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Everyone hates going to the DMV. But even worse than having to wait in line for hours on end, is to learn that the personal information you provide to the DMV is being used for marketing purposes without your consent. So this month, we told the Supreme Court in an amicus brief that the release of this information needs to be strictly narrowed.
In 1994, Congress passed the Drivers Privacy Protection Act ("DPPA") to specifically protect driver information stored by state DMVs. Under the DPPA, information like your driver's license photo, social security number, or medical and disability information are considered "highly restricted personal information" which can be released by the state for marketing, solicitation and survey purposes only with the express consent of the driver. However, the DPPA has a few exceptions, allowing this information to be released without the consent of the driver to a government agency, an insurer, an employer to verify information about a commercial driver's license and finally in "connection with litigation." It's this last prong that's at issue before the Supreme Court: does the litigation exception to the DPPA include lawyers trying to solicit new clients?
Source: EFF. Read full article. (link)
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I first met C. Vivian Stringer back in the late 1980s when she was the head coach at Iowa and I was a radio reporter covering the visiting Gophers there. She discussed at length her concerns about Proposition 48, then a new NCAA-passed measure that was controversial because of its perceived impact on incoming Black student-athletes.
Stringer’s lengthy and emotional response came after the post-game press conference, and it was just the two of us still in the room. The two of us were together again a couple of weeks ago in Ann Arbor, Michigan. Stringer, now the head coach at Rutgers, was the featured speaker at the SHARP Center seminar on Title IX, and this print reporter was supposedly on vacation.
We briefly reminisced about that first encounter. As though it were then again oh, those many years ago, the coach spoke passionately and lengthy whenever asked to share her thoughts, no matter the subject matter.
“I will always be a fighter — there always will be a need,” Stringer admits. “You have to continue to fight for what’s right.”
Even at times when you don’t want to.
Stringer’s “fighter” mentality was ingrained in her by her father, who taught her to fight even when you don’t feel like it.
She didn’t feel like it when she was denied a spot as a high school cheerleader. Stringer said in those pre-Title IX days there wasn’t much happening in girls’ sports back then. She excelled in the tryouts — “I was athletic,” she says proudly — but her skin color got her cut instead.
“I thought I did something wrong” and convinced herself that was the reason she didn’t make it. “I didn’t know what it was to have controversy.” Stringer grew up in a Pennsylvania coal mining town “with a real mixture of different nationalities, where people depended on each other in saving each other’s lives.”
But her high school was in another town, and a local NAACP person who saw Stringer’s effort wanted to use her as a test case against the school board in challenging discriminatory practices, something the young lady wanted nothing to do with.
“My father said to me, ‘Perhaps this isn’t for you but for generations of young women who will come after you. You have to learn to stand up for something, because if you don’t stand up for something, people will fall for anything. It comes a time in everyone’s life, and your time is now.”
She was later placed on the cheerleading team. Stringer went on to attend Slippery Rock University and played basketball and field hockey. She started her teaching and coaching career after graduation in the early 1970s at Cheyney State, a Historically Black school located outside Philadelphia.
“Perhaps this isn’t for you but for generations of young women who will come after you. You have to learn to stand up for something.”
There, when the school president asked for volunteers for coaching openings, she raised her hand several times and became the volleyball, soccer and basketball coach all at the same time. “I started coaching when I was 21,” Stringer notes.
She went from doing everything — coaching, washing uniforms, and driving the team bus for road games — to now, over four decades later, being women’s college basketball’s all-time winningest active coach. This distinction came after Tennessee’s Pat Summitt announced her retirement April 18.
The 2009 Basketball Hall of Fame inductee has been in the Women’s Basketball Hall of Fame since 2001.
Besides basketball, Stringer teaches her players the same lessons her father, who died when she was 19, once taught her — to stand up and stand tall, even when you don’t want to.
Her players did just that after Don Imus’ on-air “nappy-headed hos” comments following her team’s runners-up finish in the 2007 NCAA championship. She said those remarks not only insulted her Black players but “all women who played the game.”
We exchanged our last questions before she headed to the lecture room for her speech:
I asked her why she chose coaching. “I wanted to stay in sports,” said Stringer.
She asked, “You’re still in Minnesota? Wow — keep it going. Now — more than ever.”
In that brief moment, the longtime coach and teacher imparted her father’s lesson to me: Always stand up, stand tall, and fight for what is right. Even when you don’t feel like it.
Did you know…?
Coach Stringer at Cheyney State shared court time with the school’s men’s basketball coach, who also is a fellow Hall of Fame member. Name him. (Answers in next week’s “View.”)
Answer to last week’s question: C. Vivian Stringer’s Cheyney State squad finished runners-up in the first NCAA championship game in 1982, making her the first Black coach to take her team to a Division I women’s basketball title game.
More from our interview with C. Vivian Stringer can be seen on the MSR’s web edition.
Charles Hallman welcomes reader responses to [email protected]
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Young people coming of age today will long be defined by the economic tumult that’s gripping the global economy. Conventional wisdom says that record unemployment in many Western nations means that for the first time in modern history this current generation of young adults will be less prosperous than their parents, which has led many to the streets in protest.
Rather than play into the negative stereotypes of young people being lazy and unmotivated, United Colors of Benetton has chosen to highlight today’s unemployed youth not as the workers they’re not, but rather as the future entrepreneurs they could be in its follow-up to last year’s inflammatory and highly successful "Unhate" campaign.
The "Unemployee of the Year" initiative calls attention to the legacy that previous generations have left and reflects on the difficulties young people have in finding jobs. Created by Benetton’s in-house agency FABRICA in partnership with Amsterdam agency 72andSunny, it features a powerful spot that is more muted than Unhate’s provocative images of world leaders in unlikely lip-locks, but manages to be incendiary in its pairing of statements of professional achievement (“for standing tall in the face of adversity; for always going above and beyond the call of duty”) with images of youth struggling to find work and protesting their misfortunes. Meanwhile, the print elements position under-30s as ambitious, suit-wearing “unemployees,” which is meant to draw people to the centerpiece of the effort: a competition that will award 5,000 euros to 100 inspired but out-of-work young people to help fund a project they’re passionate about.
The competition, taking place at Unhatefoundation.org under the direction of Benetton’s Unhate Foundation, invites young people to create an un-work-experience CV and submit their socially conscious ideas, which will then be voted on by the Unemployee community. 72andSunny ECD Carlo Cavallone says that Benetton will have no control over which project gets chosen. “The thing that’s different from something like Kickstarter is that only the entrants themselves can judge. It’s a good experiment to see what young people care about.”
Cavallone says the requirement to submit projects with a sense of social responsibility rather than straightforward entrepreneurial businesses is in keeping with Benetton’s brand legacy. “Benetton sees itself as a brand that needs to tackle social issues. I don’t think they see themselves just as a fashion brand--they’ve always had a point of view. They are never generic and they’ve been like that since the beginning," he says, adding, “We wanted to give more depth to Benetton’s action. Last time, people loved or hated the campaign but this time we wanted to touch a nerve and this is an issue that as a company Benetton can do something about.”
Winners of the competition, which is running in 35 countries and in partnership with MTV, will be announced on Oct. 30.
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So last month, I did a post listing some favored opening lines from books, but upon inspection, that list was rather weighted in favor of the classics. Thus, Part 2 is completely modern:
It wasn’t given to Langston Braverman to know the moment she became a different person; she only knew later, looking back on the afternoon a simple storm arrived and stayed for days, the afternoon she first saw the children. The woman Langston had been was immune to visions and visitations; she was a head-dweller, an Attic Girl who could quote theologians on the abandonment of reason, but who, nonetheless, trusted reason the way one trusts one’s own skin. Not that the scene wasn’t rational: the accoutrements, the props, the slip of light that first brought the children into focus, were grounded in actuality. There were shadows on Chimney Street, to be sure. A canopy of maples stippled the pavement in front of her house. And further down the block, in front of the mobile home where the children had come to live with their grandmother, the sky was tinged with green, the light anyone from the Midwest recognizes as foreshadowing; it was into this sort of day they walked, at first not visible to Langston, and then undeniable.
-The Solace of Leaving Early by Haven Kimmel
I must say I didn’t put much stock in the possibility that a Dominican spiritualist working out of a basement in Union City, New Jersey, would have much to say about a human skin lampshade reputedly made in a Nazi concentration camp. But there I was sitting across from Dona Argentina, a large woman wearing a ceremonial headdress and smoking a pair of cigars, one on either side of her mouth.
-The Lampshade: A Holocaust Detective Story from Buchenwald to New Orleans by Mark Jacobson
Of the things we fashioned for them that they might be comforted, dawn is the one that works. When darkness sifts from the air like fine soft soot and light spreads slowly out of the east then all but the most wretched of humankind rally.
-The Infinities by John Banville
On 13 October 1991 my grandparents killed themselves. It was a Sunday. Not really the ideal day of the week for suicide. On Sundays family members call each other, friends drop in to go walking their dogs with you. I’d have thought a Monday, for instance, much more suitable.
-An Exclusive Love: A Memoir by Johanna Adorjan
My legal name is Alexander Perchov. But all of my friends dub me Alex, because that is a more flaccid-to-utter version of my legal name. Mother dubs me Alexi-stop-spleening-me!, because I am always spleening her. If you want to know why I am always spleening her, it is because I am always elsewhere with friends, and disseminating so much currency, and performing so many things that can spleen a mother. Father used to dub me Shapka, for the fur hat I would don even in the summer month. He ceased dubbing me that because I ordered him to cease dubbing me that. It sounded boyish to me, and I have always thought of myself as very potent and generative. I have many girls, believe me, and they all have a different name for me.
-Everything is Illuminated by Jonathan Safran Foer
Miranda Silver is in Dover, in the ground beneath her mother’s house. Her throat is blocked with a slice of apple (to stop her speaking words that may betray her) her ears are filled with earth (to keep her from hearing sounds that will confuse her) her eyes are closed, but her heart thrums hard like hummingbird wings.
-White is for Witching by Helen Oyeyemi
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Gov. M. Jodi Rell has led Connecticut for six years. But come January, the state will have a new governor, and whether it is former Stamford mayor Dan Malloy or former U.S. Ambassador to Ireland Tom Foley will influence the resources New Haven has at its disposal.
The powers that be in Hartford can affect New Haven by determining the amount of state funding the city receives, including in the form including PILOT (payment in lieu of taxes) grants, which partially compensate municipalities for the revenue they do not collect from tax-exempt properties, such as Yale and Yale-New Haven Hospital.
In recent years PILOT payments to New Haven have been declining, making the Elm City more reliant on property taxes, which have been hard hit by the recession. Malloy, a Democrat who is currently ahead of Republican Foley in a recent Quinnipiac University poll by 9 percentage points, has said the state should increase the size of the PILOT program, and that, as the former mayor of the state’s fourth largest city, he understands the challenges facing Connecticut’s urban areas. Foley, on the other hand, has made reducing the state tax burden on Connecticut’s residents one of the tenants of his campaign and says he wants to give municipalities more freedom to impose their own taxes.
“There’s a lot of pressure on the state because we simply don’t have the resources to do what we’ve done in the past,” Foley said. “We need to figure out where we can cut back with doing the least amount of pain.”
Foley has said he plans to close the deficit with about $2 billion in cuts, but New Haven State Rep. Gary Holder-Winfield said that cannot happen without reducing the flow of state funds to Connecticut’s cities.
While Foley has said neither that he will cut PILOT nor that he will increase it, Quinnipiac University political science professor Scott McLean said that if Foley is elected, there is a fear that he will cut PILOT. Without that state aid, municipalities will have to rely more heavily on local property taxes, State Sen. Martin Looney said.
“That is not in New Haven’s interest,” McLean said.
This year, New Haven advocated the state legislature for increased PILOT funding. To that end, it supported a statewide property tax whose revenue would be distributed to local governments through programs such as PILOT. According to the city’s fiscal year 2010-’11 budget, the tax would have cost New Haven residents $2.7 million and would have brought $39 million in revenue to the city. The issue was discussed at this year’s legislative session. To date, the state assembly has not passed the proposal.
Regardless of which candidate prevails, Rell’s successor is expected to inherit a $3.4 billion deficit for fiscal year 2012 and will have to take steps to close the gap. And the gubernatorial election may determine the extent to which painful budget cuts at the state level causes budget pain at the city level.
MONEY MAKES THE WORLD GO ROUND
As far as New Haven is concerned, money is what is at stake in the election, state and city officials and experts say; the measures the next governor takes to close the budget deficit could affect New Haven, Mayor John DeStefano Jr. said.
For the past two years, the city expected to receive more PILOT funding from the state than Rell ultimately allocated in the state budget, but this year it reduced its expectations for the amount of money it would get from the state. As a result, the city had to construct its budget under tighter constrictions.
In an interview with the News this month, Malloy said that, if elected, he will advocate for PILOT by restoring its funding. He said the state is supposed to reimburse PILOT at 70 percent but is currently doing so at about 50 percent.
Malloy said it is not necessarily something he can get done in his first year of office, but that the state should honor its commitments to the cities that house property tax-exempt institutions.
But while cities are in financial straits, the state is as well, Foley said. Foley has said he supports allowing municipalities to find their own ways of taxing outside of the property tax.
“I don’t think that the state should be restricting communities from determining what the best tax or revenue resources are for them,” Foley said. “I’m more of a local control advocate.”
McClean said New Haven would benefit from being able to tax things such as entertainment, but he noted that taxing bars will not be enough to make up for the reductions in PILOT funding and state grants.
“New Haven would not be able to sustain itself if it didn’t have state grants,” McLean said.
URBAN GOVERNOR, SUBURBAN GOVERNOR
DeStefano, a career-long Democrat, said he supports Malloy because Malloy understands the challenges facing Connecticut’s cities. (DeStefano originally endorsed Ned Lamont SOM ’80 in the gubernatorial primary in August.)
“[Malloy] has a stronger understanding and view of the critical role that cities play in jobs and wealth creation and accordingly would best serve the interests of our communities,” DeStefano said.
Other Democratic city and state officials agree. (All of New Haven’s representatives in the state legislature are Democrats.) New Haven State Rep. Bob Megna said Malloy would be a more “sympathetic” governor for cities because of his background as mayor of Stamford.
Sitting in Blue State Coffee on Wall Street this month, Malloy — who would be the first Democratic governor of Connecticut in 20 years — said he and Foley differ most dramatically in their views on the nature and extent of the state government’s obligations to their urban counterparts.
“I’m an urbanist,” Malloy said. “I have a full array of urban-centric policies. Not exclusive urban policies, but urban-centric.”
But Foley contends that his approach of allowing cities to impose their own taxes would be good for cities, and that he has the management experience necessary to govern.
Since New Haven has a thriving (albeit seemingly more and more dangerous) nightlife scene, which draws partiers from neighboring communities, McClean said Foley’s proposal could, for example, make it easier for New Haven to raise additional taxes on the venues to make sure people using the city for fun pay to do so. (Malloy has also said he supports “local option” taxes within cities.)
In 1985, Foley started the NTC Group, a long-term equity investment fund, which advised portfolio companies on strategy and management decisions, he said. He added that he has more than 25 years of experience creating jobs and bringing money into communities.
Still, the real fight for voters is in the suburbs, McLean said, because cities such as New Haven are more likely than not to vote Democrat.
Add according to the latest Quinnipiac University poll, Connecticut voters are first and foremost concerned about jobs and the economy, said poll director Doug Schwartz. In the university’s most recent poll, he said, Connecticut’s unemployment rate stood at 9.1 percent in August, according to the Connecticut Department of Labor.
“I think we also have to bear in mind that Malloy is not going to win by saying things like, ‘I want to spend a lot of money on Connecticut cities,’ ” McClean said.
But there is a lot that has not been articulated on the campaign trail yet, DeStefano said.
“The only thing that is certain is that there is going to be change,” DeStefano said.
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Richard Dawkins was the dinner speaker at this year’s National Association of Biology Teachers Conference. I didn’t attend the dinner (it was $85 – gulp) but I did attend his follow-up Q/A session the next day.
He started his talk with a few of vignette movies from his website, www.richarddawkins.net. These are short (2-3 minute) videos of Dawkins speaking – some of them are from his infamous Christmas Lectures and some are more travelogue vignettes (shot in the Galapagos, for instance). The video vignette on Boobies and Gannets was one of my favorites – describing the “two egg” insurance policy of these birds. Another was a video of a younger Dawkins doing a demonstration with a cannonball pendulum that he holds right up to his face – and then lets go, allowing it to swing in it arc, right back to him, stopping just short of smashing him in the face. A beautiful, living illustration of his faith in science. “Yes you can have faith”, Dawkins says, “but have faith with reason.”
He went on to entertain questions from the audience. Most of the questions were about teaching evolution. Here are a few of them…
Q: What do you say to a student who says of evolution, “I just don’t believe it”?
A: Well, I think you need to explore why they don’t believe it. If their answer is something along the lines of “organisms are just too complex to come from random chance”, then you know that they just have the wrong end of the stick and help them with their misconception. But if the reason is a religious one (as in “my parents or my rabbi tells me it’s wrong”) then you could point out that it’s just random chance that they were born to this family, and have these particular religious beliefs. Another idea that Dawkins said came from last night’s dinner companions is to teach the concepts of evolution without calling it evolution and just “smuggle it in”.
Q: I teach in an inner city LA high school that is 95% Latino Catholic. When I teach evolution, I advise them to keep their faith outside of the classroom. Why do so few people in the United States refuse to accept the principles of evolution, as compared to other countries on the globe. “I see this as an attack on science.”
A: Is it possibly not only an attack on science but an attack on intellectualism itself? There seems to be a political movement in this country that resents intellectual ideas and anyone that might be more intellectual than you? (at which point the entire room broke out in laughter).
Q: How do we address the problem that there is really only one race?
A: Good question. We are a very genetically uniform species. The variation among humans is very, very low. The other misconception here is the Victorian idea of an evolutionary ladder – progression – from ancestral apes to chimpanzees, to black people, to white people. When, really, all humans are exactly equally related to chimpanzees and all mammals are equally related to frogs. The categorization that we all have to deal with on many government forms is total nonsense. “Hispanic?! What does that mean? I encourage everyone to refuse to fill out that portion of the form.”
Q: Sometimes I get students who accept microevolution, but have problems with macroevolution. What do you suggest to combat that?
A: Yes, that’s something that they’ve been taught to say. And, of course, what you say is that macroevolution is what you get when you add up lots of instances of microevolution together. The misconception here is that they think it’s happens over night and have no concept of the vast amounts of time involved. There are various metaphors that you can use to address this – his favorite is to stretch out your arm to the side and, moving from you neck to the tip of your fingers, explain that…. The origin of life is at your neck. The dinosaurs are in the palm of your hand. The first mammal is at your fingernail. The whole of recorded human history falls in the dust of a single stroke of a nail file.
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Gamespy has an interesting video where Bill Roper demos character creation in Champions Online, an upcoming superhero game.
It looks pretty neat, but what struck me was an almost throwaway line at the end (at about the 3:10 mark). Roper states or implies that multiple player characters can have the same name:
Just like you see in comics, sometimes there are heroes which share a name or share a concept for a name. We know that's going to happen, but the important thing is that when I put that name on the character, I'm going to get the name that I want to really put the last finishing touch on my concept.
This is a radical concept. Most games enforce that each character on a server has a unique name. Thus that character can always be identified by that name. Sometimes it's annoying when you have a good name and it's taken, especially if it's taken by a low-level character that is never played.
But at the same time, can you imagine two characters running around on the same server with the same name? There would be mistaken identities and the possibility for identity theft. How would you send mail or whispers to a character?
Basically, you'd end up with all the problems and confusions of names in the real world. Except in the real world, most people are bound by the geography they inhabit, which you can use to be reasonably sure of identity. Joe Smith who lives at 11 Haro Street and works at 21 Bond St in Toronto is different from Joe Smith who lives at 32 Cordova Street and works at 944 Younge St in Toronto.
In a virtual world with multiple people of the same name, it seems like you would have a lot more problems.
I just don't see how non-unique names would work. Maybe you'd have a "superhero name" which is not unique, but also a "secret identity" which is unique. Of course, it's possible that I'm reading too much into that one line and that Roper means something else entirely.
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250 Baltimore Youth Participate in National Youth Service Day
By Darriel Hoy
Baltimore Adventist Community Services (ACS), the city’s lead agency for the 19th Annual National & Global Youth Service Day, mobilized more than 250 young people to volunteer for the event Friday, April 20, through Sunday, April 22, in Baltimore. More than 18 million youth in the United States and in 116 other countries planned community service projects and special events to celebrate the special event. Sponsored by Youth Service America and funded by State Farm Companies Foundation, National & Global Youth Service Day is the largest service event in the world.
The momentum in Baltimore started last year after a group of youth read newspaper articles about homeless teenagers. They started learning about homelessness as a local and global problem. Youth were startled by the statistics: two-thirds of the world’s homeless population is women and children, and the leading causes of homelessness are the shortage of affordable rental housing and a simultaneous increase in poverty. Baltimore youth wondered what they could do to help.
The national service day provided an opportunity for the Baltimore youth and young adults, ages 5-25, to take action. During the weekend, youth and young adults served meals at Bea Gaddy Family Center, Brown’s Memorial Shelter, the Ronald McDonald House, and Project Place. Volunteers helped children at the YWCA shelter and the local children’s home make arts and crafts projects for children in local hospitals. Youth shared a meal and a conversation about drug addiction with men in The Baltimore Station’s substance abuse recovery programs. Church youth made cookies for homebound HIV/AIDS patients connected with Moveable Feast and also encouraged their churches to do more to eliminate homelessness. The Baltimore ACS youth corps also plans to host a sleep-out against homelessness to raise funds for shelters in the fall.
“Youth are concerned about their community,” said Pastor Darriel Hoy, executive director of Baltimore ACS. “National & Global Youth Service Day is a launching pad to help youth think critically and creatively about solutions to community problems, and to put them on a lifelong path of service and civic engagement. Most adults don’t know that 73 percent of America's 60 million young people believe they can make a difference in their communities. Baltimore Adventist Community Services helps youth put their ideas, enthusiasm, and faith into action through a 150-member youth service corps. Youth not only earn community service credits for school, but they also earn certificates and learn about college scholarships for community service.”
Pastor Hoy added that research shows that youth who volunteer just one hour a week are 50 percent less likely to abuse drugs, alcohol, cigarettes, or engage in destructive behavior. Youth who volunteer are more likely to do well in school, graduate, vote, and be philanthropic. Teenagers report that volunteering teaches them to respect others, to be helpful and kind, to understand people who are different from them, to develop leadership skills, to become more patient, and to be better citizens.
Baltimore ACS plans to engage youth in service this summer through a VolunTEENS program and a Points of Light Youth Leadership Institute. For more information, to get your teenager involved, or to make a donation, please contact Baltimore ACS and/or Pastor Hoy at (410) 977-9547.
About N & GYSD 2007
National & Global Youth Service Day mobilizes youth to identify and address the needs of their communities through service-learning and community service. Research continues to support service-learning programs as an effective method for increasing student academic achievement.
More than 115 national partners and 51 lead agencies throughout the United States organize projects for the special event. Overseas, national lead agencies in 116 countries manage national events. Planning tool kits, service-learning curriculum guides, classroom posters, grants, and more are available for youth, parents, teachers, and organizations.
Youth Service America (YSA) is a national nonprofit resource center that partners with thousands of organizations committed to increasing the quality and quantity of volunteer opportunities for young people to serve locally, nationally, and globally. Founded in 1986, YSA’s mission is to expand the impact of the youth service movement with communities, schools, corporations, and governments. In addition to the national service day, YSA also hosts SERVEnet, providing the largest database of volunteer opportunities in America. For more information, visit www.YSA.org.
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Resources and relationships (continued)
(Photo captioned: Farm assurance schemes ensure our suppliers have the highest standards of production and animal welfare)
Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) (continued)
(...Continue from page 19) commitments and targets into business plans, and allowed the Partnership to develop a clearer set of priorities in four core CSR areas: customers, products and suppliers; people (see Partner section above); communities and environment. More detailed information on the Partnership’s CSR policies and programmes is set out below and in our CSR reports which can be found on the Partnership website, www.johnlewispartnership.co.uk.
Customers, products and suppliers
The Partnership is committed to dealing fairly with its suppliers, selling responsibly sourced, quality products and aims to attract, retain and deepen relationships with loyal customers.
Provenance, traceability and trust
Full traceability of our products and ingredients is critical to our success and to consumer confidence, so our rigorous sourcing policies supported by inspections and farm assurance schemes are used to ensure the highest standards of production, animal welfare and trading throughout our supply chain. In John Lewis and Waitrose, dedicated technical departments, in conjunction with our buying teams, are responsible for ensuring that every product sold is safe to use and fit for purpose, and that all our own-brand and exclusive products comply with all relevant consumer legislation and safety standards. We also work hard to inform our customers about sourcing issues.
Waitrose works to ensure that all livestock throughout our supply chain are treated with respect and care. The Partnership works with and supports its suppliers, in Britain and overseas, to maintain best practice standards of agricultural production and environmental management and to source products sustainably. Our desire to be part of the solution to the environmental problems caused by the growth in palm oil use, has seen Waitrose set an ambitious target to ensure that 100% of its own brand products only contain Certified Sustainable Palm Oil by 2012. Additionally, during 2010 we will be working with our suppliers to better understand the embedded water and carbon in our own-brand products in order to drive long-term reductions.
Waitrose is also increasing the use of the LEAF (Linking Environment and Farming) Marque certification standard in its supply base, helping farmers to improve standards of environmental stewardship through the use of crop rotations for good soil management, protecting and enhancing the countryside for wildlife and biodiversity, and minimising pesticide usage. Waitrose is working to extend this standard globally and through a grant from the Department for International Development’s Food Retail Industry Challenge Fund, alongside its project partners, will be able to support farmers in sub-Saharan Africa, assisting them in developing sustainable production techniques. The Partnership’s Leckford Estate in Hampshire is a LEAF demonstration farm, hosting visits and supporting Open Farm Sunday, which Waitrose sponsors, when the public gets to see exactly how the food they buy is produced.
John Lewis is also committed to ensuring the integrity of its products. John Lewis’s annual ‘Make a difference’ promotion showcases the range of responsible and desirable products it sells. Always seeking to stock items with the lowest energy consumption – all of our own-brand domestic large electrical appliances are A or A+ rated for energy efficiency – and we have set a target to ensure 95% of domestic large electrical appliances sold continue to be A rated or above. John Lewis also sells water-efficient appliances such as its own-brand dishwasher and ‘A+’ rated washing machine with a flow sensor to calculate the optimum amount of water required for the load. John Lewis has worked for many years to ensure that the timber used in its products is sourced with the least possible damage to the environment. It supports and encourages suppliers to work towards forestry certification. Its target is to ensure all garden furniture is independently certified to the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) standard for the 2010 season. In 2009 targets were set for 30% of indoor furniture ranges to be FSC certified by 2012, with a further 20% either actively progressing towards FSC certification or certified by other schemes. It also set a new target for 100% of ownbrand paper products to be manufactured from recycled or FSC (or equivalent) sources by 2012.
(Photo captioned: All of John Lewis's own-brand domestic large electrical appliances are A or A+ rated for energy efficiency)
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Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, center, arrives at Andrews Air Force Base, Md., on Thursday, Feb. 21, 2013. / Manuel Balce Ceneta/AP
WASHINGTON — President Barack Obama welcomed Japan's new prime minister to the White House on Friday, aiming to reinforce a core U.S. alliance at a time of high tension stoked by a Japan-China territorial dispute and a North Korean nuclear test.
Shinzo Abe is a nationalist and a keen advocate of stronger relations with Washington that have assumed more importance for Tokyo as it has locked horns in recent months with emerging power China over the control of unoccupied islands in the resource-rich seas between them.
Abe was meeting with Obama and Vice President Joe Biden in the Oval Office, with a private lunch in the offing.
Abe, who arrived Thursday afternoon and will leave early Saturday, has been anxious for the meeting since he returned to power after a convincing election victory in December for his second stint as prime minister since he resigned for health reasons in 2007 after serving for one year.
The U.S. partnership with Japan, which hosts about 50,000 American forces, is an enduring one and a cornerstone of Washington's Asia policy, but establishing a personal rapport between leaders has been difficult. As Japan has struggled with its prolonged economic malaise, there's been a rotating door of prime ministers. Abe is the fifth since Obama took office.
Abe's market-pleasing moves to stimulate Japan's economy — dubbed Abenomics — have fueled hope of a recovery and are expected to be featured in a policy speech he will deliver at a Washington think tank Friday after his meeting and working lunch with Obama at the White House.
The U.S. will be gauging Tokyo's intent to join negotiations on the Trans-Pacific Partnership, a region-wide free trade pact being pushed by Washington. Abe may give pointers but is widely expected to hold back from such a commitment, which is opposed by most of his party and Japan's small but politically powerful farming lobby, at least until after key elections in July for the upper house.
Joe Hinrichs, Ford Motor Co.'s president of the Americas, said that Abe should be told to open Japan's automobile markets, because only about 4 percent of cars sold there are made by foreign auto companies.
"We hope the U.S. government will send a clear message that any future trade policy with Japan must ensure a level playing field and not come at the expense of American workers," he said Thursday.
On the security issues roiling northeast Asia, the U.S. and Japan will show solidarity in the face of North Korea's recent long-range rocket launches and last week's nuclear test, and reiterate their support for the U.N. Security Council to agree upon tougher sanctions against Pyongyang. They could also discuss military cooperation and missile defense.
More delicate will be how Obama and Abe address Japan's dispute with China over the Japanese-administered Senkaku islands that flared after Tokyo nationalized some of them in September. China also claims the tiny islands, which they call Diaoyu. It has stepped up patrols into what Japan considers its territorial waters, heightening concern that could spark a conflict. The tensions highlight the rivalry between China, the world's second-largest economy, and Japan, which is the third.
Tokyo accused China last month of locking weapons-guiding radar on a Japanese destroyer and a helicopter, in what it viewed as a dangerous escalation. Beijing accused Tokyo of fabricating the reports to smear China.
Abe will seek a reaffirmation of U.S. treaty obligations to help Japan in the event of conflict — spelled out in clear terms last month by then-Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton, who said the U.S. opposes any unilateral actions seeking to undermine Japan's administration of the islands.
Obama will likely give that assurance but tread cautiously. The U.S. is at odds with China on many issues — Washington's growing concern over cybertheft is a clear example. But the U.S. wants to avoid a conflict in the region and is wary of alienating Beijing, whose support is needed to pressure North Korea over its nuclear and missile programs that potentially threaten the U.S.
Danny Russel, National Security Council senior director for Asia, said Obama will find it useful to get an update on the high-level contacts between Tokyo and Beijing.
"The president's focus, as you can imagine, is on the importance of managing these issues in a diplomatic way that lowers the tensions," Russel said in a briefing to reporters ahead of Abe's visit.
"Obama will not want to contribute to the impression that already exists in China that the U.S. and Japan are ganging up against China," said Robert Hathaway, director of the Asia program at the Wilson Center think tank in Washington.
AP Auto Writer Tom Krisher in Cleveland contributed to this report.
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The online news portal of TV5
MANILA, Philippines -- As the Philippines underwent the Universal Periodic Review before the United Nations Human Rights Council in Geneva, Human Rights Watch challenged President Benigno Aquino III to “make a public commitment that breaking impunity … is a top priority.”
Elaine Pearson, deputy Asia director at Human Rights Watch, said Aquino can do this “by adopting measures that will ensure that military personnel and police who have so far gotten away with murder, torture and disappearances will be punished under his watch.”
“It is not enough for the Philippines to merely acknowledge concerns about continuing abuses and impunity raised by UN member states,” Pearson said. “The Aquino administration needs to implement enforceable and time-bound measures to end abuses and ensure that those who commit them are prosecuted.”
While several countries acknowledged the Philippines’ efforts to improve human rights, a number also noted its dismal record in prosecuting cases of extrajudicial killings, torture and enforced disappearances and called on the government to step up efforts to arrest violators like retired general Jovito Palparan, who remains at large despite a standing warrant of arrest for the abduction of University of the Philippines students Karen Empeno and Sherlyn Cadapan.
HRW urged the Aquino administration to heed the recommendations of other countries to end impunity and dismantle militias and private armies, which are blamed for many human rights abuses.
At the very least, the watchdog group said, “it should at least exercise full control and take full accountability for their actions that violate human rights, as recommended by the United States.”
“The government needs to undertake a major and thorough reform of the country’s broken criminal justice system, as many have states recommended,” Pearson said. “It would be tragic to return to Geneva four years from now for the next UPR and see that nothing significant has changed.”
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A Legend Out of Control
Bathory’s relation to the band’s fanbase is an infected story of contradictory interests concerning very human desires for truth and meaning. Oftentimes fans and creator pulled in opposite directions, fighting over whether to leave the Bathory mask on or reveal Bathory’s inner workings.
