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Stop This Subversion Of The Constitution
Parliamentarians are back to their treacherous ways again. This week, they are busy hacking away the law they passed less than a year ago with gusto. They are implanting self-serving amendments to insulate themselves against fair competition and the general will of the Kenyan people expressed in the Constitution we passed only the other day.
The proposed amendments to the Elections Act and the Political Parties Act are anachronistic and subversive. They aim to steal the citizen’s democratic right to choice and fair elections. Through the Miscellaneous Statute Amendments Bill 2012, the MPs are seeking to defeat the will of the people and continue reign over them with impunity.
Yet the spirit of the constitution is very clear. It says in its preamble that the people of Kenya authored the constitution cognizant of the the “aspirations of all Kenyans for a government based on the essential values of human rights, equality, freedom, democracy, social justice and the rule of law.”
How, we ask, are these aspirations, principles and values served by amendments that seek to install in public office individuals who have been rejected by voters in a fair and democratic election? Are some citizens more equal than others?
The Elections Act reinstates losers in a Parliamentary and Senatorial election by giving them a lifeline through the party list. The Attorney-General’s amendment introduced to section 34(9) by a legal notice, while the same was pending in Parliament, extends that mischief to include unsuccessful candidates for president and deputy president. It allows them to contest simultaneously for any of the other elective positions —MP, Senator, Governor, County Representative.
The tragedy of this amendment is that it is not only needless but financially costly. It means voters in the constituencies where presidential candidates and deputies come from (should they opt to so do) will be electing their candidates knowing they may have to be called back for a repeat election within two months. That is tardy. Second, and more significantly, repeating the election is waste of resources for the country. While the scenario can be cured by providing that the runners-up in the constituencies that will elect the president and deputy be declared duly elected, it is still unreasonable and fraudulent. Such a law is offensive to the democratic ethos because a loser may be declared winner but enjoy very little popular support.
Allowing presidential candidates and their running mates to contest lower seats is also functionally offensive to the principle of separation of powers. The new constitution was deliberately crafted to cure the ambiguities and ambivalence of our previous hybrid system of government where the Executive had one foot in the Legislature (by dint of the President being an elected MP and Cabinet was composed of Members of Parliament. The separation of powers envisaged in the new constitution must count for something in practice. It must be seen to be practice right down to the elections and free from the whims of political hyenas.
It is ironic that a country that aspires to be the best should lower the bar for political leadership to such elementary levels as post secondary certificate. Yet, all around, in virtually every village, universities are sprouting to offer degrees to those who would want to better their academic excellence. The high standards set by the same lawmakers for holders of other public positions and the judicial arm of government must apply to the political leadership as well. The executive and legislature have now designated themselves as the destination for the mediocre. Attorney General Prof Githu Muigai, lawyer Danson Mungatata and Chris Okemo owe the public an explanation for their low rating of the political class.
From party hopping to awarding themselves ever increasing perks, the propensity for self-aggrandizement of our MPs is world renown. Unless the selfishness of our political leadership are nipped in the bud by a combination of civic and judicial remedies, the last days of this Parliament will bequeath to the country the worst of its legislative incompetence. The MPs will stop at nothing in rewarding themselves and guarding against loss of power. But at the end of the day, Kenyans will have the opportunity to make the ultimate amendment of the whole House by sending them all packing on polling day. That date ought to come faster.
Makali is the director of The Media Institute. [email protected] | <urn:uuid:35273fb0-b9b3-4e6b-821d-c8eebc715d48> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.the-star.co.ke/news/article-13567/stop-subversion-constitution | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368702810651/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516111330-00028-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.966882 | 885 | 1.804688 | 2 |
The Department of Justice has finally admitted it in court papers: The nation’s telecom companies are an arm of the government — at least when it comes to secret spying.
Fortunately, a judge says that relationship isn’t enough to quash a rights group’s open records request for communications between the nation’s telecoms and the feds.
The Electronic Frontier Foundation wanted to see what role telecom lobbying of the Justice Department played when the government began its year-long, and ultimately successful, push to win retroactive immunity for AT&T and others being sued for unlawfully spying on American citizens.
The feds argued that the documents showing consultation over the controversial telecom immunity proposal weren’t subject to the Freedom of Information Act since they were protected as “intra-agency” records:
“The communications between the agencies and telecommunications companies regarding the immunity provisions of the proposed legislation have been regarded as intra-agency because the government and the companies have a common interest in the defense of the pending litigation and the communications regarding the immunity provisions concerned that common interest.” | <urn:uuid:108bb79c-b0d1-4c5f-82b4-87e577fae804> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.wired.com/threatlevel/tag/tpc/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368702810651/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516111330-00015-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.959332 | 223 | 1.75 | 2 |
6/27/2012 7:55 PM ET|
How does debt relief affect credit?
If you're looking to get out from under your bills while preserving your good credit, you should know how credit-scoring agencies view various approaches.
It's a question I get all the time, "What's the best way to get out of debt?" It's often followed by a comment, "But I have good credit, and I really don't want to hurt it."
Here are the main approaches to debt relief you may be considering, along with a review of the impact they may have on your credit reports and scores. There are a couple of things to keep in mind here. Just under one-third of your credit score is made up of the debt you carry. So when you pay off debt, especially credit cards that are close to their limits, you should see improvement in at least some of the factors that make up that part of your score. But I haven't specifically included that factor in my analysis of these options, since all of them are designed to help you become debt-free (or to at least get you out of credit card debt).
Also keep in mind that it's impossible to precisely gauge the impact of a particular approach on your credit. How far your score drops -- and how quickly it bounces back -- depends on a lot of factors. If your payment history always shows on-time payments, for example, and you suddenly file for bankruptcy, your scores will probably drop more than those of someone who was already severely delinquent. Please keep that in mind, and understand that these are general guidelines, but they don't represent exactly what will happen in your case.
DIY: Snowballs and avalanches
Whether you choose to first pay off your credit card with the highest interest rate (often referred to as the "avalanche" method), or the one with the lowest balance (the "snowball" method), doesn't make much of a difference. Neither approach will hurt your credit, as long as you are making at least the minimum payments on all of your cards on time.
Credit damage: None
Getting a loan to consolidate high-rate credit card debt with a fixed-rate loan at a lower rate isn't, in and of itself, a strategy for getting out of debt. After all, you still have to pay back the consolidation loan. But it may be a tool to get out of debt faster. All things being equal, when your interest rate is lower, you can pay off your debt faster. And if your monthly payment is also reduced by consolidating, you're less likely to be late on payments, which can help you stay current with your payments and help your credit score recover more quickly if you've fallen behind in the past.
Consolidating credit cards with a loan may have a positive or negative effect on your scores. It's one of those "it depends," situations. On the plus side, if you pay off a credit card with a balance that's close to the limit, you may improve your "utilization ratio" -- the ratio that compares your credit limits with the balances you are carrying -- provided you leave the card open after paying it off. (Simply moving balances from one card to another is unlikely to do a whole lot for your scores.) On the other hand, you'll have a new loan with a balance reported on your credit reports, and most credit-scoring models will count that as a risk factor, which could mean a reduction in your scores.
The exception? If you use a loan against your retirement account to consolidate credit card debt, you're more likely to see your credit improve. Retirement-account loans aren't reported to the credit-reporting agencies, so your credit reports will show less debt but no new loan. Still, retirement loans carry other risks, so proceed with caution. (Should you consolidate your debt? Find out with MSN Money's calculator.)
Credit damage: Modestly positive or negative, fairly easy to recover
Simply calling a credit counseling agency for a consultation doesn't affect your credit at all, because the fact that you've sought help is not reported to the credit-reporting agencies. If you enroll you in a debt management plan, where you make one monthly payment to the counseling agency and it disburses payments to your creditors, however, it can affect your credit in several ways.
Some creditors may report that the account is being repaid through a credit counseling agency. If they do, it's probably not a big deal. For a while now, FICO has ignored this notation for scoring purposes. An individual lender may care, but FICO doesn't. Of course, any late payments or high balances on accounts will continue to affect your credit score.
With the help of the counseling agency, you should be able to bring your account current, and that can be a plus. "Most major creditors will re-age your accounts after you've made three on-time payments in the required amount," says Thomas J. Fox, the community outreach director for Cambridge Credit Counseling in Agawam, Mass. Re-aging an account means it will be brought back to "current" status, so your credit report will no longer indicate that you are currently behind. Since recent late payments can really hurt your scores, being up to date on your payments while allowing the past late payments to age will be a plus, especially over time.
Finally, you'll have to close your credit cards when you enter into a debt management plan, and that will likely lower your scores. How much it will hurt depends on everything else in your credit reports, of course, including whether you have other open, available credit such as a car loan or mortgage that you are paying on time. The impact may not be immediate, either, says Barry Paperno, community director for Credit.com. That's because "balances and limits won't necessarily change right away, and utilization will be the same as before closing accounts." He goes on to explain, "Closing an account, in and of itself, isn't considered negative by the score. Over time, however, having closed the cards can hurt the score, as closed cards with zero balances are excluded from utilization and ultimately fall off the credit report much sooner than open cards that have been paid off."
"Plan on getting a secured card when you complete the DMP," he suggests, "so that as long as you keep a low utilization percentage on that one card, you can achieve a good score -- with any lates fading well into the past. Also, your old closed cards will continue to contribute positively to your overall length of credit history for as long as they remain on your credit report (typically seven or 10 years)."
Credit damage: Typically moderate, fairly easy to recover
More from Credit.com:
VIDEO ON MSN MONEY
I chose "negotiation and settlement" for my relief of debt. This allowed me to pay what I owed without paying all the late fees and interest which were enormous. I had 4 credit cards which totaled about $20,000 and I paid it off in 3 years all except one, Bank of America which was a hard ball to crack. For the 3 years they refused to even talk to my negotiator. I did not have an attorney because I couldn't afford one but I had daily contact from the company I went with.
I was schooled in what to say to creditors when they called, I was told about the laws of what the creditors could and could not do. Did you know it's against the law for creditors to call you at your place of work? 99.99% of the creditors action is intimadation ! I even had to go to court and was schooled on what to say, how to type my own court forms and when I left the court room I knew Perry Mason couldn't have done better. Bank of America finally wrote off the balance they thought I owed. My credit is good now.
Having a lower debt to income percentage (DTI) does indeed help you qualify for new credit products and will raise your credit score over the long term as compared to having balances still owed and unresolved. My statement about the act of settling a debt "does not in and of itself" raise your score in the above article remains true.
I cover the DTI issue combined with debt settlement and access to new credit products fairly thoroughly in an article on the Consumer Recovery Network site. The article compares credit score impacts with debt settlement, bankruptcy and credit counseling services.
I am unable to post a link to the article. If you do a search for the following phrase using the quotes, it should show in the first search results:
"your credit report and score is going to get clobbered"
Michael Bovee ofDebt Consolidation Care is wrong when he says "when you settle a charged-off debt, getting it reported (with a) zero balance due will not, in and of itself, help your credit, because the damage has already been done..."
In fact, about 30% of your credit score is based on the amount of debt you are carrying. So, getting the balances down to zero DOES in and of itself help the credit score.
And this guy is supposed to know credit? Watch out folks!
I have always believed that a Credit Score doesn't measure behavior....rather it 'controls' behavior......Think about it.....you close an account; start paying cash for purchases; pay off balances; obtain a new credit card and not use it; don't incur anymore debt......see what happens to your credit score......you won't be able to buy anything on credit because the score(s) will be so low.
Keep spending America....keep the same banks in business that we bailed out and now are on spending (oh wait, investment) sprees, once again.
Want to blame someone.....take a good look in the mirror.
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Fundamental company data and historical chart data provided by Thomson Reuters (click for restrictions). Real-time quotes provided by BATS Exchange. Real-time index quotes and delayed quotes supplied by Interactive Data Real-Time Services. Fund summary, fund performance and dividend data provided by Morningstar Inc. Analyst recommendations provided by Zacks Investment Research. StockScouter data provided by Verus Analytics. IPO data provided by Hoover's Inc. Index membership data provided by SIX Financial Information. | <urn:uuid:e1281454-7c93-46b0-b17e-230e38fcb875> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://money.msn.com/credit-rating/how-does-debt-relief-affect-your-credit.aspx?ocid=vt_twmsnmon | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368697380733/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516094300-00004-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.970432 | 2,161 | 1.585938 | 2 |
"The things you want are always possible; it is just that the way to get them is not always apparent. The only real obstacle in your path to a fulfilling life is you, and that can be a considerable obstacle because you carry the baggage of insecurities and past experience." ~ Les Brown
Just as baggage holds down a relationship, so won't baggage weigh down your chances for a successful career or business. Without a balance between work and life your chances for sustainability in a happy career lessen. What does balance have to do with baggage? When you carry baggage such as insecurity, fear, and feelings of unworthiness, they tend to weigh heavily on your mind and keep you off center.
This unbalance keeps you from moving forward in productive ways and keeps you trapped in a painful rotation of self doubt both at home and at work. You fill your life with tasks that keep you from feeling, admitting, and connecting to the truth. These tasks keep you in a false paradigm where you strive to do more and to have more, but never quite get to where you think you are heading. You assume that if you just reach this next goal, you'd be content and satisfied. But are you?
Life's demands will fracture your attention and force you to focus on putting out fires, not what's important.
Here are three things you can do to ease into a baggage free and sustainable, happy career.
- Hire a Coach. Athletes, Singers, Artists and CEO's have them. Why shouldn't you? They are effective in helping you determine your priorities and co-creating space for you to develop the skill set for unpacking your baggage. Think of it as an investment and know that a good coach does not keep you as a client indefinitely. There is a light at the end of the tunnel. Keep in mind, that not all coaches are for you. Coaches are like a good pair of jeans. Make sure that the one you choose is the right fit for you. If you try 3 and none of them work, try for a 4th and so on. The one that is right for you is out there. If expense is an issue, seek out group coaching opportunities.
- Be honest. REALLY honest. That's right, not the kind of honesty where you pick and choose what you want to share. Go there. That place that you hide because of shame, pain and feelings of unworthiness. Timothy Ferris said, "what we fear most is usually what we most need to do." Do more than face this side of you because when you shed light on fungus, the fungus can't grow. Only peace, confidence and productivity grows with honesty.
- Sit in silence. Turn off everything for a minimum of 15 minutes each day. Be kind to yourself if you are unable to do even a minute of silence. It will become easier with practice over time. You could be in your car, at work, during your break. The conference room that no one uses or under a tree where ever you happen to be. When you unplug from distractions and just be, you reconnect to the most important part of you, your core being.
You'll be amazed at the side effects. Be warned, you'll want more of this new way of living. Give yourself the gift of being baggage free. Your inner you, those that love you, and even your employer will thank you for it because you will be able to come from a place of service and truthful service equals abundance in more ways than one. | <urn:uuid:724116d0-c950-4405-b7c0-63e421faebed> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://ellington-somers.patch.com/groups/pamela-hortons-blog/p/bp--3-tips-to-ease-into-a-baggage-free-and-sustainablc9ae926f59 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368704132298/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516113532-00009-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.969767 | 722 | 1.765625 | 2 |
Ever read "Rockin' Steady, A guide to basketball & Cool” by Walt “Clyde” Frazier????
He has an entire section on catching a fly with your hands. From and ESPN2 interview:
ESPN.com - Page2 - Walt Frazier
10. Quickness was a big part of your game on the court, but when I was reading your 1974 book "Rockin' Steady," I came across a section in which you talk about catching flies out of the air.
Frazier: What happened was, I used to do camps all the time, right, so one particular day we were outside the mess hall waiting to go in and, you know, I'm like the Pied Piper, wherever I go there are always 10 or 12 kids gathering around me. So I'm sitting there, and I swat at some flies, and I knew I had one, but it turned out I caught two! I had two in my hands, and I shook them up so they'd get dizzy, and then I threw them down onto the ground. And everybody was like, "Hey man, Clyde can catch flies!" So that perpetuated the myth right there, man.
Can you still do it? Are you still that quick?
Frazier: Well, now I tell people that the flies know about me, so they don't come around. But you know, in that book, I demonstrated how to catch them. Because, you see, flies fly horizontally. If you reach straight up, you're not going to catch them. You have to swing horizontally, and then they'll just fly into your hands. | <urn:uuid:2f32d656-baa7-4e90-bcaa-3282d58077ba> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.patsfans.com/new-england-patriots/messageboard/12/246712-peta-miffed-president-obamas-fly-execution.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368711005985/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516133005-00010-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.979841 | 341 | 1.554688 | 2 |
In the weeks following Walmart workers' nationwide Black Friday strike, the anti-Walmart coalition has come to more heavily emphasize international solidarity.
Weeks after this year’s nationwide Black Friday strike, disgusted Walmart workers and sympathetic activist groups are still organizing against the company. Now, however, the campaign has extended well beyond America’s borders.
“You don’t bring Walmart to the table with just one country’s workers stepping up,” said Erica Smiley, director of campaigns at Jobs with Justice, a labor organizing group. On Tuesday, her organization participated in an action at New Jersey’s Port of Newark, where they attempted to stop a cargo ship from unloading Walmart goods made in Bangladesh.
Officials from the New Jersey police, Homeland Security, and the Metropolitan Transit Authority monitored the protesters and escorted them to a pen far away from the ship itself.
“In terms of trying to stop the ship from being unloaded it didn’t go very well,” said Smiley with a laugh. However, she said, the protesters were able to “express solidarity and read statements from the Bangladeshi union.”
Walmart’s manufacturing operations in Bangladesh have become a flashpoint for critics and protesters in recent weeks after 112 Bangladeshi factory workers died in a November 24 fire—the day after Black Friday.
On the night of November 25, Walmart said they were still “trying to determine if the factory has a current relationship with Walmart or one of our suppliers,” but The Nation’s Josh Eidelson has since obtained photographs and documents which suggest that the mega-retailer did, in fact, have a business arrangement with the factory.
Furthermore, writes Eidelson, Walmart played a major role in “defeating a proposal for retail corporations to pay for safety improvements” to Bangladeshi factories.
“The fact that it’s 100 years since the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory and we’re still seeing those kinds of fires is completely unnecessary,” said Dan Schladerman, director of the United Food and Commercial Workers’ Walmart organizing hub, Making Change at Walmart. He said that his organization and the worker group OUR Walmart had already done the “foundational work” to internationalize their campaign before the fire occurred, and that the incident served as a reminder that “people ought to do something.”
“I guess in some ways, it hasn’t so much changed the campaign as it’s made the case for what we’ve been saying all along,” said Smiley.
In fact, both Jobs with Justice and OUR Walmart have been in contact with Bangladeshi factory workers for at least a couple of years. After a similar fire at a Bangladeshi factory in December 2011, Jobs with Justice even brought members of the Bangladesh Workers Solidarity Center on a tour of the United States to protest textile factory conditions.
Now, Making Change at Walmart is actively growing the international component of their activity. On Friday, December 14, Walmart workers in 10 countries held a global day of action to protest the corporation. Making Change at Walmart partnered with UNI, a global union federation, to mobilize workers in the United States, United Kingdom, South Africa, and multiple countries in Latin America. Schladerman also said that workers in South Africa, Argentina and Brazil, among other places, were forming “sister relationships” with employees of U.S.-based stores so that they could exchange information.
“There’s got to be a lot of planning and conversations and hard work that’s going to be happening in early 2013, but I think a lot of people are excited to see just how fast it’s moved this year,” said Schladerman.
“Black Friday was just the arm in a much bigger fight,” said Smiley. | <urn:uuid:09ea9c05-45b1-4831-bcdc-c88459da5f00> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.nbcnews.com/id/50239734/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368707435344/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516123035-00014-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.965204 | 815 | 1.820313 | 2 |
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Editor’s Note: Police subsequently said they had not ruled out the possibility that the attack was staged.
Last weekend, three men in masks stormed into a woman’s home in Nebraska, bound her wrists and ankles with zip ties, and carved anti-gay slurs into the woman’s body. The men also painted anti-gay slurs on the walls and poured gasoline on the floor to light the house on fire before fleeing, police said.
The fires went out, but firemen and paramedics rushing to the scene in Lincoln, last Sunday discovered the woman, who was a lesbian, across the street, bloody and dazed.
“She had blood streaming down her body,” Raymond Strozier, a neighbor, told the Lincoln Journal Star. “She was crying. She was shaking. She was terrified.”
The fire did little damage, but the 33-year-old woman was hospitalized. News of the attack, which came in the midst of the Star City Pride Festival, spread quickly and prompted hundreds to flood the steps of the Capitol with rainbow flags and candles for an impromptu vigil.
Social media websites also erupted with anger, prompting Karen Bratton-Cranford, president of Star City Pride, a local gay rights advocacy group, to warn those at the vigil to refrain from acts of revenge, the Journal Star reported.
“Don’t go out and act on your own,” she said. “Don’t give them the power to control your actions.”
The Lincoln Police Department has said it is treating the attack as a hate crime. But despite the far-flung interest the story has generated, investigators have been tight-lipped about the details.
No suspects have been identified.
In Oklahoma on Saturday, a gay man was seriously burned when unknown assailants threw what appeared to be an explosive device into his car.
Jon Ferguson, who lives in Oklahoma City, said he was awakened early Saturday by his car alarm and then saw a couple of people vandalizing his car. As he approached, one threw something into his Camaro, causing an explosion.
Ferguson was treated at the hospital for first- and second-degree burns to his face, arms and torso. The experience made him question his decision to come out. “It’s almost not worth being proud of who you [are] and trying to show you’re gay because stuff like this really does happen,” he said. “I’ve always seen it on the news that kids are dying and stuff because they’re being bullied, and you’re 25 years old and something like this happens to you. It’s almost not worth it, and you understand why kids don’t come out of the closet.” | <urn:uuid:08495ccc-dc2d-488c-b744-0ec71b42a505> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.splcenter.org/blog/2012/07/24/police-intruders-carved-anti-gay-slurs-into-nebraska-lesbian/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368709037764/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516125717-00014-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.980499 | 587 | 1.546875 | 2 |
"He's Got The Whole World" Craft Kit
An Easy And Beautiful Craft Project
This was a very simple craft for my 6 year-old students, and the finished product makes a stunning wall decoration. The foam pieces were cut well and very easy to tear from their original sheets. I was very happy to find that the North America and South America continents were actually one whole piece, so that made it much easier for the kids to glue. A great project at a great price, and the kids really enjoyed making these. I was very pleased with this purchase.
April 5, 2009
lots of pieces!
Since my teaching day was on Earth Day I thought this would be a great project to end our class which was the ending of the Fruits of the Spirit lessons.. we have approximately 10 kids ages 5-10 and I used it to further explore the Fruits of the Spirit (patience and kindness i hoped for) When I opened them up a couple days before I found that the background pieces were bent up and some of the pieces for each kit were not cut evenly but overall it was a nice project .. unfortunately we don't have that much time so I ended up gluing half the project ahead of time so they could just finish it .. that worked out ok.. i'm glad I did it because otherwise there would have been frustration among the littler ones and the bigger ones weren't interested too much .. we talked about why we should take care of the Earth that God gave us and it was a good day! Thank you!!
April 26, 2012
Too many parts
This project looked good when finished, but it had too many small parts. I teach 6th grade Religious Ed., and even my 6th graders were a bit frustrated . I only have 30 minutes to teach a lesson, followed by 30 minutes to finish a craft--if I had more time, it would have been better.
July 11, 2011
Great spring religious education class craft
This craft encompassed our semester of lessons very well, and the children enjoyed putting it together in our first grade class. Most children could complete this project while having conversations in less than 20 minutes. We did have craft glue (not regular school glue) and glue dots on hand if needed. Nice, bright colors and easy to assemble the pieces.
February 28, 2011 | <urn:uuid:f2ac2bd6-1ac0-42c8-95e1-5e955c116989> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.orientaltrading.com/hes-got-the-whole-world-craft-kit-a2-48_1419-11-1.fltr?xsaleSku=48/5508 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368700264179/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516103104-00032-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.9842 | 477 | 1.679688 | 2 |
Helicopters searched on Friday for a missing bus carrying 19 Chinese tourists that was travelling along a Taiwanese highway hit by massive rockslides triggered by a powerful typhoon, the premier said. Nine other people were missing after mudslides buried a temple.
Typhoon Megi, which killed 26 people and wreaked havoc in the northern Philippines earlier this week, dumped a record 45 inches (114 centimeters) of rain in northeastern Taiwan as it made its way towards China’s southeastern coast with winds above 100 mph (160 kph).
Speaking in Taiwan’s Legislature, Premier Wu Den—yih said two buses carrying Chinese tourists were on a six—mile (10—kilometer) stretch of a coastal highway in Ilan county that was hit by at least seven rockslides on Thursday night. There had been no contact with the 19 tourists aboard one bus, he said.
He said the 19 tourists on the other bus had made cell phone contact and appeared to be safe, but their Taiwanese driver and Chinese tour guide were missing.
TV news reported that a 500—yard (500—meter) stretch of the highway had collapsed.
Interior Minister Chiang Yi—hua said air force helicopters were searching for the two buses and 360 other travellers trapped by the rockslides. Those 360 travellers were not in any immediate danger, officials said.
The rockslides trapped about 30 vans, buses and cars, officials said. One of the vans was hit by a huge rock, local TV stations reported, but the 16 Chinese tourists inside escaped with no major injuries.
Nine other people in Ilan were missing after mudslides in Suao city buried a temple there, county chief Lin Tsong—hsien said. He said rescuers were using bulldozers in an attempt to extricate them.
Megi had winds of 102 mph (165 kph) and was about 280 miles (450 kilometers) southeast of Hong Kong on Friday morning, the Hong Kong Observatory said.
Megi dumped heavy rains throughout Taiwan, but Ilan, about 90 miles (150 kilometers) southeast of Taipei, was the hardest hit. Authorities said more than 2,500 residents had been evacuated. Broad swaths of farmland in the county were under many feet (several meters) of water.
Earlier this week, Megi killed more than two dozen people and damaged thousands of homes in the northern Philippines.
The storm forced 55,000 Filipinos from their homes and caused about $175 million worth of damage to infrastructure and crops, disaster officials there said. On Thursday, U.S. Marine helicopters brought food and tents to isolated coastal towns, and American troops in the area for annual exercises helped deliver emergency supplies.
The main port in the Chinese territory of Hong Kong remained partially shut. Leading port operator Hongkong International Terminals stopped processing containers, a company spokesman said.
In China’s Fujian province, authorities said 161,800 people had been evacuated to safer places. Megi, which was heading toward the southern provinces of Guangdong and Fujian, was expected to hit land between Friday night and Saturday, meteorologists said.
An official in Guangdong’s Shantou city said fishermen were told to return to ports and authorities have designated some 200 buildings in the city as emergency shelters.
“This kind of strong typhoon is very rare for this season in Shantou. We are treating it as a ‘super strong typhoon’ and making our preparations accordingly,” said a relief official who only gave his surname Chen.
In Vietnam, the death toll from severe flooding in four central provinces climbed to 75, including 14 victims from a bus swept off a road by strong currents, with six passengers still missing, disaster officials said on Friday.
Though Megi bypassed Vietnam, its central region was pummelled by 4.6 feet (1.4 meters) of rain over the past week, inundating large swaths of land, submerging nearly 280,000 houses and forcing more than 170,000 villagers from their homes. | <urn:uuid:4e802390-f2e0-4236-86ba-e142a12aa016> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.thehindu.com/news/international/19-chinese-tourists-missing-after-megi-hits-taiwan/article842776.ece | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368708142388/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516124222-00007-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.975283 | 837 | 1.625 | 2 |
The Franciscan Center announces Wednesday that it served nearly 1,400 families at its annual “Turkey Tuesday,” held each year the Tuesday before Thanksgiving.
“Our largest usage day for our Food Pantry is always the Tuesday before Thanksgiving,” explained Tony Ley, executive director of the Franciscan Center in a news release, “while we may average 450 families a week during the year, based upon experience we fully expect to more than triple that number on one day.”
As in previous years, center relied completely on donations to provide the turkeys and hams it distributed to clients. “We are truly blessed by the community,” Ley said. “We again managed to have just enough of what we needed to distribute to every family."
The event began in 2007 with 770 families served. Last year about 1,400 were served.
The Franciscan Center, 4643 Gaywood Drive, runs a food pantry, medicine cabinet and sack lunch ministry with more than 72,000 client connections annually.
The Franciscan Center encourages businesses, classrooms, youth groups, scouting groups, and prayer groups to plan a Turkey Tuesday drive of their own for 2013. Drives can be for actual turkeys and hams, or can be for money to purchase turkeys and hams. | <urn:uuid:b94c23d5-d7ed-4469-a1de-6987ba27c1fd> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://news-sentinel.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20121121/NEWS/121129901/1012/LOCAL | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368708142388/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516124222-00032-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.961176 | 273 | 1.609375 | 2 |
Divorce Counseling Can Help Reduce Teen Troubles
A study done with more than 200 divorced mothers and their children shows that divorce counselling can help kids avoid trouble when they get into their teen years.
I’ve summarized a report on the study by SAMHSA below and you can read the complete article on this page.
Most children of divorced parents in the United States (40 percent of all children) adjust well to their parents’ split.
Researchers at the University of Arizona tried to find out whether post-divorce counseling for children helped prevent some negative outcomes of divorce-conduct problems, dropping out of school, substance use, high-risk sexual behaviors, and depression-during the teen years.
To find out whether counseling could reduce problems during the teen years in children of divorce, researchers tested more than 200 9- to 12-year-olds who lived with their mothers after a divorce.
The group sessions addressed improving the mother-child relationship, disciplining, increasing the father’s access to the child, and reducing conflict between the parents.
Another program consisted of 11 group sessions and 2 private sessions for the mothers and 11 group sessions for the children.
The third program was a control group in which participants received three books on adjusting to divorce, but no private or group counseling.
After 6 years, researchers checked on 218 of the families that participated to see how the children had fared as teens.
Teens who had received counseling as children were far more likely than those with no counseling to avoid mental health problems that often plague teens whose parents have split up.
In fact, surveys revealed that 23.5 percent of the teens who had no counseling or other help had mental health problems, compared with 11 percent of the teens who had been in the programs.
Researchers also found that counseling in childhood reduced marijuana, alcohol, and other illegal drug use and number of sexual partners during the teen years.
Filed under: Effects of Divorce on Children | <urn:uuid:604eddd1-0da6-4b60-9a39-45302499ffca> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.dealwithdivorce.com/effects-divorce/divorce-counseling-teen-troubles/06/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368698924319/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516100844-00032-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.964584 | 403 | 1.71875 | 2 |
Pietermaritzburg residents could soon receive their water, electricity and rates bills by sms, a municipality spokesman said on Monday.
The move was aimed at making the municipality more environmentally friendly and saving the city money, Msunduzi municipal spokesman Brian Zuma said.
Residents were being invited to join the scheme. The municipality hoped to have compiled a database of residents who received their metro bills by sms by the end of the week.
"It is a green environment campaign and at the same it is a cost-saving exercise."
Residents would not be forced to receive their bills by sms.
Msunduzi Democratic Alliance Chief Whip Rodger Ashe said that if the system worked he would welcome it. He said the city's database of addresses was out of date.
"With this system, at least they [the municipality] will know that they [the residents] have received the bill."
However, he said he would prefer to receive his bills by e-mail. | <urn:uuid:fef7dabd-1b56-4e9d-9e68-96071f281bda> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://business.iafrica.com/news/793220.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368702810651/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516111330-00028-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.990317 | 205 | 1.601563 | 2 |
Letting Go of Petty Anger: A Confession
by Tina Ann Forkner
Anger is an acid that can do more harm to the vessel in which it is stored than to anything on which it is poured. -Mark Twain
It was one of those mornings. You know the kind I mean. You roll out of bed with big plans for your day, but before you’ve even had your first cup of coffee everything goes wrong.
Glancing at my daughter in the rear-view mirror, her sleepy head lolling to the side, I didn’t dare speed on the way to day care, but I prayed for the stop lights to all turn green. I had to check my daughter in as soon as it opened or I would never make it to work on time. Luckily, all the lights turned green, except, of course, for the last one. I rolled to a stop, my frustration building.
After looking to my left, I started to turn right on red, but as I was pulling forward a car came out of nowhere. I slammed on my breaks as the car drove right through the stop light without ever looking, so lost was the driver in his own little world.
“You just ran a red light, you morons!”
I recognize that car, I thought.
It belonged to the parents of one of my daughter’s little friends. I was used to seeing them, usually the mom, every morning and they were really nice people. I was surprised they had run a red light – it didn’t seem like something they would do – but my anger didn’t lessen very much as I unpacked my daughter from the car seat and carried her into the building.
In fact, my heart raced and I felt the hot flush of anger on my cheeks as I made my way through the double doors of the daycare center. Of course the couple who ran the red light were already at the front of the line. I eased in behind them, diaper bag in hand, and contemplated mentioning their red light mistake. I pondered whether or not I should say it in a joking way or actually call them out. People who cut people off shouldn’t just be allowed to get away with it, simply because they are in a hurry. I was in a hurry too!
“My dear brothers, take note of this: Everyone should be quick to listen, slow to speak and slow to become angry, for man’s anger does not bring about the righteous life that God desires.” -James 1:19-20, The Holy Bible
Luckily, before I could say something ridiculous, their little girl offered my daughter a shy, sleepy smile. My anger didn’t subside, but it lessened just a little. I huffed a little as I shifted my daughter to my other hip, and prayed that I would make it to work on time. The bosses at my job were known to be hard on people who were late, and I needed this job. I could not be late.
“I’m sorry,” said the person at the desk.
I glanced at the couple in front of me.
“Thank you,” the father whispered, his voice cracking just enough that my anger cracked, as well. Something wasn’t right.
My ears perked up and as the meaning of the discussing playing out quietly in front me became more apparent, my anger dissolved. A closer look and I noticed they didn’t have their baby with them. My heart dropped as I caught on to the full meaning of what the desk clerk was saying. She wasn’t apologizing, she was offering condolences.
Their poor baby had died since the last time they were there, and they were leaving their toddler for the day while they took care of some important things, probably things like funeral arrangements. As they walked quietly away and I approached the desk, the clerk and I both stared at each other, her with a sorrowful expression, and I’m sure my face white with shock.
Yes, that’s why they ran the red light. Of course that’s why they ran the red light. The dad was distraught, exhausted, grieving, and mom was probably too sad to notice it either.
When I reflect on that morning, all these years later, the words of James (1:19 – 20) come to mind:
“My dear brothers, take note of this: Everyone should be quick to listen, slow to speak and slow to become angry, for man’s anger does not bring about the righteous life that God desires.”
How many times do we grow angry at people without fully knowing the situation? The truth is, we never really know what is going on in another person’s life. Maybe they’re just being jerks, but perhaps they just signed their divorce papers, lost their job, or maybe, like those parents who ran the red light, the bottom just dropped out of their world.
Do I really want to waste my emotional health on something that is probably a complete misunderstanding? I’m not perfect, but these days, instead of mentally rehearsing a retort for the person who angers me, I take a deep breath, count backwards from ten, and as a good friend of mine always says, “keep calm and carry on.”
