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UnNews:Controversy over A.1. steak sauce; "Is it really that important?"
From Uncyclopedia, the content-free encyclopedia
26 July 2006
Renowned steak eater and non-Uncyclopedian Roy Steinweiser recently uttered the words no one who has seen the commercials for A.1. brand steak sauce believed could be said. Words that sent innocent bystanders in tremors and chills.
To quote Mr. Steinweiser: "You know, A.1. steak sauce really isn't that important."
Mr. Steinweiser then proceeded to eat his steak with nothing but salt and pepper. Latest reports say his condition is critical, and he is in a state of delerium. Mr. Steinweiser has repeatedly insisted that absolutely nothing is wrong with him, and is refusing medical treatment.
"I just ate a goddamn steak, what's the big deal?"
This tragedy has hit Mr. Steinweiser's family and friends the hardest, particularly those present at the BBQ where the comment was uttered. When Uncyclopedian reporters arrived on the scene, the guests were all huddled around the television set.
"We've been waiting for nearly an hour for an A.1. commercial to show up so we can be reminded that 'Yeah, it's that important'" explained Joann Steinweiser, Roy's cousin.
edit About A.1. sauce
edit More News
Local Wikipedians have recently come out of the woodwork, claiming that Roy Steinweiser has the right to eat his steak however he damn well pleases, with or without A.1., under the Fair Use of Steak Clause.
Encyclopedia Dramatica declined to comment, except to say "no comment"
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You must understand that the problem isn’t just treating your scalp alone; it’s also knowing what your body needs.
The only way for you to eliminate and stop hair loss, thinning hair or balding is to regenerate and support your damaged hair follicles from the inside and outside.
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Attack Of The Non-Killer Tomatoes
In ancient times, people believed many strange ideas, such as:
Adam Sandler is funny.
Trading away Kevin Youkilis while getting almost nothing in return makes sense for the Boston Red Sox, because he’s about to go into a serious decline.
Tomatoes are poisonous.
Today, thanks to modern science, we know all these things are false. Researcher who attended screenings of Sandler’s latest movie, “That’s My Boy,” pronounced it a bomb. Experts who watched Youkilis hit bombs against the Sox pronounced him “da bomb.” And botanists have concluded that the mysterious objects being left on the streets of Portland are “tomato bombs,” but are still safe to eat.
Well, not the whole thing. Just the actual tomato part. The rest of the “bomb” is made up of a bucket (inedible), dirt (ugh) and the vine, which I’m sure is a delicacy in some cultures, but tastes sort of like an Adam Sandler movie poster. Only funnier.
Tomato bombs are the work of Portland Paste, which is some kind of artists’ collective with the announced goal of creating a working nuclear weapon from tomatoes.
Oops, sorry, that’s Iran Paste. Portland Paste distributed the buckets of tomato plants – they don’t really explode or anything fun like that – to encourage people to nurture them and eventually eat them. This will somehow make the world a better place, unless you happen to be a tomato.
It’s all part of activities called “guerilla gardening,” which calls for planting guerillas in all sorts of unexpected places to later commit acts of terrorism.
Oops, sorry, again. That’s Iran’s foreign policy. Guerilla gardeners of the Portland sort just plant vegetables and flowers in unusual places to make people think about our relationship with nature and how technology has corrupted it to the point that we now have Adam Sandler movies.
If you think that’s scary, consider this: There have been several reported sightings off the New England coast in recent days of great white sharks. As is well documented in many films on the SyFy channel,
a. huge sharks are a threat to all human life, and
b. it is possible to make a really bad movie without Adam Sandler.
I suppose we could fend off this current round of shark attacks with tomato bombs, since it’s a known fact that sharks will not eat tomatoes, even if they’re made into paste and put on pepperoni pizza. But scientists say a far simpler way is to just let the creatures eat tourists. To that end, Old Orchard Beach has announced that until 2 p.m. each day, only Canadians will be allowed in the water.
Maine got some bad news about its schools this week. According to a Harvard University study, nobody in this state has learned a damned thing since 1992. Least of all how to read high-falutin’ studies from Harvard University. Our student test scores, once among the best in the nation, have stagnated while other states were improving. For instance, three out of four Maine eighth graders were unable to correctly answer this simple question on a standardized test:
Which of the following is ineligible to become president of the United States?
a. Adam Sandler
b. a tomato
c. a shark
d. Canadian tourists
The right answer, of course, is “d” because Canadian tourists are now legally classified as shark bait. And the U.S. Constitution expressly prohibits the holding of high public office by “bait, chum and animal attractants including but not limited to deer urine.” You can look it up. It’s in Article IX, Aisle 4, bottom shelf, down near the beer coolers.
There is, however some positive news about the state’s schools. Parenting Magazine (motto: If You Don’t Turn Off That X-Box And Start Doing You’re Homework, You’re Grounded, Do You Hear Me, Grounded, Until You’re Eighteen) has chosen Portland as the third best place in the country to raise a family (lots of free tomatoes on the streets) and the third best city for education (the schools rarely show Adam Sandler movies, particularly in the lower grades).
Lewiston did not make Parenting’s lists, and the exclusion hasn’t gone unnoticed among its populace. Immediately after that stinging rejection, the School Committee voted to approve a fundraising plan that will allow businesses to purchase naming rights to proposed new athletic fields and buildings.
Opponents, including one committee member who stormed out of the meeting, said it was unconscionable to allow locker rooms to be named after condoms, concession stands to be named after fattening snacks, tennis courts to be named after racketeers, tracks to be named after tractors, and baseball diamonds to be named after jewelry stores.
But supporters pointed out that the facility in question is currently named Franklin Pasture (honest, that’s the actual name), and the teams that play there are called the Cow Patties (OK, I made that up, but it would be kind of cool if it were true). They said the group soliciting corporate sponsors would be judicious about selecting appropriate companies.
For instance, the committee had already rejected all of the following:
Joe’s Septic Pumping and Disposal Swimming Pool
Gentlemen’s Topless Bar Women’s Shower Stalls
Adam Sandler Hand Ball Court.
They did accept a sponsor for the ticket office. Unfortunately, under the terms of the agreement with Bain Capital, all staffing will be outsourced to Honduras. When asked if this loss of local jobs wasn’t at odds with the committee’s goals of making Lewiston a better place, one member said, “Hey, you say tomato bomb, I say tom-mah-toe bomb.”
Al Diamon apologizes for his unfair denigration in the above commentary of a significant and valued cinematic icon and recognizes that his thoughtless words and unreasonable characterizations have likely caused fans unwanted pain and distress. What? Adam Sandler? Hell, no. Diamon is sorry he dumped on Syfy shark movies. You got a problem with that? Email him at [email protected].
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The International Anglican Family Network (IAFN) is one of the Networks of the worldwide Anglican Communion. It is a forum for the exchange of information about the challenges facing families in different countries and cultures and the practical work being undertaken by churches and individual Christians. …More
Since 1991, IAFN’s work has focused on the production of three newsletters per year on issues affecting families. The aim of the newsletters is to set challenges and problems in an international context and to give information about practical projects and work being done by churches and communities to help. Articles are written by people from many different countries within the Anglican Communion. The range of topics covered in the newsletters: eg Street Children, Fathers and Families, HIV/AIDS, Children and War, Community Families, demonstrate the many areas where individuals and groups, often linked with churches, are active in responding to families in need. The newsletters provide an educational resource for both the developed and the developing world, helping all to learn more about the resources and dedication of the many women and men within the worldwide Anglican family whose work is often unknown. Their stories provide a stimulus for greater understanding and further action.
A more recent development has been the holding of regional consultations. The first was in Nairobi in 2003 which enabled delegates from different parts of Africa to come together and discuss the difficult and important issue of Violence and the Family. A further consultation was held in Seoul in October 2007, in partnership with the Korean Church, when delegates from different countries in Asia considered the impact of Globalisation on Family Life highlighting issues such as migrant workers, the bride trade and family violence.I n October 2010 IAFN held its third regional consultation on violence and the family, in Aotearoa New Zealand in partnership with the Family Centre, Lower Hutt, which brought together participants involved in Anglican family ministries across Oceania. A major outcome of this consultation was an Action Plan for the Churches which set out the six steps taken by the participants to prepare themselves to tackle violence and the family. See the Consultations Page for more information.
The stories gathered in this newsletter 'Divided Families' describe some of the causes of separation and the pain and loss that go with it. But they also speak of innovative and hopeful projects undertaken by Anglican churches and Christian organisations which set out to heal and restore, offer practical support, and make life more bearable for those who have been cut off from their loved ones and those who would normally provide for the safety and daily needs of home and family. …Read online
Birth Registration Blog
IAFN is promoting the potential of churches to work with state and non-governmental agencies in order to help families overcome the obstacles to birth registration, and has set up a blog in the hope that Anglicans (and maybe others too) will find it useful for sharing information about birth registration in their own area and ideas to overcome obstacles to registration.
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(ABC NEWS) -- Two Oregon Girl Scout troops say they were hoaxed into believing they had made a huge corporate cookie sale for $24,000, or 6,000 boxes of cookies.
But the troops aren't letting the scam keep them down and already have a plan for triumphing over the trick.
The Girl Scouts were thrilled with the order that appeared to come from a woman who worked at a local company. Two troops put aside boxes for the massive order.
The problem came when they called the company for the payment.
"I contacted the ... company and they said, 'We have no idea what's going on,'" scout mother Jennifer Reed said on "Good Morning America" today.
The Girl Scouts realized they had been duped, but it was too late. They had already put the order through and received the cookies. They found themselves with 500 cases of cookies and no sales money for their summer camp and the homeless shelter they had committed to helping.
"They placed a fake order on us and they didn't know that it hurt our feelings a lot," Girl Scout Erin Donnelly, 8, said.
But they didn't let the trick keep them down for too long. They held an emergency sale at the Portland Girl Scouts headquarters on Saturday and hundreds of supporters lined up to buy the cookies.
By the end of the day, they had sold about half of the cookies and recovered $12,000. They also learned some valuable life lessons.
"For every one person that has bad intentions, there are hundreds more with good intentions and good hearts that are here to help you," said Sarah Miller, director of communication for Girls Scouts of Oregon and Washington.
The troops are planning a second sale on March 23.
Click here for more stories from ABC News.
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Google just took your phone a step closer to replacing your wallet in the mobile payment revolution.
The company expanded its mobile payments platform, Google Wallet, to accept multiple credit cards. Users can now connect their Visa, MasterCard, American Express, or Discover cards with the new version of Google Wallet. It's an update from the company's previous partnership with MasterCard, Citigroup and Sprint.
Instead of swiping a card, users enter their card info into the service and are able to tap their phones at venues accepting Google Wallet payments. It's a step forward for the company looking to delve into the mobile payment realm - an increasingly crowded space.
The latest update also provides a cloud-based version of the app -- a move Google hopes will provide more security for users. The feature allows users to remotely disable Google Wallet if a phone is lost or stolen.
Google Wallet only works on near-field communication (NFC) -enabled devices, and is limited to Sprint, Virgin Mobile devices and the Nexus 7 tablet.
There are now twenty five national retailers -- from Macy's to Duane Reade -- accepting Google's mobile payment app and according to Google's post about the update, 200,000 locations where people can use Google Wallet.
While it's a step forward, Google admits it still has a long way to go. Most people haven't ditched their wallets for smartphones and several phones on the market don't have NFC capability, which is integral for Google Wallet.
"Changing behavior is very difficult," Robin Dua, who heads product management for Google Wallet, told CNNMoney. "What we are seeing is this is a process in evolution where retailers and issuers have to make a lot of changes, and it's going to take a bit of time."
But Dua says the process has started. The product manager pointed out that smartphones manufactured with NFC chips are becoming standard.
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Is Now the Time to Short the Euro?
The Bank of Japan's easing move is leading one strategist to look for a sell sign for the euro.
With all the talk about a potential stimulus move by the Bank of Japan, the fact that it announced new asset purchases was hardly a shocker. But it did leave Kathy Lien, managing director at BK Asset Management, with a trading idea.
Lien told CNBC's Melissa Leethat the immediate effects were nothing to write home about.
"The market prepared for the move, the announcement came, and we did see yen weakness, but that evaporated quickly," Lien says.
But she's bracing for more. Noting that the dollar took a while to fall after the Federal Reserve's announcements of earlier quantitative easing initiatives, Lien thinks the euro could still weaken.
There is other risk-sapping news too, Lien notes, and it could dent the euro. Standard & Poor's declined to cut Spain's credit rating, which Lien thinks may leave investors feeling that the country's bailout will drag on, and Germany has taken new exception to the euro zone bank supervision plans.
So if the euro breaks below 1.2900, Lien says, "I think there's a little bit of downside opportunity here."
She wants to wait for the euro to breach that 1.2900 level, and then enter a short euro dollar trade, setting a stop at 1.3050 and a target of 1.2700.
Learn more: The essential vocabulary for currency trading is on Key Terms Dictionary. Top currency strategies are broken down for you in Currency Class.
Talk back: Tell us what you want to hear about - email us at [email protected].
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Paris is the "city of light," the most romantic city in the world, the art and fashion capital of the world -- no wonder it is also the most visited city in the world. As France's capital, Paris boasts a plethora of museums, monuments, and astounding examples of architecture, ranging from the iconic Eiffel Tower, built in 1889, to the Gothic-style Notre Dame Cathedral, dating back to the Middle Ages. Visitors often stroll along the Seine to take in the many sites, or walk down the Champs-Elysee, lined by high-end shops and crowned by the Arc de Triomphe. The city is very walkable and tourists are never at a want for things to do.
Some of the most popular museums are the Louvre (home to Leonardo da Vinci's Mona Lisa) and Musee d'Orsay (home to Whistler's Mother). Only 40 minutes from Paris by train, Versailles is also a popular destination. It's infamous hall of mirrors, ballroom, chapel, and gardens served as the royal residence for over a century before Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette were forced to leave the palace and their luxurious lifestyle during the French Revolution.
It goes without saying that the cuisine in Paris is top-notch, especially on the high end: Paris has more Michelin three-star restaurants than just about any other city in the world (only Tokyo beats it). The nightlife scene is similarly excellent: It's one of the liveliest in Europe, with last call just before 5 a.m., and diverse options ranging from dive bars to the Moulin Rouge to ultra-chic clubs. Like all big cities, Paris is expensive, but it tops most in how extremely expensive it is. Still, free activities abound, particularly in the summer when there are many free concerts and festivals, and many consider Paris worth the splurge.
Each of Paris's 20 arrondissements offers a range of hotels to choose from -- from the tres-chic hotel to the quaint B&B. Arrondissements (or neighborhoods) on the Right Bank are home to the more elegant and expensive hotels, while more budget-friendly, boutique hotels are more often found on the bohemian Left Bank. To be close to shopping, the Right Bank is the place to stay: The famous boutique-lined Champs Elysee, which ends in the Arc de Triomphe, is in the 8th arrondissement. The nightlife scene is particularly lively on the Right Bank around Place de la Bastille, covering parts of the 4th, 11th, and 12th arrondissements. But it's the 7th arrondissement on the Left Bank where the iconic Eiffel Tower is located, though it's a bit removed from other popular sights. A younger crowd often stays on the Left Bank, particularly around the Latin Quarter. Museums and historic sites are spread across the city -- Musee d'Orsay is in the 7th arrondissement, Notre Dame Cathedral is in the 4th arrondissement, and the Louvre is in the 1st arrondissement.
June - August
220 V, 50 Hz
Included in the service charge in restaurants, 10-15% additional tip is appreciated for good service
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Paper instruments that actually play? You read that correctly, friends – welcome to the future!
Sure, this is more for the “younger crowd” than we typically trend, but there is no denying that the concept as well as the execution of these tiny paper products are both hilarious and awesome.
They use what is known as Active Graphics Technology, which basically boils down to being paper instruments with circuits inside of them. These circuits allow an instrument to be “played” by touching the right spots on the surface.
You’re thinking – but these have to sound like crap, right? Yeah, not so much.
The six guitars the company currently offers come with four modes of operation including “free style”, which allows a user to play actual guitar chords simply by touching the right spots on the neck and strumming the “strings”.
Almost perfectly flat and only a few inches thick, Paperjamz look like real guitars at first glance, and actually sound pretty damn good for a collection of paper and circuit boards. Videos on the company's Web sites show people with actual guitar-playing talents rockin’ out using the freestyle mode, but for those who want an easier go of things, karaoke and “perfect play” modes are included with music tracks that are built into the guitars.
Oh but that’s not all – the company now offers drum kits and amps to enhance your playing experience. Every instrument also comes with an internal speaker and volume control as well as earphone jacks for when your rock and/or roll gets to intense for your partner or parent to handle.
The guitars cost around $25 USD at Amazon, and can also be fount at your local toy store. Sure, they’re for kids twelve and up, but that includes those of us who might just be over 25 or 30 but miss the true and awesome power of getting down with sound.
Rock on, paper brothers.
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Bills Adding Protections for Gays Divide Assembly in Calif.
SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) - A recent run of bills intended to add more protections for gays and lesbians in California has sparked acrimonious debate in the state Assembly and exposed some of the social fissures that divide the two major parties.
Last week, lawmakers approved three bills that apply existing state programs to gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender business owners, government workers and foster children. This week, they will weigh in on what may be the year’s signature piece of gay rights legislation, a bill that would prohibit "gay-to-straight" therapy for minors.
Republican lawmakers in the 80-member Assembly are not letting the reforms through quietly, prompting harsh reactions from some of their Democratic counterparts. Assemblyman Tom Ammiano, D-San Francisco, called the Republicans’ objections "idiotic drivel."
"It’s just infuriating to see, particularly for young people, these very harmful attitudes," he said in a telephone interview. "I’m sick of it."
Tensions were on display Monday when Assemblyman Roger Dickinson, D-Sacramento, introduced a bill that would require the state to track the number of gay and lesbian business owners with which it contracts. California currently collects data on contractors’ race, ethnicity and gender.
Assemblyman Chris Norby, R-Fullerton, immediately raised his microphone to object to the collection of personal information, "whether it’s immutable characteristics, or those that may be mutable."
Such a bill would "inevitably lead to quotas," he said.
Assemblywoman Linda Halderman, R-Fresno, took up the thread, saying some people would "cheat the system" by lying about their sexual orientation, while others would feel exposed.
"There are people who choose to keep their sexuality private, and this looks like it would disadvantage them," she said.
Dickinson responded that the bill would not allow the state to favor gay-owned businesses. He said the check-off box is necessary to show the importance to the state’s economy of businesses owned by gays and lesbians.
After Halderman reaffirmed her concerns, Dickinson appeared to grow annoyed, shaking his head and gesturing with his hands.
"There’s no quotas, no path to quotas, no hint or suggestion or scintilla of anything to do with quotas in this legislation," he said.
Ammiano also was visibly upset, arching his eyebrows and speaking quickly.
"This is a group that has been invisible for a long time and contributes to the economy of California, and it’s time they took their rightful place. Stop this silly parsing," he said.
The bill passed on a party line vote, with Assemblyman Nathan Fletcher, who recently left the Republican party and became independent as he runs for mayor of San Diego, joining the Democrats.
A few days later, a bill to mandate sexual orientation sensitivity training for foster care parents also passed on party lines.
Norby criticized the legislation as a piece of social engineering that would encourage foster parents to impose a sexual orientation on small children.
"If you’ve got a 10-year-old foster kid at home, are you really supposed to get the training?" he said in a telephone interview. "I think what this is leading down to is the foster kids themselves are going to be identified as gay or straight."
The tone is noticeably different in the 40-member Senate, where on the same day, lawmakers passed a bill with no opposition clarifying that domestic partners are entitled to the same rights in the public pension system as married spouses.
The lack of debate on the matter prompted Sen. Sam Blakeslee, R-San Luis Obispo, to rise later in the session and note what he called an "uplifting" development regarding domestic partnerships. He called it potentially an "historic" day that should not go unrecognized.
Another historic day may be approaching in the Senate.
A bill by Sen. Ted Lieu, D-Torrance, that would make California the first state in the nation to outlaw gay-to-straight counseling for minors is scheduled for its final committee hearing on Tuesday. It will go to the full Senate if approved.
The practice of "reparative therapy" received national attention when former Republican presidential candidate Michele Bachmann was questioned over whether the Christian counseling business of her husband provided therapies that attempted to change gays and lesbians.
The three bills approved last week and the therapy bill have some conservative groups raising alarms.
"It’s the LGBT agenda tramping the rights of everybody else," said Randy Thomasson, president of SaveCalifornia.com, a Sacramento-based nonprofit that advocates for conservative moral values.
The four gay rights bills:
- AB1960 by Dickinson, would allow the owners of businesses contracting with the state to identify themselves as gay, lesbian, transgender or bisexual. The Department of General Services already collects data on contractors by race, ethnicity and gender. The bill would not require business owners to identify their sexual orientation. Passed 46-23 and moves to the Senate.
- AB1856 by Ammiano, would require the state Department of Social Services to expand its foster parent education program to include sensitivity training on the topic of sexual orientation. Passed 49-21 and moves to the Senate.
- SB987 by Sen. Gloria Negrete McLeod, D-Chino, would make several technical changes to the codes governing the public retirement system. Among other things, the bill requires the state to give domestic partners the same benefits as married spouses. Passed 31-0 and moves to the Assembly.
- SB1172 by Lieu, would prohibit therapists from practicing gay-to-straight counseling on patients younger than 18. Adult patients would have to give written consent. The Senate Judiciary Committee is expected to take up the bill Tuesday.
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What's after life?
U.S. Catholic readers think heaven’s doors open far wider than our reputation in pop culture would indicate.
The Catholics in an often-repeated popular joke are always surprised that they have company in heaven, but according to a recent Pew Forum survey most would be much more surprised if they were the only ones there. In 2008 Pew reported that 84 percent of Catholics surveyed believed that “many religions” can lead to salvation (the highest of all Christian denominations), and nearly 9 out of 10 of those specifically cited at least one non-Christian religion capable of doing so.
“The more the merrier!” Catholics seem to be saying, and the respondents of this month’s U.S. Catholic Reader Survey on the afterlife tend to agree. Lenore Fries of Albert Lea, Minnesota doesn’t dance around the issue: “I think it is easier to get into heaven than we have been led to believe.” But this shouldn’t be any big news. A similar U.S. Catholic survey conducted in 1983 found that already a quarter-century ago respondents believed St. Peter had an open-door policy as the Pearly Gates-keeper.
Maybe Catholics are so Welcoming because heaven is the only spiritual destination that nearly all respondents can agree exists. While 99 percent of 2009 respondents believe in heaven, only 82 percent professed a belief in hell. Purgatory received a C on the heavenly grading scale with a 73 percent approval rating, and the idea of limbo, the now virtually abandoned eternal playground of unbaptized babies and virtuous “heathens,” has been given up by all but one in six respondents.
From San Angelo, Texas one respondent breathed a sigh of relief about how Catholics have finally let limbo go: “Thank goodness we no longer teach that unbaptized babies go to limbo—what a heartbreaker it must have been for parents to lose a child and think that the child had no chance to get to heaven!”
While there aren’t any huge differences between these results and those of the 1983 survey, a close look at the numbers shows that Catholics are slightly gravitating even more toward clemency and inclusion: Respondents’ belief in heaven and purgatory combined is up about 5 percent from 1983, and their belief in hell and limbo is down almost 8 percent.
Thirteen percent of 2009 respondents say they believe in reincarnation (up from 8 percent), but those who don’t believe in the possibility of a do-over also don’t seem terribly concerned that they have only one chance to get it right.
Respondents of both surveys were overall willing to give their souls some wiggle room. Twenty-five years ago 83 percent of respondents believed that “most people” go to heaven. Today 9 in 10 respondents do not necessarily agree that only Christians will be saved.
The general consensus of this month’s survey appears to be that an individual’s sincere attempt to live a good life is the most important criterion for earning a spot in the Book of Life. Catherine LeGault of Medford, Oregon cites her “determined effort to improve enough to deserve such a reward” as her ticket in, and many others also agreed that it is the effort that counts.
Therefore it is no surprise that 7 out of 10 respondents say they are more concerned about living a good life here on earth than they are about the afterlife. As Jamie Gunville of Green Bay, Wisconsin explains, “What we do here and now determines how we will spend eternity.” Jean Daly of Portland, Oregon is also sure that this life will take care of the next one: “I just have to do my best. God created me and knows all my human faults and failings better than I do.”
When the moment of fate arrives, four out of five survey respondents believe that they will have to personally account for the life they lived—but they place the burden of choosing a final destination on the individual souls themselves. While 36 percent don’t rule out the possibility that God would send a soul to hell, respondents across the board were quick to clarify that the distinction between God’s will and our own is very subtle.
“God doesn’t send them [to hell],” explains Evelyn Stateler of Santa Rosa, California. “They choose separation from God.” Lynn Haske of Santa Ana, California says, “I believe God allows us to turn our backs on him by giving us free will to sin. By doing so, we can send ourselves to hell.”
But even though “God has given me the possibility of rejecting him,” as a Sparta, Wisconsin respondent worries, most respondents believe that God’s mercy will ultimately prevail. “I do worry because I am not sure I am good enough, but I rely on the good and forgiving God to give me the gift of salvation at the end of my life here on earth,” writes a respondent from Independence, Iowa.
Luckily for those who are too holy for hell but not quite ready for heaven, more than three quarters of 2009 respondents say that prayers can help those in purgatory get to heaven (up from two thirds in 1983). It is interesting to note, however, that more respondents believe prayers help those in purgatory than there are respondents who believe in purgatory itself.
It may be that some people who do not expressly believe in purgatory also aren’t willing to give up the idea of a safety net, just in case. Peg Borkowski of Seattle is cautiously optimistic: “Prayer always helps—but I’m not sure about purgatory!” Prayer certainly can’t hurt, so perhaps respondents consider praying for those who may or may not be stuck in purgatory, if anything, a good spiritual exercise.
Twenty-six years ago many respondents gave concrete descriptions of what they believed heaven would be like—most involved nature somehow, and many had to do with favorite pastimes.
In the current survey, however, respondents are very reluctant to put any physical descriptions on heaven. Only one respondent describes what heaven might actually look like: Kalispell, Montana, with more sun, less fog, and better roads.
Instead, most respondents simply agree that heaven is full of light, peace, love, and happiness. But even that would not do for the many echoing Janet Roy of Winchester, Oregon. Roy doesn’t think any finite terms can suffice: “I believe it is beyond our human comprehension. What God has in store for us will be awesome.”
Richard Orth of Mesa, Arizona eloquently sums up respondents’ overall impressions of heaven: “An unimaginable euphoric state of knowing the full glory of God and communion with all who share his love.”
Those who responded to the 2009 survey are also not very particular about what they want in heaven with them. While 1983 respondents were eager to list things such as “chocolate” and “baseball,” 2009 respondents generally don’t hope for anything material—or at least they don’t admit it. The vast majority now answer with variations on the desires of either Joe Oliver of Prescott, Arizona (“all my loved ones”) or Ingrid Kelly of Studio City, California (“eternal joy in the presence of God”). Several respondents even included their pets.
Marilyn Clarke from Bonita, California speaks for another significant proportion of respondents when she says, “When I get to heaven, it will be so wonderful that I won’t want anything else.” Theresa Fredericks of Geneseo, Illinois chimes in that “being in the presence of God should do it!”
The afterlife is frequently on Catholics’ minds—about 90 percent of survey respondents “often” or “sometimes” think about what awaits them beyond the grave—but no one seems to be losing sleep over it. “I leave the worrying to God,” says Beth Cartwright of Pflugerville, Texas.
Though expressing doubts and fears, respondents of this survey overwhelmingly turn to their trust in God’s benevolence. “God’s mercy is beyond limits,” declares James McDonough of Austin, Texas, and another respondent from Omaha reaffirms that “God is all-loving and all-forgiving.”
Karen Woldum of Tulsa, Oklahoma sums up the overall feeling of survey respondents by saying, “I sometimes worry because death and eternity are uncertain to me, but I know that God will be with me through it all and forever.”
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Allison Elliot and Miguel Munoz-Gomez, site leaders for spring break trips, make and serve pancakes during the AWOL fundraiser on Nov. 6, 2011.
Buena Vista University students will soon be participating in the 13th year of its service-based alternative spring break program, known as AWOL (Alternative Week of Off-site Learning).
Since AWOL’s first year, 463 students have participated and provided over 16,500 hours of volunteer service, says Ashley Farmer-Hanson, director of civic engagement. This year, 37 students are scheduled to take part.
The AWOL service themes and locations for the week of March 31 through April 8 are:
- Children and Poverty (Dallas, Texas): Students will work with Bryan's House (www.bryanshouse.org/), a special-care facility for children affected by HIV or AIDS, children with other special health needs, and their families. Bryan’s House was also visited last year by students on the AWOL “road trip.”
- South Dakota Pine Ridge Reservation Immersion: Participants will head to the foothills of the Badlands in southwestern South Dakota to work with the Oglala Lakota tribe and will focus on home repair projects with community outreach intended to improve the quality of life of the people in this area through interaction, shared resources and volunteer service.
- The Heifer Ranch (Perryville, Ark.): The students will explore issues surrounding hunger, poverty and sustainable solutions and be challenged to examine their own habits and consumption through a simulation requiring them to build a fire, cook their own meals and sleep in simple housing. (www.heifer.org/ourwork/our-work)
- Hunger and Homelessness (Chicago): In this “urban plunge” experience, students will have many opportunities to serve and experience multiple service projects to stretch their faith, open their eyes, and have their heart touched. Ministry sites and activities include: Visit By The Hand, Chicago Public Schools, Breakthrough Ministries, Greater Chicago Food Depository and World Vision’s Chicago Storehouse.
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The Art of Tasting Wine
I learned to taste wine through the medium of blind tasting. Contrary to popular perception, blind tasting does not involve fumbling around a table laden with wine glasses with your sight impeded by blindfolds. Rather, it simply means the identification of wine is unknown before tasting and assessing the wine. Without knowledge of the wine’s origin, prestige or price you can assess a wine objectively and without the prejudice of knowing the label. It is the method of tasting employed by wine professionals at most wine competitions and is an important component of Master of Wine and sommelier examinations.
Famously, a blind tasting organised by Steven Spurrier in 1976 – the Judgement of Paris – shattered the perception of France as the supreme producer of wine. Top whites (Chardonnay) and reds (Cabernet Sauvignon dominated blends as found in Bordeaux) from both California and France were submitted to a blind tasting in Paris. Eleven judges, nine of whom were French, assessed the wines blind for their quality with the surprising result that California came out on top in a number of categories. The tasting has proved controversial for many; nevertheless, it served to highlight the importance of objectivity when tasting wine and not to pay undue attention to the label!
For me, tasting a wine blind allows you to focus exclusively on what your own senses tell you. You can concentrate on what you see in the glass, the aromas you can smell, what the wine tastes like, whether those flavours linger and whether the wine feels balanced to you. Most importantly of all, you can assess whether you actually like this wine, rather than thinking whether you should like the wine! While blind tasting may seem to be quite an intellectual exercise, I feel it actually removes the snobbery often associated with wine by forcing you to evaluate a wine based entirely on what is in the glass. I have discovered many excellent value wines in this way.
Those interested in food in any small way should surely see the appeal of the hugely varied world of wine. We can get so much enjoyment out of the flavours and aromas of food, from the most technical, complex haute cuisine, through to a sun-ripened peach from your grandparents’ garden. Wine, arguably humanity’s most complex and mystical beverage, is no different.
Over coming posts, I will outline my approach to tasting and how to get the most out of your wine. In the meantime, however, the most important thing to keep in mind is simply to engage your senses – open your eyes, your nostrils, your taste buds to what you see, smell and taste. Pay attention to the beverage in front of you, as much as you might to your meal. Start to think about what you drink!
We are excited to introduce James Flewellen, our new wine columnist. James is a biophysicist at the University of Oxford. Originally from New Zealand, the huge range of wine James discovered in Europe spurred his interest in all things vinous. He became involved in the University’s Blind Wine Tasting Society and has recently completed a two-year term as its President. During this time he represented the University in a number of domestic and international wine tasting competitions, winning several awards. He is currently completing the WSET Diploma in Wine and Spirits. James has a passion for wine communication and education and runs the Oxford Wine Blog and the Oxford Wine Academy.
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Comté is a handmade, artisan cheese of the truest type. While modern techniques have been embraced where they can facilitate procedures and increase quality, the production of Comté remains based on traditional methods. Each stage is subject to strict rules that are set down in the AOC specifications to ensure each wheel is just as perfect as the last. First of all, Comté milk is produced on more than 3,000 family farms in the mountainous region of French Comté practicing non-intensive agriculture, i.e. agriculture that, rather than aiming for the highest possible yields, focuses on quality, and takes into account soil characteristics.
The cheese-making process must start within twenty-four hours of the milk being collected, and so Comté is made every day. Local producers bring their milk to the cheese dairy where it is made into Comté. Generally of a cooperative nature, this particular form of village-based organization originated eight centuries ago. An approach that incorporates solidarity and sharing has been preserved, as have the small-scale production techniques and traditions which make Comté a great cheese.
In the silence and shadowy darkness of the cellars Comté undergoes a second transformation, as the wheels age on spruce boards. The new wheels are carefully looked after so as to encourage the natural development of flavors as the months pass by. This Comté is aged for sixth months, were it develops a tight-knit texture and satiny body. On the palate, one can detect notes of fruits, hay, and a slightly nutty, smoky flavor gained during the process when the curd is cooked.
- Made from unpasteurized cow's milk; aged for ten months
- Whole form is 70 pounds.
- We cut and wrap this item by the half-pound.
- Please contact us if you would like to purchase the whole form.
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Venezuela’s 2010 Budget Maintains Social Spending Despite Global Economic Crisis
Caracas, October 20, 2009 (venezuelanalysis.com) – Venezuela’s Minister for Finances and the Economy, Alí Rodríguez Araque, presented the national budget proposal for the year 2010 on Tuesday with more than 45% of the total directed towards social spending.
The 2010 budget is based on an average oil price of $40 a barrel, estimated economic growth of 0.5 percent and inflation of 20 to 22 percent for the year.
“Despite the crisis of world capitalism,” Rodriguez said during the presentation, an important aspect is to maintain social investment. “We act not only for our own fate but for the people and humanity as a whole, we must overcome the legacy of many years of setbacks.”
The total budget for 2010 is 159.41 billion Bolivars (US $73.9 billion). Of this, 45.73% would be directed towards social spending aimed at poverty reduction and improving the quality of life for Venezuelans, Rodriguez announced.
Of this, 18% will go to the education sector, 12% towards social development and participation and 8.7% to the health sector, as well as a $5 billion fund for social missions that benefit over 60% of the Venezuelan population according to figures from the National Statistics Institute (INE).