Debuting in 1984, Bathory’s cult status was rapidly acknowledged in the musical underground. But during a long time a certain air of mystery surrounded the band. It seemed beyond time, beyond space, and even out of national context (to a Swedish person this Stockholm wonder didn’t seem as typically Swedish as many of the later Death Metal bands). In general, main man Quorthon kept to himself, few pictures of the band existed, and there were hardly any live gigs at all, in particular once the music got closer to Wagner than to Motörhead. Bathory took one heavy metal tradition to extremes: it created a mythos out of nothing more than a few cover images and an interview or two. This obscure and ambiguous myth bound people together. They wanted to live out this vision as they found it more appealing than their world. When the fanbase went looking for answers, and found little else but songs of evil, darkness, destruction and conspiracies with Satan, imaginations ran wild and filled in the gaps with what they wanted to see, not what they saw.
People have a desire for continuity in an individual’s past. In this case, that desire was expressed among metal fans by trying to explain Bathory’s music through references to a heavy influence from a band which prior to Bathory was seen as the most extreme: Venom. In several interviews Quorthon himself has denied any Venom influence, but in many biographies the memory of early Bathory as a Venom clone is nevertheless quite persistent. (According to Quorthon, his main influences were Black Sabbath, Motörhead, The Exploited, and GBH, and later on Wagner, Beethoven, and Haydn among others.)
The will to interpret Bathory’s music as a logical continuation of Venom, and accordingly seek out a sense of “eternity” in the genre which these two bands (among others) officially created in the earliest of times, is hardly surprising. A consistent pattern which suggests some sort of intention is simply more attractive than a chaotic mess of a genesis produced by two groups entirely unknown to each other.
It is, however, easy to recognize among the authors of reviews of early Bathory albums an aspiration towards and an acknowledgement of a distinct identity of the band and its founder. Regarding Bathory’s self-titled debut album and its follow-up, a mantra is repeated: these records are the starting point for a whole genre and Quorthon is its first hero. This is, so to speak, the creation myth associated with Bathory.
Repetition of this myth is presumably what makes it go beyond historicity and is what makes it timeless. It’s a way for a metal fan to not only “create” Bathory, but also be a part of the phenomenon. Even repeated listens to Blood Fire Death is a repetition of a mythical Now, which gives us a sort of “vertical anchoring.” If myth is a celebration of life, a summary of the Past in the Now, then this is certainly what Bathory is to the band’s followers.
Quorthon himself seems to have had an enormous respect for the mythical power of Bathory. Referring to his fanbase as “The Bathory Hordes”, he tried to reach out to it in order to receive answers on how to deal with this beast:
[…] send me a letter of what you think, what you would want us to do in the future […] Remember, it is you the fans out there on whom we depend on. […] Stay united and may the northstar shine on you all, keep metal at heart!!
This kind of democratization most likely rendered him unable to control the myth of the band. As Quorthon “grew out” of Satanism, and myths surrounding his persona still insisted on his being a demonic devil worshipper, he wanted to set the record straight. And this is where things get interesting.
In 1996, Bathory released Blood On Ice, a retro album with liner notes containing a lengthy exposition on the band’s early history. Presumably, Quorthon had wished to update his biography and rid it of the misconceptions that according to him were abundant in the metal world, but it was probably also a way to pay tribute to the legend by contributing to it with a few “behind the scenes” stories.
This, however, proved to be a serious miscalculation of what the fans wanted. The unmasking threatened the consistent cultural memory of Bathory. And reactions weren’t long in coming: fans spoke of sacrilege and treachery in the many letters that were sent to Quorthon as a direct reaction to the liner notes. The memory of Bathory was now to a great extent a social concern and no longer only the creation of one man. Quorthon writes:
I realized then more than ever before that BATHORY was surrounded by the same sort of stuff only legends are made from. The element of mystery and suspense was still very important to a lot of die-hard BATHORY fans. [The truth] didn’t suit the image that a lot people had of BATHORY or myself.
Quorthon died in June 2004, but shortly before his death he founded an official Bathory website in which he denies the old image of himself as someone who eats children, drinks blood, and lives in a cage, an image that apparently still needed to be denied. Quorthon tells of an interview many years after he abandoned his satanic image: despite the time that had passed, he was still expected to pose for a photo session with pentagrams, skulls and cobweb.
Ironically, many fans have as of recently noted that Quorthon himself tampered with the truth quite deliberately. The iconic Bathory goat – which has become a sort of identity marker among fans – is, according to Quorthon, a collage created out of bits and pieces “from several horror comic magazines”. In fact, the goat is taken from a finished illustration in a book on witches from 1981. It wasn’t until 2007 that the originator, Joseph A. Smith, got to know that his drawings had been used as subject matter for tattoos and the like all around the world for decades. It also turns out that the lyrics and title to Bathory’s “For All Those Who Died” is more or less stolen from a feminist poem by Erica Jong.
The legacy of Bathory will nevertheless die hard. Quorthon created a legend so powerful neither he nor its fans could control it, an art that hovers above independently of its creator and its receivers. Yet we shouldn’t forget the core quality of its longevity: Quorthon’s compositions. These are what will always create very much alive “elements of mystery and suspense” in the mind of the listener. That’s where the magic happens. Hence the art of Bathory is stronger than both the fans’ myth-making and Quorthon’s myth-busting.
Going through Bathory’s albums again, experiencing the passionate evil melody of “The Return of the Darkness and Evil” or the haunting existential angst of “Twilight of the Gods,” they contain the same everlasting power they ever did and is what makes Bathory eternal. The mask is put back on. Continuity reappears and everything returns.
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no spam, unsubscribe anytime.
Members of the HSUS Animal Rescue Team headed to Laurel County, Kentucky to set up an emergency shelter and to distribute pet food to assist families and their animals displaced as a result of recent storms. After receiving an official request for assistance from the Laurel County emergency management office, the team is working with county officials throughout Kentucky and Indiana to assess the impact on animals from the recent severe weather.
“Many of those who lost their homes are missing their pets, or have nowhere to go with them, and The Humane Society of the United States is coming to the aid of these animals and their owners,” said Pam Rogers, Kentucky state director for The HSUS. “We have deployed numerous specially trained staff and volunteers to the affected area, and they have been able to help a number of displaced pets."
The HSUS is currently working with local officials to help animals who are injured or distressed and is setting up an emergency shelter for animals displaced because of the storm. The emergency shelter will begin taking in animals on Friday. Residents will be able to bring their dogs, cats and other small animals to the HSUS animal shelter for temporary care while they work to recover. HSUS field responders will also travel throughout the community to provide much-needed pet food and distribute information about the emergency shelter and other available services.
The HSUS’s responders worked with local rescue group Fur Ever Friends on Sunday to take in a dozen dogs displaced in the wake of last week’s powerful storms.
Photo: HSUS staffers comfort a beagle rescued from a tree by Fur Ever Friends.
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A rare combination of a scientist and gastronomic genius, "Chef Yannis" (as he is affectionately known) recently completed his Ph. D in molecular epidemiology at the preeminent University of Oxford's St. Peter's College in the UK.
Prior to his doctoral studies at the Oxford, "Chef Yannis" obtained his Master's in Public Health from Yale University and previous to that, had doubled majored in Biology & Religion at the University of Rochester as an undergraduate.
Because man cannot live by science alone, he worked as a pastry chef for one of Britain's most celebrated chefs, Jamie Oliver (The Naked Chef) at Jamie's Italian in Oxford. During his Oxford years, "Chef Yannis" also served as the President of the Oxford University Gastronomy Society, where he promoted the culinary arts to both undergraduate and graduate students in Oxford.
He is currently living in his native Athens and working as a public health consultant.
As a chef, "Chef Yannis" has a passion and expertise in Mediterranean cuisine and Greek pastries. As a public health scientist, he is an advocate of the health benefits of the Mediterranean diet and keen to spread the gospel of authentic Greek whole foods to communities across America.
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Serials Cuts in the TTU Library
The Texas Tech University Library, facing budget constraints, drafted a plan for the cutting of 900 printed journals. The cut list is available here. The matrix used to determine the items to be cut included items such as the appearances of journals in selected citation indexes, the frequency of TTU faculty publication in these journals, the electronic availability of the printed titles, the productivity of faculty units in terms of graduate students and grant dollars, reshelving "ticks" on unbound periodicals, and other factors. The rating system was constructed under the direction of Sheila Curl Hoover, the UL Associate Dean for Outreach and Information Services. There was no consultation with the University Library Committee or other faculty oversight groups outside of the Library itself.
The Library had initially asked for feedback on particular journal cuts by April 21, encouraging the use of its comment window for all journals. Senators upset by this and other Library actions proposed a variety of resolutions to the Senate Agenda Committee. On Thursday, April, 27, just prior to the publication of the Agenda for the Senate Meeting on May 3, the provost and president put the proposed periodicals cuts on hold, pending the reestablishment of a library committee to review them and other library issues. In response the senate passed a resolution applauding the administration for these actions.
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A judge in Federal District Court in Fresno, California, has sided with America's ethanol industry in ruling that the State of California's Low Carbon Fuel Standard (LCFS) is unconstitutional. Judge Lawrence J. O'Neill agreed with the arguments that the LCFS is in violation of the Commerce Clause the U.S. Constitution.
In a joint statement, RFA President and CEO Bob Dinneen and Growth Energy CEO Tom Buis said: "The state of California overreached in creating its LCFS by making it unconstitutionally punitive for farmers and ethanol producers outside of the state's border. With this ruling, it is our hope that the California regulators will come back to the table to work on a thoughtful, fair, and ultimately achievable strategy for improving our environment by incenting the growth and evolution of American renewable fuels."
The groups filed their suit on Dec. 24, 2009 and asserted that the California LCFS violates the Commerce Clause by seeking to regulate farming and ethanol production practices in other states. The Commerce Clause specifically forbids state laws that discriminate against out-of-state goods and that regulate out-of-state conduct.
With its original filing, the groups noted, "The LCFS imposes excessive burdens on the entire domestic ethanol industry while providing no benefit to Californians. In fact, in disadvantaging low-carbon, domestic ethanol, the LCFS denies the people of California a genuine opportunity to clean their air, create jobs, and strengthen their economic and national security. One state cannot dictate policy for all the others, yet that is precisely what California has aimed to do through a poorly conceived and, frankly, unconstitutional LCFS."
On this claim the court found that the LCFS discriminates against out-of-state corn-derived ethanol and impermissibly regulates extraterritorial conduct. As a result, the court issued an injunction. Judge O'Neill also ruled that CARB failed to establish that there are no alternative methods to advance its goals of reducing GHG emissions to combat global warming.
The ruling allows CARB to appeal Judge O'Neill's decision immediately to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit. RFA and Growth Energy will defend the Judge's decision that the LCFS is unconstitutional in any appeal that may be filed by CARB.
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We are a leading provider of optical subsystems and components that connect short-distance local area networks, or LANs, and storage area networks, or SANs, and longer distance metropolitan area networks, or MANs and wide area networks, or WANs. Our optical subsystems consist primarily of transmitters, receivers, transceivers and transponders which provide the fundamental optical-electrical interface for connecting the equipment used in building these networks. These products rely on the use of semiconductor lasers and photodetectors in conjunction with integrated circuit design and novel packaging technology to provide a cost-effective means for transmitting and receiving digital signals over fiber optic cable at speeds ranging from less than 1 gigabits per second, or Gbps, Gbps to 40 Gbps, using a wide range of network protocols and physical configurations over distances of 70 meters to 200 kilometers. We supply optical transceivers and transponders that allow point-to-point communications on a fiber using a single specified wavelength or, bundled with multiplexing technologies, can be used to supply multi-gigabit bandwidth over several wavelengths on the same fiber. We also provide products for dynamically switching network traffic from one optical wavelength to another across multiple wavelengths known as reconfigurable optical add/drop multiplexers, or ROADMs. Our line of optical components consists primarily of packaged lasers and photodetectors used in transceivers for LAN and SAN applications and passive optical components used in building MANs. Our manufacturing operations are vertically integrated, and we utilize internal sources for many of the key components used in making our products including lasers, photodetectors and integrated circuits, or ICs, designed by our internal IC engineering teams. We also have internal assembly and test capabilities that make use of internally designed equipment for the automated testing of our optical subsystems and components.
We sell our optical products to manufacturers of storage systems, networking equipment and telecommunication equipment or their contract manufacturers, such as Alcatel-Lucent, Brocade, Cisco Systems, EMC, Emulex, Ericsson, Hewlett-Packard Company, Huawei, IBM, Juniper, Qlogic, Siemens and Tellabs. These customers, in turn, sell their systems to businesses and to wireline and wireless telecommunications service providers and cable TV operators, collectively referred to as carriers.
We also provide network performance test systems primarily to leading SAN equipment manufacturers such as Brocade, EMC, Emulex, Hewlett-Packard Company and Qlogic for testing and validating system designs.
We were incorporated in California in April 1987 and reincorporated in Delaware in November 1999. Our principal executive offices are located at 1389 Moffett Park Drive, Sunnyvale, California 94089, and our telephone number at that location is (408) 548-1000.
Combination with Optium Corporation
On August 29, 2008, we completed a business combination with Optium Corporation, a leading designer and manufacturer of high performance optical subsystems for use in telecommunications and cable cable television, or CATV, network systems, through the merger of Optium with a wholly-owned subsidiary of Finisar. We believe that the combination of the two companies created the world’s largest supplier of optical components, modules and subsystems for the communications industry and will leverage Finisar’s leadership position in the storage and data networking sectors of the industry and Optium’s leadership position in the telecommunications and CATV, sectors to create a more competitive industry participant. In addition, as a result of the combination, we expect to realize cost synergies related to operating expenses and manufacturing costs resulting from (1) the transfer of production to lower cost locations, (2) improved purchasing power associated with being a larger company and (3) cost synergies associated with the integration of components into product designs previously purchased in the open market by Optium. At the closing of the merger, we issued 160,808,659 shares of Finisar common stock, valued at approximately $242.8 million, in exchange for all of the outstanding common stock of Optium.
We have accounted for the combination using the purchase method of accounting and as a result have included the operating results of Optium in our consolidated financial results since the August 29, 2008 consummation date. The Optium results are included in our optical subsystems and components segment. Reference is made to “Item 7. Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations” for additional information regarding the impact of the combination with Optium on our results of operations.
Pending Sale of Network Performance Test System Business
Historically, we have offered our line of network performance test systems through our Network Tools Division. On July 8, 2009, we entered into an agreement to sell substantially all of the assets of the Network Tools Division (excluding accounts receivable and payable) to JDS Uniphase Corporation (“JDSU”) for $40.6 million in cash. JDSU will assume certain liabilities associated with the network performance test equipment business, and we will provide manufacturing support services to JDSU during a transition period. The sale is expected to be completed on or about July 15, 2009.
On July 9, 2009, the Company announced that it had commenced separate concurrent “Modified Dutch Auction” tender offers (each an “Exchange Offer” and together, the “Exchange Offers”) to exchange shares of its common stock and cash for an aggregate of up to $95 million principal amount of the following series of its outstanding convertible notes (the “Notes”):
2.50% Convertible Subordinated Notes due 2010 (the “Subordinated Notes”); and
2.50% Convertible Senior Subordinated Notes due 2010 (the “Senior Subordinated Notes”)
The Company is conducting the Exchange Offers in order to reduce the aggregate principal amount of its outstanding indebtedness. As of July 9, 2009, approximately $50 million aggregate principal amount of the Subordinated Notes and approximately $92 million aggregate principal amount of the Senior Subordinated Notes were outstanding.
The Company is offering to exchange up to an aggregate of $37.5 million principal amount, or 75%, of the outstanding Subordinated Notes. The Company will also exchange up to an aggregate of $57.5 million principal amount, or 62.5%, of the outstanding Senior Subordinated Notes, with such Exchange Offer being conditioned on a minimum of $42 million principal amount of Senior Subordinated Notes being validly tendered and not withdrawn.
For each $1,000 principal amount of Notes, tendering holders will receive consideration with a value not greater than $750 nor less than $700 (the “Exchange Consideration”), with such value determined by a “Modified Dutch Auction” procedure, plus accrued and unpaid interest to, but excluding, the settlement date, payable in cash. A separate “Modified Dutch Auction” procedure will be conducted for each of the Exchange Offers. A “Modified Dutch Auction” tender offer allows holders of the Notes to indicate the principal amount of Notes that such holders desire to tender and the consideration within the specified range at which they wish to tender such Notes for each Exchange Offer. The mix of Exchange Consideration will consist of (i) $525 in cash, and (ii) a number of shares of common stock with a value equal to the Exchange Consideration minus $525 (the “Equity Consideration”). The number of shares of common stock representing the Equity Consideration to be received by holders as part of the Exchange Consideration will be determined on the basis of the trading price of the common stock during a 5-trading day VWAP period (the “5-day VWAP”) starting on July 13 and ending on July 17, 2009, as further described in a Schedule TO (including the Offer to Exchange and related Letter of Transmittal attached as exhibits thereto) filed by Finisar with the Securities and Exchange Commission (the “SEC”) on July 9, 2009.
The portion of the Exchange Consideration consisting of cash will be paid using a portion of the approximately $40.6 million in aggregate proceeds to be received from the sale of the Company’s Network Tools Division, expected to be consummated on or about July 15, 2009, and with available cash and borrowings.
The Exchange Offers are scheduled to expire at 5:00 p.m., New York City time, on Thursday, August 6, 2009, unless they are extended. Tendered Notes may be withdrawn at any time on or prior to the expiration of the Exchange Offers.
Further information regarding the terms and conditions of the Exchange Offers is set forth in the Offer to Exchange, the Letter of Transmittal and related materials filed with the SEC. Amended Credit Facilities
We are a party to credit agreements with Silicon Valley Bank (the “SVB Agreements”) which provide, subject to certain restrictions and limitations, credit facilities up to $65 million, including $45 million under a secured revolving line of credit, $16 million under an accounts receivable purchase line of credit and $4 million under a credit line for standby letters of credit. Currently, we have no borrowings outstanding under any of these facilities, although borrowings available under the secured revolving line of credit are currently limited to $25 million based on financial covenants contained in the SVB Agreements. On July 8, 2009, the Company received a written commitment from Silicon Valley Bank to modify the Company’s existing credit facilities under the SVB Agreements in order to facilitate the Exchange Offers. Principal modifications include:
A reduction in the total size of the Company’s secured revolving line of credit from $45 million to $25 million; and
Revised covenants that permit the use of borrowings under the secured revolving line of credit for a portion of the Exchange Consideration in connection with the Exchange Offers and the use of up to an aggregate of $50 million of cash from all sources for that purpose.
Industry Background and Markets
Optical Subsystems and Components
Computer networks are frequently described in terms of the distance they span and by the hardware and software protocols used to transport and store data. The physical medium through which signals are best transmitted over these networks depends on the amount of data or bandwidth to be transmitted, expressed as gigabits per second, or Gbps, and the distance involved. Voice-grade copper wire can only support connections of about 1.2 miles without the use of repeaters to amplify the signal, whereas optical systems can carry signals in excess of 60 miles without further processing. Early computer networks had relatively limited performance requirements, short connection distances and low transmission speeds and, therefore, relied almost exclusively on copper wire as the medium of choice. At speeds of more than 1 Gbps, the ability of copper wire to transmit more than 300 meters is limited due to the loss of signal over distance as well as interference from external signal generating equipment. The proliferation of electronic commerce, communications and broadband entertainment has resulted in the digitization and accumulation of enormous amounts of data. Thus, while copper continues to be the primary medium used for delivering signals to the desktop, even at 1 Gbps, the need to quickly transmit, store and retrieve large blocks of data across networks in a cost-effective manner has increasingly required enterprises and service providers to use fiber optic technology to transmit data at higher speeds over greater distances and to expand the capacity, or bandwidth, of their networks.
A LAN typically consists of a group of computers and other devices that share the resources of one or more processors or servers within a small geographic area and are connected through the use of hubs (used for broadcasting data within a LAN), switches (used for sending data to a specific destination in a LAN) and routers (used as gateways to route data packets between two or more LANs or other large networks). In order to switch or route optical signals to their ultimate destination, they must first be converted to electrical signals which can be processed by the switch, router or other networking equipment and then retransmitted as optical signals to the next switching point or ending destination. As a result, data networking equipment typically contains multiple connection points, or ports, in which various types of transceivers or transponders are used to transmit and receive signals to and from other networking equipment over various distances using a variety of networking protocols.
LANs typically use the Ethernet protocol to transport data packets across the network at distances of up to 500 meters at speeds of 1 to 10 Gbps. Because most residential and business subscriber traffic begins and ends over Ethernet, it has become the de facto standard user interface for connecting to the public network. And, while Ethernet was originally developed as a data-oriented protocol, it has evolved to support a wide range of services including digital voice and video as well as data. In response to continually increasing bandwidth and performance requirements, the Gigabit Ethernet standard, which allows LANs to operate at 1 Gbps, was introduced in 1998. A 10 Gbps version of Ethernet, or 10GigE, was introduced in 2002. We expect that pre-standard products capable of transmitting at 40 to 100 Gbps for Ethernet applications will reach the market in late 2009, including 40 Gbps products used for server connectivity and 100 Gbps products for core switching applications. Standards-compliant versions of these products are expected to become available following the expected June 2010 ratification of the 802.3ba standard.
A SAN is a high-speed subnetwork embedded within a LAN where critical data stored on devices such as disk arrays, optical disks and tape backup devices is made available to all servers on the LAN thereby freeing the network servers to deliver business applications, increasing network capacity and improving response time. SANs were originally developed using the Fibre Channel protocol designed for storing and retrieving large blocks of data. A SAN based on the Fibre Channel protocol typically incorporates the use of file servers containing host-bus adapters, or HBAs, for accessing multiple storage devices through one or more switches, thereby creating multiple paths to that storage. The Fibre Channel interconnect protocol, operating at 1 Gbps, was introduced in 1995 to address the speed, distance and connectivity limitations of copper-based storage solutions using the Small Computer Interface, or SCSI, interface protocol while maintaining backward compatibility with the installed base of SCSI-based storage systems. Products for the Fibre Channel protocol capable of transmitting at data rates of 2, 4 and 8 Gbps are now being delivered and products capable of 16 Gbps are currently in development.
A number of new storage technologies have been introduced to lower the cost and complexity of deploying Fibre Channel-based storage networks. Since its introduction in 2003, small and medium size storage networks have been developed based on the Internet Small Computer System Interface protocol, or iSCSI. Other solutions designed to reduce the cost of storage networks allow for the direct attachment of storage systems to the network without requiring a host, also known as Network Attached Storage, or NAS. In 2007, the Fibre Channel over Ethernet standard, or FCoE, was introduced which enables Fibre Channel data packets to be encapsulated within Enhanced Ethernet frames. This standard utilizes the additional bandwidth created at transmission speeds of 10 Gbps and higher to combine different types of data traffic for storage (Fibre Channel), LAN traffic (TCP/IP) and various server clustering protocols (Infiniband) that previously required their own separate infrastructure within a data center. As a result, FCoE will enable the creation of a single converged network within a data center, rather than two or three networks as previously required. Since a single server will be able to use a single network interface card to accommodate the various types of traffic in FCoE-based networks, the number of cables and connections in such a network can be reduced with fewer, but higher-speed connections. In addition, the FCoE protocol will be able to utilize Ethernet-based technology currently under development for transmitting signals at speeds of 40 and 100 Gbps.
Due to the cost effectiveness of the optical technologies involved, transceivers for both LANs and SANs have been developed using vertical cavity surface emitting lasers, or VCSELs, to transmit and receive signals at the 850 nanometer, or nm, wavelength over relatively short distances through multi-mode fiber. Most LANs and SANs operating today at 1, 2, 4 and 8 Gbps over distances of up to 70 meters, incorporate this VCSEL technology. The same technology is now being employed to build FCoE and iSCSI-based LANs and SANs operating at 10 Gbps.
A new market has emerged in recent years for the use of parallel optics technologies for high-capacity interconnects used in telecommunications applications to connect core IP routers and in the datacenter to interconnect SANs and servers and for high-performance computing clusters. This technology makes use of an array of lasers and photodetectors instead of using just one per transceiver to boost the amount of data that can be transmitted over a single fiber over very short distances. Optical interconnects provide for an attractive alternative to bulky copper cables as data rate and port densities increase allowing for fewer connections. Like the transceivers used for LANs and SANs, parallel optical solutions rely primarily on the use of VCSEL technology. A variation of parallel optics technology called active optical cable, or AOC, was introduced by several vendors in late 2007. These products eliminate the use of fiber connectors used in other parallel optical modules by bonding the fibers directly to the optical subassembly. According to industry analyst Lightcounting, demand for AOCs is expected to equal or exceed demand for other parallel optical solutions by 2012.
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- Urgent Action: Illegal arrest of Priest and 22 members of Honduran National Resistance Front
- Article: THE AGUA ZARCA DAM: How the World Bank and Central American Bank for Economic Integration are Profiting from the Looting of Indigenous Lenca Territory
At 9:30pm, Saturday May 11, three heavily armed men assassinated Jose Omar Perez Menjivar, the 37 year-old president of the Los Laureles community business, in the Concepcion settlement, that belongs to the Unified Campesino Movement of Aguan (MUCA), as he was returning from his mother-in-law's house, in the company of his wife, in the Laureles neighborhood of Tocoa, Colon .
A comprehensive article, by Annie Bird, about the intersection between “development” projects funded by the World Bank, and repression carried out by U.S.-supported regimes - and directly by U.S. military involvement - in Guatemala and Honduras.
1. HONDURAN DEATH SQUAD MURDERS IN AGUAN VALLEY : Reflections On Rights Action Report
2. SIGN-ON LETTER TO WORLD BANK: World Bank Loans Linked To Murders In Aguan Valley
THE “GIFT” OF THE HONDURAN MILITARY COUP THAT KEEPS ON GIVING: Honduras’ exceedingly high levels of violence and State repression, corruption and impunity are rooted in the June 2009 military coup that has been legitimized and supported by the U.S. and Canada. There are no signs that this repression, violence, corruption and impunity will decrease, even as a majority of Hondurans courageously support the LIBRE political party that will participate in the September 2013 presidential elections … in a hope of putting an end to their nightmare.
Today several Non-Governmental Organisations (NGOs) condemned a statement by the World Bank’s International Finance Corporation, IFC which defends the record of a Honduran palm oil company, Grupo Dinant, implicated in dozens of murders as well as other human rights abuses. The IFC statement explicitly admits to supporting training for the company’s armed security guards.
Assistant Secretary of State William Brownfield succumbed to a fit of honesty earlier this month: "When the drug war turns bloody, he said, the strategy is working," journalist Martha Mendoza reported. By Brownfield's standards, the strategy has been an enormous success.
An excellent article about how profoundly messed up the political situation is in Honduras, completely supported by the USA. [Canada is the other country playing a completely complicit role of legitimizing the illegitimate in Honduras). This is and remains a people’s struggle in Honduras and also in the USA and Canada, given the terrible role of our governments and certain business and investors interests (mining, sweatshops, tourism, etc).
Today is the 3rd anniversary of the military coup in Honduras (effectively supported and legitimized by the governments of Canada and the U.S.), that ousted the democratically elected government of Honduras, and brought back to power the elite oligarchic sectors, supported by the military.
An article regarding the AfGJ / Rights Action delegation that went to La Moskitia to investigate the May 11th DEA massacre in Ahuas, Honduras.
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January Teacher of the Month | VideoEvan Kruegel | 1/2/2013
School District 8 had a 27 percent enrollment increase this year, but Thomas`s class is relatively small. As a first year teacher, this works to her advantage as she`s able to focus on the specific needs of each student.
"It makes it easier for the students too. We work better together when there are less of us, and we don`t have as many issues arise, so it makes it a lot easier than if I had twenty five students,” she said.
Being a teacher at a small school comes with added responsibilities. She arrives more than an hour before class starts and stays at school well after her students head home.
"I do P.E, I do art, the teachers do recess duties. So we have a lot of responsibility, but it`s fun. They`re a great class and they definitely keep me busy."
For her students, coming to school is an enjoyable experience.
"We get to do fun work and lots of activities”, said Dalyn Peterson.
While it`s not an easy job, it`s been a great experience thus far for Ms. Thomas. "I love my job. I work hard at it. It`s my hobby, and it`s my life. I just love it. Everything I do is for these kids."
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- Art Journaling Fast and Easy - yes it is Review by Janene Ford
Pam is a very good instructor. I have friends who have taken her workshops in person, and now I know why they speak so highly of her. She explains her materials, and techniques well. Her demonstrations are easy to follow, and I feel like I've learned a lot just by watching this. I recommend it highly for anyone wanting to be inspired and receive top notch instruction in art journaling.
(Posted on 9/5/12)
- Art Journaling Fast & Easy Review by Sean Murphy
I love the DVDs that CPS produces. This DVD is my favorite. Pam Carriker's teaching style is so easy to follow. She shares so many techniques to try. Her casual approach is so easy to follow and so much fun. This DVD is a great value for your money. I can't wait for DVD number two, there will be one, right? She is a great teacher!
(Posted on 6/6/12)
- Great Instructional Video Review by Daniela Mellen
Pam Carriker has a very informative instructional video for art journaling. She emphasizes the process of creating and demonstrates background pages, transfer techniques, lettering and shading. I was most impressed that she chose a few techniques and taught them thoroughly, giving a well researched demonstration. I feel like I learned so much in 60 minutes. She packs a lot of information into each segment. She explains how to use previously made artwork (or copyright free artwork) in multiple ways which increases each artists inventory and tool kit.
(Posted on 2/24/12)
- Art Jounaling Fast & Easy Review by NULL NULL
I recently purchased Art Journaling Fast & Easy, this is a fantastic and inspiring DVD. Pam is very thorough in covering every aspect from beginning to end of creating depth, color, layer, and unique techniques to make wonderful backgrounds for art journal pages. Whether you are a beginner or an experienced artist there is something for everyone. Pam's teaching style is very friendly and approachable. Her techniques really are fast and easy and they produce beautiful results. If you can't take a live class, this is the next best thing, very affordable and packed with information to make your projects stand out. Thanks Pam and Interweave for offering such an exciting and quality product.
(Posted on 2/4/12)
- Packed full of techniques!! Review by NANCY PATTERSON
This DVD has become one of my favorites to go and watch again and again. It is chock full of great and different techniques to make into a journal page or create a full journal using her large sheet process. I also enjoyed how she instructed how to use various materials for printing...what to buy--and how to use these materials in a different way. Pam is a clear to understand and doesn't move too fast and skip through steps. She is a very excellent teacher and this video shows her stills. I would buy any video she makes! Thank you so much!
(Posted on 1/22/12)
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From the article I can see that he is concerned about the situation, but his vision is limited by North American individualism, an overemphasis on works of charity, and as well as by the approach of thinking we North Americans have the solution.
Some might called this approach apolitical but it is highly political because it accepts the situation of sin and only tries to alleviate the symptoms. It reflects what I consider a type of blindness.
The situation in Honduras is sinful.
About 66.2 percent of the population lives in poverty – 21 percent in relative poverty and 45.2 percent in extreme poverty.
Eight out of ten campesino [small country farmer] families own no land or less than ten acres of land, mostly on hill sides. In contrast, 1% of agricultural producers own a third of the cultivable land, mostly in valleys.
Only about 33% of the children go past sixth grade.
Yet there are major concessions offered to businesses. The mining industry only pays about 1% in taxes. They and the owners of franchises like McDonald’s and Wendy’s receive major tax breaks and business incentives.
There is blame because there is injustice. One does not waste time by pointing out injustices if one is also seeking to transform the unjust situation. In fact, to ignore the injustice and just help individuals might ensure the continuation of the injustice.
I believe one must be involved in support of structural transformation as well direct contact with the poor, assisting them in need. Thus while I volunteer with Caritas of the diocese of Santa Rosa and support its efforts at transformation through its political formation programs that empower people, I also help a bit at the lunch program for kids in Santa Rosa founded by the bishop.
Giving isn’t enough; empowering people isn’t enough; working for structural changes alone isn’t enough. It’s a question of transformation – from the personal level to the structural level. It’s a question of love – personal and social – translated into deeds and structures.
Some years ago, the recently deceased retired bishop of Chiapas, Mexico, Samuel Ruíz explained it well.
It’s a very well known saying that if someone offers you a fish, you don’t take it. You ask him to teach you how to fish.
So, Pedro learns how to fish. He goes to the store and he says, “I want to buy a net and I want to buy a hook,” And the owner of the store says, “Uh, what’s going on here, Pedro? You learned how to fish?”
He says, “Yeah, I learned how to fish.” Then the owner says to him, “OK, but what you didn’t know is you have to sell me a portion of your fish.” And Pedro says, “OK,” and he goes out and starts fishing.
