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BANGOR, Maine (NEWS CENTER) --- The cold weather is leaving its mark on many parts of the state, including parts of Eastern Maine.
Staff at the 'Bangor Area Homeless Shelter' say it has been full to capacity most nights. Workers have been trying to find ways to fit more beds into the building so they can get people in and out of the cold past sunset. At Penquis, a social services agency, workers have been scrambling as more families ask for emergency fuel assistance. This year the organization got about half a million dollars from the federal government for heating assistance. Yet directors say in this weather, the money is going fast.
"Last week we spent like $60,000," remarked Barbara Stone, who is the manager of heating assistance for Penquis, "just yesterday we spent $25,000 and I expect it to be the same or more today and tomorrow....cause of the temperatures being the way they are."
Directors at Eastern Area Agency on Aging say this cold weather can also be very hard on the elderly. Officials there say senior citizens should be setting their thermostats to at least 68 degrees, although they acknowledge not all of their clients can afford to do that.
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A Rill from the Town Pump
(SCENE--the corner of two principal streets. *
The TOWN-PUMP talking through its nose.)
NOON, by the north clock! Noon, by the east! High noon, too, by these hot sunbeams, which fall, scarcely aslope, upon my head, and almost make the water bubble and smoke, in the trough under my nose. Truly, we public characters have a tough time of it! And, among all the town-officers, chosen at March meeting, where is he that sustains, for a single year, the burthen of such manifold duties as are imposed, in perpetuity, upon the Town-Pump? The title of "town-treasurer" is rightfully mine, as guardian of the best treasure, that the town has. The overseers of the poor ought to make me their chairman, since I provide bountifully for the pauper, without expense to him that pays taxes. I am at the head of the fire-department, and one of the physicians to the board of health. As a keeper of the peace, all water-drinkers will confess me equal to the constable. I perform some of the duties of the town clerk, by promulgating public notices, when they are posted on my front. To speak within bounds, I am the chief person of the municipality, and exhibit, moreover, an admirable pattern to my brother officers, by the cool, steady, upright, downright, and impartial discharge of my business, and the constancy with which I stand to my post. Summer or winter, nobody seeks me in vain; for, all day long, I am seen at the busiest corner, just above the market, stretching out my arms, to rich and poor alike; and at night, I hold a lantern over my head, both to show where I am, and keep people out of the gutters.
At this sultry noontide, I am cup-bearer to the parched populace, for whose benefit an iron goblet is chained to my waist. Like a dram-seller on the mall, at muster-day, I cry aloud to all and sundry, in my plainest accents, and at the very tip-top of my voice. Here it is, gentlemen! Here is the good liquor! Walk up, walk up, gentlemen, walk up, walk up! Here is the superior stuff! Here is the unadulterated ale of father Adam--better than Cognac, Hollands, Jamaica, strong-beer, or wine of any price; here it is, by the hogshead or the single glass, and not a cent to pay! Walk up, gentlemen, walk up, and help yourselves!
It were a pity, if all this outcry should draw no customers. Here they come. A hot day, gentlemen! Quaff, and away again, so as to keep yourselves in a nice cool sweat. You, my friend, will need another cup-full, to wash the dust out of your throat, if it be as thick there as it is on your cowhide shoes. I see that you have trudged half a score of miles, to day; and, like a wise man, have passed by the taverns, and stopped at the running-brooks and well-curbs. Otherwise, betwixt heat without and fire within, you would have been burnt to a cinder, or melted down to nothing at all, in the fashion of a jelly-fish. Drink, and make room for that other fellow, who seeks my aid to quench the fiery fever of last night's potations, which he drained from no cup of mine. Welcome, most rubicund Sir! You and I have been great strangers, hitherto; nor, to confess the truth, will my nose be anxious for a closer intimacy, till the fumes of your breath be a little less potent. Mercy on you, man! The water absolutely hisses down your red-hot gullet, and is converted quite to steam, in the miniature tophet, which you mistake for a stomach. Fill again, and tell me, on the word of an honest toper, you ever, in cellar, tavern, or any kind of a dram-shop, spend the price of your children's food, for a swig half so delicious? Now, for the first time these ten years, you know the flavor of cold water. Good b'ye; and, whenever you are thirsty, remember that I keep a constant supply, at the old stand. Who next? Oh, my little friend, you are let loose from school, and come hither to scrub your blooming face, and drown the memory of certain taps of the fertile, and other school-boy troubles, in a draught from the TownPump. Take it, pure as the current of your young life. Take it, and may your heart and tongue never be scorched with a fiercer thirst than now! There, my dear child, put down the cup, and yield your place to this elderly gentleman, who treads so tenderly over the paving-stones, that I suspect he is afraid of breaking them. What! He limps by, without so much as thanking me, as if my hospitable offers were meant only for people, who have no wine-cellars. Well, well, sir--no harm done, I hope! Go draw the cork, tip the decanter; but, when your great-toe shall set you a-roaring, it will be no affair of mine. If gentlemen love the pleasant titillation of the gout, it is all one to the Town-Pump. This thirsty dog, with his red tongue lolling out, does not scorn my hospitality, but stands on his hind-legs, and laps eagerly out of the trough. See how lightly he capers away again! Jowler, did your worship ever have the gout?
Are you all satisfied? Then wipe your mouths, my good friends; and, while my spout has a moment's leisure, I will delight the town with a few historical reminiscences. In far antiquity, beneath a darksome shadow of venerable boughs, a spring bubbled out of the leaf-strewn earth, in the very spot where you now behold me, on the sunny pavement. The water was as bright and clear, and deemed as precious, as liquid diamonds. The Indian sagamores drank of it, from time immemorial, till the fatal deluge of the fire-water burst upon the red men, and swept their whole race away from the cold fountains. Endicott, and his followers, came next, and often knelt down to drink, dipping their long beards in the spring. The richest goblet, then, was of birch-bark. Governor Winthrop, after a journey afoot from Boston, drank here, out of the hollow of his hand. The elder Higginson here wet his palm, and laid it on the brow of the first townborn child. For many years, it was the watering-place, and, as it were, the wash-bowl of the vicinity--whither all decent folks resorted, to purify their visages, and gaze at them afterwards--at least, the pretty maidens did--in the mirror which it made. On Sabbath-days, whenever a babe was to be baptized, the sexton filled his basin here, and placed it on the communion-table of tile humble meeting-house, which partly covered the site of yonder stately brick one. Thus, one generation after another was consecrated to Heaven by its waters, and cast their waxing and waning shadows into its glassy bosom, and vanished from the earth, as if mortal life were but a flitting image in a fountain. Finally, the fountain vanished also. Cellars were dug on all sides; and cart-loads of gravel flung upon its source, whence oozed a turbid stream, forming a mud-puddle, at the corner of two streets. In the hot months, when its refreshment was most needed, the dust flew in clouds over the forgotten birthplace of the waters, now their grave. But, in the course of time, a Town-Pump was sunk into the source of the ancient spring; and when the first decayed, another took its place--and then another, and still another--till here stand I, gentlemen and ladies, to serve you with my iron goblet. Drink, and be refreshed! The water is as pure and cold as that which slaked the thirst of the red sagamore, beneath aged boughs, though now the gem of the wilderness is treasured under these hot stones, where no shadow falls, but from the brick buildings. And be it the moral of my story, that, as this wasted and long-lost fountain is now known and prized again, so shall the virtues of cold water, too little valued since your fathers' days, be recognized by all.
Your pardon, good people! I must interrupt my stream of eloquence, and spout forth a stream of water, to replenish the trough for this teamster and his two yoke of oxen, who have come from Topsfield, or somewhere along that way. No part of my business is pleasanter than the watering of cattle. Look! how rapidly they lower the water-mark on the sides of the trough, till their capacious stomachs are moistened with a gallon or two apiece, and they can afford time to breathe it in, with sighs of calm enjoyment. Now they roll their quiet eyes around the brim of their monstrous drinking vessel. An ox is your true toper.
But I perceive, my dear auditors, that you are impatient for the remainder of my discourse. Impute it, I beseech you, to no defect of modesty, if I insist a little longer on so fruitful a topic as my own multifarious merits. It is altogether for your good. The better you think of me, the better men and women will you find yourselves. I shall say nothing of my all-important aid on washing-days; though, on that account alone, I might call myself the household-god of a hundred families. Far be it from me, also, to hint, my respectable friends, at the show of dirty faces, which you would present, without my pains to keep you clean. Nor will I remind you how often, when the midnight-bells make you tremble for your combustible town, you have fled to the Town-Pump, and found me always at my post, firm, amid the confusion, and ready to drain my vital current in your behalf. Neither is it worth while to lay much stress on my claims to a medical diploma, as the physician, whose simple rule of practice is preferable to all the nauseous lore, which has found men sick or left them so, since the days of Hippocrates. Let us take a broader view of my beneficial influence on mankind.
No; these are trifles, compared with the merits which wise men concede to me--if not in my single self, yet as the representative of a class--of being the grand reformer of the age. From my spout, and such spouts as mine, must flow the stream, that shall cleanse our earth of the vast portion of its crime and anguish, which has gushed from the fiery fountains of the still. In this mighty enterprise, the cow shall be my great confederate. Milk and water! The TOWNPUMP and the Cow! Such is the glorious copartnership,that shall tear down the distilleries and brew-houses, uproot the vineyards, shatter the cider-presses, ruin the tea and coffee trade, and, finally monopolize the whole business of quenching thirst. Blessed consummation! Then, Poverty shall pass away from the land, finding no hovel so wretched, where her squalid form may shelter itself. Then Disease, for lack of other victims, shall gnaw its own heart, and die. Then Sin, if she do not die, shall lose half her strength. Until now, the phrensy of hereditary fever has raged in the human blood, transmitted from sire to son, and re-kindled, in every generation, by fresh draughts of liquid flame. When that inward fire shall be extinguished, the heat of passion cannot but grow cool, and war--the drunkenness of nations--perhaps will cease. At least, there will be no war of households. The husband and wife, drinking deep of peaceful joy--a calm bliss of temperate affections--shall pass hand in hand through life, and lie down, not reluctantly, at its protracted close. To them, the past will be no turmoil of mad dreams, nor the future an eternity of such moments as follow the delirium of the drunkard. Their dead faces shall express what their spirits were, and are to be, by a lingering smile of memory and hope.
Ahem! Dry work, this speechifying; especially to an unpractised orator. I never conceived, till now, what toil the temperance-lecturers undergo for my sake. Hereafter, they shall have the business to themselves. Do, some kind Christian, pump a stroke or two, just to wet my whistle. Thank you, sir! My dear hearers, when the world shall have been regenerated, by my instrumentality, you will collect your useless vats and liquor-casks, into one great pile, and make a bonfire, in honor of the Town-Pump. And, when I shall have decayed, like my predecessors, then, if you revere my memory, let a marble fountain, richly sculptured, take my place upon this spot. Such monuments should be erected everywhere, and inscribed with the names of the distinguished champions of my cause. Now listen; for something very important is to come next.
There are two or three honest friends of mine--and true friends, I know, they are--who, nevertheless, by their fiery pugnacity in my behalf, do put me in fearful hazard of a broken nose, or even of a total overthrow upon the pavement, and the loss of the treasure which I guard. I pray you, gentlemen, let this fault be amended. Is it decent, think you, to get tipsy with zeal for temperance, and take up the honorable cause of the Town-Pump, in the style of a toper fighting for his brandy-bottle? Or, can the excellent qualities of cold water be no otherwise exemplified, than by plunging, slapdash, into hot-water, and wofully scalding yourselves and other people? Trust me, they may. In the moral warfare, which you are to wage--and, indeed, in the whole conduct of your lives--you cannot choose a better example than myself, who have never permitted the dust, and sultry atmosphere, the turbulence and manifold disquietudes of the world around me, to reach that deep, calm well of purity, which may be called my soul. And whenever I pour out that soul, it is to cool earth's fever, or cleanse its stains.
One o'clock! Nay, then, if the dinner-bell begins to speak, I may as well hold my peace. Here comes a pretty young girl of my acquaintance, with a large stone-pitcher for me to fill. May she draw a husband, while drawing her water, as Rachel did of old. Hold out your vessel, my dear! There it is, full to the brim; so now run home, peeping at your sweet image in the pitcher, as you go; and forget not, in a glass of my own liquor, to drink--"SUCCESS TO THE TOWNPUMP!"
* Essex and Washington Streets, Salem.
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(For Discretionary Grantees)
Memorandum to ED Discretionary Grantees
You are receiving this memorandum to remind you of Federal requirements, found in Parts 74 and 80 of the Education Department General Administrative Regulations (EDGAR), regarding cash drawdowns under your grant account.
For any cash that you draw from your Department of Education grant account, you must:
- draw down only as much cash as is necessary to meet the immediate needs of the grant project;
- keep to the minimum the time between drawing down the funds and paying them out for grant activities; and
- return to the Government the interest earned on grant funds deposited in interest-bearing bank accounts (except for a small amount of interest earned each year that your entity is allowed to keep to reimburse itself for administrative expenses).
In order to meet these requirements, you are urged to:
- take into account the need to coordinate the timing of drawdowns with prior internal clearances (e.g., by boards, directors, or other officials) when projecting immediate cash needs so that funds drawndown from ED do not stay in a bank account for extended periods of time while waiting for approval;
- monitor the fiscal activity (drawdowns and payments) under your grant on a continuous basis;
- plan carefully for cash flow in your grant project during the budget period and review project cash requirements before each drawdown; and
- pay out grant funds for project activities as soon as it is practical to do so after receiving cash from the Department.
Keep in mind that the Department monitors cash drawdown activity for all grants on a weekly basis. Department staff will contact grantees who appear to have drawn down excessive amounts of cash under one or more grants during the fiscal quarter to discuss the particular situation. For the purposes of drawdown monitoring, the department will contact grantees who have drawn down 50% or more of the grant in the first quarter, 80% or more in the second quarter, and/or 100% of the cash in the third quarter of the budget period. However, even amounts less than these thresholds could still represent excessive drawdowns for your particular grant activities in any particular quarter. Grantees determined to have drawn down excessive cash will be required to return the excess funds to the Department, along with any associated earned interest, until such time as the money is legitimately needed to pay for grant activities. You can find the procedures for returning funds and interest in the ED Payee's Guide, which is located on the Web at the following URL:
(select the link for 'e-Payments')
Grantees who do not follow Federal cash management requirements and/or consistently appear on the Department's reports of excessive drawdowns could be:
- designated "high-risk" grantees [EDGAR 74.14, 80.12], which could mean being placed on a "cash-reimbursement" payment method (i.e., a grantee would experience the inconvenience of having to pay for grant activities with its own money and waiting to be reimbursed by the Department afterwards);
- subject to further corrective action;
- denied selection for funding on future ED grant applications [EDGAR 75.217(d)(3)(ii)]; and/or
- debarred or suspended from receiving future federal awards from any executive agency of the federal government.
Depending on which type of entity your organization is, you are urged to read either §74.22 or §80.21 of EDGAR to learn more about Federal requirements related to grant payments. If you are a state or local educational agency with a grant covered by Part 80, please check with the ED staff person named in Block 3 of your Grant Award Notification to determine how to apply these requirements to any subgrantees. You are urged to make copies of this memorandum and share it with all affected individuals within your organization.
Our mission is to ensure equal access to education and to promote educational excellence throughout the Nation
Cash Drawdown Memorandum in Word format for download (89K).
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| 0.949397 | 826 | 1.671875 | 2 |
NEW DELHI ' On a day when lawmakers discussed a new anti-rape law, a British tourist jumped off a balcony of her hotel room to escape being sexually assaulted by the hotel owner in Agra, the city of the Taj Mahal, police said Tuesday.
The tourist fractured her leg when she jumped from the second floor.
Subhash Chand Dubey, a senior police officer, told reporters in Agra that the owner knocked on her door at 4 a.m., offered her a massage and refused to leave, even after she declined. The hotel owner then tried to enter her room forcibly with a security guard, and the tourist jumped off the balcony to escape, Dubey said.
Dubey said the hotel owner has been arrested.
The incident comes three days after a Swiss woman was gang raped when she was bicycling through central India with her husband.
In spite of the massive nationwide protest against the fatal gang rape of a young woman in New Delhi in December, as well as government efforts to pass tougher laws, the number of rape incidents continues to rise.
"We are today facing an epidemic in this country. Let's come to terms with that first," said Pinaki Misra, a member of Parliament, as lawmakers discussed new anti-rape legislation that seeks to not only make punishment tougher, but also widen the definition of sexual assault to include stalking, voyeurism and acid attacks on women. "We are now called the rape capital of the world. What has happened to us?
"After the horrific
Earlier Tuesday, Britain had issued a travel advisory for its citizens traveling to India, saying that "women travelers should exercise caution when traveling in India even if they are traveling in a group."
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| 0.981542 | 349 | 1.710938 | 2 |
It is strange to think about the things that happened at Planned Parenthood while I was there. I thought so many things were “normal.” Looking back, I see how they were anything but.
We had hundreds of protocols. Some were pretty common sense, others were not. One protocol in particular has really got me thinking over the past couple of weeks…IUDs. An IUD is a birth control method that is inserted into the cervix. They function in several different ways; however, the primary way they work is by creating a hostile uterine environment so that a fertilized egg would not be able to implant on the uterine lining.
Part of our protocol talked about the insertion and removal. The other part talked about when they could be inserted. Get ready for this…
Our protocol stated that IUDs could be inserted on pregnant women in order to cause an abortion. Yes. You read that right. If a woman came in and was early pregnant, we would insert an IUD to cause an abortion. She would have only been a few days pregnant. A pregnancy test would not have shown up positive. We didn’t have a confirmation of pregnancy. Out of sight, out of mind, right? How many children have been aborted because of this dangerous protocol? What is the real number of abortions performed by Planned Parenthood? We will never know. Did we tell patients that this protocol would abort their child? Of course not.
A woman came in one day complaining of severe abdominal pain. She had an IUD. During her exam, it was determined that her IUD was the source of her discomfort…it would have to be removed. I came in to assist. I couldn’t believe what I saw. On the end of that IUD was a tiny baby. We estimated the child to be 9 weeks. That baby had been growing on the end of a birth control device. But not to worry, Planned Parenthood says IUDs are safe.
While working at Planned Parenthood, I decided an IUD would be the best method for me. After 3 years of use, I had no side effects…so I thought. After I had my IUD removed, I realized there might be a problem with my body. I had never had a problem getting pregnant, but several months had now passed, and every pregnancy test came back negative. What was going on? I had some blood work run and was told I didn’t produce several hormones. My body had tried to produce the hormones while the IUD was in…but the IUD won. My body couldn’t compete. I am only pregnant now because of NFP, supplemental hormones and an amazing doctor.
I found out several months ago that a woman had miscarried because of an IUD inserted at my clinic. She was pregnant when it was inserted. That isn’t supposed to happen…but mistakes are made…her child paid the price. She went to the emergency room because she was having severe abdominal pain. She didn’t know she was pregnant until they did an ultrasound to find out what was wrong. There was her baby. His heart had stopped. She had to deliver her baby and have her IUD removed all in the same visit to the hospital. He was 18 weeks old. Why did this happen? Because an IUD is made to abort children.
So, why would Planned Parenthood lie and say IUDs are safe? Planned Parenthood pays less than $300.00 for an IUD…they are reimbursed over $750.00 from the federal government (our tax dollars). Is that a good enough reason? It is for Planned Parenthood. Patients first? Prevention first? No. Money first…and always.
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| 0.988321 | 767 | 1.757813 | 2 |
In our quest to access all possible meanings inherent in each sign of the Zodiac, we shouldn’t overlook how the relationships among signs have an effect on meaning. Specifically, we can look at how each sign has a meaning that is a reaction to the one preceding it. This is an especially helpful point of view to have in at least three instances: 1) when we have a placement at 00 degrees of a sign, 2) when we have a placement at 29 degrees of a sign, and 3) when we are talking about the relationship between placements that sit in neighboring signs, or those in signs that are quincunx each other.
For example, Mercury at 00 Libra implies that the communication skills are at the beginning of a journey that will orient expression toward diplomacy, fairness, and balance. These are the impulses; they are in reaction to what came before, the experience of Virgo. The Mercury-centered lessons of Virgo are ones of discernment, critical assessment, and communication as service. We can see a Libra Mercury as a set of values and attitudes that spring from experiences of a Virgoan nature, especially from experiences of a negative Virgoan nature. The impulse toward diplomacy may spring from the one-sided nature of criticism, and from the desire to put the Virgo penchant for communication as service into a situation that acknowledges the rights and contributions of the other party, while the Libran desire for fairness may spring from the experience of receiving criticism.
What about when we have a placement at 29 degrees? This is a situation where we have experienced the gamut of manifestations available in the sign, and there is pressure for the individual to ‘finish up’ the lessons of that placement in that sign–this means that one is on the verge of embracing the values of the next sign in the sequence. For instance, what if one has Neptune in the 29th degree of Libra? Likely there is a sense of being very familiar with disillusion in love and delusion in relationship, even from a very young age. There will also be a strong understanding of spirituality in partnership, and the way in which imagination and fantasy can have both positive and negative influences in relationships will also be inherently understood. There may be a certain feeling of dissatisfaction in this knowledge, a feeling that there’s nothing anyone can tell them in this arena. There may be a mental ‘reaching toward’ the ideas of deep, intense communion with Neptunian energies, of the desire to ‘dig up dirt’ (Scorpio) rather than ‘smooth things over’ (Libra). One will be restless with Neptunian energies; of course, as with all planetary positions, the house placement will tell us much about how these experiences will manifest.
When we have placements that are semi-sextile, or quincunx, we have some idea that they have a relationship, and the aspect lets us know the (uneasy) nature of their alliance. But what about when we have placements in adjacent, or quincunx, signs, and they have no ‘formal’ relationship to each other? Then we can look at the way they fail to communicate, and why, by noting the natures of the signs. For example, let’s look at Mars in Gemini and Venus in Cancer–how do they see each other? Mars is likely to funnel assertive energies through communication (especially words/ talk), to exercise the ego energies through networking and social outlets; Venus is ahead of Mars in the Zodiac, and has brought values and relationship concerns into the Cancerian sphere. Venus says, ‘Relationships can’t be just talk, just flitting from occasion to occasion, they must be caring and nurturing,’ while Mars says, ‘My ego wants things light and social; why must relationships be so smothering?’ This means, generally, that Mars and Venus will always be slightly at odds in expression, symbolizing disparities in the personality and the successful manifestation of each of the involved energies.
Placements in signs that are quincunx each other suffer a similar awkwardness in relationship. For instance, Sun in Pisces and Pluto in Libra will never quite express ‘in sync’ with each other. The Sun will be embracing the Universe, accepting all, emphasizing the spirituality inherent in every Being, while Pluto watches from afar and cautions: relationships can be destructive! Negative urges do not support a Oneness of All! Be serious! Suspect everybody!
Noting the relationships between signs can add a little something extra to our understanding of our placements, and as well can help us understand why some energies express with more harmony to neighboring placements than do others. Briefly, Aries is the ego/ individuality rebelling from the All is One stance of Pisces; Taurus says, it’s not just about me, it’s about my things and environment; Gemini says, don’t be so wrapped up in the material, lets talk! while Cancer pleads, don’t be so frivolous, nurturing and love must be sincere; Leo says, good grief, let’s get back to the Star of the show; Virgo says, quit being such an ego-maniac, go help out, and fix everything; Libra puts the other before the Self, and the whole thing better be pretty! while Scorpio says, I can’t make nice any longer, let’s dig up the bodies! Sagittarius says, I can’t live in a cave anymore, let’s get out and explore; Capricorn insists one sit still and get serious; Aquarius wants no restraints whatsoever, unless the group says so, and Pisces says, you can’t be one in the group, you must be the group!
This article is a reprint that first appeared on my blog at Yahoo 360, and that was again re-issued about four years ago–but it’s a worthy subject that can stand another look! Have a great day! jd
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My suspicion is an overloaded truck. The bridge has been in this condition for several years - at least since I discovered it about 2006.
I have noticed an interesting fact about this particular bridge. Although the floor beam is twisted and the wood deck has partially collapsed, the rest of the structure seems to maintain good integrity. I need to have a closer look, but I suspect that the pin-connections absorbed most of the shock that was not absorbed by the floor beam.
I am curious if we would have seen the same result had the bridge been riveted with gusset plates instead of being pin-connected.
Additionally, if the construction date of 1888 is correct, then this bridge may be constructed of wrought iron instead of steel. Because wrought iron is more malleable than steel, I am wondering if that allowed the floor beam to absorb more of the shock instead of transferring it to the rest of the superstructure.
This bridge might make a good case study. So, far I have not heard of any replacement plans. Bourbon County has demolished a couple historic bridges in the last couple of decades. That being said, they have a good track record overall as several HBs are being maintained throughout the county.
And how about that steel floor beam, twisted like a piece of wire? Looks like the work of an overloaded truck manned by a brainless driver (had a rash of those lately).
Judging by the decent shape of the remaining wooden stringers, I would guess that something pretty heavy fell through it!
What happened here Robert? Overload through the floor? Or just age?
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The Masterworks series includes the classics in documentary filmmaking on world religions, spirituality and ethics. The Hartley Film Foundation is pleased to offer the following films on DVD and video:
A film by Menachem Daum and Oren Rudavsky
Seven years in the making, A Life Apart: Hasidism in America explores the world of modern Hasidism. From mystical tales to mesmerizing music, rebbes to Holocaust survivors, A Life Apart reveals a remarkable culture, full of joy, pain and rich tradition, that few outsiders have seen and fewer yet can imagine.
A film by Gerald Krell and Meyer Odze
To many Americans, the Asian religions remain full of mystery. Yet the presence of the Asian religions has been taking root on American soil almost from the country’s beginning. The Asian & Abrahamic Religions explores the beliefs, practices and rituals of Hinduism, Buddhism, Sikhism and Jainism, and how practitioners of both these Asian and the Abrahamic traditions perceive each other, confront prejudice and stereotypes and develop mutual respect.
A film by Peter Gilbert and Steve James
At the Death House Door follows the remarkable career journey of Pastor Carroll Pickett, who served 15 years as the death house chaplain to the infamous "Walls" prison unit in Huntsville, Texas. During that time he presided over 95 executions, including the very first lethal injection. After each execution, Pickett recorded an audiotape account of that fateful day.
Tibetan Buddhists have long used lojong, or "mind training," to transform difficulties into insights. Buddhist nun Pema Chodron, a renowned lojong teacher and practitioner, shows the listener in this 7-hour, 6-CD set how to use painful emotions as stepping stones to wisdom, compassion and fearlessness.
A film by Ron Fricke and Mark Magidson
Baraka is a breathtaking tour through six continents and 24 countries, which depicts the rhythms of man and nature and ways in which they live in harmony and violent discord. A glorious tone poem, the film cuts from solitary monks to crowded streets, from great temples and soaring landscapes to the dumps of Calcutta. The cumulative effect is moving, sobering and profoundly spiritual.
Fundamentalism has taken center stage as one of the most powerful forces in today's world, yet it remains incomprehensible to large numbers of people. In The Battle for God, Karen Armstrong, author of the best-selling A History of God, brilliantly and sympathetically dissects how and why fundamentalist groups came into existence and what they yearn to accomplish.
A compilation of documentary shorts
Compassion and understanding are tenets of all faiths. In today’s world, there is a universal call for tolerance, justice and charity. In other words … Belief Matters. Part of the Media that Matters collection, these documentary shorts showcase issues surrounding interfaith respect, human rights, and the environment. The subjects of these short films express belief in the future, belief in others and belief in themselves.
A film by Beth Murphy
"You choose your way into yourselves," is a most apt description of how two widowers manage their lives in the years following their husbands' deaths on planes that crashed into the World Trade Center on 9/11. They end up traveling to Afghanistan, where they meet with Afghani widowers. Both sides reach easily across the cultural barriers to share their similarities and, far more frequently, the vast cultural differences and inequities that often bring discord but, between these women, bring peace.
A film by Peter Bisanz
The spiritual beliefs and religious experiences of dozens of religious leaders, luminaries and politicians are revealed in this engaging documentary. With myriad landscapes and religious icons serving as a backdrop, director Peter Bisanz focuses the camera in Beyond Our Differences on dynamic and thought-provoking individuals: Father Kieran Creagh, the first person to take the AIDS vaccine, His Holiness the Dalai Lama, religious scholar Karen Armstrong, Sheikh Ali Gomaa, Grand Mufti of Egypt, musician Peter Gabriel, Congressman Christopher Shays of CT, Mohammad Khatami, former President of Iran, Rabbi Soetendorp, Founder of the Jewish Institute for Human Values, and many others.
Bonhoeffer tells the gripping story of a pacifist turned assassin. This new much-talked-about documentary follows German theologian Dietrich Bonhoeffer from his student days in Weimar Germany to his work in the illegal Confessing Church, from his escape to America in 1939 to his return into the eye of the storm: the conspiracy to assassinate Hitler. One of the most important theologians and ethicists of the 20th century, Bonhoeffer formulated his beliefs in the crucible of a long and ultimately fatal struggle with the Nazi regime.
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LL.M. in Taxation
For over 30 years, the University of Florida Graduate Tax Program has helped prepare students for careers in tax law. Today, the program is widely recognized by tax scholars and practitioners nationwide as one of the nation’s leading programs for the advanced study of tax law. Its one-year course of study leads to the degree of Master of Laws (LL.M.) in Taxation. The program is designed for full-time degree candidates, with classes held during the day.
The program attracts outstanding students from all parts of the country and abroad who have satisfied the program’s exacting admissions standards. The student body and reputation of the Graduate Tax Program attract employers from throughout the United States and abroad. Graduates are employed by law firms, accounting firms, industry and government in every state in the nation, and a number teach at U.S. law schools.
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The jury has spoken in the perjury and obstruction trial of Scooter Libby that so intimately involved the journalism profession itself. We know the vice-president's former top aide was found guilty. But now that the high-profile case is over, how did the press treat the verdict in the Scooter Libby trial? Who and what else did the media implicate in its post-verdict coverage?
From the outset, the media were inextricably linked in the case that led to Libby's March 6 conviction for perjury and obstruction of justice. The criminal proceeding was triggered by a leak about CIA operative Valerie Plame to columnist Robert Novak. Prosecutor Patrick Fitzgerald challenged a key journalistic principle, a reporter's ability to protect confidential sources. One reporter, Judy Miller, then of the New York Times, spent several months in jail in defense of that principle.
A number of high-profile journalists--including Miller, the Washington Post's Bob Woodward, and NBC's Tim Russert--testified in court. (Russert may have been the key witness.) The trial exposed the sometimes cozy inner workings of the Beltway press corps and their sources in high places. Moreover the broader backdrop to the case--the management of news and information in the buildup to the Iraq war--highlighted what many journalists acknowledge as a professional failure. That was the lack of serious, sustained scrutiny of administration claims that Saddam Hussein had a WMD arsenal.
There was no doubt that the Libby verdict would generate major coverage, but what about the tone and texture of that coverage? (A Wall Street Journal editorial declared that much of the press was "celebrating the conviction…because it damaged the Bush administration they loathe.") To get a broad sense of that reaction, PEJ took a snapshot of verdict coverage on cable and network news, examined March 7 front-page newspaper headlines and conducted an Internet key word search for stories about the verdict.
The overall results of this varied snapshot would suggest that, with some exceptions, the early verdict coverage was reasonably straightforward, with little hint of overt celebration. At the same time, many of the stories clearly and sharply connected Libby's conviction to his boss Dick Cheney as well the White House's overall prosecution of the unpopular war in Iraq.
Cable and Network TV
All three cable news networks were ready when the verdict came in around noon on March 6. But the early reactions of the key commentators varied markedly.
CNN's Wolf Blitzer was cautious and circumspect, stating simply that "no doubt, for Ambassador Joseph Wilson and his wife Valerie Plame, this will be vindication."
MSNBC's Chris Matthews was not as restrained. "This is not about perjury, it's about the larger question of how we got in this war with Iraq," he declared. "It has left…a cloud over the vice president himself. It is going to be very hard for this vice president to separate himself from this verdict."
Much of the conversation on the Fox News Channel immediately after the verdict was about apparent confusion on the part of jurors and the possibility of an appeal. But when analyst Fred Barnes appeared later in the discussion, he contended the result was "damaging to the White House, no question about that. It's even more damaging to Vice President Cheney. I would stop short of calling it politically devastating, however."
Later that night, the Libby verdict led all three network newscasts. On ABC, correspondent Pierre Thomas's summary was concise, but hard-hitting: "At its heart, the prosecution said, the Libby trial was about a vice president and his staff obsessed with pushing back against critics" of the war.
Broadcasting from Baghdad, Brian Williams opened the NBC newscast by characterizing the Libby trial as "a case that has to do with the very underpinnings of this war here in Iraq." He then interviewed a subdued "star witness," Russert, who said, "I take no joy in this Brian. It was not our doing."
The most outspoken of the network pundits was CBS veteran Bob Schieffer who declared that "there are a lot of fingers pointing tonight at Dick Cheney…I think it's gonna hurt the administration because it's gonna raise questions about their credibility when they already have more problems on their plate than they can really handle right now."
The Page 1 Headlines
The PEJ also examined the March 7 front pages of more than 230 daily papers that were posted on the web site of the Newseum, an interactive museum of news. The overwhelming majority of page-1 verdict headlines fell into one of two broad categories.
By our count, a solid majority--166 of those papers--featured relatively straightforward headlines that focused primarily on the news of the trial result itself.
"Libby Convicted of Lying: Former White House Aide Likely to Keep Fighting Charge," said the Portland Press Herald. "Libby most senior aide convicted since 1980s: Found guilty of lying to leak investigators," was the headline on the Lexington (Kentucky) Herald Leader.
The Journal Gazette of Fort Wayne Indiana had a variation on the theme with this headline: "'I forgot' defense fails: Jury charted testimony: Cheney aide faces up to 25 years in prison."
A substantial minority--66 papers--featured the second theme, focusing on the broader and sometimes negative implications for the White House and its policies.
"Libby trial leaves Cheney weaker: Critics and some supporters say verdicts diminish the vice president's stature," read the headline on The (Portland) Oregonian. "Trial exposed Cheney's secretive workings: Libby guilty verdict stings administration most," was the reaction in The Dallas Morning News.
The San Diego Union-Tribune went with "Libby lied in leak case tied to war, jurors say: Former Cheney aide found guilty of four felony counts."
Ten headlines also used the word "fall guy" to describe Libby and to at least raise the possibility that he was largely punished for someone else's misdeeds. The term was injected into the media story line when juror Denis Collins, in his post-verdict remarks, said he and his fellow jurors wondered about Libby being set up as the "fall guy."
The News Search
What terms were laced throughout the broader coverage of the Libby guilty verdict? According to a Google News search for March 6 and 7 that paired "Scooter Libby" with a series of words that might describe the trial, "fall guy" did make an occasional appearance.
This keyword search doesn't necessarily provide solid clues as to the actual tone of the trial coverage. But it does serve as a quick guide to other themes or key players that were part of the verdict stories.
