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Hold Off on the Obama Victory Dance
Things have been breaking well for President Obama. Economically, job growth has outperformed expectations. The unemployment rate could be below 8 percent by Election Day. Politically, Republicans are engaged in the sort of demolition derby once reserved for Democrats. The protracted Hillary-Barack duel of 2008 seems like a love feast compared to the Mitt and Rick slugfest. All this is reflected in the president’s rising approval ratings.
However, Obama faces a daunting two-part challenge related to Iran’s nuclear assertions, with implications for both national security and sustainable energy. A misstep could cost him the presidency and cause the country to take a disastrously wrong turn in these two critical areas.
Iran’s threat to mine the Strait of Hormuz, through which 20 percent of the world’s crude oil passes, is roiling oil markets. Five--dollar gas this summer will help neither the economy nor the president’s re-election.
Obama has used the gathering Iranian crisis to redouble calls for energy independence. But self-sufficiency does not necessarily mean clean energy. Politically, the easier path is to double down on environmentally hazardous natural--gas fracking and “clean coal,” an aspirational category that doesn’t yet exist. Speaking in late February, Obama chided the Republicans for an energy policy based entirely on oil drilling but called for “an all-of-the-above strategy that expands production of American energy resources,” including “oil and gas, but also wind, and solar, and nuclear, and biofuels, and more.”
Oil, coal, and gas of course produce carbon. Unless these domestic carbon sources are limited to transitional use, energy self-reliance will only accelerate global climate change. The administration’s efforts to promote energy that is both domestic and clean have been modest. The U.S. lags in incentives for electric vehicles and measures to shift electric -utilities to renewables. The proposed Trans-Pacific Partnership, addressed in this issue’s special report, would accelerate China’s dominance in solar and wind energy. Using the Iranian threat to truly recommit America to clean energy will require major shifts in strategic thinking and public education.
The more urgent concern is the national-security challenge. Iranian and Western leaders have been engaged in brinksmanship reminiscent of the Cold War. As our cover story suggests, the best strategy is a variant of the one that allowed the West to prevail in that “long twilight struggle” with the Soviet Union—containment. At first, the policy was hugely controversial. Richard Nixon in 1952 described Democrat Adlai Stevenson as having a “Ph.D. from Dean Acheson’s cowardly college of communist containment.” Today’s Republican field is competing to offer the most outlandishly bellicose rhetoric on Iran and to bait Obama as soft on Islamists. The president needs to face down the right’s mockery with an Iran policy of strategic diplomacy backed by sanctions rather than war.
Iran, if anything, poses an even trickier challenge than Soviet containment. The Soviets usually had one dictator at a time for us to negotiate with. It’s not always clear who is running Iran. The nuclear standoff of the Cold War had only two major players; after the Cuban missile crisis, the choreography of mutually assured destruction settled down to a familiar, almost reassuring bipolar stalemate. Iranian geopolitics faces the further complication of “America’s most loyal ally,” a reckless Israeli government spoiling to launch a preemptive strike.
Obama will need not only a policy of patient restraint vis-à-vis our enemy Iran but an equally firm policy to restrain our friend Israel. Here, too, he faces mischief from the Republican right, which is more slavishly pro-Israel than the Israel lobby.
Obama has been an effective foreign-policy president. His fate is to govern when the most pressing issues are economic. Unjustly, his foreign-policy successes have not gained him notable support, but foreign-policy failure would produce severe setbacks. If an oil shock derails the recovery, that failure would also have grave economic consequences with knock-on political effects.
For both energy and national security, what’s needed is more of the Barack Obama we glimpsed in 2008—the political leader as teacher. Obama has played this role better as a candidate than as chief executive. Happily, President Obama is again a candidate. On both energy and national -security, Iran offers a politically tempting low road and a more arduous but ultimately rewarding high road. To make the high road good politics will take rare leadership to educate public opinion and isolate the ultras.
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The Top Gainer Award is presented to schools that have reached a targeted gain in the percentage of passing ISTEP tests over a three year period.
top gainers | calculation | press release
TOP GAINER CALCULATION
The Top Gainer award uses the percentage of passing ISTEP tests for a non-mobile group of students (enrolled in the school 126 prior to the test). The three-year average gain or loss is calculated by averaging the gain/loss between the 2003 and 2004 tests with the gain/loss between the 2004 and 2005 tests, and the gain/loss between the 2005 and 2006 tests. The 2007 test is not used for the Top Gainer award because the data for students enrolled 126 days is not available from the Department of Education until March or April 2008. The amount of gain expected for the Top Gainer award is based on a sliding scale. Schools with fewer passing ISTEP tests are expected to show greater gains as follows:
|PASSING TESTS||TARGET GAIN|
|90%||Any amount above 0%|
© 1996-2011 American Student Achievement Institute.
May be reproduced with proper citation for educational purposes. Terms and Conditions
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- 4 Posts
- 1 Comment
New York, USA 24 August 2011 by T. Vicky Germain
…I would like to thank the Haitian Delegation for giving me the opportunity to express myself in this important forum, I would like to thank them for understanding that youth are crucial to the development of the country. – Rose-Camille Jeudy, 2011 High Level Meeting on Youth.
2011 has seen a massive political movement highlighted in reports of social demands on politicians and governments as well as in images of protest and gatherings worldwide. With increasing violence and civil disobedience becoming the mainstay of these events, we are beginning to gain a better awareness of social conditions threatening the livelihoods of youth across nations, in ways that have not been seen in over 60 years and certainly not in this century.
The notion of change is not new. There have been well-documented cases of citizens effecting change, and as with the US and European Woman’s rights, US civil rights and global worker’s rights movements, the youth of our nations are coming together to effect change for themselves and for those who will follow them. During this year of the youth, their cries are not only for political and social equality, but for economic mobility and educational advancement as well. And their cries are being heard.
Embracing their voices, a global movement for inclusion and activism was the focal point at the UN’s 2011 High Level Meeting on Youth. In their approach to civil engagement, 9 visiting delegates, from four regional departments of Haiti, came to represent the youth of their country and express the need to include youth in rebuilding Haiti’s infrastructure and economic viability. In her address, to the general assembly, VWA JEN Ambassador Rose-Camille Jeudy’s presentation of youth needs were clear.
Establish a structure allowing access to loans for young people to finance their university studies. Enhance the experience of young volunteers by the legal recognition of their volunteering experiences, thereby facilitating the integration of youth in the labor market. Adopt a government policy to facilitate entrepreneurship among youth including access to funding to develop their businesses.
Click link to view the Full List of Postulations.
As the only youth delegation to speak during the general assembly meeting, the Haitian youth did not shy away from sharing these recommendation with a world of national representatives. They also held a side event on the roll of Haiti’s youth in their countries future along with Advisor to the President of the Republic of Haiti, Daniel Supplice, and members of the Organization of American States & KPMG to discuss these recommendations. The youth, not only publicized the vision of children and young people on Haiti’s reconstruction, but also advocated for the global rights of youth participation in the socio-economic life of their countries.
It was this boldness that prompted First Lady Sofia Martelly and her son, Olivier, to meet with the youth upon their return to Haiti. Speaking to the youth, Sophia Martelly said, “”I was informed of the quality of your speech at the UN podium at the major international meeting of youth. Congratulations! because you have worthily represented the country and I am proud of you.”(See photos)
During this meeting, Jean Alphonse Ederson, a member of the youth delegation and VWA JEN ambassador, reminded the first lady that sixty-four percent (64%) of the Haitian population was comprised of youth and expressed the government’s need for taking into account their views on the reconstruction of Haiti.
The participation of the Haitian youth delegation was made possible through a collaboration between UNICEF, Plan International, World Vision and the GMC.
VWA JEN is an interactive platform created to promote civic participation of youth in Haitian society. It is a place for young Haitians can raise their voices and inform themselves on issues affecting youth. The platform is open to contributors from around the country and features articles and posts in English, Creole and French. Its objective is to report on global and local issues affecting young people, promote a global dialogue and share information on featured projects, events and ideas in order to enable meaningful interactions. To become a contributor to the Voices of Youth blog, read our blogging guidelines and send your articles, photo essays and videos to: [email protected].
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New Ken Store provides lessons in addition to bargains
By Tom Yerace
Published: Monday, February 11, 2013, 12:11 a.m.
Updated: Wednesday, February 20, 2013
Not every store offers a chance to learn a little while saving a little money, but the New Ken Store does.
That parlay, which now is focusing on Black History Month, is the brainchild of Leslie McLaughlin, a Murrysville resident and one-time New Kensington resident.
“I guess my original goal was basically to educate,” McLaughlin, 41, said. “If (customers) leave knowing one thing, one fact they didn't know before they came in, then I'm happy.”
Not an usual sentiment for a former teacher who initially set out to establish an antique store in the building she owns at 878 Fifth Ave. Several months ago, she entered into sort of a partnership with someone who wanted to open a second-hand store and was going to use part of it for antiques. That person later had to bow out and in January, McLaughlin took complete ownership of the neatly-kept second-hand store two doors from the old PNC Bank. The store carries everything imaginable from furniture and small appliances to household goods, video games and sports memorabilia.
“I don't take junk and I don't take broken stuff,” McLaughlin said. “If I wouldn't want it in my house, I wouldn't sell it to someone else.”
McLaughlin is using the store to educate by having numbered slips of paper with a fact about people, achievements and events in a bowl on the checkout counter. This month, the facts deal with the African-American experience in honor of Black History Month.
A customer plucks one of those slips from the “Fact Bowl” and then explores the store looking for numbered facts that match, which are on lists located at various displays around the store.
There are categories of facts such as “inventions” and “special awards” and some of the matching facts share the same number which means the customer has to stop and read the facts to find the correct match. When they think they have it, they go to the counter.
“They just tell me where they found their fact and then they get 10 percent off,” McLaughlin said.
She said adult customers, both black and white, have gotten into the fact-search discount, but it appeals to the young people as well.
“Especially when they can get money off a Play Station 3 game,” McLaughlin said with a smile. “You look a little harder for that clue.”
General manager Ray Fannan said he's been learning from the customers' efforts as well. He recalled one young customer telling him about how many records Michael Jackson sold to become the “King of Pop” and equal the number sold by the “King of Rock 'N' Roll,” Elvis Presley.
He said McLaughlin, who has two children of her own and a foster child, has been able to establish a rapport with young people.
“She really does good work with the kids who come in here,” Fannan said. “They'll actually come in and talk to her about their problems which at first I thought was, a little off, but know it's like ‘Well, okay.'”
Capt. Colleen Carter of the New Kensington Salvation Army chapter has known McLaughlin for more than 20 years and can vouch for what Fannan was talking about.
“This is her ministry here, this is not just her store,” Carter said. “She's an educator by heart. The more she can educate, that makes her happy.”
That's evident near the display at the front door as well. It is related to black culture in honor of Black History Month. It includes posters of Motown music groups like the Four Tops, Commodores and Smokey Robinson and the Miracles, African sculpture and Colin Powell's autobiography. There also are photos of famous African-Americans such as Jackie Robinson, Count Basie and Nat “King” Cole, some of which were the work of Teeny Harris, a renowned African-American photographer for the black-oriented Pittsburgh Courier newspaper.
She said she would like to do something similar for other occasions like remembering the sacrifice of veterans around Memorial Day but is uncertain.
“I'd like to, but it all depends on how the flow of the business goes,” McLaughlin said. “I would like to do something every month.”
She believes that is the type of thing that keeps people returning to the store.
“Anyone can have a second-hand store and there are plenty of them around here, but if you put in a little more work, it can mean something more to people,” McLaughlin said.
Tom Yerace is a staff writer for Trib Total Media. He can be reached at 724-226-4675 or [email protected].
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What happens when you know you have to do something but you just ‘don’t feel like it’ right now?
Its 85° and Sunny. Business might be looking up but you are still up against a lot of resistance. When it comes time to send that email, write that proposal, make those follow up calls, etc. do you ‘feel like’ doing it? If you don’t, you probably won’t.
I am putting together a program for the American Management Association called Procrastination to Productivity, so I have been delving deeply into the subject and really getting to understand the ‘mindset’ of a procrastinator.
Here’s a little nugget that led me to a big ‘aha’:
If you are a procrastinator, you believe in the following equation: Motivation > Action.
In other words, you think you have to feel motivated in order to take action. You wait until you feel ready. You wait until the pressure is on. And if you don’t feel that way right now, you think you will feel differently and the task will be easier ‘tomorrow’. (Ok , be honest, am I the only one?)
If you are a successful, ‘take action’ kind of person, here is the equation you live your life by: Action > Motivation.
What motivates you is to see results. When you are not taking action and seeing results, you feel lost and unmotivated.
Which kind of person are you?
In my programs and with my clients, I teach an extensive repertoire of how you can change your thinking, your energy, your negative emotional response, etc. all so you can get into a good place in your mind and be ready to get to work. Whereas these techniques are very effective, now I think the ‘moral’ of the story is to take action — even when you don’t necessarily ‘feel like it’. Seeing results will get you to be motivated so you will ‘feel like’ doing more.
Taking action refocuses away from the negative chatter that keeps you unmotivated. It puts you into a different energy state and creates momentum.
There is a ‘debate’ about what kind of ‘action’ to take. ‘Structured procrastination’ is doing tasks that are simpler, of lesser importance (e.g., mow the lawn, administrative work, input database info, etc) than your higher income generating activities (making sales calls, coaching, etc.)
Your answers will come from you knowing yourself honestly: Does starting off with easier activities create a momentum that then enables you to do more substantive work? Or do they serve as a justification to waste more time away from your highest leverage work?
Does breaking the task down into its component parts and just focusing on getting the first one done work for you? Is it important for you to ‘start with the end in mind’ in order to know where to begin or is it better to do a brain dump without needing to know the whole structure (knowing you will go back and edit later).
The next time you ‘don’t feel like’ doing something, notice the self talk you use to justify it. You now know these are self deluding thoughts, and that you don’t have to wait for motivation to take action. Tell yourself that your rationales are quaint but you are now looking to get your motivation from seeing results.
In short, Procrastinators seek relief. Successful professionals in this economy seek results.
Even though I normally I write in detail what you can do to get yourself motivated, today I think 10 years of graduate study is usurped by the Nike commercial: If you want to get motivated, JUST DO IT!
Are you getting in your own way? Do you have challenges you would like Dr. Melnick to personally coach you on? Join her for her monthly Ask Dr. Melnick teleconference.
The calls are held at 9 p.m. on the 2nd Tuesday of each month - -the next one is on Tuesday, August 18 at 9 p.m. Submit your question at http:/
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I really need this. I am not motivated in what I am doing. I really need this. And I will really try my very best to take note of all this. In my current job, I am losing interest in what I'm doing. I just hope it will work.How To Get Taller | Article submission | Article directory
Dominic Joelson 1379 days ago
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Newspaper publisher David Black speaks during a conference announcing a plan to build a $13B oil refinery in BC.
Credits: REUTERS/Ben Nelms
VANCOUVER — A British Columbia newspaper publisher made a stunning and unlikely announcement in Vancouver on Friday of his plan to build a $13 billion oil refinery in Kitimat, B.C., eliminating the need to ship heavy oilsands bitumen to Asia.
"I've solved the offshore problem here," said David Black, the owner of Black Press Group Ltd., referring to concerns about a potential tanker spill of heavy oil that have dogged Enbridge's Northern Gateway pipeline proposal. The environmental impact of a gasoline spill would be far less severe, he said, while acknowledging he has no practical experience in the oil and gas industry.
The refinery would be the largest in Canada, capable of processing 550,000 barrels per day of oilsands diluted bitumen, or the total daily capacity of Northern Gateway. Black said the project would add value to oil exports from B.C., creating 6,000 construction jobs from 2014 to 2020, and 3,000 permanent jobs.
Black said he will submit an environmental assessment application with the province as early as next month. He will personally fund that process, but not the rest of the project.
"This is a $13 billion deal, so I'm not kidding myself," said Black. "I'm not going to have any significant part of this refinery. I see myself as more of a catalyst to get the industry to do it."
When asked how a new refinery in Kitimat could be financially viable when so many refineries have shut down in the Metro Vancouver region, consulting engineer Glenn McGinnis said, "They suffer from economy of scale. They're too small. Their fixed cost per barrel is too high to be competitive against very large refiners."
Black said the proposed refinery would depend on access to Northern Gateway's oil supply, but Enbridge and its oil producing partners have not endorsed his project.
"Is Enbridge rooting for me? Probably not," said Black. "They have nine producing partners ... some of whom don't want a refinery ... I'm pretty sure they're worried about leverage in negotiations. If they have to sell to one refinery, that refinery has a lot of power to negotiate."
However, Black said one positive outcome of his efforts would be to convince oil producers to take ownership of the refinery themselves.
"I feel this project will change the face of the northwest (B.C.) forever, if it's successful and goes ahead," said Kitimat Mayor Joanne Monaghan, who called in to the press conference to offer her support.
"I'm not guaranteeing that we'll get it off the ground," said Black. "But I sure like this proposal a lot more than the existing proposal, where we put in a pipeline, we don't get much out of it, and we're sending diluted bitumen in tankers down channels ... It's rare, but if it (a spill) happens, it's a bloody mess."
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Dan Graham: Beyond, a major retrospective surveying the career of one of contemporary arts most innovative figures, will be on view at the Walker Art Center
October 31, 2009January 24, 2010. The first exhibition in the United States to showcase Grahams entire body of work, including his groundbreaking experiments with video and performance, architecture and public spaces, and collaborations with musicians and rock bands, is organized by The Museum of Contemporary Art (MOCA), Los Angeles, in collaboration with the Whitney Museum of American Art, New York. Curated by Bennett Simpson, MOCA associate curator, and Chrissie Iles, Anne and Joel Ehrenkranz curator at the Whitney, this comprehensive survey features photographs, film and video, architectural models, indoor and outdoor pavilions, conceptual projects for magazine pages, drawings and prints, and writings.
The Walkers presentation of this acclaimed traveling exhibition continues the institutions extensive history with Graham. In addition to the commission Two-way Mirror Punched Steel Hedge Labyrinth (1994) in the Minneapolis Sculpture Garden, and 10 other works in the Walkers collection, the artists work has been essential to major exhibitions such as Worlds Away: New Suburban Landscapes (2008), The Last Picture Show: Artists Using Photography, 19601982 (20032004), American Tableaux (20012002), and Lets Entertain (2000).
Dan Graham: Beyond traces the evolution of Grahams work across each of its major stages, while asserting the motifs and concerns that underlie his entire practicemost notably, the changing relationship of individual to society as filtered through American mass media and architecture at the end of the 20th century.
Graham was born in Urbana, Illinois, in 1942 and grew up in suburban New Jersey, a landscape that would serve as the inspiration for one of his earliest projects, Homes for America (19661967). While riding the train back to his parents house from New York City, Graham took numerous photographs of the tract housing he passed through, using a Kodak Instamatic camera.
Highlighting the repetition, mass production, and reductive logic of this landscape, these images echoed many of the central concerns of minimalism and led Graham to conceive of his work as a structure of information. Presented as a slide show as well as a magazine layout incorporating text, Homes for America is considered one of the seminal artworks of the 1960s. It announced a conception of art grounded in the everydayin common architecture, in the language of advertising, and made with cheap, disposable tools for mass circulationand it merged Grahams interest in cultural commentary with arts most advanced visual modes. During the late 1960s and early 1970s, Graham was also at the forefront of a move by many cutting-edge artists into performance, film, and video works as a means of resituating the individual body within the political terms of conceptual art. In 1969, he commenced a series of time-based works, first in film and performance, later in video, that were inspired by the perceptual conditionsfeedback, looping, delayaccompanying these new modes of art experience. The most culturally profound invention of the postwar era, television, had made an enormous impact on Grahams generation, and at the heart of his new work was an investigation of the performer-audience relationship as it was filtered and distorted by the technology of the camera. In the dizzying, counter-intuitive vantages of films like Roll (1970) and Body Press (19701972), Graham second-guessed the supposed objectivity of the camera by giving the device to actors who performed simple reductive movements (rolling across the floor, circling one another).
At the same time, Graham was closely involved with underground music, writing a series of free-ranging, yet historically rigorous speculations on bands like the Kinks, the Fall, and the Sex Pistols. The attempt by youth culture to shake off social controlto get free from the ideological norms of postwar liferhymed easily with the artists own work in conceptual and media art. Rock My Religion (19821984) is an hour-long video-essay in which Graham traced a continuum between the Shakers, the early-American religious sect that sought spiritual transcendence through collective dance and song, and hardcore punk music. In the latters cathartic noise and social rites, Graham located an ongoing, if latent, spirit of separatism that has demarcated American culture from its origins. With its bracing footage of Patti Smith, Sonic Youth, and Black Flag mingled with historical images of a rapt Ann Lee, founder of the Shaker religion, the work is a classic of underground video and one of the most penetrating commentaries on American youth culture ever made.
For more than 40 years, Dan Graham has been at the center of the most vital revolutions in American art and culture. His works stand on their own terms, but they also read as complex analyses layered with critical reference, anarchistic humor, and an appeal to the broader culture. Resonating with a general attempt of the 1960s to leave the safety of high culture by going into the fieldwhether that of suburban sprawl, urban planning, or rock and rollGrahams art invites the engaged participation of the viewer and, at its core, attempts a physical and philosophical intervention in the public realm.
Dan Graham has had numeros solo exhibitions throughout North America, Europe, Japan, and Australia, including Dan Graham (1998), Fundació Antoni Tàpies, Barcelona, Spain; and Dan Graham: Works 19652000 (2001), a major retrospective organized by the Museu de Arte Contemporânea de Serralves, Porto, Portugal. His group exhibitions have included Information (1970), The Museum of Modern Art, New York; Documenta (1972, 1977, 1982, and 1992), Kassel, Germany; the Venice Biennale (1976 and 2003); the Whitney Biennial (1997 and 2005), New York; 19651975: Reconsidering the Object of Art (1995), The Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles (MOCA); A Minimal Future?: Art as Object 19581968 (2004), MOCA; and Open Systems: Rethinking Art c.1970 (2005), Tate Modern, London. Graham is also a widely published critical and cultural commentator. His essays and articlestouching widely on topics ranging from Gestalt psychology to Dean Martinconstitute one of the most prescient voices of the time and announced a mode of cultural observation influenced by French philosophy, Karl Marx, and Sigmund Freud. Graham lives and works in New York.
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It's hard to decide which of these two stories is more excruciating. Vanderbilt, a Bible Belt university located in Nashville, is targeting Jewish students in an "elite strategy" to boost itself toward Ivy League status. Chancellor Gordon Gee announced this plan along with a series of relentlessly pro-Semitic compliments guaranteed to set every Jewish tooth on edge: Jews are lively, interesting and hardworking, and come from a rich culture. All well meant, no doubt, but close to conventional stereotypes.
Then there is the problem of leaving the word "Jewish" hovering in the air within 10 paces of the word "elite." Our campuses are addicted to ethnic and racial tinkering, so problems like this are common. Vanderbilt wants to pep up its image (and presumably its ranking in U.S. News & World Report's college guide) by importing some bright Jews. But the university doesn't seem to have a clue about how offensive this is, and not just to Jews. Christian students will now understand that their university views them as unimpressive bumpkins in need of non-Christian help.
The College Board has fueled the new market in religious identity groups by asking college-bound test-takers to list their faith. Jews came in second in the testing sweepstakes (1161 average board scores), exceeded only by Unitarians (1209). According to The Wall Street Journal, some colleges now buy the names of Jewish students from the College Board. This has overtones of the scramble for free agents in all major sports. The unspoken premise is that if the Jewish free agents are attractive enough, they will be granted an edge over equally qualified gentile candidates.
Here we go again. Although Vanderbilt claims that it's just marketing to a new group of students, this looks like yet another identity-group preference scheme by college officials who seem constitutionally unable to hold all candidates for admission to a common standard.
Jewish students are also at the heart of a controversy over the University of Michigan Law School's preference system. Ruled unconstitutional last year by a federal district judge, the system was upheld last week in a 5-to-4 decision by the 6th Circuit Court of Appeals. The case is likely to go to the Supreme Court.
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High-flying U.S. grains prices could sink as much as 19 percent by year-end from their drought-fueled peaks, a Reuters poll showed, a decline that could temper expected inflation for a variety of food ranging from meats to cereals to cooking oil.
The poll of nine analysts showed that prices for grains will keep climbing over the next two months to fresh highs, then taper off after the U.S. harvest, and as traders turn their attention to crops in the southern hemisphere and preparations to plant crops anew in the United States for harvest next year.
Prices at the end of the year, however, will remain historically high, with Chicago Board of Trade (CBOT) spot corn futures seen at $6.91 per bushel, the highest ever for that time of the year. But it will be off 17 percent from its current all-time high of $8.28-3/4 set on July 20. The poll showed that corn futures are seen peaking at $8.87 in early August.
Investment bank Goldman Sachs on Monday raised its forecast for corn prices to soar to a record high $9 per bushel in three months, and for soybeans to hit $20 after cutting the yield estimates for both crops. It pegged the wheat price at $9.80.
"The importance of the current U.S. drought for the global crop outlooks is magnified by detrimental weather conditions in other key world production and exporting nations in 2012."
On Monday, CBOT corn, soybean and wheat prices tumbled due to forecasts for rain in some of the parched areas of the northern U.S. Midwest and as concerns over Europe's debt crisis sparked a sell-off in equities and other commodities.
The Reuters poll showed that CBOT soybean futures were seen ending the year at $15.40 per bushel, the highest ever at that time of year but off 13 percent from its all-time high of $17.77-3/4. It showed the price peaking at $18.04 per bushel.
Chicago wheat is forecast to end the year at $7.72 per bushel, down 19 percent from its peak of $9.52-3/4, the highest in nearly four years. The analysts were expected the price to peak at $10.01 per bushel in late August.
Corn and soybean futures set all-time highs last week as the worst drought in 56 years withered crops in the world's largest grains exporter, sparking worry about a food crisis like the one in 2008, when food shortages sparked riots in 30 countries.
Ricky Volpe, research economist at the Economic Research Service of the U.S. Department of Agriculture said higher food prices this time around will not be comparable to 2008.
"None of the dynamics and indicators are approaching that for 2008," he said, adding that the food price increases in 2008 were the highest in 20 years.
He said major differences include much lower crude oil prices this time around, and lower wheat prices too.
In 2008, crude oil prices hit an all-time high above $147 per barrel. There was also a severe shortage of rice in Asia, which was a major factor behind the civil unrest that year.
RALLY ADDS $30 BILLION TO FOOD COSTS
While wheat prices remain well below all-time highs above $13 per bushel set in 2008, they have soared 55 percent in just over a month in tandem with corn and soybeans.
Economist Bill Lapp of Advance Economic Solutions in Omaha, Nebraska, said the price rally has so far added about $30 billion to food costs that may be passed on to consumers.
"There is a cumulative $30 billion cost bubble due to the rise in prices for corn, soybeans, soymeal and others," said Lapp, whose clients include food companies and restaurants.
Analysts said that while some of the higher food prices will come later this year, the bulk of the gains could come in 2013 as it usually takes several months for food companies to run down their inventories before restocking with fresh supplies.
The analysts said some companies might have been caught flat-footed by the surge in grains prices since just a month ago the United States was seen heading for bumper crops after one of the mildest winters provided perfect planting conditions.
As the United States is the world's largest exporter of corn, soybeans and wheat, food inflation could also be exported to importing countries, especially in Asia.
The drought in the United States has been more critical for soybeans, which are used to feed livestock, produce biodiesel, make cooking oil and in some countries like Indonesia eaten as a protein-rich snack, because global production was slashed by a drought in leading growers Brazil and Argentina.
The two South American countries -- the second and third largest soybean exporters -- will plant their next crop this fall and begin exporting early next year.
Some analysts, however, are expecting any food crisis this time around to be worse than in 2008 when riots broke out in 30 countries and helped spark the "Arab Spring" that toppled the leaders of Tunisia, Libya and Egypt last year.
"It could be more severe than in 2008," said Dennis Gartman, a commodities trader and editor/publisher of The Gartman Letter.
He said cereal makers were likely to raise prices even though "the cardboard box containing the cereals is far more expensive than the grain."
Abdolreza Abbassian, senior economist and grain expert at the UN's Food and Agriculture Organization, told Reuters in Milan that while rising grain prices were a cause for concern it was too early to be referred as a food crisis. (Additional reporting by Sam Nelson, and Mark Weinraub; Editing by David Gregorio)
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We all spend a lot of time thinking about and dealing with how the world impacts us. But right now, I want you to think about things from another, critically important perspective: What is the impact of your existence on the world? What are you trying to contribute, today—right now—to your family, your community, your nation, humanity as a whole? When all is said and done, what difference will you have made?
These are questions of legacy. Now, as you might expect, the Black Enterprise Wealth for Life mission usually addresses this subject with a business and financial focus, with the goal of establishing and advancing legacies of multigenerational wealth among African Americans. Certainly, this is borne out by the content you’ll find at BlackEnterprise.com, on our Black Enterprise Business Report and Our World with Black Enterprise television programs, at Black Enterprise events, on the Black Enterprise app for the iPad, and of course, in Black Enterprise magazine. In fact, you’ll find plenty of information and resources in this, our Annual Money Management issue, to equip you to create a financial legacy for yourself and for future generations.
However, there is far more to choosing to create a legacy than investment portfolios and business ventures. It’s not a choice made at some future time in your life, but in the present. In fact, it’s a choice you make, whether you’re aware of it or not, with every decision, every day. We are all born change agents, whether for better or for worse. We each have the power to make a difference, and it is critical—and of particular importance to the continued progress of African Americans—that we each exercise our share of that power.
Now, just how do you do that? First, you must truly believe that you matter, that you are important, and that there is difference-making power associated with your existence. Second, you must hold yourself accountable for the use of that power, not only on your own behalf, but to make a purposeful, positive impact on others. That means a commitment to preparation and the pursuit of excellence. As I said in this column in last month’s issue mediocrity won’t cut it. Your best won’t always be enough, but to knowingly allow yourself to deliver less than your best must be unacceptable to you.
Finally, you must act. Legacy builders don’t just dream, ponder, plan, or wish—they do. They show up and follow through with character and integrity. That means organizing and prioritizing your time, talent, and resources, and marshalling them on behalf of the people (including yourself), causes, and institutions you believe in. Smart, purposeful, and ethical management and investment of resources, both your own and those entrusted to you by others, is critical to legacy building and a fundamental principle of the Black Enterprise Wealth for Life creed.
Tomorrow’s legacies are created by today’s choices. I challenge you not to just leave a legacy, but to live your legacy. Our mission at Black Enterprise is and will always be to provide the information and inspiration necessary to empower you to make better choices and to live a better life. Whether or not you choose to use that power, and how you use it, is up to you. Choose well—it could make all the difference in the world.
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Users of the new iPhone 4s are quickly taking to Siri’s search capabilities. Imagine verbally asking a question and getting an immediate response, without needing to visit Google, Yahoo! or Bing to conduct a search. Which would you choose? That’s right: Siri. Don’t believe it? Watch this video:
While this is fantastic for users, it could be crippling for the major search engines, and completely change the face of SEM/SEO (at least local SEO/SEM).
Using iPhone 4s & Siri for Search
Instead of using the iPhone to conduct a Google search for a local business, Siri allows iPhone 4s users to ask her for the “best auto repair” shop in their local area (for example), and she’ll give users several options with the highest ratings. This also could become crippling to services such as ServiceMagic, who easily connect home owners with pre-screened home contractors.
For SEOs & SEMs, we’ll find a way to optimize for Siri, but the big losers could be the major search engines and online services who connect users with businesses, as an alternative to search. Just think about it, what if you stepped into your basement and noticed it was flooded. If you had your iPhone handy, would you use Siri to help you locate a local plumber? Admit it, you probably would.
So, what can you do as an SEO or SEM expert? Here’s a few tips:
- Build reviews for your products and services from as many review/eCommerce websites as possible, and quickly. When Siri is asked for the “best” of something, it’s using this data to produce results.
- Review and optimize your Yelp local listing and do what you can to rectify poor reviews.