“Our vision is to focus on the solution to the problems while at the same time focus on efforts to recover our economy,” he declared, but stressed that Venezuela remains well positioned and has suffered no major effects from the crisis.
In March this year, Venezuela, the biggest net oil exporter in Latin America, reduced the overall 2009 budget by 6.7% after world oil prices fell to almost half the budgetary estimate of $60 per barrel.
After five years of consecutive economic growth, Venezuela’s economy shrank 2.4 percent in the second quarter due to the drop in oil revenues related to the international economic climate as well as problems in some non-oil sectors. While the Central Bank predicts zero growth for the year, some analysts are forecasting a 1-2% contraction.
Therefore, Venezuelan economist Jesus Farias argued, the calculations made by the National Executive to develop the 2010 budget based on $40 a barrel are in line with the new global economic realities.
“It is preferable to set a budget with a $40 price per barrel of oil, allowing the possibility of a very high probability of compliance, rather than speculate with prices that are very likely to be achieved, but that have a degree of higher uncertainty,” he said.
Farias also argued that the budget forecast of 0.5% growth for 2010 announced by Rodriguez was a modest and achievable estimate that avoids creating false expectations for growth, which could be disrupted by the growing crisis of the capitalist system.
In addition to social spending Rodriguez said the budget would focus on five strategic objectives in order to boost growth: increase food production in order to move towards food sovereignty, address the housing shortage, develop and improve the country’s infrastructure, boost energy production and distribution, and finally, to realign the domestic financial sector to ensure momentum for productive sectors.
As part of this plan the government will invest in the $4.3 billion Manuel Piar Hydroelectric Project in Tacoma, Bolivar state, $1.75 billion of which will be financed by the Inter-American Development Bank and the rest by the Venezuelan state.
“In the last few years the demand for electricity has registered an accelerated increase, an indication of this is that in the last year, the increase is located at above 7%,” a situation “that demands major investment from the government in order to guarantee the necessary supply for industrial and economic development,” Rodriguez commented.
Despite slowing growth, unmet consumer demand combined with an over-valued currency – the Bolivar has been fixed at 2.15 to the US dollar since 2005 – has meant that inflationary pressures remain high.
Accumulated inflation from January to September was 18.5 % and the Central Bank expects it to rise above 26 percent by December. However, the budget predicts that inflation for 2010 will be between 20-22%.
Although the Bolivar is trading at more than double the official rate on the parallel black market, the minister ruled out a devaluation of the currency.
Since Venezuela is heavily reliant on imports, the country’s foreign exchange rate is intimately linked to inflation. In order to keep the Bolivar cost of goods bought abroad low, importers’ demand for dollars at the official exchange rate is high.
In recent months the Venezuelan government has come under pressure from the private sector, particularly the automotive sector, to increase access to dollars at the official rate, with some companies threatening to close plants and lay off workers.
Rodriguez announced that the foreign exchange budget for 2010, which is an annex of the fiscal budget and is prepared by CADIVI, the government commission that handles foreign currency requests, would have private sector participation in its preparation.
“Complaints about CADIVI have ceased, we have learned our lesson this year,” he said.
Specifically, Jesse Chacón, Minister of Science, Technology and Industry said that access to approximately $4 billion at the official rate would be approved for the automotive sector next year, with the aim of increasing up to 200,000 the number of vehicles assembled in Venezuela.
Other sectors, such as “the chemical, textile and agro-industries” would also have no have problems obtaining resources to import primary materials Chacón said.
Rodriguez said that tax revenues would finance 53% of the budget, oil revenues will account for 24.7%, while the incursion of foreign debt makes up the rest, “in order not to affect education and food items for our people.”
Total debt is $52.25 billion, which represents 15.76% of GDP for this year, Rodriguez said - a level of debt, which the minister considered to be sustainable.
At the same time, Rodriguez said the country's 2010 goal for oil production will be about 3.1 million barrels a day. Venezuela's economy is dependent on oil sales, which make up 90% of export earnings.
Published on Oct 21st 2009 at 5.10pm
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BISMARCK, N.D. — Dagny Knutson approached her 11th workout of the week with an intensity that burned like chlorine in the eyes. Her coach, Kathy Aspaas, said Knutson’s pacing and purpose during the high-mileage practice harkened back to when she was the most promising teenage swimmer in the country.
Aspaas had been skeptical when Knutson, 21, decided to make a comeback after retiring last January. But at the Bismarck State College Aquatic and Wellness Center three weeks ago, Knutson was outpacing expectations, her prospects of rejoining the national team improving with every stroke.
Two days later, shortly before Knutson was to begin her weekly training cycle anew, she sent Aspaas a text message.
“Don’t come to the pool," she wrote. “I won’t be there anymore."
Knutson stopped swimming a year ago to seek treatment for an eating disorder that she feared might kill her.
She dropped out this month because her family’s savings were being siphoned by her medical bills and her college tuition. After losing her USA Swimming stipend, Knutson said, she did not have the money to finance her comeback.
Compounding the financial stress was the pressure she felt in the pool to meet everybody’s great expectations, a burden she shouldered throughout her teenage years, when she was a world champion and held an American record.
From 2012 Olympic medal hopeful to recovering bulimic, Knutson was a high achiever derailed by her obsession with success. “Sometimes when I look back at myself in high school, and the years I had the most success, I don’t want to say I was clinically depressed, but I wasn’t genuinely happy," Knutson said. “I look back now and I feel like I have to be like that to be good because that’s what worked at the time, and I don’t want to be that person."
Knutson sighed. Seated beside her mother, Ronda, in a coffee bar, her favorite hangout, she said, “I’m older than my years in some ways, but emotionally it’s like I’m going on 16."
In December 2008, four months after the Beijing Olympics, Knutson set an American record in the 400-yard individual medley at the short-course national championships in Atlanta. Watching from the deck, Mark Schubert, the USA Swimming national team director at the time, could not decide which was more unfathomable: the 16-year-old Knutson’s time, 4 minutes, 0.62 seconds, or the fact that she lived and trained in Minot, N.D.
“I was blown away," Schubert said recently. “Her talent and toughness were off the charts."
North Dakota’s frigid winters and fleeting summers make it an inhospitable environment in which to grow Olympic swimmers. Regional age-group competitions were the ceiling for the best athletes on the Minot aquatic team that Knutson joined the summer before her 10th birthday.
“A lot of North Dakotans seemed content to make it to the state meet," Aspaas said. “That’s as far as their vision went."
Knutson’s father, Jim, saw bigger fish. He steered his daughter into a dry-land weight program when she was 10 and entered her in meets in Florida and California to expose her to deeper competition.
He worked 60-hour weeks as a registered nurse in a nursing home to pay for the travel and her training, Knutson said. Her parents, who briefly separated when Knutson was 13, took out a second mortgage on their home to cover her swimming expenses, Ronda said.
Keenly aware of the sacrifices her parents were making for her swimming, Knutson wanted to pay them back. The only way she knew how was by posting fast times.
“I always felt like the passenger," Knutson said, “but I was the driver."
She asked for more yardage and more workouts, which she completed by herself, racing against the clock. The same obsessive tendencies that drove her to add another mile to her practices drove her to subtract calories from her daily diet.
“I thought if I was fitter I would swim faster," Knutson said.
She took a whittling knife to her diet, carving calories here and there. If she ate foods high in sugar or fat at one meal, she would punish herself by skipping the next meal.
An occasional high-calorie binge on a weekend would be followed by a Monday of fasting, Knutson said. She was always eating on the run, never stopping long enough for her meals to draw scrutiny.
“I had no idea," said Ronda Knutson, a youth programs director at Minot Air Force Base. “I packed her lunch every day: a peanut-butter-and-banana sandwich, Craisins, a chewy bar, a piece of fruit. I made her a chicken breast and salad for dinner."
She blinked back tears. “I guess we needed a class for elite athletes and their families," she said. “We thought Dagny was happy."
Knutson had little time for socializing in high school with her classmates or other swimmers, passing her adolescence largely in the company of adults: Aspaas; her parents; and Jason Blackburn, her strength and conditioning coach based in Minot.
“By high school I had stopped hanging out with a lot of my friends," she said. “I look back and I don’t think that was worth it, but at the time I felt like it was what I had to do to excel."
In January 2009, a month after her breakout performance in Atlanta, Knutson won seven medals, including six golds, at the Junior Pan Pacific Championships. She may have come across as confident and carefree, but she said she was playing a part.
“It seemed like I had pushed myself physically and mentally farther than I ever wanted to go," Knutson said.
Deciding to turn pro
As her senior year of high school drew near, Knutson grew anxious. Among female swimmers, she was the most highly coveted college prospect in the nation. But many thought she should relinquish her college eligibility, turn pro and cash in on endorsements.
Beginning in 2009, Knutson received stipends through USA Swimming that eventually totaled an estimated $100,000, she said, but the money did not cover all of her expenses.
Knutson was eager to ease her parents’ financial burden, and the idea of being a part of a team appealed to her. She signed with Auburn, only to decommit in spring 2010 after the coach who had recruited her resigned.
Unsure about what to do, Knutson, her parents, Aspaas and Blackburn met with Schubert, who suggested a training center in Orange County, Calif., where Knutson could practice with other aspiring Olympians. If she chose this route, Schubert told her, she could attend college, and USA Swimming would pay her tuition.
Knutson did not see a downside. She renounced her amateur status, signed with an agent and joined the Fullerton Aquatics Sports Team in August 2010. Consumed by homesickness and in the throes of a breakup with her boyfriend, she binged on fatty, sugary foods and, for the first time, made herself throw up.
In November 2010, Schubert was fired by USA Swimming, setting off Knutson’s anxieties because she lost some of the money he had promised. The next month, Sean Hutchison, the coach with whom Knutson was training, abruptly resigned, and her bingeing and purging episodes became more frequent, she said.
Knutson left California in spring 2011 to train with Gregg Troy, Ryan Lochte’s coach, in Gainesville, Fla. By then, she said, she had been bingeing and purging at least twice a week for at least three months.
According to the National Eating Disorders Association, an estimated 20 million women and 10 million men will have a clinically significant eating disorder at some point in their lives. Yet Knutson suffered in silence, believing she was the only elite swimmer with an eating disorder.
“I just wanted to live up to others’ expectations of being a superstar athlete, and superstar athletes, in my mind, weren’t supposed to have problems," she said. “I looked around and it seemed like everyone in the swimming world was perfect."
Eventually, Knutson said, she worked up the courage to tell Troy, who directed her to a nutritional therapist. Knutson also began seeing a psychotherapist.
“I thought food was my enemy, but I depended on it to numb me out," she said. “Bingeing gave me a high feeling, and when I purged, it was like I was getting rid of all these guilty, shameful feelings."
Knutson qualified for the 2011 world championships in Shanghai, the last major international competition before the Olympics, and clocked a time of 1 minute, 56.91 seconds in the 200-meter freestyle. Only seven American women have gone faster. Knutson said she was bingeing and purging throughout the meet.
“You look at her 200 freestyle in Shanghai and you think, ‘How can anybody be doing that and going that fast?’" Schubert said. “You think, if they’re performing at a high level, they’ve got to be OK."
Shortly before the U.S. team left for China, Minot flooded when the Souris River, swollen from summer rainstorms and snow melt, breached its levee walls. Knutson’s parents were evacuated, along with thousands of others.
Their house, which took on 15 feet of water, was condemned. Saddled with the second mortgage, her parents could not afford to rebuild. After a foreclosure, they moved to Washburn, a small town between Minot and Bismarck.
Knutson mourned the loss of the house as if it were her childhood that had been destroyed. In the lead-up to the London Games, she said, she had good days, bad days — and worse days, when she would sob between training swims or not show up for practice.
“As the pressures from other people expecting her to compete well went up, her problem got worse," Troy said. “It was really hard to deal with. The last thing I wanted to do is put more pressure on her."
During a Grand Prix meet last January in Austin, Texas, Knutson pulled herself out of the pool in the middle of her warm-up and informed Troy that she was through. She flew to North Dakota and made plans for inpatient care in Minneapolis at the Emily Program, a private treatment center for eating disorders.
Knutson spent one month in residence and another in an outpatient program but returned home when her insurance coverage ran out. She said she experienced her last bingeing and purging relapse five days after last summer’s Olympic swimming trials.
A standout at the meet was 17-year-old Missy Franklin, who qualified to race in seven events at the London Games. Franklin, who went on to win four gold medals, and Knutson once roomed together at a training camp in Colorado Springs, Colo. As Knutson watched Franklin’s star turn, she could not help but be reminded of her own glory days, like the 2010 national championships, in which Knutson beat Franklin in the 200 freestyle, one of her Olympic events.
“I couldn’t not watch it," Knutson said of the Olympic trials, “but it was so heartbreaking because that was supposed to be my time to show what I could do."
Regrets about college
By the end of the Olympics in August, Knutson said, she was in a good place in her recovery. She was eating healthfully and was eager to get her schooling back on track. She reached out to Lindsay Mintenko, the national team’s managing director, about her tuition at Bismarck State, a two-year college. She found out that she no longer qualified for the tuition assistance because she had fallen out of the world rankings while in recovery.
Mintenko, a two-time Olympian, described the conversation as heartbreaking, saying, “I feel for her so, so much."
She had once been in Knutson’s place, losing her stipend for the 2004 Olympic year when a broken kneecap caused her 2003 rankings to drop.
“I feel like we helped her to the extent we could help her without really sacrificing others who have qualified under the criteria," Mintenko said.
Needing to build her bank account, Knutson returned to the only job she knew: swimming. She began training again at the end of August, and she said she felt she was starting from a better place, having realized through therapy that her self-worth was not tied to her swimming results. Knutson’s weight, which ranged from 135 to 170 pounds because of her eating disorder, had stabilized on her 5-foot-10-inch frame.
“When I found out I didn’t need the sport of swimming anymore to be somebody, I thought I’d try it again," she said.
In November, three months into her comeback, Knutson entered a Grand Prix meet in Minneapolis. To her surprise, she won the 200-yard individual medley, finished second to Franklin in the 200 freestyle and took another second in the 200 butterfly.
At the short-course national championships in Austin, Texas, a month later, however, Knutson placed 11th in the 200 freestyle, 12th in the 200 butterfly and 19th in the 200 individual medley. After the promise she showed in Minneapolis, the expectations crept back in, and Knutson started feeling the same anxieties about performing well that had set off her eating disorder.
She trained for another month, but when the new college semester started, she stopped swimming to focus on her classes. The decision was questioned by her mother and Aspaas but applauded by her father, who was paying her bills, Knutson said.
“I feel like there’s a point where it’s time to move on with my life instead of trying to keep hanging on," she said.
An elementary education major, Knutson plans to transfer in the fall to the University of Mary in Bismarck, which she chose in part because she can live at home.
She traces her decline to her decision not to swim in college.
“It’s going to haunt me the rest of my life, probably, if I keep dwelling on the past," she said.
The day after Knutson sent her retirement text to Aspaas, she posted a message on her Facebook page that read: “If you are able to compete collegiately for a university, consider yourself more than blessed!! Although I took some bad advice in the past and have to deal with the consequences, I’d give anything to be able to do something like represent my school. Just a thought."
Knutson personally delivered that message to Franklin, then 16, at the 2011 world championships. She said she took aside Franklin, who won three golds at the meet to position herself for Olympic stardom, and told her, “I’d give anything to go back in time and change my mind about turning pro."
Last fall, Franklin, a high school senior, made an oral commitment to the University of California, Berkeley.
In an email, she wrote: “Dagny was very honest and it meant so much to me. To hear everything she had to say about wishing she had stayed amateur only solidified my decision that much more."
Knutson turned 21 on Jan. 18, and the milestone turned into a three-day celebration. The night before, she attended a dance at her college. She had dinner on her birthday with her mother, Aspaas and a few friends. The next night, she attended a rock concert.
“I really, really enjoyed myself," she said. “I’ve never really done anything special for my birthday because I always had swim practice or I was at a meet. I thought about that a lot over the weekend, just how fun it was to be a normal person."
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Written testimony of Nicklous Combs CTO, Federal Divison of EMC
July 1, 2010 – Appearing in July before the Committee on Oversight and Government Reform and the Subcommittee on Government Management, Organization, and Procurement, EMC’s Nicklous Combs provided an overview on cloud computing in federal IT. A condensed version of his testimony follows:
Chairman Towns, Chairwoman Watson, and Members of the Committee, thank you for the opportunity to address the opportunities and risks associated with moving federal IT into the cloud. My name is Nick Combs and I am the chief technology officer for EMC Corporation’s Federal Division. EMC is a global leader in cloud computing infrastructure and services.
First, let me comment on the term “cloud computing” and its definition. Confusion in the marketplace generally arises from discussion of different approaches to cloud deployment, that is to say discussions of private, community, public, or hybrid clouds.
The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) has provided definitions of these delivery models that help provide more clarity:
- Private cloud — Infrastructure deployed and operated exclusively for an organization or enterprise. It may be managed by the organization or by a third party, either on or off premises.
- Community cloud — Infrastructure shared by multiple organizations with similar missions, requirements, security concerns, etc. It also may be managed by the organizations or by a third party on or off premises.
- Public cloud — Infrastructure made available to the general public. It is owned and operated by an organization selling cloud services.
- Hybrid cloud — Infrastructure consisting of two or more clouds (private, community, or public) that remain unique entities but that are tied together by standardized or proprietary technology that enables data and application portability.
The benefits of cloud computing
Cloud computing provides the characteristics that every IT organization needs by enabling IT infrastructures to be flexible, on-demand, efficient, and resilient.
According to the analyst firm IDC, more than 70 percent of organizations’ IT budgets are dedicated to just keeping the lights on and only 30 percent of budgets are available to bring new capabilities to the organization.
We are at a point where government agencies are spending a majority of IT budgets just to maintain our current systems and infrastructure. Cloud computing offers the means through which to address this imbalance.
Through the cloud, organizations can centrally manage their IT systems and provide uniform policy implementation. Cloud computing brings a level of automation to IT that dramatically reduces costs by sharing resources and frees up more resources to deliver the capabilities that organizations need.
Federal strategy for cloud computing
The transition to cloud computing will not occur overnight; rather it requires a journey to realize all the benefits the cloud has to offer. Many federal organizations have already begun to build a bridge to the cloud by adopting some form of virtualization.
In fact, virtualization has become the foundation of the cloud and, in my view, is the great enabler of cloud services across the various deployment models. Cloud computing is virtualization taken to its most logical extreme, creating the ultimate in flexibility and efficiency, and revolutionizing the way we compute, network, store, and manage information.
Virtualization capabilities are also evolving outside the server realm. In fact, EMC recently announced breakthrough capabilities that enable virtual storage over distance. The industry’s first distributed storage federation will provide unprecedented business agility by eliminating the current boundaries of physical storage. This is a key enabler to future cloud architectures.
Cloud security and risk management
Information security is by far the biggest concern of federal CIOs considering implementing cloud infrastructure and services. Admittedly, with cloud computing comes sophisticated automation, provisioning, and virtualization technologies that have significant security implications, so we must look at security in a whole new way.
While perimeter and point security products will still be used by organizations, companies such as EMC and VMware are embedding controls and security management in the virtual layer, creating an environment in the virtual world that is far safer than what exists in the physical.
Industry must continue to develop and deliver technology components that support centralized, consistent management of security across the technology stack.
With virtualization and cloud computing, applications have become completely disassociated from the IT infrastructure on which they run. It provides the flexibility to have the same application run in the datacenter next door on one day, in a centralized datacenter hundreds of miles away the following day, and in a service provider datacenter another day. For that reason, security cannot solely rely on the controls of the IT infrastructure such as the network perimeter.
Security must evolve to become much more centered on the users and on the information they are accessing. For that reason, emerging technology practices such as adaptive authentication and data loss prevention are both widely used in the commercial world. However, they are only beginning to be adopted in federal government organizations. Such practices must be more broadly deployed. Security cannot be an afterthought; it must be embedded in the fabric.
When implemented correctly, cloud environments can be much more secure than today’s IT environments, which are often protected by inadequate perimeter security practices. Security must be risk-based and driven by flexible policy that is aligned to the business or mission need. The need for a common framework to ensure that security policies are consistently applied across the infrastructure is critical to success.
Key message for federal IT
Technologies and effective best practices exist today to deliver private cloud environments inside federal organizations to gain dramatic improvements in IT efficiency, while also providing the security required to protect sensitive information within the government enterprise.
Multi-tenant federated clouds can be deployed where similar security requirements exist. However, placing information on a public cloud today should be limited to public-facing information only—and then only if the providers can provide the level of auditing and protection procedures needed to deal with breaches of sensitive information.
Ultimately, cloud computing offers great potential for federal information technology, and federal departments and agencies should be encouraged to embrace that potential.
NOTE: Nick’s full testimony, as well as other supporting documents and a webcast of the hearing are available on the committee page.
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Taryn Simon is best known for “The Innocents,” a series documenting cases of wrongful conviction in the United States. In her new show and book, “An American Index” (recently on display at The Photographers’ Gallery, London), she goes about documenting secret places in America that have rarely been seen by the public eye: the bureau of engraving and printing, a cryogenics facility, a hymenoplasty, a site for testing fireworks. As Simon notes below, “the process is indebted to both imagination and the internet, followed by an incessant amount of letter writing and phone calling.”
Simon’s photographs have been exhibited nationally and internationally, including at the Whitney Museum of American Art, New York and the Kunst-Werke Institute for Contemporary Art, Berlin. She is a graduate of Brown University and a Guggenheim Fellow. All images appear courtesy the artist and the Gagosian Gallery, New York. All images © Taryn Simon, all rights reserved.
Where did this project begin? Where’s the appeal for things that are off-limits?
Its genesis was a photograph I took five years ago at The Palace of the Revolution in Cuba. It was something that I responded to aesthetically; it was more abstract and ambiguous than past work I have produced. It floated in a disorienting space until it crashed to earth through its caption. Its success was bound to its content. It was a space that is inaccessible to the public and largely un-photographed. After September 11th, when the American government and media was so deeply invested in finding secret sites (the inaccessible) beyond its borders, I decided to look inward—to find the hidden and unfamiliar, the out-of-view and off-the-radar within American borders.
Bringing the walled-off to public view has a sense of Robin Hood. What was going through your mind when you were going behind the closed doors in all these different sites?
Like most reveals—I was confronted with vulnerabilities. To see the innards is often disillusioning. You see the mold, the cracks, the true size and form. So much was caught in time; felt un-evolved. But I had only reached another perch.
In “The Innocents,” you showed us convicts who were wrongly convicted. With these secret places, you’re bringing us what we’re supposed to be forbidden to see. Do you have a sense when you’re shooting that you’re working on behalf of one side or the other, the subject or the audience?
I’m working for myself and responding to certain anxieties that I need to confront, particularly in “An American Index.” I’m very aware, in the end result, of both the subject and the audience, and more importantly photography’s engagement with both. My focus on text and controlling the context in each image and the series as a whole is in direct response to this.
How did you go about tracking down access to your locations?
The process is indebted to both imagination and the internet, followed by an incessant amount of letter writing and phone calling.
Was there somewhere you wanted to shoot for this series that you couldn’t get access to?
There were several sites, most notably Disney. I had requested access to their underground facility where characters reveal their true identities, where cars, garbage and the ugly, pragmatic, necessary breaks in the fantasy exist. Their response was far better than any photograph I could have ever taken.
“After giving your request serious consideration, even though it is against company policy to consider such a request, it is with regret that I inform you that we are not willing to grant the permission you seek…As you are aware, our Disney characters, parks and other valuable properties have become beloved by young and old alike, and with this comes a tremendous responsibility to protect their use and the protection we currently enjoy. Should we lapse in our vigilance, we run the risk of losing this protection and the Disney characters as we know and love them….Especially during these violent times, I personally believe that the magical spell cast on guests who visit our theme parks is particularly important to protect and helps to provide them with an important fantasy they can escape to.” (Excerpted from a faxed response from Disney Publishing Worldwide, July 7, 2005.)
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(Your last chance for a personal pilgrimage to see the Pope)
On 11 February 2013, the Pope Benedict XVI stunned the world with the announcement of his resignation from his post – making him the first pope to resign in 600 years; or in other words 6 centuries! The pope told the faithful that he had made his decision “in full freedom for the good of the church”; aware of his own declining physical strength needed to carry out the duties of the papacy.
First Papal Audience after the Announcement
On 13 February ‘13, thousands of enthusiastic, faithful crowd greeted Benedict at the Vatican’s Paul VI audience hall to hear the Holy Father speak—for the first time—since his announcement of the resignation two days before.
A huge banner at the rear of the Vatican’s Paul VI audience hall proclaimed “Thanks Your Holiness.”
Significance of the Last Papal Audience: And the life-after for the Pope
The Pope will hold one more Wednesday audience before he retires. Vatican officials say that the 85-year-old will continue with his diary as usual until the day he officially retires at 8 p.m. on 27 February.
Benedict is expected to keep a low public profile thereafter. As such, this last appearance as pontiff is expected to draw large crowds for what may well be some of the last speeches by a man who has spent his life – teaching and preaching – as a priest, a cardinal and a pope.
And once retired, he will live a life of prayer in a converted monastery on the edge of the Vatican gardens.
NOTE: The Audience is not a Mass. It is a time for pilgrims and visitors to greet and listen to the Pope. Also it is advisable to get your vatican tickets sorted before you reach the place, in order to avoid disappointment.
DRESS CODE: Dress appropriately (meaning – no shorts or sleeveless shirts) and don’t bring backpacks or knapsacks.
DETAILS: Pope Benedict XVI's last General Audience will be Wednesday, February 27, at 10:30 AM, in St. Peter's Square.
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Not all dividends are created equal. Here, we'll do a top-to-bottom analysis of a given company to understand the quality of its dividend and how that's changed over the past five years.
The company we're looking at today is Selective Insurance Group (Nasdaq: SIGI ) , which yields 2.9%.
To evaluate the quality of a dividend, the first thing to consider is whether the company has paid a dividend consistently over the past five years, and, if so, how much has it grown.
Selective Insurance Group raised its dividend in late 2007 from $0.12 to $0.13 per quarter, where it has remained since.
To understand how safe a dividend is, we use two crucial tools, first:
- The interest coverage ratio, or the number of times interest is earned, which is calculated by earnings before interest and taxes, divided by interest expense. The interest coverage ratio measures a company's ability to pay the interest on its debt. A ratio less than 1.5 is questionable; a number less than 1 means the company is not bringing in enough money to cover its interest expenses.
Selective Insurance Group covers every $1 in interest expense with just $2 in operating earnings. Investors should carefuly watch this number.
We use another tool to evaluate the safety of a dividend:
- The FCF payout ratio, or dividends per share divided by free cash flow per share. Earnings alone don't always paint a complete picture of a business's health. The FCF payout ratio measures the percent of free cash flow devoted toward paying the dividend. Again, a ratio greater than 80% could be a red flag.
Source: S&P Capital IQ.
Selective Insurance Group's free cash flow payout ratio has been slowly rising the past 5 years but still remains low at 20%.
Another tool for better investing
Most investors don't keep tabs on their companies. That's a mistake. If you take the time to read past the headlines and crack open a filing now and then, you're in a much better position to spot potential trouble early. We can help you keep tabs on your companies with My Watchlist, our free, personalized stock-tracking service.
For more dividend stock ideas, get The Motley Fool's free report, "11 Rock-Solid Dividend Stocks."
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Full, legally copyrighted lyrics to KRS-One's "Sound of Da Police" are currently unavailable.
|"Woop-woop! / That's the sound of da police! / Woop-woop! / That's the sound of the beast!"|
KRS-One sets the song up with his now-famous "woop-woop" imitation of a police siren.Deep Thought
He starts by drawing a clear line in the sand, calling the police "the beast" and setting them up as the song's bad guys. The beast is now well-known slang for police, but The New Partridge Dictionary of Slang and Unconventional English suggests a West Indian origin for the term. Interestingly, KRS-One was born in Brooklyn in 1965 to Jamaican parents and raised by his mother. The Bronx in the 1970s was a major site for Jamaican immigration, as well as the source of the earliest hip-hop; KRS left home in his mid-teens and ended up living in the Bronx. By 1993, when KRS released "Sound of Da Police," the integration of Jamaican sounds and Jamaican slang into hip-hop was a done deal, promoted in part by KRS' own earlier albums with Boogie Down Productions. "The beast" as a term for police may partially have been popularized by this very song.
|"Stand clear! Don man a-talk"|
"Don" is an Italian word that is roughly equivalent to "Sir," but the term is probably best known in the U.S. for its appearance in mobster movies.Deep Thought
In the mobster-movie context, "the Don" is the head of the family, and Don is an honorific title used to address him (the most famous of these is probably Marlon Brando's performance as Don Corleone in The Godfather.) KRS suggests that the officer yelling "Stand clear!" is trying to act like he's the big boss.
|"I know this for a fact, you don't like how I act / You claim I'm sellin' crack / But you be doin that"|
Racial profiling has always been a controversial issue in law enforcement, but the crack-cocaine epidemic brought even more attention to it.Deep Thought
When crack hit the inner cities, Ronald Reagan's "War on Drugs"—a set of policies to combat the drug trade in Latin America and crack down on drug use in the U.S.—was already underway. Policing in the areas most heavily affected by crack increased.
Because community members who were not involved in illegal activity sometimes faced suspicion, and at times even violence, by police, distrust of law enforcement grew during this period. KRS-One grew up around this distrust and reflects it back in pretty much every line of this song.
|"Be a officer? You wicked overseer!"|
KRS-One takes us into his view of history here.Deep Thought
By 1993, KRS-One was also going by the name The Teacher. Some fans loved the new persona, but he was also known for giving reporters didactic lectures and for a certain political arrogance. Here, he compares being a police officer to being a slave overseer, a comparison that may seem extreme. KRS has a historical point to make here, though: for blacks in the U.S., the history of policing is inextricably tied to the history of slavery.
Black Africans who came to the early U.S. typically entered this country without any legal rights; slave laws legalized abuses as intense as murder for slave masters, while restricting virtually all human rights of slaves. Even after the official end of slavery in the U.S., Jim Crow segregation laws continued the close regulation of freedoms for African-Americans.
|"There could never really be justice on stolen land"|
"No justice on stolen land." Does that phrase ring a bell?Deep Thought
"No justice on stolen land" was one of the phrases used by President Obama's short-lived environmental czar Van Jones, who was pushed out of his position after a flurry of conservative backlash and a minor media circus in 2009. Jones, an environmental activist, had promoted land rights for Native Americans in a speech, saying, "We owe them a debt…No justice on stolen land." Neither his phraseology nor KRS-One's is original: we don't know the origin of the phrase, but for the last few decades it has been used as a stock activists' statement promoting Native American rights. The phrase highlights the track record of broken treaties and forceful displacement that led to the foundation of the United States on land once occupied by hundreds of sovereign indigenous tribes.
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Last Thursday night, the Rockland County Legislature Budget & Finance Committee discussed the with the heads of the County Highway department and Health department as part of the legislature's budget review process.
“Ultimately this is the county’s proposed budget and the department head has to come here and defend it,” said Ilan Schoenberger, county legislator.
Here is what's been discussed so far during this budget process:
- Rocklanders’ Reliance On Social Services Increasing
- Sheriff Makes Case For Restoration Of Budget Cuts
- Proposed County Budget—Public Safety Concerns (Highway Department)
- Proposed County Highway Layoffs May Reduce Service
- Legislature Debates Cuts In General Services
It was an emotional night last week for members of the county health department. Health Commissioner Joan Facelle fought for the 12.5 positions that are being cut in the department and also announced her plans to retire at the end of January.
“These decisions weren’t made lightly; programs that were mandated by the state cannot be touched. Non-mandated programs (are at risk at being cut.). This has nothing to do with their value or their usefulness. I had a job to do that I had to do rather painfully,” said Facelle.
Programs affected include—moquito control, .
The mosquito control program does trapping and identification, larva sighting of catch basins and open breeding areas, responds to community concerns, checks swimming pools (public and private) and standing bodies of water, and much more, said Facelle.
“We will be (doing surveillance). We will not be doing treatment—municipalities could do it, or it would not be done at all,” said Facelle. She added that mosquito control does not operate during the winter so those employees do other work during the winter.
“I’m greatly concerned … if we don’t do this (mosquito control), who will? Maybe one town, Clarkstown will do it,” said Schoenberger, adding that he means no disrespect to any neighboring town.
Facelle’s emotions overwhelmed her and her voice cracked, “It’s hard to see the crumbling of the things we’ve built.”
Barbara Willen of the mosquito control program said that the program is run through the the flu clinics and supports logistics staff. This year, record high numbers of west nile virus in the county was documented and the first Rockland human case occurred this year as well.
“We just came off of our highest WNV numbers. In 1999 we didn’t have WNV. What’s going to happen in the future? With the warming trends we’re having here, it seems very illogical to me (that we would make cuts to this program at this point in time),” said Willen.
“Nothing is written in stone right now,” said Legislator Alden Wolfe. “If there’s some way we can figure out how to minimize the pain, please let us know.”
Facelle added that these programs, once gone, are not likely to be replaced. “You’re going to lose all the passion, experience and hard work.”
Joan Raynor, the Family Resource Center Coordinator at BOCES, came as someone who benefits from the department’s programs.
“I’m a consumer. These are people that I work with on a daily basis,” she said. “These are resources for people and children in the community. I’m concerned and upset. They’re like my right arm. There’s not a week or day that goes by that I don’t call them for support. I’m a consumer and supporter of the department.”
She added that Steindorff brings “invaluable support to our children and families. I’m heartbroken and hope that we as a community can do something to help the health department.”
One woman stood up speaking out against some of the programs in the health department.
Marge Hook of New City put out a reminder that the county cannot afford to keep certain programs, especially the ones that helped only a specific group of people in the community or ones that were not needed by parents of past generations.
“When there are no more tax dollars coming in, What’s going to happen to your pensions? Breast feeding has been going on since the beginning of man. Children suffering from diabetes, obesity … they’re in front of the TVs and cell phones all day. Where’s the responsibility of the parents?” said Hook. “We as parents and grand parents should be responsible for our children. We should not be going to the government—county, local, state or federal—to get help.”
As for the childhood injury prevention program, she added that parents have always raised their kids without help from programs such as this. She also added that people have and can quit smoking on their own without using a program.
She asked the legislators to re-examine the tourism department, but added that they should save the mosquito program because it’s “something the whole county will benefit from … These other programs (breast feeding, childhood injury prevention, tobacco cessation) are social programs and are important to certain people.”
“The county is broke. Unions don’t want to give anything back,” Hook said. “People are moving out by the tons. I have two girlfriends who just put their houses on the market. My pockets are empty. When my dogs pass away, I’m moving out of here as fast of I can.”
