all the time, and I have been known to yell from time to time (like today). However, I have found ways to get my children to happily participate in the way our household runs. “Chores” is not a bad word in our house.
My biggest suggestion to bringing kids on board to helping out with the daily work is to START EARLY. As soon as my son could reach the top of the counter, he was clearing his dishes off the table. At three, he makes his bed (okay, not the way *I* like for it to be made, but the point is that he makes it), he sets the table for dinner each night, and he takes our recyclable items to the recycle bin. On weekends, he is the paper-getter and retrieves the newspaper from the driveway. These are not new jobs for him; he has been doing them for a while. They are habits we have instilled in him from a young age. It makes clear the expectation of participation in the way the house runs.
It is important to stay on top of children with their chores. Consistency is extremely crucial. If children realize that they don’t HAVE to do a particular task on a given day, they will push for that result over and over again. My boys know that their chores are done each day (or every other day, depending on the chore), and we even practice them to some degree when we are away from home. For instance, if we are visiting relatives, my children automatically make up their beds or roll up their sleeping bags in the morning. It is expected at home, and it is expected when we’re away.
An important part of bringing children on board with chores is to make it a positive experience for them. My boys keep a chart – a simple list of each of their chores for each day. I have a packet of incentive stickers hanging next to the chart on the refrigerator, and they mark off their duties each day with a sticker. After a certain number of stickers, they can “cash them in” on a special treat, such as a “date” with mom or a special dinner request. While I do not agree with paying children to complete chores, I also understand the need for recognition and reward. We use lots of positive verbal reinforcement. I do not ever criticize the way my nine year-old wipes down the table or the way the three year-old only fills our dinner glasses about 1/4 full. As long as they are doing their best, that is what I want to see.
Be sure and start small. My boys didn’t start with four or five chores; we started with one or two. They were simple, easy to complete tasks that were quick to complete and provided almost immediate feedback, such as taking out the recycling or putting dishes in the sink. After a time, my husband and I felt they were ready for another chore and worked to incorporate it into our daily plan.
Make it a cooperative effort. My children know that I am doing my job, just as they are doing theirs. I’m cleaning the dishes, my three year-old is bringing me the dinnerware, and my nine year-old is wiping down the tables. My husband is busy sweeping the floor. At recycle time, I wash out the items to be recycled and my younger son takes them to the bin. On trash morning, my older son brings the smaller trash cans from the rooms to our main trash can and my husband gathers it for the curb. No one does a chore alone – we are all in it together.
The biggest key to making chores work is constant praise. I make a point to let my boys know how helpful they are and how appreciative I am of their efforts. Criticism is kept to a minimum. Pointing out what is wrong with what the children are doing will only make it that much less “fun” for them. Getting the right kind of attention (positive attention) will only lead to the desire to repeat it again.
We still have days where one boy might whine about carrying out a chore or complain a bit about it, but that is to be expected. We handle those moods in a positive and calm way, yet the boys know it is still expected and do it anyway. Besides, we usually have a good time doing them together, and working together is the best lesson of all. | <urn:uuid:a8d11773-39c0-45e7-94ca-9fc83fddf634> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.wonderbrains.com/weblog/tag/schedules | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368706153698/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516120913-00008-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.974987 | 963 | 1.664063 | 2 |
Engineer and congressional Republican firebrand Darrell Issa is leveraging his supporters' collective outrage against a contentious anti-piracy bill, SOPA, to showcase his new experimental crowdsourcing legislative platform. "Project Madison" invites the legions of angry technology firms and policy wonks to construct their own version of an alternative anti-piracy bill on a new online platform.
Project Madison is just one of a handful of ideas bubbling in Issa's laboratory of open government: Over the last six months, he's launched an interactive subcommittee livestream, published a new form of online polling, and sponsored a bill to make government spending trackable.
To be clear, his experiments often serve to advance a brazen political agenda. And Issa could be seen as an unlikely champion of transparency. And digital democracy has had a difficult time gaining traction. And yet Issa publicly pledges to open the halls of Congress, at least some of them, to America's netizens.
Crowdsourcing Rage Against Anti-Piracy Legislation
The smooth ride to victory for a pair of anti-piracy bills, SOPA and Protect IP, hit a debilitating roadblock after a clever grassroots effort drew attention to the potential unintended consequences of allowing the government to shut down websites that trafficked (even unwittingly) in pirated content. "You could have Yahoo or Google or any of these sites shut down, even though 99.9% of their material was completely legitimate," argued Issa, at a Facebook co-sponsored "hackathon" in the U.S. Capitol Building earlier this month.
Issa, unconvinced, and frustrated by his colleagues' exclusion of SOPA's technology critics from expert testimony, launched the interactive legislation platform Project Madison to give an unconventional voice to his supporters outside of Capitol Hill. Speaking about the website, Issa tells Fast Company, "Effectively what you have is a hearing with every single one of the individuals who wants to participate there. You would have had every tech company able to weigh in with their comments and potential changes in the bill."
Project Madison is a stripped-down interactive blogging platform, which allows citizens to select individual passages of legislation, and strike or add their own language, with comments for each suggestion. Citizens are encouraged to like or dislike each change, with the most popular suggestions rising to the top. Each page also has embedded Facebook and Twitter buttons that link to individual amendments.
Crowdsourcing policy has been attempted around the world, from Iceland's new constitution to federal legislation in Brazil, but such one-off experiments are yet to find a sustainable balance between lawmaker interest and citizen expertise. Brazil's wiki-legislation experiment, for instance, was largely dismissed by lawmakers who felt that citizens could not fully understand the legal ramifications of the laws they proposed. Issa is hopeful that the crowd can bring attention to the very best amendments, helping his staff sort through the inevitable torrent of suggestions.
Thus, Madison-inspired amendments have no legally binding authority. "We're a Republic. We're supposed to be responsible for the final product," admits Issa. However, "better input will make for better legislation by members."
Additionally, given the inconspicuous financial backing of SOPA, Issa hopes that the transparency of Madison will reveal the once-hidden influence of influential lobbyists. "Today, very powerful interest groups weigh in on all legislation." He told the hackathon audience, "Under our Madison initiative, those groups...will be tracked. They're input will be noted and appreciated, but the world will know see what their input was in real-time."
A Poll That Mandates Consideration of Trade-offs
The postal service is on the brink of bankruptcy, and trying to figure out which solutions the public supports is a nightmare of contradictions. A recent Gallup poll found:
Just over half of Americans (54%) are opposed to closing some Postal Service offices, while 44% support that idea. At the same time, 88% are opposed to closing their own post office--indicating that the customary "not in my backyard" mindset could very well limit the political feasibility of broad-based branch closures.
"Polling is asking people what they think in the abstract," says Issa, who argues that most survey questions don't ask respondents to actually to consider difficult trade-offs. As a result, "their input's not going to be well thought out."
Issa saw a politically expedient opportunity to experiment with interactive polling in his fight with the financially beleaguered postal union to reduce the size of the USPS.
He launched Savingthepostalservice.com, which includes a game-like poll where users make a series of difficult cuts to the postal service.
Any failure to solve the budget gap ends in a depressing "game over"-like screen that reads, "You elected to use taxpayer money to subsidize the Postal Service and address massive operating losses."
While budget games have been around for a while (and are usually less biased), Issa is the first to see games as a new method of polling, one which has the potential to overcome notoriously contradictory opinion polls.
An Interactive C-Span for Calling "B.S."
Project Madison's sister project, an experimental interactive livestream from the subcommittee Issa chairs, will likely get her 15 minutes of fame if Issa follows through with his threat to investigate how Homeland Security shut down five online music sites without much explanation.
The Oversight Committee, which acts like an internal affairs for the government, has given unprecedented online access to its meetings via YouTube.
"We've had atrocious access to video of what congressional committees are doing," says John Wonderlich, Policy Director for the Sunlight Foundation, who argues that video transparency helps keep tabs on lobbyist influence. "A bill can be incredibly contentious and all the decisions are made beforehand."
Issa's next step is to open up the livestream to commenters online, so that excluded third-party groups and citizen experts can warn congressmen of factual errors or grave oversight during testimony.
The problem with invite-online subcommittee testimony, says Issa, is that congressmen often come to testimony with something "he or she got from a lobby group that isn't true, or that is half true." The depressing result, he concludes, is that after only a few hours of investigation and relatively limited expert testimony, a bill "is often marred with facts that can't be reconciled properly and you end up with a party-line vote instead of the best effort."
If all goes well, instead of lobbyists passing suggestions to congressmen via staff whispers during congressional hearings, influence could come from the comment of a pajama-clad citizen expert, calling "B.S." on an assumption aimed at making its way into law.
"Ultimately, the people who don't want to go on to our site and want to lobby behind the scenes, they will be diminished," Issa says. "It increases the power of those who, in a transparent way, are willing to make input."
Intentions and Next Steps
Congressional digital democracy has often fallen victim to politics. Even as the Internet has opened up opportunities for greater access and transparency, citizens still do not have access to complete legislative data, their internal research service requires a congressman's permission to access public reports (earning kudos for members each time they grant a request), there is no easy method to track earmarked spending, and promises to put bills online for 72 hours have, in the past, been sidelined for political expediency.
One of the remaining participatory projects is explicitly partisan: YouCut, a Republican-led initiative that allows constituents to vote by SMS for which federal programs ought to be cut from the budget.
Thus, while Issa's intentions are anyone's guess, his embrace of the political beast may be the most realistic bet for his (relatively) radical digital democracy experiments.
His colleagues will take note that Project Madison is off to an attractive start, with 157,000 unique visitors the first day, dozens of very specific suggestions, a growing Twitter following and praise from popular tech blogs.
The publicity headwind will be a big help as his DATA Act comes up for a vote, which will attempt to make federal spending trackable online.
Political realities do not escape him. When asked whether he thinks his initiatives will gain widespread adoption, Issa is confident that they will as long as he can answer his colleagues' question, "What did you get for this effort?" He concludes, with a bit of humility, "We think we're going to do okay, but we're going to learn."
[Image: Flickr user Congressman Darrell Issa] | <urn:uuid:d17dbd6a-0ab4-4a97-99c0-a2d904d08eff> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.fastcompany.com/1801960/beyond-sopa-rep-darrell-issas-big-plans-digitizing-democracy | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368697974692/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516095254-00020-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.962274 | 1,750 | 1.703125 | 2 |
Our goal is to provide your child with a program they want to attend, while
providing you with that critical “peace of mind” feeling so you can attend
annual meeting activities.
KiddieCorp is pleased to provide a children's program for ESA. KiddieCorp is in its 20th year of providing high quality children's programs and youth services to conventions. We take watching your children very seriously. KiddieCorp has enjoyed a long-time partnership with the American Academy of Pediatrics, which has helped to establish KiddieCorp as a premier provider of event children's program services. You can now register on-line at https://www.kiddiecorp.com/esakids.htm.
Summer Day Camp Child Care at the Life Lab Garden Classroom
Life Lab Science Program and the Center for Agroecology and Sustainable Food Systems are pleased to offer:
Farm and Wilderness Exploration (For 7-14 year olds) August 6-9
This camp is a science exploration camp using the farm, garden and surrounding natural areas as our laboratory. Activities include:
- Investigate animal signs and learn tracking techniques
- Observe birds and other wildlife and learn about their adaptations
- Harvest, cook and preserve produce from the farm and garden
- Explore local open space reserves
- Eat great farm food
$50 per child, per day
Registration Deadline: July 1st
Click hereto download the Child Care Registration Form. | <urn:uuid:0cffee78-2d63-457b-aa15-59a0527ebf9a> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://esa.org/sanjose/childcare.php | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368707435344/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516123035-00028-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.945611 | 300 | 1.6875 | 2 |
There are no secrets to success. It is the result of preparation, hard work, and learning from failure.
You are hereHome › Giving / Get Involved ›
Giving / Get Involved
Cascade Heights is committed to a focus on relationships. While we all know that running a school takes money (and quite a bit of it), we also know that people are more important and children are at the center of our "people" here. And at the center of all we do for children is our mission "to inspire the social, emotional, academic, physical, personal and ethical growth of children, to partner with parents who share the same mission and to prepare children to be a part of the global society in which they live."
We all have strengths and passions. We hope that people who volunteer with us are doing so within their passion. A retired librarian works happily in our library, a mom passionate about nutritious food works in our kitchen, a grandfather with a talent and passion for building makes our art tables and computer lab tables and a stay at home mom can help with projects that can be done at home. Last year, volunteers logged over 17,000 hours with services we would not have been able to pay for and would have gone undone. Time is a valuable commodity and we never take it for granted. Time is money, but there are some things that simply must be paid for. One SMART board costs $3,750. Janitorial service is $2,000 per month. Utilities are $33,000 per year. Teacher salaries make up the bulk of our budget and we run the entire school on less than one million dollars a year. We have grown in space and have opportunities we could never have dreamed of.
Many people love to give time and money. Many can only do one or the other. To us, living our mission means finding a way to partner with every family and to choose to raise funds in a way that is consistent with our mission. We don't sell cookie dough because it is does not support the physical or emotional growth of children. We do a jog-a-thon because it does. We sell SCRIP because it is a way to make money without families spending more than they normally would anyway. And our Education Takes Flight spring breakfast is a way to thank people and ask for their support at the same time. We hope you will find a way to join us in living our mission at Cascade Heights and celebrate with us when we see children soar.
CASCADE HEIGHTS GENEROUS PARTNERS
When we found out we were really moving for sure, Brian Prisel and Belfor offered two moving crews and two trucks. They moved our entire school in three days and we simply would not have been ready for school this year without them.
The bank has supported our Art program and supported us with volunteers.