- If you run a local business, ensure that your Google Places and other search engine local listings are in place so that you can be found by Siri.
- Optimize your website for mobile search.
Siri has the potential to completely change the online search game, and potentially take down Google’s local search business. Only time will tell.
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Updated 11/21/2012 06:28 PM
DOT workers share stories of Superstorm Sandy
In the weeks following Superstorm Sandy, groups of people have traveled to help with the recovery efforts.DOT workers from the Southern Tier are coming home after clearing debris. Our Melissa Kakareka shows us how crews lent a helping hand.
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KIRKWOOD, N.Y. -- When Superstorm Sandy made its way into New York, Southern Tier DOT workers wanted to do whatever they could to help the areas that were affected.
"I went down there. I volunteered to go down there to help. I like to help out. I worked for a fire department for 25 years, so it is what people do, help one another out, "said Highway Maintenance Worker Shane Ingraham.
About 50 people from the Department of Transportation's Region 9 office traveled to Long Island, New York City and other areas downstate over the past several weeks. Some helped transport equipment downstate.
"I took a lot of light plants and portable traffic lights down to Long Island. I took light plants to Citifield in New York," said Region 9 Tractor Trailer Operator James Stabler.
Others helped with things such as opening drainage intakes and clearing trees and debris. Some crew members were also stationed at staging areas such as Citifield.
"I was staged in a parking lot preparing equipment to make sure everything was ready to run so it could be sent back out," said MEMS1 Supervisor Stephen Holland.
The DOT says it's an example of the way the state shares resources in a disaster, similar to the way the Southern Tier received help during last September's flood.
"We found ourselves being the recipient of the department's ability to utilize the deployment of resources and sharing of information as we do. Certainly for us to reciprocate, our employees want to be able to provide that service to their coworkers’ downstate and to the public who so desperately needs them," said Region 9 DOT Director Jack Williams.
And for those that spent time in the affected areas, it was worth the long hours and hard work to help others who needed them.
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IT TURNS out that then Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) director David Petraeus made an unannounced trip to Libya last month to investigate the 9/11 Benghazi consulate debacle. All the more reason, then, for him to be front and centre when Congress takes up the matter on Thursday.
But the former general has told friends he doesn’t want to testify, that any public appearance by him would turn into a media circus. Too bad. It’s his duty to do so — a word that once meant something to the US’s military leaders, but apparently no longer.
Besides which, his testimony would almost certainly be private — which is why legislators are, on a bipartisan basis, losing patience with Petraeus. Indeed, Senate intelligence committee chairwoman Dianne Feinstein says the CIA won’t even let her see the field report he prepared on his Libya trip.
It looks like Barack Obama’s stone wall is crumbling even before it’s fully built. Good. New York City, November 14
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by Becky Kellogg
The first test of the nationwide alert system met a few hiccups on Wednesday, Nov. 9 at 2 p.m.
It could have been a sarcastic swipe at the media, or even an homage, but some DIRECTV subscribers said they heard a clip of Lady Gaga’s song “Paparazzi” before the alert began.
The alert was broadcast on all television, radio and cable outlets across the nation and generally lasted 30 seconds. In most places, it began with a shrill tone followed by the deadpan announcer saying, “This is a test of the emergency broadcast system. In the event of an emergency, information would be broadcast regarding … (etc.).”
The goal of the test was for national officials to be able to broadcast important information to the entire nation in the event of a national emergency. Officials with the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) and the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) said they hoped to be able to test the decades-old system to pinpoint any problems and refine it for further use.
“The Nationwide EAS Test served the purpose for which it was intended — to identify gaps and generate a comprehensive set of data to help strengthen our ability to communicate during real emergencies,” said Senior FEMA Official Damon Penn.
“Based on preliminary data, media outlets in large portions of the country successfully received the test message, but it wasn’t received by some viewers or listeners,” said Penn. We are currently in the process of collecting and analyzing data, and will reach a conclusion when that process is complete.”
Another hiccup in the system occurred in northern Virginia where some cable subscribers said their TV sets were switched over to QVC before the alert was shown.
In other cities, viewers said they didn’t see the alert or that it lasted for almost half an hour. For the most part, the alert was delivered correctly.
FEMA told weather.com Thursday morning that the test will help them identify improvements needed in the system and refine it so that an emergency alert can be activated at a moment’s notice in a time of real national emergency.
On Twitter, there were dozens of users who asked why this nationwide alert wasn’t sent out via social media, text message or cell phones.
NarehmaM_AhmeD tweeted, “FEMA could have alerted Americans through Facebook for instance, that would have been more effective than radio’s and TV’s.”
FEMA spokesperson Rachel Racusen told weather.com earlier this week that one goal of the test was to refine the system so they could send out nationwide alerts via social media, the internet and mobile devices in the future.
“There are two goals for this test,” says Racusen. “First, is to make sure the current system is effective in delivering critical information to the American public. Second, is to identify any potential improvements needed as we move towards building a more modernized system.”
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September 25, 2012 - October 23, 20121:30 p.m. - 3 p.m.
Location: UNF University Center
New! Participants will learn how to crochet a simple project such as an afghan or shawl using single, double and treble stitches.
Course Fee: $30
Required Supplies: The instructor will provide instructions to registrants about how to choose the acrylic yarn, crochet hook and pattern needed for this class.
Susan Drain has been “hooked” on crocheting since she was a little girl in Massachusetts. She knows the where, when and how to use the various types of crochet stitches for amazing results. She is thrilled to see the current revival of crocheting as featured in the reality show “Project Runway,” where many top designers have featured crocheted items such as belts, shawls, shrugs, sweaters, hats, and more.
Copyright © 2012 University of North Florida1 UNF Drive | Jacksonville, FL 32224 | Phone: (904) 620-1000
Contact | Emergency | Privacy | RegulationsDisability Accommodations
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Q. I know that I have issues that I need to deal with, such as anxiety, depression, and unsuccessful suicide attempts (obviously); and all of these recently have been becoming more worrisome. I have only ever once seen a psychologist for one visit, while in college (been out of college for 4 years) only so she could give a report to the college doctor; I was placed on a med (not sure what though and was only on it for about 3 months before not taking anymore). I am now very open to going to my pcp, a therapist, and/or a psychiatrist to hopefully decrease some of my issues. My question is who am I suppose to see first? My pcp, a therapist, or a pdoc? I have read my health insurance policy contract and I know I don’t need a referral to see any of these people. I have gone online but can’t find much and what I can find contradicts what something I found somewhere else stated. Who are you supposed to begin with for mental health issues?
A. Start with a therapist. Not all therapists are created equal so you’ll need to be hunting for not just any therapist but a well-qualified and seasoned therapist. One way to begin this process is to go to your phone book (or check out Psych Central’s Therapist Locator ) and call approximately six to ten therapists and talk to them over the phone.
Explain the issues that you want help with and ask if he or she has treated others with similar problems. If so, you want to know how they treated the issue. How many years have they been in practice? The purpose for calling the therapist is to get a sense of what they are like and what method he or she uses to treat his or her clients.
While you’re calling around you will likely get a sense of whether a therapist is friendly. Do they seem interested in helping you? Does the therapist seem knowledgeable? Make appointments with the therapists that you liked over the phone and meet them in person. Choose the therapist who seems the most qualified and who you feel the most comfortable with.
Once you find a therapist, he or she can refer you to a doctor or a psychiatrist for medication if the two of you judge this to be an appropriate action.
Conversely, you could start with your primary care doctor (PCP) and ask if he or she knows any good therapists. You can also ask around to see if your friends or family know of any competent clinicians.
If you begin this help-seeking process with a psychiatrist he or she is likely to give you a prescription on your first visit. Psychiatrists generally do not engage in any form of talk therapy. You may be interested in medication but medication alone rarely effectively cures any of the issues you are struggling with. If you begin a medication regimen you will still likely need therapy so it may be more efficient to start with a therapist and then seek a psychiatrist if you and your therapist deem it appropriate. I hope this answers your question.
I wish you luck.
Last reviewed: By John M. Grohol, Psy.D. on 28 Apr 2008
Randle, K. (2008). What Type of Mental Health Professional Should I See?. Psych Central. Retrieved on June 19, 2013, from http://psychcentral.com/ask-the-therapist/2008/04/28/what-type-of-mental-health-professional-should-i-see/
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The Dragons of Spratt, Ohio
by Linda Zinnen
Salt (full name, John Salt) is a kid who lives near the Wilds, a chunk of reclaimed coal-mining land in Ohio where wild animals from all over the world are fed, studied, and protected. Salts Dad is an animal doctor; his mother is the director of the Wilds. So he gets to spend a lot of time with animals. But Salts favorite specimens are the brood of rare, flying dragons that have just hatched on the Wildsthe first live dragons in recorded Ohio history.
Salt worships a Chinese dracologist named Dr. Zhao. He nurses nine baby dragons. He draws pictures of them. He even wears their dung to school on the cuffs of his trousers. Which makes him seem a bit odd to his classmates, including his best friends glamorous, popular, and surprisingly intelligent sister Candi. The person Candi worships is Salts aunt, the head of research at a big Paris-based cosmetics company. When Dr. Salt drops in for an unexpected visit, Candi trails after her, hoping to be picked as her assistant for an upcoming Paris fashion show.
But it turns out that Dr. Mary Athena Salt has her own designs on Salts dragons. A sinister plan to sacrifice these rare, magical creaturesand her nephew, if necessaryto perfect her long-sought-after antidote to aging. With no one to help him defend his beloved dragons, Salt leads them on a desperate nighttime journey to hide them from Aunt Mary Athena. Meanwhile, Candi is forced to rethink her priorities when her ambition to become Dr. Salts assistant gets her mixed up in a dangerous and cruel experiment. Now the two unlikely friends must stand together to stop the ultimate dragon lady from achieving her vicious wish.
This isnt Linda Zinnens first book, but its her first that Ive read. Its an encouraging starting point, mixing a stranger-than-fiction, real-life place (the Wilds actually exist! Dont you want to go there?) with an over-the-top villain, mixing scientific animal observations and rugged outdoors adventure with the fantasy of flying on the back of a fire-breathing dragon. There are strengths and weaknesses to Zinnens way of capturing the way her young characters think and speak. On the weakness side, I lost count of the number of times I read the words Wow. Justwow. Ditto the words Oh, boy. Oh, boy. Oh, boy. On the other hand, Candis confused mixture of vanity and cleverness, and Salts naïve simplicity combined with a core of true bravery, add up to a lot of good-natured charm and clean fun.
Recommended Age: 12+
If you would like to contact Robbie, you may do so here.
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I am participating in the A to Z 2012 blog challenge throughout April. My theme is a genealogical travelogue or a travel genealogue (I’m not sure which). My goal is to hand down the stories of the important places in our family history, and some travel memories, to our family.
S is for Sandon (Hertfordshire, England)
Sandon, Hertfordshire was the home of my Kent family for a couple of centuries and for at least some of this time they were publicans in Red Hill and Roe Green, nearby hamlets in this parish. Last year I talked about my discoveries in the enclosure records and how they helped knocked down some brick walls in my research.
Sandon remains a rural area, reflecting its agricultural heritage, but it’s also now in the “stockbroker belt”, close enough to commute to London and there’s no shortage of houses with heritage listings and big prices. The village seems to me to lack a “centre”, other than the old church which stands imposingly, solidly. Somehow the lychgate appeals to me as an entry point. The house opposite used to be a pub when we first visited, but no longer. I love the pond across the way with its ducks…very restful.
Roe Green is similarly peaceful, revealing only by its buildings that there’s a long history here. There’s a village green where no doubt cricket is played in summer, horses being walked and a general air of tranquillity; who wouldn’t want to live here.
S is for Strachur (Argyll, Scotland)
My Morrison family lived in Strachur on Loch Fyne for many years on a farm called Inverglen. Like my Sim ancestors in Bothkennar, they were more established than others family lines, being involved in local business and community as well as farming. Luckily for me one of my 2xgreat-aunts was with the Morrison family on the 1841 census as a small child. I’d have liked it to be the 1851 census with relationships stated, but I’m reasonably sure that she was with her grandparents.
Some years ago we met a very elderly man from the Morrison family in Strachur, but at the time we couldn’t be sure of our relationship. We loved that he offered Mr Cassmob a whisky (at about 10am), which he accepted to be hospitable. As several fingers of single malt were poured Mr Morrison announced he never touched the stuff…needless to say I was the chauffeur that morning. Mr Morrison had a memory of meeting a Fergus McCorkindale, a person who at the time meant nothing to me. It was only later that I established he was a grandson to my great-grandfather through his first marriage and so my grandmother’s nephew.
I’ve posted about Loch Fyne and how it feels like home to me. Sometime I’d love to see it on a clear blue day rather than in its grey winter clothes with scarves of fog and cloud. One visit we stayed at the historic Creggans Inn in Strachur, with its view across the loch to Inveraray. We were amused during our stay when the waitress slipped us some fresh raspberries to accompany our porridge, with the injunction “don’t tell cook”.
S is for Sadds Ridge Road (Charters Towers, Queensland)
I wrote previously how my husband found this old street sign on a coconut plantation near Gurney in Milne Bay. This is where Australian troops were stationed around the time of the Battle of Milne Bay. We’ve always assumed it was a souvenir that a soldier too with him, but have never been able to unearth anyone who might know more.
Did you have a relative who went from Charters Towers to Milne Bay?
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It’s the big question facing the health-care sector these days: Can we move from a fee-for-service payment model, doling out money based on quantity instead of quality, to a more sophisticated model that rewards providers for meeting quality targets and delivering better care? Everybody seems to agree it’s the right move (good luck finding a policy analyst or lawmaker who would say otherwise), but exactly how it should be done is constantly debated.
The folks in Massachusetts, however, think they’ve figured out the answer -- at least partially. And they’re focusing their efforts on a group that's routinely responsible for a disproportionate share of Medicare and Medicaid spending: dual eligibles. Dual eligibles (people who qualify for both government programs) account for only 15 percent of Medicaid enrollment, but 39 percent of its costs.
At least 26 states have pledged to develop pilot programs to better coordinate care between Medicaid and Medicare, but Massachusetts was the first to gain approval from the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) for its dual eligibles demonstration project, which will be partially modeled after two existing programs in the state that are aimed at moving away from a fee-for-service model. If they can work for dual eligibles, the thinking goes, they should be able to work for everyone. Perhaps as importantly, the coordinated care approach that both programs use should allow them to remain solvent even as the population ages.
Massachusetts' Programs for All-Inclusive Care for the Elderly (PACE) and Senior Care Options (SCO) differ in their specifics and funding sources, but both plans operate under a similar model. A team of health-care providers -- contracted by the state -- evaluate a dual eligible’s needs, develop a comprehensive care plan, and oversee their primary care and medications. The group is paid, in part, based on the health of its patients. The team of providers is paid a flat fee (say, $3,500 a month from each Medicaid member), but if the care ultimately costs less than that, the providers share the savings. If it costs more, the group shares the additional costs.The idea is that, with the delivery of care being centralized to a singular entity that should be intimately familiar with a patient’s history, the symptoms of poor health care that often drive up costs (duplications, unnecessary procedures, misdiagnosis, etc.) can be more easily eradicated.
One of the programs' goals is to keep patients out of nursing homes. As Governing reported in its October issue, more than 80 percent of Americans over 50 say they want to remain in their home as long as possible. Not only do people prefer to stay at home, but research indicates it could also be more cost-effective. A 2009 Health Affairs study concluded that home- and community-based care reduced Medicaid costs by 8 percent over a decade, while nursing home spending increased by 9 percent over the same period.
“We simply can’t afford to do things the old-fashioned way,” says Karen Longo, executive director of Summit ElderCare, one of the PACE programs in the state. “Yet most consumers believe their only choice is to move into a nursing home. With this tsunami of people who will need these services, we have to change that perception.”
Early results suggest Massachusetts’ PACE and SCO programs could be a model for how to do this affordably. SCO has reduced nursing home placement by 30 percent, according to an independent analysis. PACE, on the other hand, has saved the state an annual $52 million compared to the traditional fee-for-service Medicaid program, and 88 percent of its participants remain in their homes -- despite the fact that needing a nursing home level of care is a requirement for enrollment.
Despite those promising figures, the 26,000 PACE and SCO enrollees represent only 10 percent of Massachusetts’ dual eligibles population. With its demonstration project, the state wants to coordinate care for more than 100,000 people. So now the focus for advocates is taking the lessons learned from these programs and translating them to new reform efforts.
Generally speaking, the state proposed moving the broader dual eligibles population into coordinated care organizations based in part on PACE and SCO.
"Both PACE and SCO have illustrated how we can connect Medicare and Medicaid services in a way that is effective for enrollees," said Massachusetts Medicaid director Julian Harris, "and we have carried those lessons into our design of the duals demonstration.”
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Just two weeks after the Federal Communications Commission granted big media conglomerates greater powers to secure monopolies on media markets, the Senate Commerce Committee will consider legislation tomorrow that would roll-back significant portions of the new rules.
Analysts and media activists predict that the June 2 decision by the FCC will lead to greater media consolidation and mergers and will ultimately swallow many smaller media outlets. The Commission, which is chaired by Michael Powell — son of Secretary of State General Colin Powell — voted 3-2, along partisan lines to change the rules governing media ownership.
"That was the crucial vote by the FCC," says Professor Robert McChesney, author of several books on the media. "But lost in the shuffle is the crucial point that the FCC is an agency that is simply supposed to reflect the will of congress, it reflects our will."
After a massive grassroots campaign to oppose the FCC decision, a bi-partisan group of lawmakers is now fighting to repeal large parts of the June 2 decision. Senator Byron Dorgan (D-ND) plans to offer an amendment that would prevent a T.V. network from owning television stations that collectively reached 35 percent of the national audience. The FCC raised that cap to 45 percent.
Dorgan is expected to be joined by Democratic senators Ron Wyden of Oregon and Ernest Hollings of South Carolina, as well as Republican senators Olympia Snowe of Maine, Kay Bailey Hutchison of Texas and Trent Lott of Mississippi.
Already two T.V. networks, Viacom — with its CBS and UPN networks — as well as News Corp’s FOX are above the national television audience. Both networks lobbied the FCC to eliminate the cap.
Tribune Company, which owns both television stations and newspapers, and other companies have lobbied the FCC to lift the 28-year-old ban preventing a company from owning a newspaper and television station serving the same market.
The FCC ruling was a partisan vote with the 3 Republicans winning over the 2 Democrats on the Commission. McChesney says the Republicans now fighting the FCC decision are under "tremendous pressure" from the White House to back off their opposition. He says the FCC ruling "is pay back time for the big media companies that have been supporting the Bush administration both financially and ideologically over the last few years. In fact over the entirety of Bush’s career. Olympia Snowe and Republicans are taking tremendous heat to fall in line. It’s to their great credit."
Today, Democracy Now! broadcast portions of the first Senate Commerce Committee hearings on the ruling when Senator Byron Dorgan (D-ND) questioned FCC Chair Michael Powell a day after the ruling.
DORGAN: Chairman Powell, I regret to be so hard on the commission on this decision, because I like you personally. But you know from what I have said, I just think this is a decision by regulatory agency that seems toothless to me. The last thing we need is to have regulators with no teeth.
I want regulators to be tigers on behalf of the public interest. It looks for all the world to me and I think it looks for all the world to the rest of the American people like the majority of the F.C.C. could not or would not stand up against the interest of the big business here.
Let me describe a couple of things that I see in this process. I really believe you’re wrong, you say this was an open hearing. One hearing in Richmond, Virginia, you got a lot of comments but there’s no substitute from going around the country. You say there are modest changes. Clearly they’re not modest when nearly 200 cities newspapers will be able to buy the television stations. You say that it will promote more competition. Nonsense. The evidence suggests that simply not the case. You say that there will be few mergers and acquisitions. Of course that stands logic on its head. And you say the court made us do it. The court didn’t make you do it. I mean this is — old joke in the movie, who are you going to believe, me or your own eyes?
The evidence is in on all of these issues, Mr. Chairman. And I guess let me ask this question this way, because I believe it appears to me so evident that the big interests were served here at the expense of the public interests. Would you not agree with me that today those who most aggressively celebrate your decision are the biggest economic interests in broadcast in this country? Are they not the ones that are celebrating your decision?
POWELL: I have no idea who is celebrating.
DORGAN: You really don’t? Are you kidding me?
POWELL: Senator, I also know there is —
DORGAN: Let me. Are you kidding me? You really don’t know who is celebrating that decision?
POWELL: Me and the staff are celebrating being complete with the decision.
A majority of the Commerce Committee, which is headed by Arizona Republican John McCain, have said the new FCC rules go too far in loosening media-ownership limits, creating a danger that companies like Viacom Inc. and Clear Channel Communications Inc. will expand and reduce diversity in broadcasting.
McChesney says that the legislation being considered tomorrow by the Senate Commerce Committee is the beginning of the battle to reverse the June 2 decision. By law, he said, the FCC is supposed to reflect the will of Congress.
"[The FCC is] not like the Supreme Court or something that they have some tremendous autonomy," McChesney told Democracy Now! "Congress has the power to overturn what the FCC has done to make it clear to the FCC that the point isn’t simply to serve private corporate interests as it generally has done."
Prior to the June 2 decision, the FCC was flooded with e-mails, phone calls and nearly 500,000 cards and letters opposing deregulation. There were nationwide protests against the proposed changes to media ownership laws. But while ordinary citizens were writing letters and protesting in the streets, the powerful media corporations were lobbying the FCC in face-to-face meetings.
According to a study by the Center for Public Integrity, big broadcast outlets had more than 70 such meetings with the FCC, while public interest groups had only 5 opportunities to meet with the FCC prior to the June 2 vote.
Today, Democracy Now! examined the role of one of these big media lobbyists, Victor Miller. Wall Street Journal reporter Mark Wigfield detailed the relationship between the Bear Stearns media-analyst and the FCC.
"Mr. Miller had had a sort of unusual position in that he is seen by the commission certainly as what they call facts and figures guy," Wigfield told Democracy Now!. "He provides industry numbers, he provides scenarios, what will happen with competition, et cetera. And sort of makes projections about what will happen as the industry’s configured differently as consolidation occurs. And he brings in — he also brings in other investors to learn about where the commission is going."
In an investigative article that appeared in the June 3 Wall Street Journal, Wigfield quotes Susan Eid, counsel to FCC Chair Powell as saying Miller’s advice "is enormously helpful as you sort through the economic issues and financial issues in the industry…his analysis is rock-solid."
But Miller is hardly an impartial "sounding board" for the FCC. Wigfield points out that Miller’s firm Bear Stearns has a banking relationship with Viacom Inc., owners of the CBS network, which has sought outright repeal of the FCC’s 35 percent cap. It has earned fees for investment banking from News Corp.'s Fox network, which joined Viacom in seeking repeal of the cap. It has told investors there is "lots of potential upside" at radio company Clear Channel Communications Inc., and has underwritten initial public offerings for the nation's second-largest radio broadcaster, Cumulus Media Inc., as well as for the seventh largest, Radio One Inc. Like Clear Channel, both companies recently asked the FCC to retain local market definitions.
Bear Stearns also has a banking relationship with Sinclair Broadcast Group Inc., which mounted a successful court challenge to the FCC’s "duopoly" rule that limits common ownership of two television stations in a single market. It also has banking relationships with Gray Television Inc. and LIN TV Corp., which seek relaxation of the rule. Bear Stearns analysts, including Mr. Miller, have positive ratings on many of these stocks.
Professor McChesney says the influence of people like Miller show "how incredibly corrupt this process has been at the FCC where you have basically on one side of the table all this big money and powerful lobbyists and other side of the table you have virtually every person in the United States."
McChesney said that it is crucial that people concerned about media freedom in this country continue to call their representatives and urge them to repeal the FCC decision. "The entirety of public opinion is opposed to this, almost without exception," he said. "Nobody likes this. The only people who like it are these powerful lobbies."
He urged concerned people to go to his website http://ww.mediareform.net for more information.
- Tape: Senator Dorgan addressing FCC Chairman Michael Powell on June 3rd, the day after the FCC voted to relax media ownership rules.
- Mark Wigfield, Wall Street Journal reporter who has been covering the Federal Communications Commission.
- Robert McChesney, professor of communication at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and the author of eight books on media and politics, including Rich Media, Poor Democracy.
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The River Elbe in Germany is one of the nicest rivers in the entire region. It is home to many lovely bridges that give you an amazing look at the wonderful city it is located in. Some of these lovely bridges are Augustus Bridge and the Blue Wonder Bridge; these great bridges bring many visitors to the city each year to get fantastic views of the lovely city. However the city is home to an even better way of viewing the town, and that is the Brühlsche Terrasse.
The Brühlsche Terrasse is a garden and terrace that one can take a walk along and view the town from this great vantage point in the town. Not only is the Brühlsche Terrasse the best possible place to get a decent view of the town, but it is also home to many lovely famous sculptures and statues. Make the trip to Dresden as soon as possible.
Please provide this reference number to our customer service center representative on request, so we can help you better
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GENEVA - UN Secretary General Kofi Annan called today on the U.S.-led coalition to respect international law as the "occupying power" in Iraq, drawing immediate ire from U.S. officials.
"I hope the coalition will set an example by making clear that they intend to act strictly within the rules" governing occupations, Annan told the UN Human Rights Commission.
U.N. Secretary General Kofi Annan addresses the annual session of the U.N. commission on Human Rights April 24, 2003 at the U.N. headquarters in Geneva, Switzerland. Annan urged U.S.-led forces in Iraq to live up to their responsibility for civilians and public order under the Geneva Conventions, drawing an angry response from the United States. Photo by Jean-Marc Ferre/Reuters
The United States responded that it had not been established whether the coalition that toppled Saddam Hussein's regime was an occupying power under international law but that coalition forces were nevertheless abiding by international conventions.
"We've not only made that clear by our words - we've made it clear from day one of this conflict through our actions," U.S. envoy Kevin Moley told reporters. "We find it - at best - odd that the secretary general chose to bring this to our attention."
Annan cited the 1949 Geneva Conventions and the 1907 Hague Convention, accords that set down the responsibilities of occupiers — ranging from maintaining public order to collecting taxes.
"We're simply saying that the issue of an occupying power has not yet been dealt with," Moley said.
"We'll come to that and we'll presumably come to that quickly," he said, adding that in the meantime, the coalition was conforming with international accords.
Last week, Brig.-Gen. Vincent Brooks, deputy operations director at U.S. Central Command, said the United States did not currently consider itself an occupying power in Iraq.
Rather, he described the coalition as a "liberating force" — a category that does not exist in the Geneva or Hague conventions.
"While there may be a number of similarities to what the Geneva Convention describes, that's not a category that we have stated publicly at this point," Brooks said. "Whether that changes over time needs to be seen."
Moley also said he was angered that Annan cited "the decision to go to war without specific authorization by the UN Security Council."
"This is an egregious misstatement of the facts of our going to war in Iraq," the U.S. envoy said.
Annan refused to comment as he left the human rights commission. The United Nations said he was returning to New York.
The international community was deeply divided over the legality of the U.S.-led attack.
The United States and Britain said they could legally go to war against Iraq under UN resolutions dating from 1991 ordering Saddam to disarm. They also noted that Resolution 1441, adopted in November, required Iraq to co-operate with UN arms inspectors or face "serious consequences."
Washington also said Saddam's presumed weapons arsenal amounted to an imminent threat and therefore justified pre-emptive strikes. Despite the invasion, no such weapons have yet been found.
Other Security Council members — chiefly France, Germany and Russia — disagreed. They said inspections of Iraq's arsenal were working, meaning the country could be peacefully disarmed.
Annan said the coalition decision to act "created deep divisions that will need to be bridged if we are to deal effectively, not just with the aftermath in Iraq, but with other major challenges on the international agenda."
Copyright 2003 The Associated Press
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Guest Author - Carol M. Olmstead
I enjoy reading the “New Uses for Old Things” column in Real Simple magazine, because getting rid of clutter and re-purposing things in your home is always a good Feng Shui principle. In Feng Shui, clutter represents postponed decisions and the inability to move forward, so when you find a new purpose for those unused items that you have shoved into your kitchen drawers, stuffed into the guest room closet, or stashed in the basement, attic, and garage, you make room for new and better things to flow into your life. Now, the editors of Real Simple magazine have assembled a collection of their favorite new uses for old things in honor of the 10th anniversary of the magazine. The book, Real Simple: 869 New Uses for Old Things, is an alphabetized list of suggestions for re-purposing everyday things, ranging from newspaper and plastic baggies to CD cases and kitchen appliances, and dozens of other items that you have hidden, and not-so-hidden, around your home.
I especially like the suggestions that relate to clutter-clearing, such as new uses for newspaper. Newspaper is a notorious source of clutter in many homes, but there are many Feng Shui-friendly ways to re-purpose your stacks of newspapers, in addition to recycling them. Newspaper is absorbent by its design because it has to soak up ink, and that means it can also absorb all sorts of moisture around your house. Try a few of these new uses for your newspapers.
• Deodorize food containers. Stuff a balled-up piece of newspaper into a lunch box or thermos, seal it, and let sit overnight.
• Ripen tomatoes. Wrap them individually and leave them out at room temperature.
• Pack delicate items. Wrap frames and figurines with several pieces of newspaper, then crumple the remaining sections to fill extra space in the box.
• Wipe away tough streaks on glass. Use newspaper instead of paper towels to clean mirrors and windows.
• Preserve antique glass. Remove smudges by rubbing with newspaper dipped in a solution of one part white vinegar and one part warm water.
• Dry shoes. Place crumpled paper in your shoes and let stand overnight.
• Freshen the crisper drawers. Line the bottom of the refrigerator veggie drawer with newspaper to keep it dry and odor free.
I reviewed my own copy of this book. New Uses for Old Things is available from Amazon.com. Click on the box below to preview some of the pages in the book, and to order your copy.
Join my Feng Shui For Real Life page on Facebook where I post advice, tips, articles, and other Feng Shui information. Click here to link to www.Facebook.com/FengShuiForRealLife.
Want more free Feng Shui tips? Click here to sign up for my free monthly e-newsletter, the Feng Shui For Real Life E-zine.
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Aside from technical difficulties mentioned in @mookamafoob's answer, there potentially is this to consider: Many users in countries that have non-ascii characters in their alphabets have learned that URL's can not be made up of anything but ascii characters. Using identifiers, even if technically possible, might cause users to wonder, if an address they enter really works, or if they should themselves somehow "attempt to convert" the identifier to ascii.
I don't have any official research to back this up, but can distinctly remember a very convinced client telling me that we can not use "äöå" in the folder structure of a website we were developing. The technical reality simply does not always match users' expectations.
Thus my advice would be to stay clear of localized URIs for the time being. At the very least, map ascii version of your URIs to the localized URIs, if you decide use them (i.e. www.foobar.com/aoa redirects to www.foobar.com/äöå, just to be sure that users trying to "guess" an ascii URI find the right page).
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Having trouble tracking and managing your finances? Maybe you need a little help!
There are web based financial management tools that can help you get the job done if that’s where you need to go.
At the top of the list is Mint.com.
Should you try it and see if it can help with your money management? Millions of people are doing just that.
What is Mint.com?
Mint.com is a personal financial management application that allows the user to connect multiple accounts and track transactions in and between those accounts all in a single interface. Accounts include checking and savings accounts, investment accounts, retirement accounts and credit cards—just about any financial account you’re using.
Basically, it gives you one place to see all of your accounts, with your computer or smartphone.
One major pain in personal finances is seeing one BIG PICTURE of all of your transactions. Mint helps you along by giving you one place to see everything. No more jumping from account to account, trying to see one bank deposit here and a credit card purchase there.
On top of the great features, Mint has a great price – FREE.
At the present time, it’s available only in the U.S. and Canada, but given how fast it’s growing you can count on it expanding into other countries in the not to distant future.
The company claims that it’s able to “reach to connect securely and to download transactions from virtually every bank, credit union and credit card account in the United States with online banking capability” which is something on the order of 16,000-plus financial institutions.
Though the company has only been in existence since 2006, it currently numbers its user base well into the millions.
