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The Hardest Sermons and Other Resources
Help from Trusted Preachers for Tragic Times
Edited by Bryan Chapell (Zondervan, 2011)
The Facts: This is a collection of 25 sermons on challenging topics. Chapell writes about a third of the sermons himself, with other contributors (Keller, Piper, Barrs, Horton, and others) handling the rest. The introduction sketches a theology of suffering and addresses how to talk about the cross during difficult times. Each chapter includes a sermon, as well as a word about the real-life situation that inspired the sermon, specific concerns that informed the pastor's approach, and a short summary of the sermon's angle.
The Slant: No mere abstractions here. Each sermon was preached by a real pastor to a real congregation after a real tragedy. Taken together, they are quite an education. If you need direction for preaching a sermon at the funeral of, say, a special needs child (in two days!) you'll also find the sermons useful. The book doesn't cover every tragedy (divorce is conspicuously absent), but it is a great resource for addressing loss and difficult subjects from the pulpit.—Brandon O'Brien
Lit! A Christian Guide to Reading Books
by Tony Reinke (Crossway, 2011)
The Facts: Lit! is a Christian guide to reading books—and not just Christian books. Reinke makes a theological case for reading deeply and widely and provides practical applications to assist in doing so. This is a book "for any Christian who wants to read books and read them well."
The Slant: Lit! seeks to overcome obstacles that stand in the way of reading. These include distraction, busyness, competing priorities, etc. After clearing these hurdles, Reinke helps readers navigate both what and how to read. He delves into the value of reading fiction, both Christian and secular, laying out principles for structuring reading time, and exemplifying the value of reading deeply and broadly by quoting numerous authors and theologians. Chiefly, however, Reinke aims to draw readers closer to Jesus and urges them to be rooted in Scripture more than any other book. Lit! is both informative and inspiring for readers who want to read more—and more deeply.—Barnabas Piper
Engage A Guide to Creating Life-Transforming Worship Services
By Nelson Searcy and Jason Hatley (Baker, 2011)
The Facts: This is a book about systems. Specifically, about planning systems to improve the effectiveness of Sunday worship services. Its pragmatic instruction aims to help pastors and worship leaders lead in life-transforming ways.
The Slant: Right up front the authors declare "God is into systems." A provocative claim to be sure but one the authors aren't shy about championing. They use the acronym W.O.R.S.H.I.P. to lay out a system of preparation for worship services that starts with the big picture (yearly preaching calendars) and extends down to the nitty-gritty of service order and song selection. The instruction is interspersed with letters from pastors who have benefited from the planning and preparation tools ... | <urn:uuid:b0f5b19d-4fd4-407f-b9ed-28930cb7a04a> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.christianitytoday.com/le/2012/winter/hardestsermons.html?paging=off | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368701852492/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516105732-00016-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.939866 | 654 | 1.695313 | 2 |
The Winners' History of Rock and Roll, Part 6 - Linkin Park - Grantland
I’ve enjoyed every chapter of this series so far. What Steven Hyden has done very well here is not so much focus on the bands themselves as how they either created or epitomized the landscape shifts in rock and roll. Led Zeppelin is the template for the sound, style, and behavior, Kiss takes it to the ignored cultural hinterlands. Bon Jovi expands to more female audiences. Aerosmith comes full circle on both sound and style to where it is largely two different bands based on decades. Metallica transitions from underground to mainstream in a larger-scale version of the “sellout vs. pure” debate that we associate more with punk rock than metal more often than not.
Here, Linkin Park is the last band before terrestrial, commercial alt-rock formats on radio lose their bearings. The Black Keys will be Hyden’s final entry next week.
The only complaint I can raise is that U2 isn’t a focal point. But that’s probably because U2 is a bizarre, unusual chameleon across the past few decades, floating above whatever the rock thing is. It’s probably the same thing with Foo Fighters. | <urn:uuid:2cf2e60f-a507-4975-98aa-ee0687c33839> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://thethirdshift.tumblr.com/tagged/Grantland | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368696381249/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516092621-00033-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.930282 | 265 | 1.71875 | 2 |
MOUNT ULLA — Take it as a sign of spring. The Lazy 5 Ranch has baby camels.
The mothers and calves are doing fine, and you can visit them in the Horse Barn on your next trip to the ranch. They’ll only be in the barn a couple of more weeks before joining the other grazing animals.
You hate to say the birth of camels is a run-of-the mill thing for the staff members at Lazy 5, but Sarah Rogers and Jamie Ellsworth, who have been looking after the calves, are experienced in this kind of camel thing.
“I wouldn’t say old hand — but once or twice,” says Ellsworth, who has been at the Lazy 5 for seven years. “It looks great on your resume.
“... Just like any other babies, you have to watch them closely.”
Rogers says the mothers have been quite attentive. A veterinarian assisted in tube feeding the calves right after birth, but they took to nursing from their mothers almost immediately.
Like young colts, the camels stood on their wobbling legs within 30 minutes to an hour after birth.
Between the Hamptons’ two ranches, the Lazy 5 on N.C. 150 and The Farm at Walnut Creek in Ohio, staff members see the births of three to four camels a year, Rogers estimated.
Right now at the Lazy 5, there are six adult camels — five females and a male — and the two calves, which have yet to be named. There’s another pregnant camel in the herd due this spring.
The new mothers, Mary and Martha, came to the Lazy 5 from Ohio prior to Christmas so they could participate in the ranch’s nativity scenes. The staff also wanted the pregnant camels in a warmer clime for their deliveries.
For Mary, it is her first calf. She had a baby girl Feb. 19. Three days later, Martha gave birth to a baby boy.
To say they’re cute doesn’t quite do the calves justice. How can you not like those ugly mugs, the super soft and curly fur and the long, skinny stilts for legs?
The dromedaries have one hump, more like bumps on the calves. Besides nursing, they’ve been sampling alfalfa hay and some mixed grains.
The gestation period for camels is 12 to 13 months. When born, the calves usually weigh 50 to 75 pounds. Mary’s baby girl arrived at about the normal size. Martha’s boy has been a bit punier, though he seems in good health.
As you cam imagine, the visitors to Lazy 5 like baby camels.
“Any kind of baby in here is a hit,” Rogers says.
But young camels often suffer an identity crisis. When they’re in a pen without the mothers around, the calves usually are mistaken for llamas.
That doesn’t seem fair.
The Lazy 5 hasn’t decided what to do about names for the calves.
The staff might ask visitors to choose the names in some kind of contest, which no doubt will lead to suggestions such as “Lumpy,” “Humpy” and “Bumpy.”
But what about “Sarah” and “Jamie”? Having camels named for you has to look great on a resume, too.
Contact Mark Wineka at 704-797-4263,or [email protected]. | <urn:uuid:c4f9f55a-d6b4-4948-9bfe-93fd132e07c9> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.salisburypost.com/article/20130309/SP01/130309707/-1/SP01112012-SHOP-club/wineka-column-baby-camels-doing-well-since-their-births-in-february-at-lazy-5 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368699881956/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516102441-00012-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.954074 | 760 | 1.75 | 2 |
By Fred W. Baker III
American Forces Press Service
CAMP LEJEUNE, N.C., June 26, 2008 — Marine Capt. Ray Baronie was traveling in a convoy in Ramadi, Iraq, on Dec. 1, 2005 when an anti-tank round blasted his truck.
Baronie's legs were shattered, his body cut and bloodied. His driver was killed. The truck rolled onto its side, and then he was shot at.
But really hard times didn't hit until Baronie came back to the United States.
"That's really when hell started. In one year, I had 46 surgeries," he said.
Baronie's right leg was amputated above the knee. He lost major muscle from both legs. He can tap his thigh bone through the skin on the back of his left leg. He now walks with the help of a cane and a prosthetic right leg. Scars cover his arms.
But Baronie's injuries haven't stopped him from stepping in front of a Marine formation and continuing his active duty. In fact, quite the opposite. His injuries have uniquely qualified him to run one of three companies in the U. S. military designed to house and care for seriously wounded Marines.
Remarkably, Baronie was offered the job while he was still in the hospital recovering from his wounds. He now commands 100 or so Marines who make up Company A, Wounded Warrior Battalion East, part of the Wounded Warrior Regiment stood up at Marine Corps Base Quantico, Va., by order of the commandant of the Marine Corps in April 2007.
"I had to get better because I had to get back to work," Baronie said. "How fast could I get back to work? That's what it came down to. I think me knowing that I had a job sped up my recovery."
Overwatch Key to Recovery
The Wounded Warrior Regiment comprises two battalions, one on the East Coast here on Camp LeJeune, N.C., and one on the West Coast on Camp Pendleton, Calif., and a third company in Hawaii. It is the realization of the Marine Corps' historic push to accommodate the influx of seriously wounded Marines since the start of Operations Iraqi Freedom and Enduring Freedom.
Each provides coverage for Marines receiving care in their areas. The battalion here has oversight of more than 300 Marines who are recovering this side of the Mississippi River. The West Coast battalion has oversight of about 200 recovering Marines.
To date, more than 6,600 Marines have received Purple Hearts since the start of Operation Iraqi Freedom. About 1,200 are seriously injured and still on active duty in various stages of their recovery.
Baronie is one of the Marine Corps' nearly 3,000 injured who have returned to active duty. And he is not the only leader in the company who was injured in combat.
"The first sergeant got wacked with an [rocket-propelled grenade], the gunny got blown up in Afghanistan … and all three of my platoon sergeants have either gotten shot or blown up," Baronie said.
In these units, Marines spend their days concentrating on healing and transitioning to the next phase of their lives, whether that means recovering and staying on active duty or leaving the service.
A morning muster inside the dayroom starts each day here at about 7:30. Marines attend, if they are physically able. Every day company leadership visits each of the Marines, ensuring they are on the road to recovery. Nine squad leaders are responsible for about 10 Marines each.
"I think that's the key piece -- seeing them every single day. You can see if they're having a problem. You can see if they're depressed. You can see if they're over-medicated. That's the beauty of this place," Baronie said.
Activity as Therapy
The Marines occupy the two sets of barracks here. The more seriously injured are housed with the command staff. Others live across base. Married Marines live in town. Most receive medical support at Naval Hospital Camp LeJeune, but many go off base for specialty care. Others are sent to major medical treatment facilities across the United States.
During the day, Marines attend medical appointments and physical therapy, or meet with counselors and specialists. Of the Marines here, about two-thirds have jobs. If they are attending the local college, that counts as their job, Baronie said. Some have jobs in the barracks, others around base. One works in traffic court. Others help teachers at the local elementary school.
Staying active is key to healing, Baronie said. It is dangerous for Marines to stay isolated in their rooms for hours or days at a time. Baronie said he doesn't want any "professional X-Box players."
The battalion staff work out of temporary trailers arranged in a horse-shoe pattern beside 1940s-era red brick barracks. Wooden wheelchair ramps snake between the buildings. A new $27 million barracks complex is under construction that will move the Marines closer to the hospital and other treatment facilities on base. The West Coast battalion has a similar barracks construction project planned.
Three nurse case managers make sure Marines keep their appointments. This is sometimes difficult because medications and brain injuries muddle appointment dates and times for the Marines. More than three-quarters of them suffer from post traumatic stress disorder or a traumatic brain injury, Baronie said.
Baronie cuts them no slack, though, for missed appointments.
"The reason why you were sent here wasn't to pull triggers," Baronie tells the Marines. "It wasn't to go into the field. It is to heal. You go to your appointments. You have to do your part to get better."
If that sounds strict, it is. But that's because Baronie is looking out for the Marines. Just as other units prepare their troops for war, he prepares his Marines for the next stage of their lives.
"I try not to call them wounded warriors. I call them Marines," Baronie said.
Planning for the Future
"Life doesn't stop when you get wounded. You've got to have some type of responsibility and, whether you choose to stay in the Marine Corps or move into civilian life, you're still going to have to press forward," Baronie said. "What happens when you go into the civilian world and that corporation you work for … is trying to make money and you don't come to work? They might not care that you're wounded. You may hear two words -- you're fired."
Marine Capt. Ray Baronie, commander of Company A, Wounded Warrior Battalion East, Camp Lejeune, N.C., walks through his barracks inspecting renovations. Baronie was injured when an anti-tank round struck his vehicle in Iraq in 2005. Baronie decided to stay on active duty because he felt he could still contribute to the mission. While he was still in the hospital officials asked if he would consider an assignment leading other wounded Marines. DoD photo by Fred W. Baker III Hi-Res
The career planner for the company is himself an injured Marine who has stayed on active duty with a permanent disability, working limited duty. Marine Corps leadership has vowed to keep all injured Marines on active duty who can still work in some capacity. The limited duty assignment allows the Marine to receive a disability assignment from the service, for later benefits, but to stay on active duty in a job they can perform. The Marine can later decide to leave the service if he or she finds the circumstances too difficult.
For many, that next step is sometimes a greater dilemma than their recovery. Mixed emotions swell as they are forced to reconcile what they want to do with what their bodies will now allow them to do.
"These guys are torn right now because all of them are grunts (infantrymen). They left high school and didn't want to go to college. They wanted to join the Marine Corps and they wanted to shoot and blow up stuff," Baronie said. "And now … they may be able to stay in the Marine Corps, but they know that they won't be able to go back to that grunt community. They'll be found unfit to do that strenuous [job]."
The career planner, a Veterans Affairs representative and a "transition coordinator" all work from the battalion's resource center in the barracks. They help the Marines look at their decisions from more than an emotional perspective. They map out college plans or suggest other training programs, career paths, benefits and other financial incentives that are available, so that the Marines can look at the big picture.
Injuries Add Credibility
For Baronie, the difficulty is relaying to the Marines that they still can contribute to the mission, even if they're not on the front lines.
"Trying to get these guys to understand that just because you're not sweating, freezing, starving, and miserable in a grunt community, you can still participate and contribute to the Marine Corps mission," Baronie said. "Helping them understand that right now is the hardest thing."
Baronie's decision to stay in was easy, he said. As an adjutant, or an administrative officer, he is still able to handle the work.
"It was a slam dunk (decision) to stay in … since my job is administrative in nature," Baronie said. "I can punch this keyboard until my hand turns blue and I can still be a good adjutant. I can still do legal, I can still count Marines. I can still do all that."
Still, Baronie's crutches bother him; it's hard to carry stuff. And, he looks different. But what bothers him most is that it's hard to return a fellow Marine's salute.
He's not sure if he will stay in past his next assignment.
"Right now, I know I am contributing to the Marine Corps in this capacity. I'm putting a lot of hours in a day and taking care of my guys to the best of my ability," he said. "If I go to another unit and that training is going 45 miles an hour and I'm only good with 30, I will walk away. I will not stick around for the sake of sticking around.
"If the Marine Corps mission is slacking because of me, it will be time for me to go," Baronie said.
But for now, as Baronie moves around his company, inspecting repairs, talking to Marines and stopping in their small kitchen to see what is cooking, it is clear that he is one of them.
His injuries give him credibility. They know he has "been there" and do not hesitate to pull him aside to talk. Sometimes it's about problems. Sometimes it's just to talk.. Occasionally a "wheelchair jousting" match will break out in the halls, or -- Marines being Marines -- they begin good-naturedly beating each other with their crutches.
For Baronie and his Marines, this is home.
"I don't want to work anywhere else. I love just coming to work and hanging out with them. These guys are awesome," Baronie said. | <urn:uuid:329f1765-1aa0-4617-a809-b3a85538938c> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.defense.gov/home/features/2008/1108_warriorcare/marine_advocate1.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368707435344/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516123035-00025-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.979523 | 2,299 | 1.59375 | 2 |
Health & Human Services' Health Insurance Coverage Mandate
"The Church’s obligation to participate in shaping the moral character of society is a requirement of our faith. It is a basic part of the mission we have received from Jesus Christ, who offers a vision of life revealed to us in Sacred Scripture and Tradition."
~ Forming Consciences for Faithful Citizenship:
A Call to Political Responsibility from the Catholic Bishops of the United States | <urn:uuid:c2265d82-6afd-4963-b9fc-881a887c7aef> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.sfcatholic.org/CAN/Content.aspx?id=773&office=CAN | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368700958435/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516104238-00028-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.936704 | 91 | 1.617188 | 2 |
All of us who get together on the jagran day and remember Durga Ma are the Durga temple group.
Durga Temple Group does not charge any fee for the jagran or get involved with money.
The purpose of jagran is not to collect money but to get people involved in Bhajan Kirtan, and to express gratitude for what God has given us.
The purpose of the bank account is to hold the money collected in jagrans so this money may be used by any group constructing a Durga temple in this area.
Every Jagran devotee donates $1.00, $2.00, or $10.00, or more. Where does that money go? After every Jagran, the family that sponsors the Jagran picks up the Charhava(donation), counts it, and the next day deposits in the account # 3090031714 at the Sovereign Bank. No money is ever withdrawn from that account. Money only goes into that account. No money comes out of the account for any expenses. From the Jagran account the checks are only written to temples where we perform the Jagrans, for the temple expansion projects. Until today $46,000.00 has been donated to Satsang Center, Woburn, MA (the temple where most of our Jagrans were performed in the past years). Satsang Center is at present under construction to accommodate our growing attendance.
In addition, $ 27,000.00 plus has been contributed to Sarvadev Temple, Oxford, MA, where we have been performing Jagrans a few times a year. For the last year or so, since Satsang Center has been under construction, all the Jagrans have been performed in Sarvadev Temple. In the case of Sarvadev Temple, besides the donation of $27,000.00 plus, all the collection made during Jagran is also donated to temple. That is why there is no money being deposited in Sri Durga Temple account for part of last year. We have contributed $1,000.00 to the Chinmaya Mission temple in Andover, MA, to buy the carpets for their marble floor for the convenience of our devotees to sit comfortably. | <urn:uuid:f624f82e-7f72-4347-a219-a110ec432259> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.jagrata.org/aboutus.php | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368696382584/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516092622-00040-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.957773 | 464 | 1.617188 | 2 |
Yes, the lowest since, well, a Bush was President.
From FT:The dollar fell to a fresh 15-year low against a basket of currencies on Tuesday as the greenback continued to suffer from the prospect of a cut in US interest rates.
Expectations that the Federal Reserve would move to lower interest rates at its meeting on September 18 have increased since last week’s US employment report, which showed the recent turmoil in the credit markets had spilled over into the wider economy.
“The dollar remains undermined by the increasing prospect of monetary easing by the Federal Reserve as it attempts to forestall the US economy from slipping into recession,†said Derek Halpenny at Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi UFJ.
That’s right folks. Recession.
Think we didn’t have warning signs? Nonsense. For instance, this from 2004…
Against the Euro, a relatively new currency backed by a European economy that is bigger than America’s, the dollar has lost more than a third of its value. The same thing has happened to its value against the British pound.
What’s going on here?
Economists can give you a lot of arguments and counter arguments, most of them complex and some a little dodgy, but the simple answer is that America is living beyond its means.
Our government has been doing what the average American has been doing. While American families pile up credit card debt and re-mortgage their homes, the government is piling up national debt and mortgaging our future.
Who is our government borrowing from? Mostly other governments, it seems. Foreign central banks now hold 2.3 trillion dollars (that’s $2,300,000,000,000) in American IOUs such as U.S. Treasury bills and bonds. China and Japan are among the biggest creditors. If they decided to sell off a substantial part of this mountain of dollar assets, the dollar would collapse.
Should we care? You bet, as Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld would say. The collapse of the dollar would drive American interest rates sky high. Your mortgage would suddenly become unaffordable, your credit card debt all but unpayable. And forget about those foreign trips. Who could afford a ten dollar cup of coffee?
How did our government get to the edge of this cliff? Again, the answer is simple. The Bush administration cut taxes, launched two wars in what it calls the Greater Middle East, and is now bleeding lives and money in an Iraqi insurgency that shows no signs of abating.
Yep, that was written 3 years ago.
So then, I think I’ve had had my fill of voodoo economics and hugely expensive wars for the time being. Catch me in 20 years and I might be up for some of it again, but for the time being let’s try to balance the budget, make the dollar stronger and not try to spread democracy.
Oh, and let’s elect people who are actually fiscally responsible instead of pretending they are.
This entry was posted on Tuesday, September 11th, 2007 and is filed under Money, The World. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site. | <urn:uuid:af054546-d581-454a-870f-c53afdeb1adb> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://donklephant.com/2007/09/11/dollar-hits-15-year-low/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368704713110/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516114513-00022-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.965765 | 700 | 1.671875 | 2 |
Olive Tree says “We all want to find information on our ancestors and are overjoyed to find an ancestor’s diary or journal. But what about our own memoirs? It’s important as genealogists that we not forget about writing our own story.” To help us with this, Olive Tree will provide a prompt for each of the 52 weeks this year. She has a page called Sharing Memories that will list the prompts and week 1 is “Your First Childhood Memory”.
The earliest memories I have seem to be about the time we lived in Shawnee, Oklahoma and I have no idea in what order they may have happened. According to my baby book, where my Mom kept a record of all of our moves, we lived in Shawnee from April 15, 1963 through January 1964 so I would have been 2 years 8 months to 3 years 4 months when we lived there.
My 3rd birthday party was at my maternal Grammy’s house. For that birthday, my Dad made me a table and I had a neighbor & my cousin come over for cake. I remember feeling bad that they made my 18th month old cousin eat the birthday cake with her dress off so she wouldn’t get it dirty.
In the duplex we lived in in Shawnee, my bedroom was distinctive because it was a kitchen. It wasn’t the kitchen we cooked or ate in, it was an additional kitchen. For some reason, one day I peed in that sink. I remember coloring on the table my Dad made for me and that Mom was pleased with how easily all the crayon markings cleaned. (see Winking Bunny for a view of a corner of my bedroom with the table)
We went camping about this same time and did so in very primitive ways using a sheet hung over a rope as our tent. I remember watching my Dad easily pump some water for us out of this cool pump but when I tried it was so difficult to do and Dad took a picture of me filing a cup with water.
Around the same time just me and my Dad used to go to my paternal grandparents house fairly often. On one of these visits, Dad had a bicycle he was riding and I was on the back with my legs hanging down. Unfortunately, one of my legs got caught in the spokes so my Dad whisked me inside. I remember crying while laying on the divan with Grandma and Dad examining me and they were very nervous. I recall thinking that since my Grandma was a nurse, I’d be okay. It was nothing serious just a big scare and I think I got some ice cream out of the deal. (Then and Now about my Grandparent’s house) | <urn:uuid:9a78233b-0219-461b-9305-e20b15cb3186> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://kbea831.wordpress.com/2012/01/01/earliest-memories/?like=1&source=post_flair&_wpnonce=1fd78fe65c | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368702448584/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516110728-00033-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.982255 | 562 | 1.648438 | 2 |
My dear Rebecca,
Soon you will become focused on the urgent distractions of teenage life, not to mention imminent partying and dancing. Before that happens I would like to steal five minutes and make a wish for your future.
You were born with extraordinary gifts of character. You are responsible to a fault, a tad too literal for your own good, and you possess a natural tendency to aspire to do more than necessary. It was no surprise to your mother and I that you performed beautifully today at your Bat Mitzvah. We are very proud of you.
I sometimes joke that you are a very low-maintenance child. I may regret saying this at some point, but I would like to give you permission to stop being low-maintenance – at least for a little while. It is time for you to lose some of your innocence and grow beyond mere instinct.
Think of it this way. You already possess a keen ear for honesty and graciousness. Without much effort those traits will blossom as you grow up, turning you into a responsible and conscientious adult. Experience can help you bloom further, developing other traits you also possess, such as patience and generosity.
Consider patience. You have been endowed with an abundance of it. It enables you to step back from impulse, to reflect thoughtfully, or look beyond the merely ephemeral. However, it also has a downside. Patience fosters endless waiting if it lacks a well-specified aim and if it goes adrift.
As an adult you will face decisions that will try your patience. This is particularly so with choices over whether to give up or stay the course. These can be the most difficult in an adult life. So here is my first wish for you: to learn to refine your patience with your gifts for honesty and grace.
Now consider generosity. While you already are kind, generosity goes further. It is the foundation for the grandest form of human charity, whether it is writ in a large selfless gift or a small nurturing gesture of love.
As an adult you will see the fruits and failures of your generosity, how generosity leads to great achievements and disappointments. So my second wish for you is this: to learn to become aware of the fear of disappointment, to learn how not to make it central to your actions. Give to those around you in the most graceful way possible, with warmth, without expectation, and honestly.
Here is what I am trying say. Patience and generosity together, offered honestly and graciously, enable partnership and love, and many of the mature behaviors of grownup life. But these character traits do not arise by themselves. They develop during experiences, and most such experiences fall outside the routine. Some can be painful. I wish that you will have the courage to face these experiences as an inexorable part of growing up, and learn from them.
I have one more wish, and it starts with the hope that you do not take this advice too literally. This is just advice, not a rule. If you come up with a thoughtful answer to life’s riddles in your own unique voice, then it is your prerogative to use your gifts as you wish. So this is my last wish: whether or not you give these words any more than fifteen seconds of thought, please take a moment and share your thoughts with your mother and me. We would like to know your thoughts as you grow. I hope we can have a conversation.
And with that, it is time to party. Let’s start the party with a toast to life. L’chiam. | <urn:uuid:93d2e8ea-0531-4e2d-8374-310a3620f63e> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://virulentwordofmouse.wordpress.com/2012/01/16/a-fathers-wish-on-your-bat-mitzvah/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368696382584/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516092622-00023-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.965013 | 737 | 1.640625 | 2 |
If you listen carefully to what Jared Diamond is saying in the TED video above, he is describing not a five part, but a six part power curve into a systemic singularity. This has been one of the core themes of discussion of this blog. We all seem to be too close to our problems to see the commonality. The interrogatives come into play here:
Times and Distances being the basis on which the higher orders are built.
When we look at the recent economic “crisis” we see 300 trillion in currency circulating and roughly 1 trillion to 2 trillion shifting suddenly and unexpectedly. We witnessed a systemic collapse, a singularity, a tipping point, a power curve, an exponential change, a phase transition or whatever label you want to call it. These have been happening everywhere since Time and Distance began in different contexts and orders both in human and non-human systems.
What Jared Diamond and other alarmists are implying is that human society is now a system approaching its final singularity in this century on this planet. We are implying that today we are experiencing a less than one percent crisis on a power curve into a singularity. How many more iterations will the global system withstand? Will humanity make the step into space successfully before we experience a global dark age? How will the six or more factors in the power curve play out?
The truth to me appears to be that power curves whether they play out or not result in either a systemic climax or anti-climax followed by a systemic collapse. Would it not be better if we experienced a systemic climax that led to us expanding into the solar system?
Systemic collapse seems to be the fashion of this generation. Every generation looks with fascination at its own youth, maturition, reproduction and acceleration into mortality. Some die early, some die late, but all die. It is an irrevocable law of nature. It is not about self-interest. It is about what self-interest is defined as. | <urn:uuid:6ed74b00-348a-4ea6-9339-73a432f84f43> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://relationary.wordpress.com/tag/regularity/ | 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 | 0.948853 | 404 | 1.84375 | 2 |
“No, you big dummy, have you never heard of the Declaration of Independence?”
“Well do the calendars in England go July 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 5th……,” he said.
I’d been had. He got the last laugh.
Truth is, when I was a kid I didn’t waste much brain power thinking about the significance of the Fourth of July. What I did think about was baseball, cold watermelon, homemade ice cream, and trying to figure out a way to get a firecracker in the pockets of one of my cousins, before they put one in mine.
To me, the American Revolution seemed like ancient history. I don’t remember ever giving a second thought to all those forefathers who sacrificed their lives for me.
The flag was something flapping at the top of a tall pole in the school yard. Of course I always stood at football games when they raised the flag and played the national anthem, but it wasn’t until the mid sixties when friends started coming home from Vietnam in flag draped coffins, that I finally started thinking about the price of freedom.
Later when I entered college, I became a student of history. Our professor at Jeff State was a gifted teacher.
He not only covered the facts in the text books, but he brought history to life with stories that weren’t in the book.
In those lessons, I came to understand just how close this country came to failing in their quest for independence.
The signers of the Declaration of Independence were considered to be traitors by the Queen of England.
I think it was Ben Franklin who said “we must all hang together, or assuredly we will all hang separately.”
Now that’s putting your money where your mouth is. How many of us today, would be so bold?
It seems to me that our country is in no less of a peril today than in 1776. We don’t have English battleships in our harbors or foreign troops on our soil, but the threats and challenges are just as daunting.
We’re fighting two wars, we have the constant threat of terrorism, an economy that seems to be wobbly as a newborn child, and an oil spill that is the worst environmental catastrophe in history.
To make things worse, it seems our government is paralyzed and incapable of doing anything to help matters.
The problem, as I see it, is not that we are incapable of fixing things, but that we, as a county are divided practically down the middle. No one is willing to sacrifice.
Politicians start campaigning for re-elections the first day they take office. In this environment, they seem to be unwilling to compromise, or meet in the middle, for fear of losing votes.
Most Washington politicians are quick to tell you what they are AGAINST, but few stand up and say what they are FOR.
The solutions to our problems are not easy ones and they do not reside on the left or the right, but somewhere in the middle. Compromise is how this country started and if we don’t have the guts to start compromising again, it could lead to our downfall.
I believe deep down inside, that all Americans want a shot at a good job, a decent place to live, and to leave an environment fit for our children.
I plan to have some watermelon and homemade ice cream today, but my hope for this Fourth of July is that we all learn “to hang together” and get America back on the right path. | <urn:uuid:a6b5ff96-9252-47dd-8e7c-19e115a8e106> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://mountaineagle.com/view/full_story/8265723/article-Getting-America-back-on-the-right-track?instance=main_article | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368704392896/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516113952-00022-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.972573 | 753 | 1.757813 | 2 |
During the past six years, the Broward County Libraries Division has endured ongoing budget reductions and a significant loss of positions, but our adaptive, highly efficient library staff continues to deliver state-of-the art services to thousands of library users every day, earning a 92% customer satisfaction rating in its 2012 public service evaluation.
During the last fiscal year, our numbers have continued to rise:
- 8.7 million users entered one of our libraries.
- Over 500,000 attended a library program or used a meeting room.
- 10.5 million library items were checked.
- Over 87,000 new library cards were issued.
- Tens of thousands of books and music titles were downloaded from the library’s web pages.
- Over 75,000 volunteer hours were contributed.
- The new 55,000 sq. ft. Young At Art/Broward County Library opened last May and “Cyber-Commons,” Main Library’s second computer lab, opened in October.
- Two “micro-libraries” opened – the Little Green Library on Sistrunk Boulevard, named for its special collections related to sustainable and “green” living, opened in partnership with the Fort Lauderdale Housing Authority and the Foster Park Community Center Micro-Library opened in cooperation with the City of Hallandale Beach.
Other memorable highlights of the year include:
- The BCL WoW (Broward County Library Without Walls) rebranding campaign was launched. Our mobile app, extensive online reference and real-time one-on-one services for customer use and an expanded number of titles available for downloading was announced and enhanced throughout 2012.
- QR Code technology was used, linking library services and materials to customers directly via smart phones.
- eReaders are now available at many libraries throughout Broward County thanks to the Broward Public Library Foundation andthe Friends of the Library.
- The Foundation and the Friends support the programs and collections of the library, contributing a tremendous amount of time and donating hundreds of thousands of dollars for library collections, programs and equipment.
- The library published three eBooks and the volunteer program was expanded and improved.
- The library also added online credit card payments forlibrary fines.
- Non-County publicly funded or private grants allowed the library to provide literacy improvement programs. The library continued its After-School @ Your Library program at 11 libraries, funded by the Children’s Services Council of Broward County. The State of Florida provided funds for eight adult and youth literacy and jobs programs and the City of Sunrise, the Ann Jacobs Trust and the Jim Moran Foundation provided three other programs.
- The Libraries Division received five awards from the National Association of County Information Officers, the “Best Web Site Award” from the Florida Library Association and, from the National Association of Counties, the “2012 Achievement Award” for the library’s “BCL WoW – Broward County Library Without Walls” program.
Library Director Bob Cannon will be retiring in January 2013, During his tenure, he saw both rapid growth in facilities, services and technological advancements but at the same time, severe and continuing financial and personnel reductions. He says in summary, “These past years have truly been a challenging time for the staff, policy makers, administrators and the public alike. The Broward County Library continues to innovate, pursue and meet the information technology changes of the future, as well as meet library customer service needs well beyond expectations.” | <urn:uuid:1ac6b592-6456-4439-bc14-9d0baf524b39> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.broward.org/LIBRARY/MYLIBRARYONLINE/ABOUTUS/Pages/Highlights.aspx | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368702448584/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516110728-00003-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.935454 | 724 | 1.554688 | 2 |
Closure of Tufts dental clinic leaves disabled patients without care
Published: Tuesday, April 6, 2010
Updated: Tuesday, April 6, 2010 07:04
Tufts Dental Facilities' clinic in Waltham will close due to a cost-saving measure by the state, potentially leaving over 2,000 developmentally disabled patients without dental care.
Citing a lack of funding, the state plans to privatize the Fernald Development Center, a residential facility for patients with severe mental disorders, autism or brain injuries.
The center houses a Tufts dental clinic that as of June 30 will be forced to relocate or close.
"This is a huge injustice to the developmentally disabled population," Marilyn Meagher, head of the advocacy group Fernald League for the Retarded, Inc., said.
The Waltham clinic, the largest of its kind in the metropolitan area, provides dental care for developmentally disabled patients and serves as the hub of Tufts Dental Facilities, according to Executive Associate Dean of the School of Dental Medicine Joseph Castellana.
Castellana explained that Tufts Dental Facilities is a collection of seven School of Dental Medicine-operated sites serving disabled patients. It was established under a contract with the Commonwealth of Massachusetts following a 1976 class-action lawsuit that mandated the state provide the same or better care to disabled patients as if they were institutionalized.
However, with the upcoming closing of the Fernald center, the Waltham clinic must relocate or close.
"At the moment, it is an unresolved problem," Castellana said. "We are trying to find another location, preferably on state-owned property comparable to Fernald in order to provide the same level of care."
Tufts Dental Facilities patients cannot simply switch to a private dental practitioner because they suffer from severe metal defects, autism, cerebral palsy, head trauma, spinal chord injuries or other kinds of psychological disorders.
"These are not patients that can be treated in a conventional dental office," Castellana said.
"Although the actual dental care is very similar to [that of] a normal patient, the challenges are several-fold," Assistant Professor of Public Health and Community Service Darren Drag, who runs Tufts' special-needs dental program, said. "The reason our practice exists is to combat those challenges."
Drag further explained that a lot of the program's patients have behavioral challenges and require anesthesia or oral sedation, treatments that are rarely available in a typical dental office. Many patients are also confined to wheelchairs and require special accommodations such as large doorways and operating rooms.
In addition, Drag noted that 90 percent of the 9,000 patients Tufts Dental Facilities serves are covered under MassHealth, the state health insurance plan, which many dental providers do not accept.
"The whole mix of health insurance, medical complications, legal issues relating to third parties and financial constraints make it extremely difficult for patients to receive adequate care on their own," Drag said. "Tufts Dental Facilities staff is equipped to work with this population."
Castellana noted, however, that geographic and cost considerations are posing barriers to the Waltham clinic's relocation.
"Virtually all of our patients rely on third parties to transport them to their dental care, either by a contracted transportation party or a legal guardian," Castellana said. "In order to ensure that people get care, we can't have them traveling from one end of the state to the other."
He explained that although it is the state's responsibility to cover the expensive relocation costs, it does not currently have the funds to do so.