He’s on the edge of the lake and soon he feels somebody tapping on his shoulder and somebody is standing there, telling him, “What’s going on here? You can’t be fishing here. This is private land.” And so they push him off.
Pedro has been given a skill, but that’s not enough. You can work on the “development” of the individual person, but the other half of that is working on the structural injustices.
The only question at the end of our lives is about entering the Reign of God: the reign prepared for those who visited the least of their sisters and brothers in jail and who fed them when they were hungry, the reign which those who reject the poor will not enter.
So the ultimate question is not a question of orthodoxy [right belief] but of orthopraxy [right practice]. The final question is not was I right or wrong but did I love my sisters and brothers or not. Whether I was loving my brothers or sisters or not — that is the only question.
(The quote from Bishop Ruíz was taken from the Catholic Peace Ministry Newsletter, June 2000)
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(The anti-Islam film has…)
MUMBAI: While the Centre's Computer Emergency Response Team (CERT) has blocked 10 videos of the controversial movie, Innocence of Muslims, on YouTube, cops are worried about new videos surfacing on the internet.
The anti-Islam film has triggered angry demonstrations around the world and the Mumbai police booked the film's director, producer and other crew members for creating hatred between communities last week.
"We had identified as much 10 videos on YouTube and sent a request to the CERT to block them. These videos were blocked and we are still searching for other videos that may create law and order problems," said a police officer .
While two clips of the film can still be found on a popular video-sharing website, links to the film's footage can be seen in news reports uploaded on websites. A cyber crime team is working to trace such websites. "We cannot block these videos since their servers are not in India. However, we want to search all such stuff on the internet and send a request to CERT to block them," said a police source.
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Chain saws will start buzzing Monday on San Leandro Boulevard to begin removing trees. One lane of traffic could also be closed during the week that the work gets done, according to the City Manager's report.
The tree removal is the first visible step in a project to make the front of the Downtown BART Station between Davis Street and Williams Street more pedestrian-friendly.
This project involves streetscape improvements along San Leandro Boulevard between Davis Street and Williams Street, and will include the following:
- installation of on-street parking and a landscaped median;
- sidewalk reconstruction to provide wider walkways, added landscaping,
- new street lights, and sidewalk bulb-outs with enhanced crosswalk paving; installation of a new traffic signal at the intersection with Parrott Street;
- and accessibility upgrades to the intersections with Davis Street, West Juana Avenue.
The City Council awarded the construction contract to Gallagher and Burk on November 19, 2012 (see bid worksheet).
Fifty trees that are in conflict with the planned improvements will be removed and replaced with 99 trees at the completion of the work.
The contractor is required to complete tree removal work by January 31, 2013. Completing this work at this time, before the start of the nesting season, is required to avoid potential conflicts with nesting migratory birds that are protected under the Migratory Bird Treaty Act.
This work should be completed in less than a week, and will involve the temporary closure of a single outside traffic lane.
After the removal work, there will be a break in construction activity until the end of the rainy season.
The main project construction is scheduled to start on March 1, 2013 and extend through November 2013.
A public meeting will be held in mid-February to notify the public of the main construction project and the traffic and pedestrian impacts.
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Why do companies like Toblerone or Pepperidge Farm bother having websites? As if people are going to say to themselves, “Gee, I wish I knew more about Milano cookies. I know! I’ll go to their site!” Just a thought.
Many people have talked over the years about the gap between the amount of time that people spend online (which is large) and the percentage of marketing budgets that is committed to digital (not so large). Digital analyst Mary Meeker has estimated that this gap is worth about $50 billion globally (and that was a couple of years ago). I think that the reason for this can probably best be encapsulated by the quote at the start of this post, which is, if you’re interested, a quote from one of the characters in Douglas Coupland’s (excellent) novel jPod.
Essentially, the character is vocalising the problem that many brands, particularly the fast-moving consumer goods (FMCG) ones that have historically been amongst the heaviest spenders on TV, have had advertising online when. After all, they don’t sell anything directly to consumers (as opposed to sectors such as finance and telecoms, that moved spend into digital relatively quickly). Despite this, most brands created websites, such as the ones mentioned above. But the shift into digital was often rather tentative.
Facebook Entices Big Brand Marketers Online
Facebook has changed this for many, as it’s not really about “selling things,” but is closer to TV in how it pitches itself to clients, concentrating on awareness and consideration. And, for this reason, as well as its sheer scale and its undoubted effectiveness, many of the brands that were slow to shift budgets online are now putting large amounts into building, managing and promoting Facebook pages.
I was reminded of this during a panel I sat on at a conference recently, where the head of a local digital agency said that he would advise clients not to invest in websites, but instead concentrate on Facebook commerce and mobile. His reasoning? Fish where the fish are.
As I’ve said, there’s no arguing with Facebook’s reach (which, in most developed markets, dwarfs all but the biggest TV shows), or its effectiveness — at some things. Because, as many people have pointed out, a social network isn’t necessarily the best place to sell things, as evidenced by the number of retailers who have closed or curtailed their Facebook stores.
Make It Happen On Your Own Site
What seems to work better is when the brands build social into their own ecommerce platforms, as Levis have done (though the fact that the most ‘liked’ jeans are 501s is unlikely to surprise anyone).
Now, as I said at the start, one of the problems for many FMCG brands, when it comes to justifying investment into digital media, is that they don’t actually sell direct to consumers, so whether or not fCommerce works or not shouldn’t matter. But thinking about this, and the comment “fish where the fish are” made me think of another hackneyed phrase — don’t put all your eggs in one basket.
You Don’t Really Own What You Do On Facebook
When brand owners talk about Facebook, they often do so as part of their owned media strategy. But it’s important to remember that, unlike a hosted website, brands don’t own their presence on Facebook, they only lease it. And the landlord can change the T&Cs any time they want.
For example Facebook has just killed the old brand page templates, as it shifts everything on to the Timelines — the change has positives and negatives, but importantly, brands don’t get to decide whether they want to move. It’s mandatory.
And whilst Facebook is, as I’ve said, second to none when it comes to reaching large numbers of people, it only works in a certain way. Getting a “like” doesn’t give you the same level of access as a website registration or email. Also, and this isn’t unprecedented, those large numbers of people could up and leave, moving to some other new network or platform. Back in 2008, 7% of all time spent online in the US was on MySpace. Now? Not so much.
Facebook Isn’t Likely Going Anywhere, And Yet…
I wouldn’t want this post to be read as an attack on Facebook, or a suggestion that its about to lose its user base (the way it has used the Open Graph to become the default log-in for a massive number of consumers should prevent that from happening). But we also shouldn’t be blind to the fact that large-scale investment into Facebook as a brand’s primary home is equivalent to paying rent rather than a mortgage.
Facebook has a massive role to play in most brand’s communications strategies, but ditching your website is almost certainly a step too far.
Opinions expressed in the article are those of the guest author and not necessarily Marketing Land.
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Amul has this art of coming up with print ads for every occasion. Something similar to the google doodles only that this one started much earlier.
Ha finally! Though I refrained from posting on this topic for a long time, this one got the better of me. There is a post doing rounds on the FB page which reads
“In 1982, In Singapore, LOKPAL BILL was implemented and 142 Corrupt Ministers & Officers were arrested in one single day.. Today Singapore has only 1% poor people & no taxes are paid by the people to the government, 92% Literacy Rate, Better Medical Facilities, Cheaper Prices, 90% Money is white & Only 1% Unemployment exists..
Re Post this if you want to live in a corruption free country.. Spread this like FIRE..”
Wow!! all these people spreading fire. For Gods sake READ what you are posting. No taxes??? what goddamn country on earth (or even mars for that matter) does that? Has history any record of such a king, province, country?
And this from people who are on a quest to know the “TRUTH”. What is your definition of poor? From the official Singapore website the resident unemployment rate is 3.1%. And mind you the unemployment benefits in Singapore are very very low. To be poor is your own mistake in the state. Public welfare is looked down upon. And there is something called as demographics. Pls google it if you don’t understand what it means. And no single change can claim to get India into that league unless there is strong will in the top bureaucrats as well as the people.Neither seem to have that in India. (Pls shouting slogans and clicking on FB buttons does not count). There is something called as CPIB in Singapore though which fights against corruption. This comes under the charge of Singapore PM’s office. It was set up in 1952 and not 1982 and there is no record of 142 arrests in a single day.
Like every other Indian, I was glad too when I heard about this movement, Anna and the Janlok Pal Bill the first time. I did support the cause but as things progressed and I looked into details the mass hysteria just doesn’t make sense to me. With all due respects to Anna, your methods are undemocratic! We know the current government’s sad state and we want solutions and not a new road to chaos. We want to remove corruption and not “remove the current corrupt so that new ones can take on the reins of corruption”. I am not cynical here just trying to be pragmatic. I know no single solution/law/method can be perfect and that is exactly why I don’t want one single entity taking over and trying to solve all our problems.
Even for a moment I assume the bill is justified and the blackmailing is required to get the current government move its a$$ and get working in this case, I don’t know what else will become justified. If this is how things start getting done and this is the example we set we can’t even predict the results. It is going to be complete chaos. Lets have some method to our madness…
I want corruption removed too, want to contribute to society too and I believe living in a democratic country entitles me to voice my opinion. Not allowing dissenting voices is not just undemocratic, it is arrogance. Your intent is noble but pls understand that change will be gradual and needs to happen at all levels and many more steps need to be taken to get there. There is no magic wand that can do away the curse of corruption on our country. But we are all empowered to bring about that change. Lets use the power and use it judiciously…
check out whole lot day 1-5. Amazing pics and places.
British Columbia is beautifully captured
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ENERGY STAR Plant Profile
300 Nissan Drive
Canton, MS 39046
Nissan was the first auto manufacturer to locate in the state of Mississippi. The Canton Plant was built in 2002, with production starting in 2003. The plant is nearly four million square feet and has a production capacity of over 300,000 vehicles per year. With two assembly lines, the plant currently manufactures Nissan's Altima passenger car, Armada SUV, and the Titan truck. In 2011 the Canton plant will begin producing the all new NV2500 commercial vehicle.
Nissan became an ENERGY STAR� Partner in 2006. Within the same year, the Canton plant focused on energy efficiency by establishing cross-functional energy management teams. These teams started looking into ways Nissan could help reduce energy consumption with a concentration on energy waste reduction and elimination. In 2007 the Canton plant put in sub metering to allow measurement and management of the electrical power usage. In January 2010 the plant received an energy reduction grant through the state of Mississippi, which allowed it to implement energy saving projects that will eliminate over 6,000 metric tons of CO2 per year and reduce energy consumption by over 70,000 MMBTU per year. That is equivalent to the energy used in 511 homes.
The Canton plant was first labeled in 2006. Since 2006 the plant has reduced its overall energy usage by over 30% and its energy intensity by over 7%.
2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012
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Fujitsu offloads chipmaking to Taiwan
Apes Intel, AMD with TSMC tie-up
Updated Fujitsu has joined the parade of chip-design firms that are passing off all or part of their manufacturing to the giant Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC).
The Japanese megaconglomerate is struggling to put its financial house in order. Earlier this month, for example, it cut contractors' pay by 15 percent. And on Thursday, it announced that it would further cut costs by outsourcing its system chips to TSMC and working with that company to design next-generation chips.
In a related financial realignment, Fujitsu also put the finishing touches on the deal to sell its hard-drive business to Toshiba, announced this February, putting a price of ¥30bn (£205m, $304m) on it and saying that it will be completed by July.
The acquisition of Fujitsu's hard drive division by Toshiba is just the latest in a string of consolidations in that industry. Witness Hitachi absorbing IBM's drive business in 2002 and Seagate glomming onto Maxtor in 2005, for example.
By outsourcing its chip-making to TSMC, Fujistu is in good company. The world's largest chip fabricator is building 40nm graphics chips for AMD and working with Intel on a low-power system on chip (SoC) for mobile devices, based on Chipzilla's Atom processor.
TSMC can use the business. In its financial report for the first quarter of 2009, also released on Thursday, the company said that its net profit of NT$1.56bn (£47m, $32m) was down 94.5 per cent from the same period a year ago, when it earned NT$28.14bn (£572m, $847m).
Alhough those may sound like bleak numbers, they were better than the company had projected earlier. Back in January, TSMC said that it thought that they'd lose money in their first quarter. Instead, the company managed to not only break even, but to make a profit. A small one, to be sure, but any black ink is to be preferred over red. Money-losing AMD should be so lucky.
In fact, TSMC vice chairman F.C. Tseng was positively perky when he recently said that he expects the global semiconductor business to shrink only 20 per cent in 2009 and not the 30 per cent that TSMC CEO Rick Tsai had predicted earlier this year.
And that's the Meltdown. A time when a nearly 95 percent drop in profit and a 20 per cent drop in global sales can be regarded as good news.
And a time when companies such as Fujitsu are busily positioning themselves for the hopefully inevitable day when the clouds finally lift. ®
On Thursday, Fujitsu also reported its financial results for its 2008 fiscal year ending on March 30, 2009. Its sagging numbers underscore why it's cutting costs and outsourcing its manufacturing.
The company's net sales for 2008 were ¥4,693bn (£32.2bn, $47.6bn), down from ¥5,330bn (£36.7bn, $54.1bn) in 2007 - a decrease of 12 per cent. Net income nosedived from a profit in 2007 of ¥48bn (£329m, $487m) to a net loss in 2008 of ¥112bn (£771m, $1,140m).
On the plus side, Fujitsu's cash reserves of ¥528bn (£3.6bn, $5.4bn) dipped only slightly from 2007. More importantly, the company concludes that it has hit bottom and will rebound in fiscal 2009 - although only marginally - with projected net sales this year of ¥4,800bn (£32.9bn, $48.6bn) and a net income of ¥20bn (£137m, $203m).
Yeah I heard that from our HP rep
Where is Matt Bryant? What is his excuse for Tukwila being a year late and Intel taking 3 months to admit it would even be late?
HP has chip designers
HP has to invest in the SX2000 chipset to support Itanic and the new windjammer chipset to support Tukwila . What most people don't realize is Tukwila is late because HP had problems with Windjammer. You dont bring out a new chip when your 95%+ marketshare partner does not have the chipset chip working and Nehalem kills it in the entry space. Intel took the opportunity to add DDR3 memory to Tukwila and the blame for being late. How nice of them.
SGI is gone from the Itanic market. Unisys will not do Tukwila. That leaves Group Bull, Hitachi and Fujitsu who have never sold enough units to justify the expense so I would expect them to not have Tukwila system either.
Re: Are you a bot?
Probably just Matt waiting in his bedroom for Sun related articles so he can leap in with HP FUD!
Sun have used TI for years so there's no reason why Fujitsu shouldn't do similar & have lower (shared) foundry costs to get higher profits on chips made. AMD are doing the same with GlobalFoundries spinoff, hoping someone else leaps in, I think IBM may be in with them already.
As comparison HP sold off their entire chip designers in 2004 to Intel, they don't even design any more let alone spin out the FAB to a third party, getting close to Dells model as an assembler.
When you own the OS you own anything that wants to run it
Oracle has Fujitsu by the balls and they know it. Sun's mismanagement is being replace by Oracles profit engine. A big portion of that $1.5B in profit the first year is coming from Fujitsu.
is the chinese government, annexing every last inch of soil and beyond...
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Google Executive Chairman Eric Schmidt uses a BlackBerry! May be too surprising, but it's true.
"I am a BlackBerry user. I like the keyboard of BlackBerry," said Schmidt answering some rapid-fire questions from the Editor of a British daily at Google's Big Tent--a forum to discuss
Internet and its impact on economy, governance etc.
BlackBerry is a technology rival of Google's operating system Android-- an open software-- which is used in many makes of smartphones, like Samsung Galaxy.
BlackBerry's operating system is BlackBerry OS.
Schmidt also categorically said there isn't any plan to converge Android and Web browser Chrome and Apps divisions.
"No is the answer, we don't make decisions based on who the leader is, we make decisions based on where the technology takes us," he said when asked if the three will be merged.
Nearly a week ago, Indian-origin Sunder Pichai, head of Chrome and Apps, had taken the charge of Android as well.
"...there can be more commonality for sure (between Android and Chrome) but they surely be remain separate for a very long time because they are so different products," Schmidt said.
40-year-old Pichai, an IIT-Kharagpur alumnus, has replaced Andy Rubin, the man behind the success of Google's Android division.
Rubin stepped down as the executive in charge of Google's Android operating system for smartphones and tablet computers, ending a seven-year stint.
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Marcos- Talk about progress in leaps and bounds, which is exactly how Marcos reacts when he is excited! Marcos has made great progress in just the last 2 years. He has learned to eat and communicate. He can now use complete sentences, with prompting, and LOVES to eat. He really gets excited about going out to restaurants. Marcos is part of a committed support system. He learns from his older siblings and by following their speech and behavior. He minds ‘pretty well’, according to his foster mother. She may have to prompt him more than once, but still gets tickled when he imitates her “stern” voice. Marcos understands he can be a charming fellow. He will let you know when he is upset about something, but is making progress in expressing himself more appropriately. He responds well to rewards and positive reinforcement. If you have a sticker, he has the time! Marcos really likes to watch cartoons of almost any kind and his favorites are his cartoon movies. He can repeat the whole movie and even imitate their movements. Marcos also enjoys going out to movies and will talk along with them as well. He plays with action figures of any kind, but one of his best pals is his stuffed frog. Marcos is not afraid of physical activity and looks forward to the family’s nightly walks. He is very observant and will notice if they take a different direction. Marcos also enjoys going to church with his family and does very well during services. He is often inspired and actively participates in church services. Marcos is an affectionate child and likes hugs and kisses. He participates is a specialized program at his school and is making great strides with phonetic reading. This last year has shown his greatest improvement. Marcos’ family will need to develop a daily routine. This is very important with minimal changes and Marcos may require a lot of preparation when big changes are coming. He has an excellent memory so follow through is especially important. He loves to be loved and will return affection happily. In the last year he has demonstrated just a small part of his promise and potential, with the right team he could go GOLD!
To adopt Marcos or any other child with special needs, please contact Adopt America Network at 1-800-246-1731 or email us. We’re waiting to hear from you.
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Earlier this month, Will Oremus of Slate suggested that those who didn't monitor Twitter during presidential debates were missing half the show.
With coverage of The Storm Formerly Known As Sandy (TSFKAS), the percentages have shifted -- maybe permanently. If you watched the storm's arrival last night just on TV, at any given time, you missed most of the story.
At 10 p.m. Central time, most coverage on local channels and networks consisted of one soggy reporter standing on a balcony or a beach, stammering against the wind for long minutes. As many of us wondered, "Why aren't you telling us this from inside?" most of these reporters made painfully clear they had little information beyond what they could see. And they provided a woefully inadequate perspective on the storm's enormity.
Meanwhile -- in less than half a minute -- Twitter users could scan continuously updated, intensely dense coverage that approached omnipotence.
3 Twitter lessons learned from TSFKAS:
1. The more people you follow on Twitter, the more comprehensive your coverage. Unlike Facebook -- where you might want to limit your circle of friends to ensure you get high-relevance information-- the more populous the list of those you follow on Twitter, the more varied and textured your breaking-news intel.
2. As the Chicago Tribune's Scott Kleinberg explains, Twitter lends itself to quickly propagated (but also quickly debunked) scams and falsehoods -- including fake photos. So choose your Twitter contacts with an eye toward credibility.
3. Twitter can be a lifeline in a disaster. T.J. Ortenzi of the Washington Post spells out how: "If you lose cable, broadcast signal and Internet, you can still receive tweets about the storm -- even if you don't have a Twitter account."
* The Onion: "Misinformed Man Riding Out Storm In Bathtub Filled With Batteries"
What's this mean for broadcast news?
It's tough to compare TV and Twitter and not conclude that, to remain relevant, TV has to do a lot more than just send one reporter in a raincoat to the beach.
Get this blog by email.
Sign up in the upper righthand corner of this page.
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Hillsborough County, on Florida's west coast, is part of an area known as "sinkhole alley" that accounts for two-thirds of the sinkhole-related insurance claims in the state, according to a Florida state Senate Insurance and Banking Committee report.
A sinkhole opened up Monday afternoon about three miles from the Bush home. The hole was between two houses, one of them vacant, and caused no structural damage, Hillsborough County Fire Rescue said.
The hole measures 12 feet across and four to five feet deep, said Puz, the county spokesman. He said there is no reason to believe the holes are related.
'So many memories'
The crater that suddenly caved under the Bush house devastated a family that had lived there for generations.
After officials called off the search for his brother's body, Jeremy Bush told Bay News 9 the family was despondent.
"It's not just I lost my brother. There are so many memories in this house," he told the CNN affiliate. "My wife and her brother and the whole family.
"Every holiday, we gathered at this house. Her grandmother passed away. All the stuff to remember her by is in this house, and we're losing it all. You can't replace that. You can't replace a life being gone."
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The first day of the new year always represents the potential for profound renewal—a new cycle in relationship to the passing of time, a precious moment in which many of us feel we are getting a chance to start over. And for most of us, that chance is usually connected to our highest aspirations, to important projects we had wanted to accomplish, and to the many ways we intend to improve ourselves. The new year represents that moment when we renew our desire to evolve.
The powerful experience of inspiration that many of us feel at the beginning of a new year is the recognition that we really can do something that we hadn’t believed possible before—that we are capable of breaking through to higher ground and reaching previously unimaginable levels of our own potential. Indeed, the uplifting experience of inspiration that we feel in those moments is the thrilling sense that anything is possible. That feeling of inspiration is a taste of spiritual freedom, because within it we experience liberation from any habitual sense of limitation.
Many of us, for many reasons—founded and unfounded—tend to be doubtful about the possibility of change, not only in ourselves, but in the world at large. Most of us are accustomed to living with an unconscious conviction that “it’s not possible” or “I just don’t have what it takes.” And we are all struggling with the great challenges of our time—the economic crisis, climate change, and continued conflict in the world.
So on a day like New Year’s Day—a day of renewal when many of us, at least for a few moments, light up with a sense of inspiration—the cloud of self doubt and the cultural climate of cynicism momentarily fade into the background. We find ourselves temporarily filled with a lightness of being, a tangible conviction that it really is possible to change. We are in touch with an indomitable intention to catalyze change in ourselves and in the world around us. When we are awake to this powerful creative possibility, it connects us to that boundless energy source that has enabled human beings historically to move mountains.
When you or I feel this kind of inspiration, it’s not just a personal experience we are having. In those moments, we are awakening to something much bigger and more profound. It’s actually the tangible, felt, human experience of the energy and intelligence that created the universe and that is driving the evolutionary process right now.
To see this for yourself, just stand back and bear witness to the majesty of that evolutionary process as a whole—the miracle that emerged from nothing in a burst of light and energy 14 billion years ago. See the glory and inconceivable creative power of this cosmic process that ultimately gave rise to the conditions that made it possible for you to have the experience you are having in this very moment. And then pay attention to the experience of being alive when you step this far outside the normal narrow sphere of your daily awareness.
Realize the enormity of what it means to exist from this expanded perspective. What you will notice is that inherent in the vastness of it all is a powerful driving urgency. That urgency is the felt sense that the entire creative process is moving. It’s going somewhere all the time.
When you or I are in touch with the unrestricted potential, the infinite possibility of evolutionary inspiration, we are tapping into the creative source of the entire cosmos. The reason this is so significant is that when you directly experience this tremendous energy, you realize its profound positivity. In those moments you are free from crippling self-doubt and the long shadow of cynicism, because you are experiencing the overwhelming positivity that is the very nature of existence itself.
When we embrace this evolutionary worldview, we come to see that our personal existence is not separate from a vast creative unfolding that is definitely trying to go somewhere. We recognize that what we experience as inspiration is in fact that same cosmic energy and intelligence aspiring to evolve and renew itself through us, as us. So the experience of inspiration that we feel on days like today is very important because of what it can reveal to us about the nature of life itself, and what it can reveal to us about our potential to be liberated, deeply creative, engaged human beings.
But to actualize this potential, we have to have the courage to trust what becomes apparent to us when we are awake to this kind of inspiration. It’s important to recognize that no matter what appears to be happening in our challenging and often-confusing personal lives and the fast-changing world around us, the transformative presence of inspiration awakens us to a deeper and more fundamental truth about the nature of reality.
Even if we find ourselves in very difficult times, it will still always be true that the power and energy that is animating the entire process is overwhelmingly positive. That does not mean that the personal or collective challenges we face are not real. But our relationship to these challenges changes when we recognize that the energy that is driving the process as a whole, which we individually experience as higher inspiration, is positive. Why? Because it means that to exist is good. Life itself, at its essence, is good. Remember, the entire process is in a state of continual becoming. It’s trying to get somewhere.
So on a day like today, the first day of the New Year, when you experience the thrill of renewal, realize that it is not merely a personal experience you are having. The universe is trying to evolve through you. The challenge, for most of us, is that we too easily forget that fact when we lose touch with the thrill of a new possibility.
So what I want to propose, as we begin the new year, is this: what would our lives be like if every day was like today? What if every day represented that sense of renewal? What if every day we were in touch with the sense of infinite creative potential and life-positive inspiration? I believe that to live an enlightened human life, these days, it is essential that we find the courage and conviction to live most days like that. And in order for that to actually become possible, we need to remain in touch with the deeper truth about the nature of reality that we’ve seen in our highest moments, no matter what our external circumstances may be.
Remember, when you are awake to the thrill of the possible—when you can see it, taste it, touch it—you no longer feel trapped in the mundane presence of the present, because you are now awake to the unmanifest potential of the future. You are always reaching beyond where you have already come. When your mystical heart has been opened to a profoundly creative context, you realize that to consciously exist—which is what it means to be enlightened—is to evolve, to be in a constant state of becoming, renewal, and creative inspiration.
So make this day every day. Then you will find the spiritual self-confidence that comes from being in touch with the infinite source of creative potential that lies at the heart of existence.
Download a free chapter from Andrew Cohen's book, Evolutionary Enlightenment: A New Path to Spiritual Awakening. Click here to download now.
Image: © chrisdorney - Fotolia.com
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My colleague Emma Brown has been looking closely at Chancellor Kaya Henderson’s plans to close one of every six traditional D.C. public schools.
In one piece, she cited activists who raised the possibility that the education system of our nation’s capital might, as a consequence of the downsizing, be split in two: Charter schools would rule the low-income neighborhoods, while regular public schools would thrive only in the affluent areas where achievement rates remain high.
This is not some wild nightmare. Education finance lawyer Mary Levy, a careful and longtime analyst of D.C. schools, said at one meeting: “What we are rapidly approaching is a [public school system] concentrated west of Rock Creek Park and perhaps around Capitol Hill, and a separate charter school system filled by lottery in most of the rest of the city.”
This is upsetting to many D.C. residents and people in the region who work or have lived in the city. But to some reformers, it is a great opportunity, a way to let parent choice energize the schools and give urban children more chances for success.
A leader of this disruption-is-good faction is Andy Smarick, a summa cum laude graduate of the University of Maryland who co-founded a charter school in Annapolis and has worked on education policy issues at the national and state levels. His new book, “The Urban School System of the Future: Applying the Principles and Lessons of Chartering,” explains why breaking urban school systems such as the District’s into pieces and putting them back together might bring progress that other efforts have not achieved.
As I interpret Smarick’s idea, Henderson could keep her title of D.C. schools chancellor but get a different and more powerful assignment. She would sit atop three separate entities, the old D.C. school system, the D.C. charters and a collection of private schools willing to meet certain achievement goals in return for some support. She would not run these schools, but would reward and punish those in charge. She would have the power to start new schools and close old ones.
Henderson would oversee what Smarick calls the five pillars of the new system: expanding and replicating schools proven to be effective, closing ineffective schools, starting promising new schools, ensuring a variety of school types and school authorizers, and making sure families have many choices.
If you don’t like charter schools, you won’t like Smarick’s book. He adheres to the charter advocate’s creed that urban school systems can improve only if they embrace change. By adding good schools and subtracting bad ones with rapidity, “we have the potential to drastically improve the educational opportunities of our nation’s most disadvantaged students,” he writes.
I receive many education books in the mail. I toss most of them out because they are irrelevant or impractical. Smarick’s book was relevant but was losing on practicality grounds until I read Brown’s piece on the District’s bleak future.
If it got that bad, I thought, something as extreme as the Smarick plan could happen. I’m not saying it would have the benefits Smarick predicts, but trying it would be interesting and maybe useful.
New Orleans is already heading in that direction. It became fertile ground for radical reform only because a hurricane removed much of the old regime that would have squashed such changes, as Smarick notes often in his book.
Are D.C. schools so bad they might also resort to a public-charter-private massive realignment? Maybe.
A few other cities that have run out of practical options, such as Detroit, might follow suit. Such places can’t get any worse. They might be tempted by a hurricane of an idea, no matter how much trouble it causes.
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Posts tagged george eliot
Posts tagged george eliot
My essay in the new issue of Open Letters Monthly is on The Mill on the Floss and spoilers:
Yet as every reader knows, something is different if you already know the ending—something’s lost or changed or constrained. Even setting aside the thrill of suspense and the pleasure of surprise (and are these really such childish desires?), an unread, unknown novel has an open-endedness that keeps us alert to possibilities—including interpretive ones. Unsure of the of the outline, never mind the ultimate direction, of the path we’re on, we have to pay attention to everything. We’re better readers as a result. After all, once we know for sure how things do turn out, it’s much harder to think about how they might have turned out, and then the full significance of the ending that we do get might be lost on us.
Take The Mill on the Floss, for instance …
Walking in Point Pleasant Park today, I couldn’t help but reflect that, pretty as the scene was, it didn’t move me the way walking around the sea wall in Vancouver does. George Eliot writes so beautifully about the ways our memories attach us to a particular landscape:
We could never have loved the earth so well if we had had no childhood in it,— if it were not the earth where the same flowers come up again every spring that we used to gather with our tiny fingers as we sat lisping to ourselves on the grass; the same hips and haws on the autumn’s hedgerows; the same redbreasts that we used to call “God’s birds,” because they did no harm to the precious crops. What novelty is worth that sweet monotony where everything is known, andloved because it is known?
The wood I walk in on this mild May day, with the young yellow-brown foliage of the oaks between me and the blue sky, the white star-flowers and the blue-eyed speedwell and the ground ivy at my feet, what grove of tropic palms, what strange ferns or splendid broad-petalled blossoms, could ever thrill such deep and delicate fibres within me as this home scene? These familiar flowers, these well-remembered bird-notes, this sky, with its fitful brightness, these furrowed and grassy fields, each with a sort of personality given to it by the capricious hedgerows,— such things as these are the mother-tongue of our imagination, the language that is laden with all the subtle, inextricable associations the fleeting hours of our childhood left behind them. Our delight in the sunshine on the deep-bladed grass to-day might be no more than the faint perception of wearied souls, if it were not for the sunshine and the grass in the far-off years which still live in us, and transform our perception into love.
George Eliot, The Mill on the Floss
“I am just and honest, not because I expect to live in another world, but because, having felt the pain of injustice or dishonesty towards myself, I have a fellow-feeling with other men, who would suffer the same pain if I were unjust and dishonest towards them… . I am honest, because I don’t like to inflict evil on others in this life, not because I’m afraid of evil to myself in another. The fact is, I do not love myself alone, whatever logical necessity there may be for that in your mind… . It is a pang to me to witness the suffering of a fellow-being, and I feel his suffering the more acutely because he is mortal—because his life is so short, and I would have it, if possible, filled with happiness and not misery. Through my union and fellowship with the men and women I have seen, I feel a like, though a fainter, sympathy with those I have not seen; and I am able so to live in imagination with the generations to come, that their good is not alien to me, and is a stimulus to me to labour for ends which may not benefit myself, but will benefit them.”
—George Eliot, “Worldiness and Other-Wordliness: The Poet Young”
“When the robbery was talked of at the Rainbow and elsewhere, in good company, the balance continued to waver between the rational explanation founded on the tinder-box, and the theory of an impenetrable mystery that mocked investigation. The advocates of the tinder-box-and-pedlar view considered the other side a muddle-headed and credulous set, who, because they themselves were wall-eyed, supposed everybody else to have the same blank outlook; and the adherents of the inexplicable more than hinted that their antagonists were animals inclined to crow before they had found any corn—mere skimming-dishes in point of depth—whose clear-sightedness consisted in supposing there was nothing behind a barn-door because they couldn’t see through it; so that, though their controversy did not serve to elicit the fact concerning the robbery, it elicited some true opinions of collateral importance.”