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I’ve learned that you cannot make someone love you. All you can do is be someone who can be loved. The rest is up to them;
I’ve learned that no matter how much I care, some people just don’t care back;
I’ve learned that it takes years to build up trust, and only seconds to destroy it.
I’ve learned that you can get by on charm, for about fifteen minutes. After that, you’d better know something;
I’ve learned that either you control your attitude or it controls you.
I’ve learned that no matter how hot and steamy a relationship is at first, the passion fades and there had better be something else to take it’s place.
I’ve learned that sometimes the people you expect to kick you when you’re downhill are the ones to help you get back up.
I’ve learned that sometimes when I’m angry I have the right to be angry.
I’ve learned that true friendship continues to grow, even over the longest distance. Same goes for true love.
I’ve learned that just because someone doesn’t love you the way you want them to doesn’t mean that they don’t love you with all they have.
I’ve learned that maturity had more to do with what types of experiences you’ve had and what you’ve learned from them and less to do with how many birthdays you’ve celebrated.
I’ve learned that your family won’t always be there for you.
I’ve learned that no matter how good a friend is, they’re going to hurt you every once in a while.
I’ve learned that it isn’t always enough to be forgiven by others. Sometimes you have to forgive yourself.
I’ve learned that no matter how bad your heart is broken, the world doesn’t stop for your grief.
I’ve learned that our background and circumstances may have influenced who we are, but we are responsible for who we become.
I’ve learned that just because two people argue, it doesn’t mean they don’t love each other. And just because they don’t argue, it doesn’t mean they do.
I’ve learned that we don’t have to change friends if we understand that friends change.
I’ve learned that two people can look at the exact same thing and see something totally different.
I’ve learned that no matter how you try to protect your children, they will eventually get hurt and you will get hurt in the process.
I’ve learned that your life can be changed in a matter of hours by people who don’t even know you.
I’ve learned that it’s hard to determine where to draw the line between being nice and not hurting people’s feelings and standing up for what you believe.
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| 0.95755 | 645 | 1.617188 | 2 |
With the advent of handheld technology, there is absolutely no reason you should not be videotaping your kids every opportunity you have. Don’t wait for special occasions or holidays either – make sure you capture every day moments as often, these are the most precious. One of my favorite videos of my kids was actually taken in the bathroom:
As you can see, my Ryan was such a little wiseguy! I completely forgot about this until I decided to download all the video to the computer with the intent of creating some family video dvd (a subject of a future post).
To get those every day moments make sure your video camera is handy and CHARGED. If your home videos are anything like mine, you will hear your husband’s voice saying “honey I only have a few minutes of battery left…” UGH! A video camera in its bag, tucked away in a closet isn’t capturing anything. If your cell phone has a video recording feature, make sure you know how to use it. Cell phones are wonderful for capturing candid video and that video can easily be uploaded to facebook and YouTube for sharing.
Here are 5 tips to improve your videotaping skills to make sure you capture the moment perfectly:
Get down to their level
When videotaping kids, try to get eye-level with them, whether on your knees, the floor, or a low chair. This position allows for greater interaction with the children.
Keep the Tape Rolling
Don’t be so quick to turn off the camera when the event you are capturing is finished. When you feel you have captured the performance or giggle, let the camera continue to recordl for another minute or two. Some of the best moments happen unexpectedly, so if you have the camera on and focused on the subject, you’re more likely to get them on tape.
Keep Camera Movement Down to a Minimum
Don’t use a lot of movement with the camera. Feel free to adjust your shot according to what is taking place but minimize zooming and panning. Your subject should be providing the movement, not the camera. Here is a tip: when you see something you want to record, get a nice long shot of whatever is happening without any camera movement (zoom or panning) whatsoever. Then, move in to adjust the shot and then let it roll for a while. This way you will have both a wide-shot of the activity (something that shows all the action) and a close up.
Fill the Frame With Your Subject
This is especially important when videotaping infants. Some of the best video is where you can see the expressiveness in a baby’s face when she is playing peek-a-boo, or her determination in trying to get the spoon from the cereal to her mouth. Don’t be afraid to get really close!
Flip the Screen
Toddlers are such hams and if you flip around the LCD screen on the camera so the kids can see themselves in action you’ll a) get a nice extended close up shot because most children can focus on themselves for a while, and b) you’ll get some hysterical footage as kids figure out who’s on the screen and start making faces at themselves!
Remember, they are little only once and these movies are the best family movies! Get out there are video tape!
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http://longislandchick.com/2012/03/create-memories-instead-of-regrets-videotape-your-kids-often/
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| 0.941123 | 699 | 1.507813 | 2 |
[oclug] [OT] Solar / Renewable Power Generation
David F. Skoll
dfs at roaringpenguin.com
Mon Aug 12 17:59:33 EDT 2002
On Mon, 12 Aug 2002, Brad Barnett wrote:
> As to the aforementioned study named by David, I would be very hesitant to
> look at anything negative about alternate power systems. This doesn't
> mean it is incorrect, but we are all aware of the intense campaign against
> alternate power systems.
It wasn't a study. It was just a remark that photovoltaic cells are
incredibly inefficient and take years to pay back the energy spent in their
creation. Nothing very controversial there.
More information about the OCLUG
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http://oclug.on.ca/archives/oclug/2002-August/022704.html
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| 0.941615 | 156 | 1.617188 | 2 |
In the aftermath of the Waldorf closing the city is looking into mapping cultural resources like arts venues and spaces that resonate with city dwellers. Over at MOVments, this got us thinking about the other kinds of maps we're making and how they're helping to locate us and more importantly, guide us where we're going. Read on for details on a blueprint for a new food strategy, a development plan for a growing municipality, and how neighbourhood rebranding may (or may not) be helping East Vancouverites envision where they live.
#occupyvancouver dominates the news this week. Thousands of people gathered at the Vancouver Art Gallery for Occupy Vancouver's first General Assembly on Saturday. Many people are prepared to camp out for some time, though the ban on staking tents to the ground and cooking with propane makes this more difficult.
The Tyee asks people why they have chosen to take to the streets.
We Day. Meanwhile, another gathering for change: as 18,000 youth participate in We Day, where Mikhail Gorbachev and other speakers presented on the value of community service and youth engagement.
The Missing Women Inquiry is off to a rocky start with protests as several groups have chosen to not participate. Many groups are concerned that the lack of funding provided to advocacy groups for legal assistance for is a serious impediment to having their voices heard, and without their support for the process, it is uncertain whether the Inquiry will acheive its purpose.
Powwow. A huge powwow took place in the Downtown Eastside to honour First Nations elders.
Re:CONNECT challenges Vancouverites to reinvision the city's eastern core and viaducts as a vibrant space.
No more pictures. Jeff Wall laments the loss of photogenic buildings in Vancouver.
Local food. A few months after being featured in MOV's Home Grown exhibit, the Home Grow-In Grocery closed suddenly, taking customers' deposits with it. Now the store has reopened with new owners, who are trying to regain the trust of their customers while building our local food infrastructure.
Ethnic enclaves. Is it time for Vancouver to have a Pinoytown?
Image: Ariane Colenbrander
Insite. Hastings Street erupted into a clebration and pancake breakfast as people gathered to hear the Supreme Court of Canada reject the federal government's appeal to close Insite. This is a landmark decision - not only does it allow the facility to remain open but it signals a change in attitudes toward addicts and positions healthcare as a higher priority than law and order. The unanimous decision by the court opens up possibility of safe injection sites across the country. Kind of fitting that this happened in Vancouver, the birthplace of Canada's first drug laws.
Stanley Park. While it's now the uncontroversial crown jewel of our city, Stanley Park got off to a rocky start, as the land was not only expropriated from First Nations people but also others who made their homes on the land. The removal of these people took nearly 40 years.
Growing pains. You can never have too much of a good thing. Or can you? In some cities there is a glut of farmer's markets and not enough consumer demand, forcing them to compete with each other for customers. In Vancouver the tight control over the creation of new markets seems to ensure that this will not be the case but in the suburbs it's a different story.
Mural tour. The City of Vancouver has created a cool interactive map and audio tour of murals in the downtown core and East Van.
Places that matter. John Atkin shares more of his findings while researching materials for the Heritage Foundation's Places that Matter project. This week: the Louvre Hotel and Saloon.
Image via Bruce...
Cycling. Translink has released it's regional cycling strategy meant to encourage cycling and make it safer. Good thing, too, because safety is one of the major concerns that keep women in particular off the roads.
Evergreen line. Negotiations to build the Evergreen Line took a huge step forward when Metro Vancouver mayors voted in favour of increasing the gas tax to pay for it. Spacing explores other sources of funds for a cash-strapped Translink.
Shoebox living. A new development under construction features 270 square foot condos. Is that even livable? Well, Gordon Price made it work in the 90s. But in spite of their size, these units aren't as affordable as you'd think.
Status quo. While the city develops around it, the West End has remained more or less the same.
Olympic Village. While many of the housing units at the Olympic Village are still empty, businesses are slowly starting to open.
The dark side of 100 mile. An exhibit on right now at W2 Media Cafe shows the unsavoury side of local food - the exploitation of new immigrants and temporary foreign workers who work on farms in the Fraser Valley. It's an issue also covered in our Bhangra.me exhibit on display right now at MOV. If you have the chance you should come down and check it out!
Public square. Gordon Price wants to get rid of the fountain in front of the art gallery to turn the space into a proper gathering area.
Crime. Did you know that Vancouver is the bank robbery capital of Canada?
Image: LastGreatRoadTrip, via flickr.
Just how bike-friendly is Vancouver? Researchers at UBC mapped data on several key factors that make streets accommodating to cyclists. The result is a series of 'Bikeability Index' maps.
Spacing Vancouver. Spacing Magazine has partnered with the staff at re:place to launch Spacing Vancouver. We're really excited to see what comes out of this partnership.
Public space. Erin O'Melinn shares some thoughts about Spacing's list of the top ten public spaces in Vancouver and why they are nearly all in the downtown core.
Surveillance. It has come to light that some of the surveillance cameras purchased for the 2010 Olympics were repurposed and put into service during the Stanley Cup playoff games.
Public art. Many of the Vancouver Biennale's public art works will be heading home to their owners between now and the end of this year.
Phonebooth. In response to the disappearance of phone booths in the DTES, Spartacus Books set up their own.
Housing in the DTES. Tenants at the Wonder Rooms in the DTES filed a class-action suit against their landlord for the inhumane living conditions in their suites. City council discussed this week whether to file an injunction to force the landlord to make repairs.
"Old urbanism" on the Fraserlands. A huge new development for 20,000 residents is intended to be a modern Rome or Pompeii on the banks of the Fraser River. Seems an odd choice of comparison but there you go.
Local food. The Food Secure Vancouver Study and Foodtree's mobile app were both launched this week.
Image: Roland Tanglao, via flickr.
Post-riot therapy. Scout lists 101 awesome things about Vancouver. Glad to see we (and this blog) made the list!
The backlash continues. Employers of outed rioters are facing boycotts and negative press and in some cases are letting those employees go. Blenz has launched the first major lawsuit against as yet unnamed rioters.
There is growing concern that some riot photos submitted to police have been photoshopped, and it's likely that this will be a popular defence in court.
Gentrification. The Dependent looks at some of the people walking the fine line between gentrification and revitalization in Gastown and the Downtown East Side.
Language. There is now a dictionary for the Squamish language.
Local food. Turning a new page in the local food movement, the City of Vancouver funds a project to encourage people to replace their lawns with wheat.
Summer of our discontent. Past Tense remembers Vancouver's Yippie civil unrest.
Authentic sky. Appreciation for a local artist who paints Vancouver's sky like it is: usually cloudy.
An oddity from the history books: Police conclude that sounds of a man drowning that had been frightening visitors at Third Beach were actually coming from a bird.
Image via Past Tense.
Road safety. The Vancouver Sun reports on the most dangerous intersections for cyclist and vehicle collisions. But it’s not just motor vehicles that are in focus. The first pedestrian death resulting from a cyclist collision has been confirmed.
Local bounty. The Tyee continues it’s excellent coverage of local food. An article looks at the Southlands farm in Delta, a local site of conflict between the pressure to develop and the need to preserve farmland. Another article looks at the quota system for egg production and why the supply of organic and free-range eggs is not keeping pace with the demand.
Noise. The City is trying to mitigate the impact of increased noise from a new public plaza and the open roof of BC place in Northeast False Creek, considering more stringent soundproofing guidelines for developers and amending the noise bylaw to allow loud noise until 11pm.
Mapping transit. A very cool Google Maps app allows you to see how far you can get on transit from any location in Metro Vancouver within a given period of time. It’s fun to play around with, though the distances displayed in the suburbs seem a little optimistic.
Science park. A proposal went before the development permit board and advisory panel today that would see the installation of outdoor exhibits about sustainability in the park near Science World.
Millennium Development. The development company that built the Olympic Village is facing more financial difficulties this week after defaulting on a loan for another of it’s properties in West Vancouver.
Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer. Though not a Canadian creation, it was the illustrations of a Burnaby man that propelled Rudolph into international stardom.
Image credit: Burnaby NewsLeader
Processed food. An article in the Tyee tackles the problem of local food processing infrastructure. While a few companies are producing consumer products from BC grown produce, over the past 30 years the food processing industry has consolidated, leaving BC with a lack of capacity to process local food products locally.
Cultural capital. Vancouver was named a 2011 cultural capital of Canada by the Department of Canadian Heritage and is to receive funding to support celebrations for it’s 125th anniversary.
Office space. The recession seems to be driving companies back into the downtown core. Vacancy rates for office space downtown are dropping, while vacancies in other municipalities are climbing. Telus is constructing the first new office tower downtown in nearly a decade and other companies are relocating due to the proximity to transit and other amenities.
Jericho wharf. There is a debate raging as to what to do with Jericho wharf. It was originally built as part of a seaplane base for the RCAF but is now unused and is in bad disrepair. While there is a case to be made for it’s heritage value, it provides a poor environment for juvenile salmon and other marine life.
The price of development. A new report by the David Suzuki Foundation puts a price on farmland and undeveloped green spaces in Metro Vancouver. The report is intended to promote the densification of land that has already been developed by calculating the benefit to society that undeveloped land has.
Image source: Elizabeth Bruton via flickr
New City Market. Community groups are busy planning the creation of a new hub for local food. The New City Market is meant to to fill the gap between producers and consumers of local food in BC, and give farmers direct access to their markets, as well as provide facilities for cooking and learning for the public.
Buy BC. The BC Agriculture Council wants the government to spend more money on marketing local food and assisting farmers and retailers with information about organic standards. Several programs have been funded in the past, but have been cut.
Freedom of information. Earlier this week Paul Hancock, Vancouver’s freedom of information officer resigned from his position at the City, leaving the City to reconsider how to deal with it’s freedom of information requests.
Olympic Village. The City of Vancouver is trying hard to recoup nearly a billion dollars that are owed to it by the developer of the Olympic Village, but can’t guarantee that it will be able to collect the full amount.
The City has not yet approved a new marketing plan for the condos that would see the condos sold at substantially lower prices. The City has not come to an agreement with the developer as to how the shortfall will be made up.
Meanwhile, the City has chosen the Co-op Housing Federation of B.C. to manage the social housing in the Olympic Village, so those units may finally be occupied before the end of the year.
Rental housing. Construction began on a new market rental housing complex at Granville and Davie. The project has been made possible by the City’s Short Term Incentives for Rental Housing program.
Image credit: CityLab
Homes and books. Housing advocates are urging the city to consider including social housing in a new library branch that is to be constructed on East Hastings.
Opsal Steel. Two towers are planned for the Opsal Steel site south of False Creek. The 90 year old building is one of the best remaining examples of west coast early industrial architecture. The plan calls for portions of the original building to be saved. The building was listed as one of Heritage Vancouver’s Top Ten Endangered Sites in 2001 and 2002.
Viaducts. Anthony Perl, director of urban studies at SFU, wants to tear down Vancouver’s viaducts. He says the land is better suited for social housing and other projects and represents a huge unmet potential.
Bike lanes. City Caucus looks at why separated bike lanes are so controversial in Vancouver and elsewhere.
Salmon. Scientists now believe that the unusually large salmon run this year was caused by the eruption of the Katsatochi Volcano in 2008, which led to a greater amount of phytoplankton in the water for the fish to feed on.
Meanwhile, the Cohen commission is still looking for answers as to why last year’s salmon run was so small and debate continues regarding how best to promote biodiversity without harming the fishing industry.
Local food infrastructure. In their ongoing series searching for solutions for fostering a local sustainable food system, The Tyee looks at Mennonite produce cooperatives and auction houses in Ontario.
Image credit: Dan Toulgoet, Vancouver Courier
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One summer I was at a gathering of old high school acquaintances when someone behind me tapped me on my shoulder. As my eyes drifted over the woman’s name tag, my mind drifted back in time. I remembered a tightly folded note that had been shoved through the slot on my locker. It had contained cruel words of rejection that had shamed me and crushed my spirit. I remember thinking, Somebody needs to teach you a lesson on how to treat people! Although I felt as if I were reliving my adolescent pain, I mustered up my best fake smile; and insincere words began coming out of my mouth.
We began to converse. A sad story of a difficult upbringing and of an unhappy marriage began to pour out of her. As it did, the words “root of bitterness” from Hebrews 12:15 popped into my head. That’s what I’m feeling, I thought. After all these years, I still had a deep root of bitterness hidden within me, twisting around and strangling my heart.
Then these words came to my mind: “Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good” (Rom. 12:21).
We talked. We even shared some tears. Neither of us mentioned the long-ago incident. God taught someone a lesson that afternoon—a lesson of forgiveness and of letting go of bitterness. He taught it to me.
and bitterness in my heart. Through the power
of the Holy Spirit, enable me to let go of my
bitterness and forgive those who have hurt me.
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From January 2007 through March of this year, service members or civilian employees of the military donated at least $766,000 to presidential candidates, according to data made available April 20 and provided by the Center for Responsive Politics, a nonprofit research group in Washington.
The analysis included donations of at least $200 made by individuals who listed their employer as one of the four branches of the military — Army, Air Force, Navy and Marine Corps — or the Coast Guard, National Guard, Army Air Force Exchange Service, armed forces or military.
These donors gave the largest amounts to Rep. Ron Paul, the long-shot Republican candidate from Texas... During the reporting period, Paul — a former Air Force surgeon who broke with his party to vote against the Iraq war — received the most military contributions, with $201,271.
That’s significantly more than the presumptive Republican nominee, Sen. John McCain from Arizona, who received $132,133 from military donors, according to CRP...Obama, meanwhile, whose opposition to invading Iraq has been a centerpiece of his campaign, has received $178,456 in military contributions, compared to Sen. Hillary Clinton’s $85,000, the analysis shows.
Source: Air Force Times, May 5, 2008
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Recently I revisited The Visual Craft of William Golden, a book published in the early-Sixties about the legendary CBS creative director. There is an essay in the book by CBS exec John Cowden that sheds light on Golden’s artistic integrity, and helps to explain why the advertising work created under his guidance remains to this day the strongest body of advertising ever created for a TV network.
Golden’s world revolved around graphic design, illustration and advertising, but I find his experiences to be relevant to creative people working in any commercial field, and especially animation. For example, Cowden recounted how Golden was offered a promotion from creative director to an upper management position. Golden flatly turned down the offer, Cowden wrote:
Many years ago, when he was offered the title of Vice President in charge of Advertising and Sales Promotion, he said no thanks. His reasons were significant–and characteristic. He said the stripes would be bars…that they would force him to become a “company man”…to take the so-called “broad view” at the expense of principle.
Bill preferred to keep his independence and to preserve his inalienable right to shout–when the occasion demanded–that the emperor wasn’t wearing any clothes. In any case, he said he didn’t want to go to meetings, or be snowed under by administrative duties. I mention this because it reveals how Bill was willing to sacrifice anything–including his own advancement–if he felt it stood in the way of better design and advertising.
The story, incidentally, has an ironic but delightful ending. In scorning the conventional status symbols, Bill won far more. By turning down a vice presidency, he eventually gained a respect and status that outranked any vice president in the company.
Contrast Golden’s unwavering integrity to all of the animation artists in recent years who have moved into high-profile executive and management positions. In every case–with the notable exception of John Lasseter–these artists have unwittingly weakened their creative influence and become part of the problem by entrenching themselves within broken production systems.
Golden, who refused to become a part of upper management, also had his own ways of dealing with clueless business people. Again, from Cowden’s essay:
This integrity and pride in craft were also apparent in his willingness to lay his job on the line if anyone tried to invade his special area of responsibility. I remember a layout for a rate card he once submitted to his superior–the President of the Division. It came back by messenger with a note saying “I don’t like it very much. Let’s discuss.” Bill’s answer was simply to scotchtape a drawing pencil to the corner of a large layout pad and send it back with this message scribbled across the top sheet: “Let’s not. Why don’t you make a better one.” There was no reply. The rate card was produced as originally designed.
Here’s another example of how he dealt with the endless stream of unqualified individuals who tried to encroach on his domain:
Bill flatly refused to submit art for approval to anyone. On another occasion, he commissioned the artist Rene Bouché to do a drawing of a certain television star for a newspaper ad. When the star saw the sketch in the paper he exploded. He demanded that only authorized photographs be used in all future ads. I was one of many who urged Bill not to make an issue of the matter but to go along with the request. Instead, Bill immediately commissioned Bouché to do another drawing of the same performer and again refused to show it to the star. Eventually the new sketch appeared in another ad and became the famous trademark–on the air and off–of America’s all-time favorite comedian: Jack Benny.
Bill Golden demanded the best, and didn’t accept excuses from artists:
Nothing upset [Golden] more than someone who alibied his samples on the ground that his particular client would not let him do good work. Bill maintained–and proved it at CBS–that there are no good or bad clients, there are only good or bad advertising men.
Unlike so many blockheads in positions of power within the contemporary animation industry, Golden could identify skill and talent with his trained eye. This is evidenced by the group of people who worked for him, which is a who’s who of mid-century illustration and design giants: David Stone Martin, Feliks Topolski, Leo Lionni, Joe Kaufman, George Lois, Ludwig Bemelmans, Ben Shahn, Miguel Covarrubias, and Jan Balet, to name but a few. Cowden’s memories of Golden are a reminder that great commercial work, whether it’s a piece of print design or an animated film, doesn’t happen by accident. It happens because of this:
[Golden] accepted the fact that part of the responsibility of being an advertising man and a designer was to have the courage of one’s convictions…a bulldog tenacity…a willingness to do daily battle for the things one believed in…and the recognition that constant vigilance is the price of freedom.
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Hikers visiting Georgia's wildlife management areas must pay new fees starting next year.
The board of the Georgia Department of Natural Resources voted unanimously Wednesday to charge visitors $3.50 for a three-day pass to wildlife management areas and fishing grounds or $19 for an annual pass. That's the same fee that hunters and fishermen pay.
Groups of fewer than nine people will have to pay $10 for a three-day pass or $30 annually. The new fees take effect Jan. 1.
The department has previously only charged hunters and fishermen. Facing budget cuts, DNR officials said it was appropriate to charge recreational users such as hikers, birdwatchers and rock climbers since they also use state resources.
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Every once in a while I go down to my basement library and re-read a book by gun expert Jeff Cooper
) just to keep myself in a self-defense mindset. This week I pulled from the shelf one of Cooper's best works, To Ride, Shoot Straight, And Speak The Truth.
My favorite chapter in the book is one entitled, "The Combat Mind-Set" in which Cooper discusses a person's mental reaction to aggression.
Cooper starts out the chapter stating:
Man fights with his mind. His hands and his weapons are simply extensions of his will, and one of the fallacies of our era is the notion that equipment is the equivalent of force.
Cooper notes that of all of the graduates of his training program
who have found themselves in mortal confrontations, "not one has said that his life was saved by his dexterity nor by his marksmanship, but rather by his 'mind-set.'"
Some useful bits of information that Cooper provides is that one must train himself into a state of mind in which the sudden awareness of peril does not surprise him. "His response should be not "Oh my God, I'm in a fight!" but rather, "I thought this might happen and I know what to do about it
I often think how few people in our society would really know what to do if they were confronted with a mortal confrontation. Sadly, our mindset is now more like The New Feminized Majority
in which soft power and discussions are slowly taking the place of the Combat Mind-set. Is this a good thing?
I don't know, maybe yes, maybe no, depending on the circumstances. I can't help but feel that both are important; yet each year, it seems that the values that Jeff Cooper talked about in his work are less and less relevant in our culture--those values of honor, duty and bravery. Those traits, I hope, will never go out of style--for our very freedom and life may depend on them.
Update: Grim has more thoughts on the combat mind-set.
Labels: gun rights, interesting books, self-defense
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PDs on tax nothing more than cut and paste of failed Thatcherite thinking - Ó Caoláin
September 18, 2006
Sinn Féin's Finance spokesperson Caoimhghín Ó Caoláin TD has warned voters that PD tax polices, being discussed at a PD meeting in Malahide today, would have drastic consequences for public services and social protections if they were implemented. Saying the PD policymaking was nothing more than cutting and pasting failed Thatcherite economic thinking, Deputy Ó Caoláin went on to say that 'having seen what they can do in two terms of office, I shudder to think at the damage they could to with a third'.
The Cavan-Monaghan TD said: "It is clear that far from a 'radical departure' the Progressive Democrats are bent on simply reheating the same policies of the last five years that have made this state one of the most unequal in the world, gutted state companies and institutionalised racism. Instead of new thinking, the PDs will today continue to simply cut and paste failed Thatcherite economic theories into Irish politics and call it policymaking. Having seen what they can do in two terms of office, I shudder to think what damage they could do with a third.
"It has been reported in the media that the Progressive Democrats are discussing proposals to reduce the top rate of tax to 40 per cent and for the standard rate of 20 per cent to apply to single people earning less than €50,000 or €100,000 for couples.
"Such changes would primarily benefit the better-off, would make the tax system even more regressive than it is at present, and would have drastic consequences for the provision of public services. The overwhelming majority of the people in this state rely on public services including a public health system, a public education system and a public transport system. These tax cuts would reduce the revenue available to government to provide essential public services, while also having the effect of further fuelling inflation increases.
"Even a brief overview of the taxation system demonstrates that it is not furthering the objective of achieving a progressively more equal distribution of wealth. Successive income tax cuts have benefited high income individuals more (in real terms) than those on low-incomes over the past decade while tax expenditures have re-distributed wealth in favour of the already wealthy. Regressive double taxes like the Bin Charges have hit hardest working families struggling to get by and has been directly attributed by commentators to increased numbers of working poor.
"A report by the CSO entitled 'Measuring Ireland's Progress, 2005' found that the proportion of people in the state at risk of poverty, after pensions and social transfer payments were taken into account, was 21% in 2004. This was one of the highest rates in the EU.
"It also found that over 6% of men and over 7% of women were in consistent poverty in 2004 and that almost 22% of ill or disabled people were experiencing consistent poverty. The wealthy such as those represented by the PDs enjoy many advantages including preferential health care, preferential education for themselves and their children, political influence and media power.
"The tax policies of the PDs are designed to preserve and accentuate the economic inequality identified by the CSO and to benefit those whose wealth means they have no need of public services. They are the logical working out of the belief that inequality is good for society, articulated by Michael McDowell in recent years.
"Irish voters must decide if they are prepared to allow a fringe and fanatical wealthy elite to further profit while public services are decimated and private interests ransack state companies such as Aer Lingus, An Post and the ESB.
"There is an alternative. Sinn Féin is committed to an overhaul of the tax system to create an equitable and fair taxation system underpinned by the objective of bringing about the redistribution of wealth and the elimination of poverty. We want to create a system where those who have more, pay more while those who have less, pay less. We are committed to raising the revenue necessary to deliver a proper health system, education, childcare, housing and infrastructure -- all of which are in chaos as a consequence of the policies pursued by the current government. I believe that this is what the vast majority of people want and what they deserve."
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GOP Presidential front runner Mitt Romney offered his view of why corporations should not pay higher taxes at a damaging campaign stop in Iowa. His remarks open a window into his corporatist, pollutocrat worldview. As Think Progress Justice noted:
Audience members responded angrily to his plans, and Romney frequently responded belligerently to their anger. In one of the most contentious exchanges, Romney defended his belief that we “should consider a higher retirement age” for Social Security and Medicare to preserve tax breaks for corporations:
ROMNEY: There’s various ways of [preserving Social Security and Medicare’s solvency]. One is we could raise taxes on people. That’s not the way . . .
AUDIENCE: Corporations! Corporations!
ROMNEY: Corporations are people, my friend.
AUDIENCE: No they’re not.
ROMNEY: Of course they are. Everything corporations earn ultimately goes to people. Where do you think it goes?
AUDIENCE: It goes into your pocket!
ROMNEY: Whose pockets? Whose pockets? People’s pockets. Human beings, my friend.
Given the rapidly growing disparity between the wages of CEOs and those of workers, and the rapidly growing wealth of the richest 1% versus the rest of us, the fact is that an increasing share of what corporations earn goes to a small number of very rich people.
It is also true that corporations spend money lobbying and spreading disinformation on climate science and the EPA, to preserve their ability to poison the planet and destroy a livable climate.
And that goes to the heart of the fatal flaw in Romney’s worldview. Yes, conservative politicians, conservative pundits, and conservative Supreme Court justices believe corporations deserve to have the same rights as people, including virtually no limits on campaign donations.
The problem is that corporations don’t require clean air, clean water, and a livable climate. Indeed, in the short run, they can profit by destroying those things – if the real people let them.
Treating corporations as the same as people is the road to ruin for any modern society, as America is witnessing.
Below are old comments from the earlier Facebook commenting system:
- Matthew Parker · Catholic University of America
This is easy. The appropriate answer is, if corporations are people, then they should be paying the the same tax rate as individuals.
Matt – were you conservative in college? I have this weird recollection that you were.
Matthew Parker · Catholic University of America
Yes, but then I grew up. :)
Weird. It usually works the other way around – although I used to be pretty socially conservative and now am pretty liberal.
Gary Herstein · Top Commenter
The correct term, of course, is “persons” not “people.” The latter is a collective term for human beings, while the former is the one with specifically moral and legal standing.
The biggest problem is precisely that corporations are NOT treated like persons, since the latter can and are held responsible for their behavior. Corporations want unfettered *license* — as in “licensiousness” — not “rights,” since “rights” only exist in the context of responsibilities.
Thomas Jamison · Top Commenter
In the Dred Scott decision, the Supreme Court ruled that people are property. In the Citizens United decision, the Supreme Court ruled that property (corporations) are people.
We need to come up with some way to stop these extremely wrong, misguided, extremely damaging court decisions. They are destroying our democracy.
Timothy Hanes · Top Commenter
Ooooo, that’s a good one. I’ll cite you when I use it later.
catman306 (signed in using Yahoo)
Mitt, corporations are legally like people, except that the owners, the real people who receive the earnings of the corporations are in no way (financially, morally, or legally) responsible for the activities of the corporation. The coporation’s officers might be responsible in some situations but they always have their corporation staff lawyers to help them. Corporatocracy is a cop out for the owners, a way for them to safely ignore responsibility for the social and ecological actions of their powerful money.
Real people are responsible for their actions.
To state the obvious, corporations pay tax on profits, not gross income. Were an individual person able to deduct all expenses, and pay a tax only on what’s left over, that would diminish tax revenues to a trickle. I wonder if individuals should demand that we be taxed like corporations, based on equal protection under the law? It would be ruinous if it were implemented, but it would be an interesting test of the notion of corporations as individuals. Alternately one could demand that corporations be taxed on gross income, as individuals are, and get deductions for only a few expenses.
I’m just raising the equal protection issue in a different way.
The country was founded on the concept of individual civil liberties. When you count abstractions like corporations as individuals you also create a kind of super citizen in the head of the corporate structure, i.e. the CEO, that benefits dis-proportionally from relationships with purely financially centered, liberty endowed corporations.
“But the reasonable freeman sees through the magic of a title, and examines the man before he approves him. To him the honors of the worthless serve to write their masters’ vices in capitals, and their stars shine to no other end than to read them by.” – Thomas Paine, Reflections on Titles, May 1775.
Prokaryotes – · Top Commenter (signed in using Hotmail)
@PaulBegala Paul Begala.
@MittRomney says “Corporations are people, my friend.” http://t.co/2kH0iEO @GovernorPerry asks, “Does that mean I get to execute one?”
- Prokaryotes – · Top Commenter (signed in using Hotmail)
The pronunciation here is “my friend”
Romney and the GOP can sell their shoddy message to many uninformed people.
Today we can see the results of over 30 years of ‘laissez Faire Plantation Style’ Policy.
What is worse we have a Democratic President that has basically followed the same road. Pathetic.
If corporations are the same as people, then they should go to jail for doing bad things. Of course, they don’t and so they aren’t.
So what are we going to do about it? I find that only Move to Amend is making this a significant issue. All the rest just talk around the subject. You can find more of what Move to Amend is doing here: http://www.facebook.com/Move2Amend?ref=ts.
Prokaryotes – · Top Commenter (signed in using Hotmail)
sasparillafizz (signed in using Yahoo)
I would think this sort of statement won’t sit well with most of the conservative voters in Iowa either (might with the company board set but not the general population).
Be interesting to see how much damage this does to him. Out of the GOP choices, he’d probably do the least amount of damage in office, course he’d probably have the best chance of unseating the current administration as well.
G. William Domhoff’s summary of “Who Rules America” updated July 2011.
Corporations are people? But I thought Soylent Green was people….
kacevedo (signed in using Yahoo)
If corporations are people, its about time that we start sending them to jail for the crimes they commit including all the “people” who work there.
Typo? “his view of why corporations should pay higher taxes” — “should ** NOT ** pay higher taxes”, presumably… (opening line)
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The ACLU of Massachusetts represented members of NAMBLA because, while the ACLU does not advocate sexual relationships between adults and children, we do advocate robust freedom of speech. This lawsuit struck at the heart of the First Amendment. It is easy to defend freedom of speech when the message is something people find reasonable. The defense of freedom of speech is most critical when the message is one most people reject. For more information about the case, please contact the ACLU of Massachusetts.
What is the ACLU's position on the Second Amendment?
The Second Amendment provides: "A well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed." Given the reference to "a well regulated Militia" and "the security of a free State," the ACLU has long taken the position that the Second Amendment protects a collective right rather than an individual right. For more information, please read our statement on the Second Amendment.
Why does the ACLU want to remove crosses from federal cemeteries?
This is a myth. The ACLU does NOT want to remove crosses from federal cemeteries. To the contrary, we have fought to expand the right of veterans and their families to decide for themselves which religious symbols, if any, mark the military graves of those who served and died for our country.