Drag noted that the 2010 closing date was agreed on before the recession and that funding for the relocation probably would have been available had the economy remained stable.
Tufts Dental Facilities could transfer patients from the Waltham clinic to other locations around the state, but, according to Drag, the most optimistic estimates suggest that other locations can only absorb 29 percent of those patients.
Meagher questioned the logic behind privatizing the Fernald Development Center, claiming that its new incarnation would become more expensive to maintain.
"I don't think this is a reasonable measure," Meagher said. "Closing the center would not be economical for the state because private vendors are more expensive to the taxpayer."
According to Meagher, since the planned closure of the center, there has been a reduction in the quality of care.
"The situation is getting very poor," Meagher said. "Services are getting cut and will continue to get cut, and residents are being put in jeopardy."
Castellana noted the sense of duty that he feels Tufts has to serve the disabled population.
"These are patients who cannot self-advocate and can't walk into a private dental office," Castellana said. "The burden is on all of us to serve this population. The state is required by a lawsuit to address this issue, but Tufts' dental school is obligated to serve this population because community service is inherent in our mission."
Every effort is being made to find a solution to the problem, according to Castellana.
"Tufts dental school is working every day to determine another location where we can provide services to patients who can't be absorbed and to work with [the] state and Department of Health to get funding and begin operation," Castellana said. | <urn:uuid:a8f55a25-b8a1-420a-ac34-3836f7ce50eb> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.tuftsdaily.com/closure-of-tufts-dental-clinic-leaves-disabled-patients-without-care-1.2212574 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368700264179/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516103104-00028-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.966308 | 1,105 | 1.8125 | 2 |
The biblical scriptures most often used to argue AGAINST homosexuality have been horribly and repeatedly misinterpreted, according to more than a few theologians and biblical scholars. How about we dissect the scriptural excuses for homophobia one by one?
Let us begin with the Creation story. Being Jewish, I was taught from an early age that the creation story isn't a literal story of where we came from, but meant to teach that we are all the same -- we are all made in God's image, be we black, white, purple, green, gay, straight, unsure, at the end of the day, we are ALL made in God's image.
Though the part of the creation story most used to justify homophobia seems to be the part about it being "natural" for man and woman to come together and make babies. That apparently passes for justification -- God says make babies, and gay couples can't do it, therefore, they are unnatural right? Well. What about couples that are infertile? Are they unnatural? What about people like my Aunt Ginny and Uncle Jack? They married in their sixties, far too old to have children. Are they unnatural? What about people who simply choose not to have kids? Are they unnatural? God didn't mean to exclude gay couples.
One really has no choice given the other possibilities but to take that line to mean "hey, sex is okay! It serves a purpose!" Which is great, because I sure love practicing making babies with my husband!
With Sodom and Gomorrah God wasn't mad about them being gay, God was mad because of their arrogance, and because they didn't share their wealth with the poor, but chose to hoard it all away. Ezekial 16:48-49 states that incredibly clearly.
As surely as I live, declares the Sovereign LORD, your sister Sodom and her daughters never did what you and your daughters have done. (48)
"Now this was the sin of your sister Sodom: She and her daughters were arrogant, overfed and unconcerned; they did not help the poor and needy.(49)
Nowhere in the bible is the word "sodomite" used to describe anyone other than people from Sodom. Which would make sense. I mean, you wouldn't use the word "Canadian" to mean anyone that says "eh?" would you?
And the passages in Leviticus that shun homosexuality? Calling it an abomination? The actual hebrew word used is TO'EBAH. It doesn't mean the same thing as abomination does in English -- it isn't a law, it's used to describe something that non-Jews did that Jews thought was displeasing to God. It isn't a quote from God, it isn't his law or his rules, it is what a bunch of people way back decided might probably not be cool in God's eyes. TO'EBAH doesn't refer to things like rape, or murder being evil, or the ten commandments -- not cold hard law, but closer to "you should probably wash your dishes before they get moldy."
Then Jesus showed up and said "all those rules? pfft. They don't apply to Christians" Though I'm sure he said it in a much nicer and more Jesus-y way. When Jesus says all those rules, he doesn't mean "just the ones about selling your daughter into slavery and wearing mixed fibers" he means, ALL of those rules. As in, don't pick and choose.
Keep in mind also, that back then things like STIs still existed, but we didn't have things like latex condoms to protect us from it. So the TO'EBAH made sense -- thousands of years ago. Not anymore. Just like we don't need rules telling us how to sell our daughters into slavery.
The TO'EBAH's actually based on pre-science. Back then, scholars believed that the whole of life was in semen (preformationism? Really?) As in, the baby was IN the sperm, and the woman was just an incubator. So if a guy masturbated, or withdrew before coming in his wife, he was killing a baby, not just a bunch of non-sentient haploid cells. When you've got a teeny tiny tribe of Jews trying really hard to populate a large space, that was a REALLY big deal.
Romans 1:26-27 has also been used to justify homophobia. Just for clarification, it was written by Paul, and is not the direct word of Jesus or God. Now, the word "unnatural" is used here again in reference to sexuality. To really understand the context of this word, you have to take into account what Paul was doing at the time -- he was writing a letter to Rome after being a missionary to the Mediterranean where he saw a bunch of pagan temples with a bunch of really weird habits.
First we have to agree that sexuality is a gift given to us from God. I'm not talking about specific sexual orientations, but the fact that God made sex feel really, really good as a treat for us (to oversimplify). He gave us either penises or vaginas, and he made the first fit really nicely into the second in such a way that makes the owners of said genitalia really, REALLY happy for a few minutes. No? The point however is that we shouldn't let our sex lives take control of the rest of our lives. Meaning, don't shirk responsibilities so you can get it on with your baby's daddy. Feed your kid, clean your house, and go to work already!
So, when Paul was busy preaching the word of God to all these pagans back then, he saw that they had some really weird sexual habits. Like castration and humping young hookers in an attempt to please the Gods of love and sex.
And THAT is what he meant by unnatural. God gave men testicles so they could ejaculate. And because they're fun. He didn't give them to guys so they could cut them off. He didn't give you your vagina so you could see how many penises you could stuff into it at once, and he didn't give you young children so you could hump them in honour of him. He definitely didn't like the false gods bit either. As a matter of fact, it would make sense that God would consider that kind of behaviour unnatural. You wouldn't pee in your kitchen sink just because you can, would you?
As for the last places homosexuality is mentioned anywhere in the bible (1 Corinthians 6:9 and 1 Timothy 1:10), it comes down to the mistranslation of a word no one really knows the meaning of. It's an old greek word "Arsenokoitai." Personally, I think it sounds like a cocktail. It wasn't until 1958 when some dude just randomly decided with no basis whatsoever that it meant gay people. Seriously. We are talking Greek scholars who study old Greek for a living throwing their hands up and going "I have no idea what it means, maybe it's a typo?" and some random dude decides it means gay people. Since the true meaning of the word is unknown, it becomes obvious that someone was inserting their own bias into the bible. Which makes it really, really depressing that so many people have been misled into believing that God hates people because of their sexual orientation. Especially sad is the fact that these come from letters Paul was writing trying to get Christians in Ephesus and Corinth to seriously quit bickering. And it really was bickering. He was telling everyone to grow up and love each other, and then some dude with a hate on for gay people decided to twist it around and corrupt it and turn it into a rant against two random guys that happen to be very much in love with each other. If Paul had meant homosexuals, he would have used the popular term of the time "paiderasste" which brings me to my next point.
Homosexuality did not exist then the way it does now. There weren't committed, loving relationships between two people. Instead, people engaged in pederasty. As in, grown men and little boys. I think we can all agree that THAT is morally corrupt.
Besides, God told us to love everyone and not judge. By saying homosexuality is immoral, you are passing judgement. God teaches us to be good people, and follow the moral outline he alone sets for us. Our relationship with him is personal, and so is our morality. Meaning, one should never impose their morality on others. | <urn:uuid:8cc8cb76-1618-457b-8231-1605b7dac644> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://nmvoiceofreason.blogspot.com/2011/07/is-homosexuality-really-against-bible.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368705559639/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516115919-00000-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.984422 | 1,766 | 1.625 | 2 |
China is developing a new range of long range nuclear missiles. China’s existing arsenal of 70 ICBMs and 410 warheads is currently “believed able to hit the US west coast”. The talk is now of a new Cold War arms race. Sorry guys, not this time.
Space Daily has an article from Voice of Russia which explains the Cold War logic:
On Thursday, Washington signaled its readiness to deploy elements of the US missile shield in Asia and the Far East, something that is almost certain to prod China to further expand its regional clout by notably beefing up its military might. Alexander Larin is expert of the Moscow-based Far East Institute.
"It is only natural that China continues to strengthen its army's defense capabilities," Larin says.
"We, however, should take into consideration the unfolding competition between China and the US over a spate of areas in Eastern Asia, a zone of China's vital interests. Beijing is trying to oust the US from these areas and undermine its influence there, something that spreads to a military sphere and makes China start an arms race."
The trouble with this theory is that it’s trying to write history in advance. If you read military history, you get a panoramic view of the thinking that causes and fights wars- Pre-war, during the war, and post war evaluations. Usually, these things have nothing in common. What was considered a great idea before the war turns out to be a stupid idea. Mistakes, misconceptions, and in many cases pure stupidity are often the major topics of the postwar evaluations.
China, as a matter of fact, is playing catch-up with its own technology, to start with. It is now a space-going nation with far superior technology to the much older missile classes of the past and a whole generation of new systems. You don’t own a Rolls Royce and ride a kid’s tricycle to work.
In tandem with this is the fact that a Cold War in Asia simply wouldn’t work. This isn’t Europe. The demographics of power and politics are totally different. Therefore the military considerations are different. What is China supposed to do, invade some pathetically poor little neighbouring country “on principle”? What the hell for? In modern military terms, that makes absolutely no sense.
China is not in “expansion mode”. Nor is it likely to be. It has enough on its plate with its internal management and development. The little territorial spats are more matters of prestige than military issues. Nor do the territorial spats exactly lend themselves to military operations. Imagine trying to park a fleet and troops on those rocks they’re arguing about in the South China Sea against any real opposition, and maintaining them there. It’s ridiculous.
The nearest thing to a political and military rival China has in the region is India. The two nations have better things to do with their time than waste money on futile posturing. They are already quite capable of doing each other significant damage, but can anyone realistically see a full scale war working, even in theory? It’d be a logistic nightmare for both.
China and the US, or how to find an excuse for more military contracts
The continuous drones from Washington about China’s military might and other clichés really don’t stand up to much scrutiny. China’s geographical position alone should tell a story. China is surrounded by non-threats. Who’s going to attack them? Their trading partners?
Who “should” they attack? Taiwan? The PRC has a lot of interests in Taiwan. It also has a lot of business partners and a convenient non-PRC located base for business. They’d be attacking themselves and their own money. Taiwan would be no use to China as a cinder, anyway.
“Undermining the US influence in Asia” is a bit hilarious. Have a look at the US presence in Asia, particularly the military presence. This is exactly the military profile the US is rewriting from scratch. It’s big, cumbersome and hopelessly out of date in terms of actual US military issues. A carrier group and a few subs could take care of the Pacific and maintain a strike capacity. US bases in the region date back to the Second World War.
The rest of the US presence in Asia is commercial. It’s a bit hard to see China developing nukes to attack junketing businessmen and management scientists on lecture tours. While a first strike on management scientists might help the world as a whole, the business guys would merely be replaced.
Politically, the US “conflict” with China so far consists of:
2. Needling China about its internal issues
3. An ongoing multi hundred billion dollar annual trade situation
4. A demand for more Chinese tourists
5. Selective myopia on various local issues
6. Misreading the PLA’s rebuilding program
Some basis for a war, but then the original Cold War was a 40 year goldmine for military contracts, wasn't it?
Shield, sieve or cosmetic presence?
The US missile shield theory is worthy of a look. In its previous incarnation, the idea of a missile shield deployed in Poland was scoffed at by both military analysts and Russia. The Russians were laughing their heads off. They pointed out that any missile base as proposed could simply be saturated with short range missiles or other tactical means. The base couldn’t have worked at all.
The US anti-missile technology is a roughly third generation removed from the original Patriots, which were barely able to hit comparatively primitive missiles like Scuds. These systems have improved considerably, but the truth remains that hitting an ICBM is not a simple process. That’s particularly the case with multiple warhead missiles. A missile shield would in practice be more like a sieve.
Then there’s the little matter of worthwhile targets and military priorities. Where you put your shield may not be where the other guy thinks is worth hitting. The shields may also simply be irrelevant. They can be targeted by conventional weapons. They need to be defended, too. The minute an opponent knows where they are, they become less effective, simply because their ability to hit targets is based on location and they become targets themselves.
Shielding the entire world by ringing China with shields would take literally hundreds of shields, deployed at great cost around the world, for no particular reason other than to have them there against a theoretical threat which may itself become obsolete as new systems and space-based capabilities emerge.
The shield theory has another problem. Pre-shield doctrines are a clue. During the Cold War, the sabre-rattling logic trundled along until it hit a real deterrent- The inability of Russia and the US to effectively shut down each other’s strike power. Russia’s mobile launchers and the US subs were too hard to hit. They were guarantees of massive retaliation. It was an insoluble problem.
China has its version of mobile launchers. These things are comparatively cheap systems. They’re hard to hit, easy to hide, and they would probably be able to fire most of their capacity. Even if the shields worked 100%, they have only so much realistic ability to stop a wave of nukes. Extrapolate a simple increase in mobile systems to the ability of the shields to achieve any given hit rate. You’ll get some interesting numbers.
The US might also want to look at another issue- It has flagged the development of its own micro-nukes and a very wide range of other advanced systems. Using the same logic as that used to decry China’s military policies, if any other country was developing weapons at the same rate as the US, the US would be putting in place deterrent systems against its own policies.
If you guys want World War Three, you’re going to have to do better than this. A credible threat, a credible enemy and a credible basis for war are required, and they’re just not here. You could try assassinating an archduke in Sarajevo, if you think it’ll help, but I doubt it.
This opinion article was written by an independent writer. The opinions and views expressed herein are those of the author and are not necessarily intended to reflect those of DigitalJournal.com | <urn:uuid:9c75d62f-780a-4113-a779-689b72633112> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://digitaljournal.com/article/331503 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368704713110/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516114513-00036-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.964077 | 1,745 | 1.75 | 2 |
Still suffering from the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, the New Orleans police department has it anything but easy as it tries to regain order among its officers as much as out on the city's streets.
The subject of nine U.S. Department of Justice investigations, 13 New Orleans police officers have been indicted for various crimes, ranging from shootings to civil rights violations that happened in the days after Katrina.
Lt. Mike Field vividly remembers driving down flooded roads, and watching as residents quickly became angry and desperate after having their livelihoods washed away.
"People started turning on the police, accusing them of all sorts of things. Police did this, police did that," he said.
The city was left in total chaos after the storm hit, and the New Orleans police department was scattered. Some officers stayed in the makeshift headquarters at Harrah's Casino, but hundreds reportedly abandoned their posts.
There were other reports of serious confusion over what rules to follow, and some officers claimed they were instructed to shoot looters.
One notorious incident took place on Danzinger Bridge, when police allegedly opened fire on several unarmed civilians, killing a 17-year-old and a mentally disabled man.
If convicted, the cops involved in those shootings may face the death penalty, and five others have pled guilty to trying to cover up their crimes.
"It reads like a horrible novel. It's just terrible," said Ronal Serpas, the new chief of police.
"When I read those guilty pleas, I was embarrassed for every police member's family in America who had to read and see what those people have admitted to doing."
A new Orleans native, Serpas said that mayor Mitch Landrieu's decision to bring in the Justice Department to conduct the investigations was "perfect ... exactly what needed to happen" to clean up the police department.
Serpas was working in Nashville, Tenn. when Katrina hit, but said Landrieu asked him to come back to help get the corrupt force back on its feet. Five years after the storm, he said there have been improvements but he is still evaluating their progress.
"I see tremendous effort here, and I see officers doing brave things," Serpas said. "But I also see a tremendous amount of mistakes and errors and system failures."
His top priority: rebuilding the community's trust in its police department again, using what Serpas called a "you lie, you die" mantra with his officers -- one wrong move will get you fired.
"If your word cannot be trusted because at work you decided not to tell the truth ... how do we know you're telling the truth about who you saw commit the crime?" Serpas said. "So in our department, if you lie, you die, which means you lose your job."
Despite the grim circumstances of his return to his hometown, Serpas is enthusiastic about being back. He has a long history with the department he's now in charge of rebuilding.
"My family has been on the New Orleans police department since 1914, non-stop," he said. "I wanted to be chief of the New Orleans police because this was my force. This was my universe."
Serpas joined the force after dropping out of high school to marry his pregnant girlfriend. He then worked his way through the ranks, and earned a doctorate in urban studies at the University of New Orleans on his off-duty hours. | <urn:uuid:3a2a3580-8ac0-43b6-9df7-f4e8de5a08da> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://abcnews.go.com/Nightline/orleans-police-dept-rebuilds-katrina/story?id=11497236 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368699881956/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516102441-00020-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.985011 | 694 | 1.546875 | 2 |
James Boyle appears in the following:
Friday, March 08, 2013
Brooke examines the current arguments over ownership and intellectual property with the help of a chair that collapses after just eight uses.
Camper Van Beethoven - Good Guys and Bad Guys
Friday, January 25, 2013
Copyright protections were never supposed to last forever. Copyright was originally designed to protect creators long enough so that they could profit from their work, after which time that work would enter the public domain. However, changes to copyright law have made it so that copyright protections in the US generally last for 70 years after the creator's death. Duke Law School Professor James Boyle runs the Center for the Study of the Public Domain. He tells Bob about all the works that would have entered the public domain this year, but didn't.
Friday, August 26, 2011
In 1976 Congress changed copyright law so that any musician who wrote a song after January 1st, 1978 could apply to reclaim rights to those songs after 35 years. So in 2013 there’s a long line of 1978 hitmakers who stand to regain their valuable songs and albums. Duke professor James Boyle explains to Brooke why the windfall for Bruce Springsteen, Billy Joel, Funkadelic and others is being fought tooth and nail by the record industry.
Song: Minute By Minute
Artist: The Doobie Brothers
Song: I Will Survive
Artist: Gloria Gaynor | <urn:uuid:c3c0973b-f8af-4a58-99f3-a5d0cbf095d2> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.onthemedia.org/people/james-boyle/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368697974692/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516095254-00020-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.96232 | 288 | 1.5625 | 2 |
LETTER OF HIS HOLINESS
JOHN PAUL II
Venerable and Dear Brother Bishops of the United States.
"Woe to the world because of scandals!" (Mt. 18:7).
During these last months I have become aware of how much you, the Pastors of the Church in the United States, together with all the faithful, are suffering because of certain cases of scandal given by members of the clergy. During the ad Limina visits many times the conversation has turned to this problem of how the sins of clerics have shocked the moral sensibilities of many and become an occasion of sin for others. The Gospel word "woe" has a special meaning, especially when Christ applies it to cases of scandal, and first of all to the scandal "of the little ones" (Cf. ibid. 18:6). How severe are Christ’s words when he speaks of such scandal, how great must be that evil if "for him who gives scandal it would be better to have a great millstone hung around his neck and to be drowned in the depths of the sea" (cf. ibid.).
The vast majority of Bishops and priests are devoted followers of Christ, ardent workers in his vineyard, and men who are deeply sensitive to the needs of their brothers and sisters. That is why I am deeply pained, like you, when it seems that the words of Christ can be applied to some ministers of the altar. Since Christ calls them his "friends" (Jn. 15:15), their sin – the sin of giving scandal to the innocent – must pain his heart indeed. Therefore, I fully share your sorrow and your concern, especially your concern for the victims so seriously hurt by these misdeeds.
Every sinner who follows the way of repentance, conversion and pardon can call on the mercy of God, and you in particular must encourage and assist those who stray to be reconciled and find peace of conscience. There is also the question of the human means for responding to this evil. The canonical penalties which are provided for certain offenses and which give a social expression of disapproval for the evil are fully justified. These help to maintain a clear distinction between good and evil, and contribute to moral behavior as well as to creating a proper awareness of the gravity of the evil involved. As you are aware, a joint Committee of experts from the Holy See and the Bishops’ Conference has just been established to study how the universal canonical norms can best be applied to the particular situation of the United States.
I would also draw your attention to another aspect of the whole question. While acknowledging the right to due freedom of information, one cannot acquiesce in treating moral evil as an occasion for sensationalism. Public opinion often feeds on sensationalism and the mass media play a particular role therein. In fact, the search for sensationalism leads to the loss of something which is essential to the morality of society. Harm is done to the fundamental right of individuals not to be easily exposed to the ridicule of public opinion; even more, a distorted image of human life is created. Moreover, by making a moral offense the object of sensationalism, without reference to the dignity of human conscience, one acts in a direction which is in fact opposed to the pursuit of the moral good. There is already sufficient proof that the prevalence of violence and impropriety in the mass media has become a source of scandal. Evil can indeed be sensational, but the sensationalism surrounding it is always dangerous for morality.
Therefore, the words of Christ about scandal apply also to all those persons and institutions, often anonymous, that through sensationalism in various ways open the door to evil in the conscience and behavior of vast sectors of society, especially among the young who are particularly vulnerable. "Woe to the world because of scandals!". Woe to societies where scandal becomes an everyday event.
So then, Venerable Brothers, you are faced with two levels of serious responsibility: in relation to the clerics through whom scandal comes and their innocent victims, but also in relation to the whole of society systematically threatened by scandal and responsible for it. A great effort is needed to halt the trivializing of the great things of God and man.
I ask you to reflect together with the priests, who are your co–workers, and with the laity, and to respond with all the means at your disposal. Among these means, the first and most important is prayer: ardent, humble, confident prayer. This whole sad question must be placed in a context which is not exclusively human; it must be freed from being considered commonplace. Prayer makes us aware that everything – even evil – finds its principal and definitive reference point in God. In him every sinner can be raised up again. In this way sin will not become an unfortunate cause of sensationalism, but rather the occasion for an interior call, as Christ has said: "Repent" (Mt. 4:17). "The Lord is near" (Phil. 4:5).
Yes, dear Brothers, America needs much prayer – lest it lose its soul. We are one in this prayer, remembering the words of the Redeemer: "Watch and pray, that you may not enter into temptation" (Mk. 14:38). Christ the Good Shepherd calls us to this attitude when he says, "Take courage, I have overcome the world" (Jn. 16:33). United with you in the firm trust that our Savior is ever faithful in caring for his People and that he will not fail to give you the strength to fulfill your pastoral ministry, I commend the clergy, Religious and lay faithful of your Dioceses to the loving intercession of his Immaculate Mother Mary. With fraternal affection in Christ Jesus, I impart my Apostolic Blessing.
From the Vatican, June 11, 1993.
IOANNES PAULUS PP. II
© Copyright 1993 - Libreria Editrice Vaticana | <urn:uuid:c58a4fda-e5c4-4295-bb57-869250f0931c> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.vatican.va/holy_father/john_paul_ii/letters/1993/documents/hf_jp-ii_let_19930611_vescovi-usa_en.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 | 0.959515 | 1,217 | 1.585938 | 2 |
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The vast majority of new students are extremely pleased with the quality of the initial lesson and feel that they have received their money's worth. In fact, most of my new student's are very keen to immediately reserve their regular time slots to ensure its availability.
To learn more please select the relevant link below or contact Dr. Donnelly at | <urn:uuid:4c5ea8d8-5c24-4cb8-921a-821261082977> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.tutorsofoxford.com/faq.htm | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368699881956/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516102441-00017-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.950567 | 855 | 1.578125 | 2 |
San Francisco politicians and the ACLU ask the city to rethink its Wi-Fi deal with Google and Earthlink.
A member of San Franciscos board of supervisors said he has some objections to the citys tentative plans to let Google and Earthlink jointly build a citywide wireless network.
San Francisco Supervisor Jake McGoldrick is concerned about how much actual public input there will be with the deal, and how quickly its gaining the favor of key city figures.
Its unclear just what impact McGoldricks opposition will have. Terms of the contract between the city and partners Google, of Mountain View, Calif., and Earthlink, of Atlanta, are being finalized now. Its also far in advance of any possible board of supervisors vote.
Read more here about how Google/Earthlink won San Franciscos heart.
McGoldricks is the most powerful of the voices raised so far against a plan by Google and Earthlink to build a wireless network based on Wi-Fi, a wireless technology contained in most laptops.
The two companies would offer free but ad-supported Internet access, plus a $20-per-month plan that is faster, and ad-free.
The supervisors view was made clear about a week after the ACLU (American Civil Liberties Union) of Northern California, and two other San Francisco-based groups, asked the city
to structure the final contract to appease their concerns about user privacy.
The economic and social benefits of free wireless Internet access are beyond reproach, and even the harshest critics laud Google and Earthlink for their intentions. But in practice, there is a number of possible privacy concerns, the three groups told the city.
For instance, the free service forces users to provide information that would let Google track their whereabouts, plus other details like an e-mail address.
Read more here about how the premium version may also contain ads.
Google/Earthlink defenders say the argument is overblown. And, the tracking is just to serve up better, more focused ads that will make advertisers happy, thus keeping the free service up and running.
The city tapped the Google/Earthlink proposal over others from Cisco Systems of San Jose, Calif., IBM of Armonk, N.Y., and other high-profile competitors.
McGoldricks contentions were reported by ComputerWorld, and later confirmed via a McGoldrick spokesman.
In response to an inquiry about the opposition, a Google representative wrote about how early it is in the planning stages, but that privacy remains "of utmost importance."
Some of the practices proposed, and the subject of the objections, are there "to prevent network abuse such as spamming," the representative wrote.
Editors Note: This story was updated to add comments from a Google representative.
Check out eWEEK.coms for the latest news, reviews and analysis on mobile and wireless computing. | <urn:uuid:7e317d11-e39f-4196-a93e-59d5c308710a> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.eweek.com/c/a/Mobile-and-Wireless/Google-WiFi-Deal-Gains-Powerful-Critics/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368702810651/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516111330-00020-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.942714 | 587 | 1.703125 | 2 |
Re the Sept. 14 article, "Residents try to save beach jobs": Is losing a life more important than the city officials saving money? Is it worth it to put citizens' lives at risk just to save money?
Practice makes perfection, and one month of training, I don't believe, will be sufficient for a teenager to be able to save lives.
Lifeguards, on the other hand, have years of experience. They deserve city officials wasting as much money as needed, because they have what's needed: experience. Up to this day, no one has complained about how lifeguards do their jobs. People actually see them as successful workers who put their lives in danger to save other people's lives.
Do you think that citizens will actually have the same opinion as they did before, with the new system that may be enforced by the city officials? Would citizens go to the beach as frequently knowing that their lives may be at risk? | <urn:uuid:e646c008-a9e5-4d7a-8edb-ff0c841e67f8> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://articles.sun-sentinel.com/2005-10-04/news/0510030296_1_lifeguards-city-officials-lives | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368710006682/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516131326-00008-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.983074 | 192 | 1.78125 | 2 |
Raising rover: Plano resident preps pups for disabled owners
Everywhere 15-month-old black lab/golden retriever mix Florette goes, she is the center of attention.
And Virginia deVilleneuve, who has taken care of the pup for most of its life, wouldn't have it any other way.
"She's with me 24/7, whether it be jury duty, doctor's appointments, dentists, grocery -- anything you can think of," deVilleneuve said. "She's been to restaurants, and it gets to be funny, because if for some reason I don't have her, and I have a certain restaurant I go to a lot, [they ask], 'Where's the dog?'"
DeVilleneuve has trained the dog since it was 8 weeks old on behalf of Canine Companions for Independence, an organization that trains therapy dogs to provide physical assistance to disabled and hearing-impaired adults and to be companions for sick or disabled children and adults.
As one of the organization's puppy raisers, deVilleneuve's job is to provide the basics -- obedience training, basic commands and socialization. Those basics will serve as the framework of a six-month, intensive training course at CCI's regional headquarters in Southern California. There, the dogs will learn to open doors, turn light switches on and off, retrieve household items and give money to cashiers on behalf of their disabled owners.
"Our goal is to enhance people's independence," said Katie Malatino, CCI spokeswoman, "so it may seem like a trivial thing for a typical capable person, but if you're not able to bend over and pick up something you've dropped, for instance, it can really help [you]."
Puppy raisers must expose the dogs to as wide of a variety of sights, sounds and smells as possible -- from everyday errands to train rides, restaurants and sporting events, deVilleneuve said.
"You have no idea where this dog's going to wind up," she said. "You have to expose them to everything that you can think of. You don't want them to be fearful of a train. If you're disabled and you have to go for a doctor's appointment and you need your dog to help you, the dog has to be exposed and know how to act in the doctor's office."
Florette is the fifth dog deVilleneuve, who started working with CCI in 2005, has trained through the program. Due to the rigorous nature of the training program, few canines leave as certified therapy dogs.
But the second dog raised by deVilleneuve, Fergie, was one of the lucky graduates. She currently lives with a child in Corpus Christi diagnosed with muscular dystrophy.
"He would never even go out of the house; his mom said he wouldn't interact," deVilleneuve said. "Other than school, which he had to do, he wouldn't do anything until he got Fergie. Now he's in scouts and sells popcorn and everything and goes out plays and Fergie's right there with him all the time. So they do amazing things, they truly do."
Some therapy dogs, including those trained by Canine Companions, visit hospitals and nursing homes to provide moral support to patients, something Schimelpfenig Library youth services employee Vera Miller is well-acquainted with.
"My son was in the hospital," she said. "He was hit by a car and he had traumatic brain injuries. He didn't respond until they sat a little dog on the table, and for the first time he reached out and started petting the dog."
DeVilleneuve describes puppy raisers in the area as a close-knit group and said any dedicated person wanting to volunteer can do so -- all it takes is signing up.
"We always are looking for additional puppy raisers," she said. "It's a volunteer thing ... but still, in all, it's probably the most rewarding thing. Raising kids is awesome, but being able to do this is very rewarding, and people who are thinking about maybe becoming a puppy raiser should know that it's well worth it." | <urn:uuid:3a922cd9-185b-44ff-9b93-2f556dc316ff> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.friscoenterprise.com/articles/2012/10/12/news_update/6211.prt | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368701852492/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516105732-00011-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.978094 | 877 | 1.742188 | 2 |
In the world of theater, growth equals success, says Michael O’Neill, associate professor of English and director of theater. That’s why he is always looking for new ways to stretch his boundaries as a playwright and director.
O’Neill’s newest play, “Seven Around the Square,” got its start in 2005, when he discovered a number of short plays originally produced prior to World War I by a group called the Provincetown Players. At the time, he was the Eugene O’Neill Foundation’s visiting artist in residence at Tao House. He assembled five of the plays and directed them at Lafayette in 2008 for a production entitled “Provincetown Players Five.”
“These short plays fascinated me from the perspectives of both a playwright and a director,” he says. “How were they written? Could they work now? What did they say then? Are they of interest as more than mere historical artifacts?”
O’Neill rewrote portions of the project and researched additional short plays to come up with his newest production, “Seven Around the Square,” set in and around New York City’s Washington Square in 1917 and 1918. It includes adaptations of short plays by Floyd Dell, George Cram Cook, Joe Pendleton, Alice Rostetter, John Reed, Eugene O’Neill, and Susan Glaspell. O’Neill reworked each play to fit with the others and to make all seven suited for a racially diverse cast.
This summer, O’Neill debuted “Seven Around the Square” via a public reading at The Royal Theater at The Producers’ Club in New York City with the help of some very familiar faces. Psychology and English graduate Kelly Hess ’08 was stage manager. Actors included music and theater double major Brandi Porter ’13 (Olney, Md.), English graduate Brett Billings ’12, religious studies and government & law graduate Nathaniel Costa ’11, English graduate Keara McCarthy ’10, psychology graduate Dana Pardini ’12, economics graduate Dwayne Alistair Thomas ’01, and history graduate Conner James Woods ’11.
The process of assembling and auditioning actors, rehearsing them for performance, and hearing the play performed for an audience is invaluable in fine-tuning the finished piece. The actors in a public reading aren’t just mouthpieces for the playwright’s words; they provide feedback that can strengthen the work.
“At some point, a play needs to be heard,” explains O’Neill. “Good actors can tell what needs to be developed or clarified, and they usually know if what’s on the page can be realized by an actor.”
Members of the ensemble not affiliated with the College were impressed with the caliber of the Lafayette participants, which comes as no surprise to O’Neill.
“I know that our best theater students and theater alumni are just as talented—and a whole lot smarter—than any actor who is working professionally these days,” he says. “I work very closely with our students and think the world of them, so of course, I keep up with them after graduation. Writing is a very personal activity; it’s comforting to have actors I know and trust reading my work.” | <urn:uuid:01dc9060-07c8-4987-ad1b-21fcbebeb104> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.lafayette.edu/about/news/2012/11/30/lafayette-community-helps-theater-director-michael-oneill-prepare-new-play/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368706499548/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516121459-00015-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.963062 | 709 | 1.742188 | 2 |
I recently switched over to Outlook 2010 from Outlook 2007 (I’m slow). I always disable the Junk E-mail filter in Outlook because I use something better: Popfile. But I was having trouble doing that in Outlook 2010. I selected the radio box for no filtering, but messages were still being directed to the Junk E-mail folder.
I took to the internet to search for an answer, and discovered that I was having this problem because I have multiple accounts, and Outlook 2010 handles junk mail filtering on a per-account basis. But there was mass confusion on how to access the settings for each account. There is no global setting area in the interface.
Even Microsoft MVPs on Microsoft sites were giving misinformation. Many were suggesting that people disable Junk E-mail in the registry. That didn’t sound right to me, and I didn’t want to do it. I do use some pieces of the Junk E-mail feature – the disabling of links and the safe/blocked sender lists. Plus, judging from peoples’ complaints, it seemed like the suggested registry tweak just disabled the interface and not the functionality! | <urn:uuid:2ecbb887-ef92-4d13-860e-ee388c92678d> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://sherylcanter.com/wordpress/tag/outlook-2010-junk-e-mail/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368708766848/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516125246-00011-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.966421 | 234 | 1.515625 | 2 |
VIDEO: The trailer for Katyn
Andrzej Wajda was Poland's most revered filmmaker during the long Communist era (Kanal, Ashes and Diamonds); he even managed several films (Man of Marble, Man of Iron) critical of the Marxist regime. But only in 2007, years after the fall of Communism, did he take on one of the most odious, devious cover-ups of Socialist Poland when it was under the thumb of the USSR.
Katyn, a 2008 Oscar nomination for Best Foreign Film, is Wajda's brave, shocking retelling of what happened in 1940 in Russia's Katyn forest. There, 22,000 Polish military officers who were being held in Russian prisons were massacred by Stalin's army and buried in anonymous graves. After the war, Soviet Russia and Poland gave out the year of the brutal murders as 1941 and blamed the massacre on the invading Nazis.
What Wajda gives us here is a large-cast fictional retelling of what actually happened both in Russia and back home in Poland. If Wajda's narrative is confusing at times, you can forgive that once you reach the chilling re-creation of the Katyn killing fields, which he withholds until the very end. | <urn:uuid:61ca53f9-f572-4425-87a8-86ef8429308d> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://thephoenix.com/Boston/Movies/83978-KATYN/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368701459211/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516105059-00029-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.972728 | 255 | 1.773438 | 2 |
|Picture taken this week.|
We found this idea on Pinterest. I loved it. Sadly, I did not take pictures while we were doing it because we were kind of in a hurry once we got home with all the stuff. I'd gone to the Growers' Outlet up the street and just randomly bought two each of several plants I liked plus a huge tray of Marigolds for the pots in the back to keep bugs away. I had tons of Marigolds leftover. I was telling Scott about how I really needed some taller plant stands, etc...but that I'd settle for making the pot tower. His interest was peaked. We measured, planned, went to the store, and made some purchases.