—George Eliot, Silas Marner
“Romola is a performance of which no other woman of genius among us would have been capable than precisely George Eliot.” (The Reader, London, 1863)
“There are noble things to be found in Romola, which will make the reader’s heart burn within him. It will be scarcely possible to rise from the perusal without being penetrated by the ‘joy of elevated thoughts,’ without feeling a desire to cease from a life of self-pleasing, and to embody in action that sense of obligation, of obedience to duty, which is, indeed, the crowning distinction that has been conferred on man, the high gift in which all others culminate. This is high praise; and a work that can produce this effect, if only on a single reader, has not been written in vain.” (The Athenaeum, London, 1863)
(Advertising copy from Harper & Brothers, NY, reproduced in the Broadview Reprint edition of Romola)
“When we have passed in review the works of that great writer who calls herself George Eliot, and given for a time our use of sight to her portraitures of men and women, what form, as we move away, persists on the field of vision, and remains the chief centre of interest for the imagination? The form not of Tito, or Maggie, or Dinah, or Silas, but of one who, if not the real George Eliot, is that “second self” who writes her books, and lives and speaks through them. Such a second self of an author is perhaps more substantial than any mere human personality; encumbered with the accidents of flesh and blood and daily living. It stands at some distance from the primary self, and differs considerably from its fellow. It presents its person to us with fewer reserves; it is independent of local and temporary motives of speech or of silence; it knows no man after the flesh; it is more than an individual; it utters secrets, but secrets which all men of all ages are to catch; while, behind it, lurks well pleased the veritable historical self secure from impertinent observation and criticism. With this second self of George Eliot it is, not with the actual historical person, that we have to do. And when, having closed her books, we gaze outward with the mind’s eye, the spectacle we see is that most impressive spectacle of a great nature, which has suffered and has now attained, which was perplexed and has grasped the clue—standing before us not without tokens on lip and brow of the strife and the suffering, but resolute, and henceforth possessed of something which makes self-mastery possible. The strife is not ended, the pain may still be resurgent; but we perceive on which side victory must lie.”
—Edward Dowden, “George Eliot” (Contemporary Review, 1872)
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Russian Foreign Ministry Friday presented a report to the State Duma, the lower house of country's parliament, which will hold hearings on the human rights issue coming Monday.
A Duma source privy to the document quoted it as saying that hundreds of thousands of children in the US are mistreated and that resulted in 1,600 deaths in 2010 alone.
It makes special mention of the maltreatment of children adopted from Russia.
Citing US NGOs, Russian diplomats note that "about one police officer in 100 has been involved in criminal abuses, including sexual harassment, indecent behaviour or rape."
On prisons, the report says that "the US remains the country with the largest prison population in the world - 2.2 million."
Another issue is secret CIA prisons, in particular in Poland, Afghanistan, Iraq, Thailand, Morocco, Romania and Lithuania, the report said.
The report also criticises US legislation permitting "special services" to monitor all private electronic correspondence without a court order.
In 2011, they filed more than 1.3 million requests for information on mobile users.
"Between 2004 and 2007 the number of electronic messages monitored by US special services rose by 3,000 percent," the report says.
Moscow: Russia has denounced the human rights record of the US, citing maltreatment of children, breach of privacy, police brutality, secret jails and freedom of expression issues.
First Published: Saturday, October 20, 2012, 11:10
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Released October 19, CBS Seattle reported that Lafayette Elementary School, in Seattle, has decided to not “allow students to dress up in costume for Halloween this year.â€
Crazy, right? It gets better:
“The decisions was first reported by the district (Seattle Public Schools) as being a preventative measure in the event that Halloween costumes could offend and upset students who come from other cultures,†says CBS Seattle.
Many parents are still confused as to why the decision was made, though. Are Christmas hats going to be banned come December? Are people going to be offended by the five-finger hand drawings of turkeys made by children and the less artistically inclined during Thanksgiving, because it depicts a practice enjoyed by one culture and possibly not all cultures?
Shauna Heath, principal of the elementary school, sent out an email to all major media outlets. Here’s an excerpt:
“This decision was made by the entire staff after two deep and detailed discussions. The initial conversation was initiated by staff members who suggested that since Halloween falls this year on a half day of school, we not allow costumes. It takes students a while to change into their costumes, and students are distracted taking away from their already limited instructional time.â€
Upon hearing the news, fourth-grader Leilani Nitkey said, “I was just really sad and I had to fight back years.
According to KIRO 9 Eyewitness News, the school has announced a “Harvest Party†that will replace the Halloween celebrations. Not quite as exciting, to say the least, but I guess it’s better than nothing.
“Some parents say that although Halloween has its roots as a religious observance, it’s now a secular holiday that shouldn’t be considered offensive,†says CBS Seattle.
Parent Hart Rusen said, “It seems like another one of those things where kids are no longer allowed to be kids.â€
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I hope this isn't off-topic. While technically about video production, it's not about a problem I am having.
Have you ever noticed on TV how the color red is always noticeably pixelated? It's the same why while watching video on the computer, as well, be it a Blu-ray, DVD, a video playing directly from disk, or a video being streamed from the internet. No other other that I know of looks pixelated like the color red. I've noticed this since as far back as I can remember starting with DVD. I haven't watched any VHS tapes for many, many years, so I can't say whether or not this pixelation occurs with tapes, but it'd make sense to think that it wouldn't since those are analog.
BTW, I've searched for this online and found a lot of people asking the same questions, but I have yet to see an actual answer.
Here's an example of red pixelation that I just happened to come across on YouTube, although the same thing occurs even on TV broadcasts. Although you can still see it at actual size, zooming in lets you see how pixelated the color red is in comparison to the rest of the colors which really aren't pixelated at all. I strongly doubt that this is merely a visual anomaly. Instead, I believe it has to do with how the color red is processed during encoding.
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satnrose's Bookselling Hints :
Accentuate the positive.
1.) High feedback
2.) Lots of good books for sale
3.) Easy-to-read Item Descriptions
4.) Non-threatening terms of service
Answer stupid questions politely.
...which I'm sure you do.
Your customers are often undereducated in book terminology and standards, and need to know exactly what you've got. Spell it out if you have to. Tell them why the book is a first edition. Give the measurements of an octavo. Don't assume that they know what you're talking about. Play to the lowest common denominator.
Most of your customers have never dealt with you before and have no idea of your character or professionalism. Give them the best you've got, and be patient with their ignorance and fear.
An unfortunate side-effect to this is that once they begin to trust eBay, it makes it easy for the charlatans to take advantage of them.
"An informed consumer is our best customer"
- Marcy Sims
An auction is usually a distress sale.
Only online auctions allow the seller to be the auctioneer. You control the terms of sale, the shipping, the price and the description. In any other auction, you are at the mercy of the house.
Don't get overwhelmed with bad books.
The #1 problem with most bookstores is that they become overloaded with stock that is overpriced and/or inferior. A false solution is to have a %-off sale, in which the leftovers become even more unsalable.
The difference between a bad book & a tough-to-sell book is that the latter just needs to find the right customer.
Take what you know is inferior and trade up at another bookstore, or donate it to an FOL, etc.
Life's too short to sell bad books.
"Bargains" are devaluing.
Every time a bargain is found, the overall price goes down. Every time a book is sold for too much, the price goes up.
If 10 copies of The Old Man and the Sea sell sequentially for $1000 and the 11th goes for $900, the value goes down.
At a certain level, the dealers must buy to protect their market. This is particularly true of people who deal in the major artworks of specific artists, but it also applies to bookdealers too.
A Book Sale is a battlefield...
...and like in any war, preparation is the key. The 4 BC's: be calm, be cool, be collected, be concentrated. Bring a coat to cover your books. Keep your stash in a safe place. Bring a sandwich or a candy bar to keep your energy up when you flag. Don't argue with the staff. Don't gloat. Grab the best and sort the rest. Don't be a pig.
Fine bindings are collectible.
Most books that are leatherbound are valuable as decorative "furniture": meant to be seen and never read.
Some binding materials: vellum, morocco, calf, sheep, chevre, pigskin, suede, etc. But any kind of leather can be used, even human.
Many of the great bookbinders would print their names in small letters on the verso of the front free endpaper: Zaehnsdorf, Riviere, etc. (sometimes the name will be on the binding itself, or elsewhere).
"Victorian publishers' bindings" are also quite sought after: these are clothbound books with elaborate gilt and/or colored pictorial covers (sometimes these are signed with initials in the design: "MA", Margaret Armstrong, is one such).
To say that a book is bound in "boards" means usually that the covers are made of cardboard covered with paper.
500 years ago bookbinders would often use wooden boards for the covers, sometimes covered in other material such as rolled pigskin and other leathers.
In the 20th century, the paper covering is sometimes patterned to look like cloth. This is a technique that has sometimes fooled even seasoned bibliographers. However, if you look at it under a magnifying glass, you should be able to see that it doesn't have the distinctive criss-cross pattern of cloth threads. Or, look at the corners and/or spine ends to see if the material is slightly rubbed off.
Never remove a bookplate ...unless there's a better one underneath.
For instance, if you have an old armorial bookplate under a plain unimportant one. Always research to determine who the owner was. I use ancestry.com, britannica.com, Who Was Who in America, the Dictionary of National Biography, the Cambridge Biographical Dictionary and the Webster's Biographical Dictionary. One out of 20 turn out to be somebody of some importance.
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BERLIN: Ewald Heinrich von Kleist, a former German army lieutenant who took part in a plot to assassinate Adolf Hitler, has died at the age of 90, a think tank he co-founded said Wednesday.
Von Kleist, who was arrested after the 1944 bid to remove Hitler and sent to a concentration camp, died last Friday in the southern German city of Munich, a spokesman for the Munich Security Conference said.
Under the "20 July" plot, German army officers teamed up with members of the resistance including trade unionists to try to blow up Hitler at Rastenburg, in Eastern Prussia, now part of Poland.
Among the key plotters was Claus Schenk von Stauffenberg -- played by American Hollywood actor Tom Cruise in the 2008 film "Valkyrie" about the failed assassination --, who had personally recruited von Kleist.
Von Kleist was 22 at the time and volunteered to wear a suicide vest at a meeting with Hilter.
But the plot failed and Hitler survived although he was injured in the blast.
Leading members of the plot were arrested shortly afterwards and executed.
Von Kleist was imprisoned at the Bendlerblock building in Berlin where the plot had been hatched and today is used by the defence ministry, before he was sent to Ravensbrueck concentration camp.
After the Second World War, he studied law and economics and went into publishing.
He was also a co-founder of the Munich Security Conference, which annually brings together global defence and foreign policy chiefs.
"We lost a great German, a great security policy maker," Oliver Rolofs, spokesman for the conference told AFP.
During a 2010 commemoration of the failed plot, von Kleist said their driving motive had been "to want to end the dreadful crimes" of the Nazi regime, which continued for nearly another 10 months after the assassination attempt.
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strkjv@Deuteronomy:24:1 @ When a man hath taken a wife, and married her, and it come to pass that she find no favour in his eyes, because he hath found some uncleanness in her: then let him write her a bill of divorcement, and give it in her hand, and send her out of his house.
strkjv@Deuteronomy:24:2 @ And when she is departed out of his use, she may go and be another mans wife.
strkjv@Deuteronomy:24:3 @ And if the latter husband hate her, and write her a bill of divorcement, and giveth it in her hand, and sendeth her out of his house; or if the latter husband die, which took her to be his wife;
strkjv@Deuteronomy:24:4 @ Her former husband, which sent her away, may not take her again to be his wife, after that she is defiled; for that is abomination before the LORD Y@hovah#: and thou shalt not cause the land to sin, which the LORD Y@hovah# thy God giveth thee for an inheritance.
bible Deuteronomy:24:1-4 -
Deuteronomy:24:1-4 Discussion Board:
Discuss this passage:
2012 - pBiblx2 Field Wise Bible System Version 2.0.9d - GPL3
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Anchorage Daily News Endorses Obama: That's Unexpected?
Newspapers have been making presidential endorsements. Republican John McCain won the backing of his home state's largest paper, The Arizona Republic. The Chicago Tribune endorsed Chicago resident Barack Obama — the first time that paper has endorsed a Democratic candidate for president. And Obama received the backing from another paper you might not expect — the Anchorage Daily News. The state's largest newspaper was not swayed by the fact that McCain's running mate, Sarah Palin, is the state's governor.
Over at the Christian Science Monitor's election blog, the headline is, "Anchorage Daily News supports… Obama?"
The newspaper's endorsement of the Democratic candidates can hardly be characterized as unexpected. The Anchorage Daily News endorsed John Kerry in 2004 and Al Gore in 2000. It backed Bill Clinton in both 1996 and 1992, and Michael Dukakis in 1988. Its 1992 endorsement of Clinton began with a familiar theme:
"Change" is about the first word from Bill Clinton's lips at every campaign stop. But Gov. Clinton offers more than just change for change's sake. He offers something this country no longer associates with politicians:
As far back as 1976, Time magazine reported:
Unchanged, however, is the paper's willingness to assume unpopular editorial positions; it champions gun control (anathema in Alaska) and stricter environmental protection laws. The Daily News generally supports Democrats and endorsed George McGovern for President in 1972.
That such a newspaper still backs Democrats isn't earth shaking news, despite media efforts to make it appear that way.
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A lot of people work in one field but secretly wish they were in another.
The accountant that dreams of being a writer. The engineer that wishes he was a carpenter.
We all have these feelings. Most of us, however, suppress them.
- It’s too hard
- It’s too late
- I can’t do it
- I don’t have the money
- My head is in the clouds
It’s because of those kinds of excuses that we stay in the jobs we’re in. It’s the reason why we stop growing as we get older. It’s the reason why we get more and more unhappy as time goes on.
And when we do meet someone who has done it, who has managed to put the work in and take a leap of faith and—surprise, surprise—show us it can indeed be done, we feel like losers. It’s that strange combination of envy and jealousy that can either motivate us or bury us even deeper into our daily rituals of normality.
Sounds pretty depressing, doesn’t it?
Fear not! This post is a positive one—I want to share a post that has the potential to get you off your ass and into action.
Most of us think that starting a new career or learning something new takes years and thousands of dollars. It doesn’t have to.
Check out Michael Ellsberg’s fantastic (and now infamous) 8 Steps to Getting What You Want Without Formal Credentials.
In it, he shows a way to get around the whole credential problem. He shows you the importance of the informal job market.
He shows you a way out.
So if you’re ready to take that leap and commit to finding a way into a career that has more meaning and depth, make sure to check out the post.
It could change your life.
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Investment clubs are groups of individuals who meet up together to talk about investing. Many times these are amateur investors who meet up with other investors to learn about investing techniques and to get advice and tips. Sometimes the group will have a common pool of funds to invest and make group decisions on how to invest the money but sometimes the group exists simply to exchange information and learn from each other. Most of the times the investment club doesn't have to register with the SEC, but there may be reasons why it would. The SEC investment club page
has more information.
Types of Investment Clubs
Investment clubs can take many forms, but they tend to be formed based on a common theme:
- types of assets - some investment clubs deal with certain types of assets, such as a real estate investment club, or stock market investing.
- types of strategies - some clubs only deal with certain types of investing strategies, such as: CANSLIM investing, option trading, or swing trading.
- demographics - some clubs deal with only certain demographics.
- college kids - college have similar financial characteristics (a higher tolerance for risk, no mortgage or kids to worry about).
- women - these are one of the most popular types of investment clubs since they also promote financial independence.
- wealthy people - wealthy people have specific financial issues which non-wealthy people typically don't deal with (like complicated estate issues). TIGER 21 is one of the most well-known investment clubs for high-net-worth investors. Founded in 1999, TIGER 21 is headquartered in New York City, has 185 members, and manages about $15 billion in assets. Their annual membership dues are $30,000 per year.
- community - there may have be investment clubs that are comprised of people form a specific geographic area, or workers (or former workers) from a particular company.
Because all investment club are social groups as well as financial, most investment clubs are formed simply due to people knowing other people within a community. And, like all social situations, you have to deal with different personality types and egos. Like any group situation, there will be people who contribute less or don't do their share.
Although there are tons of online groups that talk about investing, these are typically not referred to as "investment clubs" since they are so informal and unstructured.
Many investment clubs participants have a sense of pride when it comes to their involvement with investment clubs. But I look at participation in an investment club as a glaring weakness instead of a strength. You need to look at your investing as a business - because it is one. If you owned a business would you get together with a group of people in the community to talk about how to run it? If you don't know enough about the business to run it yourself then you have a lot more learning to do.
It is easy to make the decision to learn. It is hard, however, to look at the spectrum of educational resources available and choose the one that will help you the most. This is because many of the educational resources available don't offer anything that ends up being really helpful. When people talk about investment clubs they note the benefits of sharing information and collective resources. But in most cases, the members of investment clubs are mediocre investors and there is no value in participating in them. If I had a choice as to how I would spend my time learning about investing, I would rather spend one hour reading a book by Peter Lynch or Warren Buffett than spend 40 hours at an investment club.
There was a best-selling book called "The Beardstown Ladies' Common-Sense Investment Guide"
published in the mid-90's by The Beardstown Ladies, an investment club of older women from Illinois. In the book, the ladies claimed an annual return of about 23% on their investing, but a couple of years later some journalists who looked behind the numbers pointed out that their return was actually closer to 9%. The publisher got sued and lost. The fact that the members of the club couldn't even do the high school math required to properly calculate the returns on their money says something about investment club participants.
Investment clubs are fine if you are an absolute beginner. After all, you have to start somewhere. For example, the very first investment book I ever read was completely worthless, yet it served as a doorway into the investment world. But investment clubs are something that should be quickly outgrown if you want to become a successful investor. One of the defining characteristics of a successful investor is the ability to think independently and not care what other people think. Making investment decisions within a group environment enforces a mentality completely opposite to this.
If you are going to join an investment club, my advice is to not join an investment club that pools money. Getting yourself financially entangled with other people is incredibly naive. I read somewhere that if individuals don't pay the tax that they are due, then the club is required to pay. I'm not sure if this is true or not. But these kind of risks are needless risks. Aside from risk, the amount of paperwork, tax filings, and accounting, can also become burdensome. As a student of the markets, you want to spend your time learning about investing - not learning how to run an investment club. If you do decide to join an investment club, join one that is strictly a discussion group. There will be lower the risk and fewer headaches. Besides, the value is in the ideas and knowledge.
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At one point, Donald Rumsfeld is said to have become a little testy. It was October 10 and the U.S. Secretary of Defense had just landed on the deck of the USS John F. Kennedy aboard a C-2 Greyhound twin-engine propeller-driven cargo plane accompanied by 18 defense ministers from 18 "coalition partners" in the Iraq war. When someone from the accompanying media asked about the possibility of an increase in the number of U.S. troops fighting the insurgency there, he reportedly shot back, "There's a fixation on that subject! It's fascinating how everyone is locked on that." However, en route to the shipboard huddle Rumsfeld told U.S. commanders in Iraq that he may yet decide they need more U.S. troops over the next two months. He also complained about the inability to convince countries to send additional forces to provide security for an expanded U.N. presence in Baghdad.
According to the Associated Press, the session aboard the Kennedy convened "amid mounting concern in some quarters that the insurgency in Iraq is so widespread and violent that full and fair elections in January might not be able to go on as scheduled."
Troop strength was very much the subject of the gathering. The war is escalating and the secretary was looking for help.
It wasn't easy finding out which "Coalition" defense ministers met with Rumsfeld Oct. 10 in a windowless room in the bowels of the U.S. John F. Kennedy in the middle of the Arab Gulf. A number of the major media reports following the meeting gave the number -- 18 -- but didn't list them. They are: Albania, Azerbaijan, Bahrain, Bulgaria, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Georgia, Hungary, Iraq, Latvia, Lithuania, Macedonia, Mongolia, Poland, Qatar, Romania, and Ukraine and Iraq. Nicaragua, Spain, Dominican Republic, Honduras, the Philippines, Thailand and New Zealand have already withdrawn their forces. For some reason South Korea which provides the third largest military contingent in the war wasn't represented aboard the Kennedy. The British Defense Ministry also wasn't there but, as we shall see, it had already received the message: we need help.
The problem is clear: With the exception of Poland, most of the other countries represented at the shipboard gathering have only token forces in Iraq and several already have, or are threatening to reduce their participation in the war effort. Furthermore, most of the governments sending troops are doing so in defiance of overwhelming popular opposition from their own people. No sooner had Rumsfeld arrived home than the leadership of Poland, which survived an Oct. 15 no confidence vote (in which the war was very much an issue) by 234 to 218, made it clear the country's commitment extended only another couple of months. A senior Defense Ministry official said Oct. 16, that "we hope to have the troops out by the end of the year. That, at least, is my hope."
Later, after Rumsfeld met with General George Casey, the US commander in Iraq, Casey told reporters they had not even discussed troop levels. Of course, that way neither of them could be asked what was said.
It was Casey who briefed the shipboard military chiefs via teleconference from Baghdad about the plan to take control of the areas of Iraq now off-limits to U.S. forces. He "gave a brief on the state of play in Iraq, the way forward and where we are," a Pentagon spokesperson said, and named 20 to 30 towns either controlled by insurgents or vulnerable, and laid out a plan of how to bring them under the control by New Years.
Military officials now speak openly about the aim of the air strikes being "pacification," implicitly acknowledging that what they are confronting is nothing less than a guerilla war. The "coalition forces" are engaged in a widespread counterinsurgency effort not very different than the European wars in Asia and Africa four decades ago and the U.S. war in Southeast Asia. Planes from the USS Kennedy are reported taking off on bombing raids over Iraq about 20 times a day. The war from the air minimizes coalition casualties. In a sense, it's a race against time. Launching full scale attacks before the U.S. Presidential election Nov. 2 is a problem but the objective is to bring the entire country under control before the Iraqi election scheduled for January.
Iraqi defense minister, Hazim al-Shalaan, sought to assure the gathered military chiefs that the country is not descending into ever greater chaos and violence. "Samarra is a sign of things to come, and Fallujah will soon be next," he said.
The Iraqi minister was referring to the supposed "coalition" victory in subduing that city last month. However, the city was re-taken with very little combat amid indications that the insurgent forces simply withdrew from the battle. What is taking place now -- and seems to be in the offing for the city of Fallujah -- is of a different and more ominous nature. What is being called the "carrot and stick" policy toward that city and other locales is really a threat not to the resistance fighter operating there but to the civilian populations. Residents are being told to either eliminate or turn over the insurgents or face further death and destruction. In order to back up the ultimatum, bombing raids in recent days have struck hotels, cafés and wedding parties, reducing buildings to giant craters in the ground and filling hospitals with non-combatant men, women and children. It is a practice that would appear to be in direct violation of the Geneva Convention on the conduct of war.
Military officials say the battle to control Fallujah and the other 20 to 30 cities and towns described by Casey has yet to begun in earnest. It is more than likely that will occur between the Nov. 2 election and the year's end. But maybe not. A British official told The Independent the attack might not wait until the U.S. vote.
An Administration effort to persuade Britain to reposition its troops south of Baghdad in order to free up U.S. troops for striking Fallujah has provoked a new political crisis for the already beleaguered Prime Minister Tony Blair. British Defense Secretary Geoff Hoon ran into a buzz saw Oct. 18 when he tried to convince members of Parliament that the requested redeployment would be an "operational" rather than a "political" move. Members of Parliament from all sides of the aisles questioned Hoon intently on how long the operation would last, what would be the chain of command, what the move would mean for British troops under the recognized terms of engagement and the rules of the international criminal court.
It was ex-Conservative Party leader, Iain Duncan Smith, and the shadow defense secretary, Nicholas Soames, who queried Hoon as to whether British troops operating under U.S. rules of engagement could be subject to prosecution under international court rules. Labor Parliamentarian MP Dennis Skinner said by definition -- "If it's done before November 2, it's political. It's handing President Bush a lifeline." According to the Guardian, former shadow foreign secretary Gerald Kaufman received the largest cheers during the session when he said there was a risk that "UK forces risking their lives will be exploited in a US election."
According to the Guardian, the Secretary "refused to debate 'precise details' of the terms of the international criminal court if UK troops killed Iraqi civilians, but said, in reference to the previous restraint shown by UK peacekeepers in the south of the country: 'This will be less restrained if there is a direct threat to them.'"
On October 18, The Telegraph drew attention editorially to "confusion about the precise rules of engagement." "British forces in Iraq occupy a murky legal area between outright warfare and peace-keeping," the paper's lead article said. "They are at risk from lawsuits as well as bullets, especially since, unlike the Americans, they have been brought under the jurisdiction of the International Criminal Court (ICC)."
"The US has also serially torpedoed attempts, through selective amnesties for example, to separate nationalist insurgents from jihadis who are opening a new front in their war against the west," the London-based Financial Times said editorially October 19.
"Now US forces are preparing an offensive against up to two dozen Sunni towns and cities, where on current practice they will use indiscriminate and disproportionate air power against dense urban areas, causing hundreds of civilian casualties.
"That is not something British forces, with a different military culture and rules of engagement, should be part of.
"It really is time to move the Iraq debate on, and to focus it on how to secure a decent future for Iraqis. That will not be achieved by Britain buying further into a failed US strategy, which appears to consist of digging the same hole deeper and wider. All that will lead to is an abyss."
Meanwhile, as the level of violence in Iraq continued to grow and threatened to explode on a far bigger scale, Secretary Rumsfeld continued to try to play it down. "What is being reported in the media for the most part, are the incidents of violence," Rumsfeld said at a press conference with Macedonian Defense Minister Vade Buckovski, Oct. 11. "In any city in the world there are every year hundreds of homicides. We seem not to see those on the front page of every newspaper every day. So while no one is going to say that things are perfect or things are peaceful -- they are not." Last summer, he told a press conference, "You've got to remember that if Washington, D.C., were the size of Baghdad, we would be having something like 215 murders a month," Rumsfeld said. "There's going to be violence in a big city."
Carl Bloice is a freelance journalist in San Francisco, California
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How the Stock Market Can Predict Who Will Win the Presidential Election
A lot of people think that Election Day results foretell how the stock market will behave in the coming months and years. A Mitt Romney victory, some believe, would be good for stocks. After all, Republicans are friendlier to Wall Street than are Democrats.
But there's no historical evidence to support this notion. Indeed, since 1928, the stock market has produced ever-so-slightly better results, on average, when Democrats occupy the White House. The median price gain for Standard & Poor's 500-stock index during Democratic presidencies has been 27.5%, compared with 27.3% during Republican administrations, according to the Leuthold Group, a Minneapolis investment research firm.
Not only that, but Barack Obama -- cast by Republicans as an enemy of free enterprise -- has presided over one of the strongest stock markets since 1928. If the S&P 500 closes above 1443 on Inauguration Day (it ended at 1457 on September 24), the market's performance during Obama's first term will rank second-best of all time, behind only the results during the first term of another supposed archfoe of business, Franklin D. Roosevelt.
No, if you want to forecast the stock market, look at price-earnings ratios, consider the troubles in Europe and China, examine analysts' earnings predictions, worry about the fiscal cliff -- look at anything except presidential polls. (See 6 Big Worries for This Bull Market.)
But if you're a political junkie like me, you'll want to use the stock market to predict who will win the election. That is something the market excels at.
Jim Stack, editor of InvesTech Research, an investment newsletter, has crunched the numbers. His findings? Since 1900, the direction of stock prices in the two months prior to Election Day has predicted the winner 89.3% of the time. "A rising stock market indicates an improving economy, which means rising confidence and increases the chance of an incumbent's reelection," he says.
Even the market's bad calls were in years when the market didn't move much in the two months before Election Day. In the three elections during which the indicator failed, the Dow Jones industrial average moved 3.1% or less during the two-month period.
The main shortcoming of Stack's work is that you can't tell the outcome until Election Day. People like me want to know sooner.
Fortunately, Sam Stovall, chief stock strategist at S&P, uses an indicator with a longer lead time. Looking at S&P 500 prices since 1900, he has found that the market action between July 31 and October 31 has correctly forecast the outcome of the presidential campaign 82% of the time.
So how are Romney and Obama doing on Wall Street? The S&P closed at 1379 on July 31 and 1457 on September 24. That's a gain of 5.7%. The market would have to drop at least 5.4% in five weeks for Romney to win -- assuming that this indicator is on the money this year.
Of course, the indicator was wrong 18% of the time. In 1912, Democrat Woodrow Wilson unseated Republican President William Howard Taft despite a rising market in the pivotal three-month period. The market also gained ground in 1932, even as Roosevelt, a Democrat, defeated Republican incumbent Herbert Hoover amidst the Great Depression. The market fell in 1956, but Republican Dwight Eisenhower still was reelected. President Richard Nixon beat his Democratic rival, Hubert Humphrey, in 1968 despite a rising market, and Republican challenger Ronald Reagan ousted Democratic President Jimmy Carter in 1980, even as the market climbed.
Stovall postulates that third parties may have played havoc with his indicator. Teddy Roosevelt ran as a Bull Moose candidate in 1912, George Wallace ran as an independent in 1968, and John Anderson, another independent, took some votes from Carter in 1980. But the indicator was just plain wrong in 1932 and 1956, Stovall concedes.
In a year during which pollsters can only get about one in ten voters to pick up the telephone to answer questions, the stock market indicator looks like a pretty good bet. I'll be watching to see how it turns out -- and, of course, with much more interest, how the market does under the winner.
Steven T. Goldberg is an investment adviser in the Washington, D.C. area.
Kiplinger's Investing for Income will help you maximize your cash yield under any economic conditions. Subscribe now!
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We could not be more pleased with your response to our recent Projects Pack for Arduino giveaway. The contest opened for entries last Friday, and closed last night, and during those five days the comments on the landing page logged more than 600 entries. Heartfelt thanks to everyone who took the time to tell us about either the coolest thing they’ve ever built with a microcontroller, or the coolest thing they dream of building, someday. We’re still collating all the fantastic projects and project ideas, but here are a few our faves:
I’ve already made a LEGO robotic K9 from Doctor Who, and I want to give him a voice. “Affirmative, master!” “Maximum defense mode!” — Colleen Johnson
My cat has FIV, and hence isn’t allowed outside. For the sake of giving him some exercise and brighten up his day, I’ve always wanted to build a motorised feeding bowl, that I can hide in a corner somewhere, and will then try and run away from the cat once he finds it. The bowl is covered to begin with. Navigation can be ultrasonics – it doesn’t need to know where it’s going, just move quickly. Once the cat catched up with it and gives it a good smack on top with his paw, it’ll stop and open the cover. — Tom Cryer
I always leave the garage door open so I recently built a garage door sensor with an arduino and ethernet shield. It uses a reed switch to determine if the garage door is open and it sends my wife and I a text message if it is open after 8PM. I also hooked it into the garage door opener so I can reply via text message to actually close the garage door. I can also query the current status (open or closed) via text message. It’s been working great and saved my butt a few times. — powdernine
I dream of building a salt water reef heaven, for many kinds of corals and fish. It will include pumps controlled by a microcontroller to simulate waves. Not only that but it will have an array of leds lighting the tank. The microcontroller will control each individual led to simulate day, night, dawn, and dusk lighting patterns. It will also control a moonlight which will follow the real time moon cycle. I would like to program to controller to simulate cloudy days and clouds passing by, and full blown simulated thunderstorms with intensified wave patterns produced by the power heads… There will be an automated feeding system, along with automated water changes, automated dosing of trace elements. Also temperature, ph, and salinity control through various probes attached to the microcontroller. — Eddie Groshev
Created a light-up Bustier for a community theater show. The actress could use pressure sensitive sensors inside the tips of her glove thumbs to control which sets of LED’s lit up and how bright. Press both down really hard to set off an animated pattern of heart shaped groups of colored LED’s. Built for the song ‘Gotta Have a Gimmick’ for the review ‘And the World Goes Round’. Arduino, flexiforce sensors, Lots of LED’s, and some lingerie. — JR Lewis
And on and on!
But we know you’re impatient to hear who actually won. So, without further ado, the winner, chosen by random lot, is Kelly Cooke. Kelly says:
I’ve been wanting to start working with Arduino. I’d really like to figure out an automatic system for watering and/or feeding my cat on. I’d also like to use it to figure out a way to keep said cat off of my countertops.
Congratulations, Kelly! And thanks again to everyone who entered!
For more microcontroller goodness, visit our Make: Arduino page.
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Creative WebCam GO
The WebCam Go from Creative is a neat idea. Unplug it from your computer, pop in 2 AAA batteries, and it becomes a digital camera.
I had no trouble installing the camera and the software. Connect it to your USB slot and, with your Windows 98 CD handy, follow the on-screen instructions.
After Windows finds and installs the necessary drivers you install the WebCam Go software. WebCam Go comes with a comprehensive suite of programs, which give you a bit more versatility than cheaper cameras.
WebCam Go Control is the application you use to control the camera when it is connected to your computer. Use it to record short videos or download pictures you have taken.
If you are neurotic about security you could use the Creative WebCam Monitor to act as a motion detector. Set it up to record short video clips of anything that moves within the camera's field of view. Or program it to take pictures at regular intervals.
Other programs included are:
I found the WebCam Go Control software easy to use. Although I was surprised to see it reversed the image.