We do, however, oppose government action that embraces and promotes a single religious symbol as a national war memorial, suggesting that the sacrifices of some servicemembers are valued above all others. Unlike individual headstones for fallen American soldiers -- which appropriately reflect the varied, personal religious preferences of those brave men and women -- official sectarian war memorials claim to speak for all veterans, and dishonor our religiously diverse military by playing favorites with faith. To learn more visit http://www.aclu.org/religion-belief
Why does the ACLU object to federal employees bowing their heads?
The ACLU has no knowledge about the photograph of Marines praying that has circulated on the Internet. The ACLU has also never had a spokesperson -- quoted by news organizations as "Lucius Traveler" -- by this name.
What is the ACLU's position on campaign finance after the Supreme Court's Citizens United decision?
Please see our statement, "The ACLU and Citizens United," for information.
I was detained at the airport. What can I do?
Report your experience if you were a victim of a "no-fly" list. If you were a victim of racial profiling, please call our hotline at 1-877-634-5454.
Can my school dictate my appearance?
It depends on what state you live in. In some states, students can wear their hair any way they want as long as it's not a safety hazard (if your hair is very long, you have to tie it back during a science experiment). Courts in other states allow school hair codes -- and where hair codes are permitted, so are dress codes. For more information, please read our position paper on "Freedom of Expression." You can also check with your local ACLU affiliate about the laws in your state.
I'm concerned about my civil liberties. What can I do?
Join the ACLU. You can join the ACLU's Action Network to receive weekly alerts about legislative issues and to send free faxes to your members of Congress. Visit the ACLU's Action Center and take the steps listed on the Action Checklist. You can also volunteer to work with your local ACLU affiliate to address state and local issues.
Can my employer make me take a drug test?
Despite the fact that random drug testing is often unrelated to the tasks required to do the job, produces inaccurate results, and remains unproven as a means of stopping drug use, currently in some industries taking a drug test is as routine as filling out a job application. Because there are few laws protecting our privacy in the workplace, millions of American workers are tested each year — even though they aren't suspected of drug use. While workplace drug testing in certain safety-sensitive professions has been upheld by the Supreme Court, the ACLU Criminal Law Reform Project is working to halt the expansion of random testing programs. For more information, go to: www.aclu.org/criminal-law-reform/drug-testing
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Fri January 18, 2013
February Feature: Mardi Gras Month - Samba and the Sounds of Brazil
Throughout February, Global Village teams up with Night Train (Louis Armstrong) and Crossroads (New Orleans Blues and R&B) for a month-long Mardi Gras celebration. In the Global Village, we journey to one of the world's carnival hotspots - Brazil.
Samba has come to epitomize the music of Brazil and is intimately connected to carnival celebrations in that country. The music traces its roots back to African influences and has existed in some form in Brazil since the 1800s. The first samba record, "Pelo Telefone," was made in 1917 and since then, the style has evolved, incorporating other instruments and influences and, in turn, influencing a number of other styles in Brazil, including bossa nova, tropicalia and pagode. During carnival, the many colorful, and often enormous samba schools are the centerpiece of carnival parades, that in Rio alone bring over five million people into the streets to celebrate.
Throughout February, Global Village highlights the sound of samba, and the different offshoots of Brazilian music that have samba influences, from classic to new recordings, legendary performers to newly emerging stars.
For daily program updates, world music news, music videos, new releases information, playlists and more see the Global Village Facebook page:
Some of the sights and sounds of Rio's carnival
Caetano Veloso and Gilberto Gil with a live version of "Ever Since the Samba Was the Samba"
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Five days before Christmas, on the night Congress deadlocked on payroll tax rates and unemployment benefits affecting more than 160 million Americans, the first story on World News, the flagship evening broadcast of ABC News, was about a blizzard. “Wicked weather” had people in the east “bracing for a storm that could threaten holiday travel plans for millions.” The CBS Evening News began with two pieces on the Washington stalemate, including a blistering analysis by Bob Schieffer, the veteran chief Washington correspondent, who called the Congress “totally dysfunctional.” The legislators, he said, had put up a “neon sign” that reminded people why Congress had a nine percent favorable rating.
NBC Nightly News, as it so often does, took a middle-of-the-road approach, leading with a piece on the standoff in Congress, softened by the kind of introduction that anchor Brian Williams likes to use to make the news more accessible:
Tonight people are on the move and mall parking lots are full amid the stress of everyday life in the week running up to Christmas. The nation’s elected representatives are fighting and are again deadlocked…. And while it’s important legislation … it’s the business of Washington and it’s the fight that is coming through loud and clear, and the closer you get to the Capitol, the louder it becomes.
On the day late in February when Bashar al-Assad’s tanks and artillery killed more than 70 civilians in Homs—including Marie Colvin, the American-born correspondent—ABC World News began with a report that gas prices were “rising before our eyes” and “fed-up drivers are fighting back” and “venting their anger.” It was the second time in three days that World News began with the gas-price story, and the change in the average price per gallon between the first time and the second was two cents. ABC aired its Syrian story, narrated by correspondent Christiane Amanpour in the New York studio, more than 10 minutes into the broadcast, at the end of the first segment. The coverage ran under 3 minutes.
That evening, CBS Evening News began with nearly six minutes of coverage of what anchor Scott Pelley called “the massacre,” and what the US government called “shameless brutality.” NBC Nightly News, in the middle again, began with almost four minutes about what Williams called “bona fide atrocities,” and what his chief foreign correspondent (reporting from the region) described as “indiscriminate shelling” of civilians.
ABC’s choices on these two newscasts were driven less by traditional news values than by a desire to be different—to distinguish ABC from the competition. One participant in the decision to start with the winter weather story in December said, “We knew CBS would lead big with Congress, because it’s their kind of thing, and we were pretty sure NBC would. So we went for the snow pictures, and the possibility bad weather would spread across the country.” In fact, however, weather for holiday travel was nearly perfect across the country. That’s one of the problems with searching for a “different” lead—sometimes you wind up looking trivial or too far off the news. But at ABC News it has been a preoccupation of the anchor and producers to look for what they call the “insurgent lead.” Ben Sherwood introduced the term when he took over as President of ABC News at the beginning of 2011, and wanted his staff to understand the change he hoped to see.
“Insurgent is a word that means to rise up against the established order,” Sherwood says. “And so part of what I wanted to do was to rise up against the established order of choosing things—the established, traditional view—and say what is an alternative to the established order of picking things, so that we’re all not identical. Because if we’re all identical at 6:30, then the established order will prevail. And the established order is that Brian is in first, and we’re in second, and CBS is in third.”
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+0 votes Nate Smith › August 2, 2012
This is a rough course with ferns, logs and stumps in the fairways. There are not clear lanes to throw and the most open holes are down two tracks with the pin tucked in the woods. 5 holes have doglegs that are more than 90 degrees making aces impossible even on holes around 200 feet. The turbines are unique whirling overhead and the maps provided at the start of the course helps with navigation. The course made little impact on the forest and is labeled as a natural course, so wear shoes and sleeves.
+0 votes brad chartier › September 23, 2012
interesting course, challenging. Directional signs rather than survey tape on trees would be helpful
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Posted 30 July 2007 - 09:02 AM
Beaumont Hebert had a long history dating back to the late 1800's as one of the two segregated all-black high schools in Beaumont along with Charlton-Pollard. In the 1950's and 1960's Hebert had much success in football competing in the PVIL prior to merging into the UIL in 1967 and that success continued in the UIL as Hebert became the first all-black high school in UIL history to win a state title in football when they won the 3A championship in 1976. To this day, the '76 Hebert squad is the only team in Beaumont history to finish a season unbeaten and untied, and the only team out of Beaumont ever to win 15 games in a season. Due to a federal judge essentially forcing Hebert to desegregate, the school merged with predominately white Beaumont Forest Park in 1982 and became Beaumont West Brook. Over the 15 years that Hebert competed in the UIL it had a final overall winning percentage above 80% which is higher than any current program in the state maintains today. Hebert head coach Alex Durley, who had already lead Hebert to the 1976 3A State Title became head coach at West Brook and subsequently lead them to the 5A State Championship in 1982 making West Brook only the second school in UIL history to win a state title in it's first year of existence (Lubbock Estacado was the first in 1968).
(10 scores missing)
Edited by WOS87, 24 January 2008 - 11:31 PM.
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By Daniel Fineren
DUBAI (Reuters) - Russia will stop Georgia trying to reunite with two breakaway states even after a parliamentary election won by a coalition led by a politician seen as having warmer ties with Moscow, outgoing Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili said on Monday.
Russia, which has had no diplomatic relations with Georgia since the two fought a brief war over separatist South Ossetia in 2008, has reacted positively to the October 1 victory of Bidzina Ivanishvili's coalition.
Ivanishvili, who made much of his estimated $6.4 billion fortune in Russia, has said he wants to begin to repair relations with Moscow, but Saakashvili, whom the Kremlin has cast as a figure of hate, said he would face an uphill struggle.
"The basic things don't change and the basic thing is that Russia will fight with us over our territory," Saakashvili told reporters in Dubai on the sidelines of the World Energy Forum.
Russia, which dominated Georgia for centuries until the Soviet Union collapsed in 1991, has said it isn't prepared to discuss the status of the two breakaway regions - Abkhazia and South Ossetia - which it recognized as independent states after its war with Tbilisi four years ago.
"The first thing that they said is that they are not going to change it, no matter who is in government in Georgia, so that already puts the new government in an incredibly difficult situation," said Saakashvili.
"It doesn't depend on personalities, who is in charge of Georgia, it's really a matter of principle of what Russian policy is and Russian policy is to encroach upon the independence and territorial integrity of its neighbors."
Russia rejects accusations of territorial meddling, saying it intervened in South Ossetia in 2008 to protect its own citizens who live there from what it said was an attempt by Saakashvili to storm it by force.
Saakashvili said during the election campaign that he thought Ivanishvili, 56, would favor Russia over the West. Ivanishvili has denied that but has said he is better placed to build bridges with Moscow.
However, he has also promised to continue Georgia's long drive for deeper integration with NATO and the West, a move that would be likely to upset Russia.
Saakashvili, who has styled himself as a major U.S. ally, said he plans to work with Ivanishvili to ensure a smooth transition of power and hopes to take Georgia a step closer to NATO membership before he leaves office next year.
"The last condition of NATO was that the elections should be free and fair," said Saakashvili. "As they were, they have been treated as fair by everybody, so now Georgia should get a reward for that."
(Reporting by Daniel Fineren; Editing by Andrew Osborn)
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Hyundai's hydrogen cars gain popularity in Europe
By Kim Yon-se, The Korea Herald/Asia News NetworkSEOUL -- Hyundai Motor's futuristic technology in the hydrogen fuel cell vehicle sector has highly been acknowledged in more and more European countries.
September 12, 2012, 11:58 am TWN
Following its recent advancement into Scandinavian countries, Hyundai Motor has been picked as a business partner for German environmental organizations' hydrogen automobile project.
As the initial supply for the project, the Korean carmaker is poised to provide the country with dozens of the hydrogen fuel cell Tucson ix, a sport utility vehicle, in the coming months.
“It is an epoch-making point that Hyundai and Kia obtained the opportunity to introduce its technology for hydrogen and fuel cell batteries in Germany — the center of the European auto industry,” a Hyundai executive said.
The Tucson ix may be the world's most commercially viable hydrogen fuel cell vehicle. Its price is likely to range between 90 million won (US$80,000) and 100 million won, half the price of Mercedes-Benz's hydrogen-powered car.
A year and a half ago, Hyundai and its affiliate Kia Motors also signed a deal with the German government to take part in the country's government-led Clean Energy Partnership.
Hyundai Motor Group is expanding its business collaboration with European countries to boost the carmaker's supply of environmentally friendly vehicles.
Following a pact between Hyundai and the governments of four countries — Sweden, Norway, Denmark and Iceland — in early 2011, the automaker signed a memorandum of understanding with a Norwegian firm on green car supply in Seoul in May 2012.
Under the MOU, Hyundai and Norway-based large-scale battery-recharging operator Hydrogen Operation, or HYOP, agreed to coordinate the supply of hydrogen fuel cell vehicles across Norway.
“That was the first time that we signed a pact on green cars with a private enterprise in Scandinavia,” a Hyundai spokesman said.
He said the company is also seeking to sign such MOUs with firms in three other Scandinavian nations.
During the MOU signing event in central Seoul, HYOP CEO Ulf Hafseld predicted that the bilateral collaboration will pave the way for Norway to become a leading logistics base in the eco-friendly vehicle sector.
He stressed that Norway holds the world's top-level infrastructure in the hydrogen fuel cell-recharging sector.
In May 2011, Hyundai test-drove its fuel cell vehicles in cities such as Stockholm and Oslo.
In Denmark, the Tucson ix crossed from east to west — about 340 kilometres — on one charge in cooperation with local hydrogen station operator H2 Logic. Prior to the test drive, Hyundai signed a partnership with H2 Logic and FCV distributor Hydrogen Link.
In March, Hyundai and Kia were named two of the world's most fuel-efficient and environmentally friendly carmakers by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, outperforming rivals such as Toyota Motor.
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With Secretary Vilsack doing so much this month, I want to make sure everyone gets a chance to check out his great remarks last week on the future of our nation’s forests, and share people’s reaction.
On Friday, between our Rural Tour stop in Western Alaska and a brief return to DC, we made the flight down to Seattle, Washington for the Secretary Vilsack to address the future of our forests in Seward Park.
The event was held in the city park, just in front of a magnificent lake, with about 100 people in attendance – Forest Service employees, Seattle residents, even a group of local kids from an Audubon Society youth program.
After Congressman Norm Dix kicked off the event with remarks on the vitality of Washington agriculture, Secretary Vilsack made clear that our nation’s forests are in critical need of restoration and renewed conservation efforts.
He outlined the important role of the forests in maintaining a safe water supply and called on all Americans to take a stake in the future of our nation’s forestlands.
The reaction was very positive among environmental groups, and the media reported on widespread agreement with the Secretary’s long-term vision.
It’s worth noting, too, that just this afternoon Vilsack announced another $94 million in American Recovery and Reinvestment Act funds to go toward restoring national forests.
If you’d like to read the remarks, you can view them here; you can also check out news clips:
L.A. Times: Vilsack’s forest agenda welcomed by conservationists, loggers
“Reporting from Seattle – Restoration and conservation are the goals that will guide management of the U.S. forest system under the Obama administration, Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack said Friday.”
Associated Press: Vilsack calls for renewed emphasis on forests
“U.S. Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack on Friday outlined a vision for managing the nation’s forests that placed a high priority on restoration to protect water resources and combat climate change.
‘Conserving our forests is not a luxury,’ but a necessity, the former Iowa governor said at Seward Park in Seattle in his first major address on the Forest Service.”
USDA Press Secretary
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The original draft of the proposed legislation was so broad that it encompassed all ratings and other research companies. 12 After hearings were conducted, a modified bill passed the Senate, but it was defeated in Assembly committee in July 1984. This legislative act would have made it unlawful (1) to use a survey in preemployment screening of entertainers "unless the surveys provide a bona fide sample of the employee pool and audience characteristics." Entertainers would have the right to "be included in any survey used for preemployment screening or hiring upon his or her written request." 13
As a result, TVQ accelerated action to revise its sample to reflect more accurately the ethnic segments of our population. 14 Note that this is the first instance of threatened governmental intervention with respect to a syndicated qualitative measurement. If such services gain wider use and influence in program decisions, it is not unlikely that governmental agencies or industry groups such as EMRC will become involved in the area in the future.
It seems clear enough that no one--government, industry, producers, artists, or the public--really sees any merit in government involvement in the syndicated ratings field. The potential for intervention seems enough to assure continued and effective industry discipline.
Questia, a part of Gale, Cengage Learning. www.questia.com
Publication information: Book title: Audience Ratings:Radio, Television, and Cable. Edition: Revised. Contributors: Hugh Malcolm Beville Jr. - Author. Publisher: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates. Place of publication: Hillsdale, NJ. Publication year: 1988. Page number: 256.
This material is protected by copyright and, with the exception of fair use, may not be further copied, distributed or transmitted in any form or by any means.
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Iran Bomb Report Shows Need for Sanctions With More Teeth: View
While the report, based on the IAEA’s inspections and information from intelligence agencies of more than 10 nations, stopped short of saying that Iran had a functioning nuclear- weapons program, it made clear that the Tehran regime was up to no good -- working to adapt a Pakistani nuclear weapon design to fit its medium-range missiles, seeking to secure uranium for a secret enrichment program, using information gleaned from a Russian scientist to calibrate the explosive force of a bomb’s uranium core, trying to build detonators suitable for nuclear weapons and so on.
Given that IAEA Director General Yukiya Amano has said repeatedly that Iran hampered his inspectors, one suspects it is up to plenty more as well.
In any case, the report, combined with the alleged Iranian plot to kill the Saudi ambassador in Washington and Iran’s continued sponsorship of terrorism, demands a reaction from the U.S. and its allies.
There are three main retaliatory paths to choose among. The first is forging a deal that would allow Iran a uranium- enrichment program for peaceful energy purposes monitored by outside parties. Tehran’s record of serial duplicity does not inspire confidence in this approach, and we urge the U.S. and Europe to abandon it.
A second, terrifying option is a strike by the U.S. or Israel on Iran’s suspected nuclear and weapons sites. Although this is militarily feasible and could buy the world time, the obvious potential downsides (the Middle East engulfed in war) vastly outweigh the potential gains, at least for now.
The third path is by far the least bad: to apply enough economic pressure on the mullahs that they are forced to rethink the wisdom not only of a nuclear weapons program, but also of their foreign adventurism and terrorist support.
A call for sanctions is inevitably met with skepticism. And it’s true that Iran’s history of evading measures, the unwillingness of countries such as China and Russia to honor them, and the lure of Iran’s oil, make it impossible to shut the country out of the global economy. But the beauty of sanctions is that a total blockade isn’t necessary.
Rather, the goal is to make economic dealings with Iran such a hassle for the rest of the world that Tehran, faced with a sinking economy and unhappy populace, changes its political calculus.
The U.S. and its allies have made significant strides on this front, pushing through the United Nations four rounds sanctions since 2006 targeting individuals and corporations linked to nuclear efforts. Unilateral measures banning most financial transactions have successfully “increased the cost of doing business, limited foreign direct investment and technology transfer, and have affected international trade and financial transactions,” according to a report in August from the International Monetary Fund.
The measures have hit Iran hard: The IMF expects the inflation rate to reach 22.5 percent this year; the economy is growing at only about 1 percent a year; and, though it’s not always wise to take statements from Iranian leaders at face value, President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad complained to his parliament this month that “our banks cannot make international transactions anymore.”
What more can be done to turn the screws? Russia has said it will veto any serious U.N. measures, but unilateral steps to consider include closing a loophole in current sanctions that allows European refiners to use Iranian crude oil in gasoline exported to the U.S., expanding sanctions to Iranian commercial banks and more individuals, penalizing foreign subsidiaries of U.S. companies doing business with Iran, cracking down on shipping and other front companies registered in third-party nations but controlled by Iran, sanctioning Iran’s imports of refined gasoline, and requiring nations exporting petroleum products to the U.S. -- the plastic in Chinese consumer electronics, for example -- to prove that no Iranian oil was used in their manufacture.
In addition, diplomatic pressure could be applied on allies such as the Persian Gulf states, Japan, South Korea and Turkey to enforce some existing U.S. sanctions and to limit their business with Iran’s energy sector.
A more controversial option would be sanctions directed against the Iranian central bank, known as Bank Markazi. This would make it much more difficult for Iran to sell its crude oil and could destabilize its currency. More than 90 U.S. senators signed a letter pressuring President Barack Obama to take this step in August. It would be an extreme measure: With Iran producing about 3.6 million barrels of oil per day, and only about 2.8 million barrels per day of spare production capacity available from OPEC nations, it would risk driving energy prices significantly higher. It could also inflict severe punishment on Iran’s people.
Although the reticence of China and Russia to put pressure on Iran is unfortunate, it is important that the U.S. and European Union not turn this into a diplomatic war -- the long- term idea should be to convince Beijing and Moscow that curbing Iran’s nuclear ambitions is in their self interest. After all, it took European nations years to realize the threat that Iran posed to them and to become, finally, willing partners in the sanctions regime.
To contact the Bloomberg View editorial board: [email protected].
Bloomberg moderates all comments. Comments that are abusive or off-topic will not be posted to the site. Excessively long comments may be moderated as well. Bloomberg cannot facilitate requests to remove comments or explain individual moderation decisions.
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Tooth and Gums Spritz - All Natural Mouth Spray
Instead of reaching for chewing gum that can further compromise the health of your mouth, use a professional strength breath spray instead. Tooth and Gums Spritz is an all-natural product that is designed to leave your breath fresh for hours. So, whether you are a student in school, a business person in an extended meeting or someone on a date, who just ate a ton of garlic, this is a product you will appreciate because it is effective and convenient to use.
Benefits of Tooth and Gums Spritz
- Alcohol-free – Do you know that alcohol in dental products has been linked to oral cancer? Most people don’t. It is in so many products that consumers simply assume that it is safe, but it’s not. Tooth and Gums Spritz is alcohol-free, so you don’t have to worry about these concerns.
- No Chemicals – Chances are good that if you look at the list of ingredients on the product that you currently use, you won’t know what half of them are. Artificial flavors, preservatives and other unnecessary ingredients can be harmful to your health.
- All Natural Ingredients – Tooth and Gums Spritz is formulated with organically grown herbs and pure essential oils. These are ingredients that are beneficial and good for you, so you can have peace-of-mind using it.
- Long-lasting – Most commercial breath sprays need to be used consistently throughout the day. Some people even use mints or gum along with their breath spray because the effect wears off. Tooth and Gums Spritz lasts for hours.
- Convenient – Now it is more convenient than ever to have fresh breath. A couple quick pumps and you continue with your day.
- Great Value – This product may be a convenient size to keep in your briefcase or gym bag, but it packs a powerful punch and lasts a long time. One dispense can last two months when you use five to six sprays per day.
What is Tooth and Gums Spritz?
It is easy to say that Tooth and Gums Spritz is a breath spray, but really it is so much more. This is a product that actually works! It is specially formulated with natural herbs and pure essential oils to actually clean your mouth, not just cover up the odor like mouth perfume. It can be sprayed a few times throughout the day, and lasts several hours at a time.
How Does Tooth and Gums Spritz Work?
Like any other similar mouth spray, you pump the product in your mouth, but Tooth and Gums Spritz does not just mask your breath, it actually cleans it. Commercial products do not work for long because they merely put a bandage on the problem. Since this product is made with quality herbs and oils, the ingredients actually work to destroy the bacteria in your mouth.
You may also be interested to learn that bacteria in your mouth is constantly multiplying. So, whether you just ate dinner, had a few cocktails or indulged in a sugary snack from the vending machine, you are contributing to bacterial growth and promoting bad breath. Using this spritz not only gives you good breath, it helps to maintain the health of your mouth between brushings.
Why Choose Tooth and Gums Spritz?
Tooth and Gums Spritz gives you a convenient, easy and safe way to keep your mouth clean between brushings. Reaching for mints and chewing gum masks the problem, and in some cases even escalates it. Commercial sprays act as a perfume, and most have alcohol, which can contribute to oral cancer. Tooth and Gums Spritz is perfect for the person on the move. You can keep a container in your purse, gym bag, school locker or desk drawer, and use it as needed.
Who Would Benefit from Tooth and Gums Spritz?
- Periodontal Patients – If you have any type of dental concerns then you know how important it is to keep your mouth clean between brushings. You may also suffer from bad breath due to excessive bacteria. Tooth and Gums Spritz will help keep your mouth clean and your breath fresh by controlling the growth of bacterial populations.
- Social Drinkers – It does not matter if you enjoy a few beers after work every day, or if you sip martinis on the weekends with friends, the sugar from alcohol can wreak havoc on the health of your mouth. It accumulates, feeds bacteria and gives your bad breath. A couple pumps of this product will clean your mouth right up.
- Smokers – No one has to tell you that enjoying a cigarette will leave you with bad breath. If you are like most smokers, you probably have a supply of gum or mints on you at all times. Again, all this does it cover up the problem. Opt for Tooth and Gums Spritz instead.
- Garlic Lovers – Although garlic is commonly to blame for bad breath; meat, dairy and an array of seasonings can play their roles as well. A spray of this spritz after a meal will leave you clean and fresh. No one needs to know what you ate on your lunch hour as soon as you open our mouth at the water cooler.
- Anyone Over 6 Years Old – Whether you are an outdoor enthusiast who loves hiking and camping, or if you are just someone who is constantly on the move from morning to night, you will appreciate how convenient and effective this product is.
Directions for Use
Tooth and Gums Spritz offers an incredibly easy way to keep your mouth clean and your breath fresh.
- Shake well before use.
- Pump one or two sprays into your mouth.
This product can be used one to three times daily, or as directed by your dental professional. It will freshen your breath instantly. Take caution to not spray into the eyes.
Ingredients for Tooth and Gums Spritz
Deionized Water, Vegetable Glycerine, Extracts of Echinacea Angustofolia, Echinacea Purpurea, Gotu Kola, Pure Essential Oils of Peppermint, Red Thyme, Cinnamon Bark, Eucalyptus Globulus and Lavendar, Plant Saponins.
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| 0.949624 | 1,290 | 1.53125 | 2 |
Wherever you want to go—public transportation takes you there. And Passenger Transport (along with its alternate weekly publication, Passenger Transport EXPRESS, an e-newsletter featuring breaking news, Congressional updates, and pertinent media coverage) makes sure that you arrive with the latest, most up-to-date news of the industry.
From legislative breaking news to national policy to system openings to conference previews and coverage, APTA’s publications provide information you don’t want to be without.
Passenger Transport carries more in-depth articles and analysis than ever before, along with timely updates to help you do your job better. With its several themed issues (such as Technology; Legislative, Bus, and Rail conferences; and Safety and Security), this publication also provides opportunities for you to submit stories on what your agency or business is doing, providing “lessons learned,” case studies, best practices, and industry innovation.
Now in its 69th year of reporting on the public transportation industry, Passenger Transport is the publication that public transportation executives, policy makers, elected officials, department heads, managers, and employees have come to depend on.
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- What is Business Aviation?
- Flight Department Administration
- Aircraft Operations
- Professional Development
- News & Publications
- Products & Services
House Voices Add to Concern Over 'Fuel Fraud' Law
April 30, 2012
In an April 25 letter to Representative Dave Camp (R-4-MI), chairman of the House Committee on Ways & Means, a bipartisan group of members from the U.S. House of Representatives called for the repeal of a seven-year-old law that increases costs for Jet-A users, while preventing a significant amount of fuel tax revenue from being used to support aviation programs.
The so-called "fuel fraud" provision went into effect in October 2005 to ostensibly combat the possibility that commercial truck operators could purchase Jet-A for use in their vehicles in order to avoid paying higher taxes on diesel. Aviation groups and the lawmakers who signed the letter maintain that the law is a "solution in search of a problem," since there is no documented evidence that truckers have ever done this on a large scale.
"This provision is harming our national airspace system by depriving it of funds needed to enhance safety and efficiency," reads the April 25 letter, which was signed by 32 House representatives. "...We respectfully request the inclusion of a provision in the next highway reauthorization legislation that would repeal the fuel fraud provision."
Since enactment of the policy, taxes on both Jet-A and highway diesel fuel have been collected at a rate of 24.4 cents-per-gallon (CPG), although the tax on jet fuel has legally remained 21.9 CPG. In order for that revenue to be properly routed to aviation needs - and for vendors to be reimbursed for the 2.5 CPG difference - aviation fuel providers are required to jump through a series of arduous bureaucratic hoops, including registering with the Internal Revenue Service and submitting detailed records of each fuel purchase.
"The administrative hassle associated with this process has resulted in many fuel vendors opting to pass the additional tax on to the end user, and forego the process of applying for a refund," the letter notes. "When these fuel vendors forgo the refund process, due to its administrative burden, the Airport and Airway Trust Fund receives no revenue from the taxes collected on the sale of aviation jet fuel because non-commercial end users are not permitted to apply for the refund themselves."
NBAA has joined with the National Air Transportation Association and several other aviation groups in calling for a repeal of the "fuel fraud" policy.
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Now that ARM support in the OBS is getting more mature, here a report on the Status of PowerPC and MIPS builds using QEMU. They are implemented similiar to the ARM solution, and use QEMU Usermode (to allow speedup with x86 based cross compilers like we do for ARM).
First of all, PowerPC native builds do work since a long time (3+ years). At the beginning, only XEN virtualization was available for OBS, and XEN did not work on PowerPC hardware. Recently, KVM autosetup was added to OBS with release 1.8. KVM also works on PowerPC machines, so there are now fully functional PowerPC native builds with virtual machine support available.
QEMU Usermode builds for PowerPC are working on 32bit targets. They had been tested on all linux distribution targets using 32bit PowerPC mode (all Debian or Ubuntu PowerPC have working builds). Due to the lack of some functions in QEMU, these builds do not work with QEMU inside a KVM virtual machine (the build results cannot be extracted due to a missing ioctl emulation on PowerPC). Since currently Fedora as well as openSUSE have dropped PowerPC support in their distros, this leaves only 32bit targets on Debian based packaging to be supported. Anyway, should someone need 64bit support, he can use a native machine to work with that.
QEMU Usermode builds for MIPS had also made the first beep inside OBS. They support currently Debian 4.0 mips and mipsel 32bit builds, and Debian 5.0 mips builds (mipsel currently fails on QEMU). It seems there is no RPM based distro available anywhere, so I had no chance to test this case. 64bit MIPS Usermode seems to be broken in QEMU, so it would need fixing. Also, QEMU Usermode hangs for MIPS builds when running in a KVM virtual machine.
A QEMU used for both the above cases is available now for quite a while in the OBS project openSUSE:Tools:MeeGo. The qemu package there is named qemu-deploy. The other small changes in osc, build and obs-server code needed are already in git master and will roll out with OBS 2.1.
In case you would like to help me enhance the support for PowerPC or MIPS and close missing parts (get MIPSEL working, fix KVM builds), feel free to contact me.
Both comments and pings are currently closed.
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Facebook Development and Performance with Rails
Location: Portland Ballroom 255
We’ll look at the lifecycle of Facebook application, from creating a new application all the way through some advanced scaling techniques. These are all real world techniques used in several real world applications. Combined, they support more than 5 million daily users and 10 million requests a day.
We’ll look at the basics of Facebook development including how the API and platform work and how to set up an application with Facebooker. From there, we’ll take a tour of the Facebook API and FBML.
Finally, we’ll look at how to improve performance using memcached, Facebook REFs, page caching and asynchronous queueing.
People planning to attend this session also want to see:
Since obtaining his BS in Computer and Information Science from The Ohio State University, Mike has held a variety of positions in both large and small companies. Most Recently, Mike was a Vice President at JPMorganChase, responsible for software architecture and development for the Global Storage division.
After living through the .com highs and lows, Mike decided it was time to better understand the world of the startup. In 2004, he earned his MBA through the part time program at the Fisher College of Business where was was recognized by the faculty for academic excellence. More recently, he has been a featured speaker at The Rails Edge and Ruby East.
When not running Elevated Rails, Mike can often be found running along the Chicago lakefront. He completed the 2006 and 2007 Chicago marathons and hopes to improve his time in 2008. Mike lives in Chicago with his wife Jen and their two dogs. Together they enjoy cooking and Ohio State athletics.
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Page:Southern Historical Society Papers volume 33.djvu/115
Personal Experiences of Malvern Hill. Ill
MY PERSONAL EXPERIENCES IN TAKING UP ARMS AND IN THE BATTLE OF MAL- VERN HILL.
GETTYSBURG PICKETT'S CHARGE.
Addresses by James F. Crocker, Before Stonewall Camp
Confederate Veterans, Portsmouth, Va., February
6, 1889, and November 7, 1894,
[The following articles from the unmistakable sincerity of the author, as from his heart the fount directive of his being, and in logical rights not to be defined in sophistry expresses purely the animus of the Confederate soldier. It is no less a duty than a pleasure to embody them in this serial.
The Address, "Gettysburg Pickett's Charge," about which so much has been published, in rival claims as to precedence in merit in the charge, and as to faults conspiring to thwart the plans of a consummate soldier and peerless leader, that farther dissension should be deprecated.
It has never been my privilege to meet Judge Crocker, but his brother, by the second marriage of his mother, Hon. Richard S. Thomas, of Smithfield, I have had cause to rejoice in the friendship of for years. They come of worthy life-springs in an ancestry dating to the settlement of "Ould Virginia."
James Francis Crocker, the second son ot James and Frances Hill (Woodtey) Crocker, was born January 5th, 1828; was graduated from Pennsylvania College, at Gettysburg, in the class of 1850, and was its Valedictorian; for a time was a teacher, latterly as Professor of Mathematics at Madison College, Penn. ; studied law, and was admitted to the bar in 1854.
Was elected to the House of Delegates from Isle of Wight county and served the session 1855-6; became a member of the law firm of Godwin & Crocker, Portsmouth, Va., in 1856, and continued in successful practice, until it was dissolved by the election of the partners respectively to be Judges of the Corporation Courts of the cities of Norfolk, and of Portsmouth, Va.
Judge Crocker resigned in 1906.
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| 0.972078 | 475 | 1.796875 | 2 |
The Sports Book
There’s something magical about watching our little Mini-Me’s learn to play sports and it’s exciting to watch them win, but it's not always winning that is most important. Sports are incredible for your child’s development: health, social skills, teamwork, respect, dedication, and learning to set goals to name a few.
In this personalized story, your child’s team loses a big game. The coach’s leadership after the loss, combined with the star’s inner realizations on why the coach is right, offers a unique narrative on good sportsmanship.
The players learn that good sportsmanship means having good team spirit, playing by the rules of the game and being gracious in victory or defeat. They also learn that although it’s difficult to lose, as long as they keep trying and do their best, they cannot be defeated!
This is a priceless message for the whole team.
Ask about our team discounts!
- For ages 5-13
- This is a quality hard-cover personalized children's book.
- Washable hard covers
- Fully illustrated color pages
- 36 pages
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Cline has basically adopted the ADL's disingenuous argument that it's "deception" to assert that accepting Jesus as the Messiah is compatible with Jewish theology. But how does Cline know what the "real" Judaism is? Did God tell him? If so, did God also say which of the varied beliefs of the Reform, Conservative or Orthodox Jews are compatible with Jewish theology? They can't all be right about God's law.
There's no inherent logical conflict in a Jew accepting Christ as Messiah, and certainly no contradiction nearly as serious as those involved the concept of God generally. Jesus was a Jew, and presumably the ultimate Jew for Himself.
There is hardly an aspect of contemporary history more irritating and mystifying than the fact that of all the great unsolved political questions of our century, it should have been this seemingly small and unimportant Jewish problem that had the dubious honor of setting the whole infernal machine [the Nazi movement and World War II] in motion. Such discrepancies between cause and effect outrage our common sense....