The White House tie-in was obvious. The most crucial connection was Cheney, whose name was mentioned in approximately 4,100 stories about the verdict, even though he ultimately didn't testify. President Bush's name appeared in about 3,400 stories. Lower down on the totem pole was presidential aide Karl Rove (at about 750 stories) who was injected into the proceedings when Libby attorney Ted Wells argued in his opening statement that his client was concerned he was being sacrificed to protect Rove.
Meanwhile, Russert's critical role in this case is illustrated by the nearly 1400 stories that contained his name.
One question already being raised in the wake of the verdict is obvious. The word "pardon" appeared in almost 500 stories in the first hours after the end of the trial.
Two other words that turned up in the search of verdict stories suggest some fairly unfavorable associations.
The word "Iraq" was included in more than 3,300 of the Libby stories. And "Iran contra" -- the major Reagan-era political scandal that led to criminal indictments of some key administration figures -- appeared in nearly 300 of the accounts of Libby's conviction.
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City as Material
September 7, 2009 by Giles Lane
This week we begin teaching a course on the city as material for artistic practice with students from Vassar College‘s International Program in London. We’ve planned it as a co-creative course, intending to act as facilitators and guides to the students in devising and conducting their own investigations of the city and creating their own interventions. The students will be creating a blog to document their activities, as well as publishing eBooks about their individual projects.
The course is fortnightly (from early September to the beginning of December 2009), based in our studio in Clerkenwell, from where we’ll engage in walks, watching, making, drawing, discussing and eating.
The focus for this class will be in considering the role of the city as material for artistic experimentation and creation. Only inadequately understood as “public art,” urban interventions produce public space where it does not exist, foster new modes of urban citizenship and participation, render legible the force of political and financial power shaping the global city, expose the mutability of “public” and “private” entailed by new media transformations of social space, create alliances between varied urban stakeholders, challenge the zero-tolerance policies of the increasingly securitized city, and broaden the repertoire of political resistance and direct action. In addition to contemporary practice the course will consider the rich histories of urban intervention by artists in London and elsewhere.
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From Lansing, Illinois, USA:
Is it possible to cover breakfast, which is around 7:00 a.m., and a morning snack around 9:00 a.m. with a dual wave bolus? My six-year-old son recently started on a Medtronic pump and we've been trying to get his pre-snack and pre-lunch numbers in better control while at school. We have been adjusting his basal rates and his insulin to carbohydrate ratio. We've recently learned about the square wave and dual wave bolus and thought maybe this might be a good solution. Any insights you have would be greatly appreciated.
As a new pumper, the first thing that needs to be addressed is that your child should not have to snack anymore. If this is part of the school's routine, the safest thing to do is send a no or low carbohydrate snack and not have to take the risk of giving the insulin, missing or delaying the snack. Explain that there are limitations and the snack time is one of them. He gets to eat what he wants before and after school and on weekends and holidays.
There are lots of ways to "trick" your pump to give your child insulin for food when you can't be there to do so. Giving a dual wave or combination bolus starting at 7 a.m. and ending at 9 a.m. could work, but there are several red flags that are raised in doing so. First, if he missed or delayed the snack time, hypoglycemia will result. Second, the combination may be starting too early and hypoglycemia will result as the first part of the extended bolus is peaking. Third, the child must eat all of whatever is decided on as the dual/combination bolus that is set at 7 a.m., so picky eaters will not fair well.
Other families have set a basal, for example, from 9 to 9:30 a.m. to cover the insulin dose for the carbohydrates equal to the total carbohydrates of the snack (which will have to be a fixed amount daily) that is given at 9 a.m. PLUS the basal for that 30 minutes. This actually gives a little room for a few minute delay at school. Again, if the snack is delayed much, your child will become hypoglycemic. You will also need to remember to reset the basal or switch to the weekend pattern on Fridays or your child will end up with his/her "school snack bolus" basal rate on Saturday and Sunday mornings as well and become hypoglycemic.
Last Updated: Tuesday April 06, 2010 15:10:12
This Internet site provides information of a general nature and is designed for educational purposes only. If you have any concerns about your own health or the health of your child, you should always consult with a physician or other health care professional.
This site is published by Children With Diabetes, Inc, which is responsible for its contents.
© Children with Diabetes, Inc. 1995-2013. Comments and Feedback.
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Thank You: Monica Smith
Monica Smith has been a member of PCRM for just a few months, but she has already gone the extra mile to help us get our message out. After reading about our TV public service announcements (PSAs) in an issue of Good Medicine, Smith made phone calls that led to the PSA “Dangerous” being aired over 19,000 times in the Connecticut area.
Smith first became aware of PCRM at the end of 2005 when she heard Dr. Neal Barnard, president of PCRM, speak at the Institute for Integrative Nutrition where she is a student of holistic health counseling. “Dr. Barnard was just a vision of health,” Smith said. “He looked so healthy and joyful.”
Smith joined PCRM because she deeply related to the ideals of promoting good nutrition and reducing the pain and suffering of animals.
Smith made phone calls to Cox Media and Eastern Connecticut Cable about placing one of our PSAs on the air. PCRM’s PSA “Dangerous” focuses on the dangers of childhood obesity and features several PCRM member doctors. According to a report from Cox Media, the PSA aired 19,351 times on a variety of networks, including CNN, ESPN, and the Food Network.
How You Can Help
If you’d like to help get a PCRM PSA on your local station, contact PSA manager Patricia Howard at [email protected]. PCRM also offers radio and print PSAs and encourages you to contact your local radio stations and community newspapers and magazines about placing our message. We’d like to thank Monica Smith and all of our members for helping us spread the message of good health and compassionate medical practices.
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Fully Featured Website Hosting!!!
The '59 Caddy had it all -- looks, performance, and comfort. It stood as
the ultimate symbol of success, impressive and -- yes -- controversial. The
outrageous tail fins and jet pod taillights evoked either a love it or leave it
attitude with the public. It is interesting to note that Maurice D. Hendry,
author of Cadillac: Standard of the World, The Complete Seventy-Year
History, refused to include a picture of the regular production '59
Cadillac in his book. He said that, "This year saw the tail fins reach a
literally ridiculous height.... The fins had plenty of critics including this
writer.... Nevertheless, the 1959s overall were excellent.... As cars -- rocket
fins or not -- they were undeniably excellent."
Walter M. P. McCall, in
80 Years of Cadillac-LaSalle agreed, commenting that the 1948
tailfins "soon became Cadillac's most famous styling feature, but with each
successive series of new cars these rear fender appendages grew higher and
more flamboyant. By the late 1950s they had reached ludicrous proportions
and were of questionable taste." He called them "Cadillac's spectacular 'zap'
fins!" Up front, McCall observed that "The new grille was a glittering cliff
of chrome. And as if one toothy grille wasn't enough there was even a
dummy grille across the lower rear deck of most models. A thin, horizontal
blade divided the jewelled front grille into upper and lower sections.
Parking and turn signal lights were paired in pods at the outer ends of the
massive new front bumper. The new rear bumper had huge, chrome outer
pods with backup lights recessed in their centers."
Of course, just about everybody knows about the monster fins on the
'59 Cadillac. But how many have ever heard about the Cadillac designed
around a Buick door? The 1959 Cadillac was. General Motors had gone
through three expensive years of tooling up for new models and the head
honchos wanted to trim costs. They decided to make the basic Buick
front door a common interchangeable element throughout the GM C-body
line. This was a tough directive because the door tapered rearward, but an
order was an order and the Cadillac design team worked around it, turning
out an unforgettable product in the process.
Dave Hols, now Director of Design with the General
Motors Design Staff, was a designer at the Cadillac styling studio in 1956.
He remembers the Buick door challenge quite well. "Boy, did you guys see
those '57s parked down at the end of Mound Road?, " Hols recalls one
designer asking as he came into the studio one morning. The designer was
referring to the befinned 1957 Chrysler cars. Actually, Cadillac had
started the great automotive fins race in 1948 after styling chief Harley
Earl had sent a group of designers out to Selfridge Field near Detroit to
study a Lockheed Lightening P-38, particularly its rear stabilizers. Now,
almost a decade later, Chrysler's cars were out-finning Cadillac -- and in a
bold way at that. In point of fact, Chrysler had temporarily wrested design
leadership from GM, and that could not be tolerated.
Thus, Chrysler's challenge set the
Cadillac design team's creative course -- the '59 Cadillac was going to have
flamboyant fins. All the designers were disenchanted (some to the point of
hate) with the '58 Caddy and they were going to abandon most of its
design themes. And just as the 1958 Lincoln and Continental Mark III set
out to "out-Cadillac" Cadillac in 1958, Cadillac found itself in the curious
situation of trying to "out-Chrysler" Chrysler in 1959!
Retired Vice-President of Design, Bill Mitchell,
remembers the battle with Chrysler. "I think what happened is that at the
time [Virgil] Exner at Chrysler and we at GM tried to out-fin each other. I
think the worst year we had was '58 when we were putting on chrome with
a trowel. We had chrome on everything, and in '59 we tried to out-fin
Exner. You know, we went on to '60 and '61 and brought the fins down
and made them a little more sane -- a little more 'sanitary.'"
The head of GM styling at the time was
Harley Earl, the Father of modern automotive design. But he was away in
Europe when this inspiration came to the Cadillac design staff. "When the
Every designer on the project was enamored of jet
aircraft. It was nothing to see a stack of books on the subject on their
desks. This was an exciting time in aviation and the designers were awed
by the shapes of the latest jets. True, the P-38 influence continued on the
'59 Cadillac with the flow-through lines. As Mitchell said, "Seeing the
P-38, you saw how you could go from the headlight straight back to the
tailfin in one line." But, as Hols puts it, "By the mid-Fifties, jet aircraft
were the thing." If you look at the rear of the '59 Caddy, it looks like the
exhaust ports of a jet. It's no wonder the '59 Caddy looks like it's really
moving even when it's just sitting in the driveway.
All the right ingredients came
together for the creation of the '59 Cadillac. First, GM was doing all-new
vehicles for 1959. Second, the taper in the Buick door dictated Cadillac's
rearward taper. Finally, Ed Glowacke, head of design at Cadillac, wanted a
new, innovative, state-of-the-art design. Cadillac could do nothing less than
Chrysler and still be competitive, Glowacke thought. So he put his crew on
a rush schedule to get the 1959 design completed. Work began about
October 1956, with the car set for an October 1958 introduction. Compared
to other GM design time-tables, that was incredibly fast and meant many
late hours in the studio.
Dave Hols, working with Glowacke and crew,
developed the distinctive tailfin design. Twin taillights were used because
twice as many looked more expensive. Thus, nacelles were designed into
the tailfins to allow for them. Chuck Puhlman and Roy Hill also worked on
the design. In the end, use of the Buick door cost more than originally
projected, mainly because of the taper and drop in height. Without that
taper, however, the car's lines wouldn't have carried the characteristic
sweep of motion that became such a distinctive part of the car's design --
and certainly we would not have seen those huge fins.
One of the most striking
impressions one receives from inside the '59 Cadillac is a marvelous
feeling of openness. That's because 1959 was also the "greenhouse year" at
GM. The entire lineup boasted unexcelled visibility compliments of the
thin pillars and abbreviated sail panel (really only a pillar itself). Sitting in
the car, the driver could easily see all four corners and enjoy an almost
unobstructed view in all directions. Part of the increase in visibility had to
do with the design of the roof. In fact, the buyer could choose from two
distinctive roof designs, the first a more traditional curved roof, the second
a radical "blade-upper" flat roof. Both lent themselves to creating lavish
vistas of visibility.
Interior planning for the 1959 Cadillac, including the
Eldorado Brougham and limos, was directed by Bob Scheelk, head of
Cadillac interior design. He remembers the project as a rush program; he
was asked to have the instrument panel in clay -- with working instrument
lights -- for the GM Board of Directors at the Tech Center in the spring of
1957, a monumental task. As it turned out, the executives approved the
instrument panel for production pretty much as presented. It was quite deep
because of the depth of the cowl and the rake of the wraparound
windshield, which resulted in an extended shelf. Also working on the
interior were Sue Vanderbilt (who had worked on Cadillac exteriors
earlier); Russ Bolt, a studio engineer; and two clay
Of course, Cadillac shared a number of
parts with other GM cars, mainly the structural pieces hidden from view.
Cadillac's interior also shared components with its GM siblings -- items
like door moldings and openings, window surrounds, and seat frames. But
most of what the buyer saw, including the seat cushions and fabrics, was
The extreme curvature of the windshield
caused some rethinking regarding placement of controls and switches. For
example, the section of the dash which curved around on the driver's side
to the door opening was large enough that the designers referred to it as
the "horn." On it, they placed the windshield-wiper controls and the power
window switches. Originally, the cruise control was located there, too, but
it had to be moved because it conflicted with the other
Because so many components were new,
even the door opening mechanism for example, extra care had to be taken
to maintain Cadillac's reputation for high quality. One problem in this
regard was the metallic fabric used on the Fleetwood Sixty Special; it
trapped the guard-hairs of women's mink coats when they sat down and
hung onto the hairs when they got up. This textile problem was rapidly
addressed and solved.
Scheelk came up with the colors, had some cars
painted, and hosted an outdoor color show for management at Cadillac
engineering on Clark Street. There, a vote was taken. Only after the
formulas for the selected colors were developed and the problems worked
out did the colors receive final approval. Cadillac often boasted about its
Magic-Mirror acrylic lacquer finish.
All 1959-60 Cadillacs came with
Hydra-Matic, power steering, and power brakes as standard. They also
featured a new direct-acting power brake booster and automatic-release
parking brake. Of course, there was a long list of options: cruise control,
air suspension (whose shocks now contained plastic bags of inert Freon-12
so that the gas could not mix with the shock absorber fluid), electric door
locks, Autronic Eye headlight dimmer, power windows and seat, air, E-Z
Eye glass, power trunk with pull-down, and more.
The '59 Caddy rode a 130-inch wheelbase and
stretched 225 inches from bumper to bumper. At 54.8 inches, the two-door
hardtop stood three inches lower than it had the previous year. Cadillac
used a tubular-center X-frame, not only for its exceptional strength, but
also because it allowed for a low body to improve appearance and enhance
handling stability. The V-8 was bored for 1959, upping the displacement
from 365 to 390 cid and the horsepower from 310 to 325. A four-barrel
carb and dual exhausts were standard. Even the car's rear end, available
with four ratios from 2.94:1 to 3.77:1, had been redesigned, but mainly for
a quieter ride.
DeVille now became a distinct series,
offering hardtop sedans with flat-top four-window styling and a curvier
six-window roofline, plus a hardtop coupe. The Series 62 duplicated these,
and added a convertible. Still pillarless (as it had since been since '57), the
lush Sixty Special now shared a new 130-inch wheelbase with all other
standard models, including the line-topping Eldorado trio of Seville,
Biarritz, and Brougham.
Prices were generally higher than before, with Series 62s at around $5000 and Eldos going for $7400 and up.
Still, Cadillac built over 142,000 of its '59s, a fair gain on its 1958 showing. Though not
appreciated then, these Caddys are now sought-after as the epitome of
Fifties kitsch with their massive size, sparkling trim, and, especially, those
Despite a few lapses, the Fifties had been a great 10 years for Cadillac -- the greatest ever in terms
of expansion. A car for the very wealthy in 1950, Cadillac was solidly
entrenched by decade's end among younger buyers on the way up.
In 1959, Cadillac fielded six series: Series 6200, 6300 (DeVille), 6400 & 6900 Eldorados, Sixty Special
Fleetwood, and 6700 Fleetwood 75.
No single automotive design better characterizes the industry's late Fifties flamboyance than the 1959 Cadillac,
which incorporated totally new styling:
The convertible also had power windows and Two-Way power seat. Plain fender skirts covered rear wheels and
sedans were available in four window (4W) and six-window (6W) configurations.
- Large tailfins
- twin bullet taillamps
- two distinctive rooflines and roof pillar configurations
- new jewel-like grille patterns
- matching deck latch lid beauty panels. The former 62 line was now commonly called the 6200 Series and
was actually comprised of three sub-series all with similar wheelbases and lengths. Each will be treated
individually here. The five base models were identifiable by their straight body rub moldings running from front
wheel openings to back bumpers with crest medallions below the tip of the spear. A one-deck jeweled rear grille
insert was seen. Standard equipment included
- power brakes
- power steering
- automatic transmission
- dual backup lamps
- windshield washers and two-speed wipers
- wheel discs
- outside rear view mirror
- vanity mirror
- oil filter
- The motor serial number system adopted in 1958 was used again with numbers in the same physical
- The first pair of symbols changed to "59" to designate model year.
- The third symbol (a letter listed as a Body Style Number suffix in charts below) identified model and series.
- Consecutive unit numbers began at 000001 and up
|Model Number||Body Style||Model||Seating||Factory Price||Shipping Weight||Production Total|
|59-62||6229K||4-door 6 Window Sedan||6||5080||4835||23,461|
|59-62||6229K||6 Window Export Sedan||6||5080||4835||60|
|59-62||6239A||4-door 4 Window Sedan||6||5080||4770||14,138|
|59-62||6237G||2-door Hardtop Coupe||6||4892||4690||21,947|
|59-62||6267F||2-door Convertible Coupe||6||5455||4855||11,130|
|DEVILLE SUB-SERIES 6300|
|59-63||6329L||4-door 6 Window Sedan||6||5498||4850||19,158|
|59-63||6339B||4-door 4 Window Sedan||6||5498||4825||12,308|
NOTE: The Export Sedan was shipped in CKD form to foreign countries.
The DeVille models, two sedans and a coupe, had script nameplates on the rear fenders eliminating the use of
the front fender crest medallions. They were trimmed like 6200s otherwise. The DeVilles also had all of the
same standard equipment listed for 6200s plus power windows and Two-Way power seats.
|SERIES 6200 AND 6300
- V-8 Overhead valves
- Cast iron block
- Displacement: 390 cubic inches
- Bore and stroke: 4.00 x 3.875 inches
- Compression ratio: 10.5:1
- Brake horsepower: 325 at 4800 rpm
- Five main bearings
- Hydraulic valve lifters
- Carburetor: Carter AFB four-barrel Model 2814S
- Wheelbase: 130"
- Overall Length: 225"
- Tires: 8.00 x 15
- Dual exhausts standard
- Rear axle ratios: 2.94:1 standard; 3.21:1 optional or mandatory with air conditioning
The 345 horsepower Eldorado V-8 was optional on all other Cadillacs at $134.30 extra.
- Radio with rear speaker ($165)
- Radio with rear speaker and remote control ($247)
- Automatic heating system on Series 75 ($179); on other models ($129)
- Six-Way power seat on 6200s except convertible ($189)
- Six-Way power seat on 60-6306-6400 and 6200 convertible ($89)
- Power window regulators ($73)
- Power vent regulators ($73)
- Air conditioning on Series 75 ($624); on other models ($474)
- Air suspension ($215)
- Autronic Eye ($55)
- Cruise Control ($97)
- Electric door locks on two-doors ($46); on four doors ($70)
- E-Z-Eye glass ($52)
- Fog lamps ($46)
- White sidewall tires 8.20 x 15 four-ply ($57 exchange)
- 8.20 x 15 six-ply ($65 exchange).
- Door guards on four doors ($7)
- Door guards on two doors ($4)
- Remote control trunk lock ($59)
- License Plate frame ($8)
- Local options
- Utility kit ($15)
- Monogram ($12)
- Acryllic Lustre finish ($20)
- Undercoating ($25)
- Radio foot switch($10)
- Gas cap lock ($4)
- Pair of rugs for front ($8)
- Pair of rugs for rear ($5)
- Note: Bucket seats were a no-cost option on the Biarritz convertible
- Assembly of 142,272 units was counted for the 1959 model year.
- This was the next to last season for selling the Brougham.
- Flat-top roof styling was used on four-window sedans
- Six-window jobs had sloping rooflines with rear vent panes.
- Power steering and shock absorbers were improved this year.
May 12/00; March 8/03
Fully Featured Website Hosting!!!
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The Relief Series
The Relief programmes are online, multimedia health information and self-management packages, helping you to understand and manage a range of common mental health problems and illnesses. The Relief health management programmes will teach you well-established skills and techniques to identify, motivate, monitor and self-manage:
There are many self-help and information based websites available for mental health issues, so how do you know which one to choose or what information you can rely on when you or your loved ones need help?
Here at the Wellness shop we offer you readily accessible, easy to use, mental health programs that are based on clinically proven techniques. Our cCBT programme Beating the Blues® is already available in over 300 NHS and community based locations across the UK, so you can feel reassured by the fact that the expert knowledge we have developed and used in our clinical, practice based services, are the foundations for our Relief programmes that you can now use at home.
The Relief programmes can be bought as a total package giving you access to the assessments and module content for each of the conditions included within the programme; anxiety, depression, stress and insomnia. However we also offer you the option to personalise your Relief licence by selecting only the condition profiles you want. Whatever profile selection you choose, programmes include assessment tools, illustrated problem examples from our case studies using online flash movie animation, and self-management techniques including: Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT) skills to better cope with anxiety or depression, relaxation techniques to promote stress relief, and insomnia management strategies such as sleep hygiene, stimulus control or visualisation techniques
The Relief programmes offers you and your loved ones immediate access to proven self-help solutions for common mental health problems in the privacy of your own home, and could also promote better long term mental health by teaching you the skills you need to cope, manage and deal with stressful situations now and in the future.
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Sen. Jay Rockefeller, D-W.Va., said he would still like to see "an extension of the payroll tax cut, which I believe should have continued temporarily in a way that still protected Social Security.
"But, even without the payroll tax cut, the facts are very clear - this bill significantly benefits West Virginians, and the net total puts more money in West Virginians' pockets," Rockefeller said in a statement Wednesday evening referring to what would have happened had Congress not acted.
West Virginia's U.S. House Republicans had assessments similar to Manchin's.
Rep. Shelley Moore Capito, R-W.Va., said taxpayers should take "solace" that their higher payroll taxes are going to shore up Social Security.
"We need those dollars to go into Social Security," she said.
Rep. David McKinley, R-W.Va., said he did not think the payroll tax cut was stimulating the economy as it was intended to do.
"It didn't work and it was robbing Social Security, threatening the stability of that account," McKinley said.
A recently released "fact sheet" by Congress' Joint Economic Committee suggested some of the potentially dire effects on Social Security were not so clear. Sen. Bob Casey, D-Pa., chairs the House-Senate committee.
The joint committee, known as the JEC, said a report by Social Security's trustees found the tax cut actually had helped the Social Security Trust Fund.
"All reduced revenues are recovered though transfers from the Treasury General Fund," the joint committee said in early December. "Furthermore, the additional jobs generated by the payroll tax cut added to the Social Security Trust Fund's balance. The JEC estimates that the boost in employment driven by the payroll tax cut contributed at least $1 billion in additional Social Security tax withholding and payments."
But the Social Security trustees also cautioned lawmakers in a report of their own about keeping the lower tax rate in place.
"Lawmakers should carefully consider whether continued significant General Fund financing for Social Security could threaten to undermine long-standing public perceptions of the program as an earned benefit financed by workers according to contributory social insurance principles," the trustees wrote.
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Fires blaze as state prepares for heatwave
- How to survive: Make your preparations now
- Firefighters face threat levels not seen for years
- Sydney to swelter but heat records safe
- Tasmanian bushfire beaten back
- Heat provides little cheer, but pub has cold beer
Rural fire crews are responding to dozens of fires across the state, as Premier Barry O'Farrell warns residents to prepare for what could be the worst fire danger day in the state's history on Tuesday.
We've got awful conditions coming our way, and people need to be prepared.
Residents of Oura in southern NSW were on Monday afternoon warned not to leave their village but to take shelter if a nearby out-of-control grassfire threatens homes.
A grass fire was burning out of control near Oura, east of Wagga Wagga on Monday. Photo: Les Smith
It was just one of a number of fires across the state, as emergency services prepare for 'catastrophic' fire conditions on Tuesday.
Premier Barry O'Farrell on Monday made an emphatic appeal to all NSW residents to be fully prepared for the worst.
"Tomorrow is not just going to be in the 40s, it will perhaps be the worst fire danger the state has ever faced," he said. "Do what emergency services tell you, particular the rural fire service. Act early.
List of current incidents from the NSW Rural Fire Service:
View Larger Map
Click on the pins for details of fires in your area
"Don't just think, 'Tomorrow is another bush fire danger day, tomorrow is another summer's day'. Tomorrow is going to be the worst fire danger day in parts of this state we've ever experienced in history."
A total fire ban has been applied for NSW from midnight on Monday while the Shoalhaven and Illawarra area, along with Southern ranges region, are the most at risk, categorised as having 'catastrophic' conditions, the worst on the scale. The fire service advises residents never to attempt to stay and defend their homes when threatened by fire on a day rated catastrophic.
National parks will be closed and nursing homes evacuated as the state sets to sizzle.
Mr O'Farrell urged campers and holidaymakers to leave early Tuesday morning as thousands of fire service personnel would be on heightened standby.
"Rethink your need to be in the bush, have a bush fire plan, be prepared but most importantly make sure you are well away from harm's way," he said.
Fast-moving fire warning for Oura residents
In southern NSW residents have been warned not to leave their village but to take shelter if a nearby out-of-control grassfire threatens homes.
At mid-afternoon on Monday the fast-moving fire was about 400 hectares in size burning about 14km east of Wagga Wagga.
An emergency warning is place for residents of Oura, which has a population of around 270.
A Rural Fire Service spokeswoman told AAP the fire may impact on homes but at mid-afternoon it was not believed it would do so.
"But because it’s a fast-moving grassfire the situation could change quite rapidly," she said.
The fire had closed roads in the area so residents had been advised not to leave but to seek shelter from radiant heat if the fire threatened houses.Firefighters were protecting properties and an air crane was helping ground crews in fighting the fire.
An Emergency Alert telephone warning message has been sent to residents in the area.
Crews battle Gunning blaze
A fire fighter has been burnt in a blaze burning of control near Gunning.
The fire broke out this afternoon between Gunning and the Belmont Forest and has raced through more than 25 hectares.
Crews are concentrated around the Laidvale Rd and Gundaroo Rd areas.
The outbreak overtook a RFS truck just after 3pm.
The Snowy Hydro Southcare helicopter has been deployed to transport the man to Canberra Hospital.
Water bombing aircraft have also been sent to the fire, along with numerous crews. However, ground crews are making headway on the blaze’s northern edge.
Police are cutting off access to some roads.
Total fire ban as NSW prepares for 'catastrophic' conditions
Rural Fire Service Commissioner Shane Fitzsimmons said strong winds of up to 80km/h would also play havoc for emergency services.
"It's not just the heat and winds but because there is so much dry fuel and little humidity it's going to be a shocking day," he said.
"We have today more than 90 fires and 20 of those remain uncontained."
Lightning has also been responsible for dozens of fires igniting recently.
Mr Fitzsimmons encouraged campers and those in potentially fire affected areas to remain vigilant but act accordingly.
"We're expecting awful conditions tomorrow, monitor your local conditions. Listen to radio. Look at the TV. Access social media. Stay tuned to what's happening," he said.
Alongside firefighters will be 60-70 aircraft on standby to help efforts containing any fire outbreaks.
Police will also be targeting known arsonists as part of their efforts to reduce the chance of fire.
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|« Back to Article|
Emu oil may revive industry
NEW YORK TIMES | February 7, 2013
HAMILTON, Mont. - The Wild Rose Emu Ranch is a survivor in an unusual business.
In 1998, there were some 5,500 farms and ranches across the country raising emus, the gawky, 5- to 6-foot-tall flightless birds; now, the best guess is that there are 1,000 to 2,000.
Once, emus were viewed as a potential growth industry, a godsend to struggling farmers.
But the industry's downward trajectory might have been stayed.
It is not because the bird's meat, which is very lean, is becoming more popular, although it is. Instead, it is in the large block of fat that covers most of the emu's body, between the hide and the flesh, that ranchers are finding a glimmer of hope.
"The oil is beneficial for almost any kind of skin condition," said Clover Quinn, the owner of the Wild Rose, as she rubbed some of the oil on her hands.
'Very nice oil'
While there are a few studies that demonstrate the oil's effectiveness for some things, proponents say it has a range of uses.
"It's a very nice oil," said Mohammed Alam, head of the fats and oils program at Texas A&M University. "It's not magical. It's similar to other oils. But the mechanism for how it works needs to be figured out."
The oil's popularity has kept places like the Wild Rose from closing.
"We got into the business in 1996, and the Montana Emu Association had 35 members," Quinn said.
Her husband, Joe, was serving an emu omelet for four, made from half the contents of a single black egg that weighs about 1½ pounds.
The Quinns watched as fellow emu ranchers began selling off their birds. The Montana Emu Association has just three members now, and two of those are the Quinns.
Industry on the rise
For a while, raising emus seemed like a quick path to wealth. A breeding pair sold for $45,000 in 1993, but as their numbers exploded by 1996, they were $1,000 a pair.
"The following year, they were giving them away," Clover Quinn said.
One problem was that emu meat was thought too exotic by consumers and never managed to gain much traction in the U.S. market.
Still, sales of the meat have improved. The Quinns sell it in health food stores in Missoula and Hamilton because it is low in fat and high in omega-3 fatty acids and other beneficial substances.
Because emus are flightless birds, they never developed large pectoral muscles. It takes 1½ years to raise one, and they provide just 30 pounds of meat. A single cow has more than 500 pounds of meat.
Emu ranchers also sell the bird's supple leather, which is made into boots, handbags and clothes. The lustrous blue-black eggs are sold for food, and people collect the empty shells to engrave and paint.
But several years ago, word started getting around about the oil. The birds, like the ostrich, evolved to store a lot of fat to survive in the outback of their native Australia. The oil is touted as a treatment for wrinkles, burns, acne, arthritis, psoriasis and eczema, among other things.
It is used in shampoo and cosmetics. Taken orally, it is used to treat cholesterol, symptoms of premenstrual syndrome and allergies.
A single bird produces 250 ounces of oil, and the Quinns sell it for $10 an ounce, subtracting the refining costs.
"It's been an enormous factor" in profitability, Clover Quinn said.
The leading emu oil processor, LB Processors, has seen production grow in the past few years to 7,000 gallons a year from 3,000 gallons.
"The last five years, things have really picked up," said Paul Binford, the owner and operator of the company. "The recession didn't hurt us."
Clover Quinn also is an accomplished egg carver and makes art from the emu eggs, engraving mountain scenes into them. In 2008, her carved egg was chosen for the White House Easter egg display, which included one from each of the 50 states. But there was a downside.
"It had to be a chicken egg," Joe Quinn said. "It couldn't be an emu egg."
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24 May 2001
We're in a recession, now or are we? It depends on whom you listen to. A depression? A panic?
I see increasing numbers of layoffs in the newspapers. Until the Great Depression of the 1930s, downturns were called "panics." President Hoover didn't like the word, so he called it a "depression." In 1937, the economy sagged again, and President Roosevelt called it a "recession" because "depression" had become a fearful word.
In a previous column ("In the Shadow of Mount Vesuvius," Motion Control, October/ November 1998), I indicated that the stock market goes up if you wait long enough. After the Great Depression, however, it took more than 20 years to surpass its previous high.
Certainly, the stock market isn't booming. But how is the motion control industry making out? One indication of how well motion control is doing is the price of the motion control companies' stocks.
Well, that indicator doesn't look as good as it did last year, but it's not too terrible. The average decline in stock price between June 2000 and April 2001 was 11%, while the S&P 500 Index (a composite of the stock prices of 500 of the largest public companies) went down 22%. So motion control did better than the average stock.
The motion control producers in Table 1 are publicly traded, and therefore their stock prices are available. Some of the companies are primarily in motion control products; others aren't. The industries in which they do operate, however, should behave in a fashion economically similar to motion control companies. Stock price is only one of the parameters that indicate degree of success. In baseball, for instance, runs batted in or batting average or slugging average are each indicative of something different.
So how are we doing? We were down last year by 11%, and while that's better than the S&P, it doesn't approach the 115% increase for these companies in the 19992000 period. For comparative purposes, the NASDAQ dropped 53% in the last period we selected.
As I've said before, every time I study any figures, I get some surprises. One surprise here is that, because the motion control industry sells largely to capital equipment manufacturers, it would seem to be particularly sensitive to business downturns. Yet motion control did much better than the NASDAQ stocks and better than the S&P. Some 45% of the motion control stocks made gains. It's also noteworthy that the eight stocks that more than doubled in value last year all lost value this year-most of them drastically.
Stocks that improved their relative position in each of the past three years are Dynamics Research, Penn Engineering, Parker Hannifin, Magnetek, and The Oilgear Co. On the other hand, General Electric, Lexmark, Dover, Motorola, and Hewlett-Packard continuously lost position (Table 2).
If I knew what all this meant, I'd be on Rukeyser's program, explaining how my fund made billions of dollars. The stock market must have both buyers and sellers with money to invest. That means it can't be easy.
It's unfortunate that we've substituted the gentle-sounding "recession" for the more descriptive "panic." What I've read about 1929 and what I remember about the 1930s is that the Crash was like a riot in a burning building.
"Recession" sounds mild and under control. "Panic" indicates terror and loss of reason. We aren't in state of panic yet, but I wish Mr. Greenspan looked at least a little worried. I'm keeping a close watch on Vesuvius. MC
Figures and Graphics
- Table 1: Percent change in stock prices, 19982001.
- Table 2: Rank in stock price increase, 19982001.
- Vesuvius Rumbles [PDF file]
Return to Previous Page
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During Roman times, Licinia was the name of the town of Morata located southeast of Madrid. Today, Bodegas Licinia is a wine made by three visionaries: winemaker Olga Fernandez, and viticulturists Victor and Jose Ramon Lissarrague. The objective is to make small production biodynamic wine that represents the terruno or terroir. The vineyards, at an elevation of 2,100 feet, are planted to clay and limestone soil. Sixty-seven acres are divided into four different parcels: Tempranillo, Syrah, Cabernet and Merlot. The debut 2006 vintage was rated "Best Red Wine of Spain by Enoforum."
*Save 10% when you buy 12 or more bottles of wine.
750ML only, excluding items at the state minimum price.
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What do the Wakefield twins, the ladies of the Baby-Sitters Club, Nancy Drew, and R.L. Stine’s goosebumps-inducing cohort have in common? They are all the subjects of books that were the literary touchstones of a generation, often spanning several of those generations — and as such, they themselves are touchstones as well. Nostalgia being what it is in this day and age, they’re also the inspiration for an art exhibit currently running at Gallery1988 in Los Angeles (through February 23), presented by Hello Giggles. It's called "Young Adult," and it brings together the work of more than 60 female artists in celebration of many of their (and our) favorite childhood novels. This may be the only Y.A. art show that I've heard of, but it seems a no-brainer, easily abounding with insider jokes to make the Y.A. fan feel at home, as well as presenting updates on old themes to keep viewers guessing and surprised as they peruse art inspired by their old friends.