What about you? Can you think of a situation in which you lost your temper, only to regret your response later? What helped? | <urn:uuid:29ce0733-a2ec-4b89-a73e-6f77be89eb75> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.inspireafire.com/stop-being-angry/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368705953421/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516120553-00004-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.985577 | 1,155 | 1.632813 | 2 |
In many areas of the world a second flat bed sheet is laid on top of the sheet covering the mattress. This is known as a "top sheet" and when a top sheet is used, the sheet covering the mattress is known as a "bottom sheet". One sleeps between the two bed sheets. Blankets, comforters, and other bed covers are then placed on top of the second bed sheet. We offer quality bedsheets.
Our multipurpose 100% Cotton blanket will provide you with comfort in any setting, whether you spread it over your bed, sofa or chair, it will provide you with long-term use. Available in White, Blue, Cream & Linen.
Some teddy bear artists specialize in the production of bears made from recycled materials. These artists hunt thrift stores, flea markets, garage sales and trash collection centers as well as their own and their families' basements and attics in search of forgotten treasures to be turned into a collector's dream.
Internally, a pillow comprises a filler made from foam, synthetic fills, feathers, or down. Traditionally straw was a filler, but this is uncomfortable and rarely used today. Feathers and down were the choice of the rich; these offered the advantage of softness and their ability to conform to shapes desired by the user, more so than foam or fibre pillows. Simba supermarket offers comfortable pillows.
Please visit our store for more products. | <urn:uuid:0c668f55-77a0-40fe-b9f6-62f9bc17b9ee> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://simbasupermarket.com/home-care.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368705195219/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516115315-00036-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.958619 | 294 | 1.609375 | 2 |
Posted by ESC on February 13, 2005
In Reply to: Re: Cut a rug? posted by ESC on February 13, 2005
: : I know it means, to dance, but does anyone know how it started or why? TIA!! ~Pam
: I thought this one would be easy to find. But I've looked through several references without luck.
The Hollywood Swing Classes & Workshops site at http://www.swinginter.net/classes (accessed February 13, 2005) has a guide to "Jive talkin'" that says: RUG CUTTER - A great dancer. Also "to cut a rug" - to dance. Originates from house parties when the carpets would be taken up to create a dance floor.
But my question is, if you roll up the carpet, how would a dancer "cut" a rug? | <urn:uuid:e725f8c0-d836-4ad9-bc67-215c7b5b9a4a> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.phrases.org.uk/bulletin_board/39/messages/479.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368697974692/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516095254-00019-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.962591 | 180 | 1.726563 | 2 |
A round-the-world yachtsman is on his way to dry land after spending almost three days adrift in a life raft buffeted by strong winds and rough seas off the southern coast of Australia.
Alain Delord, a French sailor, was rescued by an adventure cruise ship 500 nautical miles south west of Hobart, Tasmania late on Sunday, a spokeswoman for the Australian Maritime Safety Authority told CNN.
The vessel, the MV Orion, made a 60-hour detour to respond to the distress signal and its captain said the rescue took place in "scary" weather conditions, with poor visibility and waves that swelled up to 3.5 meters.
"We were probably only half a mile away when we saw the raft," Captain Mike Taylor told ABC Radio.
"I mean it was just swallowed up in the long ocean swells. You'd see it bob to the top and then disappear."
Delord, an experienced sailor, had abandoned his yacht on Friday after the mast snapped and the hull sustained damage during his round-the-world journey.
According to his Facebook page, Delord embarked on his solo voyage at the end of October.
Taylor said the yachtsman was doing better-than-expected after spending two nights in a life raft "the size of a small car".
"When I saw him, he was under the doctor's care, he looked pretty much overwhelmed. He'd probably been in fear of his life for two days."
"He was very glad to be here and I'm pretty sure he'll be fine going forward. No major injuries." | <urn:uuid:d11b2819-9cfb-4f99-8ab3-dffcfabd420a> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.wisn.com/news/national/Yachtsman-rescued-after-three-days-in-sea/-/9373390/18209586/-/b7gpgbz/-/index.html?absolute=true | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368698207393/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516095647-00000-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.986721 | 331 | 1.703125 | 2 |
FTC Investigation of Ad Claims that Rice Krispies Benefits Children's Immunity Leads to Stronger Order Against Kellogg
As posted on June 3, 2010 on www.ftc.gov
Leading cereal maker Kellogg Company has agreed to new advertising restrictions to resolve a Federal Trade Commission investigation into questionable immunity-related claims for Rice Krispies cereal. This is the second time in the last year that the FTC has taken action against the company.
“We expect more from a great American company than making dubious claims – not once, but twice – that its cereals improve children’s health,” said FTC Chairman Jon Leibowitz. “Next time, Kellogg needs to stop and think twice about the claims it’s making before rolling out a new ad campaign, so parents can make the best choices for their children.”
Kellogg has agreed to expand a settlement order that was reached last year after the FTC alleged that the company made false claims that its Frosted Mini-Wheats cereal was “clinically shown to improve kids’ attentiveness by nearly 20%.”
At about the same time that Kellogg agreed to stop making these kinds of false claims in its cereal ads, the company began a new advertising campaign promoting the purported health benefits of Rice Krispies, according to the FTC. On product packaging, Kellogg claimed that Rice Krispies cereal “now helps support your child’s immunity,” with “25 percent Daily Value of Antioxidants and Nutrients – Vitamins A, B, C, and E.” The back of the cereal box stated that “Kellogg’s Rice Krispies has been improved to include antioxidants and nutrients that your family needs to help them stay healthy.”
Under the original settlement order covering Frosted Mini-Wheats, Kellogg was barred from making claims about the benefits to cognitive health, process, or function provided by any cereal or any morning food or snack food unless the claims were true and substantiated.
The expanded order against Kellogg prohibits the company from making claims about any health benefit of any food unless the claims are backed by scientific evidence and not misleading.
The Commission vote to modify the 2009 settlement order was 5-0, with Commissioner Julie Brill and Chairman Jon Leibowitz issuing a separate joint concurring statement. “As a trusted, long-established company with a presence in millions of American homes, Kellogg must not shirk its responsibility to do the right thing when it advertises the food we feed our children,” they wrote in the statement, which can be found on the FTC’s website and as a link to this press release at: http://www.ftc.gov/os/caselist/0823145/100602kelloggstatement.pdf.
Copies of the expanded order and related documents can be found on the FTC’s website and also are available from the FTC’s Consumer Response Center, Room 130, 600 Pennsylvania Avenue, N.W., Washington, DC 20580.
NOTE: A consent agreement is for settlement purposes only and does not constitute an admission of a law violation. When the Commission issues a consent order on a final basis, it carries the force of law with respect to future actions. Each violation of such an order may result in a civil penalty of up to $16,000. | <urn:uuid:ae504ac0-e939-4d00-b45d-c04c34760013> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.consumer.ga.gov/news/articles/view/ftc-investigation-of-ad-claims-that-rice-krispies-benefits-children-s-immunity-leads-to-stronger-ord | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368706890813/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516122130-00009-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.94564 | 705 | 1.640625 | 2 |
September 30, 2011
"South Park" Creators Prevail In Fair Use Defense Of "What What In the Butt" Parody
A federal district court has dismissed a plaintiff's claim that the parody of a music video in an episode of use of a song in an episode of the popular show "South Park" constitutes infringement. Brownmark Films had sued Comedy Partners over its use of the music video "What What In the Butt" in the episode "Canada on Strike," and Comedy Partners had defended by arguing that the parody was fair use.
Said the court,
The fair use doctrine allows for a "limited privilege in those other than the owner of a copyright to use the copyrighted material in a reasonable manner without the owner's consent." ...The rationale behind the doctrine is that unauthorized uses of a copyright are permissible when they "advance the underlying constitutional purpose of copyright law: to promote broad public availability of literature, music, and other forms of creative arts." Bruce P. Keller and Jeffrey P. Cunard, Copyright law: a practitioner's guide § 8.3 (2010). Specifically, 17 U.S.C. § 107, which codifies common law fair use principles, provides that the "fair use of a copyrighted work" for such purposes as "criticism" and "comment" "is not an infringement of a copyright." Moreover, the statute provides four guideposts by which to determine whether a particular use is "fair": (1) the purpose and character of the use; (2) the nature of the copyrighted work; (3) the amount and substantiality of the portion used in relation to the copyrighted work as a whole; and (4) the effect of the use upon the potential market for or value of the copyrighted work. Id. However, as the Seventh Circuit has cautioned, "the four factors that Congress listed when it wrote a fair use defense . . . into the Copyright Act . . . are not exhaustive and do not constitute an algorithm that enables decisions to be ground out mechanically." ...Ultimately, the "fair use copier must copy no more than is reasonably necessary . . . to enable him to pursue an aim that the law recognizes as proper," such as "the aim of criticizing the copyrighted work effectively."... Moreover, application of the fair use doctrine requires a case-by-case analysis. ...With this framework for evaluating the fair use issue in mind, the court turns to the two works in question.
Here, applying the statutory factors from Section 107 of the Copyright Act and the principles behind the fair use doctrine, the court readily concludes that the defendants use of the music video in the South Park episode "Canada on Strike" was "fair." One only needs to take a fleeting glance at the South Park episode to gather the "purpose and character" of the use of the WWITB video in the episode in question. The defendants used parts of the WWITB video to lampoon the recent craze in our society of watching video clips on the internet that are — to be kind — of rather low artistic sophistication and quality. The South Park episode "transforms" the original piece by doing the seemingly impossible — making the WWITB video even more absurd by replacing the African American male singer with a naive and innocent nine-year old boy dressed in adorable outfits. The episode then showcases the inanity of the "viral video" craze, by having the South Park fourth graders' version of the WWITB video "go viral," seemingly the natural consequence of merely posting a video on the internet. More broadly, the South Park episode, with its use of the WWITB video, becomes a means to comment on the ultimate value of viral YouTube clips, as the main characters discover that while society is willing to watch absurd video clips on the internet, our society simultaneous assigns little monetary value to such works. The South Park "take" on the WWITB video is truly transformative, in that it takes the original work and uses parts of the video to not only poke fun at the original, but also to comment on a bizarre social trend, solidifying the work as a classic parody. ... Such use of a copyrighted work, which uses the work and transforms it for another purpose, lends this court to conclude that the defendants' use is fair. ...
Beyond the "purpose and nature of the work" statutory factor, the court also looks to the remaining issues raised in Section 107 of the Copyright Act. The "nature" of the copyrighted work factor is not particularly helpful to the court, however: while fair use is more difficult to establish when a core work is copied as opposed to when an infringer takes material that is only marginally within copyright protection, the "nature" of the copyright in question does not help this court assess whether South Park's parody is a fair use, because "parodies almost invariably copy publicly known, expressive works." ... Additionally, the court notes that the use of the copyrighted work in the South Park episode was relatively insubstantial. The defendants' work did not mirror the original WWITB video — indeed, the derivative work was a cartoon of a nine year old boy repeating just enough lines WWITB to conjure up the original work. Notably, the WWITB snippet in the South Park episode was less than a third of the length of the original work. The use of the imagery and words of the original work was all but the minimum needed by the defendants to accomplish their goal of commenting on a social phenomenon. ...Finally, there is little risk that derivative work in question would somehow usurp the market demand for the original: the South Park episode lampoons viral video crazes, while the WWITB video is the epitome of a clip that fuels such crazes. ...Looking at the Section 107 factors together, keeping in mind the purposes of the fair use doctrine, the court can easily conclude that South Park's parody of the WWITB video falls squarely within the fair use protections afforded by the Copyright Act. If the use by the defendants of the copyrighted work is somehow "unfair," it remains at the wholly speculative level, leaving the court with no choice but to grant the defendants' motion to dismiss.
Finally, the court concludes that the dismissal ought be with prejudice. Twice the plaintiff has filed a complaint in this court based on the use of the copyrighted work in an episode of South Park. (Docket #1, #6). Moreover, under recent changes to Fed. R. Civ. P. 15(a), the plaintiff had an additional opportunity to file a pleading to cure the errors raised by the motion to dismiss — in this case, the plaintiff could have filed a complaint that raised infringement claims outside of the context of the use of the copyrighted work in the production and dissemination of the South Park episode "Canada on Strike." Despite these opportunities to resolve rather glaring problems with the substance of the underlying dispute, the plaintiff has looked elsewhere and instead filed briefs that wholly ignored the central issue of this litigation, fair use. Such behavior is indicative of the efficacy of this litigation, which rightfully ends now.
The case is Brownmark Films v. Comedy Partners, 2011 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 72684; Copy. L. Rep. (CCH) P30,106.
September 30, 2011 | Permalink
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Vegetable Preserves from Spain
Spain has been the master for years at preserving delicious, healthy meals in jars or cans. If you’re not sure what to prepare for dinner, one of these selections will be a great alternative to cooking.
Each farmer in Navarra takes pride in the labor intensive job of pulling each white asparagus from the ground at just the right time. In this category you will find several sizes of white asparagus (some are thicker than others). Most have denomination of origin seals on them which guarantee their high quality. You will also find other items made from these white asparagus such as cream soups, asparagus tips, and spreadable mousses.
Rosara specializes in making artisan quality prepared dishes from the best vegetable and fish ingredients found in Navarra and along the northern coast of Spain. The secret to their success is creating everything from the best raw materials and working from scratch to create delicious meals. If you lead a hectic lifestyle and don't have too much time every day of the week to dedicate to cooking, take a look at what Rosara has to offer. Here are our delicious and natural organic selections imported from Spain: vegetable & fruit juices, pates, cheese, chestnuts, jams and more...
You will see Piquillos, deliciously sweet peppers form Navarra, on many menus today. They are very versatile to prepare and serve. Their wonderful aroma, bright red color and shape is also very unique. You can stuff whole Piquillos with practically anything; meat, fish, or rice. The strips of Piquillo go well as a finishing touch decorating a paella or as an accompaniment to a grilled meat dish.
We are also very excited to introduce Conservas Lahoz from Zaragoza, Spain. This top of the line jarred and canned game products include rabbit, pheasant, partridge, quail and pigeon. You will be amazed at the quality and taste. These are all natural with no type of preservatives. | <urn:uuid:3edf0b47-7e7e-4f05-94c9-8da771f49845> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.despanabrandfoods.com/food-shop/foods/vegetable-preserves | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368703682988/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516112802-00027-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.953382 | 421 | 1.507813 | 2 |
President Obama and Mitt Romney went head to head in one of the most intense and heated Presidential debates in history. From the start of the debate, one could feel the tension in the air that was missing from the last presidential debate where Obama appeared more submissive.
Obama, knowing he under-performed last time around, knew he had to step it up this time and that he did. Although Obama performed at an incomparably higher level then last time around, Romney showed his consistency by showing up with the same energetic and interrupting attitude as the previous debate.
Interruption although perceived as rude and a negative was projected by some as a compliment towards Romney’s bold and relentless personality. If he is as relentless leading this country as he is during the presidential debates, maybe the 23 million Americans without jobs have a hope.
Romney who plans on going after China for economic cheating is complimented by a quote from Paul Ryan who says, “48 percent of our debt is owned by foreign governments, China number one.” If America is going to get out of the financial debt we are currently in, more jobs need to be generated. If China still remains such a financial big-shot in this country China will be the ones producing the jobs, but in their country.
Obama stated,”I believe in self reliance and risk takers being reworded.” Taking risks is a good thing at times. That being said a calculated risk is a lot different than an irresponsible one. Many people in America voted for change and although one presidential term may not be enough to show the change Obama vowed to project in this country many people hoped for more than what has become.
One of Romney’s points to what seemed to be targeted towards women voters was a statistic revealing almost 580,000 more women are unemployed than when Obama took office. When the facts were checked it was revealed to be a large exaggeration considering the real number which is 93,000.
Was this just a desperate plea to gain an edge with women voters? More than likely yes because of the false information given. That being said, there is still an increase in women who are unemployed. Maybe four years isn’t enough to turn the country around, but could more progress have been made is the real question.
With the election coming up very soon it is essential people do the research they need to in order to select the right candidate come election day. Although both candidates offer strong arguments, it’s interesting to hear them talk about making America economically independent when they both have investments in countries like China.
During a talk about Obama Care, Romney made the argument about how it prevents job growth. Romney talked about when he asked employers about Obama Care they largely said it prevented them from hiring people.
Another statement made by Romney was that in Massachusetts 98 percent of adults were covered by medicare while all children were covered. Obviously comparing the progress of state to country is unreliable, it shows Romney has the potential to do what is needed to make America a better place to live in. Obama said “change has come,” when he was elected president for his first term. A this point, our country is ready for change to come again, and Mitt Romney may be the change we need.
Romney’s business record is flawless. When it comes to the economy he really knows what he is talking about. The nation is 16 trillion dollars in debt and Romney states the math is obvious, “if Obama gets elected again the debt will go up to 20 trillion.” Going further in debt doesn’t seem like the way out, especially if America wants to become an economical super power again.
1. President Obama and Governor Romney both have investments in countries like China.
2. 12.1 million Americans are unemployed.
3. At the conclusion of the first presidential debate, Obama and Romney shook hands. After the 2nd presidential debate they did not.
4. The first lady and Ann Romney wore pink to the 2nd presidential debate in support of breast cancer awareness.
5.40 cents of every dollar we spend is China’s money. | <urn:uuid:75bbd630-1f98-4f90-a6f3-e97af0c627c9> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://theloquitur.com/?p=34075 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368698924319/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516100844-00018-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.981713 | 849 | 1.59375 | 2 |
Long considered a leader in mass-transit innovation, Portland, Ore., is home to more than a half dozen mixed-use, transit-oriented developments (TODs), which feed off adjacent train and bus traffic, and America's growing love affair with nouveau urbanity. Dozens of TODs are planned or undernationwide, but no two are alike, as illustrated by the fate of two Portland projects hatched in the late 1990s.
In one, a multilayer partnership was struck that would give San Francisco-based Bechtel Corp. the exclusive rights to develop 120 acres near Portland International Airport into a high-profile haven for hotel, retail and office development called Cascade Station. Bechtel would fund $30 million of the extension of the Metropolitan Area Express (MAX) light rail line more than five miles along Interstate 205 to the airport, in an agreement forged with the city's Tri-Met system, the Port of Portland and the Portland Development Commission. As fate would have it, the line opened in September 2001 — the day before 9/11.
Across town, ground was broken in 1998 for a 4.8-acre urban brownfield project at Northeast 60th Avenue and Glisan Street called Center Commons. The rail-adjacent project wold feature a 314-unit affordable/senior housing development and 28 for-sale row houses with some light retail. The owner, Lennar Affordable Housing, planned to use tax credits, private money and state bonds to make its numbers work.
Fast forward to 2004 and the airport development remains fallow, while the 4-year-old Center Commons is almost fully occupied, except for a handful of senior units, says Phil Whitmore, manager of transit-oriented development for Portland's Metro Regional Government.
The timing of the airport development “was terribly unfortunate with 9/11 and the way the economy went into a slump,” says Michael O'Connell, development manager of the Portland Development Commission, which is helping market Cascade Station. “But things are cycling back and there's now a tremendous amount of interest.”
Why the Resurgence?
The explosive growth in new U.S. rail transit systems is creating unique opportunities for architects and investors who are nimble enough to jump aboard the sometimes tenuous TOD line, described by some as “new Urbanism on a train track.”
Transit-oriented development, a term coined by Silicon Valley mass-transit expert Peter Calthorpe in the early 1990s, is not easily understood by many lenders and often bogged down by regulatory layers, say architects and developers. But TODs can also be ornate, dramatic and pedestrian friendly, as well as potentially lucrative, the same groups say.
Helping drive the transit train is increasing frustration with choking traffic and cookie-cutterof suburban America, says Andy Kunz, a Washington-based architect and director of NewUrbanism.org. “It's become the type of environment that sucks the life out of you.”
At the same time, Kunz says, developers are becoming more enlightened that urban, mixed-use development is where they can achieve the highest rents. Demographic shifts also play a factor. The average U.S. household size has declined from 3.1 persons per home 30 years ago to about 2.6, according to the Census Bureau. “And the share of families with kids is only going to continue to decline,” says urban planner Hank Dittmar, co-author of the book “The New Transit Town,” and CEO of Reconnecting America, which helps link transportation networks with their communities.
With numerous empty municipal coffers across the country, city subsidization of transit-related projects might seem a lower priority at first glance. But a growing realization that they address both environmental and traffic issues and add lasting value to the tax base “makes the series of pushes and pulls it takes to get these projects done” more palatable to the public and public officials, says Metro's Whitmore.
Seeking to Diversify
Once relegated to busy commuter stops in dense urban areas, TODs now fan out from Washington state to south Florida. “Not long ago, properties adjacent to trains were usually old, industrial, freight-oriented and under-utilized, but that's changed,” says Robert Paley, senior development director for AvalonBay Communities, an Alexandria, Va.-based REIT that specializes in urban apartments. Few TODs are alike. In fact, two AvalonBay projects a one-hour train ride from one another seem like worlds apart.
Manhattan's planned Avalon Chrystie Place, which will feature 712 high-end apartments, 138,000 sq. ft. of retail space and a community center, is under construction directly atop a subway stop between Bowery and Chrystie streets on former city-owned land. “It's a challenge, no doubt,” says Phil Wharton, AvalonBay's senior development director. “Some of these subway tunnels date from the early 20th century. It's time consuming, but it can be done.”
The mixed-use project, 20% of which will include affordable housing, is funded by $117 million in tax-exempt debt by the New York State Housing Finance Agency. It's also receiving tax abatements through a land-lease arrangement with the Empire State Development Corp.
By contrast, a second project, Avalon on the Sound, is helping recast New Rochelle's suburban CBD in Westchester County. Avalon is adding a 39-story, 588-unit apartment building to its just-completed 400-unit first phase along a transit stop. As part of the deal, AvalonBay helped fund an adjacent public park, which ties into a public library. “The key to revitalizing downtown areas is bringing people to them,” says Paley.
Paul Kissinger, a landscape architect and urban-design specialist with Ft. Lauderdale-based EDSA, an international architectural and urban-design firm, says developers and leasing agents must load as many convenience services as possible into TODs “to promote both ridership and retail synergy.” Riders shouldn't be forced to make several rail stops to do their dry cleaning, banking, and other errands, he adds.
Lenders are far more comfortable doling out dollars for individual residential, retail or office developments than for mixed-use projects, says G.B. Arrington of the office of Portland, Ore.-based Parson Brinckerhoff, a national transportation consultant. “Mixed-use with or without transit is a hard egg to crack,” he says.
New Urbanism-style retail is “incredibly sophisticated and complicated, and I think very few developers can get it done right,” explained Robert Tindall, president of Callison Architecture Inc., during the annual International Council of Shopping Centers (ICSC) convention in May. “Those who've done them say they're exciting, fulfilling and that they were happy to be a part of them, and that they are a nightmare.”
Some TOD developers don't have to knock on quite as many doors seeking funding. CIM Group of Los Angeles, which specializes in high-quality redevelopment and urban-infill projects, manages the $676 million CIM Urban Real Estate Fund, fed by investments from thePublic Employees' Retirement System and the California State Teachers' Retirement System.
The fund gives CIM latitude to secure TOD investment to levels “where lenders are happy to partner with us,” says John Given, the Los Angeles-based company's senior vice president of development. Once projects become stabilized and lease to projected rates, institutional markets are usually more than willing to jump in for more permanent financing, he says.
AvalonBay has more financial leeway because of its REIT structure, but smaller developers bringing in new lenders and equity partners have more hurdles to clear to make lenders comfortable, Paley says.
The entitlement process also takes longer with TODs than conventional projects, plus zoning snags abound, says John Gish, an architect and principal with Callison. “You have to go through transportation authorities, municipalities, a number of legal entities and (DOT).” But increasingly, cities are willing to waive density laws and other restrictions to facilitate them, he adds. “They know the result will be a major asset for the urban area.”
A parking controversy still reigns at many of these sites. City and transit authorities frequently are reluctant to reduce standard parking requirements for TODs, even though their proximity to transit reduces vehicle demand, says Arrington.
For example, Ken Hughes, who developed the mixed-use Mockingbird Station in Dallas, which is anchored by the Angelika Theatre and dozens of shops, restaurants and living units, likely spent $6 million unnecessarily on excess parking next to the Dallas Area Rapid Transit (DART) rail stop, while many other TOD developments “also tend to be overparked,” Arrington says.
Not surprisingly, developers generally sell TODs to lenders based more on market fundamentals, not transit, Arrington adds. And partially as as result, the underlying real estate at most TODs “has intrinsically sound” fundamentals, and their mixed-use components serve as built-in risk mitigators, says Given of CIM. “If the office market or the retail market goes sour, you have the other components.”
Yields from TODs are essentially the same as conventional projects, although cost factors such as market, location and complexity can vary greatly from one TOD to another, Given says. “In those instances involving complex deal structuring, development cost and unproven markets, expect an investor to require higher yields.”
TOD lenders will generally agree to about an 80% loan-to-value ratio, says Whitmore of Portland Metro. TOD money is plentiful from a select group of lenders “who seem to pride themselves on doing unusual projects,” he says.
TODs are at stage where people “are starting to get them, but there are still barriers,” says Dittmar. “It's still quicker to develop garden apartments or strip centers. But it's just a matter of investors and lenders adjusting. Being near transit not only adds value to real estate, it creates a high-value, long-term land use.”
The new Dallas rail system, according to a recent University of North Texas study, has generated more than $800 million in development, and it projected that a completed system will generate $3.7 billion in economic activity once built out. DART added its first rail line in 1996 and is continuing to add regional links.
Despite winnowed city budgets, all signs point to continued transit and TOD expansion. Public transportation ridership has surged 22% in the last six years, reports the American Public Transportation Association, and for every $10 million invested in public transportation, $30 million is gained by local businesses, the organization says.
Cities that have recently incorporated TODs into new rail systems include Denver, St. Louis, Salt Lake City, San Diego, San Jose, Portland and Dallas, according to New Urbanism.org.
Isaac Manning, a former executive with Ross Perot Jr.'s Hillwood Co. of Fort Worth and principal of the commercial development advisory firm Trinity Works, says Hillwood eyed eight locations for its mixed-use Victory site, now anchored by American Airlines Center arena on the western fringe of downtown Dallas.
“The main reason we entitled 12 million sq. ft. of space was the potential DART line interface with the Tarrant Country (west) side of the DFW area,” he says. “We wanted to get the workforce to Victory from all over the area.”
Ultimately, transportation consultant Arrington believes that there is a growing demand for TODs throughout the U.S. driven by changes in demographics and by cities “that want to leverage the investment they already have in transit.”
Steve McLinden is an Arlington, Texas-based writer.
TODs: Complex to Create, but Easy to Navigate
Transit-oriented developments (TODs) may be elaborate to fund and build, but their patrons appreciate quaint simplicity, say designers.
Architects point to Gresham Station near Portland as a savvy blending of mainstream lifestyle shopping, including Gap, Old Navy and Bed, Bath & Beyond, in a New Urbanism-friendly environment, with seamless foot-traffic flow.
The 330,000 sq. ft. first phase has large front display areas, spacious glass canopies, rear parking and landscaped plazas. National transportation consultant G.B. Arrington of Parson Brinckerhoff's Portland office calls the approach “a way of making big boxes behave.”
Richard Higgins, principal of DLR Group of Portland, an architect on Gresham Station, says Transportation Equity Act monies — federal transportation funds that developers can tap into for transit-related projects — helped developers gussy up Gresham Station with gables and porches. The layout and shops meld “to let everyone enjoy the value of the system at the same time,” he says.
Communities offering a toolbox of planning and financial incentives usually have the most success with TODs, says urban planner Hank Dittmar, co-author of “The New Transit Town.” For example, Los Angeles-based CIM Group's planned $31.7 million 2nd & Santa Clara project, next to a San Jose downtown light rail/bus stop, received $7.8 million from the city's Redevelopment Agency for public parking and affordable housing as part of the “Heart of the City” revitalization. Designed by SB Architects of San Francisco, the project is slated for completion in late 2005 and will include 17,500 sq. ft. of retail space, 42 condos and a 31-unit apartment complex.
Public Relations Challenge
Urban redevelopment is an easier sell in parts of lot-starved California, says John Given, CIM senior vice president of development. Projects converting downtown office space to residential in Los Angeles are exempt from setback, height and other zoning constraints under the Adaptive Reuse Ordinance. But in other U.S. metro areas, developers must endure excessive zoning gyrations. You're treated “like you're trying to get away with something when you're really adding value,” says Given.
Transit authorities frequently opt for freeway-area land with minimal development potential for stations, says Bill Halter, principal in Atlanta's Thompson Ventulett Stainback and Associates. “Many of the train systems simply ID the cheapest locations, but sometimes they're the worst locations,” Halter says. But TOD designers and developers are demonstrating to transit officials “that they can enhance the value of land around stations.”
At the site of the 206-unit Pacific Shores Apartments in Santa Clara, which opened in early 2004 on a transit stop, a contaminated construction yard was converted to a community landmark, but developers were first forced to excavate more than half the land. The site's triangular shape and proximity to a massive cypress tree and a tidewater corridor complicated matters for project designer Steinberg Group Architects.
The solution: open the project on its widest side toward ocean views and place the community's recreational amenities in the resulting open space. Placing parking on the remaining sides of the project allowed residents direct access to the pool and a recreation center without having to dodge traffic. To cut down on automobile use, residents are offered bus passes and the use of scooters known as e-bikes.
DLR Group will participate in an elaborate regional mall/TOD project at Clackamus Town Center, when Portland's Tri-Met rail is extended five miles south to Clackamus County, says Higgins. Tri-Met cut a deal with center owner General Growth Properties to create a mall-adjacent transit center, which GGP will incorporate into a major expansion and renovation. The transit site, which will feature park-and-ride and retail/restaurant space, should be complete by 2007.
— Steve McLinden | <urn:uuid:2d2234e8-c294-40de-a6a8-4308f86f0843> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://nreionline.com/mag/real_estate_architects_ride_rails | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368696383156/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516092623-00021-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.95211 | 3,383 | 1.757813 | 2 |
Last night, I was stunned -- but not totally surprised -- to hear the news that the Vatican's Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith had dismissed Fr. Roy Bourgeois from the Maryknoll Fathers and Brothers.
My first reaction was a prayer of solidarity with Roy, whom I have long admired as a man of conscience and whom I count as a friend.
But I also exhaled a loud sigh of dismay. This is the latest sign that the Catholic church is moving backward into the 19th century with all deliberate speed. It is another move by the Vatican that puts its actions at odds with the core message of the Gospel and with the document on the Church in the Modern World from Vatican II: "Every type of discrimination ... based on sex ... is to be overcome and eradicated as contrary to God's intent" (No. 29).
It is a sign that Vatican officials refuse to read or understand the extensive scholarship on the question of women's ordination, scholarship that has so thoroughly refuted their arguments that any intelligent opponent of women's ordination would have given up long ago.
It is yet another action that suggests that Rome's desire to shore up its all-male power structure comes before anything else. The Vatican's fear of women, women's gifts and women's powers is on display yet again for all to see.
My real sadness in all this: The Maryknoll Fathers and Brothers cooperated in the process. I don't know if, in the end, their leadership voted to dismiss Roy (the press release is unclear on that), but they did ask Roy to recant his stand. To Roy's credit, he refused. He refused to give in to the medieval and oppressive process that asked recantations and threatened dismissal for his stand of conscience. That process -- in this instance and in other settings -- flies in the face of all that is good and holy and respectful of persons. It is not Catholic in the deepest sense of that word. True Catholicism respects conscience.
One day, when the Catholic church finally decides to ordain women, Roy will be recognized as a prophet and a saint. In many quarters of the church, he already is. | <urn:uuid:dd3ccb3f-7db8-4af6-966d-e4d7f045cf36> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://ncronline.org/blogs/ncr-today/roy-bourgeois-man-conscience | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368702810651/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516111330-00036-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.973254 | 442 | 1.632813 | 2 |
Afghan President's rival to boycott Assembly
Kabul: The main challenger to the Afghan President on Sunday said he would boycott a traditional leaders' Assembly to discuss peace moves and ties with the United States, calling it illegal and unconstitutional.
President Hamid Karzai has convened the Assembly, or
loya jirga, this week to discuss strategies for trying to broker peace with Taliban insurgents and long-term relations with the United States after combat troops leave.
Abdullah Abdullah, rival to Karzai in the runoff round of the 2009 Presidential Election, told a news conference in Kabul: "I won't participate in the upcoming traditional loya jirga. Holding this... doesn't have any legal base, and it is contrary to Afghanistan's constitution."
He did not rule out attendance of the assembly, to be held from November 16, by members of the opposition Change and Hope Coalition, which he heads.
The loya jirga follows the September assassination of Karzai's chief peace negotiator Burhanuddin Rabbani by a bomber who purported to be a peace envoy for the Taliban, amid government attempts to negotiate with the insurgents.
Abdullah also denounced vagueness surrounding the future of Afghanistan's partnership with the US -- which led the 2001 invasion that ousted the Taliban from government -- after the planned withdrawal of its combat troops by the end of 2014.
"I have not seen any documents" on the future partnership, said Abdullah, who also served as foreign minister under Karzai from 2001 to 2006.
A deal still under negotiation with the Americans will govern the longer-term presence of US troops in Afghanistan, a highly sensitive issue in Afghanistan and the wider region.
The loya jirga, which brings together representatives from Afghan provinces, tribes, ethnic groups and civil society, is held on rare occasions to discuss major policy decisions.
Another coalition recently created around two former warlords, Abdul Rashid Dostum and Haji Mohammad Mohaqeq, has also denounced the planned assembly.
Lawmakers had voiced concern it would be used to bypass their powers, but a spokeswoman for the assembly said Saturday its decisions would not be binding and parliament would have the final say.
More than 2,000 people are expected to attend the meeting in a giant tent in Kabul. | <urn:uuid:ca252e71-e0fc-4486-9bf8-bf9ea6e8fab6> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://zeenews.india.com/print.aspx?nid=741648 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368702448584/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516110728-00035-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.961648 | 464 | 1.601563 | 2 |
Norwich —When Gov. Dannel P. Malloy unveiled his long-term energy plan for the state in October, Norwich Public Utilities officials found familiar rings to most of the governor's points — expand natural gas use, stress energy efficiency and conservation and use micro-grids to cut down on widespread power outages.
On Monday, state Department of Energy and Environmental Protection Commissioner Daniel Esty visited NPU to see first-hand the programs the utility's officials have touted in trips to Hartford in recent months.
"I'm trying to learn here today what is it that allows this community to be out in front," Esty said.
Esty met with NPU officials to discuss innovative programs, including expansion of natural gas lines, energy efficiency programs and plans to expand electricity micro-grids. Esty praised NPU for its leadership and innovative programs and extended that praise to the Norwich community for supporting NPU's efforts with funding.
Esty said when it comes to renewable energy production, he knows of no other utility that has a combination of solar, wind, hydro and anaerobic gas-powered generation systems.
When it comes to storm response, Esty said the communication and cooperation among the utility and other city response agencies has been exemplary.