Features of Mint
I’ve already talked about how you can see all of your account isn one place so let’s look at some of the other features Mint provides you:
Auto-categorization of your transactions
As transactions appear in Mint, the system will separate them into different categories to help you track where you are spending and where your money is coming from. This helps you see the types of spending that you do and can help you identify areas you need to be more careful with. The system will even separate out an ATM fee from a transaction so you can track how much you are being charged in ATM fees.
Setting up a budget is quick and easy. You can set up recurring expenses or budget for a one-time expense. You have the ability to compare your budget monthly or yearly. Mint will send out email and/or text alerts if you go over budget in a category.
See how easy it is to set up a budget:
On top of budget alerts via text and email, you can also set up alerts to tell you when account balances are low, to remind you to pay bills, alerts about unusual spending, when your credit card balances are getting high, when your credit score is getting stale, when a large purchase has taken place (you set what “large” means), and more. There are over 20 alerts you can set up.
Set up a goal in Mint and it will be tracked for you. You can check the progress of your goals in real time and get monthly emails tracking your progress.
What accounts you can connect to Mint
See them all in one convenient place. This makes budgeting easier since you can see way your money is going and coming from in one place.
Security and applications
Perhaps the most universal concern any of us have with any financial application is security.
How safe will our information be once it’s in the system?
Mint.com claims the following on their website:
“Mint…users…know their information is always secure. That’s because we use 128-bit SSL encryption–the same security that banks use–and all data is protected and validated by VeriSign and TRUSTe. Plus, since Mint is read-only, no money can be moved in or out of any account.”
The site also offers free mobile apps, which enable you to track your money on-the-go.
You can set a budget and create a plan to reach your personal financial goals. You can track your progress online or stay up-to-date with monthly emails. They can help you achieve your goals faster with helpful free advice and next steps to take.
Why use Mint.com?
You’ve probably gleened some reasons just from reading so far, but let’s summarize the answers to the “why” question:
- Mint.com is a free application so even if it doesn’t work out for you, you won’t be out any money; if it does meet your needs you’ll be way ahead of the game;
- Once set up, the system automatically pulls all of your financial information into one place;
- You can put your entire financial profile on a single application, even on a single page, which has enormous potential to streamline all things money in your life;
- It integrates well with Quicken—it’s sibling within the Intuit family—which is another common financial application used by millions of people;
- It can be set up in minutes and is very user friendly;
- If you’re a visual person, and many of us are, Mint.com provides graphs to chart your spending and savings habits and even to establish goals and budgets;
- The application is widely used (more than 6 million users and growing fast) which means you’re participating in an established community rather than venturing into something that’s new, limited or just plain weird.
How can it be free?
With all of these great features, how could Mint provide their service for free?
In analyzing your accounts and goals, Mint will let you know if there’s a bank account, credit car, or loan that may be better for you. If you choose one of these options, Mint gets a referral fee from the provider (just like I would get a referral fee if you chose to sign up for Mint through this article).
Mint will give you the biggest savings for you first, regardless of the referral fee, meaning your savings comes first.
There’s never any pressure to sign up either. If you never use one of their suggestions so be it. Of course, if they suggest something that really can save you money then it makes sense to check it out.
To sum up Mint.com
Overall, Mint.com provides an opportunity to improve your financial management system, or to implement one if you’ve never had one. It’s worth a try—after all—even if it doesn’t work it won’t cost you any money!
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UK regulator Ofcom has outlined its plans for TV, particularly digital terrestrial, while declaring that it expects to auction spectrum in the 600MHz band in 2012-13. It said that one potential use would be to provide new TV services on digital-terrestrial TV, possibly including new standard definition and HD channels on Freeview, the country’s Free To Air DTT service.
Ofcom will prioritize the planned 800MHz and 2.6GHz auction over the 600MHz auction, to avoid running the two auctions at the same time. However, in the event that there is a delay to the 800MHz and 2.6GHz auction, it may progress the 600MHz auction in the meantime.
Other TV-related plans include pressing ahead on work to implement a geolocation-based approach to enable white space access on a license-exempt basis in the UHF TV band.
Ofcom will also begin the process of working on the renewal of public broadcaster Channel 4’s license, set to expire at the end of 2014. Channel 4 has been given a substantially increased public service remit as a result of last year’s Digital Economy Act.
If the plan is approved by Parliament, Ofcom will also move forward with plans to license local TV services in the first half of the 2012-13 period. It envisages licensing a single multiplex operator that will deliver local television using geographically interleaved spectrum in a number of different locations, and subsequently moving forwards with licensing of individual services.
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Ascending Peculiarity: Edward Gorey on Edward Gorey
interviews selected and edited by Karen Wilkin
Harcourt, 292 pp., $35.00
by Edward Gorey
Harcourt, 32 pp., $12.00
When he died in 2000 at the age of seventy-five Edward Gorey was well known and widely treasured as a draftsman, a storyteller, an illustrator, a balletomane of long standing, a master of the educated book-jacket, and an inventor of images that were peculiar to himself. Among image-makers, who but he would have made us look with lasting enjoyment at a skeleton that lies reading in a hammock, center front, while a few feet behind him a garden party goes on as if nothing unusual was happening? That particular image was the star in his recent show at the Tibor de Nagy Gallery in New York. Among the other implausible fancies that he at one time or another brought into the circus of the everyday was that of a prodigiously long-haired dog on whose back the words “What Might Have Been” stood out in big letters. This caused many a sensitive observer to pause and reflect, half in grief and half in terror.
The point of many of his drawings and stories is that he didn’t want them to “make sense.” “I have a dumb theory,” he once said, “that a creative piece of art is only interesting if it purports to be about something and is really about something else.” When he works with text and images concurrently, as he does in many of his eighty and more illustrated books, they don’t have to be in step with one another. If we come running after them and manage to catch up, we find ourselves in a place in which nothing is explained but a great deal happens.
When Gorey began the story of the famous ballerina whom he called Maudie Splaytoe, we could not foresee that she would “get lost over the Camargue” when “a great dark bird” flew into her aeroplane. But it did, and she did, and we believed it. Everyone “gets” Gorey to a certain extent, even if they have only watched his logos for Mystery on public television. But to have all of him in focus? That is another matter.
When he wanted to, Gorey could moralize in an immediately legible way. His last show in New York included a large drawing of a young woman bicycling on a tightrope over a rock-strewn abyss. With one hand she was holding on to a very large urn that was perched high on the handlebars. For Gorey, the image was unusually straightforward. But so was the point of it, which he defined as “Innocence, on the Bicycle of Propriety, carrying the Urn of Reputation safely across the Abyss of Indiscretion.”
This could have been hung in a sophisticated schoolroom as a guide to good behavior in adult life. But it helps to know that funerary urns (often shaped like turnips) turn up all over the place in Gorey’s work. As Richard Dyer pointed out in The Boston Globe in 1984, Gorey once published a whole book of them, called Les Urnes Utiles. There had …
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We are restoring order to our immigration system to bring annual net migration down to the tens of thousands – rather than the hundreds of thousands we saw under Labour – by the end of this Parliament. We have capped economic migration, reformed the student visa system, and we're changing the family visa rules. We have made reforms at our borders, to ensure they are safe and secure.
The bigger picture
• Our annual limit on non-EU economic migration will not only help reduce immigration to sustainable levels but will protect those businesses and institutions that are vital to our economy. The new system was designed in consultation with business. Employers should look first to people who are out of work and who are already in this country.
• A properly controlled and regulated student visa system is a crucial component of our policy to reduce and control net migration. That is why we have radically reformed student visas to weed out abuse and tackle bogus colleges. And our reforms are starting to take effect: in the year to June 2012, there was a thirty per cent decrease in the number of student visas issued compared to the year to June 2011.
• We welcome those who wish to make a life in the UK with their family, work hard and make a contribution but a family life must not be established here at the taxpayer's expense. To play a full part in British life, family migrants must be able to integrate – that means they must speak our language and pay their way. This is fair to applicants, but also fair to the public.
• The Government's priority is the security of the UK border. The right checks need to be carried out to control immigration, protect against terrorism and tackle crime. We are maintaining thorough border checks. And despite those robust checks, the vast majority of passengers pass through immigration control quickly.
Action to date
• We have capped the number of people employers are allowed to bring to the UK from outside the EU to work in skilled professions.
• We have restricted immigration for highly skilled workers to all but entrepreneurs, investors and people of exceptional talent.
• We have broken the link between coming here to work and staying forever by introducing a new minimum pay threshold which means only the brightest and best workers who strengthen the UK economy will be able to apply to stay in the UK permanently.
• We will annually review the level of the cap to ensure it is set at the right level.
• We have placed a requirement on any educational institution which wants to sponsor students to meet tough requirements, and become accredited by a statutory education inspection body. The previous loose system allowed too many poor-quality colleges to become sponsors.
• We have introduced a new language requirement for students coming to study at degree level at the 'upper intermediate' level, rather than the previous 'lower intermediate' requirement.
• We have empowered UK Border Agency staff to refuse entry to students who cannot speak English without an interpreter, and who therefore clearly do not meet the minimum standard.
• We have limited the overall time that can be spent on a student visa to three years at lower levels and five years at higher levels. Previously there was no time limit for study at or above degree level.
• We have closed the Post-study work route, which allows students two years to seek employment after their course ends. Only graduates who have an offer of a skilled job from a sponsoring employer can stay to work.
• Figures show that the number of student visas issued fell by 30 per cent in the year to June 2012.
• We have set an earning threshold of £18,600 for anyone wanting to bring in a spouse or partner from outside Europe.
• We are restricting those non-European Economic Area adults and elderly dependent relatives who can settle in the UK to those who can demonstrate that, as a result of age, illness or disability, they require long-term personal care that can only be provided in the UK by their relative here, and requiring them to apply from overseas.
• We have introduced a legal requirement that all applicants for settlement to speak better English and pass the Life in the UK Test.
• We have introduced a minimum probationary period of five years for settlement to deter sham marriages.
• We have begun the roll-out of the E-borders system, which monitors people coming in and out of the country, to ensure that all non-European Economic Area passengers arriving from outside Europe have been checked once, and many twice, while they are still thousands of miles from our passport controls.
• We have separated the Border Force from UKBA to become a separate operational command, with its own ethos of law enforcement, led by its own director general and accountable directly to Ministers.
• We have opened a new Control Room at Heathrow airport which allows border staff access to real-time modelling of arrivals and passenger numbers, speeding-up reaction to 'bunching', where several flights arrive at once, and late-arriving or early-departing flights, which often cause delays at immigration.
• We will complete the roll-out of E-borders.
Promoted by Alan Mabbutt on behalf of the Conservative Party, both at 30 Millbank, London, SW1P 4DP
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November 14, 2007 |
NEW DELHI: Commending the economic growth, President Pratibha Patil on Wednesday emphasised the need to make development socially inclusive, particularly for the disadvantaged and marginalised sections. Inaugurating the annual India International Trade Fair (IITF) in New Delhi, she said all the regions of the country should benefit from the fast economic growth. "Our economy is now witnessing an accelerated growth rate... It should be our endeavour to sustain this growth and ensure that it is socially inclusive, particularly for the disadvantaged and the marginalised sections.
January 21, 2002 |
new delhi: external affairs minister jaswant singh on monday said that china was fudging figures while giving out statistics on its economic growth. "their (china's) optics are better than reality while india's reality is better than optics," he told a media conclave when asked that china had achieved a lot more than india in the economic arena. he said that beijing had been fudging its statistics "by a figure of 2 per cent" and added india and china were had similar economic growth rates of 5 to 7 per cent.
November 13, 2007 |
ISLAMABAD: The US on Tuesday said Pakistan's move towards democracy has been "seriously set back" by the emergency, which could also hit the investor confidence in the country. "The US is urging your government not to throw away in weeks what it has taken years to achieve," American Ambassador Anne W Patterson said. Noting that "Pakistan's move towards democracy has been seriously set back" by the emergency, she said: "Our embassy and our consulates have tried to make sure that American business representatives know that Pakistan is a good place to do business and I have always highlighted the enormous economic opportunities which your country offers.
October 30, 2001 |
hyderabad: human development implies economic growth, said governor c rangarajan while addressing the gathering at the paul harris fellows award function organised by the rotary international here on monday. he said india needed a threepronged approach to achieve higher standards of human development. these were a higher growth rate, a larger expenditure on social sectors, and an efficient utilisation of the funds allocated. it is only an efficient system that could provide the necessary surplus to fulfil some of the demands made on grounds of equity.
September 14, 2012 |
AGARTALA: The Union minister of state for finance Namo Narain Meena on Thursday alleged that the BJP's misleading campaign against the present government was responsible for the slowdown in the country's economic growth and inflow of investment. Talking to the media here on Thursday, Meena said opposition parties had sent a wrong message regarding political uncertainty to rest of the world, which ultimately affected the nation's economic growth, gross domestic product ( GDP )
January 31, 2008 |
NEW DELHI: Government will make rapid adjustments in economic measures depending upon evolving global economic situation, Finance Minister P Chidambaram said on Thursday exuding confidence that the growth during the current fiscal would be close to 9 per cent. "My goal is to continue to maintain the same level of growth but at the same time government reserves the right to make rapid adjustments depending upon evolving global economic situation," Chidambaram told reporters immediately after the GDP figures of 2006-07 were released.
October 22, 2011 |
NEW DELHI: Gujarat is the flag-bearer of economic growth in recent years and Uttar Pradesh a laggard turns out to be a myth. Both the states have more or less matched the national average over the last five years. Among the six poll-bound states -Punjab, Uttarakhand, Manipur, Goa, UP and Gujarat - Uttarakhand and Punjab top the growth charts. Uttarakhand has seen its net state domestic product (NSPD) grow by 103% and Punjab has witnessed 86% growth as compared to Gujarat (79%)
December 2, 2012 |
NEW DELHI: Economic growth may get "little worse" in the coming months due to high interest rates , inflation and recession in several key European economies, a survey by Assocham said today. It said that the overall GDP growth for the current financial year would be between 5 and 5.5 per cent. Majority of the CEOs participated in the survey said that "the situation may get a little worse before it gets better since the problems of high interest rates, high inflation and a double dip recession in several key European economies would have a bearing on the economies of the emerging economies including India".
December 5, 2002
We will miss governor C Rangarajan after he leaves the state to assume office as chairman of the 12th Finance Commission. He has our best wishes. His speeches have been closely followed as they are delivered by a man regarded as one of the best economists in the world. He was at a seminar organised by the Centre for Economic and Social Studies last week. This was an event where he was not bound to read out text prepared by the state cabinet. Our worries, especially concerning agriculture, have found an echo in the speech.
March 15, 2007 |
NEW YORK: Information technology has driven nearly all of the economic growth in the United States over the last decade, adding USD 2 trillion annually to the economy, according to news report. IT also creates higher-paying jobs, allows business to cut costs and boost new innovations, said Robert Atkinson, co-author of the report by the Information Technology and Innovation Foundation (ITIF). Economic transformation resulting from IT was occurring at adoption rates exceeding even the most optimistic in 1990s, the report says.
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Welcome to the Fashion School website!
The Fashion School is a great place. The Ohio Board of Regents has endorsed the Fashion School as a "Center of Excellence" at Kent State University and in the State of Ohio. As a member of the Council of Fashion Designers of America (CFDA), we are also recognized as one of the top Fashion Schools in the United States. We aspire to be the best American fashion school, by providing a comprehensive American university experience, a forward looking and rigorous curriculum in fashion, an aggressive approach to the use of digital technologies, and access to a broad range of international and study away experiences.
We have a large and excellent group of faculty and staff members in the Fashion School who are dedicated to our students' success! The Kent State Fashion School faculty define fashion as "a unifying lens focused on creating, and investigating the individual and collective phenomena of products and services that are related to the appearance, style, identity and behavior of consumers within a visual culture." We believe the 'fashion lens' is distinct as a collective set of disciplines that impact how we see, act and create in our world.
The Shannon Rodgers and Jerry Silverman School of Fashion Design and Merchandising was created at Kent State University in 1983 due to a generous gift from Rodgers and Silverman to the university. Their gift of their entire collection of garments and designs also initiated the creation of the Kent State University Museum, and through their support the Museum and the Fashion School have been strong partners since their creation. Here are a few of the Fashion School's successes that I like to brag about:
- The Fashion School's mission is to serve a broad range of stakeholders including our students, advisory board, the State of Ohio tax-payers, and the textile and apparel industry by providing a recognized center for research and advancement within our field. As such, in 2009 we created a concept that we have titled the "TechStyleLAB," which functions as a teaching/learning, research and commercial service environment. The TechStyleLAB brings together a broad range of digital design and production technologies into one integrated space. The TechStyleLAB has already received some initial funding to launch the concept, and is positioned to be important in bringing technology applications into our educational offerings.
- The Fashion School is the sole disciplinary occupant of our building on campus, Rockwell Hall. Within the building we also host the extensive June F. Mohler Fashion Library, housing a range of fashion resources, collections and subscription services for students and faculty. The Fashion Library is part of the Kent State University Library system.
- The Fashion School is symbiotically and architecturally linked to the American-Museum- Association-Accredited KSU Museum, which houses an exceptional collection of fashion items ranging from 17th Century gowns to contemporary designers' pieces.
- The Fashion School has its own satellite campus in New York City, in the heart of the Garment District, which allows for over 120 Fashion School students annually to study design and merchandising for a semester while participating in study tour visits to key fashion businesses in the city.
- The Fashion School also sends about 45 students each Fall semester to study in our Florence Italy campus, which is housed in a 15th century palace (the Palazzo de Cerchi). The Palazzo is within just a few minutes walking distance of the Duomo Cathedral in Florence and is in the heart of many luxury market retail brands such as Ferragamo and Prada.
- We also have an exciting partnership with the Paris American Academy in France, in which our students can take KSU courses on the PAA campus near Luxembourg Gardens, studying with masters of couture fashion techniques and business. In addition we partner with the Institute for Textiles and Clothing (ITC) at the Hong Kong Polytechnic University to exchange as many as four students between our campuses each year. Our students also regularly engage in fashion study opportunities in London, Milan and other European cities. These programs extend the experience of our undergraduates as well as the School of Fashion's recognition on a national and international level. Our goal is to include these study away opportunities for our graduate students as well.
- The Fashion School has an established Industry Advisory Board. These board members, which include designers, merchandisers, CEOs, and owners and presidents of a variety of fashion businesses volunteer to share their industry experience based on the belief in the quality and promise of our program.
- The Fashion School has a large donor base and the highest amount of endowed scholarships (with an annually awarded total of over $56K) within Kent State University. This is a clear indication of external support from the community and industry for the education and service provided by the Fashion School.
- In collaboration with the College of Business at KSU, an accelerated BS/MBA program was implemented in the Fashion School, allowing high-performing students to complete both the undergraduate and MBA degree in five years. Starting Fall of 2010, the Fashion School began offering graduate level courses in fashion theory, design management and fashion research methods as part of the professional MBA with a Fashion Concentration from the College of Business.
- Our undergraduate program graduates approximately 200 students a year in fashion merchandising and design, with a placement rate in the industry that is still over 90%
These are just SOME of the reasons that the Fashion School at Kent State is so great. I hope you will visit us and find out more.
- J.R. Campbell
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U.S. President Barack Obama says the United States will use every element of its national power to thwart and defeat enemies seeking to launch terror attacks. Mr. Obama's remarks came in the wake of Friday's foiled bomb attack on a U.S. airliner.
President Obama made a brief statement in Hawaii where he and his family are vacationing for the Christmas holiday.
The president outlined a series of steps designed to enhance airline security in the wake of Friday's incident in which a Nigerian national allegedly tried to detonate explosives aboard a Northwest Airlines jet en route from Amsterdam to Detroit.
Mr. Obama sought to reassure Americans in the wake of the incident that the government is doing all it can to protect citizens from terrorist attacks and to keep up the pressure on those who would attack the United States.
"We will continue to use every element of our national power to disrupt, to dismantle and defeat the violent extremists who threaten us -- whether they are from Afghanistan or Pakistan, Yemen or Somalia, or anywhere where they are plotting attacks against the U.S. homeland," Mr. Obama said.
A group known as al-Qaida in the Arabian Peninsula claimed responsibility for the airline attack in an Internet statement on Monday. There was no independent verification of the claim by the group, which said the bombing attempt on the airliner was in response to U.S. efforts targeting al-Qaida in Yemen.
President Obama said he has ordered a review of the process of how terror suspects are added to the government's terror watch list and the so-called no fly list.
The suspect being held in connection with the attack, Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab, was listed in a government intelligence database that includes those with possible links to terrorism. But he was not included on the terror watch list or the no fly list.
Abdulmutallab is charged with trying to detonate explosives aboard the Northwest Airlines flight. The suspect suffered burns as he attempted to ignite an explosive material known as PETN. Abdulmutallab was restrained by passengers and crew. He is now being held in a prison in Michigan.
Abdulmutallab bought his plane ticket with cash and traveled with little luggage -- indications that often trigger the attention of security officials. He did have a valid U.S. visa, even though his name was in a government database of people who might have terrorist ties. That is one of several aspects of the case that U.S. officials are investigating.
Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano spoke on NBC television's "Today" program.
"How did this individual get on the plane? Why wasn't the explosive material detected? What do we need to do to change perhaps the rules that have been in place since 2006 for moving somebody from the generic TIDE [i.e., Terrorist Identities Datamart Environment] data base to a more elevated status? All of that is under review right now," Napolitano said.
Abdulmutallab's family says their son cut off contact with them months ago. And the suspect's father raised concerns with officials at the U.S. Embassy in Abuja, Nigeria that his son was becoming radicalized.
Former U.S. Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff says that should have raised concerns about Abdulmutallab's visa status.
"There was a point in the last month that this individual's father came to the embassy and gave them some information. At that point, I think, someone should have looked at the visa that had been previously given and suspended it," Chertoff said.
Government prosecutors want to obtain a DNA sample from the suspect, but a federal judge has postponed a hearing to consider that request until January 8.
In the wake of the incident, airline and airport security measures have been tightened in the U.S. and abroad.
This woman arrived in the United States on Monday from Europe and described what she went through with security checks.
"He went through each person's carry-on baggage. They did pat you down. An hour before we landed, we could not get up out of our seats and everything that we had had to be stowed," she said.
Security experts say more precise imaging machines may have detected the explosive material that Abdulmutallab allegedly tried to ignite, but those machines are costly and are in limited use at most airports.
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The novel opens with the banishment of Charlotte-Rose de la Force whose status as a blood relative of the King is not enough to save her from banishment from his court following a series of ill advised love affairs. In addition to the affairs, Charlotte-Rose also writes about the going ons of the court anonymously and she is also known to be a fine wit, but not always for the restraint to know when to not take that step too far when lampooning the members of the court. She is also a former Huguenot, having converted to Catholicism under extreme political pressure, and in order to avoid some of the persecution that is being visited upon others of her faith. From her place in the convent, Charlotte looks back on her life from the very first time she met the King, to her life as maid in waiting in the court, the politics that surrounded her on every side, religious persecution, her love affairs and so much more.
When she arrives at the convent, Charlotte-Rose is stripped of all of her belongings. Whilst she will not be forced to take her vows as a nun until she truly feels the calling to do so, her life will be austere with little to no comfort. After struggling in her new environment, one of the other nuns takes her under her wing. Sister Seraphina is the gardener and takes Charlotte-Rose out with her. Soon the two women are talking while they are gardening and Sister Seraphina begins to tell Charlotte-Rose the story of Margherita, a young girl in Venice.
When her mother was in labour, she was craving salad greens and so her husband snuck into a neighbour's garden and is caught stealing. The owner, La Strega Bella, extracts a promise from the man. In exchange for not chopping of his hand for thieving, he can keep the bitter greens, but when she comes to take the child he must pay the ultimate price by giving her up.
The family lives in fear of the day coming when La Strega Bella claims their lovely daughter Margherita, and when it does they try to bargain with her. Her mind is set though and Margherita is stolen from her family, placed in a convent to be educated and told that her parents never loved her. Margherita's only comfort is in singing and music and she has the voice of an angel, but even this is not to be her long term home. Once again La Strega Bella comes and this time takes the young and beautiful red-haired girl to a tall tower built on the shores of a lake. Here, Margherita is to live alone with her only company to be the monthly visit from the witch. In order to gain access, the witch requires Margherita to let down her long, long hair so that she can climb up it - she is the Rapunzel that we know from fairy tales.
Whilst this story contains the bones of a familiar story - our Rapunzel is stuck in her tower by a horrible witch and we know that in due course that a handsome prince will show up to play his part (even though it is not necessarily in the way that you expect) - it is in the details that Forsyth's tale excels and in the way that the three stories combine as a whole. The story is emotionally engaging on so many levels. For example, the first time I realised how Margherita's hair got to be long enough to be used as a ladder, I gasped in horror. There is an earthiness to the story telling that is engaging - it is by turns shocking, fun, sensuous, and filled with twists and turns that keep the reader engaged from beginning to end. Whether you love fairy tale retellings, historical fiction or both, this is exceptional storytelling and I highly recommend this book! I am really looking forward to reading this author's next book!
P.S Above left is the Australian cover which I loved, and on the bottom right is the gorgeous UK cover! I am seriously tempted to buy the UK version so that I have them both.
Link to Tour Schedule: http://hfvirtualbooktours.com/bittergreensvirtualtour/
Twitter Hashtag: #BitterGreensVirtualTour
Kate Forsyth's website
Kate Forsyth on Facebook
Kate Forsyth on Twitter
Charlotte-Rose de la Force has been banished from court by the Sun King, Louis XIV, after a series of scandalous love affairs. She is comforted by an old nun, Sœur Seraphina, who tells her the tale of a young girl who, a hundred years earlier, is sold by her parents for a handful of Bitter Greens ...
After Margherita’s father steals a handful of greens—parsley, wintercress and rapunzel—from the walled garden of the courtesan, Selena Leonelli, they give up their daughter to save him from having both hands cut off.
Selena is the famous red-haired muse of the artist Tiziano, first painted by him in 1513 and still inspiring him at the time of his death, sixty-one years later. Called La Strega Bella, Selena is at the centre of Renaissance life in Venice, a world of beauty and danger, seduction and betrayal, love and superstition.
Locked away in a tower, growing to womanhood, Margherita sings in the hope someone will hear her. One day, a young man does...
Three women, three lives, three stories, braided together to create a compelling story of desire, obsession, black magic, and the redemptive power of love.
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(Budapest on November 4 - Waking up to smell the sulfur)
Just when the world thought the Cold War wasn't going to get any colder, this happens. Only twelve days earlier, Hungary went through something of an upheaval with anti-Soviet riots springing up all over the country and a return to power of Imre Nagy (pronounced: Imray Nahj), the moderate who was ousted by pro-Soviet Premier Andras Hegedus in 1955.
So on the morning of November 4th, 1956 when you fell out of bed, it sounded like this:
Bob Pfeiffer (CBS News announcer): “ The latest word from Budapest is that Soviet armored forces seized Budapest in a surprise attack today and captured the government of Premier Imre Nagy. According to communications from Vienna the last words at 8:24 am from the . . .one of the news bureaus in Vienna was – ‘we shall leave our post, we shall leave our post’, according to the Budapest operator ‘goodbye friends, goodbye friends. God save our souls, the Russians are too near’. And then the line from Budapest went dead. Repeating – the Soviet armored forces seized Budapest in a surprise attack today and captured the government of Premier Imre Nagy.”
The Russian army quickly captured Budapest and within days the revolt was crushed and the pro-Soviet hardline regime of Janos Kadar was installed. Hungary would slip back into the Soviet Bloc and not really re-emerge until the collapse of the Soviet Union some 30 years later.
At the time the situation was worrisome as it came hot on the heels of a number of violent clashes in 1956 - the Suez Canal crisis, the Algerian conflict and the anti-communist riots in Poland. It also came at a time when Russia, under the leadership of Nikita Khruschev, was denouncing the Stalin regime and the hope was the new leadership would reflect a moderation on the hardline policies of the past.
No such luck.
Oh . . .the fabulous fifties.
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On the occasion of the Employees Provident Fund (EPF) completing 50 years in mid-2008 since its launch in 1958, a survey by The Sunday Times FT to ascertain its ‘success’ over the years, shows some surprisingly results.
Generally the view has been that the rate of return is too low and if given the option, most people would opt for a well-managed, privately run pension fund. However the survey clearly reveals that many respondents still feel a government-guaranteed scheme like the EPF is a safe investment.
The graph here shows the results of the survey. The three questions asked – to which a Y – (YES), N – (No) or U – (Undecided) -response was requested -, are:
1) Has the EPF achieved what it set out to do – provide a reasonable retirement benefit to its members?
2) EPF funds are invested in Treasury Bills, Treasury Bonds, Equity, Corporate Debentures and Rupee Securities. Are these the best options for a decent return to its members?
3) Despite criticism over the ‘poor’ rate of return, the EPF is still a safe, government-guaranteed option unlike private pension funds.
The following is a compilation of the comments that were received along with the poll.
On Question (1):
-- It has succeeded from the point of security
-- Not really, as the interest payable should be increased in keeping with the present interest rates given by banks on deposits.
-- It could have grown to be much better but with the limitations we have had in achieving our full potential, the ETF has served well.
-- It has failed as EPF funds are invested in unproductive ventures without the approval of its members. There are reports that these funds were used for Mihin Lanka.
On Questions (2):
-- TBs are good but not corporate debentures.
-- Considering that it needs to be secure investments and not those only bringing higher yields, these instruments are appropriate.
-- Yes, because security is at least as important as returns and these are an employee’s lifetime savings.
-- Though TBs and government bonds are secure and these days pay high rates of interest, they are lower than the rate of inflation and therefore provide a negative return.
-- While the funds should - for the most part - be invested in secure investments, EPF funds are also used as a lender of last resort to the government, thus bringing down the rates of return.
-- EPF funds should be invested in preference shares of blue chip companies where-ever possible or in commercial banks which are not controlled by the government such as HSBC, HNB, etc. The recent bull-run on Hayleys shares where powerful businessman Mr Dhammika Perera bought 24 % and took over the controlling interest had EPF shares which were bought for Rs.150 per share. Were the EPF members consulted over this transaction?
On Question (3)
-- On what hand it is a government guaranteed option unlike private pension funds, while on the other, private pension funds also invest in T-bills, etc. These are bid at high rates and get maximum possible return unlike the EPF which bids at low rates.
-- If EPF fund managers consistently got yields (T-bills) below the weighted average yield, what sanctions or penalties do these managers face?
Members have a right to know.
-- No doubt it is a safe fund. Seeing what greed has done to pension funds in the US, ours is a more prudent approach.
-- The EPF is secure but so are private pension funds like the MSPS which are better managed, pay higher rates of interest and offer several benefits such as housing loans, early withdrawal and quick settlement of member funds.
-- The bottom line is that EPF members have no say in the Fund unlike shareholders of companies where the members can vote on important issues. It is best that the EPF is allowed to invest in other companies with a number of safeguards like preference shares, etc
Some general comments:
-- There are a number of troubling aspects to the management of the EPF. From what I understand the government (at least in the past) manipulates the whole system by making the EPF bid at lower rates for government securities. There is no proof of this, but from the outside it certainly looks as if this is happening. The EPF should be run as a completely separate entity with only state oversight and the government should not be allowed anywhere near this "pot of cash".
-- The Labour Department and the Central Bank should manage the funds in a more practical and profitable manner, offering a better return and allowing members to withdraw theirs savings within limitations.
The Sunday Times FT runs regular polls and surveys on email to ascertain public opinion on a range of issues. Those polled (from a data base of 1,000) represent CEOs, Managing Directors, bankers, professionals, public and private sector workers, professionals, NGO workers, etc. We received a total of 230 responses.
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Peter Cohan, Contributor
I write from near Boston about startups and political economy
Last December, I wrote about Xirrus, a commercial WiFi provider tapping iPad growth, whose CEO Dirk Gates had an impressive record of starting and selling companies. Three weeks ago, Gates’ hand-picked replacement, Shane Buckley, took over. Gates, who now focuses on product strategy, decided that Buckley was better suited to lead Xirrus to the next level.