Mocha Monday cash back to CHPCS
Mountain View Coffee House
Mountain View gives 20% back to Cascade Heights on purchases of drinks on Mondays only . Frappucinos (milkshakes), fruit smoothies, jet tea smoothies, all espresso drinks, hot chocolate, cider, all teas, Italian sodas, chai tea drinks and coffee.
Education Takes Flight 2011 Sponsors
- Sonitrol Security
- Pacific Office Automations
- Schroedl Family Foundation | <urn:uuid:06976ede-4fb5-4254-8fc2-4fb37ce8a2a5> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.chpcs.org/giving-get-involved | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368705953421/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516120553-00011-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.959819 | 687 | 1.71875 | 2 |
Motorists misled by fuel consumption by up to 25%January 11th, 2013 • 11 Comments
If you have a car, or thinking of buying a new one, chances are, you’re being misled about how much fuel the vehicle will consume. According to research, some cars (including Mercedes, Range Rover and Lexus) give as little as 71% of the advertised mileage per gallon.
If drivers are expecting over 70mpg, as many manufacturers claim, it is likely that you are getting less than three-quarters of the mpg you paid for, which in fuel money, is collectively costing UK drivers up to £4.4bn a year extra.
On average, cars achieve only 88% of their official figures according to Honest John, which results in drivers spending around 2p extra per litre at the pumps. As if petrol didn’t cost enough in the first place!
The worst-performing car was the Mercedes Benz B-Class (2005-12), which is reported to achieve 71% of its official fuel economy rating, with the Range Rover Evoque and Lexus CT200h coming close behind.
Elsewhere, the Land Rover Defender is actually giving drivers better value on fuel consumption than advertised, as well as the Jaguar S-Type, Nissan Micra (2003-10) and the Mercedes-Benz E-Class (2002-2009).
Honest John says: “The official figures, which could be said to mislead consumers, are the only figures car manufacturers are allowed by EC law to publicise. Rather than attack the EC figures, we prefer to offer realistic figures achieved by real motorists to be used alongside official guidelines. Consumers will be now able to compare official figures with user experience, helping them to make better informed decisions about their next purchase.”
misled by up to 25%
give as little as 71% of that advertised
cars achieve only 88% of their official mpg
I know my maths is shit, but I`m lost already.
” realistic figures achieved by real motorists” in other words figures achieved by people who can’t be bothered to drive efficiently. I can exceed my quoted 68mpg on my 320d if I try, some of the time I cant be bothered and drive a little more aggressively. But I know how to get the numbers I was quoted and I know if I don’t drive like that I won’t
todays shock news, constantly accelerating and braking results in poor mpg!!!
Surely it comes down to how and where you drive.
I chauffeured a Bank boss around in his “S” type Jag a few years ago and he was amazed to find I got 29mpg out if it; on the exact same route he only ever managed 24mpg.
My Mitsubishi Grandis regularly returns an average of 29mpg (book says 26 mpg), despite living in a hilly area and doing mostly short 1-2 mile trips during the rush hour.
(Once a day it does a 5 mile/stop/5 mile/stop/5 mile trip between three primary schools).
Some figures are wildly out though, I used to drive a Toyota Previa; and no matter how light footed I was, even driving at 50 mph on the motorway; I could NEVER match the claimed mpg
There are so many variables that go into the mpg you will get that you cannot really pay too much attention to the advertised figures. Style of driving, incline/decline on roads, number of passengers, items in the boot, weather, etc will all play a part in determining your mpg.
There will be a massive spread in mpg’s for different drivers and obviously the manufacturers will be getting their figures from fairly optimal conditions and conservative driving.
Anyone who expects to get the same mpg’s with different conditions or without conservative driving is an idiot.
“the manufacturers will be getting their figures from fairly optimal conditions and conservative driving.”
ie. on a rolling road with no flowing air for the car to resist.
I’m sure most Range Rover Evoque drivers are shit scared of fuel prices.
I drive a vw bluemotion passat – a breed of eco-car that sells itself on efficiency…
if I sit on a motorway at 60… I’d expect to see 70 – 75 mpg return.
if I can’t be bothered and get fed up of being overtaken by coaches… I’ll sit at about 80… and I’ll drop to 60ish. the listed figure is 68.
what it means to me is that the expected mpg is an ideal figure…what the car might achieve if driven correctly in ideal conditions…. I never thought people took them so serious….
That’s nothing compared to mobile phones misleading over standby claims. How does 2 weeks claimed suddenly becomes 2 days actual? Do they lock it and the transmitter inside a metal box? Lying bastards
@ Captain Wank
Again, it comes down to local conditions. I mistakenly bought a Vodaphone contract a few years ago and found that at home the battery barely lasted 2 days (less if I made a call!!).
Yet the SAME PHONE lasted nearly two weeks between charges in Moscow.
My current phone lasts between 1 and 3 weeks, depending where in the UK I am – oh how I laugh at smart phone owners!!!!!
“Motorists misled by fuel consumption by up to 25%”
“some cars (including Mercedes, Range Rover and Lexus) give as little as 71% of the advertised mileage per gallon.”
So, up to 29% then?
Another piss-poor article. Thanks, guys!
People who say “Vodaphone” should be raped by angry Russians then eaten by polar bears.
I mean, how fucking hard is it? The logo is everywhere; adverts, branding on handsets, emails. Captain cretin, you are a total fucking waste of skin and oxygen. Wanker. | <urn:uuid:f0492a11-e6b5-4f8c-b03f-f0deb7ef8c9b> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.bitterwallet.com/motorists-misled-by-fuel-consumption-by-up-to-25/61750 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368702810651/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516111330-00027-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.952896 | 1,271 | 1.507813 | 2 |
The ACO Concept and Proposed CMS Rules
The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) released proposed new rules April 1 to help doctors, hospitals, and other health care providers better coordinate care for Medicare patients through Accountable Care Organizations (ACOs). Comments on the proposed rule will be accepted for 60 days. CMS will respond to all comments in a final rule to be issued later this year. These links provide more detail on these proposed rules:
- The proposed rule and joint CMS/OIG notice (4 MB)
- ACO Fact Sheet
- The Proposed Antitrust Policy Statement
- The IRS Guidance and Solicitation of Comments
The goal of an Accountable Care Organization (ACO) should be to reduce, or at least control the growth of, healthcare costs while maintaining or improving the quality of care patients receive (in terms of both clinical quality and patient experience and satisfaction). Many opportunities exist for improving quality and reducing healthcare costs without the need to ration care such as:
- improving prevention and early diagnosis
- reductions in unnecessary testing and referrals
- reductions in preventable emergency room visits and hospitalizations
- reductions in infections and adverse events in hospitals
- reductions in preventable readmissions, and f) use of lower-cost treatments, settings, and providers
What kinds of organizations can serve as ACOs?
- To maximum extent possible, an organization's ability to serve as an ACO should be determined by its success in improving outcomes - controlling costs, improving quality, and providing a good experience for patients - not on its organizational structure or even the specific care processes it uses. In the short run, since outcomes can only be known after the fact, some structural and process criteria are needed to define which organizations have the greatest probability of success.
- The core of an ACO is effective primary care. Although the majority of healthcare expenditures and increases in expenditures are associated with specialty and hospital care, some of the most important mechanisms for reducing and slowing the growth in specialty and hospital expenditures are prevention, early diagnosis, chronic disease management, and other tools which are delivered through primary care practices.
- In order for primary care practices to become an ACO, they will
need to have at least eight components:
- complete and timely information about patients and the services they are receiving
- technology and skills for population management and coordination of care
- adequate resources for patient education and self-management support
- a culture of teamwork among the staff of the practice
- coordinated relationships with specialists and other providers
- the ability to measure and report on the quality of care
- infrastructure and skills for management of financial risk
- a commitment by the organization's leadership to improving value as a top priority, and a system of operational accountability to drive improved performance
- Efforts to help primary care practices become more efficient, such as the tools of Patient-Centered Medical Homes, the Chronic Care Model, etc., are helpful, but not sufficient. In order to create a successful ACO, primary care practices must add the capability to manage both cost and quality outcomes. Moreover, not all of the standards in current Medical Home accreditation programs may be necessary to success as an ACO.
- Small primary care practices that work together through organizational mechanisms such as an Independent Practice Association (IPA) have a better ability to form an ACO if the number of participating physicians and their organizational structure gives them the ability to a) manage and coordinate patient care, b) manage financial risk associated with the costs of patient care; and c) measure cost and quality in a statistically valid way.
- It is undesirable to require or encourage all physicians in a geographic area to form a single ACO. Participation should be voluntary - based on a commitment to success. There are advantages to having multiple ACOs in a region, but also some additional challenges, and the best approach will vary from region to region.
- Specialists will continue to play an important role in patient care, but their roles relative to primary care will need to be rationalized and better coordinated, and the volume of referrals to specialists will need to decrease in most regions. Although an ACO will need to have effective working relationships with specialists, specialists do not necessarily need to be part of the ACO itself.
- It can be very advantageous to have a hospital included in an ACO if the hospital is committed to the goals of reducing total costs and improving quality. However, ACOs should not be required to include a hospital, since the interests of hospitals and physicians may be in conflict in the early stages of development of ACOs.
- Integrated Delivery Systems could serve as an ideal model for ACOs if they have true clinical integration and a commitment by their leadership to fulfill the vision of an ACO.
- Since providers in different parts of the country differ dramatically in terms of size, clinical and corporate integration, and skills in managing costs, there is no single definition of ACO that will work everywhere. Four different levels of ACOs should be considered:
Level 1 ACO:
Primary care practices functioning together through an IPA or other
organizational mechanism and focusing on prevention and improvement
of care for ambulatory care-sensitive conditions.
Level 2 ACO: Primary care practices and frequently-used specialties, working together through an IPA or multi-specialty group practice, and focusing on prevention and improvement of care for ambulatory care-sensitive conditions and common specialty procedures.
Level 3 ACO: Primary care practices, specialists and hospitals, working together through an integrated delivery system or other organizational mechanism, and focusing on all or most opportunities for cost reduction and quality improvement.
Level 4 ACO: Healthcare providers, public health agencies and social service organizations working jointly to improve outcomes for a very broad patient population, including homeless individuals and the uninsured.
What payment "reforms" are needed to support ACOs?
- Payment systems need to be changed significantly to support
ACOs and achieve a handful of goals:
- Provide ACO with the flexibility to deliver the right services to patients in the right way at the right time
- Enable ACO to remain profitable if it keeps people healthier or reduces unnecessary services
- Pay ACO more for high-quality care than for low-quality care, and encourage patients to use higher-quality ACOs
- Pay ACO adequately, but not excessively, to cover the costs of the services it provides for all of its patients
- Avoid penalizing ACO for caring for sicker patients (unless the sickness was caused by ACO itself)
- Offering arbitrarily defined "shared savings" to an ACO is not sufficient to encourage the formation of ACOs and to enable ACOs to truly transform the way they deliver care. To be effective, shared savings would need to be based on net savings (including unreimbursed costs of changes in care delivery) and combined with other payment changes.
- A properly-structured Comprehensive Care Payment (or global payment) system can achieve all of the goals of payment reform. However, it must be structured to avoid the problems of traditional capitation payment systems.
- Episode-of-Care Payment can serve as both a transitional payment reform and as an important long-run component of an overall payment system.
- Hybrid payment models (e.g., partial comprehensive care payments with bonuses and penalties based on savings and quality) can also be used as a transitional payment reform.
- In addition to implementing new payment methods, effective mechanisms for setting appropriate payment levels will also be needed. The appropriate mechanisms will vary from region to region and provider to provider, depending on the structure of local healthcare markets.
What should communities do to encourage and support the development of ACOs?
- Comparable changes in payment systems should be made by all payers. As a minimum, changes need to be made by the payers that provide health insurance coverage for a majority of an ACO's patients so that the ACO has the resources and ability to change the way it cares for all patients. Medicare needs to have the flexibility to change its payment systems to match the changes local payers make.
- The outcomes and measures of success for ACOs should be defined by the community they serve, rather than by individual payers. States, Regional Health Improvement Collaboratives, large payers, and consortiums of payers can play a key role in building consensus among payers and providers on what the standards for success should be and on the appropriate transitional paths.
- It is critical to build support among consumers and patients for changes in care delivery and payment, and to have consumers actively engaged in achieving the desired outcomes, rather than trying to hold ACO solely accountable for improving quality and reducing costs without adequate patient support and involvement.
- Other changes in laws and policy would be helpful in encouraging and supporting ACOs, such as malpractice reform, changes in accreditation processes, and modifications to anti-trust laws and gain-sharing laws. | <urn:uuid:fe1efcce-c07a-4d08-9ac2-91214e8ca59f> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.horne-llp.com/news-room/point-of-view/aco--accountable-care-organizations | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368696381249/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516092621-00041-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.947599 | 1,834 | 1.773438 | 2 |
The Academy places great emphasis on class attendance. It is assumed that students who come to Deerfield have a serious purpose and will be conscientious in meeting all obligations. Academic obligations should not be compromised to accommodate medical appointments or family vacations.
If a teacher is detained or not in class, students should wait for 10 minutes past the normal start time of the class, at which point they should report the faculty absence to the Dean of Faculty.
When, for any reason, a student has missed 20% or more of the course meetings during a given term, Deerfield may withhold credit for the course for that term. Such cases will be heard by the Academic Standing Committee.
Co-Curriculars, Meals, School Meetings, and Events
Outside of classes, there are numerous places and times when attendance is taken. Co-curriculars, sit-down meals, school meetings, and Academy Events are required for all students, as are other obligations as assigned. From time to time, the faculty may designate required events as an alternative to class time.
If a day student must be absent from a required activity, a parent or guardian must notify the Dean of Students Office in advance (no later than 8:30 am in the case of illness).