... According to Tocqueville, the French people hated aristocrats about to lose their power more than it had ever hated them before, precisely because their rapid loss of real power was not accompanied by any considerable decline in their fortunes. As long as the aristocracy held vast powers of jurisdiction, they were not only tolerated but respected. When noblemen lost their privileges, among others the privilege to exploit and oppress, the people felt them to be parasites, without any real function in the rule of the country. In other words, neither oppression nor exploitation as such is ever the main cause for resentment; wealth without visible function is much more intolerable because nobody can understand why it should be tolerated.
Antisemitism reached its climax when Jews had similarly lost their public functions and their influence, and were left with nothing but their wealth. When Hitler came to power, the German banks were already almost judenrein (and it was here that Jews had held key positions for more than a hundred years) and German Jewry as a whole, after a long steady growth in social status and numbers, was declining so rapidly that statisticians predicted its disappearance in a few decades. ... to a statistician Nazi persecution and extermination could look like a senseless acceleration of a process which would probably have come about in any case.
The same holds true for nearly all Western European countries. The Dreyfus Affair exploded not under the Second Empire, when French Jewry was at the height of its prosperity and influence, but under the Third Republic when Jews had all but vanished from important positions....
Kristol has acknowledged his intellectual debt to Strauss in a recent autobiographical essay. "What made him so controversial within the academic community was his disbelief in the Enlightenment dogma that `the truth will make men free.'" Kristol adds that "Strauss was an intellectual aristocrat who thought that the truth could make some [emphasis Kristol's] minds free, but he was convinced that there was an inherent conflict between philosophic truth and political order, and that the popularization and vulgarization of these truths might import unease, turmoil and the release of popular passions hitherto held in check by tradition and religion with utterly unpredictable, but mostly negative, consequences."
Kristol agrees with this view. "There are different kinds of truths for different kinds of people," he says in an interview. "There are truths appropriate for children; truths that are appropriate for students; truths that are appropriate for educated adults; and truths that are appropriate for highly educated adults, and the notion that there should be one set of truths available to everyone is a modern democratic fallacy. It doesn't work."
Buy a Shirt
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Most Active Stories
Sat April 28, 2012
Civil Liberties Groups See Holes In Cyber Defense Bill
Originally published on Sat April 28, 2012 5:07 pm
GUY RAZ, HOST:
Here in Washington, the House of Representatives passed its version of the Cyber Intelligence Sharing And Protection Act or CISPA, as it's known. Backers say the bill is meant to protect the country's Internet infrastructure from cyberattacks. But civil libertarians and other opponents believes CISPA will give the U.S. government unprecedented access to all sorts of private information about you that is now online without ever having to go to a judge and ask for it. NPR's Steve Henn reports.
STEVE HENN, BYLINE: The outrage over the Cyber Intelligence Sharing Protection Act or CISPA has been building all week. The ACLU has called it a horrible bill. The White House has threatened to veto it. But broadly speaking, tech companies here in Silicon Valley are pretty fond of this thing.
DEAN GARFIELD: Businesses like it because it makes the Internet a much more secure and safe place.
HENN: Dean Garfield is president and CEO of the Information Technology Industry Council. His group represents giants like Microsoft and Apple. And he likes this bill because it protects his members from getting sued if they share information while trying to stop a cyberattack.
GARFIELD: It's helpful because one of the barriers to the free exchange of information was concerned about litigation.
HENN: Garfield says right now, when a company detects a possible attack, it has to sift through the data involved and decide just what information it can legally share with the federal government or other companies to help stop the attack. This bill basically gives companies a free pass: It would trump all other privacy laws and allow firms like Internet service providers or Apple, Google and Facebook to share any cybersecurity information with anyone they want, including the federal government, even the NSA, quote, "notwithstanding any other provision of law."
LEE TIEN: So those are very, very powerful provisions that destroy accountability.
HENN: Lee Tien is a senior staff attorney at the Electronic Frontier Foundation.
TIEN: It grants very broad authorities for private entities to share information and - not only that - to conduct surveillance and do all sorts of undefined cybersecurity things with blanket immunity.
HENN: But the bill's supporters like Dean Garfield say it's not going to create a giant funnel that ships data about you and your friends and mass to domestic spying agencies. Companies, he says, not the government, will decide for themselves what information to share. And that information is supposed to be related to possible cyberattacks, or at least a threat.
GARFIELD: The bill sunsets in five years. And then, two, the bill calls for the inspector general to actually do an annual report that will outline if this new law is creating new encroachments on privacy or civil liberties.
HENN: But not everyone's convinced this bill actually makes us or our information online any safer. Scott Shackelford's an assistant professor at Indiana University.
SCOTT SHACKELFORD: And do you think there needs to be more than just a kind of old voluntary scheme here?
HENN: Shackelford says this bill protects businesses from lawsuits. But it doesn't actually create any minimum standard about what companies have to do to protect critical infrastructure or private information. He says that's what's really needed.
SHACKELFORD: Yes. There has to be some role here that the government had - needs to play in enhancing cybersecurity.
HENN: The debate over the bill now moves to the Senate where both sides expected to be taken up next month. Steve Henn, NPR News, Silicon Valley. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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| 0.940765 | 785 | 1.835938 | 2 |
What Mohammed never did realize was that love conquers all. He died a miserable creature overcome with the demons. He spent the last half of his life killing large numbers of innocent humans. He raped women and molested young girls, some pre-teen. He stole. He cut off heads. He challenged his disciples to bring back the heads in their hands as booty trophies.
For 1400 years Muslims have adored Mohammed and his imaginary deity, Allah. Mohammed claimed that an angel miraculous gave him the Koran. The truth is that Mohammed scribed the demonic treatise under the tutelage of the damned.
When Adam and Eve disobeyed Creator God of the Bible, the planet fell desperately in a spiritually damaged state. Nature fell. Supernature fell. That accounts for hurricanes, earthquakes, floods and fires. That accounts for pedophiles, killers, stealers, fiendish dictators and more.
Sometimes the Earth seems inhabited by an asylum filled with crazies. Logic flies out the window. Civility flies out the window. Beauty is prostituted. Faith is destroyed. Trust is betrayed. Community is shattered. According to the divine revelation called Holy Scripture, God Himself weeps over His creation. In the time of Noah God said that he was sorry that He had ever begun the project.
God, all powerful and all knowing, when creating Adam and Eve pulled back His all power and all knowing in roder to allow for the margin of free will. That was the risk of the ages. In that risk have come saints. In that risk have stalked savages.. Nevertheless in order for mortal to be more than a wind up toy or mechianal walk-about, God took the risk of free will's power.
Therefore, when Mohammed concluded himself to be a prophet, that was his free will deciding upon a power clutch to torture and maim, murder and degrade. His disciples have followed that hellish trek ever since. The more vile they are, the more righteous they are proclaimed to be.
There in Islam to kill for Allah is worship. The same to maim and taunt, behead and stab. It is all piety in action. That is why Muslims scream at the top of their lungs, "God is Great!" when sentenced to death because of breaking the laws of a civil nation. Those Muslims believe with that from the infidels they have reached a pinnacle of acceptance with Allah in the name of prophet Mohammed. Therefore, it is impossible to assimilate these Muslims in a free nation or tolerate them in a civil culture.
The more one reads the Koran, the more realizes that Islam is built solely on hate. Hate is of the devil, not the God of the Bible. The God of the Bible appeared in the person, Jesus Christ. And what did Jesus live out in his stay here on Earth? It was love.
He said that the greatest commandment was to love the Lord God with all that is within a person. And the second to that is to love one's neighbor as one's self. Nowhere can that be found in the Koran or the Islamic ethic.
Because Islam is lodged in hate, it is bound to fail. Many will suffer before it does fail; but it will finally fail.
Atheistic Communism was structured on hate. After threatening the planet with destruction, atheistic Communism imploded on itself. No national militia did in atheistic Communism. Atheistic Communism pushed itself over God's patience line, then imploded.
Hitler's debauched Nazism was built on hate. It is no more, except for a few deranged hate-filled creatures who still think they have hold of the final philosophy when championing Hitler's creed.
As with atheistic Communism and Nazism, so with Islam. It will fall. Hate cannot last forever except in the corridors of the lake of fire and brimstone.
J. Grant Swank Jr.
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| 0.963857 | 799 | 1.617188 | 2 |
The child and dependent care credit is a percentage, based on your adjusted gross income (AGI), of the amount of work-related child-care expenses you paid during the year. In general, the higher your child-care expenses and the lower your income, the larger your tax credit. You may take the child and dependent care credit even if you do not itemize your deductions.
There is a dollar limit on the expenses toward which you can apply the credit. For 2012, maximum qualifying expenses for the child and dependent care credit is $3,000 for taxpayers with one qualifying individual and $6,000 for taxpayers with two or more qualifying individuals. The percentage of the expenses you can take ranges from a low of 20 percent to a high of 35 percent of expenses paid during the year, depending on your AGI.
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| 0.960458 | 167 | 1.523438 | 2 |
What I was trying to say, is that the image in the tutorial does not match the servo numbers I was seeing in the config file. In particular the image:
I am reading it that the servos for the Right Rear leg would be on SSC-32 pins 0, 1, 2 but the code has them on 24-26. Looking at the config file again, the comments are all wrong in here as well. That is:
cRRCoxaPin con P24 ;Front Left leg Hip Horizontal
cRRFemurPin con P25 ;Front Left leg Hip Vertical
cRRTibiaPin con P26 ;Front Left leg Knee
Note: the RR as the constant names. This stands for Right Rear. You will see LR for left Rear, LM for Left Middle... So it looks like someone needs to make a pass and clean this up.
Anyway, when I run into problems like this I often write a quick and dirty program to do things like wiggle each servo to verify that they work and that they are on the pins that I expect...
I uploaded one here that moves all servo to their center location (1500), asks you to enter a servo number and then moves it back and forth. This is usually helpful to for example look at the diagram I mentioned above and enter a servo and see what happens...
Again try changing the section I mentioned to what I included in the previous post and see if things work a little better!
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All newer toilets use 1.6 gallons or less by law.
If you hold the handle down longer, it will drop more than that.
No adjustment is needed.
Hello, I recently installed a new Toto Drake and it's been working fine. My question is when I push and release the flush lever I get a partial flush (about 1/2 the tank empties). Push and hold fully empties the tank. Is this the design of the toilet (liquid vs solid) or have I got the flush lever adjusted? Thanks...
I like to think of that as a feature, not a problem. For liquid waste only, a quick push-and-release uses under a gallon on my Drake, but for heavier loads, the push-and-hold release will use more water, but provide a more complete clearing of the bowl. There are "dual-flush" toilets out there that charge for this free Drake feature.
Let's be clear here...the Drake is designed to dump about 1.6g on a flush. To do this, you need to push the flush lever down fully, but not hold it. If you don't push it down fully, it won't stay up on its own to allow the normal flush volume. This is true with many toilets. A quick flick won't allow it to do its thing as designed. Holding it down until the tank empties defeats the purpose of the low-flow toilets, and for nearly 100% of the time, is a waste of water...the Drake, and most of the better toilets DO NOT NEED more than the design water volume. So, if you 'flick' some but hold it down to empty the tank on others, you'll likely end up using more water than if you did it as designed for each flush.
Let's stop calling this a 'feature', since it isn't and can lead to waste, which we are trying to avoid. It isn't unique to this line of toilets, either; my old 3.5g job (non-Toto) would do the same thing.
Important note - I'm not a pro
Retired Defense Industry Engineer
Well, that may be how it's designed, but it's not how mine works. I guess there are 3 modes: push to the stop and immediately release uses about .9 gallons and cleans the bowl; push to the stop, hold for an indeterminate but very short time, uses about 1.6; push and hold until you're happy with what you see, and you can use the entire tank.
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Once you've found a property that you all like and agree upon, your landlord or agent may ask for a holding fee or deposit. This will prevent the property being shown or offered to anyone else for a set amount of time (specified by the agent or landlord). Holding fees are a perfectly normal procedure, so don't worry if you are asked to provide one. Do however make sure that you are provided with a receipt or written confirmation of the payment.
Dependent on whether you are renting as an individual, or as a group, the deposit amount will be variable. It is usually the equivalent of between one calendar month and six weeks worth of rent.
Recent laws have been put into place regarding deposits and it is now a legal necessity that all deposits are paid into a Tenancy Deposit Scheme (TDP). This scheme is a cautionary measure to protect all renters (not just students) and their deposits.
Once you've handed over your deposit, your landlord must ensure that they have provided you with contact details of this scheme within 14 days, regardless of how long it takes for the money to clear in their account or how long they hold onto the money for.
*These are the only Government approved schemes available.
Don't be surprised if you are asked by an agent or landlord to provide details of a guarantor. This means that if you miss any rent payments, they have a backup from whom they can take the money owed. This is usually a parent, but could be any adult as long as you have their consent.
When providing a deposit, you will also need to ensure you sign a tenancy agreement, which will lay out the terms and conditions that both your landlord and all tenants need to adhere to.
It is advisable that you read through the document thoroughly and ask your landlord/letting agent to explain anything you are unsure about. If you still have questions that have not been answered you can speak to a member of your student union who will be able to assist you further.
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| 0.966703 | 405 | 1.570313 | 2 |
WASHINGTON — After an election focused heavily on the economy and the soaring national debt, Washington will immediately turn to a year-end debate that has the potential to dramatically affect both: the looming "fiscal cliff."
Unless Congress acts by New Year's Eve, taxes will rise for nearly 90 percent of Americans on Jan. 2, and the White House will be forced to carry out nearly $100 billion in automatic cuts to the Pentagon and other agency budgets.
With neither party on track to take complete control of the White House, Senate and House, the fiscal cliff will require a compromise that has for the past two years eluded President Barack Obama and House Republican leaders. Failure to achieve consensus has the potential to throw the nation back into recession as households absorb a hit to their finances averaging $3,500.
"When we wake up Wednesday morning, the fiscal-cliff clocks will start," said Maya MacGuineas, president of the bipartisan Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget. "Hopefully, the fiscal cliff will be the excuse for the parties to start working together. Hopefully, it will provide the excuse and cover for both sides to come to the table."
During the campaign, Obama and Republican challenger Mitt Romney vowed to take very different approaches to the year-end convergence of expiring tax breaks and spending cuts.
As the campaign wound down, it became clear that Obama's reelection would set the stage for an epic battle over taxes and spending with potentially far-reaching consequences. Democrats said a freshly reelected Obama would draw a line in the sand over his demand for increasing tax rates for the wealthy. He would invite Republicans to acquiesce to this demand or risk taking the blame for a dangerous political gridlock, as they did during the 2011 battle over the federal debt limit.
"Republicans face a choice, and the choice is theirs," said Rep. Chris Van Hollen, Md., the senior Democrat on the House Budget Committee. "If they want to drive off the fiscal cliff, that means they want to go into January demanding that people like Mitt Romney get a bonus tax break or nobody gets any tax relief."
It was not clear how Republicans would respond. Late Tuesday, House Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio, was expected to repeat his insistence that Republicans stand firm against any increase in taxes, especially for taxpayers who earn more than $250,000. That category includes many business owners.
Democrats said an Obama victory would give him a mandate on the tax issue because the promise to raise taxes on the wealthy was a centerpiece of his campaign. Some senior Republicans agree. For months, Republican tax aides have been at work on ideas for a potential compromise that would keep the top tax rate at 35 percent, as Republicans prefer, while enacting new provisions to extract about $55 billion next year from households earning more than $250,000 a year, meeting Obama's goal to raise taxes on top earners.
Republicans said such a deal, if possible, would hinge on Obama's willingness to rein in the cost of federal entitlement programs, including Social Security and Medicare, the biggest drivers of future borrowing. Obama's most recent budget request proposed only modest trims to federal health-care programs, totaling about $360 billion, and no changes to Social Security.
Obama went further in 2011 budget negotiations with Boehner, offering to raise the eligibility age for Medicare from 65 to 67 and to apply a less-generous measure of inflation to Social Security benefits. However, liberal Democrats are opposed to those changes and others that reduce retirement benefits, while it is not clear that Republicans who have been demanding more fundamental restructuring of Medicare would view even those changes as a sufficient reason to raise taxes.
Absent a compromise on taxes, many Democrats, notably Sen. Patty Murray, Wash., have said they would be willing to let the tax breaks expire and challenge Republicans to reject new legislation to cut rates for 98 percent of Americans. But going over the cliff has the potential for chaos, disrupting the 2012 tax filing season and exposing Democrats to criticism that they were willing to jeopardize the economy for political gain.
During the campaign, Romney said that if elected he would seek a year-long extension of current tax policy, including low rates adopted during the George W. Bush administration, to give his administration time to develop a plan to overhaul the tax code.
Obama has vowed to veto legislation that extends the Bush tax breaks for the wealthy, but administration officials declined to say whether that threat would stand in the face of a Romney victory. Politically, it would be a risky move for Democrats to tell Romney that he cannot have a year to negotiate a budget deal — especially headed into the 2014 election, when 20 Democrats from moderate to conservative states are up for reelection.
Extending those policies is likely to avert a recession, but it would put the nation on track for a fifth straight year of budget deficits hovering in the range of $1 trillion and invite another downgrade of the nation's credit rating. In this scenario, Romney would be forced to act quickly on a broader deficit-reduction plan.
"We'll be on our way to doing tax reform and entitlement reform and an overall budget deal in 2013. And it's got to be done by the August recess," said Ken Kies, a top Republican tax lobbyist. "For a new president, the magic window of opportunity doesn't stay open forever."
During the campaign, Romney pledged to balance the budget within eight years by dramatically slashing most government spending, including Medicaid and other safety-net programs for the poor. He also pledged to increase military budgets and to overhaul the tax code without raising additional revenue.
Instead, Romney's tax plan calls for a 20 percent reduction in rates for all taxpayers, financed by the elimination of tax breaks primarily for the wealthy — a proposal that independent budget analysts have called mathematically impossible. Romney has nonetheless insisted that his tax plan is essential to reviving the economy and creating jobs, the central mission of his first term.
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English PEN calls on the Rwandan authorities to carry out an independent investigation of Rugambage’s murder as a matter of urgency and to bring those responsible to justice, as well as to guarantee journalists’ safety in the run-up to the August 2010 presidential elections.
The following is an Urgent Action appeal issued by Amnesty International on 25 June 2010. Please send appeal letters following the guidelines provided by Amnesty below:
DOCUMENT – RWANDA: INVESTIGATE MURDER OF RWANDAN JOURNALIST, JEAN LEONARD RUGAMBAGE
Rwandan journalist Jean Leonard Rugambage was killed on 24 June. Authorities must establish an independent commission of enquiry into the killing and ensure other journalists can work in safety.
Jean Leonard Rugambage, the Deputy Editor of Rwandan newspaper, Umuvugizi, was shot dead outside his home in the Rwandan capital, Kigali on 24 June 2010. Jean Leonard Rugambage is the first Rwandan journalist murdered in recent years.
Jean Leonard Rugambage returned home around 10pm on 24 June 2010. He was shot dead as he reached the gate of his home in the Kigali suburb, Nyamirambo. His exiled Managing Editor-in-Chief, Jean-Bosco Gasasira, has stated that witnesses who heard the gunshots saw the unknown assailant drive away in a car. Police arrived at the scene soon afterwards, but Jean Leonard Rugambage was already dead.
The Rwanda Police have confirmed that Jean Leonard Rugambage body remained at Kigali’s Police Hospital and would not be released for burial until a later date. Police investigations have been opened.
Jean Leonard Rugambage had been investigating the shooting of the exiled former Chief-of-Staff of the Rwandan Army, Kayumba Nyamwasa, which took place in Johannesburg, South Africa, on 19 June 2010. Umuvugizi had published an on-line article on 24 June 2010, the day of Jean Leonard Rugambage’s murder, alleging that Rwandan intelligence officials were linked to the shooting. In the days before his murder, Jean Leonard Rugambage had told colleagues that he felt that the surveillance on him had intensified.
PLEASE WRITE IMMEDIATELY in English, French or your own language:
• urging the Rwandan authorities to ensure that any autopsy of the body of Jean Leonard Rugambage is undertaken by independent medical experts;
• calling on them to establish an independent commission of enquiry into the killing of Jean Leonard Rugambage;
• demanding that they ensure that the perpetrators are brought to trial promptly and in accordance with international fair trial standards;
• urging them to make public assurances that all Rwandan journalists can work freely, independently and with full protection from state authorities.
PLEASE SEND APPEALS BEFORE 6 AUGUST 2010 TO:
Office of the President
Fax: 250 572431
Salutation: Dear President Kagame
Rwandan National Police
Fax: 250 58 66 02
Salutation: Dear Commissioner General
National Public Prosecution Autnority
Fax: 250 589 501
Salutation: Dear Prosecutor General
Also send copies to diplomatic representatives accredited to your country. Please check with your section office if sending appeals after the above date.
Jean Leonard Rugambage’s newspaper, Umuvugizi, was suspended in April 2010 until after Rwanda’s presidential elections scheduled for August 2010. The Rwandan High Media Council, a regulatory body aligned with the government, suspended Umuvugizi for six months alleging they had incited opposition to the government and divided the army. Umuseso, another private newspaper, was also banned for six months. The High Media Council later started court proceedings to initiate a permanent ban against both papers. After the suspension, Umuvugizi continued to publish on their website, launched in May, though their website was not accessible from within Rwanda.
Jean-Leonard Rugambage became the Acting Editor of Umuvugizi after the Managing Editor, Jean-Bosco Gasasira, fled Rwanda in April 2010 after threats following Umuvugizi’s suspension. Jean-Bosco Gasasira had been brutally assaulted in February 2007 by unidentified men with iron bars. Prior to the attack, Jean-Bosco Gasasira, had also published several articles critical of the Rwandan Patriotic Front (RPF), the ruling political party.
Over recent years, Rwandan journalists working for non-state media have frequently been threatened and physically assaulted. Criminal sanctions have also been used against them to stifle freedom of expression. There have been no known cases of Rwandan journalists murdered in Rwanda in recent years, but several journalists have fled Rwanda for their safety.
Such an attack comes, as the space for independent reporting fast diminishes before Rwanda’s August 2010 presidential elections. Amnesty International has called on the Rwandan authorities to respect the rights to freedom of association and freedom of expression and to ensure that journalists can work freely, independently and with protection from state authorities.
UA: 143/10 Index: AFR 47/004/2010 Issue Date: 25 June 2010
For further details please contact Tamsin Mitchell at International PEN: [email protected]
Originally posted with the url: www.englishpen.org/writersinprison/bulletins/rwandanewspapereditormurdered/
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After meeting with President Obama at the White House, the Republican chairman of the House Intelligence Committee told ABC News that using the U.S. military to enforce a no-fly zone is "absolutely the right thing to do," but he warned it could be a long, drawn-out operation.
"It's an incredibly important thing that we show the support not only for our European allies but the Arab league countries who have stepped up in an unprecedented way," Rep. Mike Rogers, R-MI, told ABC News. "This is truly an international effort, and absolutely we should play a supporting role here."
Rogers wouldn't speculate on when military action could begin, but he said Gadhafi doesn't have long to meet the demands laid out by the UN Security Council and President Obama.
"He won't have a lot of time to make up his mind," Rogers said. "It's all in Gadhafi's hands."
Rogers spoke after meeting, along with several other congressional leaders, with the president in the White House Situation Room.
Although Rogers echoed Obama in saying any military action against Libya would be done by a broad international coalition, he expects U.S. military personnel will play an integral part in the operation.
"I'm sure some sorties will be flown by US. There are other things we can do to participate, to make sure those planes are safe, and can conduct a no-fly zone without risk of being shot down by Ghadafi's forces," Rogers said.
He warned this could be a long-term military commitment.
"This is not going to be a short-term, two-day operation," Rogers said. "Even if Ghadafi throws up his hands and gives up, I think it's going to be a long-term event."
Even so, Rogers said he does not believe President Obama needs congressional authorization to use the U.S. military to help enforce a no-fly zone.
"I don't think he needs it," he said. "He was smart to bring up members of Congress -- both parties -- put us in the Situation Room, and talk about what he's planning to do, to try to build congressional support. I think that was the right decision. We do have to be in this together. There's a lot going on in the world; the United States is in a lot of places right now. We need to do this together if we're going to do it at all."
In an echo of the arguments made before the Iraq war, Rogers said one of the reasons for taking action is that Gadhafi's possesses stockpiles of chemical and biological weapons.
"There are weapons of mass destruction there," Rogers said. "They have a very large stockpile of chemical weapons and it is believed they may still have stockpiles of some biological weapons."
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| 0.980457 | 583 | 1.515625 | 2 |
Friday, February 17, 2012
As stereotypes about cats go, the two I dislike almost as much as that Crazy Cat Lady thing are “felines are so independent” and “cats are not affectionate.” If I had a dollar for every time I read those and similar statements in some blog or article on the internet, I’m pretty sure I would be living on a tropical island (or at least someplace where the winters aren’t so inhospitable.) Time after time, cats are described as aloof, unfeeling, unfriendly, not desiring human companionship, able to take care of themselves, wanting no interaction with their owner, etc. etc.
I have to wonder who all these people are, and have they ever lived with a cat? I’ve shared my home with 11 cats over my lifetime, and none of mine have ever been any of those things. On the contrary, they’ve all been friendly, loving souls who clearly crave and love human companionship. I also know countless many people –family and friends in real life as well as pet blogging acquaintances – who have formed close, loving bonds with their feline friends. Surely all of our affectionate, human-loving cats were not flukes! Yet that myth of the feline as a totally independent creature incapable of love is everywhere.
One the one hand, I have to laugh since it’s such a ridiculous notion to me. On the other hand, it’s kind of sad because who knows how many homeless cats in shelters are overlooked by people who hear and read that nonsense many times over… and actually believe it. They rush little Sally and Billy past the cages with the cats without so much as a glance in their direction, because they want a family pet that the kids can interact with and share love and affection, and everyone knows that isn’t what cats are like, right? Of course.
So the family adopts a dog instead and the children never know that a cat could be a fun, funny, loving, sweet, and wonderful pet that would enrich their life in so many ways. It’s a crying shame. Oh, it’s great for all the shelter dogs that find a forever home, to be sure. Yet it’s mighty unfair to all the cats who’ve done nothing to deserve this negative label.
Unfriendly cats who don’t want human companionship do exist, but in most cases they’re a product of past mistreatment or neglect, or an aloof, disinterested owner who doesn’t understand their cat or take the time to figure out what it needs and wants. If you put any dog in that same situation, wouldn’t the result be the same? You have to earn a pet’s love, it’s not a given.
Recently when talking to a friend about this “cats are independent” myth, the discussion turned to wondering why so many more men than women dislike cats. Oh sure, there are plenty of men who love cats, but everyone I know who actually dislikes them is male, and it was the same for my friend. She theorized that it might be because cats are “soft, quiet, and elegant...everything a man is not. And most of all, whether it’s a male or a female, cats seem feminine.” Hmmm.
I don’t really know why many men dislike cats, but her theory makes sense to me and it’s likely the same reason you rarely see a man with a tiny dog. Men go for the big, burly, rough-and-tumble dogs because they seem more masculine than an itty bitty Chihuahua…or a cat. The funny thing is, every pet is an individual. Like snowflakes, no two are alike. They all have their own unique quirks and personalities. Not every cat is as loving and cuddly as my sweet Annabelle, and not every dog will idolize you as though you’re the one who makes the sun rise and set. But to me, this individuality is exactly what makes pet ownership such a joy!
Photo by Jason and Kris Carter
Read more articles by Julia Williams
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Farm bill extended; Some farmers fret about uncertainty
Congress approves certain agriculture disaster programs
Some local farmers are not too happy about a last-minute deal from Congress that extends a farm bill until Sept. 30.
Farmer Byron Seward said the bill leaves too much uncertainty. Congress only approved certain agricultural disaster programs. Seward, who has a 21,000-acre operation in Yazoo County, said the bill makes it hard for farmers to decide how much insurance they should get.
"I wish they would resolve it. That would let us know what we need to do going forward," Seward said. "You are sitting here wondering, 'Is this going to be a tussle between direct payments and insurance?' it looks like agriculture is not a priority in Congress right now."
Most farmers have between 50 and 75 percent of their crops insured against acts of nature. They have to have at least that much to qualify for government assistance in the wake of a disaster, like a drought or tornado.
There is some money set aside in the bill for livestock assistance, tree farming, honey bees and farm-raised catfish. That means little to Seward who raises corn, soybeans, rice and wheat.
Copyright 2013 by WAPT.com All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
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You can find an incredibly rich set of resources here that includes articles, curriculum materials, videos, Blogs from industry experts, online discussion forums, Job Postings, Training Listings, the most detailed listing of outdoor adventure providers on the Web and more! Thanks for being a part of the Outdoor Ed Community
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From Wilderness First Aid courses to rock climbing certifications, this is your source for finding professional training.
The Outdoor Ed Community is where you can interact with other outdoor professionals.
Due to daylight savings, I am up before I need to be and thought I would post one last time before I head out of town... I am left with several impressions from this years AORE conference.
1. The growing "green" or environmental trend. The field is increasingly paying attention to its environmental responsibilities both as educators of people in the outdoors and as examples for others to follow in terms of our ecological footprint. This, I feel, will be a growing trend as we begin to re-imagine what outdoor recreation and education will be like in the future.
2. Standards and standardization. We couldn't hide forever from the effects of No Child Left Behind and the growing influence of neo-liberalism in our schools and educational practice. Well, it is here. There was a lot of discussion and buzz at this conference about accreditation, certifications, and standardization in the field. The message was: if you don't do it, the state or federal government will. But of course, the question should not be standards vs no standards, it should be what KIND of standards. No one is really against the idea that we should have some commonly agreed upon best practices. How the field wrestles with this issue will be interesting to follow in the coming years.
3. The rise of degree programs. More and more students (it seems to me) are coming out of outdoor recreation and education degree programs. Do they have jobs waiting for them? It will be interesting to see how the rise of this field in terms of academic preparation plays out once many of these folks graduate and are looking for gainful employment.
4. Research. The field as a whole is hungry for evidence-based research that supports the philosophy of what we do. Where this research will come from and how we wrestle with the differences between advocacy based assessment and more "objective" research will also be interesting to watch in the coming years.
5. Lastly, I am left with how much fun this conference continues to be. Great people, wonderful sessions and activities, and a general vibe of informality, support, and encouragement of all. AORE broke the attendance record this year at about 540 attenders. Hope to see even more next year in San Diego.
Signing off from Asheville.
Connect & Share
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“We had to change our tactics….We had to make every effort to develop live informants, utilize both mike and technical wiretaps, and become more sophisticated in our actual techniques.”- Jack Danahy, quoted in Enemies, 193.
If the FBI were watching you, would you know it? Would you see shadowy men standing outside your window? Would your phone mysteriously click every time you picked it up? I cannot try to imagine the type of paranoia that would have set itself into members of subversive organizations during the late 1940s and into the late 1950s. The worst part is that many of the people being watched during this time period knew it, and even if they did not know it for a fact, they suspected it. The paranoia pervades the memoirs of the time. It drove many of the famous leftists of the era, like writer Howard Fast or playwright Arthur Miller into the countryside and away from New York City where the FBI knew how to use the urban environment to their benefit.
The first hint in knowing that the FBI investigated you were the people they sent to question your friends. These agents would not just talk to your friends or you employers; they would talk to almost everyone you had ever known well. Through the Freedom of Information Act I, acting on a hunch, requested the FBI files on Rod Serling the creator of the hit television series The Twilight Zone. What I found surprised me for two reasons. One was that Rod Serling, the writer of a television show that often criticized the nature of the Red Scare, was not investigated during the making of the show. The other reason I was surprised was that the file contained notes from a 45-page investigation. Serling was not being investigated for espionage or subversive activities; he had merely applied for a job as a writer on a government operated radio show called The Voice of America.
To investigate this World War II veteran, the FBI dispatched agents to Albany, Cincinnati, New York, Cleveland, Springfield, and Miami, anywhere were Serling had spend any prolonged period of time in his entire life. Neighbors, employers, family members, co-workers, all were interviewed and asked to characterize his talent as a writer, his diligence, but especially his loyalty. Dozens upon dozens of people were interviewed and each FBI document concludes with the thought, “no information of a derogatory nature concerning loyalty which could be identified with the applicant was found.”
In some instances the investigation became very specific and very personal. In a memorandum sent from Cincinnati, where Serling went to college, an FBI agent interviewed the director of a children’s summer camp where he had once worked. The director furnished the FBI with the only negative piece of information found in the entire investigation, “He said that applicant received an unsatisfactory rating during his employment period at Camp Treetops, Lake Placid, New York, due to his poor judgment in associations with his present wife at the camp when they were both single students and co-op employees during the summer of 1947.” And that, “they spend too much time together in front of the children of the camp.” No dirty detail was left unrecorded.
The other ways in which a person knew they were being surveyed was, as Arthur Miller found out, the appearance of personal information and references to their FBI files while before the HUAC. After the emergence and popular pulp stories of FBI informants, any new person, or old friend for that matter, could be an informant. The writer and Communist Party member Howard Fast had many overt run ins with the FBI. In his Memoir, Being Red, Fast remembers a dinner party that he threw. He writes, “On one occasion, on the day
before we gave a large fund-raising party, I received a drawing in the mail with the legend: “This bastard is FBI. He’s crashing your party. Throw him out.” It was a good drawing, and when the FBI man turned up, he was immediately recognized. He left quietly; if there was one thing you could give the FBI point for, it was politeness.”
There are numerous memoirs written by those who were surveyed and all purvey the same sense of paranoia. As we see from the Serling records, the FBI’s investigations were often too deep and too thorough to go unnoticed.
Washington Field Office-FBI, “Special Inquiry- Rodman Serling,” 5/21/1951.
Cincinnati Field Office-FBI, “Special Inquiry- Rodman Serling.” 5/8/1951
Christopher Bigsby, Arthur Miller. Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 2009. Pp. 532.
Howard Fast, Being Red: A Memoir. New York: M.E. Sharpe, 1990. Pp. 168.
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June 24, 2009 | CUNY Lecture Series, York College
Addressing the 2009 graduating class at York College, Gov. David Paterson offered a ray of hope to future entrepreneurs during these bleak economic times. “The minority-owned and women-owned businesses that were less than 5% of contracts awarded in 2006 now (make up) over 25% of the contracts that do business with the state of New York,” said Paterson, referring to his promise, while serving as lieutenant governor, to expand an executive order that would ensure more equity for minorities and women-owned businesses. “When you get out there, come see us at the state because New York is opened for business, for everyone,” said Paterson, keynote speaker at the college’s commencement.
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Mother'S Day Gift Ideas
Try these great mother's day gift ideas! Some easy to make items that your mom will cherish.