On paper, Buckley has a compelling sales growth track record. He grew commercial networker, NetGear’s, commercial business 50% to $360 million in just two years. At 3Com, he led 49% annual growth in its Asia-Pacific business from $180 million to $500 million in 2.5 years.
But Gates is no slouch either. In 1988 he started Xircom — it connected notebook PCs to corporate networks – and when it hit $100 million in sales, he hired Carl Russo to run the company who took it to $500 million in sales and 2,000 people. In 1992, Xircom went public and in 2001 Intel (INTC) bought it for $748 million in cash.
In a June 18th interview, Buckley explained to me that he was hired by “totally bang up guy” Gates with the goal of accelerating Xirrus’s growth rate so it can approach $1 billion in sales from its current level of $100 million. If he is able to grow Xirrus at a 50% annual rate, Buckley should achieve his target by 2018.
To explain how this would happen, Buckley explained that companies need to change their organization to reach ever-higher size tiers. In general, the idea is that early in a start-up’s development, it needs “hunters” who make as many as 100 telephone calls a day — turning over new sales opportunities, qualifying them, and closing deals.
But as a company establishes its value to customers and reaches a more significant scale, the company needs to shift more of the sales responsibility onto so-called “farmers” who cultivate relationships with distributors. Such cultivation involves training distributors to sell the company’s products – resulting in far higher sales productivity.
Buckley argues that a start-up’s organization must evolve as it grows. Specifically, the skills needed change as an organization grows from $0 to $10 million, between $10 million and $50 million, from $50 million to $100 million, and over $100 million.
Reaching the initial $10 million in sales is the hardest slog. For example, when Buckley worked for Peribit, it took three years to reach $10 million in sales and 18 months thereafter to reach $50 million.
During that first phase, Buckley points out, nobody knows the company or understands the value of the product. But given its limited resources, sales people must be disciplined only to talk with potential customers who are most likely to pay for the product.
The key at this stage is to shun analysts and commercial customers who “don’t get it” and find the so-called early adopters who see the value of the product so they try it, test it, and deploy it in their operations. And if that deployment gives the early adopters the ability to react to market changes faster than competitors, those competitors start calling to get their hands on the product.
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Business Models for the Social Mobile Cloud
The combined impact of social technologies, the mobile Internet, and cloud computing are creating incredible new business opportunities. They are also destroying unprepared companies, transforming industries, and leaving behind workers who are unwilling or unable to adapt. Business Models for the Social Mobile Cloud reveals a compelling view from PwC of how the social mobile cloud and a combination of new technology changes are key players in a digital transformation in business and society that is moving more quickly and cutting more deeply than any technology transformation ever seen.
Ted leads a strategy transformation practice as part of PwC’s management consulting organization. He has lead consulting teams for the past seven years, helping companies take advantage of emerging technologies to redefine product and service offerings, develop new business models, and transform operating models. Before coming to consulting for 15 years Ted worked as an executive in the technology industry in product development, marketing, and strategy roles. His first book, Business Models for the Social Mobile Cloud, is being published by John Wiley & Sons in February 2013.
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.- It was three years ago when Uma Krishnan, a devout Hindu, says she first dreamed of the Virgin Mary. It was January 2006 and she was living in Singapore with her husband, Kumar, and her son, Karthi. In her dream she saw a “very humble lady” surrounded by candles.
She and Kumar knew the lady in Uma’s dreams was not a Hindu god. They knew little of Christianity, but they thought this lady might be the Blessed Mother. Still, because they came from a long tradition of Hinduism in India, they didn’t give the dream much thought.
Later that year Kumar got a job that took him to San Diego. A few months later, he found a new job in McLean. Uma and Karthi joined him that December.
This past April, Uma began to have more dreams of Mary.
One night she dreamed she was walking into a church she’d never seen before. Once inside, she turned right and found a little room where there were red candles and a statue of Mary.
The second night, she was in the same room, but this time she saw a big cross made of palm leaves.
Another night, she dreamed she was in a boat. On her right was a black woman with dark hair and on her left, a lady wearing a blue scarf and holding a Bible. The woman in blue showed Uma some verses to read to make her worries disappear. In her dream, Uma read the Bible verses and both women disappeared.
Uma and Kumar talked about the dreams and, by the fourth night, they decided to visit a church to see what was happening.
Kumar typed “St. Mary Church Fairfax” into Google and entered the address from the first result into his GPS device. The address was for St. Mary of Sorrows Church in Fairfax.
When they got to the church, Uma was shocked. On the outside, it looked just like the church she had dreamed about the first night. When they went inside and turned right, there was a small chapel with red votive candles, a statue of Mary and a cross. It was just like her dreams. Uma started to cry.
“The moment was so touching,” Kumar said. “We were not even Christians and we were not even worshipping when we got such a thing. We were Hindus and we didn’t exactly know how to pray, but we just sat there and said, ‘Thank you. Thank you for all these visions and thank you for bringing us here. We don’t know what to do, you tell us, you guide us, show us what has to be done.’”
After the first visit to the church, a few days passed and Uma and Kumar didn’t return. Instead, they went to their Hindu temple.
Uma had another dream. She saw the statue of Mary on the outside wall of the church. Mary’s arms were out and there was a bright light coming from behind. In Uma’s mind, the statue seemed to be saying, “Come back to me.”
When Uma told Kumar, they decided to go to St. Mary of Sorrows that day. It was a Wednesday, and this time, they went into the main meeting room, where the Charismatic Prayer Group gathered. They shared their story and prayed with them.
After that, Uma and Kumar began to attend Mass and the Charismatic Prayer Group every week.
Uma’s dreams continued, but the couple also started experiencing strange “spiritual disturbances.” Uma would have nightmares, and during the day, alone at home, she would hear strange laughing, heavy breathing or footsteps. Sometimes she would feel a pressure on her neck and would have trouble breathing.
The disturbances were so bad that Uma was afraid to be alone. Kumar would drop her off at St. Mary of Sorrows when he went to work in the morning and she would stay at the church all day.
Frightened, Uma and Kumar talked to Father Stefan Starzynski, St. Mary of Sorrows parochial vicar.
Starzynski told them the disturbances might be coming because they were moving away from Hinduism. He told them not to worry and that they’d be okay if they just went toward the one, true God.
“Even as Hindus they were coming to the prayer groups and the healing Masses and praying the rosary every day, so I think something was trying to stop them from entering the Faith fully,” Father Starzynski said.
Kumar and Uma decided to get rid of all of their Hindu belongings and devote themselves entirely to Catholicism.
Because of their circumstances, the parish had a team of four parishioners teach the couple a condensed version of the traditional yearlong Rite of Christian Initiation for Adults program. Uma and Kumar went to the program every Saturday to learn about the sacraments and to discuss the Bible.
“It sounded like Mary was calling them to us and I felt like we had a responsibility to them,” said Father Starzynski. “They told me they wanted to become Catholic and they were so excited and eager that I thought this was an opportunity to be flexible.”
By the end of August, the group decided the family was ready to become Catholic. Sept. 12, Uma, Kumar and Karthi were baptized and the couple received the sacraments of confirmation, Communion and marriage.
In the days leading up to the ceremonies, Uma and Kumar feel they received lots of help from Mary.
Though they had a very limited budget and hardly any time to plan, Uma and Kumar wanted to have a nice wedding ceremony. They only had $400 to spend on a wedding dress for Uma, but their son found a perfect dress for $399.
Then, after deciding wedding photographers would be too expensive, a photographer from the parish offered his services for free.
Before the baptism and wedding day, Uma had another dream. This time Mary was standing outside the historic St. Mary of Sorrows Church, with a big smile on her face. She was holding two wedding rings and three rosaries — red, orange and yellow.
The couple decided to use those colors in Uma’s bouquet and on the wedding cake, all donated by fellow churchgoers.
On the actual day, the whole parish was invited to see Uma and Kumar receive the sacraments. A reception was held in the hall of the historic church, decorated with red, orange and yellow flowers.
“Even though we hadn’t planned things, God had planned for us,” Kumar said. “He planned everything so perfectly and he took care of everything, right down to the photographs. It was like he has predicted this marriage for us. We are so glad and so thankful and so lucky to be here.”
Father Starzynski said Uma and Kumar’s conversion story shows that God works in mysterious ways. He felt honored that he could be there to help the family.
“I think it speaks to how beautifully God can work and does work,” he said. “It makes you think, are we flexible enough to understand the ways God may work that are outside the box that we have constructed?”
Since they received the sacraments, Kumar and Uma say the disturbances and nightmares have stopped. Uma feels stronger and is able to stay home by herself with no fear.
“We feel like the Holy Spirit in her has just given her this total protection,” Kumar said.
The couple says they are constantly impressed with the parish community.
“I feel like I’ve been wandering all over the place and that I’ve come home,” Kumar said. “I never heard of such good people, such good Catholic people.”
And through it all, Uma’s dreams of Mary continue.
“Whether it’s good or bad, we want to share them with everybody so everybody knows about it,” Kumar said. “Some may take it badly, but we want to share it. We are very fortunate. I feel lucky, I feel honored and I feel blessed.”
Printed with permission from the Arlington Catholic Herald, newspaper from the Diocese of Arlington, Va.
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Treasury Secterary and TARP mastermind, Tim Geither is said to oppose the nomination of Elizabeth Warren as head of the new Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. His opposition might be the best endorsement one could have.
Shahien Nasiripour of the Huffington Post elaborates on why Geithner would oppose her:
Warren, a professor at Harvard Law School whose 2007 journal article advocating the creation of such an agency inspired policymakers to enact it into law, has rocketed to prominence since the onset of the financial crisis as one of the leading reform advocates fighting on behalf of American taxpayers.
Warren has been an aggressive proponent for the bureau in public and behind the scenes, working regularly with President Barack Obama’s top advisers and the Democratic leadership in Congress. Since 2008, she has overseen the Congressional Oversight Panel, a bailout watchdog created to keep tabs on how two administrations spent hundreds of billions of taxpayer dollars to bail out Wall Street while struggling to keep distressed homeowners out of foreclosure and small businesses from collapsing…
In addition, her increasing public profile could make it difficult for Geithner, who will oversee the unit until it’s transferred to the Federal Reserve. His role would involve trying to balance her advocacy on behalf of borrowers with the demands of the nation’s major financial institutions, his traditional constituency. Geithner’s objections to Warren taking over that role also involve her views on Wall Street, sources say. The longtime professor believes the nation’s megabanks are Too Big To Fail and have been among the biggest abusive lenders in the country. Her toughness on giant banks is said to be a longtime source of tension with Geithner.
Warren understands the need for greater clarity and transparency in the financial sector. In her Daily Show interview last year, she pointed out that it was deregulation that led to the major banking crises including the current one as well as the Savings and Loan Crisis (See Garn–St. Germain Depository Institutions Act and Depository Institutions Deregulation and Monetary Control Act).
After the fiasco with FEMA in Hurricane Katrina, it’s obvious a government bureaucracy needs an effective leader to function properly; otherwise, business will be the same as usual for behemoths like Goldman-Sachs. Unlike many politicians, she understands the threat the middle class faces. In fact, she wrote a book discussing these exact problems. The PBS summary:
The Two Income Trap: Why Middle-Class Mothers and Fathers Are Going Broke, the authors lay out their arguments against the “predatory” lending practices of the mortgage and credit card industries and their effect on American families. The authors maintain that re-regulation of consumer lending is needed to level the playing field between creditors and families and reverse a disturbing trend: the transfer of wealth away from lower- and middle-income families, “directly into the pockets of giant lenders and their shareholders.”
Key points (as percentage of annual income):
- Saving went from 11% to less than nothing
- Credit Card Debt went from 1.4% to 15%
So basically what was once saved has instead been spent. But spent on what?
Consumption spending on: Clothing, Appliances, and Food all decreased. So where did the money go? The increases are found in important areas (which she describes as “fixed, relentless expenses”):
- 76% Mortgage (People buy bigger houses; true “entry level”, affordable homes are not being built)
- 74% Health Insurance
- 52% Cars (People need two cars)
- 100% Child care (Stay-at-home Mom’s save money)
- 25% Taxes (Two incomes = bigger tax bracket)
The seventies single-income family spent about half it’s income on the basic expenses, whereas the current two-income family spends about three quarters of their income on these basic expenses.
She makes the point that two income families are necessary today, and almost all the income is already “fully budgeted.” In the seventies, if the primary bread winner gets sick or fired, the stay-at-home Mom could go to work to provide a cushion.
She also points out that income volatility (the likelihood of getting fired) has gone up drastically since the seventies. The odds of suffering an economic blow for a family with two children has gone up 95%. The cost of a new home for a family with two children has gone up 100%, which she attributes to people buying homes near a good school.
She also points out that the widespread belief in the seventies was that if you had a good work ethic and a high school diploma, you’d make it into the middle class. The widespread belief today is that preschool and a university degree are required to make it into the middle class.
As we all know the middle class is eroding, and it is imperative we have someone like Warren who knows this so she can help prevent the coming collapse. In a 2005 article from Boston Review, in fact, she and Amelia Warren Tyagi outlined a few potential steps that can save the middle class from the predatory banks and elite:
Credit. Each year millions of families are trapped by credit-card issuers and mortgage lenders that market deceptive products and use unscrupulous billing practices. America needs to develop product-safety standards for credit cards and mortgages, just as we have for all other consumer products. No one can sell a toaster in the United States that has a one in 11 chance of burning down someone’s home; likewise, a mortgage that has a one in 11 chance of putting someone in foreclosure should be banned. Credit products should be clear, honest, and not loaded with tricks and traps.
Schools. A failing public-school system affects more than the poor children who are trapped in it. It also puts enormous pressure on middle-class families to buy property in the right school districts, thus pushing up housing prices. Improving the quality of public education would diminish the financial pressure on middle-class families.
Preschool and college. A generation ago, we all paid taxes to support the 12 years of education we thought every child needed to be solidly middle-class. Today parents are on the hook for two years of preschool and four years of college—and they pay this out of their own pockets. Those six additional years of tuition payments are not extras; they have become part of the minimum standard of education for middle-class work. It is time to expand public education to cover the basics.
Health and disability insurance. Decent health insurance is rapidly becoming a luxury that median-earning families cannot afford. Faux insurance and no insurance are leaving millions of families one diagnosis away from financial meltdown. It is time to get serious about making health insurance affordable. And health insurance alone is not enough. National short-term disability insurance—to cover illnesses and accidents—needs to be on the agenda as well.
Savings. Creditors have spent billions of dollars to advertise the attractiveness of debt. America needs a few rules that promote family savings: checkoffs so that tax refunds can go straight into retirement accounts, easier payroll deductions, and tax incentives for all savings. It would also help if the chairman of the Federal Reserve promoted saving rather than pumping up home-equity borrowing, putting the interests of families—not the profits of banks—first.
Retirement. People must not be abandoned when they can no longer work. When a company promises an employee a pension, the government has a responsibility to make sure the company is setting enough aside to meet this obligation. Social security must remain secure, but programs to encourage saving and to buttress employer-sponsored pensions are also necessary to ensure the long-term security of the middle class.
It’s amazing that someone with such keen insight in to the crisis we face hasn’t been sidelined by the elite. Without a doubt, it is imperative Warren head the new agency to give the financial reform bill some teeth.
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Atlanta Greek Picnic, Inc takes great pride in supporting Non- Profit organizations that impact the lives of Children by exposing them to the arts, sciences and sports while developing them to become tomorrow’s leaders. Below are the organizations we proudly support in assisting them to reach their goals. Below are a few that we have sponsored.
Ladies of Favor mentoring program
Ladies of Favor, Inc. Mentoring Program’s mission is to provide a family oriented support system to disadvantaged females ages 12 to 21 years old to embrace spiritual guidance, increase self esteem, promote abstinence and build leadership.
Sporty Girl’s Inc
Sporty Girls seeks to encourage minority girls age 8 – 18 to participate and achieve success in non-traditional sports. Sporty Girls will expose young women to golf, soccer, swimming, and tennis while building good character and lifestyle skills.Our goal is to develop young female athletes into collegiate superstars who will earn athletic and/or academic scholarships.
Frank Ski Kid’s Foundation
The Frank Ski Kids Foundation embraces youth and their value by showing examples and providing hands-on opportunities to promote optimal growth, self-expression, ingenuity, achievement and learning vital to their ambitions. Through the efforts of the Foundation and the help of charitable contributors, observable differences in communities have been made. Our efforts to date have helped many children, but the needs of our children remain immense. We must continue with unfaltering determination and dedication.
The LEAD Foundation, Inc., a non-profit entity, is committed to making long-term changes to sustain the viability of our communities. We are focused on “developing tomorrow’s leaders today” through leadership development opportunities that extend classroom learning.
Our cornerstone program is the A.L.P.H.A (Alpha Leadership Program for Higher Achievement) Program; an 11-week program with a longstanding history of student success. The program is designed to target middle and high school students (grades 6 through 12) to address specific needs and preparatory skills required for professional, leadership and social development, academic excellence and higher personal achievement. Workshops and modules focus on, but are not limited to, the following critical areas: College Preparation, Career Planning, Interviewing Skills, Resume Writing, Professional Etiquette and Attire, Fiscal Responsibility, Health Management, Leadership Training and Development, Technology Awareness, Critical Thinking and Analysis, and Public Speaking/Oratorical Skills. The program finishes with a week-long college tour during Gwinnett County’s spring break.
Save Morris Brown Fundraiser:
Morris Brown College
Morris Brown College has faced and endured difficult circumstances since the turn of the 21st century. Numerous financial and reputational issues – even the loss of accreditation – have added to the constant speculation about the school’s viability and ultimate demise. These challenges have been documented in numerous stories in the media and popular press. Yet, despite varied impressions about their struggles, Morris Brown College continues to weather these hard times and survive. Throughout this survival process, they have never wavered from our 1881 charter as an institution of higher learning, believing in the promise of our students and providing them a quality education. The “new” Morris Brown College will be armored to quickly and easily respond to and take advantage of economic cycles, demographic projections, job trends, and labor market shifts as we impact the future of higher education.
The Atlanta Greek picnic weekend has taken great pride in donating a portion of our proceeds back to Morris brown college after every year’s event.
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A year after it was first announced, the South African department of education yesterday kicked off its teacher laptop initiative. The initiative aims to subsidise teachers so that they can purchase a laptop from one of the department’s approved suppliers. It’s a welcome addition to the education arena except for one detail. Despite a national [...]
The US State Department has thrown its weight behind an initiative to promote software development for the good of East African residents. The Apps 4 Africa contest was launched earlier this month and aims to encourage developers to produce software that will improve the quality of life for residents of this region. The contest is [...]
Google’s WebM project has switched licenses to bring its free video codec in line with standard open source licences.
Computer Aid Namibia has unveiled plans to establish a free and open source software institute in Omaruru. The new institute will be known as the Namibia Open Source Software Institute (NOSSI) and will promote the use of free and open source software in the country.
Microsoft this week added to it’s growing open source software collection by announcing open source PST data tools. The software, which was released under an Apache 2.0 license, will allow open source developers to work with Outlook’s PST file format.
With the cloud computing wave poised to reach the world market in the next 12 to 18 months, open source software and coding techniques are about to hit the big time.
OpenBill 1.2, a Java-based invoicing and contract management application, has been released by South African developer Jumping Bean. The new release includes both a number of bugfixes as well as a few key feature additions.
Open source may have had a late start in the realm of enterprise virtualisation, but the meticulous and attentive development of this technology has led to better products in the long run. Not only is open source virtualisation now fully enterprise-ready, but it offers greater cost-savings and more flexibility that its proprietary counterparts.
tuxThe Linux Professional Association of Kenya and ICT Consumers Association of Kenya will be hosting Kenya’s first-ever open source awards at the end of this month.
Despite a national open source strategy and a well-publicised set of minimum interoperability standards for government, the South African education department has launched a teacher laptop project that excludes open source software.keep looking »
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WASHINGTON - Maryland lawmakers are already at work drafting bills on issues dealing with substance abuse and public safety.
Under a bill drafted by Maryland Delegate Kevin Kelly, D-Allegany County, synthetic marijuana would be categorized as a controlled, dangerous substance. It's already illegal under federal law, so some want to know why there's a need for state legislation.
Kelly says when it comes to enforcement, "the feds just do not have the resources," so he's proposing the statewide law so that local prosecutors can pursue cases involving the chemical compounds known as "spice," "K2" or "K5."
A similar bill on synthetic pot failed last year, but legislation banning bath salts passed, and that's why Kelly's optimistic. His proposal would mirror the bath salts bill.
The Gazette newspaper reports that part of the problem in legislating against synthetic marijuana, or any synthetic drug, is that manufacturers can make one small change to the chemical makeup of the product so that it's no longer illegal. Kelly says that simply means that the law will have to be tweaked to deal with those changes.
Driving drunk when kids are in the car
Another bill reappearing in Annapolis this year: An effort to require anyone who drives drunk with kids in the car to have an interlock device installed in their vehicle. Delegate Sam Arora, D-Montgomery County, is submitting this bill, again, because he says driving while impaired with children in the car is "beyond reckless."
Under current Maryland law, motorists convicted of driving drunk are ordered to install an interlock device only if they've blown 0.15, nearly double the legal limit. Arora's bill would change that, requiring the interlock if a driver had a blood alcohol content of 0.08, the current limit at which a driver is deemed impaired.
Arora came up with the legislation based on two things. First, reports from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention cite the following statistic: Most people who drove drunk with kids present in the car weren't driving drunk for the first time. Far from it. According to the CDC, those drivers likely drove 80 times before they were ever cited by an officer.
The other trend that prompted the legislation involves an increase in the number of people driving drunk with children in their cars. The Washington Regional Alcohol Program reported that between 2009 and 2011, there was a 10 percent increase.
(Copyright 2012 by WTOP. All Rights Reserved.)
"Sulu" weighs in on the actor filling his shoes in the new "Star Trek."
Star-studded event raises millions for AIDS research. (Photos)
The Nickelodeon star's antics continue in New York City.
The Galapagos Islands are now just a click away. (Photos)
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Although this case is not a workers' comp case, it can have implications for workers' comp because some injured workers in states that have legalized marijuana may be using it for pain relief.
In James, et al. v. City of Costa Mesa, et al., No. 10-55769 (9th Cir. 11/01/12), severely disabled residents of two cities in California obtained recommendations from their doctors to use marijuana to treat their pain. The cities in which the residents obtained marijuana took steps to close marijuana dispensing facilities operating within their boundaries. The residents sued the cities under the ADA Title II, alleging that the cities interfered with their access to medical marijuana and prevented them from accessing public services.
The 9th Circuit affirmed the denial of preliminary injunctive relief, explaining that the ADA defines "illegal drug use" by referring to federal, not state, law, and federal law does not authorize the residents' medical marijuana use. The court concluded that the residents' medical marijuana use was not protected by the ADA.
Legislative history of the ADA. The court agreed with the cities that the residents' state-authorized medical marijuana use is not covered by the supervised use exception to the ADA because it is not authorized by federal law. The legislative history of the ADA did not demonstrate that the exception was meant to extend beyond the uses authorized by the Controlled Substances Act, 21 USC Section 812, or other provisions of federal law.
It was "unlikely that Congress would have wished to legitimize state-authorized, federally proscribed medical marijuana use" in an ambiguous ADA provision, the court said. To conclude that the use of marijuana for medicinal purposes was not an illegal use of drugs under the ADA would undermine the Controlled Substances Act's statement that marijuana is an unlawful controlled substance with no accepted medical use. Congress could not have intended to create a loophole for the use of controlled substances under the supervision of a doctor, the court explained.
A dissenting judge opined that the legislative history of the ADA supported the residents' interpretation of the ADA, explaining that their use of medical marijuana was supervised by a doctor.
This case demonstrates that employers can enforce drug-free workplace policies against workers using medical marijuana without the fear of an ADA suit, at least in states with legal medical marijuana.
Read more at the WorkersComp Forum homepage.
December 17, 2012
Copyright 2012© LRP Publications
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My digestive system has been screwed up since I was a kid, so I think I have a predisposition for food intolerances. I have a ton of them (many of which are irrelevant with this WOE, thank goodness), fructose malabsorption included. I did a fructose elimination diet a while ago and found I don't tolerate it either. After I cut out all fruit and higher fructose veggies (for a couple months), I started gradually adding fructose-containing foods back in one by one and found I was supper sensitive. I had a reaction after any sort of fruit or higher sugar vegetable (like carrots) I tried.
I think most people can tolerate the small amounts of fructose in fruit. I think after a person clears their system of it, the reaction to fructose will be more pronounced from their perspective because they've gone thirty days without it. Once you realize how good you feel without something you can't tolerate, you notice it more when that something makes you feel terrible. Though I don't know if your tolerance of it actually lessens once you rid it of your system.
ETA: I know I said "tolerance" a lot in my response but fructose malabsorption is, as the name suggests, a malabsorption issue. It's not a tolerance issue.
Fructose Malabsorption Disorder is the inability to absorb fructose and fructans. This condition is NOT characterized by the inability to "tolerate" fructose/fructans. Sufferers of Fructose Malabsorption have no difficulty tolerating fructose/fructans once they have been absorbed. However, inducing absorption is difficult or impossible for FructMal sufferers. The symptoms of the disease are the result of having unabsorbed fructose/fructans in the lower intestine.
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Along with the completely redesigned iMac and inflated iBook, the other big news from Steve Jobs's keynote today was iPhoto, a highly welcome, if painfully obvious addition to Apple's suite of free applications that by themselves go a long way toward differentiating Macs from garden variety PCs. And this year, iPhoto will also provide incentive for current Mac users to switch to Mac OS X - it's designed solely for Apple's now-default operating system.
How painfully obvious was iPhoto? We even guessed at iPhoto's name a year ago when it became clear that Apple needed a consumer-level application for managing all the images captured from digital cameras. After all, if Apple intends the Mac to be a digital hub, it needs to do more with digital photos than it has in the past. And as much as the image cataloging programs offer extensive feature sets, they're all aimed at graphics professionals rather than normal users.
iPhoto, on the other hand, is clearly designed for the average digital camera owner (and considering that six million digital cameras were sold in the U.S. in 2001, that's a nice market). It provides a three-pane interface reminiscent of iTunes, with the left-hand pane holding user-generated photo albums instead of playlists, along with controls for some common functions (adding photo albums, running a slide show, getting/setting information on an image or album, and rotating images). The large right-hand pane shows either a single image or scalable thumbnails of multiple images. The third pane, which takes up the entire bottom of the iPhoto window, changes to offer additional feedback or commands, depending on the current mode.
Importing and Organizing -- You bring photos into iPhoto either by connecting a supported digital camera or card reader (Apple has a list of supported cameras, card readers, and printers on its Web site), or by importing images already on your hard disk. Importing, even from hard disk, isn't fast, but it's a one-time operation. iPhoto imposes a somewhat odd Finder filing scheme on you, creating a huge date-based hierarchy of folders in your home directory's Pictures folder. So, for instance, I have a 2001 folder that contains numbered folders for the months in which I took photos. And inside each of those are numbered folders for each day. Within those folders are the individual files, sequentially numbered. Various other files provide the metadata iPhoto uses to track albums, keywords, and titles. One advantage (or potential gotcha, depending on your images) is that all of iPhoto's images are automatically available to Mac OS X's Slide Show screensaver module.
Once you've brought your images into iPhoto, you can organize them in a number of ways - click the Organize button to enter that mode. You can make albums and add photos to them, or use the controls at the bottom of the window for assigning keywords. You can change the default keywords or define your own, up to 16, but doing so requires entering keyword editing mode by choosing Edit Keywords from the Edit menu - an ungainly interface that you won't have to endure often. You can also name images: to see how, select one and click the "info" button in the left pane to reveal information about the image, including date, image size, file size, and user-defined comments. I don't recommend naming images generally, since it's a lot of work that I've found inherently unhelpful in the end (if you're like most people, most of your images are likely to have somewhat similar subjects, making coherent names difficult). Two checkboxes let you decide if you want to display titles or keywords next to the thumbnails, and a third adds dividers to your thumbnail view based on "film roll," a method of organizing the pictures into groups based on when they were imported into iPhoto.
It's a little hard to say when you'll want to use albums in favor of keywords or vice versa, since once you've assigned keywords to images, you can click the keyword controls to display just the images matching those keywords. You can produce exactly the same results using either keywords or albums - what I'd recommend (and keep in mind that as of this writing I have minutes of experience with this program) is that you restrict albums to unique labels that you're likely to want to use only once, whereas keywords should be the kind of thing you could apply to nearly any photo. Plus, albums are necessary for making books - more on that later.
Editing Images -- One problem most photo cataloging programs have is that the only editing they let you do on images is rotation. That's probably the primary activity you want to do and iPhoto offers a rotate button that works in any view, along with a bigger button when you're in Edit mode - click either button to rotate an image counter-clockwise; Option-click it to rotate clockwise.
But iPhoto doesn't stop there, providing three additional functions that should handle most image editing needs. You can crop images, and it provides a way of constraining your cropping to specific image sizes. You can also select an area and click a button to reduce red-eye - a common problem that can result in some truly demonic pictures. Finally, a Black & White button does exactly what you'd expect, an effect that works especially well with images of people. In Edit mode, the slider that sets thumbnail size in Organize mode instead zooms in or out of the image. And finally, Previous and Next buttons make it easy to move between images without having to switch back to Organize mode. Throughout the process, iPhoto uses ColorSync to maintain accurate color values.
If iPhoto's image editing capabilities aren't sufficient, you can also set a helper application to kick in when you double-click an image. That might be useful if you find yourself wanting to do color correction or adjust contrast or brightness on your photos regularly. Personally, I'm not bothered by iPhoto's lack of those controls - I usually end up botching the job when I try do such things.
Sharing Images -- Where iPhoto really shines, however, is in its functions for sharing and presenting your photo collection. Perhaps the most innovative feature iPhoto offers is the capability to create a picture book of your images. You can choose a number of themes, much as you can in iDVD, and within each them, you can customize how many images print on each page and the text that accompanies them. You can't print books yourself, unfortunately; instead you must upload it to a service that prints the images on high-quality paper and wraps it all up in a classy linen hardcover binding. Books cost $30 for up to 10 pages, and $3 per page after that, plus tax and delivery the following week. As a friend moaned after the keynote, the cost will add up fast by the time you create copies for all the grandparents several times each year (but it may also prove to be an easy and popular holiday gift).
Clicking into Share mode presents you with a number of choices: Print, Slide Show, Order Prints, Order Book, HomePage, and Export. Print offers four styles, Contact Sheet (where you select the number of images to print across and iPhoto does the scaling for you), Full Page, Greeting Card (which prints either single-fold or double-fold cards with the image on one panel), and Standard Prints (which offers 4x6, 5x7, and 8x10 sizes). Slide Show runs a standard slide show with configurable delays and background music. Order Prints connects to a service run by Kodak for printing selected images on photo paper at a variety of sizes (and prices) for shipping to any address you choose. Order Book does much the same thing, but since you've arranged the book on your computer, it's just a matter of how many copies and where to send it. Clicking HomePage offers you the choice of different themes, after which your images are uploaded to your iDisk and displayed via your Mac.com picture page. (These last three options are described from memory - we didn't have an Internet connection available while writing.) Finally, Export lets you export images as individual files, as custom Web pages for uploading to your own Web server, or as a QuickTime movie slide show you can send to friends or family. Unfortunately, exporting as a Web page isn't particularly good - iPhoto provides you with one or more thumbnail pages, and clicking a thumbnail expands the image, but it doesn't even provide navigation to move on to the next expanded image without going back to the thumbnails. I'm still waiting for someone to come up with a program that generates a framed Web page approach that offers easy navigation for thumbnails and expanded images at the same time.
Close Shutter -- Perhaps my main criticism of iPhoto right now is that it doesn't acknowledge the fact that many families are likely to have multiple computers and may wish to share a single photo library. It may be possible to work some magic with aliases, but we weren't able to figure out any way to fool a copy of iPhoto on one computer into using the photo library on another computer. iTunes isn't great at this either, but at least you can point iTunes at a Music folder that exists on another Mac and have it load the music over the network. (Unfortunately, iTunes won't automatically mount a volume when you try to play an MP3 track shared like this).