We wanted a 6' piece of rebar, but could only find 10'. Then, we decided if we had to buy a 10' piece, we'd just use 6.5'. A guy at The Home Depot cut it down to 6.5' with a hack saw. Based on our measurements, the height of a pot ended up being about the diameter of the pot when we tilted it the way we thought they should be tilted. But, we ended up needing another pot, so apparently our calculations were off a bit. We hammered the rebar 18" into the ground, leaving 5' sticking out. I would suggest doing no less than 18", you could even cut your rebar down to 7' and hammer 2' for more sturdiness. Our neighbor came out when they saw our flurry of activity and helped. Then, made suggestions. When we realized we needed another pot, he suggested that we add in a colored pot. Wow the colored pot cost about three times the clay pot of the same size. But, I love it. If we decided to add another colored pot next year, I will invest in spray paint and just spray paint a pot we already have. We ended up using some pots I already had and buying the rest. We used 2-10" (one flower pot and one azalea pot), 2-8", 2-6" and then the blue pot which I would guess is about 8".
Once we'd hammered the rebar into the ground, we put one 8" pot upside down over the rebar (just slide the rebar through the drainage hole). I took a plastic grocery bag and put it down in each pot to line it then pushed a hole through the bag just over the drainage hole. I leave the handles sticking out and everything until I am done planting, then I trim them. This is important when you have a hot dry summer with clay pots because they release so much moisture through their pores. Then, we put the first 10" (right side up) over the rebar and held it in place slanted until we put the next 10" pot over it and once we got them slanted going in opposite directions of each other, they stayed. Then, we added the regular 8" pot, the blue pot, and the 2-6"s. The end product is probably 5-6" taller than me (I'm 5'1.5"), because we made sure that our top pot was on the rebar, but the rebar was not sticking out of it. For the rebar and the pots (including the cost of the two we already had), we paid approximately $50.
We filled each pot half full of dirt. Then, I hemmed and hawed and placed all the plants in different gatherings until I had decided what to do, then of course as I filled the pots, I changed my mind a couple of times or things just didn't fit the way I thought they would. I think that's how I ended up with the two Million Belles on the same side and the two Sweet Potato vines on the same side. After I put the plants in the way I liked them, I filled them the rest of the way with dirt, pressed it all down, and Scott followed after me with a box knife and cut the bag handles off and tucked them in the dirt. I probably used a little less than half of a big bag of potting soil that I had already purchased for my pots out back. I think it was 2 cubic feet and cost about $6.
The interesting part is watering them the first time when all the dirt is loose in a tilted pot. Watering is...fun. You have to just put a little water in each pot. If you put too much, it will run off and cause erosion onto the next pot's plant. I find that I enjoy our pot tower so much that I am more likely to remember to water it and to take the time to dead head all the flowers. The recent heat spell that came through has claimed one of the Marigolds, but thankfully it was in the back of that pot and since it was in there with a Million Belles, I am hoping no one can tell from the street. Lots of neighbors have stopped by to ask how we did it. It definitely adds height to our garden.
In case you are wondering, I used two white Gerbera Daisies, two purple Angelonia, one Sweet Potato vine that I had two little vines in it split into two pots, two yellow Million Belles, two pink Geraniums, two Blue Daze, and at least one Marigold in each pot except the top one, which was too small. Because I got the plants super cheap at the Growers' Outlet, I think I spent about $25 in total on the plants.
I really enjoyed this project. I still enjoy taking care of our pot tower.
|Picture taken on the day we built the pot tower, April 14.|
I hope I've helped if you weren't sure about how to go about this. If you have any questions, leave me a comment and I'll answer it the best I can. When I first saw this on Pinterest, the link I had only had a picture, but I have since seen others posting tutorials. | <urn:uuid:232ba3b1-4fe9-43a4-af71-3112e6a046e8> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://marcyandscott.blogspot.com/ | 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 | 0.979031 | 1,237 | 1.515625 | 2 |
40 Percent of Resumes Fib
Forbes magazine recently talked to a variety of recruiters to find out what information they see most frequently fabricated on resumes. One of the most common tactics is playing with dates to hide employment gaps, whether the applicant is trying to hide a prison stay, was fired, was loafing, or simply did too much job hopping. One recruiter estimated that 40 percent of all resumes are less than forthright. Bogus college degrees are a popular ploy, as is inflating college grades and honors. Experience and accomplishments are prone to intentional embellishment, and inflating past pay is also a popular fib. The article concludes that stretching the truth on your resume these days is particularly risky business – since HR experts are more vigilant than ever.
Have You Googled Yourself?
Wondering why you aren’t getting called back for that second interview? Perhaps you should do what many employers do today – run a Google search on your name. The Des Moines Business Record Online recently told the story of one applicant – a math and economics senior at UCLA – who discovered that a humorous article he had written was instantly accessible on Google. Worse, the article was about cheating in order to make a more favorable impression on potential employers. While there is no proof the article hampered his job search, his prospects changed once the article was pulled from the Web. He starts in the Fall with a Fortune 500 company. What are the chances you will be Googled? A survey conducted by executive job-search agency ExecuNet found that 77 percent of recruiters use Web searches as part of their screening process. Thirty-six percent of those say they have eliminated candidates based solely on Internet revelations.
On the Job Front
NATIONWIDE – Northwest Airlines flight attendants last week rejected a proposal to cut their hourly pay by 21 percent. The airline, which has filed for bankruptcy, is seeking to save $195 million a year in flight attendant salaries. Other employee groups have agreed to similar rollbacks . . . The US Senate has approved a bill that increases the cap on high-tech H-1B visas from 65,000 to 115,000. The visas, used primarily by high-tech firms, are granted to foreigners with specialized skills . . . Current and former employees of Polo Ralph Lauren Corp sued the company for failing to pay overtime, forcing them to work off the clock and unlawfully detaining them after they punched out. The civil suit was filed in SF Superior Court and seeks class-action status. The suit also asks for back pay and damages. A company spokesperson said the action is without merit.
STATEWIDE – Pondering a career in real estate? You are not alone. The number of aspiring agents is rising faster than California home prices. The California Dept of Real Estate reports that a record number of residents now hold a real-estate license – nearly half a million. That amounts to one real-estate license for every 52 adults. "The level of interest in real-estate licensure is unprecedented," notes real-estate commissioner Jeff Davi. In response, his department has conducted several "mega-exams" in which thousands took the test at one time.
NORTHERN CALIFORNIA – Albertson’s grocery chain will close 37 stores following the sale of the firm to a group of investors. The downsizing will leave the chain with 131 stores in the region. Company officials said they would work to find jobs for affected employees . . . Kaiser pharmacists reached agreement with the healthcare provider, averting a threatened strike. Details will not be made public until the pact is ratified by members.
HAYWARD – Nutek Corp is expanding. The sterilization company that services the medical and biotech device industries has signed a lease for 36,000 square feet. No word on staffing plans.
SANTA CLARA – According to tech publication TG Daily, chipmaker Intel plans to lay off as many as 16,000 workers. The company has been challenged recently by increased competition and reduced profits.
Medical Labor Shortage Critical
Kaiser Permanente’s top officer says the growing shortage of nurses and other healthcare personnel means labor costs are soaring. Kaiser president Mary Ann Thode told the San Francisco Business Journal that there needs to be a partnership between healthcare organizations, government, employers and educational institutions to solve the labor-shortage problem. "California has the lowest rate of registered nurses per capita of any state," she notes, adding that 60 percent of qualified applicants for certain types of medical training are turned away by schools that don’t have room. Nationwide, there may be a shortage of up to one million nurses by 2020, and Thode doesn’t see state or federal agencies doing much to address the problem. "I don’t think they’re paying much attention." | <urn:uuid:c443b0d6-5065-4867-9342-0dcd30929793> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://jobjournal.com/article_full_text.asp?artid=1727 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368705953421/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516120553-00018-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.969385 | 986 | 1.59375 | 2 |
Jumping in a swimming pool with your iPhone in your pocket is one way to lose your mobile mojo – which is just what Kelly Flowers, principle of GrowthVine, did on her recent vacation.
She realized it right away, she said, and went on a mad dash to find rice. Alas, the rice method didn’t work to revive her iPhone. Another expensive lesson learned.
This lesson is a good illustration of how attached most of us are to our smartphones or iPads – and being connected to the Internet. So if you think about it, this is one reason why marketers should take a serious look at mobile as part of their marketing strategy. As Flowers pointed out, the statistics on mobile usage are constantly changing – and they are staggering.
Just released monthly mobile usage data from comScore reveals that:
- Over 100 million U.S. mobile subscribers (101.3 million to be exact) are using smartphones.
- In January 2012, 74.6 percent of U.S. mobile subscribers used text messaging on their mobile device
Data from Cisco provides predictions for mobile for 2016:
- Global mobile data traffic will increase 18-fold between 2011 and 2016.
- The average smartphone will generate 2.6 GB of traffic per month in 2016, a 17-fold increase over the 2011 average of 150 MB per month.
The statistics make it obvious that the world is going mobile. But how can mobile marketing fit into your overall content marketing strategy? Here are 5 types of mobile marketing that Flowers discussed:
1. SMS (text messaging) campaigns
Flowers says SMS is best used for getting people to join a list, take a survey, ask questions for a Q&A, text to donate, or in an interactive texting campaign. Here are gave great examples of how SMS campaigns are used to help achieve goals for various organizations:
California Teachers Association used SMS (texting) to build support for Wisconsin teachers.
Human Rights Campaign used text messaging as part of a multi-part campaign, linking users to a mobile friendly page, giving them a call to action and a form to sign a petition, and asking for donations.
American Public Transportation Association launched a mobile text campaign to get a show of support for increased public transit funding by texting “transit” to 86677,
Text4baby, a free service founded by multiple partners in the private and public sectors, is an example of an interactive text campaign. The campaign promotes healthy pregnancies and babies by getting women to text “baby” (or “bebe”) to 511411 to sign up for free text messages timed to their due date or babies’ birth date.
2. Mobile Apps
Flowers suggests that apps are perfect for task-driven activities. Great examples are the Medscape and Epocrates Rx apps, which are used by health care professionals to get up-to-date info on drugs and dosages.
Tip for associations: Partner with a private corporation to create a joint app, rather than go it alone, says Flowers. As an association, you’ve got the most valuable asset – a captive audience. An example of this: American College of Cardiology partnered with Skyscape last year to launch an app that was downloaded more than 4,000 times in its first two weeks.
3. QR Codes
You’ve likely seen QR codes on posters, in print ads, even on billboards. They are those square barcode looking things that you scan with your smartphone to be taken to a website for some campaign. Unfortunately, advertisers seem to put them in odd places, where they are practically useless. For example, Flowers saw a QR code on a billboard at a bus stop, but the code was down near the bottom of the poster, plus had color in it, which made it even more difficult to scan. So after trying and trying, she gave up. How many other people do you think would even try to capture that code as hard as she did?
The point is, just like with any other marketing campaign, you need to understand your audience and where they will be when they try to scan your QR code. Plus, QR codes that are in color are more difficult for some smartphones to scan, says Flowers. And the minimum size of your QR code to be scannable differs depending on how far from the code the user will be scanning and how dense the QR code is itself.
Imagine no more credit cards in your wallet, or cards to get through subway gates, or standing in line to rent a car. NFC is a technology that enables smartphones to establish a connection with other devices by touching or being within a certain proximity from another device. Some phones in the U.S. today, such as Blackberry, are NFC-enabled, but it isn’t widespread yet. This video gives you a quick look at some of the different things a consumer can do with an NFC-enabled phone.
5. Mobile website
The problem with the mobile web, says Flowers, is everyone has different devices, screen sizes, resolutions, etc. Some organizations are using “responsive web design,” which allows the website to dynamically adjust to fit the size of the device it is being viewed on. That is, the website doesn’t just get tinier when you view it on a smartphone. Instead, the information that you see adjusts, so it is still readable, but you’re viewing only the most important basics, such as the navigation.
Whatever you choose to do with mobile marketing, make sure your start with an organization-level mobile strategy, advises Flowers. Your first steps will be to do an internal mobile audit. Look at what would make sense for your organization, what programs could benefit from mobile marketing. Survey your members to find out what devices they use and what there attitudes are about mobile.
And remember that mobile is an engagement tool – so when planning your mobile strategy, think about how you will engage your members.
How are you engaging your members/customers with mobile?
This post originally was published on the DMAW website. | <urn:uuid:53dff576-ee9f-4e2b-9690-baba8b72c723> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://engage.tmgcustommedia.com/2012/04/5-ways-to-add-mobile-mojo-to-your-marketing-mix/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368696382584/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516092622-00000-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.949354 | 1,253 | 1.789063 | 2 |
By Jim Schutze
By Rachel Watts
By Lauren Drewes Daniels
By Anna Merlan
By Lee Escobedo
By Eric Nicholson
Usually, though, it comes down to the question of opportunity. The military is often criticized for targeting young people in poor minority neighborhoods where dropout rates for blacks are almost twice those of whites, and dropout rates for Hispanics are more than double those of blacks, at nearly 25 percent for American-born Latinos and a whopping 38 percent for the foreign-born from Mexico and Latin America. But recruiters respond that as debates over urban renewal and education reform drone on, they're at least giving young people a rare chance at education and employment, discipline and travel, an opportunity, as they see it, to lend some order to their lives and count for something.
Felicia Martinez greets Leal with a smile and ushers him over to one of the salon's roomy black chairs. The place looks like one big Valentine's Day card: The mirrors are festooned with chains of paper angels and heart-shaped doilies, and a dozen red roses sit on the counter. "I have to give the muchachos the best," she says, draping a robe over Leal's shoulders. Then she grabs her clippers and launches into a sing-song stream of friendly chatter in Spanish. "I've known most of them since they were boys, this tall, and they come in every week. Sometimes I don't charge them—I don't want them robbing the taqueria for a haircut."
The kids she's talking about attend Turner, Newman Smith and Jefferson high schools, which, like Hillcrest, are in affluent areas. But the majority of the children who live in the spacious homes with rolling lawns attend private schools, and the public schools are filled mostly with middle- and low-income Latinos and blacks.
Along with trims, Martinez doles out motherly lectures about staying in school and avoiding gangs. You sureños are getting into fights with the norteños? You should think about the Army. You're fighting with your stepdad again? Consider the Marines; get yourself on a straight path.
"I've had this place for 11 years, and in those years I've had 13 kids killed," she says. They haven't lost their lives in the military but in gang violence. On the wall above the soda machine is a tribute. The photos of teens whose lives were cut short are framed with the words "rest in peace" and "in loving memory." She points to the picture of a 17-year-old who was gunned down two years ago. "Robert Castillo, I knew him since he was little. He was a good boy. He was shot leaving a nightclub. And to think his father was killed when he was the same age."
Leal looks up. "The same age?"
Martinez nods and uses her hand, long fingernails painted bright red, to steady his head while she buzzes the back. "They didn't have anything to do but go to the streets, and on the streets are gangs. People say the Army's bad, that they'll go to Iraq and get killed. But they get killed here too."
Martinez often schedules appointments based on gang allegiance, keeping rivals separate whenever possible. Most of the kids respect her and sit through her clucking and admonitions, nodding and saying, "Yes, ma'am, I know." But as she puts the finishing touches on Leal's round-top cut, she tells of how two guys once brawled in the salon and hit her 9-year-old in the face. Her oldest son is 18 and considering the military. "I'd rather him be in Iraq doing something for people than doing nothing on the street here," she says.
As Leal pays her for the haircut, she can't let him go without a piece of advice. "I think you guys should go to Turner [High School] and up the ante," she says. "Really hit them hard in ninth through 11th grade; that's when they're getting into gangs."
He nods, a little half-heartedly. What's frustrating about recruiting kids from depressed, gang-ridden neighborhoods is that often the ones who want to join can't pass the entrance test or already have a rap sheet, and many parents are reluctant to allow their 17-year-olds to enlist.
"The hardest is getting the parents to sign the papers," he tells Martinez. "Hispanic families are so attached to their kids that they want them here so they can watch them, but they're watching them and they're running around in gangs. We're offering them a better future."
Find everything you're looking for in your city
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Check out the hottest list of places and things to do around your city | <urn:uuid:3637dca3-6aeb-472e-83f5-3213150130e7> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.dallasobserver.com/2007-02-08/news/yo-soy-el-army/2/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368702448584/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516110728-00041-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.982786 | 1,020 | 1.6875 | 2 |
Dr. John, or Mac Rebennack as known to friends and family, is universally celebrated as the living embodiment of the rich musical heritage exclusive to New Orleans. His very colorful musical career began in the 1950s when he wrote and played guitar on some of the greatest records to come out of the crescent city, including recordings by Professor Longhair, Art Neville, Joe Tex and Frankie Ford. A notorious gun incident forced the artist to give up the guitar and concentrate on organ and piano. Further trouble at home sent Dr. John west in the 1960s, where he continued to be in demand as a session musician, playing on records by Sonny and Cher, Van Morrison and Aretha Franklin to name a few. He also launched his solo career, developing the charismatic persona of Dr. John The Night Tripper. Adorned with voodoo charms and regalia, a legend was born with his breakthrough 1968 album Gris Gris, which established his unique blend of voodoo, funk, psychedelia and Creole Roots.
Several of his many career highlights include the masterful album Sun, Moon and Herbs in 1971 which included cameos from Eric Clapton and Mick Jagger and 1973’s In The Right Place, which contained the chart hits Right Place Wrong Time and Such A Night. Dr. John garnered Grammy award wins in 1989 and in 1992 for the album “Goin’ Back To New Orleans.” Dr. John’s string of great releases carries to 2004 with “Nawlinz: Dis, Dat Or D’udda,” the artist’s musical love letter to the city of New Orleans. Dr. John’s performances on the current tour are his first solo piano shows in 15 years. | <urn:uuid:bef6752a-a12c-4a7c-bc07-5da5dc25f5c8> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.etown.org/artists/dr-john/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368697380733/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516094300-00026-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.964761 | 360 | 1.53125 | 2 |
Assisted by regular flight service from Moscow to Bali on Thai Airways and Singapore Airlines and visas-on-arrival, Russian arrivals to Bali are booming – up +64.56% year-to-date January-November 2007.
.The December – January period if high season ex Russia with travel operators organizing charter flights to Southeast Asia to handle the added demand.
Big spenders, often traveling with limited English, evidence of the growing importance of Russian tourists in Bali are the hotels offering Russian language menus and directories of services and a large number of shops posting Russian signs in their windows.
The heaviest influx of Russian charter flights can be expected between December 28 and January 14, over the January 5 Epiphany celebrations. The date on which Russians traditionally celebrate Christmas, many hotels have organized special entertainments and dinners on January 5 for the expected influx of Russian guests.
Russian travelers, together with Indians and Mainland Chinese, rank as three important new emerging markets for Bali tourism.
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Employees are encouraged to walk as part of the
exercise piece of the wellness program.JACKSONVILLE, Fla.—As a health insurance company it would make sense for Blue Cross Blue Shield of Florida to be progressive in terms of its own wellness program. Wellness efforts at BCBS began in 2006, according to Damian Monticello, corporate foodservice liaison, with the department working with vendors to establish what items could be labeled as healthy and then sold at a discount to encourage consumption.
“We established a criteria on items that would receive a discount at the register,” Monticello says. “That was really the baseline from where [our wellness program] started on the foodservice side. We’ve worked with our current and former provider [the BCBS of Florida in Jacksonville is currently managed by Sodexo] on utilizing their individual wellness programs. We take items that have been deemed healthy by the program and highlight them in our cafés through signage. We have created standards on what percentage of the menu has to be [qualified as] wellness items in order to get rid of that stigma that you always hear about, which is, ‘well, I can’t afford to eat healthy.’”
Monticello says by giving the customers a discount on healthy items those items’ cost became the same or below what some of the traditional non-healthy items cost. Once the cost stigma associated with healthy items was addressed, Monticello says the department turned attention to the other stigma of healthy food: taste.
“[You always hear that] healthy items can’t taste good,” Monticello says. “[To combat that] we do healthy cooking demonstrations for different departments around the company. We take some of the healthy recipes that are on our menu and show BCBS employees how they can scale and prepare our recipes at home. We also try to teach them what a properly composed plate looks like. So when they are eating, they know what percentage of the plate should be protein, what should be starch and what should be vegetables.”
Some of the newest things the department has done in regards to wellness in the café was to revise the lists of qualified recipes, says Monticello.
“When we started in 2006 there was a lot of discussion about what constitutes healthy,” Monticello says. “We were trying to appease everybody at one point by doing things like low-carb items. Then we had to ask, ‘was it healthy simply because it was low carb?’ For example, a piece of veggie pizza may or may not be healthy depending on what the crust is made of and how much cheese is on it. We wanted to look at making set criteria on what makes something healthy. So we worked with [Sodexo] and said, ‘OK, here is a complete nutrition criteria, and a healthy item can’t just meet one of these items, it has to meet all.’”
Monticello says The criteria the department uses for items to receive the healthy item discount is the set criteria for Sodexo’s “Your Health Your Way,” which means items must be 600 calories or less, have 35% calories from fat or less, 10% calories from saturated fat or less, contain zero trans fat, 100 milligrams cholesterol or less, 800 milligrams sodium or less and three grams of fiber or more. By refining the focus of the program and coming up with a more defined idea of what wellness meant for the department, rather than trying to be everything to everybody, the department has a program it is much happier with.
Rebecca Westbrooke, senior manager of employee benefits and wellness, says the marketing of the foodservice piece of the wellness program included such initiatives as labeling the spoons at the salad bar with green for healthy items, yellow for items that should be used sparingly and red for items to avoid.
“A lot of the marketing goes on at the point of consumption,” Westbrooke says. “We have also got the nutritional content for all the foods online and at the point of sale. We’ve done some promotion around the actual discount itself but also done marketing around nutrition and the things we do with personal health assessments. The employees receive coaching on how many fruits and vegetables they should be eating and what does a portion size look like. We also encourage employees to use Weight Watchers at work. If they lose 5% of their body weight goal within a 12-week period then we reimburse half the cost of the [WW] program to them. I think the marketing of the wellness program starts from what we are doing directly with the foodservices, but it’s also the overall focus for all the other aspects within the company.”
Not only food: Those other aspects include an onsite YMCA, which does its own food promotions.
“People are hearing [the healthy message] from a lot of different sides so that’s helping get the message through to employees, Westbrooke says.
For the past three years Westbrooke’s team has been designing the overall corporate wellness program to have a robust incentive—$500— behind it.
“It was really us just saying let’s try and make a link between the activities [of healthy eating and exercise] and this incentive amount, which is up to $500 that goes in an employee’s health fund. If employees improve their health in certain categories [blood pressure, BMI, etc.] then they will receive the incentive. The incentive is tied into our personal health assessments. We have a corporate goal of improving our overall health score, which is measured by these personal health assessments. We’re trying to lose 5% of our group body weight.”
Westbrooke says the department is looking into a theme for next year that will tie into the healthy items in the café.
“We want to leverage this whole idea of the employees should be looking for a healthy meal and looking to improve their health assessment scores so here is what you have to do between now and the personal health assessment. When you go to the cafeteria you are going to be able to say ‘here is a meal that speaks to all my nutrition requirements.’ That’s where Damian and I have been working really closely together to get people where they need to be.”
Monticello’s role in the wellness program has evolved to include the management of employee wellness centers in some of BCBS field offices, which are similar to the YMCA center Monticello’s location has on site.
“We have a complex here that supports our wellness initiative from an intramural or fitness standpoint,” Monticello says. “My responsibility has changed in that I’m now responsible for the management of those facilities through our third-party vendor, which was completely new territory for me. In my mind, given what we were looking at from a corporate perspective on wellness from the foodservice side, it made sense. There is definitely a line of sight between what people eat and how active they are.”
A new thing for the wellness complex this year is an intramurals program, which Monticello says is showing signs of success.
“We just launched our enrollment for our intramural league yesterday,” Monticello says. “By lunchtime today, we already had a couple 100 people who had completed their registration for the various intramural leagues.”
As with any change, Westbrooke says that getting the employees to buy into the programs available was the biggest challenge.
“Our company has taken more for a ‘pull’ strategy,” Westbrooke says. “We’re trying to get [the wellness program] to be something that people really want to do. We are starting to see results. Last year we saw pretty dramatic improvement in incremental changes in BMI and blood pressure and things like that.”
Monticello says the biggest challenge with the foodservice piece was trying to get rid of the preconceived notion that customers couldn’t find healthy options in the café.
“When we took a good look at our menu, and what we were doing when we first launched this program, there were already a lot of balanced choices,” Monticello says. “So it was figuring out how we draw attention to it? So we put the nutrition info out there and online. We did the color-coded salad bar. We tried to show customers that we could do great tasting food that is still good for them.”
“I think the overall message for us has been you’ve got to hit on a couple of key levers,” Westbrooke added. “Our three areas of focus are nutrition, exercise and stress management. Those are the underlying factors that result in weight issues and weight is a primary driver of health issues. If we can focus on those three elements, then weight loss becomes part of that.”
Monticello says his best advice for other operators who want to improve their wellness programs would be to be persistent and use all available resources.
“Each of the foodservice companies we work with [BCBS of Florida uses several vendors for different locations including Sodexo and Eurest] have programs and dietitians,” Monticello says. “Even on the vending side companies have healthy vending programs. There are resources available to you. Ask the questions and be persistent; that’s the biggest thing we learned. It wasn’t necessarily pulling our employees to get involved in the wellness program; sometimes it was pulling our vendors. Get engaged and work with them and find out what will work for you.” | <urn:uuid:7dbc82f4-0973-4211-a7c7-91ea1e0bf4f2> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.foodservicedirector.com/trends/health-and-wellness/articles/bcbs-florida-offers-healthy-discount | 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 | 0.972832 | 2,052 | 1.6875 | 2 |
One of the nation's most decorated veterans on Tuesday charged that President Obama is destroying military strength and morale by refusing to negotiate changes to the sequester with Republicans.
Retired Army Major Gen. Patrick Brady, a 1968 Medal of Honor recipient for his heroics as a Vietnam War helicopter ambulance pilot, told Secrets that military officials tell him that the sequester is viewed as a deliberate White House bid to draw down the military and pull the Pentagon out of the international field.
"It is deliberate and designed to take us out of the international arena and any efforts to enlist our leadership," said Brady, a former chief of Army public affairs who received his Medal of Honor for using three copters to airlift 51 wounded soldiers from multiple battlefields on one day during Vietnam.
"My understanding is that Obama not only initiated sequestration, he threatened any effort to change it," said Brady. "He will cause a complete redo of our entire strategy." The Washington Post's Bob Woodward has reported that the sequestration strategy was hatched in the White House.
The Pentagon has warned that the automatic cuts set to begin March 1 under sequestration will undermine its effectiveness.
In a recent OpEd, Brady wrote, "Sequestration, designed by President Obama, will, if allowed to kick in, emasculate what is left of our military. Aside from the cruel impact these budget cuts will have on military careers and families, they are perfectly suited to Obama's isolationist goals. He is a rhetorical celebrity dedicated to social issues, i.e. same-sex marriage, gun control and government running just about everything. He is also a man intimidated by crises and the decisions they require. He is a voting-present leader, and we are learning he was not even present to lead during the massacre at Benghazi. He apparently hid out during the entire event and tried to blame it on a video. What would he do during a major 9/11-type crisis? An insignificant military takes us off the world stage and requires only voting present in future crises, which perfectly suits our present leadership. We can only pray there will be no such crises." | <urn:uuid:0ce25be5-c318-4a6e-a5a9-fb4922f1add0> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://washingtonexaminer.com/medal-of-honor-blast-obama-destroying-the-military-with-sequester/article/2522586 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368702448584/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516110728-00034-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.975337 | 433 | 1.609375 | 2 |
Agricultural Extension (AgEx) is a venture within Engineers Without Borders Canada. We have worked in Ghana since 2004, primarily based out of northern district offices of MoFA. Our expertise lies in field realities within the extension sector in Ghana. We have experience working on technology adoption, performance based incentives, district management, and farmer group training on Agriculture As a Business. We have also worked with MoFA’s Agricultural Colleges since 2009, with a previous focus on agribusiness and entrepreneurship education.
Our current work focuses on bringing innovation to the Agricultural Colleges in curriculum enhancements, new partnerships and participatory education approaches. We are also working to support the development of the Ghana Country Forum for Extension, which is under the umbrella of the African Forum on Agricultural Advisory Services (http://www.afaas-africa.org) and the Global Forum for Rural Advisory Services (http://www.g-fras.org/en).
Our Vision: A coordinated, competitive and innovative agricultural extension services sector.
The bottom line is that we want farmers to have access to the information, services and technologies that will enable them to have successful farms and sustainable livelihoods. We want the agricultural sector to be a system in which farmers can thrive, and we think that a more innovative, coordinated and competitive extension sector is key to making this a reality.
About Engineers Without Borders (EWB) Canada:
Founded in 2000, EWB aims to improve African livelihoods. The EWB network consists of over 30,000 members who run ventures in Africa, promote public awareness of development issues in Canada and advocate for improved decisions by our government and corporations.
We focus on innovations that impact systems – economic, political, social and cultural. We aim to prove what works, shift incentives and power dynamics, and transform the way people and organisations behave. We emphasize:
EWB is currently investing in 16 ventures in Ghana, Uganda, Malawi, Kenya, Liberia, Zambia, Burkina Faso and Canada.
P.O. Box TL1234
Miriam Hird-Younger, Venture Leader
miriamhird-younger at ewb dot ca | <urn:uuid:70e0be53-3f06-49b5-8ebe-ed2b6027ed8d> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://mofa.gov.gh/site/?page_id=6466 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368705195219/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516115315-00005-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.931046 | 441 | 1.648438 | 2 |
As published in Scotsman Guide's Residential Edition, July 2011.
Lisa Donner’s leadership of Americans for Financial Reform (AFR) began this past August, one month after the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act became law. Since then, the consumer-advocacy organization has championed the law and supported a strong Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB). Many of AFR’s efforts challenge U.S. senators hoping to weaken the CFPB before its official establishment this month. To hear Donner tell it, mortgage pros and AFR want many of the same things.
The Dodd-Frank Act was signed into law almost a year ago. What were its most-important elements? The creation of the CFPB is clearly one of them. It’s a major accomplishment and a major piece of progress for the public interest. Putting down some protections for mortgage borrowers was another. This includes the ban on prepayment penalties for most mortgage types, the ability-to-repay provisions, the prohibitions on steering and on yield-spread premiums, and the prohibition of mandatory-arbitration clauses.
Why has the CFPB received so much criticism? Some of it’s ideological, some of it’s political, and some of it’s from parties who benefited from there not being clear rules. It will serve the industry and consumers to have a level playing field and clear rules that allow people to compete with good and useful products rather than see who’s willing to be deceptive or misleading.
Many in the mortgage industry worry that mortgage affordability will suffer if the CFPB takes control and implements the law as passed. Does AFR share those concerns? We are very aware that low- to moderate-income folks and communities of color suffered disproportionately the consequences of abusive lending and of the financial crisis. It would be a pretty terrible irony if one of the responses to that is to tighten up access to credit in ways that set restrictions on downpayments or credit-history standards that disproportionally affect those same communities.
How can that irony be avoided? There’s a long history of making good, safe loans with low downpayments when those loans are well-underwritten and fairly structured — when they’re not trick-and-trap loans; when they’re not two years at a rate you can afford and suddenly it’s a rate you can’t; when they’re not loans written without regard to people’s ability to pay. A lot of the important work in response to Dodd-Frank has involved trying to get the rules right and building the CFPB so it’s ready to be successful when it opens its doors.
Who should be the bureau’s first leader? We have been longtime supporters of Elizabeth Warren. We think she’s doing an excellent job putting the bureau together and that she would do an excellent job as a first director. She has a deep knowledge of the credit markets and a deep understanding of the challenges working families face.
Darrick Meneken is an associate editor at
Scotsman Guide. Reach him at (800) 297-6061 or [email protected]. | <urn:uuid:525ed1da-1e20-4c54-b31f-97ca3568e0c4> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.scotsmanguide.com/default.asp?ID=4656&part=1 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368706153698/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516120913-00034-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.954833 | 675 | 1.710938 | 2 |
Under the musical direction of Gerald Dolan, NMYO offers ensemble experience to young musicians in the area. NMYO attracts students from more than 40 North Shore, Merrimack Valley, southern New Hampshire and southern Maine communities.
NMYO offers the following ensembles:
Symphony Orchestra, comprised primarily of high school musicians playing orchestral instruments.
Intermezzo Orchestra, comprised primarily of middle school musicians playing orchestral instruments.
Overture and Prelude String Ensembles, for elementary and middle school students seeking ensemble experience with violin, viola, cello and bass.
Wind Ensemble, for advanced wind instrument players.
Clarinet Choir, for clarinet players at all levels.
Junior Flute Choir, Flute Choir and Select Flute Choir.
Membership in all ensembles is by audition:
We are usually able to find a place for any serious young musician. All ensembles except the flute choirs rehearse every Monday afternoon during the school year at Masconomet High School in Topsfield. The flute choirs rehearse on afternoons at the Trinity Episcopal Church, down the road from Masconomet.
Boston-based singer-songwriter and children's performer, Vanessa Trien, has become a local rock star among the young and young at heart. The "Nessa Groupies" sing and dance in the aisles at her packed shows with her lively band, the Jumping Monkeys, flock to her infant and toddler music education classes, and can't get enough of her two award-winning children's CDs, 'Carnival Day' and 'Hot Air Balloon.'
Piano is the most popular instrument in the world and the foundation for music learning. Numerous studies available show children who play an instrument, score higher on both standard and spatial cognitive development tests alike. There are also findings that show kids who play piano, in particular, scored higher in math, especially on problems dealing with ratios and fractions.
Ipswich Music, Art & Drama Association, Inc. (IMADA) is a volunteer charitable organization that partners with the Ipswich, Massachusetts public Middle & High Schools to support and promote fine arts education and appreciation. IMADA’s mission is to advocate for the fine arts as an integral part of secondary education, enhance performing and visual arts educational experiences, and help ensure that all students have access to the highest quality arts education.
All children have an innate musical ability that needs a little nurturing to become a fun and educational source of entertainment. The Kiwi Girl has developed an active approach to teaching music through singing, movement and instrument playing. Her teaching-by-doing approach will help your child learn advanced musical concepts like rhythm, pitch and form, and kids will naturally progress to the point of having a desire to learn a musical instrument.
Kiwi Kids Studio is dedicated to sparking the creative spirit of young children through Music, Art and Creative Play. Their early childhood educators all have one thing in common, they love what they do and want to share it. Kiwi Kids encourages children to be expressive, move freely to the beat, and explore the world around them in a safe, nurturing, educational environment.
Founded in 1982, Cantemus (Latin for 'Let us sing') is a chorus of up to 40 singers from across the North Shore of Massachusetts and beyond. We are a non-profit organization. We welcome diversity and do not discriminate on the basis of age, sex, race, creed or national origin.