All teachers submit daily reports on student absences online; they report “actual” attendance only and do not assign or excuse APs. Please do not ask faculty to adjust attendance—even if there is certainty that the absence will be excused. The Dean of Students Office determines which absences are excused; if you feel attendance has been mis-reported, please contact your Class Dean within three class days.
Medical Excuses for Classes, Meals, or Other Required Events
If a student is too sick to go to class, sit-down meal or another activity where attendance is required, he/she needs to be in the Health Center in order to be excused for medical reasons. If a class is missed, the student should inform the teacher that he/she was in the Health Center. If unable to complete or to hand in any graded assignment when medically excused from class, the student should notify the teacher as soon as possible to acknowledge that the assignment will be late and to clarify when the assignment can be completed. Students who miss class or any other required school commitment due to illness may not participate in their co-curricular assignment that day.
Medical Excuses for Co-Curricular Activities
A sick or injured student may be excused from a co-curricular activity by a nurse or the school physician. In such a case, the student is expected to communicate with the coach or the adult in charge of that co-curricular activity. In certain co-curricular activities where the unexpected absence of the student may create a hardship for the group, it is important that the student notify the appropriate adult in a timely fashion. Failure to notify the adult before the beginning of the co-curricular time period may result in invalidation of the medical excuse and the student may receive Accountability Points.
Juniors and seniors are encouraged to schedule college visits during the summer or other school vacation times. The Academy allows seniors to miss class days—typically a maximum of two—to visit colleges. Requests require approval from the student’s college advisor and Class Dean; requests should be submitted at least five days in advance through the online “Request to Miss Classes” form.
Pursuit of Excellence
Attendance in class is essential to individual academic success and community health. However, when appropriate opportunities to pursue excellence arise, Deerfield allows students to miss up to five class days a year.
To be eligible to petition for pursuit of excellence, students must:
- Remain in good academic standing;
- Maintain solid citizenship, including strong attendance;
- Demonstrate extraordinary accomplishment in their areas of excellence; and
- Receive invitations to pursue extraordinary opportunities.
In petitioning, students must establish:
- Ways an event furthers their development of excellence;
- What they have done to qualify for the opportunity;
- That the opportunity has resulted from a rigorous selection process; and
- That there is no way to engage in the opportunity without missing school.
Interested students should petition by filling out the online “Request to Miss Classes” Form. The form should be completed as soon as an opportunity arises and no later than 10 days prior to the event. The Curriculum Committee, which meets on Mondays, reviews all petitions. The Office of the Academic Dean notifies students of decisions and, when petitions are approved, notifies classroom teachers. Students are expected to make up all missed work without requesting extra help from teachers. | <urn:uuid:a2329c59-0eba-46a0-84e6-4cd3a5c34d34> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://deerfield.edu/the-guide/rules-and-expectations/personal-conduct/attendance/?leadid=216&form=entry/216/17339/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368708142388/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516124222-00037-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.949449 | 962 | 1.617188 | 2 |
From Margaret Soltan comes a Globe and Mail article about professors who are banning laptops in the seminar hall. Once or twice, I've sat in the back of World Civ and looked around at the students on their laptops. As far as I could tell, a single lonely soul was taking notes on his laptop; others were checking email, reading blogs, downloading music- the kid next to me was watching Star Wars! So, I don't really see why professors allow laptops in the classroom.
I know, here I go bashing the Internet again. But I think it's realistic to say that the Internet is good for a number of things, and still acknowledge that it doesn't really add much to the classroom. And I think my position on the matter has evolved a bit- after all, I'm not arguing for the Amish lifestyle any more. Besides, the reason I get so cranky about the Net in the first place is that so many of its paladins go so far out in the other direction. One of the experts interviewed, who not surprisingly sells software to help Profs use the Internet in class, is quoted- Instead of banning laptops, professors should adapt because “banning is not going to work with this generation because that is how they learn,” she said.
This encapsulates two arguments that irritate me:
1. The argument that ''this generation'' has a unique and special relationship with the Internet that the rest of us cannot really understand. It's beautiful really. Come with me now, into the future...
2. The argument that, when you're surfing the Net, you're not really surfing the net- you're learning, making lifelong friends, engaging with the political process, painting your house, and doing a bunch of other things that maybe you are really doing, but probably not.
Look, there's probably nothing wrong with surfing the net on a regular basis. But there's something to be said for not letting that invade the other parts of your life. The article talks about students who freak out upon being told that they can't use their laptops for an hour and a half twice a week. There's talk about their ''lifelines'', and their ''right to bring laptops to class'', and how they were ''even a little panicked'' about turning off the computer, and you start thinking maybe it's not such a bad thing that Mean Professor Anti-Laptop is trying to make them engage with the world around them for an hour and a half. | <urn:uuid:8f82a45c-951b-4639-8908-78f926a16d0b> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://gradstudentmadness.blogspot.com/2007/11/screened-out.html?showComment=1195561380000 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368696381249/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516092621-00002-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.976045 | 511 | 1.578125 | 2 |
“Promoting smarter energy markets”: IET comments to Ofgem.
The consultation from Ofgem is addresses innovation in retail energy market design which will be made possible by Smart Metering (such as time-of-day pricing.) It looks at the potential benefits for consumers and also the safeguards that will be required. While commending this timely action, the IET points out that there is also an opportunity for Ofgem to promote overall energy use reduction and efficiency through smarter markets and that an additional specific focus on this aspect would be useful. This should address all potential means to save energy, ranging from behavioural change through to improved insulation, low energy lighting and the full range of other techniques, and explore how these could be incentivised through smarter markets.
Submission Details Submitted on 06 March 2012 to Ofgem (Office of the Gas and Electricity Markets) | <urn:uuid:010c32e0-163b-49e8-ae9a-e78792b2ea3c> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.theiet.org/policy/submissions/s934.cfm | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368696381249/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516092621-00018-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.951767 | 176 | 1.59375 | 2 |
One of the questions that folk ask an awful lot is what weight of fly rod you need to use for the Kelvin.
Have I got to explain it? Ok – essentially the weight of a rod is irrelevant – it is the AFTM rating that you have got to look out for. Secretly fly fishers like to kid on they know what the AFTM rating is – roughly it is to do with the weight of the fly line, or more importantly the first part. You have got to match the rating of the line to the weight of the rod – that is easy enough!
An easy peasy explanation is the bigger the fish the higher the rating – I can hear a thousand angry technical gurus screaming in fury however really it is the most simple explanation I can give.
So – when I fish for monstrous Pike I use my nine weight or my ten weight depending on conditions – this is because I am catching big strong fish and must catch them by using big flies –a higher rating rod and line makes this easier.
I hear most people use a 7 weigh when fishing at fisheries for Rainbow trout. In big rivers when you are going to catch big trout you will want a rod that is nice and sensitive to cast smaller flies but still have backbone for bigger fish (or to pull your fly out a tree with greater force).
For my own river fishing I have two rods – a 4 weight Orvis Superfine and a Sage SLT 5 weight. I use the 5 weight on bigger rivers like the Clyde and the Tummel and I use the 4 weight on smaller rivers like the Kelvin and …er, other smaller rivers like my shite pipe river.
However the important thing to remember is that not all 4 and 5 weights are created equal – they all have different “actions” – essentially this means how bendy it is – if it is very bendy it is called being a “slow” rod and if it not very bendy it is called a “fast” rod. For the record if you have a bendy rod you can cast easier as it covers up all your mistakes – both my river rods are medium bendy. I also have a 4 weight bamboo rod that is extremely bendy and will keep on being bendy and wiggling about for ten minutes after I have cast – that is maybe too bendy for some people but sure is a lot of fun when you catch a small fish.
Ok – so we have covered the numbers on the rod and the bendy factor and you can see that with the size of trout you will catch in the Kelvin you want a nice light rod that has enough backbone to handle the occasional pounder – a 4 weight will be ideal. Once you get better at casting you can delve into the world of 3 weights, 2 weights and 1 weight.
So – you want a four weight for the Kelvin although if you were ever only going to buy one rod for all your trout river fishing – for example if you fished a big river like the Clyde every other day then you would be better off with a 5 weight. Although saying that a lot of it is down to personal preference as some days I use my 4 weight on the Clyde yet never use my 5 weight on the Kelvin.
I hope that made some sense. | <urn:uuid:6e545037-c68d-41b2-bb04-dbe2e9b43638> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://urbanflyfisher.com/what-fly-rod-for-the-kelvin/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368709037764/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516125717-00022-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.96377 | 675 | 1.625 | 2 |
Israel’s War On Jerusalem Children
Israel’s War On Children
Israeli police have been criticised over their treatment of hundreds of Palestinian children, some as young as seven, arrested and interrogated on suspicion of stone-throwing in East Jerusalem.
In the past year, criminal investigations have been opened against more than 1,200 Palestinian minors in Jerusalem on stone-throwing charges, according to police statistics gathered by the Association of Civil Rights in Israel (ACRI). That was nearly twice the number of children arrested last year in the much larger Palestinian territory of the West Bank.
Most of the arrests have occurred in the Silwan district, close to Jerusalem’s Old City, where 350 extremist Jewish settlers have set up several heavily guarded illegal enclaves among 50,000 Palestinian residents.
Late last month, in a sign of growing anger at the arrests, a large crowd in Silwan was reported to have prevented police from arresting Adam Rishek, a seven-year-old accused of stone-throwing. His parents later filed a complaint claiming he had been beaten by the officers.
Tensions between residents and settlers have been rising steadily since the Jerusalem municipality unveiled a plan in February to demolish dozens of Palestinian homes in the Bustan neighbourhood to expand a Biblically-themed archeological park run by Elad, a settler organisation.
The plan is currently on hold following US pressure on Benjamin Netanyahu, the Israeli prime minister.
Fakhri Abu Diab, a local community leader, warned that the regular clashes between Silwan’s youths and the settlers, termed a “stone intifada” by some, could trigger a full-blown Palestinian uprising.
“Our children are being sacrificed for the sake of the settlers’ goal to take over our community,” he said.
In a recent report, entitled Unsafe Space, ACRI concluded that, in the purge on stone-throwing, the police were riding roughshod over children's legal rights and leaving many minors with profound emotional traumas.
Testimonies collected by the rights groups reveal a pattern of children being arrested in late-night raids, handcuffed and interrogated for hours without either a parent or lawyer being present. In many cases, the children have reported physical violence or threats.
Last month 60 Israeli childcare and legal experts, including Yehudit Karp, a former deputy attorney-general, wrote to Mr Netanyahu condemning the police behaviour.
“Particularly troubling,” they wrote, “are testimonies of children under the age of 12, the minimal age set by the law for criminal liability, who were taken in for questioning, and who were not spared rough and abusive interrogation.”
Unlike in the West Bank, which is governed by military law, children in East Jerusalem suspected of stone-throwing are supposed to be dealt with according to Israeli criminal law.
Israel annexed East Jerusalem following the Six-Day war of 1967, in violation of international law, and its 250,000 Palestinian inhabitants are treated as permanent Israeli residents.
Minors, defined as anyone under 18, should be questioned by specially trained officers and only during daylight hours. The children must be able to consult with a lawyer and a parent should be present.
Ronit Sela, a spokeswoman for the Association of Civil Rights in Israel (ACRI), said her organisation had been “shocked” at the large number of children arrested in East Jerusalem in recent months, often by units of undercover policemen.
“We have heard many testimonies from children who describe terrifying experiences of violence during both their arrest and their later interrogation.”
Muslim, 10, lives in the Bustan neighbourhood and in a house that Israeli authorities have ordered demolished. His case was included in the ACRI report, and in an interview he said he had been arrested four times this year, even though he was under the age of criminal responsibility. On the last occasion, in October, he was grabbed from the street by three plain-clothes policemen who jumped out a van.
“One of the men grabbed me from behind and started choking me. The second grabbed my shirt and tore it from the back, and the third twisted my hands behind my back and tied them with plastic cords. ‘Who threw stones?’ one of them asked me. ‘I don’t know,’ I said. He started hitting me on the head and I shouted in pain.”
Muslim was taken into custody and released six hours later. A local doctor reported that the boy had bleeding wounds to his knees and swelling on several parts of his body.
Muslim’s father, who has two sons in prison, said the boy was waking with nightmares and could no longer concentrate on his school studies. “He has been devastated by this.”
Ms Sela said arrests had risen sharply in Silwan since September, when a private security guard at a settler compound shot dead a Palestinian man, Samer Sirhan, and injured two others.
Clashes between the settlers and Silwan youths came to prominence in October when David Beeri, director of settler organisation Elad, was shown on camera driving into two boys as they threw stones at his car.
One, Amran Mansour, 12, who was thrown over the bonnet of Mr Beeri’s car, was arrested shortly afterwards in a late-night raid on his family’s home.
Also in October, nine rightwing Israeli MPs complained after stones were thrown at their minibus as they paid a solidarity visit to Beit Yonatan, a large settler-controlled house in Silwan. Israel’s courts have ordered that the house be demolished, but Jerusalem’s mayor, Nir Barkat, has refused to enforce the order.
In the wake of the attack, Yitzhak Aharonovitch, the public security minister, warned: “We will stop the stone-throwing through the use of covert and overt force, and bring back quiet.”
Last month police announced that house arrests would be used against children more regularly and financial penalties of up to $1,400 would be imposed on parents.
B’Tselem, an Israeli human rights group, reported the case of “A.S.”, a 12-year-old taken for interrogation following an arrest at 3am.
“I sat on my knees facing the wall. Every time I moved, a man in civilian clothes hit me with his hand on my neck … The man asked me to prostrate myself on the floor and ask his forgiveness, but I refused and told him that I do not bow to anyone but Allah. All the while, I felt intense pain in my feet and legs. I felt intense fear and I started shaking.”