To make 8 place mats you will need 1-meter ready-quilted fabric and 12 meters bias binding in a contrasting color. To make the place mats - draw a template on a piece of paper 40 cm x 30 cm. Fold the template into half and then into half again so that the outer edges are together. Use a saucer to curve the edges and cut out the paper template. To cut the fabric – pin the pattern piece for the place mat on to the fabric and cut out. Each mat is cut individually and is a single layer of quilted fabric. Repeat this procedure to cut out the rest of the place mats.
To make the place mats – pin binding around the entire mat –pulling the binding slightly around the curves in order to get neat curves; cut off leftover binding. Note that when attaching binding, always pin the binding first and then cut off the amount required; this will prevent you cutting off too little and wasting binding. Join the cut edges of the already pinned binding with the wrong sides together and stitch. Machine stitch the binding around the edge of the mat. Open this seam. Trim the raw edge to approximately 4 mm. Turn the binding over the edge and pin to the other side of the mat. Slipstitch this side by hand. Repeat process to make the other place mats.
Making your hanging herb basket
Herbs are best grown outdoors in a sunny, well-drained location. They need a minimum of four hours direct sunlight to flourish. However, when space is limited or you’d prefer a decorative and convenient place for a herb garden, a hanging basket with the most regularly used herbs provides the ideal arrangement – conveniently located in a sunny spot outside the kitchen door.
You will need: One large hanging basket; organic fertilizer; potting soil; buy bouquet garni or herb seedlings from your local nurseryman. Start off by selecting those herbs that you’re likely to use frequently in the kitchen (such as parsley, fennel, dill, thyme and mint).
Whilst herbs can survive in poor soil, they will reward you if given a rich spoil with extra nutrients. Only a few are happy in semi-shade and two of these are mint and parsley – although they will do better with more sun. Add some compost to the potting soil. Herbs love the organic matter and they’ll also benefit if fed regularly with an organic fertilizer. For the best results, don’t over-water, feed regularly and pick often to encourage further growth. Water whenever the soil is dry to the touch and fertilize every six to eight weeks during the growing season with a complete and balanced fertilizer. All herbs should be watered from the top. Good drainage is essential, as roots should never become soggy. Watch for insects and diseases and treat as needed, but most herbs are fairly disease and pest resistant.
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Moody Sanctuary Birds Vamp for, Peck at Persevering Photog
- 6:30 AM
- Reddish, a reddish egret
- George, a white pelican
- Wobbles, a blue heron
- Edgar, an American crow
- Jackson, a royal tern
- Roseate spoonbill
- Short-tailed hawk
- Red-tailed hawk
- White pelican
- Gizmo, an Eastern screech owl
- American kestrel
- Yellow crowned night heron
- White gannett
- Cattle egret
- Cedar wax wing
- Brown pelican
- Barney, a barn swallow
Reddish, a reddish egret
George, a white pelican
Wobbles, a blue heron
Edgar, an American crow
Jackson, a royal tern
Gizmo, an Eastern screech owl
Yellow crowned night heron
Cedar wax wing
Barney, a barn swallow
A usual day for Bob Croslin while shooting bird portraits at the Suncoast Seabird Sanctuary would look something like this: Set up backdrop. Set up lights. Watch handlers place bird on backdrop. Watch bird puke or shit all over backdrop. Re-do backdrop. Watch as handlers gently chase bird around enclosure. Fire off a couple of frames before bird runs off again. Watch handlers chase bird again. Fire off a couple more frames. Let bird go before bird gets too annoyed.
It was a process that took a lot of patience but also had an enormous payoff, as can be seen in the portraits Croslin was able to make of the various birds at the sanctuary on Florida’s Gulf Coast — portraits that recently won first place in Pictures of the Year International’s Science and Natural History Picture Story category.
“Starting out I knew that I wanted to go out there and shoot the birds in a way that I hadn’t ever seen done before,” says Croslin, a well-known commercial photographer in the Tampa Bay area.
The key to Croslin’s photos is the way he’s captured the bird’s personalities. It’s hard enough to make a portrait of a human that feels real, so making photos that even get close to capturing the psyche of a bird is quite the feat.
Case in point is the photo of Reddish, a reddish egret that can no longer fly because he was hit by a car. Croslin says the bird “was a real bastard” with an edgy personality. He didn’t appear to be afraid of anyone, and would peck people with his beak, including Croslin (see video below). Croslin says Reddish was definitely the hardest bird to photograph because he was constantly on the move.
But because Reddish had such a large personality, Croslin was able to capture it more easily than some of the other birds. After a series of misses, Croslin eventually nailed a picture of Reddish puffing up his feathers and essentially telling Croslin to scram.
“Some birds you can tell there is not much going on upstairs but [reddish egrets] are smart and resourceful and there was no doubt that he was letting us know I’ve had enough and I want out,” Croslin says.
Other birds also opened up to Croslin in varying amounts. He captured a certain regality in George, the white pelican, who was one of the more docile birds. Edgar the crow was raised as a pet before being dropped off at the sanctuary and stared straight into the camera with a kind of familiarity that other birds didn’t have.
“Edgar can talk and if he was irritated in any way he would say ‘go away,’ clear as a bell,” Croslin says.
Croslin says he worked for months to get access to the sanctuary — the staff wanted to vet him closely — so he was sensitive about making sure the birds were in charge. Sometimes it took up to two hours for Croslin to get his shot. Birds like Reddish would run off, and sometimes handlers decided the birds needed a break before continuing with the shoot.
“There comes a point where you can only do so much and you don’t want to traumatize these birds,” Croslin says.
In addition to raising awareness and winning prizes, Croslin says the photos will eventually be used to raise money for these and other birds at local sanctuaries.
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|In our family, there was no clear|
line between religion and
fly fishing. . . .
|An excerpt from
A River Runs Through It
by Norman Maclean
"A masterpiece. . . . This is more than stunning fiction: It is a lyric record of a time and a life, shining with Maclean's special gift for calling the reader's attention to arts of all kindsthe arts that work in nature, in personality, in social intercourse, in fly-fishing."Kenneth M. Pierce, Village Voice
It is true that one day a week was given over wholly to religion. On Sunday mornings my brother, Paul, and I went to Sunday school and then to "morning services" to hear our father preach and in the evenings to Christian Endeavor and afterwards to "evening services" to hear our father preach again. In between on Sunday afternoons we had to study The Westminster Shorter Catechism for an hour and then recite before we could walk the hills with him while he unwound between services. But he never asked us more than the first question in the catechism, "What is the chief end of man?" And we answered together so one of us could carry on if the other forgot, "Man's chief end is to glorify God, and to enjoy Him forever." This always seemed to satisfy him, as indeed such a beautiful answer should have, and besides he was anxious to be on the hills where he could restore his soul and be filled again to overflowing for the evening sermon. His chief way of recharging himself was to recite to us from the sermon that was coming, enriched here and there with selections from the most successful passages of his morning sermon.
Even so, in a typical week of our childhood Paul and I probably received as many hours of instruction in fly fishing as we did in all other spiritual matters.
After my brother and I became good fishermen, we realized that our father was not a great fly caster, but he was accurate and stylish and wore a glove on his casting hand. As he buttoned his glove in preparation to giving us a lesson, he would say, "It is an art that is performed on a four-count rhythm between ten and two o'clock."
As a Scot and a Presbyterian, my father believed that man by nature was a mess and had fallen from an original state of grace. Somehow, I early developed the notion that he had done this by falling from a tree. As for my father, I never knew whether he believed God was a mathematician but he certainly believed God could count and that only by picking up God's rhythms were we able to regain power and beauty. Unlike many Presbyterians, he often used the word "beautiful."
After he buttoned his glove, he would hold his rod straight out in front of him, where it trembled with the beating of his heart. Although it was eight and a half feet long, it weighed only four and a half ounces. It was made of split bamboo cane from the far-off Bay of Tonkin. It was wrapped with red and blue silk thread, and the wrappings were carefully spaced to make the delicate rod powerful but not so stiff it could not tremble.
Always it was to be called a rod. If someone called it a pole, my father looked at him as a sergeant in the United States Marines would look at a recruit who had just called a rifle a gun.
My brother and I would have preferred to start learning how to fish by going out and catching a few, omitting entirely anything difficult or technical in the way of preparation that would take away from the fun. But it wasn't by way of fun that we were introduced to our father's art. If our father had had his say, nobody who did not know how to fish would be allowed to disgrace a fish by catching him. So you too will have to approach the art Marine and Presbyterian-style, and, if you have never picked up a fly rod before, you will soon find it factually and theologically true that man by nature is a damn mess. The four-and-a-half-ounce thing in silk wrappings that trembles with the underskin motions of the flesh becomes a stick without brains, refusing anything simple that is wanted of it. All that a rod has to do is lift the line, the leader, and the fly off the water, give them a good toss over the head, and then shoot them forward so they will land in the water without a splash in the following order: fly, transparent leader, and then the lineotherwise the fish will see the fly is a fake and be gone. Of course, there are special casts that anyone could predict would be difficult, and they require artistrycasts where the line can't go over the fisherman's head because cliffs or trees are immediately behind, sideways casts to get the fly under overhanging willows, and so on. But what's remarkable about just a straight castjust picking up a rod with a line on it and tossing the line across the river?
Well, until man is redeemed he will always take a fly rod too far back, just as natural man always overswings with an ax or golf club and loses all his power somewhere in the air: only with a rod it's worse, because the fly often comes so far back it gets caught behind in a bush or rock. When my father said it was an art that ended at two o'clock, he often added, "closer to ten than to two," meaning that the rod should be taken back only slightly farther than overhead (straight overhead being twelve o'clock).
Then, since it is natural for man to try to attain power without recovering grace, he whips the line back and forth making it whistle each way, and sometimes even snapping off the fly from the leader, but the power that was going to transport the little fly across the river somehow gets diverted into building a bird's nest of line, leader, and fly that falls out of the air into the water about ten feet in front of the fisherman. If, though, he pictures the round trip of the line, transparent leader, and fly from the time they leave the water until their return, they are easier to cast. They naturally come off the water heavy line first and in front, and light transparent leader and fly trailing behind. But, as they pass overhead, they have to have a little beat of time so the light, transparent leader and fly can catch up to the heavy line now starting forward and again fall behind it; otherwise, the line starting on its return trip will collide with the leader and fly still on their way up, and the mess will be the bird's nest that splashes into the water ten feet in front of the fisherman.
Almost the moment, however, that the forward order of line, leader, and fly is reestablished, it has to be reversed, because the fly and transparent leader must be ahead of the heavy line when they settle on the water. If what the fish sees is highly visible line, what the fisherman will see are departing black darts, and he might as well start for the next hole. High overhead, then, on the forward cast (at about ten o'clock) the fisherman checks again.
The four-count rhythm, of course, is functional. The one count takes the line, leader, and fly off the water; the two count tosses them seemingly straight into the sky; the three count was my father's way of saying that at the top the leader and fly have to be given a little beat of time to get behind the line as it is starting forward; the four count means put on the power and throw the line into the rod until you reach ten o'clockthen check-cast, let the fly and leader get ahead of the line, and coast to a soft and perfect landing. Power comes not from power everywhere, but from knowing where to put it on. "Remember," as my father kept saying, "it is an art that is performed on a four-count rhythm between ten and two o'clock."
My father was very sure about certain matters pertaining to the universe. To him, all good thingstrout as well as eternal salvationcome by grace and grace comes by art and art does not come easy.
So my brother and I learned to cast Presbyterian-style, on a metronome. It was mother's metronome, which father had taken from the top of the piano in town. She would occasionally peer down to the dock from the front porch of the cabin, wondering nervously whether her metronome could float if it had to. When she became so overwrought that she thumped down the dock to reclaim it, my father would clap out the four-count rhythm with his cupped hands.
Eventually, he introduced us to literature on the subject. He tried always to say something stylish as he buttoned the glove on his casting hand. "Izaak Walton," he told us when my brother was thirteen or fourteen, "is not a respectable writer. He was an Episcopalian and a bait fisherman."" Although Paul was three years younger than I was, he was already far ahead of me in anything relating to fishing and it was he who first found a copy of The Compleat Angler and reported back to me, "The bastard doesn't even know how to spell 'complete.' Besides, he has songs to sing to dairymaids." I borrowed his copy, and reported back to him, "Some of those songs are pretty good." He said, "Whoever saw a dairymaid on the Big Blackfoot River?
"I would like," he said, "to get him for a day's fishing on the Big Blackfootwith a bet on the side."
The boy was very angry, and there has never been a doubt in my mind that the boy would have taken the Episcopalian money.
When you are in your teensmaybe throughout your lifebeing three years older than your brother often makes you feel he is a boy. However, I knew already that he was going to be a master with a rod. He had those extra things besides fine traininggenius, luck, and plenty of self-confidence. Even at this age he liked to bet on himself against anybody who would fish with him, including me, his older brother. It was sometimes funny and sometimes not so funny, to see a boy always wanting to bet on himself and almost sure to win. Although I was three years older, I did not yet feel old enough to bet. Betting, I assumed, was for men who wore straw hats on the backs of their heads. So I was confused and embarrassed the first couple of times he asked me if I didn't want "a small bet on the side just to make things interesting." The third time he asked me must have made me angry because he never again spoke to me about money, not even about borrowing a few dollars when he was having real money problems.
We had to be very careful in dealing with each other. I often thought of him as a boy, but I never could treat him that way. He was never "my kid brother." He was a master of an art. He did not want any big brother advice or money or help, and, in the end, I could not help him.
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By Monica Alonzo
By Ray Stern
By New Times Staff
By Stephen Lemons
By Chris Parker
By Monica Alonzo
By Stephen Lemons
By Robrt L. Pela
"A river is made to eventually overtop all dams and levees," says Dr. Troy P‚w‚, professor emeritus of geology at Arizona State University. "That's the nature of a river. And the flood plain belongs to the river. If you don't believe that, just build in it."
@body:In February 1991, Steve Nielsen, Tempe's Rio Salado development director, told members of the city's Rio Salado Advisory Commission to expect a national response from developers seeking exclusive rights to the commercial corridor along the south bank of Tempe's grand waterfront.
But one year later, it became clear that no big developers were interested. The city extended the deadline for proposals by six months, but the only bid received for the commercial project was from a joint venture fronted by John Benton. Benton's partner in the development proposal is Bay State Milling Company, owner of the historic flour mill originally built in 1872 by Charles Trumbull Hayden. Bay State has agreed to fund predevelopment costs and include its land along Mill Avenue and First Street in the proposed commercial development. Bay State is also paying Benton an undisclosed retainer.
Lacking any real estate development experience, Bay State hired one of the biggest promoters of large-scale real estate developments in Arizona.
Now working out of the accounting firm of Coopers & Lybrand, James A. Chalmers headed his own economic consulting business, Mountain West, in the 1980s. His company put out reams of reports extolling the virtues of development in Arizona in the late 1980s--just as the market was collapsing. Chalmers also worked on commercial office zoning for Fife Symington in the early 1980s, when Symington was battling neighborhood groups opposed to the construction of the ill-fated Esplanade at 24th Street and Camelback.
Chalmers and Bay State have been working for five years to come up with a suitable development plan for the mill site, which occupies the most strategic location in downtown Tempe. The site is a crucial link between Mill Avenue and the planned lakefront development. Bay State also owns 15 acres of future lakefront property.
In Chalmers' view, Bay State has been in the driver's seat since the Rio Salado Project resurfaced once again four years ago. The company began searching for development partners in 1989, and after interviewing five potential players, it settled on Benton in 1990.
Benton was selected, Chalmers says, because he had an intimate understanding of downtown development projects and a close relationship with Tempe officials. The major issue facing the company in the early stages, Chalmers says, was to obtain a development agreement with the city.
"John had the experience and sensitivity to help us work our way through these issues, and essentially get us to the point where we are ready to contemplate the vertical development," Chalmers says.
While Nielsen was telling members of the Rio Salado Advisory Commission that they should expect more than one bidder for the development project, Chalmers says it was clear years ago the only real contender for the project was Bay State.
Once Bay State selected the Benton group, the die was cast. @rule:
@body:From his second-floor office in the Casa Loma Building, Benton has a commanding view of Mill Avenue stretching to the south. Benton has devoted much of his professional career to the redevelopment of downtown Tempe.
Dressed in tan shorts, running shoes and a blue work shirt, the 45-year-old ASU graduate in construction engineering appears to be anything but a developer. The term, in fact, is something Benton, who wears a neat beard and drives a Volkswagen Westfalia van, clearly doesn't like attached to his name. If anything, he sees himself as a businessman devoted to historic preservation.
For the last 15 years, Benton has played a crucial role in the makeover of downtown Tempe. Working closely with the city and aligning himself with longtime Mayor Harry Mitchell, Benton successfully rehabilitated the historic Andre Building, built in 1884, before taking on the Casa Loma Building, circa 1899, across the street. The two projects proved to be successful, and he was ready for a bigger redevelopment opportunity.
That turned out to be Hayden Square, which, ten years after it was planned, remains mired in bankruptcy and nearly devoid of retail activity.
The project started off well enough. In 1983, the city acquired 7.5 acres along the west side of Mill Avenue and entered into an agreement with Benton to build 95,000 square feet of office space and 118 condominiums. The city sold the property to Benton "at a reduced cost in exchange for the construction of public" facilities.
The Hayden Square project was hailed as a great example of urban architecture. The office space was 100 percent leased when the project was completed in 1988, and the condominiums, perched on top of a parking garage, sold quickly. But four years later, Hayden Square fell into bankruptcy, and ownership was returned to the lender. The primary tenant, America West Airlines, had plunged into bankruptcy first, dragging leasing rates down sharply. The 1990 recession then pulled the rug out from under many of the high-end specialty retailers who had set up shop in Hayden Square. The commercial and retail sectors of Hayden Square weren't Benton's only problem. An angry swarm of condominium owners has raised more than $140,000 to take Benton to court, alleging construction shortcuts he authorized are slowly destroying the condos.
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| 0.966319 | 1,235 | 1.796875 | 2 |
By Robby Henson
Introverted and cerebral, Dekard is an agricultural engineer who monitors a regimented greenhouse laboratory that produces hybrid asparagus, sealed off in a transparent control booth buried beneath a destroyed landscape in the near future. When fertilizer delivery agent Elena Navarro arrives for a surprise visit, Dekard accidentally knocks an inferior asparagus he is culling to the lab floor in his rush to spend more time with Elena. After a trip to a dating compatibility center forecasts Elena and Dekard’s romantic future, he returns to his greenhouse to find an unlikely testament from his forgotten asparagus.
I arrived at the story of Asparagus by riffing on the idea of probability calculation based on personality and behavior calculus if extrapolated to the extreme.
I thought of how software programs now chart our likes and dislikes, GPS systems tell us how to reach our driving destinations, iTunes suggests music we'll like, and online dating services calculate romantic compatibility based on exhaustive questionnaires. Amazon.com tells me what movies and books I am most likely to enjoy based on my previous purchases. These are all examples of technology creeping into the human heart and soul.
At this accelerated rate of technological advancement, I began to picture a future in which relationships no longer have to play out in real time. You could step into a booth with your prospective mate and experience the shared ecstasy of your future happiness together or the soul-numbing experience of love gone really, really bad — in, like, 10 seconds.
Is this a good thing? Or is technology the square peg and humans the round hole? Not being the most technologically gifted (I don't use social media), my story veered toward the latter as a theme.
Once I decided that my story was about dating in the future, I needed characters functioning in a future society at its most synthetic and regimented. I came up with an asparagus engineer who must grow his crop underground with computer assistance because the landscape above has been poisoned. This alluded to other byproducts of human "advancement," which if left unchecked, would lead to an environmental apocalypse; a parallel cautionary tale that represents my green philosophy.
I wanted my film to be whimsical, not dour, so I decided it would be visually fun to see asparagus shafts grown by an agricultural engineer in a biohazard suit — the contrast of a vegetable so lyrically, stoically organic rising like a mini Stonehenge in a non-organic setting.
— Robby Henson, Writer/Director
This project allowed me to boldly go into uncharted territory on many fronts. I had never made a web movie before, nor a science-fiction movie, nor a movie about asparagus, nor a narrative short (at least since film school eons ago), and the concept of making something for the web that could be downloaded onto cell phones I found simultaneously inspiring and uninspiring (I count Lawrence of Arabia in my top 10 faves; try watching that on a cell phone). And I tended to skew toward the technologically backwards (I can remember when there was no MTV). So taking on a multitude of challenges, I hobbled ahead, with the goal of creating an amazing sci-fi web short on a very short budget.
And then I lost my original producer during pre-production (she got a job working on Poland's Next Top Model), but, as luck would have it, I was introduced to producer Paul Merryman, a recent graduate of AFI's producing program, and he brought to this project a talented and energetic crew of young AFI grads — the visionary DP Michal Dabal and the production designer Kil Won Yu. This core group had the creative zing the project needed.
Perhaps the biggest miracle-worker of our crew was Kil Won who designed and built our awesome futuristic greenhouse/control room out of plywood and tape on a sound stage with cracked floors near LAX. We had thought on our budget we would need to shoot a real greenhouse up in Ventura, but by constructing a custom-designed set on a sound stage we achieved a more futuristic look, controlled the lighting, got more shots done in a day, and we didn't have to drive the crew to Ventura.
There are more than 100 special-effects shots in Asparagus. My favorite effect is the "infinity" greenhouse, where the underground crop rows seem to run on forever. This was achieved by using a blue screen on the butt-end of our 20-foot-long set and then hiring VFX supervisor Jon Julsrud off Craigslist to make magic. Jon was a recent émigré from Minnesota and I was able to talk him into moving into the tiny garage apartment behind my building where he created an awesome stream of effects on his laptop. And he was right outside my door anytime I needed to bug him.
We shot on the Red One digital camera, and this was another first for me. I had made five features, all shot on old school 35mm, but I immediately fell in love with the instantaneous results DP Michal Dabal could dial up on the Red One. And also Michal contributed significantly to the look of the film by making me visit an old rock quarry location up near Lancaster that he had used in a student film. I seized on this location immediately because it had this decayed, twisted metal and tunnels and mining equipment that looked like a civilization in ruins. This location supplied a Blade Runner-esque backdrop to our story.
I cast the central roles of Elena and Dekard by placing an ad in the LA Breakdowns and then culling through 3,000 submitted photographs and calling about 100 actors to audition on tape. I loved working with Ryan and Tara, and I think they are terrific in the film. Tara had a real spark and sass and Ryan was introverted yet appealing and I felt they had great chemistry together. I filled out supporting roles with talented actor friends I had worked with before, such as Tom Bower, the gravel-voiced narrator who has been in 130 movies from River's Edge to Herzog's Bad Lieutenant: Port of Call New Orleans. And my Texas friend Lew Temple had just come from a scene-stealing role in Tony Scott's Unstoppable. He played a neutered dating counselor alongside the lovely Lin Ciango. And if you look closely in the dating center scene you'll also see my good friend Chas Garabedian making a cameo. Chas is widely considered one of the finest Los Angeles painters ever. And he's still quite the golfer at 85.
After it was all said and done, this web project allowed me to learn a ton about digital production and I had stretched my editing skills on Final Cut Pro. Plus my refrigerator was stuffed with cases of leftover asparagus. I had stinky pee for a month.
— Robby Henson, Writer/Director
Writer, Director, Editor
Robby Henson received his M.F.A. from New York University's graduate film school; his thesis film won the Student Academy Award. His films have been seen on PBS, the BBC, at Lincoln Center, the Museum of Modern Art, the Georges Pompidou Center in Paris and at film festivals in Canada, Ireland, France, Yugoslavia, Australia, and Poland.
He has directed more than 30 theater productions in New York, as well as regionally, and has made six award-winning documentaries shown on PBS including Spalding Gray: A Life in Progress and Trouble Behind. His ITVS funded documentary Summerstock was shown last year on the international series True Stories: Life in the USA hosted by Danny Glover.
Robby's first dramatic feature was Pharoah's Army. He wrote and directed The Badge, which was nominated for a GLAAD Media Award (Gay and Lesbian Alliance). He directed The Visitation, a supernatural thriller which was released by 20th Century Fox in 2005. His fifth dramatic feature film House was released in 2008.
Paul Michael Merryman
Originally from Austin, Texas, Paul earned his undergraduate degree in Radio, Television, and Film from the University of Texas at Austin. During his studies he wrote and directed the short subject documentary APD: Downtown Discipline, a piece about police accountability that helped foster better relationships between the police department and the community. Most recently, Paul earned his MFA in Producing at the American Film Institute where he made his 35mm thesis film The Escape.
Dekard – Ryan Sandberg
Ryan Sandberg was raised in the suburbs of Minneapolis, Minnesota and moved to Los Angeles to launch his acting career. Starting with performances in dozens of student films from all of the area’s colleges and art schools, he is now enjoying great opportunities on shows like Spike TV’s 1000 Ways to Die and G4’s Attack of the Show.
Elena – Tara Shayne
Tara grew up in Carefree, Arizona and has been entertaining audiences practically since birth. From her debut performance at age 5 as the narrator in Jack and the Beanstalk, acting became her passion. At her request, she began dance lessons, followed by piano, musical theatre, acting, and voice. She consistently trained and soon began to compete and perform professionally in the arts. In Los Angeles, acting coach Amy Lyndon helped her land her first role in the Weinstein Company film The Boston Strangler: The Untold Story. Tara has since then starred in many festival award-winning films; most recently the comedy Devolved, released in 2010, and as the leading lady in The Last Day on Earth, a psychological thriller premiering early 2011. In her spare time, Tara enjoys singing and writing music, drawing, snowboarding, and reading Shakespeare to her toy poodle Ophelia.
Tom Bower - Narrator
Tom is best known to audiences as Marvin the Janitor in Die Hard II; "the drunken pilot” in Clear and Present Danger; as the FBI Agent who came to Ashley Judd’s aid in High Crimes; as Cecil Skells in True Believer, and as Richard Nixon’s father in Oliver Stone’s Nixon. For the nostalgia buffs, Tom played Mary Ellen’s husband, Dr. Curtis Willard, in The Waltons. More recently he has appeared in Appaloosa, Crazy Heart, and Werner Herzog’s Bad Lieutenant: New Orleans Port of Call. Tom is a long-standing member of the Actor’s Studio.
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IT’S CERTAINLY NOT NEWS THAT TIMES HAVE BEEN TOUGH ACROSS AMERICA’S CITIES IN RECENT YEARS. The Great Recession may be officially over, but many communities are still suffering a painful hangover.
Not these MSAs, though. Area Development’s Leading Locations have found a way to thrive in the midst of adversity, to prosper while so many places have struggled. More than 9 million jobs vanished during the course of the downturn, and of the 365 MSAs — Metropolitan Statistical Areas — studied here, more than three-quarters still have fewer people working now than they did five years ago. But even amid that gloom, there were blooms of prosperity, and there are some places that have gotten back on their feet faster than others....
This analysis of Leading Locations is informed by two dozen different economic and workforce indicators from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the Bureau of Economic Analysis, and the U.S. Census American Community Survey. It ranks the 365 MSAs in a variety of ways, including an overall ranking that crunches 23 indicators, plus separate rankings of “Prime Workforce Growth,” “Economic Strength,” and “Recession-Busting” factors…
31. San Angelo
72. Rapid City
Click here for complete report > 100 Leading Locations for 2012
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Social Media Resources for Business: Zagat, Hiring, and the Olympics
Check out our articles below to find out more about each one and how they can help you with your social media goals.
And check in every day to Sprout Social Insights for more how to guides and breaking social media news.
It’s been a long haul for Google in its attempt to hit the jackpot with social media. After gutting or eliminating many of its properties — Wave, Buzz, and Reader, to name a few — the latest one to bite the dust is Google Places.
However, it has a replacement for Google Places that it rolled out in May. The new property is Google+ Local, and it allows members to search for businesses in the area, just as they could under the old system.
The feature takes advantage of Google’s acquisition of Zagat by incorporating those ratings into the search results. While in theory this shouldn’t mean a major problem for businesses, some technical complications mean you’ll want to confirm how your business is appearing. Here are some things to keep in mind when it comes to evaluating your Google+ Local presence. [ Read More... ]
Perhaps Barack Obama was onto something when he insisted on keeping his Blackberry. After all, studies have shown that candidates with Twitter accounts receive 46 percent more votes than those without.
While it’s commendable for politicians to embrace the latest platforms to help them connect with their constituents, sometimes those tools can backfire if not used cautiously. Yes, unintended tweets can have a life of their own — even when they’re deleted. For example, who can forget Rep. Anthony Weiner’s infamous tweets that ultimately led to his political downfall.
How and when politicians and their social media teams deal with these nefarious tweets says a lot about how savvy they are about their own social media management. By extension, how politicians and their teams manage their social media campaigns may provide insights as to what type of people they are, or what type of leaders they’ll be in office. Let’s take a look at some deleted politician tweets and see what conclusions can be drawn. [ Read More... ]
It’s Twitter Tip Tuesday — every Tuesday we’ll focus on one Twitter Tip and show you how to integrate it into your social media strategy. This week we suggest that you don’t spend all your time tweeting with your business peers — focus on tweeting with your target audience instead.
When people are first starting out on Twitter, they’ll often use Twitter search or the “Discover” feature to find people and topics to follow. There’s also a tendency to search for things they’re most familiar with, such as the businesses they’re in, or the cities from which they’re tweeting. This is not a bad way to get the ball rolling. However, if you’re using Twitter for business, you’re going to need to adopt a more strategic approach to get more business value from the platform. [ Read More... ]
So, you’ve decided that it’s time to add a social media manager to your team. This addition to your staff that can give some consistency to your brand’s presence across the web, as well as freeing up your time to focus on running your business. However, it’s an important hiring decision that should not be made lightly.
This person will be acting as the voice for your company on some very public channels. We’ve already shared some of the traits that make for a good social media manager. Here are a few of the characteristics that should give you pause about a job candidate. [ Read More... ]
From the moment you log in, you’ll be presented with timely information to help you recognize trends and see how your accounts are doing. You’ll be able to access the demographics of your networks, recent followers, popular posts, and follower counts, and remain informed on all the important details of your brand. [ Read More... ]
There’s more to being a successful social media manager than keeping your networks updated and responding to questions and feedback. You need to look beyond the day-to-day grind and take the time to pull yourself out of the weeds.
Managing social media for any organization is a definitely a juggling act. Not only do you need to stay on top of the latest trends and maintain engaged conversations in your social networks, you need to have clear goals you want to accomplish. You also need to connect those goals with the goals of the entire organization.
If you’re a social media manager, or you’re looking to hire someone for this position, you’ll find these five habits common to all successful practitioners in this field useful to study. [ Read More... ]
To that end, we’re pleased to present the Sprout Insights series Spotlight on Startups. We’ll find the most innovative, useful startup companies out there, get the inside track on what they’re doing, and tell you how you can leverage their products and services for your own business.
This week we’re pleased to cast the spotlight on StartupPlays — an online platform where startups can purchase how-to guides, mentorship, and professional advice to help them achieve success. [ Read More... ]
The outlook is not great for traditional media companies these days, but don’t call the industry dead just yet. Many brands in media are working hard to adapt to changes in how people find and read information. By ramping up their presences on social media channels, they are pushing to stay relevant and engaged with their audiences.
Here at Sprout Insights, we recently reviewed some companies that are acing Twitter. But how do media companies measure up on Facebook? With Timeline still creating some barriers to brands looking to interact with their followers, here’s a look at three media companies that have overcome these challenges to create brilliant Facebook marketing campaigns. [ Read More... ]
Social media will play a huge role in this year’s Olympic Games. Over the last four years the medium has exploded, giving rise to new coverage opportunities — which the media is taking full advantage of.
Since Beijing, Facebook has grown from 100 million to more than 900 million members. Twitter has seen impressive growth as well, increasing active members from 6 million to more than 500 million. YouTube, which saw 10 hours of uploaded content a minute in 2008 now boasts 72 hours per minute — that’s more than 3 billion hours of content per month.
The Summer Olympics feature some of the most popular and buzz-worthy sports, including soccer, swimming, and track and field. With the understanding that there’s an immediate need for news and information, the 2012 Olympic Games have turned to social media, and here’s how. [ Read More... ]
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At what seems like a long time ago, I warned my list of the super recession that had started months before anyone else did. The government, of course, said that no such thing would happen but you know better. Things have gotten worse since then, and now you better know about another threat to the dollar and banking system. I’m not a financial advisor, so I am not telling you what to do, but I will tell you what the smart people, the insiders, the in-the-know people, the quiet Wall Streeters are doing right now. They are buying gold. I spent months looking to find EXACTLY what they were doing, and this was the most frequently cited strategy:
Why? Since 2007-2008 the US has gone through quantitative easing and now we’re about to go onto round three with no end in sight since you cannot stimulate what isn’t there — manufacturing and thus jobs. The true jobless rate, as reported by shadowstats.com, is actually about 23% and getting worse, so the actually number is akin to a depression. With every new dollar of quantitative easing the debt is also piling up, and is now at a level impossible to pay back. History shows that when something cannot be paid back, it won’t be paid back. Furthermore, you cannot get out of a debt problem by issuing more debt, which is what everyone is doing. Either the government will default, which our politicians would not dare do, or will print money to oblivion, in which case the dollar will devalue or we will see super inflation or hyperinflation. In both these scenarios, because the USD is the reserve currency, the only alternative would be holding the EURO, but because it too is in trouble, the only alternative is holding gold as part of your funds for protection. That is what people have done throughout history and what the (quiet) smart money is doing now, which is why I’m writing, because everything seems to be unfolding and I dare not stay silent.
Carmen Reinhart and Kenneth Rogoff, in their excellent “This Time It’s Different,” wrote a book that should become a guide for all future policy makers. They examined the fate of countless nations in various types of financial crisis (internal defaults, external defaults, banking crises, exchange rate crises and inflation crises) and charted out the typical pattern of distress. They found that the unwinding of a financial caused boom usually entails declines in real housing prices (housing usually declines 35% over six years or more), bear markets in stock prices (which typically decline 56% over three and a half years or more), exploding government debt (usually an average of 86%), falling output, rising unemployment rates, collapsing tax revenues and spiking interest rates. What happens depends upon the type of crisis that occurs, with Reinhart and Rogoff finding that banking crises typically lead to sovereign debt defaults (there have been 250 cases globally since 1800), and sovereign defaults typically lead to inflation (greater than 20% per year) and currency collapses.
Peter Bernholtz, author of “Monetary Regimes and Inflation,” found that most every case of hyperinflation he studied in multiple countries looked the same and was caused by massive budget deficits which were financed mostly by money creation. The tipping point to hyperinflation came when government deficits reached 40% or more of government spending (not GDP). The debt increase often came as the result of some rare or extreme event such as a loss in war, regime change or regime collapse, rampant government corruption, or having ceded one’s monetary sovereignty to a pegged currency or some type of foreign denominated debt. So hyperinflations were usually caused by the political mismanagement of legislatures that – for whatever reasons — spent far beyond their means and racked up a debt load that became a large proportion of government spending. This is why governments all over are trying to instate austerity programs which have already started here.