The Newburyport Choral Society is an educational, non-profit organization dedicated to excellence in performance and to bringing outstanding choral music to the North Shore of Boston. In two concert series each year, NCS presents choral masterpieces accompanied by well-known soloists and full, professional orchestras. The Society performs music from the Renaissance to the 21st century including commissioning world premiere works.
Attracting more than 100 members each year, the Newburyport Choral Society is one of the largest volunteer arts organizations on the North Shore of Boston. Formally established in 1934, we continue a local choral tradition dating back to the first Newburyport chorus formed in 1848. The Society is very much a community. Singers come from nearly forty communities in eastern Massachusetts and southeastern New Hampshire and bring greatly diverse personal and musical backgrounds to their choral experience. | <urn:uuid:b1b63aa2-2a5d-4e9c-9e06-9a07876cc4fc> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.northshorekid.com/category/directory/nsk-shopping/music | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368702810651/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516111330-00010-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.9363 | 909 | 1.601563 | 2 |
Russian Translation - B.S. Download to print
Admission to the program is temporarily suspended effective spring 2013 and will resume contingent on university approval procedures.
College of Arts and Sciences
Department of Modern and Classical Language Studies
109 Satterfield Hall
The Bachelor of Science in Russian Translation is a pre-professional degree designed for students to develop the skills needed to become working translators. It also introduces the rudiments of translation theory as it applies to the actual practice of translation. Graduates may pursue a professional degree in translation or go on to work for government, business or industry, for translation agencies or as freelance translators. Majors meet requirements designed to ensure competence in Russian and take five core courses in translation during the junior and senior years. The major features a 33-credit subject area specialty requirement, which enables translation students to acquire a level of expertise in a specific field in which they can specialize as translators. Translation majors are strongly encouraged to undertake study in a country where Russian is spoken.
Opportunities are many and varied, depending on language combinations and subject area specialties. According to the U.S. department of labor projections, “employment of interpreters and translators is projected to increase 22 percent over the 2008–18 decade, which is much faster than the average for all occupations. Higher demand for interpreters and translators results directly from the broadening of international ties and the large increases in the number of non-English speaking people in the United States… Job prospects for interpreters and translators vary by specialty and language,” ranging from healthcare to law. In 2009, about 28 percent worked in public and private educational institutions. About 13 percent worked in healthcare and social assistance, many of whom worked for hospitals. Another 9 percent worked in other areas of government, such as Federal, State, and local courts. Other employers of interpreters and translators include interpreting and translation agencies, publishing companies, telephone companies, and airlines. About 26 percent of interpreters and translators are self-employed.”
Translators work with written documents, as distinguished from interpreters, who work with oral language. Many translators will require on-the-job training in addition to Kent’s pre-professional BS in Translation. Translators work predominantly into the mother tongue.
Many translators rely on other sources of income to supplement earnings, such as teaching or language consultancy. The career outlook is best for those who gain a functional ability with translation tools and such skills as revising/editing/proofreading and desktop publishing. Prospects are currently strong in software internationalization and webpage localization (making products, text, or images acceptable to target-country market norms).
General Admissions for New Freshman: Students most likely to be admitted and succeed at the Kent Campus are those who have graduated with at least 16 units of the recommended college preparatory curriculum in high school, who have achieved a cumulative high school grade point average of 2.5 or higher (on a 4.0 scale), and whose composite ACT score is 21 or better (980 combined critical reading and math SAT score). For more information on admissions, visit the Admissions website for new freshmen.
Minimum 121 total credit hours and 42 upper-division hours for graduation. Minimum 2.000 GPA overall and 2.000 GPA in major required for graduation.
Study Abroad/Away Opportunities
There are many Study Abroad/Away Opportunities, for more information contact the Office of Global Education.
Phi Sigma Iota
- Admissions & Financial Aid
- Student Life
- News & Events | <urn:uuid:054020ba-4330-4e91-9cca-d84edfa34c0a> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.kent.edu/catalog/2012/AS/UG/rutr | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368701459211/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516105059-00012-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.93618 | 736 | 1.515625 | 2 |
For a long time I believed the perfect holiday gifts for gardeners were tools. It took me years to notice that they are received with something less than joy; they were simply too utilitarian.
What people need to carry them through January, February and March is to disappear into someone elses garden. Reading books by passionate gardeners allows them to do this. The writers reveal themselves; all their predilections, biases, affectations, affections and kindnesses are out there in print for everyone to see.
Their likes and dislikes can be observed to inform their designs, selections of plants and, sometimes, their view of the role of landscape in society. Even if not forthrightly declared, you can intuit this from the writer’s long digression on a garden practice it never occurred to you to question.
I’ve already written about two of this year’s best books to help you get through the winter. They are both focused on plants rather than design, and take two wildly different approaches. “Plant-Driven Design” by Scott Ogden and Lauren Springer Ogden (Timber Press, 2008) proposes gardens that are less about architecture and design and more about plants, their distinct character and what links them to place.
For the Ogdens, plants come first and style a distant second. They are maintenance-intensive, and not for the lazy gardener. The Ogdens are all about change, spontaneity and lack of complete control, which means paying a lot of attention to what is going on before it leaps ahead of you. They seek to capture a plant’s spirit and presence and then suit the plant to the site. This is not hard to accomplish if you focus on local plants that you know do well.
Could there be a more reasonable approach to gardening? I doubt it.
A very different life in the garden has been led by Joe Eck and Wayne Winterrowd, described in their most recent book “Our Life in Gardens” (Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2009), the successor to the beloved and hard-to-find A Year at North Hill.
Despite gardening in what we in Zone 7 would consider to be the inhospitable reaches of Vermont, they have amassed a huge collection of plants whose exoticism would horrify the Ogdens.
Eck and Winterrowd are horticultural zealots; if they love a plant they will do whatever it takes to keep it going. A case in point, 16 boxwoods requiring winter protection, each in its own wooden box constructed anew each year, in place, over the boxwoods.
While these books make marvelous gifts, they are not the ones I keep in the trunk of the car for ready reference. Michael Dirr’s “Hardy Trees and Shrubs” (Timber Press, 1997), is the gold standard for plant identification and selection. Not only is Dirr intimately familiar with every plant he writes about, he is delightfully opinionated as well. With plants he loves, he is a doting parent; plants he finds of questionable value he banishes with a back-of-the-hand wave, as though he were sending an errant nephew off to the provinces.
Rick Darke is another favorite author and a reliable source of good advice. “The American Woodland Garden” (Timber Press, 2002) has been an inspiration for everyone working on the natural landscape in eastern deciduous forests, and he has been a strong influence on me for both Staten Island and the Catskills.
In this wonderful 2002 book he observes a forest over time and documents the changes to a richly observed landscape. He is a keen observer of plant communities and when he describes “white spires of black snakeroot rocketing out from the wood’s edge commingled with Turk’s cap lily” you want to rush out and plant the same.
We all have bedside garden books and mine has always been one or another volume of Henry Mitchell. The tradition of garden columnists writing about their own gardens seems to have disappeared, and the columnists themselves have become an endangered species.
I became addicted to Mitchell’s weekly column in the Washington Post in the 1980s, when I gardened in a tiny back yard in Georgetown. It was the size of a postage stamp, paved in lumpy brick, with narrow borders surrounded by the fences, garages and garden walls of neighbors. I “assembled” rather than gardened. Pot plants were purchased anew each season with as many packed in as the tiny garden could hold.
SMALL GARDEN MASTER
Henry Mitchell was the master of the small garden, and we all tried to emulate him. His “Earthman” columns appeared on Sundays, and were later collected into several volumes: “The Essential Earthman,” “One Man’s Garden” and “Henry Mitchell on Gardening.” They are all still in print.
Mitchell provided a wealth of wise but pragmatic advice and was candid about highlighting the disasters that await all gardeners: the storms that lay waste to peonies in full bloom, the late frost that withers the magnolia buds, the dog that settles on the most tender of your emerging plants.
His garden was only 40 by 100 feet — one-sixth of an acre — but packed with plants. If you kept count, it added up to many hundreds.
Recently, I met a gentleman who had lived in Washington and knew Mitchell well. “Did he really have all those plants in his 40-by- 100-foot garden?” I asked. “And more,” the gentleman replied, “and more.”
This Month in the Garden appears on the first Friday of the month in Home. You may contact Catherine Morrison at [email protected]. | <urn:uuid:19b3285b-9309-454c-9f42-82706b75b914> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.silive.com/homegarden/garden/index.ssf/2009/12/whet_gardeners_appetites_with.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368708766848/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516125246-00024-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.968792 | 1,233 | 1.75 | 2 |
What to expect from Social Media in 2012 by Suhaifa Naidoo17 March 2011 0 Comments
Social Media has profoundly changed our lives and the way we do things. As we move forward into this digital revolution, people are letting go of their traditional way of doing things. For example, where do you read your news? Gone are the days of people buying newspapers or turning on the daily 7pm news. If you are anything like me, you check Google, CNN, News24 or any other online publication.
Top Ten Twitter Mobile Applications by Charles Stroud10 March 2011 0 Comments
If you are a regular Twitter mobile user, you have to check these applications out. If you donít use Twitter on mobile that often, then here are 10 reasons why you should.
Social Media by Demographics by Simon Bestbier22 February 2011 1 Comments
Social Media has grown rapidly over the past few years. An average of 7.9 users signed up for Facebook every second in 2010. Social is quickly becoming the most important space for businesses and individuals. However when using these platforms you need to know who your target market is and more importantly you need to know where to find them.
Pokens: Cool and Nifty Gadgets by Simon Bestbier16 February 2011 0 Comments
Stephane Doutriaux, CEO of Poken, founded the popular tool in 2007, at a time when social networking such as Facebook and Twitter grew significantly. Poken states they are not in competition with Facebook or any other network, but rather look towards bringing social networks together to share information between users. Poken, introduced to South Africa in 2009, is being used to target networking events. Poken Africa have recently entered Kenya, and are targeting many local events in Johannesburg and Cape Town.
Jazz Your Facebook Page Up With iFrame Tabs by Murray Gough15 February 2011 0 Comments
iFrame Tabs, or Hypertext Markup Language (HTML) iFrame tags are being introduced to Facebook, as opposed to Facebook Markup Language (FBML), which has been used since Facebook Platform was released in May 2007. | <urn:uuid:fac99b82-0022-411a-9e18-1a1f30b67c9c> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.realmdigital.co.za/index.php?action=post&postREVERSE_post=social-media&entitytype=post&name=ecommerce-that-suits-you-and-converts-customers&postorder=article_date&postselection=oldest&posttype=post&poststart=30 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368700264179/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516103104-00000-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.955631 | 434 | 1.523438 | 2 |
26-Dec-2002 -- We were able to get to within 5.6 km of this offshore DC. It lies among a number of diving/snorkeling reefs known for their resident population of tourist friendly Spinner Dolphins.
The DC is located to the east of Ra's Ṣamaday, south of the city of Marsā `Alam. It is located at a bearing of 71 degrees from our location at N 24° 59.012', E 34° 56.845'. Moored dive boats were visible at the approximate distance of the DC. | <urn:uuid:7c208ebf-d014-4f83-9b73-486eb045c45b> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.confluence.org/confluence.php?visitid=6356 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368703682988/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516112802-00041-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.983512 | 117 | 1.648438 | 2 |
Homeowners insurance used to be called fire insurance. But that name doesn’t give this insurance policy full credit – a homeowner’s policy covers so much more than just losses resulting from fires.
A homeowner’s policy covers:
- your residence
- detached structures (such as detached garages, workshops, fences, dog kennels or garden sheds)
- your belongings (even away from home)
- additional living expenses in case of a loss
- personal liability
- medical expenses if someone gets hurt
(Besides the coverage for the dwelling and structures, a Renter's Policy has very similar benefits and is available starting at $120 per year!)
There are two types of coverage for your possessions: replacement cost and actual cash value. Replacement cost is better for you, the homeowner.
Under replacement cost coverage, the insurance company will cover the cost of replacing property that is damaged or stolen, up to a maximum dollar amount.
Under actual cash value, the insurance will cover the cost of replacing the property minus an allowance for depreciation. If you have, say, older furniture, that allowance could be quite significant. Unless your policy specifically says it provides replacement cost coverage, the coverage is for actual cash value.
To insure your home appropriately, you want to make sure that you have enough coverage to rebuild your home in case it gets completely destroyed. That means the limit on your policy should be equal to the cost to replace your home. The replacement value is calculated on a “cost per square foot” basis: take the square footage of your house and multiply it by the average square foot building rate in your area.
Your insurance agent will be able to help you calculate the replacement value.
Unfortunately, there are certain exceptions to the coverage on your homeowner’s policy. These exceptions generally include loss to flooding, earthquake, and landslide and certain other perils. You can read more about this in the articles featured in All Insurance Club.
If you live in a flood- or earthquake prone area, or on a hillside, you might wish to consider buying additional protection for these perils.
There are other limitations in the homeowner’s insurance policy: Although there is coverage for the contents in your home, this coverage is limited for certain valuables, including jewelry, art, and computer equipment.
As a rule of thumb, if you have a collection or an individual item worth at least $2,500, you should consider additional coverage options by buying a personal property endorsement or “floater”. A “floater” is attached to your homeowner’s policy and provides the additional coverage you need. The higher the value of the items you’d like to insure, the more the added-on coverage will cost. | <urn:uuid:862c7d65-b646-4763-9557-12036aa0cd86> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.allinsurance1.com/products-home.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 | 0.936315 | 572 | 1.523438 | 2 |
18/5/2010 в 9:33 до полудня
BORN - In 463 hiJri.
Daughters - 1.Bibi Ahladiya
He was made king of bukhara at 52 years of age. Once he went to jungle for haunting and striked a deer. what answer will you give to ALLAH by killing me. he came back and left his throne forever.
Made his secnd marriage to KHWAJAA BUBAQR KIRMANI's daughter BIBI HUMAIRA HAZRAT KHIZAR Alehis salam gave him teaching for 12 years and sent him to bughdad sharif.
Gone to Makkah from baghdad and medina sharif wher he heard his LAKAB- QAZI HAMIDUDDIN NAGAURI given by aaka(PBUH).and came to know that nagaur is in india.came to india in561 hizri.he taught quraan to KHWAJA QUTUBUDDIN BAKHTIYAR KAKI by almighty's order. came to india with his family and his father died there in delhi.started sama mahfil with qutub saheb in delhi. many people opposed the idea and said go and start sama mahfil in baghdad .then you can do it in delhi. then he went to baghdad sharif and started sama mahfil ther and came backto delhi to continue it in delhi an d this time it was done with large numbers.
The saying of aaka (PBUH) came true when he was made the qazi of nagaur city by king
SHAMSUDDIN ALTAMASH.WISAL - IN the state of namaze TARAWIH made sajdah and died on 9,ramazanul mubarak,643 hizri.
MAZAR -AT THE DOOR STEP OF ENTRANCE BUT ABOVE TO DARGAH QUTUBUDDIN KAKI IN MEHRAULI, NEWDELHI. | <urn:uuid:fdba0b02-4b6a-4e54-a5b7-d5cc7dc0d118> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.geni.com/discussions/75547 | 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 | 0.957564 | 468 | 1.765625 | 2 |
MANILA – “A hundred years after exporting our precious timber, have we become rich?” This is the question Kabataan Partylist Rep. Raymond Palatino threw to the participants of the 3rd Peoples Mining Conference happening until today in Tagaytay City.
The conference has drawn nearly 200 environmentalists from all over the Philippines who, in an earlier regional sharing of mining updates, have already detailed how, on the contrary, most ordinary citizens are becoming poorer and more miserable with every operation of huge mining corporations because of massive resource extraction in their midst.
Most lament how, for a pittance or nothing, they are left to contend with the damages to their sources of livelihood caused by denuded mountains and forests while huge corporations are repatriating billions of dollars in profits. In explaining their proposed new mining policy, Rep. Palatino, and earlier that day Bayan Muna Rep. Teddy Casiño and Gabriela Women’s Party Rep. Luzviminda Ilagan, were talking to an audience who sounded eager for an alternative law that would correct the disastrous Mining Act of 1995. In fact, the alternative mining policy coauthored by the progressive party list groups in Congress “is not just a proposal of the said partylist groups,” said Palatino. House Bill 4315, or the Peoples Mining Bill, he said, “is a product of broad consultations in many regions, and through this, it embodies peoples’ aspirations in how mining can benefit the people.”
Mining, after all, is not inherently bad, as some conference delegates agreed. It is only when the mining policy, like the Mining Act of 1995, is geared for massive extraction and exporting for profits that mining becomes untenable.
Change in mining policy, change in economic policy
The Peoples Mining Bill requires the government to first lay down a plan for industrialization that would utilize the country’s mineral wealth for the progress of its economic sectors. Compared to the Mining Act of 1995, which extracts and sells its mineral wealth based on the demand of the ‘chaotic’ world market, at the least cost of production to huge mining companies, the Peoples’ Mining Bill would rather see these mineral wealth put to processing in this country, serving its own need for raw materials in its own industries and economic sectors.
The basic requisite is that there should be an industrialization plan, said Palatino. But another basic that would change the way the government runs the economy is the shift from catering to the chaotic market economy to one that is centrally planned, to minimize wasteful and unnecessary digging out of precious minerals and for the judicious use of the country’s mineral resources.
In the Philippines, most mineral resources lie under the lands inhabited by indigenous peoples groups, giving rise to questions of ownership and governance. Unlike the Mining Act of 1995, the Peoples Mining Bill vows to not drive away the indigenous peoples from their lands, which has been tantamount to killing them and tampering with their identity and culture.
According to Palatino, “real transparency” and not just a “flood of trivia” would be instituted once the Peoples Mining Bill becomes law. “We want information on how access is secured, if the Moros and the indigenous peoples were respected,” in the process of getting their consent in extracting the wealth underneath their communities and sacred areas.
In stark contrast to the mining liberalization of the Mining Act of 1995, the Peoples Mining Bill practically declares the Philippines as a no-mining zone. It grants only exceptions and permits to conduct mining if the industrialization needs call for it and if the affected communities give their consent.
The provisions in the said mining bill are also in recognition of the trend that more and more local government units, acting on their constituents’ demands, have lately been passing ordinances declaring a moratorium or ban on large-scale mining in their areas, especially the open pit type. “But they complain that the national government ignores these local ordinances in the Mining Act. The Philippine president has a big role in giving out mining permits,” explained Palatino.
The “schizophrenic” character today of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR), where the department tasked to protect the environment is issuing mining permits, would be treated in the Peoples Mining Bill. It will transform the Mines and Geosciences Bureau (MGB) into a scientific board. No more exploration permits would be granted. Instead, the MGB would be tasked to give the mining permits, following a transparent study of the minerals available.
A multisectoral mining council would be formed, said Palatino, to determine if parts of the Philippines would be opened for mining based on the consent of the community and the stringent requirements of the industrialization plan.
If passed into law, the Peoples Mining Bill would accept three types of mineral agreements: mineral production sharing agreements, co-production agreements and joint ventures. Joint ventures are limited to 500 to 700 hectares and from five to 15 years only.
“The Peoples Mining Bill recognizes mining as a legitimate industry, but we place stringent regulations on it due to experiences and the delicate state of the environment,” said Palatino. This is why the bill would prohibit Financial or Technical Assistance Agreements (FTAAs) and would require an environmental and social impact assessment. Its result would be the basis for approving proposed mining activities. Palatino hastened to clarify that a rejected application will no longer be entertained even if the applicant has changed the company name to deceive those opposed to its mining activities, as is the practice today.
Even the transport, sale and processing of mined products would be regulated. Noting how much of the country’s coastal areas is being bled by magnetite mining, and how even politicians are entering the fray, the youth representative said that’s because the requirements today are so simple and the equipment needed are not necessarily expensive.
In the mining activities that would b approved, Palatino said, “local knowhow” would be tapped, even as the government is expected to give support and encourage community-based programs that double their gains from mining, aside from royalties and fees.
“The Mining Act of 1995 is a very good law… if you were a foreign mining company,” said Palatino. The current mining policy offers a dizzying array of tax holidays, which the Peoples Mining Bill would change. If there are foreign mining companies that will be allowed to operate under the Peoples Mining Act (after meeting all its requirements), they would be allowed to repatriate profits only for a year; they would be required to give the country its share from the mineral wealth, as well as compel them to truly give preference for Filipino labor especially the IPs; and they would be encouraged to use, as much as possible, indigenous goods, services and technology, as well as turn over all their facilities at the end of their approved mining activities.
The mining industry is an almost $1trillion industry, and “we want only a just share from it to uplift the area,” said Palatino. “What is $1billion, for example, to the mining companies?” he asked, that is, if their proposed taxes and shares from mining were approved.
The problem is, bribing politicians is much cheaper for the mining companies, Palatino noted. A Philippine politician needs only P2 to 4 billion ($46.5 to $93 million) to run for the presidency, lawmakers and local politicians even less. This, he said, makes for a rougher passage for a proposed law like the Peoples Mining Bill.
Along with banning profit repatriation, the Peoples Mining Bill would also require full disclosure of profits by the mining companies.
Access to justice is also given attention in the Peoples Mining Bill, as the partylist lawmakers note the danger of President Aquino’s decision to allow mining companies to hire paramilitary groups as security. “where mining is, there are human rights violations,” said most delegates to the mining conference. | <urn:uuid:c5aed63b-f6ee-46b4-ac2c-92b9fb39e58d> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://bulatlat.com/main/2012/03/02/conference-renews-push-for-peoples%e2%80%99-mining-bill/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368710006682/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516131326-00028-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.964216 | 1,671 | 1.523438 | 2 |
I get emails sometimes (I like emails a lot. I am limited in what I can do right now, so often my day's activities are limited to pushing refresh on Facebook and Yahoo.). The most frequent email I get related to the fire is, "Help. My friend's house burned down. I don't know what to do for them."
Here's what I usually say:
1. First and foremost, watch what you say. But please say something. "I am SO sorry. What can I do to help?" is always a very safe bet. Avoid phrases like, "At least you're ok" (because they probably aren't) or "It's just stuff" (because it probably wasn't).
2. Ask them what they need. The easiest way to find out what they need is to ask. For us, having help sifting through our stuff was important because we wanted to do it instead of a disaster clean-up company. Others might have those details taken care of. For others it might be helping out with a pet because of the living situation (likely at a hotel) or needing help finding a counselor or locating a pet-friendly hotel or finding something fun for their kids so that everyone can smile for a couple hours.
3. Gift cards. While I will be forever grateful for the stuff that was donated, there is great comfort in owning something of your own when you own nothing. The task of sorting through others' donations was daunting as well, and we were incredibly exhausted as it was. (If they are getting a lot of donations, offering to help them sort through them is INCREDIBLY helpful.) Gift cards are also great because they can save them for later once they are a little more settled as opposed to having to figure out what to do with stuff when they are likely essentially living out of their car.
4. Restaurant Gift Cards. We had no plates, no forks, no cups. Food was not of much help in the immediate aftermath. And insurance will pick up part of the meal tab, but not all of it, so gift cards are really helpful. Money is coming and going quickly, and every little bit helps.
And that brings me to a bigger point. One comment has continued to haunt me since the week after the fire. Someone in our lives asked, "What do you need?" I told them that gift cards would be great. They responded, "Won't insurance cover that?" The simple answer is "yes" but the longer answer is "no." There are a lot of insurance variations, and the fact is that many people don't have enough insurance for their contents. And when you go to buy a TV to replace your 27" tube TV, it isn't as though you can do that exactly. Technology changes. Stuff changes. And it's more expensive now. Granted, replacement coverage insurance takes care of some of that. But not all of it. Determining how to replace and how to ration insurance money is an art. I guess what I'm saying is that if you ask someone what they need and the response is related to contents, don't be surprised. And if you aren't comfortable assisting in that way, ask them more pointed questions like "Can we make you dinner?"
And finally, point them to sites like this or to others who have experienced house fires. Hopefully I will feel well enough to get to work on the website. Until then, I can always be reached via email. And I'm always more than happy to talk to families who are undergoing these kind of tragedies.
Fire Survivor Blogs
What I Wish I Could Say...
Why We Remember | <urn:uuid:48b15dfa-ec30-4408-a6f2-98f3061b1e34> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.lifeafterthefire.com/2010/04/what-to-do-when-someones-house-burns.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368699273641/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516101433-00002-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.980608 | 748 | 1.664063 | 2 |
Pittsburgh, PA (PRWEB) July 01, 2011
InventHelp®, America’s largest inventor service company, announces that one of its clients, an inventor from North Carolina, has designed a medical device that would assist with the insertion of suppositories. This invention is patented and a prototype is available.
The “Suppoz-Ease” would help to provide a more sanitary means for inserting suppositories. The invention could minimize the discomfort for the patient, and would help save time and effort for the caregiver. The Suppoz-Ease would be ideal for hospitals, resting homes and home health care agencies.
The invention would consist of a small, bullet-shaped syringe that would be pre-filled with lubricant and would feature a standard plunger. Produced from paper or plastic, and opening would be included at the base for the suppository itself. To use, the health care provider would insert a suppository into the syringe, and then use the plunger to easily insert the suppository. The Suppoz-Ease could be offered in a variety of sizes.
The inventor, a nurse, designed the Suppoz-Ease because of her years of experience in the medical industry. "I came up with this idea out of concern for the comfort and well-being of my patients," she said. "One of the complaints that I hear so often is how painful it is for them to be administered a suppository. This aid eliminates such discomfort."
InventHelp® is attempting to submit the invention to companies for review. If substantial interest is expressed, the company will attempt to negotiate for a sale or royalties for the inventor. For more information, telephone Dept. 08-CHR-1942 at (800) 851-6030.
# # # | <urn:uuid:fbf6872f-ff86-457f-a72c-55ad8cdf380e> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.prweb.com/releases/2011/7/prweb8603723.htm | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368708766848/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516125246-00024-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.966338 | 372 | 1.703125 | 2 |
20 Where is the wise man? Where is the scholar? Where is the philosopher of this age? Has not God made foolish the wisdom of the world? 21 For since in the wisdom of God the world through its wisdom did not know him, God was pleased through the foolishness of what was preached to save those who believe.
Top 10 sermons on 1 Corinthians 1
- Jesus the Sage
- CALLED BY GOD
- A Strange Way to Save the World
- The Faith of Christmas in Corinth and America (1 Sunday of Advent 2005)
- LITTLE IS MUCH WHEN GOD IS IN IT | <urn:uuid:a6679f8b-807d-427a-92f1-dbefc8bfdcf2> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.sermoncentral.com/bible/NIV/1-Corinthians-1.asp?passage=1+Corinthians+1%3A20-1%3A21 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368705559639/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516115919-00037-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.949545 | 124 | 1.789063 | 2 |
Storm chasers brave danger and debris as they try to capture photos of tornadoes' destructive power. Slideshow
Islam no threat to democracy: Nobel winner Karman
OSLO (Reuters) - Islam and other religions do not threaten democracy, Yemeni activist and Nobel Peace Prize winner Tawakul Karman said Friday.
To the disquiet of some in the West, Islamist parties are emerging as big winners from this year's 'Arab Spring' uprisings, having won elections in Tunisia and Morocco and taken a strong lead in Egypt's multi-stage parliamentary vote.
"All the religions, they respect democracy. They respect human rights, they respect all the values that all of us carry," said Karman, 32, who will jointly receive the Nobel award on Saturday with two Liberians, President Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf and
The problem was not with religions themselves, said the Islamist journalist, but with the intolerant interpretation made by some of their followers.
"The only problem is the misunderstanding from the people who act -- Islam, Christian, Jewish or any other religion -- (as if to say) 'this is THE religion'."
Karman has been called the "Mother of the Revolution" and played a key part in protests in Yemen that led President Ali Abdullah Saleh to agree last month to step down.
She said she hoped that the ongoing uprising in Yemen would change the image of her country abroad as a terrorist haven.
"Before the revolution, Yemen's reputation was so bad ... 99 percent they talk about terrorism and (Osama) bin Laden. But ... after the revolution, you will see the real Yemen, which is peace, dreams and achievement," she said.
The three laureates were recognized by the Norwegian Nobel Committee to highlight the importance of women's rights toward securing peace. They will receive the prize in Oslo on the 115th anniversary of the death of benefactor Alfred Nobel, and will share an award worth $1.5 million.
(Reporting by Gwladys Fouche, Editing by Mark Trevelyan)
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- Digg this | <urn:uuid:e078e862-bd88-4556-8ee5-f0a51f4b0a47> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/12/09/us-norway-nobel-idUSTRE7B81GM20111209?feedType=RSS&feedName=lifestyleMolt | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368699273641/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516101433-00000-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.958965 | 432 | 1.84375 | 2 |
Young draws heavily on psychoanalytic developmental models in Schema Therapy. In particular, he develops a theory of "modes" as central to understanding the development and maintenance of maladaptive personality patterns. This theory, and its clinical applications, will look familiar to those with a psychoanalytic background, particularly those acquainted with Paul Federn’s theory of ego states and with Federn’s student Eric Berne, who developed transactional analysis during the 1950s and 1960s. If this derivation is intriguing, there is at least one potentially disturbing implication in basing an ostensibly empirically supported treatment on earlier, psychoanalytically derived models. Young and colleagues make frequent reference to "offending parents" in the etiology of personality disorders, particularly for borderline personality. Although Young speaks of temperament as creating a vulnerability to developing borderline personality, he and his coauthors come close to making parental neglect and abuse an a priori cause of borderline pathology. One is reminded of Fromm-Reichmann’s unfortunate term "the schizophrenogenic mother." Those steeped in an empirical tradition, and Young is among them, must be vigilant to avoid the excesses of earlier, punitive, and erroneous causal attributions. | <urn:uuid:46afb4f2-6eff-4fc3-b21c-0ad0b196dc37> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://ajp.psychiatryonline.org/article.aspx?articleid=176519 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368705559639/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516115919-00004-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.933022 | 252 | 1.5625 | 2 |
Vicks Sinex Nasal Spray - Recall
Thu, 11/19/2009 - 3:50pm
Procter & Gamble and FDA notified consumers of a voluntary recall of three lots of Vicks Sinex Nasal Spray in the United States, Germany and the United Kingdom. The bacteria B. cepacia was found in a small amount of product made at its plant in Gross Gerau, Germany. There have been no reports of illness. However, the bacteria could cause serious infections for individuals with a compromised immune system, or those with chronic lung conditions, such as cystic fibrosis. Consumers should simply discard the affected product as they would any over the counter medicine. Customers who have the affected lots can call P&G for a replacement coupon or refund. | <urn:uuid:f30b8be1-cbbb-40d6-9d65-7f84d42fe3ae> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.ecnmag.com/news/2009/11/vicks-sinex-nasal-spray-recall | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368703682988/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516112802-00040-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.958709 | 158 | 1.632813 | 2 |
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SOURCE: CSU San Marcos Extended Learning
New Master of Arts degree in Education to be offered online beginning Spring of 2013 at CSU San Marcos.
San Marcos, CA (PRWEB) December 19, 2012
California State University San Marcos (CSUSM) is launching a new degree program in Spring 2013: a Master of Arts in Education degree with a focus on literacy. The program is offered entirely online and consist of 39 required credits, which will take students approximately seven semesters, including summer, to complete. All online courses for the program will be taught by the experienced faculty of CSUSM.
The new program focuses on teaching literacy in a modern classroom. Students will gain a variety of critical skills, including the ability to create an environment that fosters reading through various instructional practices and approaches. Graduates of the program will be prepared to meet the challenges of building literacy in schools. Students will understand the principles behind using texts, assessment tools, and curriculum to teach literacy to students in a variety of settings.
In addition to receiving the degree, some students will be recommended for the Reading and Literacy Added Authorization and the Reading and Literacy Leadership Specialist Credential. Full time teaching experience (at least three years) is required for entrance into the certificate and credential program.
The first courses for CSUSM’s online master’s in literacy degree will begin in Spring 2013, with additional students being admitted each Spring. Applications are currently being accepted on a rolling basis, and interested students are encouraged to apply now. Additional information regarding the application process is available through the Extended Learning Program at CSUSM at 760-750-4020 or by visiting http://www.csusm.edu/el.
About CSUSM Extended Learning
As the academic outreach arm of Cal State San Marcos, Extended Learning is a leading provider of professional and continuing education in North San Diego and Southwest Riverside Counties. Offering degree programs, such as a biotechnology degree in San Diego, as well as both academic credit and noncredit professional enrichment courses, Extended Learning helps individuals and organizations achieve their educational and training goals. For more information please visit http://www.csusm.edu/el/.
For the original version on PRWeb visit: http://www.prweb.com/releases/prweb2012/12/prweb10253760.htm | <urn:uuid:843d1a37-c24f-4ec2-af9e-25fd6dcf271e> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.kxxv.com/story/20384209/cal-state-san-marcos-offers-new-online-degree-program | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368696383156/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516092623-00000-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.933179 | 514 | 1.640625 | 2 |
FAMILY ACTION NETWORK
Family Action Network (FANs)
Families are critical to the success of Special Olympics Idaho and provide invaluable benefits to family members who become involved. In fact, Special Olympics considers family members to be the most powerful and valuable natural resource available to the organization. Family members of an individual with intellectual disabilities can provide support to each other by sharing experiences, knowledge, challenges and joys.
A study in Connecticut showed that 97percent of families who have children with intellectual disabilities reported an improvement in their child’s self image because of their involvement in Special Olympics; 91 percent reported a new dimension of happiness for the family and 100 percent reported that Special Olympics is a good support group for the family.
And in a study conducted in the United States that documented the impact of participation in Special Olympics on families more than 75 percent reported that involvement in Special Olympics has connected them to a wider community of social support. In that same study 82 percent of siblings of athletes feel that Special Olympics has a positive impact on their family.
How Families Connect
On a day-to-day basis, families connect by volunteering at athletic trainings, meeting in local gatherings, sharing links, sharing resources and information. For every family, each new accomplishment is a joyful story and a reason to celebrate.
The Family Action Network (FAN) is looking for interested family members-parents, siblings and guardians- who are interested in sharing their experiences in Special Olympics with families of potential athletes, supporters and the community. The Family Messenger Program is much like the Global Messenger Program where athletes are trained to be ambassadors for the organization. Family Messengers will be trained Special Olympics family members who will become advocates and valued voice of our movement
- Be a family member (parent, sibling or guardian) of a Special Olympics Idaho athlete
- Be a Class A Volunteer
- Be a FAN of Special Olympics Idaho!
If you are interested in this exciting new program or have any questions please contact Shanna Endow at [email protected] or 208-724-1717. | <urn:uuid:0e2d7e3d-0632-445d-b379-0749e183416f> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://idso.org/public/fan.cfm | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368710006682/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516131326-00034-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.948896 | 424 | 1.6875 | 2 |
Tonight and tomorrow we observe Holocaust Remembrance Day in Israel.
A few weeks ago I listened to a moving podcast, The Suitcase by the Door, via American Public Media. APM interviewed Dr. David Wahl, a child of Holocaust survivors. Wahl’s parents had some unusual habits, like requiring everyone in the family to own a single pair of well-kept shoes, and keeping a packed suitcase by the door. Only as an adult did he realize that other survivors had similar eccentricities. The ones who had to endure forced marches knew they were more likely to survive if they took good care of their shoes and feet. The packed suitcase was self-explanatory.
Wahl recalled how, as a child, he asked his parents questions about their families. Their emotional reactions deterred him and his sister from pressing too hard. This is probably why some children of survivors got the often false impression that their parents didn’t want to talk about the Holocaust. (My mother always claimed that my father didn’t want to talk about it, but after her death he claimed that my mother was the one who hadn’t wanted to hear.)