WebCam Go Control would also not recognise my microphone.
I tried reinstalling the software hoping that would fix the audio and image reversing problem. It didn't. I got a scary-looking Windows error message informing me that I now had a stack overflow problem.
My first sound-free 45 second, video clip, which only my mother would have enjoyed seeing, took up 15MB of space. I tried to adjust the settings, but it kept crashing and Windows kept losing the camera. Rebooting or unplugging and reconnecting the camera fixed that problem.
A year ago I had similar problems with a smaller webcam. Technology does not seem to be improving in this department.
Using the control settings, I changed the compression format and image quality to reduce the file size. There are a number of formats to chose from. But as it records and compresses at the same time, I had to watch myself being recorded in slow motion.
You have no idea what the clip is like until you play it back.
By now I was also beginning to think that, in spite of all this video-conferencing hype, webcams still belong in the toy department.
WebCam Go is more than adequate as a webcam - it should be for the price, but I found it disappointing as a digital camera.
Once detached you have little control over the camera and the quality of the images is not that wonderful.
There is an ON-OFF button and a selector for the different modes of capture.
As a digital camera WebCam Go is capable of storing 72 640 x 480 still images.
These are stored in JPEG format. You can also use the multi-frame format to create "mini-movies".
WebCam Go uses Windows 98. Windows 95 and Windows NT are not supported.
WebCam Go is well worth looking at if you are in the market for a webcam.
However, if all you want to do is strap it under your desk so you can play with yourself on NetMeeting, something cheaper will do the job just as well.
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By Kerry Healey
"I confess that I’m a horrible gardener—I’ve always considered it the outdoor equivalent of doing dishes—and I don’t usually do infomercials, but brace yourself because my goal in the next 3 minutes is to convince you to buy yourself some nice new grass.
It all started last week on Fan Pier, where Mass Challenge announced the winners of its business plan competition. There were all kinds of cool high tech entrepreneurs and then in the middle of it all I saw Pearl’s Premium Grass Seed. Not even a fancy bio-engineered grass seed, just an old fashioned, plain native type plant seed. Pearl’s founder and CEO, Jackson Madnick, is a humble, but determined man who, like me, apparently didn’t like yard work.
He set out on a personal mission to find a kind of grass that needed mowing only occasionally—say once a month—and he found one. And it didn’t need water, either, or fertilizer. He named the beautiful wonder-grass after his environmentalist mother and her namesake granddaughter, Pearl.
Along the way, Jackson found out some disturbing things about our American obsession with grassy, golf-course-like lawns. Here are some of the highlights: Did you know that on the East Coast we use 30% of our clean water on our lawns? Out West, fully 60% of the drinking water goes to the grass. And no wonder: there are more than 20 million acres of grass planted in residential lawns across the US. All in all, that’s half the drinking water in America devoted to lawn maintenance. As someone who spent four years listening to municipal officials fret over dwindling water supplies, that got my attention!
But as they say on wee-hour TV, “But that’s not all!” Each week some 54 million Americans mow their water-hungry lawns, generating 5% of the nation’s air pollution. In fact, the EPA estimates that one hour of mowing on an older gas mower is the polluting equivalent of driving 350 miles in a new car. All this mowing also contributes to our dependency on foreign oil, consuming over 800 million gallons of gas a year.
But wait, there’s more! Some 67 million pounds of synthetic pesticides also grace our lawns, much of which runs off into ponds and ground water, playing havoc with our health and sickening our pets.
""So come September, I'll be making some changes to my lawn--perhaps some new grass, or, given my history with gardening, perhaps I'll go straight for the astro-turf or ornamental rocks!"""
Comment on This Article
News updates from WGBH
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Today we went to 巣鴨 (Sugamo).
Do you know 巣鴨 (Sugamo)?
It’s a part of Tokyo often referred to as 「おばあちゃんの原宿」 (“The Old Ladies’ Harajuku“). This is because 原宿 (Harajuku) is an area popular with young people because that area is full of clothes stores, restaurants, etc that young people like…and 巣鴨 (Sugamo) is popular with the older generation because it’s full of clothes stores, restaurants, traditional Japanese snack shops, etc that they like.
My oldest daughter didn’t join us because she and her friend, ironically, went to 原宿 (Harajuku) together today.
This is the entrance to the popular 地蔵通り (Jizou-doori), the shopping street in 巣鴨 (Sugamo) that has many shops and restaurants that old people like. (You don’t have to be old to appreciate them, though…I like traditional Japanese snacks, food, and souvenirs, too ).
Here’s a video I took of this area:
This street can be compared to the popular 竹下通り (Takeshita-doori) in 原宿 (Harajuku)…except for the age difference between the shoppers on these two streets.
The 地蔵通り (Jizou-doori) shopping street in 巣鴨 (Sugamo) was especially crowded today and there were many vendors because many people were going to the 高岩寺 (Kouganji Temple) for 初詣 (first Shrine visit of the year)…usually people go to a 神社 (Shinto Shrine) for 初詣 (first Shrine visit of the year), but going to a 御寺 (Buddhist Temple) is fine.
This is the entrance to 高岩寺 (Kouganji Temple)…the sign with the temple’s name is written right to left (寺岩高), which is the way Japanese used to be written (now it’s either written horizontally, left to right (→) and top of the page to bottom (↓) (like English)…or vertically, top to bottom (↓) and right of the page to left (←)).
So we went to 巣鴨 (Sugamo) for 初詣 (first Shrine (Temple) visit of the year) and we bought some 大福 (a traditional Japanese snack).
Speaking of snacks, soon Japanese kids will be taking entrance exams for high school or college. My oldest will be taking her high school entrance exam.
When we went into a convenience store, I saw a shelf of snacks that are supposed to be lucky for kids taking exams. One of the more popular ones is the American chocolate bar 「キット・カッツ」 (“Kit-Kat“). The reason that Kit-Kat has become popular for kids taking exams is because the chocolate’s name sounds like 「きっと勝つ!」 (Kitto-katsu!)…which means “I’ll definitely pass!”.
Supposedly, Japan has the most flavors of Kit-Kat in the world. I’ve have seen many flavors including some like “Green Tea Kit-Kat”, “Exotic Tokyo Kit-Kat”, and “Banana Kit-Kat”. (Although I’ve never tried any of them. I don’t eat much candy or chocolate.)
But this one was obviously made especially for kids taking college entrance exams in Japan since the package is decorated with Sakura Cherry-Blossom flowers (and symbol of Springtime in Japan (when the school-year begins)) and a school uniform hat. The flavor is 「大学いも味」 (“College Potato Taste“). Sounds odd for a chocolate bar! Could be good, though…I don’t know—I didn’t buy it.
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Students interested in science, technology, engineering and mathematics are eligible to apply to become intern for the UA's WISE program.
University Communications August 18, 2009
Internship opportunities for undergraduates in science, technology, engineering and mathematics expanding at The University of Arizona. The UA's Women in Science and Engineering, or WISE, program is offering internships for students at 10 hours weekly.
Though the internship does not offer a financial incentive, student interns will earn course credits. WISE promotes women in science, technology, engineering and mathematics, known as the STEM fields, through programs and services offered for girls in southern Arizona and on campus. Students are encouraged to apply now for the internship, which will run Aug. 31 through Dec. 9. The internship program, which is run out of the UA's Southwest Institute for Research on Women and the gender and women's studies department, grows out of a pilot project that was held during the spring semester.
During the spring, two students were involved as interns and the WISE staff evaluated "how an internship program would mutually benefit the organization as well as the students that participate in it," said Carly Thomsen, a research technician and events coordinator for WISE. "They were engaged in many aspects of professional development – learning to write grants, organizing events and supporting WISE staff in a number of other ways," she said.
Thomsen and Heather Fukunaga, a senior instructional specialist with the Southwest Institute for Research on Women, crafted the internship from a model developed for a internship program at the Women's Resource Center. Since 2007, more than 75 interns have participated in the Women's Resource Center internship program, she said. "We hope that WISE's program will grow into something comparable over the next couple of semesters," Thomsen said.
Each year, WISE works with girls from schools throughout southern Arizona through the Expanding your Horizons Conference. Those involved in the program also mentor adolescent and teenage girls. At the UA, WISE also has involved hundreds of students in its programs, which include the WISE living learning wing at Gila Hall, seminar courses, with scholarship funding and other opportunities.
As part of the internship program, students will work closely with WISE staff to develop programs, coordinate events, host meetings and conduct research, Thomsen said. Seeking grants, keeping track of program membership, planning a fundraiser, working on the newsletter, coordinating both social and acacemic events, writing press releases, recruiting panelists and workshop facilitators and recruiting students for WISE programs are among the tasks interns can expect to complete. Kiona Meade was one of the two interns to serve during the pilot portion of the program during the spring semester.
"Being an intern for WISE was a wonderful experience for me," said Meade, a spring 2009 intern and UA sophomore studying biosystems engineering. "Throughout my life, I have always had people encouraging me to do the things that I loved – math and science being two of those things," said Meade, an Honors College student. "This internship allowed me to give back some of knowledge and experiences by helping encourage younger girls to pursue careers in STEM fields."
To read the full article: UA's Women in Science and Engineering program expands internships
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Mexican Elections Signal Shift in Drug War Strategy
The top three presidential candidates all pledge to decrease violence instead of targeting traffickers.
With Mexico’s presidential election just a few weeks away, the top three candidates have all vowed to focus more on reducing drug war violence and less on targeting drug traffickers. While the candidates say they will still continue combatting trafficking, all three plan to eventually withdraw the Mexican army from the fight. More than 50,000 people have died since the current president, Felipe Calderón, began using the army more aggressively than any previous Mexican leader back in 2006. The current presidential front-runner, Enrique Peña Nieto, suggests that Mexico should continue working with the US against organized crime, but should also focus on what is best for Mexico, rather than what other governments want. “The task of the state, what should be its priority from my point of view, and what I have called for in this campaign, is to reduce the levels of violence,” he says. The two other main candidates, Andrés Manuel López Obrador and Josefina Vázquez Mota, agree that reducing the death toll takes priority. “Results will be measured not by how many criminals are captured, but by how stable and secure the communities are,” Vázquez Mota says. While these pledges are a step in the right direction, some say they are not enough to fix the problem. “None of the candidates has yet to articulate an alternative vision for how their country will move beyond the prohibitionist nightmare that has plagued Mexico not just in recent years but in fact for decades,” says Ethan Nadelmann, executive director of the Drug Policy Alliance. “What the next president of Mexico needs to do—and what President Calderón should also do before departing office—is align themselves with other Latin American presidents who have boldly called for all drug policy options to be considered, including various types of decriminalization and legal regulation."
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After meeting with a bipartisan group of former secretaries of Transportation, mayors and governors who have come together in support of infrastructure investment, President Obama called for increased funding for transportation initiatives during a press conference on rebuilding America's infrastructure.
WASHINGTON, D.C. — On Monday, President Obama called for bipartisan support of increased funding for transportation initiatives, emphasizing that an overhaul of the "woefully inefficient" transit system is necessary to reduce unemployment and remain competitive internationally, according to CBS News. The president added that his six-year, $50 billion initiative would not only repair and modernize U.S. roads, rails and air systems, but also create jobs. For the full story, click here.
METRO TV: To watch a video of the press conference, click here.
To read the Economic Analysis of Infrastructure Investment report, click here.
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Children’s author and illustrator Margot Zemach was born into a show business family--her father was a theater director, and her mother was an actress. Growing up, she drew imaginatively costumed characters to retell her favorite fairy stories and folktales, something she continued to do as an adult that would lead her to worldwide fame.
As she wrote in her autobiography, Self-Portrait: Margot Zemach: "I can create my own theater and be in charge of everything. When there is a story I want to tell in pictures, I find my actors, build the sets, design the costumes and light the stage. . . . If I can get it all together and moving, it will come to life. The actors will work with each other, and the dancers will hear the music and dance. When the book closes, the curtain comes down."
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home > archive > 2001 > this article
Blood on their hands
By E. Ralph Hostetter
The Preamble to my Constitution does not read "We the insects, reptiles and rodents of the United States...do hereby ordain". My Constitution still reads "We, the people of the United States..."
However, in the parlance of the radical left wind extremists in the endangered species movement, "We the people" has become an anachronism.
Further, my constitution guarantees the God-given right to life and the natural right to property for all Americans. However, in violation of sacred trusts guaranteed by the U.S. Constitution: Tom Craven, 30, Devin Weaver, 21, Jessica Johnson, 19, and Karen Fitzpatrick, 18, lie dead today. Most certainly they are victims of an unconstitutional law (the Endangered Species Act) that has placed protection of a few fish identified as "endangered species" above human life itself.
Insanity must rule in the halls of Congress to openly condone such a blatant violation not only of the U.S. Constitution, which all congressmen swore to uphold, but every moral law in the universe. The cause of these tragic deaths began with a 25-acre forest fire in the early morning of July 10, near the Chewuch River, in Washington State's Northern Cascade Range. Under the authority of the Endangered Species Act, the Chewuch River has been identified as the "protected" home of several species of salmon and trout.
A massive cover-up of the incident followed for the next three weeks. The only electronic news media today that will mention it is Fox News. Forest Service Chief Dale Bosworth (the big boss) said he heard "a whisper" of the incident on Monday, July 30, twenty days later.
The rest of the story now reveals that at 5:30 a.m. on July 10, the fire protection authorities near the Chewuch River ordered a helicopter water drop to douse the 24-acre fire. What ensued was a debate between fire protection authorities and endangered species representatives lasting for many hours. The endangered species people objected to the water drop, arguing that some three fish types, identified as endangered, might be dipped up in the water by the helicopters and taken to douse the fire.
By the time the first water arrived at 3 p.m., some 81/2 hours later, the fire had extended to the point that shortly thereafter it 'exploded' and the original 25-acre fire swept to 2,500 acres within three hours.
By 5:25 p.m. all four firefighters were dead.
For years, an expired Endangered Species Act has not been renewed after its mandated ten years of existence nor has the concept been abolished. The week leadership of both parties in Congress is afraid to renew the act and terrified of abolishing it. The greens (Watermelon Marxists) have intimidated them into inaction. The courts are treating the law case by case, mainly on issues involving property rights.
Hundreds upon hundreds of property rights cases involving the Endangered Species Act exist. However, courts have turned a blind eye to the rights of the property owner. But now human life has been taken.
The Endangered Species Act, passed originally to save America's Symbol of Liberty, the bald eagle, has been reduced to nothing more than an oppressive weapon to abuse the American people. The law has taken on a God-like aura protecting species as yet undiscovered.
The bald eagle has been saved. Congress must act to kill this venomous
snake, the Endangered Species Act, that lies in wait to destroy not only
American property rights, but now even life itself.
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Lottery proposed for Maine elver-fishing licenses
PORTLAND, Maine (AP) — With baby eels becoming a lucrative catch, more people will be going after elvers in Maine rivers, but the amount of fishing nets will remain the same under proposed new regulations that establishes a lottery system for new elver fishing licenses.
The Department of Marine Resources published proposed rules this week based on a new law passed last spring. The rules would allow new entrants into the elver fishery for the first time since 2006, when a freeze on new licenses was instituted.
A license would become available when a current license holder drops out of the fishery. One new license would be issued for every net that’s retired; if a fisherman now licensed to fish two nets drops out, two new fishing licenses would be issued for one net each. The lottery would be held by Feb. 15 each year.
The number of licenses has dropped from 653 to 407 since the state stopped issuing new licenses six years ago. And those in the elver industry say it is important to allow new people into the fishery to ensure a sustainable industry.
But regulators also are aware that fishing pressures shouldn’t be increased at a time when the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service is reviewing whether to list the American eel as threatened or endangered, said Deirdre Gilbert, director of state marine policy for the Department of Marine Resources.
‘‘From the Legislature’s point of view, the goal is not to increase the amount of gear in the water given the unknowns around the fishery at this time,’’ she said.
Only Maine and South Carolina allow elver fishing. While hundreds of Maine fishermen fish scores of rivers, South Carolina handed out only 10 permits this year and allowed fishing on only one river. Officials estimate this year’s catch in Maine could be worth $40 million to $50 million, making it the state’s second most-valuable fishery, behind lobsters.
Prices skyrocketed last spring to more than $2,000 a pound, with the catch mostly shipped to Asia, where they are raised in farm ponds to market size and then sold to retailers and restaurants.
Since the 1970s, Maine fishermen have been going after elvers, which make their way up Maine rivers each spring. But the fishery didn’t draw much attention until the 1990s when prices rose to more than $200 a pound, creating a gold rush of sorts.
Randy Bushey, an elver fisherman and dealer in Steuben, said new licenses will keep the industry viable.
‘‘Every year people drop out, and when we drop down to around 400 we need to open the lottery back up and get it back up to a reasonable sustainable number,’’ Bushey said.
He said the state should also address whether to place a cap on the number of elver dealer licenses, given the increased interest in the elver market. Gilbert said about two dozen dealer licenses were issued last year — double the usual number.
Fishing interests also are watching activity among the Passamaquoddy Tribe, which surprised fishery officials last spring by issuing 236 elver licenses to tribal members. By law, the tribe has the authority to issue licenses, but license-holders must follow state laws and regulations.
‘‘It’s my expectation it will be a topic of discussion (during the upcoming) legislative session,’’ Gilbert said.
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YORK, Pennsylvania (CNN) – Although Russia has apparently agreed to cease military action in Georgia, John McCain accused Moscow Tuesday of continuing to attack, saying that “possibly thousands” of civilians have been wounded or killed.
“President Medvedev stated that he has halted the offensive,” McCain said, “but reports indicate Russian military forces have continued attacks in some areas, and the situation remains fluid and dangerous.”
“Today the killing goes on, and the aggression goes on,” he said.
McCain spoke for seven minutes about the situation in Georgia at the beginning of a town hall meeting in Pennsylvania, praising the country’s “long and remarkable” history and its commitment to Western values. He said he spoke to Georgian president Mikhail Saakashvili earlier in the day.
“He wanted me to say thanks to you, and give you his heartfelt thanks, for the support of the American people for this tiny little democracy far away from the United States of America,” McCain said. “And I told him that I know I speak for every American when I say to him, ‘Today we are all Georgians.’”
The presumptive GOP nominee appeared to allude to past calamities in Europe while describing the crisis.
“My friends, we learned a great cost of the price of allowing aggression against free nations to go unchecked,” he said.
He continued his call for humanitarian aid to be airlifted to the country and for international peacekeeping forces to be sent to the two separatist regions of South Ossetia and Abkhazia.
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The Relationships of Body Image, Feminism and Sexual Orientation in College Women
AbstractIn this study, 409 undergraduate women completed surveys about their own body image, feminism and sexual orientation as well as their attitudes about others, that is, attitudes about weight in others, attitudes about feminism and attitudes about lesbians and gay men. There was a significant relationship between the three external measures of fat attitudes, attitudes towards feminism and attitudes towards lesbians and gay men, and it is argued that each of these three variables reflects some degree of political liberalism. We also found that the relationship between own identity and attitudes towards others was significant for feminism and sexual orientation, but non-significant for own body image and attitudes about fatness in others. Thus, the results of this study imply that fat people as a group have still not formed the kind of political or social cohesiveness that has been so advantageous to other oppressed groups, such as women or gay men and lesbians.
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The Wolfhoundby The Wolfhound
- Oprah Winfrey hunting for 'Twilight' fanatics!
- The Brits, the IRA, the Lusitania, and the QE2
- 'Irish Viagra,' and the law about Irish jokes
- No flushing money (or water) down toilet in Ireland!
- Toasted Irish soccer fans says 'wee' to French bread
For experts on history (and all other matters), like your beloved Wolfie, the ironies are irresistible.
The QE2 was owned by the Cunard Line, which, coincidentally, also owned the luxury passenger ship RMS Lusitania many years earlier. Although ocean liner and history buffs still fight over the details and just about everything else, everybody now knows that the Lusitania was also in the business of transporting arms -- though in this case, the arms were "smuggled" by the Brits for the Brits in World War I.
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Originally Posted by JSmythe
Government based regulation sucks. Market regulation would be better. The gov. should create an official stamp if a certain product is made by a company that offsets its environmental footprint. That way people would be able to know they are buying a product that didn't hurt the environment as much. It would be interesting to see how the "fair trade" foodstuffs are effecting consumer habits as a comparison to my idea.
Corporations are welcome to label their own products saying they're environmentally friendly. Saying government based regulation sucks and then asking to set up a government regulatory system of which products are worthy of a seal is contradictory.
I agree though, this is a good idea.
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Just being attentive to what girls are experiencing as they mature is a big help to girls. So take some time to understand the likes, needs, and abilities of girls at difference ages.
As you listen and learn along with girls, you may find it useful to review the highlights of their development. What follows are the developmental abilities and needs of girls at various grade levels. You’ll also find these listed in the adult guide of each leadership journey, along with tips for how to make the most of them as you guide and partner with girls. Of course, each girl is an individual, so these are only guidelines that help you get to know the girls.
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In recent years local government administrators have experienced plenty of stress. They've been dealing with rapidly diminishing revenues, expansive and expensive workforces, vocal organized labor, elected officials and the mandate to deliver essential services while cutting taxes.
But, before the stress, they had a pretty nice run. Let's face it, from the late nineties until about 2005 they had exponentially increasing tax revenue or as we say in Miami - "coño como tenían dinero". With plenty of cash in their general fund, they did what most government administrators do. They increased government by expanding services.
Fair enough. Everyone wants a robust portfolio of services. However, some public administrators got into the strange practice of spending your money by trying to match the private sector. The phrase "being more like the private sector" entered the vernacular but these good natured folks misinterpreted what it meant. They missed the point.
To start, "being more like the private sector" doesn't mean mimicking services that the private sector offers at a higher price, including pensions, merit pay, civil service rights, Department Directors, Assistant Department Directors, and Assistants to the Assistant Department Directors. No, that's not it. It means offering a good service efficiently and at a value to the customer, the individual paying for it, or in this case, the taxpayer.
For example, many administrators implemented services like 3-1-1 call centers. For those of you who don't know, 3-1-1 is the easy-to-remember access to non-emergency municipal services or a Citizen Information Center. Basically, it's a customer service hotline and a good thing. It provides a fast, simple and convenient way for residents to get information from their local government. Residents get one-on-one personal customer service in various languages by dialing one easy-to-remember number.
Well, unfortunately, some administrators implemented this service by building facilities, leasing or purchasing expensive call center equipment, entering into long-term maintenance contracts and hiring a lot of call center staff to take your calls at all hours at the night.
The same service could have been offered more efficiently and at a value by outsourcing it. I'm not saying to outsource the call center to India, the Philippines or Transylvania for that matter. But, if an administrator is smart, they would have a private company offer the same 3-1-1 service with the stipulation that they must be located in the community they serve and only employ residents of that community as the call center's staff and administrators. This provides better value, creates jobs and keeps the dollars in the local economy.
Local governments can also look at outsourcing some of the more traditional government functions. For example, the public school system's primary mission is to educate our students and take care of our teachers. If that is their goal, why should they expend resources trying to run a business transporting students? Wouldn't it be better for our teachers and kids if student transportation were outsourced to a national company that could leverage the significant economies of scale, global resources, capital investment, and expertise in safety and systems for transportation solutions? I think so. They too could be mandated to only hire local drivers and maintenance workers. By doing so, our public school systems would be able to invest more money in our teachers and students, which is what the families depend on them for.
Now, before I go too far, there are some core services that government should clearly not outsource. Public safety is number one. We need our cops on the street, in uniform, and ready to do the job whatever it takes. The last thing we need is a private corporation taking over a police department. That type of outsourcing could open the doors to some kind of future dystopian nightmare. Scary! But there needs to be a dialogue on other services as well.
If done right, outsourcing provides the best of both worlds: a robust portfolio of services offered to the taxpayer at a price they can tolerate and, more importantly, afford.
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| 0.960726 | 824 | 1.757813 | 2 |
WASHINGTON (CNN) - Barack Obama's run for the White House bodes well for the future, the presumptive Democratic nominee told CNN Wednesday, a day after he clinched the nomination.
"I have heard from a number of people already, both black and white, that their kids - 7, 8, 9 years old - take for granted now that, of course a black can run for president, that a woman can run for president," he said.
"There is a matter-of-factness to it that i think bodes well for the future."
The Illinois senator said it was "an enormous honor" and "very humbling" to be the first African-American to lead a major party ticket for president.
"You think about all the people who had to knock down barriers for me to walk through this door," he said in a Senate hallway. "And the challenges they went through were so much more difficult, so much more severe, and the risks they took were so much greater that I will say, last night standing in that auditorium, it struck me that it was testimony to them."
Obama dodged questions about Hillary Clinton, his rival for the Democratic nomination who has not admitted defeat.
They spoke by telephone Tuesday night and met briefly Wednesday in person at the annual conference of a pro-Israel lobbying group, the America-Israel Public Affairs Committee.
"It wasn't a detailed conversation," Obama said. "As I said, I am very confident about how we're going to be able to bring this party together."
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| 0.984441 | 316 | 1.703125 | 2 |
Even when Carmen was just a little girl, she always wondered why her mother seemed so sad. Carmen would ask now and then, but was always told things were fine. Deep down, however, Carmen knew they weren’t.
At an early age, Carmen learned the difficult truth. Her grandmother died of cancer when her mother was just a little girl. When it happened, Carmen’s mother was sent to live in a new home. Her aunt was sent elsewhere.
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| 0.995687 | 97 | 1.773438 | 2 |
Bill Requiring Prescription for Pseudoephedrine Off Notice
Legislation requiring a prescription to buy some cold medications has been stalled in a House subcommittee as lawmakers seek a middle ground between law enforcement officers pushing the proposal as a means to combat methamphetamine production and pharmacists opposing it as an unnecessary inconvenience to consumers.
The bill (HB368) would apply to Sudafed, Advil Cold and other products containing pseudoephedrine, which is used in illegal production of methamphetamine. Sponsor Rep. David Hawk, R-Greeneville, told the House Criminal Justice Subcommittee last week the measure is needed because previous legislative efforts -- including harsher penalties for meth producers and a record-keeping system for sales of the medications -- have not worked to control meth.
"The cost to society is millions and millions of dollars," he said. "Families are being destroyed. People are dying because of this."
Oregon and Mississippi have mandated that "meth precursors" be sold by prescription only, Hawk said, and meth production in those states has declined "dramatically."
But with Hawk's assent, the subcommittee chairman, Rep. Tony Shipley, R-Kingsport, announced the bill is being "taken off notice" and will be held without action while alternatives are explored. Shipley said he and other legislators met with Tennessee Bureau of Investigation officials, who support the measure, and "we were not persuaded this is the approach we need to take."
In an interview, Shipley said one option would be to allow consumers to buy one bottle of a cold medication containing perhaps a seven-to-14-day supply without prescription, though a second bottle would require a prescription. Pharmacists already keep track of sales of the medications through the National Precursor Log Exchange system implemented in Tennessee through legislation enacted two years ago.
Hawk suggested the bill could be altered to allow a pharmacist to issue a prescription for the pills in question after consultation with a doctor's office over the phone rather than requiring a consumer to get the prescription.
Other legislators generally questioned the need for the legislation.
Rep. Eric Watson, R-Cleveland, who chairs the full Criminal Justice Committee, said the drugs in question can now be purchased online from the United Kingdom and sent via mail, while Rep. Jeremy Faison, R-Cosby, said more and more meth production is coming from Mexico.
With "thugs" having such options, Watson said, there seems little point in having customers take time off work and make an insurance co-payment when they need a cold medication. He said stronger enforcement of existing penalties would be better.
"We need to quit working deals out with criminals. That's the problem," said Watson. "When the law says three to nine years, it should mean three to nine years. ... If we've got to put up fences and keep them (prisoners) outside, there's nothing illegal about putting up a fence in Tennessee."
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WASHINGTON, DC (WUSA) -- The U.S. Department of Agriculture has recalled more than 300,000 pounds of deli meat produced by Zemco Industries, a division of Tyson Foods.
The packaged meat may be contaminated with Listeria. This food-borne bacteria can weaken the immune system and cause death.
Look for vendor number 398412808 on the package. The "Use By" dates range from August 20 to September 10, 2010.
New York Firm Recalls Deli Meat Product
The USDA says the meat was distributed nationwide to Wal-Mart stores, delis and was also processed into sandwiches.
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| 0.944714 | 129 | 1.84375 | 2 |
Chinese manufacturing picks up in March
Shanghai – China’s manufacturing activity rose more than expected in March, official data showed Sunday, but analysts warned the world’s second largest economy was still slowing.
The official purchasing managers index (PMI) rose to 53.1 from 51 in February, helped by an increase in new orders, the China Federation of Logistics and Purchasing said in a statement.
It marked the fourth consecutive month of expansion for manufacturing activity. A reading above 50 indicates industry is expanding, while a reading below 50 suggests it is contracting.
The March figure beat analysts’ median forecast of 50.5, according to Dow Jones Newswires.
Zhang Liqun, a researcher at government think-tank the Development Research Center, said the March reading showed a rebound but he warned overall economic growth was still slowing.
“Future economic growth will still experience a slowdown,” he was quoted as saying in the statement.
Analysts said the rise in March was likely supported by seasonal factors, as manufacturing tends to pick up in spring and following the Chinese Lunar New Year holiday, which fell in January.
China’s economy is widely expected to slow this year as woes in key export markets such as Europe and the United States hit its overseas sales.
Chinese lawmakers last month approved a government-set target for 7.5 percent economic growth this year. China’s economy grew 9.2 percent last year and 10.4 percent in 2010.
The central bank in February cut the amount of cash banks must hold in reserve for the second time in three months as policymakers moved to increase lending and boost domestic consumption amid the economic slowdown.
Beijing has pledged to “fine-tune” policy to prevent a hard landing for the economy, which could trigger widespread job losses and spark social unrest.
Short URL: http://business.inquirer.net/?p=52033
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Mbabane — Swaziland's King Mswati III is under immense pressure following the constitutional crisis that has resulted from his cabinet's refusal to resign after the House of Assembly passed a vote of no confidence.
Political analysts feel this has exposed the undemocratic nature of the Swazi system of government and that it has put Mswati in a precarious position where he has to choose between the will of the people and those he has placed in power.
"The prime minister's actions reveal beyond a doubt that the executive arm of government holds sway and that the verbal or laid-down supremacy of the constitution is not worth the paper that it's written on," political analyst Dr. Sikelela Dlamini told IPS, referring to Prime Minister Barnabas Sibusiso Dlamini's (no relation) refusal to vacate office.
The House of Assembly, which is the lower chamber of parliament, fired the cabinet or the executive arm of government, which includes the prime minister and ministers, on Oct. 3 following a ruling by the International Court of Arbitration (ICA) that compelled the state-owned Swaziland Posts and Telecommunications Corporation (SPTC) to shut down all its mobile services after Swazi MTN complained of unfair competition. SPTC has since been left with only its fixed-line business.
Mswati holds 10 percent of MTN shares while Prime Minister Dlamini has a stake in Swaziland Empowerment Limited, which own 19 percent of shares in MTN.
However, some legal experts have argued that the ICA ruling was not legally binding because it was not an order given by the country's courts, though the government has insisted that it is bound by it.
Prime Minister Dlamini had said a few hours after the vote of no confidence that the cabinet would not step down.
"His Majesty's government believes that the motion passed by the House of Assembly is null and void as it seeks to compel the cabinet to defy court orders," Dlamini had said, referring to the ICA ruling.
While the constitution clearly states that the cabinet should resign three days after a vote of no confidence, government spokesperson Percy Simelane told IPS that the executive branch of the government was still waiting for the King's decision. On Oct. 9 he told reporters that the prime minister would not step down.
Swaziland is a monarchy and Mswati appoints the cabinet and 20 of the 30 senators in the upper chamber of parliament, with the remaining senators appointed by the House of Assembly.
And while political parties have not been allowed to campaign for office since 1973, the public can elect members of parliament to the House of Assembly under the Tinkhundla (constituency) system. The vote of no confidence in the cabinet by the House of Assembly has therefore been seen as the vote of the people.
Director of the Coordinating Assembly of NGOs Emmanuel Ndlangamandla said that the House of Assembly's decision reflects the will of the people and Mswati is expected to endorse the resolution if he is serious about upholding the rule of law and democracy.
"We can't have a situation where we have authorities on one end and the people on the other. In this case, it's clear that the people do not want the government," said Ndlangamandla.
A highly placed source told IPS that the 44-year-old monarch is refusing to see the Speaker of the House about this matter and is not prepared to act on the vote because he was extremely upset by the House of Assembly's resolution.
The constitution gives Mswati powers to dissolve the cabinet after a vote of no confidence. The Speaker of the House of Assembly, Prince Guduza, who happens to be Mswati's half brother, said he was still seeking an audience with the King on the matter.
"The King hasn't said anything so far," said Simelane. "So it's business as usual."