In a statement B’Tselem said: “It is hard to believe that the security forces would have acted similarly against Jewish minors.”
Micky Rosenfeld, a police spokesman, denied that the police had violated the children’s rights. He added: “It is the responsibility of parents to stop this criminal behaviour by their children.”
Jawad Siyam, a local community activist in Silwan, said the goal of the arrests and the increased settler activity was to “make life unbearable and push us out of the area”.
The 60 experts who wrote to Mr Netanyahu warned that the children’s abuse led to “post-traumatic stress disorders, such as nightmares, insomnia, bed-wetting, and constant fear of policemen and soldiers”. They also noted that children under extended house arrest were being denied the right to schooling.
Last year the United Nations Committee Against Torture expressed “deep concern” at Israel’s treatment of Palestinian minors, saying Israel was breaking the UN Convention on the Rights of Children, which it has signed.
Over the past 12 months, Defence for Children International has provided the UN with details of more than 100 children who claim they were physically or psychologically abused while in military custody.
Jonathan Cook is a writer and journalist based in Nazareth, Israel. His latest books are “Israel and the Clash of Civilisations: Iraq, Iran and the Plan to Remake the Middle East” (Pluto Press) and “Disappearing Palestine: Israel's Experiments in Human Despair” (Zed Books). His website is www.jkcook.net.
A version of this story appeared in The National (www.thenational.ae). | <urn:uuid:1923b617-39f3-4f67-97f8-0fd0a75cfb21> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.zcommunications.org/israel-s-war-on-jerusalem-children-by-jonathan-cook | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368696381249/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516092621-00019-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.975986 | 1,777 | 1.601563 | 2 |
“The banks will not get this country in trouble, I guarantee it,” Buffett, chairman and chief executive officer of Omaha, Nebraska-based Berkshire Hathaway Inc. (NYSE:BRK.A) (NYSE:BRK.B).
In his interview with Bloomberg last week, Buffett said “The capital ratios are huge, the excesses on the asset side have been largely cleared out.”
Bloomberg writes; in the era of deep financial crises, national lenders including Bank of America Corp (NYSE:BAC) and Citigroup Inc. (NYSE:C) have had to lay off jobs and sell out assets to save cost and repay taxpayer bailouts from 2008. The financial crisis began to tone down when the lenders started taking those actions to bolster their balance sheets till a boost was seen in the financial stock last year, which increased the value of Berkshire Hathaway Inc. (NYSE:BRK.A) (NYSE:BRK.B)’s holdings.
According to Buffett, the banking system today is the best shape and does not pose a threat to nation’s economy.
“We do not have an unusually concentrated banking system compared to the rest of the world, and there are certain advantages in the largest capital market in the world to having banks that are somewhat consistent with the size of those markets,” said Buffett
Contrary to what Buffet guarantees, Former bank executives and regulators still see lenders posing a systemic risks to the economy, even after paying the taxpayer bailouts from 2008.
New York Times reports that Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) was cutting off jobs at its trading business in an effort to shrink more in its actual size. This has raised many questions about the bank already. Other investment banks have also been reported to trim down their business to an extent.
Brian T. Moynihan, Bank of America Corp (NYSE:BAC) CEO, has however expressed his confidence over his company’s potential to pass after the failure in 2011, when the company failed to win the approval for a dividend increase.
Buffett’s firm has investments in at least four of the seven biggest U.S lenders by assets, including a stake of more than $14 billion in San Francisco-based Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC), $5 billion in Bank of America.
It is notable that Buffett provided capital to Bank of America Corp (NYSE:BAC) when the company’s shares collapsed to 45 percent over the period of 8 months in 2011.
Being the Oracle of Omaha and father of investment, Buffett’s word can taken on this matter when he pledges the performance of all the banks that fall under his portfolio. Even if one of the biggest national lenders become a victim of another crisis, chances are that Buffett will buy more shares to save them, just as he’s been doing since the last crunch. | <urn:uuid:08aec779-24d9-4225-9850-0f0df526f2b0> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.valuewalk.com/2013/01/warren-buffett-guarantees-that-the-banks-pose-no-threat-to-u-s/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368703298047/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516112138-00013-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.965528 | 598 | 1.757813 | 2 |
OBSERVER Staff Writer
SILVER CREEK - The village of Silver Creek met with its wastewater treatment plant project engineers from Wendel Companies for an informational session with some good and mixed news.
Part of the good news for the village is its financing through Environmental Funding Corporation, a public benefit corporation, will be subsidized by 50 percent. Brian Sibiga of Wendel said its was his hope the village would receive 100 percent funding, but explained the village board and his firm have taken steps to "make the project viable without 100 percent funding" in place.
OBSERVER Photo by Shirley Pulawski
Brian Sibiga of Wendel Companies explained costs and efficiency savings regarding its wastewater treatment plant upgrade project.
Sibiga told the board at a special meeting on Monday night the recent decision to begin an energy audit of the plant will help offset costs associated with the upgrades necessary for the consent order the village signed with the Department of Environmental Conserva-tion. The upgrades will put the village in compliance with DEC regulations, but not without significant costs.
Several estimates were given for the project. Sibiga said a 2009 study estimated costs at $7.5 million, but more recent estimates were lower.
"That was a preliminary study. We went through everything and came up with a scenario which would cost about $3.75 million," on the low end or $4.5 million as a "worst case scenario."
He explained the lower figures represented work which would include the use of existing equipment, such as the tank, which are still in good condition.
"We will also do some (aspects of the project) by gravity to eliminate pumping," he said.
"We're leveraging what you already have. The tank will save a couple million," Sibiga said. The $4.5 million figure, he explained, would be a scenario where many lines would require pumps to move liquids if they cannot flow with the help of gravity alone. | <urn:uuid:514696cd-a69d-4dd7-a1ec-a0703e2972ae> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.observertoday.com/page/content.detail/id/579155/Wastewater-project-estimates-released-in-Silver-Creek.html?nav=5047 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368706153698/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516120913-00033-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.979136 | 405 | 1.6875 | 2 |
I’m writing in Spring in conjunction with Hibernate and every time I need to write access DB I face the same question:
where to place business logic?
Of course it is recommended to put it to services and keep DAO as simple as possible (the best to keep DAO only for CRUD). But what in the case when I would like to retrieve, let’s say Bookings. But only those with status ACTIVE (it means, that field status equals ACTIVE and additionally validFrom is LT today and validTo is GT today).
It will give me more complex query which I place in DAO method: List<Bookings> findActiveBookings()
So far so good.
Now let's assume that ACTIVE is also that booking which has status RESERVED and validTo date equal today.
I have two possibilities:
1) extends my DAO method and make SQL more complex at the same time putting some business conditions into DAO (if ACTIVE and date=..., if RESERVED and date=...)
2) create another method List<Booking>findReservedBookingForDate() and in services call them both and aggregate the results.
(of course it is worth to consider creating more generic method for example List<Booking> findBookingForState(BookingState state))
Which approach is better: keep simple DAO and move logic to services but have more DB access OR have one DB access but more complex query in DAO
It's better to have complex queries in DAO because generally speaking, the database is better at processing complex queries than code that you can write. Plus, doing aggregation/filtering in the service tier requires you to send a lot of data over the network from database to the app server, which would reduce throughput.
Remember that the main reason you want to put all your business logic in the service layer is to make it maintainable and easier to understand. So, as far as I'm concerned, all the if conditions and the for loops related to business logic should be in the service layer. It's fine if your DAO is doing filtering, as lo as the DAO methods are very concise. You should be able to look at the service implementation and know what the application is doing. It's fine if you DAO has more than basic crud methods. | <urn:uuid:a03fe798-1691-4a5d-9ecf-cf8c3964d8fb> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.coderanch.com/t/601609/EJB-JEE/java/Business-logic-Spring-services-DAO | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368699881956/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516102441-00012-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.950345 | 493 | 1.53125 | 2 |
In the ongoing controversy over the cartoon wars, one of the silliest arguments I have encountered is the suggestion that there is a "double standard" at work because cartoons offensive to Christians or Jews could never be published in western Europe--and therefore Muslims are justified in responding hysterically to the Danish cartoons satirizing the Prophet Mohammed. Surprisingly, this cliché has been repeated by a number of people who I'm sure are intelligent and well-informed enough to know better, including various alleged "experts" and pundits, but it's simply bogus. Let's get real: This claim is not just incorrect, but obviously and unequivocally absurd. Cartoons are published in Europe all the time that at least some Christians and Jews find very offensive, and even in those cases where they produce an outcry, they don't usually lead to death threats, calls for government censorship, and the burning of embassies.
=> Of course, such claims about a "double standard" in offensiveness are especially comical when they come from countries in the Middle East and elsewhere in the Muslim world in which large numbers of blatantly anti-semitic cartoons
are published every day, state-controlled media peddle 1930s-style anti-semitic propaganda based on the Protocols of the Elders of Zion
, and so on. These complaints are certainly breathtaking in their hypocrisy (as this article
, among others, has pointed out).
But something deeper and more fundamental than simple hypocrisy is involved here. Islamist groups in Europe and the Middle East, as well as the government of Iran, have decided to respond to the Danish cartoons by publishing offensive cartoons about the Holocaust
. Even when people have criticized these actions, they have tended to pass over one element about them that should strike us as peculiar. When these Islamists are offended by Danish cartoons, they don't respond by publishing anti-Danish, anti-Christian, or anti-western cartoons. They respond by publishing anti-semitic cartoons. Why is that, I wonder?
=> Be that as it may .... another intriguing aspect of this affair is that so far newspapers and other news media in the US seem to be afraid to reprint the original Danish cartoons, even for informational purposes. The result is that people who read or hear about the controversy--which is, after all, a news story of world-wide significance--don't get a chance to see the actual cartoons that the controversy is about. This curious reticence stands in sharp contrast to the response of many newspapers across western Europe.
I suspect that the reasons for this difference are genuinely complex--and that they are linked to some larger cultural and political differences between the US and western Europe--but I also suspect that many of these reasons do not reflect very well on the honesty and journalistic integrity of the US news media. Tim Rutten concludes an article on this subject in the LA Times
(see below) by suggesting that
those of us who inhabit this real world will continue to believe that the American news media's current exercise in mass self-censorship has nothing to do with either sensitivity or restraint and everything to do with timidity and expediency.
Sounds plausible to me.
Los Angeles Times
February 11, 2006
Let's be honest about cartoons
The editor of the Los Angeles Times does not think you need to see any of the cartoons that have triggered deadly riots across the Muslim world.
Earlier this week, I proposed illustrating this column with examples of the caricatures first published last fall in a Danish newspaper. If readers are to form rational opinions about both the ferocity of Islamic reaction and the American news media's response to it,
I thought, surely at least a glance at one or two of these mild cartoons is required. I suggested that the cartoons run inside the Calendar section with a notice in this space concerning their location. That way, those who wanted to see them could, while those who might be offended simply could avoid that page.
I fully expected the proposal to be rejected, and it was — quickly and in writing, though the note also expressed the hope that the column would be as forceful and candid as possible.
This paper has ample company. The New York Times, the Washington Post, Wall Street Journal and USA Today all have declined to run the cartoons because many Muslims find them offensive. The people who run Associated Press, NBC, CBS, CNN and National Public Radio's website agree. So far, the only U.S. news organizations to provide a look at what this homicidal fuss is about are the Philadelphia Inquirer, the Austin American-Statesman, the Fox cable network and ABC.
Among those who decline to show the caricatures, only one, the Boston Phoenix, has been forthright enough to admit that its editors made the decision "out of fear of retaliation from the international brotherhood of radical and bloodthirsty Islamists who seek to impose their will on those who do not believe as they do. This is, frankly, our primary reason for not publishing any of the images in question. Simply stated, we are being terrorized, and as deeply as we believe in the principles of free speech and a free press, we could not in good conscience place the men and women who work at the Phoenix and its related companies in physical jeopardy."
There is something wonderfully clarifying about honesty.
Meanwhile, ironies that would be laughable were the situation not so dire have mounted by the day. For one thing, reporting in this paper, the New York Times and Wall Street Journal has made it clear that what's at work here is not the Muslim street's spontaneous revulsion against sacrilege but a calculated campaign of manipulation by European Islamists and self-interested Middle Eastern governments. If the images first published in Jyllands-Posten last September are so inherently offensive that they cannot be viewed in any context, why did Danish Muslims distribute them across an Islamic world that seldom looks at Copenhagen newspapers? As Bernard-Henri Levy wrote this week, we have here a case of "self-inflicted blasphemy."
Then there's the question of why there was no reaction whatsoever when Al Fagr, one of Egypt's largest newspapers, published these cartoons on its front page Oct. 17 — that's right, four months ago — during Ramadan. Apparently its editor, Adel Hamouda, isn't as sensitive as his American colleagues.
Nothing, however, quite tops the absurdity of two pieces on the situation done this week by the New York Times and CNN. In the former instance, a thoughtful essay by the paper's art critic was illustrated with a 7-year-old reproduction of Chris Ofili's notorious painting of the Virgin Mary smeared with elephant dung. (Apparently, her fans aren't as touchy as Muhammad's.) Thursday, CNN broadcast a story on how common anti-Semitic caricatures are in the Arab press and illustrated it with —you guessed it — one virulently anti-Semitic cartoon after another. As the segment concluded, Wolf Blitzer looked into the camera and piously explained that while CNN had decided as a matter of policy not to broadcast any image of Muhammad, telling the story of anti-Semitism in the Arab press required showing those caricatures.
He didn't even blush.