The governor's plan calls for expanding the use of natural gas for heating in Connecticut as the projected "cheapest, cleanest most reliable fuel in the next couple decades," as Esty described it. In Norwich, voters twice have supported referendum bonds — $3 million in 2010 and $8 million in the November election — to expand NPU's natural gas lines through the city to serve more urban and suburban neighborhoods. NPU offers rebates on fuel-efficient furnaces and appliances as well.
The concept of micro-grid electric service systems dominated Monday morning's discussions as a way to keep key sections of the city powered during storms that bring widespread power outages. NPU has one micro-grid that serves the Stanley Israelite Norwich Business Park, allowing businesses, including retail gasoline stations and convenience stores, to remain open to customers.
An additional micro-grid is planned that would keep The William W. Backus Hospital powered by connecting it to a proposed new 10 megawatt natural gas generating station off Rollins Road. Backus will apply for a $2 million state grant for the project.
Esty also visited NPU's natural gas fueling station on North Main Street, which is open to the public as well as the city's growing fleet of compressed natural gas vehicles. NPU has 29 natural gas vehicles and plans to purchase or convert another 13. The utility also has two electric vehicles, three hybrid electric and 15 biodiesel vehicles and off-road equipment.
A second natural gas fueling station is planned for the West Town Street area within the next year, NPU officials said.
Esty's final stop Monday was at the city's sewage treatment plant on Falls Avenue, where two micro-generators capture methane emitted from the sewage treatment process to produce 140 kilowatts of power that help run the plant. At peak times, NPU General Manager John Bilda said, the system generates 2 megawatts of power along with eliminating odors that previously plagued the waterfront area during the summer.
"This utility has taken the lead in this," Esty said of the micro-grid systems.
Esty said the state is looking to fund 10 to 12 pilot micro-grid projects in the state. Bilda said Norwich would be poised to take advantage of those pilot programs Malloy is promoting if a project "makes sense" for the city. | <urn:uuid:d07e43ec-3377-4e33-bb0a-701678f968f7> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.theday.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20130114/NWS01/130119863/1019&town= | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368702810651/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516111330-00002-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.955931 | 733 | 1.765625 | 2 |
Portugal has been one of the star pupils among the EU states stricken by debt. Its fiscal consolidation and stable political condition are causes for its success. But, now both are under threat.
When Myriam Zaluar thinks back to the protest she took part in, she doesn't know if she should laugh or cry. Together with half a dozen other unemployed people, Zaluar protested outside a labor office in Lisbon against what they say are fabricated figures. The official unemployment rate in Portugal has now reached almost 16 percent, but according to experts, it's likely to be even higher since many of the unemployed aren't registered.
The police and journalists at the protest outnumbered the protesters. About a month later, Zaluar was summoned to appear in court. She was accused of having organized a demonstration on a weekday before 7pm - and that's illegal under a law dating back almost 40 years. Zaluar doesn't know who's behind the charges: "Clearly, however, someone is deliberately working against the demonstrators. Other activists, too, have been accused on flimsy charges."
Protesters mobilize themselves
The civil protest movement in Portugal hasn't been deterred. In mid-September, around one million people are believed to have taken part in a spontaneous demonstration against the new government austerity measures and the reform program required by the Troika, which is made up of the European Union, International Monetary Funs and the European Central Bank. Never have so many Portuguese expressed their opposition on the streets before. The protesters were mobilized, not by opposition parties or unions, but via social networking sites on the Internet.
"The most important thing we learnt was that the protests are continuing unabated," says Zaluar. "The crisis has been getting worse and many people know no other way out."
The political climate in Portugal has changed fundamentally in the past month. The conservative coalition government is struggling in the face of public criticism about their new austerity proposals from the smaller People's Party. The government is now trying to repair the damage, while the Portuguese population has to adjust to the new austerity measures.
A search for political alternatives
In 2013, Portugal's income tax will be increased by an average of almost 35 percent. The country has to collect an extra roughly three billion euros by next year, even though the Troika has relaxed the deficit target for 2013, raising it from 3 to 4.5 percent. While the government loses support, the leftist parties are trying to profit from their unpopularity. Until now, the ideological differences between the moderate socialists, communists and the left have been too great to allow them to form an alliance. But this is about to change.
Hundreds of leftist political activists attended a conference at the University of Lisbon to develop an alternative political agenda. The huge auditorium is packed. In their speeches, the activists reminded the audience of the Carnation Revolution, which in the mid-1970s put an end to the country's authoritarian regime. Many of those at the congress say they now have to win back freedom and social justice for Portugal. "We're not sure what this will lead to," the former union leader Manuel Carvalho da Silva told DW. "It's important that nothing more gets in the way of the movement. Historic moments can't be planned ahead. They just happen."
Emigration for lack of prospects
Three students sit on the stairs that leads to the convention hall. They want a new kind of politics for their country - one that ensures today's youth doesn't end up a lost generation. Clara Rita, a 20-year-old psychology student, worries about her future. "Some of my classmates have already had to stop their studies because their parents can no longer support them," she says. Vitor Azevedo, a fellow student, has almost completed his studies. He also holds no illusions about his future: if he wants to find a job, he'll probably have to emigrate: "It makes me sad. I like my country and would love to live here. But there are very few prospects."
US President Barack Obama has spoken at Berlin's Brandenburg Gate. The event came almost exactly 50 years after his predecessor John F. Kennedy’s historic address to the then-divided city.
Berlin and Washington are bound by a deep friendship. It developed in the Cold War and has now survived more recent turmoil in transatlantic relations.
Reggae without dreadlocks? South Pacific flair from Cologne? The German musician and singer Gentleman has the music of the Caribbean in his blood. He's giving a hometown concert at c/o pop this week in Cologne. | <urn:uuid:9f261617-0aaa-4056-9a78-3ea16d8cad27> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.dw.de/portuguese-reject-new-austerity-measures/a-16296435 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368708142388/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516124222-00023-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.976927 | 947 | 1.742188 | 2 |
It’s hard to talk about what you suck at. It’s no fun. Nonetheless, it is vital if you want to grow and get better. The tough thing about your own weaknesses is that you are usually the last person to identify them, and it seems like others can sometimes be just a liiiiiiitle too happy to point them out to you—usually when you really don’t want to hear them!
Learning how to identify and examine your weaknesses as a composer, mixer, orchestrator, editor, player, copyist, manager/agent, executive… whatever, is an important step in creating the career you’ve always wanted. However, it doesn’t end there. If you really want to move yourself to the next level, not only do you have to figure out what your weaknesses are, but then you have to find a way to conquer them. You have to follow through on a solution if you want achieve more for yourself.
With that: What is your biggest weakness? And more importantly, how do you plan to conquer it?
Hit the COMMENTS below and let’s hear it! | <urn:uuid:47c13d1f-bdcc-46ec-a1db-53e58d15e1eb> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.scorecastonline.com/2010/09/24/open-forum-friday-what-is-your-biggest-weakness/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368700958435/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516104238-00014-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.965405 | 237 | 1.695313 | 2 |
SUNY Canton Career Fair Attracts Students, Alumni, and Community Members
High School students, community members and SUNY Canton Students met with prospective employers at SUNY Canton’s Career Fair.
The Office of Career Services offers the fair each semester as an opportunity for current students, alumni, and community members to meet with recruiters and potentially find a new career. This was the first year that the college invited high school students to the fair, to demonstrate what careers can come following a SUNY Canton education, according to Director of Career Services David Norenberg.
“The response was overwhelmingly positive,” Norenberg said, as he watched a throng of high school seniors move from employer to employer. “Many of the employers said that they were excited by the turnout, especially recruiters in the health fields.”
Over 50 employers attended the career fair to recruit students in SUNY Canton’s career-driven programs. Companies who continually recruit from the college, including the high-tech Novelis aluminum manufacturing company in Oswego and Cives Steel in Gouverneur were joined by relative newcomers including Shaker Veterinary Hospital in Latham, and Cannon Design in Grand Island.
“I think students can really benefit from the career and internship options available through the fair,” said Emily Volckmann, a Veterinary Technician at Shaker Veterinary Hospital and 2005 SUNY Canton Graduate.
Volckmann got her job after her senior-level internship with Shaker Veterinary.
Canton Director of Economic Development Linda McQuinn was also available to speak with students about starting their own businesses straight out of college. She is following up with a business plan and financial planning workshop for students and community members who spoke with her at the fair. | <urn:uuid:9a1530cd-025d-469d-a193-8c3aa7f9e394> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.canton.edu/news/index.php/2007/10/career-fair07/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368708142388/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516124222-00042-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.973685 | 370 | 1.585938 | 2 |
Above & Beyond: Pushback: Newark Airport, 8:45 a.m.
What 9/11 looked like from one airliner’s cockpit.
- By Anonymous
- Air & Space magazine, January 2002
THE CHIRPING OF THE ALARM CLOCK woke me from a deep sleep. I cursed when I saw "5:30 a.m." and hit the snooze button for five more minutes.
"Who could possibly need to leave New Jersey this early in the morning?" I thought as I made my way to the shower. The flight's departure time was a sensible 8:45 a.m., but I had to wake up far earlier so I could shower, pack, and drive the hour and a half to Newark Airport.
The drive across the Hudson River took longer than usual. Seething, I crossed the George Washington Bridge at 10 mph. But no matter how bad the traffic, the view of the Manhattan skyline was always majestic.
The drive, especially for New York-and Newark-based pilots, was usually the most stressful part of the day. I was looking forward to getting to the airplane for my three-day trip. For me, flying has always been therapeutic, whether it's a multi-million-dollar airliner or a $50-an-hour rented Cessna.
I met the rest of my crew at Operations.
"Ever laid over there before?"
"Yeah, there's an excellent Mexican restaurant near the hotel."
"Perfect. Just what the doctor ordered." | <urn:uuid:e234ea3f-4ad4-4a6c-993b-8799178effd1> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.airspacemag.com/flight-today/pushback.html?c=y&page=1 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368699881956/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516102441-00003-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.960343 | 317 | 1.601563 | 2 |
Can god create a rock that is too big/heavy for god to pick up? Many first year philosophy students have encountered this question. It provides a great basis for which to deny the omnipotence of god. It also drives theists who persist in traditional Christian models of god absolutely ape shit.
First of all omnipotence:
The word is derived from Latin, Omni (all) Potens (power). To be omnipotent, then is to be all powerful. In the case of the Christian god…Continue
Added by Ezra T. Klatt on September 9, 2011 at 1:22pm — No Comments
Christians on the far right who want to soothe themselves with the untruth that Hitler was an Atheist need think again. Hitler was a Roman Catholic with a profound interest in occult matters. That he had support of influential church leaders is also an unavoidable fact. It is also interesting to note that as a young man the future dictator and mass murder considered the priesthood - something he shared in common with Stalin.
If there is any text in the bible that presents us with a clear cut case against god, it’s the Book of Job. If it isn’t an outright cry for atheism then, at the very least, if you still insist on theism, you might find yourself saying, “Not this god.”…Continue
The nun who ate the holy foreskin of Jesus is not only creepy, but perhaps a little inaccurate. If we assume for a moment that Jesus was a flesh and blood human he most likely would not have his foreskin, being Jewish and all. What it all boils down to is that the medieval nun, Agnes Blannbekin imagined performing felatio on her Lord and savior. This, at any rate, is…Continue
Added by Ezra T. Klatt on July 8, 2011 at 11:00am — No Comments
The Casey Anthony trial illustrates both…Continue
Added by Ezra T. Klatt on July 7, 2011 at 1:30pm — No Comments
Contemplating Jesus on the cross it is hard to miss how violent religion really is. For all its talk about the “peace that passeth all understanding” religion, at least in its Western constructs, is one gigantic blood-letting. Before one finds peace and unification with God there must first be blood, destruction and death. This violence occurs at all levels personal, institutional and societal.
Violence can be self imposed suffering on one owns psyche and violence to the body…Continue
“Tell me about the god you don’t believe in?” Another question I have been asked. Frankly, this one is rather lame. If I am feeling cheeky I might describe my favorite fantasy. I am a mythology slut after all.
“If I chose to believe in divinity,” I explain to them. “I chose to believe in a female god – a goddess. The feminine has all the raw, creative and destructive power as the masculine. She has the same bloodlusts, hormone lusts, but she is a true creator of life. Her…Continue
Theatre of Blood is the first horror flick I recall ever seeing.
I saw this film in the early 70’s when a network station broadcast it edited for television. I was 7 or 8 and my older cousins were all hanging out in the dark with the eerie glow of the…Continue
Added by Ezra T. Klatt on May 26, 2011 at 1:00pm — No Comments
I often refer to Jesus as a quasi-historical figure, a statement which drives the Christians I know into fits of apoplexy. Jerry the Evangelical Neighbor likes to fall back on the most tired of all the basic refutations.
“There is less proof for the existence of Socrates or Plato than of Jesus.” He once responded to a Facebook post of mine.
I don’t know that to necessarily be a fact. I rather doubt he does either. At least I was a philosophy major in college;…Continue
Thanks to Derek M for posting the link to the video below of Christopher Hitchens exploring in much more cogent fashion my problems with C.S. Lewis argument for the divinity of Christ, CS Lewis: The Nonesensical Argument for Christ's Divinity.
Added by Ezra T. Klatt on May 24, 2011 at 11:42am — No Comments
C.S. Lewis is frightfully dull, pompous and dreary. I have never understood the fascination and loyalty that his readers muster for him. Even as a young boy attempting to read the Chronicles of Narnia I found that it just gave me headaches even before I knew of the underlying themes of Christian apologetics. I must have read or started The Lion, the Witch and The Wardrobe 3 times before I could stomach it through to the end. The rest were not much better. At the same time I was reading…Continue
I am a sucker for interesting science stuff.
(PhysOrg.com) -- In a new study, scientists have proposed that mini black holes may interact with matter very differently than previously thought. If the proposal is correct, it would mean that the time it would take for a mini black hole to swallow the Earth would be many…Continue
Added by Ezra T. Klatt on May 13, 2011 at 10:08am — No Comments
Last night I posted a video of an interview with Dr. Matt McCormick that argues against the reliability for the evidence of Jesus’ resurrection by comparing it to the Salem Witch Trials. The argument is amusing and reasonably makes sense, although in an interview he had on Think Atheist Radio, May, 8th, he admitted he didn’t think anyone would really bite on the bullet, so to speak. It turns out that there exist those who have.
One of the people commenting on the…Continue
A middle aged man, undergoing psychoanalysis, returns to his therapist’s couch after a long holiday weekend where he visited his estranged mother for the first time in 20 years.
“How did your Thanksgiving dinner go?” The Therapist asked his patient.
“Well, I think I had one of those Freudian slips that you guys sometimes talk about.”
“What do you mean?” The Therapist asked.
“At one point during dinner I turned to my mother. I…Continue
Added by Ezra T. Klatt on May 11, 2011 at 1:30pm — No Comments
? I have often wondered if religion is a lot like drinking – no one really wants to do it alone, especially if you are an alcoholic. I know that was true for me before I entered into recovery.
As I found to be true with my substance abuse, once I went into recovery I had to clear a lot of toxic people out of my life, especially anyone who couldn’t support my not drinking. The same seems to be true of religion. The only difference is that in giving up religion so many people…Continue | <urn:uuid:67511a54-989f-4632-b7f5-382a136cd494> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.thinkatheist.com/profiles/blog/list?user=27jo999iqw5tu | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368697974692/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516095254-00029-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.966888 | 1,462 | 1.5 | 2 |
This weekend I bought an old pint jug of Platte Valley Corn Whiskey 100 proof at an auction. It has a red wax seal and the old tax label seal. I'm not sure what the date says on the seal it's pretty small and blurry. It look like possibly 1981 or it may be 1961? I poped it open Saturday night and poured it in to a mason jar to check it out. It smells pretty much the same as a new jug of 80 proof that I bought a few months ago. What surprized me is the color. It is darker than any of my bourbons. The new Platte Valley that I have is almost clear. I took an experimental sip and it is quite drinkable. It has alot more flovor than the new 80 proof stuff. I poured a shot of the old and the new for myself and my girlfriend to compare. She agrees with me the old stuff is tastier and more smooth even though it is a higher proof.
Does anyone know how the color got so dark and is there a way to date the jug? | <urn:uuid:b1501b40-f0a7-46e8-980e-7e91b34b8e79> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.straightbourbon.com/forums/showthread.php?12079-Michter-s-Small-Batch-American-Whiskey&goto=nextnewest | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368705195219/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516115315-00032-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.969321 | 221 | 1.5 | 2 |
MONTPELIER — Vermont’s usually opinionated governor has gone uncharacteristically silent on at least one hot-button controversy: a federal ban on assault weapons.
A school shooting last month that claimed the lives of 20 kindergarten students in Newtown, Conn., has sparked a national conversation about the adequacy of the nation’s gun laws. Asked repeatedly since the incident whether he thinks Congress should impose a ban on assault rifles, or the high-capacity magazines that maximize their firepower, Shumlin has deflected.
“What I think doesn’t matter,” Shumlin said of his non-stance during a news conference Thursday.
On the issue of state-based gun laws, Shumlin has been far clearer, saying he opposes any attempts in Montpelier to restrict Vermonters’ access to guns. While Shumlin on Thursday said he “welcomes the debate,” he thinks state-specific laws designed to avert tragedies like the one in Newtown are misguided.
“Because you can go buy it in New Hampshire or another state or on the Internet,” Shumlin said. “My point is we need a 50-state solution. We’re not an island.”
Shumlin said that in areas like renewable energy, health care and gay rights, it has made sense for Vermont to assume a leadership position nationally.
“What I feel very strongly is it’s up to me to lead when the federal government isn’t,” Shumlin said. “The federal government is not leading on single-payer health care — they won’t even say the word. They are not leading on renewables — most of them (in the Republican-controlled U.S. House) don’t believe in climate change.”
On the issue of gun control, however, Shumlin said Thursday that President Barack Obama has demonstrated a commitment to act.
“The last I saw the President of the United States held a press conference and asked Vice President (Joe) Biden to lead a group to come up with a national policy to deal with the crisis we have before us,” Shumlin said. “So I have confidence in them to do their job.”
Asked whether he believes the federal solution should include “some restrictions” on guns, Shumlin said, “Let’s see what they come up with.”
Eric Davis, professor emeritus of political science at Middlebury College, said Shumlin’s reluctance to enter the gun-control fray might stem from a desire not to distract from his core legislative agenda.
He said it also doesn’t fit well into his broader political strategy.
“He wants to govern as a fiscal conservative … and continue to appeal to voters on the left on issues like marijuana decriminalization, death with dignity, health care reform,” Davis said. “And I think he just sees the gun issue as not fitting in with his overall political strategy.”
Heralded as a defender of the Second Amendment by the National Rifle Association, Shumlin earlier this fall won the endorsement of the gun lobby’s political arm, which also contributed to his re-election campaign.
In its Oct. 5 endorsement announcement, the NRA cited Shumlin’s past opposition to “storage requirements of firearms and … punitive taxes on lead ammunition.” The organization also lauded him for supporting “the creation and development of publicly accessible shooting ranges.”
“Peter Shumlin has demonstrated his support for the Second Amendment,” said Chris W. Cox, chief lobbyist for the NRA. “We urge all NRA members, gun owners, and sportsmen in Vermont to vote Peter Shumlin for Governor on November 6.”
[email protected] IN Vermont NewsThe Rutland Herald and City of Rutland returned to the Supreme Court Tuesday in a case involving... Full Story
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- MEDIA GALLERY | <urn:uuid:09a3f7c4-cbc2-4bdf-88a0-a2436721bcbd> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.timesargus.com/article/20130104/NEWS03/701049935/0/strictlybusiness | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368701459211/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516105059-00008-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.962793 | 863 | 1.585938 | 2 |
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University of Phoenix is accredited by the Higher Learning Commission and our curriculum is developed to meet the needs of today’s industries.
Relevance is another reason. Our faculty have experience working in the fields they teach. They also have advanced degrees and can help you apply classroom theories to work in today’s world. Contact an enrollment advisor to find out more about what University of Phoenix can do for you. | <urn:uuid:52f7bb25-6589-44e6-a0e8-6a752e7a4a23> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.phoenix.edu/admissions.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368696381249/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516092621-00027-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.952108 | 323 | 1.507813 | 2 |
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Pray tell; were should computers be?
Also improving the desktop and improving other types of computers are not mutually exclusive.
MeeGo conference: Intel's and Nokia's visions of MeeGo
Posted Nov 17, 2010 23:50 UTC (Wed) by iabervon (subscriber, #722)
Posted Nov 19, 2010 12:14 UTC (Fri) by wookey (subscriber, #5501)
Those car computers are increasingly getting wireless interfaces (not entirely a good thing) and will no doubt be online too soon.
As to the 15 billion - as several people have pointed out this is no exaggeration. Once you include every car-charging point, smart meter, smart device (in white goods and heating), every wind turbine, security camera, utility monitoring point (power, gas, water) as well as everyone's personal and work gagetry, and all the vehicles, there are going to be a _lot_ of devices on the net. (and enormous opportunities for hacking and cracking).
Posted Nov 19, 2010 16:39 UTC (Fri) by iabervon (subscriber, #722)
Posted Nov 24, 2010 16:12 UTC (Wed) by n8willis (editor, #43041)
Posted Nov 24, 2010 16:25 UTC (Wed) by nye (guest, #51576)
So the fuel injection system gets to watch The Simpsons? :P
As someone else said upthread, "I think you are conflating 'computer' and 'display screen'".
GP was talking about the computers that actually *control* the car, not extra devices that you can add in for entertainment but aren't intrinsically *car* computers.
I think he was intending simply to point out that nobody is proposing running an entertainment system on the computers that control critical operations, so including them in the count is arguably unfair.
Posted Nov 24, 2010 19:15 UTC (Wed) by n8willis (editor, #43041)
And there's not a bright line separating the "entertainment" front-end from the the location/safety/other systems -- they are all interconnected. Your audio player must be able to override a music stream to play an alert when the proximity sensor detects that you're backing up into another car. Your hands-free phone support allows you to keep your fingers safely on the wheel, but it has to overlay video message pop-ups onto the same screen displaying your turn-by-turn navigation, which also has to overlay a message when the tire gauge detects low pressure. The same networking stack that delivers IP radio also must route sensor data to and from the roadside assistance service. You disconnect all of those systems and you don't have a working system at all.
8 years, dealer upgrades
Posted Nov 24, 2010 19:46 UTC (Wed) by dmarti (subscriber, #11625)
What the dealers need is an in-car platform for selling upgraded entertainment devices that locks out the aftermarket. So you wire in some safety-critical systems to the same network, then you have an excuse to make it dealer-only.
Posted Nov 24, 2010 20:59 UTC (Wed) by n8willis (editor, #43041)
What percentage of car owners ever replace their factory head unit? Most of the people I know don't have an aftermarket audio unit; they definitely don't install RSE video units in great numbers.
There are a lot of makers that sell-up their higher-end models by advertising things like Alpine/Monsoon/Whoever speakers & head units, plus satellite radio compatibility. I suspect that they get a non-zero chunk of the satellite and navigation monthly service fee as revenue, too. Over 8 years, that ongoing revenue stream is better than whatever their margin is on a particular head unit. Plus by maintaining good working relationships with the head-unit OEMs, they get year-after-year business on the new models. Ticking them off by locking out 3rd-party upgrades can't be worth that.
Anyway it seems like car makers and head-unit OEMs *are* interested in some standards; that's what MOST is for, and XM/Sirius makes lots of add-on units to retrofit different brands.
The interesting thing to me was when Rudolf Streif said that carmakers are wanting to leverage their IVI systems as "app platforms" like the smartphone market is giddy on. There may not be a ton of possibilities for driver-facing apps (though I'm sure the 4square types are already dreaming up something useless), but rear-seat gaming is sure to garner some sales. Anyway, it almost necessitates a replaceable "IV unit" to upgrade processing power and network standards. That would be a real big change. In any case, the IVI working group already talks about separating vehicle sensors and data from the head unit, connecting them instead on existing bus standards like CAN.
We'll all see who's still impressed with the locked-in, Ford-only nav unit they can get today ... when 2017 rolls around.
Posted Nov 24, 2010 19:56 UTC (Wed) by iabervon (subscriber, #722)
For that matter, the average desktop computer probably has a dozen parts which are computers in the traditional "car computer" sense, and it would be nuts to consider running Linux on them (or having the main system take over their functions). You're not going to run MeeGo on your optical mouse, or have your optical mouse provide light-sensor data to the CPU; similarly, the IVI system is not going to handle all of the processing needs within a car.
There are two simultaneous processes going on: people are putting recognizable computers (operating system, multiple independent programs, user interaction, system image with processes and dynamic memory allocation and such) in more places; and people are replacing physical mechanisms with software implementations on special-purpose hardware (with general-purpose processor architectures). Both of these lead to there being lots more computers in the world, but it's the first and not the second that's relevant here.
Posted Nov 24, 2010 21:13 UTC (Wed) by n8willis (editor, #43041)
Besides, if the central IVI box that is connected by CAN bus or whatever to the ECU, the sensors, the security system, etc. *is* running MeeGo, when those other systems are essentially microcontrollers, how is "the computer" *not* "running MeeGo"? Do you say that your desktop box "isn't running Linux" because there's someone else's code running in the BIOS, the hard disk firmware, DVD drive, and Ethernet ROM?
Posted Nov 24, 2010 22:01 UTC (Wed) by iabervon (subscriber, #722)
Posted Nov 24, 2010 23:07 UTC (Wed) by dmarti (subscriber, #11625)
Posted Nov 29, 2010 15:28 UTC (Mon) by nix (subscriber, #2304)
Copyright © 2013, Eklektix, Inc.
Comments and public postings are copyrighted by their creators.
Linux is a registered trademark of Linus Torvalds | <urn:uuid:718df1c5-41cb-41ab-a74a-5f89295488e6> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://lwn.net/Articles/415958/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368700958435/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516104238-00015-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.944304 | 1,596 | 1.640625 | 2 |
“Cancer forces us to re-order our priorities. It teaches us that life is a blessing and that we shouldn’t let a single moment go unlived.” That is the philosophy of Above and Beyond Cancer, a non-profit that organizes adventure-based programs for cancer survivors.
It is also what Corey McMordie ’02 has learned from his battle with cancer. And what he reaffirmed by trekking to the summit of Mount Kilimanjaro. He was chosen from a large group of applicants by the organization.
Corey’s encounter with cancer has encompassed more than 25 years and several dear family members. When he was just five years old, his grandfather was diagnosed with non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma. The two were extremely close, and Corey spent long hours working on projects in his grandfather’s garage. The older man continued on with a bright smile and a fierce determination. But 10 years later, he passed away from a rare secondary cancer in his small intestine. “Although he is gone, I still carry his spirit with me, smiling through all the challenges life throws my way,” says Corey.
At Central, Corey majored in information systems management and later went on to work at Wells Fargo Home Mortgage. But just as he was graduating in 2002, his mother was diagnosed with breast cancer. She had a year of treatment before going into remission.
Her recovery was a great relief to the McMordie family. But three years later, Corey’s father was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer and passed away within three months. It was a great loss.
While dealing with the grief from his father’s death, Corey began experiencing the first symptoms of what would eventually be diagnosed as Hodgkin’s lymphoma. Before the cancer went into remission, he would go through two lymphadenectomies, several rounds of intense chemotherapy, a drug trial, a stem cell transplant and, finally, radiation therapy. The pain and frustration he experienced were intense.
Side effects from the stem cell transplant included chills, fever, cramping, nausea, vomiting, aching all over, chest tightness, shortness of breath, headache, rapid heartbeat, decreased blood pressure and much more. Without an appetite, Corey didn’t eat for two weeks and lost 15 pounds. He barely had enough strength to stand. It took nearly two months from the date of his transplant for his sense of taste and strength to return to normal.
Following in the footsteps of his courageous family members, he tried to stay cheerful. “I’ll never forget laughing with friends as we went through a box of wigs that had been donated, despite how I was feeling,” says Corey.
Flags in the Wilderness
Corey’s cancer has now been in remission for more than four years. Filled with a new love for life, he took advantage of a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to spend two weeks in Africa last January and climb Mount Kilimanjaro, the fourth-tallest peak in the world and the highest on the continent.
In Tanzania, the Above and Beyond group spent time learning about the culture of the Chaaga and Maasi tribes, which Corey particularly enjoyed. The group spent seven days on the mountain, traversing bamboo forests, old lava flows, an immense crater and a barren desert before finally reaching the summit at sunrise.
During the trip, Corey struggled with altitude sickness, but it was worth the view from the top. At Crater Camp, down inside the non-active volcano cone, the group hung flags across the glacier for those who had passed away from cancer, including Corey’s own family members, and those who were fighting cancer at the time.
“I think I gained a new perspective on life and on being more compassionate,” says Corey. “On this trip, we all shared something in common—we had all been touched by cancer. It was neat to meet other people who had been down that same journey.”
Cancer is Here to Stay
Since returning from Tanzania, Corey has stayed involved with Above and Beyond Cancer, while continuing to work at Wells Fargo in West Des Moines. He participated in Race Across America, supporting eight cyclists as they biked from coast to coast and taking 12-hour shifts as a driver. He also ran the seven-mile Living History Farms Off-Road Race in November with the Above and Beyond team.
In June, Corey plans to push himself even further, participating in a coast-to-coast marathon relay. He will run his first-ever marathon somewhere in the Midwest and then pass the baton off to the next runner making their way across the country. Each of the marathoners, including Corey, is raising money for cancer research in support of his run.
“As a survivor, cancer will always play a role in my life,” says Corey. “I will always carry with me the memories of those I have lost and honor those who have survived. I have my grandfather’s smile, my mother’s drive and my father’s sense of humor. It is those traits they shared with me in the face of adversity that gave me the strength to overcome my own personal battles.”
Watch WOI ABC5 News’s coverage of Corey McMordie’s trek up Mt. Kilimanjaro.
Video courtesy of ABC5 News | <urn:uuid:ebe35588-c59d-41fd-9cec-40d9de6848e0> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://civitas.central.edu/2013/02/to-the-top/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368705559639/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516115919-00018-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.981098 | 1,135 | 1.710938 | 2 |
> Static analysis tools will almost certainly be an increasingly important
> part of many developers' tool boxes.
Will be? I don't know about you, but when I'm hacking on C or C++, one of the first things I do is setup my run_tests script to run as many static tools on my code as possible. It's saved me tons of time, and those tools are just ones separate from GCC! I am happy that there is competition, and I still need to look into LLVM/CLANG, but there are other static code checking tools (splint and cppcheck are two that come to mind). | <urn:uuid:c260b6e8-3085-4aeb-8dfb-c18984793f59> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://lwn.net/Articles/495620/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368696382584/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516092622-00019-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.968543 | 130 | 1.546875 | 2 |
Professor of History
BA, Macalester College; MA, PhD, University of Arizona
About Professor Krueckeberg
Most students call John Krueckeberg [Crew'kuh-Berg], “Dr. K.” (He thought taking the umlaut out of his name would improve things . . . .) Professor K earned his Ph.D. at the University of Arizona, where he studied social history under Juan Garcia, cultural history under Paul Carter, and intellectual/European history under Hermann Rebel. After teaching along the U.S.-Mexican border for four years, John moved closer to his NJ home when he came to Plymouth in 2001. Since then he has taught chronological courses in U.S. history since the Civil War: Gilded Ages? The Great Depression, US Home Fronts in the 1940s&1950s, and America Since 1960. You may even find him teaching a survey of European history or a special topics course such as African-American History.
Dr. Krueckeberg’s published works and professional presentations focus either on his dissertation or his special interest in historical city planning.
Currently he is working on a book concerning the life and times of a main character from his dissertation – the somewhat forgotten American from the 1930s, Raymond Gram Swing. He likes studying the life of Swing because it resurrects a unique and noble antifascist vision of America’s future at a time when many people felt that around the globe, democracy was on the wane.
Please feel free to contact Dr.K. at (603) 535-2332 or [email protected]. | <urn:uuid:49b7eab4-dfaf-4e31-a027-05c9ee651d8b> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.plymouth.edu/department/history-philosophy/faculty/history/john-krueckeberg/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368702810651/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516111330-00008-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.949033 | 347 | 1.539063 | 2 |
The last thing we want to hear is ďCheer up!Ē Nobody can cheer up on command, especially when we are immersed in disturbing thoughts which cause us to feel sad, disappointed, anxious, resentful and disrupted. The way to achieve happiness is to change our thinking about those circumstances by letting go of the disturbing thoughts.
I would like to share with you my personal circumstances. I was a caregiver to two parents who had Alzheimer's disease, first my father and then my mother. Since I'm an only child, it was all on my shoulders. However, juggling terminally ill parents, a husband, 3 children, work and a dog, I realized that I was just going through the motions... but without my usual sense of humor and cheerfulness. I had this ache in my heart which wouldn't go away. And it somehow needed to be expressed. Because writing is my passion combined with the experience of the destructive force of Alzheimer's... I felt intuitively that creativity would counteract it. And what could have been more creative than writing. Turn On Your Inner Light was born as a manual for happiness. Because I wrote it from the dark side, from tragedy, I was able to see in black and white how to bring back the light. I rushed to finish the book which interestingly took nine months to write: The birth of a learning to live again process. And it went directly where it belonged. I put it in my mother's hands like a beloved gift while she could have a glimmer of what it meant to both of us. And from my experience I learned that happiness means to be reasonably happy and let me repeat that, reasonably happy, and that each one of us, you and I have the ability to perceive happiness even in the middle of a difficulty. And in fact, difficulty makes you appreciate and relish the good moments.
Here are some suggestions to make yourself happy:
- Accept that life is filled with ups and downs. There will always be annoying problems and things that go wrong. Donít have unrealistic expectations that will hurl you into an abyss after you experience a disappointment.
- Stop depressing yourself with time limits for accomplishments or milestones in life like getting a job, getting married, or having an ideal family. If you have experienced many broken relationships, the more people you meet, the odds increase in finding a fulfilling, lasting relationship. If you expect a job or relationship to be hassle-free, it will never work. Life is filled with difficulties.
- Challenge your negative critical voice that tells you for example, you will never accomplish and that you are worthless. See if your negative voice can logically prove to you that you are a failure. No one has a crystal ball to see future failure. Become your own defense attorney and argue with yourself how good and capable you really are.
- If you expect a dramatic and immediate improvement when you are unhappy, forget about it. This is depressing in itself. Work at making yourself happy and changing your perceptions. Slowly the clouds will lift and you will delight in the light.
- Call up a positive friend for a quick pick-me-up. This is known as phone therapy.
- Exercise for a few minutes to music to release stress, raise endorphins. Then you will be able to root out the negative, self-deprecating thoughts. When your body grows stronger, so does your mind.