However, the Law Society of Swaziland said in a statement on Friday, Oct. 12 that the vote of no confidence was legal until the courts declared it otherwise. "It is our view that this matter should have been taken to court as a matter of urgency," the statement said.
Meanwhile, the House of Assembly has resolved to boycott the cabinet, which means that the debating and passing of bills in parliament has stalled.
But the law is on the side of the people, said constitutional lawyer Thulani Maseko, who argued that not even Mswati is above the constitution. He added that he was not surprised at the turn of events given the authorities' disregard for the rule of law and human rights.
"The constitution has been undermined, breached and flouted every step of the way in more ways than one," Maseko told IPS.
Federation of Swaziland Business Community president Henry Tum du Pont told IPS that the cost of communication services in Swaziland were the highest in the Southern African Democratic Community because of the mobile phone monopoly and further criticised the prime minister for acting selfishly in this matter.
"The SPTC saga is one of a long line of self-serving decisions taken by this cabinet, which seriously undermine the business reputation of the country," said Du Pont.
The showdown between the cabinet and the House of Assembly is strengthening the voice of progressives in their call for multiparty democracy. Since 2008, trade unions have called for a multiparty democracy through labour protests that have been met by a vicious clampdown by security forces.
Maseko said that the showdown between the two branches of government show that "the chickens have finally come home to roost."
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Raytheon XOS 2: second generation exoskeleton
By Mike Hanlon
September 28, 2010
The widespread usage of exoskeletal robotics to augment human beings moved a step closer this week when Raytheon demonstrated its second generation Exoskeleton, the XOS 2. The new robotic suit (think of it as wearable robot guided by a human brain) is lighter, faster and stronger than the original proof-of-concept XOS 1, yet uses half the power. While Raytheon's development is primarily focused on military usage, exoskeletons for the mobility-impaired are already at market and industrial exoskeletons from Japan, Korea and Isreal are not far behind. One day in the not-too-distant future, one of these suits will enable us all to have superhuman strength, speed and endurance.
The XOS 2 enables its wearer to easily lift 200 pounds several hundred times without tiring and repeatedly punch through three inches of wood. Yet, the suit, which was developed for the U.S. Army, is also agile and graceful enough to let its wearer kick a soccer ball, punch a speed bag or climb stairs and ramps with ease.
The XOS 2 robotics suit is being designed to help with the many logistics challenges faced by the military both on and off the battlefield. The US Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) has long harboured a desire to extend the human capabilities of soldiers through wearable robot exoskeletons to create superhuman strength, speed and stamina.
DARPA funded exoskeleton developments
A decade ago, DARPA funded a US$50 million project known as "Exoskeletons for Human Performance Augmentation" which spawned a number of exoskeleton projects. The scope of the program included the development of actively controlled exoskeletons that not only increased strength and speed, but enable larger weapons to be carried, provided a higher level of protection from enemy fire or chemical attack, allowed wearers to stay active longer and carry more food, ammunition etc.
One of the most promising of the projects which emanated from the DARPA funding was the Wearable Energetically Autonomous Robot (WEAR) from SARCOS Research Corporation.
In 2007, SARCOS was purchased by Raytheon and WEAR became the basis for the initial proof-of-concept Raytheon XOS 1.
Most of the original participants in the DARPA funding have now dropped away for one reason or another, leaving only two bipedal exoskeletons in contention for United States military usage: Raytheon's XOS series and Lockheed Martin's HULC which had its origins in the Berkeley Lower Extremity Exoskeleton (BLEEX) from UC Berkeley's Robotics and Human Engineering Laboratory.
The technology was spun out into Berkeley Bionics which has now begun working with defense contractor, Lockheed Martin, culminating in the announcement of HULC in 2009.
Earlier this year it was announced that HULC was to be updated to run on fuel-cell power. So clearly the race is hotting up, because Berkeley Bionics is getting set to unveil a new web site in just over a week from now, and with nine months development work on fuel cell power, Lockheed Martin's HULC will not have the limitations of tethering to contend with.
The Springtail/XFV Exo-skeletor Flying Vehicle
One other noteworthy exoskeleton resulting from the DARPA funding was Millennium Jet's Solo Trek XFV (eXoskeletor Flying Vehicle) which promised vertical take-off and landing, a range of 125 miles, a cruising speed of 70 knots and the ability to hover dead still at any altitude up to a maximum of 8000 meters.
Delivery of a working unit for field testing by the US military was expected in late 2003 but it never quite met its schedules and has since morphed into the Springtail Exoskeleton Flying Vehicle, built by Trek Aerospace, which purchased the technology from Millenium Jet.
Clearly the advantages of the Springtail/XFV make it suitable for an array of potential non-military applications too, but the project is still a work-in-progress.
The Raytheon XOS 2 in detail
In a common manual labour task, such as lifting or carrying, Raytheon claims the XOS 2 suit would multiply the amount of work done by one person by between two and three times. Hence a human can do two or three times as much work, but with no extra effort – the robot is doing the heavy lifting, and is simply being directed by the human inside it. Given the high cost of human labour, and the potential for injury in such a physically stressful environment, the XOS 2 and similar powered exoskeleton devices are logical tools of industry.
Currently, the suit is tethered to its power supply, significantly limiting the potential for usage. Raytheon expects that the power consumption will need to reduce a further 60% from that of the XOS 2 for the suit to be viable in untethered form.
The XOS 2 is powered by an internal combustion engine and power to the “limbs” is by high-pressure hydraulics rather than electrics and high energy density lithium ion batteries because the production XOS will eventually see service on the battlefield and in the words of Dr. Fraser Smith, vice president of Operation for Raytheon Sarcos, "we believe they (lithium ion batteries ) are extremely dangerous. If one gets breached, it can explode and cause a fireball that's similar to a magnesium flare.”
Just when we're likely to see the EXO 2's successor in commercial readiness is a difficult question for Raytheon, as an exoskeleton has som many different potential uses, that it depends on the requirements of the user.
“If you think of an exoskeleton like a car, the combat variant needs to be built to handle rugged terrain, yet it has to still be agile and light, and it needs to operate on its own power. Think of a hybrid Land Rover”, said Smith.
“The logistics variant is about amplifying brute force and enhancing a soldier's ability to lift and carry. It's more like a hard-working Ford truck. These are two very different missions, and right now different people want the exoskeleton to do different things.”
“In the nearer term we see the exoskeleton working on logistics applications where it can be tethered to an external power supply. With a tethered power source, you could likely see it within five years. For a suit that operates on its own power, it's probably more like a decade away.”
Hence the XOS is unlikely to see combat for some time, as the first XOS variant is focussed on assisting to overcome logistics challenges faced by the military.
According to Raytheon, logistic and support military personnel have to lift up to 16,000 pounds over the course of a typical day. With increasing pressure to reduce costs, the XOS suit's ability to enable one man to do the work of three is likely to be very enticing.
Have we missed your company?
If you have an exoskeleton under development, and you're not mentioned in this article, please email us with information and images and we'll update the article with your information.
Just enter your friends and your email address into the form below
For multiple addresses, separate each with a comma
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1. Jewelry not permitted during warmups – For the purpose of risk minimization and consistency in rules, contestants/competitors shall not wear jewelry in warm-ups or competition. If a contestant or competitor is discovered wearing jewelry during warm-ups, the meet officials will direct the athlete to remove the jewelry before continuing with warm-ups. If the contestant does not comply with removing the jewelry, he/she is withheld from warm-ups and the athlete’s coach is notified of the unsporting conducting. With lanes traditionally being filled with contestants during the pre-meet and post-diving event warm-up sessions, the potential for injury increases significantly. Ultimately, the coach is responsible for being sure the contestants and competitors do not report for warm-ups or competition wearing jewelry and that each swimmer/diver is in proper attire. The restriction and consequences for wearing jewelry are to be reviewed during a pre-meet conference between officials, coaches and team captains. A quick check of contestants already in the water during warm-ups should be added to the official’s pre-meet check list.
2. On-site shaving is prohibited – In an effort to prevent the potential for the transmission of blood-borne diseases, NFHS Rule 3-5-7 prohibits the practice of shaving at swimming competitions. On-site shaving is a health, safety and cleanliness-of-facilities issue. Under the “NFHS Communicable Disease Policy,” athletes in all sports are to refrain from full body shaving. It is very important that coaches counsel their athletes on the danger and inappropriateness of on-site shaving ranging from sharing razors, possible cuts and exchange of body fluid (blood) and spreading communicable disease to cleanliness issues at the facility. Coaches have the responsibility to educate their athletes and enforce this restriction. “On site” includes the pool area, adjoining locker rooms, shower rooms and restrooms within the facility where the competition is being conducted. Penalties include disqualification from further competition under Rule 3-5-7, and by state associations policy, could result in further restrictions for future meets.
3. Swimsuit construction and design – Rule 3-3-2 outlines the requirements and restrictions for a legal swimsuit. Last year, Rule 3-3-2 was modified, prohibiting the so-called high-tech suits. A clear definition for a legal suit design and construction was adopted. To address continued developments in the ongoing evolution of swimsuits, new Rule 3-3-1 states that the FINA logo is not considered a form of advertising, and swimsuits with the logo/barcode will be legal under NFHS rules. A change regarding the placing of a school logo or name is an adjustment to last summer’s major rule change. Rule 3-3-2b(2) now states that the swimsuit worn during competition must be of a textile material and 100% permeable to air and water except for the school name or logo, which may be an area no more than 9 square inches added to the suit after construction. Officials should use reasonable and good judgment in the application of the suit rule. It is not intended that officials become suit inspectors nor should they be expected to verify the legality of each competitor’s swimsuit. The referee should ask each coach during the pre-meet conference to confirm that all competitors will compete in legal swimsuits. During warmups, the officials should also advise the coach of any competitor(s) observed to be wearing an illegal swimsuit or multiple suits and that the suit(s) shall not be permitted during competition. During each race, the officials should watch for competitors wearing more than one swimsuit, in a swimsuit of illegal style, shape or made with zippers or fasteners. When observed during the competition, the appropriate penalty as defined in the rule should be applied. As a reminder, a “drag suit” worn over a regular suit is considered a multiple suit and is not allowed during competition.
4. Automatic timing, judging and integration of times – At meets where automatic timing is utilized, it is easy to fall into the “trap” of letting the machine pick the finish or sort the places out. Officials should always try to be in position to judge race finishes in case the timing system malfunctions, a touch pad fails to activate or does not cover the entire lane and/or becomes dislodged during the race. A pre-meet check of the timing system, the touch pads in all lanes, the starting device and scoreboard should be standard part of an official’s pre-meet duties. It is also critical that officials look at the scoreboard to ensure that it is functioning once a race starts or to instruct the timing equipment operator to report a malfunction immediately. Good protocol calls for the starter to verify with the timing equipment operator that the system is set for the designated distance or race prior to the start of each event. Rule 6-4-1 discusses the integration of backup times and provides tables as to how these times can be calculated when there is a malfunction for a heat or a malfunction for a lane. If places can be determined but qualifying times are needed to advance to the next level of competition, and backup times are not available, the referee could authorize the event to be re-swum. Section 5 of Rule 6 explains how the ballot system is to be implemented as a backup judging system for failure of an automatic or semi-automatic timing system, and as the primary system when only hand-held watches are utilized. Again, it cannot be stressed enough that it is the primary role of an official to be in position to judge a finish, determine legal strokes and turns. Recently developed Swimming and Diving Officials Guidelines Manuals have been published by the NFHS to improve the consistency of officiating high school swimming and diving. These manuals, which will be available July 1, 2010 at www.nfhs.org, are not meant to be another rules book. Rather they have been designed to help all officials better understand their roles in conducting competition as well as to enhance their meet organizational skills along with their mechanics of officiating.
5. Concussions – With swimming and diving being a non-contact sport, the incidence of concussions are rare in comparison to contact sports. Striking the head on the diving board or at end of the pool as well as colliding with another swimmer during a warmup session are instances that could lead to a concussion. It should also be kept in mind that slipping or falling on the deck, in the locker room or shower area could also have the potential for causing a concussion. Proper policies and preparations should be in place to minimize injuries due to these causes. The NFHS Sports Medicine Advisory Committee and the Board of Directors adopted the “SUGGESTED GUIDELINES FOR MANAGEMENT OF CONCUSSION IN SPORT” that outlines symptoms, sideline decision-making and appropriate health-care professional’s clearance to return to participation. The introduction to this document states, “concussions…..have the potential for serious complications if not managed correctly.” Rule 3-2-7 outlines the actions to be taken by the meet official to provide an opportunity for the contestant to receive medical attention. In the event a certified athletic trainer or medical personnel is not on site, the host school would be responsible for implementing their Emergency Action protocols in this situation.
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The April data (which represents an average of Feb, Mar, and April) are in, and the news is encouraging. The seasonally adjusted CaseShiller home price index was up 0.7% for the month, while over the past six months, prices are up at an annualized rate of 0.5%. The unadjusted Radar Logic series shows that over the past year, prices have fallen by only 0.9%. Home prices appear to be bottoming.
On an inflation-adjusted basis, prices have fallen by 40% from their early 2006 high. After six years of huge declines in new construction and a huge decline in real prices, the U.S. housing market is finding a new equilibrium. In fact, anecdotal evidence suggests that prices are now rising in many markets. Even though there is a large overhang of foreclosed real estate still on the books of banks, buyers are ever-more willing to snap up homes as they come on the market. Should the psychology of the market improve to the point where the public comes to believe that overall prices are rising, demand could easily rise to match any increase in the sales of foreclosed properties. This is how markets clear: it takes time to work off excess inventories, and it takes a change in price to bring buyers and sellers together, but we seem to have achieved both those conditions.
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Trail of Cthulhu won two Ennie awards for Best Rules and Best Writing, as well as receiving an honourable mention for Product of the Year.
|"That is not dead which can eternal lie.
And with strange aeons, even death may die."
- The Necronomicon
You uncover mysteries in dusty libraries and bloody crime scenes. You walk the mean streets of Chicago or hack through the jungles of the South Pacific. You battle vile cults, or recoil in terror at the alien enormities they worship. You follow the clues wherever they lead, whatever the cost in life or sanity. But do you dare to follow...
The Trail of Cthulhu
Trail of Cthulhu is a complete game of investigative horror set in the 1930s based on the work of HP Lovecraft. The game uses an adpated and enlarged version of GUMSHOE system which offers a laser-like focus on investigation, with characters driven to explore and investigate, even at the expense of their own health and sanity.
Using the revolutionary GUMSHOE investigative roleplaying system, this game features:
- Sanity which measures your blissful ignorance of the true nature of reality, and Stability which defines how robust your mental health is.
- Investigative abilities such as Cop Talk, Interrogation and Occult which help you find the awful crypt, and maybe even tell you what you might find there.
- Drives such as In the Blood and Arrogance to get your character into that crypt at night.
- General skills such as Sense Trouble, Filch and Scuffling to get you out again.
Keepers are offered:
- Rules you can tune to Purist cosmic despair, or to lurid two-gun Pulp
- Comprehensive support for adventure and campaign creation, as well as suggestions for improvisation.
- Three exciting campaign frames, for tweedy academics, jut-jawed G-men, or grimy traffickers in the eldritch, plus "The Kingsbury Horror," a complete introductory adventure.
- Techniques to run the game and maintain the atmosphere of mystery and malice.
And we reveal a new view of the Mythos:
- Gods, tomes, and magic, presented with mystery and drama in mind, and including Cthulhoid lore never before revealed in any game
- Alien races, including their spoor, their killing techniques, and the forensic clues their victims reveal.
- The original grim horror setting - the 1930s - set against depression, looming war and totalitarianism.
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Next term, I’m teaching a Computer Science course at the University of Toronto in which graduate and undergraduate students will do some consulting and/or development work for real-world clients. The students have backgrounds in areas as diverse as network security, user interface design, machine learning, graph theory, and numerical analysis, so pretty much anything is possible — the end-of-term flyer from last April will give you an idea of what they can do.
Here are the details:
- Students can’t get a grade for work they’re being paid to do, so it has to be pro bono.
- Clients in downtown Toronto are preferred (makes face-to-face meetings easier), but we’ve worked successfully with remote clients and open source groups before.
- Pure coding projects are OK for undergrads, but grad student projects have to require some novel thinking as well (and that’s preferred for undergrad projects too).
- They have to be able to talk about their project in public, and use whatever code they develop after the project is over. This doesn’t necessarily mean that projects have to be open source, but that definitely makes things simpler. (In the past, for example, students have sometimes had access to sensitive data that they couldn’t share with others, but were allowed to talk about the algorithms they were using and the patterns they were finding—that sort of thing is doable.)
So, could one or two of these students do something useful for you? If so, please let me know.
Prof. Sven Dickinson (acting chair of Computer Science at the University of Toronto) came in to talk to my undergrad software engineering class last Friday about life as a researcher. He made it sound pretty appealing, but his description of where his time goes made it clearer than ever that one of the reasons I’m not getting much research done is that I’m juggling too many other balls. This week, for example, I am supposed to:
- put together the final pitch to the department for a professional master’s in CS
- rearrange three chapters of the “CS-1 in Python” book (which is already up on Amazon, so we’d better get it finished)
- find projects for the 26 students in my consulting course next term
- write a final exam for the students in this term’s course (it’s due tomorrow, but that ain’t gonna happen)
- find money to keep the rewrite of DrProject on Django going next term
- review a chunk of Flash/Flex code to help a colleague decide whether or not to hire its author
- find (or invent) a coding scheme for scientific disciplines for the survey we’re running
- finish unpacking all the stuff in our new house (top priority: find the power cable for the TV that I so carefully tucked somewhere really clever)
- prep for a recruiting visit next Monday at the University of Alberta
- attend 11 meetings (so far—the number will undoubtedly grow)
The irony is, some of my colleagues actually think I’m good at time management and prioritzation…
The one-day StartupEmpire conference ran last Thursday, and by all accounts was a great success — see Jevon’s description for some details, and Osh Momoh’s for a more jumbled but equally enthusiastic view. I wish I could have gone, but reading this from Jevon almost makes up for missing it:
The Student Volunteers. Wow, this was one of the most hard working and impressive group of folks we could have hoped for. They took the iniative as soon as they got there and filled in gaps we had left. From creating an ad-hoc system of responsibilities to a make-shift coat check, they handled it all and left me in awe. I’d hire these folks in a heartbeat. A few of them are involved with the upcoming Impact Conference, which looks fantastic.
Later: Jevon has posted a roundup of commentary…
Via Nature: politicians from the UK Conservative Party will be required to take science lessons. On the one hand, kind of sad that they didn’t learn the basics in grade school. On the other hand, yay!, and when will Canadian parties require the same?
Over 1900 people have already responded to our survey of how scientists use computers, and it still has two weeks left to run. Our next task will be to analyze the data we’ve collected, which (among other things) means coding people’s free-form descriptions of their specialties so that we can talk about physicists and chemists as opposed to “this one person who’s doing N-brane quantum foam approximations to multiversal steady-state thingummies”.
Except: are “physics” and “chemistry” too broad? At that level, there are only a handful of sciences: astronomy, geology, biology, mathematics, psychology, um, computing, er, Curly, Larry, and Moe. Or maybe you’d distinguish “ecology” from “biology”. Or “oceanography” from something else, or — you see the problem. Rather than making up our own classification scheme, I’d like to adopt one that’s widely used and generally intelligible, but I’m having trouble finding one. Yahoo!, Wikipedia, and other web sites have incompatible (and idiosyncratic) divisions; the Dewey Decimal System and other library schemes have a very 19th Century view of science, and the ACM/IEEE publication codes are domain-specific.
If anyone can point me at something else (ideally, something with about two dozen categories — that feels like it ought to be about right, just from eyeballing the data we have so far), I’d be grateful.
We are finally in our new house — still lots to do, but this is now home. Yay!
…but too much has piled up for me to do more than post a few randoms:
- Remote control whale snot collection is even stranger than shrimp running on a treadmill.
- 50 of the 350 teams that took part in Microsoft’s Puzzle Challenge were from U of T — that’s almost 200 people. Florian Shkurti has a few things to say about how to do well.
- Jamis Buck has some interesting thoughts on LEGO, Play-Doh, and programming.
- The new president of the Maldives wants to buy a new homeland for his people in case global warming drowns the one they have. ’nuff said.
- On Spec magazine will be publishing my short story Still in an upcoming issue. Yay!
Our apologies to all readers of the streetknit.ca blog who are now getting third-bit.com items: our hosting service, site5.com, has messed up its configuration files, and has so far been unable to un-mess them. (Yesterday, for example, they were redirecting people to a Lithuanian culture site.) We hope they’ll fix things soon.
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Tropical Storm Isaac strengthened into a hurricane just off the U.S. Gulf Coast on Tuesday, lashing the New Orleans area with strong winds and heavy rain seven years after the city was devastated by Hurricane Katrina.
Isaac's storm surge could pose a major test of New Orleans' new flood control systems and reinforced levees. Forecasts from the U.S. National Hurricane Center showed the storm coming ashore in the Mississippi Delta late on Tuesday, possibly taking direct aim at the so-called Crescent City.
Source: Reuters. Read full article. (link)
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During his visit to Israel, President Obama said a diplomatic solution is still possible in dealing with a nuclear Iran. When addressing Israeli-Palestinian peace prospects, Israel Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Israel remains "fully committed to peace." NBC's Chuck Todd reports.
On his first state visit to Israel, President Barack Obama said Wednesday the United States “will do what is necessary” to prevent Iran from getting nuclear weapons and was praised by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu for his resolve.
During a joint press conference peppered with warm exchanges, two leaders who have not always seen eye to eye stressed points of agreement, even clarifying that both Israel and the U.S. believe it would take about a year for Iran to develop a nuclear weapon,
But there were also some signs of disagreement.
While Obama said “there is still time” to find a diplomatic solution to the problem of Iran’s uranium-enrichment program, Netanyahu emphasized the clock is ticking.
Oliwer Weiken / EPA
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu (second right) and President Shimon Peres (left) welcome President Barack Obama to Israel Wednesday. All three emphasized the enduring friendship between the U.S. and Israel.
“Whatever time is left, there’s not a lot of time,” he said.
Praising Obama for mobilizing the international community, Netanyahu noted that “diplomacy and sanctions so far have not stopped Iran's nuclear program” and called for a “clear and credible threat of military action.”
Responding that all options are on the table, Obama said, “We will do what is necessary to prevent Iran from getting the world's worst weapons.”
Still, he suggested that the U.S. and Israel might have different timetables for how and when to respond.
“Each country has to make its own decisions when it comes to the awesome decision to engage in any kind of military action. And Israel is differently situated than the United States,” Obama said.
Netanyahu also spoke of “different vulnerabilities” but stressed the common ground.
“I appreciate the fact that the president has reaffirmed, more than any other president, Israel's right and duty to defend itself, by itself, against any threat,” he said.
The press conference, in which both men made statements and answered four questions, also focused on the situation in Syria and the prospects for Israeli-Palestinian peace.
“Israel remains fully committed to peace and to the solution of two states for two peoples,” Netanyahu said, adding that he hoped Obama’s visit and his meeting Thursday with Palestinian officials in the West Bank would “help us turn a page in our relations with the Palestinian people.”
Asked about claims that Syrian President Bashar Assad’s regime used chemical weapons Tuesday, Obama said the U.S. is still investigating but he is “deeply skeptical” of the government’s allegation that the opposition deployed the weapons.
“I believe Assad must go and I believe he will go,” Obama said.
Meeting with Peres
The question-and-answer session came hours after Obama declared that Israel has "no greater friend than the United States," following a meeting with Israel’s President Shimon Peres.
Ammar Awad / Reuters
Palestinian demonstrators hold placards, some depicting President Barack Obama dressed as an Israeli soldier during a protest in the West Bank city of Ramallah on Tuesday.
Peres warmly praised Obama as “very knowledgeable,” adding there could be “no better” leader to take the peace process forward. He also thanked Obama for the “lots of sleepless nights” the president had endured in support of Israel.
Earlier Wednesday, Obama was met at Tel Aviv's airport by Netanyahu and Peres, along with a military band and a host of other officials and dignitaries.
All three men gave speeches that emphasized the friendship between the U.S. and Israel – Netanyahu spoke of the “unbreakable alliance,” Obama the “unbreakable bond.”
Obama, who began his speech with “shalom,” said he was “confident in declaring that our alliance is eternal.”
“The United States is proud to stand with you as your strongest ally and your greatest friend,” he said.
He said it was not an accident that he had made the first overseas trip of his second term in office to Israel.
“Across this region, the winds of change bring both promise and peril,” Obama said, likely a reference to the Arab Spring uprisings that saw an Islamist president voted into power in Egypt and a civil war erupt in Syria.
In his speech, Netanyahu thanked Obama for “standing by Israel at this time of historic change in the Middle East.”
“We deeply appreciate your friendship and we share your hope that the Middle East will enjoy a future of freedom, prosperity and peace,” he added.
President Barack Obama leaves Tuesday for his first ever trip to Israel as president and the White House is already lowering expectations for that visit. The New York Times' Elizabeth Bumiller, USA Today's Susan Page and The Washington Post's Ruth Marcus discuss.
Picking up on comments Obama made before the trip –- expressing the desire to put on a disguise and go to a Tel Aviv bar -- Netanyahu joked that he had lined up a few locations and “even picked out a fake mustache for you.”
Obama also viewed an “Iron Dome” air defense missile launcher, a U.S.-funded system that was brought to the airport for him to see. The system has helped protect Israelis from Hamas rocket attacks from Gaza.
On Thursday, the president will meet Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas in the West Bank, where he can expect a mixed reception.
"It's not a positive visit," Wasel Abu Yousef, a senior official in the Palestine Liberation Organization, which is led by Abbas, told Reuters.
In Ramallah on Tuesday, Palestinian police scuffled with scores of demonstrators protesting Obama's visit.
Obama is likely to offer reassurance that the U.S. still supports the creation of an independent Palestinian state.
However, little progress on the peace process is expected during the trip.
In an editorial Wednesday, the Haaretz newspaper said it would “take a good bit of imagination to expect a breakthrough over the next two days.”
“Here lies the central danger of the visit. The Israeli government and public could conclude, based on the polite tone of the president and the lack of a threat or demonstrative pressure, that Israel is now exempt from having to initiate steps toward resuming the peace process,” it wrote.
“This would be a horrible conclusion. Obama and the United States are not a party to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. The president of the United States is not the one who must live in a society that is being transformed as a result of the occupation and pushed to the margins of the international community,” it added.
The Jerusalem Post said that there would “admittedly” be “little if any headway” on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
However, its editorial said the visit would be more than just a “charm offensive,” given the war in Syria and the prospect of Iran getting a nuclear weapon. Iran insists its nuclear program is for peaceful means only.
“As the leader of the Jewish people, who have been threatened with destruction by Iran’s leaders, Netanyahu wants assurances that the U.S. will launch a military strike if necessary to prevent a nuclear-armed Iran,” the Post wrote.
“Ideally, he would also like to define a mutually agreed upon ‘red line’ or the point at which it has been determined that diplomacy and sanctions are useless and military action must be taken,” it added.
Reuters contributed to this report.
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As a cold drizzle soaked the soccer fields, I huddled on the sidelines with another mom. Her only child was in third grade, like my youngest, and she was sharing how she had recently re-enrolled in college to finish her degree. After describing how great it was, she said sympathetically, "Well, once the kids are gone, you can get back to what you wanted to do, too."
Ouch! She didn't mean to be insensitive about my choice to focus my energies at home while raising the kids, but her words hurt. She implied that raising kids wasn't a valuable use of my life, so the sooner it was over the better. Her comment reminded me how undervalued mothering is in our society, even by, or maybe especially by, women themselves.
As an aid in correcting this sort of self-defeating point of view, I find the Christmas movie, It's a Wonderful Life, to be a splendid analogy. In this 1946 classic, we first meet George Bailey after a financial crisis has caused him to contemplate jumping off a bridge and ending it all. Now, I must admit that motherhood has, on occasion, driven me to similarly extreme thoughts, but that is not the analogy I want to explore today. No, I want to look at how George, like most modern women, grew up with big dreams. George was aiming to get out of his small hometown and make a difference in the great beyond somewhere. Unfortunately, events and people kept getting in George's way. Events like his father's death and the stock market crash of 1929. People like his brother who never returned to help George with the family business and the local millionaire, Mr. Potter, who served as George's nemesis.
In response to these events and people, George sacrificed his big dreams little by little. In the face of each new crisis, George put himself at the service of his community, rather than of himself. In doing so, George acted as a type of Christ, and his community became a more loving place. Unfortunately, George himself didn't believe in the importance of his little acts of love. George believed his life had been a waste; so much so that when the accidental loss of $8,000 put his company and family in financial and legal trouble, George entertained suicide. He believed that the life insurance money he could provide for his family by his death would be more valuable than his presence in their lives.
There are many parallels between the plight of George Bailey and that of modern mothers, but let me highlight just one. It was George's misguided perception about what was truly valuable, not his rightly guided actions, that limited his satisfaction with life. So it is for many modern mothers. George, like so many mothers, made the right, life-giving choices each time he chose to invest his talents at home in Bedford Falls instead of running off to do it somewhere more glamorous. The problem was that George couldn't see it that way. So, God sent a quirky guardian angel named Clarence to show George that his life was not a waste. Clarence did this by showing George what a big difference all of his seemingly little, life-giving choices had made. At the end of the movie George understands and begs of Clarence, "I want to live again! I want to live again!"
This Christmas, let me be Clarence for you, for just a minute. Thank you, mom, for all the time, talent, and treasure you are devoting to your family. You are making a difference. Our world is a better place because of your service to your family. Thank you for all the little sacrifices and the big ones, too.
It's easy to think, like George Bailey did, that all the really fulfilling, important stuff happens outside our homes somewhere out there in the big career world. It doesn't. It's just easier to quantify out there. Next time you feel like I felt at that drizzly soccer game, sidelined in the game of life because of the life-giving choices you've made, remember this: You, just you, are more important in the life of your family than any material thing you could ever provide. Believe it, act on it, and the world will be a better place because of you.
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(CNN) -- After dumping more than a foot of rain in at least one location, Tropical Depression Beryl continued to soak the South on Tuesday, prompting flood watches and warnings from Florida to North Carolina.
Through Tuesday morning, the town of Midway, Florida, about 12 miles west of Tallahassee, had received a total of 12.65 inches of rain from Beryl, according to the National Weather Service.
Other notable storm rainfall totals include more than 8 inches in Cooks Hammock, Florida, about 73 miles northwest of Gainesville; and 6 inches in Branford and Arlington, Florida. The 3.25 inches measured in Gainesville broke a daily record, the weather service said.
As of early Tuesday, the center of Beryl was about 10 miles northwest of Valdosta, Georgia, and about 160 miles west-southwest of Savannah. Its maximum sustained winds were at about 30 mph with higher gusts.
Beryl was slogging north at about 2 mph, but was forecast to turn toward the northeast Tuesday and head toward the coast of South Carolina before pushing back out to sea.
"Some strengthening is likely as Beryl approaches the coastline and accelerates on Wednesday, when Beryl could regain tropical storm status," the National Hurricane Center said Tuesday.
Beryl was expected to produce 5 to 10 inches of rain over northern Florida and southeastern Georgia, with maximum amounts of 15 inches possible in some places, forecasters said. In eastern South Carolina and North Carolina, Beryl is forecast to drop 3 to 6 inches of rain.
"There are still going to be some wind gusts in the 30- to 40-mph range," at least for about 12 to 18 more hours, CNN meteorologist Sarah Dillingham said. Areas including the Outer Banks of North Carolina could see heavy rain, she said.
Dangerous rip currents remained possible from northeastern Florida to North Carolina, the hurricane center said.
Flash flood and flood watches were posted on the South Carolina and North Carolina coasts Tuesday. Flood warnings, watches and advisories remained in effect for parts of Florida and Georgia.
CNN's Ashley Hayes contributed to this report.
Click here to see the latest mugshots in Palm Beach County
Click here to see the latest mugshots in St. Lucie County.
Get the latest updates, photos and video from the devastation in Moore, Okla. Also, see how to help.
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The Japanese American fashion designer Sadohara (L) is seen here with two models at a fashion show in the Statler Hotel, Los Angeles, California (13 September 1956). The woman on the far right is the designer Riye Yoshizawa (see here and here) who helped open the Modern School of Fashion.
Photograph by Toyo Miyatake, from the Rafu Shimpo collection at the Japanese American National Museum.