If the Danish cartoons are, in fact, being withheld from most American newspaper readers and television viewers out of restraint born of a newfound respect for people's religious sensitivities, a great opportunity to prove the point is coming. A major American studio, Sony, shortly will release a film version of Dan Brown's bestselling novel "The Da Vinci Code." It's fair to say that you'd have to go back to the halcyon days of the Nativist publishing operations in the 19th century to find a popular book quite as blatantly and vulgarly anti-Catholic as this one.
Its plot is a vicious little stew of bad history, fanciful theology and various slanders directed at the Vatican and Opus Dei, an organization to which thousands of Catholic people around the world belong. In this vile fantasy, the Catholic hierarchy is corrupt and manipulative and Opus Dei is a violent, murderous cult. The late Pope John Paul II is accused of subverting the canonization process by pushing sainthood for Josemaría Escrivá, Opus' founder, as a payoff for the organization's purported "rescue" of the Vatican bank. The plot's principal villain is a masochistic albino Opus Dei "monk" for whom murder is just one of many sadistic crimes. (It probably won't do any good to point out that, while it's unclear whether Opus Dei has any albino members, there definitely are no monks.)
Now many Catholics, this one included, regard Opus Dei as a creepy outfit with an unwholesome affinity for authoritarianism gleaned from its formative years in Franco's Spain. But neither it nor its members are corrupt or murderous. It is a moral — though thankfully not legal — libel to suggest otherwise. Further, it is deeply offensive to allege — even fictionally — that the Roman Catholic Church would tolerate Opus, or any organization, if it were any of those things.
So how will the American news media respond to the release of this film?
Certainly, there should be reviews since this is a news event, though it would be a surprise if any of them had something substantive to say about these issues. But what about publishing feature stories, interviews or photographs? Isn't that offensive, since they promote the film? More to the point, should newspapers and television networks refuse to accept advertising for this film since plainly that would be promoting hate speech? Will our editors and executives declare their revulsion at the very thought of profiting from bigotry?
It won't happen for a simple reason that has nothing to do with the ideas being expressed or anybody's sensitivities, religious or otherwise. It won't happen because Pope Benedict XVI isn't about to issue a fatwa against director Ron Howard or star Tom Hanks. It won't happen because Cardinal Roger M. Mahony isn't going to lead an angry mob to burn Sony Studios, and none of the priests of the archdiocese is going to climb into the pulpit Sunday and call for the producer's beheading.
On the other hand, perhaps the events of the last two weeks have shocked our editors and news executives into a communal change of heart when it comes to sensitivities of all religious believers.
That will happen when pigs soar through the skies on the wings of angels, when the lion reclines with the lamb on high-thread-count Egyptian cotton sheets and no one bothers to beat the world's very last sword into a ploughshare because all the hungry have been fed.
Until that glorious day, those of us who inhabit this real world will continue to believe that the American news media's current exercise in mass self-censorship has nothing to do with either sensitivity or restraint and everything to do with timidity and expediency. | <urn:uuid:518d5928-28e3-4533-af25-9e5331e61af6> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://jeffweintraub.blogspot.com/2006_02_01_archive.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368696383156/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516092623-00008-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.966945 | 2,247 | 1.71875 | 2 |
Welcome to the forum, Trag.
I agree with Darrell's suggestion to seek out anything written by Dr. Norton.
Otherwise, what you have to understand is that domestic 'Platies & Swordtails' can be a combination of any number of Xiphophorus species. While we can make some pretty educated guesses about various traits, there is always a chance that you'll be dealing with different genes than someone else is dealing with, even if the fish are supposed to be the same. What genes are involved, inherited, and how they play with each other, can vary widely.
This is especially true now that more wild-type Xiphophorus are in the hobby. I can use the research that Dr. Norton did so brilliantly as a guide, but I'd have to map my own colony. Her domestic red Swordtails may be X. helleri x X. maculatus, whereas mine could be X. helleri x X. maculatus with X. montezumae as a paternal great grandpa, type thing. Furthermore, chances are I don't know what genes my domestic hybrid is carrying, I just know I have a pretty red Swordtail.
Basically, there is no standard chart because there is no standard hybrid to base it on. But you will learn a lot from Dr. Norton that still applies, and that much more from other ALA members should you choose to join. The 'Livebearers' journal that comes with membership often has articles with details that you won't find elsewhere. We'd love to have you join us. | <urn:uuid:39c3b854-a7b9-4d98-96a4-cff2acada4b4> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://livebearers.org/modules/newbb/viewtopic.php?post_id=3147 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368700958435/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516104238-00026-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.967274 | 323 | 1.570313 | 2 |
DERRY, New Hampshire (CNN) – Sen. John McCain, R-Arizona, called on China to flex its political muscle in Myanmar and criticized that nation's military government for suppressing pro-democracy demonstrations, during a campaign swing Sunday through this Granite State town.
"We should impose even stronger sanctions and we should tell the Chinese that if they're going to play a major role in the world, they should exercise their influence over Burma to stop this wanton killing and imprisonment of innocent people who only seek democracy and freedom," said McCain, who is seeking his party's presidential nomination. Myanmar is better known as Burma.
When asked by CNN if it was realistic to expect the Chinese government to exert their authority in Burma, McCain issued this warning.
"It's realistic to expect them to act in the mature fashion that they should as a world power and it's disgraceful they haven't, and we should condemn them if they don't," he said. "And it would impact at least in some ways our relations with China. This is all about killing innocent people and they can do something about it. Now they can’t maybe bring it to an immediate halt but they can certainly have a beneficial effect on the Burmese government."
–CNN New Hampshire Producer Sareena Dalla | <urn:uuid:d5f474eb-9596-4172-bc16-22c8cc70a056> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://politicalticker.blogs.cnn.com/2007/10/01/mccain-calls-on-china-to-intervene-in-burma/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368696382584/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516092622-00005-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.982218 | 264 | 1.742188 | 2 |
There have been sufficient numbers of rogue traders to warrant a page on Wikipedia that lists the most infamous scoundrels by name.
It also lists how much they lost for their employer and the jail time they served.
Rogue traders, Wikipedia tells us, are authorised employees making unauthorised trades.
Most famous was Nick Leeson, who incurred a $1.3-billion loss for the venerable Barings Bank. Uniquely, this rascal – who went to prison for six and a half years – bankrupted his bank.
The rogue trader is no stranger to banking. But in recent weeks we have got used to a new phenomenon, the rogue bank. Some of the biggest names in banking have been accused of illegal activities that, until now, were more usually associated with a single employer gone bad. Or mad.
There is Barclays, which has paid a fine of £290-million for its role in manipulating the London interbank offer rate (Libor), the basic interest rate used internationally for financial contracts. As many as 20 banks could be implicated in the scandal.
Bet and lost
Citing research by Morgan Stanley, Bloomberg reported that legal expenses stemming from probes into Libor manipulation could range from $59-million for Lloyds Banking Group to as much as $1.04-billion for Deutsche Bank and $1.06-billion for the Royal Bank of Scotland. No one as yet faces jail time for manipulating Libor, but this scandal goes to the heart of the financial system: If we can't trust Libor, what can we trust?
Then there is JP Morgan, which bet and lost the farm on an obscure exotic trade known as the IG9 10-year when a single trader, Bruno Iksil, reportedly put up to $100-billion of its funds at risk. When the trade went bad, JP Morgan booked losses of $5.8-billion, which could rise to $8-billion, and its share price fell by 25% in May.
Crucially, top management at JP Morgan has not characterised Iksil's activities as those of a rogue trader and he does not face charges – he was taking a massive bet, for a time earning handsome profits, with the full knowledge of his superiors.
Next HSBC admitted to laundering $7-billion in Mexican drug money. HSBC has set aside $2-billion to be able to pay the fines it faces.
This week's scandal has regulators accusing Standard Chartered of laundering $250-billion of Iranian money in contravention of United States sanctions. Standard Chartered, which saw its share price fall by 16% in a single day this week after these accusations had been made by New York state's department of financial services, has rejected the claims. The Financial Times reported that the bank described any transgression as "small clerical errors".
Some commentators are casting the Standard Chartered matter in the wider context of rivalry between the US and the UK for supremacy as the world's financial capital, but for the time being Standard Chartered finds itself mired, with some of the biggest names in banking, in allegations of rogue activity.
It was not long ago that where rogue activity emerged it was the work of an individual, but when you consider the recent cases collectively, it is hard to not conclude that a culture of greed and too-big-too-fail indemnity have led to the biggest names in banking going rogue. | <urn:uuid:fd6dcf90-71af-4f5d-8b2f-93b8ef873461> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://mg.co.za/article/2012-08-10-the-institutionalisation-of-rogue-behaviour | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368707435344/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516123035-00008-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.970996 | 700 | 1.609375 | 2 |
If You're An Austrian Woman, Move To Italy
We know that core and periphery are struggling under the same monetary policy sun as divergences grow wider. We also know that even in the core, the Franco-German divide continues to gape. However, for a 'union' that continues to promote itself as the utopian solution for 27 nations across Europe, it seems there is an even bigger chasm - the gender pay gap. On International Women's Day, Bloomberg's Niraj Shah notes that women earn on average 16% per hour less than men with Estonia (27% gap) and Austria (24%) at the worst end of the spectrum and Italy (6%) and Slovenia (2%) at the most equitable end. And finally, even with a woman running the show, Germany's gender-pay-gap is a surprising 22%.
- advertisements - | <urn:uuid:358b36c0-856a-40bf-bda3-b02275a787ea> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2013-03-08/if-youre-austrian-woman-move-italy | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368702810651/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516111330-00012-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.94984 | 174 | 1.679688 | 2 |
This past spring, I read an article in the March 20th addition of Rolling Stone for a paper that I was writing about Barack Obama as the hero of American politics. The cover of the magazine showed Barack in a sort of supernatural portrait against a bright, almost holy, cloudy background, with a headline that read “Barack Obama: A New Hope” followed by, “Exclusive: inside his people-powered revolution.”
The article, “A Machinery of Hope” by Tim Dickinson, offered a comprehensive account of Obama’s unprecedented commitment to grass-roots campaigning. It opens with a brief account of Adam Ukman, a campaign organizer who has helped Obama to victories in both the Iowa and Utah primaries.
“Our job is not to run in here to tell you how it’s going to be,” Ukman said to a group of campaign volunteers in San Marcos, Texas. “This is your campaign. Not our campaign” (qtd. in “Machinery”, 36). Democrats have heard that it was “their” campaign in previous elections, but this time Obama is literally handing them the reigns, as David Axelrod, Obama’s chief campaign strategist explained:
"When we started this race, Barack told us that he wanted the campaign to be a vehicle for involving people and giving them a stake in the kind of organizing he believed in. He is still the same guy who came to Chicago as a community organizer twenty-three years ago. The idea that we can organize together to improve our country – I mean, he really believes that." (qtd. in “Machinery”, 38).
In the time that has since passed, Obama has secured the Democratic nomination, and he has not faltered in his promise to run a campaign of the people. In an email about a week ago, the Obama campaign wrote that they would send a text message to announce the VP pick. Unfortunately I deleted the email, but again, the gist came back to the people. “This is your campaign, you’ve worked for it, you deserve to know first…” something like that. It is this sense of involvement that Barack offers that I am so drawn to. He has stirred something among America’s youth that really hasn’t been seen from a Democrat since the Kennedys. As I wrote in my last entry, my fundamental faith in democracy lies in the people, and that is a sentiment that Obama has clued into.
But the true brilliance of Obama’s campaign lies in his strategy of involvement, and this is how he has so successfully glued himself to the youth. When I learned of the VP pick, I simply turned on my new 3G iPhone, ran a quick email check, and boom: “Carlos – I have some important news that I want to make official. I’ve chosen Joe Biden to be my running mate.”
This unwavering faith in the general public has changed the face of politics. Those who assail Obama’s campaign as empty promises of change need look no further than the current success of his campaign, which has brought a very real change to the political sphere, leaving old politics behind. “We’re seeing the last time a top-down campaign has a chance to win it,” said Joe Trippi, the mastermind behind Howard Dean’s 2004 Internet campaign. “There won’t be another campaign that makes the same mistakes the Clintons made of being dependent on big donors and insiders. It’s not going to work ever again” (qtd. in “Machine”, 42).
Combining the modern networking capabilities of the Internet and cell phones, with a loyal belief in everyday Americans, Obama has created a political climate in which the individual can get involved, and they have. “That’s the magic of what they’ve done,” explained Simon Rosenberg, president of New Democrat Network, a political group that supports progressive Democratic candidates. “They’ve married the incredibly powerful online community they built with real on-the-ground field operations. We’ve never seen anything like this before in American political history” (qtd. in “Machinery”, 37). Dickinson explains that this marriage “has shattered the top-down, command-and-control, broadcast-TV model that has dominated American politics since the early 1960s” (“Machinery”, 37).
Attributing Obama’s success to a “stylish appearance” and a “flattering” of the youth is selling his achievements short. He has built his campaign around promises of change from the status quo – the divisiveness and ineffectiveness of partisan politics, big money campaigning – the politics of cynicism. Through his campaign he has looked to the people to help introduce a new brand of politics, a politics of hope, a grass-roots politics that asks every American to work for change. | <urn:uuid:f499a619-e517-4964-b7d1-31a6e2d81c39> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.watchnewspapers.com/pages/full_story/push?article-The+Campaign+IS+the+Message%20&id=206272 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368708142388/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516124222-00039-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.97096 | 1,053 | 1.515625 | 2 |
Natural Remedies for Infant Colds
By Holly Brewer
The definition of “desperate” is the parent of an infant with a cold. Every parent will tell you that from the time you hear that first sniffle you know you are doomed to weeks of screaming, aspirating, temperature checking, nose wiping, and absolutely no sleeping. Cold medications are not suitable for infants and have even been found to have fatal side effects. Because of this, parents are given a sympathetic look and told to just do the best they can. Doctors then make a beeline for the door as they inform parents that infant colds are known to last from two to three weeks.