Only when Wahl’s aunt showed herself willing to answer questions from his future wife about the war, did Wahl realize his mistake. And as time passed, his parents felt the urgency of sharing their story with later generations. The pain. while still there, seemed to lessen.
Wahl’s mother was saved through the Kindertraansport, which brought Jewish children from Nazi-occupied Europe to safety in England (or to perceived safety in Belgium or Holland). His grandmother wrote letters to her young daughter until she was murdered by the Nazis. The letters survived, and tell of a mother’s love for her children and how she protected her younger son from the anxiety she was feeling. Wahl only read these letters as an adult.
Residents of Wahl’s mother’s town in Germany also tried to make sense of their history. A group of Germans realized that they had been told a sanitized version of the events, and set out to learn more. They invited the only four survivors, out of 100 Jews who had lived there before the war, to return for the opening of an exhibit on the subject.
Wahl’s uncle, who lives in Israel, was dismayed to learn of a street named after the headmaster of his former school. The headmaster had encouraged students to harass and degrade Jewish students. After Wahl’s family left, the organizers of the exhibit worked to get the name of the street changed.
A pastor, who was 9 or 10 during the war, told Wahl that only after his visit did the pastor understand something. As a child, whenever he traveled with his family abroad, the foreigners looked at his German family as if they were monsters. (Why it took him a lifetime to understand this I’m not sure.)
Wahl said that the most painful part for him was the need for absolution on the part of some of the town’s residents. But he did not feel that it was his place to grant forgiveness to their grandparents for what they had done to his grandmother so many years ago.
More Holocaust posts: | <urn:uuid:cbe96889-44f2-48fe-ade8-05c6962701fb> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.amotherinisrael.com/second-generation-holocaust/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368706153698/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516120913-00012-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.991692 | 674 | 1.835938 | 2 |
Company Announces Seed Discard Mgmt Programs
During the IPSA Annual Conference in Indianapolis, CP Bio Energy announced two new national programs for the management of discarded seed of all varieties, including treated seed, regulated seed, and any other seed types that create disposal challenges.
The first program is for the purchase of corn, sorghum, barley and wheat for the production of ethanol. The resulting co-products (DDGs and stillage) will be processed through the on-site anaerobic digester, where bio-gas is captured and utilized to power the ethanol plant. The second program relates to all other seed types (treated or not), which are placed directly into anaerobic digestion units across the country. These products will be utilized in the production of bio-methane to produce renewable electricity. Both programs assure you that discard seed (treated or regulated seed) is managed properly, without entering the food or feed chain.
CPBE currently has discard seed contracts with several regional and national companies, and delivery has already been taken on over 200 trailer loads of seed in the Nebraska warehouse. They can accept seed in any form, from bags and other containers to bulk shipments. With the seed discard season underway, CP Bio Energy has the programs and capacity to meet all your needs through an integrated, environmentally-responsible, domestically-based solution.
© 2013 Rural Radio Network. All rights reserved. Republishing, rebroadcasting, rewriting, redistributing prohibited. Copyright Information | <urn:uuid:24b60293-93e7-4e9b-8a15-6806abbe5cbe> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://krvn.com/news/agricultural/index.php?more=hixxxmvn | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368696382584/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516092622-00003-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.940341 | 302 | 1.5625 | 2 |
Thu February 7, 2013
Makeup Artist Who Created Yoda Dies; Stuart Freeborn Was 98
Originally published on Thu February 7, 2013 5:28 pm
The makeup artist who gave Star Wars' Yoda and Chewbacca their out-of-this-world looks, and helped bring to life other memorable characters such as the apes in 2001: A Space Odyssey, has died.
Stuart Freeborn was 98. According to The Associated Press, his granddaughter Michelle Freeborn "said he died Tuesday in London from a combination of ailments due to his age."
"Freeborn may be best known to modern film fans as the man behind many of "Star Wars'" most outstanding creature looks, but by the time he joined that franchise he was well known in Hollywood for his work transforming actors like Alec Guinness for 1948's Oliver Twist and Peter Sellars in 1965's Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb.
"His career reached all the way back to the 1930s, when he began working with Marlene Dietrich and Vivien Leigh; in the 1980s he worked on The Great Muppet Caper (1981) and the four Superman films starring Christopher Reeve."
His IMDB.com page starts with 1936's Rembrandt and lists his last work as "key makeup artist" on the 1990 TV movie Max and Helen.
Freeborn talked about his work in a documentary that was posted (in two parts) on YouTube four years ago:
-- Part 1
-- Part 2
Fast Company has a gallery of images about "the culture-defining work of Yoda-master, Stuart Freeborn."
In January 2012, we noted the passing of Bob Anderson, "arguably the most legendary of sword-fight trainers/choreographer." As we wrote, "he donned Darth Vader's mask and cape in some of the most famous fight scenes from the original Star Wars movies."
AUDIE CORNISH, HOST:
From NPR News, this is ALL THINGS CONSIDERED. I'm Audie Cornish.
ROBERT SIEGEL, HOST:
And I'm Robert Siegel.
We're going to take a moment now to remember a man who spent a lifetime using his hands to create some unforgettable faces. British makeup artist Stuart Freeborn died Tuesday in London. He was 98.
CORNISH: Freeborn's career spanned six decades and includes work on one classic film after another: "Oliver Twist," "The Bridge on the River Kwai" and Stanley Kubrick's "Doctor Strangelove." And it was in the world of science fiction that Freeborn revolutionized movie makeup.
(SOUNDBITE OF APES GIBBERING)
SIEGEL: Freeborn teamed up again with Kubrick on "2001: A Space Odyssey" and transformed a team of actors into remarkably convincing apes.
NICK MALEY: The Academy didn't even recognize it as makeup, so they wouldn't give him the Oscar that year. Arthur C. Clarke said it was because the apes were so realistic that nobody realized that they were suits.
SIEGEL: That's makeup artist Nick Maley who worked with Stuart Freeborn on a number of films, including the trilogy that would lead to his most famous creation.
(SOUNDBITE OF MOVIE, "STAR WARS: EPISODE V - THE EMPIRE STRIKES BACK")
FRANK OZ: (as the voice of Yoda) You must unlearn what you have learned.
MARK HAMILL: (as Luke Skywalker) All right. I'll give it a try.
OZ: (as the voice of Yoda) No. Try not. Do or do not. There is no try.
CORNISH: Stuart Freeborn helped design and create Yoda, the diminutive Jedi master of the "Star Wars" galaxy. Again, Nick Maley.
MALEY: When Yoda was originally drawn, he looked more like Jiminy Cricket than he did like the Yoda that you know.
CORNISH: Maley says it was Freeborn who aged Yoda, giving him the wizened look of a real life master of physics.
MALEY: He extended the upper lip so it was heavy like Albert Einstein's mustache. He gave him Einstein's hair. He had the ears and the top of the head from the original drawing and modeled in his own jaw line to complete that character.
SIEGEL: In a statement, "Star Wars" director George Lucas said of Stuart Freeborn: His artistry and craftsmanship will live on forever in the characters he created.
(SOUNDBITE OF MOVIE, "STAR WARS: EPISODE VI - RETURN OF THE JEDI")
OZ: (as the voice of Yoda) Twilight is upon me, and soon night must fall. That is the way of things. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR. | <urn:uuid:6c56fc02-cc25-4d10-84e8-7e95bc04c905> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://wqcs.org/post/makeup-artist-who-created-yoda-dies-stuart-freeborn-was-98 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368711005985/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516133005-00008-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.966818 | 1,040 | 1.585938 | 2 |
Answer this question if you will; is the sun still out there when it is night time? How about when clouds cover the sky, is the sun still up there? Even when we can not see the sun we don't panic because we still know that the sun is up there, we just are not able to see it.
May I propose a concept for those of us who call ourselves people of faith? Just because we can not see God operating does not mean that God is not there and working. Faith is about trusting in God, not in what we see.
One of the things that people of faith struggle with, is the issue of where is God when hard times come? We all love to read in Matthew 6, when Jesus speaks about not worrying because God will provide for us. Do we really trust those words?
God is not as interested in our temporary comfort as He is in our holiness. That means we should not be surprised that our lives are not always comfortable. God comforts us in what ever situation we are in.
Faith is like strength, it only gets stronger when it is exercised.
Setting on the couch may be comfortable, but it will not get anyone in shape. To get in shape takes going out and being uncomfortable and in that discomfort comes strength.
Does anyone question that God was with the Israelites during their 400 years of slavery? Of course God was there, and at the right time God delivered the Israelite people. Or how about Jeremiah? He spent 50 years preaching only to be completely ignored. Did God waste Jeremiah's life? We need to know and believe that God is with us at all times both in the good and in the bad. Let us live lives that show the world we believe that.
"Let every nation know, whether it wishes us well or ill, that we shall pay any price, bear any burden, meet any hardship, support any friend, oppose any foe, in order to assure the survival and the success of liberty."
John F. Kennedy
Friday, January 20, 1961 | <urn:uuid:c1ad441c-e5ee-4499-a5fe-12ea1606ea95> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://daily-jeff.com/local%20news/2012/11/23/many-churches-one-lord | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368705559639/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516115919-00029-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.970768 | 419 | 1.796875 | 2 |
Recent 3D releases Coraline and My Bloody Valentine 3D are causing viewers to question if 3D could be the next revolution in filmmaking.
Reserved mainly as a gimmick for children’s movies, 3D technology has evolved little over the past 50 years. For a while, it seemed as though the idea of theatres being filled with audiences wearing 3D glasses was a concept set aside for science fiction novels and futuristic comics. However, movie theatres appear to be making a move towards 3D movies as a permanent feature.
As an industry constantly struggling to compete with major competitors such as television, the Internet and pirating, film could have found a niche market in 3D movies.
Considering the recession, the transition to 3D may seem like an unnecessary expense for theatres, yet it could actually increase profits. The unique format would force viewers to come to the theatre, rather than stay at home and watch downloaded versions of a movie on their computers or wait for the DVD release.
Critics of the new style argue it is merely a novelty that will not last, yet a similar argument was used when sound and colour films first emerged. Perhaps viewers cannot imagine the expanse of capabilities for 3D graphics simply because they have not been invented yet.
After all, the abilities of digital modification and CGI are nearing exhaustion, so the next logical step would be to take film graphics to new heights.
Not only would artistry and design be taken to a new level, but the way people watch films could be changed forever. Today, a typical viewer has little engagement with a film and acts as an observer rather than as a participant. With technology allowing characters to literally jump off the screen, filmmakers now have the ability to intensify the level of engagement between film and audience.
However, it is unlikely we will see a 3D movie winning an Oscar anytime soon. Typically applied to children’s movies or action films, 3D graphics are not necessarily applicable across the board.
While a James Bond film could be improved by the addition of another dimension, more dialogue-focused movies, such as He’s Just Not That Into You, would have little use for enhanced graphics.
Additionally, the idea of donning 3D glasses to watch a film at the theatre is strongly reminiscent of childhood visits to Disney World. If filmmakers are serious about popularizing 3D graphics, they will have to focus on breaking the strong association between 3D technology and children’s movies by integrating the technology into more mature movies with frequency but taste as well.
While the odds seem to be against it, if 3D technology could be successfully implemented, it could entirely change the playing field for the film industry. | <urn:uuid:25e0f317-d9c1-4ca6-9474-e1f7dac8a75b> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.gazette.uwo.ca/article.cfm?section=Opinions&articleID=1726&month=03&day=04&year=2009 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368711005985/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516133005-00034-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.966672 | 549 | 1.796875 | 2 |
Ofsted report ranks Kent and Medway schools among worst in country
County schools are ranked
below many in disadvantaged London boroughs
by political editor Paul Francis
Children in Kent and Medway have less chance of going to a good
or outstanding primary school than most other parts of the country,
according to a report by Ofsted.
The two areas are among the bottom 10 ranked by Ofsted on
the basis of the number of good or outstanding primary schools as
decided by inspectors' ratings.
In Kent, 55% of children attend a good or outstanding primary
while in Medway, the figure is 54%.
That contrasts with the London borough of Camden with a figure
of 92%, East Sussex with 70% and Essex with 61%.
Kent and Medway are also behind some of London's most
disadvantaged boroughs on Ofsted's ranking - including
Haringey (58%) and Brent (66%).
According to Ofsted chief inspector Sir Michael Wilshaw, the
figures point to what he described as "unacceptably wide variations
in the perfomance of
"For just 55% of pupils to be at good or outstanding schools is not good enough...” – Cllr Mike Whiting
schools in different
parts of England."
He said: "We'll be looking very carefully at what's happening in
those local authorities with the same sort of population, with
similar levels of deprivation, similar numbers of children on free
school meals, where one particular local authority does extremely
well and another one doesn't."
He added: "We'll be asking a question: why is it parents in some
parts of the country have less than a 50% chance of getting their
children into a good primary school where there are other parts of
the country where that chance is over 90%?"
Kent County Council said there are signs its primary
schools are improving and beginning to close the gap.
Provisional Key Stage Two results - tests taken by children in
their final year of primary education - show 78% of pupils achieved
the expected level of attainment this year in English and maths, an
improvement of 5.9 % on 2011.
At the same time, Kent was getting closer to its so-called
statistical neighbours, which are authorities with similar social
The best-performing area similar to Kent saw 81% of pupils
achieve the expected level in their primary tests, a gap of 3%
compared to 7% in
Cllr Mike Whiting, KCC cabinet member for education, said: "For
just 55% of pupils to be at good or outstanding schools is not good
"It is not news to the council that this is the situation, and
that is why we have been taking such a vigorous approach to making
improvements across the county over the last year.
"Other indicators, such as Key Stage 2 results and more recent
Ofsted inspections, suggest our approach is working and we are
going in the right direction. I expect this to continue. In fact, I
would expect a future report like this one to reflect the
improvements that are taking place in the county."
Barbara Peacock, Medway's director of children and adult
services, said: "Improving educational standards in Medway is of
the utmost importance and we are working intensively with schools
where improvements are needed to ensure that they progress as
quickly as they can.
"This includes working closely with local authorities and other
partners where there is outstanding practice, helping schools to
raise standards in subjects such as English and mathematics and
recruiting ambitious headteachers that are focused on securing
"There are a number of primary schools in Medway that are
already doing much better, with some of the most improved seeing a
30% rise in their Key Stage 2 English and mathematics results in
just one year. We are using these to help share best practice
across the area.
"We fully accept that there is more to be done to raise
attainment and ensure every school provides the best outcomes for
- Click here for more news from across the county... | <urn:uuid:2a86ac55-3081-42c8-82ee-f7a3c3184118> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.kentonline.co.uk/kentonline/home/2012/november/27/ofsted_report.aspx | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368696381249/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516092621-00011-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.958901 | 873 | 1.664063 | 2 |
This post is dedicated to tips on food budgeting and reducing our impact on the environment.
I am very, very meticulous about how I spend money and manage my finances. I also love grocery shopping, cooking, and baking (and eating, obviously!). But it can be difficult not to overspend on groceries, especially when you don’t have a plan or a shopping list ahead of time. When Tim and I first moved to Portland, we lived off a very small combined income and I budgeted our groceries to around $40 per week. It wasn’t easy, but we managed. Over the years our cooking abilities have grown and so have our lifestyles (we went vegan together just over three years ago). The cost of food has increased, the economy is a messy rollercoaster of nonsense, and we are both severly underpaid in our careers. Yet, we still manage to eat the most wonderful meals every week without stressing over funds. How? Several years ago Tim came up with the best plan for budgeting our grocery expenses (and I am sure many other people do this as well): We sit down together the same night each week with a stack of cookbooks and choose seven meals to have for dinner over the next week. We write down each recipe and include the cookbook and page number and then clip the list to the refrigerator for reference. Then we build our grocery list around those meals and add to the list any staples we might need like milk, apples, toilet paper, etc. Using this method ensures that we use the numerous cookbooks we have and buy only what we really need at the store. We shop at a few different places so I also code our list so we know what to purchase at each store. That might sound nerdy and overly organized, but it really works. Planning ahead makes a huge difference!!! And, because we aren’t tossing stuff willy-nilly into our cart, we can buy organic produce and special treats. Sometimes we do fall victim to the “that’s not on the list but I want it” situation, and that’s OK – I don’t want to live too strictly!!! But overall this method has worked for us for the last five years, at least.
Reducing Our Impact on the Environment:
There are a million and one ways to reduce our impact on the environment (check out a previous post on the subject here) yet our planet is suffering more and more every day. Here are a handful of my favorite tips (food-related) for treading lightly (I know many of you already do these things, but its still fun to share):
1. Use canvas/cloth/fabric shopping bags instead of plastic. Not only are they roomier than plastic, but they have nice straps so that you can carry them over your shoulders. They are prettier, last longer (sturdier!!) and can be washed. Most importantly, they don’t end up in landfills or as litter on the street like plastic bags do. If you want more information on how terrible plastic bags are for the environment visit this website (you can purchase reusable bags from the site as well). Or, check out Jessica’s post on how she made her own bags from old t-shirts!!! Crafty, crafty!!!
2. Stop using plastic produce bags at the grocery store. Tim and I made a bunch of our own bulk food and produce bags last year. You can also buy some pretty nifty bags online if you aren’t a sewer. Here are two of my favorites: Qwerty O and Kootsac. I understand that not all grocery stores will allow customers to use their own produce bags, but I’ve never had any troubles. If you shop at co-ops or other local stores, you could try bringing in clean containers for purchasing liquid bulk items like agave or maple syrup. Lots of places will even let you bring in jars to fill with dry bulk goods. Just make sure to tare the weight of the container first!!!
3. Reuse packaging. When Tim and I buy packaged cereal, we save the inner sleeve and use it to store raisins or other dried fruits. We will also wrap sammies in them for packable lunches. The cardboard box becomes scratch paper or packing material for mailing gifts. Bread bags become a way to store kale or carrots in the fridge. You get the idea. We try really hard to avoid plastic packaging, but it isn’t always possible. Just do the best you can.
4. Buy foods in bulk. This tip is a combination of the last two tips. If you buy in bulk, you save money and eliminate wasteful packaging. Plus, there is such a great variety of bulk foods – it’s so much fun to cruise down bulk food aisles!!!
5. Save veggie scraps (ends of carrots, tops of onions, leafy celery bits, mushroom stems, etc) in a container in your freezer. When your container is full, you can make veggie broth! I don’t do this enough, but I should!
6. Buy local, seasonal, and organic whenever possible. I know this is a tough one, but it is incredibly rewarding. Shop at farmers markets! Buying locally means less fuel wasted in transfer = less pollution. You are also supporting local farmers which is mighty nice! When you buy what is in season, you get yummy, fresh, happy produce!!!
Those are my favorite tips! What are some of yours? | <urn:uuid:0c3c0012-0d49-4e96-ae29-876bf3bfba9a> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://tahinitoo.wordpress.com/2009/10/22/tips-here-tips-there/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368709037764/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516125717-00004-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.951755 | 1,149 | 1.671875 | 2 |
How can we reconcile God of Numbers 25 with the God of Matt 5:39? To put this another way, is God a god of Anger or a god of Love?
I LOVE THIS TOPIC!!
God is a God of Love. God is also a God of Hate. If you love you must also hate. If you love children then you will hate abortion. God is angry with those enemies of his that practice sin. Here is a verse that describes the anger that God has towards sinners.
In Numbers 25 God is specifically talking to Israel. He tells Israel that he has set them apart from the other nations. I can't find the verse right now, but God also tells the Israelites to follow specific commands regarding separation in order that Israel will remain Holy.
In the New Testament this author is upholding the understanding of of the Old Testament, that we should be a Holy people. But this author tells us to not associate ourselves with unholy people, instead of just killing the unholy people.
God is unchanging, He does not want wicked people corrupting you. The reason that he commanded these wicked people to be killed in Numbers is because God wanted Israel to be a Holy land, a nation that could not put up with even the smallest Sins.
God does not dwell with us today like he dwelt with the Israelites, in the temple. God is teaching us how to love these days, when before He was forcing the Israelites to be Pure and Holy. Don't get me wrong we still have a responsibility to be Pure and Holy, but the land we live in is not.
In Mathew 5:39 God is talking to His obedient children, He's teaching them to forgive their enemies. A completely different context from the previous situation of holiness.
Edit: to show that God is also a God that Hates.
I think you need to take that verse from Matthew in its full local context, rather than in isolation. The passage from Matthew 5:38-45 (ESV) is:
My understanding of "not resist an evil person" is not to retaliate in kind to evil, but to demonstrate love for those who are evil (but not love for evil itself)...not only for your own righteousness, but also for the benefit of those who are evil.
As for the question about whether God is a God of angler or love...I think a certain degree of specificity is necessary. God is certainly a God of Love, that is clearly demonstrated throughout the Bible. However, God is also a God of justified wrath in the face of evil. I think if you look at evil as an infestation, you don't just let an infestation fester. You fight it...you route it out and destroy it before it destroys whatever was infested...like termites in a home. I believe the God of Numbers 25 is a God demonstrating his love for mankind, and demonstrating his will to fight and protect mankind from infestations of evil, just like a home owner protects their home from an infestation of termites.
Although I am not a believer anymore I think that the idea of progressive revelation best reconciles the different images of god in the old and new testaments. This idea means that mankind has written down the part of god that they were able to comprehend and that god revealed (him|her)self in a way that the people of that day could understand. People living in the nomadic tribe of Moses were surely a lot different from city romans 1000 years later.
I think it is easier to reconcile with progressive revelation if you also believe in the tradition. The sola scriptura folks like it more set in stone.
God is our Father, and His acts can be best understood by taking this concept at least somewhat literally, and by maintaining an eternal perspective.
Start from the basis that God has many children, and he wants as many of them as possible to go to heaven--the exact specifics of what "go to heaven" means are intentionally left obscure here, for simplicity's sake. That's a subject for a different answer--and that only those who have lived in such a way as to fulfill certain requirements can go to heaven when they die.
Understood this way, divine acts of death and destruction upon the wicked, up to and including the Flood, can be understood as acts of love. When a society becomes so evil that there is no chance that any new children born to them and raised in that culture can end up qualifying for heaven, then it's not justifiable to allow them to continue. He causes them to be wiped out in one way or another so as to not have to send any of His precious, beloved children into a no-win situation.
The German philosopher Arthur Schopenhauer often brought this up (an example being in this essay), and I agree that the Old and New Testaments contradict each other. Christ, after all, was very careful to subvert or discard the teachings of the Old Testament. But they are contradictory for a very good reason.
I see the Old Testament as being man's striving towards God but not reaching God, and going through each wrong philosophy in turn, until eventually Jesus (the second Adam) comes and reveals the truth in the New Testament.
The Old Testament was written by man in his fallen state, so in it we get no real idea of prelapsarian times beyond allegory and bits of facts such as man ate herbs for meat, because man was fallen, and the capability to comprehend that earlier state had been lost. Next the Old Testament goes through each wrong philosophy in turn: the idea in Ecclesiastes that everything is vanity (to a Christian, what can be falser than this?), the sensuality of the Song of Solomon, the outward rituals, the unforgiving and harsh punishments, the idea that God speaks directly to man and so on and so on. Each wrong path to God is laid out, and the consequences quite clearly seen. There is no mention of a future state in the books of Moses, and Moses dies before seeing the Promised Land, which is quite significant.
The main idea of the Old Testament is that you should fear God, then along comes Jesus and the New Testament with the opposite: fear cannot love, you should love God, and God is love. The Old Testament is overturned, and the veil of Moses (as Paul puts it) is lifted.
So the Old Testament is important because it shows man’s failings, it is important as a book of human nature, and we learn through its mistakes and their striving towards God, but not by example, as it gives a distorted vision of God through the eyes of fallen man. So this is why God is seen to command evil (in the eyes of Christian) in the Old Testament. | <urn:uuid:13e2d735-df1a-44b4-b965-1a2d9c897c45> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://christianity.stackexchange.com/questions/69/is-god-of-anger-or-of-love/1301 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368696382584/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516092622-00027-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.96817 | 1,394 | 1.703125 | 2 |
Reporting Susanna Song
MCHENRY, Ill. (CBS) – Thursday’s snowstorm hit first and hardest northwest of Chicago.
One northwest suburb was using some new techniques to help drivers stay safe on the roads.
When the storm hits, the Public Works garage will be the busiest place in McHenry.
Public Works Director John Schmitt said he was ready to dispatch dozens of loaded plows and salt trucks at a moment’s notice.
For the first time, McHenry will be using a special formula to treat the roads; it’s called Super Mix, also known as beet juice.
That’s right — salt is not the only way to melt snow and ice in winter.
“Beet juice mixed with calcium chloride, and the salt brine,” Schmitt said. “It’s used as an anti-icing agent. You apply it before the storm, so the snow and the ice doesn’t stick to the road.”
Most people probably wouldn’t think beets belong on the road.
“I wouldn’t say taking beets off the table, but it’s environmentally friendly. It’s the right thing to do,” Schmitt said.
McHenry has about 3,200 tons of road salt, full tanks of salt brine and hot mix, and a dozen dump trucks fully loaded with salt.
It’s not just his drivers who are gearing up for the first snowfall of the season.
His office has posted a map of all its snow plow routes, with one dump truck designated to one route.
When residents or police call about trouble spots, the office will know which truck drivers to reach to take care of those spots.
Also new this season, crews have been pre-wetting the salt.
Public Works employee Matt Rogers said, “It weighs the salt down, so the salt doesn’t bounce off the road. So it usually stays right where you put it. And then … the brine that you’re trying to create is already created by making it and spreading it with the salt; makes it work faster, and more efficient.”
By pre-wetting, McHenry will use 30 percent less salt than normal.
As for the Super Mix beet juice concoction, officials said they couldn’t use it on the roads on Thursday because the rain in the morning would have washed it away.
At the Northern Illinois community of Woodstock, strong winds blew snow at a nearly horizontal angle Thursday evening.
Diva’s Attic co-owner Virginia Dannehy ended up closing early.
“Normally, we would stay open late for the holidays, but business has kind of like ceased,” she tells CBS 2’s Suzanne Le Mignot.
But for snow plow driver Ralph Dannehy, business was picking up.
“We’re praying for a little bad weather. I know other people don’t but we do,” he said. | <urn:uuid:23cd9848-4a62-4148-bbd9-56b7aca13a4c> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://chicago.cbslocal.com/2012/12/20/northwest-suburbs-getting-ready-to-tackle-snowstorm/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368704392896/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516113952-00040-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.945013 | 646 | 1.5625 | 2 |
Purposeful Parenting Tip: If you start something, finish it.
“Finish your shot!” “Follow through!” These are the words I hear often at my children’s basketball games from the parents in the stands. For those of you with children in this sport, you know that these commands are instructing the kids to not just throw up the ball and move on, but rather to see it through to either ensure it goes in or to rebound the ball and try again. In short, don’t give up. Continue reading
Purposeful Parent Tip: Teach your child to acknowledge their feelings but not to give in to them.
“I don’t feel like it.” How many times have you or your child said those words? “Why didn’t you do your homework?” “I didn’t feel like it.” “Why didn’t you clean your room?” Same response…”I didn’t feel like it.” For many of us, kids included, we pay a lot attention to our feelings. People are always asking us how we are feeling. We base important decisions on a feeling. Guess what? It’s time to rethink this. Continue reading
Purposeful Parent Tip: The shortest word in the English language is “No”.
Recently my daughter came home with paperwork regarding tryouts for her middle school play. She was very excited and wanted to learn more about the play’s characters so she could determine which one she should try out for. I explained each of the characters and gave a suggestion or two into which ones I thought she might enjoy the most. What happened over the next week surprised even me. Continue reading
Purposeful Parent Tip: Even Adults Get Squeamish. No Need to “Suck It Up” All the Time.
Last night, my daughter lost a tooth. In the scheme of all the worldly happenings, this is not newsworthy. Except that we pulled it out together. Yikes! Continue reading
Purposeful Parent Tip: Be grateful for free time.
Today, both of my children were out of the house by 7:00 am. My son is normally out at this time to catch the bus. My daughter, who had a field trip, was picked up by her father who was chaperoning the trip. I closed the front door at 7:05 am and stood for a moment in the silence in the wee hours of the morning. What to do now? Continue reading
Purposeful Parent Tip: Encourage your children to push through their
“How do you do it Jennifer?” While I do get asked this question alot, I remember the first time I heard it. It was from a colleague of mine during a lunch meeting after I had just published my baby journal, My Life. She had seen me through the challenges of my full-time job, a divorce, getting my MBA (while going through a divorce), and starting a small business. “You exhaust me!” she commented. Continue reading | <urn:uuid:bbd9b7f6-47c1-4a5b-a5ae-f56817fc8fa5> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.parentingforpurpose.com/tag/sense-of-accomplishment/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368707435344/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516123035-00023-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.975939 | 655 | 1.71875 | 2 |
Since 2001, the Bush administration and America's leading telecommunications carriers have been blatantly violating the law and the privacy of millions of Americans. Working together, they have engaged in a comprehensive and insidious warrantless dragnet surveillance program that ignores the careful legal safeguards set forth by Congress. Under this program, the carriers intercept and disclose to the government the telephone and Internet communications of millions of their customers, along with detailed records about customers' communications.
Since January 2006, the Electronic Frontier Foundation has been litigating Hepting vs. AT&T, a case arising from AT&T's participation in the illegal surveillance. The case is brought on behalf of all of AT&T's customers to stop the ongoing conduct and to hold the company responsible in order to compensate the millions of ordinary Americans who have been affected. This should also serve to discourage the telecom giant from agreeing to such illegal schemes in the future.
The litigation is bolstered by detailed and uncontested evidence. A former AT&T employee has presented his own eyewitness testimony along with over a hundred pages of authenticated AT&T schematic diagrams and tables detailing how AT&T diverted communications to the National Security Agency. No fewer than 19 members of Congress have publicly confirmed, based upon briefings from the executive branch, that telecom companies turned over to the NSA huge
The administration's response to this case has been twofold. On the one hand, it claims that the question of whether it is actually engaging in wholesale warrantless surveillance is so secret that no court can ever determine whether it is legal. On the other hand, it emphatically insists that any warrantless surveillance is legal, despite the clear mandates set forth in numerous well-established laws. Under such expansive theories of presidential power, the executive branch and its telecommunications collaborators are free to eavesdrop on every American with impunity, blatantly violating the law, as long as they first invoke the mantra of national security.
On the first question, the only true test of whether the surveillance program is lawful must come from the courts, and this means that the currently pending litigation must continue if our nation is ever to find that answer. On the second, constitutional scholars, prominent attorneys, legislators and even former members of the Bush administration have rightfully rejected the legal arguments that claim, in essence, that the president can violate the law at will and keep the courts from dispensing justice.
The administration's attempt to stop the litigation based on the secrecy argument failed before the U.S. District Court, and the administration's appeal is pending before the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals. Unnamed sources have informed reporters that the government and the telecommunications carriers are deeply concerned that the 9th Circuit will allow the case to proceed, and now an army of telecom lobbyists and administration officials is trying to stop the litigation by persuading Congress to grant full immunity to the carriers.
The Hepting case, along with companion cases pending in District Court, represent the country's best hope to test the administration's extreme view of executive power in the crucible of judicial scrutiny, and to allow the courts to determine whether we are truly a nation governed by law or by people.
It is imperative that our society gets answers to crucial questions raised by the warrantless surveillance program on the separation of powers and the scope of executive authority. The courts must not be pulled from the fight, whether by the state secret privilege or immunity legislation. It would be a travesty to deny the opportunity for justice to those whose privacy has perished under a presidential program, and to prevent the courts from determining whether the Constitution supports the president's claim of unbridled executive power.
KURT OPSAHL is a senior staff attorney with the Electronic Frontier Foundation (www.eff.org), which is counsel to the plaintiffs in Hepting vs. AT&T. He wrote this article for the Mercury News. | <urn:uuid:70dfd870-94bd-41c0-91bd-e44ebeaa1760> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.mercurynews.com/opinion/ci_7175561?nclick_check=1 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368697974692/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516095254-00004-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.946643 | 774 | 1.515625 | 2 |
Tips and remedies to prevent hair breakage emergencies.
As curly-haired women, sometimes we just want to toss our combs and styling tools out the window, forcing ourselves to prevent damaging our cherished locks. Some may even imagine reaching for the phone, dialing “911″ and crying for emergency hair help.
Thankfully, with a few helpful hints and daily remedies, we don’t have to take either one of these drastic measures to prevent hair breakage, keep our hair healthy and stop split ends in their tracks!
Prevention is the Key
Choose alcohol-free hair products, and sulfate free shampoos. Because curly hair is naturally dry, we need to make sure we prevent breakage by using products designed for our hair type that will moisturize and protect.
Keep in mind, too, that curly hair is more fragile than straight hair because the cuticle of a curl naturally remains somewhat raised, making the strand more vulnerable to breakage and split ends. So, it is important that we are gentle with our hair when styling it. This means no pulling on those curls and no overheating them with styling tools!
Hair breakage can be prevented by simply opting to air dry curls instead of choosing to blow dry them. Even the gentlest of dryers can damage curly hair over time. In addition, too much manipulation can tangle dry hair, so make sure styling is kept to a minimum and your curly mane is left alone as much as possible.
Sleeping on a satin pillowcase at night is also a great way to keep your hair smooth and free of split-ends.
Protect Curls from Breakage
To stop those curls from breaking off at the ends, we can further protect them from damage by choosing snag-free hair accessories. Yes, there are such products!
Beauty supply stores carry many smooth clips and barrettes that work well, and are much gentler on hair. Also, buy combs that don’t have rough seams. Handmade, seamless wide-tooth combs made out of cellulose acetate are the best combs for curlies.
However, make sure your comb is not being used on your hair improperly. Poor combing habits can also contribute to strands splitting off.
If you frequently tease your curls, you may want to think about ending this hair styling routine. Teasing can cause hair breakage due to the improper brush strokes and massive amounts of product (ahem, hairspray).
Protecting hair with a good leave-in conditioner will also benefit your tresses by coating them with a type of shield that will guard against damage throughout the day. Mild shampoos and moisturizing rinses can make a difference as well. The more we eliminate dry hair, the healthier it will be.
Finally, limit styles such as ponytails, braids and tight buns. Prevent hair breakage by giving your hair a rest from these styles as they pull on the hair follicle and cause damage, as well as sometimes causing the whole strand to fall out.
So, for all of you wavies, curlies and kinkies, remember to treat your hair well by styling without heat and being aware of the clips and styles you are using. Once you get all of the bad hair habits behind you, a hair breakage 911 call will be the last thing on your mind.
This entry was posted on Monday, August 1st, 2011 at 12:00 pm and is filed under Care Methods. You can follow any comments to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can skip to the end and leave a comment. Pinging is currently not allowed. | <urn:uuid:51e8d43d-58d9-4f0c-83c4-4070e64a75ef> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.naturallycurly.com/curlreading/curly-hair-care-methods/hair-breakage | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368702810651/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516111330-00001-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.959682 | 758 | 1.625 | 2 |
Egyptian protesters break into Israeli embassy building
Protesters have broken into the building housing Israel's embassy in Egypt's capital, Cairo, entering consular offices, officials said.
Security forces fired tear gas at the protesters who threw stones and petrol bombs at police vehicles. Israel's ambassador has flown out of Egypt.
US President Barack Obama urged Egypt to protect the embassy after Israel asked Washington for help.
Hundreds of protesters remain near the embassy, burning tyres in the street.