Although we've been able to play with iPhoto for only a short time, it's clear that it's going to be a huge win for Apple. Aside from the fact that it provides a reason to choose a Mac over a PC (though, to be fair, Windows XP offers some of these sort of features as well), and Mac OS X over Mac OS 9, iPhoto provides a perfect example of how a free application could actually improve Apple's bottom line through revenues related to print and book orders. Steve Jobs claimed that Apple had sold one million DVD-R blank disks in the last year (and Apple has just reduced the price to $5 per disk) - I have to believe that there are a lot more people who will want to order prints or picture books than wanted to burn DVDs in 2001. I know I'll be giving it a try, something I've never managed to do with any of the other digital photo printing services.
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I tossed around the idea of pressurized CO2 but considering the estimated ten to fifteen times faster growth that CO2 injection bring's,, I did not fancy the idea of large weekly pruning to keep the plant's from going wild with growth, and possibly blocking light to younger plant's,to where they could not get a good start.
Many of those who run such tank's as far as I can see,are alway's pruning, and their aquascapes are seldom kept more than a few week's, month's before they tear it down and start another.
Nothing wrong with this if it suit's you,Bu tI'm into slower growth,,longer aquascape design,little to no pruning,and zero chance of gassing fishes.
Just sayin,,be careful what you wish for. If you have the time for the near constant pruning ,then CO2 injection,which allow's more light or moderate light, and also increases the demand for nutrient's..is excellent for growth of wide range of plant's.
judging from the growth of my low light ,NON co2 enhanced tank,, I conceded that I was not up to the extra work and billfold was not up to the extra expense.
Maybe some day soon I shall give the gas a go, but for now,,
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"Z" (1969) resembles a Hollywood-style political thriller in many ways, including a pounding musical score, a serpentine plot and multiple chase scenes. It is exciting based solely on these elements, but what distinguishes "Z" from other genre films is director Costa-Gavras' ability to depict the chaos and complexity of a tragic event that can't be pared down to a single narrative strand or resolved by a single heroic figure.
The film, based on the book of the same title by Vassilis Vassilikos, is set in an unnamed country, but is based loosely on the real-life assassination in 1953 of Greek activist Gregoris Lambakis. The assassination was officially labeled a traffic accident at the time, but investigation revealed a complex murder plot backed by military and government officials.
In "Z" the Lambakis figure is played by Yves Montand and named only as The Doctor. He is billed as the movie's star but checks out rather quickly. The film diffuses its narrative among multiple characters from two-bit hoodlums to buffoonish military officials to the closest thing we have to a protagonist, the intrepid Magistrate (prosecutor) played by Jean-Louis Trintignant. In a film full of corrupt, incompetent and self-interested people he is the most admirable character, pursuing the truth methodically and without histrionics.
Casting the Magistrate as the hero is symptomatic of the ways in which "Z" differs from the typical political thriller. He appears almost exclusively while sitting behind a desk and barely shows any sign of emotion from behind his dark glasses, a neat bit of contra-type casting for the normally more expressive Trintignant. When righteous justice arrives at the end, he simply asks each of the accused for their "First name, last name, profession." Vengeance serves no useful function in the pursuit of justice and justice itself is temporary when a new government (or military junta) can come in and change the law as displayed by the horribly depressing coda that viciously undercuts any sense of uplifting victory. Imagine Sly Stallone standing victorious over Apollo Creed in "Rocky 2" with music swelling… and then dropping dead of a heart attack. "Yo, Adri... (thump)"
Yet "Z" is not a cool, clinical policier either. The attack on the Doctor is followed by a remarkable action sequence in the back of a speeding pick-up that could be taken from any Hollywood action flick (at least in the pre-CGI era when scenes were actually staged and filmed.) Comic relief appears in the form of one of the eventual low level fall guys Vago (Marcel Bozzuffi) and a dogged photojournalist (Jacques Perrin) whose omnipresence borders on the mystical.
The film owes its success in no small part to the great cinematographer Raoul Coutard, most famous for his 60s collaborations with Jean-Luc Godard. With Godard, he mastered the naturalist on-the-fly style that rapidly became ubiquitous even in Hollywood cinema. Here, his mobile camera captures the sense of chaos as crowds swell and disperse and action takes place on multiple planes. It's like being fully immersed (a sense bolstered by the rich, ambient sound track) in a crisis as it explodes and swirls around the viewer, the sort of work that gets labeled as "documentary-like" even though that term has no real meaning.
"Z" launched Costa-Gavras to international stardom, netting a jury prize and Best Actor (Trintignant) at Cannes the Best Foreign Picture Oscar, one of the rare cases in which the Academy voters didn't screw up this often embarrassing category. He never quite matched the success of his breakthrough film, but scored a major coup when he won the Palme d'Or for "Missing" (1982), an English-language film with Jack Lemmon and Sissy Spacek. Nonetheless, "Z" remains his defining film, one which sealed his reputation as a respected auteur permanently.
The film is presented in its original 1.66:1 aspect ratio. The restored high-def transfer is supervised by Raoul Coutard and looks as sharp as you would expect from Criterion. It preserves a fine grainy look and its inky black sets just the right mood for this dark political exposé.
The DVD is presented in Dolby Digital Mono. It sounded good to me (non-audiophile that I am) and did justice to the booming score by Mikis Theodorakis. Optional English subtitles support the French audio.
The film is accompanied by a commentary track by film scholar Peter Cowie (recorded for Criterion in 2009).
The DVD includes a 2009 interview with Costa-Gavras (19 min.) and a 2009 interview with Raoul Coutard (11 min.)
The "From the Archives" feature includes several older interviews: author Vassilis Vassilikos (1967, 10 min.) and two other interviews Costa-Gavras and various cast members (1968, 5 min. and 1969, 3 min. each)
A Trailer is the only other extra.
The insert booklet features an essay by Criterion-favorite Armond White.
Successful as both an action film and a document of its turbulent time, "Z" is a landmark in the political thriller genre, one which influenced many films to follow. It alternates tone masterfully moving from hectic chase scenes to cool, toned-down legal hearings. It's indispensable viewing for anyone interested in the instability and violence that marked world politics in the late 60s (and through the 70s) and a film that will appeal to a wide audience. If you've got friends who don't like those movies where you have to read subtitles, this is a good film to steer then towards.
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Golf Betting Guide
As with any sports betting, a comprehension of the idea of value is critical to make a profit from betting on golf. In the simplest terms, any player whose chances of success are greater than that reflected in the odds on offer for a particular event represents a value bet.
By way of illustration, consider tossing a fair coin. It has an equal 50% probability of landing head or tails. The fair price for each outcome is even money. Imagine just for a minute that someone will offer, say, 6/4 against tails. Suddenly, backing tails becomes a superb value bet, offering a return of 2½ times the amount staked. This scenario is, of course, ridiculous, since the actual probability of each outcome is known.
However, in golf betting, the real probability of any golfer winning is an unknown and both bookmakers` odds compilers and golf punters can only make what is essentially an educated guess at the outcome of an event. Along with recent form, world rankings and various performance stats, odds compilers must attempt to predict the betting patterns of the general public and factor these into the odds they offer for each player. As of 30th May 2012, the first three in the world rankings are Luke Donald, Rory McIlroy and Lee Westwood. The layers will expect to see money for these well-known names wherever they compete and they are likely to be repeatedly near the head of the market.
In order to make a profit, a bookmaker will attempt to compile a "balanced" book by taking bets on most (ideally all) of the players in a tournament. The odds offered have an inbuilt profit margin, known as an "overround," which will ensure that with a balanced book, the bookmaker will make money regardless of who wins. As betting on a tournament develops, the layer must adjust his / her prices dependent on the players being backed most strongly. The bookmaker will shorten the odds on these players, while offering longer prices on those that have attracted little or no money, attempting to lay such players and achieve a balanced ledger. A shrewd golf punter can take advantage of this odds-balancing process, which often throws up some value bets.
Weighing up the odds on offer and assessing value bets is difficult, given the subjective nature of the process. However, there are several crucial factors to consider when assessing value. Many golf punters consider that a player`s recent performances are the key to winner-finding and while it is part of the story, there are other elements to consider. Often, golfers do well in specific tournaments or at specific courses, so previous tournament form is well worth a look when assessing value. Course characteristics are also important. Very long courses will suit those players who can hit the ball a fortnight, while shorter courses often suit those that chip and putt well. Golfing "maidens" usually represent poor value. These are players that have never won a tournament and have yet to demonstrate their ability to cope with the pressure of "holding it together" in the closing stages.
For UK golfers, 2 fore one discount vouchers are a great money-saving idea, allowing 2 players to play for a single green fee.
Published: Friday 08th June 2012
Add your Comment here
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Hi and welcome to Spark People where you will find lots of information and tons of support and encouragement from all our members. You will find that we also have fun along the way. Drink your 8-8oz glasses of water a day (If you only drink one now, add to as you are able until you are drinking your 8 cups or more a day), watch your portion control (measure everything in the beginning...guaranteed it will get easier) and walk, dance or do any exercise you enjoy (start with 10 minutes a day or several times a day and add to it as you are able or have time). Use your fitness and nutrition tracker daily (guaranteed to work if you use them consistently and honestly). Pick one thing to change...one thing at a time. Don't try to change to many things at once as that can be very overwhelming. Just try to take one step, one minute, one hour, one day, one week at a time. They honestly will all add up to the bigger numbers. These tips will definitely help in lowering your numbers and increasing your ability to enjoy life. Don't expect miracles right away...this is a lifestyle change not a diet. You will be much healthier in the long run. Post any concerns, comments or questions you may have and someone will respond quickly.
Start each day with a positive thought just for that day. Reading and reflecting on an inspirational thought or message before you start your day can put you in a positive frame of mind.
Your thoughts determine whether you have a good day or a bad day. Fill your mind with positive ideas, suggestions, and thoughts. You will find it will change your attitude and changing your attitude can change your life.
Sometimes just reading an inspirational quote or a short paragraph helps one see the positive in a situation. Sometimes as your day progresses you just need to take a break...Take a mental break and read or think about a message of inspiration.
Never underestimate your power to change and improve! You are a good person, with wonderful qualities, and you can reach your goals!
If I can be of any help to you, please let me know with a spark mail or a comment on my page. I am here for you.
God bless you on your journey to a healthier you.
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Puck Christmas 1901. Illustration shows Santa Claus with a pack full of toys and two children and an infant; they have chosen books "The works of Tolstoi", "Montaigne's Essays", and "Microscopic Analysis, vol. IV" rather than toys as their presents. The boy has also selected a "Phonograph" and the infant has a microscope. Date 1901 December 4.
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Since growing medical marijuana is now legal in many states in the U.S. as well as in several other regions, more and more of our customers are looking to grow marijuana for medicinal purposes. The continually growing support for legalizing marijuana for medical use will hopefully cause even more countries to change their laws. The easiest way to start growing medical marijuana is buying cannabis seeds online – and you've come to the right place: Nirvana!
Medical marijuana can suppress pain and alleviate the symptoms of a wide range of illnesses and ailments. As researchers, doctors, patients and growers continue to explore the possibilities of medical marijuana, the realisation is beginning to dawn that cannabis has few to no side effects, especially when compared to prescription drugs.
If you are wondering how to become licensed for medical marijuana as a grower or a user you can seek out and ask questions at your local compassion club. For more information about medical marijuana, you can also check our Knowledge Base, subscribe to our newsletter, or send us a support ticket through the Help Desk in your account.
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he following editorial appeared in the Los Angeles Times:
There are, in increasingly frightening numbers, cells of angry men in the United States preparing for combat with the U.S. government. They are usually heavily armed, blinded by an intractable hatred, often motivated by religious zeal.
Theyre not jihadists. They are white, right-wing Americans, nearly all with an obsessive attachment to guns, who may represent a greater danger to the lives of American civilians than international terrorists.
The Southern Poverty Law Center, which has been tracking hate groups for 30 years, released its latest report on the growth of these organizations last week. Its findings were, to say the least, alarming. The center divides its subjects into militias, which are mostly groups of weekend warriors who train for combat against imaginary foes; hate groups, which target minorities; and patriot groups, whose beef is with the U.S. government.
Patriot groups first began surfacing after the massacre of a bizarre sect by federal agents in Waco, Texas, in the early 1990s. They showed their teeth in 1995, when a patriot adherent blew up the federal building in Oklahoma City.
Since then, the patriot movement has been growing at a blistering pace, especially following the election of President Obama in 2008, according to the report. From just 149 groups in 2008, the number jumped to 512 in 2009 and has been rising sharply since. In 2012, it hit 1,360. Now that Obama is seriously pushing for tougher gun laws, further growth is a near certainty. The result? Theres no knowing, but some kind of serious attack is increasingly possible.
Patriot groups are motivated by a host of anti-government attitudes, but their primary focus is guns. They are convinced that the government is out to seize their weapons, even though most legislation is focused on keeping guns out of the hands of criminals or restricting the types of weapons that can be sold. Many are also united by belief in an outlandish one-world government conspiracy theory positing that the United Nations is poised to strip away American property rights and impose socialism on us all.
What can be done to reverse this tide of belligerent ignorance? Not much. The typical patriot acts within his free-speech and 2nd Amendment rights, and in fact most patriot activity consists of venting steam by meeting with like-minded people and firing off blog posts threatening civil war. Yet such blather tends to get under the skin of the Timothy McVeighs of the world.
These groups should be closely monitored, with resources adequate to the task, even if it means shifting some homeland security money from the hunt for foreign terrorists.
MCT Information Services
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| 0.965468 | 544 | 1.523438 | 2 |
Issue: Employee health premiums have jumped 73 percent since 2000 and are predicted to rise 10 percent more in 2006.
Benefit: Offering employees a lump-sum payout or other incentive to drop coverage can save your organization huge dollars.
Action: Offer the right incentive, enough to entice, but still save money, and organize your program correctly.
When it comes to employee health premiums, "good news" is relative.
This year, average premiums rose 9.2 percent, ending four straight years of double-digit increases, according to a Kaiser Family Foundation study. But that growth rate is still two-and-a-half times the inflation rate. And a separate study predicts that average premium increases will run about 10 percent in 2006.
Advice: You can shift only so much of the cost burden to employees without inciting a revolt. So, one way to cut costs is to decrease the number of participants in the plan. To do that, more employers are offering employees a lump-sum cash payout or other incentive to decline health-insurance benefits.
Fourteen percent of smaller businesses (200 or fewer employees) now offer to pay employees to skip the health care benefits, according to a recent Salary.com survey. The most common forms of payouts: salary raises, cash rebates and contributions to retirement plans or private health savings accounts.
"If the incentive is appreciably less than the health insurance, it makes sense," says William Dennis, a National Federation of Independent Business researcher. "But it can reach the point of diminishing returns."
To prevent that problem, Dennis suggests that incentives shouldn't exceed $3,000.
Opt-out incentives attract employees who already have access to health coverage through other means, such as their spouse's work-based plan.
One downside: Employees may take the cash and spend it, leaving them with no insurance and increasingif they become ill. For that reason, some employers offering opt-out incentives require proof of coverage from another source.
"When an employee opts out of our medical coverage, we reimburse the employee $100 per month," says the HR director of a Fitchburg, Mass. manufacturer. "To be eligible, the employee must provide proof that he or she is covered by another plan."
Another option: Drop coverage altogether and pay a flat-fee stipend that employees can apply toward insurance. Last year, a Wichita trucking company with eight employees stopped health coverage and began paying employees $300 per month for single coverage, $400 for an employee plus one person and $500 for a family. The company saved about $96,000 in one year.
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When the Windber Area Authority sought bids in the spring for a major water transmission line project, members were hopeful construction costs would dip below their $7.2 million estimates.
But not by nearly $2 million.
That was the case this week as authority members reviewed low bids on work to replace eight miles of line bringing water from Ogle Township to all of the authority’s 9,500 customers.
And on the heels of the board’s first rate increase since 2000, the savings – more than 25 percent from initial estimates – is expected to reduce a planned 2013 rate hike to pay for the work, Authority Manager Dennis Mash said.
“There’s no doubt our ratepayers will benefit from this,” Mash said, noting next year’s planned increase was originally expected to be $5 more monthly for a customer using 3,000 gallons of water but now will likely be $2 or $3.
It’s a big break for a project that must happen, officials said.
The authority supplies water to customers in Windber, Paint borough and township, Scalp Level and a small area of Richland Township.
And water is supplied through a deteriorating 1920s-era pipeline that runs above ground most of the way from the authority’s Ogle Township water wells to the Windber-area treatment plant.
The total cost to replace those lines and extend a 17th Street line in Windber was originally tagged at $9 million but is now expected to run closer to $7 million, including engineering costs and other extras, Mash said.
To read this story in its entirety, visit one of these links:
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Kenneth S. Rogoff, a professor at Harvard University and former chief economist of the International Monetary Fund, is offering updates on his experience at this year’s World Economic Forum as a guest blogger on Davos Diary.
If there is one overarching theme to virtually all my private conversations at Davos this year, it is the credit drought. Small and medium size businesses across all types of industries claim they cannot get credit. Small and medium size counties can get credit but suddenly the risk spreads they are paying are soaring. Even many CEOs from large firms say that while they can still raise money in a variety of ways – bank loans, corporate bonds and equity markets – the cost is soaring and the conditions have tightened dramatically. The head of a large bank that thinks it is still solvent (I wonder if saying that gives away their identity?) says its managers don’t know how much they can lend because it is obvious they are about to face a brave new world in terms of the regulatory environment. (While reviews of the Obama economic team remain glowing, there is notable discomfort here in Davos that the new administration has not yet announced its big bang plan for the financial system.)
In credit markets where the central banks have been heavily buying up distressed debt wholesale (eg, the Fed’s giant “cash for trash” program), things are better, but the effects have hardly radiated through the whole system. One supplier in the aviation industry told of being unable to close a deal: A government export-credit agency had guaranteed the buyer’s loan, but the bank refused to accept the guarantee, even though it was from a government entity! Government leaders from around the world echo this theme for industries in their countries. A leader in commercial real estate told me that in his buildings across the United States, tenants are starting to go broke because they can’t get credit to buy inventory to run their retail businesses.
Many of the doyens of private equity, who rely on giant leverage for their business model, are claiming they are “fine,” but I wonder if many of them will be missing from Davos next year.
Last night, I traded impressions with a number of long-time Davos attendees, who all opined the mood was by far the grimmest since they started going. The head of large hedge fund that was pretty successful last year (oops, am I giving him away, too?) said my story about credit market distress was five or six weeks old, and now many firms can get money if they look for it. When I asked him to explain more, he mentioned that his firm has just helped a company with a very strong credit rating roll over its one-year paper. I am not sure the company was as happy about the deal as he was; it had to pay a 22 percent interest rate.
Adrian Barrie Smith, who recruits housekeeping staff for the wealthy, has sued several well-known Wall Street financiers and even the comedian Jerry Seinfeld on charges of breach of contract and discrimination.
Some economists are arguing for inflation above the long-favored 2 percent limit, as a way to jump-start the economy.
Britain’s Serious Fraud Office said on Tuesday that it had filed eight fraud charges against a former UBS trader in connection with the manipulation of the London interbank offered rate.
A journal that published an ambitious plan for New York State to go fossil free in a few decades now runs a critique.
The cap and trade program in Shenzhen will not immediately lead to a big cut in China’s greenhouse gas emissions, and plans for a nationwide rollout could be undermined by a slowdown in the economy.
The designers of the Solar Impulse are tackling the challenge of accommodating the pilot of the electric-powered craft.
Motorola says it has reached a settlement with digital video recording pioneer TiVo ahead of a patent trial that was to start in a Texas court next week.
Citing heavy losses in its electronics business, analysts say Sony should concentrate its efforts where they pay: selling life, auto and health insurance.
People contacted in connection with the case said that regulators were asking questions about Google’s bundling of advertising services.
The decision by the American Medical Association could have implications for health care companies and the pharmaceutical industry.
More than a month has passed since home care workers were to have been given minimum-wage protections.
Children’s books bind together a mother and daughter.
Britain’s Serious Fraud Office has filed fraud charges against a former UBS trader in its Libor inquiry. | New York State’s top financial regulator is preparing to crack down on bank consulting firms. | A British recruiter for the wealthy has turned on his former clients. | A former F.T.C. chairman has joined Davis Polk & Wardwell.
Sign up for the DealBook Newsletter, delivered every morning and afternoon, and receive breaking news alerts throughout the day.
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Photo by Scott Franz
Bank of the West in Steamboat Springs is hosting a back to school supplies drive through Friday. Donated supplies will be distributed to local schools.
Suggested items for back to school supply drive
Pencils (not mechanical)
Loose leaf paper (wide ruled)
Bottles of liquid glue
Gallon and quart Ziploc bags
Broad and thin dark-colored Dry Erase markers
Steamboat Springs Parents in Steamboat Springs are stretching their dollars this week as they fill up shopping carts with the school supplies their children will need for the start of classes. But some parents are struggling to afford all of the items.
On Friday, three shopping carts filled with donated supplies sat in the Bank of the West lobby in downtown Steamboat, ready to be distributed to local schools. Bank President Rosemarie Smith said even the smallest supplies can make a difference.
“In my line of work, you can see that people are going through a tough time financially,” Smith said. “We should be doing whatever we can to help students get the supplies they need.”
The bank is hosting a back to school supplies drive through Friday. It’s seeking a variety of items for children of all grades. Markers, binders and Crayola products have been the most popular donations so far, and the bank has provided customers with a consolidated list of supplies that they think children still need the most.
Teller Sue-Anne Vollmer still was in the process of finishing her back to school shopping for her two children Friday.
“I’ve pretty much gotten everything except for the disinfectant wipes and tissues,” she said.
Vollmer said she has spent more than $100 on supplies for her son Kyle, who will be a sixth-grader at Steamboat Springs Middle School. After crossing off items one by one on his back to school list, Vollmer said she knows how difficult it can be to obtain all of the required supplies.
“When I was in junior high school, my supply list was one-third the length of what it is today,” she said. “I know there are lot of people out there who cannot afford all of the supplies.”
Vollmer has spent the last week hunting for bargains in town and will substitute decorative supplies and recognizable brands for less expensive alternatives.
“In this economy, you have to stretch every dollar,” she said. “I might not get the latest fashion of composition books or a binder with the coolest design, but my kids still go to school with what they need.”
Donated supplies can be dropped off at the bank at 555 Lincoln Ave. Call 970-879-4040 for more information.
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... Patchy morning fog will affect portions of northeast and north
Patchy fog... some of it locally dense has been reported across
portions of northern Alabama. Although most areas generally reported
good visibilities... some of the fog has become locally dense...
reducing visibilities to one quarter of a mile or less. Wind
sheltered valleys... and locations near bodies of water have been
mainly affected. The fog should dissipate by 9 am... as daytime
heating results in better lower level mixing.
Motorists should use low beam headlights and reduce speed as
appropriate for the conditions.
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| 0.947544 | 125 | 1.726563 | 2 |
When, two and a half months late, we wondered where Doug Oakervee’s airport report had gone, it was evident others were thinking along the same lines. After answering the same question from a number of Assembly Members, Kit ‘Airport’ Malthouse and his friends at the Times have produced another one of their airport-pushing puff pieces in the Times today, the report is due fairly imminently:
On Wednesday Oakervee will discuss his initial findings with a panel of experts at the Institution of Civil Engineers led by Sir David King, the government’s former chief scientist. He will submit his research to Johnson three weeks later.
Oakervee did not wish to comment. However, according to a source familiar with the report he has concluded that a four-runway island airport is feasible and could be built in less than 10 years.
Gosh, I wonder who the source is. I really do. OK, time for a good old-fashioned fisking:
He will submit his research to Johnson three weeks later.
This implies to me he’s only just started – if he’s still consulting senior engineering figures this week he’s not as certain in his conclusions as the ‘source’ would like us to believe. Obviously Mr. Oakervee has been involved in Crossrail until relatively recently, as this interesting article from May makes plain. It also contains a snippet on the Airport scheme that, to my mind, carefully pours cold water on the idea:
Oakervee is very clear that creating the infrastructure to support it is a tougher challenge that will require a radical rethink of UK planning and a major commitment to developing the whole estuary.
“I believe that history will show that Boris was the man that paved the way,” he says, pointing out that this project remains several decades away and will have to sit alongside a new high speed rail network. “It will come to pass − it is part of a very big (planning and development) jigsaw.”
‘Decades away and built after high speed rail and requiring a radical restructuring of south-east England’, then, says Boris’s technical boffin. Note also the sop to the giant Mayoral ego. Bear that in mind as we return to the Times piece:
The airport, which would cost an estimated £40 billion
At 2009 prices? 2020? 2050? Inflation?
‘Air quality in London would be completely imperilled by a third runway at Heathrow. It’s environmentally nonsensical
Not that this is wrong, but air quality in London is hardly in safe hands under Boris, of course. I’m sure it’ll be great to use lots of energy to travel tens of miles from the middle of the sea to choke in the centre of London thanks to his traffic smoothing schemes.
Passengers would shuttle between the two islands either in a tunnel below the river or on bridges running from Essex on the north bank to Kent in the south.
If they’re not yet sure whether to go over or under the sea, it’s not exactly imminent, is it? It’s not just passengers, as we’ve said before, it’s staff, air crew, fuel, food, baggage etc. Lot of logistics.
A terminal in Kent would be connected to the Crossrail line, whisking passengers to central London in 35 minutes..
Now we’ve got some figures to play with, and they’re obvious nonsense. Let’s look at the Crossrail angle. The current plans forecast a time from the current terminus at Abbey Wood to Liverpool Street in 17 minutes, so we have 18 minutes to play with to get from Abbey Wood to the Kent airport terminal. On current timings on the line, that only takes you to about Gravesend, although if you go non-stop from Abbey Wood you might get a bit further, possibly as far as Northfleet! Woo!
Now, according to our Boris International map, this is about 25 miles short of the Kent terminal and 30 miles short of the actual runways, but that’s as the crow flies – because of the shape of the estuary any land based link has to detour to the south for quite a distance. What I suspect is that the 35 minutes is about right for a *high speed rail connection* – the Southeastern highspeed service from Ashford along HS1, for instance, gets you into town in about 30 minutes, and, whilst the terminal site we identified in eastern Sheppey is a few miles further, that’s only a few minutes in a Class 395. However, that’s a 140mph Japanese built limited stop express train, not an all-stops Crossrail commuter train, which is likely to be a good deal longer to central London, over an hour by my reckoning. In Boris Airport world there’s an obvious need for both an express service and a local stopping service, of course, because of the huge imaginary new town you need to build to put all the annoyed airport workers force-migrating from West London. Whatever, the Times article is either deliberately misleading or badly informed when it states that you can get to central London in 35 minutes on a Crossrail extension – apart from anything else, the runways are still 7-10 miles from the terminal so you’ve got to get you and your bag back to shore before getting near the train and vice versa.
.. and also to the high-speed Channel tunnel rail link, reducing the need for many shorthaul flights
This is probably the biggest boondoggle of the lot. HS1 can provide you with connections to Paris, Brussels and a few parts of France at the moment, and by the time we’re looking at this airport being ready that’ll extend to large areas of Germany, Amsterdam, possibly Luxembourg as well as wherever a British HSL network reaches by then – quite a lot of north western Europe is reachable direct from London with the construction of currently planned lines plus a new generation of Eurostar capable of interoperable running on more lines. If you build a terminal for this sort of thing in London, say near Heathrow or Willesden or St. Pancras, it’s open to channelling in passengers from the rest of the UK arriving in London by train. If you build it in the Thames, you’re limited to people arriving by air – everyone else will want to change in London anyway.
While Johnson envisaged an airport in the Thames estuary as a replacement for Heathrow, Oakervee believes they could operate in tandem…
They’d have to, actually – you can’t move everyone and everything overnight. This therefore runs up against the problem that no airline will want to be the first to inconvenience all their passengers and move.
How easy is it to build an airport in the middle of a fast-flowing estuary? According to engineers, the process itself is relatively simple.
It’s relatively easy to build a couple of runways in the shallow bits of the estuary, but that’s not an airport. The people pushing this want us to forget the land access requirements that sank every previous effort plus the housing costs.
The issue most likely to stop the airport, however, is birds.
No, it isn’t. It’s the land access and housing costs, as anyone with half a brain can see. Curiously enough, I get a lot of my information from Sir Peter Hall’s book ‘Great Planning Disasters’ . I’ve no idea why he’s apparently backing the scheme, although to be fair the book is more about the tortuous and idiotic manifestations of the public planning system than about the airport.
Johnson, however, hopes he can use his combination of political clout and charm to persuade the Tories to make the estuary airport an option in the wake of the general election.
Oh, clout and charm, is it? We’re screwed then, aren’t we. What does the man himself say?
“My long-term hunch, looking at the graph of aviation use over the last 50 years, is that we are going to need much more capacity. I hope to persuade my colleagues”
There’s a subtext to all this – person or persons unknown have, as with the Routemaster/bendy stuff, tried and succeeded in using Boris and the press to push a silly scheme and there’s no one with any common sense in charge to say ‘stop’. This is a policy from the 1970s, not the 21st century, from a time of ‘predict and provide’ where someone would draw some lines on a graph as their best guess of future transport demand and order in the engineers to build sufficient capacity to meet it. That way of doing policy failed when people started analysing the real demand against the projections and found that the planners had omitted a number of factors that were unforseeable at the time which meant the not only was the eventual demand not what they expected but also the eventual capacity wasn’t either. This led people to say ‘hang on a minute, if you’re spending all this money and destroying people’s quality of life based on inevitably flawed numbers, what’s the point?’.
Unfortunately, Boris, a Classical scholar with no great knowledge of the history of transport planning, appears to have been shown a graph by someone and is hoping this and his ‘charm’ will allow him to move the message from whatever group are pushing this further up the chain. That this plan, should it succeed, will jeopardise the prospect of high speed rail in the UK (which not-coincidentally damages the aviation industry, of course) is probably a feature, not a bug. I’m 99% convinced this is a plot by anti-rail interests in the aviation community.
Finally, linking this in with the Hammersmith and Fulham poor-clearance schemes, what is it with Tories wanting to depopulate west London? Shouldn’t they be, you know, asking us west Londoners what we want?
Contact usSend us an e-mail at staff [at] boriswatch.co.uk
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Tagsagendas BBC BBC London bendy Boris Airport borisport broken promises budget bus buses crime culture cycling earnings environment Gilligan grasp of detail humour incompetence jobs Johnson Administration Ken Livingstone lies Mayor's Question Time olympics police Policy Exchange Press questions Rape Ray Lewis resignation RMT Routemaster salaries Speeches spin strike Stuff On Nonsense team TfL transparency transport tube TV
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en
| 0.94994 | 2,398 | 1.507813 | 2 |
Dear John/Jane Q. Public:
You have the flu. That sucks and is a shame, etc. Its a bad year and right now ERs are filled with people with the flu. Which is stupid.
ATTENTION ALL FLU VICTIMS:
Follow this closely:
DO NOT, REPEAT, DO NOT, COME TO THE EMERGENCY ROOM FOR YOUR FLU SYMPTOMS UNLESS YOU ARE:
1) >98 or < 1 years old
2) are dying
There is nothing we can do for you people. You are just going to have to ride it out. You are going to have to do what people used to do in the old days: rest, fluids, perhaps chicken soup.
You are clogging up ERs right now, leaving less beds for the truly sick. Your mother could be having a heart attack and we don't have a room for her because you and your flu are taking that bed.
If you do come, you will wait for hours in the waiting room with a mask on your face. That doesn't sound very fun does it?
One last thing, DO NOT call an ambulance for flu symptoms. It will not get you a bed in the ER any faster. You will go out to the waiting room with everybody else.
That is all. Go about your business.
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U.S. Rep. John Murtha, an outspoken critic of the Bush administration’s handling of the Iraq war, held a heated town hall meeting in Arlington last week, discussing his plan for the immediate withdraw of American forces and arguing that the war cannot be won militarily.