Debbie Mandel, MA is the author of Turn On Your Inner Light: Fitness for Body, Mind and Soul, a stress-reduction specialist, motivational speaker, a personal trainer and mind/body lecturer. She is the host of the weekly Turn On Your Inner Light Show on WGBB AM1240 in New York City , produces a weekly wellness newsletter, and has been featured on radio/ TV and print media. To learn more visit: www.turnonyourinnerlight.com
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This content was written by Debbie Mandel. If you wish to use this content in any manner, you need written permission. Contact Debbie Mandel for details. | <urn:uuid:624cd646-6644-4156-b871-a12e371400b6> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.bellaonline.com/articles/art27817.asp | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368709037764/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516125717-00017-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.965835 | 848 | 1.609375 | 2 |
Verily, the story Biff has to tell is a miraculous one, filled with remarkable journeys, magic, healings, kung fu, corpse reanimations, demons, and hot babes. Even the considerable wiles and devotion of the Savior's pal may not be enough to divert Joshua from his tragic destiny. But there's no one who loves Josh more (except maybe "Maggie," Mary of Magdalan) and Biff isn't about to let his extraordinary pal suffer and ascend without a fight.
"A Worthy Book, indeed"
Is there credible evidence that Jesus of Nazareth really is the Son of God? Lee Strobel cross-examines a dozen experts with doctorates from schools like Cambridge, Princeton, and Brandeis. Strobel challenges them with questions like. How reliable is the New Testament? Does evidence exist for Jesus outside the Bible? Strobel's tough questions make this read like a captivating, fast-paced novel. It's a riveting quest for the truth about history's most compelling figure. What will your verdict be?
"Interesting Approach to the New Testament"
Pastor and best-selling author Mark Driscoll believes false identity is at the heart of many struggles - and that you can overcome them by having your true identity in Christ. In Who Do You Think You Are? Driscoll explores the question: "What does it mean to be 'in Christ'?" In the process he dissects the false-identity epidemic and, more important, provides the only solution - Jesus.
World-renowned thinker and scholar Thich Nhat Hanh, considered by many to be a "Living Buddah," explores the spiritual crossroads where the traditions of Christianity and Buddhism meet. Living Buddha, Living Christ reawakens our understanding of both religions and the connections between them.
"if only it wasn't abridged it'd be a five"
The universal symbol of the Christian faith is neither a crib nor a manger, but a gruesome cross. Yet many people are unclear about its meaning, and cannot understand why Christ had to die. In this magisterial and best-selling book, John Stott explains the significance of Christ's cross and answers the objections commonly brought against biblical teaching on the atonement.
A classic of faith, fortitude, and inspiration, this faithful New Testament tale combines the events of the life of Jesus with grand historical spectacle in the exciting story of Judah of the House of Hur, a man who finds extraordinary redemption for himself and his family. Judah Ben-Hur lives as a rich Jewish prince and merchant in Jerusalem at the beginning of the first century. His old friend, Messala, arrives as commanding officer of the Roman legions.
"Not Like the Movie"
In these end-times, compulsions, obsessions and addictions are at epidemic levels. Satan uses compulsions, obsessions and addictions to force his slaves to build up his kingdom. Satan also uses compulsions, obsessions and addictions to prevent Christians from living the abundant life. As compulsion, obsession or addiction becomes too painful, people reach out for help.
The Imitation of Christ is one of the great spiritual classics of Christianity. Dr. Creasy's new reading of Thomas A Kempis' 1441 Latin Autograph Manuscript has become "the standard translation of this spiritual classic." The printed trade edition has been a best seller and was chosen as a Book of the Month Club selection. It remains an essential spiritual work for contemporary readers. This audio version read by Don Ranson captures the intimacy and depth of this superb translation.
Victory Over the Darkness emphasizes the importance of believing and internalizing the cardinal truths of Scripture as a base from which to renew the mind and fend off Satan's relentless attempt to convince us that we are less than Christ empowers us to be.
"Steps to freedom!"
Patrick Madrid has been a defender of the Catholic faith for more than two decades, and his passion has only grown. Here he collects his writings - and his memories - from the past 25 years to put into perspective how his spirituality has deepened and his understanding of Catholicism matured. Patrick recalls the people, places, concepts, conflicts, and lessons of the first quarter-century of his vocation as an apologist.
"Well written and well read by Mr. Madrid."
First published anonymously in 1418, Thomas à Kempis's The Imitation of Christ is a classic Christian devotional work that has been read through the ages by such notable figures as Sir Thomas More, John Wesley, and Pope John Paul I. A meditation on spiritual life, it offers instructions for renouncing worldly vanity and discovering eternal truths with the goal of living out the teachings of Jesus by taking inspiration from his life.
More so than anything else, the Eucharist is what anchors many people's lives, prayers, and ultimately the way they look upon the world around them. In this deeply personal book, Fr. Ronald Rolheiser delves into the history and meaning of this sacred tradition, drawing upon the insights of various scripture scholars, theologians, and Church teachings. With warmth and great insight, he reflects on his own particular Roman Catholic upbringing and the centrality that the Eucharist has within that tradition.
Best-selling author John MacArthur gives readers a fresh look at how Jesus addressed attacks against the truth. Meek and mild. Politically correct. A great teacher. These are the popular depictions of Jesus. But they aren't the complete picture. Maybe because it's uncomfortable, or maybe because it's inconvenient, Christians and non-Christians alike are overlooking the fierceness of the Savior, His passionate mission to make the Gospel clear and bring people into the Kingdom of God.
This galvanizing audiobook, presenting the teachings of Christ from the experience and perspective of Paramhansa Yogananda, one of the greatest spiritual masters of the 20th century, finally offers the fresh perspective on Christ's teachings for which the world has been waiting. This audiobook presents us with an opportunity to understand and apply the Scriptures in a more reliable way than any other - by studying under those saints who have communed directly, in deep ecstasy, with Christ and God.
Best-selling author and pastor John MacArthur brings his deep knowledge of Scripture to this foundational subject. Step by step, he walks through the impact of God’s sovereignty, our submission, the characteristics of holy living, and our assurance of salvation. MacArthur makes the case that the Christian life is full and rich - but not easy. It requires sacrifice, perseverance, and transformation in the ongoing process of becoming more like Christ. And it is absolutely worth the cost.
Many Christians find themselves mired in past regrets or future fears, but the name of God itself reminds readers that God wants them to live in the present. The more readers understand and apply God’s I AM statements from the Old and New Testaments, the more they will realize God’s peace and joy. Then they will be free to live, serve, and know God more richly in the present tense—which is just where He wants them to be.
"A must read for those seeking to know Christ."
Christians are not meant to live in defeat, below their God-given potential or in any kind of bondage (physical, mental or otherwise). In this audiobook, In Christ, I Am: God's Promises on Who You Are in Christ that Will Transform You from the Inside Out, you will discover over 150 truths from the Bible about who you are, what you can have and what you can do as a child of the Most High God.
A new book from the respected theologian R.C. Sproul. A study of the events in the life of Jesus Christ and what they mean to your life.
In Practice Resurrection Peterson brings the voice of Scripture — especially Paul’s letter to the Ephesians — and the voice of the contemporary Christian congregation together in understanding what is involved in the practice of becoming mature — growing up to the “stature of Christ.”
"A Book To Be Savored"
Retracing his own spiritual journey from atheism to faith, Lee Strobel, former legal editor of the Chicago Tribune, cross-examines a dozen experts with doctorates from schools like Cambridge, Princeton, and Brandeis, who are recognized authorities in their fields. Strobel challenges them with questions like How reliable is the New Testament? Does evidence exist for Jesus outside the Bible? Is there any reason to believe the resurrection was an actual event? | <urn:uuid:5c6a3b3c-adea-485d-8125-e0d4377862b1> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.audible.com/search?advsearchKeywords=Christ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368708142388/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516124222-00022-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.948271 | 1,765 | 1.789063 | 2 |
STRATTON, Maine — A national environmental group says three of its members who blocked the entrance to a western Maine wind power construction site have been arrested.
Maine Earth First! spokeswoman Emily Posner said one woman who was arrested attached herself to a truck hauling a windmill blade. The two others arrested were among about 50 people who blocked the road to TransCanada’s Kibby Mountain construction site Tuesday morning.
TransCanada spokeswoman LeAnne said says work continues at the site.
TransCanada is building 22 wind turbines on mountains near where it already has built 22 turbines that are producing power. Maine Earth First! said projects such as TransCanada’s destroy mountaintops and don’t offset fossil fuel use. | <urn:uuid:8659cac1-1a1e-4828-93cb-d754e273157f> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://bangordailynews.com/2010/07/06/news/3-protesters-arrested-at-kibby-mountain-wind-power-site/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368704392896/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516113952-00033-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.960008 | 151 | 1.617188 | 2 |
Reader S.B. seeks advice on how to deal with arrangements following the death of a foreign relative in Japan.
This process can be very complicated for family and friends, especially if they are non-Japanese. You will need two documents: The first is the death certificate, or shibo todoke kisaishomeisho; the second is the Certificate for Burial or Cremation — maiso kaso kyokasho in Japanese. Both these documents can usually be obtained at the local police station.
However, permission for either document may not be granted in the first 24 hours after passing, as the police are duty-bound to investigate the circumstances of the death. If they conclude it was a natural death, permission will be granted. If there is any area of concern, they may order an autopsy, and this can take days.
In addition, you will need to contact the embassy representing the deceased. The paperwork involved depends on the embassy, but most will be able to issue a death certificate.
The first decision you will have to make is whether to cremate and/or inter in Japan or overseas. The arrangements for the funeral also need to be considered. This is a very complicated matter, but there are a number of mortuaries that can take care of all the arrangements — be they cremation in Japan and/or transportation of the body, or ashes, overseas. The U.S. Embassy offers good, detailed advice for its citizens at tokyo.usembassy.gov/e/acs/tacs-7125d.html.
Remember that in Japan cremation is the norm, especially since the end of the war. Space is considered to be at such a premium these days that generally permission is not granted for a regular burial. In addition, burials must take place in a registered burial ground, and the restrictions at these facilities are generally quite strict, with most now requiring cremation.
In most cases, relatives tend to opt for cremation and the return of the ashes to the deceased’s home country, although some families do prefer to fly the body back for the funeral and viewing. The remains can be transported on a commercial flight, but must be handed over immediately on landing in the destination country to a registered mortuary. One company that has extensive experience in this area is Air Hearse. They can be found at www.airhearse.com.
A sad task, but with a little effort a dignified farewell can be arranged.
By the way, more and more people recently are requesting that their ashes be scattered — please be aware that this is technically illegal in Japan. | <urn:uuid:ef4068f5-bd6a-40e6-b59e-071392c6ebb2> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.japantimes.co.jp/community/2009/02/17/community/dealing-with-a-death-abroad/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368696383156/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516092623-00004-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.946497 | 545 | 1.703125 | 2 |
Manny P. here…
In 1959, Kirk Douglas made a historic decision as co-producer of Spartacus. The actor wanted screen credit for blacklisted writer Dalton Trumbo, who had written many award-winning screenplays (including Roman Holiday) under a pseudonym. A courageous stand overturned a decade of ruined careers for writers, directors, and actors who were denied opportunities in Hollywood by movie studios. Columnist Hedda Hopper called for a boycott of the movie, when it was released in 1960. The public came anyway, including President Kennedy, who saw it in early 1961 at the Warner Theater in Washington. He showed support, saying it was a fine film. Jobs were again available to talented folks, whose politics were in question for a generation.
Kirk Douglas will be honored on May 31st by the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences at the Goldenson Theater; and to celebrate the release of his new memoirs, I am Spartacus! Making a Film, Breaking the Blacklist. It’s the actor’s 10th literary work, which will be available in a paperback edition, and as an eBook on June 12th from Open Road Media.
Joining Mr. Douglas will be Liam McIntyre and Steven DeKnight from the STARZ series - Spartacus: Vengeance. And, it will be moderated by Peter Hammond. The Goldenson Theatre is located at 5220 Lankershim Blvd. in North Hollywood. The event begins promptly at 7:30p.
Spartacus was a leader, warrior, and inspiration to his people. His political and societal impact parallels the influential decisions made by a great actor and patriot who has called Hollywood his workplace for seven decades… the iconic Kirk Douglas!
Until next time> “never forget” | <urn:uuid:a6eea7de-a473-48ec-864f-b17beef09a90> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.forgottenhollywood.com/hollywood-history/forgotten-hollywood-kirk-douglas-actor-patriot.php | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368708142388/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516124222-00020-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.971821 | 363 | 1.53125 | 2 |
NB The burner shown in the two photos above is cold, not hot!
Of course, you won't want to stop here. Couscous's subtle flavor invites elaboration and embellishment. Even "man cooks" will be tempted to experiment. That being the case, let's …
Ring the Changes
Couscous is a true chameleon. It takes its character from its surroundings. If you reconstitute it in hot chicken broth, your couscous will taste of chicken. If you then add herbs and spices, each one will introduce an identifiable flavor note. Armed with this understanding, you're ready to give your imagination free rein. Do you want an authentic ethnic dish? Then add flavorings from North Africa and the Middle East — coriander, turmeric, cayenne, lemon, saffron, and cinnamon. Or adopt a fusion approach, adding whatever you fancy.
So much for ambience. Now let's bulk up. Couscous likes company. Don't make it go solo. Add vegetables, meat, sausage, or fish, alone or in combination. Just make sure that anything that needs to be cooked is cooked before you add it to the reconstituted couscous. A little advance planning is imperative here. For example, suppose you've got your heart set on couscous with fresh carrots and canned chicken, cooked in chicken broth. Begin by preparing the carrots (sliced, chopped, grated, or whole) and boiling them in the broth. Be sure to use a bit more broth than will be needed to reconstitute the couscous, in order to allow for any fluid taken up by the carrots. Then, when the carrots are done, stir in the couscous and chicken (along with the juice from the can, if you're using canned chicken), cover, and let the pot sit for five minutes off the flame. Once you've fluffed the couscous with a fork it's ready to serve. It really is as easy as that.
Couscous also makes a great take‑along lunch on day trips. Make a couscous salad using fresh vegetables and a dressing of lime and olive oil, packing it in a tightly sealed, unbreakable container. It will keep just fine till lunchtime. If you'll be getting an early start, however, make the salad the day before, refrigerating it until the following morning. The flavors will meld beautifully during their sojourn in the fridge.
Need to give a soup some gravitas? If it's made from a dried mix, the answer is probably Yes, and couscous is just what the cook ordered. Measure out a tablespoon or two of dried couscous for each serving, then stir it into the soup as it simmers. Don't use a heavy hand here. If you add more, you'll end up with a stew. That's fine if it's what you want, but if you've added too much by mistake, you'll need to add a little more water to the pot. Problem solved.
Do you have a sweet tooth? Well, if you make couscous with a sugary liquid, you'll get sweet couscous. This opens the door to a whole new world of desserts — and at least one tempting breakfast treat:
Breakfast Couscous Stew some dried fruit (your choice), stirring in the couscous after the water boils and the fruit softens. (Make sure you have enough water at the start.) Cover the pot. Remove from the flame. Let it sit for five minutes. Then sweeten to taste with brown sugar or maple syrup. Serve.
No sweet tooth? In that case, you may want to try one or more savory dishes, instead — main meal, rather than breakfast, fare. And here are some examples:
Chicken Couscous Make chicken broth by dissolving a bouillon cube or some powdered broth in boiling water. Stir in the couscous, then add chicken from a can or shelf‑stable packet. Don't forget to add any juices, too. Finish off by adding dried herbs. (I favor rosemary.) You can also toss in some fresh, dried, or freeze‑dried vegetables when you first bring the broth to a boil. Be sure the veggies are cooked through before you add the couscous, though.
Savory Orange Couscous You'll need a fresh orange for this one. Peel it, chop the flesh into bite‑sized pieces, and mix them into fresh, hot couscous. If you want to take the time, make some zest from the peel and sprinkle that in, as well, for a more intense orange flavor. Add pistachio nuts for crunch, or stir in pre‑cooked chicken or tuna from a can or shelf‑stable pack. Serve as a main dish, or use as a side dish with satays. Season with a sprinkling of cardamom if you like.
Couscous Pilaf Pour a little oil into a pot — not too much; just enough to cover the bottom — then chop up a small onion and a carrot and heat till the onion begins to soften and turn transparent. (Olive, corn, or canola oils are equally good.) Now add water and bring it to a boil. Next, dissolve a bouillon cube — chicken or vegetable; the choice is yours — and stir in a couple of tablespoons of raisins, along with the couscous. Cover the pot, remove it from the flame, and let it sit. Serve.
Mulligatawny Couscous Add oil to the pot as before. Then add a small amount of finely chopped ginger, a clove of garlic (minced), and a chopped fresh onion. Cook the vegetables until they're fragrant. Stir in curry powder, then add water or chicken broth and a few tablespoons of raisins, along with a coarsely chopped fresh or dried apple. Bring the liquid to a boil. Add couscous. Cover. Remove from flame. Let sit. Dish up.
Tomato Couscous Bring water to a boil. Stir in couscous and a handful of dried tomatoes, a pinch of dried basil, a clove of garlic (chopped fine), and a tablespoon or two of olive oil. Cover and remove from the flame. Let sit. Garnish with pine nuts and grated parmesan. Serve.
That's just a start, of course. Couscous is versatile stuff. So let your imagination run wild. Don't overlook nuts like almonds and cashews, or dried fruits like cherries, apricots, and cranberries. Moreover, just about any fresh or dried vegetable is a candidate for inclusion in a couscous dish, as are legumes like chick peas and black beans, along with every sort of meat or fish. The only caveat? Try out each new dish at home first, before taking it on the trail. It's always best to make your mistakes where they can be easily remedied, rather than somewhere down the river, fifty miles from the put‑in. | <urn:uuid:6fa8c61c-afb2-4605-821c-46aa04e831e7> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.paddling.net/sameboat/archives/sameboat611.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368709037764/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516125717-00019-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.930644 | 1,471 | 1.554688 | 2 |
An online game released more than a year ago is suddenly causing a stir in religious circles.
Faith Fighter, launched in January of 2008 by the always-provacative Molleindustria, allows players to pit various deities against one another in Mortal Kombat-style action. The virtual combatants in the game include a depiction of Allah, a serious no-no in the Muslim faith.
Metro.co.uk reports that some Christians, Hindus and Buddhists are upset as well. Douglas Miller, pastor of Birmingham's Link Church, told Metro:
This game is going out of its way to upset people and I think it should be taken off the internet. Playing violent video games will ultimately affect your behaviour and this game is deeply offensive and provocative.
An unnamed representative of the Federation of Muslim Organisations added:
In the current climate, this game can only create fear about religion. Having images depicting Muhammad in this way is also very offensive to our faith.
However, a spokesperson for Molleindustria defended the work:
[The purpose of the game is] to push gamers to reflect on how sacred representations are often used to fuel or justify conflicts between people. | <urn:uuid:6faafa84-e486-4583-9edd-0acfd6399537> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.gamepolitics.com/2009/04/27/religious-groups-outraged-online-game?page=1 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368699881956/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516102441-00037-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.94946 | 238 | 1.726563 | 2 |
Webcam Gouda, Netherlands: Gouda City Hall
(A live view of the current weather at Gouda)
The current weather conditions and weather forecast for Gouda in in cooperation with wetter.com:
Gouda is a city in the western Netherlands, in the province of South Holland. Gouda, which was granted city rights in 1272, is famous for its Gouda cheese, smoking pipes and its 15th century town hall. The town takes its name from the Van der Goude family, who built a fortified castle alongside the banks of the Gouwe River, from which the family took its name.
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We have collected links to more than 10.000 webcams from all around the world, not only for Gouda or Netherlands.
So you can enjoy live-images from almost every place on earth with this webcam directory.
Links: Travel/Tourism (2, 3) - Webcam Gouda (Deutsch) - Webcam Gouda (Italiano) | <urn:uuid:e3025212-ddf6-4b96-a7bf-f7a229fb6af0> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.webcamgalore.com/EN/webcam/Netherlands/Gouda/2094.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368706499548/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516121459-00041-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.933109 | 223 | 1.585938 | 2 |
A pleasant "good morning" to all! It is a spring day here in these Ozarks. Crocus, tulips and jonquils are up--all sure signs that winter will soon be a thing of the past.
It is said that memory is the key which unlocks the past and I am remembering springs of long ago. I enjoy just sitting and thinking of bygone springs.
As we grow older, I think we are prone to forget the unpleasant things in our past and remember mostly the good. Our minister recently had as his sermon subject, "Go forward and forget the past." I know what he had reference to, for aren't we going forward every year? My mother used to say when the day was done, "We are one day nearer eternity." And so we are.
But I still love remembering those springs of long ago. We were always glad to see winter go. Spring was a busy time ... making garden, the farmers plowing for the plantings of corn, oats and cane. One can drive for miles now and not see corn growing anywhere. It seems raising cattle is now more profitable.
I had a happy carefree childhood. We lived on the farm and enjoyed the simple life. I enjoyed working on the farm. I never liked housework very much and was happy to let mother take care of it. The farm yielded most of our living. I don't remember my mother ever buying canned food from the stores. We had our meat, milk, eggs and all the vegetables we wanted. Mother always canned and dried many kinds of fruits.
We had no bills to pay--just the yearly taxes on our land.
I don't remember how our school teachers were paid, but the teacher taught all eight grades to some 40 pupils. I recall the eighth grade consisted of higher arithmetic, algebra, civil government, physiology, and Arkansas history. We really knew our "books" then; it was expected of us. we received our physical education on the playground at recess and noontime. As farm children, nobody worried about us not getting enough exercise!
Along with our books, we were taught how to live with people and to practice the Golden Rule. School was opened by singing and reading a chapter in the Bible. I don't think that reading of the Bible had an adverse effect on anyone. I loved my school years and the things I learned have stayed with me.
I enjoy the articles and the poems in the "Over the Ozarks" column so much and a big "thank you" to all you writers and poets.
It is indeed a great privilege to be living in these Ozarks hills, especially in the spring. A happy springtime to all you readers! | <urn:uuid:305fa2a4-8f69-46db-a3c8-8b61b68fffb3> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.thecolefamily.com/mellie/undated23.htm | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368705195219/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516115315-00000-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.983655 | 554 | 1.726563 | 2 |
A 60-year-old Windsor man has been sentenced to 10 years in prison in the 2009 stabbing of his wife.
Melkioro Gahungu was originally charged with second-degree murder but the charge was reduced to manslaughter because of the unique circumstances of the case, Gahungu’s lawyer Brian Dube said on Tuesday.
Gahungu was sentenced on Friday but will receive credit for time already served, thereby reducing his prison stay to four years and nine months.
The manslaughter sentence is consistent with Gahungu’s claim that he never intended to kill his wife Maria Nzokilandevi, Dube said.
The incident was a result of being very drunk and followed a physical altercation where insults were hurled, he said.
The stabbing occurred in June 2009 at the couple’s home on Reginald Street. Neighbours discovered Nzokilandevi’s body when two of the her children came out from the residence crying and screaming.
The neighbours entered the unit and found Nzokilandevi’s body on the floor in a room upstairs next to a tote with several empty beer bottles and a 12-inch bloodied knife.
Gahungu was arrested by police shortly afterwards.
“There were a number of other stressors in (Gahungu’s) life at the time,” Dube said. He had only recently arrived in Canada from Burundi with his family, was unemployed, did not speak English, was illiterate and his marriage was breaking down. It was very difficult for him to adjust to life in Canada.
Gahungu and Nzokilandevi fled Burundi during the civil war in the 1990s. Gahungu was a Hutu and Nzokilandevi was a Tutsi and their mixed marriage made them an enemy to both sides in the war, Dube said. They fled with their children to neighbouring Tanzania and spent 14 years in refugee camps. “They barely made it ouf of Burundi alive,” Dube said.
The family made it to Canada in 2008 and shortly afterwards, the marraige broke down, he said. The incident happened about seven months after their arrival here.
Dube said negotiations with the Crown went on for some time because off the nature of the case. Psychiatric assessments were also completed.
“Given the background it was a very unique case,” Dube said.
Gahungu and Nzokilandevi have five children, Dube said, plus one who died while they were still in the refugee camp in Tanzania. The two eldest ones are in Australia, while the three youngest ones, aged 18 and under, live in Windsor and are in foster care.
“Obviously it’s a tragedy for the family,” Dube said. | <urn:uuid:76d4ee5c-bb25-4e62-97af-3d1f858808ab> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://blogs.windsorstar.com/2012/02/07/man-sentenced-to-10-years-for-manslaughter-in-2009-stabbing-of-wife/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368709037764/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516125717-00012-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.989409 | 606 | 1.515625 | 2 |
Natura Artis Magistra, commonly known as Artis, offers winding paths, majestic trees, and monumental historic buildings that ... More
Artis Royal Zoo
Natura Artis Magistra, commonly known as Artis, offers winding paths, majestic trees, and monumental historic buildings that give it a special, 19th-century atmosphere. The on-site zoo hosts more than 8000 animals, two museums, a planetarium and a magnificent aquarium. Courses ranging from astrology to drawing can also be taken here. See website for complete list of attractions, admission prices, and other visitor information.
The river Amstel was dammed here in the 13th Century. Amstelerdam, a small fishing community, was founded on the banks
of the river. Boats could unload their freight here and alongside the Damrak. When the Nieuwe Kerk was rebuilt ...
The Albus Hotel is located approximately 12 miles from Schiphol Airport and within walking distance of Floating Flower Market and
Rembrandt Square. Amsterdam has romantic canals, exciting nightlife, historical monuments, various types of shopping, and more than 40 museums. ...
The Netherlands' most renowned church has been the source of inspiration for many musicians. The famous tower was completed in
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*Terms & Conditions: Savings calculation is based on Flight + Hotel vacation package bookings for a 3 month period for 2 adults with a 2+ night length of stay compared to price of the same components if booked separately during same period. Savings will vary based on origin/destination, length of trip, travel dates and selected travel supplier(s). Savings not available on all packages. | <urn:uuid:1fa3a762-a831-44f1-a679-366bfc1d4e10> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://travel.yahoo.com/p-travelguide-2786810-artis_amsterdam-i?mid=1&found=9&totalhelpful=11&helpful=1 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368702810651/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516111330-00034-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.946204 | 373 | 1.734375 | 2 |
May fifth hottest on record in Sarasota area
Published: Tuesday, June 19, 2012 at 9:45 a.m.
Last Modified: Tuesday, June 19, 2012 at 6:13 p.m.
Summer began in April for Donnie Pedigo, though officially the sweltering season starts Wednesday
"It felt like we had two days of spring and it went right into summer," Pedigo said, taking a break from construction work at the corner of Pomelo Avenue and Irving Street in Sarasota.
He's right: summer weather did come early.
May was the fifth-hottest on record for the Sarasota-Bradenton area, according to National Weather Service records dating back to 1911. Since January, 12 record hot temperatures have been recorded, six of them in May.
Only 38 days this year have recorded average or below average temperatures at Sarasota-Bradenton International Airport.
It is not clear how June will rank. The first week was cooler than normal, but daily temperatures are now rising well above the 89-degree average high.
Serious humidity was the missing ingredient that would have made the weather really feel like a Southwest Florida summer. As if on cue, moisture in the air will spike today and continue through the week.
"The previous couple of days have been relatively dry for this time of year," said Richard Rude, a National Weather Service meteorologist on Tuesday. "The atmosphere is going to become more moist starting tonight and continuing through the rest of the week."
Tropical moisture is moving northwest from Cuba into the Gulf of Mexico, bringing higher chances for rain from the Tampa Bay area south. There is a small chance that the storms could eventually organize into a tropical depression or tropical storm. Chances were 10 percent within the next two days, according to the National Hurricane Center's Tuesday outlook.
Rude said the emerging pattern, with days in the high 80s or low 90s and daily showers and thunderstorms is typical for this time of year.
Humidity — not necessarily the heat — marks the beginning of summer for Dan Weaver, who was working Tuesday on the concrete shell of a house at the corner of Orange and Prospect streets.
Weaver and co-worker Jim Vedder said the heat has not been much of a bother because of the recent dryness. A warm winter also helps ease the transition to a hot and muggy summer, they said.
"You kind of get used to it," Weaver said.
After nearly 40 years of working outdoors, Pedigo said air conditioning and a positive attitude — along with plenty of water and 20-minute breaks in the shade — helps.
"I find that if you dread something it makes it worse. I know it's going to be hot and I just kind of expect it," he said. "You've got to pace yourself."
Reader comments posted to this article may be published in our print edition. All rights reserved. This copyrighted material may not be re-published without permission. Links are encouraged. | <urn:uuid:b6a5bcf0-7758-478c-b73a-5c82958e66f9> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.heraldtribune.com/article/20120619/ARTICLE/120619492/2071/NEWS?Title=May-fifth-hottest-on-record-in-Sarasota-area | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368705559639/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516115919-00040-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.968671 | 619 | 1.570313 | 2 |
6September2012 @ @ RandyP comments: index:BIBLEREADPLAN1 September6 Open minds. Open mindedness is often no more than scorn and self justification. Today in the Proverbs we read of the fear of the wicked and how it will inevitably come upon them. We also read of the central core of the gospel faith "Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures...is risen...all things subjected to Him...Him to Father". Many will scorn. Many will go about as they've always done searching the secret and stolen depths. They would call all this open minded but, is it? Their fear shall come upon them. Then we shall see how locked tight their minds really were.
20September2012 @ @ RandyP comments: index:BIBLEREADPLAN1 September20 Today we read Solomon's conclusion that we should fear the Lord and keep His commandments, In Paul's testimony we see a man that did just that. It looks quiet a bit different than we might expect. Paul is not the only to suffer to bring us the wisdom and instruction called for by the truth. Truth must suffer the hands and tongues of the foolish. Fearing God is not in fearing what others may do to you, it is putting all of this aside for the unmovable service of/to God.
2012 - pBiblx2 Field Wise Bible System Version 2.0.9d - GPL3 | <urn:uuid:0208c9d2-b626-4e83-b412-8216d5cf2de7> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://shepherdpuplinux.us/cgi-bin/pbiblx-pcarr.cgi?X=xt&Css=1h&Mode=csearch&Version=kjv&Index=journal&File=RecentComments&String=September2012 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368705195219/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516115315-00041-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.943461 | 291 | 1.804688 | 2 |
Innovation In Retailbanking
by Dennis Pereira on Nov 06, 2009
- 8,200 views
Innovation is a very widely used term which can apply to any aspect of the business. ...
Innovation is a very widely used term which can apply to any aspect of the business.
This report takes a high level and strategic view of the issue and does not focus on one
specific type of innovation, or one area of activity. Innovation in operations is just as
important as innovation in marketing. We look at the issue of strategic versus
incremental innovation, and the importance of innovation for both growth and efficiency.
We also assess the barriers to innovation, what actions banks are taking to increase
their level of innovation, and recommend areas where we feel they could improve.
© All Rights Reserved
- Embed Views
- Views on SlideShare
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SINGAPORE: The public may soon be able to fly kites or small model airplanes near the airport or airbase.
The Civil Aviation Authority of Singapore (CAAS) said it is looking at relaxing the rules to allow such activities, which are getting popular in Singapore.
It is seeking views from the public on the changes.
Currently, activities such as kite—flying, aero—modelling and hoisting of captive balloons for commercial purposes are not allowed within five kilometres from an airport or airbase.
Beyond the five—kilometre radius, these activities are allowed, but the public must observe a height limit of 200 feet, which is about 12 storeys high.
Under the Air Navigation Order, these restrictions are in place to maintain a safe operating environment for aircraft operations.
Kites and model airplanes can pose danger to pilots who are engaged in the critical phase of flight, such as when the plane is taking off or landing.
The objects could also cause damage to aircraft engines and endanger lives.
CAAS said there is potential to liberalise the current restrictions on height and permitted areas for the conduct of specific types of aerial activities, while maintaining high international aviation safety standards.
That’s because with advancements in aircraft technology, air navigation systems on the modern aircraft have greatly improved.
It added that the review will allow the authorities to explore a new balance between aviation safety and the desires for other aerial activities
"This review on the conduct of aerial activities is timely. There has been increasing public demand for more space to conduct aerial activities in Singapore. With the advancements in aircraft technology, air navigation systems on the modern aircraft have greatly improved, enabling the creation of more space for such activities where possible. While the safety of flight operations in Singapore remains paramount, this review will allow CAAS to explore a new balance between aviation safety and the desires for other aerial activities," said assistant director—general of CAAS Soh Poh Theen.
Some are hoping the review will also be a chance to raise awareness about kite safety.
Gadis Widiyati, a member of the Singapore Kite Association, said: "(I hope there is) more (clarity) about the rules. The announcement about this should be spread out because the numbers of (people) flying kites has increased. (It is) also one of the outdoor activities for family so there’s a need for these rules to be very clear to them."
Gadis recommends putting up signboards in parks and open fields about kite—flying — whether the activity is permitted or not, why, and basic rules about flying.
Layangman Online Kiteshop owner Patrick Tan, said: "(Those who fly kites) should be very responsible. They should not fly (their kites) across the road. The kites should not be flown overhead and across the road because if the wind changes direction or there is a lack of wind, they may not have enough time to retrieve the long line. It will be disastrous if the line falls across the road."
Another suggestion is to specify safety issues for different types of kites.
The public can give their feedback via the
The consultation closes on July 12.
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US Secretary of State John Kerry called on Syrian President Bashar al-Assad on Wednesday to make a commitment to define peace in his country... More US Secretary of State John Kerry called on Syrian President Bashar al-Assad on Wednesday to make a commitment to define peace in his country, ahead of a meeting of the Friends of Syria group in Amman. Duration: 00:38
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The following excerpt was taken from “The Summits of God-Life: Samadhi and Siddhi”
by Sri Chinmoy.
A God Realised Person
When we use the term “realisation,” people are very often confused. They feel that a realised person is totally different from an ordinary person, that he behaves in a very unusual way. But I wish to say that a realised person need not and should not behave in an unusual way. What has he realised? The ultimate Truth in God. And who is God? God is someone or something absolutely normal.
When someone realises the Highest, it means he has inner Peace, Light and Bliss in infinite measure. It does not mean that his outer appearance or outer features will be any different, for Peace, Light and Bliss are inside his inner consciousness. If a Master achieves realisation, it does not mean that he will grow two big horns or a long tail, or become in some other way abnormal. No, he is normal. Even after a spiritual Master has realised the Highest, he still eats, sleeps, talks and breathes just as others do.
It is inside the human that the divine exists. We do not have to live in the Himalayan caves to prove our inner divinity; this divinity we can bring forward in our normal day-to-day life. Spirituality is absolutely normal, but unfortunately we have come to feel it is abnormal because we see so few spiritual people in this world of ignorance. But this feeling is a deplorable mistake. Real spirituality is the acceptance of life. First we have to accept life as it is, and then we have to try to divinise and transform the face of the world with our aspiration and with our realisation.