As a parent, nothing is worse than having your runny-nosed, tear-stained, chubby-cheeked little one looking at you to make things better and not being able to do anything. While there is no magic spell or drug that can make your baby instantly better, there are a few natural remedies that are definitely worth a try.
Humidifiers and Vaporizers
Living in an especially dry climate can aggravate stuffy noses and make congestion much worse. Heaters and furnaces in homes also contribute by making the air incredibly dry. You can counteract this and help baby breathe easier by investing in a good humidifier or vaporizer. While you do not have to buy the most expensive unit you can find, it is definitely a good idea to buy a quality one, since the fact that babies get up to 8 colds a year will have you using it quite frequently.
During winter months and for severe colds, a warm mist humidifier is often recommended. These not only add much needed moisture to the air that baby breathes, but the warmth has a soothing effect that often helps babies to sleep better. Some models even have vapor pads that can be inserted and release a calming and decongesting aroma into the air. Keep in mind that adding liquids such as Vicks to a baby’s humidifier is not recommended. Also be sure to keep the humidifier well out of baby’s reach since warm mist humidifiers pose a burn risk.
Cool mist humidifiers and vaporizers are essentially the same thing. They add moisture to the air, but the water is vaporized rather than heated and then emitted. These pose little burn risk, are considered to release less bacteria, and are easier to keep clean. Cool mist humidifiers and vaporizers are a great option for summer months when the last thing you want in the room is more heat. They also work well when paired with a waterless vaporizer that releases a decongesting menthol aroma.
Always follow manufacturers’ directions when using a humidifier and vaporizer, keep them out of the reach of children, and clean them on a regular basis. When used correctly, these can do wonders for stuffy little noses.
Saline and Aspiration
While it’s about the worst job in the world and your baby may hate you for it, aspirating their noses is one of the best things you can do. Since you can’t offer baby a decongestant, saline and sucking are the next best options.
If your baby’s nose is really dry, use saline drops or a spray to soften everything up. Your baby will start to fuss and cry (because who really likes anything sprayed up their nose?), then his nose will start to run. Once that happens, have the aspirator at the ready so that you can suck the mucous out and clear his nasal passages. This is especially important for avoiding any worsening symptoms. If mucous is not cleared out, it will often begin draining down the throat which can then cause a sore throat and cough.
Keeping your baby slightly propped up, especially when sleeping will also help with congestion. Use crib safe wedges or an inclined baby sleeper to keep your baby from lying completely flat.
We’ve all heard our own mothers say that we need rest and plenty of fluids when we are sick. The same still stands true for your little one. While you definitely do not want to fill your baby up on water or juice, the added fluids are definitely a good idea.
While you should always contact your pediatrician before giving your baby juice, the general consensus is that an ounce of juice mixed with an ounce or two of water is perfectly fine for babies over four months. Juice also has antioxidants and vitamin C that will help baby’s tiny immune system to fight the cold and start feeling better. If you are not comfortable offering juice, or if your doctor has advised against it, keep trying to give your baby an ounce or two of water between feedings.
This is another thing that you would want to speak with your pediatrician about, but many people believe in the healing abilities of essential oils. Keep in mind that essential oils are not recommended for babies under three months. These oils are collected from natural sources and are extremely potent so be sure to do your research before using them, since some are not safe at all for babies.
Only 100% pure essential oils should be used, and diffusing them is usually best for infants. If you choose to use them directly on the skin, they should be diluted in a carrier oil such as coconut oil. This means that you would add a drop of two of the oil to at least a teaspoon of the carrier oil. Baby’s skin is so sensitive that direct contact may have adverse effects.
Here are some of the most common oils for babies and their uses:
Peppermint: Peppermint oil is incredible at decreasing a fever. A drop on the bottom of baby’s feet will bring down a fever within minutes. Why the bottom of the feet? That area allows the oils to get into the bloodstream faster than any other area.
Lavender: Lavender oil is calming and is known as nature’s sedative. Diluting a few drops in distilled water and spraying on your baby’s bed will help him sleep better. You can also put the oil on the bottom of your baby’s feet.
Melaleuca: Also known as “tea tree,” this oil, mixed with a carrier oil and rubbed on your baby’s chest and back will help with colds by working as a decongestant. Diffusing this into the air along with your humidifier or vaporizer (it is not recommended to put oils directly into the units because they can cause damage) also has significant effects and may even work better than Vicks or other menthol products. | <urn:uuid:9bf1bbca-f214-4a84-af77-6dd75653415e> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://liberaljournalist.com/2012/02/16/natural-remedies-for-infant-colds/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368700958435/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516104238-00008-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.958649 | 1,355 | 1.796875 | 2 |
France urged to champion Virunga at Francophonie Summit
Host country President Joseph Kabila is expected to present DRC’s oil reserves as an investment opportunity to potential investors. Authorization for oil exploration in DRC’s Virunga National Park, a World Heritage Site, has been widely condemned by conservationists and UNESCO.
President François Hollande of France will be in attendance at the Kinshasa meeting. French oil giant Total is currently operating in a concession that overlaps with Virunga National Park.
UNESCO has said that oil development is incompatible with World Heritage status. Large portions of the park now risk being de-gazetted by the DRC government so that drilling can proceed.
WWF-France has sent a strong message on Virunga to the French government delegation. Although Total has said it does not intend to drill for oil within Virunga National Park, it has refused to assure the global community that it will respect the park’s existing boundaries regardless of future de-gazettement.
WWF is asking Hollande to reinforce to Kabila and Total the value of keeping Virunga intact and free from oil extraction.
Media contact: Alona Rivord [email protected] +41 79 959 1963 | <urn:uuid:f4bd0328-7d6a-447f-937f-0b8e6d354733> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://wwf.panda.org/?206431/France-urged-to-champion-Virunga-at-Francophonie-Summit | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368696383156/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516092623-00033-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.937368 | 265 | 1.539063 | 2 |
Repealing National Health Care Reform
By Deirdre Savage
While the rhetoric may be more tempered than a few weeks ago, the passion and commitment to repeal national health care reform started anew last week for the 112th Congressional Session. A recent poll by Quinnipiac University has nearly identical percentages saying health care reform is both the best (26%) and worst (27%) thing that President Obama has done since taking office. The health care debate is intended to draw on the divide while highlighting aspects of health care reform that lead to the negative poll numbers for the President.
On Wednesday, January 19, 2011, the House of Representatives by a largely partisan vote of 245 to 189 passed a bill that would repeal the health care law. This bill, however, is not expected to pass when and if it ever reaches the Democratic-controlled Senate. Additionally, a resolution directing committees that are now chaired by Republicans to prepare new health care legislation was approved on Thursday, January 20, 2011 by a 253 to 175 vote.
Both the past week's activities and those to follow in the coming months are part of an overall strategy to make Democrats—especially those that might face tough elections in two years—explain their health care reform votes, as well as make health care an issue for the White House. Oversight hearings on implementation will likely take place in at least three House Committees within the next two months. By March, expect funding for health care reform implementation to be threatened as part of the debate to keep the federal government running.
During the late Spring, the Appropriations process for 2012 will be underway. Expect 'defunding' efforts to take place during this time. The Department of Health and Human Services, which is charged with significant implementation responsibilities and the Internal Revenue Service, which is charged with enforcing the individual mandate will be main targets for funding cuts.
Another full-blown repeal bill is expected in the summer before Congress heads home for their August recess. Truthfully, at this time, it's hard to say if the Republicans stand a chance of repealing or thwarting any parts of national health care reform. It's a complicated and long process - given the party divide in Congress and the need for both chambers to pass a bill—let alone have the President sign it.
At Blue Cross Blue Shield of Massachusetts, we will continue to implement national health care reform and support our customers while keeping a watchful eye on developments in D.C.
This information is provided for informational purposes only and does not constitute legal advice. Please consult your legal counsel regarding your specific situation.
Please note that this content is only intended to describe national health care reform requirements under the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA). It does not address Massachusetts law requirements or the potential impact of Massachusetts law on federal PPACA requirements.
For purposes of PPACA implementation, Blue Cross Blue Shield of Massachusetts assumes the plan year is the policy year, unless an account notifies us otherwise. | <urn:uuid:202b18fd-2f22-40f2-bcdc-e62b5f682bea> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.bluecrossma.com/national-health-care-reform/news-updates/news/repealing-nhcr.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368704713110/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516114513-00037-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.94792 | 596 | 1.671875 | 2 |
This fall’s election is only a couple of months away, and candidates for office or proponents/opponents of ballot measures may be wondering if their advertisements may make use of photographs showing police officers, deputy sheriffs, firefighters, or other uniformed employees dressed in their agency uniforms. State law, specifically RCW 42.17A.555, prohibits the use of public facilities for the support or opposition of candidates or ballot propositions; does this prohibition include the use of official uniforms?
The state Public Disclosure Commission, which enforces state political campaign regulations, recently issued revised election campaign guidelines that, among other things, specifically address the use of uniforms in political campaigns. (The revisions also provide guidance relating generally to the use of government facilities in campaigns; it is an excellent source of information.) Here is a summary of some of the guidelines that apply to the use of uniforms in campaigns:
1. Employees may use uniforms they own during non-work hours to assist a campaign; they may not use agency-purchased, agency-owned, or agency-replaced uniforms to assist a campaign.
2. “Former” uniforms, those that are no longer used by an agency, may be used in a campaign, provided that they have exceeded their life expectancy or have been “retired,” they have been sold to an employee or other person following agency procedures, and there is no expectation the uniform will be returned to or used by the agency in the future. The fact that the uniform is no longer used should be documented.
3. Photos and videos showing uniformed employees may be used in a campaign if they were made in the ordinary course of business, were not staged for campaign purposes, and are made available to a campaign under the same terms as they would be made available to the public. It is suggested that any advertisement using a photo or video that includes a uniformed employee make it clear through a disclaimer that the public agency is not supporting or endorsing a candidate or ballot measure.
4. Uniforms that are not property of the agency, that have been rented or purchased with non-public funds, may be used in a campaign.
The guidelines for uniforms also apply to parts of uniforms, such as shirts and pants, and to related items, such as badges, firearms, handcuffs, logos, emblems, radios, etc.
Questions regarding the guidelines can be posed to the Public Disclosure Commission, at (360)753-1111. | <urn:uuid:6a0cb40b-a6ff-4827-b8cc-a1fe6b5c0700> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://insight.mrsc.org/2012/09/04/wearing-uniforms-in-political-advertisements/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368707435344/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516123035-00033-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.964599 | 502 | 1.726563 | 2 |
Working on the margins of the middle
A passionate novelist must be able to plumb the depths of society and, in The Middleman, Mani Sankar Mukherjee does just that: He explores the dark relationship between the human and the urban souls and the consequent debasement of youth and innocence.
Translated by Arunava Sinha
pp 192, Rs 200
The Middleman, in Sankar's words, is a "disagreeable tale of contemporary reality", a terrifying projection of Calcutta's seamier side - powerful, intense, morbidly disturbing, deeply unnerving and yet captivating and moving.
The Middleman is an English translation of Sankar's original novel in Bengali, Jana Aranya, literally The Human Jungle. When first published in 1976, Satyajit Ray was among the first persons to have read Jana Aranya. He took no time to telephone Sankar to share the idea of making a film based on the novel. When I watched Ray's Jana Aranya in my late-teens, it was difficult to fathom and even more difficult to comprehend the underlying message: frame after frame of human helplessness, wretchedness, loneliness and hopelessness. For the same reasons, it was also difficult to come to terms with.
In later years, when I read Jana Aranya and watched the film a second time as a journalist working in Calcutta, it was a crushing confrontation with reality: an exploitative market that brought into sharp relief the city's social and moral crises. In the early 1990s, when the country was veering toward economic liberalisation, the Bengali novel and Ray's "bleakest" film, drove home the stark and brutally cold reality that all of Calcutta's inhabitants were, someway or the other, middlemen, cogs in the colossal market.
Conditions prevailing now are no different than the hopeless 70s.
Arunava Sinha's resurrection of Sankar's more celebrated vernacular version does not quite match the cultural power the original Bengali exerted. But it does have the essential quality of a translated novel: the capacity to escape, and help the reader escape, time or go back in time. Set in the Calcutta of the mid-70s, which at once experienced the emergence of the radical Left and mass unemployment, Middleman is the story of a young, idealistic, poetic man Somnath Banerjee. Though a graduate, Somnath, who belongs to a middle-class family with little exposure to the frenetic energy of his city, is unable to find a job, even that of a lower division clerk. His friend Sukumar Mitra loses his mental balance in search of any job. So when he meets Bishwanath Bose, who proposes he try his luck in business, Somnath sees hope of making a fair and honest living. He names his company Somnath Enterprises, beginning very modestly as a middleman in all kinds of order-supply dealings - from selling/buying pins to elephants. Naïve Somnath flounders in the cut-throat competition a. Ashamed of his failure, he gives it one last shot to recover the lost capital. He meets Natabar Mitra, a flamboyant "public relations" man who does not find it demeaning to arrange for comfort girls for Calcutta's myriad businessmen. As he sees Mitra operating in Calcutta's boudoirs or in the homes of housewives and other unemployed women, who get sucked into the city's netherworld, Somnath's middle-class morality forbids him from going the same way. He tries to stop himself from becoming another Natabar Mitra, but gives in to the desperate call to establish himself as a businessman, at least in the eyes of his father, at all cost.