Last Thursday, more than 600 people packed into the NRECA building in Ballston to listen to Murtha explain how the presence of U.S. forces impedes progress in Iraq and that “staying the course” is no longer a feasible policy.
“The only thing that can unite the Iraqis is the U.S. occupation,” said Murtha, a Pennsylvania Congressman and highly respected Marine veteran who has been denounced by the White House and Republican members of Congress for his controversial stance. “It is time to let Iraqis take over this effort.”
Murtha, who was invited to speak by U.S. Rep. Jim Moran (D-8), excoriated the Pentagon for not supplying enough body armor to protect American troops and for the slow pace of reconstruction efforts, which he said has fomented greater instability in the country. Earlier in the day, insurgents killed 11 American soldiers and 140 Iraqi residents.
The military has been stretched dangerously thin by the war, and the lack of a clear mission has hurt the Pentagon’s recruiting efforts, Murtha said.
On the same day as the town hall meeting, Marine Gen. Peter Pace accused Murtha of sending the wrong message to troops overseas and adversely affecting recruiting efforts.
“That’s damaging to recruiting, it’s damaging to the moral of the troops who are deployed and it’s damaging to the morale of their families who believe in what they’re doing to serve this country,” Pace said in a press conference earlier that day.
Asked about Pace’s comments before the public forum, Murtha said the armed forces’ recruiting difficulties and the low morale of troops “started before I started talking about these problems.”
IN RECENT WEEKS Murtha has become a catalyst for the anti-war movement and helped ignited a new debate in Washington over the administration’s policies in Iraq.
Many in the audience were soldiers who had served in Afghanistan and Iraq, or family members of those currently deployed overseas. Most of the speakers lauded Murtha for his proposal, praising him for spurring a national discussion on troop levels.
“People are happy there is finally a debate about this that isn’t an attack on one’s patriotism,” said Jon Powers, an Arlington resident and Army captain who served 14 months in Iraq. “He’s well respected [in the military]. Murtha has the backing to do this. He lays out the facts without rhetoric.”
John Bruhns, who served in an infantry battalion in Iraq for a year and now lives in Falls Church, said he agreed with Murtha that it was time to begin bringing the troops back home.
“He’s right on the money,” Bruhns said. “We’ve become the enemy and the target.”
The most contentious debate of the evening centered on the status of the morale of American soldiers. Murtha said that multiple deployments have taken “a heavy toll” on both troops and their families, and has caused many soldiers not to re-enlist.
Washington resident Garett Reypenhagen, who returned from a tour of duty in Iraq this past spring, said that although his fellow troops were honored to serve their country, some had become disillusioned with the mission.
“Morale is fairly low,” he said. “Deployment in Iraq is fairly miserable. Every soldier wants to get back home and get a life.”
However, not every soldier who spoke at the forum shared Murtha’s views. “The moral of troops is high,” said Army Sergeant Mark Seavey, who fought in Afghanistan. “Troops are going back to volunteer.”
Retired U. S. Army General Louis C. Wagner Jr. accused Murtha of “selling out our soldiers in Iraq,” just as others did during the Vietnam War.
“What is being put out is being used by the insurgents to continue this war,” said Wagner. He added that he hears little in the way of discontent with the military’s strategy in Iraq during his weekly visits with injured soldiers at Walter Reed Army Medical Center.
In interviews after the forum, several people expressed ambivalence over whether Murtha’s proposal was the best course of action. Emily Theilmann, a college student who returned to Arlington for winter break, said she believed invading Iraq was a mistake, but worried about the unintended consequences of a rapid redeployment of troops from Iraq.
“A quick withdrawal could very damaging,” she said. “Just leaving could stir things up quite a bit.”
DURING HIS SPEECH Murtha said that setbacks in the reconstruction effort, which have been crippled by the deteriorating security situation, have helped fuel the insurgency. Unemployment remains between 45 and 60 percent, he said, and electricity and oil production continue to be below pre-war levels.
“What the people want are jobs and stability,” he said. “What we’re providing is instability.”
One of the most detrimental effects of the war in Iraq is that it has taken resources away from fighting Al-Qaeda, which is expanding across the world, both Murtha and Moran said.
‘The terrorists are going to fan out,” Moran said. “We’re creating more terrorists than we can possibly kill over there.”
Murtha also criticized fellow Democrats for not being more outspoken in their opposition to the White House strategy, saying that those considering a presidential bid had to choose between endorsing Bush’s policies and redeployment.
A more candid assessment of the situation in Iraq by the president in recent weeks has been encouraging, Murtha said. He is also pleased that President George W. Bush met with former Secretaries of Defense and State this past week.
“I think he is getting the message, getting out of the bubble and I hope he will take the advice seriously,” Murtha said.
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Excited and wondering what my present could be, I opened up the envelope to see the pictured CD case. At first confused, I thought perhaps this was an extension of a Bar Ilan library, then remembered that Ibn Abraham had mentioned this to me before. "The Mishna Project" is the name of a band who have a unique and compelling vision- the desire to spread Mishnayos through the rise of music.
And so I came home and popped the CD into my computer, curious as to how these three brothers had composed tunes to the Mishnayot. It must be difficult, seeing as they have to include all the different words and can hardly repeat them. I was astonished when I heard some beautiful, truly exquisite music to which they had put the words. I am generally not a fan of Jewish music (cue Dustfinger to confirm this) although I like Pardes, some Shalsheles and The Chevra and can bear some songs by Shwekey or other assorted artists. My worst fear was that I would pop this CD into my computer and hate it, in which case I would never listen to it again.
However, it is brilliant. Not only is the concept brilliant, in that if I listen to this often enough I can't help knowing Chapters 1-3 of Berachos, but the music is beautiful. I don't know enough to be able to describe precisely the style; all I know is that for me, the music flows. It sweeps, it flows; it's music I can sing to, dance to and be happy about. This is so wondrous! I hope they continue and put out many more CDs, as that will enable me to learn all Mishnayos, and then suppose they got started on Gemara...
So who are these people? Well, since I was now curious, I searched online in order to discover their identities. Apparently "The Mishna Project" consists of three brothers, Moshe, Josh and Dave Weinberg (is it the Dave Weinberg I know?!) It could not have been made without the help of drummer Josh Zlotnick.
Apparently the album was being sold at the SOY Seforim Sale, and while I am not sure where you can get it now, feel free to email themishnaproject@ gmail.com for more details! This is an excellent teaching tool, something with a purpose and a goal. Just imagine kids wandering about the house, Harry Potter under one arm, baseball glove on one hand, or perhaps beating each other up with their HASBRO lightsabers, but humming the tunes from this CD, having memorized Mishnayot with absolutely no effort simply due to how often they've listened to it. This is informal education at its best. In fact, the CD has been introduced into the curriculum at TABC (Torah Academy of Bergen County) and will hopefully make its way to other schools.I hope it does! Check it out! And thanks, Ibn Avraham. You rock.
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Queens College Office of Global Education Initiatives
The Queens College Office of Global Education Initiatives (OGEI) supports the college’s commitment to global education. As part of a network of international educators, OGEI focuses on outreach and research that promote our overarching goal: producing a globally competent community here at QC.
OGEI works to expand existing Education Abroad programs such as freshman seminars, QC faculty-led study abroad courses, and semester- and year-long study abroad courses with university partners. Student and faculty recruitment for study abroad programs is a priority of the OGEI at high school, undergraduate, and graduate levels. Departmental outreach is facilitated through deputized student ambassadors and students who have won STOCS Grants and QC scholarships from the QC Foundation, Freshman Year Initiative, and other sources.
OGEI also works with the steering committees for Queens College “Year of” programs to address international programming needs. We coordinate preliminary staff and faculty visits to the “Year of” countries, conduct outreach to departments to recruit faculty interested in teaching, and coordinate with faculty on campus regarding curriculum design to focus on global issues. OGEI fosters teaching, learning, and research, away and at home, by providing housing and visa support, student orientation and registration, and coordination between Queens College academic departments and international faculty.
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With a bipartisan group of senators expected to unveil immigration-reform legislation in the next few days, a brand-new NBC News/Wall Street Journal poll finds that nearly two-thirds of Americans – including eight-in-10 Latinos – support giving undocumented immigrants a path to citizenship.
A slight majority of Republican respondents oppose this path, possibly foreshadowing the resistance which any comprehensive immigration reform bill might receive, especially in the GOP-controlled House of Representatives.
But when Republicans hear that a path to citizenship for undocumented immigrants includes paying fines and back taxes, almost three-quarters of them support the idea.
What’s more, a majority of the public – for the first time in the poll – agrees with the statement that immigration strengthens the nation, reflecting a shift in attitude on this issue.
Republican pollster Bill McInturff, who conducted this survey with the Democratic firm Hart Research Associates, says that this change in sentiment on immigration “speaks to something potent,” particularly given the economic struggles of the past five years.
"These more positive attitudes provide more leeway for lawmakers to build support for change on this issue," McInturff adds.
View the poll results here
On other matters, the poll shows a majority of the public favors stricter gun laws, President Barack Obama’s approval rating falling below 50 percent for the first time since Oct. 2012, and fewer than two-in-10 Americans saying the automatic budget cuts known as “the sequester” have significantly affected them.
Immigration – a strength or weakness?
A majority (54 percent) agrees with the statement that immigration adds to the nation’s character and strengthens it by bringing diversity and talent to the country.
Saul Loeb / AFP - Getty Images
Tens of thousands of immigration reform supporters march in the "Rally for Citizenship" on the West Lawn of the US Capitol in Washington, DC, on April 10, 2013.
In a 2010 NBC/WSJ survey, fewer than half of respondents agreed with that statement, and in 2005, a plurality said that immigration weakened the nation.
Additionally, the Democratic Party holds a 7-point advantage over the Republican Party on the question of which party does a better job in dealing with immigration.
Among an oversample of Latino respondents, the Democratic edge increases to 26 points.
Regarding the current legislative debate over immigration, 64 percent of respondents say they favor allowing undocumented immigrants to have the opportunity to become legal American citizens.
That includes 82 percent of Latinos, 80 percent of Democrats and 54 percent of political independents supporting a path to citizenship.
But 51 percent of Republicans oppose it, versus 47 percent who back it.
Yet when told that the pathway to citizenship would require paying fines and back taxes, as well as passing a security-background check, support grows – with 76 percent of total respondents, and 73 percent of Republicans backing the path.
Sen. Bob Menendez, D-N.J., a member of the Gang of Eight immigration reform group, joins The Daily Rundown to talk about immigration reform talks, the budget battle taking place on The Hill, North Korea and touches on the investigation regarding Dr. Salomon Melgen.
That pathway to citizenship is the heart of a comprehensive immigration reform proposal that the so-called “Gang of Eight” senators – including Democrats Chuck Schumer and Dick Durbin and Republicans John McCain and Marco Rubio – are drafting and plan to introduce in the next few days.
The proposal also calls for strengthening the U.S.-Mexico border, tying that security to establishing the path to citizenship and expanding legal immigration.
A majority of all respondents (51 percent) believe undocumented immigrants should be eligible for citizenship five years after application. Just 12 percent say the eligibility should occur after 10 years, and only 18 percent believe citizenship should be immediate.
On border security, nearly two-thirds of Americans (63 percent) think the U.S.-Mexico border is “mostly” or “totally” not secure, compared with a smaller percentage of Latino respondents (49 percent) who believe that.
55 percent favor stricter gun laws
In addition to immigration, Congress is grappling with the issue of gun control, with the Senate expected to vote on Thursday whether to begin debate on a Democratic-backed measure requiring background checks for most gun sales.
NBC's Luke Russert breaks down the key components of the bipartisan gun control bill.
According to the poll, 55 percent favor stricter laws covering the sale of firearms.
That’s down 6 points from the Feb. 2013 NBC/WSJ poll – conducted after Obama’s State of the Union address that contained a call to action on gun control – but it’s essentially unchanged from the Jan. 2013 poll.
Yet there’s a wide political divide to these numbers: 82 percent of Democrats favor stricter gun laws, while just 27 percent of Republicans do.
Obama’s approval rating drops to 47 percent
Despite majorities backing the broad outlines of his legislative priorities on immigration and guns, President Obama confronts a pessimistic public and declining poll numbers.
Only 31 percent of Americans believe the country is headed in the right direction – a decline of 10 points since Dec. 2012.
His overall job-approval rating stands at 47 percent, which is down 3 points since February and which represents the first time he’s been below 50 percent since just before the 2012 election.
In addition, 47 percent approve of the president’s economic handling (up three points from February), and 46 percent approve of his handling of foreign policy (down six from Dec. 2012).
Democratic pollster Fred Yang of Hart Research says that the public’s sour attitude, particularly on the economy, has “dragged down” Obama’s numbers.
Sequester’s limited impact (so far)
Lastly, the NBC/WSJ poll finds that only a combined 16 percent of Americans say the automatic across-the-board budget cuts that went into effect earlier in the year have impacted them either “a great deal” or “quite a bit.”
By comparison, a whopping 75 percent say the cuts to military and non-military programs have affected them “just some” or “not much.”
But a plurality of respondents – 47 percent – believe the cuts will mostly harm the economy, versus 30 percent who say they won’t have an impact.
The NBC/WSJ poll was conducted of 1,000 adults (including 300 cell phone-only respondents) from April 5-8, and it has an overall margin of error of plus-minus 3.1 percentage points.
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A collection of news and information related to Charla Nash published by this site and its partners.
Displaying items 1-12 of 16 » View centralkynews.com items only1 2 Next >
ReutersBOSTON -- A Connecticut woman mauled by a chimpanzee in 2009 has received a full face transplant, the third surgery of its kind performed in the country, Boston's Brigham and Women's Hospital said on Friday. Charla Nash, 57, was hurt after a friend's...
Tags: Science, Cleveland Clinic, Connecticut, KTLA, Biology
BOSTON (AP) — Doctors at a Boston hospital have performed a full face transplant on the Connecticut woman who was mauled two years ago by her friend's pet chimpanzee. Officials at Brigham and Women's Hospital say they performed the transplant on...
Tags: Hands, Connecticut, Hospitals and Clinics, Health, Human Body
The TV Guy - Orlando Sentinel"Piers Morgan Tonight" on Monday will counter with a chat with Meredith Vieira, who will talk about leaving "Today." Vieira will be back on the NBC program that morning with an interview with Charla Nash, the chimp-attack victim who has a new face....
Nation NowChimp attack victim: Charla Nash has been dubbed the "chimp attack victim" by the media, but -- as she continues her recovery from a ground-breaking face transplant -- she continues to show the world that she shouldn't be so summarily defined....
A Connecticut woman who lost her hands and much of her face when she was mauled by a chimpanzee has moved from an Ohio hospital to a Boston-area assisted-living center, where she plans to continue rehabilitation and hopes for more reconstructive surgery,...
The Dish RagCharla Nash, the 56-year-old woman who had one of her hands, nose, lips and eyelids ripped off by a friend's pet chimpanzee, Travis, last year has been denied both a face and hand transplant by the Cleveland Clinic, where the first American face...
L.A. UnleashedAn attorney representing the owner of a chimpanzee that mauled and blinded a woman is calling the attack a work-related incident and said her family's case should be treated like a workers' compensation claim. The strategy, if successful, would severely.....
Show TrackerClick here to download TV listings for the week of Nov. 8 - 14 in PDF format This week's TV Movies The Early Show Julia Louis-Dreyfus; chef Charlie Palmer. (N) 7 a.m. KCBS Today Bon Jovi performs; Andre Agassi (new......
The Dish RagCharla Nash, the Connecticut woman mauled by a 200-pound pet chimpanzee belonging to a friend last February, appeared on "Oprah" today. She was trying to help her friend get the chimp back inside her house when the attack occurred. Nash,......
L.A. UnleashedCharla Nash, the Stamford, Conn., woman mauled by a 200-pound chimpanzee on Feb. 16, appeared on "The Oprah Winfrey Show" today. During the interview, Nash willingly removed her veiled hat that normally covers her face to avoid scaring people, revealing.....
L.A. UnleashedA Connecticut woman who owned a chimpanzee that mauled and blinded a woman won't be charged because there's no evidence she knowingly disregarded any risk the animal posed, a prosecutor said Monday. State's Attorney David Cohen said it wasn't evident........
Jun 10, 2011 |Story| KTLA-LTV
Jun 10, 2011 |Story| WSBT-TV
Nov 19, 2011 | Orlando Sentinel
Nov 21, 2011 | Los Angeles Times
May 10, 2011 |Story| Reuters
May 7, 2010 |Story| WPIX-LTV
Jun 22, 2010 | Zap2It
Oct 15, 2009 | Los Angeles Times
Nov 10, 2009 | Los Angeles Times
Nov 12, 2009 | Los Angeles Times
Nov 11, 2009 | Los Angeles Times
Dec 8, 2009 | Los Angeles Times
Original site for Charla Nash topic gallery.
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Testimony from the "blue series," _Trial of the Major War Criminals before the International Military Tribunal_, vol. 12, pp. 376-377. Cross-examination testimony on April 29th, 1946, of Julius Streicher, defendant. Comments in brackets are Nizkor's. LT. COL. GRIFFITH-JONES: Turn over [in the Tribunal's document book] to the 10th of August . "When it loses this struggle, Judaism will be ruined, then the Jew will be extinguished. Then will Judaism be annihilated down to the last man." Are we to read from these words: Provide the Jews with a Jewish national state? STREICHER: That is a vision of the future. I would like to call it an expression of a prophetic vision. But it is not incitement to kill 5 million Jews. That is an opinion, a matter of belief, of conviction. GRIFFITH-JONES: It is the prophetic vision of what you wanted, is it not -- of what you have been advocating now for the last 4 years -- the beginning of the war? Isn't that what it is? STREICHER: Mr. Prosecutor, I cannot tell you today what I may have been thinking years ago at a certain moment when writing an article. But still I admit that when I saw lying before me on the table declaration from the Jewish front, many declarations saying, "the German nation has to be destroyed; bomb the cities, do not spare women, children, or old men" -- if one has declarations like these in front of one, it is possible that things will come from one's pen such as I have often written. GRIFFITH-JONES: You know, do you not, now, even if you do not believe the full figures, that millions of Jews have been murdered since the beginning of the war? Do you know that? You have heard the evidence, have you not? STREICHER: I believe it... GRIFFITH-JONES: I only wanted to know whether you had heard that evidence. You can answer "yes" or "no," and I presume it will be "yes." STREICHER: Yes, I have to say, evidence for me is only the testament of the Fuehrer. There he states that the mass executions took place upon his orders. That I believe. Now I believe it.
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Home · Site Map · What's New? · Search Nizkor
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Youngster Lucky Brown pulled on a string, with Lacey Sellers holding the other end, turning the string of ribbon into a beautiful blue bow.
Dozens of people helped make piles of bows that they then tied around parking meter poles, trees, and other poles along West and East Washington Street as a reminder that April is Child Abuse Prevention Month.
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“It’s to bring awareness for, for child abuse. You know, a lot of people, if it doesn’t happen to them, they just, you know they don’t understand and I just think it’s time that we start to make a difference and start helping the innocent children,” said Dee Myers, who organized the ribbon event and ceremony.
The event was supported by the City of Hagerstown; Safe Place, a child advocacy center; and several local residents, including the families of two babies, Justice and Bella, who died as a result of child abuse.
Myers is the grandmother of Justice Christopher Calvin Myers-Cannon, a 4-month-old boy who was shaken to death in Washington County in January 2007. Floyd Edward Bingaman III, of Hagerstown, was sentenced to 30 years in prison for Justice’s death.
Family members of Bella Appel also attended the event. Bella was 5 weeks old when she died in January 2010, also as a result of child abuse. Bella’s father, Nicholas Ray McKee, is serving 30 years for first-degree child abuse resulting in death, plus five more consecutive years for manslaughter.
The approximately 50 people attending Sunday’s ceremony received an update from state Sen. Christopher B. Shank, R-Washington, and Del. Neil C. Parrott, R-Washington, concerning an effort to pass state legislation, known as Justice’s Law, that would increase Maryland’s maximum penalty for first-degree child abuse resulting in death from 30 years to 40 years.
Justice’s Law appears to have a much better chance of passing this year, after Shank, who first proposed Justice’s Law legislation in 2008, changed the proposed maximum penalty from life in prison to 40 years.
On Sunday, family members remembered Justice and Bella, but also hoped that when people saw the blue ribbons downtown, they would be reminded to report suspected child abuse.
Many people probably read stories about child abuse and think, “Oh, that poor family,” before putting the story aside and forgetting about it, said Lorie Faith, Bella’s great-aunt.
“It’s never forgotten in our minds and it never will be,” said Faith, of Hancock.
“After Bella’s death, I think we were all in a very dark place and on an emotional roller coaster,” Faith said.
The family decided it wanted to do something to help other families going through similar situations and, Faith said, she proposed a walk.
The first walk, held in April 2011, raised $14,000 for Safe Place, Faith said.
This year’s walk-a-thon event has been expanded to include a 5-kilometer run and a bike-a-thon for children, starting at Hancock’s Widmeyer Park on April 28. The event’s proceeds will benefit Safe Place, at 24 N. Walnut St. in Hagerstown, and Safe Haven, a child advocacy center in Morgan County, W.Va.
Monday, about 20 students from Hancock Middle-Senior High School will help put up blue ribbons along Hancock’s Main Street to raise awareness about child abuse, said Dianne McCusker, Bella’s great-grandmother.
For Safe Place Program Director J. Mooch Mutchler, Sunday’s event also was about letting adults know they need to be advocates for children.
“Adults have to be an advocate for a child because sometimes a child won’t speak for themselves,” Mutchler said.
Children become threatened, get scared or become embarrassed from the abuse, he said.
Signs of child abuse include a change in behavior, becoming withdrawn or unusual bruises, said Tammy Puffenberger, a child protective services supervisor at Safe Place, which is part of the Department of Social Services.
While children often get bruises on their knees or elbows from falling and playing, bruising around the face or in unusual places is a concern, Puffenberger said.
Anyone who suspects a child is being abused can call the Department of Social Services, anonymously if they wish, at 240-420-2222, Mutchler said.
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Oil Spill at Bashneft-Lukoil Trebs Arctic Venture
|Monday, April 23, 2012
MOSCOW - An oil spill in the Russian Arctic affected an area of up to 8,000 square meters after workers tried to open an old well, causing oil to gush uncontrollably for 37 hours, officials said Monday.
The spill at the Trebs field started Friday and continued through the weekend, spurting out up to 500 metric tons of oil a day, the Nenets autonomous district administration said on its website Monday.
The oil well was in the area operated by a joint venture between Russian companies Lukoil Holdings and Bashneft, which received the license to work on the northern Trebs field last year.
The accident was most likely caused by breakage of an old well's corroded plug when workers attempted to operate it, said Viktor Ivkin, head of the Nenetsky autonomous district emergency ministry branch.
Workers managed to stop the fountain of oil Sunday morning, and work was under way to construct a storage facility for the spilled oil, he said.
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The Hunger Task Force to relocate and expand
In tough economic times, more and more people are struggling to find where their next meal will come from.
Now the Hunger Task Force in La Crosse is moving to a new location to better cater to the growing need.
Boxes upon crates of donated food are making things a little crowded at the Hunger Task Force in La Crosse.
“We have been steadily growing for the last five years as far as donations and agencies that we're serving,” said Shelly Krause, executive director of the Hunger Task Force. “So we're collecting more food and we need a place to put it so that we can work efficiently and safely.”
The organization supports 60 food pantries and meal sites in the area.
In 2012, as the need for help grew, the organization saw a nearly 30 percent increase in donations, but Krause said it should have been more.
“We have great supporters that are able to give us more product, but can't right now because of the space constraints,” said Krause.
Now, after a couple of years of planning, the Hunger Task Force will soon move to a bigger location just a little more than a mile away.
The new facility is about three to four times bigger than the current facility. That means more room to sort food, more room to store food -- and it's finally a place the Hunger Task Force can call its own.
“There was a lot of confusion being in the same building,” said Nancy Fee, president of the board of directors for the Hunger Task Force. “WAFER (food pantry) is a great organization, but we are two very different programs. We have spent a great deal of time in the last few years trying to make our name better known, and not necessarily to separate us from them, but just to distinguish the differences.”
The two organizations have shared the same building for more than a decade.
While Krause says moving out won't be easy, it’s an opportunity to better help those in need.
“We've been here for a long time, we've grown here and we're just excited to be in a new location and continue to grow,” said Krause.
Everything needs to be moved out of the current building by the end of February.
After that, the empty space will once again belong to the WAFER Food Pantry next door.
The Hunger Task Force's new location on Clinton Street in La Crosse will be in operation on March 4.
The Hunger Task Force is always in need of food and monetary donations.
Organizers said they'll need a lot of help during the big move next week.
To help out contact the Hunger Task Force at (608)-793-1002 or at http://lacrossehtf.org/index.html.
Copyright 2013 by WKBT News8000. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
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Gender and Cultural Studies Event - Imprisoning Communities: How Mass Incarceration Makes Disadvantaged Places Worse
Wednesday, February 6, 2013 – ( 4:00 pm to 6:00 pm )
Location: Peirce 116, Stevens Institute of Technology
“IMPRISONING COMMUNITIES: HOW MASS INCARCERATION MAKES DISADVANTAGED PLACES WORSE"
A talk by Dr. Todd Clear, Dean of the School of Criminal Justice at Rutgers University
Wednesday, February 6th, 4-6 PM in Peirce 116, Stevens Institute of Technology.
The United States has the largest prison population rate of all Western Democracies. The growth in imprisonment, which has taken place over the last 35 years, has had significant impact on impoverished communities, and has contributed to racial inequality. This talk reviews theory and evidence on the impact of incarceration on disadvantaged urban areas.
Todd R. Clear is Dean of the School of Criminal Justice at Rutgers University. In 1978, he received a Ph.D. in Criminal Justice from The University at Albany. Clear has also held professorships at Ball State University, Rutgers University, Florida State University (where he was also Associate Dean of the School of Criminology and Criminal Justice) and John Jay College of Criminal Justice (where he held the rank of Distinguished Professor). He has authored 12 books and over 100 articles and book chapters. His most recent book is Imprisoning Communities, by Oxford University Press. Clear has also written on community justice, correctional classification, prediction methods in correctional programming, community-based correctional methods, intermediate sanctions, and sentencing policy. He is currently involved in studies of the criminological implications of “place,” and the economics of justice reinvestment. Clear has served as president of The American Society of Criminology, The Academy of Criminal Justice Sciences, and The Association of Doctoral Programs in Criminology and Criminal Justice. His work has been recognized through several awards, including those of the American Society of Criminology, the Academy of Criminal Justice Sciences, The Rockefeller School of Public Policy, the American Probation and Parole Association, the American Correctional Association, and the International Community Corrections Association. He was the founding editor of the journal Criminology & Public Policy, published by the American Society of Criminology.
This event is co-sponsored by the College of Arts and Letters and Gender and Cultural Studies.
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Written by Qi Ren
The Chinese Spring Festival is the one of the most traditional Chinese festival to celebrate the Lunar New Year. With having an attendance of around 200 people, this event was a huge success. The Chinese Students and Scholars Association was the student organization that organized this event. We had 10 performances that vary from Dragon/Lion dance, traditional Chinese band, cross-talk situation comedies, and student singing. We also had a variety of fun games during the show, which was very audience-oriented. Because of these aspects and the funding we received, we yielded great responses from the audiences. We look forward to continue this yearly event and hope to improve from this.
The Chinese Spring Festival was co-sponsored by the Division of Diversity and Community Engagement
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http://ddce.utexas.edu/news/2012/06/20/chinese-spring-festival-celebrates-chinese-culture/
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| 0.981105 | 154 | 1.78125 | 2 |
Insurance delays prolong the disaster
(Page 2 of 3)
• Geico –– 3,800 of 32,800.
• Hartford –– 2,500 of 11,500.
• Liberty Mutual –– 8,000 of 28,000.
• Nationwide –– 5,500 of 14,000.
• Travelers –– 18,500 of 37,500.
Many homeowners made the salient point that their insurance policies would be canceled in a heartbeat if they failed to pay their insurance premiums on time. But in their time of greatest need, they feel abandoned. That’s just wrong.
Cuomo signed an executive order to cut through red tape, making it easier to temporarily certify qualified, out-of-state public adjusters, who aid homeowners in settling their insurance claims. That’s all well and good. Adjusters, who take a percentage of a settlement, can be helpful, but a homeowner shouldn’t need an adjuster or an attorney to advocate on their behalf to the insurance companies. People pay good money for insurance, and most of the time they never use it, allowing insurance companies to reap tens of millions, even billions, of dollars in profits. The very least homeowners should expect from them is timely, courteous service in times of peril.
The federal and/or state governments should enact legislation that would set a time frame within which insurers must process homeowners’ claims so they receive settlements that help them get their lives back together sooner rather than later. Particularly when it comes to flood insurance, there really should be no argument on this point, considering that flood insurance is a product of FEMA’s National Flood Insurance Program. The insurance companies effectively act as the government’s flood insurance agents.
After Sandy, Cuomo required insurance companies to make their initial inspections of homes within six days after claims were filed. And, according to the Department of Financial Services, once a company makes a settlement offer that is accepted by the homeowner, it has five days to make payment. Other than that, though, there are no time requirements, meaning that months can pass after an insurance adjuster’s initial visit before a company makes a settlement offer, during which a homeowner may become increasingly despondent and jump at the first offer given, whether it’s fair or not.
KeywordsHerald editorial, Hurricane Sandy, homeowners, Federal Emergency Management Agency, FEMA, flood insurance, insurance companies, insurers, claims, settlements, settlement, New York State Department of Financial Services, Allstate, Geico, Hartford, Liberty Mutual, Nationwide, Travelers, policies, premiums, public adjusters, adjuster, National Flood Insurance Program
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http://www.liherald.com/stories/Insurance-delays-prolong-the-disaster,44971?page=2&content_source=
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| 0.951209 | 551 | 1.601563 | 2 |
We are all aware that our children are growing up. This can be seen in obvious ways such as my son’s favorite shoes being too tight or his pants are so short that he resembles Gulliver amidst the Lilliputians. My son left the house last weekend in high top tennis shoes (new) and sweat pants that were so small that I half way expected someone to give me a concerned look and slip me five dollars.
There are other ways that are more subtle…
Realizing one day that when we walk arm in arm, that his head is past my shoulder
Noticing how tall he is compared to “before” while he jumps around playing a video game
Seeing the space that he takes up as he lays stretched out on the couch
Due to my precious TBP’s sensory issues, he has been picked up before his classmates since he was in Kindergarten. This accommodation prevents anxiety in the noisy and crowded hallways at the end of the day. He walks through a hall in the main office, past the secretaries desk and counter, and is greeted by someone in the office waiting area to take him home. For a long time, he would walk down the hall and appear only once he got to a certain point due to the desk that blocked my sight. Recently, I noticed that even when he tries to sneak up on me, he is taller than the counter and must work hard to try and keep his presence a surprise. Side note…I love the expression on his face as he signals the secretaries to keep his secret and he isn’t aware that his stomping shoes gave him away minutes before his actual arrival.
Along with the physical signs, his social maturity can be seen by…
His interest in classmates and asking me to contact friends for playdates
His self-control and ability to build stamina for homework or other undesirable activities has increased
His use of slang; however, he is so literal that he feels compelled to explain what it means as he shares his new saying…”That’s sick! Not the kind of sick that is like the flu and is bad, but the good kind!”
I’m sure that I’m not the only parent that has mixed feelings about my son growing up. It seems to me that we go at a steady pace and then all of a sudden we have left behind a “stage” that will not be revisited again. Sucking his fingers, footy pajamas, and specific funny sayings are all things that I didn’t consciously expect would go away and then one day…they do. I guess this is a good thing too. There were stages that were not so sweet and I thought those would NEVER go away. We all know about these! These are the things that we don’t share in the Christmas letter or on our Facebook page!