Unspiritual people frequently think that a realised person, if he is truly realised, has to perform miracles at every moment. But miracles and God-realisationneed not necessarily go together. When you look at a spiritual Master, what you see is Peace, Light, Bliss and divine Power. Enter into him and you are bound to feel these things. But if you expect something else from a realised soul, if you come to a spiritual Master thinking that he will fulfil your teeming desires and make you a multimillionaire, then you are totally mistaken. If it is the Will of the Supreme, the Master can easily make someone a multimillionaire overnight. He can bring down material prosperity in abundant measure, but usually this is not the Will of the Supreme. The Will of the Supreme is for inner prosperity, not outer affluence. | <urn:uuid:cd41f339-1868-4f15-ada3-9a1c8d8228ce> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.writespirit.net/spirituality/god-realisation/a-god-realised-person/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368708142388/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516124222-00012-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.959376 | 533 | 1.59375 | 2 |
Twitter introduces interest-based targeting for advertisers
Twitter has enhanced the targeting of ads by tapping into users' interests to make them more relevant and has cut the minimum bid for its promoted products.
Twitter: updates advertising opportunities
From today advertisers will be able to target their Promoted Tweets and Promoted Accounts campaigns to a set of interests that they choose.
Twitter claims this move will allow advertisers to deliver tailored messages to people who are more likely to engage with them.
Twitter has reduced the minimum bid possible for its promoted products to 30 pence to one pence in the UK.
Twitter’s system works in a similar way to Google’s Adwords, through a second place auction, meaning if an advertiser bids one pence for an ad, the second place will be one pence higher.
Twitter chooses the ads which are seeing the highest level of engagement from users to show more, and the advertiser only pays for ads which are engagement with, measured by clicks, retweets or follows.
According to Bruce Daisley, sales director at Twitter UK the targeting is based on the "interest DNA" Twitter has on its users, based on who they follow and what they retweet.
"A lot of advertisers have said this is a game changer as you can pinpoint ads to users passion and it feels intuitive," he said.
He added that he did not think consumers would find the additional targeting for these social ads creepy or intrusive because they are all based on public signals and they responded positively to the tests it has run.
There are 350 interest categories advertisers can choose, including education, pets, science, law a personal finance, which then break down into more granular topics.
For example, if an advertiser was looking to promote an animated film about dogs, its could select Animation (under Movies and Television), Cartoons (under Hobbies and Interests), and Dogs (under Pets).
Brands looking to target a precise set of users can create custom segments from specific certain usernames.
The custom segments let advertisers reach users with similar interests to those specific usernames.
Twitter said it has trialled the scheme with a group of advertisers, which has "across the board" seen high engagement rates, because they are reaching users who are interested in their content.
Kevin Weil, director of product management at Twitter, wrote in a blog post: "We've always taken a thoughtful approach to monetization, and early results show interest targeting creates a better experience for marketers and users.
"Today’s announcements are a big step forward for our advertising platform."Follow @shearmans
This article was first published on mediaweek.co.uk
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All customers have the potential to become your brand advocates, driving... | <urn:uuid:7896a0ee-2106-4f66-97bb-42d8861d9ebf> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.brandrepublic.com/bulletin/dmdailybulletin/article/1147834/twitter-introduces-interest-based-targeting-advertisers/?DCMP=EMC-CONDMbulletin | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368699881956/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516102441-00022-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.938124 | 868 | 1.53125 | 2 |
What is the ISE washing machine, and why is it different to other washing machines?
(Even if not interested in the ISE, this page delves deeper into the quality of modern washing machines and may be worth reading)
The ISE brand is created by the independent engineers group UK Whitegoods with experienced engineers behind it, working hard to provide a modern washing machine with a future. One that should last a respectable amount of time and not be a throwaway washing machine like many have become. The difference on offer here, is in who you buy it from (not the high street), the standard of service you receive, the quality of the aftercare service and the ability to buy spares get it repaired at a reasonable cost when it's several years old.
ISE ( Independent Service Engineering) aim to provide an answer to the frustrations and problems associated with many new washing machines (discussed below).
Many washing manufacturers are selling you short by selling you cheap
Many modern washing machines just don't last like they used to. They are relatively cheap to buy, but even the makers don't seem to expect them to last too long. Spare parts are usually priced so high, that within a couple of years of purchasing, it can cost 50 - 75% of the purchase price just to fix one fault - and who's prepared to spend that amount on a single repair? The result is that many thousands of washing machines are prematurely taken to waste dumps when they could, and should, be being repaired - it's virtually an environmental crime.
[ Related: Quote from the Government's (DTI) Unwanted Whitegoods booklet - "Every year more than 900,000 tonnes of used electrical and electronic goods are discarded in the UK. This figure includes up to 350,000 tonnes of large domestic appliances such as washing machines, fridges and cookers - so-called "white goods" - over 8 million." ]
Washing machines have always been particularly susceptible to breaking down throughout their life. The physical work they do inevitably results in wear and tear and they often need regular maintenance to keep them running. If you go back 10 - 20 years, there was a reasonable balance between purchase price and subsequent repair costs. Washing machines like Hoover and Hotpoint were a lot more expensive than they are now, but still affordable, and when they went wrong, only the very old were considered beyond economical repair. Everyone in the independent repair trade repaired them. This created healthy competition and kept repair charges lower - and spare parts were priced so that repairs for customers were economically viable. The independent repair trade enjoyed good technical support from manufacturers in the form of cheap manuals with diagrams, part breakdowns and technical bulletins. These are now only available on expensive DVD's that have high rental charges that many repairers can't afford. The majority of washing machines lasted at least 10 years, and many lasted up to twice that and even more.
Many washing machines are too cheap for their own good. There's not enough profit left over to invest in aftersales service. Who pays for aftersales service? We the public do. It's easy to forget that we pay for everything from the instruction book to the packaging that the washing machine comes in. If the public keep demanding cheaper washing machines, they have to cut things back again and again. With many common washing machines, when it's out of guarantee, there's not much support to keep it going. Even when under the manufacturer's guarantee, the agents and departments repairing your washing machine are commonly under funded. They often don't get paid enough to cover the real costs involved so aftersales service is often compromised. Who under funds these important services? Well the manufacturers do - but on your behalf - so you can save more pounds on the purchase cost. They don't advise that you may be worse off in the long run, because they are locked into price wars and their businesses now concentrate on the numbers game - selling lots of new washing machines and selling them cheap. The cost of the guarantee and aftersales service has to be included in the selling price, and if that's crushed down to a minimum, we only get the standard of service we have paid for.
All information on Washerhelp is meant to be fair and balanced. It is based on my experience, and information from promotional material by manufacturers and sellers. All advice is given in good faith and without liability and is meant as a general guideline only.
continued .. (starts in left column)
Spare parts - why are they so expensive these days?
Manufacturers are obliged by law to provide functional spare parts for a certain number of years after they stop making a washing machine, but to keep bringing down the cost of new washing machines they have to keep changing the way they design and source spare parts. If they make the slower-moving spares expensive to buy, few people will be daft enough to want to buy one. This way they can dramatically reduce the stock of parts they have to maintain (that they don't use in new machines any more but are needed to repair your several year old washing machine).
A more generous view might be that because of the pressures, they have to keep changing suppliers, designs and production methods, which means the economies of scale no longer come into play for spare parts they no longer use in production. This may well result in spare parts being genuinely very expensive to produce. Unlike in the past, where they used many parts for decades, and had them made in vast quantities, they keep moving onto a different (cheaper) designs, which they later have to produce in relatively very small quantities as spares. This will make them very expensive. Whichever the reason, the result is exactly the same - washing machines that are often beyond economical repair at ridiculously young ages.
- Servis M3001 washing machine (now gone bust - surprise surprise) : Typical cost to replace the control module, £147.32 (62% of purchase cost)
- Indesit W103UK : Cheapest selling price £175, To replace drum (£106.00) + labour - anything from £150 - £200 in total
What's the answer then - Is it the ISE?
I can't say the ISE is the answer, and that everyone should only consider this washing machine above all others, but it seems to me like the beginning of the answer. It offers a chance for consumers to go back to the days when you didn't throw away washing machines that had many years of service left in them. The idea is that your local repairman, can fix this washing machine at a reasonable price, and keep it running for a respectable amount of time if that's what you prefer. He'll also have access to free technical support by the dedicated UK Whitegoods group and he can post his experiences, even criticisms, and his customer's feedback on the UK Whitegoods site where they will be seen and taken seriously. No other washing machine to my knowledge is subject to such essential feedback from independent repairers and their customers. As ISE themselves say, "Local businesses care more". Local businesses now have a chance to supply and look after a new washing machine for you their customer, from the day they install it, to the day you decide to replace it.
ISE promise No parts mark up!
"Unlike any other appliance manufacturer we do not seek to make a profit from the sale of spare parts. We therefore do not put any mark up on spare parts for our appliances once the guarantee has expired. The reason for this is to make post guarantee repairs a cost effective alternative to an ecologically damaging replacement. This helps to maximise the life of our machines not only in your home but also encourages reconditioning as a final option prior to recycling".
This is remarkable. It should be headline news. My understanding is that a nominal mark up is essential to cover costs of handling and stocking but not for profit. Spare parts out of guarantee are likely to be far cheaper than standard washing machines so that instead of being beyond economical repair like so many are these days the ISE washing machine should be worth repairing in future years.
How can I buy an ISE washing machine?
The box below describes the semi professional quality ISE10
A new ISE10 top quality washing machine with 10 year guarantee is also now available
"Longer life span for less environmental damage. This machine is simply outstanding in terms of build quality and performance and is engineered from the outset to maximise the life of the machine. This is done by using higher quality components that are designed to last in excess of 8000 cycles, or over 20 years normal domestic use and by wherever possible, using steel and metal instead of plastic".
This washing machine is in a different league to the rest of the ISE washing machines. This is a much higher quality washing machine aimed at competing with Miele . The main advantage of the ISE10 over Miele is the fact that repairs and technical assistance will be more forthcoming and therefore cheaper. Spare parts should be considerably cheaper too due to the ISE no profit on spares policy - ISE10 washing machine
Alternative washing machine reviews
Although my reviews are comprehensive and very detailed, they are limited in number and may not feature all the very latest models. Which? have the resources to review many of the latest washing machines and have a specially set up test laboratory. They also have a huge database of savvy members to gain reliability and satisfaction feedback from.
You can easily obtain a 1 month trial from them (see my review of the £1 offer), which you may find useful as they review and advise on all products, not just washing machines. Which? washing machine reviews (NOTE: The Which? reviews and consumer advice is available immediately online).
Some household name washing machine manufacturers will sell you a washing machine for £250, but charge you £90 + (expensive) parts to fix it when it breaks down out of guarantee. A 6 year old washing machine needing a new door seal could easily cost £120 if you use the manufacturers, that's almost 50% of the purchase cost for a minor, 20 minute repair.
The same household UK washing machine manufacturer would charge you almost £200 to repair the same 6 year old washing machine if the drum bearings failed (80% of purchase cost) There's no wonder people think many modern washing machines aren't meant to be repaired. The manufacturers appear to prefer you to buy a new one instead - or have just lost control of the economics of repairing their own products by concentrating solely on cutting production costs of the finished product.
Independent washing machine repairers can offer a considerably better and cheaper repair service, but not if they have to pay crazy prices for spare parts, and can't get good technical help.
Part of the concept of the ISE washing machine is that local repairmen should be able to easily buy spare parts at prices that make the ISE viable for repair - not beyond economical repair. | <urn:uuid:cf1f7ee7-e2af-4990-9187-c0b2c71e0839> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.washerhelp.co.uk/reviews/ISE-overview.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368699273641/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516101433-00018-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.963102 | 2,250 | 1.773438 | 2 |
The Republican leadership of the House had tried to prevent any bill containing the code section that could be amended to expand Medicaid from coming to the floor of that chamber.
The legislation that passed the Senate on Wednesday without a dissenting vote would re-authorize the federal-state program that provides health care to more than 600,000 elderly, disabled, poor pregnant women and poor children.
But the legislation is written in such a way that it could be amended to allow the state to opt into the Medicaid expansion that is part of the federal Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act.
Rep. Steve Holland, D-Plantersville, praised the leadership of the Senate for keeping the language in the bill.
“They had the wisdom and insight to include the code section so when the bill comes here to the marketplace of ideas we can discuss the issue. That is all we have asked,” Holland said.
Under the federal law, Medicaid can be expanded to cover people earning up to 138 percent of the federal poverty level or about $15,000 per year.
Many Republican leaders have said Mississippi cannot afford to participate in the expansion because by 2020 the state will have to pay 10 percent of the costs. For the first two years, the federal government pays all the costs of the expansion and then it starts stepping down to 90 percent by 2020.
Many Democrats say the state cannot afford to reject the huge infusion of federal funds to provide coverage to a group of people who currently do not have insurance – primarily the working poor. It is estimated that the expansion would cover an additional 300,000 Mississippians.
In a statement, Lt. Gov. Tate Reeves, who presides over the Senate, said, “I’m proud of the Senate today for reauthorizing the agency without expanding Medicaid. The rules and regulations from Washington are not complete, and Mississippi taxpayers cannot afford Medicaid expansion under Obamacare.” | <urn:uuid:ca6b1b56-562c-485f-a893-701f51868fe8> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://djournal.com/view/full_story/21643392/article-Senate-OKs-Medicaid-bill--could-allow-expansion?instance=home_news_right | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368702810651/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516111330-00009-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.942457 | 389 | 1.804688 | 2 |
Here's the latest from Campaign for a Commercial-Free Childhood. All I have to say is "Argh!"
fall, Food Lion supermarkets will unleash 3GTv, mini-televisions attached to
grocery store shelves running continuous commercials -- right next to the
product being advertised. If a test run in Maryland and Virginia is successful,
other supermarkets are sure to follow Food Lion's lead. That's why, no matter
where you live or shop, Food
Lion needs to hear from you.
Do you agree that families have a right to grocery shop without being forced to run a gauntlet of screens blasting commercials in every aisle? Take a moment to tell Food Lion to pull the plug on its grocery store TVs.
Screen-based advertising has erupted into the public sphere where it is inescapable. Even the most vigilant parents can't protect children from it. It's time to challenge the notion that marketers have the right to fill every nook and cranny of our lives with televisions and their blaring commercials.
It's bad enough that popular children's characters like Dora the Explorer and Shrek beckon from packaging on grocery shelves, encouraging children to nag for snacks and cereals of dubious nutritional quality. It's even worse that many supermarkets have TVs at the checkout counter, exploiting a captive audience waiting in line to pay for groceries. But now, at the exact moment families are making purchasing decisions, in-your-face TV ads will undercut parental authority by compelling children to lobby for whatever is being advertised.
So let's stop 3GTv before it even starts and keep it from spreading to every supermarket aisle across the country. The continuing intrusion of marketing into public space disrupts our ability to pay attention to each other and corrodes our sense of community. Take action now to stop TV ads from coming to a grocery store near you. | <urn:uuid:0645ce8d-dcbf-47bc-985e-c5fbc88eb06c> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://raepica.typepad.com/my_weblog/general_parenting/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368698207393/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516095647-00019-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.951556 | 383 | 1.804688 | 2 |
By CHRISTOPHER S. RUGABER
AP Economics Writer
WASHINGTON (AP) - Home prices kept rising in July across the United States, buoyed by greater sales and fewer foreclosures.
National home prices increased 1.2 percent in July, compared to the same month last year, according to the Standard & Poor's/Case Shiller index released Tuesday. That's the second straight year-over-year gain after two years without one.
The report also says prices rose in July from June in all 20 cities tracked by the index. That's the third straight month in which prices rose in every city.
Steady price increases and record-low mortgage rates are helping drive a housing recovery.
Prices in Phoenix, one of the cities hardest hit by the housing bust, have increased 16.6 percent in the 12 months ending in July. Prices in Minneapolis and Detroit have risen more than 6 percent.
"We are more optimistic about housing," David Blitzer, chairman of the S&P's index committee. "Stronger housing numbers are a positive factor for other measures, including consumer confidence."
The S&P/Case-Shiller index covers roughly half of U.S. homes. It measures prices compared with those in January 2000 and creates a three-month moving average. The July figures are the latest available.
Other measures of home prices are showing steady gains. CoreLogic, a private real estate data provider, said earlier this month that prices rose in July from a year earlier by the most in six years. And a federal government housing agency has also reported annual increases.
Rising home prices are one of many signs that the housing market is slowly recovering.
Sales of previously occupied homes jumped in August to the highest level since May 2010. Builder confidence is at a six-year high and construction of single-family homes rose last month to the fastest annual rate in more than two years. Even with the gains, home sales and construction remain well below healthy levels.
Still, the broader economy is likely to benefit from rising home prices. When home prices rise, people typically feel wealthier and spend more. And more Americans are likely to put their houses up for sale, which could further energize the market.
Home sales have been bolstered by the lowest mortgage rates on record. The average rate on the 30-year fixed mortgage touched a record low of 3.49 percent last week and has been below 4 percent all year. A limited supply of homes has also helped drive prices higher.
Home prices are still 30 percent below their peak in June 2006, according to Case-Shiller. That was the height of the housing boom.
Copyright 2012 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. | <urn:uuid:775f707b-f3ab-4e30-8029-07321618af9b> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.myfoxtwincities.com/story/19632468/minneapolis-home-prices-continue-to-rise | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368696381249/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516092621-00012-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.971572 | 569 | 1.5625 | 2 |
Children of Haiti, Premieres on Independent Lens Tuesday, January 11, 2011 at 10 PM
A Poignant Look at the Country’s Abandoned Youth, Film Premieres One Year after Earthquake
(San Francisco, CA)— Told through the eyes of three teenage street boys, Children of Haiti takes viewers on a poignant journey through the northern city of Cap-Haitien, providing an up-close-and-personal look at Haiti’s national epidemic of over 500,000 orphans. In their own voices, Denick, Nickenson, and Antoine share stories of survival, pride, and hope on the harsh and unforgiving streets. Children of Haiti will premiere on the Emmy® Award-winning PBS series Independent Lens, hosted by America Ferrera, on Tuesday, January 11, 2011 at 10 PM (check local listings).
In the midst of Haiti’s lush mountains and historical relics, hundreds of thousands of orphaned and abandoned children wander the streets day and night. Known as the Sanguine (“soulless”) and forgotten by their own people, they have struggled for survival since long before the devastating 2010 earthquake. Children of Haiti follows three teenage street boys as they reflect on their country and their lives, sharing a common dream of education, government assistance, and social acceptance.
Following the evolution and transformation of these boys into young men, the film provides direct insight into Haiti’s ongoing problem of abandoned youth. Presented from the street boys’ perspective, Children of Haiti examines a complicated issue that has not only plagued the country for decades, but grows more severe every day.
Shot over a period of three years, Children of Haiti reveals the country’s strange contrasts: a land of breathtaking landscapes and remarkable heritage, but also great human tragedy, all seen through the eyes of these poetic boys. Despite the nearly insurmountable obstacles, the boys show that a few can still manage to find hope, and even a little joy, in the harsh reality that surrounds them.
Haiti by the Numbers 380,000 Estimated number of orphans prior to earthquake 1,000,000 Estimated number of orphans since earthquake
70 Percentage of workforce that is unemployed 50 Percentage of population who can neither read nor write 90 Percentage of Haiti’s schools that are private and charge for school supplies and uniforms, leaving the poorest children unable to attend
To learn more about the film and the issues involved, visit the companion website for Children of Haiti at www.pbs.org/independentlens/children-of-haiti. Get detailed information on the film, watch preview clips, read an interview with the filmmakers, and explore the subject in depth with links and resources.
Featured On-Air Participants Denick was a charming 14-year-old — at the time of filming — who splits his time between his mother and stepfather’s house and the streets of Cap-Haitien. His family can barely support their eight children, leaving Denick to wander the streets in search of work.
Nickenson has been on and off the streets since he was eight years old. Both his parents died when he was a child, but he occasionally sleeps at his aunt and uncle’s house on the outskirts of Cap-Haitien.
Antoine doesn’t know his age, but the best guess is that he is somewhere between 13 and 16. Unfortunately, he, like many other Haitian children, has fallen into abusing paint thinner to escape reality.
About the Filmmakers Alexandria Hammond (Producer/Director/Cinematographer/Editor) is a Mexican American filmmaker based in New York City, who has traveled and documented in more than 30 countries. Her credits include TV, feature films, music videos, commercials, dozens of short narratives, and documentaries such as Albert Maysles’s Close Up: Portraits (co-editor) and Dominick Dunne: After the Party (cinematographer). Her work has screened at the Hamptons Film Festival, Raindance, the New York Film & Video Festival, and most recently at the Museum of Modern Art. Children of Haiti is her directorial debut. Hammond is currently co-directing a feature film about Memphis punk musician Jay Reatard with filmmaker Ian Markiewicz, and is in production on a documentary in Mexico City.
About Independent Lens Independent Lens is an Emmy® Award-winning weekly series airing on PBS. The acclaimed anthology series features documentaries and a limited number of fiction films united by the creative freedom, artistic achievement, and unflinching visions of their independent producers. Independent Lens features unforgettable stories about unique individuals, communities, and moments in history. Presented by the Independent Television Service (ITVS), the series is supported by interactive companion websites and national publicity and community engagement campaigns. Independent Lens is jointly curated by ITVS and PBS, and is funded by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, a private corporation funded by the American people, with additional funding provided by PBS and the National Endowment for the Arts. The series producer is Lois Vossen.
For downloadable images, visit pbs.org/pressroom/ For the program companion website, visit pbs.org/independentlens/children-of-haiti
CONTACT Voleine Amilcar, ITVS 415-356-8383 x 244 [email protected] Mary Lugo 770-623-8190 [email protected] Cara White 843-881-1480 [email protected] | <urn:uuid:485a4036-acda-4360-bc56-14c51bff85b0> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.itvs.org/films/children-of-haiti/photos-and-press-kit | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368700264179/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516103104-00029-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.943307 | 1,145 | 1.84375 | 2 |
Just a quick post to tell you all what I've been up to with BFS.
Some of you may know about Skip lists as an alternative to balanced binary search trees. They feature O(log n) insertion, lookup and removal of table entries. Anyway I've been looking for some time at the O(n) lookup of BFS (which is O(1) insertion and removal) to try and find a solution that didn't cost us at the desktop level since O(n) of small numbers of n is very fast. The problem is of course at higher numbers of n (or server type loads), where it gets linearly slower, and the cache trashing aspect of scanning linked lists becomes expensive.
So to cut a long story short, I've implemented the first draft of a custom version of skip lists for BFS in place of the O(n) lookup. The insertion remains O(log n), but by sorting all tasks realtime, iso, normal, batch and idleprio in a way they all end up on the same table, I was able to do away with the regular linked lists and the bitmap priority lookup. Then I was able to utilise one of the features of the skip lists in that the first task on the "bottom" list is always sorted to be the highest priority. This means the lookup is O(1). Then I put an extra pointer into each entry to the previous entry (the original design normally only points to the next entry). Finally I placed a pointer to the entry in the task struct as a way of reverse looking up the entry without any search.
So what I'm left with is an O(log n) insertion, O(1) lookup, and O(k) removal (k is the "height" of the node in question, up to 16, but usually only 1-4).
I've implemented the sticky task used for CPU affinity by simply comparing the last sticky task to the first entry returned from the skip list. Alas I have not yet provided a good version of the sticky task being used to improve scaling governor behaviour. This means that this will likely perform worse with the ondemand governor at this stage. On the other hand, the performance governor seems to be working very nicely in my preliminary tests.
Anyway I'd love to post more, but I need to sleep, so here's some code instead (for a BFS patched 3.0.x kernel):
Full bfs406 + skiplists patch:
Try it out, see what you think. It seems to be running safely here but as always, there are no guarantees. All going well, you should notice pretty much no difference on a desktop. If you do any throughput benchmarks comparing before/after, I'd love to hear about them.
Here's the thread about it on lkml: https://lkml.org/lkml/2011/9/23/371
Note the benchmarks showing substantial speedup in the highly contended make -j case that I mention in the thread.
Elapsed Time 28.7
Elapsed Time 28.5
Elapsed Time 27.0 | <urn:uuid:61fb1240-fe26-49f2-a359-1e15973c9f8e> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://ck-hack.blogspot.com/2011/09/bfs-and-skip-lists.html?showComment=1316882477375 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368706153698/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516120913-00040-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.942901 | 647 | 1.507813 | 2 |
I’d like to offer some advice to
whoever will be the next president President Obama*…
Appoint Ken Robinson your Secretary of Education.
I’m fairly sure that most people who stop by this space have seen his outstanding talk from the 2006 TED conference. If not, stop reading this and go watch.
Sir Ken was recently presented with the Benjamin Franklin Medal from the Royal Society for the encouragement of Arts, Manufactures and Commerce (RSA)** and I listened to the ceremony during my commute this week.
Most of Robinson’s formal talk used themes and ideas from his TED talk (but is still excellent) but a large part of the argument that we could use his leadership at the national level comes in the Q&A that follows.
In that discussion, he identifies the path to real school reform by looking at quality control in the “catering” industry (restaurants on this side of the pond).
There are two models of quality control, quality assurance in the catering business. One of them is standardizing and that’s the model that informs the growth of the fast food industry.
So, if you have a favorite fast food outlet, you know which ever one you go to, wherever it happens to be, it will be exactly what you’re expecting and exactly the same as all the other ones.
It’s all horrible but it’s guaranteed.
The other model is like the Michelin Guide or the Zagat guide. What they do is establish a criteria for excellence, very high standards, much higher than those of the fast food people.
But they don’t tell you how to do it, they don’t tell you what to put on the menu, they don’t tell you who to hire, and they don’t tell you what the place should look like.
The way they figure out if you’re any good is they send people who know all about it to see if you’re doing it. And if you’re doing it you’re in the guide and if you’re not, you’re not.
And the result of this is that every one of these restaurants is great, and they’re all different. And they’re different because they use local produce, appeal to local markets, local circumstances and are customized.
I believe this is the only answer for the future. We have to recognize the heart of education improvement is improving the experience individual learners and treating each school individually and not as a mass.
There isn’t a kid in the country who will get out of bed wondering how to improve the nations reading standards. They will get out of bed to improve their reading. It’s a very personal business.
At the very least, listen to the last twenty minutes for why his view of public education is one we sorely need in the US.
Oh, and don’t worry about the British accent. Robinson lives in Los Angeles, as he reminds his audience several times during his talk.
[Thanks to Ewan for the link]
* That’s called hope! :-)
** And isn’t it interesting that a British royal society has an award named after a man considered a leader of the revolution against the 18th century English government. | <urn:uuid:a93d3683-6f59-4495-9a8e-b056e95ce93a> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.assortedstuff.com/?p=2598 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368704713110/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516114513-00007-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.960336 | 699 | 1.609375 | 2 |
More things about Americans Dragon by Laurence Yep
I think Americans Dragon, by Laurence Yep is a good book because it has a mnay good works from many good authirs and writers. I think that people should read this and understand the real meaning of the book.
A passage from page 58 that seems important is: "Can't a boy ask you out for a soda without accused of ulterior motives." I think this is bad because in the first time they talked this guy is bargain about the math exam called the Stern Exam. Emma he main character really wants t go to the prom, but this guy is bargaining about the Stern exam and about the rpom. The bargain is if she goes to the prom with him she has to quit the Stern Exam. Good things is that she said no and continue walking.
This section of Americans Dragon reminds me of something that happened to me. One time when I was in my country the Philippines I was always asked to go to a dance, but I always say no and they always persuade me. For some reason I alays end up to not going to the dance that the school is doing.
What's probably going to happen next is that Emma will end up going to the prom and to theStern Exam and Arthur is going to loose in that Stern Exam.
I am looking forward to reading the rest of this book because I think that next chapter of the book will be great. | <urn:uuid:d084ed47-025e-47b5-8684-79b0d7cfa42e> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://youthvoices.net/discussion/more-things-about-americans-dragon-laurence-yep?page=6 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368696383156/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516092623-00005-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.98182 | 294 | 1.539063 | 2 |
1.) Terrorism: Yes, Osama bin Laden is dead, though the president didn’t actually kill the terrorist leader himself. But the Obama counterterrorism tactic of blowing people up coupled with what promises to be a pell mell retreat from Afghanistan will mean that both Pakistan and parts of Afghanistan could again fall under the sway of al Qaeda. And that doesn’t begin to contemplate the spread of al Qaeda through Somalia, Yemen, and elsewhere (think Sinai). Killing terrorists one by one does not a strategy make.
2.) A weak military: The primary role of a strong military isn’t to fight war, it’s to discourage others from considering the prospect. The U.S. military is weaker than it has been at almost any other period in the modern era. To crib from my colleague Mackenzie Eaglen’s recent WSJ piece:
“President Obama’s 2013 budget request would purchase the fewest aircraft since 1916. Many of the Air Force’s aerial refueling tankers predate human space flight. Training aircraft are twice as old as the students flying them. The F-15 fighter first flew 40 years ago. A-10 ground-attack planes were developed in the Carter years. The Navy is the smallest it has been since 1916. And all of our B-52 bombers predate the Cuban missile crisis.”
3.) China: The threat from China has been well documented – double digit growth in investment in its military, new blue water ambitions, anti-satellite and cyber weaponry – and Beijing is steadily working to drive the U.S. and everyone else out of the South China Sea. But there’s another threat from China as well: Economic collapse. The Chinese economy is in dire shape (needless to say, not America’s fault); the implications of a communist authoritarian regime that can’t manage internal unrest, cracks down, lashes out, and worse are serious for both U.S. economic and security interests, not to speak of our allies in Asia. Obama’s so-called “pivot” to Asia is virtually empty rhetoric, as in short order the military will not be able to sustain a substantial Pacific role and at the same time manage threats in the Middle East. Which brings us to…
4.) The Middle East: Egypt has been taken over by the Muslim Brotherhood. Al Qaeda is infiltrating the Sinai. 25,000 are dead in Syria. The Saud dynasty is likely within a few short years to undergo its greatest generational shift in history. Hezbollah dominates Lebanon. NATO ally Turkey is among the most anti-American countries in the world. And Iran is still developing nuclear weapons. The Obama administration has had no strategy to successfully manage any of these challenges. In five years, the Middle East could be unrecognizable, and even more hostile to U.S. interests and U.S. allies than ever before.
5.) Europe: The splintering of the European Union and the Euro and the rise of Russia have drawn little interest from the Obama administration except insofar as they threaten his reelection. But the future of Europe is far from certain and the economic collapse of some among Washington’s NATO partners is not likely to make the world a safer place. Since World War II, for better or worse, we have worked closely with Europe to ensure the stability of the liberal international order. But much of the EU will be doing little beyond swimming in red ink for the coming years, and paired with our own diminished power projection, the vacuum will provide opportunities to those seeking to challenge the order we have come to take for granted. Russia, while not the USSR, is spending significant effort to stymie international efforts to manage a variety of challenges (viz Syria, Iran). Moscow cannot succeed in the long term against a united Europe and a determined America. In the absence of both, there will be opportunities to make smaller problems large.
What have I left out? The collapse of the U.S.-India partnership. North Korea. South America’s leftward drift. Extremism in Africa. Failure to advance an international trade agenda. A lot.
But each of 1-5 alone is enough to cause the American people major headaches. Together, they make clear the case that our nation is less safe than it was four years ago. | <urn:uuid:069bd17b-57f5-4f0a-b746-638a54726b60> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.aei-ideas.org/2012/09/five-reasons-america-isnt-better-off-than-it-was-four-years-ago-when-it-comes-to-foreign-policy/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368704132298/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516113532-00020-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.942841 | 888 | 1.601563 | 2 |
Without student financial aid, most students could not afford to attend college. Brain Track to the rescue! Brain Track is the Web’s oldest and most complete directory of universities and colleges, and their new website helps students understand and navigate the many available options for financial aid. The BrainTrack articles provide guidance on obtaining aid and scholarships from a [...]
Cool New Friends
From time to time we include the section "Cool New Friend" in our newsletters, telling you about a website or organization we have found that intrigues us.
Here are some of the Cool New Friends we have featured in the past.
Sarah Baker, a long-time member of WIFE, along with her husband and children, took on the challenge of a month-long spending strike. They paid their mortgage, utilities, and insurance but cut out all other spending. Keeping track of what they would have spent, the Bakers discovered they had saved nearly six hundred dollars that would [...]
Thanks to Dan Schuler for letting us know about the wonderful resource he compiled for Bootstrapper called Money Matters: A Guide to Teaching Finances to Children. Dan is passionate about financial education and financial independence, and the 5-part resource draws on information from JumpStart.org, the IRS & SEC, and the Huffington Post, to name a [...]
Are your kids saving savvy? We are always looking for resources that will help you and your family improve your finances. Our latest Cool New Friend is KidsSave, a kids’ savings and money management program designed for ages 6 and up. With KidsSave software, kids can record deposits and withdrawals, parents can record allowances and [...]
TIP$ (Turning Ideas Into Profits) is a mid-life women’s business community providing information, education, support, and networking opportunities for women entrepreneurs in their late 40s and beyond. When women join the TIP$ community, they have access to special benefits that include a 65-page business startup guide, an online discussion forum, a comprehensive Resource Center with [...]
Are you a Boomer? Eons believes that life that begins at 50, and they are there to help you to live the biggest life possible—through articles, interviews, how-to lists, books, and recommended Web sites (including WIFE.org!). If you are ready to start thinking about your unprecedented opportunity to travel and explore, to re-invent your career, [...]
If you are a busy working mom, Smart Mom Solutions provides practical ideas for the real challenges you face today. Every Smart Mom product is designed to save you time, effort and help you stay connected with your children, school, caretakers, family and friends. Visit Smart Mom Solutions to place your order now!
Dan Candura is a special friend to WIFE.org and the Money Clubs. A talented and engaging speaker who specializes in ethics training for CFP® professionals, Dan served on the Board of Directors of The Certified Financial Planner Board of Standards, Inc. and is a past Chair of the Board of Professional Review. Dan’s ethics training [...]
Do you hate eating broccoli? Elyssa Pallai, Web Strategist and Mom does, but she knows it’s good for her, so she eats it anyway. And she knows that sound money management is good for her bottom line, which is why she created the blog Eating Broccoli, which is about principled, practical money management tips for women.In [...]
Is your teenager looking for a summer job? Are you looking for employment? Job-Applications.com is a central resource where you can research jobs available and download applications for major employers. In addition to hundreds of printable and online applications for retail stores, department stores, pharmacies, grocery stores, restaurants, shops, etc., you’ll also find tips for putting together [...]
Being a family caregiver can be financially challenging. Here is a Toolkit from the National Family Caregivers Association that might help. You’ll find information about locating benefits and food assistance, free or subsidized health care services and medications, and advocacy organizations providing direct support.
“I’m from the government and I’m here to help you.” Oh yeah, right – but this time, it’s really true. Check it out! MyMoney.gov is the U.S. government’s website dedicated to teaching all Americans the basics about financial education. Whether you are buying a home, balancing your checkbook, or investing in your 401(k), the resources on [...]
What’s better than a book crammed with information you need to know? A FREE book with information. That’s what we found on the web, from our friends at WISER (Women’s Institute For A Secure Retirement). Their E book, What Women Need to Know About Retirement is yours for the downloading. You can download the entire book, or just the [...]
Elf Yourself by JibJab.com is a fun and entertaining way to design e-cards and videos of you and your loved ones. Here, you can customize your very own e-cards, birthday cards, Christmas cards, funny videos and so much more. Get ready with some good pictures of you and the favorite people in your life and get [...]