This is fashion designer Kow Kaneko (seated) with clients, Mrs. Conrad Troll and Mrs. Alfred Esberg in Pasadena, California (2 December 1958). Although Kaneko had her own shop in Pasadena, this photograph shows her in Troll’s living room. (Photo credit: Rafu Shimpo Collection, Japanese American National Museum)
There’s precious little information about Kaneko, who was a well-respected couturier in the 1950s and 1960s. What I do know is cobbled together from court documents from a 14 August 1967 Visa Petition Proceedings for a Japanese designer only named as Sonegawa, who Kaneko was hoping to hire. What follows are drawn directly from these documents:
Petitioner has been in business in a competitive field for over 11 years. There is no evidence that she will not continue in business for many more years. The fact that she is seeking the services of an oriental clothes designer is in itself evidence that she plans to continue in the business … Petitioner states that with the addition of an authentic oriental designer from Japan she will substantially increase her business not only in the actual number of clients but also to the type of customer who is willing to pay a higher price for authentic Japanese designs and patterns.
Kow Kaneko began her fashion career doing free lance designing for Saks Fifth Avenue, Marshall Fields and Bullock’s Wilshire, but now devotes herself exclusively to her custom studio in Pasadena (606 Colorado Blvd.).
She presented evidence in the form of a scrapbook showing that she is well known for her designs and fashions and outstanding in her field. Time and Look magazines have published full colored pages of her creations as has the Fashion Service Review as well as numerous other fashion magazines. Petitioner has made most of the gowns for the Miss Universe of the Long Beach beauty pageant. She has as clients movie actresses and society matrons. Her clients have been included in the lists of the best dressed California women. Petitioner makes numerous appearances at design and fashion shows throughout the United States lecturing on fabric, design and techniques. She also lectures at colleges and universities in California and at home economic institutes on these subjects. She received fees for the appearances which are not included in the income of her store. Her reputation as a fashion designer and couturiere makes her in demand.
**I plan to look for the magazines in which her fashions were photographed but if anyone has leads regarding the year and issue of the magazines, I’d appreciate help!
Riye Yoshizawa is pictured here in her dressmaking class in the Manzanar internment camp. After the war, she would go on to help open the Modern School of Fashion in Southern California. (The photo was taken by Ansel Adams in 1943).
My rather extensive education in Asian American history (resulting in a PhD) never included the role of fashion and dressmaking in Japanese internment camps. These images (and several others that will be posted in the coming weeks) provide incredible insight into the relationships among fashion and war, Asian Americans and U.S. popular culture, and Asian American women’s popular culture and labor histories.
From the Library of Congress.
Students in Riye Yoshizawa’s dressmaking class at Manzanar internment camp pore over Vogue magazines for ideas and inspiration. Manzanar was one of ten “relocation centers” at which Japanese American citizens and residents aliens were interned during World War II.
This photograph was taken by Ansel Adams whose friend, Ralph Merritt, was the director of the Manzanar internment camp. Although cameras were considered contraband for internees, white American photographers like Adams and Dorothea Lange (whose photographs of camp life were commissioned and then confiscated by the War Relocation Authority) were allowed to photograph internees. A collection of Adams’ photographs were published in a book called, Born Free and Equal (1944).
From the Library of Congress.
Elizabeth Keckley, a former slave, dressmaker, designer, and author of Behind the Scenes: Thirty Years a Slave and Four Years in the White House (1868). In the book, condemned by some as an “indecent” exposé by “a traitorous eavesdropper,” she discusses her life as a slave and her eventual freedom and friendship with Mary Todd Lincoln, for whom she served as exclusive dressmaker. Keckley not only bought her own freedom, she opened a successful dressmaking business in Washington D.C.
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Welcome to www.infuriouscomics.com
Reduce Employee Turnover and Produce a Great Employee
For so many businesses in the United States it is the same picture they see year in and year out. Employees come, get trained, start to be efficient at work and then they leave. The company needs to train somebody new. To reduce employee turnover and produce a great employee, many things need to be established within a company as a support structure.
Many companies so often neglect to ask and wonder what their employees might like or think would be helpful to make their work environment and conditions positive ones. Whether owning a small or a large company, your immediate concerns probably lie within making profits to be able to keep the company running and to be able to pay your employees. Of course, running a company takes a lot of effort and work hours spent solely on that. But every time one of your employees leaves, you loose capital--capital you have invested in his or her training and knowledge. The knowledge capital you loose is all the information that the employee has absorbed during his or her employment at your company and all the new skills he or she might have added during the course of his employment. So how can you make your company and working for your company more attractive and also produce great employees?
There are many ways that this can be accomplished, most of them are rewards to the employee, but others that are just as important include the atmosphere and conditions at the workplace. This article will discuss just a few of the many possibilities you as an employer have to keep employee turnover low. For most employees, considering that they have an expectation towards the standard of living they have, a competitive salary is an important point. If you only pay minimum wages or never give raises and rewards, it is very unlikely to hold good employees that can make a lot more money somewhere else. To make their time worthwhile after hiring, you need to know what a competitive pay is and pay them either the average pay or slightly more. As for raises, raises together with evaluations will tell the employee that his or her effort and all the hard work he or she put into your company is appreciated. It also tells the employee how good his work is and what you will expect from him in the years to come. To produce a good employee, it is important to give the employee feedback on his work.
Some companies reward their employees with bonuses for accomplished tasks or finished projects. Other companies will give their employees an award at the end of the month or year and generally attach a small bonus to that. Also consider a good benefit package. Many employees look for the benefits that companies offer to them and their family to make a decision whether they should work for this company or choose a different one.
Often times, vacation is very important to employees. To be a motivated and good worker, employees need to spend time with their families or the things they love, like hobbies or sports. Yes, of course you would like them to work 60 hours for the 40 you pay, but consider this: an overworked overtired employee is most likely not able to work fast and efficient. That person also tends to be more error prone and unmotivated. Time off work to relax or regenerate is very important. Companies that offer ten days are often at the top of the list for employee turnover. Some companies offer flexible work times to accommodate for many different characters and situations at home. The employee that likes to come early and leave early versus the employee that likes to sleep long and then leave somewhat later feels just as welcome in this company or setting.
Besides all these added factors, the work environment also plays a great role in producing great employees and reducing turnover. A respectful and good working environment is very important to keep employees happy and motivated. You know that a happy, motivated employee works better, faster and makes fewer mistakes.
The Many Sides of Writer Web Rings (writer web rings) Generally, a web ring is defined as a collection of Web Sites from the Internet that are joined together in a circular structure. Writer web rings are a great example of this collection of Web Sites. Web rings may be used to increase search engine rankings, and can be considered as search engine optimization techniques. It is common for many web rings to take advantage of this and find writers looking to improve their own rankings. There are many web rings available for seasoned writers and novices alike. Becoming a member of one of the many writing web rings is as simple as joining any other web rings with different themes. Web ring web sites each have a common navigation bar that contains links to the previous and next sites. Clicking the next or previous sites repeatedly will eventually take the surfer to the site original site of the web ring; this is the origin of the term web ring. Web rings are organized around certain themes, and of course the theme for writer web rings is writing. These web rings for writers typically have moderators who are responsible for deciding what pages to include in the web ring. The making of the web ring is the foundation for the group of people who will soon join. Writer web rings are readily available and are open for all potential writers and experienced writers to join. These web rings for writers are usually seen as an outlet for many writers, who are otherwise unable to find interesting ways to increase their experience in the writing world. Typically, these web rings for writers are designed specifically for certain groups. For example, there are many web rings designed specifically for women. The Accomplished Women Writers group is a group of women writers who help each other by providing tips and hints for getting published. The web ring also includes a site that teaches women how to manage a family, household, and writing career. The Aspiring Young Writers Ring is also a web ring, and is dedicated to helping young writers on their way to becoming professionals. The Author Ring is a web ring that was established for published authors if book-length fiction and nonfiction. Other writer web rings include Black Folks Who Write, which is open to African Americans who showcase their work on the internet; Freelance Webring for freelance writers; Internet Writers? Guild, which brings together authors of web-published literature and showcases their writing online; and Romance Readers and Writers, which is designed for writers who love all aspects of writing romance novels, and who enjoy reading romance novels. No matter the person, there is a writer web ring for almost every kind of writer, so no writer should feel discouraged if they feel their case is a unique one and there is no writer web ring to satisfy their artistic needs. Writer web rings are not a new concept, but there are many writers who don?t take advantage of their great services. A writer web ring can be used to help any writer expand their knowledge of writing techniques, of their own experience, level, and style of writing, can help them appreciate their writing as well as others, while teaching them about the business of writing, and helping them figure out the world of writing in general. These web rings are considered to be good things because a person can find many sites relating to their own writing all together without searching endlessly. Many may not see writer web rings as perfect, but they can be noted for their service they provide for many writers, and can be seen as a great tool for the writer.
Web Hosting - Redundancy and Failover Among the more useful innovations in computing, actually invented decades ago, are the twin ideas of redundancy and failover. These fancy words name very common sense concepts. When one computer (or part) fails, switch to another. Doing that seamlessly and quickly versus slowly with disruption defines one difference between good hosting and bad. Network redundancy is the most widely used example. The Internet is just that, an inter-connected set of networks. Between and within networks are paths that make possible page requests, file transfers and data movement from one spot (called a 'node') to the next. If you have two or more paths between a user's computer and the server, one becoming unavailable is not much of a problem. Closing one street is not so bad, if you can drive down another just as easily. Of course, there's the catch: 'just as easily'. When one path fails, the total load (the amount of data requested and by how many within what time frame) doesn't change. Now the same number of 'cars' are using fewer 'roads'. That can lead to traffic jams. A very different, but related, phenomenon occurs when there suddenly become more 'cars', as happens in a massively widespread virus attack, for example. Then, a large number of useless and destructive programs are running around flooding the network. Making the situation worse, at a certain point, parts of the networks may shut down to prevent further spread, producing more 'cars' on now-fewer 'roads'. A related form of redundancy and failover can be carried out with servers, which are in essence the 'end-nodes' of a network path. Servers can fail because of a hard drive failure, motherboard overheating, memory malfunction, operating system bug, web server software overload or any of a hundred other causes. Whatever the cause, when two or more servers are configured so that another can take up the slack from one that's failed, that is redundancy. That is more difficult to achieve than network redundancy, but it is still very common. Not as common as it should be, since many times a failed server is just re-booted or replaced or repaired with another piece of hardware. But, more sophisticated web hosting companies will have such redundancy in place. And that's one lesson for anyone considering which web hosting company may offer superior service over another (similarly priced) company. Look at which company can offer competent assistance when things fail, as they always do sooner or later. One company may have a habit of simply re-booting. Others may have redundant disk arrays. Hardware containing multiple disk drives to which the server has access allows for one or more drives to fail without bringing the system down. The failed drive is replaced and no one but the administrator is even aware there was a problem. Still other companies may have still more sophisticated systems in place. Failover servers that take up the load of a crashed computer, without the end-user seeing anything are possible. In fact, in better installations, they're the norm. When they're in place, the user has at most only to refresh his or her browser and, bingo, everything is fine. The more a web site owner knows about redundancy and failover, the better he or she can understand why things go wrong, and what options are available when they do. That knowledge can lead to better choices for a better web site experience.
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There’s nothing “fair” about a fairy tale.
It’s true: The princesses are always beautiful in fairy tales, and nobody ever has zits. They all live in castles, never in small apartments or houses with messy kitchens. And the fairy-tale prince is always smart and handsome, which is so unlike the dweeb in Algebra who kept asking you out this year.
Fairy tales? Maybe they should be called UNfair-y tales.
That’s what 15-year-old Delilah thought, too, until she stumbled upon a secret in an illustrated kid’s book. As you’ll see in the new novel by Jodi Picoult and Samantha Van Leer, Delilah needed to look “Between the Lines.”
From the moment he was born, Oliver’s future was mapped out for him.
He had little choice, in fact, because his mother was Queen and his father was King. It was inevitable, therefore, that Prince Oliver would someday rule the kingdom.
The problem was that the kingdom ended on page sixty-something. Oliver’s life was predestined because he was a character in a book, end of story. His actions were part of the plot. His existence was written in ink, but his mind went way beyond paper.
None of the other characters in the fairy tale ever thought about life outside the pages, for instance, but Oliver did. What would it be like to escape page 43, or page 26? He always wondered as he sneak-peeked at the faces peering into the book. One of the faces — a repeat reader — really captured his imagination.
She was older than most fairy tale fans, with silky hair and beautiful eyes. He wished there was a way to really know her…
Delilah hated her life. She hated school, she hated that she was a klutz, and she hated the Popular Girls. Was it any surprise that books were her escape?
This children’s fairy tale book, though, that was a surprise. Even Delilah herself couldn’t completely understand why she was obsessed with it and had to read it dozens of times.
But then she spotted an illustration she’d never seen before.
And then she spotted movement within the pages.
And then the handsome prince-drawing talked to her!
For ages, you’ve been borrowing your Mom’s Jodi Picoult books and she seems kind of tired of it. So maybe it’s payback time: Get a copy of this book and wait. It won’t be long before she’ll be asking to borrow your novel for once.
That’s because “Between the Lines” is cute and very clever, with delightful plot surprises and characters you’ll pull for. Author Jodi Picoult spins her typical magic here, in tandem with her daughter, Samantha Van Leer, to create a story that will appeal to anyone who ever wished that fairy tales were real, that characters might come to life, or that a prince was just a page away.
Meant for teenagers ages 12-17, this book is definitely going to be popular with a much wider audience hungry for Picoult. If that’s you, reading “Between the Lines” will make you feel happily ever after.
Terri Schlichenmeyer has been reading since she was 3 years old, and she never goes anywhere without a book. She lives on a hill in Wisconsin with two dogs and 11,000 books.
THE BOOKWORM’S READING LIST
BOOKS JUST DONE
“Cat Daddy” by Jackson Galaxy (pretty good book for cat owners)
“The King of New Orleans” by Greg Klein (interesting book about pro wrestling’s first black “superstar”)
“Knowing Your Value” by Mika Brzezinski (very good business book for women, now in paperback)
“Muskrat for Supper” by Kenny Salwey (very good memoir about living on the Mississippi River; this is a YA book but also good for adults)
“I Got a Name: The Jim Croce Story” by Ingrid Croce and Jimmy Rock (good, if not detailed, biography)
WHAT’S COMING UP
“Rock & Roll Myths: The True Stories Behind the Most Infamous Legends” by Gary Graff and Daniel Durchholz (laying to rest the Paul is Dead rumor and more)
“A Golden Voice” by Ted Williams (memoir, from homeless to fame)
“The Absolutist” by John Boyne (novel)
“Island Practice” by Pam Belluck (story of a doctor on Nantucket)
“Get Outside” by Jane Drake & Ann Love, illustrated by Heather Collins (kids book)
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“Sunday Gardening” (24 in. by 21.75 in.) by John Philip Falter, sold for $68,500. Best known for his Saturday Evening Post covers, Falter also had a career in the Navy, for which he designed and produced over 300 recruiting posters.
“Cream of Wheat Advertisement” (39 in. by 18 in.) by Haddon Sundblom sold for $10,000. Sundblom is best known for his work on another company’s ads: He painted the famous images of Santa Claus for Coca Cola, which have been the center of its holiday campaigns since the 1930s. These paintings, based on Clement Clark Moore’s 1822 poem, “A Visit From St. Nicholas,” helped create the modern image of Santa Claus that endures to this day. Sundblom was a master at creating warm, comforting images that evoke a simpler, more carefree time.
“Winter Landscape with House” (12 in. by 16 in.) by Arthur Saron Sarnoff, sold for $875. The Brooklyn-born Sarnoff did extensive commercial work for weekly magazines, as well as a number of product advertising campaigns.
“Jack the Ripper” (19 in. by 27.5 in.) by Arthur Saron Sarnoff, sold for $13,750. Sarnoff’s art is known for its engaging whimsy and relied heavily on themes of Americana and slapstick humor. This painting is his best known work.
Some Folks Frown on It, But It's a Lot of Fun, (8 in. x 11 in.), by J.C. Leyendecker sold for $5,000. When the United States entered the First World War in 1917, Leyendecker created posters in support of the nation’s war effort. His dramatic images were used to promote the purchase of war bonds, urge young men to enlist and the general public to conserve resources needed by the military.
“Peace on Earth” (38 in. by 28 in.) by Harold Anderson, sold for $17,500. Connecticut’s
Anderson was known for his realistic depiction of traditional American scenes. He was a
member of the Society of Illustrators and produced work for numerous publications.
“Boarding the Flight” (17 in. by 16.25 in.) by Manning Devilleneuve Lee, sold for $1,375. Specializing in realistic depictions of historical subjects, Lee’s illustrations appeared in over 200 books and countless magazines, mostly intended for young people.
“Goldilocks and the Three Bears” (25.25 in. by 16.25 in.) by Jessie Wilcox Smith, sold for $134. Famous for her numerous collaborations with Good Housekeeping, Smith was the second woman to be inducted into the Hall of Fame of the Society of Illustrators.
“Astronauts on the Moon” (19.75 in. by 12.75 in.) by Norman Rockwell, sold for $46,875. Perhaps the most famous and influential illustrator in American history, the prolific Rockwell produced over 4,000 original works, ranging from magazine covers to stamps.
New York, Oct. 13, 2012
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J.B. Wogan is a Governing staff writer.E-mail: [email protected]
In the wake of an elementary school shooting in Newtown, Conn., last year, South Dakota has decided to try to deter gun violence in its schools by allowing teachers to pack heat. Gov. Dennis Daugaard signed the bill into law last week. Twenty-four other states are considering similar “school sentinel" bills this year, but South Dakota is the first to legalize it since the Newtown massacre.
Eight states (Hawaii, New Hampshire, Alabama, Arizona, California, Oregon, Rhode Island and Utah) allow concealed firearms in schools, according to Lauren Heintz, an education research analyst with the National Conference of State Legislatures (NCSL). South Dakota's law is different from all others, though, because it specifically permits school employees -- including volunteers -- to carry guns in schools, Heintz said.
In theory, the school sentinels law is distinct in that it doesn't require firearms in schools to be concealed. But state Sen. Tim Begalka, a sponsor of the legislation, said school districts have the discretion to require guns are concealed, and he expects they will.
"It could be either way, but it was pretty much understood that they would be concealed," Begalka said.
The new state law gives school district boards the ability to decide whether they want to allow their school employees and volunteers to carry guns. All changes, though, must be approved by a local referendum as well.
Proponents point out that the new law requires school employees to take a training course to avoid accidents. Nonetheless, the law -- notable for its promotion of gun ownership in schools at a time when some states are considering gun restrictions -- drew nationwide criticism.
Connecticut Gov. Dannel Malloy denounced school sentinel programs in his State of the State address.
"Freedom is not a handgun on the hip of every teacher, and security should not mean a guard posted outside every classroom," he said.
Addressing the nation's city leaders at a conference this week, Vice President Joe Biden echoed Malloy's remarks: "The last thing we need to do is arm teachers."
Some question the necessity of school sentinel programs in South Dakota, a state with five gun-related homocides in 2011, which is fewer than in all but two other states, according to Uniform Crime Reports collected by the FBI. South Dakota's lawmakers are solving a problem that doesn’t exist, argued David Penn, a resident of Sioux Falls, S.D., in a letter to the editor in the Argus Leader.
“There is no history in South Dakota of violence in schools,” Penn wrote. “This teaches our children that it's OK to solve our problems with violence -- which is ironic given that this attitude is part of the problem. We need to teach our children healthy conflict management, not create a culture of fear.”
The Argus Leader’s own editorial board agreed with Penn: “We must believe and offer hope that with rational security measures such as locked doors and adequate screening of guests, our children are safe to go to school. As horrifying as a school shooting is, and we hope there is never another, arming a school like a fortress asks everyone to pay a different kind of price that is unnecessary and harmful in its own ways.”
Lawrence Downes, who writes for The New York Times editorial page, argued that it’s easy to imagine amateur shooters spraying bullets wildly, as even professionally trained police officers sometimes miss their target.
“The N.R.A.’s cherished Wild West, good-guy-gunman scenario discounts all the other, more plausible possibilities: of accidental firings, suicides, gun thefts and other lethal mayhem that regularly occurs when guns and people mix.”
Many school leaders in South Dakota have also come out in opposition of the new law.
Darold Rounds, superintendent of the Colman-Egan School District, told the Moody County Enterprise that he feels "having guns in our schools would cause more problems than they would solve," pointing to gun accidents.
Theodore Hamilton, another school superintendent South Dakota, wrote the Argus Leader to say that he doesn’t know any educator who wants guns in the classroom. “How many of these legislators will show up when a gun is misfired in a school, or a student picks up a gun from a teacher and someone is killed?” Hamilton argues that the state legislature should be paying for more school resource officers instead.
In other states, legislatures are considering new requirements to appoint at least one armed school resource officer at every school. According to an NCSL analysis, bills dealing with school resource officers have been introduced or referred to committee in Alabama, Colorado, Mississippi, Tennessee, Texas, Wyoming and Indiana.
In defense of the law
Despite the law's widespread backlash -- which is mostly centered around the accidents that can happen if teachers are armed -- state lawmakers defend their decision because they see it as a way to give localities more autonomy at a time when federal funding and action is unreliable.
In an op-ed published by the Yankton Daily Press and Dakotan, state Sen. Dan Lederman explained his support for the bill as a vote for local control on school safety issues. He argues that most places won't even take advantage of the armed-teachers option. “But for those schools in the middle of rural areas that have parents shifting nervously in their seats at any mention of school violence because any law enforcement response is a minimum of 20 or more minutes away? This bill gives schools that seek an option something they can do to protect themselves until first responders can arrive. They deserve the same solution that children in our cities have.”
Lederman notes that the Obama administration is pushing for a range of federal solutions to gun violence, including more funding for school resource officers. But national government isn’t the answer, he said.
“We can't depend on the federal government to honor its promises to follow through for South Dakota. And we can't depend on the federal government to solve our school safety concerns. We need a South Dakota solution for South Dakota kids. And it needs to be tailored on a district by district basis.”
Written and compiled by staff writers and editors, GOVERNING View is an on-the-ground, and sometimes behind-the-scenes, look at the topics we're covering in print and online. From notes on what's up in statehouses, county courthouses and city halls, to encounters with people, places and things, GOVERNING View is a window into the side of state and local government you don't always see.
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UCP of Greater Cleveland’s Children’s Services Programs are based on a philosophy of early intervention and holistic, family-focused care. Licensed physical, occupational and speech/language therapists, as well as social service professionals work with family members to design programs that enhance physical, mental and emotional development. With a sliding fee scale linked to income, UCP makes children’s programs available to families of all financial means.
The agency serves infants and children (up to 22 years of age) with a variety of developmental delays and disabilities including, but not limited to, cerebral palsy, autism spectrum disorder, Down’s syndrome and other genetic or neuro-muscular disorders. All families receive comprehensive case management, advocacy and support services, as well as parent education programming to help them thrive and meet the evolving needs of their child(ren) and family.
Listen to Ben’s mom describe how her son and family were impacted by the unique structure of the therapy and support services at UCP.
UCP Children’s Services Include:
- Physical, Occupational and Speech/Language Therapy Services
- Steps to Independence Intensive Therapy
- School-Based Therapy
- Early Intervention Service Coordination
- Case Management
- Parent Education
- Assistive Technology
For more information about UCP Children’s Services Programming, please contact [email protected] or (216) 791-8363, ext. 1250.
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Why are you scrimping and saving, clipping coupons and skipping meals, forgoing vacations, and being extra nice to wealthy relatives in hopes that they might “loan” you a few thousand or remember you in their wills so you can make the down payment on your first experience buying a home?
Are you nuts?
Don’t you know that governments at every level—federal, state, and local—can’t wait to help you get a mortgage without a down payment? If you’re a first-time buyer with good credit and average or slightly less than average income, you’re a perfect candidate for a government down payment assistance program. Ain’t this a great country?
The US Department of Agriculture program
Let’s start at the top, in Washington, D.C. The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) guarantees and funds about 170,000 loans a year to families who make up to 115 percent of the median annual income where they live. Borrowers must be able to afford the mortgage payments, including taxes and insurance. In addition, applicants must have reasonable credit histories.
You don’t even have to be a farmer or live in the sticks to qualify for a USDA mortgage. You can live in one of hundreds of small towns, nice suburbs, and even resort destinations. It gets even better. As of October 1, the feds have $24 billion available for loans at market interest rates with no down payment. Hurry before the money is all gone.
VA housing loans
Then there’s the popular VA housing loan for veterans. If you served 90 days on active duty or with the Reserve or National Guard—or even if you are a surviving spouse of a serviceperson—you may qualify for a VA-guaranteed loan that will cover up to half the cost of your mortgage, depending on the amount your borrow and where you live. Learn more about VA loan eligibility.
VA loans can be used to refinance an existing mortgage as well as rehab or repair a home. However, a down payment will still be required for the balance of the loan if you’re using the VA program to buy a house—meaning that it’s not quite as good a deal as the USDA program.
Local options for no down payment loans
Look locally and you’ll find a whole new range of little-known gems of the no down payment mortgage world. For many years, local community leaders have known that one of the biggest barriers that is keeping earnest, hardworking, bill-paying, home-owning families like you from moving to their communities and buying a home is a down payment.
To improve their workforce housing picture, state and local governments have set up programs to guarantee mortgages for credit-worthy borrowers through local lenders.
The lender is happy to make the loan because he knows he is going to get repaid either by the borrower or the government. Because he has incurs no risk, he agrees not to require a down payment. If borrowers pay back the loans, the local government doesn’t lose a penny, which is why good credit and the ability to repay are critical to qualify. It’s a win, win, win.
There are literally thousands of down payment assistance programs available locally across the nation. Nearly all of these programs have income limits and are limited geographically. Many of these programs are very local in nature, so it’s hard to find out if the home you want to buy qualifies. Some have special limits, and are available only for foreclosed properties or public employees, for example. Some have such a low profile that they have down payment-free loans that go begging.
The Down Payment Resource (DPR)
Why doesn’t someone put all these thousands of down payment programs together on a single website so that you can easily find out what’s offered and where? Actually, someone has. It’s called Down Payment Resource (DPR). Developed by a company called Workforce Resource, it links eligible buyers with government-funded programs for down payments, affordable mortgages, and rehab loans.
Unfortunately, DPR is currently only available in seven metropolitan areas or regions served by multiple listing services (MLS) that carry the service. On property listings from those MLSs that have DPR, a special icon displayed right on the listing indicates that the home is eligible for one or more down payment assistance programs. Homebuyers can click on the icon and answer eight simple questions to determine if they qualify. Real estate professionals can quickly access details about the assistance programs.
If your Realtor doesn’t know about DPR, tell him or her to call the MLS and get with it. Do your homework with your state, county, and municipal housing authorities to identify programs for which you might be eligible. Work with a Realtor who is up to speed on local down payment programs and who knows the lenders who participate in them.
With the help of down payment programs like these, you could be in your own home before the end of the year with cash left over from your down payment savings to cover closing costs, moving expenses—and maybe even some new furniture.
Steve Cook is Executive Vice President of Reecon Advisors and covers government and industry news for the Reecon Advisory Report.
Cook is a member of the National Press Club, the Public Relations Society of America and the National Association of Real Estate Editors, where he served as second vice president. Twice he has been named one of the 100 most influential people in real estate. He is a graduate of the University of Chicago, where he was editor of the student newspaper. In addition to serving as managing editor of the Report, Cook provides public relations consulting services to real estate and financial services companies, and trade associations, including some of the leading companies in online residential real estate.
Equifax maintains this interactive forum for education and information purposes in order to allow individuals to share their relevant knowledge and opinions with other members and visitors. We encourage you to participate in discussions about personal finance issues and other topics of interest to this community, but please read our commenting guidelines first. Equifax reserves the right to monitor postings to the forum and comments will be published at our discretion. Do you have questions or comments about your Equifax credit report or customer-service issues regarding an Equifax product? If so, please contact Equifax directly. All opinions and information expressed or shared in blog comments are solely those of the person submitting the comments, and don't necessarily represent the views of Equifax or its management.
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Editor's note: Dan Rather is anchor and managing editor of AXS TV's "Dan Rather Reports," which runs Tuesdays at 8 p.m. ET. For more, visit Dan Rather's official website, Dan Rather Reports on Facebook and Dan Rather Reports on Twitter.
(CNN) -- A New York Times front-page article Monday detailed a new phenomenon in news coverage of the presidential campaign: candidates insisting on "quote approval," telling reporters what they can and cannot use in some stories. And, stunningly, reporters agreeing to it.
This, folks, is news. Any way you look at it, this is a jaw-dropping turn in journalism, and it raises a lot of questions. Among them: Can you trust the reporters and news organizations who do this? Is it ever justified on the candidate's side or on the reporter's side? Where is this leading us?
As someone who's been covering presidential campaigns since the 1950s, I have no delusions about political reporting. Candidates bargaining access to get the kind of news coverage they want is nothing new. The thicket of attribution and disclosure deals is a deep maze reporters have been picking their way through even before my time. But this latest tactic by candidates revealed by the Times gives me, to say the least, great pause. It should give every citizen pause.
Essentially, what the Times described was the rapid rise of "quote approval" -- a strategy deployed by campaigns requiring reporters to send quotations they intend to use to candidates' press officers, to be sliced, diced, edited and drained of color or unwanted consequences, and reporters going along, fearing that if they don't, they won't get access.
Here's how it works: Let's say a reporter is granted an interview with a senior strategist of the Obama or Romney campaign. A condition for the interview would be that before the reporter could send the story to the editor, he or she would have to agree to submit for approval every quote intended to be used to the campaign press staff.
Let us mark well this Faustian bargain. It is for the benefit of the politicians, at the expense of readers, listeners and viewers. It is not in the public interest; it is designed to further the candidates' interests.
Political operatives cannot be blamed for wanting this. We, the press, should be held accountable for letting them have it.
Thomas Jefferson said: "The only security of all is in a free press." A free and truly independent press -- fiercely independent when necessary -- is the red beating heart of freedom and democracy. One of the most important roles of our journalists is to be watchdogs. Submitting to these new tactics puts us more in the category of lapdogs.
For many years, it has been typical journalistic practice for high-ranking officials on the campaign or in the White House to demand that interviews be conducted "on background" -- meaning reporters agree to not use direct quotes or identify the person by name. Hence, conventions such as "As one campaign official said ..." This, in many cases, is defensible.
But the practice described in the Times is something new and different. This is the officials or candidates regularly insisting that reporters essentially become an operative arm of the administration or campaign they are covering.
"Quote approval" nullifies, or at least seriously dilutes, reporters' ability and duty to be honest brokers of information. When the quotes are sanitized, then delivered intact with full attribution, the public has no way of knowing what the concealed deal was.
Please know that there is no joy in calling attention to these things. I respect and empathize with reporters and editors who must compete in today's environment. And I know full well that when I've been covering campaigns, which I still do, I've made my mistakes and have been far from perfect.
About all of us doing this line of work, I'm often reminded of a sign in an old Wild West cow town saloon that said, "Please don't shoot the piano player, he's doing the best he can."
But we journalists can do better. We must.
Dean Baquet, the excellent managing editor for news at the Times, said in Monday's story, referring to quote approval: "We don't like the practice. We encourage our reporters to push back. Unfortunately, this practice is becoming increasingly common, and maybe we have to push back harder."
Yes. The Times, Washington Post, Wall Street Journal and a few other newspapers, along with the major networks, are among the few news outlets that have the leverage to push back -- soon and hard. It's action worthy of us. And it's important. It matters.
Follow us on Twitter @CNNOpinion
Join us on Facebook/CNNOpinion
The opinions expressed in this commentary are solely those of Dan Rather.
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Sep 20, 2010 0
Monday’s Maryland Lawyer cover story is about a controversy surrounding the paved parking lot of The Oregon Grille. One thing I could not fit into the story is a bit of the history and significance of the restaurant’s building, which adds some context to the legal dispute.
The Oregon Grille occupies the last company store in use in Baltimore County, according to Ruth Mascari, who sits on the board of directors for the Baltimore County Historical Trust. The store dates back to at least 1846, when county records note storekeeper C.J. Rosan had an inventory worth $1,200, according to the Baltimore County Public Library’s archives.
The nearby Oregon Furnace started up three years later. It was destroyed by fire in 1853, but ore mining continued at the site for another 30 years, according to John McGrain, a former county planner and historian who has written about the county’s manufacturing villages.
Thomas Kurtz, Oregon’s last foreman, then bought the entire 457-acre tract and continued operating the general store, according to McGrain.
The property remained in the Kurtz family until the county purchased it in 1969 and created Oregon Ridge Park.
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Lopsided defeats of proposed education tax hikes across the nation, including a 64-36 drubbing in Colorado, indicate a decidedly anti-tax attitude among voters as states struggle to pay for rising education costs and teacher pensions.
Colorado’s Proposition 103 would have raised the state income tax on individuals and corporations by 8 percent—from 4.63 to 5 percent of adjusted gross income—and the state sales tax from 2.9 percent to 3 percent, a 3.4 percent increase. Proponents said both increases would be used to fund public schools.