I love the boy who my son is now and celebrate who he is becoming. Do I wish that I could somehow control time and slow down the good days and speed through the challenges? Oh yes! I remind myself that there will be a day in the not so far off future that I will look back and wish for these very days!
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http://mytwicebakedpotato.com/2013/01/13/my-growing-tbp/
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President Barack Obama has finally lifted the ban on HIV-positive people entering the US.
The law, which has been in place for 22 years, was known as one of the most restrictive immigration policies in the world for people carrying HIV.
Not only did the ban restrict HIV-positive people from entering the country, it also barred long-term foreign residents from obtaining resident status, purely on the basis of having HIV.
Obama said that lifting the ban is a "step that will encourage people to get tested and get treatment. It's a step that will keep families together, and it's a step that will save lives".
The first HIV-positive person to enter the country since the lifting of the ban will be Clemens Ruland, 45, a youth worker from the Netherlands.
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http://www.g3mag.co.uk/g3mag/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=84:us-finally-lifts-22-year-old-ban-on-hiv-people-entering-the-country&catid=4:politics&Itemid=18
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May 30, 2008
"The Shack" Built on Shifting Sands?
William Young's surprise bestseller sparks heated response and prompts important questions
Cathy Lynn Grossman's recent USA Today article on William Young's surprise bestseller The Shack is her second in a month, this one shifting attention to the long-developing and growing backlash against the book coming from a number of influential voices concerned about the book's implicit theological claims.
Several conservative Protestant heavyweights--Al Mohler, Chuck Colson, Mark Driscoll, and influential blogger Tim Challies--have sounded off on the dangers of The Shack's vision of God, salvation, and the Church, creating a quartet of caution for the casual Christian reader. These strong cautions are all the more notable in light of the over-the-top endorsement from one of evangelicalism's most respected spiritual sages, Eugene Peterson, which is featured on the book's back cover.
Among other things, this growing backlash broaches important questions about the proper relationship between art, theology, and the Church for evangelicals and their close kin. What does it mean for artists to be faithful to the confessional Christian traditions and communities of which they are a part, especially that largest of communions--the communion of the saints across time, space, and tradition? If we regard the Nicene Creed as a shared expression of that broad communion, what does it mean for an artist, perhaps a writer such as William Young, to be faithful to that confession?
Switching directions, we must also ask what it means for Christian traditions and communities to be faithful to artists and their craft. This, too, is a theological question: How does the Church show good faith toward those sub-creators in God's human economy whose very creative inclinations are evidence that they bear the image of a God who delights in creating? Making a place for art and the artist is a way of affirming the human and creational pattern that the Christian God calls "very good."
My hunch is that we probably see a failure to keep faith on both sides here, and that it would be a good thing for all of God's Church to discuss the when's, where's, why's, and how's of our mutual infidelities.
Along the way we might also want to pause to think about what the phenomenal grassroots popularity of an iconoclastic novel such as The Shack--1.1 million copies in print, 500,000 more to be printed in June, UK rights just purchased--tells us about the attitudes and pastoral realities churches must reckon with on the ground.
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| 0.947007 | 532 | 1.5 | 2 |
The charts that follow are some of the fasting growing companies in America. Finding a promising stock in a hot sector is only half the battle. The other half is knowing when to hold onto the big winners, knowing what to do when the stock’s price action flashes a yellow warning and maybe most important of all, knowing when to buy back in when the light turns green.
This is the essence of a successful trend following trading system. It is what has made billions of dollars in gains for some of the most heralded fund managers on Wall Street and it is the heart and soul of AllanTrends.
Below is a sample of how Weekly Trend Models can be used to navigate in and out of a sampling of high flying stocks over the past few years. All of these stocks were hitting all time highs soon after the 2008 bear market that cut the legs out of the stock market with a 50% decline. Coming out of a major stock market bottom at the head of the pack is a highly reliable tell that there is something special about this stock. The trend line generated by our algorithm determines when the stock should be held, when caution is warranted and when it’s time to get back in.
This is the essence of trend following and trend following is the essence of AllanTrends.
Past performance is not a guarantee of future results. The trend line shown on these charts is the same one generated on all of Allantrends’s portfolio stocks, indexes and etf’s, while the stocks chosen above are merely illustrations of how the algorithm and trend line interact with dynamic trending stocks. Stock trading/investing involves risk and you can lose some or all of your investment. Hypothetical or backtested results may not always be duplicated in the real world. Backtesting can at times produce an unintended look-ahead bias. In addition, hypothetical trading does not involve financial risk, and no hypothetical trading record can completely account for the impact of financial risk in actual trading, not the least of which is the ability to withstand losses or to adhere to a particular trading strategy in spite of trading losses. These are material points which can also adversely affect actual trading results.
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http://www.allantrends.com/weekly-trend-models/
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| 0.939913 | 443 | 1.546875 | 2 |
OTTAWA – Canada’s international co-operation minister took a swipe at foreign aid groups on Wednesday, saying the overseas development budget isn’t about keeping them in business for life.
Julian Fantino fired a very direct warning shot at those in the aid business who have expressed concern over a new Canadian International Development Agency policy that more closely aligns aid spending with the private sector.
Aid groups say the new focus could reduce the money available for projects aimed at food security and women and children’s health because CIDA’s funding is frozen until 2015.
Fantino said those core programs won’t be cut, but savings could be found in other projects that have fixed time periods and are due to end. He was speaking by telephone from Haiti, where he is assessing aid projects in the aftermath of the devastating January 2010 earthquake there.
Aiming at critics in the non-governmental organization community, Fantino said CIDA doesn’t exist to fund aid groups for life and his job is to ensure that taxpayers get good value for their humanitarian dollars.
“Not every program is a lifetime program,” he said. “There’s always adjustments being made. … Programs that we enter into are not for life. We don’t fund NGOs for life.”
Fantino said his critics have a “disconnect” about how Canada’s aid policy is evolving.
“I think some people believe that CIDA only exists to keep NGOs afloat, and keep them working and that we will fund them for life,” he said.
“That’s not going to be the case. We will ensure that we do the most appropriate and the most affordable thing that can be done with Canadian tax dollars.”
Fantino announced the new business-oriented aid focus last week in a speech to the Economic Club of Toronto.
He highlighted the mining industry as a key industry, a point he reiterated during his conference call from Haiti.
One leading NGO has expressed concern that with CIDA’s $5-billion annual budget frozen until 2015 as part of the government’s deficit-cutting initiative, old-fashioned aid to the poor will suffer.
Aid groups are usually reluctant to criticize CIDA publicly because they rely on it for money, while the Harper government has cut funding to some groups that have been critical of its policies.
Robert Fox, the head of Oxfam Canada, questioned how Canada could continue helping the poor in the Third World.
“The priority for Canadian aid is alleviating poverty and promoting human rights,” Fox said. “With the aid budget shrinking, it’s important that we not lose sight of that.
“We agree that CIDA has an important role to play in support of private enterprise in developing countries —locally owned and operated businesses that create jobs and opportunities — but we think the Export Development Corp., and other government agencies are more appropriate sources of funding for Canadian corporations looking for opportunities overseas.”
Fox also said that Fantino’s speech didn’t specify whether there will be less money available for food security or for women and children as a result of this focus on the private sector.
Fantino pledged during his call that those two areas of funding would not be compromised. Canada highlighted them as priorities during recent G8 summits.
The minister also moved to mute criticism over the government’s focus on mining, an industry that has faced criticism for violating human rights in some poor countries.
“The extractive opportunities for these developing, poor countries, if you will, are quite substantial. We want to be helping those countries develop the kinds of economic sustainability that can in fact come from extractives,” Fantino said.
“We’re not funding mining companies. We’re not funding the mining industry. But we’re certainly supporting the industry to ensure they have at least an equal playing field with other competing countries … in the extractive industry.”
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| 0.963353 | 843 | 1.78125 | 2 |
Step Back in Time features news items from The Daily Star 25 and 50 years ago.
25 years ago
Oct. 29, 1987
SIDNEY — Youths have been available to shovel snow during the winter, but for the first time this year there will be an organized effort to match youths with homeowners.
The Sidney Youth Employment Company is copying an idea that was successful in Oneonta and setting up a snow shoveling service. Homeowners and merchants will be assigned an interested student. Whenever the homeowner calls, or if more than two inches of snow fall, the youth will remove the snow.
“Probably the ones who could benefit the most from the service are the elderly and single parents, those who cannot shovel their own sidewalks,” said Terri Bickford, the employment and training counselor setting up the program.
Any youth from 16 to 21 years old is eligible to be in the snow-shoveling program. The Youth Employment Company, located in room 221 of the Civic Center, is also accepting names of interested homeowners. The program should be in place for the first snow fall, “if it doesn’t come too soon,” said Ms. Bickford.
While Ms. Bickford said she will recommend a payment rate to the homeowners, the final rate is up to the student and homeowner. This teaches the students to negotiate, said Ms. Bickford.
50 years ago
Oct. 29, 1962
OTEGO — Mrs. Thomas Mitchell gave the program on “The United Nations” at the meeting of the Woman’s Society of Christian Service held at the Methodist parsonage. Mrs. Charles Cotte had charge of the service.
The women voted to sponsor the Halloween UNICEF Drive and the mitten tree.
Reports were given by Mrs. Dayton Mallette on the “Rim of East Asia” study course, by Mrs. Calvin Haney on the district fall meeting in Oneonta and by Mrs. Ford Hawver on the fall conference meeting in Forty Fort, Pa. A collection was taken for the Hong Kong Educational Center.
Mrs. John Fellows was given a rising vote of thanks for her flower arrangements.
Refreshments were served by Mrs. George Berkley, Mrs. Lavere Dodson and Mrs. Leonard Lawrence.
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| 0.954486 | 483 | 1.59375 | 2 |
Kentucky Republican Senator Rand Paul introduced legislation that would gut the Transportation Security Administration’s screening program and establish a passenger bill of rights. One bill would require that the program be turned over to private screeners and allow airports, upon approval from the Department of Homeland Security, to select companies to handle the work.
The second bill would allow travelers to opt out of pat-downs and be rescreened, to call a lawyer if they are detained, increase the role of dogs in explosive detection, let passengers “appropriately object to mistreatment,”, allow children 12 years old and younger to avoid “unnecessary pat-downs” and require the distribution of the new rights at airports.
Airports would be able to decide if they want to privatize and to expand TSA’s PreCheck program for trusted travelers.
“While aviation security is undoubtedly important, we must be diligent in protecting the rights of all Americans, such as their freedom from being subjected to humiliating and intrusive searches by TSA agents, especially when there is no obvious cause,” Paul said in a statement. “It is important that the rules and boundaries of our airport screening process be transparent and easily available to travelers so that proper restraints are in place on screeners. Travelers should be empowered with the knowledge necessary to protect themselves from a violation of their rights and dignity.”
The TSA did not have an immediate comment.
Paul himself said the TSA detained him earlier this year for refusing a pat-down after setting off an imaging machine. He asked to be rescreened but was denied.
The most recent FAA bill made it easier for airports to contract with privatized screeners, but only 16 airports currently participate in the privatized program. The TSA recently approved an application for Orlando’s Sanford International Airport to enter the program.
Recently, the TSA fired or suspended dozens of workers at a Florida airport for not conducting required supplementary screening procedures, and on Friday the agency announced plans to fire seven workers related to a bribery scandal.
House Transportation Committee Chairman Rep. John Mica (R-Fla.), a leading critic of the TSA, said in a statement that allowing additional privatization would be a step in the right direction.
“Transitioning to private security operations under federal standards and supervision will get TSA out of the HR business and back into the security business,” Mica said. “Earlier this week, TSA granted the first application under the new reforms to allow an airport to convert to the private-federal screening model. We will bring onboard the other 400-plus U.S. airports that still operate under the Soviet-style all-federal screening model.”
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| 0.951664 | 561 | 1.570313 | 2 |
FIRE Alert: Vandals Stifle Free Speech at Berkeley
March 8, 2002
At the University of California at Berkeley, on the night of February 25, 2002, vandals broke into the office of the College Republicans and stole 3000 copies of a student publication, The California Patriot. Chancellor Robert M. Berdahl denounced the theft as "unconscionable," pledging both to conduct a full investigation and to bring criminal and campus charges against those responsible. FIRE is dismayed by the high level of recent "book burnings" on American campuses (at Berkeley and elsewhere) and trusts that Chancellor Berdahl's words will be matched by his actions. FIRE will follow this case closely, expecting Berkeley to defend the free speech of its students from lawless censors.
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http://thefire.org/index.php/article/81.html
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| 0.951817 | 157 | 1.640625 | 2 |
Wednesday, Jan. 16, 2013
WASHINGTON (AP) -- The Obama administration is condemning an Islamist attack on a natural gas field in southern Algeria and confirming that Americans are among those being held hostage.
Defense Secretary Leon Panetta told reporters in Italy that Americans were among the hostages and called the incident a "terrorist attack."
A militant group that claimed responsibility says it's holding seven Americans, but State Department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland said she wouldn't provide details to protect those who were kidnapped.
Militants said they attacked and occupied the field partly operated by the energy company BP because of Algeria's support of France's operation against al-Qaida-linked Malian rebels groups to the southeast.
Nuland said Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton spoke Tuesday by telephone with Algerian Prime Minister Abdelmalek Sellal.
U.S. authorities also were in contact with BP.
(Copyright 2013, The Associated Press)
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NEWS BLOG (WSAU) I'm going to quit smoking. I'm going to lose weight. And usually those New Years resolutions fail.
Not that they aren't good intentions. Not smoking or getting in shape are laudable goals. But they require permanent lifestyle changes. For most of us, they're too hard. We don't do well when we make permanent decisions on a few days notice.
Now comes an interesting cover story from the New Years Day edition of The Wausau Daily Herald: http://www.wausaudailyherald.com/article/20100101/WDH0101/1010448/-1/archive
In 2000, they asked a group of middle school students about their thoughts, hopes, and dreams for the new decade. Many of those wishes were personal goals... things those young people would like to have for themselves as they get older. 10 years later they are adults. The results are mixed. A middle-schooler who was an anti-smoking crusader now has the habit. Another who wanted a dog still hasn't taken the leap into the responsibilities of pet ownership. A young man who wanted to drive a Hummer now drives a hybrid.
This is a microcosm of the way long-term goals play out. Sometimes there are exceptional people who set one and diligently work towards it and have success. For most of us, long term goals are elusive. Our priorities change. We find out that we don't really want to do all the things we need to do to reach them. We settle. We compromise. We fall into our old traps and habits.
Instead of making resolutions this new year, maybe we should break those things down into small bite-size promises to ourselves. Instead of quitting cold-turkey, maybe we'll cut out smoking breaks at work. Instead of dropping 50 pounds, maybe one fewer fast-food meal each week. The old proverb is true, long journeys begin with a single step.
Operations Manager, Midwest Communications-Wausau
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Science and politics
- New Statesman guest editors Brian Cox and Robin Ince have written a pointed commentary on the role of science in policymaking. They highlight that non-scientific political issues have invaded public interpretation of science; this risks damaging society's confidence in scientific truth. It's a good read. A couple of responses quickly followed, including two weakly critical responses from Rebekah Higgitt (The Guardian), Jack Stilgoe (also The Guardian), and a favorable reply from Jon Butterworth (still at The Guardian). I commented on this earlier this week here.
- Discover Magazine blogger Keith Kloor (Collide-a-Scape) comments on the above article and also on the current toxic environment of the science-vs-religion fights. He argues against the "Puritanical" zero-tolerance policy of Richard Dawkins and like-minded skeptics.
- Bill Nye has written a sort of open letter to the federal legislature regarding the impending fiscal cliff; he urges (like most of us do) a combination of spending cuts and tax increases, but makes the case that legislators avoid cuts in science. His argument is that science drives innovation which drives American economic superiority. Is science going to be immune from the cuts? I doubt it, unfortunately.
- Antibiotic use (also discussed last week) in livestock is a major contributor to widespread drug resistance. Laura Rogers reports on recent issues and developments in laws and regulations regarding antibiotic use, including increased oversight of how and where the drugs are used, an end to non-prescription antibiotic use for animals, and stopping the practice of using antibiotics when they're not needed.
Bad science and bad journalism
- Under the "bad journalism" theme comes a Fox News (!!!) science section piece titled "Duh! 12 obvious science findings of 2012". I have a problem with pieces that pander to readers by highlighting "obvious" research (especially since many things previously considered "obvious" are now known not to be true). To be fair to Fox News, this same piece appeared at Huffington Post.
- Complementary to bad journalism is bad science. Christopher Wanjek writes on HuffingtonPost about the top five science retractions of 2012. The first one (the scientist who made up his own peer reviewers and clued editors in by responding too favorably and too quickly) is the best. This, too, is cross-posted to Fox News. Although the retractions highlighted are certainly disturbing, the tone of the article's introduction sets an atmosphere of general mistrust of scientists and science. Of course, scientific misconduct is serious (and increasingly we are being made aware of it) but the author seems to de-emphasize the role of kneejerk journalism in public disappointment.
- Disgraced doctor Andrew Wakefield (the guy who had that fraudulent study linking autism and vaccines) has been given the Golden Duck award for 'lifetime achievement in quackery'. The award is part of an effort by scientists and science advocates to spread awareness of bad science and pseudoscience. However, some, such as Frank Swain of SciencePunk, feel the award is counterproductive: things like this come across as smug and contemptuous, and the group giving out the Golden Duck isn't influential enough to matter.
- To the long list of "people at The Ohio State University who have gotten caught committing research fraud" we can add pharmacologist Terry S. Elton, who apparently manipulated over two dozen figures in papers and grant applications. (For other examples see pharmacy professor Robert J. Lee and, most familiar to chemists, Leo Paquette).
- Michael Zimmerman describes Indiana State Senator Dennise Kruse's attempt to insert creationism into Indiana public school science classes under the tired guise of "academic freedom". Zimmerman points out the ridiculousness of expecting middle schoolers to be able to be able to reach the same scientific conclusions as scientific researchers.
- A New York Times piece by Jennifer Kingson gives a brief and interesting history of chemistry sets.
- Mark at Chemistry Blog takes issue with the model of bonding/antibonding used in one of this year's Christmas Lectures. Meanwhile, we in the USA (i.e. 'Murica) remain confused.
Imagery in science
- Imagery and aesthetics are usually the last thing on scientists' minds, but they can be instrumental in promotion of science. See not only this post by Alex Wild asking readers to submit the year's best science imagery, but also this fascinating blog where a chemist uses large quantities of materials and takes beautiful high-resolution -- and artistic -- photos of labware and reactions.
- Wired features a gallery of what they describe as the best scientific figures of 2012 (i.e. figures in journals, not "figures" as in people/scientists). I like "The Essence of Tomato" -- it's the one that looks like a DNA microchip heat map and it describes relative abundance of various flavor compounds in varietals of tomatoes. There's also an image of a lonely yttrium atom.
- On a related tangent, there's a piece by Virginia Hughes on Only Human over at National Geographic regarding perception of science and the importance of creativity. It's short and well-written and highlights important issues in how children at impressionable ages are losing interest because they don't see creativity in it. The piece also addresses strategies for combating this notion.
- An incidence of chemophobia from a science blog (Last Word on Nothing) has attracted attention from the chemblogosphere (namely this post by See Arr Oh). It's part of a series where the writers talk about their fears of certain sciences. Though it perhaps comes off as anti-chemistry and can be seen as pointing the central science in boring/incomprehensible tones, I think that it importantly highlights the need for science educators to address this (read the last two paragraphs) in making the subject more broadly accessible. I suppose I object to the post less than See Arr Oh does.
- The winners of the National Medal of Science this year include chemists Allen J. Bard (electrochemistry; UT Austin) and M. Frederick Hawthorne (inorganic chemistry; Missouri, previously UCLA). Also on the list is influential biomedical scientist Leroy Hood (systems biology; Johns Hopkins).
- B.R.S.M. comments on the the synthetic biology vs organic synthesis rivalry.
- See Arr Oh asks readers about vacation time in academia, industry, etc. 1 day a year should be good enough for anybody, right?
- Here on Not the Lab I've added a Biology Resources page that may be useful to some; it'll grow.
- The Huffington Post featured Sense About Science's list of the year's most science illiterate celebrities; it's a pretty amusing read. It also includes a list of buzzwords that are commonly used but are meaningless, including "detox", "immune-boosting", "superfood", "oxygenating", and "cleansing". Meanwhile, the Huffington Post swings to the other end of the quackery spectrum by publishing a favorable article about holiday "cleanses".
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Norwegian Morten is the first foreign doctoral candidate in semiotics: Wolves, traffic lights and cultural mix
Morten Tønnessen (33) is not only the only Norwegian doctoral student at the
We meet Morten in the student town
Semiotics is thus the study of the signs and the use of them, we are told. – But then we see how many people today just look at the signs – traffic lights – and no longer at the traffic. This is for me a sign of alienation, people are so overtly present in the reality of signs that they no longer see the nature behind it, says Morten.
Semiotics is dealing with the functioning of signs, Morten explains, engaged. – And with the context. Part of the first a semiotician will ask, is what context the signs function in.
NOT ONLY TARTU-MOSCOW
– When there is talk of
– This is a tradition or school in the area of semiotics which is primarily related to Juri Lotman’s work and to semiotics of culture. Lotman and others develop models for society and how cultures and subcultures can be analyzed. But another tradition of semiotics that
Morten develops what is properly called an Uexküllian phenomenology, a kind of philosophy of nature in which Jakob von Uexküll is important. – A core concept is environmental change, in conjunction with the concrete experienced life worlds of humans and other living beings. Moreover, I have a case study on Norwegian wolf management – a Norwegian-Estonian research project that compares ecological space in
CULTURAL ENCOUNTER AS MOTIVATION
It is no coincidence that the central persons in the Estonian tradition of semiotics have a diverse cultural background, says Morten: – Juri Lotman was a Russian Jew. He had a complex background, and ended up in
The other source of the semiotics tradition – Jakob von Uexküll, however, was from a German cultural background and another time. He took his basic university education in
A Russian immigrant and a German emigrant are thus important in the Estonian project of semiotics, and this, Morten thinks, is an important point: – The cultural mix was probably part of motivation for these scholars.
– Why hasn’t there been any foreign doctoral student in semiotics here before?
– Yes, why hasn’t anyone gone here on their own before, with that kind of ambition? It is only in recent years that the
Morten has some visits in
Morten the semiotician also has a tip for those who might have become interested in what he is doing. Namely that in the fall, the University of
STUDY OPPORTUNITIES IN
If you want to learn Estonian,
English Language master - hot tips:
– ICT applications at the
– The Film Arts – Baltic Film and
– Animation – Estonian
– Materials and Processes for Sustainable Energetic – Univ of
– Applied Measurements Science – Univ. in
– Semiotics – Univ. in
More information: www.studyinestonia.ee
Source: Mariann Lugus, the Archimedes foundation.
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The Cincinnati Public Schools have announced their list of summer feeding sites. Children ages 1-18 can receive free breakfast and lunch at these locations which includes summer school sites and community and school locations.
The summer feeding program is meant to fill in the gap when school closes and children no longer have access to the federal school breakfast and lunch programs. It’s an effort to curb child hunger as Hamilton County has 18 percent of its population considered “food insecure.”
The Children’s Hunger Alliance of Ohio has an automated service you can call (1 800 481 6885) which will help you find the summer feeding site closest to you.
Summer Feeding Locations in Cincinnati for Children Ages 1-18
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Lily Pads, Venetian Gardens
Photograph by Frank Curtis
This Month in Photo of the Day: Your Photos
This Photo was taken at Venetian Gardens in Leesburg, Florida, just after a thunderstorm. The dark sky leaving the area shows a three-foot diameter water lily with new collected water. A dragonfly came to drink the freshwater in the safety of the center of the lily. On the third trip to the water, I was lucky to catch it in full flight … Mother Nature taking care of her family.
This photo and caption were submitted to Your Shot. Have a great shot? Send it to us for possible publication in National Geographic magazine.
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home > archive > 2001 > this article
Take heart, Mr. Day
By Michael Moriarty
I'm still pleased to be among the first political observers to have recognized Stockwell Day's potential as leader of the right-wing opposition in Parliament. His recent troubles are no surprise. I think Day has done as well as any man could have, under the circumstances. Neither he, nor any member of the Canadian Alliance, could have done any more to expose the dysfunctional nature of federal politics in Canada.
When the Tories became Red Tories and Brian Mulroney instituted the all-pervasive Goods and Services Tax, it was evident that a deal had been cut between the Liberals and the Bay Street conservatives. That power-sharing merger is a phenomenon that is occurring in all democracies. (Karl Marx predicted that socialism and capitalism would ultimately merge to the inevitable demise of capitalism.) The conservatives mouth reform, but do the dirty work of raising taxes, while the liberals give the capitalist moguls access to Third World sweatshop labor and the freedom to merge into mega-monopolies, such as AOL Time Warner.
In a recent column in The Globe and Mail, the former Prime Minister of the Ukraine, Viktor Yushchenko, describes his failed attempt to build a healthy, market-based economy in the former Soviet republic. What happened to Yushchenko would have inevitably happened to Day, had he become Prime Minister. The Liberals and Tories would have merged in a vote of no confidence and forced Day out of office, in much the same way that Preston Manning's contingent is now punishing Day for his electoral defeat last November 27.
For Day, the outcome of this first high-level leap into national politics must be heartbreaking. Someone of his political stripe had to do it, though. We require no further evidence of how a worldwide liberal formula has now been played out repeatedly and triumphantly in Canada. The Liberals under Jean Chrétien (supported by their Tory acolytes) create the illusion of democracy, while maintaining a consistent power base.
The ultimate humiliation of the hypocrite-conservative flank is now unfolding in the United States. All the land mines that are erupting around George W. Bush were laid during the Clinton hegemony. As the U.S. economy stalls, 'W' is becoming the second Herbert Hoover. America will soon beg for the return of a Clintonian president - this time female, either Hilary Clinton or Janet Reno, who may run for Governor of Florida.
Mr. Day, you were the point man for what I consider to be the only authentic conservative movement in the world, let alone North America. You had to be the sacrificial lamb. As a Christian, you understand what I mean. It's a noble role to play, but a doomed one in this day and age.
My advice to you is to retire from politics and stay out of the line of fire. You have done admirable work, and I'd prefer seeing my fellow freedom fighters leave politics and become historians, assiduously recording this conflict of the Left fighting with God. Eventually, after the leftist, godless juggernaut makes life thoroughly unpleasant for everyone, we will be able to say, from a position of strength: "I told you so." Once these neo-Marxists 'invade Poland' (so to speak), the people will demand help from leaders such as you, who stand for freedom.
Take heart, Mr. Day. Today's 'politically correct' brigades cannot toss 3,000 years of Judeo-Christian civilization onto "the ash heap of history." For it is we small-c conservatives who are toying with them -- not the other way around. We shall appear to lose all the battles but, by God, we will win the war.
Michael Moriarty is a Golden Globe winning actor who has appeared
in the landmark television series Law and Order, the mini-series Holocaust,
and the recent movie Along Came a Spider.
Other related articles: (open in a new window)
© 1996-2013, Enter Stage Right and/or its creators. All rights reserved.
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Yu, Ping; Gandhidasan, Senthilkumar; and Miller, Alexis A., 2010, Different usage of the same oncology information system in two hospitals in Sydney - lessons go beyond the initial introduction, International Journal of Medical Informatics, 79(6), 422-429.
Background and purpose: The experience of clinicians at two public hospitals in Sydney, Australia, with the introduction and use of an oncology information system (OIS) was examined to extract lessons to guide the introduction of clinical information systems in public hospitals.
Methods and materials: Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 12 of 15 radiation oncologists employed at the two hospitals. The personnel involved in the decision making process for the introduction of the system were contacted and their decision making process revisited. The transcribed data were analyzed using NVIVO software. Themes emerged included implementation strategies and practices, the radiation oncologists' current use and satisfaction with the OIS, project management and the impact of the OIS on clinical practice.
Results: The hospitals had contrasting experiences in their introduction and use of the OIS. Hospital A used the OIS in all aspects of clinical documentation. Its implementation was associated with strong advocacy by the Head of Department, input by a designated project manager, and use and development of the system by all staff, with timely training and support. With no vision of developing a paperless information system, Hospital B used the OIS only for booking and patient tracking. A departmental policy that data entry for the OIS was centrally undertaken by administrative staff distanced clinicians from the system. All the clinicians considered that the OIS should continuously evolve to meet changing clinical needs and departmental quality improvement initiatives.
Conclusions: This case study indicates that critical factors for the successful introduction of clinical information systems into hospital environment were an initial clear vision to be paperless, strong clinical leadership and management at the departmental level, committed project management, and involvement of all staff, with appropriate training. Clinician engagement is essential for post-adoption evolution of clinical information systems.
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Berlin Unlike, 2011
Kreuzberg’s gritty Görlitzer Park is the last place you’d expect to enjoy a nice round of golf, but the Isa Mitz café plays host to a unique version of the gentleman’s game. Down in the basement is an 18-hole miniature golf course painted in lurid flourescents, illuminated by Ultra Violet lights.
The Style King, 2011
The most significant European city of the Twentieth Century, Berlin has become a cultural hub at the heart of the continent. Since the fall of the Wall, immigrants have flooded in with dreams of space, freedom and laid-back living, and the German capital is now home to artists, musicians and other creatives. Hot on their heels come waves of tourists with a thirst for history and hedonism, ready to hit world-famous museums and clubs, and to unearth their own hidden gems.
Slow Travel Berlin, 2011
Maren Winkler is an amateur photographer who moved to Berlin in 2000. Escaping from small town life in Western Germany, she “wanted to live in a place which I wouldn’t ever know by heart – no matter how long I lived in it.” Working as a medical doctor at Charité Berlin’s Centre for Stroke Research, Winkler spends her free time documenting the details of her life on photographic film. Her book A Passion for Plastic explores deserted scenes from her adopted home, recorded using vintage Bakelite cameras. “I am a nerd,” she freely admits, “I do benefit from the fact that nerds are more respected these days, but seriously - I’ve always been one.”
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Finally, a landscape design app for the iPhone from a top designer that allows you, phone in hand, to walk around your garden space and at the same time add, delete, and move around design elements like garden sheds, decks, paths, planting beds and much more.
Developed by designer Julie Moir Messervy, the app, officially called the Home Outside Design iPhone App, allows homeowners with relatively small properties to locate their house and other main landscape features on the main design plan, then select from about 280 hand-drawn elements to add to the design. I can't tell exactly how this would work with the scale of the property, but it might be a good basic design tool for homeowners who want to get started with a master plan, think about possibilities, and narrow down their desires before a real designer is called in to refine the plan. At $2.99 for the app, you can hardly go wrong.
The app is based on Messervy's acclaimed book Home Outside: Creating the Landscape You Love (Taunton Press, 2009), which focuses on extending the home out into the garden. "More people are realizing that home begins when you set foot on your property, not just when you enter your front door," says Messervy.
For those who want affordable design, Messervy's design studio is also offering an online design service. She sends you a design kit and a workbook that includes directions for measuring your property and a detailed questionnaire. Once you send it back, she develops two designs for you ... you can then continue working with her on a finished design, hire a local designer to complete the work for you, or do it yourself. Online design services start at $500 for a front or back yard design of up to 5000 square feet.
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I obsess over character names. It's not unusual for me to spend days or weeks — or even longer — figuring out what a character should be called. It's a mix of sound, meaning, personal significance, and pure luck. Here are some of the names I've used for characters in my books, along with the reasons I chose them.
Lily Moore: Years ago, when I was living in Toronto and taking a fiction-writing workshop at Ryerson University, I had the germ of an idea for the book that became The Damage Done. I knew, without consciously thinking it through, that the sisters' names were Lily and Claudia. The last name was another matter entirely; I wrote much of the first draft without figuring it out. Then, in a conversation with another writer about the book, I said, "With Lily, there's always more under the surface." It was as if a light bulb went on over my head at that moment, and Moore became her surname from that point on.