Live gun shots have been heard, as riot police try to disperse the demonstrators, says the BBC's Bethany Bell, in Cairo.
The air is still thick with tear gas, our correspondent says.
There have been protests outside the embassy for weeks amid a downturn in Egypt-Israel relations.
An Israeli official in Jerusalem said the attack was a "serious blow to the fabric of peace between Egypt and Israel".
The official said that at one point during the night, six Israeli embassy employees had been rescued from the mission by Egyptian commandos.
The unrest began after Friday prayers, when thousands converged on Cairo's Tahrir Square to demand faster political reforms following the ousting of former President Hosni Mubarak in February.
Later, hundreds marched on the Israeli embassy. They destroyed a wall around the building, before a group of about 30 broke in and threw documents out of windows.
At the scene
At the Israeli embassy there is now an Egyptian flag flying instead of the Israeli flag.
The focus of the protest has shifted away from the embassy to a headquarters of the Egyptian security forces, which is next to the embassy.
There are hundreds of protesters, young people, trying to attack the headquarters.
They are chanting slogans against the security forces and the head of the military interim ruling council, Field Marshall Hussein Tantawi.
Dozens of rounds of tear gas have been fired. A medical official told me four people had been critically injured.
I can hear gunshots from the security forces trying to prevent the headquarters from being attacked.
There is a large fire in front of the gates of the security headquarters.
Reuters news agency quoted an Israeli official in Jerusalem as saying that the documents appeared to be "pamphlets and forms kept at the foyer". Egypt's state media said some of the documents were marked confidential.
An Israeli official told the BBC the intruders had entered consular offices, but not the main embassy.
After initially standing by, police moved against the protesters, firing tear gas. Several vehicles were set alight.
Live TV pictures in the early hours of Saturday showed protesters throwing petrol bombs at police vans which drove at a crowd of people to try to scatter them.
Shots were heard in the area but it is not clear who fired them. There are reports a police station near the embassy was raided by protesters.
Egyptian state media said about 400 people had been injured in the unrest.
The BBC's Hamada Abu-Qamar in Cairo says the protesters want the embassy to be shut down.
A statement from the office of Israeli Defence Minister Ehud Barak said he had spoken with his US counterpart Leon Panetta and had "asked them to protect the embassy from the demonstrators".
President Obama appealed to Egypt to honour its international obligations and protect the mission, the White House said in a statement.
Israeli ambassador Yitzhak Levanon, his family and other embassy officials have been flown out of the country on board a military plane, Egyptian state TV reported.
However, Reuters says the Israeli consul is staying in Cairo to maintain the mission.
Egyptian Prime Minister Essam Sharaf had summoned his cabinet crisis team while the interior ministry put police forces on alert.Peace treaty tested
There have been protests outside the embassy since the deaths on 18 August of five Egyptian policemen.
Egyptian officials say they were killed as Israeli forces chased suspected militants across the border.
Gunmen had earlier that day attacked Israeli civilian buses near the Red Sea resort of Eilat, killing eight people.
Hundreds of Egyptians protested outside the Israeli embassy in Cairo the following night, burning the Israeli flag and demanding the expulsion of the Israeli ambassador.
Cairo called the policemen's death "unacceptable". Israel did not admit responsibility, but said the deaths were regretted. Israel's defence minister said he had ordered a joint inquiry to be held with the Egyptian army.
Correspondents say the incident marked a sharp escalation in tensions between Israel and Egypt. Their 30-year-old peace treaty was already being tested after long-time Egyptian leader Hosni Mubarak was forced from office.
Under Mr Mubarak, ties between the two nations had been stable after a history of conflict.
But his removal has sparked fears among Israeli officials that a less amenable government could take charge in Cairo. | <urn:uuid:7a023fcb-1122-458e-b262-f7b8558a9f6a> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-14862159 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368702810651/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516111330-00033-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.974896 | 977 | 1.59375 | 2 |
What July 4th Means to Me
Happy 4th of July everyone! If you’re among my American friends, I hope you had some fun summer times celebrating with friends and family! In honor of the day and RbtWBC’s July 4th event, I thought I’d share a fun summery excerpt from my new book Her Forbidden Hero and what the day means to me:
Fireworks. I can’t think of the 4th of July without thinking of the thrill of fireworks exploding in the air, the cracks and booms catching you by surprise even though you know they’re coming, the anticipation of what color and shape will come next. I’ve loved fireworks for as long as I can remember, and even now I feel a certain fondness toward them I associate especially with the 4th.
Picnics and Barbeques. Growing up, my family always packed up a huge picnic and went to a state park about a half hour from our house. It had a beach on a huge lake, paddle boats, picnic tables, and playgrounds. It was one of my favorite outings of the year.
The Bravery of Heroes Past. As some of you might know, I’m an American historian and my particular area of expertise is colonial
America. Something really spectacular happened 236 years ago when fifty-six men put their lives and property on the line by signing their names to the Declaration of Independence and thereby committing treason against the biggest, most powerful Empire in the world. No rational observer at the time, including George Washington, appointed in 1775 as the Commander in Chief of the Continental Army, gave the Americans much of a chance at defeating the largest and most powerful military in the world, so what the delegates to the Continental Congress did by signing the Declaration was one of the most notable acts of bravery, courage, and conviction in the entire history of the world. We often forget just how high the stakes were because the Americans prevailed, but had they not, the men we call “Founding Fathers” would’ve lost their reputations, fortunes and lives and might’ve been labeled by the victors’ history as traitors and terrorists.
Philosophical and Political Revolution. Can you stand a little more of my history geek coming out??? When was the last time you actually read the masterful words of the Declaration of Independence?
When in the Course of human events, it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another, and to assume among the powers of the earth, the separate and equal station to which the Laws of Nature and of Nature's God entitle them, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation.
We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life,
and the pursuit of Happiness. — That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, — That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government…. Liberty
A committee of five men worked to draft the Declaration, though most of the actual verbiage was the work of Thomas Jefferson, without question THE VOICE of the American Revolution. The Declaration was the heir of new and dangerous Enlightenment philosophy, embodying new-fangled ideas such as that certain natural laws existed that superseded government power. That governments only exist at the will and with the consent of those they govern. That all men are created equal and inherently possess the rights to their lives, their freedom, and their happiness, and that governments should act to secure those rights. These are the founding ideals of the modern era, and went on to inspire dozens of other political revolutions around the world. We often take these ideas for granted, but it’s worth remembering just how revolutionary, just how powerful, they truly are.
The Bravery of Heroes Present. If the 4th makes me think of the risks and sacrifices American heroes made several centuries ago, it can’t help but make me think of the risks and sacrifices many American men and women continue to make to defend and protect our country and what it stands for. Working for the Department of Defense (Navy) as I do, the military is not just some abstract institution, but a collection of real men and women who dedicate their lives to doing for and protecting others—and that’s the quintessential definition of a hero in my mind.
|I had to steal this pic from Laura's FB page. |
She got to watch the fireworks from the White House lawn!
Now, to make up for going a little serious on you, let me lighten and heat things up a bit with a fun summery excerpt from Her Forbidden Hero, my new contemporary romance that features a military hero who I think truly portrays the kinds of sacrifices soldiers make for their country:
“I’m not going to test it. I’m just going in,” she said, looking less certain than she sounded.
Marco walked ahead of her, entering the water at a steady pace. Good God. It was ball-shriveling cold. He turned and smiled at Alyssa. “It’s actually pretty warm. Come on in. You’ll like it.” He kept the grin plastered on his face, the blazing sun his only saving grace.
“Really?” she asked.
Marco waved her in.
Alyssa darted into the water, up to her knees, then her thighs. Her mouth and eyes went wide and she screamed. “You are such a liar, Marco Vieri!”
Marco fought and lost the battle against his grin.
“Holy crap. It’s like ice. You suck!” She scooped her hands into the water and a shower of frigid water hit his front. Marco bit out a curse. Alyssa wore a satisfied smile and braced her hands on her hips.
He launched himself in her direction. She squealed and turned for the shore, but Marco was faster and easily caught her around the waist.
She gasped as he dragged her backward into deeper water, almost to the rope line. “Let me go,” she said, laughing.
“Nope. You wanted the lake. I’m making sure you get the lake.”
“It’s too cold. Come on, Marco.” She squirmed and pulled at his arms, giggles spilling out of her.
And damn if she wasn’t rubbing all up against him as she fought. Good thing the water was too frickin’ freezing for regular body function. But Marco’s brain still operated enough to know just how good her body felt in his arms, pressed so tightly against his.
Suddenly the temperature of the water stopped mattering. Marco hardened slowly but surely. By the time they were up to her chest in the water, he was erect, and the sudden catch in her breath made it clear she felt it, too.
She moaned low in her throat. Under his arms, her breaths came faster, shallower. She reclined her head on his shoulder and whispered, “Let me turn around.”
Marco swallowed, his throat suddenly dry. “I don’t think that would be a good idea.”
She pressed back against him, dragging a groan from his chest. “Feels like it would be a very good idea. Please. Marco?”
A war erupted between his brain and his body. “Jesus, Aly.” He bent his head, trying to think, and his lips found the stretch of skin where her neck sloped into her shoulder. He kissed her, once, twice, his tongue snaking out to taste the crisp lake water from her skin.
Alyssa inhaled and tilted her head to the side, inviting his exploration.
He couldn’t resist. He licked and kissed up her neck until he reached the soft indentation beneath her ear. He sucked at her there until she was panting in his arms.
She reached back and grasped the material at his hip, using the leverage to pull them together. Marco let out a harsh breath at the sudden friction between his front and her rear. His grip slipped, one arm sliding up to rest under her breasts as he slid the other down to hold her low
across the abdomen.
“Touch me,” she whispered.
Oh, God, he had to. He spun them in the water so that they were facing away from shore, out over the broad expanse of the mountain lake. “Aly,” he breathed.
“Please, Marco.” She gripped his hip and brought him firmly against her again.
He gave in, thrusting forward as she pulled, pressing the hard length of his dick against the indent of her soft ass. He cupped her breast and sucked her earlobe into his mouth as the warm weight of her flesh filled his hand.
“Oh,” she said, a soft, plaintive exhalation. She turned her face to his.
Goddamn if the desire shining from her eyes and shaping her lips wasn’t the sexiest thing he’d ever seen. He could read what she wanted in her gaze, but he wasn’t going to make her ask. Not when he wanted the same thing so badly.
One hand cradling her jaw, Marco lowered his mouth to hers. Their lips met softly, tentatively. Soft presses turned into nibbles as they pursued each other again and again. She turned in the circle of his arms, and this time he let her. She wrapped her whole body around him—arms
around his neck, legs around his waist.
And Marco was gone.
GIVEAWAY!: One commenter who leaves their email address will win a signed print book of Her Forbidden Hero AND a T-shirt from the fictional Whiskey’s Music Roadhouse from the book! What to comment? Share what July 4th means to you OR tell us a favorite line from the excerpt! Open to international! Good luck!
You always want what you can't have...
She's always been off-limits...
Former Army Special Forces Sgt. Marco Vieri has never thought of Alyssa Scott as more than his best friend's little sister, but her return home changes that...and challenges him to keep his war-borne demons at bay. Marco's not the same person he was back when he protected Alyssa from her abusive father, and he's not about to let her see the mess he's become.
...but now she's all grown up.
When Alyssa takes a job at the bar where Marco works, her carefree smiles wreak havoc on his resolve to bury his feelings. How can he protect her when he can't stop thinking about her in his bed? But Alyssa's not looking for protection--not anymore. Now that she's back in his life, she's determined to heal her forbidden hero, one touch at a time...
About Laura Kaye:
Voted Breakout Author of the Year in the 2011 GraveTells Readers’ Choice Awards, Laura is the bestselling and award-winning author of over a half-dozen books in paranormal, contemporary and erotic romance. Hearts in Darkness is the EPIC eBook Award Winner for Best Novella and HOLT Medallion Award of Merit Winner for Best Romance Novella, Forever Freed is the NJRW Golden Leaf Winner for Best Paranormal of 2011 and is a finalist for two GDRWA Booksellers’ Best Awards, and North of Need, the first book in the Hearts of the Anemoi series, is a finalist for a FF&P PRISM award, was named GraveTells’ Best Book of 2011 and won their 5-STAR Gold Heart Award, and won Sizzling Hot Read of the Year at Sizzling Hot Books. Laura lives in
Maryland with her husband, two daughters, and cute-but-bad dog, and appreciates her view of the Chesapeake Bay every day. | <urn:uuid:60f8a83c-d6c2-4885-9602-b710443c210b> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://readingbetweenthewinesbookclub.blogspot.com/2012/07/read-hot-boom-with-laura-kaye-guest.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368698924319/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516100844-00041-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.979083 | 2,603 | 1.648438 | 2 |
Avoid insurance scams
If it sounds too good to be true, it probably is
Here are some tips to help avoid becoming a victim of insurance scams:
- Make sure the company and agent are licensed to do business in Washington state.
- Research before you sign up for anything. If you are unsure, call us at 800-562-6900.
- Ask your friends if they're happy with their insurance agent or company.
- If coverage seems too cheap, be suspicious!
- With health insurance policies, be cautious if there aren't many questions about your health, or the coverage is referred to as "stop-loss" insurance.
- Only buy state-licensed products. If an agent tries to sell you an Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) or union plan, call us right away.
If you think you're a victim of an insurance scam or someone tried to sell you a suspicious plan, report it to us immediately at 800-562-6900. | <urn:uuid:65c76006-3524-4c07-8d75-a5588d26eb0e> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://insurance.wa.gov/complaints-and-fraud/avoid-insurance-scams/index.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368706153698/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516120913-00008-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.95027 | 203 | 1.539063 | 2 |
Social Media: Hype or does it really help you rank on Search Engines?
Link building is still an effective way to increase your search engine ranking. But now, links aren’t as easy to obtain anymore, especially those of high quality. Webmasters have been very stingy of giving out linkjuice to other people as they are wary of spammers. Many people block links to help combat spam. Links can be bought and sold, destroying the credibility of inbound links.
You could always email a webmaster and beg him to link to your website, but imagine he gets hundreds of emails like yours every single day. Your email is probably not read at all and just sent straight into the trash. Link building methods and ideas were being exhausted as time went by, until social media happened.
Instead of building or, rather, begging for backlinks, social media way better medium to obtain “votes” for your website. Even Google and Bing have admitted to referring to signals from social media sites to gauge your credibility. Does this mean link building has changed for the better?
Social Media Reputation and SEO
Much like how you can build backlinks by posting junk comments on any blog, anyone can also create numerous social media accounts and spam them to death. But, search engines don’t look at social media accounts and treat them equally. They are monitored for reputation.
Instead of having a thousand Twitter accounts so you can tweet amongst your fake accounts in hopes of making your website a trending topic, you might want to focus on having quality connections instead. When you have a social networking account with real, loyal subscribers, your content may be more likely passed around by people who trust you.
When I say search engines are monitoring your social accounts, its real. Bing and Google have admitted to looking at a person’s social account before considering your search engine ranking position. They monitor the amount of people you are following and how many are following you in return. They also take into account the activity of your social account, for example; how many posts you are making per day and how many people are interacting with you daily.
Getting connected with famous people
Considering the social accounts now also have PageRank, it pays to get connected with famous people on social media, as well as focus on getting the PageRank of your own social account up. When you get retweeted by a person on Twitter account with a PageRank of 7, that’s incredible link power. Not only that, your content is being retweeted by that person. That itself is social proof. A proof that your content is of value and is worth sharing. More people are likely to click through that link.
The biggest advantage of social media is getting recommendations. If getting a backlink from a website is considered a “vote”, getting someone to share your link on Facebook, being retweeted and +1’d are also forms of social voting.
As mentioned previously, it’s the same as getting “recommended” by a famous figure on Twitter. When people are passing around your content on social media, you are getting backlinks built automatically. And do you think your content will just stay on Facebook or Twitter? Well, I would say they would probably end up on several blogs as well, which will in turn invite more traffic and readers.
When Google launched +1, it was like a counter against Facebook. Google Plus since then became a “social recommendation” tool for Google’s own search engine. It was a way for Google to see if your website or content is worth, well, ranking high on the search engine.
+1 for #1
You’ve probably noticed that when someone in your Google Plus network +1’d a website, that website would have its search ranking enhanced.
They say word of mouth is the best advertising, and its true with social recommendations. It makes sense. If you are searching for something on Google and are returned with two results. One result looks like it has relevant information and the other, while it also looks like it has relevant information, twelve of your friends gave it +1. Which one would you rather click on?
Even for Adwords, you are starting to see Google Plus being integrated into the interface. This is also being done by Facebook as you would see that your friends also liked some of the ads. When tested, clickthroughs with ads with +1s went up significantly.
There is a significant disadvantage with this system though. If you are relying on a higher ad clickthrough rate and search engine ranking, your Google Plus network had better be huge. For these benefits, your prospect must have people in their network who have previously gave your website or ads a +1. What are the chances of this happening? There are people selling Google +1s. While I am not sure how this could add to your SEO campaign, I would probably avoid it. Those +1s aren’t from real people anyway.
How to Get Better Social Recommendation
If you want to increase social recommendation, here are some tips that may help you on your journey.
- Make more friends. While social media is not entirely a numbers game, it helps to have a huge base. When you have a huge number of friends or followers to work with, you have a higher chance of having your content shared. It also pays to be friends and interact with the big names. Get on their good side and they will help you.
- Improve your EdgeRank. EdgeRank is basically Facebook’s answer to page rank. EdgeRank simply determines which of your friends or fans are the most important to you. The things you post will appear to these people more frequently. This algorithm also determines which content or post should appear more frequently.
- Ask for shares or retweets. Don’t be shy. Just ask for shares or retweets. People on Facebook and Twitter usually don’t mind helping you out.
- Social Plugins. No one wants to go through the hassle of copying your link and then pasting it on their social account. Include social plugins so people can share your website on Facebook on the fly while they give you a +1 and tweet about the beautiful pictures on your website. | <urn:uuid:4622ee6e-8fa3-4624-9211-fb03cfcf182b> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.rossbeard.com/social-media-rank-on-search-engines/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368711005985/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516133005-00014-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.969543 | 1,296 | 1.632813 | 2 |
President Obama’s Marijuana Policy
Recently, President Obama sent new guidelines to federal prosecutors saying they should not go after marijuana suppliers or users as long as they are following laws within their respective states. This policy, despite being created by a Democratic president, is one conservatives should support. The War on Drugs regarding marijuana policy should be kept on the state level, where different cultures and standards create the laws each state’s citizenry want for themselves. Too, there are proven medicinal benefits to marijuana use, and a number of state policies show a recognition of this. Lastly, this change in enforcement will do much to keep our streets and communities safe. We have thousands of people in jail for marijuana violations, and according to WaronDrugs.com about 873,000 people were arrested in 2007 for breaking marijuana laws. This is not the best use of America’s limited monetary and law enforcement resources, especially with the threats of terrorism, violent crimes, illegal immigration and exploding national, state and personal debts and deficits across the country.
Recently, New Hampshire (my native state) debated whether or not to allow the legalization of medicinal marijuana. In the fine tradition of common-sense conservatism- namely, letting the evidence guide policy- the New Hampshire Union Leader- an unabashedly conservative newspaper- supported legalizing medicinal marijuana. As stated in their April 16, 2009 editorial: “We understand the concerns of law enforcement officials who oppose this bill. But at this point, withholding the proven medical benefits of smoked marijuana from those extremely ill patients who cannot be helped by any other treatment would amount to a cruel deprivation of necessary medical care.”
My personal viewpoint (not the opinion of The Lobbyist or its other writers) is that marijuana should be legalized for up to an ounce in one’s home. Similar to alcohol, its use should not be allowed in the streets, and selling it in public (except where medically allowed) and to children should be illegal. If you’ll pardon the expression, there should be a “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” policy towards marijuana, where if a user is doing pot in the privacy of one’s own home he or she should not be punished as long as the marijuana stays in the privacy of one’s own home and is not causing actions that would force police involvement, such as spousal or child abuse, child neglect, dangerous carelessness, etc.- all things public officials would be involved with anyway.
When I stated this opinion on Facebook, a college friend said I almost had a “liberal moment.” The fact is that libertarians (whose ideology I have a definitive leaning towards) have similar views to many liberals regarding marijuana policy, and this is an area where President Obama actually has it right.? It doesn’t happen often, but I support the President’s policy on this matter. | <urn:uuid:8b201362-3291-45e2-b908-d480dae70e05> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://thelobbyist.net/lobby/archives/1804 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368701459211/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516105059-00028-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.951989 | 593 | 1.8125 | 2 |
This is honestly one of the most riveting books I have read this year. Woodruff’s tale unexpectedly shatters the reader with its volatile mix of passion and thwarted love. The author romantically brings to life her unlikely heroine: Irish actress Dorothea Jordan (1761–1816)
- courtesan, mistress, and companion of future King William IV. Lovers for twenty years while William was the Duke of Clarence, Dora sired his ten illegitimate children even as she tried to become the most celebrated actress of the day.
From the first fluid pages, Woodruff’s compelling tale of love’s theatrical betrayals is almost as palpable as the ghost of Dora Jordan as she
comes to inhabit the life of American actress Georgie Connolly. Along with her husband, Peter, and her three little boys
- Fergus, Liam and Jack - Georgie is accompanying Peter to London on a three-year working assignment. Fresh from a life of acting and writing in New Jersey, Peter has thrown himself into his career as a business journalist while Georgie continues to play the role of “a mother,” delicately balancing her unbridled passions as she seeks to revitalize her career as an actress.
The first few weeks in London unfold with sheer pleasure. Graham, a local theatrical agent, tells Georgie of an offer to star in a new play by famous writer Piers Brighstone.
It’s a one-woman show called Shakespeare’s Woman, based on the life of Mrs. Dora Jordan. Although Georgie confesses she’s never heard of this eccentric woman who lived almost two hundred years ago
and was known for both her acting and “mistressing," she throws herself into the
role with fervor, turning herself into Dora, even performing for Peter, rehearsing in front of him in their tiny sitting room late into night.
Wanting to capture Dora’s every essence and charm and also to impress Piers, and Nicola, the play’s officious director, Georgie dramatically recreates Dora as she moves from poor, illegitimate Irish girl to famous London actress, mistress of a royal duke, and mother of thirteen children. Georgie’s great love affair with Dora, however, is only just beginning. Feeling
so dynamic and alive, just like Dora, Georgie’s life is defined by the infinite pressures of family.
Yet as she steps into the role of her new muse, she suddenly finds herself changing in small and permanent ways that she could never have expected.
With mesmerizing vigor, Georgie - now the “actress and wife” - is vulnerable to a rush of passion. Increasingly apathetic in attending to her boys and her husband, Georgie is torn between her guilt and her tiredness, too attuned to Mrs. Jordan in her own way as she seeks to shed her home life and take on this woman “as her own second skin.”
The play’s premiere is a phenomenal success, but Georgie’s unique connection to Piers
is a recipe for chaos. The seduction, when it comes, is traded for all her decades of domestic frustration and tedium. It's easy for Georgie to tell herself that Piers's first kiss is only an aberration.
Moving from London to bucolic Dorset, Peter narrates this sad tale with
twisted horror. Georgie pleads for forgiveness, her nights on the stage with Dora taking on a new meaning, the courtesan’s voice echoing from atop the pages. Yet this mother-cum-actress is deceiving herself if she thinks she can make peace with her husband and bind back together all of her marital obligations. With their lives spinning out of control, Georgie's permissive behavior finally calls her to account as
Peter's embittered actions lead him to shoulder his own fair share of the blame
for the angst, betrayal and heartache, the collateral damage of wrecked and shattered lives. | <urn:uuid:9e79fefd-5042-49bb-b043-0948fa407fa0> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.curledup.com/mywifesa.htm | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368706499548/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516121459-00036-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.966888 | 846 | 1.679688 | 2 |
Reposting from Blackfive in case my archives can’t be recovered. Continuing the reposting theme, here is Part 5 of the Saving Pvt. Journalism series I started reposting here sometime last August…
Originally posted June 18, 2003
We are getting near to the end of the background portion, and remember that you should count Rational Discourse/Persuasibility as a part of this discussion. Before we go forward, however, there remain some economics and some theory that also need to be put forward.
Economics truly is the heart of the process. Despite what a lot of idealistic writers and academics may say, the pursuit of truth at all costs is not what journalism, or any aspect of The Media, are all about. What it is all about, besides the hokey-pokey, is money. Newspapers, magazines, radio stations, television stations, shows, movies, plays, etc. all exist for the purpose of making money. Capitalism at its best, and none of the aforementioned outlets would exist unless they succeed in making money. To make things easier on you and me, I am going to refer to all the outlets as publications, as printed text is required for each, either for publication, scripts, or other means of communicating dialog.
Now, the amount of money made can vary. There have been a number of advocacy publications that were content simply to break even. The people involved were on a crusade and/or had other means of support. This was made possible by changes in technology that lowered the cost of printing.
That cost has been a driving force in American journalism and communications from well before the revolution. The cost of a press, of setting type by hand, of ink, of paper that was neither inexpensive or in plentiful supply, of repair, and other expenses made it so that presses were limited. Again, this is why many publications would use the same press and it is also why the phrase “press,” “the press,” etc. are so frequent in the writings of the founding fathers and in the Constitution. It was anticipated that this situation would change only slowly, and until it did that protections needed to be in place to ensure the independence of the presses from government.
Indeed, Thomas Jefferson hit it on the head when he said “No experiment can be more interesting than that we are now trying, and which we trust will end in establishing the fact, that man may be governed by reason and truth. Our first object should therefore be, to leave open to him all the avenues to truth. The most effectual hitherto found, is the freedom of the press. It is, therefore, the first shut up by those who fear the investigation of their actions.”
Therefore, the Constitution set forth certain guarantees for this purpose, and the government for a considerable time did not charge for the mailing of newspapers and related documents, so as to foster the spread of information.
Of course, technology had begun its rapid ascent and as an outgrowth of that improved printing methods and improved methods of paper production were developed. As a result, presses became more commonplace and competing groups took advantage of the fact to own their own presses. This resulted in larger cities having several newspapers, all of which represented a different political viewpoint. This was also made possible by the elimination of expensive rag paper for that made from lint, felt, and ultimately wood pulp. When paper became comparatively inexpensive, and available in massive amounts, this further fueled the process. It also meant that papers might be put out morning and evening, and that special editions came out “as needed” to highlight special events or to push a particular objective.
It is well to remember that objective, honest, fair, and balanced were not the watchwords of the day. It was not unusual to find stories made up out of whole cloth, or slanted towards a particular group or objective. Laws against libel did not cover events, merely people, so the admonition of the founding fathers towards reporting the truth and facts went largely unheeded in the push to both convert and to make money. The latter was required to cover the costs of the presses, paper, and such, and to further the goals of the organizations behind the papers, most often political parties.
To get a better idea of what this period of history was like, go check out the copperheads, the Chicago Tribune, and related articles during the Civil War. Indeed, if looking for feet of clay in heroes, check out the actions of Lincoln and his government in regards the Tribune and other papers. There were many dubious actions on all sides at the time, and it is an interesting read.
Towards the end of the 1800s and in the early 1900s was when the idea of a press committed to the truth came to be proposed. There were a number of scandals that helped push it, and it was also advances in technology and changes in economics that helped bring about the acceptance of the idea of a fair and balanced press.
The changes in economics were a part of the maturity cycle discussed earlier. The markets were saturated, and no matter how lurid the stories or how much pandering was done, it was inevitable that some papers would die off, or that some other means of accommodation would be required. The Great Depression helped push this, and newspapers and magazines either folded, or found ways to work together. It was not unusual for bitter rivals to agree to share a common printing plant, so that they could both stay in business.
The Government encouraged this up through the 1980s, ruling that such was not a violation of anti-monopoly laws. Rather, it was but was allowed because of the need for multiple sources of information in order to obtain fair and balanced coverage. This is also a bit of an indictment of The Media in that it was a tacit admission by the Government that no single outlet was capable of, or should be trusted with, providing fair and balanced news.
The other factor that forever altered the economic landscape was the development of news means of communications. The telegraph was the first example of this, but it was not a true mass instrument of communication. Instead, it provided a foretaste of what was to come by allowing news to get across the country relatively accurately in a matter of hours or days instead of weeks or months. In this way, newspapers and magazines across America could, would, and did provide news and information (and fiction and misinformation) on a much more timely basis. This, too, was a part of the revolution that was to come in journalism and The Media.
The first true new mass communication method was radio. While it was years before every home could afford one, enough were out there to allow news and entertainment to reach large amounts of the population. Indeed, the problem was that it was sometimes quite hard to tell the news from the entertainment, and vice versa. The subconscious feeling was that if it came over radio, because of its immediacy, it must therefore be true. That is one of the reasons that Orson Well’s “War of the Worlds” broadcast was taken so seriously, and created a panic.
Radio did take revenue away from newspapers, magazines, and other publications. There was not an expansion of the market, and where the market could not afford to do both there was a tendency to go with the new media. This was for several reasons, ranging from hearing rather than imagining a symphony to the fact that it did not require quite as much though and knowledge to understand. It also provided the first means since the public readings of papers in pamphlets in colonial days to reach illiterate portions of the public. Those people voted with their money and helped make radio a dominant communications means.
There was also the fact that you could take it everywhere. From the early, large, cumbersome radios, there soon evolved small units for the home and even units for that newfangled horseless carriage. This allowed news to get much faster, and made it easier for the public to be informed and to be more easily entertained.
Recognizing the threat, many of the great media empires bought into the technology and opened up radio stations as a corollary to their print operations. They particularly went after the “clear-channel” stations and locked up corresponding slots on the FM spectrum when they became available.
It was also inevitable that radio stations would buy into television when it came along. At first, many did not see television as truly being a separate medium. It was perceived as, and treated as, radio with pictures. It took a number of years for that to change, and a good argument can also be made that television has simply built on and refined the so-called golden age of radio with its comedies, dramas, and the like.
Both new media, however, moved into journalism and as such ensured minimal government controls over the new media. In fact, there were (and are even now) campaigns to get the government completely out of the picture by abolishing the FCC and related organizations. The original purpose of the FCC was simply to ensure the fair distribution of available broadcast slots to prevent interference between competing stations. That has, as in inevitable with any government agency, to a much more intrusive role, with the rational that government control is needed to deal with new technologies not envisioned by the founding fathers and the resulting complexities. Good arguments have been put forth, however, that things might have functioned much more smoothly, and technological advances come earlier and better, without such regulation.
New media has always been a problem both for the government and for the American media dynasties. The Media has seen advertising dollars shift, operations become marginal or outright losses as the fickle public switched en masse to the new technology, and seen challenges to their dynasties in the form of new “upstarts.”
For this reason, there has been a great deal of attention paid to the internet by many in The Media and in government. The Media was worried about competition, challenges, and the like, as well as how it would affect the economic landscape. Unlike radio and television, however, the Internet did not take off in the same relative timeframe and did not follow the established models for same, so quite a few failed to realize its potential. The government, despite some strong desires both within and without, could not find reasonable arguments to provide control since there were no frequencies to allocate, etc.
Yet, the Internet has finally taken off, and many in academia and the real world see the World Wide Web as the new media of this new technology. Through the Web, information transmission truly has become instantaneous such that news is flashed around the world in near real-time. It also bypasses many of the traditional checks by government and The Media in that there are no gatekeepers to restrict the flow of information. From almost the start, the Web went into specialization of information, with sites devoted to almost any topic, and any sub-topic to the topic, popping up like mushrooms in a field.
The blogosphere is a prime example of this. There are sites to cover almost any topic of interest, as well as more general sites that try to cover the high spots. The best of these sites are multi-faceted such that there is the general and the specific provided. Glenn Reynolds is a good example of this with the somewhat general Instapundit site, as well as other specialized sites where certain topics are taken up in greater detail.
It also represents an unprecedented challenge to The Media and all governments. For the first time in history, so-called news coverage is subject to immediate investigation and refutation. Comments are spread around the globe with immediately, without the ability to retract them, merely redact them as needed. Unlike traditional outlets, Blogs and other Web sites can make corrections, updates, and changes as they happen and the entire result is available for review. This does make historical revisionism much more difficult, since many on the Web cheerfully archive things as they were up originally for comparison, and are not at all shy about posting notices of such attempted revisionism for all to see. Worse yet, from the point of view of The Media, they have no real way to seize control of the outlets in the same manner that they did radio and television. There is no exclusivity to them, and peasants and princes both have the same access and availability – for now.
Governments are also scared by the Web. Many totalitarian regimes exist because they control the flow of information to and from their subjects. This control is paramount to ensuring continued power, because if the people do not realize that things can be better and are better elsewhere, it is hard(er) to foment revolution from within. By keeping things like mass murder, burying babies alive, etc., from getting out, it keeps down the noise from the neighbors and allows idiots to bury their head in the sand and pretend that such horrible things are not happening, and therefore do not need fixing. Even relatively benign governments are scared of the unprecedented freedom of expression and freedom of information provided by the Web. Our own government, denied traditional rationalizations for interference, has opted to approach it from a law enforcement perspective by focusing on the reprehensible uses of same to provide pornography and such, particularly child pornography. Conveniently overlooked is the fact that this industry was largely created by the government in the form of the U.S. Post Office. When that agency decided to go after child pornography being sent by mail and the internet, there was so little of it that they had to create their own. In the process, a new horror was born, and the similarities to what happened with prohibition are best left to the reader or another series of long posts. This has been fairly well documented, even though very little coverage has been provided by The Media.
Today, we have calls by those who should know better, such as Senator Hatch’s abominable statements of late, to regulate the Internet and particularly the Web, on this basis. Also added into the equation are demands for restrictions and back-doors for national security. For now, I merely suggest that all concerned go read the Constitution, and think again.
For now, the real factor that upsets most of the apple carts is that the U.S. Government has never required the licensing of journalists, and in fact has ruled against such. While there have been a number of cases of individual judges deciding – in most interesting fashion, (see the case of the freelance writer jailed in Texas by a judge who has a most creative and interesting definition of “real” journalism) – who is and who is not a journalist, the law of the land simply states that it is anyone covering and reporting the news. Most interesting decisions by judges end up getting overturned when and if the cases involved reach the Supreme Court.
As for me, I see the blogosphere as being the new media and the new journalism. With the power provided by this technology, the relatively low cost and wide availability, everyone has the capability to be a reporter, and it can and should be argued that blogs represent the new media outlets. Indeed, many of the blogs do a far better job of reporting news in a fair and balance manner, with discussion in comments or in separate columns that would fill Jefferson, Paine, and others with fevered delight in terms of rational discourse. Not to say that many comments are rational, but even the most irrational spark discussion and thought.
Add to this the power of economics, and you have a winner. Bloggers such as Andrew Sullivan have proven that blogs and the Web can be a money-making proposition in the same way as traditional media, fulfilling the economic requirement. It is quite likely that we are witnessing the start of a new revolution within the Web and blogging as payment, voluntary or otherwise, becomes the norm rather than the exception. Even with such, there will be few restrictions on anyone taking part from the point of view of the technology. Governments can and are putting restrictions elsewhere, in a desperate and doomed attempt to control the flow of information, but at least for now there are means to bypass such efforts. Care needs to be taken, however, to ensure that this situation does not change from ill-intentioned laws (cloaked in the best of intentions/save the children/protect the public from what it can’t or shouldn’t understand) both local and international.