The gallery space on Melrose near La Brea is a rectangular white room with the lion's share of the art hanging to the left and right of a desk where one gallerist sits, ready to answer questions or sell perusers a print. (There's also a rack of prints, some associated with the exhibit and some not, available for purchase near that desk). Along with the framed Y.A. artwork displayed on the walls there are pieces like Alisa Ross's "Monster Blood," a stuffed hamster breaking out of a cage; a stuffed trailer and "King Jellyjam" from Julie Pinzur; and a Slappy doll by Michelle Coffee. The exhibit is small enough to be seen in 15 or 20 minutes, but the longer you linger the more you notice and remember. There are aspects of these books, some of which we read over and over again, lodged deep within our psyches! Just look at that Wakefields picture above, and let's discuss the first and second and third and fourth things that come to mind ...
R.L. Stine told me of the works in honor of his books, "I was totally creeped out by the idea of people in dark rooms all over the U.S. painting the evil dummy Slappy and other Goosebumps creations. These artists are definitely twisted, and I take no responsibility."
In terms of the exhibit as a functional art show, there's something for everyone price-wise, with some of the framed pieces ranging in the hundreds while prints for others are a mere $35. But even if you don't want to take anything home, each of the pieces of art is worth a look for a Y.A. fan. I ooohed and ahhhed over more than a few, as you'd expect, including the nod to Choose Your Own Adventure books by Jessica Deahl.
Some of the artists keep it fairly traditional while others introduce farce, surreal interpretations, and humor to their pieces. Maggie Mull's "Young-And-Awkward-Adult Books" is a great modern send-up of the books we read and loved. For example: "Are You There, God? It's Me, Saddlebags," and "I Know What You Did Last Summer ... You Went to Theater Camp!"
There was a ton of Nancy Drew, veering from Jetsons-esque (by Shana Bilbrey) to ghostly romantic (by Esther Bayer) to Sephora-esque (by Danielle Murray) — and I mean that in a good way — to beyond photographic (by Bec Winnel):
A piece by Jenna Puente incorporates pages of the actual books as the matte:
If you were deeply affected by R.L. Stine's Say Cheese and Die, Nan Lawson's artistic rendition may bring back chills, as it did for a friend with whom I saw the exhibit:
And this piece featuring the "Goosebumps Celebrities," by Katie Perdue, is awesome:
There was no shortage of of Sweet Valley High here, from depictions of the twins young and old to an air-brushed homage to Sweet Valley hunk Bruce Patman. A few notable ones, from Larissa Thomas (top — not all are PG) and Kelly Denato (Patman heart):
My favorite piece of all, though, was the Harriet the Spy "Life Is a Mystery" print by Lauren Gregg at right (the quote is, "Is Everybody a Different Person When They Are With Somebody Else?") To the left of it is a Sweet Valley High piece by Meg Hyland.
I'm also a big fan of these Ann Sullivan drawings of Kristy, the always fashionable Claudia, Stacey, and Mary Anne.
Be forewarned/ready to laugh: Some of the reimaginings were a little bit risque, as well as not a little bit tongue-in-cheek ("The Temptation of Stacey McGill"!), but that's what happens when the artist grows up, we suppose. In a time when a certain Anne of Green Gables cover has readers up in arms over they who darest portray the red-headed icon as a flannel-clad blonde, it's refreshing to be presented with clear evidence that not every re-imagining is a bad one. Some might even be better than the originals.
Photos by Jen Doll or from Gallery1988.
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Participatory democracy is a theme being championed by the Occupy movement. Local Occupy movements have successfully petitioned their local governments to pass resolutions in support of solutions to a specific set of their grievances in places such as Los Angeles, Cleveland, Seattle, San Francisco, Butte/Missoula (Montana), Pittsburg, Pinal County (AZ). Such measures have also received setbacks in Richmond VA, Illinois State House, Astoria NY.
Occupy Las Vegas brought a similar resolution before the city councils of Henderson, Las Vegas, North Las Vegas and the Clark County Commission today. You can read one of the resolutions here. The resolution was submitted in electronic and hard copy forms to all members of these elected boards. Members of the Occupy Las Vegas group were in attendance at all of these governing bodies’ meetings today to make statements during public comment.
Within these resolutions are actions that support the principles of the Occupy Movement and the peaceful and lawful exercise of the First Amendment as a cherished and fundamental right in the effort to seek solutions for economically distressed Americans at the federal, state and local levels; commit local officials to work with the community to take steps to minimize economic insecurity and destructive disparities in the County of Clark; and requests for our State and U.S. elected leaders to generate solutions for economically distressed Americans.
They were greeted with open and positive reception at these meetings. The nature of the discussion preceding public comment at Las Vegas City Council was very fortuitous for the Occupy Las Vegas people. The Council was discussing the blight caused by uncared for foreclosed homes. Mayor Carolyn Goodman even mentioned a neighborhood home that had a swimming pool which went uncleaned for sometime. She indicated that it was the number one suspect in a breakout of West Nile Virus in the neighborhood.
For Occupy Las Vegas, this is an opportunity to tie together talking points of the movement and actual political reality. Can the two come together here in Las Vegas? Let’s hope so. Local elected officials showing support is an important symbolic step for the movement.
It is my hope that the resolutions are carefully read and passed by these local bodies. Going forward, this is the kind of participation we need in government. Real grassroots participation is the only way for a democracy to be healthy. Hoping more and more people will occupy public comment, occupy emails to their elected representatives, and occupy the voting booth.
Justin is the publisher The Nevada View, which has earned the recognition in the Washington Post’s “Best State-Based Political Blogs,” as well as being awarded the “Most Valuable Blogger Award” by the local CBS affiliate in 2011. Justin is also an associate at the Ramirez Group in Las Vegas. Follow him on Twitter @McAffee
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I’m often conscious that I don’t fully understand the differences between the US and UK higher education processes, so I’m not quite sure how bothered to be by a recent news item that I came across at Cliopatria. The story is that Drew University, a small liberal arts college in New Jersey, recently rebuilt its entire history Ph. D. program with a decidedly vocational bent. They have striven to assure that each student, of the few they will carefully choose, will teach their own course for a year as part of their programme, which will be closely constrained to take no more than five years and be tested throughout with historiographical essays that are more like what they’re actually going to have to do after they graduate than the exams they used before. They also aim to haul in all kinds of help from other departments and contribute as much as they can back in exchange.
A lot of this makes sense for a very small university running a graduate program; to do so at all, which the article emphasises is unusual, requires a lot of pooled resources and selectivity about they’re trying to achieve. In fact I wish big departments in the UK would do more about this kind of sharing of aims between schools and periods, perhaps they could benefit from some similar pressures. That said, there are a lot of things that strike me very oddly, and I don’t know how many of these are just a difference between US and UK practices. Testing, first and foremost. In the UK most Ph. D. students have to pass an upgrade at some point in their course, without which they can only attain a Masters degree; there isn’t really any other form of testing, because the ambitious ones will already be working on conference papers and publications, which one could see as the real tests. And while I’m familiar with the archetype of the never-finishing grad student from the USA’s pop culture, this doesn’t stop me thinking that five years is still a huge chunk of one’s life to use on a doctorate. I took five years to do mine, but three of them were part-time and I was an Assistant Lecturer on a course with the time of two fewer teachers than it had been planned for during some of that; I also spent much too long on a first article, though I guess the work paid off at the time. In the UK it is conventional to over-run, but since one usually has to do so on one’s own money, rarely by more than a year; someone who over-runs by more than a year either has a private income, or probably isn’t going to finish, because they have already had to start in on a real-world career to make ends meet and stop needing the doctorate or enjoying the study. It takes unusual bloody-mindedness to continue to defy one’s normal employability in those circumstances. So there is obviously something basically different about the experience in the USA that means I don’t know how weird the bit that unsettles me is.
That bit is, how much like a vocational lower degree this seems. This bit particularly struck me:
At Drew University our public humanities project will require all our doctoral students to hold internships at intellectual arenas outside the university: museums, foundations, publishing houses, schools, and magazines. In partnership with these institutions, our students could apply their knowledge by designing humanities programs that directly serve the public, such as a museum exhibit or a high school curriculum. We will also sponsor a workshop on writing for a lay audience, taught by a professional author. Thus our program will prepare students for careers in both academia and the nonacademic `knowledge industries’—and some of them will probably choose the latter path.
Now, I know people who would really have benefited from such provision in their doctorate, because that is the path they have wound up on. All the same, is it the point? I did my Ph. D. to do a particular piece of research that would be recognised to have shown that I could be a real historian and work in the profession. In fact as many have found that is not so easy, no matter how good your thesis, and the work just doesn’t stop there. So I can certainly imagine that this could just be seen as realism, and it’s not as if the Drew programme makes anyone less likely to get hired; in fact, in some ways they are merely formalising practices that exist in most places already, like finding your students teaching experience on your courses, and their students will benefit considerably from this being done properly I imagine. But it bothers me all the same that this is being so tailored to getting a job. Really, as I’ve said, history is not supposed to be a marketable discipline, though you can surely write books that make you money from it. But Drew are picking a small cadre of élite students and instructing them how to deal with there being no way to continue their research. They are basically saying it doesn’t matter how good you are, you may not make it here. Surely only realistic, and nothing I haven’t told students of my own who will probably go on to outperform me. All the same it feels like something’s gone wrong if it finally has to be institutionalised.
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300 N. School Street
Pixley, CA 93256
Pixley Union Elementary School District
Pixley CA is a small town of about 2500 people. The population is mostly farm workers and their families. The school is about 95% Hispanic and 85% second language. The staff at Pixley School is a hard working group.
Education – K-12
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The Associated Press reports:
U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton says the Obama administration has decided to formally recognize Libya’s main opposition group as the country’s legitimate government. The move gives foes of Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi a major financial and credibility boost.
Clinton announced Friday that Washington accepts the Transitional National Council as the legitimate governing authority of the Libyan people.
Diplomatic recognition of the council means that the U.S. will be able to fund the opposition with some of the more than $30 billion in Gadhafi-regime assets that are frozen in American banks.
Click here to read the entire article.
Hillary Rodham Clinton (photo)
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|PRINT | CLOSE WINDOW|
U.S. Sen. Charles Schumer was at the Eastman Business Park on Thursday touting legislation he is helping craft to create a national network of 15 advanced manufacturing hubs.
The designation could help develop new companies and commerical products, as well as creating hundreds of jobs, said Schumer, D-N.Y. He highlighted the Eastman Businsess Park’s potentail as a national hub, noting park officials and Rochester area photonics companies already have been working with federal officials to develop the program.
The legislation, which he is drafting with Sen. Sherrod Brown, D-Ohio, is called the National Network for Manufacturing Innovation Act of 2013. It would authorize the creation of the hubs through a competitive application process.
“Upstate New York deserves the chance to lead the nation in high-tech manufacturing, and the first-ever legislation that I’m proposing today, which would mean massive investment in research and job creation at 15 manufacturing hubs, could do just that,” Schumer said in a statement.
(c) 2013 Rochester Business Journal. To obtain permission to reprint this article, call 585-546-8303 or e-mail [email protected].
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Investigation reveals that the New York City Human Resources Administration (HRA) rarely follows its own stated protocol regarding the provision of interpretation to non-English speaking applicants and recipients of public assistance.
About this Report:
The three organizations that put together this report decided to collaborate in the spring of 1999 to address serious concerns voiced by our non-English-speaking clients and members regarding the lack of translation services within the New York City Human Resources Administration (HRA). For poor, immigrant communities with whom our organizations work, the lack of translation and interpretation services presents a serious obstacle to accessing the public assistance on which many families depend for survival.
HRA Policy Bulletin 99-13 identifies one HRA publication, entitled "Directory of Community Organizations with Bilingual Interpreter Staff" as the cornerstone of their interpretation policy. In response to requests regarding their policy for dealing with non-English-speaking applicants and recipients, HRA produced this policy bulletin, and a flyer targeted towards HRA staff encouraging the use of this Directory.
The following results of our contacts with 89 of the 90 community organizations listed in the Directory indicate that this policy is far from frequently employed. Given the considerable population of non-English-speaking recipients of welfare, these results beg the following questions: What happens to the large majority of non-English-speakers who attempt to apply for welfare or must engage with HRA personnel in order to maintain their benefits? How do they manage to convey vital information to HRA Center staff? How many families fall through the cracks, failing to gain access to the benefits to which they are entitled because they simply cannot make themselves understood?
Our results indicate that it is simply not possible that HRA is providing adequate translation services to the tens of thousands of people who need them to access benefits. The "Directory of Community Organizations with Bilingual Interpreter Staff" is dramatically under-utilized by HRA personnel. The fact that it serves as the cornerstone of HRA's translation and interpretation policy is proof that this policy is simply a sham.
Our results indicate:
• A majority of the organizations listed in the directory are not even aware that they are listed.
• Of the organizations which said they were aware of being listed, a majority state they are contacted by HRA personnel once per month or less frequently to provide translation or interpretation services.
• Not one of the organizations surveyed stated that HRA had ever done any quality monitoring of their capability to provide these services.
Make the Road New York! Latin American Integration Center and Make the Road by Walking celebrated the announcement of their merger at SEIU 32BJ's Auditorium on Wednesday, September 19, 2007 to a packed audience. Schools Chancellor Joel Klein, joined us to celebrate the event.
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My daughters are ages 9 and 10. When I was their age I was cooking quite a bit because my parents worked full time. I taught myself how to cook from trial and error based on ingredients we had on hand. I was a bit fearless in the kitchen because I didn’t know what I was doing and if I wanted to eat I had to figure it out. Over the years my cooking and baking abilities improved with experience and I attribute all this to my love of cooking today.
As someone who follows culinary trends and conversations on the internet, it always makes me a little sad when I read expert opinions on what home cooking should look like – it’s either black or white with no shades of grey in between. Not everyone is going to have basic skills and knowledge of cooking fundamentals but I believe there is an assumption that people do. This explains why cooking can be intimidating for parents who have never learned simple cooking techniques and recipes. Failure, waste of time and money on ingredients, and discouraging feedback from their kids are just a few valid reasons why some of my “mom” friends hate cooking.
My approach to cooking and baking here on Kitchen Explorers and my own cooking site (Savory Sweet Life) is to help take the intimidation out of cooking by sharing easy and delicious family recipes which are often times very basic. Every time someone visits this site I never assume they know how to cook. By offering simplified recipes, my desire is to help people to not only build their culinary confidence but to increase their level of joy and excitement for home cooked dishes to feed their families.
Today’s recipe for how to cook pork chops is pretty basic but such a great one to learn. It’s the type of main dish you can put together very quickly with what you probably already have in the kitchen. Add some steamed vegetables along with a side of brown rice and you have yourself a great family weeknight meal which will take you less time to cook than heating a store bought frozen casserole. If you’re new to cooking or have been intimidated to cook because of the reasons I previously mentioned above, cooking from Kitchen Explorers is a great way to learn how to cook great meals for your family. It is also a great opportunity to invite your children into the kitchen to cook alongside you; giving them the culinary foundation and confidence they’ll be able to build on for many years to come.
Recipe: How to Cook Pork Chops
A tried and true pork chop recipe.
- 1 cup flour
- kosher salt
- freshly ground black pepper
- dried thyme
- 4 pork chops, 3/4-inch thick, bone-in
- olive or vegetable oil
- Pat the pork chops dry on both sides with a paper towel. Add the flour to a large dinner plate. Season the pork chops with salt, pepper, and a generous pinch (approximately ¼ teaspoon) of thyme on each side, followed by dredging the pork in the flour; shaking off the excess.
- Heat a skillet (preferably cast-iron) on medium heat and coat with just enough oil to cover the surface of the pan. When the pan is nice and hot, lay the pork chops in the pan being careful not to crowd them. Fry the pork chops for 3 minutes on each side until cooked through and the center of the pork chops is not pink. Leaving the pork chops in the pan, turn off the heat and cover the pan with a lid or foil. Allow the pork chops to rest in the pan for 3 minutes before removing to serve. This way the pork chops remain tender and moist.
- ****Cooking times will vary for thinner or thicker chops. I have found cooking pork chops 3/4" thick for 3-4 minutes on each side to be just perfect.
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MLK Memorial closer to reality
Harry Johnson Sr. and AKA help raise $87 million
Attorney Harry E. Johnson Sr. is on a mission to erect the Martin Luther King Memorial in Washington, D.C.
As president of the MLK National Memorial Project Foundation, Johnson is spearheading a drive to raise $100 million for the project.
The project garnered international attention with a ceremonial ground breaking in November of last year. So far, the project has accrued eighty-seven million of the funding needed for completion.
Johnson was among the awardees at the Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. National Holiday Commemoration held Friday at the California African American museum.
The commemoration, hosted by 48th District Assemblyman Mike Davis, also honored Judge Terry J. Hatter Jr., senior United States District Judge.
Johnson, who flew in from Houston to Los Angeles to attend the commemoration, said that the MLK project has received tremendous support. The attorney, who is a past president of Alpha Phi Alpha, said that the fraternity conceived of the idea for a Dr. King memorial twenty-five years ago.
“Congress signed into law the authority for the Alpha Phi Alpha fraternity to raise funds and build a memorial to Dr. King,” said Johnson. “We were able to secure the piece of land between the Lincoln and the Jefferson memorials. What better place to place a king than between two presidents?”
Johnson said that seven years ago, the foundation then launched an international competition for the design of the memorial. “We got 990 entries from around the world and from 52 different countries.”
The winning design was chosen from the Roma Group, an architectural firm in San Francisco. “An international jury pool selected the winning design,” said Johnson, who said that the winning design was drawn by a Chinese sculptor.
Johnson said that the choice to use the Chinese sculptor’s design initially rankled some King supporters. “People asked me, ‘Why did you pick a Chinese guy?’ I told them what Dr. King said--we should judge a person not by the color of his skin, but by the content of his character.”
Johnson added that McKissick and McKissick, an African American female architectural firm, will construct the memorial.
When completed, the memorial, which will feature a tidal basin, will stand 30 feet tall and cover four acres of land.
The attorney said that monetary contributions for the memorial have poured in from all over the country. “We’ve gotten donations from school children, houses of faith, and from college students.”
Johnson also added that major corporations have also donated to the fund, including General Motors, Tommy Hilfiger, Toyota Motor Company, Ford Motor Company, and Coca Cola.
The memorial is scheduled to break ground by spring of 2009.
Johnson said that once completed, the memorial will draw people from all over the world. “The National Park Service thinks it will be one of the most visited memorials in Washington, D. C.”
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Deadly Animals: A Walk on the Wild Side
Bringing the best of natural history filmmaking to a large audience has never been easy. But what happens when you get the taste for something a little darker? Something a little more sinister, a little harder to find, something that’s intentionally keeping itself far from your reach.
This month at BBC Earth we are hunting down all that is Deadly. Gathering together the incredible knowledge of the BBC Earth natural history teams, with the most interesting and thrilling nature photography and film from the BBC.
Our blog will be taking the road less traveled in bringing you exclusive insights from behind the lens with none other than Steve Backshall, the naturalist who reaches parts of the world others just can't.
And on our YouTube, we will be dedicating a play-list especially to Steve who has made his pain whilst the filming of the "Deadly 60" series (now airing on Nat Geo Wild on Mondays from 10pm) our pleasure.
So join the hunt with us! Dance with sharks, meet some lethal giants, and discover oddities you cannot help but share... even with the most squeamish of your friends.
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British-Columbia-based company Recon Instruments is using GPS tracking to take designer ski goggles to a whole new technological level. The goggles use “heads-up display” instrumentation, which includes sensors and GPS receivers, to gather statistical data for serious skiers like velocity and slope descent information and is run by a controller attached to either the wrist or goggle’s strap.
This set looks sleek, and it probably should, considering the $600 price tag; the Airwaves allow skiers to hit the slopes to measure rate of speed and distance; the lenses are protected to prevent fogging over and keeps skiers’ eyes shielded from up to 100% UV rays. Other features of the “heads-up display” (which shows on the lower right of the inside lens) include altitude /downhill measurement and hook-up to a smartphone to receive text messages or phone calls and play music (for instance, from iTunes).
Smith I/O Recons
Smith’s goggles contain much of the same features as the Airwaves and cost around $650. In addition, the Recons allow for the swapping out of multiple lenses depending on sunshine or cloudy skies and, on the non-distracting “heads-up display,” include a time-telling feature on the lens screen.
Zeal Optic Z3s
Costing around $550, the Zeal Optic Z3s are reportedly the best functioning, most reliable of the three but do not have the large array of measuring statistics the others do. Unlike the Oakleys, the Optics cannot hook up to smartphone technology. They do however have lenses with a “Polarized Automatic” element which adjusts to outdoor light levels automatically.
Weighing in on the Verdict–Are the Goggles Worth the $450+?
One author (and serious skier) tried all three models. His conclusion? Very faulty equipment for the price. The Oakleys, even after rectifying his experience with the manufacturers, would not charge up for days on end and gave him cryptic error messages, nor would the device allow the controller to close out an initial program (even forcibly) or restart the goggle software. In short, he wasn’t even able to use the GPS technology on the goggles. The Smiths after a few days wouldn’t exit out of the tutorial program for hours and contained other errors in the GPS program. The author had few problems with the Zeals, until the time came to transfer the goggle-GPS-recorded data to his online account, for instance recording the wrong (previously set) date and the wrong distance skied for various days.
The data doesn’t justify the price for the usage you get from it, and the information gathered doesn’t really help improve performance (unless, perhaps, you’re an Olympic skier). But with all the bugs worked out, the future GPS technology goggles will be a cool gadget for hardcore skiers.
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posted 23 Aug 2006 in Volume 10 Issue 1
An open letter to Stephen Denning
By Charles Savage
Your wonderful new book, The Reader’s Guide to Storytelling, just arrived. It may be your third book on ‘storytelling’, but I still remember our long conversations in your office at the World Bank a decade ago, when you were just grasping the real power of stories.
In the introduction to your latest work, you explain how you have complemented your ‘rational’ side with the sense of drama and excitement of a context-setting story that focuses and motivates. You offer some wise approaches for leaders at all levels who want to engage, inspire and innovate.
However, might I persuade you to focus your next book on ‘story-asking’? Why? Well, you rightly say, “Good storytelling begins and ends in listening.” I am convinced there is great power in both listening and asking.
You mention ‘Judo leadership’. I therefore wonder whether you’d consider ‘Aikido leadership’ instead. As you know, Aikido means, ‘the way of the binding Ki’. Ki is Japanese for energy as Chi is in Chinese. There is always a lot of energy in a good story, whether shared by the CEO or the union steward. And we all have our own good stories, rich in energy – yet we hardly have an opportunity to tell them.
Your reference to a leader who is interactive and ego-less reminds me of Jim Collins’ Level Five Leadership. Such people are both humble and hard driving. They create an atmosphere where the team doesn’t just tell one another stories, they listen and reflect together, too.
And my point? Instead of just focusing on the ‘telling’, shouldn’t we also consider the ‘asking’?
Envisage Margaret Farnsworth, the CEO of a major international company. When she arrived, some felt intimidated, but she has proved to be remarkably adroit at drawing out the best stories from her VPs and staff.
She often begins meetings with a powerful question, one that is not easy to answer. She then invites staff to envisage ways to address this question. Instead of encouraging them to see who can tell the best story, she actively listens. She knows, thanks to the insights of Michael Polanyi that, “We know more than we can say,” and in her story-asking she weaves the thread of their stories together.
“That’s really interesting, would you please tell me more?” she asks. She encourages staff to connect with their inner feelings and fields of experience. Then she asks, “How does your story relate to what Frank was saying?”
She not only connects with the energy of the stories, but weaves their energy together into an exciting tapestry of new possibilities. When they come out of a meeting, many say, “I never thought we’d get so far... and Margaret hardly said anything.”
When she involves larger groups, she doesn’t use the auditorium. Instead she sets up a room with many small tables, each for four people. She has found that the World Café approach enables these small groups to weave together their own stories and, as they move between tables, they create a web of interconnected stories.
What people feel in this organisation is that they are not only telling stories, but are a story in progress. And so much of this has begun with the simple story-asking questions.
So Stephen, might I implore you to write your next book on story-listening and story-asking?
Charles Savage is a teacher, consultant and author. He is currently working on his next book, which focuses on the transition to the knowledge economy. He can be contacted at
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Localisation, SEO and Multilingual Marketing
This is a guest post by Christian Amo,founder and Managing Director of Lingo24.
Search engine optimisation (SEO) is perhaps the most valuable and easy to implement of all modern marketing methods. In short, if a company features highly on Google’s search results for relevant key search terms, then the business is far more likely to succeed than if it ranks lowly.
One of the main benefits of SEO is the measurability – you can easily monitor the effects of your PPC and AdWord campaigns through Google Analytics; indeed, most successful websites will use analytics to drive their web design, structure and usability.
Whilst measurability is certainly a plus point from an online marketing perspective, the internet also opens up a whole new world of opportunity for businesses to tap into new or emerging markets. Globalisation was once the territory of big businesses with big budgets. Now, a bedroom business with nothing more than a networked computer and a touch of entrepreneurial savvy can grow abroad. And the process all starts with a fully optimised and localised website.
The majority of the internet is in English, yet most of the world’s internet users’ first language isn’t English, so there’s a clear gap there to exploit. Indeed, because the saturation is nowhere near what it is in the English-speaking market, it’s actually possible to rise very rapidly in foreign search engine rankings.
So how can a company expand its global internet presence into new territories? Well, the first step is to identify the most appropriate target country/countries – this will vary greatly from industry to industry.
You will have to do a little bit of research and recognise any gaps your business can exploit. However, it’s a good sign if there are other similar businesses in operation already as it reveals a demand for your service/product. Though a saturated market can be difficult to penetrate so be wary of too many companies.
The next stage is to buy a locally hosted domain name in the target country. It can just be your usual business name with a local domain extension, for example ‘.at’ in Austria or ‘.ch’ in Switzerland. You also need to ensure that your webhost uses a server located in your target country – search engines considers the IP address of the server in its ranking algorithms.
Some businesses may be tempted to use a free website translation tool, such as the one Google provide. These can be useful if you need to understand the essence of a foreign language website, but you shouldn’t use such a tool to translate your own website. From a content standpoint, you must use a translation company that uses professionally qualified ‘in-country’ translators that only translate INTO their native tongue. This will ensure your website is fully localised for your target market.
It also pays to be wary of the linguistic nuances between dialects. For example, the French spoken in France, Belgium, Switzerland and Canada is largely the same. However, fin de semaine is ‘weekend’ in Canadian French but it’s simply le weekend in France. And dejeuner is ‘lunch’ in France, but ‘breakfast’ in Belgium and Switzerland. There are many such instances from within the relatively small confines of Europe alone that help to highlight the importance of adopting a fully localised marketing strategy.
Online marketing and SEO should always go hand-in-hand with any campaign. With international markets, however, localisation is an obligatory addition, given the cacophony of cultural and linguistic complexities that come into play. To go global, you must think local.
About the author
Christian Arno is founder and Managing Director of Lingo24, a UK translation company that specializes in website localisation. With operations across four continents and clients in over sixty countries, Lingo24 are on course for a turnover of £3.7m in 2009.
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When Farmington firefighters went into the icy water at the Prairie Waterway Greenway near Prairieview Park Sunday, they were wearing rescue suits and had ample equipment there for their cold-water rescue practice.
They were ready to go into the icy water. Most people who fall into the cold winter waters aren’t as lucky.
October was a bad month for cars and deer on Dakota County roads. Of the 57 accidents involving deer this year in the county, 14 took place last month.
That’s slightly less than a quarter of the year’s total in one 31-day stretch.
With only one house fire so far in 2011, it seems like the Farmington Fire Department’s past fire prevention education efforts have paid off.
That’s what Farmington fire marshal John Powers likes to think. And he may be on to something too, because the FFD has been teaching fire prevention for the past few years.
Five years ago, a guy new in town decided to apply to become a volunteer on the Farmington Fire Department. At the department’s annual meeting last Friday night, that guy — Jason Greiner — was named Firefighter of the Year.
View your ad here! Cost effective targeted advertising. Contextual advertising starting as low as $79/month. This includes targeted ad delivery and search results! Add your business to the Marketplace »
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Vika Safarian: Going Global
“The anthropology program is interdisciplinary at Transylvania. It has really shown me how global systems of power affect people.”
Vika Safarian '12 began reaching out to the global community as a Transylvania student. She founded TUTORS, a campus group that offers tutoring to refugee children in the community. "People found it very rewarding," Safarian says. "It continues to provide consistent volunteers for the refugee program."
Safarian hopes to continue reaching across cultural barriers. She was awarded a Fulbright English Teaching Assistantship to Korea for the 2012–13 academic year. To participate in that program, she has deferred her admission to Harvard Law School until 2013–14. She is interested in human trafficking and immigration issues and plans to pursue a path that incorporates human rights and international law. She dreams of working at the International Criminal Court in The Hague.
Safarian has taken every opportunity to expand her knowledge of global issues and credits her Transylvania classes for making her critical of social norms. "I've been able to see my participation in all of it," Safarian says. "But also my distance from it."
She seems to be closing that gap.
As a Transylvania student, Safarian participated in a Yale Bioethics summer program that offered her a new perspective on health in the U.S. and other countries. Thanks to the Kenan-Jones Grant, Safarian traveled abroad, researching public health in the Philippines and exploring domestic violence and women's access to the law in India. She also secured an internship at the 6th District Federal Courthouse. After several experiences that have allowed her to gain perspective on global issues, she says this is the first time she is truly seeing the system of law.
With law school and a promising future before her, Safarian sums up her success quite simply: "I took every opportunity to be competitive."
The world may not know what it's up against.
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Called the Wittenberg University Community Partners Program, the initiative strives "to foster beneficial partnerships between community organizations and the university to improve the quality of life in the greater Springfield area."
"Springfield provides a wonderful laboratory for students to explore some of the most pressing social issues facing urban communities across the nation and on a global scale," Petersen said. "We are confident that with support from area corporations and foundations, our program will be able to invest strategically in faculty/student research and projects that address community priorities."
Petersen and Holden have teamed up with Lin Erickson, director of government, foundation and corporate relations at Wittenberg, to ensure their program's success. The three are currently pursuing leadership-level gifts to kick-start the project, and Petersen and Holden will discuss the project during a Springfield Rotary meeting this spring.
"Ashley and Amy are shining examples of Wittenberg's motto, "Having Light We Pass It On To Others," and I'm proud to assist them in their endeavor as the benefits to both Springfield and Wittenberg are enormous," Erickson said.
Initially fueled by Wittenberg’s new strategic plan, specifically Goal F of the plan: Extend and cultivate the Wittenberg community, the project quickly came together following extensive research by Holden and Petersen. Together, they met with other college representatives who have had success with similar programs outside of Ohio. Holden and Petersen’s program would be the first formalized investment-oriented collaboration between an Ohio college or university and an urban community.
The seniors also examined previous informal collaborative efforts between the university and the community. Their research included reviewing a recent project with the Springfield-based Marriage Resource Center, which worked with Wittenberg faculty and students to conduct a geographic information system analysis of divorces in Clark County and the center’s counseling services to improve the center’s effectiveness. As a result, Wittenberg students made strategic recommendations, which netted the center a $2.5 million grant to target the most at-risk populations in the county. Other projects reviewed included recommendations made by graduate students in Wittenberg’s education department for the development of small learning communities in the new Springfield High School.
Historically, Wittenberg students and faculty have shared their light in service to their community as volunteers, philanthropists, teachers, leaders and project managers. Holden and Petersen's program would provide an opportunity for their expertise to be utilized more fully to affect social change.
"By investing in the program, participants will be investing in this community and its future," Holden said.
Among the possible partnering projects being considered for 2008 are urban revitalization, both in the downtown area and along Wittenberg’s eastern edge, a landscape curriculum project at Springfield’s new high school, community internships and professional development workshops.
"Our vision is to become the leading model for university-community collaboration in the nation," Holden said. "The ultimate impact will be improved quality of life in the region and the preparation of Wittenberg students to become responsible citizens shining the Witt light in their communities worldwide."
Written By: Karen Gerboth
Photo By: Robbie Gantt
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• Book-Delivering Prof Named Ohio Professor of the Year
• Senior Class Selects Livestrong President & CEO Doug Ulman As 2011 Commencement Speaker
•Communication Program Honored Nationally With Top Award
• Wittenberg University Art Students Finalists For Scholarship Award
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Quentin Tarantino films have reached cult status, with universities now offering courses based on issues ranging from race to his use of pop culture references.
We spoke with Robert J. Thompson, professor of Television and Popular Culture at Syracuse University, and Todd Dewett, a management professor at Wright State University in Dayton, Ohio and Tarantino film fan, about what makes Tarantino films so popular, which business lessons his movies teach us, and what we can learn from his career.
"[Tarantino's] characters are so compellingly flawed," Thompson says. "They speak in the language regular people understand, dripping in popular culture references people are going to get." While Tarantino films are controversial for their violence, language and subject matter, business lessons can be extracted from them such as what to look for when hiring, how to work with others, and what to look for in training programs.
Here are four business lessons for Quentin Tarantino movies:
1. Find the right training to get to the top of your game.
In Kill Bill: Vols. 1 & 2, Uma Thurman's character, The Bride, seeks revenge against the group who destroyed her life and left her for dead on her wedding day. Her singular focus on getting revenge against Bill and his team fuels her martial arts makeover and she is transformed into a force to be reckoned with.
While revenge isn't the best motivation in business, Thurman's character shows what's possible when effective training programs are implemented. According to Dewett, many training dollars are wasted each year because businesses don't bring in the right person to train their employees. Companies need to find a great teacher, make sure their employees have the motivation to learn new skills, then provide them with an opportunity to use their new skills.
2. Assemble a strong team.
Tarantino creates a team of actors that work well together, Dewett says. Other movie producers believe hiring one major movie star will be enough to carry a film to box office glory and are surprised when the movie flops.
Similarly, many companies believe success is achieved by hiring a marquee talent. A fundamental mistake companies make is they look at a candidate's resume and how they perform in an interview with one executive, when they should really see how that individual fits within the existing team, says Dewett. Many times, companies hire someone who looks great on paper, only to discover later they don't mesh well with the rest of the team.
3. Choose quality over quantity.
Tarantino decided to make one movie every few years, allowing him to be fully invested in each endeavor, Dewett notes. He assembles a stellar cast, develops a script with great writing, and takes his time with each project.
Many businesses are in a race with their competition, and "change too much instead of just enough," says Dewett. "A company has a finite capacity for change," he says. He advises against the impulse to 'keep up with the Joneses.' "The best practice for [one company] may not be the best for your company," Dewett cautions.
4. Surround yourself with top talent.
Tarantino has chosen really good projects, most of which he's generated himself, as writer, director, producer and actor, Thompson says. He's known for quirky, but excellent casting, and he's surrounded himself with a team of top-notch talent and production groups, many of whom he's worked with throughout his career, and with good reason, says Dewett.
Directors like Tarantino love candor, useful feedback, and aren't afraid to have difficult conversations. Likewise, in order to run their business successfully, leaders need to surround themselves with employees they can depend on who aren't afraid of conflict.