Money Wi$e Women Get Smart is a monthly educational series that empowers you to listen and learn at your own pace through free teleseminars on a variety of topics such as investing, credit reports, eliminating credit card debt, organizing your records, goal setting, time management, estate planning, tax tips, taming your money fears and much more. [...]
Having a birthday? Maybe getting older has an upside, after all. Visit our Cool New Friend and get something free, just for having a birthday. The goodies featured at FreeBirthdayTreats.com aren’t limited to freebies for the kids — adults and even pets can receive enticing birthday freebies. You’ll find free dinners, golf, movies, skiing and spa treatments just [...]
Juggling bills can be stressful enough. But when collectors are harassing and threatening you, your stress level can become more than you can handle. Gerri Detweiler and Mary Reed are nationally known consumer advocates, and their goal is to help you understand how to deal with debt collectors. Can’t find the answer you want at [...]
If you are looking for a new job or exploring career options, we have two Cool New Friends this month to help you out. Job Hunt started 14 years ago to help job seekers and career explorers. Check out the section that gives descriptions and salary and employment stats by career as well as localeand watch videos [...]
As the holiday season approaches, visit our friends at The Dollar Stretcher to see their practical information and thousands of money-saving concepts to take control of your money. We especially like their article on creating a simpler less stressful Christmas. You can also sign up for their free e-newsletters.
Want to stay savvy, informed and connected? Visit our cool new friends at Gal Time. For more than a dozen years, the team at GalTime.com has been writing and producing dynamic text and video content for television and the Internet. They know what Gals want to see and read when it comes to health, beauty, fashion, [...]
Meet our cool new friend, The Budget Smart Girl , whose Guide to the Universe offers hints and tips about saving money on just about everything from food to hair color. You can also subscribe to her monthly newsletter featuring more tips, news about companies offering promotions and coupons, reviews, recipes, and how to go green and [...]
Remember the game called I Spy? It was the way parents occupied bored children on a road trip before portable DVD players. At ISpyJoy.com you can join Michele McKeag Larsen on her life-long journey of I Spy Joy. She’s chronicled places where joy is found, compiling a gallery of words and images from all over the world. [...]
Having difficulty in this economy? So many people are. Here’s a great resource we’ve found, BreakFreee.org. This non-profit’s goal is to reach out to disadvantaged women in need of financial assistance and advice, and provide the answers and resources that they need. They reach out to widows, divorcees, single moms, seniors and low-income women – anyone [...]
Do you have a great idea for a new invention? MomInventors.com was founded to help women realize their dreams by providing tools and resources to guide and inspire entrepreneurial success. Whether you need guidance, or wish to share experiences with like-minded entrepreneurial women, you can join the free community of Mom Inventors and take your next steps toward success. | <urn:uuid:768bf9ca-beb3-4107-bbc8-38811869cb7b> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.wife.org/cool-new-friends/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368708142388/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516124222-00011-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.945744 | 1,806 | 1.742188 | 2 |
The state of South Dakota entered into an Agreement in Principle with Homestake in 2004 regarding the donation of certain property that Homestake owns in Lead for use as an underground scientific laboratory.
The governor, South Dakota Science and Technology Authority and Homestake Mining Company last week signed an amendment to the Agreement in Principle which provided that Homestake would turn over the laboratory property to the Authority no later than 30 days after the Authority demonstrated it has obtained funding, permits and approvals required to construct and operate the underground laboratory.�
The Authority estimates that the budget for the mid-level laboratory, including capital requirements and operating expenses through the year 2012, will be approximately $32.1 million.�The Authority controls, or has access to, approximately $15.7 million that could be committed to this purpose.
The Authority has requested that the governor seek an appropriation of an additional $16.4 million to fund the Interim Laboratory, as well as Homestake believes that an additional contingency fund of not less than $3.5 million should be created to fund potential unanticipated costs associated with rehabilitation of the underground workings and equipment.��
The Authority has agreed that it will not proceed with underground development until it receives financial commitments.��Homestake agrees to support the Authority's efforts to obtain firm commitments from scientists to utilize the mid-level laboratory. | <urn:uuid:5b18eedd-e6c6-46b3-ad9c-6196509a0383> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://plaintalk.net/2005/10/legislature-will-hold-special-session-oct-14/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368708766848/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516125246-00030-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.955464 | 273 | 1.53125 | 2 |
When John Lithgow was a young boy, he and his two youngest siblings would curl up before bedtime as their father read from the family copy of "Tellers of Tales," a compilation of 100 short stories from around the world.
These were not the usual bedtime stories, nor was Lithgow's father the usual storyteller.
Arthur Washington Lithgow III, an experienced actor and an important figure in the American regional theater movement, skipped over Mother Goose and the Brothers Grimm in favor of pieces like P.G. Wodehouse's side-splitting story "Uncle Fred Flits By" and Ring Larder's chilling tale "The Haircut." The Lithgow children hung on every word.
And those two stories, which John Lithgow will retell in his one-man show "Stories by Heart" Friday and Saturday in the 710 Main Theatre, helped to forge a father-son bond that remained strong until Arthur Lithgow's death in 2004.
"For all of us, it was our most intimate connection with him," Lithgow said in a recent phone interview. "It was this moment of real connection when we were kids. I was the third-oldest, and some of the stories were above my head, but it didn't matter. I would say the stories were about half of the experience and the other was just the closeness."
Decades later, as Arthur Lithgow was ailing and fighting off depression, his son was desperate to find a way to cheer him up. And, in a poetic role reversal, Lithgow picked up "Tellers of Tales" and asked his father to choose a story.
"He picked P.G. Wodehouse's 'Uncle Fred Flits By.' [As] I was discovering how delightful it was, and just as I was discovering the fun of the story, he started to laugh. And it was the first time I had heard him laugh since I'd come to take care of him," said Lithgow, who was born in Rochester and went on to a successful stage and film career. "I don't think the evening 'Stories by Heart' would even exist if that hadn't happened. That was the exciting incident. It was a combination of discovering how wonderful that story was and realizing how effective storytelling could be in literally saving someone's life."
All of that has made its way into "Stories by Heart," which Lithgow described as "a conversation with new friends" about his love for stories and for his father - two things that are inextricably linked.
Lithgow is hoping that the show, in which he plays nine characters, will resonate with audiences on many levels during its three performances this weekend.
"I want them to have all kinds of emotional reactions to it," Lithgow said. There is the sheer comedy of the Wodehouse story, and the suspense of "The Haircut." "But then I also want them to connect with my own history, the stories I tell about my dad and about my own childhood in small-town Ohio. To make them think about what storytelling means to all of us, what theater means to all of us, why in the world did they even come to watch me perform? I just want to stimulate them."
In a way, Buffalo's own theater community has already benefitted from Arthur Lithgow's passion for storytelling. John Lithgow passed the storytelling tradition down to his own children - including his oldest son, Ian, a therapist and local actor who occasionally appears in productions here.
"Ian's my oldest, and of course I read stories to him," Lithgow said. "The most delightful thing of all has been acting with him over the years. He was on 'Third Rock [From the Sun]' and he does wonderful work in Buffalo . I'm completely proud of him."
"Stories by Heart" will be the first official performance entirely under the auspices of the new 710 Main organization (the 710 Main Theatre hosted a MusicalFare Theatre production in June and Shea's brought in Seth Rudetsky for Curtain Up!). For Lithgow, who keeps tabs on the Buffalo theater community through his son, the experience of performing on the stage is a bittersweet one.
"I tell you, it was a shock to professional theater actors when Studio Arena closed, because that was a really important and respected institution. So it's a kind of melancholy task to go back there and perform on the Studio Arena stage," he said. "It would be great if that became a vibrant space again, but I think it's important to remind everybody how much terrific theater there is in Buffalo, with or without Studio Arena."
In the end, "Stories by Heart" is Lithgow's three-pronged love letter to storytelling, to his father and, finally, to the place where those two things meet: the theater.
"You just so badly want a connection when you go to the theater. You just want to be connected with what you're seeing. And it's a tough business, not just acting but theatergoing, because half the time you're disappointed," Lithgow said. "But when it's good, it's fantastic, and you always go to the theater in hopes that you will have that experience. And I always feel it's kind of my obligation to give it all I've got, to give people as much of that experience as I can." | <urn:uuid:e7fa659e-0e34-4d5d-87f3-fbe68fedcf8f> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.buffnews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20120918/LIFE/120919150/1057 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368698207393/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516095647-00022-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.989026 | 1,117 | 1.539063 | 2 |
|A bright red glowing ball is shown and then covered by a cloth. Suddenly the ball starts to rise upwards into the air, taking the cloth with it. Now the magician holds the cloth in fron of him and the ball starts to float behind and in front of the cloth. It dances and moves of its own accord!
Now the ball is floating behind the magician and back up, appearing behind his arm, and then levitating so high into the air the magician has to stand on the tip of his toes to pull it back down! Finally the ball floats back to the table and the magician takes his bow!
While floating the ball can change its color into any color! The electronic allows to have the ball change its color continous or to have the ball shine bright in a certain color like red, blue, green, purple etc.!
Comes complete with:
Gimmick, Instructions, Electronic ball and Batteries (exchangable). Supply your own silk. | <urn:uuid:0bdbda15-c389-43eb-9cdc-6016f45fc1e9> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://magicsupply.com/product.php?productid=1789&cat=24&page=12 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368699273641/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516101433-00031-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.963477 | 202 | 1.53125 | 2 |
|Gamma Alpha Omega Chapter Recognized in the Record Newspaper|
Gamma Alpha Omega’s Sigma chapter, located at the University of the Pacific in Stockton, California, was featured in an article about their after-school program, “White Roses,” at Cleveland School in Stockton, California. The program aims to mentor young girls who are at risk for dropping out of high school. The chapter assists the students with their academics, offering help on their homework while also providing encouragement to help the young girls’ self-esteem. Sigma chapter’s mentoring program is in alignment with Gamma Alpha Omega Sorority’s new national philanthropy, “Education (Mentoring Youth)”.
To read the full article featured at recordnet.com, please visit this link: http://www.recordnet.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20100217/A_NEWS/2170312 | <urn:uuid:68c0865b-ec64-464e-a6ec-c520e698508f> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.gammaalphaomega.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=40:gamma-alpha-omega-chapter-recognized-in-the-record-newspaper&catid=10:gao-news&Itemid=38 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368710006682/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516131326-00015-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.934248 | 199 | 1.71875 | 2 |
There they stood, two men, one in red tie, the other in blue, facing off, facing ahead, facing away from each other; our future. And I knew the “who won the debate” verdict would soon be dancing its way across the airwaves and coursing along the superhighway. As I watched the two presidential candidates spar for the right to be leader of the free world, I came to a conclusion: Obama, 5; Romney, 7. But the real winner? All the rest of us.
Here is what we can agree on: Romney nailed it. He was assertive, competent, gracious and authoritative. Heck, even I liked him (yep, can you believe that?!). Unlike Shrub (George W. to many of you) who made me wince every time he opened his mouth, Romney was statesman-like. He used big words, had big ideas, and made me feel, that at the very least if he does become president, he wouldn’t be railroaded by the likes of a Cheney or a Rove.
Obama? He was as he always is: smart, thoughtful, considered, restrained. In debates, these qualities might not win the day. Running the country? They are essential. Continue reading | <urn:uuid:b55442bc-34d1-4bc6-9cdd-6670d5c7ca16> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.findinguncommonground.com/tag/states-rights/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368697380733/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516094300-00034-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.98702 | 262 | 1.65625 | 2 |
Melanie Collins, a Democrat and member of the Maine Small Business Coalition, speaks during a rally against the U.S. Chamber of Commerce's election spending.
A coalition of liberal groups opposed to the U.S. Chamber of Commerce’s election spending took their cause to the big-business lobby’s front yard today.
In a Lafayette Square news conference that doubled as a mock 100th birthday party for the chamber, activists called on the group to disclose the corporations funding its political activities. The chamber has spent nearly $24 million trying to influence races this cycle, almost exclusively in support of Republicans, according to data compiled by the Center for Responsive Politics. The trade organization is not required by law to disclose any of its supporters.
Protesters represented a who’s who of the liberal-leaning watchdog groups, including U.S. PIRG, Public Citizen, the Main Street Alliance, Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington and former Vermont Gov. Howard Dean’s Democracy for America. The effort is part of a larger crusade against the influx of undisclosed and corporate money in the post-Citizens United era.
Speakers today highlighted the chamber’s activities in the race to replace retiring Maine Sen. Olympia Snowe (R), where the chamber is the largest unaffiliated outside spender. The business lobby has spent $1.34 million against Independent former Gov. Angus King, the frontrunner in the race, who has recently lost ground to his Republican opponent, Maine Secretary of State Charlie Summers. The National Republican Senatorial Committee has spent about the same amount while its Democratic counterpart has invested $1.09 million.
Melanie Collins, a Democrat and member of the Maine Small Business Coalition, said she is worried that more than $500,000 in attack ads recently run by the chamber could cost King the election by driving liberal voters to a relatively weak Democratic candidate, Cynthia Dill.
“A lot of people don’t really know what the chamber is,” said Collins, who runs a small child care company and traveled to Washington, D.C., to speak. “My sister thought it was a government agency.”
Outside groups have spent heavily in that race, injecting a total of $5.57 million, and plenty have lined up behind King, including Americans Elect, the third-party group that tried and failed to get an independent presidential candidate on the ballot this year. New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg has contributed $500,000 through his newly formed super PAC to an ad campaign promoting King as an independent voice capable of breaking partisan gridlock in Washington.
Roll Call has launched a new feature, Hill Navigator, to advise congressional staffers and would-be staffers on how to manage workplace issues on Capitol Hill. Please send us your questions anything from office etiquette, to handling awkward moments, to what happens when the work life gets too personal. Submissions will be treated anonymously. | <urn:uuid:726f700b-5193-46e5-901b-5b07f9b9027f> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.rollcall.com/news/liberal_groups_protest_us_chambers_election_spending-218329-1.html?pos=htmbtxt | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368696382584/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516092622-00033-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.966541 | 600 | 1.5 | 2 |
Shah Mahmood Qureshi, Pakistan's foreign minister, met Al Jazeera's Ghida Fakhry on a recent trip to Washington.
|Qureshi: Pakistan does not
want its sovereignty violated [AFP]
He discussed his country's increasingly strained relations with neighbouring Afghanistan, ties with the US and the potential UN investigation into the killing of former prime minister Benazir Bhutto.
Ghida Fakhry: There have been mounting tensions in Pakistan's tribal regions. A convoy was attacked and 15 Pakistani military personnel were killed. The Taliban in Pakistan say that they want you to release some of their men that were detained a few days ago by Pakistani authorities – are you willing to negotiate with them? What is the position of your government?
Shah Mahmood Qureshi: Our position has been consistent that we will not negotiate with terrorists. The negotiations that we've had in the past and that we're having right now are with tribal elders.
The idea is to wean them away from the extremist element. But we will not negotiate with terrorists.
The incident that you are referring to today negates many pundits here in Washington who've been predicting that the Pakistani army and Pakistan's new democratic government has gone soft on terrorists. Here Pakistani soldiers have lost lives and we are carrying on the fight against extremism and terrorism.
Since you have come to power in February you have struck agreements with Taliban leaders in Pakistan while the US and Afghanistan have both sharply criticised those policies saying that in essence, it gives Taliban fighters the latitude to cross the border into Pakistan. They have a point, do they not?
They have a point, but we have a point as well. Our point is that the military option is not the only option. Our strategy has to be a more comprehensive strategy. That is why our strategy is a multi-pronged strategy. We believe in political engagement. We believe in socio-economic development and when necessary, we would use force as well.
You call it political engagement, some may call it appeasement. The top Taliban leader, Bitola Moussoud, has suspended talks with the government and this policy seems to have failed. Is it time to shift strategies?
It is not appeasement. You are talking to a position of strength and when they would violate the agreement we will take action.
But have they not already violated the agreement? Have they not crossed the border many times? The fighters from the Taliban?
Every border crossing is not a hostile border crossing. Please understand there are about 40,000 border crossings on a daily basis.
There are about 20,000 vehicles that go to and from Afghanistan on a daily basis. Every person crossing the border is not linked to terrorists. They are normal people, tribes, divided families. Let's not forget there are over two million Afghans living in Pakistan.
"Everybody living in the tribal areas is not a terrorist"
Shah Mahmood Qureshi
The US says the government is giving them safe haven. Is that a fair way of looking at it?
We are not giving them a safe haven. That's not the idea. We are trying to bifurcate between that population living in the tribal area that wants a peaceful life, and that segment of the population that have taken up arms for a purpose, and are extremists.
So what we are saying is don't lump everyone together. Everybody living in the tribal areas is not a terrorist and you have got to distinguish between the terrorists and the ordinary citizens that want a better future.
There has been a close relationship between President Pervez Musharraf and the US since 9/11. Now it seems to be a little more complicated. Last month, 11 Pakistani soldiers were killed in a US air raid in Afghanistan and more recently there was an incident in which eight Pakistani soldiers where killed. When does it become too much?
They [the US] are of the view that it was not by design. That is why we have set up a joint investigation team that's investigating into the matter in order to find out what exactly happened.
Is this a breach of your sovereignty? Have you told your counterpart Condoleezza Rice that you are unhappy with what is going on? That you need an apology?
We are certainly unhappy with the intrusions. We do not want Pakistani soil and sovereignty to be violated. Yes. And we have categorically said that.
Is the US treating you as a respected partner?
The US needs us as much as we need the US. It's a common war, it's a common fight. We have a common enemy and we have a common approach in dealing with that. So in any relationship the element of respect has to be there.
|Qureshi says the Pakistani military is winning the fight against al-Qaeda [AFP]
How concerned are you that as the US election draws into its active phase that there may be what's called a "hot pursuit", that there may be some kind of military action taken by the US to go into Pakistan and go after al-Qaeda elements?
The pressure is going to be there and the rhetoric is going to be there. But if they want a long-term ally then they have to be sensitive to our opinion as well.
But the US also seems to be losing patience with your inability to take action. To rein in those militants, make sure they don't cross into Afghanistan and destabilise the situation there. The chairman of the joint chiefs of staff, Mike Mullen, recently said that you are not doing enough.
I think they should also recognise the successes that we have made. They should also realise the people that we have apprehended. Serious high-value targets that we have reprehended.
We have got al-Qaeda on the run. To a great extent we have broken many networks in Pakistan and we have banned many organisations in Pakistan.
What they need to concentrate on, in my opinion, is Afghanistan.
The internal situation in Afghanistan is being overlooked and the impact it is having on the cross-border movement has to be considered.
I say that having met a lot of people in Paris. They were there discussing Afghanistan, pledging for Afghanistan. I was there the other day for the [UN] Security Council where there was a debate taking place on Afghanistan.
"Afghanistan should acknowledge there have been serious failings on their side"
Shah Mahmood Qureshi
So the concerns of an internal problem, an internal crisis within Afghanistan should not be, cannot be overlooked.
In Afghanistan, that is precisely the point they make, that it is down to Pakistan and the kind of agreements it has reached with some of these tribal leaders as you call them, that allows them so easily to cross the border and disrupt the situation there.
Let's presume that's correct for the sake of discussion. This intrusion can affect the south. It cannot affect the north, the west, and the east. You have seen a 25 per cent increase in those areas that were peaceful earlier on. And that cannot be blamed on Pakistan.
It is very easy to pass the buck. It has to be ownership. What we are not shy of is, if there is a failing on our part we are willing to look at things and improve upon our strategy.
Afghanistan should acknowledge that there have been serious failings on their side and they need to improve an effort, they need to improve the Afghan government on their side.
What do you think is the reason behind this recent spike in tensions between the two of you?
Afghanistan is about to hold elections. You have to satisfy the local population and the government in Afghanistan will be accounted for. And they are looking, perhaps, for scapegoats.
Why not try to facilitate a dialogue between the Taliban and the Afghan government, if you have the contacts?
We have no contacts with them. We have a hands-off policy. There's been speculation for some years that Osama bin Laden may be in Pakistan. Your government has often denied this claim, but how can you be sure that he is not in your country [the US]?
If he is not in Pakistan, where would he be? He would be in Afghanistan?
The whole world wants to know where he is.
Can you say with certainty that he is not in Pakistan?
I cannot say with certainty, but I will say that if we have sufficient information, the government of Pakistan will take action.
|A UN commission may investigate the killing of Benazir Bhutto [EPA]
So what does that say about the US inability to have that actionable intelligence, are they trying hard enough to find Osama bin Laden, or is he some kind of convenient tool perhaps for the so-called war on terrorism?
I cannot answer that.
It seems that the UN commission looking into Benazir Bhutto's killing will go ahead. How hopeful are you that this will actually make any difference, that the perpetrators of this crime will actually be brought to justice?
That's our desire and we do our utmost to give all possible support to the mission so they come to some sort of a conclusion and we can bring people to justice.
Do you actually think this will happen? You can take what happened in Lebanon in the wake of the assassination of the former prime minister Rafiq al-Hariri. Four years on, and three commissioners later, very little has been done. Why do you think a commission mandated by the secretary-general can make a difference?
We have learnt from that experience and the way we are designing our investigation reflects that.
Going to the UN, doesn't that undercut your national principles, your sovereignty, because in a way you are giving the message that your own judiciary is unable to look into this issue?
No, the point is that it is the decision of the people. It is a decision that has been expressed by a unanimous resolution of parliament.
Each and every political party, government and opposition have supported this resolution because the people of Pakistan want a body which is neutral, impartial, and has credibility for this investigation.
You share a long border with Iran, which tested missiles recently. How concerned are you with this? Are you concerned at all about Iran's nuclear programme?
The test that took place the other day has no implications for Pakistan. It's a test that's carried out time and again.
We want Iran to act responsibly. Iran has been saying that their right to peaceful use of nuclear technology should not be denied because they are signatories to the NPT, and we recognise that right. But we would dissuade Iran and would urge them to show concern to international concerns.
Do you think Iran is a threat to regional security?
No, we do not think that, but there are some who do and we want Iran to address their concerns.
Are you concerned that the US or Israel may strike at Iran's nuclear facilities?
I hope not, because if they do, it will destabilise the entire region and things can spin out of control.
What would be your reaction, would it affect your military co-operation with the US?
I hope we do not have to think that far. | <urn:uuid:86adcb01-9e01-457e-9fda-4b6afc350c47> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.aljazeera.com/news/asia/2008/07/2008714125740682182.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368705195219/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516115315-00004-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.97628 | 2,304 | 1.609375 | 2 |
Invite a VIP Mentor into the life of a child you know
There are opportunities that every child should have within their reach. VIP helps expose children to activities that stimulate growth and learning in a fun way through sustainable, meaningful mentoring relationships.
All VIP Mentors are volunteers, unpaid individuals that have made a commitment to help a child. They are caring people, busy community members, and people searching for a way to give back.
The Role of the Mentor
To commit the time and effort it takes to develop a supportive relationship.
To be a friend by taking the time to listen and give thoughtful caring advice when requested.
To be someone who notices the little things things and uses phrases such as, “I am proud of you”.
To be patient and realize that time is needed to build a relationship.
Why Enroll your Child in our Program?
Since 1995, VIP has concentrated its efforts on creating opportunities for children through one-to-one mentoring. Our focus is children ages 7-12 years old.
VIP mentored youth are less likely to give in to peer pressure.
They also experience fewer substance abuse and delinquency problems.
How to sign up
To learn more about getting a VIP Mentor matched to the child in your care please call 313-347-9920 or 313 347-9926. This may be your chance to start your child on a path to trying fun things, learning new skills, and having another person in their life that truly likes them the way they are. | <urn:uuid:bb0f049a-1156-4f93-b5e7-8b0c239cb855> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.vipmentoring.org/?page_id=12 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368700958435/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516104238-00037-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.949608 | 317 | 1.507813 | 2 |
News > Politics
Monday, February 4, 2013 5:47 AM EST
LANSING, Mich. (AP) — A Senate committee is expected to take up a bill this week that would expand DNA testing in Michigan.
The bill would require people arrested for committing or attempting to commit a felony to provide a DNA sample. It was introduced by Lawton Republican Sen. Tonya Schuitmaker last week and sent to the Judiciary Committee.
Schuitmaker's office says the bill would make DNA collection the same as fingerprint collection. If the charges are dropped or the person is found not guilty, the sample would be destroyed.
Currently, DNA samples are taken at the time of arrest only when people are arrested for violent felonies, such as murder.
Gov. Rick Snyder signed a bill in 2011 requiring all prisoners to submit a DNA test within three months of entering prison. | <urn:uuid:e4512afa-8d19-416f-b5c5-2e50cb89e8a5> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://theoaklandpress.com/articles/2013/02/04/news/politics/doc510f914a805b0741319352.prt | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368699273641/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516101433-00011-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.96304 | 179 | 1.726563 | 2 |
The initiative will begin in Kensington & Chelsea in the autumn
A central London borough is to allow cyclists to ride the wrong way along a number of one-way streets.
Kensington and Chelsea Council is to introduce the idea on six residential roads in a trial in the autumn.
New signs will advise cyclists where they can cut through in order to avoid the route taken by vehicles. There will be no separate path for the cyclists.
The proposal has been met with criticism from drivers who said convenience is being put before safety.
'Convenience before safety'
Councillor Daniel Moylan said: "Bicyclists feel they are offered very little in terms of safety and convenience.
"I hope that our trial will encourage other boroughs and that as a result bicyclists will be much freer to travel around."
Bob Oddy, from London Taxi Drivers Association, criticised the plan saying: "Convenience shouldn't come before safety.
"Lets keep the cyclists doing what they should be doing conforming with all the regulations, not just one-way streets, the red traffic lights and everything else."
But Tony Bogdanowicz, from London Cycling Campaign, disagreed. He said: "I think that this will reduce danger to the cyclists who are currently being forced to use major roads when they be could using the small streets."
The trial is due to take place on Gilston Road; Holland Street, between Kensington Church Street and Hornton Street; Hollywood Road; Old Court Place, by Kensington Church Street; Thackeray Street; and Victoria Grove, between Victoria Road and Launceston Place.
Holland Street, Old Court Place and Thackeray Street will be the first streets which will allow cyclists to travel in the opposite direction to the main traffic flow.
The others, which require physical works for a contra flow, will follow later.
Council leaders devised the plan after meetings with the lobby groups Cycling England, the Cycle Touring Club and the London Cycling Campaign.
The council has agreed other measures to facilitate cycling including turning under-used pay and display car bays over to bicycle stands. | <urn:uuid:85f66aed-7deb-4b9f-a978-1bbc425337fe> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/england/london/7435326.stm | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368696381249/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516092621-00021-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.947595 | 439 | 1.765625 | 2 |
Like most seniors, Margaret wasn’t a wealthy woman but had enough in savings to live comfortably. While sitting on her porch one spring day, a man drove up in front of her house in a pick-up truck with equipment in the back and ladders on the roof. The sign on the side said “Smith Construction, Helping People for 25 Years.”
He got out of the truck, looked at Margaret and pointed to the roof. “Looks like you got a problem, ma’am. I was driving past and I saw that the flashing on your roof is loose. A good wind will take that right off.” “How much will that cost?” Margaret asked. “Well, you remind me a lot of my great aunt so nothing at all,” the man said. “I’ve got extra material and tar right here in the truck.” And with that, he was up the ladder and seemingly hard at work. Ten minutes and one tar covered brush later, the man came back down the ladder, only now with bad news for Margaret.
What started out as a “Let me help you for free” minor roofing job turned into a ten-thousand dollar repair that she never needed in the first place. Margaret is the victim of a common home improvement scam.
Every year, thousands of thieves take advantage of senior citizens by utilizing this scam. According to a recent study released by the U.S. Department of Justice, 3.6 million or 3% of all households in the U.S. have been victimized by some sort of a home repair or improvement scam. Of these victims, nearly 61% are senior citizens age sixty or older and in Pennsylvania alone, these thefts accounted for 71% of the complaints filed with the Pa. Attorney General’s Office.
These scammers are successful for many reasons but mainly because most of the victims are unwilling or unable to get up on a roof and see the “problem” for themselves In addition to knowing their victim’s physical limitations, scammers also use many tricks and props to facilitate their deception. These props may include a bucket of black paint to resemble a fresh tar repair job or pieces of broken shingle or flashing taken not from the roof but brought with the thief to show the victim.
Once the thief has the victim lured into a false sense of security, they now take advantage of the victim’s trust and their bank account. The age of the personal computer and “do it yourself” printing and business promotion kits even permits the thief to be armed with a variety of official looking paperwork including business cards, flyers, brochures and job estimate forms. After the victim is hooked, the scam artist will often keep “retuning to the well” and build a relationship of trust with the victim. In many cases, trusting seniors have even been talked into handing over blank checks.
Here are a few suggestions that can help you avoid becoming a victim:
1.) Avoid hiring anyone who has solicited you. As we’ve seen in Margaret’s case, a man approached her out of the blue and offered to do labor for free. A true professional, when called by the homeowner, will give a written estimate detailing labor and materials before any work begins.
2.) Always check credentials through a third party of your choosing a contractor. Don’t accept the reference given by the contractor. They are likely family or friends. Always check with the Better Business Bureau for complaints.
3.) Contact your local police department and ask if there are any complaints of home improvement scam artists in the area. Some communities have programs through their building inspectors geared toward victim education. The police can also tell you if the contractor has a permit to solicit you. Your local officers are there to help you so don’t ever hesitate to call them!
4.) Never pay for any improvement or construction job upfront. A reputable contractor will never ask for all monies in advance. An accepted payment or installment method is a down payment or advance, a middle payment and an end payment when the job is completed. Run far away from any contractor who wants all of the money up front. It’s a good bet they and your cash will disappear as soon as your check clears.
5.) Get multiple estimates on the work and get them in writing. After selecting a contractor, get in writing: Their full name, address, telephone number, their insurance information, a complete description of the type of work to be done, all materials used, a start and estimated completion date, a total cost of ALL work performed and an agreed payment method and schedule.
6.) Never sign a contract with blank spaces. This allows for deception such as the scam artist adding on extra work and/or materials that you did not agree to.
7.) Ask to obtain lien waivers. This protects you from a shady contractor placing a lien on your home or property in the event sub contractors or secondary workers employed and paid by your contractor are not paid.
8.) Find out if the materials that the contractor is using have guarantees or warranties. If they do, get those warranties in writing. You should have a copy and hold the paperwork on those guarantees, not the contractor.
9.) If you are physically unable to inspect the completed work, ask someone you know to inspect it for you. You may even be able to contact your local building inspector for assistance.
10.) When in doubt or if something doesn’t seem quite right, DON’T HIRE THAT CONTRACTOR. Listen to your inner voice… it’s talking to you for a reason!
Crime prevention is accomplished by knowledge and awareness. Following these few simple steps may save you personal frustration and financial hardship. An honest and legitimate contractor will have no qualms providing any information you request. Just remember two important rules: “When in doubt, check them out” and “If it seems too good to be true, it probably is.” | <urn:uuid:f9c33bcc-54cb-4ee6-a4ef-017f37768fc2> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://bcrimefree.blogspot.com/2009_01_01_archive.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368704713110/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516114513-00008-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.956721 | 1,248 | 1.554688 | 2 |
A report claims so, but given Microsoft’s attempts to harden the OS, that seems dubious.
A new report released by the security firm Websense Security Labs claims Windows 8 will become one of the top three most-hacked platforms in 2013 because of its newness and Microsoft’s efforts to encourage development for the radical new platform.
Yeah, that didn’t make sense to me, either.
It took a chat with the folks at Websense to make, er, sense of what they were saying, but I do see their point. With a new operating system on the market that will hopefully gain significant ground and Microsoft attempting to woo developers like never before, there’s lots of potential for exploit.
“Microsoft’s efforts to produce an extremely developer friendly platform will be embraced by the cybercriminal community, and vulnerabilities will be exploited,” the company said in its 2013 Security Predictions. “If they deliver on their promise, the rate of threat growth on Microsoft mobile devices will be the highest.”
That’s a big “if.” Android, another platform Websense sees as a major target in 2013, is far more insecure. But in the case of Windows, there is, for lack of a better word, an installed base of malicious code and talent who know their way around Windows operating systems, and they are going to bring that to bear on Windows 8.
They will try to get around security systems that have been tightened up. Good luck with that. BitDefender recently ran tests on Windows 8 and found that a system with just Windows Defender, which is hardly a suitable security program, stopped 85% of the malware samples used in the tests.
The bad guys aren’t just about code; they understand how people write code and how malware works. So it’s not just malware samples, it’s accumulated and applied knowledge that they bring to Windows 8, says Websense. And given the common code between PC Windows 8 and Windows Phone 8, malware could easily move across platforms.
The other two platforms that will be big targets in 2013 are also mobile operating systems: Android and iOS. According to the firm, Android will be targeted because of its open nature. Websense expects attack techniques used on the desktop platform to continue to migrate over to Google’s operating system.
iOS should be a lot more stable due to its closed nature. However, with the growing popularity of iOS devices in professional environments, IT should consider this a prime platform for targeted attacks, Websense said. And most malware that does exist for iOS targets jailbroken phones.
Websense made seven predictions for 2013, most of them centered around cybercriminals attacking mobile devices. You can find the entire report, in PDF format, here. Free registration is required to view it. | <urn:uuid:b332f7a9-081a-44db-a6dc-c214e3bc1775> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.mcitponlinetraining.com/2012/12/is-windows-8-really-a-sitting-duck-for-malware/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368697380733/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516094300-00023-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.949442 | 587 | 1.671875 | 2 |
overshooting your mash temp should help with your conversion efficiency since that is largely determined by a-amylase activity and starch gelatinization.
I always mash out with a 168F rest since my RIMS makes that an easy chore. I observe several points increase in wort gravity with this step and feel it is worth while in my brewing.
I see that a Congress mash has temp steps of 113F and 158F, so those Congress mashes never get to the temperature that I mash out at. I see that the temperature ramp from 113 to 158F is performed over 15 minutes, so there is a little residence at intermediate temps. One thing that the Congress mash includes is a finer grind that should liberate more starch since lauterability is not really a consideration in that testing. I'm assuming that the higher temperature mash out that I perform helps alleviate the limitations of my grind and get my extraction performance closer to the high level set in the Congress mash.
I don't typically mash at anything less than a sacharification temperature (say the 140s), so I'm not sure that there would be an improvement in overall extraction with lower temperature rests. Would a very low temp rest as with a Congress mash improve the extraction? I'm sure it improves the fermentability, but not so sure with the extraction. I feel that the mash out is a good practice with no downside.
Kai, I see that the enzyme chart is set up in a relativistic format, so I'm on board with your conjecture. I wish we had more data to make the chart more factual.
Enjoy that long trip. I know that Palmer is going too. | <urn:uuid:f669acbe-25b4-4e43-8f88-993cddbbd34f> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.homebrewersassociation.org/forum/index.php?topic=13720.msg173668 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368701459211/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516105059-00021-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.964576 | 340 | 1.5625 | 2 |
|Where SEO meets Quantum Physics|
|Written by Barry Adams|
|Tuesday, 24 January 2012 14:25|
The Heisenberg Ranking Uncertainty Principle - or - Schrödinger's Rank.