Jesse Robb: Lily's best friend is the one person she really depends on... but even though Jesse is loyal, charming, and kind, he does have a roguish side. As Lily is well aware, he has no problem invading her privacy by opening her mail or listening in on her telephone conversations, and he will occasionally lie to her if he believes doing so is in her best interest. Jesse literally means "God's gift," but when I say the name, I can't help but think of the outlaw Jesse James, too. Jesse Robb's surname seemed right for a rogue with a good heart.
Bruxton: I love the fact that so many people have taken the time to write to me to ask, "What is Bruxton's first name?" Some of them make guesses, since there are clues in the books. (I thought my clues in The Damage Done were so obvious, but no one has guessed correctly... yet! There is a giant clue dropped in Evil in All Its Disguises, coming in March 2013, so I think Bruxton's secret will be out after that.) "Bruxton" is a name I made up — its root is the word brusque, which literally means abrupt in manner, blunt, or rough. When Lily first meets him, that's how she would describe him, too.
Norah Renfrew: Lily and Norah bond, partly, over a shared love of female singers from the 1940s, especially Billie Holiday and Sarah Vaughan. While Norah Renfrew is an NYPD detective, I wanted her to have a name to match her rich, resonant voice — and, to my ear, this does. Norah means "woman of honor," and that certainly fits this character.
Tariq Lawrence: With a Pakistani mother and English father, Tariq Lawrence is a man caught between two words, and I wanted that tension to be visible from the start. Also, Tariq literally means "evening caller" in Arabic, and Tariq is very much a creature of the night (Lily first encounters him in the middle of the night in The Damage Done).
Leonard Wolven: Hmm, it's hard to write about this one without being too spoilery. Let's just say that, when I started writing The Next One to Fall, I knew that there was a man at the center of the story who was a predator when it came to women (and to many other things). His first and last names reference a couple of predators of the animal kingdom, the lion and the wolf. But there's a powerful tension in the character, too, and since lions and wolves are very different creatures, I wanted the reader to wonder which side would dominate. At one point in the book, another member of the Wolven family says, "The name Wolven is appropriate, because we are like wolves."
Bastián Montalvo: His first name is a derivative of Sebastian, but the real reason I chose it is because Bastián reminds me of bastard (if you've read The Next One to Fall, this may seem appropriate). His surname is from Spanish nobility, and members of the family were part of the conquest of the New World, settling in Chile (where Bastián hails from), Peru, and other parts of South America. Being nobility, a Montalvo traditionally could not be executed by hanging, but he could be killed by firing squad...
Elinor Bargeman: This woman is Lily's nemesis for much of The Next One to Fall, and while Lily detests her, she also develops a grudging respect for her tenacity. "Bargeman" describes the character pretty well — she barges into rooms, speaks without considering other people's feelings, and is generally overbearing. But I had to give the character a first name I love to remind myself that there is much more to her than meets the eye.
* * *
Speaking of Evil in All Its Disguises... I'm giving away 10 advance reading copies over at GoodReads. If you have a mailing address in the US or Canada, enter now!
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The New Jersey chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union has released an Android app that surreptitiously records police stops and sends the videos to legal watchdogs for review.
The advent of Police Tape is designed to counter a practice an increasing number of civilians have encountered over the past few years: those who videotape or photograph police officers performing routine stops and other official acts are frequently arrested or disciplined. Evidently, many officers are all in favor of increased surveillance as long as it isn't turned on them. Earlier this year, for instance, a Miami journalist covering a police effort to evict Occupy Miami protestors recovered video of officers arresting him after it was deleted from his camera.
Police Tape provides basic advice for people who are stopped by police officers. It also claims to provide controls for discreetly recording the video or audio of such stops. After it is activated, it disappears from the screen. The app will also upload the recording to ACLU-NJ so monitors there can review it for any civil liberties violations. "Once it has been uploaded, it's saved on an external server, so police cannot permanently delete the file," an accompanying video states. An app for Apple iOS devices is in the works, the ACLU says.
Depending on local laws and other specifics, recording video or audio without the knowledge or consent of people in the immediate vicinity may run afoul of the law. That means end users may want to seek legal advice before routinely using Police Tape. Then again, having the app installed and ready to go in an emergency may not be a bad idea, either.
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More analysis of the TokyoPop translation of Shadow of the Moon,
this time focusing on Chapter 35
1. TP: The rain fell endlessly, like thin silken threads cast streaming from the sky.
EW: Rain fell like slender threads scattered by the wind.
LIT: Rain fell like scattered [maku
: to disperse, to sow] threads.
2. TP: Whether she was captured, attacked, or simply left to lie there in the mud, she would wind up in the same place. Dead.
What eventually shuffled into her dimming vision was none of these things.
EW: Whether she was arrested or attacked, or if she simply continued to lie there, her struggles would come to the same end.
She looked up through the mist in the direction of the sound. It was neither a villager nor one of her pursuers.
LIT: "Dead" is not in the original [I understand why it's there, though I would have preceded it with a colon or m-dash]. When she raised misted eyes [kasumu modifies eyes] toward the sound, a villager or a pursuer was not there.
I split the above compound sentence into two sentences.
3. TP. So, it was not a common wild animal, but it was no demon either. Yoko had encountered enough of those to tell the difference.
EW: It didn't look like a run-of-the-mill beast or youma. Youko lay there and stared vacantly at this quite curious rat.
LIT: It didn't look like an ordinary beast, but didn't look like a youma. And so Youko vacantly gazed at that strange rat.
4. TP: The rat stood there, staring at her and seeming rather startled, though not unduly alarmed. It was a little chubbier than the rats she'd seen back home.
EW: The rat stared back at Youko with a slightly stunned expression. It didn't seem to be getting ready to attack her. It was a bit plumper than a rat.
Its fur was a color somewhere between a light brown and gray.
I missed this line: It was a bit plumper than a rat.
5. TP: The creature was covered in hair all the way down, even it's tail, which was a good thing, Yoko thought, for there were few things she found more revolting than naked rat tails.
EW: The fur extended all the way down its tail, so though it looked like a rat, it obviously wasn't the same species [changed "obviously" to "probably"].
The addition is not in the original.
6. TP: Supported by the surprisingly strong rodent, Yoko allowed herself to be brought, staggering, to a small house among the trees. She remembered a door opening, and walking through it,
and then everything faded.
EW: Leaning on an arm stronger than she would have imagined, they made their way to a small house. That was the last thing she remembered.
LIT: Youko did not remember the things that occurred after they made their way [the verb implies effort or a struggle] to a small house.
The addition is not in the original.
7. TP: In the long hours that followed, her awareness drifted in and out, and she saw many things, but her mind could make no sense of anything. She didn't know where she was, or if anyone was there with her, or if she would ever get up again.
She went through fits of deep sleep alternating with light fevered dreams, and when she awoke at last she was inside a simple house, lying on a low, rustic bed.
EW: Many times she had the sense of opening her eyes and taking in her surroundings, but she couldn't grasp what she was looking at or recall what she had seen. Her consciousness alternated between periods of deep sleep and light sleep. When at last she awoke for good, she found herself within a humble abode, lying on a bed.
The addition is not in the original
8. TP: There was apparently no one else in the small room. Dizzily Yoko peered around, then crawled over to check the far side of the bed, but she found no obvious threat. There was a small table
and a simple shelf that was little more than a few boards stuck together with some folded cloth on it; atop that, her sword and the blue gem were neatly laid out.
Yoko breathed a sigh of relief. After rubbing her legs to stimulate the circulation,
she eventually managed to stand and reach the low shelf.
EW: There was no one else in the small room. Her vision still spinning, she desperately searched around the bed on her hands and knees. There wasn't much in the way of furniture except for a stand next to the bed fashioned from a few planks of wood. Neatly arranged on the shelf were the sword, shrouded in a bolt of cloth, and the blue jewel, threaded through with a new cord.
With a profound sense of relief she managed to stand up.
LIT (last line): Youko relaxed. She somehow stood up and put the jewel around her neck and pick up the sword and cloth and returned to the bed.
What I translate as "stand" is tana
[shelf, rack, trellis, scaffold]. Ono later uses te-buru
[table], but only once. I'm pretty sure the antecedent of "table" is "stand next to the bed fashioned from a few planks of wood."
The second addition is not in the original.
9. TP: . . . and breathed another deep sigh of relief. Though her life might be worth little at the moment, she reflected, she was glad she had been saved.
EW: . . . and breathed a deep sigh of relief. Her life having been saved, she could begin to believe that no matter how worthless her existence still had value.
I missed this line: Her life having been saved, she could begin to believe that no matter how worthless her existence still had value.
10. TP: . . . Maybe you don't trust us?
EW: Can you not trust me even that much?"
LIT: Can't you trust [oira
] even a little bit?
The standard dictionary definition of oira is plural, except that Rakushun later uses it clearly as a first-person pronoun, so it is probably a regionalism, or a kind of "royal we."
11. TP: . . . He -- Yoko decided it was a "he"
-- reached out a paw, and Yoko did not flinch this time.
EW: It reached out again. This time Youko did not shrink away.
LIT: [The rat] extended a hand. This time Youko did not evade.
The parenthetical is not in the original.
12. TP: Yoko paused, then in a faint voice croaked, "Water".
EW: Youko said uncertainly, "Water . . . . "
LIT: With uncertainty [confusion, indecision] Youko opened her mouth. " . . . water."
13. TP: The water had been boiled
and was still a bit warm. It was delicious. Yoko drank several mugfuls and then looked into the bowl. It held a pinkish-orange concoction
that smelled strongly of alcohol.
EW: The almost hot water was delicious. She drained the cup over and over. Then she peered at the bowl, caught the scent of alcohol.
The original word is yuzamashi,
or "water that has been boiled and then allowed to cool," so this is actually a literalism (though a tad nonsensical, as it violates POV). The next line is not in the original. The translator here is describing "peaches pickled in wine and simmered with sugar."
14. TP: "Me name's Rakushun. You?"
EW: "My name's Rakushun. And you are?"
Rakushun again uses oira
as the first-person pronoun. He's obviously speaking in a regional accent. Imagine a Southern accent (or this an attempt at Cockney?). However, as we later learn that Rakushun is smart and well-read enough to qualify for the best secondary schools in the province (and to attend the national university in En), attributing ungrammatical speech to him is unacceptable.
15. TP: Yoko had to work to keep her mouth from dropping open in surprise. I suppose I shouldn't be surprised, she thought. If it speaks, why shouldn't it write?
"Well, the yo is the character for sun, and the ko is the character for child," she explained gesturing:
as in youki
(cheerful), and ko
as in kodomo
The addition is not in the original. This exchange between Rakushun and Youko is very common in Japanese culture. Because of the large number of homophones and nonstandard kanji used in first names (the EDICT name index lists 100 separate readings for "Youko"), Japanese often explain the "spelling" of their names using common words in which the same kanji appears.
16. TP: "Sun-child, eh?" Rakushun tilted his head to one side, quizzically, then grinned. "Funny name, that. Where are you from?"
EW: "Ko as in 'child'?" Rakushun tilted his head to the side. "Huh," he said. "That's a curious name. Where are you from?"
Literally, Youko's name does mean "sun child," but that isn't how she explains it to Rakushun. Saying "sun child" by itself would suggest a different kanji than the one she means.
17. TP: "Like me! Happy . . . and swift!" "At your service!" The rat smiled and took a bow.
EW: The rat smiled. "It's Raku
as in kuraku
(sorrow and joy), and shun
as in shunbin
Again, "Rakushun" can
literally mean "happy swiftness," but I think it says something about his character that he explains the first character of his name using kuraku
[pleasure and pain, joys and sorrows], rather than a simple adjective like "fun" or a noun like "optimism." I believe this reflects Rakushun's knowledge that he is smart but unable to take advantage of his intelligence in Kou, a big reason he is willing to accompany Youko to En.
The addition is not in the original.
The online and offline browser versions have been updated. More corrections here
Labels: 12 kingdoms, shadow revisions
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26 August, 2011, 03:46 AM
Simple Car Care Tips & Advice
Put an End to All Your Car Troubles
“Does Your Car Break Down Often? Are You Spending More On Fuel Than You Thought
You Would? Is Maintaining Your Car
Eating Into Your Budget?”
Make Your Car Last Longer with Some Simple Do It Yourself Tips
Are you putting off buying a car because the expense of maintaining it will be too much? Did you miss an important meeting because your car decided to break down? Has your vehicle started sounding like a NASCAR race car? Do you suffer the elements because the heating or cooling of your car wont work properly? You can STOP worrying! Maintaining your car is not all that difficult!
Improve the Performance of Your Car Without Increasing Your Expenses
According to the United States Department of Transportation, the average life span of a vehicle is 12 years, or around 128,500 miles. Also, according to the US Department of Labor’s Bureau of Labor Statistics, the average American household’s second largest expense is car maintenance, accounting for nearly 17% of the total expense. Now wouldn’t it be wonderful if you could make your car last that long and at the same time not cost you a bomb in maintenance? A well maintained car is the biggest asset of a household. There are so many benefits of a car that is maintained
You will save on fuel costs
You can take that family vacation you always dreamed of but were afraid to take because of the car
Your car will last you longer than you thought possible
You wont have to be late for meetings
The air conditioning or heating will not give out when you need it the most
You will save on service and repair costs
It affords you the luxury of a pleasant drive, no matter the distance
The re-sale value of car will be very reasonable
The over all cost of having a car reduces if the car is well maintained
You can take your girlfriend out without worrying about the car breaking down during your date
Your car will feel as good as new for a longer time
Download this ebook at:
NO LONGER AVAILABLE!!!
Last edited by iowadawg; 27 June, 2012 at 01:10 AM.
24 September, 2011, 02:39 AM
It is interesting and joyful in reading, anyway I got to know some good features about car and it's average miles.
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If you’re betting on capitalism, ask for good odds.
It looks like the leftie radicals, socialists and unionists might finally start to win a few, even though their arguments have been ignored and mocked for almost a generation by the likes of Brian Mulroney, Stephen Harper and chamber of commerce shills too numerous to count.
Capitalism’s death knell isn’t necessarily sounding, but it is on a gurney in the emergency ward as rescuers desperately try to revive it.
This week, the annual World Economic Forum is being held in Davos, Switzerland, where presidents, prime ministers and CEOs from around the world gather to gab about, well, economics.
High on the agenda is the need for capitalism to evolve to meet the needs of a changing world — a message that came from Occupy tents in dozens of cities before they were unceremoniously removed, and which now finds some measure of agreement among the well coiffed in Davos.
Klaus Schwab, the founder and executive chairman of the World Economic Forum, was reported in the New York Times to have said in advance of this year’s event that, “Capitalism, in its current form, no longer fits the world around us,” and political and business leaders “have failed to learn the lessons from the financial crisis.”
Schwab, presumably, does not live in a tent, but his sentiments are surprisingly similar to those expressed by thousands of Occupy protesters and their sympathizers.
Unfortunately, most politicians and board of trade types perennially utter banalities about austerity and prosperity and so on.
Harper’s habit of boasting about job creation backfired this week, when the Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce reported that many new jobs are bad jobs, i.e., low-paying.
In fact, there were four times as many low-paying jobs available than high-paying jobs, the CIBC said.
The need for substantial change in the economic system has been obvious for years. Strangely, prime ministers and corporate presidents seem unable to comprehend it. Maybe they will, now that even the attendees at Davos are talking about it.
Perhaps they will finally realize rising inequality and the ongoing decimation of the middle class doesn’t benefit anyone — certainly not average income earners, and not even those at the top of the economic pyramid.
A declining middle class — both in terms of numbers and real income levels — will ensure a stagnant economy. A message to the country’s CEOs: you want recovery? Pay up.
Everybody’s amazed by China. Well, not by their human rights record and their authoritarian political system, but by their seemingly superhuman ability to produce widgets. Need a widget? Chances are, it’s made in China.
Some years ago, the brain trust in North America decided — this being the modern era and the Information Age — that producing widgets was no longer important. Something newer and more admirable arose, and it was dubbed the Knowledge Economy. Its deity was Free Trade.
Demand for plywood skyrocketed in Canada and the U.S., as factories were boarded up.
Meanwhile, China now has something that is only a distant memory for Canadians and Americans: an expanding and increasingly affluent middle class.
Capitalism in North America has become so decrepit that the crisis envelops not just workers, but retirees — current and potential. A healthy economic system would not be facing a massive pension crisis in both the public and private spheres. Freedom 55? A few years ago, it was a dream; today, it is a punch line.
Optimism is consistently contradicted by the headlines.
This week, the U.S. Federal Reserve extended its estimated duration of the current recession/depression, saying it will continue until the end of 2014.
But not in China.
Brian Jones is a desk editor at The Telegram. He can be reached by email at [email protected].
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Find a job
Oil & Gas
Best of Bush
Leave a message
Students help out janitor
Northern News Services
Published Wednesday, April 22, 2009
Their two children had severe asthma growing up near Barrie, Ont., and the family made their big move to Yellowknife six years ago.
John and Tracy Carter thought their time had finally come a year and a half ago. Their bags were packed, and they were going to leave Canada for the first time.
Then Tracy, a nurse, found a lump the size of a grapefruit on her stomach.
It was cancer. Doctors removed the mass, but last May, Tracy, now 52, was diagnosed with breast cancer. She heads to Edmonton for five weeks of treatment on Friday.
One day in February, John, a janitor at William McDonald School, was speaking with Kathy Lovatt, who teaches the Grade 8 Catholic students from St. Joseph Middle School.
She was touched by his struggles.
"He was looking for another job so he could take his wife on a holiday," she said.
She started talking to her class, and they decided they wanted to help. Within a few weeks, the class raised $2,280 with their "Pick a Prize Raffle." They had called businesses and groups for donations. They raffled off prizes including an IPod, a hotel room and a barbecue set.
"We had to stop calling because we had so many yeses," said Robin Abel, 13.
Students, teachers and parents from both William McDonald and St. Joe's loaded up on tickets, helping students far surpass their $1,500 goal.
For the students, the fundraiser taught them more than just organization, leadership and team work. Nothing will beat the look on their janitor's face when they presented him the cheque, they said.
"It gave us a really warm feeling in our stomachs," said Tre Bryan, 13. "It looked like he was going to cry."
"When you work together - things can happen," added Colleen Hawkins, 14.
Carter was floored by the students' generosity.
"It was one heck of a random act of kindness," he said last week, his voice shaking with emotion. "It's just so unbelievable that Yellowknife people would do this for us. And I just can't thank them enough."
Meanwhile, Carter, 54, continues to work at the school while his wife undergoes treatment. Tracy has had a small biopsy, and she doesn't know if more removal will be required. She starts chemotherapy Friday.
"Whether that takes it or not, we don't know," John said, rubbing his hands together nervously.
Tracy, who will take one of the family dogs with her to Edmonton, told John she wanted him to keep working - and save his holidays for their vacation.
"One of us has got to keep working to keep up the bills," he said, adding he's still looking for extra work to cover household expenses and the trip.
He hopes by June they can go somewhere warm, somewhere beautiful - someplace she deserves.
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This is a question I was asked multiple times over the last week: the Microsoft guidelines for database mirroring say not to mirror more than 10 databases per instance – why is that and is it true?
The answer is my favorite 'it depends!'. The number 10 is a rough guess at the sweet-spot for the majority of customers based on hitting a thread limit on 32-bit machines. The factors that need to be considered are:
- How much memory do the principal and mirror instances have? (hopefully the same)
- How much processing-power do the principal and mirror instances have? (hopefully the same)
- How much bandwidth does the IO subsystem have on the mirror instance? (hopefully the same as on the principal)
- How much transaction log does the workload on each database generate?
- How much network bandwidth is available between the principal and the mirror instances?
The last two factors are the most critical. If the network bandwidth available between the two instances is not enough to handle the combined transaction log generation rate per second from all databases being mirrored then performance will drop on the principal databases. SQL Server 2008 does alleviate some of this with log stream compression – see here for details. The next most critical thing to consider is the memory and thread requirements for mirroring – each mirrored database takes one thread plus some memory, so on low-powered servers, lots of mirrored databases may be too much load on the server when combined with the regular workload.
Here are some examples that I've seen:
- A customer with 25 databases, all of which have very small amounts of activity, and not all at the same time, has them all mirrored with no problem.
- A customer with only 3 heavily-loaded databases, but without a great network connection, that can barely mirror one of the databases without the lack of network bandwidth causing workload degradation.
The key to success here is to do the log generation calculation and then if it seems that the available network bandwidth will support the number of databases you want to mirror, test it first before relying on it in production.
I guess the bottom-line here is that any broad guidance is only that – your mileage may (and probably will) vary. Always do your own calculations and testing.
[Edit 10/15/2009: Checkout the new KB article I helped write that discusses this in detail: http://support.microsoft.com/kb/2001270]
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First they came for the smokers . . . . Perfume the New second hand smoke?
YET – Y’all get to run around with your wireless (radiating) electronic Monitoring Devices? You use those “cell phones” via Cell Towers that are also a hazard to my health… Add GM Food, Neurotoxins (Aspartame, Fluoride…), excitotoxins (MSG), and all the rest…. We are surrounded by DEATH!
Meanwhile CODEX and the FDA are seeking to ban herbs, Raw Milk and foods, and non pharma Natural medicines?
Certainly we believe that an employer has the right to control the environment they own, but the State should have no role in this whats-so-ever!
Friday, January 20th, 2012
Back when the smoking bans were spreading across the country, those of us opposed to them made the point that you could make many of the same arguments about perfume and cologne that ban proponents were making about second hand smoke. (And there’s about as much evidence that fragrances are a health risk, which is to say very little.)
But you can’t really make a reductio argument for too long before someone embraces it.
Many women love wearing perfume, but have you ever gotten a headache from someone who has sprayed on way too much of a scent you don’t like? Back in 2008, Susan McBride, sued Detroit under the Americans with Disabilities Act, claiming a co-worker’s fragrance made it hard for her to breathe and do her job. She was eventually awarded $100,000, and the city warned workers to avoid using scented products like perfume, cologne, deodorant, lotion, and aftershave. Now New Hampshire is looking to do the same.
State representative Michele Peckham is sponsoring House Bill 1444 which hopes to ban state employees who work with the public from wearing perfume. Apparently a constituent with extreme allergies approached Peckham with the proposal. “It may seem silly, but it’s a health issue,” Peckham told the Union Leader. “Many people have violent reactions to strong scents.”
The author then poses an honest question that puts this nonsense into the proper perspective:
Allergies and annoyances aside, should the government be able to regulate what we smell like?
The bans at the moment are just for state employees. But that’s merely where these ideas start. Just to hammer the point home, this, from a tweet from Stacy Malkan, head of an organization called the Campaign for Safe Cosmetics.
Fragrance is the new secondhand smoke.
Of course, body odor is fairly offensive to the senses as well. Don’t we deserve protection from that? Clearly the proper balance here is for the federal government to require regular showers and the application of deodorant, but ban all but the unscented varieties. All of this would be proper under the authority of the Commerce Clause, of course.
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If you started this morning with a cup of joe, there’s a word for you: the majority. More than half of Americans over 18 are daily coffee drinkers. And coffee is by no means America’s only caffeine injection system, just the most popular. From energy drinks like Red Bull to ubiquitous candy bars, Americans consume 280 milligrams of caffeine each day, surely making it America’s favorite stimulant.
View Our Gallery of the Most Coffee-Addicted Cities
So across this caffeine-loving nation, which city is most addicted to the buzz? To answer that, we considered three things: the availability of coffee, the average monthly outlay for coffee and total caffeine consumption from all sources, including tea, sweets, energy drinks and pills.
The twofold focus on coffee as part of our definition of the most caffeinated city reflects the fact that three-quarters of all caffeine is delivered through roast beans—400 million cups every day—or more than 4,600 cups every second and 300 billion pounds of beans every year. Coffee is a $60 billion global industry with outposts on nearly every urban block.
Market research firm NPD Group provided a list of the cities with the largest number of coffee shops (both independent and chain stores) per capita. From that initial list, we then considered total caffeine consumption as measured by the most recent annual caffeine survey, commissioned by HealthSaver and conducted by Prince Market Research in 2008. Cities on our initial per capita ranking that were not accounted for in the consumption survey were given a normalized score.
Additionally, we considered data on the average monthly spending on coffee purchases in the first quarter of 2010, according to personal budget service Mint.com. Cities in which Mint data was not available were ascribed an averaged value.
How much does your city need a jolt?
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Las inquietudes de Barbra
Barbra Streisand no deja de subir reportajes interesantes que lee en la prensa... hoy nos deja este artículo de Leo Gerard publicado en "OurFuture.org":
No os lo perdáis:
Republicans jammed together a mess of old, failed and vague schemes and called it a jobs bill. Sen. John McCain conceded the reason for the rehash: “Part of it is in response to the president saying we don’t have a proposal.”
They still don’t. This despite the fact that they promised voters during their campaign to take control of the U.S. House one year ago that they’d create jobs. That they’d focus on jobs. That nothing was more important to them than jobs.
Now, what they’ve offered instead of actual jobs is a polyglot of GOP talking points. It’s certainly no vision to move the country forward. It’s a plot to set the country back – to repeal the health care law that will soon help provide coverage for the nearly 50 million Americans without insurance, to rescind the Wall Street reform law designed to prevent another financial sector-caused meltdown, and to thwart regulations, like those that stopped distribution of listeria-infected cantaloupe that killed 25.
GOP Sen. Rob Portman of Ohio called the Republican polyglot a “pro-growth proposal to create the environment for jobs.” It is, in fact, a pro-business proposal to permit corporations to destroy the environment for humans.
It is another GOP ploy to appease, accommodate and absolve corporations. It is another GOP ruse to firmly establish in America an economy designed for, dedicated to and directed by corporations rather than a just economy controlled by and beneficial to the 99 percent.
Republicans offered up their “Jobs Through Growth Act” mishmash after the GOP minority in the Senate wielded the filibuster again to block a vote on President Obama’s $447 billion American Jobs Act, a measure that even Republican economists determined would create 1.9 million jobs and reduce the nation’s aching 9.1 percent unemployment by as much as 1 percent.
The Republican measure, by contrast, could hurt the economy, according to Gus Faucher, director of macroeconomics at Moody’s Analytics, an independent firm whose chief economist advised the McCain presidential campaign. Here is what Faucher said:
“Should we look at regulations and make sure they make sense from a cost benefit standpoint? Certainly. Should we reduce the budget deficit over the long run? Certainly. But in the short term, demand is weak, businesses aren’t hiring, and consumers aren’t spending. That’s the cause of the current weakness, and Republican Senate proposals aren’t going to address that in the short term. In fact, they could be harmful in the short run if the focus is on cutting spending.”
Of all the Republican proposals, the most insidious, the most dangerous, the absolutely most outrageous is their demand to roll back Wall Street reform, to repeal the Dodd-Frank Act that was passed in an attempt to prevent recurrence of the 2008 financial collapse that destroyed the U.S. economy and caused the highest levels of foreclosures, unemployment and misery among the 99 percent since the Great Depression.
Go back, the Republicans are saying. Go back to 2007 when Wall Street financiers sold worthless mortgage-backed securities to unsuspecting investors, contending with a straight face that these were assets. Go back to 2008 when these firms made hundreds of millions betting those securities would fail. Go back to 2009 when the banksters, bailed out by taxpayers, awarded billions in bonuses to the executives who’d gotten the firms and the U.S. economy into so much trouble. Go back to early 2010, the Republicans are saying, before Obama signed the Dodd-Frank reform act, and allow Wall Street to do it all over again. Reprise unfettered, irresponsible Wall Street, the Republicans demand.
For Republicans, it’s all about enforcing freedom for the few – allowing corporations and millionaires to do whatever they want. No matter what that means to the freedoms of the 99 percent. The GOP demand for repeal of health care reform is another example of that. Already, this law has expanded health coverage for a million young adults because it allows them to remain on their parents’ plan until age 26. It has also helped 1.2 million senior citizens afford their prescription drugs by beginning to close the “donut hole” during which they must pay.
Still, Republicans want to get rid of that law. They want to regress to those free-for-all days when health insurance corporations could make unlimited profits from illness, deny coverage to those with chronic illnesses and terminate coverage when policy holders got sick. They want those young adults dropped. They want senior citizens to pay more for their prescriptions again. For Republicans, it’s all about enforcing freedom for the few – allowing health insurance corporations to do whatever they want. No matter what that means to the freedoms of the 99 percent.
The Republican rebuke of any attempt to control the 1 percent is highlighted in their “jobs bill” by its call for a regulation moratorium. No new rules! The country is in the midst of the deadliest outbreak of foodborne illness in 25 years. Twenty-five people are dead. A total of 125 people in 26 states have been sickened by listeria-poisoned cantaloupe from Jensen Farms in Holly, Colo. One sickened woman suffered a miscarriage. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) says more illnesses and deaths may occur over the next several weeks.
If the Republicans got their way, the FDA would be unable to write new regulations to prevent another such incident. It’s fine with the GOP that Jensen had hired its own inspector, a firm that certified the Jensen packing plant fine and dandy just before listeria-tainted cantaloupes killed 25 and just before the FDA found numerous, obvious violations.
That’s because the Republican precept is: an economy just for the 1 percent.
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CC-MAIN-2013-20
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http://www.barbrastreisand.com/es/article/las-inquietudes-de-barbra
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| 0.943565 | 1,303 | 1.53125 | 2 |
During December 3-21, foreign institutional investors (FIIs) were gross buyers of shares worth Rs 57,024 crore and sellers of equities worth Rs 38,644 crore - translating into a net inflow of Rs 18,380 crore (USD 3.4 billion), according to Sebi data.
This takes the net investment by FIIs to USD 23.15 billion (Rs 1,21,652 crore) so far in 2012, making it the highest-ever inflow during the last two years and the second-
highest in any calendar year, since their entry into Indian capital markets in 1992.
In 2010, overseas investors had made net investments of about USD 29 billion (about Rs 1,33,266 crore). FIIs, a major participant in Indian stock market, had pulled out a net USD 358 million (Rs 2,714 crore) in 2011.
Market experts believe the recent reforms initiatives undertaken by the government to boost economic growth and investor sentiment have seen renewed interest by foreign investors.
\"FIIs continued their positive stance on the Indian equities as the lack of investment options make the country an attractive destination,\" Destimoney Securities MD and CEO Sudip Bandyopadhyay said.
Besides, Indian market has attracted the highest amount of foreign flows compared with Asian peers so far,\" he added.
Moreover, overseas investors have infused Rs 493 crore (USD 94 million) in the debt market so far this month. In 2012, so far, FIIs total investment into the debt market stood at Rs 33,777 crore (USD 6.42 billion).
Foreign investors have been betting big on Indian equities and infused over Rs 40,000 crore in the last three months on the back of a slew of economic reforms initiated by government, pushing up BSE benchmark Sensex by about 25 per cent in 2012 calendar year.
Overseas investors had poured in Rs 9,577 crore in stock market in November, Rs 11,364 crore in October and Rs 19,261 crore in September, respectively.
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| 0.946445 | 417 | 1.570313 | 2 |
At SciStarter, we’re see exciting new citizen science opportunities with the development of new online tools and platforms. We’re trying to understand and map out the useful features of different platforms, and know that many of you have questions, experiences, and insights about this topic as well. Over the next few days, we’re interested in your thoughts on the software tools you’ve tried and the tools you’re dreaming about.
With your help, we would like to brainstorm a list of software tools and platforms for citizen science. Please join this discussion and tell us about the software tools you are using or plan to use for your projects. This may include software specifically created to support citizen science projects or custom tools you are developing. Your contributions will help build a list of ideas for others to consider, and help support research about these tools*.
Some questions we ask you to consider:
- When launching a new project, what sorts of technical resources do you have at your disposal (e.g. access to server space, developer time)?
- Would needing such resources pose a barrier?
- How well have existing platforms been able to support your projects? What additional tools or features would you find helpful?
- What strategies have you found to be most useful in recruiting participants, motivating them and keeping them engaged? Are there particular technologies that support these strategies?
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http://www.citizenscience.org/community/blog/2012/11/09/what-tools-and-technologies-are-powering-new-frontiers-for-your-citizen-science-projects/
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| 0.931784 | 283 | 1.59375 | 2 |
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