Related: Secrets of Successful Interviews
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A sponsor of the infamous Cyber Information Sharing and Protection Act (CISPA) said hacktivist collective Anonymous carried out a campaign of threats against supporters of the bill.
Sources say the Senate will decline to pick up the controversial bill, which passed the House this month, because of its lack of privacy protections.
Critics argue the vague language of the cybersecurity bill would allow companies to get away with some of the very same acts the bill is intended to stamp out.
Can controversial cybersecurity bill CISPA be defeated with a Web-wide protest?
That's nearly 140 times what the cybersecurity bill's opponents spent.
Despite the protests of Internet privacy advocates, the controversial Cyber Intelligence Sharing and Protection Act (CISPA) passed the House of Representatives Thursday.
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Stop Wasting Resources And Money And Finnally Learn Easy Ideas For Recycling Even If You’ve Tried Everything Before! I Easily Found Easy Solutions For Recycling Instead Of Buying New -- And Started Enjoying Savings As Well As Helping The Earth -- And I'll Show You How YOU Can, Too!
Are you sick to death of living with the fact that you feel like you are wasting resources and money?
Are you annoyed by the fact that our world is becoming short of natural resources... frustrated by the potential money you just put in the trash... and just about DONE with the feeling of waste?
Then what you’re about to hear will be music to your ears...
Because I’m about to show you how to put an END to wasting money and resources once and for all, and enjoy the added cash in your pocket, the great feeling of helping the environment, and the good feeling about yourself that you get as a result.
And trust me, I know exactly how... because I’ve already done it!
Going green is one of the hottest topics explored today. Almost everyone is into this new “fad†and this is of course a very positive behavioral pattern if correctly nurtured.
Educating one’s self is perhaps the first and most prudent step one can take when venturing into the going green platform. Recycling is fast gaining popularity among individuals who are concerned the direction global environmental problems are heading.
I realized how important this is was and I starting looking for ways to change the way I live.
Finding new and innovative ways of reusing things not only helps the environment but may also evolve into something that can be revenue earning.
There is also the statistics that show a large percentage of landfill consist of solid waste which is mainly paper and glass, and this can be decreased with the introduction and encouragement of recycling.
You see I got to thinking...
What kind of a person would I be if -- knowing exactly how frustrating trying to Go Green is -- I didn’t try to help my fellow humans enjoy the benefits, too?
So I decided to pull together all of the steps, details, and instructions I used, turned them into an easy-to-follow plan, and make it available to other people who were having the same experience.
And to my delight, they started reporting the same successes that I had experienced!
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Kenneth Minogue: The Servile Mind
Haven't read it yet (although it's out already in Australia and the UK), but sounds fascinating. Quoting from Amazon:
One of the grim comedies of the twentieth century was that miserable victims of communist regimes would climb walls, swim rivers, dodge bullets, and find other desperate ways to achieve liberty in the West at the same time that progressive intellectuals would sentimentally proclaim that these very regimes were the wave of the future.
A similar tragicomedy is playing out in our century: as the victims of despotism and backwardness from Third World nations pour into Western states, academics and intellectuals present Western life as a nightmare of inequality and oppression.
In The Servile Mind: How Democracy Erodes the Moral Life, Kenneth Minogue explores the intelligentsia's love affair with social perfection and reveals how that idealistic dream is destroying exactly what has made the inventive Western world irresistible to the peoples of foreign lands.
The Servile Mind looks at how Western morality has evolved into mere "politico-moral" posturing about admired ethical causes--from solving world poverty and creating peace to curing climate change. Today, merely making the correct noises and parading one’s essential decency by having the correct opinions has become a substitute for individual moral responsibility.
Instead, Minogue argues, we ask that our governments carry the burden of solving our social--and especially moral--problems for us. The sad and frightening irony is that the more we allow the state to determine our moral order and inner convictions, the more we need to be told how to behave and what to think.
Tags for this Thread
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In most of the US there is “no-fault” divorce. Either party can petition for divorce without having to demonstrate to the court any reason to legitimize the petition. The divorce is usually granted even if the other party wants to remain married.
In England, you must prove to the judge that there is valid reason for the divorce, even if both parties want to separate. This is particularly problematic when only one party wants to separate but doesn’t have a valid reason for it. Then they must make the marriage sufficiently unpleasant for the spouse so that the spouse will a) want a divorce and b) have a verifiable good reason for it. For example:
One petition read: “The respondent insisted that his pet tarantula, Timmy, slept in a glass case next to the matrimonial bed,” even though his wife requested “that Timmy sleep elsewhere.”
The woman who sued for divorce because her husband insisted she dress in a Klingon costume and speak to him in Klingon. The man who declared that his wife had maliciously and repeatedly served him his least favorite dish, tuna casserole.
and most egregious of all
“The respondent husband repeatedly took charge of the remote television controller, endlessly flicking through channels and failing to stop at any channel requested by the petitioner,” one petition read.
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Soybean prices settled lower Friday following higher estimates for Brazil's crop.
The March contract for soybeans ended at $14.525 a bushel, down 34.25 cents or 2.3 percent.
Higher production estimates for the South American crop, which is just beginning to be harvested, were a main factor behind the decline, said Brandon Marshall, a commodity adviser with Northstar Commodity in Minneapolis.
"They're looking for a pretty sizable crop out of Brazil," Marshall said. "That's a reason we're going to be down, because production is going to be higher than people thought."
With about 10 percent of the crop harvested, yields are coming in higher than previously expected, Marshall said. That's leading traders to anticipate that big consumers of soybeans like China may pick up more beans from South American producers instead of buying beans grown in the U.S.
In metals trading, April gold fell $4.40 to $1,666.90 an ounce. Silver for March delivery rose 3.8 cents to $31.441 an ounce. Platinum for April delivery fell $7.60 to $1,714.70 an ounce. March copper rose 3.25 cents to $3.7595 a pound and March palladium rose $1.05 to $751.50 an ounce.
Benchmark crude for March delivery fell 11 cents to finish at $95.72 per barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. It rose as high as $96.57 in the morning.
In other energy trading, wholesale gasoline rose 5.89 cents to finish at $3.0588 a gallon, natural gas fell 1.3 cents to end at $3.272 per 1,000 cubic feet, and heating oil gained 3.89 cents to finish at $3.2384 a gallon.
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When God spoke to people in the Old Testament, they often heard a clear voice instructing them. In the New Testament God used Angels to appear and speak on His behalf. Today, in our modern world, we don’t tend to notice a booming voice or heralding angels, but He is still speaking to us and sending his angels.
There are many ways to hear God, even when we’re not purposefully listening for Him. Just recently at Mass, in the first reading from the Book of the prophet Ezekiel, 18:21-28, we heard that God’s way is not always our way and may be difficult to comprehend. “You say, ‘The Lord’s way is not fair!” Ezekiel 18:25
And in a moment, it was as if God spoke to me directly thru our Priest. Fr. John told us that even though we may attempt to lead a virtuous life that does not prevent struggles from occurring in our lives. We will continue to have struggles in our lives and within ourselves. The struggle is inevitable. However, by allowing God to show us that He is God, by Giving God room to show us who God is, by allowing Him to be in control – that is what we must do to Accept God.
Loving God and Accepting God will not keep our lives free from strife and difficulty, but surrendering to God will affect our struggles. God is for us and God is with us. God is God and we must meet on His terms, not ours. We must accept Him and give Him room for God to show us who God is. This is the living proof of how much God loves us.
That morning, when I walked in to daily Mass, I was struggling deeply with a specific health crisis afflicting one of my children. I couldn’t understand why this was happening to my daughter – to our family. We felt like we were doing everything “right” as parents, but our daughter was not getting better. Hearing God say those words to me through Father John struck deep in my heart. It was as if Fr. John was merely a vessel that morning that God used to speak straight into my heart. After Mass, with tears still in my eyes, I said thank you to Father for allowing God to use him to send me that message. He surprised me by giving me a huge hug and telling me he also needed that same message on that morning.
God still sends us angels, even though we may not recognize them. They appear in the form of people we see regularly, such as Father John, who delivered the message God intended me to hear. Our angels today may be subtler than the Angels of the Bible, but their intercession is the same if we recognize them.
Copyright 2012 Lisa Jones
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Major PC makers are mad at Microsoft with the recent launch of Surface tablets. If the grapevine is to be believed, the reason for enragement is not just the presence of a new rival. They feel that Microsoft has referred the tablet designs submitted by them to decide on the features of the Surface tablets.
According to sources, the company had access to device designs submitted by its hardware partners like Asus, Acer, Toshiba, Dell, Hewlett-Packard and Sony for getting the license to manufacture Windows 8 tablets.
Such informations are obviously confidential in other cases when a company develops a design for a device, even if it is not going for mass production.
In short, these PC makers had submitted the designs to a trusted partner who in one fine morning turned out to be a competitor with its own product line.
According to sources, this is not a mere assumption. By joining the dots, it can be understood that Microsoft has used its access to hardware partners’ information for its own advantage.
Patrick Moorhead, an analyst, pointed out that the company had held a meeting of executives from all the hardware partners weeks before the Surface launch.
The meeting again gave Microsoft further details about the launch of partners’ devices, their marketing strategies and pricing plans.
Obviously, the PC makers feel they are cheated. It will be interesting to see how the whole drama pans out.
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The Swiss National Bank (SNB) urged Credit Suisse, the country's second largest bank, to boost its reserves ahead of a potentially disastrous escalation in the eurozone banking crisis.
The SNB said Credit Suisse should "take all action necessary to expand its loss-absorbing capital base significantly during the current year", by curtailing risky investments, suspending dividend payments or raising capital by issuing shares.
The SNB also said rival UBS, which had to be bailed out by the Swiss government in 2008, should boost its capital buffers by limiting dividend payments.
"The SNB considers that the big banks' loss-absorbing capital is still below the level needed to ensure sufficient resilience," vice chairman Jean-Pierre Danthine said.
Switzerland has come under seige during the euro crisis from foreign investors seeking a safe haven. An influx of funds has put intense pressure on the currency, leading the central bank to say last year that it would peg the Swiss franc against the euro to cap further rises.
Funds, however, have continued to pour in, especially to Geneva, various ski resorts and the hedge fund managers' favourite destination, the canton of Zug.
The SNB said it was determined to defend the cap of 1.20 francs to €1 and was ready to buy foreign currency in unlimited quantities.
"Even at the current rate, the Swiss franc is still high. Another appreciation would have a serious impact on both prices and the economy in Switzerland," said chairman Thomas Jordan.
"The SNB will not tolerate this. If necessary it stands ready to take further measures at any time."
Jordan declined to confirm speculation that he is close to imposing capital controls to prevent funds entering the country. "Concerning capital controls, there are various experiences and various ways to implement them and there are also countries that have had positive experiences with these measures in the recent past," he said.
guardian.co.uk © Guardian News and Media Limited 2010
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Blogs tagged with self-care
Monday, August 02 2010
Ever notice how much attention society gives to keeping our kids busy during the summer months? I have. So, I'm pushing back to suggest that parents take a break from scheduling their children's summer days and take time for simply BE-ing together. With some practice, I bet you'll notice that BE-ing time is refreshing for you too.
Why should parents spend some time just BE-ing with their child or children? Practicing BE-ing is so essential for all of us, especially young children who are...
Tuesday, November 23 2010
As we approach Thanksgiving, what are you grateful for this year? If nothing comes to you immediately, don't fear. Your mind is probably focused on all the "doings" that occupy us during this busy season. In order to listen to what's in your heart, you need to find some quiet time where you can focus on just "being". Where can you carve out five or ten minutes each day to think about something you are grateful for in your life? Can you get up a little bit earlier so you can sit in bed quiet...
Sunday, July 03 2011
This week I begin teaching a four-week course in Montclair NJ based on the book, "The Art of Positive Parenting" by Mickey Tobin. The foundation of this class is for parents to sharpen their skills around listening to their children's feelings and managing their own feelings and reactions so they can make parenting choices from a calm state of mind. These are challenging skills indeed given that we all have "scripts" that we routinely, and often automatically, use with our children and we are ...
Monday, July 18 2011
Sometimes we need a push from our child to join in an activity. Yesterday, I was reluctant to go into the cold ocean with my son, but he pleaded with me ever so sweetly and then held my arm and gave me the nudge I needed. Well....it was worth it! My body temperature adjusted and we had a blast jumping the waves and laughing together. I will treasure this memory for a long time.
The experience reminded me of the importance of periodically saying "Yes" to requests from our children to join ...
Tuesday, September 04 2012
For most parents with school-aged children, the start of a new academic year is full of scheduling activities, receiving schedules, and updating calendars. My question for parents is what time are you setting aside for yourself this Fall? Hmmm...many of us never consider this question and view our role as home manager and carpooler for the children and their activites. While inevitably school and extracurricular activities will occupy the majority of a parent’s time outside of work, it is pos...
Friday, October 12 2012
Think of being on an airplane listening to the flight attendant’s safety instructions. “Put your oxygen mask on before assisting other passengers.” This is a great metaphor for parenting. We must acknowledge and address our own feelings and needs before we can help our child deal with his feelings and needs.
What are your feelings about your little one staying with a nanny or going off to day care or nursery school? It is natural for parents to feel a sense of loss when returning to wor...
Tuesday, January 22 2013
No matter how calmly you try to referee, parenting will eventually produce bizarre behavior, and I'm not talking about the kids. Their behavior is always normal.
Parents, can you relate to this beloved comedian’s quote? We all have moments when we lose control and regret our behavior. Children, on the other hand, are expected to have tantrums when they are young. They are still learning how to regulate their emotions and impulses. As adults, children need us to be a calm and ...
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Review: Overdressed, The Shockingly High Cost of Cheap Fashion.
Most recently that thing we all do wrong is food. Eat all your vegetables?
Are they organic locally grown non genetically modified vegetables that sprout from soil from the Hanging Gardens of Babylon and watered with kitten tears?
You may as well give up.
Being somewhat of an outsider in the world of modern fashion I see its endless issues in much the same way. What's the point of trying? Not support companies who manufacture products in "sweatshops"? I guess.
We all know sweatshops are bad. Thank you college graduates of the 90s. We get it. But it's not as simple as that.
I didn't really expect this book to unleash any new information other than the basics of what we are all aware of, which is sweatshops are still bad, and if you don't buy anything made overseas, you're good.
In reality what we think of as a simple good/bad situation is a tangled and complicated web, one that seems so overwhelming that in the midst of the book you might just decide to go live out in the woods on leaves and berries and weave your own fabric from your dogs hair just to offset the results of the damage your consumerism has done.
It's ok. Breath. Finish the book.
I know many of you, like me, live a more vintage centered life than a modern one, and that part of me found some particular sections of the book especially interesting. Like accounts of what has become of labels of the vintage garments hanging in my closet. For instance Bobbie Brooks, a popular juniors line in the 1950s has morphed into a Dollar General brand.
One thing that really stood out to me is that merchandise in stores moves so fast, our only choice is to impulse buy. In previous 20th century eras stores rotated merchandise seasonally, four times a year. If you were building your wardrobe with a tight budget, you could scrimp and save for something you saw at the department store. It would still be there when you'd saved enough, and you would value it. You would have thought over your decision, made sacrifices, and made sure the garment was worth the money (quality not brand). Because of these factors you would care for that garment. Mend it. Properly clean it. Store it well. And in return you could pass that item onto your grandchild in much the same condition as when you wore it.
That won't happen with my generation.
You see something at a store such as Forever 21 and buy it right away. It's cheap, it's on trend, and chances are it won't be there next week.
Even if you have the attitude of only buying locally or domestically made products of quality, your choices are limited. It's hard to do. Especially if you're buying womens wear. Recently Sam and I were in a shoe store in Portland that's been known for carrying a selection of mid-level quality footwear. I went over to the mens section and turned over the shoes. Not to look at the price, but to look at the label. Some were made in the U.S. some were not. Most of them were heavy, made of nice leather and thick soles, with stitching and a classic look that would last through trends. Then I went over to the womens section.
Sam had to usher a scowling and ranting Solanah out of the store.
I picked up a trendy looking leopard print wedge and nearly flung it up in the air it was so light compared to the heavy, durable mens shoes. Then I looked at a womens oxford that would be fair to compare to the mens oxford. It was also light, and the sole seemed to be made of some sort of foam rubber hybrid. I love my vintage oxfords, but in no way treat them like glass slippers. I wear them without caution, and if I were to wear the oxfords in the store the same way I wear my vintage ones, they'd be dead in a month.
I could go on. And I might in the future, but when it comes right down to it, I really think you should read this book. It's good, it's eye opening, and while I won't say something cliche like "it will change your life", I will say it might change the way you look at shopping and your own wardrobe. There is a solution, as stuck as we may seem, and unsurprisingly that solution takes a nod from how our mothers and grandmothers viewed clothing.
So read the book.
I'm going to go attack my massive mending pile and teach my cousins to sew their own clothes.
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From the Fall 2012 issue of Redlands Magazine
The benefits of bike riding are many - it's fun, enjoyed by kids and adults alike, it's great exercise and it's always nice to buy less gas. Riders don't need a fancy, expensive bike, and maintaining and fixing a bike is easy if you know how.
That's the basic message Matt Baker and John Gravois are sending. The bike buddies have a do-it-yourself repair co-op, Redlands Bike BBQ, to go with their booth at the weekly Redlands Market Night.
Situated in a space behind Augie's Coffee Shop, Redlands Bike BBQ is a place where cyclists gather to share bike maintenance tips, find a spare part or tool, and get their bikes in good running order.
It's free for visitors and is meant to encourage the sharing of cycling-related knowledge, skills and tools. Visitors are encouraged to donate time, money and bike parts, or contribute in some other way. No one is turned away.
Gravois, 33, started the Bike BBQ in October 2010 at Market Night. Many people asked for help with their bikes. Now, the co-op has a location open four days a week with 600 square feet of working space manned by about 20 volunteers. Donations pay the rent.
The efforts are making a big difference in the local biking community.
"We see a lot more people riding and people get excited about it," Gravois said. "The smiles on people's faces when they realize they did something on their own is great."
Added Baker, 33, "This is a center of education and empowerment for the community. I think everybody just wants to get out of their cars."
Baker and Gravois practice what they preach. Rain or shine, both ride bikes to their jobs at the Environmental Systems Research Institute.
A support analyst in tech support, Gravois also is an instructor for the League of American Bicyclists. At ESRI, he sometimes gives bike safety presentations during the lunch hour, going over safety, mechanics, accessorizing and how to ride safely and comfortably
Gravois likes to do things for himself, help others and "take direct action," he says. After college, he spent six months working on a ship in the Antarctic with the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society, an international nonprofit marine wildlife conservation organization that fights illegal whaling and marine animal killing, and works to preserve ocean ecosystems.
"I like doing something to make the world a little bit more like you want it to be," he said.
Baker is a product engineer at ESRI, working with urban planning tools that include bike-friendly initiatives such as working to get bike lanes and routes posted online and tracking which bike racks are used the most.
"The biggest thing for me this year was I actually designed a covered, secured bike parking space here on campus," Baker said.
It includes a key-card reader for users, fences and security cameras to prevent bike thefts. ESRI has several dozen bicycle commuters.
"We're trying to figure out where they are all parked around the campus," Baker said.
Gravois imported the Bike BBQ idea from Sacramento, where he moved after earning a bachelor's degree in geography from Cal Poly Pomona. At first a little intimidated on a bike, he was more confident after becoming active with the Sacramento Bicycle Kitchen, a nonprofit DIY bike repair outfit staffed by volunteers.
Gravois grew up in Rancho Cucamonga and has lived in Redlands for almost three years. He does own a car, a 1970s BMW, but it runs poorly.
"My most dependable source of transportation is my bike," he said. "One of my major reasons for riding (a bike) is I just think it's more fun. It's a nicer way to get around. In Redlands, there are very few bad weather days."
Baker, who is from Windsor, Ontario, Canada, has lived in Redlands for six years. His Ford Focus station wagon generally stays at home, but Baker will use it haul his $450 Trek bike to locations where he can go for a ride.
Besides cycling, Baker also has a vegetable garden at home, and uses the tomatoes, jalapeno peppers, bell peppers and other veggies he grows to create some great Mexican, Thai and Indian dishes.
Sustainable living - riding a bike to work instead of driving a car and growing some of your own food - is practical and fun, Baker says. "I like to do these things. I like to have the empowerment to do them myself."
Redlands Bike BBQWhere: Behind Augie's Coffee Shop, 113 N. Fifth St., and weekly at Redlands Market Night
Hours: 6-8 p.m. Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday, noon to 3 p.m. Saturday
Donation wish list: New or used bikes, spare parts, tires, tubes, old wheels, frames, car racks, trainers, clothing, portable repair stand, chain oil, pliers, cable cutters, wrenches and other tools listed on the website.
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"A resident found something that looked like a bomb and hand carried it to our substation in Midway," said Marc Ward, public information officer for the sheriff's office.
The resident found the bomb - a BDU 33 practice bomb - partially embedded in the soil near the Beaver Creek Subdivision in Gulf Breeze.
"This area was used as a bombing range for many years," Ward said. "It's no surprise someone found something like this. It's probably harmless but until an expert determines that, we have to take proper precautions."
Because the device belonged to the military, members of Hurlburt Field's explosive ordinance disposal unit were called to investigate.
"If it's a military ordinance, you have to call (the military)," said Jon Kanzigg, Midway fire chief, whose firefighters acknowledged the bomb as a dummy. "It's probably been (where it was found) for 60 years or so."
Hurlburt Field officials are unsure how the dummy bomb got to its location, adding that no one was in any danger during the ordeal.
"It was a hollow shell of a bomb," said Airman First Class Joel McFadden, public affairs officer.
Residents surrounding the sheriff's office were not evacuated and no one was injured. However, deputies caution that anyone who finds what appears to be an explosive device to leave it where it is and call deputies to the scene.
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Webster PRDolly Parton has has an enviable career, which includes selling more than 100 million records worldwide, scoring 25 #1 country hits and winning seven Grammys. Now the singer is using her challenging childhood as inspiration for new book, Dream More: Celebrate the Dreamer in You.
Parton recalls childhood friends who laughed at her dream to become a famous singer. "They did laugh and at the time it hurt my feelings and embarrassed me more than anything," she said on Tuesday's Good Morning America. "But through the years, I've come to know that they were just laughing because they weren't used to people dreaming that big. And that's kind of what this book is about, about not being afraid to dream."
The 66-year-old singer explained that she was inspired to write Dream More: Celebrate the Dreamer in You after an inspirational commencement speech she gave in 2009 went viral online. "A lot of people said, 'Well, you know, you should put this together and expand on it more and do something else with it.' So that's what we did."
Parton also said her ability to feel for others helped her pen the inspirational book. "I'm a songwriter so I stay sensitive. I have to live with my feelings on my sleeve so I can't harden my heart so that means I get hurt a lot," she explained on GMA. "I've learned how to take all of that and kind of incorporate that back into the lessons."
Dream More: Celebrate the Dreamer in You is available now.
Copyright 2012 ABC News Radio
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Vodafone Warriors One Community runs a programme aimed at helping to improve literacy levels and raise interest in reading among children. Konica Minolta is proud to again be the sponsor of this program for 2012.
Vodafone Warriors players will visit four local libraries in Auckland over two days delivering a "reading is cool" message to two classrooms from schools in the area of each library. The players will help the children complete literary activities at stations set up around the library, and will also hand out bookmarks, reading charts and books to the children participating.
The Vodafone Warriors One Community “Breakfast Warriors” programme aims to use our professional athletes to introduce children to some simple fun facts and recipes for Breakfast and to encourage them to also become Breakfast Warriors. This will be achieved by utilising our Community Officers and NRL Players (when possible) visiting schools and delivering a Breakfast Warriors Presentation. The presentation will include some key messages around the importance of Breakfast, playing some simple breakfast themed games and being left a branded workbook.
The workbook will contain some quick, simple recipes the children can make for themselves as well as a Breakfast Warrior contract and scoreboard which they will have to complete over a four week period. Once they have completed their scoreboard they get a Breakfast Warriors Certificate and the school will get to choose one classroom who have been true Breakfast Warrior Champions to attend a Vodafone Warriors home game.
The programme also has the ability to expand in coming seasons with online components where children can have online scoreboards, post their own breakfast recipes and give out prizes for “Breakfast Warrior of the Week”.
The programme has yet to be piloted properly but will be supported by robust monitoring and evaluation provided by Dr Rochelle Stewart-Withers from Massey University in Palmerston North.
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Too many letters comprise an ongoing argument between those who think the Bible is the final authority on all things and those who do not. This is an exercise in futility.
Religion is based on faith and cannot be proven or disproven. Beautiful as the Bible is, it is far from the repository of all truth and wisdom. Those who view the world exclusively from (their interpretation of) the Bible are ignoring many facts that must be taken into consideration when we create laws and policy. Political ideologues, such as those who cling to the debunked myth of trickle-down economics, are using the same faith-based kind of thinking as do the religiously orthodox.
Both the religiously orthodox and the secularly orthodox see themselves as promoting "the truth" to guide the unbelievers; but, truth be told, their underlying motivation is self interest. In the one case, it is personal wealth; in the other, personal salvation. Jesus said, "let the Word be written on the heart," meaning do right only for the sake of doing right, not for personal reward.
What is right for our country is to establish laws based on reason and up-to-date knowledge, guided by ethics. Ethics existed long before the Bible was written or Christianity was conceived. If we must use religion as a guide to public policy, let's just leave it at "love thy neighbor as thyself." Let's put an end to these religious wars and get busy using modern knowledge and common sense to solve the many problems we now face as a nation.
Respect, responsibility and compromise are the holy trinity of democracy.
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LHU senior Megan Youells assists with filing an income tax return.
LOCK HAVEN, Pa. - Every Monday and Wednesday from 8 a.m. – 12 noon, the Mill Hall Fire Company hums with activity as student volunteers from Lock Haven University assist the elderly in completing their tax forms at the Mill Hall Fire Company. The group of students, under the faculty supervision of assistant professor William Lloyd, is now nearing the end of the tax season. These students are all completing internships with the Tax Counseling for Elderly program.Lock Haven University is a member of the Pennsylvania State
System of Higher Education (PASSHE), the largest provider of higher education in
the commonwealth. Its 14 universities offer more than 250 degree and certificate
programs in more than 120 areas of study. Nearly 405,000 system alumni live and
work in Pennsylvania.
During their winter break the students spent a week of intensive class training learning about tax preparation, followed by two weeks of computer training. They did this so they could gain real-world experience in completing tax returns. The intensive training has paid off. “I really have gained a great amount of real world tax experience,” said LHU student Matt Martz.
The Tax Counseling for the Elderly program is a program sanctioned by AARP and run in cooperation with the IRS. “The IRS supplies the program materials and instruction,” stated Virginia Crosby, who is a certified volunteer and the district coordinator for Centre and Clinton counties. Crosby, who was the Director of Office of Aging for Lycoming and Clinton counties, got involved with the program when she retired in 1988, and she has been involved ever since then. Crosby stated, “All the volunteers do it because they are able to help others do things they cannot do for themselves.”
Ten years ago Nancy Galgoci, who was then an associate professor of accounting at LHU, began volunteering for the program. She brought the idea back to the students in her classroom, and they were excited. Golgoci stated, “That led to the beginning of the internship program in Spring 2003. Since then LHU has always had several students volunteer their time to work filing the tax returns.” She added, “In 2003 all returns were done by hand. In 2007 they started using computer software to file the returns.” Golgoci has since retired but continues to volunteer her time to train students and as a tax counselor.
Golgoci and Crosby agreed that the program meets a need in the county. “I think it’s been a very successful program and good outreach into the community,” stated Crosby. “Students are trained in how to handle all aspects of filing tax returns, including, death of a spouse, property tax rent rebate, and amended returns. In addition, they learn how to deal confidentially with people and how to work with senior citizens.”
The students are required to complete the training and pass all three parts of the test to become tax counselors. They are expected to perform as all other tax counselors. “We are sort of history making in the western PA region in qualifying our interns as tax counselors,” said Crosby.
Lloyd, who took over the program when Galgoci retired, emphasized that it’s quite a rigorous program. “It’s a competitive program for the accounting students,” said Lloyd. “I consider their performance in class, their GPA, work ethic, personality, and how they work with others. I also consider how well they work in a high-pressure environment.” “There are currently six students doing internships this semester. This is the largest group of students that we’ve had yet,” he added.
Krystal Agostinelli, an LHU student doing the accounting internship said, “It has been a great learning experience for myself. It has shown me that I want to pursue the tax side of accounting and that it is a lot of work as well.”
Lloyd pointed out the benefits for the students, “The internship enhances their tax knowledge. The students gain practical experience with taxation and with clients. It helps build their resumes so much.” He continued, “I work with a CPA firm to help recruit students for their internship program. When they see this tax experience on a student’s resume, they think highly of it.”
For Megan Youells, senior accounting major, the experience has been amazing. She said, “A class can only teach so much. You need to go out and get experience to learn what it’s like.”
She enjoys the interaction with the elderly and has learned that she is interested in going into public accounting even though she knows the hours will be much longer. Crosby summed it up, “It’s all about the value of doing for others.”
The program is geared to taxpayers with low-and middle-income, with special attention to those age 60 and older. The program runs through April 7.
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There shouldn't be much doubt that this is the year of the Tablet PC. I'm not just talking about the iPad 2, the second-generation iPad Apple released back in April of this year, but of the touch tablet in general. Many of the tablet makers, Apple included, would like you to believe that a tablet could replace your next computer purchase. Yes, for some a tablet PC might be all that you need, even for those who think they need a full laptop. Depending on what you need a computer for will determine whether or not you should buy an iPad 2 or a MacBook (Air or Pro).
So why does the iPad dominate? It's the Apps. The iPad 2 is actually a very capable PC. Right out of the package it has an excellent web browser, email client, calendar, contact, notes, Google Maps, YouTube player, iTunes, and the App Store. It makes a great photo viewer and is also a full iPod playing your music and video library. Of course you don't have to stop there. There are hundreds of thousands of Apps to choose from. Productivity, games, utilities, books, finance, medical, news, reference, travel, sports - the list goes on.
This is where the iPad really dominates. Yes, the Android has started to catch up, but then since the Android Market Place is 'open', there have been tons of reports on the amount of 'bad' things found there. Spyware, Malware (malicious software), or just plain virus infections. The one good, and sometime bad thing about Apple's App Store is that all Apps must be approved by Apple. The other good and bad thing is that you can only buy Apps from Apple for the iPad. This means that each and every App is checked out and should be safe to use.
So how can an iPad replace a laptop? It really does depend on what you need a computer for in the first place. If you need a computer to surf the web, email your friends, chat online, video conference (with something like Skype or even Apple's Facetime), write simple documents, work on presentations, play casual games then an iPad 2 will work great for you.
To replace a laptop with an iPad you will need a couple extra accessories. The first is a keyboard. Yes, there is an onscreen keyboard that is part of iOS, the iPad operating system. It does work amazingly well and I have typed documents that have over 2,000 words. But if you plan on doing lots of this type of work, or you want to work on spreadsheets, then a keyboard is crucial. You do have a few choices here. The two basic choices are wired or wireless. Some USB keyboards will work with the iPad using the iPad camera connection kit (Apple Store price of $29). This kit contains two pieces, each of which is used with the 30-pin connector on the iPad, There is an SD memory card reader and a USB adapter. I have found that late model Apple USB keyboards will work with the USB adapter. I use a cool folding keyboard from Matias (under $40), which I found at Other World Computing (eshop.macsales.com).
The other choice is the Apple Bluetooth wireless keyboard. This is the same one that comes with the new iMacs. If you have a newer iMac with one of these keyboards, you can always just take that along with you and use it with the iPad too. When the iPad sees that a keyboard is available it will no longer bring up the screen-based keyboard. The first thing you will notice is that you now have much more screen real estate to work on your documents. The other thing you will notice is that you now have use of the Command key and maybe even more important, the arrow keys. Now you can touch the screen to move the cursor, but then if you are off by a word or just a few characters you can just tap the arrow keys to move it to where you need to start working. If you choose to use a full keyboard, you also get a full numeric keypad to use too.
Of course, the most important piece is the right software. For most productivity jobs, iWorks should be more than enough. Apple sells iWorks for the Mac as a suite. For the iPad you can buy all three programs (Pages, Numbers, and Keynote), or just the one or two that you need. Each App is just $9.99. The cool thing with the iPad 2 is that it can easily connect wirelessly to your TV, by using the $99 Apple TV 2 box, or can connect to an HDTV, TV, projector, or LCD Monitor using various adapters. Now you can playback your Keynote presentation on either a big-screen TV or with an LCD video projector.
Another important piece to make an iPad work like a laptop is the right printer. There are plenty of them to choose from, as long as you like HP. There are currently over two-dozen HP printers that are compatible with the iPad. If you are on a budget, then the HP Photosmart D110 is an excellent choice. One of the sleekest printers I've seen in a while is the HP ENVY 100 e-All-in-One. It is fast, small, and versatile. It can print great documents quickly and, with the right photo paper, pictures that rival a photo lab. Both of these will work with most late model Windows PCs, Macs, and iPads. Did I mention they all connect via WiFi?
Now there are going to be those who really can't replace their laptop with an iPad. I think most can. Those that can't are the power users, those who really need the power of a full processor. If your work requires plenty of screen space, large amounts of storage, accessing external drives or optical media, then you won't be able to do that with an iPad. But for the most part, I bet many can use an iPad for 90 percent or more of what they think they need to do on a laptop. Then again, we will likely have an iPad 3 here within 6 months and this might all change yet again.
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Algae.Tec signs collaboration contract for demonstration plant
Australia-based Algae.Tec Ltd. has formed a collaboration contract with the Manildra Group to construct a demonstration-scale algae production facility at its 100 MMgy ethanol plant in Nowra, Australia. According to Algae.Tec Executive Chairman Roger Stroud, the project could be operational by the first quarter of 2012.
Manildra is making several contributions to the project, including access to the land and utilities. “They have also made their personnel freely available,” Stroud said. “Furthermore, through their goodwill, they have facilitated the liaison with local contractors and specialist groups required from time to time during the construction process.” In turn, Algae.Tec’s role in the project is to build the demonstration plant, and ensure safety and site regulations are met, Stroud continued.
One primary advantage of locating the demonstration scale facility at the Manildra ethanol plant is the variety of CO2 sources that are available. “Due to the industrial nature of the site, and its mix of CO2 sources, there is sufficient flexibility with the demonstration site to carry out a valid and credible operation without obstructing the day-to-day operations,” Stroud said. “The ethanol plant CO2 is easily accessible. The fact that it is the largest [ethanol plant] in Australia adds to the synergy of the program, as the algae produces simple sugars in its [biomass], which could be a feedstock for ethanol fermentation at a commercial level of algae production.”
Algae.Tec’s technology features enclosed photobioreactors. “The essential nature of the technology is to pass light from rotating parabolic light collectors, through an optic fibre system, to each module, which is a 40 foot high top sea container,” Stroud said. “Additionally, high CO2 bearing stack gas is passed into the containers with nutrient rich water. Within the containers, the algae will grow in very ideal conditions.”