Now, we are finally set to begin discussing specific suggestions for saving journalism and actually making it what it has wanted to be, and has never truly been. Stay tuned, more to come. | <urn:uuid:226637ed-6b28-4f42-b33b-c0f2ef17ab34> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://laughingwolf.net/?tag=journalistic-criticism | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368701852492/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516105732-00033-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.980033 | 3,405 | 1.539063 | 2 |
"A first novel that sings with talent. A LAND MORE KIND THAN HOME will knock your socks off." --Clyde Edgerton. "While A Land More Kind Than Home revolves around a young autistic boy who is smothered during a church healing service, the novel's three narrators all represent my experience of growing up in North Carolina and being raised in an evangelical church. Like Jess Hall, the younger brother who secretly witnesses the death, I often found myself sitting in church and waiting for something to happen. As a boy I was promised that I would recognize my salvation when I felt Jesus move inside my heart; however, just as Jess does after his brother's death, I attempted to rationalize the mysteries of Christianity, and I soon realized that we often use faith to fill the empty spaces in our lives". The Author. | <urn:uuid:71b2c9cd-513b-42c8-ae8c-1e03ffcd298b> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.westbooks.com.au/Public/TitleDetail.aspx?hISBN13=&hTitleID=4216400 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368698207393/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516095647-00011-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.969797 | 172 | 1.53125 | 2 |
Mississauga, Ontario, Canada
Mississauga is strategically located in the centre of Canada's major consumer and industrial market, in the Province of Ontario. It is located in the Greater Toronto Area (GTA), adjoining the City of Toronto on the west side, only 90 minutes from the U.S. border. Specifically, Mississauga is situated at a latitude of 43 36' north and a longitude of 79 39' west, 173 metres (570') above sea level.
The City is served by Canada's largest airport, two national railways and the greatest concentration of major highways in the country, all of which make Mississauga ideally poised to serve local, national and international markets. | <urn:uuid:04db92a5-f618-4ed6-9857-8733924ecec3> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.mississauga.ca/portal/business/profilefactsandmaps?paf_gear_id=9700018&itemId=2800062 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368696383156/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516092623-00033-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.932862 | 140 | 1.5625 | 2 |
One of the most influential photographers of his generation, Richard Misrach embraces new techniques and his profound social conscience has produced a body of work of remarkable breadth and meaning. In the 1970’s, Misrach helped pioneer the renaissance of color photography and large-scale presentation that are in widespread practice today. Among his most notable projects are his documentation of the industrial corridor along the Mississippi River known as Cancer Alley, the study of weather, time, color and light in his serial photographs of the Golden Gate, and On the Beach, an aerial perspective of human interaction and isolation. Recently, he built a powerful narrative out of images of graffiti produced in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, and in fall 2011, the series “Oakland Fire” was presented at the Berkeley Art Museum and the Oakland Museum of California, concurrently. Misrach has had one-person exhibitions at the National Gallery of Art, the Art Institute of Chicago, the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, and the Centre Pompidou, Paris, amongst others.
Steven Winn is a freelance writer and critic who spent 28 years at the San Francisco Chronicle, the last six as the paper’s Arts and Culture Critic. His work has appeared in California, Good Housekeeping, Sports Illustrated and other publications. His memoir, Come Back, Como: Winning the Heart of a Reluctant Dog, was published in 2009. | <urn:uuid:f7bb150b-7883-4a4f-936f-7f8bdb3933cd> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.cityarts.net/event/richard-misrach/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368708142388/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516124222-00008-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.96674 | 285 | 1.671875 | 2 |
TAMPA, FL -- Hours before President Obama is set to deliver his third State of the Union address, Mitt Romney delivered a "pre-buttal" speech of his own, in which the former Massachusetts governor predicted a "desperate" Obama would "tell tall tales" about an economic recovery.
"Tonight, we’ll also be treated to more divisive rhetoric from a desperate campaigner-in-chief. It’s shameful for a president to use the State of the Union to divide our nation. And someone ought to tell him: In order to put the economy back to work everyone needs to be working," Romney said. "Here in Florida you know better. You know this president has run out of time. This president has run out of ideas. This president has run out of excuses. In 2012 we've got to make sure that he is run out of the office of the White House."
Romney's address, delivered from a massive, empty factory floor, was designed to be a clear, "definitional" speech upon which he could base his Florida campaign, a senior adviser said afterwards. That's in contrast to the campaign's efforts in South Carolina, which consisted primarily of a series of rallies and lacked a single clear message.
With last night's battle with former House Speaker Newt Gingrich behind him, Romney returned to his central message: President Obama must be replaced. Romney spent the first half of his speech describing what he saw as the president's many failures, and characterizing tonight's address as nothing but a campaign speech.
"Instead of solving the housing crisis and getting Americans back to work, President Obama has been building a European-style welfare state. He has pushed for a second stimulus and deep cuts to our national defense," Romney said, standing beneath a banner that read, "Obama isn't working."
"He’s asking the American people for another trillion dollars – and another term in office. He keeps telling people, 'We can’t wait.' To which I say, 'Yes, we can,'" Romney said.
In the latter half of Romney's speech, he offered what he said would he his own State of the Union address, in which he said he would have the "courage to tell the American people how it is" and not offer blame. He provided no new policy prescriptions, but instead ticked off a series of his stump speech talking points, including strengthening national defense, and cutting taxes for the middle class.
The speech marked a pivot point from Romney's engagement last night with GOP rivals, including his release this morning of his most recent tax returns. (Those records had been demanded by Gingrich.)
"As far as we're concerned we put [the tax return issue] to bed," the senior adviser said. | <urn:uuid:5111fc7a-93ee-43b8-a22c-076678a64fe9> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://firstread.nbcnews.com/_news/2012/01/24/10225440-romney-desperate-obama-will-tell-tall-tales-in-state-of-the-union?lite | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368698924319/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516100844-00031-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.981966 | 567 | 1.507813 | 2 |
Purpose and context
‘Gesundes Kinzigtal’ is one of the few population-based integrative care approaches in Germany, organising care across all health service sectors and indications. The system is run by a regional health management company (Gesundes Kinzigtal GmbH) in cooperation with the physicians' network in the region and with two statutory health insurers (among them is the biggest health insurer in Southwest Germany: AOK Baden-Württemberg). Membership is optional for insured persons in the Kinzigtal area. The management company and its partners strive for a higher organisational quality (as concerns management and interaction processes among the cooperating physicians, physiotherapists, pharmacists, hospitals, patients and health insurers) at lower overall cost as compared with the German standard. Very recently first financial results of the Kinzigtal system during its first two years of operation have been presented—they are surprisingly positive. This contribution will discuss which principles of inter-professional cooperation and which management strategies have proven to be effective and thus have probably led to these results.
Case description and data sources
In our presentation, we will describe the principles of strategic management of the integrated care system. Among these are
– the construction process of the management company itself, comprising both medical/therapeutic expertise by physicians and other health professions and management expertise,
– the development and prioritization of integrated health programmes,
– the structure of economic incentives, and
– the cooperation between management company and health insurers.
The financial results of the Kinzigtal integrated care system are measured in the context of a shared-savings contract. The calculation model resembles health insurers' calculation of the contribution margin difference of a given population. The calculation model will be described in greater detail during the presentation, as well as the actual financial results of 2006 and 2007.
Conclusions and discussion
The management and cooperation principles which have been implemented in the Kinzigtal integrated care system seem to have led to a higher efficiency in the organisation of population health services—obviously without losses in quality of care and at lower overall cost compared to the German standard. In our presentation, the Kinzigtal experience will be related to similar projects in Germany and other European countries. If the success of the Kinzigtal model should prove to be sustainable during the years to come, it could even become an example for other similar regions in Germany and Europe. | <urn:uuid:c08055ab-ee24-4665-ba72-eaeb07ae66cf> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://pubmedcentralcanada.ca/pmcc/solr/reg?pageSize=25&term=jtitle_s%3A(%22BMC+Cardiovasc+Disord%22)&sortby=score+desc&filterAuthor=author%3A(%22Siegel%2C+Achim%22) | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368700958435/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516104238-00028-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.944815 | 494 | 1.789063 | 2 |
Stanford Report, May 5, 2004
Beyond the glory: Cardinal coach Buddy Teevens tackles life off the gridiron
Although his career on the Farm may depend on it, head football coach Buddy Teevens believes his existence would be a "shallow" one if all he talked about was a game. He is a friend to those who believe in the importance of education, respect and integrity in athletics and a foe of the idea of winning at all costs.
Going beyond just X's and O's, Teevens discussed the three F's of his life -- faith, family and friends -- during his noontime "What Matters to Me and Why" talk in Memorial Church on April 28. Through two bumpy seasons at the helm of the Cardinal, Teevens has relied on all three of those pillars as he pursues his goal of leading a football team that is successful both on the field and in the classroom.
The father of two teenagers, the 48-year-old Teevens was introduced by his older child, Lindsay, a senior at Palo Alto High School and a star volleyball player. He began his talk by describing the importance of family. A Boston native, Teevens is one of nine children born to a middle-class Irish Catholic family. He dotted his speech with family anecdotes that illustrated the lessons of sharing and giving that his parents instilled in him.
One of the more comical incidents happened at the end of a family trip to the petting zoo, when Teevens' father loaded up all the kids in their station wagon and pulled away. A man started chasing the car and at the next stop sign, Teevens' father finally pulled over. The breathless man responded that his daughter was in the car. The children did not see it as anything out of the ordinary.
"For us, she was just another person and just a nice kid, so we didn't mind having her along," said Teevens. "Giving and not being selfish are hard for kids, but both are things that my parents always stressed."
Teevens added that people and teaching were of paramount importance to him, and both principles coalesced when he left home to attend Dartmouth College, where he graduated with a degree in history in 1979.
"Going to Dartmouth was an awakening for me. I was in an environment with sophisticated, intelligent and wealthy people," said Teevens. "One of the main things I was introduced to was diversity. I grew up in an all-white environment and didn't know any African Americans or Asian Americans. Fortunately, I was raised by my family in such a manner that everyone was the same."
Teevens said he never stuck to just one group of friends, although he excelled in athletics while in college. A three-year letterman quarterback, Teevens led Dartmouth to the Ivy League title in 1978 and the next year lettered in ice hockey when the team finished third in the NCAA Championships.
He stressed his basic belief that people are good, a maxim he came to after hitchhiking all over the United States from Maine to the University of Florida and later in Europe. He admitted that sometimes his trust was betrayed, but said that those incidents served as exceptions rather than rules.
Teevens left the Ivy League for DePauw University in Indiana, where he met his wife, Kirsten, for a running backs coach position that paid only $900 a year. Teevens later moved on to Boston University, the University of Maine and eventually head coaching positions at Dartmouth, where the team won back-to-back Ivy League titles, and Tulane. Teevens also worked under coach Steve Spurrier at the University of Florida before coming to Stanford.
Teevens explained his role at the university as both a student and a teacher. He finds the opportunity to learn from everyone from faculty members to staff and says he both teaches and learns a lot from his players. Teevens preaches mental and physical toughness and tells his players to follow the golden rule and not to embarrass themselves or the program, both lessons derived from his father, who taught Teevens "one's reputation cannot be repaired."
During the question-and-answer period, Teevens had to field a couple of questions about the performance of the football team – including how Teevens deals with the public criticism disciplinary action taken against his players.
"I’m human, so some of it hits home," Teevens said of criticism. "I have a good letter pile and a bad letter pile. I will call people directly and talk to them about what we do and why we do it. I appreciate and respect that we have avid fans who want to win."
Teevens also tried to explain how the team dealt with football players who have been arrested. "To me, the reputation of our team is of foremost importance," he said. "I talked to the entire team and told them to apply the tenets of right and wrong that you believe in. I hope that the rest of the team sees that this is serious."
For those who wonder what is in store for the Cardinal on the field, Teevens says to expect excellence. | <urn:uuid:da6995c5-c1f7-45b6-ab94-43f94ee5f7c4> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://news.stanford.edu/news/2004/may5/buddy-55.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368696382584/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516092622-00024-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.988795 | 1,073 | 1.53125 | 2 |
July 11, 2010
I love sunny Deep Cove days! One sunny day in Deep Cove is worth a hundred rainy ones. The brilliant green trees, the sun on the water, the sense of being at home, all beckon us back to Deep Cove again and again. Within five minutes in either direction, there is an abundance of beaches, mountains, forests, and parks. There is something about Deep Cove that allows one to feel totally freed from the stress of urban madness, while only being just across the bridge from Vancouver, the third largest city in Canada. Described by one California mountain biker as the ‘sleepy sea side village of Deep Cove’, it was birthed in the early 20th century as a summer vacation resort, only accessible by water. Despite easy road access, the Cove still carries that ‘genetic code’ of ‘letting go of one’s work-a-day world’. Unlike many suburbs, Deep Cove has such a deep sense of roots that it even has a thriving Deep Cove Heritage Society , a Deep Cove Cultural Centre, two Deep Cove history books, and even our well-known annual Deep Cove Daze.
There is something about the Cove that calls forth the artist, the painter, and poet deep within us. Michael Hayward, an SFU Computer expert and Deep Cove resident, reminds us in his striking Quicktime VR Panorama of Deep Cove of the fascination that so many of us experience in the midst of such beauty and peace.
Maurice Jasaak in his beautiful photographic website of Deep Cove comments that “Deep Cove is as much a concept as it is a location.” “There is no community in the lower Mainland”, says Jasaak, ” with more of a mystique. Deep Cove is that place that seems forever shrouded in clouds and mists, getting the highest rainfall totals in the region. It is where two bodies of water meet, Burrard Inlet and Indian Arm. It has more recreational opportunities within reach than most other communities. Residents are very possessive of this image. All things considered it is one of my favourite destinations when getting away for a short while is the goal.”
At the visual heart of Deep Cove is the striking Deep Cove Yacht Club which has been in existence since July 31st 1936. During World War II, the clubhouse was requisitioned as an elementary school and it also served as a meeting place for the local Red Cross and Air Raid Precaution organizations. During its early years, the clubhouse was the focal point for most of the Cove’s social and recreational activities and present Cultural Centre.
Deep Cove is the starting point for hikes along the Baden-Powell Trail that cross the North Shore to Horseshoe Bay, as well as canoe and kayak excursions on Indian Arm. Its waterfront location, only 30 minutes from downtown Vancouver, makes the Deep Cove Canoe & Kayak Centre defined. a favorite departure spot for people wishing to enjoy the relatively still waters of the Indian Arm. Everything about Deep Cove is laid back and yet pushing the boundaries.
As I wrote in the Deep Cove Crier 19 years ago, “Everywhere I look from Panorama Park, my eyes are pierced by trees, a ring of unending trees like a green cocoon that encircles and protects Deep Cove from the intrusions of that other world. There is a stillness about Deep Cove that grips me and will not let go.” I have been privileged to baptize two groups of people at Panorama Park in Deep Cove. What a beautiful place to worship God. How the heavens declare the glory of God at Deep Cove. (Psalm 19). I thank you, Father, for ‘All Things Bright and Beautiful’ in this irreplacable setting. | <urn:uuid:bb136811-e7a4-4113-a222-fb64f13b13be> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://edhird.wordpress.com/tag/mountains/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368702448584/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516110728-00016-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.960007 | 790 | 1.6875 | 2 |
The Fourth Star: Four Generals and the Epic Struggle for the Future of the United States Army
Fourth Star is a reference to the rank of "General"the highest de facto rank in the current armed forces. A fifth star designates a "General of the Army" but such rank has not been awarded since the end of World War II when warriors such as MacArthur, Bradley, and Eisenhower were "five star generals."
Thus Fourth Star recounts the biographies and careers of four of this generation's most successful officers: George Casey (Army Chief of Staff); Pete Chiarelli (Army Vice Chief of Staff); David Petraeus (Commander Central Command); and John Abizaid (retired CENTCOM commander). Fourth Star weaves their professional lives and the post-Vietnam army into a 35-year review of U.S. military action and the evolution of the Army during this generation. Thus it carries the reader on a once-over-lightly march through the major military challenges of post-Cold War before grinding into the politico-military issues of the five-year Iraq experience, concluding at end 2008.
For background, Petraeus and Abizaid were West Pointers while Chiarelli and Casey were commissioned through ROTC. Only Casey is an "Army brat"and that with a bitter twist as his father, a major general, died in a helicopter crash in Vietnam. None could be considered more of more than middle class social status and background, and with the exception of Petraeus, who excelled at virtually every academic level, could they be regarded as stellar students. Rather they were young men who enjoyed a good time with comparably oriented young men.
The book consequently follows each through varied assignments in the post-Vietnam era. It is an interesting progress since, while we no longer have dusty cavalry units of post-Civil War ilk, there were certainly middle-of-nowhere assignments in Germany, Colorado, Texas, and Washington that could leave a young officer wondering if “elsewhere" was a better place to be than living as an Army officer. And these were posts that were harder on wives and families than on the officers.
In some respects they are an even more curious assembly of senior officers as none fought in the 1991-92 Desert Shield/Desert Storm liberation of Kuwait. But this absence of combat experience may actually have shielded them from learning too well lessons that proved inappropriate for the second phase of the 2003-present day was in Iraq.
In that regard, Fourth Star provides a solid, insightful review of the Iraq focused primarily on strategic overview. There are illustrative tactical notes, but nothing at the grunt level of Bing West's No True Glory that detailed fighting for Fallujah.
The Evolving Army
Thus Fourth Star recounts also the halting manner in which the Army after a Powell Doctrine style victory that in 2003 destroyed Saddam Hussein's forces devolved into a frustrating effort to build up Iraqi military and police forces while building down U.S. armed presence. Instead logically progressing in both directions, our presence became an ineffective counter insurgency (albeit trying to avoid that label) to eliminate persistent terrorist attacks. These insurgent actions would never defeat the U.S. Army in the field, but were moving toward defeating it psychologically and, even more importantly, convincing political Washington and USA public opinion that the war could not be won.
That the Army eventually identified and devised approaches combining economic incentives, a substantial military force surge, protection of the citizenry, and de facto purchasing of Sunni insurgents through fostering and funding "Sons of Iraq" units has been recounted elsewhere. It was also an implicit rejection of former Army Chief General Gordon Sullivan's maxim that the best "peacekeeper" was a trained soldier. For him, no special training was necessary for peacekeepers. The authors skip past another reality, however, that this relatively soft approach was combined with high tech intelligence driven pursuit of key al Qaeda in Iraq leaders and other insurgents. The cold side of the coin accepts that there is only one way to deal with a fanatickill him. Then his subordinates may be willing to consider blandishments positing less violent outcomes.
Perhaps the most interesting "new information" is the public confirmation that we intercepted Iraqi government (Prime Minister Malaki's office) communications and used them to confirm Iraqi duplicity in betraying times and targets of our prospective raids. Such a revelation will only make future electronic intercept harder as the government works to secure its communications.
As the book concludes, we are sotto voce muttering "victory" while puzzling over the applicability of these tactics for Afghanistan—an unpredicted sanguine outcome.
But Fourth Star also has lessons for Foreign Service Officers:
More basically, the Foreign Service lacks any comparable institution to foster systematic thinking and writing about its profession. Senior diplomats rarely write critical analyses of their profession while on active duty. For all its strengths, the Foreign Service Institute does not serve this role.
No comparable volumes have engaged the Foreign Service.
Today the Army struggles to be both “fish” and “fowl.” It must still be capable of fielding and fighting “heavy” conventional forces. Where and when such a fight will occur is unknown—a “known unknown” but still unknown. It would be as dangerous to assume we will never need such forces as to assume that they will be our only need.
And while we have circled back to Vietnam and drawn new lessons from our failures, which are now being applied in Iraq and Afghanistan, it is a hopeful than a proven reappraisal of what politico-strategic concept we need. It could well prove that the Petraeus-McChrystal counterinsurgency programs come a cropper and that five years from now we still be seeking the plug to drain the cesspool.
A Final Vignette | <urn:uuid:dfebf976-0f7e-4589-9082-61b598b18a2b> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.unc.edu/depts/diplomat/item/2009/1012/book/book_jones_fourthstar.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368704713110/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516114513-00029-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.9633 | 1,197 | 1.828125 | 2 |
|Saint Michael's Department of Sociology and Anthropology|
Education: Dr. Bolduc received his Bachelors degree from the University of Notre Dame in 1968. In 1976 he received his Ph.D. from the University of Connecticut.
Interests within Sociology: His interests in Sociology are reflected in the courses he teaches:
Related interests on campus: Dr. Bolduc is especially interested in doing volunteer service work with students, and has done so over the Spring breaks to such locations as Florida, Washington DC and Kentucky. The projects range from working on house construction to living and working in homeless shelters. He also likes doing survey research projects with students which help various social causes in the community.
Professional work and publications: Almost all of his professional writing flows from the various surveys which he works on with students and colleagues in other departments. Most are funded by sponsoring non-profit organizations. For example, in the past several years, he has written the following research projects:
Hobbies and other interests: Dr. Bolduc loves gardening, woodworking, and (with his wife and a few friends) hand built the home they have lived in for the past 24 years. Summers allow time for gardening, golf and grandchildren.
Family: Married high school sweetheart (Allyson) and has three adult children and three grandchildren. | <urn:uuid:daa00d8d-1966-4b0a-b932-a029036e4a66> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://academics.smcvt.edu/sociology/bolduc.htm | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368704392896/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516113952-00026-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.977857 | 270 | 1.75 | 2 |
Are you in the Android clan?0 posts
Features Editor for The Verge.
There has already been a lot of debate in the court about dealing with classified information — including a “dry run” through certain subjects in order to establish whether the court needs to be closed. During those closed sessions (there have been several in the pre-trial phase), the public is not allowed to attend proceedings. Up to 24 of the government’s witnesses are expected to speak to classified information, potentially in closed court.
They’re not related. Patel is a fairly common name.
We? The people? Of the United States?
Thanks Matt, but the article’s not really about every individual person and company in the NOLA tech scene, but a profile of a rising community and, in the bigger picture, a look at how that community’s changing the city. We talked to both Chris Schultz and Launch Pad Ignition while preparing the piece.
Yes, 1/3 of Idea Village startups aren’t tech, so they’re not solely a tech incubator. I’ll change that for clarification.
As for spelling Mardi Gras two different ways — which, you know, it’s the Big Easy and ought to have a relaxed stance when it comes to spelling — I’ll blame it on all these flabongos.
Except when it comes to spelling Mardi Gras.
“Did Bradley Manning ‘aid the enemy’? Questions loom as historic WikiLeaks trial begins” — I didn’t consider this a rhetorical question, nor one that can yet be answered, since that’s the point of the trial.
Well, the fact that he damaged our international diplomacy efforts is unquestionable. In getting people to do things that we want, there are two choices: diplomacy and war. Harming one makes the other more likely.
I’m not sure diplomacy and war the only ways to get people to do what we want, unless “diplomacy” has an especially broad meaning here. Also: WikiLeaks has caused little lasting damage, says US state department
A congressional official briefed on the reviews told Reuters news agency that the administration felt compelled to say publicly that the revelations had seriously damaged American interests in order to bolster legal efforts to shut down the WikiLeaks website and bring charges against the leakers. “I think they want to present the toughest front they can muster,” the official said.
“We were told [it] was embarrassing, not damaging,” the official added.
It appears that damage was localised in terms of a few specific cables, for example about Yemen, and thus expected to be containable in the long-run.
So the harm to diplomacy does seem arguable, at least from the State Department’s perspective.
I had a SIPR account for years. I installed SIPR terminals in accordance with specifications, which are very stringent. I’ve put all hose warning stickers on every device that touches red. I’ve been through every website he collected and disseminated from. You have no idea what’s on there and the amount of potential damage it could do, not just from direct revelations but from release of tactics, sources, and methods.
When you say “you have no idea what’s on there,” do you mean me, or you, or people without access? I understand what SIPR is — I actually spent some time working within a major defense contractor, and much of family’s still in that business — but rather than speculate about everything Manning potentially could have leaked from the network, it seems more helpful to take a detailed and careful look at what he did leak. Then we can talk about harm mitigation, what other steps could/should have been taken, etc.
You’re thinking of Thoreau, yeah, detailed in Civil Disobedience.
I think you’ve captured well some of the different positions on Manning. One way of thinking about the way people judge him (often without knowing much about the case) is to separate the moral and legal dimensions of his actions. That, of course, becomes problematic, as we usually think of morality and law going hand in glove, so if/when that’s not the case, things get tricky.
Most of Manning’s supporters see him as a moral actor, doing what was morally right despite its pretty much indisputable illegality. (Unfortunately for your #2 above, there really aren’t any applicable whistleblower laws here.) So that goes to #3 above: slogans such as “Exposing war crimes is not a crime” want to draw a strong moral contrast between the war crimes supporters believe were exposed in the leaked documents and the act of exposing them. It’s not really a legal argument, but a moral one. But the moral argument can quickly become: what good are laws that don’t reflect our moral judgments? Manning supporters with a more legalistic cast of mind can talk about the Espionage Act and its application (unprecedented under Obama) to leakers.
On the other side, I think most of arguments fall under #1 above, and a variation of “if you can’t do the time, don’t do the crime.” That’s interesting in and of itself, and you’ll hear many commentators simply saying he broke the law and should be punished accordingly. A related argument, but more in the moral domain, is that his leaks endangered people. On one level that’s an empirical question: can we show that anyone was harmed? If yes, then we have something more than a “he broke the law” claim. If not, we can still argue “potential harm,” and make a claim of moral recklessness or something similar. Probably not surprisingly, the prosecution’s main claim is: he broke the law, and here’s how we’re going to prove it. The question of recklessness or endangering is there, but I’d say it’s subsidiary for the prosecution.
16 days ago on Did Bradley Manning 'aid the enemy'? Questions loom as historic WikiLeaks trial begins 3 replies 4 recommends
Measuring percentages of text probably isn’t the greatest metric of faux-objectivity. The choice here to present the opening statements as what they are — attempts to frame competing theories of the case, and to create a picture of the defendant — meant juxtaposing two different kinds of rhetoric. The prosecution simply didn’t need as complex a theory of the defendant; the evidence, much of it agreed upon by both sides, formed the bulk of the prosecution’s presentation. The prosecution overview involved chains of evidence, its plan for calling witnesses, and its chronology of the case. It was a PowerPoint show with probably 50 slides. There simply isn’t room in a 1000-word piece to fully detail all of that, though you’re welcome to my notes. Better still, you can read the unofficial transcript provided by the Freedom of the Press Foundation.
As I said above, with Manning having pled guilty to some lesser offenses, the defense didn’t dispute much of the evidence stipulated in the afternoon’s testimony. (And opening statements typically aren’t the place for that.) As I mentioned in the piece, Coombs conceded that Manning had leaked. His story — what he devoted the bulk of his statement to — concerned not “what” and “how,” as with the prosecution’s case, but “why.” And unlike the prosecution, he did offer some new details that hadn’t previously been reported (or at least not widely). Capturing those details and Coombs’ explanation of “why” required, unsurprisingly, more text. And given that much of the public discussion has turned on Manning’s motives — despite their inadmissibility as mitigating factors in court — it seemed important to take the time to detail those proffered motives, and to suggest why they’re being offered: likely a bid for leniency from the judge when it comes to sentencing.
All of which is relatively obvious. This is an important case. I encourage you to read the transcript.
16 days ago on Did Bradley Manning 'aid the enemy'? Questions loom as historic WikiLeaks trial begins 1 reply 4 recommends
Yes, lots of hailing in the article describing the prosecution and defense cases.
16 days ago on Did Bradley Manning 'aid the enemy'? Questions loom as historic WikiLeaks trial begins 1 reply 7 recommends
I’m aware of that, thanks.
16 days ago on Did Bradley Manning 'aid the enemy'? Questions loom as historic WikiLeaks trial begins 1 reply 3 recommends
This video is well-known — enough so that it has its own Wikipedia article, including a section mentioning the Reuters FOIA request.
His defense is actually making exactly that argument. Coombs describes the CIDNEA and CIDNEI databases as “historical data.” That’s empirically true: they describe past events. Manning in his statement describing choosing them for release because he believed they could not harm anyone in the field; that the WikiLeaks document dumps caused more embarrassment than definable physical harm has been admitted by the government. Similarly, he leaked State Department cables he believed would not compromise any intelligence gathering — they were distributed via SIPRNET, readable by at least a million people with security clearance before he provided them to WikiLeaks. They fell under SIPDIST rules, meaning they were innocuous enough (by the military’s own definitions) to be available to anyone on the network, without a password. Manning’s defense makes similar arguments for the other, lesser releases.
I think the label “classified” or “secret” confuses many people, who assume such documents must be crown jewels that “the enemy” would love to have. But it’s really worth looking at the documents themselves to understand exactly what they are.
16 days ago on Did Bradley Manning 'aid the enemy'? Questions loom as historic WikiLeaks trial begins 4 replies 32 recommends
16 days ago 204 comments
22 days ago
Now that we have the full film, I expect we’ll be able to lay this question to rest once and for all. | <urn:uuid:51ee0aab-1955-43da-8eef-792f56f99268> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.theverge.com/users/jesse.hicks | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368710006682/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516131326-00035-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.958783 | 2,180 | 1.546875 | 2 |
Joe wondered if all that concrete for a dome would be expensive... well, let's see:
Total Cost of concrete: $1,090 + 500 + 436 = $2,026
[I think like and engineer, so yes, these numbers are rounded off! That's OK, we're gonna double it when we're done!]
OK, we've spent two grand on concrete so far. For sake of the discussion let's assume the steel costs as much (it won't). Let's spend another grand on miscellaneous items like 2x6 lumber to frame the door and a nice little igloo style smoke hole at the top, and the plastic to keep the dirt off the concrete on the inside while we pour. We haven't insulated it. Styrofoam would be the best bet. The cost rises. So, for an entire shelter we spend $4,000 - $6,000, depending on whether you want it to be a "home" or just a place to hide out till the sun returns. I realize that this is bare bones, but it's bomb proof, earthquake proof, wind proof, and the Native American ancestors (and descendants) would be proud of you since it's a true "earth shelter". Remember, this is the total cost for the "shell". No carpenters, no concrete formwork, just honest hard work.
F.Y.I. No, I'm not building one. I'm not into domes. Give me a cave any day. I've always been a hermit! But to each his own, and the most intriguing thing about this to me is the fact that a couple of people could build one of these in a week or so (working full time) and the concrete would be cured within a month. It could very well be somebody's solution.
P.S. If I made a mistake in the math somewhere, I already know I'm stoopid, so please don't rub it in!
[Footnote: North and South for purposes of frost line are to satisfy the building code people, who won't be too thrilled about your dome to start with! These directions won't apply after the pole shift, so I guess it's a moot point, huh?]
Offered by Ron. | <urn:uuid:a56cb4c5-937e-4194-b2ce-fc838ca4b27a> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.nepanewsletter.com/zetatalk/teams/domes/dirt0002.htm | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368701459211/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516105059-00020-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.95672 | 466 | 1.609375 | 2 |
The Hacked Off campaign has come in for criticism from journalists who fear that it is a means for celebrities to stop their dirty linen being aired in public. Here chief executive of the group Brian Cathcart (pictured above) insists that journalists have nothing to fear from Leveson.
It would be strange to find a body of people who looked forward to stricter regulation: it usually means more checks, more questions and possibly more bureaucracy. The job gets a bit harder, and who wants that?
The prospect for journalists is all the more challenging because the change is proposed at the end of some very bruising years for the reputation of the trade, and at the end of an inquiry that dragged heaps of dirty linen into the open. There is also a sense in the air that this is a turning point, after which journalism will never be quite the same again. It’s hardly surprising that some journalists are suspicious. But they should not be, and here are three reasons.
The first is that this is medicine we have to take, and we are the worst kind of hypocrites if we don’t. If Leveson proved anything it is that journalism has big problems that are frequently causing unacceptable damage to innocent people. If that were happening in banks, public services, railways or the food industry, journalists would be the first to demand change, and not cosmetic change but change that delivered real confidence that what was wrong had been fixed and fixed for good.
We can’t, as a profession or trade, turn around now and say we’re so special that we have to be immune from the consequences of wrongdoing in our ranks. Doctors and MPs could claim to be special: do we let them off the hook? No.
Nor can we use the excuse that this was all about one rogue reporter or one rogue company. Motorman involved a dozen papers in illegal activity. A dozen at least were involved in the McCann disgraces. Almost all the papers concealed the scandal that was the PCC, and almost all attempted to cover up phone-hacking by not reporting the unfolding scandal.
It’s true that the overwhelming majority of journalists have done nothing wrong. But the same was true in banks, in hospitals, in the police and in social work: journalists, acting in the public interest, have demanded tighter regulation for all of these, and we have given short shrift to the excuses offered. Are we really now refusing the medicine we have doled out to others?
The second reason journalists should not fear Leveson is that there is no evidence he wants to harm or punish us, or to get in our way. On the contrary, his terms of reference actually oblige him to ensure that the new regulatory regime ‘supports the integrity and freedom of the press’. And he wants to do that: he never ceased in the public hearings to say he believed in free expression and recognised the vital role of journalism in society.
The challenge to Leveson, in fact, is to find an effective and lasting way to bear down on journalism that is reckless, dishonest and cruel – the stuff that shames the whole industry – while protecting the rest, whether it be harmless trivia or public interest investigation of national importance.
Not a single witness called upon the judge to go further than that. No one asked for state censorship and certainly Hacked Off is not campaigning for that: we stand for press freedom and we support such vital causes as libel reform and the extension of public interest defences in law.
A sloppy propaganda technique now in use lists major pieces of journalism – Thalidomide, MPs expenses, cash for questions, even the exposure of Jimmy Savile – and insists that ‘this will not be possible after Leveson reports’. It is clumsy, deceitful scaremongering. No one investigating serious public interest matters has anything to fear from the judge.
The third reason is this. Rather than being a milestone in the history of freedom for journalists, this is about freedom and power for editors and proprietors. Should they be unaccountable? Should they be free to disregard at will the code of practice they themselves wrote?
Should they be free to claim on the one hand that they are responsible for everything in their papers, and then plead on the other (as they did, one by one, before Leveson) that whenever something went wrong they were on holiday, took an early night, or just didn’t remember?
The editors have insisted for years that their journalists have the PCC code written into their contracts. Do they have it in theirs? I doubt it, because if they do, every one of them that published lies about the McCanns (pictured above) would surely have been sacked. They are simply not accountable, and they take no responsibility.
This is not what journalism is supposed to be like. As with any industry, business or service that has disgraced itself in the eyes of the public, journalism now has to clean up its act and win back trust. The editors and proprietors who got journalism into this mess are incapable of fixing things. Their plans for change simply let them off the hook, and they even have ideas for dumping any difficult consequences on ordinary journalists.
Having observed the Leveson process closely from the outset I am convinced of two things. The first is that conscientious journalists who check their stories carefully have nothing to fear. The second is that if the editors and proprietors get their way and are allowed another few years in the last chance saloon they will soon be trashing the reputation of journalism worse than ever before.
Visit the Hacked Off website: www.hackingquiry.org and follow Brian Cathcart on @BrianCathcart | <urn:uuid:dfc907cd-bdfc-4c98-afd5-9f79a8673812> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.pressgazette.co.uk/content/stricter-regulation-medicine-we-have-take-and-we-are-worst-kind-hypocrites-if-we-don%E2%80%99t | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368702810651/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516111330-00033-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.97099 | 1,170 | 1.523438 | 2 |
WASHINGTON, July 25, 2012 – The American Petroleum Institute (API) filed a lawsuit with the D.C. Circuit Court late yesterday challenging the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA’s) mandated use of nonexistent cellulosic biofuels in the 2011 Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS).