A study of 775 fiat currencies by DollarDaze.org reported that 21% were destroyed by war, 20% failed through hyperinflation, 12% were destroyed through independence, 24% had to be monetarily reformed, and 23% were still in circulation awaiting one of these outcomes. Even if you assume that a fiat currency will last forever, monetary scholar Edwin Vieira has pointed out that every 30-40 years the reigning monetary system usually fails in some way, and then has to be retooled to start again. The sources I consult consistently say that a perfect storm of conditions has arrived that makes this likely.
It may sound unbelievable, but in high banking circles (reported by Jim Willie in his excellent “Hat Trick” newsletter, and by many others) it is well known that China is getting ready to replace the dollar with a new reserve currency backed by gold; Russia will contribute oil and metals reserves to be part of it, and several other parties are willing to cooperate. China and Eastern nations don’t want dollars or Euros anymore because the nations just print them up they no longer represent anything of value, and they worry that the bonds they might buy will drop in value or interest payments will be defaulted. If countries don’t want the USD, it would also make the USD drop in value if other countries started abandoning it as the medium of exchange for international transactions. We have been known to start wars with countries who made just tiny steps in this direction, but we cannot do that to China and Russia. Central banks have also quietly been buying gold and it may soon be accepted as a cash equivalent. For instance, in a remarkable development, LCH.Clearnet, the world’s leading independent clearing house, said yesterday that it will accept gold as collateral for margin cover purposes starting in just one week – next Tuesday August 28th. This is unheard of, and some speculate that the central banks will make gold a Tier 1 asset, which is equivalent to cash. They would only do that if the dollar was becoming worthless.
Everyone is quickly realizing that they need a store of value other than the US dollar, and since that cannot be the EURO, 5000 years of history has everyone looking at gold. The Fed is even auditing its stores of gold at Fort Knox and elsewhere, and will release its audit figures soon! Gold is not a theoretical investment any longer because the big money is moving there. It fears the collapse of the dollar and the Euro (On Sept 12 the German Supreme Court is going to rule upon whether or not Germany can continue to put funds into the stability pacts and bailout program, and Germany right now has entered recession territory). Right now there’s some very real downside risk to the stock market if there’s no hint of new quantitative easing at either the Federal Reserve’s Jackson Hole meeting at the end of the month or the Fed meeting in September. Hedge fund managers say there’s the probability of a melt up in the gold price if there is any move toward quantitative easing at either event, and gold has already started moving upwards, which is why I’m writing.
The big hedge funds have also definitely started buying gold again (Obama supporter George Soros sold all his large American banking stocks and bought $$$ in gold as did hedge fund manager John Paulson). PIMCO has increased its commodity fund weighting of gold to 11.5%. I could go on and on, but it’s best to let someone else summarize the details, such as done in this excellent Max Keiser interview: http://www.kpfa.org/archive/id/83610 . For protection against inflation and sovereign debt default, or devaluation, people are now turning to gold just as the central banks increase their precious metal purchases, looking for a store of value other than the dollar which is in trouble.
There are so many issues involved with this. The corruption of Wall Street is not being prosecuted anymore, such as John Corzine of MF Global which promptly “lost” $1 billion is customer’s funds that it gambled away even though they were in segregated accounts. What is greatly worrying people in the know is a decision earlier this month in the 7th Circuit Court which effectively ruled that a bank does not owe you your money back if it loses it, which is another reason the elite are removing monies from the banking system and certain other financial institutions and parking it in precious metals stored at Gold Money and other safe institutions. The court actually ruled that once a banking customer deposits money into an account held by a bank, the funds then become property of the bank and the customer relinquishes all rights to that money regardless of any laws in place, legal assurances, claims or guarantees. This recent ruling extends from investments to private checking accounts. There is now a legal license to take away your money, so you can bet Wall Street will use this. Once the bank has physical possession of your money, they now own it and can use it for any means they deem fit. There is no longer any effective separation of customer and bank funds. They are now legally co-mingled. So what can the bank do with your money? The bank could use it to pay off debts, or as collateral for its own investing bets, and can use YOUR MONEY to buy stocks to try to make some extra cash. If the customer allocated funds are lost, the bank does not owe the customer the money back!!!!! This has now been made legal. In other words, the entire concept of customer segregated funds is officially, completely, legally dead. That should worry you.
Jim Willie reports, “The Federal Appeals Court has explicitly stated that a Futures Commission Merchant (FCM) can use customer deposits to pay its debts, and that the customers themselves are subjugated and have basically no legal right to funds in their own accounts. The rules goes in direct violation of what standing legal statutes and regulations state. No longer are legal assurances, claims, or guarantees valid for client segregated funds held with an FCM or any other brokerage or depository institution. All client funds in the United States are now legally available property of JPMorgan, Goldman Sachs, Bank of New York Mellon, or other giant banks standing as the counter-party on the loans the FCM or depository institution.”
In preparing my new book I had to research what people do in times of crisis like the current situation. Historically people have turned to holding a bit of cash in a foreign country in the safe reserve currency, but if that currency is itself in jeopardy, they turn to gold and silver, which is what is happening today in the private markets. The central banks are buying furiously, the hedge funds are in, as are the insiders at the highest levels of the banking crisis. On the stock market, investors are buying physical precious metal trusts that actually hold physical gold and silver instead of paper promises, so they like the Sprott Gold Trust (PHYS) and Sprott Silver Trust (PSLV) funds but are staying away from paper silver and gold exchange-traded funds like SLV and GLD which might one day come up short in terms of the actual physical holdings of the metals they report holding.
I am not a financial advisor, I don’t know your personal situation, and I am not advising you or telling you what to do. Max Keiser (you can listen to his excellent interview) and many vocal others (KingWorldNews, Gerald Celente, etc.) are saying to remove some of your money from the banking system, and buy gold or silver that is stored in a safe location such as Hong Kong or Canada but not the USA, Switzerland, or London where it can be confiscated or where rehypothecation games can be played with it. Basically people who thought they held physical gold at private banks in Switzerland are finding it was sold out from under them, so you need to hold it in a safe storage vault.
That’s all I can say. The world transforms, and a new equilibrium is always reached after tough times. A lower standard of living, for other reasons I have reported on, is definitely in store for us in the US as time goes on, but right now you have to take some measure to protect your money. I hope that helps. I discovered all this in researching my new book, to be released next month (if all goes well) and the time is right because of gold’s recent moves to tell you about this.
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Jacob Karabell '09 assists Samuel Issacharoff in preparing a Supreme Court brief and oral argument in asbestos litigation case
While many students were in class on March 30, Jacob Karabell ’09 was watching his professor, Samuel Issacharoff, Bonnie and Richard Reiss Professor of Constitutional Law, deliver an oral argument at the U.S. Supreme Court for which Karabell helped him prepare.
“I had never seen a Supreme Court argument in person before,” Karabell said. “It was particularly exciting to be there given that I knew the case so well. I had run through the argument a million times in my head. As a result, it was fascinating to watch everything unfold several rows in front of me.”
The case, Travelers Indemnity v. Bailey and the consolidated case Common Law Settlement Counsel v. Bailey, involves the long-running asbestos litigation, starting with the 1986 settlement with the bankrupt Johns-Mansville Corporation to handle claims by those injured by exposure to asbestos. The settlement compensated 660,000 claimants with more than $2.8 billion. Insurers contributed to the fund and received immunity from the bankruptcy court from future claims related to their policies with asbestos makers.
Plaintiffs’ lawyers later found other grounds to sue insurers including Travelers. Travelers objected, asserting that the new claims were barred by the bankruptcy court’s immunity order. After mediation, Travelers agreed to fund a $500 million trust for the new plaintiffs, in return for clarification that it would be immune from further claims. But other plaintiffs not part of the new settlement objected, and the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit agreed, finding that the bankruptcy court did not have the power to immunize Travelers from the other claims. The Supreme Court granted review.
Karabell began working on the case in January with Issacharoff, who represents the plaintiffs against Travelers. He wrote an expansive memorandum analyzing one of the crucial issues in the case and reviewed Supreme Court and circuit case law, legislative history, and scholarship. Students from NYU Law’s Supreme Court Litigation Clinic also assisted with the brief and the clinic and its director, Samuel Estreicher, Dwight D. Opperman Professor of Law, appeared as co-counsel on the brief.
“Once we received the petitioners’ brief, our work began in earnest since we had 30 days to submit our brief,” Karabell said. “Among other things, I was primarily responsible for the appendix of our brief, which set forth a list of the Supreme Court’s bankruptcy cases since the Court amended the Bankruptcy Act in 1984. The appendix demonstrated that the Court has never decided a bankruptcy case that has not involved the administration of the debtor's estate, which was the situation in our case.”
Karabell said that once the brief was submitted, he helped Issacharoff prepare for oral argument by performing additional research on specific questions that might come up. “In fact, one such question did come up in the argument, and Professor Issacharoff relied on my research in answering it. Justice Souter asked whether subject-matter jurisdiction ever can be challenged collaterally (i.e. in a second proceeding) if it is not contested in the first proceeding. Professor Issacharoff asked me to research this question a couple of nights before this argument, thinking that one of the justices might ask it, and I discovered that the Court never had squarely addressed the issue.”
Issacharoff and Karabell now await the Court’s decision, which should be issued in the next several months.
Karabell said the experience endeared him to appellate litigation specifically and litigation more generally. “I really enjoyed the strategic aspects of the case and seeing how our perspective changed as we delved deeper into the legal issues. I learned a tremendous deal from Professor Issacharoff that I hopefully will have the opportunity to utilize in the future.”
Karabell graduates in May and will work as an associate at Covington and Burling in Washington, D.C. for one year before clerking for Visiting Professor of Law Judge Harry T. Edwards of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit.
As for whether he sees another Supreme Court argument in his future with him behind the lectern, Karabell said “that would be an amazing and incredibly daunting opportunity. If nothing else, I realize how difficult it is fully to feel prepared for an oral argument, particularly at the Supreme Court level.”
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CHURCH CORNER: Change not a result of wishful thinking
February 8, 2010 · 3:59 PM
By Marcus Kelly
New Life Foursquare
Any idea yet on how the new year is going to treat you? Better? Worse? Or is it too soon to tell? Ever wonder why we think that the change of a number on a calendar is going to make everything different? Like the cosmos will know that it’s a new year and decide to be nice to you now. Somehow, through happy thoughts and wishful thinking, life will get better.
Unfortunately as I look back on my life, I’ve come to realize this type of hocus pocus thinking rarely makes a difference. Don’t get me wrong, I’m all for positive confession – but I don’t rely on that alone. So what can make 2010 better?
Recently I was listening to a podcast of a respected minister. He was talking about wisdom vs. wishful thinking. I have to admit I’ve had to re-evaluate some of my own mindsets. Honestly, I was rather disappointed in what I found.
Here is what he pointed out. Wishful thinking doesn’t bring a change to negative behavior or choices in one’s life. Wisdom, on the other hand, does.
Wishful thinking tends to lead us into a fantasy land – where we continue to live life the way we have been, but everything magically gets better. We lose weight without changing our diet or increasing our exercise. We become a great parent while never being involved in our childrens’ lives. We find a good, loving and caring person to marry and raise a family with by merely seeking opportunities for one-night stands. As wonderful as these things sound, they’re just not reality.
In life we need wisdom. Each one of us strays from wisdom from time to time. In Proverbs 12:1 it says, “Whoever loves instruction loves knowledge, but he who hates correction is stupid.” The problem isn’t necessarily straying from wisdom. No, the issue is what do we do once we know we’ve strayed. Will we continue in wishful thinking or will we allow wisdom to teach and correct us?
Wisdom understands when we’ve fallen short of our goals. Take weight for instance. Maybe we’ve put on a few – or more than a few – extra pounds. Wisdom tells us that we should set a goal and make some changes in our diet and/or exercise plan. Wisdom tells a father who wants to be a great dad not to work the overtime but get home for dinner and have storytime with his kids. Wisdom encourages those with destructive behaviors, like sleeping around or excessive partying, to change their behavior before it leads to lifelong health and wholeness issues.
Wishful thinking says it sure would be nice if the car turned at the corner, while wisdom…turns the wheel. I’ve learned over time to always appreciate when someone brings this kind of thinking bluntly to my face. Often, it can irritate my ego but I’ve found a bruised ego is better than being an idiot.
Don’t let your pride stop you from making the necessary changes this year. 2010 doesn’t care if you have a great year or a terrible year. God does! He has given us the ability to make good decisions and bring correction to our paths. Wishful thinking won’t bring you out of debt but wise stewardship can.
Let’s leave wishful thinking to children and birthday cakes. My hope and prayer for every one of us is that we spend 2010 bringing correction into our lives through the wisdom God brings to us. I know that it will make big changes for your life.
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The FTC approved a consent decree, which means Google can settle without admitting liability and will mean the settlement is said to be the largest in FTC history.
Google has said the tracking was inadvertent and that it collected no personal information like names, addresses or credit card data, reports Reuters.
The European Union is also investigating Google to see if it complies with Europe’s privacy laws. The EU is also investigating whether Google is manipulating search results to favour its own products, notes Reuters.
The FTC probe was kicked of after a Wall Street Journal investigation claimed that Google and other ad networks were bypassing Safari’s privacy settings by implementing code that misrepresented their ads as user form submissions.
The investigation took six months.
Vibrant Media, Media Innovation Group and Gannett PointRoll also reportedly used the workaround, notes Apple Insider.
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Customers at Adult Cinemas in Ivory Coast Getting Lessons on AIDS Prevention
January 28, 2002
The Super Mini Cinema was playing its usual fare, pornographic French videos, in the Ivory Coast town of Daloa one evening when word started to spread to a packed open-air bar across the street. The reason? Someone was giving the cinema clientele a message they weren't used to getting: sex might cost you your life.
"I want to tell them that if they're going to try to do what they do in the films, then they have to protect themselves," said Brou Barthelemi Saoure, a local Red Cross Official. He gave a half-hour presentation on the dangers of AIDS, passed out condoms, played an AIDS education video, and briefly turned an adult theater into a rowdy classroom full of eager listeners.
Red Cross workers have conducted AIDS education campaigns in Ivory Coast for years, from garages to hair salons; any place frequented by the public is usually targeted. Bringing that campaign to adult theaters is new, reaching young people who are likely to leave the theater and hire a prostitute. In Daloa, a crossroads for truck drivers from neighboring Guinea and Liberia, finding a prostitute isn't difficult. Some clients even offer more for condom-free sex.
"People come here to watch pornography and want to go right out and take a prostitute," 20-year-old Kamate Wassi said after watching the presentation. "But it's bad, because in the films, they don't use condoms. People see that and think they can go out and do the same thing."
Getting theater owners' permission to do AIDS education wasn't easy. "At first they refused. They thought it would be bad for business," Saoure said. Some wanted money, but Saoure befriended them instead, sometimes buying them a beer or two. To others, he was blunt. "I told them, if everyone becomes sick, they won't be coming to your video club."
01.20.02; Todd Pitman
This article was provided by U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. It is a part of the publication CDC HIV/Hepatitis/STD/TB Prevention News Update. Visit the CDC's website to find out more about their activities, publications and services.
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Olympics-Cyber attack seen as emerging threat for London 2012
LONDON, July 21 |
LONDON, July 21 (Reuters) - Olympic organisers are "very alive" to the threat of a cyber attack on the London 2012 Olympics, made more challenging because of its evolving nature, senior Interior Ministry officials said on Tuesday.
Ticketing systems, the transport network and hotel bookings as well as security are among potential targets.
Olympic security officials are also planning for the possible diversion of aircraft to protect airspace around the venues from terrorist attacks, the officials said.
The greatest threat to security at the Games is international terrorism, the government's latest "Safety and Security Strategy" report said.
"There's no current evidence of a terrorist threat to 2012," one of the Interior Ministry officials said.
"But if you look at precedents for sporting events, and to some degree about Olympic events, it would not be beyond the point of imagination to imagine a terrorist threat to 2012 nearer the time."
Metropolitan Police Assistant Commissioner Chris Allison said it was likely there would be a terrorist threat at the Games but he pointed to Britain's "long history of delivering safe sporting events".
Despite the British government on Monday lowering the threat level from international terrorism from "severe" to "substantial", security planning for the Games will be based on an assumed threat level of severe -- the second highest level.
Interior Minister Alan Johnson said in a statement that security planning was "progressing in good time and to budget".
A total of 600 million pounds ($980 million) has been put aside for security, but Interior Ministry officials said if the threat increased it could put upward pressure on costs.
The officials, who declined to be named, said a potential cyber attack posed a unique challenge because it was constantly changing and that more funds were being directed at the problem of computer attacks.
"The general challenge reflected in cyber is anticipating what threats will look like three years out, and threats change, the nature of terrorism changes and the nature of serious crime changes as well, and cyber specifically is a really good example of a moving threat," one of the officials said.
"I think we are very alive to the cyber (issue) and we are very alive to the fact that at the moment it is difficult to predict what it will look like with specific reference to the Games in 2012."
Officials are also drawing up plans for protecting water and air space around Olympic venues from possible attack, including possibly diverting aircraft. It is expected diversions would most likely affect smaller, private aircraft.
"We do expect there will have to be some management of air space," another of the Interior Ministry officials said.
"We do not expect that any airports will have to be closed." (Editing by Sonia Oxley; To comment on this story: [email protected])
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State Capitol News
Wed March 13, 2013
Collecting Unemployment May Get Harder For Some Arizonans
A Senate panel has voted to make it harder for some people to collect unemployment. Arizona Public Radio's Howard Fischer reports.
State law allows those who lose their jobs through no fault of their own to collect benefits for up to 26 weeks. If there is a dispute about the reason, the burden has been on the employer to prove the person quit or was fired for cause. This legislation shifts that burden to the former worker.
Eric Emmert, who lobbies for East Valley chambers of commerce, acknowledged that people who have been fired or laid off may not have proof they were let go. But he said the reverse can also be true. "The employer oftentimes doesn't have the ability to demonstrate that the employee did not call, did not show or left his or her position," Emmert said. "The employee should have the burden of proving that they are eligible for benefits."
Democrats on the Commerce Committee argued that's not fair. But Senator Bob Worsley said his own experience as founder of in-flight shopping magazine Sky Mall, which hires people for its call centers, convinces him that the operation of state unemployment systems is bad public policy. "I watch people set home for the entire length of their unemployment, at $6 an hour, because a call center job was not a whole lot more than that. And it was easier to set home and collect unemployment than to go get a job."
The benefit is supposed to be equal to half of what someone was earning. But, Arizona has the second lowest cap on benefits, at $240 a week, of any state in the country.
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As a lagniappe following my most recent post, here is a miscellany of Shaw quotes that are obviously not true:
Defending his vegetarianism: "Think of the fierce energy concentrated in an acorn! You bury it in the ground, and it explodes into an oak! Bury a sheep, and nothing happens but decay." If this means anything, it means that there is more nutrition in an acorn than in an equal amount of sheep tissue. Of course, the reverse is true. The reason a buried sheep doesn't do anything is that it is not a seed. On the other hand if you bury a fertilized sheep ovum in a sheep uterus, it explodes into something far more good to eat, and good for you, than a tree.
"There is only one religion, though there are a hundred versions of it." It is impossible to exaggerate how fatuously stupid this comment is. Under what conceivable interpretation are Islam and Buddhism the same? Yet this perfect piece of ignorance is endlessly repeated by Shaw's spiritual brethren.
"He who can, does. He who cannot, teaches." As a teacher, I resemble this remark. ... Seriously, if you can't do it, how could you teach how to do it? I think this obvious falsehood is repeated so often because it is a perfect model of sparse, severely economical wording, not because it is true.
"[Brahms' German Requiem] could only have come from the establishment of a first-class undertaker.” Once again, this is very cute, but that doesn't make it just or true.
"I have always held the religion of Muhammad in high estimation because of its wonderful vitality. It is the only religion which appears to me to possess that assimilating capability to the changing phase of existence which can make itself appeal to every age." Again, GBS has it bass-ackwards. As Nietzsche pointed out, the champion of chameleon religions is Christianity. During the Enlightenment Christians were rationalists, during the Romantic era they were soulful and idealistic. In the twentieth century they got into existential anst. What is the essence of Christianity? There's not much to it, really. On the other hand, Islam does not assimilate, it does not accommodate, and it does not negotiate. Like it or lump it, it is what it is. It's "appeal to every age" is its integrity, not the accommodationism for which he idiotically praises it.
"A government which robs Peter to pay Paul can always depend on the support of Paul." This would be right, except that he probably means it as a reason for robbing Peter.
"My specialty is being right when other people are wrong." This shows that truth, too, can stand on its head.
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Yemen's embattled president has vowed he will not step down or allow his impoverished nation to become a "failed state" even as urban combat between government troops and armed tribesmen engulfed parts of the capital.
Both sides raised the spectre of civil war as the three-day death toll rose to at least 63. The latest violence comes just days after a failed Arab mediation effort to end the three-month uprising and ease Ali Abdullah Saleh from power.
Mr Saleh's statement - read by spokesman Ahmed al-Soufi in a meeting with tribal allies - ruled out a voluntary departure and attacked US-backed efforts to negotiate his exit after 32 years of authoritarian rule.
"I will not leave power and I will not leave Yemen," the statement said. "I don't take orders from outside."
Mr Saleh also threatened that his ousting could turn Yemen into a haven for al Qaida - directly touching on US fears that chaos in Yemen could open room for more terrorist footholds. The Yemeni branch of al Qaida is linked to the attempted Christmas Day 2009 bombing of an airline over Detroit and explosives found in parcels intercepted last year in Dubai and Britain.
"Yemen will not be a failed state. It will not turn to al Qaida refuge," the statement said. Mr Saleh also said he would work to prevent the recent violence from "dragging the country into a civil war".
US President Barack Obama has called on Mr Saleh to transfer power, a change from an administration that once considered the Yemeni ruler a necessary ally against terrorism.
UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon called for an immediate end to the fighting, expressing concern that clashes "might further destabilise the situation", UN spokesman Martin Nesirky said at UN headquarters in New York.
The clashes broke out on Monday after Mr Saleh's troops tried to storm the compound of Sheik Sadeq al-Ahmar, the head of Yemen's largest tribe, the Hashid. Hundreds of tribal fighters rushed to the capital's northern Hassaba neighbourhood, where clashes erupted with government forces.
Government troops shelled the neighbourhood around Mr al-Ahmar's house while gunmen in civilian clothes exchanged gunfire and rocket-propelled grenades with tribal fighters.
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You would think that a domestic violence educator would be familiar with divorce counseling. While I hear many emotional stories from my clients about their relationships and marriages, I focus on the issue of power and control, and moving from power and control to a position of offering choice, and I believe that is what divorce counseling ultimately ends up working to establish.
Actually I am not at all familiar with the ins and outs of divorce counseling, so I really enjoyed the following article by retired judge Ann Kass.
"I often surprise divorcing couples, or couples who were divorced long ago but who are back in court, by suggesting that they get "divorce counseling." The most common reaction is confusion because they don't know there is a difference between "divorce" counseling and "marriage" counseling.
Marriage counseling is aimed at keeping a marriage intact. Divorce counseling is aimed at taking a marriage apart, but doing so with dignity and respect.
Divorce counseling is a good idea for almost everyone. It should be strongly recommended for people who have children, and it should be mandatory for people who get mired in their hurt and anger.
People who are stuck in their hurt and anger often show up in court over-and-over, sometimes year-after-year to argue about issues that often seem silly.
For example, one couple had several court hearings to argue about dog ashes. That's right, dog ashes. During their marriage, they had two dogs; both had died and been cremated. Obviously, the pets had been well-loved members of the family, but these folks spent hundreds of dollars to pay lawyers to file court papers and to go to court to argue about ashes: Who should get the ashes? Did each really get half the ashes? Were the ashes each one got really their dogs' ashes?
Obviously dog ashes weren't the issue. Dog ashes were only the conversation piece, the excuse to continue interacting. Couples like this have a need to stay involved with each other. They seem to have things to say to one another, but they aren't conscious of what it is they need to say. So they talk about dog ashes.
Lawyers and judges aren't trained to help these couples figure out what is at the root of the problem, so lawyers and judges find themselves also talking about dog ashes, with straight faces and in legalese. Generally we are able to find the right legal answer to the dog ashes question, but when we solve the dog ashes problem, these couples come up with a new conversation piece. It may be a crock pot or a rocking chair or whether Christmas visitation should start at 7:00 a.m. or 8:00 a.m. Whatever the conversation piece may be, the legal system is set up in such a way that these couples can keep each other in court practically forever.
The only way to really resolve disputes like these is for the couples to get divorce counseling with a professional counselor who can help them find their way to peace. It's a matter of helping them become aware of their hidden agendas--helping them become conscious of their subconscious needs and pains.
Parents who get divorce counseling save money in the long-run. They also can teach their children valuable skills by role-modeling respectful cooperation and perseverance. Most importantly, they can give their children the invaluable gift of peace."
For more Anne Kass articles, go here to select from complete list of 97 articles
Can Divorce Be Cooperative and Affiliative?
So the marriage counseling has not worked, or been tried, and the divorce counseling has begun.
Neutrals have been hired and the couple are working their way through the legal process of divorce.
From my perspective, I think the folks, including the children, involved in this process need to move effectively through a number of internal processes which involve a significant amount of self-awareness, and commitment to effective self-talk and assertive communication, which is not usually easy because of the emotions involved in the divorce process, which can spill over at any given moment.
I think the John and Julie Schwartze-Gottman workshop called The Art and Science of Love offers an excellent model for some of the emotional issues and communication issues which are sure to arise. I recommend their model because it is straight forward, with video instruction and paper and pencil exercises. While primarily focused on marriage counseling, the communication and self-talk modules can be helpful for individuals to model in divorce counseling.
The Gottman's advocate for the emotion of anger that the individuals take their pulse, and if their pulse rate rises above 100 beats per minute, then the couple or the individual needs to take time outs, and calm down.
It is particularly important that men do this, because the male physiology around alertness and aggression demands a minimum of a 20 minute calm down period.
I want to suggest that a biofeedback tool called Heartmath for both or maybe all the participants to the divorce counseling process would be extremely useful, because Heartmath trains an individual to move from an incoherent heart rate consistent with adrenalin and cortisol or stress hormones, which demands a large action, to heart rate variability coherence, which is associated with cooperative and affiliative behaviors.
One can create and sustain heart rate variability coherence for long periods of time with practice, and even one calm person can move the divorce counseling in very positive (not perfect) but positive direction.
So can you imagine all the parties to the divorce getting on the same heart beat, and cooperating to end the marriage and rebuild lives?
Subsequent to the legal process, then I think it is important to attend to a grieving process, and/or reconciliation and forgiveness if need be.
Certainly children need the opportunity to talk about their perceptions, fears, guilt, remorse, anger, and hurts.
Divorce counseling which involves education about or encouraging the experience of the stages of grief I think would facilitate the process of healing.
We as humans are supposed to grieve when we lose something important.
The model of grieving that we are most familiar with is the Kubler-Ross model, which involves five stages, one of which is anger (#3).
It would be helpful it seems to me to educate folks that their anger about the divorce and the other's role in 'causing' it is part of the healing and letting go process, and does not need to be acted out in the community.
And the last stage of the Kubler-Ross model of grieving is acceptance.
Would You Share Something That You Are Grateful For?
When I was beginning my personal growth journey, a wise person told me that when I was feeling resentful or afraid or sad, that I should remember the phrase "gratitude is the attitude" when I was ready to feel better. That phrase has helped me feel better tens of thousands of times.
Unleash Your Brain's Potential! Boost Learning Ability, Raise IQ, Improve Focus, Acuity & Much More...
To Become Second to None,
Click Here! for the Ultimate Brain Fitness Program!
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This consultation started on 24th March 2009 and ends on 22nd June 2009.
The European Commission published the proposal to amend the Pregnant Workers Directive in October 2008. The Directive sets down minimum levels of maternity rights, including leave and pay, which Member States must provide. The Commission's aim is to contribute to better work life balance through improving the protections offered to pregnant workers and workers who have recently given birth or are breastfeeding.
As part of its policies to support working parents, the UK Government has built on the minimum standards set out in the existing Directive and provides a longer period of maternity leave and a higher rate of maternity pay than is currently required.
We welcome your views on the Commission's proposal to change the minimum standards set out in the Directive, including the likely costs and benefits. Your views will inform the UK Government's ongoing negotiations which will take account of existing UK provisions.
The Consultation opened on the 24th March 2009. Views must be submitted by 22nd June 2009
The following documents relating to this consultation are available: European Commission proposals to amend the Pregnant Workers Directive: a consultationseen at 00:55, 26 March in All consultations.
Email this to a friend.
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The consequences of the the Israeli government decision go beyond the action against the Palestinian community in Bab Al-Shams. By evicting the residents, Netanyahu has made a mockery of the Israeli High Court and, in turn, the rule of law.
In the early hours of Sunday morning, hundreds of Israeli soldiers stormed the newly-founded Bab Al-Shams village, evicting Palestinian and international activists. The eviction took place despite an injunction by the High Court of Justice. However, Palestinians at the site were notified ahead of time that they will be removed regardless of the decision.
The Bab Al-Shams village was created only three days ago by over 250 Palestinians and internationals as a nonviolent response to Israel's recent decision to build settlement units in the E1 area. According to Irene Nasser, an activist who was present at the scene last night, activists at Bab Al-Shams were arrested and later released at the Qalandiya checkpoint near Ramallah. Six Palestinians were injured during the eviction and taken to hospitals in Ramallah and Jerusalem.
The Israeli government's decision to ignore the High Court injunction and evict the Palestinians from E1 was justified by urgent security needs. However, there was no further explanation regarding said security threat. (In Israel, the term "security threat" can often be used as a license for any oppressive actions toward the Palestinian people.) It is probably that Prime Minister Netanyahu, who ordered the eviction, made the hasty decision due to considerations having to do with the upcoming elections, rather than with security. However, the consequences of the the Israeli government decision go beyond the action against the Palestinian community in Bab Al-Shams. Netanyahu has made a mockery of the Israeli High Court and, in turn, the rule of law.
According to Haaretz, the village was built mostly on private Palestinian land, rather than "state land." Therefore, the government's decision lacks any legal standing, since the Palestinians were not given a chance to defend their case in court.
Palestinians have little faith in the Israeli legal system, as those living in the West Bank are subject to a military court system and do not have the same civil rights as Israelis. Despite the fact that they have some access to the High Court, most Palestinians simply don't trust the Israeli judiciary system. However, with just a few blunt, anti-democratic measures against Palestinians, the High Court sided with the Palestinians against the state. The eviction of Bab Al-Shams will diminish whatever trust Palestinians had in Israeli courts.
Palestinians learned today that even if the High Court rules in their favor, the Israeli government is entitled to ignore the court. If the current Israeli government can ignore the court's decisions with no consequences, then perhaps Israel should reconsider calling itself a democracy. And at the very least, Netanyahu's disregard for the High Court should alarm Israelis.
Israel considers over 100 of the current settlements illegal. Yet, the government turns a blind eye to these settlements, often built on private Palestinian land. Despite their illegal status, these settlements are protected by the IDF, and receive residential services and infrastructural support. Furthermore, Israel has built over 120 "legal" settlements in the West Bank while preventing Palestinians from establishing new towns or villages in Area C, which constitutes more than 60 percent of the West Bank.
The story of the Migron outpost is easily best example of the Israeli government's double standard vis-a-vis the settlements; despite building on private Palestinian land, and a High Court decision to evict the outpost, the Israeli government ignored the eviction order. The government then became the advocate of Migron's settlers and requested more time in order to find a "solution" that would suit the settlers. Eventually, the government agreed to move Migron to a new location.
The policy is clear: Palestinians are forbidden from building on their own land, while settlers will be given complete support for building regardless of the legality or consequences.
And although the government was successful in evicting Bab Al-Shams, it could do very little to destroy the inspiration that Bab Al-Shams has given to Palestinians. The innovation of challenging the occupation through nonviolence could be a game changer in the Palestinian struggle.
Aziz Abu Sarah is a Palestinian resident of Jerusalem who divides his time between Jerusalem and Washington D.C. More"
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Dr. Pascale is an educator, researcher, and artist, and directs the Integrated Teaching Through the Arts programs.
Professional Title: Associate Professor
Areas of Academic Focus and Expertise: Traditional music and its role in culture and society; strategies for integrating music into the school curriculum
Area of Work and Concentration at Lesley: Integrated teaching through the arts; music
Representative List of Recent Courses Taught: Integrated Arts Approaches to the Curriculum; Multiple Perspectives Through Music; Educator Inquiry: Seminar and Thesis Project; Arts and Children with Special Needs; Integrated Arts Seminar
Education: Ph.D., Lesley University; M.Ed., Lesley University; B.A., University of California
Louise has taught in the ITA Creative Arts in Learning program for over 15 years. Louise's research investigates the meaning of singer and non-singer with an interest in changing the ways singing is perceived, nurtured and implemented in classrooms. Most recently, she has launched the Children's Afghan Songbook Project, a project that strives to preserve traditional Afghan children's songs and return them to the children of Afghanistan. These songs almost completely disappeared from Afghan culture due to the devastation that has afflicted Afghanistan over the past 30 years. This project is rooted in her years as a Peace Corps volunteer in the late 1960s.In 2008, she published Children's Songs from Afghanistan: Qu Qu Qu Barg-e-Chinaar, the English translated version of the songbook which is being distributed to music specialists, educators, Afghan-Americans and others interested in learning more about world music. There are currently over 30,000 songbook packages distributed across Afghanistan. In addition, Louise, along with a team of Afghans, created a Teacher's Guide to accompany the songbook. This guide provides lesson ideas that use the songs to teach basic literacy skills. A second songbook is being created and will be published, along with another Teacher's Guide, by Spring 2013.
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Just less than 500 days to the kickoff of the world's sporting fiesta, the Football World Cup, the official poster for the 2014 World Cup has been released and it’s as bright and lively as the carnival-loving country itself.
Designed by the Crama agency, it shows a map of Brazil between two players challenging for a ball. The official poster is an important step to showcase Brazil and the FIFA World Cup in the host country and abroad, said Samba legend Ronaldo
It is important to convey the message of a country that is modern, innovative, sustainable, happy, united and, of course, passionate about football. The winning poster was chosen over two others by a panel including Ronaldo, former player Bebeto, artist Romero Britto and Brazilian culture minister Marta Suplicy.
Brazil’s 12 host cities released their individual posters in November. The country has chosen an armadillo named Fuleco as the official mascot. The presentation was meant to have taken place last Monday, 500 days before the tournament kicks off.