Photobioreactors that will be installed at the demonstration site are currently being assembled at Algae.Tec’s U.S.-based location, the Algae Development & Manufacturing Centre in Atlanta, Ga. Each module is expected to be capable of producing 250 tons of dry algae per year. According to Stroud, site preparation at the ethanol plant will begin in October, with the project becoming operational in early 2012.
Stroud also noted that his company currently intends to convert a percentage of the algae produced at the demonstration facility into biodiesel for use by Australia’s armed forces. Alternatively, some of the algae feedstock will be converted into jet fuel and used for testing purposes in aircraft engines.
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Study finds the bulk of shoes’ carbon footprint comes from manufacturing processes.
The MIT List Visual Arts Center is presenting the first U.S. museum survey of works by Belgian artist David Claerbout, on exhibit Feb. 8 through April 6.
Claerbout, 39, mixes snapshots and video to form images that explore our ever-changing sense of time and our subtle, often-overlooked gestures of intimacy, disconnection or bafflement.
Filmed mostly in modern urban settings, Claerbout's works reward the patient observer with subtle, poignant narratives that an accelerated media culture doesn't allow: In "Sections of a Happy Moment," a family slowly plays catch beneath the dehumanizing gaze of surveillance cameras; in "The Stack," sunlight illuminates a sleeping homeless person and a highway overpass during 36 minutes of approaching twilight.
Other Claerbout works at the List exhibit include "Vietnam, 1967, near Duc Pho (reconstruction after Hiromishi Mine)." Here, Claerbout reconstructs a war reporter's iconic black-and-white photo of a plane shot down by friendly fire during the Vietnam War. Using digital technology to freeze the historic still in a film of the lush, jungly present, Claerbout erases and accentuates the 33-year gap between the two.
In "Shadow Piece," a number of passersby attempt to open a set of glass doors into the entrance hall of a building. Their shadows remain fixed, suggesting either that time or humanity is pretty much at a standstill.
Claerbout's priceless video, "Cat and Bird in Peace," shows a long-haired tabby and a little canary sharing a box for 10 minutes. Cat stares at monitor; bird peeks at cat now and then. Is it a pause before violence or the peaceable kingdom?
Educated in Antwerp and Amsterdam, Claerbout lives and works in Antwerp and Berlin. His work has been exhibited in Belgium, the Netherlands, Spain and New York.
The exhibition was designed and organized by the Centre Pompidou in Paris, France. After MIT, it will travel to Switzerland, the Netherlands and Japan.
The MIT List Visual Arts Center is located in the Wiesner Building, 20 Ames St., at the eastern edge of the MIT campus. All exhibitions at the center are free, open to the public and wheelchair accessible.
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By MEGHAN BARR
(AP) - Years ago, in a darkened parking lot in the middle of the night, Kathy Padilla would meet with fellow transgender people who sought support from one another in a society that treated them like outcasts.
How things have changed since then for transgender men and women in America, who have made great strides in recent years toward reaching their ultimate goal: to be treated like ordinary people. On Tuesday, they won another victory when a Massachusetts judge became the first to order prison officials to provide sex-reassignment surgery for a murder convict, saying it was the only way to treat her gender-identity disorder.
The ruling marked the latest milestone in the increasing visibility of a class of people once roundly derided as freaks or used as a punch line.
"Now there are transgender delegates at the Democratic National Convention," said Padilla, a 55-year-old transgender woman from Philadelphia who has been an advocate since 1984. "And a number of transgender people have been invited to the White House."
In recent years, more than a dozen states have revised anti-discrimination laws to include transgender people, giving them hate-crime protection and providing rights as basic as restroom access. Transgender officials have helped raise the movement's profile by winning elective office in city halls, landing coveted appointments in the White House and, yes, sending delegates to political conventions.
The Massachusetts court ruling, though, shines a light on what many advocates view as the worst form of discrimination still faced by transgender people: lack of access to medical care.
"Transgender people are still denied health care access all the time," said Mara Keisling, executive director of the National Center for Transgender Equality. "There's insufficient training, insufficient cultural competency, and insufficient humanity sometimes."
Transitioning from one sex to another can involve a variety of treatments, including hormone therapy, but the most expensive one is a sex-change operation, which can cost up to $20,000. Even though the American Medical Association and other medical experts recommend coverage of services for transgender people, a small but growing number of companies that actually provide it _ including Apple, Accenture and American Express _ are still the exception.
Federal health care that covers treatment for gender-identity disorders is virtually nonexistent, with no services for federal employees, veterans or Medicare recipients.
U.S. Sen. Scott Brown of Massachusetts, who as a state senator filed unsuccessful legislation in the late 2000s to ban the use of tax money to pay for the surgery for prison inmates, said surgery for the inmate at the center of Tuesday's ruling would be "an outrageous abuse of taxpayer dollars."
"We have many big challenges facing us as a nation, but nowhere among those issues would I include providing sex change surgery to convicted murderers," he said in a written statement. "I look forward to common sense prevailing and the ruling being overturned."
In July, Leon Rodriguez, director of the federal Department of Health and Human Services' office for civil rights, sent a letter to an advocate reaffirming that federal health care funding extends to medical needs of transgender people. But the agency also said insurers are not required to cover "transition related surgery."
The nation as a whole has not yet embraced the idea that a gender reassignment surgery is a medically necessary procedure that could have dramatic health benefits, advocates say.
"If somebody doesn't receive treatment, it can lead to very serious incidents of self-harm," said Jennifer Levi, a professor of law at the Center for Gender and Sexuality Studies at Western New England University in Springfield, Mass. "One of the things that the judge recognized is that there's a lot of public misunderstanding about the experience of transsexualism. And there's a lot of bias and prejudice."
In the Massachusetts case, the judge noted that inmate Michelle Kosilek's gender-identity disorder has caused her such anguish that she has tried to castrate herself and twice tried to commit suicide. Kosilek was named Robert when married to Cheryl Kosilek and convicted of murdering her in 1990.
While courts around the country have found that prisons must evaluate transgender inmates to determine their health care needs, most have ordered hormone treatments and psychotherapy. Wolf is the first judge to order sex-reassignment surgery as a remedy to gender-identity disorder.
"There are still people who believe that being a transgender person is a choice, or exotic or bad," Keisling said. "And you know, those people are becoming fewer and fewer all the time."
Turning the tide of public opinion has also been aided by famous transgender people like Keelin Godsey, a shotputter who this summer fell just short of becoming the first transgender athlete to make the U.S. Olympic team. And there's Stu Rasmussen, of Silverton, Ore., who became the country's first openly transgender mayor in 2008 when he defeated the incumbent following a campaign that focused on policy _ not the fact that Rasmussen was wearing dresses and 3-inch heels.
"Jenny from the Block" wants you to buy Verizon phones from her.
Clothes have a starring role at the Cannes Film Festival. (Photos)
French universities could say goodbye to this language in class.
Which big cat had some trouble coughing this up? (Photos)
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The following is in response to the 100 Word Challenge authored by the mercurial Velvet Verbosity. The word is "faster".
"Draw, old man."
"That's okay, son. I'll wait on you."
"Hah, old man. You're gonna die."
"I been here before, boy. I'll be here again."
"Yer too old and too slow, old man."
"We'll see boy. I'm gonna give you one more chance. Drop yer gun and walk on over to the calaboose over yonder."
"No sir, I ain't goin'. Let's get this done!!"
The boy drew his gun, lightning quick, but his shot went high and wide. The sheriff's shot, slower and more deliberate, was dead center.
"He's dead, sheriff."
"Damn young bucks never learn ... better ain't always faster."
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Anne Hathaway's latest movie succumbs to a trap as old as Shakespeare
Random House Films
Warning: This post reveals the ending of One Day
The Graduate is a great movie for a lot of reasons: the moody Simon and Garfunkel soundtrack, Dustin Hoffman's wry performance as Ben Braddock, the coy flashes of Mrs. Robinson's body. But the film's true moment of triumph is its ending, when Ben rescues Elaine Robinson from what's sure to be a loveless marriage. She in her wedding dress, he in a sweaty polo shirt, they run from the church, board a public bus, and plop down in the back, grinning wildly. Most movies would fade to black right then, with the newly formed couple in their moment of euphoria. But the camera stays rolling for few seconds longer, as their smiles flicker and fade and their faces read pure panic: "What now?"
Those last few moments highlight an near-universal truth about romantic movies: They adore getting a couple together but rarely show what happens after the initial "I love yous" are exchanged. From The Philadelphia Story to When Harry Met Sally to Clueless, most romances end at the first kiss. The reason for Hollywood's dependence on this type of ending is obvious. Seeing a couple get together is a lot more fun than watching them in the messy business of staying together.
Occasionally, however, the story continues even after the leads realize they're meant to be. But even then, the audience doesn't get to see the relationship in action, fights and all. Instead, the writers employ a different technique for dealing with the "What now?" problem: killing off one of the romantic leads. Shakespeare used this device in Romeo and Juliet, bringing the two star-crossed lovers together only to have them each commit suicide. West Side Story, Leonard Bernstein's musical-theater riff on Romeo and Juliet, lets the Juliet character live, but sacrifices the Romeo to gang violence. Love Story, about an upper-crusty Harvard man who falls for a working-class girl, does the opposite: The male protagonist survives, while the female dies of cancer. A handful of more recent films offer variations on the theme, with more dubious results: Sliding Doors, A Walk to Remember, City of Angels, Cold Mountain.
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One Day, an Anne Hathaway-starring romantic drama that came out last week, features the latest and laziest use of the kill-off-the-character solution. The film's two protagonists, Emma and Dexter, spend the first part of the movie in a protracted will-they-or-won't-they dance. She's smitten with him; he admires her, but—in typical twentysomething male fashion—spends his youth chasing fame, booze, and beautiful women rather than settling down with his soul mate. When they finally do get together, there's a moment of hope: This could turn into the rare movie that explores the joys and challenges of committed monogamy, that doesn't derive all its tension from the will-they-or-won't-they question.
But alas, rather than showing Emma and Dexter grow into maturity together, wrestling with infertility and their own aging bodies, One Day puts Emma on a bicycle and runs her over with a truck. Dexter spends the rest of the movie mourning his lost wife, instead of going about the tricky task of living with her after years of foreplay. Just like the movies that close with a confession of love, One Day's ending allows the romance to remain forever in its early, giddy perfection, submitting to The Who's wish in "My Generation": "I hope I die before I get old."
One Day's ending is especially frustrating because we'd finally started to see a movement away from movies that only show the early stages of a relationship. In the decades since The Graduate needled Hollywood for its fierce loyalty to happy endings, several fine films have come out that begin, rather than end, with a couple getting together: Annie Hall, Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, (500) Days of Summer, and Blue Valentine all showcase romances that move from infatuation to love to boredom to frustration to, occasionally, renewed tenderness. Yes, One Day is based on David Nicholls's novel, so its ending was predestined. But that doesn't mute the disappointment of watching yet another romantic movie avoid telling a true love story.
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The Houses Are Full of Smoke
A chilling documentary on U.S. policy in Central America, this three volume series, which took six years to make, was researched and filmed by Allan Francovich, best known for his award winning film about the CIA, On Company Business.
An astonishing range of characters tell their stories, from soon-to-be-assassinated Archbishop Oscar Romero to Salvadoran right wing leader Robert D’Aubuisson; from three then-Presidents of the three republics to Guatemala’s impoverished indigenous peoples; from ousted American Ambassador Robert White, CIA operatives, and National Security officials to the founder of El Salvador’s secret police, who speaks directly of the rape and murder of four American missionary women there, from the top death squad officials to remorseful triggermen whose gruesome accounts of kidnapping, torture and killing lend compelling moral urgency to the case against right-wing dogma.
“The issue is really whether the U.S. government instigated, trained and has direct knowledge regarding a whole series of murders - including American citizens plus hundreds of thousands of local people - and has covered it up. What people know about the world is controlled. These issues are crucial to democracy: without information you can’t expect the population to make decisions knowingly.” - Allan Francovich
“An eye-opening documentary about the Central American wars … the film’s most frightening sequences are bloodless interviews with right-wing vigilantes - self-possessed men of power who suavely deny their responsibility for crimes attributed to them by human rights organizations … a formidable work of investigative cinema.” - San Francisco Examiner
“Not to be destined a favorite in the White House screening room.” - The Washington Post
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It’s that time again, time for hopeful potential presidential nominees to start the campaign process for 2012. While it’s still too early to talk about who the frontrunners would be, or make any predictions about the outcome of the election, one thing is already abundantly clear: social media will play an even larger role in this election than ever before.
President Obama’s social strategy in 2008 has been cited ad nauseam as one of the important contributors to his success, but he’s going to have to step up his game for 2012. Even just three years later, the web is a decidedly more social environment. Rather than funneling email marketing and grassroots word-of-mouth campaigns through his own website, as in 2008, he’ll have to utilize the playgrounds of the populace, social networks like Facebook, Twitter, etc. to take full advantage of all that the social web has to offer. Take a look at the charts below depicting the top referring and destination sites for BarackObama.com. It’s clear that even in March of this year, before he announced his re-election bid, social sites like Twitter and Facebook have played a crucial role in driving traffic for his campaign with both Facebook and Twitter popping up in the top 11.
Most likely because social media was an effective way to reach his key supporters in the 2008 election (college students and twenty-somethings), President Obama will be holding an interactive town hall hosted on Facebook with Mark Zuckerberg this afternoon at 4:45 EDT. Despite the fact that he won’t be the first important politician to take advantage of Facebook Live (President George W. Bush leveraged the platform to promote his memoir in November 2010), he’s initiating an important step in his campaign that shows he understands that he’ll have to go to the people instead of having the people come to him at WhiteHouse.gov (as in his 2009 interactive town hall).
Since we won’t have access to the online data for today for a while, there will remain many unanswered questions about the success of the Facebook campaign, but one thing is certain: President Obama still has the ability to drive an incredible amount of traffic to his site. Check out this daily reach graph for BarackObama.com from the first ten days of this month. About 30% of Americans online on April 4, the day he announced his re-election bid, visited BarackObama.com.
No matter where you lie on the political spectrum, President Obama’s innovative use of social media will be an interesting case study in American politics. What do you think about President Obama’s use of social media? Will you be attending the Facebook town hall?
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The move is part of a harsh response to a U.S. law targeting Russians deemed to be human rights violators. Although some top Russian officials including the foreign minister openly opposed the bill, Putin signed it less than 24 hours after receiving it from Parliament, where it passed both houses overwhelmingly.
The law also calls for the closure of non-governmental organizations receiving American funding if their activities are classified as political — a broad definition many fear could be used to close any NGO that offends the Kremlin.
Dr. Svetislava Vukelja is one of many East Texas residents who have adopted from Russia. She and her husband adopted their son seven years ago, who is now 15.
“He’s been delightful,” she said. “We are very saddened about this news. … This seems to be driven by politics, and the children are the ones who suffer. We’re hoping and praying things change in the future.”
Since 1996, teams with Marvin United Methodist Church in Tyler have traveled to Russian orphanages to take children clothing, shoes, medical and dental care and to teach them about God.
Marvin’s missions director, Melissa Brigman, adopted her son, now 28, from Russia in 2000.
“My heart is broken, I am just devastated over the news,” she said. “I’ve seen lives changed and transformed through adoption. So many orphans are not going to get a second chance at a better life because of this.”
The church had planned to send another team to Russia in the summer, she said.
“I hope there’s not retaliation against churches and other nonprofits,” she said. “We’ll have to see when it’s time to get our visas.”
She said she and other ministry leaders had referred to the news as “shocking.”
The law takes effect Jan. 1, the Kremlin said. Children’s rights ombudsman Pavel Astakhov said 52 children who were in the pipeline for U.S. adoption would remain in Russia.
The ban is in response to a measure signed into law by President Barack Obama this month that calls for sanctions against Russians assessed to be human rights violators.
That stems from the case of Sergei Magnitsky, a Russian lawyer who was arrested after accusing officials of a $230 million tax fraud. He was repeatedly denied medical treatment and died in jail in 2009. Russian rights groups claimed he was severely beaten.
A prison doctor who was the only official charged in the case was acquitted by a Moscow court on Friday. Although there was no demonstrable connection to Putin’s signing the law a few hours later, the timing underlines what critics say is Russia’s refusal to responsibly pursue the case.
The adoption ban has angered both Americans and Russians who argue it victimizes children to make a political point, cutting off a route out of frequently dismal orphanages for thousands.
“The king is Herod,” popular writer Oleg Shargunov said on his Twitter account, referring to the Roman-appointed king of Judea at the time of Jesus Christ’s birth, who the Bible says ordered the massacre of Jewish children to avoid being supplanted by a prophesied newborn king of the Jews.
A painting depicting the massacre and captioned “an appropriate response to the Magnitsky act” spread widely on the Internet. The phrase echoed Putin’s characterization of the ban while it was under consideration.
U.S. State Department spokesman Patrick Ventrell expressed regret over Putin’s signing the law and urged Russia to “allow those children who have already met and bonded with their future parents to finish the necessary legal procedures so that they can join their families.”
Vladimir Lukin, head of the Russian Human Rights Commission and a former ambassador to Washington, said he would challenge the law in the Constitutional Court.
The Parliament initially considered a relatively similar retaliatory measure, but amendments have expanded it far beyond a tit-for-tat response.
UNICEF estimates that there are about 740,000 children not in parental custody in Russia while about 18,000 Russians are on the waiting list to adopt a child. The U.S. is the biggest destination for adopted Russian children — more than 60,000 of them have been taken in by Americans over the past two decades.
Russians historically have been less enthusiastic about adopting children than most Western cultures. Putin, along with signing the adoption ban, on Friday issued an order for the government to develop a program to provide more support for adopted children.
Lev Ponomarev, one of Russia’s most prominent human rights activists, hinted at that reluctance when he said Parliament members who voted for the bill should take custody of the children who were about to be adopted.
“The moral responsibility lies on them,” he told Interfax. “But I don’t think that even one child will be taken to be brought up by deputies of the Duma.”
Many Russians have been distressed for years by reports of Russian children dying or suffering abuse at the hands of their American adoptive parents. The new Russian law was dubbed the “Dima Yakovlev Bill” after a toddler who died in 2008 when his American adoptive father left him in a car in broiling heat for hours.
In that case, the father was found not guilty of involuntary manslaughter and Russia has complained of acquittals or light sentences in other such cases.
The Investigative Committee, Russia’s top investigative body, on Friday complained that its attempts to have the acquittals overturned or reconsidered had been ignored by the United States. Under U.S. law, acquittals are final except in rare cases.
Russians also bristled at how the widespread adoptions appeared to show them as hardhearted or too poor to take care of orphans. Astakhov, the children’s ombudsman, charged that well-heeled Americans often got priority over Russians who wanted to adopt.
A few lawmakers even claimed that some Russian children were adopted by Americans only to be used for organ transplants or become sex toys or cannon fodder for the U.S. Army. A spokesman for Russia’s dominant Orthodox Church said that children adopted by foreigners and raised outside the church will not enter God’s kingdom.
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The US Supreme Court is about to hear arguments for and against the recent healthcare insurance reform law enacted by Congress. (aka The Affordable Care Act, aka Obamacare) At issue is the constitutionality of the individual mandate to buy health insurance. It is unclear whether they will set new precedent or rule on a much narrower basis. Their decision could have profound effects on the current law and future legislation. Partisans on both sides of this issue should welcome a broad decision and be ready to accept the consequences!
If the mandate is found to be constitutional, this strengthens the notion that private insurance has a significant role to play in our mixed healthcare system. It bolsters popular components of the law that limit insurance companies’ ability to deny coverage for pre-existing conditions, place lifetime caps on benefits, and allow young adult children to remain on their parents’ insurance. The real challenge—reining in the exploding costs of healthcare—is still ahead of us.
If the mandate is found to be unconstitutional, this is the best argument yet for a single payer system in the US. You cannot have a viable healthcare insurance system if a significant number of citizens have the ability to opt out when they’re young and healthy. Beware the law of unintended consequences! If it turns out to be unconstitutional to force broad participation in private insurance, can a public option be far behind? Careful what you wish for!
Update: Nice Summary of What’s at Stake on ProPublica!
July Update: Justice Roberts decided the mandate was actually a tax. So the law stands, but apparently this presages other limits to the Commerce Clause.
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With all eyes on New York State’s (NYS) rumored upcoming moves on shale-gas hydraulic fracturing (fracking), a recent Washington Post op-ed by New York City Mayor, Michael Bloomberg, and fracking pioneer, George Mitchell, weighed in on the possibility of limited fracking in the state’s Southern Tier. The message of Bloomberg’s op-ed is that “[w]e can frack safely if we frack sensibly,” and by sensibly he would seem to mean by implementing strong environmental regulations, a sentiment not widely shared by the oil and gas industry today.
That Bloomberg advocates for natural gas through “responsible” fracking is not surprising considering his $50 million patronage of the Sierra Club anti-coal campaign and the view that natural gas will replace dirty coal. In this more recent case of largesse, the mayor will give Environmental Defense Fund $6 million to carry out the “strategy of securing strong rules and developing industry best practices in the 14 states with 85 percent of the country’s unconventional gas reserves.” It can’t be forgotten that New York City (not to mention Syracuse) long ago assured the safety of its water by way of a gas drilling and fracking ban in their enormous, protected watershed located mainly in the Catskill Mountains. (No state politician can afford to tangle with the New York City behemoth.) While New York City water users appear to be well protected from fracking in their watershed, as Wenonah Hauter of Food & Water Watch says of Bloomberg, “He speaks for himself, not the upstate New Yorkers who would be most directly and most immediately affected by fracking.”
Practically speaking and regardless of possible coordination, Bloomberg’s endorsement of regulated fracking gives NYS Governor Cuomo – the ultimate “decider” of how and when it proceeds – another extremely influential backer on both political and policy grounds. Despite Cuomo‘s position as one of the most powerful and savvy governors in the country, his apparent pro-fracking leanings have alienated him from seemingly natural allies, even as the inflammatory politics of fracking have split environmentalists into those who seek an outright ban versus those who support tight regulation.
Exactly how Cuomo plans to address the knotty issue of NYS fracking remains unknown – all we have are rumors and innuendo stemming from a leak of the governor’s plan to the New York Times. The reported plan would presumably offer natural gas drilling permits to gas extraction companies in the “southwest New York region – primarily Broome, Chemung, Chenango, Steuben and Tioga Counties – drilling would be permitted only in towns that agree to it and would be banned in Catskill Park, aquifers and nationally designated historic districts.” That fracking would only occur after it passed a vote in these municipalities is notable because it aligns with NYS Home Rule governance, which grants significant authority to local communities. Interestingly, Cuomo’s concept of governmental devolution on state shale-gas development presages on a smaller scale Republican presidential nominee Romney’s plan to hand over Federal lands to the states for fossil fuel development, which would upend at least 50 years of US policy precedent.
If Cuomo decides to carry out his plan in the near-term, as expected, he would eschew his repeated claims to “[l]et the science dictate the conclusion," since he'll likely have to wait for more than a year for the most comprehensive studies on fracking, including the highly anticipated EPA study along with two USGS reports (here and here).
Of course, scientific studies are not always conclusive and can be interpreted in many ways. There are also a host of unmet concerns with fracking, like what to do with toxic flowback wastewater, whether landowners bear all of the cost and liability of cleanup, and public health risks around gas wells and compressor stations, just to name a few. Cuomo’s decision on whether to allow fracking in NYS depends on what he envisions for the state’s future, and the question remains whether the call for fracking undercuts the continued support of both politicians' for more sustainable, less water-intensive renewable energy.
With Bloomberg in his final term and the safety of New York City’s water seemingly in the bag, it’s easy for him to say we can frack safely – he won’t be the one to draw up or enforce the stiff regulations he calls for. Will his message influence Cuomo’s decision? Time will tell.
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A lot of consumer advocates predicted that banks would soon be up to their old tricks again to charge you for basic services. A year after public outrage forced banks to drop those poorly-thought-out debit card fees, the banks have been busy replacing them.
"There's a myriad of different fees," said Susan Weinstock with the Pew Charitable Trust. "Sometimes there's an account closing fee if you close the account within 6 months of opening it. Maybe there's a minimum fee to open the account."
"It's frustrating that banks are charging these fees. It's frustrating for the consumer who feels like they don't have a lot of money already," said Today consumer finance writer Allison Linn.
Pew Charitable Trusts performed a state-by-state analysis of checking accounts at the nation's largest banks and found fees hidden deep inside the average 69-page document of terms and conditions that bank customers rarely read.
"There's just a lot of little things that the banks are doing to kind of sneak in extra revenue for themselves," said Linn.
Pew's researchers say nine out of ten of us have a checking account for which another study estimates we pay on average of $259 in fees. That's why Pew's Susan Weinstock says the group wants banks to at least simplify those 69-pages with a single-page summary that, "has the key fees and terms of condition that consumers really need to know about."
The banks say the documents are lengthy because the law says they have to be, while Today's Allison Linn says we have to face facts. "We have to be realistic about the fact that banks are going to keep charging fees," said Linn. "You're probably going to have to pay one or two."
The question is whether you can afford 4 or 5 fees.
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Developing across different mobile platforms has long been a pain point for mobile developers, but what about designing for the same apps and services to run across multiple types of device form factors? New form factors don't just offer bigger screens or keyboards over mobile phones; users also interact differently with them.
The most prevalent example of this is with iPhone apps moving to the iPad: creating a app for the tablet isn't simply about adapting it to a bigger screen, but utilizing the differences in hardware to offer users a better experience. This scenario is just the tip of the iceberg, though: Android is making its way into all types of devices, like Google TV, which will allow developers to create apps for both phones and televisions. GPS maker TomTom has announced that its future devices will run a version of WebKit and support third-party apps. Nokia's Terminal Mode and Continental's AutolinQ projects look to extend the app experience into automobiles.
This panel seeks to build a high-level understanding of what successful cross-form-factor development entails, beyond simply adapting content for different display types. Attendees will learn best practices -- and educational failures! -- from leading designers and developers, and how they can incorporate emerging form factors into their apps and services to create an enhanced user experience.
Director of Developer Marketing Servicesfor WIP / Mobile maestro / foodie / beer nerd bio from Twitter
5:30pm The Intersection Between Mobile and TV by Craig Negoescu
Sign in to add slides, notes or videos to this session
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Is there an identifiable vernacular style in Ireland's sporting architecture?
- Posts: 1
- Joined: Wed Jul 28, 2010 3:28 pm
ISH wrote:.....Is there an identifiable vernacular style in Ireland's sporting architecture?
Well in my time, the traditional football Dressing Room facilities were heavily inspired by freight container design.::o
- Posts: 139
- Joined: Sat Apr 04, 2009 6:00 pm
Handball alleys would have been every bit as undesigned, but more interesting from a scale and often a streetscape point of view.
I recall a great little cartoon in L'équipe around the time that Ireland beat France 1 - nill [with a Liam Brady goal] in a world cup qualifier [when they had the likes of Platini and Rocheteau etc.], depicting the French rugby coach [some pocket-sized Nepoleonic type] who had just master minded beating us in rugby - again - a week or so later at the same venue. The rugby coach is shown taking the soccer coach by the hand and bringing him down to Lansdowne Road with the caption 'I'll show you how it's done' - or something similar in French. Lansdowne Road was rather accurately depicted as a miserable little recangular arena with two unequal shed roofs facing each other. This would have been at the time that France had developed the new Parc des Princes stadium, predecessor to the even more magnificent Stad Francais.
p.s. the cartoon must have been reprinted in the Irish Times, one doesn't buy L'équipe after a large French win.
- Old Master
- Posts: 1884
- Joined: Wed Jan 16, 2008 9:33 pm
- Location: Dublin
The terracing of Dalymount Park was designed in the 1940s/50s by Archibald Leitch - the preeminent stadium architect in Britain at the time. Whilst tragically the Stadium is falling down on itself these days, the Connaught St terrace still has one of the finest sightlines I've ever come across from which to watch a game.
I recall a college lecturer back in the day reeling out regularly the old quip that along with the Round Tower, the Handball Alley is one of our only unique contributions to world architecture..
- Posts: 455
- Joined: Mon Oct 18, 2004 6:39 pm
- Location: D5
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Friday, October 22, 2010
Week in Review
- Mexican authorities seized 134 tons of marijuana on Sunday near the Mexico-U.S. border. On Wednesday, the 15,300 bales were set ablaze. One heavily quoted excerpt from the New York Times on the "bonfire" no longer appears in the article, but is included in the slideshow of the event. It reads:
And so up in smoke went the equivalent of a few hundred million joints in what Mexican authorities called the largest seizure of the drug in the country’s history, a dash of hype befitting the elaborate ceremony to both get rid of it and highlight a success, any success, in a bloody, lingering drug war.
- 30 members of Congress sent a letter (PDF) to Secretary of State Hillary Clinton requesting a suspension of U.S. aid to the Honduran government. This letter argues that "assassinations, arbitrary arrests, beatings and death threats targeting political activists and the human rights workers who attempt to protect them" continue with impunity. LAWG's Lisa Haugaard provides more information about recent attacks against human rights defenders and journalists in Honduras in this Huffington Post article.
State Department Spokesman P.J. Crowley responded to a question about the letter on Wednesday, stating that the State Department does not intend to cut off assistance to Honduras, as requested in the letter.
... I think where we disagree with our congressional colleagues is that they conditioned progress on the human rights as a precondition for the return of Honduras to the OAS. We think they go hand in hand – improving the democratic performance of the government is vitally important, but also reintegrating Honduras into the community of democratic nations in this hemisphere is also important. And in fact, the election of the Lobo government was itself a major step forward for Honduras.
- Mexican President Felipe Calderón sent Congress a proposal that would reform Mexico's military justice code, requiring troops to be tried in civilian courts for three types of human rights abuses: torture, rape and forced disappearance. Mexican and international human rights organizations argue that the proposal "falls short of what was expected from Mexico," and "fails to hold armed forces accountable." Here are some responses to the proposed reform from LAWG, WOLA, Human Rights Watch and 13 Mexican organizations.
- Assistant Secretary of State for Western Hemisphere Affairs Arturo Valenzuela met with Cuban Foreign Minister Bruno Rodríguez on September 24th on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly "to encourage the release of Alan Gross," a USAID contractor arrested in Cuba on December 3, 2009 after being accused of spying.
- In response to the news that Russia is to build a nuclear power plant in Venezuela, President Obama said, "We have no incentive nor interest in increasing friction between Venezuela and the U.S., but we do think Venezuela needs to act responsibly."
- A new report by the National Commission on Human Rights in Honduras says that every 88 minutes someone is murdered in Honduras.
- In Colombia, a former high-ranking DAS official, Martha Leal, said that ex-DAS director Andres Peñate ordered her to spy on opposition figures at the "express request of former President Alvaro Uribe." Leal has been ordered to testify in the investigation into former President Uribe's involvement in the illegal wiretapping of his opponents.
- A new report by the Third National Survey on the Verification of the Rights of the Displaced in Colombia says that, as a result of violence, 6.65 million hectares of productive lands were abandoned in Colombia between 1980 and July 2010.
- The Houston Chronicle's Dudley Althaus writes about police reform in Mexico.
- Assistant Secretary of State David T. Johnson traveled to Guatemala and Honduras this week. While in Guatemala, Assistant Secretary Johnson ratified the United States' support in the country's fight against organized crime. "The United States is committed to working with Central America and Guatemala to combat corruption and organized crime through security services and rule of law," he said during a press conference at the National Civilian Police headquarters. In Honduras, he met with President Porfirio Lobo and convened the U.S.-Honduras Merida-CARSI Task Force. Johnson said, "I do not think that Honduras is about to become a 'narco-state', but I do think that the country has the challenge to confront it and I think that working together they can build institutions that can confront this challenge."
- Over the weekend, Brazilian presidential candidate José Serra promised a "great war against drugs" if elected president in the upcoming runoff election against Dilma Rousseff. A recent Vox Populi poll shows Rousseff with 51 percent of vote intention compared to 39 percent for Serra.
- A high-level delegation of U.S. officials will arrive in Colombia on Sunday. The group will include Undersecretary of State James Steinberg, Assistant Secretary of State, Arturo Valenzuela, and Maria Otero, Undersecretary of State for Democracy and Global Affairs. Officials say that good governance, democracy, human rights, energy and science and technology will be the main issues discussed--notably absent from these bilateral talks is the word "drugs."
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ATLANTA, Ga. -- When he was just 21 months old, Elijah Kimaru's parents noticed he was really fussy and he wouldn't eat or walk.
The diagnosis was Stage 4 Neuroblastoma. It had already spread to the marrow in his bones.
Elijah endjured 16 months of treatment that included six rounds of chemotherapy, surgery,two stem cell transplants and 12 round of radiation.
He has shown no evidence of neuroblastoma for ten months now and has important scans at the end of this month.
Elijah just turned three and loves cats and dogs, all sports, scooby doo and tom and jerry.
Elijah Kimaru, our CURE kid ofthe week. for more information, go to www.curechildhoodcancer.org.
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Sooooo, I thought it might be informative to discuss a few issues I had with my ACLS recertification process this year.
The American Heart Association provides a course for health care professionals to learn the latest techniques for Advanced Cardiac Life Support in the event an individual collapses of cardiac or respiratory arrest. The certification process is partially performed by company called CardioConcepts (although now it looks like its called 'Scitent') based in Virginia. The recertification process demands a fee for their course and includes an online registration where doctors must now surrender their most personal information (address, phone number, e-mail) to their website on an electronic registration form. You can bet this information is sold, but I digress...
I have some constructive (I hope) criticisms.
If a company is going to teach ACLS instead of doctors, then either the members of this company must first learn EKG's - especially is I have to PAY for the priviledge of undertaking this experience every two years - or else the American Heart Association needs to do a better job proofing the work for hire for which they have contracted.
For the student's pre-test (available on a CD within the ACLS provider book), we find this tracing:
Click to enlarge
So what is this rhythm? The publishers of the student pre-test for ACLS would have you believe it was "Reentry Supraventricular Tachycardia." I wonder if these guys know basic medical terminology. The correct term should be "reentrant supraventricular tachycardia." *Sigh*
But that's not the real problem with this tracing. My guess this tracing is not even reentrant. (I'm open to what other cardiology and EP docs think, here). Look carefully at how this arrhythmia initiates - a slightly premature beat that looks quite similar to the sinus beat - followed in rapid succession by other P waves with a sudden onset with a "warm-up" phenomenon. See the small indentations in the T wave? These suggest a superimposed P wave. I have placed lines above the P waves below:
These findings seem most consistent with an atrial tachycardia to me. Atrial tachycardias usually have an automatic mechanism, not a reentrant one.
And don't get be started about this tracing of Torsade de Pointes which appears on the Student pre-test:
The correct answer (according to their student pre-test) was "Coarse Ventricular Fibrillation." Wrong again. Most texts and online resources I've seen have classified this as arrhythmia as one form of "Polymorphic Ventricular Tachycardia," not coarse ventricular fibrillation. Certainly the treatment for Torsades is very different (consider magnesium, pacing, isuprel, lidocaine, etc.) than for "coarse ventricular fibrillation" (shock, drugs and shock again) and should be recognized by everyone who cares for heart patients.