Despite the dark characterisation of Calcutta's marketplace, where the laws of the jungle apply, Sankar says he holds out hope and has not lost faith in "fellow humans". In the Afterword to the novel, Sankar reveals that The Middleman is not entirely a work of fiction. Indeed, the characters of the main protagonist and that of some of the other dramatis personae, were inspired by his own location and associations in a forbidding city. As an "agent" for a small factory that manufactured waste-paper baskets, Sankar worked not just the streets of Calcutta pushing the product but also experienced first hand the "humiliating experiences" of its comfort girls. He was the archetypal middleman.
It is this true-story element that makes his work a compelling read. | <urn:uuid:3fa1bcef-1b02-4acc-a962-647b3fce5d54> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.deccanherald.com/content/13100/book-rack.html | 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 | 0.95828 | 980 | 1.6875 | 2 |
There seem to be as many ways to hang a door as there are carpenters to hang them, so after many years of running a trim crew, I came up with a few of my own ways to make the work easier and the results better.
When it comes to hanging doors, I believe that the jamb legs should bear fully on the subfloor. Nails alone (especially the light-gauge nails used these days) won’t support the weight of the jamb and door over time. Trimming the jamb legs to closer tolerances requires accurate measuring and cutting techniques. Instead of marking a level line and then measuring each side to determine the length of the jamb legs, I came up with a jig that holds my level and almost immediately tells me the difference in length between the two legs. Of course, this jig works well if I’m installing doors on a finished floor, too.
When the time comes to cut the jambs, I adjust my technique depending on the project. If I’m removing the doors from the jambs before installation, I tack a spreader across the legs to maintain the opening, and I cut with a chopsaw paired with an outfeed stand to support the jamb. More often, I keep the doors and jambs intact, mark the jamb lengths, and cut them with a circular saw and a crosscut jig.
Here’s a look at my jamb-measuring and cutting jigs and some other ideas for fast, accurate, sturdy door-hanging. | <urn:uuid:d1678010-24cd-4577-9bec-d8baa6a478c3> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.finehomebuilding.com/how-to/departments/master-carpenter/installing-doors-using-jigs.aspx?nterms=61656 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368696381249/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516092621-00005-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.938649 | 323 | 1.75 | 2 |
On the trail blazed by Bunny Austin
Esquire, August 1935: "White duck shorts, introduced by Bunny Austin, have been seen in increasing numbers at important tennis tournaments over the past two seasons. Without the famous little Englishman's sponsorship, it is doubtful that the fashion would have gone very far, but you may wear the outfit shown at left without qualm for its correctness in this usually tradition-bound sport.
The shirt was originally developed for squash, but has been borrowed for tennis. The shoes are the new blue canvas sneakers that have been taken up by many well-known professionals. The blue flannel blazer may be worn at the courts, and with white or grey flannels for general country usage.
The other and more typical tennis costume consists of a white light-weight wool polo shirt with short sleeves, worn with white flannel trousers, white sneakers and (a recent revival) the heavy white cable-stitch sweater."
OK, I was at Wimbledon this week and every player was basically dressed like the gentleman on the left: T-shirt, shorts, white socks and trainers. Except, hang on, the T-shirts at Wimbledon usually had colllars and the trainers were white. Standards today are so much higher than they were in the 1930s. Bunch of ruffians back then. Blue canvas indeed. | <urn:uuid:287047d5-66cc-4f20-b9e0-896f9b9b917b> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.permanentstyle.co.uk/2010/07/bunch-of-ruffians-back-in-1930s.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368707435344/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516123035-00041-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.977097 | 278 | 1.804688 | 2 |
1 definition by plowe
Someone who can't stand that you look better or have more than they do.
They pick out flaws ( mostly imaginary) to try to diss you with because they have no life and can't have what you have.
Haters are the worst people in the world.
A fat man hates on a girl who rejected him- hater.
An unnatractive friend hates on a girl because she's better looking or drives a better car.- hater.
by plowe Jan 27, 2009 add a video | <urn:uuid:1fd7b730-9ae9-4889-891e-12675e3b8682> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.urbandictionary.com/author.php?author=plowe | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368700264179/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516103104-00033-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.955259 | 111 | 1.835938 | 2 |
Twenty three were nominated. Nine were selected as finalists. But only one could take home top prize in the first-ever Fiasco Awards ceremony, held Thursday night in Barcelona, Spain.
And the winner was ...
Microsoft's (MSFT) Windows Vista, garnering 5,222 of 6,043 votes (86%) registered via the Web. The successor to Windows XP was cited for being over-hyped, overly complex and riddled with incompatibilities.
A quirky, slightly tongue-in-cheek project of the Catalan Association of Telecommunications Engineers, the Fiasco Awards are designed not to "criticize" or "engage in public derision," according to their website, but to recognize that "technological advance is not a straight path" and that "success and fiasco are ... head and tail of the same coin."
"God rewards fools," reads the award's logo.
Using a balloting system weighted to ensure that "an opportunity was given to local projects," a consolation prize went to SAGA, the Administration and Academic Management System of the Catalan Government.
The nine finalists were all over the lot, mixing the famous, the local and the obscure. The list included One Laptop Per Child's $100 computer; Linden Lab's Second Life; Google's (GOOG) Lively; the DAB digital radio system used in Europe; the Madrid-based Mobuzz.tv project; Maresme Digital, a project for bringing digital television to Catalonia; and some Linux-based free software packs distributed by the local government administration.
Vista made a particular strong impression in Catalonia because it was the first version of Windows that could be purchased in Catalan, the language of the region.
"Edison made over 1,000 attempts before inventing the light bulb," according the awards' press release, "so he learned how not to do it in more than 1,000 different ways… "
Edison's example could be applied to the Fiasco Awards themselves. Maybe they'll be better next year.
By Michal Lev-Ram
The virtual world is looking for a new real-life leader. Linden Lab chief executive Philip Rosedale, the man who created popular online community Second Life, announced Friday that he is relinquishing his CEO duties but will remain at the company as chairman.
According to San Francisco-based Linden Lab, Second Life users spend nearly 30 million hours on the site per month, interacting with each other through avatars, or three-dimensional MOREMichal Lev-Ram, writer - Mar 14, 2008 6:54 PM ET
|Make $30 an hour, no bachelor's degree required|
|McDonald's gives Charles Ramsey free food for a year|
|The 'chicken poop' credit and other bad tax breaks|
|Where your donation dollars go|
|Investors consider life after Fed stimulus| | <urn:uuid:b5a1ca7f-feec-44fb-9cf4-36881420967f> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://tech.fortune.cnn.com/tag/second-life/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368706153698/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516120913-00020-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.941605 | 595 | 1.71875 | 2 |
November 14 2011 11:29AM
"Protect yourself at all times." These are the instructions that boxers receive prior to a match. All hockey players need to start doing the same thing.
Last week Ryan Murphy of the Kitchener Rangers got buried behind his net by Tom Kuhnhacki of the Niagara IceDogs in a OHL game. Since then, Kuhnhacki has been suspended 20 games for his actions. He left his feet and caught Murphy square in the head. The suspension was warranted but I feel Murphy is also guilty.
He is guilty of not having good on ice awareness. Watch the video above and you can clearly see Murphy check over his right shoulder to see where the checking forward was coming from on that side but he does not look to his left at all. When he gets the puck he has absolutely no idea what is going on to his left. He is not ready to make a play with the puck or to protect himself from a checker. A quick glance to his left at any time and he would have been ready to absorb the hit or at least minimize its impact.
KEEP YA HEAD UP
Don't get me wrong, I am not blaming the victim here. I don't want Murphy to be sidelined for any amount of time due to this ugly hit. I am trying to prove a point and this was a perfect example. So many players both young and old don't have any on ice awareness. Watch a game at any level and you will see players put themselves into very vulnerable positions.
I always wanted to know where I was in relation to the boards. It can easily lead to an injury when you are either not far enough away from the boards or way to close. Learning to manage that distance is a skill that should be taught to very young players. A great example of this is Ryan Smyth. He manages that space as well as anyone is the league. When is the last time you saw Smyth really get hammered along the boards and injure himself?
Watching Gretzky carry the puck up the ice into the offensive zone was beautiful. He always seemed to know where his team mates were so he could make that beautiful pass for a nice tap in goal. Just as important to his success was knowing were the opposition players were so that he would not get hit hard in open ice. He knew where they were and avoided that contact. Many dman love step up and drop the hammer on players right at the blue line in the open ice. Think of Scott Stevens or Dion Phaneuf in todays NHL.
I am not suggesting that on ice awareness will end all concussions or injuries but I know it will reduce them. Another way to reduce them is with some old fashioned hockey. Players have to get back to defending themselves, especially dman. Getting your stick or elbow up just before a forward is going to run you on the forecheck will have a big impact on how he comes at you next time. Trust me, it will slow him down. Nobody wants to eat a stick or elbow pad every shift.
HEAL UP QUICK
I hope that Murphy is back playing very soon. He is a great player and team Canada needs his skill. I also hope that someone sits down with him to review his approach to retrieving pucks in his zone so that he can avoid these types of hits. Maybe a few clips of Nic Lidstrom would be a good place to start. Or another way to go would be to show Chris Pronger cross checking a forechecking player.
Either way he will be safer. | <urn:uuid:067aabb2-f128-4d5d-a71f-02148b80e931> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://theleafsnation.com/2011/11/14/head-on-a-swivel | 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 | 0.98912 | 731 | 1.625 | 2 |
"Gone Girl" by Gillian Flynn begins with Nick and Amy celebrating their five-year anniversary at a rental on the Mississippi River. However, when Amy vanishes into thin air, the police start looking at Nick for answers. This narrative is a complete thriller, filled with suspense, wit and Flynn's devilishly dark humor.
"Red House" by Mark Haddon is the story of two siblings' families joining together for a week vacation in the English countryside. Told through alternating viewpoints from each family member, this novel exposes long-held grudges, rising hopes, dreams, secrets and illicit desires. Haddon does an excellent job making each character not only believable but reminiscent of someone each of us knows personally - well done.
"True Sisters" by Sandra Dallas is a tale based upon true events. In 1856, Mormon converts and their families, encouraged by their leaders, set out with two-wheeled handcarts to journey on foot from Iowa City to Zion. This story is told from four women's viewpoints (from non-believers at the will of their families to the faithful) of this 1,300-journey.
"In One Person" by John Irving is a novel of desire, secrecy and sexual identity. This book is being touted as Irving's most political novel since "The Cider House Rules." One thing for sure is that Irving gives us a rare glimpse of people who defy category and convention and the hard row they hoe among their small town counterparts.
"Age of Miracles" by Karen Thompson Walker is coming very soon to our collection and must be mentioned because of its unusual premise. Julia and her family wake one ordinary Saturday to discover, along with the rest of the world, that the earth has suddenly begun to slow in rotation. Days and nights began to lengthen, gravity is affected, and the environment is in chaos. This is a memorable depiction of ordinary people dealing with extraordinary circumstances.
SOURCE: Bronwyn Macharelli, A.K. Smiley Public Library | <urn:uuid:cc7eebb8-253c-48ff-b526-73848e92ae7d> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.dailybreeze.com/california/ci_20873463/whats-new-at-k-smiley-public-library | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368704392896/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516113952-00000-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.959439 | 412 | 1.5 | 2 |
News Releases from Headquarters
Obama Administration Finalizes Historic 54.5 mpg Fuel Efficiency Standards/ Consumer Savings Comparable to Lowering Price of Gasoline by $1 Per Gallon by 2025
Release Date: 08/28/2012
Contact Information: THE WHITE HOUSE Office of the Press Secretary
WASHINGTON, DC – The Obama Administration today finalized groundbreaking standards that will increase fuel economy to the equivalent of 54.5 mpg for cars and light-duty trucks by Model Year 2025. When combined with previous standards set by this Administration, this move will nearly double the fuel efficiency of those vehicles compared to new vehicles currently on our roads. In total, the Administration’s national program to improve fuel economy and reduce greenhouse gas emissions will save consumers more than $1.7 trillion at the gas pump and reduce U.S. oil consumption by 12 billion barrels.
“These fuel standards represent the single most important step we’ve ever taken to reduce our dependence on foreign oil,” said President Obama. “This historic agreement builds on the progress we’ve already made to save families money at the pump and cut our oil consumption. By the middle of the next decade our cars will get nearly 55 miles per gallon, almost double what they get today. It’ll strengthen our nation’s energy security, it’s good for middle class families and it will help create an economy built to last.”
The historic standards issued today by the U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) build on the success of the Administration’s standards for cars and light trucks for Model Years 2011-2016. Those standards, which raised average fuel efficiency by 2016 to the equivalent of 35.5 mpg, are already saving families money at the pump.
Achieving the new fuel efficiency standards will encourage innovation and investment in advanced technologies that increase our economic competitiveness and support high-quality domestic jobs in the auto industry. The final standards were developed by DOT’s National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) and EPA following extensive engagement with automakers, the United Auto Workers, consumer groups, environmental and energy experts, states, and the public. Last year, 13 major automakers, which together account for more than 90 percent of all vehicles sold in the United States, announced their support for the new standards. By aligning Federal and state requirements and providing manufacturers with long-term regulatory certainty and compliance flexibility, the standards encourage investments in clean, innovative technologies that will benefit families, promote U.S. leadership in the automotive sector, and curb pollution.
“Simply put, this groundbreaking program will result in vehicles that use less gas, travel farther, and provide more efficiency for consumers than ever before—all while protecting the air we breathe and giving automakers the regulatory certainty to build the cars of the future here in America,” said Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood. “Today, automakers are seeing their more fuel-efficient vehicles climb in sales, while families already saving money under the Administration’s first fuel economy efforts will save even more in the future, making this announcement a victory for everyone.”