But the ceremony was delayed because of the tragic nightclub inferno in Santa Maria that killed 235 people.
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What’s ahead for the General Assembly: guns, voter ID and fracking
The News & Observer gives a preview of what could be on the General Assembly’s dance card during the session that starts this week. We have polled North Carolina residents on several of the topics.
Gun control – There was talk that one of the gun bills that surfaced last year would resurface. It would allow people who have permits to carry concealed weapons to take them into establishments that serve alcohol and into parks. Our poll showed that 56% of respondents do not want guns in restaurants or parks.
Voter ID — Watch for the GOP to attempt an override or even seek a compromise to get Democratic support in order to put a law in place before the November election. Our poll showed that 74%
of North Carolina residents support the idea of a photo ID requirement before voting.
Fracking — A package of three bills – legalizing hydraulic fracturing, promoting offshore energy exploration, and creating a test program for fuel-producing grasses – will definitely be introduced and likely be approved. Our poll indicated that more than half
of N. C. residents don’t know what “fracking” is.
– John Robinson
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Re: Can there be a "universal" good BP
Well a guy that is 6' 250 is likely quite overweight and his pressure is likely to be higher than normal, but pathologically so.
The fact is that if you look at populations of people, cardiovascular mortality and morbidity begins to rise when the BP is >115/75. So, really theres plenty of room for variability there, as one could have a lower pressure than 115 and still be just fine.
If youre a hypertension, with no heart problems and your diastolic pressure really is 50, I would consider taking less medication. That is too low most likely.
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During the labor of my daughter, I realized just how much I could use some Carmex for my lips. They got so chapped that they were bleeding and swollen. It is amazing how the little comforts during labor, can make things much more bearable. The following items can certainly be useful during labor and delivery. Include a few treats, you deserve it!
- tennis balls for massages
- a Birthing ball (exercise ball): It is useful for bouncing on, and laying your chest and head on it. If you sit on it correctly (with your legs spread somewhat) it actually helps to open your cervix and bring the baby down correctly. Some women actually enjoy bouncing on it during labor.
- Bottles of Water for mother, daddy, and birth attendants
- Gatorade or Laborade
- Honey in a spoon or honey straws
- Washcloths for soaking in a crockpot with herbs such as lavender (These feel great on the back or face)
- Popsicles or lollipops to keep mouth hydrated.These look really good to me!
- Massaging oils or lotions such as here. One of my friends gave me a set like this after Lily was born, and it was lovely! Lavender is best for promoting relaxation, which is essential for the first stage of labor.
- Power Bars for busy mommy, daddy, and birth attendants. Don't let your blood sugar drop!
- Fruit: Some women find that eating one piece of fruit during a difficult time in labor, helps them to carry on.
- Water: If you are not going to use a birthing pool, many women recommend soaking in your tub or taking a shower as a way to soften your skin and make the pain more bearable.
- Scripture booklet: Many women compose a scripture booklet prior to labor with scriptures which they can focus on during labor.
- Perhaps, have a movie on hand, which you really want to see, and save it for the early hours of labor. What a good distraction. It may help you to remain calm.
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RALEIGH, N.C. — North Carolina Gov. Bev Perdue announced today her opposition to a proposed anti-LGBT constitutional amendment that would ban recognition of marriage, civil unions and domestic partner benefits for same-sex couples in the state.
“My top priority is creating jobs,” Perdue said in a statement released on Friday afternoon. “Too many people are out of work and I’ve heard from several business leaders who’ve told me that the proposed constitutional amendment will harm our state’s business climate and make it harder to grow jobs here.”
Perdue added, “I believe that marriage is between one man and one woman: That’s why I voted for the law in 1996 that defines marriage as between one man and one woman, and that’s why I continue to support that law today. But I’m going to vote against the amendment because I cannot in good conscience look an unemployed man or woman in the eye and tell them that this amendment is more important than finding them a job.
“In addition, a number of legal experts have argued that this amendment, if passed, could eliminate legal protections for all unmarried couples in our state, regardless of sexual orientation. Right now, my focus, the General Assembly’s focus, and North Carolina’s focus needs to be on creating jobs.”
The announcement comes after weeks of speculation over Perdue’s personal thoughts on the measure. The Democrat had refused requests by the media and activists for her to clarify her remarks or issue a more definitive statement. In fact, two requests for comment from QNotes to the governor’s press office were ignored.
Filed under: North Carolina
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The FDA approves a new targeted drug to treat advanced breast cancer. Georgia Cancer Specialists was one of the leaders in the clinical trial and research.
The new drug T-DM1 treats what's called Herceptin 2 positive breast cancer. This type accounts for about 1 in 5 women with breast cancer.
Breast cancer patient Susan Reid was thrilled to learn there's a new treatment for some patients.
"It just changes the whole reaction, my reaction anyway, and most people I know who have been diagnosed with breast cancer. There's just so much going on. It is exciting, Reid said.
Her doctor, Dr. Mansoor Saleh, played an integral role in the clinical trial to get the drug approved.
"I live for the moment of having new drugs for the patient. I think the patient deserves the drug called hope. But I think the patient deserves more than that, a drug that can kill their cancer," Saleh said.
Saleh said the prognosis for advanced breast cancer patients whose cancer progressed after chemotherapy and had herceptin treatments, was to live two and a half to three years. T-DM1 changes that.
"It is a dramatic array of hope, a new drug that did not exist before. To us in the scientific field, we now can deliver, chemotherapy in this case, T-DM1 directly to the enemy, i.e. the tumor cell and not harm the rest of the tissue," Saleh said.
Saleh calls T-DM1 a major breakthrough that gives patients approximately another six months.
"Within that six months life can change, new drugs can be approved," Saleh said.
Reid calls the women in the study brave, and believes it takes courage and offers hope to others living with breast cancer.
"It makes me think it's a temporary inconvenience and not a life sentence," Reid said.
Reid is now participating in a trial herself. Saleh said participation in trials are crucial to these types of breakthroughs.
The drug will be available for prescription in two to three months.
Georgia Cancer Specialists were recently just approved for another trial which will test this same drug in breast cancer patients earlier.
Copyright 2013WGCL-TV(Meredith Corporation). All rights reserved.
Sunday, May 19 2013 7:34 AM EDT2013-05-19 11:34:54 GMT
A lottery official says 1 winning ticket has been sold in Zephyrhills, Fla. for a record Powerball jackpot of more than $590 million. Florida Lottery executive Cindy O'Connell told The Associated PressMore >
A lottery official says 1 winning ticket has been sold in Zephyrhills, FL. for a record Powerball jackpot of more than $590 million.More >
Friday, May 17 2013 7:16 PM EDT2013-05-17 23:16:53 GMT
One person has died in a crash near Harrisonville, MO, Thursday evening. The crash happened on Missouri Highway 7 and Walker Road. It involved a car and a tractor-trailer. Harrisonville is in Cass County.More >
Savannah Nash celebrated her 16th birthday last week. She died Thursday when her car slammed into a semi while she was texting during her first time driving by herself.More >
Friday, May 17 2013 6:05 PM EDT2013-05-17 22:05:44 GMT
A metro Atlanta woman said a snake bite cost her an arm and a leg financially. Lisa Zambito killed a copperhead snake like this one in her driveway a couple of weeks ago. "The head moved as I pickedMore >
A metro Atlanta woman said a snakebite cost her an arm and a leg - financially. More >
Sunday, May 19 2013 10:54 AM EDT2013-05-19 14:54:12 GMT
President Barack Obama will deliver the Commencement address during the 129th Commencement exercises at Morehouse College. Commencement is set for 11 a.m. Sunday, May 19, 2013 on the Century Campus. TheMore >
President Barack Obama will deliver the commencement address during the 129th commencement exercises at Morehouse College on Sunday.More >
Saturday, May 18 2013 5:25 PM EDT2013-05-18 21:25:45 GMT
Some critics are saying this week is one of the worst for President Obama since he's been in office. He fielded three scandals including the latest involving the IRS. The tax agency is accused of singlingMore >
Some critics are saying this week is one of the worst for President Obama since he's been in office. He fielded three scandals including the latest involving the IRS. More >
Friday, May 17 2013 11:23 PM EDT2013-05-18 03:23:46 GMT
With no state lottery in Alabama, and a buzz about the largest Powerball Jackpot in history, people are gassing up their cars, getting out cash and heading to Georgia. CBS Atlanta News caught up withMore >
With no state lottery in Alabama, and a buzz about the largest Powerball Jackpot in history, people are gassing up their cars, getting out cash and heading to Georgia.More >
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Summer schools of Czech language in historical cities of Brno and Olomouc
14.03.2013 / 01:24
Masaryk University in Brno and Palacký University in Olomouc are organizing in the period from 20th July to 17th August 2013 intensive Czech language classes that are complemented with additional events such as film club, theatre workshop, workshop of folklore dances, two one-day trips and a weekend trip to Prague.
The Summer School is designed for professors, senior lecturers, lectors and students of Czech language and literature or Slavonic studies, translators, journalists and people from the general public interested in Czech language, literature, history, and culture.
The programme comprises also courses for beginners. English and Czech are used as mediating (teaching) languages according to students' level.
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Ice Sculptors Wish For Colder Temperatures
As spectators enjoy the recent warm up at the Saint Paul winter carnival, the ice sculptors artists are only squeaking by.
"The temperature is not conducive to freezing blocks together so you really have to get creative," said sculptor Rob Graham. "You have to allow for breakage which, heaven forbid, but it happens."
Sculptors actually hope for below freezing temperatures in order to get ice to stick together and build the piece. Sunday morning's temperatures hovered above what the artists really needed. They might have been the only people in town missing last week's cold snap.
Each piece is personally designed by the artist. Amateur sculptor Jim Zupfer even proposed to his wife this way.
"It was me down on one knee, and then I made a spot for the ring box to sit and he was holding a rose," he said.
She said yes, and this year he's carving a statue of their seven-year-old son. But with only one block of ice and a quick deadline, not everything goes as smoothly as Zupfer's proposal.
"The other night we had four dead chainsaws. Frozen up, locked up, broken chains," said Graham.
So they find creative ways to get around all the obstacles hoping to winning enough money to replace the tools that break so they can do it again next year.
The winter carnival has used lake ice in the past but this year the blocks were purchased locally for between 40 and 80 dollars a pop. They decided to buy the ice because lake ice can have dirt and even fish frozen in it.
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Music Makes the Difference
This post is by Phillip Hain, the West Region Director for Autism Speaks.
Ever since my 19 year old son, Andrew, was diagnosed with Asperger Syndrome at the age of 3½, I’ve learned—and shared this sentiment with other parents—that we measure success and milestones on a different chart. I had recently one at the Love Ride, an annual motorcycle event that for 28 years has raised money for various children’s causes. Autism Speaks was fortunate to be the beneficiary for the 2nd consecutive year.
A traffic accident on the freeway caused a major delay getting to the ride’s endpoint and the young man scheduled to sing the national anthem was stuck in traffic. It quickly became apparent he wouldn’t make it in time, even while we were already stretching the program as much as we could. I had this idea that made me feel like the stage manager in an old Hollywood musical movie: Andrew could go on in his place! He loves to sing, has done the national anthem before at one of our Walk Now for Autism Speaks events, has no fear of performing before a crowd, and definitely enjoys being the center of attention.
When I presented him with the idea there was a big surprising response: he didn’t want to do it.
I was really shocked and asked him why and his response had all the indications of being a teenager rather than anything borne out of genuine fear or stage fright. He said, “I’m more into singing pop music now. That doesn’t interest me.” I was simultaneously amused and annoyed so I just tried to reason with him, explaining that he would be doing a big favor because they really needed someone. The next few minutes were a series of him partially agreeing, then changing his mind, my continued pleading mixed with patience, until he finally said, “Ok, I’ll do it.” I wanted to make sure he was comfortable and he said yes.
When he strode onto the stage, you would have thought he was a pro. He started singing and two lines into the song, he broke for a moment to say, “Everybody join me.” Talk about working the crowd for maximum effect! He finished the song to the sound of rousing applause and cheers. (I later read on a blog post about the event that his performance was the highlight of the afternoon.) He was justifiably proud and said, “I’m glad I did it. I made the right decision.”
Many kids—and adults— with autism have an affinity for music and other arts. It calms them and provides the opportunity to express themselves in creative ways, and breaks the stereotype of children completely locked in their own world and unable to emerge. That was certainly confirmed in the Emmy-winning documentary “Autism: The Musical.”
It is with that spirit which inspired our Los Angeles chapter to create an event rooted in music which we are calling the Blue Tie-Blue Jean Ball. It will be a fun, casual, anything-but-boring evening to celebrate music and lift our souls at the House of Blues Los Angeles on December 1. Guess? Jeans has signed on to be our presenting sponsor. We’re fortunate that the incredible Sarah McLachlan has agreed to perform as the headliner at our inaugural show. A few more special guests have strongly hinted that they will drop by for the festivities.
We’re also honoring a fantastic rock music photographer named Rob Shanahan, who has taken some absolutely stunning pictures of the biggest names in the industry. Some of his subjects include Sting, Dave Navarro, Sheila E. and Barry Manilow. And the foreword to Rob’s new book, Volume 1, was written by Ringo Starr. It doesn’t get more impressive than that. Rob’s work will be on display that night and he’ll also be signing books. You can get a sneak peek at his website www.robshanahan.com.
So, if you live in the Los Angeles area, or just made the snap decision to be here December 1, you will treat yourself to an amazing night. And if you have friends or relatives nearby, make sure they plan to attend. You don’t want to be the one who hears them complain, “Why didn’t you tell me?”
The event website is http://events.autismspeaks.org/bluetie.
Check out this great video by CelebrityWire here!
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Patch testing is used to aid in the diagnosis of allergic contact dermatitis. This is a painless procedure and is performed over a period of 3 days out of a week. Most commonly tested is the standard North American series that consists of 65 different allergens. Depending on your dermatitis, whether personal or occupationally related, we offer other specific series such as:
Corticosteroid Oil & Coolants
Epoxy Textiles & Colors
We can also test to personal products. The patient must be seen three times in one week. The first day is the application of the patches. They adhere to the skin, preferably the back, in panels of 10 and are secured in place with a special tape. At the second appointment, 48 hours later, the patches are removed, marked with special ink and pictures are taken. The third and final appointment, 72 or 96 hours later, is a reading to assess delayed reactions and confirm positive reactions. During this week the patient will not be allowed to get the area wet. At the final appointment the patient will be given information on any confirmed allergies.
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Yoko Ono and Amnesty International have announced that members of the jailed Russian group Pussy Riot are among the winners of the 2012 Lennon Ono Grant for Peace. Rolling Stone reported that the members "will be awarded an unspecified grant" during today's (September 21st) ceremony in New York City. While some members of the group fled Russia, three group members remain imprisoned and are appealing their two-year sentence for hooliganism after a demonstration in a church where they burned a poster of Russian president Vladimir Putin.
Ono will be on hand on October 9th in Iceland to salute the other recipients of the biennial Lennon Ono Grant for Peace -- Rachel Corrie, John Perkins, Christopher Hitchens, and an "unidentified peace activist."
Pete Townshend, who was friendly with Lennon, says that he felt that Lennon's late-'60s peace campaign was well intentioned, but ultimately naive: "God, I have to be very careful here, because I'm good friends with Yoko and one of her great defenders. I don't want to get into trouble with her, or with Sean (Lennon), or Julian (Lennon), who I'm also very friendly with. But I think sometimes John Lennon got it wrong. That's what I think. Y'know, I think there's a difference between peace and stupidity, y'know? And I think that pacifism as a banner is a lovely idea but y'know, when somebody comes to burn your house down, you have to do something."
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Socialist Appeal (UK, 1992)
||This article has multiple issues. Please help improve it or discuss these issues on the talk page.
|Part of a
series on the
|International Marxist Tendency|
Degenerated workers' state
Socialist Appeal (United Kingdom)
|Revolutionary Communist Party
Revolutionary Socialist League
Committee for a Workers' International
Socialist Appeal is the publication of a British Trotskyist tendency operating within the Labour Party which was founded by supporters of Ted Grant and Alan Woods after they were expelled from the Militant tendency in the early 1990s. The organisation is popularly known as the Socialist Appeal group, and publishes a monthly newspaper of the same name. It is the British section of the International Marxist Tendency. Socialist Appeal describes its politics as descending from Karl Marx, Friedrich Engels, Vladimir Lenin and Leon Trotsky.
In the 1970s and 1980s, the Trotskyist Militant tendency had been a significant force within the British Labour Party. At the height of its influence in the mid-to-late 1980s, Militant had three Labour MPs, control of Liverpool City Council, and initiated the campaign that brought down the Poll Tax. Ted Grant had been one of the founders and a major theoretical leader of the Militant tendency but was expelled with other supporters after the 1991 debate on the Open Turn.
A special conference decision to endorse the Open Turn by 93% to 7% entailed Militant supporters abandoning the entryist strategy of working within the Labour Party and leaving to form an independent organisation. The new party was initially known as Militant Labour, changing its name in 1997 to the Socialist Party in England and Wales, while in Scotland Scottish Militant Labour instigated the formation of the Scottish Socialist Party.
The split was caused by the Militant tendency's majority adoption of the 'Open Turn', Grant's continued support for the tactic of entryism within the Labour Party and what Grant and Woods claimed was the bureaucratic centralist degeneration of Militant's internal regime. After the debate and conference decision, the Militant tendency claimed that Grant and Woods had begun a separate organisation and had split from Militant, whilst Grant and Woods claimed to have been expelled. The Socialist Party drew the conclusions that owing to the adoption of right wing economic polices by the Labour Party leadership under Neil Kinnock, it was effectively a bourgeois political party. Conversely, supporters of Socialist Appeal argued that the Labour Party's funding was still based on trade unions, and the Labour Party retains support amongst the working class.
As Labour under Tony Blair embraced the Third Way and moved away from its traditional socialist roots, most Trotskyist tendencies in Britain that employed the tactic of entrism have left Labour and either run candidates under their own banner, such as the Socialist Party, or joined electoral coalitions such as the Scottish Socialist Party or the Socialist Alliance. The Socialist Party, along with other left-wing organisations, intiatiated the Campaign for a New Workers' Party in 2006, arguing that trade unions should break with Labour and construct their own political formation. However, supporters of Socialist Appeal have rejected this turn and they are the main Trotskyist group in Britain which maintains the entrist tactic in the twenty-first century. Socialist Appeal began publishing their own journal in 1992. In 2000, the group was estimated to have around 250 supporters.
Socialist Appeal puts forward a set of transitional demands for the transformation of the economy on socialist lines similar to the programme drawn up in 1938 by Leon Trotsky.
The Labour Movement
Socialist Appeal argues that the Labour Party must break decisively with capitalism and adopt a socialist programme, based on the nationalisation of the "commanding heights" of the economy. They argue that through the introduction of a planned economy, a socialist Labour government could introduce full employment, a 32-hour week, and "reasonable" wages and pensions.
Socialist Appeal calls on trade unions to "reclaim" the Labour Party for themselves, away from the domination of supporters of Tony Blair and Gordon Brown, and its supporters typically work within their respective Constituency Labour Parties or trade union branches to that end. The organisation also carries out open work outside of the Labour Party. Socialist Appeal demands full trade union rights, including the repeal of the anti-union laws introduced by Margaret Thatcher, as well as for officials in the Labour Party and Trade Unions to be subject to the right of recall, and to receive a "worker's wage".
The Economy
Socialist Appeal is in broad agreement with the classical Marxist view that capitalism inherently results in "boom and bust" cycles as a result of overproduction, and thus attempts to prevent this through monetarism or Keynesianism are not possible. Therefore, the only solution to this is the introduction of democratic socialism, based on a planned and nationalised economy, based on the socialisation of its "commanding heights" (i.e. the top 150-200 financial institutions and companies). They argue that a planned economy is able to replace production on the basis of profit with production on the basis of need.
Socialist Appeal Publications
Socialist Appeal refers to the monthly journal of the same name. In September 2009, the publication Socialist Appeal changed from a magazine journal format to a full colour tabloid. Similar to the newspaper of the old Militant tendency, an issue of Socialist Appeal typically contains theoretical articles, industrial reports, and political analysis. Socialist Appeal also produce and publish a number of pamphlets and books through their Wellred publishing arm.
Socialist Appeal was also the name of two British Trotskyist newspapers associated with Ted Grant in the 1940s: one was the newspaper of the Workers International League and immediately following that of the Revolutionary Communist Party.
Socialist Appeal is the name of the English-language newspaper of the Workers' International League, the US section of the International Marxist Tendency, and a newspaper in New Zealand which is also affiliated.
International Marxist Tendency
Although they remain small in Britain, the international group to which they are affilitated, the International Marxist Tendency, has grown in number, especially in the Indian subcontinent and Latin America, where they are enthusiastic supporters of the Bolivarian Revolution (they instigated the formation of the Hands Off Venezuela campaign group). As well as publishing their magazine Socialist Appeal, the group has also published a number of books by Leon Trotsky, Ted Grant and Alan Woods. The group has devoted much of their time to developing the multilingual website In Defence of Marxism.
Supporters of Socialist Appeal value the importance of theory highly, and dedicate a large amount of space in their paper and website to theoretical articles. They have been criticised by some left groups[who?] for spending too much time on 'abstract' theoretical subjects; however, Socialist Appeal argues that a thorough understanding of Marxism, history, economics and politics is necessary to understand the world today. They argue that neglect of theory in the late 1980s led to the Militant tendency turning in an ultraleft direction.
See also
- "Ted Grant". The Telegraph. 27 July 2006. Retrieved 13 July 2012.
- Crick, Michael (27 July 2006). "Socialist revolutionary who used Labour movement". Financial Times. Retrieved 15 July 2012.
- "Ted Grant: Trotskyist who gave the Labour Party a scare through his leadership of Militant Tendency". The Times. 26 July 2006. Retrieved 13 July 2012.
- Wade, Bob (27 July 2006). "Ted Grant: Trotskyite behind the Militant Tendency's infiltration of the Labour party". The Guardian. Retrieved 13 July 2012.
- "Socialist Appeal Conference 2012 - Full Report". Retrieved 13 July 2012.
- "A Brief History of the International Marxist Tendency". In Defence of Marxism. Retrieved 13 July 2012.
- Crick, Michael (1986). The March of Militant. London: Faber & Faber.
- Taaffe, Peter (1995). The Rise of Militant. London: Militant Publications.
- Sewell, Rob. "How the Militant was Built – and How it was Destroyed" (10 October 2004). In Defence of Marxism. Retrieved 13 July 2012.
- Grant, Ted (1989). The Unbroken Thread. London: Fortress Books. pp. ix.
- McSmith, Andy (9 August 2006). "Ted Grant: Founder of the Trotskyite group Militant Tendency who never abandoned his revolutionary ideals". The Independent. Retrieved 13 July 2012.
- "Against Bureaucratic Centralism". In Defence of Marxism. Retrieved 13 July 2012.
- Taaffe, Peter (1995). The Rise of Militant. London: Militant Publications. Text "pages:133" ignored (help)
- "The Campaign for a New Workers' Party (CNWP)". Campaign for a New Worker's Party. Retrieved 13 July 2012.
- Peter Barberis et al, Encyclopedia of British and Irish Political Organizations, p.519
- "Socialist Appeal stands for". Socialist Appeal. Retrieved 13 July 2012.
- "The Crisis: Make the bosses pay! - Manifesto of the International Marxist Tendency". Socialist Appeal. Retrieved 13 July 2012.
- "Welcome to the new look Socialist Appeal!". Socialist Appeal (177): 2. September 2009.
- "Welcome to Wellred Online Bookshop!". Wellred Books. Retrieved 13 July 2012.
- Crick, Michael (1984). Militant. London: Faber & Faber. pp. 34,38.
- "Workers Party of the United States. Publications, 1933-1939". Cornell University Library. Retrieved 13 July 2012.
- "Venezuela's economy: Towards state socialism". The Economist. Retrieved 13 July 2012.
- Yapp, Robin. "Welsh Trotskyist in row over claims he is key adviser to Hugo Chavez". The Telegraph. Retrieved 13 July 2012.
- Walker, Ross (13 April 2012). "London commemorates 10 years of the defeat of the coup". In Defence of Marxism. Retrieved 13 July 2012.
- "Welcome to Wellred Online Bookshop!". Wellred Books. Retrieved 13 July 2012.
- Woods, Alan (15 October 2009). "In defence of theory — or Ignorance never yet helped anybody". In Defence of Marxism. Retrieved 13 July 2012.
- Grant, Ted. "Scotland—Socialism or Nationalism? A Marxist Analysis". Retrieved 27 June 2012.
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I didn't think to mention it earlier but Marco has a third starter culture, one that dates back to 1870. Marco decided not to release that culture to the wild, as he did with the Ischia and Camaldoli cultures. When he mentioned the existence of the third culture to the forum, one member went so far as to suggest that Marco release that culture to the world too. When Marco stood his ground, the member asked Marco if it was greed that kept him from doing so and said that he was baffled by Marco's reluctance to share his culture with others. The thread in which this exchange occurred eventually ended up being moved to the Moderator's board when Marco, it a fit of anger, deleted the content of several of his posts that rendered the thread unintelligible. In retrospect, it perhaps would have been a wiser course for Marco not to tease our members by telling them that he had another really good culture in the back room.
One of the major problems with sourdough cultures is that things that occur in nature can't be patented. Trademarks and copyright aren't going to be of much help in stopping cloning. So, that pretty much leaves trade secret as the best way to protect a culture. But once it is released, there is essentially no way left to stop anyone from cloning the culture. In Ed Wood's case, he at least has a solid reputation in the field, and he appears to be a good and trustworthy steward of the cultures that have been entrusted to him from sources all around the world. And he is a first generation custodian of the two Italian cultures. These considerations alone may be enough for most people to buy from him instead of from questionable or untested third parties who sell clones. And, for $20 for the two cultures (http://www.sourdo.com/home/cultures/italian-cultures-includes-two/
), it isn't like Ed is ripping people off, although we have had some members complain about the price. It would be interesting to know why Amazon is no longer offering the competing cultures.
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Christopher Nolan as auteur
Written by Sarah
Christopher Nolan is the only working auteur today.
At its simplest level, the auteur theory states that a director is the principal author of a film, despite the inherently industrial nature of filmmaking, in which dozens of parts must work together to create the whole. This is usually borne out by a cohesive creative vision evident throughout a director’s body of work.
I’m not a huge fan of the auteur theory because there are legitimate arguments to be made on behalf of screenwriters and producers, even actors, editors and cinematographers, as individuals whose vision can significantly determine the style of a film. However, I do think that it is the director’s job to unite these separate visions to serve his greater idea, so as a tool for judging directors, I believe the auteur theory is a good place to start.
One quality of a true auteur is the construction of a workshop. Because of the exclusive nature of the auteur theory I have a hard time measuring directors who write their own films against those who don’t. It’s the extra measure of control the writer/director exerts over his idea, and it gives him an edge over other directors in the auteur debate. Also, Nolan uses the same collaborators film to film. Since Memento, cinematographer Wally Pfister has shot each of Nolan’s films. Nolan has written or co-written each film except Insomnia. He is a frequent producer on his films, as is his wife, Emma Thomas. As for editing, the unsung hero of filmmaking, every film since Batman Begins has been edited by Lee Smith. Like Pfister, Smith seems well and truly entrenched in Nolan’s workshop. Recycling key technicians is the simplest way to build a cohesive style and tone, and Nolan’s aesthetic owes a lot to Pfister and Smith.
The word “auteur” gets thrown around way too much. To truly judge an auteur, you need a director’s complete body of work, which means the director should no longer be directing, which typically means the director needs to be deceased. It’s a lot easier to spot historical auteurs than contemporary ones. Alfred Hitchcock is a prime example of an auteur. Think of Hitchcock and you know exactly what one of his films looks like. And Hitchcock’s raison d’etre is clear throughout his body of work: the imaginings of the mind are the most terrifying thing. Hitchcock’s horrors were not monsters but the terrible things a human can conceive—dread, betrayal, and murder.
Being a true auteur is more than just having a distinct style; it’s about having an overarching theme that unites a body of work. Nolan is the only working director today who is consistently pursuing such a theme. I can think of several contemporary directors who have distinct styles and consistently work on a higher plane of filmmaking than most—Jean-Pierre Jeunet, Masaki Kobayashi, Werner Herzog, Pedro Almodovar, P.T. Anderson, and recently Jason Reitman.
But for each of these, and others too numerous to name, I can’t identify a distinct raison d’etre. Jeunet perhaps comes closest in his exploration of magical realism and how the imagination helps one cope with traumas big and small. But for the rest the work is ongoing, the ideas still developing. Only Nolan has, from the very first of his feature films, built consistently on one singular idea. It’s an idée enorme: identity and memory, specifically how the known versus the assumed creates an identity.
His first film, Following (1998), kicks everything off when a young man is enthralled by a burglar, Cobb, into learning his style of thieving. Cobb breaks into people’s houses and finds the “box” in which people keep their most treasured mementos. Cobb shows the victim what they truly had by removing the object which signifies the memory. Inception features another Cobb, also a thief, who breaks into people’s minds to locate the guarded place where secrets are kept. Once located, Cobb can then manipulate these secrets and ultimately, through the act of implanting an idea in one’s subconscious—inception—alter that person’s identity. Identity in Nolan’s world is wholly susceptible to outside force.
Memory, too, is a fragile construct to Nolan. Consider Memento, the film which brought Nolan international notice. The protagonist, Leonard, is a man with no memory, whose entire identity is dictated by one fact: his wife is dead. Everything else is subjective to Leonard’s here-and-gone memory, and while he can tattoo other facts on his body, such as a license plate number, it’s dependent on context that Leonard can’t remember. Therefore, he goes in unending circles, forever trying to solve his wife’s murder, forgetting he’s solved it, and trying to solve it again. Like the paradoxical stairs in Inception, Leonard will keep lapping himself, but with no memory of having done so.
Throughout his films Nolan explores memory and identity as four types: absolute, divided, non-existent, and dislocated. Insomnia dislocates Dormer’s (Al Pacino) identity through parasitic guilt over his memories and a bad case of insomnia. Cobb in Inception is cut off by guilt, too, whereas Memento’s Leonard is adrift due to his lack of memory. Nolan’s absolute identities are often the unimpeachable secondary characters who never falter on their paths—Inception’s Ariadne for instance. The Prestige pits two magicians, the dislocated Angier (Hugh Jackman) and the divided Borden (Christian Bale) against one another. Ultimately we see that Angier’s dislocation, also fueled by grief and revenge (definite subset to Nolan’s concept of identity—negative memories have a greater impact than positive ones) leads to the ultimate division, and Angier has been subsumed by an indefinite number of iterations of his self who literally fight each other to the death to possess not the body or even the life, but the identity.
There is only one film in Nolan’s canon that perfectly utilizes Nolan’s identity archetypes, the film that stands as his best, even in the face of Inception’s greatness: The Dark Knight. Bruce Wayne (Bale) is the ultimate divided identity, a man defined by two memories: his parents’ murder and his father’s belief that people want to be good. Though Bruce wants to avenge his parents’ death, ultimately he chooses to use Batman to keep alive the flame of hope of which his father spoke, and he willingly splits his personality in order to compartmentalize that huge capacity for violence contained in Batman.
Meanwhile, The Joker (Heath Ledger) has NO identity—no name, no history, no context, no subtext. He values nothing, admires nothing, and wants nothing except more chaos. He is so without identity that even his clothes are unlabeled, and in a bit that plays comic but really signifies The Joker’s complete lack of a persona, he cross-dresses as a nurse in one scene, thus eliminating his gender as an identifier. The Joker is an horrific character, not because the things he does are horrific (for as he says, he is just a dog chasing cars), but because he is nothing. He is pure id, no morals or ego to guide him. Only impulse, unhindered by control, a completely non-existent identity.
Harvey Dent (Aaron Eckhart) is the incorruptible civil servant, but his identity is the one that fractures. His dislocation is represented literally by the damage to his face, one half perfect and handsome, the other charred and damaged beyond repair. When faced with this dislocation, Batman turns Dent’s face to the undamaged side so that Gotham City remembers its hero, and Batman sacrifices his own reputation to preserve that of the man Bruce put all his faith into.
That was Bruce’s fatal error, a mistake Batman doesn’t make. Throughout The Dark Knight Bruce is shown with Dent—a romantic rival and reluctant friend, the patron and the politico forming an alliance. But when Batman meets Dent he is surly, short tempered, and quick to take his leave. For Batman entrusts his faith to Jim Gordon (Gary Oldman), the absolute identity in the series. Gordon is unwaveringly loyal to Batman, and Batman exploits that loyalty, knowing he can trust Gordon to always do the right, brave thing.
Inception’s solid box office and critical praise have already lead to talk of a sequel. As much as I loved Inception, and I really loved it, I want Batman 3 (which had better not be titled “The Caped Crusader”) first. How does Nolan top The Dark Knight? Where does he go from Inception, his most visually daring film to date? Expectations are so high for Batman 3 as to induce a nose bleed. They were high before Inception, now they’re just ridiculous. Nolan is a careful craftsman--he’s already delayed the project for a year because he isn’t yet satisfied with the script, and he’s still realizing his full potential as a filmmaker. Giving him the extra time to plan can only enrich the final product. I expect a lot from a Christopher Nolan film these days, but I do so because he has never let me down.
Attached – Nolan working on Inception last year.
Written by Sarah
Photos from Wenn.com
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As mentioned previously, Luc Verhaegen was to give a talk about the status of Lima driver (reverse-engineered Mali-200/400 GPU driver), as well as other GPU open source implementation, at FOSDEM 2013. This is now done, and part of the talk included a demo of Quake 3 Arena (q3a timedemo) running on tablet featuring AllWinner A10 SoC (Cortex A8 @ 1Ghz, Mali-400MP1 GPU @ 320 Mhz, and DDR3 memory @ 360MHz), and a 1024×600 LCD. The fact it works is already a great achievement in itself, but this demo runs at 47.2fps with Lima driver (limare), whereas it can be rendered at 46.2fps using the binary driver. In his blog, Luc also explains that apart from being 2% faster, it also uses 3% less cpu than the binary driver! Take that binary blobs!
There’s still more work to do however, as this Quake 3 Arena port is not playable yet for 2 reasons:
- There’s no input support via the touchscreen driver yet.
- Luc only included the shaders needed to run the timedemo, but the full game requires more shaders.
He goes on to explain that Lima is not fully open source just yet, as they are still using the binary shader compiler, but he will push Q3A demo source code soon. If you want to learn more of the steps he and others went through to reverse-engineer Mali-400 driver, and optimize it for Q3A timedemo, read “Quake 3 Arena timedemo on top of the lima driver!“
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