And I was surprised procainamide was removed from the Tachycardia with Pulses algorithm, especially for irregular, wide tachycardia algorithms as well. I've already discussed my preference for this drug (and why) in an earlier post (See Part I and Part II). Instead, they've decided a "Phone a Friend" option (actually, it says, "expert consultation advised") works best. But sometimes experts aren't there right away...
I do appreciate the folks at the American Heart Association's efforts. I can't imagine what an undertaking organizing the training of the nation's doctors must be like. But we must assure that we train folks correctly and give good examples.
After all, people's lives are at stake.
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As per the HSBC Small Business Confidence Monitor, there is a overall positive outlook interms of growth, recruitment, capital expenditure in small businesses of US. But, the small business owners have no immediate plans to conduct business internationally.
Opinions on Economy
- About 80 percent of small businesses in US are expecting growth in local economy will remain same or might increase in the upcoming months.
- There is expectation of similar momentum by small businesses with regard to plans on capital expenditure. 61 percent of the small business owners who were surveyed are expecting that the capital expenditure will remainsame. About 24 percent of them are expecting growth in capital expenditure in the upcoming months.
On New Hiring
Less than 5 percent of small businesses in US are expecting further decrease in recruitment in the upcoming months. 85 percent of the small businesses are expecting that the activities in the recruitment will remain unchanged.
New Marketing places
- About 30 percent of small businesses in Latin America and about 22 percent of small businesses in Greater China have expressed US as a top market for their international activity.
- 75 percent of small businesses in US that were surveyed are continuing to operate domestically. They have no intention of taking their business internationally with respect to the international business.
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Recent events in Iraq have forced me to postpone my response to noted commenter Andrew Lazarus for a week or so, though elements of that response can likely be found in this analysis, as it contains indirect elements of a polemic (the explanations of the consequences of pulling out of Iraq not being among them). In the meantime, this analysis will endeavor to explain what exactly is currently occurring inside Iraq as well as some observations with regard to who is likely behind it and a look at what could happen if we should fail.
There is more to life than your own petty domestic politics ...
One of the most annoying factors that one encounters within blogosphere, shifting only back and forth depending on which side of the ideological spectrum that a blog in question is located on, is that US foreign policy in general and success or failure in Iraq in particular is viewed solely through the lense of which US political party will benefit from it. I'm not particularly certain when this point of view became prevalent and to be quite frank, I really don't care. US success in Iraq is a good thing for the United States as a whole, not just for George Bush. Similarly, a US failure in Iraq will be an unparalleled disaster for us all, not simply for all of the chickenhawk warbloggers like myself who supported the invasion.
Taking this into perspective, I view declaring the situation in Iraq hopeless or civil war in the country inevitable to be little more than a tacit admission of US defeat as well as a justification of al-Qaeda's combat doctrine - the United States, for all its vaunted prowess, can be defeated through protracted guerrilla warfare. As Rohan Gunaratna notes in Inside al-Qaeda, bin Laden has long sought to entrap the US in a protracted guerrilla conflict out of the belief that his minions can defeat us in the same manner they did the Soviet Union. That is precisely why al-Qaeda is pulling resources from Afghanistan or calling in the international brigades of the Harakat ul-Mujahideen and Lashkar-e-Taiba, as well as fighters from Chechnya. And in case this issue is brought up, the much-maligned refusal of the US to place Afghanistan under direct military occupation but rather to subcontract that duty to the Northern Alliance is the only reason they haven't done it there. Ultimately, this is more about defeating the United States than any particular location, which is why resources previously allocated to the Taliban in Afghanistan are now being diverted to Iraq just as Mullah Omar's thugs were starting to have some semblance of success in briefly retaking a few border districts (think counties) in Zabul province.
In short, the situation is such that should the US lose badly in Iraq, al-Qaeda wins and this cannot be allowed if we hope to prosecute a successful war on terrorism, quite independent of who wins the US elections in November.
Villain #1: Muqtada al-Sadr
The first of two sources of the current unrest is the Iraqi Shi'ite leader Muqtada al-Sadr. Some of the biographical information on the man is rather sketchy and I've seen him listed as being between 22 and 31 years old, but all accounts agree that he is the son of late Shi'ite ayatollah Mohammed Sadiq Sadr, who was assassinated by Saddam Hussein in 1999. Prior to Operation Iraqi Freedom, he was the leader of the Jamaat-e-Sadr Thani.
He first appeared after the invasion of Iraq in connection with an attempt to seize control of the Shi'ite holy city of An Najaf from Grand Ayatollah Sistani, at which time he likely assassinated the pro-US Shi'ite leader Abdul Majid al-Khoei. While the situation was resolved when Sadr backed down, the young firebrand next showed up demanding the establishment of sha'riah and arguing in favor of the Khomeinist principle of velayet-e-faqih or rule by men of religion, which as we all know has worked out just peachy in Iran. This was also one of the first major indications of Sadr's main support base in the Sadr (formerly Saddam) City, a slum Shi'ite quarter of Baghdad whose inhabitants were brutalized by the former regime. These first signs of Sadr flexing his political muscle coincided with the return of the previously underground al-Dawaa political party, which was founded by one of Sadr's predecessors. Al-Dawaa advocated the formation of an Islamic state in Iraq and opposed the US occupation, but opted for a non-violent resistance for the time being.
Sadr's next major appearance came in mid-May when Sadr's supporters disrupted the return of Ayatollah Baqir al-Hakim to Iraq. Al-Hakim was one of the leaders of the Supreme Council for the Islamic Revolution in Iraq (SCIRI), an Iranian-backed organization designed to counter-balance Saddam Hussein's own support for the Mujahideen-e-Khalq. It is somewhat unclear whether or not Sadr was involved with the Iranians at this point or not, though my own view of the situation is that he was from the very beginning, but was backed by a different faction within the Iranian leadership that favored a much more direct method of confrontation with the US than the kind of gradual control of the Shi'ite regions that SCIRI would have enabled. Amir Taheri listed SCIRI among one of the Iranian front groups controlled by the more accomodationist members of the civilian government, so clashes between the two might be expected as their ultimate backers due the same in Tehran.
The question of who Sadr was working for, however, became much more clear following his meeting in Tehran with members of the Iranian leadership in June. Upon his return, Sadr banned trading with Kuwaitis and formed the Mahdi Army as his own independent military force. One of the more interesting things to note with regard to Sadr is that his initial objective of kicking the US out of An Najaf is something that he and his Mahdi Army have to this day been unable to accomplish, a point to be noted to anyone who wants to over-estimate the threat posed by Sadr and his jackboots.
The first sign that Sadr and his Mahdi Army were starting to move beyond mere anti-American rhetoric came in August, when the Shi'ite residents of Sadr's support base Sadr City demanded an end to the US presence in the Baghdad suburb. Shortly thereafter, Sadr formed an alliance with the anti-Western Sunni cleric Ahmed Kubeisi, whose power base has greatly expanded in the Sunni Triangle since the fall of the Baathist Party. As a result, Sadr was able to expand his influence and his agenda into the old Baathist heartland - not that it stopped him from instigating sectarian cleansing in An Najaf and Karbala. More stand-offs in Sadr City soon followed, including a clash with the Mahdi Army in Baghdad that killed 2 American soldiers. In my view, it was this incident that marked Sadr and his thugs as a threat to the US occupation in Iraq that would have to be dealt with sooner or later.
Sadr's announcement of a creation of his own alternate government complete with a Ministry for Preservation of Virtue and Prevention of Vice combined with his ill-fated attempt to drive Sistani from Karbala. Now Sistani, unlike numerous other Iraqi political figures, has chosen not to maintain his own private army, so he had to rely on his followers using small arms. It was this event, in my opinion, that led Sistani to be so critical of the CPA and so insistent of direct elections in Iraq as well as a crackdown on small arms.
Following several tentative confrontations with both the US and Sistani, Sadr drifted back into obscurity until March 2004, when he declared 9/11 an act of God and announced his support for Hamas and Hezbollah, the latter being one of his most disturbing statements to date given that ICT believes him to be the head of Iraqi branch of the latter organization.
One of the more popular fallacies now being argued is that it was the closure of his newspaper that led Sadr into his current period of radical activities - in fact, his Mahdi Army had already demolished the village of Kawlia a full day earlier. To date, US forces have been engaging Sadr's followers in Baghdad as well as in and around An Najaf, but he still commands a formidable force of anywhere between 1,000-7,000 fighters, with a number of media reports and Healing Iraq claiming that he is being supported in these efforts by Iran and its proxy arm Hezbollah. Ignoring that this is arguably an act of war against the United States, so long as Sadr continues to receive support from his Iranian backers he is likely to remain a threat for the near-term future.
Villain #2: Abu Musab Zarqawi
While a lot of media commentary has focused on the prospect of Iraqi Baathists having staged the recent attacks against US forces in Fallujah and Ar Ramadi, few have discussed the very likely possibility of an al-Qaeda connection to the recent attacks there. There have been claims of an al-Qaeda cell operating in Fallujah since at least July 2003 and an al-Qaeda operative was captured in Ar Ramadi in October 2003 with 11 SAM missiles, suggesting that the organization also has a presence in the area - the US destroyed a terrorist training camp in the general area for foreign jihadis back in June.
In the case of Fallujah, the US has long been aware of an active al-Qaeda cell in the city and killed one of Zarqawi's lieutenants there little more than a month ago. Combine this with intelligence reports that non-Iraqi Arabs were involved in the brutal slaying of 4 US military contractors and an al-Qaeda connection becomes even more likely. Many commentators have suggested that the brutal mutilation of the contractors (for which al-Qaeda has posted a justification on one of their Yahoo! groups) was designed after the killing of 18 US servicemen in Somalia, yet not one commentator has raised the possibility that the killers might be one and the same as or have trained under the very same people responsible for that carnage over a decade ago.
What is even more disturbing is the way in which Moqtada Sadr and Abu Musab Zarqawi appear to be accomodating one another in terms of rhetoric. Sadr's actions and sectarian cleansings play to Sunni fears that the Shi'ite will retaliate against them en masse for decades of oppression under the Baathists, while Zarqawi's latest rant (the claims of a former Indian intelligence chief that Zarqawi was once a member of the SeS and LeJ certainly appear a lot more credible in light of the rhetoric he is employing) plays directly to Shi'ite fears that they will soon be persecuted again by their Sunni bretheren. The events of the Ashura Massacre in particular play into this perception and the result is that both the Shi'ites and the Sunnis are more than radicalized enough to provide a ready supply of cannon fodder for the likes of Sadr and Zarqawi. I am have no direct evidence that the two are actively in cahoots, but this strikes me as far too convenient (particularly with regard to the timing of Zarqawi's latest denunciation of the Shi'ites now that Sadr's feeling the heat from the US) a coincidence to ignore. Reports of an alliance across sectarian lines in support of Sadr would seem to strengthen this position.
One more thing to keep in mind about the remaining Iraqi Baathists - those still loyal to the cause are split in 3 arguing over who gets to be the next Maximum Leader now that Saddam Hussein is behind bars. Most the rank and file as well as the attendant cannon fodder have been absorbed into the jihadi infrastructure in the wake of Saddam Hussein's capture because they now recognize, for better or worse, that Zarqawi represents their best hope of regaining their former livelihoods.
The Iranian Game Plan
As Joe noted in Iran's Great Game, Iran seeks to undermine coalition efforts in Iraq, particularly in the Shi'ite areas, because they understand that an Iraq that is either unstable or ruled by Sadr is an Iraq that won't pose an ideological threat to the future of the Iranian regime. I think we can safely expect another move by Sadr against Sistani in the near future, Sistani's firm rejection of velayet-e-faqih poses too great an ideological threat to the underpinnings of the Islamic Republic to be allowed to fester in the long-term.
In addition, Zarqawi, like most of the surviving al-Qaeda leadership, has received refuge inside Iran despite his apparent sectarian views and is dependent on the IRGC for weaponry and support to his Ansar al-Islam cadres. These ties simply cannot be ignored when one takes into consideration Iran's imperialist designs with regard to Iraq and how to combat them. The attackers in Ar Ramadi sought to take advantage of the perceived US inability to retaliate against them while our forces were busy dealing with Fallujah and Sadr and in the event that Muqtada Sadr's Mahdi Army is decisively dismantled it should not be at all surprising to see the Sunni areas flare up again in some of the more traditional hot spots in the Triangle.
A self-fullfilling prophecy?
Ultimately, claims that this is the beginning of the end for the US occupation in Iraq or the start of the long-anticipated sectarian civil war (the latter being particularly odd in light of apparent cooperation across Shi'ite/Sunni divide) are inaccurate at this phase. Ultimately, the success or failure of the Iranian strategy with regard to the US in Iraq will depend on whether or not the United States and its allies retain the collective national will to defeat the insurgents. The question of whether or not Iraq will become a second Vietnam (i.e. a US defeat) is probably best answered, "No, and it won't be as long as we don't let it."
As most historians will tell you, the Tet Offensive was a resounding failure for the Viet Cong from a military perspective. Nevertheless, it served as the catalyst for the US withdrawl from South Vietnam and its subsequent conquest and oppression by their northern kinsmen. In the case of Iraq, we have already screwed the general population over once - in 1991, when we left the Iraqi people to rot in the midst of their own rebellion against the tyranny of Saddam Hussein. Now, for better or worse, we have overthrown the tyrant and I don't think it's arrogant to say that we owe them one this time around before we turn around declare our efforts there an abject failure.
More to the point, the implications for Iraq in regard to the larger war on terrorism are enormous. Whether or not one accepts (and I do) Iraqi complicity with regard to al-Qaeda, there can be little doubt that the terrorist network and its satellite groups are there in force now and is seeking to defeat us in a protracted guerrilla war in order to forcibly evict the United States from the country. Should they succeed in this objective, the propaganda as well as strategic implications for the entire Middle East are enormous. In addition, to emboldening Islamic radicals throughout the Gulf (Sunni in Saudi Arabia and Yemen and Shi'ite in Bahrain), a Taliban-esque enclave in central Iraq ruled by Zarqawi would easily be in a position to topple the Jordanian government, bringing al-Qaeda and its affiliates directly to the Israeli border. An Iranian-controlled (either de facto or de jure) southern Iraq would provide the Iranian regime with a great deal more economic muscle than it currently possesses (particularly if al-Qaeda's backers in Saudi Arabia due seize direct power over the Kingdom and put an end to its pro-Western veneer) and the loss of Bahrain would deprive the US of its naval bases in region, leaving Qatar isolated.
These are just some of possible scenarios that a US collapse in Iraq, which is why I feel that Senate Minority Leader Tom Daschle probably said it best on the Senate floor:
"America will not be intimidated by barbaric acts whose only goal is to spread fear and chaos throughout Iraq," Senate Minority Leader Tom Daschle, South Dakota Democrat, said in a moving floor speech last Thursday after the initial attacks that began the weeklong string of violence.
"Yesterday's events will only serve to strengthen America's resolve and seal America's unity. The brave people who lost their lives did not die in vain. Americans stand together today and always to finish the work we started and bring peace and democracy to the citizens of Iraq," he said.
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It has been a long election season with countless twists and turns and changing poll numbers, but we're almost to the finish line. As Americans prepare to cast their votes, it's time to sharpen our focus and take a closer look at where the major party candidates stand on some of the most pressing issues facing our country: promoting sustainable growth and improving our energy infrastructure.
At Business Roundtable, we believe enacting sound energy and environmental policies should be a top priority for the next administration, and we're thrilled that both Sen. Barack Obama (D-IL) and Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) have made tackling energy and climate change top priorities of their campaigns. As we learned in July when we hosted the candidates' advisors at our Energy and Environment Forum, Obama and McCain share some common policy positions.
On environmental policy, for instance, both favor "smart grid" power lines and have promoted cap-and-trade plans to combat global climate change. Both oppose oil exploration in ANWR. Both favor a combination of tax incentives and public investments to spur development in clean coal and alternative energy sources like wind and solar.
On transportation efficiency there are similarities, too. Obama is pushing to increase the Renewable Fuel Standard, boost fuel economy requirements above 35 miles per gallon (mpg) and realize more than 1 million plug-in hybrids on the road by the end of his second term. While McCain does not favor raising the fuel economy standard, he does support flex-fuel cars, eliminating tariffs on ethanol and awarding a $300 million prize to the first car company that develops "a battery package that has the size, capacity, cost and power to leapfrog the commercially available plug-in hybrids or electric cars."
Now, the differences. McCain has supported the proposal to invoke a "tax holiday" on the 18-cents-per-gallon federal gas tax, which is opposed by Obama. Obama proposed a so-called "windfall" profits tax on oil companies, which is opposed by McCain. The Republican and Democratic nominees also disagree on treatment of the Strategic Petroleum Reserve (Obama wants to release millions of barrels of oil; McCain only wants to suspend further purchases), the Yucca Mountain project for nuclear storage (McCain is in favor; Obama is opposed) and nuclear power (McCain wants to build 45 new plants by 2030; Obama is uncommitted).
Regardless of who becomes our next president, we believe the solutions must be long-term, bipartisan and increase domestic supply through oil and natural gas exploration while expanding investments in alternative sources of energy like wind, solar and biofuels. A successful plan must also be careful to balance conservation efforts with economic growth and prosperity for America's citizens, communities and companies.
To find out more about the candidates' policies on energy and the environment, check out the side-by-side comparisons published by Reuters and the Associated Press and read McCain and Obama's individual plans on their respective campaign Web sites.
More Recent Presidentail Candidate Posts On TreeHugger
Presidential Candidates on Climate Change (Video)
US Presidential Candidates' Environmental Records
Green Candidate Guide From Envirowonk
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In response to the standardized-test cheating scandal on New York’s Long Island — which began with arrests related to the SAT, and has since come to encompass the ACT, too — I initiated an e-mail exchange last week with Ray Nicosia of the Educational Testing Service. Mr. Nicosia is director of testing integrity for E.T.S., which administers the SAT. What follows are edited excerpts from our electronic conversation. (At the end of this post, readers will find contact information for Mr. Nicosia’s office as well as a short cut to post comments on this blog in response to his remarks.)
Can you walk readers, briefly, through the various safeguards that E.T.S. and the College Board have in place to insure that those who take SAT exams are, in fact, the very people who have registered to take those exams?
SAT security measures begin long before test day. From the secure printing and shipping of test materials to the nearly 7,000 SAT test centers located in more than 170 countries — to the comprehensive post-test analysis of answer sheets — E.T.S. and the College Board work year-round to ensure the integrity of the testing process.
Because SAT scores are reviewed as part of a student’s application to college, everyone who takes the SAT or uses SAT score reports in the admissions process has a vested interest in maintaining the integrity of SAT scores. This is why we encourage anyone with direct knowledge of dishonest behavior or anyone who suspects dishonest behavior to inform the E.T.S. Office of Testing Integrity so we can investigate.
For instance, our test center staff members – who are themselves educators – are trained to turn away students with questionable IDs and to observe test takers for signs of dishonest behavior. Test center supervisors submit exception reports detailing unusual test day occurrences or dishonest student behavior, and these reports often form the basis for an investigation by my office. We also investigate allegations of dishonest behavior reported by other students, parents or school officials.
During the 2010-11 academic year, the office conducted about 9,600 investigations of SAT testing irregularities, including fire alarms going off during testing and reports of test taker impersonation.
On test day, test takers must present their admission ticket as well as an acceptable form of photo ID. The name on the admission ticket must match exactly the name on the ID, and the ID must include a recent, recognizable photo. Test center staff members are authorized to refuse admission to any test taker with invalid or questionable ID. A list of acceptable forms of ID is available on the SAT Web site.
The College Board, which owns the SAT, is a nonprofit organization dedicated to access and equity in higher education, and the ID requirements currently in place were developed to help protect the integrity of the testing process while not discouraging disadvantaged students from taking the SAT. Nearly 20 percent of SAT takers already use fee waivers to take the exam, and we need to be careful that any additional ID requirements we implement do not create an undue financial barrier for such students.
As the case in Nassau County illustrates, some students will attempt to cheat the system by employing impersonators. In those cases, we can employ a number of after-the-fact detection methods, including handwriting and statistical analysis, to identify invalid scores. We also rely on score recipients – including college admission officers and high school administrators – to alert us when a student’s scores are out of sync with the rest of his or her academic record.
What additional checks, if any, have been added since the arrests on Long Island were announced earlier this fall?
Following the arrests in Nassau County, E.T.S. implemented enhanced training for test center supervisors and also implemented additional post-test analytics to identify score anomalies. The College Board president, Gaston Caperton, also announced that the College Board had retained Freeh Group International Solutions to conduct a thorough review of SAT security policies and procedures. As previously stated, E.T.S. and the College Board believe that even one such case of test taker impersonation is too many, and we will work with the Freeh Group to implement further enhancements to ensure the integrity of the SAT.
Bernard Kaplan, the principal of Great Neck North High School, told my Times colleagues last month that he believed that cheating on the SAT was pervasive. “I think it’s widespread across the country,” he said. “We were the school that stood up to it.” To what extend have the arrests on Long Island — 20 at last count, including one involving a man charged with taking a test for a girl — suggested a potentially broader weakness in the efforts by E.T.S. and College Board to detect fraud on its own? And how can you be confident that such problems are not more widespread, both in New York and nationally?
A recent survey found that 59 percent of high school students reported cheating on a test in the last year, and one in three admitted using the Internet to plagiarize an assignment. We find such behavior appalling.
While recent events may have raised public awareness of security in standardized testing, E.T.S. works to address security challenges each and every day. No system is perfect, but that does not mean we don’t take this very seriously.
E.T.S. invests millions of dollars in security protocols designed to ensure that students test fairly and that student misbehavior is kept in check. In addition to these protocols, we rely on our partners in the schools to help uncover additional testing improprieties. It is common for school officials and guidance counselors to contact us with their suspicions about cheating. By having access to high school transcripts and SAT scores, school officials have more information about possible discrepancies in a student’s overall academic performance than does E.T.S.
In addition, school officials sometimes hear rumors or receive tips from students, and – as happened at Great Neck North – report those allegations to the E.T.S. Office of Testing Integrity. Every report we receive is investigated and many of these investigations lead to canceled scores.
We have never suggested that testing improprieties are limited to Nassau County or Great Neck. Each year, E.T.S. cancels thousands of scores when we have any reason to believe copying, impersonation or other rule violations has occurred. We turned hundreds of students away last year for questionable IDs. We also analyze SAT score data for each administration and compare those scores to prior years to determine if there have been any spikes in the higher score ranges that might suggest cheating. As scores have been flat or declining for a decade, that does not appear to be the case.
As for allegations that a male impersonator tested for a female student: in this instance, the female student had a gender-neutral first name. That fact, along with a sophisticated fake ID, enabled the male impersonator to take the test on her behalf.
E.T.S. and the College Board have been implementing enhancements to SAT security, some of which we already have discussed and others that will not be made public to ensure their effectiveness. We are confident that such further enhancements will address issues highlighted by this case.
In the vein of “If you see something, say something,” how, specifically, can students, educators and even parents report any suspicions of impropriety on an administration of the SAT?
Students, parents and educators have a number of options available for reporting testing irregularities, unusual behavior or suspicions of cheating. The most direct way to make such a report is to contact the E.T.S. Office of Testing Integrity by phone (800-353-8570), fax (609-406-9709), or e-mail ([email protected]). Students and parents may also contact SAT customer service at (866) 756-7346 or [email protected], while educators can contact the SAT educators’ help line.
Customer service and help line staffers will forward all reports to the Office of Testing Integrity. Test takers also have the option of speaking with a member of the testing staff before, during or after the administration. We encourage anyone with knowledge of a testing irregularity, unusual behavior or cheating to contact E.T.S. or the College Board as soon as possible following an administration to ensure that an investigation is launched before scores are released. All information provided will be held strictly confidential.
Detailed information about how to report testing irregularities, unusual behavior or suspicions of cheating is provided in the paper SAT registration guide, during online SAT registration, in the SAT test center supervisors’ manual and in letters and e-mails sent to score recipients (high schools, colleges and universities).
All right, Choice readers: now it’s your turn. What is your response to Mr. Nicosia’s remarks here? To the extent that you had any concerns about the integrity of the SAT, has he allayed them? You can use the comment box below to let us know.
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Airline Security a Waste of Cash
Since 9/11, our nation has been obsessed with air-travel security. Terrorist attacks from the air have been the threat that looms largest in Americans' minds. As a result, we've wasted millions on misguided programs to separate the regular travelers from the suspected terrorists -- money that could have been spent to actually make us safer.
Consider CAPPS and its replacement, Secure Flight. These are programs to check travelers against the 30,000 to 40,000 names on the government's No-Fly list, and another 30,000 to 40,000 on its Selectee list.
They're bizarre lists: people -- names and aliases -- who are too dangerous to be allowed to fly under any circumstance, yet so innocent that they cannot be arrested, even under the draconian provisions of the Patriot Act. The Selectee list contains an equal number of travelers who must be searched extensively before they're allowed to fly. Who are these people, anyway?
The truth is, nobody knows. The lists come from the Terrorist Screening Database, a hodgepodge compiled in haste from a variety of sources, with no clear rules about who should be on it or how to get off it. The government is trying to clean up the lists, but -- garbage in, garbage out -- it's not having much success.
The program has been a complete failure, resulting in exactly zero terrorists caught. And even worse, thousands (or more) have been denied the ability to fly, even though they've done nothing wrong. These denials fall into two categories: the "Ted Kennedy" problem (people who aren't on the list but share a name with someone who is) and the "Cat Stevens" problem (people on the list who shouldn't be). Even now, four years after 9/11, both these problems remain.
I know quite a lot about this. I was a member of the government's Secure Flight Working Group on Privacy and Security. We looked at the TSA's program for matching airplane passengers with the terrorist watch list, and found a complete mess: poorly defined goals, incoherent design criteria, no clear system architecture, inadequate testing. (Our report was on the TSA website, but has recently been removed -- "refreshed" is the word the organization used -- and replaced with an "executive summary" (.doc) that contains none of the report's findings. The TSA did retain two (.doc) rebuttals (.doc), which read like products of the same outline and dismiss our findings by saying that we didn't have access to the requisite information.) Our conclusions match those in two (.pdf) reports (.pdf) by the Government Accountability Office and one (.pdf) by the DHS inspector general.
Alongside Secure Flight, the TSA is testing Registered Traveler programs. There are two: one administered by the TSA, and the other a commercial program from Verified Identity Pass called Clear. The basic idea is that you submit your information in advance, and if you're OK -- whatever that means -- you get a card that lets you go through security faster.
Superficially, it all seems to make sense. Why waste precious time making Grandma Miriam from Brooklyn empty her purse when you can search Sharaf, a 26-year-old who arrived last month from Egypt and is traveling without luggage?
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Pricing and Product Design: Intermediary Strategies in an Electronic Market
Authors: Hemant Bhargava, Vidyanand Choudhary, Ramayya Krishnan
Electronic intermediaries play an important role in many Web-based electronic markets, adding value for participants by offering services such as matchmaking and trust. This paper presents an economic model of intermediation where the intermediary offers services to two types of actors: consumers and providers. When consumers are heterogeneous, differentiated on their willingness to pay for intermediation, the intermediary can potentially offer two (or, generally, multiple) levels of service quality to target various consumer segments. How should electronic intermediaries choose their levels of service and prices for these services?
Our analysis highlights the aggregation benefit that consumers derive from having access to multiple providers through the intermediary. We model this benefit as a network effect. According to prior research on vertically differentiated digital goods, it is optimal to offer only one quality level in the market, and segmentation causes cannibalization and lowers profits. In the case of intermediation, however, the aggregation benefit — by providing additional utility to consumers — makes it optimal for the intermediary to offer both levels of service. The intermediary’s profits increase upon decreasing the quality of the lower quality service, suggesting that the two quality levels should be differentiated as much as possible. If the intensity of the aggregation effect is large, the intermediary should make the service free for providers: the loss of revenue from providers will be offset by the increase in revenue from consumers. If the intensity is large relative to the lower quality service, then all consumers subscribe to the intermediary’s service.
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Taking out a mortgage is probably the biggest hassle facing prospective homeowners. The bank asks you all sorts of nosy questions about your income and savings, and after you've poured your heart out and shared all your money secrets, they might not even lend you as much as you need. The nerve!
Of course, they do have a point. Put yourself in the bank's shoes: If you were going to lend people money, what would you want to know about them? Of course you'd want to know whether:
- They make enough money to pay you back.
- They've been trustworthy in the past.
- They have something of value to trade, should they be unable to pay you back.
Congratulations: In financial parlance, you've just been introduced to the concepts of income, credit worthiness, and collateral -- the three main factors that go into the lending decision. Let's look at each one, and how they affect what you can afford.
Do you make enough to pay the lender back?
Your lender will want to know not only how much money you have, but also how much you will likely make over the next 30 years. Also, what are your other debts? Do you owe money for college loans or credit card charges? Do you have any other assets? Things like stocks and mutual funds, or personal property like a boat or a car, are also considered in figuring out how much a bank will lend you.
Ideally, you'll want to come up with at least 20% of the value of your new home as a down payment, to avoid things like mortgage insurance payments (also called private mortgage insurance, or PMI). But you probably qualify for plenty of financing arrangements that will get you into a new home for as little as 3% of the asking price.
The lender will also plug your income numbers into a couple of formulas: the front-end ratio (having to do with your mortgage payments) and the back-end ratio (having to do with your debt).
For instance, let's say your gross income is $4,000 a month, and you have $400 a month in debt payments. A common rule of thumb is that they'll allow you to pay around 30% of your gross income toward your mortgage payment every month. This is known as the front-end ratio. In this example, 30% of $4,000 is $1,200 a month -- so, they'll reason, you can afford put $1,200 toward your mortgage payment.
Your debt ratio, or back-end ratio, on the other hand, is $400/$4,000, or 10%. That's not bad. They don't want more than around 40% of your gross income going to total debt -- mortgage, credit card interest, and other payments -- and in this case, your payments add up to 39%. (These ratios can vary somewhat; the ones given here are just examples).
Have you been trustworthy in the past?
Potential mates aren't the only ones curious about your past. Your lender wants to know your history, too, before deciding whether or not to commit. Your credit report -- a nifty little compilation of your personal financial history -- will reveal whether you have a track record of paying your bills on time. Before you even start shopping around for a loan, pull your reports from the major credit reporting bureaus by going to the AnnualCreditReport.com website. If you see anything unsavory, clean it up to make yourself more attractive to lenders.
Do you have any collateral?
The house you buy will generally be considered collateral for your mortgage. As a result, in case you can't repay the loan, the bank can decide to do something really nasty: foreclose on the mortgage and repossess the house. You will find yourself out on the street -- with your dog, your La-Z-Boy, your collection of unpublished poetry, a couple of suitcases, and your toiletries kit. Your house now belongs to the bank, and it is unlikely that anyone will ever loan you money again. Hot tip: Avoid this scenario at all costs.
Now, let's discuss your needs
How much you make, your creditworthiness, and how much collateral you have are all questions from the bank's point of view, because the amount of house you can afford is largely a question of how big a loan you can afford. Now, let's look at a few things from your point of view.
To determine whether you should buy a new home, think about how long you're planning to stay in it. It generally doesn't make economic sense to buy if you're only planning to stay there for a couple of years. Since you'll be paying fees to buy and then sell your house, it would have to appreciate in value very quickly while you're living there to make the entire deal financially worthwhile.
Your comfort zone
Before you borrow $100,000, $200,000, or whatever you need for your mortgage, figure out whether you can really afford it. Just because the bank will loan it to you doesn't mean that you'll be able to pay it back -- at least, not without cutting into other goals that may be a priority for you. Are you planning to have a big family? Would you rather spend money on travel or spoiling the grandkids?
Remember, your house payment is just one piece of your financial puzzle. Carefully consider what you might need to give up to make that house a reality, and ask yourself whether you're really willing to do it.
For more on buying and selling a home, read about:
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In our quest to become the best men we can be, we’ll often hit plateaus where we feel like we aren’t making any progress at all. Those flat-line moments in life can be a real soul sucker. You can see where you want to be as a man, but you’re stuck at a level just below your desired goal. It seems like no matter what you do, you’ll never be able to improve.
Well, fear not, good men. Though you may feel destined to a purgatory of perpetual pedestrian plateauing, with a few minor adjustments to your view on life and your routine, you can punch through the cement wall of mediocrity and level up to the life you want.
Road Map to Plateauing
Back in the 60s, two psychologists, Paul Fitts and Michael Posner, set out to uncover why we plateau. They discovered that when we acquire a skill, we go through three stages.
The first stage of skill acquisition is called the cognitive phase. In this phase, we must concentrate intently on what we’re doing as we figure out strategies on how to accomplish the skill more efficiently and effectively. The cognitive phase is riddled with mistakes as we learn the ins and outs of our new pursuit.
The second phase of skill acquisition is the associative phase. During the associative phase, we make fewer mistakes. Consequently, we feel more comfortable with the skill and begin to concentrate less on what we’re doing.
The final stage is the autonomous phase, or what Joshua Foer, author of Moonwalking with Einstein, calls the “O.K. plateau.” We reach a skill level where we’re able to capably do the task without having to really think about it at all. Remember about how much you thought about what you were doing when you first got your driver’s license? Now driving is fairly automatic, like brushing your teeth.
This progression to the the O.K. plateau shows up in all areas of our lives. The plateaus we experience in our career, in our fitness level, in our love life, or in our spiritual life often follow this three stage process.
There are areas of your life where being okay is, well, a-okay. I don’t have any desire to be able to drive like Mario Andretti, and it’s handy to have many of life’s tasks set on autopilot.
But then there are areas of your life where you’ve hit a wall, and you’re not happy about it–you’re doing fine, but you’re still plagued with a restless feeling that there’s something more out there, a higher level you’d really like to reach.
People used to think that you couldn’t break past these plateaus because a plateau represented the limit of your genetic ability. No amount of exertion or education would help you overcome this wall. But Fitts, Posner, and other psychologists have discovered that with the right approach and a few attitude adjustments, all of us can bust through our plateaus and reach even higher.
How to Overcome Plateaus
Take risks. Growth comes when we stretch past our comfort zone. The big reason many people (especially high-achievers) plateau is because they don’t like to fail. Instead of taking on challenges that will help us grow, we stick with routines that we know we can successfully do. To protect our ego, we’d rather do the wrong things correctly, than do the right things wrongly. This aversion to risk is a recipe for plateauing.
Embrace the suck. To overcome your aversion to risk, you have to give yourself permission to fail and be mediocre. Instead of avoiding the things that are hardest for them, the greats of the world specifically focus on those things; they purposefully concentrate on the areas in which they make the most mistakes. This keeps them from getting stuck in the autonomous phase and propels their progress. So instead of seeing failure as a negative thing, think of your failures as steps to success. If you choose to learn from your failures, they can bring you closer to your goal; when you cut a string and then tie it back together, it’s shorter than it once was.