“The fuel efficiency standards the administration finalized today are another example of how we protect the environment and strengthen the economy at the same time,” said EPA Administrator Lisa P. Jackson. “Innovation and economic growth are already reinvigorating the auto industry and the thousands of businesses that supply automakers as they create and produce the efficient vehicles of tomorrow. Clean, efficient vehicles are also cutting pollution and saving drivers money at the pump.”
The Administration’s combined efforts represent the first meaningful update to fuel efficiency standards in decades. Together, they will save American families more than $1.7 trillion dollars in fuel costs, resulting in an average fuel savings of more than $8,000 by 2025 over the lifetime of the vehicle. For families purchasing a model Year 2025 vehicle, the net savings will be comparable to lowering the price of gasoline by approximately $1 per gallon. Additionally, these programs will dramatically reduce our reliance on foreign oil, saving a total of 12 billion barrels of oil and reducing oil consumption by more than 2 million barrels a day by 2025 – as much as half of the oil we import from OPEC each day.
The standards also represent historic progress to reduce carbon pollution and address climate change. Combined, the Administration’s standards will cut greenhouse gas emissions from cars and light trucks in half by 2025, reducing emissions by 6 billion metric tons over the life of the program – more than the total amount of carbon dioxide emitted by the United States in 2010.
President Obama announced the proposed standard in July 2011, joined by Ford, GM, Chrysler, BMW, Honda, Hyundai, Jaguar/Land Rover, Kia, Mazda, Mitsubishi, Nissan, Toyota, and Volvo, as well as the United Auto Workers. The State of California and other key stakeholders also supported the announcement and were integral in developing this national program.
In achieving these new standards, EPA and NHTSA expect automakers’ to use a range of efficient and advanced technologies to transform the vehicle fleet. The standards issued today provide for a mid-term evaluation to allow the agencies to review their effectiveness and make any needed adjustments.
Major auto manufacturers are already developing advanced technologies that can significantly reduce fuel use and greenhouse gas emissions beyond the existing model year 2012-2016 standards. In addition, a wide range of technologies are currently available for automakers to meet the new standards, including advanced gasoline engines and transmissions, vehicle weight reduction, lower tire rolling resistance, improvements in aerodynamics, diesel engines, more efficient accessories, and improvements in air conditioning systems. The program also includes targeted incentives to encourage early adoption and introduction into the marketplace of advanced technologies to dramatically improve vehicle performance, including:
Incentives for electric vehicles, plug-in hybrid electric vehicles, and fuel cells vehicles;
Incentives for hybrid technologies for large pickups and for other technologies that achieve high fuel economy levels on large pickups;
Incentives for natural gas vehicles;
Credits for technologies with potential to achieve real-world greenhouse gas reductions and fuel economy improvements that are not captured by the standards test procedures. | <urn:uuid:d86b1ba6-b0f9-4aa1-aa73-8622d10cddb8> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://yosemite.epa.gov/opa/admpress.nsf/bd4379a92ceceeac8525735900400c27/13f44fb4e2c2d39d85257a68005d0154!OpenDocument | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368701852492/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516105732-00017-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.932531 | 1,275 | 1.679688 | 2 |
Wouter Weylandt was pronounced dead soon after a single-bike crash in a hilly stage of the Giro D'Italia, one of the three Grand Tours of cycling, and often the most dangerous.
Race organizers are trying to reconstruct what happened, though early reports indicated Weylandt struck a wall on a descent 12 miles from the finish line and was thrown from his bike.
TV footage captures the aftermath of the crash and shows paramedics cutting Weylandt lying motionless on the ground, blood coming from his nose as paramedics cut him out of his helmet and jersey. Broadcasters are pulling the videos from hosting sites as quickly as they're being uploaded.
Paramedics performed CPR and administered shots of adrenaline, but "he was already unconscious, his condition was already compromised," said race doctor Giovanni Tredici. "We tried for 40 minutes to resuscitate him but there was nothing we could do."
The 26-year-old was taken to a hospital after a delay caused by the helicopter looking for a landing spot in the hilly Northern Italy country, and was declared dead this afternoon from injuries including a fractured skull. The stage finished as scheduled, but all post-race activities were cancelled.
Weylandt's death is the fourth in the Giro's history, and the first in one of the "Big Three" of bicycle racing since the 1995 Tour de France. The Giro is known for its high speeds, steep slopes and dangerous crashes. Two years ago a Spanish rider fell 200 feet off the side of a mountain road, and was put into a medically induced coma that saved his life.
Weylandt is survived by his girlfriend, who is expecting their first child in September. | <urn:uuid:3b0bd639-7480-4e88-b637-a4cbb0289a68> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://deadspin.com/5800039/belgian-cyclist-dies-after-fall-in-giro-ditalia?tag=cycling | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368697380733/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516094300-00042-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.989333 | 354 | 1.742188 | 2 |
My Jesuit high school must have done a far better job of indoctrinating me than I thought at the time, because I found this film incredibly upsetting. Set in 18th Century South America, the story poses a set of moral challenges for its characters and thus its audience, for which Christian theology has clear answers, the Catholic church its own considerations, and human politics some additional complications.
Jeremy Irons is Father Gabriel, the film's Christ-like figure, a Jesuit missionary who has established rapport with a geographically isolated native tribe. He has taught them about God without shaming them; they remain naked and painted, but live in loving community. They have build a modest church, and he has taught them to sing and play musical instruments. The money generated by their labor goes back into the community.
Robert De Niro is Rodrigo Mendoza, an enemy at first to these natives, whom he captures and sells to the Portuguese as slaves. But after killing his brother in a duel over a woman, he is racked by guilt. He imprisons himself, and languishes for six months before Father Gabriel comes, and challenges him to seek forgiveness. Mendoza challenges the Father to accept his likely failure. The deal is done, and Gabriel brings Mendoza to the village atop the waterfall; a journey the haunted man makes carrying all of his metal armor and weaponry in a sack tied from ropes, wrapped around his chest. He carries his burden for days, climbing wet mountains, until one of Gabriel's fellow priests decides it is enough, and severs the cord. Relentless, Mendoza goes back down to where his penance has fallen, reties it to himself, and sets out again to climb the mountain. He is not free until they reach the village, and a native, recognizing the slave-trader turned penitent, cuts the cord. Mendoza becomes a priest, working alongside Gabriel to bring the village closer to God's kingdom on earth.
Political machinations, however, threaten their work. Spain (a Catholic country that does not allow slavery) proposes to cede this land to Portugal (a country that does allow slavery, whose colonies are in fact built upon it). A Cardinal is sent by the Catholic church to inspect the missions of the area, and though he is moved by the Jesuit's achievements, he nevertheless allows the Spanish government to pass the lands to the Portuguese (a political choice, the threat being that, if he doesn't, Portugal will expel the Jesuit order). From a moral point of view, this is the wrong choice: the preservation of an institution, even a religious institution, is of less consequence than the preservation of a population, particularly this sort of a population (cf. the Beatitudes: blessed are the poor, the meek, the pure of heart; those that hunger and thirst after righteousness).
The next moral decision is that of the missionaries and natives: when the Portugese soldiers come, will they peacefully stand their ground, or will they fight? The Catholic Church offers a Doctrine of Just War, with four requirements: 1) the damage inflicted by the aggressor on the nation or community of nations must be lasting, grave, and certain; 2) all other means of putting an end to it must have been shown to be impractical or ineffective; 3) there must be serious prospects of success; 4) the use of arms must not produce evils and disorders graver than the evil to be eliminated.
Mendoza takes up his arms. Father Gabriel chooses not to fight. Mendoza asks Gabriel for his blessing, but the Father will not give it. He says, "If might is right, than love has no place in the world." While he acknowledges that this might be the world in which they live, he sticks strongly to Christ's instruction to turn the other cheek, and refuses to take up arms. Mendoza, at least so far as the Just War Doctrine is concerned, would be justified in taking up arms, except that he has not point three on his side. The Portuguese soldiers slaughter the natives, who die with blood on their hands, having killed soldiers themselves to protect their home. And in the end, Gabriel, standing in front of the church with one hundred women and children, leads them singing to their slaughter.
What fills me with anger and confusion is the willingness of each Portuguese soldier to follow through with his "duty" and slaughter these innocents. Christ's way to reach these men would be to approach each individual, arms open in loving acceptance, offering forgiveness for the action he is about to take, and perhaps thus preventing it. That is to say, each soldier needed what Mendoza was given, not what Mendoza chooses to give. He has, thus, not completely learned Gabriel's lesson, and dies still ignorant, defiant as we by nature are. | <urn:uuid:9520ed02-35eb-475e-99a9-96082cd63929> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://dahlhaus.blogspot.com/2011/01/movies-mission.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368709037764/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516125717-00039-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.972111 | 986 | 1.796875 | 2 |
Judges Who Settle
Hillary A. Sale
Washington University in Saint Louis - School of Law
March 1, 2011
Washington University Law Review, Forthcoming
Washington University in St. Louis Legal Studies Research Paper No. 11-03-02
This Article develops a construct of judges as gatekeepers in corporate and securities litigation, focusing on the last-period, or settlement stage of the cases. Many accounts of corporate scandals have focused on gatekeepers and the roles they played or, in some cases, abdicated. Corporate gatekeepers, like investment bankers, accountants, and lawyers, function as enablers and monitors. They facilitate transactions and enable corporate actors to access the financial and securities markets. Without them the transactions would not happen. In class actions and derivative litigation, judges are the monitors and enablers. They are required to oversee the litigation arising from bad transactions and corporate scandals. Unlike other types of private law litigation, where the parties settle and have the case dismissed, judges must approve settlements of class actions and derivative litigation. They are actually charged with fiduciary responsibilities and control the exit stage, or settlement, of the litigation. As a result, the judges’ job is to be a gatekeeper.
The judges are not, however, doing their jobs. “Doing their jobs” requires actual scrutiny of the role of defense counsel and insurers, both of whom amplify agency costs. It also requires scrutiny of the settlement collusion between defendants and plaintiffs. Yet, traditionally both academics and the courts have failed to analyze those issues in the context of the costs of aggregate and derivative litigation. This Article provides a real cut at those issues. It then develops and explores principles for gate keeping judges, which, if implemented, will decrease the agency costs of this type of litigation and ensure that the judges are actually functioning as the fiduciaries they are required to be.
Number of Pages in PDF File: 49Accepted Paper Series
Date posted: March 17, 2011 ; Last revised: October 24, 2011
© 2013 Social Science Electronic Publishing, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
This page was processed by apollo1 in 0.469 seconds | <urn:uuid:3098b73d-f8aa-4f92-9288-e21ee1d96107> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=1785618 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368701459211/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516105059-00031-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.945259 | 440 | 1.78125 | 2 |
We've been playing a new game at our Friday night "Dinner & A Movie" gatherings at Canterbury House. In the past, we played the Nuclear War series of games as well as Illuminati (Nice choices for student ministry, I know.) Fluxx is a game from Looney Labs. The most intriguing part is that it starts with only two rules, 'Draw One, Play One" and no goals. New rules and goals are played as cards, so the entire game changes with every play. You play "Keepers" on the table, and if at any time you meet the current goal, you win immediately. The games are short and it's highly addictive. We've played about 2 1/2 hours every Friday.
In addition to the basic deck, there are Christian and Jewish booster packs available, as well as Eco-Fluxx and a Family Fluxx that is simplified for children. (There's also a Stoner Flux which deals with marijuana legalization, but I don't think I'm going to pick that up.)
What becomes obvious as you play is that serious strategy beyond a turn or so is pointless. It is actually a game about art. How intriguing will your turn be? How Byzantine can you make the rules? How can you blow the minds of the other players?
I can't recommend this game enough - it's the most interesting board/card game I've picked up in a long time. | <urn:uuid:e6675e49-4b09-4f25-adbc-911692c21aff> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.aiyailuvatar.org/games/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368704713110/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516114513-00035-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.984008 | 294 | 1.625 | 2 |
SIU Med Students Participate in Mock Legal Deposition
Medical students experienced a unique simulated legal deposition exercise on February 29 at SIU School of Medicine in Springfield.
As part of their training, fourth-year students enrolled in the medical humanities clerkship 'The Physician and Society' role-played a physician who testified for one of their patients in a mock legal proceeding. The students received subpoenas to appear in court and testify on behalf of a patient they had previously treated. They were questioned under oath by local attorneys who represented both the prosecution and defense for the case.
“Participating in depositions as part of legal proceedings is often required of practicing physicians, but medical students rarely have the opportunity to experience it in a low-stakes setting, so this exercise helps prepare the students for a different aspect of life after graduation,” said Ross Silverman, J.D., professor and chair of medical humanities at SIU.
Fourth-year medical student Matthew Albrecht said the experience was helpful. “Going through the process of being questioned by an attorney about a case will prove to be beneficial when I become a practicing physician. Also it helped me realize the importance of thoroughly documenting each case.”
The simulated deposition exercise was developed by Silverman; Kelly Armstrong, Ph.D., assistant professor of medical humanities and director of clinical ethics and public policy; Dr. Susan Hingle, associate professor of internal medicine; and Jo Powers, curriculum coordinator in medical humanities; all at SIU; and Peggy Ryan, a Springfield attorney.
Established in 1970, SIU School of Medicine’s mission is to assist the people of central and southern Illinois in meeting their health-care needs through education, patient care, research and service to the community. Its website is www.siumed.edu and its main number is 217-545-8000. | <urn:uuid:16cda49d-cbd8-4967-a8d9-4a42e4a58c1c> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.siumed.edu/news/Releases%20FY12/StudentsParticipateInMockDeposition.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368698207393/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516095647-00000-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.969446 | 381 | 1.671875 | 2 |
Subsets and Splits
No community queries yet
The top public SQL queries from the community will appear here once available.