“It remains the sentiment of the country that we have to get our fiscal house in order,” said Colorado state Sen. Kent Lambert (R-Colorado Springs), one of the leading voices against Proposition 103. “People are getting a lot more savvy about these issues. Even a lot of Democrats were saying, ‘We can’t afford another tax increase.’”
Although there could be some exceptions in the coming elections, the Colorado result suggests tax increases are currently not likely to pass in most states, said Michael Barone, an American Enterprise Institute political analyst.
Voters in Douglas County also rejected tax increases aimed at instituting a teacher pay-for-performance program and a $200 million bond proposal. They reelected, by wide margins, school board candidates who had approved the nation’s first county-initiated voucher program. Two of three reform-minded Denver School Board candidates won seats, but the two union-backed school board candidates in Jefferson County also won seats.
Tax Increase Split Democrats
The Colorado initiative was the only statewide tax on the ballot in the nation this year. Last year, voters rejected by 66 to 29 percent Initiative 1098 in Washington, which would have established that state’s first income tax.
Lambert notes “only about four Democrats out of 100 legislators showed up” when Sen. Rollie Heath, D-Boulder, “held the initial press conference to announce this money-grabbing bill. If this would have brought support within the Democratic Party, they would have been there. It didn’t, and it never did.”
Gov. John Hickenlooper (D) refused to endorse the measure, choosing instead to propose—on the same day as the Prop. 103 vote in November—a budget cutting K-12 education spending by $97 million next year.
The governor could have been avoiding the fight in order to maintain party unity, Barone said.
“Maybe he thought the tax increases were bad public policy but didn’t want to anger advocates and split his party by opposing them outright,” Barone said.
In trying to build momentum for the tax increase, supporters claimed Colorado is one of the nation’s poorest funders of K-12 education, saying it ranks No. 49 among all states in per-pupil spending.
An analysis of Prop. 103 from the Colorado-based Independence Institute supports Lambert’s claim the ranking is “a flat-out lie.”
Colorado, which spent $11,133 per student during the 2007-08 school year, is actually “in the middle of the pack or a little ahead when making regional comparisons of per-pupil spending,” said Penn Pfiffner, a senior fellow in fiscal policy for the institute.
Pfiffner compared that figure to surrounding states’ per-pupil spending, and found it was higher than neighboring Kansas, New Mexico, Arizona, and Utah.
“Locally, only Nebraska came in higher, at $1,164 more,” Pfiffner reported.
The National Education Association ranked Colorado No. 30 in per-pupil spending in December 2010.
Prop. 103 opponents also succeeded in raising doubts about the measure by questioning whether the money would actually be spent on education. Though the measure stated, “Additional revenues resulting from these increased tax rates be spent only to fund public education,” Pfiffner noted the measure “does not create a segregated, separate fund. There is no basket into which the new money figuratively will be dropped.” This meant the state legislature might spend education-designated funds on other projects.
There is historical precedent for this concern, Lambert said.
“A couple of years ago, they had Referendum C and Referendum D that they were saying was for the kids, but it wasn’t used for that,” he said. “As soon as [Prop. 103] would have passed, the legislature could have legally diverted that money to use it wherever they want.”
Program Sustainability Questioned
Critics also questioned the sustainability of new education programs the funding created, since the measure stipulated the tax increase would expire in five years.
The measure would have broken “a basic rule in public finance, [which] is that onetime money should not be used to finance ongoing programs,” noted Barry Paulson, a senior fellow with the Independence Institute.
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Aug 30, 2007
Digg Arc is the lastest addition to our continuing work for Digg Labs. The piece has seen several weeks of development and experimentation and three phases of development punctuated by two successive public releases. This is a visual diary of its creation, shared by Shawn Allen, Tom Carden, and me, Michal Migurski.
Arc began in Shawn's hands. We started with a few basic experiments in circular layout and basic arc geometry. At first, these took the form of simple interactive wireframes to prove that our math was right. We quickly attached these initial sketches to the Digg Flash Kit, and connected them to a source of real data.
Our early work centered on a kind of visual stress-testing: during periods of heavy Digg user activity, how much data could Arc display while staying legible? We spent several evenings tweaking display parameters and leaving the results running for long periods of time to see how an unfiltered stream of data would behave. Would it be possible to show hundreds of stories and users? Could the user arcs on the outside of the center circle be improved with transparency and hard edges?
When I finished and delivered Arc's first public release, we limited the stories on the edge to a minimum of 10 pixels or so, and kept the focus on the story display in the center. The initial text design for the focal circle was imported from Swarm.
After its first release, Tom began working on a followup adjustment. This has been a pattern with several of our pieces for Digg Labs: early release, followed by community feedback and subsequent updates. Arc could benefit most from explicit indication of user activity, better visual distinctions between topics and containers, some improvements in mouse interaction.
Some of the rendering glitches and experiments during development were gorgeous:
The final piece changed the appearance of the arcs, labeled them explicitly with site users, and introduced better interaction and control of the reactive piece.
Play with the final piece at labs.digg.com/arc.
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Dedicated to Preparing Residents for a Lifetime of Quality Practice
At Maimonides Medical Center, residents take on progressively greater responsibility for patient care throughout the course of their residency, acquiring clinical experience, knowledge and skills along the way. Training of residents in all programs is focused on the ACGME “core competencies”:
Watch a Day in the Life of a Chief Resident
- Patient care
- Medical knowledge
- Practice-based learning and improvement
- Interpersonal and communication skills
- Systems-based practice
In addition to clinical training, all residents participate in a well-organized didactic program of seminars and teaching conferences, which provide a balanced and complete education. Weekly conferences, daily teaching rounds, grand rounds, and "Mortality & Morbidity" conferences are just some of the sessions regularly scheduled. Academic conferences and presentations by distinguished scholars, visiting professors and physicians are available to all residents by sponsoring departments or through the Office of Academic Affairs. Residents also participate in substantial research activities within their departments.
To support resident training programs, the Office of Academic Affairs conducts Resident and Faculty Development Seminars, which are held during the course of the year. These seminars discuss a range of current topics and issues which affect house-staff training and development. Among these sessions are stress management, practice management, test-taking skills, substance abuse, patient/physician communication, cultural diversity, sexual harassment and ethical issues. In addition, residents are an integral part of our formal quality assurance process.
Please refer to the left-side navigation to find out more about one of our residency programs.
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As of Sunday, Sept. 7, 2008, at least 4,155 members of the U.S. military have died in the Iraq war since it began in March 2003, according to an Associated Press count.
The figure includes eight military civilians killed in action. At least 3,375 died as a result of hostile action, according to the military's numbers.
The AP count is the same as the Defense Department's tally, last updated Friday at 10 a.m. EDT.
The British military has reported 176 deaths; Italy, 33; Ukraine, 18; Poland, 21; Bulgaria, 13; Spain, 11; Denmark, seven; El Salvador, five; Slovakia, four; Latvia and Georgia, three each; Estonia, Netherlands, Thailand, Romania, two each; and Australia, Hungary, Kazakhstan, South Korea, one death each.
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Do you think this is a good or bad idea? Why?
I think it's a... "meh" idea. Let's face it: even if you're running The World's Best Intro to C++ Course here, most of your students probably won't be bringing much to the table - it's all new to them! Granted, trying to answer a question you don't immediately know the answer to can be a great way to motivate yourself to do some research, but that isn't necessarily reflected in their reputation score; by making that a goal (and putting their grade on the line), you might just end up killing any intrinsic motivation they might have for the task.
But I like the way you're thinking... Lemme run another idea by you:
Make asking questions the assignment
Every so often, we'll get an email from a professor somewhere who found out one of his students used one of our sites to cheat on a test or take-home assignment. And chances are, when I check into it, the questions turn out to be pretty lousy; heck, it's not at all surprising to see someone just type the question or assignment in verbatim, followed by some variation on "I'm stuck. Halp?"
So chances are, your students really suck at asking questions. It's bad for us, because we get lousy questions. It's bad for you, because if your students don't know how to ask us then they probably don't know how to ask you either, and there's less of you to go around. And most of all, it's bad for them - at least, the ones that will eventually graduate and find themselves facing much more difficult questions in their pursuit of careers or graduate degrees. Knowing how to find answers by breaking down a problem and then either asking, or searching is an extremely valuable skill.
It sure would be great if they had some help prior to that point...
What if, upon handing out a take-home assignment, you told them:
If you get stuck, or are unclear on something, feel free to use Stack Overflow to research it - either by asking a question, or by searching for an existing one. Show your work: if you make use of a question, make note of the ID#. You'll get extra credit for every good, relevant question reference you turn in.
...or something along those lines. I don't know what your assignments or teaching style are like, but IMHO this would be a far more productive avenue for all concerned.
And hey, if you managed to get them to willingly submit their SO account IDs this way, you'd also be well-equipped to chide those lazy bums pasting their assignments in verbatim. Not that any of your students would do this of course. Just sayin'... ;-)
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A few days ago, I found myself at an Arabic restaurant in Falls Church, Virginia, which apparently doubled as some kind of family-friendly dance spot. While the DJ, who happened to be Syrian, played all kinds of music he would agree to play Saudi music –not very popular with anyone other than Saudis–only if one of the nice Saudi homeboys populating the venue would give him a tip. Only once payment was received did the DJ play the music Saudis are so fond of.
For me, the incident brought to mind the Syrian opposition and the support it is rumored to have received from certain Gulf regimes. The Syrian National Council (SNC), which includes elements with strictly Islamist persuasions as well as more left-leaning voices, has yet to agree on anything beyond the necessity of removing President Bashar Al-Assad. The divisions within the SNC are hard to miss; even its allies and supporters have expressed concerns over these internal rifts.
Indeed, in the larger context of the Arab Spring, no country’s internal struggle has been more defined by division than that of Syria. Unfortunately, the mainstream media narrative has more or less ignored this important factor in favor of creating a loud anti-Assad din. The truth is the Syrian opposition is not united, does not enjoy the full support of the Syrian people, and is largely foreign-funded. We simply cannot ignore these facts.
Like most Arabs, when the Syrian revolution began, I was 100 percent behind it. But as time passed, the revolution transformed from a local movement into a far larger, multinational plot. All of a sudden, countries with dismal human rights records are backing the Syrian revolutionaries while preaching democracy to the Syrian regime.
To be clear, I am neither a supporter of Assad, nor his military apparatus. Its human rights abuses are well documented and many people have been killed in this bloody conflict. There is no denying this. Still, I wish that more people would also have the intellectual courage to acknowledge that armed militias have orchestrated many random acts of violence in Syria, and that these groups are a very real part of the disjointed opposition movement working to bring down the Assad regime. There is no organic and beneficent Syrian opposition movement, supported by all the country’s civilians and united under the umbrella of the SNC.
The one-sidedness of the Syrian story surprises me a great deal. According to most of the Arab and American media, you are either with the revolution or an indifferent bully. Many media outlets have gone to great lengths to advance this narrative, and the debunked stories and false reports have made me cynical about the whole Arab Spring ordeal. YouTube is loaded with revolutionary videos where creative editing is the star. People originally reported to have disappeared or been assassinated have turned up alive and well.
A major TV network contacted me recently regarding the possibility of conducting an interview about the music of the Syrian revolution. After some discussion back and forth, this was their response to me:
Sorry we won’t be proceeding with this story in this angle. But it was very nice speaking with you. I will keep your contact information and maybe we’ll be in touch again if we end up doing a story on this in the near future.
These media outlets do no one a favor by covering one side and overlooking the other. The voice being neglected is the voice of the Syrian people, not the regime. The fact is large swaths of the Syrian and Arab populations do in fact still support the Assad regime. Last summer, a group of Syrian-American Christians took a bus from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania to Washington, D.C. and held a protest in support of Assad. The same happened in Canada. Iraq, a staunch American ally, continues to support the regime. Dahi Khalfan, Lieutenant General of Dubai, has warned against the dangers of letting Syria fall under the control of the Muslim Brotherhood.
In the entertainment world, the vast majority of Arab artists in music, TV, and film stand firmly next to Assad. Lebanese and non-Lebanese artists alike have released droves of songs supporting Assad, and these are the same singers who celebrated the revolutions in Tunisia, Egypt and Libya. Some might argue that these artists may fear the wrath of the regime. By the same token, however, one must admit that a great deal of these entertainers have willingly chosen to support the Syrian regime. Take for example, legendary singer Wadih El Safi who is almost 91 years old. A man at this age, who has nothing to lose, has chosen to be a vocal supporter of the regime in Syria. Other singers in their 20s, such as Nancy Zabalawy, have also expressed their support for the regime. Since the start of the Syrian revolution, only two songs have criticized Assad while twenty songs, recorded by Syrian and other Arab singers, have celebrated him. In comparison, during Egypt’s revolution there were only two songs that were pro Mubarak and a 100 against him.
Those who want to topple the regime in Syria with the help of foreign troops would be the first to decry the aftermath. Syria is a complicated issue. What is not complicated is freedom and dignity, which the people demand. While I stand firmly with the Syrians and applaud them for standing up and demanding their rights, the noise induced by the anti-Assad campaign is making it impossible to hear what the people really want.
*Hanitizer is a native of Palestine and a passionate commentator on Arabic pop culture and things that make people laugh. He runs HotArabicMusic and has written for a number of blogs, including KABOBfest, Cracked, and Huffington Post. Hani, who holds a Masters Degree in Public Administration, is a concerned citizen and lives in Washington, DC.
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SEO is and acronym for search engine optimization. It is one of the best ways you can get business to your website. If your website ranks higher in the search engines you will receive more traffic to your business. You can turn that traffic into sales or conversions.
The most important thing for a website is that it works. Sounds funny, but that also matters for SEO purposes. Some companies do not know what is important for SEO and only concentrate on backlinks. Here is an example of the process of ranking a website for a certain term. In our case we want to rank for the term SEO Fort Lauderdale as its a keyphrase that matters to our business.
Brandamos is located in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, however, we have SEO clients all over the world.
You only need Search Engine Optimization if you want to increase your sales, gain more exposure, remove negative reputation, or appear as the authority in a particular subject. If you don’t care about any of those things, then you probably don’t need SEO.
There are different aspects to what Search Engine Optimization is used for. The number one reason people utilize search engine optimization is to gain exposure to potential customers that use the web either through their computer or mobile device.
As mentioned in a previous page that explained what Reputation Management is, we utilize SEO techniques to rank more positive items about yourself or business so that the first thing a potential customer sees is not bad.
This is where we utilize techniques to sell more of whatever it is you are selling. One of the tools we use is affiliate marketing, as well as other tools such as PPC management for your business, or even email marketing. We explain in detail how we can help create or improve your PPC advertising efforts with our pay per click services.
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With a holy week in full swing for both Christians and Jews across the country, controversy over two sculptures of Jesus -- one chocolate, the other depicting Barack Obama as Lord -- is heating up.
Artist Cosimo Cavallaro created "My Sweet Lord," a 200-pound, 6-foot-tall and anatomically correct sculpture of Jesus made entirely out of chocolate.
"I didn't go out there to make this offensive," Cavallaro said. "Had I wanted to make it offensive, I would have done something completely different."
The sculpture was supposed to be on display in a New York gallery during Easter week, but the gallery pulled the plug amid criticism from Catholics.
"This would rank as one of the worst, most vile, obscene and blasphemous assaults on Christian sensibilities that I have ever seen," said Bill Donahue, president of the Catholic League.
There has been a lot of controversial Jesus-themed art of late.
In Chicago, a sculpture combining Jesus and Illinois Sen. Barack Obama, a Democratic presidential candidate, created a stir.
In Florida, a gallery refused to display a version of "The Last Supper" that featured dogs as Jesus and his disciples.
Madonna was threatened with excommunication for appearing in concert on a cross, wearing a crown of thorns.
"Artists should have freedom of expression, but you should know that you are provoking people's deeply held beliefs and you shouldn't just do it for the fun of it or to get attention," said Steven Waldman of the spiritual Web site Beliefnet.
Some Christians say it's better to turn the other cheek rather than loudly protest.
"When we protest, we only make this behavior all the more attractive," said Paul De Vries of the New York Divinity School.
"The more they are actually trying to stop it the more they are actually liberating it to the whole world," he said.
He said that he was fielding offers to show his chocolate Jesus around the world.
In the meantime, the sculpture is being stored in a secret location for fear that what the artist calls "fanatics" will destroy it.
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Home Study High School- Oklahoma
Get started on your Oklahoma GED today! About half a million people will earn their GED or a High School Diploma online this year, and you can become one of them with the right program. You have already started by coming to Stanley High School.com so take the next Step and get enrolled to pass the Free GED test and earn yourself an Accredited High School Diploma completely online.
Who Qualifies for High School Diploma Online in Oklahoma State
To Qualify for the GED testing in Oklahoma you must be at least 18 years old or above and live in the State of Oklahoma. You must not be enrolled in a school and you must not be a High School Graduate already. You can also take the GED test if you are 17 but only if you have a parent or Guardian's permission and you may be able to take the Test at 16 if you are in care of a State Agency, under a court order, or in a job Corps training program. You can enroll at the age of 16 and 17 it will be solely the schools decision whether to allow you to take this program or cancel your application.
Benefits of Online High School Diploma
More than 6o percent of GED Test and online high school diploma takers plan to go to College. This program will help you do just that and will eventually earn you better jobs as well. Ninety-Eight percent of all colleges and universities accept GED credential, though some colleges require additional tests such as SAT or ACE. Check with the admissions offices of the colleges and universities you are interested in and have them call us for the questions.
Doing Online High School Diploma with Stanley High School
Stanley High School has years of online learning experience and takes pride in providing quality education to all diploma holders of Stanley High School from all across the globe. Stanley High School provides the perfect medium to earn an accredited high school diploma for students who were not able to continue with their education, home-school students or working adults.
Why choose Stanley High School?
- Earn a High School Diploma: Customize your educational plans and earn a diploma using 21st century technology.
- Schedule with Flexibility: Complete courses at your own pace and at times that best fit their daily schedules.
- Recover Credit: Earn credits to get back on track for graduation within your own school district. Enrollment is not dependent upon traditional school calendars, so courses can be started at any time during the year.
- Apply Home School Credits: You can enroll in SHS and transfer credits earned through home school study to our diploma program.
- Prior to credits being awarded, courses must be submitted for review and approval.
- Select from Advanced or Remedial Courses: Choose courses that meet your academic needs and support your learning style.
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About 600 staff, faculty and students are gathering on February 12 to honour the birthday and memory of the man whose name graces McGill's West Island campus: Sir William Christopher Macdonald.
Come celebrate 173 years of Macdonald. About 600 staff, faculty and students are gathering on February 12 to honour the birthday and memory of the man whose name graces McGill's West Island campus: Sir William Christopher Macdonald.
During the event, Gold Key Awards will be presented to outstanding students who have contributed to the Macdonald Campus community. Another highlight will include an inspirational address, "Life as a Mountain," by Toben Anderson, who will be introduced by Michel Tremblay, director of the McGill Cancer Centre.
In 1994, Anderson faced a challenge that threatened her life - cancer. She beat the odds and conquered the disease by changing her lifestyle. "Cheating death," says Anderson, "became a metaphor for getting the most out of life by achieving goals that had previously seemed impossible."
To raise support for cancer research and to inspire others to boldly chase their dreams, Anderson took on the symbolic challenge of climbing the top of the bottom of the world. She reached the summit of Mount Vinson, the highest mountain in Antarctica, on January 22, 1997.
Come hear Anderson's inspiring story and take part in Macdonald Campus festivities. Media are welcome at 10:30 am, in the Centennial Centre (21111 Lakeshore Rd.). Ceremonies begin with the piping-in of the platform party, followed by the brief awards ceremony, Anderson's address and a light buffet at noon.
Born in Tracadie, Prince Edward Island, in 1831, Sir William Christopher Macdonald left school at 16 and eventually started a tobacco company with his brother in 1859. Success allowed Macdonald to support, among other things, his greatest cause: education.
Sir William was extremely generous towards McGill, providing many gifts, including funds for the West Island campus that bears his name. Originally founded as a school of agriculture, teacher training and household science institution, today Macdonald Campus is an internationally renowned centre of teaching and research in areas of global concern: human health, food production and distribution, water resource management, climate change and biotechnology.
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|Where Businesses Go to Grow
NJ SMALL BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT CENTER AT THE COLLEGE OF NEW JERSEY
Advisors to Mercer & Middlesex Businesses with up to 500 employees
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
October 11, 2011
New Jersey Small Business Development Centers Network Offers Six-Week Training Courses along with Intensive Counseling and Technical Assistance for Unemployed Individuals Who Want to Start a Business
(Newark NJ) -- Due to a grant made available by the New Jersey Department of Labor and Workforce Development (DLWD), the New Jersey Small Business Development Centers (NJSBDC) network is offering a six-week specialized training workshop program for unemployed individuals who want to start a business. The program is known as the "Entrepreneurial Training Program for the Unemployed (ETPU)." The pro bono training courses being offered will be held at various NJSBDC locations throughout the state. The curriculum focuses on an array of topics aimed at helping aspiring entrepreneurs to develop their ideas and better understand the various aspects of starting and running a business.
The initiative provides one-on-one counseling for individuals (at no-cost) who register so that training is also supplemented with customized guidance and advice to would be entrepreneurs. The program will also help program registrants who advance through the 60 hour training program to apply for start-up business financing when conditions are appropriate.
Expert management consultants at the NJSBDC will help individuals learn more about the legal aspects of starting a business, writing a business plan, devising marketing strategies, managing through recordkeeping, accounting, and business taxes. In addition, other training topics include financing a small business, understanding financial statements, and strategic selling strategies. Additional focuses may include building a consulting business, acquiring a business or franchise, tapping procurement opportunities, developing and marketing a business website to increase sales, identifying export opportunities, and commercializing technology into viable products for the marketplace.
"Existing and established businesses of all sizes comprise about fifty percent of the network's client portfolio," said NJSBDC CEO-State Director Brenda Hopper. "In addition, we also assist pre-venture and start-up businesses. This special grant will enable us to serve other markets including those who are unemployed."
"These knowledge-packed courses are staggered on a rotational basis across the state so that people living in different regions are being served appropriately," said Ed Kurocka, NJSBDC Project Manager for the Entrepreneurial Training Program for the Unemployed (ETPU). "We want to provide training, counseling, support services, and increased opportunities for those individuals who meet the definition of a 'dislocated worker' and are seeking to become self-employed."
Since the services are pro bono due to grant funding from the Department of Labor and Workforce Development, interested parties must go through a formal pre-qualifying application process. Individuals must meet certain criteria, which include such factors as: May be unemployed, and eligible for or receiving unemployment insurance benefits; has exhausted unemployment benefits; was self-employed but due to economic conditions is unemployed; may be a displaced homemaker experiencing unemployment, underemployment and finding difficulty becoming employed again.
The preliminary schedule for the launch of this six week training program, supplemented by personalized counseling, in different regions includes:
- NJSBDC of Northwest NJ (serving Morris, Sussex and Warren counties), October 24, 2011Centenary College Learning Center, 300 Littleton Road, 3rd Floor, Classroom 4, Parsippany NJ;
- NJSBDC at Rutgers Camden (serving Burlington, Camden, Gloucester and Salem counties), October 31, 2011 Waterfront Technology Center, 200 Federal Street, Camden NJ;
- NJSBDC at New Jersey City University (serving Hudson County), November 14, 2011, Location to be announced;
- NJSBDC at the College of New Jersey (serving Middlesex and Mercer counties), December 12, 2011, Location to be announced;
- NJSBDC at Kean University (serving Union County), January 9, 2012, Location to be announced.
- NJSBDC at Richard Stockton College (serving Atlantic, Cape May and Cumberland counties), January 20, 2012, Location to be announced;
- NJSBDC at William Paterson University (serving Passaic County), February 6, 2012, Location to be announced;
For more information, visit the official website of the NJSBDC network (www.njsbdc.com) and click on the ETPU link. Interested parties -who feel they may qualify- can officially register online or by visiting any One-Stop Career Center. Interested applicants can also call (973) 353-1927, or email [email protected].
The New Jersey Small Business Development Centers network provides comprehensive services and programs for small business in New Jersey, helping businesses expand their operations, manage their growth, or start new ventures. Expert staff and practicing business consultants help established small business owners and aspiring entrepreneurs to develop business plans, find financing, identify new markets, and expand their operations. Its specialty programs include procurement, technology commercialization, e-commerce, and international trade. This non-profit network is a federal-state-educational partnership, leveraging public and private funding sources, and further maximizing resources for the small business community. The network leverages funding from the Small Business Administration (SBA), New Jersey State Government, and the educational institutions that host the 11 centers as well as other private funding, sponsorships and grants. The NJSBDC network's head office is headquartered at the Rutgers Business School in Newark NJ. NJSBDC is an accredited member of the national Association of Small Business Development Centers (ASBDC). ASBDC consists of SBDC networks across the country including in the American territories with more than 1,200 centers and satellite offices serving small business. For more information, visit www.njsbdc.com.
The NJSBDC network (www.njsbdc.com) is the premier provider of comprehensive services and programs for small business in New Jersey. The organization, which consists of 11 centers statewide, helps businesses expand their operations, manage their growth or start ventures. The New Jersey Small Business Development Centers (SBDC) network is partially funded by the U.S. Small Business Administration, the State of New Jersey, and The College of New Jersey. SBA's funding is not an endorsement of any products, opinions, or services. All SBA-funded programs are extended to the public on a nondiscriminatory basis. Reasonable accommodations for persons with disabilities will be made, if requested at least two weeks in advance by contacting 609-771-2947.
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Michigan and Illinois are benefiting from large federal investments, along with record ridership, in passenger rail service. Ohio should take note.
Much of that service is geared toward providing Midwest passengers with high-speed alternatives to planes and cars. Illinois is making a $1.1-billion upgrade to the Amtrak route between Chicago and St. Louis that will raise top train speeds from 79 to 110 miles per hour.
In Michigan, Amtrak established 110-mph operations in part of the Chicago-Detroit corridor, and plans further track upgrades between Ypsilanti and Kalamazoo. Such speeds eventually will cut running times between Detroit and Chicago to 4 hours from 5½.
Ohio taxpayers, in effect, helped pay for Amtrak improvements in Michigan, Illinois, and even California. In one of his first acts in office, Gov. John Kasich rejected $400 million in stimulus money for passenger rail projects.
In Ohio, the money was slated for the so-called 3C project, including new high-speed passenger service among Cleveland, Columbus, and Cincinnati. That money left the station for other states.
Upgrades elsewhere in the Midwest are giving people travel options, promoting economic development around stations, and creating manufacturing jobs. Amtrak spent more than $10 million last year buying equipment and supplies from Ohio businesses, even though train service here is limited to three long-distance routes that stop at Ohio stations, mostly after midnight.
Nationwide, Amtrak had record ridership last year, carrying more than 31 million passengers — a 3.5 percent increase from 2010. Trains are especially attractive for destinations of fewer than 500 miles, with far lower fares than air travel and competitive commute times.
High gasoline prices have also increased ridership. Many passengers enjoy being able to work while traveling. Trains also reduce the demand for foreign oil, reduce congestion, and improve air quality by reducing traffic.
But Ohio has no active passenger rail program, even for planning. In a visit to Toledo this week, Amtrak Chairman Thomas Carper made clear the railroad isn’t interested in expanding in states that don’t support rail projects.
Even so, Ohio’s cities, counties, and metropolitan planning organizations, such as the Toledo Metropolitan Area Council of Governments, can and should start advocating for passenger rail. As a first step, they could lobby the federal government for more frequent and faster service, and improved stations, along the Chicago-to-New York route that includes Toledo — Ohio’s busiest Amtrak stop.
Ken Prendergast, executive director of the advocacy group All Aboard Ohio, told The Blade editorial board that municipalities and metropolitan planning groups could form so-called joint powers authorities that are eligible to receive federal grants directly for rail projects.
Leadership won’t come from state government. But local governments, planners and citizens can work together to get Ohio on track for the passenger rail service the state needs and deserves.
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A book about one of Kerikeri's founding fathers, poetry by a former Bay of Islands GP and the mayor's light-hearted guide to doing business were among Far North literature that took centre stage at the world's largest book fair.
New Zealand was guest of honour at this year's Frankfurt Book Fair in Germany, an event dating back to the 15th century and drawing about 300,000 visitors.
Former Kawakawa GP Glenn Colquhoun was one of 60 Kiwi authors the Ministry for Culture and Heritage took to the fair to promote the nation and its writing.
Dr Colquhoun worked at Ngati Hine Health Trust/Hauora Whanui in Kawakawa until 2004; his first book of poetry, The Art of Walking Upright, was about the Bay of Islands community of Te Tii, where he lived.
One of the books on show in the New Zealand Pavilion was Colossus Unsung by Kerikeri writer Bob Molloy. It tells the story of settler Edward Selby Little, who founded Kerikeri's citrus industry and was a diplomat and businessman.
Mayor Wayne Brown's book The Five Minute MBA was one of 12 business titles promoted by publisher Random House.
Mr Brown said it was a great honour for the Far North to be represented in Frankfurt.
"The world stage doesn't get much bigger than this. The fair attracts more than 7500 exhibitors from 110 countries, as well as 10,000 journalists. The scale of this event is almost difficult to comprehend."
The people of the Far North should also feel honoured that Dr Colquhoun, who was well-loved in the communities where he worked and lived, had taken their stories to the world.
He encouraged budding writers in the North to consider the opportunities publishing offered. Although technology was changing the publishing industry, people's need for knowledge and stories was undiminished.
About 400,000 books were shown at the 2012 Frankfurt Book Fair, which ended on Sunday. A record 66 New Zealand books will be translated and published in Germany this year.
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The Polish poet and Nobel Laureate Wisława Szymborska, who contributed to samizdat magazines before the fall of the Iron Curtain, died yesterday. Among her more popular collections is View with a Grain of Sand.
Poet Szymborska Dies
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Anonymous and pseudonymous comments that do not add to the conversation will be deleted at our discretion.
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| 0.955965 | 102 | 1.84375 | 2 |
Banks and other lenders gave a strong initial review to new rules released by the Obama administration Thursday that protect them from frivolous lawsuits if they follow strict standards for making mortgages that ensure borrowers have the ability to repay.
Lenders had warned that any rule opening them to further litigation by delinquent borrowers would stifle the already lethargic market for new home loans. Moreover, they said the much-anticipated rules announced by the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau generally codify the exacting standards mortgage lenders already are imposing on borrowers to prevent a new wave of defaulted loans.
"We are pleased that the rule provides a safe harbor for certain high-quality loans," said the Financial Services Roundtable's Housing Policy Council in a statement, which also commended the bureau for being open and engaging the banking industry when it drafted the rule. "We share the primary goal of the rule to ensure that borrowers have the ability to repay a mortgage loan."
Analysts stressed the importance of the rule -- which the banking industry has been awaiting since 2010 -- because it establishes the basic rules of the game for mortgage lending and removes a cloud of uncertainty hanging over the market in the aftermath of the housing crisis that helped fuel the Great Recession.
"The rule will significantly define the mortgage market going forward" and establish the boundary lines between renters and homebuyers, said Brian Gardner, senior vice president at Keefe, Bruyette & Woods.
"While rules like this strike us as efforts in central planning and counterproductive, we expect a positive market reaction" because the new CFPB rule provides the legal safe harbor and regulatory clarity tht banks have been seeking, and enables other regulators to finish separate rules on the securitization of mortgages, he said.
The bureau's definition of mortgages that qualify for safe-harbor status is "sufficiently broad enough so the access to mortgage credit is not further restrained from current levels," he added.
Richard Cordray, director of the bureau, the powerful new agency of the Federal Reserve created by the 2010 banking reform law, said the rule tries to strike a balance between the abuses that made mortgages too easy to get during the housing bubble and the overly strict standards today which make it hard for even people with good credit to get loans.
The nation's smaller community banks welcomed what they said was the flexibility the bureau gave them to provide mortgages with riskier terms such as balloon payments in rural areas to "underserved" borrowers who might not otherwise get loans.
"Excessively rigid rules would threaten to force community banks out of the mortgage market, making it harder for Main Street consumers to get a home loan," said Independent Community Bankers of America President Camden R. Fine.
Tom Deutsch, executive director of the American Securitization Forum, applauded the safe-harbor provision but said provisions allowing borrowers who get riskier loans to more easily sue lenders will inhibit lending to people who already have the hardest time getting credit.
"The legal uncertainty created by giving some borrowers a 'rebuttable presumption,' which allows them to sue lenders under certain circumstances, could make credit harder to get for less-than-perfect borrowers or make it more expensive," he said.
And Barry Zigas, housing director at the Consumer Federation of America, criticized with the legal safe harbor the CFPB rule provided on loans that meet strict standards.
"We are disappointed that the bureau is not providing the highest level of consumer protection to prime loans," he said.
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| 0.950479 | 818 | 1.570313 | 2 |
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