Step out of the echo chamber. Another reason we plateau is because everyone around us is telling us everything is gravy. We often confide in people who tell us what we want to hear, not what we need to hear. I know I’m guilty of doing this. I’ll finish a project and take it to somebody for some “constructive criticism,” when really I just want some positive affirmation on what I did.
If you feel stuck in an area of your life, seek out mentors who won’t pull any punches and will give you the honest criticism you need to improve. Yes, your ego will get bruised, but that’s the price one must pay for personal and professional growth.
Learning to accept criticism is something that simply takes discipline and practice. First you work on taking the criticism into consideration at all. Then you work on shortening the time period between your initial reaction of “What?! There’s nothing wrong with what I did you noodle-brain knucklehead!” and the time later when you’re able to calmly reflect and see if there’s value in the criticism. I suppose the next stage is to skip that momentary urge to punch the criticizer in the throat altogether, but I’m not there yet myself!
Practice deliberately. Fitts and Posner discovered three keys to breaking through your plateau: 1) focus on technique, 2) stay goal oriented, and 3) and get immediate feedback on the performance. In other words, you need to practice deliberately to break through plateaus.
When Joshua Foer was trying to improve his memory in preparation for the United States Memory Championship, he hit a plateau where he stopped progressing. Despite a strict training regimen in which he looked at flash cards during his spare moments and constantly memorized things wherever he went, he couldn’t seem to get any better. To bust through this plateau, he had to deliberately push himself harder than before:
“To improve, we have to be constantly pushing ourselves beyond where we think our limits lie and then pay attention to how and why we fail. That’s what I needed to do if I was going to improve my memory. With typing, it’s relatively easy to get past the O.K. plateau. Psychologists have discovered that the most efficient method is to force yourself to type 10 to 20 percent faster than your comfort pace and to allow yourself to make mistakes. Only by watching yourself mistype at that faster speed can you figure out the obstacles that are slowing you down and overcome them. Ericsson suggested that I try the same thing with cards. He told me to find a metronome and to try to memorize a card every time it clicked. Once I figured out my limits, he instructed me to set the metronome 10 to 20 percent faster and keep trying at the quicker pace until I stopped making mistakes. Whenever I came across a card that was particularly troublesome, I was supposed to make a note of it and see if I could figure out why it was giving me cognitive hiccups. The technique worked, and within a couple days I was off the O.K. plateau, and my card times began falling again at a steady clip. Before long, I was committing entire decks to memory in just a few minutes.”
After a year of practice, Foer was able to memorize the order of a shuffled deck of cards in under two minutes.
Get back to basics. Whenever I hit plateaus in my life, my first response is to look for something new I can do to get me out of it. I think, “If I only find the right workout or the right planning system, my life will change and I can start making progress again.” Sometimes changing things up can help us break through a plateau, but in my experience, I just waste more time searching for that new, magic thing that will change my life for the better. So instead of spending time on searching for the new, I start focusing on the basics. When I hit a plateau with my writing, I’ll review my composition skills by doing some exercises from a book. When I hit a plateau with my weight lifting, I’ll reduce the weight, focus on my form, and slowly start adding weight again.
On numerous occasions, I’ve found that even when you’re advanced at something, delving back into the basics can actually give you fresh insights that help you progress even further.
Think long term. When we think short-term, we have a tendency to feel that plateaus are permanent. But when we take the big picture view of things, we start to see plateaus as temporary way stations that we’ll eventually get past with a bit of hard work. Moreover, by thinking long term, we give ourselves more latitude to take risks and fail because we see that missteps are just momentary setbacks in the long journey of life.
To cultivate this attitude, reflect on a time where you felt you had reached the end of your development in some area, only to later bust through the plateau. If it was possible then; it’s possible now. If you don’t have that experience yet yourself, ask a friend to tell you about one of his.
When I was learning Spanish while living in Mexico, I hit a point where I felt like I had stopped progressing, and I didn’t feel like I could get any better. But I couldn’t shake the niggling feeling that I was wrong. So I made another push–I started reading my basic Spanish grammar books again, and I stopped being afraid to make mistakes. I just went for it when talking with people. And lo and behold, my fluency rose to a whole new level. Now when I reach a plateau in another area of my life, I simply remember that example, and realize that the feeling that I’ll never get any better is nothing more than my darn lazy brain selling me a bill of goods.
What advice do you have for breaking through plateaus in life? Share your advice with us in the comments!
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It began with two distinctly different images that would swirl together and merge into the most innovative new game-changing invention for millions of online gamers worldwide.
Image #1: The Peregrine Falcon: the fastest bird on Earth. These “Speed Demons” prey with blinding velocity, topping 200 miles per hour as they drop into spectacularly steep dives to hunt in mid-air. Their quest takes them nearly 16,000 miles a year spanning from the Arctic Tundra to South America.
Image #2: A future-is-now, technology-laden Gaming Glove: faster, deadlier, more comfortable, and more precise than any keyboard. A remarkably innovative, human-machine interface that would allow any user to truly become the game. With military-grade construction and an array of hot-key touch points, the glove would let you play like a “Speed Demon”; let you tap your fingers to cast spells; let you touch to maneuver and shoot – literally let you “Touch for the Win.”
It was the summer of 2004 and fresh-out-of-college computer programmer Brent Baier began experimenting from his tiny apartment in Lloydminster, Alberta, Canada. Armed only with images of a new kind of gaming technology product, $2,000 in scholarship funds, and a package of Nike golf gloves, he began to build.
“I worked in my little apartment night and day just trying to perfect this crazy idea, holding my breath as I tapped my fingers together and watched things happen on-screen at the slightest movement of my hand,” says Brent, founder of The PEREGRINE and now CEO of the company. “It was magic.”
Prototypes were refined. Tests proved successful. And financing began to flow for the powerful new concept. A team was built in Canada and the United States. Manufacturing was set up in China. In 2009, five years after Brent Baier originally conceived the product, and thousands of engineering- and testing-hours later, the first PEREGRINE gaming gloves began to roll off of the assembly line.
Pro gaming team Evil Geniuses began testing the new product in tournaments. “The Glove is way faster. I program my attack commands on my thumb and fingers, and there’s no reaching for a key or looking down to see where the hotkeys are – I can just touch my fingers,” says championship-winning Team EG’s Pu Liu, who is known to show off his PEREGRINE skills with his glove-hand locked behind his back. “I shave a quarter- to a half-second off my game with the Glove. No looking down for the keys – I just use muscle memory.”
Like The PEREGRINE’s falcon namesake, we aim to soar with extraordinary speed and precision, empowering our users with the gamer’s edge – to “Touch for the Win”.
And now, our quest begins…
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Psoriasis can be embarrassing on your arms and legs – but factor in genital psoriasis and the condition becomes even more unbearable! Today, we’re going to be talking about itchy, uncomfortable vaginal psoriasis.
The most common form of vaginal psoriasis is known as ‘Inverse Psoriasis’ or ‘Flexural Psoriasis’. It is a type that typically dwells in the creases and folds of our skin.
The term ‘vaginal psoriasis’ can refer to and affect different regions of the female genital area, including the pubic area just above the vagina, the upper thighs, the creases between the thigh and groin, the outer vagina or vulva, the anus and the buttock creases. In very rare cases, vaginal psoriasis can also find its way into the mucous membrane or ‘inner vagina’. It is characterized by smooth and red patches, as small, red dots or red-whitish patches with cracked skin.
Handle with care
Given where they are on the body, these patches are a lot more sensitive and thus need to be treated with special care and attention.
The first step is to stop wearing tight, figure-hugging clothes. Loose clothing is important, because friction from rubbing fabrics, as well as sweating makes the area itchy and sore. So ditch those skinny jeans and replace them with something a little bit airier!
The second step is to stop scratching! Scratching can exacerbate the symptoms of vaginal psoriasis and cause more itchiness as it stimulates the nerve fibres just underneath the skin. Apart from that, excessive scratching and rubbing can actually lead to your skin thickening, which is called ‘Lichenification’.
The third step is to change your underwear. Change it to something made out of 100% cotton that is. It will help by allowing your nether-regions to breathe, and also absorb any sweat. So forget the thongs and the strings ladies – comfort comes first.
Treating Vaginal Psoriasis
Vaginal psoriasis is often misdiagnosed. Sufferers oconfuse symptoms with the more common yeast infection, but reaching for the anti-fungal cream won’t help!
The first port of call for many women is their local pharmacy, to see what they can find over the counter. Often a corticosteroid-based cream will be prescribed, such as hydrocortisone, but this treatment option has several risks attached with its use. Prolonged use of it can lead to thinning of the skin and stretch marks. This can be problematic in case you are pregnant, as giving birth can easily tear skin that has been thinned.
Another treatment option for vaginal psoriasis is phototherapy, but it is not effective in treating psoriasis in between the skin folds… unless you’re willing to lie there spread-eagled that is!
The last resort option is to use an immunosuppressant drug, but that should only ever be considered in severe cases, because it’s the same thing as turning every security system off in a maximum-security prison – no locks, no CCTV. Immunosuppressant drugs leave your body exposed to all kinds of nasty infections. Remember to seek help from your dermatologist or gynaecologist before pursuing any sort of action!
Read about vaginal psoriasis at Psoriasis.org.
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By James Beckerman, MD, FACC
Paula Deen is having quite a week. Here’s the condensed version:
1) Paula Deen promotes a lifestyle associated with increased type 2 diabetes risk
2) Paula Deen develops diabetes.
3) Paula Deen endorses diabetes medication.
4) Everybody is talking about Paula Deen.
There is so much outrage and indignation in our tweets, blogs, and editorials as Paula Deen turns lemons into sweet, sweet lemonade. People are upset that she has not acknowledged — to their satisfaction — that bacon, egg and glazed donut burgers may have played some role in the development of her diabetes, or are frustrated that her pharmaceutical endorsement implies that a drug is the ideal solution to address a lifestyle problem.
But maybe we’re also upset because the joke is actually on us.
Paula Deen is not a role model for a healthy life, nor has she ever claimed to be. So why would we expect her to be one now? She is not a doctor with a financial interest in a drug company, nor is she a celebrity trainer endorsing diet pills. People have tuned in to her television shows for years not to learn how to eat more healthfully, but rather to escape into a world of sweets, salt, and fat. But now this role model for excess has become a victim of her own success.
And so have we.
The more we watch her shows, buy her books, and follow her recipes, the more we expose ourselves to the same risks. But a big difference is that pharmaceutical companies and the media are not coming to our rescue with sponsorships, renewed publicity, and fresh opportunities for future income. We are left on the sidelines, holding our half-eaten bacon, egg and glazed donut burgers, somehow surprised by our collective stomach aches.
Paula Deen has turned our missteps into her success. She has promoted a lifestyle that has not only impacted her health, but has also impacted ours. And rather than feed us real solutions, she appears to be playing a new game.
And unfortunately, we’re probably going to play too.
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Therapist waits for kidney transplant
by Staff Writer
MOORESVILLE – Jeffrey Rifkin needs a kidney.
As a marriage and family therapist at Lakeside Family Physicians, he wants to continue helping couples stay together. As a father of four, he wants to live to see his children grow up and get married.
Rifkin, 64, of Indian Trail, has polycystic kidney disease, a genetic anomaly that claimed the lives of his mother and a couple of cousins. His sister has it. So does his oldest daughter.
“To be honest, I thought for sure that I would escape it, given my lifestyle,” Rifkin said.
Before his diagnosis 15 years ago, Rifkin was active in bodybuilding, hiking, martial arts and doing things with his kids. He also was a vegetarian. None of that mattered.
His health has deteriorated over the years. Rifkin now experiences constant fatigue and nausea.
“I have severe leg cramping that will wake me up – sometimes four or five times a night to the point where it actually makes me weep,” Rifkin said. “It feels like my bones are being crushed.”
Rifkin said he has been on a waiting list for a kidney transplant for about 14 months. In the meantime, he visits a dialysis center in Charlotte three times a week.
“I do that for three hours and it wipes me out because it’s a more harsh form of dialysis,” Rifkin said. “The bottom line is you can’t do dialysis for the rest of your life because it’s very harsh on your system.”
Dialysis serves as an intervention while patients wait for an available kidney, according to Lisa McCanna, assistant vice president of transplant services at Carolinas Medical Center.
At Carolinas Medical Center, the median wait time for a kidney transplant is 25.5 months, McCanna said. The length of time depends on the patient’s blood type and antibody characteristics.
Carolinas Medical Center has 766 people on the waiting list to receive a kidney transplant, with 448 of those listed as active, meaning they are healthy and ready to transplant.
Kidney transplants may come from living or deceased donors, though patients receiving donations from living donors tend do better, McCanna said.
Living organ donors are put through a rigorous medical screening.
“We don’t want someone to give this gift and have health problems,” McCanna said. “We want to make sure they are not at risk for developing kidney problems and they are good candidates for surgery.”
Since Rifkin went on a waiting list, his doctors contacted him about a potential match, but that fell through. He has a B blood type, which isn’t the most common. He can accept type B and type O blood.
“Of course, my hopes really got dashed, and I had to fight off some degree of depression,” he said. Yet, Rifkin remains hopeful he’ll get a new kidney. He credits faith in God and devotion to his family for pushing through the painful wait.
He and his wife, Amanda, have four children, ages 31, 25, 15 and 13.
“When my son asks me, ‘Dad are you going to die before you get a kidney?’ I say, ‘Absolutely not. I will be here. Do not worry.’”
About Jeffrey Rifkin
Jeffrey Rifkin works as a therapist at Lakeside Family Physicians in Mooresville.
His specialty is solution-focused therapy, in which he helps clients focus on probable solutions rather than problems. He’s spent much of his career in Florida.
Rifkin moved to Huntersville in 2007. Last month, his family moved to Indian Trail to be closer to their children’s school, Grace Academy, in Matthews.
Want to help?
Anyone interested in donating a kidney may call the Transplant Center at Carolinas Medical Center, 704-355-6649. Anyone who would like to help Jeffrey Rifkin by making tax-deductible donations may go to www.transplants.org and type in his name.
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Obama Rumored to Pick Climate-Change Wonk as Science Adviser
- 1:13 PM
- Categories: Uncategorized
President-elect Barack Obama appears to have picked physicist-turned-environmental policy expert John Holdren as his science adviser.
The selection, reported Thursday afternoon by Science Insider but unconfirmed by Obama’s transition team, comes a week after the president-elect’s choice of renowned physicist Steven Chu as federal energy chief drew raves from the scientific community.
Holdren, a professor at Harvard’s Kennedy School and former director of the Woods Hole Research Center, is best-known for his outspoken views on climate change, energy and government.
"The ongoing disruption of the Earth’s climate by man-made greenhouse gases is already well beyond dangerous and is careening toward completely unmanageable," he wrote in October in Scientific American. "To achieve a better-than-even chance of not exceeding that figure, human emissions must start to decline soon, falling to about half of today’s level by 2050 and further thereafter."
That article was entitled, "The Future of Climate Change Policy: The U.S.’s Last Chance to Lead." Its subtitle: "McCain or Obama can end shameful U.S. foot-dragging and rally the world against climate change."
Obama won that chance — and if he indeed does become director of the Office of Science Technology and Policy, Holdren will have a chance to put his own words into action.
Video: Holdren’s talk, "Global Warming: What do we know and should do," posted by sergejsh.
- Science Born Again in the White House, and Not a Moment Too Soon …
- Nobel-Winning Physicist Rumored to Be Obama’s Pick for Energy …
- Obama’s Most Important Science Decision: Picking EPA Head | Wired …
- Obama’s Biggest Science Challenges: You Tell Us | Wired Science …
- Obama Campaign Reveals Science Advisors
- Science Funding Should Remain a Priority, Says Obama Advisor …
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These new stamps are beautiful and encourage adoption. But I will not purchase them.
I believe these stamps will have a genuinely harmful impact on animals. Let me explain:
Twenty years ago I would have enthusiastically supported stamps encouraging adoption. Since then, HSUS, PETA, ASPCA, and others have been waging a very effective propaganda campaign to manufacture the illusion that adoption and breeding are contrary. They have been so persuasive in creating the societal notion that rescue is moral and responsibly purchasing a well-bred pet is immoral, that I am no longer comfortable going along with propaganda that reinforces this misconception. While I continue to advocate for adoption/rescue in some situations, I also advocate for responsible owners doing research and supporting good breeders in many situations. (Note: good is not synonymous with purebred) It is a simple truth that if you make it impossible for good breeders to survive, all that is left are the “bad” breeders. I believe these stamps will contribute to the already overwhelming anti-breeder sentiment in this country, and that directly hurts animals.
There is a reality in which people breed animals because they are too lazy to avoid it, to make a buck, or to show their kids the miracle of birth. A reality in which people acquire dogs and casually dump them when they become inconvenient, or neglect them in their yard, or abandon them. Rescue is a vital component of this reality.
Just as real, however, is the world in which serious breeders devote incredible amounts of energy, knowledge, and money to improving their chosen breed. They screen homes carefully, take back animals, fund research, and are deeply dedicated. Their animals are generally sold to owners who are similarly responsible and committed. Within this group are most people within the fancy, most serious competitors in animal activities, even the people who think their pets are surrogate children. These are people for whom animals matter profoundly and whose lives revolve to a large degree around animals. Not only do the people in this reality not generally contribute to the shelter population, they actively adopt or rehabilitate pets and work to educate the casual public. Their work protects not only the animals of the future, but the owners as well. When we persuade people that the place to get a pet is from a responsible breeder, then we can make real inroads into eliminating irresponsible breeders, and by extension most animals in rescue, because there will be no demand for their puppies.
If every home in America WANTS to “rescue” a puppy from the shelter, we have destroyed the market for well-bred dogs and created demand for precisely that which we ostensibly want to eradicate. We need to eliminate the bad breeders, not the good ones, and making shelters the only politically correct place to acquire a dog does just the opposite.
The problem is that the “Don’t Breed or Buy While Shelter Animals Die” propaganda ignores this dichotomy entirely. Not only ignores it, but seeks to destroy all breeders by painting them with the same destructive brush. And they have been VERY effective. Most non-animal people are absolutely certain that there is a huge pet overpopulation problem caused by the fact that breeders are greedy and evil, and that the solution is to boycott breeders, pass mandatory spay/neuter and and number limit laws, only adopt pets, and send money to HSUS. This message is already being shouted so loudly that the vital reality of responsible breeding is being lost in the noise.
Additionally, pro-adoption campaigns tend to be so zealous in their desire to get pets adopted that they forget the even more important objective of keeping pets in their homes. By sugar-coating rescues as wonderful, appreciative pets, they can persuade more people to adopt pets, but many of those pets will be back in the system in a few years. While there are many wonderful animals in shelters, there are also many unhealthy, poorly bred, unsocialized animals with behavioral or training issues that may take years to resolve. We should be educating people and helping them to look at ALL their options to find the pet that is best suited to their lives and will be likeliest to thrive and remain with the family. This includes looking at rescues and purebreds, and most importantly it included explaining the downsides of any pet to a potential home.
I am all for reminding people to consider rescue when looking for their next pet. I am merely opposed to attacking every other option in pursuit of driving people to rescue. We also need to increase awareness of the remarkable people who are doing a truly great job preserving and nurturing healthy happy dogs and who are being destroyed by the same propaganda machine that is producing these stamps.
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1938, 1939, Andy Hardy, Bonita Granville, Boston Blackie, Carolyn Keene, Carson Drew, Deanna Durbin, Dr. Kildaire, Drew, First Love, Frankie Thomas, Her, Her Interactive, Interactive, Jackie Cooper, John Litel, Nancy, Nancy Drew, Nancy Drew and the Hidden Staircase, Nancy Drew Detective, Nancy Drew Reporter, Nancy Drew Trouble Shooter, Ned Nickerson, Now Voyager, Robert Stack, Secret of the Old Clock, Ted Nickerson, These Three, Walter Pidgeon, Warner Brothers
I love Nancy Drew.
I have played and solved 21 of the HerInteractive PC games and read most of the original yellow bound novels. I even own a Nancy Drew cookbook, a “Nancy Drew’s Guide to Life” book and a large Nancy Drew cut out.
Nancy Drew has played a pivotal role for the past 80 years in literature for young girls, as well as in pop culture.
Everyone knows who she is and is fairly respected as a literary character. However, why is there not a flattering movie adaptation depicting everyone’s this important literary character and symbol for American women?
Eight years after the first Nancy Drew novel, “The Secret of the Old Clock,” was published in 1930, the first Nancy Drew film adaptation was released.
“Nancy Drew…Reporter,” the first film adaptation of the series, was released in 1938, three more movies were released all in 1939. These movies included “Nancy Drew…Trouble Shooter,” “Nancy Drew…Detective” and “Nancy Drew and the Hidden Staircase.”
Film series were not rare in the 1930’s and 1940’s. In fact many studios made a great deal of money off of series such as “Andy Hardy,” “Dr. Kildaire,” “Maisie” and “Boston Blackie just to name a few of many.
I imagine that is what Warner Brothers was trying to do with Nancy Drew. But none of the films followed or resembled any of the Nancy Drew books, except for snippets of “Nancy Drew and the Hidden Staircase” which I think is modeling itself after the book “The Hidden Staircase.”
In novels Miss Drew is level-headed, fearless and intelligent. She doesn’t goof off and there isn’t much time for romance in her life. Yes there is her boyfriend, Ned Nickerson, but I can count on one hand the amount of times they kissed or flirted in the novels. She was also very talented and fashionable. She could tap dance the Morris code while wearing a freshly pressed tailored suit.
Also in the novels, Ned was concerned about Nancy but never hindered her sleuthing. Carson Drew, Nancy’s father, was a distinguished lawyer. He teased his daughter for her appetite for mysteries and trusted her good sense.
However, the characters in the 1930s Nancy Drew series didn’t resemble Carolyn Keene’s intelligent teens.
Nancy Drew, played by Bonita Granville, was bumbling, scatter-brained and frightened for most of the films. She set out to solve a mystery but would run home before finding any actual clues.
Ned Nickerson, played by Frankie Thomas, was named TED in the movies for some reason. He was maybe the most tolerable character in the movies, but I wouldn’t run to him to protect me.
John Litel was a very irritating Carson Drew. He forbid Nancy from sleuthing and worried about her constantly. Even Hannah Gruen, the housekeeper, ran away in terror when someone broke into their home. Hannah in the books would have knocked them on their ear.
The films involve very little mystery solving and an over abundance of silly slap-stick. I’m not asking for a whole detailed novel to be played out in the 68 minute films, but Warner Brothers could have at least been accurate with their character depictions.
Bonita Granville, who was 16 when she played Nancy Drew, was in top-notch films such as “These Three”(1936), which she received her only Oscar nomination, and “Now Voyager” (1941), giving excellent performances in both but clearly Nancy Drew was not the role for her.
I have devised a list of who, with some tweaks to the script, could have been the perfect Nancy Drew casting in the 1930s or 1940s.
Nancy Drew: Deanna Durbin (19 at this time) would be my first pick. She sometimes plays silly characters, but also plays serious roles beautifully. Nancy Drew was also supposed to be very attractive. Miss Granville wasn’t ugly, but Deanna Durbin is decidedly prettier. I’m sure they would have to fit in a song or two for Deanna. She would have been old enough by this time, because “First Love,” the film that she received her first on-screen kiss came out the same year as the series.
Deanna Durbin and Robert Stack in “First Love” (1939)
Carson Drew: John Litel is generally a character actor with small roles. I’m not sure why they chose him to play the distinguished lawyer, Carson Drew. I can’t think of anyone else who could play this role more perfectly than Walter Pidgeon. Mr. Pidgeon is the definition of distinguished and sophistication. With his fatherly and friendly acting style, along with his pipe, I can picture him now giving Nancy advice.
Ned Nickerson: I would either say a teen-aged Jackie Cooper (17 at the time) or Robert Stack (20 at this time). Both boys were attractive and would have seemed more protective of Nancy Drew than Frankie Thomas. Stack was also in the 1939 film “First Love” with Miss Durbin and would have been of a suitable age.
Check out the Comet Over Hollywood Facebook page for the latest updates.
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Don't stir the yogurt! Stirring breaks it up and leaves it very unappealing. In my cheesemaking classes, I share a gallon jar of homemade yogurt and have to ask that the students not stir it. I'm not sure why people want to do that, but homemade doesn't have the stabilizers and thickeners that storebought yogurt has, so it can't stand up to that treatment.
If that isn't your problem, leave the milk sitting for 20 to 30 minutes before cooling it down, or simply allow it to cool at room temperature before inoculating it. It does take some time for the proteins to stabilize.
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The Top Things Every Woman (and Her Husband) Should Know Before Filing for Divorce
We provide a comprehensive list of the dos and don'ts of disunion.
Divorce is a topic that has many myths and misconceptions, which often affect people once they are in the divorce process. Many people believe that men file for divorce more often than women; however, researchers have found that, across America, at least two-thirds of divorces are filed by women. One researcher even reported that in 25 percent of marriage breakdowns, men have “no clue” there is a problem until the woman says she wants a divorce. After divorce, women are typically happier than their exes. Studies show that, although men experience an increase in financial well-being following divorce, divorced women undergo less depression. Nationwide, more American women are living without a husband than with one. This is because women are marrying later, are more likely than men to delay remarriage, and are living longer as widows.
This article, however, will address and focus on some of the most common misconceptions about divorce and provide information that everyone should know before filing for divorce.
There Is A Wrong Way To Catch Your Spouse In The Act
Divorcing spouses are often tempted to obtain “proof” of a spouse’s infidelity or misconduct by reading e-mail, installing spyware, recording telephone calls, or setting up hidden cameras. These actions can expose both parties and attorneys to civil liability and criminal penalties. For example, under Texas law, it is a crime to install a tracking device on a vehicle owned by another person. Both federal and state wiretapping laws apply to divorcing spouses, and a spouse may sue for invasion of privacy.
Federal law regulates electronic surveillance of conversations and access to e-mails, faxes, and voicemail. The law imposes civil and criminal sanctions for intentional interceptions of electronic communications. However, accessing e-mails after they have been transmitted, for example downloading them from the hard drive of the family computer, is not an offense under the Federal Act. Texas has similar laws prohibiting interception of communications. Attorneys are also liable under these laws if they disclose information from the intercepted communications provided by their clients.
Both federal and Texas laws permit recording of telephone calls and other electronic communications with the consent of at least one party to the communication. Under these “one-party consent” statutes, a spouse may record conversations in which he or she is participating. This has been extended to mean that parental recording of a child’s conversations with a third party, including the other parent, is permitted. Since the child is a minor, the parent is able to consent to the recording on the child’s behalf as long as the parent has a good faith, objectively reasonable belief that it is in the best interest of the child to consent on behalf of him or her, even if the child is unaware of the recording.
Obtaining information illegally, however, can expose that person, even if he or she is a spouse, to civil liabilities as well as criminal prosecution. Texas recognizes a right to privacy that is violated if someone intentionally intrudes upon the private affairs of another person by offensive means. Accessing stored e-mail or secretly recording a spouse can be a violation of a spouse’s right to privacy. If the spouse sues, the suing spouse can recover money damages, including punitive damages.
Courts Do Not Necessarily Divide Property 50/50
Although couples assume that all property will be divided 50/50, an equal division is not the standard used by Texas courts. First, only community property may be divided in a divorce. The court may not award the separate property of one spouse to the other. Second, the law requires that a division of the community estate be “just and right.” Although 50/50 can be a starting point, courts have wide discretion when it comes to defining a just and right division. In the case of Murff v. Murff, the Supreme Court of Texas set out the most important factors to consider in a just and right division of the community property:
1. The disparity of incomes or earning capacities of the spouses.
2. The spouses’ capacities and abilities.
3. Benefits that the party not at fault would have derived from a continuation of the marriage.
4. Business opportunities of the spouses.
5. Education of the spouses.
6. Relative physical conditions of the spouses.
7. Relative financial conditions of the spouses.
8. Differences in the size of each spouse’s separate estate.
9. The nature of the property to be divided.
10. Fault in the break-up of the marriage.
11. Attorney fees of the parties.
Courts recognize that mathematical precision in dividing property in a divorce is usually not possible. Since larger estates have more property to apportion between spouses, courts usually reach a division closer to 50/50. When there is less property to divide, an uneven division is more likely.
A spouse can be entitled to more than 50 percent of the community estate. Courts consider several additional factors to determine this, including: fraud, adultery, cruelty, dissipation or waste of a community asset, gifts by a spouse to someone outside the marriage, community debts and liabilities, credit for temporary spousal support paid, investment of separate property in the community estate, increase of separate property due to the other spouse’s efforts, and the tax implications of a proposed division. If these or similar factors are present, a spouse should advocate for an uneven division of property is just and right.
Do Not Let Emotions Rule The Property Settlement
Though other areas of a divorce decree may be modified, such as child support or parenting time, the property division is final. Even though property can have emotional significance, a divorcing woman should think wisely about how it should be divided. For example, the family home is a hotly contested subject in many divorces. Women may want to hang onto the house for emotional reasons or to benefit the children, but sometimes it can be smarter to let it go. Where the woman is the lower-earning spouse, paying the mortgage on her income alone may be difficult, if not impossible. Additionally, she will need to budget for maintenance, repairs, and increasing property taxes. Lastly, in order to keep the house, she may have to trade away other assets. A woman can find herself in a much worse financial position if, in order to keep the equity in the house, she trades away cash accounts or retirement benefits. She can find herself facing both increased housing costs and fewer liquid assets to pay for them. The lower-earning spouse also does not have the same ability to replenish retirement and investment assets as the higher-earning spouse. This is one reason why men are typically financially better off after a divorce. In negotiating a property settlement, a woman should not give up her financial security for a house that she may not be able to afford in the long run.
You May Be Responsible For Debt You Did Not Know About
Debts, like assets, are part of the community estate and are divided in a divorce. Texas has some surprising rules regarding who is responsible for debt incurred during the marriage. Texas law establishes a “community presumption,” meaning that debt acquired during a marriage is presumed to be community debt. Even if a husband signed up for a separate credit card and ran up debt, the wife can still be held responsible because the husband is presumed to have signed on behalf of the community estate.
Some divorce decrees will divide debt and assign responsibility to one spouse or the other. However, a second surprising rule about divorce debt is that, even if the decree assigns a debt to the husband, a creditor may be able to come after the wife for payment. The divorce decree cannot alter the original agreement between the spouses and the creditor. If the debt was community debt, each spouse will continue to be responsible to the creditor for payment.
Although the wife cannot use the divorce decree to force the husband to pay the creditor, it is not without value. The divorce decree is a binding contract with the other spouse. The wife may have a cause of action for breach of contract/motion for enforcement to recover the amounts paid for debts assigned to the husband. This option, however, is only worthwhile if the husband has any assets with which to pay a judgment.
To avoid this problem, spouses should attempt to separate debts and establish them solely in one spouse’s name, closing all joint accounts. For assets secured by debt, such as automobiles or houses, the spouse keeping the asset should refinance the debt into his or her own name. If this is not possible, it might be better to sell the asset. For unsecured debts, such as credit cards, spouses should pay off or transfer the balance and then close the account.
If spouses filed joint tax returns during the marriage, each is liable to the Internal Revenue Service for any tax liabilities resulting from those returns. Therefore the divorce decree should also address who is responsible for future tax problems unless the spouses agree otherwise. Though this will not bind the Internal Revenue Service, it will provide the same enforcement options to recover money paid on behalf of a spouse.
Do Not Give Away Benefits That May Belong To You
Employee benefits and retirement plans can be divisible in a divorce to the extent that the benefits accrued during the marriage. Such benefits may include pensions, 401(k) accounts, stock options (both vested and unvested), and bonuses. These benefits can be especially valuable to a spouse who has earned less during the marriage and has fewer opportunities to build retirement savings.
The tool for dividing a retirement plan is called a Qualified Domestic Relations Order (QDRO) and should be prepared in addition to the divorce decree. It is an order to the administrator of the retirement plan giving an alternate payee the right to receive a portion of the benefits payable to the employee under the plan. This document secures a wife’s right to receive her community share of the retirement benefits, even if her ex-husband does not begin receiving benefits until many years in the future, without any tax consequences.
Stock options are also divisible. The Texas legislature recently passed a new law that modified how separate property interests in stock options are calculated. The new law gives a specific formula for determining the fraction belonging to the separate estate. This formula accounts for stock options that were awarded during the marriage, but are not vested or are not exercisable until after the date of divorce.
Retirement benefits earned prior to and after the marriage are separate property, while benefits that accrue during the marriage are community assets. It is necessary to determine the percentage of the account or benefit that was acquired during the marriage because that is the only portion divisible in the divorce. Valuing and apportioning these benefits is complicated, and a lawyer or financial specialist would be able to analyze how much a spouse could be entitled to receive.
Do Not Fail To File Just Because You Think You Cannot Afford It
Even if one party controls the finances, the other party can still obtain money for the divorce. Once the divorce is filed, a spouse can request temporary orders from the court requiring the other spouse to pay temporary spousal support, child support, community bills, and/or interim attorney fees during the divorce process. The temporary orders can also determine living arrangements, schedule parental possession of children, prevent the sale or transfer of assets, and require a spouse to provide financial information to the other spouse. Some counties have standing orders which implement some of these terms as soon as the divorce is filed. Accordingly, a spouse seeking a divorce should talk to a lawyer who is familiar with the local rules and orders in his or her county.
Courts Have Broad Powers To Intervene In Cases of Family Violence
A protective order can be issued by the divorce court if a divorce is pending, or it can be obtained independently if a divorce has not been filed. Protective orders are available to: (1) family members, whether or not they live together; (2) people who live in the same household, even if they are unrelated; or (3) people in a dating relationship. A protective order can restrict a party in a variety of ways, including but not limited to preventing a party from committing family violence; communicating with family members, household members, or the other party in a dating relationship; going near a residence or place of employment; and possessing a firearm. An ex parte protective order may even evict and exclude a party from a residence without a full evidentiary hearing on the matter. The court may also order a party to attend counseling or a battering intervention and prevention program. Consequences for violating a protective order include fines, imprisonment for contempt, and even criminal penalties.
A final protective order is granted after notice to the other party and a hearing. If there is a clear and present danger of family violence, a court can grant an immediate temporary protective order without prior notice to the other party. A detailed description of the facts and circumstances concerning the alleged family violence and the need for the immediate protective order must be attached to the application, and the detailed description must be signed by the applicant under oath that the facts and circumstances contained in the application are true to his or her best knowledge and belief. The temporary protective order is effective for 20 days, and will cover the period until a hearing can be held on extending the protective order.
A self-help kit for victims of domestic violence is available at TexasLawHelp.org. The kit was developed by a task force of experienced family law practitioners, judges, and prosecutors, and it includes detailed instructions for obtaining a protective order.
Restraining orders can also be a useful tool. A temporary restraining order can be granted ex parte if a party is committing unreasonable acts such as making vulgar telephone calls or threats. This temporary restraining order can also prevent the other party from removing or hiding property if there is no standing order in the county where the suit is filed.