Call me a geek (because I am one) but I think there are a lot of similarities between SEO and Quantum Physics. Yes, I know, it sounds ridiculous. Bear with me, it'll make sense. Well, actually, it probably won't, but don't let that stop you.
You've probably heard about some of quantum theory's more counter-intuitive aspects, as made clear through the Schrödinger's Cat thought experiment or the Heisenberg uncertainty principle. What these aspects boil down to is that at the smallest level we currently understand, our universe basically doesn't make any sense. Instead of the usual hard & fast rules of how things work, in the quantum realm chance and endless possibilities are the norm. Particles exist in many different states at the same time, only to 'choose' a fixed state at random when they're finally observed.
Constant Chaos; welcome to SEO
This is actually very similar to how SEO works - especially rankings on search engines: you never know exactly where a website ranks for a given keyword until you type it in the search box and observe the results.
Up until that moment the website's rank exists in a state of flux, as part of a near endless realm of possibilities.
With the search engines' ongoing advances in localisation and personalisation, endeavouring to make the SERPs you see as relevant as possible for you and you alone, all semblance of predictability and cause & effect has gone straight out the window. While in most cases we know which buttons to push to cajole the rankings machine in to moving in a certain direction, we never know how far it'll go or how we'll eventually end up straying from our envisioned goal.
All this SEO shtick does feel like a roll of the dice sometimes, doesn't it? We do our best to send all the right signals in to this big black search engine box, and hope that what comes out more or less meets our expectations. More often than not, it doesn't. We might as well be trying to catch Higgs-bosons with our bare hands.
Maybe we should stop calling ourselves SEOs and instead re-invent ourselves as Ranking Physicists, create our own 27km Keyword Collider experiment and try to discover the Grand SERP Unification Theory.
The only thing that stops me is that this would elevate the search engines to the status of fickle, omnipotent deities that can - and do - change the laws of ranking physics on us on a daily basis. It would be an unfair playing field, and in such a scenario I have something in common with that most illustrious of fictional space-faring captains, James T. Kirk:
|Last Updated on Tuesday, 24 January 2012 15:13|
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Contact Us - get in touch with SNC | <urn:uuid:ebea6190-1f32-4377-a101-fd25b2271347> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://searchnewscentral.com/20120124242/General-SEO/where-seo-meets-quantum-physics.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368704713110/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516114513-00026-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.938955 | 695 | 1.5625 | 2 |
Forty-seven-year-old Jennifer McGill is a very active woman and mother of four. Throughout her life, she has enjoyed gardening, walking, biking, hiking, swimming and skiing. But over the past few years, McGill noticed an increasing pain in her hip. It was sore and achy for about six months. Then, she started getting sharp stabs of pain.
She decided to have things checked out by her family doctor, who ordered x-rays of her hip, but didn't notice anything out of the ordinary. He told her that if the pain continued, it would probably be a good idea for her to consult an orthopedist. As luck had it, McGill was in the process of getting a fusion procedure done on her neck by Middlesex Hospital orthopedist Dr. Jeffrey Bash. McGill mentioned her hip pain offhandedly to Dr. Bash, who recommended she consult with the newest member of the medical practice, Dr. David Hergan.
McGill promptly made an appointment with Dr. Hergan who she says, "knew what the problem was right away." Because McGill's particular condition, a hip impingement and torn labrum, doesn't usually show up on x-rays, Dr. Hergan ordered a CT scan of her hip.
"That's why you need a specialist for this sort of thing," said McGill. "The CT scan showed what was wrong and I had the surgery about a year and a half ago," she added.
McGill's hip impingement surgery was a real success. "By the time I had the surgery, the pain was unbearable. It hurt when I walked up stairs or when I drove my car. I actually felt relief immediately after the surgery. Dr. Hergan told me that this particular condition can be hereditary and that's exactly the case for me. My brother also has the condition."
Before the surgery, McGill was deliberately avoiding all of the physical activity she had enjoyed her entire lifetime.
"But after the surgery, I was able to regain my ability to be active and I've now lost 40 pounds as a result and am feeling great!" she excitedly reports. | <urn:uuid:c04f9493-bc9a-4ae0-bcbd-988663638624> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://middlesexhospital.org/newsletter/evita/january2012/pain_free.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368696381249/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516092621-00027-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.988527 | 442 | 1.523438 | 2 |
IT Trends | News
Virtual Realities: Lone Star Virtualizes IT Systemwide
- By Bridget McCrea
Being the nation's fastest-growing community college is both a blessing and a curse for Lone Star College System (LSCS) of Houston. Expanding the system from 68,000 students to more than 85,000 during a 36-month span was an impressive feat, of course, but managing an increasingly strained information technology infrastructure across 14 campuses was literally a balancing act for LSCS' IT team.
The fact that each campus ran its technology infrastructure independently made that balancing act even more difficult to manage. The college's six main campuses and eight smaller, satellite centers weren't sharing data with one another. Most were using systems that were end-of-life in 2008.
Maintenance costs associated with the continual replacement of outdated systems were high and basic student services were lagging under the antiquated infrastructure. New student registration processing was slowing and even stopping during peak periods, for example, and the new classes, computer labs, and instructional applications that were coming online demanded higher levels of support and computer power. Finally, the fact that more students were bringing their own mobile devices on campus was bogging LSCS' existing wireless network.
"We were at the point where we really needed a better way to meet the needs of our faculty, staff, students, and administration," said Link Alander, vice chancellor and CIO. "We also needed more flexibility, reduced costs, and simplified maintenance, as well as high availability for our Tier 1 applications."
With a bond referendum in place to cover the construction of 21 new buildings--plus additional funds allocated for infrastructure improvements--LSCS' IT team began searching for a solution that would ease its growing pains. As assistant vice chancellor at the time, Alander worked with the college's CIO, network administrators, and technical services group to design a solution to meet the administration's and board of trustees' requirements for high availability.
The team didn't have to search very hard to find what it was looking for. After looking at both Microsoft's Hyper-V server and VMware's vSphere, it choose the latter based on the solution's maturity and past experiences with the vendor. "We'd been using VMware since 2005 to handle utility testing and other tasks," said Alander. "We knew that the virtualization of our entire IT infrastructure would be the next step, so making the decision to go in that direction wasn't very difficult."
The need to scale up quickly to meet demand, or power down when that demand waned, also pushed LSCS' implementation team in the direction of a virtualized system. "We wanted to design our architecture to include elastic capacity. As demand rose we wanted to be able to increase the system's horsepower," Alander explained. "We knew that virtualization would allow us to do that, even when student registrations were hitting us hard and demanding a lot from our administrative systems."
3 Roadblocks to Moving Forward with Huge Projects
Overhauling a college's IT infrastructure in a short time frame is never easy. Link Alander pinpointed the three top challenges that Lone Star College System grappled with during its move to virtualization and tells how his team overcame them:
- Introducing change management to the team. Humans are naturally resistant to change, particularly when it comes to jobs they've done successfully for a long time. Ripping out 400 physical servers and replacing them with a virtual environment threatened to turn LSCS' human resource infrastructure on end. Questions like, "What's happening to my job and how is it changing?" were posed frequently during the overhaul. Alander said LSCS took an educational approach to the problem, communicated regularly with team members, and made sure there was buy-in across the board. "The key is to get everyone to understand that this is an opportunity for them," Alander said, "and not a threat."
- Getting everyone up to speed on the new system. Within 60 days LSCS' IT infrastructure was transformed from hundreds of physical boxes to several blade servers connected to a storage-area network running movable, virtualized servers. System training was prioritized, said Alander, with the institution's technical services team receiving the most intensive training. "We're talking about a totally different environment," said Alander, "and a lot of training to get everyone up to speed."
- Dealing with multiple complexities. No large-scale implementation is free of challenges and LSCS' virtualization project was no exception to the rule. "This was a complete infrastructure replacement and the design and architecture of a new system," said Alander. "We knew we'd be dealing with a lot of complexities." He credited frequent communication among team members as they "plowed through network and storage upgrades, added blade servers, and built a whole new data center" with helping LSCS achieve its project goals. "Throughout the entire process we all communicated regularly and kept everyone totally engaged," said Alander. "Between that and the regular training, we were able to exceed our goals."
Alander said LSCS kicked off the project by designing a virtualized architecture for all of the college's Tier 1 applications. All current applications were redesigned with the goal of being able to deliver IT infrastructure as a service and to eradicate the system lags and delays that users were experiencing. Working on an 18-month project timeline, LSCS also implemented a new Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) system and established a policy requiring all new servers coming online to be virtualized.
"In order to shrink the physical environment to the point where we would only be running virtually," said Alander, "we knew we had to support and stand behind the virtualization effort 100 percent." That directive was passed all the way up to LSCS' board of trustees, which was kept informed of the school's progress in meeting its goal of having 95 percent of its IT infrastructure virtualized. "Last year we hit 97 percent," said Alander. "If we can find a way to reach 100 percent, we'll do it."
The college's active directory structure was improved, availability of services across all application tiers is high, and a total of 400 physical servers were replaced within a two-month timeframe. "We migrated to a virtual environment and decommissioned the old hardware and got it out of our way in no time at all," said Alander. "In the end we achieved a $600,000 capital expenditure [capex] savings based on what it would have taken to replace that equipment in the physical world."
LSCS has also reduced new service deployment time from three to four weeks to only a few hours, lowered its power and cooling costs, and realized its expected return on investment (ROI) in about three years. Now LSCS has its eye on desktop virtualization. Having already completed a small-scale, 5,000-student pilot project in that realm, the school is now working with software engineers to figure out the best way to construct a dynamic, virtual desktop environment across its 14 campuses.
"We want to be able to dynamically create a desktop on the fly," said Alander, who sees the new venture as a long-term objective for LSCS. "It will probably be two or three years before this new initiative is fully operational and available to all of our students and faculty." | <urn:uuid:12a549f5-71fb-443c-813d-b3d93d4540c2> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://campustechnology.com/Articles/2012/10/25/Virtual-Realities-Lone-Star-Virtualizes-IT-Systemwide.aspx | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368701459211/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516105059-00038-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.975983 | 1,518 | 1.5 | 2 |
The silos sit upon a deep layer of solid limestone. “We drilled down 80 feet, looking for caverns, but it was all solid.” says Miller.
“The rock in that area is so hard that we could’ve founded the silos directly on bedrock, had there been a way to properly smooth out the surface. Of course, we did have to grade the rock and then pour some foundation, but the rock provided a perfect surface for the silo foundation. These conditions allowed us to build high rather than wide, which was helpful in this fairly narrow site,” explains Kobetz.
Although 2008 proved to be a rough year for poultry producers, VPGC is standing on solid ground. Mason remains hopeful for the future of the company. “We’ve had to cut production a bit because of the price of commodities, but the market will correct itself and whenever it does, we’ll still be here,” he says.
With that in mind, VPGC board members decided to purchase enough land to build a new feed mill on the same site that their unloading facility sits on. “We did that so we could build a full-scale feed mill if we ever wanted to walk away from our current mill, or if production went up high enough that we didn’t have the capacity in our current feed mill,” says Miller.
However, they do have plans for growth in the more immediate future. VPGC is in the process of working out deals with other local producers to begin selling their corn. Miller is anxious for this arrangement to begin. “It would not only mean more corn coming through the facility, but it would also help us pay for the facility so we’d have a faster return on investment,” says Miller.
VPGC is equipped to meet any customer’s transportation needs. They can load out onto a truck using a dynatek/manierre bulk loading system if they had a customer who wanted to purchase corn by truck.
VPGC has already made a name for itself in four short years. If past behavior is any indication of their future, VPGC will overcome whatever obstacles come their way. | <urn:uuid:062a0abc-9a43-4c15-a561-178ac502543e> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.feedandgrain.com/article/10229823/laying-the-track-for-success?page=3 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368706499548/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516121459-00025-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.966706 | 461 | 1.671875 | 2 |
Sen. Orrin Hatch on ABC's This Week, discussing President Obama's options for replacing David Souter on the Supreme Court, thinks that if a judge is a person of empathy, that's a code word for an "activist judge". Which is to say, he won't overturn Roe v. Wade. (That's right: the "activists" are the ones siding with the status quo.) Everything has to be about abortion with these people.
Sen. Pat Leahy reminds Hatch that the President doesn't need to use "code words" -- and besides, we've already had an activist court when it comes to discrimination against women in the work place.
Question for Orrin Hatch: Does this mean that Republicans have no empathy?
STEPHANOPOULOS: Gentlemen, welcome to you both. And Senator Hatch, let me begin with you. What did you make of the criteria the president laid out?
HATCH: Well, it's a matter of great concern. If he's saying that he wants to pick people who will take sides -- he's also said that a judge has to be a person of empathy. What does that mean? Usually that's a code word for an activist judge. But he also said that he's going to select judges on the basis of their personal politics, their personal feelings, their personal preferences. Now, you know, those are all code words for an activist judge, who is going to, you know, be partisan on the bench.
STEPHANOPOULOS: Now, he did also say he wants someone who respects the rule of law and the limits of the judicial role...
HATCH: He did say that.
STEPHANOPOULOS: So it sounds like you're saying that you think there's a tension between following the law and following your feelings when you're a judge.
HATCH: Well, I don't think there should be a litmus test or any set of litmus tests when you pick people for the high court, and I suspect that the president understands that. He's a very bright guy, charismatic, intelligent, likable, and I'm hoping that he'll pick somebody of great dimension.
We all know he's going to pick a more liberal justice. Their side will make sure that it's a pro-abortion justice. I don't think anybody has any illusions about that. The question is, are they qualified? Are they going to be people who will be fair to the rich, the poor, the weak, the strong, the sick, the disabled, and yet give justice to those who may not be...
STEPHANOPOULOS: Chairman Leahy, let me bring you in on this, because what Senator Hatch is saying there I've heard from a lot of other conservatives, this fear that the president's focus on empathy is a code for bringing a judicial activist to the court.
LEAHY: I've known President Obama long enough. He doesn't need to use code words. He speaks very plainly and very directly. I think that's why he won such a resounding victory in November.
I talked with President Obama shortly before he did that press conference, and I think I have a pretty good sense out of the meeting with him when I returned to Washington from Vermont -- I have a pretty good sense of what he has in mind for a justice. What I would argue...
STEPHANOPOULOS: What is it?
LEAHY: What I would argue...
HATCH: I would like to know that, Pat.
LEAHY: What I would argue is you walk into the Supreme Court, over the doorway there is a great big piece of Vermont marble, and engraved on it, it says "equal justice under law." That's what you want to have.
We've had a very activist court. We had an activist court that made a decision that allowed employers to covertly discriminate against women so that women wouldn't get paid equally. We in the Congress reversed that with a law, in fact, the first law that President Obama signed into law. I think he wants to have somebody to treat people all the same, whether they're Republicans, or Democrat, men, women, or whatever they may be. | <urn:uuid:04258c98-45b2-4432-8e25-17c894738c35> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://videocafe.crooksandliars.com/heather/orrin-hatch-empathy-code-word-activist-judge | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368703682988/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516112802-00005-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.983139 | 876 | 1.5625 | 2 |
Premier of, "Mining on the Swell" video on Nov. 15
> The world premier of the video "Mining on the Swell," based on interviews of Emery County residents about mining history in the San Rafael Swell will be the focus of the monthly Emery County Historical Society meeting in Castle Dale on Thursday, Nov. 15 at 7 p.m. at the Museum of the San Rafael Swell, 96 North 100 East. The public is invited to attend and a reception will follow the presentation. The Division of Oil, Gas and Mining's Abandoned Mine Reclamation Program (AMRP) and the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) Price Field Office cooperatively produced the video as part of the historical documentation and compliance with the National Historic Preservation Act for the upcoming San Rafael Abandoned Mine Reclamation Project. "We hope that the Abandoned Mine Program's work will make the history of mining in the San Rafael Swell during the cold war uranium boom era more available to Emery County citizens and visitors to the Swell," said Tony Gallegos, AMRP Project Manager. "This little film does a great job of capturing the flavor of what it was like to be mining uranium in the Swell 60 and 70 years ago. We'll be showing the video and I will give a short talk about the reclamation project that is scheduled to start early next year," continued Gallegos. The video is based on oral history interviews conducted in 2011 by a BYU historian who recorded the experiences of six people involved with mining in the San Rafael Swell. Those interviewed include: Ted Ekker, Jack Erwin, Mervin Miles, Mark H. Williams, Barbara Ekker, and John Anderson, will attend and be able to answer questions during the reception that will follow the program. For more information call Jan Morse at the Utah AMRP 801-538-5327 or Chris Conrad at the Price BLM Field Office 435-636-3667. | <urn:uuid:af43cc62-a093-42b2-8a93-2a98e560e2bd> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.ecprogress.com/index.php?tier=1&article_id=13214 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368701852492/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516105732-00038-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.933296 | 402 | 1.828125 | 2 |
Fresno Drug & Alcohol Treatment Centers & Information
There is a wide range of alcohol treatment facilities available for those that seek professional help in addressing their alcohol addiction. All treatment facilities have different methods, philosophies and unique policies and rules to guide them. The main differences between the facilities is:
Types of Alcohol Treatment Facilities:
1. Outpatient Treatment Services. This form of treatment is also known as a day treatment program and is designed for those that meet some or all of this criteria:
The main goal of such treatment is to inform the person about the chronic nature of their problem, teach them the most efficient skills to help them cope with their addiction while trying to manage a normal life inside and outside the family. Patients following an outpatient type of alcohol treatment are required to attend therapy sessions, support group meetings, and other types of recovery activities several hours per day for three to five days a week according to a predetermined therapeutic plan and schedule.
2. Inpatient Treatment Facility. An inpatient alcohol treatment program offers a more comprehensive approach to what alcohol addiction is and its treatment. Inpatient programs are designed to help those that have battled alcohol addiction for many years with numerous attempts to recover but failed. One of the initial steps of this programs is detoxification ( detox ) that helps resolving the problems associated with the physical dependency. The advantage of an inpatient treatment is that the alcoholic is removed from their environment and can completely focus on their recovery.
The inpatient treatment programs offer extensive supportive services that include individual and group therapy and activities that address mental, spiritual, and occupational aspects of the addiction. The alcoholic is encouraged to express themselves, learn and talk about their problems, and listen with others who share similar problem in a safe environment assured by a well trained staff.
Inpatient programs can vary in length from short term treatments of 21 to 45 days, to longer term treatments that can last one year or more.
Copyright © OmniMedicalSearch.com. | <urn:uuid:bd57beb1-6865-49ee-b949-37ad21a23173> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.omnimedicalsearch.com/alcohol-drug-treatment/fresno.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368703682988/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516112802-00037-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.965381 | 395 | 1.570313 | 2 |
- Faith & Family
Codeblack Films, a Lionsgate company, has acquired the theatrical rights to the political-crime-drama documentary about social activism icon Angela Davis.
Hailed by the 2012 Toronto International Film Festival as “a fascinating chronicle of justice and strength,” Free Angela tells the dramatic story of how a young professor’s social justice activism implicates her in a botched kidnapping attempt that ends with a bloody shootout, four dead and her name on the FBI’s 10 most wanted list.
In this historical vérité style documentary, marking the 40th anniversary of her acquittal on charges of murder, kidnapping, and conspiracy, Davis recounts the politics and actions that branded her a terrorist and simultaneously spurred a worldwide movement for her freedom as a political prisoner. At its core, the story wrestles with the meaning of political freedom in a democracy negotiated between the people and its government. Strong, attractive, and engaging, Davis is one such person who became a symbol at the center of this still relevant power struggle.
“We knew that this film was important and would not only shed a spotlight on history, but provide a flashlight for our future” said Jeff Clanagan, CEO of Codeblack Enterprises. “Angela Davis is a staple in history and continues to cross generational and cultural lines in her plight to fight for the freedom of all people.”
Four decades after the trial that ignited an international cry for “power to the people,” Davis is celebrated as a political icon and one of the world’s greatest voices of social freedom. Written and directed by Harlem filmmaker Shola Lynch, the documentary introduces the world to the woman behind the legacy through Davis’ own personal account of the circumstances surrounding her imprisonment.
Miami Times staff report | <urn:uuid:b7519656-7f82-4519-8dab-1b6de0262dee> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://miamitimesonline.com/documentary-tells-the-story-of-black-activist-angela-davis/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368705195219/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516115315-00021-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.94366 | 367 | 1.679688 | 2 |
Before attempting to conduct your search, take some time to prepare. Working your search out on paper first will help you sort through all of your ideas, and let you develop a clear search strategy that accurately dictates your information need.
Start by building up a search vocabulary. Write down your most important keywords and then try to come up with some other synonyms and related terms that are specific to your topic. Identifying these terms right from the get-go can help you better focus your research, and provide you with a greater pool of terms that can later be combined to yield you the most comprehensive results possible. | <urn:uuid:61de6b50-52aa-46da-bbdd-552a56e64b30> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.psych.ualberta.ca/~ITL/InfoLit%20v.2.0/MODULE2/02-gettingstarted.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368704713110/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516114513-00005-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.944888 | 122 | 1.757813 | 2 |
|Updated: 11/08/2011 8:00 am
||Published: 11/07/2011 7:59 pm
LITTLE ROCK, AR - As thousands of hunters get ready to hit the deer woods this weekend, we want to let you know how you can avoid meeting one of the nearly one-million deer in Arkansas on the road in a collision.
"Like most hunters, I started out as a little kid. My dad and my granddaddy carried me hunting," says Daniel Colvin.
Now all grown up, Colvin runs Natural Gear, the world's third largest camouflage supplier. Despite being in the city, Colvin sees deer at his Little Rock headquarters all the time.
"We have a lot of grounds here for deer and other wildlife," Colvin says.
Monday night, it didn't take long for us to spot several deer at Two Rivers Park. In Georgia, a deer crashed through a restaurant window this weekend before taking off.
"You see them a lot in urban areas and probably the one reason you're seeing this time of year, it always happens during October and November is that it's mating season, so the boys are out looking for the girls," says Steve "Wildman" Wilson with the Arkansas Game and Fish Commission.
The increases your chances of hitting a deer while driving.
Wildman tells us the biggest mistake people make is going too fast, and if you have to choose between hitting a deer or another car, always hit the deer. He also says if a deer is in the middle of the road after you hit it, wait til it is safe to go get it.
"Be very, very careful anytime you're dealing with an injured animal. Especially deer, especially with their feet and their hooves," adds Wilson.
Luckily, when Colvin hit a deer, he didn't get hurt.
"It all happened so fast, I mean, it's, you're never prepared for anything like that," he says.
Arkansas cities are permitted to hold urban deer hunts. Right now, seven hold urban hunts in which hunters have to use bows. | <urn:uuid:93dd1891-9580-4645-bae9-d20c2509f11d> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.fox16.com/news/story/Urban-deer-abound-as-modern-gun-season-nears/Ue97YqbiUUOyQqgxV5bHbQ.cspx | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368702810651/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516111330-00026-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.974338 | 435 | 1.523438 | 2 |
"WEEBLE-WOBBLE, WEEBLE-WOBBLE, WE ACCEPT YOU, ONE OF US!"
These words will never fail to bring a chill to the spine of any fan of classic horror, and with good reason. For most of us, when we think Tod Browning, we think the 1931 Dracula. And rightfully so, the movie is a masterpiece. But nearly as much a masterpiece was the unfairly maligned Freaks, which came out the following year to critical outrage and ridicule, and box office apathy that was the result of a crippled distribution deal thanks to the "objectionable" subject matter.
This week, let's take an unflinching look at one of horror's true underrated pleasures, a film that was by far the most controversial of its era, and never quite got the respect or attention it deserved.
Right off the bat, the single most striking thing about the picture is its use of actual sideshow freaks as the carnival's unforgettable cast of characters. We have many of the most famous "celebrity freaks" of the day on hand, including little Harry & Daisy Earles, the infamous Hilton sisters, Johnny Eck, and the endearing "pinhead" known as Schlitze. This was a conscious decision on Browning's part, not to use actors--and it upset quite a lot of people. It was a time of more fragile sensibilities, for better or worse, and in the case of Browning's excellent film, worse was definitely the case.
Many were disgusted at what they perceived as exploitation, yet a closer look at the film demonstrates that Browning and screenwriter Clarence Aaron Robbins's goal is to demonstrate how the supposedly "normal" people can be much more monstrous and evil under the right circumstances than anyone who simply happens to look monstrous on the surface. Alas, much of that subtlety was lost on the censors.
Freaks gives us a unique and rare glimpse into a world shrouded in mystery, showing us a more-or-less accurate portrayal of life on the road for this collection of human oddities. Many of the performances are quite striking for folks who have never been called upon to pull off high drama before, especially from the poignant Earles, dwarf siblings playing husband and wife. And there is also a bona fide actor or two thrown into the mix as well, including in the role of Phroso the clown, Wallace Ford--who Universal lovers will recall from his comic relief part in The Mummy's Hand.
The movie is filled with unforgettable and often voyeuristic imagery, including armless Frances O'Connor eating dinner with her feet, the childbirth of the bearded lady, Koo-Koo the Bird Girl's bizarre dance, and of course "Living Torso" Prince Randian lighting a cigarette despite having no arms or legs.
Tod Browning was often accused of being trapped in the mindset of a silent film director, never being able to fully embrace the changes inherent in making talkies. To a certain extent this is true, as his stagey setups and often overly deliberate technique make evident. And yet, in Freaks, there are amazing moments where Browning's silent expertise comes into play as a positive--most notably the unforgettable wedding scene that is the centerpiece of the film, and plays out in such a way that we completely understand what is happening on a visual basis alone.
Yet the film was a public relations disaster for MGM, effective scaring the studio away from horror projects. Browning's career also never quite recovered from the stigma. In fact, it wasn't until the movie was rediscovered during the late-night drive-in craze of the 1950s and '60s that it began to be appreciated as the classic it is.
Freaks is highly recommended for any casual fan of early horror who has until now confined themselves to the Frankensteins and Draculas of the world. Here is a film ahead of its time, presenting horror not in the form of supernatural monsters, but lurking in the hearts of regular human beings. And the last scene is one of the all-time WTF moments in the history of the genre, so consider yourself warned! | <urn:uuid:c5440ca0-cc04-4461-87a5-b9dfd133458e> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://thevaultofhorror.blogspot.com/2009/05/retro-review-freaks.html?showComment=1242969158525 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368706499548/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516121459-00037-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.967034 | 859 | 1.515625 | 2 |
Ask yourself if this is the right person for you, or whether you may require more emotional depth than that individual is able (or willing) to offer. "If you need control at all times, then the relationship is not likely to be a happy one," she says. "Even those who love and cherish us the most will hurt our feelings or awaken feelings of insecurity from time to time."
3. Give yourself a reality check
The real dating world can be intimidating, so it can feel much safer to make the depictions of relationships in books, romantic comedies and TV programs your benchmarks for couple behaviour. This makes it easy to dismiss potential partners on the basis of them not living up to a fictional standard.
"In my practice, when I meet someone who holds onto the belief of the 'perfect' partner, they are inevitably single, or soon to be so," says Herron. Seeking a blueprint for maintaining a healthy relationship in popular culture means rejecting real-time reality-based love for an ideal that does not exist. "Unless we have a tolerance for human imperfection, we will not be in a relationship -- at least not a happy one -- for long," says Herron. "Perfection is a myth, and a dangerous one to entertain."
Recognizing your own needs and using your self-knowledge to successfully navigate these hurdles will help you discover your best match and the satisfying long-term relationship you deserve.
Page 2 of 2 | <urn:uuid:be6c4f84-7dba-405e-885b-340993ad72dc> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.canadianliving.com/relationships/dating_advice/3_steps_to_finding_a_happy_long_term_relationship_2.php | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368700958435/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516104238-00037-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.943637 | 296 | 1.53125 | 2 |
Think of leadership as achieving a balance between task and relationship; and will and humility to gain a commitment versus mere compliance. At the center of this balance is the fulcrum of self-awareness which requires discipline and self reliance for personal growth and development. In the end, articulating where you’re going, how you’ll get there, and why it’s important is the mechanical part of leadership. The art is in working towards a balance to build trust and gain a voluntary commitment from those you seek to influence.
Learning to Lead boils down to focusing your time and managing how you respond to your environment. Your passion about the mission, and your attitude towards the people you lead needs to match your rhetoric. | <urn:uuid:e5d82882-d1b9-491b-9879-28305b93224b> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://janrutherford.com/learn-to-balance-to-lead/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368704132298/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516113532-00004-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.948813 | 148 | 1.757813 | 2 |
Buy to let Lee Jones reports on fears that FSA regulation could damage the BTL sector
Last week, both the Council of Mortgage Lenders and the Building Societies Association claimed that FSA proposals to regulate buy-to-let lending make “no sense at all” and that such measures would stifle the market.
In October 2009, the FSA set out plans to bring the sector under the full jurisdiction of the regulator as part of the mortgage market review. It argued that the BTL boom of the last decade inflated the house-price bubble and was propelled by investors seeking a quick return on their capital.
The report said: “We conclude that the BTL sector has a significant proportion of borrowers with small portfolios and potentially limited knowledge of the complexities of a BTL mortgage.”
But the CML argues that imposing stricter regulation on BTL mortgages will simply inhibit lenders and do nothing to protect the investor.
Director general Michael Coogan says: “As far as BTL is concerned, the regulatory proposals are barking up the wrong tree. For amateur property investors, poor investment advice is the issue, not the mortgage.
“Regulation has dampened incentives to invest in the private rental sector. These proposals would simply repeat this mistake.”
This sentiment is echoed by the BSA, which agrees that problems are not on the lending side but instead lie with the decisions of the investor. It fears that regulation will scare lenders away from an already lean market to the detriment of good landlords.
Stricter regulation on buy-to-let mortgages will simply inhibit lenders and do nothing to protect the investor
BSA head of mortgage policy Paul Broadhead says: “Entering into the BTL market is an investment decision made by the borrower. Subjecting investors to affordability and suitability assessments in the same way as owner-occupiers is not appropriate.”
Mortgages for Business managing director David Whittaker adds: “The problem is that investors choose the wrong property in the wrong place at the wrong time. The sale of a mortgage has only a small impact on a BTL property.”
National Association of Commercial Finance Brokers chief executive Adam Tyler says it is impossible to regulate people from choosing a bad investment: “The call for regulation is to protect novice investors who have been sucked into investing in BTL by tales of millionaire property landlords and endless television programmes on the subject, and who now find themselves with an investment falling in value and struggling to find tenants.
“How would regulating the mortgage used to buy this property prevent this in any way?
“The investment vehicle for BTL is a property, not itself a financial product, so the FSA will be unable to protect consumers here.”
Along with the NACFB, Whittaker recently visited the regulator and argued that to corral BTL alongside residential mortgages would adversely affect core BTL investors who are generally businesspeople rather than speculators.
Tyler says: “The problem is the refusal to acknowledge that BTL is primarily a commercial transaction. BTL is not, as it has often been painted, either a simple investment decision, or a get-rich-quick scheme.
“A BTL loan is to purchase a property to be rented out as a commercial investment and, as such, it is not an investment for the average consumer unless they have really done their homework.”
The core argument with regard to BTL regulation has always been that there are two types of investor. There are those the FSA mentions in the MMR - the smaller investor with a limited knowledge of the sector - and then there is the professional landlord who may have many properties.
To try to regulate both would be difficult, especially as the lines of personal and commercial investment blur when it comes to BTL.
As a result, Whittaker does not think the FSA will go ahead with full, Mortgage Conduct of Business-style regulation and will instead create regulatory “levers” that could lightly control the advice and lending associated with BTL so as to avoid a housing bubble and risky lending practices. He says this would at the same time keep the advice and lending process as a business transaction.
“This is a business decision for profit,” he says. “The FSA just has to decide at what point is someone a complete amateur and needs to be hand-held through the process. But where do you draw the line? I don’t think they know the answer yet.” | <urn:uuid:409c06c8-b3c4-412b-aa47-1509dfe904ea> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.moneymarketing.co.uk/analysis/split-image/1007282.article | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368708142388/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516124222-00011-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.962361 | 929 | 1.515625 | 2 |
I remember when there was a discussion about “Notebook universities” in and around some universities in my area. They were supposed to conceptualize how they would utilize notebooks. These concepts were evaluated to decide which universities get funding for WLAN and Laptop equipment. If I remember correctly the concepts were usually not very inspired. Few people actually had ideas beyond a more mobile access to learning management systems a.s.o.
Now with that in mind read this report by Flemming Funch from the BlogTalk conference:
Now, those of you don’t go to tech conferences, or who haven’t recently, might not be aware of how it works nowadays. In a conference that has a significant number of bloggers present it would now be completely unheard of if there weren’t an open WiFi network in the conference room. Which means, essentially, you open your laptop and you’re on the net. Which means that about one out of two people there has a laptop running. The lucky people who manage to grab a seat at the two rows of tables at the front can actually sit at a desk and are most likely to be able to plug in. And now, this is suddenly a different kind of audience. They look up people’s URLs right away, they browse the scheduled program, reference materials, check the validity of what people are saying, and share maps for the suggested lunch locatioin. There’s a wiki with information about participants, which anybody can update. There’s an IRC chat channel, so one can talk to each other, both people who’re there, and those who watch the live feed at home. People on macs (more than 1/2) automatically see other people there on iChat, and can collaborate on writing notes in SubEthaEdit. If people are bored with the presentation, they check their e-mail or browse the web for totally unrelated things. A bunch of people blog live right there. I.e. they write about what they hear, and have often posted about a talk before it even is done. Based on the trackback mechanism, others can see which weblog postings have happened that refer to the conference, right away, and will most likely have read it shortly after it appears.
And there is another report from Suw Charman on this:
Initially, it struck me that multitasking whilst at a conference is really bad for your concentration. You simply cannot IRC, Rendevouz, check links, edit a wiki and SubEthaEdit whilst also listening to what were some very information-dense presentations. You cannot simultanously process so many conflicting streams of data.
What’s clear from watching Steph and the others, particulary prodigious note-taker Lee, is that that doesn’t matter. By collaborating in a SubEthaEdit note-taking session you become part of the hivemind, so if you miss something, someone else will fill in the gap before you even realise that you have missed something.
Can you see my notebook university?
There is a company trying to make a business out of provinding tools for conference attendees: CoVision Inc. offers a system called Council. What happens at BlogTalk is a bunch of tech savvy adopters that just need a URL to get started with a cascade of interactions.
It is important to note that weblogging seems as much about writing as it is about checking out things and trying to improve the effect of your effort. Last year there was critizism by some, that people stare at their screens intead of listening to the speakers. I thought this was missing the point. I’d suggest to rethink the role of the speaker as being the origin of these cascades. As Thomas Burg wrote there have been 1000 users trying to watch the live stream in the morning (with just 130 attendees). Many more may even just observe the topic exchange channel or the BlogTalk Wiki.