“EPA’s unattainable and absurd mandate forces refiners to pay a penalty for failing to use biofuels that don’t even exist,” said API Director of Downstream and Industry Operations Bob Greco. “The mandate is effectively an added tax on gasoline manufacturers that could ultimately burden consumers.”
The Clean Air Act requires EPA to determine the mandated volume of cellulosic biofuels each year at “the projected volume available.” There was no commercial supply of the fuel in 2011, according to EPA’s own records
. However, EPA required refiners and importers of gasoline and diesel to use or pay for credits to cover 6.6 million gallons of the nonexistent biofuels.
“EPA is directed to set the fuel requirement at a realistic volume but the agency continues to mandate the use of biofuels that do not exist,” Greco said.
EPA denied API’s 2011 petition for reconsideration of the mandate in May and continues to mandate the nonexistent biofuels this year at even higher levels. API filed a similar court challenge against EPA’s unattainable 2012 cellulosic biofuels requirements in March.
API supports a realistic and workable RFS and continues to recommend that EPA base its prediction on at least two months of actual cellulosic biofuel production in the current year when establishing the mandated volumes for the following year. This approach would provide a more realistic assessment of potential future production rather than simply relying on the assertions of companies whose ability to produce the cellulosic biofuel volumes EPA hopes for is questionable.
API represents more than 500 companies involved in all aspects of the oil and natural gas industry, leaders of a technology-driven industry that supplies most of America’s energy, supports 9.2 million U.S. jobs and 7.7 percent of the U.S. economy, delivers more than $86 million a day in revenue to our government, and, since 2000, has invested more than $2 trillion in U.S. capital projects to advance all forms of energy, including alternatives. | <urn:uuid:d29883d7-4ab2-4544-b49b-ab27a1671a6d> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.api.org/News-and-Media/News/NewsItems/2012/Jul-2012/API-files-lawsuit-against-EPA-for-mandating-use-nonexistent-biofuels.aspx | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368699273641/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516101433-00009-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.931265 | 499 | 1.632813 | 2 |
If you haven't filed your 2012 taxes yet, you have less than a month to do so. But if you haven't filed your 2009 taxes yet, experts say you could be losing out on a piece of a billion dollar pie.
The Internal Revenue Service says they have nearly $1 billion in unclaimed returns and you only have 3 years to claim a refund before the money is turned over the Treasury Department. The IRS says you have to file your federal tax returns from 2009 before April 15 or your money will be withheld.
According to the IRS, about half of the potential refunds may be larger than $500. | <urn:uuid:8286281c-e0f1-4a94-9a2b-1b3ff7b72b27> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.woai.com/content/news/newslinks/story/1-billion-up-for-grabs-in-unclaimed-tax-returns/zS_cvJRo5UGUnJ7Bf-TQ_A.cspx?rss=68 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368702810651/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516111330-00025-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.961445 | 125 | 1.5625 | 2 |
Recovery Guides for Injury and fitness.
Have you had a sporting or workplace injury? We can help you return to sport safely – particularly if you don't have access to a physiotherapist. Our Injury series of Recovery Guides are designed to rehabilitate common injuries safely. Careful rehabilitation and appropriate first-aid immediately after injury will expedite your recovery and our detailed rehabilitation plan can help prevent re-injury.
How do we do it? We provide hands-on treatment for these common injuries in our clinics everyday. Each guide is designed by a team of experienced physiotherapists and exercise physiologists, in conjunction with current research findings (eg. peer reviewed sports medicine journals) relating to the most efficient means of injury treatment and prevention possible. Find out what to expect during the different stages of recovery, which strength or flexibility exercises to do and when, as well as how to avoid re-injury.
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Injury titles currently available:
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- > Shoulder Anterior Stabilisation Surgery | <urn:uuid:fe768731-a98d-436b-9861-97ea3fc5959d> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.rehabonthenet.com/injury-rehabilitation-recovery-information.htm | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368708766848/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516125246-00040-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.938614 | 298 | 1.523438 | 2 |
A shipment of scrap steel from New York's collapsed World Trade Center will arrive in Shanghai tomorrow, according to media reports. The steel was bought by Shanghai Baosteel Group Corp. and several other domestic mills, which are always eager to buy scrap metal.
Baosteel Group, the nation's largest steel firm, has purchased 50,000 tons of the scrap steel from "Ground Zero," the ruins of the September 11 terrorist attack, at no more than US$120 each ton, according to yesterday's Beijing Youth Daily.
Most of the scrap will be recycled into ingots, but part of the relics will be mold-ed into WTC souvenirs, the paper said.
Baosteel officials reached by Shanghai Daily, however, denied they will make keepsakes out of the debris, but declined to give more details of their plans, saying only that the scrap will be melted down and reprocessed into new steel products.
Another shipment of 10,000 tons of scrap from the WTC arrived in India earlier this month, reported Shanghai Morning Post. The metal will be melted down and recycled into kitchenware and other household items, the paper said.
India bought its lot at US$120 per ton from the New Jersey scrap processor Metal Management, which purchased 40,000 tons of the debris at an auction held by the New York City government. Dealers estimated that the WTC disaster created more than 300,000 tons of scrap metal.
China, the world's largest steel maker in terms of output, relies heavily on imports of scrap for its steel production. It imported 5.1 million tons of scrap in 2000.
The scrap steel can be melted down into ingots, reprocessed and sold to other industries.
"All in all, China's purchase from the WTC ruins counts for little to its steel industry, given the nation's big consumption of scrap each year," said Qu Li, an analyst with China Securities.
"But the price of US$120 per ton is, if not great, quite reasonable," she added.
The average price paid by local mills last year for scrap steel was 1,250 yuan (US$150.6) a ton.
New York authorities' decision to ship the twin towers' scrap to recyclers has raised the anger of victims' families and some engineers who believe the massive girders should be further examined to help determine how the towers collapsed.
But New York Mayor Mike Bloomberg insisted there are better ways to study the tragedy of September 11.
"If you want to take a look at the construction methods and the design, that's in this day and age what computers do," said Bloomberg, a former engineering major. "Just looking at a piece of metal generally doesn't tell you anything."
(eastday.com January 24, 2002) | <urn:uuid:36ec339e-d948-4f4f-82cf-5399131ecc0c> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://china.org.cn/english/2002/Jan/25776.htm | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368707435344/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516123035-00024-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.96312 | 574 | 1.765625 | 2 |
A Few Clouds ~
High: 86°F ~ Low: 65°F
Wednesday, June 19, 2013
I Don't Want to Hold Your HandPosted Sunday, December 25, 2011, at 2:36 PM
During the fall of 1961, a new sound was coming out of California. It was the Beach Boys. Up until then, I was a true Buddy Holly fan even though he died tragically on February 3, 1959, the day after my fifteenth birthday. I immediately fell in love with the B-Boys' music and the surfer beat. In the spring of 1962, I gradated from high school. That summer, I learned how to frug my little buns off and, yes, they were fairly little then.
The Beach Boys' music was happy and it reflected a carefree time. Their close tenor harmonies gave the Boys a really distinctive and hard to duplicate sound. They were good musicians and wrote all their own tunes.
Meanwhile, John Kennedy moved into the White House in 1961, and Camelot had begun. The surfer sound was going full throttle with themes of surfing, cute bikini girls, and hot cars. Songs like "Surfin Safari", Little Duce Coupe" and "Surfer Girl" made life so sweet at the beach n '62 and '63.
But then November 22, 1963 closed the door on Camelot, and those simple, innocent days died.
Enter the Beatles, four skinny guys from Liverpool, who performed in the USA for the first time on the Ed Sullivan Show. Their sound was so different. For one thing, you couldn't dance to their music. The lyrics were simple and repetitive and boy, did they look strange...more like girls then guys. And what was up with that ugly drummer with the big schnoze? I was not impressed at all. I'm still not.
The Beatles were not the best musicians and their voices didn't blend like the Wilsons, but there was something defiant about their manner. Our country's youth responded to that defiance, and the Beatles became and overnight sensation. In 1964, the Beatles filled the top five slots on "Billboard's" singles chart, a feat that has never been matched before or since.
By the late 60s, the Beatles had lost their groove with their final album together. Not surprisingly, The White Album was filled with the discord of a rock group splitting up, but it was also Charles Manson's favorite disc. So much so, that he named his racial war, "Helter Skelter" after one of the songs on the White Album. The record was disturbing just as Manson was disturbed. Maybe that was why he liked it.
Time has past, but the Beach Boys are still America's Band, entertaining all over the country, and the world for that matter. They're still creating that special, carefree sound of the early sixties.
The Beatles' music has been re-released to another generation and the music critics continue to be impressed, but we'll see if the teens of this generation think the Beatles are still the FAB FOUR.
My money is on the B-Boys, who are long in the tooth, but can still catch a wave in my book.
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In a Twist
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I'm Enid. No, not the town in Oklahoma, but a transplant to Eureka Springs from Minneapolis fourteen years ago. I'm a writer, journalist and sometime artist. My real love is expressing my opinions on almost any subject, as you have seen in my many letters to the Editor of The Lovely County Citizen over the years. Now, I'm happy to say that I will be writing a blog titled In a Twist for your amusement, amazement or commiseration. Thanks for giving me a read. | <urn:uuid:c8b686cc-f0f9-4c3f-b40b-60c37d7a0ed0> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.lovelycitizen.com/blogs/1655/entry/45431/desc | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368709037764/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516125717-00041-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.978348 | 813 | 1.554688 | 2 |
Keith-Thomas Ayoob, EdD, RD, FADA
It’s no secret that America is a fairly sedentary nation. Many of the technologies that have made it possible for us to be “connected” 24/7 also make it possible to be sedentary all the time as well. I’m not just talking about appliances like dishwashers and washing machines, but even more subtle things like keyboards and telephones. If you think I’m kidding, go back to typing on a manual typewriter and see how productive you are at turning out documents. You’re welcome.
OK, so the 2010 Dietary Guidelines for Americans have been issued and I usually agree with them but this year I have a problem: the recommendations come down hard about sodium.
You may have heard by now of a diet called the “HCG Diet”. HCG stands for “human chorionic gonadotropin” and it’s actually a pregnancy hormone. That’s right, and it’s in the urine of pregnant women. It was popular in the early 70’s and it has reared its ugly head again.
If you’re a “foodie” you may have heard of something called “umami” – often described as “the fifth taste”, joining sweet, salty, sour, and bitter. The latter four tastes have receptors on the taste buds and they even have their own general areas on the tongue where they congregate. Sweet receptors, for example, tend to hang out at the front of the mouth. | <urn:uuid:8a0128a7-5e8c-4025-9d7d-fab64cfca72a> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.thevisualmd.com/expert_panel/keith-thomas_ayoob_edd_rd_fada_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 | 0.952978 | 338 | 1.734375 | 2 |
Elisa Galvan, Director of Housing Choice Voucher Program
The Housing Choice Voucher program, also known as Section 8, is HUD’s major program for assisting low and very low-income families, the elderly, and the disabled to afford decent, safe, and sanitary housing in the private market. The Housing Choice Voucher program enables families to locate housing of their choice, where property owners are willing to participate and where the rents are reasonable.
PCHA’s HCV program is a HUD-designated "High Performing” program. With a budget of over $25M annually, PCHA’s HCV department is staffed with 15 trained housing professionals, including an HCV compliance team to assure continued compliance with HUD regulations governing the HCV program. The program assists approximately 2900 families and individuals with payment of a portion of their rent each month. The department also administers the HUD-Veterans Affairs Supportive Housing (HUD-VASH) program. For more information about the HCV program, including contact information, please click here. | <urn:uuid:bcf3d34d-d6c9-40a3-bce8-c4c612ca823c> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://pinellashousing.com/inside-pcha/departments/housing-choice-voucher | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368698924319/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516100844-00012-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.950126 | 223 | 1.78125 | 2 |
» Is Device Fragmentation Still Relevant?
Is Device Fragmentation Still Relevant?
Shai from LWUIT fame has a very interesting post on J2ME device fragmentation. I wholeheartedly agree with what he says: portability across devices was certainly an issue in the early days of J2ME and probably still is when developping demanding games.
But for other applications and modern phones (i.e. MIDP 2.0, which was released in 2002), portability is in my experience mostly a matter of careful programming and careful reading of the specifications. There are also a few well-known implementation bugs which are quite widespread and thus easy to spot.
During my first two months at Goojet, I was able to refactor the existing J2ME application in a way that completely avoids any code preprocessing yet is quite reasonably featured (it's an HTML browser!) and runs smoothly on a large number of phones.
The so-called "porting solutions" that are offered in the J2ME world are, from my experience with one of them, built on bugs on very old phones that no more exist in the wild and are now more urban legends, or pretty bad programming practices from people that did not take the time to carefully understand the specs or even the Java programming language.
One noticeable exception however is J2ME-Polish, but it's a lot more than a porting solution since it offers higher-level UI widgets and a nice build system. This last point is important, since you may need to have several sets of resources (e.g. icons) for the main screen size families, running with the same code. And J2ME-Polish is also open-source, meaning it can't hide bad code behind a proprietary closed-source licence.
The portability hell still exist though when you want to sign a J2ME application so that it can access some of the sensitive J2ME APIs such as SMS, network, camera, etc. There is no common set of root certificates you can rely on to sign your application, and the MIDP spec weirdly states that a signed application whose certificate can't be verified must not be installed, whereas an unsigned application can be installed but warns the user for every sensitive operation.
The result is that you need to know what root certificates are on what phones to either provide a signed application if you know it can be verified, or an unsigned application if you don't know what certificates are installed on the phone. Weird... | <urn:uuid:f89fddeb-13cc-4a2c-9f48-430cd70ca3d4> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://bluxte.net/musings/2008/06/05/device-fragmentation-still-relevant | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368705195219/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516115315-00015-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.961061 | 515 | 1.609375 | 2 |
No. The federal guidelines for 21st CCLC grants are high poverty and low performing school sites. The mandated federal qualification for poverty is that 40% or more of the school site’s students must have qualified for the federal Free or Reduced Cost Meals program. Low performance may be determined by state or federal designation which are: a) Federal: Adequate Yearly Progress (AYP) or 2) State: AZ Learns Label of Under-performing or Failing. Due to the new Arizona Department of Education school site ratings, as of October, 14, 2011, there may be a revision with the State’s AZ Learns Label designation in the application process. If there are changes in future year’s 21st CCLC applications, they will be specified.
However, school sites may also qualify by providing a convincing description of students at risk of academic failure, regardless of label. | <urn:uuid:35ebca9f-0abf-46b7-90de-006149597a11> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.azed.gov/century-learning-centers/faq/are-all-schools-eligible-for-the-ade-21st-cclc-grant-2/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368702448584/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516110728-00040-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.943138 | 185 | 1.664063 | 2 |
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VATICAN CITY (AP) — Pope Benedict XVI has praised the “great generosity” of American Catholics in welcoming new immigrants and backed the commitment of bishops in the United States to immigration reform.
Benedict on Friday held the last of a series of periodic meetings with American bishops over the past few months, saying the church must embrace “the rich patrimony of faith” from newly arrived Hispanic, Asian and African Catholics.
He acknowledged that immigration reform -- a hot button issue in the election campaign -- is a complex civil and political issue.
In his earlier meetings with the visiting U.S. bishops, Benedict has touched on other controversial issues that have featured in the presidential campaign, including condemning the gay marriage lobby and stressing the need for the Catholic Church to be free to pursue its religious teaching. | <urn:uuid:d1ae173d-8d27-4a90-a2d2-3ed58a0b2a80> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.timesherald.com/article/20120518/NEWS05/120519563/-1/NEWS/pope-praises-us-efforts-to-welcome-immigrants | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368696381249/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516092621-00024-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.960582 | 175 | 1.742188 | 2 |
How about getting together to talk about bus service? How about on May 3rd at 1:00 or 5:00 p.m.?
People in Morgan County have been talking about busses for a long time. Not about the cost or the schedule. Not about accessible lifts and door to door pickups. Not even about the lack of bus passes.
Mostly they say” I sure wish we had the bus to get us around town and to meetings.” I heard this from several people last Wednesday at the Food Bank Drop off at the Library.
Good neighbors and friends brought people to the site, or picked up a friend’s box that couldn’t make the trip. People with disabilities living in Morgan County have a double whammy. Many don’t drive and are low income. They often end up stranded at home for lack of a better option. Forced isolation is bad for the soul.
Tri- County Independent Living Center is a Resource and Advocacy Center for people with disabilities. Independent Living Centers nationwide have been champions of disability issues since the early 60’s,when civil rights in California regarding transportation became headlines.
Morgan County has a population of about 4,600. It was 3,700 in 2009. Census figures show that about 14% of any group population has a disability of some sort, including birth defects, mental illness ,learning and physical disabilities and just plain aging. If you do the math, about 644 people in Morgan County may have a reason to need reliable, safe transportation. That’s not to mention kids going to the park, or over to Steph’s for ice cream on a Saturday. It may not count the countless trips Mom and Dad are making to deliver kids over to the school for soccer practice, or basketball or baseball. This might make a case for talking more about bus service in Morgan County.
Bus Conversation meetings have been scheduled for May 3rd at 1:00pm and 5:00 pm at the Morgan Library, in the Community Room. Mark your calendars and plan to bring your opinions and ideas to this Bus Talk meeting sponsored by Tri-County ILC in Ogden.
Saundra Hansen, Outreach Coordinator
Tri County ILC | <urn:uuid:f9d5aa62-e78f-439b-ae51-4b903629785c> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://morgannews.com/article/morgan-bus-service-discussion | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368696381249/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516092621-00025-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.954619 | 458 | 1.835938 | 2 |
The Washington Administrative Code: Title 478 WAC - UW Rules resource provides those Washington Administrative Code (WAC) rules that are promulgated by the University of Washington. Each Washington State agency is provided with a separate title number under which it issues its WAC rules; the University's designated title is: Title 478 WAC. WAC rules are issued by authority of specific enabling statutes (as published in the Revised Code of Washington, or RCW) and like legislation and the state Constitution these WAC rules are a source of primary law in Washington State. Subject matter that requires WAC rule making by the University (rather than a University policy) is included in the state's definition of "rule," see: RCW 34.05.010 (16). The University official(s) delegated responsibility for this subject matter work with the University's division of the Attorney General's Office in determining when WAC rules are required.
WAC rules are published by Washington State's Office of the Code Reviser, which is also responsible for editing the final copy of all WAC rules. The Office of the Code Reviser's style guide, the Bill Drafting Guide, Part IV, Instructions on Style, includes extensive use of lower case capitalization and hyphens. The Washington Administrative Code: Title 478 WAC - UW Rules resource follows this style guide in the text of all WAC sections, but not in the capitalization of headings (or captions, as they are called in the WAC).
The Washington Administrative Code: Title 478 WAC - UW Rules resource provides each WAC rule section as a separate web page for ease of locating specific topics through the UW Policy Directory search function. However, a link to each complete WAC chapter is available on the table of contents page for each WAC chapter. These "complete chapter" links connect with Washington State's comprehensive WAC website and are not maintained in the UW Policy Directory.
Prior to being published here, in the University of Washington's Policy Directory website starting in January 2011, the University had access to Title 478 WAC rules through the state's WAC website. Previously, from 1973 through 2009, the University's WAC rules were also published as hard copy in a binder distributed by the Rules Coordination Office for campus use.
The revision history for each WAC section is located at the end of that section. WAC sections can be initiated, amended, and repealed independent of the chapter in which they appear, and so contain separate revision histories. The revision history for a WAC section usually contains the relevant statute authority under which the section was initiated or amended; the Washington State Register (WSR) number (or Order Number for older sections) under which it appeared in the WSR; the WAC section number; the filing date on which the final Rule Making Order was filed with the state's Office of the Code Reviser by the agency; and the effective date of the rule.
A link to the "dispositions" of sections formerly contained in the chapter may also appear on the table of contents page for a WAC chapter. This link provides the revision history for sections formerly contained in the chapter, but since repealed. A similar "dispositions" link appears on the overall chapter table of contents page which connects to the revision history of complete chapters that have been repealed.
When referring to a WAC section, the "WAC" indicator appears first, followed by a number, made up of three parts: the title number, the chapter number, and the section number. All chapters included in the UW Policy Directory are from Title 478 WAC, which indicates those WAC rules promulgated by the University of Washington. Therefore, all WAC numbers in the UW Policy Directory start with "478." WAC numbers are divided by dashes (while Revised Code of Washington [RCW] numbers are divided by periods). The chapter number appears after the first dash and the section number appears after the second dash. Generally, but not always, these are three digit numbers. So, WAC 478–136–030, indicates a section of code in Title 478, Chapter 136, and Section 030.
When referring to a WAC chapter, the title and chapter number appear before the "WAC" indicator: Chapter 478–136 WAC. And, when referring to a WAC title, the title number also appears before the "WAC" indicator: Title 478 WAC.
|#1||Cite Washington Administrative Code
titles as follows:
Title ### WAC
Example: Title 478 WAC
|#2||Cite Washington Administrative Code
chapters as follows:
Chapter ###-### WAC
Example: Chapter 478–136 WAC
|#3||Cite Washington Administrative
Code sections as follows:
Example: WAC 478–136–030
|#4||Cite Washington Administrative
Code subsections as follows:
Example: WAC 478–136–030(12)
|#5||If you wish to include the heading
(or caption) of the chapter or section in the citation, include it
after the complete WAC citation.
Example: Chapter 478–136 WAC, "Use of University of Washington Facilities"
WAC rules are initiated, amended, and repealed according to the Washington State Administrative Procedure Act (Chapter 34.05 RCW). At the University of Washington, the process of initiating, amending, or repealing WAC rules is handled by the University's designated Rules Coordinator in the Rules Coordination Office.
The content of the University's WAC rules is the responsibility of the University official(s) delegated that authority by executive order. The Rules Coordinator works with the appropriate University official(s) and the University's division of the Attorney General's Office to develop the proposed rule(s), and with the state Office of the Code Reviser to create the final draft language. The Rules Coordinator also oversees the state's rule-making process, including official filings with the state Office of the Code Reviser, publication of notices, public hearings, and coordination with the Office of the President and the University's Board of Regents for adoption of the rules. Except for temporary, emergency WAC rules and housekeeping amendments (both of which may be adopted by the University President), permanent WAC rules are adopted by the University's Board of Regents. University WAC rules currently undergoing or recently completing the rule-making process are listed in the University's Docket of WAC Rules.
For more information, contact the Rules Coordination Office as follows:
September 1, 2011. | <urn:uuid:64ccdfa5-ffe5-4f3e-b742-4f678d18337d> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.washington.edu/admin/rules/policies/WAC/WACIntro.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368705559639/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516115919-00028-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.932715 | 1,364 | 1.570313 | 2 |
Friday, August 6 - 7:30 pm
Saturday, August 8 - 2:30 pm
Wednesday, August 11 - 7:30 pm
Friday, August 13 - 7:30 pm
Perhaps the most popular musical of the 1950s, My Fair Lady came into being only after Hungarian film producer Gabriel Pascal devoted the last two years of his life to finding writers who would adapt George Bernard Shaw's 1913 play Pygmalion into a musical. Rejected by Rodgers and Hammerstein and Noël Coward, Pascal finally turned to the young duo of Frederick Loewe and Alan Jay Lerner. The musical opened on Broadway in March 1956 with Rex Harrison and Julie Andrews in the lead roles and ran 2,717 performances, at that time the longest run in Broadway history.
While monumental and certainly definitive, the Harrison My Fair Lady -- especially as captured in the 1964 film version -- has had an unfortunate stultifying effect on many subsequent productions of this great work. A major artistic goal of director Richard Jessup is to interpret the musical anew without losing any of its timeless qualities. With OFAM favorites William Mark Hulings and Shirley Andress in the lead roles, we have no doubt he will succeed magnificently! | <urn:uuid:f251b854-6c5f-44f5-9e3a-fa3b712f03f5> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.ofam.org/divP/festival.aspx?series=652&event=660 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368698924319/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516100844-00013-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.957123 | 249 | 1.609375 | 2 |
By Kathleen Sprows Cummings
I am holding in my hands my long-awaited copy of James T. Fisher’s On the Irish Waterfront: The Crusader, the Movie, and the Soul of the Port of New York, just published by Cornell University Press as part of the Cushwa Center’s Studies of Catholicism in Twentieth-Century America series. Fisher claims On the Waterfront is the best movie ever made in the U.S. A. His book not only makes a convincing case for that argument, but also provides a deft and compelling history of religion, politics, labor, and ethnicity in mid-twentieth century America,and I plan to assign it in my classes for years to come.
The timing of the book’s publication was made all the more poignant by the death of Budd Schulberg, the screenwriter for On the Waterfront, the very same week. Fisher’s eulogy of Schulberg, whom he describes as “the best Catholic never baptized,” will be of interest to readers of this blog, and I post them here below.
Budd Schulberg, March 27, 1914-August 5, 2009
James Terence Fisher
For years I opened public presentations on Budd Schulberg’s life and times by noting that he was a close personal friend of F. Scott Fitzgerald. I’d pause, then remind audiences that F. Scott Fitz died in…1940. That fact often drew gasps or knowing smiles. But then, just a few moments ago, mourning Budd’s death in conversation with my L.A. cousin (more like brother) the screenwriter Bob Fisher, I was given a much more powerful image with which to convey the magnitude of Budd’s gift and prowess. “Budd,” as Bobby reminded me, “was close personal friends with F. Scott Fitzgerald and Spike Lee.” Budd and Spike worked intermittently for years on a Joe Louis film bio. Budd knew Joe Louis.
Ben Stiller was another friend of Budd; they also collaborated, on a project to bring to the screen Budd’s 1941 Hollywood novel What Makes Sammy Run. Budd was already an old industry hand by that year, having written several screenplays (including 1939’s with Scott Fitzgerald) and doctoring many more (Budd told me he penned the famous final line of 1937’s A Star is Born: “Hello, this is Mrs. Norman Maine”).
Budd Wilson Schulberg, that is, knew seemingly everybody enshrined across that vast tableau we know as twentieth century culture. He was standing next to his friend Bobby Kennedy in a passageway at LA’s Ambassador Hotel when RFK was murdered in June 1968. He was seated ringside when his friend Muhammad Ali reclaimed his heavyweight title from George Foreman in Zaire in October 1974. That was nearly three decades after Budd not only arrested Leni Riefenstahl (”Hitler’s favorite filmmaker) while working for his friend the legendary director John Ford in the wartime OSS; he wrested from her an implicit admission she knew about the Nazi death camps, a truth she subsequently denied for decades.
Budd was an amazingly gifted listener; perhaps the result of a lifelong if highly manageable speech impediment, but more likely because listening was simply his supreme gift. When he met the ”waterfront priest” John M. “Pete” Corridan in late autumn 1950, the gruff, guarded Jesuit told Schulberg there was “no percentage” to be gained via collaboration between the men on a film project. During that very first meeting, however, Schulberg–who had been commissioned to write a screenplay based on a New York Sun waterfront expose for which Corridan served as prime source–began to win the priest’s enduing trust. They talked boxing; they talked mob talk; they talked briefly about the Catholic church’s radical social teachings, which came as great a revelation to Schulberg as they did to many Catholics. Within days Budd experienced his first waterfront pub crawl along Manhattan’s forbidding “Irish waterfront,” in the company of Arthur “Brownie” Brown, Corridan’s most devoted “rebel disciple” in the struggle to overthrow the mob-ridden, Tammany-backed and Church-blessed union that had misrepresented dockworkers in the Port of New York and New Jersey since the turn of the century.
Budd Schulberg would devote the next three years of his life to bringing journalist Malcolm Johnson’s “Crime on the Waterfront” to fruition as a film. A film? May we suggest On the Waterfront is quite possibly the greatest movie ever made in the U.S.A. (Hoboken, New Jersey, to be exact). Budd virtually moved in with Brownie and his wife Ann in their tiny apartment (Brownie is immortalized as “Kayo Dugan” in the movie; the rebel dockworker crushed by the mob under a slingload bearing cases of his beloved Irish whiskey). By day he wrote on a desk in a corner of a room at the Xavier Labor School on W. 16th Street in Manhattan, the place where Corridan and his “insoigents,” as Budd liked to call Corridan’s disciples, were provided cover and refuge by Phil Carey, S.J. the heroic and steadfast director of the labor school, who turned Pete Corridan loose in the face of overwhelming resistance from powerful figures in the New York Archdiocese; they had a major economic and spiritual investment to protect in the waterfront status quo.
Budd was the best Catholic never baptized; or perhaps that’s precisely why he was such a brilliant and courageous “mouthpiece” for Pete Corridan and the waterfront rebels. Corridan was a powerful speaker, but Karl Malden’s cinematic rendition of “Christ in the Shapeup”–a fiery address originally delivered by Corridan on the Jersey City waterfront in 1948–represents simply the finest moment in the representation of Catholic social justice teachings witnessed anywhere, at any time, in any medium. Budd had the gift and he shared it: the magnificent film is Budd’s, and that of his comrade Pete Corridan; this alone enshrines him as a towering figure of the century he nearly covered in his life and art. Budd wrote it best himself on the occasion of Pete Corridan’s death in early July 1984, a quarter century to the day preceding the recent death of their mutual friend Karl Malden: Ave Atque Vale Budd. Forget Charley Malloy for the moment; it was you Budd: you created this magnificent work, inspired by Pete. To borrow from what your friend Eddie Futch said to Joe Frazier on that night in Manilla when he stopped the fight with Ali before the bell sounded the fifteenth round: you will never be forgotten for what you created–with your amigo Elia Kazan–amid the wintry streets and wind-swept piers of Hoboken in that most memorable late autumn 1953. | <urn:uuid:d296d945-f1ab-46b3-be3e-09f96cff97b4> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://usreligion.blogspot.com/2009/08/on-irish-waterfront.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368706890813/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516122130-00026-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.966379 | 1,508 | 1.71875 | 2 |
Steven Spielberg is reportedly teaming up with fellow filmmaker Zhang Yimou (
Parading in front of Chinese President Hu Jintao (胡錦濤) and US President George W. Bush on the South Lawn of the White House, US troops dressed in Continental Army uniforms dating back more than 200 years seemed to project the message that the US could compete with China's heritage -- if not in terms of the length of its written history, then certainly in terms of the depth of its surviving political and philosophical traditions. What could Hu have offered on behalf of China's 80-year communist era in return, other than re-enactments of the masses in a frenzy clutching little red books before tearing each other apart?
As Hu began his speech, a lone Falun Gong protester, pathologist Wang Wenyi (
There could not have been a more fitting incident to demonstrate the basic difference between these two powers. Had Wang the gall to launch her protest on Chinese territory, her fate would have been grim: protracted physical abuse, lengthy incarceration if not execution and -- if Falun Gong propaganda is to be believed -- possibly placed high on a list of compulsory organ donors for good measure. In the US, on the other hand, she will receive much more reasonable punishment if found guilty of "disorderly conduct," and possibly "willingly intimidating or disrupting a foreign official."
The incident is all the more meaningful because of the lack of progress in talks on the trade deficit, revaluation of the yuan, North Korea, Iran and Taiwan. Going into the meeting with Bush, Hu had been toasted by some of the most powerful businesspeople in the world, people who could be relied on not to raise irritating issues such as human rights and aggression toward Taiwan -- because there is no money to be made from such things. But the Falun Gong protest brought Hu back to earth with a thud, and he subsequently found Bush to be considerably less effusive, if more apologetic, toward him than other heads of state.
Hu's trip will be remembered more for symbolism than breakthroughs in bilateral relations, and it is instructive that the two powers could not even agree on the status of the visit -- "official" or "state" -- and that Hu was not thrown a reception down home on Bush's Texas range.
Spielberg and Zhang, as master filmmakers, are as aware as anyone of the power of symbolism in the mass media. There is every chance their mighty talents will be put to use in 2008 in a scenario with more than an echo of the 1936 Berlin Olympics. It would be savagely ironic if the directors of Schindler's List, Munich, The Story of Qiu Ju and To Live were to become unwitting Leni Riefenstahls of the 21st century, though Spielberg may yet have the wisdom to rethink his decision. | <urn:uuid:2b794b7a-b72c-408a-88e2-2e0f5c581fca> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.taipeitimes.com/News/editorials/archives/2006/04/22/2003304015 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368702810651/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516111330-00004-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.965606 | 586 | 1.78125 | 2 |
ngodrup wrote:More to the point, and humorously so, I was present when
H. H. Dungse Thinley Norbu Rinpoche was asked:
"What is the difference between a Tibetan Lama and a Western Lama?"
His oft quoted response was
"Of course, everybody knows...
a Tibetan Lama has a moon-like face
and a Western Lama has a face like the Rocky Mountains!"
There was much laughter, and I cannot remember for certain,
but it seems that he stated further that in terms of inner qualities
there was no difference at all.
Ah - HH Thinley Norbu was the source of that quote.
I had heard that many years before I became a TB student. | <urn:uuid:944e040c-262d-4101-99c0-2d03d32defb7> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.dharmawheel.net/viewtopic.php?p=75733 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368703682988/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516112802-00031-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.987662 | 153 | 1.679688 | 2 |
Hotels and airlines were among the first industries to recognize the value of social media sites like Twitter and Facebook, monitoring them to respond to angry customers. Increasingly, companies are taking the tactic to a new level, trying to listen in on every mention of their brands—tracking as many as 150 million sources—for a real-time gauge of what people think of their offerings, competitors and industry trends.
This month, Nielsen and the consulting firm McKinsey & Co. launched a tracking service in Canada called NM Incite. (In a recent analysis of the film industry, for instance, it identified the Toronto International Film Festival as the most talked about this summer, with 14,000 social media mentions compared to 9,000 for the rival Venice festival). ComScore recently introduced a rival service called Social Analytix. A lot is at stake for firms in this domain. According to eMarketer, ad spending on social media is growing 20 per cent year over year, and is expected to hit US$1.7 billion this year. | <urn:uuid:5b7fab0d-7ca6-4a03-8a7b-6ca28ff5731e> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www2.macleans.ca/2010/10/07/tuning-in-to-twitter/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368706153698/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516120913-00011-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.960934 | 210 | 1.523438 | 2 |
50 Outstanding Illustration Designs for Your Inspiration
A great illustration contains a little concept called art. Art is a way that influences and affects one or more of the senses, emotions, and intellect. To showcase some of the best artworks, we decide to create this article. While browsing through the illustrations be sure to actually observe the artwork and find the hidden meanings. All of the illustrations are implying a specific message. It is the artists goal to tell you that message by showing you their piece of art. The following illustrations were collected from some of the most talented artist on earth. Trust us, these are not some random images we found on Flickr. All of the images lead to the artists portfolio when clicked. Be warned however, you might get inspired when looking through this collection!
We hope that these stunning illustrations have opened your eyes, and inspired you to look at the world/concepts in a different way.We would love to hear your feedback, so please don’t be shy to comment below. Please don’t forget to subscribe to the RSS-feed and follow Inspirationfeed on Twitter+ Facebook (100% Spam Free!) If you enjoyed the following article we humbly ask you to comment, and help us spread the word with your peers!
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- How SEO can turn a Business from Minor to Major in a Month - May 24, 2013 | <urn:uuid:68835293-5c45-423a-9ad3-91b27523cb57> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://inspirationfeed.com/inspiration/illustrations/50-outstanding-illustration-designs-for-your-inspiration/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368705953421/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516120553-00041-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.937199 | 321 | 1.703125 | 2 |
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