There Is No Rule That Children Get To Pick A Parent When They Are 12 Years of Age
Everyone seems to believe that when children are 12, they are allowed to choose the parent with whom they want to live. Although children are permitted to express a preference at age 12, the court will ultimately decide what is in the child’s best interest. Until recently, a child was able to state his or her preference by filing a statement of preference with the court. Out of concern about the “dueling affidavits” that resulted and a desire to keep children from being involved in adult disputes, the legislature repealed this feature of the Texas Family Code. A new law, effective September 1, 2009, removes the authorization for courts to consider these statements of preference. Instead, the law permits a child 12 years of age or older to express his or her preference only through an interview with the judge in chambers.
Since the law has only recently been passed, there are unanswered questions as to how courts will handle the new system. Judges have expressed concern over whether they must grant in-chambers meetings with every child over 12 years of age who wishes to express a preference and whether the other side would be entitled to notice or if it would be an ex parte communication.
You Cannot Get Court-Ordered Alimony In Texas
The statutes and public policy of Texas prohibit a court from ordering alimony, which Texas courts have defined as judicially imposed allowance, whether periodical or in gross. However, limited “spousal maintenance” may be awarded in certain circumstances. The parties must have been married for 10 years or longer, and the spouse seeking support must show that he or she lacks sufficient property to provide for her minimum reasonable needs and that he or she is either disabled, caring for a disabled child, or lacks earning capacity. In cases of disability, the court may order maintenance to continue as long as the disability lasts. Additionally, if a spouse has been convicted of family violence within two years before the divorce being filed, or during the proceedings, the court may order the spouse to pay maintenance.
Maintenance awarded due to a spouse’s reduced earning capacity is much more limited. A statutory presumption against the award of spousal maintenance in such cases must be overcome by evidence that the spouse has diligently sought suitable employment or diligently attempted to develop the skills to become self-supporting. Courts are required to limit maintenance to the shortest reasonable time period and may not order maintenance to last longer than three years, unless in the case of disability as previously mentioned. A spouse cannot be obligated to pay, on a monthly basis, more than $2,500 or 20 percent of his or her income, whichever is less. Maintenance ends if either party dies, or if the spouse receiving it remarries or cohabitates. Court-ordered maintenance can be enforced through wage garnishment or contempt.
The parties, however, can agree to more substantial alimony in a divorce settlement. This “contractual alimony” would be enforceable in the same way as any other contract. This is often an attractive option for both parties in trying to settle a case as it enables the non-income-earning spouse to have a source of monthly income for a certain period of time after the divorce while at the same time allowing the income-earning spouse to receive a tax deduction for such payments.
There Can Be A Better Way To Divorce
In 2001, Texas became the first state in the United States to pass statutes authorizing collaborative law. Collaborative law allows parties to work through a more harmonious process to craft a settlement without court control. Each spouse is represented by an attorney, and they meet together, with neutral experts, to craft an agreement. The meetings are confidential in the same way as mediations. If the process fails, the attorneys must withdraw and may not represent either party in court. This system incentivizes parties and attorneys to work together. Though judges must follow specific rules and guidelines, parties using the collaborative process can create customized solutions and control the pace of the process.
To pursue a collaborative divorce, both parties and their lawyers enter into a written collaborative agreement. Upon being notified that the parties are using collaborative law, the divorce court must suspend other deadlines for a two-year period. Collaborative divorces follow a team model, including parties, attorneys, and neutral advisors, such as financial professionals and mental health professionals. In a collaborative divorce, parties agree to make a full and candid exchange of information. With the help of a financial professional, parties are often able to divide property in a more satisfying way, taking into account factors such as tax treatment and future benefits. Neutral mental health professionals can act as communication coaches to encourage parties to behave respectfully and reach new understandings. If there are children, they can also assist the parents with their parenting plan. In this way, a collaborative divorce can preserve important relationships and lay the foundation for successful interactions in the future with each other (and their children).
Divorce is complex, both legally and emotionally. Although this article tackles some of the most important things to know before filing, the process is filled with complexity that can trip up the unprepared. To navigate the turbulent waters ahead, divorcing spouses should always seek expert legal advice to guide them through the process.
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ICBA News Release
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
ICBA and Nation’s Community Banks Recognize Community Banking Month
Community Bank Service and Financial Literacy Efforts Highlighted
Washington, D.C. (April 1, 2009)—April is Community Banking Month, and members of the Independent Community Bankers of America (ICBA) and affiliated state and regional community banking associations are recognizing the unique spirit that makes independent community banks the foundation of their communities in cities and towns throughout America.
"Our nation’s more than 8,000 community banks are passionately committed to serving their customers and their communities," said R. Michael Menzies, ICBA chairman and president and CEO of Easton Bank and Trust Co., Easton, Md. "They spend countless hours and provide invaluable resources throughout the year to make their communities a better place to live, all while continuing to offer quality financial products and services to their customers. ICBA Community Banking Month gives ICBA and its community bank members across the country a chance to thank their customers and celebrate the communities we so proudly serve."
Thousands of community banks recognize ICBA Community Banking Month in a variety of ways. Whether they host special events with local charities, promote economic development initiatives or offer programs to boost financial literacy, community banks continue to enrich their communities and lives of the customers they serve.
During ICBA Community Banking Month, community service and financial literacy programs take center stage. In fact, ICBA honors community banks each year for service to their community with the ICBA National Community Bank Service Award. In 2009, seven community banks were honored for their unparalleled acts of community service by providing leadership in financial literacy, supporting education and providing emergency relief to families in the wake of natural disaster. To view the ICBA National Community Bank Service Award winner press release click here.
"Community banks are an integral part of the economic, financial and civic fabric of thousands of towns and cities across America," said Menzies. "Community banks continue to work hard everyday to improve the quality of life in their communities because they are part of their community—a uniqueness that only community banks can bring to the table."
ICBA member community banks employ nearly 300,000 people in more than 20,000 locations in all 50 states, the District of Columbia and two U.S. territories. Of the nearly 8,000 community banks in America, nearly 5,000 are ICBA members.
Learn more about community banking and ICBA Community Banking Month at www.icba.org.
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International Travel with Your Pets
Looking to take Fido to Finland, or Spot to Spain? Fear not! With careful planning, you can take your pet to many international destinations. However, be advised that animal companions are viewed differently in each culture. Your accommodations, restaurants choices, and ability to see many sites may be restricted when pets are included as part of your travelling group. Before deciding to take your pet out of the country, ask yourself if your pet will enjoy the experience as well. Some pets have a difficult time adjusting to a change of environment and routine especially if the trip is 1 to 2 weeks in duration. However, if you are moving abroad as the result of a job transfer, are accepting an overseas position in a new company, or making an extended stay abroad, leaving your pet back home could be akin to leaving a family member behind! If you find yourself in one of these situations, here is how to best prepare yourself and your pet for your international travels.
Leaving the US
It’s the latter question that is the topic of this section of PlanetGoRound. After all, you don’t want to pack for sunshine if it’s supposed to rain the entire week that you’re in London. Conversely, wearing sweatshirts in Rio de Janeiro during February when the average daily high is 85 degrees is probably an equally suspect idea.
Always be sure to check with the country your pet is going to well in advance of your trip. Each country has their own set of rules: some simple, some complex. So, the first step is to contact that country’s consulate or embassy for information regarding the transportation of pets. Many countries require a health certificate signed by the country's health official or a licensed veterinarian the week of entering the country. Not all countries have documents available online, so plan on giving yourself at least couple of weeks (if not, months) to receive the forms via post. A complete listing of foreign consulates can be found at the State Department’s website under the Foreign Consular Offices section
In speaking to consulate officials, you should be prepared to ask them the following questions:
Let’s take the United Kingdom as an example. The U.K. has a strict quarantine policy meant to discourage short-term pet importation. Many pets are required to be micro-chipped, vaccinated, tested and certified...a process that can take up to six months. U.K. requirements for import of pets are changing on January 1st, 2012 when the U.K. brings its regulations into line with the rest of the European Union, however, so please check for the latest information at the U.K.’s DEFRA (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs).
Additional information about restrictions placed on pets from qualifying non-European Union countries can be found here.
And, further information about quarantining your pet can be found at the following location.
Pets and Airlines
Airlines have a wide variety of animal transport rules, unique to each carrier. If traveling by air, please check with your airline for their policies well in advance of your travel dates. A number of airlines have website pages listing their specific pet policies, and we’ve provided just a few of them below. As always, be sure to check and fully understand your airline’s transport rules prior to making any international bookings.
- American Airlines
- Delta Airlines
- United Airlines
- KLM / Air France
- Qantas Airlines
- British Airways
- Emirates Airlines
If your pet will be flying with you, be sure to contact the airline well in advance of your trip and clarify:
The International Airline Transportation Association (IATA) also has some useful information concerning the transportation of pets, including container size, pet passports for the European Union, etc.
Pets and Cruises
Pets are generally not accepted aboard major cruise lines. The exception is Cunard’s QE2 and QM2 which are equipped with air-conditioned kennels. Contact Cunard directly at 1-800-7CUNARD for additional details. However, some small charter companies will accept sea-worthy pets. Many islands of the Caribbean quarantine pets and you may not be able to take your pets ashore at all stops. So be sure to check with their Foreign Consular’s Office prior to embarking on your trip.
Pets and Trains
Pets are not accepted aboard America’s Amtrak service. In Europe, each rail operator has their own set of restrictions, but generally, pets are allowed to travel in containers with appropriate documentation. Contact your rail operator to confirm their specific requirements.
Returning to the US
Pets taken out of the United States are subject upon reentry to the same regulations as those entering the country for the first time. The Centers for Disease Control (CDC) requires a proof of Rabies Vaccination for entry into the U.S. The CDC, however, does not require general certificates of health for pets for entry into the United States. But, be advised that health certificates may be required for entry into some individual states, or may be required by airlines for pets. You should be sure to thoroughly check with officials in your destination state as well as with your airline prior to your international travel dates.
There are specific requirements for horses, cats, turtles, bats, birds, snakes fish, monkeys, civets, rodents and rabbits. Monkeys and other primates may not be imported as pets under any circumstances. Please review the CDC's webpage concerning which animals can be imported.
There are also companies that specialize in transporting pets. These businesses are licensed and inspected by the USDA. Many of the licensed animal transporters are listed on the member pages of the International Pet Animal Transportation Association (IPATA) web pages.
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Emery County Domestic Violence Coalition sponsors 10th annual program
October is Domestic Violence Awareness Month. This is the 10th year the Emery County Domestic Violence Coalition is sponsoring an awareness and educational program for the community. The program will be held on Oct. 15 from 12-1 p.m. at the old courthouse in Castle Dale. Lunch will be provided by the Coalition and door prizes will be given away. There is no cost to attend.
The guest speaker is Jacci Graham. Jacci received her Master's of Social Work from the University of Utah and a BA from Weber State University. She is a licensed clinical social worker. Jacci is an experienced crime victim's advocate and she has extensive knowledge of the criminal justice system.
Currently, Jacci is an Information Management Specialist at the Children's Service Society of Utah. She works extensively facilitating successful kinship placements with families. Jacci will describe how violence affects children, families and communities. She will spend much of her time teaching strategies and techniques to promote healing for those touched by family violence.
According to the latest report issued by the Utah Governor's Violence Against Women and Families Council, domestic violence is one of the fastest growing and most serious violent crimes in Utah today.
The report further states that the frequency and intensity of this abuse has increased as countless victims endure more severe beatings and life threatening situations than those in past years. This violence is characterized as a systematic pattern of physical, sexual, verbal, emotional, and psychological abusive behaviors by one partner to control another.
Rather than a series of independent attacks, it is a process in which the perpetrator maintains control and domination over the victim. Domestic violence encompasses all races, ethnic groups, educational levels, social and economic classes, sexual orientations, religions, gender, and physical and mental abilities.
People often don't speak of family violence and it is hidden and rarely discussed in public. Many individuals don't recognize domestic violence as a public issue that significantly impacts communities, families, and individuals. Children can be traumatized by witnessing violence in their homes creating the same impact as if they had been physically abused. Families become broken and communities pay millions in services and lost productivity of their citizens. The Emery County Domestic Violence Coalition works throughout the year to coordinate services to combat family violence.
Come join the coalition on Oct. 15 to learn more about the problem of domestic violence in our community and how we all can be a part of the solution.
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After his dumbass Indian friends killed a bunch of innocent Frenchies, Washie built Fort Necessity nearby in anticipation of French retaliation. Even though his Indian allies were responsible for starting the whole mess, they ditched Washington before the French returned for vengeance.
Real cute, Indians. REAL cute.
As predicted, the French DID come back for blood and pretty much destroyed Washington’s troop. The French commander let Washie surrender if he signed a French document admitting to having killed the previous French commander, Jumonville. Hottie Washie signed it, but it was a trick. It REALLY said that Washington confessed to murdering Jumonville even though he had come in peace on a diplomatic mission.
We love you, Washie, but get it together!! STOP signing documents you can’t translate!!!
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Found: A Somalia we do not know
Getting Somalia Wrong: Faith, War and Hope in a Shattered State by Mary Harper (Zed Books in association with the Royal African Society, the International African Institute and the Social Science Research Council)
‘State failure does not mean country failure.”
These are the words of Mary Harper, who believes that Somalia is a failed state but argues eloquently that it is not a failed country.
The reality is that the Somalia most of us know is a place of lawlessness, terrorists, pirates, kidnapping and ransom payments. But in Getting Somalia Wrong Harper does what few others do—she delves deep beneath the surface of the usual stories and presents us with a complex picture of a country that can make sense only if there is some understanding of its history.
I have read books about countries in Africa by people who have not done much more than fly through the airspace of the place they are writing about. The content usually matches the effort made to gather the information. But Harper has travelled around the Horn of Africa for decades, much of the time in her capacity as a BBC correspondent. When she says that foreign intervention is part of the problem in Somalia, she says it with considerable gravitas.
Harper thinks that the transitional federal government is part of what is wrong with Somalia—a government elected by nobody and paid for and placed in Mogadishu by foreigners.
The presence in Somalia of armies from at least four foreign countries—Kenya, Uganda, Ethiopia and Burundi—is another element of what is wrong. Uganda and Burundi are part of an African Union peacekeeping force—a force, Harper argues, that does little more than prevent the government from being slaughtered. Kenya says its troops are there to hunt down kidnappers and Ethiopia, well, Ethiopian soldiers seem to be somewhere in Somalia most of the time.
Efforts by the international community to fix Somalia from a distance also fit into her category of what is wrong. Conferences held in foreign capitals, the most recent in London earlier this year, to which some of the main protagonists are not even invited, inevitably lead nowhere.
Getting Somalia Wrong moves to the top of my list of well-written books about Somalia because of how it highlights what works.
Somalia is really three countries. It is south-central, the old Italian Somaliland with the capital Mogadishu and a great deal of foreign intervention. It is the semi-autonomous region of Puntland, an area straddling the Horn of Africa where most pirate activity takes place. And it is Somaliland, the former British colony. Somaliland is the part that works: it has a democratically elected government and a developing infrastructure and generally it tends to get on with things without international recognition and with little support from the outside world.
‘Somalis can be very good at doing things for themselves,” writes Harper. Many of the innovative things she mentions have evolved because of the absence of an effective central government.
Somalia is perhaps the world’s best example of a free-market economy. There is almost no government bureaucracy to prevent people with ideas from going ahead and putting them into practice. The book is full of anecdotes that would give the most committed Afro-pessimist pause for thought—Somalis have among the continent’s best cellphone communications systems, they have perhaps the world’s most efficient money transfer system (based on trust), Somalia exports more livestock than most other countries in Africa and Somalis have a better record of bringing peace and stability to the places they govern than those who attempt to impose it from outside.
For example, the only period of relative calm that south-central Somalia has known since Mohamed Siad Barre was overthrown in 1991 was during the six months in 2006 when the Union of Islamic Courts was in charge. But the Ethiopian army, with United States support, removed it from power.
Ironically, the current head of the transitional government is one of the people removed by the Ethiopians at that time.
Getting Somalia Wrong is not just an opposing view to the usual horror stories we hear about Somalia—Harper covers the good, the bad and the ugly. What makes this book different and important is that the author does not see her subject as one-dimensional. It is a book that attempts, successfully, in my view, to explain a country by getting to know the people who live in it.
The next time you hear about Somali shops being burnt in Khayelitsha or on the East Rand and you wonder why they bother staying, Harper’s book will help you to understand where those nameless and faceless people come from and why they left their homeland in the first place.
David L Smith of Okapi Consulting in Johannesburg has an interest in things Somali, including launching a radio service in 2010 with the aim of providing a virtual round table for Somalis of all persuasions to discuss the challenges of their country
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I've begun participating in Swap-bot, a website that arranges swaps of ecclectic things, like poems on postcards, or, in this case, letters listing your ten favorite books. There are swaps that appeal to people who do scrapbooking and other "crafty" things. I read about it on the Artful Quilter's Web Ring. It's great for people who enjoy getting mail -- real snail mail even from strangers but with expected sort of things, I'm in the midst of getting poems on postcards, supposed to get a total of five, and I've got four so far. A fascinating variety! Also, of course, I had to send five which I did. Who sends to who is efficiently arranged by the Swap-bot genies.
So the current one that I've just prepared is a list of my ten "favorite" books -- a true impossibility. But I complied ten [sort of] with notes on why. Here they are:
Lord of the Rings, and The Hobbit. The perfect epic fantasy; so engrossing I read the whole thing aloud to my daughters --something like 1700 pages -- not once but twice. We loved the movies too, but with caveats, of course, because no movie can equal our imaginative vision.
Mary Oliver's poems. She's been called simplistic, but she's also won the Pulitzer Prize and is the most purchased poet in the America -- because she looks at nature with a clear and sympathetic but not saccharine view.
View With a Grain of Sand, the only collection I've read of Wislawa Szyborska's poetry. A Nobel prize winner, this Polish woman has a wicked sense of humor, a deep sense of humanity, a clear, European view of politics.
Huckleberry Finn and Moby Dick -- the two candidates I put forward for Great American Novel. Very different, totally American, breathtakingly brilliant accomplishments in their different ways.
I Ching, Chinese ancient Book of Changes, to me the best of all wisdom books. I do not use it for prediction, I go to it at least weekly for it's balanced Taoist philosophy filtered through Confucius and Richard Wilhelm -- other translations seem shallow or pretentious, Wilhelm is poetic, if dated in some ways.
When Things Fall Apart, Pema Chodron -- and all the rest of her slender books based on her Buddhist point of view but without the jargon, just good sense and eternal verities. I thank Gary Hill for telling me to read her. I now tell all sorts of other people to read her.
Any book by Michael Pissell, a French "adventurer" who loves and understands Tibetan culture better than any other non-Tibetan I've ever read. I heard him speak and his knowledge and passion are wonderful.
Brother Karamazov which is my candidate for greatest novel ever written; but it get juggled against Don Quxiote. Totally different, of course, one darkly serious, the other sunny with a satiric bite.
Finally a choice more contemporary and popular: Bill Bryson's A Walk in the Woods because it starts out fall-off-your-chair funny, and then gives us a picture of the Appalachain Trail and the through hikers who are a breed apart, I wish I'd become a serious walker early in life -- I would have loved to do the Trail.
There are probably a hundred other books I could add to the list; this is what came to mind in response to the Swat-bot challenge. It will be interesting to read the two lists that will be sent to me. I suspect it will be less ecclectic -- but then I could be wrong. It's never wise to prejudge others.
PROJECTS - *Swallowtail Resting, Climax, Kentucky* Project time. I usually have to set aside times in my daily life to complete certain projects. Now is the tim...
2 days ago
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Firefighters battling the Fern Lake Fire in Rocky Mountain National Park struggled against the terrain and conditions Wednesday. As a result, the fire that has burned approximately 400 acres west of the Fern Lake trailhead remained uncontained as of 4 p.m. Wednesday, Oct. 10. Wednesday evening, park officials said the fire was advancing slowly in all directions as expected due to conditions and terrain.
Turbulent wind and the steep rugged terrain hampered firefighters in their efforts to contain the fire burning in the area west of Moraine Park. The fire has been burning since Tuesday afternoon, Oct. 9. It was first reported around 2 p.m. Beetle-killed trees in the area provided fuel for the fire and also prohibited direct attack by firefighters on the ground Wednesday. Around 65 firefighters were on scene and about 120 personnel and seven fire engines were expected to be available to fight the fire Thursday. No structures are threatened by the fire.
"Because of turbulent air today, it was hard for fire officials to use general aircraft to make an accurate estimate of the size of the fire," said a park spokeperson. "The fire is believed to have burned about 400 acres."
A heavy helitanker joined the fire suppression efforts Wednesday, but was called off in the afternoon due to high winds. That helicopter and another helitanker were expected to be available Thursday for fire suppression efforts.
The gusty westerly winds that hampered efforts Wednesday were expected to diminish overnight. Overnight temperatures fell to the 25-30 degrees. Changing weather conditions could help in firefighting efforts. The National Weather Service forecast for that area of the park called for a 50 percent chance of thundershowers in the afternoon with a 60 percent chance of rain or snow on Saturday.
The continued safety of visitors and staff and the full suppression of the fire remain the top priorities of park and fire officials. Trail Ridge Road remains open.
Fire crews continued to monitor the fire Wednesday night. Fire crews will work to contain the fire inside park boundaries, north of Glacier Creek, west of Hollowell Park and south of Trail Ridge Road.
Currently, Bear Lake Road, Upper Beaver Meadows Road and Moraine Park Campground are closed. Trails west of Bear Lake Road and south of Trail Ridge Road are also closed. Smoke remains visible in Estes Park. Park staff is working closely with Larimer County and Town of Estes Park officials.
Due to fire conditions at Rocky Mountain National Park, smoking and open fires in the park's backcountry are now prohibited.
For more information please call the park's recorded fire information number at (970) 586-1381. For more information about Rocky Mountain National Park, please call the park's Information Office at (970) 586-1206 or visit nps.gov/romo
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Just an excerpt from an interview with Roy Young, as found on the Tony Sheridan World Wide Forum...: http://com3.runboard.com/bthetonysheridanforum
TONY COPPLE: In Allan Williams biography, the Beatles first manager makes the following statement: "The Beatles would go to the Top Ten Club...to watch Tony Sheridan, that great singer-guitarist, at work...He was more or less their idol in those days and they admit to hearing a lot from his style and technique." How accurate is Williams statement? Did they learn a lot too, from Tony Sheridan?
ROY YOUNG: Absolutely! I was always bewildered by the fact that they never made a big thing about that because I know John and George -- you'd always see them there in the front watching Tony's every move, you know. They'd copied him. They really did copy a lot of his moves: styling; the way of play(ing); you know, the stand; and especially John stood just like Tony. And yet I've never heard too much of them ever mentioning much of it before they died, you know, which quite amazed me, you know.
TONY COPPLE: Yeah. Let's talk about Tony Sheridan's stage presence specifically. Is it true that when Tony was on stage performing, he had his legs spread apart and held his guitar like a Tommy-Gun as he sang? You know, the Lennon style... because it's -
ROY YOUNG: (Roy interrupts and says with fondness): No! That's the Sheridan style! Yeah! Oh, yeah.
TONY COPPLE: ...it is reported that John Lennon began incorporating the Tommy-Gun stance when he returned to Liverpool from Hamburg, something he didn't do before in previous shows.
ROY YOUNG: Right, right...that's true.
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|Eurozone factory output down in November
Industrial output in the 17-nation eurozone fell 0.3 percent in November compared with output in October, reflecting the continued slowdown in the overall economy, official data showed on Monday.
For the full 27-member European Union, industrial output also fell 0.3 percent, the Eurostat agency said, AFP reports.
In October, industrial output in the eurozone was down 1.0 percent and in the EU 0.8 percent.
Compared with November 2011, industrial production in the eurozone tumbled 3.7 percent while the EU fell 3.3 percent.
The sharpest falls in November on a monthly basis were in Slovenia, down 4.0 percent, with Portugal dropping 3.4 percent and Spain 2.5 percent. Estonia posted the biggest gain of 4.7 percent, followed by the Netherlands and Latvia with 1.0 percent each.
On an annual basis, Italy was the worst performer on an annual basis, with industrial output falling 7.6 percent, followed by Spain on 7.2 percent and Ireland 6.6 percent.
Lithuania led the gainers, up 8.9 percent along with Estonia, up 6.5 percent.
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You probably need to know a bit about Seattle to really appreciate Maria Semple's new book, Where'd You Go, Bernadette? It helps to know, for example, that the new Koolhaas Seattle Public Library is so Green it's heated by the body heat of library visitors and that it's cooled by breezes from Elliot Bay piped underground to the building. The good citizens of Seattle are so eager - indeed, anxious - to serve the entire population of potential library users they have created a space for bums to spend the day, isolated a bit from the people who want to do research or find a book but don't want to smell this other constituency. The furniture is designed so that it can be hosed down and disinfected overnight.
Here's one remarkably accurate Urban Dictionary description of a Seattleite:
- Is easily agitated when tourist asks to see the original Starbucks, Microsoft or Kurt Cobain's house. True Seattleites do not care for these things.
- Is a pretentious coffee snob due to the thousands of delicious coffee houses and rostaries that surround them.
- Any person who knows not to visit Pike Place Market on a Saturday.
- Any person who was disappointed by EMP (unlike the inbred hicks from across the country who come to visit it).
- Any person that hates it when Californians drive through Washington and cry about the rain and the cold.
- This is a city that is completely devoid of soccer moms.
What we have in Semple's new novel is a portrait of Seattle as seen through the eyes of Bernadette Fox, an architect from LA who is "allergic" to Seattle even after eighteen years of living there, and her husband, a Microsoft guru. They have promised their twelve-ish daughter Bee that she may have whatever she wants if she gets all As in middle school. They think she will ask for a pony, but she wants a trip to Antarctica. Bernadette, the marginally sane mother who is mildly agoraphobic and depressed because of some sort of architectural disaster in LA, is deeply distressed at the idea of crossing the rough waters of Drake Passage between Cape Horn and Antarctica. She is also distressed at having to spend time with people.
But Bernadette is bravely making plans to go on this excursion until a neighbor who lives downhill from her insists that Bernadette get rid of the blackberry vines that are creeping under and over the fence into her neighbor's perfectly maintained garden. (Not to mention crawling under and over the house that Bernadette and her family live in. They keep a weed whacker in the living room to control the shoots coming up through the floorboards.) What nobody seems to realize is that these vines are providing erosion abatement and when Seattle experiences an unusually heavy rain (predicted by Cliff Maas on his web site which everyone in Seattle reads) shortly after the vines are removed, the resulting mudslide is ruinous to the neighbor's garden and the back of her house. Partly as a result of this altercation Bernadette decides she cannot make the Antarctic trip and disappears.
I have complained that this book has been chosen by Spokane Reads as the one book everyone in our city is encouraged to read and talk about this year, but I want to withdraw that complaint. There is little Spokaneites enjoy more than making fun of Seattleites and this novel provides a cache of ammunition. Here is Bernadette on househunting in Seattle:
My first trip up here, to Seattle, the realtor picked me up at the airport to look at houses. The morning batch were all Craftsman, which is all they have here, if you don't count the rash of view-busting apartment buildings that appear in inexplicable clumps, as if the zoning chief was asleep at his desk during the sixties and seventies and turned architectural design over to the Soviets.
Everything else is Craftsman. Turn-of-the-century Craftsman, beautifully restored Craftsman, reinterpretation of Craftsman, needs-some-love Craftsman, modern take on Craftsman. It's like a hypnotist put everyone from Seattle in a collective trance. You are getting sleepy, when you wake up you will want to live only in a Craftsman house, the year won't matter to you, all that will matter is that the walls will be thick, the windows tiny, the rooms dark, the ceilings low, and it will be poorly situated on the lot.
The mud-spattered neighbor suffers from the particular snobbism of old-time Seattleites, resulting from the fact that white settlement in the city goes back only to 1853 and that by far most of the people in Seattle have arrived recently from elsewhere. The neighbor brags of her family history:
Within a four-mile radius is the house I grew up in, the house my mother grew up in, and the house my grandmother grew up in. . . . My great-grandfather was a fur trapper in Alaska . . . Warren's great-grandfather bought furs from him. My point is you come in here with your Microsoft money and think you belong, but you don't belong. You never will.
This phenomenon is called the "Seattle freeze," which is attributed to all the Scandinavian blood in the city.
But Bernadette has some upper-middle-class prejudices of her own. She is eavesdropping on a nearby table in a restaurant:
They don't know the difference between a burrito and an enchilada! . . . Oh my God, they've never heard of mole. . . . They're covered with tattoos! . . . Did you see the tattoo one of them had on the inside of his arm? It looked like a roll of tape. . . . Know what one of the guys at the drive-thru Starbuck's has on his forearm? . . . A paperclip! It used to be so daring to get a tattoo. And now people are tattooing office supplies on their bodies. . . . Oh my God. It's not just any roll of tape. It's literally Scotch Tape, with the green and black plaid. . . . If you're going to tattoo tape on your arm, at least make it a generic old-fashioned tape dispenser! . . . Did the Staples catalog get delivered to the tattoo parlor that day?
Well, I won't go on, but I do recommend the book, which is charming and witty and filled with satire at the expense of the uber-hip, the liberals who are so far left they have fallen off the continuum, the people who refuse to buy salmon unless they know the name of the boat it was caught from, a population that is divided neatly into those who work at or have made shocking amounts of money from Microsoft and those who, despite the enormous advantages to the city and the University of Washington of all that money having been channeled their way, and despite the fact that Microsoft, along with Boeing, is the very basis of the city's economy, nonetheless cherish a bitter hatred of Bill Gates and his company.
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File this posting under random thoughts and observations.
I’ve noticed this year that I’ve seen a LOT of people here (usually student-age) wearing the famous I [Heart] NY t-shirts. It seems too prevalent and too much of a fashion thing to be just the result of a lot of tourism to NYC. The other night, while pointing out to G yet another person sporting one of the shirts, he reminded me that the Dutch do have a special connection to NY. I guess those early Dutch expats were sending back t-shirts to their relatives here in the Netherlands with an I [heart] NA(msterdam) logo, the same way American expats now send back wooden clogs to the family members back home.
Yeah, the whole conversation was much funnier in person.
Speaking of jokes getting lost in translation …
Going through my Twitter feed this morning (I finally got the new Twitter!), I saw a link to this humorous “grilled cheesus” t-shirt. Funny stuff, but I realized that I kind of missed the joke about “The Goude News” upon first reading. Sure, if you pronounce Gouda the English way (gooda), it makes sense and it’s funny. If you pronounce it the Dutch way, you miss something. (If you go to the Wiki page for Gouda, you can listen to the Dutch pronunciation.)
As the famous saying goes, a little knowledge can be a dangerous thing. I know just enough Dutch now to ruin certain jokes for me. Don’t even get me started on this season’s first episode of The Simpsons and their references to Den Haag (The Hague) and such. I guess it was a bit like the Flight of the Conchords‘ joke in that episode when they referenced the Wellington Botanical Gardens. Sometimes jokes work best when you’re not so well-informed! (And in the case of this whole paragraph, if you don’t know what the person is talking about, the whole thing gets confusing. Apologies.)
On the other hand, Dutch pronunciation, when heard by an English-speaker, can be both eye-opening and amusing. We learned about Vocking sausage/meats/liverworst the other night. One of our Dutch friends had a bit of fun with us on that one. Let’s just say that the V in Dutch often has more of an F sound, and leave the rest to your own imagination. I do try to keep this blog somewhat clean. My parents might be reading. That said, I do recommend Vocking if you’re here in Utrecht. Very tasty! I gather it’s only really available in the Utrecht region, though, as the owner wants to keep it strictly an Utrecht thing.
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January 21, 2013
Canadian architect passes away
Kiyoshi Matsuzaki, architect and past-president and Fellow of Architecture Canada (RAIC), and former council member of the Architectural Institute of British Columbia, passed away on Dec. 23, 2012.
He was born in 1943 in Shanghai, China to Susumu and Kiyoko (Izumi) Matsuzaki, both originally from Steveston, B.C.
After the war in 1945, the family settled in Tokyo where Kiyoshi and his brother Kazuo were raised.
At age 18 Kiyoshi moved to the United States to study architecture at Rhode Island School of Design.
After graduation he worked at Kevin Roche John Dinkeloo & Assoc. (formerly Eero Saarinen Architects) in Hamden, Conn. There at the coffee machine he met fellow architect Eva Pupols whom he married in 1970.
Two years later they moved to Vancouver where he worked for Arthur Erickson Architects for 14 years, and then was a partner in Matsuzaki Wright Architects and Matsuzaki Architects.
Throughout his professional career Kiyoshi was an active volunteer on many committees, panels, and boards.
He was a strong advocate for involving the younger generation, for diversity, and for increased volunteerism. Even after he was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer in 2010, he continued his efforts, especially for distance education and other national issues at Architecture Canada.
JOC NEWS SERVICE
|MOST POPULAR STORIES|
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These projects have been selected from 544 projects with a total value of $1,665,691,502 that Reed Construction Data Building Reports reported on Tuesday.
$100,000,000 Province of Alberta AB Prebid
$92,000,000 Vancouver BC Tenders
$60,000,000 Medicine Hat AB Tenders
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|ALEX’S ECONOMICS BLOG|
Reed Construction Data Canada’s Chief Economist Alex Carrick discusses current developments in the North American economic environment with emphasis on the construction industry.
- An Overview of Prices and Sales in the Diverging U.S. and Canadian Housing Markets (April 25, 2013)
- Canada’s Precarious Dependence on the Commodity Price Super-Cycle (April 22, 2013)
- Twenty major upcoming residential and transportation terminal construction projects - April 2013 (April 15, 2013)
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Rem Koolhaas has repeatedly wowed us with his unique buildings, but this one takes the cake. Designed in collaboration with Prada, the Transformer is a pavillion designed to accommodate an array of cultural programs and functions including art, architecture, film, and fashion. And because Koolhaas is never one to bow to tradition, his solution literally transforms depending on the necessary functions, changing shape like origami for different activities, events, and seasons. Koolhaas solution?
Transformer will be built from a steel framed tetrahedron skinned in a plastic membrane. The tetrahedron is framed by four shapes: A hexagon, cross, rectangle and circle. Depending on the activity, whether staging a fashion show or showing a movie, the pavilion will be lifted, rotated on its axis, and put back down. For instance, when a movie is being shown, the floor will be the rectangle. When the fashion show is on, the cross might be more appropriate to accommodate a runway, and so on.
The shape-shifting building will be located in central Seoul, from the end of March to July 2009. And given the short timeframe for the project as well as the somewhat excessive materiality, we can’t deny that the physics and concept make for a very intriguing architectural precedent.
+ The Prada Transformer
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CC-MAIN-2013-20
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http://inhabitat.com/the-shapeshifting-prada-transformer-building/pradatransformerbuilding23/
|
s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368700958435/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516104238-00022-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz
|
en
| 0.947897 | 279 | 1.679688 | 2 |
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