By the way: There is a technology preview of Rendezvous for Windows. But of course without applications that use this functionality this will not help much. | <urn:uuid:c1bb1a9f-ee9a-4422-a904-4977c8db2054> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://wrede.interfacedesign.org/archives/845.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368709037764/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516125717-00028-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.969243 | 846 | 1.726563 | 2 |
Patrick Gelsinger, Senior Vice President and General Manager, Digital Enterprise Group at Intel Corp., confirmed in an interview with German journalists that the company’s second-generation dual-core microprocessors would not be based on the NetBurst architecture that powers the majority of current client and server processors from Intel. Instead, the giant will employ an architecture that will be concentrated on delivering more performance per clock cycle, but will not necessarily be a high-speed one in terms of megahertz.
“With our products, which are developed under the code names Conroe, Woodcrest and Merom [we will say goodbye to NetBurst],” said Patrick Gelsinger in an interview with Golem.de web-site answering the question whether Intel will cease to use NetBurst architecture with certain future processors.
This is the first official confirmation that Intel’s second-generation dual-core processors are not based on the NetBurst architecture that allows very high clock-speeds, but is not cannot match some of other architectures in terms of performance per clock and performance per watt.
“The Pentium 4 has a very deep pipeline. That was among other things necessary for the high clock-speeds, however, it caused lower efficiency in terms of high power consumption and performance. We decided for a number of reasons to employ an architecture less deep pipeline. In this regard that resembles rather the Pentium III. But some of the functions we introduced with the NetBurst, will also be found in the new architecture,” Mr. Gelsinger added referring to technologies like Hyper-Threading and Virtualization.
Late last week Intel’s president and COO, who will soon become the CEO of the world’s largest chipmaker, said Intel would launch “second generation dual-core processors” Merom, which would succeed Yonah, and Conroe, which would succeed Presler, in late 2006. He did not elaborate whether the company would ship the chips for revenue late next year, or Intel would launch the chips in late 2006.
Intel Merom processor itself reportedly is not a yet another Banias-like architecture, like Dothan and Yonah, but, as some sources proclaimed, “completely revamped” dual-core product also intended for mobile computers with relatively low power consumption, but still with rather high performance per clock, about 20% - 30% higher than that of predecessors, according to the claims.
Intel’s microprocessor code-named | <urn:uuid:2ff50a30-f7ea-433a-9652-3431a39286be> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.xbitlabs.com/news/cpu/display/20050512111032.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368701852492/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516105732-00031-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.939079 | 520 | 1.734375 | 2 |
OLR Bill Analysis
AN ACT CONCERNING AUTOMOTIVE GLASS WORK.
This bill requires insurance companies and related entities to inform insureds of their right to choose where to have their automotive glass work done. It prohibits vehicle physical damage appraisers from requiring or prohibiting that such works to be done in a specified facility or repair shop.
The bill bars insurance companies and their third-party claims administrators from providing an insured with the name of a glass shop with which they are affiliated or directing the insured to this shop, unless they provide the insured with the names of other shops in the area where the vehicle will be repaired. The insurance company or its third-party claims administrator may refer the insured to an Internet list of their approved glass repair shops in the state.
The bill makes related minor and technical changes.
EFFECTIVE DATE: October 1, 2012
AUTOMOTIVE GLASS WORK
By law, insurance companies doing business in the state and their agents and adjusters may not require their insureds to use a specific person for glass replacement, glass repair services, or glass products. They may not state that using a repair shop that does not participate in a program established by the insurance company may (1) delay the repair or (2) mean that the work will not be guaranteed. The bill extends the latter provisions to glass work and glass repair shops.
The bill requires that, if there is oral communication between an insurance company or its third-party claims administrator and an insured regarding vehicle glass replacement, glass repair services, or glass products, in the initial contact with the insured, the company or third-party claims administrator must tell the insured: “You have the right to choose the licensed glass shop where the damage to your motor vehicle will be repaired. If you have a preference, please tell us now to assist us in processing your claim. ”
By law, vehicle insurance cards must contain a notice in capital and boldface type informing the insured that he or she has the right to choose the licensed repair shop where vehicle damage will be repaired. The bill requires that this notice also refer to glass shops.
Insurance and Real Estate Committee
Joint Favorable Substitute | <urn:uuid:800ecc67-02f9-497a-827f-1fff9adc9a54> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.cga.ct.gov/2012/ba/2012HB-05231-R000097-BA.htm | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368703298047/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516112138-00016-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.942994 | 448 | 1.804688 | 2 |
Facing a severe labour shortage, Alberta has recently set up a temporary foreign worker pilot project to help employers hire highly skilled foreign workers in positions that cannot be filled by Canadians or permanent resident.
Labor market objective
Launched in June 2011 under the Temporary Foreign Worker Annex to the Agreement for Canada-Alberta Cooperation on Immigration, the aim of the project to is grow the labour market in the province by allowing foreign nationals to come to Alberta in order to take part in a specific occupation.
Although the program was originally scaled to steamfitters and pipefitters, the program now includes welders, heavy duty equipment mechanics, and other highly skilled occupations to name of few.
Initial job offer requirement
According to Citizenship, Immigration, and Multiculturalism Minister Jason Kenney, temporary foreign workers who participate in the pilot program will be required to have an initial job offer from an Alberta employer or an employer acting on behalf of a recognized group of employers.
Objectives of the requirement
- The goal of that requirement, according to Kenney, is to ensure protection of the Canadian labour market.
- In addition, the job offer must indicate that the wages being offered are consistent with the prevailing wages paid to Canadians or permanent residents in the same occupation in the region as well as proof that the working conditions meet the provincial labour market standards.
Applicants with approval letter
- Applicants who are in possession of an approval letter from Alberta Apprenticeship and Industry Training (AAIT) for an application in the program for one of the trades in the pilot and an job offer located in the province are eligible to apply between July 16, 2012 and July 31, 2013.
- If the application is approved, the foreign national will be given a one-year work permit which will allow them to be employed in a specific occupation for one employer prior to obtaining the appropriate provincial certification.
Applicants with Alberta Qualification Certificate
- Applicants who are in possession of an Alberta Qualification Certificate or trade certificate recognized in the province in one of the occupations listed in the pilot program and are currently employed or as a job offer from an Alberta employer may also apply between July 16, 2012 and July 31, 2013.
- If approved to participate in the program, these participants will be given a two-year occupation specific open work permit that will enable them to move between employers in the province provided they remain within the same occupation.
Applicants with legal assistance
Under the program, applicants who have sought the help of an immigration lawyer have better chances for approval. In most cases, the number of overseas workers who refused the help of a licensed immigration attorneys failed to accomplish the purpose.
Niren and Associates is an immigration firm that has over 15 years of experience in providing high quality of immigration services to countless clients. The firm has offices across the country and the United States.
Any information provided here does not constitute legal advise and is intended for general information only. Should you require legal advise, you are encouraged to contact a lawyer directly. All blog postings are public and are not subject to solicitor/client confidentially. Case results depend on a variety of factors unique to each case, and case results do not guarantee or predict a similar result in any further case undertaken by the lawyer. | <urn:uuid:e5d93460-cee9-441b-a4e5-c72c72e22456> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.visaplace.com/blog-immigration-law/immigration-law-firm-toronto/albertas-pilot-program-foreign-workers-remedy-labor-shortage/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368699273641/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516101433-00022-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.960365 | 660 | 1.703125 | 2 |
The international community must immediately step up humanitarian aid to the Libyan city of Misratah, Amnesty International has said, as many of its residents remain without communications, electricity and water supplies.
The city has been besieged for weeks by forces loyal to Colonel al-Gaddafi, who have cut off power and water in parts of the cities holding out against them.
"The people under fire in Misratah are caught up in what is rapidly becoming a full-fledged humanitarian crisis," said Malcolm Smart, Amnesty's director for the Middle East and North Africa
"While Colonel al-Gaddafi’s government publicly promises to allow humanitarian access, there has been no let-up in his forces’ shelling of Misratah’s port area using indiscriminate weapons and adding to the toll of civilian casualties. Their assault on the city is continuing and they have taken no steps to allow civilians to escape.”
“Although the UN has been granted access to investigate, their team may not reach Misratah for days, and we already know how dire the conditions are in the city. The people there need help urgently, and they need it now,” said Malcolm Smart.
The Libyan authorities have cut off all communications networks, leaving Misratah’s residents without any ability to contact each other or the outside world.
Long lines for bread and petrol have formed as supplies dwindle.
Despite Libyan government assurances yesterday that a humanitarian corridor would be created, ongoing fighting in Misratah is obstructing the supply of desperately-needed medical and food aid and preventing safe evacuation of the wounded and of thousands of foreign workers who remain at the port area desperate to leave.
Amnesty is calling on all parties to the conflict, including NATO, to take all necessary measures to establish an effective humanitarian corridor, and is urging the local authorities leading the opposition to Colonel al-Gaddafi in Misratah to prioritise the evacuation of civilians who have been wounded.
“The medical situation is acute and worsening, with serious shortages of medicine, hospital supplies and electricity generators. Thousands of people have been wounded and clean water is in short supply,” said Malcolm Smart.
In a welcome move, the UK government has said it will fund more evacuations by ship from Misratah. Amnesty International is calling on other states to send medical supplies, food, communications equipment and emergency electricity generators to the civilian population.
The battle for the city has displaced thousands of residents, many of whom fled their homes with only the clothes on their back. Their safety is constantly imperilled by rockets and mortars fired by Libyan government troops, who have also been using cluster munitions against civilian areas.
“Judging by their track record to date, public assurances by the Libyan government that they will cooperate to protect civilians ring hollow and lack credibility. We cannot rely on them. The international community must do all it can now, with real urgency, to provide more humanitarian aid to the people of Misratah and ensure the protection of civilians there,” said Malcolm Smart.
An Amnesty International delegate has been in Misratah since 14 April 2011.
More on Amnesty International: http://www.amnesty.org/ | <urn:uuid:fbe45928-b67b-4cea-b1cf-3d0339025b12> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.ekklesia.co.uk/node/14598 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368705953421/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516120553-00000-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.964244 | 655 | 1.828125 | 2 |
(CFSP) Over the weekend, a drama with potentially horrific consequences for freedom-loving Americans played out half-a-world away.
A Saudi newspaper columnist named Hamza Kashgari was detained in Malaysia, reportedly on the basis of an alert by the International Criminal Police Organization, better known as Interpol. Reuters quotes a Malaysian police spokesman as saying that, “This arrest was part of an Interpol operation which the Malaysian police were a part of.” It was apparently mounted in response to a “red notice” (or request for help apprehending an individual) issued by Saudi Arabia. Kashgari was then sent back to Saudi Arabia where he faces almost certain death.
Mr. Kashgari’s crime? He criticized the founder of Islam, Mohammed, on his Twitter account. According to press he reports, he addressed the man Muslims call theProphet directly, writing: “ I have loved things about you and I have hated things about you. There is a lot I don’t understand about you….I will not pray for you.”
The reaction in Saudi Arabia has been characteristically over-the-top when it comes to such alleged “blasphemy” against Islam. Clerics have denounced Kashgari for apostasy, a capital offense under the totalitarian Islamic code known as shariah. And tens of thousands of his countrymen have expressed indignation, with some 13,000 signing an online petition calling for the columnist’s execution.
Interpol is basically, an international coordination mechanism for national police authorities that is supposed, as Jago Russell, the chief executive of the British NGO Fair Trials International told The Guardian, “to respect human rights and free speech” and steer clear of “religious or political cases.” So why, if the Malaysian police are telling the truth, did it apparently violate all such guidelines?
An Interpol spokesman insists that his organization had nothing to do with Hamza Kashgari’s apprehension in Malaysia and involuntary return to Saudi Arabia. What is clear at this point is that the Saudis sought help apprehending the man who fled their not-so-tender mercies. It seems likely that the Saudi red notice to Interpol provided the Malays a pretext for intercepting and extraditing a columnist who dared to exercise free speech.
If Interpol is now being used, in effect, to enforce shariah blasphemy laws, it is not just somebodyelse’s problem. It is ours.
Monday, February 13, 2012
Interpol, Shariah's Police | <urn:uuid:95fba383-4756-4a82-9872-6cf9c7dd8783> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://the-eyeontheworld.blogspot.com/2012/02/interpol-shariahs-police.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368697974692/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516095254-00028-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.960449 | 531 | 1.710938 | 2 |
Hi everyone, I wanna send single image frame over socket programming in c language. My socket programming is TCP/IP socket programming. I don't know how to send image frame over socket. I will get image frame from stream. So how to do it? If anyone know, please kindly share me.thanks.
The main thing is that the sender and receiver have a common understanding of what's being transfered. So they'll need a way to communicate how much data is being sent and the format.
You can send the total size of the frame in 4 bytes to begin with. If you agree that this uint32_t is sent in network order, you can use htonl to encode it and ntohl to decode it. That'll deal with endian issues.
You can then send the rest of the data. The client will know how much data to listen for. I can't really comment the data itself at this point. | <urn:uuid:ee81ef83-028e-4cfd-8271-9c872cc5536a> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.cplusplus.com/forum/unices/91414/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368708766848/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516125246-00015-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.952273 | 193 | 1.695313 | 2 |
The Giants' mascot may know the team's leading investor, Charles Johnson, better than any of the current players do. Most of them wouldn't recognize the man, one of the 100 wealthiest people in America, if he wandered into the clubhouse.
Lou Seal, on the other hand, has visited Johnson's Bay Area home, Hillsborough's historic Carolands mansion, which doubles as a residence and entertainment venue, often used for fundraising.
Johnson and his wife, Ann, host an annual holiday party for children of Shelter Network, which helps homeless families become self-sufficient. Johnson has never exercised a bigger owner's prerogative than requesting that the mascot and a former player or two spend time with the children at the party, Giants chief executive Larry Baer said.
Johnson, 79, has signaled a strong intention to stay removed from the day-to-day operations of the team. As he accrued a larger stake last year and became publicly acknowledged as the top partner, the Giants declined all requests to interview him. On the recommendation of a family friend, Johnson agreed to talk to The Chronicle about his personal history, but not team business.
His earliest ties to the franchise, he said, stretch back to its New York days and his childhood in Montclair, N.J. His father had a box at the old Polo Grounds. Johnson remembers having seats in left field during the 1954 World Series and witnessing one of the greatest moments in baseball history - Willie Mays' sprinting over-the-shoulder catch of Vic Wertz's deep drive to center.
"Nobody thought he was going to catch it," Johnson said.
Transferring loyalty back
His first great baseball memory, however, formed at the Jersey shore and led Johnson to what Giants partisans might consider heresy. It turned him into a Yankees fan.
In the early 1940s, wartime rationing forced teams to hold spring training close to home. The Yankees went to the same Asbury Park hotel where Johnson's family spent vacation.
"Which, of course, for a 9-year-old kid was pretty dramatic," he said. "I got a ball signed by every one of the players, and they were really nice to me. So I liked the Yankees for a while."
Seventy years later, he has transferred more than loyalty back to the Giants.
In 1957, as the team decided to move West, the 24-year-old Johnson took over a modest collection of mutual funds started by his father 10 years earlier. He would build the global financial-services empire now known as Franklin Templeton Investments, and become, like the Giants, an East Coast transplant to the Bay Area.
When the financially pinched club appeared to be on the move again in 1992, to exile in Florida, Johnson signed on with a local ownership group formed to block the team's departure. His initial contribution made him a lower-level investor, but over the years, Johnson's stake grew substantially. Among the 32 owners, he has moved steadily and quietly into the lead position, following the pattern of a lifetime.
As a young athlete, Johnson did not favor baseball. He played football at Montclair High and Yale, where he earned a varsity letter as an offensive guard, but lacked the size to win a starting job.
"They knew Charlie could laugh at himself," said Ashton, a lifelong friend. "And even though he wasn't one of the biggest guys, he'd make up for it by being more tenacious than everybody else."
Despite having a father who worked on Wall Street and a future as a billionaire, Ashton said, "Charlie Johnson was not perceived as wealthy when he came to Yale. Nor was he."
His parents had divorced when he was in grade school, and he and his four siblings lived with their mother. Their father remarried and had three more children, including a son, Rupert Jr., who would become Charles' second in command at Franklin.
When he arrived at Yale, Johnson worked as a waiter at a dining hall. The Yale Club of Montclair had given him a scholarship, which required him to hold the job.
"Then I gave up the job, because I wanted to focus more on my studies," he said.
As the threat of being drafted during the Korean War loomed, Johnson joined the Army ROTC, committing to a two-year tour that he could defer until graduation. A month before reporting to a base in Texas, he married Ann Lutes, whom he'd met on a college spring trip to Bermuda. Assigned to a guided-missile battalion, he ended up stationed in Germany.
When Johnson returned to the States, he took charge of the mutual funds crafted by his father. A Texan who attended West Point, Rupert Johnson Sr. chose the original company name, Franklin Distributors, in honor of Benjamin Franklin.
"He always was a great fan of Franklin and his financial advice in 'Poor Richard's Almanac,' and his basic philosophy of life," Charles Johnson said, chuckling as he recited aphorisms. " 'A penny saved is a penny earned. Early to bed, early to rise.' "
Mutual funds were a generation away from becoming fashionable, and Franklin had just $2.5 million under management in 1957, making it a bit player in the field. But Johnson was on his way to becoming a bona fide Bronco Nagurski of finance.
Charles and Ann Johnson moved to California 1973, bringing a brood of seven with them - four girls and three boys.
Franklin's first public offering set up the purchase of an investment firm in San Mateo called Winfield & Co, which had nearly twice Franklin's assets and a state-of-the-art record-keeping system developed by Winfield and IBM.
A 1997 profile of Franklin Templeton in Institutional Investor magazine described its CEO pitching in to help with busy phone lines, greeting callers with: "Franklin shareholder services, this is Charlie. How can I help you?"
Johnson pointed out that, in those early years, any executive would help when phones got busy. As the company grew exponentially in the '80s, things were bound to change.
"I always answer my own phone because I find it saves time," he said, setting up a dry punch line, "but, of course, I don't give the number out to everybody."
In 1992, the Giants' would-be rescuers - Baer and Safeway chairman Peter Magowan - were scouring the Bay Area for investors to raise about $100 million. Baer sought out Johnson and persuaded him to buy a small stake. Johnson said he believed it was important for the city to keep its baseball team. He also provided a valuable scouting report. Harmon Burns, general counsel at Franklin, adored the Giants; Johnson sent Baer in his direction.
Burns did buy in, initially sharing the top ownership tier with six others. He and his wife, Sue, became the leading investors after the 1994 players strike, which increased the need for regular capital infusions and scared off some shareholders. Johnson said he also increased his ownership share in the club at that time.
After Harmon Burns died in 2006 and Sue passed away in 2009, Johnson bought some of the family's shares from their two daughters.
"They had to sell some of their interest for estate-tax purposes," he said, "so I got more involved."
He acquired more shares when Magowan partially divested after stepping down as managing partner in 2008, and another block when Magowan's successor, Bill Neukom, left last year. The Giants do not release specific percentages of ownership, but Johnson's current stake has been estimated at close to 25 percent.
Over the years, Johnson said, he had become acquainted with very few players personally. Barry Bonds, baseball's all-time home run leader, was one exception, he said, although they got to know each other only a little. Johnson attends only a handful of games each season, and he often sends a family member to represent him at investors meetings.
As he added the Giants to his portfolio in 1992, Johnson also consummated a deal that refashioned Franklin. He bought the investment firm founded by Sir John Templeton, an American-born Brit renowned for his stock-picking wizardry and fascination with spirituality.
Today, one of Johnson's sons, Gregory, runs the firm as CEO. A daughter, Jennifer Bolt, is chief operating officer. At one point or another, Johnson said, all of his children have worked at the company in some capacity.
"They might have been licking envelopes," he said.
Yet they never saw their family name in the company's title. That wasn't the Johnson way.
The Carolands mansion in Hillsborough isn't Johnson's style, either. Built between 1912 and 1915 by the heiress to the Pullman Railway car fortune, it has 100 rooms, a grand atrium and steep maintenance requirements.
By the late 1990s, the decaying mansion needed a benefactor. Carolands spent most of its existence in abandonment, attracting crime and repeated threats of demolition.
The mayor of Hillsborough persuaded Johnson's wife, Ann, to renovate the property and save it from developers. She oversaw a project estimated to have cost more than $20 million.
"I told Ann I'd never move there," he said, "but if she wanted to restore it, fine."
That vow did not hold up. The couple, he said, decided that their "wonderful house near the school" would suit daughter Jennifer's family, which includes five of their 17 grandchildren. They took up residence in a third-floor apartment at Carolands, and devoted the grand main floor to entertaining.
Johnson said he and his wife attend about half of the events held at the mansion. They travel frequently, spending two months each summer in Nantucket. He conducted interviews for this story by phone from their home in Palm Beach, Fla.
The party for Shelter Network "is a pretty amazing thing," said former Giants first baseman J.T. Snow, who has attended with former pitcher Vida Blue and the mascot. "They bring in little kids who wouldn't otherwise get a good Christmas, and they get to go room to room, get a present and get autographs from us."
The Republican National Committee held a fundraising dinner there in 2008, with a visit from then-President George W. Bush. Numerous San Francisco cultural institutions have held benefits at the estate. The Lucile Packard Children's Hospital at Stanford also has used the mansion and received some of the family's most visible and personal donations.
Ann Johnson received a medical degree from Stanford in 1976, and served a psychiatric residency there. Her name is attached to a nurses' scholarship. The family has endowed two centers for the care of newborns at the hospital, one in memory of their youngest child.
Mary Johnson died of a pulmonary embolism in 1990 while visiting Kenya as part of a campaign to save elephants and rhinoceroses from poachers. She was 23.
In her name, the Johnsons also donated an arts room to the Santa Catalina School in Monterey. "She loved the theater," said her father, who shares an affinity for performing.
College friends remember Charles Johnson at sing-a-longs around the piano. "He had a great voice," said Donald Scharf, assistant manager for Yale football during Johnson's time. "Still does."
The college's famed a cappella group, the Whiffenpoofs, produces a troupe from each class, which stays together and performs at alumni events. Johnson did not participate as a student, but after several members in the Class of '54 Whiffenpoofs passed away, he was recruited as a first tenor.
Yale has been a favored beneficiary. Johnson's $5 million donation toward renovating the football stadium resulted in the field being named for the Class of 1954. He recently funded a center to house Henry Kissinger's archives at the school.
"A lot of what he gives, nobody hears about," said Ashton. "I'm sure I don't even know all of it."
Keeping his distance
As he became more invested in the Giants, Johnson did not increase his visibility around the team. Manager Bruce Bochy said he has met, but not really gotten to know, Johnson.
Based on impressions from the holiday party, Snow called him "a down-to-earth, soft-spoken guy."
Johnson didn't fly to Texas for the deciding game of the Giants' 2010 world championship. He watched on TV. Daughter Jennifer represented the family in the victory parade.
In his 20 years as an investor, "I can't remember one time he has ever asked me 'Why did we make this trade?' or 'Why aren't the seats filled?' " Baer said.
Johnson bought into the Giants at a time when baseball teams appeared to carry primarily sentimental value. With a strike looming and the NBA's popularity booming in Michael Jordan's prime, the sport's future looked bleak.
Yet baseball entered a renaissance. The Giants' downtown park became a boon, and surrounding real estate promises greater revenue. Ten days ago, a Bankruptcy Court judge approved a record-shattering $2.15 billion sale of the Dodgers, enhancing the value of every franchise.
"It certainly worked out better than I thought it would," Johnson said, chuckling. "I didn't expect anything."
Johnson did, as it turns out, lose his first precious slice of the game - that baseball signed by the Yankees.
"It got either stolen or misplaced years and years ago," he said, prompting a sigh from his listener. "I know. If I had it today, it would be fantastic."
Gwen Knapp is a San Francisco Chronicle columnist. [email protected] | <urn:uuid:fb9c6d1b-fdda-4c6e-a792-b0bc64b93203> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.sfgate.com/giants/article/Charles-Johnson-top-Giants-owner-keeps-low-3466803.php | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368704713110/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516114513-00042-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.984216 | 2,866 | 1.710938 | 2 |
Legal cloud remains over Cache Creek landfill expansion
B.C.'s high court has ruled an Interior aboriginal group may not have been properly consulted in the environmental assessment of a proposed major expansion of the Cache Creek landfill.
The B.C. Court of Appeal did not immediately quash the environmental certificate issued last year, but ruled B.C.'s environmental approval process was defective and left the door open for the Nlaka'pamux Nation Tribal Council (NNTC) to file a new legal challenge to overturn the approval.
At stake is whether or not the Cache Creek landfill will be permitted to take garbage from Metro Vancouver for another two decades or more.
The 40-hectare expansion is proposed by the Village of Cache Creek and landfill operator Belkorp Environmental Services, even though Metro's board has vowed since 2008 to stop dumping in the Interior and deal with the region's waste closer to home.
Metro wants to pursue waste-to-energy options, which could see it build a new incinerator to burn garbage that can't be recycled.
Some opponents who fear worsening air quality in the Fraser Valley hope Victoria rejects the idea – the province must still make a decision on Metro's draft solid waste plan – and direct the region to keep trucking waste to Cache Creek.
The appeal court ruled the Environmental Assessment Office should have formally consulted the NNTC, which has opposed the dump expansion on grounds it may leach toxins and contaminate groundwater and local wildlife.
"Denying the NNTC a role within the assessment process is denying it access to an important part of the high-level planning process," the court found.
Successive court rulings have found governments have a duty to consult First Nations whose aboriginal rights may be infringed when a major project is proposed on land they claim.
The province's environmental review did consult numerous local bands, some belonging to the broader Nlaka'pamux First Nation and others to the Secwepemc First Nation, neither of which has a governing body speaking for the whole group.
Some of the bands back the expansion and the jobs the landfill provides, while others, particularly the ones allied with the NNTC, oppose it.
Both the Nlaka'pamux and Secwepemc claim the land the landfill extension sits on.
The competing claims and animosity between aboriginal groups made it a "daunting" job to craft a meaningful yet efficient consultation process, the court found.
"Difficult as it might have been to fulfill," the judgment said, "the Crown's duty to act honourably towards First Nations makes consultation a constitutional imperative."
Cache Creek Mayor John Ranta said the next step depends on whether the NNTC now moves to overturn the environmental certificate.
"If they're successful, that may put the project in some jeopardy," he said.
A previously approved short-term expansion of the landfill allows Metro to continue using Cache Creek until about the end of 2015.
Metro waste management committee chair Greg Moore said the ruling does not appear to affect the region's direction, as Metro intends to have new waste-handling facilities in place within the next few years.
"We don't plan on using Cache Creek past our current contract date," he said. | <urn:uuid:9db503ad-fdc5-42a4-82ca-d5738da3b345> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.northshoreoutlook.com/news/116630648.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368707435344/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516123035-00037-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.939904 | 668 | 1.757813 | 2 |
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Sea Shepherd: Defending the Integrity of the Southern Ocean Whale Sanctuary
Our Antarctic campaign has become stronger and more efficient – but the Japanese whalers are getting recklessly aggressive
I don't think that there is a more isolated, more remote, or more forbidding place on this planet than where we find ourselves at this moment.
Draw a line due south from Sri Lanka for 4,404 nautical miles and it will bring you to Prdyz Bay, deep in the Cooperation Sea, close to the massive Amory ice shelf.
Some 2,632 nautical miles to the north-east is Perth, Western Australia and 2,632 miles to the north-west is Cape Town, South Africa.
In contrast, we are only 1,380 miles to the south pole.
It is summertime in Antarctica and outside on the deck, the wind is blowing at 30 knots and the temperature has dropped to -10C.
On our port beam at a quarter of a kilometer, and just barely discernible through the misty swirling snow is the Sea Shepherd ship Bob Barker. I can see her taking white water over her bow and hoar frost clinging like bleached algae on her blue, grey, and black mottled hull.
Ahead of us another quarter of a kilometer, a massive black hull plunges and bucks in a frothing sea. And as if the sea spray was not enough, the ship fires six high-powered streams of sea water in different directions. Briny icicles hang from her rails.
I can see the stern slipway, that awful maw that literally swallows whales whole, wasting nothing, they say, except for the whales themselves.
The beautiful creatures get dragged onto the flensing deck to be mutilated and cut into pieces, to be frozen and boxed below deck as streams of steaming blood pour into the sea from the scuppers.
The Sea Shepherd Crew call that floating mechanised abattoir the cetacean Death Star. It is the Japanese whale-processing factory ship the Nisshin Maru, and for nine long years we have hunted her down in these waters with the single objective of interfering with her primary activity – the slaughtering of whales.
I suppose in a way, I am the mirror image of the fictional Captain Ahab. Instead of a white whale, it is a whale-killing death ship that I have been obsessed with stopping.
Nine voyages I have spent in these hellish cold waters, totaling near 30 months. This voyage is now in its 105th day, a voyage that began in Melbourne, went north to American Samoa, then south again to New Zealand, and further south still, to the Ross Sea; and for the last 18 days a pursuit of some 2,500 miles westward to this forsaken place.
Forsaken yet incredibly beautiful. The seas are bejeweled with thousands of icebergs, ranging in size from that of a small building to massive tabletops larger than major cities. And it is not all white on blue, the icebergs boast a spectrum of blues, indigos, and greens; and the ever-present sun splatters the horizon twice a day with the spectrum of reds, orange and yellows.
In the sea and flying through the air are the great living treasures of these waters - the birds, whales, seals, and penguins; and beneath the surface the great schools of fishes and the vast plumes of plankton and krill.
What brings us down here year after year is the simple fact that these waters have been designated by the international community of nations as the Southern Ocean whale sanctuary, and we are here to defend the integrity and the sanctity of this legal sanctuary for whales.
The Japanese whalers are slaughtering protected, threatened, and endangered species of whales within this sanctuary in violation of a global moratorium on commercial whaling. They are also in contempt of an Australian federal court ruling from 2008 that specifically forbade them from killing whales in the waters of the Australian Antarctic territory.
Three days ago the Japanese harpoon vessel Yushin Maru #2 killed a minke whale within the Australian Antarctic Territory, only 50 miles from the Australian Davis Research base on the Antarctic coast.
This is the first time since 2009 that they have killed a whale in front of us and they did so deliberately to test our resolve.
In December 2012, the US 9th district court granted a temporary injunction to the Japanese whalers that ordered the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society USA to not approach within 500 yards of the whaling vessels.
Sea Shepherd USA immediately complied with the injunction. Sea Shepherd USA has never broken an American law from the day it was founded in August 1977. In compliance, Sea Shepherd USA stopped all funding to Operation Zero Tolerance and withdrew all support, leaving the campaign in the hands of Sea Shepherd Australia under the leadership of Bob Brown, the former Australian Federal Senator and Leader of the Greens.
Bob Brown had previously led a Sea Shepherd campaign with the Steve Irwin to protect whales in Western Australia, and the Southern Ocean campaigns have been staged out of Australia since 2005.
The Japanese whalers, however, mistakenly thought that the US courts could exercise jurisdiction over Dutch- and Australian-flagged and owned vessels under the command of Australian, French, Indian and Swedish captains operating out of Australian and New Zealand ports into international and Australian territorial waters.
Thus we had the strange situation of Japanese whalers operating in contempt of an Australian federal court ruling, killing a whale inside the Australian Antarctic Territorial waters, and warning a Swedish captain of a Dutch-flagged ship that they would be in contempt of a US court should they interfere with their unlawful activities in an internationally established sanctuary for whales.
Captain Peter Hammarstedt was not about to watch the poachers transfer a dead whale to the factory ship without interference. He blocked the transfer. The factory ship and the harpoon vessels deployed prop fouling lines to stop him but the Bob Barker crew took to small boats and cut the lines.
It took 12 attempts and most of the day before they were able to transfer the poached whale.
They finally managed to do so by making an extremely dangerous lunge at the Bob Barker with the Nisshin Maru. Five times the size of the Bob Barker, the ramming would have breached the hull. Thus as Captain Hammarstedt had no choice but to dodge the collision, the move allowed the harpoon vessel to dash in front of the Bob Barker and behind the Nisshin Maru, where a cable was quickly attached to the corpse of the whale and it was hoisted up the slipway onto the flensing deck.
The next morning the Steve Irwin arrived, and with two ships on the stern of the Nisshin Maru, the whaling operations were shut down.
Three days later, the whaling operations have not resumed. The harpoon vessels have all disappeared, leaving the Steve Irwin and the Bob Barker chasing the Nisshin Maru ever further west.
Each year that Sea Shepherd has returned to these waters since 2005 the campaign has gotten stronger and more efficient. Last season, the whalers took only 26% of their kill quota and the season before that they took only17%.
This season, with four ships, the campaign is stronger but facing more challenges. The injunction imposed on Sea Shepherd USA weakened the finances of the campaign, but it did something even more threatening to the crews of these four ships. It has emboldened the Japanese whalers.
The Japanese whalers have never before been more recklessly aggressive. The Sea Shepherd ships have been forced to yield to uphold our primary operational concern and that is to not cause any injuries to either side.
The whalers destroyed the Ady Gil in 2010 and did not have to answer for it. They were not even questioned. They have interpreted the US court injunction as de facto permission to be more aggressive. They have the total support of the Japanese government, and although Australia and New Zealand are taking Japan to the international court in the Hague this year, both countries have not done anything to actually stop the slaughter of whales.
Thus it has been left to a small band of international volunteers to protect and defend the whale sanctuary, despite being marginalised and given labels ranging from extremists to eco-terrorists.
Yet after nine year of confrontations Sea Shepherd have not caused a single injury or inflicted any damage on the Japanese ships; whereas they have injured Sea Shepherd crew, damaged Sea Shepherd ships, and completely destroyed one vessel.
These whalers are poachers and no different than elephant and rhino poachers in Africa, except for the fact that the African poachers are generally black and poor and they are shot for their crimes.
The whale poachers on the other hand are encouraged by their own government to continue their crimes.
This is a strange battle down here in the Southern Seas. Within two days we expect that the three harpoon vessels, along with the armed government vessel Shonan Maru #2 and the Korean tanker Sun Laurel, will catch up with the Nisshin Maru. That will pit a whaling fleet of six against three Sea Shepherd ships.
The Sea Shepherd crews are committed to blocking the illegal whaling operations, and it appears the whalers are under orders to kill as many whales as possible. This is gearing up for a major showdown, and the challenge for the Sea Shepherd volunteers is to save as many whales as possible while ensuring that no one is injured by an increasingly hostile and aggressive crew of whalers, made all the more dangerous by the extreme remoteness and intense weather and sea conditions.
The Japanese Fishery Agency issued themselves a permit to kill 935 protected minke whales, 50 endangered fin whales, and 50 endangered humpback whales.
The Sea Shepherd Crew are confident that the whalers will take only a small fraction of this list of the condemned, and they will once again lose millions of dollars in profits.
And if they return next year, so will the Sea Shepherd Crew, and the year after that if need be. Because what is the point of declaring and establishing a sanctuary for whales if whales can be allowed to be killed there? | <urn:uuid:00caea81-4c02-41b6-8230-ff54dabe2832> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.commondreams.org/view/2013/02/18-3?quicktabs_1=0 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368705195219/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516115315-00028-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.956221 | 2,115 | 1.8125 | 2 |
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